Ch4 - The Survivors

Outermost Moon of Umbara, Umbara System, Expansion Region, 13 BBY
The forests were alive with life.
After all, it had not been so long ago that the system was untainted by war.
Of course, it had seen its fair share of war, which world hadn't?
From this moon, however, Nico could reach out and feel the shadows with which he had felt so deeply connected.

He hadn't meant to hide himself away in this system, of course. He could never have wished for the younglings under his charge to be so close to the lingering taint of death. It had made sense, however, that Percy had programmed the navicomputer of his shuttle to send him here.
After all, what clone would come back to Umbara?

The past years had been hard on the young Jedi, though he supposed that as he approached twenty years of age, he hardly qualified as young anymore. Even if he was young in years, three years of brutal war and a further five as a fugitive on the run had matured him beyond what the galaxy around had done.
It was well enough that he had this new maturity, of course, with a group of younglings under his responsibility. Not all of those who he taught had escaped the temple with him on that day, and not all that he had rescued from the temple remained under his tutelage. They had come and gone, either killed by those who hunted them, or gone to pursue their own goals.
He didn't stop them, just as his master had never stopped him from doing what he felt was the right thing to do.
As things stood, however, his students numbered twelve, of whom four were still too young to build a sabre of their own.

A further three were still considered too young to leave the relative safety of the moon which they had used as their base for the past five years, let alone learn the arts of flight and battle. For now, he settled for educating them in the ways of the galaxy, and of the force.
They knew little else, and for that he supposed that he was apologetic to them, but after all, what else had he known?
His musings were cut short by the appearance of one of his students behind him. He turned to face them, shrouded in darkness as everything in this system seemed to be.

"Master, I have sensed something in the force," the boy said in a small voice, taking a seat on the bark of a fallen tree.
Nico sank to his knees in front of him, falling into a meditation, reaching out around him.
"It is faint," the student urged, "But it is there, I know it."
"Do not worry yourself, Orion," he told the boy, "If the force wills us to be somewhere, then that is where we shall be."
The boy nodded.

"Tell me, have you spoken to Achilles recently?" Nico asked him, a sly look on his face.
"No, Master," the boy replied, "Not since last week."
"Well, he is here now, and I would wager that he has news of what it is that you have been searching for."
Nico smiled as the boy ran off, following at a walk.

He had felt something, though he was unsure of what exactly it was, and what it meant. Hopefully, Achilles would be able to shed some light on the situation, following his own travels throughout the galaxy. The Onderonian Jedi had been one of Nico's peers as a youngling in the Temple in their youth, and had found the small enclave not long ago, becoming a stalwart ally of Nico's on his own missions in the wider galaxy.

After all, the time that the man had spent as Jedi Padawan Djoser Phaeris under the tutelage of the twin masters Tiplar and Tiplee had given him experience that Nico could very much respect. Even more, the young man knew loss in a way that many didn't. He had seen one of his masters killed in cold blood by her own troops, another giving her life for his on that final day of the war.

This time, however, the Onderonian had returned in a surprisingly good mood, and it appeared to be infectious.
"Master," the man greeted, spreading his arms for an embrace, one that Nico accepted without hesitation. "I've got what we need."
Nico's jaw fell open. "You have it now?"

"No," the man admitted, "we'll need to go to the maker to get it; he wants an interview with the one who plans on piloting it."
"And this isn't possible over a hologram?" Nico asked, though he was already mentally preparing for what would happen in the enclave through his absence.
"No, Master," the man known across the galaxy as Achilles explained, "The maker doesn't have the abilities to move it alone in any case; we would need to go there ourselves either way."
"Fine," Nico relented. "Orion, you are in charge until Achilles and I return."
The Togruta boy nodded, bowing to his seniors and running off.

Together, Achilles and Nico made their way across to the Landing Pads, the caves which served as this small remnant of the Order's Hangars already having been emptied of the light craft that they housed. A pair of the Padawans were conducting final checks on the now far-outdated Delta 7-B Aethersprite Interceptors. As much as the craft were old, however, they still fulfilled their purposes, with the blistering speed that their J-44 'Jetforce' engines were able to accumulate in flight, and their weaponry remained sufficient for what the bounty hunters of the galaxy tended to use.

The pair of outgoing Jedi boarded their fighters, offering the Padawans their thanks before they initiated launch procedures.
It had been with a little sadness that Nico had accepted the Aethersprite given to him, the light blue livery of the craft unchanged in honour of the one who had piloted it previously, Jedi Master Tiplar.
Master Tiplee had stored it away on their home planet of Mikkia, the location known only to herself and her Padawan.

It now served their little order, not only as a training vessel but as a means of reaching out, and helping those in need.
The pair of pilots docked with their Syliure-31 Hyperspace Rings and within moments, the Astromech droids docked within the wing-mounted pods had programmed the coordinates of their destination.
Shantipole awaited them.

Shantipole, Mid Rim, 13 BBY
The pair of interceptors dropped out of hyperspace to be confronted by one of the most terrifying natural phenomena in the galaxy.
The upper atmosphere of the planet Shantipole was a visibly roiling storm, a thick canopy of cloud hanging over towering spires of rock. To call it safe for flight would be a poorly concealed lie, and to pretend that the journey was about to be easy was just as untrue.

"Djoser, stay on my tail," Nico instructed, "If you lose sight of me at any point, prepare to withdraw. The safest direction of travel on this planet is up."
"Understood," the Jedi known as Achilles replied, and at that they disengaged their hyperspace rings.
To most pilots, Nico's instructions would have been a perceived insult; a mark against their skills in the air. To Achilles, however, it was the truth. A pilot, he was not. For as much as the former student of Obi Wan Kenobi was excellent with a blade, his swordsmanship could not compare to the Onderonian's, and as a pair, they knew that they needed to show an example to those who they taught.

"On my mark, prepare to descend."
"On your mark," Phaeris agreed.
"Move."
Together, the Interceptors peeled off, swooping in from outside the planet's orbit and entering the storm.

Immediately, visibility dropped to near zero, the thick cloud hanging over them like a shroud and allowing no more than a hundred metres to be seen ahead of them at any given time. Proximity scanners jammed instantly as a result of the pressure drop, and instantly Nico knew that there was no chance of them recovering to any extent before they had escaped the upper atmosphere and the worst of the storm.

"Stay on my tail, Djoser," Nico warned, "And allow the force to guide you."
The Umbaran closed his eyes.
Reaching out ahead of him, he felt a presence.
He banked right, allowing the momentum of his left wing to carry into a roll to avoid the next rocky spire, and levelling in time to note the third one that he had shot past.
Then, a pulse of energy which lit up his surroundings, even illuminating the backs of his shut eyelids.
Lightning.
Nico dived once more, sensing the thickening of the storm up ahead, and not wishing to lead his friend, still tight on his tail, into truly unnavigable conditions.
Going deeper, however, presented an entirely different problem.

While the storms of the upper atmosphere of Shantipole weaned off, they were replaced by the winds.
For as much as the upper atmosphere was crowded with those stony spires which had claimed the lives of so many, the sky below the clouds was even more so. They acted like wind tunnels, the howling gales catching against hard rock and forming eddies, like water in a gushing stream.
The light, sleek bodies of the Interceptors were hardly a match for the winds, and truly, Nico didn't know if it was possible for both himself and his companion to enter and leave in one piece.

He banked sharply to avoid one of the pillars ahead of him, grimacing as he felt the howling wind resist his movement. The landing strip was still a ten kilometres or so out from their position, and Nico knew that his only option was to push on.
"Nico, I'm pulling away," Djoser called, and Nico's eyes widened.
"Achilles, I instruct you not to do so," the Umbaran replied firmly, "we are too far in for you to escape alone. Stay on my tail, and trust in the force. We will make it out."
"But…"
"Djoser, do you trust me?"
"Yes, Nico, yes I do."
"Then follow."
He did.

On they flew, Nico leading the way as they hurtled through ravines and canyons, wincing as the lightning which sparked and cracked overhead streaked down towards the ground, pummelling at their shields and knocking them off course.
It was a barely functioning pair of Aethersprite Interceptors which set down over the rickety platform that the shipmaster called a runway, and yet, both pilots were very much alive.
"R3, check all systems," Nico told Tiplar's former droid, "conduct repairs where possible. If not, we may be stuck here for some time."
The Astromech chirped away, emerging from the docking pod and busying itself with the spacecraft's systems.
"This is the location which I was given, Master," Djoser told the older Jedi, "The Shipmaster's name is Quarrie."
"Aye, Quarrie's the name," replied a gravelly voice. "And I presume you're the Jedi."
Nico turned, hand twitching towards his sabre, and expecting…
Well, expecting something considerably different to the diminutive Mon Calamari who he found staring up at him, arms crossed and brow furrowed.

"I never got to go to Mon Cala," Nico told the man, skipping all typical forms of greeting, "Though Ahsoka told me it was a beautiful place."
"Aye, it was," the aged shipmaster nodded, a wistful look in his orb-like eyes, "a most wonderful place, until that Tarkin had it destroyed. Ruined as a sign to the galaxy."
"I heard that it wasn't Tarkin, It was some Jackson" Phaeris interjected, and Nico's eyes widened.
"That name…" Quarrie muttered, "We held that man's name by such high standards, Master Jedi, many of us refused to believe that it was him. Even when we saw his ships and heard his voice. We refused to believe that Perseus Jackson bombed Mon Cala."
"I knew him, once," Nico murmured. "He was a good man. Not the sort who would do that, surely?"
"He is a warrior, Nico, and a Mandalorian at that," Djoser replied lowly. "Six years is a long time."
Nico shook his head. This was a matter for another time. "You have a ship for us?" he asked of the Mon Calamari, who had been attempting to overhear the hushed conversation of the Jedi.

"Aye, I have a ship," he confirmed, "and a good ship it is too. Follow me, and I'll give you a look at it."
Nico gave his companion a look, and shrugged, following the shipmaster into the hangar.
What was laid out in front of him was nothing short of incredible.
On an initial outset, it appeared to be a run-of-the-mill Corellian Light Freighter, similar to one which he had seen in the possession of the Republic-sponsored Onderonian rebels, led by Saw Gererra. Its dish-like hull held a large forward portion that Nico knew was the bridge, and off to one side was an extended cargo hold.

On closer inspection, however, some of the modifications became evident. Twin Laser Cannon domes had replaced the weaker ones initially placed on the Port side and on the Dorsal post, and a third identical gunner's position had been placed off the walkway on the Starboard side.
"Modified Corellian XS Stock Light Cruiser," Quarrie explained, and Nico nodded. "Damn impressive too, if I might say so myself. I've upgraded the Guns, Sensor Computer, Engines and Hyperdrive."
"Are those torpedo tubes?" Djoser asked suspiciously, and Nico's gaze was drawn towards the Cargo Bay.
"Karking right they are," the Mon Calamari declared proudly. "Two tubes on the Port side manned from the Cargo Bay, and two more under the nose, controlled by the nose gunner."
"And the Main Armament?" Nico asked, almost reluctantly. The old man had gone to extents that he had rarely ever seen to make this perhaps the most incredibly illegal vessel that he had ever seen.

He wasn't exactly complaining, though; the Freighter, while significantly larger than anything that he had ever flown, was well known to be one of the most fast and agile vessels in the galaxy in its heyday, and with upgraded engines he was truly excited to see quite how it performed.
"How much do you want for it?" Nico asked, a glimmer in his eye.
The Mon Calamari fixed him with a look, one that contained a certain steel which the Umbaran had never thought could be conveyed through those yellow eyes.

"I want, Master Jedi, for those who died on my planet to be at peace."
"They are one with the force now," Nico consoled. "They are at peace for sure. Those who are not are those left behind."
"Then for us who Perseus Jackson spared, Master Jedi, let your payment be to them."
Nico nodded.

Shantipole, Mid Rim, 13 BBY
The freighter burst from the atmosphere of the storm-ridden planet, Nico sat at the controls with Djoser at the copilot's seat, the latter of the two shaking his head in wonder as his oldest surviving friend flew.
Nico had been correct in his assumption. The XS was a work of art; forty metres of rapid, agile Light Freighter, only improved by the defensive and offensive modifications made to it by Shipmaster Quarrie. It had the Jedi Interceptors carefully docked to ports on either side, and the Hyperspace Rings, previously discarded in space prior to their entrance to the planet's atmosphere, now lay inside the Cargo Hold.

"Achilles, prepare for jump to hyperspace," Nico instructed, "let's see how the Arkanian system compares to the Kuati ones we're so used to."
"Can you tell?" Achilles asked sceptically.
Nico just grinned. "R3, input coordinates. Let's go home."

Jedi Freighter Mist, Hyperspace, 13 BBY
"You sensed it too, didn't you?" Djoser asked.
Nico nodded. "A pair of children, strong in the force, and in dire need of help."
"There is a darkness around them, Nico," the Onderonian remarked. "Darker than I have felt since the last day."
"There is," Nico confirmed, "but there is also a strong light that trails behind them. It is familiar."
"Familiar how?" Djoser asked.

"I fear that I would be proven wrong if I said it aloud, and yet I had given up on it so long ago that I simply don't care," Nico sighed. "I suspect that Obi Wan Kenobi is aiming to help one or both of these younglings. They are safe, and that is all that matters."
"And the dark?"
"I don't know yet," Nico admitted. "It may be worth taking a trip away myself, to find out just what is happening out there. We have been hidden away for some time, and I suspect that much has changed that we have the capability to change."
"I will do what I can for the younglings when you are away," Djoser told him solemnly, and Nico smiled.
"Then they will gain more than I could hope."

Outermost Moon of Umbara, Umbara System, Expansion Region, 13 BBY
The younglings seemed to have heard the ship before they had seen it, and from Orion's bemused smile the young Togruta had been unable to keep them indoors.
Nico didn't blame them, really. He had spoken for quite some time to them about his ambitions to reach out beyond this little Umbaran moon wreathed in shadow, to go out and make a difference. He had also made it abundantly clear that he couldn't do so until more of his students were of an age at which they could be trusted, both as Jedi and as doers of good across the galaxy.
After all, he had explained, how could they be seen as the successors to the mighty Jedi Order when they behaved like little children?

As the pair of Nico and Djoser descended the ramp and strode onto the landing pad, they were immediately set upon by a crowd of their younger charges, all of whom seemed enthralled by the presence of a new starship; a sign that they had reached a phase in their training where it was possible to further their training beyond the theory that many of them had been learning.
The chance to wield a sabre, and to make a difference.

"Achilles, I trust that you can show the younglings around the ship?" Nico asked, giving his comrade a smile.
Achilles nodded, and Nico bid him a hasty farewell.
There was work to be done, and Nico knew that he was the only one in his fledgling group capable of doing it.
Firstly, however, he needed to pay a visit to a dear friend.

ISD Emperor's Fist, Ryloth System, Outer Rim, 13 BBY
Percy sighed as he looked out of the viewport of his flagship at the dusty planet in front of him.
During the war, he had spent quite some time here after the Republic victory. It had been a long time since the war, however. Where once the name Syndulla promised allies, it now seemed to simply herald war.
That, Percy thought, was never a good thing, no matter how dire the situation of the people of Ryloth.

The wreckage of the Lawbringer had largely fallen to the surface by now, large parts of the vessel's hull scattered across the desert, but as a consequence of no secure landing pads, Percy had elected to keep his ship in orbit.
Contrary to Hebe's blind faith in the people of Ryloth, however, he had ensured that there would be a constant screen of fighters in space.
As a matter of fact, he noted with a degree of macabre humour, it fulfilled a double purpose; the safety of his ship, and some much-needed flight time for his pilots.
His TIE squadrons had been combing the deserts of Ryloth, seeking out insurgent hideouts and picking out bomber targets. Where it was not possible to pick them off instantly, Stormtrooper Squads were sent out by Dropships to drive them to places where they could be.
It was a change in the way that Percy operated, yes, and yet this time he understood that it was entirely necessary.

As a matter of fact, the general populace of Ryloth seemed to agree, and the numbers of former insurgents handing themselves in to the offices in Lessu to be reintegrated into society backed up this feeling.
More and more of the insurgent attacks were now being attributed to droids, and indeed focussed on civilian centres, as opposed to the former attacks on Imperial facilities. All this did for their cause was to alienate themselves from their own people, and drive those for whom they claimed to fight into the arms of the Empire.
For as much as Percy hoped that he could improve the living conditions of the common resident of Lessu, he knew that this was not his responsibility. He was here until Luke Castellan arrived to relieve his troops, and from then on he was no longer responsible for the goings-on of Ryloth. Even as a Grand Admiral, it was not his remit to delve into politics and governance, merely to advise.
His thoughts were broken by the entrance of a newly promoted Lieutenant Commander Thalia Grace, now in the command of one of his TIE Fighter Squadrons.

"Miss Grace," he greeted, looking expectantly at her.
"Unidentified ship just come into the system, Sir," she told him, "Old Republic type, and manned by a single pilot."
"Flag it down," he instructed, "Let's see if we can establish comms. Put your squadron onto standby, just in case Syndulla tries something again."
"Got you Sir," Thalia replied, saluting and leaving the bridge.
Percy stepped up to the command console, squinting as he searched for this new mystery ship that had entered the System.

At first glance, the vessel was exactly what Thalia had surmised; an old Republic-Era Shuttle, familiar to anyone who had been involved in the Clone War, if a little outdated.
What gave Percy pause, however, was the fact that he recognised this ship's serialisations.
He recognised it, because it was his own.
That meant that the person at the helm was…

"Republic Shuttle, this is Grand Admiral Perseus Jackson of the Imperial Fifth Fleet. I demand that you either desist in your efforts or submit to Imperial questioning.
"On what grounds, Admiral?" the pilot replied, and for a moment Percy felt the sorest of temptations to greet him like an old friend.
But, he couldn't. Not for himself, not for his wife, and not for one of his dearest friends.

"You are in possession of a craft deemed to have been lost. You will be interviewed and your vessel confiscated under suspicion of illegal smuggling of controlled goods."
"And if I run, Admiral?" Nico asked, and Percy smirked. He could practically hear the teasing lilt to the Umbaran's voice.
"Then you will be a fugitive, your ship marked as dangerous and a price placed on your head." Out of the corner of his eye, Percy could see a pair of his TIE Pilots closing on the shuttle, and he leaned back in his seat. "Any illegal goods or fugitives you may be transporting will be seized.
The TIEs closed to just within firing range, and the first opened fire.

"In that case, Admiral, I will not be able to fulfil what it was that I came here for."
The shuttle jumped to hyperspace.
"Tracking trajectory of the jump!" An officer announced, "We can catch them within the day, sir!"
"Leave it, Lieutenant," Percy placated, "There really isn't much point. Did you not notice how the ship was angled?"
The man shook his head, face falling in disappointment.

"The pilot was preparing to conduct a Hyperspace skip," Percy told him. "Even if we pursued in the Fist, they would be able to evade us, as a result of their jumps being carefully coordinated."
"Have you ever tried the manoeuvre, Sir?"
Percy nodded. "Once. Not something that just any ship can achieve, either. I wouldn't recommend doing it in anything less structurally sound than a Lambda Class."
The Lieutenant nodded, and Percy stood up as the TIEs returned, picking up his communicator.
"Thalia, you can take your squadron off alert," he informed Thalia, "Threat is gone, no chance of pursuit."
"Roger that, Grand Admiral," the young woman replied. "My troops are clocking off."
Percy nodded, and walked out of the bridge.

The message sent to him by the Umbaran was clear.
He, along with whoever was with him, was now ready to come out of hiding, and there was nothing that Percy could do about it.
All he could do was stay out of the way.

Space Station BDT-0978 'The Wheel', Besh Gorgon System, Mid Rim, 12 BBY
He landed in one of the upper ring's docking bays, ensuring that his ship was hidden away and that his hood was secure around his head.
He had been tracking a force-sensitive child for several months now, already having called Achilles and Orion out to Utapau to take in a seventeen year old who he had found there, somehow unfound by the Empire.
They had gone on more than one adventure together, the pair of them, and Nico had quickly built up a level of trust with the teen, taking him on as an apprentice as they travelled.

Incidentally, the Pau'an had, by all technicalities, qualified himself as a Knight by the standards of the Old Order. He had neglected to give Nico a name, and the Umbaran had accepted his decision, giving him the name of Menelaus, for a great hero of whom his father had once told him. As a matter of fact, each and every one of his students had been named for a hero from his father's stories, a name which they could use that did not track them back to the databases of the old Jedi Temple, and which kept them safe from those who sought to harm them.
He himself had kept a name of his own, though it was never used among his little remnant of the order.
Orpheus.

It was a name more personal than most, for a great many reasons.
The tale of Orpheus the musician had been the first that his father had told him, and it had been his own father's name.
And now, the name of Orpheus was gaining notoriety around the Outer and Mid Rims, following in the shadow of Achilles' own.
It had spread like a wildfire, the entire galaxy taking note of a rumoured force-wielding agent operating outside of the remit of the Empire, and not being caught.

He could understand why it was so big of a deal, of course.
It gave them hope that the Jedi Order still existed, and oh, the things he would do for that to truly be the case.
For now, however, he was on a mission to increase the numbers of his ranks. Word had found him that an Imperial Agent was tailing a force-sensitive being, armed with what appeared to be an ancient Sith artefact, stolen from a museum somewhere.
The Imperial Agent was on the Wheel.
So, Nico was here too.

Space Station BDT-0978 'The Wheel', Besh Gorgon System, Mid Rim, 12 BBY
A sabre ignited behind him, and Nico spun around, ensuring that his cloak was securely enough fixed to himself. If his face was recognised, his enemies would instantly come out to the Umbara System, and his students would be put at risk.
The new player settled into a fighting stance, a haunting white sabre in either hand.

Nico drew his own sabre, the reassuring green of his blade and the thrum of the Kyber Crystal enclosed within the hilt calming his racing nerves as he dropped into a fighting stance of his own.
The narrow corridors and low ceilings of the maintenance tunnel of Space Station BDT-0978 meant that movement was not an option - there was only forwards and back.
To an extent, Nico observed, the situation was eerily similar to his encounter with Asajj Ventress deep under the Kaminoan ocean.

Here, however, almost ten years later, he was far better prepared to encounter an aggressive foe.
His opponent made the first move, rushing forwards with their left hand blade swooping down to knock his blade aside as their right hand powered through with a hammer strike from above.
It would have worked, too, had Nico not seen the manoeuvre before. The Umbaran ducked under the follow-up, slipping under his assailant's open right hand side and spinning around to face them again as they turned.

Both fighters dropped back into their fighting stances, and this time Nico recognised a Jedi form. The shoto blade in their left hand was held in a reverse grip, while the more conventional sabre in their right was upright and ready to launch an attack in the manner of a Form IV fighter.
Nico smirked, and played his hand, standing side-on to his opponent and extending his blade out in a duellist's stance. The use of Form II, Makashi, was one that he had been honing for years, and it was now the time to put it to use.
His opponent, face still shrouded by a grey hood, tensed, and attacked.

This time, Nico chose to stand and fight, parrying and answering the initial slash with a riposte, throwing his weight forwards and driving his opponent backwards, off balance. He pressed this advantage, flourishing his blade into an extended strike scything from low to high across his opponent's body.
They jumped high and away from the thrumming green pillar of energy, springboarding off the wall and pushing away from Nico. A clever move, and one that dislodged their hood.
Nico's blade dropped, his jaw going much the same way.

His sabre disengaged with a whoosh, and a shaking hand came slowly up to his head to remove his own hood.
"I thought you were dead," he breathed.
The Togruta in front of him smirked.
"Think harder, Shadows."

Space Station BDT-0978 'The Wheel', Besh Gorgon System, Mid Rim, 12 BBY
"So you're not tracking this mystery kid?" Nico asked Ahsoka as they walked through the maintenance corridors of the space station, slightly shocked. The Togruta shook her head, giving him an apologetic smile.

"Nico, I left the order," she reminded him, "I turned my back on that part of my life. I do what I want to do, and I help who I can. I think that's what all of us do."
"That doesn't mean that you can't accept some of what we were taught," he pressed passionately, "sure, you don't need to fall in line with everything that the order said, but you can still be a force for good."
"And what did that force for good do for us, Nico?" Ahsoka asked bitterly, "They cast me aside when they didn't think they needed me anymore."
"Ahsoka, you know you can't judge the order on what they were during the war," Nico told her resignedly, "that wasn't what it was meant to be. Keepers of the peace, protectors of the needy. Not leaders of armies."
"A symbol of hope," Ahsoka murmured, and Nico nodded.
"A symbol of hope," he echoed.

"I was sent here by Bail Organa," Ahsoka admitted as she pressed herself into a wall, letting Nico look around the next corner, confirming a lack of hostile presence. "He said there's intel here on a high-ranking Imperial Officer who might be willing to defect, or at least be sympathetic to a movement to restore the republic."
"Organa…" Nico mused, "The politician? Alderaan?"
Ahsoka nodded. "He isn't happy with the Emperor's policies, and definitely isn't happy with the way that he's treated a lot of people. Mon Cala, Ryloth, it's been happening with concerning frequency, and the heightened presence in Outer Rim Systems is looking threatening at best."
"I've heard about those," Nico admitted, trailing off slightly.
Ahsoka noticed.

"Yes, Percy's been heavily involved in both incidents," she informed him. "I'm told by Organa, though, that a large part of that is Tarkin's new policy, and this latest generation of Commanders. I don't think Admiral Jackson's gone bad."
"Well, at least there's that," Nico muttered dully.

Ahsoka nodded. "Yularen, meanwhile, is in their Security Bureau."
"Security Bureau?" Nico questioned, raising an eyebrow. "That's new."
"You haven't been out here for a while, have you?" Ahsoka asked the Umbaran. "The ISB is a secret police. They're the ones in charge of preventing a rebellion at the root."
Nico nodded his understanding.
"This floor," he told her. "The force is strong in this child."
"I can sense him," Ahsoka confirmed. "We'll finish this job off, then find the intel I'm after."
Nico nodded, peering through the porthole in the door and affirming a lack of people in the corridor, before opening it and entering the station proper.

The first door they opened led them into one of the bustling commercial centres of the space station, with its gargantuan vaulted ceilings, and hundreds of floors of casinos, cantinas and other such establishments, dedicated to the entertainment of the upper classes of the Mid Rim. Holotables displayed races happening around the Galaxy, and the crowd seemed to exist in perpetual motion, despite the inexplicable lack of space in which to move.

The pair of Jedi took advantage of it, ducking and weaving between shops and stalls, keeping their heads down and their hoods up.
Their target was not far off at all.
"On our right," Nico told Ahsoka, who nodded.
The pair of them moved in, Ahsoka keeping her head up in search of any danger while Nico grabbed the child, darting to the next maintenance hatch.
All three of them were safe and out of sight and sound of any onlookers when someone broke the silence.

It was the boy, of all people. A young human, though it was impossible to tell from the dark skin alone just which planet he had come from originally.
In truth, it mattered little.
"Who are you, and what do you want with me?" he asked.
"I came here to rescue you," Nico explained. "You have a connection to the force that is startling; enough for even the Empire's agents to take notice."

"I've felt something off, these past few days," the child admitted. It was a surprisingly mature admission to make, especially for a child as raw in power as he was. "Thought it was just the ventilation going faulty."
"They have sent a force wielder?" Ahsoka wondered aloud, sending Nico a look. "I have heard of this Vader's network of operatives; they are not to be fooled around with, Nico."
"I haven't had the pleasure just yet," Nico admitted with a grimace, "I'm not looking forward to the first time I do meet one; haven't duelled a decent sabre in a good while."
Ahsoka's response was cut off by the ignition of a sabre. The room was flooded with red light, centred around a humming blade.

Even over the distance, Nico could feel the taint on the Kyber, the hate imbued within them.
"It is good, then, Niccolo di Angelo, that I shall be the first of the Inquisitorious to meet you."
Nico and Ahsoka drew their sabres as one, the Umbaran advancing on their new opponent while Ahsoka pulled the child away from the threat.
A second sabre ignited behind them, a second black-clad form appearing from the darkness.
"Not so fast, Ahsoka Tano," the second inquisitor spat. "Lord Vader will be most pleased to hear of your demise."
"Kid, The ship is down the next corridor. Coordinates are input already for a safe location. We'll pick you up from there if we're still here," Ahsoka instructed.
Upon the youngling's nod, she charged.
On the other side of the fight, Nico did the same, engaging the gargantuan warrior with his green sabre.

Amid the flashes and chaos of the duel behind him, he found himself engaged by a truly fearsome warrior, trained in the art of the sabre by the Jedi Temple's finest, a double bladed sabre mounted upon a rotating handle that provided not only a nigh on impenetrable defence, but a fearsome attack which could not reasonably be parried. On his opponent's assault went, until he could feel Ahsoka's presence in the force mere yards behind him, he own blades locked in combat with a foe just as fearsome as the one who he faced.

Blocking a strike from one blade aimed at his legs, he spun around to parry the opposite blade's follow through at his head, deflecting it over his shoulder, spinning into a swept strike at his opponent's legs to earn himself a yard or two of space.
Now, he took control of the fight.
His blade darted forwards in a lightning-fast jab at his opponent's midsection, and the Inquisitor panicked, sending his blade into a spin. Sparks flew and molten durasteel dripped from the walls as the Inquisitor fell into a retreat, stumbling backwards.

Nico pushed further, and when his opponent attempted to push his blade horizontally, the Umbaran knew that he had found his moment. A cleaving blow from top to bottom had the Inquisitor's double bladed weapon split into two, energy sparking from the broken hilt, and one of the blades sputtering out lamely.
The Inquisitor took his guard once more, though now his hands were limited for room, negating his preferred double-handed grip, and the tip of his blade wavered as Nico stalked him down.
The fight was over with a rapid knock aside of the inquisitor's blade and a slash that removed his helmet.
Behind him, a muted scream and the sheathing of a sabre told Nico that Ahsoka hadn't bothered questioning her opponent.
He could see why she had done what she had done, and as he turned around, he saw her stood victorious over her foe, a sabre at her throat.
Nico nodded at her, and each of them stunned their opponents.
When they awoke, the Jedi would be long gone, and the inquisitors would likely have a very sore headache.

Space Station BDT-0978 'The Wheel', Besh Gorgon System, Mid Rim, 12 BBY
"You're sure you don't want to come?" Nico offered, "We have a ship now; the kids have been doing some work on it to get it prepared as a transport fit for all of us. It would be nice to have a friend on board too."
"Nico, you know I left the order," she reiterated. "I don't want any part in it, no matter who is in charge of it."
"An exchange, then," Nico offered her. "You're looking for information. I'm trying to restore the greatest force for good in the Galaxy. I'll give you that information, and in return you send those in need of training to me."
"Done," she told him. "Take care of yourself, Shadows," she smiled softly as she turned away.
"You too, Snips," Nico replied under his breath, "you too."

A/N
Definitely didn't nearly post chapter 5 just now. Fortunately, I realised as I was writing the AN for that, that you guys would have been a little confused about the Jedi when I hadn't introduced the Jedi.
So, meet the Jedi! Nico's back, and he's got some cool new friends. A point to note, they aren't going to become some kind of rage horde that singlehandedly take down the Empire. It's a bit more nuanced than that. let's be honest, something like this may well have happened in Canon; there's so many Jedi that they could reasonably have done something funky like this.
At the end of the day, there's very little that Jedi can do in the Civil War, purely because of the level of force that the Empire use; they're useful, yes, but only when they're raised as warriors, not scholars.
In any case, you'll see these folks mucking around here and there as the story winds on, so enjoy that.
The customary thanks to Dudududhehe for his help, go check out his stuff.
Until next time, then,
Sol
(I don't own PJO, Star Wars or any related media)