Dynasty
by Valerie Vancollie and Rebecca Thomson
(valeriev84 at hotmail dot com) & (zekkers at juno dot com)
Disclaimer: Rebecca and I do not own Luke Skywalker, Darth Vader or any other of the "Star Wars" characters, items or situations. Rebecca and I only lay claim to the original aspects of the fic.
Chunk Twenty-Nine
"Lance!" Nastalia exclaimed as she rushed up to her oldest brother the moment he came down the ramp of his shuttle.
"Nastalia," Lance replied as he embraced her. "How are you doing? And how are things coming along?"
"Fine," Nastalia stated as she stepped past her brother. "Jenfras," she said as she embraced her sister-in-law. "How are you?"
"Fine," Jenfras replied as she looked around the empty landing pad. "Where's the groom-to-be and Augre? And what's the name of that girl he's seeing?"
"Mienra," Nastalia said as she motioned for her brother and his wife to follow her. "As to Nathaniel and company, they're waiting on the patio with Luke and Anjaleen."
"Who?" Lance inquired as he entered his childhood home and looked around with a smile.
"Don't you remember Anjaleen Winiterure, I told you about her!" Nastalia stated, faking anger. "As for Luke, I'm sure you've heard of Skywalker."
"Wow," Lance said as he stopped and looked at her. "Are you trying to tell me that Skywalker is here, right now?"
"Yes," Nastalia confirmed. "I told you he'd be here for the wedding."
"I remember that," Lance stated. "But I thought you meant the actual ceremonies, not now."
"Things changed and he's here now," Nastalia explained. "He's also gotten engaged. But come, they're waiting for us."
Augre watched Luke Skywalker get up and shake the hand of his older brother. He was still a little awed to see Skywalker eating at his table, but the look on Lance's face was priceless. It was very calm and collected, but he knew his brother well enough to know that the man was quite surprised.
They sat down, and their little sister nodded at the servant to bring the first dish. They were silent for awhile, and then Mienra spoke up, "Nastalia, are you planning on having the traditional blue and green colors at your wedding?"
Nastalia smiled, happy to break the silence. "Of course, Father wouldn't let me change any of the traditions. He said that our people would be scandalized if I didn't do everything correctly."
"What did you do, propose purple-clad dancers?" Lance asked.
"No, Father just lectured me from the beginning. He didn't want me getting any ideas."
"That's Father," Augre said, "he won't let anything go wrong if he can help it." The brothers and sister all quietly laughed. Luke smiled, privately realizing his father was the same way. Augre caught the smile, and wondered aloud, "So, Skywalker, do you think all fathers should lecture their children?"
"Yes. And the smart ones listen." He was thinking of Ra'chealla.
"You sound like you know what you're talking about." Lance said. "I've never heard about your family."
Luke politely smiled. Anjaleen carefully took a sip of her wine, only to find Nastalia looking at her. Luke sighed, "I don't talk about family, or my past. But I'm not the only one here who's quiet about that-" he gave Nathaniel a meaningful look.
Nathaniel snorted. "I would have thought you would have just looked up my file, Luke."
"Who said I didn't? It just doesn't have much more than the bare facts." Luke took a bit of the pale white fish that had been placed in front of him.
"It's simple, really." Nathaniel looked a little sad. "My mother died when I was very young, and my father died when I was nine. Plague hit our homeworld, and Father was a doctor. He had to help. The Empire was very young at the time, but it sent aid. Ships, carrying the cure. The Rebels hijacked the first one. My father died because the first ship never made it, he was already very sick from working with the victims, and didn't last till the second shipment. The Rebels claimed that they needed the cure as well, but we learned later that they only needed half the shipment, they sold the rest on the black market. And I went to live with my aunt and uncle and joined the Navy as soon as I could."
Nastalia reached out and gave Nathaniel's shoulder a squeeze. Luke looked a little angry. "And they say that they are the 'good guys', who only want to bring freedom and peace to the galaxy." He shifted in his chair, smiling a little. "I wondered how you knew what to do when plague hit your task force. At least you learned from the experience."
Nathaniel sighed. "I paid too much for that knowledge."
"True." Skywalker said.
A com chirped, and Nathaniel was surprised to realize that it was his. He thumbed it on. "Admiral MacNelly."
"Admiral, Captain Bruick. I wanted to report an incident that just occurred."
"Yes?"
"The system just got scooped out by two X-wings. They dropped out of hyperspace well out of the gravity well. Looked around, and left. They were in-system for maybe thirty seconds. We noticed them almost instantly, but our patrols are set so thin that we were not able to get any ships there to engage them before they left."
"Understood. Anything else?"
"Admiral Belgra wants you to tell Skywalker."
Nathaniel gave Luke a glance, "I think I can do that."
"Thank you, Sir, that's all."
"Very well," and Nathaniel cut the connection.
Skywalker rubbed his forehead, sighing. "I could have called in more Star Destroyers, and blanketed this system so no one would have been able to do a fly-by. But it's a waste of resources. It's better when they actually know that they've lost an entire system's worth of cells to us."
"You think so?" Nathaniel asked.
"Of course. The best is when they realize that we haven't gotten every cell yet, and they are powerless to stop us. With any luck, they'll mount a rescue attempt. I'm sure your men would like a little firefight to break the monotony of searching private shuttles."
Nathaniel laughed. The Rebels would not be able to pull together a large enough force to successfully attack two Star Destroyers in a few days. They were spread too thin.
Augre shook his head. "They tell us at the Academy that you don't want the Rebels attacking Imperial forces, that it should always be you attacking them."
Luke snorted. "Not if you can convince them that you have fewer forces than they think, and you know that what they will bring to the fight will be easy for you to handle. The best ambushes are the ones you make them spring on themselves."
"Sounds like politics," Anjaleen said, smiling at Nastalia as she continued. "We ladies better change the subject while we can, or the men will talk Navy all through the meal."
Luke and Nathaniel laughed at themselves, silently reminding themselves that neither Mienra or Jenfras would be willing to talk military all lunch. Unlike Nastalia or Anjaleen, who rarely complained, and privately liked it.
"Of course." Luke said, sipping the wine.
As the meal wore on into the next course, Lance was surprised to find himself having a relaxing lunch. He had been more than nervous when he realized that Skywalker was eating with them, the man had commanded the task force that he was stationed with last month, and he had never even crossed paths with Skywalker. Now he was sitting at the same table, and with luck, they could talk more military strategy later.
A com chirped, and Nathaniel and Luke exchanged glances before Luke pulled his out and thumbed it on. "Skywalker here."
"Admiral Belgra. I've been contacted by a courtier of his Majesty, the Emperor wishes an update of your progress after the evening session of court, which would be in two hours."
"Very well. Is there anything new to report?" Skywalker asked, taking a sip of wine.
"Just that a few of the minor officers of the first cell we had taken have broken. We immediately raided any cells they were able to give information on, just as you instructed. Those raids were successful, and I will be able to give you a full account of the results of those raids in one hour. The Rebel leader still has not broken under questioning."
"Understood. I'll contact you in an hour for your report. Skywalker out." Luke cut the connection, turning back to the meat dish.
The two brothers exchanged glances, noticing how unaffected Skywalker was that he had to report to the Emperor himself. His actions spoke of how he must regularly report to his Majesty.
Nathaniel shook his head. "You did say his Majesty was displeased with what the Rebels where doing here."
Luke sighed, "Yes, he is. The Rebels have always prided themselves on the righteousness of their cause, and kept themselves from some of the more underhanded ways of earning support. Lord Vader did predict that as they become more desperate, they would rationalize more and more actions as acceptable, in light of their ultimate goal. I guess it is almost encouraging that they are already so desperate, even if it makes it harder to destroy them."
Lance looked puzzled. "I heard the official story, and the system is under military law, but what did happen here?"
"Nathaniel, you tell him." Luke said.
"So our cells in the T'Zessa System are gone?" General Xa'sstresh questioned as Mon Mothma finished telling them of the two pilots reports.
"Not necessarily," Mon Mothma replied. "At the very least the main cell was taken out, the others could still be hidden for all we know. Only Commander Jasno knew of the location of all the cells in the system."
"So they interrogate her and get the information," General Xa'sstresh concluded. "Meaning we'll loose the cells anyway."
"This is nonsense," General Ragorsh cut in. "We're wasting time like we did when Princess Organa was captured. We need to act quickly while there's still a possibility left to save the last few cells."
"I agree," Admiral Dl'os stated. "The Imps won't be expecting such action to be taken. They have what, one Destroyer there and the TIEs it houses? Surely we can slip some operatives into the system to wreck havoc on one of the planets. It will buy us time and the Imperials can't keep the system closed off indefinitely, especially with the wedding. I say we send some people in to help our own who are stuck there."
"What about Skywalker?" General Rieekan inquired. "We must not forget that he's there as well."
"He's only one man," General Ragorsh replied. "And we can plan the strike so that it takes place during the wedding ceremonies when he'll be busy. He can't be in two place at once no matter how good of a military leader he is."
"He might not able to be in two places at once," General Xa'sstresh commented as his long tong darted in and out of his mouth, displaying his displeasure. "But he can command the admiral of the Destroyer he has with him to be somewhere where he isn't."
"Since when have we been scared of Imperial admirals?" Admiral Dl'os questioned. "They are incompetent fools. Besides, what can they do if we do the strike near the wedding? The admiral wouldn't dare fire the turbolasers in fear of hitting the wedding with all the courtiers and Skywalker present."
"But then we're moving our men closer to Skywalker," General Dodonna pointed out. "Now I know how important it is not to overestimate anyone, but we can't underestimate Skywalker either. He has a reputation for one reason and one reason only: he's good at what he does and that's tracking us down."
"That's enough," Mon Mothma stated as she saw General Ragorsh open his mouth to reply. "We're all making rash decisions here based on almost no information. The two pilots who did the fly-by will arrive in five days and then we will be able to see the actual footage they shot. Then, after we've all thought the matter over a little and seen the system for ourselves we can decide on a course of action. Not before."
"Well, we'll leave you boys to talk military," Nastalia said as she got to her feet. "I'll show Jenfras to her room and then we girls can do something else."
"Good idea," Mienra stated as she got to her feet, glad to get away from the military talk that had slipped into the conversation several times already. "I want to see some more of what you have planned for the wedding."
"Me too," Jenfras admitted as she got up.
Anjaleen nodded her head in agreement as she reluctantly rose to her feet, not wanting to go but knowing she had to. "Tell Luke I'll be with them if he asks," she said as she looked at Nathaniel.
"I will," Nathaniel replied before he watched the women disappear inside.
"That was interesting," Lance said as soon as he was sure they were alone. "How long have you known Skywalker?"
"Since I returned," Nathaniel replied as he took a sip of his wine. "Anjaleen and Nastalia introduced me to him right after I was done with the immediate business I was required to do. Since then I've seen him quite often. I went to his birthday party with Nastalia and we had some fun getting him and Anjaleen together without Raphael Jerklin learning of it."
"Jerklin? Who is he?" Lance inquired.
"The name says it all," Nathaniel stated with a smile. "But he's been seeing Anjaleen for a while."
"What will--" Augre began and stopped as he caught sight of Skywalker stepping out onto the patio. "Everything okay?"
"Well, the Emperor isn't very pleased with the situation," Luke began as he sat down. "But he's glad that the Rebels were exposed now. He's going to use how they were fundraising to warn the people once more of how bad the they really are."
"Good," Nathaniel said.
"Where are the girls?" Luke inquired.
"Inside," Augre informed him before he realized how relaxed he had become once more. "I think they knew we would be talking about the military and they wanted to get away while they could."
Jasno bit back a scream and tried to picture something nice. She had been told by other Rebels that it helped to handle the pain. Thinking of her homeplanet with its rolling fields of purple and blue, she tried to block out the pain of the interrogation. But it was no use. No matter how hard she tried, she could still feel the fire in her veins caused by the drugs they had pumped into her.
"Where are the other cells?" Admiral Belgra demanded as he came to stand before the female Rebel. "If you tell us we will stop this now."
"Never!" Jasno declared. "I will never tell you where they are."
"We will find them one way or another," Belgra stated with confidence. "You might as well tell us now and make it easier on yourself."
He shook his head upon seeing the Rebel close her mouth so as not to scream out loud. They had been at her on and off since she had first been captured but she had not broken yet. Admiral Belgra had to admit that he was slightly impressed that the woman could last so long. However, the way the Rebels had dared attack the museum with Skywalker so close by showed that she was no good at planning and leading men. That was a man's job.
"Tell us what we want to know," Admiral Belgra tried once more.
"No!" Jasno replied, her voice full of pain. "You might as well kill me now as I won't give in!"
"We'll see about that," Belgra responded as he turned around to hide his smile.
Although he normally didn't do interrogations, he did know that trying to have the enemy kill you was a sign of weakness. The Rebel Commander was breaking, whether she realized it yet or not. Nodding to the normal interrogator to take over, he left the room and headed for his quarters. Hopefully this whole mess would be cleared up soon as the faster it was taken care of the faster he'd be able to leave the system once the wedding was over, the faster he'd be able to drop Skywalker off on Coruscant once more.
Thought of how the last admiral had died drifted to the top of his mind as he entered his quarters. One minute he was reporting failure to Skywalker and the next he was on the floor with a vibroblade sticking out of his chest. The man had just had the time to realize what had happened to him before he had died. Belgra shivered at the thought and hoped that he didn't die like that. Which was why he, like every other admiral in the Navy, didn't want the Dark Lord's protégé on his ship despite his awesome record. It was exactly the same as not wanting the Dark Lord on his ship. However it seemed like the young man liked the Judgment because he used it often.
Luke looked at the holo-screen showing the interior of the interrogation cell that held the Rebel commander, the last few days of pain were showing on her face- black circles under her eyes and chapped lips from screaming. Luke was in the command center for the detention cells, dressed in a dark red outfit with golden trim and jewels for the wedding. He had decided to stop by the Judgment right before the ceremony, to take care of last minute details. The Admiral stood tight lipped behind him, along with several other officers.
The Intelligence officer in charge of the woman's questioning cleared his throat. "She's very close, she has begun to beg more and more for her own death. We have continued to keep up the pressure, and it should not be more than one or two days at most."
Luke smiled as he stretched his Force sense over the Rebel, realizing that it shouldn't be more than a few hours. The Intel officer was padding his report. The man behind him shifted. "Do you want to take over the questioning?"
"No," Luke said, feeling the man's relief. As well as he might. "I don't want her getting a fresh resolve because of my presence. Rebels don't like me much, and their hatred gives them strength."
"Yes, Sir." The man was professional enough to know exactly what Luke was talking about, and grateful that Skywalker knew about his effect on Rebels.
"I'm going to go to the wedding now, Admiral. If the Rebels attack, it will most likely be during the ceremony. I want our fastest shuttle warmed up and ready to go on the landing pad next to the Hall of Loyalty, where the ceremony will take place. You will contact me immediately if anything happens."
"Of course, Sir."
"And Admiral," Luke said as he turned around, walking back to the shuttle bay, "I would expect the Rebels to feint with a small force first, trying to draw you towards one side of the system or another. Don't automatically send all your forces after a few small ships, if they do arrive."
"Understood, Sir."
"Two Star Destroyers?" Mon Mothma said, and the general nodded, replaying the thirty second holotape for all to see.
"Yes, Mon Mothma. The Judgment and the Conqueror. Apparently, the Conqueror was refitted ahead of schedule, so Admiral MacNelly, the man getting married, took the ship to T'Zessa for its shakedown cruise. We don't have any information on the amount of fine-tuning the ship needs before it is completely battle ready."
"It would be ready enough."
"Not necessarily," General Ragorsh argued, "we could risk it. A small diversionary force against the Judgment, and slip the real force past the Conqueror."
General Rieekan sighed, "But where would the ships land? How would we tell the Rebel operatives on planet to meet us? And which planet? The entire system in under military law right now, and all communications continue to be jammed. And we don't even have the locations of all the cells. We would be lucky to get even one cell."
"And the damage could be already done. If the Imperials find out what some of those cells were doing, they'll broadcast it all over the holo-net."
Mon Mothma winced. General Rieekan looked grave, but unworried. He was a military man, first and foremost. Politics were better left to others. He shrugged, "While I agree that some people might be outraged, we didn't lie. Those credits do go to a worthy cause. Our more ardent supporters will not complain."
"You're naive." Admiral Dl'os replied, shaking his head. "I've never agreed with that decision."
"I understand that," Mon Mothma cut in. "But the decision was made, as a group. We accepted that risk when we gave the go-ahead."
General Xa'sstresh sneered, "As I recall, we never voted on letting them raise funds that way. We just looked the other way when our donations from that sector did not drop off, even with the increasing Imperial loyalty of the local citizens. We didn't even investigate until the credit levels began rising."
"But we did nothing, as a group." Mon Mothma politely reminded them all.
General Dodonna sighed. "The truth is, we needed the credits. It has been easy enough to get volunteers, the Empire has impoverished and displaced enough people to fill our ranks. But we consistently lack the ability to properly arm them. It's hard to run a war without enough ships or guns or armor."
"We know." Mon Mothma said. "But to get back to the task at hand, I fail to see an adequate plan to rescue our people from the T'Zessa system. Unless someone has an idea, we are just going to have to let them go."
Later, Mon Mothma stared at the ceiling of her small quarters as she lay in bed. The last year had been so hard. Her hopes had lifted when they had destroyed the Empire's evil Death Star, but the euphoria didn't last long. Antilles and Darklighter had been taken and publicly executed. Then they had lost the Princess. And defeat after defeat had been heaped on them from both the Dark Lord and his protégé.
She sighed, holding back tears. They were on the run, and she knew it. If something didn't happen soon, they would not win this war. Already, they were struggling on the slippery slope of compromising their ideals.
The Hall of Loyalty was an ancient temple to the old religion of the people of T'Zessa. The religion itself was no longer practiced by hardly anyone in the system, but the temple had been preserved and maintained as a cultural icon by the government. Made of white carved stone, it arched towards the sky, lit inside only by the large windows of multi-hued glass and hidden glowlamps.
The people of the system were well known to be both romantic and practical. When they had joined the Empire, they had been unwilling to let go of the many ceremonies that occurred in the temple. Ever practical, they had remodeled the interior of the temple, renaming it the Hall of Loyalty. The religious symbols that had littered the carved walls had all been carefully removed and replaced with the Imperial symbol, the new stone carefully aged.
The effect made the Hall look as if it had been made for the Empire thousands of years ago and reflected the history of a hundreds of generations.
Skywalker liked the effect.
He sat in the second row of seats, directly behind the Grand Moff and next to Anjaleen. Planetary tradition dictated that only immediate family sat in the front row, and honored guests in the rows behind.
They had come to the hall early, only a few guests had trickled in, and the Admiral was even standing beside the Grand Moff, quietly talking to the group of them.
"Yes, I admit it. I'm nervous." Nathaniel said, carefully brushing lint from his best dress uniform. "I keep imagining something will happen, like a Rebel attack. Or- something."
Luke said, "My sources say that everything will be fine." Which was true, he had not gotten any warning through the Force. Then he grinned, "I can't believe you're nervous now, you've been going to all the preliminary ceremonies for days! But if you want, I can arrange something, and you can slip out the back."
"Luke!" Anjaleen said, poking him in the ribs. "That's not nice."
The Grand Moff chuckled. "It better be a big diversion, because I'll hunt him down. The last thing I want today is Nastalia in hysterics."
Nathaniel looked a little more nervous, if that was possible.
"Oh I don't know. If he's really determined to run off, I'm sure I can get him a job with the servants at my castle." Luke teased. "He can hide there."
Nathaniel shook his head. "I don't think that will be necessary."
Luke chuckled. "What? Don't want to wash vegetables for the rest of your life? Or dust statues? Then you're stuck. You better go wait in the other room for your cue."
The Grand Moff sighed. "Yes, it is time, I better check on Nastalia and get my wife." The older man rose, motioning the young Admiral off.
Anjaleen looked over at Luke as they waited. "Luke, do you have any idea how long we have to wait?" She whispered. "I mean, I know that it will be at least a year to plan everything, but-"
Luke shrugged, uncomfortable with the thought of them not getting married for years. "It doesn't have to take a year, but it's not up to me. However, I will ask."
"Okay," Anja replied as she looked at the other guests trickling in as they spoke.
As had been happening during the other three days of ceremonies, the other guests kept eyeing Anjaleen and her necklace. This time she didn't mind it as much as she normally did as they were looking at her future, at her happiness. She knew that it would probably be a while before she got used to the stares, but at the moment she didn't really mind them.
"Sit," Luke whispered as he reseated himself. "We don't want to take all the attention away from Nastalia and Nathaniel today, now do we?"
"No!" Anjaleen instantly replied as she sat down and took Luke's hand. "I just can't wait to see Nastalia again, she looks so good!"
"People tend to make sure of that on their weddings," Luke teased lightly as he squeezed her hand.
"Indeed," a female voice replied from behind them and Luke and Anja turned to see Mr. and Mrs. Grelsa, Nathaniel's aunt and uncle, standing there. "Things look splendid, don't they?"
"Yes," Anja agreed as she smiled at the older couple.
They had arrived the day before the first of the ceremonies and thus the Grand Moff had insisted on there being a big evening meal with the family, Luke, and her. It had been a delightful evening and they had all gotten to know one another a little.
"I'd love to talk," Mr. Grelsa began. "However I think we'd better be getting to our own seats, Honey," he continued as he turned to his wife. "The ceremony will be starting soon."
"Yes, of course," Mrs. Grelsa replied before turning back to Luke and Anja. "I'll see you later then."
"Yes," Luke responded and watched them move to sit next to in the first row.
As he looked at the other occupants of the first row, Luke noticed that Augre, Lance, and Jenfras sat on the benches to the left side of the aisle, while the older family members sat on the right side. Mienra, however, was forced to sit in the second row as she was not married to Augre.
"Am I ready?" Nastalia questioned for the tenth time in as many minutes as she looked herself over in the mirror once more.
"Yes, you are," Mrs. Bel-Zessa replied as she moved to stand behind her daughter.
Despite her words, Nastalia's mother found herself looking her daughter over once more. Nastalia was wearing a blue and green dress, which consisted of strips of the colors that blended nicely at the bottom where it flared out and the colors overlapped one another. The dress was also dotted with sparkling turquoise, blue, and green gems of every shade. Worked into the very fabric itself were small chips of jewels of every shade that danced in the light and matched perfectly with the light yellow lace stitched onto the fabric. The dress had two sets of sleeves, the first of which clung tightly to her arms while the second set was larger than any ordinary sleeves and hung down her sides with long slits on the inside so that her arms could move freely. Around her neck hung a blue and green jeweled necklace with matching earrings and pearls woven into her hair. The front of her hair was spun tightly into two long curls one either side of her face and the rest was either braided or curled and let loose to cascade down her back. The only part of her outfit that wasn't done in the traditional color scheme was the bracelet around her left arm, the Kyrab jewels of which were swirling between green, yellow, and red. The last color stood out clearly for all to see.
"What's wrong, Mother?" Nastalia demanded, slightly panicked, as she saw the tears rolling down her mother's face.
"Nothing dear," Mrs. Bel-Zessa hastily ensured her daughter. "I'm simply happy and sad at once. My daughter is getting married and will be moving away soon."
"Oh," Nastalia said as she turned around and embraced her mother. "We'll be in contact and its not like I'm going away as soon as the ceremony is over. After the honeymoon, I'll be back here for a few more months as our house is built."
"Still..." Mrs. Bel-Zessa said before she pulled back and wiped the tears off her face. "But there is time to worry about that later. Right now you have guests and a groom-to-be waiting for you."
"Right," Nastalia stated as her worries returned. "Are you sure I'm fine? And what about everything else? Is Nathaniel ready? And is Clark ready to lead us in our vows? And what about the guests? Are they all here already? And what of--"
"Calm down, dear!" Nastalia's mother ordered as she smiled, remembering her own nervousness just before her wedding. "Everything will be fine. Nathaniel's just as nervous as you are, but he's ready. And so are you. The guests are all but here and Clark is ready. So calm down, relax, and most importantly, enjoy."
"Yes," Nastalia said as she entwined her fingers so as to stop the constant motion of her hands.
Although Nastalia knew that this was what she wanted more than anything else, she was still extremely nervous. There was just so much that could go wrong, especially with the Rebels so close by. And it was such a major step in her life and all. She had spent several hours the previous night simply talking with Anjaleen who had patiently listened to her worries and who had tried to soothe her. Her friend's assurances had worked to a certain degree, but she doubted that anyone could make her relax completely.
Pain. That was all Jasno could feel or think of. She knew she had to resist it, to not give into those who were causing it. But she couldn't remember why. From time to time, when her interrogators slackened off slightly, she would remember, but the reason kept appearing less and less important in light of her current predicament. Perhaps if she told them some of what they wanted, they would cease what they were doing to her. Perhaps she could bargain. Give them a little and keep a little to herself. But she knew that they wouldn't stop until she had told them all of what they wanted to do.
So there would be no bargaining. But could she reveal all? She knew that it had been important to her for her whole life not to give the Imperials what they wanted as they were bad. But the pain!
"Tell us what we want to know," the interrogator repeated for the millionth time. "And then we will stop the pain immediately," he continued, having done enough interrogations in the past to know that she was on the brink of surrender. "Think of it, no more pain if you give us the locations of those whom you call your allies. After all, what have they done for you?"
Jasno tried to block out his voice as she realized where the man was going. He was going to use her friends against her. A favorite trick of the Imperials. Her friends. That was why she needed to remain silent. Anyone of them would have done the same for her, she knew. And many had done so the past.
"They left you here," the interrogator pressed on. "They know you're up here and what we would do to you and still they left you here."
"No!" Jasno denied, unable to hear that, knowing that in her present condition she might come to believe it. "They know that... it's useless to come... after... me. They--" she broke off to scream before continuing as she gasped for breath. "They... know it... will only... them killed and... that I don't... them... to... do that for... me."
"But isn't that against what the Alliance stands for?" the interrogator goaded, knowing that the fact that she was arguing with him was good as she needed to say it aloud to continue believing it herself. It wouldn't be long now before she broke. "You pride yourselves on never leaving anyone behind. Why are they doing it to you now? And why aren't your forces sending help? They don't care about you, that's why!"
"No!"
"So why are you willing to go through all this pain for them?" the interrogator questioned. "There is no point to this useless charade."
"No..." Jasno replied, far less strongly than before.
"I think its about to start," Anjaleen said as a sudden silence fell over the seated people.
"Yes," Luke agreed as the Leader of the Vows stepped forward, dressed in the emerald green robes of his office, and came to a stop behind an old altar.
"We are assembled here on this day to witness the Imperially sanctioned marriage of Nastalia Bel-Zessa, daughter of our most respected Grand Moff Bel-Zessa and his wife," Clark began as soon as he saw that he had everyone's attention. "To Admiral Nathaniel MacNelly of his Majesty's Imperial Navy, son of Dr. MacNelly and his wife."
Luke smiled as he heard the parts that had been added to the traditional vows. Every Imperially sanctioned wedding needed to have the men swearing both allegiance and loyalty to the Empire in general and the Imperial throne in particular. Such a promise wasn't too different from the vows the women had to make to the men in marriage. What made Luke smile the most, however, was that Nathaniel was unknowingly making the vow to him. The Empire would, after all, belong to him when he became Emperor and, in a way, it already did as Palpatine was his grandfather.
As he saw the Grand Moff twist slightly in his seat to glance back at him, Luke nodded at the man upon which he faced forwards once more. Catching Anja's gaze Luke knew that she too understood the reason for the Grand Moff's brief glance. The man had checked with Luke if all was the way the Emperor wanted it to be at weddings. Squeezing Anjaleen's hand, Luke smiled at her before turning his attention back to Clark just as the musicians started playing the Imperial anthem.
"Let us give thanks for the good fortune that smiles upon Nastalia and Nathaniel today," Clark continued. "And let us thank the Empire for the safety and prosperity it provides us all."
Silence fell over the room once more as the anthem played and people did as the Leader of the Vows instructed. Probing the Hall of Loyalty once more, Luke made sure that everything was in order before extending his mind up to the Judgment. Seeing that there was no sense of impending doom or disaster in either place, he relaxed just as the anthem ended and a soft song made up of notes coming solely from the bandes, the traditional instrument of the system, replaced it.
Nastalia, knowing that the band's music was her cue to enter the Hall of Loyalty, took a deep breath before stepping through the silk curtains that hid the doorway that was located just before the first row of benches on the right side of the Hall. Letting her eyes scan the room as she made sure that her hands were still instead of darting everywhere, she smiled at the guests. Her eyes lingered briefly on her parents, brothers, and Anjaleen. Her friend beamed at her and Nastalia could see that Anjaleen was holding hands with Luke even now.
All this she saw in a few seconds before Nastalia looked straight ahead to the silk curtains on the left side of the Hall directly across from the ones she had entered through. Just as she was half way across the distance from the curtains she had emerged from to the place where the Leader of the Vows and the alter was, Nathaniel stepped through his curtains right on cue, a bouquet of soft purple, Likla flowers in his hand.
Nastalia stopped as she reached the altar and waited for Nathaniel to join her. As he did so, he beamed at her and handed her the bouquet. Smiling at him, she took the flowers in her left hand as she took his hand in her right one. Taking a few steps forward they sat down on opposite sides of the altar which had the Imperial symbol carved onto its face. Not a sound could be heard in the Hall of Loyalty as the Leader of the Vows stepped forward and opened the Book of Vows, the contents of which had been modified to fit Imperials standards.
The Leader of the Vows first pronounced several traditional blessings over the couple before he began with the actual vows. Luke sat in his seat, listening politely as the man asked the Empire and the ancient gods for favor on this couple, including long life, many children, and victory in battle. Finally, they got to the actual wedding vows. Luke watched carefully, wondering what parts of the ceremony he would use in his wedding.
"Do you, Admiral Nathaniel MacNelly, swear that, to your last breath, you will uphold the law of the Empire? That you forever pledge your loyalty to the Empire, and that you will obey the laws and decrees of the Imperial throne?"
"Yes, I shall." Nathaniel answered.
In his seat, Luke was thinking. He had no problem with confessing his loyalty to Grandfather, but he could not say this oath. As Emperor, he would not be obeying laws, he would be the law. And the idea of swearing to the throne was ridiculous. He would own the throne, not be owned by it. In fact, you could practically say he owned it now, since heirs of estates in the Empire were considered secondary owners of the property. The oath would either have to be radically altered, or more likely left out of his own wedding. Luke mentally made a note to speak with Grandfather about it.
"Do you, Admiral Nathaniel MacNelly, also swear that you shall love Nastalia all the days of your life, holding her above all others, despite what fortune may bring?"
"Yes, I shall." Nathaniel said.
The wedding was continuing with Nastalia swearing her loyalty to her husband, and by extension, to the Empire. A short musical piece was played, as the couple took two lighted candles and lit a larger central candle on the altar. This symbolized their joining lives.
Once that was completed, the Leader of the Vows gave a short speech on the sanctity of marriage and the enrichment of the couple's lives. More music was played, then the couple exchanged rings and a kiss. The Leader of the Vows proclaimed them married, and the happy couple walked arm in arm down the central aisle as the crowd clapped and cheered.
The ushers came forward, and began directing people to the reception hall.
"Oh, that was beautiful," Anjaleen gushed as they rose to leave. "It was just perfect."
Luke smiled, leaning close and whispering in Anjaleen's ear. "No it wasn't." Anja glanced at Luke in puzzlement until he whispered again, "It wasn't us."
Anjaleen beamed at Luke, her necklace bright red.
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