When news of the disaster at Yag'Dhul came down, Jagged Fel was still on Coruscant. It was early evening in Galactic City and he'd been about to depart on the too-long, too-familiar return route to Bastion, but he put the trip on hasty delay so he could watch some of the fallout. The collapse of the talks came quickly and as expected. The various delegates from the House returned to their throneworlds in Senex-Juvex, some staying long enough to talk to Alliance investigators and others not. After that there was a pause where everyone waited with held breath to see what came next.
It wasn't in Jag's nature to just wait and see. His list of contacts on the capital was diverse and extensive, and after a few quick comm messages he was able to arrange a meeting with one of the most familiar.
He arrived at the Alliance Naval Command headquarters complex as the sun was climbing up through Galactic City's forest of spires and the lines of speeder-traffic were starting to thicken in anticipation of morning rush hour. He passed though familiar security gates and was escorted down familiar hallways until he stepped into the office of his cousin, Admiral Syal Antilles.
Syal had been named after her aunt, Jagged's mother, and now that she'd gotten older he'd started seeing a resemblance. Like Jag's, her once-bronze hair had been turned mostly gray after a lifetime in service of the greater good. Once long, it now hovered in a sharp bob a few centimeters above the shoulders of her blue uniform.
Jag was used to finding her behind her desk. Syal's days as a front-line fleet admiral were behind her and now she mostly worked in an administrative capacity. It was, he thought, a good thing for her now, though she looked suitably grim as he sat down in front of her.
"We've got a meeting with Chief of State Sevash in two hours," Syal told him. The we implied other top-ranking military officers.
"I won't be long. I wanted to sound out the situation before I go back to Bastion."
She sighed. "We're all waiting and seeing right now, Jag. But we're preparing for the worst. Admiral Premvold's recalling the Third Fleet to the Seswenna Sector. If he has to intervene in Senex-Juvex, it'll be easy to do so from there."
"Intervene how? And with how much force?"
"That depends on what happens, doesn't it?" Her voice was annoyed, tense. "Jag, are you sounding me out as you, or as the official Imperial liaison?"
"Right now, me. But by the time I get back to Bastion I'll be liaison again. If there's something you think Admiral Worhaven should know, tell me no so I can tell him."
"So both," she sighed. "Everything's so up in the air right now. Everything's confused. I will say that if too many people start getting killed we will take action."
"Against the Houses?"
"Against whoever's doing the killing. Gnoll's death has the people in Senex-Juvex at their breaking point. It might just be the spark needed to set off a general uprising."
"I know," Jag growled. "I can't believe someone from the Houses was stupid enough to kill him. They may have signed their own death warrant."
"The Houses are a fossilized aristocracy that hasn't changed in a thousand years. Their leaders are terrified of losing their historic privileges and it's made them do foolish things."
"Foolish is a mild way of saying 'suicidally moronic.'"
"The point is, Jag, we're preparing a peacekeeping force. Hopefully we'll only have to intervene on a few worlds. If we intervene at all. Sevash still needs to get authorization from a senate vote, which looks ike it'll pass but you never know. The point is, we need to head off violence before it spins out of control. When you talk to Admiral Worhaven, let him know that. We want this to be a limited action but we're prepared to see it through."
Jag raised an eyebrow. "Is that Lannik Sevash's position?"
"Sevash is cautious. He's been making his case to senators ahead of the vote tomorrow and he's been stressing any intervention will be limited. He doesn't want to be known as the Chief of State to break the Long Peace, but he doesn't want to stand back and watch it break itself either. He'll do what's right."
"What his admirals tell him to, you mean?"
Her smile was tired, brittle. "What else?"
"Here's the real question. Will he invoke the Treaty of Anaxes?"
Tense silence passed between them. The agreement had been drawn up thirty years ago as a means to bind the galaxy's great powers closer together. It declared that an attack one was an attack on all, and if the Bothans, for example, were attacked by a non-signatory power like the Hapans, Hutts, or Yuuzhan Vong, then the Core Worlds, the Empire, and even Senex-Juvex would be legally obliged to help the Bothans defend themselves. In practice it had never been invoked.
"Let me put it this way," Syal said at last. "He shouldn't have to."
"You mean that the Empire should recognize the common duty it owes to the people of the Alliance and donate warships to keep the peace in Senex-Juvex."
"Exactly."
"Well. It's a good thing I was planning to tell Worhaven that anyway."
"I'm glad we're on the same page."
"So am I." Jag leaned back in his chair. "Davek's ship was part of the big combat exercises we just held at Bilbringi."
Syal instantly took his meaning. "He knows what he signed up for."
"Still. Sometimes I wish I'd been able to convince my children to go into civilian life like you did."
"Arlen's not in the military."
"No," Jag said, "He took after his mother, which is so much worse. Jedi are tireless meddlers."
"And you're not?"
He glanced out her window at the rosy morning sky. "Point taken, Syal. Point taken."
-{}-
There were riots, of course. They started out on Varadan, Moran Gnoll's homeworld, and despite preemptive action by House Petro security forces they quickly spread across the planet. The other riots did not so much as spread out from the battered mining world so much as they sprouted up of their own volition almost simultaneously. Demonstrations on crowded port and trading planets turned violently quickly, especially when security forces attempted crackdowns. A stampede on Voorsbain killed over a hundred civilians as well as a dozen House Picutorion troops. A building filled with servants and clerks for House Araba was bombed on Mussubir. House Kassido's great grain fields on Ossiathora were set to burn by packs of arsonists. And on Fengrine, House Vandron's greatest agri-world, vandals and anarchists had turned the two main spaceports to havoc and were destroyed any House property they could find.
All of that went on for almost three full standard days before Savyar finally made her broadcast.
Kalor Vandron watched it all in the privacy of his estate on Karfeddion. The Falleen started out somber and personal. She recounted the first time she'd met Moran Gnoll face-to-face (a secret meeting on Malador, she said), followed by the last time they'd talked before his fatal trip to Yag'Dhul. The Nosaurian had been well aware of what he risked by stepping into a station filled with enemies, she said, but with characteristic gentle bravery he'd gone anyway. Savyar then skipped over his actual death and gave a short summary of his life, highlighting his bravery in standing up to the "cruel slavemasters" on Varadan and payed tribute to those following his example now.
From there it got more and more political. The ones expressing their discontent on Varadan and Mussubir and Fengrine now, she said, were not just carrying on Gnoll's spirit, they were his spirit. The security forces from the Houses were the brave Nosaurian's murderers. As always, she stopped carefully short of actually endorsing violence against the government, but she ended with a call to action that was hard to interpret as anything else under the circumstances.
The whole take made Vandron angry, but at least it had been what he'd expected. Through that anger he noted a few curious things. For one, she'd carefully avoided any mention of the actual conference through her entire speech. Rumors would have spread news of Gnoll's death, vivid and clear, and recounting them would have taken words away from more urgent uses. Likewise she hadn't actually accused any of the Houses of murdered Gnoll, because most of her audience already believed it anyway. She'd also neglected to mention to Galactic Alliance at all, not even the ambassador who'd been killed with Gnoll. He'd half-expected her to implore Coruscant for help, but it seemed Savyar was intent on tackling the situation under her own terms, without outside interference. Vandron knew a canny political player when he heard one. Savyar might have been a firebrand but she was no fool.
That was all the more reason to do what had to be done. When he summoned Kheykid to his quarters, the Barabel was quick in coming. As always, the black hood cast shadows on his fierce striped face. His reptilian slit-eyes watched Vandron warily from beneath them. Alien body-language was so hard to read, but Vandron wanted to believe Kheykid was ashamed for his failures. He had every reason to be, after what happened on Yag'Dhul.
"I am giving you a mission," Vandron said. "This one is so simple even you should be able to do it."
"What is that, Lord?"
"You know what it is. You're to find Savyar and kill her. It's the only way this madness can end. You can do it, can't you? I hired you on your reputation as an assassin. Clearly you aren't up the tracking or guard work but I hope you're still capable at murdering things. Aren't you?"
"As you say."
"As you say." Vandron sneered. "Stop being obsequious. It doesn't fit you. Just do as I ask. Do this one simple thing, and I will perhaps overlook some aspects of your failures so far. Do you understand?"
Kheykid bobbed his head. "What happens if killing her does not stop the riots?"
"Then we will stop them. Every head that rises up will be shot off. There will be no mercy for traitors."
"The Alliance?"
He snorted. "Let them cry. Let them kick us out of their pointless little coalition. They're toothless, utterly toothless. The Houses have governed these sectors for one thousand years and we won't let them fall to anarchy, not on our watch. We've beaten the rabble into submission before and we'll do it again. It's as simple as that."
Vandron couldn't tell how much of that got through to Kheykid's alien brain. He blinked and asked, "Do you wish for reports, Lord?"
"Reports? No. Don't try to contact me. You never know who might be listening. Just kill the witch. Even you can understand that. Find her, kill her, and don't come back to me until that's done."
"Yes, Lord."
"Now go. Get out of here. I don't want to see you again unless you have Savyar's blood on your hands. Is that clear?"
"Very. Until we meet again, Lord."
Kheykid turned and was gone. Vandron stared at the door for a long time. Kheykid had spoken those last words with such casual confidence; Vandron didn't know what to make of them. Deep down, he didn't really believe he'd see Kheykid again. The Barabel had been useful in some ways but clearly the alien wasn't up to the tasks Vandron needed him for. Hiring a human agent would have been better, probably, but it was too late to regret all the mistakes already made.
Vandron sighed and went to retrieve his comlink. He needed to call the head of security on Fengrine and talk to him directly. So far the man had been taking too cautious an approach to the rioters. Anarchy only spread if you were complacent enough to let it. Order had to be laid down by any means necessary.
-{}-
When he returned to his ship, Darth Kheykid removed the audio-visual recording device he'd attached to the inside of his hood and plugged it into Intruder's main computer. It took only a second to upload the data. After that, he brought the communications system online and hailed Darth Xoran.
He waited almost a minute before the Falleen woman's face appeared on the cockpit holo-projector. "Speak, Darth Kheykid."
"Lord Vandron has tasked me to find and kill Savyar," he said without humor.
"I'm surprised it took him so long." Xoran's grin was slanted. "What else?"
"I've recorded the incident and can transmit it now. He spoke very candidly on other topics also."
"Ah, that was very clever. Did he refer to you by name at any point in the conversation?"
"No."
"Then it should be fit for public release. You won't be able to go back to him once we send it out, of course."
"He said to only return if I had Savyar's blood on my hands."
"Then the problem is avoided."
"Where should I go now?"
Xoran went thoughtful. "Stay in the region of Karfeddion and wait, I think. Hopefully you'll have one last task there."
"Are you at the worldship, Master?"
"I am. Our Yuuzhan Vong friend has prepared things accordingly."
"Then we'll reveal ourselves?"
"Not yet, but soon."
"I've waited a long time, Master. I can wait a little more."
She nodded. "Send me your little recording. That should hasten things on just a bit."
When Kheykid killed the holo-connection he sent the data package across the same encrypted transmission. When that was done he shut off the comm and began to warm the engines. He'd rather be at Darth Xoran's side as they moved the rising into its next stage, but he knew there was a plan and the plan had to be adhered to. The One Sith were not the Sith of old, always jabbing knives in each other's backs and climbing over the corpses of former allies to imagined glories. He and Xoran both served a greater goal.
Besides, he had a good idea what his last task on Karfeddion would be, and he was looking forward to it.
-{}-
Again and again in time of crisis the question reared its head: What was to be done? Specifically, what were the Jedi to do?
The decentralized nature of the Jedi Order made deciding these things tricky. The academy on Bastion and the temple of Ossus were just two of nearly a dozen sites the Jedi had staked across the galaxy. That police had been decided by Jade's grandfather and furthered by her father. They'd reasoned that locking the entire Order up in one building on Coruscant or one planet in the Outer Rim only isolated the Jedi from the galaxy they were meant to serve. By establishing local headquarters on planets like Bastion the Jedi became closer to the people, hopefully more helpful and less mysterious.
Even that plan had downsides. The Skywalkers knew that better than anyone. Before she was born a secret Jedi academy had been hosted in the Hapes Cluster. The attempt to publicly rejuvenate it and create a permanent Jedi presence had sparked the reactionary nobles to finally oust Queen Mother Tenel Ka Djo and purge their territory of Force-users.
The mess in Senex-Juvex was different. There was no anti-Jedi cause lurking behind the unrest there. In fact, the Jedi seemed utterly irrelevant as a millenium of pent-up violence finally seemed ready to crest. Standing back while millions or even billions of innocent lives were at stake was not the Jedi way, which was why Grand Master Ben Skywalker had called a rare conclave from the members of the Jedi Council scattered across the stars.
Such a conclave was conducted via a very secure, encrypted network of hyperlink communications. It was not meant to be eavesdropped on by anyone, even other Jedi not on the council. Therefore, Jade Skywalker felt tense, guilty, and also a little bit excited as she sat in the corner of her aunt's chamber, out of range of the holo-transmitter's viewfinder, as Master Jaina Solo spoke with six flickering blue holo-images representing the other Council members.
"Any action we take in Senex-Juvex will be tricky," Jaina was saying. She'd been the one to suggest her niece secretly watch these talks and Jade still wasn't sure why, but it definitely wasn't an offer to turn down. "Normally the Order is only permitted to act on worlds where we've been given express permission by the local governments. Right now you could argue whether there is a legitimate government in Senex-Juvex."
"If we ask for permission from the Houses we'll surely be turned down," Seha Dorvald said. She was a red-haired woman a little older than Jade's father. "Frankly, I don't think we want to ask them. It would just confer on them a legitimacy, and I'm not comfortable with that."
"Yes, we've all seen that… candid holo-recording of Kalor Vandron," the ancient Jedi Master K'Kruhk shook shaggy his head. An often-reclusive Jedi of the Old Republic and survivor of the Clone Wars, the Whiphid's huge and fearsome-looking appearance belied his pacifist's nature. "The Order shouldn't be an accomplice to beings like that."
"I agree with all of you," Jade's father said. In the holo he was sitting cross-legged on a stool, leaning forward with elbows on knees. "But Jaina's point still stands. Since the authority of the Houses is in question, to put it mildly, I intend to go to Chief of State Sevash and ask for his permission to insert Jedi into the Sectors."
"And if he refuses?" asked Kholmara Baas, a Krevaaki Jedi who ran another academy on watery Bestine.
"I don't think he will," Ben said. "Not if we restrict ourselves to mercy missions only."
"Can you be sure, though?" Master Dorvald asked. "I think Sevash is going to try and keep this mission as uncomplicated as possible. He might not like us butting in."
"This situation is already as complicated," said the brittle but firm voice of the Council's oldest member. Despite his lined face, his messy white beard and form-concealing cloak, there was an intensity in Kyp Durron's eyes that, Jaina'd said, had never really changed in all his life.
"That is true," K'Kruhk said, "But Chief of State Sevash-"
"He has his duty and we have ours. If the Jedi sit aside and don't lift a finger to help, we'll be as guilty as the ones who killed Moran Gnoll."
A grim silence passed through the group. Jade had heard all the stories of what Kyp Durron had done in his time- the good, the bad, the outright horrible. Anything he said seemed to carry an extra weight.
"The law is the law," Durron said, casually dismissive. "The Jedi are the Jedi. We serve the Force and nothing else. If the law doesn't do the right thing, then we bend it. Or break it if we absolutely have to."
"Then what should we do here, Master Durron?" asked Tekli, the stout and gray-furred Chandra-Fan who ran an academy for healers on icy Rhen Var.
"We don't need to bend or break rules," Jaina said. "We just need to find a way around them."
Ben smirked knowingly. "Suggestions?"
"Just think back a month ago. A mix of masters, knights, and apprentices barged into an Imperial war games exercise, saved some ships, and got lauded for it. And a week before that, two very capable apprentices helped a certain senator save some lives on the Vandron homeworld." Jaina refrained from throwing a knowing wink in Jade's direction, but her tone hinted enough. The girl fidgeted uncomfortably.
"That was different," said Ben. "Allana invited them as her guards. They were there legally."
"One pattern I've noticed," Dorvald said, "Is that people are a lot more willing to overlook us stepping over some lines if it works to their advantage."
"It's easier to ask forgiveness than ask permission," Kyp Durron said.
"Perhaps," K'Kruhk grunted, "But it is better to have permission than need forgiveness."
"We are moving away from the core of the issue," Master Baas clacked his pincers, a Krevaaki call for order. "If Sevash grants Jedi permission to run mercy missions into Senex-Juvex, good. If not, then we ask forgiveness later."
Kyp and Jaina nodded agreement, but Jade couldn't tell what the others thought.
"The question then," Baas went on, "Is what we do once we are there. We cannot snap our claws and instantly solve centuries of mounted anger and injustice. This conflict is far bigger than us."
"Which is why we need to do anything we can to alleviate suffering," Tekli said. "Master Skywalker, I'm willing to send every healer I think is capable to Senex-Juvex. There are millions being hurt or injured as we speak and I'm sure most of them don't have access to proper medical help."
"That's a very good point," Ben nodded. "In fact, you're the first thing I'm going to mention to Sevash. An offer like that is pretty much impossible to turn down. Hopefully that can help us get our feet in the door for more."
"Such as?" asked Dorvald.
"Food. Equipment. Supplies. People there need a lot more than Force-healing."
"Master Skywalker, and you thinking of actually backing the rebels?" Durron asked. Jade couldn't tell if he was skeptical or hopeful or both at once.
"I hesitate to call them 'rebels' just yet. Right now it seems to be like a lot of angry people with no real organization."
"What about Savyar?" asked Dorvald.
"From what I can tell, nobody knows how organized she really is," Jaina said. "Not even Alliance or Imperial intel."
"This wouldn't be happening without her," Durron said. "She's at the center of everything."
"Do you suggest we make contact with her?" Baas asked.
Durron seemed to consider that. It was Ben who stopped him, saying, "Right now I want to stay clear of anything overtly political. The last thing we want is the galaxy seeing us as king-makers. No, we'll give mercy to anyone who needs it. That included rebels, people displaced by the rebels, and anyone caught in the crossfire."
"We'll need to make sure we don't get in that crossfire," Jaina said. "Whether we go in under Alliance auspices or not, we're going to need more than just healers. No offense, Tekli."
The Chadra-Fan dipped her broad nose in a sign she took none. K'Kruhk said, "We will need Jedi experienced in fighting. And they should be with the healers at all times."
"Agreed." Jaina looked at Ben. "Any objections?"
His smile was gentle. "None. You've all been reading my mind."
"Scary thought," Durron grunted. "I'd volunteer my services, but I'm not as quick on my feet as I used to be."
"Don't worry, Kyp, we'd only send you after there's nobody else in the Order left," Jaina said with a smirk.
"I'm going to leave it to all of you to decide which Jedi should go. I don't need everyone. Barring Master Tekli's healers, I want, say, a dozen of your best. That will be more than enough for now, I hope."
"We will take time to consider," Baas said.
"You have two days and that's it," said Ben. "Understood?"
"Understood, Master," Tekli said. "Is that all for now?"
"I think so," Ben said. "You can get in touch with me individually any time you want. If you have questions, don't hesitate to ask."
There was a short chorus of 'Yes, Master Skywalker,' and then the holos began to wink out. First went Dorvald, the K'Kruhk, then Durron and Tekli and Baas. Finally it was just Jade's father as a flickering blue ghost, staring at his cousin from across light-years.
"Well," Jaina said, "I thought that went well. Didn't you?"
"Well enough for a start," Ben said. He didn't seem relaxed now that the rest were gone. "Well, what do you think?"
"About who I'd send? I'm not sure about Arlen. He's still on Coruscant with Chance and apparently they've just started making some leads on their whole pirate investigation." After a pause Jaina said, "If you want me to go, Ben, I'll go."
He nodded. "I think you should, just to oversee things."
"I can still handle myself in a fight. I'm not a broken old man like Kyp."
"I'll tell him you said that."
"Believe me, I've called him worse." Jaina smiled as she said it. Then she turned her eyes right on Jade and said, "I have other suggestions too."
Ben gave a long sigh. "Jade, are you there?"
She swallowed and said, "Yes, dad."
"I should stop trusting your aunt." He shook his head as Jade shuffled beside Jaina, into the holo-transmitter's recording range. "Did you see it all?"
She nodded. Jaina said, "It was my idea, Ben. Don't blame your daughter."
"The thought never crossed my mind," he said dryly. "Jade, what do you think?"
She folded her hands in front of her, intertwining fingers so tightly they hurt, but she kept the nervousness out of her voice. "Dad, I don't want to just sit here, not when the Jedi are doing something important."
"Every Jedi feels like that but not all of them are going to go."
"I know, Dad. But I feel like I was there when this thing started, with Allana at Karfeddion."
"This started long before any of us, Jade."
"You're right. But I feel like I was torn away from something when I shouldn't have been." He didn't react to the accusation, finally voiced aloud. She went on, "I don't want that to happen again. I'm not going to learn to be a Jedi if I'm always getting yanked back just when I'm starting to really feel like one."
"You're still an apprentice, not a full Jedi, and the situation there's more dangerous than ever."
"I know. But I'm never going to be a Jedi by playing it safe. Dad, I know about what you went through growing up. They were awful things and you shouldn't have had to experience them but they made you what you are today, and that's a great Jedi. And you want to make sure I never go through what you did. You want to protect me. I understand that, especially with what happened to Mom. But I don't want to put myself in danger, but I should. If I don't then I'm no real Jedi at all."
Her father's blue electric face stared at hers across the gap, stern and considering. Finally his eyes slid to Jaina's and he said with a tone of defeat, "It was a good speech, wasn't it?"
"I thought so."
"All right," Ben sighed. "I think… I think it would be alright if you went. But Master Mjalu has to go with you."
"Not a problem," Jade nodded. "What about Jodram and Wharn?"
"I suppose they can go too, but only if they want to. And only if you don't pressure them."
She nodded again. Jodram went wherever she did and Wharn was even more desperate to prove himself than she was. Jade had a feeling neither of them would need any pressure at all.
She kept a smile off her face, though. Very seriously, she said, "Thank you, Dad. I mean it. Thanks so much."
"You'll call me again before you muster out."
"Of course, Dad.
"May the Force be with you.
"You too, Dad."
"And Jaina?"
"Yes, Ben?"
"Next Council meeting, no eavesdroppers."
"You've got my word."
The holo abruptly disappeared, leaving Jade and Jaina alone in the cool dark chamber. Feeling suddenly dazed, Jade lowered herself to the floor next to her aunt. Jaina slipped an arm across her back and squeezed her shoulder. "You're welcome, by the way."
"Thanks. Thank you. I just… wasn't expecting that."
"But you wanted it, right?"
"Yeah. I did."
"Wanting things is easy," Jaina said, and her upbeat expression became serious. Looking Jade right in the eye she said, "Getting what you want and dealing with it, and all the unwanted stuff that comes along with it- that's the real challenge. And you'll probably have to face it when you're not ready."
"I guess that's part of my training too," Jade tried a smile.
"Yes," Jaina said, still serious. "That's what being a Jedi is."