Chapter 10: Mysteries of the Ancients
As the drones were launched, the two corellian freighters took off from the cruiser as well and connected to each other so that the Ghost would lead, to Han's greatest disappointment.
"Okay, now that you trapped us on this flying trap, where are we going?" the smuggler asked when they all gathered in the cockpit.
Ignoring Hera's smugly grin, Ezra answered the question. "The planet we're looking for is actually not on the star maps." he said, drawing confused eyes. "We'll need these two." he added, reaching for one of his pockets and taking out two shards of Kanan's holocron for all to see.
"What is that?" Gozo asked with curiosity as she inspected the trinkets.
"What is left of my Master's holocron. It's a device that both Jedi and Sith used to store knowledge, mainly. Occasionally they can have other functions, as well."
"Uh...sounds like a prothean beacon." Ezra heard the woman mumble, but he had no idea what she was talking about.
"I thought both you holocrons had gone to pieces." Zeb said.
"Yes, and while most of the information stored is now lost, they are still working. It's by using the shards of both the Jedi and Sith holocron that I found Master Kenobi the first time, remember?"
Zeb mumbled affirmatively.
Ezra turned toward Hera, who gladly stood up from the pilot chair and allowed Ezra to take the place.
Keeping the shards in his right hand's palm, the Jedi Knight made a deep breath and closed his eyes. It didn't take more than a few seconds before the pieces of the holocron started to lighten up of blue and hum softly as they started to levitate slightly above Ezra's hand. The young man then started to turn the controls slowly until the Ghost was aligned toward the direction he was envisioning.
"Chopper, remove the safe from the hyperdrive." he ordered as he kept his eyes shut.
The astromech bopped a skeptical remark, but obeyed nonetheless. Plugging into the socket and doing what Ezra asked.
"Jinx, get the controls." he added, lighting up his omni-tool and letting the AI take over.
"Ready on your mark." the construct replied a second later.
Using the neural-transmitters, Ezra gave the command and Jinx pushed the Ghost and the Falcon into hyperspace.
"It should take an hour or so." he calmly stated as he kept focused on the trip ahead. "Feel free to spend your time however you want."
Sabine smirked and stood up from her seat, gesturing for the other to leave. "Come on, people. Let's leave this to the professional." she quipped.
Not wanting to distract a man driving their ships on a hyperdrive without brakes, everybody agreed and calmly left the room, deciding to spend their time with a game of dejarik, reading holo-novels, or, in the case of Luke and Leia, meditating.
The situation of the twins was still quite peculiar: Leia had been revealed only to a select few to be a Force sensitive, also Ezra and Jaral had decided to keep the parenthood of the Skywalkers a secret. This was because the Sith would focus on the young man, who was learning much faster than Leia, and because the Princess was still a very important political figure in the Rebel Alliance, now New Republic, and so it made sense not to draw even more unwanted attentions on her.
An hour passed quickly, until Chopper informed Hera that they had just left hyperspace. Everybody returned to the cockpit, where Ezra had just put away the shards of the holocron and they noticed that the ships had come out in front of a planet covered almost entirely by jungles and forests.
Moved by curiosity, Sabine checked the star maps, only to find out that the computer had no idea where they were, though it had mapped the route taken for the trip. "You were right. It doesn't appear on the charts." she said.
"Ezra, why did you bring us here?" Hera asked with suspicion.
Ezra simply stood up and watched at the planet outside of the cockpit. "I'm not sure. But the holocron guided us here. Jinx, make a scan of the planet."
The scanner's console beeped for a few seconds, then Jinx gave his report while showing some images taken from the orbit.
"Ezra, there seem to be a ruined city and a solitary structure in the forest, both of them in the southern hemisphere. They both look very ancient."
"How much?"
"I'm crossing the scanning with the Andromeda Codex. The city's pattern follows the standards of around 1100 years ago. The Republic Dark Age. Which means that the isolated structure is most likely an old Jedi temple."
The others in the room were quite confused. All except Leia, who clearly had an education about the History of the galaxy, and Ezra, who didn't know the subject, but he had already figured out that the holocrons were pointing him to something connected to the Force.
"How can you deduce that?" Gozo asked with curiosity.
"The Republic Dark Age was a period spanning from 1100 to 1000 years ago and it was only the last century of what the historians of the Old Republic called 'The New Sith Wars.' At that time, the Republic state had almost entirely collapsed, and the Jedi ruled most of its worlds to protect them from the Sith. This planet is probably one of those." the AI narrated.
"How do you know all of this?" Han asked puzzled. "The Empire has canceled any historical record predating the Clone Wars."
"Officially, yes. But there were secret archives that had been hidden from the Empire since the end of the Republic. Mainly on Mon Cala and Lianna. After the liberation of these territories, the Federation has helped intellectuals here in Andromeda to put together the Andromeda Codex, which also includes the history of the galaxy and is being updated daily."
"I never heard of it." Zeb said.
"Well, history classes are not a priority for the New Republic in this period." Ezra replied. "But yes, the Federation has sent volunteers to help our people regain all the knowledge that the Empire wanted to eliminate."
"That's good and all, but what are we doing here?" Sabine asked confused.
Ezra looked at the screen again. "There is something in that temple. The holocron wanted us to come here. Me, Luke and Master Gozo will take the Phantom II and go check it out. Meanwhile, you guys go into the city and see if you can find any star maps of the sector. Plus, I want you to see if that city might be recovered for use."
"You want to establish a base here?" Hera asked.
Ezra shook his head. "No. We know we have a Force-sensitive tailing me and Luke, so I don't want to risk leading the Empire to the temple. However, this place is not signed on regular charts, so other rebel cells, or refugees, might use this as a haven from the Empire."
"Uh." Leia mumbled with interest. "And if we find old star maps, we might find more worlds like this in the region. Creating a network of bases that we can use to resupply and hit the Empire where it hurts."
"Exactly." said Ezra. "Though I would like to prioritize the safety of the refugees over military considerations."
"I suggest we focus on one problem at a time. We need to get down the surface, first." Gozo interrupted.
Ezra nodded, then motioned Luke to follow him, with the federal psionic Master following them into the Phantom II. As modified transport detached from the Ghost, the Falcon did the same, and while the freighters headed for the city, finding a space large enough to land, Ezra brought the Phantom down onto a clearing in front of the temple's entrance.
With a bit of excitement for various reasons, the three Force-wielders stepped out of the shuttle and reached the entrance, which wasn't that big, actually: it was just a small square structure with a pointy roof. Most of it was also covered by plants, which also came from the fractures between the stone bricks.
Still, Ezra could clearly sense that there was much more hiding behind that door.
"All right, let's do this." Luke said quite enthusiastically and walked forward.
Ezra's mind couldn't help but smile. Seeing Luke was like a carbon copy of his own enthusiastic approach to the Force, years before. It only seemed weird that he was just a couple days older than the young Skywalker.
The Jedi Knight, however, didn't move. Gozo was about to ask him what he was waiting for, but Ezra raised a hand to have her wait a second, until Luke reached the door and tried to push it open. Failing, of course. He tried a couple times more, pushing harder, but it didn't budge.
Then the young Padawan lightly slapped his own forehead. "Damn. How could I be this stupid?"
"It's by recognizing our own mistakes that we become less stupid, Luke." Ezra both quipped and encouraged him. "You have to make the temple accept you."
"The temple...thinks?" Gozo asked in disbelief. This was way more than whatever they had in the Milky Way regarding the Flux/Force.
"In a way." Ezra replied.
"How am I supposed to open it?" Luke asked.
"I told you. You have to make the temple accept you. Listen to it." the Knight calmly explained before sitting on the ground with his legs crossed and entering a meditative state.
Luke sighed and, much like Ezra did on Lothal, spent a few minutes walking around the entrance trying to see if there was a trick or something.
After listening to the speech given by Bridger and Mothma, thus assisting to the creation of the self-proclaimed New Republic, Iulius shut off the recording and headed on the command bridge.
"Ree, give me the last updates." he ordered bluntly as he stopped in front of the holotable.
"Yes, sir." the young woman dutifully replied and brought up the new galaxy map, roughly colored to show which systems were still controlled by the Empire and which had fallen to the enemy. Then she started with the report. "The planet of Trogan is not expected to last much longer. Though the Federation has offered a temporary ceasefire to allow non-combatants to leave the capital before their assault."
"Did the local commander accept?"
"Yes, sir. As you instructed, our transports are already evacuating the civilians to Centares before the ceasefire runs out."
"Good. What about Taris?"
"Their planetary shield is still holding, but the real problem is that they're running out of food. The siege has been going on for a month, and Taris doesn't produce nearly enough food to sustain itself."
"How long before they all starve to death?"
A bit shaken by the coldness of that question, the Lieutenant-Commander still brought up the statistics.
"Even prioritizing the military and other key personnel, there are already reports of people dying on the streets. If the mandalorians don't kill them, it's highly probable that the population will revolt and surrender."
"The mandalorians wouldn't be kind to them, but you're right. We can't afford that risk."
"So, what do we do?"
"For now...call Doctor Kimovir." Iulius replied before heading into the comm room.
The Grand Admiral reached the holo-projector and had to wait only a few seconds before the hologram of the old scientist appeared in front of him, making a polite bow.
"Greetings, Lixoriom. How may I serve you?"
"Good to see you, Doctor Kimovir. I need to ask about the state of the 'Soul-stealer' weapon."
"Ah, just in time. We believe we have reached a breakthrough. In 36 standard hours we will test the weapon and then begin the production for the Dark Troopers."
"Excellent. Inform me of the results the second the weapon is ready. Right now it's our utmost priority."
"As you wish, Lixoriom." Kimovir replied with another reverential bow of his head. "Can I help you with anything else?"
"Well, since I'm already calling you, how is the next phase of the Dark Troopers proceeding?"
"The data Sergeant Burke and his team gathered for the AIs is quite extensive, but the mechs are still at a very early stage. We're trying to reverse-engineer some of the drones left by the Yavzakhs, but I wouldn't expect major results before a year."
Iulius made a nod of acquiescence. He didn't like that news, but he knew that the Carunoans were working hardly to thank him for saving their civilization, so he only had to be patient.
"I see. Thank you for your time, Doctor. Have a nice day."
"May you live long and healthy, Lixoriom." the Doctor said before his hologram disappeared.
Iulius thus turned toward the operator sitting at his console in the room. "Get me Admiral Daala."
"Yes, Grand Admiral."
He only had to wait a handful of seconds before the hologram of the red-haired woman appeared.
"Grand Admiral. What can I do for you?"
"How is the production of the TIE Defender proceeding?"
"36 new fighters, for a total of 6 squadrons, are ready and stockpiled. We are just finishing training the last batch of pilots."
"Send them to the 101st as soon as they're ready. Also, any progress on the production of our own AIs?"
"It's a technology that surpasses whatever we have in this galaxy. However, I'd say we're on a good 20% toward a total understanding of this synthetic mind."
"I see. Keep working on it. We need this new weapon to counter the Federation."
"As you wish, sir. Daala, out."
With that out of the way, Iulius walked back on the bridge and went to take a look outside of the viewport. His battle group was now composed almost entirely of frigates, corvettes and light carriers, as they were going to be the pivotal part for what was about to come. His real objective: destroying the mandalorian fleet.
After inspecting the entrance three times, Luke finally realized that only his connection to the Force would allow him access to the Temple. He eventually stood a few steps away from the door and extended his arm, reaching into the Force. To Ezra's delight, he managed to open it by his own, a sign of the latent power within the young Skywalker.
"Good job." he complimented with the Padawan, who was sporting a small grin of satisfaction.
He and Gozo walked the stairs up, and just before they all entered the temple, the voice of Sabine reached his comlink.
"Specter-7, do you copy?"
Ezra lightened up his omni-tool and answered through it. "Go ahead, Specter-5."
"We've taken a look through what seemed to be the administrative building of the city. We found some old maps as you predicted. They're a bit damaged, but nothing we can't recover on the Amerigo."
"Excellent. Make another sweep. Make sure there aren't dangerous animals around or similar, then mark the planet on our own maps."
"Are you stalling us?" she quipped.
"Well...we have opened the temple only now." he quipped back. "We might lose signal when we enter, so if you finish your sweep before we do our thing, come pick up the Phantom."
"Understood. Just make sure you be there, as well, ok?"
"Promised." and he closed the call. Then he walked inside the door, followed by Luke and Gozo.
As soon as they made a few meters inside, the decorated stone door fell close again.
"Don't worry. It's completely natural." he said to Luke, who seemed suspicious. Gozo didn't budge, instead she was looking at the walls, noticing that it was incredibly spartan.
"How was the temple on Lothal, compared to this, General?" she asked as they kept walking.
"You heard about the temple?" Ezra asked quite surprise.
"You don't know that, but I am an avid learner of the History section of the Codex. But there isn't much about the Jedi. So I was wondering if all your temples were built in such an ascetic way, or not."
Ezra took a look at the insides himself. The light was filtering through small windows carved into the upper sides of the walls, while on Lothal it seemed to come from an inside source.
"The one on Lothal was quite unique, I think. If anything, because it was built inside one of the oval rocks."
"I see. So this structure was probably built according to the emergency of the moment."
"What do you mean?" Luke asked.
"During the Dark Age of the Republic, the Jedi were too busy protecting what was left of the Republic from the Sith, who seemed on the verge of total triumph. So it's not surprising they were too busy fighting to care about interior designing."
As she finished, they reached a big, circular room with a roof the shape of a cupola. Exactly in front of them there was a 4-m tall door and nothing else.
"Hey, look." Gozo said, pointing at the floor, where there was a massive drawing on the stone, though she was unable to interpret it.
Ezra watched it for the sake of culture, but he already knew why the temple brought them here.
"Ok, let's see what there is beyond this one." Luke said as he approached the door. And, to his surprise, the big slab of rock started to rise on its own, leaving Luke dumbfounded.
"As I thought…" Ezra mumbled before talking to Luke. "You'll have to proceed on your own, Luke."
"What?" he asked with surprise.
"The Force brought us here so you could face your first trial. The Temple will judge whether you have the resolve to become a Jedi, or not." the Knight explained.
Luke looked beyond the door first, which seemed to be surrounded by a fog that prevented him to see what was on the other side of the threshold, then he seemed to understand. "Like you told me you did on Lothal. When you got your kyber crystal."
Ezra made a positive nod and looked at his friend with a reassuring smile.
Luke took a breather and looked at the fog. "I'm ready."
"Go then. I'll be waiting here." Ezra reassured.
The Padawan smiled at his fellow student of the Force and headed toward the fog without hesitation, crossing it and vanishing before the door slowly closed down, grinding loudly against the walls.
Ezra then turned toward his right and went to touch a small section of the wall, from where he was hearing a clear humming chanting into his mind. He quickly discovered that there was a hidden door, which could be open only with the Force. But instead of doing this himself, he decided to let the psionic in the room to do it. Gozo apparently had sensed the presence of that door as well, because she had walked in that direction more or less with him, and when the Knight gently gestured for her to try, the Master of the Ordo Quaeris gladly stepped forward, removed the hoodie and the mask of her N7 'Fury' suit and touched the wall, closing her eyes to focus. She only took ten seconds to unlock the door, which impressed Ezra.
"Something tells me there might be an archive down there." Gozo said. "You're coming with?"
"I have promised Luke to wait here." Ezra reminded politely.
"Right." she replied with an understanding tone. "I'll try to be quick."
"Have fun." Ezra quipped. The woman chuckled, hanged her mask at her belt and walked into the narrow corridor, leaving the door open.
As for the Knight, he went back at the center of the room, faced the direction of the door and knelt down to meditate. As he closed his eyes, he quickly reached a transcendental state and he felt like he was sitting in a completely dark room, with only his body being illuminated.
"This sure brings back memories, uh?"
Ezra smiled. He opened his eyes, though he didn't need them to see the ghost of his Master meditating beside him.
"I didn't have a lightsaber with me when I entered the trial."
"He'll find out that he won't need it anyway." Kanan quipped.
Ezra chuckled and closed his eyes again. "Truth be told, I'm a bit scared of what will come next."
"How so?"
"I'm almost done teaching what little I know about the Jedi way. If...no, when he will walk out of that door, we will be back to be both learners in an ocean of mysteries."
"Ezra, even the greatest Jedi in history have always been learners. I think only a handful of beings in the universe can have a comprehensive understanding of the Force." his Master reassured.
"I appreciate the encouragement."
A brief silence followed, then Kanan spoke again, but in a more relaxed tone. "How's Hera?"
"She misses you a lot. And she misses Jacen, even though she is too proud to admit it." Ezra replied in a lighthearted voice.
Kanan chuckled. "Of course."
So they spent some time talking of problems that seemed menial compared to the grand scheme of things, but Ezra had had very few moments to bring them up with everyone since he began the journey into the Trailing Sectors. Force knew how much he needed some time to reorganize his thoughts with another Jedi who understood how difficult it was to balance duty and personal problems when you are a powerful Force-sensitive.
"All right, time to go." Kanan said at a certain point. Ezra didn't know how long it had passed. "Be safe, Ezra."
"See you, Kanan." the Knight gently said, then his mind returned to the real world.
Ezra gave a quick look at the clock of his omni-tool and noticed that an hour-and-a-half had passed since Luke entered the door. And just at that moment, said door started to open.
The fog had disappeared, and when the stone lifted, Luke appeared with his his grayish jacket, smiling with satisfaction.
Ezra smiled back and stood up, ready to greet his friend when he walked in front of him and opened the palm of his right hand, showing a glowing green kyber crystal.
"Never doubted you for a second." Ezra said, giving a light punch on Luke's shoulder.
"It was all thanks to your training."
Then they heard the sound of footsteps from afar, coming from the secondary corridor. They turned their gazes in that direction, and a few seconds later Gozo reappeared holding an object in her her right hand. Ezra needed a moment to discern it and his eyes widened in surprise.
"Hey, isn't this one of those things?" she asked, showing it to an amazed Ezra.
"Yes. It's a holocron."
Luke's eyes now widened as well. "Awesome. Who knows what we might discover from it?"
"We'll find out on the Amerigo. Come on, the others are waiting for us." Ezra concluded, prompting them to follow him.
They walked all the way back to the main entrance, who opened for them with the timing of an automatic one, and indeed, in the clear in front of the structure, the three found the Falcon and the Ghost, the crew of the latter having already recovered the Phantom II and waiting for them outside of the ships.
The Force-wielders walked outside, letting the door close itself again. Luke stopped to give one last look at that place before following his mentor. After that, the group hopped on the ships and they left the planet, heading back to the Amerigo.
March 31.
It felt good for Jaral to be finally back on the strategic room of the Constantinople. It felt even better to have her father around.
After spending a week with the endless protocols of diplomacy, the Grand Marshall of the New Republic found incredibly relaxing working again on the military. Especially because the proclamation of the new nation meant that a recruitment system among the population of the over 200 civilized systems that were part of it had been set up, and thousands of new recruits were flowing into the Army and Navy every day. This meant that the industry had to be adapted as well. Lianna was the main center of production for both branches, though the capital ships were still commissioned to Mon Cala. The weaponry and uniforms were being standardized and a new command structure for all the various nations forming the UACT had to be established.
In short, there was much work to do, and she took it on with her usual energy.
Now, though, Bo-Katan had asked for a quick audience with her, so she and Darvos were waiting in the comm room of the frigate. Unfortunately, the allied intelligence had already given them the reason why the Mand'alor was calling them: the Empire was counter-attacking along the Hydian Way, and Iulius was in command.
"What's the situation, so?" she asked.
"For now, there had been only small skirmishes, but the mandalorians confirmed that the Empire is employing TIE Defenders and…" he tapped his omni-tool, bringing up a small hologram of a new type of TIE. "These."
Jaral observed it, but didn't recognize that strange model, which had three wings pointing forward. "What is this?"
"According to the intel given by Qathora, it's called 'TIE Phantom'. She doesn't know where they are produced, but we know that they have a stealth mode that hides them from any type of sensor." he explained before shutting off the omni-tool.
"A stealth TIE that can also fly into hyperspace? What next?" she asked sarcastically as she leaned against the wall behind her.
"Not to mention the Legionnaire-killing soldiers your father met on Felucia." Darvos added, making Jaral sigh.
"Right…"
A short silence fell before Darvos turned his body to face his wife and seemed prepared to say something very important.
"Listen...I've thought about the matter of us having a child." he said with calm tone.
Jaral's attention was completely drawn toward him, so he proceeded. "I want it. Truly."
"You...are you sure?" she asked in surprise.
The Captain nodded firmly. "I am." and took one of her hands in his own. "I want to bring something good into this universe, for once." he said with a smile, and his wife returned it before hugging him gently.
They stayed like that for a while, just enjoying the pleasant sensation that taking such a decision brought them. Until the console of the holo-projector started beeping. They separated and, after polishing herself a bit, Jaral went to take the call.
The hologram of Bo-Katan appeared. "Greetings, Grand Marshall Bridger."
"Lady Kryze." Jaral greeted back. "What do I owe the pleasure?"
"I won't take you too much of your time. I thought it was only honest, as an ally, to inform you that I've ordered my fleet to gather for a decisive battle over Taris."
Jaral nodded. "I see. You are aware that Grand Admiral Tanis is leading this imperial fleet, right?"
"I am. However, our fleet has been greatly expanded in the last month. We'll find a way to defeat him."
"I see. Can we help you in any way?"
"Keep hitting the Empire hard while we distract their best leader." was all Bo-Katan said. "It's probable that in the next few days, I won't be able to reach you, so every communication between Mandalore and the New Republic will pass through my Ambassador, Count Wren."
"I see. Then I can only wish you good luck."
"No need for luck. We got the guns." the mandalorian concluded before saying goodbye and closing the transmission.
Jaral headed back into the strategic room, followed by Darvos, and they were both skeptic regarding Bo's request. "Can we actually go against the Empire, yet?" she asked.
Darvos shook his head. "Right now we're relying on the militia to hold the line while the Armed Forces reorganize. We don't have the men nor the firepower to do anything that could bother Iulius."
The Grand Marshall accepted that statement and leaned against the table, using one of the keyboards to open the latest reports so she could go back to work.