Welcome back to Star Wars: Heritage. It's been quite a long time, but I'm picking up where I left off. All previous chapters have been re-edited, mostly just diction changes, a couple extra character descriptions. I hope you all enjoy the next chapter, and chapter seven will be up shortly.

Chapter 6

From the darkness of space emerged a small cruiser carrying Hirim Tam. The cruiser's sublight engine's roared as the Alliance cruiser made its first stride into the Ankus system.

"Chief Tam, we've arrived."

Tam nodded slowly from the co-pilot's chair on the bridge. He hadn't slept since the call from the Imperials came through. Imperials. Tam wasn't sure how he should react. Was he supposed to be angry? Or, perhaps, happy?

He had spent the hours in hyperspace reading the section from the Chief's Protocols on the Empire. The protocols hadn't been very helpful. The protocols were more concerned with the threat of a resurgent Sith Empire than the dynasty of the Fel, Tam reasoned. The protocol's had only this to say on the Fel Empire.

Section V.3,FEL EMPIRE

The Fel Empire was the prevailing empire in the galaxy prior to their disappearance. The Chief of State and his confidants are the sole heirs to the knowledge of the continued existence of this imperial dynasty. At the time of the recording, rumors are abound of a meeting between Jedi Master Cade Skywalker and Empress Marasiah Fel on the eve of the Fel Empire's disappearance. The nature of the rumors are true, as they began in Alliance reconnaissance on the Imperial Capital Bastion, although it is unknown the exact nature of the meeting. The Chief of the Galactic Federation of Free Alliances is entrusted with the sole knowledge of the continuing existence of the Fel Empire. After the Empire left known space, a transmission was sent to the Chief of State's office (this transmission may be found in the Addendum V.3-1). The content of this transmission, in brief, details that the Empire will leave the Alliance to its own machinations until a time arrives when the Empire's presence in known space is necessary. This message seems to imply the Empire will be returning to Alliance space eventually. The Empire is extremely hostile and should not be taken lightly. Do not under any circumstances engage them in hostilities until absolutely necessary. Deal with caution and delicacy.

Less useful than a bag of bantha droppings, thought Tam as he piled through the protocols, hours ago. Now, hanging in the deep of space without a clue as to what was ahead, Tam was on high alert.

"We are at the exact coordinates that were transmitted to us. No sign of…well, anything. Our scanners aren't picking up any signs of life in this sector, except for our own cruiser, of course." said a gravelly voice from the head of the bridge.

"Is it possible we were thrown of course in the hyperlanes?" inquired Tam, rubbing his eyes slowly.

"Impossible, Chief. Our nav computers match our location to the coordinates. It seems our contact simply hasn't arrived yet. However, I could try recalibrating our computers, if you think our navigation system is faulty." The voice had a hint of sarcasm in the last sentence, although it was masked with a layer of respect. The owner of the voice, a hulking mass of a creature turned to face Hirim Tam. The voice belonged to a Yuuzhan Vong body, and the body belonged to Tam's Head of Security, Dirtak Onpaar. "Sir, you haven't slept in nearly two standard days. It would be wise to rest before engaging these Imperials."

"I suppose it would. Thank you, Dirtak. I'll be in my quarters." Tam stood up slowly and trudged wearily down to his room.

As soon as the doors slid shut behind Tam, Onpaar took a seat in his personal commander's chair.

Even though Onpaar was more at home among the technical aspects of his job as Head of Security, he still missed the old days on the battlefield. The high, sloping brow of his head and the massive strength of his hard-skinned torso would have made him the ideal Yuuzhan Vong for the old warrior-caste. In truth, Onpaar was considered an oddity among his own kind. His childhood was marred by the training and discipline of his traditional Yuuzhan Vong parents. Of course, the more his parents tried to keep him away from the supposed "abominations of this galaxy," the more Onpaar was intrigued. The incarceration and subsequent execution of his father for murder allowed Onpaar a window into the greater galaxy. He discovered the technology his parents had hid him from and, by his mid-twenties, became one of the greatest technological minds in the Alliance. He was drawn into the military as a scientist, but when a particularly nasty local insurrection in the Outer Rim had broken out, his warrior training had kicked in and soon Onpaar was all across the HoloNet as the Yuuzhan Vong who single-handedly stopped the Krimean Insurrection.

Of course, being of great strength and of great mind always means exceptions. Onpaar was used to being the exception to the rule. The thing that really separated Onpaar from his own kind was his training with the Jedi. After the Krimean Insurrection, Onpaar had accepted a position in the Galactic Alliance military (and the big paycheck it came with) and was one of the foremost warriors on the battlefield. The problem with peacetime, according to Onpaar, is there is not nearly enough for the military to do. So, in his mid-thirties, Onpaar was given a temporary military exemption to travel to Ossus. Viker Manuush, member of the Jedi High Council, had volunteered to teach Onpaar in the ways of lightsaber combat. Although the Council strongly discouraged the teachings, Onpaar learned quickly and soon became one of the only non-Jedi lightsaber wielders. His natural ability in sword combat, honed by years of amphistaff training under his parents, added with his fascination of technology made him the ideal candidate to wield a lightsaber. Even now, when combat was rare, he never went anywhere without his lightsaber.

But it wasn't the saber that separated Onpaar from the other Yuuzhan Vong. From his training with Master Manuush on Ossus had come forth rumors. Terrible rumors. Rumors, Onpaar knew, that were true. His own species had heard the rumors of Onpaar's…experiments on Ossus.

But it wasn't important now. The Alliance had begun to demilitarize in last couple of decades, realizing that the time of sustained peace meant that the Alliance's funds were best spent outside the military. Onpaar was transferred to Coruscant and found his dual roles as a scientist and military man made him ideally suited to the job of security. So, Onpaar was appointed Head of Security under Hydan Trell, a position he had maintained through Hiram Tam's appointment.

For all the good it's done me, thought Onpaar. Sometimes it seemed like the sweet thrill of battle would never—

The cruiser shook like a Muun debtor would a Bothan. The entire ship shuttered violently and a long whine permeated the walls as the hull creaked under an unknown force.

"Sir," cried one of the crew members, "the ship has been caught in a tractor beam!"

Onpaar stood up quickly, his eyes darting along data being fed into his nav computer. "This is impossible; there are no ships in the area."

Onpaar's mind raced. It was as if the world around him had disappeared and there were only two things that mattered: the battle and the Chief.

"Right. Cors and Pol, you need to get the Chief of State and bring him here, now. Then, find Senator Athos and bring her here too."

The two officers nodded shortly and went to fulfill their commander's orders.

Onpaar sat back in his seat and set to work on his computer. "Okay, mystery tractor beam. Juña, options?"

The female crew member was working furiously on her own navigational system. "We can't disrupt the beam because we can't pinpoint the origin. The beam is extremely powerful. An attempt at a microjump will tear our engine out of our ship and destroy us."

"Right."

"So our best hope is to find the source of beam."

"Good. What do you suggest?"

Juña brought up a large, holographic representation of their cruiser. "We shut down all the engines and non-essential systems and eject all of the escape pods. If they're pirates, then chances are, they will disable the tractor beam and board the ship directly."

"And if they're syndicate?"

"If they're Black Sun or any of the others, then they will in all likelihood destroy the escape pods first. Fortunately, to destroy all of the pods means they will have to navigate and to do that they will need to disable their tractor beam. If it's the Hutt Cartel, then no such luck."

Onpaar nodded in approval. "Excellent, ensign. Execute plan."

Juña returned the nod and entered a series of commands into her console. The engines all fell silent and nearly of the lights on board shut into the off position.

Everything was silent on board, all waiting for their mystery aggressor to take action. Then it happened. Right before their eyes, from the viewport of the bridge, a large capital ship seemed to appear from space. It wasn't that the ship had just made the jump to that space. One moment that area had been void of anything and in the next, the ship was sitting there.

Onpaar jumped up in shock, "Emperor's black bones! Where the kriff did that thing come from?!"

"As best as I can tell, it came from nowhere." responded Juña. "There's no efflux trail, no comm chatter, no heat signals. As far I can tell, this is a dead ship that's just been sitting here."

"A dead ship that appeared out of nowhere and caught us in a tractor beam? I doubt it."

The tractor beam retained its grip on the cruiser, bringing it closer in to its gaping maw. The capital ship was completely black, a design unlike any in the Galactic Alliance, yet too sophisticated to be a pirate or Hutt design. It was shaped like a wedge, similar to any old class of Star Destroyer, yet it had wing-like appendages at the far end, near the bring that extended outwards and back from the main dagger-like body.

On the screen before him, Onpaar saw the flashing red indicator that a transmission was coming through. Onpaar brought the transmission up on the central comm station.

"I am terribly sorry for the theatrics, commander. The commander of the ship would rather think this is a holo rather than a mission." said a dark hair woman being broadcast into the bridge.

Onpaar straightened his back and tried to look fearsome which, for the Yuuzhan Vong, wasn't a terribly difficult thing to do.

"Greetings. I am Commander Dirtak Onpaar, Head of Security for Chief of State Hirim Tam. Am I to believe you are the Imperial attaché?"

The dark haired woman gave a curt nod. "I am Moff Dima Orothi, liaison to the Galactic Alliance, speaking on behalf of Her Imperial Majesty."

So that the Moff could not hear hear her, Juña muttered, "I didn't know the Empire had a liaison to the Galactic Alliance."

Onpaar bowed slightly, waving the chatter of his subordinates away, "On behalf of the Galactic Alliance, it is my pleasure to make your acquaintance."

Orothi smirked, slightly. "Commander, we have an important mission to undertake, so if we could spare the formalities?"

"Of course." Onpaar said, sparing absolutely no formality.

On board the capital ship's enormous hangar bay, Tam, trailed by Senator Athos, Commander Onpaar, and several armed guards stepped cautiously from their cruiser's hold. On both sides of their cruiser, rows of Imperial stormtroopers lined the path leading from the cruiser's hold. In between the rows of stormtroopers, walking directly in front of the Alliance officials was a tall, regal-looking woman, flanked by a single companion. The companion, Tam and Onpaar recognized, was Orothi. The other woman had the air of royalty around her. She was young, very young. Early twenties, thought the Alliance members. Her features were long and sharp, her eyes a deep brown color. Every step was marked with grace and excellence. Her fingers seemed bony, but her face conveyed strength. Most notable was the long streak of silver, nestled in her long, brown hair.

Extending a manicured hand, the woman gripped Tam's hand with more strength than the hand seemed outwardly capable of.

"Chief of State Tam. It is my upmost pleasure." said the woman, her voice clipped with the strong tones of an Imperial accent.

"Yes, mine as well, erm…"

The woman raised an eyebrow in question before realized the small man was uninformed of her own identity.

"Ciera Fel, Empress of the Galactic Empire."

"You're—"

"Yes, the Empire is still alive and prospering—" Ciera began.

"No, I'm mean you're—"

"Don't worry, I will appraise you of recent events in the Empire, but I would like—"

"No, no! That's not what I am trying to say." a flustered Tam burst.

"What?"

"You're…" Tam raised his shocked jowls up to the Empress's face, "you're a woman."

"You were expecting someone else?" Fel raised a stern eyebrow. The Empress did not give the Chief a chance to respond and instead continued, "You've read the protocols, I assume, so you know that we would not be here unless—ah, mind the doors."

The group stepped into a large turbolift, headed for the bridge of the Imperial ship.

"As I was saying, my ancestor, Empress Marasiah made an agreement with Chief Stazi. The Empire is allowed to exist apart from and separate from the Galactic Alliance in the Unknown Regions, as long as they do not attack, bother, or otherwise make their existence known to the citizen of the Galactic Alliance. This agreement was made in light of nearly 150 years of conflict between the various empires and the forces of the Alliance. Both may exist, under the agreement, without being drawn into conflict."

"That doesn't make sense," Commander Onpaar's brow moved with his alert eye sacks. His training as a child had taught him to fully analyze an enemy's stance for weaknesses. Analyzing their speech was more or less the same. "The Alliance and Empire had formed a new government together. The history books say that the Triumvirate of the Alliance, Empire, and Jedi were moving towards a single integrated government. Right before the Fel Empire left known space, the Imperial Senate and the Alliance Senate had just merged into one body. It makes no sense for the Empire to leave purely in the interest of avoiding conflict, when the galaxy was moving away from conflict. What is the real reason you left? And why have you returned now, Empress?"

"Our return was stipulated in the Chief's protocol. In the event that a crisis erupts that threatens the galaxy as a whole, the Empire and Alliance will come together in the common defense of all the people of the galaxy." Ciera Fel replied. The turbolift doors opened rapidly and revealed the grand bridge, adorned with white and gold trimmings along black, and a large white Imperial insignia plastered on the floor. "Ah, here we are."

As the party stepped out of the lift, Onpaar couldn't help but notice that the Empress did not answer his first question. Why had the Empire left no space? It still weighed heavily on the commander's mind, but he was not afforded a chance to press the issue. Before he could speak, their party was greeted by a tall figure in dark brown robes, overlaid with red armor. The figure was a man—a boy, perhaps 17 years in age. His hair was sandy colored, with flecks of orange, but cropped closely to his head, almost military style. His face curved in a gawky smile, and his rounded face displayed friendliness, adorned with youthfulness. He skin was fair and a few freckles marked his skin here and there. The only look that shone in his sky blue eyes more than childlike excitement, was a strength of will and determination.

From the Imperial's belt hung a lightsaber.

"Hi," the cheeky the Imperial said. He extended out a hand in a friendly wave. "I'm Cam Skywalker, I'm in charge of this expedition." Something like a coughing sound came from the direction of the Empress, "Underneath the Empress, of course."

Silence, for a moment. Tam, Onpaar, and their guards were stunned. The Skywalker family hadn't been heard from it almost two centuries. Most assumed they died with the Empire, or else had renounced their names and powers. But here was a Skywalker standing before them. Even as Chief Tam looked at him, he could see the faces of Luke and Ben Skywalker staring back at him.

"You're…a Skywalker?" Tam asked cautiously.

Cam turned to the Empress, "I'll take it from here, Ciera—I mean, Empress." The Empress dropped her regal visage slightly, and gave Cam a kind smile, like the one a close friend flashes another. "Come, walk with me Chief Tam."

"How are you even alive? And you're a Jedi? How is it the Order doesn't know about you?" Tam was bursting with questions as he walked slowly along the bridge with the Skywalker, under the watchful eye of Commander Onpaar.

"Yes, I am a Jedi. Well, strictly speaking, I'm an apprentice. Still, a Jedi, nonetheless." Cam nodded his round head.

"An Imperial Knight?" Tam asked nervously. The Imperial Knights were never feared, but even in this day, they were viewed with suspicion. The Jedi Order had made very clear over the last century that the Imperial Knights were heretics who betrayed the will of the Force for the will of a single human.

"Ah, the Imperial Knights don't actually exist anymore, Chief. I'll tell you a bit of our history, since you made the trip out here." Cam continued walking, nearing the transparisteel viewport of the bridge. "My ancestor, Cade Skywalker, was the only Jedi in the Empire when they left the known galaxy. Over the years, Cade reformed himself into a true Jedi Master, using Jedi works held by the Imperial Knights to complete his own training. Supposedly, he also communed with departed Jedi who taught him the ways of a Jedi Master. He formed a fierce friendship with Empress Marasiah, who employed him as her chief advisor and enforcer. Cade slowly taught Marasiah the ways of the Jedi, and soon Marasiah mandated that the Empire's Imperial Knights undergoes Jedi training. There was some resistance, of course, but soon Cade and an apprentice he had recruited reformed the Imperial Knights, and under the mandate of Empress Marasiah, the Knights became the Imperial Jedi Order. Cade and his apprentice, later his wife, worked hard to create the Order in the same fashion as Luke Skywalker's Jedi Order."

"So, the Alliance's Jedi Order doesn't know about you?" Tam asked. He drew out his handkerchief from his breast pocket and wiped the sweat he could feel beneath his hair. He hoped the Jedi would not notice, but Tam could have sworn he heard a quiet smirk from Skywalker.

"Nope!" grinned Cam. "Never even heard of us. Although, we still consider ourselves a branch of the same order. My mother sent me with Ciera—I mean the Empress—to assist, but I expect she will want to meet you soon too."

"I never thought that a Skywalker would have an Imperial accent." muttered Tam. The Chief was about to inquire further about the reason for their arrival, when the turbolift opened, and a blue astromech droid came screaming towards Cam.

"Doot-deeweet! Reet-doo-weep!" The droid said as he reached Cam.

"Hey, little buddy, who are you?" Cam smiled at the droid.

The figures that had come with the droid rushed forward after him.

"Whoa." said one of them, a Twi'lek.

"Hello," said another one of the figures, this one human and dressed in green robes. "my name is Kieran Horn, and this is Nastra Vao. Our ancestors were friends of your family."

The young Skywalker skewed his face in thought. "Let me see…Horn…that would be Valin right?"

The green-robed Jedi nodded, "That's me. Corran, Valin, Grennan, all of them. And Vao is descended from a friend of Cade Skywalker's, Shado."

Cam turned to both Jedi in sequence and shook their hand fervently. The freckles on his face moved towards his eyes as his grin grew. "It is great to meet you, both of you. And who are the droids?"
The tall, battered droid moved forward. "Hello, I am See-Threepio, Human-Cyborg relations, and this is my counterpart, Artoo-Deetoo."

"Doo-wee-ooh." chortled the astromech.

"I know you droids! You used to travel with Luke Skywalker!" Cam exclaimed, giddily. "Although, you used to look more golden, didn't you, Threepio? And sort, you know, not gross?"

"Well, time takes its toll, even on a droid such as myself. Are you the next Master Skywalker?" Threepio asked curiously.

"No, that would be my mother. But I am a Skywalker. Cam Skywalker, the latest and greatest the Skywalkers have to offer. Lieutenant," Cam turned to an officer serving the bridge. "see these droids down to maintenance. Have them fixed up, and their software updated."

"Yes, sir."

"Oh, thank the Maker!" cried Threepio. "I can't tell you how much I've needed a good oil bath, Master Cam."

As the droids left, Cam thanked the Jedi, "I figured I might be seeing these guys. Mom tried remotely activating Artoo when we knew we were coming back, but we weren't sure if he was still around anywhere."

"Well, it's a good thing we found him when we did." said Kieran. "My family found the R2 unit out in the forests of Ossus a while back, and have been hiding him in secret for years. We were unable to restart his programming, and eventually realized he had been remotely deactivated. We've been monitoring him, waiting to see if he would ever come back online. When our sensors detected he had, I went searching for him."

Empress Ciera, on the other side of the bridge, heard this. "May I inquire how you found this ship?"

"Artoo had the coordinates. He led us here." Nastra responded.

Ciera shot Cam a weary look. With a royal lilt to her words, she said, "Next time, have your mom inform me when she sends out our secret coordinates."

"Sorry, Empress!" Cam said. "Anyways, thanks for bringing them here, Kieran and Nastra. Now, Chief Tam," Cam returned to the subject he had come to talk about. "I know that relative to Coruscanti time it is quite late, so I'll let you go to sleep in a moment."

"Ah, thank you, Master Skywalker." breathed Chief Tam, who glanced wearily back at Onpaar. Despite his light chat with Moff Orothi, Onpaar's eye sacks had not left Tam since they boarded the ship. Onpaar kept his arms near his belt, ready to activate his lightsaber at any moment.

Cam smiled back at the diminutive Chief. "Only a padawan, Chief Tam, but thanks. Let me just ask before you go, has any large crises broken out lately, or strange occurrences?"

"Why?" blustered the frustrated Chief of State, perhaps louder than he diplomatically should have. "And why are you Imperials here in the first place?"

Cam hesitated. He was unsure what to say, but finally, after received a warm nod from Ciera, he said "We have received a premonition through the Force. I experienced a vision of the galaxy tearing itself apart, a shadow falling down on the Empire and the Alliance. This was a vision also shared by Empress Ciera and my mother, Grand Master Skywalker."

Chief Tam seemed unfazed, but the levity of a Force vision was not lost on Kieran Horn and Nastra Vao. If the vision was terrible enough to inspire the entire Empire to reemerge, it had to be a grave situation indeed.

"No, Jedi," Tam returned to the question put forth by Cam, "my predecessor was assassinated, which is disconcerting to the Alliance, and a terrible occurrence, but no real conflicts have happened since the Krimean Insurrection a couple of decades ago. Things have been quite peaceful, the GA has actually been demilitarizing over the last decade."

Cam raised an inquisitive eyebrow, "Do you think that's wise?"

"There is peace, Jedi," Tam said, pleadingly, "we have had the longest stretch of peace the galaxy has seen since the days of the Old Republic. We cannot plunge back into conflict."

Cam sighed, feeling the weight of his vision on his shoulders. "Thank you, Chief Tam. We'll talk more later. Moff Orothi will show you and your entourage to their quarters. We're going to make a hyperspace jump back into Imperial space, just on the edge to avoid any unpleasantness, you understand. In a couple hours, we will transfer our party to a nondescript shuttle bound for Coruscant. If there are any officials the Empire needs to meet before our presence in the galaxy again is revealed, please contact them now."

"Thank you, Jedi Skywalker. I will talk to you more then."

Cam watched as the Alliance members left with the Moff. The bridge was now devoid of any Alliance citizens, save the two Jedi before him. "So, Kieran, Nastra, now that Tam is gone, let me ask again. Have there really been no problems in the GA lately?"

Kieran and Nastra exchanged nervous glances. Kieran began playing with the pendant handing on the chest of his green robes, and cleared his throat to say, "The Jedi have…problems. It's no longer the same order it once was."

Cam's eyes narrowed in concern, "What do you mean?"

Kieran continued, uncomfortably keeping his eyes away from the great Skywalker. "There is this sort of…Jedi nobility, I suppose. The powerful and larger Jedi families has asserted control over the smaller ones. The Order isn't what the history holobooks says it once was. Many of the Jedi are now fond of adding to the Jedi Code 'There is no selflessness, there are credits.'"

"That's not what a Jedi is supposed to do," Cam said, not realizing the pointlessness of his statement. He pushed it aside, not wanting to believe it. If it was true, there would be plenty of time to see it himself soon. "And the Alliance? How are they?"

Nastra piped up for this question, adjusting one of his lekku as he did so, "The assassination has shaken some people, but the real problem is the weak Chiefs of State. Even before Tam and Trell, the Alliance has been governed by weak-willed politicians. Pirates run rampant in the Outer Rim, and rumors of slavery rings are popping up everywhere." In a hushed tone, the Twi'lek added, "Some are even saying that the Chevin are trying to force the Chev back into slavery."

Cam almost smiled for a moment (before he realized how that would look after a statement about slavery), grasping that perhaps his vision had been true. Many Jedi in the Empire were not inclined to believe him. Master Draco had been particularly against the idea of breaking their Empire's isolation…even Cam's girlfriend was wary of the idea…

"Thank you," said Cam to the two older Jedi, "you've both helped me a lot. Come with me, and I'll show you to your quarters."

Kieran gave a small bow, "Thank you, Jedi Skywalker."

Cam grinned as they headed back to the turbolift, "Call me Cam."

Empire!

Jogrum Katarn's eye flashed open in the night. He was in bed with his wife, Vema, on their personal shuttle en route to Coruscant. It was only a few hours ago that Chief Tam had called the council and informed them of the Empire's return, and requested Jedi presence on Coruscant. Now, the entire Council was headed to Coruscant on their respective ships.

Katarn was still in shock. How could the Empire still be functioning without Jedi knowledge? How could they not have died off, disappeared forever? They did not, though, and were back in full force, it seemed.

Was the Empire the threat mentioned in Wori-Ky's prophecy? Because if the Empire was returning, then who else was coming back?

Skywalker.

But no matter, no matter. This was a good thing. The Empire would provide the perfect launching opportunity for the Jedi. The Empire and Alliance would fight each other, and when both were crippled, the Jedi would launch their own forces. Katarn smiled and wiped the droplets of sweat from his upper lip.

Jogrum stood up and slipped on his robes. He quietly left the room, careful not to wake up Vema. As he left, he glimpsed at his resting wife. A small burning sensation leaped through Jogrum's chest, not one of pain, but of love. Many years had passed since they were young Jedi Knights, but Jogrum still loved his wife fiercely. It was for her sake, and all Jedi, that he was carrying out their stratagem.

Down the cool corridor, Katarn found was looking for, a small holostation. He activated it and placed out a call.

"Ritaich," the message he recorded went, "orders have come from the Alliance Navy. I know it is before dawn on the station, but as soon as you receive this message in the morning, you are to take the First Fleet to orbit over Tython in the Deep Core. There you will await further instructions from the Alliance, through me. There is a new threat fast approaching, and the fleet needs to be ready to launch on Coruscant. Katarn out."

As Katarn was shutting down the terminal, he felt a familiar presence poking at his mind.

Jogrum?

Sim Sebatyne's mental voice sounded in Katarn mind. Although many Jedi are unable to communicate in words through telepathy, the Jedi Masters of the High Council were generally more than adept at the skill.

Yes, Sim? Responded Katarn with the Force.

This one is worried. What if this Empire is stronger than these ones anticipated? What if these ones are not enough? Even without speaking aloud, Katarn could sense the worry in the Barabel's thoughts. Sim Sebatyne was perhaps one of the most fearless Jedi in the Order, but her doubts on this matter still shone brightly.

The Alliance will resist the Empire, and when Empire has destroyed the Alliance, we will conquer their weakened forces with our superior might. There is nothing to fear. As we speak, the First Fleet is mobilizing and heading to Typhon, ready to launch on Coruscant on my command.

Still, this one is unsure. Perhaps this one can send some of the Battle Meditation Group to the fleet? Asked Sim, cautiously, as if the answer she would receive might inflict physical pain.

Of course, Sim, do as you will.

Thank you, Jogrum.

Goodnight Sim.

See you on Coruscant.

Yes, Coruscant. They would be there soon, and as soon as they arrive, thought Katarn, then the Jedi Order will be given its due.