Chapter 147: Organized Mob

Warning! Chapters 146 & 147 were posted back-to-back! Returning readers, make sure you pick up where you left off!

Chapter 147: Organized Mob

He was almost afraid to think it even to himself, but Bail Organa was tentatively hopeful that they may have turned the corner on the worst of the current disasters. Not on the war as a whole, of course. That was still…going. Not as terribly as it could be, the Jedi and several worlds they’d alerted, including his own, had come out swinging. They’d given the CIS enough of a black eye in the process to prevent total disaster, at minimum. Though they were, at best, holding steady. Something that had come at the cost of losing huge chunks of the Republic outright, tens of thousands of worlds still being slowly absorbed by the Confederacy.

All of it still wouldn’t have been enough without the League of Free Stars.

His feelings on the League pulling wins of their own against the CIS as well were a bit more mixed. Yes, they’d likely hurt the CIS more to this point than the Republic had yet managed, but that had come at the cost of whole additional sectors of Republic worlds going over to the League itself. That was, frankly, only tolerable because it reduced the number of worlds the strained Republic had to hold, and it was still going to have unpleasant long-term consequences. Given the figures he’d seen from Geonosis, he couldn’t even claim the League wasn’t paying their dues for the tradeoff.

His own military high command had admitted openly that the Republic attempting to take out that critical node of CIS manufacturing, instead of the League, would have resulted in far more casualties. Possibly more than the Republic could afford, even with the Clone army. Nor did that account for the other ways in which the League was proving at least a tentative ally. The comms relay through their own esoteric network, the advisors to help the Republic hammer something like a cohesive military into shape. The painful truth was they were leaning on the League for the moment. Which made it a little hard to protest them taking systems that were switching allegiance to the League entirely of their own volition.

No, the war as a whole was still in flux, with more bad news than good.

Yet, the other problems were, he thought, turning a corner. Recovery efforts on Coruscant were legitimately going well. The Coruscant hypercomm relays might be kriffed to the point of being utterly unrepairable, but the power generators and other sabotaged systems had been another matter. Rapid response and lots of material brought in from out-system had quickly gotten power, disrupted water systems, and other services restored more-or-less to normal. Likewise, while the final death toll was…ugly…it hadn’t been even a fraction as bad as it could have been.

Even better, and in a way far more unbelievable, the political reaction had been legitimately downright manageable. The direct, personal danger that thousands of senators had been placed in had brought home the reality of the situation in a way nothing else would have, and gotten the senate moving in a way Bail had never seen or heard of before. Oh, it wasn’t moving in lockstep. It wasn’t pulling all in the same direction. That would have been far too much to ask for.

But it was moving.

The normally glacial speeds at which the Senate operated were, for the time being at least, being thrown aside in favor of rapid action. The actions weren’t always useful, and he was having a hell of a time keeping the proverbial ship pointed in a vaguely useful direction, but the break in the usual logjam had achieved several key and critical things he could only have dreamed of before. Approved Senate Investigations to clear out traitors and moles, the full approval of the Grand Republic Military High Command to take control of the direction of the war without direct Senate oversight muddling the waters. Spending measures to ensure fleets of new ships were in rapid production and recruitment was being pushed hard.

All things that should have taken months, but that the current atmosphere had allowed to happen far more rapidly. That movement was admittedly slowing down now, which was both good and bad. But whatever happened next, his successful use of the initial panic as a driving force had, at least, given them a chance to clean up the clusterfuck and piece the galaxy back together into something that resembled functionality. Far more functionality than, he had to admit, they’d had before the war kicked off.

It wasn’t going to be easy, and he wasn’t at all sure what the Republic was going to look like when the wild ride was over. Yet he was, at least, feeling hopeful that there might be a Republic at the end of the line. Which was a hell of an improvement over the concerns he’d had when he’d reluctantly stepped up to lead. What was it that Sovereign Midoriya had said, in that speech right before he left?

‘Do not go quietly into that good night?’

That was it, or something close to it. Whatever happened, Bail Organa was now certain that democracy wasn’t going to die quietly, smothered in its sleep, as the Sith had wanted. No, it would rage and flail, fight tooth and nail. If the Sith wished to rule the galaxy, they would have to pry its fate out of the hands of the sleeping giant that was now stirring for the first time in a thousand years. A giant that no one, not the Mandalorians, not the Sith, and not the Hutts, had managed to overcome in its 20,000-year history.

Taking a deep breath and hoping he wasn’t just whistling in the dark with that inner declaration, Bail picked up the next task in his endless queue of disasters to solve or advert. Wait, the Ailon Nova Guard had how many troops? And they were willing to aid the Republic?! The price they were demanding wasn’t a small thing, but this could still be a major help. Quickly delving into the details, he was soon lost in learning about a warrior culture he’d barely even heard of before, and just why they had over two hundred million able bodied and full equipped soldiers already on hand…

… … …

Despite the situation, Mace Windu had to admit being in the field again, instead of trying to reign in various maverick Jedi or ride herd on the Jedi High Council, was something of a relief. Of course, the only reason he’d been tapped for leading this particular mission was the grim reality that they still didn’t have all that many Jedi with serious wartime experience. Even he, despite having been involved in more minor affairs like the Stark Hyperspace War or the unmitigated clusterfuck that had been the Yinchori uprising, didn’t really have the experience to lead at scale.

Thankfully, he had other assets to tap, and had done so without hesitation when the current opportunity had landed in front of them. Chief among those were a number of Knights and Masters who had taken part in the Hutt Crusade then returned to the fold afterward. While none of them had held fleet command, the League of Free Stars having a proper, professional officer corps for that, many of them had been involved in the command loop. Acting as strategic aid for fleets via things like Force-assisted navigation had been one critical use for all Force users capable of it during the Crusade. A fact which had led many of the Jedi who had gotten involved to pick up a certain level of tactical understanding by osmosis and observation.

He still wasn’t confident that they were going to pull off the ambush they were preparing for. That, however, was more a function of not being sure the attack they were aiming to disrupt would even happen. If it did happen, they were farther unsure what the CIS could put into the system, and if they’d brought enough firepower to deal with it, even with the element of surprise. Still, they needed more wins, ones that could whittle away the CIS numbers and buy time for the Republic to get its industry fully committed to the war effort.

As he did his best to ignore the way the Dark Side pulsed as they waited in the shadow of Dxun, he hoped that Mina Bonteri’s change of heart, and the fact that she’d hidden it from the CIS, would do the job. Hopefully, the easy win the CIS expected here based on her reports would turn into anything but when they actually arrived…

… … …

Anakin watched with anticipation as Jedi Master Saesee Tinn, head of the entire Jedi Starfighter Corps, drew everyone’s attention by flicking on a holomap of the space controlled by CIS North. While there were a great many icons and shadings of different kinds, the most prominent were a pulsing set of circles in what otherwise seemed to be empty systems or dark space. As soon as the Iktotchi Jedi Master recognized that he had all of their attention, he began to speak.

“Thanks to pre-war efforts by Jedi Master Tholme, we have numerous locations of hidden resupply stations that CIS capital ships have stopped over at. While we cannot be certain, the secrecy needs of such facilities most likely means that they are heavily automated and, at least potentially, vulnerable to raids. Right now our information is limited. We know that a specific class of their capital ships, which shall remain classified for security purposes, has stopped at each location multiple times. Long enough to suspect supply stops, but with too little attached information to be certain of that fact. They could, after all, just as easily be fleet rally locations.”

Several people, including Anakin, nodded at that remark. The Jedi were using empty systems like that for similar purposes, gathering fleet assets in them before jumping out on one mission or another. Only an idiot jumped straight from a hidden facility, such as their Space City construction yards, into a battle via straight line. It was too likely to lead an enemy right back to your base. Which was a terrible idea unless that base was a Core World or similar hard target which was already known to your enemy anyway.

“It is in light of this lack of information and our need to know more that all of you have been gathered. Every Jedi here is one with a higher-than-usual gift for instinctive navigation that will allow you to approach these systems from unusual angles. Depending on the target you are assigned, you may be attached to a freighter, or just use a Blade, but in either case the goal is the same across the board.”

The Jedi Master swept his gaze over all of them, making sure they were with him so far.

“Recon. We need relatively soft targets that can disrupt the Confederate war machine. If these are rally points? We can possibly arrange an ambush by superior forces. If they are supply stations? That’s even better, as we can stage spoiling raids on their logistics. The Republic needs more time to get our industrial capacity fully online. For that, we need the CIS to be distracted. We need them to be hobbled and forced to take their time securing their rear areas. Your missions are the first, critical step to achieving that, making every result you bring back of the utmost importance.”

Anakin straightened at the force of certainty the Jedi Master gave off at that statement. While he’d love to help strike back more directly, he recognized the truth of what Master Tiin was saying. If they could identify critical targets, it could lead to doing far more damage that just blowing away a few more Vulture droids. He knew his own connection to the Force gave him an unusually good grasp of Force-assisted navigation. So this was something meaningful and important he could do for the war effort. He absorbed everything the briefing covered with laser-focused intent.

He would make a difference to the war, and this was a good step forward in how he could do that…

… … …

“The monster and his Grand Fleet are ready for deployment, then. Good, good. The Republic had been given too long to get back on balance, even if the time taken to secure our new holdings was justified.”

Count Dooku nodded to his Master’s hologram, then voiced his only remaining question regarding the upcoming offensives.

“The General has enough forces for the multi-pronged offensive, as planned. Which should he be deployed upon personally? Onderon will fold easily, due to Bonteri being in our employee. Kashyyyk may be another matter, however. The world itself is no threat, despite developing a modest self-defense force. Yet the League fleet building at Randon is virtually certain to attempt interference.”

Darth Sidious’s expression, what was visible of it, twisted into a snarl at the mention of the League. Foolish, in Dooku’s mind, but predicable. Which is exactly why he’d mentioned it. The League might be a potent force, but they were too small to be a direct threat. They literally couldn’t spread out far enough to take control of much more of the galaxy than they currently held. Even if he suspected they had the money, they simply lacked the manpower to properly take and hold much more territory. Yet, Sidious was obsessed with them, to the point he’d thrown away multiple fleets attempting to punish them for outing him. All the better for Dooku’s own plans that the fool keep some of his focus on the League and its Sovereign. Which is why he made sure to bring them up semi-frequently.

“Grievous is still untested and is a tool of fear. The greater number of worlds on the Lesser Lantillies will serve better to introduce him. You will pull Admiral Tann from her efforts to pacify worlds and have her handle Kashyyyk. Have her take several Acolytes with her to help disrupt the League’s use of Force sensitives. Give her the bulk of the Fleet gathered and make it clear she is to crush the League’s response.”

Dooku frowned internally, even as he kept his outward expression neutral. Sev'rance Tann was by far the most promising of his Dark Acolytes, as well as one of their better fleet commanders. Yet, she was no match for Sovereign Midoriya if he commanded the Randon Fleet personally. Admittedly, to the best of their knowledge he was currently tied down with politics on Tythe. So if they struck quickly enough it might not matter. It was still a risk, even if they would be giving Admiral Tann enough numbers to make up for the expected League interference.

Still, despite the fact that Dooku would have chosen to send the more ruthless Grievous toward Kashyyyk, hoping his dirtier tactics would at least make the fight extremely bloody even if he lost, this might work out better. Yes, losing Tann would be irritating, and whatever Sidious thought, the League had a good enough record to consider the possibility of a loss despite unequal numbers. Yet Grievous was…not pleased with the idea of fighting the League. He was after Jedi and the Republic. The League of Free Stars had launched a massive humanitarian campaign to relieve the monster’s homeworld, and the CIS handlers hadn’t taken that into account when reprogramming him. The cyborg got annoyed at the idea of fighting the League rather than the Republic as a result.

Well, no matter. So long as at least one of the two prongs of the assault worked, it was really only a matter of degree of losses.

“Very well, Master. I will reassign Tann immediately, though getting her into position will take the better part of a week.”

Sidious nodded, his expression smoothing again with the matter of the League not directly in front of him any longer.

“Good. Now, there are a few annoyances among the Confederacy Parliament that will need to go. They were useful tools when we intended them to lose, but are liabilities now. You will arrange plausible accidents for them, using your remaining acolytes. Frame the Jedi if you can.”

Dooku accepted the list of names readily enough. Most of them he would make the proper arrangements for. One or two, however, would be more useful to create issues for his Master down the line. He would arrange for those few attempts to fail. In a way that couldn’t be blamed upon himself, of course…

… … …

Shaak Ti had not intended to take another Padawan. Most likely, not ever, or so she’d thought. In truth, even finishing Asajj’s training had been an unexpected diversion. After the deaths of both of her previous Padawans, neither of which had lasted long after achieving their Knighthood, she had felt herself unsuited for training another. Asajj had been an exception. One she’d made only due to the fact Ky Narec had mostly trained her already. All she’d truly needed was a soothing hand after her true Master’s death and a tiny bit of polishing on the non-combative bits of being a Jedi. Things Shaak Ti had felt herself up to the task of handling.

She had not expected for Master Plo Koon of all people to pull her aside and ask a favor.

Shaak greatly respected Master Koon, the Kel Dor being among the most level headed and properly balanced Jedi she’d ever met. A voice of grounded reason and unending compassion on a High Council that all too often forgot the value of both. Which meant that, when he had approached her and asked her to go see an initiate in one of the new hidden temples, explaining that he felt said initiate would do better with her teachings than his own? Well, Shaak Ti hadn’t been able to say ‘no.’ Particularly as it had become obvious that he was aware of the small but growing reform movement she’d spawned within the Jedi Order regarding certain topics.

Thankfully, that awareness hadn’t been used as blackmail, or she’d have lost all respect for him.

No, instead, it had turned out that he approved of the changes of mindset she was promoting. As, apparently, did Adi Gallia, and the two had been subtly redirecting attention away from her efforts. Something which honestly explained how it had been able to grow to include nearly seventy Jedi at this point. She’d honestly been expected to be called before the High Council and forced to either explain herself…or outright exiled…long before she’d reached such numbers.

With that knowledge, she also had to considered seriously that Plo Koon might be right about the initiate in question. Something which, combined with her respect for him, had seen her agree to make the trip to the Tython System. Which, as it turned out, was now being used to house the oldest Jedi Initiates, the ones most ready to become Padawans. It was a move she had to admit made perfect sense, as Tython was not a tame place. Using it as a sort of finishing school for both dealing with the extremes of Light and Dark in the Force and getting genuine, for real, life-threating combat experience…it made sense.

Perhaps if the galaxy had been truly at peace it would not have, but with the Jedi having been fully aware of the war coming, it made an extraordinary amount of sense. It ensured that new Padawans would have fully taken aboard the increased push for combat capability, at least if they intended to walk the path of Knighthood instead of going into one of the Service Corps. It was, in a way, unnervingly similar to Shaak Ti’s own reasons for having trained her first two Padawans almost entirely on Shili. Doing so was something she now regretted in part, but only in part. Mostly as she feared not exposing them to wider ranges of environments may have led to their doom. She still maintained, however, that it had given them sharper combat instincts and brought them a closer connection to the Living Force.

While finishing Asajj’s training and seeing the gaps Ky Narec had been forced by circumstances to leave in her skills, she had idly considered that, if she was going to do it again, she would have mixed things up a bit. She still felt that using a planet like Shili, Felucia, or Tython could teach valuable lessons. But she also recognized that it left out bits of skillset that might have helped her former Padawans handle the galaxy at large better. It seemed that the leadership of the Order as a whole had come to some similar conclusions, in the way they were using Tython, which was gratifying in a way.

None of which had helped her make her decision when she’d finally spent time with Ahsoka Tano.

At fifteen, Ahsoka was old enough that she might well have washed out of the Knight track even as little as a two or three years ago. With revisions made at the very top of the Jedi Order, acknowledging the need to expand the Jedi Order again and revising certain policies to reflect that fact, she had been in no danger of that. Now, so long as her instructors believed she was fit for the Path of Knighthood, she would not have been moved off it…and there was little question that the young Togruta woman was exactly so suited.

Genuinely gifted with a lightsaber, and just combat in general, a moderately strong connection to the Force in general, and a notable gift for Force Sensing. She was, in truth, the very model of a Jedi Guardian when it came to skills. Which would have begged the question to most of why the kriff hadn’t she been picked already? Shaak Ti, unfortunately, had picked out the reason almost instantly…and been very annoyed once she did.

Ahsoka Tano was a natural extrovert, with a lot of personality, and she wore her heart on her sleeve.

She was, simply put, too emotional for the Traditionalists of the Jedi Order.

Which, fortunately or unfortunately, meant that Plo Koon had been right about Shaak Ti being a better suited teacher for her than almost any other Jedi. While Shaak actually wasn’t a Guardian, a lot of people tended to forget that fact due to how well regarded her combat skills were. Combine that with being able to help her with the needs of a growing Togruta who hadn’t been in touch with her roots, and the new approach she’d been spreading through the Order? An approach which championed the Shan family’s currently-somewhat-heretical views on emotions and attachments not being the root of all evil for Force Users?

Ahsoka might as well have had a glowing neon sign over her head labeled ‘Shaak Ti’s New Minion.’

The fact she was a little bit chaotic, very snarky, and would likely take pride in that Minion label only made it more true. Shaak Ti was, after all, very much compatible with that sort of chaos. Not so much in an ‘add to it’ sort of way, as a ‘reign it in without being a killjoy’ sort of way. Something she shared in common with Izuku, as they both worked together to be the stabilizing anchor for Aayla, Zavra, and Mei’s chaos. Padmé and Sabé were sort of over to one side in that equation, as agents of both chaos and order simultaneously, who somehow mostly leveled each other out.

Mostly.

“Enough. Come, sit with me Ahsoka.”

The spar, which had been going on for a good half hour as an increasingly-frustrated Ahsoka gave her everything to try and win against Shaak, ended abruptly. To the younger Togrutan’s credit, she controlled that frustration well, not letting it demand she keep going, despite Shaak Ti actively egging her on a bit to test that same control. The teenager sat across from her, looking anxious, and Shaak made her decision, releasing the fear of being a poor teacher that still lingered in her mind into the Force.

“I’m sure you have a suspicion why I’m here, Ahsoka. So I will just come right out and say it. If you wish it, I will accept you as my Padawan.”

The response was immediate, with anxiety exploding into joy. Truly, a girl that wore her heart on her sleeve. Though one that could do better with a bit of shielding in the Force, perhaps.

“YES! Yes, yes, yes yes! Please!”

Chuckling at the younger Togruta’s excitement, Shaak Ti didn’t act to repress that explosion of joy as many Jedi would have. Instead, she merely smiled a bit indulgently.

“Well then, Padawan. We have a lot of work to do, and there are things you need to know. I am not exactly a traditional Jedi and, currently, I work as much with the League of Free Stars as I do with the Republic. This means your education might be…different…than you are expecting. But I believe it will suit you well.”

As Ahsoka eagerly nodded and Shaak Ti felt a fledgling Padawan Bond begin to form between them, she sighed internally. At least this time, if she made any missteps, she was confident that her lovers would help spot and correct them. Even better, if Ashoka proved to have as much chaotic energy as she suspected, she could always hand her over to Zavra for a bit to burn it off. She’d just need to make sure that they did so on a CIS planet no one cared about.

After all, if they got along the way Shaak Ti thought they would, the chances of whatever planet they were unleashed on not somehow burning down were...low. Perhaps it was a sign that the chaos had infected Shaak Ti a bit too, that she didn’t consider that an inherently bad thing. At least so long as she could make sure it was aimed properly.

“Now, young Padawan. The first thing we are going to be talking about is that outfit. Tube tops are not suitable for fighting battles in. But I think you’ll like the armor a friend in the League introduced me too…”

... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

A/N 1: Bail the miracle worker! He's sort of got the Republic working! Kinda...partially...a little bit...

A/N 2: Ah ha! Finally seeing where the situation at Onderon is going...

A/N 3: I don't really care for Anakin, but I know a lot of people want to see what he's getting up to, so I figured I could throw in a bit from him. Honestly, I think he'll be better off in this role. He was never really a leader by choice, only necessity, and mostly on a tactical level...

A/N 4: I debated with myself for quite a long time on Ahsoka and Shaak Ti. Handing her to Shaak as a Padawan introduces a complication that will be a little annoying...but it also fits. Though the first one of you who even SUGGESTS the idea she would end up in the pairing is going to Horny Jail. She's only 15 and Izuku/Aayla/Mei/Shaak Ti are all in their mid to late twenties at this point. Even Padmé and Sabé, who are the absolute youngest, are 25+.

A/N 5: Once per set of chapters released, I mention that I have a P-atreon! My fanfiction content is never permanently paywalled, but I do maintain Early Access chapters for each fic. In the case of Displaced Hero, chapters 148-152, amounting to roughly 20,000 additional words, are currently in Early Access. That said, while support is deeply appreciated, the previous chapters are always put up here as new chapters are released into early access. So you can always just be patient ;-). For those that do wish to support me, you can find a link to my P-atreon in my profile, or simply search the web for 'Novus's Fanfiction Works.'