Chapter 17: A Back Channel

Coruscant's air was something he had missed having been on Tatooine and then Nar Shaddaa for far too long. Was it the freshest air in the galaxy? Absolutely not, how could it be from the sheer number of inhabitants staying here? Poe still considered the place home so nothing compared to what the planet meant to him. He remembered many a night of Leia reading him a bedtime story looking out over the beautiful skyline. Or the times Han had "snuck" him out of the apartment to get an icey treat when Leia supposedly wasn't looking. Now that he was a little older, he understood they probably coordinated these instances for when she was busy with the politics of the growing New Republic Senate. Still, it had been a magical experience for him growing up as the adopted son of two heroes of the Rebellion. For them, Poe had obviously been a way to cope with the loss of what he had once believed to be both of their biological children. It made the feeling that he had failed them all the more painful.

Sure, he had gotten the map to Tython that the Jedi hid on Tatooine for Jaina so the mission was a success. Yet, in his haste to do something good by freeing Borsk Fey'lya, he had created a mess for Leia. How long had she been trying to get on friendly terms with the Chiss Ascendancy through Oyeyh Ottolah? Ten years? More? The benefits of having a united front against a resurgent Empire spoke for themselves. And he potentially threw it all away because he thought leaving the baby in a hidden compartment on the Razorcrest was a good idea. At the time he had been thinking bringing a baby with him to guide multiple blind Bothans to the spaceport on Nar Shaddaa would've been too suspicious to turn a blind eye to. Especially when the baby wasn't like any other species he had seen before, and he had seen a lot during his travels as an Xwing pilot. He thought for a moment he had convinced Jag that having Ottolah fake his own death was a good solution to the problem he made. Unfortunately, Fel never got back in touch with him which wasn't a good sign. Perhaps he should try again? Try to get to the defense minister directly? Although he didn't have a good indication on how that conversation would go if the prince couldn't convince him.

Poe sat in the expensive waiting room chair glancing over at Lando, "I haven't heard anything from them. Do you think they're alright?"

Lando hid any concern he might have with a smile, "Dyn is a Mandalorian who can tap into the force if he absolutely needs to. And Jaina is looking quite fiesty herself, not to mention the literal Sword of the Jedi is with them. They'll be fine."

He couldn't help from feeling cynical about the whole thing, "No, I meant that." He motioned to a vid screen replaying Leia's speech to the Senate.

Leia's voice was firm and sympathetic as she stood on the Senate's central spire, "Fellow members of the Republic, it is my solemn duty to inform you one of our junior planets has been attacked. One week ago, an Imperial Resurgent-class Star Destroyer traveled to Tatooine claiming they were in pursuit of a dangerous criminal without going through proper procedures. I would let this slide as an unfortunate case of miscommunication, however, veteran to the Rebellion Wedge Antilles was also killed in the attack... As well as the destruction of Mos Eisley can be linked to the Imperial aggression."

She let a pause hang in the air allowing Lando to speak next to him, "I don't know Poe. This whole alliance thing Leia was cooking up depends on the other side actually wanting to play nice. It was going to be hard to get this through before but now, I really don't know."

Poe glared at him since he was now admitting the death of Ottolah was going to be a problem, "Then why didn't you say anything more on Nar Shaddaa when we had the chance to do something about it?"

Leia continued her speech making Lando go quiet, "When I was elected to Chancellor, I promised we would not break the Truce of Bakura. Wedge wouldn't want the peace he worked so hard to build to be ended on his account. On the other hand, we cannot allow the Empire to kill our people in the name of justice. That is why I am sending a bill to each and every one of you right now. The goal of this bill is to officially open a dialogue with the Chiss Ascendancy to create a military defense agreement. I'm sure members of the old guard are submitting a declaration of war bill against the Empire as we speak. And unlike Palpatine, I will be allowing a vote on both bills. But I will ask each and every Senator this question: do you really think that's what Wedge would want? Thank you all, and may the force be with us."

He wished he had even a fraction of her speaking skills. Despite already supporting the idea of an alliance with the Chiss whole heartedly, partly just because he'd potentially have the opportunity to have joint operations with Clawcraft fighters, he couldn't see how anyone would be able to justify voting against her bill. For starters, she wasn't saying the Chiss would be able to get whatever they wanted out of the deal. She was merely getting the Senate's approval to start negotiations. Secondly, anyone who knew Wedge personally at all knew she was telling the truth about him definitely not wanting a war to avenge his death. Along with the late Mon Mothma, Wedge had been one of the individuals pushing for peace to begin with. So there went Ransolm Casterfo's talking point that the military really wanted to hit the Empire again. Thirdly, she was throwing an olive branch out to members of the old guard by giving them the chance to vote on a declaration of war. Unfortunately, all of her political maneuvering might end up being pointless if Oyeyh Ottolah is murdered.

"I will always admire Leia's optimism to get all sides to work together. Even though it's sometimes not feasible." The calm voice said from the entrance of the lobby.

A strong sense of familiarity hit Poe in the face and it was as though he was staring at a ghost all at the same time. Ben really did look a lot like his father, the same chin and eyes as well as an air of sadness that felt as though it surrounded the two of them. Luke Skywalker, in the flesh on Coruscant for what had to be the first time in nearly two decades. His short graying hair was well kept and his jaw had stubble around it like he had recently shaved. His Jedi robes were the very traditional tan with a darker brown coat around his shoulders. Even though Poe could tell Luke still hadn't gotten over the loss of his family completely, he surprisingly appeared mostly upbeat today. Perhaps after eighteen years he was better at hiding his sorrow. Or having word his son was helping Jaina instead of trying to kill her like last time lifted his spirits. Either way it was better to see him happy and here.

Lando stood up with a grin and a laugh, "My stars if it isn't Luke Skywalker. What are ya doing all the way out here?"

Luke seemed to let his gaze wander to something Poe couldn't see for a few seconds, "I sensed a disturbance in the force and knew I had to come. Kyle is leading the expedition into the Valley of the Sith while I'm away." He turned his attention down to him in his chair, "I also wanted to thank one of my nephews for finding my map on Tatooine."

Poe wiped down his dress uniform, feeling inadequate in the presence of the Jedi, "I was just doing my job. It's an honor to meet you in person by the way, I uhh...I feel like I need to apologize to you though."

Luke had a teasing smile on his face, "What for? Does the map have extra sand on it?"

Poe's expression soured debating on whether or not to even tell him, "I might have drawn a blaster on your son... And he might have given me a broken nose. It's complicated."

There was a mixture of confusion, hope, and sadness on his face, "You saw Ben...? On Tatooine? Was he looking for the map as well?"

Lando answered for him, "Not exactly, Ben got dragged into it by taking a job with the Empire. He got in over his head although he ultimately didn't want to accept our help. Yarv stayed with him at least."

Luke had a smirk grow across his face, "Explains why I haven't heard from him since the inauguration. The two of them were always clo-"

Lando put a hand on Luke's shoulder to interrupt him, "There's more about Ben, and the galaxy that have happened since we last talked. Not all of it is good."

As if on que, the news holo was displaying images of Wedge ahead of his scheduled public funeral on Correllia. Poe knew precisely how Luke must be feeling right now due to him having a similar gut reaction. Poe was lucky having been a part of Wedge's last flight instructor classes before the man officially retired. Even still, he had a profound effect on him and the news of his death had hit him like a gut punch. Luke probably had an even stronger reaction given the fact that they had served together throughout the entire Rebellion. They had taken down a Death Star together and survived Hoth as a team. Poe was starting to be concerned he was going to have to catch him from falling over because of how badly his legs were shaking with despair. It definitely wasn't a comforting image when he had been taught in school Jedi were stoic emotionless beings. Then again, this man had lost his wife, son, and who knows how many other friends to the Empire. How much could a man lose before he would break?

Luke stood his ground and recovered only for the Chancellors office door to open with Leia standing there, "I know."

The two of them shared a glance that Poe didn't quite understand. Were they just both mourning the death of Wedge? Most likely, yet he couldn't help but notice Luke appeared to have a sense of regret on his face. What did Luke have to feel sorry about? He wasn't there to commit the crime, that was the evil Kylo Ren. Maybe he believed he could have done more to prevent it from happening but, Poe was convinced that whatever Luke was up to for the past eighteen years had to be important. He couldn't be expected to be in two places at once, even a Jedi couldn't do that. From his perspective, some things were strictly the New Republic's responsibility, and one of those things was Ren. If Mon Mothma hadn't of been so eager to make peace with the Empire as part of her agenda in her first term, they wouldn't have had to deal with the possibility of war right now.

He gritted his teeth from the sound of Casterfo getting in the middle of the two siblings hug, "Ah, if it isn't the Grand Master of the Jedi himself. I was beginning to wonder if you were going to show your face around here before my term expired. Is there a Jedi complaint process I can go through? One of your members treated me with an enormous amount of disrespect at the Chancellor's inauguration ceremony."

Holdo's tone was full of scorn, "Can you give it a rest for one minute Casterfo? These two haven't seen each other in-"

Leia finished for her while still forcing a smile to Luke, "Seventeen years give or take. Though we at least talk to one another on holo every other month. You three can come back in the morning after the first vote has been completed on the budget."

Borsk Fey'lya was standing next to Amilyn sporting a walking stick, "If I may Chancellor, whatever Master Skywalker has to tell you could impact the vote tomorrow. As members of the defense committee, the three of us should be included in those discussions." His tone took a humorous edge to it a moment later glancing between the two other Senators, "To add to Senator Casterfo, an ex-Jedi threw me in some carbonite as part of a bounty. I must say I have a much more compelling case for a complaint than getting insulted at a party after asking for it."

Leia looked to the both of them and then Holdo who had an apologetic shrug, "He has a point. If you are here to tell us something that is Master Skywalker?"

The Jedi kissed her cheek with a whisper, "We can catch up later." Luke pulled away from her to address the group gathering before him, "As a matter a fact I am. Let's take this back into the Chancellor's office."

Poe could see his mother had a reluctant reaction, yet she followed Luke back into the office. She hadn't even noticed him or Lando, although Poe wasn't offended given the circumstances. Leia had already received word the moment they left Nar Shaddaa that he was ok. In contrast, other than in very brief communications, she hadn't been in the same room as her brother in almost two decades. Of course her attention was going to be on that instead of him. Despite knowing for a fact that was the logical explanation, some small doubt crept into his mind that since he was adopted, she cared about him less. As crazy as that sounded in his own head, Leia could sometimes get wrapped up in whatever political upheavel was happening in the Senate. And if he didn't take the issue as seriously as she did, there were times they didn't talk much. After losing two kids already, it was no wonder she could become withdrawn at times.

Casterfo returned to his seat only to stare at Luke, "So, what have you been up to for all this time Skywalker? I mean you helped us with Thrawn and the other Imperial warlords scattered across the galaxy only to disappear. Were you taking a vacation? That's what your offensive Ambassador made it sound like."

Luke kept as much of a diplomatic tone as possible, "I've never known Yarvanielos to be anything other than an eloquent speaker, I'll talk to him the next time we meet Senator. To the matter at hand though, it came to my attention that a Sith has returned to the galaxy to pick up where the Emperor left off."

Borsk, Ransolm, and Amilyn all had shocked expressions on their face making Poe question how much the three senior members of the defense committee were reading the holonet. Descriptions of a hooded figure using a red lightsaber had been going around the flight school on Cardia for years. Did they think he was just a Jedi that Luke let run around on behalf of the Empire? Or were they just in denial about his existence pretending it was a fairytale as Poe had before Tatooine? Those questions just sprung new ones to life. Why hadn't Luke done anything sooner about him? If Kylo was the big threat, Luke should have been sending every senior member of the Order after him.

Luckily he wasn't the only one with questions as Holdo was staring at Luke, "I thought you destroyed the Sith above Endor? How can there be more of them if they came in pairs?"

Ransolm snorted amused by her skepticism, "You thought he knew what he was talking about thirty years ago? He had no idea what he was doing. I mean the Jedi had all been wiped out twenty years earlier so how could he?"

She glared back at him in anger, "How dare you?! Without Luke none of us would be here right now! You should apologize for implying he stumbled through all that."

Luke patiently waited for a pause in the yelling, "It's alright, I had the same concerns as the both of you. Allow me to explain. Twenty two years ago me and my wife came across an old man calling himself Snoke who claimed he was a Sith who had been resurrected by the force to challenge us. We made short work of him however, we received word Snoke survived our first confrontation. I didn't want to believe it was true, yet I wasn't so far into denial that I wouldn't investigate the truth. I arranged for a spy to make contact with Snoke, unfortunately, the catastrophe on Tython followed soon after."

Borsk had barely contained anger in his voice, "You've known this alarming information for twenty two years and you are just now deciding it would be a good idea to inform the Senate? Master Skywalker, we need to know these things so we can put up safeguards to prevent infiltration of our institutions. I don't think I have to remind you that is how the last Republic was transformed into an Empire."

Bothans always wanted to have the best intelligence on a threat available to them so a part of his anger just came from his species cultural norms. On the other hand, Poe couldn't stop himself from sharing those same frustrations directed towards his uncle. How irresponsible could he be as to not tell the New Republic that a force user who could survive being killed was on the loose? Then again, what could random Senators do about a Sith who had brought themselves back from the dead? Talk to him until he got bored? Maybe that was where Luke had been coming from. Poe merely had the feeling Luke could've told them some of it without starting a panic a long time ago. And where did Kylo Ren fit into all of this? None of the stories he had heard about him depicted the warrior as an old man.

Luke tilted his head towards Leia, "I did talk to my sister about it and we agreed telling the Senate would cause unecessary disturbance during a time when the New Republic desperately needed stability. Besides, Snoke has far different motivations than Palpatine. He won't make a real move on the Republic until he has restored his power to it's full strength. Something I have been preventing for the past eighteen years."

Casterfo folded his arms not convinced by the explanation, "We're supposed to take your word on that? How did you manage to get inside a Sith's head to understand how he operates? You didn't even know he was real when we declared victory on Coruscant."

Leia had a sarcastic tone obviously fighting the urge to roll her eyes, "Where are we sitting Casterfo? I think if this Sith wanted the Republic right now he would've taken it. We've given him plenty of opportunities to do so given the amount of gridlock in the Senate."

Casterfo glared right back at her with just as much intensity as before, "Gridlock you and your party created blocking every effort Chancellor Iblis attempted to bring to the floor."

Amilyn shook her head while sipping on a glass of wine, "Iblis only wanted to pass security measure after security measure, of course we were going to block him. This is a democracy, not the old guard's dream of making a slightly better dictatorship."

Borsk cut in before even more yelling could occur, "Both of you are skipping over the obvious question. Master Skywalker, what do you need from us? That's why you've come isn't it? You have an ask in order to be able to defeat this Sith."

Luke gave another apologetic glance to Leia before taking a deep breath, "The unfortunate reality is that you are right. It pains me to say this but in order to get close to this Sith we are going to have to draw him out of Imperial space. I need the Senate's permission to send a Jedi strike team to Muunilinst where I think the Sith might be hiding."

A silence fell over the room as each one of them were working through the request in their minds. Muunilinst was a planet in the Outer Rim near the Corporate Sector Authority's space but was still technically part of the Empire since the end of the Clone Wars. On the surface, this was an easy ask. Everyone could agree that the Sith needed to be destroyed after the reign of Palpatine. However, the problem was the Jedi had always been an arm of the Republic's will. Moffs inside the Empire, even reasonable ones like Lecersen and Jerjerrod, would view a Jedi attack force as an act of war. With a bill already going to the Senate on whether or not they should attack the Empire over the destruction of Mos Eisley, war appeared inevitable now. Poe didn't know how to feel about that eventuallity. He loved flying in his Xwing yet he knew a lot of people on both sides would die before negotiations could open up again.

Casterfo stood up with a smile on his face, "If you'll excuse me, I'm going to rewrite the declaration of war act to now include the endorsement of Luke Skywalker. I will see you all in the open session of the Senate tomorrow."

Holdo was shooting daggers at him with her gaze as he walked out, "Don't be so thrilled Ransolm, these are lives we're talking about here. Not your opportunity to play war in the sand pit."

Leia recovered from her surprise brushing some of her hair behind one ear while staring at Luke, "Is there no other way we could get to Snoke? One of his advisors or-"

Luke gave her a grave glance in response stopping her before she could keep talking, "After Wedge...I don't know if I feel comfortable relying on that option anymore Leia. Do you?"

Leia appeared uncomfortable noticing the rest of them were still watching the exchange, "I need to talk to my brother for a few minutes alone. We can regroup after we've gotten some rest."

Before any of them could get up the voice of her security chief came from the desk, "I know it's late ma'am and I don't want to interrupt you. That being said, there's a few people down here requesting to see you."

Leia looked down at her crono and frowned, "At this hour? Who?"

"Boba Fett and Natasi Daala ma'am." That answer made his jaw hit the floor.

_o0o_

Two standard hours had passed since Goran was supposed to check back in. Granted a mission on the scale of this would've taken him days to complete back in his prime but, he had never been on such a tight schedule either. At least, Dyn would've believed he was pressed for time in more ways than one and nothing Goran would've said could change his mind on that. He was proud of his ad'ika for adopting a child of his own, Boba just wished he would have come to him for help sooner instead of going to his other family. The family that let him run away to that moon. Maybe let was too strong, Dyn had always been stubborn to the core. And it wasn't like they didn't care about him with Calrissian constantly checking in on him and Leia asking about him every time they met for official business. Unlike Sintas who usually at least humored her in joint diplomatic summits, he had always argued it was none of their concern. They hadn't been the ones to be there through all the nightmares, they hadn't been on that moon to feed and clothe him, they hadn't come to Mandalore to try and take him back!

"Your very quiet tonight, something on your mind?" The posh stereotypical Imperial voice asked him in a facade of concern.

No, he was not fine. His ad'ika was in trouble and instead of being able to help him, he had to take her to Coruscant. Goran and Mirta would do everything they could to help yet, Greef Karga was such a wild card that he didn't know if the three of them were going to be enough. Boba wanted to be there so he could scare Karga. That baby would've been back in Dyn's arms three seconds flat at the sight of him. Despite having just celebrated his 71st life day with Sintas, his reputation as the best bounty hunter in the galaxy proceeded him wherever he went. It was one of the reasons why Fenn Shysha named him Mandalore at his death bed nineteen years ago. Oh how he had failed him. Boba couldn't say any of that to her though, she wouldn't understand, she never understood him.

Natasi Daala was a, he supposed former, Imperial who had given him lots of work over the years after the Empire became the Remnant. The business relationship started when she was able to tell him who in the White Worms gang had been responsible for telling Imperial officials on Correllia that they were spice traders which led to Sintas being violated. The information wasn't much of a surprise, the pair had been prominent members of the gang just trying to make a life for themselves elsewhere and were willing to point fingers anywhere. As much as he wanted to go after them, Sintas held him back saying she hadn't fallen in love with a revenge crazed psychopath. Then Dyn entered their lives which solidified his need to let it go. It wasn't as if he hadn't gotten any revenge at all, prior to knowing for sure. Unfortunately, that didn't mean his debt to Daala disappeared when he decided not to use that information.

Boba came up with an excuse in his head knowing she only wanted conversation anyways, "Family business, nothing you need to concern yourself with."

Daala stared at his helmet as though trying to read him, "Fair enough. Although if it's going to impact our time together you may want to deal with it sooner rather than later."

"When have I ever let personal feelings get in the way of a job? Besides I have a lot more time on my hands now." He told her trying to end the discussion with that.

She didn't know the details due to the fact that no aruteii had been made aware of the change yet. In order to guarantee Dyn would be the one to kill Ottolah, he had surrendered the title of Mandalore to Bian Vizsla with no contest. The other Mandalorians didn't really care about the baby as a reward, they just cared what killing it would mean to his reputation as Mandalore. Fenn would definitely be disappointed in him if he was still here but, Boba saw the surrender as one of the most Mandalorian things he could have ever done. Protecting your family was the most important things in Mandalorian culture no matter what the cost. He had failed Sintas in that regard all those years ago making him abandon his people during the Galactic Civil War, he wasn't going to fail Dyn now. Not when the solution wasn't hard at all.

Natasi let out a little laugh, "I wouldn't tell the other Moffs that when we get to the Ring of Kafrene. They'll never stop sending you work, most likely on each other."

Boba was about to remind her he had retired and was only doing this since he owed her, when the turbolift door to the Chancellor's office opened. Seeing Leia was at least a somewhat normal occurrence having to see her for state business. The man standing beside her though made his blood boil. Luke Skywalker, a man who not only refused to go after his wife's killer, he also stopped Dyn from getting justice as well. All in the name of the force and family. Unlike Mandalorians, Jetti were unwilling to sacrifice anything for their family. Nor fight for them when they had lost their way. Even though he had a responsibility to stay here as part of his debt to Daala, it was taking every bit of restraint to not just walk out. Sintas would've exchanged pleasantries with Luke to be "polite" like she did with Leia. All he wanted to do was punch the man.

A woman in an extravagant looking dress sitting across from Leia was the first to speak, "I'm sorry. Leia, what is the meaning of this?"

The Bothan sitting next to her added, "I think keeping secrets from the Senate runs in the family Holdo."

Leia appeared more exhausted than usual, "It was important for me to keep in touch with the Imperial Grand Moff... Especially one who wanted to keep the Truce of Bakura going after Luke told me about the Sith."

Holdo stood up in anger, "Did you not think she could be a spy? Feeding information back to this Snoke undermining our position?!"

Daala sounded offended from her claim, "I will have you know that a Sith was responsible for the collapse of the Empire to begin with. I have no desire to see what another one might do to our once great society."

Leia interlocked her fingers giving Holdo a sympathetic stare, "Do you honestly think me and Daala are friends? Her boss in the Imperial Navy was Tarkin. I just didn't see a lot of options and wanted to prevent a war. Something Daala also wants. Isn't that why your here Natasi?"

Boba tuned the conversation out when Luke approached him, "I half expected you to shoot me as soon as you saw me."

His teeth ground together not wanting to have to talk to the Jetti, "Don't tempt me."

"I understand I have no right to say this but, I wanted to thank you for...everything. And to ask a favor of you." Luke told him with genuine emotion in his voice.

Boba decided to rub some salt in the wound, "You have nothing to thank me for Skywalker. I couldn't have asked for a better ad'ika, he's always made me proud and I am a better person with him around."

Luke let out a breath that he couldn't exactly read, "I've felt a disturbance in the force around him. Something happened to him recently and he's going to need help. There are things he hasn't let go of, things I never got to tell him. Would you please allow me to go with you to the Ring of Kafrene? I know you don't think I love him as much as you do but that isn't the case. Let me prove it to both of you."

The substance of his argument went out the window as soon as he said three words, "What does Dyn have to do with that place?"