Author's Note: Thank you for reading! I know I'm not the best at replying to all the reviews but know that I do always appreciate them!

k

Chapter 14 – Guest Services

Luke was nineteen when he was told about his role in the new peace agreement. He turned twenty shortly before the wedding and had a small celebration with his sister on Naboo. Next week would be his first life-day without her, or any of his family. The ship was scheduled to visit Corellia, a border world, however there was a trade negotiation on Dubrillion the same week which his mother and sister were attending. Mara could not go as she had previously agreed to serve as speaker on the opening of the next session of the Corellian Senate House.

Luke could have taken his X-Wing to Dubrillion but it was on the other side of Imperial space and it possibly wasn't the best of ideas to be flying around on his own with the current state of affairs in the galaxy. Mara offered to send an escort but then what kind of image would that send? All in all, he was looking forward to visiting Corellia.

Corellia was one of the few planets in the Empire who still had their own government and was generally free to do as they pleased. It's not like either the Empire or the New Republic could really tell them what to do. They generally tipped their colors to the Empire because of better taxes.

Now there was an issue. Because the Imperial government had a bigger hand in everything from corporations to governments they could afford to take fewer taxes as they had a larger profit base. The New Republic government did not, they only received funds from their government taxes and therefore took a bigger cut. It came down to how much control you wanted to give over to your government verses how much profit you wanted to make to determine which side of the border you wanted to fall.

This was another argument brewing, corporations defecting to the Imperial side for cheaper taxes and labor costs which was causing a drop in employment in some parts of the New Republic. However, the demand for raw materials in the Empire was rising and the New Republic wanted to place a larger tax on exported and imported goods in attempt to stop the exodus.

It was enough to make Luke's head spin. Why couldn't they simply agree on a larger corporation tax base which would cover both sides?

"I think it's a great idea," Mara didn't even look up from her desk.

"So it's okay with you then?" he questioned, a little more nervous than he thought he'd be.

"It's your living quarters, they're your friends," she wrote something down then tapped on the console, "why should I care if they stay one day or six."

"It's your ship," yes, they may be married but never once did he ever try to insinuate that the Star Destroyer was any part his, and he never would. Well, except for the area she gave to him but even then he'd give it back if she asked.

She looked up at him with a bit of a blank stare, "Are they going to highjack it and, dunno, plow it into Duro?"

"Duro? No," he cracked a smile, "Drall, maybe."

"That I can handle."

…

Now that's a sight you never see. Three X-Wings glided gracefully into the private docking bay of an Imperial Star Destroyer, sitting down next to Luke's X-Wing. The pilots emerged, jaws slightly gapping, Luke knew the feeling.

"Luke," Corran landed closest and was first to greet his friend. They clasps arms and patted each other on the back.

"Corran," he grinned ear to ear, "so good to see you!"

"It's been, what," Wedge said as he approached, "almost a year now?"

"Almost," Luke greeted the only non-Jedi of the group with a similar man-hug.

"I think this hanger is bigger than most of our ships," Kyle was spinning slowly on his heels as he approached.

Luke chuckled, "I'm begging to learn the Empire doesn't do anything by halves."

"I can see that," he whistled appreciatively.

A deck officer with a repulsor lift approached from the side.

"Let's grab your gear," Luke gestured to the officer, "let you get changed and then I'll give you a tour."

The bags had to go a different direction as the lift would not fit in some of the transfer tubes that were the quickest way to Luke's rooms. The redesign of the apartment included a separate door leading directly into his living area from the hallway. Of course, Mara and Gilad had access but not once did they use it.

"This all yours?" Wedge asked appreciatively.

"More than I need," Luke admitted, "but yeah."

"Nice," the pilot started to poke his head into the rooms, "these all guest bedrooms?"

Luke laughed, "No, I hadn't figured out what I wanted to do with them so when I got your holo saying you'd be able to meet up with me on Corellia I had some beds brought in, figured give you all your privacy. You'll have to share the refresher though."

"That's solar," Kyle patted him on the back, "this is definitely some of the better digs I've had to bunk at."

"Yeah, yeah," Corran waved him off, "no one wants to hear your story about the Ryloth incident… again."

"I call this one!" Wedge shouted from the room closest to the refresher.

The bags arrived shortly afterwards and the guys unpacked and changed into normal clothes. Luke had taken to not wearing his Jedi robes on the ship, only slacks, shirt, tunic on occasion, and of course his lightsaber. The men followed suit, except Wedge of course who had left his blaster in his ship for obvious reasons.

Luke started the tour of the Star Destroyer and amazed himself on how much he learned about the structure over the past year. Being friends with some of the crew helped. They would talk and he would listen, picking up tid bits here and there, little known facts and the like.

The crew knew Luke was having guests so they weren't terribly surprised to see the group passing through. A grudging self respect had built between him and the crew so the worse that happened was indifference to his presence.

When they got to the engine room Fomor had entirely too much fun explaining how the ship ran and functioned only because he was the best mechanic in the galaxy if he did say so himself.

"And this is the bridge," they walked into the large open space of the upper deck. Officers walked around, moving from sunken station to the next shouting orders as Captain Pellaeon had a heated conversation over the vid.

Something wasn't right.

"Skywalker," Landis called from his nav station off to the right.

The group headed over, walking down a small flight of stairs into the pit as they called it. "What's up, Landis?"

"Protestors," he gestured to his screen, a few dozen smaller vessels were making their way towards two larger ones with a small escort. "The big ships are carrying Senators from Corellian Sector worlds."

Corran spoke up first, "They protesting Corellia's support of raising the import tax?"

"I believe so," Landis kind of shrugged. "I only know they've disabled a CorSec ship and are heading towards the big guys."

Wedge shook his head, "That's suicide. They might get some hits but the escort will take them out."

"CorSec's dispatched more ships," Landis added, "but they're too far away to intercept before contact."

This was not good.

The door to the bridge opened and Mara practically ran through it, almost skidding to a stop at the forward section. She went to Gilad. "Well?"

"It's no good," he shook his head, "CorSec ships inbound but it's going to be bloody."

"They won't stop?" she was referring to the protesters.

"They've cut all communications."

Mara took one short but deep breath, tapping her finger twice at her side, before. "Navigation, move to intercept, I want the Chimera between the protestors and the dignitaries."

Landis and his fellow nav officers didn't even ask for confirmation of the order, their hands went dancing across the consoles, orders relayed and within seconds the ship started to move.

"Intercept in eighty-five seconds," Landis called out, "we'll be able to put ourselves between them."

"Deflector shields up," Gilad called out then turned to Mara, "Fighters?"

"Have the fighters prepped," she said loudly enough for the deck crew to hear, "but do not launch without our orders."

"Mara," Luke made his way back up onto the deck, taking long strides towards her. She jerked slightly, as if she hadn't seen him when she came in. "You're not going to fire on them, are you?"

"You think I'm that stupid?" she asked with a bit of a grin to her voice, turning back to the console.

"No, not usually," he admitted.

"Protestors are slowing down," Landis called out, "but not stopping."

"They might be able to crash through into one of those transport ships," Mara said mostly to herself it seemed, "but they would be crushed against our shield."

"How long would it take them to reroute around us?" Luke called back at Landis.

The man checked his calculations, "Not long enough for CorSec to get here."

"I don't want CorSec here," Mara turned to Luke. "Doesn't matter who fires first, just one person dies and we'll have one more tragic accident on our hands and right now we can't afford it."

"Lady Jade," an officer called out, "we're in range."

"Lock on, reel them in," she ordered back.

"Deeks," Gilad called to an officer across the deck, "make sure we have a clear bay ready to receive our guests. They may be armed, stun only."

"You're going to capture them?" Luke wasn't sure if that was smart, brilliant, or crazy… maybe all three.

"As long as they don't try to run," she turned back to the console. "Communications, open a wide frequency narrow band in the ship's directions."

"Done," they shouted back, "open."

"This is Lady Jade aboard the Star Destroyer you are currently being hauled into," she spoke into the transmitter. "Whatever you had planned, it's over, it's done. No one's gotten hurt and I'd like to keep it that way. You come quietly and I promise you you'll be sent through the Imperial Courts, not Corellian."

The Corellian court system was not known as the most just of all systems in the galaxy. Sure, for most crimes it was about as effective as the rest, but if you get yourself on trial for something like attempting to attack government officials then you can pretty much expect to get the maximum plus extra and probably shipped off to Kessell.

"You want some help?" Corran said as the three of them came up behind him. "We're Corellian too, maybe we can talk sense into them if they try anything?"

Mara stared at them for a second as if she wasn't entirely sure what to make of the situation. "Are you pro or anti taxes?"

"We're pro not letting anyone get killed over taxes," Corran said matter of fact.

"Now, beautiful women or a good bottle of whiskey…" Kyle added, grinning like a charmer, "that's another story."

Mara shook her head, then pointed at Deeks, "Escort these gentlemen to the bay. Give them all considerations."

"Yes, ma'am," Deeks gestured for the guys to follow and they started to leave.

"You coming?" Corran asked.

"I'll catch up," he nodded, "I know the way."

"What?" Mara asked him after they left.

He turned to her and simply said, "Thank you."

She creased her brow, "For what?"

He smiled then made his way off the bridge.

…

By the time they got back to Luke's quarters they were tired and exhausted. Having a standoff with slightly crazy protestors does that to you.

Apparently Luke shared a kitchen with Jade but none of them could be bothered to cook so much as a sandwich. The food service on the ship never closed and served every meal at all points in the day to accommodate the different shifts. Luke went down to the service to speak to the cook about getting some food he could bring up leaving the guys to relax.

"I really thought that one guy was going to go for his blaster," Kyle admitted.

"He almost did," Corran was pouring himself a drink from the small bar Luke admitted he only had installed for them. "Good call brining up Padti, Wedge. I forgotten that parable."

"That's okay," Wedge grinned, flopping onto a plush seat, "I made it up. It's a mix of Chandrillan and Alderaanian proverbs, I simply added Padti's name."

"Nice one," Kyle nodded, then looked at his empty hand. "Why does this not have a drink in it?"

"Make your own," Corran told the man, heading over to another seat.

"Bah!" Kyle stood and made his way to the bar.

There was a moment of silence before Wedge felt brave enough to say it, "That was a pretty smart move by Jade."

"Yeah," Corran agreed, staring into his drink, "I was half expecting her to blow them out of the sky."

"They were presenting a clear and present danger," Kyle poured himself a drink, "she would have been within legal rights to do so."

"Yeah," Wedge let out a slow breath, "and did you see how they interacted?"

"Who?" Kyle leaned on the bar, "Luke and Jade?"

"Who else."

"How long has it been?" Corran was rhetorical. "Almost a year?"

"He said they were friends," Wedge rolled the thought around, "after a sort."

"What has that boy gotten himself into?" Kyle asked as he downed his drink.

"This is Luke we're talking about," Wedge pointed out the obvious. "Think it will be a problem?"

Corran thought about for a long moment. "Nah, I think he'll be fine."