December 1.
When Galen was informed about the fate of Jedha, he was hit by the deepest sense of remorse and the most furious rage. Still, with the help of his daughter and the patience of the young Jedi in front of him, he managed to calm down and confirmed what he had said in the message: the plans for the Death Star were in the data vault on Scarif. Without them, it would be impossible for the Rebels to find the weakness that Galen had built into the station, because even if the Constantinople did scan the battle station a bit, the structure was too gargantuan for a quick scan to reveal everything about it.
For the rest, Galen eagerly gave all the intel he had about imperial research facilities and vital production centers that he knew about only because they worked to the construction of the Death Star, but since Galen had been forced to work on the project after Krennic killed his wife and almost captured Jyn, the old scientist had a very limited access to the Imperial Network.
The Constantinople headed right back toward Yavin, passing through Kessel and then heading toward Lothal through a secondary hyperspace route that wasn't under the control of any of the warring factions, then they used the conventional ones to reach the planet in just a couple of days more.
As the ship touched ground on the landing area that had been readied for her, Ezra and the rest of the team were ready to get down from the ramp of the hangar. When that opened, he saw Jaral and Sabine, at the head of a small delegation ready to escort Galen into the old temple.
Ezra walked down the ramp and the girls gave him a hug, mostly because they needed to confirm that he was still there with them, even after that terrible encounter with the death on Jedha.
"I got really, really scared, this time." Sabine commented.
Ezra kissed her quickly and apologized with a smile, while Jaral left the collective hug and instead headed toward Galen and Jyn.
"I'm glad to see you found each others." she said with a genuine happiness.
"It was all thanks to you and the Alliance. I suppose you are Jaral Bridger." Galen answered cordially.
"You know me?"
"I might've been quite isolated, but I still heard about you and your brother. Besides, there are not many people left in the galaxy who openly carry a lightsaber." he added pointing at Jaral's belt.
Jaral chuckled, giving a quick look at the weapon hanging from her left hip.
"I guess not. Come on, it's not over, yet." she concluded.
"Unfortunately." Jyn commented before they followed the Grand Marshall toward the temple.
However, when they enter the main perimeter of the camp, meaning the main fighters park, where Bodhi and K had also landed the stolen shuttle, many rebels looked at their way, curious to see who the new arrival was.
"Do they know who I am?...what I have done?" Galen asked.
"The only ones who have seen what happened to Jedha are me and the few who were into the war room at the moment. For now, I deemed necessary to keep the intel from the troops." Jaral explained.
"Speaking of which, what's our next move?" Ezra asked.
"I have a few ideas, but I need to consult with the Councilors and, if they agree, I'll contact Admiral Edrix." his sister calmly assessed. "But we also have another problem."
"What?"
Jaral sighed and stopped in her tracks. "While you were away, I received news than an Imperial commando team has stormed one coalition's outpost on Rhen Var. They have stolen a few dozens of stored AIs."
Ezra was left astounded. "Are you kidding?" he asked.
"I wish. And more than that, our long-range sensors have detected that Iulius' fleet has left Kuat and is climbing back on the Perlimian Trade Route. The Joint Fleet is preparing for a counteroffensive." she concluded before resuming the walk.
"You think it's gonna be bad? The Fleet has already defeated the Imperial Navy time and again, by now." Ezra said.
"We've only faced incompetent Moffs and Admirals who had no idea how to fight an enemy on even ground. But you know that Iulius is not that kind."
Ezra didn't comment. He knew that very well, after Atollon and the failed air strike on Lothal. But still, the Joint Fleet was commanded By Raddus and Edrix, two Admirals with many more years of experience than Iulius. For all of his talent, he could not hope to beat them, right?
Not much else was said as the group escorted Galen, Jyn and Bodhi to the war room. When they arrived in front of the door, Jaral dismissed everyone else but Ezra, who was to take part in the summit of Rebel leaders waiting to start behind that door.
Jyn was also allowed to participate because of her contribution, Bodhi because he was an important witness.
Jaral opened the door and the group entered into the conference room, which was crowded with the delegations of the many worlds who supported the rebellion. Some had been liberated already, others, like Bail Organa's Alderaan, were still under Imperial rule. Though, it could be argued that Bail himself represented only a minority of his people: sure, Alderaanians were mostly neutral about the Empire, but there were as many who served in the Empire as many who hated it.
The siblings took their places around the table, together with their new allies, and then Mon Mothma exposed the situation. She showed the records made by the Constantinople about Jedha and about the Death Star, which immediately polarized the assembly.
"We must scatter the fleet!" one of the councilors exclaimed. "We have no recourse but to surrender."
"Are we really talking about disbanding something we've worked so hard to create?" Bail countered.
"Besides, the Federation is with us." a delegate added. "They can surely come up with a weapon to counter this."
"How long do you think that will take?!" another one protested. "How many of our worlds will be destroyed in the meantime?"
"We can't just give in!" Raddus, who was present as well, declared among the rising tones.
"Councilors, please." Mothma said, reestablishing order.
The next to speak was the leader of Blue Squadron, General Antoc Merrick. "It's simple. The Empire has the meanings of mass destruction, the Coalition does not."
"But you forget one, vital detail, General." Jaral calmly added. "We have a chance to destroy their meaning." she said and pointed her gaze toward Galen, who was waiting among the crowd.
Timidly, Galen stepped forward and went near his daughter and the Grand Marshall.
"Everyone," Jaral announced. "this is Doctor Galen Erso, main constructor of the Death Star."
Incredulous and indignant murmurs followed, for some believed that he was an enemy of the Rebellion. Only Raddus and a few other military leaders saw the potential immediately.
"I know what you are thinking." Galen started with a regretful tone. "You think I'm a monster, and you would be right. The Death Star is an abomination, and while I couldn't stop it entirely, I need you to believe me when I say that it has a fatal flaw. One that you can exploit to take it out from the face of the universe."
"As if we're going to trust the testimony of a criminal!" Councilor Vaspar said enraged.
"You fr..." Jyn started irritated, then reformulated the phrase. "Haven't you seen the record a minute ago? Why do you think he would be lying?"
"To lure our forces into a final battle to destroy us, once and for all!" Draven accused.
The general murmur resurfaced, this time becoming much louder, with discording opinion being voiced.
That was until Jaral lifted a hand with calm and authority, and the shouts quickly died down.
She put that hand behind her back, where the other already was. And she spoke up with her usual calm demeanor.
"Friends. I understand your worries. This weapon scares me out as well, after all, how couldn't it? The idea of having your own planet blown up in mere seconds is terrifying and it's just a testament to how evil the Empire is, accepting genocide as a strategy.
"However, I invite you to think of what we have achieved in these last months. Less than a year ago, it seemed impossible for us to fight against the Empire, but we have done it. We have found powerful allies who have given us the means to fight back; a third of the Outer Rim territories are now free from the oppression of the Empire.
"If we're going to surrender now...then what was the purpose of it all? How can we possibly look at the graves of the thousands of friends and comrades who have already laid down their lives for our freedom?"
A murmur of approval rose up, especially between the soldiers that were following the delegations.
"How are we going to tell to the billions of people who can now live at peace in our liberated territories that we will leave them at the mercy of the Empire, again? Even without the Death Star, what do you think the Empire will do to them?"
Now some of the soldiers shouted in approval.
"The Empire has already turned Jedha to ashes, but now we have a chance, a real chance at destroying this monstrosity and avenge its victims." she concluded.
"Well said!" Raddus' voice echoed. "I'm not giving up Mon Cala after all we've done. I say we fight!"
Another yell of approval followed briefly before it became quiet enough to keep the conference going.
"So I assume you have a plan?" Mothma asked Jaral to restore a little hope to the other delegates.
"Partially, for now. I have to confront with the Federation. But I'm confident that we can do this."
Overall, people seemed to trust the Grand Marshall. After all, she had managed to free Lothal by coordinating a massive naval invasion from another galaxy and coordinating in such a way that she managed to force the best officer of the Empire to surrender without firing a shot. How difficult could this be for her?
"Very well." Mothma concluded after the last discussion died down. "We will wait for your signal, Jaral Bridger. May the Force be with us."
The Grand Marshall nodded and walked out of the room, followed by her brother.
"That went quite well." Ezra commented in a joyful tone.
"Yes, but now there's no time to waste. Call AP-5 in the war room, I need to analyze all the routes leading to Scarif."
"Aye, aye." Ezra replied with some enthusiasm and walked away.
-----------------
December 7.
"We're reaching the system of Columex." Nash announced from the pit. "In 3...2...1..."
Iulius looked out of the viewport as the blue tunnel dissipated and the icy planet appeared in front of him.
Shortly after, a variety of corvettes, light cruisers and frigates left hyperspace around the Admonitor. Then another Star Destroyer appeared on the right with its own escort. That was the Purger, Captain Bolo's new ship.
On his left, hidden to enemy sensors, appeared the Corvus.
"The rest of the fleet is waiting outside of the system as you asked, Grand Admiral." Ciena reported.
Iulius then turned around and started walking toward the holotable in the adjacent room. "Lieutenant Commander Echiris, give me a scan of their forces." he ordered in the meantime.
"Yes, sir." one of the officers in the pits replied.
When Iulius reached the holotable, the scan was complete. As of now, the sensors picked up a dozen of Federation cruisers, of Human and Turian manufacture, plus a Human Battleships and a Turian Dreadnought, which was going to be the biggest threat. The Turians also deployed a light carrier.
Holding position next to the planet's moon, though, there was a naval squad of the Rebellion. Iulius counted two MC80 cruisers and an MC80A. They had an escort of around 8 Hammerhead corvettes and two Nebulon-B frigates. For now, the sensors only revealed two squads of X-Wings and one of A-Wings patrolling around the area.
The rebel fighters quickly turned away to regroup with their fleet when they were alerted of the Imperial force arriving.
At the other end of the table, Ciena was waiting instructions.
"Get me Commander Versio and Captain Bolo." Iulius instructed.
"Yes, sir." the young woman promptly replied and made the call.
The holograms of the two officers appeared quickly around the circular table.
"Commander," the Grand Admiral started with Iden. "keep the Corvus hidden and move toward that moon as soon as the rebels will try to engage us."
"Yes, sir." the woman promptly replied.
"Sir, are you sure they are going to be the first to engage?" Bolo asked skeptical.
"We've left right in front of their moon, Captain. The Federal fleet will need time to reposition itself, and in the meantime, we will force the rebels to engage. Order your light cruiser to start a skirmish. Have the Purifier follow the Admonitor."
"Understood, sir." the Captain dutifully replied, then their holograms disappeared.
As the Arquitens moved forward in an arrow formation, it didn't take long for the sensor officer to make a new report.
"Sir, enemy fighters are heading toward the light cruisers."
"Let them get closer..." Iulius calmly instructed as he noticed the small dots moving on the holotable. After he let them make another two kliks toward the fleet, he gave the next order. "Send the Lancers." he said to Ciena, who nodded and relayed the order.
The Lancers. They may not have the most stylish appearance, with turrets on all of its linear and relatively thin form, but the point was, those turrets were specifically designed to take out small and quick vehicles.
The move took the rebel starfighters with their guard low, as their momentum couldn't be stopped. Pinned by a group of TIE Fighters sent by the cruisers' captains, the X-Wings and A-Wings found themselves entangled in an extremely unequal battle, and the first phase of the battle ended with them being almost completely wiped out. Only a handful managed to disengage and return to the rest of their fleet.
As Iulius predicted, the Rebel commander reacted by deploying their fleet to face the imperial squadron. They were most likely thinking that, since there were only two Star Destroyers, they might have a chance.
Which would have been true, if it wasn't for the fact that they weren't.
As the imperial light cruisers started shooting at the rebel ships, forcing them to shoot them back, Commander Krybos informed him that the Corvus was in position.
"Lieutenant Ree, order them to deploy the gravity well." Iulius ordered.
Ciena immediately sent the encrypted message, which was then answered positively. In the meantime, some of the federal cruisers joined the fight, but now that the Imperials had a numerical superiority in starfighters, they were subject to various bombing runs.
"Star Destroyers, move forward. We're joining the fight." Iulius ordered when the enemies brought in some reinforcements. "Maurice, keep an eye on that dreadnought." he added to the sensor officer.
"Yes, sir."
The Admonitor and the Purifier thus took position behind the line of light cruisers and started providing long range support. The Admonitor quickly managed to disable a Turian cruiser, and a rebel MC80 moved forward to assist it, focusing all of its energy into the shields and creating a visible energy barrier.
"Oh, look," Iulius commented calmly but with a point of sarcasm. "an opportunity to test the new toy. Prepare the Proton Beam." he ordered to Krybos.
The man put a hand on the table to communicate with the weapon section. "Prepare the Proton Beam."
This was a new weapon that the Empire wanted to test for a while, so Imperial Command had decided to award it to Iulius. As the name suggested, it was a ray of proton energy that could be channeled against a ship and cause, in theory, a lot of damage. The weapon was installed on two cannons: right beneath the bridge and on the belly of the ship, but since it consumed a lot of energy, only one of them could be used at a time, and the main reactor that provided the protons had to be left recovering for two minutes before firing again, so it wasn't a weapon to be used without caution.
Krybos ordered to point at the MC80, since it was clear that Iulius wanted that. And that was the kind of attitude Iulius had instilled in his officers: to think autonomously, without him having to micro-manage every single aspect of the battle.
"Beam charged, Grand Admiral." the First Officer finally announced.
"Fire." Iulius ordered. He had already walked back to the viewport to enjoy the scene of the fleets battling each other with the blue sun of the system being amply reflected by the icy world below them.
A moment later, the Beam came out. A green, thin flux of energy surrounded by lightnings of the same color headed straight to the Mon Cala ship.
The effect was devastating. Not only their shield quickly fell, but it also caused a massive explosion on the landing point, blowing up a couple of their ion cannons and creating a fatal weakness into the ship.
"Krybos, you know what to do." Iulius calmly commented.
The man recalled the weapon section. "All batteries, target the rebel cruiser. Concentrate maximum firepower."
The octuple turrets of the Star Destroyer turned toward the cruiser and unleashed a deadly rain of high-power green bolts that literally ripped the rebel ship apart in less than a minute, letting the debris fall toward the near gravity attraction of the planet.
"Sir, what do we do about the federal cruiser?" Ciena asked.
"They have suffered too many damage to reactivate it quickly. Send a light cruiser to guard them and offer them surrender."
"Understood." the woman replied.
"Sir, their dreadnought is moving to assist them." Maurice announced.
In response, Iulius took the comlink. "Admiral Versio. It's time. Lock on our gravitational well and bring the rest of the fleet."
"Coming around, Grand Admiral."
That was the reason for bringing that device and having the Corvus deploy it. Iulius had studied the reports of the recent battles, but he was particularly interested in the one of Mon Cala.
It had been reported that the Federation had been able to deploy their ships slightly off tracks to the known hyperspace lanes. It would've been impossible to do that, normally, because the computers wouldn't allow that, and unless a ship had a clear beacon or a stopgap put in the right place, the risk of being torn apart or smash against the planet was too great.
Iulius was convinced that the Federation could make use of the AIs accurate calculations to do that, but the Empire had no means to do it.
So, if they couldn't have a beacon, the Empire really had a good stopgap. An Interdictor cruiser could do the trick, but unlike the Corvus, such cruiser would be in plain sight of the enemy and a clear target. So all Iulius had to do was to ask the Weapons Division to just give his fleet the gravitational field alone and then deploy it when the enemy was distracted.
Soon enough, the Eviscerator was the first to come out of hyperspace, followed by her escort, behind the second moon of Columex. The ships then quickly moved to flank the coalition's fleet, leaving room for another ISD to arrive with its own squadron.
Caught completely by surprise, the coalition struggled to respond, initially. The Eviscerator had her own escort of Lancers, and after seeing the damage inflicted by those ships to the rebels, the federal commander was not keen on sending their own fighters to the slaughter.
Eventually, seeing that the imperial fleet was gaining advantage in numbers and momentum, the coalition started a full retreat.
"Sir, they're falling back!" Maurice announced enthusiastically, causing a short round of cheers around the bridge.
Iulius remained calm, though.
"We'll chase them no further then the planet's Pole, after that, let them go." he calmly instructed.
"Yes, sir!" Krybos replied eagerly and relayed the order.
As the Grand Admiral expected, the coalition's ships managed to disengage before they were completely surrounded, but they paid a heavy price: the other rebel heavy cruisers were destroyed or damaged so badly that they couldn't go forward and were now left at the mercy of the victors.
Eventually, the coalition's ships, being generally faster than the Star Destroyers, regrouped around the Dreadnought and jumped to hyperspace, toward Arcan, the world right before Lianna, Iulius' final objective for this campaign.
With that done, Iulius turned toward the rest of the bridge with a satisfied grin.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, well done. I'm proud of all of you!" he declared.
A round of cheers and compliments resounded for a few seconds on the bridge, then Iulius headed toward the holotable.
"Sir, there are multiple emergency beacons." Ciena reported. "Both from us and the enemies."
Indeed, during the fight, the Imperials had lost two light cruisers, but Iulius was happy to know that some of their crew survived.
"Send rescue teams to recover any escape pods. Priority to the imperial ones." the Grand Admiral calmly ordered.
"Understood..." Ciena said, stopping to think. "how do we treat the enemy forces?" she finally asked.
Iulius answered without a doubt. "The Federals are soldiers. Treat them respectfully. But the Rebels are traitors of the Empire, so it's not my concern what happens to them. Just keep the officers alive for the ISB." he said with a glacial demeanor.
"Yes, sir." Ciena dutifully replied as she tapped the orders on the holotable.
Iulius walked back to the viewport, pondering over what to do next.
-------------------------------
December 13.
The news of the defeat on Columex had forced Jaral to review her plan to reach Scarif. Before that, she wanted to send the Joint Fleet on a massive offensive down the Perlimian Trade Route, forcing the Empire to draw its forces to defend itself, but Iulius had just vanished those hopes with a swift and crushing victory at Columex.
What's worse, is that he was treating Federal and Rebel soldiers in a completely different way. The Federal prisoners, Iulius had already offered to bargain them for an exchange, freeing some of the imperials captured by the coalition, but he refused to give up the Rebels.
The statement was clear: the Imperial Navy granted the status of legit combatants to the Systems Alliance's personnel, and treated them with decency, even though the Empire didn't have any rule regarding prisoners of war. However, the Rebels were seen as simple traitors.
This was a move, Jaral understood, aimed to create a crack in the Coalition: if the Federals knew that they would be treated fairly if they surrendered, it was more likely that their units would be less willing to fight and die along the Rebel ones, if the situation seemed hopeless.
Worst thing was, that it was already working: some people at Rebel Command whispered about this. Though there were many exaggerations, some believed that the Federation would seek a separate peace with the Empire, now that it had the Death Star, and leave the Rebellion to fend for itself.
In just a day, Iulius had showed everyone that the Imperial Navy was a formidable opponent, when led by a competent soldier, and also managed to seed doubt within his enemies.
The Grand Marshall couldn't help but respect the ability of her brother-in-law. Truly, he was worthy of being called the heir of Thrawn.
Iulius' campaign, though, might not have been entirely problematic: she could still order the Joint Fleet to counter-attack and keep him focused on the Perlimian Route, because Jaral had just found a way to go around it and send a small squadron to Scarif. A chance given by Nimbus, with whom she was speaking at the moment.
"And you're sure it's safe?"
"I am. The Hutt Space is in complete disarray, right now. Seems like Jabba the Hutt is too busy finding this Tyber Zann guy."
"What can you tell me about him?" Jaral asked with curiosity.
"I dug up a little, but it isn't much. Seems like Zann was Jabba's associate a few years ago and had his own clique, the Zann Consortium. Then he stole something from Jabba and the giant slug sold him to the Empire. Until last month, when there has been an insurrection on Kessel."
Jaral hummed in thought. "You think there's a way he might help us in the war?"
Nimbus shook her head without hesitation. "No. Zann is a man who plays only for himself. He hates the Empire, though. As long as you don't step on his feet, you might be able to just ignore each other while you both fight your common enemy."
"I see. So, how do we get through Hutt Space without fighting them?"
"I already set up a network there, with Jabba's concession. I'll send you a least of routes where the toll isn't too high."
"Money isn't an issue for the Rebellion, luckily, just send me the quickest." Jaral asked.
"Very well...May the Force be with you. Like...really." Nimbus concluded before closing the transmission.
Jaral sighed and whispered to herself "Indeed." before leaving the comms room, heading toward the war room, where she had already called a meeting with the military leaders.
But when she reached the door, she was taken by surprise and irritation as she saw Hera, barely able to walk by herself and supported by Zeb and Sabine, walking toward the door.
Jaral angrily stepped in front of them with a glare.
"Hey, we tried to tell her to back down..." Zeb defended himself and Sabine timidly.
"Hera..." Jaral said.
The Twi'lek, however, was not budging. "Jari..." she replied forcefully, even though she was already sweating. "I have to be there."
"No, you don't! You are due in less than a month, for Force's sake!" the Grand Marshall snapped.
"Listen to me...if we don't get those plans..." she exhaled again. "there will be no future. And since we can't send the entire fleet...you'll need the best you can get."
Jaral closed her eyes and inhaled loudly with her nose. Then exhaled with her mouth. Hera was right. She could only send a small naval squad to Scarif, both to move quickly and in order not to raise too much alarm to the Empire.
So she raised a finger, pointing it at the Lasat. "Zeb, get Kallus and Rex aboard the Ghost. After we're done on Scarif, I don't care if you have to hijack it from her, you're bringing Hera on Lothal, is that clear?" she said with her authoritarian voice.
"Yes, ma'am." Zeb promptly replied and went away.
Then Jaral turned toward her sister-in-law. "Sabine, get her back on the Ghost, you'll be briefed later. Then get Moreena and Darvos and take the Silver Bullet, you'll be Hera's wingmen."
Sabine looked a bit confused. "Shouldn't Ezra choose the crew for his ship?"
"Me and Ezra are going with Admiral Raddus to protect the plans. Now go."
"All right. Come on, Hera."
As Sabine accompanied Hera back toward the lifter, Jaral entered the war room and then the briefing room, where a strike team composed of Jyn, Cassian, Baze, Chirrut and other rebel agents were waiting together with Raddus, Merrick and the other leaders whose squadrons were going to take part in the endeavor.
"Marshall on deck!" the guard yelled as she entered and the Alliance personnel stood at attention.
"At ease." she nonchalantly said as she walked toward the main screen at the end of the room, where Ezra was already waiting for her.
She then proceeded to explain her plan: thanks to Galen (who had now been transferred to Mon Cala to help Rebel Intelligence with his knowledge of the Empire's research departments), the rebels knew that the Death Star plans would be into the Citadel's underground data vault. They would be able to find it under 'Project Stardust', which was the name Galen had given to the project, in honor of the daughter, and because it sounded innocent enough that rebel sympathizers wouldn't investigate on it without warning.
Cassian and Jyn's squad, who renamed themselves Rogue One, would use the imperial shuttle that had been stolen on Eadu and use the clearance codes into it to be granted passage into the planetary shield's gate and land at the Citadel. From there, Cassian, Jyn and K2 would infiltrate the structure and find a way to reach the vault.
Assuming that the vault would be extremely well guarded, Rogue One's group of saboteurs would then make a diversionary attack, causing as much destruction as possible to draw the garrison outside.
At that moment, the small rebel fleet, made up of elements of the Main Fleet and the Ryloth Fleet, under the command of the Profundity, would attack the orbital defenses and send down Blue Squadron before the shield gate was closed. That way, the commandos would receive additional reinforcements and air support.
The Constantinople had been allowed to join the incursion fleet, and Jaral hoped to use it to evacuate the ground team once they had managed to transmit the plans from the comms tower and, hopefully, the fleet would have been able to destroy the shield gate.
"Gentlemen, I'm not gonna lie. For whoever gets on the surface of the planet, this will most likely be a suicide mission. So...if you want to drop out...I wouldn't blame you." Jaral concluded.
Yet no one budged.
"Ma'am." Cassian said. "Me and my team...most of my team, we have all done terrible things on behalf of the rebellion. If we gave up now, then all we've done would have been for nothing. I couldn't face myself if I did that."
A general approving murmur followed. With such support, Jaral made a mental sigh and looked at Raddus.
"Admiral, me and Ezra are coming on the Profundity. Perhaps my Battle Meditation will give us an advantage, and we'll protect the plans if...when we get them."
"Gladly, Grand Marshall." Raddus replied in a respectful tone.
Jaral nodded and Ezra stepped in front. "All right, everybody gear up, and May the Force be with us."
Everyone upped and started to leave the room. A guard managed to make way along the small crowd and found the siblings.
"Grand Marshall; General; Senator Organa is out here, he would like to speak with you."
The siblings looked at each other, not sure what to expect, but they left and went to find, to their surprise, that Leia was with her father.
The siblings chuckled and Jaral was the first to go greet her.
"Leia, it's been quite a while." the Grand Marshall said jovially.
The princess smiled. "I've had quite the busy time, taking my father's place as Senator."
The siblings looked at each other and then to the Organas. Bail was also smirking.
"Wait, so the guard was referring to you...?" Ezra commented.
Bail stepped forward. "It's good to see you too, my friends. I'm here because I have a proposal for you."
"Let's hear it, then." Ezra invited.
"I think you've already had the chance to meet Master Kenobi on Tatooine, right?" the King of Alderaan asked.
Ezra hesitated for a moment. Sure, he remembered that day, but he had almost removed that from his memory.
"Yes...why...? Hold on...so you knew he wasn't dead?"
Bail made a polite apology with his body. "At the end of the Clone Wars, and the Purge enacted by the Emperor, Master Kenobi has lived in exile. Well, in a way. The point is, in this war, we'll need every advantage, and I think it's time that Master Kenobi comes out of his exile.
"That's why I'm sending Leia to be my messenger. He will listen to me."
Ezra shook his head skeptically. "How? He seemed pretty adamant to me that he wouldn't come back."
"He didn't choose Tatooine without a reason, Master Bridger." Bail revealed. "But this is something that Obi-Wan will reveal you himself, as I've promised him to be silent on the matter."
The siblings looked at each other and exchanged a quick dialogue down their bond. They quickly agreed that having a legendary Jedi Master could only be good for the Rebellion. Not to mention, the two of them might benefit from his teachings as Jedi.
"All right, but we have to go to Scarif, right now." Jaral explained.
"Then it's perfect." Bail said. "Tatooine is just a few light-years away from Scarif. Leia will take my ship and fit into the lower hangar of the Profundity. From there, she will proceed to Tatooine once the battle will be over."
Jaral thought for a moment.
"We might also use it if anything happens to the Profundity...all right, go get your crew ready." she sentenced in the end.
Bail smiled and took Leia away with him.
Ezra closed on his sister.
"You sure it's a good idea? If the Empire captures her ship, Alderaan will suffer."
"I know." Jaral said. "However...my instincts says that we have to do this."
Ezra sighed. "So you felt that too, uh?"
Jaral turned her head and smiled at her brother. "Only one way to find out. Shall we go?"
Ezra smiled back and raised his arm to shoulder's height. "Let's go get it."
His sister grasped his hand and they used the bond to strengthen each other's resolve.
Then they walked away, toward the fighter's park and taking a shuttle to get on the Profundity.