Chapter 1: Searching The Field

January 5, 2228.

Luke parked his speeder just behind the rocky hill that separated him from Jabba's palace. It was dusk, meaning that he should have found a limited number of guards.

A part of him was worried about fighting a group of Gamorreans without his lightsaber, but he couldn't just pull back now: Leia had not returned from the palace, and it wasn't difficult to imagine that she had been unmasked and captured.

He passed a hand on his belt, which reminded him that his lightsaber was with R2, which was also inside the palace, as he had given both him and 3PO to Jabba as a gift before his arrival. Yet, the lack of any reply left little to interpretation: Jabba wasn't going to give Han back, no matter what he was offered.

Luke was set on making one last attempt at diplomacy, even if slightly forceful, before feeling legitimated to use force.

He took one last moment to assess the situation: if he went in there, the chance of igniting a war between the Hutts and the Jedi Order was extremely high, yet, he couldn't leave his twin sister and his friends inside that place. He strengthened his resolve, put on his black cloak and started walking.

It took him nearly an hour to reach the gates. Ignoring the door-eye that asked him to identify himself, Luke used the Force to unlock the gate and waltz in with no effort. Two Gamorrean guards at first looked at him with absolute confusion, but once they understood that he was an intruder, lifted their axes and charged.

Luckily, Luke managed to confuse them, making their minds fumble around and they stood there holding their heads as if they were drunk, then he walked past them with no other distractions.

He walked down the stairs that brought to Jabba's throne room, finding everyone sleeping except for a few people. Luke didn't take long before spotting Leia, dressed in a very revealing outfit and chained, laying on Jabba's throne. As he entered, he was met by a pale twi'lek male with red eyes and an elegant robe. Luke remembered the dossier Darvos had passed him and recognized Bib Fortuna, Jabba's primary advisor and keeper of the servitude.

The alien spoke in Huttese, intimating Luke to stop. The Jedi understood easily, since Huttese was one of the languages taught by Kallus at the Academy. Without much effort, Luke could use Mind Trick on him.

"I must speak to Jabba. I have a proposal for him." he said.

The Twi'lek was left puzzled, as someone who was about to say something only to forget what that was when he opened his mouth. Nonetheless, the trick worked on Fortuna's simple mind and the Twi'lek went to inform his master. Meanwhile, other guards and courtesans started to wake up as Bib and Luke weren't exactly keeping their voices down.

As if being awoken all of a sudden wasn't enough to make Jabba angry, when he saw that Luke was in, the Hutt spoke angrily at his majordomo.

"Oh, at last! Master Luke has come to save me!" 3PO, who had been chosen to be Jabba's protocol droid, said from the pedestal.

"I told you not to let him in!"

"I must be allowed to speak." Luke calmly said, imposing those words on Fortuna.

"You weak-minded fool!" the Hutt replied, grabbing the Twi'lek by the arm. "He's using an old Jedi mind trick." and then pushed the alien away.

Luke removed his hood and looked at Jabba with a clear resolve, only quickly glimpsing at Leia to reassure her.

"Greetings, Jabba." Luke said calmly. "It seems like my message didn't reach you."

"Impertinent Jedi! You will not walk out of here alive!" the Hutt thundered.

Luke knew that it was useless to try the Mind Trick on him: Hutts were notoriously impervious to it, especially adults who had lived for centuries like Jabba.

"Allow me to give you another chance: just return Captain Solo and my friends and we won't come to fight. You better not underestimate my powers." he said as he stepped closer to the throne while the guards surrounded him. However, Luke managed to spot Lando, posing as one of them.

That was a good thing: he had not received news from him, but his presence meant that he simply was unable to communicate with the outside world without being discovered.

Jabba laughed. "I will enjoy seeing you die." he simply said.

Perceiving a threat with the Force, Luke understood that it was useless to continue with the diplomatic approach. Lando had put himself in a favorable position, exposing the blaster in his holster, so Luke quickly turned and pulled it to his right hand.

The blaster was quickly pointed at Jabba, but two guards jumped on him with the speed of a Loth-cat. A bolt was fired to the roof. Luke managed to shake out the guard on his right, while a Gamorrean was grappling on his left.

Then Jabba pressed a button and both Luke and the guard fell down a secret trapdoor. They rolled down a bumpy but short tunnel and ended up inside a cave. Luke quickly stood back up and noticed that there was light coming from above. He thus realized that he was right below Jabba's throne and that a crowd was gathering around the grate, waiting and cheering for a show.

Luke noticed that the Gamorrean who fell with him was looking around scared.

The reason didn't come too much later: on the other side of the cave, a heavy gate started going up.

"Oh no, the rancor!" 3PO said worried from above.

Indeed, Luke felt the presence of what could be a massive predator: the instinct to kill was extremely rooted in it, in a way that no sentient being could achieve.

Soon enough, from the shadow of the secluded part of the cave, the tall beast emerged, its brown skin merging quite well with the darkness and making the view even more unsettling when paired with the tiny eyes, sharp teeth and giant claws.

Luke remembered just how he had seen one of those beasts dead recently on Myrkr, but unlike Cal, he didn't have his lightsaber with him nor a whole battalion of troopers distracting the monster.

The only distraction for the rancor in there was the terrified Gamorrean, who was fruitlessly trying to climb back up the well they had just fallen in, but it was physically impossible. It only ended with the green piglet being grabbed and eaten by the rancor with a single bite.

Luke couldn't suppress a strong fear, but he did just as Ezra taught him: accept your emotions as you look for the best solution.

While the rancor was busy with the appetizer, Luke analyzed his surroundings, but there was only one real chance: to drop that gate the monster came out from onto its head.

So, the Jedi Knight used that small window of opportunity he found to dash past the rancor, running between its two stocky paws and reaching the interior of the gate, which was actually the rancor's cell. There was a door on the back where Luke saw some guards and a man that wasn't armed but wore a strange black headwear.

There wasn't much time to look outside, for the real problem was heading straight toward him.

Luke spotted the control panel of the gate. As he waited for the rancor to step beneath it, he saw a quite large boulder and lifted it with the Force.

The moment the rancor knelt to pass the gate, Luke swung his arm and the boulder flew at huge speed toward the panel, smashing it into pieces. Without controls keeping the mechanism up, the gate fell down with nothing to stop it. Its teeth penetrated even the thick skin of the rancor as the beast was crushed below and put on the floor. The creature roared and struggled to get up, but the gate was heavier than it and slowly pressed down on its neck. Luke could hear the skin break and some bones creaking as the roars of the rancor became weaker and weaker.

Until the creature's arms fell on the ground and it stopped moving. Luke felt the life escape from it and he couldn't suppress a hint of pity: after all, that creature had been just a pawn in Jabba's twisted world of entertainment.

But while Luke felt sorry, the door behind him opened. Two guards caught him off-guard and seized him. He could've easily pushed them away with the Force, or some ability of the omni-tool, but he preferred to play along, for the moment.

In the meantime, the man with naked torso and black veil entered and soon started crying. Luke thus realized that he was the rancor's trainer.

However, that was hardly important: Luke was dragged back in front of Jabba, who was furious and considered the killing of the rancor as a personal insult.

The only good thing, was that the guards brought out Han and Chewbacca from their cell.

"Han!" Luke exclaimed, a bit of emotion catching him as he finally saw his friend after months.

"Luke?!" Han exclaimed, though it seemed like he wasn't entirely sure of who he had in front. He was also walking as if he had no idea where he was looking at. "Luke is that you?!"

"It is." Luke replied, remembering that a side effect of being out of carbonite after a long time included temporal blindness, which explained Han's strange walking. "Are you all right?"

"Fine. Together again, uh?" Han asked in his usual irreverent tone as they were dragged in front of Jabba.

"Wouldn't miss it."

"How we doing?"

"That bad, uh? Where's Leia?!"

"I'm here." Leia replied, but Jabba pulled her chain to make her silent.

Then the Hutt started speaking. Luke could understand, but 3PO still had to translate after an "Oh, dear."

The droid made a step forward and reported the words of Jabba with the due tone. "His High Exaltedness, the great Jabba the Hutt, has decreed that you are to be terminated immediately."

"Good, I hate long waits." Han commented defiant.

"You will therefore be taken to the Dune Sea and cast into the Pit of Carkoon. The nesting place of the all-powerful Sarlacc."

"Doesn't sound so bad." said Han.

"In his belly, you will find a new definition of pain and suffering, as you are slowly digested over a thousand years."

Chewbacca roared in defiance, but could do little.

"On second thought, let's pass on that." Han agreed.

Luke, however, was not scared. The first part of the plan was successful: draw Jabba out of his fortress.

"You should've bargained." Luke simply said to the Hutt with a clear tone before being dragged away.

January 7, 2228.

"Minister, my fleets are barely operational as it is. Asking us for all this fuel means basically leaving them as sitting ducks!" Iulius protested vehemently, yet a part of him was already preparing to receive some ridiculous justification.

Minister Gerset, the responsible of the military infrastructure all along the Empire, replied simply, but with the tone of someone who knew held a huge leverage. "Grand Admiral Rax needs more support. You're not the only one who fights for the Empire."

"Yet, it's my sector that is about to be hit by a storm!" the Grand Admiral said, almost exploding with rage.

"You might want to control yourself, Grand Admiral. By refusing to give us that fuel and spare parts, safety on civilian liners would be compromised. And we don't want accidents occurring to our beloved ones, wouldn't you agree?"

Had that not been a hologram, Iulius could have just strangled him. Not even a few weeks, and those slimy nerf-herders were already revealing that Namedra was nothing more than a hostage to keep him in line.

He felt his mouth twitch, and barely managed to retain composure: he simply could not refuse, lest his wife and his loyal friend were executed with some baseless accusation.

"No. We don't." he said coldly.

Gerset smiled sordidly. "I'm glad we're in agreement." and then his hologram disappeared.

Iulius couldn't hold back and slammed a fist on the desk, grunting in rage. They might as well just ask him to commit suicide, without sacrificing the imperial military, just to satisfy their pettiness.

With reports of Coalition forces beginning probing attacks, having fuel ready was a necessity that couldn't be overlooked. After this new order, his ships would probably have to choose between moving or firing from a stationary position, or he would have to limit the use of Star Destroyers.

It also threw out of the window the many good suggestions he had gathered from the other officers for the defensive line. Without the fuel, they were impractical.

And so he was back to the drawing board.

Now that a third of his fuel was gone, he needed to shorten the front. That meant that Eriadu and even Ringo Vinda, his bloodiest trophy of the war, would have to be abandoned.

He tried to forget that by looking into the newsletter of the 101st, one of the many methods he was trying to find new solutions. He had encouraged even the lower ranks to make proposals, even if they were wishful thinking, even if they had seen it only in holo-movies such was the level of desperation he had sunken to.

Then he saw one comment that sounded romanced, yet it wasn't impossible: it was a proposal regarding a possible trap for the enemies in the Roche Belt.

Iulius analyzed that explanation. It described a phenomena. He asked STEVE to look it up and the AI confirmed. As crazy and as nearly impossible that sounded, maybe the author was up to something. He looked up the username and to whom it was associated.

At first he was surprised, then he smiled: somehow, the fact that it was that person, so tied to a dear one, was incredibly poetic.

He took the comlink and called the bridge. "Commander Windrider. Contact the Corvus and ask Commander Versio to come to my office. And summon Ensign Pauly, as well."

"Yes, sir." Nash replied naturally, probably not realizing that he had just asked for a meager Ensign.

January 8, 2228.

Jordan woke up as the comlink beeped. He reached it from the bed and replied "Yes?"

"Major, we'll reach the Endor System in twenty." the voice of Raniza said.

"I'm on my way." he replied promptly, closed the transmission and put his uniform on with a dash before taking the elevator to the CIC .

From there, he assumed command and supervised the last controls before the Constantinople and the Normandy came out of their longest hyperspace travel ever.

Jordan couldn't hide from himself a note of anxiety: after all, if by chance the imperials spotted them, they were bound to have gravity well generators to block them before the two frigates could jump to hyperspace back inside the narrow Sanctuary Pipeline.

But there was no time to hesitate. The UACT needed intel on the Death Star, and those two ships had the technology and the crews with the highest chance to do that successfully.

On her part, the Normandy signaled that they were all clear, so after making the few light-years that separated them from their destination, the ships left hyperspace, right into a system that was only signed on the maps but aside from that unexplored.

At least, it was unexplored for the Coalition. The Empire had clearly taken its time to take a look around or they wouldn't build their most secret and powerful weapon right there.

"Constantinople to Normandy, we are ready to move in."

"Roger that, Constantinople, we are green, too. Let's make this quick, before they spot us."

"I agree. Rut, engage cloaking device and take us in."

"Aye, aye, sir." the Salarian replied.

"Major, I detect four frigates patrolling two million kilometers ahead." ARMA warned.

"Blimey. Did they see us?"

"Wait for it...no. Their transmissions are clear." the AI replied.

"Still, that was close." Raniza commented. "Usually, they don't patrol a hyperspace lane so close to the exit point."

"Clearly, they don't want to take any chance of being surprised." Colonel Undir hypothesized.

"Then we're going to give them a tough wake-up call. Let's get going." Jordan concluded.

The frigates moved in, soon spotting four Vindicator frigates and getting past them quite easily. They proceeded to the outer planet of the system, a frozen and barren body bigger enough than Pluto to be considered a planet. Then there was a gas giant where the imperials had placed a tibanna gas extractor and so there was a smaller fleet to patrol it.

Finally, they sighted the huge planet of Endor, a red gas giant bigger than Jupiter and, just like the god-named planet of the Sol System, it had several moons orbiting around it. The only one that interested the two Spectres was the only one that was also an inhabitable planet: the forest moon.

It didn't take long for ARMA and EDI to detect the moon in question: all you had to do was to follow the huge traffic of ships and the huge object that the scanners were picking up. The frigates moved in, and before they needed to get any closer, their sensors finally gave a visual to the crew on the orbit of Endor.

The Death Star was clearly visible, but it still had many holes, even in the firing disc. The real problem was the huge armada guarding it, made up of not just the Executor, but at least a hundred Star Destroyers and countless smaller ships, that one wondered how could they kept them fueled and fed in such a remote system.

"ARMA, analyze it." Jordan calmly ordered.

"The station is three times bigger than the first one, even if it's incomplete. Also, me and EDI are detecting an energy shield around it."

"How can they put up a shield without a reactor?!" Rut asked baffled.

"It's not on-board." ARMA reassured. "There's a shield generator positioned right below the geostationary orbit of the Death Star, on the surface."

Jordan pondered for a moment as he asked Jane if she had received the same intel.

"I doubt they plan to drag that moon around the galaxy." Shepard commented. "They are clearly preparing for a battle."

"Indeed. This confirms the theory of Ezra and Jaral: the Emperor wants to draw us here for a final battle."

"The station is inoperable, right now. It wouldn't give them any benefit." Raniza added.

"But we aren't in a position to strike, yet." Undir noted. "By the time we launch an attack, they might be able to at least bring the primary weapon online."

That was the point: the Coalition was set on drawing the Emperor out in the open, aboard the Death Star, before launching the final attack. And for sure, whatever trap the Emperor was laying, it would need the super-laser of the battle-station to be ready. The Lord of the Sith would not come aboard before that time had come.

"With that energy shield, any attack by the fleet would be useless, too." the voice of Tali'Zorah arrived from the bridge of the Normandy.

"That is correct." ARMA confirmed. "The shield is impenetrable even for snub fighters. Attempting the tactic used to destroy the first Death Star would be counterproductive unless a ground force destroys the shield generator, first."

"Take note of everything." Jordan instructed before contacting the Normandy. "Shepard, we'll make a scan of the surface for more military installations. Can you try to take a closer look at that thing?"

"We will. Though it doesn't look like there is much to look at, for now. I say we get out of here as soon as you're done before something goes wrong."

"I couldn't agree more. Rut, let's get a move on."

January 13, 2228.

The speeder halted in front of the gate of Camp Garibaldi.

"Good morning, Masters." the guard greeted with a smile.

"Morning, Nist." Ezra replied in kind while both him and Jaral took their IDs and handed them over to Nist and another guards.

The two Peacekeepers looked at each other and waited for the bio-scan of their drone, which confirmed the identity.

"All clear. Have a nice day." Nist wished as him and his colleague returned the IDs.

The siblings both waved with two fingers and then Jaral drove inside the base. Immediately they saw something they weren't expecting: several New Republic transports parked in the major landing area. The base had been ceded to the Peacekeepers for a while, so seeing them was quite unusual.

That was, until Ezra realized that those men had patches of the 501st.

Jaral pulled the speeder into a parking slot and the siblings jumped out, reaching for a group of Peacekeepers who were looking with interest at the unloading of the troopers and vehicles from the Gallofrees.

And from that point, they didn't take long before spotting Rex and Darvos.

Quickly, the Masters reached their friends, and Jaral particularly went to hug her husband, who eagerly returned the gesture.

"Welcome back to Lothal, guys." Ezra greeted to Rex. "Though we didn't know you were coming."

"It was meant to be a surprise." Rex quipped.

"Well, you did it." Jaral said as she kept an arm around her husband's neck. "But why are you here? Shouldn't you be preparing for the offensive?" she then asked a bit confused.

"Well...actually, I resigned my post as Head of the ICO." Darvos said quite lightly.

That, however, startled the siblings. "What?!" Ezra exclaimed.

Jaral was instead slightly offended. "Is this about Myrkr? They absolved you, already!"

Darvos made a calming gesture and replied with complete serenity "I took this decision. I couldn't allow my relationship with Iulius to undermine the trust of the public opinion. I recommended Madine as my successor, now he's in charge of the intelligence."

"But...what are you going to do, then?" his wife asked.

"That's why I'm here." Darvos replied with a smile. "The President has decided, and the Senate ratified, that the 501st will be upgraded from a Division to a Legion and be assigned entirely to the Jedi Order as a support to the efforts of the Peacekeepers. Effective immediately."

The siblings were left even more astonished, although in a good way, and looked at the old clone, who smiled and made a salute.

"We're at your service, sir." he said to Ezra.

The siblings looked at each other, then to the impressive mass of soldiers spreading around the base and settling in with the Peacekeepers.

"How many men are talking about?" Jaral asked.

"Right now, 7500." Rex reported. "It will be expanded to 10.000, but there's a hitch: since the Army needed our veterans, most of the men in this Legion will be made up of recruits, and most of them are conscientious objectors who accepted to serve in the Legion as a compromise."

"It was my idea." Darvos explained. "Since there was this problem, I figured we could allow some of them in. Besides, we don't exactly need people who enjoy killing to perform humanitarian duties."

His wife looked at him with a positively impressed face. "That was very perceptive, Darv. Nice job."

He smiled back and there was a brief silence meaning that they had said everything necessary.

"If you'll excuse me, I'll arrange for the lodging of the troopers, before any accident happens." Rex declared.

"Coordinate with Jai and Zare. And welcome back, Rex." Ezra replied.

The old clone made a little salute with his finger and walked away.

"I'm sorry you had to leave your place, Darv." Jaral said once the three of them were left alone. "You worked so hard to build the ICO."

Darvos shrugged. "It wasn't meant to be my personal domain. I built it to make the Republic safer and when there were few who could do it. Now, I want to dedicate myself to building peace. Besides, I'm still a General."

Their attention was then deviated toward the sky, as a familiar couple of engines roared above them, heading for a couple of landing pads. They turned out to be the two ships that the Jedi had been expecting in a while: the Falcon and Luke's X-Wing.

As the ships landed, the trio moved in to greet them, waiting outside the Falcon as Luke and R2 were quicker to join them. Ezra immediately noticed that the gaze of his former Padawan was quite grim. Clearly, the worse-case scenario had become a reality.

Still, spirits rose a little as they saw Han Solo, after months from his freezing in carbonite, walk down the access ramp of his ship alongside Chewbacca, Lando, Leia and 3PO.

"Good to see you in one piece again, Commander Solo." Ezra greeted, extending his hand.

Han shook it and replied "I wouldn't be here without your...Knight." he said, pointing Luke.

Luke made a smirk, but it didn't change his overall worried expression.

"All right, how bad did it go?" Ezra eventually asked.

The group, even Han, now hesitated to reply, until Luke did so with responsibility. "Jabba is dead."

Hearing that, Ezra couldn't suppress a frustrated and resigned sigh, while Luke explained "I gave him every chance to negotiate, and he almost threw us to a Sarlacc. We had no choice but to defend ourselves."

Ezra then rose his hand in a conciliatory gesture. "It's all right. I'm not going to cry for his departure, but now we need to prepare for the response of the Hutt."

"Do you think they might try an attack on the Academy?" Leia asked.

"Nah, they wouldn't." Lando intervened. "Lothal is too well-guarded, and I doubt they can infiltrate an army without the Alliance noticing. Besides, the Hutts prefer to show that they can get what they want by just demanding. Expect an emissary, first."

"Thanks, Lando. That will give us time to prepare." Jaral replied before looking at her brother.

"We will tell them that Jabba pushed his luck and that we wish to close this matter without bloodshed. If they refuse...well, I might have a plan, already."

"Care to share…?" Jaral said, before tilting her head up a little as Ezra's thoughts flew into her mind, she then assumed a skeptically surprised expression. "That's bold, even for us."

"But it's our only chance." her brother replied.

As always, their mental conversations left everyone wondering.

"What's on your minds?" Darvos asked carefully.

"I don't want to jinx it." Ezra said. "First let's wait for them to make the first move, then we will see if it will be necessary."

Darvos sighed and shrugged. "Whatever. I should go and help Rex, while you figure your stuff out."

The General walked away, leaving the Jedi and their friends to discuss their own next move.

"I suppose you guys are heading for the front?" Jaral asked.

"The Republic needs all the help they can get." Leia replied. "I have a feeling. This year, we might finally put an end to this war."

"If we play our cards right." Lando moderated.

"No, Leia is right." Ezra replied. "We destroyed Project Necromancer, the Sith enclave on Korriban...Palpatine now has no choice but to seek out a decisive battle, that's why he's building another Death Star."

"And if we know him enough, he basically thinks that anybody but him is capable of laying a trap." Jaral added. "But this, time we will use his arrogance to put an end to his life."

That declaration actually surprised the rest of the group.

"So, no mercy for him?" Leia asked.

The Masters shook their heads firmly.

"We're talking about a man who, as far as we know, has been using the Dark Side since he was a kid. Who allegedly murdered his own family just to try his powers. A man whose entire life has been built around the lust for power to the point where he has been trying to become immortal." Ezra said.

"And we doubt anybody could keep him caged for long." Jaral added. "No: We might spare Vader, if he surrenders, but Palpatine has to go. The galaxy will never be at peace as long as he lives."

"Damn." Han said impressed. "You really are locked in, uh?"

They were interrupted when Ezra's omni-tool beeped. He saw Jaden's name.

"Yes?"

"Master, please come back to the Academy. Master Yoda just collapsed!"