Chapter 21: The Price of Failure
Captain Harken watched in amazement as Luke Skywalker decimated Nivo and his band of cronies, the Dusk Warriors. No one had begun to use the Force yet, but in simple dueling, Skywalker apparently far outclassed the others. He had snatched one of their curved blades and was disarming them with an almost delicate grace and fluid ease.
Contrary to what Harken had led Luke to believe, it was not Sabé who had set Nivo on him, but rather Admiral Dinoro – Harken's superior.
The Admiral had ordered Harken to take Luke to the particular Training Grounds dome that Nivo was ruling, sure that Nivo would pick a fight. He wanted to observe Sabé's pet Jedi in action. The lady had been usurping his authority much too often lately, and Dinoro didn't appreciate being left in the dark.
So here Harken was, as his spy.
Luckily for his health, Skywalker was a good fighter, if not particularly bright. Harken could barely believe he swallowed everything Harken told him about Sabé. Oh, it wasn't exactly a lie, but a smarter man than Skywalker would wonder how a lowly Captain would figure out Sabé's complex motives and insanities. Particularly considering the innocent/clueless act Harken had been putting on.
Plus, would she ever put her beloved Luke at risk? No, certainly would never sic a pack of half-crazy Force users on her baby.
Harken held his breath as blue lightning began to leave Nivo's fingers. Skywalker had proven his fighting skills, but Harken only seen a little of his mastery of the Force.
And despite their ridiculous name, the Dusk Warriors were frighteningly powerful. In the Hapan language – Du-ske Worr'yer actually meant Mind Wizard. Someone had the bright idea of a clumsy cross-language pun.
Skywalker stumbled back a few steps, and then began to catch the lightning on his blade. It traveled down the blade and hilt, dissipating before it reached his fingertips.
He waited to see how the Jedi would retaliate. To Harken's surprise, he just stood there. Skywalker seemed to be going for the tire-them-out strategy. Not a bad idea, considering only two out of the six were still on their feet and blasting out the electricity. Either Skywalker had arrived at the same conclusion, or he was too tired to counterattack.
That idea was shot down when Skywalker unexpectedly lunged forward. He had lost some of the grace of his earlier attacks, but still managed to catch Nivo by surprise, judging by the expression on his face when Skywalker smacked him with the blade and his own lightning rebounded on him.
Nivo staggered back and dropped to the floor with a wordless shriek of rage.
The only other man standing advanced again, swinging the blade with sloppy but powerful blows. Skywalker limped to the side, not absorbing but deflecting the blows.
"Stop!" commanded a woman's voice.
Lady Sabé stood there, a reproachful expression on her face. "Step back, Hortza," she snapped.
Hortza did so, chagrined. The mindless fury had already begun fading from his features. Behind him, Nivo lay moaning and clutching his chest on the durasteel floor.
"How dare you attack Luke?" Sabé questioned him coldly. "Well?"
"He insulted – I mean, he was completely disrespectful – "
"That's enough!" Sabé's voice cut through the air like a sleek-feathered avian with its razor-sharp talons out. "I don't want to hear your excuses. Take Nivo to the medical wing, and report to me for you reprimand tomorrow morning."
She glanced at Harken.
Harken twisted his features a suitably terrified expression.
"Let's go," Sabé said soothingly to a startled Luke Skywalker. "Why don't I have the medic come check you over? I can't believe those idiot boys tried to bully you . . . I'll certainly be having words with them . . . ." her voice faded out of Harken's hearing as she left with Skywalker.
As for Harken, he disappeared just as quickly.
A few minutes later, he knocked with respectful promptness on the heavy door of Admiral Dinoro's office. "Enter," came the baritone voice from inside.
"Captain," Admiral Dinoro greeted as Harken closed the door behind him. "Well?"
"Nivo kept his end of the bargain," Harken reported. "He pretended to be provoked into an attack."
"And Skywalker?"
"Skywalker was brilliant at first, but tired quickly. Remnants of his injuries most likely remain. Still, he put Nivo and four of his friends out of the fight and was working on a fifth when Lady Sabé came and scolded them for ragging on her poor little baby."
"No need to say Lady Sabé in my presence, Captain," Dinoro advised with a shudder.
He shook his head in despair. "That madwoman has been causing altogether too much trouble lately. First, there were all those attacks on the Jedi. Dangerous, but she was sacrificing her own students, so I didn't interfere. Then, the invasion of Naboo – I still can't believe she convinced my predecessor to invade the planet. That could have ruined everything. We don't have enough ships to fight the Rebellion yet!"
Dinoro continued his rant. "And now, she's got Luke Skywalker in her clutches. Luke kriffing Skywalker! How could things possibly get worse? Maybe if Alderaan reappeared in the sky and smashed Gall to bits?"
"Excuse me, sir," Captain Harken ventured. "What's so special about this man? Other than the fact he's a Jedi, that is? I mean, I know he's a pretty well-known Rebel – I've heard his name mentioned in history lessons – but he's here, and he can't leave, can he?"
Admiral Dinoro stared at him for a moment, then chuckled. "I keep forgetting you've never left this planet, Harken. You're such a diligent officer; you obviously don't spend much of your free time on the HoloNet."
Dinoro's tone shifted to slightly condescending. "I see we have to update our curriculum. It's not entirely your fault, Captain; I know that your specialty is navigation, not battle tactics. As it turns out, Luke Skywalker was the man who can take credit for ruining most of the Emperor's plans back in the good old days where loyal citizens didn't have to hide out in mynock holes. He's very resourceful, and your report indicates to me that his injuries haven't caused him to lose much of his edge. I wish Nivo had killed him."
He rolled his eyes towards the ceiling. "And he has very powerful Rebel friends. They'll be looking for him. If he escapes of if they find him, we'll be in quite a bit of trouble."
"Sir, I apologize if this sounds obvious, but why don't we just kill him?"
Dinoro chuckled again. "I suspect you do not fully recognize the difficulty of this situation. Harken, you're a good man, but why don't you ever think? If we break Sabé's toy, she'll break our necks."
Harken ignored the insult. "We could keep setting up Skywalker."
"Absolutely not," Dinoro vetoed firmly. "If Nivo can't be trusted to kill him discreetly, nobody here can. We'll just keep looking for an opportunity and hope Skywalker doesn't manage to escape in the meantime." He picked up the datapad sitting on his desk with an air of finality. "You're dismissed, Captain."
General Airen Cracken leaned back in the stiff chair he occupied upon the command deck of the flagship Home One. The ship would be arriving at its destination in only a few moments.
Cracken kept his stern expression, but inwardly sighed. New Republic Intelligence had speculated that a cell of the Imperial Remnant was housed on Gall. It would probably put up stiff resistance. As the Imperial Remnant shrunk, those who were left were the most clever, generally speaking. And the most fanatic
That was why he had counted on Kalis – whom he was sure was a spy – to pass on the information that the New Republic planned to attack in eight days time.
Senator Tana Kalis of Vladet had betrayed herself by passing on too much information. NRI had ordered her followed after it became suspicious, and it had not taken long for Kalis to reveal herself. Still, Cracken had given her a few more weeks of freedom for several reasons.
First, better the Moff you know than the Emperor's new envoy, as the saying went. If she was outed, the Imperials would no doubt try and replace her. Also, she would prove a useful tool for passing on false information.
Cracken still knew that there was a difficult task ahead of this task force. He went over the objectives again in his mind. Prevent the Imperials from escaping. Capture the base and glean information. Recover Luke Skywalker – if he was there. And finally, prevent collateral damage and the death of uninvolved civilians on Gall.
"Reverting back to lightspeed," called an officer.
"Thank you, Lieutenant," Cracken answered, taking a deep breath. The navigator pulled a lever, and the images outside the viewports streaked back into normal space. Actually, it wasn't quite normal. There were flashes of green and red and blue light and silver metal intermingling in a deadly sparring match.
The Home One had landed right in the middle of a space battle!
Cracken immediately shot to his feet, pulling out his comlink. "All New Republic ships ordered to engage! Only attack enemy ships marked on the targeting computer." He turned to a nearby Lieutenant. "Whose ships are those?" he indicated the fleet that was engaging the same enemy ships that had invaded Naboo.
Cracken looked around and spotted a massive red Star Destroyer. He immediately swore. "Sithspit! Never mind, Lieutenant, those are smuggler ships. Get me a line with the Errant Venture."
The Lieutenant quickly complied. Cracken brusquely pushed one of the communications officers out of his seat and snatched up the linking device impatiently. Behind him, the man who had formerly occupied the seat hovered uncertainly. "Communications established, General!" the Lieutenant cried out.
"Booster Terrick, are you listening?" Cracken bellowed.
An insolent voice came back. "No need to shout. Admiral Ackbar, isn't it? Commander of the Home One?"
Cracken growled. "This is General Cracken, Terrick. I'm commanding the Home One right now. I demand to know what you're doing over here! Is anyone in the Senate NOT a spy?"
"We figured out that Luke Skywalker was here all on our own," Terrick retorted. "And we thought we'd give you a hand. Seeing as the New Republic has so many star systems to patrol these days."
"I'll deal with you later," Cracken promised darkly. Booster Terrick had ruined any chance of surprising the Imps; that was for certain. It had been ten seconds, and half the plans were gone. "For now, don't let any of those ships escape!"
Cracken shut off the communications device and surveyed the scene. A few feet away, Captain Onoma directed the Home One. Cracken was the commander of the whole task force that authorized by Admiral Ackbar, but Onoma ran the ship itself.
The scene outside the ship did not look good. Cracken had come with plenty of ships to raze the base if he had had the element of surprise, but now that the enemy ships were all deployed, it was doubtful if the combined smuggler and New Republic ships would be able to prevent the evacuation of the base.
Still, he had to try.
"Get me the targeting data," he ordered the Lieutenant. True, Airen Cracken was the head of New Republic Intelligence. But the Imps would soon learn that the General hadn't forgotten one minute of his days as a military man.
Cracken coolly began giving orders, his anger at Terrick for ruining the plans not forgotten but completely under control. As the New Republic fleet obeyed, Cracken settled into a deep concentrated calm.
The Imperials were going down. In blazing flames.
"Hold still, darling," Sabé instructed as she firmly held down Luke's arm, swabbing it with stinging antiseptic. "Almost done."
Luke tried not to squirm, thinking of how easily Sabé managed to make him feel like a six year old again.
"Finished." Sabé released his arm. "Are you hungry for lunch?"
"No, thank you," Luke answered. If he stayed here much longer, he was going to start looking as bloated as a Hutt. He had actually lost weight with the stress of his repeated injuries, but that wasn't going to last long. Not that he was complaining. He'd gladly trade a few extra pounds for not getting beat up by Nivo.
And that was a mystery, wasn't it?
Luke had come to the conclusion that Sabé had not, in fact, ordered Nivo to assail him. First of all, she could easily find a less obvious way to order Nivo to attack him. For instance, if she had told Nivo to attack on the way back from a library visit, Luke would be far less suspicious of her.
Furthermore, why then would she order Nivo's backup to stop attacking Luke? Sabé could have just waited for him to finish Luke off, first.
It didn't make any sense.
Another thing that didn't make any sense was Nivo's sense in the Force. He hadn't been angry in the beginning, only bored and irritated. Certainly not enough motivation to gather up his friends and chase Luke and Harken down the hallway.
Also, Sabé had not felt guilty when she found Luke. No, she had resonated genuine shock and outrage when she saw him being attacked. She hadn't expected her own apprentice to fight Luke.
Someone had ordered Nivo to assault Luke, but it wasn't Sabé. So, who was it?
Luke went over his memory of the battle again, searching for inconsistencies. Ah, there it was. What had Harken said? "Admiral Dinoro gets the feeling that she doesn't want you to get too strong again." He kept hearing references to this man, Dinoro.
But Captain was quite far down in the command chain compared to an Admiral, now that he considered it. Luke hadn't noticed before, as superior-subordinate relations were far more relaxed in the Rebellion, and even in the New Republic. Would this Admiral Dinoro really confide his suspicions to Captain Harken?
Luke resolved to speak with Captain Harken the next time the two met.
Sabé might be off the hook for ordering Nivo to attack him. But Luke was still pretty sure that she was the culprit behind Tycho's attack.
"Sabé," he asked softly, doing his best to look innocent – a task he was quite good at, with his bright cerulean eyes and mussed hair. "I was wondering if we could talk about Winter."
"What about her?"
"I was wondering if you've heard anything from her husband Tycho lately," Luke asked casually.
Sabé smiled. "Oh, he's not her husband. Only a rival. And I don't think that we will have to worry about him much longer."
"We?"
"I mean you," Sabé corrected blithely. "I'm working on removing from Winter's presence."
"I've told you before," Luke groaned. He couldn't help but feel a little guilty at having told Sabé about Tycho in the first place, even if he hadn't anticipated her trying to murder him. "I'm not interested in Winter as anything more than a friend. And she isn't interested in me, either."
Sabé ignored him just as she had done last time they had this conversation. "Of course," she said indulgently. Luke turned away in frustration, wondering how he could possibly convince her.
His thoughts were interrupted by a painfully loud thunderclap. The entire building shook.
Judging by the expression on Sabé's face, this was very, very good for Luke. He knew that this could only mean one thing – invasion!
Luke raced to the window. It only showed a view of the courtyard, but the sky above it was lit by flashes of light that Luke had a feeling weren't lightning.
"Stay here!" Sabé ordered as she left the apartment.
Luke left the window and switched the HoloNet receiver on. If base was being attacked, Sabé would no doubt return in a moment to force Luke to evacuate. Bound by his promise not to escape, there was nothing Luke could do to violate his word.
Except . . . .
Luke hurriedly recorded a hologram message. If the New Republic managed to capture the base without completely destroying it, they would find the message.
Long after he had completed it, perhaps an hour later, Sabé had returned. "Come on!" she commanded.
"What about the recordings of my parents?" Luke asked, stalling for time.
"I've got backups of some of them on the ship," Sabé said impatiently.
"But the others, that you didn't back up!" Luke objected. "We can't just leave them here. They're irreplaceable."
Sabé sighed in exasperation, moving quickly to press something metal against Luke's arm. His first thought was that it was a blaster, but he looked down and was proven wrong. No, it was a medical infuser.
"I thought you might be difficult." Sabé's voice faded away as Luke entered an all too familiar pool of oblivion.
Booster Terrik stared out the window of the shuttle descending to Coruscant. The metal buildings blended drearily into the grey sky, the perfect setting for Booster's mood.
The attack on Gall had been an utter disaster. Neither the base nor Luke Skywalker had been captured.
It wasn't for lack of good information. No, Booster had used the best legal and illicit means to glean all the data he possibly could on Gall. He had even deduced that it belonged to Imperials.
It wasn't for lack of a good plan, either. Booster had come up with a fantastic strategy – even Corran had admitted it. And had agreed to follow it without telling the New Republic leadership. Not that he cared too much about his son-in-law's opinion. Booster considered engaging in a little Corran-bashing to make himself feel better, but the shuttle was landing and now probably wasn't the most appropriate time.
If only Cracken hadn't managed to ruin all of my beautiful plans, Booster thought nastily. Everything would have worked out just fine.
An hour later, Booster was sitting in on a joint NRI and politician meeting. "Thanks for coming," General Cracken said curtly and grouchily, with a particularly unfriendly stare at Booster.
Booster stared right back with an equal, if not greater, amount of enmity.
But Cracken apparently had no intention of holding a hostile staring contest in front of perhaps twenty important Senators and the Chief of State. "The first thing I would like to tell you," Cracken began, "Is that Senator Kalis is hereby placed under arrest for espionage and treason."
Kalis's face was slack with shock. "What?" she sputtered.
"Guards, take her away," Cracken ordered. They did so, Kalis protesting the whole way out of the room.
"Oh, yes," Cracken remarked with a self-deprecating air. "I forgot to ask. Does anyone have an objection?"
The lengthy silence that followed indicated that the politicians were smart enough to not object.
"Now that the security risk is gone, I will brief you on what occurred on the planet Gall. I am sorry to say that we failed in our task of recovering Luke Skywalker. The base managed to evacuate roughly one-third its personnel; the other two thirds were killed and the few that we managed to capture committed suicide."
Cracken looked around the room. "I apologize for the subterfuge in misleading all of you with the timetable I set forth." Booster wondered if he was the only one who detected the sarcasm. "However, it was part of our plan for the invasion of Gall."
"What did this plan include, General?" Leia Organa Solo asked. There was no censure in her voice, but she didn't sound pleased either.
"I would lead Senator Kalis to believe that we were attacking eight days later than we really were," Cracken answered. "The base on Gall would be caught by surprise, and we would be able to destroy many of their vessels before they could retaliate. That's the drawback of having a secret base – you can't exactly have a defense fleet or even scouting ships roaming the airspace above."
"Obviously, this plan didn't work out," Organa Solo replied evenly.
"No, it didn't," Cracken agreed somberly. "I am afraid Booster and I had a . . . failure to communicate. Booster somehow managed to figure out the location of the base as well, and arrived about an hour before we did. With the element of surprise lost, our plan didn't work nearly so well."
"How did you figure that out, Booster?" Organa Solo asked him.
"Simple deductive reasoning mostly based on data on the Naboo invasion and Kalis's political history," Booster answered. "Cracken messed up my plan too, though. We weren't trying to wipe them out. The Errant Venture was trying to distract the base while operatives down on the surface took advantage of the confusion to snatch Skywalker back."
He grimaced. "When Cracken's ships arrived, they evacuated. No chance of getting Skywalker back then, was there?"
General Cracken frowned. "Terrik, if you had informed Intelligence that you planned to attack – "
"Don't be an idiot," Booster snapped. "You know perfectly well how many holes there are in your security. If I had told you, I wouldn't even bother attempting an assault. There wouldn't be any point."
"What I don't get," said Admiral Ackbar, notorious for his completely irrational dislike of smugglers. "Is why you even attacked in the first place. What was in it for you?"
Booster hesitated. He had hoped this wouldn't come up. "A guy tries and saves the galaxy, and all he gets is suspicion and mistrust?" he complained with an injured air.
"Actually, I would be interested in the answer to that question as well," Cracken commented suspiciously.
"I was trying to save the galaxy," Booster protested. "Though there might have been another few contributing factors."
"Such as?"
"I might owe Luke Skywalker a favor or two," Booster muttered. "And death and destruction are really bad for business, you know. I'm not a smuggler anymore. The Errant Venture is essentially a bazaar of sorts. Most people tend to hoard their money, not spend it on luxury items, during wartime. I'd lose money hand over fist."
Admiral Ackbar rolled his bulbous eyes. "Of course."
"Hey, my plan would have worked if Cracken had shared his plans with me," Booster argued. "Communication is a two-way street."
"Share secret military plans with a . . . former . . . smuggler?" If Ackbar widened his eyes any more, they would pop out and roll on the floor.
"Just a suggestion," Booster said grumpily. "Can I leave now?"
"Go ahead," Cracken affirmed. "I would like you to stay on Coruscant for a little while longer for a more thorough debriefing.
"Aye, aye, sir," Booster growled.
A/N: Thank you so much for all the reviews I received last chapter! I was so motivated to write this chapter quickly. I really appreciated them :)