Chapter 12: Secret Plans

May 3.

Standing on the plank of the CIC Jane threw a look toward the pilot house at the end of the bridge. Gozo was sitting there next to Mazak, the subtle but visible stream of psionic energy flowing toward the commands. Her hands were tended toward the console, which she was manipulating to direct the ship as they traveled into hyperspace and uncharted space.

The galaxy map was just signaling that the Normandy was just flying into a gray background, cause there were no star maps for this part of the universe. Jane knew what the psionics could do, yet every time she observed Gozo pulling the ship across the stars, where it was very possible to smash against a dying star or any anomaly that might spell doom before they even noticed it.

"It's always a sight to see, right?" the voice of Wilhelm almost startled her. She turned her head to see him standing behind the captain's ramp in front of the map.

"Yes. I only hope she's not straining herself. She's been there for five hours."

"Master Gozo knows her limits. She's the best navigator of the Ordo." Wilhelm reassured. "Rather, Specter Shepard, I would like to discuss an operational matter, if I may."

Shepard turned toward EDI's terminal next to the map. "EDI, warn me if we have to come out of hyperspace."

"Very well, Shepard." the AI replied.

Jane and Wilhelm thus headed into the conference room, where the rest of the ground team was waiting for them.

"So what's bothering you?" she started.

"I think we should discuss about the recent discoveries we made on Havarl." Liara replied straight to the point.

"You mean the Jardaan?"

"Yes."

Jardaan. At least that was how both Liara and the Moshae had interpreted the name recently found in the lost, now found, pillar of Havarl's vault. They were quite sure that this was the name of the species that had built the Remnant and all the terraforming technology scattered around Haeleus.

"What do we know at this point?" Jane asked.

"Only what we found thanks to my abilities." Javik said with his tone that always sounded both serious and gloating in situations like these. "The Jardaan lived in this sector around 40.000 years ago, but then they escaped deeper into the Unknown Regions."

"You said they were pushed out from here from another species." Tali added.

"Correct. The traces were too ancient and worn out to make a complete picture of them, but I'm sure that they probably found their own version of the Reapers."

"Don't be so dramatic, uncle Jav." Sara intervened. "Just because someone is stronger than you, that doesn't make them killers bent on your total extinction."

"Besides, we know that the date you mentioned corresponded with the rise of the Infinite Empire of the Rakata, who also came from the Unknown Regions." Liara explained. "Whether it was actually them or not, those were turbulent times, so it's no wonder the Jardaan might have decided to flee in search of safer worlds."

"Yeah, but I think the Major wanted to talk us about that new coordinates you found." Garrus intervened to recall the others on track. "The place you called Meridian."

"Of course, sorry." Liara resumed. "According to our analysis, the Jardaan left another vault on a planet that the Angara, and supposedly the Kett neither, have ever found. We have the coordinated but no safe route there, which is why we really need to thank the Empress for sending Master Gozo with us."

"Indeed, but I want to point out what are we going to do once we find and secure Meridian. Can we afford to leave all of this weapons to the Angara?" Wilhelm asked.

"It's not a weapon, Will. We know next to nothing about Meridian, that's why we are going to investigate."

"It's still supposed to be the magnus opus of the people who built the self-replicating Remnants, the vaults and a ton of stuff that is only slightly behind the Reapers in terms of power. If we win this war and push the Kett out of Haeleus, then will it be a good idea to leave all of this god-sent toys lying around?"

"I concur with Klausewitz." Javik said. "Not because I don't trust the Angara, but because we can't afford to trust the Empire."

"You mean we can't trust them to leave the Angara in peace once we defeat the Kett." Jane understood.

"Yes." Wilhelm replied.

"Hold on," Scott intervened. "You are not proposing to destroy Meridian, right?"

"You should teach your son something about reality." Javik whispered to Jane, though it was meant more as a joke than a real criticism.

"I see your point, guys, but the Angara could use the Remnants to rebuild their civilization after this long war." Tali commented. "Who are we to deny them this opportunity?"

"When we will leave this Sector," Sara said. "the imperials will be the only one left to share a border with the Angara. If they decide they want this technology for them, there won't be much we can do. If we want to deny them any possible advantage, we need to act now."

"I must also agree." Garrus said. "Grand Admiral Tanis might be a man of his own moral, but we know that the ones calling the shots in the Empire are two edgy lords whose philosophy is to betray even your closest ally. If they think they have the resources left to spare for conquering Haeleus, they will do it."

Jane gestured that it was enough. "I thank you for your insights on the matter. But until I see what Meridian is and what it can do, I'm not taking any decision. Besides, we need Darvos to agree with us."

That was enough to close the debate and the group started to disband, with everyone returning to their duties on the ship. Everybody except Jane and Wilhelm.

"You don't like this way of thinking, I know." she started before even looking in the face her ex-husband.

"On one point, you are right: it's too early to make a decision. But I still believe that it's too dangerous to leave Jardaan technology in reach of the imperials." Wilhelm replied calmly.

"I know that." she sighed, then leaned her back against the table. "But it looks like, no matter what we decide, this won't end well."

"That's just the cards we've been dealt, Jane. Not much we can do about it."

"I'm sure dad would find a way to make everyone a victor."

Wilhelm at first seemed puzzled, unsure over what he should say, and Jane realized she had done it again: she was comparing herself to her father, and she didn't like where her brain was heading to.

"Look, John always had to make calls in the heat of the moment." the Major eventually said. "And, in all honesty, there were always people who weren't happy with them. Besides, you are Jane Shepard! You are the Specter who fought and killed a Tambaran warlord alone; you stopped a mad cult from murdering the Empress; you convinced one of the most dangerous criminals of the Milky Way to surrender peacefully. What else do you need to prove that you are already as great as your father?!"

Jane pondered, yet the heartfelt speech of Wilhelm managed to bring back her resolve.

She chuckled and turned her head toward him. "You always knew how to push my buttons." she quipped.

Wilhelm chuckled back and made a step toward her. "Well I...made a lot of practice." he said even if slightly timidly.

An uncomfortable silence followed, yet their gazes were locked into each other. Then Wilhelm started slowly to lean in and even Jane felt the same urge.

However she pushed herself away from the table, to send away those thoughts. "I should get back to work." she announced in a rush before leaving the room, not daring to look back.

"Ja, genau." she heard Wilhelm whisper in a mix of frustration and embarrassment.

That was too close. But after all, it wasn't surprising: after all they didn't divorce because the feeling wasn't there anymore, on the contrary. It was for something else entirely.

Jane headed back into the CIC, at which point EDI spoke through the terminal.

"Shepard. We are leaving hyperspace."

The Captain headed then into the cabin, in time to see the stars regain their natural form in the distance and the Normandy entered into a system not registered on the map, but still far away from their presumed coordinates.

"Are we making a stop?" she asked.

Gozo was breathing with a bit of strain. "Apologies, Captain. I couldn't keep going on anymore."

"You don't have to apology, Master. The important thing is that we halted into a safe space."

"Even more. The Flux told me that one of the planets in this system is fit for life. We should be able to give the crew some rest."

"Confirmed." said EDI after making a quick scan of the system. "The second planet is an atoll world, but we need a closer look to determine if the air is breathable."

"Well done, Master Gozo. Then let's take a break and see if we can still contact the Liberator."


May 5.

The Sentinel craft powered up the engines and allowed Iulius to leave the surface of Havarl heading toward the Admonitor, which was waiting in orbit and was visible from the surface. Qathora was sitting quietly next to him, along an entire squad of Death Troopers tasked with his security. The fly only lasted a few minutes and Iulius used that time to make a mental recap of the last developments.

Certainly, finding out the creators of the Remnant was a very important piece of the puzzle, especially since it was now clear that the Kett were after some specific knowledge of the Jardaan. Hard to say if they were acting on their own or working for the Grysks yet, though after hearing the stories of Thrawn, Iulius was becoming more skeptical over the nature of the Exaltation process: was it possible that the Grysks simply taught this technique and let the Kett do their own business while they observed from the shadows?

For the first time ever, it seemed like every small answer he found only brought up ten questions more.

Such were the thoughts in his mind until the shuttle landed inside the starboard hangar, and as Iulius stepped out he found Yagler waiting for him.

"Excuse me, Lord Tanis. The Director needs to speak with you urgently." the ISB officer said with a formal tone.

"Very well. Lead the way."

They walked until they reached the comm room. Yagler made sure to seal the room and wait outside with Qathora until Iulius was done, then she opened the channel with Gideon, whose hologram appeared standing on his feet like Iulius was doing.

"Moff Gideon. I heard you need to speak with me."

"Greetings, Lord-Protector. I am calling you on behalf of the Emperor. Your most recent report has stoked his interest, as well as mine."

"I only wish to make you notice that what we found on the planet Havarl is only the tip of an iceberg, but if I can answer your questions, I'll do it."

Gideon went straight to the questions. "Do you think there is any knowledge among the aliens that we could use to improve our military?"

"That is for sure. But it is a technology our technicians have never seen, so I don't think any scientific breakthrough can be achieved in the short term."

Gideon hummed in thought before continuing. "Besides, we would need access to a good amount of that technology. Speaking of which, how do you think the Empire should handle the Angara? Can they be made into vassals like your Carunoans?"

"The Angara have been fighting their war against the Kett for almost a decade, and their xenophobic faction has a lot of sway over their society. No, the Angara would fight any of our attempt to establish our influence, so we should use the favor we earned with this campaign to turn them into a friendly proxy on our northern border."

"I see, I see."

Gideon pondered for a few seconds, then his hands returned from his mouth to along his body.

"I'll inform the Emperor of your report. However, I also called you to issue a personal warning."

"About what?"

"For you to finish this campaign as soon as possible, as your absence is becoming increasingly harder to justify."

Iulius felt a tingle of warning, but decided to ask anyway. "Justify to whom?"

"Your political opponents here on Coruscant have been whispering for a while that you are using your popularity and influence over the Armed Forces to prepare an uprising against the Emperor."

The Lord-Protector could feel his own brain being cooked up by blind rage at that accusations, and only with a lot of self-discipline he managed to retain a dignified tone.

"That is preposterous even coming from them."

"Oh, I am among those who support you, Lord Tanis, yet the fact that you're leading an operation in the Unknown Regions, making salutary reports before of a lack of communication devices in that area and, worst of all, along a task force of our enemies...I think you can understand."

Iulius grunted. Of course he knew: he had considered that since the beginning of this whole affair, but he still believed this to be the best way to resolve the situation quietly and as quickly as possible. Indeed, without the archaeological expertise of Doctor T'Soni, the federal AIs and Darvos' own ingenuity, the battle against the Kett wouldn't have proceeded as quickly as it was doing right now.

"So how long do you propose I delay my return?"

"Personally, I give you two months from now. At that point, if you still won't have completed the objective, I strongly recommend that you leave Grand Admiral Thrawn in charge and return to Coruscant. We're lucky that you handled our enemies a severe beating at Lantillies and forced them on the defensive, but High Command fears that the rebels and the Federation are preparing a new set of offensives."

"Understood. Then I'll see that our victory be swift and crushing."

"Then I have nothing left but to wish you a bit of good fortunes. Long live the Empire."

"Long live the Empire."

Gideon disappeared and Iulius turned around to leave the room, knocking to have Yagler open it. As he found the two women in front of him, he motioned for them to follow him and they headed back into Iulius' office to discuss what had just been said by Gideon.

"I must say, I was wondering why the upper cocorats had stopped pestering you." Qathora sarcastically noted at the end.

"They do have a point, though." Yagler said. "You are a public hero, my Lord. We can't keep justifying to the people why you suddenly disappeared from the galaxy when there is still a war going on."

"And I'm sorry to say it," intervened Qathora. "but you are way too important to be out here risking your life. On the other hand, your brother is not irreplaceable for the rebels."

"Yes, precisely!" agreed Yagler.

Iulius sighed. Those were fair points. In fact, a part of him had long wondered if he hadn't agreed to this joint operation just for egoistic reasons. He was always justifying it in his mind by saying that he was trying to turn Darvos to the Empire, but he knew from the start that that wasn't the case.

The Kett were indeed a threat to the Empire that needed to be eradicated immediately before it grew too strong, and the fact that the rebels happened to share the sentiment had allowed Iulius to limit the use of imperial resources to deal with this problem. At least these were understandable justifications, but the Lord-Protector was well aware that one of the reasons he had accepted was to have his brother back, even if just for a short time.

Although having Darvos around had come with a few benefits that Iulius could present as very important to the imperial leadership: he had had the chance to observe how the soldiers of the Imperial Federation and the self-proclaimed New Republic operated. He had noticed their strengths, their weaknesses, and these things he could certainly use once they returned to the real war.

He turned his seat around to face the women. "I understand your concerns. I'll follow the Director's hint: if we can't wrap this thing up in two months, I'll leave Thrawn in charge and we'll go back with the Admonitor. And speaking of the Grand Admiral...any news about his transport?"

"As fate would have it, a message arrived while you were speaking with the Director." said Yagler, taking our her datapad. "Governor Pryce confirmed that the Grand Admiral's shuttle has arrived on Carunoia and he is already mustering their fleet to come here. She gave us a frequency to call him, if you want to verify the information."

"Thanks, but I don't think the Admiral needs to be told what else to do. For now, we wait until the next rotation for news about the Normandy. Maybe the end of this conflict is just in sight. Until then, we need to work on our relationship with the Angara."

"Afraid the rebels might make friends out of them?" Qathora asked.

"I don't see why the Angara would accept to take side in a war they can't possibly see as theirs. But if we stay on friendly terms, they can become a useful ally against the Grysks, and that's what I'm hoping to achieve."

"They still have their own terrorist group, Lord." Yagler noted. "Are you sure we can trust them?"

"If we finish this war and the Angara become free again, the Roekaar ideology will naturally lose its influence over time. Though, if the opportunity will present itself, we'll see that they are weakened significantly."


May 6.

The corvette left hyperspace inside the Vinsoth system, which took the name from the only habitable planet around its star, and that now was the theater of a heated battle between the Empire and the Coalition. For Vinsoth was one of the two fortress worlds that defended Axxila, now the capital of the D'Astan Republic, the main bulwark for the UACT western flank.

The imperial Governor of Agamar had started this offensive almost a month before, but under the new military overhaul introduced last year, these kind of fleets had been stripped of most of any offensive capability and remade to simply defend their sectors while the new mobile fleets went on the offensive. The Lahara Sector Fleet had thus quickly ran out of ammo and fuel after their first thrust from the system of Shaum Hii, but it was still quite massive for the small D'Astani fleet, which had quickly asked for reinforcements.

Since the Coalition was tied on the Mid Rim front, the ones who had sent reinforcements had been the Tau, who had now brought all their expeditionary force in Andromeda to defend this bottleneck, and the superior range of their weaponry had quickly forced the imperial fleet to hide behind their side of the planet, thus limiting support and resupply to their ground forces only when the planet's rotation reached them, meaning they had a window of 5 hours every 30, during the planet's night.

The Taus were planning an offensive to liberate the planet, but there was one major problem. Their unique equipment meant that they could only rely on their industry to resupply their forces, and the distance between their own territory in the Milky Way and all the way over there was inconceivably long. Under these circumstances, they couldn't afford any misstep: an offensive would be possible only under an extremely favorable strength ratio in favor of the allies, which by now was not there.

This was the reason why the tau ambassador on Axxila was negotiating with the local government to establish a small tau industrial complex on the planet, and one of the reasons why Ezra and his team were heading on Vinsoth.

Sure, they were to offer assistance to the allies in weakening the imperial positions, but ICO had mentioned that Mara Jade, the imperial agent he and Luke had met last year, had been spotted on the planet.

The corvette graciously given by the D'Astan Republic joined the combined fleet while Ezra, Luke, Sabine, Jaden and four mandalorian warriors of the new House Atin were mounting on a Pelican of the Republic, which left the small hangar and headed at full speed toward their objective: a rendezvous with a squad of Tau Pathfinders inside the suburbs of Barchut, the city where the battle was raging on.

"Is everything clear?" Ezra asked to the squad as the Pelican sped through the skies of Vinsoth.

"We are to find this imperial agent." Jaden simply replied.

"Precisely."

"Do we know how he looks like?" one of the warriors asked.

"It's a woman, actually." Ezra replied calmly. "Last time we met her she had red hair down to her shoulders and a yellow cape. If she's there, she probably doesn't wear any armor, because my father had already met her in a war zone and confirmed she doesn't have that habit."

"So we avoid shooting those who don't have an armor. Got it." Sabine concluded.

With the conditions settled, the Pelican reached a landing zone and the group disembarked, leaving the dropship to fall back inside an allied base.

As soon as he stepped out, Ezra was left horrified at the state of the planet: the city was in complete ruins and the air was filled with a subtle yellow miasma that had been caused by a recent chemical attack by the Empire. The air was still breathable, but very much unpleasant as Jaden pointed out.

"This place stinks."

"We could provide a suit for you as well, has you asked." Ezra said to the Twi'lek.

"Yeah." said Luke, approaching them with his Slayer suit on. "The Federation makes them really well."

"Call me a purist, but I think a Jedi should appear peaceful, not clad into a combat suit."

"That's quite the good point," Ezra conceded. "but I think we should discuss clothing after this war is over."

Sabine then interrupted. "Ezra, I detect the beacon of the recon team. It's over this way."

The group took said way. Rain started to pour down almost immediately, and yet, for some properties of that world, the atmosphere was still yellow. Ezra stood in front of the column, who marched a couple kilometers until he finally spotted, hidden among a pile of rubble, a Tau with the equipment of a Pathfinder.

"You must be our contact." Ezra quipped.

The squad of Taus came out of hiding and the team leader replied. "Yes, Master Bridger. Shasui Nu'rash. It is an honor to meet you."

"Have you confirmed the presence of the imperial agent?"

"Her ship is still at their base, for all we've seen. But we should ask the sentry looking over the site."

The Taus led Ezra a couple of destroyed buildings further away, right behind the last one composing the suburbs, he spotted a woman with the combat uniform of the ICO, observing an imperial outpost far in the plain through a sniper rifle. Yet, the Force signature he felt was very familiar.

"Jyn?" he asked.

The woman rolled slightly on her side to look at Ezra and gave him a friendly greeting. "Hey there, General."

"I didn't know you were here." Ezra said with the initial surprise gone as he knelt down toward the base.

"The intelligence keeps me and Cassian quite busy." was the simple answer of Jyn as she also went to stand on one knee next to Ezra.

Quickly enough, the scouts told Ezra, who stared at the objective with his incorporated binocular, everything they knew about that outpost. Mara Jade was using it as her base of operation on the planet, though it was hard to know what she was up to. Luckily, the outpost was understaffed, cause most of the imperial combat units were busy fighting around the city, meaning that now the allies could hope to break in and try to capture that woman.

"Isn't it strange that she would set business in a badly defended place?" Luke asked.

"Perhaps she hoped we wouldn't think a high-ranking officer would do such a thing on purpose." Sabine suggested.

"First of all we need to get inside." said Ezra as he kept looking at the perimeter. "That heavy turbolaser turret will still tear us to shreds if they discover us. You guys approach the base, I'll take care of that. The rain should give you enough visual cover from the sentries."

The plan went into motion. Ezra made a trip on the flank of the imperial outpost, using the Force to pass through a minefield and the cloaking device of his armor to easily go over the fence and knock out the gunner. He took a quick look at the insides of the base and noticed that it was garrisoned by Army troopers. However, at the opposite corner of the base, in front of what seemed the entrance of a small underground bunker, Ezra spotted a small squad of stormtroopers in black armor. He recalled that they were called 'Shadowtroopers' and were used as commandos or as reinforcements for the Death troopers guarding imperial VIPs.

At that point, Ezra grabbed the turret himself and fired a burst of turbolasers against an ammo depot that he had spotted. The following explosion got the effect of drawing every attention onto him and also signal his allies that they could begin the attack.

The base all turned toward Ezra, with the regulars firing wildly at the turret, which luckily had a frontal armor. Ezra shot back for as long as he could, then a few troopers managed to flank him and he was forced to charge down with his lightsaber, throwing himself into a maze of crated that helped him reduce the field of the clash.

Then it only took a minute for the rest of the team to breach the perimeter and storm the base. With Luke and Jaden wielding their lightsabers in front, Jyn and Sabine led their allies inside, making them spread to find cover and mowing down imperials.

The small garrison, caught by surprise and disorganized by Ezra's daring attack was quickly overrun, but two of the Taus were hit and died during the fight. Still, even the black stormtroopers were taken out and Ezra grabbed his two Padawans to go inside the bunker, while instructing the others to cover their backs.

Ezra easily cut down the door and they rushed down the ramp of stairs, at the end of which they found two Death troopers ready to fire at them from behind cover, but they stood little chance against the reflexes of even the Padawans, who coordinated themselves very quickly to take down their foes.

"Well done, you two." Ezra commented in admiration as he ran past them and turned the corner.

There she found her: Mara was running away down the corridor. To convince her to stop, Ezra quickly grabbed his DL-44 and fired a shot that flew past her shoulder and landed on the wall at the end of the corridor. The woman halted in her tracks.

"Hands up and turn around slowly." Ezra ordered.

"Very well, Jedi. You got me." Mara replied a bit frustrated, thought the choosing of words seemed a bit too sarcastic.

"What is the Emperor's Hand doing here?" Ezra asked nonchalantly as he approached her with a pair of handcuffs.

"I'm not telling you anything." she replied quite proudly.

Ezra just decided to drop the matter and put the handcuffs on her. After all, they would have a lot of time to talk.

Mara let herself be conducted outside in the open. To Ezra's surprise, Sabine and Jyn had managed to find a couple of ITTs that they could use to flee.

"We better move." said Jyn. "Their commander has called reinforcements."

"No need to tell me twice."

The Taus quickly grabbed the bodies of their comrades and jumped aboard with the others, then the vehicles sped away back toward allied lines.