Korra and Mako, after arriving in the South Pole, quickly returned to their home, checking on their children. After complementing KayBee for looking after Harou and Saria, they moved to the new communications center. Before they could contact Vader, however, they were approached by Sergeant Felth. The Stormtrooper revealed that Tenzin had tried to contact them a short time ago.
"Ring him up, then," Korra ordered the Imperial technicians. A short time later, the hologram of Tenzin appeared.
"Korra, I tried to get through to you, but I heard you were away," he said, looking somewhat worried.
"Yeah, about that," Korra began, before seeing that Tenzin wanted to talk first, so she put her own conversation on hold.
"Vader has gone off, looking for his children that he just learned he had," Tenzin began.
"And?" a surprised Mako asked. "You have a problem with him being a good father? Of him being concerned about his son and daughter, just like your brother is of his own kids?"
"Of course not," Tenzin said. "But they are not in any imminent danger, while Bumi's children are. I'm here to ask you to help my brother and the others get Iroh and Mizuki back." He paused for a moment, and then realized that he hadn't clarified Vader's children were a boy and girl.
"Lord Vader contacted us," Mako said. "During his investigation into finding his own son, he learned that Princess Mizuki had been separated from her brother. And that both she and Vader's son had been taken to a world where not he, Korra, or I can go. So, he summoned Baatar to join the mission, and Suyin elected to accompany her son."
"Oh," Tenzin said, surprised at that. "I didn't know this situation had been handled." He then looked at Korra and noticed she had something to say.
"It's best if you hear it from me," Korra said. "I didn't think Malina had entirely accepted our world's situation. So, I went to Kyoshi Island to reason with her. She wouldn't listen, so I invoked the Rite Of Kiwantiio." Tenzin was shocked by that. He knew what this was but was surprised Korra would use it.
"That hasn't been invoke in almost a hundred years," he began.
"And it's still on the books," Korra reminded him. "Some disputes must be resolved with violence, regardless of what you want."
"You have often wanted to use violence to solve your problems," an annoyed Tenzin stated.
"Most of my problems need to be solved, that way," Korra replied. "Yeah, I keep hearing how I need to be patient, or diplomatic, or something like that. And it always ends the same way: our opponents aren't interested or they are just lying while setting up a trap for later. The Equalists, Unalaq and his followers, the Earth Queen, and the Red Lotus. Tell me I'm wrong."
"Not with those people," Tenzin acknowledged. "But you haven't actually gotten Malina or her children on your side."
"I tried to, but when that failed, I had to settle for compliance," Korra said. "Also, I've been studying the wider galaxy. It seems that, in recent memory, negotiations breaking down or being a trick from the beginning is the norm as opposed to the exception."
"Why does that matter?" Tenzin asked.
"It shows that, despite the finger-wagging the White Lotus, Raiko, and others have done at me, I have the right idea when it comes to solving problems," Korra smirked, before looking at her watch. "Huh, Director Krennic will be stopping by the Western Air Temple, soon."
"Why?" asked Tenzin.
"Nothing to worry about," Korra reassured him. "He told me an important story in his family that I really think you should hear."
"Very well," Tenzin said. "He is your friend, and therefore welcome in our home. But I want you to consider something."
"What?" asked Korra.
"When Kiwantiio prevailed, she obtained the right to create the Southern Water Tribe, where women could learn Waterbending to their hearts content," Tenzin said. "She did not, however, convince the North the custom of barring women from learning combat techniques was wrong. It was only when my mother came to the North Pole and reasoned with Master Pakku that the custom changed. Perhaps you should keep that in mind the next time you argue with someone." As the hologram blinked out, Korra turned to Mako.
"Or maybe Kiwantiio should have gone farther," Korra said. "If Raiko tries to pull that 'you are banished from Republic City' crap with me again, he has another thing coming."
"Yeah," Mako smiled at his wife. "Alright, let's see how your parents are doing, give Naga and Pabu some playtime, and head for Fort Haruka. The guys there will need some pointers for space travel."
Baatar and Boba led the way to the back of the Jekk'Jekk'Tarr. Teemo's arena would be on the other side of the wall, so Suyin Metalbent the wall, imploding it and sending it flying into the new building, crushing two Quarren just beyond. Fett flew forward with his jetpack and punched a Human thug so hard it snapped his neck, before quickly gunning down a pair of furry, noseless beings with two cones on their heads. Baatar launched himself forward with the Force and beheaded a T'Landa T'Il on the other side of the room. Boba Metalbent a shield in front of Zuko, shielding him from the blasterfire sent his way by a walrus-looking thug. Interestingly, while it looked similar to the other walrus people, this one had three fingers instead of five and a pair of extra eyes right under its main ones, Suyin noticed as she bound it to the wall with her Metalbending. Zuko blasted three leather-faced beings, igniting the grenade belt of one, and then, the fight was over.
"Come on!" Baatar ushered them toward the heart of the arena. In front of them were several strange people, they looked Human but with small boxes replacing the tops of their skulls, including eyes. None of them were moving, but Fett Metalbent the boxes out of the people's truncated skulls regardless, instantly killing them. The Benders were shocked, but more concerned about Zuko and Katara's Granddaughter. As they rushed down the hallway, screams erupted in the distance, and a large crowd began running from the stands. Looking closer, Katara saw a pair of giant cats, with four eyes and spikes coming out of their backs, chasing the arena's attendants. One pounced on a flat-headed, double-mouthed creature and wrapped its teeth around the being with a single bite, silencing the flat-heads weird screams in an instant. Boba shot one of the felines with a rocket, killing it instantly, while Baatar dodged under the second and split it in half with his lightsaber. More beasts came crashing into the hallway, so Zuko scared them away with a wall of fire.
"I guess the show has taken a new turn," Kya noted, before the party continued up the stairs of the arena, as the ground floor was blocked by the crowd fleeing from the beasts. When a forcefield blocked them on the way to the VIP booths, Baatar used the Force to tear out the power cable that kept it up, sending it falling onto a Gamorrean and electrocuting him. Rushing past the doorway into a spectator's box, Kya Waterbent a whip and smashed it into several thugs, sending them flying into the stands. Boba shot the Nimbanel right next to the Hutt, while Zuko hit the last two Gamorreans with a massive fireblast. Teemo began ranting in Huttese, but Suyin Metalbent a restraint around his neck.
"We really don't have time for this," the Zaofu Matriarch said, glaring daggers at the Hutt, before constricting the slug's throat. "Where is the Firebender girl you brought here? And speak Basic, we know you can." At first, Teemo seemed defiant, until Suyin began following through on her threat, to which he gasped out a reply.
"Okay, okay," he said in accented basic, glaring at the four Benders as Boba and Baatar looked over the ravaged arena. "She has a boyfriend who took off her restraints. Then, these beasts broke free and the two of them followed this new guy. He almost looked like a Jedi, with those robes."
"Which way did he take them?!" Zuko demanded, worried about his granddaughter.
"Out the back, toward the landing bay where the beasts are brought in," he admitted. With them distracted by his revelations, he hit a button next to his throne and yelled something in his language. "Now, all of Nar Shaddaa knows you are here, Benders. They'll be coming for you, and I'll get to watch you die!"
"No, you won't," Boba said, firing a special dart into the Hutt's chest, burrowing deep inside. Teemo yelped in pain before he started shaking uncontrollably as Boba Metalbent a wall to shield himself and his party. All of the sudden, green slime started erupting out of his belly before Teemo's skin gave way and the Hutt exploded into a puddle of melted insides and skin. "Come on!" Fett yelled even as the others resisted the urge to barf. Boba grabbed Katara and flew her down to the arena while Baatar grabbed Kya before making his Force jump and Zuko rocketing down with his Firebending. They began running through the hallways while Fett contacted Bossk.
"Kenobi got here first!" Boba yelled into the comlink. "And we're about to be swarmed by every hood in the sector! Lift off and get here, now!" As they charged out of the arena, the rescue team saw an assortment of the moon's denizens blocking their path, each with a blaster or blunt object. Katara, not having the time for to face these people, tore open the building's sewage line and conjured a giant wave that smashed into the crowd in front of them. Several were sent flying over the edge of the skyway before she froze the rest in place.
Kya conjured a massive ice shield around herself, protecting her from the cheap blasters their adversaries had, and sent several shards flying into these goons. Baatar deflected several shots with his lightsaber while firing back with his own blaster, gunning down three Weaquays before chopping a Rodian in half. Fett sped up with his jetpack and slammed into the street with his Metalbending, knocking many off their feet with the wave he unleashed. Several were sent over the edge, and he blasted more with his flamethrower. Zuko charged a lightning bolt and sent it flying into an airspeeder, blowing it apart before it could disgorge its passengers to attack. All while they rushed toward the landing area they thought Mizuki had gone.
While Nar Shaddaa was distracted by the beasts getting free, and then by an announcement in Huttese, Mizuki rushed with Luke on her arm, still unconscious. Ben Kenobi led them to a landing pad where a spaceship was landed. Mizuki thought it looked a bit like a sailboat. On top of the 'feet' resting on the pad, was a long metallic hull, which had an arm attached to some sort of rotating gear sticking out its side, with an engine on the end. On top of the craft, was a massive wing akin to a sail. At the front of the hull were a set of windows that the pilots seemed to be seated behind, a pair of cannons directly above the cockpit.
"Right on time," the ship's captain said. He was a young man with red hair, with worn, utilitarian clothes. Inside the ship was a short, grey, four-armed furry creature in a red jacket. "I take it the Bender alarm is going off, because of you?"
"Yes," Ben confirmed. "I had to get Mizuki and Luke out of there." Before Mizuki could ask what a Bender alarm was, a three-eyed creature arrived with several more thugs and charged. Mizuki tossed Luke into Ben's arms, who easily caught him. Before either the captain or his friend could react, Mizuki leapt and bent a massive wave of fire at the attackers, engulfing several.
"She's a Bender, Cal!" the short, grey-furred creature yelled. "She could be an Imperial!" Before Cal could react, a Gammorean swung his axe at the redhead. Cal quickly dodged and beheaded the pig-man with a blue lightsaber, too which Ben dropped Luke into the grey-furred being's arms and split the last thug, a Weaquay, in half diagonally with his own sword.
"Who are you!?" Mizuki yelled, totally confused. She had never heard of anyone with a lightsaber aside from Darth Vader. What was an Imperial, and why did Cal's friend think she was one? Looking closer, she saw that Cal and Ben were just as confused, with Ben also wary of Cal.
"Master Obi-Wan, my name is Cal Kestis," the redhead introduced himself, cautious but hopeful. "You gave a lecture about the merits of the Soresu lightsaber form when I was nine, and I asked you what you thought of Niman style, to which you said it'd be better to combine Soresu with Ataru. I met you and Master Skywalker a few years later, right after I was assigned to Jaro Tapal. Master Anakin encouraged me to take up mechanical work and flying, as well as the Djem So form." After a moment, Ben's (or Obi-Wan's) eyes flashed in recognition at the younger man.
"Yes, I remember you," the older man said, somewhat relaxed, looking pleased as if he'd seen an old friend. "It is good to see you survived. Right now, I am trying to get my charge Luke back to his family. Mizuki was entangled in this, we just met-""I don't know what any of you are talking about!" the Fire Princess yelled in frustration. "Three days ago, aliens attacked my planet! We didn't even know there was life outside our world! I was kidnapped, my brother gave me the opportunity to escape, and I crashed onto a desert world, where someone else kidnaps me! I don't know what any of this is about!" After a moment, Obi-Wan, Cal, and the guy holding Luke, who was still unconscious, looked at each other in confusion. All of the sudden, Obi-Wan's face shifted in fear, which Cal questioned him for, before his own face shifted.
"Is that-""Yes, Darth Vader is here," Obi-Wan interrupted, scaring both Cal and his friend.
"Greez, get Luke inside now!" Cal shouted.
"Already on it!" Greez affirmed. After a moment's hesitation, Mizuki followed Obi-Wan, figuring that if they were afraid of Vader, she could trust them. Cal saw that she was genuinely scared when she heard the name Darth Vader, so he agreed to let her come onboard and ask her more about herself when they were safe. Obi-Wan helped buckle Luke and Mizuki in before grabbing a medkit to look over Luke. The ship then suddenly halted and sent Obi-Wan flying to the front of the ship.
Bossk did an emergency startup on the Hound's Tooth, unwilling to waste time, while Bumi went to the cargo bay, waiting to open it on Bossk's command, and the rescued dancers fastened their harnesses in the ship's living room. Darth Vader stood tall as the ship took off, with Bossk homing in on Boba's signal. Just then, Vader sensed Kenobi.
"We're right above you, Boba," Bossk said into his comlink, before shouting to Bumi to open the cargo bay. After their allies were safely onboard, having leapt, rocketed, or pulled themselves up with Metalbending cables, Vader hit the intercom.
"Close the bay doors, Commander," Vader ordered Bumi. "Our quarry is taking off." After a moment's hesitation, Bumi hit the door button before grabbing his mother's hands as the ship rocked back and forth. Kya and Suyin held onto each other as they made their way toward the ship's cockpit, with Katara and Zuko fastening their harnesses in the living room. Baatar helped his mother and Bumi up, and they ran into the cockpit.
"What's going on?" Bumi demanded. "What do you mean-"Vader waved his hand and locked Bumi and Su into their seats with the Force. Fett quickly joined them in the cockpit, manning the guns.
"Teemo's Recusant has just dropped into atmosphere," Bossk said, worried but not panicked. Looking at the holographic display, Suyin and Kya saw the ship the Trandoshan referred to. It was a large ship with many weapons on it, with an almost skeletal frame, and a tail end upon which three engines mounted around its tip. It also had a small hanger, on the port side. Its front had been painted brown and Hutt symbols had been stuck all over it. As the Hound's Tooth continued forward on Vader's directions, they came face to face with another, grey, metallic ship with a wing on top. The two ships stopped right before hitting each other, but Vader stood firm. Across from him he saw three familiar faces: Cal Kestis, one of the more active Jedi fugitives, his accomplice, the Latero Greez Dritus, and a third man. His hair had greyed in the last five years, but Vader would recognize his old master anywhere.
"Hey, who is that?" Bossk asked, pushing a few buttons for an external camera to zoom in. After a moment, a new picture appeared, and Bumi saw his daughter's face.
"Cloakshapes, ten'o'clock!" Boba yelled, to which Bossk flew to the side, allowing Boba to shoot down the outdated starfighters headed for them. Just then, Vader pulled the joystick with the Force, dodging a cannon shot fired by the Recusant. He shoved Bossk out of the pilot's seat and took the controls. Bossk got on the copilot's station, while Vader turned to Baatar.
"Get to the airlock," he ordered. "Size means nothing to the Force. Not even these buildings." For a moment, Baatar looked confused, but then his eyes widened in realization.
"I won't fail you, master," Baatar affirmed, running to the exit, to his mother's confusion. Baatar had to leap out and grab onto a Spearhead fighter pursuing them. The Klatooinian pilot was shocked by the sight, so he didn't react before Baatar cut off one of its fins and jumped onto a rooftop as the Spearhead smashed into a Cloakshape. After quickly shooting the thugs close by, he looked over the city and saw how, if the people on Nar Shaddaa weren't headed for their ships, they were trying to handle the escaped beasts. Then, he focused on his master's words and looked at the assorted skyscrapers that made up the surface of Nar Shaddaa.
Vader twisted and turned around the cityscape of Nar Shaddaa, pursued by amateur pilots in outdated ships, looking for a quick fortune. Boba shot down several, while many more crashed into either the buildings or each other. The Recusant had restrained fire, for the moment, content to send fighters after the Hound's Tooth. A CR90 corvette had joined the pursuit, so Vader reversed engines and quickly came up behind the ship. He fired several laser blasts into the corvette's engines, sending it crashing into a skyscraper. He narrowly ducked under the collapsing tower as it toppled onto a skybridge, smashing through it and sending the pedestrians into the depths of the Smugglers Moon. Vader turned to the right, letting two Z-95s crash into each other head on. Boba shot down an ARC-170 along with the three fools within.
"Er, my lord?" Bossk began. "Kestis's ship is caught in the Recusant's tractor beam." Bumi looked at the holographic display, and he saw that the ship which Mizuki was on was being pulled toward the destroyer's hanger, despite its engines propelling it. And then, a laser shot narrowly missed the vessel.
"Do something!" Bumi panicked. "My daughter and your son on that ship!"
"We don't have the firepower to handle that vessel," Vader replied. "But there are other ways to handle it." At that moment, Baatar saw a skyscraper. It was largely abandoned, as it was slated for demolition, but he could still feel life within. Most of it was just vermin but some felt like desperate people who had nowhere else to go. Then, he looked at the Recusant in the sky, and saw it was pulling the ship with Vader's son and the Fire Princess into it. He grasped at the condemned structure, using the Force, causing several shakes to come out. Concentrating, he got a firm grip, and tore the top half off. And with all his might, he sent it flying into the sky, smashing into the exposed underside of the Recusant's hull.
"They're free, again," Bossk reported, stunned by what he had seen. Even Boba seemed surprised to witness a skyscraper fly out of the ground into a ship.
"And so are we," Vader stated, chasing after the ship as Boba shot down the last of the fighters chasing them. Vader fired a missile up the tail pipe of a PB-950 that had been chasing them, blowing it apart and raining its pieces into the depths of Nar Shaddaa. Racing after Kestis's ship, Vader hoped to get close enough to fire a tracking beacon onto the hull. But Bossk spoke up as they began climbing the atmosphere.
"My lord, the Recusant's reactor is compromised!" he yelled. "Its engines are also losing power!" At that moment, Vader wanted to continue chasing Obi-Wan and his son, Luke. But they would soon be out of danger, while Baatar needed a ride out. He turned around quickly and unfastened Suyin's harness.
"Get to the airlock," he commanded. "Either you throw Baatar a lifeline, or he dies." With that, Suyin rushed to the doorway, letting loose her Metalbending cable and tossing it out the airlock. As the ship flew past the building Baatar was on, he leapt off and grabbed onto it, using the Force. At that moment, the Hound's Tooth began climbing altitude as Suyin struggled to Bend the cable holding her son up. Thankfully, he rapidly climbed up as she saw the massive spaceship fall out of the sky in flames. As Baatar climbed inside the ship, they saw the Recusant smash nosefirst into the Devaronian district of Nar Shaddaa, exploding in a blinding flash as Baatar closed the door behind him. The shockwave gave a minor bump to the Hound's Tooth right before it exited the atmosphere, with Baatar feeling the disturbance in the Force from the mass death he'd just caused.
Vader, however, was more focused on how Obi-Wan's presence, along with the others, was now gone. They must have jumped to hyperspace, perhaps to anywhere in the galaxy. And with more ships heading for Nar Shaddaa by the minute, it was time to get out of there. He made the jump to hyperspace, heading for Axxila, before standing up and releasing Bumi from his chair.
"We cannot put your son off, any longer," Vader said, reminding Bumi that Iroh had been separated from his sister. "We will rendezvous with reinforcements at Axxila, before we handle the T'Surr."
On the ride back to Tatooine, unaware of how they'd escape the Recusant's tractor beam, even after they felt the massive Force disturbance from its crash, Obi-Wan caught up with Cal, while Mizuki looked over Luke after Greez helped her administer the medkit. "Cal and Obi-Wan have a bit of Jedi business to catch up on," Greez explained. "Let's just look over your boyfriend, for now." Mizuki claimed Luke wasn't her boyfriend, but Greez was unconvinced.
"I'm somewhat surprised you are still active, Cal," Obi-Wan said. "I thought my message made it clear to stay away from Coruscant and go into hiding."
"Jaro died saving me after rigging our Venator to explode," Cal explained. "I spent years dismantling ships on Bracca, until the Inquisitors came and attacked. Thankfully, Greez and Cere Junda, came by to help me get out of there. It was only then that Cere showed me her copy of the recording you made." Obi-Wan thought the name was familiar, before Cal clarified she was once the padawan of Eno Cordova.
"I remember his stories like the Redemption of Revan: The Prodigal Knight, growing up," Obi-Wan fondly reminisced. "He told that story to Anakin, right before heading into the unknown, looking for the...Zoro? Ziffo? In fact, he had that very same droid you have with you."
"Yeah," Cal said, patting BD on his shoulder. "Well, I wound up helping Cere and others protect Force-Sensitives the Empire wants to use or kill. And with my secret revealed, hiding from the galaxy didn't seem like an option."
"Right after I killed Grievous, Palpatine, or rather Sidious, spoke his words and turned the clones against us," Obi-Wan said. "I met up with Yoda, after he fled Kashyyyk. I don't know what happened to Ahsoka, after she defeated Maul on Mandalore. Sadly, I couldn't save Anakin. But I could save his son, over there." That revelation shocked Cal, even if he had adjusted his outlook in the new world he found himself in. "I hid Luke with his aunt and uncle on Tatooine, concluding the Empire wouldn't care about expanding to that miserable cesspit. Also, I wanted to correct one of my greatest mistakes."
"What mistake?" asked Cal.
"Anakin put on a good front of contentment, if not happiness, and for a long time, I believed it," Obi-Wan explained. "But in truth, he was often miserable. The other apprentices, teachers, and even myself, had trouble relating to him. I thought that, if I forced the traditional Jedi upbringing upon him, he would adjust. Shortly before the war began, he started having nightmares of his mother. I thought he was just homesick and told him to focus on our teachings."
"But it wasn't?" the young Jedi asked.
"No," Obi-Wan confirmed. "Eventually, he went to Tatooine to find her and hopefully put his demons to rest. Instead, she'd been murdered by native barbarians." Cal was shocked, he knew Anakin Skywalker was old enough to remember growing up outside the Jedi Order but like most people, he didn't know any solid details. "One of the reasons I had him promoted earlier than normal was to start rebuilding his trust, in me. It was also why I ignored how he and Senator Amidala were in a relationship, throughout the war. And it is why I gave Luke to his aunt and uncle: so he could have a stable childhood before becoming a Jedi. I am a friendly hermit who helps people find their way through the desert, sometimes. That is how Luke knows me."
"There were times I wanted the same sort of childhood," Cal said. "I take it you have been out of the loop for a while."
"Yes," Obi-Wan confirmed. "No joke, I didn't even know about Darth Vader until roughly five years ago. I haven't heard anything about Benders. But I suppose they are denizens of an unknown world with their own Force traditions."
"Maybe," Cal concluded. "But they have been developing a reputation in the wider galaxy. Vader has been turning large numbers of Imperial soldiers into Benders." As Cal caught up with Obi-Wan, Mizuki looked over Luke, whose head had been bandaged as he slept.
"He'll be fine when he wakes up," Greez assured her. "So, your world is ignorant of the wider galaxy."
"Until a few days ago, at least as a whole," Mizuki answered. "My family had just learned of life amidst the stars, maybe a month earlier, and didn't know how to process it, so we kept it a secret."
"Wouldn't it make sense to tell your rulers of the dangers you'd just learned?" asked Greez.
"Our world is still divided between four, technically five nations," she said. "My mother is the queen of one, and my uncle is a leading official in another. But a few years before I was born, Darth Vader had come to our world, and cemented himself as the most feared man in our world's history."
"Well, he's in the running out here, as well," Greez said. "But where are my manners? I'm Greez Dritus, and my people are called the Latero. I suppose you should get to know more of the wider galaxy, now that you are in it." He explained who the Hutts were and the history behind Nar Shaddaa. "But for thousands of years, the dominant civilization in the known galaxy was the Galactic Republic. It had its flaws, like corruption in the senate, favoring the core worlds above the rest, and by the time I was born, a hard time handling pirates across the galaxy, to the point it bordered on unable. But it was a democracy, at least at the highest levels, filled with people trying to curtail those problems, and abolishing slavery to the best of its ability. And its valiant protectors, the Jedi Knights, would always do their best to help those in need." He explained how the Jedi were an elite order of warrior monks who 'used the Force' as their magic was called to fight evil.
"What happened?" she asked. He went on to tell the story of Naboo, an idyllic world which gave rise to a brilliant politician named Sheev Palpatine. After Naboo was invaded, ending in the invader's defeat, Palpatine became Supreme Chancellor as a result of the scandal. Over the course of his reign, unhappy worlds banded together and formed the Separatist Alliance, which led to a war fought mostly by Separatist droids, and Republic clones led by the Jedi. Mizuki was somewhat unnerved by the idea of artificially creating people inside laboratories from the blood of someone else.
"As the war progressed, more and more power was given to Palpatine," Greez said. "It was justified with the threats we kept seeing in the Clone Wars, as the conflict was collectively called. And we were so worried about the evils of people like General Grievous that we didn't see the growing evil within the Republic. Pretty much immediately after Grievous was killed, something happened between the Jedi and Palpatine. He called it an assassination attempt and marked the entire order for death. He then declared himself Emperor of the Galactic Empire, replacing the Republic, and shortly afterward, the last real Separatist leaders were assassinated and the droid armies shut down. Darth Vader appeared shortly afterward, a man without a past or face, and became the Emperor's favorite enforcer. He led the extermination of the Jedi and conquest of many new worlds. I'm guessing that 'Ben' over there only survived by hiding on the edge of the universe under a fake name. Many others weren't that lucky."
"Is Cal a Jedi, too?" she asked, shocked to learn the state of the galaxy.
"Yes," Greez confirmed. "I got to him before the Empire could. And we've been fighting the Empire's cruelties as best we can, since." As they headed for Tatooine, Mizuki reflected on what she had learned, while Obi-Wan was also perturbed by what he had heard of the nascent Imperial Bending Corps.
Darth Vader had gone inside the Hound's Tooth's cargo bay to contact Dr. Chelli Aphra privately and find out what she'd learned. A short time later, Aphra's image emerged.
"So, boss, it seems that we were right," the archeologist confirmed. "The coroner tried to deny it. He was still committed to keeping his queen's secrets fifteen years after her death. But the IT-O I have was too much for him. He confirmed that she had a boy and girl right before she died. I took care of the old man, before leaving. He died in a home robbery, as far as the crime scene will show."
"And what of Leia Organa?" Vader asked.
"I used that money we stole from Ylesia to get all the information possible," Aphra revealed. "All that talk of a 'closed adoption of a war orphan' Bail Organa says of Leia...it's Bantha Poodoo. There isn't a scrap of paperwork about her adoption, her birth, absolutely nothing. He just showed up with her on Alderaan right after attending Padme's funeral, and that's it. He probably thought the Organa family didn't need to cover its tracks when it came to adopting a child." Vader agreed with Aphra's assesment. Organa had been opposing the Empire in various ways ever since it was founded, thinking his ancient family placed him above the New Order. One of Vader's first missions was to Alderaan, to capture or kill a Senator who'd tried to make Palpatine resign shortly before the end of the war. Organa and his servants had barely hidden their contempt for him and the new Empire and had been outraged when Vader killed Fang Zar before the senator could flee. That had just been the start of Organa attempting to passively undermine the Empire.
In addition to that, Bail Organa was a noted friend of both Yoda and Obi-Wan as well as a close colleague of Padme's. Yoda had to have gotten from Kashyyyk to Coruscant, somehow, before fleeing just as quickly into the unknown after his assassination attempt on Sidious had failed, and it was unlikely that whatever Wookiee escape craft could have done so. He'd likely helped Yoda escape, and then took Vader's daughter, afterward. Organa would claim he'd taken Leia as his own daughter, but Vader knew better. That was what Zaheer had claimed he wanted to do with Korra, but in truth she'd have just been a weapon for him to destroy as soon as the Avatar outlived her usefulness. Vader would reclaim Leia before Bail could do the same. At least Obi-Wan wouldn't treat Luke as a disposable asset, even if he did neglect Luke's needs like he had with his father's.
"How did you toss a skyscraper into the sky, J-Baatar?" Kya asked, correcting herself when Baatar's mother elbowed her before she could say Junior. Everyone was baffled by what had happened during their escape, however.
"Lord Vader said that size doesn't matter to the Force," Baatar answered, pleased his mother stopped her friends from calling him Junior.
"I hear that all the time, but never on this scale," Kya replied. "And what is this Force, anyway?"
"A source of energy generated by all things alive," Baatar confirmed, before rubbing his head. "Which is why I won't soon forget that impact I caused." After a moment, Katara's eyes widened in realization, as did the former Fire Lord's.
"Because someone who can use it can feel when those living things die," Zuko realized.
"Yeah," Baatar confirmed. "You just saw a giant explosion. But to me and Vader, it sounded like countless voices screaming in my skull for a brief moment before turning quiet." Suyin placed a comforting hand on her son's shoulder in response to that. No one actually wanted to criticize Baatar for what he had done, since he'd almost died as well, and if he hadn't, Mizuki would likely have been killed by Teemo's ship.
"So, the Force is what Vader gets his power from," Bumi realized. "Who were those people in that ship Mizuki was on?"
"One of them was a Jedi fugitive named Cal Kestis," Boba said, as he and Bossk had returned from settling the slave dancers into some quarters. Well, cells for Bossk's prisoners, but the Trandoshan had tried to make them more comfortable. Bumi wouldn't have forgiven himself if he'd left them but he hoped that helping those young women hadn't doomed his own daughter. "The little grey guy is a friend of Kestis. And the third was Obi-Wan Kenobi, one of the two last great Jedi left."
"What are these Jedi, anyway?" Suyin asked.
"An ancient order of guardians, protecting peace and justice throughout the galaxy," Boba said sarcastically. "Or at least, that was what much of the galaxy was spoon-fed about them as they were growing up."
"At the end of the day, they were a secret police agency that bowed to the whims of the Republic Senate, attacking anything that threatened the status quo, whether or not it was wrong," Bossk said. "Most of them lived in this palace of a temple on Coruscant, hiding away from the common people, and frequently using their telepathic power to get people to do what they wanted. And then there was their recruitment strategy."
"Why is that important?" asked Bumi. Kya noted how Baatar had also mind-controlled people, to which Baatar, somewhat annoyed, retorted how he mindtricked the guy on the landing pad so he wouldn't tell anyone they'd arrived, and the Klatooinian for valuable information and to create an opening into the gas bar.
"Every Jedi was a trained Force user with a lightsaber, like Lord Vader, if not necessarily as powerful," Boba explained after Baatar finished. "And almost all of their 'recruits' were between the ages of newborn and two years old, barred from knowing their families, romance, or any semblance of life outside their order. Their whole code was about denying the things that make for a normal person. They claimed that, if Force Sensitives have a life outside the duty imposed on them, they would turn evil."
The Five Benders and Baatar were all reminded of the Dai Li, an Earthbender organization with similar practices. When Katara first learned of them when she arrived in Ba Sing Se almost seventy-five years ago, Team Avatar's chaperone described them as an honored group of protectors who safeguarded tradition. It turned out that not only were they the secret police of the Earth Kingdom, which in practical terms was limited to Ba Sing Se at that point, but spectacularly corrupt, and that the chaperone had been brainwashed into doing everything they said. Perhaps the Dai Li were 'using the Force' that way and not realizing it. "When the Clone Wars broke out, the Jedi became generals of the clone army," Bossk continued. "But they got increasingly unhappy with Palpatine changing things to suit the situation."
"Shortly before the ending of the war, one Jedi, personally loyal to then-Chancellor Palpatine, warned him that Mace Windu," Boba continued, sounding angry at mentioning Mace Windu. "And three other members of the twelve-member Jedi Council were coming to his office, with no explanation or announcement. Palpatine narrowly survived what turned out to be an assassination attempt, with Windu and the others killed. And shortly afterward, his Jedi friend was found murdered."
"On account of such a horrible betrayal, Palpatine declared the Jedi Order an enemy faction," Bossk added. "Whose members were so dangerous, they had to be killed on sight."
"That seems a bit extreme," Kya said, bothered by the story. "Sure, some of the leaders might have betrayed him, but not the whole organization."
"Master Katara, didn't King Kuei I apply that reasoning to the Dai Li when you exposed Long Feng's betrayal?" Baatar asked the elder Waterbender. Katara confirmed that it was. "How exactly did that turn out for him?" Except for the bounty hunters, everyone already knew the answer.
"Disastrously," Katara confirmed. "Fire Princess Azula infiltrated the city and approached the Dai Li, assuming they were only loyal to themselves. She was right, and they were instrumental in helping her conquer the Earth Kingdom capitol virtually unopposed, after helping her force me and my friends to flee, with Aang barely clinging to life."
"Sounds like Palpatine had the right idea, then," Suyin commented, having had her own problems with the Dai Li years later.
"Exactly," Boba said. "Lord Vader led the Jedi Purge, personally sacking their Temple and spearheading the hunt for survivors. A few Jedi leftovers have reared their heads, since then, trying to overthrow the New Order, but they keep failing." Katara, Bumi, and the others didn't know what to think. They hardly trusted Vader, but Boba and Bossk definitely believed what they were saying. And the story had enough similarities to their own history that it couldn't be discounted.
"What will this Kenobi do with Mizuki?" a worried Bumi asked.
"It's best we delay that conversation," Bossk said sympathetically. "Iroh needs you, right now. It's best we talk more about the T'Surr and what we might face, before then."
So, Korra has been applying her own beliefs to Vader's teachings. And given how almost all her problems need to be solved with fighting, even when she tries to find another way, she questions the value of diplomacy, in addition to what she's heard of the wider galaxy.
Obi-Wan doesn't remember every Jedi after fifteen years, so I had him briefly know Cal as an initiate. Obi-Wan never knew Cere, so I had Cordova be a history teacher for Jedi growing up. Apart from the council, most Jedi only know basic details of Anakin's past, as shown when Ahsoka was ignorant he was a slave.
I thought Baatar tossing a derelict building into the sky would be easier than ripping a warship out of the sky. So, everyone in that part of Nar Shaddaa is dead. Vader wants his son back, but he doesn't want to sacrifice one of his new apprentices to do so. I also noticed how, if Luke was only undiscovered by virtue of living on Tatooine, where paperwork is virtually nonexistent, Leia's own history would easily be discovered if anyone looked closely.
I wanted to contrast the view of those who support the Jedi, like Greez, and those who hate it, like Boba and Bossk, who, like most Trandoshans, resent how the Republic and Jedi usually sided with the Wookiees. Their opinion of the Jedi Code is based on a surface reading of it. As I was writing this story, I realized the Dai Li were everything the Jedi's enemies accuse them of being, as well.
Next chapter, Korra and Mako prepare an expeditionary force for the T'Surr homeworld. Bumi makes some new allies. The party prepares to rescue Iroh and the others, and both Luke and Mizuki make some big decisions.