Chapter 26: Hidden Movements

September 10.

The cannons were pounding the localized shields without rest, but unless he could find another way, Iulius would have had to wait another two weeks before it fell and Crimson Dawn's base was finally open for the taking.

He certainly would have wanted to solve the situation quickly, and Vader was growing even more impatient. But the Grand Admiral knew that patience was vital to solve a siege.

That was why, as the rain pounded outside the command bunker, Karashk strolled inside and made the salute.

"Report, Sergeant." Iulius invited.

"Your intuition was right, Grand Admiral. We found a natural tunnel that leads directly beneath the base. It's their source for potable water, and it's not that difficult to climb out of it if you to sneak inside."

"Excellent work." Iulius sincerely said. "Do you feel like leaving immediately, or do you want to rest a little?"

"Please, sir. That was just a stroll." Karashk said half-serious.

"Good. Inform your squad. Prepare for close combat." the Grand Admiral ordered, then turned around toward his two female collaborators. "Yagler, go call the Inferno." then turned toward the other side of the table. "Cody, keep the bombardment going. Prepare your men but don't let the enemy see that too much."

"You got it, sir." the clone replied dutifully and put his helmet on.

As the commander went, Iulius turned finally toward the Dark Lord next to him. "My Lord, we could use your abilities for this."

"Then I will grant it to you." Vader replied emotionless, though Iulius had the feeling that the Dark Lord had some degree of anticipation for the incoming battle.

Iulius was already wearing his black armor, so he simply headed into the armory. Him and Qathora grabbed both an E-11, which compact size made it more suited for the environment they were going to fight into. Shortly after Yagler arrived with Iden and her squad. Iulius watched the four of them choose their gear, then led them outside where Vader and the Stormcommandos were waiting.

"We will have to reach the access point on foot. It's about four kliks north-north-west." Karashk said through the speaker of his helmet, and he still needed to yell because the roaring of the cannons and the salvos of the missile launchers were nothing short of deafening.

"Lead the way, commandos." Iulius replied in tone.

Karashk gestured his three subordinates to fall in line and he started leading the column, with Iulius right behind him. Navigating through the trenches, they left the imperial camp from a point where they would be outside the range of the fort's sentinels and made the flanking much easier. It certainly helped that it also started to rain, which might have been uncomfortable, but it severely compromised the line of sight of the garrison, who now couldn't use their higher position to their advantage.

The group marched for almost two hours under the constant barrage of the rain, while the structure on their left was repeatedly targeted but the shells exploded on the energy barrier.

Karashk led them in front of the edge of a cliff and pointed downward. "There. See that small stream at the bottom?"

Defying the rain, Iulius peeked into the crevasse. The pit went down for at least a dozen meters and ended with a small stream of water surrounded by rocky terrain and that ventured inside the mountain, sign that there was a system of caves.

"Hope you brought the ropes." Iulius commented. "Prepare to rappel and be care…"

The next thing he knew, he felt like a giant invisible hand closed around him and he was lifted in the air. Gasping in surprise, Iulius was then made to descend into the pit at a safe speed. Before his companions disappeared from his sight, he had the time to see Vader extending his right hand and the Lord-Protector didn't need long to put the pieces together.

Still, at least the Dark Lord made him land safely, giving him the time to find his balance and arrive on the riverbed on his feet. He rose his gaze and saw Vader jump over the cliff and then descended slowly enough to result both confident and elegant.

"You could've warned me, at least." was the only thing Iulius said once facing again with the emissary of the Emperor.

"Neither of us wishes to waste time. This will be more efficient." Vader replied with just a point of what the Grand Admiral interpreted as being sassy.

Then he turned around and looked back up, where Karashk and Iden were looking, at first worried, then puzzled. Vader then extended his hand and repeated the trick of lifting down the two of them. After, he did with Yagler and Qathora and so on until the entire strike team was ready to proceed barely a minute later.

Nonetheless, they were ready to go. Karashk conduced the group into the cave. To Iulius' surprise, the cave was filled with bio-luminescent crystals that emanated a blue light, enough strong to see where they were putting their feet.

The cave went on and branched off at various point, but the Stormcommandos had spent the last two rotations walking inside of it, so they knew exactly where they were going, and shortly after, they reached the entrance to the well. This meant that the stream entered into a pretty deep pond, and above the strike team there was the vertical hole that would bring them inside the pirate cove.

"Iden, send your droid to take a look." Iulius ordered calmly.

"You heard it, droid?" Iden said to her seeker, which warbled and detached from her shoulder flying.

The droid fluctuated upward while Iden was using a small holo-feed on her wrist-pad to see what the droid was transmitting. Iulius instead waited, with Lord Vader still standing tall at his side while most of the team was knelt down. There was no visible or audible reaction from the droid peeking outside and Iden confirmed it. "There are no guards outside. I guess they aren't expecting us to come through here."

"They'll have just the time to regret it." Hask said with his usual sadistic enthusiasm.

"Lord Vader, would you be willing to accelerate our operation again?" the Grand Admiral asked with the due courtesy.

"As you wish." Vader simply replied. He then twitched his hands and lifted both Iulius and Karashk upward until they set foot on the edge of the well, with the seeker droid still scanning the area.

Luckily, Iulius noticed quickly that the well was hidden inside an indentation of a bedrock, meaning that they were pretty much invisible to the garrison, who probably used the well only when they needed. Nonetheless, the imperials were now inside the shield and once Vader finished lifting everyone out of the well, the operation could start.

Iulius tried to take point, but Yagler and Qathora pretty much forced him to let the commandos do that, since that was their job. The group quickly discovered that the walls on that side were relatively short, since whoever built the fortress had good reasons to presume that a land assault on that side of the hill wasn't possible, and if the enemy came from the sky, the walls certainly wouldn't help. This meant that the strike team could use their cable pistols to quickly climb them.

"We are ready, Admiral." Karashk said once he and his three commandos had taken position with the cables.

"Good. And...go." Iulius ordered undertone.

The commandos fired their cables, which found easily a foothold on the walls and started climbing. The wall was only three meters high, meaning that in a couple of jumps they were on top and rolled over it, leaving the ropes hanging for their comrades to use. Except for Vader, who just jumped and landed silently on the top of the walls.

Just as the Inferno was finishing the climbing, fate had it that two guards on patrol stumbled on the imperials.

Promptly, Karashk silenced one with a throwing knife, hoping that he could preserve their surprise attack.

"Alarm!" the other shouted and fired a bolt before the Zabrak slit his throat with his combat knife.

The imperials for a moment had hoped that the sound of the storm would muffle the scream, but soon enough they heard quite the commotion in the distance, and soon enough other sentries and the garrison started to pour into the courtyard.

"Spread out!" Iulius ordered as he fired.

The fight started. Vader ignited his lightsaber and repelled the bolts aimed at them while the soldiers ran and fired while looking for cover.

"Sergeant. You and your squad with me to their headquarters. Commander, find and destroy the shield generator." the Grand Admiral quickly instructed.

Both squad leaders acknowledged, and while Vader went on his usual killing spree, basically drawing the attention of all the pirates in the courtyard, the two soldiers rushed to the buildings. The headquarters were not hard to identify, being the biggest structure and also sporting a huge mark of Crimson Dawn.

Gunning down the few pirates who spotted them, Iulius, the commandos, Qathora and Yagler reached the door.

Aside from Karashk, the commandos were three. Specialist G'oopri, a 'Green' Nikto very skilled in electronics; Lumuan, a Zeltron male who was an anomaly among his species: where the Zeltron were known for being passionate and hedonist, Lumuan seemed to only have a bit of the former, and this passion he had decided to dedicate it to the new Empire that Iulius was building. He was particularly capable when under heavy pressure. Finally there was Miloks, the only Human of the first squad of the Stormcommandos, specialized in explosives.

Miloks planted a disintegrating charge, lit it up, and five seconds later, the door had vanished into vapor, but as the imperials imagined, a barrage of blaster bolts poured through the hole. Iulius passed one of his stun grenades to G'oopri, who promptly threw it in and two seconds later, after the loud cracks, the pirates screamed in panic as they went blind and deaf momentarily, but the imperials made sure that they stayed like that permanently as they rushed in and gunned them down.

"Yagler, do you detect any transmission going out?" Iulius asked as they were still pointing their weapons in front of them.

The ISB agent had a small radio detector that quickly identified the presence of an outgoing comlink signal at the center of the bunker, though it would be easily intercepted by STEVE aboard the Admonitor. The squad thus pushed forward with a good compromise of caution and speed, halting to take down some more pirates who put up a stiff resistance, even pinning them down two rooms away from the command center.

"Grand Admiral, this is Versio. We found the shield generator and set it for destruction." the voice of Iden broke suddenly into his helmet.

Iulius took cover and put a finger on the side of his gear. "Light it up." he ordered.

Shortly after, even among the screeching of the blasters, the roar of a huge explosion reverberated all the way there and the ground shook slightly. The pirates didn't take long to understand that the shield was down. Soon enough, Cody would lead a legion and a battalion of the best Stormtroopers in the galaxy, and the defenders would be overrun.

Capitalizing on the sudden confusion of his foes, Iulius threw the other stun grenade he had left, which just gave the opportunity for Lumuan to gun down three of them and opening a breach in the barricade. From that point on, the commandos easily cleaned up the rest and conquered the command room after killing what seemed to be the local leader of the operation, almost at the same time when Cody led a first group of rocket-troopers to storm the base while the bulk of the legion was advancing.

Immediately Iulius ordered to secure the main database, though luckily the local boss had been taken by such a surprise that he still wasn't trying to erase everything, so Yagler found a little gold mine in the holo-table.

"There is an entire register of the calls, Lord-Protector." she said as she trafficked with the data. "Also a list of all the bases Crimson Dawn still has in this sector. I'm sure our analysts will have a field day."

"Excellent. Make a copy of everything then erase the bank." he ordered. "Then get back to the Admonitor and have STEVE help you through processing."

Just as he was finishing that sentence, he heard right behind the threshold a loud breathing and heavy steps. When he turned around he found Lord Vader stepping inside the room.

"Lord Vader. Nice work taking on all those pirates." he complimented.

"Your plan worked well, too. Grand Admiral." the Sith replied in his unusual way to compliment someone. "Have you found anything useful?"

"Yagler?" Iulius asked.

The woman was suddenly leaning closer to the monitor on the table. She had heard the question, however, and after humming with interest, she replied. "I don't want to jump to conclusions, sir. If you give me the time necessary to look better at these files, I will report to you on the Admonitor."

"Sounds good."

"I can tell you one thing, though." she continued. "This base was the main Crimson Dawn's operation in this Sector. They have some other forces, mainly exploiting some mine concessions, but if they are smart enough, they will leave the region after hearing what we did here today."

"Then all it's left is Zann." Vader said. "I shall take care of what resistance is left, Admiral. You find out where that criminal is hiding." he concluded before turning around and walking outside.

"Yes, Lord Vader." Iulius managed to say before his superior disappeared behind the wall.


September 11.

Chasing Zahra was easy. She had headed to Coruscant, where apparently she had left the command of the Victory cruiser to board again her Star Destroyer, leaving some other officer in charge of the ship, which was still clearly navigating toward its final destination.

The problem was following said cruiser after Coruscant: it was venturing through the galactic core, which shouldn't have been possible, but apparently there were some hyperspace routes that were not public. Luckily for Jordan, there were several Jedi aboard the Constantinople who could use the Force and, combined with Jinx's ability to connect with their minds, they managed to follow the tracks left by the imperial ship. Passing next to brown dwarfs, black holes and many of the anomalies nobody would ever cross starpath with, the stealth frigate eventually did reach a system.

The thought of his daughter being held somewhere in an imperial research facility was still lingering in Jordan's heart, with the only counterweight being that Ezra was on her track and would certainly do anything to bring his sister back.

Putting the matter aside, the Spectre spoke up. "Jinx, break into their comms and find out where we are, exactly."

He was in the cockpit, standing behind Rut's seat. Ahsoka was sitting on the navigator seat, as she was the one taking turn in guiding the ship with the Force, along with Cal, Cere and even Merrin, all of which had by now learned the technique.

The Togruta stood up and went next to Jordan, waiting herself for the answer and leaving the place to the Navigation Officer, Tiwari.

Three minutes later, after a few calculations and by quietly intercepting a few messages from the imperials, Jinx found out their whereabouts.

"We are indeed in the Deep Core. This system is classified under the name Beshqek, and I detect a major activity on the fifth planet. Byss."

"Byss...A-Byss…" Jordan mumbled, finding the strange similarity of that name to an English word. "Fits very well, considering this region is inscrutable."

"The Dark Side…" Ahsoka said, looking very unsettled.

"What?"

"The Dark Side is extremely powerful here. I sense it on the planet." she added.

"Rut, bring us about. Slowly." Jordan instructed.

The Salarian quietly executed the order, punching in the commands for the speed and putting the hands into the holographic handlers that allowed the pilot to turn the ship to his discretion. In order to not be detected, the Constantinople fared at a lower speed than usual while keeping the cloaking device on. The travel took half-an-hour, during which the other Jedi and the Padawans had either reached the observation rooms on Deck 3 or the cockpit to see what was emanating that darkness that was coiling on their hearts.

Among those in the cockpit were Cal and Kubari, who had recovered from his wounds, but his right arm was immobilized in bandage, as the blaster bolt that had wounded him burned some shoulder muscles and he wasn't entirely able to move it. He would've had to wait until he could return to a hospital and being put into a bacta tank to make a full recovery.

Finally, the frigate was close enough that the features of Byss were visible. Contrary to the darkness and strange sense of danger that now even the rest of the crew was starting to feel, Byss actually seemed a nice place: there were three super-continents, with a temperate climate and forests covering the surface. It would've been a perfect place for any colonization effort.

Still, if even Jordan was feeling a chill up his spine just by being close to the planet, something was deeply wrong. And he was sure that it wasn't the several Star Destroyers and warships patrolling the orbit, nor the impressive infrastructure around it.

No, there was something evil on the surface, no doubt about it.

"Okay, bring us as close as you can, Rut. Jinx, use the telescope to at see what's on the surface at the very least."

The electronic telescope was a tool mounted on every recon ship of the Systems Alliance. It allowed them to analyze the surface of a planet without recurring to active sensors and, that way, risking to have their cover blown, all the while keeping a safe distance from the enemy patrols.

What the instrument returned was the image of a bustling metropolis on one of the continents, with even a few towers, one of which was bigger and very well fortified.

"I can already distinguish multiple military bases on the surface. There might be at least the equivalent of three imperial divisions."

"Too many even for us." Raniza commented from her chair.

"I agree." Jordan simply replied and started to ponder for a few seconds. He then turned around toward Ahsoka and Cal while gave instructions to his people. "Raniza, make sure to save the pattern that we used to arrive here. Rut, bring us back to Republic space."

Of the Jedi, only Cal seemed a bit surprised. "Just like that? Shouldn't we try to listen to their radio traffic for a bit?"

"Hardly needed. The location of this planet only confirms my theory over what the Emperor is working to: a way to transfer his conscience into a clone of himself, and I'm ready to bet there is a few of them stored down into that tower."

"Then we need to destroy them right now! We already know they are planning to escape into the Unknown Regions." Kubari said with urgency.

"You are certainly not going anywhere with that arm, kid." Jordan firmly said, quickly waving a finger at the Padawan. "But you are right. They are most likely preparing to transport this project where nobody will ever disturb them. And with that, the Emperor might just achieve the immortality he is so desperate to attain."

The Jedi and their friends looked at each other. It seemed an incredibly convoluted plan, but all the evidences they had gathered until now pointed in that direction.

"So what do we do, next?" asked Ahsoka.

"For now, we head back and bring my daughter back. We gather more people and return here to destroy this place, but I need the help of the Empress and the Council."

The others agreed: it was best not to risk a closer investigation and let the imperials think that the secret of Byss was still safe. Besides, it was clear that the Sith were still not ready, if anything because the Jedi had already stolen the map for the intended destination. Once the Jedi and the Spectre would rescue Jaral, they could focus on erasing any chance for Palpatine to ever threaten the future generations.


September 15.

Still nothing from the bond, except some intermittent flashes from time to time, and all those times, even if Jaral was clearly suffering, she always told him not to worry, that she was fine. Clearly that wasn't the case.

Still, that meant that she was still alive, and even if the thoughts of what cruelties the imperials were inflicting on her burdened his heart, Ezra had to hold on to that glimmer of hope.

After all, hope right now had the shape of a super-carrier about to reach Yavin to gather some volunteers to rescue the Mother of the Republic. Jordan had also notified him that he had discovered Byss, and now was ready to join the rescue mission, meaning that now they had the means to recon the hyperspace routes and find a hole through which the Liberator could go through undetected.

Ezra left the room Darvos had given him to meditate, and that he had used in the best way possible: to see glimpses of the future. Except that, by now, he had completely changed his approach to how he saw that.

To him, and for his sister too, the visions of the future meant that the outcome depended on the current state of mind. Visions of death and failure meant that they were holding up negative feelings or prejudices that would compromise their survival. It was thus imperative to do some insight and correct that fallacy to reach the state of mind necessary to take rational decisions.

In moments like this, Ezra had to be like the foes that he most respected exactly for their cool heads: Thrawn and Iulius.

It was possible that all of this was a trap. That Jaral was being used as bait and that the Emperor himself might have somehow hijacked the bond and telling him what he expected his sister would tell. But then he remembered that Palpatine was only able to exploit the fears of his enemies, so in that case he would have made Jaral beg to be rescued.

Besides, from Jordan's recent report, it was clear that the Emperor now had other priorities.

Reassured in his chances of success, he walked into the bridge, where Darvos was convening with his staff officers and also Hera. The Ghost and the entirety of Phoenix Squadron had of course dropped their work on the Starhawk Project and joined the expedition the moment they heard their old commander had been captured.

Among the staff there was also Rex, leading the unit that had followed Ezra in the trailing sector, now enlarged to a whole Division and dubbed in honor of the clone's old unit: the 501st.

Finally there was Tristan, leading the mandalorian volunteers that Katooni and Gungi had brought with them and were waiting in the hangar.

"Everything ok, Ezra?" Darvos asked cordially, but if there was anyone on edge for all this, that was him.

"Yes. Just wanted to see where we are."

"As a matter of fact, we're just entering Yavin." Hera said with an optimistic tone.

"And General Kota's fleet is waiting for us at the exit point." Rex added.

A moment later, the Liberator and the two GR-75 transports carrying troops and supplies left hyperspace inside the Yavin system. On their right flank there were the two frigates of Kota's fleet waiting to welcome them, all while the pearl blue Wiltsyn Rift, millions of light-years away from them, illuminated that side of the bridge's viewport.

After briefly being hailed by Kota, they were escorted in the orbit of Yavin IV, which hosted the whole fleet of the ICO, mostly composed of fast ships and only a couple of MC-80 that would join the expedition as the main escort of the Liberator.

Darvos signaled that the carrier had arrived, so the volunteers could mount on their Pelicans and travel from the main space station into the bustling hangars of the ship. And in order to receive them, Ezra hurried into said rooms, which were huge even compared to the biggest Calamari warships. The Liberator hosted a total of 6 starfighter squadrons and the three regiments, which in this case were the totality of the 501st.

The air units chosen for this mission were made up of three X-Wing squadrons-Rogue, Red and Phoenix-then there was an A-Wing squadron-Shelter- to protect the carrier from enemy fighters, and then there were two Y-Wing squadrons-Gold and Purple-to hit enemy capital ships or made planetary incursions.

And among those neatly parked ships there were also the Silver Bullet and the Ghost. While the latter would have to stay in orbit to lead Phoenix, the former was already loaded with the mandalorians, which included Sabine, for the ground assault. They would be the vanguard that would drop right on top of the imperial structure and distract their defenses while the Pelicans discharged the troops and vehicles necessary to take the fortress.

One thing was for sure: the imperials might expect a small incursion, so deep into their territory, they certainly didn't expect a whole division to drop on them, which was gonna be the greatest advantage of the allies.

Feeling increasingly confident, Ezra halted when he saw a black Pelican land and turn around to allow its passengers to walk directly toward the exit.

And the people who came out of it were definitely a welcomed surprise: the Ranger squad Rhino, with whom Ezra had fought in the past, and then there were Jyn Erso and Cassian Andor, wearing the combat uniform of the Republic Army and still ready to rush into the action.

They were leading a small platoon of troopers, which made up the new Rogue-One. Once he saw them, Ezra stepped forward to greet them and they clasped their hands with vigor.

"It's so good to see you again, Cassian. Too bad I can't say the same about Jyn." he joked, making the other two smile.

"When we heard that Jaral was in trouble, it was hard to pick who we had the room for. I'm glad to be here." Cassian replied proudly.

"I appreciate it." Ezra said, then turned toward the Rangers. "Poshur...it's Captain now, right?"

"Unfortunately." the man joked and shook hands with the Jedi. "But I guess I did something along the way to earn it."

They quickly had to cut the greetings to allow the Pelican to move aside and let the others land their reinforcements, which now filled the carrier to her greatest capacity, and that was also the reason why they had to bring two Gallofree loaded up with many supplies for the voyage. So Ezra went to talk with his friends at the Bullet.

"Ready to roll, General?" Zeb said merrily.

Ezra chuckled, then turned around and took another look at the immense display of men and vehicles in front of him.

"It's just absurd to think that all these people wanted to be here to help Jari."

"That's only a testament to what you and your sister have done for the galaxy." Kallus reassured. "All these people owe their freedom to you. They want to return the favor."

"That goes for us too, Ezra." Katooni added. "Without you and your sister, the Empire would have probably wiped us all out."

Ezra made a nod and hummed in a timid agreement, not wanting to take much merit. Sabine stepped next to him and put an arm around his neck to encourage her husband. Ezra appreciated, took another look at the force they were building and then felt a familiar presence in the Force.

Two minutes later, the Millennium Falcon landed inside the hangar and parked next to the other freighters. The ramp opened and the first two people to walk outside were the Skywalkers. Luke had particularly changed his outfit: instead of the peasant large vest he had worn since Tatooine, now he seemed to have taken some lessons from Han since he was wearing a yellow jacket over a black shirt, greenish cargo pants, boots and had a belt holding a blaster, his lightsabers and many other small tools.

"Luke. I see you adapted very well." Ezra joked.

"You told me to do it." the Padawan replied in tone.

"Good to see you again, Leia." the Knight added.

"Me too, Ezra." she said at first cordially, but then her smile faded. "I'm sorry for Jaral."

"She's still alive." Ezra said calmly. "And I appreciate you came here to help."

"You brought me out of the Death Star. I couldn't just sit this out." the former Princess said before turning around and joked about one of the two individuals coming toward them. "I would be more surprised that he accepted to come with us."

"Hey, I have my principles." Han rebuked in tone.

Chewbacca then barged in roaring and going to hug Ezra, who returned the gesture.

"Good to see you too, Chewie." the Jedi replied, his body and muscles making him one of the few people who could take the Wookiee's affection head-on.

After being released, Ezra could greet Han too, and then hear the doubts of the smuggler. "Say, I heard the intel on Jaral was provided by Crimson Dawn?"

"It appears so."

"Are you sure it's a good idea to base it just on that? My first job ever was with them...and I was lucky to survive them."

"Normally, I wouldn't trust them so easily, but I read some reports, and it seems that both them and the Zann Consortium have been severely spanked by Iulius in the Senex-Juvex Sector, in the last few weeks. So I believe it when they say they want anybody to damage the Empire in any way."

Han crossed his arms on his chest and raised an eyebrow. "Why I get the feeling we're not simply going to Denevar?"

Ezra made a smirk, motioned everyone to gather around and then brought up the galaxy map with the battle plan he had defined with Jordan and the officers on the bridge of the Liberator.

"Because the imperials are pouring most of their Navy at the frontline, their hold on many worlds of the Northern Fringe has severely dropped. By using rebel cells still operating in the region, we can navigate undisturbed all the way until Ord Mantell.

"From there, we meet an old friend that will bring us to Denevar by avoiding the main hyperspace lanes as long as we can, but here's the hitch: along the way, you and I will lead a series of incursions on the supply lines of Admiral Rax. That not only will slow down the imperial offensive and open a chance for the allied forces to counterattack, but if the imperials start to see that even the Core isn't safe anymore, they will have to redeploy more forces to guard their worlds."

"And your father?" asked Luke.

"We eventually decided it would be better if the go straight to Denevar from their current position and recon the area. The Constantinople has better equipment for the job, and we have our guide anyway."

After saying that, he deactivated the omni-tool, leaving room for Asha to ask "Who is this guide you speak about?"

"Trust me, sister." Sabine intervened on his behalf. "It's better not to think about it."

"Hey, I trust him to do what's necessary. Besides, it's not like we have many other options." Ezra said with renewed positivity.


September 16.

Gathering the proofs had not been easy, but after Yagler told him her discoveries, Iulius just had to go through the data with her. Now it was time to present the proofs to Lord Vader so long as he was still around.

As of now, both Crimson Dawn and the Zann Consortium had already abandoned the SJ Sector, mostly after hearing about the imperial victory at Anturus, but in the last few days Vader had also found and destroyed a base of the Consortium.

Now the Executor, the Admonitor and the imperial fleetwere stationed over Ogem, ready to leave for Naboo. They were only waiting there because Iulius had decided that the information couldn't wait long and preferred to talk with Vader directly in an environment as secret as possible.

And that environment was Vader's personal chamber aboard the Executor. Right now, he and Yagler were waiting just outside the door, waiting to be called. DT-518 and 519 were standing behind them two officers and staring directly at the two praetorian guards that were guarding Vader's chamber.

Iulius had heard that the two corps had some kind of rivalry, and even if the four guards were not emitting a single sound, the air was clearly tense.

The bridge of the SSD was clearly not on high alert. Some officers came and went rarely, but what earned Iulius' attention was the fact that they were constantly on edge, especially when they passed in front of Vader's room.

That definitely wasn't the same atmosphere one could feel aboard the Admonitor or most of the Mid Rim Fleet.

In the creepy silence, the door of the chambers finally hissed open and an old man clad in a black tunic walked outside. Iulius recognized him as Vader's personal attendant, though he didn't know his name.

The man went in front of them and talked with a feeble tone. "Grand Admiral Tanis. Agent Yagler. Lord Vader is ready to receive you." then elegantly stepped aside, lowered his head and showed them the way with his arm, but his posture indicated that he wasn't going with them.

The Grand Admiral had been in front of Vader before, but Yagler seemed a bit anxious. Nonetheless she followed her superior.

"What's the problem?" Iulius asked her once the door closed behind them.

"I just...hope Lord Vader will be pleased with this…" she said tentatively as they walked the short corridor that brought them eventually in front of the strange throne at the center of the room. Said throne was covered by a two-piece hatch, where the upper part could lower or heighten to hide the Dark Lord.

"You fought with him on Anturus, you didn't seem so distressed."

"Yeah, perhaps it was the adrenaline. But now…"

The shell started opening, taking the two officers by surprise. Keeping their hands clasped behind their backs, they waited until the mechanism revealed Vader, who stood up and walked down the few stairs leading him to them once the hatch was open.

The Dark Lord finished descending the steps, and even though he still towered over the other two Humans, Iulius still knew that the fact that he had taken upon himself to get out of his chair of command was still a sign of respect that he probably rarely conceded.

"What do you have, Grand Admiral?" he asked with his mechanical voice, though for once it sounded simply neutral rather than threatening.

"My Lord," he started with a collected attitude. "I have a reasonable amount of reason to believe that our main enemy, the Federation, is about to face a war on its borders, in its galaxy."

Vader only made a subtle tilt with his head that still indicated an interest. "Explain."

Iulius turned his head toward Yagler and nodded to encourage her. She put her hands forward, revealing the datapad that she was holding. She took it with both her hands, trying to find a little bit of confidence in that gesture and after clearing her throat she started speaking.

"The data recovered in the pirate base revealed the Crimson Dawn has established contacts with other illegal organizations in the Milky Way. In itself, that wouldn't be much of a surprise, nor interest to the Empire, but it also means that they have access to general knowledge that we don't have.

"And among that knowledge, we found a critical information: that the Federation is currently fighting a border conflict with an alien species."

"A minor conflict doesn't seem like a problem for them." Vader said. "Do you believe there is more to it?"

"Yes, my Lord." Yagler replied promptly. "According to the intel of the pirates, it seems that these aliens are just a vanguard. There is an alliance of minor nations outside the Federation who believe they have a chance at taking some of their territory, now that they are engaged against us."

Vader seemed to hum in thought, but the sound was covered by his usual breathing.

"I believe that this provides a unique opportunity for the Empire to retake the Outer Rim." Iulius explained. "If these nations decide to attack the Federation, they will have to withdraw their forces from our galaxy. The rebels have built a strong fleet, but they are not yet ready to take the full brunt of our own."

It was an exaggeration, he knew, and perhaps Vader could sense that. Yet, the idea in itself was true.

"I will inform the Emperor of this. Agent Yagler, send a report to Director Gideon and urge him to investigate this matter."

"Yes, my Lord." Yagler replied and made a small bow.

Vader then turned on his side and walked toward the door, presumably to go inform the Emperor, then stopped right in front of the corridor's threshold. "What is your plan now, Grand Admiral?" he asked without turning around.

"Our victory here grants us additional resources and an additional route linking Naboo to Eriadu. As for our next move...I need more data before I make a decision. For now I will return to Naboo and get a grasp of the current situation. I will inform you of the next war council when the time comes."

"Very well." Vader simply replied before leaving for good.

The two officers followed suit and headed for the hangar, followed by the Death Troopers.

"I assume you already sent a report to the Director?" Iulius asked.

"You know I have to send one every two rotations." Yagler answered with a tone and an expression clearly much relieved to have gone past the meeting with Vader.

And as they walked, Iulius started both planning and dreaming. True, the intel about the Federation's second front had still to be confirmed, and there wasn't any insurance that these unknown aliens might be an actual threat that would convince them to divert forces from this galaxy.

Yet, if the rumors turned out to be true, he already knew what his next target had to be.


Mira parked the skycar, exhausted by the long day of work. The sun had almost entirely disappeared behind the horizon.

The shift had been particularly long and difficult. The battle going on along the Hydian Way was cause for hundreds of thousands of casualties. Not much from the Navy, where only the ships that managed to crash-land on an allied planet could hope to evacuate the wounded, but there were land battles on Taris going on Taris and Denova. The imperials were trying to take over the planets in a brutal land-and-space campaign, and the few hospitals of the New Republic were already full.

The wounded stable enough to travel long distances, either from the Republic or from the Federation were being sent to Lothal, among other destinations far from the front.

Things had certainly improved since the liberation of the planet, but two years are not enough to create a new generation of medics. Many of them had returned to their planets after they were liberated, and the staff at the capital was under-strength. The medical school and the new university didn't lack students, but they simply were not ready to pick up important roles.

This meant that Mira's work and that of her colleagues just seemed to never end. And if that wasn't stressful enough, the thought that her daughter had been taken prisoner by the Empire haunted her whenever she had the time to think.

Perhaps, she thought, it wasn't that bad to make longer shifts. If it wasn't for the fact that she had people she needed to take care at home, too.

She noticed that the only real ship parked in the Academy's landing pads was the Mantis. The younger Padawans had returned to their homes already, but she also noticed that the only building with lights up was the new set of apartments that had been recently built for the group of Jedi Knights and to host many new younglings who were found orphans on their worlds and given to the Order.

She approached the building, and the sound of people talking started to become more evident and she smiled.

Past the main door and the entrance, the building opened into a corridor separating the left and the right halves. The one on the right was the huge common room used both for the meals and the bigger lessons, and right now it was filled with Jedi, three very old people and the army of younglings playing around, only a small group of them seemed to be helping in the kitchen or laying down chairs and tables with the Force.

"Hey, Mira!" the voice of Wolffe managed to overcome the bedlam and she spotted him on one of the already laid tables, with two occupied high chairs lined next to him.

Mira smiled and headed toward him, greeting back the younglings who said hello and even waving at Zatt and Ganodi who were supervising the mass of kids.

"Jacen got no problem feeding himself, but Sam…" the old clone said regretfully once she reached him.

Indeed, on one of the chairs, Jacen, now a toddler of a year-and-a-half old, was eating his food almost greedily. Various splats around indicated that he wasn't beneath playing with it for how full of energies he was.

On the other hand, Samira seemed incredibly serious, almost melancholic. She wasn't tired, but Mira could easily guess what the problem was. She put down her bag and went to kneel in front of her granddaughter.

"You miss mommy and daddy, don't you, little one?" she said tenderly, though she clearly was feeling that way.

Still, it might have been that shared emotion that made Samira look her in the eyes, if slightly confused and not able to process what her grandma was saying.

Mira knew she needed to be strong for the child and she forced a smile on her face. "Don't worry. They will be back soon. So how about we start making you all big and strong?"

For being so young, Samira definitely was able to understand the mood around here with an impressive sensibility. Even though she seemed still sad, she nonetheless gestured toward her milk, and Mira was more than happy to help her grab the bottle and start sucking.

"I really don't get it." Wolffe groaned as he rubbed the back of his neck.

Mira just smirked and patted him on the shoulder. "How are things in the kitchen?"

"I think Greez has everything under control." Wolffe replied, but Mira was already walking inside the room.

"No, no! You don't put the goshi sauce before the runit is well-cooked!" the voice of the old Lateron was screaming at Petro.

"You told me I had to spice it up!" Petro rebuked.

"Gah, just give me that!" the alien replied. He then used his upper left arm to grab the steel spoon and with the lower right he put his footstool in front of the cooking hob.

Byph was instead finishing the soup on the opposite side.

"Need some help, boys?" she asked happily.

"Oh, Mira." Petro greeted. "I heard you had it rough today, just relax, ok?"

"Nice try. But I think I'll distribute that." she said, pointing at Byph.

The Ithorian tried to insist that she just sat down and enjoy the evening, but that was something that her mind just wouldn't accept.

"I'm fine, Byph. Just help them finish the other courses. I can handle this much."

Knowing that they were not going to convince her otherwise, the Jedi let her do, knowing that it was also what she loved most: taking care of the people around her. And if that didn't involve amputations or critical heart failures, it would be much better for her mental health.

With a strength that still left many dumbfounded, Mira grabbed the pot of soup, which had an amount necessary for over 30 people, and put it underarm. Then grabbed a spoon and leisurely walked in the hall.

"All right, kids! Sit down or you go to bed with nothing in your bellies." she said, reminding fondly of the time when she had to say that to her own children.

The younglings had already put down the small tables and the low chairs for them and didn't waste time, as they certainly needed the supper after a day of training and pedagogic activities. With a clear state of mind, Mira started to walk around and distribute the first serving.

Her family might have been incredibly distant and in danger, but that didn't mean that she would allow the home-front go to rot. And when Ezra and Jordan would return with Jaral, Mira was determined to make sure that they would find a place where they could forget the hardships and horrors of war.