October 20.
Aboard the Liberator, Jaral was spending a few minutes meditating and relaxing. They were expected to reach Lianna in around three hours of navigation.
Celebrations for the victory had been huge on the fleet, especially toward her. The rumor that she had somehow wounded the hated Emperor Palpatine had spread like wildfire, even though she had refused to acknowledge it. All she wanted now was to rest a little before returning into the fight, probably on Lantillies.
Yet, as she meditated, she felt something strange in her own space. When a suspicion flared into her mind she opened her eyes wide and stood up, heading straight for the infirmary.
Along the way, among the few soldiers that marched along the corridors, she also met Ahsoka.
"Hey, Jari." she greeted. "What's the rush?"
"Oh, ehm, just going to the med bay." Jaral reassured.
Ahsoka, however, became worried. "Are you ok?"
"Sure, sure, it's just...you know, a check-up." she replied nervously.
Not convinced, Ahsoka said "All right, I'm coming with."
"Yeah, ok." the Jedi said nonchalantly before resuming to walk.
They both reached the med bay, which was luckily empty. Ahsoka waited in the middle of the room while Jaral headed to a terminal and linked Jinx to it.
"Jaral, your heart rate is spiking." the AI said. "What is alarming you?"
Jaral gulped. "Jinx...could you...run a pregnancy test?" she said with a nervous tone.
Those words had Ahsoka bar her eyes and almost freeze in place. Jinx, on the other hand, wasted no time in using the terminal to make a scan of Jaral's body and needed only a minute to analyze the results. A minute that seemed an eternity to the young woman.
Then Jinx appeared with his holographic form and talked.
"Congratulations. You will become a mother." and made an effect of a few fireworks.
Jaral's heart skipped a beat and she had to lean on the bed next to her. Ahsoka sprinted to help her, but in reality the only thing going through the young human's mind was happiness. She chuckled a bit, then tried to regain control, then shed a tear and eventually hugged her Togruta friend, who shared the sentiment.
"Congratulations, Jari." she said happily.
Jaral smiled, but then she made a couple of calculations and suddenly her face turned to a puzzled one.
"Wait...the only time it could have happen would have been...two months ago, right before we left for Korriban."
Ahsoka became astonished as well. "You sure about it?"
"You are correct, Jaral." Jinx intervened, showing the hologram of the scanning. "The embryo is still in the egg."
"Egg?!?" Jaral exclaimed, quite scared. "What are you talking about?"
Jinx sighed. "Guess I had to tell you, sooner or later." he said with his robotic voice, then switched the holograms. "You already know that the biology of a Legionnaire has many differences with that of regular Humans, right?"
Jaral nodded.
"That also influences pregnancies. At least, in cases like yours, where one of the two parents is a regular Human. In this case, Darvos."
"What happens, then?"
"Well, let's talk for a moment about the case between your own parents. When the Legionnaire is the male, the sperms are capable of adapting to the ovum of the female, and the pregnancy goes on like a regular one, birthing a Human with the genetic improvements of a Legionnaire.
"In your case, since you are the Legionnaire, it's different. Actually, there was an equal chance that your belly would have already manifested the first signals and it would have meant that you were going to give birth to a regular Human, but this shell you see in the picture is the zygote that is slowly absorbing the genetic enhancements, as Darvos' normal sperm needed time to adapt.
"Therefore, you're basically living like an ovoviviparous animal, hosting an 'egg' in your womb until the end of the third month, when it will turn directly into a fetus and grow quite rapidly, but the pregnancy will last your usual 9 months."
"And I suppose my biology also implies that I don't feel the other symptoms like dizziness, nausea..."
"Correct. Neither I could notice it without the appropriate medical tools."
Silence followed as Jaral leaned on the bed, smirking and then openly smiling, unable to think of anything else but the joy that the news brought to her.
"Hey, how are you going to tell..." Ahsoka started, but then the door hissed open, and Darvos walked in with a certain urgency.
"Everything ok? People saw you rush here." he asked worried.
The two women looked at each other. Ahsoka grinned and started to back off. "I'll give you two some time." and left the room, closing the door behind her.
Darvos was still a bit worried and looked at his wife, but all he saw was her incredibly happy face. Then she nodded her head downward, inviting him to lower the gaze. He thus saw her gently stroking her belly and his gaze also fell on the schematics Jinx was still projecting.
After a moment to realize, Darvos' eyes and mouth widened. "You..." he said, pointing a finger but too thrilled to elaborate further.
Jaral nodded more than once with a smile and his head started spinning as he chuckled. It didn't take long for him to reach the same conclusions of Jaral about the duration of the pregnancy, though, so Jaral and Jinx had to explain it to him as well.
Still, after hearing everything, the two humans embraced. Words couldn't describe how perfect all of this was for them. They were already in a good mood because of the recent victory, but this news was just the icing on the cake.
"It all seems too good to be true." Darvos joked when they undid the embrace.
"I know, right?" Jaral replied in tone and the two chuckled again.
Darvos then seemed to become a bit pensive and looked downward for a few seconds.
"What is it?" Jaral asked.
He finally lifted his head again and looked at her in the eyes with a more serious expression. "I know you won't like it, but I need to ask you to go back to Lothal." he clearly demanded.
Jaral was taken aback for a moment, but then she noticed that this was indeed an issue. She reflected on it for a while and eventually she decided that it was better to listen to him.
"Okay. Mom would come and drag me back in the middle of a fight anyway." she joked.
Darvos found it funny. "Yeah, you're lucky Ezra and Jordan are on the other side of the galaxy, right now."
"Speaking of which, I wonder how they're doing. I'd like to tell them as soon as possible."
-------------------------------------------
October 22.
Hidden at the edge of the many caves around Pau City, accompanied by Sabine and a band of warriors, Ezra kept his eyes glued to the sky. The Falcon had started its distraction and the Unfeeling was shooting at what seemed nothing from the ground.
What mattered to Ezra, though, was the scarred Star Destroyer next to it: the Tarkin's Will. It had a couple of burns on the hull that were clearly visible even at that distance, and it was a gift left by the Amerigo in their last encounter more than two months before.
When Jinx notified that the Falcon had managed to make the jump, it didn't take long before the two Star Destroyers gave chase.
"All right, people, it's now or never." Ezra declared. "Light it up."
The signal was for Jordan and his Legionnaires, as they had infiltrated and set charges into an ammo depot of the imperials, which then exploded violently and shook the entire sinkhole, but luckily didn't cause damage to the natural formation or to the civilian part of the city.
As the imperials tried to understand what was happening, the resistance started the attack all over the city. Using their knowledge of the terrain, they quickly seized many important roads, cut off entire platoons of stormtroopers and surrounded the HQ, with the support of the Republic militiamen.
Ezra and Sabine gathered the marines of Magellan and headed toward the HQ, which was still heavily fortified and the Paus were going to need the additional support. With a multi-pronged attack, the allies easily managed to make a breach into the perimeter and push forward.
As the troops cleared up the many barracks, offices and communication center of the HQ, the Jedi, his Legionnaire father and the Mandalorian headed straight for the commander of the base, who surrendered when his guards were easily taken out, ordering what was left of his forces to stand down as well.
Taking the HQ also meant that the allies captured a localized shield generator that would defend the city in case the Star Destroyers returned, but in the meantime, the pantoran fleet, made up of a combination of Alliance cruisers and pantoran assault frigates appeared in the system, taking position above the inhabited continent of Utapau. The Amerigo and Magellan also showed up, and the Bridgers decided to give the commander to the resistance while they returned aboard their flagship.
They did that just in time for when the Falcon returned in the system followed by the Unfeeling and Tarkin's Will. The Amerigo prepared for a fight and everybody went on full alert.
"General," one of the operators called. "They're hailing us."
"Answer it." Ezra calmly replied, positioning himself in front of the projector. He was then greeted by the hologram of Zahra and Chimbros Tanis, quite annoyed at the situation.
"Commander. Admiral" he politely greeted.
"General Bridger." Chimbros replied in tone, despite the venomous gaze. "I fell for your trap like the most gullible of amateurs. But make no mistake. Soon, you shall pay for your insolence and in front of the entire galaxy."
Ezra acted as if nothing mattered. "Noted. Now, your base on the ground is gone and I think you have the fuel necessary to just go back to Eriadu and report to your son that you wasted an entire legion of stormtroopers because you disobeyed him."
Chimbros snarled but couldn't come up with a reply. After all, he wasn't the real threat among them. Ezra was keeping an eye on Zahra, who seemed to be studying him, and she was probably a bit irritated by the situation. The Jedi understood that Chimbros had forced her to follow the Falcon by pulling his rank, cause it was impossible that she would live Utapau completely undefended.
Then the admiral abruptly closed the communication and the Star Destroyers started to veer away, returning toward imperial territory on the Rimma Trade Route, and the crew of the bridge breathed a sigh of relief.
"Scratch another victory on the wall." Jordan commented to lighten the mood and it worked.
"Right." said Ezra. "Recall all our troops from the surface. We'll resume the main quest after resting a little."
"Understood, sir." Riccardi replied. Then remembered something and stopped Ezra from leaving the room. "Ah, General. Just so you know, two days ago, your sister's fleet has returned safe and sound on Lianna. We couldn't tell you while you were on the surface."
Those words had Ezra make a relieved expression. "I see. Thank you, Captain."
Then the ship's AI, Kolt, spoke up. "You also received a private message from your sister, General."
A moment later, the message was sent to Ezra's omni-tool. "Thanks, Kolt." he said before leaving, followed by his wife and his father.
"Come on, don't keep us waiting." Sabine quipped. "What does she say?"
Ezra chuckled. "All right, just be patient." he said.
He was about to touch the omni-tool and open the mail, but then he started to hear a familiar voice whisper barely.
"...zra..."
He lifted a hand, signaling the others to hold on. Then he closed his eyes and lightly touched his head with two fingers, reaching into the Force. From then on, he found himself into a completely dark space, where his body was nonetheless illuminated and visible.
"Ezra."
He turned around and found Kanan smiling at him. Ezra returned the expression.
"Always good to see you, Master. Is there a problem?"
Kanan gently shook his head. "Not exactly. I'm just delivering a message, this time."
Ezra completely turned around to give him his full, undivided attention.
"Master Kenobi wanted you and Luke to go to the Dagobah system."
Ezra was puzzled. "The Dagobah System? I think I saw it on the map, but it's a world completely ignored by all civilization. What's there?"
"That's the exact reason why Master Yoda elected it as his exile."
Ezra's eyes widened once Kanan finished the phrase. The implications couldn't be more clear: Jaral had already stated that she wanted to found a new Jedi Order, and Yoda could be vital to encourage possible survivors of the old one to come out and join them. Not to mention both him and Luke could benefit from his teachings if they could convince him to get aboard the Amerigo.
After taking a moment to think about these things, Ezra looked at the ghost of his teacher with a resolute gaze. "We'll go visit him, then."
Kanan made another smirk and nodded. "May the Force be with You."
A blinding light arrived from behind Kanan's ghost and not long after, Ezra was back again in the realm of the living. Sabine gently grabbed his arm, worried. "You ok?"
He reassured her. "Yeah, but I need you to prepare the Silver Bullet."
Sabine and Jordan looked puzzle at each other, then the father asked. "Where are you going?"
"Dagobah. It's a system not far from here. Me and Luke need to get there immediately."
"All right, but I'm coming with, at the very least to guard the ship while you two do...whatever Jedi thing you have to do." she replied with a finger pointed.
Ezra raised his hand. "Aye, ma'am. To that end, see if they're willing to lend us R2."
"I'm on it." she concluded energetically before heading out toward the hangar where the Gauntlet was parked and presumably the Falcon had just landed.
Jordan couldn't stop himself from putting a hand around his son's shoulders and comment. "The more I see you guys, the more I think you chose wisely, Ezra."
The young man chuckled, then lifted his left arm. "How about we read Jaral's message?" and opened the mail.
"Dear Ezra. Thanks again for staying with me during the duel. I'm perfectly fine and I'm about to head to Lothal...?" he became suspicious when he read that line. "You're probably asking why. Well, I know it's quite sudden. But it's because you and dad are about to become..."
Ezra struggled for a moment in reading the next two words. Jordan also seemed incredulous.
"Uncle...and grandpa?" the older man murmured.
The two looked at each other with widened eyes, then suddenly rushed toward the nearest communication room. There were a few other lines in the message, but they couldn't care less at that moment. After verifying that they could reach her omni-tool, they didn't hesitate to make the call. With their hearts pounding loudly, they had to wait around ten seconds before the hologram of Jaral, sitting on some seat, appeared in front of them, with her smiling, conscious of what was going on because Ezra was not bothering hiding his emotions in the bond.
"Hi, guys." she greeted.
"Jari is it true?!" Ezra asked almost interrupting her.
Jaral chuckled and gave a light pat on her belly again, she herself still unable to believe it.
"It is. I found out during the return."
"Wait, did you get the egg?" Jordan asked instinctively, suspecting it.
"What?..." Ezra asked confused. He was even more confused when Jaral said yes, and they had to give him a very quick explanation over how pregnancies for female Legionnaires worked.
Then he chuckled while exhaling quite sharply. "Did you want to give Jacen a cousin very quickly?" he quipped without thinking too much.
Jaral bursted out laughing and even Jordan couldn't hold back a smirk, dictated more by the cringe than actual fun.
After they regained control over their emotions, Jaral spoke again. "Well, it is a welcome addition, I guess. Anyway, Darvos wanted me grounded on Lothal and I'm sure both you guys and mom would force me to do that anyway, so I'm going home."
"A wise decision." Ezra commented with a smirk. "What about Cal and Ahsoka?"
"Ahsoka has now gained control over Nimbus' network, and decided to use its resources to find out possible surviving Jedi and Force-sensitives. But speaking of survivors, we heard rumors that there might be one on Nar Shaddaa. Cal and his crew are heading there to take a look. I'll coordinate the search for new Jedi from the command on Lothal."
"You don't intend to take it easy, uh?" Jordan quipped.
"Hey, the egg isn't even going to hatch before the end of the next month, so until then I'm basically my usual self." she stated clearly.
"Fair enough." Ezra concluded. "As for me, I was just contacted by Kanan."
"What did he say?"
"He asked me to reach Dagobah. It's a swamp planet not far away from where we are now, so I guess we're going to have a look."
"I see. Don't forget your primary mission, though."
"Yeah, I know. Find a secret base for the Republic."
"And come back home. Especially come back home." she concluded. "My child is going to meet uncle and grandpa, no matter the cost."
"Count on it." Jordan said immediately.
After exchanging another round of pleasantries, it was time to close the call and focus on the rest of the work that still needed to be done.
------------------------------------------------
October 24.
"The 295th to 298th Legions of the Stormtrooper Corp have reported for duty and are ready to be deployed Grand Admiral." Bolo said after reading his report at the meeting of the General Staff of the Mid Rim.
"Thanks, Admiral Bolo. Admiral Krybos, what's the status of those Bellator dreadnoughts?" Iulius calmly asked next.
Krybos gave another quick look at his datapad as he started talking, though he already knew what to answer. "Two are ready for deployment. The Kuat shipyards say that they need eleven rotations to complete the other two. We already have the crews for all of them, however. The officers are the best that came out from the academies this year."
"Let's hope they show it." Iulius commented. "General Valsen, how many men has the Army ready for the operation?"
"We managed to gather a million for each of the two hidden bases, Grand Admiral, but keeping them fed will put a severe strain on our supply lines. Once we mobilize them, we can't call the offensive off."
Since the two systems were hidden, there was only one single hyperspace route that could be used, and only a limited amount of traffic could pass it at a time. If those men stayed there for too long, they would suffer severe attrition.
"Thanks, General." it was true. Not only that, but the more he waited, the more the element of surprise might get lost.
Still, two million men to suddenly pour in for the land offensive on Lantillies wasn't little. Combined with the three stormtrooper legions it meant around two millions and a half troops, plus their support vehicles and armored battalions.
The fleet for the planned counteroffensive was also amassing, but without the dreadnoughts he couldn't hope to stop the federal Protector, which had arrived the rotation before and already started targeting the imperial fleet from afar. Versio was doing his best to make sure that the fleet would use the moons of Lantillies and the planet as a shield, but they couldn't hide forever.
"Do we have any update on the enemy forces?" Iulius asked toward Admiral Sadesh, of the Military Information Service.
"According to our sources, an additional rebel fleet should reach the system in four rotations. They are mostly frigates and carriers, but they are centered around one of their new capital ships." the man replied calmly.
Iulius massaged his chin. "I don't want enemy fleets waiting to hit us in the back. Keep an eye on your sensors and update me in three rotations."
"Yes, Lord Tanis."
"Lord Tanis," Veers intervened from the opposite end of the round table. "There is no telling how long our defensive line around Beigran will hold. We're suffering heavy losses by the day." he warned.
"I am aware, General Veers. That's why I'll stay here and fight on the ground until the time comes."
"Sir, we all admire your courage," Bolo sentenced. "but if anything happens to you, the entire war effort will be compromised."
"If we lose this planet before we attack, we lose the war entirely, Admiral." Iulius calmly replied, letting a discomforted silence fall in the room for a few seconds.
Then the Lord-Protector turned toward another of the dozen of high officers in the room. "Admiral Sloane. Your fleet is in position?"
"We're waiting around Kashyyyk as you ordered. I keep integrating the ships that Kuat sends our way, sir, but I'm not sure I can command all of them."
"Just keep them in hyperspace as reserves. If you suffer losses, call in the replacements. Remember that the enemy will expect an attack from that direction. Your job and mine is to divide the enemy forces."
"Don't worry, sir. You can count on us."
"Good." he concluded, then turned toward everybody else. "Ladies and Gentlemen, I won't lie to you. At least until we have the dreadnoughts, any attack we mount on the enemy fleet will end in disaster. Therefore, we will set another meeting as soon as the two ships under Admiral Krybos get out of the shipyards. If you don't get notified before, I want you here again in thirteen rotations. Dismissed."
He stood up and everybody else did the same, making the salute at the end before leaving the room. Only Krybos and Bolo stopped to talk per Iulius' request.
"Krybos, what can you tell me about the new Immobilizer-class?"
"An improvement for sure from the Interdictor. Not only the gravity wells have a bigger range, but they are armored and armed enough to repel enemy small ships, and destroying a well doesn't compromise the rest of the ship."
"I suppose you want to improve that trick with the mobile gravity wells?" Bolo asked Iulius.
"Yes." the Grand Admiral calmly replied as he returned at his panel on the desk. "Actually, it was a concept that me and Thrawn theorized a while back." as he concluded those words, he showed a hologram of the tactic. "By using the gravity wells, we can make sure that a ship comes out of hyperspace much more precisely. We will use the Immobilizers to pounce on any crack in the enemy lines, like a pincer."
The admirals observed meticulously, especially because they were aware that Iulius wanted them to apply this maneuver.
When Iulius turned off the terminal, he turned again toward his underlings and friends with a tired sigh.
"How are you coping, boss?" Bolo asked. "I'm positive I saw you in better shapes."
"You know..." Iulius eventually answered. "when I came out of the Academy, I wasn't expecting to find myself in front of all of this." he made an indicative gesture toward the room.
"Being Grand Admiral?" Krybos asked.
Iulius leaned with his arms on the desk. "Having the responsibility for our entire civilization." he dryly replied. "Knowing that failure doesn't just mean letting an insignificant rebel cell to keep annoying the Empire, but that it might decree the end of the Empire."
The two Admirals needed a moment to think about an answer that might encourage their superior. Eventually, it was Krybos who tried it.
"Look at the bright side. Even our enemies fear your name. However this ends, you will enter history as one of the greatest military minds of our galaxy, while the two of us will just slip into oblivion." he said in a lighthearted tone.
Iulius did make a small chuckle, but didn't want to reply.
Bolo walked on the free side of Iulius and gave him a friendly pat on the back. "Come on, man. You got us out of bad pinches already. This will be no different."
Iulius acknowledged the compliment, and appreciated it. It reminded him that, after all, there were many who looked up to him for leadership against the relentless invaders from another galaxy and their rebel puppets. He had to do this, not just for the Empire that he loved, but for all its citizens who were putting their faith in him.