fact.

Anakin shook his head. “Because for now the Empire is not safe for you, not for any of you.” The Jedi waved a hand in the direction of the rooms beyond where the rest of the men were sleeping. “You know the Emperor is dead, don't you?”

“Yes, my Lord,” Balto replied.

“Did they tell you how he died?”

“No, they did not. They said the Death Star had been destroyed in battle and so I assumed he perished in the explosion.”

“Well, what was left of his body certainly would have been space dust along with the Death Star, but he was dead well before that point.”

Balto caught a glimpse of something as Anakin spoke; dark figures locked in struggle, the flare of evil lightning. Father, please! He saw a sudden flash of expended energy accompanied by sensations of relief and sharp joy. The shared experience was intense and Balto felt glad he was seated.

“You killed him, didn't you? To save your son from the Emperor.” Balto felt a warm tear roll off his cheekbone before he could stop it and blotted his eyes with his sleeve to ward off any others.

“I did it to save him, and in doing so I saved myself. Luke’s stubborn faith restored my sanity, my wholeness.” Anakin pressed both hands to his chest. “There is much healing to be done, for me and for many others, but right now I can help you. I will do what I can for you and for those who were in service to me.” Anakin’s smile returned. “It seems to me I’ve felt that kind of stubbornness before, in men who insisted on serving an evil lord with faithfulness.”

“But you weren’t…!” Balto checked himself and tried again. “I mean, you had honor and something that…” Balto closed his hands as if trying to grasp for some indefinable word. “I could feel it.”

Anakin’s grin was so wide the corners of his eyes crinkled. “What was I saying about stubbornness?” He pointed a finger at the middle of Balto’s furry chest. “That heart of yours is an entirely unlooked-for gift and I am humbled by it. You held up a small light during the years of darkness.”

Much to Balto’s embarrassment, Anakin bowed deeply to him as if he were some royal personage. While he struggled to find his voice, Anakin straightened, clapped his hands and spoke briskly. “Now then, back to business. You can’t return to the Empire, Commander Balto.”

“But the Empire— I'm an Imperial officer; I can't just leave.” Balto looked toward the room beyond his own. “They can't leave either.”

“You must. It is not safe to return, with the Emperor dead. With Darth Vader gone, who would be next in line for the throne?”

Balto considered the question for several moments. “You would have been the one to succeed him. If you are not there to take the reins of power the ones most eager to take his place would be members of the Emperor’s entourage like Sate Pestage.” Balto shuddered at the thought. “He is a professional backstabbing sycophant.”

“You can see now why I say the Empire will not be safe enough for you to return. Pestage and others of the inner circle will vie for control with ambitious Moffs and military leaders.” Anakin’s face was grave as he spoke.

“It will be chaos.”

“For a brief time only and then it will be war between those who control the various factions. You and I both know they will spend Imperial lives without a care to secure their grip on power.” Anakin looked at Balto sadly. “I am sorry, but the life you had has been lost along with the stability of the Empire.” He looked away for a time. “The Empire will survive in a diminished form, but you and the others will not be able to return for many years.”

Once again Balto found himself grasping at the offered wisp of hope. “But we will be able to return someday?”

“Yes, some day.” Anakin smiled at him. “If you still want to.” Seating himself on Balto’s bunk, he leaned toward the officer and lowered his voice. “Once you complete your Jedi training, you may go wherever you please.”

“My what?!” Balto felt the abyss open beneath his feet. “I can’t do any such thing! I’m an Imperial officer – and I’m still in the service! Danger or not, I can’t just leave without permission and neither can my people. We’d never be able to return if we simply went AWOL.” He drew in a deep breath in an attempt to calm himself. “You know this, my Lord.”

“Sometimes a sense of honor is most inconvenient.” Anakin frowned momentarily then his expression smoothed. “You wouldn’t be yourself without it.” Propping his chin in his hand the Jedi looked beyond Balto to the data terminal. “Tell me, Commander, would you accept an honorable discharge from the Empire?”

“If I were given all the legal papers and everything? Yes, Sir. I think the others would accept it as well, if I presented the case to them properly, but such a thing is not possible given the Empire is still in a state of war.” Balto looked at Anakin and felt a slight surge of alarm along his nerves. While he did not know the Jedi’s facial expressions that well, he did understand the feeling of mischief radiating along with that little half-smile.

“Is the list complete?” Anakin pointed at the data terminal.

“Yes, my Lord, but really, it’s quite impossible. The odds—”

“Never tell me the odds.” The half-smile had become a grin of pure devilry. “You take care of the possible and leave the rest to me.” Before Balto could begin to think of any further arguments, Anakin rose. “I’ll be back.” Turning, he walked away through the wall and vanished.

Balto puffed out a small groan. “I have a bad feeling about this.”

Part Three

Three days passed after Anakin Skywalker's visit. Part of the time was spent in what the Rebels called ‘formal debriefings’, but were really just relatively polite sessions of interrogation meant to discover if Balto or his men possessed any information of tactical value. It did not take the Rebel intelligence officers too long to learn the only people who might have had useful information were the four officers, and all of them, including Commander Balto and Jenna, readily admitted that with the deaths of the Emperor and Darth Vader, the tactical plans they knew had been rendered useless. The movement of ships, the positioning of troops, everything regarding the disposition of the Imperial military forces was now a large unknown factor, given the chaos caused by the loss of the two strongest leaders of the Empire.

In between those sessions, Balto and his men were allowed to exercise and use the ship's recreational section. They were accompanied by armed escorts as they traveled back and forth between their quarters and the rec room, but were not harassed or abused by their guards. One afternoon, after a hard run through Track, Balto found Lieutenant Orvit waiting for him on the sidelines. The lieutenant was carrying a hardcopy file folder under one arm and his face held an expression somewhere between amusement and surprise.

“Lieutenant! Good to see you again.” Balto was honestly glad to see the officer, as he was one of the rebels with whom he felt most comfortable. He had learned during the course of a long conversation with Orvit that the man had once been an Imperial officer; switching sides not long after his home world of Alderan had been destroyed by the Death Star. Orvit had been pleased to find a few more Alderanian survivors among Balto’s troopers and he had been trying to encourage everyone to stay with the New Republic. 

“Commander.” Orvit grinned at Balto, gave him a quick salute and offered him the file folder. “I’m not sure how you managed it, but your papers have arrived in record time.”

“Our papers?” Balto took the folder and peered inside curiously. “What papers?”

“The papers you requested from Imperial Center. You've got pull, Commander, or else friends in very high places back on Coruscant. I've never known military paperwork to come through so quickly, not in the Empire or the Rebellion.”

Balto pulled out several of the uppermost documents and quickly scanned the first one. “This is an honorable discharge from the Imperial navy for Lieutenant Tazlon!” Balto riffled through the papers. “And here is one for Corporal Star, and for Captain Jenna, and… for me.” Opening the folder Balto flipped through the remaining papers, shaking his head in disbelief as he did so.

“I think you'll find honorable discharge papers for everyone in your group, Commander. My CO checked them himself. Quite frankly, he was surprised to find Imperial headquarters had managed to process discharges for people in several different branches of the service and deliver the paperwork in one tidy bundle.” Orvit waved an expressive hand.

“I mean, you and I both know how it was back at Imperial Center. What were the odds of them getting everything done like this?”

Balto stared at Orvit without really seeing him, his hands clutching the folder tightly. “’Never tell me the odds’,” he murmured softly. He did it. He actually did it. Slowly Balto breathed out a long, soft sigh, feeling some of his long-held tension drain away. “This is very good news indeed. We’re free now, free to choose.”

Orvit nodded and gave Balto an encouraging smile. “I hope that means you will choose the New Republic.”

“We'll see. I need to present the news to my people and then they will have to select the course of action that seems best to them. Technically, now that we have been discharged, I am no longer their commanding officer. I won't be able to order them to stay or go.”

“Ah, but they trust your judgment, Commander. Whatever you recommend will hold great weight in their minds,” said Orvit.

“Well then, allow me to gather my people together and speak to them. After that, they