Star Wars: Return of the Sith

32: Things We Didn't Know

By Nanaki

Gamorr

As the Justice lifted off from the grassy plains, Jerin waved a farewell at the crowd of Gamorrean boars below, who waved cheerfully back. Jerin was surprised at their collective relaxed mood, considering they were about to head back into battle. Although, he supposed he should take cultural context into account here. Jerin's own people loved battle, for the most part, but they tried to avoid getting bogged down in full scale war. That was a fairly recent development though, largely because when the Mandalorians HAD launched all out wars in the past, they had generally lost. It seemed that to the Gamorreans, constant warfare was a simple fact of life, and there was no reason to be dour about it.

Jerin was snapped out of his musings as a strange vibration rattled through the cockpit, to the point that the displays in front of him seemed to blur a bit. "Oh man, is that coming from the engines?" He asked aloud, mainly to himself.

Denan was the only other person in the cockpit just then, so he answered. "I'm not an expert, but I'd say it's a pretty safe bet."

Jerin stayed quiet for several seconds, just listening. Thankfully, the vibration subsided as they picked up speed and the atmosphere got thinner. "Well, if it only happens in atmosphere, at low speed, that's not so bad. Still, I need to give these engines a real inspection when I actually have some time."

"When might that be?" Denan asked with a small smile.

"Only the Force knows that." Jerin replied with a shrug. As the blue sky of Gamorr faded out, to be replaced by the endless void of space, Joona walked into the cockpit, followed by Tenn, who she'd been checking in on periodically.

Tenn stretched and yawned as she walked up to the copilot's seat. "Okay, so what'd I... Why is Jerin naked?" She changed her question even as she was speaking.

Jerin wasn't literally naked, of course. But he wasn't wearing any of his armor right now, not even the boots. A fellow Mando'ade might indeed have referred to him as naked, but he was surprised to hear that turn of phrase coming from Tenn. "The armor... was getting to be a bit of a burden." He admitted. Most of the time, he forgot he even had the armor on, since he spent so much time in it. As banged up as he was right now though, the extra weight had been bothering him.

Tenn sat down in her seat, but then immediately turned it so it was facing Jerin. "All right, where does it hurt the most?"

Jerin thought about it for a second, before responding. "Well, the knee hurts the most, but the loose teeth are worrying me the most."

"Yeah, I would imagine." Tenn couldn't keep a smile off her face. "You got into a fistfight with a Gamorrean! It's amazing you have any teeth left at all." She gestured for him to turn toward her. "All right, come here."

"Yeah?" Jerin raised an eyebrow, but complied, turning his seat to the right and leaning forward. He was suddenly very aware that his face had never been this close to Tenn's before. However, any concerns he had that this might be sensual or romantic evaporated as soon as Tenn's right hand actually made contact with his jaw. "All right..." He began slowly. "How is it possible for your hands to be ice cold, but sweaty at the same time?"

"What? Oh, they're like that a lot." Tenn quickly brushed the palms of both her hands on her pant legs, then resumed what she'd been doing. "Now shut up." Jerin didn't notice any glow coming from her hand, but he quickly noticed that the gums around his loose teeth felt like they were becoming more firm. "Better?" Jerin opened and closed his mouth a few times, then nodded. "All right, now let's see..." Her hands drifted from his jaw to his shoulders, then on down his torso.

"Um... What are you doing?" He held his own arms out to either side as Tenn felt around his ribcage.

"Oh, relax." She scolded him mildly. "This isn't some excuse to feel you up. I'm not a GUY." She patted his ribs on the lower right a few times, and Jerin winced noticeably. "Did you know you have two cracked ribs?"

"Well, I do NOW." He replied, trying not to sound too cranky, since she was about to remedy that situation. "Honestly, I'm sore enough all over, I couldn't really tell." Tenn just closed her eyes, and this time, a bright glow did come from her fingertips. In addition to the sharp pain from the ribs, much of the duller, more general pain disappeared from the rest of his torso. "Wow, so many older injuries too..." She murmured, then opened her eyes again. "You must have a lot of scars hidden under this shirt." Jerin briefly wondered if that was supposed to be a veiled criticism of his emotional state, but he didn't think so.

"Well, I am in a profession that carries a pretty high risk of getting stabbed or shot on any given day." He shrugged. He never felt sorry for himself over the injuries he sustained in his line of work. They were just a simple fact of life.

"Apparently." Tenn shrugged as well. If he could brush that concern aside, she wasn't going to waste time worrying about it. "Now, you said the left knee was hurting the most?" Jerin nodded, and her hands drifted down that way. "Wow, I can see why." She exclaimed, though her eyes were closed again. "It's like a tiny lightsaber stabbed all the way through."

"It was a full size lightsaber, my armor just saved me from the rest." Jerin couldn't keep a slight smile from appearing on his face as he explained.

"It's amazing you were able to walk back in here." Tenn frowned, then her fingers began to glow once more. This time, Jerin noticed there was a sensation of heat coming from his knee, though that was probably a byproduct of the wound healing. She spent nearly a full minute on that, then suddenly leaned back into her chair, putting a hand to her forehead.

"You okay?" Jerin asked, even as he moved his left leg around a little.

"I think so." Her eyes fluttered open, and she sat up straighter. "I've just done a lot of healing today. But, it's not as if the Force is a finite source of energy. It's only my ability to wield it that's limited. Is the knee all right now?"

"Feels like new. Thanks." Jerin swung his chair back around to face forward again. He punched in some coordinates, directing the Justice to head back to the Triellus Trade Route in as straight a line as possible. "So, I've been thinking-"

"Don't strain." Tenn cut in automatically.

"Yeah. Great." Jerin responded dryly. "Anyway, I've been thinking, this can't happen again. I can't be letting the Justice get shot down with so many passengers on board."

"Well, that's a fine sentiment, but with enemies like Seco out there, what exactly can you do to prevent it?" Tenn wondered.

"I'm thinking, I need to get a starfighter." Jerin explained. "That way, I could leave the ship to fight, while you steer the Justice somewhere safe. SafER, anyway."

"Well, that's one option." Tenn mulled it over for a minute. "The question is, what kind of fighter would work? The cargo bay has so much space, you could probably even fit a New Republic B-Wing in there, but it would take forever to get in and out without scraping the sides..."

"Yeah, it would." Jerin was surprised that Tenn had offered such a specific suggestion, since up to now, she'd given no indication that she had any interest in ships, fighters or otherwise. Or had it just not come up in conversation before?

"Something like a Krayt era Crossfire would be just about perfect." Denan remarked from the back seat.

"Or maybe some variety of TIE with fairly compact wings, like an Interceptor." Jerin mused. "Oh well, I imagine it'll come down to what's available more than anything else." Now he tapped at his console a bit. "Looks like Syvris is the next place on our route that might have something decent."

"A shadowport full of spice smugglers? How delightful." Tenn stretched in her seat.

"Well, there's a lot of those in this part of the galaxy." Jerin pointed out.

"True enough." Tenn replied, struggling to stifle a yawn as she did.

"You sure you're all right?" Jerin asked gently.

"I think I do need to lie down again." Tenn admitted, then lurched up out of her chair. "I was hoping I could avoid it, since I'll end up being awake half the night now." She started heading back toward her room.

"Oh well, we're going to be in hyperspace all night, and most of the next day too." Jerin shrugged.

"True enough. See you guys later." Tenn waved idly as she left the cockpit.

Denan waited until the door to her room whooshed closed, before he looked up from his datapad. "So, ice cold but sweaty at the same time, huh?"

"Yep." Jerin was trying hard to keep a grin off his face, and not entirely succeeding.

"You thinking what I'm thinking?" Denan was barely suppressing a grin as well.

"If you're thinking that you have a brand new respect for Negian's libido, then yes, we're thinking the same thing." Jerin nodded. "Wow, there's a sentence I never thought I'd say."

Denan couldn't help laughing at that, though he quickly looked down the hall to make sure Tenn wasn't coming back. "Wow... Although I have to admit, if I could somehow go back in time and trade places with Negian, I doubt that would slow me down much either." Jerin turned back to look at him with a raised eyebrow. "Oh, and if Joona should happen to ask, I never said that."

"Why would I ever tell Joona about this?" Jerin laughed.

"I don't know. You talk to her a lot." Denan said it so mildly, Jerin wasn't sure if it was supposed to be a criticism or not, but he suspected it was.

Jerin wasn't one to beat around the bush, so even as he turned back to his controls, he decided to nip this potential issue in the bud. "Denan, I'm not trying to steal your girl." He said evenly.

Denan was silent in surprise for a moment, but he recovered quickly. "You may do it without actually trying. In terms of what women look for in a man, you're superior to me in pretty much every way."

"Well, I'm also five years older." Jerin pointed out. "Give yourself a little time."

"It's just..." Denan didn't seem to know quite what to say next, but Jerin just stayed quiet and let him think. "Now that she's free to do whatever she wants, it's not going to take Joona long to realize that she can have pretty much any guy in the galaxy. She doesn't have to limit herself to shy, nerdy Humans. I just... want to show her that I really care about her, without seeming overly possessive."

"All right, before I give you any more advice, you do understand that I'm hardly an expert on women, right?" Jerin saw Denan's reflection nodding at him in the cockpit canopy. "I married the first woman I ever slept with, and I haven't been in another relationship since she died. With that said... First of all, are you sure you really love Joona, as in, everything about her? Or do you mainly just love her body?" Jerin would swear he could see Denan's reflection blush in the canopy.

"Well, gee... Love?" From Denan's fumbling for an answer, it was clear to Jerin that neither half of the couple had actually used the L-word yet, but given the way their relationship had started, that wasn't much of a surprise. "I... guess I don't know." Denan admitted.

"Hey, that was honest." Jerin nodded in approval. "And honesty is a good start. I only ask because, I'm guessing her feelings about you are pretty similar. Right now, I don't think Joona knows what she wants out of life, in virtually any capacity." Now he swiveled his chair around to look at Denan directly. "The bad news is, I don't think ANY relationship she forms during this period will last very long. She's still trying to figure out who she is, questioning everything about herself, and that will include wondering whether she should form any long-term attachments." Jerin let out a long sigh. "If you weren't already involved with her, I would STRONGLY advise you not to start down that road, but that ship has already sailed."

The expression on Denan's face had grown more and more forlorn as Jerin told him all this. "But... isn't there anything I can do?"

"The only thing you can do that might- and I emphasize MIGHT- eventually produce positive results is to be as mature as possible when she does break things off." Jerin said gently. "Tell her you understand, that you're grateful for what you had. Don't whine and plead like Negian did." Jerin smirked just a bit.

"I'm... not sure I can do that." Denan admitted.

Jerin turned back to his controls now. "Well whatever you do, DO NOT call her an ice-hearted schutta."

"Yeah, even I knew that was a boneheaded move." A weak smile came back to Denan's face. "Not an expert on women, huh? That sure seemed like a lot of insightful commentary."

Jerin just shrugged. "Well, you can't be married to a Mando woman for three years without getting some sense beaten into you." Then he added more quietly, "Despite what Tenn might think."

.

Coruscant, Republic Intelligence Headquarters

Dirk Skywalker let out a sigh as the turbolift slowed down, signalling that they were just about at the top of the Republic Intelligence building, one of the very tallest on the planet. From the director's office at the very top, he could look down at hundreds of square miles of the heart of Coruscant. Though Dirk didn't know him very well, it seemed that the current director did indeed look down, on just about everyone, if his reputation was any indication. "Well, ready to make nice?" Lucia asked as the lift came to a stop.

"As ready as I'm gonna get." Dirk forced a smile onto his face as the doors slid open. They stepped out into a very bright waiting area, with large skylights and one wall that was entirely windows, looking out on the surface far below. A protocol droid that was probably plated in silver approached them, but between its high level of polish and the blue sky outside, the droid almost seemed to be a vessel containing the sky itself.

"Ah, Dirk and Lucia Skywalker, I presume." The droid bowed slightly.

"That would be us." Dirk nodded.

"Director Fey'lya is expecting you. Please go ahead." It gestured toward the wooden double doors. Lucia nodded politely at the droid as they went past, but Dirk was too preoccupied with what was likely to be an unpleasant meeting to pay any attention.

The doors slid open silently to reveal RI Director Garm Fey'lya looking out the window behind his desk, his hands clasped behind his back. He was not a direct descendant of Borsk Fey'lya, as the last Chief of State of the New Republic didn't have any direct descendants. However, it was well known that he was proud to have Borsk as a member of his larger family tree. Garm had fairly light colored fur, and was pretty tall, by Bothan standards, though that still left him about a head shorter than Lucia. "Well, you two took your time getting here." Fey'lya remarked calmly as he turned around.

Dirk's first instinct was to respond, 'No, we're right on time,' but he thought better of it. Being a smartass probably wouldn't endear him to a member of a species that largely had no sense of humor. "Yeah, we probably should have come to see you first thing." He admitted.

"Oh, there's no 'probably' about it." Fey'lya smiled as he gestured for them to have a seat. "The question is, why didn't you?"

Lucia wasn't sure if this was a test, or he was genuinely curious, but either way, she decided honesty was the best policy here. "Well, we do have some good friends among the fleet admirals and captains, and since this matter involved the fleet specifically, that seemed like a good place to start."

Garm seemed to be faintly amused as he leaned back in his chair. "And how far did that get you?"

"Well, we got basically the same answer from every admiral, captain, and intelligence officer we talked to." Dirk admitted. "'No, I don't know anything. Have you talked to Fey'lya?' Or some variation on that theme."

"So that still leaves the question, what took you so long to pay me a visit?" Garm raised an eyebrow.

"I imagine the Director of Republic Intelligence knows that much." Dirk replied evenly. "Our families have a history of not getting along."

"Is that what this is about?" Now both of the Bothan's eyebrows went up, in apparently real surprise. "I did consider that as one of several possibilities, but I thought it was the least likely of the bunch." Now he folded his hands in front of him. "Borsk Fey'lya and Leia Organa Solo may have hated each other, but they've both been gone a long time. I hardly know you. Either of you." Dirk had his mouth open to say something, but then he seemed to think better of it, quickly closing it again. "No, go ahead, say whatever you were thinking just now." Fey'lya encouraged him. "This isn't a panel discussion in front of an audience. What's on your mind?"

"I was just going to say, Leia wasn't capable of hating anyone. But then I realized, I don't actually know that." Dirk admitted. "It's not like I ever met her, even her Force Spirit..."

"Well, it sounds like you have an open mind about all this, at least." Garm nodded in apparent approval. "I can say without hesitation, Borsk absolutely DID hate Leia. But, look at things from his perspective for a minute. After over twenty years of Palpatine ruling the galaxy, and all the sacrifices the Rebel Alliance made to defeat him, the galaxy continued to be ruled by Humans, with seemingly no thought given to choosing someone from another race as Chief of State." Dirk had his mouth open to say something again, but this time, Fey'lya kept going without giving him a chance to reply. "Of course, the resentment he felt over that blinded him to the fact that, aside from also being Human, Mon Mothma and Leia were Palpatine's polar opposites."

Lucia blinked in surprise. "Well, it seems like you're viewing this with an open mind as well." She said.

Fey'lya nodded. "In my line of work, you can't afford to go into any situation with preconceived notions. If you do, you're just making it that much harder to find out what the truth actually is. On that note..." He pulled a datapad out from a desk drawer. "While you two jumped to a big conclusion in assuming Seco and Negian are somehow controlling someone high up in the military hierarchy, the circumstantial evidence does seem to support it."

"Well really, it was Tenn who made that assumption." Lucia pointed out quickly, sounding a little defensive. "But, I didn't see any flaw in her reasoning."

"And that would be... Master Alaric Vao's daughter, correct?" Fey'lya asked as he tapped away on his datapad. "She's not with the Jedi herself anymore, is she?"

"Well, honestly, that depends on who you ask." Dirk replied. "I think she would say she isn't. But if you were to ask Master Rondo, he would probably say she is, because he expects her to come back within a year or two."

"To be more precise..." Fey'lya continued with just a hint of irritation, "She's not representing the Jedi at the current time, correct?"

"Yes, that's correct." Lucia answered quickly, since she had the feeling Dirk was on the verge of saying something snarky.

"Is there any possibility she's gone over to the dark side?" Garm asked mildly. He observed that both Humans' eyebrows quickly shot up in surprise. "I know that she used to be involved with Kanazzer, after all."

"No, there's no chance of that." Dirk answered impatiently. "If you knew her personally, there's no way you would even consider it."

"I meant no offense." Fey'lya responded calmly. "But at the same time, I can't afford to just assume she's innocent either. In my world, assumptions get people killed."

"I feel confident in saying, there's no way she's working with Seco and Negian." Lucia looked at Dirk as she replied. "And the Mandalorian she's with may be a rogue with an abrasive personality, but he's no Sith either."

"All right, I had to check." Fey'lya held his hands up in a gesture of surrender. "Because, much as I hate to admit it, none of my agents have any idea how Seco and Negian might be controlling the actions of the 5th fleet, or even whether it's just the 5th fleet, or the military as a whole. But, since this is clearly a dire threat to galactic security, I can assure you this will be our top priority until we do find out." Now he stood up again. "I have just one request of you. In an investigation of this nature, the more people who are going around openly asking questions of high ranking officers, the less chance we have that the guilty party will let down their guard and expose themselves."

"So you want us to stay out of it and keep our traps shut, huh?" Dirk frowned.

"It does make sense though." Lucia admitted. "Let the perpetrators think we gave up after we didn't find anything."

Dirk let out a sigh now, then stood up himself. "Yeah, I can't argue with that." He extended a hand to Fey'lya. "Director, please let us know if there's anything the Jedi can do to help."

"I will." He nodded as he shook Dirk's hand. "May the Force be with you."

"And with you." Lucia nodded, then both Skywalkers turned and headed back out to the waiting area. Fey'lya sat back down at his desk, idly looking at his datapad, as he strongly suspected he would have a visitor very soon. As usual, he was right.

"So, is he really as guileless as he seems, or is he actually a good actor?" A tall, middle aged Human asked as he strode into the room, not through the doors, but seeming to materialize right out of the wall. He had the straight posture of a military man, and dark, close-cropped hair that was starting to grey at the temples.

"I believe it's the former." Fey'lya answered calmly, not wanting to give his guest the satisfaction of knowing he had been surprised by the way he'd entered. "But it would be dangerous to just make that assumption. We should remember, his family tree includes Darth Vader, Darth Caedus, and Morrigan Corde."

"They seem to have a great deal of trust in you, despite their reluctance to meet with you."

"They have no reason not to trust me." Fey'lya shrugged. "I've spent my life serving the Republic. As I thought you had, Admiral Raedemar."

Raedemar simply raised an eyebrow in response. "Why the hostile tone? I thought we were on the same page in this matter."

"Because, I just lied to the Jedi, to the Skywalkers." Fey'lya answered, his fur bristling in agitation as he stood up. "When you convinced me to do it, it sounded reasonable, but that just felt wrong on a gut level."

The admiral just snorted. "Trusting your gut is for sergeants and field agents, not people of our rank. What does your brain tell you?"

Now Fey'lya's eyes narrowed. "My brain tells me, you know something about that huge asteroid traveling at faster than light speeds on the edge of the galaxy. I think I, and the Republic Council, should know what it is."

Raedemar calmly met the Bothan's gaze. "Yes, I know a fair bit about that. Trust me when I say, it needs to remain a military secret for a while longer."

"Even from me? I know a thing or two about keeping secrets, after all." Garm pointed out.

"Fair enough." The admiral admitted. "But let's just say, you'll be happier not knowing, since there's nothing we can do about it right now."

Fey'lya stared him down for a second, before sighing. "All right, but you've probably only got about two weeks before scout ships from the 9th fleet come across it."

"I can handle the 9th fleet." Raedemar responded calmly.

"Really?" Now Fey'lya smiled. "That'll be interesting to see, since you're assigned to the 3rd."

"As you've no doubt observed, I have talents that make even the other fleet admirals pale in comparison." The admiral pointed out with just the faintest hint of a smile.

"Clearly." Fey'lya said dryly. "If you're confident you have everything under control, then by all means, continue on with your plans. But admiral, you should keep one thing in mind." The Human just stood where he was, waiting for Fey'lya to continue. "If it turns out that I've betrayed the Republic, I'm not the type to just bury the evidence and hope I somehow survive. I will turn every bit of intel I have over to both the Republic Council and the Jedi Council, and aid them however I can, if they don't fire me on the spot. Are we clear?"

"Crystal." Raedemar answered simply, before a slight smile returned to his face. "I don't blame you for being paranoid, director. That IS part of your job, after all. But still, relax a little. I too am a servant of the Republic." With that, he turned around and walked back through the same portion of wall he had used to enter.

Fey'lya sat back down at his desk and let out a long sigh. Until recently, his main concern about the admiral was that the Human thought he was manipulating Seco and Negian, where it was quite possible the opposite was true. Now though, Raedemar had eavesdropped on his whole conversation with Dirk Skywalker, one of the strongest Jedi in the galaxy, and Dirk hadn't sensed a thing. Or if he had, he had been smart enough not to show any outward sign of it, and Fey'lya strongly doubted that was the case. The RI Director wasn't sure if the Human's wall-walking act was true teleportation or something else, but he realized that was just a distraction from the larger issue. The larger issue was, Seco and Negian were definitely in over their heads, but it was quite possible he was as well.

Humans had a saying that was popular among both spies and politicians: Keep your friends close and your enemies closer. Up until today, Fey'lya had done his best to keep Raedemar closer, and his more confrontational approach had been meant to startle the admiral into revealing some new information. That gambit had failed impressively, aside from confirming that at least a few people in military intelligence already knew about the asteroid. Or did they? If Raedemar was the only one outside of Fey'lya's direct command who knew about it, what would that even mean?

Fey'lya shook his head, trying to focus his thoughts. He needed more information on exactly what he was up against, and he needed it fast. Fortunately, he had the best job in the world for getting more information...

.

"This deal gets worse all the time." - Lando Calrissian, The Empire Strikes Back

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(Nanaki's note: So, when I said I'd probably have a new chapter for you before Thanksgiving, I was forgetting that Jedi: Fallen Order released on November 15th. Not long after that, I finally started playing Dragon Quest XI as well, which is a great but incredibly long game. I've put over 70 hours into it so far, and I'm guessing I have another 30 or so to go. Maybe more. Then there was the great Thanksgiving storm, followed by the Black Friday blackout...

Then winter vacation started, and there were visits to Phoenix and several National Parks in Utah, combined with going to town to play cards or see movies twice a week. Plus all the impeachment drama... It ended up being a busy winter, despite being the slow time of year at work.

But now, of course, nothing's busy. Just about everything in town is closed, release dates for movies are being pushed back, heck, even the release of the next Magic: the Gathering set has been pushed back a month. So, I have plenty of time to write, and no excuses for not doing it. I hope everyone reading this is in good health, and so are your friends and family members. On the off chance that anyone in the medical profession is reading, I just want to say thank you for your extraordinary efforts over the past few months, and what are likely to be even more extraordinary efforts over the coming several months.

Now regarding The Rise of Skywalker... I don't want to get bogged down nitpicking a bunch of individual points right here, so I'll just look at the big picture. Was this highly uneven sequel trilogy, plus two good-but-not-great spinoffs, really worth throwing away the entire Expanded Universe? No, not even close.

I think Rise of Skywalker's single biggest mistake, aside from killing off two extremely important characters for reasons that were unclear at best, was showing me a scene from the movie I actually wanted to see. When the flashback of Luke and Leia sparring shortly after Return of the Jedi came up (and having Leia win was a great touch), I realized THAT was the movie I wanted to be watching, far more than a movie about the descendants of the original trilogy characters repeating their predecessors' mistakes. For all its flaws, and they were many, that's EXACTLY what the Expanded Universe gave us. Over and over again, until the late '90s became known as the "Imperial of the week" era, but it gave us what we wanted. Ever since, I've been thinking about how different Star Wars would be today if Lucas had made Episode VII in 1986, instead of Howard the Duck.

Anyway, I should have another chapter for you all in truly short order this time. Until then, to quote Seth Meyers, "Wash your hands, and stay safe.")