Dynasty: Chunk Seventeen

by Valerie Vancollie and Rebecca Thomson

Admiral MacNelly nervously walked into the debriefing room, followed first by his officers and then by the startling array of Grand Moffs and even Lord Vader that had met him at the shuttle landing pad to escort him into the meeting. He sighed and glanced at Charles Bruick, his first Captain. The man gave him a quick encouraging smile as they sat down.

"This is it," Nathaniel whispered, "when we find out if we end up heroes or fools."

"Just tell the truth, and we'll be fine."

"I know. But did they have to bring Lord Vader?" MacNelly glanced at the towering Sith, his respirator was hissing as the occupants settled themselves. "And who's the courtier?" The Sith was followed by a young blond man who was wearing a mostly black outfit with a jeweled red vest, sparkling a sharp contrast between himself and the somber military uniforms.

The question went unanswered as Grand Moff Stranum called the meeting to order. "Now, Admiral MacNelly, could you briefly summarize the events of the last five years?"

"Yes, Sir. The mission was going as scheduled for the first 18 months. We had met many inhabited star systems along our path, but none of them were worth more than a casual interest to the Empire. Then we came to the Zinn Cluster." He briefly sighed before going on. "It is a small cluster of stars placed very close to each other, and most of those stars have inhabitable planets. We found that the Zinn Cluster systems were inhabited by humans from a long-ago colonization mission of the Old Republic. Their government is run by a strong central figure called the T'Zinn, who has leadership over his people much like our Majesty. Per our orders, we contacted the locals and began setting up trade agreements as well as arrangements for future admittance of the Zinn people into the Empire."

"Did these trade negotiations go well?" Grand Moff Stranum asked.

"Yes, and in hindsight, they went too well."

"Explain."

"They did argue with us over some of the terms of the agreements, but they seemed almost too eager. Every small difficulty we encountered seemed to get glossed over. At the time, it was believed that the Zinn were willing to put up with a few disagreements in the agreement just to gain more access to our Empire. Unfortunately, that was only the beginning of their plan. For the final signing ceremony of the agreement, the T'Zinn asked us to bring our ships to his homeworld, deep in the Zinn Cluster.

"While Admiral Floas did feel a little hesitant, he complied because it had become very obvious that the Zinn did not have near the military capability to even threaten one of our ships, let alone four."

"How was this established?"

"Multiple probes, shuttles went on recon trips, everything was done by the book. It wasn't the military capability of the Zinn that took seventy five percent of our materials and crew." Admiral MacNelly replied bitterly.

"What was it?"

"Plague. The Zinn delegates that came aboard our ships for the signing ceremony had been deliberately infected with a very virulent and deadly airborne virus with the direct intention of infecting the crew. We had chosen the Reverent for the ceremony. The delegates came up, we gave them the grand tour. The one where we spend hours walking and traveling the length and breadth of the ship in order to impress them with the might of the Empire. It worked. They were impressed, and they wanted what they saw.

"By the time the tour was half over, the shuttle pilots we had sent to retrieve them were in sickbay, in agony with terrible stomach cramps, horrible coughing, and throwing up blood. The delegates remained healthy- they had been injected with a cure that left them terribly contagious for thirty days afterward, but cured them of the disease."

"Then what happened?" The Grand Moff asked.

"The plague was starting to spread, but no one realized what was happening until it was too late. With the shuttle traffic running between the four ships, the plague had jumped to the other ships before the first pilots became sick. It was airborne, and it wasn't long before everyone had it. The command crew escorting the delegates became ill even as they were being informed that a contagion was aboard. Within hours, it was chaos. By night, people were starting to die. By morning, we had lost most of command, and the dead were filling up the corridors. We began to transfer all remaining healthy crew to the Conqueror."

"And then the Zinn struck. They didn't have much military, but we were in no condition to fight. The Reverent and her sister ship, the Righteous, were forced to self-destruct in order to keep from being taken. The Iron Blade chose to ram the capital city instead. We fled the system." Admiral MacNelly suddenly took a deep breath. "To be completely truthful, I gave the command to retreat."

The room was very silent. The Admiral had practically admitted treason.

Lord Vader leaned forward, his respirator hissing. "Why did you choose that particular course of action, MacNelly?"

The copper haired man winced, but tried to explain. "Ironically, the last command Admiral Floas had given was to take the delegates by force to his ship and figure out why they were healthy. I had been informed that the cure had been isolated by the medics, but that we needed time to produce and distribute the cure to the crew. I chose to temporarily withdraw in order to retaliate at a more opportune time."

"And then?" The mechanical voice grated.

"We withdrew. We had sustained heavy damage and were forced to wage a running battle with the Zinn forces until we left the cluster."

"You had said that the Zinn military was not sufficient to damage even one ship, Admiral MacNelly." The Grand Moff accused. Nathaniel almost sighed in relief, they had called him Admiral again.

"Yes, if the crew had been healthy. They were not. In fact, none of the trained technicians that operated the shields were coherent. It took four hours till we managed to get the shields up, and many of our systems were damaged before then. We lost hyperdrive, communications, and others. Once the crew had been cured, we fixed as much as we could, but we did not have the spare parts we needed."

"At what point did you return to the Zinn system?" One of the Grand Moffs asked, glaring.

"It became unnecessary. The-"

"Unnecessary?" The officer hissed.

"Yes. The Iron Blade had crashed into the planet, and the plague was released into their atmosphere. About a month later, when we had done all the repairs that we could, we sent a few covert shuttles and probes back into the cluster to determine our attack plan. We discovered that the plague had wiped the T'Zinn's homeworld bare of human life. The plague was still spreading on the other Zinn planets. We left them to it, and I gave the order to head home."

"This is too easy."

"Jon, try to keep a level head." Lantash whispered as they donned the green and black livery of the house guard. Frasl was shoving the bodies into a closet. Clay was keeping a lookout. The others were mutely holstering blasters and inserting the ear pieces of their borrowed security uniforms.

"Just keep together, and act like you belong." Clay whispered, as they formed a square and began to march into the castle.

Luke glanced at his father, and mentally asked 'Is that why the Emperor won't use biological weapons?'

'Exactly, my son. You can't control plague.'

'Are we going to send anyone one out there to finish off any survivors? I don't blame the Admiral for leaving, his ship was in no shape to exact revenge on the Zinn.'

'It is quite distant. We will have to discuss it.'

Just then, the Force rippled a warning. Both men slightly stiffened, searching for the disturbance. 'Father, it's close.'

'At our castle, I believe.' Vader paused, thinking and feeling. He reached an arm over, and quietly motioned Luke to leave. 'Go now, and quickly. Warn our security, and keep me informed.' Vader's mind whispered to Luke's.

'As you wish.' Luke stood up and walked out of the room without a backward glance, his black cape fluttering.

Nathaniel watched the young man get up and leave. Seeing the surprised look on several of the faces of the Grand Moffs he knew this was not a normal thing. And yet no one questioned him, even Lord Vader didn't bother to inquire where the young courtier was going. Indeed, the Dark Lord continued as if nothing had happened at all.

"What matter of plague was it?" Vader demanded.

"I do not know the exact nature of the plague," Nathaniel admitted. "The head doctor did try to explain it to me, but I don't know much in the way of biological warfare. I do, however, have a full report concerning the nature of the plague and its cure with me." As he said this, Nathaniel took the datapad Bruick handed him. "Its chalk-full of medical terms, which is why the report meant nothing to me. All I can tell you with certainty is that its a fast and painful killer."

With this Nathaniel gave the datapad to an aide who had stepped forward and who brought it to Lord Vader. Taking the datapad, Vader quickly scanned it and saw that MacNelly was correct, there were a lot of medical terminology. He did know enough of it, however, to see the disastrous effects of having the plague released into a planet's atmosphere.

Too busy concentrating on the warning ripple sent through the Force, Luke didn't sense the presence around the corner and walked right into Nastalia as he hurried along.

"Sorry," Luke mumbled even as he continued on his way.

"Luke?" Nastalia questioned as she sent Anjaleen a confused look. "Luke, what's wrong?"

"Luke?" Anjaleen repeated as she watched the young man hurry down the hall, ignoring Nastalia's calls. "I wonder what happened."

"Must be something big," Nastalia commented, getting worried. "I mean he never acts so... rude. You don't think that... that it has something to do with Nathaniel, do you?"

"Well..." Anjaleen began as she looked at her friend's anxious face. She wanted to reassure her, and yet she didn't want to give her any false hopes. Anything was possible at this point. "Why don't we go find out?" she suggested as she gestured to Luke's retreating form just before he rounded a corner. "Perhaps he'll tell us. This meeting could take some time yet."

"Okay," Nastalia agreed as she started off after Skywalker.

Upon reaching the corner, they turned down the corridor Luke had taken and stopped dead. Because they were in one of the back corridors there weren't too many side corridors, and yet Skywalker was nowhere in sight.

"Funny," Anjaleen commented as she hurried to the first corridor leading off of the one they were in. "He's not here. He must have been in a bigger hurry than I thought."

"But where did he go?" Nastalia questioned. "He'd have to have run to be out of sight so quickly, and even then we should have seen his cape."

"True," Anjaleen replied as she looked around her, puzzled. "Well he didn't just vanish. I wonder..."

"What?"

"Well this is the Palace and I'm sure that the Emperor has all the special safety features possible," Anjaleen began. "So its quite possible that there are hidden corridors and passageways. I mean this is the Imperial Palace after all."

"Perhaps," Nastalia agreed as she nodded her head. "But if that's the case, we won't be seeing him anytime soon. He should be at tonight's session of the court, we can ask him then. Now, however, I want to get back to the meeting."

"Okay," Anjaleen replied as she turned to follow her friend. Seeing her enthusiasm, she couldn't help but feel small prickles of jealously of her friend's love.

Skywalker shook his head as he sensed the curiosity and surprise behind him. As he stepped into the turbolift and started it, he made a mental note to apologize to Nastalia for running into her later. Now, however, he had more pressing matters to deal with. Reaching out once more, he was certain now that the warning had come from the castle. Just as he was probing his home he became aware of another presence.

'Grandfather,' Luke sent.

'Luke,' Palpatine acknowledged. 'Are you returning to investigate?'

'Yes,' Luke replied. 'Do you sense anything special?'

'Death,' Palpatine stated as he guided Luke's Force tendril to the spot. 'Some of the guards have been disposed of.'

'Yes,' Luke agreed angrily as he sensed the deaths. 'They're probably after Leia.'

'The Alliance,' Palpatine agreed. 'Get them.'

Luke pulled out his com and contacted the castle the moment he felt the Emperor break the mental connection.

"Yes, Sir?" Mark questioned.

"We have intruders," Luke stated. "They'll be after the Princess. Have security find them, but they are not to alert them to knowing that we're on to them until I arrive."

"As you wish," Mark replied and Luke could clearly hear the man's surprise.

"They have already killed a few men so they may be dressed in the house livery," Luke continued angrily. "If so they'll be listening in on the communication links. Use the codes." he ordered knowing that there was no way the Alliance operatives would know what they meant.

From the beginning, Vader had devised a code system in the event of an intruder getting into the castle and getting access to the guards' communications equipment. The code consisted of several sounds which would be dismissed by outsiders as static. When this signal was sent all the guards changed their communication devices to a second frequency, allowing them to communicate without letting the enemy overhear what they were planning.

"That must be it," Delvin whispered as they reached the top of the stairs and saw two guards standing outside a door down a corridor to the left.

"Continue forward," Clay ordered as he glanced sideways at the guards.

Obediently, the others continued forward until they were out of sight of the guards.

"Now what?" Jon questioned as they stopped.

"Three of us go down the other corridor and take care of them," Clay stated. "Lantash, Delvin, you two come with me. The rest of you wait here and keep and eye out, make sure we don't get caught."

"Yes, Sir," several voices chanted before they spread out to keep an eye on the top of the stairs.

Clay nodded to Lantash and Delvin before he took a breath and rounded the corner, heading down the corridor to where the guards were. As they neared them, the two guards looked up and their eyes went wide, even as their hands moved to their blasters. Having been expecting trouble, Lantash and Clay were too fast for them and fired their own weapons even as the house guards raised theirs.

"How did they know?" Delvin asked as he looked at the lifeless bodies, before he winced as a short burst of static came over the ear piece.

"I have no idea," Clay replied as he reached up and rubbed his ear. "You'd think Lord Vader would have better communication equipment for his personal guards."

"He's just too damn arrogant," Lantash retorted. "Besides, he doesn't need the guards to protect himself, he can do that well enough. And there aren't a lot of people who would even think about entering the Dark Lord's lair like this. He probably figures he doesn't need any better."

"Probably," Clay said as he moved up to the security panel next to the door. "Right now, however, we don't have time to discuss it. We need to figure a way to get this door open and the Princess out."

"I know one way," Delvin said as he raised his blaster. "Move, Clay."

Clay figured that it was the best way to do things and moved, cursing when the blaster shot seemed to be absorbed by the security panel instead of destroying it. "Damn," he muttered. "Must be one of those new ones."

"Now what?" Lantash questioned just before the door was opened.

"What is going on out he--" Leia began and stopped when she saw the two dead guards. Looking up at the three men standing there, she opened her mouth once more.

"Princess Organa," Clay stated before she could speak. "I'm Major Clay, Mon Mothma and the Council sent us to get you out."

"Okay," Leia replied as she nodded her head. Knowing the routine well enough, she silently followed the three men back down the hall to where several more were waiting.

"Luprano," Luke said into his com as he reached the top of the stairs and stood before the hidden door.

"Yes, Master Luke?" the head of security questioned.

"Can I enter, or are they in sight?" Luke demanded, suppressing his anger. While getting out of the turbolift, he had felt the deaths of two more guards, probably those outside of Leia's room.

"They are not," Luprano replied. "We have found the bodies of the guards they killed, a total of eight. They were striped of their uniforms and florist uniforms were next to them. I have talked with Mark and he says that he got a call from the florist earlier this morning saying that he needed to come take measurements for the needed pieces. We have also lost contact with the Princess' guards."

"They are dead," Luke stated as he entered the hall and quickly closed the door behind him. "Where are the others?"

"They are in position," Luprano said as he motioned from behind one of the marble pillars in the hall. "We're divided down here and upstairs behind the Rebels."

"Good," Luke replied, catching the anger in Luprano's voice. "Wait until they have seen me before revealing yourself," he ordered, knowing that all the guards could hear him.

With this, he walked out into the middle of the hall and stopped. As he waited, he reached under his cape and pulled out his lightsaber. Since none of the Rebels would be returning to the Alliance he could afford to use the Force before them. Reaching out with the Force, he quickly scanned the area at the top of the stairs. As Luprano had said, he could sense eight unknown presences. Leia was with them and behind them he could feel the hate filled presences of the guards.

Because there was a reasonable number of staff for the castle, everyone knew everyone. A thing the Alliance operatives probably hadn't thought of. Even if he hadn't alerted the guards, it wouldn't have taken them long to notice that something was wrong. He was also pretty sure that the operatives weren't aware of the fact that there were three, not one, staircases in the castle connecting the first two floors. The one before him was the main and most used staircase, however there was a second staircase at the other end of the castle that was used pretty often. The third one was a hidden staircase that went from a hidden panel in the kitchen to the hall near his father's bedroom. Using the other two staircases the guards had been able to get behind the Alliance operatives.

'What's happening?' Vader demanded through the Force.

'We have some unwelcome company,' Luke replied. 'They have Leia but are trapped, they just don't know it yet.'

'How did they get in?'

'They said they needed to take measurements for the flower arrangements,' Luke explained. 'The florist contacted the castle this morning. Do you suppose the man is a Rebel?'

'Who? The florist?' Vader questioned. 'I doubt it. But there's only one way to find out. Contact me when you have them.'

'Yes, Father,' Luke replied.

Skywalker looked up at the top of the staircase as he sensed movement above. A few seconds later, Leia appeared followed by eight men dressed in the green and black house livery. Seeing this, Luke couldn't help but smile. Leia had obviously told them that she could move around freely as long as she had some guards with her, meaning that they had planned to try to make it look like she was simply going outside like she so often did. The moment Leia's eyes fell on him, they went wide even as the Rebels behind her froze for a moment.

"Leia, you didn't think we'd let you go without saying goodbye did you?" Skywalker looked disappointed.

One of the Rebels in front responded first, whipping out his blaster and opening fire. The others followed him, and Skywalker became a blur of motion behind his red blade at the bottom of the stairs. The lightsaber was humming, and the stairwell filled with the ricochets of blaster fire.

Leia was still frozen, watching her brother until one of the ricocheted blasts hit the man beside her and he slumped down. She suddenly realized her danger and threw herself to the floor, her dress crumpling beneath her.

"Stop!" She screamed. "Stop shooting, you'll never hit him!" The blaster fire quieted.

Luke lowered his blade, still holding it ready before him. "Disable them," he said in a clear voice. Shots ran out as the castle guards came running, and several of the Rebels screamed as they were hit from behind.

"Luke, stop this, please!" Leia begged, as the man beside her whimpered, clutching his side. She got to her feet, trying to shield the wounded man.

"Stop? They're the ones who came in here Leia. They've already killed ten of my men- my guards. And you want me to stop?" One of the still standing Rebels turned and fired at Luke, and he easily blocked the shot.

"My Princess, I am sorry." The Rebel said, looking up and down the hallway at the groups of Vader's guards surrounding them.

"It's all right." Leia said with a gracious royal air. "You didn't really know what you were up against." Leia turned and looked at Luke.

Luke's eyes narrowed. He could tell that she was pretending that she was the Princess of Alderaan for these Rebels. "Leia, the beautiful Princess of Alderaan, is so gracious to her subjects." Luke mocked as Leia shot him a look of pure fury. Luke almost snarled, she didn't want to tell them who she really was!

"So, Princess, I'll grant you a boon. Choose one to die now." Luke smirked. Leia looked at Luke, confused. "The others go to interrogation, Leia. But, for you, one of them can die now. After all, interrogation will take much longer."

Leia was indignant. "You can't expect me to do that!"

"Very well, they can all go to interrogation. You're very loyal to the Imperial cause, to not want to risk missing any valuable information." Luke smiled.

Leia looked horrified as she realized her choices. She glanced around at the men around her, some wounded and bleeding, others still standing. "I... I... That one..." She pointed at the Rebel who had spoken to her earlier.

"Very well. Stun the others." Luke ordered, and the shots ran out. Luke then raised one hand and waved it at the remaining Rebel, using the Force to pin him to the corridor wall.

Skywalker walked up the steps, turning off his blade and hooking it to his belt. He turned to the Rebel pinned to the wall who was staring at him with wide eyes. "I'm disappointed, Leia. You chose the leader." Luke turned to the guards waiting at each end of the hall. "I want him out of that uniform!"

"Yes, Master Luke!" Luprano answered and motioned men forward. They began to remove the livery from the Rebel's body as he struggled.

"Clear this hallway, have them sent to the holding cells below for interrogation." Luke ordered. He clicked on his com. "Mark, meet me in the main hall with a few staff."

Luke turned to Leia. "I know that you don't want to watch, so I'm going to have to have you held below till we determine if your room's security has been compromised. I apologize."

"You said you were going to kill him now!"

"He will die, and much sooner than the others. But I will not be the one to kill him."

Leia grudgingly sat in the chair provided for her. She glanced hatefully over at Luke, who was lounging in a big plush chair next to her, his feet kicked up. He had ordered wine, and the rugs pulled back to reveal the marble floor. He had also held a whispered conversation with Luprano, who had then issued a few orders to other men. The head of security had looked entirely too happy for Leia's peace of mind.

"Are you sure you want to stay?"

Leia glared at Luke. "I just want to keep you to your word."

"Leia, I will."

"What are you going to do?" She fretted, glancing at the bound Rebel, trying to apologize with her eyes.

"I'm not going to do anything. I'm letting the guards kill him. Those Rebels did kill their friends, you know. Some of them have been working together for ten to twenty years, they all know each other on sight." Luke paused. "I see that the Rebel has figured out how the guards at your room knew he wasn't one of them."

Leia was aghast. "You're going to let the guards do it?"

"Of course. Are you sure you want to stay?"

Leia looked at the man who had risked everything to save her, then she looked at Luke.

"Leia, you're a little pale. I think you better go lie down and rest." Luke made a motion, and an escort of guards walked up to her. Leia let herself be lead away.

"She's absolutely furious with you." The Emperor muttered to Luke later that day in his quarters in the Palace. Lord Vader was still in the meeting, but he was listening in with the Force.

"Yes, I know. And I even did her a favor. She's just ungrateful about everything."

"True. But it may have been a mistake. You may have moved too fast."

Luke sighed. "I apologize, your Majesty. She's just so difficult to work with. One moment, she's fine, and the next- nothing but Alliance propaganda."

"Patience."

"Sometimes I wonder if there is anything to work with at all."

"I understand. But she does deserve a chance."

"Yes, your Majesty." Luke bowed, struggling to maintain mental obedience.

'I wonder the same thing, Father,' Vader sent. 'I do not have the time to spend on this project that it needs, and I feel like I'm wasting my efforts. Her rage right now is betraying how little she has changed since she got here.'

The three men silently scanned Leia in her cell, noting her boiling emotions.

"You will give her a little more, my son." The Emperor said, "before we make a final decision."

'Yes, your Majesty.' Vader replied.

"I thought we had gotten past that," Vader remarked as he entered the room just in time to see Leia fling one of the chairs at the wall. Reaching out with the Force, he stopped it in midair and set it back on the ground. "Its childish."

"Perhaps I don't care," Leia retorted as her eyes flashed.

Ever since she had been returned to her room, she kept seeing the faces of her rescuers in her mind. They had risked everything to save her and it had all been in vain. For their effort they would all die a painful death. For she knew that, despite what Luke had at first said, even the leader had died painfully. The guards would have done all they could to avenge the deaths of their comrades.

It hadn't taken her long to push aside all her beliefs of the fact that there might still be some good buried deep inside her brother. Even though he could be extremely kind at times when he wasn't angry, he obviously was completely loyal to the Imperial cause.

"Your attitude and your behavior will be punished," Vader declared. "From now on you are confined to your rooms until further notice. You will only be allowed out of them when Luke or I am with you."

Even as she struggled to keep a straight face, Leia felt her heart sink. The wanderings around the castle and the gardens were what had kept her sane during her time spent here. To be locked in her rooms would quickly drive her up the walls, it would also make her more open to her father and her brother as she'd do more to be able to spend some time outside in the sun. Having been raised on Alderaan, she had grown accustomed to being able to spend time outside, a habit she had kept up even when with the Alliance.

Vader nodded as he sensed her thoughts. Perhaps this new tactic would bring her to see the truth. Although he doubted that it could be achieved at all anymore. Luke's report on how she had acted around the Rebels showed her still strong loyalty to the Alliance. However, he had also decided to reveal the truth about his health when the time was right. This would surely shake her up and with the time she spent alone in her room she could ponder the power of the Dark Side.

"I don't want to have anything to do with Luke anymore," Leia declared angrily as the Rebel leader's face appeared before her eyes once more and the thought of how she had sentenced him to a painful death rose to the top of her mind.

"I shouldn't worry," Vader replied dryly. "The feeling seems to be mutual."

"Great," Leia stated. "Now, if you'd just leave me alone, everything would be perfect."

"You had better learn to watch yourself," Vader threatened as she stepped forward and saw Leia step back automatically. "That kind of attitude is exactly what got your mother into trouble. You're in hot water already, my daughter, don't make it any worse."

Leia froze at the combination of the threat and Vader's form of address. Her anger quickly turned into curiosity as she wondered at the mention of her mother's name. She was proud that she was like her mother, but worried with what kind of trouble she had gotten into.

"What do you mean about Mother?" Leia questioned.

"Perhaps if you behave, I'll tell you the answer to that later," Vader said, knowing that his reply would give her another question to ponder during her time alone. A question who's possible answers would taunt her for as long as he chose to keep the knowledge from her.

Satisfied that she'd have enough to think about for a while, Vader turned around and left the room. As he walked down the hall and descended the stairs, he probed the minds of the two guards standing guard at Leia's room. Both were filled with anger and grief at the loss of their friends. He did notice, however, the satisfaction they both held at having being able to deal with one of Rebels and the knowledge that the others would not escape.

They both also felt a deeper sense of loyalty towards Luke then they had felt before. He had proven himself to them in the same way Vader had once done long ago. Looking at the event from this light, Vader saw that it had done a lot of good. He had learned long ago that people were quick to follow if they were rewarded and felt necessary. By letting the guards have the Rebel leader, Luke had showed them that he realized that they had lost people close to them. Although the idea had backfired a little with Leia, it had definitely worked as far as the guards were concerned.

"I knew it," Jon mumbled as he paced his small cell. "Things were going too easy."

"Will you stop it already?" Delvin demanded from his cell to the left of Jon's. "We all knew the risks of coming on this mission and we all accepted them. We had the chance to back out, remember?"

Jon stopped, turned around, and looked through the energy bars that separated each cell from the others. Quietly, he glared at Delvin, before he turned his attention to Lantash who was in the cell to the right of his. A dark red puddle was forming at the foot of his bunk as blood from a leg wound dripped to the floor.

"Are you all right?" Jon demanded.

"Yeah," Lantash replied, his voice tight with pain. "Not that it matters anymore."

"How did he do it?" Frasl suddenly demanded after a few moments of silence. "How did Skywalker manage to get here so quickly? I mean he'd have to have left the Palace before we even entered the castle to get here on time. What happened to the meeting?"

"Perhaps he wasn't needed," Delvin offered as he tore off some more of the florist uniforms in which they had been forced to dress once more when the house livery had been taken away. "It might have something to do with the Sith magic Vader has," Delvin suggested as he used the cloth to cover the burn on his arm that he had sustained from a blaster bolt that had grazed his arm.

"Or maybe Skywalker has that magic too," Quarl added from his cell a little further down. "I mean, did you see what he did with that weapon of his? There's no way he could have deflected all those blaster shots. There were simply too many."

"True," Lantash agreed. "Although I doubt we'll ever learn how he did it unless he tells us, which is highly unlikely."

"Perhaps we can get him to spill the hargo-beans," Jon suggested. "You know Imps, they're always so full of themselves. I'm sure we can get it out of Skywalker if we throw in some flattery."

"Perhaps," Delvin said.

"There was nothing else that was overly important," Vader said as he and Luke approached the ballroom. "Although I still want you to go over the holo-tapes of the rest of the meeting tomorrow."

"I will," Luke promised, curious as to the details of what else had happened on the mission. He did a quick scan of the hall they were in before he continued: "Is Grandfather going to send another task force out there to destroy the Zinn completely?"

"I'm not sure," Vader replied. "Although I think he will. The fact that they even achieved a small victory over the Empire is too much. They can be made an example of."

"I was wondering about something else," Nathaniel said as he patted Nastalia's hand. "At the beginning of the meeting there was a young courtier whom I didn't recognize. He seemed to be the only politician in the room and he abruptly left without an explanation near the beginning of the meeting."

"That'll be Luke," Nastalia stated.

"Luke?" Nathaniel questioned, feeling a twitch of jealousy rush through him at the way Nastalia spoke the name.

While being away, Nathaniel had often thought of Nastalia. He had thought about her beauty, the sweet tone of her laughter, and of her intelligence. He had thought of the times they had spent together and of how much he loved her. Sometimes, at night, he had wondered what would happen to their relationship with his being away so long. When the war with the Zinn had first broken out and they had been delayed for so long, he had feared that she would think him dead and get on with her life with another man. He had dreaded returning, as he was convinced that he'd find her in another man's arms.

Nathaniel had been overjoyed to exit the meeting room only to find her waiting for him in the hall just beyond. Seeing her conversing with another young woman had sent hope surging through him. Catching her joy had made his dreams of reestablishing their former relationship come to life once more. However, although she was clearly glad to see him, they had both been hesitant on how to go about the situation and he had been more than grateful for the way Anjaleen had been able to keep the mood light the whole time.

However, hearing the manner in which Nastalia spoke this other man's name and seeing the smile that appeared on her face, made his heart constrict. Was there another man in her life? And, if so, why hadn't she said anything until now? Why had she been clinging to him since he had exited that conference room? Why? And who was he? How long had they known each other?

"Yes, Luke Skywalker," Anjaleen confirmed then, sensing his thoughts, she laughed. "Don't worry. Luke's simply a friend of ours."

"Yes!" Nastalia stated, blushing slightly as she realized what he was thinking. "A friend. And, to be honest, we don't really know that much about him."

"Why not?" Nathaniel inquired as he relaxed and his curiosity rose. Although he hadn't really spent any time at court before he left on the mission, he hadn't been important enough at the time, he did know the mentality of the court. Having friends, true friends, hardly ever happened as people were, especially politicians, always competing with each other. "And how do you know him then?"

"Darth Vader," Anjaleen explained and watched as one of MacNelly's eyebrows rose in surprise and the other sunk in confusion. "He lives with Lord Vader in his castle and sees the Emperor on a regular basis."

"As to his past, we don't really know anything," Nastalia picked up. "But he's really nice, and a gentleman. When I was going home by Star Destroyer, he invited me to have dinner with him once. It was a nice change to eating alone in my room with the servants."

"I can image," Nathaniel said as he realized that both Nastalia and Anjaleen knew him pretty well. But living with Vader? Nathaniel shivered slightly at the thought and wondered just what kind of man this Skywalker was. "So he's military?"

"Well..." Nastalia began. "To be honest, we're not quite sure. He's gone with Vader on several military missions, and he's had his own command."

"During which he discovered and captured a Rebel base," Anjaleen added. "Not to mention Organa."

"And yet he's at court a lot," Nastalia finished. "He's kind of both, but he spends more time here on Coruscant. At least lately he has," Nastalia smiled up at Nathaniel with this. "Oh, the Emperor also gave him the honor of killing Darklighter."

"Darklighter?" Nathaniel questioned even as he made note of treating this Skywalker with respect as, whoever Darklighter was, if the Emperor gave this Skywalker the 'honor' of killing him, it was something big.

"One of the two Rebels who destroyed the Death St..." Anjaleen began before she realized that he probably didn't know what that was either.

"I'll explain later," Nastalia promised. "I also have the execution ceremony on holo-tape."

"Good," Nathaniel said. "I have a lot of catching up to do."

"Missing five years does that," Luke said as he approached the group, having heard the last part of Nathaniel's sentence. "Admiral MacNelly."

"Mr. Skywalker," Nathaniel replied. "Pardon the Mr. but I don't know what your proper title is."

"No one does," Luke stated and smiled as Anjaleen's eyebrows rose in curiosity. "Nastalia," he said as he turned his attention to her, noticing how she was holding hands with the Admiral. "I'm sorry that I ran into you earlier today. Its just that something urgent came up and I needed to deal with it as soon as possible and so I wasn't watching were I was going."

"That's okay," Nastalia replied with a smile. She was just so glad at being back with Nathaniel that nothing else really mattered.

Luke reached out with a tendril of the Force and carefully entered her mind upon sensing Nastalia's mood. Probing around, he quickly found the love she felt for MacNelly and smiled. As he pulled back out of her mind another thought occurred to him; the dance. Taking a glass of purple wine off the tray of a passing waiter he turned his attention back to the Admiral.

"It's my birthday in a few days and there's going to be a dance over at the castle," Luke began and smiled as the Admiral's eyes opened wide at his words. "Most of the people here have already agreed to come and I was wondering if you wanted to come."

"Oh... yes," Nathaniel replied, stunned at the fact that Vader was going to have a party at his castle, let alone for somebody else. "Sure."

"Great," Luke stated.

Admiral MacNelly sat in his temporary quarters shaking his head over the reports he had requested. "Captain Bruick, we have missed a lot."

"Yes, Sir. Did you read the report on the Death Star? It was huge! And to be destroyed by only two Rebels!"

"Yes, but they were captured and executed for their crimes. I watched the holo-tape that Nastalia gave me." He leaned back. "I'm still trying to figure that Skywalker out."

"Yes, Sir. I asked around about him like you asked, and he has developed a reputation. It seems he can practically sense Rebels and can walk through walls. At least, that's the rumors." Captain Bruick said.

"There's more to him than anyone's willing to guess, Bruick. He brushes off any question of his rank or past, and he has the Emperor's ear. And living with the Sith Lord- I'd almost guess."

"Sir?"

The Admiral was looking at the wall, lost in thought. "Captain, I'm not sure, but I get the strange feeling that Skywalker might be the last person you want to annoy. The Zinn taught me to plan for the most unlikely scenario."

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Thoughts? Comments? Suggestions? E-mail Rebecca or me at valeriev84@hotmail.com