"So, Seth...I feel like kind of a bitch now," Nova murmured.

"What? Why?" he replied, startled out of the near half-doze he'd fallen into with her still in his arms, both by her sudden words and by what she had said. They were both nude and laying together, embracing on the bed.

"I got all wrapped up in getting off, I completely forgot to ask...what happened out there? When you ran off?"

"Oh." He paused, considering it. It was important.

"If you don't want to talk about it-"

"No, no it's fine, Nova," he replied. "I just...I kind of freaked out. I kept thinking of all those people who died on Taris. It was filling my brain. I was just-I kept asking myself over and over again, what does it matter? If the Sith can just kill a planet like that, then what does anything I do matter? You know?"

"I know exactly how you feel," Nova whispered. "But you came back in so much calmer...what did Maya say to you?"

"She said-" he paused, suddenly picking up on something in her voice. "Are you...jealous?"

"No!" Nova replied, then sighed. "No, I'm just...okay, I get a little touchy in the beginnings of relationships...I mean, not that this is a relationship, but you know what I mean. Flings. Affairs. Whatever. Don't worry, I'm not going to let it affect what we've got going on."

"It's okay," he said, then laughed a little bit.

"What?" she all but demanded.

"It's just...I don't know. It seems a little silly, you being jealous. You're so freaking attractive. I mean beyond that just incredible body you have and how clearly skilled you are in bed, you can fight better than most soldiers I've severed with. You're a good person, you're brave, you're competent and a total badass. What do you have to be worried about? If anything, I'm the one that should be worried," he replied.

"Why's that?"

"I mean...well, just look at me. I'm not very attractive, I've got all these ugly ass scars. More now since I got burned coming down from the Spire..." he murmured, looking down at his right bicep. That was where the most prevalent scarring from the burns was.

"Well, Seth, I happen to think you are very handsome. And scars are hot. And, believe it or not, personality means a lot to me. You...Seth, you were willing to die to help those people. I was nervous before, but you made it happen. That is attractive."

"So you trust me now?" he asked.

She opened her mouth, then faltered. "Well, I'm sleeping next to you."

"That sounds like an evasion, Nova."

"Well, I mean...do you trust me?" she asked.

"Yes," he replied simply. "I trust you, Nova."

"I..." she worked her mouth for a few seconds, then sighed. "I'm sorry. I do...trust you, Seth. I just...I have a hard time with trust."

"It's okay," he said. "I won't push."

"Thank you. I appreciate it. So you didn't answer my question. What did she say to you?"

"She said...you know what? I can show you, actually. I want to show you. Come on, you'll love this," he said, getting up suddenly.

"I'll need a shower," Nova said.

"Yeah, I guess I will, too."

* * *

They showered, and then dried and dressed, and Nova tracked down a comm link. When they went onto the bridge to hook it into the ship's own comm network, they passed Yex standing with a pair of technicians, a human woman and a male twi'lek, instructing them on something. After they'd linked the comms, they left the ship.

"Oh wow," Nova whispered as they walked down the ramp. "This is just...incredible."

Seth had to agree. He actually didn't remember much from his earlier trip outside, when he was losing his mind, but now he took it all in. Dantooine was absolutely beautiful. The landing pads, (there was no port yet, just a trio of freshly constructed concrete pads), were built onto a rise of land that overlooked not just the colony itself, but miles and miles of the surrounding area. He saw a forest, to the far north, and other stands of trees, small copses and larger collections. He saw rivers cutting tracks through the grasslands, leading into and out of lakes. He saw ponds, little glades, and farms scattered across the area.

Below, he could see the colony itself, which wasn't very large, a collection of newly constructed metal structures arranged around a few roads. There were maybe two dozen structures. Some of them housing complexes, and he saw what must be the administration building, the largest structure in the area at the head of the colony, the clinic, and several other buildings that he couldn't easily identify. Probably industrial in nature, rather than commercial. Stores and shops and cafes would probably come later.

Behind them, in the far distance, he saw a row of massive wind turbines, spinning lazily. One of them wasn't moving.

All of this was presided over by a cloudless blue sky and a brilliant, clean sunshine. Well, not completely cloudless, he saw. In the far distance, he saw a gray cloud front. Rain? Please, by the Force, let it rain soon.

And...

Something else.

"What is that?" Nova asked, clearly amused.

A large, gray...thing with a narrow tail and broad...Seth was reluctant to call them wings, but he supposed the word would do, was flying gently through the sky. Sailing, actually. Sailing, gliding maybe, through the sky about a hundred feet up.

"I have no idea, but...I like it," Seth replied.

Nova giggled. "I do, too. It's...cute."

Seth looked back at the colony. Some people were walking through it in the early morning sunshine, going about their jobs. "Come on," he said, offering her his hand, "let's go down there and see if we can find anyone we know."

She took his hand, grinning and lacing their fingers together. "Let's."

They walked together down to the newly established settlement, and ran into the first familiar face within just a few minutes. Sally, one of the gate guards, was hardly recognizable. She was clean, mainly, looking fresh and happy, her hair washed and pulled into a tight ponytail, cut shorter than when she'd been in the Undercity. She seemed...taller. No, he realized. She was standing up straighter. And she was smiling. He wasn't sure he'd actually seen her smile once during his tenure down there. Grin grimly maybe, but not smile.

She was smiling when she found them.

She had on a suit of brand new Republic mod armor that gleamed nicely in the sun. "Seth! Nova!" she said happily, stopping to speak with them. She had a blaster rifle, hanging from a shoulder strap that also looked new.

"Sally," Nova said. "You look wonderful. And...healthy. And happy."

"Thanks, all three accounts," she replied, practically beaming. "I got a job, too. Security, morning shift. I love it so much. As for the healthy thing, yeah. Been working big time on that. They shoved me in the infirmary when I first got here. Ran a full scan, made me sleep for a full night, pumped me full of vitamins and nutrients and supplements and all sorts of crap. I was dehydrated, sick with something, too, sleep deprived..." She lost her smile suddenly.

"I didn't realize...how bad I was. You know, I was exiled when I was fifteen, twenty years ago. I was homeless, living in the Lower City...got caught stealing from someone important when I snuck up to the Upper City. Wrong place, wrong time. Got thrown through the 'legal system' and wound up downstairs. And I spent so long feeling tired, sick, disgusting, angry, hungry...I had completely forgotten what it was like to feel just...normal again. The background static of all that has finally fallen away because I'm getting healthy again! I had forgotten what happy was. I didn't think it was possible any longer..."

She hesitated, swallowed, blinked a few times. "I just wanted to say thank you-" Her voice cracked and she cleared her throat. "To both of you. If it wasn't for you, I'd...we'd all still be there on Taris. Probably dead, actually. And...I don't have words to describe to you how much this means to me. I will never be able to properly thank you for what you have done for me."

"I...don't know what to say, beyond: you're welcome. And you deserve it, being here. You've earned it, Sally," Nova replied quietly.

She smiled and seemed to find her emotional feet again as she sniffed and rubbed at her eyes. "Well, I'm earning it, at least. They've put me to work as security. Me and Zacden, actually. He's still grumpy, but he's actually enjoying himself, obviously. Who wouldn't, under these circumstances? I think I saw Essale unloading crates."

"Yes, I saw her earlier this morning," Seth replied.

"A few of the others are still back at the Jedi Enclave. They were in bad shape, or needed surgery, or extended stays for illnesses. I'm not sure what they're going to do, but I'm staying here. I love this place. I want to help build this place, want to help keep it safe. And..." she paused, and looked around, "isn't this the most beautiful place you've ever seen?"

"Yes," Nova replied.

"It is," Seth agreed. "This place is wonderful."

"So much better than Taris..." She sighed and adjusted the strap of her rifle. "Well, I really need to get back to patrol. Have to keep watch out. There's apparently some Mandalorians about."

"Mandalorians? Here?" Seth asked, feeling a cold stone of worry drop into his gut. He felt Nova tense at his side.

"Yeah, I guess so. Haven't seen any myself, but we're on alert. Anyway, um...thank you again. Truly. If you need anything, please just ask. Also, I'm curious, what do you plan on doing?"

"Well, we're staying here for now, and helping out. Seri and Yex are around, too," Seth replied.

"I'll have to go see them. Well, thanks again. I have to go."

They said their goodbyes and Seth and Nova watched her go, resuming her patrol.

"This is what you wanted to show me," Nova said quietly.

"It's what Maya showed me," Seth replied. "What she made me understand. Put into words. I guess, the simplest way I can put it is, we didn't save Taris. We couldn't, obviously. We didn't save everyone at the settlement, either. But we saved Sally. We saved Essale. We saved those who we did. And it matters to them. What we do matters to the people we help. That's how I'm kind of...getting a handle on things."

"Yeah..." Nova murmured. "It...makes sense." She sighed suddenly, looked around Dantooine. "I guess I've got some thinking to do myself while I'm here. Come on, let's see if we can find some others."

They set off again.

* * *

They had another hour or so before Maya tracked them down via comms.

She had them come to the administration building, and now they were on approach. He was holding hands with Nova and enjoying their time together immensely. It felt so good to just...take a walk with a girl he liked. (And was sleeping with.) Especially on a place as warm and beautiful as Dantooine, among people who they had saved. The administration building sat at the northern end of the colony, at the end of the central road, and was easily the largest building in the area. Not that it was particularly big.

Two stories, roughly L shaped, lots of windows that looked into what mostly seemed to be offices and the like. They walked in through the front doors, letting go of each other, at least trying to appear professional. He had sensed a tension in her that hadn't left ever since their conversation with Sally, probably because he had that exact same tension as well. He knew what had set them both off: Mandalorians.

Could they truly be here, on Dantooine?

It seemed impossible that such a such a beautiful, peaceful place could be home to such a reckless, bloodthirsty group as the Mandalorians. But life seemed to enjoy punishing you for what you couldn't imagine. And he knew it was all too possible. A lot of Mandalorians had been killed in the war, but not all of them. And those that survived had scattered to the solar winds. Some ended up as bodyguards, some as mercs for hire, some he'd heard had reformed into clans and were trying to get the old 'glory days' going again, assaulting outlying and peaceful worlds.

Well, if that's what they'd decided to do here, then they were going to die.

Plain and simple.

They came into the reception area and Seth looked around. It looked freshly constructed, understaffed, and pretty bare. There wasn't even anyone at the front desk, nor anyone sitting around in the waiting area. Seth walked up and knocked on the wooden surface of the desk. There was a pause, then, after several moments, someone finally appeared from a doorway behind it. He was a young guy, barely out of his teens, and he looked tired and hassled.

"Hello," he said, trying to sound not stressed out, "how can I help you?"

"We're looking for Maya, the Jedi," Seth replied.

"Oh, yes. Uh...through that door there, all the way to the end of the hall," he replied, seemingly relieved, possibly to be faced with a problem that he could so easily and quickly solve. They thanked him and headed deeper into the building.

There were several doors along the walls of the main corridor. Some led to offices, a few to bathrooms, a break room, what looked to be simply storage areas, and not well-organized ones either. Finally, they came to a few conference rooms, and here Maya and a middle-aged woman were, talking quietly together, their heads bowed over a table, studying something intently. Seth knocked lightly on the door.

They both looked up, annoyed, but Maya's features smoothed out when she saw him and waved them in.

"Hello," she said, smiling. "Madeline, these are the two I was telling you about. The fighters."

"I hear you want to help," the woman, Madeline said. She had that amiable tone that came from years of speaking to subordinates and addressing boardrooms full of execs and business types. She sounded pleasant enough, but very competent and a bit stern. Exactly the kind of person you wanted administrating a freshly built colony.

"We fully intend to help," Nova replied.

"Excellent. We could use the help of a few skilled fighters. Please, come here," she said, motioning to them and making room at the table.

They joined her and Maya and Seth found himself looking down at a holographic display being projected from a portable device. It showed what he quickly realized was a topographical map of the area. He saw the colony and the landing pads, several outlying farms, heavily forested areas, and the line of wind turbines.

One of them was flashing red.

"These eight wind turbines here currently represent our most valuable asset at the colony, besides the colonists themselves. They provide power not only to the colony, but to the farms as well. We have generators but the amount of power we need is too much for them. If even one is down, it's a problem. And one of them has gone down. It happened sometime last night, and at present, no one has responded to our comms calls. We haven't yet had an opportunity to send someone out here. I admit I am a little...paranoid, with word of Mandalorians around. If you two would be so good as to take a swoop bike out there and investigate, I would greatly appreciate it. And if you need assistance, I do have a small squad on alert. They can be there in fifteen minutes."

"That's pretty abysmal for reaction time," Seth murmured.

"I know. I'm sorry, it's the best I can do," Madeline replied curtly.

"It'll have to do then," he said. "I guess we'll just have to not need backup. But don't worry, we'll get the job done. Although..." He realized that he had yet to actually get his hands on any kind of real gear, and suddenly regretted that he hadn't taken the opportunity to check out the ship's armory, (if it even had one), or the rest of the ship for that matter, and start putting together his requisition form. "We're going to new gear: armor, weapons, energy clips, a few blades if you can spare them."

"Yes, we thought of that. Please, come this way," Madeline said, turning about face and leading all three of them out of the room.

They moved down the next section of the admin building, passing some more secure areas. They passed a door that led into an area with a row of very heavy doors. "What's that?" he asked, pausing and glancing in.

"Lockup," Madeline replied.

"You had to use it yet?" Nova asked as they resumed walking.

"Not yet, thankfully. I'm hoping we have to use it very little. Really, it's just a holding area. Half of them are full of storage crates at the moment since we're short on space. In the event something serious does happen, we'll have to hold them until someone can come pick them up and take them to a larger settlement for trial. And here we are, our armory."

A bored-looking man was sitting in a small, enclosed area behind blaster-proof glass. He looked up and snapped to attention when he saw them.

"Administrator," he said tightly.

"Hello, Alan. Please make a note in the log that these two are to have access to the armory. They're here to help and represent the Jedi Enclave and the Republic."

"Yes, ma'am," he replied, then turned his attention to the two of them. "Names?"

"Sergeant Seth Kast."

"Nova Star."

He pursed his lips, briefly scrutinizing Nova, then just typed it into his terminal. Seth realized that he'd never heard her last name before, or if he had, he'd forgotten. It was unlikely that that was her real name, but a lot of bounty hunters took on new or fake names. He just hope she had some kind of legal papers to back it up somewhere.

Once they were entered into the database, he had them press their thumbs against a small pad, then entered that into the database as well. Seth was used to this, but Nova looked a little uncomfortable. He sympathized. Given what little he knew about her, she seemed like she liked to have as little info about her out there as possible.

When that was over, they were granted access to the armory through a heavy, reinforced door to the left of the glass cubicle. Seth stepped inside first and looked around. He wasn't particularly impressed with what he saw, but he reminded himself that this was a newly formed settlement, not a military outpost.

"That's mine," he said as he spied a set of shiny, polished silver Republic mod armor.

"You can have it. Can't really see myself in that armor," Nova replied.

She herself selected a suit of tan basic combat armor, like the one she'd had back on Taris, only this was also brand new and fresh, looking like it had never been used. The pair of them quickly began suiting up right there.

"What kind of situation might we be looking at?" Seth asked as he pulled the armor on.

"We're concerned that it might be Mandalorian raiders. Or some other opportunistic thieves," Madeline replied. "Unfortunately the wind farm represents a significant investment of resources. I've been concerned of something happening ever since they went up last month. Each building does have its own security system, but it's rather rudimentary, and we simply don't have the manpower to provide any kind of consistent patrol. We've been relying largely on luck. Because it's down right now, three farms are relying on generators, and one just reported that its generator malfunctioned, so they're completely without power. And it has placed an additional strain on the colony