Chapter 34: Old Batch
October 16, 2227.
Ezra observed on the side as his father manipulated the galaxy map to check the ETA to Pabu. The display then indicated 6 minutes and 34 seconds, so Jordan brought his wrist near his mouth. "Vetra, prepare the landing party."
"Right away, Major." the turian woman replied.
"ARMA, what can you tell us about this planet?" Ezra kindly asked.
"The surface is mostly composed of ocean, with 29.352 islands large enough to sustain a small settlement or larger." the AI replied. "It is supposed to have a few mineral deposits, but so far, none of the major powers considered exploiting it, since it is so far away from civilized space. It has become a haven for refugees and fugitives since the beginning of the Empire, and we know about it because many still elect it as a fleeing destination."
"What could the Consortium want from this place?" Jordan wondered.
"We'll have to find out ourselves. Let's call Omega in the conference room, I want to speak with her." the Jedi Master asked.
Not long after his wish was granted. As father and son stood at the table with Rex, Omega and the other leaders of this expedition: Jaden, Katooni and the latter's new apprentice, Widi.
The Constantinople was participating only because Jordan had the authority of a Spectre and the ship was waiting any assignment after giving the crew more than ten days of R&R. The crew did not hesitate to sign up for this mission when they heard this was about helping refugees.
Darvos could not come, because Pabu was technically a neutral world and he would need the authorization from the government to go there, besides, Ezra and Jaral had noticed that he was still quite shocked and emotionally confused after seeing Iulius' marriage dumped on him. On the other hand, he could easily grant Rex some of the many days of shore leave that he had never used, so he could join the crew.
Technically, though, this entire mission was an endeavor of the Jedi Order answering a request for help. In the hangar bay, Zare and Jai were ready with a squad of Peacekeepers, as the Jedi Militia had been recently renamed. Dhara had a medical ship following suit and ready to intervene once the anticipated fight was over.
"Okay, Omega. You gave us your story so far," he started. "But I need you to be honest with me, here. Do you have any idea why the Consortium would be interested in Pabu?"
"My friend Lyana said that they took my brothers. I honestly can't think why. They have been living there peacefully for twenty years, now, it's impossible they got themselves involved with them."
"Maybe they just want to set their operations there." Katooni suggested. "We already know Zann has his hands on several refugee camp. Perhaps the clones tried to rebel and they were taken away."
"That...that I would believe." Omega said in resignation.
"Why you didn't look for me before?" Rex asked curious. "At least we could've kept an eye on the planet."
"Of course I knew you were around, but I decided that I would give my contribution against the Empire while laying low, so Hunter and the others could be safe. Enlisting as a pilot for the logistical division seemed the best option."
"I suppose you have a map of the main island?" Jordan asked patiently.
Omega lit up her omni-tool and sent the file to the projector, showing the main inhabited island of the planet. It was clearly a giant rock, with a huge difference in height and covered in small houses all over.
"It's not a fortress, but it is difficult to storm directly." the female clone said.
"We can't just drop on top of their heads. Especially since we don't know what they have stationed there." Rex said.
"Whatever they have, we can slip past them." Jordan replied confidently.
"Ehm, Dad? Even by flying low, they can easily spot us with a binocular."
"We're not going to fly just over the water. We're going to fly under the water."
Everyone looked surprised for a moment.
"What?" Jaden asked.
"People tend to forget that the Kodiaks can resist ten atmospheres of pressure. We'll be slower, but we can reach the pier without them noticing and disembark there. Then we can fight our way up to the top, where they will presumably have their command center."
"That's solid enough. I see there are two trails leading to the top?" Ezra asked to Omega.
"Yes."
"We will total 24, split inside the Kodiaks. Me and Jaden will go with the first team and take the clockwise approach, Katooni and Widi go with the second team."
"I sure hope the civilians stay in their homes." Katooni commented. "We should avoid using explosives, too."
"It won't be easy, but remember: the Force is our ally. We only need to listen to her." Ezra reassured.
"Yes. Master."
"Widi, remember to always listen to your teacher, and don't take useless risks." he then recommended.
"Yes, Master Ezra." the young Selkath replied.
"Rut to Bridger, we're leaving hyperspace. I'm detecting the first Consortium forces." the helmsman announced on the intercom.
The Bridgers rushed to the cockpit. The ship had already entered the orbit of Pabu and the optical sensors were enhancing their focus on two frigates.
But first, Ezra took a moment to appreciate the beauty of the planet itself. "I see why many people decided to escape here."
"Yeah, let's make sure it returns a paradise." Jordan commented before leaning on the back of Rut's seating. "It's only those two?"
"Scanners only picked up a transport leaving orbit." ARMA notified. "But yes, only those two Interceptor-IV frigates are patrolling the access to Pabu."
"Seems like the Consortium doesn't think too much of this place." Rut commented.
"Or they may have fewer resources to spare than we thought." Jordan replied. "In any case, this plays in our favor. Can you take out those two?"
"Sir, I'm offended that you would even think that those junks constitute any threat to the Constantinople and me. We'll wait until you start the blitz, then we'll take care of them."
"That's the spirit." Jordan replied confidently, giving Rut a pat on the shoulder before turning around and motioning Ezra to reach the hangar bay with him.
They quickly relayed the plan to the landing teams and split up the roles, preparing for the literal dive into the planet.
"Da-da."
"Pa-pa." Darvos corrected with much joy.
Samira stood immobile for a moment and tried again. "Pa...pa."
"Yes!" the man exploded.
"Pa-pa!" the toddler replied waving her little arms.
Darvos laughed loudly and lifted her from the carpet she was seated on. The baby laughed too, with a voice that Darvos could never get tired of and he lifted her in the air, making a spin before landing on the couch again, holding his daughter close.
"Having fun, I see."
He turned toward the threshold of the living room and found his wife leaning on the wall as she was peeking inside.
Darvos chuckled. "Very." and looked at her while she sat next to them. "I don't want to waste a single moment I can spend with her."
He said that and focused back on Samira, holding her little hands and making her arms wave a little. However, he forgot that his wife could see right through his emotions.
"Can we talk about the other day?" she asked firmly, yet gently.
Darvos feigned keeping up his smile, then sighed.
"Was it so shocking that Iulius found somebody to love?" she asked.
"No, that's not the problem." he defended. "Rather, I'm happy he did. It's just...it made me wonder just how absurd and frustrating our situation is. I mean, the only thing keeping us apart is politics and...I hate this!" he then blurted out.
"Pa-pa?" Samira asked dumbfounded. She was looking at him, clearly wondering why his humor had changed so much.
"Oh...I'm so sorry, Sam-"
He was interrupted when his daughter jumped on his chest and grappled around it in what was clearly a hug.
He sighed and smiled at her. "Is she Force-sensitive, already?"
Jaral chuckled. "She definitely has a spark, but she hasn't started lifting the dishes while we eat, yet."
"That would be the worst way to find out. Think of the cleaning." he joked.
Jaral laughed, then leaned her head on the arm that she was putting on the back of the couch.
"Still…" he resumed. "I find myself wondering how our lives would have been if there was no Empire, no war…"
He suspended his thoughts, so Jaral brought up her own answer. "Well, if you had no reason to run from your house, we would probably have never met."
"Nah," he replied safely. "I mean, I met you guys purely on luck when I wasn't even thinking of running. Maybe we would've met up at school."
"And if the old Jedi Order was still up and running, me and Ezra would have been shipped far away from Lothal and never allowed to have romantic relations. How does that sound?"
Darvos thought on it for a moment, then acknowledged the joke. "Okay, that is a scary thought."
"We can't change the past, Darv." she said, reaching his hand. "We can only work toward shaping the future we want."
A short silence, broken only by Samira starting to snore, followed.
"Will there be a future where I can finally see my brother and mother again?" he asked.
"We'll make sure of it." Jaral reassured. "Now…" she added as she slipped right next to him and leaned on his body, reaching both him and Samira with an arm. "I feel like we don't get enough moments like this one, and I want to savor it."
She relaxed and leaned her head on his shoulder, using it as a pillow before closing her eyes with a pleased expression on her face.
Darvos smiled and huffed amused. He realized that he had craved for sharing moments like this with the two most important people of his life, too.
"News from Ezra?" he then asked.
"Let's leave the war to the boys, for now." she replied carefree.
Ezra quickly jolted, putting his lightsaber in front of his right side before the disruptor shot arrived on his armor. Rex intervened right after that to instead bullseye the mercenary right in the chest, making him grunt in pain before falling down.
Ezra then called Katooni on the comlink. "This is Ezra, we have reached the final level before the mountain top."
"Acknowledged, we are taking care of the last ones on our part."
Ezra motioned his team to move up as he led the way. Without any resistance left, they reached the top of the mountain, where the pirates had their transports waiting and were loading it up in an attempt to escape.
Another shooting followed up, with Ezra's team easily cutting down the number of mercenaries, who were clearly not used to fight professional, well-equipped soldiers. Soon enough, only their leader was left and he rushed inside the cargo bay of the transport. Ezra, Rex, Omega and Jordan followed suit, but they quickly found the Nikto mercenary holding a woman with dark skin in front of her, his pistol aimed at her head.
"Throw your weapons!" the pirate barked.
"Lyana!" Omega instead exclaimed preoccupied.
"Omega." the woman replied both fearful and hopeful.
"I said throw your weapons!" the merc insisted.
Ezra deactivated his saber and signaled his comrades to lower their weapons. As he clipped his saber back to his belt and rose his arms, but he didn't dematerialize his armor. The others put their weapons on the floor and also rose their arms.
"I warn you: your fleet has already turned to dust. If you think you can keep the upper hand for more than five minutes, I suggest you reconsider." Ezra calmly said.
"Shut up!" the merc replied. "I'll take you to Tyber Zann. He'll at least overlook the loss of this investment."
At that point, Ezra noticed that a crate behind the alien was moving and silently started to lift. Realizing that either Jaden or Katooni were trying something, he decided to keep that man's attention focused on him.
"What kind of investment? Capturing four old clones?"
"Yes. And that one, too." he said, nodding toward Omega. He then turned his head toward the general direction of the cockpit. "Take us aw-"
A loud slam suddenly filled the air, along with the vision of the mercenary ran over by a flying crate, with an angle that threw him away while leaving Lyana unscathed.
"Get to the cockpit!" Jordan promptly told Rex while he jumped to restrain the merc. The alien struggled to get out, but the Legionnaire had no problem holding him down as if he was trapped below a mechanical arm.
The old clone grabbed his pistol and rushed to the cockpit. Ezra followed and the two pilots quickly realized that it was time to surrender.
As Rex dragged those two out, Ezra stopped again in the cargo bay, where Omega and Lyana were sharing a hug to comfort each other, and he heard them talk.
"Omega. I didn't know if you had received my message."
"I had to call for backup, but here I am. Lyana, what happened here?"
"Hold on, I want to see my father, first."
The young woman ran outside, toward one of the few houses around the central square that was used as a parking lot for spaceships. She tried to open the door, which was locked, a soldier hacked the lock and she could finally go in, emerging a few moments later with a middle-aged man leaning on her for support and a few other people.
Omega appeared to recognize the man, too, and Ezra quickly guessed who that might be.
"Shep, are you all right?"
"I'm fine, Omega, thanks. I suppose we have to thank you and your...friends?" he asked politely, leaning his head to look at Ezra.
"You must be mayor Hazard. Greetings. I am Ezra Bridger, of the Jedi Order."
Hazard looked a little dreamy at first, then he chuckled. "I can't remember when it was the last time I heard those words. I am so grateful you came to help us, Master Bridger."
"It's just our duty. What happened? When did the Consortium come here?"
"Three rotations ago. Lyana just managed to send that message before they cut all communications."
"Omega said they took away her brothers. Can you confirm it?"
Shep sighed. "Unfortunately, yes. At first we thought they just wanted to use Pabu as a base, but they were also clearly looking for the clones. I don't know where they shipped them."
"We have their ship and one of their commanders: we'll figure that out. A ship of our Order is arriving with medicines and troops. They will help you while we make sure the Consortium is driven out of this region."
"I always hoped we could make Pabu a peaceful and weaponless place...but the universe has showed me twice that it's impossible."
"Not impossible, mister Hazard." Ezra reassured. "It's just too early to think about it. That said, what could they want from the clones."
"We don't know." Lyana said. "But one of them, Echo, has left a few days ago and he was supposed to return today. I'm worried he might have been the first victim."
"Okay. Thank you for your telling me. Now you better tend to your wounds." Ezra concluded.
The Hazards nodded and walked away, leaving Ezra to reach his father, who was talking with someone on the comlink.
"But we're in the middle of...All right. Tell them we'll be on our way." he said before noticing his son and turning around.
"Something wrong?" the Jedi asked.
"I got new orders: the Constantinople is to escort Tristan to the Citadel for his meeting with the Emperor."
Ezra was surprised at first, then remembered that the date of the meeting was in fact approaching. "Is it really necessary that you go? I mean, I'm sure Tristan wouldn't even mind going on with a caravan of his own."
"Yeah, that's what I thought, but I doubt His Majesty wants to simply say hello. Whatever it is, he gave me a direct order and I can't ignore it."
"Of course not. I guess I'll see if I can convince the Republic to lend us Darvos or Hera. I feel like something big is at work, here."
October 18, 2227.
Iulius woke up to the first lights gently penetrating the windows. He and his wife were still keeping their arms around each other, so the first thing that got his senses was the sweet aroma of her hair. He looked down and saw her, still tenderly clinging on him and pressing her head on his chest. He passed a hand briefly on her bare back, indulging on the feeling of her smooth skin.
He then decided to get up. He gently slipped out of her embrace and Namedra groaned happily without waking up, though it wouldn't probably take long before that happened.
He put up his clothes and left the room, heading for the kitchen. Along the way, he encountered the Astartes as they were patrolling one of the corridors.
"Good morning, Lord Tanis." the female twin greeted.
"Good morning. Got any problem tonight?" Iulius asked politely.
"Aside from local fauna roaming the courtyard, nothing to report." Morit replied.
"Glad to hear that. Maybe you should go rest before we go back to the capital."
"Don't worry about us. We can rest once you are back to base. Surrounded by an entire army." Aiolin joked.
"All right, your choice." the Lord-Protector replied in tone and left them to their duties.
He entered the dining room, which had a small kitchen on the side and was mostly dominated by the splendid view of the outside terrace over the Bavel Lake, the final destination of the honeymoon before going back to work. Over the terrace he spotted two of the additional Death Troopers that had been added to his security detail, he made a quick salute to which they replied as they kept patrolling.
He went on to prepare breakfast for both of them, and he had just finished heating up the caf when Namedra entered the room, already wearing her trekking clothing.
"Rise and shine!" she greeted happily.
He smiled back. "Already so lively? What's going to happen after all of this?" he quipped, pointing at the meal.
"I'm just excited. It doesn't mean I'm not hungry." she replied in tone.
"Right. Will you open the door, please?" he asked as he grabbed the heavy tray and Namedra didn't wait to comply, opening the large glass door to the terrace. The morning breeze welcomed them as they sat at the table.
They consumed breakfast, enjoying the atmosphere of that place, so far away from the capital and the many obligations of their lives. Later on, they had a brief excursion on a trail around the lake programmed.
"It's so peaceful, here." Namedra commented with a delighted expression.
"Maybe one day, the whole galaxy will be like this." Iulius said. "And we can live the rest of our days going around without being worried about a war."
Namedra hummed positively, yet that was a delicate topic to both of them.
Both of them were aware that the situation was far from optimistic: the Mid Rim forces were exhausted after Ringo Vinda and the losses of the last general offensive. Coruscant was giving an unnatural amount of resources to the development of the Death Star, leaving its first line of defense to fend for itself while the Coalition was building up its strength for a new offensive.
If that wasn't enough, the Zann Consortium and other criminal empires were openly at war, and they were also prying on the precarious situation of the Mid Rim to raid convoys and resources of the outer imperial worlds.
They both knew that the coming year was going to be a very uncertain one. At least, after the battle of Yavin, the Empire was giving Iulius everything he needed, now it seemed like the Emperor wanted to assert control once and for all only through the new battle station, no matter what would be lost in the meantime.
Still, Namedra reached his hand across the table and gently rubbed her thumb on it. "You will make it. Of that, I am sure."
"Your trust is...touching." Iulius replied tenderly. "Come on. We have some time before we return to the gloomy affairs of life." he then said, standing up.
Namedra smiled and stood up. "I second that completely."
They cleaned the table and then headed out for their excursion, even if they were preceded and followed by their escort.
October 21, 2227.
The navicomputer of the Consortium's cargo led the group to the planet Ventooine, which gave its name to the local star system. It was an isolated planet, only partially inhabited by a local population half made up of Humans and then various species. But since the local government was small, it usually focused on defending its few cities than policing the wilderness. As such, it was a safe haven for smugglers and people who didn't want to deal with other galactic entities.
The Silver Bullet and the Ghost had left hyperspace just outside the possible range of local sensors and Ezra was just linking the new AI to the ship.
"All right, ARMA. Time to show us what you can do. Mask our signal."
"I won't fail you, Master Bridger." the AI replied quite determined.
"If you want to get along with me, drop the titles. I'm just Ezra." the Master replied.
"Of course, I'm sorry." she said back.
"You know, Dad told me about your...preoccupations." Ezra reassured. "But you don't have to prove anything. Jinx might have had a personal value to me, but I know you can do his job much better, and you've already proven it on Pabu. I trust you."
The AI made a huff of relief. "Okay, that's quite a lot. Masking our signal."
Ezra then turned toward the comlink and pushed the button. "Ghost, you got anything on your scope?"
"We are scanning the landing coordinates. There is a single structure made with a prefab, but I think it could be just a cover for an underground facility." Kallus reported.
"Copy that. Me and Jaden will go on recon and find a proper landing zone." the Master decided. "Rex, you got the controls."
"Yes, sir."
Ezra and his former second apprentice headed toward the cargo bay, from which they planned to jump down once the freighter would reach the surface, and Omega halted in their way.
"Ezra, let me come with you, please." she asked without hesitation.
"You're going in with the team, anyway, Omega. Just be patient."
"Those are my brothers in there!" she objected.
"My sister has been taken by the Empire once. My parents had been in the same custody for ten years, so trust me when I know what you are feeling like and that your reactions are far from good." the Jedi replied severely.
It might have been the two examples that made Omega feel like she had no sort of moral high ground to keep making her demand, so she sighed defeated. Ezra then reached her shoulder in a conciliatory tone.
"We are going to retake your brothers and whoever is in that structure, but I need you to follow the plan."
Omega nodded.
"Trust me, Omega." Rex said from his co-pilot seat. "The boys couldn't be in better hands, right now."
The female clone eventually gave up and stepped aside. The Jedi reached the cargo bay, where Katooni and Widi were preparing to accompany the team of Peacekeepers that were going to rappel from there while the Ghost provided air cover.
"We got a possible underground facility of the Consortium." he said to the group. "Me and Jaden are scouting ahead, but you guys be ready for anything once we get inside."
"Don't worry about us, Ezra." Zare said confidently. "But we should do this job quickly: we don't have official ties with the Ventooine government."
"Yeah. I wouldn't be surprised if Zann already has them in his pocket." Jai seconded.
That was another delicate subject: this operation was clandestine. Hera, Zeb and Kallus were actually taking a huge risk being there, even if their mission had been approved by Mon Mothma.
"Let's just stick to destroy a pirate base. Whatever backlash there might be, we can live it out."
"Ezra…" Katooni said with a tone that Ezra recognized. "Do you feel...something, coming from that place?"
He was actually glad that he wasn't the only one. "So you noticed, too. Yes, there is a Force signature coming from the surface."
"I didn't feel anything." Jaden said a little surprised.
"Try to focus a little more." Ezra invited.
The Twi'lek closed her eyes and obeyed her teacher, under the curious gaze of the soldiers. Not long after, she opened her eyes quickly and wide. "You're right."
"What's up?" Jai asked.
"We are now sure that there are more prisoners than the clones, down there." Ezra explained. "We'll have to find them, as well."
"Ezra, we're two kliks from the base. It's too risky to get closer." Rex reported on the Intercom.
"Copy that, take us down. Come on, Jaden."
"Right behind you, Master."
The two reached the main ramp and opened it, finding out that the Bullet was hovering over a lawn in the middle of a forest. It was too little to land, but it would provide them some visual cover from the Consortium's base. The two looked at each others, nodded and jumped down, using the Force to attenuate their landing. Ezra then sent a ping to Rex via his omni-tool and the Bullet flew away, out of sight of the enemy base and waiting for an opportunity to strike.
Using the cover of the trees, the Jedi reached the prefab, which was built onto another small field, hard to track from orbit and they quickly spotted only two guards lazily sitting in front of the entrance.
They both thought of the same thing: yank those two to them with the Force and then stun-shot them while in midair. The mercs barely had the time to scream for the surprise before they were out of commission.
Ezra and Jaden quickly reached the door. The one of the prefab was easy to open, then, as expected, they found a large corridor formed as a slope that went downward.
"Rex. We took the entrance, commence the attack."
"Coming about." the clone replied.
In ten seconds, the Gauntlet rumbled over the prefab. The racks opened and the team rappelled down.
The strike team quickly reached the main door, ARMA hacked it with ease and even made a map of the entire facility just by analyzing the electrical grid. Ezra complimented her and they proceeded with the raid. They quickly encountered the first sentinels, who had not been warned since the sensors of the base had been jammed by ARMA and the local commander was only starting to realize that something was off.
Still, the facility was quite big.
"We should split up." Ezra said. "Katooni, Jai, Omega you head for the prison and find the clones."
"Where are you going?" the other Knight asked.
"I want to see what's this circular room. I have a strange feeling about it." he replied pointing at the room, sitting at the north-eastern edge of the facility. "Zare, you and your squad come with us."
"Lead the way, Ez." his friend replied.
Katooni and Widi thus headed toward the cells with Omega and three of the Peacekeepers, while the other half followed Ezra and Jaden.
By now, the mercenaries had realized that something was off and the garrison was on high alert, but they still didn't know how many people were inside the base, so their reaction was basically non-existent. Both Jedi teams could thus proceed to their objectives, only encountering small patrols that were quickly neutralized by the trained troopers and the skills of the Jedi.
"Ezra, come in." Katooni suddenly said.
"Go ahead."
"We found Omega's brothers in the cells...and a sister."
"A sister?"
"Yes. She confirmed that there are more prisoners in that circular room. You better hurry, before the mercs start having ideas."
"We're on our way."
Two minutes later, his squad was in front of a reinforced door. After Zare and one of his men shot the two guards, Ezra linked ARMA to the socket and the AI quickly deactivated both the force field and the locks of the door.
Thus, the group entered into the room, and they were immediately assailed by a nauseating stench. Jaden made a disgusted grunt and tried to hold her breath. Ezra entered inside with his armor on and the saber ready for a fight, but when he had the time to give a good look inside, he felt a chill running inside his stomach.
The room was poorly kept. Dirt, rubbish and dust were all around. The room was large, and it had a series of twelve cells with full doors all around the walls.
Ezra approached the first one and used the peephole, and his worst fear about that place came to realization as he saw a child, maybe five years old, wearing ragged clothing, his skin pale and his eyes tired.
"Open all the doors, now!" Ezra yelled to his companions before he stabbed the one in front of him, melting the lock.
The group immediately obeyed and the truth was laid bare for all of them.
"By the Force…" Jaden said with a terrified voice.
Ezra approached the child, whose eyes were both confused and hopeful in seeing somebody new. He dematerialized his armor so the kid could see his real face.
"It's okay. We're here to get you home." the Jedi said tenderly, kneeling down and extending a hand.
"Home?" the child said, as if that word meant almost nothing.
"Home. Come on, take my hand." Ezra invited.
The child came down from what was supposed to be his bunk bed and walked to Ezra, barely standing on his own. The Master then finally realized that those kids were all Force-sensitives.
He brought the kid outside, where the squad was gathering the rest of them. They were all children, one was even a little more than a toddler and he seemed relatively in good shape, probably because he had been there for a short time. All the others didn't go past the age of five.
"Ezra, some of them are too weak to walk on their own." Zare noticed.
"Then good thing we're here."
Ezra turned and saw Katooni enter the room with Widi, Omega, her team and a group of four men with the same face, even if one was quite hulking.
"Master...what happened to them?" the young Padawan asked with barred eyes.
Katooni put a hand on his shoulder. "This is the regard these pirates have for life, my Padawan. Now, though, I need you to put aside your feelings and focus on helping them, okay?"
The young Selkath gulped down, but didn't waste a moment to spring into action.
Ezra thus shifted his focus onto the group of clones. Like Rex, they were all old-looking, despite them being no more than 20. One had a bandana and his left half of the face painted in black; the huge one seemed to be blind from his right eye; another one was bald and seemed always grumpy; finally there was one with extensive cybernetics on his body.
"You must be Hunter, Wrecker, Crosshair and Echo, am I right?" he asked calmly.
The first one huffed amused. "Looks like Omega already presented us. Yes, we are the Bad Batch."
"At this point, we should start calling us the Old Batch." Wrecker said, partially joking and partially lamenting. "Back in the day, we wouldn't have let any of this happen to us."
"Then think about getting back at them." Crosshair replied.
Echo was instead more focused on the children, looking at them with a horrified expression.
"These kids...it's like Tantiss all over again." he said.
"It wasn't your fault, Echo." the other female clone said to try and console him. "Clearly, they have been here longer than us."
"Who are you?" Ezra asked cordially.
"Right, sorry. My name is Emerie. I'll be glad to answer all your questions once we get out of this place."
"On that, I agree." Ezra replied before using his comlink to reach the ships. "Rex, Hera, do you copy?"
"I read you, boss."
"Go ahead."
"We have a problem: the mercs were holding twelve children as prisoners, and some of them are too weak to move. We need one of you to land so we can load them up."
"We spotted a more open space 900 meters east of your position. We can't possibly land anywhere else." Hera reported.
"Copy that. Wait for us there."
Ezra then turned toward the clones. "Omega, you and your brothers protect the children."
The woman nodded and turned to the Batch. "Do you guys feel like holding a weapon again?"
"Was there any doubt?" Crosshair asked with his strangely hissing tone.
"Everyone, we need to reach a landing zone to allow the Bullet to load up the prisoners. Jai, Zare, form a column and protect them. Me, Jaden, Katooni and Widi will fan out and make sure to intercept any possible enemy patrol still lurking in the forest."
October 22, 2227.
"The vote is unanimous." the Speaker of the Senate pronounced. "The New Republic will henceforth consider the Zann Consortium a terrorist group, whose influence on the galaxy must be fought by any means necessary."
The camera then indulged once again on Ezra, Rex and the group of three children who had been brought inside the session to show what the Consortium was doing on Ventooine. Their scars and deformations, which they had refused treatment for in order to present a full evidence, had convinced everyone to vote in favor of this motion.
It was a victory, but Jaral didn't feel like smiling at it. For once, they still didn't know what the Consortium was trying to do with the clones and the Force-sensitive kids. According to Ezra's tale, Emerie Karr had forwarded the idea that Zann was trying to create an army of clones that could use the Force, and she reported that the methods of experimenting were the same used by Project Necromancer, to which the Jedi agreed.
But the base on Ventooine was just a prison. There were probably other surviving clones and kids trapped somewhere else. Since the incident on Pabu, Darvos had put the ICO at work to find a connection and it had turned out that there had been several kidnappings denounced around the galaxy in the last months, but nobody had taken a look at the bigger picture.
"As if the Death Star wasn't enough." she murmured by herself, or perhaps she thought that Samira could understand her, but she was sleeping on her mother's lap, at the moment.
Then the door of her house beeped.
"Come in." she said, and the IV opened the door, letting in all the Masters of the Order.
"Excuse us." Ahsoka said in a friendly tone.
"Make yourselves comfortable." Jaral replied with a smile, indicating the table of the dining room which had been provided with more chairs to accommodate her and her guests.
Jaral carefully laid Samira on the couch, letting her sleep while she could finally stand up and go greet the others: Kota, Ahsoka and Cal. Those three were the ones who had been officially recognized by the rest of the Order as new Masters, for training their own Padawans all the way to knighthood.
"Master Yoda couldn't make it?" she asked a little worried.
Kota sighed discouraged. "More like he didn't want to make it. He doesn't feel like he has anything useful to add when we discuss politics."
Jaral nodded. Everybody had noticed that Yoda's health had started to deteriorate, lately: he coughed ever more and he grew more tired by the day. Considering that, it was actually impressive that he still found the strength to train the younglings and retain his wisdom.
"All right. Let's get to the point, then." she said, sitting at the edge of the table.
After everyone else had taken a seat, Jaral brought up the topic. "I have spoke with Ezra and we realized that the recent incident on Pabu showed us a valuable lesson: that we can't protect the galaxy just by sitting on Lothal."
The other Masters nodded.
"Since we already sent a garrison of Peacekeepers on Pabu, me and Ezra convened that this could be the perfect opportunity to start expanding our operations. The locals will certainly help us establish a school on one of their islands." Jaral added.
"I concur." Kota said. "There was a time when the Order had many more temples around the galaxy, not just the one on Coruscant. It will also help us to make more contact with the people as well as making it harder to wipe us all out with a single strike."
"So, I suppose you called us here to decide who would direct this new school." Ahsoka said.
"Pretty much." Jaral replied light-heartedly. "Still, it's an isolated planet. Beautiful, but setting up a logistic with the rest of the galaxy will be a long and hard work. Besides, it will be a whole different world from Lothal."
"I'll go." Cal said without hesitating, in fact he seemed to like the idea. "I always wanted to live on an island, surrounded by ocean. I know my crew is of the same advice."
"Are you sure, Cal?" Jaral asked, just to be sure.
"Totally. It might be more difficult to convince the families of the Padawans to move all the way there."
"That's true." Ahsoka said. "But, for the moment, I think it's better to wait before we send some Padawans there. That sector is still not safe, so we should stick with using some of the Knights of proper age."
The debate went on for a few more minutes, though the general idea was already decided.
"Before we leave, Jari, have you received the latest news on the Death Star?" the Togruta asked in the end.
"No, what about it?"
"My network found out where the secret hyperlane from Sullust ends up: the Endor system."
Jaral tried to remember, but then shook her head. "Doesn't ring any bell."
"It's not surprising: it's a star system at the edge of the Trailing Sectors, right before the Unknown Regions. The only inhabitable celestial body is the ninth moon of the gas giant that gives the name to it, called the Forest Moon."
"Does Darvos know it?" she asked.
"I already passed the intel to the Republic." Ahsoka replied. "Also, it appears the Empire has called this secret route 'Sanctuary Pipeline'."
A brief silence followed as the Masters pondered on this news.
"So we know where it is, finally." Cal said.
"It's still too early to feel relieved." Kota admonished. "Let's leave the recon to the military while we focus on finding out what Zann is plotting."
"I agree." Jaral said. "All right, Cal. Pabu is yours. I guess you have a lot of work on your hands, now."
"If that leads to a beach house, it'll be worth it." Cal concluded optimistically.