Chapter 27: Yoda
It took a while to actually plan the course for Dagobah and to set up a rendezvous point with the fleet, since it planned to leave Utapau right after Ezra and his group would leave for the swamp planet, to continue their search.
Finally, it was time for the Silver Bullet to depart from the Amerigo, just before the cruiser and its flotilla resumed their journey.
"So, why are we heading on a forgotten swamp?" Sabine asked from the sensors while Luke and Ezra piloted the ship.
Since they were already in hyperspace, Ezra turned the seat in order to answer. "I just learned that a legendary Jedi Master is hiding there. If we want to rebuild the Order and complete our training, then we need his help."
"A Jedi Master?" Luke asked fascinated.
"Yes. Yoda. I only talked with him twice and saw him once at the temple on Lothal."
"What do you mean, you saw him?" Sabine asked confused.
"The Force is better than any communication technology." he simply replied. "I didn't know where he was before, but now we do. So we're going to bring him back with us."
R2 beeped an objection.
"I'm not expecting it to be easy." Ezra reassured. "But we have to do this. It's an opportunity we can't afford to pass."
And so, they continued the navigation. The arrival was expected in around four hours and a half, including a necessary stop to reorient the ship toward the final destination, but Jinx and R2 could handle that. The three humans spent the time with a small sparring, a game of dejarik and even watching a holo-movie from Earth, a comedy with psionics as main characters, which gave a unique perspective to the two Jedi over how their counterparts in the other galaxy were viewed and integrated into society.
Finally, they came out of hyperspace and entered the Dagobah system. After a few more minutes of navigation, the planet that gave name to the area stood in front of them, with its green color and a layer of fog that was already visible from orbit.
"Scanners can't even get through that mist, how are we going to land?" Sabine asked.
Ezra calmly turned on his seat and turned toward his friend. "Luke, it's time to test your connection with the Force."
The young man hesitated. "I'm not sure I'm ready for this."
"Just relax and let the Force guide you." Ezra said in a patient tone.
Luke, remembering the countless times Ezra had guided him in their meditations, made a small exhalation to calm down and closed his eyes, reaching into the Force. Ezra passed the controls to Luke, who was the co-pilot, but stood ready to retake them in case the need arose. The Gauntlet dived into the fog, which was as thick as expected. Luke conducted the ship with great caution, probably because it wasn't his own. Aside a couple of winged beasts that passed in front of the transparisteel, croaking nastily, and only a small hurt with some pending tree, the landing was without any major hindrance.
"See? You got this." Ezra said encouragingly at the end to a satisfied Luke. "Jinx, any recommendations before we get down?"
"The air is breathable, but there aren't many notes on the star charts about this planet. Nonetheless, swamps tend to be a very tricky environment. Careful not to step into quicksands or the like. Also, I detect an extremely high value of humidity.
Sabine groaned. "At least the fog diminishes on the surface."
"You're not coming, Sabine." Ezra calmly decreed.
"I don't look forward to ruin my paint job out there, but why?" she asked.
"The two of us will be enough to find Master Yoda, and probably we will already be too many visitors for someone who spent the last 20 years in isolation. Stay here and guard the ship, and make sure that the homing beacon stays on. R2 will help."
The astromech beeped obediently.
"Well, at least he's gentler than Chopper." Sabine commented as he put back down her helmet and went on the sofa in the nearby living room. "Have fun." she said as she clearly enjoyed the idea of not going into that swamp. R2 also seemed quite happy to spare his gears the torture of going into such a messy environment.
The two Jedi reached the door ramp and opened it finally leaving the safety of the Bullet to enter the wild planet. Ezra decided to also close the ramp just to avoid Force knew what animals to easily infiltrate the ship.
Thus they found themselves in the marshes of Dagobah. The place looked a bit creepy, but at least the plants around them emanated an acceptable smell. The fog seemed to come mainly from a river nearby. But what hit them the most was the humidity, just as Jinx said. Even Ezra's improved metabolism wasn't able to ignore that. The temperature was fairly hot, but at nothing too exaggerated when compared to Tatooine or even a summer on Lothal.
"Gosh." Luke commented. "I made two steps out and the jacket is already sticky."
"Tell me about it…" Ezra added, his orange shirt definitely wasn't the best clothing for that environment. "Use the omni-tool's barrier." he suggested. "It should at least make it bearable."
Luke followed the tip and their instruments did the work. It was still quite hot and humid, but not to a particularly bothering degree.
"So...where to, now?" the blonde Jedi asked.
"The Force made you land here." Ezra calmly assessed. "So let's take a look around, first."
Ezra was sharpening his senses, trying to grasp any hint about the presence of Master Yoda, but the Force didn't seem to be helpful, right then. Perhaps the old Jedi had by now severed his connection, or he might have been simply very good at hiding his signature. Also, the planet seemed to be a relevant nexus for the Force, which wasn't helping the focus.
Using the lamp of the omni-tools, they started exploring the surroundings of the landing zone, finding nothing but mud, insects and reptiles crawling around. After a few minutes of fruitless search they decided to head back to the ship in order not to get lost and allow Jinx to make a map of the trail they made.
But when they reached the open area, they found there was an unexpected guest: a snake creature with a protective layer of seemingly hard slough stood up with part of its body and hissed menacingly at them, showing two very sharp teeth that implied it was probably venomous.
"Spat!" Luke cursed and took out his blaster, but Ezra immediately pushed his arm down.
"No."
"What do you mean, no?!" Luke exclaimed.
"We trespassed its territory, obviously it would be hostile." Ezra calmly explained. The snake, by the way, was still standing its ground. "But as Jedi, we need not to fight the living force." the Knight calmly added before slowly extending a hand toward the snake and closing his eyes.
Focusing on the Force, Ezra managed to picture the snake in his mind. It was hostile, but mostly due to fear. The young Jedi reached for the mind of the animal and saw what was happening: the snake was a female, and the Bullet had landed near her underground nest, where she was protecting two eggs.
Using his unique ability of bonding with animals, Ezra kept his composure and, after a minute or so, managed to convince the snake that they were not a threat to her, and finally the reptile closed its mouth and slithered away.
"How did you do that?" Luke asked amazed.
"She was only trying to protect her family. There was no need for either of us to get into conflict."
"Wise that is." a voice said from behind them.
Luke jolted to turn around, while Ezra recognized that voice and wasn't alarmed. He turned around and reassured his friend.
Sitting on the root of a tree that came out from the ground and extended for a while toward the trunk, was a small green alien with an old piece of cloth covering his body, except for his four external limbs with their three fingers each. The creature had big pointy ears that were parallel to the eyes, thus facing the people in front of him, and he was holding a cane.
"Greetings, Master Yoda." Ezra said gently with a bow of his head.
Luke clearly was expecting something else entirely for a great Jedi Master, so he refrained from commenting while Yoda returned the greeting.
"Grown you have, since the only time I saw you. Young Bridger." the green alien said to Ezra.
"I had many people who helped me become the person I am." the human replied humbly.
Yoda hummed. "People around you, a good reason may be. But ignore not, the importance of your will."
Then the alien turned his gaze toward Luke and scrutinized him, squeezing his eyes as if to see better.
"And...young Skywalker." he finally said.
Luke turned toward Ezra. "Have you told him my name, by chance?"
Ezra denied that with a shake of his head. "I have the feeling Master Yoda already knew about you and Leia, just as Obi-Wan did."
Yoda made a short laugh. "Obvious, was that?"
Ezra smirked, then made a step forward with a more serious tone. "Master Yoda, we've been looking for you. We are here to ask for your help."
"Lord Tanis. The 294th is holding the line but they're running out of ammo." the officer reported.
"Copy that, I'm sending them supplies, but they have to hold the position at any cost." Iulius replied from the holotable.
The officer nodded and turned toward his operator, sitting at a console next to where he was standing.
Voices all over the command center were filling the room. The officers were directing fire support, sending in their reserves, making requests and giving orders. Veers was also at the holotable, tasked with most of the command duties as he and his collaborators were frantically assessing the immense front via the map of the region.
The Coalition had just launched another massive offensive, this time focusing their attacks in the region south of Beigran. The capital was defended by two rivers covering pretty much every side except the western one, and the invaders were coming from east. They were trying to reach a ford that was easier to cross and would have given them a more defensible beachhead beyond the rivers, and at that point, they could storm Beigran.
It could not be allowed. Luckily, Iulius had suspected an offensive there, and Mara had brought the evidences just in time to reinforce that part of the front. That morning, Iulius had made a speech on the broadcasts, stating that now it was prohibited to do a single step back. That every soldier caught fleeing his post would be executed by the ISB agents sent to control the troops. So far, it seemed that this measure was unnecessary, and the troops seemed to share Iulius' statement. Either they would repel the invaders or they would die trying.
For now, the attack was coming from the Army of the New Republic, but the Imperial Army was still holding against them. The rebels seemed to have a refined doctrine, but it was only that doctrine of extensive planning. After months of fighting them, the imperials had started to learn how to fight them on even terms.
The real problem was the Federal Army. Its multi-ethnic nature also meant that it incorporated multiple doctrines and ways of making war. The federals had large units for every kind of warfare and were extremely adaptable, making them formidable adversaries that Iulius had come to respect like no other enemy.
However, the offensive of the Coalition wasn't necessarily just a problem. It meant that, if the imperials could repel it, by the time their counteroffensive started, the enemy would be out of energies and materials to hold it back.
Iulius wondered if the enemy had learned or not about the massive resources he was mobilizing for the offensive, because this one they had launched planned different stages for the next five weeks. They were clearly trying to take Beigran as quickly as possible. Then again, they could've simply been desperate to make a break through, as this long battle might have also been a PR defeat in itself.
He observed the development of the battle. While he mostly left the decision to Veers and his staff, as he needed to make sure that the General was ready to take charge of the upcoming offensive, Iulius still had to take care of some minor details.
As minutes passed, the first wave of the enemy attack slowly started to waver until they finally pulled back to reorganize.
At that point, Mara gained his attention as she invited him to talk in the next room. Iulius reached her and she handed him a datapad.
"My report on the cities of Crian and Vezberg, Grand Admiral." she reported. "It seems like most of the enemy army is focused on the offensive outside Beigran. These regions are almost unguarded."
He listened carefully while reading the report. This was exactly what he needed to know. He lowered the datapad and looked at her. "Good job, Mara. Our spies can take care of the minor details, now I need you somewhere else."
"You're in charge. What do you want me to do?" she calmly replied.
"I need you to join the fleet hunting down Ezra Bridger and his Jedi friend in the Trailing Sectors."
Mara seemed a bit surprised. "I thought you didn't think of them as a threat."
"They have always been a threat, but a minor one compared to the main front. Now, after reading the report from Utapau, I would really like to just send my idiotic father back to Fondor, but I don't have another fleet to spare for the search."
"Isn't that the reason why you sent Commander Zahra? To find them?"
"And she did more than once, but she's just a Commander. I can't give her the authority to disobey an Admiral like my father. However, you are a Hand of the Emperor. Your authority far surpasses his own. I'm putting you in charge of the search operation. I hope you will know which people to rely on, Agent Jade."
Mara chuckled. "Your father will see this as an insult."
He sighed. "I am aware, but as I said, I don't have anybody else to spare. Let's just hope he doesn't do anything too stupid. By the way, since you're a personal agent to the Emperor, maybe you can ask him to send Lord Vader. He should've recovered from his injuries, by now."
"Ehm, about that…" she replied with a bit of discomfort.
"What?"
"I don't know why, but the Emperor has been...silent for a few weeks, now. I can barely sense his presence and he hasn't reached me with a comlink either."
The news was worrying. Was the Emperor ill or something? What was going on in the capital?
"You have any idea what happened? I thought you and him could talk with your minds, or something."
"More like he commands me with his mind, but I can feel him, too. Last time it happened, I only sensed rage. An insane rage coming from him. For what reason, I do not know."
The Grand Admiral hummed in thought. This sudden absence of the Emperor might have been the entire reason why Imperial High Command on Coruscant had suddenly started to satisfy all of his requests for manpower and resources. Either because the Emperor had recently stopped making requests, or because they didn't know what to do and Iulius seemed the only one to have a clear idea of the direction the Empire had to take.
"We'll have to sort this later. For now, meet with Commander Zahra and Admiral Tanis, and see if you can convince Lord Vader to join you, you have my authority to support the request. I would like to see Bridger dead or captured, but if you can simply drive them out of the region, it will be enough for now."
"It will be done, Lord-Protector. I wish you good fortune for the battle to come." Mara said with an unusually respectful voice.
Iulius nodded. "You too, Agent." he replied with the same regard in his voice. Then they separated as Mara headed for the hangar where she had left her Z-95 and Iulius reentered the command center.
As he did that, he found a call coming from Versio and he picked it up.
"Give me a SITREP, Admiral." Iulius ordered right away.
"The rebels and their allies have tried to take control of the first moon, Grand Admiral. We fended off their first attack, and we're lucky their monstrous dreadnought hasn't intervened, yet."
"The invaders seem to have a great regard in preserving livable worlds. I guess they don't want to risk hitting the surface of Lantillies with their bigger guns."
"That is just what Commander Ree concluded. It's thanks to her if we found a winning tactic."
"I wouldn't have left her in charge of my ship otherwise." Iulius quipped, then looked around himself with caution before leaning forward to speak less consistently. Not that many were paying attention to what he was doing, given that the battle on the surface was still in full swing. "Admiral, have heard any news about Coruscant?"
Versio hummed in thought. "Not much, actually. But there's something that doesn't feel right in the few reports I receive from the capital."
"I see. Thanks, Admiral. Inform me if the enemy attacks again."
Versio made the salute. "Yes, Grand Admiral." and then Iulius closed the transmission.
October 25.
"Good food! Mmm, good, hmm?" Yoda said from the other side of his terribly short hut while Ezra and Luke took a sip of the soup boiling over the small bonfire in the kitchen.
Luke could not hide an expression of disgust. Ezra wasn't exactly liking whatever composed that slop, but a couple times in the past he and Jaral had had to feed themselves with an edible root on Lothal, and since then, he never again complained about food.
"We are grateful for your hospitality, Master, however -"
"Yoda. Just Yoda, it is." the green alien said as he walked with the support of his cane toward the two humans, who had to stay sit on the floor and their head almost touched the roof.
Ezra put down his bowl of soup. "We're grateful, Yoda, but we need to return to our fleet soon, so I need a straight answer, quickly."
Yoda grumbled as he walked past them.
"Why are you so hesitant to come back with us?" Luke asked.
"Teach you, I can. But leave my exile, I can't." Yoda replied gravely.
"But we need your help. The galaxy needs your help." the boy insisted.
"Tried have I, to save the galaxy. Failed I have already."
The two Jedi looked at each other. Luke shook his head and would've already returned to the ship if it wasn't raining buckets at that moment, but Ezra took a mental breather and patiently turned toward the discouraged Jedi Master.
"Master. I understand that you feel like you failed. I am aware that you lived hundred of years for the Order and then you saw it crumble in front of your very eyes. I cannot imagine what it must have been for you, but now we have a chance at setting things right."
"Right?" Yoda exclaimed before slowly turning around. "Making right? Careful, one must be, before claiming to make right. How can you tell, if you doing things right are?"
"We can't." Ezra replied, to the surprise of both Luke and Yoda. "We can only do what we believe is just, and if things go wrong, then we need to take responsibility for our failures, and learn from them.
"You may have failed to stop the Sith when you could, but that doesn't mean that you can just abandon everything and everybody and hide in a remote corner of the galaxy while countless innocents are suffering."
Those words probably struck a cord in Yoda. At least his eyes were giving away that feeling. Then the little green alien lowered his gaze and made his weird chuckle before apparently speaking to somebody else in the room.
"Truly wonderful, the mind of a youngling is."
"I told you so." the unmistakable voice of Obi-Wan resonated into the room.
Ezra was caught a bit by surprise, as so far he had only heard it in his mind, but it was nothing compared to Luke, who still hadn't had the chance to learn the way of communicating with those who had become Force spirits.
"Both you and I have been grieving long enough, my old friend. We have left a terrible galaxy to this generation. We should at the very least give them the chance to fix it."
Yoda hummed and closed his eyes, trying to reach a conclusion by settling his own internal conflicts. Eventually, he let out a sigh of relief and turned his attention toward the young Jedi sitting in front of him.
"Yes. Time to make it right, it is."
Ezra and Luke smirked in satisfaction and would have already headed back toward the Silver Bullet, but a flash followed by a loud thunder reminded them that there was a storm going on outside, which would be a problem on a spotless plain, let alone the labyrinthine swamp that was Dagobah.
"But first, warm up with some more food, we should." Yoda added before laughing and heading toward the pot.
The two young Jedi groaned at the prospect.
October 27.
"And remember to call me if you feel anything, ok?" Mira recommended almost spasmodically.
Jaral gently touched her mother's arms and talked with a calm voice and a reassuring smile. "Mum, I promise, it will be all right. Besides, for the next three weeks, it's still as if I wasn't pregnant."
"That doesn't mean that you can do everything, Jari. I read the manuals!"
"It will...be fine. Trust me, there's nothing more important to me than my child, right now. I'll be careful."
Mira eventually breathed out loudly. "I know. I'm just so nervous. I never thought it would happen so soon...my little princess is going to be a mother." she said as she started to roll out tears of joy.
Jaral smiled and gave her a warm hug. "Come on. I need to get to work."
Mira sniffed and quickly dried her face. "Right, me too." she said.
After saying goodbye again, Mira reached her speeder and headed out, while Jaral was being waited by two old faces. Alien faces who waved at her.
"Looking good, miss Bridger." Hera greeted before the two shared a friendly embrace.
"You too, General Syndulla." Jaral replied before heading for the other person in the garden. "How you doing, Zeb?" she asked as the two bumped their fists together.
"Eh, I'm honestly getting bored. Watching a shipyard isn't exactly my idea of fun."
As they entered the skycar, with Hera getting the driver seat, they kept talking.
"Which brings me to ask, why did you come too, Hera? Aren't you in charge of the Starhawk Project?" Jaral asked.
"Yes, but it's more of a formality. Right now, they need engineers and workers, not me. Captain Javes will run the project even better while I help you with something that will truly make a difference." Hera replied confidently while she drove toward Capitol City, heading for the headquarters of the UACT.
"You heard anything from Ezra?" Zeb asked in regard to what Hera was referring.
Jaral shook her head. "Not with the comlink, but he contacted me through the bond and said that he and Luke found Master Yoda. For all I know, they're still trying to convince him to follow them."
"Having the boss of the old Order would certainly be a huge boost in rebuilding." Hera commented.
"Not to mention we can finally hope to finish our training. But for now, let's focus on what we can do."
With those words giving the sense of their mission, the trio reached the building, were allowed inside and headed for the room that had been reserved for Jaral. It was quite small, but it had a holotable, a terminal with access to the database of both ICO and MI6 and a meditation chamber for Jaral. Everything they needed for the task of locating Force sensitives around the UACT territories.
Immediately, the Jedi sent a call to Cal, Ahsoka and Darvos, whose duties had kept him on Lianna. One after the other, the three appeared around the holotable.
"Jari, how are you doing?" Darvos asked first.
"I'm fine, don't worry. Let's get down to business. Have you spoken with Mothma?"
"I did. Unfortunately, the rules of the New Republic imply that, in order to create the Task Force you asked, she would have to ask the Senate for additional funding, and we don't want to make public that we are looking for Force sensitives."
Jaral hummed in thought. "There's absolutely nothing you can get, so?"
"Not at all. General Draven has given me what he could spare. Including some squads of Rangers and a small fleet."
"Good. Cal, Ahsoka, have you guys found any possible candidate?"
"My network is still gathering intel, but I am quite sure that we can confirm a dozen possible Force sensitives inside New Republic space." Ahsoka said.
"Good, send us the list as it is, I'll go visit them right away."
"Maybe it's just rumors…" Cal said. "but me and Cere have heard about an 'old wizard' living on Nar Shaddaa. If he's as old as it sounds like, he might even be a survivor of the old Order."
"I suppose you're heading there already?"
"Of course we are. We might even be talking about a Master, here. There's no time to waste."
"That's the spirit." Jaral said in a calm tone. "Good, so for starters…"
She stopped all of a sudden as she felt Ezra poking her into the bond. She gestured the others to wait for a moment while she listened to her little brother, and the news put a smile on her face. When she reopened her eyes, she announced with relieved tone.
"Great news, people. Ezra and Luke have just returned on the Amerigo with Master Yoda himself. They'll bring him back to Lothal as soon as their mission is over."
Cal and Ahsoka in particular were left stunned and pleasantly surprised at the same time. They understood very well how great of a symbolic victory the return of the Grand Master was and how it might have been crucial to kick-start the recruitment of Force sensitives and convince possible survivors of the old Order to come out of hiding and join them on Lothal.
"Those two are certainly full of surprises." Ahsoka commented.
"Indeed. They did a great job." Hera concluded. "Let's make sure we can maximize their success."
Jaral nodded in agreement. "Go prepare the Ghost, we got a few places to visit."
Zeb and Hera thus left the room just when Ahsoka sent the list to Jaral. After taking a few minutes to be updated on the status of the war from Darvos, the Jedi Knight finally left the room as well with the list. Her first stop was to be the planet of Brigia.