Chapter 13: Search and Rescue

May 7, 2227.

Gathered with his officers around the holo-table in his bunker, Darvos was looking at the data provided by the sensors and trying to figure out where the next imperial assault would come from.

The attack on the planet had caught the allied forces by surprise, but luckily the early warning protocols set up by Darvos had prevented the land forces to be completely unprepared. The three divisions garrisoning the planet had dug in to defend the major infrastructures of the planet: the power plants of the Southern Mesas; the Spaceport and the Central Research Facility of the planet, all within a radius of around 40 km, which made the defense quite compact.

Right now, it looked like the next assault might try to hit the plant, for that facility was indisputably the most important for the New Republic in that region: it filled energy cells and generators that were then shipped to other worlds as the 82nd had managed to keep the control of the orbit contested.

"Rex. Deploy your Division at the Plant." Darvos eventually instructed.

"Yes, sir." the old clone replied after making the salute and then left.

"Lieutenant Brox, deploy the AA guns here, here and here." Darvos then said to a Sullustian engineer.

He was about to deliver some more orders when a female corporal entered the room and spoke to him.

"Excuse me, General. The Jedi have just arrived."

Darvos turned toward her. "Thanks, Corporal. Lead the way."

He followed her outside of the bunker and into the external trench, where Ezra was already waiting for him with his orange outfit. Darvos quickly went to shake hands and hug with his in-law.

"Ezra, I heard what happened at the Academy. I'm sorry."

Ezra made a small nod while curling his lips. "It's tough not being there." he said. "But I trust Jari and the others to resolve this."

"Yeah." Darvos muttered, then decided that they better focus on their own problems. "I think I know where you can set up your base. Come here." he said, moving forward and tapping Ezra's arm to make him follow. He accompanied him at the edge of the platform. From there, they had a clear view of the plains below and a few other structures in the distance. Darvos pointed at a single column-shaped abandoned city with a disc platform. "That place has nothing of value. The platform it's too small for the imperials to use it as a staging ground, so you should be relatively safe."

Ezra observed it for a moment, and clearly evaluated that they would be in a good point to intervene in any of the three major points from there.

"Yes, the Alliance has provided us with a few Kodiaks. They should have no problem landing there."

"Good. I'll send you the maps of the region so you can study them."

"Thanks, Darvos." Ezra said, then they both went their way.

Around an hour later, as the Jedi and their workers had just finished setting up a hospital tent, Colonel Vyret alerted that the imperials were moving against the Plant.

Darvos focused his attention on that part of the map. Indeed, several red dots were moving toward the defenders, and the 501st was just know taking position around the plant. The 146th Division had shored up some barricades and automated particle turrets to slow down the imperial assault.

"Order Red Squadron to come down here." Darvos instructed.

Indeed, air support was needed, for the enemy attack was opened by mortar fire and a small squadron of TIE Fighters strafing the surface, but thanks to the cover of the ruins, they dealt only limited damage.

The environment in which both sides found themselves fighting was very unusual, for the cities on Mygeeto were all build on elevated platforms over the crystalline surface. This meant that the armies were fighting on platforms that were dots and the linking bridges that were lines.

It was good for the defenders, who could focus their efforts on the choke points, but the attackers, too, could focus their firepower on one barricade at a time.

The first wave was made up of imperial Army Troopers preceded by an ITT, one of the few vehicles of theirs that could fit through the bridges. However, it was also an easy target for the particle turret, which opened fire on the transport. The imperial vehicle returned fire, but just as it managed to get past the bridge and into the circular platform, its shields were broken and a bolt penetrated the roof on the back half, hitting the engine and blowing the vehicle.

The troopers called in some fire support, which at least succeeded in taking out the turret. The troopers charged forward, using the wreckage of their tank as a cover, but they were eventually all cut down or forced to fall back.

However, it didn't take long before they organized a second wave. This time the imperials brought in a battery of three mortars for a closer and more accurate support. A republican sniper did manage to neutralize one of them, but it wasn't enough. This time, the defenders started to take casualties as a much larger imperial infantry unit advanced, taking heavy casualties but nonetheless reaching the defensive line.

"Tell them to fall back. Reach the second platform." Darvos ordered when it was clear that it wasn't possible to hold the imperials back any more.

The men at the frontline were clearly ready to drop out anyway. The survivors started running, using the fact that they were on a raised part of the platform to avoid the enemy fire. Darvos ordered another company to go cover their comrades, and they met the imperials at the only stairs that the latter could use to proceed.

The fighting was vicious. The imperials were not slowing down, keeping their momentum up. Still, the republicans managed to fall back in a relatively ordered fashion despite taking high casualties.

"A Jedi dropship is approaching the bridge." an operator alerted.

Darvos saw a small green point (the color designated for neutral entities) flying toward the rear of the current point of contact. They were going to land out of sight for the imperials.

"Sir! Enemy walkers entering the battle." another sensor officer reported.

Darvos focused back on the point of entry of the imperials and indeed saw the holograms of a few AT-ST entering the battle, accompanied by the first squads of stormtroopers.

"Where is Red Squadron?"

"The imperial fleet has engaged a skirmish in orbit. They have been delayed, but they just entered atmosphere."

Darvos braced himself. This was going to be a long day.

May 8, 2227.

While waiting in Heike's office, Iulius was still puzzled at the news that arrived from the rebel side of the HoloNet. He still couldn't believe that the special forces had actually conducted a raid on Lothal, at the Jedi Academy no less.

However, he was also quite afraid: he had welcomed the news that the Jedi were willing to take a neutral stance on the war. He had already instructed his forces to not engage the Jedi unless provoked, but this stunt might have just caused the Jedi to come back in full swing. And with the daunting task ahead of him, the last thing he needed was for those deadly wizards to point their lightsabers at the Empire. Not to mention that their Mandalorian allies would be much more willing to do that.

But there was little he could do to influence those events: he had seen the images on the HoloNet and he had recognized SCAR Squadron, a unit under Vader's personal command. That could only mean that the two dark rulers of the Empire were back at their usual schemes that Iulius was barely able to see the logic of.

As for Ringo Vinda itself, the recons from Versio and Octis were confirming what he already knew: the connected systems were poorly or not defended at all, while Ringo Vinda was heavily fortified and protected by at least five heavy Mon Calamari cruisers, plus three of the New Republic's Endurance-class and Nebula-class Star Destroyers, which could alone engage an ISD and its escort.

They weren't many capital ships, but the rebels supplemented them with many smaller ships that could still be a problem, and thousands of fighters, which included the new E-Wings and thus gave them an overall advantage in that department.

Finally, the door of the office hissed open and showed the Venerable, who welcomed the Grand Admiral with open arms.

"Ah, Lord Tanis. Always a pleasure to see you. I apologize for letting you wait."

"No need to apologize, Venerable." Iulius replied courteously. "I know you are probably even busier than me."

Heike chuckled while he walked around the desk to reach his seat. "I'm not sure about that. But my agenda is certainly full. So, what can I do for you?"

"I need these ships, at latest in three months." Iulius explained, searching the list on his datapad and then passing it to Heike.

The old manager took a look and it didn't take long before his eyes showed quite the concern.

"This is quite the batch. Three months is going to be tough, but it's not impossible, if we can get a few more shipyards."

"Luckily, Coruscant had the common sense to provide additional funds. You should be able to hire one of your subcontractors for this job."

Heike gave another humming look at the pad, and indeed saw the note indicating the trillions of credits that had been allocated for this task. "Yes, we will delegate the construction of smaller ships to them. Still, this is quite a far larger number than your usual orders, do you even have the crews?" he asked a bit skeptical.

"They will be ready by the time you complete the construction, don't worry." Iulius replied with a calm tone, but he knew full well that the situation was uncertain.

In order to get more officers for this operation, Iulius had asked the various Academies to accelerate the programs for the cadets at the last year of training. He planned to use them for the less risky parts of the operation: securing the nearby systems in order to isolate Ringo Vinda and put it under siege.

Still, this was a symptom that the war was taking a huge toll on the Empire. It had never fully recovered from the loss of experienced commanders suffered with the Death Star's destruction. Every major battle so far had costed them dearly in terms of young officers, meaning that the pool was always renewing and only a fraction of them survived and became commanders with combat experience.

Iulius had never considered attacking Ringo Vinda, because he knew it would be a costly affair. Besides, right after Lantillies, they had tried to take that planet in the counteroffensive, but the defenses were too strong at the time. Now, they would have been much worse, which was why Iulius had preferred to focus on other theaters of war and weaken the rebels in a more methodical way. However, for some reasons that he could only guess, the Emperor had decided otherwise.

Iulius and Heike spent nearly two hours after that planning the schedule for when the various ships should have been ready. The Grand Admiral wanted the missile cruisers to be the first, so the new crews would have some time to get accustomed to them. The ISD would of course take the most, but Iulius intended to give them to some crews of the Mid Rim Forces with some experience.

It was quite the work, and both of them had their throats dry and their minds a little strained after talking so much, but after taking a breath of relief, Iulius decided that it was time to talk about the other matter that he came to discuss.

"Venerable Heike, there is one last thing that I would like to tell you." he said in a calm way, though part of him was worried that there might have been complications.

"Of course. What is it?" Heike said in deference, though he seemed quite tired and would have liked to go rest a little.

Iulius took a silent breather and then spoke directly. "I am planning to ask Namedra to marry me."

Heike's eyes suddenly fired back to life, and a completely surprised face then made way to a huge smile. "Oh...that's…that's a great thing. I'm sure she will say yes!"

The Grand Admiral was a bit surprised himself, though he didn't show it as much. "As you are her Family Head, I thought you had to be informed. And this was an occasion as good as any other."

Heike made a gesture like he didn't worry about that formality too much. "I am, but I love my niece too much to force a marriage on her. If she agrees, I have no complaints."

There was no way Heike wasn't considering the political implications, but it was true that he loved Namedra as if she was his own daughter, because Iulius knew that his girlfriend regularly exchanged both professional and personal messages with her uncle.

If Namedra Heike married one of the famous hero of the Empire, the family's prestige would soar to new heights. Iulius didn't care much about that, but if it meant that he was free to ask her, it was all good with him.

"Thank you, Venerable." Iulius said in a grateful tone, then stood up. "I will contact you again in case I need something more." he extended a hand over the desk.

Heike stood up and shook it. "Of course, Lord Tanis. And good luck with everything." he said in a playful tone.

Iulius smirked and walked away.

Tracking Grogu and Mira through the Force wasn't difficult at all for Jaral, considering the bond she had with her mother and the fact that the little green man shone very brightly in that sense. Following SCAR Squadron without them noticing had been different.

In order to not risk detection, the Constantinople made sure to stay always one system behind the freighter, trying to find the right moment to get past them and preempt them so they could ambush them at some point.

And that tactic had finally given them a chance: the Constantinople had found a secondary route that allowed her to reach the Bimmisaari system before the imperials, and she was now waiting with minimum power and cloaking device on, waiting for the right moment to strike.

Standing in the cockpit and watching outside toward the presumed exit point of SCAR, Jaral was keeping her senses open for any possible surprise, her armor on and ready to engage battle. At one moment, Jordan reached her side, his armor also on.

"On the first mission with this ship, we were rescuing you." the father commented a bit grimly. "Now, we have to rescue your mother."

"We'll get them back, I'm sure of it." Jaral whispered with a firm determination.

A few seconds passed before a sense of pressure suddenly pressed against her heart. At first she thought it was just the tension, but then the feeling increased quickly, disproportionately quickly...and everything became suddenly cold.

"No...No…" she muttered in terror.

Jordan quickly put his hands around her shoulders. "Hey, what's happening?"

Jaral trembled a little more before she regained balance, but the fear was mostly for her companions and her Padawans.

"He's here." she said.

The sensors started blaring.

"Captain, there is a massive ship coming out of hyperspace." Raniza snapped. "It looks like…" she stopped.

Jordan didn't take long before realizing it in his mind, and then a moment later, the answer came by itself.

The Executor, the new Super Star Destroyer of the Empire and flagship of Darth Vader, had arrived on the scene.

"Blisters…" Jordan muttered. "Better go inform the others."

"Yeah." Jaral replied before sending a message to the rest of the strike team to gather in the strategic room.

Said team included Din, Sellion, Lissia, Ketsu, Kyle and the Legionnaires of the ship, Meaning the group of people that was deemed the most possible to board the freighter, but the Executor changed things.

"We can't get on board just like that." Ketsu commented. "Vader's personal Legion will be on board. Even you guys can't hope to cut open a path through them."

"I know." Jaral replied calmly. "But perhaps there is a way...Jinx, have you scanned the ship?"

"Affirmative." the AI replied, then bringing a hologram of the dreadnought. "The configuration is mostly identical to the Protector. There are five different detention blocks where they can bring the prisoners." it added, highlighting the sections on the hologram.

"It's safe to assume they will separate them." Din said. "They want Grogu, but there is no guarantee they will keep Mira alive for long."

"They might try to get more intel about the Jedi out of her, but yeah, we should prioritize her rescue." Michalina commented.

"First, we need to know where they will put her. We have to wait until SCAR Squadron arrives." Colonel Undir pointed out.

"Also, is Ahsoka in position?" Kyle asked.

"Fulcrum just pinged us their location. They're waiting in a bordering system. I suggest we keep them as a last resort." Jinx replied.

"Indeed." Jordan said. "Their shuttle could be useful for a rapid exit. But how do we get aboard in the first place?"

"If that ship is just an imperial copy of the Protector, there should be several points that we can use to infiltrate from outside. We can drop with our armors or space suits onto the hull and slip in through a maintenance shaft. Jinx can cover our signal until we're inside." Jaral said.

"It's risky, but not impossible." Thabo agreed.

"There is only one thing I think we should change: the first team will make sure to let the imperials know that we are going for Grogu and ignore my mother." the Jedi Master added with a calm that surprised the others.

"But we just said that she's the one who risks the most." Lissia said.

"I know. But if we get them off guard, we will have some time before they understand what's going on. And if we manage to get close enough to their major prize, they will focus their efforts to stop the first team. At that point, the second one can go in and rescue mum while the detention block will be less defended." she turned then to Kyle and her Padawans. "Sellion, Lissia, Kyle, that will be your task. Once we diver their attention, Jinx will find where she is held and you go get her."

The two young and the slightly older Padawans looked at each other. It was still risky, but Kyle had several years of experience as a stormtrooper and as a rebel infiltrator. Making him team leader was the sensible thing to do.

"I'll be honest." Jaral said. "I'd prefer keeping you on this ship, but we're way too short on manpower. Just remember: avoid any drawn firefight...and if you sense Vader, just run in the opposite direction."

"We won't let you down, Master." Sellion replied spontaneously. His tone clearly indicated that he was also very concerned about going on, and that was a good thing: as she had taught her Padawans, acknowledging fear was the best way to control it.

"Good. If our calculations are right, SCAR Squadron should arrive in twenty more minutes. Everyone go get prepared." she concluded.

Indeed, the shuttle arrived twenty minutes later. By that time, the strike team was ready for the operation. The Constantinople passed right over the point of the ship, since the shuttle was landing on the belly hangar under that section. The Jedi, the Mandalorians and the Legionnaires then jumped out, with Jinx scrambling their signals to hide them as long as possible, but they needed to act quickly.

The Legionnaires used their omni-tools to hack the hatch of a trash compactor and the squad managed to slip inside the ship undetected. The first order of business was to find an access to the ship's network. Luckily, on that ship there were many, in order to allow the technicians to do their work on every section of her.

"I have good news." said Jinx after peeking into the registers. "They have put both Mira and Grogu in the same detention block, only that the latter has been put into a maximum security cell."

Then it sent the map of the area to the whole squad's omni-tools.

"It's two kliks from here." Din noted. "We are gonna need a way to disperse the guards, or we'll never make it."

"Jinx, when the party starts, sound all the alarms." Jordan instructed.

"Acknowledged. I already have a way into their sensors. I will trigger them at the opportune time."

The first group made up of Jaral, the Legionnaires and Din then moved in, carefully looking at their sensors to spot possible movement. Aboard the ship there were thousands of imperials, but since they apparently were on the lowest level of alert, most of them were in the barracks or inside various rooms performing their duties. The corridors were actually quite empty, but where they weren't empty they were patrolled by small teams of stormtroopers.

They carefully crossed the corridors, letting the patrols walk past them when necessary and always moving only after Jinx had hacked the local security cameras and made sure they were locked on the image of an empty corridor.

Then they finally reached the detention block. And that was much more guarded than the rest of the corridors. The team looked at each other and all nodded as they waited in hiding.

"Jinx, start the concert." Jaral whispered in her comlink.

The AI beeped a positive. Three seconds later, multiple alarms started blaring loudly, covering any other sound except for the automated PA that started signaling a breach of security into a completely different section of the ship.

Jaral's squad waited for a long column of stormtroopers to run past them, heading toward the alarm, and leaving the detention block much less defended.

When the column had passed, there were only four guards left to check the access to the block. Quickly enough, Jaral and Thabo used their powers to lift them in the air and then smash them against the walls, leaving their bodies unconscious on the floor.

"Thabo, Micha, cover our backs." Jordan instructed.

The two nodded while the Bridgers and Din entered into the high security block.

"This is Alpha." Jaral said in the comlink. "We entered the detention block. Bravo, are you in position?"

Kyle replied shortly after. "Already in. We're looking for the cell."

"Copy that." she replied, then closed her eyes and reached into the Force.

It didn't take long before she felt the presence of Grogu and led her companions to the cell, where they encountered two Royal Guards.

Jordan opened fire with his Revenant MG and easily took out one of them. The other sprang forward, igniting his electric baton to hit Jaral, who quickly ignited her saber, deflected the baton and cut his head.

With that out of the way, Jordan reached the control panel, hacked it and opened the door, revealing a cell with just a bench built in the wall at the end and with Grogu sitting on it.

As soon as he saw the one who was basically his adoptive father, the little alien cooed happily. Din rushed in to get him.

"Hey, kid. You made me worry." the mandalorian quipped.

"Good. Let's get out of here before they notice." Jordan said.

Jaral, though, was less optimistic. "This doesn't make sense. Why I can't sense Vader?" she asked.

Then a terrible realization hit her.

"Damn it! Bravo Team, do you copy?"

No response. The signal was jammed. Jaral started running. "Get the others and reach the escape pods. And send the signal to Ahsoka!" she yelled as she got further.

Jordan was left appalled, but waited too long and eventually didn't follow her.

Now, as she sped toward the regular detention block, a dark feeling once again coiled around her heart. A cold slightly touched her mind, but she was able to keep it at a distance. Suddenly, she started hearing the clashing of lightsabers. She ran desperately toward an angle turn and passed it.

In front of her she found Lissia and Ketsu escorting Mira away. The women exchanged only a quick glance before Jaral's attention was recalled toward the three lightsabers clashing further down. As Sellion and Kyle's blue were fighting Vader and his crimson blade. The Sith Lord towering over two already exhausted Padawans, as if he was toying with them.

"Sellion, run!" she heard Kyle scream before striking at Vader again.

Except that Vader just pushed him down with the Force as Kyle was making a slow swing that left him wide open. The Sith then moved on his part to finish him. Jaral sprinted with all her energy but realized that she was too far.

Then Sellion jumped in front of his companion. He parried the blow but his guard was easily broken by the strength of the Sith.

Vader then just made another quick swing and slashed Sellion's torso, lifting him from the ground.

"No!" Lissia screamed from behind.

Jaral felt a rush of adrenaline, her mind and muscles working out of her pace as she ignited her saber and made a flying drop attack on Vader.

The Sith was probably not expecting such a quick reaction and was forced to parry with his saber. Jaral then released a cooling burst from her omni-tool and Vader had to jump backward.

Jaral put herself between her Padawans and the enemy.

"Kyle. Bring everyone out. Now!"

Katarn had little choice but to comply. He loaded Sellion on his shoulders and reached the two women to bring them at the extraction zone.

The two Force-users stood there for a few moments, their lightsabers humming in the silent corridor.

"You have failed. Master Jedi." Vader taunted with his robotic voice. "I killed one of your Padawans."

"Just another crime you will answer for." Jaral calmly replied. "Someday." she added.

Vader seemed surprised for a brief second. Clearly, he was expecting her to give in to rage and come at him, so he could defeat and maybe capture her.

Instead, Jaral used the Force to tear away a tube of cooling gas, and while Vader had to cover himself again and a real alarm sounded, Jaral sprinted away to reach the rest of the group. The moment she turned around she noticed Sellion's lightsaber laying on the ground, so she called it to her in her left hand and ran. Along the way, she made sure to close and sabotage three blast doors that would keep Vader at bay for the time needed.

She then came across another patrol of stormtroopers that she quickly broke through and left behind before reaching the escape pods. Jinx had managed to secure one. Lissia was already inside with Sellion, Mira and Grogu while the other had dug behind a couple of bubble shields and were firing against several stormtroopers of the First Legion, among which Jaral spotted SCAR Squadron.

"I'm here! Let's get out." Jaral ordered as she deflected a few bolts. First Michalina, then Din, Kyle, Thabo, Ketsu and finally Jordan jumped into the pod and she followed suit after throwing a few cluster flash-bangs to confuse the imperials.

"Jinx, get us out!" Jordan ordered as he turned the pod on.

The small vehicle then was ejected out of the dreadnought, and as they sped through space, Jaral saw turbolasers flying all over the place, but what surprised her the most was to see Ahsoka's shuttle leading a small squadron of frigates and a cruiser, all bearing the sign of Fulcrum.

"What in the…?" Michalina asked.

"That must be Nimbus' former fleet." Jordan said as he took the comlink and contacted the Constantinople. They needed to leave quickly, because those ships were a good distraction, but wouldn't last long.

Jaral's mind, however, ran quickly to the major problem left in her hands.

She knelt down next to Sellion's body, witnessing the horrible burn cut traversing his whole torso. As her eyes reached his face she could only see that his eyes were closed and his skin extremely pale. Kyle was trying to look for any sign of life, but he had to painfully shook his head.

Jaral wasn't able to speak or react. Not when the pod was brought into the Constantinople's cargo bay, not when the ships managed to jump away.

May 9, 2227.

Every attempt to recover Sellion was useless. His body was put into a plastic bag and stowed in the cargo bay, waiting for a proper funeral once the ship would be back to Lothal.

The atmosphere on board was simply spectral. It's always hard to see a person die, but this time it was also a young man who had just recently turned 18. His whole life ahead of him, he had given it up to protect his companions.

Of these companions, Kyle had shut himself into a corner of the cargo bay, silently staring at the corpse of the young man who had traded his life for his own.

Lissia was shocked. She and Sellion had walked into the Academy together; they had been picked out as the best students by Jaral and they shared a deep friendship. For sure, she was going to need some time before she recovered emotionally.

Mira herself couldn't find peace: that kid had died because he had come to rescue her. Now she was out, while he, who was just slightly younger than her own son, had died.

A horrible sense of impotence was oppressing her. In this entire story, she had been forced to be a passive observer and victim. Was there nothing that she could do to improve the situation even the slightest?

She was at the large mess table on Deck 3, barely eating a plate of pasta. Jordan was sitting in front, he himself much less energetic than usual. Then she noticed something and had to ask.

"Where is Jari? I haven't seen her in hours."

"She has holed up in the starboard observatory and refuses to talk." Jordan replied tiredly.

The tone clearly showed that he himself felt unable or unwilling to talk with her. And that was the moment when Mira knew that she, instead, could not quit. She stood up and walked straight to the starboard deck. The door was unlocked, so she pressed the green holo and the hatch retracted, revealing the barely lit room, and Jaral staring out of the large window.

Mira took courage and walked next to her. At first, she didn't say nothing, preferring to wait and see if her daughter wanted to open up.

Eventually, she did. "Sellion was an orphan."

That news surprised Mira. Even if she saw the students of the Academy every day, she never spoke with them about their families, knowing that many of them had a troubled past and relationships.

"The Order was everything he had. So I shouldn't be surprised that he just jumped in to save what he considered family. But I just can't accept this."

"Jari, you did everything you could." Mira said calmly.

"No, I didn't. I could leave him and Lissia aboard. It was my duty to keep them safe, and I threw them against a Sith Lord. What kind of teacher am I?"

Jaral's voice was getting ever more broken and on the verge of crying.

"I don't remember Kanan ever asking you to back down." Mira said. "As a mentor, you can't keep your students always close to you. You need to let them take their own choices, and Sellion did his own." Mira said tenderly, but a part of her was conflicted about those words.

In the end, there wasn't much else to say. Jaral started sobbing, her face contorted into an expression of angry pain. Her left hand, closed into a tight fist, rubbed on the forehead as she sulked.

Mira thus made a light embrace from the side, leaning her head against the arm of her taller daughter, all she could do was to try and comfort her with simple human contact and by shedding some tears as well.

They went on for a few minutes, until Jaral's sobbing subsided, leaving the place to ample breaths.

"I'm going after the Sith." she eventually said with a trembling but determined voice. "I won't stop until Vader, the Emperor, and everyone sharing their views is captured or dead."

Mira could do little more than nod and then keep her company until Jaral felt ready to get out of the room and resume working.

May 12, 2227.

Master Kota had insisted that Ezra participated in the funeral and went back to protect the Academy, and so he did. After leaving the blind Master to direct the operations on Mygeeto, Ezra and Sabine had mounted on the Silver Bullet and didn't stop it if not for refueling. They now landed at the Academy, where there was already quite the crowd of Jedi, Mandalorians, civilians and other public institutions, including the Police and Governor Shweera.

They were gathered in the prairie next to the Academy. A ceremonial pyre had been already prepared with Sellion's body enveloped in a long linen band and ready to be set ablaze for the final farewell.

Ezra noticed that, among the ships parked at the Academy, there was also Ahsoka's shuttle.

The Bullet touched ground and the crew of two left it. They ventured inside the large crowd, finding some known faces and some less known. Many were the parents and relatives of other students, some of them even stopped him and asked how did an attack on the Academy happen and some threatened to never let their children set a foot in there ever again.

Ezra calmly invited them to be patient, for he would give them an answer soon enough.

Then they finally encountered Ahsoka, with her two Padawans and then a droid that Ezra couldn't identify.

"Ezra. Good to see you again." the Togruta greeted not very enthusiastically.

"I wish it wasn't under these circumstances." the Master replied.

"May I present you briefly to my new crew member?" Ahsoka indicated the droid, trying to alleviate the sadness.

The droid turned around and clearly analyzed the young Master. That was a strange machine: it had his back slightly bent forward and kept his arms behind his back as if it was an old sage It also had a grabbing pincer attached to a third arm on the back and the face mask was very peculiar, with those two slim and long bulges extending from the cheeks.

"So this is the other Master of the new Order, uh?" it said with a male-imprinted voice and a microphone that seemed to have been through many problems.

"That's right." Ezra said in a slightly quipping voice. "I'm Ezra Bridger."

The droid stared at him for another few seconds, then made a quick bow. "Greetings, Master Bridger. I am Huyang."

Ezra turned toward Ahsoka. "This is the friend you told us about?" he asked curious.

She nodded. "Huyang has an interesting and long story...which will be good for another time. Come on, your sister needs your help."

"Right…"

Ezra resumed the march, accompanied by his wife.

He finally reached the top of the crowd. There were some journalists with camera droids, who tried to approach him and were held back by the Protectors.

In the first row there were Tristan, Shweera, Lissia, the younglings and other personalities of importance or who were close to the defunct Padawan.

And standing alone in front of the pyre, there was Jaral. He approached her and put a hand around her shoulder. She turned her head slightly to greet him with a look, but the two didn't need words to express their pain.

Ezra nodded to the people behind, who started shushing. It took a while in order for the shush to reach every person in the crowd, but when it finally happened, there was a solemn atmosphere that left the stage for the two Masters to make their declaration.

They looked at each other and nodded. Fiery expressions on their faces. Then they turned around to the crowd who was eagerly waiting for them. They opened up the microphones of their omni-tools.

"For some of us, this war is only a few years old." Jaral started. "For most of us, it's a struggle that has gone on for our entire lives."

"Sellion was among those people who was born under the tyranny of the Empire." Ezra picked up. "Who had to fend for himself in this cruel universe. And yet, despite the darkness his life plunged him in, his spirit always remained noble."

"He chose to join the Jedi Order and to struggle in search of a better future. Sellion wasn't afraid of putting his own safety in front of his comrades, or that of innocent people."

Jaral needed a moment to find the strength to pronounce the next phrase. "His sacrifice has shown this side of him in the clearest way imaginable."

"We know that it is extremely unfair. Sellion has been taken away from the universe way too early. He didn't deserve to die, but he decided to do so to save the people he cared for. For a Jedi...no, for any great person, there is no higher sacrifice possible."

"He didn't deserve it. Yet, we all know who took his life." Jaral added in a more heartfelt tone.

"We offered the Empire a truce." Ezra intervened in a fiery voice. "We gave them a chance to try and reach an accord to stop this galaxy-wide massacre, and they responded by attacking children and killing one of our own in cold blood."

The camera droids started buzzing and flew much closer to the siblings, who just went on with their speech.

"It is clear that the Galactic Empire, as it is now, is unfit to be called a civilized nation. A state that deliberately targets children is a threat to the very peace that we're trying to build." Jaral added.

"Which is why we came to this conclusion: from today on, single members of the Jedi Order will decide if they want to join the war against the Empire. Single members or little groups will join the UACT armies at the front, but most of our resources will still go to our efforts to protect the victims of this conflict."

Jaral then turned around and lit up her omni-tool, from which she released a small discharge of the integrated flamethrower, lighting the pyre.

As the flames quickly enveloped the wood and Sellion's body, even Ezra turned around and the entire crowd observed a few moments of silence as the sun set and the flames illuminated the ceremony.

The siblings finally turned around and looked at the cameras.

"This we declare today:" said Ezra. "That we will not stop until the corrupted leadership of the Empire is taken down."

"The crimes committed by the Emperor and his associates demonstrate that there is no possibility of redemption for them. And if there's any respectable person in the Empire left, then we invite you to open your eyes. Palpatine will only lead you on the path of self-destruction. Rise up!"

Then they turned around again and stood silent until the pyre finished burning.