Star Wars: Rise of the Battlemage

[MetaBettaOmega]

In a moment, he was alone.

Ezra looked around, feeling the familiar warm, soothing, and open sensation of the Force. It reached out to him, almost hesitantly, before latching on, the feelings of warmth suffusing him. He had experienced this before, too many times to count, enough that he had learned to recognize it as well as his own limbs. Of course, that was before his time away, before his time under the heel of Thrawn.

Now he had new limbs, the gentle embrace of the Force saving him from suffering through that process as well.

The young Jedi, the young Force-sensitive, let out a breath, releasing the echoes of his time at the hands of the cold, merciless despot into the Force. In truth, despite the horrors that had been done to him, he did not bear the emotional scars one would imagine.

As they burned his face, he sought shelter in the Force, and it welcomed him with open arms. When they began to slowly destroy his leg, inch by inch, he smiled as the Force had set him free. Every bit of pain and torture that had been piled onto him was nothing, as he was one with the Force, and the Force was everything. How could one feel pain when one was so distant from oneself, so removed.

He took a deep breath and pulled himself back, focusing on the moment, on the present. He resisted the call to submerge himself again, refusing to be lost on the winds of the Force. Instead, he reached out and felt himself, pulling himself back. The cave materialized around him once more, and he let out a long breath.

At one point, that would have been a herculean task, centering himself back on his body, pulling away from the oneness he had felt with the Force. When Ahsoka and Sabine had first rescued him, he barely even registered their presence, that he was no longer in his cell. He was one with the Force.

Everything and everywhere.

Nowhere.

It had taken Ahsoka considerable effort to pull him back, to guide his mind back to himself. She had done that not just once but several times, his mind slipping to the flow of the Force, following its currents without even realizing it. Thankfully, eventually, he had learned to pull himself back on his own and even to resist the pull in the first place.

He still lost himself, as he had just done, but now he would only occasionally mislay a conversation or lose track of time. Sabine was helping with that, having gotten good at spotting an "episode," as she called it. Often, her touch or his name on her lips was all it took to call him back.

But now he was alone, and the Force reached to him, called to him.

"It is strange," A man's voice said from behind him, forcing Ezra to turn around. "I don't believe I have ever met someone with a connection to the Force like yours."

The man was older, with short, graying hair and a clean-shaven face. He was wearing simple Jedi robes, his hands folded behind his back. His demeanor was calm and confident, with serene smile on his face even as he studied Ezra.

"You, more than anyone I have ever met, truly connect with the Force," He said. "You're not the strongest, nor are you by any means weak. But… you understand. The full spectrum of the Force flows through you. It welcomes you with open arms as you understand its depths. Dark and light. It is… remarkable."

"Who are you?" Ezra asked, looking around, the cave now completely empty, its sounds muted. "I know this is a vision, but I don't recognize you."

"I'm... nobody," He explained with an almost satisfied smile. "A Jedi, old, ancient even. One of thousands, maybe even hundreds of thousands. My name is lost to time, as it should be."

"Helpful," Ezra commented, looking around at the clusters of crystals around him, trying to figure out which one called to him. "I hardly think I am that special. Plenty of Jedi know the darkness."

"Oh, of course. I know that better than some," The man admitted, walking past Ezra to touch a white lattice of crystals growing from the wall. "But none seem to connect to it as wholly as you. People have predications to the dark or light, or are sometimes driven to one or the other, either from their own addictions or seemingly by fate. But few can straddle the line, and even fewer accept everything beyond it."

"Well... Thank you?" He responded, not sure how to react to the unnamed Jedi's words. "I think I could honestly do with being a bit less unique and special at the moment."

The man chuckled and nodded. Ezra couldn't help but feel that he really did understand as well.

"Being unique is not all it's cracked up to be," He agreed. "Why do you think I enjoy being nameless?"

Ezra nodded and began to walk around the chamber, running his fingers over the different colors. The cave was a fantastic rainbow of Kyber crystals, more colors than he had ever known to exist, in various shades.

"You know… I've done this before," Ezra said, looking back at the man, who had somehow followed after him, as soundless as a ghost. "I know how this works. I need to be worthy, I need to prove myself."

"Maybe," The man responded. "Or maybe the Force just wants to make sure you're okay."

Ezra snorted and shook his head.

"I'm not sure if I'll ever be okay," He admitted, looking up to the roof of the cave. "I survived, but I'm afraid… I'm afraid I'm not me anymore."

"How so?"

"I submerged myself into the Force. I was one with it, completely separated from my body. I was gone for years… but it felt like days. Maybe a week. I lost myself in the Force… embraced it wholeheartedly… I let it in, and I'm not sure I'm me anymore. I'm not sure I can ever be Ezra again."

"...Names are confusing," The man said after a long pause. "They can describe you, in the same way you use the name of an element to distinguish it from others around it, but they aren't really you."

"So, what, I'm not Ezra, that's just my designation?"

"Do you still care about Sabine?" The man asked, shifting the subject.

"Of course!"

"And Hera? Little Jacen?"

"Yes!"

"Do you still live by the lessons of your Master?"

"I… I try to," Ezra responded. "I try to act in a way that would make him proud."

"Oh, he is, Ezra," The man said confidently. "He is incredibly proud."

The pair were silent for a while, exploring the cave more, mainly as an excuse to walk and think. Eventually, the nameless man spoke again.

"Would you ever abandon those you care about?"

"Never," Ezra responded without hesitation. "They never abandoned me, and I won't ever abandon them."

"Then maybe… you should trust them." The man responded. "They welcome you home with open arms, they take care of you, they do everything they can to help you heal. Do you think that they would just abandon you if your time with Thrawn changed you?"

"I… No. They would never," He admitted, shaking his head.

"If they will accept you, then does it matter if you are different?" The man asked. "If your name is still yours, even if it describes you differently from what it did before, does it matter?"

For a long moment, Ezra was silent, staring at his hands, ignoring the crystals around him. Eventually, he looked up, turning to meet the man's eyes.

"No… It doesn't." Ezra agreed, realization flowing through him, obvious to some but hidden from himself. "They would never leave me. They are my strength, my home. I will always return to them, and they will always support me."

"Then, Ezra Bridger, it seems like you are still you, even if you have changed."

Ezra took in a deep breath, feeling the Force swirling around him. It swelled and crashed through him, but he resisted the current. The dreamlike quality of the vision ended, and as he opened his eyes, he found himself standing in front of a grand growth of deep orange Kyber crystals. His fingers were already resting on a singular crystal, and with a gentle tug, it came free, falling into his palm.


--------------------------


In a moment, she was no longer alone.

Felia had stepped down off of the initial rise along the crystal cave entrance, doing her best to seem confident and strong. Part of the act was for her brother, who she knew looked up to her and drew his own confidence from her, while the other was just a natural reaction.

As she stepped down onto the final foot of the rocky decline, she blinked, and suddenly, she was back on the streets of Foless. She frantically looked around for any signs of her brother, but there were none.

She started to run, following the flow of people but using her small size to dodge and weave between them. Claron knew better than to push against the flow of a crowd. It drew too much attention and slowed you down. Whenever he was, he would be forward.

Eventually, she reached an alleyway, empty save for a single man sitting on a crate. He spotted her immediately, and he nodded for her to come closer. She hesitated for a moment before taking a few steps, approaching him, but maintained plenty of distance.

"Have you seen my brother?" She asked, putting on her best-lost kid pout. "He is younger than me, with short hair the same color as mine?"

"Yeah, he is safe," He assured her. "Why don't you have a seat, kid. I think we got a lot to talk about."

She frowned, not liking the implication. Did this man have Claron? Would he give him back if she talked? He was unarmed, but that didn't mean much with the difference in size and strength.

Reluctantly, she stepped further into the surprisingly well-lit alleyway. Her instincts were screaming that this was a trap, but if this man had Claron, that didn't matter. She would trip whatever trap it took to get her brother back.

The man snorted at her suspicious, slow walk to the crate he had nodded towards, pushed against the alley's opposite side. She sat back on it, staring at the man with eyes harder than any child's should be.

"Who are you?" Felia asked, her eyes locked on the older man, her lost child routine long gone. "What is going on here? Claron was right beside me…"

"My name is Atton," the man responded. "As for what's going on… you tell me short stuff. This is your vision."

Felia narrowed her eyes at his response. It was nonsense…

No, something was wrong. Her thoughts felt distant, her memories were faded… but she... She hadn't been on Foless in weeks. They were…

"We were in the Crystal Cave!" She said, looking around wildly. "What happened? Is this really a vision?"

Rather than waiting to hear his response, Felia closed her eyes and tried to replicate what Ashoka and Luke had taught her. If she could just focus-

"Felia! Help!"

Claron's voice called from further down the alleyway, and Felia was up, chasing after it before she even registered what the sound. She could tell it was coming from on the street. She just needed to catch up.

"Hey, Wait! Where are you going?"

The man, Atton, called out after the young girl, but she ignored him. Why would she trust some random stranger? She had to find her brother! The young orphan made it back to the street, once again weaving between the crowd, trying to catch up to her brother. Just as she was losing hope, she would hear him call out again.

"Girl, will you slow down?" Atton, who had been following her for a while, called out. "You gotta realize something is going on, right? You're smarter than this. You and your brother wouldn't have survived as long as you did if you weren't."

"Leave me alone!" She called back. "Why would I listen to some random stranger off the street?"

"That… you know that's fair," the man admitted sheepishly. "But this isn't the street, and I'm not random, though I am a stranger. And more importantly, we both know you wouldn't trust me even if I was Sheora."

That got the young girl's attention. She whirled around at the man, stomping her feet and looking up at him, frustration and anger clear on her face. Her glare was harsh, enough to make the man wince.

"I trust Sheora!" She shouted, taking an angry step towards the man.

"Really?" He asked, sounding somber. "Then why do you still barricade the door? Why do you refuse to fall asleep until you can hear that she already has? Why do you hide rations under your bed? Why did you steal that vibroblade?"

"You don't know what you're talking about," She fired back. "You don't know what it's like! What Claron and I have had to live through!"

For a moment, everything was silent, save the echoes of Felia's shouting. Atton looked sad but said nothing to deny her statement.

"You're right." He eventually admitted with a shrug. "But I do know a lot about trust."

He turned, walking a few feet away before sitting on a bench. For a moment, Felia stood there, watching him. The street, once bustling with a rough and rushed crowd, was now empty, nearly completely silent. No speeders passed, and no distant advertisements played. The illusion had faded, and Claron's calls had stopped.

"You and your brother got dealt a bad hand of pazaak. But that round is over, and now you're stuck with a lot of bad habits," He guessed, letting out a chuckle. "I know a thing or two about that as well."

"How?"

"I made a lot of mistakes," He explained, shaking his head and looking up at the sky. "Hurt a lot of people. And then I was given a chance to redeem myself. I just had to trust someone."

"...What do I do?" Felia asked, slowly making her way to sit down on the far end of the bench. "I want to trust them, I do…."

"But it goes against everything you ever learned," He finished, Felia nodding in confirmation. "Short stuff, I wish there was an easy answer. The truth is, that trust doesn't work the same way people think it does. People like to think that you can trust people until they wrong you, but we both know that that's not true."

"Then how does it work?"

For a long moment, Atton was silent. When he eventually spoke, it was with a faint smile.

"I've broken a fair amount of people's trust over my life," He explained. "And in turn, I couldn't trust anyone. It got to the point where it was all I expected from the galaxy. You test people, give them a chance, and when they mess up, even with the tiniest thing, you validate all your misgivings and all your doubts because, well, I guess they couldn't be trusted anyway, right? And then, one day, I met someone."

For a moment, Felia felt like they weren't alone, like someone very kind had just told her it would be okay. The sensation of the presence faded, but the promise of eventually being okay... that lingered.

"They were… troubled, broken, desperately trying to piece themselves together," He continued. "And yet, somehow, they were a better person than I could ever hope to be. Being kind and good came as naturally as breathing to them. I thought they were weak, so as usual, I put just the tiniest bit of faith in them, expecting them to fail. But they didn't."

He reached down and pulled out a lightsaber, rolling it around in his hands, eventually clipping it back to his belt.

"Every step of the way, when I was sure they would fail, when I was sure that this time they wouldn't keep their word, they came through," He continued. "I put more and more faith into them after each time, until eventually… I stopped keeping track. There was no reason to anymore. I trusted them."

He leaned back in his chair, looking out into the empty city, watching a nearby glowing holo ad blink through its list of advertisements. After a moment, he coughed, wiping his face and pointedly looking away.

"The point is that trust, it's not some sort of grand declaration. You don't find someone you like, slap them on the back and say, 'I trust you!'" He explained with a chuckle. "It's a small thing. You give someone your trust, and they nurture it, they protect it. There's nothing wrong with not trusting someone immediately. You just need to give them a chance to prove themselves."

Felia considered his story, his words. They made sense, even to her cynical mind. Eventually, she nodded.

"I… want to trust Sheora…" Felia said, standing up from the bench. "She has never doubted me for a second… she put her life on the line for my brother and I. I… I might not trust her yet… but someday I will."

"That's good, short stuff," He encouraged with a nod and a roguish smile. "Sometimes the need for change is the most important thing of actually changing."

Felia nodded, and for a split second, she blinked. The city around her disappeared, revealing the crystal cave once more. She was standing in front of a deep blue cluster of crystals, her hand already wrapped around a large chunk.

Gently, she pulled, and the chunk came free… breaking off into two pieces, which she caught, one in each hand.

 

[MetaBettaOmega]

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---

In a moment, she was gone.

In the blink of an eye, she went from staring in wonder at the large, crystal-filled cavern, to looking around in confusion at the entrance to a massive structure. Luke and Felia had just started to look around when she suddenly lost herself, somehow getting transported to...

She whirled, looking back at the large open doorway, spotting the distant setting sun, which cast long shadows across the hall and filled it with an orange glow. Beyond the entrance, she could just make out the bases of four large statues, with steps down and out of sight between them. As she turned back, she had to steady herself.

She was in the Jedi Temple. Not as whatever mockery Palpatine had made it into, but as she remembered it. As she remembered it from the last time she had been there.

"I must admit, while much has changed in decoration, the feel of the Coruscant Temple did not shift in the slightest."

Ashoka, already thrown off by her location, spun around to face the new voice, her lightsabers in her hands. Standing there, hands held behind her back, was a brown-haired woman. She wore maroon clothing, some sort of light armor, with hanging cloth reminiscent of a rob, but only barely. Her hair was pulled back in a tight ponytail, with separate locks of hair that framed her face.

"Greetings, Ashoka. I believe a welcome back is in order?" She said, her tone solemn and empathetic.

"What is going on?" Ahsoka asked, finally getting her bearings, looking around with a critical eye.

"Well, you were standing among Kyber crystals in a wellspring of the Force," The woman pointed out. "Is it that surprising that you might receive a vision of sorts?"

"But… I wasn't looking for crystals." The Togruta pointed out. "I already have my lightsaber."

"True, but they were made for you by another," The nameless woman pointed out. "They had connected to you marginally, but you and I both know it can be so much deeper than what you have."

"I… I was content with what I had."

"It seems that the Force disagrees with you," The woman pointed out. "Why else would it bring you here?"

The woman gestured to the front hall, empty and silent, the atmosphere muted even with the vibrant sunset happening behind her.

"... Who are you?" Ahsoka asked, standing up straight and, after a moment, taking a step forward, heading deeper into the Temple.

"My name is not what I would consider important at the moment, but… Well, I suppose there is no reason not to tell you either," she debated before holding out her hand and following beside Ahsoka. "My name is Bastila Shan."

Ahsoka stopped in her tracks, her eyes wide. It took her a moment to find her voice, and when she did it was shaky with disbelief.

"...Bastila… Shan? The Battle Meditation prodigy? A hero of the Mandalorian War? The-"

"There were no real heroes in that war," Bastila said, cutting Ahsoka off with a sad shake of her head. "Only victims, casualties, and those whose scars were deeper than skin. I was lucky to make it out alive."

"I… it's an honor, I-"

"Ahsoka, you've done quite a few impressive feats in your time. There is no reason to treat me as anything other than a peer," She assured her, giving her a supportive smile. "In fact, in some ways, I believe you have managed to surpass me."

"I, but... I have so many questions!"

"And while I may have many of the answers, I am not here to discuss the conflicts I lived through," She said, shaking her head. "I am here for you, to help you."

"I- I don't-"

"Ahsoka Tano, are you truly about to insist, to a vision of the Force, that you do not need help?" The woman asked, a single eyebrow raised. "Surely you jest?"

Again, Ahsoka was silent, this time in self-reflection, as opposed to shock. Rather than respond, she took a step forward, walking through the empty halls she once called home. Eventually, she spoke again, her voice softer, as if afraid those who once lived in the halls around her might hear.

"I…. I am conflicted," She admitted.

Bastila was silent, walking beside the orange-skinned humanoid as she traveled down the long hall. The Togruta did not seem to have a particular destination in mind. Just the need to walk.

"I was raised by the Jedi Code. I was raised to respect the Masters, to follow their word," Ahsoka eventually continued. "I mean, I was never a hardliner, but I thought, for so long, that the will of the Force was the will of the Order."

"And now?" Bastila asked softly. "After what you have seen and learned?"

"... I've accepted that the Order was misguided in some ways," Ahsoka admitted. "Between their… choices involving my own exile, and what I have learned since then, it is clear to me that the Masters did not have the control over the situation they… pretended to have."

"Control is often an illusion," Bastila pointed out. "The galaxy is filled with chaos, and it is often contagious. Many don't realize their own lack of control until the system flips them on their head. "

Ahsoka nodded in agreement, turning her head to watch as she walked past a mural she remembered sitting under when she was younger.

"Did you know that I fell to the darkness?" Bastila asked, Ahsoka whipping her head to stare at the Ancient Jedi with wide eyes.

"You what?" She asked, shocked by the declaration.

"I was captured by Darth Malak during the fight against the Sith," She explained, and for the first time, her cool exterior cracked just a bit. "For a week, he tortured me, forcing me to succumb to my anger and hate."

"Did… how…?"

"Revan," She explained, a fond smile on her face. "He declared his love for me, and that's enough to shock me to my senses."

"You… were together?" Ahsoka asked.

"We were more than together, Ahsoka. We were married," She explained, her smile growing. "We even had a child. As you can imagine, the Jedi Council did not like any of that."

"But, to love like that, to form connections… It goes against everything I- We ever learned!" Ahsoka insisted, having stopped her random wandering again. "The Jedi must refrain from forming attachments, as they can lead to the Dark side. Look at what it did to Anakin!"

"Many things can lead to the dark side, Ahsoka," Bastilla pointed out gently. "Or do you think that it was my attachments that made my torture so effective? No, my love for Revan and his love for me was what allowed me to shake off the darkness and return to the light. Without that… who knows what could have happened."

For a long while, the two were silent again, pacing around the interior of the Temple. Eventually, after passing through a meditation chamber, Ahsoka spoke once more.

"... I am struggling to reconcile my teachings with what I am learning now," She admitted. "Love, attachments, the dangers of the Light… It all flies directly in the face of my upbringing. How do I know what is right and what is wrong if I cannot trust what I was taught? How do I know if I am doing the right thing? How do I know?"

"You don't," Bastila responded with a sad, understanding smile. "The Jedi Order... it was built as a solution to the problems of its age. As it grew, and as the ages changed, the Order, both yours and mine, stagnated. The people, the individuals were mostly good, kind people…"

"But…"

"But the institution was… well, not broken, but certainly dysfunctional. It needed to evolve, shift, and change... But it failed to do so," She explained, a pained look on her face as they both passed a window overlooking Coruscant. "Ahsoka, you were taught were absolutes because at the forming of the Order, even before the reforms, absolutes were needed. The ancient Jedi, the ones who were ancient to me, they needed to draw a line in the sand. To stand steadfast and guide the galaxy. That hardline stance only got worse with time."

For a long moment, the pair was silent, continuing to travel through the Temple. When Bastila continued, it was with a more upbeat, hopeful tone.

"But now you and your friends, they have the opportunity to shift, to adapt," She explained. "The answer to your question, Ahsoka, you don't know how, or why, or when. You simply know you must. The rest is up to you and those who walk beside you."

Ahsoka stared back at the confident woman, her mind racing through what she had said. She wanted to say she was wrong, wanted to pull up her teachings and tell her that they were what they needed, to hide behind the rules, the code, the calm but clean precision that told her what was good and what was bad, what she should do and what she shouldn't…

Then it all came crashing down. Her knees were weak, and her heart sank. For a moment, she felt like she would collapse, her body feeling weak as the realization finally dawned on her.

"I'm hiding behind it, aren't I?" She asked, Bastila smiling at her realization.

Ahsoka, her mind slowing down, her epiphany clearing her thoughts, finally realized where she was. Somehow, as they walked, they had arrived at the High Council Spire. It was impossible, since they had not stepped foot inside of a turbo lift, but Ahsoka did not care. She stepped forward to the center of the room, as if she was addressing the Council themselves.

"The Jedi were misled, used, manipulated, and betrayed," She said, her face a determined visage. "But that does not mean we were innocent. Our neglect, our… stagnation, it led to a Sith taking over the galaxy. But now… We have an opportunity to change. To learn from our past mistakes."

As she spoke, the once Jedi Padawan turned to look at each of the seats, almost as if she could see each Master who would have claimed them. She took a moment to gather herself, releasing a long breath before finally speaking back up.

"For too long, I refused to adapt. I was scared of what might happen if we failed, scared by the fact that we would be setting the rules, making the decisions... meaning the burden of failure would be on our shoulders," The Togruta woman admitted, subconsciously shifting her position to stand firm under the burden she was attempting to claim. "But I will not hide behind it any longer. I will no longer cling to the teaching of the Jedi. Learn from them, yes, but never again will I use them as a shield to cower behind. I will stand by Luke, Ezra, Felia, Amescoll, and his Padawans, and together, we will forge the next step of the Jedi Order, whatever form it may take."

For a moment, her voice echoed through the empty space, her words hanging in the air. Finally, she felt a hand on her shoulder, turning to find Bastila standing next to her. The ancient Jedi gave her a nod and a smile before fading away to nothing. In the blink of an eye, Ahsoka was back in the cave. Her feet hadn't moved, but her hands had, pulling out the pink Kyber crystal Deacon had given her so long ago. It was glowing, floating above her palm as she held it out.

The crystal was a darker, deeper pink, almost magenta. Before she could say or do anything, though, a faint line appeared along the crystal, glowing slightly before cracking in two, each half the perfect size for their own saber.

---------------------

In a moment, he was lost.

One second, he was standing in the damp, cold cave, surrounded by wonderful glowing Kyber crystals, and the next, he was standing at the top of a rocky, dry hill. The air was dry, almost painfully so, while the mild cold had somehow changed into a dangerous biting chill. A stiff breeze flowed over the mountain, pulling and tugging at his loose clothes, the kind you usually wore when you were in danger of overheating, not freezing to death.

"Hello!? Anyone there?" He called out, slowly turning in a circle. "Hello? I mean, you no harm… I'm not sure how I got here…"

Nothing but silence greeted him. Not even the echoes responded.

Cursing under his breath, he reached down to touch his father's saber, which had become something of a lucky charm, only for his hand to come up with nothing. Not only was his lightsaber gone, but all of the other gear he kept in his pouches were empty, too. Suddenly, he was feeling a lot more vulnerable. Luke cast another look around, trying to pick up any clue as to where he was, before picking a random direction and setting out to walk that way.

He had barely reached the crest of the surprisingly level, large hill when someone called out to him from behind.

"If you're looking for shelter, I suggest you descend. The wind is less biting down low," A woman's voice said from behind him.

Luke spun around, turning to see an older woman with white hair, pulled into a loose bun standing there with a small smile. She was dressed in white robes as well, with one hand on her belt and the other on her lightsaber hilt.

"Hello… my name is Luke," He said, trying to give the woman what he hoped was a friendly smile. "Do you have any idea where we are?"

The woman gave a short look around before shaking her head and shrugging.

"I apologize, I don't recognize this place," She admitted. "But then again, I'm not here for the scenery. I am here for you."

"For me?" Luke asked, suddenly on the back foot as the woman slowly approached him. "What do you need me for? I'm just some guy, nobody important."

"Oh, really? Luke Skywalker, Son of Anakin Skywalker, Last of the Jedi, Commander of Rogue Squadron, Hero of the Rebellion," She listed. "Do those perhaps sound familiar?"

"I sort of wish they didn't," Luke mumbled before focusing back on the women. "What do you want? Did you bring me here?"

"No, I had nothing to do with that," She responded honestly. "I am just as stranded as you."

"Dammit…" Luke said, chewing his lip before shaking his head, once again looking around. "If you're stranded too, let's try and get our bearings."

Luke looked around again, taking a moment before he pointed out to an adjacent hill, one separated by a long, stone-filled valley.

"C'mon, that hill seems to be a bit taller," He correctly pointed out. "If we can climb it, it might give us a better vantage point."

The hilly, steep mountain did appear to be higher, and if there was anything to see nearby, it was as good as any place to spot it.

"C'mon, we should stick together until we find a way off this place."

Luke explained before slowly starting to descend the hill they were currently on. He hopped from boulder to boulder, sliding down in some spots and jumping down in others. He frequently turned around to check on his company, and they were always nearby, despite never seeming to move all that much.

"So what's your name?" he called back to the woman as he carefully crawled down a near-vertical face.

"My name is Meetra," She responded simply.

"It's nice to meet you, Meetra," Luke responded, stopping on the edge of a large boulder for a break. "Any idea how we got here?"

"I might have a theory or two," She stated, her voice suddenly closer as she sat down beside the young Jedi in training. "Tell me, what was the last thing you remember?"

"I… I was with Deacon and Ahsoka…" He said with a frown, looking out over the valley, then back up to where they had descended from. "We… We were…"

"In the crystal cave, a natural wellspring of the Force," She prodded, smiling as Luke finally started to connect the dots.

"Performing a Gathering ceremony, something that can include Force visions," He finished, sagging in relief. "Then this isn't real, is it?"

"Oh, it's real," She assured him. "It's also happening completely… up here."

She reached out and tapped his forehead, the young man looking up at her hand as she did.

"Right… Ahsoka and Deacon mentioned this might happen," He said, frowning slightly as Meetra pulled away. "Ahsoka said to follow the will of the Force, but Deacon just said to do my best and learn what I can. Apparently, it's not often that the Force reaches out and starts giving advice."

Meetra chuckled and nodded, Deacon's words seeming to tickle her fancy.

"Your friend certainly has a unique perspective on the Force," She admitted, still smiling. "We weren't sure… Well, I won't betray his secrets, but he has grown on us over time."

"He has helped a lot. Both the Rebellion, myself… Even Ahsoka seems to be happier around him," He admitted with a small smile, which dulled slightly as he continued. "I honestly don't know how he does it."

"Oh? His magic?" Meetra asked, fully aware of what Luke really meant, but playing along anyway.

"No. Well, yeah, I would like to know that too. But I meant how he so effortlessly takes command," He explained. "Miru claims that he didn't like it when they first started, but now he commands an entire mercenary faction, one that's already growing past forty people."

"You are a fair hand at leading as well, from what I've seen."

"But I hate it," He explained, shaking his head. "And I'm not getting better! I hate seeing people who I would have considered as friends look at me like I should know what to do! Like I should be respected for…"

"For things you don't feel you deserve?"

"Yeah. I mean, sithspit, I'm nineteen! I shouldn't be leading a whole squadron or have the power to command troops!"

"And yet, your Rogue Squadron has followed you into danger countless times," Meetra pointed out. "The people you lead respect you, and while some may wonder about your age, they see you as someone who can lead them to victory."

For a long pause, the two were silent. The white-haired woman seemed content to wait while Luke worked through whatever was on his mind.

"I know the Rebellion is looking to me to… be a hero, a leader or… A figurehead?" He eventually said, not exactly sure how to put his thoughts into words. "I miss being the kid Tantooine. It's not that I don't want to fight the Rebellion…"

"I think I understand. The burden of leadership and responsibility is not an easy one to bear," She agreed, Luke immediately nodding. "Some people, like Deacon, find they have a talent for it, even if it's not something they enjoy."

"And for the rest of us?" He asked.

"Necessity is a hard mistress but rewards those who persevere with wisdom through experience," Meetra explained before simplifying her advice. "Practice makes perfect, Luke. You're young, and you have been thrust into this position. There is no reason you should feel confident. In fact, I would be more concerned if you did."

"So that's it? Just grin and bear it until it doesn't bother me anymore?"

"Well, for one thing, you aren't nearly as bad as you believe yourself to be," She pointed out. "Just now, you were thrust into an unknown situation. Rather than panic or wait for someone to fix the situation for you, you took control and came up with a plan, even engaged someone to collaborate with."

"I... I suppose that's true, but-"

"Luke, you must learn to trust yourself," The older woman insisted, putting her hand on his shoulder. "With that, you would be surprised how quickly you can learn to fill a role you are unfamiliar with. Learn, gain experience, and your confidence in your leadership abilities will grow in time."

Luke let out a long sigh, seeming to shore up his confidence, before nodding in understanding.

"I will keep working at it," He assured the ancient Jedi. "I might not enjoy it, but I have a responsibility to the people who have chosen to follow me…. I think I will start by asking Deacon for some advice."

"A sound plan," Meetra suggested. "Perhaps you should consider talking to a few others as well."

"I will."

"Good," She said happily, standing up before helping Luke to his feet. "And remember. There are more ways to lead than by direction. Sometimes leading by example is just as effective."

"Thank you, Meetra," Luke responded, looking around the bleak, stony landscape again. "... So what happens-"

Before he could finish his sentence, Luke was suddenly back in the cave. For a moment, he panicked, struggling against his new position. Rather than standing at the base floor of the cavern, as he had been, he had squeezed himself into a crevasse, a space he hadn't remembered crawling into. After a few calming breaths, he looked forward and spotted what he had unknowingly been looking for. Just at the tips of his fingers was a brilliant, deep green Kyber crystal. With a gentle tug, the crystal came free, falling into his hand.

 

[Isebas]

Noice! Always happy to see an update.

 

[morkail]

To the Jedi it's a once in a lifetime experience where the force speaks to you… to everyone else they watch as a comic power body jacks you and sleeps walks your ass In to a pitch black cave. Thanks for the chapter.

 

[MetaBettaOmega]

For a moment, it seemed as if time had paused. Ahsoka's crystal had broken into two perfect chunks, falling into her hand, its internal shine reduced to a low glow. Then, the moment passed, and Ahsoka wobbled slightly as if a wave of great exhaustion had run through her. I had to jump forward, stabilizing her enough to keep her from stumbling down further into the cave.

"Thank you," She said softly, rubbing her face with her free hand. "I'm okay. There's just a lot catching up with me. I… I need to sit down."

I nodded and let her down gently, idly noting that Sabine was already rushing down to Ezra.

"Go check on Felia," Ahsoka said, and I nodded, making sure she was okay before jumping down further into the cave.

Felia, it turned out, was fine, having managed to sit down safely on a rock. She smiled as she spotted me, and I cast a quick healing spell on her to make sure everything was okay. Before I could even ask her any questions, she shook her head and pointed behind me. I turned to see what had gotten her attention, letting out a laugh when I realized what I was looking at. Felia appeared to be fine, but Luke, on the other hand, who was only a half dozen or so feet away, needed a bit more help.

"How did you even get up there?" I asked, scratching my head as I walked closer.

Luke's feet were off the ground, and almost his entire body was shoved into a seam that ran along the wall. The gap was barely big enough for Luke to fit into, so much so that he must have had to shove himself in pretty hard to get as deep as he was. Most of his body was inside the crack, save the bottom half of his legs.

"I don't know!" Luke said back, his voice muffled slightly. "I could use a hand, though…"

I started clapping, and Luke let out a curse that made me laugh again. Felia was giggling behind me as well, which I imagined didn't help.

"Alright, alright. We will get you out," I assured the stuck young man, turning back to the cave.

"Sabine, if Ezra is okay, I could use a not-exhausted hand here," I called out, getting an affirmative from the young, purple, orange-haired woman a second later.

After she arrived and recovered from her own laughing, we set to work freeing Luke. Together, we managed to pull Luke from his predicament. We also somehow kept him from falling on his ass on the way out, or worse, onto the deceptively sharp crystal of the nearby Kyber growths. Luke let out a happy half-laugh when he finally had his feet on solid ground and his back against the cave wall. Despite the less-than-glamorous position and the dirt that now stained his clothes and face, he was smiling. He held up his hand, showing an incredibly deep green Kyber crystal, a faint glow still emanating from inside.

"Nice," I said with a smile. "Well done."

"Thanks," He said, his smile slowly falling as he looked around. "How is everyone else? Did the... are they waiting for me or…?'

"Everyone is fine, just a bit tired. As far as I can tell, everyone had the same kind of vision you did," I explained. "You all just woke up."

"Everyone?" Luke asked, looking surprised. "Including you?"

"No, I mean everyone with a firm connection to the Force," I explained, making my way back to Felia. "Even Ahsoka."

Luke looked surprised but started to make his way back to the entrance of the cave, Sabine following after. I helped Felia to her feet, after which she showed me her deep blue crystals.

"I'm sure Ahsoka or Huyang will say this as well, but there is probably a reason you got two," I pointed out to the smiling child as we walked around the cavern's central pillar. "Ahsoka did as well, after all. It might mean the Force thinks you'll do well with two blades, either in a dual-saber configuration or as two sabers at once, like Ahsoka."

"Really?" She asked, looking down at her crystals, which had the same faint glow that Luke's did, only in blue. "What's a dual-saber?"

"It's a double-bladed lightsaber," I explained, miming its shape with my hands. "A central long staff center with blades extending in either direction. It's a more sweeping weapon, good for crowd control, but it's difficult to master. It also had a reputation because of its effectiveness against other lightsaber users."

As I described the weapon, I could see Felia becoming more and more interested. It was pretty clear I had sparked something inside her, and I could imagine pretty easily just what it was.

"If that's what you want, that's fine," I said, pausing along a growth of green crystals. "But I recommend building two lightsabers that connect in the middle, turning into a dualsaber, rather than one solid build. It will give you more flexibility, plus let you train with the standard saber first before graduating to the dual saber. You should talk to Ahsoka and Huyang as well."

The young girl, looking equal parts excited and determined, nodded in understanding at my advice. After that, we continued climbing to the entrance, stopping at the rest of the group. Ahsoka, who had recovered from her vision, gave me a small smile and a look before focusing back on her conversation with Ezra. The young Force-sensitive was showing off an interesting orange crystal.

"Alright, is everyone ready?" I asked, clapping my hands together to get everyone's attention. "I know that you guys are probably a little tired, but the less time we spend down here, the less likely it is to get found."

People nodded in agreement, and together, we slowly made our way out of the cavern and up through the cave system. At some point, Ahsoka stopped us, pausing to put her hand along a large rock foundation.

"Luke, Ezra… give me a hand with this," She said, calling both of the men closer.

They spent a minute whispering to each other before all three of them took more anchored stances, lowering themselves and reaching out with their hands. The air seemed to flutter with pressure before a massive chunk of stone, which I hadn't even realized wasn't attached to the rest of the cave, shifted to the side. It took a few minutes, but the three of them managed to almost completely block the cave. There was still some clearance along the ceiling, but to the unknowing eye, it simply looked like a normal indent. The cave, which had been at a natural narrowing point, now looked like it was ending naturally.

With some lights and a ladder, we would be able to crawl over the massive stone, but any wandering people would most likely assume that that was where the cave ended.

"Well done," I said, slapping Luke's shoulder and giving Ahsoka a nod. "That should discourage casual spelunkers."

"I think it's the best we will be able to get for now," Ahsoka said with a frown. "Likely the best we will get until the Empire is defeated, and we can station a guard force here or something."

"It should do. And if it doesn't, I'll find a new source," I assured the once Jedi Padawan. "It would suck to lose this, but there will always be more."

She reluctantly nodded, and after another minute or so of recovery, we continued to make our way out of the caves. I was still partially anticipating an ambush by those nasty bug things that attacked us last time, but nothing came up.

We made quick work of the trip back to the ship, making our way back on board the Starcaller. It was decided that since Ahsoka had been through the vision and was still feeling a bit out of it, we would leave to head back to the ancient Jedi Temple in the morning. Almost everyone, myself included, headed directly for bed.

Leaving Dantooine and traveling back to the ancient Jedi Temple was mostly uneventful. Ahsoka once again flew the ship off the planet so that no one else could know where we had been. It wasn't that I didn't trust everyone, as I was intimately aware of the fact that I was essentially riding in a ship full of main characters who could all handle themselves. Even Claron and Felia had survived years on the streets, doing relatively well despite their disadvantages. Unfortunately, I was just as keenly aware that the more people who knew a secret, the weaker it was. Thankfully, nobody disagreed.

The trip back through hyperspace was passed mainly by Huyang giving lessons on lightsaber assembly. There was a particular process involved, a method of influencing the construction, of feeling how the parts should fit together and how everything melded and worked as one. Yes, someone with the right skill could put one together clinically, with only minor use of the Force for guidance. However, if a padawan wanted to create their own weapon, something that was connected to them, that was an extension of their limbs, then that required something a bit more.

Ahsoka rather embarrassingly admitted she had forgotten how much of a difference it was having a crystal that was bonded to herself. She had disassembled her previous white blades, pulled out the old crystals, and reassembled them with her new ones as a demonstration. She had followed Huyang's instructions, and when igniting them for the first time, she had stared at her blades with a look of wonder. The blades were a deep magenta, with a lighter electric pink center.

By the time we arrived at the ancient Jedi temple, everyone was itching to assemble their lightsaber. Unfortunately, they would have to wait until we got back to Omega Station at least, maybe longer, since there was no guarantee we would have the right parts.

We arrived back at the temple ruins with little fanfare. The landing was simple, if a bit nerve-wracking, since we still weren't sure if the suspended cliff-side platform could hold us. Rather than risk it, we did the same thing as before, with the ship hovering in place just above the platform. Once "landed," Ahsoka and I made our way out of the ship while everyone else stayed on board. Knight Amescol, as well as several others, were waiting for us as we descended the boarding ramp. Part of me wondered if they had felt our approach through the Force or if they had just spotted us as we descended from space.

"It's good to see you both again," The older Jedi greeted us with a smile, reaching out to shake Ahsoka's hand first, then mine. "Was your Gathering successful?"

"It was," Ahsoka explained with a smile, her hand unconsciously touching one of her sabers. "The Force was… unusually forthcoming. Even I was able to find a new crystal, although under different circumstances."

"Interesting," He responded. "I would love to hear more, if you're willing to share?"

"I… suppose we could take a moment," She said after a pause to consider.

Knight Amescoll led us back into the hangar, sitting down around the same table where we had shared a meal days before. A crowd quickly formed as Ahsoka nervously talked about her experience, leaving a lot of it out. Thankfully, Knight Amescoll and his people seemed to understand that it was personal and didn't push.

"To receive a vision of Bastila Shan…" He said once she was done, looking at Ahsoka with renewed respect. "Truly, we can expect great things from you, Ahsoka. I believe quite a few Jedi Masters are regretting their actions, even as they are one with the Force."

"It was… surprising," She admitted. "I am still in shock."

"She was the perfect person to deliver a message of change," I pointed out. "In her early years, Bastila was a hardline follower of the Jedi Council of her time. But as she grew older, she realized their flaws and began to chafe at her leash, so to speak. It was Revan, however, who really convinced her that change was needed or that the Jedi Council was just as flawed as any group of sentient leaders."

"I believe that neatly brings us to our decision," Knight Amescoll said, casting a look at several of the people around us. "We debated your offer, as well as your offer for you to take us off the planet so we may join the Rebellion. It was your fears and certainty that we not repeat the same mistakes of our past that won us over. The time of the Old Republic and the old Jedi Order is over. Now, we must change and evolve into something new, something better. We wish to work alongside and with the Skyforged Vanguard. As long as your people are fighting against the Empire and against those who would harm innocents, we will join you."

Silently, I stood, Knight Amescoll following suit a second later. I walked closer and stuck out my hand.

"In that case, Amescoll, allow me to welcome you, and any who wish to join, to the Skyforged Vanguard," I said with a smile. "Things are a little hectic at the moment, but I'm hoping that together, we can make a big difference."

We chatted a bit more about what their joining meant and what exactly would happen next. I assured them that we would rush out a delivery of portable structures, more supplies, and some heavy weapons to potentially deal with the ocean dwellers. They could block up the lift access and turn some more of the hangars into living space. We would also be sending them at least one ship, something capable of carrying everyone off the planet if need be. Mentally, I kicked myself for selling the pirate freighter from the last mission to the Rebellion.

Eventually, we could work on getting the entire island safe, but that was for later. Once the island was a bit more comfortable to live on, we could use it as a refuge and training area for Force-sensitives. I had a feeling that Felia would want to stay close to Ahsoka, but something told me Ezra was already thinking about returning at some point soon.

Once we were done talking about that, Amescoll brought up something I hadn't considered.

"While we have joined you, I still think it's only right that I at least meet with the Rebellion," He explained. "I… would like to see it with my own eyes and explain why we have decided to work with the Skyforged rather than them."

"That… is probably a good idea," I admitted, Ahsoka nodding from beside me. "I take it that means you will be coming with us?"

"Yes, at least at first. I would like to see the station you speak of, as well as talk to the Rebellion," He explained. "I don't want to stay away long… I have long since started considering this place my home, and I would hate to stay away long."

"You can ride back with the ship we plan on buying for you," I suggested, getting a nod of agreement from Amescoll.

After another thirty minutes of talking and discussing, Amescoll, his wife, and two of the older Padawans, including Malua Var'Samallo, would be coming with us. Once we had everything set up, we would start considering a more routine rotation for the Jedi.

Amescoll promised a swift return, and his people said a final goodbye. After that, we promptly returned to the ship, and Ahsoka and Luke set a course home to Omega Station.

 

[morkail]

Oh the rebellion isn't going to like that, then again it was rather ridiculously how the new republic used the new Jedi order luke built and how quickly they were turned on… again. Even if it was by a former imperial admiral (fucking why!?).

 

[DaLintyGuy]

Oh the rebellion isn't going to like that, then again it was rather ridiculously how the new republic used the new Jedi order luke built and how quickly they were turned on… again. Even if it was by a former imperial admiral (fucking why!?).

Click to shrink...

The concept that my family termed "drayma".

Though the New Republic falling into the sins of the Old was simply inertia. Moving the capital back into the Core, with the Corellians as a major new member, reinstated the old way of things where power rested in the well protected, populous center of the galaxy while the rest could not compete with them. If a new tool was available (and often made of existing Rebels) then why not use them as special forces? It's not like the new Jedi are going to refuse to keep doing what they have done.

 

[morkail]

The concept that my family termed "drayma".

Though the New Republic falling into the sins of the Old was simply inertia. Moving the capital back into the Core, with the Corellians as a major new member, reinstated the old way of things where power rested in the well protected, populous center of the galaxy while the rest could not compete with them. If a new tool was available (and often made of existing Rebels) then why not use them as special forces? It's not like the new Jedi are going to refuse to keep doing what they have done.

Click to shrink...

The Jedi are at there best when they can follow the "will of the force" or there own nosy nature and find them self's wondering in to plots, slavery rings, political intrigue, and pirates among other things. But I very much doubt the powers that be want such mavericks running around unchecked. Sure it's ok in the outer rim but the idea some Jedi and wondering around your core world finding your basement filled with sex slaves and actually arresting you for it? ( granted that's a extreme case)

Point being I hope the new Jedi order doesn't take money from the republic thus becoming a government agency once again. With there powers it should be easy to get say stocks in company's or find wealth (use the force luke!) and just set up things so there order had a budget, no need for outside funding.

The last couple books in the legends timeline before it got thanus snapped, had luke leaving the Jedi order and wondering around with his son. And the new republic government was rather concerned such a powerful Jedi was off doing his own thing. Also half the order was just deserting there posts at that point and either stoped being Jedi or went there own way. And I remember the Jedi grandmaster at the time was very worried it would cause chaos.

But then again the later legends timeline was ridiculous.

Anyway… here's hopping for full independence for the new Jedi order. And one day soon a nosy goodie two shoes will start wondering around your world!

 

[MetaBettaOmega]

Hey everyone, just a reminder that I have a Patreon! Being a supporter has a lot of benefits, like early chapters and access to my original content. You could get up to eight chapters early from this story, the same for another, and four for the third. Board Members even get to vote on story beats, ship names, interludes, names, and more!

If you are interested in those benefits or just want to support my attempt to become a full-time writer, stop by and show your support. Every dollar helps!

---

When we arrived back at Omega station, I barely had time to see Ahsoka and everyone else off the ship before Tatnia pulled me away. I didn't mind leaving the Jedi, both the new and old friends, in the care of Ahsoka, since I could trust her to keep everyone together and guide them around. I was a little upset that I missed everyone making their sabers, however.

Still, I knew that I was needed elsewhere, so I didn't complain. As Tatnia practically dragged me through the station, heading for the large blocks of sleeping quarters, she gave me a brief overview of what the team had been up to while I was gone.

As planned, their first trip from the station to seek out new recruits was focused on repair and engineering staff. They cleared out most of the Chariot's cargo so they could set up temporary beds and sleeping quarters before heading off into the Mid and Outer Rim. There, they were decently successful, securing thirteen new recruits, all of them with at least some experience working on starships.

They had even gotten lucky and found a more experienced repair specialist, a Sullustan woman by the name of Orbor Fakkiv. She had previously worked as a lead manager in a repair yard, where she was replaced by a human when one of the higher-ups started to lean into more Imperial ideas. Miru happily handed the more experienced adult her control of the repair staff, keeping her position as lead engineer but letting her manage the actual repair process.

The new workers, as well as a new batch of fifteen repair droids, descended on the Whale Shark and the Nautilus, the newly named CR70 Corvette. First, they went over both ships with a toothcomb, repairing and cleaning it out. While that was happening, Miru spent six hundred and eighty thousand credits on upgrades and enhancements for both ships, focused on getting both of them up to our standards. The Whale Shark now had significantly improved shields and several more point-defense weapons, as well as an improved energy system.

It also had its computer systems significantly upgraded, cutting its crew size down from around a hundred, all the way down to thirty, with a minimum of fifteen. That didn't include the pilots for its two squadrons of V-Wing starfighters and two gunship variations of the LAAT/i. They were in the final stages of installing the computer systems when we landed.

The upgrades to the Nautilus were still ongoing, as it was getting a significant overhaul. Apparently, there existed a prepackaged upgrade for the CR70, called the c20 retrofit, and while it was designed to bring the CR70 up to the specs of a CR90, Miru was not satisfied with just that. She managed to wrangle the majority of a c20 retrofit, as well as an even larger upgrade to its shields and power cores. To make up for the high cost, she sold a good chunk of the old parts to the Rebellion, who happily snatched them up.

The Nautilus also received some computer upgrades, reducing its crew size to a manageable fifteen.

While all this was going on, Tatnia left once again to pick up more crew, this time returning with pilots for our starfighters. Again, they didn't find the best of the best, but apparently, the clone pilots were already working them into shape, getting them into the acceptable or even skilled range. I definitely wanted to work on getting them some dexterity-enhancing enchantments to really bump them up.

While Miru and her new crew of workers got busy with the ships, and later, the clones began training their new recruits, Tatnia and Nal once again headed out, this time in search of a crew for our new ships. This time, they got incredibly lucky, managing to find a whole crew and their captain. Apparently, a security group on a nearby system was downsizing, selling a ship, and letting go all of the crew. Tatnia was too late to snag the ship, but just in time to hire the entire crew from it, returning to Omega Station with forty-seven people, almost all of them from the same crew.

The captain, a Corellian by the name of Pella Irsee, was an older man with nearly thirty years of experience captaining ships of various sizes. Just him alone would have been an incredible addition to the team, but the fact that he came with an experienced crew was fantastic. His second in command would be stationed on the Whale Shark, as would a chunk of his crew, while the remainder would be on board the Nautilus. We now had both ships fully staffed with an experienced crew and talented Captains.

In total, there were now just over a hundred and twenty members of the Skyforged Vanguard, with around forty of them being clones. And now it was my responsibility to make sure none of them were going to betray us.

The process of interviewing each and every one of them started at the quarters, knocking on doors and interviewing each of them while they were under the effects of Calm. When that was done, we moved around to the various hangar bays and other locations, Tatnia keeping track of who we had gotten to with a datapad. Even with the Calm spell to simplify the process, it still took the rest of the day. We finally finished in time to get some dinner and head to bed.

The next day, I spent more time meeting with the new team members, getting to know them, answering a lot of questions about magic, and discussing the new developments with the Jedi. Thankfully, both Tatnia and Nal saw the value in having an uncharted and relatively safe planet in our pockets, as well as the value of having Jedi, or at least Force-sensitives, on our side. By the first morning, we had already sent the Staggered Bantha out with a list of supplies and equipment to purchase and bring back to the station. We also discussed where we could get our hands on an appropriate starship to leave on the island.

I was also happy to see what the Ahsoka and the crew had whipped up with Professor Huyangs's help, as well as Miru's help with the parts. Luke and Ezra both constructed singular lightsabers, green and orange, respectively. Luke's was simple, with a body that looked like his father's but had the same flared emitter nozzle that Obi-wan's final lightsaber had. Ezra's looked simple as well, and his Emitter nozzle was somehow connected to his sadly passed master, General Syndulla's husband. Felia's saber was by far the most interesting, as the young woman basically followed my recommendation exactly. She created a dual-saber that could split across the middle to become two single-blade weapons. Both Ahsoka and Huyang had recommended she go with a normal blade like Luke and Ezra, but she had stuck true and finally convinced them to help by promising to learn the single blade first before starting to learn a dual saber style.

The next few days after that was spent getting everyone settled, continuing to meet and integrate my new crew, and still explaining the whole magic thing. Knight Amescoll and his Padawans left on the Staggered Bantha, first to a Mid Rim planet to pick up a newly purchased transport ship, a Maka-Eekai L4000 light transport. It was a bit old, but the previous owner updated it to keep up with the times. Plus, it was modified with more passenger space, better engines, and improved shields, which was basically exactly what we were looking for.

Once they had the ship, they would return to that station for an inspection before leaving to visit Alpha Base. I was very much not looking forward to that meeting, so I was happy to find Knight Amescoll was fine with making the trip by himself. I knew that quite a few people in the Rebellion would react quite poorly to a new group of Jedi not siding with them. With any luck, though, between that and what Amescoll had to say, it would knock some sense into the ones who were a problem.

Meanwhile, the Intervention and the Loyal Hound returned from their most recent mercenary job, clearing out a gang on a Mid Rim planet. Between that and their first job, taking down a small-time warlord that threatened a minor settlement in the Outer Rim planet, they made a hundred thousand credits. That included the bounty and the weapons, food, and vehicles that were sold to the Rebellion afterward.

It was a bit low, but they were specifically taking it easy since they were down to only one ground team while everyone was split up.

Speaking of the Rebellion, Sheora had moved to the station as our permanent liaison. After a happy reuniting with Claron and Felia, she outlined her role and informed us that the Rebellion was getting close to finding us an appropriate precious metal heist, as well as more CIS targets. I had been nervous that we would have been dragged off to one or more of those immediately after arriving home, especially since I had already promised Ahsoka that our attention would focus on Grakkus the Hutt. Thankfully, we had some time.

In total, a full week passed before we finally began to discuss the concept of raiding the Jedi-obsessed Hutt. By then, Knight Amescoll and his padawans had left for Alpha Base, and Luke had rejoined Rogue Squadron. At that point, I could tell that Ahsoka was beginning to get antsy. The Intervention, Whale Shark, and Nautilus had all left to clear out a pirate nest bounty, leaving the Chariot and the Loyal Hound on duty to participate. The clone ground team was transferred over to the Intervention, while we planned on taking Commando and B2 battle droids as our back up.

Basically, we sent the heavy hitters out to work since they all needed more experience, and there was no way they were breaking into the Hutt-controlled moon with brute force. Sure, it was a Hutt planet rife with crime, but the Hutt Cartel had plenty of ships with which to defend itself. A brute force attack would have most certainly ended with us overwhelmed.

That meant it was time to sit everyone down and start planning our attack.

"Grakkus lives in a palace, heavily defended," Nal explained, having started researching the location when I mentioned it to him a few days after we returned. "Also controls Hutta Town, which surrounds his palace. The worst kind of city, filled with danger."

He turned on a rotating holoprojector of the palace, which showed a fair bit of the city as well.

"Also, no way to know where the potential vault is," He added with a frown.

"It would need to be deep and protected," I explained. "Not just from thieves, but from the environment. He wouldn't let the smog that Nar Shaddaa calls an atmosphere touch his precious stuff."

"So we have to break into a fortress palace, find the vault, load up on goods, and then escape with those goods, all before a Hutt can catch on and track us down?" Julus asked as he sat beside Tatnia. "That sounds a bit crazy, even for us..."

"It is," I agreed. "I don't think there is much in terms of ground forces they could throw at us that would take us down. We are too well-armored and skilled for that to happen. However, in his palace, we are at his mercy. They could slam the doors on us or set off traps that neutralize us. Plus, if he calls in the reinforcements, and that includes ships above a certain size, we are going to be stranded."

"Well...once you are inside, Racer can handle security," Miru assured us. "I may have upgraded his systems a bit more with some stuff I got from the Rebels. He can get you through, but…"

"We still need to get in and out," I finished. "with all of the artifacts we want to grab. Without getting stranded by whatever ships GRakkus can call in."

"I know how to get us in," Ahsoka said, looking at Nal. "How difficult would it be to tease him with Jedi artifacts?"

"I managed to locate his intermediaries," Nal responded. "They would purchase the artifacts, not Grakkus."

"What if it was something big?" I asked. "Something potentially fragile that could break if we shifted it around too much?"

"I… do not know," Nal admitted. "The intermediaries make no distinction for size."

"We would still need to present something real," Tatnia pointed out. "They would be able to sniff out a fake a mile away.

"Then it's a good thing we have a whole island filled with genuine Jedi artifacts," Ahsoka said with a smirk. "If we have enough, we might even be able to grab his attention and secure a meeting."

"There is a chance we would have to give up the artifacts, especially the smaller ones," Tatnia pointed out, looking at Ashoka with a raised eyebrow. "Are you okay with that?"

"Statues and random carvings… they don't mean anything to me," Ahsoka explained, shaking her head. "Especially not from the ancient Jedi. I'm more concerned… I'm more concerned about Holocrons and the remains, if there are any. A Holocron is… well, it's a combination of a diary, a last testament, and a biography, all wrapped into a semi-intelligent facsimile of the Jedi who constructed it. It is an incredibly personal thing, and to know that one Hutt is hoarding them away in a vault somewhere on Nar Shaddaa… it's disgusting. We also…"

She paused for a moment, letting out a deep breath before nodding.

"We also have another decent bargaining chip… Me," She said. I opened my mouth to respond, but she put her hand on my leg to stop me. "A live Jedi, especially one who made the newsreels like I did during the Clone Wars, would be a solid way to draw him into a trap. I'm not saying it has to be our first choice, but we should keep it in mind."

I frowned at the idea of using her as bait or as a bargaining chip, but a look from the Togruta got me to nod reluctantly. She was more than capable of taking care of herself, and I could still do plenty to keep us from being forced to resort to that sort of measure anyway.

"Okay, so let's say selling Gakkus Jedi artifacts is our in," I started. "That also means finding the vault will be easy since I can scan for those artifacts with Clairvoyance. We still need an out."

"If we are not forcing our way in, then forcing our way out would be much more simple," Vaz pointed out. "If we are invited in and Racer is capable of shutting down security, then the Loyal Hound blasting through the defenses will catch them off guard."

"Okay, it sounds like we have a general plan," I said. "Let's start trying to hash it out into something more clean. Nal, Vaz, go online and see what kind of footage you can find of Grakkus' palace. What we are really looking for is internal footage, but any angle could be valuable. Ahsoka, we need to contact Amescoll. I want him and his people fully caught up on this. I got the feeling he would agree with you when it comes to artifacts versus Holocrons, but we need to come to a full agreement first. If he says no, I might be able to find more, but it would take a lot longer."

The meeting quickly split apart as we settled into our various tasks, the team beginning to attack the problem to hammer out a more solid plan. We continued to work for several more hours, eventually breaking apart once we had a solid, workable plan.

 

[RowenCloude]

So you brought in ahsoka and Ezra and Luke as well as all these new Jedi and force sensitives. Any plans to bring in cal kestis and marrin. Or perhaps Galen marek and Juno? And what about Kyle katarn by this point he should be a mercenary that has done some jobs for the rebel alliance if I've got the timeline right

 

[Michaelsuave]

Th biggest problem with robbing hutts has never really been their security, it's their joint pride in the species that sees them protect their own and criminal ability to drown enemies in thugs and criminal activities (black lists, bounties, outright attacks, pirates, problems). The biggest problem isn't getting away, instead its getting away without being targeted until you are eventually overwhelmed by the hutts response. You have to deal with that by either killing the hutt and all records, or utilizing throw away resources and identities that aren't traceable, but using your craft you plan to use again is just asking for troubles that make this not worth it.

 

[MetaBettaOmega]

The following morning, Ahsoka and I finally managed to get in contact with Knight Amescoll. He was waiting on Alpha Base, meaning we had to co-opt the communications between the Rebels on the station and the stronghold. The comms officer on our side was happy to help, as apparently, my crew had been working hard to keep up positive connections with our allies and neighbors, but Alpha Base took a bit more convincing. Thankfully, someone in the know overheard our issue and stepped in to set things straight. Luckily, the conversation was relatively short as well.

"I'm currently waiting for a meeting with Mon Mothma," The holoprojection of Knight Amescoll explained. "I most likely will not be able to return home for a few more days after that. Something tells me they will ask me to stick around, most likely to give them more time to convince us to reconsider. "

"Try not to run roughshod over them too much," I said with a smirk. "Most of them have an idyllic memory of what the Senate and old days were like... mostly 'cause their people were benefiting the most from the rot."

"I offer no promises."

After pleasantries and a bit more conversation about the situation, mostly just generally outlining our plan, Ahsoka popped the question.

"Would anyone object if we took some of the more simple artifacts?" She asked, after having gone over the significant bits. "We would most likely have to sell some of it permanently to get on his good side. No telling if we will see it again. Even if we do, it would be much lower on our priority list than things like Holocrons."

"I understand. As long you document the artifacts and only choose simple trinkets, I see nothing wrong with it. You are right to put Holocrons so far above them," He agreed. "Does this mean you will be heading back home?"

"We should really name that planet," I said, shaking my head before focusing. "Yes, it's our first step in the plan. We will be returning with the Talos Chariot, a larger ship than the Starcaller."

Even if I wanted to use the Starcaller, the smuggling ship was already off station, serving as another supplies ship until we could buy another freighter. The quartermaster was already looking for one and would probably make a purchase in the next few days.

"And the ocean dwellers?"

"The Chariot is a warship. Between its weapons and the equipment on it, we should be more than prepared to handle them," I assured them. "If not, we will pull back and come up with a new plan, but honestly, with the Chariot, I'm not worried.

"Very well, I trust you know what you are talking about."

"We are also bringing more supplies and comforts for your group." Ahsoka added.

"That is good news. Thank you," He said with a smile. "While a Jedi should strive for the endurance to withstand many issues, I believe they have endured enough."

"It's no issue, simply keeping up our end of the bargain," I responded. "I should also point out that these artifacts will be bringing in sizable chunks of money, and I plan to invest a significant portion of that money back into the settlement. It may only be a small group now, but I would like to prepare for more. If we manage to track down more Force-sensitives or Jedi, having a place to send them would be a huge boon."

"We would gladly accept more people, even beyond Jedi," Amescoll assured us with a nod. "We are part of the Skyforged, and isolating ourselves was one of the major failings of the old order."

"I'm glad you said that because I would like to start putting down roots on the planet," I admitted. "Separate from the island to protect the ruins, of course. A whole hidden, untapped world could represent a massive advantage to our group. We are already starting to fill the station, and as mind-boggling as that is, having more space would be incredible."

"... Perhaps we should move from the island as well," Amescoll said, looking introspective. "It was obviously not an option while we were stranded, but now... between the ocean dwellers and the lack of infrastructure..."

"I will leave that up to you," I responded. "When you arrive back at the planet, feel free to use the new ship to do a full scan looking for a better place to live."

"Someplace with enough room for significant expansion," The older Knight added with a nod. "I am determined to squash and isolationism before it starts.

We talked a bit more about how long it would take for him to return to the planet and what else we would be bringing before we finally disconnected. Once we did, it was time for us to get going. The quicker we found some artifacts, the quicker the next steps of the mission could start. As I passed on the message to my crew that we were good to go, Ahsoka pulled me aside.

"Deacon, I… I just want you to know how much I appreciate you pushing the Skyforged to go on this mission," She said. "I know you take your responsibility to your team seriously and… Well, thank you."

"I do take it seriously, but don't forget that you're on that team, too," I pointed out. "And now, all of the people on the temple planet are too. This is just another step in making sure you all get access to what you need to thrive. Tatnia was skeptical of our first mission, but now that everyone is on our team? She is all for it."

"Well, either way, thank you." She said, giving me a long look before quickly turning away. "I have some more prep to do. I will see you on the Chariot?"

"Yeah…"

I watched her walk away, shaking my head clear and focusing on preparing for the mission. Luckily, I didn't have much to do other than make sure my armor was on board. Together, the crew, along with a few labor droids, loaded up all of the supplies and equipment for the once-stranded Jedi and their descendants. Once that was all set, it was time to go. Miru was a bit upset that she was once again being left behind, but she understood that it was better for everyone that she did.

At around noon, the Talos Chariot left Omega Station, jumping to lightspeed and vanishing into hyperspace. It felt good to be with the rest of the team again, especially aboard the Chariot. Even better, I could now keep busy during the trips through hyperspace by enchanting stuff for our new recruits. I wanted to focus on getting dexterity buffs for the pilots, as that would put them far above any other pilots they may come up against.

Arriving back at the planet was exciting, and the rest of the crew were eager to see it for themselves. Calima did a wide arc around the island to let the scanners do their work, picking up the signal of three ocean dwellers wandering around the ruins. When we were done, we carefully hovered over the landing pad, letting labor droids unload the supplies and equipment for the Force-sensitives.

Included in the delivery was a single repair droid, whose only task was to inspect and repair the landing pad for actual use. Once it was declared safe, the emergency escape ship could be stationed on the platform, meaning escape from the planet was only seconds away.

When we were done unloading, Ahsoka and I explained exactly what was going on and what our mission was. Two of the Padawans agreed to join us, promising to lead us directly to several exciting artifacts that would certainly impress the Hutt.

With our two helpers in tow, we returned to the ship, Calima taking off and descending immediately, bringing us nice and low over one of the dwellers. Using one of the ventral turrets, we spotted and targeted the large abomination. After confirming it wasn't near anything worth worrying about, Vaz absolutely obliterated it with a short barrage of laser fire.

We spent an hour hunting down the other two, hovering over them and waiting for them to move someplace mostly empty, before erasing them from existence. When our scans turned up clean, Calima guided the ship to the edge of the island that actually met the water, where the Padawans insisted the ocean dwellers emerge from.

Calima oriented the Chariot to have as many of our weapons pointed at the water line as possible. Between that and the ship's complete B2s, ready to distract them away if the turrets missed, we deployed the Arrow and speeder bikes, including the modified cargo MRV. Then, we split into two teams, with Tatnia, Nal, Julus, and a Padawan in the Arrow, while Ahsoka, Vaz, the second Padawan, and I rode the speeder bikes.

The Padawan guided us, after a quick refresher on speeder bikes piloting, along the edge of the massive mountain encircling a significant portion of the island, eventually landing in a small courtyard.

"When we first arrived, we had no idea we were in danger, so we kind of spread out," He explained as we cut through the vines that choked the streets and pathways through the lost Jedi city. "I discovered this place while looking for a place to live, or at least sleep."

Eventually, he guided us to a mostly intact structure, the interior of which was slightly cooler than the exterior. As my eyes adjusted to the change in light, I could slowly make out the details of the room. The walls were studded with rotting panels of wood, with technology peaking out occasionally. Most of the rotted and decaying tech was built into the building directly, most likely to be as subtle as possible. I could only imagine that what we were seeing was the tip of the iceberg.

Along the far wall of the room, half covered in roots and a slab of newly crumbled stone was some sort of display cabinet. Looking around, I could see the crumbled remains of others, but a quick look showed they were mostly empty, or long as destroyed. However, in the relatively undisturbed case, there were a half dozen palm-sized coins. Some of them were tarnished, and all of them had a thick patina, but I could just make out the Jedi symbol on each of them.

"These look good," I said, handing them to Ahsoka, who nodded in agreement. "They look nice, nice weight, all metal. Collectors eat this sort of thing up."

She nodded and, for a moment, studied the large coins. Then she slowly reached out, pushing a few to the side, revealing a surprisingly clean coin at the bottom. It still gleamed like extra red copper, the pits and stains of corrosion only touching its edges. She looked up at me, and I nodded, prompting the Togruta to pull the coin away and tuck it into her utility belt.

"Got a feeling?" I asked, watching her face as she looked out and around as if she was hearing something in the distance.

"Yeah…"

"Hold on to it," I said. "Tell me if you feel anything else."

She nodded absently, her brow furrowed as she tried to work her way through it.

We carefully packed the coins and a few dozen other artifacts up inside the MRV storage crate before the Padawan led us to a new place. For the next three hours, we slowly filled the MRV, as well as a few bags, with everything from statues and normal coins to an entire mural depicting Jedi art, though that was in several pieces. When we were all full, we returned to the ship, carefully offloading what we found. We were about halfway through when one of the droid gunners scared the hell out of us by melting a pair of ocean dwellers trying to make it back on shore.

This wasn't the first time they had pasted one, but it was teh first time we were close to the ship, unloading stuff. After making sure the danger was passed, I commed Tatnia to confirm the threat was neutralized so she and her team could continue exploring without worrying.

By the time the sun was setting, we had filled a not-insignificant portion of the Chariots cargo hold with ancient Jedi artifacts of various sizes and shapes. Tatnia's team even managed to find an ancient lightsaber, something that was ancient even before the events of the first KOTOR games. It spoke volumes to the age of the ruins we were exploring.

And it was also incredibly good news for getting Grakkus' attention.

As the others continued to offload their finds, I spotted Ahsoka looking over her shoulder, back out to the line of ruins that ran along the slowly sloping beach. It was clear that something was tugging at her, so I got Tatnia's attention.

"I'm going off with Ahsoka," I explained. "She is clearly feeling something."

"Right, I'm sure she is feeling something," She said with scoff, rolling her eyes. "If you want some alone time with her, you don't need to lie, Boss."

I opened my mouth to respond but quickly shut it when I realized there was literally nothing I could say that would counter her statement. At least not anything she would believe. Instead, I simply shrugged, turned around, and made my way over to Ahsoka.

"Hey," I called out to her, waving to catch her attention before gesturing to the speeder bikes. "C'mon, let's go find what's pulling on you."

She nodded, making her way over and hopping onto one of the CPH speeder bikes while I climbed onto the MRV, doing my best to keep up with her.

For a while, we flew around the ruins, making a few lazy loops before the Force-sensitive seemed to hone in on what was calling out to her. She slowed her speeder down, bringing it to a landing on the roof of a partially collapsed structure. As she was already climbing down the collapsed edge of the roof, I landed beside her, silently following after her.

We made our way deeper into the building, its features unrecognizable due to the wear and tear of being exposed to the elements, even partially. Eventually, after lifting a few chunks of stone and even cutting a few with her lightsaber, we found ourselves in a small room no bigger than two meters wide in both directions.

Ahsoka turned around in place, studying the walls, the floor, and even the ceiling. When her search turned up nothing, she looked back at me.

"Any ideas?"

I conjured a strong Magelight and took a closer look at the wall opposite the door, running my fingers along it, slowly feeling for any aberrations through the moss and built up dirt. After a few seconds of feeling around, the metal of my gloves caught on a lip. I pulled out my small utility knife and scrapped away the layer of grime, moss, and dust, revealing a small circular indent.

"Well.. there you go."

She nodded and stepped forward, pulling out the large coin that had first attracted her attention and gently slotting it into the circle. For a moment, nothing happened, long enough that I began to wonder if whatever was supposed to happen was broken. Then, suddenly, a straight, vertical seam opened in the stone, the hiss of a breaking seal catching me off guard. Instinctively, I reached out and grabbed Ahsoka, yanking her back with one hand and casting Greater Ward with the other.

Through the glimmering shield, we watched as a stone facade continued to spread apart, revealing a hidden compartment. When it was clear that nothing was going to shoot or attack us, I dropped the ward and let Ahsoka go.

She gave me an appreciative look before stepping closer to inspect what had been revealed. Looking over her shoulder, I could see a full, complete set of armor with golden plates and Jedi robes. I could see belts and pouches, even a holster clip for a pair of lightsabers. Ahsoka reached out and ran her hand over the obvious chest plate.

"Thank you," She whispered, talking to whatever spirit or Force trail had led her here.

And for a moment, I could feel whatever it was respond, before the sensation passed.

 

[Logos01]

A thought occurs to me: all these defensive methods for making personal armor that resists blasters and lightsabers ... if synthcrystals are actually a thing, couldn't one make a riot shield with a series of them arranged to lie adjacent to the flat surface of the shield?

Like, we see in a number of cases where the same crystal can emit more than one energized construct from the same point -- so you could easily have the crystals about a third of the way in and then have them emit beams inwards and outwards from there, in a manner that the actual emitter bits are covered by the constructs. Take a bunch of 'em, sure, and the things might be a little prone to exploding when not handled carefully (include shock absorbers in the emitters yeah?) but otherwise you could just have entire squads of guys armed with lightsaber bayonet-fitted blaster rifles and riot shields that could just roly-poly over all and sundry.

No fancy skills or swooshing blade tricks. Just straight up brute force Zulu shieldwall-and-assegai plus carbine rifle work.

 

[morkail]

That was surprisingly moving, it's interesting to see Jedi interacting with the force from a nine force users prospective. Also nice armor… that said doesn't she already have the very best in armor already? I as suppose he can convert the armored bits to besker. And maybe Jedi armor offers something different he can copy to give the other Jedi in his forces.

Armored robes like that are kind of bad ass.

 

[MetaBettaOmega]

Hey everyone, just a reminder that I have a Patreon! Being a supporter has a lot of benefits, like early chapters and access to my original content. You could get up to eight chapters early from this story, the same for another, and four for the third. Board Members even get to vote on story beats, ship names, interludes, names, and more!

If you are interested in those benefits or just want to support my attempt to become a full-time writer, stop by and show your support. Every dollar helps!

---

For a few minutes, we took our time inspecting the armor. It was in fantastic condition. The seal of whatever type of storage container we had found it in had obviously held, as even the cloth was just about as perfect as you could expect. Even the normal wear and tear that a suit of armor would undergo was light, leading me to think the armor wasn't worn very often or had at least been repaired or patched close to the time it had been abandoned.

"I can never wear this," Ahsoka said after a minute or so. "This is worth… hells, I don't even know if I could put a number on this."

"Oh, absolutely not," I agreed. "Judging from everything else we have found, this place was ancient even before the time of Revan. Even if it was normal armor from some random soldier, it would be worth a decent-sized starship, at least."

"I… why did they lead me to it, then?"

"Well… just because you won't be able to wear it, doesn't mean it won't be useful," I pointed out. "Pola can do some scans and use its design to base your armor on. His current design is just a trimmed-down version of our armor. Plus… considering how it's stored… maybe it belonged to someone important? Or maybe it was some sort of prized possession. Hell, maybe it's a family heirloom. Was it like the Force or a specific presence?"

Ahsoka looked at me and rolled her eyes, slowly beginning to pull the armor out of its storage, carefully wrapping the robes around the armor plates so there was no scratching.

"I will never get used to how you talk about the Force," She said, shaking her head. "It's like you have the knowledge of a master but the dismissive indifference of a nonbeliever."

"What can I say? I like to be special," I responded.

"...It was a presence of some kind. Old, reaching from the Force," She eventually responded. "I… get the feeling you might be right about it being someone's heirloom."

"Well, we can give it a look over for any signs of its origins, then put it on display wherever you and your fellow not-Jedi end up settling down," I suggested. "In a nice sealed case to keep it safe."

"That… sounds like a good idea," Ahsoka agreed.

Once we had everything safely wrapped up, we made our way slowly out of the ruined building and back to the roof. The going was tough, as we frequently had to split up, with me climbing upwards, letting Ahsoka use the Force to float the wrapped-up armor up to me before she could climb up after me. Eventually, though, we made it to the speeders and loaded the precious cargo into my speeder storage container, before racing away back to the Chariot.

After showing off what we found, we packed it up in Ahsoka's room since it was obviously not going to be sold with the rest.

By the time we were done loading everything up, the sun was starting to set over the island. It would have been a rather incredible sunset to watch, with the sun descending over the ocean. The only problem was that the beach was littered with the charred remains of over a half dozen ocean dwellers. The droids had done a damn good job keeping any of them from getting into the ruined city, but god damn was it a mess.

When we were finally done, the Padawans were brought back to the rest of their people. They were already setting up some of the portable living spaces we had brought with us, all of them eager to sleep in climate-controlled beds, rather than the muggy, hot bedrolls they currently used. Seeing them work to beat the dark, we spent a few hours assisting them, getting three of the structures set up in record time. Watching the younger kids experience an air-conditioned room for the first time was rather entertaining and probably worth the time we put in.

We shared a simple meal with the Jedi survivors before blasting back off into space on the Chariot. Our destination was back home at Omega station, so that Nal could reach out to Grakkus' intermediaries and set up a meeting. Technically, we could have done so from onboard the Chariot, but I wanted to offload a lot of the Jedi artifacts and discuss what exactly the meeting would look like. Our goal was to pretend that we were uncovering more artifacts over time, but our strategy for doing so was not set in stone.

We landed back in one of our several large hangar bays, a swarm of labor droids beginning to offload what we had collected. While Julus and Vaz watched over them, Nal, Tatnia, Ahsoka, and I peeled off to one of our meeting rooms. There, we came up with an appropriate message to send to the intermediary, along with an image of proof that we had a genuine ancient Jedi artifact. For our first contact, we settled on a statue of a person carved from white stone, embellished with precious metals along certain lines and points of emphasis. The statue was about the size of my head, and according to all the scans we could put it through, was just a simple statue. Before we sent our message, Tatnia brought up something that was bothering her.

"What if they try to screw us over?" Tatnia asked with a frown. "Don't forget, we are doing business with a greedy, violent Hutt here. If he thinks he can save money by killing us and taking what he wants, he will absolutely try."

"You really think a couple of Hutt underlings are going to be able to beat us?" I asked with a scoff. "They could try and overwhelm us with ships, but they can't risk blowing us up. After all, they would lose all the artifacts, as well as the chance to find more."

"First off, they can overwhelm us with ion cannons, something someone associated with pirates will have access to," Tatnia pointed out. "And while I agree we should be able to handle most of what Grakkus is likely to throw at us...."

"Beating him is not the point," Ahsoka said, Tatnia nodding in agreement. "We aren't attempting to successfully sell things or survive dealing with a Hutt. We are here to get access to the vault, and pissing him off is not how we do it."

I frowned, crossing my arms as I contemplated the issue. It was a strange problem to have, trying to find a way to convince a Hutt not to betray us, not because we cared about being betrayed, but because we didn't want to be forced to defend ourselves and alienate the Hutt. Tatnia leaned forward after a long pause, her eyes narrowing as she thought of something.

"What… what if we aren't the ones who are finding the artifacts?" She suggested, chewing her lip as she worked her way through her idea. "What if we were the hired hands for a separate client?"

"What would that do?"

"If we pretended to just be hired mercenaries, then we can pretend to be ignorant about where the stuff is coming from," She explained, gaining confidence in her solution. "Betraying us does nothing except piss off the real source. They can't do that because it would mean losing access to all the artifacts."

"Would also mean the potential to pretend to be upset at the price tag," Nal added, catching on to Tatnia's plan. "Annoyed that we are being paid so little when our clients' payday is much larger."

"The perfect target to attempt and seduce into striking a deal," Ahsoka finished.

"If we leak that this is a big deal, a large find that has a lot of artifacts, Grakkus is going to want to be involved with that." I pointed out. "But he can't kill us until he has access to our 'client,' which forces him to deal with us. Not bad Tatnia, I think that is our best bet."

We quickly went over the message and reworded it, emphasizing that we are mercenaries working for a separate, unnamed client. Tatnia guessed that it would take a while for them to get back to us, but instead, the response was almost instantaneous.

"They are eager to communicate with us," Nal explained as he opened the message. "Most likely recognizes the nature and value of the artifact."

"That's a good sign, right?" I asked, looking at my companions. "We want them to be eager to do business."

"Yes, but it also means a lot more attention is going to be on us,' Tatnia pointed out. "Some attention is good, but a lot of attention can lead to complications."

"Speaking of attention being on us, we need to discuss our options for our identities," Ahsoka pointed out. "While we aren't exactly celebrities, they will certainly do their research once they meet us, and we are still not friends with the Hutts."

"I kind of assumed we would do the whole Mandalorian thing and just stay in our armor," I volunteered.

"What about the ships?" Tatnia pointed out. "They are connected directly to us by now."

"Don't believe that Grakkus will care," Nal said, shaking his head. "He is not directly connected to Jabba, and slaves are not his major source of income. Our past action unlikely to negatively affect his income."

"Are we willing to risk it?" I asked.

"Not much of a risk. We have genuine ancient Jedi artifacts," Nal responded. "If his obsession is how you described, he would not care enough to risk his access."

We continued to discuss our options before finally deciding to risk it. The Talos Chariot was a pretty robust ship, especially for its size. We were confident that we could at least escape most situations and fight our way free of anything else. Unfortunately, that confidence was erased when we learned about where the intermediary was stationed.

"Dammit. I was really hoping to never have to go to Tatooine," I said, letting out a groan.

"I will admit, I am not looking forward to returning to it either," Ahsoka said with a frown. "The last time I was on Tatooine was not my proudest moment."

"What happened?" I asked curiously.

"I fell into a Separatist trap, one set by Count Dooku," She explained, shaking her head. "I was young and eager to prove myself."

"It's bigger than just having to go to that hell hole," Tatnia cut in. "Jabba runs that planet, you know, the guy who still has a bounty on some of us? The Hutt who will absolutely attack us on sight?"

"Well… we will just have to make the first trip in the Starcaller, with the Chariot and the Loyal Hound in the wings for support," I suggested. "That will get us to the surface of the planet and keep our ride from being singled out. We are more than capable of defending ourselves on the ground."

We continued to talk about the upcoming mission, which is now a trip to the Hutt-owned world for a while longer. While all of us wanted to get to the mission as soon as possible, now we were waiting for the return of the Starcaller before we could continue with the next step.

For the remainder of the day, as well as the following morning, we were basically just killing time. That morning, Ahsoka and I did some light sparring to loosen up. After we warmed it up, it was clear that the once-Jedi Padawan was showing a marked improvement. She was convinced it was that her Kyber crystals were connected to her through the Force, and I had no reason to doubt her conclusion.

"Can you feel the difference?" I asked as we separated from a series of strikes that happened to come out in my favor. "Cause I can certainly feel the difference in the way you fight."

"Everything feels smoother, more instinctive," She admitted, looking down at one of her sabers. "I can't believe how much easier it is to connect with them. It's like every swing is more stable, more in line with what I intend."

"Not to rub salt in the wound, but how did you not notice up until now? You said your first saber was more connected to you, right?"

"Well… after I left, a lot was going on. I felt… lost, distant, like everything was a struggle," She explained, letting out a long breath. "Hard to notice something like that when the galaxy around you is spiraling uncontrollably. Maybe I'm just making excuses… Or maybe I was just having trouble reaching out to the Force because it reminded me of what I walked away from."

I nodded in understanding, letting my conjured armor and sword fall away as I patted her on the shoulder.

"I don't think anyone could blame you for that, Ahsoka," I said, trying to comfort her. "Everything was going sideways, fast. There wasn't a lot of time for anything, never mind something subtle like that."

She nodded, though her mind seemed to be lingering on distant thoughts. I gave her shoulder one more squeeze before stepping away and grabbing my stuff.

"The Starcaller should get here in a couple of hours, and we leave not long after that," I reminded her, the Togruta nodding at my words. "Take some time for yourself, and I'll see you then."

The next few hours were spent going over our checklist of weapons, armor, and gear. We offloaded some of the equipment off of the Chariot, specifically the speeders and the Arrow, all of which would just barely fit inside the smaller ship's cargo hold.

Not long after everything was ready, the Starcaller returned. The upgraded freighter had just been on a supply run, so labor droids, guided by the quartermaster, had to quickly offload everything before we could move everything we needed back inside. Since we would not be using the smuggling compartments, we also loaded a few extra commando droids into them, just in case. Ahsoka was going to be staying with the ship while we visited the intermediary, since anyone knowledgeable with Jedi stood a decent chance of identifying her. The droids would be her reinforcements in case something happened.

Beyond that, the loading process was over pretty quickly. The Jedi statue was loaded up and stored in a protective crate, while everyone else picked their bedrooms as they boarded the ship. It was a bit tighter than any of us were used to, since not only was the starship smaller than the Chariot, but the cargo bay was stuffed to the absolute brim with our speeders.

Once everyone was on board, Ahsoka and Tatnia took control of the ship, with Ahsoka in the pilot's chair and Tatnia taking the co-pilot position. Only ten minutes after we finished the loading process, the pair piloted the small ship out of the hangar, heading out to open space. Not long after that, we made the jump to lightspeed, heading for Tatooine.

 

[MetaBettaOmega]

Most of the crew didn't have much to do during the trip from Omega Station to Tatooine. With the cargo bay nearly completely full and with a general lack of space, most of the team rotated from their rooms to the lounge area, watching holovids and playing games that barely passed the time adequately. This lack of space to spread out was only made worse by the fact that the trip to Tatooine was surprisingly long. It took three full days in total to arrive at the desert planet, mostly due to a dark zone of hyperspace lanes that existed between it and Omega Station.

By the end of the first day, I was kicking myself for not having dragged my enchanting table out of the Chariot and into the Starcaller. I would have likely had to stack it on my bed or force it into the hall when I wasn't using it, but I had a massive backlog of enchanting to get done that would have made the trouble worth it.

Luckily, unlike the rest of my crew, I wasn't stuck twiddling my thumbs and waiting for stuff to happen. I still had access to my grimoire, so I spent the first two days learning new magic. The first day was spent learning Superior Ward, a spell I don't remember from the game, but I was still eager to learn now. It was the Expert-level ward and was a powerful barrier, thrumming with power when I cast it.

Despite how much learning Superior Ward took out of me, I forced myself to repeat the process, this time learning Paralyze. The spell was simple in effect, locking up a person for ten to twelve seconds, depending on their constitution. It also needed to hit someone's skin, rather than their armor, though it could pass through thin clothes or robes. While I remember thinking it was silly that such a simple spell was Expert-level, I could now appreciate its usefulness and potency.

When we finally arrived at Tatooine, we dropped out of hyperspace at a pretty significant distance away, with the Loyal Hound and the Chariot dropping out nearby not long after we did. At this distance, Tatooine was just a double fist-sized ball of rock suspended in space.

"Our scans aren't picking up anything bigger than a Corvette," Ahsoka said, reading her console before looking over at me. "But at this range, there could be something hiding behind the planet, and we wouldn't be able to detect it."

"Alright, let's plot another jump somewhere over here," I said, pointing to a location closer to the planet but past it. "That way, we can check around the other side but still have plenty of distance to run. Our escort can hang tight there, charting a micro jump into the orbit of the planet. That way, they can keep an eye on our escape route and jump in to help in case we need backup."

Both Tatnia and Ahsoka agreed to the plan, so Racer quickly got to work with the ship's astronavigation systems to plot a new jump. While the starship was more than capable of performing the job itself, Racer would significantly speed up the process.

Sure enough, only a few minutes later, we were ready, both the Chariot and the Loyal Hound following after us as we made a short jump across the system. A second quick scan showed that there were no surprise capital ships waiting in the wings.

With my paranoia temporarily sated, we accelerated towards our destination, beginning a thirty-minute journey to the large desert planet's surface. According to the message we received from our contact, our meeting was in Mos Espa. While I was glad that we weren't being forced to do business in Mos Eisley, Mos Espa wasn't exactly a five-star resort. Sure, it wasn't nearly as broken, crime-ridden, and dangerous as the infamous trade hub, but it wasn't exactly by much better, either.

As we got closer to the city and the surface, Ahsoka deliberately pulled away, heading down to one of many thousands of square miles of desert. With the complete lack of air control or any sort of law, there was absolutely no reason for us to land in the city itself save for the protection from Tusken Raiders and Jawas. Instead, Ahsoka landed us perfectly in the middle of the desert, far from any prying eyes or prodding nosey scam artists. The ground team would ride our speeders and speeder bikes to our destination.

With any luck, this would make it even more difficult for Jabba to realize something was going on or for him to intervene and start making our lives difficult when he did. Sure, the wastes were not exactly safe for ordinary people, but Ahsoka was more than capable of feeling any incoming danger before it became a problem. Between her and the contingent of commando droids, led by Boxi, I had confidence she would be fine.

It took twenty minutes for Vaz, Tatnia, Nal, Julus, and myself to climb into our blessedly climate-controlled armor and prepare our speeders. Once everything was set, I said goodbye to Ahsoka before hopping onto a C-PH speeder. Julus and Tatnia were on the other two, while Vaz and Nal were inside the Arrow with the statue. As we lifted off and started our trip into the city, the speeders took up position around the Arrow as if we were a defensive screen for precious cargo.

We pushed the speeders to the max, cruising over the desert, leaving a massive dust cloud behind us. We made quick work of the long stretch of desert, eventually reaching the city proper.

Now, Mos Espa was a city that shared a lot of similarities with the rest of the Tatooine cities. With sand-covered streets and large domed buildings, it was easy for your eyes to get lost as you moved through the alleys and streets. Thankfully, with Clairvoyance, it was easy for me to locate the bar we were looking for. It was a decent-sized establishment, and as we landed by it, we assigned Nal the responsibility of keeping an eye on the vehicles. The older Duros agreed, sitting inside the Arrow, rotating the blaster cannon around as if it was watching people as they walked past.

Confident that our gear wasn't about to get stolen, we made our way inside the bar, with me taking the lead. The second we stepped inside, the normal murmuring talk that usually filled places like that stopped, silence filling the bar. After surveying the large space, I focused on the bar, stepping forward and tapping the counter to get the bartender's attention. When they looked my way, I motioned them closer.

"We are here for a meeting with Yarlo," I explained, using the name we were given by the intermediary. "Could you direct us to his location?"

"Sorry, don't know anyone by that name," The bartender, a gravel-toned, three-eye stalked Gran, responded.

I let out a sigh and internally fought the desire to pull out my blaster and ask him if he was sure. He was clearly expecting me to bribe him, and I was not interested. That said, this was the perfect opportunity to lay the foundations for our story.

"Listen, pal. I am not getting paid nearly enough to deal with your bullshit right now," I explained, doing my best to sound frustrated with everything going on. "So I'm going to repeat myself. If you say that there is no one here by that name, I will leave, and you can explain to him why a business deal disappeared. Now, we are here for a meeting with Yarlo, could you please direct us to his location."

That got the man's attention, all three of his eye stalks rearing back in shock before he started to nod rapidly.

"Oh, right, Yarlo. Just follow along the bar," He said, pointing down the dark, smokey room. "There's a door. Knock twice on it and wait."

I wordlessly pushed off the bar and walked away, the rest of my team following after me as I followed the man's directions. Eventually, we reached the door, and I knocked twice, stepping back to wait. Almost immediately, a small panel opened, revealing a camera. It scanned us for a good fifteen seconds before the panel closed, and an audible chunking sound of a sturdy lock being opened echoed around us.

As the door slid to the side, I watched for a moment before stepping through. Past the doorframe was a smaller room, though it had plenty of room for all of us. Inside were several dozen shelves along the walls containing actual books, as well as dozens of datapad readers, knick-knacks, and other artifacts. In the corner was a desk with an old human sitting at it, reading something of a holo projected. He quickly slapped the base, the projection disappearing in a split second.

"Hello, yes, come in," He said, gesturing harshly with a no-nonsense tone.

As we all filed in, he watched us with a harsh look, though it was hard to tell if it was just how he looked or if he didn't appreciate this many of us showing up to his office.

"Well, let's see it," he ordered, gesturing to a space on his desk. "I don't have all day."

Despite his brusque and blunt nature, I was picking up a sense of eagerness in his rushing. He knew exactly what we were carrying, and he was desperate to see if it was real.

I gestured for Vaz, who was carrying the box containing the artifact, to step forward. She carefully stepped past us and placed the crate down on the desk before taking a step back. Yarlo leaned forward and pulled the crate closer, quickly cracking the top open and reaching inside. After gently placing the statue down, he began his inspection, starting first with a scanner of some sort, running it around the artifact.

He spent five minutes silently confirming the statue's authenticity before finally looking up at us.

"Where did you get this?" He asked, looking at me with a harsh gaze.

"From our client," I explained. "They hired us to transport and sell their finds to avoid the risk of dealing with the types of people willing to collect such artifacts."

If the man was insulted by the insinuation that he or his boss would attempt anything nefarious, he didn't show it. Instead, he chewed his lip and looked back at the statue.

"They hired you to deliver a singular artifact?"

"They hired us to do business in their name," I corrected. "They also wished to assure you there are more artifacts they are willing to sell."

"Tell me, when conversing with your clients, did they make it seem like they were dissolving a collection? Or maybe that they had uncovered something like, say, a dig site, or perhaps some ruins?"

"Why would I tell you that?" I asked, tilting my head to look directly at the man. "The secrets of my client are not something I'm offering here."

"Of course, of course," He agreed, trying to seem understanding. "Then again, they can't be paying you very well for this, and it's not as if it would mean anything. You've already confirmed that you will have more to sell soon, after all."

"...speak plainly, what are you offering?" I demanded, the man's face lighting up.

"This statue is genuine and worth around twenty-five thousand credits," He explained with a bit of smirk. "I could be convinced to spend an extra five thousand credits on a separate chip if you confirm what the source of it was…"

I paused for a long moment, staring down at the older man. He stared back, with a surprising amount of steel in his spine, considering how much of an intimidating sight we were, especially all together.

"...They took great lengths to reveal as little as possible about the source of the artifacts," I finally responded, the intermediary frowning at my admission. "However, I did spot several of the artifacts being cleaned. Almost as if they had been buried."

"Ah! I see. That must mean they have uncovered something interesting!" He said, showing the real first signs of excitement since we arrived. "Grakkus is going to be very interested when he hears this."

"Then I assume you are going to be interested in purchasing the rest of their artifacts?" I asked.

"Assuming they are as intact as this, then yes," He prefaced. "Grakkus has no real interest in pottery shards or crumbled masonry, only what might add to his impressive collection properly."

"Very well… the payment?"

The man, who seemed like he was barely managing to not rub his hands together in greed, nodded and opened up a safe under his desk. After its lock was disarmed, he opened it up and pulled out payment, handing me five, five thousand credit chips, before adding the sixth bonus chip.

"A pleasure doing business with you," He said as he passed the last chip, holding on to it before I could tug it free. "I don't know exactly how Grakkus will respond to your information, but I assure you he will be very interested in returning customers and working with individuals who remain…flexible when helping friends."

After a long pause, I nodded as if agreeing with him, and he released the credit chip with a smile.

"Good. Now get out. I have to contact my client and inform him of his newest purchase," He explained, brushing us off with a wave of his hand.

With no desire to linger, the crew quickly filed out of the room. We didn't bother slowing down in the bar, making our way directly back out into the harsh sun of Tatooine.

"Well… That went well," Julus commented before Tatnia slapped his back, shutting him up.

"We can talk more once we are back at the ship," I said, Julus nodding as we made our way back to the speeders. "The walls have ears here."

The ride back to the ship was simple, though a bit nerve-wracking. I kept on imagining everything that could go wrong as we sped through the desert, flying along dunes and rock formations. When we were finally back at the Starcaller, we quickly loaded everything back into the cargo bay. Ahsoka took off the second bay door closed, sealing us inside. It was only then that I pulled off my helmet and let off a laugh.

"Well done, everyone. That was an encouraging result," I said, slapping Julus on the back. "I think I should take up acting. I'm clearly a master at the art already."

"The helmets made it easy," Tatnia said, pulling off her helmet and letting out a sigh of relief before continuing. "You didn't have to worry about covering your tell."

"I don't have a tell," I scoffed, only for Tatnia to roll her eyes and walk past me, making her way to the bridge to help Ahsoka in the co-pilot's chair. "Tatnia, I don't have a tell!"

"You keep telling yourself that boss!" She called back, disappearing further into the ship.

I frowned, looking over at Nal with concern on my face.

"I don't have a tell… do I?"

The older Duros said nothing, simply patting my shoulder and following after my second in command.

---

Hey everyone, just a reminder that I have a Patreon! Being a supporter has a lot of benefits, like early chapters and access to my original content. If you are interested in those benefits or just want to support my attempt to become a full-time writer, stop by and show your support. Every dollar helps!

 

[MetaBettaOmega]

Hey everyone, just a reminder that I have a Patreon! Being a supporter has a lot of benefits, like early chapters and access to my original content. You could get up to eight chapters early from this story, the same for another, and four for the third. Board Members even get to vote on story beats, ship names, interludes, names, and more!

If you are interested in those benefits or just want to support my attempt to become a full-time writer, stop by and show your support. Every dollar helps!

---

The first successful sale to Yarlo was an important step closer to our goal, but it was not just a one-and-done mission. We had told the intermediary that we would have more things to sell, so we needed to back that up. First, we returned to Omega Station and filled the Chariot with a small pile of choice artifacts before heading back out. Then, for just under two weeks straight, we would travel to Tatooine, sell a few artifacts, and play the role of disgruntled and underpaid mercenaries. We would then leave the planet and jump into deep space, where the Chariot and Loyal Hound were waiting.

We would then use the Brick to transfer a few more artifacts over to the Starcaller before repeating the process. We made sure to keep at least two days between each visit in order to keep the illusion we were traveling much further than we actually were. The whole charade was designed to make it look like we were being treated like a glorified delivery service, watching our clients make tons of money while we were getting scraps.

The need to wait between each delivery to create the illusion of traveling meant we all had a large amount of free time. Because it was so cramped inside the Starcaller, some of the crew would transfer over to the Chariot on the Brick, stretching their legs and taking advantage of the cleared cargo bay. Personally, I spent most of my free time enchanting gear for our new crew. I managed to finish the three dex enhancers each for our pilots and some of the crew of our latest ships, which had been my first priority. I also finished the strength and dex mix for the clone ground team, as well as a few bits and bobs, before finally stopping. I would have liked to continue, but it became clear I had a new issue.

I was running out of filled soul gems.

I still had a lot of unmodified, unfilled Kyber crystals I could convert, but I would still need to go hunting again, which was not something I could just do at the drop of a hat. Even worse, while I could technically apply Soul Trap to weapons, only low-tech ones like bows and swords would work. I wasn't about to send anyone out to hunt big game with a fucking bow. There were some options, but it didn't quite matter at the moment, as we were busy working on our current mission anyway. When this mission was settled, I would work on solving my soul gem problem. Until then, I would just have to find something else to do.

After about a week, or halfway through working on our current mission, we got word that the main fleet's pirate bounty was complete and that they had returned to Omega Base. The mission details were sent over the Holonet, and I couldn't help but whistle appreciatively when I first read it.

Apparently, they had managed to use some bait to track down the pirate's home base, a jungle planet in the Mid Rim. From there, they ambushed them, taking the pirate fleet mostly by surprise. A few of their starfighters managed to take off, but our guys were ready, having already deployed the V-wings, which made quick work of them. While the pirate group didn't have any capital ships, they did have a freighter that was in pretty good condition, eight remaining intact starfighters, and a whole selection of goods and equipment.

Most of the supplies, as well as five of the remaining starfighters, were sold to the Rebellion for two hundred and fifty thousand credits. We also received another sixty-five thousand for the main bounty, as well as various other side bounties. Three of the starfighters, a trio of old but serviceable Y-Wings of all things, we kept, as well as the freighter. Once they were repaired, the new bombers would be folded into our starfighter wings, and the freighter would join our two other cargo ships transporting food and equipment and whatever else the quartermaster ordered.

Altogether, it was a solid win for the fleet and a testament to Captain Pella Irsee's abilities. He and his crew proved to be capable, though really, they were never really at risk. We had almost double the amount of starfighters as the pirates alone. Between them, the Intervention and the Nautilus, it was always going to be a one-sided fight. Still, the patience and ability to set up an ambush to maximize the resources and credits we gained was very encouraging. Since we anticipated being busy for quite a while longer, I told the fleet leaders to give their crews some time off while they started looking for a new bounty or target.

Meanwhile, we continued our delivery service, making a few hundred thousand credits in the process, though almost all of it was going to go back into the Jedi and their new home. We had already purchased a good amount of temporary structures, and Miru was looking into buying and repurposing a starship-grade shield system to project over their base.

Knight Amescoll, after returning to the hidden world, discussed the possibility of leaving the island, at least temporarily, to build a larger settlement on one of the many continents. Almost everyone agreed with the idea, and those that didn't were ambivalent. According to the reports, they had already started looking for a new location, and several exciting spots had already been picked out.

It would take time and resources, but the credits made from the artifacts were already going a pretty far way. With any luck, within a few weeks, we would have a safe planet for the Skyforged Vanguard, as well as any Force we found.

It made me consider going out to find Yoda, or some of the other Force-sensitive groups or people that were out there. The only problem with that was that my foreknowledge was making me feel guilty. I knew there were Jedi or Jedi adjacent groups out there hiding. I also knew that together, they would be stronger and be able to do more. What I was guilty about was the fact that most of the people who had survived to this point would have normally been safe through the Rebellion. If I went out and collected them, I would absolutely be ruining that assured survival.

There was also the worry that gathering too many Force-sensitive people together would somehow let the Emporer track us down. There was a lot of conflicting evidence and stories about just how well Old Palpy could do that. Yoda lived next to a dark side wellspring to hide his presence in the Force, and yet dozens of other Jedi, including Ahsoka and others, remained untraceable. Was it because Yoda was just particularly powerful in the Force? If that was true, why didn't he feel the surviving padawans on the ancient planet?

It was not an easy subject to grapple with, and I was tempted to bring Ahsoka in on it just to get her opinion on it. I was also tempted to go to Dahgobah and chat with Yoda. Unfortunately, any of that would have to wait until after this mission was complete, as we had bigger things to focus on.

As usual, we took images of our next "batch" of artifacts, sending them to Yarlo to confirm. This latest delivery contained several artifacts we knew he would like, including the remaining large metal coins that we had found. Yarlo loved the first batch and paid a good chunk of credits for them. This time, however, his response felt a bit different. We had informed Yarlo that we had another batch, and while he had been interested in the large metal coins, his message had hinted that this delivery would be different.

We landed on Tatooine, the Starcaller touching down on a random plot of desert. After quickly deploying the speeders with practiced hands, we took off to Mos Espa.

"What are the chances we are flying into a trap?" I asked Tatnia, who was piloting the Arrow while I manned the turret.

"Depends on what you mean by trap," She responded, glancing over her shoulder at me. "Do I think they are about to try and kill us? No, they need us too much. Do I think they might try and trap us into having to help them? That is much more likely. That said, we have been doing a pretty good job of playing the disgruntled employee. Even bastards like the Hutts know that working with people who want to is better than working with people you have to force."

"And when you're done, then you betray them," I pointed out, Tatnia snorting and nodding.

"Pretty much. Always assume that a Hutt is working an angle. They will have no qualms about screwing over everyone they work with," She explained. "Hutts only ever really respect other Hutts, and they still fuck each other over whenever they can."

I chuckled and nodded, both from what she said and from the fact that my Earth curses had finally started to spread throughout my team.

We landed around the same area as usual, working our way through the city to the same bar. We didn't bother with the bartender, and hadn't since our second delivery. Instead, we headed directly back to Yarlo's room, the thick security door opening after another quick scan. The grumpy old man waved us in as usual, watching as Vaz, Nal, and Tatnia all dropped off crates along his desk. He immediately got to work, opening each one to analyze the artifacts inside, confirming that they were authentic. It was a bit tedious to watch him for so long, but I couldn't blame him for taking his job seriously. I can't imagine a Hutt as strange as Grakkus would be very forgiving if he accidentally missed a forgery.

When he was finally done looking over everything, he moved the crates down behind his desk before leaning forward.

"Well done, another batch of genuine artifacts," He said with a smile, one of only a few I'd seen him make. "You have been nothing but professional about this, which is why Grakkus would like to make you an offer."

The old man leaned back in his chair, studying all of us but mostly focusing his attention on me.

"While Grakkus considers himself to be a collector at heart, he is also a businessman. Which is why, when presented with an opportunity to use his… Business acumen to expand his collection in a cost-effective manner, he is very interested," He explained, steepling his hands like he was an overly dramatic supervillain. "He would like to propose a business opportunity for you."

"... What sort of opportunity."

"While Grakkus has been very impressed with the quality and breadth of what you have presented on behalf of your clients, he finds himself unhappy with continuously paying such high prices," He explained. "He has spent quite a bit of credits so far, and now he believes he has spent enough."

"Then our clients will have to find another buyer-"

"Or, you could switch clients," The old man explained, trying to be coy. "If you aid Grakkus with discovering where your clients are unearthing these artifacts, Grakkus will pay you a hefty sum, and you would no longer be stuck with your current contract."

"And how exactly can I trust anything you just said?" I asked, shaking my head. "Hutts are notorious for betraying their business partners. I have no intention of getting my team killed."

"I understand, I'm not the best to speak of this deal, however. Grakkus would like to invite you and your companions to his Palace to make the official offer himself."

I leaned back in faked surprise, doing my best to keep my excitement calm. This was exactly what we were hoping for. We just needed to keep from seeming too excited.

"Again, I ask, why exactly should we trust you and your boss?"

"Well, for one thing, consider the fact that you are the only group around at the moment that could lead him to what he wants," he pointed out. "Further, we have been doing a little research into your group. The Skyforged Vanguard has been developing a reputation, one that Grakkus respects. This could very well mark the start of a long, prosperous relationship."

"If you know who we are, you must know we don't exactly have the best connections with Hutts in general."

"We are, but Grakkus doesn't hold that against you. Yes, slavery is a prosperous business, but you can't exactly expect the product to enjoy the process. Sometimes, they fight back. It's just the cost of doing business." He said, casually waving away the incident that started my life here in this universe. "He did, however, mention cashing in a few of his own favors to wipe your sins clean, if this potential deal was to go through. Think about it. No more worrying about Jabba coming to hunt you down every time you pass through Hutt space. Or do business here."

I could practically feel all of us struggling to keep our cool after that. Slavery was a part of life in this part of the galaxy, especially on Tatooine, but to hear it talked about so casually was disturbing.

"It is good to hear that he is willing to be so reasonable," I said, thankful to be behind a helmet. "But I'm not ruining our reputation while shaking hands with an intermediary."

He smiled and nodded as if expecting the statement.

"Grakkus wouldn't expect anything less. With something this important, he wants to shake your hand himself," He explained. "He has asked that you deliver the next batch of artifacts directly to him. This should give you enough time to negotiate a proper deal. You are now officially above my pay grade."

Yarlo handed me a crate of credits, as well as a data chip, no doubt containing the instructions for how to actually get to and land at Grakkus's Palace. He seemed remarkably happy for someone who was losing a constant influx of work, but past this, I didn't care enough to ask. Instead, I simply took the chip and left, the rest of the team following me out.

As usual, we remained silent until we left Mos Espa and arrived at the Starcaller. This time, however, I mimed that we should continue to be silent. I found Racer in the cockpit with Ahsoka and motioned to her to stay quiet as well. I quickly handed Racer the chip, and the astromech did a quick physical scan before diving into the programming. Eventually, after nearly two minutes, he confirmed that no listening or tracking devices had been built in.

"Sorry, I just wanted to make sure we were free to talk," I explained, letting out a long breath.

"I take it the meeting went well?" She asked.

"If what Yarlo said was true, Grakkus is eager to meet us to discuss how exactly we are going to convince our "clients" to give us the location of the dig site," I explained. "I get the feeling he is also looking to invest in us specifically. He sees us as a simple mercenary group of rising power and wants to get a leash on us early.

"We need to be careful," Ahsoka pointed out, voicing sentiments we all shared, but was worth repeating anyway. "If he thinks he has a way to get what he wants without paying us, he will take it. It's like a defining part of their culture."

"I know. We need to make every step as if we are walking into a trap," I agreed. "Still, we are one step closer to getting into that vault."

Ahsoka nodded and sat back in her chair, spinning it around after a few seconds so she could focus on the takeoff checklist. Tatnia once again joined her on the bridge after a few minutes, already stripped down from her armor.

For what felt like the dozenth time, everyone quickly boarded and settled into the Starcaller's accommodations. Our first destination was back at Omega Station, as we had a few things to pick up before we could settle into the Talos Chariot for the next leg of our mission.

With any luck, it would be the last time in quite a while before we ever had to come back to Tatooine. As much as people liked to make fun of the movies for the infamous line, the sand really did suck, and I would be glad to be done with it for as long as possible.

 

[theaceoffire]

This story is like a mug of hot chocolate on the front porch in winter while snug up with a blanket.

 

[Mr. Quiet]

I was thinking about bearding a palace's defences and immediately thought of the Invisibility spell. (Stealth Archer says what?) Then I remembered that Decon doesn't have that one yet, and Hutts can see Ultraviolet, as can many droids, so It might be worthless in this case anyway.

 

[MetaBettaOmega]

Our trip to Omega Station didn't last long. Our first priority was picking up a disguise for Ahsoka. I wanted her along with us when we infiltrated Grakkus's palace, and while Grakkus had already identified us as the Skyforged, I was pretty sure her status as a Jedi was still a secret. The only mission she had openly been on that could have spread that information was when we acquired the Whale Shark. While she was seen using her lightsabers, it was primarily only by people who were dead, and any other abilities would most likely be blamed on me, since I was already throwing magic around casually at that point.
Disguising her was relatively simple since all of us would already be armored, meaning the only sensible disguise we could get her was another set of our full body armor. In order for Pola to make one for her, a few of the non-combat members of the Skyforged donated their basic uniforms, which Pola then melted down of their beskar. Those who volunteered received a decent-sized bonus on their next paycheck and were moved to the top of the list to receive more once we got access to the relevant materials, namely beskar.

I also converted two extra bars of platinum into beskar. I purchased the bars on Tatooine during our mission, spending a significant chunk of credits to get them. It was worth it all, though, because Ahsoka was now fully armored, meaning I didn't have to worry nearly as much as I had been previously. Even better, when this mission was complete, Pola would melt down the standard armor again and reforge it to look like the ancient Jedi armor we found on the hidden planet.

According to Pola and Vaz, the ancient Jedi armor was elegant and perfectly designed to allow maximum maneuverability while still protecting the wearer. Enhancing the design with more modern tech and with beskar would only make it even more potent.

For now, however, she would have to deal with our standard armor, which restricted her movement and was a bit on the heavy side. Thankfully, I could switch one of her dexterity-enhancing items to a strength one instead, which helped her a lot.

Once we had all of our gear, and the Talos Chariot was filled with everything we might need, including more artifacts and a few specifically designed items that Miru made for us, we once again left Omega Station, our destination set to Nar Shaddaa. It was more than a little nerve-wracking to be heading back to the world I first started this journey on, especially when my arrival had been so tumultuous. It was a world controlled by Hutts, driven by greed and want, but I knew we could handle it. Not only was I much more powerful than I had been before, but the entire crew was now a force to be reckoned with.

We could handle it.

The trip to Nar Shaddaa took two days in total, with the third-morning set as our arrival time, leaving me with a large chunk of free time. Further efforts into enchanting would require me to at least go on another hunting trip and, if I wanted to be safe, find a new source of Kyber crystals. Having brought Ahsoka and the rest of the latest wave of Force-sensitives to the Crystal Caves, followed by watching them go through their Force visions, made the Crystal Cave feel like it was theirs, if not literally, then at least metaphorically. It didn't feel right for me to go back and strip it for more resources now that the inheritors had returned.

Of course, there may be other sources of Kyber on Dantooine. Geologically speaking, it was extremely unlikely that a mineral or substance could only be found in one single cave over the entire planet. Though, with the Force involved, anything was possible, so the Crystal Cave might be the only one like it.

I also wanted to see about checking the ancient Jedi planet for any pockets of crystal growth. According to Ahsoka and Luke, the planet had a vibrancy in the Force that stood out from any other planet they had been to. Considering that the primary "ingredient" in Kyber Crystal growth was a connection to the Force, that made me think there could be a source of Kyber somewhere on or in it. We would just have to find it with either some sort of scanner or, possibly, Clairvoyance. Despite my hunch and curiosity, I wouldn't be comfortable using any Kyber from the ancient Jedi planet, for similar reasons to my decision to no longer use Dantooine.

With enchantment out, I picked a spell and got to work, spending sixteen hours finally learning the Invisibility spell. It had been a long time coming, and even if stealth wasn't my forte, which was the reason I had held off for so long, being able to simply vanish without a trace was an incredible ability. Even better, it wasn't cheap, bullshit, kind of sort of invisibility like you got in the games. Once I cast the spell, I was fucking gone. Not only that, but I didn't even show up when scanning for heat signatures!

It wasn't perfect, mind you. There was a dim flash of light when I cast the spell, but even that was much more faint than almost all my other spells. I still made noise, though that was easily taken care of with the muffled enchantment. I was also weak to the standard anti-invisibility hack, namely any fine, sticky powder or obvious bright liquid, like flour or paint. However, even that wouldn't work for long because the spell turned anything attached to my person when I cast it. That meant if someone managed to cover me in paint or anything else, all I needed to do was drop the spell and recast it, and suddenly I would vanish again.

It made me wonder why people didn't try that more in stories where someone used the powder or paint trick.

With a new spell tucked under my metaphorical belt, I took the following day to recover from the sixteen-hour straight magic marathon. It really took a lot out of me, meaning the rest of the day was spent dozing off and not much else. I woke up the next morning to find we were only a few hours out of Nal Hutta, the homeworld of the Hutts and the planet in which Nar Shaddaa orbited. We used that time to do a final check on everything, checking our blasters and armor, before suiting up.

"At least it's comfortable," Ahsoka admitted, standing in the lounge of the Chariot, stretching and testing her range of motion. "The strength amulet you made me is compensating for the weight well, but I definitely feel a bit slower. And I can feel the restriction in flexibility, too."

"I'll breathe a bit easier knowing your blaster is proof, though," I said, passing her her custom-made helmet. "It's just one mission anyway."

Protecting Ahsoka's entire head, including her montrals and lekku, was a task that Pola had taken on with excitement. While we were running around Tatooine, he was working tirelessly to make it a reality. While the standard armor she was wearing for this mission would be melted down and remade into something based on the ancient Jedi armor, the helmet would stay the same.

The base design was essentially the same as our helmets, with the first layer being the undersuit. Unlike our undersuits, hers included an extra "hood" that she would pull down separately and attach to the main body. This would create a pressurized barrier around her entire body. Her three lekku, which were actually non-vital appendages for Togruta, were protected by woven, lightweight beskar alloy, much like our uniforms. Her montrals were much better protected, as Togruta montrals were potent sensory organs. If they were injured, it would completely incapacitate her. To protect the much more critical montrals, Pola designed a segmented plating system that connected directly to the underlayer, piece by piece, with a layer of alloy weave to add extra protection.

The last part of the helmet was what covered her face and the back of her head. It was basically the same as our helmet but sliced in half, with opened-up sides. The two halves were pressed together, one on her face and the other around the back of her head, both pieces then sealing around her extra appendages, to each other, and to the undersuit hood.

The whole thing was easily double the cost of a standard helmet, but well worth it.

With everyone suited up, all that was left to do was wait, which, thankfully, we didn't have to do for long. Once again, we dropped out of hyperspace along the outer marks of the system to avoid ambushes. The Loyal Hound did not appear with us, as it was waiting even further away. Nar Shaddaa had significantly more traffic than Tatooine, so we had to keep our reinforcements a bit further back to keep them out of sight. This would mean it would take them a few extra minutes to make the micro jump into the system, but it was all we could do.

Approaching the planet was extremely intimidating, especially since I had never actually seen it from this perspective. The last time we had been above the crime-ridden planet, I had been heavily concussed and injured, drifting in and out of consciousness as the rest of the team escaped.

The planet itself was draped in a brown smog, with clear spots showing up as large-scale weather patterns blew the thick, unhealthy contaminants around the planet. Outside of that atmosphere, we could see several dozen ships flying around, both coming from and heading to the surface. Floating high above the planet, mostly sticking together as they orbited, were at least three dozen warships. They ranged from gunships no bigger than the Talos Chariot, to a trio of ancient Dreadnoughts, which would have been considered old during the first years of the Clone Wars. This was the planet's "defensive fleet," with scans showing a second, smaller fleet on the other side of the planet.

"How exactly did we escape the first time around again?" I asked, watching the larger ships drift around the planet. "And how exactly do we plan on doing it this time?"

"Defensive fleet is controlled by the Hutt Ruling Council," Nal explained. "Will not respond to petty crimes and grievances. Designed that way to prevent members from forcing others into submission with threat of bombardment. Only there to control the population and prevent hostile takeover."

I nodded in understanding as we slowly approached the planet, eventually being hailed by the planet's space traffic control network. We gave them the passcodes Yarlo gave us and then waited for their response. The tension began to build as Calima and Tatnia stayed glued to the sensors, waiting for any sign of a sudden ambush. After what felt like a short lifetime, we finally got clearance to land. They fed us very precise instructions before informing us that deviating from those instructions would result in us being evaporated by the Defense Fleet. Before we could ask for clarification, they briskly cut the call, leaving us alone in orbit.

"Alright, guys, this is it," I said, looking around at my friends and crew. "If we descend now, we are committing to this job. No more room to back out. Does anyone have any last-minute revelations about what's wrong with our plan? Any final words of worry or concern?"

I looked around, checking the faces of my crew, turning to the occupants of the cockpit and those standing in the lounge. When nobody said anything, I gave Ashoka a look, who returned with a confident nod, her face hidden behind her helmet.

"Alright, then let's go," I said, turning to look at Calima, who was turned back to wait for my word. "Take us down."

The Tholothian nodded and turned back to her console, tapping the controls before beginning to guide us down through our descent.

As we sank down to the planet, we could see the air quality dropping through the forward viewports. The moon had been well and truly ruined by the ecumenopolis that covered the entire surface. The smog and pollution didn't create quite a shift in color like they had on Magravia, the planet Tatnia, Vaz and I had been prisoners on, but it was certainly noticeable. Maybe it was because it was worse around where we were landing, or perhaps I just never noticed because it was the first planet I had stepped out into after arriving in this galaxy, but it hadn't looked nearly this bad the last time we were here.

All of us peered out the forward viewports, watching the planet's surface fly by. We spotted multiple collapsed buildings and several trash dumps in the middle of the populace, two of which were on fire. We also spotted a shantytown around a small clearing, with what looked like thousands of people stacked together like sardines.

"This planet is gross," Julus said, shaking his head. "Thank the Force for these helmets because I really don't want to know what it smells like."

"We must have been in the richer part of it while we were here," I said, looking at Nal. "We never saw anything like this."

"Grakkus's Palace is built near the center of Hutta Town, the capital of Nar Shaddaa," Nal explained. "Once a bastion of the moon's wealth. Now, one of the worst cesspits on a planet many would already call a cesspit."

It didn't take us long to see the palace. There were plenty of massive buildings built around the city, as Grakkus was clearly not the Hutt wallowing in the slime of Hutta Town, but none of them were much compared to the Hutt in charge.

Of course, that's not why Ahsoka and I spotted it so easily. The massive building caught our eye because of how familiar it was.

"Well… he is either crazy or brave," I said, shaking my head. "Because I'm shocked Palpy hasn't leveled it already."

"It's not that close…" Ahsoka said with a frown.

"The fact that you knew what I meant means it's close enough for him," I pointed out. "Palpy is just the kind of crazy to absolutely react to this…"

The massive structure sat on a square foundation, which, compared to the people walking the streets, must have been a couple hundred feet high. The structure then terminated inwards before jutting upwards at an inward angle, rising into the air. It wasn't an exact copy, in shape or size, but it immediately drew similarities to the Jedi Temple on Coruscant. Knowing how much Vader and Palpy hated the Jedi, I was honestly shocked it was still standing.

"We are being hailed… receiving landing instructions," Calima said. "They direct us to the opposite side."

"Just follow them in," I said, patting her shoulder. "Nice and easy."

Calima nodded and guided the ship around the massive structure, where a large platform was built into the back. Several smaller ships were already landed on the platform, but there was still plenty of room. The Chariot slowly descended, touching down on the large landing platform. After tapping a few buttons on her console, Calima turned and nodded to me.

"I'll keep her running, Boss," Calima said with a smile. "Good luck."

I nodded back before stepping out of the bridge, Tatnia and Ahsoka following me out.

"Alright, everyone!" I said, clapping my hands together. "It's showtime!"

---

Hey everyone, just a reminder that I have a Patreon! Being a supporter has a lot of benefits, like early chapters and access to my original content. If you are interested in those benefits or just want to support my attempt to become a full-time writer, stop by and show your support. Every dollar helps!

 

[morkail]

If there goal is holocrons I can think easier to reach one. Thanks for the chapter.

 

[Darquesse]

"I'll breathe a bit easier knowing your blaster is proof, though," I said, passing her her custom-made helmet. "It's just one mission anyway."

You're blaster-proof

 

[Iridium Flare]

If there goal is holocrons I can think easier to reach one. Thanks for the chapter.

Click to shrink...

It's not about getting a holocron, it's about getting as many holocrons as they can - both because they're all entirely unique repositories of a given jedi's knowledge and skills, and because they're the closest thing to a copy of that jedi's mind and soul as it's possible to get without certain dark side techniques, and leaving them to the hutts is essentially sacrilege.
Imagine that you're a member of a book-worshiping religion, but all libraries in the world were burned to cinders by a book-hating megalomaniac. Sure, you can find one book, here and there, scattered about. Doesn't do you much good if it's a book on the finer parts of agriculture when what you need is a series of books on hunting, wilderness survival, homesteading, construction techniques, blacksmithing, and firearms training. Now imagine you hear of a library with all that and more, and all you need to do to get it is piss off the local mob boss in a city you'd be glad to never step foot in again.

 

[MetaBettaOmega]

Hey everyone, just a reminder that I have a Patreon! Being a supporter has a lot of benefits, like early chapters and access to my original content. You could get up to eight chapters early from this story, the same for another, and four for the third. Board Members even get to vote on story beats, ship names, interludes, names, and more!

If you are interested in those benefits or just want to support my attempt to become a full-time writer, stop by and show your support. Every dollar helps!

---

Once we had landed, we started the process of preparing our delivery. Statues, pieces of art, and several other artifacts and relics, all of which were already sealed inside crates and containers, were stacked and carefully loaded onto hovercarts. Once all four of our prepared carts were loaded up, I directed our four pre-prepared labor droids to slowly guide the hovercarts to the cargo lift, which we boarded as well, all of us completely suited up in armor.

As the elevator descended, we got our first look at our gracious host. Grakkus the Hutt was huge, even for a Hutt, but it did not come from rolls of fat, but rather a massive muscular frame. It looked bizarre on a species widely considered to be oversized slugs, but it was impossible to ignore as he spread his arms to greet us. Hell, he had the beginning of a six-pack!

"Welcome, Skyforged, to my palace!" He said, his movement causing his necklace, a series of lightsabers strung together, to bounce and sway. "I am so glad you could join us!"

As he greeted us in a booming, gravelly voice, he slowly approached. I could hear and see his cybernetic limbs clanking against the ground, moving him forward at a speed impossible for most Hutts. I had no doubt, both from his looks and from what I knew from the stories, that Grakkus was not to be underestimated.

As if to confirm and emphasize that fact, when he stopped just before the shadow of the Talos Chariot, a dozen people fanned out from around him, taking defensive positions, though they stood as if at parade rest.

Ever since Grakkus had invited us to meet him, all of us had wondered what made him so confident in his safety that he would happily invite a mercenary group like ours to his home. Sure, he was bound to have security and bodyguards, but that didn't quite cut it. Now, however, we had that answer. A dozen Mandalorians, heavily armed and moving in a way the denoted training and experience, were on his payroll, ready and waiting to defend their employer.

"Thank you for the invitation, Lord Grakkus," I said, easily stepping off the cargo turbolift, even though it had about a foot left to descend. "We have brought you the latest delivery, as well as an early gift."

I gestured, and Ahsoka stepped forward, carrying a small display case with a clear top. She walked until she was standing beside me, tilting the case forward so that Grakkus could see what we had. His already large eyes went wide when he got a good look inside the case. Inside was the ancient lightsaber that Tatnia had found, moderately cleaned to show off its fantastic condition.

"This was found at the same dig site as the other artifacts but was considered too valuable to sell. One of my technologically inclined members managed to find its records and its location," I explained, spinning a complete lie. "We took it and replaced it with a replica before organizing an accident to befall said replica. The records stated that it may be the oldest find they have located in the dig site, and by all reports, it should still contain the original Kyber crystal. Though, I'm afraid the significance of that is beyond me, other than the monetary value."

Grakkus lost his composure for a moment, his cybernetic limbs tapping along the ground as he listened. By the end, he was practically licking his lips in greed and want, his eyes practically glowing. It was bad enough that the Mandalorians closest to him shifted uncomfortably.

"Truly, you spoil me, Deacon of the Skyforged." He said, nodding eagerly, rubbing his hands together. "And yet such initiative shows talent and drive you seldom see in mercenaries. Well done."

"I figured if we were going to abandon the client, then we might as well make sure the next one knew our worth," I explained, nodding as Ahsoka walked back and placed the display case on one of the hover carts. "I can only hope you are more reasonable than them."

Grakkus took a small step forward, almost as if to follow after Ahsoka, but he managed to regain his composure, which involved wiping some drool from the corner of his mouth. To hide his wanton greed, he chuckled and nodded.

"You need not worry about that. I would not dream of underpaying deserving fighters such as yourself," He assured me, though I trusted his word just about as far as I could throw him. "But please, we can discuss work later. You arrived just in time for an Arena match. True, it is only the scheduled fights, nothing unique, but your timing surely means it is fate. Come, you will watch from our private box."

The grandiose Hutt, clearly not even considering the possibility that I would deny his requests, immediately turned and began to walk away, his cadre of Mandalorians turning to walk with him. For a moment, I considered calling out to deny his request, but I held back. Half of our mission was already complete, that being getting down to the palace without being blown up or taken hostage. Every step closer we got to the vaults was just another step in our favor.

The Mandalorians were an interesting twist and clearly part of the reason Grakkus was so confident. I had to assume that he had fallen for the same propaganda that the rest of the universe had, that the Mandalorians were the galaxy's greatest fighters, both in equipment and in skill. Not that these Mandalorians were not skilled or tough. They were just unlikely to be as invincible as their general reputation claimed. My crew, on the other hand, was relatively unknown, and while we had enjoyed some early success, to a Hutt like Grakkus, we were easily dismissed as a story of beginner's luck.

I also had to assume that the nature of our armor hadn't managed to leak out just yet. The higher-ups of the Rebellion knew, as did a few others, so honestly, it was only a matter of time, but if the Mandalorians were being so casual and dismissive of us, then they had no idea what we were wearing. Not only would this much beskar normally be a massive affront to their people, it was also a considerable threat. We were clad in it entirely, something they would not approach casually, only armed with blasters.

"Stay tight, follow the procession, and stay alert," I ordered through our helmet comms. "I'll be chatting up Grakkus."

I got a series of clicks in response, confirming that my orders were heard and being followed. I idly noticed the crew had stepped closer as we began to move, and I moved ahead to stand beside the muscular Hutt, though not directly beside. He was absolutely the kind of bastard to be insulted by someone attempting to equate equality in any way.

As I passed some of the Mandalorians, I got a better look at what they were wearing and packing. Most of them had the usual Westar pistols on their hips, and the Galaar-15 carbines held at the ready, though there was some variation. As for their armor, it varied greatly from person to person. Walking alongside Grakkus, opposite where I moved up to, was assumedly their leader, who was wearing nearly full beskar armor, with plates up and down his body. His subordinates all had chest plates, helmets, and jetpacks, as well as shoulder armor and vambraces. Quite a few of them had plates along their thighs, but only a few anything more.

What was interesting was that they all still had other armor covering their limbs, where beskar would normally be, it was just a different color. Considering the leader was covered in black plating with red highlights, I assumed that was what they painted the beskar, while the other plates were just a dull red. At a guess, I assumed that the dull red plates were temporary placeholders waiting to be replaced by earned beskar. Overall, there was a lot of black and red plating, meaning they were either incredibly lucky, or considerably skilled warriors.

Of course, their armor paled in comparison to ours, but they didn't need to know that. If it came down to a fight, which I was relatively sure it would, they had plenty of gaps in their armor that we didn't.

"Don't get overconfident," Ahsoka said suddenly through our comms. "I can feel your smugness through your armor."

"Keep the chatter down," I responded. "And it's not my fault our armor looks better."

As we continued to walk, a pair of Mandalorians split off from the procession to follow our delivery, guiding our labor droids deeper into the palace.

Grakkus talked almost nonstop as we made our way through his palace. As we made our way through the entrance and down the hall, he would gesture to various antiques and art that were on display. None of them were Jedi in origin, but it was still an impressive collection.

As we continued to walk down wide, open hallways, it was impossible to not see the similarities in design, following the same concept as the exterior. The colors and symbols were different, but between the high arches, banners, open spaces, and minimalist furniture, it was obvious that he was pulling inspiration from the Jedi Temple.

"I have to say, Lord Grakkus, your Palace is impressive," I commented as we stepped into a massive turbolift, one with plenty of room for all of my team, the remaining Mandalorians, and Grakkus.

"Do you recognize it?" He asked, turning as the doors along the turbolift shut, sealing us in.

"I do," I admitted. "The Emperor might like to pretend the Jedi never existed, but even he can't wipe it out of history entirely."

"My collection is proof enough of that," He added with a growling chuckle. "If you find this impressive, I believe you will be even more impressed by the vault."

`That caught me off guard. While I was hoping to get a better idea of the security and layout of the building, I did not expect Grakkus to just walk us to the vault himself. It was actually concerning, because I couldn't imagine he would show that off to a group of ordinary mercenaries.

"You would let us see it?" I asked, looking over at the large, muscular Hutt.

"Of course! You will help fill it, after all!" He explained as if it was obvious. "It is only right that you see it first!"

He laughed, reaching out to slap my shoulder, nearly driving me forward into the turbolift door. I was pretty sure that if I hadn't been wearing so many strength-enhancing items, I would have left a dent in the metal in front of us. Even after I recovered, he continued to laugh. All the while, the Mandalorians stood silently.

"Do not get inside this fuckers arm's length," I said through the comms. "He hits like a fucking rancor."

I took solace in the series of confirming beeps, cursing under my breath as I pretended to be fine with the abuse. Before I had the chance to do anything, the doors opened to reveal we were descending into a massive gladiatorial stadium. It was absolutely gigantic, with room for thousands and thousands of people and a vast sand-filled fighting pit in the center. This place was clearly designed to host combat of all sorts, everything from fighting rancors to one-on-one duels.

We continued to descend, the turbolift eventually sliding into place on top of an extensive open, private VIP area. Serving droids moved about, setting up food and drinks. One immediately approached Grakkus, the large Hutt, taking a shining metallic cup off of a tray and drinking from it deeply. He continued on, moving further into the space until he reached a large viewing booth, one designed for a Hutt of his size and that overlooked the entire arena. Dozens of holoprojectors and screams displayed closer views of the sand pit, though the glass surrounding the viewing areas seemed to be naturally magnifying.

"Go, eat, drink, enjoy yourselves," the massive Hutt said with another laugh. "Consider it a celebration of a new partnership!"

"Thank you for your generosity, Lord Grakkus," I said with a bow. "If there is nothing else, I would go to my crew…"

The sizable muscular slug waved me off as if dismissing a peon. I had only known this crime lord for around fifteen minutes, and already I was considering killing him now, despite how difficult it would make our mission. I managed to resist the urge, however, and left his side to head back to my team, who had already congregated in one of the viewing booths.

I could see the Mandalorians had already partially spread out as security, some of them remaining by their client's side.

As I approached my team, Tatnia turned to greet me, putting her hand on my shoulder and taking advantage of one of Miru and Pola's latest creations.

Comms systems, while fine for day-to-day communication, were not nearly as slicer-proof as necessary for vital communication. While equipment to intercept and slice comms was expensive and very illegal, we had been maintaining comms discipline to prevent giving anything away, since Grakkus would very likely have access to something like that, especially in his palace. Talking out loud wasn't much better since there was no doubt in my mind that this place was riddled with listening devices.

Because of this vulnerability, Miru and Pola worked together to install a direct contact point in the tips of two of our fingers. By placing one of each into a specific spot, namely two contact points on our shoulders, we could transmit sound directly between our suits, with no open or direct comms of any sort. It was obviously for close-range communications only, but it was still an invaluable little invention.

"Ahsoka says she can feel something, an enclosing threat," She explained through the direct link. "He is obviously going to betray us."

"But why? He hasn't gotten what he needs yet…" I responded.

"He probably assumes he can get it from our ship," Tatnia pointed out. "Or our pilot."

"So he assumes we are amateurs," I guessed, shaking our head. "Should have seen that coming, I suppose."

"What are we going to do?"

"Calima knows the plan, as do Racer and Boxi," I assured her. "We continue as we have been, keeping an eye out for however he plans on betraying us. If he tries to separate us or leave us alone, don't let him. From what I know about him, and from most Hutts… showing us his massive collection before turning on us is exactly something he would do."

"Which plays into our plan," She finished with a subtle nod. "Okay, we follow your lead."

She patted my shoulder and turned to sit in one of the comfortable-looking seats, sitting on the edge so she could easily spring to her feet. As she did, I stepped closer to Ahsoka, who was standing off to the side. I could tell by her stance she was partially meditating, reaching out to the Force to feel her surroundings. She shifted when I got close, and I put my hand on her shoulder.

"How are you doing? Tatnia says you can feel his intent to betray us?" I asked through the direct link.

"I can feel something. Hutts are notoriously difficult to read, but I can feel… something incoming. A tension and glee at his plan," She explained. "Also… The Mandalorians. They are uneasy."

"How so?"

"They… despise Grakkus. Just about as much as someone can," she explained, turning to look out of the booth and into the main VIP area. "When he slapped your shoulder and nearly knocked you off your feet? The leader was disgusted and sympathetic, and their constant distaste is almost palpable."

"Would you say they feel like they don't want to be here? Like they are being blackmailed?"

"You know as well as I do it doesn't work like that, Deacon," She responded. "You-"

She stopped mid-sentence and nodded behind me, prompting me to turn and look. Standing at the entrance of our booth was the Mandalorian leader, as well as two of his underlings.

 

[ssthehunter]

The standard underpaid, overworked, and disrespected status?
That coupled with blackmail would 100% work to turn damn near anyone against you.