The Rebel Faction

The petitely built woman standing before Azak gazed up at him levelly, as if measuring him up. He felt oddly insecure; even though this woman was half his size, she exuded the power and confidence of a being much more powerful than himself. As she looked him over, it was as if her gaze could see right through him. This, and the the way that the figure with the stick bowed in deference to this woman lead Azak to conclude that she was a Jedi... perhaps even of a high rank. Azak endured an uncomfortably long silence before she finally spoke.

"mmm.... well, why don't we go in here and sort this out...."

The woman lead Azak and the figure with a stick down the hallway a fair distance, and into an office room. Azak looked around for some sort of nameplate or sign of whose office this was, but there was none to be found. The woman slid into her seat behind the large desk that dominated the center of the room, and gestured for them to have a seat in the chairs before the desk.

Azak awkwardly lowered himself into the standard humanoid sized chair, feeling the anxiety continue to build in the pit of his stomach. This was it, he had come all this way and now it was time... The woman met his gaze directly, and addressed him in a slightly more authoritive voice than when she had spoken before.

"I am Jedi Master Leia Organa Solo, I guess you could say I head this Academy. Vodo here says that you wished to seek us out?"

Azak did not answer immediately, unsure if a long tirade in shyriiwook would make any sense to them. His questions were soon answered as the Jedi Master spoke again.

"Feel free to speak your mind... I can understand your language for the most part, so don't concern yourself with that."

Unsure of where to begin his story, Azak simply started at the beginning....

[I am Azakhaban, and I have traveled here from Coruscant seeking the Jedi. I think I have some information that you might find interesting.....

On Coruscant, I recently worked for a construction firm that had been tasked with remodeling the lower levels of Imperial City, so that they could once again be used for higher level functions involving the Imperial Government. The work mostly involved running the scum out of their holes, and then completely rebuilding the towers from the frames out. But on one of our jobs near the grand senate chambers, we discovered something.... awe inspiring. Deep down in the bowls of the city, we discovered what looked like some surprisingly intact remains of the fabled Jedi Council of the Old Republic. We weren't sure quite what to do or who to tell, so we pretended to have not found it yet, until we decided what the best course of action was. Some of the team was in favor of telling the Imperials about our find, but a few others including myself.... thought it would be better to bring this information to the Jedi first. So, I took leave from my job to seek you out here. No doubt the others have informed the Imperial government of our find by now, but I was hoping that maybe I could find you in time to.... well, give you time to do something about it, should you so wish. It is the history of your kind]

Azak reached down into his sidebag and removed a few datachips. These he slowly placed on the desk in front of the Jedi Master.

[Diagrams of that sector of the city.... should you wish to look into the matter,] he supplied in a soft growl.

As the two were talking, Vodo was listening quietly, off to the side. Although he could not understand the Wookie word for word, he could find the meaning behind them.

And the meaning was quite shocking.

[Diagrams of that sector of the city.... should you wish to look into the matter.], Azakhaban paused for a moment, allowing his message to sink in. Vodo retreated within himself and touched the Force, allowing it to flow over the Wookie to try and find any deception within him. He instantly could tell Leia was doing the same.

They both found none. Vodo detected just pure, simply honesty. Of one trying to do good. But the information he brought with him was a very serious matter. Vodo had studied, extensively, the Jedi Order of the past. He had dug up every last scrap of information he could find on the subject, taking it all in as a part of his Jedi training.

He knew that, along with most of the old Order, the Jedi Council had vanished, all of it's members killed or in hiding. He had read that the records contained in the old Jedi Temple Library had been destroyed... So how could pieces of it exist?

Perhaps someone made a copy...

Possibilities swirled through Vodo's mind. If they could find the information before anyone else did, perhaps it would lead to more discoveries.

This had the potential to be the greatest single Jedi-related discovery in the recent past...

Along with the hopeful possibilities also came other, more darker ones. Perhaps this was an elaborate illusion designed to ensnare vunerable Jedi. Vodo found no trace of deception within Azakhaban, but someone could easily be using him as well.

Vodo pushed all those thoughts aside as Leia spoke, "Why are you telling me this Azakhaban, why have you gone to the trouble to quit your job, journey here undetected, and deliver precious intelligence from the New Order directly into the hands of their enemies?"

Vodo was wondering the same. He looked up at the tall Wookie, awaiting his response.

<i>A Sad story</i>

Vodo knew the type well. He thought back to his own past...

His first memories was growing up in a small orphanage on Coruscant. He had been told his parents had left him there when he was a very small child. He grew up in that little place with perhaps fifteen other small children.

When he was old enough, they let him go, but before they did they gave him a small package left for him by his parents with instructions not to give it to him until he was old enough. Inside was a small pyrimidal device he later discovered to be a Jedi Holocron.

He had assumed it was a family heirloom, passed down from generation to generation. He had promptly given it to Kahn upon his arrival to the Jedi Academy. It was now safe inside the Jedi Archives within the Temple.


His thoughts snapped back to the moment at hand. He looked up at Leia, raising his hand slightly, "If I may interject, Master."

She nodded slightly to him and he continued, "I grew up in Coruscant's slums, near the old senate building. I did hear of things being found, pertaining to the Jedi now and then." He turned to Azak, "Does the Empire know of your findings?" He asked.

Vodo nodded, again going silent.

He reflected on everything he had learned about the current situation thus far. It all seemed somewhat odd, like a freak chance.

The Jedi were almost completely destroyed, and the Emperor was known for his fanaticism concerning the destruction of the Order. The Temple had been all but demolished, and Vodo had thought all records had been destroyed.


He raised his hand again, "What exactly did you find?" He asked quietly, "I know you said something about the old Jedi Council, but what exactly is it?"

The holographic schematic rotated slowly as the three studied it, and finally Leia broke the silence.

"From what little I've seen and heard of the Old Republic's layout, I think you might just be right... I don't think we should get our hopes up, but this may very well be the greatest find this Order has ever had the opportunity of making."

Leia flicked the display off and gestured to Azakhaban.

"You are probably tired and weary from travel, the services of the Academy are at your disposal, if you will accept them. I am trusting that you will not betray us now, after all the trouble you went to just in getting this information to us safely. If you would leave us now... I'll have someone take care of whatever you might need for the time being, while we look into this matter in more detail. I will make sure you stay informed.... I can't even begin to thank you for your services, especially if everything you have told us is true..."

Azak climbed to his feet and bowed to the two Jedi.

[It is my pleasurrrre] he rumbled, and took his leave as Leia paged for someone to come take care of him.


***


After Azakhaban had departed, Leia switched back on the hologram and let it hang in the air once again, rotating slowly before them. The hologram separated Leia and Vodo, and neither could see the other's composure through it. But then, Jedi didn't necessarily need to see each other to know the thoughts and feelings of their companions....

Leia could feel Vodo's excitement, as well as her own (though more subdued, she was partially holding it back in favor of remaining the professional Jedi Master) through the Force.

Again it was Leia who spoke first.

"We've never been presented with this kind of opportunity before. It's a big one, Vodo...."

Leia steepled her fingers and leaned forward on her elbows on the desk. She took a deep breath, as if steeling herself for what she was about to say next.

"For a while now we've lived in relative peace: studying, practicing, relaxing.... no wars, no major disputes or attacks.... but now we have the opportunity to make a difference. If we were to.... infiltrate Coruscant, and somehow recover those records, who knows what might happen? Supposedly the Jedi archives were some of the most complete historical archives of their time, if a vast wealth of knowledge like that fell into the wrong hands...."

She paused.

"We've been presented with a big opportunity, one that I think we should take...."