Chapter 2: New Allies
January 12.
"Come on, open up the throttle!" Jaral said urgently to her brother.
"Hey, it's a wonderful day, let's not make it catastrophic." Ezra replied, but still increased the speed of the skycar a bit.
So much, in fact, that he almost missed the turn.
"Turn right, turn right!" Jaral exclaimed.
Ezra did just that very suddenly and the car behind them righteously honked before keeping go her way. Meanwhile, he took a look at the digital map of the car and noticed that they were around three minutes away from the hospital.
"You remember which floor Hera is?" he asked while driving.
"Fifth one, so get a damn move on!" she replied almost hysterically while bending forward and putting her hands on the dashboard like she wanted to push the car.
After making another pair of turns in such a daring way that it was a miracle that the police wasn't already chasing them, the siblings reached the parking lot of the hospital and dismounted from the car. They immediately ran through the door and looked around at the entrance.
"Guys!" the voice of Moreena recalled them and they quickly paced toward her.
"How is she?" Jaral asked.
"She's gone into labor. Mira has already brought her in the delivery room." the young woman explained.
"Is everyone else already here?" Ezra asked.
"Yup. Sabine is in the room to keep Hera company, Zeb and Chopper are waiting outside."
They then walked with a certain haste toward the elevator, took it and headed toward the fifth floor. The hospital was quite big, so it took them a few minutes of anxiety as they tried not to bump into the other people minding their own businesses in the hallways.
Finally, they reached the entrance to the delivery room, finding the Lasat and droid of the crew waiting for them.
"About time you came." Zeb tried to quip, but couldn't hide his own anxiety.
"We ran as fast as we could." Ezra simply replied.
Jaral headed straight for the door, instead. She wanted to reassure Hera that she and Ezra had arrived, and she was a woman so it would be more appropriate for her to go in. As the door closed after she got in, Ezra sat down on the chairs of the waiting room and simply went into a bit of meditation to calm his own nerves.
Only a few short minutes passed, during which Ezra could feel that Jaral was using her own Force connection to ease up Hera's fatigue. But finally, the door opened, letting Mira walk out, who removed the face mask and sported a wide smile. Then nodded back toward the room.
"She wants to see you first, Ezra." she said.
The rest of the people waiting smiled encouragingly to him, who felt suddenly a bit nervous to meet his new godson, but he didn't hesitate and followed his mother into the room, where the other nurses were cleaning and dislodging.
On a bed put near the window laid Hera. Mostly covered by a blanket while her back was sitting on a couple of pillows and holding a small creature wrapped into a soft towel. On the two sides of the bed stood Sabine and Jaral, smiling widely much like the new mother.
The three women turned around and with a gaze invited him to join. Since the baby was turned toward Jaral, Ezra reached that side of the bed and finally saw the newborn in the face. The baby was still crying a bit but had mostly subsided and it was now cooing in a way that even Ezra found cute.
He couldn't hold back a smile either. "He's beautiful."
"Ezra. Meet Jacen." Hera said with watery eyes but a tender voice, then she turned toward her son. "Jacen...meet uncle Ezra."
As if he could understand her, the little boy slowly opened his eyelids for a moment, even though he couldn't be able to see much, yet.
Still, the siblings could take a glimpse at his eyes. Teal eyes that he clearly had taken from his father.
For a moment, the two felt like their Master was watching through those pupils and they smiled even more at the memories they had.
Jacen closed his eyes again and this time it seemed like he was calming down.
Aside from his eyes, the siblings quickly noticed his little, pointy ears, a peculiarity of male Twi'leks. And also his eyelids and what little hair he had were green. It was unusual, sure, but after all Jacen was unique in many ways.
Next it was Zeb, Moreena and Chopper's turn to be allowed entrance and enjoy the moment.
"So...what have you decided?" Jaral asked at the end.
Hera replied candidly while she cradled the baby. "I'll spend a month here so Jacen can adapt to the house, but then I'll get back to the fight."
"Hera…" Jaral said patiently, but the Twi'lek shook her head slowly.
"I want my son to grow up in a galaxy at peace, Jari. I can't stay here while you guys do all the work."
"We don't know how long it will take to defeat the Empire." Ezra objected.
"I know, but I also know that Iulius has been put in charge. Meaning we're outgunned and outmatched. You guys are going to need all the help you can get, which includes me."
Realizing that they would just waste their breaths, the siblings relented and decided to drop the issue, instead enjoying the unique moment that was the miracle of life, which in their case meant a new shining beacon into the Force.
They weren't sure if that meant that Jacen was Force-sensitive or if they simply noticed it because they had kept his birth under watch for a long time, but one thing was for sure: whether he had the potential to be a Jedi or not, that kid was their godchild, and they were going to look out for him for as long as they lived.
So the group spent the rest of the day there. Later Kallus, Darvos and even Luke arrived. They were all in Camp Garibaldi, the former to do their work with the Intelligence, while the latter had been introduced to the Ordo Quaeris by Ezra, who then had to sprint away when news of Hera's giving birth arrived.
The siblings tried to reach Jordan, to give him the good news, too, but apparently him and the Constantinople were involved in one of the battles going on at the front.
January 15.
The Admonitor left hyperspace and in a few minutes of light-speed thrusters reached the orbit of Honoghr, allowing the Rogue Shadow to depart from the hangar with a squad that included Iulius, his two Death troopers, Qathora, Cody, Mickey and Starkiller. Outside was flying an escort of TIE Fighters.
Iulius watched outside of the viewport of the cockpit. The planet beneath seemed quite regular, as the continents had different shades of brownish, but the waters were green and the color of the continents were actually due to an extensive intoxication of the surface.
"We are reaching the surface in 10 minutes, Grand Admiral." Eclipse announced from her pilot seat.
Iulius was still annoyed at the fact that she didn't take care of her uniform, but he decided to bear with it since she was the pilot and she had the right to feel comfortable at the commands, so she could perform at her best.
Cody was also in the cockpit, ready to receive orders if Iulius issued them. When he saw the planet and noticed Iulius' inquisitive gaze toward it he commented.
"Once, this place was covered in plants and wildlife. Now is just a wasteland."
Iulius turned around to listen. "It happened during the Clone Wars, if I remember?"
"Yes. I read the report at the time. It was in the final days of the war. The Separatist were carrying biological weapons aboard a Lucrehulk. When the Republic cruisers destroyed it, the ship's cargo fell on the planet and you can see what has done. Only a few species survived on the surface, including the Noghri. Those guys are not to be toyed with."
"I have met a Noghri." Iulius said. "And I couldn't agree more. All the more reasons why we need to make sure they aren't revolting right now."
The comlink on the panel started beeping.
"Grand Admiral, it's Lieutenant Kyrell." Eclipse announced.
"Patch him through." Iulius replied as he put his helmet on to use the integrated microphone.
"Tanis, here."
"Sir, I'm flying over the imperial fortress on the planet. There are vehicles and what look like mercenaries, not Noghri." the officer replied from his TIE Phantom.
"Can you identify the group?"
"Not from here, sir. They're not carrying any insignia, but I can clearly tell they are well equipped, I advise you return to the Admonitor for your safety."
"I appreciate the concern, Lieutenant, but if you're telling the truth, then it's all the more reason why I need to see this myself. Keep observing them from a distance and transmit us the position of the enemy."
"Acknowledged, sir. Kyrell, out."
Then Iulius changed channel. "Tanis to TIE squadron, there are hostile forces on the surface. As soon as we enter their range identify and attack their positions."
"Order received, Grand Admiral, we're adjusting formation right now."
As the TIEs all went in front of the Shadow, Iulius and Cody started to walk into the cargo hold, where the rest of the team was waiting.
"Cody, tell Lieutenant-Commander Ree to alert the Dark Troopers, we might need the additional firepower."
The old clone complied and contacted the Star Destroyer as they reached the others. Qathora quickly passed Iulius his E22.
"All right, listen. The fortress has been occupied by some unknown fortress. They don't look like rebels, but whoever they are, they are not trying to occupy the planet, meaning they are looking for something."
"What are your orders, sir?" Mickey asked.
"We're going to attack them head-on. They are not expecting us, so we should be able to use the element of surprise to match their numerical superiority. The TIEs are preparing a strafing run to make our life easier and we've already alerted the Dark Troopers."
"So we blast our way in. Easy enough." the stormtrooper confidently commented.
Iulius then turned toward the young Sith, who now wore his battle armor, which included a helmet and some horrible metal claws on the thumbs, indexes and middle fingers.
"Killer, you are shock and awe. Go crazy." he simply encouraged.
"A wise decision." Starkiller said from behind his helmet, which had a vocal filter to make it sound a bit more intimidating.
"TIE Squadron to Tanis, we've spotted armed land speeder protecting the gate to the fortress, we're engaging them now."
"Acknowledged, TIE Squadron, good hunting."
The Grand Admiral then removed the safe from his weapon, soon imitated by those who had a blaster. Starkiller took one of his two lightsabers from his belt and prepared to ignite it.
Three minutes later, Captain Eclipse announced they were about to reach the ground and Starkiller pushed the button to open the ramp.
Despite the protests of his subordinates, Iulius was at the front of the queue, ready to be the first to jump down, a gesture that he knew had a great effect on the morale of the people under his command.
As Eclipse lowered the Rogue Shadow and touched the ground, the Grand Admiral stepped outside, pointing his weapon in case he spotted an enemy, but that didn't occur. The rest of the squad followed suit, but this time Starkiller went up front and ignited his crimson lightsaber. Iulius noticed that he kept it in an unusual way: not keeping it in front of him, but behind his back, in a reverse pose.
This time Iulius let his subordinates form up around him, then he ordered to proceed toward the direction where they were seeing and hearing explosions, with the TIEs shooting toward the ground.
Soon enough, they reached the entrance to the gate, and Iulius ordered the TIEs to call off the attack, while he was left analyzing at the corpses left on the ground.
Indeed, they didn't look like rebels, but most of those guys wore a peculiar armor in a golden paint. Among the wrecks of light vehicles, a few survivors came out, some were aliens, others were humans with that same armor, which in the end he recognized.
"The Consortium…" he mumbled, then quickly ordered the others to find cover.
The squad repaired behind the wreck of a land speeder just when the surviving pirates noticed them and opened fire with both blasters and even disruptor rifles.
"Watch out. They got some nasty toys." Cody alerted.
"Let's hit them while they're in the open." Micky replied, prompting everybody to open fire from their relatively safe position while their foes found themselves with no cover.
While they did that, Starkiller reminded them that he wasn't a conventional fighter and he simply made an impressive jump that brought him in the middle of the mercenary formation.
The dark-sider started to slash left and right, cutting down his enemies and at time using the a Force push or lightning to fry them. Soon enough, there were only a couple of survivors who ran into the fortress as their comrades inside the walls provided some cover fire.
However, that wasn't enough to stop the dark-sider, who used the Force to jump on top of the walls, to the point that Iulius lost track of him.
"Kyrell, do you have eyes on Starkiller?" he asked into the comlink.
"Affirmative, sir. I think he's trying to reach the controls of the shield gate."
"Then let's push our attack." Iulius said, but right at that moment, a dropship flew right above their heads and lowered in front of the shield gate. The Grand Admiral smirked behind his helmet as he knew that those were his reinforcements.
When the gunship flew away, the squad could see the backs of the first Dark Troopers. Burk and the first squad of Carunoans blessed with the power suits had arrived, wielding all sorts of heavy repeaters. The four gray-armored warriors, equipped with a jetpack as well arrived just in time to see Starkiller turn off the shield gate and they made a short jump with their packs.
The pirates fired at them, but the suits just seemed to absorb the blaster bolts. The Dark Troopers' movements were a bit slow, but they still got in formation and fired on the pack of mercenaries, decimating them in seconds. One could hear them speak in Imirgesh, and since only Iulius could understand it, it was probably even more effective than the Death Troopers' encryption.
It didn't take long before the outside plaza was again in imperial hands.
"Cody, you and Mickey call and wait here for reinforcements, we're heading into the structure." Iulius commanded to the old clone, who obeyed.
Him, the Dark Troopers, the Death Troopers, Starkiller and Qathora proceeded into the bunker, which was connected to an antenna sending and receiving comms from all over the Empire.
The corridors themselves were not very much defended, since most of the mercenaries were slaughtered outside of them, so after mopping out the last enemies, the squad reached the central hub and Qathora went to the computers to see if there was anything missing.
Iulius removed his helmet so he could take a better look, and it was at that moment that he heard a voice behind him.
"Iulius Tanis."
The Grand Admiral instinctively turned around, pointing his rifle, only to see a hologram.
"Tyber Zann." he replied after taking a moment to discern the face and the outfit of the crime lord, who was calling through one of his mercenaries' holo-projector.
Iulius now put his rifle away on his back while his Death Troopers closed on him. Then stepped in front of the hologram with a defying attitude.
"I wanted to speak with you." Zann said in an accommodating tone that had Iulius furrow his eyebrows even further. "I'm a fan of yours, really. Your talent is undeniable, a pity you're wasting it on a lost cause."
"What do you want?" Iulius asked with a calm tone.
Zann was holding his left arm bent so his hand was in front of his pecs, and now he quickly moved it in a circular way toward Iulius. "I'm here to make you an offer. I keep tabs on all capable officers of the Empire, to see who I can recruit when your spoiled state will come crashing down."
"You want to buy me." Iulius understood.
"See?" Zann replied with his arrogant tone. "You catch on quickly."
"Not interested." Iulius calmly replied. "And after what you've done here, I won't stop until you're back into the Kessel mines or dead."
Zann didn't flinch. "You really are just a kid. So drowned in the dreams of your propaganda. Haven't you noticed that this base was pretty much untouched? You want to know why?"
Those words had Iulius think for a moment, but he didn't want to believe it.
"I paid the garrison to hand me the commander and they did it."
"Then they just have to pray that I don't find them either."
"Come on, can't you guess why it was that easy to buy them? Or perhaps you are unaware that, while your people starves and dies in the name of your Emperor, he is hoarding the wealth of the galaxy in secret vaults all around the galaxy?"
"You're lying." Iulius replied with confidence, but that answer was definitely too slow to be considered entirely genuine.
Zann probably saw through Iulius' moment of doubt and kept pounding on it. "That's the kind of people you're working for, Grand Admiral. The Emperor doesn't give a Bantha fodder about you or anybody else in the Empire. The way he chooses his Moffs should have been quite the ringer bell, actually."
"Enough talking." Iulius replied sternly. "Qathora, found anything?" he asked without breaking eye contact with the hologram.
"Some files seem to be missing from the comm logs. It might take some time to restore them."
"Take what you can and let's get out of here." the Grand Admiral decided.
Zann thus changed his tone. "Do not stand in my way, Iulius Tanis. This is my only warning."
"I'll write that down." Iulius coldly replied before turning away and walking back to the computers. His Death Troopers cut off the transmission.
January 21.
"Is that for real?" Jaral asked with a little irritation in her voice.
"I'm afraid it is." Darvos replied. "General Iblis has gathered his force of volunteers and has started his own campaign. He's pushing into the Mid Rim from Junkfort Station, right at the border with Hutt Space."
Jaral sighed. "How many followed him?"
Darvos tapped on his datapad. "The allied Intelligence estimates around two million soldiers of the militia, with heavy weapons and vehicles. Plus the fleet under his command, which amounts to at least 15% of our Navy."
"Bloody hell…" Jaral mumbled the usual curse she always heard from her father. "I hope Iblis knows what he's doing."
"He's one of our most experienced generals." Ezra tried to calm her.
"Yeah, but he's too eager to fight...what about the Army?"
"None of them has deserted to join the Militia, apparently. All units are still stationed at their posts and await your instructions, Grand Marshall." Darvos exposed.
Jaral gave another look at the holomap that had been offered them at Camp Garibaldi. Ezra did the same.
"Ah, I almost forgot...Sabine has confirmed that the Mandalorian Clans are mobilizing to target Taris." the brother said.
Jaral hummed as she observed the map. "It was quite the writing on the wall, but good to know."
"They have a point, though." Ezra said. "The Empire has gone on the defensive, we should at least help all those planets who have risen up, like Ryloth, Sullust…"
"We're already working on it. I'm more concerned about our base on Yavin. I'm sure Iulius has put his eyes on it, so we need to evaluate how we can keep it."
"If we lose it, there is a good chance that our territory will be split in two." Darvos warned.
"I know, that's why I hope Bo-Katan doesn't botch the invasion of Taris, the Mandos are the only thing that separates Yavin from a direct assault from the imperials."
"Then maybe we should help them." Ezra suggested. "If we take Taris, we take half of the Hydian Way and all the worlds in between."
"Fair point, but I would feel much safer if Mon Mothma and the other politicians declared the New Republic right now. Our territories right now are too decentralized, we can't win a war of attrition."
"You know that's complicated." Darvos said. "Not everybody in the Alliance wants to return to the Republic, they just want the Empire gone."
"I know." Jaral replied. "But if we can't get a steady resupply of fresh troops and resources…"
The door of the room opened, letting the young Skywalker in.
"Hi, Luke. How was the training with the troopers?" Ezra asked.
The young apprentice sighed. "Intense. But I'm getting the gist of it. By the way, when are we going back to Yavin?"
Ezra leaned against the holotable. "We are still discussing it."
"Oh, just like the last five days, then." Luke said sarcastically.
"Luke…" Ezra tried to start patiently, but the Padawan was not having it.
"How long are we going to sit around here? Han, Leia...everybody else is out there making a difference and I'm just spending my time swinging my lightsaber around."
"You will be able to help them much better if you learn more about the Force and how to use it to protect those around you."
"We can always train at the base." Luke objected. "Even Rex and Zeb say that they are getting bored here. Besides, you saw me fly, I can help by keep piloting."
"It's not pilots that we need, now." Jaral calmly said. "The only way we can end this war is by killing the Emperor and Darth Vader, two Sith Lords. What we need is a powerful Jedi, and you have the most potential among us."
Luke seemed to accept the reasoning but was clearly restless.
The discussion was then put aside when the guards outside of the door called Jaral and said that there were two women asking to see her.
"Sure, open up." Jaral replied without thinking about it.
The door then slid open. The siblings looked that way and barred their eyes.
There stood Nimbus...with Ahsoka next to her.
The Mirialan voluntarily stepped aside to leave the scene to the Togruta who had a wide smile across her face.
Ezra and Jaral hardly kept in a hysterical laugh as the three walked toward each other and then shared a quick and vigorous hug.
When they detached, Ezra turned toward the Mirialan. "Hey, good to see you too, Nimbus." he said jokingly.
"Please, I wouldn't like to interrupt such a touching reunion." the woman replied in tone as she stepped inside the room.
"We'll pardon you for this one." Ahsoka added.
"So what have you been up to?" Ezra asked instinctively. "Were you actually looking for the World Between Worlds?"
"I was. I managed to found other portals that the Emperor could have opened with the Dark Side alone. I wanted to contact you before, but you have a war to win, I didn't want to put other burdens on you."
"We appreciate the concern, Ahsoka," Jaral said. "but honestly we would've simply liked a call to know that you were okay. Rex, in particular."
The Togruta scratched the back of her head, where the three montrals met. "Yeah. I bet he's not going to forgive me quite soon for this."
Then she looked inside the room and noticed the other people inside of it. "Hey, Darvos." she greeted. The Captain smiled and waved a hand before the Togruta shifted her attention toward the young man in a white farmer outfit.
It didn't take long for her to notice the lightsaber hanging from Luke's belt and her expression froze in disbelief.
"What the…?" she mumbled, unable to form thoughts. Luke seemed only confused.
The siblings only now realized the implications in those two meeting, so they decided it was better to mediate.
Ezra gently pushed Ahsoka toward Luke and when the two were near enough, he walked in between to make presentations.
"Ahsoka Tano...meet Luke Skywalker." he said calmly and observed as Ahsoka's irises shrank and she made a step back.
"Luke Skywalker...meet Ahsoka Tano. She was your father's Padawan." the Knight added and now Luke finally understood her reaction.
Indeed, he too was now taken aback by a mix of fascination and curiosity, but neither of them seemed to have the capacity to add something. They simply stared at each other for a few seconds.
Okay, I'll wrap this up here. I think the first meeting between Luke and Ahsoka deserves his own space at the beginning of the next chapter.