High Treason
By Solohones
Chapter Four "We've got to do something, Luke." Leia insisted, holding back the tears in her eyes. He pulled her close and hugged her reassuringly. "I know, I know." Luke was frustrated. He had lost his aunt and uncle in this war, and now he was about to lose his best friend, too. He couldn't let that happen. "There has to be something. Think Luke, try, please." Leia pleaded, pulling away a little to pace around. The two of them just stood in the hallway for a moment. Suddenly, Luke jumped, "I've got it!" he exclaimed, running off toward command center. "What?" Leia asked anxiously, following him. "Han said Wedge was in charge of sending the rendezvous transmission and-" "Yes!" Leia shouted. "Why didn't I think of that? Where is Wedge?" "Well, ah..." Luke thought for a while. Leia pushed him aside, "Never mind, I'll find out. In the meantime, you see if you can figure out more about this Stirkson character." She started off down the hallway then added as an afterthought, "We can't let them kill him." Her voice quivered. Then she straitened up and collected herself, and trotted off to command center. Luke nodded. He had never seen Leia so exuberant over anything. But this is pretty serious, he reasoned. Yet there was a little part of his mind that wondered if Leia was doing this for Han as more than a good friend. He smiled. The two of them fought all the time, but he, along with General Rieekan, thought it was perhaps more flirtatious than anything. The thought of this made Luke a little jealous, though. Everyone knew he admired the Princess, and he hoped she felt the same about him. "Now's not the time." he reminded himself, as he ran down the hall to the computer database. Surely, there was something or someone that could clear Han... A young Imperial Captain sat quietly at the visiting booth. Why would some rebel commander want to talk to me? He wondered. But he had a pretty good idea why. He probably wanted to torture him into revealing Imperial secrets, or maybe just for fun. He grimaced, rebel scum. He thought. Abruptly, a guard ushered a young man with wavy blonde hair into the room. He sat across the table from the Imperial and extended his hand. "Luke Skywalker." He said pleasantly. The Captain just sat there. Luke withdrew his hand and started speaking. "You're Emil Deluide, Captain in the Imperial flight squad?" "I was," Emil spat, "now I'm a prisoner of the Rebellion." Luke examined the man in front of him. Luke couldn't really tell with him sitting down, but he appeared to be tall, maybe a little shorter than Han. He had dark brown, almost black hair that was shaggy and medium length. It was cut about the same as Han's, in fact. Luke found it interesting that he had many similarities to Han, but shrugged it off. His eyes were as dark as his hair. He had a lean face and build, but had more muscles than Luke did. He seemed to be a very relaxed man. But then Luke noticed that he was really not much of a man. He was probably only a year or two older than Luke himself, and as Han delicately pointed out, Luke was basically still a kid. Luke finished his observations, and nodded gravely to Emil, "I'm very sorry about all that, but I'm afraid I don't have time to chat. I need your help." "Humph." Emil snorted. "You need my help?" Luke nodded. "And what makes you think I'll tell you anything? Oh, you think you'll just torture it out of me?" He spat. Luke shook his head, "Torture is a horrible thing. We don't practice that." "Of course not; the holy rebels wouldn't want to sink as low as the evil Empire." Emil snuffed. "I understand you served under Flag Stirkson at the battle of Synegast?" Luke asked, ignoring Emil's comment. Emil smiled. "That's what this is about, huh? The Synegast thing..." he trailed off. "Yes, I was his second in command, the Captain on The Plague. What is this really about?" His dark eyes narrowed. To Luke, Emil didn't seem like the typical Imperial Captain. For one thing, he was very young, but he also didn't seem to be as polished and strategic as the other Imperial officers Luke had met. "My friend has been convicted of treason for that battle, but he's innocent." Emil leaned back slowly in his chair, weaving his fingers together and pressing his forefingers to his lips, in thought. "What does this have to do with Stirkson?" he asked, suspiciously. "It was believed that Admiral Stirkson was my friend's contact for defection. You see, my friend used to be enrolled in Imperial Flight Squad under Stirkson." Luke explained. Emil's eyes went wide in mock surprise, "You mean Luke Skywalker, rebel hero is friends with a former Imp? I'm appalled! What's your friend's name?" Luke hesitated. "Han Solo." he replied. Emil answered with recognition, "Ah yes, Han Solo who is... or was... also a rebel hero. This is quite a mess, yes?" He seemed amused. "Do you have any information on his involvement with Stirkson?" Luke asked. Emil squinted at him. "Maybe. Let's say I did. What's in it for me?" Here comes the fun part, Luke thought. He had to convince an Imperial to tell the Rebellion about top secret Imperial activities in order to save a rebel leader. This should be about as easy as teaching a Bantha to fly a Star Cruiser, Luke thought pessimistically. He drew a long breath. "We could offer you anonymity. From the Empire and the Rebellion. The Empire has probably left you for dead, and we'd be willing to let you start a new life." Luke offered. He held his breath as Emil considered. "And if I don't help... I'm stuck in this prison for who knows how long-" Emil was cut off. "And," Luke interjected, "Han, an innocent man, will be executed." "Listen, kid," Emil drawled, "I don't care about Solo. All I care about is me." he pointed a thumb at himself. Luke thought it almost funny that Emil would refer to him as a kid, when he was only a few years older than Luke. Then something about that drawl, and that attitude clicked in Luke's brain. Suddenly, a light bulb went on in his head. "Where are you from?" Luke asked. "What's it to you?" Emil asked. "I'm from Tatooine, and I know that if an innocent Tatooinian were facing the death sentence, I'd speak up." Luke said. "Oh, wouldn't that be noble of you." Emil scowled. "Fine, if you must know, I'm from Corellia." Luke brightened up. Thank the Force, this just might be the ticket. Luke mentally crossed his fingers. "Han's from Corellia, too. And he is innocent," his blue eyes glared deep into Emil's "and you know it... don't you?" he said, his voice a whisper. For a while, Emil remained silent. He rocked back in his chair, rubbing his chin with one hand. Then, he made up his mind. He leaned forward, putting his wrists on the table, pointing a finger at Luke. "I just want you to know that I'm not doing this to be noble; I'm in it for the reward." That sounds familiar, Luke grinned. Where all Corellians the same? "And as for Solo, he is Corellian, and I've heard he's some pilot. It'd be a shame to let him take the blame for this. Corellians have bad enough reps already." Emil finished. Luke reached into a little pouch on his belt, next to his lightsaber. He pulled out a small recording device, set it on the table, and activated it. "Now," he said with a slight smile, "tell me what you know about the Synegast incident."

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