Star Wars: Rebirth

Chapter 10 – The Greys

"Get me the Mandalorians. I need to speak with them immediately," Kayla said to the flustered communications officer as soon as they came out of hyperspace. A hologram of a handsome, square-jawed Mandalorian captain appeared in front of her.

"General Talus," the Mandalorian greeted her with a salute, "boy am I glad to see you. The Chiss have six cruisers and plenty of fighters at their disposal. We've kept them from hitting the shipyards directly for the moment, but I don't know how much longer we can hold our position."

"We'll take it from here, Captain," Kayla told him. "Rearrange your forces for a strike on the smaller cruisers, we'll put our capital ships up front to hold them off. And keep your eyes open for any landing craft that might be headed for the shipyards themselves. We've got no idea whether they'll try and hit them with an orbital bombardment or send a team in to destroy it from the inside."

"No problem, General. Oh and by the way, your fifth fleet arrived some time ago, but they're behind enemy lines and we can't get any response from Admiral Bruodu. He's completely disabled the comms on the Avalanche."

"How's he holding up?"

"For now he seems to be okay, but the ship's losing shields fast. He's managed to cripple the cruiser he was chasing, but from what our sensors can gather it was empty anyway."

"Has anyone evacuated it?"

"No, General. We haven't seen any craft or escape pods or anything at all launching from it. Why do you ask?"

"Well if we can't call them on the ship, we might be able to get a hold of Commander Kryss inside."

"I gather the Admiral's gone rogue then?"

"Unfortunately, yes," Kayla sighed, trying to think of a way she could save the Avalanche. "Thank you Captain. Proceed with your strike, and may the Force be with you."

"And you, General."

Kayla immediately contacted Commander Kryss on her wrist comm. Although the reception was very poor, she could hear him clearly enough to converse with him.

"Commander, are you there?"

"General Talus!" Kryss replied with enthusiasm. "The ship's going down, Bruodu won't give up his position. He's locked the bridge down and we can't access it. He's shooting anyone who won't do as they're told."

Kayla turned to an officer nearby. "Can you get a reading on the Avalanche's shields?"

The officer studied the readouts for a few moments before replying. "Fifteen percent, and falling. To be blunt, General, the ship's history."

"Spast!" Kayla cursed, then turned back to Commander Kryss. "Shields are at fifteen percent, Commander. Get as many people off the ship as you can, as quickly as possible. Use the auxiliary comms to warn anyone still on the bridge to try and make it to the escape pods."

"Yes, General. What about my men? Where do you want us?"

"Get everyone to the Corel Star, wait for us in the starboard hangar."

"See you soon, General."

Commander Kryss' hologram faded into nothingness, and Kayla quickly turned her attention to the battle unfolding in front of her. The Chiss had two large cruisers the size of the Avalanche and Corel Star, but also four smaller ones. Two of the smaller ones were finishing off the Avalanche while the other two were engaging the two Mandalorian cruisers. The two large Chiss cruisers had been firing on the remnants of the Fifth Fleet, but now one of them began to move between the Bilbringi shipyards and the Corel Star.

"That's their move," Kayla turned to the Corel Star's Captain, Admiral Deugan.

"They're trying to cut us off from the shipyards," Deugan said in his thick, distinguished Coruscanti accent.

"Which means they're going to try and destroy it from the inside. If they get too close, we won't be able to fire on them without hitting our own docked ships," Kayla surmised. "Admiral, launch a squadron of fighters from each cruiser. Tell the rest of the Fifth Fleet to concentrate their fire on the other large cruiser for now, and try to get themselves back over this way. If they stay so close to the Chiss fleet they're going to get themselves killed. Keep the Mandalorians on the smaller cruisers for now, and watch for General Tanski and Commander Akkon. They'll be coming in from Ord Mantell any minute now. When they arrive, they should join the flyboys."

"Very well, General," Deugan replied with a crisp, affirming nod. "Where are you going, though?"

Kayla smiled at him sweetly. "There's a disturbance in the Force. I think there's someone powerful boarding the shipyards, and it would be rude of me not to say hello in person." She turned away and headed for the Corel Star's starboard hangar, but stopped after a few metres and turned around again. "Well, are you two coming or not?"

Liina and Ashlyn jumped in surprise, then jogged after her. Kayla had gone into General-mode so efficiently that they'd forgotten they might actually be needed for something important, and spent the whole time watching her in amazement. As soon as they snapped out of it, they both felt the disturbance.

"Kayla, whatever that is, it's a lot more powerful than Darth Vorcyl. Are you sure about this?" Ashlyn asked pensively as they made their way down to the hangar.

"I think we've got two choices," Kayla replied. "Either we send several squads of troops in on their own and they all get killed, or we send three Jedi in with them and see what happens."

"Maybe we should wait for Lenny and Byz to get here," Liina suggested.

"I need them in their fighters," Kayla explained to her. "Don't worry, there's only one of him and three of us. We'll be fine."

"But remember what Jaina told us about Emperor Palpatine?" Liina asked worriedly. "He took on three Jedi Masters and killed them all, by himself. We only have one Jedi Master, and this guy feels tough."

Kayla allowed herself a chuckle to try and loosen the mood. "We'll cross that bridge when we come to it. Besides, we have no idea what this guy – or girl, for that matter – is actually like. It might just be him pumping himself up to try and scare us, we just don't know. Plus, you guys are doubting yourselves. Let's just see what happens. Remember, you're Jedi Knights. The Force is with you."

Commander Kryss was already waiting for them with Captain Nolan and the rest of their squads down in the starboard hangar when Kayla, Liina and Ashlyn arrived. He saluted them crisply, then joined his men on the landing craft they'd arrived in, with the three Jedi in tow behind them.

"What's the plan, General?" Kryss asked Kayla as the landing crafts took off.

"You probably saw this on your way over here, but the Chiss have parked one of their big cruisers between us and the shipyards. We think they're going to board it and destroy the whole lot from within, if they haven't boarded it already," Kayla advised.

"So we send one squad to secure the reactor and another to protect the docked ships?" Kryss asked.

"They won't be going for the ships, Commander," Ashlyn told him. "They'll probably just send everyone after the reactor."

"Hmm," Kryss mumbled, thinking to himself. "So we send one squad in each direction to cut them off then."

"That's right," Kayla affirmed. "You take Alpha squad with Ashlyn and Liina and take the starboard side, I'll go with Captain Nolan and take Beta squad. One more thing, Commander."

"What's that?" Kryss asked, picking up on the seriousness in Kayla's voice.

"There's a powerful Force-user with them. Just make sure you don't get too close to whoever it is."

"Another one, huh," Kryss grinned. "I never thought I'd say this, but we'll let you girls handle the difficult stuff for us."

"Oh you'll be saying it a whole lot more often if we survive this," Liina winked at him.

The landing craft soon settled into the main hangar bay of the shipyards facility, coming to a complete stop with a metallic clang as the landing gear hit the duracrete floor. The two groups went their separate ways, and Kayla immediately felt the presence of the mystery Sith Lord on board. Beta squad travelled almost the entire way to the reactor core before they even saw anyone. Just outside the reactor room were stationed two Chiss soldiers armed with heavy blaster carbines, who immediately spotted them and took up cover positions.

"We'll handle this," Captain Nolan told Kayla, and instructed his men to open fire.

Kayla leaped in front of the squad and drew her lightsabers, deflecting as many laser bolts as she could. Inevitably though, some got through and while Nolan himself dispatched one of the soldiers with a clean headshot, two of his men were killed. The second Chiss was taken out by one of the Beta squad members, and the team's medic quickly ran over to check on the wounded. With a solemn shake of the head he confirmed the two fatalities.

"We have to keep moving," Kayla told Nolan. "They're already inside. Come on."

The door to the reactor room was locked down, so Kayla plunged her lightsabers through it and cut a neat circle, then Force-pushed the cut-out and dived through. As she rolled into a crouch she saw a red flash of light speeding towards her and ducked out of its way.

"Get down!" she yelled to the troops, but it was too late. The red lightsaber had cut down every single member of Beta squad. Kayla looked up, seething with anger, and was shocked to see that the owner of the red saber was fending off both Ashlyn and Liina at the same time, apparently while able to throw his lightsaber with the Force as well. He was of a large stature; not huge, but quite big, and quite clearly a Chiss. He Force-pushed the two girls aside and turned his attention to Kayla.

"It's about time you arrived," he boomed with a Force-enhanced voice. "I was getting tired of playing with the tail-heads. And let's be honest, there isn't much time. I've already had to deal with your little soldiers too. Quite annoying, but a simple task nonetheless."

Kayla looked around the room and noticed immediately that the reactor was already set to blow, the core heating rapidly. Then she noticed the dozen dead soldiers, among them Commander Kryss.

"I'll kill you for that, sleemo. Slowly," Kayla said through gritted teeth.

"My, my," the Chiss chuckled, "you're a Jedi Master, are you not? Master Talus, isn't it? That's very unbecoming of a Jedi."

"He's a monster, Kayla, don't try it," Liina warned as she stood up again and activated her pale-green saberstaff.

"Yes, listen to your friend," the Chiss Sith said, almost sounding light-hearted. "You shouldn't try it. I would hate to cripple the Jedi Order before it's even had a chance to provide me with a worthy adversary."

"Ashlyn, Liina, stay back," Kayla said, barely controlling her rage.

"Allow me to assist you with your request, Master Talus," the Chiss said with a twisted grin, then promptly lifted both girls off the ground by their throats using the Force and hurled them into a wall, knocking them out cold. "Don't worry, they aren't dead yet. I'm going to need to subdue you first, so you can watch them die in person. To eliminate all doubt of your failure, of course."

"Enough talk," Kayla yelled. "Time to die."

With a pained scream, she leapt over to the Chiss with lightning speed and began hammering away at his defences with a flurry of blue and purple blade-work. The Sith just smiled and fended off all her strikes with ease, using only a single saber. Kayla's rage fuelled her, and she allowed her Juyo lightsaber form to confuse the Sith with its erratic strikes and seemingly random movements, deliberately making it look as though she were using another form sloppily. Suddenly he Force-pushed her away a few feet to regain his composure.

"You're becoming unbalanced by your hatred, Jedi," he mocked, taking the bait. "I'll give you one more chance to show me what you've got, then I'm afraid I'm going to have to move on."

Kayla just grinned wickedly at him and charged again, using the Force to speed up her movements. She slashed downwards with both sabers, causing him to have to defend with all his considerable strength. He was easily able to push her back, being quite a lot bigger and stronger than the tiny Kayla. She felt her throat close up then, and then her feet left the ground. Struggling against the Chiss' grip, she kicked her legs desperately, her anger swelling rapidly the tighter he squeezed.

"I'm sorry about this, Master Talus, but I'm really not impressed. I'm going to have to say goodbye now, as I have very important things to attend to. I'm sure you understand."

"Understand this, Sith scum," Kayla squeaked, then sent a powerful blast of lightning thundering into the Chiss' chest. He was sent flying backwards, hitting the duracrete wall hard enough to crack it. Moving as quickly as possible and with the Force again augmenting her, she bolted over to him and slashed downwards at his hand, slicing his lightsaber hilt in half. As the Chiss grumbled angrily, he again picked her up by the throat and lifted her off the ground. As Kayla choked and coughed, fighting for the oxygen being denied to her, he doubled over, releasing her instantly, a scorch mark burned into his armoured chest plate. Kayla picked herself up and turned around to see Liina panting heavily, her hands cupped as if holding a ball.

"Move aside, Kayla," she warned, and Kayla stepped back diligently. The pretty Twi'lek let out a grunt as she sent an intense ball of red energy straight at the Sith's chest again, which struck home and hammered him powerfully back into the wall, crumbling it and leaving a sizable crater.

Kyle told me about this power, Kayla thought to herself, her eyes wide with amazement at the Twi'lek's abilities. He said a Dark Jedi named Jerec used it against him.

Before she had time to admire the girl any more, the Sith regained his composure again and laughed heartily at all three of them.

"Well, I am certainly impressed now," he boomed in his Chiss-accented Basic. You've come a long way in a short amount of time. But it's not going to be enough, I'm afraid."

He raised his hands, and all three girls were again choked and lifted painfully off the ground. Kayla tried to blast him with lightning again, but found he had immobilised their hands as well this time.

"There are many more like me waiting for their own chance to destroy the Jedi. Far be it from me to deny them that pleasure," he said, glancing at the reactor core. "And would you look at the time! It seems I have somewhere else to be right now. Farewell, ladies. It's been a pleasure."

He then hurled all three girls across the room and into the opposite wall, then promptly disappeared from view using a Force trick.

"We have to go," Kayla said as she stood up again. "That reactor's about to blow."

As they left they heard a stirring and a muffled grunt, and realised one of the soldiers was still alive.

"It's Commander Kryss! He's alive!" Ashlyn rushed over and helped him up. "Give me a hand."

"What's going on?" Kryss mumbled groggily. "Did I miss something important?"

"Put it this way," Kayla smiled at him as she helped Ashlyn lift him up. "We've got about a minute to get back to the landing craft and get the hell out of here, or we're all toast."

"I knew I missed something. Did you holorecord it, by any chance?"

"Hailing the Corel Star," Lenny said after re-emerging from hyperspace. "Come in, Corel Star."

"This is Admiral Deugan of the Corel Star. Good to see you, General Tanski."

"Admiral, what's the situation?"

"Generals Talus, Valos and Hriyek have entered the shipyards facility already, apparently there's a Chiss ground crew and a Force user on board attempting to blow it up from the inside. Out here it's about even. General Talus has asked that you and your Padawan join Red Squadron."

"Master," Byz interrupted, "I don't think there's much point doing that. The shipyards…"

Lenny concentrated his senses on the shipyards and felt the desperation in the Force, shortly before the larger Chiss cruiser moved out of position and began to orient its port-side straight at the planet.

"Byz is right, Admiral. Those shipyards are seconds away from the pages of history, and if that cruiser has any long-range turbolasers then the planet is gone too."

"How can you tell?" Admiral Deugan asked, then quickly shook his head in dismissal. "I guess it doesn't matter. We need to do something about the people of Bilbringi. Clearly, they're next."

Lenny thought for a few moments, trying to do some maths on the population of Bilbringi. "Admiral, how many can you fit on those cruisers?"

"The Corel Star can house around two thousand troops, the smaller cruisers can only take about-"

"No, Admiral, I mean, how many people can they fit?"

"Sir, with all due respect, we're in the middle of a pitched battle. The Chiss aren't going to let us just land our cruisers and evacuate everyone."

"If I may cut in," the Mandalorian Captain suddenly interrupted, "Mandalore is arriving with a fresh Cruiser and will hold off the Chiss fleet along with our two cruisers. Get your fleet on the planet and evacuate as many people as you can."

"The Captain's right, Admiral. Get them all planet-side immediately, or there won't be anyone left on the planet to evacuate. We'll hold them off while you work. And see if you can patch me through to someone on the surface."

"Right away, General."

The Admiral did as he was told and Lenny was patched through to a Republic Field Commander based on Bilbringi.

"This is Commander Villanov. Proceed, General."

"Commander, the battle is lost and the shipyards are seconds away from total destruction. How soon can you evacuate the people of Bilbringi?"

"We've already evacuated most of the population to the night-side, away from the shipyards," the Commander informed. "We have four large cruisers from the shipyards ready to go over there, but we'll need maybe three more to be able to get most of the people away. Some have their own transport, they're just waiting for the word from us."

"Excellent," Lenny was about to continue when the shipyards erupted in a massive fireball. "Get moving, Commander. We'll hold them off up here as long as we can. We're sending the Corel Star and two smaller cruisers to assist with the evacuation."
"Is the plan still to evacuate to Dantooine?"
"Yes, that's about as good as it gets for the time being. Now go!"

Commander Villanov's hologram disappeared and Lenny found himself surrounded by Chiss fighters.

How did I end up in an X-Wing…really…flying is for droids…

As Lenny vaporised one of the fighters, a huge Mandalorian cruiser arrived and parked itself right in front of the Chiss fleet, immediately opening fire.

"That's Mandalore, Master, he's arrived. Let's get to the planet and help out," Byz said with relief.

"That's a Mandalorian cruiser," Ashlyn noted, pointing out the viewport at the newly arrived warship.

"It looks like they're going to hold them off for us," Liina surmised.

"Lenny's here then," Kayla said, activating her comlink. "Lenny, I take it you've already warned the planet?

"Heading there now, Kayla. You girls made it out of there in one piece then?"

"We did, but the entire squad except for Kryss was killed."

"Damn," Lenny sighed. "Well, get down to the planet, I think we're gonna need all the help we can get if we're gonna evacuate most of it."

"See you soon, Lenny," Kayla turned to the landing craft's pilot then. "Change course, we're going to the surface to help the evacuation."

"You got it, General."

As the pilot expertly dodged laser bolt after laser bolt, Kayla felt the dark presence of the Chiss Sith slowly fade.

He's not going planet-side…they're going to blast the whole thing!

As soon as she finished thinking it, the larger Chiss cruiser opened fire on Bilbringi's day-side, devastating the surface, setting everything ablaze. Kayla's eyes widened in horror as she stared helplessly at the ensuing destruction.

"General! Come in, General Talus!" came a desperate call from the bridge of the Avalanche.

"This is Talus, go ahead, Avalanche."

"General, Lieutenant Kursough, Fifth Fleet. I've removed Admiral Bruodu from command, and we still have a skeleton staff up here on the bridge. The Chiss have stopped firing on us for the moment, they've all engaged the Mandalorian cruiser Honour."

Kayla looked at Ashlyn and Liina, and all three girls' faces lit up upon hearing the good news.

"What are your shields like, Lieutenant?"

"Seven percent. Hyperdrive is fully functional though. I can see our ships moving to the night-side of Bilbringi, what's going on?"

"We're evacuating the planet," Kayla told him. "We could use your help. Can you make it to the surface?"

"I think so. That's if the Chiss don't notice us."

Liina leaned over and whispered to Kayla. "Maybe they could ram the big one, stop it from firing on the planet."

Kayla thought for a moment, then shook her head. "Bad idea. It might work, but I think the Chiss would see that coming. They'd just shoot it down. If they're busy attacking the Mandalorians, they might not see the Avalanche escaping behind them."

"Plus, it's a huge ship, capable of carrying lots of people," Ashlyn added.

"But with seven percent shields, what if it gets shot down with tens of thousands of people on board?" Liina argued.

"And what if it doesn't?" Kayla frowned, folding her arms across her chest. "I think it's worth trying. We can cover it while it gets away into hyperspace. If we send the ship on a kamikaze run, thousands more people will die on the surface. People we could have saved, or at least tried to. Could you live with that?"

Liina looked down at her feet. "I suppose not."

"Hurry, General. They'll remember us any minute," Lieutenant Kursough interrupted.

"Head to the planet and assist with the evacuation. Make sure you're first to fill up. We'll have the Corel Star cover your escape," Kayla ordered.

"Yes, General. We'll let you know when we're done."

Kayla then activated the landing craft's holotransmitter, and Admiral Deugan appeared once more.

"Yes, General?"

"I need you to cover the Avalanche's escape. We just got word from one of the survivors that Bruodu has been subdued, so they're heading for the planet to assist. And make sure you're the last ones off the planet. We're all headed for Dantooine, as discussed. All five of us will be on the surface assisting with the evacuation."

"What do we do about those turbolasers?"

"Take shots at them while you're heading for the surface. But don't delay, Admiral. The Mandalorians are covering us, our job is to evacuate the people."

Darth Leuenaar answered his holocom as he travelled back to Csilla with the rest of the First and Second Chiss Fleets. He had been standing on the bridge of his flagship – the Advance – with his eyes closed, meditating silently on his battle with the three Jedi as the fleets travelled through the swirling brightness of hyperspace. As the holocom received the incoming transmission he opened his eyes, totally expressionless, and saw his master appear. As usual, his master was cloaked from head to toe, with only his lower face visible.

"Lord Leuenaar, report."

"Bilbringi and its shipyards have been totally destroyed, my master, and the Republic's Fifth Fleet has been ravaged. We now have an almost completely unobstructed path to the Core worlds," Leuenaar stated somewhat proudly.

"I sense you aren't telling me everything."

Leuenaar paused briefly, unwittingly allowing his master more insight than he intended. "The Jedi are stronger than we assumed. I could not kill them."

"What of the Jedi Master, this Talus girl?"

"She is powerful, my lord, much stronger than Darth Caeer ever said she'd be."

"Is she a serious threat to us?"

"Quite possibly, my lord. She was easily able to overwhelm me in lightsaber combat. I had to resort to using the Force heavily in order to stop them all."

"Hmm…this news is troubling," the Sith Master said, stroking his chin. "I presumed that the idiot Caeer had simply become weak, but it seems he was telling the truth. Perhaps I should not have had him killed by your apprentice."

"No, my lord. You made the correct decision. Darth Caeer was a lunatic and an egotist."

"Nevertheless, this Jedi Master Talus should not be underestimated."

"There is more, Master," Leuenaar continued. "I thought at first that it may have been my influence, but both Talus and the Twi'lek Jedi used the dark side of the Force while fighting me."

"Are you certain of this?" the Sith Master asked, his tone of voice changing to one of utter surprise.

"Yes, Master, absolutely certain. My chest armouring was scorched by an ability I know to be called Force Destruction, and Talus used lightning on me."

"Hmm…" the Master thought to himself for a moment. "Is it possible to turn them fully?"

"I don't think so," Leuenaar shook his head with surety. "They are merely practitioners of dark side abilities. Their allegiance appears to be unwaveringly Republic-oriented. I only drew this to your attention because I believe it makes them a greater threat."

"Indeed, Lord Leuenaar, it does."

"How have they managed to learn dark side abilities when they have only collected Jedi holocrons?"

"My thoughts exactly. They must have learned them from observing Rengar and Caeer in battle. If this is the case, then they are a much greater threat than either of us could have predicted." The Sith Master folded his arms across his chest, uttering another thoughtful hmm before speaking again. "Have Darth Vorcyl return to Csilla immediately. She has had the most contact with our Jedi friends, she may be able to shed more light on this for us."

"It shall be done, my lord."

Kayla and Devin sat in the Council chambers, meditating silently together while they waited for Ashlyn, Liina and Lenny to arrive. Kayla had made sure Byz was busy with the younglings, teaching them to focus the Force into telekinetic control. As if a precursor to their coming discussion, the sky outside was filled with dark storm clouds, with lightning occasionally flickering in the distance, lighting up the Coruscant skyline. As the others arrived, Devin and Kayla opened their eyes and invited them to sit down.

"I'll activate the holocrons," Liina offered.

"No, not this time," Devin motioned for her to stay seated, then gestured at the doors to the chamber, closing them using the Force.

"I think I know what this is about," Ashlyn said, sitting back in her seat.

"And what exactly do you think this is about?" Kayla asked, not giving anything away in her expression or surface emotions.

"Well, you clearly don't want the holocron Masters present, and I know what happened during our fight with the Sith Lord inside the Bilbringi shipyards," the Togruta girl answered confidently.

"Kayla and I have been discussing this and meditating on it for some time now," Devin confirmed. "Our stance on the dark versus light debate needs to be addressed."

Liina and Lenny exchanged glances, then Lenny spoke up. "What's our current stance?"

"Everything we know about the old Jedi suggests that they were almost completely light side in their attitude towards the Force," Devin explained. "Some may even have called it dogmatic. In fact, from what we could gather, most people did call it dogmatic, even blind. It wasn't until after the Galactic Civil War when Luke Skywalker was the Grand Master of the Order that marriage was even allowed."

"We've been taught that the dark side is fuelled by emotions and the light side avoids them entirely," Kayla continued. "The Jedi seem to always have been about compassion for all life, which is noble enough, and yet they disallowed any kind of attachment for fear of the loss of that attachment."

"I can understand that philosophy, even though I totally disagree with it," Lenny said. "It makes sense on a very basic level. If you want people to steer clear of dangerous emotions such as greed or anger, then deny them access to everything. That way, they'll never be able to get angry or greedy about anything."

"But to be angry or greedy is part of being a sentient being," Ashlyn argued. "Being completely passionless would only hold us back and isolate us from the very people we're trying to protect."

"We agree entirely, Ashlyn," Kayla said with her typically sweet smile. "The old Jedi have always had the same problems. Attempting to be these perfect, shining examples of the light side of the Force has always made them arrogant, detached, and almost compassionless in the eyes of the people."

"We want to make this clear," Devin continued. "This isn't about using 'dark side' Force abilities. It's about allowing ourselves the same emotions that normal people experience in everyday life. Going fully light side, as Kayla said, would just alienate us from everyone, and make us feel like we're better than everyone else."

"Similarly, going fully dark side would prevent us from seeing the bigger picture," Kayla added. "We can be a force for good without going to extremes. That's what makes us Jedi; being able to handle the responsibility of our power without it overwhelming or blinding us. Not how enlightened we perceive ourselves to be."

"I can see why you didn't want the holocron Masters here," Ashlyn grinned. "There's no way they'd agree to this."

"I say we continue not having the holocron Masters here," Liina said. "We have an opportunity to start a whole new Jedi Order, and do it properly, the way it always should have been."

"We're all in agreement then?" Kayla looked around at all four of the other Jedi, who were either nodding vigorously or smiling as well as nodding. "Perfect!" she gave Devin her cutest possible grin. "I told you they'd all agree. This has been such a productive session, I think we deserve to celebrate."

"Lenny, go fetch the kids, would you? They should enjoy the celebrations with us," Devin said.

"No problem, Dev. I'll get Creo and some ales too," Lenny smiled.