Dynasty: Chunk Twenty-Eight
by Valerie Vancollie and Rebecca Thomson
Nathaniel was quietly following behind Luke. The blond man in front of him had his unlit blade before him as he peered down the dimly lit corridor. The hallway was filled with packing materials, crates, and metal scaffolding while doorways on each side led off to other display rooms, giving the Rebel thieves many places to hide. Half of the Alderaanian sculptures were still displayed, carved animals of stone on platforms looking like a frozen zoo. Mammoth carved columns of giant sea serpents lined the walls behind the scaffolding as well.
Two shots rang out, and Luke quickly parried them before extinguishing his sword again. Nathaniel delivered a few shots in the direction the blasts had come, and someone cried out in pain. The young Admiral grinned.
Luke stopped walking, suddenly very still. The Admiral waited in the quiet, watching. A small breeze tickled his neck. He turned to look where it was coming from, but nothing was there. The breeze increased in strength, and the Admiral noticed some packing material flutter in the wind down the corridor. The box of fasteners to their left began to shake, and suddenly the little metal pieces flew into the air, swirling as if in a windstorm. Small pieces of art or packing materials began to join them, then larger and larger pieces till Nathaniel saw crates large enough that he couldn't lift flying through the air.
The Rebels were terrified. They were shooting the flying art, and one of them was yelling something that sounded like "Sith!" and "Get out of here, now!". Luke lifted a hand, and waving it slowly, large pieces of the scaffolding began to fall. The crashing almost drowned out the screams of agony from a Rebel being pinned to the ground.
Then Skywalker suddenly lunged forward, his blade burning and lifted above his head as he screamed a battle cry. The art and construction material began to fall from the air like they were dropped.
Nathaniel could only stand there, amazed. He didn't know that a human could move so fast. Only the dancing of Luke's blade was visible in the dim light as he swirled between the shooting Rebels. The red blade was an arching humming blur, tearing through flesh and returning blaster shots to their owners.
The young Admiral came back to himself, glancing around. He didn't want to get too close to Luke right now, but there might be more of the scum in the side rooms. He crouched down, and headed for the nearest door.
That room was empty, so he plastered himself to the wall and headed for the next door. Luke was finished with the group of Rebels in the center of the corridor, the blond man was standing still and silent, blade out before him. Small fires had been started by the fight, their light twinkling off the jewels in his outfit.
The next room was empty as well, only a little scattered debris on the floor, so Nathaniel moved on. Luke was starting to walk down the center of the main corridor, blade out before him.
'Of course,' Nathaniel thought to himself, 'he doesn't have to worry about getting shot at. That's pretty clear. But I'm not going to hide in the back and let him do all the work.' Nathaniel peered around a carved stone column, then inched his way forward.
Suddenly, he found himself thrown back, as if by a huge fist, while the column he was sneaking around exploded under the fire of a blaster. Nathaniel pushed himself to the wall behind the stone, gasping for the air shoved from his lungs.
'What hit me? I'm not shot, but-' Nathaniel saw Luke lunge for the source of the blaster fire, cutting the figure in two. The blond man turned to the young Admiral, and Nathaniel heard a whispered, "stay there." He gulped and nodded. Skywalker had shoved him out of the line of fire.
Blaster fire was heard down the hallway, and Luke suddenly sprang forward again. Nathaniel risked a peek, only to see Luke throw his blade. It flew out, cutting the rearmost fleeing figure down at the knees. A pale glowing cube fell from the Rebel's hand as he fell, bouncing over the floor.
Two other fleeing Rebels skittered to a halt. The dying Rebel yelled, "Run, tell command!" and his comrades disappeared into the newly blasted hole in the far wall.
Admiral MacNelly could see the glare on Luke's face as he picked up the Jedi artifact. "Admiral." He hissed, "hold this. I'll be right back." He tossed the cube at Nathaniel, who caught it. Then Skywalker turned, and ran to the smoking hole.
MacNelly brought his blaster to bear on his footless prisoner, noticing that the Rebel was barely bleeding from his wounds. Which was good, he wouldn't die before questioning.
"Admiral." Nathaniel glanced back down the corridor to the voice. It was the Grand Moff, trailed by several stormtroopers. "Where is Skywalker?"
Nathaniel held up the cube for his future father-in-law to see. "He went after the remainder, who got away. They were yelling about contacting their command."
"Damn." The Grand Moff cursed. "In my system. The scum set up a base in my system."
Just then, Skywalker came back through the smoldering hole in the wall, causing the stormtroopers to whirl in his direction. He was clearly furious. "They split up, I only managed to get one. I'm going to have to go hunting in your city, Grand Moff."
"My men are yours."
"Of course." Skywalker motioned to the silent Rebel on the floor. "I wish to question him in private. Move him to an adjoining room here. Admiral, may I?" He held out a hand. Nathaniel quickly handed over the Jedi artifact, not really comfortable with holding it in the first place.
Skywalker took the cube, and followed the two troopers who were dragging the now struggling Rebel away.
The Grand Moff and the Admiral exchanged glances, the older man turning to scan the wreckage of blaster burnt walls and strewn packaging materials. The young Admiral was watching the slowly growing flames of the various fires around the hall. "The fire suppression system isn't working." Nathaniel said.
"The Rebels might have turned it off." The Grand Moff replied. "Someday, you'll have to tell me what happened here."
A horrible scream cut off the Admiral's reply. The two men glanced at the room from where it had came. The two troopers who had dragged off the Rebel were now guarding the room where they had left Skywalker with the prisoner. The scream was followed by another, and then a third. Then a fourth, which was cut off in the middle of the agonized yell.
Skywalker stormed back into the room, eyes black with controlled rage. He pulled out a comlink, and began snapping orders. "Get me Admiral Belgra, of the Judgment, this is Skywalker."
"Yes, Sir." Replied a scared voice.
Seconds later the comlink clicked open again. "This is Admiral Belgra."
"Admiral. I want you to jam all outgoing transmissions in this system immediately. And I want you to blockade the system as well. I don't want a single message or ship to escape this system till the Rebels are found."
"Yes, Sir. We will jamb communications immediately."
Skywalker gave Admiral MacNelly a dry glance and whispered, "The Conqueror?" The Admiral quickly nodded.
"Admiral," Skywalker snapped into the comlink, "The Conqueror will assist."
"Thank you, Sir." The Admiral sounded relieved, and the Grand Moff knew he might. One ship was not enough for a system this large. Two could hold the line, however.
"And Admiral," Skywalker continued, voice cold, "if you fail me, I will have your head on a platter." Skywalker cut the connection turning back to the two men before him.
"Nathaniel, tell your captains that they will be assisting the Judgment. Grand Moff Bel-Zessa, the Rebels will be heading to their local cell, somewhere here in the city. It's in the manufacturing district." Skywalker glanced at the now floor to ceiling flames along one wall. "And let the fire gut this section of the building. The fire will cover what I don't want told."
The Grand Moff froze at what Skywalker said as he looked around. Most of the pieces in the immediate area were already destroyed by either the fire, blaster shots, or whatever else had happened in here. The objects that remained were either Alderaani or were ones he'd wanted to get rid of anyway.
"Very well," the Grand Moff agreed, wondering if he'd even had a choice to begin with. Considering that Skywalker seemed to be a Sith, he probably hadn't. "I'll let the fire take out the Alderaani exhibit and the useless stuff."
"Admiral," Luke said as he turned to Nathaniel. "Make sure everything is working smoothly up there and inform them of who is expected for the wedding and when. Have any other incoming ships searched, I don't want the Rebels sending in enforcements."
"Very well," Nathaniel replied, slightly surprised at the change that had come over his friend.
He realized that the man he had known up to this point was Luke when he was relaxed and not working. The side he saw now was the side that made him the superb military leader that he was. It was also the side of him that needed to be feared for this was when Vader's training clearly took over. This was Vader's apprentice. Luke's lack of rank and background, his close ties with both Vader and the Emperor, and his easy confidence about his importance and place with Vader were all made clear now. The fact that Luke was so much like Vader, made Nathaniel shiver for a moment before he thought of something else. Was it possible that Vader, when he wasn't with the military, was like Luke as he had known him up until this point? After all, the officers who didn't know Luke like he did saw him as they saw Vader. It was something to think about. But in the mean time he had his orders and would carry them out. There was no doubt in his mind that in the military Luke was his superior even if he was Luke's friend outside of the military.
"Does this include the Judgment as well or will you be doing that?" Nathaniel inquired.
"No," Luke said. "You do that. I'll be taking some men out to find the main cell here. No doubt there will be others, but we don't have any clues to go on at the moment as to their whereabouts. The Rebel I interrogated didn't know anything. If we capture some more, one of them is bound to know where the others are."
"As you wish," Nathaniel said before he turned around and hurried off to get the necessary list of names and times from Nastalia to give to the two Destroyers in orbit.
"Skywalker," the Grand Moff said as he watched his daughter's fiancé go, having seen the change come over the man and realizing that it was probably best for him to treat Skywalker the same way Nathaniel had at the moment. "I was wondering if, with this new development, you would still be able to come to the festivities. They are starting in four days."
"I will," Luke said as he began to leave the area as well, seeing the flames spread to consume more of the room. "I'll start the search immediately so as not to give the Rebels in the nearest cell time to change their location. Once we have them, the interrogations may take a while. Especially if we want the location to every last cell in the system."
"Understood," the Grand Moff replied as he looked up to see stormtroopers approaching with the necessary equipment needed to extinguish the flames. "Wait here," he ordered and the stormtroopers stopped. "Extinguish the fire once it reaches this area, not before."
"It will be done as you ask," the leading stormtrooper replied, knowing better than to question his orders. Doubly so with Skywalker around.
"You do realize that there may be some public executions if the Rebels were aided by any men here in the system," Luke informed the Grand Moff.
"I do not like the idea," the Grand Moff began as he thought back to the first dinner he had had with the young man next to him. "However, if any of my men has been helping the Alliance then they are not fit for Imperial service."
"Good," Luke stated as they entered the now nearly empty dancing room. "Anja," he continued as he saw his fiancée talking with Mrs. Bel-Zessa and the Grand Moff's sister who had sponsored the dance.
"Luke," Anjaleen exclaimed as she turned around and moved towards him. "What were they after?"
"This," Luke replied as he held up the holocron. "They must have heard what it was."
"How?" Anja questioned. "Was one of the people in the room working for them?"
"Possibly," Luke agreed. "However it might have been someone else. The news of there being a Jedi device in the museum probably spread fast. Where are the others?"
"The guests left and Nastalia went with Nathaniel to get a list of the guests to send up to the ships," Mrs. Bel-Zessa informed him as she approached them.
"Commander Jasno," an aide said as he rushed into the room. "Sergeant Duston has just returned. Alone."
"What?" Jasno demanded as she turned around to face the aide. "Where is he?"
"Right here, Commander," Duston stated as he entered the room, his uniform thorn along the right side where it had gotten caught under the packaging material.
"Sergeant," Jasno said as she eyed the uniform and the cut above his left eye. "What happened? Where are the others? And do you have the device?"
"Skywalker," Duston whispered he moved towards a chair and sunk into it as his legs gave way. "Skywalker was there and killed or captured the others. Although Klein might still be free, I'm not sure though."
"Skywalker?" Jasno repeated. "Was there anyone else with him?"
"No... well, one man," Duston said. "That admiral guy that's wedding the Grand Moff's daughter."
"MacNelly," the aide offered.
"Skywalker and an admiral took out the whole team?" Jasno inquired skeptically as she saw Duston nod at the aide's words. "Two men?"
"Skywalker really did all the work," Duston explained. "And he's not just a man, he's like Vader. A Sith."
"What?!" Jasno exclaimed with shock as she jumped to her feet in disbelief. "A Sith?! How do you know?"
"He had one of those lightsaber thingies which he used to deflect our blaster shots," Duston replied. "He could also sense where we were and he made things fly. The art, packing materials, everything. It was like a tornado in there, only all of it hit us and nothing touched Skywalker or the admiral."
"How did you get out?" Jasno demanded before she turned to the aide. "Get Mon Mothma on the com for me. Tell her it's an emergency."
"Lieutenant Ramsre, Klein, and I were the last three left when we realized that we had better run," Duston replied as he shivered at the thought of the strike gone wrong. "To get out we blasted a hole in the wall and were making our way towards it when Skywalker threw his sword and cut off the Lieutenant's legs."
Jasno winced at the mere idea and saw how the Sergeant closed his eyes at the memory before continuing. "When he fell he dropped the device," Duston said. "Klein and I stopped, uncertain of whether to go get it or to run. Lieutenant Ramsre made that decision for us by telling us to go and return here to inform you of what happened."
"That was the right thing to do," Commander Jasno stated. "Now we know to expect the Imps to be looking for us. We also know to get out of the system. Where is Klein now?"
"I'm not sure," Duston admitted. "We split up as Skywalker was still following us. The last I saw, Skywalker was going after Klein instead of me. He might have gotten him."
"This is not good," Jasno stated before the aide rushed back into the room. "What?" she demanded, seeing his terrified face.
"All of our off system communications are being jammed," the aide informed her. "The Star Destroyers Judgment and Conqueror are also guarding the system. No ships are allowed to leave until further notice."
"Damn!" Jasno exclaimed as despair began to set in. Things were going from bad to worse and would no doubt deteriorate even further if even half of what she had heard of Skywalker's methods were true. "Send out a message to all our cells in system here. Tell them our secret is out and that they better lie low and do nothing to give away their location."
"Yes, Ma'am," the aide replied before he rushed away to carry out his orders.
"Lieutenant Ramsre was still alive when you last saw him?" Jasno demanded as she turned her attention back to Duston.
"Yes, and it didn't seem like Skywalker planned on killing him either."
"We have half a day, a full day at best before they know our location," Jasno murmured to herself, knowing that if Ramsre had indeed lost his legs, it wouldn't take the Imps long to extract the information of the location of this cell from him.
Even if Ramsre wouldn't give it voluntarily, his condition would make him weak. Cursing silently, Jasno brought her hand to her forehead. Ramsre had been a close friend and his loss, especially knowing that he would die painfully, cut deep. Knowing that she didn't have the time to mourn for him now, she pushed the thought aside. Or at least she tried to.
"Go have your injuries looked over by the medical droid," Jasno ordered as she looked at Duston. "We need all the help we can get and you're not going to be much help without medical care."
Duston somberly nodded his head before he quietly left the room, leaving Jasno alone to plan what to do. It didn't take her long to realize that with the two Star Destroyers orbiting the system both jamming outbound messages and blocking ships, that there was hardly anything they could do. The best course of action was for the other cells to lay low while her cell moved to a new location and did the same. It would end up being a waiting game. Skywalker couldn't isolate the system indefinitely and they couldn't remain in hiding without supplies for too long either. One of them would have to make the first move and it wouldn't be her.
"Luke," Nathaniel said as he and Nastalia reentered the now almost deserted dancing room and saw Luke standing with Anjaleen and Mr. and Mrs. Bel-Zessa.
"Yes, Nathaniel?" Luke replied, sensing that what the other man wished to talk about wasn't military.
"I wanted to thank you for what you did back there," Nathaniel whispered, making sure Nastalia didn't hear what he said. He didn't want her to know how close he'd come to getting killed. "For saving my life."
"It was nothing," Luke stated, equally quietly. "I wasn't planning on letting the groom-to-be get killed if I could help it."
"Thanks anyway," Nathaniel insisted.
"Do you have all you need, Skywalker?" the Grand Moff demanded as he approached the two men.
"Yes," Luke responded. "The necessary men will be here shortly and then I go hunting until I find the first cell."
"Do you want the holding cells ready or do you plan to take them up to your ship?" the Grand Moff inquired.
"I'm going to take them to the ship," Luke stated. "That way they'll be out of the way so that the other Rebels don't attempt to rescue them. Besides, I've got better interrogation equipment on the Judgment."
"Very well."
"What are you going to do with the device now?" Anjaleen inquired as she looked at it, slightly fearfully.
"It won't do anything unless activated," Luke reassured her as he looked at the now dead looking cube in his hand before he swept the area with the Force. It was a good thing the Grand Moff's sister had left to go talk with one of the few remaining guests. "As to what I'll do with it... Considering the fact that you now know what I am, I might as well destroy it now and get it over with."
Startled, Nastalia looked up and was opening her mouth to ask how, when she thought the better of it. If Vader could destroy it, then Luke could probably do it was well. He was, after all, a Sith. The shock of that revelation still hadn't fully sunken in, but she saw how it was possible.
"Get back," Luke ordered and waited before everyone was far enough before he stretched out his arm and looked at the holocron.
Luke concentrated the Force on it, slowly closing his eyes as he called upon more and more of the Dark Side. Watching him, Anja nearly gasped as the cube suddenly seemed to shine. The white light was quickly extinguished by a dark one as Luke seemed to go deeper into concentration.
"Close your eyes," Luke suddenly warned a few moments later.
Nastalia did as she was told and closed her eyes, gasping as there was a flash so bright in the room that she could see it through her eyelids followed by a loud sound which she couldn't identify. Suddenly she shivered as if some invisible being brushed it's finger ever so lightly down her spine. Cautiously opening her eyes, she saw that the cube had vanished from Luke's hands and that Luke had his head in his hands.
"Luke?" Anjaleen inquired as her necklace flashed a dim shade of green and she moved towards him. "Are you all right?"
"Yes," Luke reassure her as he smiled, his fingers briefly rubbing his forehead before he took her hand. "The device simply let off a high concentration of... the energy the Jedi used," Luke explained, knowing that Light Side and Dark Side didn't mean anything to his listeners. "You couldn't really feel it, but I could and naturally it doesn't sit too well with me."
"Okay," Anja said as she smiled at him.
Luke pulled out his comlink once more, squeezing her hand reassuringly. "Admiral," he said.
"Yes, Sir?" Admiral Belgra replied instantly.
"Patch me through to the Executor, I need to speak with Lord Vader," Luke ordered. "I have also given Admiral MacNelly orders in which he will be contacting you. I'm sure you'll have no trouble working together," he continued, his voice promising unpleasant things if he couldn't work with Nathaniel.
"Yes, Sir," Admiral Belgra replied, his voice nervous. "We've established contact with the Executor."
"Good," Luke stated as he turned off the com and looked at the others near him. "If you'll excuse me, Lord Vader will have felt the destruction of the device and will be wanting an answer."
"By all means," the Grand Moff instantly replied. "I think it's time for the ladies and me to head back anyway. We'll see you in the morning then?"
"Then or later," Luke stated. "It depends on how things go."
"And I'd better get busy too," Nathaniel said as Luke exited the room. "I'll see you later Nastalia."
"Yes," Nastalia agreed. "Don't forget, Augre and Mienra will be arriving tomorrow evening."
"I won't," Nathaniel promised as he hurried off to inform the Destroyers of who to let into the system.
Luke stood on the upper tier of the lead troop carrier, wind whipping in his face as the transport sped towards the industrial district. It had taken him just a few minutes to explain everything to his father, and now he was after the Rebels. He leaned a hand on the railing, watching the buildings they past. The Rebel didn't know much- but Luke had been able to wrench from his mind a mental map of where his base was located, and a few faces of the operatives.
The mental map was more of a series of landmarks that would lead to the Rebel's hideout than an address. That was the problem of using the mind probe to find information. People didn't think about familiar locations as addresses, but more as a series of pictures. The same went with familiar people- they thought of them as faces and personalities more than names. Standard interrogation was slower, but the information gained was usually more useful.
"Remember, Major. I want every weapon on stun. This is only the local cell, we have to find the others, and I want to be able to have the prisoners interrogated. Is that clear?" Skywalker snapped at the white armored figure beside him.
"Yes, Sir!" The trooper replied. Luke could feel the squad's excitement, they had been stationed on this peaceful and loyal planet since they had enlisted, and they were finally going to see some action. Skywalker just hoped that they kept their heads on straight when the shooting started. The Major passed the order down the line, and the troopers checked their blasters again as they sped along. Luke glanced back, checking with his eyes and the Force that the four other carriers had received the order as well.
They entered the industrial district, dimly lit factories on each side. Sparse plantings of trees lined the streets in an effort to cover the grim setting. Buildings were stacked side-by-side, with the occasional large empty paved field. The streets were empty, workers having gone home for the day. "Halt!" Skywalker ordered, and the driver slammed on the brakes. "That way!" He pointed, down a side street. He had recognized the shape of the straggly bush on the corner from the Rebel's mind.
"Major, do you have any riot gas?" Luke asked, mentally going over the layout of the building the Rebel had in his mind.
"Yes, Sir, standard issue. It's old, however. Might be a little weak." There hadn't been a riot in the entire system in over a decade.
"We'll just use more." Luke replied, he looked around some more. They would have to turn soon. If he could just recognize the corner. There. "Driver, slow down." The carrier slowed. "Pull over behind that building." Luke motioned. He turned to the troopers waiting expectantly behind him.
"We will be encircling a building around the corner over there." Luke pointed. "I will take myself and two volunteers to the roof. We will blast a hole in the roof of the building and throw every last canister of riot gas into the building. The rest of you will wait outside and stun the Rebels as they exit. Be prepared to take the building, if it becomes necessary." Luke pointed at two troopers. "You volunteered, come with me." He turned, black cape fluttering as it glinted with jewels.
Minutes later, Luke could feel the tension in the two men as they quietly climbed the stairs of an adjacent building. Reaching out with the Force, he could also feel the excitement of the other troopers, and the flurry of hurried activity of the Rebels in the building beside him. The windows were dark, nothing betrayed that this was the correct building. Skywalker smiled, anticipating the panic that would start in a few moments time.
They reached the roof, and Luke quietly reached out with the Force and pinned the Rebel guard. Then he quietly snuck up behind the man, and appeared to ambush him, breaking his neck.
He had thought a little bit about revealing himself for what he was to the galaxy at the museum. He had entertained the thought of not covering his tracks, but had decided that the timing wasn't right. There hadn't been enough witnesses for one thing, and he felt like waiting. Hiding his greatest abilities did make his enemies underestimate him. That was helpful.
He promised himself that he wouldn't wait too much longer, however.
Luke led the two stormtroopers that were carrying the riot gas canisters over to a ventilation shaft that sprouted through the roof. He motioned with one hand, and the troopers opened their sacks while he pried off the cover. The three of them started pulling pins and dropping one canister after another down the shaft.
"This is almost too easy." Luke whispered, feeling the sudden surge of panic below. "And a little repetitive."
Seconds later, the first Rebel burst from the front door, coughing and rubbing stinging eyes. Luke quickly snapped into his comlink, "Keep your cover down there. Just wait, there will be more." Moments later, more people sprouted from the apparently empty building. Luke sent his senses down, and realized the panic had taken on purpose in a few of the minds below. They might be erasing computer files-
"Major- take the building. NOW." Luke ordered, and watched as all five squads surged for the building as one.
"Father," the young man said, sitting down in the overstuffed chair in the morning sitting room, "what is going on here? I managed to get free sooner than I expected and decided to surprise my little sister by coming early. I came out of hyperspace only to be surrounded by hostile TIEs and the com screeching threats at me if I didn't give my security codes immediately."
"You gave your codes?" The Grand Moff worriedly asked. He straightened his back as he glanced at his daughter Nastalia and her friend Anjaleen. They were speaking politely to Mienra, Augre's girlfriend who had come along to the wedding. Neither Nastalia nor Anjaleen knew her very well.
"Of course," replied Augre, "but I was searched anyway. They wanted to detain me, because I came early. I tried explaining that I was your son, but the Admiral of the Star Destroyer Judgment didn't care. Said he was taking orders from Luke Skywalker, not you. I still don't know why he finally let me go. And then, the TIEs escorted me all the way down. I didn't see hardly any private traffic and two Star Destroyers guarding our system. What happened? Did we get attacked?"
"Yes," the older man said, sighing heavily. "Apparently, we have a cell or two of local Rebels in our system. They bombed the museum. Skywalker was furious and immediately closed the city and the system."
"You let him do that?" The young man was rather surprised that his father had let anyone issue orders for his system.
The Grand Moff gave his son a patient look. "Augre, he ordered me to, and I did it. Skywalker has far more power than you know."
"If you say so, but I haven't heard any announcements."
"You won't, not for awhile anyway. Just trust me on this."
Anjaleen suddenly rose to her feet, face beaming with happiness while her necklace went pure red and purple. "Luke." She said, stepping forward.
"Good morning, Anja." Came the slightly tired voice. "Don't bother to get up, I'm a mess."
"You're bleeding." She said. Augre turned to see a smooth faced Skywalker standing in the hallway. One black pant-leg was soaked in blood. Augre caught a faint whiff of something foul.
"What? Oh that. It's not mine, don't worry about it." The man sighed. "I have to get cleaned up, I smell of riot gas, we had to flush the scum out. But on the bright side, I was able to open the city back up, Grand Moff. I got the leader of the cell, and through her, everyone else in this system. I just have to wait for her to break under questioning."
"Thank you." The Grand Moff said. Then furrowed his brow. "Her? They were led by a woman?"
"Yes. There is more, but I want to get cleaned up first."
"Of course."
Luke sat on the patio in the garden, politely nibbling on fruit and tiny sandwiches while his host settled into his adjacent chair. Anjaleen sat beside him, smiling with pride.
"It's not pretty, Grand Moff." Luke said. He noticed the older man looking meaningfully at the women. "No, I didn't really mean it that way. Our strike was clean enough. We flooded the building with riot gas, and then stormed it when the Rebels realized we were waiting outside. The local troopers did manage to follow directions, and we captured the Rebel leader. She's up visiting the Judgment right now."
"Ah." The Grand Moff said, ignoring the fascinated look in his younger son's eyes. The man had not expected Skywalker to be visiting here.
"The nasty part is what the Rebels were doing here, Grand Moff. Besides the normal propaganda, they were fundraising."
"Fundraising? Here? But I thought my people were loyal!" The Grand Moff hissed.
"They are. Our computer hackers have only partially retrieved the files from the Rebels' computers, but it looks like the Rebels set up 'dummy charity corporations' to gather support. They would set up a charity for raising money for the starving children of the Rim, and then funnel the donations into their army. Donations for charity hospitals, medications, education of the poor, they collected money for many causes from your people."
The Grand Moff was very still, pale with anger as Skywalker continued. "And the worst part is, half their workers probably didn't know. Sorting the Rebels from the loyalists is going to take weeks. But once their leader cracks, we will be able to find all the cells in your system. Hopefully, she'll break in less than a week. That way, we can arrest everyone and sort them out later. I don't want to keep your system closed any longer than I have to."
Luke sighed. "This is the first time we've ever come across the Rebels raising credits like this. I hope that it isn't a new policy. His Majesty was not pleased. After I've left, you'll have to do the follow up on the investigation and make a report." Skywalker noticed the brief look of fear in the Grand Moff's eyes. "He doesn't blame you, Grand Moff. This is a new trick of theirs- we're lucky to have found out about it. Cells that never participate in overt illegal activity are the hardest to find. They can operate for years without detection."
"Still..." the Grand Moff insisted and was relieved when Skywalker made no reply.
The Grand Moff leaned back and looked around the outdoor table they were seated at. Everyone except his wife was here even though only Skywalker was eating as it was still too early for lunch. But then, the man probably hadn't eaten much since before the Rebel attack last night. Nastalia sat in-between her fiancé and her brother, and Nathaniel sat in-between Anjaleen and Nastalia, while Mienra was seated in-between himself and Augre. He liked his son's girlfriend, even though sitting at the table with three young couples made him feel old.
"Anyway," the Grand Moff continued when he realized that his son and Mienra hadn't been introduced to Skywalker yet. "I'm sure Nastalia has made mention of it earlier, but this is my youngest son, Augre, and his girlfriend, Mienra."
"Pleased to meet you," Luke said politely, having long since double checked his suspicions about the two with a quick mind-probe.
"Like wise," Augre replied, as Mienra smiled.
Briefly meeting the other's eyes, Augre's curiosity grew. He had heard lots of rumors about Skywalker, especially with his success, and had wondered just how much of it was true. With the way his father was following the young man's orders, he knew that at least part of what he had heard was fact. The way he had so quickly captured the Rebel cell proved even more. What he was most interested in, however, was his relationship with Anjaleen Winiterure. Upon being introduced to the young lady he had instantly wondered about her necklace and he had been shocked when his little sister had whispered her recent engagement to Luke Skywalker to him. News of this would be all over the navy soon and he'd be able to give firsthand info on it when it was discussed.
"Nastalia mentioned that you are attending the Academy," Luke said as he picked up the last sandwich. "What direction are you planning on going in?"
"Star Destroyer Officer," Augre replied, realizing that the young man before him was several years younger than him and yet much higher than him, at least according to the way his father treated him.
"Good," Luke stated. "We can use more good officers. There are simply too many incompetent idiots among us who are letting chances of destroying Rebel bases slip through their fingers."
"I'll take your word for that," Augre said as he smiled at Mienra, needing to look away from the man before him to hide his surprise at the constant 'we' he used. "As they don't tell us that kind of thing at the Academy."
"They wouldn't," Luke commented as he finished his meal. "I heard you had a little trouble getting into the system."
"Yes," Augre admitted. "Mienra and I arrived early and thus the Judgment wouldn't let me in without a search, despite the fact that I gave them my code."
"Admiral Belgra is probably a little anxious with what's happened here," Luke replied. "It wouldn't be the first time that Rebels use our own ships to get past us. However he should have let you through with the codes. I'll have to talk with him about that, we can't have him searching the ships of all the guests that show up a little early or late."
"Oh my, no!" Nastalia stated, horrified at the thought off all the court officials needing to suffer the indignity of being searched.
"Indeed," Luke agreed with a grin as he saw the surprise on Augre's face at how casually his sister conversed with him. "I can already see Penelopus' reaction to that."
"Luke!" Anja exclaimed as her necklace flared blue as she laughed at the thought of the older lady's reaction.
Penelopus was the wife of Nickls, who was the head of Intel and who reported directly to Lord Vader. She was an older women who sniffed at anyone who was lower than her and treated those who were her equals or superiors as if they were her best friends. The mere thought of the outburst the lady, who carried her nose high in the air, would create at being subjected to a search was enough to make even the Grand Moff chuckle.
"We definitely don't want that to happen," Nathaniel finally stated and then smiled as he saw Augre and Mienra's confused faces. "I'll point her out when she arrives."
"Okay," Mienra quietly replied as she smiled at Nathaniel.
Rebel Commander Jasno sighed as she looked around her metal cell once more. She still wasn't quite sure of exactly what had happened back at the base. One minute she was planning a move to another base and the next she heard screams coming from down the hall as a light colored and foul smelling gas started invading the room through the filter system. It had only taken her several minutes to put two and two together and realize what was happening, but those minutes had cost her dearly.
By the time she had convinced several of the others that it was a trap and that they needed to erase the computers, they had only had moments left before the stormtroopers had entered the building and started taking them out. Or rather stunning them. Either way, they were immobilized and unable to destroy all their precious information from the computers. The worst part about the raid was, however, the fact that they had all been taken alive. With Imperial torture devices as advanced as they were, some of her comrades were sure to crack, leaking even more Alliance information to the Imperials and Skywalker.
Skywalker. Her last lucid thought before she had surrendered to the blissful darkness of unconsciousness was seeing him enter the room with his one leg soaked with blood. She had briefly smiled at seeing that he was injured, but his steady pace had quickly alerted her otherwise. There was no way he'd be able to stride like that with a wound that would loose that amount of blood. If it wasn't his blood then it had to be someone else's. It had to be Alliance blood.
Jasno jumped to her feet, pacing the confines of her small cell. Ten steps, turn, ten steps, turn... No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't get her current position out of her head even for a few seconds. She was in Imperial hands and, being the highest ranking officer captured, she'd be the one put under the worst interrogation. She and she alone knew where every single cell in the system was. Sure, some of the techs knew where one or two of them were, but she knew them all. Despite the situation, she had to smile as another thought entered her mind. By refusing to give into them, she could show the Imperials that women could lead and be strong.
Suddenly the door opened and, as she turned, Jasno saw two stormtroopers enter the room followed closely by Skywalker. Looking the young man over, she suppressed a sigh of frustration. Sith. To think that he was a Sith and that she had no way of warning the Alliance of all the danger they were putting themselves into by taking him on as if he were a man like any other instead of the arch enemy of the Jedi drove her nuts. Seeing the smile that suddenly crossed his face, she realized that he had read her mind like Vader was rumored to do.
"I'm sure you know why I'm here," Luke stated as he saw the alarmed expression cross her face.
"I won't tell you anything!" Jasno declared fiercely.
"We'll see," Luke said as he couldn't help but compare the woman before him to his now dead sister.
"Little sis," Augre called out as he hurried to catch up with Nastalia who was walking down the hall ahead of him.
"Yes?" Nastalia questioned as she turned around and waited for her brother.
"How long have you known Skywalker?" Augre inquired curiously. "I mean personally, the way you do now."
"Several months," Nastalia replied. "Why?"
"I'm just surprised that he's the kind of man that you'd get to know so well, what with his reputation and all," Augre explained.
"Luke's a very nice man," Nastalia stated. "Nathaniel and I have often spent the evening with him and Anjaleen. I know that he's Vader's protégé and all, but it's hard not to like him if you haven't angered him. Although sure, if you're a Rebel, beware as you can't expect anything but a certain and probably painful death from him. But otherwise... He's nice, I don't know how else to put it."
"Perhaps, once you get to know him," Augre said after a moment's contemplation. "I'll have to see. I just can't forget what position he holds in the military, especially considering where I'm at."
"Don't worry about it," Nastalia responded. "Nathaniel is lower than Luke and Luke never even hints at that when we're together. The only time I've seen them slip into the military mode if you will, was yesterday evening with the Rebel raid. I was thinking, with Lance and Jenfras arriving tomorrow morning, that the eight of us could have lunch together. That way you'll get to know him, Anjaleen, and Nathaniel a bit better."
"Okay," Augre agreed with a smile. "Also, how come he's here so early? I thought you said that the first guests wouldn't arrive for another two days?"
"Promise me that you won't tell anyone and that you won't bring up the subject?" Nastalia questioned. "It's rather unpleasant and I don't want to upset Anjaleen by having it brought up."
"I promise."
"Okay," Nastalia said as she looked around before looking back at her brother and lowering her voice. "There was an attempt on Anjaleen's life. Ra'chealla, the daughter of one of the more powerful courtiers at court, is jealous of her and Luke, so she tried to have her assassinated."
"What?" Augre exclaimed before he lowered his own voice, remembering court life. "But... but they're engaged."
"That happened here," Nastalia said as she smiled remembering the shock it had been. Although, in hindsight, she figured that it was only a matter of time. "Ra'chealla doesn't know about that yet and will probably have a fit when she learns of it."
"What about Skywalker, what is he going to do?" Augre inquired, fascinated by this tale of love and danger.
"I'm not sure," Nastalia admitted before her voice lowered once more. "Don't tell anyone, but Luke's a Sith."
"WHAT?!" Augre demanded and once more lowered his voice when Nastalia motioned him to be quiet. "How do you know?"
"By what he did at the museum the other day. He stopped a blaster shot with a lightsaber like the one Vader has," Nastalia explained. "And Anjaleen practically admitted it, but she won't say more even though she knows something else."
"Lord Vader probably doesn't want it known then," Augre concluded, uncomfortable with the thought of how close Skywalker was to Vader.
Mon Mothma seated herself at her desk, unable to suppress the worry that rose within her as her eyes fell on the report Lieutenant Ramsre had made and sent through about the raid Commander Jasno had ordered. According to the report, the raid would have taken place two nights ago and yet there was still no word from the T'Zessa System to alert her to either the success or failure of obtaining the Jedi device. Simply the thought of having such an object within reach, let alone still in existence, sent shivers up the Alliance leader's spine.
The Jedi. Once the noblest protectors of peace and justice throughout the galaxy, now nothing more than a myth, a legend, to most people. All to often she had heard new recruits saying that they thought the powers the Jedi supposedly had were invented by Rebels who needed something extraordinary to believe in. One of those recruits had even questioned how, if they had had this magical power on their side, they could have been defeated. She had been forced to admit that she didn't know. But she had asked the recruit that if the Jedi's power didn't exist, then how could Vader be doing the Dark version of what the Jedi had been doing in the past? The question had stumped the young man.
The Rebel leader smiled at the memory, unable to help but wonder herself just how all the Jedi had been killed off so quickly. Although she had been grown and alive at the time, indeed that was when she had founded the Alliance, she couldn't tell exactly what had happened. All she knew was that at first Jedi had started disappearing without any true cause and that they suddenly came under attack just as Palpatine put his plans for galactic conquest and his Empire into full motion. Everything that had followed had been hectic and she had been unable to focus any of her attention on the battle the Jedi were fighting.
Indeed, she had seen them as the only stable pillar in the Republic, the only thing that was definitely going to survive the land slide that seemed to be taking place. But when the dust had cleared, Palpatine had been firmly seated upon the throne and the Imperial government was were the Republic had once been. As for the Jedi... they were gone. It was as if they had simply disappeared into the twilight of the Republic as mysteriously as they had come about thousands of years ago.
Mon Mothma still remembered her shock as she had seen the ruins of the Jedi Temple being cleaned away, even as the Jedi and all they had stood for were twisted and turned into a symbol of what happened to those who opposed Palpatine and his rule. Naturally not all the Jedi had vanished or been slaughtered by that point, but those that were still alive knew better than to stick around Coruscant and wait for Darth Vader, who had just appeared on stage, to kill them. Despite their going into hiding, Palpatine's pet Sith had obviously managed to track them down and kill them all. She had always hoped that some of them were still alive, but she knew that they would have flocked to the Alliance already. Although Kenobi's sudden appearance over a year ago made her wonder.
"Mon Mothma?" General Rieekan questioned, shocking her out of her thoughts. "Is everything all right?"
"Yes," Mon Mothma replied as she composed herself once more. "I simply saw Lieutenant Ramsre's report and wondered what has happened. They should have reported in already by now, Commander Jasno is not one to delay that sort of thing."
"You think the raid went wrong?" Rieekan inquired as he thought back to when Mon Mothma had brought up the raid at the meeting of the High Council the day before. The possibility of obtaining a Jedi training device was, naturally, of major interest even if not all the High Council members believed in its existence.
"I hope not," Mon Mothma said as she sighed. "But it would seem that way."
"We shouldn't assume anything yet," General Rieekan said softly. "Not until we get any more information."
"How?" Mon Mothma demanded. "If Commander Jasno doesn't report in we won't learn anything. I've already tried to contact her, but the signal won't go through and the technicians don't know why. They do think, however, that it could be because the Imperials are jamming communications. And don't forget, Skywalker is on Zessa at the moment. Everything seems to go wrong around him."
"You shouldn't overestimate him," Rieekan stated. "That can be as bad as underestimating an enemy."
"I know."
Thoughts? Comments? Suggestions? E-mail Rebecca or me at valeriev84@hotmail.com
