Chapter 143
Laetitia had gathered everyone she trusted and knew about Thexan in the Command Center. That included Ahsoka, Lux, Rex, Luke, Han, Chewie, Mon Mothma, Gial Ackbar and Crix Madine. BB-8 and R2 were also present with their 'masters'.
"If I understand correctly, you think that our spy in the Imperial Intelligence had been caught?" Mon Mothma started.
"I don't think it. I know it." Leah firmly answered.
"How can you be so sure? Maybe he just forgot to check in." Han stated.
Leah turned around ordered BB-8 to relay the message Thexan sent her on the HoloTable. She was prepared to prove herself.
"Thexan sent me this message, using the encrypted like I gave him."
"'Laetitia Skywalker, I have found something you will want. It is too important. Come quickly to Nur moon. And do NOT bring anyone with you. Too dangerous.'" Luke read the message out loud.
It got all of them thinking. It definitely didn't sound like Thexan and there was something about it that … bugged Leah, Ahsoka and Luke. The Force-sensitives. They could feel that it was a trap.
"Thexan never uses my name in the transmissions and he definitely doesn't send them like this. Besides, he left 3 days ago. What could he have found in 3 days since he left here and spent 2 of it on the way?" Leah stated.
"It does seem suspicious, but are you sure? Maybe, it really is him and he wants to meet you on this … moon, Nur." Lux said unsurely. He had never heard of that moon before. Where, in the Galaxy, was it?
"Nur is a water moon located in the Outer Rim Territories, in the Mustafar system. It has heavily secured underwater Fortress. Thexan told me that it was the headquarters of the Inquisitors. They're based there and if they capture a Jedi, that's where they contain them. It's a place of torture … full of pain and suffering." Leah explained.
They all exchanged a look and accepted that Thexan wouldn't send Leah to a place like that alone. He cared about her too much to do it.
Meanwhile, Ahsoka gasped in horror. The Empire had a moon to torture and kill Jedi and Force-sensitives. And near Mustafar … under Darth Vader's supervision. She still couldn't fathom how much her Master had changed.
"This might be a trap." Ackbar said.
"It's definitely a trap. But she doesn't care." Luke said with a hint in his eyes. Leah just smiled innocently.
"Alright. What's our next move, then?" Han asked as he rubbed his neck.
"We're gonna rescue him. That's what." Laetitia pointed out the obvious.
Ahsoka, Rex and Han knew she was going to say that. She was known to be loyal to a fault. But Mon Mothma had to step in. Leah was, after all, their Leader. If she was lost, the future of the Rebellion would be at stake.
"I understand you wish to rescue our friend. I do, as well, but we must look at the bigger picture. If that place is as dangerous as you say it is, then you must not go. The Alliance cannot afford to lose its Leader. We … cannot afford to lose our Leader." She firmly asked her not to do this, but she knew Leah was stubborner than that.
Leah's strong sense of duty and her fiercely loyalty to her friends was one of the reasons why she was named the Leader of the Alliance when she was only 15 years old.
"I understand what you're saying, Senator. I respect that, and I wish I could do it … but I can't. Thexan went back to the Empire to help us. He went to the source of the darkness, when he was just freed of it, to save us. If it wasn't for him, the Death Star would still be around and we wouldn't be as resourceful as we are today." Leah politely refused Mothma's suggestion.
"The Rebellion does not abandon their own, no matter how bad the situation is. We save our people from the suffering ahead of them … Because if we don't, we're no better than Palpatine." She stated, half-challenging anyone to say otherwise.
Mon Mothma shook her head in defeat.
Leah was a lot like Padme in many ways, except her love for politics. But at that moment, she could definitely see the resemblance between the mother and daughter. The boldness in their tone when they were fighting for their beliefs.
"Alright, then. How many Rebel soldiers would you need for this mission?" Madine asked.
"The Rebels should stay here and help find a new Base for us when we get back. That's also a priority. Besides, we can't bring an entire army with us, even if we had that. And frankly, they wouldn't be of use. No non-Force-sensitive should be on this mission because they won't be able to hold up their own against trained Inquisitors." Leah explained.
"Then who do you propose we send? Aside from you, of course."
"Well … I can't speak for anyone. But …"
"Count me in." Rex volunteered.
"I'm beginning to like Blue-eyes. So … Besides, you'll need a fast ship to pick you up after your suicide mission is done." Han smirked.
Leah couldn't argue with that. The Millennium Falcon was the fastest ship she'd ever seen. It outran every TIE fighter that ever chased after them.
Leah turned to Ahsoka, who was unusually quiet.
"And you? Are you coming or do wanna stay here?"
Ahsoka scoffed.
"If you think I'm gonna let you infiltrate the Fortress Inquisitorius all by yourself and miss all the fun, then you should stop calling me your 'sister'. There is no way I'm gonna let you go alone and get all the credit." She ruined their moment by being snippy.
Leah smiled. Her 'sister' was nothing if not snippy. Being a mother or 25 years old didn't change that.
"Then it is settled. I wish you all luck, and may the Force be with you." Mothma said as she, Ackbar and Madine left.
Leah sighed out of relief.
She would've expected them to fight with her. Say that she was 'too important to lose'. But it was a good thing that Crix Madine was on her side. He owed Thexan since he was the one who made him defect.
Leah looked up and saw Luke, who was eagerly waiting for her to say that he could come along. But she didn't and just left him hanging.
Ahsoka, Rex, Han and Chewie were moving the bombs to the Falcon. They had planned to rig the fortress with explosives after they rescued Thexan and be done with that monstrosity.
Laetitia had armed herself with everything. Knives hidden under her clothes, two small blasters on her waist and her silver lightsabers attacked to her belt.
She was walking to the Falcon with Luke by her side, trying to convince her that she was ready.
"Why don't you let me come with you? I'm ready. We've been training for 3 years and you've taught me how to handle myself. I wanna help rescue Thexan." He tried to convince her.
Leah stopped walking. Luke may have had a political side, like their mother, but he also had a taste for adventure and heroism. She turned to look at him, taking a deep breath. She knew how frustrating it was to be left out of a mission when someone told her she couldn't be a part of it.
But this was different. Luke had no experience fighting a Force-sensitive, except friendly duels with her and Ahsoka. And he wanted to come to a mission that was dangerous for even 2 of the most powerful Jedi ever existed.
"Luke, I understand you wanna come. But my answer is still no. This is not first-mission standard. This mission is too dangerous for Ahsoka and I, let alone an inexperienced Padawan. Don't be too offended, but you'd just slow us down." She softly tried to reason with him.
Luke wasn't offended at all. He knew she was just telling the truth and that mission had no place for someone to come and slow them down. He was only 13, as mature as he was.
"But you can't just choose missions for me. Which one is safe and which one is dangerous. I want to …"
"Luke, you're studying to become a Senator. You chose to be a Senator. I trained you in the ways of the Force because that's who you are. Not what you choose to be." She reminded him of his choices.
"This is a Jedi mission. A Senator, as powerful and skilled he may be, has no use in coming along. Han is just coming to get us outta there, and Rex has been by our father's side in missions like this. I need his analysis on the Fortress."
Luke couldn't argue with that. He remembered what his sister always told him. That it was alright to take as much time he needed to make a decision, but when he finally chose something, he should stand by it and not regret his choices, because regrets wouldn't change what he did.
"Consider this … a payback … for telling Ahsoka what happened between me and Thexan." She joked with fake anger in her tone.
Luke only chuckled. He didn't say anything to push. He could understand that his sister's mind would not be changed and it was not the right mission for him. Still, he was afraid of his own feelings.
"Okay. I won't come to slow you guys down ... Just bring Thexan back." He finally said.
Leah blinked in surprise. She expected him to argue about this with her further, like she would. Like Anakin would. But Luke only got Anakin's looks. He was nothing like him.
"I know you're tired of hearing this, Lukie, but you look so much like our father. Except the eyes, of course. You have …"
"Our mother's eyes. I know." Luke finished Leah's sentence, smiling.
"You also have her height! … And personality. Dad would never back off from a dangerous mission like you did. So stupid and immature. I'm too much like him." She muttered to herself.
"You do realize you just insulted yourself, right?" He asked, laughing.
Leah nodded repeatedly and laughed with him.
"I have to do this, Luke. Thexan's a friend and he's saved our lives many times. He needs us." She said, getting serious.
"It's a trap." Luke warned her.
"I know ... And I'll be fine as long as I know that." She confidently reassured him but she didn't feel reassurance from him.
Only fear. For her.
"Can you not go?" He suddenly asked, when he felt Leah feeling fear from him.
Leah blinked as her eyes asked for an explanation.
"I don't know why … but … I have a feeling that if I let you go … I won't see you again … not for a long time." Luke quietly said with tears in his blue eyes.
That caught Leah off guard. She knew it was a dangerous mission, but Luke actually felt her death in it? She could see fear in his eyes.
She saw them in herself when Padme found out about Anakin turning to the dark side and she begged her to not look for him.
"Mom, maybe you shouldn't … look for dad. He is … dangerous."
Now she knew what her mother felt. That feelings didn't matter when the people they loved were in danger.
Leah took a deep breath. She didn't want to make promised she couldn't keep, like her mother did, and lie to Luke that she would be alright. She didn't know she would be alright.
"I don't know what'll happen if I leave now." She admitted that. It was better than the fake promise Padme gave her.
"But know this … The ones that love us never really leave us. You can always find them … in here." She softly said as she put her hand on his chest. She could feel Luke's heart beating under her hand.
"And even if everyone tells you I'm dead, don't believe them if you don't believe it. If you don't feel it in your heart that I'm really gone, then I'm not gone. I'm just away … waiting for you." She promised him. That was something she could promise.
Luke wiped the tears off his face and looked at Leah, who was also trying to hide her tears.
"May the Force be with you … and come back."
Done :)
