AN: As always, many thanks to everyone who is reading this story, particulalry those who have been kind enough to leave a few words. Your support and enthusiasm means a lot to me and I hope that you all continue to enjoy the story. My thanks to Kazlynh again for beta reading; but any mistakes are mine alone.

All previous disclaimers apply.

Dark Times: Chapter Five

A Legitimate Target

Part Six

Rhovan took a sip of hot Kaffin and set his cup down next to the monitor that was relaying the live link from the small windowless room next door. He looked to the screen watching the lone figure, who sat in one of four chairs, drumming his fingers on the metallic surface of a table. The Intel officer reached over and tweaked the volume control, turning it up until he could hear the rhythm that Skywalker was nervously playing.

The pilot had arrived with his driver, had been isolated in the room and left to wait for over an hour while the rest of the squad's debriefings continued with Major Anders and Rieekan. The Princess Leia had attempted to see him, but even her access to him was denied to avoid contaminating the pilot's answers during his own debriefing. Luke needed to be clear headed and not have the events over Cusrean confused with information that his well meaning friend...

...sister...

... might innocently divulge. This debrief was going to be hard enough for the boy as it was.

A sigh emanated from the speakers and Luke rubbed at his eyes and pinched the top of his nose. The pilot was obviously tired; his exhaustion and fatigue, coupled with his growing impatience and the heat in the room, were dragging his mood low. This could either make the pilot more compliant to answer questions, or adversarial.

Rhovan knew that Luke would almost certainly be the latter, especially when the pilot saw that he was controlling the questions. However, Rieekan's presence would provide the counterbalance; Luke would take his strength from the General, would not want to let the man down. The pilot was loyal, respectful and it was those traits that would assist Rhovan.

He watched as Luke undid the fastenings at the neck of his flight suit before dragging the zipper down. He had already removed his white flak vest, his flight harness and suit controls and discarded them to the floor of the small room.

The Major smiled as Skywalker lounged in the chair and regarded the bare, greenish white duracrete walls with hooded eyes. The boy placed his feet up onto the table, crossed his ankles and heaved in a breath of stale air. Luke leaned back, balancing the chair on two legs. His eyelids soon drooped and, after a few moments, he jerked awake almost tipping over and falling to the floor.

Rhovan suppressed a laugh as the boy whispered, "Dammit," and set the chair back on four legs.

Skywalker's reaction on the landing zone had been interesting. It was clear that the pilot had not yet come to terms with Escaal and Rhovan's role in it. Luke was using his strength to resist what had happened, was fighting against the events of the past and was struggling not to show any weakness to the man who had been both his tormentor and his saviour.

It was the same strength that had supported him during questioning, and it was the same strength that had begun to fail him just as Vader had arrived and Rhovan had to wonder when it would fail him completely and how Luke would react to its loss.

His eyes narrowed as he watched Skywalker get up and walk around the room. The pilot was trying to stay awake, trying to dampen down his fears as his mind played tricks and threw in random thoughts. Luke would be worried about the rest of the squad. He'd be wondering where they were and if they were being cooped up like him. He would be wondering what he would be asked, and if he knew the answers.

Luke fell back into the chair and chewed at his finger nails.

The boy was nervous; he would be wondering if questions would be asked about his performance during the mission and if anything he had done would have repercussions for him. He'd be wondering why he was being held like this for so long.

The Major smiled as Luke crossed his arms on the table and settled his head on top. It didn't take long for his eyelids to slowly close as the sleep he so badly needed forced itself upon him.

The door opened behind the Intel Officer and Anders and Rieekan entered.

"How is he?" Rieekan asked, glancing at the screen.

"As you would expect, General," Rhovan told him. "Tired, impatient and currently asleep. How are the others?"

"They took the news as you would expect," Anders answered, softly. "They are gutted, and worried about Skywalker."

Anders handed him a datapad and he scrolled quickly through the information. A few statements jumped out at him.

"He froze? They all say that?"

Ehlen nodded, she looked as tired the pilot in the next room. "Although it took a couple of them a while to admit it, but yes. They state that he said that attacking the station was a mistake and that he pulled up without firing his torpedoes on his first run."

Rhovan chilled at this. The boy hadn't frozen the boy had...

"He knew," Rhovan stated, looking to both Rieekan and Anders. "Somehow, he knew what was in that station."

Anders pulled up a chair and sat down. Her eyes were on the monitors, on the sleeping pilot next door. "Perhaps," she admitted. "It could have been his Jedi abilities, or perhaps we just sent him out before he was ready."

Rhovan glanced at Luke as a moan came from monitor's speakers. He was slumped over the table now, looking really uncomfortable and he was dreaming. "And yet, he still destroyed the station."

"On his second run," Rieekan supplied. "And only after Narra gave the task to Antilles and told Luke to leave."

Rhovan knew exactly what had happened. Luke had sensed that the station was not a threat, had tried to warn the squad away, but he knew he was under orders. Luke had been caught between duty and conscience and duty had won because of what had come before, because he had been reprimanded for not following orders and because he felt the need to prove himself after Escaal.

And for pride twenty thousand people had died.

"It's not for me to question him this time," Rhovan told them. Luke would have enough to work through without the added burden of sitting across from him. This questioning, unlike that on Escaal, was not to break the boy and that is exactly what would happen should he be the one to tell Luke what he had done when he had pulled the trigger.

It might still break him.

"Major," he bowed his head to Anders. "I defer to you, it will suffice for me to observe from here." He picked up two ear-pieces, tossed them to Rieekan and Anders. "General," he said, as he fitted another ear-piece and comlink on himself. "If I have questions, you can ask them."

ooOOoo

Luke jolted awake and jumped to his feet sending the chair clattering to floor behind him as General Rieekan and Major Anders entered the room. His face flushed with embarrassment at being caught sleeping and he wiped at his mouth where a dribble of saliva had began to dry.

"General, sir, I..." Luke tensed, stood to attention, feeling a little panicked. Why was Rieekan here? Why was the Base Commander sitting in on a mission debriefing?

"At ease, Lieutenant-Commander," Rieekan told him easily. "Sit down."

Luke swallowed, grabbed his chair, righted it and sat down. "Thank you, sir."

Rieekan sat opposite and placed a data recorder on the table. "We'll make this as brief as possible." Rieekan bit back his desire to add 'son' to his statement, to acknowledge his sympathy for the pilot who had gone through so much in the last few months.

"Thank you, sir," Luke acknowledged. He cleared his throat suddenly feeling nervous as the door opened again and a soldier entered with a jug of water and some glasses. Luke eyed the tray as it was placed down wishing it carried something to eat, too.

Anders reached forward and activated the recorder as the soldier left and the door closed shutting them in the stifling hot room.

A distant rumble trembled through the room as the Major began to speak. "This is a fact finding debriefing of Lieutenant-Commander Luke Skywalker, service number 0h-nine-five-five-nine-six-seven-five, following Red Flights mission to Cusrean. I am Major Ehlen Anders, with me is General Carlist Rieekan.

"Lieutenant-Commander, can you please begin by detailing the events as they happened from the moment the squad reverted to sub-light."

Luke took in a breath knowing, despite Rieekan's assertion that this would be a short meeting, that he was in this room for the long haul.

"I, um..." he cleared his throat again. "We jumped outside the system, accelerated to attack speed and broke formation at Commander Narra's mark..."

ooOOoo

Rhovan leaned on the console with his head in his hands fascinated by Skywalker's effort to talk through the events of the mission; there was no doubt that he was being truthful and yet Rhovan felt that not the whole truth was being spoken in that room.

Luke was missing something out; something that he desperately wanted to avoid.

Luke knew, on some level, what he had done and was struggling not to acknowledge it. By the end of the debriefing the boy would be left with no choice but to face the consequences of his actions.

The pilot shifted on the chair, uncomfortable with the questions. "I... just felt it, just felt that something wasn't right."

"So you disobeyed a direct order," Anders threw at him.

Rhovan shook his head, smiled, and she thought he was a bastard. She ought to look in the mirror sometimes; after all she was the one who reprimanded Skywalker for that very offence. Now she was playing the boy, upsetting him, using the events against him.

"No!" Luke protested, vehemently. "I took the shot!"

"But only after Commander Narra ordered you away and gave the task to Lieutenant Antilles," she reminded him.

Luke's shoulders sagged. "Yes, ma'am, but..." He fell silent, shifted in the chair again.

Like the seasoned interrogator that she was, Ehlen Anders remained mute, waiting for Luke speak, no matter how long it took.

It didn't take long. The boy was exhausted, wanted away from the room; knew he was possibly facing a court martial for disobeying yet another direct order.

"Major," he began tentatively. "I just did what I had to do, what I thought was right."

"We are not here to apportion blame for anything, Lieutenant-Commander," she replied, softly. "We are merely establishing facts."

Rhovan scoffed, saw Rieekan frown at the derisive sound in his ear-piece. "General," he said now that he had Rieekan's attention. "Ask about Vader."

Rieekan visibly tensed. Luke noticed and the boy's head swung around, blue eyes looked at the wall that separated them.

Rhovan swore. Rieekan was useless at subterfuge.

There was a scrape as a chair was pushed back and Luke stood up and walked to the blank wall, his eyes searching the room, ignoring Ander's request to sit down. Then he found the camera positioned in the duracreet in the far corner.

He laughed, the sound hoarse and dry of humour.

"Lieutenant-Commander!" Rieekan barked. "Sit down."

Luke jumped at the shout, spun around on the General. "He's there, isn't he?" he demanded. "He's watching and listening."

Anders stood, gestured to the empty chair. "Please, Lieutenant-Commander, sit down."

The laugh again, a hand brushed through unruly hair, but he took up his place at the table, his eyes still on the camera.

Rieekan leaned forward. "Lieutenant-Commander Skywalker," he warned. "I realise that you are tired, and that this is difficult for you, but I will not tolerate insubordination. When you speak to me your tone will be respectful and you will address me as 'sir.' Is that clear?"

Luke's eyes cast down to the table top. He swallowed, nodded, "I'm sorry, sir."

Rieekan leaned back. "Major Rhovan is merely observing. He is playing no part in this debriefing."

Rhovan didn't miss the flicker of a smirk that crossed the boys face at Rieekan's lie, neither did Ander's. Her eyes narrowed as she picked up her datapad and made a play of reading the information before asking the question.

"When did you become aware that Darth Vader was one of the Imperial pilots?"

ooOOoo

Luke started at the question. He drew his eyes away from the table, looked into the Major's brown ones. He licked his lips, his mouth suddenly dry.

This was becoming too hard, this was too much. The heat in the room, the pressure of being questioned, was bearing down on him. He wanted to get up and run, put space between him and the unfolding events; from Rhovan in the next room.

"It's okay, it's okay. This'll be over soon."

Whispered words of comfort, of promise, as he hung bloodied and beaten from restraints.

"Your pathetic attempts at drawing upon the Force have only prolonged you suffering."

Vader.

He was to tell them about Vader.

He wiped sweat from his brow, wiped his damp fingers on the leg of his flight suit.

It was too quiet. They were waiting for him to answer.

"I just knew," he said lamely, telling them the same as he had told the panel during his hearing, not knowing how else to express it to them. He just wanted to get out of here, just wanted this to end.

You felt them...

"The Force?" Anders wanted to know and Luke was pleased to hear no scepticism in her voice.

He nodded, feeling relieved to be believed. "Yes, I can feel things, know things. I..." he shrugged. "I just knew he was there."

"Like you knew that Ra'imar was in danger?" Rieekan asked, now wishing he had listened to the young man. How many lives could have been saved if he had taken the boy at his word.

Luke nodded. "Yes, sir."

Luke caught the glance of dismay that Ander's sent to Rieekan. He tensed, his shoulder muscles bunched, his head beginning to pound through lack of sleep and stress. He was terribly aware of Rhovan watching.

Innocence...

Rieekan's eyes moved to the side and Luke's gut twisted with rage as he realised the Major was listening to Rhovan. The General's eyes moved back, found Luke. "Do you think that Vader can sense you the same way?

Luke hesitated, nodded. "Yes," his voice was dry, hoarse with anger. "Yes, I think he can."

Again that shift in Rieekan's eyes, a frown then; "Can you sense him now?"

"No." He had to fight the sudden urge to try, the temptation to open himself to the Force and seek out the presence of another; no matter how dark.

"We will speak at length, Young One."

He squeezed his eyes shut against the horror of his memory, against his startling compulsion.

"Do you believe that is how you came to be identified and tagged by the Imperial fighters?" Anders wanted to know.

"Yes," he answered, truthfully, for of course Vader wanted him.

Anders continued. "How did you evade them?"

ooOOoo

Rhovan listened as Luke explained that he had his astromech remove the bug and that he allowed the Imperial's to drive him toward the super star destroyer and how, at the last moment, he had suddenly accelerated away from them and jumped to hyperspace while still in the system.

Suicidal.

The boy was suicidal; reckless, had no regard for his own life. He had only wanted to get away, had only wanted to avoid another Imperial cell and Darth Vader even if he had died in the attempt.

And Rhovan had to wonder if Luke would be so keen to escape if he knew that Vader was his father.

ooOOoo

Luke took a sip of water, wetting his mouth and lips with the cool liquid. He placed the glass down, leaned back into the chair, his story told. He looked expectantly to Ander's and Rieekan in turn desperately wanting to be dismissed and desperately trying not to let it show. He needed to get away, he needed to calm down, to shower, to sleep, to do normal everyday things and not think about anything else.

Innocence...

"Luke," Anders began.

His heart sank at the use of his first name, the tone with which it was said. Now he was about to be told what was really going on here; why the base was so subdued, why Yizzi had been uncomfortable around him, why Rieekan had taken part in the debriefing. Why even Han's behaviour had seemed odd and out of place?

I don't want to know.

"You are not facing any disciplinary charges with regards to your actions during the battle," Ander's continued.

There was no relief in this. She had used his name, not his rank.

"You may have disobeyed orders, but you did not do so wilfully. Had we known what the facility was, your orders would not have been lawful."

Please... don't say it.

"Major, I..." His voice was lost, his heart hammered, his breathing became short and rapid as panic drove through him.

"The Empire fed us false information, set us up for the attack. The Cusrean station was no longer a weapons development facility."

No...

"It was filled with refugees."

Stillness.

The moment was static, quiet.

Then a high pitched whine filled his ears; one word repeated again and again...

...Refugees...

He closed his eyes, swallowed against a throat clogged with horror. He felt sick, felt the room grow unbearably cold. He shivered, feeling alone, isolated. He was the one who had pulled off the shot, he was the one who...

...knew! You felt them...

... felt the innocence and still you fired upon them...

...had carried out the act.

Everything seemed like a blur, muted and surreal as Rieekan and Anders spoke to him. He didn't know what they said, what they asked. He couldn't hear what they saying above the screaming of his mind, could sense nothing above his own wretchedness, his horror and desolation. These were old feelings, familiar friends, come home to taunt and haunt him...

...because of you. These people died because of you!

And his inner voice held a hint of pleasure, of biting congeniality, the teasing tones of disappointment.

"I had hoped you had reconsidered your attitude. I had hoped we could speak on more... civilised terms."

And Rhovan was there, his face devoid of emotion, his voice cajoling and sympathetic as the line fell from the ceiling, as the black garbed guards fastened it to bloody cuffs and...

"Luke?" Anders' voice was sharp. "Luke, are you all right?"

He looked up at her, feeling dazed and detached.

"How many?" He was surprise to hear his voice, surprised at how calm he sounded while nausea rolled in his belly. "How many did I kill?"

Rieekan hesitated for a moment as the youth asked the same question as the Princess Leia; except Luke was taking sole responsibility for the act. He was reluctant to answer, but knew the boy would learn the number from others; from the holonet. Better to hear it from him.

"At least twenty thousand."

Luke stiffly nodded as though he understood what the figure meant, as though twenty thousand was an easy number to imagine.

"Luke," Rieekan sat forward, wanting the pilot to listen, to understand. "This was not your doing. You are not responsible for this. We acted on the information we had at the time. It was not until after the attack that we found out the Empire had fed us the information to discredit us. Until then, it was a legitimate target."

As the General spoke, Luke slowly closed his fist under the table, tightening his fingers until his knuckles were white and his nails digging into his palm. His eyes were on the table top, the water jug in his line of sight. He couldn't look at Rieekan couldn't acknowledge what the man was saying, but he slowly nodded his head anyway. Anything to get him to stop talking.

"May I be dismissed?" He asked, his voice controlled, cold.

Rieekan shook his head, sadly. He didn't want to do this to the youth, but Luke had been through enough; he needed a break and, after this, he needed help, even if he wouldn't want to accept it. "I'm sorry to do this, Luke," he hesitated, drew himself up, and continued, his voice firm. "Lieutenant-Commander, I am removing you from active duty and reinstating the requirements of the Hearing Panel. You will continue your required psych sessions with Dr Therriman until we have a satisfactory report from him that you are emotionally and mentally fit for service."

The glass water jug shattered. Water and glass particles splattered across the metal surface.

Anders jumped, moved back. The noise her chair made on the floor drew Luke's attention. His throat worked as he fought to reign in his feelings, fought to keep himself restrained. "Can I go?"

"Perhaps we should call in a medic, Luke, have you checked over," she offered as water ran in rivulets and dripped from the table, knowing that it was Luke who had broken the jug, recognising just how brittle his hold on his emotions was. He was pale, suddenly looking gaunt and drawn.

"Don't," he told her, quickly, the word sounding like a warning. He glanced at the shards of glass. "I... mean, please ma'am. I just need..." He trailed off, not knowing what he needed, what he wanted. He looked blankly at her. "I'm fine," he told her. "I'll be fine."

Rieekan could have ordered the boy to the medical centre, but he knew it would have served no purpose. Luke wouldn't have obeyed that order either and he had no wish to add to the pilot's troubles. "You are dismissed, Lieutenant-Commander."

"Thank you, sir." The reply was hoarse, forced out.

He quickly stood, pushing the chair back and gathered his flight gear from the floor. He walked silently to the door. It opened to the side and he stepped out into the corridor beyond. It was cooler out here, it was...

...where was it? Where was he? What was he to do now? Where could he go?

He started walking. Automatically moving one foot in front of the other with no sense of where he was going or why. He stepped outside the command building and into the sunshine of mid-afternoon, his boots kicking up dirt and grass as he moved through the compound. The sunlight winked off passing speeders and he winced as the light blinded him...

....flames, when the flames arose I felt...

"Luke!"

He turned on his heels, saw the Princess running to catch up. She looked small and pale and anxious.

"Leia."

Where had she been? Why was she here now?

She came toward him, took his gear from his arms and dropped them to the ground. She embraced him, circling her arms around him, pulling him close, placing her head against his chest. "Luke, I'm so sorry."

He wrapped his arms around her, held her against him, stroked her hair, tucked strands behind her ear, murmured that he was fine, that he was okay because that's what she needed to hear, and what he needed to say, even though neither of them believed it.

ooOOoo

Rhovan reached across and switched off the live feed as Skywalker left the room. He pulled the ear-piece and comm from his head and threw it down on the console in front of him.

"Shit," he cursed to the empty room.

He unbuttoned his top collar, lounged back in his seat and rubbed the back of his neck, trying to remember when he'd last slept. He reached for his cup of kaffin that had lain untouched during the debriefing. It was cold, but it was kaffin and he sorely needed the boost it would give him. He drank deeply, grimacing at its cool bitterness.

The door swept aside and Rieekan and Anders joined him.

"Is that fresh?" Ander's asked nodding at the cup with some longing in her voice.

Rhovan tipped the container, swirled its contents around and smiled. "I wish." He set it down as she fell into the chair next to him.

Rieekan perched on the edge of the console, looking very much like a man with the weight of the galaxy on his shoulders.

"That could have gone better," Anders commented, needlessly and just for something to say, something to break the bleak silence.

She was exhausted, worn down by telling all six pilots what their Cusrean target had really been. They had all shrank with grief, with guilt, they had all become angry; at the Empire and at the Alliance for sending them out in the first place. Antilles had been particularly vocal in his response to the news.

Skywalker's reaction was, however, the most concerning.

Rhovan lifted his cold mug again. "Well, congratulations," he toasted them both before taking a drink.

"What do you mean?" Rieekan bit.

"You managed to do what I could not," he nodded toward the empty room next door. "You broke him."

Anders bristled, her temper perilous close to snapping. "That wasn't one of your torture sessions, Rhovan."

"No?" Rhovan smiled into his cup. "It looked like one to me."

"You're out of order, Major Rhovan," Rieekan warned; even though he knew that Erwin spoke the truth. He had just watched his own words crush a boy who had been struggling badly since returning from Escaal.

"My apologies, General," Rhovan offered, although his tone of voice conveyed no regret. "But I said it before; your Jedi is a loose cannon. You'll need to watch where you point him."

"Luke isn't a Jedi," Anders corrected quietly, sadly. "And believe me, I've known Jedi. Luke isn't even a padawan. He is a boy with a raw power and a famous name and no-one left to teach him what he needs." She looked at Rhovan with barely disguised disgust. "The Major's right though," She conceded, reluctantly. "We'll need to tread more carefully with Luke, give him some room to heal, before he loses whatever control he still has."

Rieekan frown, becoming concerned. "You think he might be dangerous?"

"Of course he's dangerous!" Rhovan snorted with derision. The Major drew himself out of his chair. "Think about it General. He knew that the Cusrean station was not a threat. On some level, he sensed what it contained. He chose to fire upon it anyway. That is not the act of a Jedi Knight."

"He was following orders," Rieekan defended.

Rhovan was at the door, cup in hand. "Ah-huh," he agreed. "He was. But it's when Jedi follow orders that you should worry." He regarded the dregs of his drink. "I'm going to get some more Kaffin before my next duty shift." He palmed open the door and disappeared through it.

Confused, Rieekan turned to Anders. "What did he mean?"

Ehlen sighed, some understanding for the Chandrilian slipping into place. "One of Rhovan's first postings with Imperial Intelligence was Jabiim. It was the cruelty of the Empire there that made him first question his allegiance to Palpatine." She glanced at him in interest. "You don't know the story of Jabiim?"

Rieekan nodded. "I know that the Republic was defeated there and took heavy losses during the Clone Wars."

She nodded. "Yes. The Jedi tried to defend it, but the Separatists forces were too great. Eventually it was a Padawan, a young Lieutenant, who was left in command of the Repbublic forces after all the commanders had fallen. He organised the remaining padawans into a defending action to allow the Republic time to evacuate. However, the Chancellor ordered the Lieutenant to oversee the evacuation instead and so he abandoned the remaining Padawans. They all died.

"The Jabiimi loyal to the Republic begged the Jedi to evacuate them, too. But his orders were for the Republic Forces only. He chose the Clones, the soldiers, over the population. There was a panic and the people rushed the ships, tried to get on board. That one padawan held them off with the Force and left them too their fate.

"Thousands died because Anakin Skywalker obeyed orders, and his name has been cursed on Jabiim ever since."

Rieekan was quiet, thoughtful, so Anders continued. "Later in the Clone Wars many of Skywalker's accomplishments were because he disobeyed orders and followed his feelings." She smiled with her memories, recalling Master Windu pacing the ops room because Skywalker had, yet again, disregarded his commands and had turned up half a Galaxy away from where he was supposed to be. "It annoyed some, but they couldn't deny his gifts. Allowances were made, even in war."

Ever the military man Rieekan bucked at this. "There must be discipline, Ehlan. You are suggesting that I make allowances for Luke simply because his father..."

"No, Carlist," she continued. "I am suggesting that you see Luke, not as his father's son, but as himself. You saw, in that room, a tiny display of his power, he is not only struggling with what has been happening to him these last few months, but also his Jedi heritage. We need to give him some freedom to explore that."

She paused, thinking of the young man who had walked out of the room so quietly, so stiffly and so very obviously on the verge of collapse. She tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. "He needs your discipline, probably more now than ever, but not at the cost of anything else."

Rieekan deliberated on her words, sighed, rubbed his hand against the stubble on his chin. "I'll consider what you have said and discuss the matter with Narra. But, allowances can only go too far, Luke has to be bound by the same laws as everyone else, or we'll have chaos in the ranks."

Ehlen nodded. "I couldn't agree more," she told him, knowing that she had made her point. "Now," she said, standing up and pushing her chair under the console. "Rhovan isn't the only one who needs a strong cup of Kaffin."

ooOOoo

tbc....