AN: Many thanks to everyone who has been reading this story. Your continued support is very gracious and is supprting me through the trials of writing it!The character of Major Ehlen Anders is used by the kind permission of Kazlynh and the character of Ysabel Janconti (Yizzi) belongs solely to Louise T. My thanks to them for allowing me to continue to use them. My thanks to Kazlynh for her continued support and for beta reading.
All previous disclaimers apply
Dark Times: Chapter 5
A Legitimate Target
Part 5
The sun was just beginning to rise over the Adralii mountain tops, strands of light were trickling through the vista and the sky began to lighten with pink and blue hues. It was quiet, despite the number of people gathered at the landing zone, each being tending to their own private thoughts and fears as they waited for Red Flight to return.
They were overdue.
Leia resisted the temptation to look at her chrono again. Instead she took in another breath of sulphur tainted air and glanced over at Han. He sitting on a packing crate next to the Falcon's ramp; his eyes firmly fixed on the sky. He rubbed his chin, a movement that she knew was telling of the anxiety he was feeling. Chewbacca was under the Falcon welding on new hull plates.
Leia leaned her hip against the landspeeder that had brought Rieekan to the landing zone and glanced around. The fighter technicians were on their feet, the fire crews had their vehicles and equipment ready, there were medics and medical capsules gathered on the very edge of the area. Leia had a dreadful feeling that their services would not be required, that the casualties the squad had taken were all deaths.
Beside her, Rieekan scuffed his feet in the dirt and ash. Leia knew he was fighting, not just his anxieties, but also his anger; for standing next to him was Major Rhovan, the one man that Rieekan thought should not be present on the squad's return.
Why had Mon Mothma ordered him there, and why did she have a feeling it was something to do with Luke?
There was a muted rumble and all heads turned to the source and away again as they realised it was just the mountain grumbling.
Come on, Luke.... Come back...
Leia linked her fingers, brought her hands up to her face and rested her chin on her knuckles.
Come back...
Rieekan's comlink chirped and she turned as he answered; knowing that everyone's eyes had just turned their way.
"Rieekan."
Leia's heart hammered as the general answered.
"General, sir!" a tinny voice announced. "We have five ships inbound. It's Red Flight. They will be planet side in less than ten minutes, sir."
...five...
Looking grave Rieekan switched the comm off and turned to shout orders, to tell everyone to get on their feet and into position but he found that he didn't have, too. The ground crews had responded to the chirp of the comlink as though the noise itself was their orders. The General nodded, swallowed, looked to Leia and Rhovan.
"We need to get them inside and isolated as soon as they land," Rhovan told them.
Rieekan's face soured, gestured to the waiting personnel. "My people know their standing orders, Major. I hope you understand yours."
Rhovan's face darkened. "Implicitly, General."
He was not to take part in the debriefing of any of the squad and he was not to draw attention to himself. The exception was with Skywalker. If Luke were to return Rhovan was to be present with Anders and Rieekan.
With her stomach churning with anxiety, Leia pushed herself away from the speeder, nibbled her lip and glanced over at Han. He was on his feet now, eyes still on the sky. Chewbacca was beside him, his welding tools strewn to the floor. The mountain rumbled and the ground shivered, but this time Han did not respond to the venting volcano.
A landspeeder crested the hill and came to a stop beside Rieekan's. Ehlen Anders climbed out and approached them. Her face was grim, her gait stiff.
"Princess, General," she greeted, then added to Rhovan. "Major."
"I have some disturbing news," she continued. "I have been analysing the holonet recordings of the battle. I noticed in a few of the edited sequences a group of Interceptors around one X-Wing. On magnifying and enhancing the picture we identified the X-Wing as Lieutenant-Commander Skywalker's."
A cool horror spread through Leia. "What does this mean?" she whispered, her fear for her friend intensified.
"It's a tactic used when they want a prisoner," Rhovan supplied, recognising the description Anders had given. "A squad will target a fighter, place a tracker on it and herd it to the command vessel for a tractor lock. It's quite effective against smaller and faster vessels like starfighters."
Rieekan hissed, looked around the landing area, at the waiting personnel. His thoughts instinctive and automatic. "We may have to evacuate."
"What?" Leia gasped in dismay, cool horror flooding her veins. "You're assuming he's been taken? You haven't given Luke cred..."
"With all due respect, Your Highness," Rhovan interrupted. "We may have to err on the side of caution. If he's been captured Skywalker will not last long under interrogation."
Anger twisted her gut. "And how would you know?" She snapped.
"Your Highness," Rieekan placated gently, but firmly, as a noise like thunder rumbled among the mountain tops, the whine of engines underscoring the sounds. "We will debrief the squad first, find out what happened and make our decisions on any evacuation as soon as we know what's happened to the lieutenant-Commander."
Leia tore her eyes away from Rhovan and glanced at the sky while nodding to Rieekan. They all turned to watch the X-Wings as they descended over the mountain tops toward the well used landing zone. Leia could see the damage they had sustained as they neared; carbon scoring marked their fuselages, one had lost part of its foil under the closed wing, smoke wisped from engines and as they landed she could see that two of the astromech droids had been lost.
Leia held her breath as the canopies opened, watched as the ground crews ran forward splitting up into groups of mechanics as they surrounded their assigned fighter and pilot. She didn't notice the number who held back, who slumped and sat down because their X-Wing hadn't returned.
Helmets were lifted from heads and handed to the first crew member who climbed the ladders set next to their ships. Engines were shut down and a quiet sense of purpose fell over the area. The techs helped pilots from the cockpits with medics hovering nearby. The pilots grabbed water bottles, gulped the liquid thirstily and Leia saw one pour the liquid over his black hair and wipe sweat and grime from his face as he spoke hurriedly to his crew pointing at something on his X-Wing.
Leia almost stepped forward as she recognised Wedge Antilles. She quickly scanned the four other faces as icy dread settled in the pit of her stomach; Narra, Janson, Klivian and a young face she didn't know.
Luke...
She looked back at the sky; saw only clouds and birds and smoke from the mountain.
Luke...
A quiet panic stirred, a twist of grief for her missing friend.
"Come back..."
She glanced over at Han, the Corellian had gone back to the Falcon. He was underneath it pointing at something and shouting angrily at Chewbacca. The back of her throat thickened as she tried to swallow, as she watched Han take his fear for his friend out on his co-pilot's repairs. She took a step forward wanting to speak to him, wanting to be with him, to have his arms wrap around her and for him to tell her that the kid would be alright.
A hand settled on her arm.
"Your Highness," Rhovan said, quietly. "I'm sorry, but Captain Solo is not..."
Leia fought the urge to throw off his hand, fought the urge not to recoil from his touch. "I am aware of what Captain Solo is, Major," she told him calmly. "I am also aware that he is a friend of Lieutenant-Commander Skywalker."
"Princess," he continued as the pilots began to drift their way. "At this moment, Skywalker and the other pilots are merely overdue. Once we have spoken with Commander Narra we will know more, to say anything just now to anyone will merely heighten anxieties and create unhelpful rumours."
She couldn't argue with his logic, she knew he was right, but she didn't like that it had come from him.
Rieekan stepped forward, greeted Narra and directed him and his squad to the waiting speeders. Leia studied their features, knew Rhovan and Anders were doing likewise, already looking for hints and tells of what had occurred above Cusrean. Their faces were grim, tired and they all turned and look up at the empty sky with empty hope as they climbed into the vehicles.
Antilles came last, he hesitated near the Princess, regarded her with hooded eyes and shook his head before turning away and joining Klivian in the back of a speeder.
Leia closed her eyes against the pain his gesture caused; the hope that it ground to dust. She fought the feelings, fought the tears that threatened to rise and spill.
He was only just back. He had only just recovered.
Luke... no...
And she was unsure of her greater fear; that he had died, or that he had been taken again.
"Princess?"
She opened her eyes, found Rhovan still beside her.
"I'm sorry..."
She wanted to scream at him that Luke hadn't been taken, that he wasn't dead. She wanted to.... smile.
She smiled at him. "He'll be back, Major. Don't give up on Luke too prematurely."
She turned from him, didn't see his confusion or the slow trickle of understanding that filled his eyes as he watched her walk away to the waiting speeders. She climbed in with Major Anders, sat stiffly as the vehicle began to move.
Rhovan remained where he was, watching the Princess leave as behind him mechanics began to move the fighters into the empty hangars for repair, as fire crews and medics began to disperse and the area cleared.
He threw his own glance to the sky. The Princess had seemed so sure, convinced by her own statement despite her obvious grief. The smile she gave so suddenly was one of joy, one of wonder and, to Rhovan's practised eye, it was also instinctive and not fully understood by even her.
He knew though. He knew of her bond to the missing pilot and of her Jedi...
...sith...
...heritage.
"Major?" Rieekan questioned impatiently, gesturing at his own speeder. "We have a long day ahead of us."
"If you don't mind, General," he responded. "You were right, I am not needed at the debriefings. I'll make my own back down."
Rieekan's eyes narrowed. "What about your orders from Mon Mothma?"
"My orders pertained to Skywalker and he isn't here," Rhovan told him easily, smiling. "Besides it's a beautiful morning, General. And the fresh air and the walk will do me some good."
Rieekan regarded him uneasily for a moment then he climbed into his speeder and nodded to his driver.
As the general left, Rhovan found the nearest packing crate and sat down to wait.
ooOOoo
He was dragged from the crippled X-Wing by the stormtroopers, thrown down to the smooth, polished floor of the hangar. He landed hard, cried out, coughed and heaved in a breath through his constricted throat as boot steps clattered around him. He was kicked over onto his stomach, the chest controls of his flight suit digging into his ribs. He tried to push himself up, but a boot placed on his back shoved him down.
"Stay down, scum," a voice warned.
They fell on him, knees digging into his legs, arms and back, driving the breath from him, keeping him pinned and immobile. His helmet was removed from his head. His flight harness cut from him, the flak vest dragged off, his weapon's belt taken.
My lightsaber, he thought desperately.
He struggled against them, unable to fight his instinct to get away, to try to flee, to resist. The boot again, placed on his head, cruelly forcing it down. He sucked in air from the floor, could smell the polished leather of the footwear...
Leather? An officer.
...through the scent of his own fear. His arms were taken, forced behind his back and tightly bound.
...no... not again... no.....
The pressure was lifted and rough hands took his arms and dragged him up and set him on his feet. He coughed, gagged, his air way still feeling tight and constricted. His legs buckled beneath him but he was caught, held upright and dragged toward the dark figure who had stood impassively watching his arrest.
Luke started awake, a howl of horror escaping him as he jerked upright in the padded seat. He let out a breath, that was half a sigh, half a choked cry when he realised where he was; still in the cockpit of his X-Wing and headed back to Adralii. He pushed the visor of his helmet up and away from his face and rubbed the heel of his hands over his eyes in an attempt to dispel the lingering images from his nightmare.
A tooted enquiry sounded over the comm and he smiled as he read Artoo's concern translated on the small screen before him. "I'm fine, Artoo, just a bad dream."
A whistle.
Luke laughed, despite the hammering of his heart. "Yes, Artoo, it was a doozy."
He sobered and looked out at the twisting lights of hyperspace. The dream bothered him. It had seemed so real. He had physically felt everything; the troopers pinning him down, the floor against his face, the pressure of the boot holding him down, the hands dragging him to the Dark Lord. He had even sensed smells; his own acrid stench of fear, the polish of the leather boots.
He sniffed the recycled air, wrinkled his nose. Well, perhaps it was simply the cockpit smells invading his dreams; he needed a shower.
He smiled at that, shook his head.
Just a dream. That was all.
Innocence.....
"How long to reversion?" He asked, ignoring the whisper of his mind.
Artoo twittered his reply and added a series of whistles and burps.
Luke smiled as he read. Only five minutes to sub-light. "I'm sure Han's back and I'm quite sure that Threepio is still in once piece."
Another series of hoots and toots.
"I know what Han threatened the last time but he doesn't really mean it." He laughed, lightly, his dream and its images beginning to fade as the droid chattered. "Besides," he reminded Artoo, "there was that time when you threatened Threepio with your electrodes."
He grinned at the electronic sniggers. There were times when Artoo exhibited all too human characteristics.
He straightened as time for reversion drew closer and his stomach rumbled loudly. He was starving. "Artoo," he said again, as he scanned his console. "Keep an eye on the port engine, the power's been fluctuating, try and stabilise it."
Artoo blooped assent.
"That's it," Luke told him, smiling. "Cut into sub-light engines."
The sudden deceleration streaked the stars back to pin points. Luke smiled as Adralii loomed green and welcoming before him. He scanned his system read outs, frowned and tapped on one of the instruments. "Check the shields, Artoo. I'm showing a twenty percent drop on the aft projector." The last thing he wanted was to burn up on re-entry.
The little droid twittered.
"I know we took a few hits. Re-route power from the hyperdrive, boost the shields." Brow still furrowed he watched as Artoo followed directions and as the numbers dropped further. "No, that's not it. Maybe it's a problem with the projector itself?"
Again the astromech worked as Luke waited. He grinned in relief as the read out suddenly rose and the numerals glowed green across the board. "That's it, Artoo!"
He keyed his comm. "Adralii control this is Red Five. Inbound and requesting approach vectors to land."
There was quiet, a burst of static then. "Red Five, Adralii Control, standby."
Standby?
He waited, listened to silence. Tapped his fingers against the control column until his impatience got the better of him. "Adrali control, this is Red Five..." he began again.
"Red Five, this is Adralii control. We request confirmation that the tracking device on your fighter has been deactivated."
Luke sighed. Wedge was such a blabber mouth.
"This is Red Five. I am bug free. I repeat, bug free."
"Copy that Red Five. You are cleared for a charlie-one-alpha approach."
"Charlie-one-alpha, copied, control."
"Surface wind is two-six-zero at ten. Be advised, the volcanic ash cloud is spreading through sector zero-eight-zero."
"Cloud spread, copied control. Charlie-one-alpha loaded and locked..."
"Roger that, Red Five... Welcome back Lieutenant-Commander.
"Copy, control."
He brought the X-Wing down, slowing his velocity as he entered the atmosphere of the planet. His fighter bucked as friction burned against the shielding. Then he was free of the resistance, flying through the air between peaks of mountains as he approached Adralii base. As he lowered the landing struts he could see a small crowd of gathered fire crews, medics and technicians waiting for him; watching should he suddenly need assistance in his damaged fighter. Standing at the front was Ysabel Jaconti; her face grim as she watched him set the X-Wing down.
He groaned. She'd never forgive him for the missing quad gun.
He began to shut down the fighter's systems and engines and opened the canopy. The smell of sulphur was strong this morning, but the air felt fresh and cool to him. He heaved in a breath as the ladder was set against the fuselage and Yizzi climbed up beside him.
"You had us worried for a while there, Skywalker," she commented handing Luke a bottle of water that she had snagged off a waiting medic.
"The others?" Luke asked, popping the bottle's lid and taking a long drink, suddenly realising that the landing pad was eerily empty and a quick glance at the open hangar doors dismayed him. The space beyond seemed hollow, devoid.
"We got five back, six when we count you."
"Shit," Luke breathed, he undid his helmet straps and pulled it off, handed it to the chief. He knew they had taken multiple casualties, but the few number of survivors brought home just how devastating the Imperial defence had been.
They were holding back. They could have taken you all out.
"Wedge?"
"He's fine," Yizzi assured him. "So's Nara, Hobbie and Janson. The new kid Ylanec, too."
Luke raked a hand through his sweat plastered hair and grimaced at the oily feel. He felt grimy and exhausted, wanted only to shower quickly, eat something and fall into his rack, but he knew that procedure and protocol lay ahead. The command staff would want to know what happened.
Questions.
More Questions.
"With which squadron do you fly?"
He heaved in a breath, forced Rhovan's voice from his mind and made himself concentrate on what Yizzi was saying.
"You hurt at all?"
He shook his head, suddenly aware of a dull ache in his ribs from where his harness had caught him during the skirmish. "No, I'm fine."
He'd been worse.
Yizzi waved the waiting medics and fire crews away. "The brass'll be waiting for you, the sooner you get done the better, right?"
"Okay," he breathed, handing Yizzi the empty water bottle and pulling himself up out of the seat. He gestured loosely at the fighter that ticked and cooled beneath him. "I took a few hits." He confessed.
The chief technician glared. "Tell me something I haven't seen with my own eyes," she told him as she backed down the ladder to give him room to climb down.
Luke's boots kicked up ash as he moved around the ship with Yizzi. "Well, I had problems with the port engine. The power was fluctuating. Also the aft shield projector was acting up, we re-routed power from the hyperdive but that didn't fix it. Artoo tweaked something so you'd need to talk to him."
"Ah-huh," she noted, squinting up at the droid as her crew lifted Artoo out of his socket. "Anything else?"
"Yeah, there's a hole in the back," Luke ducked down under the nose cone, noticed Han watching him from the hatch of the Falcon. He grinned and waved at his friend; he knew he'd be back. Solo raised a hand in acknowledgement, a lopsided grin plastered on his face. Luke frowned; Han appeared relieved to see him, but his smile seemed affected, fake.
"And I lost a quad gun," he told the chief slowly as he tore his eyes away from his friend wondering what was up with the Corellian.
He knows.
Innocence.
You felt them...
Luke's stomach turned with unease, but he forced himself to indicate the ruined wing tip where the quad gun had once been attached. He grimaced at the remains of the gun mounting. "Sorry."
Yizzi shrugged behind him. "Nothing we can't fix."
He turned at that unexpected answer. This wasn't like her; she wasn't yelling about the damage done to her ship, she wasn't taking her grief for the lost pilots out on her mechanics, or him. "Is everything okay Yiz, you're..."
He trailed off, his stomach lurched, a cool chill washed through him as he looked over Ysabel's shoulder and saw the man who was sitting alone on a packing crate watching him.
Rhovan.
"What's he doing here?" he whispered, tightly. The man was holding his gaze, his face neutral.
The Chief Tech glanced over her shoulder. "Don't know," she told him. "But he's been sitting there since the squad came in."
Waiting for me. He was waiting for me.
"Isn't he the guy that brought you back?"
There was a tone of enquiry in her voice, an underscore of gratitude that sat sour in Luke's belly. He tore his eyes away from his torturer, fighting his racing emotions, the sudden images and feelings that flickered through his mind; Rhovan's hand on his cheek, gently brushing sweat, blood and tears away as he soothed him. The droid hovering at his back, the quiet noise it made as it discharged energy into his back.
He swallowed, rasped, "yes," as he turned away, forcing the memories away, the intimacy of those moments in the cell threatening to overwhelm him. The man probably knew him better than even Han and Leia, knew things about him that he never wished shared with another being.
"Don't, Luke. Don't struggle."
"Luke?" Ysabel questioned, she placed a hand on his arm, frowned as he flinched at her touch. "Hey, are you sure you don't need a medic?"
"There will be no more medics, Luke. No more medical attention until you give us some information we can use. The Alliance or the Resistance..."
He took a step back, closed his eyes and willed the memories away. Now was neither the time, nor the place, to give into these feelings, or to the man who sat a few metres away watching. He took in a breath, stood a little straighter and opened his eyes to find the Chief Tech regarding him with concern.
"I'm fine, Yizzi," he told her. "I'm just tired."
She smiled, the expression a little forced and he knew she didn't believe him. He knew there was something else happening here; something that she hadn't told him. It was in the furtive glances that several of the other techs had sent his way, the way Rhovan...
...Dade...
... was watching him; the way that Han lurked by the Falcon.
They all know.
Innocence.
"Looks like your ride's here," she told him, sounding relieved as she gestured at the approaching landspeeder.
He watched the speeder come to a halt and groaned as he recognised the driver; Haslam, the soldier who had been one of his escorts on Ra'imar, glared at him from the interior. This day couldn't possibly get any worse.
"I'm s'pposed to take you to Command," the larger man drawled, with distaste.
Luke ignored him and climbed into the back of the vehicle, leaning out to speak to the Chief. "I'll see you later, Yizzi. Tell Han to keep a cold one for me."
"Sure thing, Luke," she turned away from him and let out a piercing whistle to her crew. "Let's get this wreck inside people!"
Haslam gunned the engine and the speeder began to move forward. Luke couldn't resist the urge to twist around and glance back at Rhovan. The major was on his feet, his eyes on the speeder as he followed its path away from the landing zone.
ooOOoo
"You have done well, my friend," Palpatine purred. His hologram towered over his kneeling apprentice. "The Rebel Alliance is already finding that friends can be fickle; four systems have withdrawn their support."
Vader did not answer, knew that his master was not finished gloating. He took in a measured breath waiting for Sidious to continue.
"I have promised the Empire retribution for Cusrean, you will deliver it. Continue your searches for the rebel outposts, destroy these insurgents, identify the pilots who took part in the raid and eliminate them. The people must be appeased."
Vader hesitated for just a moment but Palpatine saw it; he smiled as his apprentice answered. "Yes, my master."
"You have something to tell me, Lord Vader?" He sounded curious, his voice light and pleasant.
He sounded like the friend and confidant of old and Vader knew that he had no choice but to answer truthfully, despite his misgivings.
"I believe the pilot who destroyed the Cusrean facility was the same boy who destroyed the Death Star."
Palpatine's eyes flashed, he leaned forward. "Are you sure?"
"His signature in the Force is unmistakable." Vader told him, reluctantly.
"And you let him slip through your fingers on Escaal. The boy has shown a great propensity for creating chaos, has he not?" Palpatine sounded amused, pleased. "This may work to our advantage. He is weak, this act of murder will shake him. He will seek solace in the Force and leave himself open, easy to trace."
The Emperor feigned consideration. "You appear to have a... connection to him, my friend. Pay attention to the Force, listen to what it whispers to you. Use that and find him.
"Find him, bring him to me and we shall show him what it means to defy his Emperor."
"As you wish, my master," Vader answered by rote.
The connection to Imperial Centre was severed and Vader drew himself up and stood as he reflected on their brief exchange.
Still they had not acknowledged the pilot as his son, still they danced around the truth calling Luke "the boy," and still Vader was unsure of Palpatine's designs for his son once they had him in custody.
But you do know. He will take your child and he will twist him as he has twisted you.
A quiet anger settled in his stomach and his fists clenched at the echo of his mind, an echo that sounded very much like Kenobi.
"You have allowed this Dark Lord to twist your mind until now... until now you have become the very thing you swore to destroy."
Kenobi was a fool, blinded by the Jedi Code, too entrenched in his pious ways to see the power and strength that the Force could truly offer; the limitless potential for growth and expansion, the depths and beauty of its darkness. It was what sustained him, drove him; that and his son.
His son who continued to elude him, whose presence beckoned and teased him.
His son who would, one day, stand before him and acknowledge him.
"I... won't betray... the Alliance... as... you betrayed... my father."
Luke was brave, but gravely mislead. He needed his father's guidance and, if the murmur of the Force was correct, then he also needed his father's protection.
Vader climbed the steps to his meditation chamber and seated himself. The claws closed around him, the air pressurized and the helmet and mask were lifted from his head. He took in a breath, allowing the air to burn in his damaged lungs. He closed his eyes, reached for the Force and searched through its shifting patterns, its convoluted depths, for his errant child.
Luke could not stay quiet, or hidden, for long.
ooOOoo
Tbc...