The other councilors were already assembled in the little conference room when Leia arrived with her companions. Three of the civilians represented Rebel systems; Mon Mothma of Chandrilla, Char Borres of Ganita Cluster and Nyo-Wan Genbu of the Ancient Core planet of Ophuchi. The three military officers represented the various branches of the Rebel force; Admiral Ackbar, commander of the Fleet, General Colton commander of the ground forces and General Madine of Intelligence. And sitting next to him, Jon Gordun, the unobtrusive Human who headed the Bothan spy network.
Mon Mothma gave the Princess a startled and disapproving look as the Master, Jayce and Luke formed a triangle at the foot of the conference table and Leia took her seat. Then the chief councilor's expression changed; eyes widening and lips parting slightly as she stared at Dai-Men.
"Jedi Jinn?"
Leia shot a startled look at her superior as the Master bowed, smiling mostly with his eyes. "Senator."
"Jedi?" Ackbar croaked questioningly. "The Jedi were destroyed by the Emperor."
"Not quite all of us." Dai-Men answered calmly. "There is myself," he nodded to his left; "Jayce Darklighter," then to his right, "Luke Skywalker, And the two I left on Kessel."
"So you're responsible for this revolt?" Madine said, leaning foreward.
"My colleagues are." the Master corrected. "May I see the message you received?
"Of course." Mon Mothma nodded to an aid and a holographic image formed on the table, facing the three Jedi.
It was staticy with a tendency to blur and double but clear enough to see the sender was a tall, athletic woman with short brown hair dressed in Jedi tunic and breeches.
"This is Jezra Antilles speaking for the miners of Kessel." she introduced herself. "We have successfully risen against the Imperial managers and secured control of the mines. But we cannot hold out without assistance . We need supplies and weapons -" the image turned her head as though listening to somebody out of picture and seemed to smile. "And we can offer payment in Spice. The Empire has refused the governor reinforcements so a relief force will face only the usual defenses. The Smuggler's Run should be passable. The Spice is the source of much of the Emperor's wealth depriving him of it can only help your cause. Kessel out."
The image broke up and vanished.
"I volunteer Rogue squadron for the mission." Luke said promptly.
"Thank you, Commander, but we haven't decided if there's going to be a mission yet." General Colton snapped. To Mon Mothma, "I don't like it, we'd be sending our people right into one of the Empire's most heavily guarded strongholds. How do we know this message is genuine?"
"I can vouch for Jedi Antilles." Dai-Men said calmly.
"And I vouch for Jedi Jinn." Mon Mothma added quickly, soft voice firm and a hint of unaccustomed color in her pale face.
If Leia didn't know better she'd have sworn the Chief Councilor was blushing.
"If there are still Jedi living why haven't they made themselves known to us before this?" Ackbar wanted to know. "Why haven't they joined us."
"After Condawn?" Nyo-Wan asked quietly.
Leia felt her own cheeks burn and gripped the arms of her chair tightly. Her fellow councilors registered similar discomfort. The Jedi themselves seemed unmoved though she thought she caught of flicker of uncertainty from Luke, as if he hadn't quite got the reference.
"She's right." Madine said at last breaking the embarrassed silence. "Cutting off the Emperor's Spice revenues would go a long way towards destabilizing his regime."
"Which makes it well worth doing." Leia agreed.
"We'll only be risking one squadron." Luke pointed out quietly.
"Our best squadron." said Ackbar.
"It will take the best to make the Kessel Run." said the Master.
Mon Mothma dismissed the three Jedi while the council debated. "What was all that about Condawn?" Luke asked as they settled themselves on chairs in the anteroom. He'd heard of the battle, the last stand of an abortive Jedi rebellion at the beginning of the Imperial era, but had no idea why its name should get such a reaction out of the council.
"When the Jedi realized the Emperor was a Sith Lord we tried to raise the people against him." Dai-Men explained. "But only three systems joined us; Ophuchi, Aquilae and Andikaar. The rest, including Ganita Cluster, Chandrilla and Alderaan, sided with the Empire and sent ships and men against us at Condawn."
"Alderaan sided with the Empire?" Luke asked incredulously.
"At the time they thought it was the right thing to do." the Master spread his hands. "To most of the Galaxy the Sith were an ancient legend. We had no proof, I can't blame the worlds for not believing us."
'That's why they all looked so guilty.' Luke thought. 'If they'd backed the Jedi twenty years ago they'd have ended the Empire then - And Alderaan would never have been destroyed. Poor Leia!'
"Were you there?" he asked his Master.
"Yes." Dai-Men answered, in a tone that made it clear this was one story he wasn't prepared to tell.
Luke shifted ground. "Why was Ophuchi different?"
"It's the origin world of the Jedi." was the matter-of-fact answer.
Luke wondered why he was so surprised. The Order had to have come from somewhere after all. "Ben - Obi-Wan - was Ophuchian." he said, remembering something Nyo-Wan had once told him.
"So am I, by derivation." said the Master. "Though my family's been Jedi for six generations now."
"What about Aquilae?" Luke knew the name. The system was a member of the Alliance but because of its location, on the opposite side of the Core, its White Legions operated independently of the Main Fleet.
"The Aquilar have always had a great esteem for the Jedi." Dai-Men answered.
"They think we're hero-saints." Jayce put in ironically.
But the Master shook his head. "That's an exaggeration. Their religious beliefs simply incline them to have a greater respect and understanding of the Way than is common."
"And Andikaar?" that name wasn't familiar.
"Is the homeworld of Altor Starrider." Dai-Men answered, as if that explained everything.
"Who?"
The other two Jedi stared at him incredulously. Luke shrugged, embarrassed. "I'm not awfully good at history."
"Altor Starrider led the first war against the Sith." Dai-Men told him. "I'm surprised Yoda or Obi-Wan never mentioned him?"
"We had a lot of ground to cover." Luke half apologized. "Uh, did you say first war?"
"It's quite a long story." the Master demurred.
"I think we'll have time." Jayce said dryly, glancing at the conference room door.
Dai-Men smiled faintly. "I think you're right. Very well -" and began.
It was fascinating. The first Sith Lord had been a fallen Jedi, a great Master who'd studied too deeply the ways of the Dark Side and been devoured. His horrified friends and colleagues hadn't been able to bring themselves to destroy him, clinging to the hope they could somehow turn him back. But instead he escaped from his prison and founded the Sith Order, dedicated to universal domination and the destruction of the Jedi. The early Sith had been few but terribly powerful gathering worlds under their rule with frightening ease. It had seemed the Republic was doomed and its Jedi defenders with it.
Altor Starrider had been an untried apprentice Jedi on what was then a remote colony world but he'd succeeded where those older and stronger had failed, he kept the Sith from taking Andikaar. His Rangers, warriors trained in the Jedi arts, had proved a match for the Siths' Dark Servants and Altor himself had killed their leader.
Abruptly Luke realized he had heard this story before - years ago as a child. He could almost see himself sitting beside Chani on the sandy floor of Ben's hut listening raptly as his first Teacher told it in almost the same words.
The war had lasted for generations. Master Altor, like Darth Sith, had lived far beyond the normal human span but he hadn't survived to see the end. He fathered nine sons, by three different wives, only to see the six eldest die before him. It was Loran, the seventh son, who succeeded him. Loran who led a force of Jedi and Rangers into the Sith's last citadel and struck down the incredibly aged Master of the Order, ending the first war.
Luke shivered. Ben's description of that final battle had given him nightmares for a week, Uncle Owen had been furious. But it wasn't the memory of those nightmares or the grisly details of the story that made him shiver now but sudden understanding.
The parallel between Altor Starrider and what little Luke knew about his father were blindingly obvious. Both had been exceptionally powerful Jedi arising on backwater worlds, both born to defeat the Sith. But his father was dead - or worse - and Yoda, Ben, and even Dai-Men expected him to step into Anakin's place as Loran had stepped into Altor's.
'I can't do it!' he thought in a moment of blinding panic. 'I can't destroy the Emperor. Maybe father was special but I'm not.'
The Master looked at him steadily, kindly but quite inexorably. 'All things are possible with the Force.' Luke heard him say in mind voice, or perhaps just in his memory. 'Trust in it and it will show you the way.'
The panic ebbed, breathing slowed, frantically pounding heart calmed. 'Lifting an X-Wing is no harder than lifting a rock.' he reminded himself. 'I don't have to be special, the Force will guide me.'
Jayce was watching him too, with as much sympathy a that ironic, raptor sharp face was capable of showing. So he knew too, probably they all did. Luke wondered what Chani thought of it.
"Obviously that wasn't the end." he said aloud.
His Master gave him an approving smile and continued. He had time to outline the second and third Sith Wars and explain why there were never more than two Sithlords at a time before the conference room door finally opened.
Leia watched the three Jedi come in and arrange themselves at the foot of the conference table. The Master and Jayce in traditional robes, Luke in Alliance uniform but wearing the same serene expression free from either anticipation or concern. Nor did he betray any sign of relief when Mon Mothma told him his offer of Rogue Squadron was accepted but just bowed acknowledgment.
"Master Jinn," she continued, Leia had brought her up to date on Dai-Men's current status. "You understand we have little to spare but we will send what we can to your allies on Kessel."
It was the Master's turn to bow. "Thank you, senator."
It was crystal clear, at least to Leia, that Mon Mothma had had a more than professional respect for Master Jinn all those years ago. Not that she blamed her! Leia tried to imagine Dai-Men at twenty with results that made even her heart beat faster. No she didn't blame Mon Mothma at all.
"It is a very small reparation for the betrayal at Condawn." she was saying.
"You did as you thought was right." Dai-Men answered gently. "You just didn't have all the facts."
"You mean we refused to believe them." Mon Mothma responded almost harshly. "I - we - failed in faith. We should have trusted the Jedi."
"The Emperor is a master of lies. We too were deceived by him for far too long." he consoled.
"And we have all paid the price." she said.
Leia bit the inside of her lip, fighting to maintain her councilor's face. Her father and the other veterans of Alderaan had never forgiven themselves for their part in the slaughter at Condawn. Alderaan had given up her armaments to avoid ever again using them in a wrong cause - and left herself easy prey for the Death Star. They had paid the highest price of all for trusting in the Emperor.
Sylkie reacted violently to the news of this new mission. "Going away again!" she said outraged, ready to storm.
"K-k-k-kkkkkkk-k-ruk! Said 'we'." Xhosa interrupted, taking the wind out of her sails.
She looked at him uncertainly, then up at the Master.
He smiled down at her. "I'm going to need my crew - if you'll come."
Wedge welcomed the new assignment with enthusiasm. He was sick to death of inventing make-work to keep the squadron sharp and maybe some action would straighten Luke out too, make him give up this notion of resigning. Still Wedge was somewhat taken aback when the Boss told him just what the mission was. After the Death Star no target could intimidate him but even he had to admit Kessel was a tough one.
The Spice planet was defended by a formidable maze of natural and man-made hazards including an asteroid belt, mine fields, plasma storms, hyperspace traps, at least two singularities and automated battle satellites. Still if smugglers could do it so could Rogue Squadron. But as for the transport they were supposed to escort...! It was an ancient, ungainly, bulbous thing, far to large for the hangers but connected to the capital ship by passenger tube.
"Luke there's no way that behemoth is going to make it through the Run." he protested peering at her through a port.
"She already has, three times." a deep, soft voice countered.
They turned to see the tall, bearded Jedi watching them, eyes alight with amusement. "The Jinx is far faster and more maneuverable than she looks."
"Like the Falcon." Luke reminded his second.
"But it's so - big!" Wedge said helplessly.
"An advantage." the Master assured him, stepping to the port for an affectionate look at his unappetizing vessel. "Not only will she carry the supplies but we'll have room for at least six standard fighters."
"I thought we'd take Y-Wings instead of our usual ships," Luke put in, "for the extra firepower."
"And to keep the kids from splashing themselves on a rock or mine." Wedge guessed. Some of those 'kids' were actually older than the two of them but not in flight time which was what counted.
Luke grinned a little. "Yeah," he agreed, "but that's not the way I'm going to put it at the briefing."
'Course not. The smarter ones might figure it out for themselves but there was no need to rub their noses in it. Wedge snuck a cautious look at the Master. Damn. A real, live Jedi Knight complete with brown robe and lightsabre. Very tall and very still, hands tucked into his sleeves, and surrounded by an almost tangible aura of serenity.
"This is gonna be one interesting trip." he muttered to himself.