Iris nearly stomped her way through the hangar back to Darok and Theron's little office. She squashed her concern, anger, and confusion down so she could be seen as the serene jedi everyone knew her to be. However, Kira could barely keep up and that façade was quickly fading the closer they got to their destination.

Iris nearly threw open the door and walked into the room without a knock or announcement. Theron, Darok, and Mara looked up at her as she entered, and she clenched her jaw. She bowed, giving her a moment to calm herself before they explained what happened.

"Good, you're here," Theron remarked as he walked around the table. Iris handed him the disk, which he placed on the table behind him. "We have a lot to discuss."

"I would say so," Iris replied, fighting the urge to cross her arms to convey her irritation.

"First, I would like to congratulate you and your crew on a job well done. I'm sure Captain Lumin appreciates the rescue," Theron continued as Mara casually saluted Iris. The jedi nodded toward the captain, making sure that there was no ill will towards her. "Secondly, I'm sure you've heard about Tython by now."

"What's the situation?" Iris asked, bypassing the small talk. Darok glanced at Theron, who brought up the map of the jedi home world.

"Under control. We just took back the temple when you landed. The Empire is off Tython," Theron explained. Iris walked up to the table and stared as imperial ships left the holo.

"Are there casualty reports?" Iris asked, staring at Theron. The SIS agent stared at her before nodding, handing her the datapad. She did her best not to yank it from his hands. She glanced through the reports of the dead and missing. Master Kiwiks was not on the list, but there were several other jedi and padawans that she did recognize. Her heart tightened with grief, but she shoved it deeper. She calmly handed back the datapad. "Does Master Shan have this list?"

"She does," Theron confirmed. Iris stepped backwards and nodded.

"Good," she whispered, staring at the planet on the holo. Tython was the closest thing she had to a home world. She had trained on several different planets, but she spent the most of her apprenticeship on Tython before Master Orgus took her in. Darok cleared his throat before stepping around the table towards her.

"Before we continue about the situation on Tython, I would like to also congratulate you on a job well done," he explained, holding two boxes. Iris glanced at Kira, who barely shrugged. Neither of them were hardly interested in recognition at the moment. "I present to you and to Captain Lumin the medal of valor. With this new data, we should be able to turn the tide of war and bring a decisive victory for the Republic."

"I am honored," Iris spoke slowly as the colonel presented the awards to her and Mara.

"Uh, thank you," Mara whispered before Darok saluted them both.

"You have done a great service to the Republic. You both should be proud," he explained before he saluted each of them. Iris found herself speechless at the sudden honor and wasn't sure how to proceed. Her crew and her did succeed in a suicide mission, but she hadn't been given such an award after a single mission. "If we need you again, I will let you know."

"Alright," Mara whispered as Iris bowed. Kira followed suit, equally stunned by the award. However, Mara seemed to get over it quicker than the other two. "Thank you again. See you around, Master Jedi."

"Safe travels," Iris replied with a nod. She turned back to see Darok had returned to the holotable and Theron approaching her.

"I'm not sure about you, but I think I could use a drink. Meet me in the cantina later?" he asked before glancing over at Darok. Iris nodded slowly, also seeing Darok busy with something at the table.

"A drink would be nice," Iris smiled. She and Kira followed Theron out of the room, leaving the colonel to focus on his next mission.

The elevator ride to the cantina was quiet and strange. Theron leaned against the wall, staring at his datapad. Iris regarded him carefully, wondering what was truly going on. She had never been dismissed so quickly after a mission without any follow-up. She hoped to get at least some answers from the SIS agent about Tython.

Once the doors slid open, Theron led the jedi to the cantina and found a small table in the corner where they could speak freely. He placed his datapad on the table and clicked a button as they sat down. Iris saw that it was a scrambler so no prying ears could listen in on their conversation. Theron glanced around once more before leaning back in his chair.

"I guess this isn't a social call," Iris mentioned as Theron smirked. "What was on that data disk that we retrieved?"

"Trade route lanes for the Empire. Darok thinks that they may be important when the war rages on. There were some other things, as well, such locations of moffs and influential sith lords," Theron explained carefully as he thought about it. "But that isn't what I wanted to discuss with you."

"Then what did you want to discuss?" Kira asked, leaning on her arms on the table.

"The attack on Tython wasn't exactly random," he replied.

"What do you mean?" Iris murmured, leaning forward as well. Theron glanced around again.

"Our forces had attacked Korriban just shortly before Tython was attacked. It seemed that these attacks were coordinated," Theron explained quietly. Iris's jaw dropped as her mind ran a mile a minute.

"The Republic attacked Korriban?" Iris repeated, her brows pushed together on her forehead. "Then why did the Empire attack Tython when we have control of Korriban."

"Had control. When we took back Tython, Korriban was taken back by the Empire. We aren't sure of the damage the jedi temple has sustained, but the jedi have already begun rebuilding," Theron corrected and added. Iris leaned back, taking in the information.

"Wait, if we had attacked Korriban while I was on a search and rescue mission, then why wasn't I informed of that? Surely that would have been a better use of my and my crew's time and energy. I don't mean that Mara and her people are less important, but a strike team of special forces could have easily pulled that off," the jedi mentioned as Theron gave a sly smile.

"Now you're asking the right questions," he replied. "Something's up, and I can't quite put my finger on it. Why would Darok arrange a mission to get you as far away from Tython as possible as we launch an attack on Korriban that you are more than qualified for?"

"Do you think we were sent a way for a reason?" Kira whispered.

"What reason?" Iris continued as Theron shook his head.

"I don't know, but I plan on getting to the bottom of it," he replied before glancing between the jedi. "Can I count on you two and your crew? Or are you going to take your medals and go on home like the captain?"

"We're in. If there's something going on, I want to know about it," Kira answered quickly.

"I agree. I want to see this through," Iris added with a nod. Theron smiled and stood.

"I will do some digging and get back to you when I have more information. In the meantime, I want you to continue as you would normally. I don't want Darok to think that you are snooping around for more answers," Theron urged as he took his datapad again. "I'll reach out when I have something concrete to give you."

"Good luck, Theron," Iris smiled as she and Kira stood as well.

"We'll have to do this again sometime. See you around," the agent replied before heading back to the elevator. Iris watched him leave before Kira sat back down.

"Well, now what?" she asked as Iris shrugged.

"I guess head back to Tython. They'll need help in the reconstruction."

"So much for our vacation."

"I can still drop you and the rest of the crew off at Coruscant. You can have a few days of vacation," Iris offered. Kira sighed and shook her head.

"No, I should help out with the reconstruction. The faster the temple is back up and running, the better," she replied. "I can't speak for the others, though."

"I'm not sure what they'll do, but I did promise a vacation," Iris sighed with a grin. Her thoughts turned back to Tython as she realized that it was going to be a moment before she could relax on the mountain top. The order was likely to recall any jedi not currently engaged to help with the reconstruction. There wouldn't be much time for relaxing or reconnecting. It would have to wait.

Kira and Iris walked back to the ship to find the rest of the crew ready for takeoff. Doc, however, waited by the hatch, wanting to hear about the debriefing. Kira brushed him off and went down to the lower deck to relax. Iris sighed before leading him to the bridge.

"That bad, huh?" Doc guessed as he sat next to Iris.

"You could say that," the jedi replied as she leaned back. Iris gave the details of her meeting with Darok and Theron. Once she was finished, Doc understood why Kira retreated so quickly.

"So, you think the colonel sent us away while he could attack Korriban? Why would he send us away for that?" Doc questioned as Iris shrugged.

"Theron said that he was going to investigate it. I'm not completely sure that this was just a bad judgement call or if the colonel was planning something else," the jedi replied. "Regardless of what happened, Kira and I have decided to help with the reconstruction of Tython. I can drop you and the others off on Coruscant so you can have a break."

"I doubt anyone will take a vacation right now. I'm sure there are people on Tython that could use a doctor right now, and I would love to see you try to convince Captain Republic and Mr. Sith to take a break on Coruscant for a few days."

"Fair point," Iris relented. Rusk would help Tython because of his devotion to her. Scourge probably wouldn't leave the ship much even if all the crew were to take a break. She put in the coordinates and jumped into hyperspace.

"I wanted to ask you something," Doc interjected as Iris leaned back in her chair.

"About what?"

"You seemed panicked when I entered your room the other day. Are you feeling alright? Have the nightmares returned?"

"No, it wasn't a nightmare exactly," she replied, turning towards him. "It was a vision, and it was strange. I was on the emperor's ship again, and I was running back to the hangar."

"That sounds like your nightmares."

"This was different. I wasn't scared or panicked, just a sense of urgency. And instead of our crew being dead on the ground, I could see everyone breathing. There were also strangers I didn't recognize, and there was a woman standing on the other side. She was ancient sith, and she defended you against republic and imperial soldiers," Iris quickly explained as he nodded.

"Did you recognize her?"

"No, but I remember what she looked like, and she carried two red sabers."

"That's not a whole lot to go off of," Doc sighed before he grabbed his datapad. "How did the vision end? Did we all die?"

"No, the sith woman won. Then she turned to me and smiled as if we were friends," Iris murmured, paying more attention to what Doc was doing. He was searching the holonet for sith women wanted by the Republic.

"Friends huh?" Doc chuckled as she rolled her eyes.

"Look, she saved us and then I woke up to bad news. What more would you like?"

"I guess I shouldn't complain since we survived your vision. That's a good omen, at least."

"I suppose," the jedi grumbled before Doc turned the datapad towards her.

"Is it her?" he wondered as he stared at her face. Iris stared back for a moment before glancing down at the screen. Her eyes widened as she realized that Doc had found the woman in her vision, and the irony almost made her laugh aloud.

The article was from the local news from a couple of months ago, reporting that the emperor had chosen a new Wrath. The article couldn't pinpoint why the sudden change, but Iris knew that end of the story. It continued to go on about how she had been at the forefront of many campaigns against the Republic, and they showed a picture of a fight between the sith and a couple of unfortunate soldiers. Iris stared at the woman and recognized her as the woman from her vision. What was the chance that she would be friendly with two Wraths?

"I'm going to take that as a yes," Doc replied before Iris relinquished the device. "I take back my good omen comment."

"There isn't much to worry about right now. She's across the galaxy right now, and we have more pressing issues right now," the jedi informed with a small smile. "If the Force wants to bring us together, then so be it. Until then, we shouldn't dwell on this."

"Fair enough," he relented, leaning back. "Do you think the Empire will try to take Tython again?"

"I'm not sure what anyone will do now. Both sides took a huge blow, and I'm not sure who will retaliate first. I doubt any side will be prepared for a fight right now," Iris theorized. Both planets were heavily damaged, both physically and symbolically. It would take time before either side gathered their strength again.

The two continued chatting as they traveled through space before they both turned in for the night. The rest of the journey to Tython was uneventful and smooth flying. Iris spent most of her time either on the bridge or meditating in her room. The others mostly kept to themselves, each taking the news of Tython differently but as expected.

It wasn't long before the ship landed at the station and the crew disembarked. As they walked toward the shuttle bay, Iris noted the large military presence everywhere. Troops from all walks of life were preparing for another potential attack. She greeted them kindly while they passed through to the shuttles. Many stared in their direction, shocked to be in the same space as a decorated celebrity. Iris never cared for the attention, wishing that she could go back to being a low level jedi again.

When they descended, the full destruction of the temple came into view. Instead of landing the shuttle on the shuttle pad, the shuttle landed in a field not too far from the temple. Iris left and saw the shambles, nearly tearing her heart in two. She could see the remnants of antiaircraft cannons, which were now being disassembled now. The stairs that led to the temple were cracked and falling apart. Iris was relieved to see the temple still standing, even if a few of the walls had taken heavy damage. Kira stood next to her and took in the destruction of their true home, and they did their best to hide their feelings.

However, word seemed to travel fast on the healing planet as Satele Shan walked towards the shuttle. Iris bowed respectfully, greeting the grand master. The woman returned the favor before gesturing forwards.

"I assume you're here to assist in the reconstruction," she guessed as Iris nodded.

"My crew and I decided to try and help anyway we can," the jedi replied. She heard a snort come from Scourge, but both decided to ignore them.

"Any help is welcome," Satele replied with a nod. As they approached, they navigated through the rubble that used to be the front door and entered the temple. The walls were crumbling and most of the ornamentation was missing. "We certainly have our work cut out for us."

"It would seem so," Iris agreed.

Satele explained the process and directed Doc towards the triage area. Teeseven followed him, beeping that Doc could use a hand. Satele suggested that Rusk join the other military volunteers, which he did dutifully. Scourge excused himself, stating that he would be most helpful being absent. The grand master nodded, respecting his wishes.

"As for you two, I think helping in the library for now would be best. It received the most damage from what we can see," the grand master suggested.

"Why did the imperials raid the library?" Iris wondered as they climbed the stairs.

"We aren't sure, but we have a few masters working on cataloging what's left. If something's missing, we should know soon. So far, nothing's been out of place," Satele explained as she stopped on the second floor. "If you need me, I'll be cleaning up the council chambers."

"Sounds good," Iris replied as they exchanged another customary bow. Kira sighed once Satele was out of earshot. Iris shared the sentiment.

The library was in pieces. The shelves that once held holocrons and books were now broken and falling apart. Rubble and holes littered the floor, and Iris could see down into the rooms below. A few jedi and padawans were already working inside, which brought hope to her heart again. It was nice to see everyone come together to rebuild. Iris went to one of the masters and asked where she and Kira should begin.