The extent of Bakura's devastation, though horrific enough as relayed by holo-image, was even more staggering when Gar Stazi saw it with his own eyes. When his shuttle had come in to land at the capital, it had banked low over kilometer after kilometer of blackened cityscape, and his stomach had turned to think of the lives lost, the agony sustained. His ship finally sat down in the government district, one preserved island amidst Salis D'aar's wreckage, where a modest welcoming party took him and several other officers from the fleet to meet with the local government. They were all broken, weary men, and Bakura's president didn't even try to put a brave face on it.
It was a miserable experience, and Stazi was eager to take his fleet and finish fight against the retreating Nagai and Ssi-ruuk, but he had to do this too. After the damage Bakura had taken, a visit by the commander of the liberating army was the least it deserved. Still, he was relieved when the audience was over.
He headed back to the landing zone with the Imperials' Captain Bovark. They walked slowly down the presidential palace's halls while their guards- two stormtroopers and two Alliance, shadowed them from several meters away.
"It's going to take decades to rebuild," Stazi told Bovark wearily. "Even if Coruscant commits massive funds here, it may still take a generation to heal the damage."
"One generation would be lucky," remarked Bovark. "And that's assuming Coruscant will have the political willpower to deliver appropriate aid."
The stout, whiskered Squalris had been the first of Roan Fel's officers to reach out to Stazi's renegades. That had been years ago, and their initial encounter had ended with Stazi trying to knife the Imperial over a misunderstanding, but intervening experience had turned Bovark into one of his favorite Imperial officers. He lacked their usual haughtiness and replaced it with practicality; Stazi suspecting being a non-human in a still-too-human navy might have something to do with that.
"I'm hoping with the fight in the Outer Rim wrapping up we can finish the fight back home," he told Bovark.
"That would be ideal."
"I'd like your battle group to accompany mine, Captain," he went on. "I want to get the Nagai firmly under heel. That means chasing them all the way back to Saijo. Subduing them might be easier, now that Darth Nihl is gone. With a power vacuum on top, they'll be more likely to surrender."
"I'd like that too, Admiral," Bovark sighed. "But I don't think that will be possible."
Stazi looked at him sideways. "What do you mean?"
Bovark held up a hand and snapped thick fingers. Suddenly the stormtroopers lifted their blasters and held them at the heads of Stazi's guards and were using free hands to disarm the Alliance men. Stazi instinctively reached for his service pistol, but froze with hand on hilt when he saw the blaster Bovark had drawn.
"Captain, what the hell is this?" growled Stazi.
"I'm truly sorry, Admiral, but I've been ordered to take you in for questioning."
"Questioning? For what?"
Bovark's voice turned hard. "The murder of Empress Fel."
Shock replaced anger. Stazi's mind reeled. "Explain," he rasped.
"I just got word from Coruscant. An explosion went off in the empress' private quarters when she was inside."
The empress, dead. She'd been an honorable woman who'd dealt with him fairly, despite their many disagreements. He felt grief for her, but more for the fragile peace she'd been instrumental in upholding.
Bovark went on, "I've been ordered to take you into custody and deliver you to Coruscant. You may not communicate with your people. You will be taken directly to my ship and thence to the Core."
"You can't seriously think I was involved. I've been out here the entire time, fighting this war. Winning it."
"I understand you're wanted because of your connection with Senator Porat Derrol. He was already a prime suspect in the first assassination attempt. I understand they'd found evidence implicating him in the bombing of her quarters."
Stazi didn't believe Derrol had been involved in Bavinyar. He didn't believe any of this either, but Bovark clearly did. "Who's been telling you all this? Who gave the order to arrest me?"
"Director Chalk. I understand he's also issued orders to arrest some other senators."
Stazi neither liked nor trusted the man, but he hadn't expected Chalk could be so brazen. Grief over his niece's death must have pushed the man over the edge and spurred him to root out all the Alliance radicals his paranoid Imperial mind had conjured up. If he'd been on Coruscant Stazi might have been able to get the situation under control, but no, he'd been all too eager to race to the Outer Rim and be an admiral again, a war hero, because he'd always wanted to be that instead of a politician. War was more exciting, glamorous, and pure than government, but government could be just as dangerous.
Stazi understood that now, too late. Vanity had undone him.
"Draw your weapon slowly and give it to me," Bovark said. He still had his pistol aimed at Stazi's chest.
Anger overtook him, anger at Bovark and Chalk and most of all himself. Stazi snarled, "I'm still a leader of the Galactic Federation. You don't have authority over me, Captain."
"I have my orders. Please, surrender quietly."
Stazi had never surrendered quietly, not even at Caamas, when all the guns of the Empire had tried to pound his fleet to dust. He couldn't jump to hyperspace this time; his guards were disarmed, Bovark had the draw on him, and he could never outrun a blaster bolt. Fighting would accomplish nothing this time.
But Stazi was still a warrior, for better or worse. The choice was a simple one. He wrenched his blaster from its holster but Bovark was faster. All he had to do was twitch a finger. Stazi didn't even got a shot off before the stun blast took his chest at point-blank. When he hit the ground he felt nothing, not grief or anger, satisfaction or shame.
-{}-
Shado Vao was glad to be off Bakura, but once he'd been transferred to Captain Bovark's star destroyer he found himself in an aggravating limbo. The ship remained in stationary orbit as post-battle cleanup continued, and there was nothing for Shado to do in the modest cabin he'd been provided except wait. He didn't know how long this ship would remain at Bakura or where it would go next. He had no desire to spectate on continued campaigns against the Ssi-ruuk or Nagai, but wasn't in a position to take a ship and ride back to Coruscant either. Captain Bovark himself was down on the planet, and none of his subordinates offered Shado help or clarity.
Therefore, when he learned Bovark had finally returned to the ship, Shado went to intercept him. It was probably bad form bothering a captain on his bridge but Shado didn't care. He needed to get off this ship, either on a ride to Coruscant or a ferry to Admiral Stazi's flagship. He knew Alliance's crew would be more welcoming than these Imperials.
When the Jedi stepped onto the command deck, no crewman stepped up to reprimand him for his audacity. They all looked busy, even frantic, and the few that noticed Shado promptly ignored him. He wandered deeper onto the bridge like a ghost, taking careful steps toward Captain Bovark as the stout Squalris hunched over the comm station.
"Captain," an ensign said, "Alliance is hailing us again. They're insisting to know what we've done with Stazi."
Bovark's whispers twitched anxiously. "Weapons team, warm cannons but do not take target locks unless I say so. Shields, the same. Stand by but do not raise. Engines, warm hyperdrives. Just in case."
Shado couldn't help himself. He lurched across the deck until he had a hand on Bovark's shoulder. "Captain, what's going on? What happened to Stazi?"
Bovark jerked his hand off. "Master Jedi, stand back. If you interfere I'll have security remove you."
"I need to know-"
The captain chopped a hand. "If you can't watch in silence you won't watch at all."
Shado restrained himself and stepped away from the comm station. A pair of stormtroopers had appeared a meter behind him, rifles drawn but held low. Shado lowered his hands to his sides and kept them there.
Bovark turned back to the comm station and said, "All right. Open a link to Alliance."
The captain breathed deep and clasped hands behind his back. A holo sprung to life before him, showing the head and shoulders of a Weequay Shado recognized as Jhoram Bey.
"Captain Bovark, explain yourself," Bey growled. "We understand you've taken Admiral Stazi aboard your ship without telling us."
"That's correct. I'm sorry to inform you that the admiral has been detained for questioning in the murder of Empress Marasiah Fel."
Shado could hardly parse the words. The deck seemed to spin around him as Bey said, "That's outrageous. You have no authority."
"I was personally ordered to apprehend Stazi by Hogrum Chalk, who's assumed the empress' authority."
"Stazi had nothing to do with the bombing! He was here, fighting the Ssi-ruuk with you!"
"Director Chalk has evidence that must be investigated. I assure you, Captain, Stazi has not been harmed. You have my word."
"Let me speak to me."
"I'm afraid that's not possible."
"And this is not acceptable."
"You're in no position to threaten me, Admiral Bey."
"We have more ships than you do, Captain Bovark."
"Over Bakura, yes, but galaxy-wide Imperial ships outnumber Alliance ones four to one. What we're doing is legal and essential if we're going to learn the truth behind the empress' murder."
"Stazi had nothing to do with it."
"Then an investigation will prove it. I understand you're angry, Admiral, but this is bigger than your loyalty to Stazi. The empress has been murdered and the stability of the galaxy is at stake. If you do something rash-"
"Like Stazi did at Caamas?"
Bovark took a deep breath. "I have my orders. I'll carry them out, for the good of the galaxy. If you try to interfere in any way you'll be considered an enemy of the Galactic Federation."
Bey glared murder through the holo-image, but shut the connection abruptly without reply. Bovak immediately spun toward the crew pit. "All ships, raise shields and weapons. Nav teams, start plotting a hyperdrive jump. Tactical, give me a full display."
A large holo-map sprung to live, portraying the Imperial and Alliance ships over Bakura in different colors. The Alliance vessels were more numerous but the Imperial forces, including four formidable star destroyers, were clustered together and could defend fiercely if necessary.
Once Bovark's crew completed orders, they shifted to watch the battle display, as stunned and breathless as Shado. He was still trying to wrap his mind around the empress' death. He knew nothing about the when and how, and even less the ways it would break apart the already-splintering Federation.
He only knew he was about to watch the first break now, over Bakura. Jhoram Bey and Alliance's crew were devoutly loyal to Stazi, even fanatical. Many of them had been at Caamas, where the Duro had defied another surrender order and initiated a decade-long guerilla campaign that ultimately toppled Darth Krayt. They'd never meekly submit.
Minutes passed. The Alliance ships neither opened fire nor hailed. They shifted position slowly, drawing nearer to the Imperial vessels, but were still out of shooting range.
And then, as one, the Alliance ships swung noses away from Bakura. Their sublights went hot, pushing them out of its orbit. Over a dozen lightspeed engines flares and dwindled to nothing as the ships disappeared into hyperspace.
Bovark exhaled relief, like many of his crew. The captain asked, "Any parting message?"
The comm officer shook his head. "None, sir."
Shado knew what Bey would do. They all did. He'd emulated his captured leader. There was no telling when, where, or how they'd strike next, but Hogrum Chalk had an enemy. The real question was how many other Alliance ships would follow.
"All vessels, lower shields and stand down from combat alert," said Bovark. "Helm, start plotting a course that will get us back to Coruscant. Make it indirect and use non-standard routes. Bey might still try to ambush us."
As the crew complied, the captain finally turned to Shado, who remained frozen and silent at the center of the bridge. Bovark sighed once more and said, "All right, Master Jedi. I believe I can answer your questions now."
-{}-
Bakura had felt like a resolution not just to a war but so much of Marin's life. The news that came in afterward, via scattered news broadcasts and Mandalorian rumor-chains, proved that wishful thinking. First they heard about the bombing on Coruscant and the death of Empress Fel. Next came word that that her uncle, Hogrum Chalk, had taken command of the chaos on the capital and was ordering arrests of prominent Alliance figures while claiming he had proof of their complicity in both assassinations.
Marin was an old woman and she knew what revolutions and coups looked like. When she'd been just fourteen years old her uncle Davek, Marasiah's grandfather, had taken command of the Imperial Remnant by launching a counter-coup against a group of hardliner moffs and admirals. The assassination of an Imperial head of state had sparked that conflict, too, and Marin knew that the resolution to this one would be decided not by the senate- apparently active but hobbled by the loss of key members- but by the actions of the military.
The grim reality was that power ultimately came from the barrel of a laser cannon. Mandos knew that well.
The escalating crisis was worrying, and Marin was glad her family and the Mandalorians would have no part in it. The empress' death struck her in ways she hadn't expected. She'd never met the woman and had only talked to her father once in the past forty years. Nonetheless, Marasiah Fel had been family in a way, and more, she'd been one of the last Force-users left in the galaxy. Her rare powers and Skywalker blood hadn't saved her from a young death, but another thing Marin knew from bitter experience was that Anakin Skywalker's legacy was rarely kind to those forced to carry it. That was why she'd tried to shirk it for so many years.
She also wondered how Ania would be handling the news. Her daughter had worked for, or with, the empress on several occasions. From what Marin could tell their relationship had been respectful but not warm. She'd been about to contact Free Agent when she got a hail from someone else.
That blow landed hardest.
"Are you sure about this?" She felt pinned to Champion's pilot seat as she looked at Parc Bralor's flickering holo-image. "Where did you hear it?"
"A couple different sources. I don't have any reason to doubt it," the man said. "Auchs is dead. They say he was executed."
"By who?"
"Rhal. Zerimar. Some of his other lieutenants. They confronted him as soon as they met up after the battle. Apparently they had proof Auchs killed Chernan Ordo. He didn't even deny it, just went for his blaster. They gunned him down right there."
Marin didn't know what she felt. Her emotions were a tangled mess.
Bralor noticed. "I thought you'd be happier."
She groped for certainties. "What kind of proof?"
"I'm not positive. I heard from one barve it was a holo of Auchs talking to a Sith."
"A Nagai?"
"That's right," he nodded. "Darth Nihl himself, apparently. I guess they were bartering over services. The Sith told Auchs he'd killed his Mand'alor for less than he wanted now. Auchs said he'd done it for cheap because he wanted Ordo out of the way." Bralor shook his head. "All this time I thought you were on a di'kutla quest, Skirata. But I guess you were right all along. Maybe I owe you an apology."
"Save it."
He raised a brow. "Did your people have anything to do with that? I understand if you don't want to say."
From his description it was clear the recording had been taken at Auchs and Nihl's last encounter, in the president's office on Bakura. She understood everything, and with understanding came an emotion she could name: anger.
"I had nothing to do with that," she said simply. It wasn't as true as she wanted.
"Then I guess justice works out after all. Strange galaxy."
"Who's Mand'alor next?"
"Don't know. My bet's on Thorum Rhal, unless Karr or any of your barves want to throw their helmets in the ring."
"I'll let you know," she said dryly. "Anything else?"
"Don't think so. Just relaying the news."
Before Bralor signed off, Marin thought to ask, "What happened to Auchs' daughter?"
Bralor' face creased as he remembered. "I heard she grabbed his ship. Ran off. Nobody knows where. If I were Rhal and his buddies, I'd watch my back for her."
Marin hoped not, for Sora Auchs' sake. She hoped the young woman could live free of the grief and anger that had ruled her father's life. She doubted it, but she hoped.
"Got it. Thank you, Parc."
Bralor nodded and killed the connection. Marin remained alone in the cockpit, trying to assemble herself. She'd never thought she'd feel such grief for a man she'd hated for so long, but she'd vowed he had nothing to fear from her. She'd promised him his life and failed to keep that promise. She'd done that once before, to someone she loved far more than Yaga Auchs, but it roused the same flavor of regret.
Bakura hadn't been a resolution after all. It was just one more event in the long chain of life, a turn in a story that could never be predicted or controlled, and only seemed to have purpose when you looked at it in reverse. And in that kind of story there was only one resolution, the kind where only darkness followed.
When she felt in control of herself, Marin rose from her seat and walked down to Champion's cramped crew quarters. She rapped knuckles on the door to Liem's cabin, then opened the door without waiting for his response.
Her nephew sat upright in his bed. He was dressed in a loose jumpsuit and seemed to have been dosing. He blinked and asked, "Ba'vodu, what's wrong?"
"Yaga Auchs is dead. Executed by his own lieutenants. They had proof he killed Chernan Ordo."
"That's good news, isn't it?" He didn't try to act surprised. "It's what we wanted all along."
It was what they'd wanted, the singular goal she'd gathered all her people around. Most of them would be ecstatic and unable to understand why Marin didn't share their joy.
"You took the recording," she said. "Who did you send it to? Rhal?"
Liem drew himself straight. "Does it matter?"
It really didn't. The deed was done. "I told Auchs it was over if he helped us take down Nihl. He kept his side of the bargain and I didn't. You've made a liar out of me."
Liem was defiant. "Why are you getting mad over shabla Auchs? He was a chakaar who killed his own Mand'alor and got in bed with the Sith. The galaxy's a better place with him gone."
Maybe, she thought. Or maybe Liem's choice would ricochet through history and wreak effects none of them would imagine. She knew he could never understand that. He was far too young.
"You broke the promise I made," Marin said firmly. "Once we get back to Concord Dawn, you can do what you want, but you're not crewing for me again. Understand? I only work with people I can trust."
He showed hurt in the Force, but his voice was unrepentant as he said, "Fine. I understand."
Marin didn't want to be here anymore. She turned to go, then stopped and looked back. "One more thing. Yaga Auchs is dead but his daughter's not. They say Sora got in her buir's shuttle and flew off. Nobody knows where. If she saw your recording, odds are good she figured out who took it."
Liem paled as the first ricochet struck home. Marin left without another word and closed the door behind her. She got three steps away before emotions rushed her: grief and anger and relief and brittle love. After she'd lost Ania and her husband she'd lost touch with every part of herself besides regret. She'd felt hollow and cold, trapped half-dead in a life permanently decreased. Not anymore. She'd forgotten how overwhelming it could feel to be alive.
The feeling was interrupted by a mechanical chime. Another message incoming. She didn't even what this one might bring. Marin went back to the cockpit, activated the transceiver, and brought up the face of Hondo Karr. That was a slight surprise; gloating had never been his style.
"You've heard the news," she said.
Hondo nodded. "Auchs is dead. I understand if you're not happy about it, but me and Tes just popped a bottle of tihaar. That's not why I called, though."
"Then why did you?"
"I just had an interesting talk. You remember when we were tracking Rhal last year with Federation help?"
"Of course." Hondo had hooked up with a contact from Rogue Squadron, plus a Jedi and an Imperial Knight. "I heard the Alliance fleet from Bakura's unaccounted for. Did you hear from them?"
"I thought I might, but no." Hondo shook his head. "My contact came from another source. My question for you is: Are you interesting in picking up a couple strays?"
-{}-
With everything happening, Shado felt, the new Jedi temple on Coruscant should have felt upended. Instead its corridors were quiet and the hollow routines of its remaining members continued as they had. It was, Shado thought, a sad and final testament to the Jedi's irrelevance in this strange new galaxy.
He alone stood in one of the gathering rooms and watched a news holo play out. The reporter said, "Senate speaker Tem Brighton reiterated his objections this morning, calling the arrest of Senators Nelloran and Kaige, as well as Admiral Gar Stazi, an illegal power grab by Hogrum Chalk. The regent released a short statement repeating that everything he had done was based on hard evidence that will be presented in public trial, and that he was confident all the accused had been involved with the assassination of Marasiah Fel.
"The regent's office has also doubled its reward offered for the whereabouts of Senator Porat Derrol, who evaded the team sent to detain him after Empress Fel's death. Just yesterday, Regent Chalk stated that Derrol's flight was itself a confession of guilt and called on all citizens to help locate the senator, out of respect for Marasiah Fel's legacy. A price is also being offered for Senator Derrol's wife, who is believed to be on the run with him.
"Regent Chalk also announced that in two days a memorial service will be held for Empress Fel. It will be widely broadcast but in-person attendance is expected to be limited to senior government officials and members of the Imperial Knight and Jedi Orders."
"It is a dilemma," said a deep voice beside Shado.
He jerked in surprise and saw Grand Master K'Kruhk, three meters of piled muscle, tangled fur, and fierce-looking tusks and talons. Despite that, he was as gentle as always as he said, "To attend the memorial will be seen as a sign of approval of the regent's policies. To refuse it will be blatantly disrespectful to the empress."
It was a trap, and Shado didn't envy K'Kruhk the dilemma. He also found it hard to care. "Does it really matter what the Jedi do?"
"I have always held that it does."
"But does it?" He looked up at the Whiphid, broadcast completely ignored now. "When the Force spoke to us, maybe it did. But now, Master, what are we? We're just beings like any other."
"We still remember what the Force said to us. That can still be a guide."
Shado fought the urge to weep. He'd explained events on Bakura to the Jedi Council but he'd been circumspect about his internal struggle. He'd been hoping the Grand Master, the oldest living Jedi, would have some wisdom to offer instead of the unconfident platitudes he'd recited to himself as he marched Bakura to its ruin.
His voice choked as he said, "Master… I'm sorry. I can't do this any longer. I can't pretend to be a Jedi. I'm not. None of us are. We're all lying to ourselves. So were the Sith. We've all been trying to press on and act the same, but trying to pretend things hadn't changed destroyed the Sith. The Jedi have to stop."
Shado blurted it all without thinking, and when he stopped to breath K'Kruhk regarded him, the expression of his long tusked face impossible to read. Still gentle, he said, "If you feel you are no longer able to do your duties as you have, I understand. There's no need for you to be what you're not, Shado Vao. You can leave Coruscant and walk your own path."
He'd been edging toward that decision since Bakura, maybe longer, but he also revolted from it. Being a Jedi was all he'd known since childhood. He's spoken with his sister Astraal, who was stricken by the death of her friend the empress and uncertain of her own fate. They might end up derelict together, just like they'd been twenty years back as wandering orphans before two different organizations offered them purpose.
Bakura had convinced him that if the Jedi continued to deny what had happened they'd damage not only themselves but those they tried to help. For the good of the Jedi and the galaxy he needed to convince them otherwise, but even as Shado felt that he doubted his own intentions. Even now he wanted to force others onto the path he thought was best for them. Maybe Recado was right, and idealism was just vanity disguised.
There was only one thing Shado was certain of absolutely. "I can't do this anymore," he croaked. "I'm sorry, Master. I may… stay at the Temple for a time. Until I decide where to go next. But I can't perform missions for the Jedi anymore. I can't be an active knight."
His hand moved toward the double-bladed lightsaber at his belt. He could still remember constructing it during his training, testing its twin blades against Cade's and Azlyn's, and feeling flush with pride the first time he ignited the weapon. It had become an extension of himself and a constant reminder, even in the darkest days of Krayt's purge, that the Force was still with him.
K'Kruhk sensed his reluctance. "There's no need to give up your weapon."
"Yes there is," Shado said. He pulled it from his belt and held it out. K'Kruhk locked his claws around it and took it from Shado's hands. He stared down at the empty blue palms and wondered what else belonged in them.
-{}-
They'd stripped down the homestead before leaving and returned to find it untouched by anything except weather. That was no surprise to Ania. Concord Dawn wasn't a busy world and the farm her mother's people had occupied wasn't prime real estate. She'd never felt any attachment to the place and was surprised to feel a familiar warmth as Free Agent set down alongside Starlight Champion and Black Justice.
There was another ship there too, a small scout craft she'd never seen before. As Ania, Sauk, and AG-37 stepped outside, she spotted her mother, now dressed in a simple tunic, approach the scout ship alongside Hondo Karr and Tes Vevec, still in beskar. The hatch on the scout ship's cockpit was opening and it looked like someone was getting out.
"Any idea what this is, Ania?" asked Sauk.
"No clue. My mom didn't tell me anything."
She wondered if Marin had anything to tell. Hondo and Tes were the ones walking ahead with seeming assurance. Her mother was holding a step back and keeping one hand near her holstered blaster.
Great, Ania thought. She wasn't fool enough to think beating the Sith at Bakura would solve all their problems, but she'd at least hoped things would quiet down for a while.
"Stay back, guys," Ania told her friends. "I'll take a look."
She trotted up beside her mother and whispered, "What have we got? Trouble?"
"I don't think so."
"You're reaching for your gun. That usually means trouble."
Marin looked sidelong at her daughter. "It means I'm cautious."
"Right. Caution. That's what you were doing on Bespin and Bakura." She slapped the blaster at her own hip. "Well, I'm cautious too."
She looked ahead and saw two figures emerging from the scout. Both wore red armor instantly recognizable as Imperial Knights'. One was a tall man with long hair pulled into a ponytail. The other was a woman with short red hair, scars lacing an otherwise pretty face, and a respiration device built into the chestpiece of her armor. That was a distinctive look and Ania instantly remembered her as part of the empress' entourage when they'd gone to Gree Space.
Seeing the Knights stirred unhappy memories of Marasiah Fel. The death of her cousin had been a strange and heavy blow that left Ania despondent for the ride back to Mandalorian space. She'd never exactly liked her haughty, imperious cousin, and none of the situations they'd been forced together had been pleasant ones.
Nonetheless, Marasiah had been a just woman, which was more than Ania could say for most authority figures she'd met. Her death been like an erasure of their success at Bakura. It made the galaxy feel endangered again.
She'd wondered, too, where Jao was, whether he'd heard about Marasiah's death and how he'd felt. She'd tried to hail Mynock after getting the news but there'd been no reply. She'd thought tracking them down would be Free Agent's next mission now that her mother's drama was resolved, but these two Knights were an uncomfortable reminder that nothing was ever really over.
The Knights shook hands with Tes and Hondo. The latter looked back to Marin and Ania and said, "These scarlet barves are called Ganner Krieg and Azlyn Rae. As you can guess, they were in Her Majesty's Service. Scarlet barves, meet Marin and Ania."
Even without a last name, Ania seemed to register for them both. She hated when that happened. The two Knights exchanged glances, like they were deciding how much to tell. Ganner told Ania, "I understand you're a relative of the empress."
"A distant cousin," she said, and wasn't going to get her mother involved unless Marin volunteered. "I didn't think that was common knowledge."
Ganner looked awkward. "I've been… closer to the empress than most."
"I'm so sorry what happened to her."
The other Knight said, "You don't understand."
Ganner started, "Azlyn, are you sure-"
"The empress isn't dead." The woman's scarred face went hard. "She's been arrested by her uncle, Hogrum Chalk."
That took everyone by surprise, even Hondo and Tes. The Mando woman said, "What do you mean? That was a coup?"
"Staged as an assassination," Ganner nodded grimly.
"How do you know all this?" asked Ania. "And why aren't you with all the other Imp Knights on Coruscant?"
"It's a long story, but we saw it. It's the truth," Azlyn insisted. "When we ran we didn't know what Chalk was going to do with the Imperial Knights. It looks like he's kept them intact for now, but we can't tell who's loyal to him."
"And so you run to a bunch of renegade Mandos?" Tes asked, still skeptical.
"Your husband said you're not so renegade anymore," Azlyn eyed Hondo. "I tried to get in touch with Anj Dahl, from Rogue Squadron. We think she's with that Alliance fleet that went MIA from Bakura after they arrested Stazi. We couldn't manage it. I'm sure they're laying low."
Ania glanced at her mother. "What do you think?"
She had no idea what it felt like when you read somebody's intentioned in the Force, and she had no idea how her mother would want to handle the revelation just thrown in their laps. Maybe Marin would call it quits again and stubbornly retreat from the galaxy's turmoil like she'd done before Ania was born. Even after all they'd been through, her mother was still a mystery.
Marin, however her Force-skills worked, got her read on them. She nodded slightly and said, "They're telling the truth."
"Of course we're telling the truth," Azlyn said testily.
Ganner looked thoughtful. Maybe he'd read more into Marin's short response. "We have no idea where the empress is being held. We can be sure Chalk's got her very, very secure. But wherever she is, we have to get her out."
"How do you know she's not dead already?" asked Hondo.
"We saw her under arrest, being taken from her quarters right before the bomb went off," Azlyn clarified. "Also, Chalk is her uncle. I don't think he'd just kill her."
Ganner passed firm gaze across the group. "We need to find the empress and free her. If you won't help us with that, at least help us find that rogue fleet. We don't have much credits to pay you with… but we'll compensate you however we can."
Ania looked at the faces around her: Tes skeptical, Hondo conflicted, her mother deep in thought. As for Ania herself, decision came instantly. It was like when she'd decided to help Jao hunt Darth Wredd, or her mother chase Yaga Auchs. There seemed no other way.
"She's my cousin," Ania said. "And I guess she's even kind of my empress. Of course I'll do what I can. Don't worry about payment either, I'm actually pretty rich. I can't speak for the others, but-"
"I'll do it too," Marin put a hand on her daughter's shoulder. "And I think I you're going to need my kind of help."