Chapter 3: Working the Flanks
January 25, 2227.
"General, we have currently secured the planetary capital. The Empire has already abandoned Mygeeto as the scouts said." Rex reported.
"Scorched earth?" Darvos asked.
"They sabotaged some minor infrastructure, but they didn't have the time to blow up the major refineries and power generators. We ought to supply all of our Northern Fringe's worlds with them."
"Good enough."
Darvos read the last report that simply confirmed what Rex just said. On one of the screens, he could see a battalion securing the biggest power plant on the surface.
It was clear that the imperials were retreating, but to where? Darvos consulted the map. Knowing his brother, he was quite sure Iulius would have had no problem in ordering a retreat to Ord Mantell, creating a bottleneck that was easily defensible and protected the Core while the Empire was still fighting on the major lanes. However, would the government on Coruscant just allow him to lose so many worlds? It was imperative to learn where the imperial forces of the Northern Fringe were repositioning.
"Call me Commander Antilles." Darvos said after turning toward his communication officer.
"Yes, sir."
The young man keyed in the contact and the holotable bleeped a couple of times before the hologram of Wedge appeared.
"Greetings, General." Wedge said in a respectful tone. "How can I help?"
"Commander Antilles, I need precise intel on the imperial retreat. I want you and your squadron to travel down toward Garqi and see if you can spot their fleet, then report back on their strength, movements...everything you can gather without getting caught."
"We'll depart immediately, General Tanis." the pilot promptly replied before closing the comm.
"You better go check on our Jedi Masters, sir." Rex quipped. "Go for it, I'll handle it for a few minutes."
Darvos made a conspiratorial smirk. "I'll take you on that one, Commander." He turned around and headed for his private cabin, where his communicator was. Indeed, he found three lost calls from Jaral. Without wasting any time he called back, praying that this was a good moment.
Then the hologram appeared and his heart melted from the relief.
"Jari...thank goodness you're okay."
His wife smiled and apologized. "Sorry, love. We had to go silent for a while. And I'm afraid this is just a brief pause before we start hiding again."
"That doesn't sound like good news." he replied more worried than before.
"Relax, we don't have anyone on our tail...yet. But there has been quite the event recently. Suffice you to know that we discovered a little Yoda."
Darvos was stunned. "A little...Yoda? I didn't even think the old greenie had somebody else of his species roaming around."
"That's why we must keep our heads low. Because to take him back, we will make an enemy out of the Zann Consortium."
Darvos hummed in thought. "I doubt he had any liking for the Order, but what are you planning?"
Jaral rose a hand. "Sorry, Darv. I need you to be patient on this matter."
The General sighed in frustration. It wasn't what he wanted to hear, but he knew that his wife wouldn't hide such information unless she had no other choice. Maybe she feared that someone could intercept their call and rat the siblings out, so he decided to trust her.
"Guess I will keep chasing the imperials while I wait."
"Right, I heard you took Mygeeto. Congratulations."
He chuckled and responded seriously. "Hardly my merit. They had already abandoned the planet when we arrived. I'm trying to figure out where they are planning to retreat."
"Any idea why are they doing this?"
"If I have to guess, Iulius is focusing elsewhere and has decided to shorten a front that he couldn't reinforce anyway. I suspect they are withdrawing to Ord Mantell, but we can't allow all those troops to just stroll their way there."
The expression on Jaral's face became a little hardened. "I suppose not."
"What's the matter?"
"Nothing...I'm just wondering how many people will have to die before we stop this massacre."
"Jari…" he was about to say something more, but he just couldn't.
After all, was it really necessary to destroy the Empire? Darvos' mind raced to the events of the year before. When he and his brother, without the Jedi or the Sith around, had easily put aside their differences and fought for a common cause. And clearly, the worlds of the Core and of the Mid Rim simply didn't think of the Republic as a valid alternative to the Empire.
Jaral was right: how many more people would die before the galaxy finally found a balance?
"You don't have to justify it, Darv. You're just a soldier fighting for your country." his wife reassured him. "But I'm afraid said countries will never find peace as long as the Sith keep their hold on the Empire."
"You don't plan on fighting the Empire after you take the Sith out, do you?" he asked with a straight tone.
On her hand, Jaral firmly shook her head. "Me and Ezra already talked about this. We do not intend to raise our swords against anybody who isn't a Sith, a criminal, or anybody who hurts innocents in any way."
Darvos had nothing to oppose. "I guess it's only fair that you focus on being the Guardians of Peace. And I couldn't agree more."
She smiled at him. "I knew you would understand. Yes, I honestly feel much more at ease going to fight the Zann Consortium than the average soldier of the Empire."
"All right, then. Be careful, whatever you're doing. And go back to Samira as soon as you can, please." he concluded.
"May the Force be with you, my love." Jaral returned tenderly before she disappeared.
Jaral wasn't the only one making a call aboard the Bullet at that moment. In his cabin, Ezra was speaking with Sabine and Tristan, trying to figure out what kind of person Din Djarin could be.
"The main questions on the table are: why does he think removing his helmet is blasphemy, and why every time he takes a decision he says 'This is the Way'."
Of the Wren siblings, only Tristan seemed to be pondering about this, because Sabine didn't have much of an idea.
"I think I know who we are dealing with." the Count said finally. "There were rumors that a splinter group of Death Watch, after the Clone Wars, had turned into an isolationist and secretive cult on the moon of Concordia. We called them 'Children of the Watch'."
"You think they might be hostile?" Ezra asked.
"They never tried to meddle in the affairs of other clans, and we didn't bother with them in return. All we knew is that they replenished their ranks by taking in Foundlings. They also think they can rebuild the ancient strength of our people by adhering to their version of the Code."
"And that includes not removing their helmets in front of others?"
"Honestly, I didn't know that detail before you said it. All I know, is that the rule of not removing your helmet is a myth. There is no historical evidence that our ancestors did something like that. Nonetheless, is a myth that stuck all along our history."
Ezra hummed with interest. It was clear that Din wasn't an impostor or something, but it also meant that he might refuse to come to Lothal and try to integrate with the Atin colony. Also, if he was part of a cult, it was safe to assume that there were others like him that he usually hung around with. It could complicate things in the rescue of the Child.
"I am more concerned by the fact that you are planning to make an enemy of the Consortium right away." Sabine intervened. "If you plan to steal a very powerful Force-user from them, I guess we should be preparing for a war of our own."
"That we must." Ezra replied unfazed. "But we can't let that child in their hands. I don't know why Zann is interested in Force users, all I care about is that we can't allow a criminal to put his hands on such a power."
"Our House is ready to stand at your side, Bridger." Tristan reassured. "We have been idling too much, lately." he added with a quip.
Ezra made a lopsided grin. "Well, there's no risk of running out of criminals to shoot."
Tristan chuckled, but Sabine still looked serious.
"We should inform Governor Shweera about this. The Consortium can reach everywhere, and if we start an open war, we need to make sure the Academy and Atin are prepared against any sneak attack."
That was a valid point. "I doubt they will be able to send a dreadnought above the planet, but you're right. They already managed to sneak a small army against Iulius a couple of times." he replied, remembering the news about the attempts made by the Consortium against the Lord-Protector of the Empire. These people were not to be underestimated.
"I will inform the other clans," said Tristan to his sister. "you go to the Academy and inform their seniors."
"Got it."
"And we'll make sure to recover the Child, then we'll come back."
"Ezra, seriously though, go in there ready for anything." Sabine recommended.
"Relax, Sabine. Surprise is on our side, and we'll make sure to use it to the fullest."
His wife made a half-smirk herself and then they all left the transmission. Ezra left his cabin to go inside the small common room, where he found his sister slumping on the sofa.
"You did?" he asked.
"I didn't want to take too much time from him." she simply replied. "Did Sabine and Tristan figure out something."
Ezra sat on the sofa, too. "Yup. Seems like Din Djarin is part of a cult of Mandos who think they adhere to the most ancient of their traditions. Including never removing their helmets in front of anyone that isn't their closest family."
Jaral sighed. "The galaxy is just full of weirdos. So, any idea how we handle him?"
"What's to handle, here? His code will prevent him from going back on his word. Worst case scenario, he disappears and we never see him again. Otherwise...well, maybe his conscience as a normal human will kick in and he will help us out."
"If that's the case, I would like to know it before." Jaral groaned.
"Hey, we got out of way worse. Our main preoccupation will be to reach Lothal afterward with probably Tyber Zann himself on our tails."
"I really wonder why he is looking for the Child. Why is the Consortium suddenly interested in Force-users?"
"Maybe they're trying to come up with a countermeasure against us?" Ezra dared to ask.
Jaral found that hypothesis incredibly convincing: the Jedi Order had publicly sworn to fight against corruption, slavery, and in general any criminal organization. From a certain point of view, the Consortium had more to be afraid of than the Empire.
However, if Zann was coming up with a way to corrupt Force-users to his side, then it was just another reason to stop him.
January 26, 2227.
"Grand Admiral, Phantom squadron 1 is sending in the projections." Nash reported.
"Show me." Iulius calmly replied as he walked in front of the holo-table, his hands behind his back in the pose he usually took when he was completely focused.
The main planet of Llanic appeared over the table, along with the many, many models of the Commonwealth's defenses around it. There were at least four Golan platforms, of which two were Mk.1, one Mk.2 and a colossal Mk.3. Those alone were going to be a nightmare to get rid of.
Especially because he could only see enemy frigates, at most a couple of light cruisers.
That simply couldn't be the entire Commonwealth's fleet: it was just the first line of defense, aimed at weakening the imperial fleet. Surely there was another fleet waiting in the system behind, if not closer. Iulius studied the configuration with the necessary calm. The core of the rebel's defense was certainly the bigger platform, he could simply call in the Executor and bombard it from a distance.
But was it really that simple? After the introduction of the stealth frigates, Iulius was starting to think that the Commonwealth might have more tricks up its sleeves, and the Lord-Protector was hesitant to throw in the largest and most expensive ship of the Empire without being certain that she was gonna be safe from enemy reprisals.
"STEVE, remind me what kind of garrison can a Golan-III host?" he asked.
"The equivalent of four entire starfighter wings, plus potentially six corvettes in the larger hangars. Overall, their main strength lies in their armor and the impressive firepower." the AI replied. "That includes six long-range proton torpedo launchers, twenty heavy turbolasers, jammers, close anti-fighter cannons…" it proceeded.
"I got it." Iulius coldly replied, and returned to think.
There was little to delude oneself, however. It was clear that it was practically impossible to win without losing a few ships and their crew, all Iulius could and had to do was to come up with the best way to win swiftly and with limited losses.
After pondering a little more he decided that it was best to start the attack on the right wing from the imperial enter point and he quickly dispatched the orders.
"Call me the Executor, Nash." he added and the Lieutenant-Commander dialed in immediately, then took back his position with his hands clasped behind his back.
Soon enough, the holograms of both Admiral Ozzel and Lord Vader appeared next to the table, giving Iulius a 1:1 projection of the two.
"Yes, Grand Admiral." Vader greeted mechanically.
"Admiral Ozzel, I'm sending the exit coordinates. Make sure to keep the Executor at this exact spot and proceed with a long-range bombardment of the enemy platforms." Iulius instructed.
The Admiral didn't seem happy at all. "Why not just attack straightforward? With all this firepower I'm sure we…"
"Because these rebels certainly have a plan to damage the Executor." Iulius hissed, barely managing to hide his disdain for that rump politician that pretended to be a military officer. "They will most likely bait us as close as possible to their lines so that they may ram a ship, or even blow up one of those platforms when the ship will pass next to them, and we will not fall for it. I won't repeat myself, Admiral: Hold...your...position." the Grand Admiral concluded while exhaling an aura of threat and authority that few were able to project around them.
Ozzel still seemed bitter, thinking he was denied some glory, but he bite his pride and spoke through his teeth. "Yes, sir."
His hologram disappeared and Vader waited a second more before Iulius turned toward him.
"My Lord, I require your set of skills to take out the platforms."
"I'm listening." Vader replied in his collected way, his hands still hanging on the belt.
"I intend to repeat the boarding maneuver we made on Taris: the Rogue Shadow will breach in with a strike team that will allow a larger stormtrooper group to seize the platforms. But with this level of defense, I humbly request you lead the TIE wings of the Executor." Iulius explained in a polite tone.
Vader didn't need to ponder on that too much: it was a sound idea and certainly the Dark Lord wouldn't shy away from a fight. "I will have my ship prepared."
Iulius made a quick nod. "Thank you, my Lord. We will launch the attack momentarily."
The hologram disappeared and Iulius turned again toward his second. "We'll arrive with the Executor. Tell Ciena to prepare the escort squad. Second wave will be the carriers with Thane and Fel's squadrons, the rest of the fleet stays here on high alert and ready for immediate deployment."
Nash quickly nodded and went to the main comm station to relay the orders. Iulius started walking on the gangplank, which gave him the opportunity to look down on the left pit and speak to his helmsman.
"Colmas, jump to hyperspace in two minutes."
"Aye, aye, sir."
As Iulius reached the viewport, Qathora passed him the special projector that allowed him to put some models of the ships in the map of the upcoming battlefield. It was an update created by STEVE itself to speed up the decision-making of the Grand Admiral, granting him an instrument that gave him a real-time overview of the battle.
With a few swipes of the finger, Iulius placed the intended positioning of the first wave, made up of the Admonitor, the Executor, two Procursatorsand the Minder with other three escort frigates. STEVE transmitted these orders to the computers of the involved ships and then the entire fleet jumped into hyperspace.
Iulius counted the minutes to confirm if the star charts were correct, and they were: it took five minutes and thirty-two seconds to arrive just outside the system, out of the rebel's sensors. From there, the first wave made a shorter jump and appeared in front of the third planet of Llanic, a world made mostly of oceans, with the emerged surface scattered among islands of considerable size, but still islands, which would have made taking the planet a very difficult job.
As soon as the Executor appeared, having already received the direction of her targets, she opened fire with her always impressive range of weapons, from the super-heavy turbolasers, to the ion cannons to missiles and everything in between.
Like Iulius expected, the rebels scrambled into a defensive formation between the platforms. The frigates and the cruiser basically took shelter behind them, while the Golans were returning fire with their torpedoes.
The escort frigates used their close-range AA lasers to try and shoot them down, but the torpedoes turned out to be made of a resistant alloy, and only one of them exploded after taking at least a dozen hits, the others reached the Executor.
At the very least, the lasers had deviated the torpedoes, which then bypassed the shields and crashed on the hull on non-essential points, where the armor was thick and easily absorbed the hit.
"This one we were lucky, but sooner or later they might blow up a cannon, or a magazine." Nash noted.
"STEVE, link with the Executor and enhance their jammers, focus on the incoming torpedoes." Iulius promptly replied.
Two seconds passed. Iulius was watching outside the viewport already, when the AI replied.
"I have been denied access to their systems."
Iulius' eyes widened and he turned around with a jerk of this torso. He saw Qathora rolling her eyes and then replied. "What do you mean?!"
"They are not allowing me to link with their cyber-warfare." STEVE simply replied.
Iulius stuttered something in pure rage (most likely a very uncouth word) before he managed to recollect himself enough to snarl. "Get me Admiral Ozzel!"
Qathora complied and tapped the command on her wrist-pad. Soon enough, Ozzel reappeared, his face having the usual haughty expression that the flamboyant aristocrat exhibited against that perceived country bumpkin.
"Admiral! What are you thinking? You need to allow STEVE inside your jammers."
"I will be dead before I let a machine guide my ship!" Ozzel replied in a contemptuous tone.
That statement couldn't have been more blatantly false and slimy. Certainly that wasn't the first time that STEVE interfaced itself with the Executor: Ozzel was just throwing a wrench in the wheels of the 101st in the hope that the Grand Admiral could be blamed for a setback.
Barely suppressing the urge to get on the Executor and punch the sith out of that idiot, Iulius just turned around, signaling Qathora to close the transmission. There was no time to lose on a bantha fodder.
"STEVE, use the Admonitor for your task." he simply sentenced.
"That will tie us down considerably." Nash warned.
"You want to explain to Lord Vader why his new ship will be full of holes?" Iulius grimly and tiredly replied.
Nash didn't reply to that, feeling cold just thinking about it. Instead Qathora looked at her datapad and noticed something.
"The Rogue Shadow is loaded and ready for launch."
Right now, aboard that modified freighter there were Starkiller, the Astartes and a platoon of Stormcommandos. The Lord-Protector was safe in the belief that they would be enough to secure a hangar of the first Golan.
"Call in Iden and the Corvus, tell her to stand ready to board." he then turned to Nash. "The fighter wings?"
"Three...two...one…" Nash counted, and finally Kyrell and Fel's TIEs appeared on the scan, followed briefly after by their Ton-Falke carriers, which operated more as supply bases, given that the TIE Defenders and Avengers had hyperdrives of their own.
"And just in time." Sensor officer Echiris said from the pit. "The rebels have gathered their starfighters, they're preparing a sortie."
"Order all our fighters to open a path for Platform 3." Iulius ordered. STEVE had previously marked the platforms in order of power, meaning the Golan-III was N°1. "Procursators, focus ion cannons on the platform to slow down their rate of fire."
The storm over Llanic soon evolved into a heated battle. Hundreds of fighters on both sides went down in just the following minutes, but the imperials achieved their objective of boarding the first defense platform, yet the Commonwealth was not fleeing already. Until then, they had escaped every time they simply spot the Executor, but now they knew that their new nation would have been finished if this planet fell.
And the problem for Iulius was that their main fleet was nowhere to be seen. He could've otherwise called in the Immobilizers and put an end to this, but he didn't want the enemy to know that he had those, yet. So the battle devolved into a long slug.
After five hours of vicious fighting, the imperials had managed to take only the first platforms. As the others eventually destroyed an ISD and five other ships, Iulius decided to break off the attack and keeping up the bombardment with the Executor while his fleet reorganized.
January 27, 2227.
"Did you confirm this?" Ezra asked.
"Yes. The records are clear." Ahsoka replied. "Vader is taking part in the battle of Llanic, so me, Cal and Master Kota will depart with a team. Hopefully we will stop him from doing too much damage."
"Understood, but be careful."
"Said the one who is about to go straight inside the den of ruthless pirates." Ahsoka quipped in return.
Ezra chuckled. "Nailed it. But if you take the Padawans, make sure they don't try to be heroes."
"Don't worry, we'll be extra protective with them."
"Good. Then may the Force be with you."
"And with you."
After his Togruta friend disappeared, Ezra stood up from his seat and went to grab his lightsaber, which was waiting for him on the table. He then transferred it into the omni-tool and reached the cargo bay where Jaral arrived pretty much at the same time as him. They nodded to each other and went outside, into the night of Telos IV.
"Jinx, stand ready to fire the engine." Jaral murmured to her omni-tool, after that, they headed toward the compound where the Zann Consortium had its base on the planet.
Just like they had agreed, Din had delivered the child a few hours before, taking his beskar and then leaving. So far, none of the Consortium's ships had left or arrived on the planet, meaning that they were most likely still waiting for the transport to get the child out of the planet.
And for sure, they could still feel his presence through the Force. The little Yoda, as the real name still eluded them, was in there, waiting for his fate. A fate that the Bridgers were intent on changing.
It was night, the perfect moment to strike. The siblings walked up without their armors up to the alley where the compound was. The structure was well camouflaged among the other poor houses, but thanks to Din's explanation, the Jedi knew that the main access had a few scanners that would alert the mercenaries if they simply showed up at the front door.
They needed to find another place to infiltrate, but where?
Barely had they started to talk down the bond, that they turned the corner and found themselves a startling surprise.
"Din?" Ezra asked.
Din Djarin was there. His customized disruptor rifle was hard to mistake, and so was his armor, except that now said armor was shiny new, and clearly made of the beskar that he had gained.
"I thought about what you said." the mando said with his strangely calm voice. "And I can't leave that child as he is."
The siblings looked at each other, but the Force was telling them that he was very serious.
"So I suppose you have a plan?" Jaral asked.
In response, Din just moved his left arm to show an adhesive explosive.
Ezra chuckled. "That's as mandalorian as it gets. Come on, then, we don't have much time." he concluded more seriously and the siblings materialized their armors.
Din went to place the explosive, and while the siblings stood at the necessary distance, they spoke through the bond.
"I don't really like to make a sneak attack like this." Jaral said.
"I doubt the people in there will ever consider negotiations anyway."
"Guess so…" she replied a bit discouraged.
By the time they were over, Din had pressed the switch of the grenade and the device was already bleeping with a red light.
Quickly enough, but with enough confidence, Din walked back to them and took cover. Two seconds later, the grenade exploded, making a loud rumble and making that section of the wall disappear. Din promptly took point, taking out his pistol while the siblings prepared their lightsabers and the trio moved in.
In the first room they entered, they found two guards that were standing practically next to the wall and had died on the spot for the explosion, their bodies covered by the dust and some pieces of the construction.
Din looked around, trying to figure out where they had to go, but Ezra anticipated him thanks to the Force. He headed on the right, and Jaral tapped the mandalorian on the shoulder to prompt him to follow.
They entered a dark corridor and immediately took cover as they could hear a group of guards coming to check on what the kriff had just happened. All the Jedi and the mando had to do was to wait for them to pass and then quickly knock them out of their senses before proceeding.
Thanks to the siblings' perception, they quickly reached a small room with what seemed to be an infirmary. Inside they found a medical droid clearly analyzing the child...and a total of three assault mercs and a defiler of the Consortium.
The mercs immediately turned their weapons toward them and the siblings ignited their lightsabers, jumping in front of Din to protect him as he was afraid to shoot inside the room. The three quickly fell back, toward a few scattered crates further down the corridor, and the mercs made the error to follow them.
Now with a clean shot, Din could shoot down a merc already, Ezra deviated a shot back to another pirate, while the third just tried to go and stab Jaral with his rifle's bayonet. Jaral just side-stepped and slashed his side, making him fall dead.
The defiler then tried to use a venomous gas grenade, probably because he had been ordered to kill the child if anyone was about to take him, but Ezra quickly used the Force to take that grenade from his hand, letting Din shoot him straight in the head. The man fell down dead, his red armor clanging briefly as silence fell.
After taking a moment to look around, the three rushed inside the infirmary, intimated the medical droid to step back, which it did, and Din hastily went to the child. He turned out to be sedated and thus sleeping.
"Is he alive?" Din asked worried.
"His life force is still there." Ezra reassured. "Let's rather get out of here." he added, looking for and finding the hovering shell. But, to the surprise of Din, he simply closed it before they could put the child in.
"What…?"
"We decided you're worthy of our trust." Jaral said to him. "We will go down the main road with the shell, so everyone will believe that we took the child. Meanwhile, you sneak out and get to your ship. Get him to safety."
Din looked at the two of them. They couldn't see his face, but they could easily feel his admiration...and a bit of self shame.
"I should help you fight. You came all the way here just for him." he said, looking at the child.
"If you want to help us, then make sure he reaches Lothal. We'll keep the Consortium's attention away from you." Ezra reassured, then, after a brief pause, he decided to convince him in the only way he understood was possible. "This is the Way."
Din turned his head again toward the male Jedi. Now his aura seemed to have cast away all the doubts and accepted their determination. "This is the Way."
With that settled, the Jedi took point, making sure to take out all the guards that barred their way and allowing Din to get out and disappear with the child into one of the backstreets.
Instead, the Jedi set the shell to follow them and they walked casually down the main street of the village, heading back to the landing pad.
And just as predicted, the moment they reached the large road in front of the spaceport, they were surrounded on all sides of the street by bounty hunters, most likely warned on the local HoloNet that the bounty was on again and that the Jedi had the quarry.
Ezra and Jaral simply stood in the middle of the street, their armors fully on and showing no sign of uncertainty. They simply waited until a three-eyed Gran, who looked like the local chief of the Guild, appeared in the middle of the street.
"I believe you have something that belongs to a client, Jedi." the alien said in Basic, but with the strange blowing sound typical of his species.
"Really?" Jaral replied, then looked behind her in a mocking attitude. "Oh, you're right. But I swear, this shell is following us on its own."
"You will be less inclined to joke once we hand you over to Tyber Zann. However, if you just give up the quarry, I will perhaps allow you to walk away without further incidents."
Without the gunslingers noticing, the siblings slowly shifted their weights in order to quickly take their lightsabers while Ezra took time with words. "And what kind of insurance can you give us that you will keep your word?"
"Ez, there's a loaded cargo lifter that we can use for cover, here." Jaral thought down the bond.
Thanks to the helmet covering his face, Ezra could quickly glimpse in that direction with his eyes and notice the cover, too.
"Your only certainty is that you will die, if you don't comply right now."
The siblings stayed quiet for another few moments as they prepared themselves for the dash they had to do in order to get out of harm's way very quickly. With another quick exchange down the bond, they decided the next part of the plan.
"I'm sure you're a man of your word, mister." Ezra quipped. "But, you see, giving up a child just to save my skin, just doesn't vibe with me." he added with an exaggerated tone.
"Then good for you." the Gran said, quickly pulling out his own gun. "You will die with your conscience clean. Fire!"
Jaral promptly activated a bubble shield before the hail of fire poured on them. The siblings used the opportunity to dive onto the loaded cart, among a pile of crates that granted them an all-encompassing cover. They also grabbed the shell to keep the charade going, and then pulled out their TL-50 to return some fire.
First they aimed at the hunters that were on the roofs, thus nullifying their small fort's advantage. With just a push of the Force, the siblings sent those few flying past the buildings and thus regaining the advantage of their full cover, while blaster bolts ceaselessly kept flying toward them, which forced the two to keep stay on the ground.
"I really hope Din has already made a run for it." Jaral grunted.
"He will make it. Let's just focus on getting out of here." Ezra replied.
"Any thoughts?"
Ezra grabbed a smoke grenade from his belt. "More or less. Stand ready to…"
Just as he was about to finish that sentence, a series of small concussion missiles landed around them, taking out several bounty hunters.
"What in the…?" Ezra mumbled, then they both looked up, and couldn't believe what they were seeing.
Nearly a dozen or so mandalorians were coming in from the sky, gunning down the hunters with a vast assortment of weapons.
Even more, a larger mando appeared wielding a heavy repeater with both hands, firing wildly and taking down several thugs all at once.
"Over here, Jedi!" he said loudly.
The siblings didn't need to think twice. They jumped out of the cover, with Jaral still holding the shell just for good measure, and the two went next to the heavy gunner.
"You are the one married to a Wren?" the bulky man asked Ezra.
"Yeah." Ezra replied without thinking too much, but finding the question weird nonetheless, at that moment.
"My name is Paz Viszla." the man replied, and suddenly the question made much more sense. "We are from Din Djarin's covert."
"We really appreciate the help." Ezra said.
"Then would you mind giving us a lift out of here?"
"Absolutely! Let's get to my ship."
"Mind If I hold it?" the voice of a woman came next to them and the siblings turned.
They saw a mandalorian female wearing a red and yellow armor, with a studded skirt and with a small fur cape. She had no weapons except a few forging tools hanging at her belt, so she was offering to keep the shell.
Jaral nodded and handed it over, so she could pick up her own repeater and the group started pressing toward the landing platform.
At that point, most of the bounty hunters, including the local overseer, were lying on the ground wounded or dead. Seeing that unstoppable charge, the survivors decided there was no chance for any of them to get the bounty and they fled. Ezra ordered Jinx to fire up the engine, so when they reached the Bullet, the Jedi let every mandalorian inside and then jumped on the ramp the moment it detached from the ground.
They quickly reached orbit and were surprised to find the Razor Crest, Din's ship, reaching their side, and then they both made the jump to hyperspace the moment they left the atmosphere of the planet, flying down the Hydian Way in the journey to reach a safe haven.
The siblings quickly consulted the map and decided that they would head for Yavin IV, the closest safe place they could think of, from there.
They then went into the cargo hold to have a talk with their new guests.
"We would like to thank you again for your help." Ezra started with the blacksmith and Paz.
"You helped one of ours," said the woman. "by Creed, it was our obligation."
"Yet, you arrived at a very convenient time." Jaral commented. "I guess Din told you about us while you were forging his new armor?"
"That would be true."
"And are you guys willing to come to Lothal?" Ezra asked hopeful.
"We debated for an hour," Paz said. "and came to the conclusion that our tribe would be better off on a planet with other mandalorians, even if they don't follow the Way."
"Trust me, the only issue you might disagree upon, is the helmet one." Jaral reassured with confidence. "For anything else, they are as mandalorian as they get."
"We will see." the woman said in a not-dismissing tone. "For now, I believe we should focus on getting out of Zann's reach."
"Maybe we should ask Din to take the kids away. Precede us." Paz said to her.
The siblings stumbled for a second. "Hold on, did you say 'kids', in plural?"
The other two mandalorians looked at them. "Yes. We have five Foundlings in our covert," said Paz. "who are still not of age." then he paused for a second. "One of them is my son."
Ezra and Jaral looked at each other and could do little but to agree with the last suggestion that Paz had made. "Yes, we'll send him on his way. But before that, I'll have to make a call." Ezra concluded.
January 30, 2227.
"The imperials are hitting us harder than anticipated." Iblis' hologram said. "Vader and his warriors are just unstoppable once they manage to board a platform."
"Then just make sure they don't get aboard for a little longer, General." said Jordan. "I'm bringing in some specialists to deal with them."
"We'll do our best, but please, hurry." the Corellian concluded before they ended the call.
Jordan stepped out of the comm room and entered the strategic one.
"Colonel Undir, news on Hera's fleet?"
"Phoenix Fleet is on schedule. They should be flying past Scarif by the end of the day." the Salarian reported.
"Good. Then let's make sure the Empire is focused on us." the Captain concluded before heading for the hangar bay.
There, among the marines who were going on with their duties, stood part of the Jedi strike team that was to come on Llanic with the Constantinople: Ahsoka and Kota, along with their Padawans Chuvi, Newak, Nost and Roxot, all seemingly going through some conversation, but when their host appeared from the elevator, they turned to face and wait for him.
"Apparently, things are going down the drain on Llanic." Jordan started without ambiguity. "Any news from Cal?"
"He and his crew should have arrived right now, but we're still waiting for a report." Kota replied.
Jordan nodded. The Constantinople should have managed to arrive on Llanic in five hours. Since she had to go back to Lothal once the Order had requested a transport to go assist the defense of Llanic, they had elected Cal to take his Padawans on the Stinger Mantis and go see if they could slow down the imperial onslaught, but what worried everyone the most were the images of the new super-dreadnought of the Empire.
Jordan had decide to deviate from his original task so he could also go and confirm if that ship was real or not, and if it was the INS Protector converted or just a copy that the imperials had created.
"We will arrive on Llanic in six hours or so…" Jordan reported, then noticed that someone was missing. "Where is Dhara?"
Newak turned and pointed at the first Kodiak. "Loading up her stuff."
Jordan nodded and went to check. A couple marines were helping loading up two crates of medical supplies. Dhara was inside the bay of the shuttle, making an account of everything. She was wearing a bright white suit of a medic, similar to the ones that the hospital personnel of Lothal used. It had a red cross with 'medic' written on it quite clearly.
"Captain." she greeted cordially.
"Dhara." he replied, leaning on the threshold to let the marines do their job. "Still not wanting a weapon?"
The young woman shook her heads firmly as she resumed looking at her omni-tool. "I already said it: I'm not picking up a weapon anymore." she said with a firm determination. Jordan recognized the tone: it wasn't that of a naive young lad who didn't know how harsh the universe was. That was the tone of someone who had seen hell and still choose to preach her way of non-violence.
"You know, the imperials may not return that courtesy." he tried to warn her one last time.
Dhara stopped doing her thing, reached for a hand inside her collar and pulled out a pendant. A pendant she had made to keep her recently acquired kyber crystal.
She observed it for a few moments, as if she was looking for an answer through that, and Jordan understood that her belief didn't simply derived from her traumatizing experience as a prisoner of the Inquisitors, but from a newly-found faith. Faith in the Force.
"I know it seems crazy to you, Jordan." she said in a polite tone. "But I can't accept to bow to the cruelty of the universe and inflict suffering upon others. If the galaxy is so set on the path of destroying itself, then I don't see the problem in doing what I can to put some pieces back together."
Her gaze, her firm stance and her voice all convinced Jordan that this wasn't a passing matter once and for all. He nodded in acknowledgment, and just at that moment another person showed up to talk with him.
"Don't worry about my sister, Captain." Zare said with a smile. "I'll make sure she doesn't get into trouble."
Jordan chuckled. "You do that, kid." and patted him on the shoulder before leaving. He gave another glimpse at the small squad of the Jedi followers: a combined group of ten people, including normal volunteers like Zare and a handful of Mandalorians.
For a moment, Jordan wondered what the Jedi Order was becoming. Since it took even non-sensitives into its ranks, it was clear that Ezra and Jaral wanted to make it a public organization, not a secluded order like the old one. It seemed like they were steering in the direction of becoming a strange force that would enforce peace, or at least fight to protect the weak of the galaxy.
A smile formed on his face: indeed, this galaxy needed more people like Dhara, and if the Order was going in that direction, then the future might have been bright.