The Heart of the Galaxy: A Star Wars Story (with Legends)

Chapter 25 - The Battle Comes

The Jedi stood at the base of the Hill. Han and the troopers busied themselves making last minute adjustments to their weapons. Sabine sat in the pilot's seat of the White Loth Cat, where she could man the guns remotely.

Admiral Bwua'tu had arrived shortly before dawn and they knew Agati would not be far behind. Reluctantly, Ezra pulled himself away from Sabine with one final kiss.

"Be careful, Coco Bean."

"You be careful, you crazy Loth-cat." Sabine's voice held tears.

"Me come," Violet-Meadows reached up to clutch her father's hand.

"I think you'd better stay with Mama, Honey," Sabine held out her hand to her little daughter.

Something passed over Ezra's face. "Stay with Mama for now, Violet-Meadows," he agreed.

Keeping the little ones safely on the ships seemed like a wise idea. Yet Ezra's vision had shown him another path. The younglings were part of the whole and before the end they must all stand together. He had seen what would happen if they failed.

"Come with me for a moment," he said, finally making up his mind. Opening up a comm channel to the other ships, he asked Han, Chewie and the Clones to join them outside. Scooping up Cerulean-Skies, he led Sabine down the ramp, followed by Violet-Meadows, Grogu, Jacen Syndulla Dume and Pypey.

Outside, he joined the rest of the Jedi. Whie and Talisbeth sat partway up the Hill, deep in meditation. Allora, Dev and Kyp were fine-tuning their lightsabers. Jai, Pan and Tallulah simply stood, gazing at their beloved Hill. Leia was engaged in a quiet comm conversation with the Admiral. Luke and Mara lay in the soft grass, holding hands with little Ben between them.

Ezra stepped to the center of the little group. Slowly, they turned to him, their faces expectant. Luke spoke.

"You have seen something."

It was a statement, not a question. Ezra nodded anyway.

"Yes. Something about Kyber. It truly is the heart of the Galaxy. If Agati succeeds in taking the crystal and destroying Kyber, our Galaxy will be no more."

A shiver ran through the assembled Jedi and a collective gasp sounded from their friends and family. Sabine squeezed Ezra's hand. For several long moments, silence reigned.

A small voice broke the stillness. "Then we 'top him." Anakin Solo gazed up at the adults, solemn and sincere.

"Jedi are 'posed to protect the Galaxy," agreed Jaina.

Luke smiled at his niece and nephew. "And that's what we're going to do."

"The literal heart," Nek's deep voice purred over the commlink, "I had surmised as much."

Ezra scowled in the receiver's general direction. "Nek, do you think that just once, when I make a galaxy-shattering revelation, you could at least pretend that you didn't already know?"

"I could, but you would easily detect my dissembling through the Force."

"Yeah, I guess I would. Thanks for coming, by the way. Agati is almost here. I can feel it." Ezra smiled wryly. "And, yes, Grand Admiral, I am aware that you already know. Jedi and fellow warriors- let's do battle."

Nek Bwua'tu gazed at the read-outs with narrowed eyes. His cousins Alea and Eram had infiltrated Agati's lair and decrypted a wealth of information. Some of their findings pointed to a detailed conspiracy but what interested him most at the moment was a database on Kyber. Labeled "the Crystal Planet", it held mathematical equations estimating the power the planet could generate, approximate coordinates for the planet, the coordinates for the hyperspace lanes to reach it and a chart showing the one place where the protective barrier that hid the system from view could be breached.