Hello, everyone. Sorry if I'm late, I had an essay to start writing for community college. Anyway, I'm here now, so let's get started on the next chapter of Jedi Odyssey: Shadow War: Alpha. Enjoy!
Day 15 of the Shadow Alliance's formation
Mandallia, in the capital city of Lextor.
"So, it's agreed. When Manda'lor calls for your aid, you'll answer." Edaan said, only receiving an approving grunt from the closest member of the Mandallian council.
"Excellent. Thank you for your time." Sintas Vel said as she quickly made her way to her ship, with Edaan and his crew in hot pursuit of her. Being part of her security detail, they were eager to escort her safely back to Kyrimorut, especially since she was Boba Fett's ex-wife. If anything happened to her, Fett would skin everyone who was supposed to watch over her, and that was a fate that no one, Jedi, Mandalorian, mercenary, or refugee wanted to suffer.
"Well, that went well. Right, ma'am?" Edaan asked, not wanting to offend Sintas in any way.
"More or less. And, by the way, you can call me Sintas." She replied. "Oh, and nice work eliminating that Neo Death Watch team that threatened to assassinate the head councilor." She complimented Edaan and his team.
"Thanks. Good job beating their champion in a single combat match." Edaan said, not wanting to be outdone at anything by a Mandalorian, knowing how competitive they were.
"You're alright, Jedi. I'll be sure to tell Bo how well you performed on this mission." Sintas said, receiving approving nods from the six Mandalorians that made up the rest of Sintas's security detail, which drew a pleasing grin from Edaan and his crew.
Looks like I'm making progress with the Mandalorians. Edaan gratefully thought as the two security teams and Sintas went to their respective ships to report the success of their mission to Boba Fett.
Meanwhile, on Shedu Maad, in the Jedi High Council chambers
Luke Skywalker was concerned, which wasn't anything new, but the last intelligence report from Edaan Palpatine was disturbing. He knew that there was a civil war on Mandalore from the holonet news at Mos Eisley while he was in semi-retirement, but he didn't know about the possible Sith involvement there. That was why the latest Jedi Council meeting was taking place at this second, with Ben Skywalker, Han Solo, Jaina Solo Fel, and the rest of the council attending.
"We can't let this go unpunished!" Han Solo was saying. "Mirta Gev, Vestara Khai, Belok Rhal, and Natasi Daala have each committed many heinous crimes against civilization. We have to take action against this 'Neo Death Watch' organization now, before the mandos' civil war spreads throughout the rest of the galaxy."
"Han, we've been over this. We can't come in by force unless Boba Fett agrees to it, and we all know that's unlikely, given the last time we worked with him." Leia said, recalling how many Mandalorians died during the Second Battle of Roche because of Luke's decision to sacrifice them to give Jaina a shot at killing her brother. "So, for now, we have to put our trust in Edaan and his 'Shadow Alliance.'"
"I still don't like it." Tionne Solusar said. "Remember the last time that an organization with the word "Shadow" was founded? It resulted in the death of Mandalorian leader Duchess Satine Kryze, and the fall of her pacifistic New Mandalorian faction, due to the actions of Dathomirian Zabrack Savage Oppress, the now dead brother of deceased Sith Lord Darth Maul."
"We can't immediately compare the two, Tionne." Kyle Katarn calmly said. "After all, from the two reports that we've received from Edaan, and the spies that we have in Boba Fett's camp, he seems to be perfectly in tune with the light side of the force."
"We can't just rely on the reports of spies and a loose cannon. We need to see the situation firsthand in order to determine what response to take." Barratk'l said, not convinced by what the current Jedi Grand Master said.
"No." Luke said, finally speaking for the first time since the meeting began.
"What do you mean, Uncle Luke?" Jaina asked, curious as to what her uncle would say.
"The council agreed to let Edaan pursue Vestara Khai. If he said that allying himself with Boba Fett is the best way to continue that goal, then we have to trust in Knight Palpatine that he'll contact us if things on Mandalore get out of hand." Luke said, much to the shock of everyone except Kam Solusar, Corran Horn, Kyle Katarn, and Kyp Durron.
"Forgive me, Luke, but are you sure this is the best course of action?" Cighal asked, not believing what she was hearing, but respected Luke too much to openly criticize him in front of the rest of the council.
"No, but this is the best way to capture Vestara and put her on trial for her transgressions." Luke replied, before continuing, saying "We all agreed on this plan. Now we have to believe in our brave knight, or we don't deserve to call ourselves 'Jedi Masters.'"
"What do you mean, dad?" Ben asked, still frustrated over the council's divisiveness, but hopeful for decisive action before it was too late.
"If we can't trust our knights to complete their missions, even ones that we didn't authorize, then the order will stagnate and eventually collapse when we all die. We have to trust that our knights will do the right thing, or we're no better than the Sith." Luke explained.
"Yes, but most of the Jedi Knights have never done anything this drastic or radical, even during the Yuuzhan Vong War." Jaina said, recalling how well her newly formed Imperial Knights took to their studies and duties.
"Come on, Empress." Kyp said teasingly. "Haven't we all gone through a rebellion growing up?" he continued, remembering Jaina's brush with the dark side during the Hapes Crisis during the Yuuzhan Vong War, and how he helped pull her from the brink before it was too late.
"Don't make light of the issue, Kyp." Jaina said as a wistful smile came to her face as she remembered her teenage years, and all of the adventures that she and her brothers had before and during the Yuuzhan Vong War.
"It sounds like you have an opinion to share, Kyp." Corran said.
"Personally, I see a lot of Anakin Solo in Edaan. They two of them are smart, courageous, and charismatic. Not to mention that they're both deep thinkers." Kyp replied in a flippant tone, annoying some of the people present, but amusing others.
"So, you think this is Edaan's Yavin IV?" Han asked, remembering how he heard of his late son's quest to Yavin IV to rescue the Jedi Praxeum students trapped their by members of the Yuuzhan Vong's collaboraors, the Peace Brigade, and his actions there started the Jeedai Heresey as a result, which still had lasting repercussions even today.
"Something like that. My point is, we can't stop Edaan from trying to redeem Vestara, so the best thing we can do is support him in order to keep an eye on him." Kyp continued. The rest of the council began to be swayed by his words. Luke smiled as a result, proud of how far his former apprentice had come as a Jedi Master and as a person.
"Master Durron is right. I've been meditating a lot these past few months, and I think that the force is telling us to wait and see what Edaan can accomplish on his own before we can commit to anything. After all, he took down Xasha Xizor and upset Black Sun's balance of power, each near impossible tasks on their own, but infeasible for one Jedi."
Ben saw his father's point, but he still felt uneasy about Edaan going after Vestara on his own, remembering all of the heinous crimes that she had committed. He tried to remind himself that he had moved on, but the words never stuck inside of his mind. You still love her, and you want Edaan to succeed in redeeming her. a small part of Ben's mind said, which he quickly quashed that thought, not wanting anyone to pick up the conflict going on in his mind. As the other masters and everyone else present moved on to the next issue, only Leia seemed to pick up on her nephew's distress, and made a note to do something about it.
Two Hours Later, on Kyrimorut, Mandalore
"Good job. Both of you." Goran Beviin said to Edaan and Sintas. "When the time comes, we'll call in on the Mandallian Council to aid us in ending the civil war. In the meantime, Edaan your hutt allies are starting to come through. We're getting two hundred fighters of various affiliation, four Imperial Light Cruisers, three Tartan-class patrol cruisers, and a million credits. We can put those to good use." Goran continued.
"Glad to see that my allies are coming through." Edaan said.
"Don't get to comfortable, Edaan. You still have a long way to go before you've earned our trust." Goran warned.
"I know." Edaan replied.
As Sintas exited the room, Edaan quickly followed, catching up to her within a few seconds. "Hey. I wanted to talk to you about something. Can we talk onboard the Second Chance?" he asked.
"About what?" Sintas inquired.
"Your granddaughter, Mirta Gev." Edaan asked in a dead-serious tone.
And that's a wrap on this chapter. I hope you enjoyed the The Clone Wars references in the story, as well as the interactions between the characters. Rest assured, there will be action soon, but I need to maneuver all of the game pieces into position (if you know what I mean) before the true war can begin. If you have any questions for me, feel free to review or email me, and I'll try to respond. Have a good night, and Long Live the Expanded Universe!