All he could hear were the screams of the dying, playing on a constant loop in his head. I’m sorry. It’s all my fault. “Take us home,” he said, shrugging free of Tarr’s embrace and heading for the door. “Take us home.”

At different times in their lives, they’d been as close as two beings could be. She knew him better than anybody, and she could tell Elzar was aware of the real answer to her question. He was searching for the version he wanted to share. What he was willing to tell her.

“Thank you, Master Elzar. I just hope you’re right and this new insight proves useful. I can’t help thinking I should have seen it sooner.” Elzar put a hand on Reath’s shoulder, squeezing gently. “You’ve seen it now. That’s all that matters.”

Elzar Mann, her oldest, closest friend in the Order, was in a Vector of his own, flying a single-person version of the ship near one of the system’s three suns. He was almost always alone. Avar was one of only two Jedi he worked with regularly - it was just her and Stellan Gios.

“Hmm, yes, hard to choose. Hard to live. Choosing and living are the same, perhaps?” “To live is to choose,” Elzar said, “every day. What to say, who to say it to, what to eat, when to sleep, how to listen, who to be.” Elzar looked at Yoda. “How to love and serve the Force.”

She glanced at him. He looked good. Happy, his dark eyes shining, a grin lighting up his face, though that could be due to the drink in his hand. She didn’t know what it was, but she knew Elzar, and so odds were it was the finest intoxicant their hosts had available.

Elzar hadn’t wanted to share his information on comm. The cryptic reasoning had made Avar want to tease him for trying to be a spymaster, but the stakes were too high. “This isn’t a moment for me to hold back,” he had said. “Maybe that time in my life is over.”

Avar wrinkled her nose dramatically. Elzar wanted to touch his nose to hers, as silly as it sounded. Their fingers were still entwined. Elzar felt almost giddy about it suddenly, like when they were kids.

Even out here, far from the city, the atmosphere was electric, and Elzar, more so than any Jedi Stellan had ever met, was affected by his surroundings. Others saw it as a failing, but Stellan knew it as the way Mann connected to the Force, how he thought the way he did.

“I just told Master Yoda I won’t take the seat.” “Are you all right?” She caught his gaze. “It was the right decision. I…I’m good at what I’m doing, even when it includes sit-down dinners with Ghirra Starros.” Avar wrinkled her nose dramatically.

“Can you get to her?” “Klerin? Sure. Why, what are you thinking, Elzar?” “Just do it.” The connection went dead. The man was brilliant, but boy, was he infuriating at times.

He was looking up at the first wink of the third moon. Light from the cityscape glinted in Elzar’s warm eyes. She could see the lines of stress, drawing out from the corners of those eyes, but they were hidden around his mouth by the soft beard. He was so handsome, Avar thought.

What if trying really was enough? That’s all Stellan had been trying to do, wasn’t it? The right thing. And Elzar, too, when everything went wrong for him on Starlight. They’d all made mistakes. Terrible mistakes. They’d allowed the Nihil to win. But at least they’d tried.

“You should take some time. Meditate and reflect. We have all lost a great deal, you more than most.”

He’d certainly argued plenty with the Council before. This time he stopped. This wasn’t about policy or rescue missions. This was just about him and his future at a time when some nights he couldn’t sleep because he feared none of them had a future at all.

Stellan crossed his arms. Elzar mirrored the gesture, although Stellan doubted it was subconscious. Elzar never did anything subconsciously.

Elzar had rarely felt like more of a hero than he did the moment he reentered the docking bay hauling a repulsor pallet of power cells. It wasn’t just the stranded passengers who began whooping and cheering; Nib Assek looked like she might kiss him.

“Taking people in on foot has become significantly riskier. While Burryaga, Stellan, and I can provide some cover with our lightsabers, rathtars are…challenging.” “Don’t be polite! They’re enormous tentacled jerks!” Pikka Adren called. Elzar simply nodded.

Even out here, far from the city, the atmosphere was electric, and Elzar, more so than any Jedi Stellan had ever met, was affected by his surroundings. Others saw it as a failing, but Stellan knew it as the way Mann connected to the Force, how he thought the way he did.

He was always driven to push the boundaries and try new things…things that usually ended with all three getting in trouble. Together. Always together.