Spoiler:
REVAN SHIVERED IN THE COLD. Beside him, Malak said something, but the fierce wind whipping across the plateau devoured his words.
“What?” Revan shouted.
“Are you sure it’s here?” Malak called back.
“It’s here,” Revan said with a nod. “I can feel it.”
“Maybe it’s on the other side.”Revan glanced over at the other peak rising up beside them, barely visible through the swirling snow. It was nearly identical to the one they were on— a tall, narrow column of wind- carved ice and snow rising up several kilometers from Rekkiad’s surface, its peak worn to a smooth, flat plain of ice.
“
It’s this one,” Revan answered confidently. “The entrance is around here somewhere.” The two figures moved slowly back and forth across the exposed plateau, searching with the Force as much as with their eyes.
“Here!” Malak shouted. “I found it!”
Revan woke from the dream with a start, his mind groggy as he tried to get his bearings. It was cool in the thermal tent he and Canderous shared. The insulated lining kept out the worst of the weather, but the nighttime temperatures were still low enough that Revan felt a chill through two layers of clothes and his sleeping bag.
As his eyes adjusted to the soft glow of the small heater in the center of the tent, he was able to make out more details of his surroundings. Canderous was still asleep beside him, wrapped tightly in his sleeping bag and snoring loudly.
Revan’s mind began to reassemble the bits and pieces from the previous night.
He’d hoped Canderous would offer more details about his marriage to Veela after she’d stormed out of the supply shack, but he’d stayed silent on the subject. Despite his curiosity, Revan hadn’t pressed him. Instead they’d spent the rest of the night celebrating the big man’s return to his people. Edric and the others offered up countless tales of Canderous’s youth. His many battles and victories against overwhelming odds were the stuff of legend among Clan Ordo.
They’d also offered up plenty of kri’gee, a bitter Mandalorian ale. Not wanting to be resented as an outsider, Revan had matched the other revelers drink for drink. The vile beverage packed plenty of kick; he hadn’t had a hangover this bad since his wedding night. His head was pinning, his eyes were blurred, and his mouth tasted like he’d been chewing on bantha fur. He’d still be sleeping it off if not for the dream.
REVAN DREW KARPYSHYN
No, not a dream. Another memory bubbling to the surface.
He and Malak had been searching for something here on Rekkiad. Something that was somehow connected to Mandalore’s Mask. He didn’t know what it was, but with a little help he might be able to use the details of his dream to figure out where they had been looking.
He peeled back the sleeping bag and immediately felt goose bumps prickling up on the fl esh beneath his long- sleeved shirt. Ignoring the cold, he picked his way through the semi- darkness until he found his personal holocomm lying under a pile of clothes in one corner of the tent.
Scooting back into the warmth of his sleeping bag, Revan activated the device. “Tee- Three, can you read me?”
A tiny holographic image of the droid materialized in front of him, beeping with concern.
“Everything’s fine,” Revan reassured in a whisper. “Just try to keep it down. Canderous is still asleep.”
The astromech’s response was an excited whistle, though the volume was slightly lower than before.
“See? I knew you’d be able to put the Hawk back together without my help.”
T3 beeped indignantly.
“Yeah, that snow gets everywhere. But it’ll melt. Besides, you can worry about that later. I need you to do something for me. Start scanning the topography maps for two massive columns of ice standing close together. Two or three kilometers high, at least. When you find them, send me the coordinates.”
There were roughly thirty seconds of silence on the other end before T3 chirped a reply.
“Great work, Tee- Three. Remember, keep an eye on the ship. I’ll call you if we need anything else.”
Revan turned off the holocomm, knowing the easy part was over. T3 might have been slightly annoyed with him, but dealing with the droid was going to be a whole lot easier than getting the snoring giant beside him up and moving.
“Wake up,” he said, reaching across the heater to shake Canderous out of his slumber. “We need to talk.”
Canderous grumbled something profane in Mando’a at him and rolled over onto his other side.
“It’s important,” Revan said, shaking him even harder. “You have to get Veela to move the camp.”
REVAN DREW KARPYSHYN
“Huh? What? What about Veela?” Canderous mumbled, opening one eye.
“You have to get her to move the camp.”
The eye closed again. “That’s her call, not mine. She’s the clan chief.”
“I think they’re looking for Mandalore’s Mask in the wrong place.”
Both eyes snapped open, and Canderous levered himself up to a sitting position. “Well, why didn’t you say so?”
“EVERYBODY’S HERE,” Veela declared. “Say what you have to say.”
Revan’s head was still pounding from the kri’gee, and in the close quarters of the supply shed her voice was loud enough to make him wince.
Including Canderous and Revan, a total of eight had gathered for the impromptu council. Veela had called them together at Canderous’s insistence— three men and two women. Edric was there, and Revan recognized most of the others from the night before, though he couldn’t recall their names.
“We have to move the camp,” Canderous told them.
As when they first arrived, Revan and Canderous had decided to let Canderous do most of the talking. It would be easier to convince the Mandalorians if they heard the idea from one of their own— provided Veela was willing to listen to anything her husband had to say.
“Move the camp?” she asked incredulously. “You think it’s so easy to just pick up and go?”
“It took our scouts weeks to fi nd this location,” one of the other women chimed in.
“This is a good spot,” Edric agreed. “We’re sheltered from the worst of the wind and snow. The mountain protects us from getting flanked, and the only way in is right past our sentries.”
“Give me one good reason we should move,” Veela demanded.
“Because we’ll never find Mandalore’s Mask if we stay here,” Canderous answered.
There was a long moment of silence, his words hanging in the air.
“Nobody knows where Revan hid the Mask,” Veela said quietly.
“The clans have each staked out their territory, hoping it’s in their destiny to find that which we all seek.”
“Seems like a poor way to choose a leader,” Revan offered.
Veela glared at him, but it was one of the other women who replied.
“Fate will make the choice for us. Whichever clan is destined to find the Mask, will.”
REVAN DREW KARPYSHYN
“Is that how all the clans ended up here on Rekkiad?” Revan countered. “Fate? Chance? Blind luck?”
“You show your ignorance when you speak of things you don’t understand,” Veela said. “Fate and destiny are not the same as luck. It was not chance that brought us here. It was persistence. Perseverance.
We are here because we are strong.” She paused a moment, then continued a little more calmly. “When Revan hid Mandalore’s Mask, most of our people scattered in disgrace. But some of us refused to give up. We stayed behind to look for what was lost instead of running off to become mercenaries and hired thugs.”
As she spoke, her eyes flicked toward Canderous. Revan followed her gaze to see his friend staring at the floor in shame.
“For years we have kept up our search,” she continued. “We know Revan disappeared for three days after the massacre at Malachor Five. There are only a handful of stable hyperspace lanes in that sector, only a few dozen habitable planets he would have been able to journey to in that time. So we have been searching each world in turn, scouring the surface meter by meter. On the first world there were less than fifty of us; it took us two years to explore the entire planet. But with each world our numbers grew. More clans joined in the search, and each clan’s numbers increased. Our quest gave us purpose; it united us as a people once more.”
She looked back at Canderous. “Slowly those who turned their backs on the Mandalorian ways have come trickling back. Now we number in the thousands. Over a hundred clans have gathered on Rekkiad. If we fail to find the Mask here, we will move on to the next world. And our numbers will continue to grow. Eventually we will find what we seek. And when one of our own finally reclaims Mandalore’s Mask, our numbers will be legion. On that day the new Mandalore will call upon the armies of our people, and we will answer!”
She turned and glared at Revan once more. “That is what we mean when we speak of fate,” she concluded “We will find what we seek. It is inevitable. It is the destiny of our people.”
The end of her speech was marked by a solemn silence. Looking around the room, Revan could see the power her words had on the other Mandalorians. Even Canderous had been moved.
“I can help you achieve your destiny,” Revan promised. “I know where Revan hid the Mask. Listen to me, and I will help you find it.”
“Impossible,” Veela said with a shake of her head. “Nobody knows where he hid Mandalore’s Mask.”
“I have access to resources you don’t,” Revan insisted, choosing his words carefully. “Republic records. Military transcripts. Battle plans. Flight paths and navigation charts. You say you aren’t even