Ryloth turned beneath the Republic cruiser.
From the observation chamber, the planet appeared divided between shadow and sunlight. The illuminated surface showed stretches of red stone and pale clouds, while the far side disappeared beneath the darkness of space. Transports moved between the cruiser and the planet in a steady line, carrying supplies to the command post established below.
Master Soon Bayts stood before the windows with his hands held behind his back. His reflection rested faintly across the transparisteel: dark skin marked by age, closely cut gray hair, and the still expression that had guided him through negotiations across worlds where a careless word could become more dangerous than a weapon.
A report remained open upon the display behind him.
Padmé entered the observation chamber and stopped several steps from the Jedi Master. She had expected to find him reviewing updates from the teams spread throughout the Outer Rim. Instead, he continued watching the planet without acknowledging the information waiting behind him.
"Is something wrong, Master Bayts?"
Soon remained near the window. "I have received a report from Knights Fisto and Secura."
Padmé approached the display. "They found something?"
"They found Beacon."
The name drew her attention toward the report. The first image showed three vessels surrounding a damaged Republic shuttle. Two were Z-95 Headhunters. The third was a heavily modified EML-850 freighter bearing the golden emblem Kit and Aayla had described.
"They were attacked?" Padmé asked.
"By pirates. Beacon intervened before the shuttle was destroyed." Soon turned from the window. "The pirate vessel was disabled rather than destroyed. Afterward, Beacon escorted our Jedi to one of its facilities and repaired the damage."
"That suggests they did not consider the Jedi enemies."
"No. Their actions suggest the opposite."
Soon touched the display. The image changed.
Rishi Moon appeared beneath several orbital readings. Metal structures covered connected craters while hangars extended beneath the surface. Patrol craft surrounded the installation, and lines of transport traffic moved between the moon and Rishi.
Then the capital ships appeared.
Padmé enlarged the first vessel. Its long armored frame stretched beyond the smaller ships surrounding it. Weapons and reinforced compartments covered an old design she had seen within Republic naval archives.
"A Dreadnaught-class heavy cruiser."
"Three were confirmed," Soon said. "There may be others outside the area observed by Kit and Aayla."
Padmé moved between the images. One cruiser rested beside an orbital platform while repair crews worked across its hull. Another traveled above the moon with several smaller vessels following it. None appeared prepared for battle, but their presence changed the meaning of everything the Republic had gathered about Beacon.
The organization did not merely escort freighters or defend isolated settlements.
It possessed a fleet.
"How long did our earlier information say Beacon had existed?" Padmé asked.
"Approximately two years."
"Three heavy cruisers, fighters, an established base, and enough personnel to maintain all of it." Padmé looked toward the planet below. "The Chancellor needs to know."
"He will."
She heard the part of the answer Soon had left unfinished. "But not yet," he said. "I intend to send a complete report."
"This information is already significant."
"It is significant enough that the manner in which we present it may determine what happens afterward." Soon moved beside the display. "If Coruscant receives only these images, Beacon will become an unregistered military power operating beyond Republic supervision. Some senators will call for an investigation. Others will demand that its vessels be surrendered before anyone asks why they were acquired."
"They may believe Beacon intends to use them against the Republic."
"They may." Soon changed the display back to the first image. The Beacon vessels surrounded the damaged Jedi shuttle while the disabled pirate ship drifted nearby. "This is also part of the report."
Padmé studied the image.
"They possessed enough firepower to destroy the pirates," Soon continued. "They chose not to. They discovered two Jedi searching for their organization and brought them inside their primary facility. They provided repairs, medical assistance, and information without demanding payment or concessions."
"That does not tell us what they intend to do with the cruisers."
"No. Neither does the fact that they possess them."
Padmé looked toward him. "How long do you intend to delay the report?"
"Long enough to ask Beacon that question."
The answer carried none of the hesitation Padmé had expected. Soon was not attempting to conceal the discovery. He was preventing Coruscant from deciding what Beacon represented before its leaders were allowed to speak.
"The Chancellor asked me to keep him informed," she said.
"And you should." Soon held her gaze. "But what will you tell him today? That we discovered a hidden army preparing to expand across the Outer Rim? Or that a coalition of unprotected worlds assembled enough force to defend itself when no government would?"
"We do not know which is true."
"That is why I want the next report to contain more than our fear."
Padmé returned her attention to the moon base. The Senate had turned incomplete information into certainty before. A hidden fleet would give every faction upon Coruscant something useful: proof that the Outer Rim required greater control, proof that the Republic had lost its authority, or proof that military expansion was necessary before another power filled the absence.
None of those arguments required Beacon's intentions to matter.
"A meeting," Padmé said.
Soon inclined his head slightly. "That was my conclusion."
"Then allow me to attend."
"Senator—"
"I was sent here as the Chancellor's representative. If Beacon possesses this much influence, any relationship with them will eventually reach beyond the Jedi Order." Padmé gestured toward the report. "They may be more willing to answer questions if the Republic sends someone prepared to hear their concerns rather than demand control of their ships."
"You are assuming they wish for a relationship with the Republic."
"No. I am asking for the opportunity to discover whether one is possible."
Soon considered her words. "The information they gave to Kit and Aayla suggests that distinction may matter."
Padmé looked toward him. "What else did they learn?"
The Jedi Master opened the final section of the report. Most of it contained Kit and Aayla's account of their meeting with Sion Halcard and Vania. One sentence had been separated from the rest.
BEACON LEADERSHIP CONFIRMS THAT THE FORCE-USER ENCOUNTERED ON SERENNO IS THEIR FOUNDER.
Padmé read it again. "They confirmed it?"
"They believe the two men are the same."
"Did they provide his name?"
"No."
"Why not?"
"The only person within Beacon who knows it refused to reveal it."
Padmé looked from the report to Soon. "Yet she told them he was a Jedi."
"She said he remains part of the Order, although the Council did not send him to Serenno. She also confirmed that he had been following unusual shipments and financial movements throughout the Outer Rim."
"The same movements that led him to Count Ramil's records."
"Yes."
Padmé moved toward the windows. The unknown man had become more difficult to understand with every answer. He had concealed himself from Luminara, opposed a Sith, founded an armed organization, and then left that organization to pursue a network of secret transactions alone.
Beacon knew who he was, and that made its leaders the strongest connection the search had found.
"This may be our only opportunity to learn where he went after Serenno," Padmé said. "If we approach Beacon as a threat, that opportunity disappears."
"It may create a greater problem than one lost opportunity."
Padmé turned toward him.
Soon looked at the three cruisers upon the display. "Fear encourages preparations. Preparations are seen as threats. Before long, both sides possess proof that the other intended conflict from the beginning."
"Then we speak before anyone begins preparing."
Soon lowered his hand to the communications controls. "I will contact Kit and Aayla. They can present the request to Beacon's leadership."
"And if Beacon agrees?"
"You will attend with me."
Padmé nodded.
Soon began preparing the transmission. "The Chancellor will receive a report once we know whether Beacon intends to speak with us. Until then, nothing concerning its fleet leaves this command."
"I understand."
The first signal departed the cruiser and traveled toward the Rishi system.
Padmé watched Ryloth turn beneath them. Somewhere beyond the world, twelve Jedi continued searching for a man without a name. Two of them had discovered the organization he left behind.
For the first time, someone upon the other side of the search could answer.
The message from Ryloth reached Rishi Moon the following morning.
Aayla Secura sat before the communications terminal inside the quarters Beacon had provided. The transmission carried Master Bayts's personal encryption, but its path through Beacon's relay network had delayed it for several hours. She read the message twice before transferring it onto a smaller datapad.
Kit stood near the narrow window across the room. From there, he could see part of the crater containing Dock Seven. Their Republic shuttle remained upon its landing platform while maintenance crews replaced the damaged stabilizer. Beyond it, armed patrols moved between hangars, cargo workers directed arriving transports, and several children followed an instructor toward the classrooms built deeper within the base.
"Master Bayts wants us to arrange a meeting," Aayla said.
Kit turned from the window. "With Sion and Vania?"
"With Beacon's leadership. He wishes to come here personally."
Kit approached the table. "I doubt Beacon will enjoy another Council member arriving at their hidden base."
"He will not be alone." Aayla offered him the datapad. "Senator Amidala intends to accompany him."
Kit read the message. "I don't think that will make them feel much safer."
"Padmé is not coming with a Republic fleet."
"She is still the Chancellor's representative."
"That may be precisely why she should attend."
Kit placed the datapad upon the table. "You believe this is good news."
"I believe Master Bayts could have ordered us to leave and informed the Council that Beacon represented an unknown military threat." Aayla looked toward the activity outside. "Instead, he wants to speak with them."
Kit followed her attention toward the window. An armored patrol passed beside a group of mechanics carrying parts toward the Jedi shuttle. None of the weapons were turned upon the civilians. No one moved away from the guards as they passed.
"They are not what the Republic will expect," he said.
"No."
"The cruisers will be the first thing Coruscant sees."
"That is why someone must explain the people beneath them."
Kit remained quiet.
Aayla continued. "Beacon has influence within systems the Republic rarely reaches. If an understanding can be reached, the Jedi could receive warnings before disputes become wars. Relief supplies could travel through routes protected from pirates. People here might begin believing Coruscant is capable of offering something besides promises."
"And if the Senate decides the cruisers are more important than the people?"
"Then cooperation may end before it begins."
Kit rested one hand against the window frame. "Khan would have liked this place."
Aayla looked toward him.
"Not the weapons," Kit added. "At least, not only the weapons. He used to speak about worlds the Order helped once and then forgot because another crisis demanded our attention. He hated knowing that we left people behind with the same problems waiting for them."
"That is the second time you have mentioned him since we encountered Beacon."
"I can count."
"Neither time did you sound angry."
Kit looked back through the window. "I am still angry."
Aayla waited.
"He should have trusted us enough to say he was leaving. Nothing I have seen here changes that." Kit watched a maintenance droid carry a replacement component beneath their shuttle. "But this is something he would have understood. People no one protected decided to protect one another. They did not wait for the Senate to notice them."
"Perhaps Khan saw more of the Outer Rim than either of us understood."
"He had four years to see it."
The bitterness remained, but it no longer controlled every word.
Aayla rose from the communications station. "Understanding why someone made a choice does not require you to pretend the choice caused no harm."
Kit looked toward her.
"You are allowed to remain angry with him," she continued. "You are also allowed to miss him."
His attention returned to the base outside. "I did not say I missed him."
"You did not have to."
Kit released a quiet breath. A trace of his familiar smile appeared, although it did not last. "Perhaps Beacon has made you too confident."
"Perhaps."
He collected the datapad. "Then let us see whether their leaders are willing to meet Master Bayts."
Aayla fastened her cloak around her shoulders. "And Senator Amidala."
"I suspect that part will require more discussion."
They left the quarters.
The corridors outside had become more crowded than the previous night. Pilots moved toward their assigned hangars while supply workers carried sealed containers into storage. A medical team passed in the opposite direction, guiding several injured members of Travis's patrol toward the infirmary. The fighting beyond Beacon's protected routes had continued while the Jedi slept.
Kit and Aayla asked the nearest guard to contact Sion Halcard.
The answer returned several minutes later. Sion was meeting with patrol commanders concerning the pirate force encountered the previous day and could not leave immediately. Before the Jedi could decide whether to wait, another message arrived.
Vania would receive them.
A Beacon officer escorted them away from the residential levels and into a quieter section of the base. The meeting room waiting there was larger than Sion's office but contained less evidence of its owner. A circular table occupied the center. Communications equipment covered one wall, while another displayed a map of the surrounding sectors. Hundreds of small lights marked shipping routes, settlements, and Beacon patrols moving throughout the Outer Rim.
Vania stood beside the map when the Jedi entered.
"You received a response from Ryloth," she said.
Kit glanced toward Aayla. "We did."
Vania turned from the display. "Master Bayts wants to meet with Beacon's leadership."
Kit paused. "You already know what he asked?"
"I know who remains aboard the Republic command cruiser and why they came to Ryloth. A meeting was the most likely response to your report."
Aayla placed the datapad upon the table. "Master Bayts believes speaking directly may prevent misunderstandings. He wants to discuss Beacon's activities, its connection to the person we are searching for, and whether cooperation with the Jedi is possible."
Vania approached the table. "That is a more measured response than I expected."
"He will not be coming alone," Kit said. "Senator Padmé Amidala wishes to attend as the Chancellor's representative."
Recognition crossed Vania's face.
It was the same brief change Kit had seen when he and Aayla first gave her their names.
"Padmé Amidala," Vania repeated.
"You know of her?" Aayla asked.
"I know her history. Naboo's occupation, her work within its government, and the positions she has taken since entering the Senate."
"She is not coming to threaten Beacon," Aayla said.
"That may not be her intention."
"But you believe the Republic will."
Vania looked toward the map. "Intentions change when reports reach people who were not present."
Kit moved closer to the table. "That is why Master Bayts wants a meeting before he sends one."
"A sensible precaution."
"Then you will agree?"
"I will bring the request before the others." Vania's attention returned to the Jedi. "I cannot promise they will accept Senator Amidala as a representative of the Republic."
Aayla considered the distinction before answering. "You are willing to meet the Jedi, but not the government they serve."
"The Jedi do not serve the Republic in the same way its officials do."
"The Order has defended it for thousands of years," Kit said. "Our responsibilities are connected."
"Connected does not make them the same."
Vania touched the regional map. Several worlds brightened near its outer edge.
"One of those settlements petitioned the Republic for medical assistance after an illness spread through its mining districts. Seven months passed without a response. When the same illness reduced the ore shipments purchased by a Core World corporation, trade officials arrived within twelve days."
Neither Jedi interrupted.
"Another system requested protection after pirates began taking vessels from its primary route," Vania continued. "The Republic informed its government that no patrols were available. When the pirates attacked a transport carrying property belonging to the Commerce Guild, armed ships arrived before the end of the week."
Her hand lowered from the map.
"That is the Republic known by the people who built Beacon."
Aayla looked at the illuminated systems. "Not every request can be answered. The Republic contains thousands of worlds."
"Yet the requests connected to profit are answered quickly."
"That failure does not mean everyone within the Republic accepts it."
"No. Senator Amidala's record suggests that she does not." Vania looked toward the datapad. "That is why I will recommend allowing her to attend."
Kit noticed the careful wording. "But not as the Chancellor's representative."
"She may come to understand who we are. She may speak. She may carry what she learns back to Coruscant." Vania's voice remained calm. "She may not arrive expecting to tell us what the Republic permits us to possess or how far we are allowed to defend our people."
"The cruisers will concern them," Aayla said.
"The Hutts possess fleets. Corporate organizations maintain private armies large enough to occupy worlds. Coruscant tolerates both because their power has been written into treaties, contracts, and Senate votes." Vania gestured toward the moon surrounding them. "Beacon's ships are frightening because no one in the capital approved them."
"That does not mean the concern is false," Kit replied. "Three heavy cruisers could protect settlements. They could also force those settlements to obey you."
Vania met his gaze. "Yes."
The direct agreement surprised him more than a denial would have.
"If Beacon ever becomes what we were created to oppose, those worlds should resist us," she continued. "Power does not become safe because the person holding it claims a good purpose."
Aayla studied her. "Your founder taught you that."
"He taught us to survive long enough to make our own decisions."
"And because he was a Jedi, you trust the Order."
"Not without limits."
Kit looked toward the routes marked across the wall. "What would cooperation mean to Beacon?"
"Information shared before pirates or syndicates become strong enough to control another system. Distress calls received without passing through officials who decide whether the people sending them are economically important. Medical transports allowed to use routes our ships have already secured." Vania turned back toward them. "We are not asking the Jedi to command Beacon. We are asking them to recognize that people beyond the Republic's strongest borders still deserve to be heard."
"That is something the Order can discuss," Aayla said.
"The Senate will still become involved eventually," Kit warned.
"Eventually is different from allowing it to define this meeting before it begins."
Silence settled across the room.
Vania picked up the datapad but did not open the encrypted message. "I will speak with Sion and the remaining members of our leadership. If they agree, Master Bayts will receive a location and the conditions under which the meeting will take place."
"And Senator Amidala?" Aayla asked.
Vania looked toward her. "I will argue that she should be present."
"As a senator?"
"As Padmé Amidala."
Kit's eyes narrowed slightly. "You recognized her name."
"I told you that I know her record."
"You recognized ours as well."
Vania returned the datapad to the table. "Perhaps your Order has produced fewer Jedi worth remembering than you believe."
A faint smile touched Kit's expression. "That almost sounded like a compliment."
"Do not become accustomed to it."
The moment passed quickly. Vania returned her attention to the regional map, and her expression became serious again. "There is one matter you should make clear to Master Bayts. Agreeing to speak does not place Beacon beneath Republic authority. If Senator Amidala arrives with demands concerning our fleet, the meeting will end."
"We will tell him," Aayla said.
"Then I will contact you once the others have decided."
Kit and Aayla inclined their heads before leaving the room. The Beacon officer waiting outside escorted them back toward the residential levels.
They passed several corridors before Kit spoke.
"She knew Padmé."
"She knew of her."
"That was not the same reaction she gave when speaking about the Chancellor or the Republic."
Aayla had noticed it as well. Vania had repeated Padmé's name before answering, just as she had examined Kit and Aayla after learning theirs.
"She recognized all three of us," Kit continued.
"Yes."
"How many Jedi could have given her those names?"
"More than one."
"Not many."
Aayla looked toward him. The answer forming behind his expression carried more hope than evidence, and perhaps more anger than either of them had resolved.
"We do not know enough yet," she said.
Kit remained silent.
"If we decide who the founder is before we have proof, everything Beacon tells us will begin fitting the answer we already want."
"That sounded like something Master Dooku would have said."
"Then listen to it."
Kit looked ahead. "I am listening."
They reached their quarters and opened the secure channel to Ryloth. Aayla began preparing their response while Kit stood beside the communications display.
Master Bayts's image appeared several minutes later.
"Knights," he said. "Were you able to present my request?"
"We spoke with Vania," Aayla answered. "She will bring it before Beacon's leadership."
"And Senator Amidala?"
"They may allow her to attend," Kit said. "But Beacon will not receive her as a representative empowered to speak for the Republic."
Soon showed no surprise. "What distinction are they asking her to make?"
Aayla looked toward Kit before answering. "She may come to learn who they are. She may not come to decide what the Republic will allow them to be."
The hologram became quiet.
"We will wait for their decision," Soon said at last. "Send the full conditions when you receive them."
"Yes, Master."
His image disappeared.
Outside the quarters, Beacon's ships continued moving between Rishi and its moon. Somewhere beyond the base, three heavy cruisers guarded routes the Republic had rarely protected. Soon, their commanders might sit across from a Jedi Master and a senator from the capital.
Whether that became the beginning of cooperation or another reason for Beacon to remain hidden would depend upon which of them arrived prepared to listen.