Chapter 7 – The War Ends

Within an hour, medical teams had arrived and were taking care of the prisoners whom Luke Skywalker and Don Dain had rescued. Many of them were in poor health and required hospitalization, but, thankfully, there were no serious injuries or deaths. Luke paid extra attention to Ahsoka Tano. She was conscious and fairly healthy. The medical droid reported that she would be able to walk following a series of vaccinations. Once the droid had left to tend to another patient, Luke and Ahsoka were alone.

Luke sat down next to her and said, "I'm glad to hear that you'll be okay."

Ahsoka smiled and replied, "Thanks to you. I knew you'd come for me."

Luke's smile faded. "I'm sorry I didn't come for you sooner. It must have been hard on you, being trapped in that cell, interrogated by the Empire, abused by that Moff."

Ahsoka shook her head. "Don't blame yourself. You did what any Jedi would have done. You knew when to come, and I am grateful for that." Ahsoka placed a hand on Luke's left shoulder, and he held her hand in return.

At that moment, Dain approached them and said, "Forgive me for interrupting, but the Alliance leaders have arrived and are meeting with the Imperial leaders. Our presence has been requested."

Luke nodded at Dain and told Ahsoka. "I'll be back soon. We can talk then." He stood up and joined Dain. Since they were walking together, Luke took the opportunity to say, "Thank you for coming to help me back there. If you hadn't intervened, we would probably all be dead."

Dain smiled and replied, "I knew you were walking into a trap. I learned long ago not to trust people like Arndt."

Luke chuckled. "I must admit, I really thought that he would keep his promise. But, after all, my instincts aren't perfect."

"No one is," agreed Dain.

Luke asked, "But why did you come back? You decided to disobey orders and save Ahsoka, even though you had just threatened to kill me for doing just that."

Dain answered, "I realize that I have let my former grudges influence my decisions, preventing me from doing what was right. And yet, you could have easily killed me, but you didn't. Because you showed me mercy, and knowing how you defeated the Emperor, I decided that there is hope for the Jedi after all. I ignored my emotions and did what was right for the galaxy. I hope you will forgive me for all of my misdeeds against you."

"I do forgive you," answered Luke. "You have gained honor today. Perhaps this is the beginning of a friendship between us."

"Perhaps," agreed Dain. In truth, he was indeed the rebel who betrayed Luke and Ahsoka on Christophsis. He wasn't proud of it, but he felt that it was necessary in order to prevent the Jedi from returning after they ruined his life. If all future Jedi were as kind and wise as Luke, perhaps their return wouldn't be such a bad thing. Nevertheless, Dain would still be skeptical of the Jedi. He would be keeping an eye on them in the future to anticipate possible corruption within the Jedi Order.

In the Imperial conference room, the leaders of both the Rebellion and the Empire were in the middle of preliminary negotiations. On one side of the long table sat Mon Mothma, Admiral Ackbar, Luke Skywalker, Lando Calrissian, Han Solo, Leia Organa and Don Dain. On the other side sat Ysanne Isard, the Moffs, and several military leaders. Obviously, none of them were very happy. Despite their best efforts to safeguard their planet from Alliance takeover, they had failed, and were now negotiating for their power.

Isard wasn't angry about that alone, however. "I trusted Arndt! Ever since the death of the Emperor, he has been loyal to me. I had no idea that he was plotting to take control of the Empire."

Dain asked, "So I assume that you are not claiming accountability for his actions?"

"No! I accepted his proposal to use the Jedi prisoner as bait, but I specifically ordered him not to act until I gave the word. Also, I never intended for the other prisoners to be executed. If Arndt had listened to me, he could have saved us all this embarrassment."

Luke was able to sense Isard's emotions. He could interpret them easily enough. "You knew once you heard about what Arndt had done, his actions would reflect negatively on the Empire and, by extension, you. When the attack began, you knew that you had lost your advantage, so you surrendered so that we wouldn't be too hard on you. This was about power and authority."

Isard hesitated for a few seconds before nodding her head. "Yes. I didn't want to look like a monster because of Arndt's actions."

Mothma said, "At least this incident is over. We are, of course, grateful to Commanders Skywalker and Dain for their heroics in saving the prisoners and defeating Arndt."

One of the Imperial admirals eyed Luke disdainfully and said, "Yes, very grateful."

Mothma continued, "Now, we must devise a treaty to formally end this war."

It didn't take long to decide on the terms of the treaty. The Alliance to Restore the Republic was renamed the New Republic, which allied the Rebellion and the Empire. All planets, ships, and resources of both groups were combined and control was divided equally. Mon Mothma was named leader of the New Republic with Ysanne Isard being chief advisor and second-in-command. With the formation of the new alliance, the Galactic Civil War officially came to an end.

Although the negotiations were far from over, and a new set of laws had yet to be established, the changes were highly approved by the people on Coruscant and other planets under the jurisdiction of the New Republic. Throughout the galaxy, celebrations were plentiful. People were thrilled that they would face Imperial oppression no more. The Imperial military was maintained to enforce order, but their primary objective was no longer to silence protests and rallies, but to prevent them from getting out of hand.

Luke Skywalker and Ahsoka Tano were given approval to begin rebuilding the Jedi Order, but it would not be officially recognized as part of the New Republic until there were enough Jedi to ensure its success. Meanwhile, arrangements were made for construction crews to restore the Jedi Temple, which had been left in ruins following the Great Jedi Purge. All other decisions fell upon Luke and Ahsoka.

Ahsoka herself had almost fully recovered within the next two days. She spent much of her time with Luke and his friends. One day, Han suggested that they go to a diner for lunch. They found a clean and friendly establishment in one of the busier districts. Upon arrival, they found that the diner was almost full of people celebrating the rebels' victory. As they sat down and ate, the group told stories about their experiences.

Luke turned to Han and asked, "By the way, how did the Empire capture you and the other teams? Did you give yourselves away?"

Han replied, "You could say that. We were in a bar talking to some rebel sympathizers when stormtroopers came and began asking for IDs. When they came to us, Chewie here got mad at them and, well, you can imagine." Chewbacca growled in annoyance. Han continued, "He started throwing troopers across the bar, and then the other sympathizers joined in, and pretty soon there was an entire bar fight on our hands. That's when the stormtroopers began to throw gas grenades into the bar. The next thing we knew, we were in the dungeon of the Imperial Palace."

Lando smiled and wagged his finger. "I warned you, Han. You don't take Wookiees into a bar. Sometimes I feel like you never listen to my advice."

Leia said, "Well, at least we know from now on to leave Chewie outside."

Everyone laughed, except for Chewbacca, who was angry at being made fun of.

Han tousled the fur on the Wookiee's head and said, "Aw, don't listen to them, Chewie. We still love you."

Soon, the conversation shifted to Ahsoka. She recounted her time in the Imperial Palace. "Most of it was uneventful. Most of the time, I was in a deep sleep. They fed me little, and the only light was dim and artificial. There were people interrogating me for information, including the Emperor himself. They gave me very little news, so I spent most of my time wondering what had happened to you."

Leia shook her head sadly. "I know what Imperial prison cells are like, and what methods of interrogation they used. I couldn't begin to imagine going through all that for years."

Ahsoka said, "It was terrifying, but I knew that as long as I held on, there was still a chance that I would be free. All I wanted was to see Luke again, if only for a moment, so I could give him whatever advice I could."

They ate and talked for another hour before they became tired and left. But, just as they were leaving, Ahsoka pulled Luke aside and said, "Come with me. There's something I want to show you."

Luke called to his friends, "I'll be back later." He and Ahsoka climbed into a speeder and he took the controls. The speeder lifted off of the ground and flew into the air traffic lanes. "Where are we going?" he asked.

"Just follow my directions," answered Ahsoka. "You'll see."

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