Chapter Five

The Jedi had requested that they be allowed to try and raise Jedi Horn's shuttle, at which time the Prime Minister agreed they could use the CSA's long-range communication equipment in about an hour, stating he needed to immediately address his cabinet members about the Urdur situation. The Duros then asked Governor Vandangante to wait with the Republic visitors in a private conference room. For a long time no one spoke until Yoda finally said, "Warning, the Force is giving me. Right, things are not."

Luke gave a sarcastic laugh. "Isn't that warning sort of late, Master?"

Yoda scowled at Luke. "Attitude you have. Too much like your father you are."

"Yeah?" Luke said. "I'd sure like to know more about my old man, other than he was born on Tatooine and he's dead. Even all the Jedi records of him have been purged."

"You've looked for information on Anakin?" Padme asked in surprise. "When did you do that?"

"Of course I did," Luke replied, sounding testy. "I'm not a child anymore, and I wanted to know, so I started looking back when I was about twelve years old." He waved a hand toward Corran. "Corran never knew his mother, yet his father has told him everything about Nyche Horn. He knows what she looked like, and how she died. I don't understand the silence about Anakin…. I don't even know his last name!"

"We will tell you soon," Obi-Wan stated, looking pointedly at Padme as he spoke to her. "It's past time he knew, and Master Yoda is correct. Luke is demonstrating some undesirable anger issues lately."

"Soon?" Luke pushed. "Why not right now?"

"Because your sister needs to hear this, as well," Padme said. "It wouldn't be fair or right for you to know first."

Luke sighed and slumped back in his chair. "So I might never know."

"Leia's not dead!" Corran yelled, rising from his seat. "None of them are dead!"

"Corran, settle down," Obi-Wan chastised. "We agree with you. It's just a matter of contacting them."

"Speaking of which," Padme said to Doc, "why can't we use the holocom? Is there a problem?"

Doc shrugged. "I don't know anything more than you, Senator."

"Limpan doesn't trust us," Corran said. "That's why you were asked to wait with us."

Doc laughed. "One old man against four Jedi? I wouldn't stand a chance if you were determined to do something rash, would I?"

"No," Luke replied shortly. "Even without our lightsabers. Speaking of which, what did your reprobate son-in-law do with our sabers, anyway? He insisted we hand them over back when we were still onboard the Independence."

Before Padme could reprimand Luke on his manners, the outer door cycled open and a squadron of CSA security guards rushed into the room, weapons drawn and pointed at the group.

Shocked, Doc stood up. "What's going on?"

The Prime Minister entered last, making certain he remained behind his troops, even though he was holding a blaster as well. "Governor, these people are our enemies. They are under arrest."

"Tarkin is the enemy, not us!" Padme protested. "Didn't you listen to his speech?"

"I listened, and I heard," the Duros said. "I will not allow Roonadan to be the next planet destroyed because I am sheltering Jedi."

"What do you intend to do with them?" Doc asked.

"I will turn them over to Tarkin as a gesture of my goodwill. He will understand the Corporate Sector does not wish to go to war with the Republic."

"You are caving into Tarkin's insane demands?" Padme asked, her voice brittle with anger.

"I am a pragmatist," Limpan replied. "I know when I have the losing hand - with the appearance of that Death Star, Tarkin holds all the power cards. I will not risk more of my citizens' lives."

"We need to work with the Jedi, not against them," Doc argued, stepping closer to the guards. "The Jedi are the only hope we have for coming up with a way to stop Tarkin."

The Duros shook his head sadly. "I am sorry to hear that you feel that way, Governor Vandangante. The Corporate Sector cannot survive with traitors in our midst, and you are speaking like a traitor."

"I am no traitor!" Doc cried out, trying to push past the wall of guards, who put their arms out to block his way.

"Let him through," the Duros ordered, watching as the troops lowered their arms, allowing Doc to walk toward him. When Doc was standing directly in front of the Prime Minister, the Duros said, "I'm sorry."

"You mean to say the Jedi are not under arrest?" Doc asked, sounding relieved that the Prime Minister was finally showing sense.

"No. I'm sorry that the punishment for traitors is death." With that, the Duros fired at point blank range, hitting Doc in the center of his chest.

Debris field over Urdur

The Millenium Falcon maneuvered through the rocks that once were a planet that housed millions of beings. For the past several years, it had been the place Han called home. Now it was gone, no evidence of life-signs coming from any direction.

*There are no disabled ships, Han,* Chewie barked out softly. *Everyone is gone.*

"Jessa and Callian are dead," Han said, his throat constricting as he spoke those terrible words. "They were my life, Chewie. I'll never love anyone as much as I loved them. I'm not sure I even want to go on living."

*I am so sorry.* The Wookiee knew better than to say that one day Han would recover. That he'd find the will to live, the heart to find another love someday. He understood Han's pain was too raw, too fresh, to believe that right now. Instead, he said, *Doc will need us. We should head back to Roonadan.* When his human friend didn't respond, Chewie entered the coordinates for the jump back to Roonadan, and pulled the lever, leaving the graveyard in space behind them.

Master Horn and Mara watched from the cockpit as the planet of Roonadan came into view as they left hyperspace.

"There sure is a lot of traffic," Mara commented. "I don't like that Dreadnaught standing by, either."

"The good news is that all the traffic is inbound," Hal said. "I'd guess it's many of the ships that managed to get off of Urdur. See if you can raise this planet's space control authorities, but don't tell them we're from the Republic. I don't imagine that would make us too popular."

Mara tried for nearly an hour before she had success. Finally the ground control, sounding more than a bit weary, answered, "Incoming ship, please identify ship name and occupants."

Horn replied, "Roonadan Control, this is the shuttle Utility, Captain Hal Antilles onboard with my two daughters, my son-in-law and my grandchild, and two droids."

"Are you refugees from Urdur?" the controller asked.

"Yes, we are."

"You will have a long wait. I'll contact you with your landing instructions when your turn comes up. Roonadan Control, out."

Leia and Artis were now standing behind Mara and Horn's seats. "Daughters?" Leia asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Son-in-law?" Artis added curiously.

Hal spun his seat around to face them. "I didn't have much time to think about a plan, but I know we can't admit we're Jedi from the Republic, not after what happened at Urdur. So now Mara and Leia are my daughters, and Callian is my granddaughter, at least until we get things sorted out. Make sure you hide your lightsabers from view."

"If I'm your son-in-law, then which daughter is my wife?"

"The Antille family's third daughter. She didn't make it off Urdur in time," Leia shot back to Artis.

"No," Mara piped up. "Artis can pretend he's my husband, so Callian can be our child."

"NO!" Leia shouted, her face flushing red. "Callian belongs to me!"

Hal was starting to become concerned about Leia's state of mind over this little girl. "Leia… she's not yours."

"If Mara can pretend Artis is her husband, then I can pretend Callian is my daughter," Leia insisted. "I had an affair with some Corellian cad that seduced me and left when he found out I was going to have his baby." She glared at the group, daring them to object to this idea.

"Inform the droids of this information, then," Hal finally said, giving up. "Hopefully, Threepio won't balk at telling lies."

"He won't," Leia said confidently. "He's never had a problem before."

"Before?" Hal called out as Leia left the cockpit. "What did he need to lie about before?"

But Leia was already gone, and Hal knew he'd never get a straight answer from the young woman. Maybe it was time for Master Kenobi and Senator Amidala to have a little talk with Jedi Leia about the path her father took before she was ever born.

Horn was finally given clearance to land their ship, so they exited the ship into a large crowd of distressed refugees from Urdur. A young woman, obviously pushed into this task by her supervisor, approached their group. "Do you have any identification?" she asked briskly.

"No, do you?" Artis replied blithely.

The woman glared at Artis, then pointed to her name badge pinned to her tunic. Artis leaned forward, reading her name, "Janine Hilprin. Very nice name, Janine." Artis stuck his hand out, and continued, "My name is Artis Jinn, and this is my gorgeous wife, Mara Jinn." He pointed to Leia and Hal. "That's my father-in-law, Hal Antilles, and my sister-in-law, Leia Antilles. She's holding Cally Antilles, her daughter. Oh, and I almost forgot to introduce our two droids, R2-D2 and C-3PO. I'm terribly sorry we don't have our identification, but we were in such a hurry to leave Urdur, as I'm sure you can imagine, we left home with just the clothes on our back. We probably should have thought to bring identification, though, because running for our lives without proper id-flimsies was just plain rude of us."

The woman flushed at Artis' speech. "I was only doing my job, sir. Do you have any relatives on Roonadan, or do you require me to direct you to a refugee hostel?"

"We had some credits stored away on our ship," Hal told the flustered woman. "We should be able to pay for our own way for at least a few weeks."

She nodded. "Well, I'm sorry for the loss of your home. There are quite a number of hotels in the capital city that will be happy to take you as guests, and most of them are offering large discounts for Urdur refugees."

"Would you happen to know where we can locate Governor Vandangante?" Hal asked before she could move on to the next group.

"I'm sure the Governor of Urdur is far too busy at the moment to personally look after you," Hilprin replied, reverting back to her professional demeanor. Before Hal could say another word, she turned and hurried to find another group to 'help.'"

"Who died and put you in charge?" Mara snapped at Artis. "You're the only one of our group that isn't a Jedi, by the way, and we know how to speak Basic every bit as well as you."

"I was only trying to help," Artis said, holding his palms upward. "I thought I handled the situation quite nicely."

"We can handle it better," Mara bit back. "So, from now on, keep your mouth shut and just look pretty."

Artis grinned. "You think I'm pretty? Thanks, honey!"

"Don't call me honey, or gorgeous," Mara responded before stalking off.

"I thought that was a compliment!" Artis called out after her, then said, "Our first fight as husband and wife. Isn't that romantic?"

"Fighting is romantic?" Threepio asked, confused. "I was programmed to believe that wine, soft music and flowers were considered romantic to humans, not fighting."

"Threepio!" Artis cried out, slapping the droid on his hard metal back. "You're a genius!" Artis hurried off to follow his 'wife' leaving Leia standing with Hal.

Leia shifted the baby on her hip, scowling at Horn. "Why did you ask to speak to Vandangante?"

"He's the child's grandfather, so I'm sure he'll know how to locate Solo."

"It's more important right now to locate Luke, Corran and Master Kenobi," Leia argued. "We can find Cally's father later."

Hal nodded. "But we will find him, Leia. Don't forget that she's not yours to keep, however much you may want to keep her."

"What if Solo and Vandangante are both dead?"

"That's not too likely."

"But what if they are? Then can I keep her?"

Hal sighed, becoming exasperated with Leia's unreasonable infatuation with the little girl. "Let's make that jump into hyperspace when the time comes, Leia."

The four Jedi were sharing one cell, while Padme had been separated from the Jedi to another location. Prime Minister Limpan had warned the Jedi that if they made any attempt to escape, the Naboo Senator would be the one to suffer the consequences. Obi-Wan had no reason to not believe the Duros, especially after witnessing the callous way he'd murdered Governor Vandangante with no justification.

"If Limpan hurts a single hair on my mother's head, I swear he won't have his own head attached too long," Luke muttered, pacing their small cell. "I'm getting claustrophobic waiting in this place."

"Patience you must have," Yoda ordered. "React with anger, you must not."

"Why don't we just bust out of here and go rescue Senator Amidala?" Corran asked. "We can't just wait here until Limpan turns us over to Tarkin!"

"I will not risk Padme life when it is not necessary," Obi-Wan stated calmly.

"I think escaping is very necessary!"

Obi-Wan smiled at the younger Jedi. "We will be freed in short order."

"By who?" Luke asked. "Master Yoda refuses to use his saber, even though he still has it under his robe!"

"Guards failed to notice me, they did," Yoda said, winking. "Some reason, happens all the time, this does."

"Use the Force, Luke," Obi-Wan intoned. "Reach out and use your Force-sense further than this immediate building."

Both Corran and Luke did what Master Kenobi instructed, and immediately both broke into grins. "Mara and Leia!" Luke said, sounding relived.

"And my father, too," Corran added happily. "They're here on Roonadan."

Yoda nodded. "Escaped from Urdur they did, just as Master Kenobi and I saw through the Force."

"Master Horn will sense us, just as we sensed him," Obi-Wan said.

Luke was finally smiling. "The entire CSA police force doesn't stand a chance against seven Jedi Knights!"

Yoda shook his head in dismay and whispered to Obi-Wan. "More and more like Anakin this one sounds like."

"I know," Obi-Wan replied softly. "I hope to put an end to that quickly."

Onboard the Death Star

In her private quarters, Admiral Daala cringed as Lord Xizor came up behind her and wrapped his arms possessively around her waist, but she knew better than to pull away. Instead, she tried to draw his attention away from his amorous advances. "Why did you allow Tarkin to declare himself king of Falleen, when you are the rightful heir to the throne? Shouldn't you be the king?"

He nuzzled her neck, barely distracted from his goal. "I will declare myself king. Soon."

"But… why allow Tarkin to take the role in the meantime?"

"The beings of the galaxy weren't fooled by his declaration of benevolence. They understood what he was saying, and what the destruction of Urdur meant. When I dispose of King Tarkin, it will be in a very public manner, and at the same time I will expose him as a tyrant and an imposter to the throne. Beings are funny that way, Daala. They see someone as evil, and when another dispatches that evil, they see him as their savior. And that is how they will see me – as their savior. Even though I will keep all of Tarkin's new rules and laws, even though the governors he appoints at my instructions will stay in place and serve me, they will cling to the hope that I will bring them a change for the better. Eventually, in time, they will realize I am no less evil than Tarkin, but the new King of the Monarchy of Falleen will be completely entrenched and fully in control of the galaxy."

"Will I be your queen?"

Xizor laughed. "You think very highly of yourself, Daala." He pulled his arms back and turned her around to face him. "I will have a Falleen wife, but have no fear. You will be high on my list of favored concubines."

Daala drew a harsh breath. "A concubine?"

"Would you prefer to have a fate like Tarkin?" He smiled, showing his sharp teeth. "After all, you are in charge on this Death Star and gave the order to destroy Urdur, even if it was under Tarkin's direction."

"It was under your direction."

"But I am not King, am I? How could I possibly be responsible?" He reached up and grasped her neck, digging his nails into her throat. "What really happened on the Death Star?"

"I obeyed Tarkin's order to destroy Urdur."

"Of course you did. And would you rather be my concubine, or would you rather die in the airless cold of space, while your crew watches as your corpse spins slowly away from this Station?"

"I will be your concubine."

"Intelligent choice."

Now back on Roonadan, Han Solo barely had exited the Falcon when a fully armed squadron surrounded him and Chewie, their weapons drawn, declaring they were under arrest. He could barely believe his ears. "Under arrest? What do you mean I'm under arrest?"

The CSA Captain waved his weapon toward the Wookiee. "You're both under arrest, actually."

"Why?"

"Your father-in-law was executed as a traitor, and the Prime Minister is concerned about your loyalty as well."

Chewie let loose with an angry roar, and Han could barely assimilate the guard's words. "Doc…Governor Vandangante is dead?"

"Yes, he is. Please give up your weapons peacefully, or I will be forced to give the order to fire and our weapons are not set on stun."

Shocked at this turn of events, Han and Chewie handed over their blasters before being cuffed and escorted away from the landing bay. They had only walked a few minutes when Han noticed two humans and two droids standing near a busy street corner. However, it wasn't the adults that caught his attention - it was the small girl being held in the arms of a pretty, dark-haired young woman.

"CALLIAN!" Han screamed, trying to pull away from the guards. "CALLIAN!" The guards roughly dragged the Corellian back into their circle, and the brief sighting of his child was quickly blocked by the milling crowds.

Leia took in a sharp breath. She had only caught a glimpse of the tall man shouting for Callian, but in that one glimpse, she had been almost overwhelmed with guilt… and the strangest vision she could ever imagine – she was looking up at the tall Corellian as he held Callian in his strong arms and leaned down to kiss her. Leia shook her head, trying to dislodge the bizarre image from her mind. "That was Callian's father," she said, almost to herself as the young child in her arms strained outward, knowing she'd heard her father calling to her.

Hal nodded in agreement. "He appears to be under arrest. I wonder why the CSA would do that to one of their own."

"What's taking Mara and Artis so long," Leia said, pulling her thoughts back to their present situation. "They were only supposed to find us a couple of hotel rooms."

"We're back," Artis said, coming up from behind them in the dense crowd. "Finding two rooms was harder than locating teeth on a Hutt."

"But we did hear some interesting news," Mara told the group. "Rumor has it that Jedi have been detained, and the Prime Minister is offering them up as a token of good-will to Tarkin."

"Apparently, Limpan is concerned that Roonadan is going to become the next target," Artis added. "After seeing what happened to Urdur, I can't blame him."

"I blame him for killing the Governor of Urdur, then claiming he was a spy," Mara stated.

"Callian's grandfather is dead?" Leia asked, shocked. Another wave of guilt coursed through her as she recalled asking Master Horn if she could keep Callian if her entire family were found to be dead. Was she somehow responsible for the Governor's fate? And perhaps the fate of Han Solo?

"Yes, but that wasn't just a rumor we heard. Limpan was being shown on the holo-net looking pious and grim, telling his citizens the execution was for the good of the Corporate Sector. I will never understand politicians." She shot a pained look at Leia. "Your mother being an exception."

Hal decided it was time to act. "We'll need to locate our friends' location, and mount a rescue before they can be turned over as yet another one of Limpan's sacrifices." He nodded toward Leia. "Maybe you should wait in our hotel with the child."

"What?"

"Someone has to stay behind with the kid," Artis said. "And since you've taken it upon yourself to become her surrogate mother, it makes sense."

"I'm a Jedi, and you're not," Leia snapped back. "I think you should stay behind with Callian."

"No. Way." Artis crossed his arms over his chest. "I'm terrible with kids. They hate me."

Hal sighed. "We'll all head back to the rooms to clean up and have something to eat, and I'll make a decision then."

"It had better not be me staying with her," Mara stated. "Younglings make me twitch."

By this point, Hal was pretty certain he was already twitching.

"It was her, Chewie," Han said, pacing their small, dank holding cell. Han might have been chilly if he was thinking about himself. But his thoughts were focused on one thing. "I know my own child when I see her!"

*I don't doubt you believe you saw her.*

"Believe?" Han stopped walking. "She wasn't some hallucination. She was being held by a young woman with long, dark hair wearing a brown robe. The man she was standing next to was wearing a brown robe, too. Their clothes looked like those Jedi we took onboard the Independence. And it looked like they had a gold protocol droid and an astromech droid with them, too."

"Admiral Solo?" a familiar woman's voice drifted across the dura-steel corridor from another cell. "Is that you and Chewbacca?"

"Senator Amidala?" Han spluttered out in surprise. "Why are you here?"

"Keep your voice down," she replied. "We've all been arrested by Limpan. I was separated from the Jedi, probably to try and keep them from escaping."

"On what charges?"

"Treason, I suppose," Padme replied. "It wouldn't be too hard to justify after what happened to Urdur."

"Great."

"Admiral… did I hear you correctly? You saw your child and she was being held by a young Jedi Knight? With dark hair?"

"Yeah, that's right."

"I believe that may have been my daughter, Leia," Padme said, her voice trembling with relief. "She's alive."

"Well, if she saved my child's life, I'll forever be in her debt," Han responded sincerely. The fact that his child was alive was a huge relief, and it made him wonder if Jessa made if off-planet, as well. "Does she know you're here on Roonadan?"

"Probably not yet, but she will, and we'll all be rescued very soon."

"How do you know this?"

"I may not be a Jedi, but I've learned to trust the Force, Admiral."

"I'd rather trust my blaster and my ship."

Padme's only response to that comment was soft laughter.

*We could just escape ourselves, you know,* Chewie woofed out.

"How? We don't have any weapons," Han responded.

*Maybe YOU don't have any weapons.*

"They took your bowcaster," Han argued.

Chewie gave a chuckle, and pushed aside his long brown fur. Around his waist he was wearing a belt, and tucked under the belt was not one, but three lightsabers. *I thought maybe Master Kenobi and his young Jedi might need their weapons, so I confiscated them from the CSA guards back onboard the Independence before we headed planet-side. For some odd reason, humans are always so reluctant to search a Wookiee very thoroughly.*

"Uh, I probably should point out that I don't know how to use a lightsaber," Han said as Chewie handed him one of the cylinders. He took it gingerly, and stared blankly at the mysterious controls on the side.

*That's okay, neither do I,* Chewie replied. *But isn't inspiration your specialty?*

Onboard the Death Star

Xizor sneered in contempt at 'King' Tarkin. "What is taking you so long to put my governors in charge?"

"I only received your list three days ago!"

"So the orders should have been put in effect two days ago," Xizor snapped back. "The disc has all the names of beings I want in control and their home planet locations, as well as their private com-codes. Are you truly so incompetent that putting a disc into a com-panel and hitting the 'send' button is beyond your capabilities?"

Tarkin sighed, trying to keep his patience. "I will do it immediately, your Lordship."

"Good. Then you will give the order to move this station to Roonadan."

"Why there?"

"Admiral Daala has received a message that Prime Minister Limpan has Jedi traitors in his custody that he would like to turn over to us as a gesture of goodwill. We are not ones to cast aside goodwill, are we?"

"Of course not." Tarkin frowned in thought. "I'm surprised Jedi could be taken prisoner so easily."

Xizor grinned. "It is unlikely that Limpan will be able to retain them for very long. In fact, I would be very surprised if his Jedi gift to us is still there when we arrive."

"Then what is the point of going?"

"You are a short-sighted fool, Tarkin. When we arrive and demand the Jedi, and Limpan is unable to produce them, what happens next?"

Tarkin shrugged, confused. "We blow up Roonadan?"

"Perhaps," Xizor said, his expression growing distant. "Be very certain you install those governors before we leave for Roonadan. I will not accept further delays with restraint."

"What has happened to all the Jedi on Coruscant?" the hard-faced woman asked the shimmering holo-image.

"After Tarkin's speech disbanding the Jedi Order, they tried to contact Kenobi or Horn in the Corporate Sector, but they were unable to do so because all outgoing messages were being blocked. So now the remaining Jedi have all gone into hiding, running away like the cowards they truly are, until one of their leash-holders decides to make an appearance and give them some direction."

"Hopefully, one of those leash-holders died on Urdur."

The shimmering image shrugged. "Perhaps. If that is the case, then our original plan will have been unnecessary as Jade and Naberrie are both now dead, as well."

"Plans always seem to be evolving and changing," the older woman agreed. "Too bad you didn't take care of some of those Jedi before they went into hiding."

"I can try to locate them, and dispatch them if that is what you desire."

"No, we don't have time for that right now. Can you meet me over Roonadan?"

The other nodded. "Of course."

"Have you learned the necessary skills to eliminate my enemy? Continuing to obey him and pretend that I am his servant is becoming unbearable."

"I am quite skilled. He stands no chance."

"My faith in you has never been misplaced. But always remember – he is powerful and should not be underestimated. I would not want anything to happen to you, my daughter."

"Nothing will happen to me, Mother.. I am a Sith and I am more powerful than anyone can imagine. No one can stop us. Not Falleen nor Jedi."