Six-year-old Leia Organa paused in the hallway that contained relics from her family's history. Something that was shining had caught her attention. She peered closer and saw it was a small gold medal that looked ancient. Leia pressed a button on the display, which opened and brought the medal closer to her. She took it and picked it up. She couldn't tell what the medal was for, or who it had once belonged to. The only thing she knew for sure was that it was a medal from the Old Republic; she recognized the old symbol from her father's office.
"What did you find, Leia?" came Bail's voice from behind her.
Leia jumped, startled at her father's sudden appearance.
"Daddy!" she exclaimed. "You scared me!"
Bail chuckled. "I'm sorry, my dear. I didn't mean to. What is that you've found?"
"It's some sort of medal," said Leia, handing it over to Bail, who examined it for a few moments.
"Ahhhh, you have found something that is extremely old, Leia. Extremely old, indeed. This medal is nearly 4,000 years old. It belonged to one of our ancestors who served in the Republic at that time."
"Who was it, Daddy?"
"How about I tell you about him at bedtime? It'll be a great bedtime story."
Leia sighed. "Oh, all right, daddy."
That night, Leia waited impatiently in bed for her father. Her astromech droid, R2-D2, stood by her bedside, whistling questions at her.
"No, I don't know where the medal came from, R2," Leia said. "Daddy didn't say anything this afternoon when I found it. He said he would tell me about the owner when it was bedtime."
R2 issued another series of beeps and whistles. "Daddy says it's nearly 4,000 years old."
"That's right, Leia," Bail said as he walked into the room and over to Leia's bed. "It's from a long time ago."
"Daddy!" Leia exclaimed. "It's about time! I've been dying to find out who owned the medal."
Bail grinned as he tucked Leia into bed before sitting down on it.
"That medal belonged to our ancestor named Sato Organa," he explained. "Sato was a Senator representing Dantooine. This was when part of our family lived on that planet rather than here on Alderaan."
"So what is the medal for?" asked Leia, barely able to contain her excitement.
"It's called the Cross of Glory. That medal was the highest honor bestowed on individuals by the Old Republic in times long ago."
"Why did he get it?"
"He earned the badge because of his service with the Jedi named Revan," said Bail. "It happened a long, long time ago and it all started with a meeting in Sato's office on Coruscant…"
Sato Organa sat in the meeting room in his quarters on Coruscant. He was dressed in elegant green robes that rivaled those of his eyes. Surrounding him in the meeting room at the desk were his junior representatives Trabor Tran, Kiera Antilles, Brianna Dunbar and Kento Lars.
"Well, I think that will do for now, my friends," Sato said, standing up from the table. "Thank you for coming so quickly to this meeting."
At that, the door opened and his silver protocol droid K8-D7 walked into the room, accompanied by his black astromech droid R3-T5.
"Ah, K8, could you please escort out our friends here? I'd like to get some things cleaned up before we head back to Dantooine."
"Master Organa, forgive me, but it seems you have some visitors from the Jedi Order who insist on seeing you right away," said K8. "They would also like your junior representatives to be present."
"Who are the Jedi?"
"The Jedi Revan and his accomplices Alek and Meetra Surik, Master Organa."
"Very well," Sato said, nodding. "Send them in and once they're in here, could you bring us some refreshments?"
"Of course, Master Organa," replied K8, turning to leave the room.
"I apologize for this, my friends, I'm sure this meeting won't take too long," Sato said as he sat back down. R3 rolled over to him, issuing some beeps. "They didn't say anything about what they wanted? Odd. It must be something of great importance."
At that, K8 reentered the room, accompanied by three people wearing Jedi robes.
"Revan, my friend, how good it is to see you again," Sato said, standing up as Revan, Alek and Meetra took their seats.
"Forgive our interruption, Senator," said Revan as K8 left the room to fetch refreshments for everyone. "We felt that we needed to speak with you as soon as possible. This is a matter of some urgency."
"This wouldn't have anything to do with the war with the Mandalorians, would it, Revan?" asked Sato, sitting back down.
Revan grinned. "Always the intuitive one you are, my friend."
At that, K8 returned, carrying a tray of drinks and fruit. He walked around the room, sitting down the drinks next to each person in the room as the group talked.
"Hardly," Sato said, chuckling. "I've merely heard of your thinking of getting the Jedi involved in the war."
"And that's why we're here, Senator," said Alek, speaking in his gravely voice.
"Oh?" said Sato.
"We've come to make a request of you, Senator," added Meetra.
"And what exactly is that?"
"As I'm sure you know, Senator, the Mandalorians have seized several planets in the Outer Rim," Revan explained, standing up to make his statement. "They've cost thousands of casualties at each of those planets, and that's just of the exploits we know of. We also know the Republic has been struggling against the Mandalorians. We suspect that has to do with the Mandalorians' training — it provides them with superior combat skills that the Republic just isn't able to fight against on its own. Because of the struggles of the Republic, we think it is likely that the Mandalorians would make a bid for the Core Worlds. I don't think I need to tell you how devastating that would be if they were to make an attack on one of those worlds."
"So, why have you come?" asked Sato.
"We need to find a way to drive back the Mandalorians," said Revan. "We need to make sure they don't attempt to strike at the Core Worlds. We need to halt their activities and dispose of this threat once and for all. We believe the only way to do that is for the Jedi to get involved in the war. The Council is opposed to this, as you know, but with this threat looming, it's better we enter the war now and prevent any further action by the Mandalorians. We could just go right now and enter combat, but we would prefer to have the backing of some in the Senate. And Sato, you and I have been friends for a long time. You know I wouldn't ask this of you if I didn't absolutely have to. I need your support in the Senate, Sato. If we have enough support in the Senate, we wouldn't need the Council's authorization to enter the conflict and try to stop the Mandalorians."
When Revan finished, he sat down, taking a sip of his drink K8 had served. Sato remained silent, looking at each of the Jedi carefully. He glanced at his representatives, who each looked impassive. Finally, he looked back at Revan before nodding.
"You'll have my support, Revan," Sato said. "Know that I don't take this lightly, but you've made many fair points on your justification for Jedi entering the war. And I would rather this all end before things get out of hand, though I would prefer less bloodshed, if at all possible. Nevertheless, you'll have my support in the Senate, Revan."
Revan smiled and stood up with his compatriots. "Thank you, old friend. Your support should get us close enough to a majority in the Senate supporting our actions."
"Just don't cause too many deaths out there, Revan," said Sato. "And may the Force be with you all."
The Jedi left the room. Once the door closed behind them, Sato turned to his junior representatives.
"Are you sure about this?" asked Tabor.
"To be honest, I'm not," Sato replied.
"Then why did you agree to lend your support in the Senate?" Kento asked.
"Revan is an old friend. If he senses the danger as much as he says he does, then I have every reason to believe him."
"I agree," said Brianna. "We cannot afford to lose many more in the Republic's Army."
"Not to mention preventing the Mandalorians from trying to conquer any of the core worlds," added Kiera.
Sato remained silent, but nodded at his representatives.
"So that's why he got the medal: he let the Jedi go to war?" asked Leia, sounding disgusted.
"No, no, that was just the first step in Sato's journey to earning that medal," Bail explained. "That was many years before he ever actually earned the medal."
"Did the Jedi go to war, daddy?"
Bail nodded. "They did. Shortly after that meeting with Sato, Revan led his forces into the conflict. The tide of the war turned quickly once the Jedi were involved to help the Republic. But, it's getting late now, so that part of the story will have to wait until another bedtime."
"Oh, but daddy please tell me more!" Leia pleaded.
"No, no, Leia," Bail said, chuckling. "You need to get some rest. I promise you, though, tomorrow I'll tell you more of Sato's story and why he came to regret his decision to give the Jedi his support."
"Oh all right," Leia said miserably.
Bail smiled as he kissed Leia on the forehead. "Trust me, Leia, there is much more to this story and I'll tell you more, I promise. Now get some sleep. Goodnight."
"Goodnight, daddy."