Love of a Jedi II

Chapter Fourteen

In the six months since Naes had established his flight school and Grey Jedi Academy on Thule the number of pilots had increased exponentially. Garm had gotten lackluster support from Bail Organa and zero support from Mon Mothma. The thing that worried Naes was that the longer Palpatine was in power, the longer he could set in place contingency plans for the possibility that the Empire would fall. He also knew that darkness fed on darkness; the longer things remained dark, the thicker and greater the dark was. Fortunately, Garm had been able to find support among some of the fledgling scattered rebel cells in the wider galaxy, especially in the Outer Rim.

Despite their faults, the Jedi had tried to keep things balanced; that is until they became unbalanced themselves. What Garm did not realize was that once Naes assumed the Imperial throne, he was going to institute a few changes in regards to the relationship between the Galactic State and the reconstituted Jedi Order. Changes that would ensure the Jedi remained independent of the Galactic Senate, Judiciary, Military, and the Head of State whatever form that would take. He was also going to institute a few anti-corruption laws while he was in office to help drain the swamp of Coruscant; laws that would be straightforward and would require a supermajority to repeal.

The biggest weight on his mind at present was how to expand the fleet that was being gathered by Garm and Naes. Then Naes hit on an idea; first he had to convince the Bothan's to renounce their neutrality and support him against the Empire, which since he was going to take over the Empire shortly afterwards should not be difficult, especially if he promised to leave them alone after he took power. With the Bothan's on his side, he could make a quick hit on Mon Calamari taking out the token Imperial fleet there and freeing the Mon Cala, getting their shipyards in action to support the Corellian shipyards. After that he would hit the Wookie homeworld of Kashyyyk; freeing the planet and its inhabitants from Imperial slavery. With the support of the Bothan fleet, as well as additional shipyards and figuring that the Mon Cala and Wookies would be willing to assist in the fight against the Empire, especially with assurances that their independence would respected. With that, Naes keyed his terminal to speak to Thosk Fel'ya; he and Thosk had dealt with each other during the Clone Wars a couple years ago.

Thosk appeared on the screen; "Jedi Master Naes Nemelc you are still in the land of the living. It warms my heart to see you alive. Rumor said that all Jedi were dead."

"Admiral Fel'ya as you can see in my case the rumors of my death are greatly exaggerated; also do not bother trying to trace the transmission. My tracks are too well covered; after all I am still living."

The fur on Thosk rippled for a moment, indicating to a knowledgeable observer such as Naes that he was about to engage in some subterfuge. "You do me wrong Jedi Master; I would never do such a thing."

Naes leaned in closer to the screen, the trace signature to the side catching his eye, betraying that Fel'ya was indeed attempting to trace the transmission. With one hand Naes tapped a few keys to help muddy things even more. "Thosk, my apologies for assigning evil motives to you. I called with a proposition. Surely you have heard about the recent raids the past year concerning the re-appropriation of CIS ships."

"Yes, whoever has done so, has amassed a sizeable little fleet. Depending on the commander, the fleet could be quite dangerous to certain sectors. Do you have a lead on the fleet and its new owner?"

"I am the new owner. I have made certain alliances to partially man the fleet, and will soon make more alliances for fleet support and manning. I am calling because rumor says that the Fel'ya clan holds a lot of sway over the Bothan people, you especially since the Battle of Rodia."

"Yes, I hold some sway", the fur rippling just a touch.

Naes smiled, "I know that the Bothan's have an agreement with the Empire allowing your people a certain degree of autonomy. How long do you think Palpatine or Vader will allow that to continue?"

Thosk growled and said, "Why is that your concern?"

"We both know that eventually the Empire will come in full force and take your system, unless there is something to draw their attention. My proposition is this; your people were trusted and respected members of the Republic before the Clone Wars. During the Clone Wars the Republic respected your neutrality and assisted you in maintaining your independence. I have a plan, if you and your people assist me; the Bothan people can once again take their place in the Galactic State."

"What is it you ask of us?"

"Gather your forces, in a few weeks my fleet will strike Kuat and then pay a visit to Palpatine on Coruscant. What I ask of you is that you assist with the strike on Kuat and hold Kuat while I take my forces on to Coruscant. Can you do that? Once I am through, Bothawui will once more be fully integrated into the Galactic State. You will not need to support such a large fleet any longer, and will once more have open trade access with everyone else."

"I will see what I can do. How do I contact you?"

"Thosk for now I will contact you, safer that way."

"Understood honored warrior and Jedi Master."

After that, Naes cut the transmission, one thing he knew, Bothan's were a cunning and at times duplicitous people, but above all else they were pragmatic. And their spy network was second to none. Even Imperial Intelligence had things that it could learn from the Bothans.

Naes checked the time, just enough to check on the Force Sensitive training. Things were going well. A few Jedi had shown up, after listening to Naes, they had decided that they would stay and form the core of a New Order. Amongst those that were found of the Force Sensitives was an eighteen year old named Kylantha, Ezriel had taken quite an interest in the young trainee. Naes could see all the signs, despite growing up in the Temple and being taught that love and attachment were forbidden, a youngling was still a youngling. Not too surprising really, there were even rumors that Obi Wan had formed an attachment with Duchess Satine. Look at Naes and Anakin, both married women from Naboo. He checked his chrono and called Ezriel on his communicator.

"Ezriel, come here for a minute."

"Yes, Master what is it?"

"I need you and Tara to take the Knightfall and pick up the leaders of the Mon Calamari resistance and the leaders of the Wookie resistance and bring them here. We need to do some last minute coordination. Don't give them our location, also after you pick them up, be sure and swing by the shipyards and let them see our small fleet."

A few days later…

Naes was in his quarters meditating. Like most other quarters here on Antar, his was a small alcove dug into the rock with a bench and pad for a bed. To one side a stone pedestal that Naes would sit on when meditating. He happened to be sitting on the pedestal facing the door with his eyes closed. He could feel Ezriel's presence coming down the hall and buzz the door.

"Enter." Naes could feel Ezriel step in and paused, not sure if he should disturb Naes while he was meditating; the door closed behind him.

Ezriel stood there looking somewhat puzzled at his master. Naes was sitting cross-legged on the stone pedestal with his eyes closed. The strange thing was that he was actually floating a few centimeters above the pedestal and several small rocks scattered around the quarters were floating as well. Rarely had he seen his master looking so serene.

"Yes Ezriel, what can I do for you?"

Ezriel was flustered for a moment because he had not spoken and Naes had yet to open his eyes. "Master, I came to tell you that Admiral Raddus of the Mon Calamari and Chuundar of Kashyyyk have arrived. They both appeared to be rather impressed with our small fleet."

Naes lowered to the ground and opened his eyes as the other rocks lowered to the ground, "Thank you, I will be with them shortly."

A few minutes later Naes walked into the conference room; Admiral Raddus and Chuundar were both waiting on him. Naes took his seat at the head of the table, flanked on either side by Rhea and Ezriel. "Gentlebeings, I want to thank you for coming, I know both of you are busy with your own concerns. I have devised a way that we can all help each other and eventually help the entire galaxy."

Chuundar spoke "Your fleet is impressive. What do you need us for?"

"I need crews for the fleet. Two weeks after you are taken back to Kashyyyk and Mon Cala, my fleet with assistance from the Bothan fleet will strike and destroy the Imperial fleet blockading Kashyyyk. Afterwards we will leave a rearguard of some of the ships of my fleet to protect Kashyyyk crewed by Wookies. The rest of the fleet now fully crewed will proceed with the Bothans to destroy the Imperial presence in orbit of Mon Calamari."

Admiral Raddus spoke up next, "There is no way we can resist the Imperial firepower that they will bring down us if we do as you suggest. Eventually they will out produce us to build up enough firepower to wipe us all out."

"Admiral I have a dataspike planted in the Imperial Network, the fleet does not make a move without me knowing about it. At current production rates and all things being equal, it will take them at least nine months and probably closer to a full year to build up the fire power to take out both of you. Once we have Mon Calamari freed, we can proceed to getting your shipyards back up and running. What is not known is that I will also have the Corellian shipyards backing us up as well as a modicum of support from Alderaan."

Chuundar spoke again, "That is helpful. What are your ultimate goals?"

Naes smiled, "After the attack on Mon Calamari, we stop, catch our breath and set to work on repairing all of our ships that have been damaged. At that time, Corellia and Alderaan will assist with technical help and supplies. Once repaired we leave a rear guard at Mon Calamari and take everything available and hit the Kuat Shipyards and occupy them."

Raddus rubbed his chin and said, "That helps, but Jedi Master Nemelc, what is your endgame? How will this overthrow the Empire?"

Ezriel and Rhea looked at each other, both looking somewhat uncomfortable which was promptly picked up by their guests. Chuundar spoke up, "What is you are hiding from us? If you wish for our support then you must be honest with us."

Naes looked at both of his guests, "My goal is not to overthrow the Empire; it is to overthrow the Emperor and Vader and the Moff's. Rid the Empire of the graft and greed that infected it and the Republic before it; to do that I will assume power at first and enact a few laws and elect a new senate to power; senate that is not under the sway of a Sith Lord such as Palpatine."

Radduas fell back choking saying, "A Sith Lord in charge? Impossible! Sith are fairy tales told by parents to scare their children."

"Admiral, Sith are real. I am currently training on this planet a group of forty individuals specifically take out the Inquisitors, Dark Side Adepts, Vader, and Palpatine. After we hit Kuat, I am taking my forces and we are going to do a surgical strike on Coruscant. Make a clean sweep of any and all dark side users. With the forty being the core of a reconstituted Jedi Order; an order that is not beholden to the central government; an order with broad legal and law enforcement powers to do the will of the Force."

Chuundar spoke up, "My people had good relations with Grand Master Yoda. Many of my people have been Jedi over the millennia. Only with the return of the Sith to power can many of the events that occurred the night the Republic fell are best explained by Palpatine being a Sith Lord. Master Nemelc, what are your plans for the revived Jedi Order and Republic."

"First and foremost, Jedi that part and parcel of everyday life; diplomats, law enforcement, teachers, and some Jedi that live and stay at the Temple to be used as the Council and Chancellor agree upon. Those Jedi carrying the full weight of the Republic and Senate; being the eyes and ears of the Senate. For instance, if they see a Republic world with slavery, they have full authority to call in Republic peacekeepers to help resolve these problems. We are talking about a Republic with a more centralized form of government; instead of a loose republic, a federalist republic with instead of a Chancellor or Emperor either a President or a Prime Minister and ministerial departments.

Raddus and Chuundar both leaned back in their chairs and contemplated what Naes had told them. What he was describing was probably the best compromise for long term galactic stability. They looked at each other and then looked to Naes and both nodded. Raddus spoke, "Thank you Jedi Master Nemelc, we will do as you ask us and prepare our respective forces. You will also have our full support in the Senate when the time comes."

With that Naes stood up and said, "Gentlebeings, we have just over two weeks to prepare. My associates Ezriel and Tara will return you to your respective planets to get started. May the Force be with us."

As Ezriel and Tara led them back out, Rhea looked at Naes and said, "Do you really think that you can pull all of that off?"

Naes looked at her and said, "Actually I do, I feel that the Force is directing me along this path. Yes, I know Master Yoda council's waiting till the Skywalker twins are old enough to be trained. I cannot wait that long. Besides, Bail would prefer keeping Leia out of the rebellion that will inevitably form in a few years. If you will excuse me, I need to call Garm and Thosk Fel'ya and tell them the good news. Afterwards, I will review wrapping up the current pilot class and be available to consult with you as you wrap the Jedi Training and prepare for deployment."

"Sounds good."

Naes went to his office and contacted Garm Bel Iblis. "Garm, I just finished consulting with the Wookies and Mon Cala; they are on board. Prepare the fleet for deployment to the Oort Cloud of the Kashyyyk system in two weeks. I expect that the Bothans will provide some support as well. Get with Bail and Mon Mothma for any support that they wish to give."

"Not a problem Master Nemelc. I will have things ready on my end."

Naes cut that connection and then set up a rotating multi-modal and multi system self-routing call into Thosk Fel'ya.

"What is the good word Master Nemelc?"

"Presider Fel'ya, if you could loan me elements of the Bothan Fleet in two weeks, it would be much appreciated. Except instead of just Kuat, we wish for you to provide support at Kashyyyk in two weeks and then Mon Cala. Then we move onto Kuat."

"You ask for much Master Nemelc."

"True, but I have offered much to the Bothans; full reinstatement into the Republic, plus removal of the Imperial threat. So, will you help us or not? Remember, I can approach other Bothans for assistance, and when I win, it is they who will win and you who will lose."

Thosk growled and his fur rippled, "Blackmail!"

"No, I have learned to negotiate like a Bothan. Do I have your support?"

"Yes. Give me the coordinates and time and my fleet will assist."

"Thank you Thosk, as always a pleasure doing business with you."

Naes signed off and leaned back in his chair, for good or bad he and his group was committed.