Chapter 35: Veterans
November 1, 2227.
It had taken more than anticipated to arrange the meeting, but finally the Constantinople docked at the hangar of the Presidium, where the Imperial Guard had prepared a company to greet the guest before he would reach the Emperor and his Advisors.
The hatch of the frontal door opened and the first to come out was the captain of the ship, Major Bridger, escorting out Tristan Wren and his delegation of warriors and clan chiefs. The guards presented their arms and the orchestra started playing a welcoming anthem as the mandalorians passed on the red carpet, all the while they couldn't stop their heads from turning all around as their eyes marveled, like every person from Andromeda that saw the Citadel for their first time.
But after they had taken in the initial stunning, the Duke went and sported his best behavior.
"Welcome to the Milky Way, Duke of Atin." the Emperor greeted, extending a hand with a smile.
Tristan smiled back and shook it. "It is an honor to finally meet you, Your Majesty."
"Likewise, Lord Wren. Now, please allow me to show the hospitality of the Vignoli."
The mandalorians and Bridger eagerly followed the Emperor and his staff onto his personal shuttle, which then brought them down on Earth and into the Imperial Citadel in Rome. The guests looked with curiosity at that large construction, which was built so different from the rest of the metropolis and exuded such elegance but not ostentation.
They landed in the private spaceport, finding an army of attendants waiting for the delegation, with Monty waiting at the front. Francesco stepped down first and went to his majordomo.
"Monty, this is Duke Tristan Wren and his delegation. They will be in your care for as long as they're here."
"Leave it to us, my lord." the man replied before ordering the servants to escort the guests into the residential area."
Tristan then recommended his men to behave properly and treat the workers fairly.
"Lord Wren, how about you take a moment to settle down and refresh yourselves? Is almost lunchtime, and I have a very few things to finish." the Emperor then said cordially.
"Of course, Your Majesty. In fact, I am kinda hungry." Tristan replied merrily.
"Then see you later." Francesco replied with a smile. Once Tristan had turned around, the Emperor found Jordan's gaze and motioned for him to follow, then they reached the monarch's office.
Inside the office were already the other two people he intended to talk with about the next move in Andromeda: the Shepards.
"Admiral. Captain." Jordan greeted.
"Actually, I got promoted, too." Jane quipped. "You're not leaving me behind, Jordan."
The Legionnaire chuckled. "Of course not."
"Please, take a seat." Francesco invited everyone while he reached his side of the desk.
When everyone was comfortable, the Emperor spoke up. "Major Bridger, could you please update us on the status of this new Death Star?"
"I'm afraid there isn't much to say: we know it exists, we know it's being built in the Endor system, but we have no idea about its current status. We do know that nearly half of the Core fleet has been assigned to defend it." Jordan reported dutifully.
"Half? What about the Mid Rim?" John asked quite dubious.
"That's the point: Palpatine doesn't seem to care anymore. My kids are convinced that he wants to complete this battle station and, maybe, he thinks he will the war automatically."
"Right. Because last time it went so well." Jane noted sarcastically.
"It's safe to assume they are improving it greatly, especially to prevent another Yavin to occur." Francesco said. "But yes, this provides us with an opportunity to deal another severe blow to the Empire. If we can not only destroy the Death Star, but all the ships protecting it, the balance of power will tilt decisively in our favor."
"It would also be a bloodbath, though." Jordan pointed out. "If I may, sir, Ezra and Jaral are convinced that, given enough time, Emperor Palpatine himself will transfer aboard this new Death Star. If we strike at the right moment, we can wipe him out, as well."
"Do they have any proof to this?" John asked.
"Only their connection to the Force, which is enough for me ." the Legionnaire replied with no hesitation.
"Excuse me?" the Admiral insisted.
"Remember, Dad, that the Bridgers liberated Lothal by using telepathy, and they know Palpatine much better than us." Jane intervened.
John hummed thoughtfully, maybe not entirely convinced.
"His history shows that Sheev Palpatine is an extremely skilled manipulator, but also overly-confident." Francesco patiently assessed. "The strategy of the Jedi has some merit. That is why I want you two to go back to Andromeda and assist our allies." he added to the Shepards.
The two had likely figured that out already and didn't show any surprise.
"I have nothing against it, but, do we actually have the numbers for such an ambitious attack? I doubt the Empire will just wait for our move." John pointed out.
"That is already taken care of." Francesco stated with a hushed tone, then he took a more decisive voice. "Tomorrow, the Parliament will vote for a total mobilization."
The three officers now were a little surprised.
"So we're going all in?" Jordan asked.
"Yes. The Turian and the Krogan have a large pool of reservists, which will make the bulk of this new wave of personnel. But Humans, Asari, Salarians and everyone else will also have to provide a certain number of new recruits for the Alliance.
"But we can't hope to win a war of attrition against the Empire all the same, unless a major change occurs. One way or another, we must deal the decisive blow by the end of next year."
The three officers received those words with a taut silence. For the first time after 40 years, the Federation was about to mobilize its entire economy and population in a final effort to end a war. The upcoming year promised to be the one where everything would be decided, with the lives of billions at stake.
Francesco made a silent huff. The pressure of this decision was mostly on his heart, as he knew that he was gambling with the life of his own nation For a moment he wondered if that was how his mother felt during the Reaper War.
"Okay, let's shift for a moment to the matter at hand." he then said, reacquiring his composure. "Do you know why the mandalorians asked for this meeting, Major?"
"They clearly stated that they want to liberate their worlds on their own, so they're not here to ask reinforcements." Jordan calmly explained. "But they might need some cash money to buy weapons. And in case you were wondering, yes: Tristan would like to ask that we send the Guardians to revitalize Mandalore once they take the planet back."
"Wasn't the planet blasted harder than Tuchanka?" Jane asked.
"There is always the possibility that the Empire missed a spot, and the Guardians can find some plants to start the restoration. But yes, the surface is more lifeless than Hades."
"Well, if that's all they need, we can easily grant it to them." Francesco said relieved before standing up. "Now, I'm starting to get hungry. Would like to join our mess?"
"Don't mind if we do." John replied merrily.
November 4, 2227.
Mira and the two nurses behind her rushed inside the Atin house where he found Moreena waiting for her.
"This way." the red-haired woman said and they ran toward Asha's chamber.
"How long has been?" she asked along the way.
"Nearly half-an hour, but the frequency of the contraptions has spiked immediately, there was no time to take her to the hospital."
"Got it. Nahira, get the meds ready. Gresh, prepare the scanner." Mira instructed the Human and Aqualish women.
"Yes, Doctor." Gresh said.
They finally entered the bedroom, where some midwives were assisting the Duchess. Among them, Jaral was at the head, comforting Asha with the Force and Sabine was on the other hand as moral support.
"Mom. She just went into full labor!" she alerted.
"Okay, then let's waste no time."
And time was not wasted. The nurses immediately went to their assigned task while Mira started talking with Asha, taking information and guiding the entire procedure. Following Jaral's advice, Asha had already started breathing heavily and regularly, and she let out a scream only at the final push, when the baby finally came out screaming his lungs out and Mira grabbed him.
"Here he is." she said with a tone that was used to scenes like that, but always glad to be a part of them. She gently handed the child to the mother, who was tired but immensely satisfied.
Asha had Jaral and Sabine help her lean into a more seated position and brought the kid to her chest.
"You see this, Tristan?" she asked on the opposite side from Mira.
The doctor was puzzled, then turned in that direction and realized that there was a little droid projecting Tristan's face into a holo-screen.
"Oh, Tristan. I didn't see you there." Mira greeted.
"I thought it would be better to leave it to the professionals." Tristan said with respect and a large smile. "You have my thanks, Doctor Bridger."
"As you said...it's just my job." Mira replied humbly. "But, shouldn't you be talking with the Emperor?" she then asked.
"Actually, when my attendant notified me, His Majesty suspended the meeting in order to give me this chance. For which I am very grateful." Tristan explained before laying his eyes once again on his wife and his newborn son.
"Hey, don't leave us hanging!" Sabine said excited. "What's his name?"
The dukes looked at each other. They had clearly decided long ago, and now it was finally happening.
"Adevaar." Asha finally replied.
"Is there any meaning behind it?" Jaral asked curious.
"Evaar means 'blooming flower'." Sabine explained quite proudly. "Ad is a recall to the House, but he is the symbol of the rebirth of our people after a dark period."
Jaral hummed impressed. Of course, she should've guessed that a person in the position of Tristan would baptize their children with meaningful names.
"Look, Adevaar." Asha said tenderly, pointing the kid to his father as soon as he started to calm down. "Your father is over there."
The little droid approached, allowing Tristan to get a closer view.
While the first presentations of the people in the room happened, Mira went to the door and leaned over until she saw Alrich and Count Eldar, Voorneg, who had just arrived with his wife. "She's ready." she said.
The two counts didn't waste a second more and rushed inside, with the mother hurrying to go next to her daughter, Jaral left the post to her.
"Asha, are you all right?" the Countess asked affectionately.
"I'm fine, Mother." she replied, her tone still tired and overjoyed. Then she turned toward Alrich and Voorneg. "Fathers...meet Adevaar."
They both smiled. "Truly an auspicious name." Voorneg said proudly.
As a moment of silence followed, with everyone intent on enjoying the scene of the baby starting to look around, Tristan spoke up. "Cyar'ika, I need to go back to the meeting, but I can't wait to come back to you two."
"Don't worry, my love. What you're doing is important to grant our son a future." she replied merrily and humbly.
"How is it going, Tristan?" Alrich asked.
"Honestly, they care a lot about form, here. But once the talks actually start, they're straight to the point. These people are fascinating...anyways, His Majesty has already accepted. We are just defining a plan of action, like they want to send inspectors among us to make sure we don't waste their money."
"Uh. Never heard of someone doing that."
"Apparently, it's a long tradition of theirs. But it's nothing invasive, really. They'll keep an eye on our accounts to make sure that nobody puts the extra credits in their pockets."
"We'll make sure of them, Duke." Voorneg reassured. "Now go, we are waiting your return with trepidation."
"See you soon, Fathers." the Duke replied before closing the transmission.
As the attention shifted back on the new mother and her child, Mira gathered his instruments and instructed her nurses to pack up as they all needed to go back to the hospital, but first she made a stop to speak with Sabine, who was already chatting with Jaral.
"You all right, Sabine? It's almost your time for this." the doctor said wittily.
"I confess that I don't look forward to push two of them out, but I can't wait to hold them." her daughter-in-law replied in tone.
"You'll be fine, Sabine. It's much easier than it looks." Jaral reassured.
"Easy for you to say. You didn't even go through the fatigue." Sabine retorted with a joking tone.
"Trust me, darling," Mira said later. "the real challenge comes after the delivery." then she turned toward Jaral. "Just wait another couple of months with Sammy."
Jaral looked puzzled. "Why? What can be worse than waking to her crying and changing her diapers three times a day?"
Mira chuckled loudly. "Oh, my sweet, naive girl."
Then she left the room.
"All right, send my regards to them." Ezra said happily after Sabine had notified him on the comlink.
"Will do. How's the situation over there?"
"The Consortium has not retaliated, which is a good thing. Cal has just arrived to take over, I'll be on my way home soon."
"Very well, I'm waiting. Love you."
"Love you too."
Then he reached the ships parked on top of Pabu, where the Stinger Mantis was unloading the batch of Jedi that were going to open the new school: Kubari, Byph, Gungi, Chuvi and Nost.
"So, how do you like this place, guys?" Ezra asked.
It's really nice. Reminds of the beach of Kachirho. But the food is way better.Gungi roared.
"It's very peaceful, here. And there is plenty of space to host the families of new younglings." Chuvi subscribed.
"Well...provided the UACT actually helps us develop this place a little bit." Nost added. "We can't expect every city dweller to just come all the way here on an untamed planet."
"Maybe we can start with just some orphans. They wouldn't care." Kubari said, only to earn gazes from the others that shifted between stupor, cringe or frowns. "What? It's logical." he defended himself with no regrets.
"We'll think about that when the moment comes." Ezra said to wind down the awkwardness. "Right now, we should familiarize with the people of Pabu."
The group dispersed and Ezra walked toward Cal and Merrin, who were talking with the members of the Bad Batch. The clones had brought their old armors out of their lockers after the sinister adventure with the Consortium, and they were very particular: Ezra recognized that the base material and design were those of the Clone Commandos, because he remembered the armor Rex provided Jordan right after he joined the Rebellion, but those had been extensively modified.
"Didn't know you guys went to Bracca." Cal said after Hunter said something. "I was hiding there most of the time after Order 66."
"Really?" Hunter said curious. "Well, we didn't exactly stop to speak with the locals."
"And I didn't trust clones at that moment. Maybe it's better things went this way." the Jedi concluded.
"Now, you will have the chance to repair that trust." Ezra said as he walked up to the group. "We appreciate your help, guys."
Wrecker chuckled. "I kinda missed this."
"We don't mind fighting as long as is only pirates." said Echo. "I have no rush going back to fight the Empire."
"You have no obligation." Ezra reassured. "The Jedi Order is mostly focused exactly on anti-piracy and protecting the refugees all around the galaxy. We will not ask you to fight the Empire if you don't want to."
"Someone already has…" Crosshair added, turning his head toward Omega.
"I barely shot a single bolt, in the last three years." the female clone retorted.
"That might change very soon." Ezra said, lighting up his omni-tool. "ARMA finished her analysis of the data we recovered in the Consortium's base. We know that they have a hideout on Altyr V."
"Isn't that a world of the D'Astan Republic?" Cal asked.
"It is, but it's out of the main trade routes and that state doesn't have the resources to police it. The Consortium effectively controls the planet, even if in a subtle way."
"Then is it a good idea to just show up? We'll be walking right into their den." Jaden, who had just joined the briefing, asked.
"Which they probably don't expect. We should be able to get them off-guard."
"Should?" Crosshair asked sarcastically.
"It used to work for us." Hunter defended.
"Besides, it's a small outpost. We won't even be outnumbered 2 to 1." Echo said quite confidently.
"Ha! Then this will be a cakewalk!" Wrecker reacted to that information.
Seeing the confidence of the clones, Ezra was about to give the signal for them to get on the Bullet and for Cal to bring the Stinger Mantis with his crew forward as vanguards, then he noticed that Merrin was walking toward them.
"Ezra, Cal, may I speak with you for a moment?"
The two Masters looked at each other, then the older one said "Sure."
The three stepped away a bit so that the Nightsister could reveal whatever was on her mind.
"I suggest caution. I have a strange feeling, a feeling that I haven't sensed since I left Dathomir. There is Magick surrounding this project of the Consortium."
The Jedi now were feeling a little alarmed.
"Could it be that Nightsister that I met on Lianna?" Ezra wondered.
"It is most likely." Merrin replied. "But I doubt she was part of the Nightsisters. I think she came from another clan."
"Wait...there are more?" Ezra asked baffled.
"It's not something many know about." Cal explained. "But yeah, you wouldn't expect a whole planet like Dathomir to have a coven of just a few hundreds, right? The Nightsisters were the most powerful, but they weren't the only group practicing Magick."
"Ezra, do you remember her clothing, by chance?" Merrin asked, trying to solve the issue.
"ARMA, can you access the records of my omni-tool? Look for a pale-skinned woman during the attempted coup on Lianna."
"Already ahead of you!" the construct said excited and showed up a picture of the witch.
Merrin analyzed her robe and her hairstyle, her expression wasn't anticipating anything good. "It's as I thought: that woman is part of the Witches of the Mist."
"Is that so bad?" Ezra asked.
"She's not something you can't handle, but their clan is renowned for their extreme cruelty. Even the Nightsisters generally didn't want to deal with them. They live in the valleys of a mountain range in the north of Dathomir that is persistently covered in mist. They are also believed to be able to tame and control rancors."
"Oh...fantastic. You don't think she has one as a pet, right?" Cal asked.
Merrin shrugged. "While I doubt she can easily bring one from planet to planet repeatedly, I can't really tell."
"So we have to be on guard for a witch and possibly her pet rancor. Gotcha." Ezra replied with the tone of someone who was used to the worst surprises. "Now let's get moving, there might be more prisoners in this hideout."
Cal nodded to Merrin and the two headed back to the Mantis to inform Cere and Greez while Ezra headed back to the Bullet to inform the Batch and the squad of Peacekeepers that they might run into a rancor on this mission, to the delight of everybody.
November 9, 2227.
The speeder halted in front of the sport center at the right hour. Iulius walked out of it and signaled his escort to wait outside. He was wearing his uniform, because he had another meeting right after this one, but he had stripped it of the rank plaque and the epaulets.
He entered, went past the entrance corridor and reached the main field, under a relatively short roof. In the middle, there were around 20 chairs with a person on each of them.
Each of these people were in civilian clothing and missing a limb or two, others were wearing clothing that resembled the military ones. Iulius was basically the only one wearing the uniform, but each of those people were part of his exact profession.
"Welcome, Lord Tanis." the only stranger of the group, the psychologist Doctor Bezzer, greeted.
"Greetings, everyone." Iulius said cordially.
The group of veterans greeted back with hospitality and a friendly tone, as if they had forgotten they were talking to their ruler and superior, which was exactly what Iulius expected from this session.
"Please, take a seat." Bezzer invited, pointing at the only free chair left.
The Lord-Protector went and took it, sitting on it with his usual rigid posture that contrasted a lot with the others.
"So, everyone." Bezzer started once everyone was focused on the meeting. "How about we quickly present ourselves to our new member?"
The one on Iulius' right was the first to start, but the Lord-Protector actually knew him, already, because he was the one he had met on the streets a few days before and invited him there.
"Former Private First Class Uguin Yoke. I served from the battle of Lantillies until the first greenhouse of Ringo Vinda."
It just so happened that Yoke had been saved by Iulius, though the Grand Admiral didn't remember that: during the battle he had dragged many wounded to safer places, but never stopped to administer first aid or talking with anybody. Still, it was good to know that at least one of those troopers had actually made it out alive.
The others were all soldiers who had been retired because of grave wounds or were actually on shore leave. Such was the composition of the first Veteran Association that had just been founded on Naboo.
A place where the veterans could meet and share their experiences, helping each other to process the traumas that this war was scarring them with.
It wasn't a government-sponsored program. In fact, Iulius had just learned about it with his casual meeting with Yoke, but as soon as he heard about it, he instantly realized that he needed a place like that, too.
"Good. Now, I'm pretty sure our visitor needs no introduction." Bezzer said. "But nonetheless, Lord Tanis…"
Iulius rose a hand and spoke amicably. "Please...it's just Iulius, in here."
The doctor smiled. "Very well, Iulius. So what brought you to us, today?"
Iulius at first turned toward Yoke. "The short version: this fella dragged me in." he joked, earning a sincere chuckle from the group. "But the elaborated reason is...there are some things that I need to elaborate. This seemed like the perfect place."
"Good. Being honest is the first step to face any problem with clarity. Before you share your grievances, would someone else like to show Iulius that he isn't alone in this?" Bezzer invited.
After a moment of silence, one of the servicemen rose his hand.
"Yes, Dorson?"
"Yeah...so...on Ringo Vinda, I lost a very dear friend." he said, talking to the whole public and with Iulius listening carefully. "Me and Friv knew each other since we were kids. We have gone through school together...joined the Army together when this war started.
"In the last few days of the campaign, our squad came under heavy fire. At some point, a detonator fell onto us. Friv just pushed me away and then threw himself onto it. I barely had the time to realize what was going on, and his whole chest and back had a giant hole in the middle."
Dorson took a moment to breathe and find the strength to continue. The others listened in religious silence.
"I...couldn't find the will, or the courage, to go and at least present my condolences to his mother. I know he didn't suffer, but I mean…why him and not me? How can I go face her?"
"Because you have a wife and kid to take care of, Dorson." one of the maimed veterans said with sober confidence. "Your buddy likely did so because he knew it."
"That's a reasonable point, Joss." Bezzer encouraged, then he turned toward Iulius. "So, Iulius, now that Dorson broke the ice, would you like to say something?"
The Grand Admiral adjusted his posture a little and took a silent breather before talking. "Before I begin, allow me to tell say, Dorson, that that poor woman is probably suffering a lot. I really think seeing you again would help her a great deal."
Dorson nodded, clearly in agreement even if he was still conflicted.
Then, it was time for Iulius to reveal his own motives.
"I have been having a recurrent dream, since two years. It's not constant, but in moments like this, when I'm away from work...it tends to appear at least once."
"Would you like to describe it?" Bezzer patiently asked.
Iulius made a nod. "I'm...I don't know exactly where I am. It's a very dark place, but I see a light upward. I start walking and I realize that there are some stairs, so I keep going. I try to reach the light even if it is quite tiring. Then, while I'm walking, I just stop: my body refused to go forward. Then a light comes from below and I realize...something.
"The stairs...are made of corpses. More and more corpses of my men...of friends I saw die…"
He stopped, realizing that he couldn't tell the rest and that his hands were trembling. He thus brought them on his forehead to try and relax.
The rest of the group was focused on him, with varying degrees of compassion or understanding, perhaps even surprise.
"Do you have any idea of why this dream is so recurrent?" Bezzer asked calmly.
"Of course I do…" Iulius said grimly. "I fear that I will fail. That I will lose this war and all those people I sent to die...will be gone in vain."
The group stayed silent. Most of them already respected Iulius because he wasn't a stranger to the battlefield. But perhaps it was the first time they realized just how much pressure he felt, commanding the imperial forces under this precarious situation, and with the responsibility for trillions of lives.
"You won't fail."
Iulius turned his face toward that voice, which came from the veteran with both prosthetic legs, Vyul.
"There is no way in the universe that you will fail, Iulius. I don't mind that I lost my legs, knowing that I was helping to make the Empire better."
The rest of the group generally nodded. The session continued until it reached the end of the hour, then the group said goodbye and started to walk out.
Iulius found his armored speeder waiting for him, with Qathora on board ready with a datapad.
"So...how was it?" she asked curious after they closed the doors.
"It was...invigorating. And now I know that I have to double my efforts." he said with clarity.
The hideout on Altyr V was nothing big, but the Jedi found more abducted children and confirmation that the Consortium was actually trying to build a clone army to imbue with the Force. There were traces left of Magick that confirmed Merrin's theory.
After returning the prisoners to the D'Astan authorities in the hope to return them to their families, Ezra and his crew had now returned to Lothal, while Cal had gone back to Pabu with the Batch. They would meet again once Ahsoka's network had finally found the main base of the Consortium's project.
Which, apparently, was about to happen, as she had called a meeting at Camp Garibaldi, which involved even Mon Mothma through a hologram. Around the table sat the Bridger siblings, Ahsoka herself, Hera, Darvos and Rex, Jai and Zare (who had been both chosen to be Captains of the Jedi Peacekeepers).
"Are we all here?" Ezra asked.
"Actually, I thought your father should be here, by now." Ahsoka replied a bit perplexed.
Barely had she said that, the door of the room opened and Jordan indeed barged in, wearing his formal wearing.
"Sorry I'm late!" he rushed.
"Dad!" Jaral greeted merrily. "I didn't know you were already back."
"We just landed. Ahsoka sent me the meeting request and came as fast as I could."
"Where's Tristan?" Hera asked.
"He couldn't wait and headed straight back to Atin to meet his son."
"Well, can't really blame him. How did the meeting go?" Jaral asked.
Jordan made a quick nod and pointed his hand toward the hologram around the table. "I'm sure Madame President can explain you much better than me."
Mothma gave a polite smile and a grateful nod, then she did as it was told. "We haven't gone public, yet, but since the Mandalorian Tribes were already a signatory of the UACT, we have collectivelydecided to recognize Tristan Wren as the Head of a legitimate Government-in-Exile. We will back and sponsor the reconquest of Mandalore any way we can."
'Back' and 'sponsor'. Two words clearly indicating that the UACT wasn't willing to send boots on the ground, but after all, Tristan had made it clear that the mandalorians wanted to reclaim their worlds on their own.
"That's great, but the mandos will take months to be ready. How about we focus on stopping this experiments on children?" Jai invited, not with presumption, but he certainly felt urgency, and Zare was not that distant from the sentiment.
"Right." Jaral agreed. "Ahsoka, where is the main base of their cloning project?"
Ahsoka tapped a couple times on her omni-tool and the galaxy map headed into the N-7 quadrant, which just to happen to sit past mandalorian space and into the first line of imperial planets.
"Myrkr." she said grimly.
Rex turned his head abruptly. "Hold it...Myrkr?"
"What's wrong?" Darvos asked.
Rex groaned. "Back during the Clone Wars, the Jedi did not speak of this planet willingly."
"Myrkr is quite...problematic, for Force-sensitives." Ahsoka explained. "It's home to this species, the Ysalamiri." she changed the image to show what looked like a yellow lizard. "These creatures are capable of...I'm not kidding...stopping the Force."
Everybody looked astounded for a second. "What?" Ezra asked in confusion.
"They emit a particular energy field that stops the Force from being used around their surroundings. When they are in small packs, they can basically prevent even the most skilled Jedi from using the Force to assess their surrounding, and the planet is full of them, meaning that we will go in almost blind to the Force."
The two Jedi looked at each other. This whole thing had terrible implications.
"That explains why we couldn't feel anything." Jaral said worried.
"Yes. But wait until I tell you the second problem." Ahsoka added grimly. She then tapped her tool again and showed a picture of a canine creature with a slim figure and pitch black. "The ysalamiri evolved this ability in order to escape this fellas. Vornskr Hounds. They are able to hunt by instead using the Force. And guess what: the more a being is connected to the Force, the more they see it like a better meal."
"First a rancor...now these…" Ezra commented with a sigh.
"There is one thing worth mentioning: the vornskrs are nightly creatures. If we attack with sunlight, we may only find a single, very hungry specimen, but nothing more." Ahsoka added.
"So we either attack with daylight to avoid the fauna and tell the Consortium we're coming…" Darvos started.
"Or we try to sneak in at night and probably become appetizers for the dogs." Zare added grimly.
"Even with the reinforcements from Pabu, we aren't nearly enough numerous to attempt a direct assault." Jai added.
"You won't be alone." Mothma said, then turned toward her two Generals. "Darvos, Hera, you and your units will take part in this operation."
"Shouldn't you ask the Senate, first?" Hera asked a little worried.
"Yes, but I'm honestly afraid that the Consortium still holds a lot of influence on several Senators. I'll take responsibility for whatever happens, but we need to shut down that facility."
"Copy that." Darvos said.
"I also brought some extra help, actually. You'll find them outside." Jordan added with a smirk.
"Then I can only wish you good luck, people." Mon Mothma said to take her leave.
"Thank you, Madame President. Have a nice day." Jaral replied. Mothma made a grateful nod and closed the transmission.
"So who's the backup?" Jai asked.
"Come outside and see." Jordan invited.
"You guys go on, I'll catch you in a moment." Darvos announced, walking toward a secluded room with his omni-tool lit.
Thinking that he needed to just reply to a fairly urgent message, Jaral didn't try to read his mood and followed the rest of the group.
The Bridgers were then much surprised to see two formation of Systems Alliance troops moving their supplies around and led by two particular officers.
"Jane, Admiral, you still remember my kids, I hope." Jordan quipped.
The Shepards smiled and nodded at the Jedi. "I can't wait to finally work with you. Jordan really made me curious."
"He tends to do that." Ezra joked back. "He gave us a lot of expectations about you two, as well."
They chuckled, then Jordan proceeded to present the Shepards to the rest of the group.
"If you are wondering, His Majesty has assigned my Task Force to support the Jedi Order completely." John said after the presentations. "And, as a show of commitment to the peace and stability of Andromeda, the Federation has decided to cede Camp Garibaldi to the Jedi Order and the Peacekeepers."
Everyone else was pleasantly shocked. For sure, the Peacekeepers were in dire need of a serious base where they could welcome new volunteers and establish a command for their galaxy-wide operations. A large facility like Camp Garibaldi was exactly what they needed.
"That's incredibly generous, Admiral." Ezra thanked. "Send our thanks to the Federation."
"Well, after your conduct in the destruction of Project Necromancer, you clearly showed that you can be trusted with such a delicate task." John said.
"Anyway, you arrived just in time. We could use the reinforcements." Hera commented.
Just before the Shepards could ask anything, Darvos walked up to the group, looking extremely grim, or perhaps dubious.
"Hey, what's wrong?" Jaral asked a little worried.
As gazes turned on him, Darvos took a nasal breather and spoke up.
"I received a message from one of my sources: Iulius knows about Myrkr. He proposes a truce and...a joint operation."