"Give me a second. The code is around here, somewhere."

I got down on my hands and knees to search below the console, trying to feel for the scrap of paper stuck to its underside. It was hard to do in the dark though. The tunnel was barely lit, but we didn't dare turn the lights on for fear the escape route might be discovered.

"Got it," I told him, finally punching in the code and hearing the audible click as the pods unlocked.

"It's about time," Jon said, still rocking the sleeping Jamie back and forth. I don't know how he managed to climb down the ladder with her in his arms, but somehow he had managed to do it while keeping the one year old quiet.

He stepped up the ramp as quickly as he could, before turning back to face me.

"Thayla, are you coming?"

"Of course. Set her down and we'll go back for the others."

"Are you joking?" he asked, dumbfounded. "I can't leave a baby alone."

"It's an emergency."

As if on queue, the sound of blaster fire grew louder overhead, though it was cut short after the faint snap-hiss of a lightsaber turning on.

"They need us."

"It sounds like they're doing fine to me."

He started to turn again, but I reached out and yanked his shoulder with the force.

"Be careful. I'm holding Jamie."

"Jon, we cannot leave everyone we love to die."

"Love?" he said, scoffing. "They locked us up. We were an embarrassment to them."

"It was a mistake."

"Hardly."

"Don't be selfish. Even if they were malicious, does that justify letting them be hacked into pieces with vibroblades? You saw how many Mandalorians were out there. Twenty Jedi can't stand up to all of them, especially when half of them are barely trained."

"That's their problem. We have to think about us."

"How can you say that?" I cried out, pleading for him to understand. "How could we live with ourselves if we let everyone in the temple die? They need us!"

"Your daughter needs us!"

The screaming finally woke Jamie, who began to cry.

Jon immediately turned and bolted her into one of the seats as best he could, though her arms reached out for him as he stepped away. Looking back, when I really perceive that moment, I can feel his heart breaking as he watches her little hands reaching for him, though the feeling was buried beneath the blaster fire and death.

"It will be ok. We can be back in only a few minutes," I said, looking down and trying to spot if the entrance we had used was still sealed. "Everyone knows to meet here, so hopefully they'll-"

I was cut off by a sudden roar and the dark tunnel of blue permacrete became blindingly bright when the engines of the escape craft came to life.

"Jon!" was all I had the chance to cry out, before the craft rocketed away and the tunnel went dark once more.


Thayla wasn't sure of just how long she spent cross-legged and meditating, hoping to feel something.

Through great effort and focus, the Jedi could reach out and just barely feel her daughter's presence, somewhere high above the clouds on Centrallis and heading for Shilrakaen.

She got back on her feet, though she was strained and out of breath, and looked over to see Carnada in yet another meeting. Her war room had been filled with the sound of bickering, ever since that first meeting of the Demagogues.

"Blaster fire could mean anything. I'm not moving in until we know that those ruffians will fall in line," said one of the two blue forms.

"Are you serious? Carnada, I won't divert my forces-"

"Gentlemen, please," she interjected. "Both of you carry substantial weight in Davn and you both have already pledged to help free the city. We're on the same side."

Both of them began to call out once more, but Carnada yet again cut them off.

"Captain Charyb, get me just a few uniformed officers who can investigate the Blood Battalion's headquarters. It will be best for all of us to get a reading on the situation without raising suspicion and your esteemed men and women have the best chance of accomplishing that. It is a favor to me and no one else. Mister Scyll, your forces will simply stand ready should a larger firefight break out. I know that you don't like each other, but this issue is larger than either of you, so do these favors for me."

The two holograms looked at one another.

"My boys will be ready to roll," Scyll said, before disappearing from the call.

"This had better be worth it," Charyb said, pointing a finger at the High Counselor's chest. "If my officers get killed by those prisoners we let loose, their blood will be on your hands."

He ended the call and Carnada turned back to face the Jedi.

"Sometimes my job feels like herding kath hounds with nothing but a twig."

"They seem to really hate one another."

The High Counselor pulled a flask from under her jacket. "It could be worse. Charyb is corporate security, even if he'd like to think he's a real cop. If the mine owners think that this alliance is for the best, and they do, then he'll have to go along with it."

She held the flask out to Thayla.

"Would you care for some? It's a rare brew from Cato Neimoidia."

"No thank you."

"Suit yourself, but the distillery it came from was destroyed during the Imperial occupation. It goes for nine-hundred credits a bottle," she said, before taking a swig. "And of course, if you tell anyone about this, I'll kill you."

Thayla didn't have the time to decipher if she was joking, before one of Carnada's young assistants entered the room and handed her a datapad, which she quickly looked at and tossed onto the nearby table full of datapads.

"The information is getting overwhelming."

"The Jedi stand ready when you need us. We are here for the people of Shilrakaen and all of Centrallis."

"It's good to have someone stable and loyal, rather than consumed with revenge," Carnada said with a sigh. "But speaking of that, your daughter should be arriving soon. Did I give you the-"

"I have the hangar information. I'm sure Jon can handle her arrival."

She looked at the young Jedi, absent of the force but trained and hardened by years of senatorial debate. "You and the father seem to have some long-standing issues."

"We know we're on the same side. We just want what's best for Centrallis and what's best for her."

"What's best for her is having her mother," she told the young woman. "I think I'm done with my meetings for the day, so you should get there before it's too late."

"It's ok. She doesn't…" Thayla stumbled over her own tongue. "She won't… I mean, she probably doesn't even-"

"Before it's too late, girl." The statement was reiterated with more power than before. "Go get your daughter."

With an expression somewhere between extreme happiness and overwhelming dread, Thayla said, "Thank you," to the High Counselor before stepping out of the room and breaking into a dead sprint toward the correct hangar.

Carnada waited until she was out of earshot before switching communications back on and beginning her next meeting.