Chapter 20 - The Coming and Goings of Stars
Obi-Wan: "...It would mean the darkness would be just as strong as the light. So it doesn't matter what we do, because in the end, hey, it's a tie! It doesn't matter which side we choose."
"It matters," Qui-Gon said quietly. "It matters which side we choose. Even if there will never be more light than darkness. Even if there can be no more joy in the galaxy than there is pain. For every action we undertake, for every word we speak, for every life we touch—it matters. I don't turn toward the light because it means someday I'll 'win' some sort of cosmic game. I turn toward it because it is the light."
― Claudia Gray, Master and Apprentice
The Planet of Alderaan - Senator Bail Organa
Senator Bail Organa really should have been enjoying a relaxing recess from the Senate. But that was hard knowing that other planets were suffering from the economic crash. Yet Breha had convinced him that until things settled, anything he did would likely cause more problems than aid.
What was important was their world was safe, and he, like most others in the Senate doing their jobs, he was exhausted.
But of course, there were other cards on the table, and the recess of the Senate gave them the perfect opportunity to plan Alderaan's entering the Rebel Alliance, which Padme and Breha had convinced him was something that was best not done on Coruscant. In fact, they were well into the process of setting Alderaan up as the new homeworld to the Rebel Alliance, Mandalore being a bit too chaotic for it, though Duchess Satine had pledged Mandalore's protective forces to aid Alderaan if trouble arose. As had Obi-Wan, who had given him and Padme free reign to let them become the public face of the Rebellion, and basically do whatever they desired.
Obi-Wan's trust in them had been humbling.
Senator Mon Mothma of Chandrila and Prince Lee-Char of Mon Cala, Captain Ackbar at his side, were here as well. The discussion of what they could be…
Well, Bail couldn't sleep for dreaming, for worrying of anything and everything that might go wrong with this.
Which of course is when two galaxy shifting pieces of news landed on his lap. One of his aids came into the room, hardly waiting to knock on the door.
Bail, Breha, Padme, Sabe, Dorme, Queen Apailana, Mon Mothma, Prince Lee-Char, and Captain Ackbar all fell silent as their plotting was disturbed.
A familiar droid entered behind the aid, and Bail was glad everyone had fallen silent. The girl was new and he had asked for her removal from his direct service a week ago because he thought she was the one spreading gossip in the palace in the larger city, which raised the question of why she was here now?
"R2?" Padme asked, "Where's Ana- Where is Knight Skywalker?"
Bail couldn't follow the droid's beeps but Padme looked increasingly worried.
The aid, who raised all of Bail's suspicions, rushed to his side. There was not a lot of corruption on Alderaan, but there were- lighter threats, reputations that could be ruined on the winds of gossip.
It was a double edged blade, it made corruption hard to thrive, it also made appearances detrimentally important.
Which is why when the aid all but thrust a datapad in front of him he was scowling and making no effort to hide it.
"Is Luke Organa your son?"
He blinked at her, Breha took his hand on the table, squeezing it as she spoke, "I'm sorry my dear, but did you say Luke Organa."
The aid nodded.
For a moment, Bail's hopes rose.
His son, Luke Organa.
But that wasn't reality, in this reality or the next, only ever a dream.
He looked down at the datapad, an image of a Jedi with a green lightsaber cutting through Zygerrians at a slave market. It took him a moment to recognize him, and Bail wondered idly if Luke Skywalker preferred a green to a blue lightsaber and what the actual difference between the two colours was.
"That's not Luke Organa," he told her with a sigh, "That's Anakin Skywalker."
Luke Skywalker, technically, but that was neither here nor there.
"Well then," the girl said with no small amount of sass that was not in the least professional, "The Hero With No Fear has started a war with the Hutts, and in using your name, the Hutts have declared that any ally of the Knight will find themselves assassinated in their beds."
Bail was struck speechless at this.
If they declared themselves Rebels, then they would be throwing themselves straight into another war.
He looked down at the datapad, then sped the video feed.
He had seen videos of Anakin Skywalker fighting before, but this was different. Luke was clearly trying to be scary, and he was succeeding. But when he got to the end of the feed, he found slaves lining up into cruisers, looking... jubilant.
Mon Mothma's peaceful voice was as close to panic as it ever got. "Declaring war on the Hutts? How does one even go about fighting such… It would be madness to go against them. They aren't organized like the Separatists, they-"
"Are evil," Padme interjected, "stopping slavery is a worthy cause, one that should have been pushed long ago."
He closed the video and searched the greater news networks, and what he found brought tears to his eyes.
"Bail?" Breha asked softly.
He passed the datapad to her. She gasped, putting a hand to her lips, she looked up at him with tear filled eyes.
Bail almost laughed, how was it possible to be so proud of someone he had never truly met, never raised as his own, never held in his arms and called son?
But somehow, Luke and Leia had become realities for himself and Breha.
They were their dreams, their hope.
And seeing Luke bring freedom to thousands upon thousands of people, seeing the countless stories of rejoicing and those people who had been torn from their homes reuniting with their families.
Seeing hope born in the galaxy, that things could change, that things could be better than they were, it was indescribable.
Breha showed the datapad to Padme beside her.
Padme did cry. "That was his dream," she said, "That's why he became a Jedi."
"To start a war with the Hutts?" Prince Lee-Char asked, confused.
Padme laughed, "I'm sure that wouldn't have disappointed him at all, but no, I meant freeing slaves. His dream was to end slavery in the galaxy."
"Was?" Dorme asked, "He's not dead, is he?"
"Not yet," the aid said, "but remember that the Hutts did just threaten to assassinate him?"
Bail tapped the desk, and anyone who allies with them.
It should have been a deterrent, but he had always been a rather stubborn man, and such a threat sounded more like an invitation.
A challenge he was all too willing to rise to.
Breha huffed a laugh, and he smiled down at her and she grinned back.
In this, they were of one mind.
Breha was stubborn too, as was Padme.
"No, Skywalker is fine," she said, "But I believe the Rebel Alliance just won the moral high ground despite the videos."
The datapad had ended with Mon Mothra, and her voice had chilled considerably as she said, "Yes, I think you're right. Freedom for the galaxy, means freedom for all within the galaxy."
Bail waved the aid away, "You are relieved, my dear, you may go for the day."
Breha sighed, once the girl had left, "I tried firing her, but your sister-"
Bail groaned, "I knew she was spying on me."
Though he was glad it was just his fretting older sister, not anyone who might say, assassinate him.
"We are going to have to up security," he said to the room.
Everyone nodded.
The droid beeped at them angrily, complete with unignorable whistles.
The R2 unit bumped into Bail's chair, before releasing a small drive.
Bail took the drive and inserted it into the conference table. A projection of a planet or moon appeared with a large crater in its northern hemisphere.
"What moon is that?" Queen Apailana asked, the glass beads on her headdress clinking together.
Breha gasped, "It's not a moon."
The horror dawned on Bail as he saw all the deviates and realized the atmosphereless quality of the image before them, "It's a space station."
"How big is it?" Padme asked.
Information started appearing and a new image of the moon that was not a moon appeared.
The skeleton of a massive space station, the figures on the size hardly comprehensible.
"What is this even for?" Mon Monthra asked, "Such a station would be a drain of resources to supply."
R2 beeped, as someone's notes on the 'Death Star Project' were elaborated.
Padme stood to her feet and shouted at the image, "No! No weapon can be allowed to be made! Not even attempted!"
Breha put a hand to heart, "The power to destroy entire worlds."
"Could enslave a galaxy," Captain Ackbar said solemnly.
"R2?" Sabe snapped, "Do you know where this thing is being constructed?"
"Geonosis?" Padme repeated, "Have the Jedi even been back there since the start of the civil war?"
"We need to contact General Kenobi," Mon Mothra said.
R2 let out a series of beeps.
"What did he say?" Queen Apailana asked.
"That Anakin gave these instructions to Bail and myself and that he asked us to share it with the Jedi Order, with General Wolffe, in particular," Padme said, "as well as Obi-Wan."
"No time like the present," Bail said.
To say General Wolffe or the Jedi Council, or newly released General Mace Windu, was happy about the news of this weapon was an understatement of galactic proportions.
The Negotiator II - Marshall Commander Cody Kenobi
Cody would never forget the moment Obi-Wan looked him straight in the face in Zygerria and asked, "Where is he? Where is Luke?"
And Cody had only been able to answer that he left.
His General's face had fallen, and the excitement in Commander Tano's eyes had blown out like a candle flame.
Things had not gotten better when they had had to sort out the mess of relocating slaves. Thankfully, the Jedi Order, despite there being technical exiles, had opened their arms to the slaves that had nowhere to go. The Jedi Corps, as the media had predicted, were picking up the slack as the Republic infrastructure crumbled.
Where the Republic was in chaos, the Jedi offered order, calm in the storm. And while the Jedi resources were far from exhaustible, the more people who asked for help, the more people who participated, the more the corps was able to accommodate. The Agriculture Corps, in particular, was growing at an almost alarming rate. But as the rich lost convenience in their lives, they weren't starving, but for those who had been less fortunate… well, working for food was beneath very few. And with more hands to tend farms and transport goods, business was good.
Add the fact that Jedi were rich because despite having no stock investments, the gambling nature of which was something that the Jedi code forbade, all the Jedi's assets and material wealth was held by the Jedi. Which meant that the Jedi had the only credits backed in hard currency in the entire Republic, making them, ironically, the richest organization in the Republic.
Obi-Wan had nodded sagely at this and in mimicry of Yoda said, "Hmm… yes, patience."
Worried Ahsoka had snorted in laughter at this.
The process of rehoming the people captured and tortured on Zygerria was a long one but Rex was adamant that they run off on some mission on Lokori.
"Lokori is a war zone, Rex," Obi-Wan said arms crossed, "Luke can't just run off to Force knows where then command us to go somewhere to deliver a message you won't let us read."
"With all due respect, Sir," Rex said with the same defiance he had learned, not from Luke, but Anakin, "He is my General, he has every authority to do just that and," he paused ever so briefly, " he is from the future. If he says this mission is imperative, I'm inclined to believe him."
"Yeah, but if we go to Lokori we could restart the war," Ahsoka pointed out.
Cody smirked at Rex who scowled at the Padawan who at eighteen turning nineteen soon was growing noticeably taller, and noticeably taking after her latest Jedi Master more and more.
Sure, Tano had her moments of recklessness.
But then so did Obi-Wan.
It had maybe become a point of discussion, or great debate, if Ahsoka was going to take more after Obi-Wan or Anakin, as quite clearly Luke had taken after the Jedi Master rather than his father.
Rex shook his head, "If you don't join me, I will go alone."
"Absolutely not," Obi-Wan said, "Luke said he wanted the four of us to go, so the four of us will go, but by the all the stars in the galaxy, Rex, next time can you please ask more questions?"
Rex bowed his head, "Sir."
A comm ping came through, and they turned to the table, Obi-Wan hitting the connect button. Senator Bail was stern faced as he greeted them, "Obi-Wan, my friend, do you have time to speak?"
"Yes, we were just discussing a mission my other Padawan gave us."
"Luke has been making quite the stir."
Cody looked at the Senator sharply, "You know?"
You believe?
Bail half smiled, "That Luke is Padme's son trapped in Anakin's body, yes, I know. She told us and-" he looked at Obi-Wan, "I had a dream."
Obi-Wan nodded, "A vision, yes, my friend, and I remember that dream as well. Leia is a testament to all four of her parents."
Cody knew that Leia was the name of Luke's twin sister, but the casualness of this conversation along with the pieces he was missing, like a non-Force sensitive having visions, was mind boggling.
"On account of Luke," Bail said, "Who apparently is your prodigy, he sent R2-D2 to us with some rather disturbing information."
Cody tensed, 'disturbing information' by Skywalker standards was never a good thing.
"Apparently, a weapon the size of a moon and capable of destroying planets had been in the process of being built in orbit of Geonosis."
Cody watched his General's physical reaction to this news, he put a hand out to catch himself on the table. Cody put a hand on the man's shoulder.
"Obi-Wan, are you alright?" Bail asked.
"Master?" Ahsoka asked, at his side in moments.
Obi-Wan shook his head, "He told me about that… I… he- I knew Luke was hiding things from me, back before I even knew for certain that he wasn't Anakin. When I pressed him he told me Captain Tarkin would destroy on Alderaan. He was right, I didn't believe him then."
There was a deep silence and Cody's heart broke for the man in hologram, whose face looked so solemn. Nothing like being told your planet was going to be destroyed by the very Republic/Empire you had aligned yourself with.
"It's been destroyed," Bail said, "The frame was all but abandoned. When the IBC and Trading Federation went under there was no one to fund the project, and with the Separatists losing their army. It was an easy victory. But I am afraid, Obi-Wan, such knowledge, such scientific discovery of destruction does not simply vanish with the physical destruction of the device. If Luke knows anything else, if he has any other suspicions on leads we should follow, we must pursue them."
Obi-Wan pulled himself together as Ahsoka said, "As it so happens, Luke does have a mission for us."
Bail nodded, then half smiled, "I thought Padme and Anakin were trouble but Luke is the one who managed to start a rebellion and a war."
"A war, Sir?" Rex asked.
"With the Hutts," Bail elaborated, before asking, "You didn't know? Luke killed Gardulla the Hutt and another Hutt on Zygerria and the Hutts declared war on the Rebellion and Rebel allies."
Obi-Wan pinched the bridge of his nose and cursed in Huttese.
The Duchess Satine entered the room then, She didn't say a word just went to the General, touching Obi-Wan's back.
The change in the Jedi was perceptible, almost as if she had given him permission to breathe fully with that gentle touch.
She smiled at Bail, "Good thing the Hutts mainly wage war with bounty hunters and my Mandalorian warriors have been flocking home. The Rebellion has become the most popular movement in the last three hundred years of our history. The Hutts will not be able to use their most deadly weapons."
Obi-Wan looked down at her and shook his head, "Don't underestimate Hutts."
She smiled up at him, "Don't underestimate Mandalorians given a united purpose."
Ahsoka grinned, "Well, if we really wanted to end slavery in the galaxy, this had to happen sooner or later."
Cody frowned, "How do we fight a bunch of mercenaries and conniving slugs scattered across the most inhospitable planets throughout the Outer Rim?"
Obi-Wan smiled at him, "We make ourselves a nuisance and draw them out."
"Sounds like fun," Fives piped in.
Cody said nothing more, watching his General put an arm around the Duchess's waist, his posture relaxing further.
Of all the times he thought he would see Obi-Wan at his most relaxed, he hadn't expected it to be after being told that they had just entered a war with the most powerful crime lords, outside the Sith, in the galaxy.
For all the Jedi preached about being anti-attachment, Cody personally felt like the Jedi needed grounding, an anchor and attachment to keep them from losing perspective when they looked at the bigger picture too long that they became too distant.
Detachment was good during a battle and facing one's enemies, not necessarily for bringing compassion and peace to the galaxy.
The Planet of Lokori - Major Rex Skywalker
Had someone told Rex he was going to be on a mission with Cody, Obi-Wan, Ahsoka, and the Duchess of Mandalore on the vague instructions of General Luke he would have laughed.
Because General Kenobi was a Council member and in the span of the time Rex knew him, the times he had willingly pursued 'vague' instructions and gone on world to a planet they knew little about wouldn't have flown.
But then, Obi-Wan hadn't been a Rebel during the war. He also hadn't expected the Duchess to be quite so adept at stealth. Rex knew that she had been training with Ahsoka and Obi-Wan, but to see a pacifist so comfortable army crawling on her stomach up a rolling hill to a large industrial facility seemed distinctly odd.
The name on the building read, Helical HyperCom, HH.
"What is this place?" Ahsoka asked.
"Energy facility," Obi-Wan answered, "Rex, can you please tell us who we are looking for now that we are here?"
"Galen Erso," Rex supplied.
"Erso?" Obi-Wan asked.
"You know him?" Satine asked.
"I know of him, there was some business with him and Lieutenant Commander by the name of Krennic. It rubbed me the wrong way, he delayed a rescue of Erso and his family along with another group of scientists," Obi-Wan said, looking troubled.
"You're worried," Satine noted.
He smirked at her, "Erso is a pacifist."
Satine sighed, "If we give him our protection do you think we could allow him to remain one?"
"Yes, because he isn't responsible for an entire planet. But keep in mind, he's not like you, Satine," Obi-Wan said, "Erso is known as one of the most renowned minds in the galaxy. The Jedi Service Corps tried recruiting him, but he said he didn't want to side with anyone in the civil war, which is what caught my attention in the report Ki-Adi gave."
"That doesn't sound too bad," Rex said.
Obi-Wan sighed, "This report came shortly before he was kidnapped by the Separatists, shortly before the Jedi were going to bring him in for suspected meddling with synthetic kyber experiments. When he returned, he was accused of being a Separatist spy. However, the charges were dropped when Tarkin got involved. I suppose we can conclude that he was developing kyber. But what really worries me was the last report I saw of him was that he had grown close with his kidnappers.
"Erso is the type of pacifist who is truly passive, his group on morality, on sides… He is a dangerous hostage for anyone trying to rescue him."
Rex was amazed by how much information Obi-Wan had. It was convenient having an ex-council Member on their side.
"Luke said that his wife and child were used against him. He sent his daughter into hiding when the Emperor claimed him," Rex said.
"We cannot imply in any way that we will hurt him or his family if he does not come with us," Obi-Wan said, "Erso is too trusting by nature, any act of violence will not endure us to him, especially if he has friends here."
"Great, I finally find another staunch pacifist and I've just declared war on the Hutts," Satine muttered.
Rex swallowed a laugh, he wished Anakin was here, he would be getting a kick out of the fond smile Obi-Wan sent his ladylove.
Ahsoka shifted, "So how are we getting in?"
Rex had his binoculars out, "Well, judging by the down droids, we might be able to use the front door."
"They still have security cameras," Cody protested.
"Yeah, but do you really think a bunch of scientists are going to be sitting in front of screens on watch?" Rex retorted. Granted, most of Rex's experience with scientists were Kaminoins, but considering all the weaknesses on Kamino that Rex had never dreamed of utilizing, though certainly utilized, security wasn't a true scientist's highest priority.
"Careful of generalizations, my friend," Obi-Wan warned him as if reading his thoughts, "But I agree, we should try the front door. It will be a good way to build some legitimacy for ourselves."
As they stood, looking down the slope, they were able to see the rest of the city Fucallpa, which HH was on the outskirts of. It wasn't a large city, but it was active enough that the sound of traffic, nothing as hectic as Coruscant, was audible.
As they walked to the building, Rex noted that the downed droids had landed on the landscaping, and a few ambitious flowers and climbing vines had begun growing over the metal parts making it look like some macabre art piece.
"I have this nightmare that they are going to raise up and start shooting," she said.
Rex pointed to one's back, "I take back what I said, the scientists were savvy enough to take out their power supplies."
There was an energy shield protecting the building that seemed to have stopped the droids but didn't affect them at all.
Obi-Wan waved them all to the side so they wouldn't be in direct line of fire of the entrance.
He knocked.
Unsurprisingly, no one answered.
Ahsoka made fast work of the keypad lock before she asked.
Satine shook her head, "My people were right, the Force is cheating."
Obi-Wan spared her smile but it was Ahsoka who got the witty remark in, "'Cheating' is balanced out by how many people want to kill us on sight."
But it was Cody who beat Rex to a follow up remark, "The Jedi seem extraordinarily talented in making friends."
This time Rex did laugh.
Rex didn't think two years ago Cody would have ever made a joke like that so boldly.
Satine was smiling as they entered the building, "Obi-Wan is Qui-Gon's Padawan, making friends was a paramount lesson."
Rex had forgotten that this woman had been so entwined with Obi-Wan's past. It was sometimes strange being so young compared to even the other humans around him and not be a child. He felt like he should have been more entwined with the galaxy than he was.
A little girl came sprinting down the hall and everyone froze. The brown haired girl didn't pause at all and Rex was amazed at the speed she was accomplishing on such small legs.
She ran directly at Obi-Wan's legs then ducked under his outer robe.
She hushed the Jedi General with a finger to her lips, and said in a shouted whisper, "SHHHHH! I'ma hiding from Mama!"
Presumably, said Mama came around the corner calling, "Oh Jyn! I'm coming-" The woman froze when she saw the party that awaited here.
Rex didn't know exactly what to say to the panic that crossed the woman's face.
But General Kenobi did, raising a finger to his lips in a hush gesture that the little girl had used, he pointed to his legs.
They were all so quiet that the little girl's stifled laughter could be heard.
With a cautious smile, the woman crept forward to her daughter, "Oh where, oh where, could my little Jyn be?"
More giggles, and the mother snatched her child up.
Jyn squealed with laughter, but as the mother made to step back, the child flailed back to grab hold of Obi-Wan's top.
The mother nearly lost her grip and the General caught the girl up in his arms. The girl laughed, tugging on the fringe of Obi-Wan's beard, talking in a stream of words in a language Rex could neither understand nor recognize.
But Obi-Wan smiled, despite his beard being yanked on by small hands, "It is a pleasure to meet you, Miss Jyn. I am Obi-Wan Kenobi."
The woman visibly startled, "The Rebel General?"
"The same, and this is Duchess Satine, my Padawan Ahsoka Tano, my right hand man, Cody Kenobi, and his brother, Rex Skywalker."
Rex was somewhat relieved for once his rank was left off, four army officers and a Duchess was not a simple house call. Besides, having the surname of his Generals felt like an honoured rank all on its own.
"Why are you here?" she asked, hovering over her child that seemed very preoccupied with petting Obi-Wan's beard in different directions.
"We are here to speak with Galen Erso."
The woman glared at him, "I am Lyra Erso, and if you are going to ask my husband to join your little Rebellion, you can save your breath."
"Nothing of the sort," Obi-Wan said easily, "We just came to discuss with him how one of his discoveries have been used for ill by the Republic and Separatists." He tried passing the girl to her mother, but the child was having none of it.
She let out an ear piercing wail until Lyra waved him off, allowing the girl to remain where she was. "Alright, you can speak with Galen." Before anyone could react the woman had a blaster held at her waist, pressing against Obi-Wan's spine. She kept smiling and her daughter was none the wiser.
Cody looked as if he was ready to rip the woman apart, while Satine and Ahsoka simply came to attention. Obi-Wan smiled at the blaster wielding mother. "Please, lead the way."
The girl's chatter continued and Obi-Wan responded in the same strange language, making Jyn laugh with utter delight.
Lyra's face didn't soften a wink.
When they entered a room strune with papers, a man hunched over the table looked up with a smile until he saw his guests, more particularly, his wife holding a blaster to the side of a Jedi who happened to be holding his daughter.
He stood, his chair falling back as he warned, "Lyra."
Jyn squirmed, and Obi-Wan immediately released her, heedless of the blaster at his back. The girl ran to her father who swept her up in his arms, squeezing her tightly. For her part, the girl seemed to launch into an epic tale of 'hide and go seek' then began petting her father's clean shaven face.
Rex was about ready to point his own blaster at this Lyra woman, Cody's hand was already on his blaster, but Lyra lowered her weapon. "They said they had a message for you."
Galen looked at them, "You are General Kenobi, the fallen Jedi?"
Obi-Wan bowed, "Kenobi the Rebel, but I haven't fallen to the Dark, simply parted from the Order."
Galen narrowed his eyes on Satine, "You are the Duchess of Mandalore, the one who abandoned your neutrality."
"It was war with the Hutts or civil war. I would rather free slaves than kill my own people, wouldn't you?" Satine asked imperiously.
Galen nodded slowly, "Deciding not to fight is noble, but forcing others to not fight is…" he looked who he smiled at softly, "difficult."
Jyn was facing her father so didn't see the rude gesture her mother sent his way.
Smiling, the scientist asked, "What message?"
Rex pulled a small holorecorder from his built pocket, "May I?"
Galen nodded, hugging his daughter to his chest.
Rex set down the holorecorder and a little blue figure of his general appeared. He hadn't seen the recording yet, so when the opening line was: "Hello Galen Erso, my name is Luke Skywalker, General in the Rebel Alliance and Jedi Knight. I am a time traveller." Rex nearly palmed his face.
Lyra and Galen exchanged a look.
Yeah, that was a great way to earn their trust. Just start off by saying you're a crazy person. Great plan.
But the as the recording went on, Rex understood why Luke had started that way.
"I want to start by saying that this is not a threat to you or yours, but it is a warning. In the future I am from, I was a pilot with no Jedi training and became a General in the Rebel Alliance that fought against the Emperor that had been built out of the Republic.
"My first mission was delivering the information you gave to your daughter and your daughter gave to my sister to the Rebels. My second mission was flying a single pilot ship against a space station the size of a moon. Among the people who allowed that strike to be possible were you and your daughter. You were forced to engineer the station, the Death Star with the power to destroy worlds with your discoveries in kyber. From what I understood, enough your research had been stolen or developed that anyone could have completed your work, but you saw the Death Star to its end so you could design a fatal flaw that could be capitalized on.
"Your daughter who I learned had been separated from you and your wife, joined the Rebellion to recover that Death Star plans that ultimately led to the thing's destruction. Between you and your daughter, you saved billions upon billions of lives.
"So all that I ask of you today is that if it is not too late, please destroy your work on kyber, it is too dangerous a weapon for anyone to have. And maybe this is only delaying the enviable, but know that the first test the Emperor tried its weapon on destroyed the base your daughter and the rebels were fighting on, and the second test destroyed all of Alderaan with nothing but asteroid field remaining.
"My friends will provide you with protection from both the Republic and Separatists if you request it. Thank you, Galen Erso, for taking the time to listen, and for the bravery and sacrifices you and your family made. May the Force be with you."
The hologram went dark.
Everyone was quiet, until, the little girl asked, "Papa, why you cry?"
Rex understood how the man must have felt, to know that his life's work would turn against everything he had worked for and believed in. It's how Rex had felt when Luke suggested that it was the clones that would destroy the Jedi.
Galen kissed his daughter's forehead, and he looked up at his wife.
Lyra Erso stood perfectly still for a long moment before she said, "Everyone else in this building retreated when the funds dried up. We could bomb it."
Ahsoka grinned at the woman, "I'm really beginning to like you."
Galen looked down at his desk, covered with papers and notes and probably a life time's worth of invention, before he nodded, "Yes, for Jyn."
Lyra nodded, "For Jyn." She turned on Obi-Wan, "Was he telling the truth, will you give us asylum or will you use my husband too?"
Obi-Wan folded his arms in his sleeves, "Asylum, however, while I certainly will never ask that you event weapons for anyone, I would like to know if there are any other places that information on the Death Star as well as synthetic kyber production that you might know of."
"To destroy it?" Galen asked.
"Yes," Rex answered. "The frame of the Death Star has already been destroyed."
Galen stood, "We should shut down the shield before you try bombing the place, we are just far enough away from the city that an air strike should do it."
Little Jyn didn't seem to be following much of the conversation until she threw up her arms, and cheered, "Boom!"
The Planet of Serreno - General Luke Skywalker/Padawan Lukakin
"That's it?" Luke asked, beyond frustrated.
Dooku frowned at him, "What do mean 'that's it'? The complexity of-"
Luke cut him off and quoted back:
"Peace is a lie, there is only passion.
Through passion, I gain strength.
Through strength, I gain power.
Through power, I gain victory.
Through victory, my chains are broken.
The Force shall free me.
"But," he continued, "you're telling me the goal of the Sith is to bring peace and freedom to the galaxy?"
Asajj nodded, "Yes. There being no peace, meaning there is no peace for the Sith who must maintain their passion in order to serve the galaxy."
Luke shook his head, "How is that any different than the Jedi? I thought the Sith were supposed to be the opposite of the Jedi?"
"Jedi rule without feeling.."
"No not passion, but compassion," Luke corrected.
Dooku gave him a sharp look, "Do not interrupt me, Padawan."
They were all sitting on a balcony overlooking the Serreno forests and mountains. It was a beautiful place, Luke thought, understanding why Dooku had returned here.
Dooku continued, "The Jedi teach detachment they seek to aid the galaxy without acting with emotion, it cripples them."
He waited expectantly for Luke's retort, which he had, "Cripples? The Force takes over if you lose yourself to your emotions, and instead of guiding you away from your danger it follows your intentions of violence."
"Which is why the Sith embrace the anger and fear to overcome it."
"But how though?" Luke asked, "Anger is like a drug, you can let it run out, run its course, but if you give in to it, if you feed it, it grows wild."
"Which gives you more power," Asajj said.
"It gives the Force more power over you," Luke countered, "I disagree in thinking the Force is a tool, it is a living, growing, breathing, dying thing, it can't be just a tool. It is sentient. It is small parts, as small as the smallest cell and as large as the entire galaxy, it is pure arrogance to believe that the Force could just be a weapon or a personal power that some have and some don't. The Force is in all things, living and nonliving. Force users just have the ability to commune with it.
"We are agents of the Force. And if you give in to your emotions, if you use it to bring pain and suffering, it can and will return the favour."
Dooku gazed at him with thoughtful brown eyes, tapping his long fingers on his knees, his back painfully straight as he sat cross legged, his cap framing him eloquently, "The Force is both Darkness and Light, the Light is not more moral. The Darkness allows us to be what we are, feeling creatures, acting of our own volition. The Darkness offers true freedom."
"There is freedom in surrendering to the Force. By your logic, if you cannot use the Force to free you from a physical cell than it, then the Force denies you freedom. But by Jedi logic, no matter where you are, not even if your physical form dies, you are free within the Force."
Dooku stared at him.
"However," Luke conceded, "I agree that neither the Light nor the Dark has a monopoly on morality. I'm not sure if they are wholly related. This war is an example of that. The Jedi's actions, however justifiable, aren't strictly moral. But I still don't fully understand the justification of the Sith, or at least of you."
Dooku sighed, and Luke watched Asajj watch her Master with keen interest. He somehow doubted she had ever been allowed to ask questions so bluntly.
"Because," the Count drawled, "Corruption is enviable in order for something better to be built in its stead, we must destroy what was and start over."
Luke snorted.
Asajj snarled at him, "I know it is hard for you, Skywalker, but be respectful. He is your Master now."
"Obi-Wan is my Master," Luke said boldly, "I'm just here to learn Sidious's weaknesses and understand the Sith."
"Being dismissive won't achieve that," she spat.
"I'm sorry, but it is arrogant to think there is such a thing as a clean slate. You won't be starting fresh, you will be starting with an Empire in chaos forced into submission on the pain and suffering of generations. And sure, maybe one day people will forget, assuredly they will forget the individuals who wrought such sorrow, but the cultures of fear and desperation, that will take thousands of years to heal."
Luke couldn't help but think of the Jedi who had fallen that trap, instead of adapting, generations had been responding to a historical trauma that even Yoda could hardly remember.
"A fair point," Dooku conceded.
Luke grinned, "Did you just admit I was right?"
Dooku sighed, "You are somehow more persistent than Qui-Gon, and my boy, that is not a compliment."
"It feels like one," Luke returned, mood lighter. Dooku had been pretty closed lip about Sidious, so far all he knew about the Sith Lord/would-be Emperor was that he liked lightning and secrets.
But so far, Luke hadn't regretted coming, not yet. He swore he was seeing more and more light in Asajj each day and that Dooku, while regal as always, was slowly becoming more personable, if not exactly lighter in the Force.
The approachability of her Master, seemed to be mending some broken piece of Asajj and as she became more confident, Dooku appeared visibly more proud of her.
Asajj, Luke determined, was a force to be reconciled with, and would likely become more powerful than Dooku if she ever ascended to being a Jedi Master.
"Enough chatter," Dooku said finally, "I would like you to meditate on your emotions, Skywalker, and use them to grip the Force."
Luke closed his eyes and did meditate on the Darkness within himself, but he didn't use it to grip the Force, which gave him a sickly, feverish, grabbed the wrong-end of a spark-plug feel, and gave his emotions to the Force instead, the Light filling up the spaces he had made room for.
Sith doctrine on freedom felt wrong to him because the logic felt so selfish.
Where the Jedi sometimes did the wrong thing for the right reasons, he wasn't sure that Sith could even always tell the difference.
It's why Old Ben and Oldest Yoda had sent Luke to face his father, not because it was necessarily the right thing to do but because it was necessary. Because Luke's life was not more important than the galaxy's freedom.
This was where the Jedi Order was falling, failing to realize that the Republic was doing more harm than good because they were on the 'Light' side.
But Luke was coming to understand that morality didn't belong to the Force, it belonged to the individual.
And the Light was, in Luke's opinion, better, not because it was stronger or weaker but because it left him clear headed.
The things he had done on Zygerria were not good, and the Dark let him avoid that, let him enjoy bringing justice to slavers. But he could have done the same with the light at a greater personal cost.
A personal cost that if he was not willing to pay he shouldn't have done it.
He had so much to discuss with Obi-Wan now. Luke didn't know what balance met for the galaxy, but he knew what it meant for him.
Balance for Luke was the joy and pain he found in the Light, in the life around him. The Darkness was chaos that Luke could not continue to use without losing sight of who he was and who the lights about him were.
The more he spent learning about the Dark, the more cemented and the more drawn to the Light he became.
Luke had decided that tomorrow he would leave for Coruscant. Dooku had yet to reveal about Sidious but Luke thought that he was ready to take his chances.
He would run to the Emperor's side, claiming to remember everything, their friendship and wishing to make amends for his cold behaviour during his 'recovery' and then he would kill him.
Come whatever the consequences might be, he was going to kill Emperor Palpatine before he even realized he was being duped.
Approaching A World Between - Commander Tano/Padawan Ahsoka
Ahsoka was down two Skywalkers and was feeling the loss of them.
She missed her old Master, she was certain Anakin would have had more than a few amusing comments about Satine joining them.
Even if Satine joining them was as much to stay with Master Obi-Wan as it was for her own safety. Her homeworld had yet to agree if their Duchess was the best politician ever to have finally heard the majority, a traitor for turning her back on enforced demilitarization, pissed off because she had thrown them into another war, unbelieving that she had changed and thus still wanting her dead for old reasons, or ready to support violence for violence's sake against anyone who wasn't another Mandalorian.
Really, it was a wonder Satine had been able to hold her seat of power as long as she had. And for a non-Force sensitive, she was starting to get scarily good at using the Darksaber.
But of course, she had been getting 'intimate' lessons from Obi-Wan.
Ahsoka sighed, abandoning her attempts at meditation and stared at herself in the mirror. She had been several inches shorter since the last time she saw Luke, since the last time she had seen Anakin.
Years had passed since Anakin's head injury and she couldn't help wondering where he had ended up.
Was he trying to get back to them, was he in pain, imprisoned, surely something had happened to prevent his returning to them.
She closed her eyes, and whispered to the Force, "Master, where are you?"
When she opened her eyes a glowing man waved to her, and his deep voice seemed to speak in her mind rather than aloud, -Hello, my grand-Padawan.
She nearly jumped out of her skin, whirling, sabers raised as she faced- thin air?
"Hello?"
Nothing.
Her comm lit up, a call to the meeting room, and she shakily left her room.
When she got to the meeting room, Obi-Wan immediately straightened, "Ahsoka, are you alright? You look as if you have seen a ghost."
She opened her mouth to respond, but then the same figure she had seen in her mirror appeared behind her Master. She felt herself go pale.
Obi-Wan whipped around, pushing Satine to the side, the clones drawing their weapons as their High General pulled his lightsaber.
But they couldn't see anything, yet Ahsoka saw the blue glowing man with a closed lipped smile, gazing at them all fondly.
"Padawan, what do you see?" Obi-Wan asked, scanning the room.
"Nothing," she said, trying to pull herself together. "Just a ghost."
Obi-Wan extinguished his lightsaber and turned back to her, exasperated, "Ha ha, very funny, Padawan Tano. Honestly, I thought I was teaching you to have a more sophisticated sense of humour."
Ahsoka couldn't muster so much as a smile as the ghost spoke in her mind, -Qui-Gon Jinn.
She frowned at the ghost.
It inclined its head to her.
"Master Kenobi," she asked formally, "What did Master Jinn look like?"
Obi-Wan stared at her, obviously confused, but in response to her tone, he answered seriously, "He was a big man, long hair half pulled back from his face, dark blue eyes, and he wore a beard. Why do you ask?"
"Because, Padawan mine, I am standing beside you."
Everyone in the room jumped, and a Convo bird flew into the room, landing on Ahsoka's shoulder.
"Morai?" she asked.
Ahsoka was honestly more confused about the bird than the ghost.
Master Kenobi, on the other hand, was gaping at the ghost of his old Master in pure shock, as was Satine, the Ersos, but oddly, not the clones.
Cody sighed, "I'm not even surprised anymore."
Fives nodded, "We've grown sadly accustomed to expecting the unexpected."
Rex sighed as well, "I'm going to choke Lama Su with the physics hologram, just see if I don't."
Ahsoka looked at the clones, "Really guys?"
Rex smiled at her and Fives shrugged. Appo said merely, "How is the ghost more surprising than body displacement and time travel?"
"Okay, fair point," Ahsoka considered, petting Morai who tweeted happily at her.
"Qui-Gon," Obi-Wan asked, finally recovering himself, "Is this really you?"
"Remember my time with the Whills?" Master Jinn asked.
Obi-Wan nodded but asked, "Why now? Why come to me now?"
Qui-Gon smiled sadly, "I'm so sorry, Obi-Wan, more than I have words for, for the ways in which I have wronged you. But I have come to you now because Anakin needs you. His time is running out."
"Where is he?"
The ghost walked to the table and the holotable flickered on, the map appearing and coordinates plugged themselves in. "You must go here."
"There's nothing there, Master Jinn," Satine said.
Qui-Gon smiled at her, "Not officially."
Then the ghost vanished.
Morai sang on Ahsoka's shoulders and Cody sighed as he went to go direct the ship to the ghost coordinates.
Boil shook his head, "Years looking for him and we get directions from a ghost. There is some type of irony in that, but I don't know what."
Ahsoka and Satine each touched one of Obi-Wan's arms and asked in unison, "Are you alright?"
He nodded, "I will be."
Planet of Kamino - High General/ Council Member Wolffe Koon
Wolffe had never been so furious, so panicked, in his entire life.
Shutting down the larger facilities of Kamino had not been a problem, until they began digging in their own records.
Like the accelerated ageing.
That thank the Force, as General Plo would say, the Kaminoins had a treatment for too slow to a near normal life span. They would still never get the ten to fifteen years back from their poor excuses for childhoods, but they could be truly human.
But that wasn't what was panicking him. No, what had him panicking was the fact that each and every one of his brothers had been installed with a karking chip in their brains!
And the purpose of the chips?
Wolffe was so incredibly glad he had been appointed as a High Council member because when he told the rest of the Council that it was imperative that his brothers be separated for a time from the Jedi, they had listened to him. Giving out the emergency call before asking for too many details.
No Jedi were going to die by way of Order 66. If there was going to be a genocide in the next decade it would be the Kaminoins not his brothers and not their Jedi.
"Contact the 7th Sky Corps," he ordered, his men as he strode out of the backroom Lama Su had led him too. He was too upset to stay in such a small space any longer.
There was a long delay before Wildfire reported, "Sir, they can't be reached."
"Then tell the Jedi on Coruscant to contact them."
They waited as Wolffe tried to put the logistics together. They had nothing to be grateful for the Kimanoins for, nothing. Not after this, not after giving them a purpose then using them to destroy everything they had grown to love. Their people, their family, their very lives. Because Wolffe didn't know if he could have lived with himself if he had been forced to turn on Plo. To turn on the Padawans and younglings of the Temple.
Wildfire came back, "Sir, the 7th Sky Corps isn't reachable, neither is the 501st."
"What do you mean, they aren't reachable?"
"They-"
"Listen to me Wildfire, we need to reach them."
"Why?"
"Because," Wolffe said, staring at the list of orders on his handheld datapad, "General Skywalker was right, this war was never about preserving the Republic. We were made to destroy the Jedi."
On the Precipice of Returning to the Light - Count Dooku/ Darth Tyrannus
Dooku had gotten word that the skeleton of the Death Star had been destroyed and that Galen Erso had been spirited away, the polymath's life's work destroyed in a fiery blaze.
He had also put two and two together on why Asajj had found Anakin in his private office and had found no transport that could have brought him to Serreno. Anakin must have brought some kind of droid with him, and somehow he had known what he was looking for.
And oddly, Dooku found himself relieved.
He was beginning to, because of Anakin, because of Asajj even, have regrets about the things he had done in the course of this war.
Though, not enough to admit to Anakin that with Asajj at his back the young Knight was more than capable of taking the Darth Sidious, especially with the element of surprise.
The boy was too humble for his own good, he simply didn't realize how powerful he was. He well and truly overestimated Sidious's capabilities.
Tonight though, he was content to just watch the stars with boy who reminded him so painfully of Qui-Gon.
How much he missed his late Padawan, and how much he wished he could have turned back time and allowed Qui-Gon to ask the questions that Anakin had asked. Because in younger years, Dooku had shut Qui-Gon down when they had started into such debates.
Now he saw the folly in that, now he saw why his boisterous Padawan had grown to be so inward looking, why he- despite all his empathy and way of pulling tricks, was terrible at communicating his innermost thoughts. Why Qui-Gon had become a reclusive mystic instead of a great leader.
That had been Dooku's fault, how he had raised him. He had been too strict, too unyielding.
Yet somehow, no matter what distance had grown between himself and Qui-Gon, Qui-Gon had been a constant point in his life, a fixed star in the sky.
Only recently was Dooku realizing that Anakin was becoming another fixed point for him, a light in the darkest years of his life.
Dooku looked at Anakin, he looked completely at peace, despite the bright determination in his eyes, a surety of his course that Dooku himself had only ever felt fleeting moments of. He wondered a boy like the one he had fought on Geonosis could have grown to become such a person. Surely, the young man, if he had stayed in the Order, would have been up for consideration as a Master.
And then, from one moment to the next, the Force surged and like a wave swallowing a footprint in the sand, Anakin Skywalker disappeared into the night air.
End of Act I - Significant Brain Damage
AN: Did I just write three chapters worth of content in one sitting? Yes, I did :D Thoughts, comments, silly cats, or feedback? Pretty, pretty please?