She heard the encroaching hum, the exacerbated discharge of the incoming blade as it tore through the dry dissilient air to her left. Kowani knew she only had fractions of a second to react before the charged blade found its mark. She drew in her breath to hold as she sought the only path she could out of the saber’s course, dropping her body to the floor just before the hum changed pitch, the blade swinging harmlessly where her head had been. Kowani flashed her facial expressions through a quick cadence of her own resolve before thrusting her angry saber blade through the air above her, blocking the quick change in direction her opponent had enacted. The furious crackle of the converging blades reached their own crescendo as they met each other in a twisted arc of furious execution, the air warm in their wake as charged sparks fell to her cheeks.
“I told you your sight was overrated.” Sabine said with encouragement, grunting quietly with the effort to keep Kowani from dropping her block outright.
Kowani deactivated her humming blade and rolled directly into Sabine’s legs, dislodging the Mandalorians stance momentarily as her right foot slid out from under her. She continued through her momentum, placing a mechanical appendage directly behind Sabine's left foot, locking it in place as she pushed through the remainder of the action bringing her to her knees with a jolt. Kowani loosed her left foot with a woosh of servos, firing to both feet before the prone opponent. She wrapped both hands around the hilt of the saber and brought it down upon Sabine's head, activating it through the motion with a harsh snap hiss.
“Score another round for the blind woman.” Kowani declared with little enthusiasm, her voice echoed through the vocater attached to her throat. She deactivated the blade again before removing it from its location, centimeters from Sabine's frontal lobe.
“You’re clearly not blind Ani, even if you don’t have your eyesight.” Sabine replied, accepting Kowani’s outstretched hand, “besides, CZ affirmed you it would return. Your blindness is only temporary.” She finished, firmly planting both feet on the metallic flooring of the upper turret of the old communications tower as she patted down her leggings. “And learning to utilize the benefits of that foot I might add.”
“Only testing CZ’s limits…” Kowani began then paused as the voice still felt cold and far removed from her own memories of it. “Sorry...this is taking some getting used to as well.” She attempted, struggling with the forced crackle and pings of electronic vowels.
“Ani, I know you’ve been through a lot recently, if the sparring is..” Sabine began with her warm empathy.
Kowani began shaking her head immediately, “it is welcome distraction if nothing else Sabine, we both need it.” She said, falling into an oblivious comfort with the twangs her voice projected. “And, you’ve been through just as much sister, let neither of us forget that.” She added, knowing she didn’t need eyes to see the forlorn and distant look upon Sabine’s face as she turned toward her own view of Capital city far in the distance.
“I still don’t understand why you insist on living all the way out here Sabine.” Kowani said as she joined Sabine in overlooking the vast stretch of plains, palming the guarding rail with both hands as her left foot locked into place with a refreshing wave of silence. She noted Sabines own silence and felt it best to let her sister contemplate her own musings while she just simply listened to the winds. They came in short gusting bursts from the hills to the South, carrying with them the sweet scents of Jogan fruit, ripened grains and the ever-persistent seaside scents of salty air and fresh fish. Kowani let them swirl their eddies around her exposed skin as she breathed them in deeply, the mingling sounds of mewling Lothcats adding their own soundtrack to the renewed prosperity of the local farmers. “It is amazing what can happen in a year Sabine.” She said finally, offering some positivity.
“Once Imperial contagion is stamped out, nature rushes back in to balance itself. The people of Lothal reap those rewards.” Sabine replied after her own deep breaths. “I am here because the attention anywhere else is too much Ani.” She finally answered Kowani’s question. “I am here because Hera is here.” She added before Kowani asked that particular question again.
Kowani chuckled briefly at Sabines attentiveness, assuring them both that, yes, she was prepared to ask that question again. “Lady Kryze is calling for the clans to lay down their weapons, have you heard from your mother?” She decided after a few moments to change the topic altogether, although unable to see the facial transformation, she heard the subtle change in breath and heartbeat Sabine suddenly underwent.
“The Alliance will not get involved in Sundari’s plight Ani, and yes, they are vacating Krownest for the Protectors stronghold…..and she’s your mother too….” Sabine returned quickly, the exchange, as well as the question, expected from Hera not Kowani.
“Hera would plead with them, but I take your meaning.” Sabine returned in absence, her mind seemingly quite distant to Kowani. “Just say it Ani.” Her sister surprised her, “she won’t let us take the ‘Ghost’ you know.” Surprising her further.
Kowani drew in a breath, trying in the process to remove her own apprehension, “I want to go back.” She said finally, blinking her sightless eyes several times in Lothal’s early morning sun, the breeze shifting her hair briefly across her forehead, “and why not, she’s got her hands full with that little guy.” Kowani added with a light chuckle, Sabine joining in without a second thought.
“It’s got nothing to do with the ship Ani, you know that.” Sabine replied, her laughter dying away on the morning breeze as Kowani felt the woman turn to her, “there just isn’t anything there, I’ve told you, those stones were obliterated.”
Kowani felt the lament in Sabine’s voice, knowing with all her heart that she would never bring up the loss of her cousin in rebuttal, but she couldn’t think of another starting point, “I will always count my stars by Cordon’s sacrifice Sabine, know that.”
Sabine drew in and held her breath for a moment before blowing it out with a deep sigh, “I do Ani, I do.” She turned from Kowani toward Capital city once again, “as does Tristan.”
“Your just not sure how much longer you can sit here doing nothing while they fight.” Kowani said, cutting directly to the point Sabine was contending with, eliciting a sharp intake of breath as she turned to face her again. “My mother and brother by Creed Sabine, not by blood. But I know what is important to you, and because it is, it is important to me as well.”
Sabine didn’t say anything immediately, looking into Kowani’s vacant eyes as they stare just off to the right a few degrees. “It is important to Hera as well.” Sabine said, internally torn between her familial obligation present, familial obligation light years away and Kowani’s recovery. She turned a final time to face the hills to the South, the breeze increasing slightly with the move. “I miss her too you know.”
“Then let’s find her.” Kowani argued through the words unspoken, knowing earnestly that Sabine needed some distraction just as much as she did, “if returning to Praxius is out of the question then we just start somewhere else.”
“It isn’t about Praxius at all Ani, I just don’t know what you expect to find there.” Sabine responded as she felt Kowani tugging lightly at her elbow, dropping her hands from the guardrail.
Kowani thought through the supposition, unwilling to admit to anyone, including herself, that she had sensed more on Conum Arnia than just a path forward at the time, “maybe some sense of peace, some conclusion to the chaos.” She said finally as she squared her frame before Sabine, centered as they were on the tower’s platform. Kowani opened a palm before her as Sabine placed the back of her hand within, closing her eyes as they both slowed their breathing.
Kowani had no idea what she would find, if there was anything to find, back on the planet that very nearly killed her, but could not think of beginning anywhere else. “It has been weeks,” she said lightly, pushing Sabine’s hand back toward her only to swivel her palm as the slowly enacted practice reached Sabine’s chest.
“It has been months in fact…” Sabine interrupted, reversing her own hand to push back toward Kowani, “I don’t think you realize how near death you were.”
“Bah…” Kowani grumbled softly, “realization is irrelevant Sabine, you remind me enough,” she intoned as they both bent their knees in unison, delivering the meticulous practice closer to the ground. The pair continued through their respective motions for some time, letting the action take with it the building frustration of clouded endeavors. Each forward motion a method of release for them both, forcing blockage and stagnation away from themselves and, conversely, each inward motion intended to bring with it clarity and focus. They were quiet for long moments, their breathing falling into a natural sync and cadence as they simply let Lothal be Lothal around them.
Warm winds began to replace the occasional breeze as they raced through, and finally over, the Southern hills, filling the vast expanse of prairie with the intoxicating scents of new life. Lothal’s sun finally worked up the courage to crest the tallest spires of the Capital building kilometers distant, its topmost adornments glimmering like a beacon in a sea of light. Neither Sabine nor Kowani could hear the other’s breathing over the melodic ramblings of native avians and chaotically chirping insects, a perfect harmony to the orchestra of life all around them. “What was Kanan like?” Kowani asked, surprising Sabine somewhat as she opened her eyes to narrowed cracks.
“Compassionate and understanding.” Sabine said without hesitation, a smile taking shape through her focused features. “Generous and kind.” She continued, the smile lifting the edges of her lips in memory, “I wish you could have known him…”
Although unable to see the smile adorning Sabines face Kowani mirrored the expression nonetheless, “I think I do know him Sabine.” She replied, smiling inwardly as widely as she was outwardly with the thought that she herself could use those same terms to describe this family on Lothal as well.
The passage of time seemed an afterthought as they began to slow their practice, finalizing the exchange with a simple bow of respect to one another. The winds themselves began to dwindle, transforming themselves back into the gentle breezes once again as the sun finally began to share its warmth with the skin on Kowani’s face. The dying gale within the recess of her ears echoing with subtle hints the winds had imparted, a natural speech that few could translate. She was vaguely aware of the Starport traffic, the mornings outward deliveries of cargoes to various independent systems within the sector as repulsors gave way to Ion thrust and the inverse of those same sounds as incoming deliveries immediately filled the vacated landing pads. She could, with intense focus, hear the seaside waves as they decanted onto both sandy beach and rocky outcropping alike, the calls of shoreline birds as they tussle between themselves for superiority over what is left in their wake. ‘How could Ahsoka not bask in what the Force offers here?’ She found herself questioning not for the first time. Her Masters admission made little sense to her at the time and increasingly more so now.
“Sandr should be back soon.” Sabine spoke up, presenting Kowani with a healthy dose of reality, her inward measure of the passage of time catching up with the present. The words were welcome but barren as Kowani’s attention suffered from their onset, a discombobulatory head shake enacted to reacquire the whispered sound of legend.
“Shhh….” Kowani stated in a hushed tone, tilting her head to the North as she raised a hand before her. Through the entirety of her own senses, she could swear she had heard the lone cry and howl of Lothal’s most mystic beast. Despite the efforts she was imparting toward her own adept hearing she could not perceive it again, only the breeze as it tugged at her hair in sporadic intervals.
“What is it?” Sabine asked, her own words a barely audible whisper.
Kowani wasn’t sure if she ‘should’ answer the question, preferring to retain the perceived howl inwardly, “I don’t know if it’s anything really,” she began in half truth, “with the loss of sight, I’ve come to rely heavily on what I can hear.”
Sabine blew out her breath slowly, “and what did you hear?”
“I don’t know Sabine…” Kowani stammered through her own hesitation, deciding finally that the information wasn’t worth keeping to herself, “it sounded like a wolf.”
Kowani could sense Sabine pulling herself away from her stance before her, hear the woman turn her head in a wide arc as her feet shuffled for the guardrail once again. “It was very distant….” Kowani began, “if at all.”
Sabine wasn’t listening. Although they had made their appearances since the Liberation, the wolves were rare indeed as most on Lothal could attest. “Ani, that could be significant!”
“Or it was just a family pet yearning for attention kilometers away…” Kowani added, “I don’t know.”
Sabine turned to her, “you can entertain your fantastic ideas of Conum Arnia, let me entertain mine.” She said in a light hearted chuckle, turning once again toward the southern hills. A beat upon the wind, a chugging methodical undertone, made itself known through the fracas of sound the two were enjoying.
“What is that?” Kowani asked, discouraged that the mechanical sound was drowning out the serene peace she was enjoying, its resonance only growing as it hammered away with authority. “Sounds like repulsors, massive ones at that.”
Sabine smiled to herself in earnest, “Sandr’s here.”
‘And why is that significant?’ Kowani thought to herself, the question taking on new meaning as the approaching sounds and Sabines particular phrasing both delivered an entirely unique perspective than the one she currently employed. She turned her head toward the oncoming repulsors as they chugged away, inverted gravity taking exception to the natural order. ‘Wait...why is THIS significant?’ The question taking on new meaning within her own thoughts, “Why?” She stammered over the simple question she hadn’t intended to ask.
“Because we may not need to ask Hera for the Ghost, that’s why…” Sabine said suddenly, Kowani keenly aware that she was missing something entirely, something large by the sound of it. About to ask what that something might actually be, it died on her lips as she heard the ping of Sabine’s anchor clamp, a sudden whoosh, and the twang of cable as it relaxed its tension under the Mandalorians weight, “Always in a rush.” Kowani said with a smile on her face, padding her way toward the tower’s elevator.
As the lift door hissed open with pneumatic bursts and the cinching grind of metallic obstruction, Kowani stepped through, feeling the solid duracreet under her boots. She appealed to the Force to grant her a suggestion of the paths its flows were taking, seeing its loving embrace trace through, and swirl around, three people. Sabine making her way to her side, Alexsandr Kallus and…. ‘Areti,’ Kowani thought through the name. She still found it hard to accept the woman, yet never would externally express or flag the sentiment outright. Areti had more than earned her respect, it was always the price of which that Kowani struggled to circumnavigate.
“The methods you two employed in the past are still quite practical Ani.” Kallus began his greeting, his footfalls a relaxed measure against metallic plating, quick bursts of coolant hissing their contents over what she could only imagine were hot repulsor generators given the pings and warbles of cooling metal. His words reflecting the very thought she had inadvertently resurfaced through memories gaze.
“It’s good that those old hands of yours are still quick enough to pull it off Sandr.” Kowani said with a twitter, the corners of her lips pulling up to complete the proper facial expression.
“Fair lash.” He responded as Sabine reached her side, offering a hand with a little too much excitement.
‘What is it?’ Kowani asked herself, noting the varying levels of secrecy being relayed by all three of them. Hushed tones, sidelong glances, swiveling necks, erratic hand gesturing, Kowani perceived every one of them. “I may be blind, but as it’s been pointed out already once today, I can still see.”
“Shut up Ani and come with me…” Sabine said, her voice crackling upward in tone with a gentle warble, Kowani unsure if in jest or emotion.
Kowani stopped suddenly as the two approached the exact position she Areti to be. She gently dropped Sabine’s hand and raised both of her own to rest them on the Chalactan’s shoulders. “I know I haven’t been particularly kind to you Areti, and I sincerely apologize for that.” She said, immediately pulling the woman into a tight embrace before she could offer any form of reply. “I appreciate all that you have done….and all that you have sacrificed.” Kowani continued, feeling the rigid stance and frame of the woman letting her guard down, each muscle under her finger tips relaxing in unison. Kowani was certain the matter would end there, that the woman within her embrace would solidify once again and regress to the calculating and impervious creature that she normally was but was tremendously surprised by the pressure behind Areti’s return gesture as her muscles seemed to relax even more.
“Well, that’s about time…” Sabine offered, neither of the woman inclining to end the embrace, “long overdue.”
As Kowani pulled her hands free from the embrace, Areti reached for her hands with a gentle tug, “she will always be remembered Ani,” she whispered, finalizing the moment with a gentle kiss upon the Mirialans forehead before backing away slowly. “Well, back it for me, mountains of data to compile.”
Kowani smiled at the both the exchange and the comment, knowing N’dali would have handled the situation in exactly the same way, “her legacy is now your legacy Areti.”
Kowani could hear the slight giggle escaping Areti’s lips, “an impossible act to follow Ani.”
Sabine’s light soled steps stopped at Kowani’s side, her hand taking Kowani’s once again, “we have a surprise for you.” She said, explaining the uncharacteristic exchanges earlier. Kowani, truly, wanted nothing more than the opportunity to venture deep into the Southern hills, surround herself with the peace and bliss that she had come to love on Lothal, as far away from Capital City as she could get. “Now I understand…”
“Understand what?” Sabine asked quickly, her tone indicating that Kowani’s comment wasn’t the expected response to her statement.
“Only that I understand why you do not utilize the apartment in the city.” Kowani said, letting Sabine guide her fully without restraint, her sister smirking her own response.
“Watch your step.” Sabine offered with a second hand on Kowani’s elbow, slowing the process somewhat as they both stepped onto a canted metallic surface.
The acrid aroma hit her at once, a tang of natural and unnatural bitterness in the air. The presence of light wafts of smoke still, a congealing blend of burning lubricants and friction wear, assailed her at once, prompting internal reactions of exiting the craft rather than entering it. She was certain her facial expressions were mirroring her thoughts as she let the features loosen to a more normal state, “It isn’t much right now Ani, but we have some of the best overhaulers in the sector, she’ll feel like new in no time.” Kallus said with a quick stammer…. ‘too late to hide the expression.’ Kowani thought.
The further Sabine escorted her within the vessel the more curious Kowani was becoming. She sensed, but could not explain, a feeling of familiarity within the hull. A sudden thought gripped her as she gently let Sabines hand fall away. With quick steps to her right, she reached out a palm with furtive grasps feeling her way toward the hull she knew to be there. Finding the cool metal against her finger tips she squared herself with the entrance of the bay they had entered, and side stepped until she felt the opposing metallic obstacle. ‘twelve meters.’ She thought to herself, the shuffling of feet and the almost inaudible reactions of the others brought another smile to her lips as she switched hands and turned one hundred eighty degrees. She walked forward and directly before the staircase she knew would be there, placing hands on either guard rail before shooting her way up them, skipping every other one. She took an abrupt right as she reached the upper deck, hearing the other three scrambling up behind her, reaching her level as she pressed her hands onto the comms suite she also knew would be there. The acrid smells forgotten, the taste of misaligned pins and leaking hyperdrive core disregarded, she smiled the biggest smile she had since Raada. “Where the hell did you find this!?” Kowani was shocked.
“Kuat, impound yards. It was due to be slagged.” Kallus intoned, his accented voice echoing within the vast suites bay, Kowani feeling the elation behind the words as she sensed the smile that accompanied them.
“How?” Kowani began, cutting herself off as emotion rushed to the forefront.
“How? Maybe Areti can answer that one.” Kallus answered.
“It takes teams to accomplish what N’dali did on her own, but we were able to utilize the masking routines you two perfected years ago, as well as Imperial protocol to force a blind eye toward the incursion, Ketsu came up big leading the distraction long enough to scrub the ship’s systems and allow Vizago’s crate to jump clean of the sector.” Areti relayed, Kowani sensing the woman’s inclusion went far beyond the means she hadn’t even credited herself for.
“It was a concerted effort by all Ani.” Sabine added, Kowani fighting back tears she couldn’t specifically determine. She rushed forward placing her hands around the holotable’s rim, remembering the stacks of chips that had been on one identical to it. She turned slowly to her right, staring blindly into the open doorway of the cockpit, remembering how one identical had hosted the single oddest phenomena she had encountered. She walked slowly to it, outstretching her hands above her head to rest upon the bulkhead as she breathed in the odors of fried circuitry and unkempt synth leather. Kowani could almost hear Ahsoka’s voice as the two found themselves in a cockpit identical the dusty confines of the one she now stood before, “I know Ani. It was my plan. I gave the orders. It was a different time and we had to get as many of you out as we could, but no one could have anticipated the lengths the Emperor would go to maintain secrecy. Each of them ended the same way and we abandoned the efforts right after Y’gall.” Kowani felt as if the words were just spoken, knowing precisely how she had responded when they were uttered the first time. She could see Ahsoka sitting in the pilot’s seat, her Lek’ku trailing over her chest as she focused on events transpiring outside the canopy, this iteration cracked, one of the panels missing completely.
“She isn’t much Ani, but we’ll get her space worthy in no time.” Sabine said after a few long moments had passed, the three exchanging worried glances between them spoke of concentrated mistake and outright concern.
Kowani spun on all them surprisingly, tears flowing freely from glassy eyes they knew she couldn’t see out of. Each of them made a sudden attempt to rush to the Mirialans side but Kowani held up a hand of rebuke. “Please do not take my reaction out of context.” She began, choking on her own sentiment in the most un-Mandalorian way she could have imagined, “she still contains a lot of memory for me, and I am overwhelmed at the moment...She….She’s perfect you guys!” She was finally able to iterate as the smile reappeared and stole across her face from ear to ear. “Thank you!”
“She’s going to need a name Ani.” Areti said with a N’dali like stoicism. “Take your time with that if you need, just let me know what you decide on so I can tag the ship accordingly.”
Kowani found the comment amusing certainly, in both its content and delivery, ‘how very much like N’dali.’ She thought it through, finding it difficult even now to move past her friend’s death, but knew there weren’t better hands to continue the Thebeskan’s legacy than those of the Chalactan. Kowani knew the name she would bestow upon this identical D5-Mantis without a thought given to the endeavor. “Morai.” She said with fervency. Dubbing the ship in much the same way Ahsoka had committed the name of its predecessor. “The Morai.” She repeated for her benefit alone.