Chapter 15 - Connections

Ahsoka sat on top of the Hill, leaning on Rex. She was glad he was at her side Without him, she did not think she would have been able to sit on the grass with the other Jedi. She relaxed while Rex's right hand petted her montrals and his left hand moved over her rounded middle. Meditation became almost effortless when she was carrying a child within, as if the baby enhanced her connection to the Force. As Rex squeezed her montral, she gasped, overwhelmed by the images and sensations inundating her senses through the Force. This planet is alive!

"Little U'n!" Rex's voice was filled with alarm. "It's way too early for that!"

Pulling away from the vision, Ahsoka opened her eyes. "I'm not having labor pains," she assured him. "It's this planet. It's so powerful, it almost frightens me."

"It is extremely powerful," agreed Whie, opening his eyes as well. "We have been its Guardians during the Dark Times of the Empire.

"He knows about it," Ezra interjected abruptly. "Namah Agati knows about Kyber and its power."

Luke drew a sharp breath. "The Death Stars- they were powered by large amounts of kyber crystals. I don't even want to think about what a planet-sized kyber could power."

"A world," Talisbeth waved towards the Malreaux house, "a civilization."

"It could control a galaxy," Ezra murmured, softly caressing the blue grass. "Bend the minds of whole worlds. Agati is not strong with the Force, but he knows its ways."

"The void in the Force," Leia exclaimed, "the one your friend Bendu mentioned, that he thought was Agati. Ezra, do you really think he is cutting himself off from the Force? I though only Force-users could do that."

"The ysalamiri do it," Ezra mused. "True, they're stronger in the Force than your average lizard, but the void they create is a product of their unique biology. It's possible that he has found a way to copy them."

"It's odd that I haven't felt anything strange from him in the Force," Leia tapped her chin thoughtfully. "How do you suppose he does it?"

Ezra sighed. "I don't know, but I'd sure like to find out."

Leia blinked and pressed a hand to her mouth. "You just might get your chance. When Han and I went back to the Falcon for the kids, I had a short talk with Admiral Bwua'tu. His spies have discovered that Agati is preparing to launch a droid-manned fleet. I had assumed the droids were part of his continuing Jedi hunt, without any specific destination, but now..."

The Jedi all shared a glance. Whie stood to his feet and grasped his lightsaber hilt.

"The enemy is coming here."

"You know, Jedi are handy to have around sometimes, but they can be a lot of trouble," Han complained when Leia ended her call.

"This is not our fault," Leia returned, "And if we don't stop this crazy non-Jedi, the whole Galaxy will be in 'a lot of trouble'." She rubbed her temples and leaned on her husband's shoulder. The information Arni Belden and Nek Bwua'tu had given her had been painfully sparse. The emergency quorum was planning to require mandatory midi-chlorian level testing throughout the New Republic. Agati's fleet had jumped. The Bothans had provided a departure time, a general direction, a shockingly large fleet size estimate, and a promise to send information they had gleaned from covert scans on the ships. The spynet was also planning an insertion into the factory complex to gather more data. For now, she would have to exercise the Jedi patience Luke and Ezra were always talking about.

Draping an arm around her, Han gently pulled her along, away from the makeshift comm station she had set up in the garden, back into the Malreaux house. Whie and Talisbeth had insisted that their guests stay with them rather than return to their ships to sleep. The Footman droids had been busy making up beds for everyone and had somehow found time to prepare an evening meal. Leia had sent Threepio to help and Artoo had tagged along without waiting to be asked.

"Alora was right," Han chuckled as they entered. "This place is definitely a Jedi retreat center." He surveyed the cots spread out in the big parlour and the smaller family room. "How's a guy supposed to get any sleep with you Jedi meditating all over the place all night?"

"The better question is, how are we Jedi going to meditate with you snoring all night?" Leia playfully poked his ribs.

"Leia," Luke called from the parlour, "any news?

"Not much," Leia tugged Han into the cot-filled room and glanced around. "Someone in the Emergency Quorum had the idea to test the midi-chlorian levels of everyone in Alliance space. And Agati's fleet has jumped- to where we don't know, but I think we can guess."

"How long do you think we have?" Kyp looked from Luke to Ezra.

"Hard to say," Ezra admitted. "It took us three days from Attalon, using the Force. Agati left from the Coruscant system, I guess."

"His droid factories used to be on an uninhabited planet in the Coruscant system. Out of the way and seldom visited by anyone else," Mara offered.

"The question is, how far are we from the Coruscant system?" Luke pointed out.

"I have no positive evidence," Whie began hesitantly, "but I have always felt that Kyber is directly above Coruscant. How far above, I don't know."

"First thing in the morning, we'll search all our navigation databases, maybe the droids' memory banks, too," Han suggested, "look at all the hyperspace lanes in the upper quadrants of the Coruscant system. Maybe we can get a fix on where we are."

Leia grinned. "Just going to trust us Jedi?"

Han grinned back. "Well, you did get our ships to this non-existent planet. But it looks like it's gonna take me to find the hyperspace lane from Coruscant."

He grabbed Leia by the waist and spun her around, eliciting a squeal from her while he laughed.

"Hey, you two, keep it down," Rex protested. "My wife is trying to sleep! Flying the ship all that way with the Force really took a lot out of her. It's okay, 'Soka," he soothed. Nestled in a pile of soft, thick blankets on a plump cot, Ahsoka stirred in her sleep. Rex rearranged the blankets, tucking her in more securely. He gently kissed the tips of her montrals and patted the striped back of her head.

Talisbeth watched the Clone fussing over his wife. "Are you sure you and Ahsoka wouldn't like a room to yourselves? We could put a bed in the library."

"No, no, we can sleep just about anywhere," Rex assured her.

"I would give you my room," offered Tallulah, "but it's kind of moisty. Gungans like to be moist when we sleep."

"Luke wouldn't mind, he used to farm the stuff," Han smirked at his brother-in-law.

"Very funny, Han," Luke slipped an arm around Mara, "Come on, Artoo. Ready, Mara?"

Mara nodded drowsily. Ezra scooped up Sabine from the couch where she was nodding off, Cerulean-Skies peacefully feeding at her breast.

"Come on, Violet-Meadows. Bedtime." Ezra motioned to his daughter.

"Otay." Thumb in her mouth, she clutched Grogu's little hand in hers and followed Ezra. "Behtime, Gogu."

Leia smiled as the two toddlers trailed after Ezra. "Well, Han, shall we gather our littles?"

She took Anakin from Tallulah and thanked her for watching him, then called the twins and Ben.

"Aw, Mom," Ben whined, "can't I stay with the other padawan boys?"

"Me, too?" asked Jacen eagerly.

"Yeah, I want to stay here with Tallulah. Daddy nores loud!" Jaina insisted.

Leia laughed. "If I can put up with your father's snoring, so can you."

Chewie chortled a roaring laugh while Han pretended to ignore him.

"Please, mom? Can't we stay?" Ben looked up at her with his best sad puppy expression.

"Oh, all right, you three, you can stay with your friends," Leia relented, "if you promise to go straight to bed and stay out of trouble."

"We will, Mom. Thanks!" Jaina hurried back to Tallulah's side and the Gungan girl led her out of the parlour.

Jacen and Ben scampered off with the other boys, under the watchful eyes of Pan. Chewie and the five Clones bedded down in an upstairs loft.

"Goodnight, Alora," Dev called shyly.

"Goodnight, Dev!"

At last, the Torrents were left alone in the parlour. Alora helped her father put the little ones to bed while the twins and Miisha snuggled down on cots near the warming panels. As her siblings drifted off to sleep, soft purring filled the room, lulling her to sleep as well.

"Goodnight, Kittens," Rex whispered. Curled under the covers, Alora smiled. Technically, she wasn't a kitten, since she had no Togrutan genetics. But she was an adopted kitten, so she whispered back, "Goodnight, Dada."