"The Empire is what?!" asked Master Sinube.
Slightly out of breath from running all the way from the landing pad, Pablo-Jil responded, panting, "Building a planetkiller. A massive superlaser, big enough to destroy a planet." Pulling the plans from his robes, he handed them to Master Nu, "These are the plans. This, this thing, its massive. The size of a small moon. But its mobile. It has a hyperdrive. This is what the Empire was after the Kyber for."
Quickly loading the plans into the holodisplay in the Council Chambers, an image of the battle station came up. Manipulating the image to focus on the laser, she quickly called up the technical readouts. What the Jedi saw made them blanche. This weapon, were it ever to be completed would force the entire galaxy to submit to the Sith. Or be guaranteed destruction.
"We can not let the Sith build this monstrosity," insisted Kit Fisto. Turning to Prosset and Pablo-Jil, "do these plans give any indication where this, this, thing is to be built?"
"No, Master," Prosset answered. "The Kyber shipment manifests that we saw all only show a destination of Eadu. We found that there is an Imperial Research facility there. But that's all. No mention of any construction facilities of any kind."
"Hmmmm, disturbing, this is," Yoda said. "All in our power, we must do to stop it." Looking at Master Tera Sinube, "Our most skilled investigator, you are. Request of you to find all you can on this weapon. A way to destroy it, we must have."
Thinking on this request for a few minutes, Master Sinube finally nodded his head. "Yes, Master. I will take this assignment. We will stop the Empire from building this terrible weapon."
"Our thanks you have. Our lives also, in your hands are."
"Anakin, Padme," Obi-wan called to them. "Out of everyone on this planet, you know Palpatine the best. Could he have deliberately let us find these? Could he be sending us chasing shadows?"
"If I may, Master Jedi, I believe I can answer," responded Padme. "While he is certainly capable of that level of planning and treachery, in this case, I don't think that is what happened. He would have sold it better. Made us believe, without even a shadow of a doubt, that what we found was absolutely priceless. This doesn't feel like one of his feints."
"I agree," added Anakin. Looking at Pablo-Jil he asked him, "When you found these, where were they in the base? Was it guarded? Did anything stand out to you as being, I don't know, a bit off?"
Thinking deeply on it, and recalling the fight on Jedha Pablo-Jil gave what passed for the Ongree equivalent of a head shake and replied, "No. The entire base was empty when my Padawan and I entered it. All Imperial Forces had engaged us at the Kyber Temple. The only thing odd about it was that there was a list of those approved to have the plans in the file header, and that base was not on it."
"So someone sent these plans to that base without authorization," offered Ki-Adi-Mundi. "Why?"
"There was a section highlighted in the plans, Master," answered Pablo-Jil. "Specifically about the Kyber Crystal. It could be the miners on Jedha were not sending what was needed and so the plans were provided to assist them."
"That makes sense," said Shaak Ti. "If the miners knew what the Crystal was needed for, they could actively look for exactly what was needed and reduce waste."
While the debate would continue for some time, in the end, it was decided that they would consider the plans genuine unless Master Sinube found otherwise. Once that was done, the Council asked Anakin, in his role as Jedi Battlemaster, for suggestions on dealing with the weapon that they now knew was called the Death Star, having seen the name referenced in the plans.Thinking on it, Anakin offered several solutions. First and foremost, using their new frigates to interrupt and harass Imperial supply shipments. While they may not know exactly where this thing was being built, they did know what was needed to build it and could ambush shipments of critical components at their origins. Particularly shipments of Kyber Crystal. While this wouldn't stop construction, it would definitely delay it and force the Empire to commit resources to defending convoys instead of pacification efforts elsewhere in the galaxy. Plus, if there was no Kyber, there was no weapon. The Empire would be left with, essentially, a very large, mobile space station. As far as destroying it, that would depend on where it was, what shape it was in when they found it and if there were any weaknesses they could exploit. Anakin doubted whether anything short of a Base Delta Zero strike by a fleet of Star Destroyers would be sufficient to destroy it once completed, and the Jedi had no Star Destroyers.
When the Council finally adjourned for the evening with the understanding that they would finish debriefing Knights Prosset and Jil about their mission tomorrow, it had been decided that Master Sinube would immediately devote himself completely to tracking down this weapon while the rest of the Order and their allies would step up their attacks on Imperial infrastructure. As he walked from the Council Chamber, Anakin thought to himself, "Looks like those frigates will be seeing action sooner than we thought."
As Anakin pondered on what he could do to help prepare their small fleet and to enhance its capabilities, a young Jedi Knight walked up to him and asked to speak to him privately. Nodding his head and leading her to his small office off one of the sparing rooms, he sat down behind his desk, offered his guest a chair and then asked what he could do for her.
Looking decidedly nervous and squirming in her chair, Etain Tur-Murkan could barely meet the piercing blue gaze of the Order's youngest Jedi Master. Finally stealing herself, she looked at Anakin and told him about her family.
As her story poured out, Anakin's gaze slowly softened. He well knew what she was going through being separated from those she loved. Though in one way, it must be even worse for her, with being separated from her son as well. Anakin couldn't bear to think of what it would be like for him to not be able to go home to Luke and Leia and Padme every night. Even on his recent mission where he and Padme had been away from their children for nearly two months, he still knew exactly where they were, that they were safe and, most importantly, that he would be going back to them very soon.
Looking at the distraught young Knight in front of him, Anakin could only feel compassion for her. As gently as he could, he asked her, "What would you like to do Etain? Leave the Order? Bring them here? Whatever you do decide, you'll have my support."
Grateful for Anakin's understanding, she broached the bigger issue with her family. "Master, my husband isn't just a Clone Commando, he's been adopted into Clan Skirata and is a Mandalorian. My entire family are basically Mando'ade. I'm not sure how well the Jedi and the Mandalorians could ever fit together."
Thinking deeply on the issue, something Anakin realized he was beginning to do more and more frequently now that he was a father, he finally replied, "Mandalorians and Jedi have long had a, troubled, relationship, its true. But, this is a new Order. I believe that if we could forge an alliance with Mandalore, we all would be strengthened. I doubt Clan Fett will ever join us, not after Master Windu decapitated Jango, but the rest of them might. If we can show that our two cultures can work together." Pausing briefly, Anakin continued, "This is what I suggest: You, myself, my wife and my son and daughter along with Captain Rex and some of his men travel to Mandalore to speak to your family. Let them see first hand that the Jedi Order is changing. That families are no longer shunned. Once we're there, you and your family can decide how to proceed."
Etain was shocked. This was more than she had hoped for. At most, she was hoping that Master Skywalker would speak to the Council for her, maybe get her permission to see her family. She was very grateful. And she readily agreed. Anakin promised to speak with the Council tomorrow about it.
Jarid Sykes and Kazdan Paratus were inspecting the captured ships. Already, Kazdan had found several areas where he could improve them and automate some of their functions and reduce crew size. So far, they had been able to reduce the optimal crew from over 800 to around 750. And the Jedi Master believed he could get it even lower. Master Skywalker had commed them just a few minutes ago to apologize for being late and to let them know he was on his way.
Upon his arrival on the Redemption, the former Crusader, Anakin showed Master Paratus and Commodore Sykes the ideas he had for the ships. From studying the ship's plans, Anakin believed he could improve the ship's hyperdrive from class 1.0 to class 0.8. Not a huge difference, but enough to outrun an Imperial warship if the need arose. He had also found a way to improve the ship's shields by up to thirty percent. His other major idea was a way to increase the ship's fighter capacity. Currently, the ships carried sixteen V-19 Torrent fighters, and according to the onboard plans, could handle up to twenty-four TIE fighters in her hanger. But Anakin had found a way to possibly harness up to an additional ten fighters to the ship's exterior, in particular along the tunnel between the fore and aft sections of the ship.
After discussing the details and what materials would be required for both his and Master Paratus' ideas, it was decided which would be implemented first and which would be done on an "as time permits" basis. Reducing the crew size was given absolute priority. Satisfied that his "fleet" would be the best it could be, Anakin returned to the surface. He was already thinking of ways that Master Paratus could help reduce the crew needs of a Venator.
The next morning, after teaching his advanced lightsaber class, Anakin met with the Council on behalf of Jedi Tur-Murken. Explaining her situation to them, he also offered his suggestion to the Council on how they might best approach the Mandalorians and hopefully enlist their support. While there was some mistrust between the Jedi Order and the Mandalorians, after a few hours of debate, it was decided that joining forces with them would make overthrowing the Empire far easier. Even if only a few decided to aide them, their help in training new recruits and enhancing the skills of the 501st would be invaluable.
The only question remaining was who to send. Obviously Etain would go, as it was her family. It was also decided to send Anakin, who had a family as well. Finally, the Order would send Masters Kenobi and Fisto as well, as representatives of the Council. To show the Mandalorians that the Jedi Order did indeed support this and was serious about pursuing an alliance.
The final item that was discussed was the High Council finally agreeing to officially change the policy on attachment. From now on, Jedi would be allowed contact with their families if they so desired, and would also be allowed to marry. Though it was agreed that as a part of their training, a Jedi must be taught the difference between a healthy attachment and an unhealthy one. They were also to be taught how to let go of their attachments should the time ever come when it became necessary, such as with the death of a loved one. Anakin turned slightly red at this last remark, since he well knew that letting go was not something he was very good at. These requirements would also apply to all current Knights and Masters as well if they wished to marry.
Along with this, it had been decided that, although aspects of the Code would be changing, the basic mantra would not. Merely how it was to be applied. Having decided this, the Council braced for the expected backlash. Though most in the Order would agree with the changes, they well knew that some would not. However, Master Nu had prepared for this. She had done extensive research on the Jedi of old and had numerous examples of Jedi that were either redeemed by their attachments or prevented from falling by them. She could also show that having properly formed attachments did not affect a Jedi's ability to perform his or her duty. With that in mind, the Council's decision was announced to the Order that evening.
Anakin was in an odd position as he boarded the flagship of their small fleet, the Redemption. Though the fleet was technically under his command as Battlemaster, he was not the senior most General, as both Obi-wan and Kit, as High Council members, outranked him. Then, there was Commodore Sykes who had actual day-to-day control over the fleet. To call the command structure dizzying would be an understatement. For how the Jedi planned to normally use their small fleet, this would not have normally been an issue as each frigate was expected to operate independently when interdicting trade.
But this time, they were sending all three ships. It was felt that, as the Mandalorians respected strength above all, that this show of force, of what they were capable of doing, might make an impression upon them. But only if they could present a coherent front. Which led to several discussions between all four men. It was finally decided that Anakin would be in overall command of the fleet, with Masters Kenobi and Fisto as passengers.
Anakin and Commodore Sykes had spent the last few weeks, ever since Obi-wan had captured the ships and the decision was made to attempt to negotiate with Mandalore, assigning crew to each ship and drilling them as much as they were able. Fortunately, there had been nearly two thousand Republic Navy personnel in the prison at Carida, almost all of them officers and NCOs. Of those, all but about one hundred were fit for duty. Unfortunately, that left a shortfall of almost five hundred personnel, even with Master Paratus' modifications. They had managed to make up three hundred of those with volunteers from the Twi'lek and Wookie refugees. The balance was made up of men of the 501st who volunteered for this mission.
While the Redemption wasn't the Resolute, it wasn't exactly a Corellian freighter either. Considering how little time they had to train and drill, Anakin was very happy with his fleet. While he missed the fire power and size of a Venator, these ships would more than pull their weight. Nodding to Commodore Sykes, the Jedi Fleet jumped into hyperspace.
Kal Skirata played the message he had received again. He thought Etain was dead. He called Darman in and sat him down, telling him, "I've got something to show you son. You need to steel yourself." The next few minutes were difficult to say the least.
Darman was in shock. Etain was alive. He had been certain that she had been killed at the Temple when that aruetii Cody had assaulted the Temple. To see her face, hear her voice, to know that she was ok. That she was coming here. He was beyond thrilled. But he was also terrified. She had still been wearing her robes and lightsaber in the message. If she was still a Jedi, would she insist on staying with the Jedi? Would she try forcing him and his brothers to serve the Jedi again? Not that all Jedi were bad, mind you. General Skywalker was actually pretty good to work with. Or he had been. The Empire was claiming that Skywalker had been cut down on Naboo. Get ahold of yourself, Trooper, he told himself. His mind felt like a broken holo. First one thought, then a random unconnected thought. He needed to focus. Taking a few deep breaths, he went back inside to his son. Etain would be on the planet in just a few hours.
As the three frigates hurtled through hyperspace, Anakin and Commodore Sykes sat in a conference room discussing how they would expand the fleet as their alliance grew. Unless they could get entire worlds to join with them, worlds that could either defend themselves or be covert in their support until the time was right, they couldn't count on huge numbers of recruits. At least not right away.
As Anakin sat bouncing Luke on his knee, the two men confronted the issue head on. As it soon turned out, it wasn't so much a straight manpower question. Being able to find enough recruits on a given planet to man one Venator wouldn't be that hard. It was having enough experienced men to man a fleet of Venators that was the hard part. It was making sure there were enough qualified officers and NCOs that was going to be difficult.
The obvious solution was to split the crew of the frigates in half, assign half the men to the new ship to give it a core of trained personnel and assign new recruits to both ships. Except that their Nebulon-Bs only required about 750 men. One tenth that of a Star Destroyer. Assigning half the men wouldn't even begin to make a cadre crew for one. Even assigning half the men from each ship to a single Star Destroyer would only give them about twelve hundred personnel out of a required seventy-five hundred.
After much discussion, and just before they exited hyperspace, the two men reached what they believed to be a workable plan. They needed a training academy. The hundred or so personnel who were no longer fit for active duty with the fleet could help set it up. It would be fairly light duty for them, and give them a sense of purpose. It would also help morale on the ships by letting experienced personnel rotate to Tython for "shore" duty. Thus, giving them more slots to train new recruits. The new training academy would not only train men in the basics of the fleet, but would also be on the lookout for personnel who showed leadership potential for possible promotion to the NCO and Junior Officer ranks.
As they were discussing the details of what they would get set up, Captain Rex came in to inform them that they were about to drop out of hyperspace at Mandalore. Having overheard what the two Senior Officers were discussing, he offered the suggestion of trying to hijack an Acclamator-class Assault Ship. It required less crew than a Nebulon-B but could house up to sixteen thousand additional personnel plus equipment. It would make an ideal mobile training academy, as they could install classrooms and simulators in the equipment bays to train the recruits while also giving them real world experience onboard an actual warship. Not to mention that it could ferry enough men to crew two Venators and another Acclamator in a single trip.
Anakin slapped Rex on the back and smiled at the Captain, "Rex, that is exactly the kind of idea we've been looking for for the past eight hours. And you came up with it in about thirty seconds. Thank you." Rex just gave General Skywalker a grin and a sharp nod of his head.
Turning to Commodore Sykes, Anakin said, "Well, looks like we may be raiding some of the graveyards sooner than we thought."
Jedi Knight Etain Tur-Murken stood on the bridge of the Protector, the former Enforcer. She was a storm of emotions as the ship dropped out of hyperspace and Mandalore came into view. While she was overjoyed at seeing her family, especially her husband and son, she was also worried. They didn't have the highest opinion of the Order as a whole. And what they were about to propose may not go over very well. But if it did...
She was silently reciting the Jedi Code to herself, particularly focusing on, There is no emotion, there is peace. Yeah, right, she told herself. She still didn't know what she was going to do when she got there. Leave the Order to stay on Mandalore? Convince Kal, Darman and the rest of Clan Skirata to join with her and the Jedi? She wouldn't know until she was actually there. Until she could hold Venku in her arms again. How long had it been since she had seen him? Months, at least. Would he recognize her? She did her best to maintain her Jedi calm, at least externally, but if she was being honest, she knew she was fidgeting and was hardly what people would picture when they thought of a Jedi. Right at this moment, she honestly didn't care.
Kal and Darman Skirata stood in the open watching the shuttle approach. If this was a trap, they were dead men. For that reason, Kal had tried to convince Darman to stay hidden with the Nulls and ARCs as part of the ambush they had laid to ambush the ambushers. But the look he had gotten from Darman was enough to practically freeze his blood, and that was saying something considering that nothing in the last thirty years had ever done that to him before. Darman was apparently determined to be the first to see Etain, or die in the process.
As the shuttle shut down in a cloud of dust, the two Mandalorians stood with blaster rifles cradled in their arms, waiting for the shuttle doors to open. As the door slowly lowered to the ground, Darman felt his heart rate spike, his throat get tight, his hands get sweaty. He hadn't felt like this since First Geonosis. All of that went away though as he saw Etain appear at the top of the ramp. The two rushed at each other the second they saw each other. Flying into each other's arms they held each other close, as if they were the only two people in the entire galaxy. While they embraced, the rest of the Jedi and Captain Rex and his men walked the down the ramp as well.
Seeing that it wasn't a trap, Kal gave his boys the all clear sign and they came out from cover cradling their weapons. Warily eyeing the Jedi and men of the 501st, Kal invited them all to his home to sit and discuss what they came here to discuss.
Two hours later, Kal Skirata didn't know whether to be mad, impressed, happy or sad. Maybe he was all of those and more right now. He was furious that the Jedi wanted to use his boys to fight the Empire. Hadn't they done enough already? Sacrificed enough? He was impressed at how many Jedi had managed to survive and that they had clearly already scored several victories over the Empire. The frigates in Orbit above them were proof of that. He was very happy to have his entire family back together with Darman's arm wrapped around Etain while she held Venku tight. He was also surprised to see that the Jedi seemed okay with this. Hell, General Skywalker had even brought his family with him to show that they were! And finally, he was sad and angry at the way the Empire had used the clones. Putting chips in their heads, forcing them to do the Empire's bidding, whether they wanted to or not. He figured he got lucky with his boys. Either the Nulls and ARCs didn't get the chips or they were far enough away from the Empire that they never got the signal. Either way, the Jedi offered to have their medical droid scan them for him to make sure they didn't have them and if they did, to remove them. For that he was grateful.
As it was, it was getting late. And he doubted they would come to any sort of agreement tonight. And the Jedi and the Senator agreed. This wasn't the type of decision that should be made after a single conversation. Besides, he would need a lot more from the Jedi before entrusting his boys to them. He would be lying if he said he wasn't intrigued by the possibilities presented here, but this would have to be a two way street. If the Jedi wanted his help and the help of his family, they would have to earn it. He'd spend the night with his boys deciding what they should tell the Jedi tomorrow.