Chapter

29

CORELLIAN GLORY; LOW ORBIT OF YAVIN

Talesa knew that there was going to be trouble the instant they returned, though it still surprised her to see her master and Luke Skywalker standing at the ready with their lightsabers activated, waiting. Republic marines were stationed around the flight deck, blaster rifles and pistols trained on the Interceptor and the two ships that followed it into the Corellian Glory's primary hangar bay.

Zak had been alarmed when one of the fighters that had launched from the larger ship had taken off in pursuit of them after they'd broken off their attack. At first, Talesa had thought it was just a stubborn pilot unwilling to let a traitor escape. But the pursuing pilot didn't open fire, nor did they even attempt to lock onto them.

But when Talesa reached out to the pilot's mind to judge their intent, she reported that, surprisingly enough, the pilot was yet another defector. Talesa had had to deal with a tasteless joke about a fleet of defectors fire hire. It didn't make her laugh.

Allina's plan had been simple.

Since the oncoming juggernaut was far too powerful, even against a Republic-spec Star Destroyer's shields—which were mostly depleted now—the crew of the ship had to be distracted somehow before they could open up with a barrage of heavy turbolaser fire.

In attacking the ship with a handful of TIEs from the Medusa in Allina's name, it would seem to the crew—with their Empress away and unable to explain differently—that Allina was trying to destroy her mother's seat of power and take over the Imperium for herself. The pilots of the Medusa, in the meantime, had been convinced, however weakly, that the larger ship had been taken over by the Republic and that it was there to reinforce the Corellian Glory.

It was a high hope. There was always the chance that the ship's commander had been shrewder and would suspect that the oncoming ships were piloted by Allina's prisoners. Nevertheless, it proved to be a success.

With urgent prodding from the fighters that had helped instigate the ruse, the rest of the Medusa's complement had disengaged from battle with the Corellian Glory and its swarming fighters and set a direct and speedy course for the larger Star Destroyer to defend their brothers against supposed Republic pilots.

This then prompted an equal response from the larger ship, which launched wave after wave after wave of fighters to reinforce those that had been launched initially. The larger ship had even increased in speed and Talesa had had the distinct pleasure in watching as it overshot the Corellian Glory and opened fire on the dwarfed and damaged Star Destroyer.

The approach to the Glory hadn't been entirely simple, however.

Some Imperial pilots had refused to disengage from the primary target to engage the secondary and there were still enough of them skilled enough to avoid Corvette fire barrage that proved a nuisance against the defending fighters.

Talesa had had to break off her approach at one point to obliterate a particularly pesky Imperial that wouldn't back off from its attempts to destroy a single B-wing, which dodged and darted around the larger ships in vain attempts to shake their pursuer.

That task done, identifying them as a non-threat, they'd been grudgingly granted docking permission. Only the Jedi aboard the ship would know who was aboard the fighters, but even they would be apprehensive about Allina and another Imperial freely boarding, surrendering themselves.

And now Talesa could see that tension for herself. Allina had left her craft first after shutting down, and knelt on the deck with her hands clasped behind her head in surrender. Both of the elder Jedi, and Jaina Solo who had accompanied them, eyed her carefully, as if it were another deception by the girl and that she would attack them soon.

When Talesa and Zak left the Interceptor behind, grinning and with an arm around each other's shoulders in triumph, Jaina Solo rushed them, shoving them apart and embracing Zak so tightly, he looked ready to burst. Then she kissed him, eliciting wolf-whistles and whoops and cheers from some of the Republic marines and a sly, knowing grin from Talesa.

She, meanwhile, continued to walk until she stood in front of her mentor, glad that no one else was paying her as much attention as they had Jaina. For a few seemingly long moments, they just stood there, gazing into each other's eyes and leaving all that needed to be said unsaid.

She knew how happy he was that she was alive, even though he fought hard to keep those feelings to himself. She knew he longed to embrace her much as Jaina had embraced Zak. But he wouldn't. Instead, he settled for a hand on her shoulder, which conveyed to her just as much as any embrace ever could.

She turned then, to see the unidentified pilot leaving the TIE fighter on the far side of the hangar. The helmet came off; revealing long blonde hair wound up and out of the way in back, a resigned smile.

The pilot knew she was about to encounter trouble, giving herself up to the enemy, but she didn't seem to care.

Flicking her long hair loose, she tucked the helmet under her left arm and marched over to the Jedi with her chin held high and her eyes locked.

"Jedi Skywalker?" she asked uncertainly when she stopped a few feet from them. Talesa watched as Luke nodded his confirmation and the pilot dropped her other hand to her waist to yank a blaster pistol from the belt.

Marines across the deck stepped forth as one, gesturing dangerously with their weapons as if daring her to draw hers.

The pilot shot the nearest marine a disparaging look and turned her eyes back to Luke, who extended his hand out towards the pilot, palm up, as if accepting something.

She smiled, though it was grim, and plucked the blaster from its holster. She slapped its grip into the Jedi Master's hand and waited. "Though my intention was to defect, I formerly declare myself a willing prisoner of the Republic and surrender my rights and my life to you. Do with me as you wish."

Talesa sensed the shock and disbelief rippling through the marines like an unchecked wave. Though she had already come to the conclusion that the pilot was to defect while they were in flight, she herself was uneasy.

She sensed no deception in the fighter pilot, merely apprehension, even a trickle of fear of not knowing what was going to be done with her. She knew that New Republic Intelligence would try to milk her for all the information that they could get with regards to the Second Imperium, though it likely wouldn't be terribly much. In fact, she was expecting no less.

Luke Skywalker seemed to be in a state of disbelief himself, though unlike Talesa, he hadn't invaded the pilot's mind to ascertain her true loyalties. Perhaps he could see something that Talesa could not in the woman's eyes, something that gave away what she was thinking and made the mental intrusion unnecessary. Or perhaps he was merely taking it on faith.

"Name and rank, soldier?" he asked her politely, lowering his lightsaber and deactivating the blade.

Talesa caught out of the corner of her eye the patience of Allina, kneeling on the deck with a trio of marines slowly approaching her from behind, taking a step every few seconds. She waited for the inevitable moment when Skywalker would turn his accusing gaze on her, berating her for all she'd done.

"Black Talon Squadron Commander Talia Sun," the pilot said, snapping to attention.

"Very well," Skywalker said with a nod. He turned to his left and tossed the blaster to the nearest marine, who caught it in his free hand and holstered it. "Major; take the commander to the brig—unmolested."

"Yes sir, Master Jedi," the man said. He gestured toward a couple of nearby marines and the three of them lowered their weapons and approached the pilot.

They escorted her off the deck just as a PA sounded. "All hands, all hands; prepare for emergency hyper jump," came a young man's voice.

Skywalker seemed to ignore it as the hangar doors started to close, and all eyes flickered over to Allina, who kept her gaze locked on the floor just before Skywalker's feet.

Neither of them said a word for a second, but Luke did hold up a hand to signal the approaching marines to stop and back away.

It wasn't an order so much as it was an warning.

"Stand," he said, less kind.

Allina nodded and stood, still not looking at him.

Luke Skywalker approached her, belted his weapon, and waved off the marines that stepped forth in alarm. "What do you have to say for yourself, young lady," he asked her quietly. Talesa saw the panic and guilt on her features, which meant that Luke did too, but kept her mouth shut. A small sliver of panic crept upon her when she remembered the way the girl had taken her elite trooper guards in the cell blocks unawares after deciding to join Zak.

"I—"

"With all due respect, Luke," Zak interrupted. Allina looked up at him, guilt giving away to hope for an instant that lasted only that. Luke didn't turn to the younger Jedi, but Talesa sensed that he was listening. "She did just help us escape from her own people."

"A situation which might have been avoided if not for her actions," Luke pointed out.

"Details," Zak replied, waving a hand dismissively. "If she hadn't, I would never have met her, and you'd probably have one more Sith roaming the galaxy trying to undo everything you've worked for since the fall of the Emperor."

Luke mused, and Talesa felt a gentle probe from him upon her mind, as if he was trying to ascertain if Zak had been compromised. She let him in, let him see everything … at least, everything that was pertinent.

"I see," he said. Allina looked to him now, forcing herself to look up into his gentle blue eyes. "Well?"

"I have no acceptable explanations for my actions, Master Jedi," she said meekly.

"Try an unacceptable one then," he challenged.

Allina hesitated. "I … am not who I thought I was. My memories are a betrayal of the truth. My … mother"—she bit on the word as if it was some kind of disgusting curse—"led me to think that I was … more than I am. I am a creation, a freak, an experiment."

Luke nodded, understanding what she was talking about. "Though you are indeed younger than the truth would present, you have memories that span an entire childhood of experiences. They might be fictitious facsimiles; the fact that you have believed them true all of these years is a sign that they are an integral part of who you are, especially considering you have had no other life to argue different."

"But—"

"Allow me to finish," Luke said sternly, holding a hand up to stop her. Allina's mouth snapped shut and she stood completely still. "Thank you. As I was saying … in your memories, have you ever acted in a way that would shame you? Have you ever hurt people, destroyed lives, just to serve your own purposes?" Allina shook her head after a couple of seconds to consider. "Have you, in that time, done something that a Jedi like myself would disagree with?" She opened her mouth to tell him of her attacks upon Talesa, but Skywalker silenced her again. "Don't think me heartless, but that's not what I meant. Talesa is quite fine since then, and I sense fully recovered. I mean on a more serious scale. Murder. Torture. Genocide."

"I beat them," she whispered. "For information. I thought they had something I wanted, and I was prepared to get it by any means."

"She killed a couple of guards," Zak pointed out, "but in her defence, they had their sights set on mine and Talesa's foreheads. I like the shape of my head the way it is now."

"I wouldn't even consider the beating torture," Talesa put in with a sly look at Zak.

If he was going to jump to the girl's defence, then so would she. After all, without Allina's change of heart, Talesa would be dead now and Zak in the girl's mother's hands. Both Imperium ships would have been hammering the Glory, instead of each other. It's quite possible none of them would have survived.

"Then take heart in the fact that as corrupting and deceitful as your mother has proven herself to be, and as malign as her intent in creating you, she has unwittingly built herself a formidable enemy. I sense through all three of you that you fought well and honourably against her, though through the empowering of your emotions rather than logic and wisdom.

"Manipulating you the way she has, has given us a great ally. You haven't taken a life in cold blood and you haven't shown any malign actions. She moulded you to believe that you, and her, were good people. And while that cannot be said to be true of her, I sense much genuine good in you. Despite your expectations, I will not turn you over to the Jedi Council for punishment."

"But, Master Jedi," Allina began, frowning. "I deserve—"

"You deserve to be given a fair chance to live a decent life," Luke corrected her before she could finish. Zak stepped toward them, his arm around Jaina's waist as she latched onto his side. Keyan Jace stepped past Talesa and walked over to Luke Skywalker's side.

As Talesa watched, he laid a gentle hand on her shoulder and smiled down at her. "As an official representative to the Council at this time, I tender my agreement with the Grand Master's assessment of you, and I too will not turn you over to the council."

Allina looked down at the deck, and then—slowly so that the nearby marines wouldn't react as they had with Talia Sun—she plucked two lightsabers from her belt.

Talesa, her eyes wide in surprise, looked down at her belt to find that hers was missing.

Allina looked at her, smiled weakly, and tossed it past the two senior Jedi to her. Talesa caught it, examined it for any battle damage, and then carefully clipped it back to her belt.

"Thank you for letting me borrow it," she said. She handed the remaining lightsaber over to Luke Skywalker, who accepted it at her wordless insistence. Her hand darted into a pocket in her clothes and she pulled out the ruined remains of a third lightsaber, which she also handed over to Luke. "It became … necessary to secure a temporary replacement when my mother destroyed that one," she added, grief stricken.

Talesa looked at the destroyed weapon carefully before Luke tucked it out of sight. She thought she saw the silver gleam of the girl's initials moulded into the hilt near the damage.

Allina sighed. "Thank you for your … opinions," she said to the two Jedi before her. Zak took another careful step forward, Jaina with him, and Talesa sensed alarm forming in his mind. She took a step of her own and watched. "Unfortunately, I still disagree. I respectfully request you arrest me now, before I intentionally make it necessary."

Luke cocked an eyebrow at her, daring but careful, and he nodded to the nearest cluster of marines. They shuffled forward and, gently grasping her wrists, escorted her off the flight deck and away from them.

"Return to duty," Jace said to the remaining marines, who then departed.

"We have much to talk about," Zak said, looking from Talesa to the two adults. "And before you chastise me for it, I do apologise for deliberately allowing myself to be captured. At the time it seemed the most viable way to stall her from coming after the rest of you."

Jaina prodded him hard in the side. "Excuses!" she hissed.

"I agree with Jaina," Luke scolded. "It wouldn't matter to me who her intended target was; there were more competent Jedi available to forestall a pursuit while we retreated—Master Jace or his apprentice, to name a couple of them." Talesa flushed scarlet at the commendation. "Taking the matter into your own hands like that risked your life if you proved too difficult to obtain alive and showed recklessness and disregard for the wellbeing of others."

"I—"

"Your sister is waiting for you on the observation deck," Luke cut him off. He smiled with a knowledge Zak didn't have. "I suggest you go see her now, before you once more lose your chance to talk to her. Then I want both of you in the communication salon. You have two hours."