Chapter 6: Escape from the Death Star
As the image of Alderaan being blown up flashed once again in front of his eyes, Iulius dropped the datapad with the latest report from the fleet and massaged his face with his hands and leaned back on the chair in his office.
He still couldn't wrap his head around it. It was a stupid decision, under every possible point of view. Yet, if it was only the strategic part that bothered him, why was his heart so troubled as well?
It had been barely two hours since he ordered the Admonitor to depart and fly back to Columex, hoping that resuming his work on the frontline might help him feel better.
Yet he was having a hard time focusing.
There was something far too wrong in all of this. Beyond the military level.
Something about this whole ordeal was wrong on a sentient level. Deeply wrong! Now he started to understand.
The Empire had been created in order to replace the weaknesses of the old Republic, by giving a strong government and the military might to protect the galaxy from the risk of another divisive conflict like the Clone Wars and protect it from possible threats lurking in uncharted space, like Iulius himself had already experienced.
At least, that was what he used to believe. Now, it was clear that those ideals had been betrayed entirely by the imperial leadership.
Yes, the Empire wasn't the problem...the people in command were.
Those thoughts were interrupted when his desk terminal beeped, signaling that someone was ringing the bell at his door.
"Come in." he coldly replied.
The door opened, letting Qathora in. Much like him, she didn't look happy at all.
"There is a transmission from Carunoia for you, Grand Admiral." she said, coldly underlining. his rank.
Iulius didn't feel like starting a fight with the stubborn Togruta, so he simply stood up and walked past the door, followed by her.
They passed a few corridors and the crewmen, who saluted the Grand Admiral, but Iulius could clearly see that the atmosphere aboard had completely changed. His men usually held an unusual higher morale than the rest of the fleet, and that's how he wanted them to be, because high morale usually led to better performances.
After what everybody saw happening to Alderaan, though, the corridors were much more quiet and all those Iulius came across were trying to process what they just saw, just like he was doing.
And all the time, he could feel Qathora's glare pointing at his neck, and he couldn't blame her in the slightest. She might've been loyal to him, but she already detested the Empire. She surely wasn't happy that he was still serving a state that had proven to be so...needlessly brutal.
As if all of this wasn't enough, the Grand Admiral eventually stumbled into the last person he wanted to see at that moment.
"Grand Admiral." Nash said quite dutifully, making the salute.
"Lieutenant...your hair…" Iulius commented, seeing that his Navigation Officer had now cut his long braid and ponytail and uniformed the hair into a middle length.
"Oh…" Nash replied with a tired smile. "I just thought I needed a little change...but I'm ready to go back to work."
"You sure about it?" Iulius asked carefully.
Nash made a nod, still retaining that smile that couldn't look more forced. "I am, sir."
Iulius made an obsequious nod and walked past him, heading for the communication room, unable to face the man.
Lieutenant Windrider wasn't the only Alderaanian serving in the 101st.. How was Iulius ever gonna justify all of this to them? How could he not expect all of them to desert right away or to sabotage the fleet one way or the other so they could get their vengeance?
Luckily for him, he quickly reached the comm room and could put that problem aside, for now.
Qathora waited outside as he entered and talked with the operator.
"Patch the transmission from Carunoia." he ordered and the soldier promptly obeyed.
The room went dark so a hologram of Doctor Kimovir, now in an imperial scientist's uniform, could appear clearly.
"Doctor Kimovir, nice to see you." Iulius said, trying to sound convincing about those words.
The Doctor made a polite bow. "It's an honor to me, Lixoriom."
Savior. Iulius felt everything but that, right now. The Carunoans had been quick to submerge him with honors and eagerly accepted the idea of becoming an imperial protectorate under the supervision of their 'Lixoriom', the one who had saved them from extinction.
"I suppose you have news on the Project?" Iulius asked.
"Indeed. I'm happy to inform you that the first team of troopers has been equipped and trained to use their new armors. Three squads of ten men each are ready for deployment, if you wish."
Iulius made a slow nod. "I guess it's time for a field test. Have them sent toward the base over Centares, I'll send them adjusted coordinates once they arrive."
"Yes, sir. I'll inform General Kimby right away."
"Have a good day, Doctor." Iulius concluded before turning away, prompting the operator to shut the call.
The Grand Admiral left the room and headed back to his office, still followed by his servant and her glare, which accompanied him all the way back.
"Come with me." he ordered to the Togruta when they reached the door.
As the door closed behind him, he waited until they reached his desk before speaking with his back toward her.
"I know that you're angry." he calmly said. "But I need to know one thing. Do you hate me?"
The Togruta shook his head slightly. "You already know what's the problem, to me. It's the fact that you, a man of honor, insist on serving this disgusting machine." then he huffed nervously and spoke a bit louder. "How can you still believe in the Empire after what they've done?!"
Iulius raised a hand to remind her of lowering her voice, then put it down and answered.
"The galaxy needs a strong state to protect it. The Empire was born as the evolution of the Republic, but now I finally see the truth. My mission is not to reform the Empire...I need to save the Empire and what it stands for from the rotten souls that administer it." he declared in a hushed tone, then turned toward Qathora.
He thus noticed that the Togruta was speechless. Considering Iulius' usual declarations, this could be called an act of defiance against his beloved Empire.
Still wrapping her head around what she just heard, the Togruta posed her next question with a careful tone. "So...what do you intend to do? I know you too much to know that you will not join the Rebellion, for sure."
"No. I won't." he said, then looked on the side into an unfocused direction. "Not in the strictest sense, at least."
"Uh...what?"
Iulius didn't lose his temperament as he started to explain. "I still don't agree with the goal of the Rebellion of restoring the Republic. However, if you can't beat them, then find a way to use them to your advantage." he said as he calmly walked around the desk and sat at his chair.
The Togruta started to become suspicious that he might have gone mad.
"However, to do that I'm gonna need your help, Qathora. Can I still trust you?"
She was still a bit confused, but didn't hesitate to answer. "You know I would do everything for you, Iulius."
"Good." he calmly said, then motioned her to come next to him.
The woman accepted and reached his side, while Iulius tapped something on the keyboard of his terminal.
After Luke and Han took out their disguises, which weren't going to be very useful because they couldn't hide Chewie and Leia's presence, the group headed back toward the hangar where the Falcon was.
"Are we sure the old man has deactivated the tractor beam?" Han asked along the way.
"Master Kenobi can handle that." Ezra confidently replied. "Besides, we are keeping the stormtroopers distracted for him, as well."
In a few minutes, since the prison wasn't actually that far from the hangar, they reached a window that gave them a view right over the Falcon, which was perhaps two or three levels beneath.
"There she is." Han commented.
Jaral went to take a look and confirmed their position, noticing that there was a group of stormtroopers to guard the access ramp of the freighter, then put a finger on the side of her helmet.
"C-3PO, do you copy?" she asked.
"Yes, Lady Bridger." the protocol droid answered from the other end.
"Where are you and R2 located, now?"
"We're in the main hangar across from the ship."
"Ok, we're right above you, stand ready." she ordered.
Leia tucked Han's jacket and pointed at the ship. "You came in that thing?" she asked almost amused. "You're braver than I thought."
"Nice." Han replied. "Let's go."
They started to move down at a fast pace. Ezra was opening the line while Jaral closed it. And as they were about to pass another corridor, Ezra noticed on his radar that they were about to bump into a group of stormtroopers. He quickly flattened against the wall and raised a fist to signal the others to halt as well, and they imitated him.
However, he quickly understood that there was no way they could go past them undetected.
"Sis, we can't leave without a fuss." he thought down the bond. "How about a preventive strike?"
"I can't see other options, at the moment. Go!"
As soon as they exchanged that dialogue, Jaral dashed at the top of the line, then she and Ezra quickly appeared in front of the corridor and started unloading their TL-50s, cutting down five stormtroopers and making three run away in the opposite direction.
The siblings then turned toward the rest of the group.
"Go back to the ship, we'll draw their attention!" Jaral ordered, then the two dashed to chase the fleeing white-armored soldiers.
Only to scare them even more and also to attract the attention of everybody nearby, the siblings shot randomly on the walls, though they also made sure not to hit those guys who were running, and the two Jedi didn't like to hit someone in the back like that.
The stormtroopers then turned a corner. The siblings followed them, only to find themselves in front of an entire hangar full of other stormtroopers that were waiting to be deployed.
The three chased guys had by then stopped and pointed their weapons at the siblings, though the nearest one was quickly blasted by Jaral, before the two high-tailed out of there.
"I think we got their attention." Ezra quipped.
"Just run." Jaral replied.
They thus crossed various hallways, with the stormtroopers trying to catch up with them and cut them off, but the siblings were much faster than them, since their armors improved their movements rather than making them harder.
That didn't mean that another patrol managed to get there just a second before them and the siblings had to throw a couple of stun shots with an area effect to pass over the troopers.
"Close the blast doors." one of them said, which gave the siblings an idea.
They ran toward the closing door, but they voluntarily waited until the last possible second to pass while firing against the stormtroopers, who were then left empty-handed and with another soldier calling the command room into the comlink. "Open the blast door. Open the blast door."
The siblings took a breather, then jogged away, using a route that Jinx had calculated to bring them back to the hangar of the Falcon. Thus they reunited with the rest of the group, who was waiting near a small threshold just outside the view of the sentinels standing in front of the freighter.
"What kept you?" Han asked.
"Some of our fans really wanted to get a piece of us." Ezra replied with a quip.
"Is the ship all right?" Jaral asked.
"Seems okay, if we can get to it." the smuggler replied. "And if the old man has turned off the tractor beam."
"Speaking of which, where is Master Kenobi?" Ezra asked.
They didn't have time to think about the answer, because right after the stormtroopers seemed to be drawn somewhere else as they jogged away with a certain urgency, under the confused gazes of the rebels.
"I don't know what's happening, but it's now or never, go." Han exclaimed with a hushed tone.
They all did just that, only to then realize that the stormtroopers had gone to assist to a singular show.
Master Kenobi and Darth Vader were dueling right past the main access door to the hangar and into one of the corridors.
"Ben!" Luke exclaimed. While R2 and C-3PO passed next to them, him and the siblings went right on the border of the cargo lifter in the middle of the hangar, and since the mobile platform right now was many levels beneath, it was actually pretty dangerous at the moment.
Luke gasped silently when he noticed that Obi-Wan had turned his eyes toward him for just a second, before giving his attention to Vader again.
The old Master smirked as he was still in a saber lock with the Sith Lord.
Then, out of nowhere, Ben broke the lock. And instead of defending from Vader's next, furious blow, the Jedi simply put the saber in front of him, holding it with two hands and closing his eyes. Letting the dark-armored warrior to simply hit him.
Yet, the siblings could perceive that Obi-Wan had found an incomprehensible peace of mind. When Vader's saber finally reached him, the Master's body simply disappeared. His brown cape and the lightsaber simply dropped on the floor, with no corpse to hold them.
"NO!" Luke yelled.
In doing that, he called the attention of the stormtroopers, who turned around and immediately shot at the group.
Ezra and Jaral ignited their own lightsabers and drew their fire, while Ezra also took out his DL-44 pistol from the omni-tool while he parried some bolts with the saber in his left hand.
Luke just stood there for a couple of seconds, before starting to fire with a rage burning in his eyes. Immediately blasting a stormtrooper, who fell forward into the shaft.
"Come on!" Han yelled.
"Luke, come on!" Leia added as well."
The young farmer, though, was not listening, and just kept firing. Which prompted Jaral to dash toward him and grab him with one hand.
"Ezra, the door!" she yelled.
Her brother quickly took aim and hit the control panel of the access door with a clean shot, preventing Vader from coming in with reinforcements. While the stormtroopers in the hangar scrambled to find cover, the siblings dragged Luke inside the freighter.
They left him in the living room then reached the cockpit, where Han and Chewbacca were already bringing the Falcon out of the hangar.
Apparently, Obi-Wan did his part, because the ship was not halted in any way, being able to quickly put distance between them and the colossal battle-station.
That didn't mean that they were completely out of trouble, because the sensors warned them of incoming targets.
"We're getting through a squad of their sentry ships." Han said. "Ok, kids, get to the turrets and show me what you got." he encouraged the siblings.
The two simply nodded and quickly reached the ladder in the center of the ship which led to both turrets: the one on the back and the one on the belly of the Falcon. The shaft, though, was pretty tight, which forced them to dematerialize their armors to reach their posts.
As Han gave power to the cannons, the siblings took a few seconds to move them around and familiarize with the commands of those turrets, which were different from the ones of the Ghost: they were quad cannons. Heavier and more powerful than the twin cannon turrets of their favorite freighter, but they were also slower to turn.
"Here they come." Han announced.
The radar on the control panel of the turrets showed the TIE Fighters, which arrived in a diamond formation in front of the Falcon to block its path to hyperspace. As soon as Han was forced to turn, the TIEs broke formation and engaged.
Immediately, the siblings fired. The imperial pilots were not stupid and they knew that they had to point at the profile of the Falcon. It might've been a more difficult target, but they would be difficult to hit for the turrets, too.
"Han, we need a better angle." Ezra said in the comlink.
"Ask and ye shall receive." the captain declared boldly.
The Falcon waited the perfect moment when two of the TIEs were making another strafing run to suddenly rotate on itself, giving Ezra a clear shot, which he exploited flawlessly. Thanks to his enhanced reflexes and his ability with the Force, the young Knight easily took the two fighters out.
After another minute, Han eventually managed to do the same for Jaral, who also made perfect use of her opportunity to blow up the last fighters and allow the Falcon to finally jump into hyperspace.
December 26.
By now, it was official.
The Empire had released a report on the HoloNet which announced the destruction of Alderaan for the treacherous actions of the royal family, clearly warning to every planet supporting the coalition to submit immediately if they didn't want to be destroyed.
There were reports arriving at the Constantinople that promised very badly.
With the plans of the Death Star still missing, not to mention their two most important military leaders, the various factions supporting the Rebellion were divided on what to do. The planets that were nearest to the front wanted to surrender, but in reality, the Death Star could pretty much go anywhere it wanted, because the Joint Fleet didn't have enough firepower for an open confrontation, not without the plans telling them where the weak point was.
Others still hung on the hope that the Jedi were alive and would deliver the plans very soon, and Jordan was definitely one of those people, though he, too, had not slept very well last night, as the Constantinople was traveling among the stars to rejoin the Federal Fleet.
Right now, he was standing in front of the holographic table of the Strategic Room. The ship was crossing the Tion Sector and would've arrived at Lianna in around five hours. The situation looked quite grim, as Iulius' fleet had surprise attacked Rhen Var while still pushing toward Lianna, and Admiral Edrix had decided to regroup his fleet around that planet for a last stand.
"Captain, do you copy?" the voice of Salazar suddenly broke into his earbud.
"What is it, Salazar?" Jordan asked.
"We're receiving a transmission, sir, and it has Jinx's signature."
Jordan suddenly froze with anticipation and fear mixed together.
"Send it in the comm room." he ordered as he fast paced into said room.
He stared into the holo-projector for a couple seconds, holding his breath while two bodies finally took form. Very familiar forms.
When the female figure finally spoke, Jordan's heart made a small leap.
"Dad!"
"Kids." the Legionnaire replied as he let a sigh of relief. "Finally I can speak with you. What's happening? Where are you?"
Ezra raised a hand to halt the enthusiasm. "Sorry, Dad, but we must be very concise. We're still in Imperial territory."
Jordan quickly, understanding that the transmission was at risk of being tracked. "Of course. Can I help you?"
Jaral nodded. "We need you to patch us in with the Fleet, quickly."
"Jinx?" the Legionnaire asked.
"Patching in." the part of AI on the ship replied.
While they waited for an answer, Jordan couldn't hold himself back. "Seriously, guys, where are you? Everyone is worried about you."
The two hummed, trying to find a way to formulate what they just lived through.
"We...might've ended on the Death Star…" Ezra muttered.
Jordan widened his eyes. "You...what?!"
"But, we got Princess Leia back." Jaral intervened.
"The Princess?" the Legionnaire asked incredulous, but then a small light appeared on the control panel, signaling that a third person was about to join the call.
Shortly after, the hologram of none other than Admiral Ackbar, now leader of the Rebel Fleet, appeared. He, too, was very surprised and happy to see the siblings.
"Grand Marshall. General Bridger." he said. "Thank the Force you're still alive."
"Glad to see you too, Admiral." Ezra greeted.
"Admiral, listen well." Jaral said with her most composed yet authoritative voice. "I need you to order the evacuation of all non-essential personnel from Rebel Command. Leave only Red and Gold Squadron ready for battle. I understand it sounds confusing, but I will explain once we get back in allied territory."
Surprisingly, the Calamari simply nodded. "Yes, ma'am." he replied. "When do you estimate to reach our lines?"
"We're heading to Mandalore, right now. Shouldn't take more than six hours with this ship, and we'll be back to the base by the end of the rotation." the Grand Marshall explained.
"Understood. I'll make arrangements immediately."
"Thanks, Admiral. See you soon."
Ackbar then disappeared, leaving Jordan a few seconds more with his children.
"Guys...seriously...have you seen Alderaan?" he asked carefully.
The siblings lowered their heads at the terrible memory.
"Yes." Ezra answered. "And...it's not just that...Master Kenobi died on the Death Star, as well." he added with a bit of pain in his voice.
"I'm sorry." Jordan replied, knowing how much his son would've wanted to bring the old Master back to the Rebellion.
"But it's not all bad news." his son replied unexpectedly. "We got some very peculiar new friends...speaking of friends, how's the rest of the family?"
"Hera is at the hospital. Your Mother is keeping her under tight surveillance. I decided it was best if the rest of the group also stayed on Lothal to stay close to her." Jordan explained with a smirk.
The siblings chuckled. "To keep Hera at bay, they might just be enough." Jaral quipped.
They exchanged one last smile before the siblings decided that time was up. "Okay, we need to cut the call, now." Ezra noted. "We'll make sure to get in touch once we get back into allied lines." he added in a reassuring tone.
"Copy that." Jordan said with a tired but reassured tone. "Be careful, kids."
His children simply nodded with a reassuring smile before disappearing.
Jordan then walked into the Strategic Room, where Colonel Undir was at work on one of the keyboards of the central table, but he was clearly waiting for him.
"Your mood seems to have improved, Captain. I assume those were Grand Marshall and General Bridger." the salarian said.
"Indeed, Colonel." the Captain replied calmly. "And they apparently want to draw out the Death Star for a confrontation over Yavin."
The salarian seemed stunned. "How can you tell?"
"Come on, sir. Those are my kids. I know how they think." Jordan replied confidently.
Undir took a moment to ponder.
"If that's true, then we should do our best to divert the attention of the Imperial Fleet away from our allies."
Jordan nodded. "That's what I thought. How about we inform Admiral Edrix so he can devise a plan?"
"I'll send him a report right away." Undir replied as he started tapping on the holographic keyboard in front of him.
Seeing their father and knowing that everything was going well back home was an injection of confidence that the siblings really needed. They might have escaped the Death Star, but this was far from over: Jinx had quickly identified a tracker hidden in the systems of the Millennium Falcon, just to remind them that this was a plan hatched by Vader, who used this same tactic to hunt down Phoenix Squadron two years before: letting them return to base on a rigged ship and uncover said base's location.
This time, though, Jaral had decided to use this against them: sure as the Force, Tarkin was going to direct the Death Star over Yavin, without caring for bringing an escort fleet.
When Jinx and R2 were inside the network of the station, they had quickly calculated, based on the navigation logs, that the Death Star was fairly slower than ships when traveling through hyperspace. From Alderaan, it would take them four days to reach Yavin, which was going to give the rebels plenty of time to finally analyze the plans inside R2 and prepare an ambush.
Luke had already expressed his wish to join the Rebellion, while Han clearly stated that he was expecting his reward so he could fly away on his own.
Yeah...Luke.
With Master Kenobi dead, the siblings were now implicitly responsible for his training. Not only that, they also knew about the family bond between him and Leia.
It couldn't have been a coincidence that Master Kenobi had decided to knight them right before they were involved in their last adventure on the Death Star.
The Force definitely had a weird way to show its will, and now the siblings had a choice to make.
"Look, Master Kenobi wanted to keep them separated for a reason." Ezra insisted.
"Yeah, to hide them from Vader, but he already knows Leia, and if we are going to train Luke, he will noticed him, as well." Jaral objected.
"That's why we should be careful about this. Besides, Leia has just lost her planet and the parents who raised her." the young man said, putting up a pretty important question. "I know she is strong, but I'm pretty sure that she's experiencing a deep grief."
"And don't you think it would be good for her to know that she has a brother?" Jaral said gently. "Someone she can call a close relative?"
Ezra pondered on those words, then sighed. "Good point."
"So? What do you think?"
After considering their situation, the brother eventually decided that the course proposed by his sister was solid enough, and after all, he didn't like to keep secrets from others.
"All right. Let's do this." he concluded.
And so, they left their lodgings and headed for the lounge, where they found Luke training with the remote and Leia checking on the droids. Han and Chewbacca were playing dejarik.
"Well, look who came out of their den to join us." Han joked, though that drew the ire of Leia.
"Would that hurt you to simply say 'hello'?"
Han raised his hands. "I'm sorry your worshipfulness, but me and these kids understand each other. See? They're not offended in the slightest." he replied with sarcastic irony.
Jaral intervened to calm things down. "It's nothing, Leia, really. Rather than that, we need to speak with you and Luke. Privately."
Leia and Luke exchanged a curious gaze, then looked back at the siblings.
"Sure, everything." Luke replied.
Ezra thus motioned them to follow and they all reached the lodgings. The Jedi closed the door and Ezra leaned against it so he could hear if anybody else got near.
"Please, sit." Jaral cordially invited, so the other two sat into one of the bunks.
Silence followed as Jaral took a deep, silent breath and organized her thoughts. Then se started.
"What I'm about to say, might sound...weird. Uncomfortable. Totally nuts to you. However, this is what Master Kenobi revealed to me and Ezra, and we decided it was only fair that you would be notified. And whether you believe this or not, it must not, I repeat, it must not, leave this room. Okay?"
A bit intimidated by how unexpectedly serious the Grand Marshall sounded, Luke and Leia carefully nodded.
Jaral crossed her hands in front of her, maintaining a calm and patient appearance as she said what she had to.
"You two are actually twins."
She expected Luke and Leia to widen their eyes, at the very least. Yet, they looked only slightly confused. Then slowly turned their heads at each other, scrutinizing reciprocally.
"That sounds...right?" Luke asked with uncertainty.
"I would be inclined to deny such thing, but…" Leia started, then they turned their heads back at the Jedi in front of them. "Somehow, it's like I knew that all along."
The Bridgers looked at each other and exchanged a relieved lopsided grin.
"Then I guess that's the proof we need." Jaral added again to the newfound twins. "The Force is telling you that this is true."
The Skywalkers needed a few seconds to elaborate all of this.
"But...why did Ben hide this from me?" Luke asked.
"Perhaps he was going to tell you now if...well, if he didn't die." Jaral justified.
"We know that you were separated to hide you from the Emperor." Ezra said. "Which makes sense. Until a couple of years ago, the Empire had the Inquisitors to find every Force sensitive child in the galaxy."
"Oh, yeah, I heard something about them." Leia confirmed. "But wait...it made sense to hide on a backwater world, like they did with Luke. Why was I given to the Royal Family of Alderaan? Why I haven't shown any hint that I could be Force sensitive?"
Jaral shrugged. "We don't know why you were separated like that. Perhaps Bail and his wife simply wanted a daughter?"
"As for why you didn't show signs, is probably because you lived in a court, with many rules and etiquette to keep you in line." Ezra hypothesized.
Leia raised an eyebrow in confusion. "What do you mean?"
"Between the two of us," Ezra explained. "I was the one who showed signs of being able to use my powers. Whenever I found myself in danger, or in a desperate situation, that was when I was able to use my abilities, even though I wasn't aware, at the time.
"In short, as Master Kenobi said, to use the Force you must be willing to let yourself go to it. Which means that I was the impulsive hothead while my sis was the big brain of the two, thus she took a while to realize that she could use the Force, too." he ended with a quip.
"You're still a bit of a hothead." Jaral quipped back, making even the twins chuckle.
Then a short silence followed, as Leia and Luke tried to decide what they wanted to do with this whole situation.
"Well…" Luke started. "this is a lot to take in. I'm gonna need some time to adjust."
"Of course." Jaral said in a comprehensive tone. "We just thought you two deserved to know it."
"And I'm grateful." Leia said with a smile. Then she turned to Luke and extended a hand with a joyful expression. "Nice to meet you...brother."
Luke looked at the hand for a second, then chuckled, shook it and returned the greeting.
"Nice to meet you...sister."
Then they couldn't hold back a subtle laughter and they hugged almost instinctively, while the other couple of siblings looked with a satisfied smile.
There was still the issue of the real identity of their father, but for now, Ezra and Jaral had decided that the Skywalkers weren't ready to receive it, yet, and that wasn't the appropriate moment.
When Luke and Leia turned toward the Bridgers, Jaral spoke up again.
"Good to see you took it positively. Now, though, I think it's time to discuss the possibility of training you as Jedi."
Luke simply shrugged. "I already thought you would help me...I mean, please, will you help me?"
"Don't worry, Luke. Though, my rank in the Rebellion doesn't leave me much time for my own training, so Ezra will take care of you."
The two young men exchanged a gaze of understanding.
"Looks like I'll be in your care...Master." Luke said, joking a bit.
Ezra chuckled. "Come on, I've just become a Knight. See me more of a...senior student, yeah. A senior student that will help you with your studies as much as he can."
"I think it's more than enough."
Jaral then turned toward the other woman in the room. "Leia. I suppose you'll have a lot to do, since many will expect you to take your father's place. But if you ever want to study the ways of the Force, you can always join them."
Leia nodded in agreement. "We'll see what it will come out of this. For now, we need to focus on the Death Star, I say."
Jaral nodded as well. "Don't worry, I have a plan. For now, let's enjoy ourselves a bit until we reach our territory." the Grand Marshall concluded as Ezra opened the door again and they all went back to the lounge.