CHAPTER NINE
Corellian system, Core Worlds
The Corellian system was always considered something of an anomaly in several different ways. There were millions of systems around the galaxy, but not all of them possessed planets that supported life, or were even capable of supporting life. Many of those systems usually contained only one or two planets where life had the ability to flourish. These were more often than not were located in what was known simply as the 'life zone'; an orbit around its parent star that was just the right distance away from it. Too close, and the planet would have been too hot. Too far away, and it would have been too cold. Given these criteria, it was understandable that it was rare for any system to have more than one or two planets where life could thrive.
The Corellian system, on the other hand, had five planets where life existed! And all of them managed to drift in an orbit around the star Corell that gave an atmosphere that was adequately comfortable to its inhabitants. They were often referred to as the Five Worlds, or the Five Brothers.
Closest to Corell was the planet that gave its name to the whole system: Corellia. Home to roughly three billion Humans, and consisted of oceans, farmland, and metropolitan areas like its capital city of Coronet. Corellians were notorious around the galaxy as being laid-back, adventurous, always preffering to do things their own way, and seemed to be natural born pilots; which gave rise to the saying 'Corellians have rocket fuel for blood'. Corellia had produced some well-known individuals on both sides of the Galactic Civil War, including Rebel heroes like Han Solo and Wedge Antilles, and famous Imperial figures such as Soontir Fel and Gilad Pellaeon.
Second from the star was Drall. Possessing meadows, rivers and forests, the planet was also home to a species of the same name. Drall were short, furry creatures that were descended from burrowing mammals, and despite their diminuitive manner, they carried themselves with poise and dignity. They seldom left their homeworld, though it was not uncommon to see them elsewhere, particularly mining camps around the galaxy.
The fourth orbit was occupied by Selonia, a world covered mostly by water, with land that was broken into islands, bays and peninsulas. The native Selonians stood over two metres tall, and were sleek, fur-covered carnivores that were actually descended from aquatic mammals. Their society was organised into 'dens', and their world saw a large amount of interstellar traffic. Despite this, many in the galaxy, and even many on the system's other planets, knew very little about the Selonians.
However, it was what occupied the third orbit in the Corellian system that intrigued most people. Two near-identical planets shared this orbit. They were called Talus and Tralus, often referred to as the Double Worlds. They shared the same size, gravity, and terrain of oceans and plains, and occupied the same orbit; orbiting around each other as they circled Corell. They were the least populated worlds in the system, and were also considered by many to be the least important of the Five Worlds. However, it was what occupied the space between the Double Worlds that piqued most peoples' interest.
Centrepoint Station had the appearance of a long tube with a massive circular bulge in the middle. Essentially, it looked almost like a skewer with a round fruit in the middle of it. The facility was over three hundred kilometres in length, and rotated slowly on its axis, providing a centrifugal force that created an artificial gravity for the interior of the station, which was home to many people. But what really mystified people was the fact that nobody had any idea how the station came to be, or who had built it in the first place. It was a mystery that continued to confuse people across the galaxy to this day. All that was known was that Centrepoint Station was unbelievably ancient; its age being placed at anything between one hundred thousand years up to a million.
Studies of the gleaming metal station had shown that it possessed abilities that allowed it to move entire planets! And it was believed that it had been the station itself that had been used by some unknown ancient civilisation to create the Corellian system; taking five habitable planets and placing them in to orbit around Corell before seeding them with life.
Unfortunately, that was also what made Centrepoint Station to be extremely dangerous. Using a mechanisim called the Starbuster, a massive blast could be launched through hyperspace to anywhere in the galaxy, completely destroying whatever it struck. The two Death Stars constructed and used by the Empire had possessed the ability to destroy whole planets, but that was nothing compared to Centrepoint, which was able to destroy entire star systems!
The galaxy had witnessed this horrific power firsthand fourteen years after the Battle of Endor, in an event that would come to be known as the Corellian Insurrection. A renegade group calling itself the Sacorrian Triad had risen up. Led by a Human, a Drall, and a Selonian, and based on Sacorria, a planet at the edge of Corellian territory, they had used the station and its fearsome weaponry to destroy several stars in an attempt to bully the New Republic into recognising an independent Corellian empire. In the end, the New Republic had been victorious, and Anakin Solo, who had only been seven years old at the time, had shut down Centrepoint Station harmlessly.
The station had now found its abilities biometrically tied to the young Solo, and years later, his father's sadistic cousin, Thracken, would use him to activate the station once again. This time, it had been used during the Yuuzhan Vong War. The extragalactic invaders had launched an attack against the planet of Fondor, and Thracken had sent a shot towards them through hyperspace. It had succeeded, but had also destroyed much of the Hapan fleet that were battling the Yuuzhan Vong.
When Anakin had died later in that war, the ability to use Centrepoint Station had died with him, and many had felt that the ancient facility had now become harmless; a threat that was not worth worrying about any longer.
But there were those who intended to show how wrong such thoughts were...
For all intents and purposes, Coronet was considered by many to be a fine example of metropolitan living. Though not as big as the cities on Coruscant, which encompassed the surface of the entire planet, nor were its tallest buildings as big theirs, Coronet still stood tall and proud. The capital of the planet Corellia, and many believed it to be the capital of the whole system.
Given the current state of things, it was understandable that many of Coronet's citizens were thinking about the current conflict with the invading Kilrathi race. Even now, politicians and diplomats would argue and discuss, from behind closed doors and in the halls of government buildings, how the situation would best be dealt with. Whether the Galactic Alliance was doing a good enough job, or if the Corellians themselves were committing too little, too much, or just the right amount to the fight. Even on the streets, people were talking about the war.
And there was one figure in particular that was counting on this to be happening. Everybody else would be distracted, and that would allow him to make his move.
Standing in front of an assortment of screens, the individual scanned the reports sent in to him from his agents in the field. He appraised the situation and made his decision. He opened his private communication to his closest lieutenants and gave one simple order.
"Execute the operation."
It all happened at once, just as the leader had planned it. For over a year now, he had been inserting his agents into different areas of power all across the Five Worlds; the government, military, law enforcement, and so on. Each one had been dedicated to him and his ideals, and everything that he stood for. Each one had possessed an intense dislike of the Galactic Alliance and their Jedi enforcers, and would love to see the Corellian system achieve the level of greatness that they believed it deserved. They knew that their enemies had been distracted in their latest war, and that made it the opportune moment to strike.
All around the system, certain high-ranking officials began collapsing in the streets, having just received a shot or a blade to the most vulnerable parts of their anatomy. Some even found themselves being garrotted from behind with a cord of some kind, or had their necks broken. Businessmen, politicians, military officers, all found themselves under attack. If their goals were different to that of this sudden group of usurpers, then they found themselves under attack. The body count gradually started to rise.
The citizens of the planets, who had been neither the targets nor the perpetrators, found themselves shocked out of their daily lives, and most chose to run for cover. Firefights and skirmishes of all kind appeared to be breaking everywhere, between the local law enforcement and the rebels. It was devastating on all of the worlds, but by far the worst was Corellia. Given its perceived importance, it seemed natural that the usurpers had chosen to focus their efforts there.
In the main offices of the government building located in the centre of Coronet, there was one individual in particular who looked over the current system with a growing sense of unease and fear. Aidel Saxan was a middle-aged woman who had been elected to office on Corellia shortly after the Yuuzhan Vong had been defeated. Despite the fact that her father had actually been from Coruscant, she considered herself to be decidedly Corellian, and had set about making her home system to be a prime example of civilisation throughout the galaxy, and she had managed to keep that promise.
Unfortunately, it seemed that somebody was doing everything they could to oust her from office, violently, if they could.
Aidel stood at the largest window of her office, which overlooked the streets of Coronet. Her radios chattered incessantly with the frantic voices of loyal forces coming under fire from this mysterious new adversary, and their valiant attempts to suppress them. Out the window, she could see blaster fire being exchanged as the rebels advanced closer and closer to her building, with loyalists falling one after another.
Aidel Saxan's hope was fading fast, and she knew that she was running out of time.
In just a few hours, it was all over. The rebels had seized control of large portions of Corellia and the other four planets, and the main government and military centres were in their hands. Perhaps most symbolically, they now held the main government building in the middle of Coronet. The rooms and hallways, like the streets outside, were littered with bodies. Some had been rebels, but most of them had been guards or workers who supported Aidel Saxan and the lawful ruling government of the Five Worlds.
And now Aidel found herself to be in the custody of these usurpers. Most of them were wearing masks of some kind, and those that had their faces exposed were people that she had never seen before. From what she could tell, they were all Human though. They wore variants of some kind of uniform, suggesting that they were paramilitary in nature. Some kind of ultra-nationalist group, perhaps? The one thing that caught Aidel's attention most was what they all had around their upper arms; black armbands that had the letters 'FWLF' stenciled in orange on them.
Aidel felt tempted to ask one of her new captors exactly what the situation was, but she felt that it would be best simply to keep silent at the moment. Presently, she was on her knees in her office; and a small part of her actually felt grateful that the room was carpeted. There were currently six of the rebels in the large room as well. Two were standing guard on either side of her, two more were positioned on either side of the main door, and the other two were holding hostage a small group of people that were members of her personal staff. One only had to look at any one of the rebel guards to tell that their trigger fingers were very itchy. In fact, a couple of workers had gotten into their heads that they could overpower their captors and make a run for it. Tragically, they had not gotten a few metres before being cut down by blaster fire.
Whoever these 'FWLF' people were, they were not afraid to spill some blood in order to achieve their goals. In fact, many of them seemed a little too eager to do so.
Aidel knew what was coming next; she had seen or read about it in various forms of media, both real and fiction. A leader was overthrown by a group of rebels or insurgents, then they were held hostage in their own office, usually on their knees, then the doors would open and the leader of the dissidents would waltz right in like they were a gift from the universe itself, they would state their reasons for doing what they were doing, and how they are willing to pay the price and so on, and then they would usually kill the ousted leader.
Aidel knew that all this was going to happen, and although she felt scared, she also felt an odd sense of determination. She had done much for Corellia, and she was not afraid to give her own life for it. She would show these insurgents that she would not be bullied into showing fear, even in the face of certain death.
Almost on cue, the doors to the main office swung open, and three individuals walked in. Two of them were more of the paramilitary rebels sporting the 'FWLF' armbands, but it was the person in the middle that drew all the attention. From the other rebels, it was one of respect; almost reverance, in fact. From the hostages, it was one of fear mixed in with disbelief.
As for Aidel Saxan herself, she did her best to maintain a neutral composure. But this did little to change the fact that she herself was surprised at the identity of the person who walked into the room as if he were the hero of this little crusade, though to those who knew him or knew of him, he exuded pure malevolence and evil. This was offset by the fact that his face was disturbingly similar to one of Corellia's greatest heroes.
"Aidel Saxan," the man said in a false pleasant tone, "it is a pleasure to meet you." He gave a sinister smile that only just managed to peek past his white beard and moustache.
"The pleasure is not mutual," Aidel replied, "Thracken Sal-Solo." She said his name as a sneer.
The man who stood before Aidel shared a similar appearance to his more famous, not to mention noble, cousin Han Solo. There were differences, though. Han had dark hair that only just started to show hints of grey in recent years, though this usually made him look more distinguished. However, he was not known to grow a beard or moustache. Thracken, on the other hand, did sport facial hair, but all of it, as well as that on his head, was white.
But even if the two cousins had looked identical, one with a trained eye would still be able to tell them apart simply by looking into their eyes and reading their facial expressions. Han was known for having a positive attitude that complimented the lopsided grin usually stuck to his face. But Thracken rarely smiled, and his usually had a cold, calculating and sinister look in his eyes. Their personalities were markedly different as well. Han had worked for much of his life to make things easier for the galaxy in general, and always fought on the side of the right and just. Thracken, however, was an individual who served only one person's needs, and that was himself. His main goals primarily consisted of bringing his beloved Corellian system into a period of greatness where it relied on nobody from the outside. Unfortunately, his views included things that were common under Palpatine's Empire; particularly a bigoted attitiude towards non-Humans.
Simply put, the two cousins were poles apart.
"My, aren't we rather feisty today?" Thracken asked, his voice dripping with condescension. "I was kind of hoping that you and I might be able to sit down and hash out our differences like civilised people."
Aidel simply scoffed. "You wouldn't know what 'civilised' was even if somebody tattooed its meaning on your ass. I'd be willing to bet that there are Hutts in this galaxy who are more civilised than you. If you really wanted to do things in a civilised manner, then why did you start an uprising which has already killed hundreds of people in just one day?"
The smile suddenly disappeared from Thracken's face. "Because change is never free," he practically snapped. "In order for change to occur, there has to be a price. If one is not willing to give their own life and the lives of others for their cause, then they are not truly dedicated to it!"
Aidel gave a brief sarcastic laugh. "That's good logic for a martyr. Or a murderer."
"Palpatine understood such logic."
"Palpatine was nothing but a self-serving, power-hungry madman who was willing to sacrifice millions of lives for his own benefit. You're not much better, Thracken. If anything, you're just a Palpatine wannabe."
Thracken glared at Aidel, his cheek starting to twitch, and his eyes beginning to blaze with a fury that he was only just barely able to contain. Aidel permitted herself a tiny, barely perceptible smile; a sign that she had gotten to him.
After almost a minute, Thracken seemed to calm down. Taking a breath, he started to pace as he continued talking. "The things that I do, I do them for the good of all of the people of the Five Worlds. For too long, we have been under the oppression of governments who serve only themselves. The old Republic, the New Republic, the Galactic Alliance; they have all sought to use us, to bleed us dry, and all for their own goals. I simply aim to achieve independence for the Corellian system."
"I can't help but notice that you left the Empire out of that little spiel of yours," Aidel pointed out. "Did you forget that they were worse than all of the others combined?"
Thracken stopped pacing. "For all of its faults, the Empire at least understood how the galaxy worked," he said. "Just look at what is happening now! The Galactic Alliance, in its endless quest to consolidate its power, have started yet another war against these Kilrathi animals! Just like the New Republic started a war against the Yuuzhan Vong!"
"Everyone knows it was the Kilrathi who attacked first!" Aidel snapped. "They started this war, not the Alliance! The Yuuzhan Vong did the same thing. And besides, it's well known that you collaborated with the Yuuzhan Vong and their Peace Brigade allies. Unlike you Thracken, my hands are clean. And now, in your pathetic little attempt to get back the power that you so desperately crave, you and your little group of terrorists have started this little coup right in the middle of the war when the GA could use our help, or the Kilrathi could suddenly attack us."
"Ah, but that's the thing," Thracken said, his voice suddenly shifting to a much calmer tone, "both of those sides are engaged in their little war. You see, while they are busy blowing the hell out of each other and gradually becoming weaker, my little group of patriots – the Five Worlds Liberation Front – will be securing the Corellian system, making it stronger than it ever was before. And so, when the time comes when an invading force chooses to attack us, we will have more than enough resources to deal with them." He leaned down and brought his face closer to that of the deposed leader. "Eventually, all of the other capital worlds – Coruscant, Bastion, Hapes, even Kilrah – will be devastated. But Corellia will stand tall, just like the crown jewel that it was meant to be. And if I'm not mistaken, that is very close at to what 'coronet' means. Looks like the city founders picked out an appropriate name, didn't they?"
Aidel huffed. "Glad to see that someone as despicable as you still has the time to build up his vocabulary." At this point, she knew that she was going to die, and so she no longer cared what she said.
Thracken stood up straight again. "Today, we are called rebels and terrorists. But give it enough time, and eventually, we will be known as heroes. As patriots! The Five Worlds Liberation Front will go down in history as the force that truly brought freedom to the Corellian system, and liberated it from a corrupt and oppressive regime. Regrettably, I am unsure as to how you will be remembered, but all those who died today, and who will continue to die in our struggle, they gave their lives in service to a greater cause, and they will be remembered as martyrs. Perhaps that is how you will be remembered." He pulled a blaster pistol out of his holster and aimed it at Aidel Saxan's head. "I'm sure you understand."
Aidel was about to tell him off one last time, but before she could even open her mouth, Thracken Sal-Solo pulled the trigger.
This might seem like it is breaking away from the main plot of the war against the Kilrathi, but it will all tie in together eventually.
I must confess that I was not a fan of the Legacy of the Force series, but in keeping with the Legends continuity, I used Aidel Saxan, who appeared, and subsequently died, in the first book. The dates might not match up exactly, but this is technically an alternate reality, so let's not nit-pick too much, ok?
By the way, Thracken is just one of those villains with no redeeming features, isn't he? I mean, you can't help hating the guy!