The Liberator/Part 28

Day 93 of the Occupation of Milagro

"What was all that about outside the gate?" Nal Chun asked.

"Who knows?" Aldayr lied. "Somebody's always protesting something."

He could tell Nal remained suspicious, but neither she nor Kadelle spoke to the matter. Instead, Kadelle said, "Word on the street is we're due for a decent paycheck!"

"Your contacts have paid off," Aldayr admitted as he led them into his office and threw his robe over his chair. "We've got some new names for you to vet: more people asking for letters of marque."

"Republic Intelligence outsourcing its background checks now?" Nal asked.

"Intel can only tell us when people are criminals, and we don't exactly have Caamasi and Angels crowding the door to sign up. Mali wants you to make sure we're hiring the right criminals.  Y'know, like you."

Nal gave him a dirty look, though Kadelle snickered. Aldayr sensed Mali inside his office and opened the door, but saw his master speaking to a holo of Jendaya Rose and backed up. "Wait here."

He closed the door behind him while Senator Rose asked, "Do you need to leave, General Darakhan?"

"Nah, it's fine, Jen, it's just Aldayr."

"Oh." The Corellian senator's formal expression relaxed and she arched her chin to call off the screen, "Hey Aldayr."

"Hey Senator," Aldayr called back. "How's Corellia?"

"You'd have to ask somebody else, I'm on Coruscant—though I suppose I should probably go home and sell this one in person," she added, looking at Mali.

"I appreciate it, Jen," Mali said, and the relief in his voice bore out his words.

"Corellia protects its own, Mali, and you delivered on your word; Diktat Daikros will have your back, I just have to be there to smack down Admiral Dorr if he gets too full of himself."

"Nobody delivers a smack quite like you, Jen."

Aldayr tried to cover his snort of laughter with a cough and failed; Mali cleared his throat and Jendaya Rose rolled her eyes. "It's those sweet words I miss the most. Well, I have to go bully the Military Oversight Committee for you, Mali.  May the Force be with you both."

"What was that about?" Aldayr asked when the holo had faded.

Mali's mouth twisted. "Master Cazars called."

"You tell her the good news about the vote? Republic's newest member world and all?"

"She had heard, but that's not why she called. It was an order this time."

It took Aldayr a second to understand. "It…wait, she's taking the fleet? Now?  But Milagro's a Republic world now!"

"Yeah, I know, but…"

"But what?!"

Mali had pulled more strings than Aldayr could've found in an unwoven piece of veda cloth trying to keep his fleet together; Aldayr couldn't understand his master's look of resignation now. "I know we need ships here, and that's what Jen's working on for me. But…things have changed, Aldayr.  I'm keeping the Coronet's Jewel, but I need to send the rest of my fleet back north.  And I'm sending you too."

Aldayr's jaw dropped. "What?! Why?!  What the hell changed so much—"

"You remember Eviar Seldec?"

Aldayr grimaced. "Jedi traitor, Aresh's apprentice, we've fought his fleet like half a dozen times? Yeah, I…wait, what do you mean 'remember'?"

"That's the point, Aldayr—he's dead."

"What? How?  Did they box his fleet into—"

"It wasn't a battle—not the kind you're thinking of." Mali shook his head. "It was a duel, with—"

"Kenza," Aldayr whispered.

Mali stared at him. "Yeah. How'd you know?"

"I didn't—Narasi did. Remember?"

He wondered for a second whether Tirien had told Mali about that vision, but he could tell at once that he had; Mali's eyes widened. "Her visions on Alderaan…yeah, I remember now. But yes, Kenza fought him one-on-one and brought him down.  Cut his throat, apparently."

Aldayr sat down in one of the chairs at Mali's desk, trying to process it all. Aresh was the Dark Lord, but day-to-day Seldec had been the bigger problem, commanding Aresh's forces while Aresh did…whatever he did on Ciutric IV. Seldec, too, had surely told Aresh all the Jedi Order's secrets. Nothing could call those words back, but with his apprentice dead, Aresh would have to give the military campaigns over to lesser men or finally come to the front lines in person and put himself in harm's way. Either way, Aldayr could understand at once how Seldec's death had changed the calculus and finally broken down Mali's resistance.

But even that game-changer took a back seat in Aldayr's mind, because Narasi had shared other visions with him too. Once she had seen him piloting his starfighter against Aresh's forces—a fleet commanded by Seldec, as Aldayr remembered it—around the same time it had happened. But she had also seen him in a desert, apparently fighting a skeleton and a snake. Aldayr was no mystic, so he couldn't guess what it might mean, but including the plot against the Organas that she and Tirien had foiled, Narasi was three for three.

"Have you heard anything from Tirien, Master?"

Mali grimaced as he sat on the desk's edge. "No. I just tried him again the other day, too; I wanted his advice about this thing with the Shadows and the Pastor."

"There's a protest outside the gate," Aldayr remembered.

"Yeah, I know, but I think that's FMO. Commander…well, MP Beethar now…he's called for a week of demonstrations against Milagro joining the Republic."

Aldayr rolled his eyes. "Better to have them inside the tent—"

"Something like that," Mali cut him off.

"Well, now that Milagro's in the Republic, we should be getting more support, right?" Aldayr drew out his datapad. "If you give me a minute I can get into Materiel Command's database."

"You need to be prepping to go north, remember?"

Aldayr had forgotten for a moment. "You really don't want me here?"

"Of course I do, but I need you in two places, and I only have the one of you. And between the two, the north has to take precedence.  You're not going to make or break things here, but with the Dark Vanguard running around up there, every Jedi counts.  Aresh is exposed without Seldec; we can't give him time to recover."

It was a relief to hear Mali echo his own strategic thoughts, but Aldayr still shook his head. Mali frowned. "You're worried about Narasi's other vision, aren't you?"

"I…it occurred to me."

"Hey, not every vision comes true, even Tirien said that. Besides, you're tough, you can handle whatever the Dark Vanguard throw at you.  I have faith in you."

Mali's reassurance was comforting, but now the whole thing had Aldayr thinking about Narasi, too. He had hoped his and Mali's time on Milagro might outlast the mysterious mission to Darkknell. Tirien and Narasi had been part of the first Milagro mission too; surely once they finished whatever they were doing on Darkkneel, they would return to Milagro to back Mali up and see the quest through to completion.

Aldayr hadn't seen Narasi since their return to Coruscant from Vjun, and they hadn't spoken in months; he had made the first move, and he sensed he might have to make another to keep things moving along, but that was hard to do when Narasi insisted on being light years away all the time.

"What is it?" Mali asked. "This doesn't seem like dwelling on visions of the future."

Aldayr hesitated; just as he had advised Narasi against going to Tirien about this, neither had he confided in Mali. But the conversation with Jendaya Rose made him wonder; there was a critical difference between Mali and Tirien… "Master, can I ask you something?"

Mali's expression was becoming concerned. "You can ask me anything, Aldayr."

"You and Senator Rose were…together, right?"

"…admittedly not where I expected this to go, but okay…"

"Well?"

"Yeah. Yeah, Jen and I were seeing each other for a few months, you know that."

"What happened?"

Mali shrugged. "It just…wasn't the right fit. Don't get me wrong, Jen's an incredible woman, we're just serving in very different ways.  And…oh, I don't know…the political stuff has never been my thing, and it's her bread and butter.  The whole thing with the Chancellor election made it awkward too.  We never had any real time together, and even long-term I don't know that it would've worked out.  We're better as friends."

Aldayr nodded, and when he said nothing else Mali cocked his head. "Why in the galaxy is that bothering you?"

"It's not, but…it was okay? You and her being together?"

"Well, we didn't send around an opinion poll. We kept it out of the limelight, too, although half of that was because I was pretty sure the king and the Diktat would've started planning our wedding for us if they knew.  But I don't think it made me any less of a Jedi, or her any less of a senator."

"Do you think that applies to every Jedi, or just you?"

"As in, do I think I'm such a pinnacle of the Jedi Order, such a fountain of pure light, that I can withstand temptations you lesser mortals have to avoid?" Mali teased, and Aldayr rolled his eyes. "I like to think I'm not that arrogant. I know that other Jedi think love is bad—and lesser forms of romance; for the record, I am not in love with Jendaya Rose!  But I don't think it's love so much as…passion."

Aldayr couldn't help himself. "Is that why she dumped you, Master? You…er…weren't passionate enough?"

Mali stared at him from under his eyebrows until Aldayr laughed. "I'll have you know Jendaya never complained once, thank you very much."

"Okay, more information than I needed…"

"Yeah, well, one good snark deserves another." Mali's smirk faded into a thoughtful expression. "So if you're not just being nosy, then this is about you, right? Who…oh.  Oooh, gotcha."

Aldayr grumbled, sensing his master had gotten it. "Don't you always complain about Tirien Kal-Di doing that?"

"You know, I think I see now why he does…it's kinda fun." Mali shook his head. "So what, you and Narasi?"

"I…maybe, yeah. What do you think?"

"Well, to be fair, I'm a Jedi Knight; you're both still Padawans," Mali pointed out. "You're supposed to be focusing on training for Knighthood, not your dating life. Duty's a demanding enough girlfriend without trying to force her into an open relationship."

Aldayr snorted. "That one's definitely going in my list of your pearls of wisdom."

"Ha ha…"

"I can see it now, passing that gem on to my own Padawan some day…"

"The point is," Mali forged ahead, "you don't want to weigh yourself down with distractions."

"It doesn't bug you that she's not Corellian?"

Mali waved a hand dismissively. "I'm a Corellian, not an ensterite."

"It doesn't bug you that she's not Human?"

"Does it bother you?"

"It's…well, it's kinda weird, but…I don't think of her as 'Narasi the Zygerrian', she's just…Narasi."

"Well, if it doesn't bother you, why the hell should I care? She's a cute kid.  Good Jedi, too.  How does she feel about you?  Seemed like you two were at each other's throats for a while there."

"My natural charm wore her down, Master." When Mali snorted, Aldayr added, "Besides, we grew up. We're not the people we were on Taanab."

Just for a moment a shadow seemed to pass over Mali's face. "Yeah, that's true; war does that. But you're growing up into good Jedi.  And besides," he added, now with a dreamy smile, "if you two wound up together, Tirien and I would be like brothers!"

"Yeah, not my priority, you two already have some weird bromance going on."

Mali gave him a stern look. "Don't question our guy love."

"…….yeah."

Mali laughed, and Aldayr realized with a start that he hadn't heard Mali laugh since he beheaded Kysl Ssron. Aldayr associated the sound with confidence and daring, his master's attitude of calm command in every situation. When he had first become a Padawan, Mali's ability to laugh even in the face of danger had made the brutality of battle less oppressive and bolstered Aldayr's faith that the Force would carry them through; even now, skillful enough to shift for himself in the thick of combat, Aldayr still found his master's laughter reassuring.

Mali stood and clapped him on the shoulder, returning the smile Aldayr realized had come to his lips. "Anyway, for now, keep your head in the game. But long term…hey, like I said, she's a good Jedi, and so are you.  I'd be happy for you."

It wasn't the answer Aldayr wanted, but he could work with it, so he nodded and started to smirk. "Far be it from me to question your guy love, but could you maybe not tell Tirien about this yet?"

"Hey, why make a problem that doesn't need to exist?"

Aldayr nodded and rose. "I…guess I should start packing."

In a warped way, Rogeum had become a sort of home; the only place he had ever stayed longer in a stretch since beginning his apprenticeship was aboard the Coronet's Jewel. Much as he had missed the battles up north, leaving was going to feel strange. Mali, however, was not done with him.

"Wait a minute, Aldayr." When Aldayr stopped, Mali said, "This is out of my hands, since I won't be there to make it an order, but I'm going to advise whoever's commanding my fleet that you be given a command of your own."

A thrill of anticipation shivered up Aldayr's spine; even his mechanical fingers seemed to tingle. "A ship, or a ground command, or…?"

"Whatever they think is best. You've already proven yourself with a starfighter, maybe they'll give you your own squadron."

It was the high of victory without winning a battle—though in truth, Aldayr had been fighting this particular battle since Ord Mantell. "Will they go for it?"

"I think they'll take my views seriously—if for no other reason that when I do come back, I'm the boss," Mali pointed out dryly. "Besides, you've got a lot of battle experience under your belt now, far more than most eighteen-year-olds, and more than many Padawans, too. And I think you've learned and grown here; you've seen what goes into command behind the scenes.  It's not all lightsabers and blasters; you have to take care of your people, too.  A battle droid could run a tactical analysis, but it takes a sentient being to be a leader."

Aldayr nodded; he hadn't had time to discuss more than the basic attack plan with his Marines at Merkat, but more than once he had imagined the speeches he would give to commands of his own, practicing and refining turns of phrase that would inspire soldiers to tackle the most daunting of odds or coax them through the most rigorous training exercises in preparation for war. Like Mali, Aldayr felt called to use his talents in the military, and now he would—might—be a real part of it. They wouldn't make a Padawan a Jedi General, but Captain Nikodon had a nice ring to it. Commander Nikodon, maybe. And if he did his time and earned his stripes as a Padawan, as Mali had done, when he was finally Knighted…

"Don't get ahead of yourself," Mali advised, and Aldayr realized his thoughts must have radiated out. "Win the battle before you plan the ticker tape parade, Admiral."

Aldayr grinned sheepishly. "Right. I just…thanks, Master.  Thank you for this."

"I'd never say it's not an opportunity, but don't forget it's a privilege, too," Mali cautioned. "You've seen for yourself what happens when inexperienced people run into battle, or worse, command there. Whatever soldiers or pilots they give you will be counting on you; don't let them down."

"I won't." Aldayr clasped forearms with Mali, then looked at the door. "Oh, I completely forgot, I brought the Chuns here."

"Oh joy, more haggling with Nal for every credit that isn't bolted down…"

Aldayr laughed as they walked toward the office door together. "You gonna be all right here without me, Master? Just you and Renata here in the office?"

Mali snorted. "Somehow, my young Padawan, I doubt I'm going to be left alone here for long…"