Chapter 55: Schemes and Virtue

Once in their speeder and on the way back to their hotel, the cyborg let out a rare sigh of relief, which she hadn't even shed after being attacked by the Dark Apostles. Rey couldn't help but stare at her and ask, "Were things really that bad."

Regaining her usual poise, the cyborg responded, "That was the closest the Galaxy has come to war since the Exogal."

The Jedi gulped and couldn't help but blurt, "How, things looked like they were going well to me."

Emi shook her head and explained, "Things were going too good. The imperialists and corporations clearly intended to make that conference a strategic victory." She pointed to Rey and went on, "You unexpectedly flipped the tables; with Dukmar's hologram on top of that, they were clearly panicking."

Rey nodded as if she understood what this meant and inquired, "Isn't that a good thing."

Emi looked at the Jedi for a moment as if contemplating whether or not the supposed savior of the galaxy was a moron or not. After coming to her conclusion, the aide elaborated, "In moderation, yes, but everything happened so fast they might have decided to just swipe the board." The unknowing look in Rey's eyes led the cyborg to deflate and explain things more simply: "Many of the imperialists and corporations don't want peace. You made peace look both very appealing and very possible. If they can't beat you in politics, then they can just choose to disengage entirely." Meeting the Jedis gaze seriously, she finished, "No dialogue, no concord, no peace."

The former Junker from Jakku finally understood what the woman was talking about but was displeased and blurted, "Then how are we supposed to achieve peace if they don't even want it."

Emi nodded and explained, "The delegates might not want peace because it threatens their personal well-being and power." her eyes grew bright as she added, "But if the people they represent want peace badly enough, then they conduct possibly refuse them." She gained a distant expression as she went on, "The galaxy is full of smart people who can read between the lines. The concord is actively being broadcasted to every major star system there is." Refocusing on Rey, she concluded, "That's why we have to be careful. We have to give the Anti-Peace Faction enough hope that the concord will fuel while giving the people enough hope that it will succeed."

This lesson reminded her a lot of what Admiral Primidian had told her. When he had been describing everything, it had all seemed so clear, but now that she was caught up in the middle of all these politics, she felt so confused. Feeling worried, she asked, "Does that mean I messed up?"

Her aide shook her head and returned to her usual self before responding, "You performed admirably; if there's anyone who can handle things from here, then it's the Chancellor." After considering she responded with a slightly happy face, "Or Lady Organa, she is so like her Uncle."

The cyborg returned to her usual neutral state while the Jedi slouched back, terrified by how much emotion the woman had just displayed in the last few minutes. Rey let out a sigh and rubbed her eyes, baffled at how the Jedi had managed to guide Galactic politics for more than a thousand years. She had no idea that in the conference room that she had just left, a political debate that would go down in history was taking place. The session would be extended in its duration seven times by a nearly unanimous vote each time and last well into the evening. He was the first chancellor of the New Republic against the ex-imperials and corporations, and yet he never backed down and never moved an inch in his propositions. The conference would set a precedent for the prosecution of war crimes and crimes committed during wartime that would exist for centuries, and her name would be tied to the proceeding eternally.

Rather than thinking about the implications of her actions, the Jedi's thoughts returned to the brilliant hologram of Blain Organa. She couldn't help but respond to Emi, "His speech was spectacular."

Emi nodded and responded, "Today was a real treat. That recording does not exist anywhere in the New Republic archives. I'm surprised Dukmar had something so rare."

Rey considered this and couldn't help but confess, "I didn't think the Wookies had it…" She met the cyborg's eyes and clarified, "I think Primidian sent it to them."

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The aide pondered this for a moment and asked, "What makes you say that?"

Rey was surprised by her friend actually not knowing something and confessed, "I'm pretty sure the hologram was delivered by the Admiral's intern, a boy named Lex. I met him on the Liberator."

Emi's eyes went blank as she seemed to gaze upon something in her mind, no doubt relying on her cybernetic interface. After a moment, she returned to reality and responded, "I have no record of the Admiral having an intern." She then shrugged, "There is little data on the Liberator available, so you may be right." Her gaze grew distant in a new way this time as she remarked, "But it is an interesting theory."

Rey felt a bit uneasy at this but decided not to linger on the subject. Primidian was a mysterious man with access to the old Imperial Archives; it was hard to tell what sort of aces he had up his sleeve. The Jedi decided to clear her mind and meditate a bit to calm her nerves. Once back at the hotel, she was met by a massive crowd of people who were cheering and trying to take pictures. They had holograms of her fighting the terrorists, which caused her to feel a little embarrassed. Emi noticed this and called, "Driver, take us to the back entrance."

Rey smiled at her protector as they flew around to a private landing platform from which they returned to Rey's room. Here, she sat down with a holo-pad and began to review the evidence gathered on the Dark Apostles' attack on the delegates and their attack on her. There were hundreds of hours of footage from a number of different cameras. However, the summary stated that the evidence was inconclusive. The Jedi wanted to cry, but she decided to give it her all and started to review the videos herself, looking for anything the Security Force might have missed.

Hours passed by slowly, and eventually, her eyes began to burn from watching sped-up security footage. She rewatched their attack on the delegate several times over from several different angles. She watched when they first appeared on footage from level 2552 and when they disappeared on level 4122, moving in the opposite direction of where they had come, which also did not match the locations of their known bases. Her brain began to hurt, but she kept on watching and searching for a clue.

The evening soon arrived, and the Jedi felt mentally exhausted but kept pushing; it was at this point a small hand nudged her shoulder. She looked over with bloodshot eyes to Fama, who said, "Emi told me if you were still awake by this time, to tell you to go to sleep."

Rey looked back to her screen and responded, "I don't need sleep. I need answers."

The child pouted, though, at this same time, a notification popped up on the holoboard. Rey accessed it, and her heart dropped. It was a message from Minerva leading her to a news report on another attack by the Dark Apostles. This time, they hit a high-end dinner, and with no Jedi, it had become a slaughter. This time, the Bureaucratic Party of the New Republic and the Corporate Alliance both had heavy losses. The fact that the ex-imperials were being targeted had everyone eyeing their faction even more, though they still denied any involvement.

Rey let out a groan and verged on tears as a video of the Dark Apostles leader, Cronos Naux, and his right-hand man, Luca, appeared. There was no audio, but it was clear the man was monologuing again about killing everyone who stood in his way. The Jedi felt ready to chuck the holo pad against the wall, at which point Fama grabbed her arm and began to tug on her. Rey looked at the child and asked, "What are you doing/"

Fama kept pulling and grumbled, "You're going to hunt the cultists tomorrow. You need to rest, or you might get hurt."

Rey let out a sigh and felt a bit embarrassed over her padawan having to take care of her. She ruffled the girl's hair and sat forward, "Fine, I'll get some sleep."

The padawan seemed pleased and then grew curious as she asked, "Ooo, did my vision help at all."

The Jedi froze up, having forgotten Fama's vision entirely, causing the girl to puff up her cheeks. Rey put the helipad down and remarked, "Okay, I forgot." She met the girl's eyes and said, "Tomorrow evening, we'll talk about it as long as you want."

Fama considered this for a moment before her eyes grew big, and she asked, "Can I go to Daycare tomorrow."

Rey wanted to thrash the child but held back and begrudgingly conceded, "Fine, but you must be on your best behavior, and you still need to do double practice."

The girl was ecstatic to hear this and hugged Rey's arm before squealing, "Master, you're the best." She then quickly pulled away and blurted quickly, "I'm going to bed; you should too. See you tomorrow."

The Jedi watched her padawan zoom away, and in her heart, she was happy, but her mind told her she was being a very poor teacher. A Jedi had to be disciplined, and just now, neither she nor Fama had passed the test the universe had presented them. She almost wanted to call out and tell the child she had changed her mind, but she didn't. Rey knew it would ruin the girl's mood for days and didn't want to punish the child for her master's mistake. After taking a breath and rising to her feet, the Jedi told herself she would do better in the future and leave the matter at that for now. She had no way of knowing that inside her room, Fama was feeling equally guilty at having been so scheming.

The padawan might have been young, but she knew what the important qualities of a Jedi were. It hurt, but the next day, rather than relishing in daycare, she remained in her room carrying out the end of her punishment as she had been supposed to. She had been eager to share her emotional triumph with her master, but the following day did not leave much time for anything other than chaos.