Chapter 12: Hostage Situation
The Constantinople and the Ghost landed a km away from the Academy. Jordan was already fully clad in his armor and aboard the Dromedarion car with his Legionnaires and Vetra. As soon as the ramp opened, Jordan put the pedal to the metal and sped outside. Running through the prairie toward the comm tower that signaled where the Academy and his own home were. It didn't take long before he spotted the huge line of vehicles of the local police, including the Special Emergency Unit. The cops were all equipped by now with weapons and vehicles of the Milky Way, and besides a few exceptions, many members of the SEU were actually Turian and Salarian immigrants who worked alongside new Human recruits from the planet.
Jordan was forced to stop the car in front of the second security ring, the one manned by regular cops. But it was there that he found a familiar face.
"Jordan."
"Moreena." the Legionnaire said, a little surprised to see her, before remembering that she had joined the police more than a year before. "Good to see you. Do you know who is inside?" he asked, though he very much feared the answer.
"We are not entirely sure. We know they have imperial equipment and have already declared themselves as such." Moreena replied, pointing toward the building with the dormitories and the mess hall. "All we know is that they arrived here an hour ago with a bus, then took the younglings and Master Yoda hostage."
"Fucking blowers." Jordan hissed. "And all the Jedi are out on missions. I bet whatever you want that they planned to strike on this exact day because of that."
"That's my theory as well...but there's another problem…"
"Don't tell me…" Jordan said discouraged.
"Today is not a work day for Mira…" Moreena delivered with the same degree of discomfort. "And I couldn't reach her in any way."
Jordan closed his eyes and made a deep breath, lest he threw a fit of pure rage.
His wife and his granddaughter were in there. How could have this happen?
Just at that moment, Hera and the crew of the Ghost arrived aboard the two speeder-bikes that the freighter held in the cargo bay. Hera jumped down her own as soon as she reached the cars.
"Mo! What happened?! Where is Jacen?!" she asked in a rare feat of desperation on her part.
"Hera, calm down." Kallus intervened. "Spiraling will only get things worse."
"He's right, Hera." Jordan intervened and put a hand on her shoulder. "Close your eyes. Take a deep breath. And then we'll find a way to get our people back."
Hera listened to the suggestion, managed to calm herself, then turned toward Moreena. "Did they make any request?"
"Not yet. But first, come with me." the young woman replied.
She brought them to a portable command bunker, where a group of two Turian and a Human officers were discussing around a holo-table with a projection of the buildings and the presumed location of the hostages. Moreena led the group to the Human, who saw them and shifted his attention.
"Captain Bridger, this is Captain Bushar, of the SEU." Moreena presented.
The two Captains shook hands. "Nice to meet you, Captain." said Jordan.
"Likewise, Captain Bridger. I assume Detective Krai already informed you on the situation?"
"Yes, sir."
"We have established a channel with the kidnappers. According to our scanners, they are all inside the main building, split in different rooms"
"If they have Yoda to take care of, makes sense. If they all stay in the same room, he would wipe the floor with them." Zeb commented.
"It also means that a raid is out of the question." said Jordan. "What do we…?"
He was interrupted by a voice coming out of the table's comlink. "We see you have guests. We would like to negotiate with Captain Bridger."
Everybody looked at Jordan for a second, then Bushar went to reply.
"How do we know you will not take him, too?"
"Tell him to come in front of the door, and he can keep his armor on. But he has otherwise to be unarmed." the voice replied calmly before closing the communication.
A brief moment of silence preceded Jordan already taking out his weapons from the magnetic clamps of his armor.
"Jordan, you can't be considering it." Kallus intervened.
"I have to. They have probably a few dozens of kids in there. They won't hesitate to shoot one or two if we don't listen." the Legionnaire replied calmly.
"If it's okay with you, Jordan," Thabo stepped in. "I will try to use my powers to see if I can get a clearer picture of who's inside."
"Do it." Bridger replied. "Vetra, Micha, get your weapons on and assist the force."
The women nodded, and after giving his arsenal to the Ghost crew, Jordan walked past the line of vehicles with his arms raised and started walking toward the dormitories.
As he moved forward, he noticed that he had to go across 120 meters or so. He kept his eyes open in case the kidnappers had a sniper ready to shoot him. Every step taken was as heavy as a brick on his heart, but he kept moving forward.
Eventually, he arrived at the door and spoke loudly.
"This is Jordan Bridger. I am unarmed. I have come to negotiate."
It took a few seconds before the door opened, revealing a man in stormtrooper armor but with a pauldron on his right shoulder and a lightsaber hanging on his belt, and now Jordan understood why the voice on the comlink wasn't entirely new to him.
"You…you were on Vjun." he said after taking a moment to think.
"You remember it." the stormtrooper replied with a cold tone. "I am Sergeant Kreel, commander of SCAR squadron."
"I see. So, what do you expect to accomplish?" Jordan asked in a calm tone.
"All we ask for is the little green guy."
"Grogu?"
"Oh, so it has a name. Yes. We want Grogu, and a ship to leave the system."
"Where are my wife and my granddaughter?"
"Don't worry, we won't hurt them as long as you don't give us a reason to."
"Well, sorry if I don't trust the word of someone who uses kids as hostages."
Kreel sighed bored, then took a small video feed and showed Jordan the image that was being transmitted. On screen the Legionnaire could thus see Mira, sitting at a table with Samira in her arms, being guarded by a man with what looked like the uniform of a regular imperial trooper and the face covered by a mask. Aside from a visible preoccupation on the woman, the two hostages seemed healthy.
"Bring a freighter. A fast one. And we will free some of the kids." Kreel said before putting the feed away. "When you bring...what's his name…? Oh yeah, Grogu, we will release all of them."
Jordan couldn't help but notice that he was still talking about the kids. There was no guarantee that they would release Mira and Samira, but he had to start from somewhere.
"All right. We'll give you a ship."
"Good. Don't make us wait too long. And if any of your Jedi kids come back, make sure they stay far away."
Kreel then shut the door in front of Jordan, who turned around and headed back to the blockade to update his colleagues.
"That's all they ask?" Zeb was baffled. "A ship and the little one?"
"Something's not right." Vetra said. "I think they're luring us into a trap."
"I know, but what other choice do we have?" Thabo said in resignation. "Losing the younglings would damage the reputation of the Order and the Federation forever."
"Speaking of which," said Hera with a resented tone. "how come that a whole group of imperials sneaked into the planet with nobody noticing?"
"That's what I want to know, too." Bushar said, then turned toward Moreena. "Detective, we have enough manpower, now. Go back into the city and look into this matter. Somebody must have helped them."
"Yes, Captain. Good luck, guys." Moreena said before heading out.
Mira didn't know exactly what was going outside, she could only hear the sirens of the police and a gunship, maybe two, circling the Academy. She had just managed to calm Samira down, but she herself was very worried about all the other younglings, and for Master Yoda.
It had all happened so fast. At lunch break, those stormtroopers and their grunts had entered the mess hall and took everyone hostage. Even Yoda couldn't reach, because there were so many of them and he wasn't sure he could disarm them all with the Force before a child was shot. And when the imperials had split the hostages in several group, it ensured that the green alien wouldn't be able to do much without repercussions.
However, her and Samira had been sorted out and were now in one of the dormitories, guarded by one of the soldiers in black clothing.
That was until the door was opened and the leader of the stormtroopers, Kreel, came in, accompanied by another one who had a scar in the form of an x on the left eye of his helmet.
"Looks like she understands her situation." the scarred stormtrooper commented.
"All right, Cav. Go help Aero." Kreel muttered, but not enough that Mira couldn't hear him.
The stormtrooper nodded and disappeared from sight, meanwhile Kreel walked in and closed the door behind him.
"Good tidings, Doctor. Your husband has arrived, and he is cooperating fully."
Mira looked at him with a defiant attitude. "If you think you will walk out of here victorious, you are in for a huge disappointment."
"We shall see. For now, I suggest you don't try anything out of what we tell you. Even if they are Jedi, killing unarmed children is distasteful, even for me."
"Not enough to use them as shields, you coward."
"You think your rebel friends are any better? I could share a couple stories, if you like."
"Don't even try it, 'Sarge'." Mira replied firmly. "I know full well that some rebels made horrible things for the cause, but now they stopped doing that, and most importantly, neither me or anyone in my family ever did something like it. So if you think you can put on the same level, you are just delusional."
Kreel didn't reply immediately, and the helmet made it impossible to read his face. After a moment, he made what sounded like a slightly amused huff.
"You are a woman of commitment, Doctor Bridger. I respect that."
"I spent eight years in an imperial prison. It will take more than a few threats to break me."
"That's fine. I am not specialized in that, even. But my commander is. Luckily for you, you are of no interest to him." he concluded before heading out again.
Mira was left alone to try and figure out what Kreel meant. But the detail that worried her the most at that moment was what she heard Kreel say to his subordinate Cav. What did he have to help with? The hostages would hardly rebel.
Unless...they were preparing to mine the building!
This was bad. She absolutely needed to find a way to inform Jordan and the others outside the Academy.
But how? She couldn't use the omni-tool without her guard noticing. She was completely isolated.
"If only I could use the Force…" she muttered faintly as desperation really started to set in.
"In all of us, the Force is."
She froze in place, but she had enough knowledge to understand what was happening.
"Master Yoda?" she thought, focusing as much as she could while closing her eyes and leaning her head on Samira's in order to not make the guard suspicious.
"It is. Through the Force, to you I speak."
"Goodness, is this what Jaral and Ezra feel"
It seemed like Yoda made one of his chuckles. "Their bond, much stronger is. This, just a taste is."
Mira quickly realized a solution to her problem. "Then, can you do the same with Jordan and tell him that there is a bomb in the Academy?"
"Afraid, I can't." Yoda replied in a sorry way. "Quite open to the Force you are, Mira Bridger. Your husband...not enough."
The doctor at first wasn't quite sure what that meant, but then it became quite clear: Mira spent her days between the hospital and helping at the Academy, meaning that she saw the Force at work pretty much always. She wasn't even completely out of all the mysticism, because she herself dedicated some time to meditating, when she was particularly stressed.
On the other hand, Jordan spent most of his time out on missions with the soldiers, and was more than capable to solve his problems through more conventional means. There was also the cultural factor that he was used to think about the psionics of his galaxy, and the philosophy about the Flux was much different: you either could use it or you couldn't.
When looked at it that way, it made sense. Even though that conversation was most likely requiring Yoda to put in 98% of the work, it still wouldn't be possible without Mira's receptiveness toward the ways of the Force and to the idea that the Force connects all living beings.
All of that did nothing to resolve her problem, though.
"Then how can we reach him?" Mira asked a bit nervously.
"Trust in him, as you trust in the Force." was Yoda's calm response.
Mira wasn't sure if she wanted to talk back, and eventually decided that the Jedi Master was just being his usual self: simple in the answers and yet incredibly on point.
Yes. Even without her telling him, Jordan was smart. He was going to figure out a way to solve this terrible situation.
Jordan kept observing the dormitories: something didn't sit right.
When the conclusion was formed in his mind, he walked back to the holo-table to talk with Bushar and the others.
"Captain, I believe the imperials are planting a bomb." he said firmly.
Bushar looked alarmed, but kept his composure. "How can you tell?"
"It's just a theory, but first of all, because I just remembered that SCAR Squadron are part of Vader's First Legion, which means they won't pass up an opportunity to hurt their sworn enemies."
"That's a valid point." Michalina argued. "They might also just tell us the moment they leave and, while we're busy looking for the bomb, they get away undisturbed."
"Honestly, they will already have Grogu, probably. Why would they distract us with a bomb?" Zeb asked.
And just at that moment they heard the sound of jetpacks approaching. They all turned in the direction of Atin, and so they saw Tristan, Asha, the Armorer and Paz Viszla flying toward them and then coming down next to the command bunker.
Tristan was the first to remove his helmet and walk up.
"Bridger. I saw your message, how bad is this?" he asked.
"They have 40 younglings in there, plus Master Yoda, my wife and my granddaughter."
"Using children as shields." Asha commented with disgust. "The imperials really have no honour."
"And that's not all." Hera added grimly. "They demand that we hand over Grogu in exchange for the hostages they already have."
"So they came here for the Foundling." the Armorer noted.
"Yes. Perhaps we have been lucky that he's at the colony." Basher said. "Had they found him at the Academy, they might have just killed everybody and then disappear."
"Gods, I didn't consider that…" Jordan commented as a mixture of fear and relief passed his soul, though he quickly regained control of his emotions. "Now we need to call Din and ask for his permission to bring Grogu here. I need your help to mediate." he said to the Mandalorians.
"Let me talk with him." the Armorer offered calmly, stepping next to the holo-table.
With a heavy heart, Jordan dialled the contact for the Razor Crest, knowing that Din and Jaral were still returning from their mission. The table started beeping as the call was sent, and the few seconds that followed seemed unending.
Things didn't become any better when Jaral's halved hologram also appeared next to Din.
"Din Djarin." the mandalorian started the conversation.
"Dad, what's going on?" Jaral interjected immediately. "Raniza sent me a message that the Academy is under siege?!"
Jordan hardened his resolve and explained. "Some imperial commandos have reached the Academy when there was no major Jedi to defend it. They got 40 younglings, Master Yoda and...your mother and Samira."
Jaral's eyes shrank for the horror. "What!?" she yelled.
"Why? What do they hope to achieve?" Din asked, clearly unable to fathom the situation.
"They…" Jordan started, but didn't feel the strength to tell the entire affair.
Luckily, the Armorer came to the rescue. "They want your Foundling, Grogu."
The table stood in silence. Din seemed to have frozen up in place; Jaral was holding her heads between her hands as the fear for her daughter's safety quickly boiled up.
"You should've given him before calling me." the mandalorian said venomously. "Because I'm not allowing you to do it!"
The answer was to be expected, and because it was expected, Jordan kept his cool and replied with his usual logic.
"Din. I know it's hard. I know you probably think I'm biased because I have my wife among the hostages, but I beg you to consider the larger picture."
"Which is?!"
"We know that they need Grogu alive. You remember the conditions for your bounty at the time you were hunting him down?"
Din pondered that. The answer came in a clear tone. "He was to be taken alive. At all costs."
"Exactly. And whatever the Sith want him for, it's clear that they won't kill him unless they have no other choice. That opens up a chance for us to rescue him, but if we don't concede now, dozens of other kids are going to die."
"Din Djarin." Tristan intervened. "I promise you: our warriors will not rest until we recover the Foundling. After all, he is a Foundling. A legitimate mandalorian."
"The Tribe will also do everything in our power to bring him back." Paz added. "This is the Way."
"This is the Way." the Armorer added.
Din at first hesitated, but he knew that the people making that promise were completely serious. After a couple seconds, he steeled his resolve and returned the mantra. "This is the Way."
Jordan sighed of relief. He felt guilty, but he knew that that arrangement probably saved his family.
"Thank you, Din."
Tristan turned and looked at his wife, who nodded at him.
"We'll be back in a minute." Tristan announced and then him and Asha departed again with their jetpacks.
Jordan then turned again toward his daughter and Din. "So, where are you guys, right now?"
"We are almost at New Alderaan. We will be on Lothal in five hours." Din calmly replied.
"Okay, scratch that. The Razor Crest is fast enough to serve as a chaser. Refuel there, then you two head immediately for Hutt Space."
Jaral seemingly regained some orientation. "Hutt Space? Why?"
"That's the only feasible way they have to get back to their territory. Once they pass Junkfort Station, they will be outside of UACT territory and we will have a harder time tracking them…or at least we would, if not for the fact that we have a Jedi Master who can keep track of Grogu." Jordan explained, adding some more colour to his voice in the last part.
The others seemed a little confused, but Jaral caught on immediately.
"Yes, it makes sense. He is not that hard to find through the Force." she affirmed confidently.
"Just what I wanted to hear."
"Oh, so that's why you didn't want to put a tracer in the ship we are about to give those terrorists?" Bushar asked with a bit of understanding in his tone.
"Yes. It's actually a trick that their boss used multiple times, so there's a risk they will discover it immediately."
"Karabast, you're right!" Kallus commented. "I almost forgot about that."
"Jari, while you wait, call all the Knights and the Masters, see who is available in the region so we can form a strike team to recover Grogu and whoever they will bring with them." the Legionnaire added.
She nodded. "On it."
The transmission was closed, leaving Jordan and the others to think about what else they could do in the meantime.
Mira didn't know how much more time she had spent in that room. Point was that one of the stormtroopers arrived and ordered her to stand up, and to carry Samira with her.
The two were brought through the corridor at the ground floor, and Mira quickly noticed that most of the imperials were already gathered in front of the main door, but the younglings and Yoda were probably behind the sealed door of the mess hall. That was not a good sign.
"Walk forward. Calmly." the stormtrooper, who had a black cloak covering head and shoulders and Mira understood his name being Misty, ordered her as he pointed a pistol at her back.
With a heavy heart, but determined to get at least Samira out of this, Mira walked forward. Behind her were the entire group of imperials, numbering the seven members of SCAR and five others. On the training platform now stood a freighter which would be big enough to take them all away. Kreel preceded her slightly on her left, and Mira noticed that on the opposite side of the freighter there was a line of heavily armed cops. While Asha was standing next to the ship with Grogu in her arms.
The imperials brought the two Bridgers in front of Asha, who stared at the kidnappers with a venomous glare.
The stormtrooper Mic, who was recognizable by the strange glowing blue visor on his helmet, got a little bit closer and scanned Grogu, then turned to Kreel and nodded.
"All right, Doctor. Swap the babies. And don't you think about running." the Sergeant ordered.
Mira quickly caught up with the hidden statement: she wasn't going to walk free just yet. However, she also reasoned that at least Grogu wouldn't be alone, and she was positive that her family and friends would come to get her.
She held Samira in front of her. The little one looked at her with confusion, but also with a clear feeling that whatever was going on was bad.
"Sammy, you're going with grandpa." she whispered, fighting to hold back the need to cry. "Be a good girl, ok?" and kissed her on the forehead.
She then walked toward Asha, who also made a few steps forward as far as the imperials allowed her to do. Kreel sent the other grunts to fire up the ship while the exchange happened. The two women were now in front of each other and they needed to pass the kids that were on their arms. Grogu was small, so it wasn't actually that difficult, but Samira started crying and clinging onto his grandmother.
"Come on, Sammy, go with Asha." Mira whispered again, the terrified moans of the baby feeling like a punch on her gut.
Asha shushed softly and rubbed Samira's back to reassure her as she reached with both hands and gently pulled her away, but not before whispering something to Mira.
"Hold on. We're gonna get you two out."
Mira made a hesitant nod. Then finally let his granddaughter go and stepped back with Grogu in her hands.
"Good job, Doctor." Misty said as he kept pointing his gun.
"Let's get going." Kreel said, and while everybody walked or was forced into the freighter, Mira heard him turn toward the line of cops and open his helmet's speaker. "Captain Bridger! If you intend to see his wife again, you better not follow us.
"The rest of the younglings are still inside. They are all yours."
Mira was forced to seat between the giant of the SCAR Squadron Zuke and Cav, still holding Grogu close to her. Then Kreel walked on and the ramp closed.
May 5, 2227.
As the holograms Jaral and Jordan explained everything to him, Ezra felt his heart sink. The bad premonitions he felt the day before apparently were not caused by his recent fight with Luke after their mission on Polus, but were due to what was going on at the Academy.
"Please, tell me nobody got hurt." he said after hearing the report.
"No." his father reassured. "The imps did plant a bomb, but Yoda was using the Force to prevent the mechanism to trigger the explosion. Michalina disabled it really fast once we entered the building."
"Kyle arrived a few minutes later." Jaral added. "He said that all the younglings are safe, even Jacen."
Ezra sighed in relief. For how bad the situation looked, at least nobody got hurt.
However that didn't change the fact that this was a shocking event and a terrible reputation mark for the entire Jedi Order. The fact that a group of armed men could just walk in and take all those kids hostage would certainly fall terribly with the families of many students.
"Jari, I think you already thought this, but from now on, we need to change our security measures. There must always be at least a Knight or a Master at the Academy that isn't just Yoda: he's clearly too old to fight properly."
Jaral nodded. "He said that, too. That's why I recalled Cal and, as soon as he's here, I'll join the search for mum and Grogu. Ahsoka also promised us support."
"You want me to come back?"
"No. You are too far away, and our regular operations are still important. Speaking of which, what's the situation over there?"
"The imperials have renounced to take Agamar and the focus has shifted toward Mygeeto. Judging by all the wounded that pass through here...it looks quite grim."
"And you intend to go there?" Jordan asked.
"Yes. The Federation is sending us more supplies and prefabs. We will use them to establish a medical post there."
"All find and dandy, but what's bothering you?"Jaral asked.
Ezra sighed. He really could not hide anything from her. "Me and Luke are having...a bit of a disagreement."
"What happened?"
Ezra quickly recapped what had happened over Polus.
"Wait...the Empire is building another Death Star?!" was Jordan's horrified reaction.
"Yes. I already informed Darvos, but I guess it's a good time as any other to tell you."
"Bloody Hell...I need to make a call." and his hologram disappeared, leaving only the siblings to speak.
"So, you think Luke acted rashly. But me and you were not exactly examples of patience, back in the day." Jaral said, for she was focused on the matter that was actually driving that discussion.
"I know. It sounds hypocritical, but the problem is, I think Luke is just too eager to fight. He reminds me of my attitude before Malachor." Ezra said with a bit of discouragement. "He has started to ask me when he will become a Jedi Knight."
Jaral murmured in understanding and thinking. "You don't think he's ready? I mean...he destroyed the Death Star, passed a trial inside an ancient temple…"
"Yes, all true. Luke has immeasurable potential, and he will soon surpass all of us. But that potential is hindered by the fact that he lacks focus. Before he becomes a Knight, there is a huge matter that he needs to solve."
"Which matter?"
"He has to face his father. He needs to face Vader. I just know that Luke is still very confused about what to think about him and their...connection."
Jaral seemed worried. "You don't intend to just send him against Vader, I hope?"
"Of course not. Not alone. But so far, Luke has only met successes. He thinks that, no matter how dangerous things are, he will always come out on top. Until he gets rid of that attitude, I am not going to knight him."
His sister sighed. "I suppose it's a good point."
Ezra remembered then how this entire call started and shook his head. "I'm sorry. I know you are very worried about mum."
"And Grogu...and Darvos. Have you heard from him?"
"Last I heard, he was on Mygeeto, leading the defenders. I promise, I will look for him as soon as we land there."
"Thanks, Ez. Be careful out there."
"You too."
The hologram of his sister disappeared and Ezra decided it was time to gather all the Jedi that were on Agamar inside the main room of their headquarters to give them an update on the situation, since they had only heard some scant news on the HoloNet.
Comprehensibly, the ones present were visibly distressed. Everybody considered Lothal to be a safe place, by that point. Now that sense of security had been shattered.
"So that's the situation. Jaral is putting together a team to recover the hostages, meanwhile we will proceed with our activities here." he declared at the end.
"That's it?" a voice he knew very well protested.
It was Luke, who made himself way and got out of the small crowd, facing Ezra face to face. "We are just going to ignore the fact that the imperials attacked us after we offered them a truce?"
Ezra kept his composure and replied. "No. If they want to destroy us so badly, then we will not run away, but our priority is still helping the victims of this war."
"How are we going to help them if the Empire will still do anything they can to destroy us?!" Luke insisted out of patience.
"Our goal has been and will always be the removal of the Sith from this galaxy. It is to be expected that the Empire will consider us as their enemies so long as they stay in power. We will increase surveillance and help the UACT however we can, but not by jumping into the battlefield and cutting down every imperial soldier we find."
Luke tightened his fists, gripped a little and then exhaled in resignation. Then he made his declaration.
"Then I am sorry, Master. But I think you are wrong."
The tone left very little room for interpretation, but Ezra wanted to hear the confirmation.
"All right, Luke. What do you want to do?"
"The Falcon leaves in a few hours to join a major offensive of the Republic. I wasn't entirely sure if I wanted to join them...but now I am."
There was a clearly embarrassed silence in the room. It was clear that some of the other Jedi, particularly the other Padawans, were partially agreeing with Luke. Kota was standing in a thoughtful calm, while Petro, Katooni, Ganodi and Byph seemed to understand the sentiment of Skywalker, but not sharing it.
Ezra pondered on those words, made peace with his conscience and then gave his verdict.
"Very well. If you are sure, then feel free to go." he said in a compassionate tone.
Luke, much like everybody else, was very surprised by that.
"Wait...really?"
Ezra made a nod.
"Just like that?" Skywalker insisted.
"Yes." Ezra repeated with a calm demeanour. "Look, I have been fighting for so many years. I've killed so many people and I feel horrible about some of them. I guess...I just don't see the point of this war any more. There is us aiming at two people, and said people wishing to dominate the galaxy for the sole purpose of filling their egos, and in the meantime billions of people will die."
The tiredness in his tone was starting to become ever more evident, and apparently that was impressing Luke enough to have him listen respectfully.
"So, I have no right to stop you, Luke. I have taught you everything I could, and if you think this is the best thing you can do for the galaxy, you have the right to do it."
He then made a small step toward Luke and put a hand on his shoulder. "I just want you to remember that you're not alone. If you will ever need a help, or if you just want to share your problems about the Force, then we will always be there for you."
Luke seemed sincerely impressed. He glimpsed at the other Jedi, who were just as captivated by Ezra's words, but shared it wholeheartedly and made sure to make it clear to Luke, as well.
Suddenly moved and reinvigorated by that show of support from his friends and his teacher, Luke turned again toward Ezra and offered to shake hands, which Ezra gladly accepted.
"Then thank you for everything, Master...and may the Force be with you."
Ezra made a gentle nod, then Luke took his coat and went outside in the chilling cold of Agamar to reach the Falcon.
"Captain Bridger...are you sure about this?"
"I just consulted the encrypted report made by the ICO about the testimony of Lieutenant Melton. He confirms that the Empire is building another Death Star, location still unknown."
Francesco just couldn't believe his ears as the hologram of Jordan Bridger made his report. A sentiment that was shared by the image of Admiral Edrix, who also was on the call since he was the one who had forwarded Jordan to the Emperor.
"They lost half of the galaxy, have to fight along a galaxy-spanning front, and yet they still find the resources to build another one of those monstrosities?" Edrix asked partially angry and partially frightened.
"That might appear like that," Bridger replied a tone that was suddenly quite optimistic. "but instead I believe that we might just have been served a chance to end the war."
The two leaders were dumbfounded.
"What do you mean? You know how to find it?"
"Precisely! There is only one planet in Andromeda that will most likely give us a major hint on this new Death Star: Sullust"
"That volcanic planet? We are in contact with their Resistance, and they haven't noticed anything suspicious." Edrix asked.
"I suppose so, but remember that Sullust is a planet of the Mid Rim. Theoretically it should have been destined to the production of ships for their main front, and yet the planet is administered directly by an appointed Governor from Coruscant. It has to be connected with the construction."
The reasoning might have been true. Francesco pondered briefly on the matter. If the Empire was really building another Death Star, it had to be stopped as soon as possible.
"Captain, I want you to coordinate with our allies on this. As soon as you're done with the hostages, o to Lianna and talk with Mon Mothma, I'll make sure she is ready to receive you so you don't waste too much time."
"Yes, Your Majesty. Bridger, out."
The hologram of the Spectre disappeared, leaving the Emperor to consult with his Admiral.
"What's your opinion, Edrix?"
"That if what he said it's true, then we need to focus all our energies on Andromeda. The war with the Tambaran must come to an end."
"I agree. But until Shepard finds out who is actually instigating them, peace will be very far. As things are, we are preparing a ground invasion of Doisac."
"I thought Doisac was off-limits."
"It is. But Atriox is not listening, and the people demand that we find a solution to this conflict. And it's as you said: we need to focus back on Andromeda as soon as possible."
"Then I hope the spirits grant us the strength to do what's right."
Francesco sighed. "Me too, Admiral. Dismissed."
The Admiral made a quick bow and his hologram disappeared as well.
Francesco was thus left alone with a new headache.