Chapter 20: Bast Castle

If Ezra was rocked to the bottom of his heart, he quickly turned to his sister who had simply frozen in place. He reached her with a hand, however as soon as she touched her, Jaral jerked her body, turning around and clearly running toward the landing pads. Ezra immediately jumped to hold her.

"Jari, wait."

"This is bullcrap!" she yelled, trying to break free. "I'd sooner believe he died. There's no way Darvos betrayed the Republic! There must be something behind this!"

"I agree, but first calm down!" he said peremptorily.

Jaral seemed to agree and she stopped struggling. Ezra softened the grasp on her and turned his head toward Raya, as he wanted to solve a doubt that had just emerged in his mind.

"Raya, do you know who made the charges?"

The Asari lightened her omni-tool and quickly went through some files. After a few seconds, she answered. "A certain Senator Mordys. You know him?"

The name filled even Ezra with the need to punch something. "I'm afraid we do." he said. "And I hope for him this is not what I'm thinking it is."

Meanwhile, Jaral's sudden screams had attracted the attention of everyone else. Cal, Kyle and Luke thus arrived jogging toward them.

"What's wrong? You scared us out." Kyle asked.

"Sorry." Jaral sighed before proceeding with the explanation.

"Darvos can't possibly be a traitor." Cal commented. "Something's fishy."

"You think Mordys is using Darvos to damage us somehow?" Luke asked.

"What else could be?" Ezra replied. "His mission with the imperials has been authorized by the President and the Grand Marshall. This smells like a farce from a click away."

"If I may add something…" Raya gently intervened, managing to recall the attention of the Jedi. "Captain Bridger is currently staying on Lianna and has being...quite vocal about defending the Colonel's innocence."

That detail made the siblings even more worried.

"He hasn't gotten into trouble, I hope?" asked Ezra.

"According from the reports we are receiving, Captain Bridger has had a squabble with the military police, but the Colonel persuaded him to stand down."

The siblings sighed of relief. "That's good, but it doesn't change the fact that my husband is behind bars." said Jaral. "Ezra, prepare the Silver, we're leaving right now."

"Master!" the voice of Sellion broke in as they saw the Padawan urgently running toward the group of Knights. "Ahsoka just sent a message regarding the Astartes. They're heading toward Vjun."

Despite the surprise, Kyle replied with lucidity. "Vjun? Isn't that just a big, dead rock?"

"But it's also deeply into New Republic territory." Cal added. "If they are willing to take such a risk, they clearly want something that we can't allow them to have."

"You're right. Which means we need to move quickly." Ezra intervened. "Cal, inform Master Kota and tell him to bring his volunteers on Vjun, me and Jari will head straight over there to recon the area."

"I'm on it." the Knight replied before heading toward the top of the tower.

Ezra then turned toward his sister. She was looking at him still shocked, so he grabbed her shoulders firmly but gently. "Sis, I know it's harsh to say, but Darvos can wait a little longer. Our duty as Jedi must come first."

Jaral knew that. She lowered her head and gritted her teeth. But despite the difficulty, she eventually strengthened her resolve and nodded. "Let's go." she lightened her omni-tool and quickly ordered Raze to meet them at the Silver Bullet. Sabine intercepted them and insisted she came too, and Ezra agreed on the condition that she would stay behind and guard the ship, also guiding the possible reinforcements when they arrived.

The Silver Bullet needed a few minutes to be refueled completely, and Ezra used that time to raise a communication with Kota, at that moment stationed near Ringo Vinda with his volunteers to support the New Republic. The Master assured that he and his small fleet would head immediately for Vjun to intercept the imperials, though it was clear that the Silver Bullet would be able to arrive there first.

Ezra rushed back to the ship in time for it to rise toward the sky and head for the orbit, with Jinx making her go as fast as possible before it entered hyperspace, and only at that moment the group had the time to slow down and think about what just happened.

Before they could even start to comment, Jaral stood from the navigator seat and reached the holo-projector in the back of the ship. Ezra and Sabine were caught off-guard as she acted out of the blue, but then they quickly went to stay with her.

Only to find out that she was trying to raise Jordan and the Constantinople. Unwilling to interfere, Ezra allowed the communicator to keep beeping as his sister waited anxiously for an answer. And such an answer arrived simply on the speakers.

"This is Private Salazar of the INS Constantinople, how may I help?"

"Salazar, it's Jaral." she replied courteously.

"Oh, miss Bridger. I assume you have heard about the Colonel." the soldier asked, his tone also sounding kinda dejected.

"I did. Is my father there?"

"He's in the comm room, having a conversation with President Mothma. If you can wait just a little I'll make sure he calls youagain."

"I see. Thanks, Eusebio."

She tapped the button to close the call and sighed dejected.

Sabine stepped forward and tried to reassure her. "You heard him. You have Mothma on your side already."

"He didn't say why she was calling." Jaral simply noted.

"Why else would she call? I bet she's simply explaining to Jordan how we can prove Darv's innocence."

Ezra now stepped forward to join the conversation. "If this is really an attempt of Mordys to make us rethink our alignment with the Republic, I promise you we will find out and Darvos will be free in no time. And more importantly, Samira will finally meet her father."

There wasn't much more to say until Jordan called back.


As soon as he finished his conversation with Mothma, Jordan was informed that Jaral had called, so while the Constantinople was still docked on Lianna, he headed into his cabin and called her back. He put the holo-projector in the middle of the room, where the figures would have some space to stand, and he sat on the sofa to talk. Shortly after, his children and Sabine appeared in the room.

"Dad. Good to see you." Jaral greeted him sincerely, despite the situation.

"I am happy to see you too, kids. Though I would have preferred to meet you back home. Exchanging stories over a glass of whiskey."

"There will be time to do just that, Dad." Ezra replied. "In the meantime, can you tell us what happened with Darvos?"

"Have you been told what's going on?"

"Raya brought us up to speed." Jaral said.

"Then there isn't much to add. As soon as we landed a group of MP showed up at the dock and ordered Darvos to surrender."

"T'Neri said that you almost got into trouble." Sabine said, partially worried, partially curious.

"Of course I almost snapped. So did most of my crew, actually. Hadn't Darvos given himself up, I don't know how things might have ended."

"But why is he accused of something as ridiculous as treason?" Jaral now asked.

"Mothma just spent ten minutes explaining this to me. Essentially, Darvos is accused of passing intel to the enemy through that Togruta. Remember her? Qathora?"

"Iulius' personal assistant?"

"Indeed. By the way, she was next to him the whole time during our expedition, and by now it's clear that she was a double-agent for Iulius. So, Mordys has used this as a pretext to lock Darvos up."

"He can't be serious. Any person with a little of reasoning can tell that Darvos has been tricked, it's not like he has willingly betrayed." Ezra said quite annoyed.

"Normally, yes. But remember, the main problem here is the fact Iulius and Darvos are brothers. And I'm pretty sure somebody on the Liberator must have reported the fact that the two were way too chummy to each other."

"That's just it?" Sabine asked irritated. "If there is no evidence, that's just a very biased interpretation of reality."

"Well, that's basically what politicians do to live." Jordan said in resignation. "It's likely that Mordys is expecting you guys to intervene, at which point he will have quite the easy time to propagate the idea that the Jedi are some sort of shady, dark cabal that needs to be put under the supervision of the Republic."

"I can't believe this is happening." Jaral hissed, unwilling to accept that this theory might actually be the reason why her husband was being thrown into a jail. "I swear, I'm gonna have a talk with this Senator!"

"Actually...it's Secretary of Defense, now." Jordan intervened cautiously.

The youngsters looked baffled. "Secretary? When did he reached the government?"

"Mothma said he got the job a couple of weeks ago. It seems that while we were busy with our problems, the New Republic was having quite the political evolution. There are multiple parties coming up in the Senate, all with different views over how things should be handled. There has been a snap election in all the Republic just a month ago, and unfortunately, Mordys' party is one of the major three."

"And what does he say, essentially?" Sabine asked.

"I think we can summarize his belief with: 'Make the Republic great again'. Mordys wants to completely destroy the Empire and make sure the Republic becomes the unifying force of Andromeda, just like in the times of old."

"Which, I suppose, includes getting the Jedi back into its ranks." Ezra understood.

"Pretty much."

"Who else, aside from Mothma, is on our side?"

"The Interior Minister, which I dare say is a significant factor, and the Chancellor of Foreign Affairs. The rest of the cabinet is on the fence, though I doubt they will take a stance on the matter."

"Why not?" Jaral asked.

"Despite how this looks, many know how much Darvos has contributed to the creation of the Republic. It seems that half of Mordys' party members are not happy of this whole shenanigan."

"And yet he did." his daughter concluded while sinking her face into her right palm.

Ezra stepped forward to rub her shoulder, while Jordan tried to encourage her with words. "Have some faith, Jari. We'll find the evidence that Darvos has been set up, then we will all get back to Lothal to meet the girl."

At hearing that name, Jaral seemed to find again the strength to fight against whatever life and a dastard politician was throwing at her and steeled her expression. "That's for sure. Samira has waited long enough to meet you two."

Jordan smirked at seeing his daughter back in action, but before anything else, he needed to ask this. "How is she?"

"I can't describe her." Jaral said with the tone of a parent that just can't quantify her love. "You'll see it for yourself."

"Fair enough...now then, where are you heading? If you are rushing to Lianna, I don't think it's a good idea to…"

"We're not going there, yet." Ezra interrupted him, sounding quite in a hurry. "Ahsoka just said that the Astarte twins are heading for Vjun. We're heading there to scout ahead before Master Kota arrives with the reinforcements."

"If that's the case, I'm coming too. Vjun is quite literally behind Lianna, I can be there before you two."

"We appreciate it, Dad. But please, refrain from landing until we arrive. I sense there's something very sinister on Vjun."

"This is your mission," Jordan reassured. "so okay. We'll make a scan of the surface and try to find out what's down there."

"Thanks. Then see you soon." said Jaral. "I also got my new armor to show."

Jordan chuckled. "I'm curious to see what that is. Later, boys."

The holograms disappeared, leaving Jordan to go back on Deck 2 and order the preparations for launch, but first he had to leave a message to be delivered to Darvos.


July 6.

As the clocks signaled that another standard rotation had begun, the Silver Bullet left hyperspace inside the Vjun system. Almost immediately the scanners picked up an imperial Victory-class cruiser in orbit over the planet that gave name to the cluster. And on the secure networks also came up the signal of the Constantinople that had her cloaking device engaged.

Almost immediately the young crew of the Gauntlet-class hailed their allies.

"Constantinople, this is Specter-7, do you copy?" asked Ezra.

The answer was quick to arrive. "We read you, Specter-7. We got a report for you." Jordan replied.

"I'm listening."

"That imperial cruiser arrived just after us, so we tracked a shuttle heading for the surface toward what seems to be an old castle."

"A castle? All the way here?" asked Jaral.

It was Jinx who provided the answer. "During the Clone Wars, Vjun was home to Bast Castle, a fortress owned by Count Dooku, the leader of the Confederation of Independent Systems."

She and Sabine watched the hologram projecting a map of the area and of the castle, which was quite extensive.

"That explains the feeling I had." said Ezra. "Dooku was Palpatine's previous apprentice, which means that site must be of interest to the Sith."

"Why hasn't the Republic searched it yet?" asked Jaral.

"It was presumed to be abandoned at least since the death of Dooku, at the end of the Clone Wars. Also, the surface of Vjun is often subject to acid rainfalls. It's impossible to move down there without very expensive protective gear. I can only conclude the New Republic simply had neither time nor interest to investigate."

"Guess it's time to rectify." Sabine commented.

"Spirit, you heard all that?"

"Copy that. Acid rains. So I guess only those wearing a Legionnaire armor are going down."

"Precisely. We'll scout ahead to find a way through that storm, you stand ready to launch on a dropship."

"Understood. See you on the ground."

"Wanna give me the commands?" Jaral asked to her brother, half-joking.

"Eh...just sit down and enjoy the ride." he replied. "Rather, you might want to test your armor before we land."

"Point taken." Jaral recognized.

She stepped away from the seat and stood in the center of the cockpit. After taking a moment to organize her thoughts, she sent the neural command to the trigger and, just like she remembered, the nano-suit and the plates of the armor appeared at the same time as the HUD of her new helmet.

And just as she requested, the armor was left white with some blue patterns, just like the old one.

"I'm still offended that you didn't let me paint it." Sabine commented on the matter.

Jaral chuckled. "Had I left it to you, it wouldn't have been ready for today."

"But it would have been a masterpiece." the mandalorian replied while lifting a finger.

"Hang on. This might get bumpy." Ezra announced as he headed straight through a the first strata of greenish clouds that carried the acid rains. "Raze, Jinx, scan the area for a landing zone."

"Acknowledged." said Jinx, while Raze beeped positively and plugged into the socket next to Jaral's seat.

The ship finally dived into the clouds. The flashes of bolts grumbling inside the gaseous form lit up around it but the storm wasn't that strong and the Bullet wasn't targeted by lightnings as she finally passed the nimbus and allowed the crew to finally see the surface of Vjun.

"Kyle was right. It really is a dead rock." Sabine commented, amazed at how incredibly hostile to life that planet looked like.

"Despite its harsh environment, Vjun hosts a small population renowned for their hand woven tunics." Jinx said as info.

"Tunics?" Jaral asked baffled. "And to who would they sell it to?"

"Among Serenno's nobility, a Vjun tunic is a mark of high social standard. According to the Net, even Count Dooku had one of these." the AI replied.

"Maybe that explains why he built a castle here." Ezra said ironically while he kept looking for a place to land. "There, that canyon seems perfect for us. Jinx, signal it to dad."

"Yes, Ezra. Warning: according to my scanning, the corrosive ability of that rain is ten times higher than a normal acid rainfall. Even your kinetic barriers can last only a minute before needing to recharge."

Ezra peeked out of the viewport. In the canyon where they had landed, it was easy to spot a few tubes and small structures of the outer ring of the castle, probably they had been used in the past by the builders to shield themselves from the rain.

"We'll need to rush from cover to cover while we look for a way in." he concluded. "Did you see if the imps are already in?"

"Yes. I scanned their shuttle during our approach. The level of heat of its engines suggests that they have arrived not more than an hour ago."

"Good, that means they're probably still looking for whatever they need." Jaral said. "We can get them by surprise."

Ezra hummed in thought. "True, but I don't think we should stay here until dad arrives."

"We don't know how many of them are there." Jaral warned.

"They had to keep this small, and they're likely spread out for the search. Nothing we can handle, and if we draw their attention, the Legionnaires can then take them by surprise, giving us and edge."

The women thought about that for a moment. "I second that." concluded Sabine.

Jaral was a bit more skeptical, but the plan wasn't rash. And the imperials probably weren't expecting to be followed at all, which meant the Jedi and their allies had a great advantage. And as she remembered from the Art of War, letting an advantage go to waste was just folly.

Therefore she materialized her lightsaber and her TL-50, checking them before heading out. Ezra did the same with his saber and the M8 that he had grown to favor over the heavy repeater.

"For once, I'm happy you want me to kick back and wait." Sabine commented as she observed the intensity of the rain outside of the ship.

"You are not going to tell me you're afraid of getting wet?" Ezra replied with a joke.

"With that kind of shower? My paint-job will burn away before I notice. You can't expect me to fight with a dirty armor." she replied in tone.

The siblings let out an amused huff, then they got ready to disembark, leaving Raze and Sabine to guard the ship and welcome Jordan and his squad whenever they would hit the ground.

As soon as they left the protection of the Gauntlet, their HUD signaled that the shields were taking damage. Albeit very small, they were progressing quickly and repeatedly. That confirmed Jinx's estimates that, when fully charged, their shields could keep up for a minute at best, so they sprinted toward the first cover: a concrete hut that hosted a series of cables and energy collectors, most likely bringing energy to the castle.

Ezra ignored them, instead Jaral knelt next to one of those and made a scan with her omni-tool.

"The energy has been restored very recently." she said.

"Which confirms they have just arrived, like us." Ezra added confidently.

"Not an excuse to be reckless. The cruiser they came in with can carry an entire company of troopers, plus a few support vehicles. Whatever the chance, we must assume we're outnumbered."

"True, but they most likely spread the troopers to cover all exits. If we move swiftly, we can break in without them noticing they're under attack."

"Let's just take a look first, then we decide, ok?"

"Trust me, we got this. It's just like old times, uh?" Ezra asked with a joyful tone.

Jaral felt a warm sensation washing her chest and clearing her mind, which made her smirk under her new helmet. "A lot of things happened since then. The only thing that doesn't…" she said as she approached her brother and lightly puncher her brother on the arm. "is that when we are together, there is nothing we can't achieve."

She didn't need the bond to tell her that her brother was smiling widely beneath his own armor as he replied. "Damn straight. Come on, let's go catch the bad guys."


As the shuttle neared the landing zone, Jordan couldn't help but notice through the lateral windshield that the ramp of the Bullet was already open. And once he hit ground and went to speak with Sabine, his doubt was confirmed.

Letting out a sigh of tiredness, Jordan nonetheless set the frequency on the radio and called them.

"Spirit to Specter-6 and 7, do you read me?"

Luckily, Ezra replied shortly after. "7 here. Sorry we didn't wait, but we thought we should scout right away."

Jordan wanted to reprimand them about the importance of communication in a teamwork, but after all, they knew each other enough that this was still an acceptable margin of improvisation.

"And have you found anything?"

"Pretty much. We found a map of the fortress and come up with an idea. Transmitting…"

Shortly after, Jinx's processors in Jordan's omni-tool received the holomap and he brought it up. Barely he had the time to take a look, that Ezra highlighted a route.

"We were thinking that you might take this secondary access while we try to sneak past the front door." Ezra synthesized.

"Because they expect you but not us, so we are supposed to swoop in and get them off-guard if they spot you?" Jordan asked so plainly and unnecessarily salty.

"It's good to have you back, Pa." Ezra replied so candidly, happy that he was now working again with somebody that understood his way of thinking.

"Yeah, yeah. Just don't get yourself captured too quickly. That might be inconvenient."

"As if that will ever happen. You remember to stay under cover, this rain is quite nasty."

"We noticed. We're moving out." and he closed the transmission.

"Sounds like they got even bolder while we were gone." Michalina commented.

"I guess Jari could use the distraction, right now. Sabine, are you guarding the ships?"

The mandalorian girl, still sitting at the co-pilot chair, waved a hand and said merrily "Have fun out there."

With that, the Legionnaires went out again, quickly finding out that the rain had even got worse and the shields could keep them safe for a shorter time. Good thing they had upgraded them with emergency batteries in case they broke while they were out in the open.

Dashing from cover to cover, which at least Ezra and Jaral had the good sense of pinning on the map, the Legionnaires followed the pattern given to them and found an access to the old sewage system.

"Looks like they found us some marvelous stink." Thabo commented sarcastically.

"Just get in, pretty boy." Michalina taunted as she was the first to waltz into the tube.

Jordan followed suit, and finally the other two male Legionnaires. They moved in with their night visors, and Gutierrez noticed something.

"I may not be a scrubber, but don't you think some of the garbage down there seems a little more recent than 20 years?"

Jordan unlocked the olfactory filters for a moment and took a whiff of the air around them. Indeed, something wasn't right.

"Yes, it clearly has been used until recently, or it should smell much staler." so he decided to call his children as well. "Spirit to Specter, do you copy?"

"We read you, Spirit." Jaral's voice came over. "What's your status?"

"We're in the sewers, and something doesn't smell right."

"Since when are you into puns?" his daughter asked.

"What?...Oh, no, that wasn't that. The system here has been used fairly recently. Is it possible that the Sith were using these place until the Coalition took the region?"

"That's actually what we were starting to think. And that only confirms that they probably stored something here that they didn't have the time to evacuate at the time."

"Don't worry, we won't let them take anything from here. Have you encountered any resistance?"

"Actually, not yet. Jinx only detected a handful of thermal tracks, probably the support team for the Astartes."

"I see, send them over, we'll deal with them while you search the twins."

"Sending it. Be careful, dad." she recommended at the end.

Michalina was wielding an M-9 'Tempest' SMG, but seeing that they were venturing into a relatively close environment, she unfolded a second one out of her belt when they finally managed to get inside the castle via a maintenance shaft.

Jordan quickly consulted the map, and with Jinx keeping track of their movements, he saw that they were still at the lower level of the structure, which layered out on at least seven different floors. And right on the third floor were the heat signatures sent by Jaral. After witnessing to the fact that, indeed, there seemed to be nobody else in the castle, they headed there.

"Isn't it strange that they only brought down a singles squad?" Thabo asked as they ran.

"Maybe they expect to be found out and it's simpler to bail out a small number of people." Gutierrez said.

"Which means they might be SpecOps we're about to face." Michalina added.

"Most likely." Jordan conceded. "Just stay sharp and we'll get the best of them."

They kept running through the corridors and ramps of stairs, which, the Legionnaires noticed, were incredibly spoil. Either this wasn't one of the usual residences of a Serennian nobility like Dooku, or the place had been completely restructured after Palpatine and Vader took it over, because the interiors were just like those of most imperial ships and structures, even if slightly larger.

"Eyes on the prize, they're right behind that corner." Jordan eventually said after he made the team halt before a corner.

He prepared his own rifle and leaned on the wall. He counted to three with his fingers and then the squad of Legionnaires burst out in the open, revealing themselves but also finding out that they were facing a group of people that defied any common sense about the Empire.

Most of them were wearing stormtrooper armors, but only the sergeant, with his orange pauldron and the imperial logo on it, wore it unmodified. The others had a strange mixture of other kind of troopers' gear and one even had the helmet of a clone attached to what seemed a breathing device with tubes. And then there was a huge trooper, clad in a heavy armor that Jordan had never seen. Coincidentally, those troopers were looking their way.

The moment of surprise of the Legionnaires was all the imperials needed to spread out and avoid the first burst just in time with an agility that Jordan had never seen on regular stormtroopers. These quickly rose their blaster rifles and gave their reply in bolts, forcing the Legionnaires to take cover, the advantage of surprise gone.

"What the kurwa are those?" Michalina asked, baffled just as the others.

By all accounts, those guys were not supposed to be part of the Stormtrooper Corp, at least not for what Jordan knew about it. It wasn't just their degree of customization of the equipment, something that in the Empire was strictly regulated, but they also employed tactics that were not part of their colleagues' usual behavior. For starters, they were not charging rashly, but instead withdrawing, seemingly trying to take the fight into a position that would be more favorable to them.

Even the larger trooper, instead of using his stature, was simply supporting his companions by firing with two wrist-blasters on his armor, and the bolts were heavy enough that, after Thabo was hit once, it was clear that they could break the shields with a couple of hits, which forced the Legionnaires to be careful.

"Don't let them get away. Thabo, prepare to wash them." Jordan ordered.

"I got it." the psionic replied as he started to gather the energy he needed for the attack requested by his brethren and superior.

"We'll catch their attention."

The three Legionnaires so dared to get briefly out in the open and firing wildly, giving Thabo the few seconds he needed to prepare the powerful attack.


As they heard the sound of blasters and slug-throwers in the distance, Ezra and Jaral wasted no time in rushing toward the top of the castle, where the Force had showed them that there was something sinister laying.

The lifters had been cut off, meaning that they needed to use the stairs, though they quickly understood that it would be quicker to use the maintenance corridors, which had a winding staircase leading directly to the sixth floor, at which point it seemed there was no access to the seventh.

"There must be something around here. Maybe a hidden passage." Jaral said as she started to slide her hand onto the wall, searching for a secret panel or something of the sort.

Ezra, on the other hand, started hearing whispers inside his head that made him turn his head toward a specific point on the opposite wall.

"Over here." he said to his sister, not without a hint of concern.

Jaral followed him, and when they approached the origin of the feeling Ezra was sensing, from the decorated stone wall came out a strange orb, inside of which was a red glowing stream of energy.

"Is this…" Jaral asked hesitantly.

"A key that can be used only through the Dark Side." Ezra confirmed. "Which begs out a question: did the twins got through this on their own, or is there someone else with them?"

"Why? Aren't they Force sensitives as well?"

"I don't think so. We didn't realize it at that moment, but on Agamar, neither me nor Cal could perceive their presence until they appeared in front of us. For some reason, the Astartes can hide their presence in the Force."

"Meaning that they shouldn't be able to open this."

"Right."

They stared at the door for a moment, wondering what they were going to find past it. Their first thought was that the twins were being accompanied by either Mara or Starkiller, so they had to be ready for a fiercer battle than what they anticipated.

"Stand back. I will have to tap into the Dark Side to open it." Ezra instructed.

"Yeah, nice try." Jaral retorted as she went to stay right next to him. "We're in this together, lil' bro."

"This isn't a joke." Ezra objected. "I don't want you to…"

"To risk straying from the Light?" she replied defiantly. "How can I fight something I don't understand in the first place? And I know you will be there to pull me back on track if I start to go mental."

The two looked at each other through their helmets. Ezra didn't like this one bit, but he knew his sister would not budge under any circumstance, so he sighed and he extended a hand in the direction of the orb, stretching out to the Force. Jaral did just the same.

As expected, the orb was a security mechanism meant to test the will to reach power of the person in front of it. Ezra remembered what he had to do on Malachor, and it was indeed ironic that Maul's teachings were now proving to be useful. With those, he managed to fool the mechanism and was allowed to get in.

Jaral, instead, was repelled, and so the door didn't open because the orb recognized it was in front of a Jedi.

"Karabast." she muttered.

"Jari, I know it's harsh to say, but you need to get angry, so...think about Darvos' situation."

If that wasn't hitting the spot, it is hard to think of anything better. The two had not forgotten how she had reacted when she was given the news of Darvos' arrest, and the fact that she hadn't been able to go visit him already was a major source of frustration for the young woman. A frustration that now became the key to finally have the orb accept her, and finally the device disappeared and so did a big section of the wall, revealing the stairs to the final level of the castle.

"Specter-7 to Spirit, be advised: we found the access to the last floor. We are beginning the search."

However, there were statics over the comlink.

"Dad?"

In response, Jinx brought up the camera of Jordan's armor, which was linked to the two processors of the AI still in possession of the elder Bridger. That revealed that they were still chasing a squad of stormtroopers, but very strange stormtroopers.

"Who are those?" Jaral asked, still a bit tired by the strain of opening the orb and as they walked past the threshold.

"I don't know, some kind of special forces?" her brother hypothesized, but then they both heard the sound of faint footsteps and they turned around with a jolt, igniting their lightsabers.

And to their surprise, the Astarte twins were there.

"Damn it." Aiolin grunted and the twins ignited their plasma sabers.

"We weren't that bad last time." Morit commented.

"Hold on," said Ezra. "so you two really couldn't open that door?"

"Indeed." replied the male twin. "That's why we made sure you learned we were coming here. Thanks for your help."

"That doesn't sound like a very solid plan." Jaral said.

"All those who could open it are out recovering more important resources for the Emperor. We are basically just here to distract you, and to take whatever is inside that vault."

"That's not gonna happen." Ezra concluded and the siblings took their fighting stance.

The twins did the same, then charged at them. Just like Ezra had supposed, the Astartes were cut off from the Force, maybe because of their nature as cyborgs, but the most pressing matter for the Bridgers was that they couldn't use their Premonition to see the attacks of their foes. With their main advantage in a duel gone, the Jedi had to resort to the good old reflexes, and good thing they were enhanced to begin with.

Ezra at one point used his omni-tool to let out a flow of flames, but he only found out that Morit, and most likely Aiolin too, had cyclonic shields that had most likely been reverse-engineered from the Federation.

The twins were not out of surprises either. Aiolin threw a series of micro smoke grenades from her right wrist and the room was soon engulfed in a thick fog. The Bridgers still were able to keep track of them with motion sensors as the heat visor could not detect the Astartes.

And in the confusion, one of the twins opened the door to the vault without effort and without even being near it. Aiolin simply extended a hand toward the door and that disappeared into the walls.

It is safe to say that seeing such original enemies put the Bridgers in a state of careful defense. They hesitated to go on the offensive, fearing that the Astartes were hiding other aces up their sleeves. Still, they followed them into the vault, and indeed that turned out to be a repository for treasures.

It was mostly empty, signs that it had been evacuated quickly and suddenly were evident, so if the Astartes were saying the truth, somebody had forgotten to take away something very important.

"Morit?" the siblings heard even if the twins were standing in front of them with their blades ready to resume.

"No luck yet."

A thing came to the mind of the Bridgers.

"All that tech and they can't talk without their voices?" Jaral asked.

"Maybe, maybe they're bluffing. But there is a way to find out."

The siblings decided to risk and went for one of their coordinated moves. Focusing on the nearest of their foes.

Jaral dashed and looked for a confrontation against Morit, and she was met head-on. Ezra in the meantime went to confront Aiolin. Jaral let her opponent get unbalanced by evading his first strike, then attacked herself with a flurry of blows, making him walk back steadily toward Ezra.

In what seemed like the choreography of a holo-movie, Ezra found a perfect moment to simply knock back Aiolin for the amount of time he needed to lift his saber and prepare a powerful strike against Morit's back.

"Morit!" the female twin yelled, confirming the fact that they didn't have the advantage of communicating at the speed of thought.

The male turned around just in time to see Ezra bear down his attack. Morit had to literally jump clumsily away to get away from Jaral's saber lock and avoid being cut in half, but Ezra's saber still broke his shields and grazed his left arm.

Morit let out a brief yell of pain, but landed on his back and his saber ready to defend him. His twin sister rushed to help him get up and a new round seemed about to start again.

"I will ask it nicely. What are looking for, here?" Ezra asked in a diplomatic tone.

"I'm afraid that's the Emperor's business." Morit replied sarcastically despite his wound.

Then, the twins slightly tilted their heads, and their attention seemed to go to their own ears.

The Bridgers were afraid that they were about to get hit by some other trap, so they didn't try to press their advantage, but then Jinx clarified what was happening.

"Ezra, Jaral. Master Kota has arrived with his fleet. The imperials are retreating."

The siblings understood: the Astartes were being warned by the stormtroopers fighting Jordan in the levels below.

And just at that moment, a rumble rocked the castle. The siblings were caught off and went out of balance. The twins instead used that chance to sprint away, back toward the exit and throwing another set of smoke grenades. They were fast, just as fast as the two Jedi, who, by the time they had come out of the vault, lost track of their foes.

"Karabast." this time it was Ezra who swore.

"Specters, this is Spirit. Those stormtroopers blew up a corridor and cut us off. They are probably heading for their shuttle." the voice of Jordan came through the comlink.

"Affirmative, Spirit, so did our guests up here. Are you injured?"

"No scratch taken, but we only managed to wound one of their men. They took him away."

Ezra sighed. "Copy that. Order the Constantinople to intercept them if they can." he concluded.

"At least they went away empty-handed." Jaral observed in an attempt to console their partial failure.

"True, but we don't know what they were looking for in the first place. Once Master Kota is done up there, we better get back into that vault with him."

Jaral seemed to hesitate before replying. "Ezra...I know it sounds selfish, but since we're done here…"

Ezra needed a moment to understand, remembering what else was at stake. "Don't worry, me and the Master will take care of this place. Take the Bullet and Sabine and go to Lianna."

The sister quickly rubbed her brother's forearm. "Thank you." and then ran away.