Legend of the Harp
By Hemaccabe
Episode III: The Crucible
Chapter 2: Dealing the Deck
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
***Unknown Sciuridae, on a branch, Castanea***
The Sciuridae clung hard to the thick branch of the tall tree as the rain fell, pressing her body to the bark for all she was worth. She couldn't see the bottom of the tree or the crown from her perch near the trunk. She had fled to Castanea when the Order fell. Once, she had been a Jedi.
Many thought Sciuridae couldn't be Jedi. Despite the Sciuridae being part of the Republic for almost a thousand years, she had been the first brought to the Temple to receive training. A Jedi needed to be able to control her fear. It was believed that Sciuridae were biologically incapable of controlling their fear. She was intensely aware that she might be proving those critics right. She could remember how once she had passed the Tests of Spirit and Combat, but now she was so afraid, paralyzed by her fear.
She had chosen Castanea because she had traveled here once on behalf of the Order and it had reminded her so much of her homeworld. It had seemed like a good idea at the time. It was only after she had gotten to Castanea that she realized that if the Imperials reviewed the records, they would realize she had been here before. That might be enough for them to come look.
She had managed to survive Order 66 and steal a ship. The only ship she could get had been in poor condition and had crash landed on Castanea. The crash had taken most of her survival supplies, while also insuring the ship became indelible evidence that someone had recently come here. She still had her saber, but it's power was long depleted. Keeping it now seemed more foolish sentimentality than practicality.
She had seen Imperial scouts on the planet. If they caught her, it would be Mustafar, worse than the worst she could imagine, and she was so afraid.
If she could only master her fear, perhaps she could use her training and ambush some of the Imperials. Steal some supplies and maybe a ship. But she couldn't. She was a Sciuridae. Fear was hardwired into her brain. She could remember controlling her fear for the Test of Spirit, but now she couldn't. She could only hide, pathetically, and cling ever tighter to the branch as the cold rain came down. The rain that continued to drench her wretchedly cold body and had soaked her fur to the bone.
***Jedi Knight Jors Zaemon, Dandoran***
Furry was up on Exxelon sorting things out with his new Commodore. Thank the Force I had managed to beg off joining them for another, extended, fleet tactics conference. As a ground pounder during the Clone Wars, I knew next to nothing about space war fleet tactics and had little to offer. What I did know was that despite the best laid plans, spaceship battles always seemed to devolve into masses of ships shooting at each other in empty space. Planning seemed a bit pointless. I could give them a good plan, try to shoot first and most often. Also, don't miss. I suppose if this revolt needed me to become an expert on fleet tactics, I would, but it didn't seem necessary right now and my time was better spent on other efforts.
I had been to a few of Furry's fleet tactics conferences which were dull enough to count as torture under the Alderaan Conventions. Of course, as a responsible Jedi and leader of this enterprise, I had to sit through the boring, tedious back and forth and look interested, for hours! Never has my time Standing Gate seemed like better preparation! I still remember one conference with Admiral Pagot and the CPF boys. Furry had to start that one off with a longwinded speech. After the speech, the thing merely took forever. I expect the Captains all wanted to look good on a first meeting and in front of the Jedi. Then, just as they were finally getting done, they politely asked for our opinion again. Rather than just let all us poor tired people go, Furry has to give them another long winded speech and make them do it all again the next week. Luckily, I was sitting through most of this, unlike the Captains, but my back was ready to crack. I don't know what it is about those ships, but the next comfortable chair I find on a warship will be the first. I'm not a very tall or heavy person, but those seats are always small, hard and they must put R&D into figuring out how to make them less ergonomic. Any fleet tactics meeting I could avoid was a good meeting. I could always read one of the summaries Furry always seemed determined to write and then wouldn't understand if I didn't find time to read.
I was down on Dandoran, New Korpluck Town in particular, sorting things out here. Luckily, I had slotted Bayo into the Colonel role, keeping me from getting stuck with it. I know it sounds lazy, but Bayo was ready for the job and it reflected just a little justice for those poor, under-appreciated clones that Bayo got the recognition he deserved. Also, Bayo had wanted the job and while he always looked harried and overworked, it didn't take my Jedi senses to tell he was loving every minute of it. It goes without saying he was more than qualified.
I still had a mountain of tasks on my plate, more than I could ever get to, but I was trying to whittle them down. I was in charge of general security for this whole shindig and constantly dealing with questions from our far-flung assets as well as Korpluck Town itself. I know, Korpluck Town might seem pretty solid. We have a town security force, town militia and generally some of our own Harp Militia present. Furry has also spared very little expense getting us automated defenses in depth. Still, I had found evidence that someone had pierced our defenses and made his way to a good shooting location over our villa in the southwest hills and stayed there for some time.
We'd also had the incident with Master Burana. His intrusion during the slave rescue had cost lives and almost compromised the mission. Master Burana couldn't have done that without excellent intelligence and where he had gotten it was still a mystery.
Imperial Security has an endless roster of top people and training facilities. Right now, we had me and that's it. I was intensely aware of my own limitations. Yes, I was a Jedi Knight Temple Guard, but I was still painfully junior. If I had made it through another decade or so of Standing Gate and other similarly useful tasks, I might have been brought into the real security work. Then I would have been trained by seasoned Jedi Knights in real security tactics for the modern age. If we only had one of those guys instead of me, we'd all be a lot safer. I knew most of those experienced guys had died leading troops in the Clone Wars and the few that had survived had been summarily executed by their own commands. Those that remained in the Temple would have died there defending her. So, all we had left was me. May the Force be with us.
I was investigating the intrusion and getting nowhere. I was also trying to come up with a better defensive plan and having not much more success.
Another task that was on my plate was trying to track down other Jedi. If we could find another Jedi and bring them in, not only would they be safer, but they would be a massive multiplier to our own capabilities. Imagine if we could find one of the senior Temple Guards, how much might she do to improve our position?
You'd think that with all surviving Jedi ordered to ground, hiding and most dead, there would be no hints of Jedi sightings. Particularly with the Empire working night and day to hunt down any survivors. You would be wrong. In fact, there is a never-ending stream of reported sightings. It makes sense. The Jedi were the defenders of peace and justice in the galaxy for a thousand generations. When people were in trouble and under stress, they wanted to believe there was a Jedi nearby. With the Empire, there was a lot of trouble and stress.
Furry's time in Intelligence had taught him how to sift through the many sightings and hints. Furry would assign the incidents different priorities depending on likelihoods and the odds we could get to the Jedi before the Empire or the trail had gone cold.
We actually sat down for breakfast here at the villa to review the most recent batch. The big surprise was that there was a major lead on a Jedi Master.
"So we have clear evidence," I began, "that Master Unduli is being held at Stygeon Prime. Not only do we have the recent pronouncement by Senator Gall Trayvis but supporting evidence as well. I could take Fio and a team and bust her out. How hard could it be? The Spire is just one of the most secure prisons in the galaxy. I'm sure we can do it." I offered.
Furry replied, "She was a true Master and an incredible leader during the Clone Wars. If we could rescue her, that would be a major achievement. If we could convince her to join us, that could be a major change in this conflict."
We had chosen to sit at the table on the roof balcony. I had eaten breakfast and Furry had pretended to eat. He put the reports, which represented the best intelligence we currently had on Jedi survivors, before me and we had reviewed them. Most were very low probability. That Master Unduli might still be alive was clearly pick of the litter and I was eager to be off. If a Jedi was in distress, being held in a place like the Spire, I was ready to do whatever it took to get her out.
"There is one other report that seems to bear some review," Furry began somewhat tentatively. "Jedi Knight Keelis Chatterjee may be on Castanea. The Imperials do seem to be sniffing around there."
"I saw that, but the odds she's there versus the odds we could get Master Unduli, it just doesn't make sense?" I questioned confused.
We really only had time to make a move on one or the other. Unduli seemed like the much better lead, by a long shot.
"I know. It may only be sentiment. One's insight into the future is always so clouded with emotion. Jedi Knight Chatterjee, or Keely as we called her, was one of my room mates. Did you know?" Furry asked.
In theory, the entire Order is supposed to be one's family and one is supposed to be equally loyal to all. In practice, we had all started training with three roommates whom we had grown up with and been closer to than anyone else.
Of my own three roommates, I knew one had been KIA during the Clone Wars, one had been murdered by his troops during Order 66 and the last had died on a deep space exploration mission. For a time, we had held out hope for her survival, but a rescue ship had confirmed her death. What I wouldn't give now for even one to still be alive.
Considering the state of the Order, that Furry had even one roommate left, that Androccoles on Respublica, was pretty good. Though I could still understand his worrying if a roommate might be out there, no matter how low the likelihood.
"No, I didn't. I understand." I replied, knowing how, even if Furry couldn't admit it, he would be desperate to help a roommate. Furry would know, objectively, Unduli was the way to go, but his heart would be screaming to help Chatterjee. So, on the fly, I came up with, "Hey, I have an idea. Fio is getting to a point where she's ready to take on some independent responsibility. Why don't I put together a team, take Bearer and see about Master Unduli? At the same time, we can put together a second team and send Fio with them in one of those U-Wings. She can do a little looking around. If it's something easy, she can get it done. If it's something hard, she can call for help. I'm sure you could get there quick in Revenge if you had to and you also have all those pirates." I suggested.
I liked the idea more than was good for a Jedi because it meant I had an excuse to keep Fio from the danger of a mission like storming Stygeon Prime. I would be keeping Fio safe on a blue milk run to Castanea. As Fio's Mentor, I should have wanted to expose her to danger, not protect her from it. I was acting on emotions that were more paternal than mentorly. Still, if Furry agreed?
"That seems like a good suggestion. Has she been able to put together her lightsaber yet?" Furry replied gratefully.
"No. Not yet. She can handle two objects fairly well, but the third is awkward. Few more months and she should be there." I explained trying not to sound defensive.
"Then I think we should make sure she understands this mission is more scouting and less acting. If she ran across some more of the Inquisitors you told me about, it could be a problem." Furry replied.
"Agreed."
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