"They say you are a coward"
Cato had spent his whole life running. It was all he could do. When he fought, he lost. He ran from his home, his friends, his cause, his purpose.
Now hiding on a distant planet, Cato has started a new life. His past is...
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☆☆☆
Getting Cato back was impossible.
At least, that's how it felt as Din and Adrestia sat in Adrestia's study brainstorming, the other Mandalorians and Âzel filtering in and out to help before going and resting or training or checking up on Azio, who was still recovering in the infirmary after nearly being killed by the explosion Cato had set off in Niss Zar.
"And Kol still doesn't know what drugs were used?" Din asked, faintly feeling like he had maybe asked this question a few times already.
Adrestia sighed heavily and shook her head, rubbing her forehead. "No. At least not beyond the one we already knew about which is—,"
"Loosely related to spice," Din finished the sentence with her. "I remember," he sighed and slumped back in his chair, looking over the projections of data and information. "And why can't she see what they are?" He asked, looking at the complicated diagram displaying several different molecules and comparing them to others as well as showing a couple colour coded scans of Cato's brain.
With a huff, Adrestia shifted through a couple pages of data. "There's something blocking our scanner. It won't identify the molecules," she said. "You said the Jedi called it the Dark Plague?" she asked, moving on to another projection filled with tiny rows of text. Din nodded. Adrestia scrolled through the text, occasionally pausing to mark something on a datapad.
Din had already tried to read the massive tome Adrestia had acquired, but quickly gave up when he realised it was written in an archaic version of Basic and was next to impossible to understand.
Adrestia shook her head absently as she looked from her datapad to the hologram. "We need to get this translated," she sighed. "There could be something in here," she pressed a button on her vambrace, speaking into it. "Y'iyn, I need you in my study. Bring anything you will need for translating text from the time of the Old Republic," she ordered before moving to a different part of the table and staring at a piece of paper with a bunch of notes scribbled on it. "The Jedi was named Ahsoka Tano, yes?" she asked.
"Yes. She and Cato had met before, during the Clone Wars," Din answered as he went through a mental list of people who he had met who may have answers or at least leads on answers.
A small nod was Adrestia's only answer for a moment. Then she looked up. "Did she give you a way to contact her? Cid said his letter to her said she had made a promise to look for a cure,"
Din let out a sigh and shook his head. "No. I have no idea where she is or how to contact her," if only he had insisted on maintaining a way to keep in contact in case something went wrong.
"And there's no one who—?"
It felt like a shock of electricity went through him as he hit the realization. "The merchant," he said, snapping his gaze over to Adrestia who just cocked her head and furrowed her brow in confusion. "There was a merchant who gave me the medicine for Cato. She was...strange. She might know something,"
