Chapter 4: Plans for the future
The trip to Mon Cala was surprisingly quick when the way wasn't blocked by the Empire. In just a couple of hours, the ship reached the planet and Jaral was escorted down toward the capital together with Darvos. Along the way, she noticed something that rose her spirits: the orbit was now filled with new ships.
She recognized the insignia of the Tau Empire on them. She had read the report that the fleet had finally arrived in Andromeda, going straight for Mon Cala without stopping over Lothal to join the fight as soon as possible. Their presence here meant that the Grand Marshall might have had at least the opportunity to present herself to their leader and perhaps learn something about this new asset.
The corvette docked at the spaceport and a squad of the renewed Mon Cala army was ready to escort her at the Royal Palace, which was going to host the summit of the Rebel Alliance.
When they were dropped in front of the palace, they prepared to go and meet with the new King of Mon Cala, Ech-Char, a cousin of the late king Lee-Char.
But before they could do that, they were stopped by a turian messenger.
"Excuse me, Grand Marshall." the alien said, wearing the clothes of a diplomat.
"Can I help you?" Jaral asked cordially.
"Thanks, I'm just here to deliver a message from the Empress."
"Proceed."
"Her Majesty has been informed of your plan to start a campaign in the Trailing Sectors. She would like to provide your brother with a ship that should improve his chances of success."
"That's very generous." she replied in a composed tone. "What kind of ship?"
In response, the diplomat lightened up his omni-tool and sent a message containing the specifics of the ship. While Jaral opened it up and found the design of what looked like a cruiser with a compact linear shape.
"It's an Infinity-class cruiser. It's part of one of the latest models created to explore uncharted space in the Milky Way. Despite that, it carries a lot of firepower and can host a sizable military force, along with a greenhouse, a small refinery to obtain proton fuel for the smaller ships…"
"I see." she replied impressed as she looked at the statistics. That ship was definitely larger than the usual cruiser, but since it was created to make long travels into uncharted space, it had to host many infrastructures that could allow the crew to keep a certain standard of living.
"Why you haven't already used them in this galaxy?"
"It's not exactly a warship, and so far the Admirals didn't think they were need. Plus, all the sister ships of the Amerigo are out exploring in the Milky Way. This one had just come out of the dry-dock. Her Majesty has just given the order for it to be refit and redeployed, it should arrive in three rotations."
"I see. Send my most heartfelt thanks to Her Majesty, sir. And reassure her that my brother will surely employ it in the best way possible."
The diplomat made a polite bow. "I'll make sure to deliver. But before I take my leave there's also another question that needs to be addressed."
"I'm listening." Jaral said, a bit confused.
"Since Lothal has become a Sister-Nation of the Federation, it means that all its citizens are now technically eligible for federal citizenship, and that includes you, your husband," he said while giving a quick glance to a surprised Darvos. "and the rest of your people."
Honestly, Jaral had never thought about that. The only state in the galaxy that cared about any citizenship was the Empire, and she certainly had never been that to begin with.
"What does that imply? Do we need to start pay taxes?"
"We already have a solution for that. Considering your experience, the Empress wants to offer you the chance to be integrated into the Systems Alliance. Not as regular soldiers, though, but as Auxiliaries."
"So we get paid for that?" Darvos asked.
"Yes, Captain. The Auxiliaries take the same wage as the regular army, but since it's composed by people coming from the Sister-Nations, in practice you have much more autonomy. Also, the Amerigo is still one of our most expensive ships, simply giving it away even to our allies wouldn't sit well with many people in our galaxy."
"But if me and Ezra were to be integrated as federal officers…" Jaral commented with a knowing tone.
The turian nodded a couple times. "Precisely. So, do you accept the proposal?"
Jaral exchanged a quick look with Darvos, and the intentions were clear.
"It would be our honor to serve Her Majesty." she declared calmly.
"Excellent." the diplomat said, then lightened his omni-tool again and pressed a few buttons. "There. You should receive your new IDs and other documents to attest your citizenship. Allow me to welcome you into the Imperial Federation."
Jaral nodded with a gentle smile on her lips. "It's an honor. Now, sorry if I sound rude, but we really need to meet with the King."
"Of course. Have a good day." the diplomat said before walking away.
"Sounds like things are starting greatly." Darvos commented with a smile.
Jaral chuckled. "Save that for after the summit. For now, send the news to Ezra."
Darvos quickly composed the message with his own omni-tool as the royal guard escorted them inside the palace, finally. The two were then brought in front of the throne room. After a page explained them the basic rules of etiquette to follow, they were announced and brought in front of the King.
Usually, the Calamari and the Quarren lived under the water, but to parlay with outsiders they had Dac City on the surface, and though the city was undergoing reconstruction, the Royal Palace had been mostly left intact. Jaral still remembered the day she and Ezra led the charge to free the building from the presence of Moff Hubi. And when they almost succumbed to the Dark Side when they saw the monstrosities that the Moff did to his prisoners.
Calling in her discipline, Jaral chased those memories away as the grand door opened and she walked inside the room, followed by Darvos.
They reached the front of the throne, which stood atop three steps of marble. On the throne sat the new King of the planet, only slightly older than Lee-Char, guarded by a group of both Quarren and Calamari guards.
The two Humans walked at the base of the steps and, as protocol dictated, made a bow and waited for the King to greet them.
"Grand Marshall Bridger." the Calamari started with a solemn voice. "Allow me to welcome you back on Mon Cala, and to express my gratitude, although a bit late, for all you've done for my people."
Once he finished, Jaral and Darvos straightened back and the Grand Marshall spoke. "It is I who thank you for your hospitality, King Ech-Char."
The Mon Cala raised his scepter toward one of the servants, who stepped forward and stood next to the Humans.
"I will join you as soon as the rest of the envoys arrive." Ech-Char said. "In the meantime, if you would follow Mr. Goresh, he will lead you to the main hall for some refreshments."
The Humans bowed once again. "Thank you, Your Majesty." Jaral concluded before they were introduced to a big hall.
In there, they found that many of the delegates had already arrived. Probably because most of them were already on Mon Cala, which had become the main hub of political representation for the various factions of the Rebel Alliance.
Among them, Darvos quickly spotted Mon Mothma talking to what seemed to be a Tau. He pointed them to Jaral and they quickly reached the head of the Rebellion.
"Senator Mothma." Darvos greeted.
Mon Mothma turned around, together with the richly dressed alien, and smiled cordially. "Captain Tanis. Grand Marshall. It's good to see you again." she said as she shook hands with both.
"Likewise, Madam Senator." Jaral answered. "I hope these last few months had been kind to you."
"Ever since you destroyed the Death Star, I've been sleeping much better." Mothma commented. "May I present you to Ethereal Kor'Met'Zor. Envoy of the T'au Empire."
The alien made a polite bow with his right hand on his chest.
"Greetings, Grand Marshall, Captain. Your names have already been enshrined in fame back in the Milky Way." the Tau said with his thick accent and a tone of voice that underlined an incredible discipline and self-control.
"It's an honor to meet you, noble Ethereal. I've been curious to meet someone of your species that wasn't a warrior, actually."
"Alas, the Empire leaves us no choice but to fight in order to preserve and spread the Greater Good. However, when this conflict will be over, our cultures will surely benefit from a peaceful blending."
"Force knows how much I hope for that, sir."
So Jaral and Darvos spent around 40 minutes talking with the politicians until a butler entered the hall and announced that the conference room had been prepared and all the envoys had arrived. They were thus escorted at the large, rectangular table a floor beneath. King Ech-Char sat at one end of the table, a prestigious spot as he was the host, while Mothma and Jaral sat at the opposite end, clearly defining the importance they had for the organization. With Darvos standing with a disciplined pose next to his wife and ready to support her, the meeting finally started.
January 28.
"Atten-tion!" Zeb yelled and the infantry platoons waiting around fell into their formations and presented their arms.
These were the soldiers of the Militia that had only recently been integrated into the Rebel Army, whose elite units were still being rallied by Rex in the nearby square of Camp Garibaldi. For now, Ezra was inspecting this group of soldiers that would compose part of his new Task Force: the Dume Battalion. Informally called 'Doom' for a matter of assonance.
Standing on the square were also Hera and Chopper at the head of another platoon, while Sabine stood next to Ezra.
Looking at the vast assortment of species in front of him, all equipped with standardized uniforms and weapons, Ezra started to feel a bit nervous. After all, he had only led small parties up to this point. He wasn't exactly enthusiast when Jaral had decided assign him an entire battalion.
The recent news that he was now a citizen of the Imperial Federation and that the Systems Alliance was going to provide him with a ship and troops to add to his larger unit had put even more pressure on him, but at the same time he felt confident enough to balance that negative feeling out.
"At ease." he said with a clear tone and the soldiers relaxed their muscles and lowered their weapons.
The young Knight felt his chest a bit heavy. In a few minutes, the Amerigo was supposed to arrive and the campaign to reach Sullust would begin. This meant that the soldiers were expecting a speech.
Sabine subtly moved next to him and gently squeezed his hand. Ezra felt a bit reinvigorated and stepped forward, the eyes of everyone pointed at him.
"Everyone." he started. "I know that this will not sound pretty, but the fact is, as a Jedi, I must give you the truth.
"I don't know how things will go. A long journey awaits us and, most likely, some of us will not see the end of it." he stated as he slowly walked in front of the line of men and women that would be under his responsibility. "But if there's one thing for sure, is that this mission will make a great difference in this war.
"Whatever happens in the next months, if we are going to succeed, it'll be a huge difference for the future of this galaxy. So remember your training, and remember that we only count in each other. I will always be in front of you and I will always look out for you all, this much I swear."
The soldiers' eyes and their traces into the Force told Ezra that they felt a bit reassured, though probably many of them were questioning if he was indicated to lead such a delicate mission. The Jedi Knight understood that sentiment, and vowed to himself that he would prove it to everybody.
"All right, people. Our ship should be here any moment, now. Get to your transports and stand ready."
The soldiers orderly broke ranks and moved toward the Pelicans and other transports waiting on the nearby landing platforms.
The rest of the Specters gathered around him with encouraging smiles.
"Not bad, kid." Zeb commented.
Ezra rubbed the back of his neck. "I just hope I won't mess everything up." he mumbled.
Hera put a hand on his shoulder. "You know Jaral wouldn't have asked this to you if she wasn't sure you had the skills. You've grown, Ezra, and we're all proud of you."
Ezra managed to make a lopsided grin before his ears caught the rumble of specific engines in the distance that drew his attention. The Knight looked up and eventually saw the Millennium Falcon coming down.
"Finally." Luke said happily from behind the group and jogged forward as the Falcon neared the ground and took out its landing gear.
As the freighter discharged gas, the ramp lowered, letting Han, Leia and Chewbacca walk down. Luke was the first to go and greet them, hugging with Leia and patting shoulders with the other two. Then R2 and 3PO also came out, at which point Ezra walked toward them.
"Welcome to Lothal, Commander Solo." he greeted with a smile and Han went to shake hands with him.
"Yeah, quite a nice rock you got here." the smuggler quipped before Chewie roared a greeting as well.
"It certainly got better since the last time I came here." Leia added as she approached the group.
Ezra chuckled, then showed Han and Chewie the way with his arm. "Come on, we got some presentations to do." he said as he brought them in front of his extended family.
"This is Sabine Wren." he started from the closest, as the mandalorian girl removed her helmet. "My wife and all-round warrior of Clan Wren."
Han seemed fairly impressed, perhaps more at the fact that Ezra was married at such a young age, but he extended a hand and the two cordially presented themselves.
"There you have Captain Garazeb Orellios." Ezra said next. "Don't let his easy-going appearance fool you. He's one of the best warriors I've ever met."
"Oh, stop it, you." Zeb commented a bit embarrassed as he went to shake hands.
"Look, Chewie." Han quipped. "You're not the only furball around, anymore."
The Wookie chuckled.
"This is C1-10P, but we call him Chopper. And last but not least…" Ezra said as he walked next to Hera. "General Hera Syndulla. Chop's owner and captain of the Ghost."
"Glad to finally meet you, General." Han said as they shook hands. "The kids talked a lot about your ship." he said hiding a small tone of challenge.
Hera, though, didn't miss that and replied with a proud smile and a bit of a cocky tone. "Well, the Ghost is the best ship in the galaxy, after all."
Han chuckled in a defiant way. "Now, the VCX-100 is a good model, but the Falcon here is unrivaled. You know she made the Kessel run in just 12 parsecs?"
Hera crossed her arms on her chest and replied with a smug smile. "12? How cute. The one time we went to Kessel, the Ghost took 11."
Ezra wasn't sure if he found that funny or stupid, but luckily for him, a call arrived on his omni-tool with a military signature of the Systems Alliance.
"Ezra Bridger here." he answered.
"General Bridger, this is Captain Riccardi of the Amerigo. We've just reached the orbit of Lothal and we are ready to welcome you and your troops."
"Understood, Captain, we're on our way." Ezra replied before closing the call, then turned to the still debating pilots. "You know what? You'll have plenty of chances to prove which ship is the best, for now, go get them and let's move."
Both the Twi'lek and the Human shrugged and said "Fine." before moving.
"Kallus, the Amerigo is in orbit, send the signal to the battalion." the Knight then ordered into the omni-tool.
"Understood. See you aboard, General."
Everybody thus reached their own ships, with Ezra and Sabine getting aboard the Silver Bullet and leaving after Ezra was sure that everybody else had taken off. They climbed toward the skies and passed through the atmosphere. After seeing the ships of the defense fleet of Lothal, Ezra took another look at his planet, saying goodbye to it in his mind and then focusing on the sensors, though Sabine spotted the ship before him.
"Woah, look at that thing." she said incredulous.
Indeed, Ezra spotted the Amerigo on the visual sensors not long after it. That ship was definitely too big to be called a simple cruiser. It was a km long, 400 m wide and around 600 m tall, with the form that mostly resembled a round rectangle at the corners. A giant mass driver cannon came out from the face of the ship, as if the dozens of big-caliber turrets and even more rocket-launchers, plasma turrets and other smaller weapons didn't give it enough firepower.
"For being an exploration cruiser, it doesn't really look like its owners came in peace." Ezra commented.
"Look at it this way," Sabine said with a more enthusiastic tone. "if they meet a hostile new species, they can definitely defend themselves."
"I guess." Ezra concluded. "Let's go take a look on the inside."
He then brought the Silver Bullet into the hangar that the flight controller indicated him and brought the freighter down right next to the Ghost and the Falcon. The hangar was big enough that the Gauntlet could turn its wings vertically without a trouble, then the steel shields of the hangar closed behind them.
When Ezra and Sabine walked down the access ramp, they found themselves in front of a Human with the uniform of a Navy captain, a Turian in armor and a Salarian.
The human stepped forward and made the salute. "General Bridger, welcome aboard. I'm Captain Riccardi."
Ezra returned the gesture. "Greetings, Captain. Your ship is quite impressive." he complimented.
"I appreciate it, sir. Allow me to introduce you Colonel Belisarius," he said referring to the Turian. "commander of our Marines and, as of now, attached to your battalion." then pointed at the Salarian. "And Major Kherat of the MI6."
"Greetings, General." Kherat said, then turned his gaze toward the mandalorian. "Sabine Wren, I suppose."
"Hi." Sabine said as cordially as she could.
"Do you need lodgings, sir?" Riccardi asked. "Or are you ok with your ship?"
"We'll be fine on the Silver, thanks. We don't want to cramp the lodgings more than necessary."
"Very well. Allow us to show you around the ship, then we will be ready to sail."
"Understood." Ezra turned toward Belisarius. "Colonel, most of my men are from the Militia. When we're done, I suggest we start making joint exercises between them and your Marines."
The turian nodded. "A sound proposal, General. I'll notify the squad leaders to stand ready." he said before the officers started to bring Ezra and Sabine on a tour of the ship.
February 4.
"Ten-hut!" the officer in the hangar ordered and the four Dark Troopers lined up as Iulius walked inside the hangar of the Admonitor.
With Qathora at his side, the Grand Admiral stepped in front of the soldiers that had been created by his will and efforts in Wild Space. He was about to order them something that was nothing short of a gamble on his behalf, to see if they could live up to his expectations.
He was about to send men who had complete faith in him to risk their lives in a war that, arguably, they didn't feel as their own, they were simply fighting for him to return the debt their people had with him. This meant that they were, indeed, ready to go any length to serve him, and Iulius knew that he needed to take measures he found distasteful in order to beat his enemies.
"Soldiers." he started speaking in Imirgesh, to give them a taste of their homeworld. "In these days, you have served the Empire faithfully, and I wish to extend my gratitude. I also know that you feel...lost. I understand that, though I cannot relate. Until a few months ago, your civilization wasn't used to think that there was a universe outside of your planet.
"Therefore, I want to reassure you, that I'm about to give you your last test. After this, you're going back home on Carunoia to improve the DarkTrooper Project."
The soldiers stood still, their helmets preventing Iulius from reading their faces.
The Grand Admiral stepped aside and turned toward his assistant, who then walked forward holding a small chest in her hands. Qathora went in front of one of the soldiers and opened the box, revealing four small discs, each containing other six discs so small they could be called pebbles.
The soldier instinctively took one and observed it with curiosity. Qathora proceeded to go in front of each of them to distribute the devices.
"These are weapons that we took from our enemies and manipulated to suit our needs. They call them Artificial Intelligence. It's much more advanced that the ones we have in the droids, and even more than the ones who controlled the machines of the Yavzakhs, back on Carunoia."
The soldiers looked at him with a movement of the head that indicated a slight confusion, followed by another wave of curiosity as they kept handling the devices.
"There's a small split in the back of your helmets. Put them into it." Iulius instructed.
Knowing what he was talking about, the soldiers stretched their arms a bit and used a finger to trace back where the split was, then they managed to insert the chips.
Iulius observed with a bit of apprehension. For all he knew, the AIs could have just gone rogue the moment they were activated. The technicians had assured him that the constructs still had no loyalty toward the Federation, as they were a new batch without a proper setting.
Still, only when Burk and the Dark Troopers looked at their palms and the holographic projections of the AIs appeared over them in an orderly fashion did Iulius resume to breath, then approached a little bit more to look at the figures. He noticed that these AIs did not have a humanoid shape like he believed. Instead, they simply appeared as a strange cluster of a somehow circular shape. Iulius could simply theorize that the AIs chose an appearance according to the people they would be talking to.
The four constructs were then heard presenting themselves both in Imirgesh and Galactic Basic.
"Welcome into the universe, XA-112, 113, 114 and 115." Iulius said. "I'm Grand Admiral Iulius Tanis of the Galactic Empire. And I need your help for a very important task."
After a moment of silence, one of the AIs replied with its synthetic voice. "We're awaiting instructions, Grand Admiral."
Satisfied with that, Iulius kept calm and explained. "You are going to be assigned to a Dark Trooper each. I want you not only to assist them but to observe them. See when they are successful or when their tactics are flawed and learn from them."
"Observe and Learn. Task accepted." the construct replied.
Iulius nodded toward the soldiers, who thus recalled the projections and stood at attention.
"Sergeant Burk, we're approaching the Felucia system. We need to retake the planet in order to resume the offensive on Lianna, but specifically I want you to hunt down Legionnaires. Show me the fruits of our efforts in this Project."
"As you desire, Lixoriom." Burk declared and made a bow, imitated by the other soldiers.
When they stood up again, Iulius continued. "Remember, the Legionnaires are extremely dangerous, but so were the Yavzakhs, and you survived them. Move as a team and try to pick them off in small groups. You'll have one crazy story to tell back on Carunoia."
"Sir, yes sir!" the soldiers declared with a certain enthusiasm, which Iulius found a bit encouraging.
"Dismissed." he concluded and headed away with Qathora.
Once they entered one of the corridors, the Togruta spoke up. "They are incredibly serious when you order them to do something."
"Right…" Iulius sighed as he stopped in his tracks, then turned around. "What about you? Are you sure you want to go on with this plan?"
Qathora didn't flinch as she looked straight in her master's eyes and replied. "I am."
"Every imperial outside of the 101st will shoot you if things go bad." he warned.
"And if I fail, the rebels will shoot me, as well." she quipped. "Not a wide variety to choose from."
Iulius sighed. He honestly didn't understand how she could take with such an easy-going attitude. "Qathora, you don't have to do this just for me."
"If I don't do it for you, then what's the point?" she calmly asked back.
"Maybe...not dying, would be the point?" he asked with a sarcastic shrug.
"Look, let's put it this way. My species can live up to 300 years, and I'm just 28. Which means, by the time you live out the average human lifespan, I will still have two-thirds of my life to do whatever I want. For now, I owe my freedom to you, and I really think that you can change the galaxy in a better way, Iulius. I want to help you any way I can."
In front of such determination, Iulius made a silent breather with his eyes closed. As he reopened them again, he made a step closer to his servant.
"All right, then. The next battle should give you an opening...good luck...Fulcrum."