Disclaimer: I do not own any of Star Wars, the right of ownership of Star Wars belong to Lucasfilm and I guess Disney too. The only thing I own is the characters you do not notice and the plot.
Year: 10 BBY
Chapter 25: To the Edge of the Galaxy!
2 long and hard weeks have passed since the battle at the Jedi Temple. Construction for the temple is already underway by the Construction droids. Former Jedi Master A'Sharad Hett was trialed in front of the High Council and the High Council completely agrees with Mark that he should be expelled from the order for his actions. That happened a couple days after the battle at the Jedi Temple.
A week after the battle of the Jedi Temple, A'Sharad Hett was trialed by the Grand Army of the Republic military court and was found guilty. At the same time he was found guilty by the Galactic Republic courts for plan and endangering the lives of Senators and civilians. Within the Senate, before anyone could say Force, votes were in from the Senators to vote A'Sharad Hett out of the Galactic Republic. It was the first time that every Galactic Senators agreed on one thing.
There have been questions about him being misguided a lot. Some of the Jedi were thinking about Dooku. Mark have pointed out to these Jedi, who are A'Sharad Hett's friends that Dooku felt very remorse and admitted his wrongs, while A'Sharad does not feel remorse and blames the death on him because he was the one who change the Jedi Order. In A'Sharad eyes the deaths of even the younglings was warrant.
It would have been a whole different story, if he felt troubled or remorse by his actions, but he did not. Mark, who has killed many people during his career of being a Jedi he feels bad doing it. Even killing Sidious back in 19 BBY and that was something that had to be done in order to protect the Jedi Order.
Feeling that remorse for deaths, such as Palpatine, proves that he is still standing strongly on the path of the Light Side of the Force. A'Sharad did not care if his actions have killed many Jedi. That what makes Mark think he is farther on the edge of Dark Side then he ever was before.
During the week after the trails, Mark has been going over plans and procedures of what will be happening on their trip to the edge of the galaxy. The whole 3rd Legion will be going along with some of the 501st Legion. Mark, Anakin, Rachelle, Dooku, Celestia, Obi-wan and Jenna Farlay will be aboard the same warship as Mark is which will house A'Sharad. The ship will have powerful shields. Matter of fact, they have made one of the Republic Attack Cruisers power higher just because of this. Just in case the protection from the other Attack Cruisers fail, they still have a high offense and high defense at the same time.
Also there will be shield generators from the other ships in the protection detail that is putting shields on the Attack Cruiser that is being transport A'Sharad Hett. The protection went from basic to advance quite quickly as the date for the departure is coming near.
"Anakin, are you really sure you want to come along, you could stay here with Padme and the kids. I could find someone else to bring along. I am for sure Master Kota would want to give scumbag Hett a tongue lashing." say Mark looking over the details of the trip and all the protection details that are on his Datapad. Only people who truly know the protection detail is everyone on the High Council, the Head of the Department of Defense and the Chancellor. Besides the High Council members, the other two are guard heavily so no one can get to them.
All this protection of those people are on the orders of Senate. For the High Council members that are at the Jedi Temple, they are the only one who knows, could not leave the Jedi Temple at all, without protection. So Mark has been stuck at the Jedi Temple for the past week, only going out to supervise the ships.
"No Mark, two of my closet friends are going to be on that mission, I will be damn, if I let something bad happen to you. Obi-wan is expecting to be a father and you, I have this strong feeling sooner or later you and Rachelle will end up being husband and wife. I am not going to idle by while my friends place their life along the line. Plus if something truly bad, happens you will need all the strength you can get. You know what they say, you and I are most likely the strongest Jedi in the whole Order." say Anakin.
"Modesty was not always your strong trait." say Mark as scrolls down through the plans. "How many times are you going to study those plans, you have been look at them 10 times per a day every day. I do not know why you do it, you have photographic memory." say Anakin.
"I told you I do not have eidetic memory. There are some things I cannot remember." say Mark. Anakin was confused. "I say you had photographic memory. What in the Force is eidetic memory?" ask Anakin confuse. Mark looks up at him. "The actual term for photographic memory. I do admit, I have great memory but there is some things I wish I could forget about." say Mark.
Mark turns off the Datapad and pockets it in his robes. "To answer your first question, the reason I study the plan a lot to see where improvements could be made. I do not want Hett escaping. I thought you of all should know that. It was because of him that your children almost got killed! If I haven't got there when I did, instead spending your time with them, you would be on Naboo burry them 6 feet under or either that be here at the temple when their bodies get burn." say Mark at the end his voice begins to raise. The part of the Battle that involve the death all those younglings he taught earlier that day, still hurts him greatly.
Anakin knows that this is something Mark does not really want to talk about. Mark looks at his twin as if they were his own children. Matter of fact he does that with bunch of the younglings. It might be something that he never wants to talk about, just like Anakin does not like to talk about what might have happen to him at the end of the Clone Wars if it was not for Mark. Instead while they were walking back to their quarters, Anakin talked about normal things to get his mind off the forsaken event.
Mark walks into his quarters and sees Rachelle and Lillian talking to each other. He has a smile on his face as he saw this. The two sisters have been spending a lot of time with each other over the past week, since Rachelle decide to go on this mission. Since Lillian is not officially apart of Grand Army of the Republic or any of the other planetary military that might be joining up with them, she is forbidden to go.
No ought Lillian got a whole month off due to her hard work she has put in onto the case. Both Mark and Rachelle was surprise when she accepted it. Lillian is married to her work. When question about this, she told them that she does not need the intense worrying of her sister and her friends going across the disturbance getting in the way of her work.
"Oh, the Prime Minster of Bakura called to wish us luck on our trip. He also told me to tell you that he is planning on sending 40 Victory 2-class Star Destroyers, 80 Victory 1-class Star Destroyers, and 100 Bakura-class Destroyers with us at the meeting point on the border of the Mid Rim and Outer Rim. The Bakuran Senate would not let him spare as many Victory 2-class Star Destroyers he want, but they allow him to send more Victory 1-class Star Destroyers." say Rachelle. Mark eyes widen when he hears these numbers. Minster Joseph Lightwell has just up their fleet numbers up by 220. There were only going to be 20 Republic Attack Cruiser coming along. Star Destroyers are not as cheap warships to make.
"How many is that in total for the fleet?" ask Rachelle curious. "240 ships after those ships joins us." say Mark. "Hell! That not a fleet, you might called that a whole navy on some planets! They are all Star Destroyers, not that will scare anyone, I am glad I am not the idiotic fool he would mess with that fleet." say Lillian eyes widen when she hears this.
"It more than twice as much ships I normally lead in a fleet." say Mark. "That not even the best part, he says that all the ships have full hangers of Starfighters ready to fight any enemies that attack us at the disturbance." say Rachelle. They might as well not even consider a Grand Army of the Republic mission, there are more Bakuran Military ships then they are Grand Army of the Republic.
"Yes, Master Hett must be some bad ass, to warrant that much attention." say Lillian. "Do not offend the Jedi by calling him Master. He is no longer a Jedi Master, a Knight nor is he is a Padawan. It is just Hett." say Mark. "Sorry old habits die hard." say Lillian.
"Actually, see when the 500 Republica was attack, I think the Prime Minster of Bakura might took that as a sign that endanger Kim. Kim and him are very close friends… no Lillian do not start teasing her, they are not dating. The last thing we need is fighting among the family to add to this forsaken war. From what I gather on Joseph Lightwell, he is an extremely loyal person, like most Bakurans, you mess with those he consider close you better be planning a spot to be burry and 6 feet under would not do, you would want much deeper." say Mark.
"You must also take in consideration that he is a family friend, Amelia respects him a lot and he does the same for her. By that attack on the 500 Republica, not only was Kim in danger but it could have been consider an attack on Bakura since Amelia is the Galactic Senator of Bakura, someone who represent Bakura within the Galactic Republic." say Rachelle.
Mark also nods to this. With him being a Bakuran he knows a lot about them. In ways they are similar to Corellian and people of Naboo. Their sense of loyalty is strong and that is reason why Maxus Zane have betrayed them and the Galactic Republic they took it so seriously. Bakuran values loyalty as a very important thing, just as much as peace and protection. Most likely explains Mark strong sense of loyalty.
"Did anyone let Padme knows of this new development?" ask Mark. "Actually, the Prime Minster did before he contacted you or attempted to contact you." say Rachelle. Mark nods at this.
"Now only if we could get your father, I getting sick and tired hearing about him in the headquarters or seeing his forsaken face on the Holovision." say Lillian as she turns off the Holovision just when the Galactic Most Wanted list showed up. "That why I only watch the news for weather these days. Force, I hope I do not look like him when I am his age and he supposed to be a Bakuran." say Mark. "I think you will look great with a little bit of gray in you. Shows that you have been through a lot. Maybe a beard too. Just as long as you do not put on weight, or you might begin looking like your father." say Rachelle.
"Well I most likely will have some gray, I am surprise I don't already putting up with your crazy driving. Almost got us killed a few times." say Mark. "Hey, that time on Raxus Prime does not count, you urge me to drive fast and we crash. So the blame is all on you." say Rachelle as she got up from her seat and give Mark a light kiss on the lips.
Mark put his arms around her waist as he kisses her. He turns her light kiss into something deeper and meaningful. Tomorrow they will be heading out to the edge of the galaxy. Even through Hyperspace it is going to be one long trip. "Ready for that long trip tomorrow. You might want to spend a lot of time today with your sister; you might not be seeing her for a few days to a couple weeks. Depends on how long it takes us to get to the disturbance and get through. Then you have to take it times 2. I might be good at figuring out speeds, but that math is just way to difficult for me to comprehend." say Mark.
"Maybe we should get C-3PO here and he could tell you." say Rachelle with a teasing smile. "No! That goldenrod is staying out of this. I have enough putting up with him when we visit Padme. Yes, he is very helpful, but a bit annoying sometimes." say Mark. "True, he told me the odds one time, I feel like I want to take a sledge hammer and smash his head in." say Lillian.
"Yeah, do not do that. That droid is one of the remaining things Anakin have of his mother. He created him to help her out when they were slaves on Tatooine. Slightly before the Clone Wars had started, his mother was kidnapped by Tuskan Riders and she died in his arms. C-3PO was with his mother through her life since he left. So because of that reason, he doesn't change the droid that much and is attached to it. No ought poor goldenrod got destroy a couple times over the years, but Anakin fixed him up." say Mark lightly as he let go of Rachelle and sit down on the couch. Lillian never knew that. She knew Anakin created C-3PO, but not for what reasons and she did not know he was a slave.
"Master Skywalker was slave? I never knew that." ask Lillian. "Yes and it is something he does not like talking about. He is highly against slavery. One of the reasons why he hates the Hutts. They are famous for having slaves. He has a dream of ending all slavery within the galaxy. Also one the reasons he extremely loyal to his friends. As a slave he really did not have many friends to protect." say Mark lightly as he turns on the Holovision, which was giving a segment about Maxus Zane and turn to the weather channel, out of habit. No ought he would not be on Coruscant for long after tonight.
The next morning, at 5:30, Mark stands at the Republic Attack Cruiser Staging area. The ships that are coming with them are located directly above the orbit of the planet, already in formations, well besides the bottom because Mark's ship has to get into the formation.
Once again the amount of security is impressive. The whole thing is being watched by the Republic Security Force, the military police, Coruscant Security Force, and the Grand Army of the Republic is there.
While Mark was admiring the protection detail. Captain Kia and Maria showed up. "General, I would like to tell you, that we got bunch of T-65 X-Wing Starfighters aboard each of the ships." say Captain Kia. Mark eyes widen when he heard this. T-65 X-wing Starfighters are one of the newest and advance brands of Starfighters in the Galactic Republic. They were made for the purpose to stand up against the advance TIE Fighters that the Empire has been using. They came out back in 13 BBY and Mark has never had any under his command, but those under his command had trained to use them. Mark wants his troops able to fly anything.
"Oh sweet, Finally we get to try out the new babies!" say Rachelle as she throw her fist up in the air. "Sir, not question your abilities to lead us, but do you think it is wise to let her behind one of them?" ask Captain Kia. "Oh please tell me we still have the Eta-2 Actis-class Light Interceptor or either one of the Delta-7 Aethersprite-class Light Interceptor." say Maria. "Hey do not make fun of those, they might be old, but they are very handy. We still uses them a lot even with the X-wings." say Mark.
That is one good thing about the Galactic Republic; they do not trash any old things, just because of age. If that was true they would have did away with the Attack Cruisers but they still make them. Same thing goes with the Starfighters. Matter of fact it this type of things that Zane Tech is well known for. They are able to make upgrades for any type of ships to make it more up to date with any of the newer stuff.
"You could take it a little easier on me! I do know how to fly a ship. I knew how to since I was 12." say Rachelle. Mark laughs at how his friends are acting, even through what they are on is consider very serious mission. Then they hear sirens and see the Republic Force Security Speeders show up. Had a large rear to hold prisoners. A bunch of troopers, and polices from various fractions, level their guns at A'Sharad Hett who step out of the back.
A'Sharad Hett have cuffs his hands which makes it harder to uses the Force. It is some type of material that the Zane Tech was able to make for occasions like this. No out those things have existed for a while, but Zane Tech have advance it greatly to include not just cells but various of other prisoner holding devices.
"You must be feeling quiet superior today, aren't you Zane. There is a saying, you might have won the battle, but you had yet to win the war. The Jedi Order with you is a mess! A disgrace to the vary fabric of the Jedi Order." snarl A'Sharad Hett. "Believe what you want Hett. Put him in the cell. Kia, I want guards on his cell at all times." say Mark. Captain Kia nods as he walks with the officers.
Mark told another Clone to fire up the engines and get ready for take off. The mission is finally a go. Mark got into the ship and went to the command bridge. 5 minutes later the Attack Cruiser was speeding through the sky of the Coruscant and joins the 20 Attack Cruisers fleet in the orbit.
After making communications with the other 20 ships. They start flying away from Coruscant. Once out of the gravity pull of Coruscant, all 20 ships jump to Hyperspace for the same location.
Okay reason this took me while is that I added some more stuff into it, because I was reading a review and thought because of Dooku not being expeled from the galaxy, I should put why it is happening to A'Sharad Hett.
Also another thing is, I will be highly disappointed if there are any true Star Wars fans who does not know what an X-Wing-class Starfighter is. As you know I use Wookieepedia a lot, and you already know how I do the ships thing, so I figure that I will chose a date for the X-Wing being made. All it says on Wookeepedia to relate to the time was that they first begin to be used in the Rise of the Empire era, and I know they were not use in the Clone Wars. So I decided to make them 3 years old for this chapter. I figure since the Empire and most likely Palpatine's army will be using TIE Fighters I figure why not throw in the X-wings for the Republic, to make it sound right for the orignal Saga. So basically, the TIE Fighters are being used by the bad guys and the X-Wings are once more being use by the good guys. I was tempted to make it that Zane Tech created it, but they do not really create Starfighters, which I had mention in another chapter. Plus I just love the X-Wing better than the TIE Fighters. Personally, I think they are much better looking then the various designs of TIE Fighters. That is why I like most of the ships that the Republic and Rebellion uses. They seem much fuller than the TIES.
Seriously if Star Wars was real, I prefer to be in a X-wing then a TIE, because you have to figure something that small, might scare you a lot. Then again, I have a strong fear of heights when I am not on solid ground or not with someone I trust.
Oh before I forget (Sorry I am tired as I am typing this note) This weekend I might be going to see my real dad, so on Friday, I most likely would not be posting anything until Sunday, so this might be the last chapter this week or it might not. So please keep that in mind. I hate to start a part when it is just getting interesting, but I am losing ideas at the moment for fuller chapters to go along.
Until next time, enjoy!