Orbit over Raxus Prime - Aboard the VCX-100 Light Freighter Ghost

The Ghost dropped out of hyperspace and immediately, the detachable fighter/shuttle Phantom II disconnected and launched, carrying the five members of Inferno Squad and Ferroda Grey with them. The Ghost waited so that Inferno had the time to get towards their position before Luke, Kanan and Ezra would be dropped off to theirs. "Will you need my help?" asked Hera from the pilot's seat.

"We should be alright, Dear;" said Kanan as he stood and headed towards the exit ramp. "Head up to the orbital station and wait for our call for a pick up."

She followed and hugged all three of them. "You boys be careful;" she said. "We can't afford to lose any of you. That goes double for me."

Luke patted her shoulder. "We'll be alright, Hera."

The ramp lowered disembarked and Ezra slid his Mandalorian helmet over his head. Luke was wearing a standard black tunic, one of his regular outfits, and Kanan was wearing a tradition set of Jedi robes. All around them were heaps and piles of junk. There was no biological waste to speak of but other than that, every kind of trash, flotsam and jetsam could be found. Mountains of metal and plastic scraps, rivers of toxic fluids of who knew what concoction and whole ships just lying have or mostly buried by the wreckage. Right where they had landed, an Imperial-class Star Destroyer could be seen where it had crashed, driven into the ground by gravity or some other force, and gouging a furrow into the toxic landscape. "Are we sure the air is clean to breath?" asked Ezra, his voice sounding tinny through his helmet.

Luke had pulled a scanner from his belt and was awaiting the results. When he got them, he winced, "Well we won't die immediately but getting ourselves looked over wouldn't hurt. The atmospheric scrubbers are doing a remarkable job but those rives and lakes of toxic who-knows-what can't be completely countered."

"Use the force to filter the air in front of you;" said Kanan. "If properly applied, it can be used to allow only breathable atmosphere in and keep everything else out."

Luke widened his eyes. "You don't say? That's a new one. How do I do it?"

Kanan showed him the technique and, once Luke had gotten the hang of it, he was surprised when the air smelled less like a chemical lab. "Okay, according to the coordinates that intelligence got, the location of the artifacts are a kilometer and a half to the north and slightly to the east;" said Luke, pointing towards the gorge that a Star Destroyer had gouged out of the junk-scape.

"That could explain why Galen didn't sense it before. The first time, the force was to strong in the area around, drowning out the signature from the relics and the second, I would guess that he was too busy yanking Star Destroyers out of the sky."

Luke laughed as they began to make their way through the valleys and hills of trash, shaking his head in amusement. Kanan's smile was just as amused. "What's so funny?"

Luke was about to answer when he looked at the Jedi master and noted the amusement in his eyes as well. After a second look at the Star Destroyer, and after remembering that the gravity field had originally been inconsistent, he realized that there was no way a Star Destroyer would have gouged so deeply into the landscape. "You mean that Galen did that?" he asked in disbelief.

"Has he never told you the story? Did Rahm ever tell you the story?"

Luke shook his head. "No, never;"

Kanan chuckled. "Well neither of us really can either. We were still just a single rebel cell on Lothol at the time. Anyway, apparently there used to be an Imperial Engineering Corporation's Star Destroyer shipyard in orbit and a facility down here that would take the junk and wreckage, refine it and fire it into space with a repulser cannon where it would be gathered and used on the Star Destroyer."

"Sounds like a more efficient way of what we're doing;" chuckled Luke.

"It had its flaws. For example, the ore cannons was aimed at the dock and a massive commit of ore was fired into the center of the station. The molten metal melted right into the power core and caused a critical failure and a chain reaction. Only that destroyer we see right now escaped the station;" said Kanan.

Luke nodded. "And that destroyer, manned with perhaps a thousand or more construction crew members went down to engage Starkiller. But why?"

"It was a finished destroyer, crewed and ready. They went to the planet below to try and exact vengeance on whoever had destroyed the station. All that they got was yanked out of the sky and into the ore cannon. See that over there?"

Luke noticed it then. What appeared to be just another mound of scrap and wreckage was what was left of a large facility. He let out a low whistle and shook his head. "With that kind of raw power, I can imagine why the Emperor would send his best Dark Jedi after Galen."

Kanan nodded grimly. Suddenly, Ezra stopped and said, "Can you sense that?"

Kanan and Luke stretched out with their feelings and immediately noticed what he was talking about. Hurrying forward, they came to the great trench carved by the Star Destroyer and paused. Below them, four light freighters were landed and a group of beings surrounded something. "Well that's interesting;" said Ezra, indicating the markings on the freighters. "Maybe they are just pirates after all. Those aren't either of the Consortium's marks."

Luke pulled his comlink. "Grey Leader, this is Rogue Leader;" he said, using their old call signs from during the rebellion days, "what can you tell me about them?"

"They're all Bloodscars, Rogue Leader;" came the reply. "Inferno Leader confirms, stating that she ran into them once upon a time. Change of plans?"

Luke thought about it and looked at Kanan. "What do you think, Master?"

Kanan rubbed his goatee before saying, "Well, let's go down there and see what's what before we make any drastic changes. Have Inferno stand by, just in case."

"Stand by, Grey Leader. We'll contact you with any changes. Rogue Leader out."

"Right;" said Ezra. "Let's go greet the locals."

There were roughly thirty pirates gathered around something when they got to the bottom of the gorge. None of them seemed willing to touch it, whatever it was. Ezra walked boldly into them and asked one of them, "What are we looking at?"

The pirate, a Nikto, looked at him for a moment, studying the signature armor of Mandalorian warriors and then replied, "It's a cluster of cargo crates - old ones too by the look of them. We're watching on them before the boss shows up with a crew of techs. We're hoping that the techs will be able to get inside without risking whatever the contents might be."

"I see;" said Ezra, "well I hate to break it to you all but those are officially being claimed by the Jedi Order with permission of the New Republic."

The Nikto and two of his shipmates turned on him with a frown. That's when they noticed the other two Jedi - and their lightsabers. Slowly, they back away, making space for Ezra, Kanan and Luke. There was many an angry glare at them as they passed through but clearly none of them wanted to engage a trio of Jedi. The crates were old alright - storage containers that hadn't been used since before the Clone Wars. Kanan gave a low whistle. "Those things have to be close to a century old by now. What could possibly be inside?"

"Incredible;" came a voice that was clearly magnified by the force. "You had to know that this was a trap, Jedi. You had to. Jedi artifacts don't just happen to appear on planets with massive facilities and installations on them and especially not on planets that have had numerous facilities and installations on them for decades."

Immediately, three lightsabers snap-hissed to life and the pirates all backed away, some of them running to their ships to power them up. Luke activated a comlink device inside his left ear and said, "Anyone see them?"

It was mere moments before the three Jedi stood alone next to the stack of uncovered crates. After a moment, Ferroda replied, "Yes, we have a decent amount of movement all around your position. I see Sith Consortium troops - four squads of them at least. No ysalamari cages so far and- blast! You have incoming contacts, Luke!"

Luke saw them. A half a dozen hooded and cloaked figures dropped from hills and plateaus of garbage and landed, igniting red bladed lightsabers. One of them threw back her hood a grinned wickedly. "Hello, Skywalker;" said Lady Silri, the former Nightsister-turned Sith Apprentice. "It's been some time since my Lord and I cut down your friends."

Luke gave a tight smile. "Justice will be had, Silri. It might not be today or tomorrow but it will be had. Is this all you brought - a half a dozen acolytes and a few squads of your troops?"

"And all you have is your three Jedi - and your special operations unit of course;" countered Silri as the Dark Jedi began to circle.

Rapid blaster fire began to sound around them and the fight began. Silri activated her lightwhip and attacked. Luke had expected that she would go for him, wanting to impress and please her master the Dark Lord - and he had prepared himself. From his belt, he pulled a second lightsaber - his father's lightsaber.

His Jar'kai was no where near up to the caliber of Galen Marek's but it stood him in good stead against Silri's weapons. Even so, it was a vicious encounter, with the crackling, sizzling weapon snaking in and out and around, directed by Silri's use of the force. Suddenly, it wrapped around one of his blades and nearly yanked it from his grip. But Luke's mechanical hand allowed him to hold tightly onto it and he yanked back, surprising the Sith Witch.

Pulled off balance, Silri used her momentum to get in close and engage him with her standard lightsaber - but that was a mistake. It quickly became evident that the Jedi Knight was a superior swordsman. He used his greater physical strength to batter aside her defenses and, with a surprise blast of telekinetic energy, sent her crashing into a large pile of starship wreckage.

As Silri clamored out of the wreck, hissing as a number of heavily bruised and possibly fractured bones protested her movement, she watched as Jarrus cut down three of her Dark Jedi companions in quick succession - utilizing a fighting style she wasn't at all familiar with. The other, the man in the Mandalorian armor, was using a viciously aggressive style, battering down his opponent who couldn't seem to counter him. Skywalker had managed to engage the other acolyte, skillfully slapping down his defense and stabbing him though the chest. Within moment, Silri found herself alone with two Jedi Knights and a Jedi Master. "Surrender;" said the blind Master. "There's no chance of victory or escape and no need to die."

Silri sneered and cursed in an unfamiliar language. Suddenly, the three Jedi sensed it and turned to face the latest threat. Sith Consortium troops were firing on them from up on a junk ridge.

Out of the corner of his eye, Luke saw the Sith Witch escaping but he couldn't afford to try and pursue. The blaster fire was coming to too thick and heavy. Suddenly, the sound of additional fire came in, followed by exclamations from the Consortium troops and the blaster fire cut off. Ferroda and Inferno must have flanked them. "Go help Inferno;" said Luke. "I'm going after the Witch."

He pelted after her, leaping over debris and climbing a low hill of droid parts, Luke saw her sprinting to one of the Consortium's TZ-15 Shuttles. Even though he already knew it was too late, the Jedi Knight bolted after her, only to have the shuttle's laser cannons begin to fire in his direction and force him to retreat. With a disappointed sigh, he returned to his companions.

Honoghr - Village of the Clan Khim'bar

Leia woke from her slumber to the smell of wood smoke. After a moment of confusion and alarm, she remembered where she was and looked around. She had been lying on a rough pallet inside the Noghri's communal bake house where they had set her up to shield her from the Imperial visitors the night before. Relieved, and just a little ashamed, she stood and changed into a fresh jumpsuit before pulling a ration bar from its case and wrapping. The babies were kicking and she rubbed her belly. "I get it - breakfast time."

She chewed as she took stock of the bake house. The double pallet laid out for Chewie was empty and for just a moment, a thrill of fear shot through her before she could discard it. Stretching out with the force, she could sense Chewbacca outside and his general sense gave no hint of anxiety or danger. She forced herself to relax and trust that the obvious honor of the Noghri people would keep them from turning her over to the Empire or simply killing her. After making sure that her weapon belt settled gently over her swollen abdomen, she hung her lightsaber prominently from it. Khabarakh had seemed to find reassurance of her identity in the presence of it and she hoped that his kin would do likewise. Taking a deep, calming breath and letting go of her anxieties, she stepped out into the sunlight.

Three Noghri children were playing with an inflatable ball outside in a grassy area. Immediately, Leia noticed that their skin was much lighter, almost a grayish white when compared to Khabaraks or the Maitrakh's. She assumed that their color changed with age and smiled. "Hello;" she said.

The children had already halted their game and formed a straight line in front of her and the child in the middle stepped forward and dropped to his knees in an awkward but passable imitation of his people's gesture of respect. In a mewing voice, he said, "Mal'ary'ush;" and a long stream of speech in his own tongue.

Leia smiled awkwardly and said, "I see;" wishing fervently that Threepio was there to help her. She was about to call him when the child spoke again in heavily accented but still understandable basic. "I greet you, Mal'ary'ush. The maitrakh waits for you in the dukha."

"Thank you;" Leia nodded gravely to him and his companions.

It was clear that the young Noghri had multiple responsibilities - door wardens and messengers being two of them. "Please escort me to her."

As she followed him, the other two children took up positions on either side of her. Upon seeing it it full daylight, Leia realized that the clan duhka was far for intricate and elaborate. The pillars seemed to be sections of tree trunk that had been shaved of its outer bark. The walls themselves were covered to half-height with carvings of some kind. Again, two Noghri children stood with straight backs at the tall double doors. As she approached, they pulled open the doors for her. With a nod of thanks, she entered.

The interior of the dukha was every bit as impress as the exterior. It was a single open room with a throne-like chair that was two-thirds of the way to the back of the room. In the back to one side was also a small booth-like room with a dark meshed window separating it from the main chamber. Over the center of the room from heavy chains hung a large concave dish. From the rim of the dish, she saw a softly glowing light playing against the conical ceiling.

To one side was a massive carved chart and in front of it sat Threepio and a group of twenty or so Noghri children. Presumably, he was sharing a condensed story of the war with the Empire, much like her had with the Ewoks on Endor. She fervently hoped that the droid would remember not to vilify Vader. Off to another side, in a smaller room, Chewbacca and Khabarakh were engaged in an activity and were intently focused on their hands and wrists. Suddenly, Chewie paused and looked at her quizzically.

Leia nodded reassuringly, encouraging the Wookiee to go back to his activity. Behind her, she sensed the maitrahk approaching. "Lady Vader;" said the elderly Noghri, "I greet you. You slept well?"

Leia smiled courteously. "Quite well;" she said, "your hospitality has been more honorable."

She glanced at Threepio and considered calling him back to his duties as translator. The maitrahk saw her glance and seemed to misunderstand it. "It is the history time for the children;" she said. "Your machine graciously volunteered to tell to them the last story of tour Lord Darth Vader."

Leia nodded slowly. "Yes; it took until the end, but he was finally able to rid himself of the Emperor's web of deception."

The maitrahk's expression was nearly unreadable and her emotions and feelings were nearly so but clearly the elderly Noghri was troubled by something. "Walk with me, Lady Vader;" she said after a pause.

Side by side, they began to walk along the wall where a large elaborate series of carvings were cut. "My thirdson has gained a new respect for your Wookiee;" commented the maitrahk, gesturing towards where they were clearly grappling. "Our lord the Grand Admiral came last eve seeking proof that my thirdson has deceived him about his flying craft being broken. Because of the Wookiee, he found now such proof."

"Yes, Chewie told me last night about gimmicking the ship. I don;t have his knowledge of spaceship mechanics, but I know it can't be easy to face a pair of linked malfunctions the way he did. It's fortunate for all of us he had the foresight and skill to do so;" said Leia.

The maitrahk studied her before saying, "The Wookiee is not of your family or clan and yet you trust him, as if he were a friend."

Leia took a deep breath. "I never knew my true father, the Lord Vader, as I was growing up. I was instead taken to Alderaan and raised by the Viceroy as if I were his own child. On Alderaan, as seems to also be the case here, family relationships were the basis of our culture and society. I grew up memorizing lists of aunts and uncles and cousins, learning how to place them in order of closeness to my adoptive line."

Gesturing to the Wookiee, "Chewie was once merely a good friend. Now, he is part of my family - as much as my husband and brother are."

They had made it perhaps a quarter of the way around the dukha now and the maitrakh asked, "Why have you come here?"

"Khabrakh told me your people needed help. I thought there might be something that I could do."

The maitrahk seemed unconvinced. "Some will say that you have come to sow discord among us."

"You said that yourself last night;" said Leia. "I can only give you my word that discord is not my intention."

"The goal and the end are not always the same, Lady Vader. Now we serve one overclan only. You would require service to another. This is the seed of discord and death."

Leia pursed her lips as she considered the problem. "Does service to the Empire satisfy you, then?" she asked simply. "Does it gain your people better life or higher honor?"

"We serve the Empire as one clan. For you to demand our service would be to bring back the conflicts of old."

They reached the very wall chart that Threepio had been sitting before with the Noghri children. "Do you see our history, Lady Vader?"

Leia studied the neatly carved lines of alien script, noting with interest that they seemed to be cut in patterns that were vertical, horizontal, diagonal and at varying degrees of thickness and depth. After taking in the whole of the chart, she realized that it was a genealogical chart of some kind - either of the whole of the Clan Kihm'bar or at the least of this one family. "I see it;" she replied.

"Then you see the terrible destruction of life created by the conflicts of old," the maitrakh said. She gestured to three of four places on the chart which were, to Leia at least, indistinguishable from the rest of the design. "I do not wish to return to those days, not even fore the daughter of the Lord Darth Vader."

Leia shivered and remembered the thousands of ghosts from her past - those of Yavin, Hoth, Endor and of Coruscant, Dathomir, the Hapes Consortium and a thousand more besides. "I understand;" she said sadly. "I've seen more conflict and death in my lifetime than I ever thought possible. I have not wish to add to that list."

"Then you must leave;" said the maitrakh firmly, "you must leave and not come back while the Empire lives."

They had begun to walk again. "Is there no alternative?" she asked, "what if I could persuade all of your people to leave their service to the Empire? There would be no conflict then among you."

"The Emperor aided us when no one else would;" reminded the maitrakh.

Leia was about to protest that it was only because the Rebellion and New Republic didn't know but it would only be a half truth. Even had they known, Mon Mothma and the other leadership would have not been likely to allocate the amount of resources the Noghri people would need. Even now, they likely wouldn't. Still, she had to offer. "We know now, and we offer you our help."

The eyes of the maitrakh seemed to burn into Leia as the Noghri asked, "Do you offer us aid for our own sakes; or merely to wrest our service from the Empire to you overclan? We will not be fought over like a bone among hungry stava."

Leia's voice grew flat. "The Emperor used you; as the Grand Admiral is using you now. Has the aid they've given been worth the sons they've taken from you and sent off to die?"

The maitrakh was silent for many steps until she answered in a soft voice. "Our sons have gone, but with their service, they have bough us life. You came in a flying craft, Lady Vader. You saw what was done to our land."

Again, Leia shivered. "Yes; it- I hadn't realized how widespread the destruction had been."

The maitrakh sighed. "Life on Honoghr has always been struggle. The land had required much labor to tame. You saw on the history the times when the struggle was lost. But after the battle in the sky-"

A shudder interrupted the matrakh and she didn't resume speaking for a long moment. "It was like a war between gods. We know now that it was only large flying craft bigh above the land. But then, we knew nothing of such things. Their lightning flashed across the sky through the night and into the next say, brightening the distant mountains with their fury. And yet, there was no thunder, as if those same gods were too angry even to shout at each other as they fought. I remember being more frightened of the silence than of any other part of it. Only once was there a distant clash of thunder. It was much later before we learned that one of the mountains had lost its uppermost peak. Then the lightning stopped, and we dared to hope that the gods had taken their war away from us- until the ground-shake came."

She paused as yet another shudder wracked her body. "The lightning had been the anger of the gods. The groundshake was their war hammer. Whole cities vanished as the ground opened up beneath them. Fire-mountains that had been long quiet sent out flame and smoke that darkened the sky over all the land. Forest and fields burned, as did cities and villages that had survived the groundshake itself. from those who had died came sickness, and still more died after them. It was as if the fury of the sky gods had come among the gods of the land, and they too were fighting among themselves.

"And then, when finally we dared hope it was over, the strange-smelling rain began to fall."

Leia nodded, feeling her throat tighten and her gut clench. The whole sequence of events was painfully clear. There had been a battle in the space above Honogr and one of the ships had fallen to the ground, setting off the chain of events that led to the desolation. Any modern or even less modern warships could have carried amounts of chemicals that could have done some damage to the ecology of the world, but it was only older ships, much older ships, that had used the amount of virulent and harsh chemicals to cause that kind of wide-spread destruction.

Older ships had been virtually all that the Rebel Alliance had to work with in the beginning of the war - ancient Separatist cruisers and battleships, Clone Wars era assault ships, cruisers and destroyers.

Another surge of guilt flooded through Leia as the thought flooded her head: we did this! Our ships - our fault!

"The Empire's people had a name for what was in the rain;" murmured the maitrakh, "I do not know what it was."

Leia swallowed, trying to dislodge the lump in her throat. "They came soon after the disaster, then. The Lord Vader and the others."

"Yes;" replied the maitrakh as she waved her hand to encompass the area around them. "We had gathered here, all who were left alive and could make the journey. This place had always been a truce ground between clans. We had come here to try and find a way for survival. It was here that the Lord Vader found us."

They walked along before she picked up where she had left off. "Some believed then that he was a god. All feared him and the mighty silver flying craft that had brought him and his attendants from the sky, and nearly two tens of warriors chose to attack."

"And were duly slaughtered;" murmured Leia. The thought of effectively unarmed primitives taking on Imperial soldiers made her wince.

"They were not slaughtered;" retorted the maitrakh, great pride evident in her voice. "Only three of the two tens died in battle. In turn, they killed many of the Lord Vader's attendants, despite their lightning weapons and rock garments. It was only when the Lord Vader himself intervened that the warriors were defeated. But instead of destroying us, as some of the attendants counseled, he instead offered us peace. Peace, and the blessing and aid of the Emperor."

Leia nodded as yet another piece of the puzzle clicked into place. Now she understood why the Emperor, a xenophobic monster, would have anything to do with a 'sub-human' group of aliens on a devastated back-rocket world. These 'sub-human' aliens had the skill and ability that would certainly peak his interest. "What sort of aid did he bring?" Leia asked.

"All that we needed," answered the maitrakh, "Food and medicine and tools came at once. Later, when the strange rain began to kill our crops, he sent the metal droids to begin cleaning the poison from the land."

Leia winced, freshly aware of her twins' vulnerability. But the analysis kit had found not trace of anything toxic in the air as they approached the village, and Chewbacca and Khabarakh and done similar tests on the soil. Clearly, the decon droids were doing their job very well. "And nothing else will grow outside the cleaned land?" she asked rather pointlessly.

"Only the kholm-grass," said the maitrakh. "It is a poor plant, of no use as food. But it alone can grow now, and even it no longer smells as it once did."

It explained the browned land. Somehow the plant had adapted to the toxic soil all over the planet. "Did any of the animals survive?"

"Some did - those who could eat the kholm-grass and those who ate those who ate it. But they are few. This place;" and she indicated around, meaning the place that the village was in, "was never rich with life, Lady Vader. Perhaps that was why the clans had chosen it as a truce ground. But even in so desolate a place, there were still animals and plants without count. They are gone now."

With a light shake, she put aside the memory and said, "The Lord Vader helped us in other ways as well. He sent attendants to teach our sons and daughters the ways and customs of the Empire. He issued new orders to allow all clans to share the Clean Land, though for all clans to live beside one another this way had never happened since the beginning. And he sent mighty flying craft into the desolation to find and bring to us our clan dukhas."

Looking Leia in the eyes, the maitrakh said, "We have honorable peace, Lady Vader. Whatever the cost, we pay it gladly."

Out of the corner of her eye, Leia saw movement towards the charts and saw that the children were standing and bowing to Threepio. "Break time?" she asked curiously.

"The clan lessons are over for toady," said the maitrakh. "The children must now begin their share of the work of the village. Later, in the evening, they will have lessons which will equip them to someday serve the Empire."

Leia gritted her teeth and shook her head. "It's not right; no people should have to sell their children in return for life."

"It is a debt we owe. How else shall we pay it?"

How else, indeed? Clearly the Empire was quite happy with the bargain they had concocted and, having seen the Noghri commandos in action, she could understand the satisfaction. There would be no other way for the Noghri to pay out their debt and if the Noghri themselves consider the service a debt of honor... "I don't know;" she said, shaking her head and massaging the bridge of her nose between her thumb and forefinger.

Off to the side, Chewie and Khabarakh were still engaged in their fighter exercise. "You Wookiee has asked my thirdson to instruct him in our fighting methods. Wookiees have great strength, but no knowledge of the subtlety of combat."

Leia couldn't help but smile, thinking that the Wookiees would probably see it a different way. "I'm surprised he was willing to have Khabarakh teach him. He's never really trusted him."

"Perhaps it is the same distrust that whets his interest;" replied the maitrakh dryly.

After watching for a while longer, the Noghri turned to Leia. "You understand now, the cycle of our life, Lady Vader. You must realize that we still hand by spider silk. Even now we do not have enough clean land to grow sufficient food. We must continue to buy from the Empire."

Again, Leia resisted the urge to grit her teeth. "Payment for which requires that much more service from your sons."

Permanent debt, after all,was the oldest form of slavery. "It also encourages the sending away of our sons;" said the maitrakh bitterly. "Even if the Empire allowed it, we could not bring back all of our sons. We would not have enough food."

"You'll never be entirely out of their debt;" she said bluntly, "you know that, don'y you? As long as you're useful to them, the Grand Admiral will make sure of that."

"Yes;" said the maitrakh in a quiet voice; "it took a long time but I now believe that. If all the Noghri believe so, changes could perhaps be made."

"But the rest of the Noghri still believe that the Empire is their friend?"

"Not all believe so, but enough do."

They were silent again before the mairtakh sighed tiredly. "Many would have gladly gone with the Lord Vader, even without our debt, for the joy of traveling among the stars. The Noghri have always loved the stars. One time, we even worshiped them."

"I understand;" said Leia with another, sadder smile. "Many in the galaxy are the same way. It's the common birthright of us all."

"A birthright which we have now lost."

Leia shook her head, looking down at the maitrach. "Not lost, only misplaced. Perhaps if I talked to all the Noghri leaders at ones-"

"What would you say to them?" countered the maitrakh.

It was, unfortunately, a valid questions. What would she say to them? She could tell the truth of course - that the Empire was using them? The Noghri perceived it as a debt of honor. That the Empire was pacing the cleanup job so as to keep them on the very edge of self-sufficiency without ever reaching it? But at the rate the decontamination was going, she would be hard-pressed to prove any such lagging, even to herself. That she and the New Republic could give the Noghri back their birthright? But why should they believe her?

"As you see, Lady Vader;" the maitrakh murmured. "Though perhaps matter will someday change. But until then, your presence is a danger to us as much as yourself. I will honor the pledge of protection made by my third son, and not reveal your presence to the Grand Admiral. But you must leave."

Leia took a deep breath. "Yes;" she said, the word hurting her throat. "I will leave because I don't wish to bring trouble to you or your family. But the day will come, maitrakh, when your people will see for themselves what the Empire is doing to them. When that happens, remember that I'll always be ready to assist you."

It response, the Noghri bowed low and murmured, "Perhaps that day is soon, Lady Vader. I await it - as do others."

Leia was about to inquire on the arrangements to escape Honogr when a Noghri child burst through the double doors and rattled off something in the native speak. "What is it?" demanded Leia.

"The flying craft of our Lord the Grand Admiral;" replied the aged Noghri. "And it is coming here."