Chapter 2: Playing the Long Game

Jane stepped down from the plank, finding that Wilhelm had just arrived from the elevator.

"Nice speech." he complimented.

"Thanks." she replied, then invited him to follow into the conference room, where they could talk a bit more frankly.

"So...protecting an enemy top brass…" Wilhelm started before crossing his arms and leaning against the glass wall of the room. "What is the point?"

"The Empress believes that we can't negotiate with the current head of the Empire, Palpatine. However, Grand Admiral Tanis has climbed the ranks, and she seems convinced that he might be willing to negotiate."

"He is a soldier, and from what I heard he's steadfastly loyal to his country. What can we possibly do to push him in the direction of peace?"

"I'm not sure. We'll have to observe him. However, Bene...Her Majesty wouldn't have asked us to do something so apparently absurd if she hadn't seen something herself."

Wilhelm hummed in thought. "I know how good she is at playing the long game, but we definitely need some more info if we want to succeed. Maybe you should go speak with our psionic guest on Deck 3."

"Master Gozo, right?"

"Yes. She had been in Andromeda for the last year, surely she must have some knowledge about this entire Gordian knot."

"Maybe you're right. Get to the strategic room in the meantime and see who else we might speak with when we will reach Andromeda."

"Jawohl, boss." the man replied before heading into the next room.

Jane instead took the elevator and reached Deck 3. Sitting on the floor of the starboard observation deck, she found the psionic woman, seemingly meditating with her eyes closed.

"Captain." she greeted with a calm tone.

"Master Gozo. I have a few questions, if I'm not intruding."

"Of course, Captain. Take a seat." Gozo invited.

Jane took the invite and sat on one of the two couches facing the window. Gozo then uncrossed her legs and reached the couch as well, sitting in a way that was both elegant and disciplined.

"I understand you served for the last year alongside one of the leaders of the New Republic?" Jane asked.

"Yes, Captain. I fought alongside the Jedi Ezra Bridger."

"Yeah, tell me more about the Jedi and their supposed enemies, the Sith."

"They are both very powerful. Much more than me or any other psionic. The people of Andromeda have a much deeper connection to the Flux, or as they call it 'Force'. On one side, they can use their abilities to do things that only the most accomplished psionics can even think of doing, but it does have its downsides."

"The Sith?"

"Yes. The Sith are Jedi who allowed their emotions and ego to take over. Now, it wouldn't be too much of an issue if it wasn't for that connection to the Flux that I told you. Their powerful ties with it mean that the Flux can much more easily influence a mind, and the risk of drifting into their 'Dark Side' is extremely easy."

"I'm not sure I follow completely. Are you saying that they turn evil as soon as they just flip out?" Jane asked a bit confused.

"It depends on the discipline that the user is capable of maintain. A young Jedi, with no guide to steer him on the right path, can easily succumb. As you know, we psionics are not influenced directly by the Flux. If I allow my emotions to take over, they might give me a better focus for a short while, but my mind wouldn't feel the need to use them again. For the Sith, their link to the Dark Side is something like...how should I put this…?" she thought for a while before attempting an explanation. "I can only think of a severe case of drug addiction, but it is reductive. For a Force-user, it's a constant struggle between an influence that is very hard to fight."

Jane hummed. "So It would be better to stay away from the Sith?"

"Absolutely. When one of them, Darth Vader, boarded the Amerigo, I felt overpowered by his mere aura. I didn't even try to help Bridger when he fought him. I still feel quite ashamed, actually."

"If the enemy is too strong, is to be avoided. At least, Wilhelm likes to say that." Shepard commented.

"I see the point. Still, we better stir away from them."

"Isn't Grand Admiral Tanis working closely with them?"

"Actually, the real Sith are two: Vader and Emperor Palpatine. They have other acolytes who use the Force, but those I can face them myself. Even you should have no problem fighting them, Captain. Just be aware of their weapons. The lightsabers can cut through all of our personal defenses."

"Well that's just great." Jane sarcastically noted. "You know anything about the Grand Admiral?"

"Not much, unfortunately. He never focused on the mission of the Amerigo. If you want to know more, than I suggest we make a stop at Lothal and see if we can talk with his brother. Colonel Darvos Tanis of the New Republic intelligence."

"Why Lothal?"

"The Colonel is the husband of Jaral Bridger, who right now is directing the new Jedi Academy on the planet. And she's pregnant, so we're sure that she will be there."

"Right." Jane replied as her mind drifted into thoughts. Even Benedetta had recommended that she had a chat with this Jaral Bridger. "Thank you for your time, Master Gozo." she concluded while standing up from the couch.

"Of course, Captain." the woman replied with her calm tone.

Jane then decided to head for the shuttle bay. There was another person she wanted to talk before they reached Andromeda: the Legionnaire assigned to the Normandy.

An Alliance frigate should have a squad of three or four of those soldiers, but Benedetta had only assigned one this time, and Jane intended to figure out why. As the door of the elevator opened, she stepped out, finding both Sara and Scott at the weapon's table.

"Guys, already modifying the equipment?" she asked appearing behind them.

The twins jolted around and feigned an innocent smile, also closing ranks, clearly hiding something.

"Oh, hi m-a'am!" Scott said, saving himself at the last second from saying 'mom'.

"We were just taking a look." Sara intervened nonchalantly. "You know, making sure everything's working."

"Uh uh." Jane said before stepping forward and putting an arm between the two of them, reaching for the pieces that were on the table. She touched something that she thought might be a helmet and pulled it toward her.

It was indeed a helmet. It seemed like a Capacitor model, but the visor shield had been extended to also cover the mouth. Jane was genuinely impressed at how her kids managed to make it look like it had come out of the assembly line that way: the surface was completely smooth and flawless. They had painted it with the dark gray of the N7.

"Uh, you attached the lamp on top?" she asked, noticing the small box attached to the top-left of the helmet.

"Yeah." Scott said rubbing his neck. "Sometimes the weapon slips away so...better not be left in the dark."

"Well, we have night visors for that, but I guess it's good as a last resort."

She then tossed the helmet to her son, who caught it effortlessly. "I'm not here to inspect you guys anyway. I'm here to have a chat with our guest there." she added, turning her upper body in the direction of the small post standing in the area of the shuttle and of the land vehicle. There stood the Legionnaire, entirely clad in his green armor. He still hadn't removed his helmet since he had come aboard.

"Good luck with that." Sara commented under her breath. "His AI is quite friendly, though."

Taking that suggestion at heard, Jane walked past the first section of the bay, past the small armory, and reached the section that was once used by James, and now hosted the lone Legionnaire. The man was huge, even more than most Legionnaires she had ever encountered. He was at least two meters tall and the parts where his undersuit was visible showed the bulges of his muscles beneath. He didn't seem to notice her presence as he kept working on his M-96 on the table.

Jane simply whipped out the crew manifest and swiped all the way at the end of it, finding his designation.

"Chief Operative MST-117." she decanted. "Nickname 'Master Chief', is that right?"

the Legionnaire calmly turned around, offering his profile and his neck turned at most that he could.

"Ma'am." he greeted cordially but with the most unemotional tone that Jane had ever heard.

"Nice to meet you. So, if the Empress decided to put you alone as my Legionnaire contingent, you must have some trick up your sleeve. Is there anything in your service record you want to share?"

The man's head slightly turned away from her. His body language seemed to express...embarrassment?

"Come on, Chief, she is our Captain, you now?" a synthetic voice came from his armor.

"I am aware, 452." he replied with the same tone, though with a pitch that indicated frustration.

The synthetic voice sighed. "Let me do the presentations."

A second later, the figure of a woman with short hair and a holographic body much more defined that anything Jane had ever seen, appeared in reduced scale in front of her.

"Greetings, Captain Shepard. Big fan of you and your father." the AI said with joviality. "My designation is CTN 0452-9."

"Ah, you are one of the new 'Cortana' series." Jane said with a bit of curiosity. She had only recently heard of this new model coming out from the labs of Mars. They were supposed to be built in cooperation with the Geth and the Quarian.

"You're well informed, just what you'd expect from the best Spectre of the galaxy."

Jane chuckled. "Aside from sweet-talking, can you answer the question I did to your partner?"

"Oh, how rude of me, ma'am. Of course I can...well, most of what Chief ever did is classified, actually. Suffice it to say that he wan and MI6 operative before being assigned here."

"Uh uh." the Captain replied, and decided not to push the matter. Even she didn't have access to everything the secret services were up to. "Well, I guess I'll have the chance to see what you can do. Are you informed about our mission?"

"The Empress did put us on this ship, but before your inspiring speech, we only knew that we were going to Andromeda. I must say, the implications of what you said are fascinating." the AI kept talking. "Helping an enemy officer to climb up the ranks of his state? Now that might come straight out from an historic romance."

"Sure, that's why I'm counting on both of you to pull this off."

"Yes ma'am. We'll stand ready." Chief replied. His tone was still more mechanic than his AI, but Jane was satisfied with that.

"All right, then. Dismissed." she concluded.

The AI disappeared and the red-haired woman walked away, meeting her kids again.

"Well that was a start." Sara commented.

"I think we should give him some space." Jane recommended. "I saw people like him. He clearly has gone through hell and keeps everyone at a distance. Maybe with time we'll convince him to do otherwise."

"Right." said Scott. "If we have to die in a galaxy far far away, I would like to at least know my friends are nearby."

Jane and Sara chuckled. "Come on, lil' bro, be optimistic."

"Being two minutes earlier than me doesn't give you the right to call me like that." the young man replied with a smirk to his twin.

"Sorry, Scotty, but your sister has all the technical right to do that. Come on, I want to have my last Milky Way meal before we reach Andromeda."

So the three took the elevator and returned to Deck 3 in order to spend some time together.


"Remember: the first duty of a Jedi is to protect the innocents. Even if you have to let those pirates go." Jaral calmly explained to her Padawans.

"We will not fail you, Master." Lissia said eagerly.

Jaral smiled. "The only people you have to prove anything to are yourselves. May the Force be with you."

The two teens nodded and headed toward the ramp of the Ghost, allowing Hera to walk next to the pregnant girl and reassuring her. "If things go south, I'll bail them out, I promise."

"Thanks, Hera. But I know Sellion and Lissia can take care of themselves. Just focus on delivering those supplies to the refugees."

"Aye, aye, ma'am." the Twi'lek responded ironically. "You take care of Jacen while I'm away."

"Don't worry about that. He's my godson after all." Jaral replied in tone.

Hera chuckled and reached the Ghost, leaving Jaral to look at the freighter as its engine augmented their power and lifted the ship into the skies, before it set out toward Mintooine, where the group had to join a New Republic escort force to bring supplies to a refugee camp in the system of Kaon, belonging to the Raxus Conglomerate, which could not provide for all of them. Unfortunately, there was a group of pirates operating in the region, so the hope was that the two Padawans would be able to fend them off.

Jaral was about to reach the training grounds, where Yoda was teaching some of the younglings. Pretty much everybody else, including Ezra and Kota, had left for their new assignments days ago. Even Ahsoka had accepted to join the Constantinople in her search and rescue of stranded Jedi around the galaxy. And the frigate was bound to have met with the Liberator and Darvos, by now.

Then her omni-tool started beeping. She was receiving an encrypted transmission. She looked around then turned away from the crowd, instead going into a more private corner of the garden, where she could finally pick up the call.

The small video-feed of the omni-tool appeared, showing the face of a woman with emerald eyes and short red hair, who greeted her with a small nod of the head.

"Greetings, Jaral Bridger. I apologize for my sudden call." she started cordially.

Jaral squinted her eyes and hummed in thought. "Have we met before? You look familiar."

"Personally, no. But perhaps you saw me in some pictures on the Codex's page about my father, John Shepard."

Realization hit Jaral's expression. "Oh...you are Captain Jane Shepard, then?"

"Indeed."

Still a bit surprised, Jaral recovered her composure. "It's an honor, Captain. But if you're calling me with the omni-tool I suppose you are nearby?" she asked with curiosity.

"Affirmative. My ship is waiting in the orbit of Lothal. I'm on a mission given to me by the Empress, but she also recommended to me that I talked with you, and I do believe you might provide me with some fundamental intel."

A far image started to form into Jaral's mind. It might have been that, for real, but she wouldn't know until she met Shepard. "If I can help you, I'll glad to do that. Would you mind meeting me at my house? I can't exactly leave the complex on my own."

"I thank you for your time. I'll take the shuttle and be there shortly."

Nearly half-an-hour later, a Kodiak with the colors of the Systems Alliance came down from the sky and landed just outside of the fence. Jaral had sensed the approach a little earlier, so she was already at the gate when the doors of the shuttle opened, revealing three persons, actually. Aside from Jane, Jaral saw a young man and woman, incredibly similar, and it didn't take long for her to guess their relation with the Captain.

First, though, the two women shook hands.

"General Bridger," Jane greeted, then waved an arm toward the young adults behind her. "allow me to present Scott and Sara, my kids."

The two youngsters, wearing a simple Alliance uniform, in contrast to the officer one that their mother had, made a respectful bow. Once introductions were concluded, including stopping by to greet Yoda and the younglings, Jaral invited the Shepards into her home. They sat at the table, with Jaral on one end, the twins at the sides and Jane at the opposite.

"That a boy or a girl?" Jane asked in a friendly tone.

"Girl." Jaral replied eagerly. "Three months and a half away from delivery." she quipped.

"Congratulations."

"All right." the Jedi said, adjusting her position on the chair. "What did you want to talk about?"

"Straight to it. As I mentioned, I came here at the request of the Empress, who gave me quite the singular task: to protect Grand Admiral Tanis and remove every opposition he might find in the imperial hierarchy."

Jaral was quite surprised, but actually not that much. And apparently she wasn't able to hide it, because while Sara and Scott were simply spectating, Jane caught the fact that Jaral's face didn't give any reaction.

Still, she tried to play innocent. "Seems quite the unusual plan to beat an enemy. May I ask why?"

"Curious. Considering you were the one who first suggested the idea, I thought you might tip us on how we can accomplish our mission."

Jaral huffed in defeat, but with no contempt. "The Empress is too smart for thinking that I was just lying to Thrawn, that day, uh?" she asked, remembering the one time she traveled to Earth so she could speak to a still in-captivity Thrawn, and he accepted to reveal the existence of the Death Star.

"Thrawn wouldn't have accepted to reveal you the existence of the most guarded secret of the Empire for no reason. Clearly, he wants Iulius to succeed. My question is: how did you know? What can we use to further this goal?"

Clearly, Jane got the homework done and saw right through the entire story. The Jedi Knight thus decided that it was useless to feign ignorance and decided to be totally frank.

"Well, it had become apparent to me, after fighting them for more than a year, that there was something particular between Iulius and Thrawn. I dare say that theirs is a quite felt student-mentor relationship, and it's all the more incredible if you consider that Thrawn didn't have anybody he would consider his peer in the Empire.

"This is the first piece. The next one came after the liberation of Lothal and I was given access to his offices on the Chimaera and the imperial dome. Thrawn didn't exactly kept something convenient like a diary, but he did keep some notes around. So I started putting pieces together, I questioned every person I could find that came from the border with the Unknown Regions about every hint about the Chiss.

"But the finale piece that helped me understand the Grand Admiral came a few months later, when the HoloNet spread the news of Iulius' promotion to replace his mentor."

"In what way?" Jane asked, unable to understand but clearly thinking that Jaral was up to something.

"On that occasion, Iulius had gone into Wild Space. Now we know that he found a primitive human planet and saved the population from some aggressive aliens, which confirmed the theory that was starting to take form in my mind. That is: Thrawn basically infiltrated the Empire so he could climb the ranks and influence it to go against the enemies of his people."

The Shepards seemed stunned. That was an incredibly far-fetched if not absurd idea, but then again, why would a non-human try to serve a state that discriminated all of those of his kind? There had to be a very important reason for Thrawn to persevere his service to the Empire.

When the credibility of the theory sank into them, the three assumed thoughtful expressions.

"So why would he want Iulius to become more powerful, possibly to dethrone the Emperor?" Sara asked.

"Thrawn might be ignorant in the matter of politics," Jaral calmly explained. "but he recognizes the character of the people in front of him."

"And he must understand that putting a close friend on the throne, who also happens to be quite an honorable person, is better than continuing to appease a lunatic old man who is only capable of lying." Scott reasoned.

Jaral nodded. "That was my theory, and Thrawn implicitly confirmed it during our meeting on Earth."

Jane didn't show great reaction to all of this. Her kids manifested some surprise a bit more. Especially Sara, who pinched the bridge of her nose and squeezed her eyes close. "Damn, this is giving me a headache."

The Jedi chuckled amused. "My brother had the same reaction when we discussed this matter."

"Were you already planning something like our mission?" Jane asked.

"No. We simply discussed it, but we had no idea how to capitalize on all of this. Honestly, I didn't even tell it to the Republic, cause if this reaches the ears of the Emperor, he may probably decide to execute both of them, and with them the chance of a peace."

"There's one thing I don't understand." Sara said, lifting a finger. "The Empress spoke with Thrawn on multiple occasions while he was on Earth. Did he convince her into this convoluted plot?"

Jaral shrugged. "Thrawn has a way with words, so I wouldn't be surprised."

"Oh, come on." Scott exclaimed. "Now you're going to tell me that he got himself captured on purpose!"

The Jedi turned her eyes away for a second before replying with caution. "Well, I don't think he went that far. I'm sure he saw the opportunity quite rapidly, though."

The twins hissed incredulous. Jane also looked impressed by all of this. The myth of Thrawn had started to form in the Milky Way after the battle of Atollon, but to think that they were now here in Andromeda because of the web that he had patiently weaved in two galaxies was astonishing.

"Then what about you?" Jane eventually asked. "Why do you agree with this plan?"

The Jedi replied with clarity of intent. "Even if we manage to destroy the Empire and reach Coruscant, the war will not be over. This war is not just freedom against tyranny, it's fundamentally a continuation of millennia-old grudges between the peoples of the Outer Rim and those of the Core. Right now, the UACT represents us people of the Rim. Lantillies showed that the more the New Republic advances toward the core, the more the population will resist us. Therefore, if we can find a way to negotiate ceasefire and then peace without forcing anyone to live under a regime they don't like, then I have to take this chance."

"Quite the ambition. And responsibility." Jane said admired first, then putting her speaker on guard.

"I am aware it's almost wishful thinking, but the goal of the Jedi is to first of all destroy the Sith, then favor a fair peace in any way possible."

The Shepards couldn't hide and expression of admiration and respect before making another question.

"Good. Anything else we should know?" Sara said.

Jaral pondered, then remembered something. "There is something else. Or better, someone. Iulius has a servant, apparently. A Togruta named Qathora. Some time ago she offered to be a double agent for the New Republic. While we know that she actually passes us intel that Iulius wants us to know, we never shut her out. However, I am convinced that Qathora will be more than willing to favor your mission, if she gets wind of it."

"How so?" Scott asked.

"Qathora is genuinely loyal to Iulius. After all, he freed her from slavery and treats her fairly. It's not entirely clear if the two are lovers, but the point is that she is always by his side and she is really convinced that the Lord-Protector can make the Empire a better place for the non-humans. In fact, she hates most of the imperial structure and leadership, so she's perfect to distract Iulius from looking your way, if he starts suspecting you're out to protect him."

"Now that is some good news." Sara commented. "But even if we somehow manage to enlist the tacit support of both Thrawn and Qathora, our mission will be far from easy."

"Let's take it one step at a time, honey." Jane said. "This is not gonna be one of our usual quests. It's gonna be a very long, drawn-out chess game, instead."

"You know I hate chess, right?" Scott joked.

"Thank you for your time, General." Jane finally said. "You've been of great help."

"It was my pleasure. If it's not too much to ask, I would be grateful if you could keep me posted on your progress."

"We'll try to send messages whenever the situation will allow it." Jane reassured. "Now I should go."

"Safe travels, Captain."

After accompanying her guests outside, Jaral watched them return to their shuttle and pondered. This was a huge deal, and she had to consult at the very least with her fellow Jedi. Something that she could start right away, as Yoda was walking toward her, probably curious about the meeting.


January 15.

The Admonitor came out of hyperspace perfectly next to Naboo's gravitational field.

"Excellent work, Steve. I think you're going to be really helpful in the upcoming battles." Iulius complimented as he stood in front of the viewport.

"I always operate at optimal capacity." the synthetic voice of the new imperial AI replied.

In order to test it, Iulius had given the AI control over the hyperspace travel in the last few jumps as he was returning from Carunoia toward his HQ. Steve, as it had been nicknamed by the crew first and then also by the Lord-Protector, had proven to be very useful in reducing the time to calculate a jump and by stopping the ship using the tactic that Iulius had inaugurated at the battle of Taris. Already, the Lord-Protector was looking forward for when he could test the new AI in battle, to see if it was capable of the cyber-guerrilla and sabotage of enemy systems like he had been promised.

"I concur with the Lord-Protector." Thrawn said slightly behind Iulius' shoulder. "These AIs are an asset that will change the face of warfare in this galaxy."

The maneuver Iulius had used on Taris of leaving hyperspace right above the enemy fleet (nicknamed 'hyper-sling') had required weeks of constant training of the crews. If the AIs could guide the ships into doing it with just a data disc containing the correct calculations, indeed military tactics would be completely overhauled.

Still, Iulius noticed the rest of the 101st on standby around the few orbital shipyards and satellites around the homeworld of the Emperor, which was now his capital as Lord-Protector of the Mid Rim. Yet, aside from the Star Destroyers, he could also spot a consistent traffic of freighters and civilian ships heading toward Theed and other major cities of the planet. It was the result of him lifting many restrictions over internal trade, allowing artisans and small industries to finally sell their products where they were really needed.

The prices were still regulated, of course. After all, they were still in a war economy, though Iulius was trying to give the imperial citizens a bit of respite from the hardships of the war.

"Oh, that reminds me…" he mumbled, then turned toward his servant. "Qathora, when are they going to open the Royal Gallery on Theed?"

Qathora checked the chrono. "Five hours and twenty minutes, my lord."

The Lord-Protector let out a sigh of relief. "Good, there's plenty of time to do everything I have at HQ." he then turned toward his mentor. "Would you like to accompany me at the inauguration as well, Grand Admiral?" he asked in a rhetorical tone.

The Chiss made a small smirk. "You know me too well."

After leaving the ship to Ciena, the two officers and the Togruta then took the shuttle and headed for the main base in Theed. There, Iulius and Thrawn had the chance to look at the reports and discuss the current strategic situation of the war.

As expected, the Coalition had gone into a defensive stance, as well, since they had taken heavy losses at Lantillies. Even the so-called New Republic had lost one of only three Nebula Star Destroyers it had built, so there was no way they were going to risk an open confrontation any time soon. The Imperial Federation also had fortified some key worlds and were ready to halt any possible imperial attack.

What bothered Iulius more was Ringo Vinda: taking that planet would have definitely kicked the Coalition out of the Mid Rim, as they didn't have any shipyards close enough to supply a massive fleet in the region. It certainly needed to be conquered, sooner or later, but Thrawn suggested patience, waiting for better circumstances, and Iulius was inclined to agree.

On the other hand, it seemed like the Rebels had gone back to their old way of doing things: there were reports of multiple hit-and-run attacks carried by rebel forces and vehicles against imperial supply lines, even deep into the Mid Rim. It was their old style of guerrilla fighting.

In the Trailing Sectors, there were instead reports of Zann Consortium's fleet being built up, and the intelligence had brought up evidence that the criminals were preparing a large offensive, perhaps with the goal of taking Naboo and Eriadu.

"I am more interested in whatever Zann is looking for, to be honest." Iulius finally expressed.

"Indeed. He has invested a lot of resources in building a small empire. Did you look into what those data pods on Yavin contained?" Thrawn asked.

"I did. Too bad one of them I didn't have access to, and the others were only filled with small talks of the officers on the Death Star and other things that gave me no clue."

"So I imagine the one you didn't have access to is the one that holds the answer."

"Yeah…" Iulius sighed in resignation. "It also means that is something regarding the Emperor directly, or I can't see why I would be denied access."

"Perhaps." Thrawn mumbled, stroking his chin gently.

"Lord Tanis." an emotionless voice came from behind them.

The two turned around and saw the Minister of Finances, Lusus G'Ray, with his long tunic and the hat of the Emperor's personal courtesans, lowering a bit to greet Iulius before handing him a datapad. "Here are the budget projections for the next semester, as you requested."

"Thank you, Minister." he politely replied before taking the pad and read the number at the end.

And as he did that, he grimaced. "Hold on, this is way less than the last one." he said.

"That's the price to pay for decreasing the taxes on the citizens." G'Ray said with a pitch that seemed to indicate sarcasm.

"Except that now we have billions more citizens after integrating the non-humans!" Iulius objected. "Are you saying that they don't compensate enough?"

"The projections are clear, my lord." the old man insisted with his stoic tone.

Iulius was about to retort, but instead decided it wasn't the moment to throw a tantrum. "Very well. We'll make do with what we have. You can go." he concluded, giving the datapad back. The minister made a small bow and left the room.

Iulius thus turned toward his servant and whispered. "Keep an eye on him."

Qathora made a small nod, her gaze already following the minister as she too didn't find the replies of the bureaucrat convincing, then she casually walked away.

"You seem upset." Thrawn said.

Iulius was doing his best to hide his frustration but he remembered that the Chiss were able to see a different spectrum of colors through those red eyes, and could notice the slight increase of heat in his face. He also remembered that Thrawn was still very lacking in political understanding, and he did that comment because he didn't understand.

"I'll have the AI do the calculations as well, but I'm sure that there should be many more credits on the budget."

"Do you suspect a fraud?"

"Best case scenario, the minister or some other bureaucrat is embezzling the money. Worst case scenario...the Emperor is up to something." he sighed at the end.

"Then perhaps the construction of the replica of the federal super-dreadnought requires more resources than anticipated." Thrawn suggested.

Iulius was not entirely convinced. "Maybe. But I feel like something is off."

He looked up the chrono. It was about time for the inauguration. "Okay, I think we deserve a break. Let's get going."

"I'm right behind you." Thrawn replied in a friendly tone, or what passed as such with his voice.

With a squad of Death Troopers circling them, the Grand Admirals left the base and headed for the center of Theed. Passing through people who happily waived at the Lord-Protector, who returned the gestures gently, they didn't take long before finding the gallery. It was a completely new building with three floors and quite big. Previously, it hosted a few offices of the local administration, but it had been destroyed after the attack suffered from the city a few weeks before.

Now, the offices had been moved into another building and it had been decided to build this new gallery after deliberating with the committee of the neighborhood. There were a few well-dressed people but also some middle-class waiting for the inauguration, as for this day access would be free, to celebrate the opening.

The officers were allowed to push through the crowd and reached the main entrance, finding the local mayor, Queen Dalné and her advisors, and one person that Thrawn wasn't expecting.

"Iulius. Just in time." Sekta said cheerfully.

"That's because you educated me well, mother." Iulius replied in tone.

Sekta then peeked over her son's shoulder. "Grand Admiral." she greeted.

"Madame Tanis." the Chiss replied back. "I didn't know you were responsible for this opening."

"Only the opening?" Iulius teased, then waved an arm toward her. "My mother was the one proposing this idea and saw the delivery of all the artwork that we will find inside."

Sekta smiled with a mix of humility and pride at the same time.

"Oh." Thrawn breathed out. "Now that's a surprise."

"I'm not an artist," she replied. "but I always considered art as the soul of galactic civilizations. If we don't preserve it and take the time to appreciate what our ancestors and contemporaries tried to express, then what's the point of progress?"

"I couldn't agree more." Thrawn replied with a pleased expression.

Sekta thus turned around and returned with the other politicians to finally give the short inauguration speech she had prepared and then finally cut the symbolic ribbon put in front of the stairs along with the Queen. The crowd applauded and the doors were finally open.

Thrawn and Iulius stepped in, always followed by their guards. They entered the main hall only to find it full of imperial artwork. All propaganda, yes, but Iulius recognized on the explanatory tags the names of some of the big artists of the Core and the Mid Rim. All artworks glorifying the Empire, its soldiers and its citizens, and of course reminding everyone that the Empire had a war to win.

But what caught their attention was a grand statue in the middle of the hall, which was made of a material very similar to black marble. There were imperial soldiers and officers of many kinds: a stormtrooper, an Army Trooper, a Dark Trooper etc… all looking outward. They were assembled around what seemed the peak of a mountain, in poses of fighting or of an heroic death. At the center of the stage, standing above everyone else was a soldier with a Scout Trooper armor holding an imperial banner in his right hand and the left one pointing the index toward what was probably the enemy.

And looking closely, the two realized that the face of that man...was Iulius himself, directing the battle with an absolutely calm expression, his mouth closed.

The Lord-Protector was visibly surprised. He took a look at the tag, and saw that this statue had been made by a Lantillian artist.

At the base of the statue, there was a write in Basic.

IN GLORIOUS MEMORY OF THE IMPERIAL HEROES WHO FOUGHT AND DIED ON LANTILLIES FOR THE SALVATION OF THE EMPIRE.

"Lovely, uh?" Sekta said suddenly from beside them. "When I spread the news that I was setting up this museum, the Lantillians sent me this."

"It's…impressive, sure." Iulius said a bit embarrassed.

"Don't let this first room intimidate you gentlemen." she reassured. "The Ministry of Culture approved the project on the condition that I dedicated the main hall to the propaganda, but the real thing is in the other rooms. If you would follow me…" she invited.

They entered the first corridor and started to see some paintings that didn't talk about politics and all. Sekta guided them, explaining that these belonged to the artists of the 'Sunguardist', who operated between 1000 and 900 years before them, at the start of the Republic Golden Age. Thrawn listened quite captivated and looked at the paintings. Iulius wasn't much interested in the history, but he appreciated the pictures nonetheless.

"Now, if I may ask a question, Grand Admiral…" Sekta said at a point.

"Of course." Thrawn replied.

"See, Iulius always admired how you could read your enemies by their art, so I'm curious…" she said, giving a quick glimpse at Iulius, who shied away his head. "What would you say about the author of this painting?"

She stopped next to one of the pieces of the collection, making sure that her body hid the tag from Thrawn. The Chiss smirked, clearly enjoying the challenge and started his analysis.

Curious of hearing that, Iulius stuck around for a couple minutes, when the Grand Admiral gave his final judgment.

"I believe that the colors and the lines indicate...loss. The author is elaborating the death of a loved one with this artwork."

Sekta made a positively impressed face. "Spot on." she stepped aside to indicate the tag. "Elwan Tagari is the name of the artist. He created this right after the death of his beloved younger daughter. It was this piece that actually launched his career."

"Seems like your quirk has even improved while you were held prisoner." Iulius commented.

"The humans of Earth have a tradition of preserving and studying the history of their own art. I had the chance of learning much by reading their authors." Thrawn simply replied.

"Then let's hope it will help you reading our enemies even better." the Lord-Protector finally commented before proceeding on his own.


January 20.

Jordan signaled his Legionnaires and the three Jedi to get to cover as he had spotted the cave where they were supposed to look for the Jedi on Phaeda. For sure, there were a couple of imperial shuttles belonging to the Purge Troopers, who had apparently arrived a little before than the allies.

The entrance was however guarded by a small squad of shore troopers, making sure that nobody could enter that cave. They were all on a single island on the planet, a few hundred km away from the nearby continent.

Peeking just over the rock, Ahsoka counted the imperials and then hid again. "There are those two outside of the cave and five waiting inside."

"I'll deal with those two. Try to approach the entrance and attack the others on my mark." Jordan ordered as he prepared his sniper rifle.

The Legionnaires activated their cloaking devices while Ahsoka, Chuvi and Newak applied their Force Speed to move so fast from cover to cover that the imperials couldn't spot them. Meanwhile Jordan leaned against the top of the rock and aimed his rifle at the two sentinels, who were close to each other enough to offer easy targets to the Captain.

Jordan aimed his Mantis at the head of the soldier with the heavy blaster first, knowing that he could be the most dangerous and waited until Gutierrez signaled that both groups were in position.

"Understood." Jordan breathed as he shifted his finger on the trigger and prepared to squeeze.

"Three, two, one…" he counted.

He pulled the trigger, causing the shot to be funneled out of the barrel. The loud bang resonated into his helmet and the recoil made the rifle bump against his right shoulder, but he was more than capable to withstand it without moving the rifle.

The next instant, the helmet of the shore trooper had a visible crack and the man wobbled for a second before falling down like dead weight. The other one immediately jumped into alert and frantically looked around, but Jordan only needed a couple seconds to extract the thermal clip and be ready to fire again, blasting the helmet of the other imperial as well.

"All clear, go!" he ordered into the comlink as he reloaded his Mantis rifle.

He disengaged the projection that his visor was giving of the Mantis' gunsight and pushed himself up, in time to notice the Jedi and the Legionnaires in the distance as they stormed the entrance of the cave. A brief sequence of shots and lightsaber hums followed as Bridger put away his rifle and took his Paladin pistol to fight inside the cave and then ran toward the rest of the group.

After they had regrouped, the allies moved into the profundities of the cave. The imperials had installed a few lights to navigate better in their search for the fugitive Jedi. Ahsoka and her Padawans took the lead, so they could shield their allies in case blaster bolts started flying, and indeed it didn't take long before they reached a major part of the cave and found most of the imperial troopers. A quick and intense fight broke out, but the allies came out on top with no losses. The Padawans, Chuvi and Newak, demonstrated that their training had paid off as they held the formation with their teacher and helped cut down the imperials, including two Purge Troopers.

After cleaning that part, they followed the distant sound of blaster fires, yelling and muffled voices coming from behind a corridor that led into a cemented part of the cave, once a mining facility.

They could hear the sound of a lightsaber slashing through something and the tired groaning of a Purge trooper falling down. Jordan entered pointing his pistol, but he soon realized that the only being standing inside the room was a Wookiee wielding a green lightsaber.

The fuzzball at first growled at them, but then doubt caught him when he saw Ahsoka, who instead smiled in a friendly way.

"Hello, Gungi." she greeted.

The Wookiee made a surprised groaning, then deactivated his weapon and roared in joy, running toward the Togruta and hugging her tightly. Ahsoka strained a bit but returned the gesture happily before Gungi put her down again.

"I suppose you know each other?" Chuvi asked.

"Not long before I left the Order, I accompanied Gungi and his group of younglings to the Gathering. It was...an eventful mission." Ahsoka said.

Gungi said something in his language and Jordan's translator kicked in. "That's one way to put it." the mechanical voice of the software said.

"All right, that's good and all." the Captain prompted. "But there is an imperial cruiser still in orbit and they are going to wonder very soon why their comrades stopped reporting in. Let's get out."

At his behest, the others compelled and the group of now four Jedi and four Legionnaires dashed back toward the exit. Jordan called the shuttle for extraction as soon as his radio was able to transmit as they came outside of the hill. Three minutes later, the Kodiak arrived and they managed to head for the Constantinople before the imperials could send someone else to look for the missing team on the surface.

"It's so good to see you again, Gungi." Ahsoka said as the Wookiee caught his breath and sat on one of the seats. He was wearing an armor typical of his people, with decorated shoulder pads, two bandoliers and a belt both reinforces.

The Wookiee replied in kind.

"Do you know anything about the others?" she continued calmly. "Katooni? Byph?…"

Gungi lowered his head discomforted and replied. "I don't know. Last time we saw we were all escaping from the Temple on Coruscant. We got separated...I don't know…"

"Hey, we received several requests for help from Jedi." Jordan intervened to reassure him. "Maybe they are among them."

Gungi only now stopped to look at the armors of the Legionnaires and even at the unfamiliar design of the Kodiak's inside. It took a bit of presentations for him to familiarize with everybody else, but by the time they reached the frigate, which was ready to rejoin Darvos' Task Force, the 515, Gungi was more than eager to join the new Order and help in the search for the other Jedi.