AN: Postings will be Friday evenings or Saturday mornings until I run out of stuff to post. It'll depend on when I remember and how busy I am on Friday...
Reviews and remarks always welcome!
17 Days...
At the south landing pad connected to Fountain Palace, Queen Mother Tenel Ka arrived behind her guards to greet the familiar appearance of the battle-scarred Jade Shadow and several figures in Jedi robes. While over a dozen Jedi lingered around the ship obviously happy to be out in the open air, only four figures approached Tenel Ka. The first, she recognized easily, was her old friend Lowbacca. She stepped forward, grasped forearms and exchanged smiles with him, opting for a more traditional greeting in public. The other three, she did not recognize. Two had their hoods drawn up to hide their faces, and the third wore full Mandalorian commando battle armour. She could not sense a thing from the three cloaked figures through the Force. For some reason, their identities were being disguised.
[May we go somewhere more private?] Lowbacca asked.
Tenel Ka nodded and marched off towards a nearby sanctuary that had recently been swept for surveillance equipment. On the way there, she ordered one of her aides to refuel and make emergency repairs to the Jade Shadow. Half the guards followed her, and the other half watched the Jedi. Upon arrival at the sanctuary, Tenel Ka and her four guests entered while the guards took up position outside the door. The elaborate designs of the benches and exotic flora inside the sanctuary seemed of little interest to the off-worlders compared to the queen herself. She activated a security field to give them privacy. Finally, she turned to her guests with the Tenel Ka version of a smile for all but her closest friends – a slightly less grim face. She took Lowbacca's left paw in her hand and looked into his eyes. "Lowbacca, the last I heard the Jade Shadow was lost with all hands. How did you escape?"
"The same way we all did," A familiar voice, though deeper than she remembered, said. The Mandalorian removed his helmet, and the face of Jacen Solo appeared along with those of Luke and Mara Jade Skywalker from behind the lowered hoods.
Tenel Ka dropped Lowie's paw and looked at each face in shock.
"You…you're…"
"Alive and well, thanks to Jacen and Lowie," Luke said with a smile.
Blinking back tears of happiness, Tenel Ka finally did smile and stepped forward to hug each of her guests in turn, Lowbacca included, and held Jacen's hug the longest despite the uncomfortable armour between them.
"Welcome back," she finally said as she let go of Jacen.
"Tenel Ka," Luke stepped forward, drawing her attention to him with his serious tone. "We need to know what is happening with the Jedi. Has the Council contacted you?"
"Yes," she said, composing herself. She sat down and gestured for them to do likewise. "I presume you already know the Council evacuated Coruscant three days ago?"
"Tahiri told me as much," Jacen said, trying to move a broad leaf of the tree which grew over his seat away from his face with little success. Taking the bench next to Tenel Ka's, he was stuck with one spot that was partially overgrown. "We passed encrypted notes to each other while working together among the Sith ranks."
"Master Seybatine contacted me yesterday to let me know they arrived safely among our friends in the Empire." Tenel Ka continued. "By Master Durron's order, the Temple was launched. Pellaeon has graciously offered to refit it with weaponry and shielding to make it combat ready, and the modifications are proceeding as we speak. I have already sent several turbolaser batteries and hyperspace mines to help defray the cost of the refit. Master Seybatine also requested for all Jedi to make way to Bastion for orders. She said I was exempt from this request as my orders are to keep Hapes safe."
"What is happening on Coruscant, politically?" Luke asked. By Tenel Ka's trained eye, she could tell something was bothering Luke from when she said Master Durron had ordered the launch, but she knew he would bring it up if it was important to her.
"Cal Omas has used the Temple's departure as a sign of the Jedi's guilt," Tenel Ka said bitterly. "The Senate is torn between a shrinking group that supports the Jedi, and those of the majority who buy into the propaganda. Several videos have come to light which place the Jedi as guerrillas trying to shape the Alliance in their own vision. The few who support the Jedi are changing allegiances purely out of fear."
"What sorts of videos?" Mara asked.
"Kyp broke into Cal Omas' office during a meeting with Soora." It was Jacen who spoke. He had opted to hold the offending leaf with one hand rather than continue his battle with it. "And I heard rumours of a staged assault on Mandalore by Sith dressed as Jedi."
"That and more," Tenel Ka said. "Most recently, Thrackan Sal-Solo has amassed massive political support among Corellians with a video of an alleged Jedi kidnapping of his daughter. Before Thrackan's video came to light, Corellia was supporting the Jedi strongly."
"Ouch." Luke leaned back, but before he could speak, Tenel Ka continued.
"There were also reports of Jedi diplomacy missions being foiled; some with disastrous results," Tenel Ka said. "These 'blunders', as the senate labelled them, led to the attempted house arrest of the Jedi."
"Anything else?" Luke asked, fearing the answer.
"Not on the Jedi. At least not that I have heard," Tenel Ka replied. "However, by analysing the groups in the Senate, and support among non-members, there appears to be a growing secondary alliance among Jedi supporters developing in the outer-rim territories and various clusters."
"Sounds like the rebellion all over again," Mara commented.
"With much better support," Tenel Ka smiled. "Within those groups are the Empire, the Corporate sector, the newly built shipyards at Belgaroth, the Mon Calamari, Bespin, Manaan, Thyferra…" Her voice trialed off.
"Much better supported," Luke agreed. "Though quite spread out. Belgaroth and Thyferra are at the far side of the galaxy from the Empire, and Hapes is somewhat in the middle. Mon Calamari and the Corporate Sector are practically at the edge of the galaxy. Moving assets around defensive fronts will be extremely difficult."
"Indeed," Tenel Ka agreed. "With the Alliance centred in the Core, their defensive fronts and supply lines will be much shorter than ours. Some supportive planets on both sides are isolated pockets within hostile territory, like Corellia and former Hutt Space."
"We should leave for the Jedi Council immediately," Luke said. "We need to have a coordinated front on our side before we even try to meddle in galactic politics."
"A wise decision," Tenel Ka agreed. "I will escort you back to the Jade Shadow. It should be refuelled by now."
"Thank you," Mara said. "We'll depart as soon as we're on board."
The Jedi replaced their disguises as Tenel Ka made her way over to the security screen. Upon deactivating it, a young woman came running towards her.
"Your highness!" she called.
"Ali?" Tenel Ka asked. "What is wrong?"
"Galactic Alliance ships are pouring out of the transitory mists!" She breathed heavily.
"How many?"
"Hundreds!" Ali exclaimed. "And more appearing by the moment!"
"Master Skywalker, please join me," Tenel Ka requested, and broke into a run. Jacen and Luke followed her to the command centre of the Hapan Defence Fleet and surveyed the situation upon arrival. Sensors displayed nearly two thousand ships that had entered Hapan space and were taking up a stationary orbit, including a Super Star Destroyer and many of the newest and largest ships the Alliance Fleet had at its disposal.
"Your highness!" One officer called out. "We are being hailed!"
Luke and Jacen stepped out of holocamera's view, and she nodded to the officer. A moment later Gavin Darklighter's face appeared with crooked Admiral bars on his collar.
"Queen Mother Tenel Ka," Gavin said gravely. "On behalf of the fleet, I'd like to request a sign up sheet for this Jedi Federation you guys are cooking up."
Nearly every class Sekava attended was devoid of the usual noise, laughter and talking that had often annoyed him. Worse than the noise was the somber tones everyone carried, reflecting the loss or hospitalization of so many friends and rivals. Even though the bodies had been cleared away, the treatment Sekava received had not changed.
Per Sith tradition, the strong were the most likely to survive and flourish. The tentaratek attack had proven just that. The weak were culled, and the strong were relatively well enough to continue attending classes. Unfortunately, the strong were also the students that heckled Sekava the most.
What Sekava came to realize was that they used him as a scapegoat for their anger because they were jealous of his abilities. His favour with Lord Krak. His rapid rise through his training. They were even jealous that he had been sent on his own mission.
Nobody knew he had killed Hashi. After he came to his senses and realized what he had done, he had disposed of her body in the middle of the night, bringing her deep into the forest. By the time anyone would find her remains, it would be unlikely that the injuries would be recognizable as lightsaber burns. If anyone asked him, he merely said he had not seen her and avoided the topic. Everyone's attitudes were quite despondent since the attack, so remorse and guilt blended into the background as well as a hidden homicide.
Amid the problems, Sekava found himself with a new friend. Or rather, friends.
The voices that had coached him along that eventful night had not left him alone. They continued to speak to him, offering words lit with wisdom amid the fog of his confusion.
Through the voices, he found his abilities blossoming. They whispered things to him to increase his rage, bring him focus, and make it easier to unleash the torrents of power caged within him.
Sometimes the voices would sound like people he knew. The mysterious dragon within. Morris. Darth Krak. Hashi. That other kid that Soora killed so long ago. The street vendor on Nar Shadda that gave him those tasty things a long time ago. That guy from that place that did that thing. Even the other guy from the other year on that planet. Or was it a girl? Whoever it was, whoever they were, they directed him, gave him advice, and helped him get through dealing with others. Most importantly, they gave him focus. They all motivated him with one commonality, whispering the name of the one who held the key to breaking the chain that imprisoned him:
Jacen Solo
Inside the war room filled with vertical transparisteel displays, holographic imagers, and computer terminals, Soora's lieutenants stood around the central holo imager as they discussed the political future of the Sith-Mandalorian alliance.
"Lord Krak and I have already determined how to solve the Skywalker situation," Soora announced. "But we have much to do if we are to bring the Jedi to their knees.
"Right now our spy indicates that the Jedi are disorganized and divided, but Skywalker's presence will quickly remedy this. We should consider fracturing the Jedi a futile effort since it will not be long before he regains control over the Council. While Skywalker is unifing the Jedi, we will split him from his allies."
Soora punched a button, displaying a three-dimensional map of the galaxy. Immediately recognizable were the various territories mapped out by colour according to allegiance. The Empire, Hapes, Corellia, and most of the Outer Rim had a green aura while most of the core planets glowed red. There were also some red and green dots within the opposite-coloured areas. The Unknown Regions and a few other pockets did not have an aura, indicating they were deemed neutral.
"Our greatest chance at destabilizing the Jedi will be through political efforts," Krak picked up where Soora had left off. "If we can steal enough systems from them, their coalition will fail from a lack of support."
"We should take Corellia and Hapes," Urik suggested. The Mandalorian seemed to be favouring his right foot, an injury of his latest encounter with Boba Fett. "Corellia's manufacturing base will be a great asset to whoever holds their allegiance, and Hapes has a formidable fleet."
"Hapes is run by a Jedi," Tahiri said. "She is a Dathomirian warrior that our people failed to kill once already. I doubt we will have success there."
"I have an…alternative method to deal with that," Soora said slyly. "I once learned of a potion of Sith origin from Darth Tyrannus that can control even a Jedi. With Hapes's political history, we should be able to find a partner amongst the aristocracy. I will have an agent contact a likely candidate."
"Thracken Sal-Solo is already under our employ," Darth Krak said. "Corellia will be ours soon, so we need not worry about that. The plans are already in motion, and the vote will commence shortly."
"Tyferria," Tahiri said. "We should take control of the Bacta. The Jedi control Manaan and Tyferria, the two major suppliers of medical equipment in the galaxy. Market prices on Coruscant have already tripled for both kolto and bacta, and we will need supplies."
"We should take both planets," Urik suggested. "Deprive them from medical supplies."
"The Selkath of Manaan support the Jedi quite adamantly," Soora said. "The Jedi helped them a long time ago, and afterward their neutrality was dropped. The Empire has also been their biggest customer since the fall of Palpatine."
"Speaking of the Empire," Tahiri said, knowing full well that Pellaeon would never turn against Luke or Jacen. "How do we dislodge them from the Jedi?"
After a few minutes of silence, Soora finally spoke.
"That will be for all of us to consider," Soora said. "Urik, dispatch envoys to Tyferria, the Corporate Sector, Bespin, and any other planets you deem necessary. I want to pull the rug out from under Skywalker. I also want envoys sent to our own allies, reminding them why they selected the right side. The Jedi will try sending diplomats of their own, and I want to head them off."
A beeping console caught Soora's attention, and he pressed a button to call up the message. Soora's anger peaked upon reading the script, but somehow he did not give into his rage. He walked out in a fury and disappeared up the stairs to the ground level. Tahiri, Krak, and Urik hurried around to read the message.
-Intercepted Message-
Dear Chief Omas,
Thanks for all the command ships and crews that have defected to join the Jedi coalition. We appreciate you preparing them for war for us.
Yub yub,
Former Alliance General Wedge Antillies
With the gracefulness only an ace fighter pilot could command, Self-Promoted Admiral Gavin Darklighter's command shuttle landed at the north landing pad of the Fountain Palace, which still bore scorch marks on it from the Mandalorian attack nearly two months earlier. As he departed the shuttle, the Admiral was greeted by a contingent of Hapan guards, Queen Mother Tenel Ka herself, and her royal aide.
"Admiral Darklighter, welcome to Hapes," Tenel Ka said. "Congratulations on your promotion."
"Yeah, thanks," Gavin said, tugging on his collar. "They came with the mutiny."
"Please come this way." The guards split off and Tenel Ka led him to a nearby conference room already occupied by two people. The aide stayed at her side.
"Luke! Mara!" Gavin exclaimed upon meeting the occupants. "I thought you were dead!"
"And I thought you were a Colonel," Luke said with a smile.
"I was, until the mutiny," Gavin said. Everyone took seats at the conference table expecting Gavin to proceed, but he looked at Tenel Ka's aide warily. Tenel Ka caught his gaze quickly.
"Ali is my trusted advisor," Tenel Ka explained. "You may proceed."
"Understood," Gavin said, not entirely reassured depite Ali's weak smile but too tired to care. He shook his head as if to clear his brain and and dove into his story.
"About a year ago I was promoted to personnel distribution among the fleet. Basically they needed someone to manage all the veterans from the war and the new raw cadets to make sure everything balanced out so sections of the fleet weren't overloaded with too much or too little skill. They needed someone with sufficient knowledge of the commanders and military to do this job, and it ended up being me. In other words, Wedge and Tycho turned it down by retiring and I was too young to retire. Just after the attack on Hapes I started hearing about dissent among the ranks. Younger, newer recruits from core planets were complaining about the Jedi while older vets from the Vong war who fought alongside the Jedi were defending them. Before long, commanders were requesting transfers and I had to have a meeting with fleet commanders to figure out personnel problems. During the meeting all the anti-Jedi propaganda started to arise, and all the commanders immediately knew it was faked. Someone suggested a mutiny, but there was too much division among the ranks. The commanders would've been shot in no time if they tried defecting with any significant hardware with all those ambitious newbies buying the propaganda."
"So you re-staffed the command ships with the vets and took off," Mara finished.
"Exactly," Gavin said with a grin. "I had Wedge inspecting a new battlecruiser when the mutiny order came out. He took his segment of the fleet to Belgaroth to defend the shipyards and Thyferra. Tycho just happened to show up in the Fifth Fleet while visting a friend and they went to Mon Calamari, and Kre'fey's in the Corporate Sector. All in all, we've taken over three thousand command ships, a thousand frigate and corvette classes, all the GA's interdictors, and anyone with over five years fleet experience. Our people are so over-qualified we're staffing squadrons with guys who were squad leaders or wing commanders a week ago. Of course, that means that we mostly have a lot of decrepit old men who only live for their ideals and don't have a life outside of the service, but at least we can fight."
"We'll take you," said Luke. "How many ships does that leave the Alliance?"
"About twenty-one thousand, and that's not including anything smaller than a Nebulon Frigate," Gavin said. "But remember, they're all staffed with cadets compared to our guys. I made sure to take the biggest, best maintained ships. One of my friends in Material Sourcing was able to stock up the cargo bays with repair parts, fuel, armaments, and medical supplies. The fleet we took should be able to last at least six months before we'll need to restock anything, and we have about two thousand lastest-generation starfighters more than we have pilots. I also just received word that Sien Sovv is defecting to Bastion with half the Coruscant defense fleet, and Bel Iblis isn't far behind. I requested he head to Manaan, but I don't know if that message got through."
"That should be a serious blow to the Alliance," Mara said approvingly.
"Don't forget they have the Mandalorians now." Jacen entered the meeting wearing new Jedi robes. Rather than the traditional heavy weave design, these were made of silk which fluttered and swished around him, much to his annoyance. Luke and Mara noticed that the exhaustion that appeared to plague their nephew since they had first seen him on Ossus seemed to have entirely disappeared, replaced by an almost visible glow of energeticness.
"Nice robes," Mara smirked at him. "What took so long? Were they milking the spiders?"
"They didn't have the material I wanted." Jacen rolled his eyes. He barely noticed that Ali's eyes seemed to linger on him longer than he expected, mostly because he was distracted by one of Tenel Ka's rare smiles. "Apparently silk is in for Hapan clothing. I almost feel better off in the armour. At least it had temperature control and it didn't feel so, so..."
"Girly?" smirked Gavin.
"Uh... yeah. Hi, Admiral. Welcome to Hapes."
"Thanks, Jacen," Gavin said. "I hadn't forgotten about the Mandalorians. They will likely form the backbone of the Alliance fleet now that we've all left, but our fleet outnumbers theirs by quite a bit."
"I still feel like I'm three steps behind the galaxy," Luke said. "I'd like to get to the Jedi Temple as soon as possible."
"Head to Bastion then," Gavin said. "I'll go with you."
"No," Luke said. "I want you to coordinate the defence of Hapes, Mon Calamari, and the Corporate Sector with Tycho and Traesk. I don't know if the GA is likely to attack anyone right now, but with the Sith backing them they'll be unpredictable. They might go for a surprise attack on a civilian target and claim the Jedi were building a weapon there. Their use of anti-Jedi propaganda is already being bought by the Senate."
"Understood," Gavin stood up and everyone followed suit. "I should get back to the fleet and start dividing things up. Queen Mother, how well defended is the cluster?"
"We have nearly five-hundred capital ships with more in production," Tenel Ka said. "Short of an all-out attack by the Mandalorians, I believe we should be fairly well defended."
"I'll leave another five hundred ships here," Gavin said. "I'd rather know that Hapes will remain a safe haven for us than risk having to carve a foothold out of their hands."
"Thank you," Tenel Ka said.
"We should get going," Luke said. "May the Force be with us all."
"Jacen?"
Jacen turned around at hearing his name. He waved his aunt and uncle off and re-entered the conference room with Tenel Ka, almost bumping into Ali as they both tried making use of the doorway at the same time. They smiled awkwardly at each other as Ali slipped away quickly and Jacen reactivated the privacy field.
"What's up?" He asked.
"If the Jedi can forge a strong alliance, I would like you to be Hapes' representative when I am unavailable."
"Me?" Jacen asked. "Shouldn't that be one of your own people's responsibilities?"
She stepped forward and kissed him.
"Think of it as training for the future," she said with her arm still around him. "One day you will be the Prince of Hapes."
"Can we go with King?" Jacen asked. "It's good to be king."
"Of course," she laughed warmly. "I will send you some material to read so you can brush up on Hapan politics."
"Thanks," He kissed her back and regretfully broke contact with her. He looked at her with pained eyes that almost appeared fearful. "I have to go."
"I know," she said sadly.
He backed through the door, holding eye contact with her as long as possible, smiled weakly, and finally disappeared.
During Sekava's fifth or so class back after the attack, Darth Krak made an appearance in the classroom. His size and presence in the Force commanded everyone's attention, swiftly bringing a halt to all activity at hand.
"My students," Lord Krak spoke softly, just loud enough that everyone could still hear him. "We have faced a terrible loss at the hands of Jedi Solo, but we will prevail. To counter this threat, we will be demanding more of you. We will train you harder, push you farther, and prepare you for the battles ahead."
Inspired by his words, the students sat up straighter, looking at him with glares of defiance as if to offer him the opportunity to try to make things difficult.
"Some of you will die," Krak continued. "Others will suffer greatly. But only a handful will achieve greatness."
The large man looked across the room once more, and his eyes finally settled on Sekava.
"Ask yourselves, which will you be?"
Krak tried disappearing as quickly as he had entered, but Sekava ran after him and caught him several metres down the hall.
"Lord Krak!"
The Sith Lord stopped and turned to regard his young charge.
"Sekava, what can I do for you?"
"Teach me," Sekava pleaded. "Show me the ways of the lightsaber. The techniques you use. Teach me to be great."
Krak stared at Sekava long enough that the young man wondered if he would start melting under the gaze. He held the stare, keeping a defiant, proud look on his face.
"Come with me," Krak finally said. "I will teach you some of Vaapad."