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Bail’s destination.

He instructed the droid pilot to set the taxi down on the Temple’s northeast landing platform, where two Jedi younglings were waiting for him. The opulence of the Temple’s wide corridors was lost on him as he followed his escort to the room the Order used for public meetings, rather than the circular chamber reserved for private conclaves in the summit of the High Council spire.

A holorecording of Palpatine’s speech was running in the center of the room when Bail was admitted. Around the holoprojector table sat Council members Yoda, Mace Windu, Saesee Tiin, Ki-Adi-Mundi, Shaak Ti, Stass Allie, Plo Koon, and Kit Fisto.

“And so it is with a heavy heart that I commit two hundred thousand additional troopers to the Outer Rim sieges,” the holoimage of the Supreme Chancellor was saying, “though in full confidence that the end of this brutal conflict is now in sight. Cast from the Core, expelled from the Inner Rim and Colonies, driven from the Mid Rim, and soon to be exiled in the spiral arms, the Confederacy will pay a dear price for what they have brought down on our fair house.”

He paused for applause, which went on for far too long.

Droid cams buzzed around the Great Rotunda to highlight the more well-known of the Palpatine-friendly factions then, coming full circle, closed on Palpatine’s thirty-meter-tall podium to linger on the two dozen human naval officers who were standing just below the summit, clapping enthusiastically.

“A show of force, this is,” Yoda remarked.

Dressed in robes of magenta and forest green, Palpatine continued.

“Some of you may question why my heart is heavy when my tidings bring news of such long-awaited redress. The decision weighs on me because I would sooner say: Enough is enough, let the Confederacy—the Separatists—wither and die on their own in the Outer Rim. Let us keep our best and brightest home; let us refrain from bringing bloodshed to any more worlds, harm to our noble soldiers, our trusted Jedi Knights.”

Yoda harrumphed.

“Sadly, though, I cannot decide with my heart alone. Because we cannot allow the enemies of democracy to rest and recuperate. Like a life-threatening growth taken hold in the body, they must be excised. As a contagious disease, they must be eradicated. If not, our children’s generation and generations to come will live under the threat that those who brought chaos to the galaxy will find the strength to regroup and attack anew.”

“Applause break,” Bail said—because he had been there.

The Jedi Masters stirred in their high-backed chairs but said nothing.

“Lest my statements convey an impression that the hardest decisions are behind us, let me hasten to add that much work remains to be done. So much rebuilding; so much reordering … To you, all of you, will I look for guidance in determining which worlds we should welcome back into the Republic’s embrace, and which, if any, should be kept at arm’s length, or shunned for the injuries they have heaped upon us. Similarly will I look to you for guidance in reshaping our Constitution to conform to the needs of the new epoch.”

“What does he mean by that?” Mace Windu interjected.

“Finally will I look to you, all of you, to author a new spirit in Coruscant, in the Core, throughout the star systems where the light of democracy continues to shine, so that we can look forward to another thousand years of peace, and another thousand beyond that, and so on, until war itself is stamped from our just domain.”

“Had enough?” Stass Allie asked while the Senate broke into extended applause. Tall, slender, and dark-complected, she wore a Tholoth headdress similar in design to that worn by her immediate predecessor on the Council, Adi Gallia. When no one objected, she deactivated the holoprojector.

Turning to Bail, Yoda said, “Appreciate your visit, we do, Senator Organa.”

“I just wanted all of you to know that, despite what the HoloNet news might lead you believe, not all of us were on our feet.”

“Aware of this,