January 2, 2225
It wasn't easy to slip past the mandalorian space, but the Corvus eventually showed everyone that her cloaking device could really rival that of the Federation.
Iulius simply wasn't used to all the sneaking around. He always sent people like the Inferno to do this kind of job while he commanded entire naval squadrons from the bridge of the Admonitor.
The Corvus also didn't have much room for privacy. The only single cabin was that of the commander, and while Iden had offered to leave it to him, he had refused, stating that, after all, she was still in command of the ship, and she had the right to a private space where she could clear her mind and direct the vessel at peak performance.
Now though, it was time to find out whether his worst fears were true or not.
"We're leaving hyperspace in ten seconds." Meeko announced on the bridge.
Pretty much everybody was looking anxiously outside of the viewport, even if they would have to navigate for a few minutes before they reached the last known position of the Death Star.
The blue tunnel disappeared and the only thing they could see at first was the local star, thousands of km away from them and yet so bright and looking very close.
A few beeps followed. "Cloaking device engaged." one of the technicians reported.
"Agent Meeko, bring us to the set of coordinates." Iden ordered.
"Yes, ma'am." the man replied and started maneuvering the ship.
The Corvus sped into the Yavin system. It crossed the elliptic orbit of the most external planet, crossed the asteroid belt and finally approached the gas giant of Yavin. Soon, the scanners picked up an obstacle.
Actually, they picked up a lot of them.
The corvette approached and it wasn't long before the answer to their questions became visible even without the sensors.
"No..." Hask whispered in terror, as everybody looked outside of the viewport with shock and dismay. "Say I'm hallucinating."
Nobody said anything, because pretty much everybody inside that bridge wished they were only imagining things. But the debris of the Death Star were right there in front of them. On the far side of the gas giant they could even see the section of the shooting disc floating in the orbit.
Iulius closed his eyes for a moment, recollecting himself before he turned around. "Come on, people, we'll mourn later. Start a search of the area, see if you can find a distress beacon." he calmly ordered.
His discipline served as an example to the others, who immediately got back to work and the scan was initiated.
After a minute or so, Hask spoke up. "We got a signal. It's Lord Vader."
"Take us closer, quick." Iden ordered and the Corvus moved.
Dodging the bigger debris by enacting constant evasive maneuvers, Meeko calmly brought the ship beyond the giant ruins and eventually they came across a TIE Advanced, the engines of which had been damaged in the explosion and the reactor was at the lowest level of energy.
"Bring him aboard." Iulius ordered. "Commander, you and your squad come with me to greet Lord Vader."
Iden clacked her heel. "Yes, sir." and rushed to get her helmet back, so did Meeko and Hask, who had heard the order clearly.
The four imperials rushed to the small hangar of the Corvus, which could normally hold a couple of fighters, but right now it was empty.
They waited outside the small door while the hangar was opened and the TIE Advanced flew in with what little energy it had left.
The Inferno lined up on the right side of the door, while Iulius stood in front of it, waiting for Vader to come out of it and welcoming him right away. Soon enough, beyond the closed door came the unmistakable sound of metallic footsteps and one of Vader's signature breathing.
Finally, the door slid open, revealing the black-clad figure.
Vader walked in with a pace which was slightly faster than his usual, but most importantly, Iulius could clearly feel that he was livid.
Breathing heavily again and again, Vader was limping a bit forward, but when he arrived in front of Iulius he recomposed himself.
Still, the Grand Admiral kept his cool.
"Lord Vader." he greeted with a neutral tone.
The cyborg turned his helmet toward him. "Did the Emperor send you?" he asked gravely.
"Yes, my Lord. We have orders to escort you back to Coruscant." Iulius dutifully replied.
The Dark Lord didn't reply. He exhaled one of his breaths again and then walked away toward the point of the ship, probably looking for somewhere secluded.
"Guess we'll have to take it as an 'all clear'." Iulius commented as he turned toward the Inferno. "Let's get back to the bridge."
"Y-yes, Grand Admiral." Iden stuttered lightly.
"Something wrong, Commander?" he asked calmly.
All three of them seemed to hesitate.
"It's just..." Hask tried to say. "I don't know...it's like my heart was being squeezed."
"I'm not sure I want to know, and maybe we shouldn't investigate." Meeko said with a bit of fear into his voice.
Iulius realized that this must have had something to do with Vader and his connection to the Force. The details were still eluding him, especially because he didn't feel anything particular in front of the Lord. He could tell that Vader was furious because of the situation at hand, knowing his temperament and perhaps even from some small details in his body language. Despite that, Iulius didn't feel anything in front of Vader. In his mind there was only the mission and the prospects to avenge the Death Star.
"Then let's move." he said to the Inferno. "We don't want rebel patrols to find us."
The soldiers nodded and they quickly headed back into the bridge. And just as they did that, the radar operator called for Iulius and Iden.
"Grand Admiral, Commander, we're picking up multiple signals engaged in combat."
"Imperials?" Iulius asked.
"Negative, sir. Rebels and...I'm not sure. Pirates, maybe?"
"Pirates? Here?" Iden asked with suspicion.
"Put them on screen." Iulius ordered as he walked toward the holo-table, followed by the Inferno.
Soon there was a projection of rebel fighters and corvettes fighting with two frigates and a group of fighters and bombers that Iulius didn't recognize entirely. However, he also spotted something on the hull of those ships.
"Meeko, enhance on this point." he ordered as he indicated it with a finger.
"Yes, Grand Admiral." Del promptly replied as he inputted the command on the console.
The hologram paused and zoomed in on the starboard side of one of the frigates, highlighting an emblem.
"Make a search." Iulius ordered, and a few moments later, the computer came up with a correspondence.
"That's the symbol of a pirate group known as 'Zann Consortium'." Meeko reported.
Iulius hummed. "Bring up the file on it." he said as he took his datapad and connected it to the table, allowing Del to transfer the dossier directly to the device.
"Transferring completed."
"Thanks, Agent. Now, what are those people doing here?"
"I guess we can only follow them, for now." Del concluded.
"I agree." Iden said. "Just make sure they don't spot us, Agent."
"Yes, ma'am."
So they tailed the small squadron from a distance, as it fought off the rebel patrols, though certainly the base down on Yavin IV would send reinforcements quite soon. Luckily, the pirates seemed to have found what they needed as they approached a device with a red light beeping on it.
"Data pods?" Hask exclaimed.
"I'm surprised someone had the time to launch them." Meeko commented.
"There might be critical intel inside of those, Grand Admiral." Iden warned. "Should we attempt to recover them?"
"Negative." Iulius calmly said. "We're low on fuel and we simply don't have the firepower to sustain a fight. Our top priority is to bring Lord Vader back to Coruscant, we'll deal with these scum another time."
"As you wish, sir." Iden said. "Agent Meeko, set the course for Coruscant."
Del nodded and started moving the Corvus away.
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January 5.
"And you're sure it wasn't the Empire?"
"Affirmative. They came out all of a sudden and attacked our patrols. Then took a few data pods and ran away. We've already analyzed their insignia and we confirmed they belonged to a criminal cartel, called Zann Consortium." Wedge replied.
Jaral made a few steps around the comm room, thinking.
"For now keep your guard up, I'll see what I can find about them." she concluded.
Wedge stood at attention and made the salute. "Yes, ma'am." and his hologram disappeared.
So Jaral walked into the strategic room. Around the holotable there were Colonel Undir and the other two officers of the MI6, and she spoke to him.
"Colonel, I need whatever intel we have about the organization known as 'Zann Consortium'."
"Yes, Marshall." the salarian replied before tapping the commands on one of the keyboards.
It wasn't long until a projection appeared at the center of the table, showing the symbol of the Consortium.
"The Zann Consortium takes its name from its leader and founder, a criminal by the name of Tyber Zann." Undir explained. "He was arrested 11 months ago with the accusations of illegal spice trade, corruption, murder of an imperial officer...but we could also add slave trade, selling of stolen goods. Quite a long list, actually."
In the meantime, the face of the guy had appeared, showing his long white hair, dark green eyes and two scars running from top right to bottom left of his face.
"Charming." Jaral commented sarcastically. "Where is his territory located?"
"According to the intel Nimbus provided us and from what our squads have gathered so far, his main base of operations should be in the Southern Fringe, possibly beyond Ryloth." the salarian replied.
Jaral looked at the hologram. "Between corrupting the military and the fuel to get all the way to Yavin, he must have spent quite a lot of money and time to get those data pods." she concluded. "Colonel, I want our Intelligence to keep an eyeball on this guy. Maybe whatever he's looking for won't affect us, but you're never too careful with criminals."
"We'll set him as a Priority 2 target." Undir concluded.
"Good. We should be nearing Lothal, by now, I'll go check on the others." Jaral announced.
The officers around the table saluted her and she briefly returned the gesture before walking away, heading toward the elevator so she could reach Deck 5.
As the door opened again, she immediately heard the sound of lightsabers clashing.
On the central corridor of the hangar, the one running between the two dropships, Ezra was walking Luke through the forms of lightsaber combat, already at the point were Luke had to use the moves he had learned to hit Ezra's saber.
"Four...Five..." Ezra counted every time they moved. "Six...lift the crate."
Jaral walked right before the two consoles that separated the entrance from the hangar of the vehicles. Pretty much all the marines had gathered and were standing on the sidelines of the hangar to watch the two Jedi sparring.
She ended up next to Jordan and noticed that Luke had turned on his right and had his left palm pointed toward a crate of heavy ammo posed right at the edge of the corridor, in front of part of the spectators.
"What's going on?" she innocently asked to her father as she stopped next to him, Michalina and Thabo, who was watching with interest at the scene.
"Ezra is trying to mix saber training with basic Force exercises." Jordan explained. "When they are done with the form, Luke has to lift that crate."
"Did he succeed?"
"Eh, he's getting there." Jordan said.
In fact, as they finished that exchange of thoughts, the crate started to levitate and slowly moved upward, though not exactly in a straight line.
It made maybe 60 cm before Luke decided he was too tired and gently put it back down.
The young apprentice grunted. "Why is it so difficult?"
"Hey, you're getting better every time we do this." Ezra encouraged him with a calm tone. "But I think the problem is another one."
"What?"
"Your mind is not here. You're worried about something else entirely."
The words seemed to stir something in Luke's mind, as his facial expression could tell.
Ezra deactivated his lightsaber. "Let's take a break, ok?" he proposed.
Luke relaxed his stance and deactivated his saber as well. After all, they had been going for more than an hour and he was starting to get tired, too. At that signal, the crowd of spectators dispersed as everyone went back to their posts and prepared to land on Lothal.
Jaral approached the two fellow Jedi.
"Jaral." Luke greeted, making Ezra turn his head around.
"Not bad, Luke." she complimented. "And just to remind you: if you have something you want to talk about...we're here for you."
That was pretty much an encouragement to speak freely right then and there. Luke sighed, put away his lightsaber and decided that he might as well get that weight out of his chest.
"There are many things, actually, but I guess I'm mostly concerned for Leia. Was it really a good idea to let her go on her quest alone?" he asked.
Jaral raised a hand to reassure him. "She's not alone. She has Verlaine with her. Plus she can take care of herself and our friend Nimbus has assured us that she will watch over her while she looks for Alderaanian survivors."
"Trust us, your sister is more capable than what she lets see. Just have faith in her." Ezra added, putting a hand on Luke's shoulder.
Luke scratched his head nervously. "Guess I don't really have much choice at the moment."
"Come on, it's almost time to disembark." Jaral encouraged him.
The group thus took the elevator and reached Deck 2, where they found Jordan standing on his platform in front of the Galaxy Map, which signaled that they were entering the Lothal system.
"Home sweet home." Ezra commented.
Jordan turned around. "You haven't come back in a while, but Lothal has changed a lot."
"We heard it has become a Sister-Nation of the Federation, by now." Jaral said.
"Precisely. Capitol City is expanding by the day, and so are other cities around the planet. There's a wave of colonists that arrived from the Milky Way, mostly refugees from the Terminus systems. Oh, and the Wren colony has also completely integrated." their father explained with genuine interest.
Hearing that surname made Ezra smile, reminding him that he was finally going to meet his wife again. It might have been just a week, but with everything that had happened, he felt like it had been way more.
The Bridgers and Luke reached the cockpit and could finally take a look at the orbit of Lothal. Now it was guarded by a federal fleet and even by the Bellator-class dreadnought that had been captured during the failed counter-attack of the Empire a few months before.
Jordan then opened a channel with the traffic control and spoke up. "Captain Jordan Bridger of the INS Constantinople requests permission to land at the Capitol Spaceport."
"Copy that, Constantinople, transmit clearance codes, please." the voice of a man replied.
Jordan nodded to Rut and the pilot pushed the button to transmit said coded. After a few seconds, the voice on the radio talked again. "Permission granted, welcome home, Bridgers." he said with a cordial tone that couldn't hide perhaps a bit of admiration.
---------------------------------
The sun was setting over Capitol City, slowly fading away behind the sea that washed the shores of the city. The twin moons could be seen already in the sky, waiting to shine at their brightest.
The Constantinople was allowed to dock at the renewed spaceport, now holding a dozen docks for big ships and literal skyscrapers where smaller vessels like the frigate could be hosted, built with the cooperation of asari engineers.
"Woah." Ezra mumbled in marvel as they looked out of the cockpit. "I barely recognize the city."
"At least it means that is faring much better." Jaral commented. "I hope the people are faring better, too."
Jinx suddenly spoke up. "Unemployment on the planet has fallen to 1.1% of the population; the daily consume of calories per citizen has risen to 2700; Governor Shweera has enacted a policy of minimum wage at no less than 2000 credits."
"Uh...and that's good?" Ezra asked in confusion.
"Are you kidding?" Rut, who was still piloting, asked. "There are some areas of the Federation who live with less than that and are still considered middle class."
"Ok...guess she's doing a good job, then." Jaral concluded.
Then the frigate finally arrived at her destination and her main airlock interconnected with a docking tube while two magnetic locks came down to hold the ship in air, since they were 30 meters above the ground.
The siblings were the first to disembark and exit the docking tube. They found themselves in the lobby of that bay, which had a railing facing the ship and a glass so transparent, one could think they were on a terrace.
Followed briefly after by Jordan and Luke, the siblings then arrived in front of the threshold that separated the bay with the lobby, and they immediately spotted the two persons who were expecting them the most.
The moment they saw each other, Sabine dashed toward Ezra and threw her arms around his neck with all her strength. Ezra returned it, even lifting her off the ground as he hugged her on the back and waist.
Darvos was more placid, but he still walked toward his wife, they smiled at each other and then they embraced gently, putting their foreheads against each other and sharing a quick kiss.
"Welcome back, guys." Darvos said finally to both of them.
"And all in one piece." Sabine added with a quip.
"Were you guys actually worried about these two?" Jordan joked, gaining their attention. Soon, their gazes drifted toward Luke, who was standing next to Jordan, actually gazing around at the skyscrapers and the speeders flying around in the air-ways.
The couples separated.
"Hey, Luke." Ezra recalled with a friendly tone.
The Padawan, still wearing the clothes he had from Tatooine, turned around and recomposed himself.
"These are Sabine Wren and Darvos Tanis, respectively my wife and Jaral's husband." he presented.
Sabine stepped forward and extended a hand friendly. "Nice to meet you."
Luke nodded and shook her hand. "Same here."
Darvos then did the same and added a comment. "So now we got another Jedi. If we keep going like this, we might as well go after Vader himself in three or four years."
"I'm afraid I still have a lot to learn before being of any use in battle." Luke replied with modesty.
"Well, you certainly proved to be a pretty good pilot." Sabine said. "We know it was you who blew up the Death Star."
"I could only do it because of everybody else helping me."
"How about we discuss this when we get home? I'm starving." Jordan proposed merrily.
"Right..." Darvos groaned embarrassed. "We're going to get past them, first." he said as he pointed at the entrance of the lobby.
Only then did the siblings noticed that there was a crowd of journalists, followed by camera-droids and flying drones whether they were from Andromeda or from the Milky Way. A group of three policemen were keeping them away and had allowed Darvos and Sabine to pass because they knew them.
"Oh, by the Force." Ezra mumbled.
Actually, during their flight back in these last few days, both the siblings and Luke had been interviewed by Enrico Grimasi, the reporter serving on the Constantinople, but apparently the newspapers of Lothal and from the Milky Way had more questions to pose.
"The price for being heroes, I guess." Jaral quipped, making her brother chuckle.
Luke seemed pretty terrified, actually. After all, he had left his uneventful and almost solitary life on Tatooine behind a little more than a week before, and that crowd of people pushing and aggressively trying to talk with them intimidated him a bit.
Jordan went and patted him on the back. "Don't get frightened, kid, they won't eat you...well, not physically, at least."
"What does that mean?" Luke asked confused.
"You'll see. Come on, let's do this." the older Bridger encouraged.
They walked toward the threshold and the policemen noticed them. Some of their colleagues nearby saw that as well and intervened to make a small cordon to shield the Bridgers and their friends.
The group was escorted then at the entrance of the spaceport. The siblings answered only a few questions that they deemed relevant enough, like those regarding the state of the war. They said that the Empire had suffered a major blow, but it was far from defeated. Then they took their leave while the police kept the journalists from swarming them.
Outside of the building, they were met surprisingly by an old acquaintance.
"Wonderful to see you again, Bridgers."
"Emissary Raya!" Ezra said surprised to the Asari diplomat, who was accompanied by four guards and a rodian that the group noticed after a second.
"Governor Shweera?" Jaral asked surprised.
The two alien women came forward and greeted them.
"When I heard that you were coming back to Lothal, I thought greeting the heroes of our planet was the least I could do." the Governor said. "Welcome back home, Ezra and Jaral Bridger."
The siblings made a small bow of respect. "Thanks, Madam." Ezra replied.
"We won't be taking too much of your time." Raya reassured. "We only wanted to say 'hello' and I have been tasked by the Empress to extend her congratulations for your victory at Yavin."
"Thanks, Lady T'Neri." Jaral said humbly, then turned to look at Luke. "But it was Luke who took the shot."
Luke awkwardly stepped forward. After presenting himself, the young Jedi received his share of praises, then the two women decided they had held them back for too long and allowed them to go. The group mounted on two speeders that Darvos and Sabine had come with and finally set off to reach the Bridger Tower outside of the city.
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Making no stops, except for refueling at an imperial outpost, the Corvus had arrived on Coruscant fairly quickly and was sitting in the orbit.
A shuttle had arrived to bring only Vader and Iulius at the Imperial Palace. The Grand Admiral was then made to wait in the main hall, as the Emperor wanted to talk with him as soon as he was done with another meeting.
So Iulius awaited, for almost two hours, with only a screen set on the HoloNet to keep him company. So he rather took out his datapad and read the reports coming from the Navy.
And they weren't encouraging: there were reports of massive revolts in all of the Outer Rim and even on some of the Core Worlds, who protested the arbitrary destruction of Alderaan. In his mind, Iulius said 'Called it', but after all, did that matter by any measure?
Finally, the elevator coming from the throne room opened, and Iulius barred his eyes when he saw who came out of it, just as that man did.
"General Tagge?" Iulius asked, rising from the chair he was sitting on.
The other officer walked toward him and the two shook hands. "Good to see you again, Grand Admiral Tanis. Good thing I saw you leave the station myself."
"Speaking of which, when did you drop out of there?"
"You know that I didn't like the idea of all high officers sitting on the same target. When Tarkin announced that we were supposed to reach Yavin, I preferred to return to my fleet."
"Anybody else did?" Iulius asked with a calm tone but hope in his heart.
Tagge shrugged. "Not that I am aware of, and the Emperor just confirmed it to me. The rest of the Board has perished with the destruction of the battle station. Tarkin, Motti, Yularen...and apparently, all the other Grand Admirals."
Iulius had to struggle in order not to show any sign of shock. No wonder the Navy was in complete chaos.
"But I guess you will be briefed shortly." Tagge added, then pointed the thumb at the elevator behind him. "The Emperor asked for you. Good luck."
Iulius nodded and saluted the General, who returned the gesture, then he walked into the elevator.
He was sinking into his thoughts as his eyes wandered outside of the glass of the lifter, giving him a glimpse of the sprawling metropolis outside. But the ascension lasted only a few seconds, and when the door opened he didn't waste any time walking past the two guards and enter the throne room.
At the top of the altar stood the Emperor, sitting on his throne and flanked by two of his guards.
"Grand Admiral." Palpatine said with his slow, croaking tone. "Come forward."
Iulius obeyed, walked up the stairs and bowed once he was in front of the throne. "Your Majesty."
and straightened his back again.
To his surprise, the Emperor just stood up and walked, albeit not very quickly, toward the stairs. "Walk with me, Iulius Tanis."
Iulius just turned around and started to follow.
"I imagine you understand it on your own, Grand Admiral, but the situation is dire."
"I read some reports. How bad is it?" he asked as they walked down the stairs and headed toward a galaxy map on the other side of the room.
"The destruction of the Death Star has emboldened the rebels. Traitors have come out in the open all over the galaxy, but we're not beaten yet."
They arrived in front of the map.
"I have already sent Grand General Tagge and Vader to quell the insurrections inside our borders." Palpatine explained.
"Grand General?" Iulius asked with curiosity, since he never heard that rank.
"Yes. With the death of your colleagues, we need to rely on few, talented individuals. Both you and Tagge were right in doubting the Death Star. Tarkin shouldn't have concentrated all of the highest officers on it."
Iulius couldn't help but think in the back of his head that the Emperor was definitely shifting all of the blame, since he was the reason why the Death Star was constructed in the first place, but that was a petty observation that wouldn't bring any benefit.
"Which means, I now have no choice but to delegate more responsibilities to you." Palpatine concluded.
"You know that I am loyal to you and to the Empire, My Lord." Iulius reassured.
"Yes...yes." the Emperor said slowly, creeping Iulius with one of his evil grins. "I'll grant you all the files of the other Grand Admirals. Now you'll get every resource you need, all I ask is that you break our enemies and reconquer the Outer Rim."
Iulius didn't hesitate. "It will be done, My Lord. However, I do have a question, if I may."
"Speak."
"I need someone who can possibly fight and defeat the Jedi. My Dark Troopers have been created to fight the Legionnaires, but they wouldn't do much against the Bridgers."
"I have already taken care of that, Grand Admiral. Not only I will put Mara Jade under your command, I'll provide you with one of my new tools. He has been trained by Vader to replace the Inquisitors, and I think it's time we test him."
"Sounds promising." Iulius simply replied. "Who is this guy?"
"He doesn't have a real name. Vader has decided to simply call him...Starkiller."
'Starkiller? What the frag was Vader thinking?' Iulius couldn't help but find that name childish, but if this guy was stronger than the Inquisitors he had heard about, then he might be useful.
"Understood. Should I wait for him here on Coruscant?" he asked, hiding any emotion.
"No need to. I've already sent him the coordinates of your fleet. His ship is piloted by a regular officer, expect them in a few rotations."
"Yes, My Lord."
Palpatine suddenly straightened his back, holding himself on his cane, but still assuming a more regal pose.
"The fate of the Empire lies with you, Grand Admiral. Make sure to bring us victory." he stated bluntly.
Iulius felt a hint of nervousness, but mostly he actually felt...humbled.
He clacked his heel and stood at attention. "I will not fail you, My Lord."
"Good...good." the Emperor said with another grin. "You're free to go." he finally added.
Iulius made a bow and finally left.
As he headed down with the elevator and sent a signal for the Corvus to pick him up, the Grand Admiral was now full of contrasting emotions. He was still grieving the loss of Treye and others he considered friends who died with the Death Star. Then he also felt much honored to be entrusted with the defense of the Empire, and to reconquer the lost territories.
This time, he would also have pretty much every resource he needed. Sure, Tagge would also command a number of fleets to suppress the revolts in the Outer Rim, but now he was pretty much in charge of the military apparatus of the Empire.
Yes, between a galaxy run by the anarchic rebels and their extra-galactic puppeteers there was only him. If he failed, the galaxy would be condemned into a probably endless age of division and subservience to the Milky Way.
As he walked out of the Palace and into the open again, Iulius solemnly vowed to himself that he was going to succeed. No matter the cost, no matter if he had to die...he was going to save the Empire.
He immediately scrapped the plans for the day to visit his mother and resorted to simply write her a message and promising to call her at a later date as the Corvus picked him up and started the trip to reunite with the 101st.