Jorec, Lia, and Rinoco walked through the royal palace on Alderaan, oblivious to the wonderful works of art that their tour guide was showing them. All three of them had better things on their minds than the different forms of art that were present in the museum. They had to find a way to get in contact with Bail Organa and all other forms of communicating with him other than face-to-face was going to be extremely risky. Any other method would be filtered through several security filters and ran the risk of either never getting into the Senator's hands, or being discovered by a Pro-Imperial secretary. Either way, with the situation they were in now, neither needed to happen.
"As you can see, this painting is a typical example of the Fifth Era of Alderaanian Art," the tour guide said as he continued to walk through the collection. The painting was yet another picture of what appeared to be the same lake and mountain combo Jorec had seen in two other paintings in the tour. The trio continued to follow the tour guide, looking for anyone that might actually help them. They didn't know that they were the ones being watched.
"All right, sir, I see them now," the security guard spoke into his comlink. "How should this go down?"
"Peacefully," was the reply. "They haven't done anything wrong yet, just send them to me for questioning."
"What if they fight back?"
"My sources says that they won't, but be cautious. And if worse comes to worse, don't stun the woman."
"Sir?" the guard asked.
"You have your orders, bring them to me."
"Yes sir."
The person in charge of the operation nervously drummed his fingers on the desk. I wish I could bring them in myself, he thought. It would be much easier than getting others to do it, and there may be far more questions…
The security guard slowly walked up to his targets, trying to get the three separated from the main group of tourists in the art museum. He hoped that they wouldn't cause a scene, wouldn't cause a situation that would lead to the possibility of others getting hurt. "Excuse me," he said to the three people. "Someone would like to have a word with you." He could see the Xexto become physically shaken, the potential for ugliness increased by about 25. The human male seemed to tense up for a second before apparently calming down about a second later.
Aided by the voice that had helped him so many times in the past, Jorec nodded his head at the unseen security guard. "Take us to him then," he replied, mentally seeing the look of surprise on Lia and Rinoco's faces. "I do suppose you want to follow us in case we 'decide to do anything foolish?'"
"Yeah," the security guard said, wondering how this guy could know what he was going to say. "Take the next right."
Of the three people in the group, only Jorec walked completely calmly down the hallways of the Royal Palace. They were now far past the portion of the giant castle that was open to the general public and some of the beautiful artwork was now replaced with more functional decorum. He could feel Lia slowly tug on his shirt, and he leaned in her direction to hear her speak.
"What's going on?" she whispered as she walked beside of him. "Anything wrong?"
"I don't believe so," he replied. "Just trust me on this, the both of you." The last four words were clearly aimed at Rinoco, who seemed seconds away from panicking completely.
"Is this some kind of 'Force thing' that's telling you this?" Lia whispered to her fiancé.
"Odd hunches," Jorec replied. "Another thing you're going to have to get used to…"
After several minutes of walking in the palace, the three were led to a simple metallic door. There was no name on the outside of the room, causing Jorec to begin to wonder on whether or not to be worried about what waited behind the door.
The door opened, and a simple desk came into view. The alien behind the desk was dressed in the robes of an important politician, and gray fur lined his body. The fur continued up his body until reaching the snout, which was completely hairless. A Caamasi. Jorec struggled with his memory, trying to place the familiar face with a name. He had remembered seeing this very same being inside of the Jedi Temple, and he was glad to see another survivor of the Clone Wars.
"Master It'kla, if I remember your name correctly," Jorec greeted the Caamasi Jedi Master after the security guard left the room.
"I don't believe I have actually seen you before," Ylenic replied. "However, it is obvious that you have had some training in the Force, which is why I was able to know of your presence in the Palace."
"Good, we were kind of wondering how to actually get in contact with someone in charge here," Jorec said. "Meeting a Jedi Master wasn't exactly what I had in mind, but it's obviously a pleasant surprise. My name's Jorec Merridon, by the way. You probably don't remember me because I was just a Padawan when—you know."
The Caamasi lowered his head, and seemingly sighed in relief. "It is a relief to know that someone so young managed to survive that chaos. You seem only to be—what? Twenty-five?"
"Twenty-three actually," Jorec replied. "And it's a miracle that I actually survived at all." Jorec once again relayed the tale of his survival of Order 66 and the sacrifice that Merrick Fionst and Sen Udo-Mal had performed to ensure that survival. Another brief retelling of his life following his survival was next, with much of the focus being on the events of the last year. "If you don't mind me asking," Jorec asked after finally finishing his story several minutes later, "how did you survive? I haven't seen that many Jedi remaining, although I do know that they do exist."
"I was on Corellia when the Order was betrayed," he answered. "I was quite fortunate, and realized something was wrong when I watched the HoloNews reporting on the burning of the Temple."
"I don't mean to sound rude, but what can you do to help us?" Lia asked.
"Technically, I can do nothing," Ylenic replied, quickly raising his hand to silence the objection that was about to be uttered by all three of the visitors. "I'm only an advisor. However, I can get you an audience before Bail Organa. He's in a greater position than me to help you. Unfortunately, he is currently away with his family for a short vacation, he's due to be back tomorrow. I can arrange quarters for you, if you'd like."
"What about that security guard?" Rinoco asked. "Won't he find it suspicious that nothing happened regarding the people he brought in?"
"That's already been taken care of," Ylenic replied. "A simple case of mistaken identity. Is there anything else you need?"
"Yes," Jorec replied. "I need to borrow some Holorecording equipment. I think there are two people who need to know I'm alive more than anyone else does."
"Mom! Dad! Someone dropped some datapad at the door before running off," the sixteen-year old Calena Merridon replied as she shut the door of her parents' apartment on Coruscant.
"Did you recognize them?" her mother replied.
"I didn't get a good look at them. Want to see what's on this thing?"
Her mother walked into the room, followed shortly by her father. The mother took the datapad from Calena and examined it. "It seems to have a Holorecording on it," she said. "Wonder what it is…"
A young man appeared from the datapad's holoemitter, a young man that looked strangely familiar. "Hello, this may be hard for you to believe, but I assure you that every word of it is true," the holographic figure began.
"I wish I could actually explain these things to you personally, but with you living on Coruscant, it's just too risky. The same goes with a live transmission. I do suppose I should introduce myself first, my name is Jorec Merridon. Yes, that Jorec Merridon…"
"No kriffin' way!" Calena exclaimed as she saw the face of her brother for the first time, only to quickly apologize for her harsh language.
"How is this possible?" Jorec's mother whispered as her son continued his introduction.
"—nd there are several things that have happened, so all of you better sit down. This is going to take a while."
It did take a while, and it was a lot to take for Jorec's family. He had survived the events that took place at the end of the Clone Wars after all, and wasn't even in the Temple at all when it burned. His life on Selvernos was covered, and the parents quickly recovered from the shocking news that they were going to be grandparents. Absent from the report, however, was the news of Jorec's capture by the Empire, a casualty for the sole purpose of not wanting to worry them more than they already were.
"I hope that one day I could actually see you face to face, maybe when the Empire is gone and the Republic is restored. I just want to let you know that I'm safe, mom and dad. And that I love you two very much. I don't blame you for sending me off to the Jedi, and I never did. Until we actually meet again, may the Force be with you."
