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Xyshari. Lana.

When the whispers had started swirling around, Xyshari had instantly gone on high alert. She had defended people against a plague once before, but that plague was manufactured and was of the dark side of the Force, not an actual plague. She wasn't worried about herself - for the most part, she had kept herself healthy with the use of several Force techniques. She was more worried about her brother and her wife - her brother because he had never practiced the same technique to the extent she had, and her wife because she couldn't use the technique.

"It looks like the order to close spaceports is starting to go out," Lana said, looking up from her datapad as she lounged on one of the couches.

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"Well, fortunately we got here before they even thought about issuing the order," Xyshari said, turning away from the window as she heard the chorus of beeps and other droid sounds from her astromech and Ti's astromech conversing. "I'd have preferred to have my healer friend around, but... even though we may consider each other sisters, I don't know that she could abide my marriage to you as easily as Ti did."

"Well, that's because she's a Miraluka, Ona," Ti called from the other room, emerging after a moment with a tray with food on it. "She's much more in-tune with the Force than any of us would ever hope to be."

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"I don't know that I'd ever want to be that in tune with the Force," Lana said, accepting the plate of food from the tray when Ti offered it to her. "There were not many Miraluka within the Empire, because the dark side of the Force tends to... drive them insane. Look at Visas Marr, for instance," she said.

"He was being sarcastic, ra svet," Xyshari said, taking her own plate when he offered it. Both Lana and Ti's plates had included a small side salad, but Xyshari's had nothing of the sort to speak of. She smiled at her brother after a moment. "You remembered," she said.

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"Yes, let's not have a repeat of what happened the last time we were isolated away from civilization for months and you ended up sick because I didn't think to ask if you had any specific dietary needs, being a Cathar," Lana said. "I felt so terrible..."

"Wait... you tried to give her vegetables?" Ti asked, looking from Xyshari to Lana with an incredulous look. Xyshari nodded, offering her wife a sympathetic gaze.

"In her defense, I didn't bring it up until after the fact, and I... well, I was being polite!" she said. "I just didn't expect my body to rebel as... violently as it did."

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"Didn't you mention that you worked with the beastmasters in your old order?" Lana asked. Xyshari nodded after a few minutes, cutting her meat up and taking reserved bites of the meat.

"I did," she said. "There were also a couple of Togruta that worked with them as well. We... all kind of got dirty looks because we ate meat. It wasn't like we were choosing to ignore the fact that there was an alternative; to us, there was no alternative. Fortunately the two head beastmasters I served under understood this fact, it was just... everyone else," she said with a shrug, sipping from the cup. This time, she looked across the room to Lana.

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"Did I get it right?" Lana asked. Ti tilted his head curiously until he realized what was in his former master's cup. He chuckled as he shook his head slightly.

"How on earth do you still have a supply of H'kak powder, Ona?" he asked.

"Quite simply, I might have raided the stash at the last order we were in before we decided that going our own way would be more beneficial to us," she said. "After all, it was the one thing that brought me comfort in times of loss earlier in my life, and it maintained much the same effect throughout my life," she said. "And yes, you did get it right, ra svet."

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"Good, I'm glad," Lana said, sipping her own cup. "I was worried that I would make it too sweet, or not sweet enough. I take it that you are not much of a tea person, Ti?" Lana asked, looking over to the other human.

"No," he replied. "But, I might have to be, because the trade routes are also closed off now. Chances are the supplies of alcohol are going to dry up long before her H'kak powder does, unless her consumption rate skyrockets because of this."

"Especially if I end up mixing any of the alcohol into the tea," Xyshari said. "That was what happened when I first told Ken about my connection with Loq."

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"Isn't that when you found out he literally has a compartment in his armor for his alcohol?" Ti asked, moving to sit down next to his former master. She nodded as she laughed.

"One of many things I told him we would discuss at a later date... and then never did," she said, sighing heavily. "Honestly, though, with the shit he was expected to endure..."

"I can't blame him, either," Ti said. "So... what shall we do today? Given that we're kinda stuck planetside for the foreseeable future..."

"Could go into town and see what supplies we can stock up on," Xyshari suggested. Lana nodded in agreement.

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"A supply run does sound like a good idea," Lana said. "I'm sure the two of you could survive on next to nothing and be otherwise fine..."

"You greatly overestimate our connection to the Force in that case," Xyshari said with a laugh. "Trust me - the only reason Ti and I lasted as long as we did on Ilum when we were out there was because we were well-stocked to begin with. And when we started running out of stuff, we hunted the native life on Ilum."

"So her beastmastery expertise helped us make sure we didn't hunt something that we shouldn't have - and that we prepared it properly," Ti said. "I'll get the speeders ready."

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"They're all running smoothly?" Xyshari asked. Ti laughed as he nodded.

"They are - thanks for the help, Ona," he said. "I don't know what you managed to do that you were able to get them running as smoothly as you did..."

"Like Ken said, I apparently have a gift for mechu-deru," Xyshari said with a shrug. Lana hummed in amusement as she shifted to stand up, smoothing her tunic slightly.

"The use of the Force to manipulate technology," she said. "So, are you telling me you could have--"

"Nope," Xyshari answered deftly. "Doesn't work that way."

Ti glanced between the two women with a bewildered look, then slipped away to check the speeder bikes over.

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"Does he not know of what transpired?" Lana asked once he was out of earshot. Xyshari shook her head.

"That aside, I speak the truth. I can only use mechu-deru to manipulate technology. I cannot use it to actually see or hear through that tech," she said, folding her arms. "So I couldn't have just inserted myself into the system on Odessen to monitor communications when we suspected there was a traitor - before we knew it was Theron," she said.

"Ah," Lana said. "I suppose that is fair."

"Besides, even if it did work that way, I would not have done that. It would not have... felt right," Xyshari said.

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"You're right, that would be a line too far to cross," Lana said with a sigh. "But what optimizations did you make to the speeders?"

"Realigned the fuel lines, optimized the flow of electricity... stuff like that," Xyshari said. "I just did what felt right when I was navigating the circuitry of the bikes."

"I see," Lana said. "...actually, no, I don't, but I trust that you do and I'll leave it at that. I know there's no way that you would ever do something to purposely sabotage any of us."

"Considering that, when either of you die... all three of us will?" Xyshari said.

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Lana inhaled deeply as her wife reminded her of that fact. While she herself was not Force-bonded to Ti, Xyshari was Force-bonded to both her and to Ti. That would create a ripple effect through the Force that would affect all three of them, and whenever any of them thought about it, they could immediately feel the other - or other two, in Xyshari's case - adamantly shut down the thought. They were, for the moment, safe - and that was all that mattered.

"We should finish getting ready to run into town for supplies," Lana said after a moment. Xyshari nodded, pulling her saber pike from her belt and extending it fully, placing a cap on the emitter so that it gave the appearance of a walking staff.

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"It feels like you've done that before," Lana said, and Xyshari smiled as she nodded.

"Once before," she said. "It was right after I had recovered from nearly dying, so I actually needed it because I was still physically recovering from it."

Xyshari didn't have to say anything more. Lana could see the incident which she was talking about in her mind's eye; Xyshari had managed to drag herself to an isolated patch of foliage away from where any prying eyes might see her. She had reached out to Ti, had barely managed to establish a connection with him and show him exactly where she was through telepathy, and then had passed out.

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Ti had rushed there as fast as he could, and had arrived where she was hidden in near-record time. She stirred slightly when he got there, and she had offered a faint smile to him before she had lost consciousness again. Luckily, he'd had a med droid on board, who had tended to her wounds and brought her back from the brink of death. He'd brought her here - to the very planet they were on, to the very structure, even - for her to recover.

"It seems I owe him a great deal of thanks," Lana said with a faint smile.