Jeori just lay there for a moment and let the full implications of that sink in. Everything was destroyed... but Mon Calamari had been saved. 'What of the ships at Ando? If I remember correctly we left some remaining there, in case it was assaulted?"

Her face became troubled once more. "Do you remember when Colonel Ragabag reported that Warlord Heramy Gerloc escaped?"

"Yes." His expression became curious. "Why?"

"He and a large group of Aquala seized control of the planet by force. He then destroyed the Shipyards and the Star Cruisers positioned there, and killed all of the Mon Calamari Republic officials."

Jeori spun his eyes quickly around the room, never letting them rest for more than an instant on anything-a sign of extreme distress for a Calamarian. "So we have nothing."

"No, that is not so. Admiral Filgad took command in your absence, and ordered the construction of some cruisers, as well as some shipyards. Admiral Kreegon is also away on a diplomatic mission to Kamino."

"Filgad has done well in my absence. He will have to be commended." Jeori said, almost to himself. He struggled to pull himself into a sitting position. "But it is time for me to return to command."

"No, sir!" said the medic. "You must rest. You are not yet healed!"

"I'll be fine." He assured her. "The pain isn't that bad. I'll make sure I get plenty of rest." He swung his webbed feet over the side of the bed, and slowly stood up. "Now, where is Filgad?"

“You have done well.” Jeori said, after reviewing all that High Admiral Filgad had done in his absence. “However, you have done nothing about the atrocities of Warlord Gerloc. He devastated our people, and you have done nothing.”

“My apologies, Admiral, but there was nothing I could have done. We had no fleet, we had nothing. I had to focus on rebuilding the Republic.”

“But now we must do something. This Warlord shall not go unpunished for his crimes.”

“Yes, sir.”



Jeori strode through the upper levels of Foamwander City, taking a moment to stop and examine the magnificent Shipyards overhead. From his position he could see the shipyard of Calamari III, as it continued its construction on a massive Viscount-Class Star Defender. The vessel was the largest ever designed by the Mon Calamari, and he had used it quite effectively before the fifth Imperial attack on Calamari. This one would eventually be the flagship of the Mon Calamari Republic, the enforcer of peace.

It would be some time, however, before it would be completed. The Star Defender was a massive vessel, and it took many months to construct one. He patiently awaited the day it would be completed. It would be a symbol of strength to his people, and many others who would later join the Republic.

He tore his gaze somewhat reluctantly from the shipyard, and continued down the enclosed tunnel. He had other business to attend to.

After some time he arrived at the Mon Calamari High Command building. It rose high above the others surrounding it, and today some low clouds had formed just below it pinnacle, making it appear as if it ascended into the heavens. It was a glorious example of Mon Calamari architecture, possessing of no flaws, only the smooth curving lines commonly associated with his people.

He approached the massive doors and keyed in his code. They opened slowly, beckoning him into the ever-concealing shadows within. He stepped in slowly, and the lights came on, illuminating the massive entry chamber. There was no one in it at this hour of the morning, but on days when it was full, it could easily capacitate thousands of beings. He walked over to a private turbolift, and keyed it up to his office. Some days he might stay and engross himself in the enormity of the hall, but today he had no time.

When the lift stopped, he stepped out and entered his office. He activated the lights then sat down at his desk. He had a lot of work to do.

A knock on his door startled Jeori out of his dreams. He sat up quickly, and then realized where he was. He straightened his uniform, and began typing again. It would not do if his subordinates knew that he had fallen asleep in his office.

“Come in.” he said.

A mottled green and blue Calamari head stuck through the door. “Sir, we’ve received a transmission from Ando. They want to talk to you personally.”

He swore silently to himself. If this was Warlord Gerloc, he would go to Ando with his entire fleet and blow the @#%$ to hell. “I’ll take it in my office.”

“Very well, Admiral.”

He typed a few keys at his desk, and suddenly the holo of an Aqualish-possibly female, although he couldn’t tell-appeared above his desk. “I am Admiral Jeori Teebo of the Mon Calamari Republic. You requested to talk with me?”

“Yes, Admiral. As I am sure you are aware, Warlord Heramy Gerloc took control of the planet.”

“Yes.”

“He did so with the aid of a large group of Aquala, like himself. They believed themselves to be above the Quara, and felt that they should rule the planet alone, rather than the joint government we have now. He invaded the government house and killed many Aqualish, then secured himself as head of the government. He then proceeded to destroy all of your vessels here, and sent out hunting parties to kill any who opposed him.”

Teebo said nothing, but secretly he was surprised. He knew the Aqualish to be a violent race, but he did not know that they held a hatred for one another because some had hands with fingers, and some were finned.

“Many of us, not only Quara, but also some Aquala too, fled to safety. We have organized a rebellion against his rebellion. We wish to establish peace once more.” She paused for a brief moment. “However, I think the only way to achieve our goals is by war.”

“And you want the support of the Mon Calamari Republic.”

“Yes, Admiral.” She replied.

“I will do so under one condition. You must agree to join the Republic once the threat of the Warlord has ended.”

“We were planning to do so anyway, with or without you aid.”

“Excellent.”

“However,” she said slowly, “We have one minor problem.”

“And what might that be?”

“The Warlord’s ships are ordered to shoot anyone on sight.” She thought for a moment. “We could create a diversion to allow you to land a shuttle on our world, and we could discuss this matter further.”

“Yes, that would be good.” He cocked one of his eyes to the orbiting Star Cruiser. “However, I don’t want to bring in any heavy force yet, nor let it be known that we are aiding you. Is there any way that we can sneak onto you planet, without the Warlord being aware?”

She turned aside to talk to someone off screen for a moment. “That is possible. We could sabotage the Warlord’s sensors on the night side, and then you could come in virtually undetected.”

Jeori appeared thoughtful. “That would work. We would need to set a time, though. It would have to be coordinated.”

“Yes. Come in four days, at 0600 exactly. We will be waiting for you on a rocky island in the northern hemisphere. I’ll transmit you the coordinates in a moment.”

Jeori waited until the numbers appeared on the screen. “Very well. I’ll see you then.”

She nodded, and signed off. Jeori leaned back in his chair, and put his large flippered hands behind his head. If he could pull this off, it would be excellent. He would have to make sure to finish the Warlord this time. He could not be allowed to escape again.

The shuttle shot of out hyperspace, just above the blue planet of Ando. "Right on time, sir." The pilot said. “Should we go down?”

“I see no problems, as long as the Aqualish Rebels managed to sabotage the sensors. Go slowly, though. We don’t want to alert anyone by creating a bright flare across the sky.” Jeori replied.

“Yes, sir.” The pilot turned back to the controls, keeping one eye fixed out the viewport, while the other checked readings and coordinates. “We are entering the upper atmosphere now Admiral. ETA four minutes.”

“Excellent.”

The shuttle cruised down, invisible to any observer. If the sensors had been disabled on time, they would be a cloaked ship. When they got to be about a minute from the island, however, the pilot cried out. “Sir, we have four TIEs closing in on our position. They are powering up weapons.”

Jeori swore. “I knew we should have brought an escort.”

“They’re hailing us, sir.”

“Unidentified shuttle, you have entered space under the control of Warlord Gerloc. Power down, or you will be destroyed.”

“Keep going.” Jeori said, his eyes fixed on the island now visible in the distance. “The Rebels must have defenses of some sort.”

The pilot said nothing, and just continued. Low power laser blasts from the TIEs hit the shields. They were warning shots. Jeori didn’t have much time. “Come on,” He said through clenched teeth, “Come on.”

The TIEs began to fire on full power, but the shields of the shuttle held up. Suddenly the shuttle lurched and Jeori was slammed forward, hitting his already injured head. Dizzily he managed to drag himself back into his chair. “What happened?”

“We have been caught in a tractor beam.” Replied the pilot. “It’s over.”

Jeori swore.

A pair of guards entered Jeori’s cell. One of them walked over to him and kicked him in to the groin. “Get up. The Warlord wants to see you.” Jeori stood up slowly, and staggered, putting his hand out against the wall to steady himself. One of the guards stuck a blaster into his back. “Come on.”

“And don’t try any funny business.” said the other.

They led him down a narrow hallway. It was old, and it was leaking. He could see water dripping from cracked pipes above his head. They clearly wanted him to be aware that he was a prisoner, in a beat up old jail. One of the guards stopped at a door, and pulled out a key card. He slid it through the lock, and it took a moment to confirm it. The door beeped, and the guard pushed him into it. “The Warlord will be with you shortly.”

The guard closed the door and left him there. Jeori struggled to get up. He had been treated badly the entire time he was here. He had been fed meager rations, he had been kicked around, and he had been beaten. Never once had they even asked him any questions. He guessed that the Warlord had finally learned who he was.

And that would be his mistake. Now would be the perfect chance to stage his escape. The guards had searched his body, and had taken his blaster and comlink, but they had not found his lightsaber. He had kept it concealed within his uniform. He pulled it out now. He knew that this would be the only chance he would get.

He cut open a hole in the door, then stepped out into the hallway. The Aqualish had been so certain that he would not even try to escape that they had left no guards. He smirked. They probably thought that he was too weak to escape. What they didn’t know was that he had been secretly using Jedi healing techniques. He had feigned weakness, and had feigned pain. They were so easy to fool.

He walked over to the next hallway, and then spun around quickly as he heard a noise behind him.

There was nothing.

It was faint, but he was sure he had heard something. He stretched out his Jedi senses, and surely enough, he felt a presence nearby. But as he pinpointed it, he realized that it was coming from inside the wall.

What the hell?

Then he saw a narrow beam elegonate from within, piercing out to cut a hole in the wall. A female Aqualish stepped out, then turned and looked at him in shock. “Admiral! You’re alive?”

“Of course I’m alive.” He said, relief flooding through him. This was the Aqualish who had asked him to come here. “Now quick, let’s get out of here.”
“Yeah.” She replied, and stepped back through the hole she had cut. “Come on. This will lead back to my wavespeeder.”

He followed her down, and noticed what appeared to be an elaborate labyrinth of secret tunnels. She seemed to know where she was going, but to Jeori, who was familiar with Mon Calamari architecture, he had no idea. He was lost after the first few turns.

After some time she stopped and pushed on a wall. What was invisible before became a narrow doorway. “This way.” She said. Jeori followed her, and found himself inside a cramped underwater hangar. In the middle sat an Aqualish wavespeeder. “Let’s go back to HQ.” she said, and climbed inside. Jeori speechless, followed her. He had said nothing since they had started through the tunnels.

When the speeder arrived at the HQ, Jeori had learned a great deal. The female Aqualish had told him of everything that had happened. Apparently the Peace Government, as they called themselves, had succeeded in sabotaging the sensors, but the Warlord had anticipated the maneuver and had several fighters lay in ambush of the shuttle. Jeori had been captured, and then the Peace Government had mounted an operation to rescue him. They had failed, and the Warlord had learned of who Jeori was. The female Aqualish, Adract Tanor, knew that Jeori would be killed so she had set off alone to rescue him. Now that he was safe, the Peace Government could launch an assault on Warlord Gerloc’s fortress.

They gathered submarines, cruisers, carriers and destroyers from hidden locations all over the planet. Intelligence had gathered up a rough listing of the Warlord’s forces. As Jeori looked over the list, he swore silently to himself. The Peace Government was badly outnumbered. Even with the element of surprise, he was not sure if they would win.

But he knew what it was like to lose his homeworld. He turned to Adract. “Who is commanding the assault?”

She looked at him sheepishly. “Me.”

“I would be honoured to join you in command.”

“Yes, sir!” she said. “I would hand over control of the army, if you wished.”

“No, this is your battle. I would not take that honour away from you.”



The vessels moved out, arranged in a giant spearhead. At the point was a heavily modified Destroyer, Adract’s Justice. It was over twice the size of the standard Destroyer, and was the most powerful ship in the arsenal. Jeori and Adract stood aboard the bridge, commanding the forces.

“Three minutes until engagement.” said Adract.

Jeori could see on the scanners hundreds of blips representing the Warlord’s ships. They were organizing now forming together to hold against Adract’s forces. Soon the ships were in range, and hundreds of torpedoes launched out, wit thousands of turbolasers. The Battle of Ando had begun.

"Commander Tanor," a young Aqualish officer said, "Thee submarines are in position."

"Excellent," she replied. “Commence attack run immidiately.”

The battle had been going well, but it was obvious who the winner would be. The Warlord’s forces were in much greater numbers that the Peace Government. Jeori and Adract knew this, and had organized a plan to defeat his forces.

Hundreds of submarines surfaced on each flank of the Warlord’s army, and unloaded payload after payload of missiles into his ships. Soon his forces were reduced to destroyed hulks of cruisers, with only a few dozen left.

“Commander, a shuttle is lifting off from the Warlord’s flagship. We believe it is him.”

“Shoot him down!” She cried. Turbolasers shot after his shuttle, but soon he was out of range.

“Commander,” an officer said, sounding puzzled, “The shuttle has just launched a missile. It’s configurations are nothing like I have ever seen before.”

“What-“ she was cut off as a tremendous explosion ripped through the water, hurtling shockwaves in all directions. Jeori was slammed to the deck. When the ship stopped lurching he stood up once more, on albeit shaky feet.

“What happened?” he said.

“It appears to be some sort of super-missile.” An Aqualish replied. “All of our ships have been destroyed, or have sustained heavy damage.”

“So we’re sitting ducks.”

“No, sir. The warlord leapt to hyperspace just after he launched it. It appears he only wanted to try to destroy us.”

Teebo nodded grimly. They had one, but they had paid the price.

The Price of Peace.