"Can you please explain to me again why he's even here?" Moff Panaka glared across the conference room of his command ship, the Pride of Theed. Seated around the highly polished circular black table were three of his captains, Jedi Master Qu Rahn, and the former leader of Black Sun, Ragnor Breyac.
The Zelosian scoffed indignantly. "You have some credits stashed somewhere that the Empire didn't seize when you defected?" he asked the Moff. "Because I do. I'm the one helping keep this little operation financed."
Panaka, one-time security chief for the Royal Palace on his homeworld Naboo, scowled at Breyac. Though he had been made Sector Moff and his law enforcement days were long behind him, Panaka still loathed working with scum like the vigo. It made his skin crawl to see that criminal walking free. Though, he had to admit to himself, he was currently something of a criminal himself these days, too. After the Emperor had ordered the destruction of Naboo, Moff Panaka had defected in protest, taking with him as much of his sector fleet as would follow him. Surprisingly, few had opposed his defection and those who did were kept confined to their quarters until they could be safely deposited on a remote Imperial world. Many of the Moff's advisors urged him to eliminate the men, but Panaka wasn't about to answer one mass murder with another. He flatly refused to condemn nearly a thousand soldiers to death because they remained loyal to the government they had sworn oaths to protect.
The Jedi Master pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to will away the headache he always seemed to get when the Moff and Breyac were in the same room together. "Moff Panaka," he began, "we're all criminals here. Ragnor is no longer part of the Black Sun organization, as you well know."
"Not by choice," Panaka shot back, still glaring at the Zelosian crime boss.
"Be that as it may," Qu Rahn said patiently despite his growing aggravation, "he has been a valuable asset and without his not inconsiderable resources, our rebellion would stand little chance of success. I don't think he would choose to work beside and Imperial Moff or a Jedi, either. Desperation produces surprising bedfellows." He found himself giving some version of this speech nearly every time the two were present together. He was getting well and truly tired of it.
"And without my not inconsiderable contacts, we never would have found us some new Jedi," Breyac added smugly.
Panaka was too shocked to even respond to the provocation. "New Jedi?" he asked Qu Rahn, shifting his gaze to the Jedi Master. "How many? Where?"
The Jedi nodded. "We've managed to track down a number of survivors of Palpatine's Purge," he confirmed. "It seems our extinction wasn't quite so complete as the Emperor would have liked."
"Have they agreed to join us?" Panaka asked eagerly. New Jedi could tip the scales in their favor. They certainly couldn't hurt their chances.
"Some have," Qu Rahn told him. "Others are understandably hesitant. They barely escaped the Empire's death squads. A lot of them, myself included prior to a few years ago, resigned themselves to what they saw to be the new way of things. We can't force them to come out of hiding," he said.
"And maybe some of them ought to stay in hiding," Breyac muttered.
"What's he talking about?" asked Panaka.
Qu Rahn gave a sigh. He had been hoping to avoid mentioning this. "One of the Jedi we located has…slipped."
Panaka raised an eyebrow. "Slipped?" he repeated. "How do you mean?"
"She has a great deal of anger," Qu Rahn explained delicately. "She may not be receptive to rejoining the ranks of the Jedi."
Breyac scoffed. "She's a complete kreffing lunatic!" he exclaimed. "Or have you forgotten the part where she tried to trim a little off the top?" He drew a finger sharply across his own throat, miming decapitation.
"Maybe she spent too much time alone with you," Panaka quipped harshly.
"Cute," Breyac said, shooting the Moff a sarcastic sneer.
"She can't be blamed," Qu Rahn said, ignoring the japes. "We have no idea what she may have gone through during the Purge. Some of us were able to effectively disappear, but others weren't so lucky. She may have been severely traumatized. And not just by the Purge," he added. "The Clone Wars were full of enough terrible things to unhinge even the most stable mind." He looked to Panaka. "You lived through them. Surely you understand."
The Moff nodded. "I've seen my fair share of mentally scarred veterans." He folded his hands in front of him on the table. "So does this unhinged Jedi have a name?" Panaka asked.
"She called herself Toka," Qu Rahn said. "She's a Togruta. I knew a couple back in the day, but she wasn't one of them. Judging by her age, my guess is that she would have been in her teens when the Republic fell. She may not have even been a full Knight."
"You don't know?" Panaka asked incredulously.
"She wasn't exactly forthcoming with her personal information," Breyac cut in. "Plenty forthcoming with her lightsabers, though. Both of them."
"She wouldn't have really hurt you," Qu Rahn assured the Zelosian.
"You sure about that?" Breyac asked. "Because she seemed pretty serious about it to me."
"If she had wanted to hurt you, she would have," the Jedi said flatly.
"So she declined our offer?" Panaka asked, trying to steer them back on course.
"Well," Qu Rahn began, "not entirely."
Panaka shook his head. "I don't understand," he said. "Either she did or she didn't. And it sounds like she did."
"She turned us away," Breyac clarified, "but the Master Jedi here thinks he sensed something about her."
Qu Rahn nodded. "I'm not sure I can explain it, but the Force tells me we will see her again. She rejected our offer, but I sensed her hesitancy. I believe she wants to join us. She's just frightened and traumatized. You should have seen how vehemently she denied being a Jedi even after I revealed myself to be one. She was terrified."
"And what about the others?" Panaka inquired, mentally dismissing the Togruta as a lost cause. "How many agreed to join us?"
"More than expected, less than ideal," Qu Rahn replied, sidestepping the question.
"What exactly does that mean?" Panaka asked tersely. "How many?
"Four," Breyac answered. "We picked up four Jedi."
"Four?" The disappointment was heavy in the Moff's tone. "Is that really all?"
"Understand, the others were hesitant to reveal themselves and take arms against the Empire," Qu Rahn explained. "Over a hundred survived the Purge that we know of, yet almost none joined the Rebellion, even at its height. Now that it's at its weakest, you can understand their apprehension."
Panaka scoffed. "So much for their fabled Jedi morals," he snapped.
"Jedi morals?" Qu Rahn echoed, his temper flaring. "The Empire destroyed two worlds before your morals kicked in. And even then, only because it was your own world annihilated. Where were your morals when Alderaan was destroyed?" He shook his head. "We all betrayed our morals in this war, not just the Jedi."
"But the Jedi always touted their morals over everyone else," Panaka argued. "The galaxy holds you to a higher standard than everyone else."
"Until the galaxy turned a blind eye to our wholesale slaughter at the hands of the Empire," Qu Rahn responded coldly. "Most of us who survived came to view the galaxy through very cynical lenses. Why risk our lives for people who cheered as the Empire hunted us down like animals?"
Panaka sighed. "Fine," he said. "I concede that the Jedi have no reason to love the galaxy. And maybe my words were…harsh. But this is so much bigger than holding a grudge, no matter how justified it may be. I just think that everyone who opposes Palpatine and possesses the power to fight back has a responsibility to do just that. I admit, I was a supporter of his a long time, back when he was still just a senator. And I remained loyal all through the Clone Wars. I stuck by him when he established his New Order and even managed to justify the destruction of Alderaan. I'm not proud that it took the destruction of my own world to open my eyes. But what matters is that they are open. I may not have been here before, but I'm here now. And that's what we're asking of them. Forget the past. We all have our excuses for not acting sooner. What matters is how we act in the present. We need them, Master Jedi. You must convince them. All of them."
For a few moments, Qu Rahn stared at the Moff in silence, studying the man's face. Finally, he spoke. "You're right," he said plainly. "You are. We need them. And we need them to see that the galaxy is worth saving and that people like you, who watched as the Empire destroyed us, are capable of change. They need to be shown that those who may have cheered the death of the Jedi may also cheer their return."
"So you'll ask them again?" Panaka suggested hopefully.
"No," Qu Rahn said. "You will."
"Me?" gasped the Moff.
"That's right," Qu Rahn said with a nod. "You."
"But they have no reason to trust an Imperial Moff," Panaka argued. "They won't listen to me."
Again, Qu Rahn nodded. "True," he said, "but you symbolize a fundamental shift in attitude. Prove to the Jedi that you are sincere and maybe they'd be more willing to believe there are others like you."
Moff Panaka narrowed his dark eyes at the Jedi Master. "You really think I'll be able to get through to them?" he asked.
Qu Rahn shrugged. "Honestly? I don't know," he admitted. "But it's all we have left. If you can't, it might be that no one can."
"No pressure," Breyac tossed out with a smirk.
"Right," Panaka mumbled. "No pressure."