The Apprentice
Rain poured heavily on Dagobah, the swamp often experienced storms like this, but the tone in the air matched the dour weather.
"Well, C3P0 muttered to himself as he examined the swamp from the safety of the top of the Dauntless's loading ramp. "This certainly is a depressing place." Across the bog, a single soft light burned in the window of Yoda's cabin; the old Jedi Master had just finished placing a final log on his fire before turning to face Luke. The Jedi Knight was sat in a corner of the low building, his face a picture of concern as he examined his Master, Yoda looked terrible, his movements were slow and sluggish while his breath was ragged and weak, somehow he looked much older.
"That face you make." Luke cleared his throat and sat up a little straighter as Yoda smiled amusedly at him. "Look I so old to young eyes?"
"No." Luke hastily shook his head. "Of course not." Yoda chuckled softly, a small smile stretching across his wrinkled face.
"I do." The small alien leaned heavily on his cane as he took a few steps towards Luke. "Yes, I do." The smile faded as he bowed his head, his ears drooping slightly. "Sick I have become." Yoda sighed deeply as his ears perked up a little bit. "Old, and weak." His eyes closed for a moment before he opened them and turned back to Luke, his eyes hardened when the saw the look on the young Skywalker's face. "When nine hundred years old you reach," Yoda pointed his cane at Luke. "Look as good, you will not!" The old master chuckled softly to himself as he crossed the rest of the cabin, his cane rattling against the floor with every step. "soon I will rest." Luke frowned as Yoda eased himself onto his cot and set his cane down. "Forever sleep." The old Master turned to his final disciple, his eyes tired and heavy. "Earned it. I have."
"Master Yoda," Luke's voice trailed off as he stared at the old alien, then he shook his head and cleared his throat. "You can't die." Yoda shook his head as he swung his legs up onto his bed and leaned back on his pillows.
"Strong am I with the Force, but not that strong." Yoda weakly pulled his blanket across his body, Luke quickly moving to help him. "Twilight is upon me, and soon night must fall. That is the way of things." Yoda turned his large eyes to stare at Luke. "The way of the Force, I return to it, my task complete, well planted, the seeds of the new Jedi Order are."
"But you can't, I've returned to complete the training." Yoda shook his head as he settled back in bed.
"No more training do you require." Luke's eyes widened as he sat back slightly.
"Then I am a Jedi."
"No." The old form seized up as the Jedi Master coughed weakly a few times. "Not yet, one thing remains." Luke's eyes hardened as a look of realisation spread over his face.
"Leia." Yoda nodded once. "And it's true, she is my sister?"
"Told you did she?" The Jedi Knight nodded as Yoda sighed wistfully. "Unfortunate, that is."
"Unfortunate that I know the truth?"
"Unfortunate, that you rushed to face her, that incomplete was your training, that not ready, for the burden were you!" Luke bowed his head as Yoda sighed again. "Fear not, young Skywalker, alone, are you not. Allies to aid you, you have, help you defeat Remnous, they will, and when the war is won, a new Order of Jedi, will you teach." Yoda coughed again, a much more intense fit than the last and Luke leaned in worriedly. "Luke?" Yoda blinked a few times as the darkness began to press in on him. "There, is, another..." The old Master's voice began to fade away as his lips puckered to deliver his final word. "Palpatine." Luke felt his heart skip a beat as Yoda slumped back against his bed, the Grand Master of the old Jedi Order was dead, the last light of the old Republic had gone out. Luke bowed his head as the Force took his mentor and his body faded away into nothing, just as Obi-Wan had.
##
Tandi peeled back the vines that hung over the mouth of the cave and peered inside, she could sense the darkness that dwelt within. The redhead let out a long sigh as she unclipped her belt and floated it over to a nearby rock, her lightsabers and blaster still attached to it, she pulled the deep grey cloak Mace had given her tightly around her shoulders as she let the vines swing back across behind her. Her footsteps echoing off the damp walls around her as she walked into the depths of tunnel, she could feel the cold gnawing at her, racing up and down her spine as the darkness whispered in her ear, promising her power, revenge, and glory, all she had to was give in and allow the rage she carried deep within herself to take control. She paid no mind to the cold and the false vows as she pressed onwards into the earth, her mind alert and her eyes wary and searching as she took in the blackness ahead of her, mist hung thickly around her feet, and she could hear the drip of water off in the distance.
"Tandi Thurinos." The redhead turned on the spot, an amused smile spreading across her freckled features as her green eyes settled on the softly glowing Ezra Bridger. "We meet at last."
"About time." The deep grey cloak parted as the Grey Jedi placed her hands on her hips. Something resembling a smile spread across the Force Ghosts face. "I suppose I should thank you, for helping me shoot down that TIE fighter." Ezra waved a hand dismissively.
"You made the shot, all I did was move the barrel." The Jedi frowned slightly, then tilted his head to one side, "Yoda."
"What about him?"
"He's slipped off this mortal coil, he's one with the Force now." Tandi frowned and closed her eyes as she took a moment to feel the Force around her, indeed she could feel shifts in the universe as a light went out, she shivered slightly as she felt the darkness press her more insistently. "The last of vestige of the old council has passed on. The time for a new Order to rise has come." Tandi nodded as she opened her eyes.
"It will thrive, Luke, Galen, and Kanan will see to it." The ghost of Ezra frowned and tilted his head to one side at her words.
"You don't plan on joining them?" The redhead scoffed and shook her head.
"I am no Jedi."
"Yet you still carry the responsibility of passing on what you have learned, it is your destiny."
"I have no interest in destiny." Tandi rolled her eyes as she crossed her arms over her chest, her cloak swinging back across her body. "I have one goal, to strike Remnous down and liberate the Galaxy from his tyranny." The ghost took a seat on a rock, crossing his arms as he did so, his blue eyes never leaving her green ones. "Once I've reached my goal, I'm taking Allana and the Dauntless, and I'm flying away and never coming back." The green eyes flashed in the gloom. "And I would be more than pleasantly surprised if they left me out of the history books."
"Life isn't always what we plan Tandi." The ghost smiled sardonically as he unfolded his arms and rested his hands on his knees. "I know that better than anyone."
"What are you saying?" There was a dangerous edge to the Grey Jedi's voice. "I am the master of my fate."
"We all like to believe that, but destiny is a point in our path we all meet eventually, you stall for time, slow your pace, distract yourself with the needs of others along the way, but eventually, no matter how much you wish you didn't, you will always meet destiny on your path, it may not mark the end of it, but you will meet it eventually." Ezra gave Tandi a pointed look, his eyebrow rising his forehead. "The question is, will you march out to greet it with a high head, and a proud heart? Or will you let it take you off guard?" The ghost stood up, his hands clasping together behind his back. "The history books will not forget you, Tandi Thurinos. Your journey is only just beginning, and you will play a grander role in the wars to come." Tandi frowned as Ezra faded away and the cave was once again cloaked in darkness.
##
Sabine paused in her step as the door to Home One's briefing room opened. She'd been painting her armour and hadn't realised she'd missed the start of the meeting Mothma had ordered the commanding officers attend so they could discuss the intel her clone had to offer. She'd been pressed for time and had had to make the paint job hasty; most of the chest piece was unpainted, simply sporting an orange line along the right-hand side of the Bears engravings and a purple line along the left. The symbol of the rebel alliance was marked in yellow over the red paint of her right pauldron and a white Loth Cat smiled cheerily from her blue left pauldron; like her chest piece, her helmet was mostly undecorated, save for maroon highlights marked by light purple highlights along with the visor.
The Mandalorian shook her head before hurrying in, her clone had just finished saying something and was swiftly taking her seat next to Hera, Sabine's brows furrowed ever-so-slightly as she watched the Twi'lek place a reassuring hand on her knee; despite her declaration on Tatooine, she was still unnerved by the presence of the clone. If she was honest with herself, she knew she had only offered her hand, because she saw what could have been if she had gone with Remnous on Mustafar in the other her. A broken, dependant ghost of what she was now, desperately in love with a monster who wasn't capable of loving her back.
Mon Mothma rose from her seat as Sabine took hers next to Han and Allana, the dark-haired girl fixed the Mandalorian with a pointed stare as the former senator cleared her throat.
"Thank you, Manda'lor Wren, allow me to commend you, it took a great deal of courage to defect from the Regime." Mothma's eye momentarily lingered on Sabine before turning back to the clone. "More so than ever, given your, unique circumstances, the information you have provided on the New Regimes command and military structure, as well as your insight into their tactics will be invaluable."
"Objection." There was a murmur of surprise as heads turned to look at the super tactical droid Kalani, Mothma frowned as the droid took a few clanky steps forward. "While the information the clone provided on our enemies command structure and military would be useful if we intended to continue pursuing a long term conflict, it is far less tactically valuable than the other information she has disseminated in the matter of bringing the war to a swift end." Mothma frowned and glanced back at Hera and the clone of Sabine, her eyebrow rising questionably up her forehead. "I see you are confused, allow me to elaborate, organic minds are not as efficient as mechanical ones after all." Mothma rolled her eyes as she turned back to the droid. "As stated, Remnous is on Lothal, he took the planet with two legions of Clone Troopers, the New 501st, and the Raven Guard, he plans to send the latter of the planet to reinforce his forces in the Outer Rim, leaving only the New 501st to guard him on Lothal. By my calculations, accounting for casualties, that legion consists of approximately nine-thousand-three-hundred and twenty-seven Clone Troopers." Sabine blinked bemusedly as the droid folded its arms behind its back, was it suggesting what she thought it was. "The Tactical choice is to simply conduct an all-out assault on Lothal and terminate Remnous." Hera scoffed as she rose to her feet.
"That's a creative suggestion Kalani, but it's impossible, we don't have the manpower to take on that many clones."
"Correct." Kalani nodded, the hinges of his neck creaking slightly as he did so. "As they stand the Alliance's forces would face a ninety-nine point nine, nine percent chance of defeat, however, that does not mean our chances cannot be augmented." Kalani tapped a few buttons on his wrist and a holographic projection of a huge asteroid was beamed over the briefing rooms the main console.
"I don't understand." Mothma stared at the projection. "What is it?"
"During the Clone War, the Separatists stored several contingents of battle droids in hidden facilities across the Galaxy, the Empire destroyed many of them in the years following the war, but I believe this one has survived." A marked silence fell over the bridge as Kalani's words sunk in.
"How.." Hera's voice was weak, she cleared her throat as she steeled her eyes. "How many droids were stored there?"
"According to the data I have available, one-hundred-thousand." Silence fell over the bridge at the droid's words. Sabine sat back slightly and let a long breath out of her nose.
"One hundred thousand?" Hera stared at Kalani, dumbfounded, the super tactical droid nodded once again.
"That is what the data states, though I must caution that it has been several years since the reports were verified. The facility is also reported to house an armada large enough to transport the droids." A murmur rippled across the briefing room as the Rebel commanders turned to talk to each other. They were all quickly coming to the same realisation, Kalani's plan could work.
"Why didn't you tell us about this before?" Kanan got to his feet and frowned bemusedly at the droid.
"The Alliance does not have the resources to support and maintain such a large force, as such I did not believe the information needed to be divulged." Kanan nodded, then glanced at Hera and raised an eyebrow; the Twi'lek turned to look at Mon Mothma. The former senator frowned deeply for a moment.
"There's no point in debating this before we've sent a team to check the facility." Allana rose to her feet.
"Tandi and I will take Kalani in the Dauntless when she gets back."
"We're taking Kalani somewhere?" The commanders turned to one of the side entrances to see Luke Skywalker and Tandi Thurinos, the dark-haired girl smiled fondly at the redhead.
"I'll tell you later."
"Um?" Rex got to his feet. "I hate to be the devil's advocate, but there's a problem with this plan." The commanders turned to the old clone, he scratched the back of his neck. "We have no idea where on Lothal Remnous is, we could deploy in the wrong place and let him slip away, also, we'd run the risk of needless civilian casualties if we attacked a public area."
"But we have a way around that!" Zeb got to his feet. "We have," the Lasast trailed off as he glanced back and forth between the two Mandalorians. "Our new friend here, she can go to Lothal and mark his location!" The clone fiercely shook her head, the colour draining from her cheeks.
"No. No, I can't do that." There was a moment of awkward silence, then Sabine groaned in the back of her throat and stood up.
"Then it looks like I'll have to do it."
##
The Dauntless tore through hyperspace as it blasted away from the Rebel fleet, Kalani stepped back from the navigational console and turned to Bran; who was strapped into the pilot's seat.
"The coordinates have been set." The blond nodded once before turning back to the viewscreen, Zeb shook his head as he leaned in the doorway and watched Kalani take a seat in the co-pilots seat, neither of them said a word.
"Birds of a feather those two." Behind the Lasat, Tandi and Luke were having a hushed conversation.
"Another Palpatine?" Tandi frowned deeply as she ran a hand through her hair, they'd both been caught up in their thoughts on the trip back from Dagobah, Luke dwelling on his masters final words and Tandi Ezra's warning in the cave, neither of them had been in the mood to talk so they hadn't had a chance to discuss what they'd learned. "Does Sidious have a brother?" Luke shrugged.
"I don't know, I've never heard anything about him having a family. But Yoda won't have lied."
"But that begs the question." Tandi's frown deepened, her green eyes hard. "What do we do about them?" Luke sighed deeply as he ran a finger over the fading scar on his cheek.
"I don't know, there has to be a reason we've never heard of them, maybe they're against Palpatine?" There was a moment of silence between the two Force wielders as they each stared off into space, each unsure of what to do, then Tandi shook her head.
"One problem at a time lets focus on Remnous for now." Luke sighed deeply, then nodded, Tandi felt slightly sick in her stomach as quilt gnawed at her, she hadn't told Luke she planned to walk away once the war was won, he would have to deal with this other Palpatine without her. The redhead let a long breath out through her nose before patting the Jedi on the arm. "I'm going to see how Allana's doing in the engine room." The Jedi nodded and turned towards to cockpit as Tandi strode over to the lift tube and stepped onto the platform.
"Tandi?" The Grey Jedi turned back to Luke and raised an eyebrow. "Do you think this will work? Do you think we can beat the Regime this way?" Tandi frowned thoughtfully for a moment.
"I don't know, this might have worked on Palpatine, the Galaxy loathed his Empire, he ruled by fear. Remnous took a different approach, he's conned the Galaxy into trusting him, he's built an image as the merciful Emperor, the people love him, if we strike him down they may turn on us, my Master taught me that to bring true freedom to the Galaxy, we have to destroy the myth of Remnous before we can destroy the man."
"How do we do that?" The redhead scoffed lightly.
"I'll tell you when I find out." The platform sank beneath her and she descended onto the Dauntless's lower deck, the lift deposited her in the corridor between the crew cabins. The lounge and galley were to the port of the ship while the engineering cabin was to the aft Allana glanced over her shoulder as the door opened, the dark-haired girl smiled as she pushed her goggles up her forehead. "Everything running smoothly in here?"
"Of course, I'm the one who services it after all." Tandi rolled her eyes playfully as the door closed behind her.
"I'm lucky to have the best mechanic in the fleet."
"Yes," Allana said simply as she pulled her goggles off and got to her feet. "Yes, you are."
"And such a modest one."
"No one ever said that." Allana's smile lingered as she clipped her goggles to a loop on her belt.
"What's got you in such a good mood?"
"I know we shouldn't presume, but this could be it, the end of the war." Allana's eyes were alive with hope. "After all these years, I know ending the war is just the beginning." Tandi's brow furrowed slightly. "But at least we'll finally have peace."
"It doesn't have to be." Allana frowned at Tandi.
"What do you mean?" The redhead took a deep breath.
"We could just leave." Allana's eyes widened at the redhead's words. "We could just, fly away and leave the rebuilding to the Rebels."
"Tandi, we can't just walk away."
"I've given my chunk of flesh, and so have you, we both deserve peace. We could go anywhere, do anything, don't you want to see the stars again?" The dark-haired stared at the redhead, her brown eyes wide.
"But, the Jedi, won't you have to help them?" Tandi shook her head.
"I am no Jedi, I owe their order nothing, and as for mine." She smiled sardonically. "As far as I'm aware, I'm the only Grey Jedi left in the Galaxy, and I intend for it to remain that way, I will be the last of the Grey Jedi." Allana started transfixed at Tandi for a moment, a curious smile spreading across her face.
"You want that? You'd rather run off to the stars with me than help shape a new Galaxy?" The last Grey Jedi nodded, her green eyes fixed on her brown ones.
"I'll take you anywhere you want to go, I don't care where as long as I'm with you." The dark-haired girl's smile widened.
"Well, I do have family on Hays Minor."
"Then that's our first stop, after that the Galaxy's the limit." The Redhead took a cautious step forwards. "What do you say?" The dark-haired smiled as she took the last few steps to close the gap between them.
"Alright, let's do it." Tandi's face lit up in a delighted grin as she wrapped her arms around Allana's waist, leaning her forehead against hers as she did so.
"I love you."
##
"My friends, victory; is ours!" The senate-house broke out into a hysteria of cheers and applause as Remnous threw his fist into the air, the ancient chamber was packed to capacity and eyes across the Galaxy were fixed on the holonet as footage of the Emperor's speech played across the feed. The Emperor was dressed in his official uniform and his hair had been pulled back into a ponytail, framing his wolfish grin and gleaming eyes, pride burning in their very depths. "The Remnant's back is broken, their armada is shattered and their homeworld has fallen!" The cheers somehow managed to grow louder, almost drowning out the Sith Emperor's thunderous voice. "Good people of the senate and Galaxy now is a time for celebration, but let us look beyond our joy, to the possibilities of tomorrow! There is still vital work to be done" A hush fell over the senate-house at the Emperor's words, heads turned to look at each other uncertainly. "The Outer Rim lies in ruins, crime and corruption ran ramped throughout the territory! We must repair the damage, and carve out the root of corruption! Just as we did with Palpatine's Empire, only then shall peace come to the region. And of course, there is the treacherous Rebel Alliance, who have refused peace at every turn still to deal with. These rebels have dug their roots deep, and it will take time to break them!" The Sith Emperor gripped the edges of his podium tightly, the metal crumpling slightly in his grasp. "Then, and only then, will we be able to begin the true work! And create a truly new society One that is secure, prosperous, and perfect!" There was a moment of silence as the Emperor's blew through the senate-house like a gust of wind; then at once, the entire building leaped to its feet and began to applaud once again. Remnous smirked as he raised a hand and waved as his podium began to descend into the office below, the moment the doors above slid shut and blocked the office from view; Remnous flickered, then there was a blinding flash of light, revealing a PROXY droid in his place.
Across the Galaxy on Lothal; Remnous rolled his head around on his neck as Chopper deactivated his holographic projector and disconnected from the long-range communications tower that had been erected at the dig site, though small, it was capable of broadcasting to the entirety of the New Regime's territory and had the authorisation to take control of the Regime's official broadcast.
"Good work buddy." Remnous didn't even look at the astromech as he flicked some dust off the right shoulder of his uniform, Chopper grumbled lowly as he turned and rolled away, one of his arms waving passive-aggressively as he did so.
##
"Bring the ship in close to the most eastern side of the asteroid." Tandi nodded, her tongue between her teeth as she eased the Dauntless around the colossal asteroid, Kalani stood over her shoulder, watching her every move. The Separatists had hidden the garrison at the center of an artificial asteroid field, sustained by a powerful magnetic field generator housed within the base itself. Kalani's observation that the fact that the field was still active hadn't been as much comfort as the dorid might have thought it would be during the nail-biting trip through the hurtling asteroids. "Stop." Tandi cut the engines and let the ship hang in place, Kalani leaned over her and began to dial commands into the comminations console. "I must transmit the access codes."
"These codes couldn't have turned off the generator?" Tandi glared up at the super tactical droid as she sagged back in the pilots' seat, her knuckles white as she finally let go of the controls.
"Negative. The generator can only be deactivated from within the facility itself to ensure security." Tandi rolled her eyes as the green light flashed on the communications console. "The codes have been accepted." The rock face split in two, revealing small hangers, carved into the asteroid, Tandi shook herself slightly and sat up, quickly taking the controls in hand once again, she reached out and pressed the main comm switch as she turned the ship about in the void.
"We're going, meet at the loading ramp in three minutes." The Dauntless eased slowly through into the hanger, the ray shield and rock face sliding back into place behind in, the YV 292's landing legs descended and a slight jolt ran through the squat ship as it touched down. "We made it." The redhead let out a long sigh as she sat back in the pilot's seat and ran her hands over her tired face. "I hope this was worth it."
"According to the data I have available, it will be." Kalani turned to the door as the Grey Jedi got to her feet.
"So how many droids did you say were stored here?" She swung her cloak around her shoulders and checked her belt for her weapons as she followed the droid out of the cockpit and down the ship's central corridor."
"By my estimates, one-hundred-thousand, though I cannot offer any specific numbers on unit variation." The door at the far end of the corridor opened to reveal the loading area, the rebels were already gathered and waiting for them. Luke nodded to her once as she followed Kalani through the doorway, Allana and Bran were stood by the ramp controls, the dark-haired girl smiled at the redhead, then leaned over and hit the switch lower the ramp.
"Shall we get started?"
Kalani led them through the hanger to a small doorway in the far corner, as far as they could tell, other than the main entrance it was the only way out. The doorway opened onto a turbo lift that was just large enough to accommodate all of them, though Zeb did end up stuffed in a corner as Kalani stepped in.
"Ugh!" The Lasat wheezed as he was pressed into the wall. "Karabast! If this turns out to be a bust, I am smashing you into scrap, droid."
"Ill-advised." The droid kept his head facing forward. "Without my aid, I calculate the Rebel Alliance only stands zero point two percent chance of victory." Allana and Tandi glanced at each other out of the corners of their eyes as Zeb growled lowly in the back of his throat. There was a collective sigh of relief when the doors finally opened, the Rebels spilled out of the lift, not bothering to look at the room they were entering.
"This is glamorous," Bran muttered sarcastically as he took a look around the small command center they now found themselves in, the far wall was taken up entirely by a row of computer banks and command consoles while the opposite wall had a floor to length window, the view beyond is obstructed by a large blast shield.
"The facility was not designed with organic lifeforms in mind," Kalani said simply as he pushed through the rebels and clumped over to one of the consoles. Luke ran his gloved right hand over the window as he strode the length of the room.
"Where are we?" Kalani didn't lookup.
"This room acts as the command center of this facility, as it is a storage unit and not a tactical station, this is all that is necessary."
"What's on the other side of the blast shield?" Tandi jerked her thumb at the window as Luke nodded, Kalani still didn't lookup.
"A the hanger where the droids have been stored."
"Can you open it?" Luke took a step forwards, his eyes lighting up.
"Negative." Kalani's hands never stopped working as he talked. "That system appears to have been damaged."
"I'm on it." Allana pulled her pulled off her gloves as she hurried over to the bank of consoles, "though it may take a few minutes." An awkward silence fell over the group as the two worked, after what seemed like an age, Kalani's hands paused.
"Curious."
"What's curious?" Zeb rolled his eyes, his tone is bored. "Were you wrong? Did someone clear the place out years ago?"
"Quite the contrary, in fact, it appears that near the end of the war, General Sev'rance Tann stored an extra hundred thousand units at the facility as a precaution." A completely different kind of silence fell over the Rebels for a few, long seconds.
"So, that means." Luke glanced over at Tandi before turning back to Kalani. "There are, two hundred thousand battle droids stationed at this facility."
"Correct." A cloud spark punctuated the droid's word as Allana pulled her head out of one of the open consoles. Behind them, the blast shield began to grind open. Luke's eyes widened as he turned to face the hanger bay, rows upon rows of large brown ships were suspended on racks in the hollowed out space. Each had two sets of wings supporting a curved hull between them.
"What are they?" Luke glanced over her shoulder to see Tandi step up next to him, her own eyes wide and staring.
"C-9979 Landing craft, each is capable of carrying eleven Multi Troop Transports, twenty-eight Platoon Assault Craft and one hundred and fourteen Armoured Assualt Tanks, a single MTT carries one hundred and twelve B1 battle droids."
"How many of them are there?" The corners of Tandi's mouth twitched upwards as she felt Allana's hand take hers."
"One hundred and sixty-two, each has also been assigned an escort of six vultures droids."
"This could work..." Zeb trailed off as he took his place next to Allana at the window. "Looks like I won't be scrapping ya." Across the room, Bran rolled his eyes as he leaned against the far wall. "I'll contact Hera." The Lasat pulled his communicator off his belt, after a moment, Hera's voice appeared over the line.
"Zeb? What news? The council has been debating, and they've decided to back Kalani's plan if the army is there we're assaulting Lothal our main priority." Zeb nodded numbly, his eyes still on the hanger.
"Well, Kalani's word is more than good, there are two hundred thousand clankers here! With landing craft and support vehicles, more than enough to storm Lothal." There was a moment of silence. "Hera?"
"That's wonderful news Zeb, but there's still a problem, Remnous has blockaded the planet, our scouts estimate at least thirty Star Destroyers and the Executor." Zeb rubbed the back of his neck.
"Yeah, I see why that may present an issue."
##
The dig site was alive with activity as the 501st Clone Legion finished establishing the new defenses. The old wall around the complex had been left standing and were in the process of being reinforced, the two portable fortifications that been dropped from the Venators had been fitted together to create a second, larger and taller wall around the existing one, in the gap between the walls; temporary barracks were being set up to garrison the entire Legion. Remnous intended to stay until the secret of the temple had been cracked.
The Emperor has sat alone in the temporary accommodation that had been lowered from the Loth Wolf for him, he'd had it installed in the hanger in case he was ever caught in a prolonged campaign on the surface of a planet. Just larger than a LAAT, it was spacious enough to house two spaces, divided by a row of wooden doors that turned on their axis when pushed. One side housed private quarters whilst the other was designed to receive visitors. A small conference table took up the center of the room while a sofa and a few chairs had been gathered around a low table next to a liquor cabinet in one corner, a small terminal sat on a desk in the opposite corner. The young Sith Emperor was sat on the sofa, a half-empty glass in his metal hand, his golden eyes fixed on the projection of the painting he had executed Zare Leonis in front of. There was a sharp knock at the door.
"Enter." The door opened, momentarily allowing the noise from outside to blare into the once silent space, Remnous rolled his eyes as he turned to see who it was. "Ah, Thrawn."
"Your Majesty." The Chiss placed a hand on his chest and bowed slightly to Remnous. "Greetings, it has been some time since we have met in person."
"Indeed it is." The Emperor got to his feet, setting his drink down on the low table as he did so. "A pleasure as an always old friend." The Sith Lord offered the Grand Admiral a hand, the Chiss took it without hesitation and shook it proudly.
"The pleasure as always is entirely mine, my young friend, why have you summoned me? There is vital work to be done in this region of space."
"I need your help, or more specifically, your expertise." Remnous gestured to the image. "What do you make of this?" Thrawn frowned as he sunk into one of the chairs, his eyes staring fixedly at the painting.
"Fascinating."
"Why? What is it?" Remnous hurriedly took a seat next to the Chiss.
"It appears to be a portrait of the Mortis Gods."
"Mortis Gods?" Remus raised his hands and telekinetically summoned his glass and the almost empty bottle as Thrawn cleared his throat.
"They are said to be a clan of Force Wielders, each embodying the true essence of the Force, the Son who embodied the darkness." Remnous downed the last of his glass and quietly refilled it as the Chiss spoke, his eyes never leaving him. "The Daughter who embodied the light, and the Father who brought Balance between them."
"Oh, so that's who they are." Remnous levitated the now empty bottle away as he sat forward, looking at the painting with renewed interest.
"I believe so, they were said to occupy a dimension outside of space, a conduit with Force itself that existed outside of time." Remnous turned to Thrawn, a grin spreading across his scarred face.
"Now it makes sense."
"Your Majesty?" Thrawn's brow furrowed slightly with confusion.
"Palpatine believed that this Temple hid the entranceway to such a dimension, one that not only exists outside of time, but acts a gateway into the past, and the future, all of history laid out for the taking." The Emperor pointed at the projection. "And I believe this portrait holds the key." Thrawn's frown deepened for a few seconds.
"I shall devote myself to deciphering this puzzle, your Majesty."
##
The training room on the Rogue Shadowed was filled with flashes of blue light as Kanan and Galen sparred, the convert kept his blue safety blade up, waiting for Kanan to come to him. The older Jedi took a few cautious steps forward, then surged into close range, his safety blade lancing towards his chest. Galen stepped back and raised his lightsaber, blocking the strike, he let a long breath out through his nose as he felt the Force flow through him, guiding his actions. Form V focused on offense and required constant through and precise control, Form III, Soresu, focused on defense, it required the user to place their total trust in the Force and let it guide them. He had spent the last two years Mastering the form in preparation for his next meeting with Starkiller if the Rebels attacked Lothal that confrontation would be sure to come, and he wanted to be ready. Kanan had offered to help his training, mostly to give the younger man a distraction, and maybe shake off a bit of rust, fatherhood didn't leave much time for training. Galen allowed himself to be pushed back, countering all of Kanan's blows with a flurry of his own, waiting for the right moment; it came when Galen jabbed at his chest again. Leaping out of the way, Galen planted his weight onto his right leg before raising his left and jabbing the heel of his foot into Kanan's wrist as the Jedi's momentum made him stumble forward. Kanan stared at his hand as his lightsaber was knocked out of his grip, he panted as Galen raised his safety blade to his neck.
"I got you." The older Jedi massaged his wrist as he smiled wearily at the convert.
"Yeah, you got me, I'm impressed, Starkiller won't know what hit him." Galen nodded appreciatively as he deactivated his lightsaber, Kanan winced as he rubbed his wrist. "I'm gonna take a break if that's alright?"
"There are painkillers in the medbay." Kanan nodded his thanks and hurried away, the door opening soundlessly for him. Galen let his gaze wander over to small chest on the other side of the room, without really thinking, he crossed the room and bent to open it, knowing full well what he kept in there. After a moment of hesitation, he lifted the lid and reached inside to retrieve his old lightsaber. The exposed red kyber crystal dully caught the low light as he turned the weapon over in his hands; he had hidden it when he had infiltrated the Rebellion as Starkiller, and after his conversion, he had often forgotten about it. But a part of him wouldn't let him get rid of it, it was the weapon that had begun all of this, that had clashed with Ezra Bridgers in his final dual. Somehow he knew it would have to be the weapon he finished this fight with, his father's words echoed in his ears.
'You have a grander purpose, my son, you have a mistake to correct.' After a moment of hesitation, he pulled his father's lightsaber off his belt as he set his old one down. He took a moment to stare at the weapon in his hand, he remembered finding it in the ruined hut on Kashyyyk alongside his mothers. His eyes hardened and after a deep breath he picked up the other lightsaber, resting both hilts on his open palms his closed his eyes and sat back on his knees. After a few seconds of silence, the two lightsabers rose into the air, quickly disassembling themselves and drifting apart, leaving the red and blue kyber crystals floating on their own, then slowly, the red crystal was lowered to the floor. The empty lightsaber folded up behind the blue crystal as it floated over to take the place of the red crystal, Galen opened his eyes as the hilt drifted back together, encasing his fathers kyber crystal in his old Sith lightsaber.
"I will make it right."
##
Remnous looked up form a report as the door to his accommodations opened to allow Boba Fett access, the Sith Emperor raised an eyebrow irritably.
"Don't you knock?"
"I was invited to." The Mandalorians boots clumped loudly against the floor as he swaggered into the room. Remnous sat up in his chair and leaned his elbows against his desktop and rested his chin on his intertwined fingers.
"You push your luck, Fett."
"You could never replace me and you know it." The bounty hunter scoffed as he leaned his weight against the back of the chair that was on the other side of the Emperor's desk. "So, you received my report?" Remnous nodded once as he sat back in his chair, arms crossing over his chest.
"I listened to it, the power vacuum caused by Jabba's death and the gang wars that will surely follow as the rivaling factions compete to be the new leader of the underworld will interfere in our efforts to solidify our rule in the Outer Rim, it is unfortunate but nothing to be too concerned over. It may work in our favour if the gangs destroy each other that means less work for us." Fett nodded.
"So, what do you need me to do? Why did you want me to come here?" Remnous reached down and pulled open a desk drawer and reached inside, after a moment of searching he retrieved a holographic star map and a black Sith Holocron.
"I need you to take this Holocron to where this map leads." The Emperor set the map and Holocron down on the desk. It'll guide you to a point in the Unknown Regions, I've had holodisks prepared to brief you for what you'll find. Once your there, store the Holocron at the center and leave."
"The center of what?" Fett picked up the Holocron and examined it curiously.
"It's all in the disks."
"And the map?" Remnous smirked.
"Hide it somewhere only I could find it."
##
"Perhaps if we drew forces away from the planet by feigning an attack on Garel?" Sabine sighed deeply as she slumped back in her seat, they'd been debating over how to deal with the blockade for hours, so far they'd come up with an impressive total of nothing.
"That wouldn't work." She flinched ever so slightly at the sound of her voice, her clone has stood up. "I know Remnous, he stationed those ships there to guard him, they aren't going anywhere."
"The problem is that we don't have the firepower to punch through their lines." Hera rose to her feet, her chin in her hand. The clone fidgeted nervously.
"Well, if there's a weak point it's the Loth Wolf, it's at the center of the formation and acts as the fighter coordination hub. If someone could get aboard and take over the bridge you could shred the lines from the inside, Remnous keeps it armed with the most cutting edge weaponry."
"That isn't a bad idea, but it's still too much of a gamble to bet everything on."
"I have an idea." Heads turned to look at Han Solo as the smuggler got to his feet. "I've been reaching out to old contacts, gathering rumours, and I think I know someone who has the ships we need and hates the Regime as much as we do, maybe more." Sabine shook her head.
"You can't be serious." Han raised his hands as Hera glanced at Kanan.
"What are you talking about?"
"He wants to ally with the last of the Remnant." There was a roar of outrage as the smuggler nudged Chewie, the Wookie rolled his eyes and stepped forwards before roaring at the top of his lungs, the noise died down.
"Thanks, pal, listen, the Remnant know they're beat, they'll want payback, we offer em it, my source says they have twelve Destroyers left, they're under the command of someone called Mara Jade and they're hiding in the Endor system." Mon Mothman shook her head.
"It's impossible Captian, even if they were there we have no in with this Mara Jade, negotiations would be impossible."
"Um, guys?" Heads slowly turned to look at Tandi. "I have something I have to tell you."
Authors note: Four to go. We're winding up to the final battle, and trust me, it'll be epic.
As always leave a review and may the Force be with you.
So, until we meet again.
Regards.
Nighttrek
