The Love of a Jedi

Chapter Eleven

Naes looked over at what remained of his strike team; they were looking at him expectantly wondering what Master Yoda had to say. Naes motioned for them to cut their engines. As they were getting out of their cockpits, he called to them "Master Yoda said to hold off that reinforcements were on the way." He then pointed up to the sky, where the dagger shapes were growing larger by the minute, "I think those might be the reinforcements." As he was speaking, the descending ships began to disgorge drop ships and gunships. One ship appeared to be coming in for a landing not too far from where his strike team was. "Let's go and meet that ship."

Naes was anxious to get back in action, as he made his way to the landing area; he noticed several gunships head towards the arena. He could sense Master Yoda in the lead gunship. Once he reached the landing area, a man in generic helmet approached him and said, "Sir, the Redoubt is awaiting your command," motioning back towards the assault cruiser that had landed a short distance away. As they were speaking hundreds of troops were disembarking, he gestured towards the two Knights that were still with him and Rhea; you two take charge of the troops and attempt to seize the factory. Rhea, take command of the ship on the other side, Ezriel you and I will take this ship here.

Naes and Ezriel sprinted up the ramp and into the ship. Once he reached the bridge, another non-descript trooper saluted and said, "Welcome to the Redoubt sir, what are your orders?" As soon as all ground forces are off loaded, lift off and position us in orbit below the Trade Federation ships. I want to catch the Core's that are on the ground before they can join up with rest of the ship. As they were lifting off, he could see out the viewport a core ship launching as well. "Fire on that launching ship; the Cores are most vulnerable on the ground in when they are lifting off."

"Ezriel, monitor the comm channels, I want to be able to lend assistance wherever feasible, but our primary job is to take out as many Core's as possible."

A few minutes later, Ezriel came up to him, "Master, we are getting a request to provide fire support for the ground forces."

Naes looked over to the navigator and gunner, "Maneuver us into position to provide fire support", he then looked over at sensors, "Keep a look out for any Core ships in our vicinity, I don't want to be caught by surprise." Just as the battle looked to be winding down, Naes caught a warning in the Force, sensing a strong dark presence on a small sail ship that was rapidly accelerating out of the system, "Turn us about, track that sail ship, and as soon as you can lock on and fire on it."

"Sir, we can't, it is moving too fast and is nearly in position to enter hyperspace." With that, the sail ship disappeared from view.

"OK, reposition, let's take out what few ships we can."

An hour later, Naes gave the order to land and take on returning troops and tasked the Med Center to prepare for mass casualties. "Once we have taken everybody on board, lift off and set course for Coruscant, best possible speed." Naes missed Astra, he had been in battle before, but never had he been in a war. He was thankful that he would be returning to her and his son safely. Naes then learned that Padme had been on the planet as well. Apparently she had pushed Anakin into going to the planet in a failed attempt to rescue Master Kenobi. All three of them had been fighting for their lives in the arena before Mace had intervened. By all accounts, she had acquitted herself rather well in battle; just as she had ten years ago during the Battle of Naboo Though she suffered from several deep cuts across her back from being clawed by a Nexu.

According to those very same reports, Master Kenobi and Anakin had attempted to engage Count Dooku in a lightsaber duel, both having failed. Kenobi suffered a few burns; Anakin lost half his right arm in the duel. After that Master Yoda had engaged Dooku and was forced to break off to save Anakin and Obi Wan; that also answered Naes question of who was in the sail ship he had attempted to intercept. According to Master Yoda, Dooku had joined the Sith; that he was now steeped in the Dark Side. Naes did know one thing for sure; Dooku was not the Sith Lord he was tasked to find. That tracked with what they knew, a master and an apprentice. Naes guess was that Dooku was the apprentice; he had left the Jedi Order ten years ago, shortly after his former Padawan Qui Gon Jinn perished on Naboo. Since then, Dooku had been rallying support to the Separatist cause, rarely being on Coruscant, he was not on Coruscant when Naes had felt the Sith Lord in Palpatine's offices when Padme had first arrived from Naboo. Naes was thankful for the Clone Army, without them it would have been a rout, as it was some 170 Jedi had died that day.

Later on Coruscant…

Naes was heading towards the Healer Ward in the Jedi Temple, he wanted to check on Padme, see how she was doing. Upon arriving at Coruscant, she had been taken to the Jedi Temple to receive treatment for her injuries. Just then Padme burst from the healing room she had been in, followed by a concerned looking healer. "I don't care, let me see Anakin first. My injuries can wait; I want to make sure Anakin is alright first."

Just then Master Yoda seemed to appear out of nowhere, blocking the way to the surgery suite that Anakin was in. "Go in you will not, disturb the healers you will not. Stay out of Jedi business you will."

Obi Wan then walked out of his healing room, "Padme, let the healers do their jobs. Anakin will be alright. Trust me on this."

Naes came up behind her, "Padme, he is young and strong in the Force. Anakin will be alright, some of the best healers in the Temple are working on him as we speak. Let them do their jobs. Let the healer finish with you and I will take you home." He guided her back into the room she had been and came back out. "He heard Obi Wan and Yoda speaking,

"Allowed she cannot to interfere with Jedi business, apparent it is attached she has become too young Skywalker. Allow this we cannot. Master Nemelc, take her home you must."

"Master Yoda, she is not the only one, Anakin is extremely attached to her as well, he probably has been since he first met her ten years ago."

"Favor the Jedi she does, Master Kenobi speak with her you must about staying away from young Skywalker, for their own good this is. Perhaps as Skywalker's Master and former acquaintance listen to you she will. Master Nemelc take her home he shall."

Padme walked out of her room a few minutes later, appearing calmer. "Come my lady, I shall take you home" Naes said. On his way out, he looked to Master Yoda and nodded.

Once they arrived at Padme's apartment, he stepped in as well. "Padme, please do us all a favor and leave Anakin alone, he is young and inexperienced. Because he was so old when he came to the Temple, he has a problem with attachment and letting go."

Padme rounded on him slapping him on the cheek and saying, "Attachment, letting go. You are a fine one to speak about those things. What about Astra? How do you explain your marriage to her? Is that an example of a Jedi not forming any attachments?"

Naes hand instinctively rubbed his cheek where he had been slapped, "How do you know about Astra, no one does except my former Padawan and mission partner Rhea."

"Right after I came to Coruscant, I looked up to see if any healers from Naboo practiced hear on Coruscant, and saw that Astra had just opened her practice, so I decided to make her my healer here on Coruscant. One visit to her a few months after arriving, I saw your wedding picture sitting on the shelf. Even in semi formal clothing, I would recognize you Naes. I asked about the picture and she told me it was a wedding picture and that her husband's name was Naes Barris and that he worked with computers. How many people do you think have your first name and look like you? I didn't say anything to her, but I could tell from the way she talked about you that she really loved you."

"You are right Padme, I have no right saying anything it would be hypocritical on my part, and if the Jedi ever found out about Astra, I would be expelled from the Order. Anakin does not have the level of maturity or self control that I have. He fears loss to a great degree; he has a problem with the concept of loyalty to ideals rather than loyalty to people. As a Jedi, he has to be loyal to greater things than himself; such as the Jedi Order and the Republic. He is very headstrong, if you think that you and I being together would have destroyed us, it would be more so with Anakin and you. He feels more than he thinks."

Padme stood there for a moment, chewing on her lower lip, thinking about what Naes had said to her, "You are correct, I ask that you let me end things with him myself, I promise to be gentle and let him down easy."

"Thank you Padme, a word of warning, Yoda has asked Obi Wan Kenobi to talk to you about the same thing, being of the opinion that you would listen to him more since he is Anakin's master. I don't want you to think you are being ambushed by the Jedi Order. Yoda and Master Kenobi both highly respect you and your support of the Jedi, but you can understand them not wanting you to meddle in Jedi business, and Anakin as possibly being the Chosen One to bring balance to the Force and destroying the Sith, is most definitely Jedi business. May the Force be with you." With that, Naes left her apartment and headed home to spend a few minutes with Astra before going back to the Temple.

The next afternoon, Naes was standing in a darkened corner while Obi Wan was talking with Yoda and Mace Windu, "Without the clones it would not have been a victory."

"Victory you say, no not victory. The shroud of the Dark Side has fallen, begun the Clone War has." was Yoda's reply.

Just then Naes spoke up, "Master Yoda, I know that Dooku has turned to the Dark Side, and thus he cannot be trusted. But remember what we do know, we know that a powerful Sith Lord is close to the Chancellor. I have felt him myself. We know his name is Sidious from my vision, Dooku said that was the name of the Sith Lord to Obi Wan. Considering how strong the Dark Side is that the Council could not even see the creation of a million clones, as you have said, our ability to use the Force is compromised. Look at the number of powerful Jedi that have cropped up the past 100yrs, first you 900yrs ago, this century, Master Windu, myself, Anakin, the Force is trying to balance things out. I think that we should keep a close eye on the Senate. We might actually have to be prepared to take control of the Senate."

Yoda said, "To a dangerous place you are going Master Nemelc, Jedi have not controlled the Senate since the last Sith War a thousand years ago."

"I know and understand Master Yoda, but if several Senator's are under the control of a Sith Lord, and possibly the Chancellor himself who should have left office two years ago and was just voted emergency powers by the Senate. It would be to our benefit to be prepared for every possible contingency."

Yoda replied, "Understand I do what you are saying, maybe eventually but not right now will such a radical step be considered, now our first priority is defending the Republic against the Separatist. Work side by side with the clones we will. Give you your assignments in the next few days the Council will. Dismissed you both are."

A few days later, Naes was standing before the Council to receive his first assignment of the Clone War.

"Master Nemelc, given the rank of General you are, your Padawan is given the provisional rank of Commander."

"Master Yoda, I want to thank you and the Council for the faith that they have in me and my Padawan, however I need to address something that seems to have been neglected in regards to the Clones. How do we justify what we are doing now? Breeding men without choice, and without freedom, to fight and die for us? When do the means cease to justify the end? Where is our society heading? Where are our ideals; and what are we without them? If we give in to expedience in this way, where do we draw the line between ourselves and those we find unacceptably evil? These clones were bred and created for a single purpose, and that is to fight a war for the Republic, what rights do they have, what choice have they been given? What will we do with the clones when this war is over? Will they be allowed to leave the Army and become civilians? This is nothing but a form of slavery, going against the very anti-slavery laws of the Republic. I have no answer, Masters. Do you? Thus until you can provide me with satisfactory answers, I refuse to take command of any ground force units where the clones have no choice. I will only command naval and air units, where there are at least some volunteers serving and the clones themselves volunteer for that. This is a matter of conscience for me. I think this war is wrong, I think it has been orchestrated to divert everybody's attention, for what I do not know. But I am a faithful and loyal Jedi, thus I will serve."

Then Mace Windu cut in, "That is enough Master Nemelc, you will not stand there and lecture the Council on its decisions or your opinions. Our decision is final. We will use the Clones to help defend the Republic against the obvious threat of the Separatist's and Sith. There will be no further discussion on the matter."

"Thank you Master Nemelc for that, the Council will respect your wishes and assign you to command a fleet. For now your fleet will guard the trade routes between Corellia, Alderaan, and Coruscant. Protect the Core we must." Yoda said, trying to smooth things over.

Naes inclined his head and said, "Yes Masters, thank you for your time." Naes then went to let Ezriel know their assignment. "Ezriel, I have gotten our assignment from the Council, we are assigned to command the fleet guarding the routes between Corellia, Alderaan and Coruscant."

"Master that is a babysitting assignment. You and I are good, why were we not given a front line assignment?"

"Ezriel, I suspect that it is because during the Council's meeting, I brought up a few uncomfortable truths, such as the clones are nothing more than slaves and I refused command of any ground units, that I would only command naval and air units where there is a semblance of volunteers. I know that you want to be on the front line, but remember that a Jedi does not crave excitement; he is focused on his assignment at hand, he is focused on the here and now. Guarding the Core is important; it is a job that has to be done."

Just then, Rhea came up "What happened Naes; the Council just informed me that I was assigned command of the Resolute, as part of your fleet, guarding the Core. I was expecting a front line assignment, especially considering how good a swordsman you are."

I raised a few uncomfortable questions for the Council about the status of the clones and refused to take command of any ground units. I will only command naval and air units, where as I told the Council and Ezriel you have some volunteers. What rank did the Council give you, I am Jedi General, and Ezriel is a provisional Commander."

"I am a High Commander; most Jedi Knights are given the rank of High Commander. Masters are given the rank of Jedi General, and Council Members have the rank of High General. Padawan's are nominally granted the rank of Commander; especially for those that are young. Remember that Ezriel is only fifteen years old. Though I hear that Anakin is being considered for the rank of High Commander, the Council wants him and Obi Wan on the front lines. That is part of the reason I thought that we would be put on the front lines together. My guess is that the Council does not want to break up a winning team."

"Well Rhea, I look forward to working with you. Whatever the Council's reason's for assigning you with me, we will all do our jobs to the best of our abilities. Don't worry; I have a feeling that we will see plenty of action. This is going to be a full scale war, something the Republic and galaxy as a whole have not seen in a thousand years. This will be a conflict to try and test the best of us. Now I need to go and check to find out when our fleet is scheduled to lift off and I want to meet with the senior officer's of the fleet, get to know them. Ezriel, you stay here and continue your lessons, Rhea and I will go to Fleet HQ." With that Naes and Rhea left to meet with the fleet command group.