Chapter 11: Rules of the Universe
April 14.
The last interrogation of the 'Cardinal', as the red-plated Kett called herself, plus the intel provided by the Moshae and shared by Bridger was giving quite the unsettling picture to Iulius and Darvos.
"Why are the Grysks experimenting so much with creating monsters?" asked the latter in the solitary room they had taken to discuss the matter.
"Other than creating an army for an invasion, I don't see much else."
"Yes. But according to Thrawn, the times he had to deal with them, they recurred mostly to subterfuge and plots, not straight-up violence and genetic manipulation."
"He has been away from his people for twenty years, by now. But perhaps these methods only look different.I think we should focus on whether they are aiming at our part of the galaxy or not."
"Honestly, after the beating we've given to the Kett, they must understand that they don't have much of a chance." Darvos was slowly pacing around the room, but at this point he halted and leaned against the small table where Iulius was sitting at. "Rather, have you found some intel on where the Kett come from?"
"If you're asking if they're all mutated Angara, they aren't. The Cardinal said that their leader, the Archon, comes from outside this sector. Apparently, the Kett homeworld is called Sarhesen and we don't know where it is. I'm honestly much more interested in the process they call 'Exaltation'."
"That thing where they turn aliens into themselves? Yeah, that's disturbing."
"Put aside the morality of the gesture, brother. My point is another one: why do the Kett, who possess such a technology where they can change the biology of an alien species into another in a matter of seconds, bother with converting their enemies into troops rather than just creating an army of clones?"
Darvos didn't need to think too long before a possible answer came to his mind and he expressed it. "You saw that structure and you saw Jordan's records. This process seems to have more of a religious value than anything. So maybe this is not a strategy imposed by the Grysks?"
"Glad we're on the same page." Iulius said with a smirk. "Your observation over the Grysks manipulating their pawns might still be very much viable. From what we have, it seems possible that the Grysks are having the Kett do their bidding. Kidnapping our colonists may be just a way to have test subjects that they can study."
"By the Force." Darvos murmured. "Just thinking of what those poor people are probably going through…"
Iulius, too, was still having his heart munched out by a sense of guilt: this entire campaign was supposed to rescue the colonists, but so far they hadn't met a single one. Even though they had proven without a doubt that the Kett stood no chance against the superior technology and armies of the rest of Andromeda, there was still no trail on the kidnapped humans of the Outer Rim.
"Unfortunately, I believe we should assume they are dead by now. All we can do now is to make sure the Kett will never be able to reach our galaxy again by helping the Angara reclaiming their territory."
"On that, I agree. But be frank with me, Iulius. Do you plan on making the Angara allies of the Empire?" Darvos asked in a tone that was way too frank for an enemy officer, even if the two of them were brothers.
"I have no intention to involve them in our war, and I don't think the Angara would ever accept that. Not to mention, they need to rebuild their strength, which might take generations. However, I do want them to act as a buffer between the Empire and the Grysks, though I guess you already thought about that."
"It's not that hard of a guess." Darvos simply commented. "Makes sense that we keep everybody else out while we kill each other."
"Was it the Bridger family that gave you such a dark sense of humor?" Iulius asked with a calm voice that still showed off some irony.
Darvos huffed and replied with a smirk. "Well...I have been part of the family for a few years, now." he said that in a tone that sounded both happy and conflicted, a sentiment that became evident as the younger Tanis paced toward the window that gave him a view over the snowy lands of Voeld.
"Thinking about home?" Iulius cautiously asked as he reached him.
"Your fault. Now I reminded that in a month and a half I will be a father." his brother replied with no hard feeling as he kept staring outside.
Iulius had to think a few seconds over what to say back. Talking feelings was not something he had much experience in.
"I'm sorry we will likely not be back that soon." he eventually offered.
Darvos tilted his head to look at him with a bit of surprise, then chuckled. "Bro, you suck at this."
"At least I'm trying." Iulius defended.
Darvos laughed a bit louder. "Oh, I don't blame you. I doubt that was part of your training."
"Screw this, I'm trying to be gentle and you mock me?" Iulius replied, getting on with the vibe and giving him a light punch.
They joked another bit before Darvos sighed. "I'm still afraid I might screw up as a parent, though."
"Look at the bright side: you and I both had a really good example of how not to be a parent. You can't possibly to worse than father, so just do the exact opposite of what he ever did." Iulius said half-joking but meaning every word.
Darvos made an amused snort. "Now that's a good encouragement."
They laughed softly again. A brief silence followed, and it was tacitly agreed by them that, for the moment, talking about personal lives was enough.
"I think we should reach Havarl, next." Darvos proposed. "I heard Shepard is doing her best to help the Resistance, but to break the stalemate we should head there."
"I agree, but there is the matter of these 'Roekaar'. Showing up with an entire army on their homeworld may push other Angara into their extremist ideas."
"What choices do we have? We can't break the stalemate unless we act decisively."
Iulius hummed in thought. "I hope the Kett will finally realize that they can't defeat us with their level of technology, but a strategist must never plan on assumptions."
"So, do you agree?"
"Let's ask Captain Shepard, first." Iulius proposed. "We should decide once we hear her report."
"All right, I'll try to reach the Normandy."
After weeks of scouring Havarl, dealing with the almost constant rain, the jungle and Garrus and Sara not losing a single occasion to make some shooting contest with the dangerous fauna of the planet, Jane was actually starting to get frustrated.
The Angara had welcomed the military support of the elite of the Normandy, but they still didn't trust them enough to allow them a safe access to the Remnant vault, so for now the Specter was stuck into an endless loop of attacking Kett convoys but also having to deal with Roekaar parties attacking constantly while resting at Pelaav Research Station.
So there wasn't actually much to report to the Tanis brothers, but she still went through with that.
"The Angara seems convinced that the vault here on Havarl can do the same trick as the one on Eos, stop the decline of the planet."
"There is a vault here on Voeld, too, and it did the same trick. I say they have good reasons to believe." Darvos commented.
"Yes, Colonel, but the problem here is that here there is a monolith missing."
The two officers seemed stunned.
"Explain, please." Iulius asked.
Shepard shrugged. "That's just it. There is no third monolith necessary to reactivate the crypt. I've offered to help the search, but they still don't trust us."
The Lord-Protector brought a hand on his chin and hummed in thought before replying. "From what I observed, and as Commander Evfra shows, the Angara are a very proud people. But to solve this problem they will need our help, whether they like it or not."
"I agree, but I can't just force my way through, or I may find more recruits for the Roekaar."
"The same will happen the longer we stay around. Who is the boss around there?" Darvos asked.
"Kiiran Dals, the head scientist. I think she's opening up to the idea that we help, but maybe if you show up she will be more willing to accept."
They were interrupted as a blip announced a request to join the conversation coming from Thrawn. Iulius authorized it and the hologram of the Chiss Grand Admiral appeared, always standing straight and with his hands clasped behind his back.
"My apologies for the delay." he started with his cold tone. "I was having an enlightening conversation with the Cardinal."
"Don't keep us waiting, then. What did she say?" Iulius asked with a certain happiness.
"I'll explain the details at a better time, but I have reasons to believe that the Kett leadership is dividedand looking for a solution to fight us, the newly arrived."
"Divided how?"
"The figure Bridger reported, the Archon, is apparently the one on top of their hierarchy. He seems very interested in the technology of the Remnant, which explains why we always found the Kett occupying the vaults. However, other major figures in the chain of command want to focus their efforts on destroying the Angara and their allies."
"If I recall, the Kett come from outside the Haleus Sector. Is their home planet urging them to change strategy?" Shepard asked interested.
"That's something I wasn't able to uncover, unfortunately. But I do believe that the initial goal of the Kett was to convert as many Angara as possible, and that the Archon focused on the Remnant after he discovered them."
"And I guess the brass right beneath him does not share his new hobby." Darvos commented.
"That's the assumption, yes." Thrawn replied cautiously. "Though we are going to need additional information to prove such thing."
"It's something we should definitely look into, but first let's focus on the situation on Havarl." Iulius closed the matter, for the moment. "Captain, the Constantinople is already on the way to assist you. Me and the Grand Admiral will stay back and make sure the Kett don't try to attack Voeld again."
Shepard nodded. "All right, I'll see if I can convince Dals in the meantime."
"Good luck, then. Tanis, out."
With nothing else left to say, the three holograms disappeared, leaving Shepard to leave the room of the holo-communicator to enter the strategy room, and as she reached the CIC, Liara intercepted her.
"Jane, Kiiran Dals was looking for you."
She sighed. "What is it? Another Kett patrol?"
"Actually, I think it might regard a missing team of her scientists."
That caught the attention of the Captain, who didn't waste a moment to go to the armory, call his team and then get out of the Normandy, which had been parked just outside of Pelaav for some time. There were toxic plants that day by day crawled toward the hull and a group of technicians was working to cut them away. Jane entered the main hut of the small science village and found the Angara female in command of all of that.
"Captain. I'm sorry to bother you, but we might need the help of your AIs in this matter."
"No problem. We are here to help." Jane replied, managing to hide the frustration that repeating this phrase for the umpteenth time was causing to her at this point. It made her wonder just how much patience a diplomat had to do this job.
"My assistant, Tovarl, has entered the vault with his team two days ago. We went there to see what happened and we found them locked into some kind of stasis field."
"And how can EDI and Cortana get them out?"
"We know that it is just an automatic defense of the vault. Your machines should be able to interface with the main terminal of the room and free them from the trap."
Cortana appeared from Chief's armor. "There was a similar device inside the Eos' crypt. I can easily deactivate this one with the data gathered."
Reassured by that, Shepard turned toward the Angara. "Don't worry, we'll bring them back."
The team thus assembled and started the march toward the vault, a few km away. On that terrain, it would've been extremely hard for a wheeled vehicle to march through the thick jungle, even on the relatively large trails. Luckily enough, the Normandy had a repulsor-lifted Hammerhead inside the hangar.
After taking Sara and Chief aboard, Jane started driving toward their destination. Inside an armored vehicle, at least the insects that usually attacked them stayed away, and after blowing up a few Remnant drones outside the vault, the squad disembarked and headed toward the entrance.
"Now we finally get to explore the vault." commented Sara.
"Not yet, hon. We're here only to take the scientists back home."
"What? But we have been waiting weeks to be allowed inside there. I'm sure Dals won't mind if we take our time."
"Doing things behind someone's back is a bad way to make friends, Sara." Jane patiently explained. "For now, let's save the scientists and I'm sure Dals will finally trust us enough to send us back here." she said as they arrived at the open threshold of the vault.
"Contact." Chief said suddenly with his almost mechanical tone.
The women activated their night visors to take a glimpse at the fairly dark entrance and spotted another varied group of Remnant drones. Another fight broke out, which the Humans won almost effortlessly. They could thus proceed toward the first room of the vault, where they found the group of four scientists standing still inside blue energy field that seemed more or less tailored for each of them.
"Seems like they didn't have time to react." Sara commented, noticing how their postured were not at all scared or there were signs that they were trying to escape. Tovarl, for example, was clearly just talking. He was probably just giving instructions around before he was frozen like that.
Chief instead headed straight for the terminal in the center of the room and summoned Cortana.
The AI didn't take long before realizing an important detail. "We need to find the glyphs for the decode. Take a look around, please."
Sara activated her scanner and found them quickly. After finding the right combination to pass the security measures, Cortana finally had free hand.
"And...done."
The blue energy fields disappeared.
"...send them to Pelaav and…" Tovarl said, confirming Sara's theory that he hadn't noticed anything. A concept reinforced by the fact that he started looking around, like his colleagues, before his gaze ended on Jane.
"You...you are the aliens that arrived at Pelaav...When did you come in?"
"We haven't teleported inside here." Jane said in a tone set to both reassure him and minimize the gravity of the situation. "You have been trapped inside a stasis field for two days. Kiiran Dals sent me to rescue you."
"A stasis field?" the Angara asked, looking around dumbfounded. "But...we had barely touched anything in the room."
"Which might be a signal that we should get outside and return to Pelaav. You can organize another expedition with more people in case this happens again."
Tovarl scratched his head confused, but eventually he agreed. Cramming them inside the Hammerhead while Sara and Chief sat on the outer hull of the vehicle, Shepard drove back toward the research station, to deliver back the scientists and wait for the Constantinople and her crew.
April 20.
"Lianna Gate Control, this is General Hera Syndulla of the New Republic." Hera said in the comlink with a tone that clearly hinted at her frustration. "It's been 40 minutes already. Where is our permit to land?"
"I sincerely apologize, General," the operator responded timidly and, Jaral understood, frightened. "the clearance has not arrived yet."
"I can't believe it." Kallus hissed. "I bet whatever you want that they're making us wait as a spite for the fact that the Jedi refused to align with the Republic."
"Come on, that would be just petty." Hera said incredulous.
"Welcome to human politics, Hera." Kallus said embittered and a bit ashamed that he was a Human as well.
"Oh, I'm gonna stir up some politics, then." Mira erupted from behind Jaral's seat.
Before the young woman could stop her, her mother strode toward the command console and took control of the comlink.
"Control, this is Mira Bridger, Under-secretary of Healthcare of the Lothal Protectorate. I demand to speak with your supervisor!"
"Y-Yes ma'am." the operator replied.
"Mira, what are you…?" Hera started, but the doctor lifted a finger to shush her.
"Well, you could say they asked for it." Zeb whispered the quip to Jaral. It was clear to everyone that Mira was enraged because her daughter was forced to wait in space in her conditions.
Jaral smiled. "Probably best that Ezra and Sabine are out on another commission."
Zeb chuckled with his 'eh eh'. "Yeah, they would've tore up that shield bare-handed."
Then they turned again toward the front, just in time to hear a new voice speak through the comlink.
"Greetings, madam Bridger. How can we help?" the voice said in what couldn't sound a more fake courtesy. No doubts that was the guy obstructing them.
"You may start explaining why we have been denied access for so long. Clearly you don't lack room, cause at least a hundred freighters had entered past us!" Mira said loudly but in a still controlled voice.
"I understand your frustration, Under-secretary, but there are a few discrepancies in your arrival that we need to fix up."
Mira took a deep breath. She wasn't going to sit through make-up bureaucratic poodoo. Instead, she calmed her nerves and delivered her answer.
"That's fine. I guess we'll just head back to Lothal and tell the entire story to the press. I really look forward to see how the Republic will justify the fact that they kept an 8-month pregnant woman waiting aboard a freighter. Woman that just happens to be one of the founding members of the Republic, by the way." she added in a completely casual tone.
"Uhm...are you saying that Jaral Bridger…?"
"Indeed."
Silence followed for a good thirty seconds, then finally the superintended came back. "Ghost, you're clear to land. Head for the commercial bay P-18."
"Thank you very much." Mira replied quite coldly.
Then she turned around and went back next to her daughter, since she had joined this embassy just to keep an eye on her.
"Nice negotiations." Hera quipped as she pushed the Ghost toward the disc-shaped shield gate, passing past a dry-dock, a Dauntless-class cruiser and the corvettes patrolling the access to the planet.
"I think that's the first time you used your title." Jaral commented.
"At least I found a use for it." Mira replied sarcastically. "You all right?"
"I'm fine, mom. Rather, someone should go check on Chopper, make sure he hasn't already dropped Jacen or something."
Right on cue, the door slid open and let the astromech enter with the little baby, which had already grown considerably from his birth, in his armlets. Chopper then grunted resentful that his baby-sitting abilities were being questioned behind his back.
"Nothing personal, buddy," Jaral replied with a smile. "But look at you, you can't hold him that well anymore."
Chopper grunted, but yes his armlets were shaking a bit, so he decided to pass the baby to Jaral, so she could hold him while the Ghost passed through the atmosphere of Lianna and entered the metropolis of the capital. The planet was growing in population and structures at an incredible pace, almost like it wanted to catch up with Coruscant.
The Ghost finally reached the spaceport and landed on the assigned platform. Zeb and Kallus were assigned to guard the ship and Jacen while Chopper and the women stepped out to find a transport toward the Senate, where Jaral had to meet with Mothma and her cabinet.
Just as they were stepping out of the platform, a convoy of skycars pretty much braked in front of them. They were going to fast that they almost drifted away and caused an accident. From the central car, one that Jaral had recognized immediately, dashed out President Mothma herself, running hastily in front of them with a terrorized face. Once she reached the confused women, she bowed to them.
"I'm so sorry, Master Bridger." she said fatigued but undoubtedly sincere. "I was just informed of everything. I have no words to express my embarrassment, on behalf of the Republic."
But Jaral lifted a hand calmly, speaking in a conciliatory way. "It's okay, President. I'm here now, let's just proceed with the meeting."
Mothma bowed once again. "Of course. But I promise, I will find whoever organized this insult." she added, seething with indignation.
The group mounted on the presidential car and they were brought back to the Senate, into the main meeting room of the government. After getting introduced to the other ministers, with Hera sitting next to her, Jaral could finally start talking.
"First of all, I thank you for accepting to meet me, ladies and gentlemen. What I have to say could not be delivered through a comlink, or anything that could be registered, actually." she said in a placated tone. Then she took a data-disc and inserted it inside one socket of the table. The lights in the room went out and the holographic model of a man clad in a sinister armor started hovering and rotating slowly over the center.
"Almost three months ago, on Bettok, a group of Jedi that included my brother Ezra encountered this person among the imperials. As you know, the Tanis brothers deescalated that situation and there was no fighting between us and them, however, it was clear to my people that this individual was tied to the Sith."
"You mean Vader and the Emperor?" one of the ministers asked.
"Precisely. So we have put our allies on his trail and they confirmed out worries: this man is an aspiring Sith. The imperials call him both Starkiller and Galen Marek, though I seriously doubt that either is the real name."
"Would you mind to elaborate that 'aspiring Sith', Master Jedi?" someone else asked.
"Of course. As you know, we only called Palpatine, or maybe I should call him Darth Sidious, and Vader as Sith. That's because their organization, unlike the Jedi, live by the 'Rule of the Two'. It states that there can only be a Master and an Apprentice. All the other people wielding a red lightsaber and capable of using the Force are just pawns, who still aspire to take the role of Apprentice, perhaps. And the Apprentice can only become the Master if he manages to kill and usurp him. Basically, even if it doesn't look like that, they're in a constant power struggle."
The politicians looked intrigued, but many points were still hard to decipher for them.
"So why does this...Starkiller, raise your interest?"
"My brother and Luke Skywalker recently ran into him during a mission. He stole an artifact from an old Jedi temple, but right now that's not important. What's critical to understand is that, apparently, he wasn't there per order of his masters.
"Plus, another element that caught our attention is that, since after the battle of Yavin, Starkiller has served at the behest of Grand Admiral Tanis, working as his personal agent. If you think I'm just filing in random facts, I ask you to be patient, because the threads are about to give you a full picture."
She thus tapped a button to change the hologram, this time showing a picture of the renowned Grand Admiral Thrawn.
"The last piece of this puzzle is Thrawn. Does any of you know why a non-Human is serving the Empire in such a position as his?"
"The most accredited theory among our analysts is that he has something to gain from this 'alliance'." a minister replied.
"Precisely. Thrawn has started to serve the Empire so he could influence it and direct its power against the enemies of his people, the Chiss. When I went to Earth, to visit him when he was still a captive of the Federation, he basically confirmed me his allegiance to the Chiss when he revealed the existence of the Death Star."
A murmur of confusion followed.
"I think you said something like that at the time." Mothma commented. "But why do you think he wanted to damage the Empire."
"He doesn't want to damage the Empire. Or at least, not too much. He simply didn't trust Palpatine not to use that station against the Chiss, had the Empire won the war against us.
"Which brings me to the center of this web of encounters and characters. Me and the Jedi Order believe that Starkiller and Thrawn might be plotting to destabilize the rule of the Emperor and hope to put somebody else on the throne."
A realization hit the Minister of Foreign Affairs. "Their Lord-Protector, Tanis."
Jaral made a nod.
"Come on, that's absurd!" someone exclaimed. "We have no proof that Tanis even has any political ambition."
"But think about it: he's the national hero of the Empire, and as ruler of the Mid Rim the systems under his administration are indeed enjoying a degree of liberty and safety that they barely imagined, before." some other said.
A brief chatter about these two positions and the consequences followed until Mothma rose a hand and recalled everybody's attention.
"Ministers, please. Whether this plot is true or not, we will find out only with time. I think you're missing a very valid point that Master Bridger is bringing to our attention: if all of this is true, then there is the chance to fracture the strength of the Empire."
"Precisely, Madame President." Hera intervened with a decisive tone. "I'm sure everyone here knows that we stand no chance against the Empire in a war of attrition. The Empire still controls most of the galactic industries and population, and with the Federation facing a crisis on its own border, we can't take their continued support for granted."
"I agree." the Minister of Defense said. "After our defeat at Lantillies, our chances to deal a critical blow to the Empire with conventional warfare has disappeared. This might be our best strategy."
"Yes, but do we really want to gamble everything on this? Seems a bit of a stretch to think that an imperial Grand Admiral, a steadfastly loyal one at that, might be our saving grace."
"That will be up to you to decide." Jaral said to conclude. "However I will also inform you that the Federation is already considering this option. Perhaps you should consult them on this matter."
Mothma gave a questioning look at her ministers, who in turn did the same.
"You shed quite the light today, Master Bridger. We thank you for that." the President concluded.
"I only did my duty, President. But allow me to issue a warning. Handle this matter very carefully, cause there is not guarantee our enemies wanted us to see this web just so we will head straight into a trap."
"Of course. That's something politicians tend to learn the hard way." the President said both seriously and joking.
"Good. Then I'll take my leave, before my doctor runs out of patience." Jaral concluded with a smile.
Mothma smirked amused. "I'll make sure nobody holds you more than necessary." she promised in the end.
And with that said, the three women were escorted back to the Ghost and were allowed to leave the planet with no fuss.
April 22.
In the slight darkness of his home's studio, Ezra was breaking his head on the figurative wall as he tried to understand the meaning of the last day's encounter. He had taken Jaden and Lissia on a scouting mission on a remote world of Hutt Space where a collector had offered to sell them what he claimed to be a Jedi artifact, but when they arrived, they once again ran into Starkiller, who had just killed the collector and taken what Ezra saw was a holocron. Unfortunately, the assassin had managed to evade them once again.
Plus, Starkiller had gone there alone with his own stealth frigate, but it was still hard to understand if he was working for the Sith or if he was on his personal quest, considering that Kota said that he had always acted that way even before the war.
Speaking of which, Ezra wondered what the two Sith were up to. Vader had not shown up since their confrontation on the Amerigo and there were no reports about him. Was he sending out Starkiller in an attempt to confuse the Coalition? Was busy with something bigger? The reasons could be multiple, and what was the Emperor, the supreme puppeteer, scheming? The destruction of his puppet over Dromund Kaas was bound to hurt him physically, but it also cast a sinister shadow on his projects. Perhaps he was researching another way to become immortal?
As these thoughts crossed his mind, the door slid open and projected the light in the corridor from his back, along with the silhouette of his wife.
"Ezra, come on, we'll be late." she said.
"Yes, sorry." he quickly apologize after seeing the hour.
In the span of three minutes he had cleaned his clothes and they headed outside, finding Jaral waiting for them on one of their garden's chair, with Mira attending to her.
"Took your sweet time." she joked.
"Guess whose fault it is." Sabine quipped, nodding at Ezra.
The young man smiled embarrassed and rubbed his neck. "Well, we're here now. Let's before it's too late."
"Just remember: make sure your sister doesn't take in any alcohol." Mira said severely but clearly out of concern.
"It's all right, mom. I've taken care of her for a long time, anyway." he said lightheartedly.
"That's what I wanted to hear." Mira said before bowing a bit to kiss her daughter on the forehead, then she headed to do the same with Ezra while saying "Have fun, kids.". Finally she turned to Sabine. "Send my regards to your family, Sabine."
"I will, Mira, thanks." the mandalorian replied gratefully.
Mira then had to rush back to her skycar as she had to get back to the hospital for another shift. The car of the three youngsters instead was parked right outside the fence. After helping his sister sit in the back, Ezra went to the controls with Sabine sitting next to him, closed the capsule and started driving. Slowly at first, as they passed close to the training grounds, where Cal and the crew of the Mantis, including his new Padawan Kubari, were taking their turn in educating the younglings, under the eyes of Master Yoda. Ezra waved at them and the group returned the gesture before they left the complex and headed toward the mandalorian colony.
There, in the main square, there were preparations for a small feast to celebrate what was about to happen into the house of clan Wren, where the three were heading to.
The new house of the clan was entirely different from the fortress on Krownest. Not as flashy or bulky, cause it was now more of a longhouse, with just two floors, but at least it was simple, symbolizing the fact that even a relatively powerful clan like the Wren had opted to live in a simpler condition in these trying times for the mandalorians.
It was part of Tristan's new policy. He didn't want his family to look more privileged than the others. That way he convinced most of the colonists to accept him as their leader and support the idea of the mandalorians to become allies of the Jedi Order and fight for a better galaxy.
And today, clan Wren was about to merge with Clan Eldar, founding a new House.
The two Jedi and Sabine were led inside the longhouse and brought into a room, where only a very restrict number of people was, but all were there to be testimonies of a significant affair.
"Sorry we're late." Sabine entered jovially, aiming at her brother standing in the center of the room.
"Hey, 'bine." Tristan replied eagerly. "Bridgers, I'm glad you found time to satisfy my fancy." he then greeted.
"Greetings, Count Wren." Ezra replied. "Eldar Clan." he added to the other half of the people in the room.
Indeed, the two families of Wren and Eldar. The former was represented only by Alrich and Sabine, while the former had the current Count, Luggot Eldar, his wife Vhal and his two sons and fourth daughter, while Asha, the third-born, was waiting in the middle of the room with Tristan. All of them were wearing their armors.
"Greetings, Jedi." Luggot said cordially. "We are honored to have you here, as well. I trust the voyage wasn't too hard for you, miss Jaral?"
"Don't worry Count. This little one can't hold my down that easily." she joked, making the others in the room chuckle.
"Still, I'm sure that she will become strong like her mother." Alrich commented.
"Thanks, Alrich. Now, I believe these other youngsters are in desperate need to recite their vows." she concluded with the same tone.
With a note of amusement that was appreciated by the two stars of this little show, Tristan stepped in the center of the room, standing in front of Ashla. It had been more than a year since both clans had settled there and Tristan had started courting the fieriest child of the Eldar clan. While this union served a political end, there was no doubt that there was a genuine sentiment between the two of them, which was a much promising start.
Ezra and Sabine furtively held hands, remembering their own vows as Tristan and Asha recited them loudly and without hesitation in just a few seconds.
With that done and the alliance between the families secured, it was time to go outside, announce the creation of the new House Atin, after the name given to the colony. It was to be a symbol of defiance against the Empire that destroyed their homeworld, but also a commitment to their new path and values that they had learned by living on Lothal.
After making the announcement, it was time to get the party started. After all, the union of two clans was something that deserved a little bit of festivity.
"Found anything about that holocron?" Jaral asked furtively to her brother as he was accompanying her toward the feast.
"Unfortunately, not much. I am more concerned about the fact that we haven't heard anything from Vader since last year."
"Any idea how we can fix that?"
"Some. But to do that I need you back in top shape and to discuss it with the other members of the Order. So, for now, let's focus on surviving a mandalorian party." he concluded with a quip.
Jaral chuckled. "All right, good point."
They reached the table and decided to enjoy the moment while it lasted.
