Republic Space.

With the crisis continuing to grow, and with information mounting that the threat was more serious than was first estimated, the Senate considered an emergency war funding bill.

It passed.

And now the Republic was bracing for war, and making preparations. Finally the Government was doing something and injecting much needed funds into local economies that were being directed to a specific goal and cause.

Workers and sentients rushed into shipyards throughout the Republic to find work. Old ship yards on Ord Mantell, Fondor, Mon Calamari, and Corellia were reopened. Other civilian shipyards were converted over to the military grade shipyards used to build warships, and still others had their civilian ship projects delayed and converted to war construction. Still more civilian ships were converted or bought by the Republic Military for Military use. Scrap yards and ship graveyards were emptied of their wares and their supplies and put to good use, dry yards and other dock yard facilities were busy reactivating ancient Warships and fighters. With names like the Challenger, Victorious, Vanguard, and Vanquished, ships of all sizes and all classes were coming back to life.

Republic space was a beehive of activity as ships were crisscrossing over the hyper lanes at an impossible rate and speed. Ferrying supplies and people from the Outer Rim to the Ship yards in the Mid Rim and the Core worlds, and still other ship yards in the Outer Rim came to life.

And for those that could not find jobs in shipping, construction, or a Sectorial position, there was always the Military. Now that there was a need, and with patriotic fervor spreading throughout the Republic left the recruitment offices swamped. Long lines stretched forth from them on a hundred worlds, male, female, non gender, multi gender, alien, human, all wondering where they could be needed the most. Some of them became disheartened and left, but within a month of the Military Reconstruction Act the unemployment rate plummeted from around eleven percent to just under two.

The Republic was going to war and everyone knew it.

Thus the postal services, holo vids, pad makers, and the HoloNet news networks were busy providing their services and covering the rapidly developing events with precision, and on a round the clock basis, day in and day out.

An Undisclosed Location

Reevax was in another stone chamber sitting uncomfortably on a jagged outcropping making him shift in his seat, his master was trying to calm him and keep him still.

The mood was jovial and there was a buzz of banter around him. Despite the seriousness of the situation the group seemed happy, relieved, glad to be moving on, and confident in their eventual success.

"Order, order, we must have order!" Their leader's voice boomed throughout the chamber, he was grandstanding and seemed to share in the mood of the assembled crowd.

They all knew why they were here, they had tallied the votes and decided on the proper course of action. They were going to war.

"As it stands now we have approved of the plan, and will officially organize into an alliance of our interests. We will go forth with the plan, and lay down diversions to the Republic. Exactly what those are will remain to be seen. We can do this, this alliance is now formed." The Leader ordered, with a swagger to his voice, before banging the gavel on the rock.

"So what shall this group be called?" A voice asked from the top most row of the chamber.

"Oh I bet the Republic will have a name for us soon enough." Another member sneered in contempt.

The leader banged the gavel again but was laughing. "I think simply the 'Alliance against the Republic', will suffice for now."

"What about the planet that we are on?" Another member suggested.

"What about it?" His master, number five, asked.

"Well since we are all here, and since this is the planet that we are on, well people name battles after locations." The member sounded uncertain.

"Maybe but let us keep it simple." The leader opined, "Anyways we have to specifically discuss what we are going to do, now that we have decided to do it."

"We need to keep it simple." Number three grumbled, "We cannot make this too complicated or the Republic will figure it out. And then we will lose. We have to give them enough information to keep them suspicious, but not enough to give them solid leads of the full breadth and scope of our assault."

"This is going to require careful, and quite frankly a brilliant, military and political coup." Number five mused.

"Perhaps," Number three conceded, "but that is what we have decided to do. This is the course of action that we have decided to embark upon. When we pull the trigger there is no turning back."

"I know that," Number five spat, "But I am just urging further caution."

With those words the business moved onto specifics, the banter was gone, the confident tones were gone, only the rigid determination to get the job done remained.

The Chancellor offices.

Chancellor Loraan was in the middle of reading a pad giving an update on the war preparations. Since the bill had passed the Republic had shown an amazing ability to turn around and convert in preparation for the coming war.

His eyes were swollen and his cheeks were rosy red. He had a tall bottle of Corellian brandy next to him, half empty.

Even though he was Kuati by birth, in his raising, and temperament, he liked to dabble in the higher decadences of his planet, despite his birth. But every once and a while he liked to fall into the cheap, the dirty, and the sleazy. Especially since that is how he felt.

Now that war seemed to be a foregone solution, now that he had signed the bill to give the economy and many people a purpose, he felt dirty, he felt lost, and he felt solemn at the lives that were to be lost and the suffering that was about to be unleashed on his Republic.

It was funny, he reflected, when he had started off life as being such an unabashed and shameless radical. Thirty years of serving the people, and learning from the history of the Government, had taught him better. Serving from the Senate to his current position. From a young junior senator that was appointed to the senate, to the most powerful public official in the entire Galaxy.

His lessons were not so much in so called Political Expediency but in, what he felt anyways, the proper role of Government. This had made him many enemies over the years, including the group that had started him on the road to this office. He was surprised that he had made it this far, and now he almost wished had hadn't. War was the last thing on his agenda, and he felt terrible about it no matter the popular sentiment, or no matter how necessary it was in the end. So he took another swig from his drink, before turning back to the window.

It was sunset, and as the sun was going down he looked over his beautiful city. The Sun casted long shadows throughout the area, the sky was a blazing orange, but it looked solemn, as if the light was dying. This complemented his mood perfectly.

New Galactic Space

The following years passed at a blazing pace, as John and Galen were cutting their way into the history books, etching out a legend in the making. They were heroes and much beloved by the troops and by the Republic who read of their exploits, their legend was growing. As with all legends fanciful stories began to grow out of the simple seeds that they were planting.

They were becoming the most important Jedi in the 'war effort', much to the chagrin of several of the Council and several up and coming stars within the Jedi Order who would one day serve on the Council.

Especially Master Gundar.

But there John and Galen were, being requested by the military and often being sent by the Jedi on a dizzying array of missions whenever they came up. Mainly by the Council, being sent on a number of commands and ships, going hither and thither. Sometimes with Sora, sometimes not, sometimes on the Obi-Wan Kenobi and sometimes not.

Sora had become an important battlefield medic and was promoted to Knighthood soon after, also going where she was needed, at terrorist bombings and at the front lines, at odd diseases, her work load was very busy.

But she and John always found time, no matter what they were doing, to write each other. They had become their only sense of stability in a world that had suddenly gone mad.

Then of course John also had his father to lean on and rely upon.

But every spare moment that they had was taken up searching for the wayward Death, searching every planet and rock. They were keeping busy, no time to think, no time to reflect, no time to remember and think on the past. As the Jedi temple, Corellia, and Tatooine were becoming distant memories.

And with Death no longer sharing in their adventures both John and Galen had gotten close.

They blazed a path through history with the blade, cutting up sentients and battle droids, ambushing supply yards and eliminating their targets.

Galen had found plenty of time and excuses to use his camouflage ability, blending into the tree tops as people passed by him and he tackled them from behind knocking them out. But the nagging feeling that something was wrong was constantly at the back of his mind, along with the feeling that he was living off of borrowed time. He was old, he should have had a nice comfortable seat on the Council or reading reports with Master Skywalker. Instead he was busy raging a minor war, being the most noteworthy person in an otherwise note less war, but one that he felt was escalating to something big.

The two of them had taken on the quality of a myth, of a minor story, few people actually knew their names, but knew of their reputations as the 'war' was still a bunch of small isolated skirmishes. But even then whispers began to echo around the hallowed halls of the Jedi Temple that there was a rising star among the Padawans, one who had great power and knowledge and raw ability. Someone who was destined to become a legend in his own right.

This made some of the masters nervous, and others proud as there was still much debate in the Temple as to what was going on.

The Republic had huddled around their screens and watched the almost endless torrent of information and reports flooding in from the front, even with little going on, even with much of it repetitive, what had gone on had captured the attention of a Galaxy, a Galaxy that felt they were back on the rise, and were defending peace and justice.

But at the heart of it all were two Jedi, fighting their war with their abilities and growing up fast. But yet both of them were getting the nagging feeling that they were heading for something, that they were coming to the end of something, and were bound for darkness.

As John's twenty second birthday dawned, the small transport they were on was clawing for a pale yellow orb, splashed in the depths of space.