Chapter 15: Hand in the shadows
"I have made contact with Akksul." the Moshae assured. "He seems willing to listen, so I am working toward organizing a talk between you and him."
"That is a promising start, Moshae. You have our thanks." Jane replied politely.
"It's the least I can do, after everything you have done for us." the scholar returned.
"Let's just hope your goodwill brings us a positive result." Iulius instead commented, clearly convinced only at half.
Jane was about to say something to lift the spirits, then Iulius' comlink beeped and he had to take it.
"Tanis."
"Sir, Grand Admiral Thrawn has arrived with the reinforcements." the voice of Tanis' first officer arrived through the small device.
"Thank you, Commander." the young man cordially replied, then put away the comlink and turned to the other people in the room. "Leader Evfra, could you allow us to link that screen to the video-feeds of the Admonitor?"
Evfra glimpsed at him, then turned to one of the operators and instructed him to do what the Grand Admiral asked. Soon, one of the big screens started streaming what one of the visual sensors of the Star Destroyer was catching, and soon enough, the Chimaera appeared at the edge of Aya's gravitational well. Iulius then opened a channel with the ship.
"Tanis to Chimaera, come in."
After a few seconds to pick up, the voice of the Chiss arrived from the speakers.
"This is the Chimaera. On behalf of the Carunoan Navy I request permission to enter Angara space."
"This is Leader Evfra. Permission granted."
Thrawn didn't answer to them, as he gave the green light to somebody else. Shortly after, other ships started to pour out of hyperspace, probably following a trace left by the Chimaera to find their way into hyperspace. Jane found herself watching the silhouettes of those vessels. At first she could distinguish three small ships, probably the size of a frigate or even a gunboat. They had four arms made of solar panels standing out in the rear of the ship and forming a cross. Then a few bigger ships started to arrive, including one of around 800 m long and heavily armed. It didn't take long for Jane to realize that it was a Task Force centered around a battleship.
"They look...quite primitive." she commented without thinking too much. In a way that Javik would have been so proud of.
"Don't be too harsh on the Carunoans, Captain." Iulius replied lightly. "They have started their Space Age not more than two years ago."
"Two years ago…?" Darvos asked. "So these are the Humans you saved in the Unknown Regions. The ones you got your Dark Troopers from?"
"Your observation skills are always on point, brother. Indeed, there are some Dark Troopers, but this is the new Carunoan army, with the explicit task of defending their homeworld and guard the Empire against the threats of the Unknown Regions."
"All nice and dandy," said Jordan. "but if their weapons are on the level of their ships, are we sure that they can go toe-to-toe with the Kett?"
"You will be able to ascertain that yourself very soon, Captain. But you really think I would have called them all the way here if they I didn't think they stand a chance?" Iulius calmly defended himself.
There was little argument to make against that, so the officers of the Coalition just decided to sit back and wait until the carunoan fleet took position in orbit and around ten transport ships also went behind the fleet combatants for protection. From the Chimaera departed a shuttle that reached the designated landing pad on Aya. The officers went and waited until the ramp lowered, revealing Thrawn and his Death Troopers, followed immediately after by a military officer in a uniform that reminded Jane of the federal military in the early space age and a man in civilian clothes escorted by two troopers in an armor and weapons that were definitely not imperials, though Jane quickly observed that the armors were still white over generally black clothes.
Iulius made a step forward to be the first to meet the newly arrived. Jane saw Thrawn gave a rare smile as he and Iulius shook hands in a natural and friendly way that reminded the Specter of how actually close the two highest admirals of the Empire were.
"Nice to see you, Grand Admiral. I hope this planet wasn't too hard to find again." Iulius said politely.
"Nothing we couldn't handle." the Chiss replied in tone, but not hiding the fact that he also was pleased to see his pupil after those few weeks of navigating the treacherous Chaos. "Indeed, the Carunoans have showed to be incredibly adept to learn the tricks of hyperspace navigation."
"Just like I imagined." Iulius said before going to meet the new humans that had arrived with the shuttle.
They weren't too far to distinguish what they said, but Jane noticed that they were speaking a language that the translator wasn't able to pick up, and so the sounds that came out were incomprehensible. Of course that had to be the language of those Carunoans, which the Coalition had never met. Tanis, on the other hand, was speaking with them with little effort.
Still, when it was time for them to present themselves, the two representatives of Carunoia stepped forward and Iulius introduced them.
"Gentlemen, I would like to introduce you to Major Kerry of the CDF and Mr. Goush of the State Department of Carunoia."
The officer simply made a salute that the other officers returned in respect, the diplomat instead stepped forward, put his hand on his chest and made a very small bow.
"Greetings." he said, and this time the translator could do its work as that was Galactic Basic. "On behalf of the Carunoan State I wish you good health."
"That sounds quite bold, considering some of your people murdered my brethren." Jordan said quite acidly before either Jane or Darvos could notice. The latter rushed to grab his father-in-law's arm to reprimand him, but to everyone's surprise, Goush replied in the most appeasing tone.
"Please, sir, understand that we owe our existence to the Empire. However, the Dark Troopers are only Carunoan citizens who volunteered for the Imperial Army. The State has no particular animosity toward the Federation and we do not consider ourselves part of the ongoing war."
Preferring to defuse the situation, while Darvos calmed Jordan, Jane stepped forward. "Pardon my colleague, mister, but war easily give people the chance to develop a grudge."
"Trust me, madam, we Carunoans know that feeling like few in the galaxy."
"I'm Captain Jane Shepard. A Spectre who speaks with the authority of Her Majesty the Empress of the Imperial Federation."
Tensions from there eased up, even though Jordan wasn't entirely able to put aside the fact that he was speaking with the people who created the Dark Troopers and killed so many Legionnaires in this war. A war that, by all accounts, the federal still considered a defensive one. One that had started when, four years before, the Empire had gone through the wormhole and indiscriminately attacked the federal colony of Hìlios, treating the locals with unprovoked brutality, only to then be beaten back by a military response.
A response that Jane and her family had been part of, in the case of Hìlios. And now she was here, fighting alongside those same imperials that had shown such a level of disregard for sentient life.
All in all, it wasn't like she didn't understand Jordan's feelings, but she had a duty given by her liege, and she was going all the way to the end, no matter how long and how unpleasant things needed to be.
"Ah, there they are, too." she heard Iulius' voice say all of a sudden.
Jane turned toward the shuttle and saw three men with peculiar white armors walk down. She immediately identified them as Mandalorians, with a blond man at the head group.
May 29.
News had it that the mandos were doing their part diligently on Vinsoth. Along with Tau special forces, Sabine and Tristan were leading their warriors in daring air incursions that were causing havoc among imperial lines and Moff Borret had been forced to send away even more troops that were protecting him on Agamar. It was now or never if Ezra and Cal's team intended to infiltrate the Moff's base and neutralize his artifact.
The Mantis and Luke's X-Wing came out of hyperspace inside the Agamar system. The yacht had been equipped with a scrambler device that hid it from the radars, but in order to be concealed by it, Luke had to stay relatively close to the Mantis.
"Welcome to Agamar." Greez announced with a bit of sarcasm that was better shown in the sentence that followed. "Nothing but ice, spoiled rocks and probably angry Farghaz."
"And separatists battle droids, considering my last experience here." Ezra added as he watched the icy planet getting bigger and bigger.
"Yeah, that must have been quite crazy." Cal commented for he, as well, had already been told of the story of when Ezra, Kanan and Ezra had first to fight and then team up with a small army of battle droids and their super-tactical droid.
"And now the Empire has set up a base to make sure they haven't left other of those behind." Cere added.
"Partially." said Ezra. "Agamar is still an important crossroad for this region, so it makes sense that they would fortify it in case the UACT decides to attack from the territory of D'Astan."
Of all people in the cockpit, only Merrin was staring quite worried at the planet. Cal noticed it and asked her. "What are you worried about, Merrin?"
"I sense a darkness. Far below the surface of the planet, but it's there." the witch replied quite ominously.
"Then I suppose we're in the right place." Greez mumbled after a sigh.
A few minutes of approach later, even the Jedi started to feel it. A small shiver that tried to creep up their spine, but that they managed to control without much effort. Whatever was down there, it really belonged to the Dark side.
Remembering that there was a Padawan on board, Ezra instinctively walked back toward the living section of the ship. There, Kubari and BD-1 were keeping their eyes glued on Mara, who on her side was simply sitting on the couch, her eyes closed in meditation.
And even though he seemed concentrated on his task, Kubari's face clearly showed that he was unsettled. So much that, when Ezra approached him to put a reassuring hand on his shoulder, the young Padawan gasped softly and turned around with a jolt.
"Master Bridger. I'm sorry I…"
"Don't worry, Kubari. It's normal to feel uneasy, the first time you feel something like this. Just make sure not to let fear take over your heart."
"I know, Master. Don't worry about me." the young Padawan reassured.
Then Ezra looked toward Mara. "Looks like you were telling the truth, after all." he said intentionally louder.
The Hand of the Emperor opened her eyes unfazed and answered without turning her head. "I told you, taking on Moff Borret is in both our interest."
"Except that you probably want to take the artifact for yourself, uh?" Kubari added.
"I never said our goals coincided." Mara replied sarcastically.
"Then good luck with that. Kubari, you will be responsible for her surveillance. If she tries anything, feel free to stun her." Ezra concluded with no hesitancy whatsoever.
"Heard that, Master." the young man replied agreeing wholeheartedly.
Ezra then walked back inside the cockpit and called Luke on the comlink. "Red-5. Do you copy?"
"I'm with you, Specter-7."
"We'll start our descent soon. You stay out of their radar and only barge in if they send in the birds."
"Don't worry. I've got your back." Luke replied confidently.
"Excellent. Captain, at your convenience." the Jedi Knight concluded to Greez.
"Buckle up then, kiddos." the alien replied as his four arms moved around on the controls of the ship. Both Ezra and Cal secured themselves and the Mantis flew through the atmosphere of Agamar. It wasn't very dense, meaning that the usual shakeup that came with entering an atmosphere wasn't too bumpy. Jinx quickly made a scan and found a landing zone at a reasonable distance from the main imperial base.
After leaving Greez, Merrin and Cere to guard the ship, the three Jedi moved out, bringing with them the prisoner. Mara was quite cooperative and immediately revealed them that there was a system of caves that they could exploit to infiltrate the structure, which was well defended but far from being an impenetrable fortress. Following her guidance, they eventually found their way through the caves and to what they could use to enter: a drain.
Only that the trail of fluids led them to a platform filled with a squad of scout troopers that were taking a breathe of fresh air at the entrance of the cave while guarding a door that would lead inside the fortress.
"Drop your weapons." Ezra offered as he and Cal ignited their lightsabers, with the former even opting for the double-blade mode.
The scouts, though, whipped out their combat batons and charged with fanatical rage. As could be expected, they stood no chance against the Jedi in armor and his Knight companion. The two went for non-lethal blows whenever they could, but the troopers simply kept attacking them, so they had little choice but to eventually slay them one-by-one.
"Weren't they too many taking a break?" Kubari doubted after the brief clash had ended. "Not even the Systems Alliance lets so many guards take a smoke at the same moment."
"You're right." agreed Cal. "Something feels off."
In response to their doubts, which he shared entirely, Ezra knelt down over the corpse of one of the scouts that had landed supine and opened the frontal part of his visor. That move revealed the face of the dead imperial, and it brought the clear signs of a primordial corruption from the Dark Side influence: grayish skin and some black running through the veins around the eyes.
"W-what is that?" Kubari asked frightened.
"Relax, Kub." his Master reassured him. "Now he can't do anything."
Ezra was instead focused on something else. The presence of these troopers was a bad sign and his instinct was telling him that they were going into a trap. But he needed more information on the artifact to understand what they were going up against. And there was only one person there who could provide him with such intel.
As such, he hanged his lightsaber at his belt and stepped in front of Mara, keeping his armor on. "I think it's time you tell us whatever you have kept bottled in, Jade."
Both Cal and Kubari were puzzled: how did Ezra know that she was holding back more information? So far they had heard quite a lot coming from her and assumed she didn't know anything else.
Yet, Jade didn't try to defend herself. Instead she seemed only hesitant to speak up, probably thinking that saying anything more might jeopardize her agenda. Ezra, however, made quite clear with his body language that he was going to abort the mission rather than walk his Jedi friends into a trap.
Eventually, she broke her vacillation and talked. "Look, even the Emperor wasn't entirely sure of what Borret has found. All he knew is that Agamar used to be hiding place for the ancient Sith, more than 3000 years ago. Now that I saw the effects on that man, though, I can only assume that the artifact is a repository for the spirit of a Sith Lord."
"Repository…?" Kubari asked baffled. "What is that?"
"It means that the spirit of a Sith is trapped inside the artifact, but it's still strong enough to take over the minds of the imperials." Cal explained.
"If it really is a Sith Lord we're dealing with, it means he probably sensed our arrival." Ezra concluded. "These guys were not here taking a restroom break."
"So...what do we do?" the Padawan asked.
"We spring the trap." Ezra replied calmly but with a hint of joke. "According to our friend," he said casually, glimpsing toward Mara when he used that noun. "the imps had to dig in order to find that artifact, meaning that there must be an archaeological site below this place. It will be easier to slip past the guards down there and we're bound to find where the spirit of this Sith Lord is hiding."
"Well, I've come out of similar situations many times." Cal replied. "But do you want to bring her down with us?"
Ezra took a moment to ponder over that.
Once again, the lightsabers clashed. Over the last few days, Jaral had been almost unable to push back a direct assault from Sellion, but after training quite hard for the last week, she had almost entirely regained her strength, so this one she was able to push her Padawan's saber aside and prepare in time to intercept Lissia.
The Tolothian used mostly precision and speed, so when she saw her Master parry her blow she quickly retracted her blade in order not to be forced into a melee. Sellion quickly arrived to cover her retreat with a pair of strikes, one of which was parried and the other one dodged by Jaral, but it was enough. Sellion quickly abandoned his attack to rush at his classmate's side so they could prepare the next phase.
Seeing them act so well-coordinated, Jaral couldn't suppress a proud smirk. "Well done, guys." she approved of them with a twirl of her lightsaber.
The Padawans made a quick smirk of gratification, but then immediately returned to the practice duel.
The following attack of them came as they quickly dashed on the side and ran on the walls of the cargo bay to strike her down with a single strike. Of course, though, that was a rush move that she could predict even without double-sight from the Force anticipating their moves and she simply dashed forward, going past them and taking them by surprise, then she easily slashed the training blade on their backs.
The Padawans screamed quickly for the pain, but no actual injury came to them, so they simply groaned as they all deactivated their sabers. Sellion and Lissia then turned around.
"What did go wrong? We had you against the wall, literally." the young man asked in frustration.
"You did." Jaral recognized with a patient tone. "But you saw a chance of victory and you rushed at it without thinking. It's exactly when you have your enemy trapped that you need to be patient, because they will try anything to escape and turn the tables."
Still upset for the blunder, the Padawans still understood that there was a logic behind their Master's words, so they nodded and hung their lightsabers back. Just in time to hear the voice of Petro comment from the gangplank above.
"Listen to your teacher, fellas. She has probably seen more fights than even me."
"Don't sell yourself so short, Petro." Jaral quipped.
"I'm not, trust me. It's just that I have spent the last twenty years hiding away, while you and your brother have been fighting continuously in the last six alone."
"Well, there will be plenty of occasions for you to catch up. I appreciate you coming along, by the way."
"Don't mention it. It's the least I can do after everything you've done for me and the others. Besides, I wanted to fight alongside one of you siblings for a while." Petro said eagerly.
"And now we'll get to fight alongside both of them." Lissia said eagerly.
"Wait before cheering, my Padawan." Jaral cautioned. "We're not rushing to Ezra just because I miss him."
"But are you sure that feeling he was in danger wasn't caused by your emotions?" Petro asked with the due caution and respect.
"I considered that, but then Master Yoda confirmed that there was something sinister in the Force. So whatever it is, I want to be there to help him."
"I must say, Master," said Lissia. "you are incredibly calm. I thought the fact your brother was in danger would stress you a bit more."
"Oh, it's not like I have no fear for his life, but Ezra has proven time and again that he can take care of himself. Besides, I already warned him of my vision."
"You warned him? How?" Sellion asked confused. After all, they hadn't had any contact with the Mantis since Ezra and Cal had departed from Lothal.
"Did you forget it?" the voice of Zeb boomed suddenly as he appeared walking at the handrail. "Those two can communicate with their minds. No matter how far they are."
"Oh." mumbled the Padawans. "Right."
"And yet, even after warning him, you still think he needs more help?" Petro asked, now starting to understand the gravity of the problem.
"Unfortunately, yes." Jaral said grimly as she started climbing the ladder to reach the cockpit. "Which poses the question, what is it? Ezra had already come out on top from a single duel with Vader, I don't think I should be afraid of him getting hurt."
"Ah, the way I see it, you just wanted to get back in action." Zeb eventually shrugged. "Not that I don't understand it, but let's make sure Samira doesn't become an orphan already, uh?" he then added sternly, putting a hand on her shoulder with a clear intention of ordering her not to die.
Jaral accepted her friend's quiet request and nodded firmly. Then they all headed inside the cockpit, reaching Hera and Chopper.
"Hey. We're only twenty minutes from Agamar." the Twi'lek General reported.
"Got any news while we crossed Vinsoth?"
"Sabine and the others are pushing the imperials, but so far they haven't made any breakthrough. As a diversion, it's certainly working."
"Just what we need." she then closed her eyes and reached out to Ezra through the bond, poking him a little until he answered.
"Hey sis, what's up?"
"We're coming up on Agamar, how's your situation?"
"Not ideal. Apparently we're dealing with the spirit of an ancient Sith Lord trapped in the artifact. It's hard to tell what we're going to find."
"Can you hole up somewhere and wait for us to arrive?"
"Better not. I'm pretty sure this Sith already knows we're here, so we'll keep going underground to keep its attention on us while you guys land on the planet. Once you do that, use the bond to find me."
"I have missed doing that." Jaral said eagerly.
"I still don't like the fact that you're rushing to action already." Ezra replied, not irritated but still expressing his disapproval with emotions as well.
"Noted. Now make sure you don't get into a hopeless situation until we arrive."
Ezra sighed in resignation. "I'll do my best." and the bond was closed again.
With a clean sweep, Ezra cut down the K security droid while Cal finished dealing with two more guards down in the ice caves that finally led them at the entrance of the archaeological site. And the more they approached, the more the Jedi Knights felt the evil presence almost defying them to come and face it.
Not that they had much choice, now that they had come this far and already knew that they were deep inside the trap. With Kubari still keeping Mara in the front, the Jedi kept going further. The digging site still had several pieces of equipment and machinery lying around, but all they encountered were a few small patrols of snowtroopers that were quickly taken care of. The dig site directed them toward an opening, with a triangular threshold made of stone and only as big as a human-sized door. The difference in lighting made it impossible to tell what they were going to find on the other side. Keeping their sabers up, the Jedi nodded to each other and entered, with Ezra going in first with his armor.
What they found was but another cave, but this seemed built out, more polished and extensive. The walls had some carvings on it with ancient runes that Ezra could not decipher, but the sheer presence of the Dark Side was more than evident.
At the opposite end of the cave there was a small altar, on top of which stood a rectangular block of some black mineral, with what could only be the artifact floating over it, lifted by a stream of dark energy.
And kneeling in front of that black table, as if he was praying to it, was an old man with the imperial uniform.
"Moff Borret, I assume?" Ezra asked once they had all entered the room.
The stream of energy suddenly expanded and engulfed the body of the imperial, though that didn't seem to affect the physical form too much. Ezra could feel the sudden surge in Dark Side power that started to envelop the cave.
A loud bang came from the entrance, and Ezra quickly saw that it had been closed by a sliding door of stone that had been probably been hidden inside the walls before.
The imperial stood up and then turned around. That had to be Moff Borret, but clearly the being in front of the Jedi wasn't him anymore, for his eyes had turned yellow like the Sith and his aura emanated pure evil. Whatever that entity was, it creepily smiled at the Jedi.
And then a green energy beam cut through its neck, leaving the dark-sider and the Jedi completely speechless as the head of Borret fell down before the body and the evil soul returned quickly to the artifact.
Ezra needed a few seconds to realize that, seemingly out of nowhere, two humans, a man and a woman, in suits that he had never seen before had appeared from behind the altar, wielding two sabers that at first might have looked like those of the Jedi, but Jinx quickly analyzed them and saw that they were ripoffs. Good ripoffs anyway.
"What the…?" Kubari asked incredulous.
And just at that moment, Mara exploited his distraction to quickly turn around and hit him in the stomach with her bound hands, making him stumble.
Cal turned around, but before he could grab her, Jade used her slight connection to the Force to run on the near wall and jump past the two Jedi, then rushing behind the two new warriors.
"Welcome back, Jade." the woman said.
"Thanks." Mara replied as he quickly got rid of the handcuffs. "Master Bridger, allow me to present you the Astarte twins. Morit and Aiolin." she said, pointing at the man and the woman respectively.
Ezra took a good look as they kept their guard up: it was true that they had the same blonde hair and the eyes had more or less the same shade of green and blue. Morit was wielding a yellow saber, Aiolin a green one, but there was one thing that made Ezra hesitate.
"You okay, Kubari?" Cal asked as he went to check on his Padawan.
"Yes...sorry, Master." the young Jedi said with just a coff.
"Don't mind that." Cal reassured him. "See if you can open that door, rather."
As Kubari went to work, Ezra kept his eyes fixated on the three imperial agents. He could do little but watch while Mara simply walked on the altar and took the artifact. He was mostly worried by the fact that he simply couldn't sense the twins. Jinx had scanned them and it became obvious that the twins had undergone massive genetic and cybernetic modifications, but they were still partially organics, he should've sensed something!
"So this was your plan all along." he eventually quipped to Mara, maintaining his composure. "Steal the artifact after we got rid of Borret's forces."
"Thanks for the help." Mara replied in kind as she put the artifact in a small chest to seal it away. "They're all yours, guys." she then said to the twins. "But I warn you: the shuttle won't wait forever."
"Just give us two minutes." Morit was the first to spoke up.
Aiolin then added her own comment. "It is a pity that your sister is not here, Bridger. We've been waiting for the day where we can take both of you on."
"Oh, so you were built to be our match?" Ezra joked. "I'm so honored."
"Don't lump us together, Jedi. We're but a glimpse of the future. You and the Force are obsolete." Morit said proudly.
"Bold statement. Can you back it up?" Ezra replied unfazed, lifting his saber again, as did Cal.
The twins assumed an aggressive stance, but Mara extended a hand toward Morit's shoulder, as he was clearly the more aggressive. "Calm down, Morit. You will have your chance to prove your strength against the Jedi. Remember our goal."
Morit gave her a frustrated look, then he grunted and turned his gaze toward the roof of the cave.
An explosion rocked above the Jedi. Ezra immediately turned his gaze upward and realized that there were two demolition charges that had been placed there way before. The roof quickly started collapsing while the three imperials disappeared behind a hidden passage that Mara opened, most likely the one the twins had used to slip inside unnoticed.
"We need to get out of here!" Cal exclaimed.
They turned around in time to see Kubari struggling, but managing to use the Force to lift the door.
"Hold it." Ezra said, dashing through the entrance. He then turned and used the Force to grab the door himself, letting his companions escape before the room collapsed on them, then he let the door close again.
They could feel the rumble of the landslide burying the old sanctuary for what promised to be a very long time. Ezra tried to contact the Mantis, but as he suspected, they were too deep down, so he quickly resorted to the bond, noticing that Jaral was already in the orbit of Agamar.
"Sis, the imps got the artifact. Keep your eyes open for their ship."
"Got it." Jaral quickly answered.
Ezra then turned toward the other Jedi. "We need to get back to the Mantis, come on."
They started running, but even with a sustained speed, they needed six minutes to reach the surface again and four more to reach the Mantis, which was already warming up. As Greez rushed to to bring the ship in orbit, Ezra got on the comlink and tried to contact the Ghost.
"Specter-7 to Ghost, do you copy?"
Shortly after, the unmistakable warbles of Chopper came through quite alarmed.
"Chop, what's going on?"
The astromech replied urgently that they were chasing the shuttle of Mara when a Star Destroyer appeared out of hyperspace and now the Ghost and Luke were being tied down by a squadron of TIE Avengers.
"Just pull out. We'll get them another day." Ezra instructed with a bit of urgency in his voice.
Chopper was more than happy to relay the order. The Mantis, however, was not suited for combat, so they immediately headed toward the nearest hyperspace lane and waited until the other two ships sprinted toward them, closely followed by the TIEs. Despite everything, though, the Jedi and their allies managed to make the jump.
Breathing a sigh of relief, Ezra dematerialized his armor and went to sit on the couch. He couldn't help but feel a bit frustrated: the mission had been a failure, as he had been completely fooled by Mara and she had gone away with the artifact.
As soon as they reached empty space, the Ghost and the Mantis joined their docking tubes while Luke announced that he was heading to Vinsoth in order to assist the mandalorians and Kyle and to report the outcome of the trip to Agamar.
The two larger vessels resumed their trip, also heading to Vinsoth at a slower pace, but in the meantime Ezra could meet up with his sister and gladly stating that she was in good health. After that, they took one of the cabin and talked about the new entries in the roster of imperial agents.
"You said their family name was Astarte?" asked Jaral after the explanation.
"Yeah. Do you know them?"
Jaral diverted her gaze and stroke her chin, trying to remember. "The name is not new to me, however...let's take a look."
She lightened up her omni-tool and made a quick research. After a brief reading, she made an expression of understanding. "They are a prominent family of Celanon. They are imperial loyalists who still lead a faction of sympathizers on the planet."
Celanon was now part of the New Republic, and it just happened to be the system on the border between the Republic and D'Astan, so relatively close to where the Bridgers were flying right then.
"And the Republic is just letting them?" Ezra asked surprised.
"Freedom of speech is something Mon Mothma wants to guarantee even in wartime. Still, that doesn't mean the local authorities are trying to limit their influence with other means."
Ezra, who was sitting on one of the bunk beds, sighed and let himself fall horizontally.
"Can you imagine? The Emperor has brought up a pair of twin assassins just to hunt us down. I almost feel humbled."
Jaral chuckled at the joke, but then asked seriously. "You think they're dangerous?"
"Hard to judge considered I haven't fought them in the end. What worries me is the fact that they are almost invisible. I couldn't sense them with the Force...the scanners didn't pick them up either, now that I think about it. Ain't that right, Jinx?"
"Affirmative. I couldn't detect their movements until they entered in visual sight." the AI confirmed.
The siblings stood silent, reflecting on the situation. Indeed, the Astarte twins seemed to be built to surpass the Jedi, but it was hard to think that they could have undergone those extensive modifications in just two years (the time when arguably the Sith had started to consider the Bridgers a real threat).
What was their real purpose? Why were they around in the first place? What was that artifact they had stolen and why was so important for Palpatine? All questions that the Jedi would need to find an answer to if they hoped to defeat the Sith and the Empire once and for all.
