AN: I just realised I had been calling this part 6 when it is actually only part 5! Sorry about that! : ) Again, many thanks to everyone who is reading this tale. I hope that you continue to enjoy it as it develops. Many thanks to my faithful beta, Kazlynh.

As before: All previous disclaimers apply!

Dark Times: Chapter 5

A Legitimate Target

Part Four

It was night and the landing pad was brightly lit. The Princess Leia shielded her eyes from the glare as she looked up and watched the familiar saucer-shaped freighter descend out of the darkness. There was new carbon scoring on the underbelly of the Millennium Falcon and Leia couldn't help wondering what Han had gotten himself into, and out of, this time.

The Falcon's landing struts settled gently into the dirt and ash, the ramp already lowering slowly to the ground.

The Princess waited. Solo appeared, stripping off his gloves as he walked down the ramp. The mountain above them rumbled and Solo scowled at it. Then he spotted Leia waiting with the ground crew beside the speeders, and he grinned.

"Hey! Your worship! There was no need for the welcoming committee!"

"I was merely worried about your cargo, Captain," she told him as she walked forward. The ground crew followed and Solo waved them on board to unload the ship.

"Sure you were," he told her ducking down to look under his ship. "Hey, Chewie?"

Chewbacca had to bend forward to get down the ramp and Leia wondered how many times the Wookiee had hit his head before the ducking down had become automatic. He chuffed a greeting at her as he peered under the ship with Solo.

"It's not that bad this time," the Corellian told him. "We just need to replace a couple of the hull plates."

The Wookiee growled, half howled.

"I know, I know," Solo told him straightening up. He looked at the Princess smiling. "That can be part of the payment, right?"

"What happened this time?" Leia avoided with a smile. Now that Solo was back safely, she was beginning to relax, some of her concern fading. She tucked a lock of hair behind her ear.

"Oh, you know, the usual." Han was blasé.

"Bounty hunter?"

"Ex-Bounty hunter," Solo corrected with another smile. "All in a day's work for the Rebellion, right Chewie?"

Again the Wookiee barked, nodding good naturedly.

"That's the 'Alliance', Captain," Leia corrected.

Han stood beside her, watching the weapons being unloaded. "Alliance, Rebellion, same thing."

Leia gritted her teeth in frustration, determined not to bite this time. She was too worried about Luke to get into an argument with Solo. "Did you bring Threepio back?"

"Yeah, yeah," he waved toward the ship. "I turned him off. He's in the passenger compartment. Next time, give me a different translator droid or I swear I'll have Chewie rewire him."

"I'll see what I can do," Leia told him, smiling.

Han was looking around the landing pad and across at the empty hangars. "And the hull plating?" he asked, distractedly, frowning as he saw the fighter techs sitting around, checking their chronos and watching the sky.

"That, too," Leia assured him, knowing what he was about to ask.

"What's going on?" He gestured to the lounging technicians, noting the day-shift workers mixed with the night-shift, sensing the uneasy tension. "I know we're late but the kid's normally here to meet us. He's not been sleeping that great lately."

Leia's face darkened, her brows creasing with disquiet. "They're on an operation," she told him. "Luke's with them."

Solo grinned again. "Hey, the kid passed his last psych exam! That's gre..."

Leia shook her head. "No, no he didn't..." Her frown deepened. The more she thought about the mission, the more it troubled her.

"The Command ship is Vader's."

Rhovan's statement from the meeting echoed in her mind. There was something about the look that passed between Rhovan and Mon Mothma; something about Luke. Something about Luke and Darth Vader.

She shuddered; forced the image of the man from her mind, forced herself not to see him, not to see the spherical droid as it closed it on her.

"Leia," Solo used her given name, an indication that the joking was over. "Why would you let Luke go out when he wasn't ready?"

She felt her hackles rise to this. "It's what he wanted, Han! What he said he needed and..."

She felt herself colour under his gaze. Now she was even more unsure that she had done the right thing by speaking up for Luke. "... it's a major operation, Han. A big target."

Solo nodded slowly as though he understood. "Uh-Huh… So, you needed another pilot in a bird and he was the only one sitting around."

"No," she denied, loudly, aware of heads turning in their direction.

Shaking her head, she walked away, heading down the illuminated forest road toward the main buildings. Solo fell in beside her.

"It wasn't like that!" she told him, but she felt like she was trying to convince herself, as well as Han. "You've seen him, Han. You know what he's been like lately. He wanted to fly, he wanted to get back up there." She smiled, recalling Luke's delight as he climbed into the X-Wing. "You should have seen him. It's been a while since I've seen him so happy."

Solo swallowed his anger, knowing that Luke had been antsy and unhappy at being grounded for so long. Maybe this would be good for him: but he wasn't convinced. There was something about Leia's tone and demeanour that left him uneasy. "So what's the problem."

She sighed. How to explain? How to put into words the feeling that had come over her as Luke had left? "I... have a bad feeling about this one."

Solo chuckled. "That's the kid's line."

"You use it, too," she teased.

Han nodded, grinning in spite of conversation; in spite of the gnaw of apprehension that was settling in his gut. "It has a certain ring to it. Sums up just about everything that can go wrong."

Leia sobered. "It's an important mission, Han. A big one. They're up against overwhelming odds." She recalled Rhovan's statistics from the earlier meeting.

"Oh," Han responded, trying to keep it light. "You had me worried there for a moment. I thought you were going to say insurmountable odds."

Leia was quiet. The only noise was their footsteps on the path, the chirping of nocturnal insects in the air and the leaves of the trees around them rustling in the breeze.

"Hey," he chided, gently, realising that Leia was truly apprehensive: and about Luke this time, not her beloved Alliance. His disquiet turned to disappointment: had something happened between the two of them while he was away with Chewie? Had Luke and Leia's friendship deepened and become the relationship that was the rumour of the base?

And why the hell would he care anyway?

"I was joking. Luke'll be fine. He's a helluva pilot."

The princess nodded. "I know, but I can't help it."

"Yeah, me, too," Han admitted, then couldn't help adding, "He's like a brother to me, too."

Brother...

Leia smiled at the word, liking the sound of it, the feel of it. The Corellian was probably the best big brother Luke could have, although she would completely deny it if anyone ever asked and would certainly never offer the observation to the younger pilot.

They stepped to the side of the road as the speeders and lifters carrying Han's cargo passed them on the way to the base stores. They walked in silence through the large compound of durasteel prefabricated buildings and tents. It looked like what it was: a hastily erected encampment that was designed to be dismantled as quickly as it had been put up. If he was forced to live below that volcano he'd want to be able to pack up fast, too.

However, he knew it was not the mountain that the rebels feared.

"Ya' know that rock's gonna blow don't you?" he asked, looking back up at the rumbling volcano.

Leia smiled. Han refused to admit it worried him, but his face always lit up when offered another job by the Alliance that would take him away from Adralii for a few days. "We have been assured that a full scale eruption is unlikely at this point."

"Unlikely, huh? That fills me with confidence," he remarked as they made their way through the base, heading for the command centre.

"Scared, Captain?" Leia teased.

"Just don't like all that ash," Han explained, avoiding her question as a shout echoed from behind them. Distracted by more yelling from behind them, he turned as he went on, "It clogs up the Falcon's filters and..."

Rebel personnel were running to the canteen, a lot of them, and several were still in their night attire. "Hey, what's going on over there?"

Frowning, Leia glanced over as her comm sounded. She answered, "Organa."

"Your Highness," Rieekan sounded tense, terse. "You'd better get back to command. We may have a situation."

The mission. The attack. It could be nothing else. She had known all along that something wasn't right. "I'll be right there."

Han heard the tension in her voice. "I'll come with you."

ooOOoo

Rhovan keyed the comm again: again there was no answer. He cursed, and tried once more. He turned to Ehlen Anders. "I can't raise him."

"Shit!" she cursed, turning to Rieekan. "We can't confirm anything at this time, sir."

"There may be a communications black-out, General," Rhovan told him, avoiding calling Rieekan Sir. "If the comm relays are..."

"That is not a communications blackout, Major," Rieekan raged, gesturing at the holonet screen behind him, at the images and sounds, glaring in their rawness. Bodies floated in space: charred and mutilated. "This is a gods-be-damned disaster!"

"It's a PR stunt, Sir," Ehlan tried to placate him. "Our information was sound, verified. Cusrean was developing..."

"I know what the information was, Major Anders, and I know who it came through." He glared at Rhovan. "What we need now is clarification and..."

"General! Sir!" a voice called. "It's the Emperor."

All heads turned to the holonet and, as the door opened to admit the Princess Leia Organa and Han Solo, the room fell silent.

"My fellow citizens of this glorious Empire," Palpatine started, his face partially concealed by the hood of his robes. "Today has seen an outrageous and cowardly attack on our society's most vulnerable. I can confirm that the Cusrean Refugee Relocation Centre has been completely destroyed by a Rebel attack only a few hours ago. There were no survivors. "

The Emperor's voice sounded deeply wounded. Someone in the room scoffed and swore. "Lying, black-hearted bastard."

Leia worked her way forward to stand by the General her eyes fixed on the screen, her heart in her throat. "He's got to be lying," she said, softly.

"Rebel Incom T-65 fighters attacked the unarmed orbiting station," the Emperor continued. "Our forces engaged them but, despite a valiant effort and the loss of many Imperial lives, the station's shielding was penetrated and the reactor exploded by a proton torpedo." He paused, clasping his hands low in front of him and lowering his head as though in prayer. Then he looked up. "Be assured, we will not rest until we have identified the perpetrators of this spineless attack and brought them to justice. I have already relayed orders to Lord Vader to begin his search for these terrorists and I have every confidence that he will be successful in identifying them and hunting them down."

The screen faded to black for a moment, then brightened on the face of a holonews reader. She was young, pretty, human. "The Emperor's statement on today's attack shows a strengthened resolve to defeat the insurgency that has brought chaos to the peace of the Empire. Today, the people of Cusrean mourn thousands of their citizens who were killed in an act of unprovoked aggression by the Rebel Alliance."

She pressed a hand to her ear. "Wait... I believe we can... Yes, we have a recording from the battle itself. I warn that the footage we are about to show may be distressing and we recommend viewer discretion."

The picture changed to recorded images of the battle, taken and edited from TIE fighter holo-cameras. Those in room watched the scene play out; watched as X-Wings loosed fire upon a station that did not initially shoot at them; watched as a swarm of Imperial fighters engaged and decimated the number of Rebel fighters in furious dogfights.

"Friggin' hell," Han breathed behind Leia. "Luke was there?"

Mutely, the Princess nodded as she watched the event unfold. Three X-Wings formed up and dove for the station again, missiles shot forward and the facility exploded. The pictures changed to the aftermath that had already been shown; the debris and the bodies floating in space.

Rieekan turned from the screen. "This is a mess," he breathed. "Even if it is untrue."

"We need a new statement," Leia told him. "We need to go live with a counter claim. Show the evidence that we have about the weapons development."

Rieekan raked a hand through his dark hair. "We can't do that without more information on the attack and Rhovan can't raise his contact in the Spynet."

Leia glanced at the man sitting at the comm unit talking urgently with Majors Ander. It looked like they were arguing. His face was dark: Ehlen's was blushed with anger.

"When are Red Flight due back?" Leia asked Rieekan.

Is Luke alright? Did he make it out?

The General checked his chrono. "They should make planet fall at oh-three hundred. We still have another hour."

Is it that time already? So late at night and yet so early in the day.

Leia rubbed at her temples, trying to think, suddenly terribly tired: suddenly realising that night had passed and morning had come without her realising it. "We need to know before they come back. They need to hear the truth from us and not be left with any doubts about the legitimacy of the target."

"Do we know who took the shot?" Han asked. He laid a hand on Leia's shoulder giving comfort and understanding. He knew the princess was thinking about Luke; not just wondering if he had survived the carnage, but what his reaction to the civilian deaths would be. The kid had been on shaky ground since returning from Escaal, had developed an edge, a sharpness that hadn't existed before and, although even Han could see he was recovering, this was something that would trip Luke up and send him back to the Alliance head-shrinkers.

Rieekan looked pained. "Narra planned on giving that privilege to Lieutenant-Commander Skywalker. He thought it would be good for him, give him the chance to settle a score with Empire." He looked back at the holonet screen as the battle replayed. "Can we get an ID on that fighter?" He asked.

The scene zoomed in as the operator worked. The X-Wings blurred as the torpedoes were fired then refocused and paused in flight. New data flooded the neighbouring screen as the X-Wing assignments were checked next to the markings on the stilled fighters. "It was Skywalker," the young woman announced.

"Dammit," Solo cursed.

Leia lowered her head, closed her eyes.

Luke...

"General?" Ehlen Anders interrupted. She looked pale, drawn: sick.

"We had to go through different channels. Major Rhovan's contact is dead… But… we have confirmation, Sir. The weapons facility was decommissioned some months ago. The station was recently refitted to house refugees from Cusrean…."

Rieekan's jaw tightened. "Why are we only getting this information now?"

"It was a set up," Rhovan told him from the comm unit. "The intelligence wasn't available before. The Empire set us up for this and we walked right into the trap."

"How many?" Leia asked quiety. "How many did we kill?"

"Leia," Han warned. "This doesn't..."

"How many?" she persisted, her voice sharp.

"Early counts say twenty thousand," Rhovan told her.

She closed her eyes again. "We have no reply for this, General. There is nothing that we can say to the Galaxy about this."

Rhovan rose and stepped forward. "They must have discovered my contact, fed him that information before taking him out. If we can prove that, if we can prove they filled that station with civilians on purpose, to bait us, then we have something to say. This is not the Alliance's fault."

Leia turned, as did Rieekan. The Intel Officer seemed rattled, off balance. It seemed peculiar for the normally self assured man. Perhaps, Leia considered, Rhovan had a conscience after all.

"Can you prove it?" Rieekan asked. He glanced to Anders who shook her head.

"It's unlikely we can trace a trail that deep within the Empire. The orders had to come from the Emperor himself. If we were to try, if we were to dig, we stand the chance of losing more operatives, some of whom are entrenched within the Empire as the Major here was."

"I was not your operative, Anders," Rhovan told her sourly. "I was..."

She turned on him. "I know what you were, Rhovan. I know what you did..."

"Enough!" Rieekan barked, glancing at Solo, a civilian who really shouldn't be standing in the command centre overhearing everything. "This is neither the time nor the place for this. We have a squad returning to this base who have lost comrades. They will be tired, wired and they need to know the truth, even if it is unpleasant."

"I'll come with you, General," Leia told him. She wanted to see Luke: needed to see Luke.

"I'll join you," Rhovan volunteered.

Rieekan turned on him. "No! After today, those pilots will be looking for blood and the last person Skywalker needs to see is you. No, you'll stay away. Major Anders and I will do this."

Han looked between Rieekan and Rhovan. What had Rieekan meant by that last statement? Hadn't Rhovan been the one who had rescued Luke?

"Leia," he began, drawing his eyes away from Rhovan, "I'll be with the Falcon if Luke…"

If Luke was what? Dead? Injured? Needed him? No matter what, he would be on that landing field waiting for the kid.

"Thank you, Han," Leia acknowledged then turned back to Rieekan. He was looking at the holonet as it replayed the scenes. He looked tired, defeated.

The General turned, addressing them all, "I suggest you all get some rest for the next hour. I shall wake Mon Mothma and brief her. Your Highness," he bowed his head to her. "I'll meet with you at the landing field."

Leia nodded assent, knowing that she would not rest, nor sleep, until Luke was home. She felt Solo's arm fall across her shoulder, felt him steer her away and for once was grateful for his presence.

"Come on, your worship, you can have a Kaffin with Chewie and me on the Falcon."

She didn't argue.

ooOOoo

Rhovan stood just inside the doorway of his quarters; a small enclosed space that he, ironically, thought was only just slightly larger than the holding cells on Escaal and just as bland and bare. He loosened the collar of his Alliance uniform and laid the back of his head against the cool surface of the door. He took a long breath, exhaling slowly as he tried to calm his grief for his young Bothan contact in the Spynet.

Another of his own dead.

Too many dead; Isla, Taln and the Force knew how many others on Escaal in the Empire's mop up of the Network; the Gran in the cafe, Deni'ik, the red headed medic that Skywalker had desperately identified. He grimaced; he had managed to give Deni'ik some breathing space, had managed to convince Aryn that Skywalker was playing them, playing for time and trying to distract their attention. However, he knew that the medic would have been the first person that Aryn would arrest in the aftermath of his and Skywalker's escape.

His people were dying and he was stuck here, in the Alliance, unable to get back out there and work from inside the Empire itself.

And he cursed the day he asked the Alliance for help in taking out the Escaal munitions factory, cursed the agreement to help any pilots shot down in the raid, cursed the day he met Luke Skywalker and saved his life.

The son of Darth Vader.

He smiled, shook his head, incredulous.

I saved Darth Vader's son!

Not that it would win him any favours from the Dark Lord should they ever meet again. He had a feeling that Vader would not forgive him for taking Luke from him, and that the best he could hope for would be a swift execution.

He crossed the room and sat on the edge of his bunk. He missed his apartment, the luxury and privacy of it, the bottle of Cairan Maohr red that he had purchased and left unopened in the wine rack.

He missed Taln; missed their talks, their scheming and planning of ways to disrupt the functioning of the Empire on Escaal. He missed the camaraderie of the Network; the danger of it all.

Here he was just a desk jockey, an Intelligence Officer who scrutinised and analysed information that those out in the field risked life and limb to get.

A desk jockey with a dual purpose...

...Triple....

...he was also to watch the son of Vader. Watch that the boy didn't get too close to his father, that he showed no signs of defecting, of betraying those who had welcomed him and gave him a home.

"Luke has... a knack for instilling loyalty in many, not just in droids."

The Princess's words were interesting and not just because she was Skywalker's unknowing sister; he had seen that loyalty for himself in the pilot, Wedge, who flew with him. In Narra, his commanding officer. In the sergeant who had been badly injured on Ra'imar while helping him evade Vader and his troops...

But not the infantryman, not the grunt; whose loyalty had been to his sergeant.

...In Taln on Escaal when he had hesitated at the order to kill the youth, when he had so obviously failed to carry that order out and now he was dead because of it.

How many more were to die, or be maimed, because of Luke Skywalker?

Over a million on the Death Star, twenty thousand over Cusrean, many hundreds on Escaal and Ra'imar. There was no doubt; directly, or indirectly, Luke Skywalker was responsible for all of these deaths and he had to wonder if the youth knew that his hands dripped with blood.

Just like his father.

Just like Vader. Like Anakin Skywalker; the Jedi hero with no fear, who wreaked havoc on the galaxy during the Clone Wars and beyond.

His comlink chirped, drawing him from his thoughts, and he fished it out of his pocket. "Rhovan."

"Rieekan has briefed me," Mon Mothma told him without preamble. "You are to join him at the squad debriefing."

His brow creased. "Carlist was clear that I was not to..."

"I have countermanded that," Mothma informed him, her tone sharp, tight. "We may have made a mistake sending Skywalker with them."

"We agreed that should an opportunity arise that would allow us to assess Vader's interest in..."

"I am aware of that, Rhovan. But it may have been too soon, I have no real wish to send Skywalker into his father's arms." She hissed with sudden realisation. "Is this comm secure?"

"Yes, Mi'Lady," he couldn't help but smile at her slip. "Any communications from your office to me is automatically encrypted." He has set up the system himself.

Her sigh was audible over the comlink. "You are to be with Rieekan, Erwin. I need you to feedback on Skywalker once he returns."

"If he returns," Rhovan told her.

"What do you mean?" she asked, quickly and he knew what she was thinking; that Luke had been captured already. That all of this was for nothing and that Vader already had possession of his son.

"He may have been killed in action."

Considering his previous thoughts he almost wished his statement could be true; it would save him the job and the galaxy a lot less blood.

"Is that a possibility?" Mothma's voice sounded guarded.

Rhovan shrugged, he had been told the boy was a talented and instinctive pilot but the battle over Cusrean had been vicious, that much was evident even from the heavily edited version that had been shown on the holonet.

"I think we'll be lucky to get a quarter of the squad back," he told her. "So, yes, it's a possibility even for someone with his abilities."

There was a moment of silence. "I may be concerned about him, Major, I may have to give you the order to kill him should he prove to be a threat to the Alliance, but..." There was a sigh. "He is Padme's son and I want no real harm to come to him."

Rhovan stayed mute, understanding the conflict Mon Mothma was feeling. It was something he wrestled with during his tenure with the Network. He had been the Resistance Commander, he had also been the senior Imperial Interrogator and he had killed friends and comrades to keep their information out of Imperial hands.

"You will be at the de-brief, Rhovan."

"As you wish, Mi'lady."

He switched the comlink off and placed it back in his pocket. Then he stood, fastened his collar and tugged his tunic down; ready for duty.

ooOOoo