AN: This has been a long time coming and I apologise for that. This has probably been the hardest year of my life and I have struggled to find my muse... I decided to polish off this part of the tale and post it to let you know that I haven't forgotten about it. I am now concentrating all of my efforts on finishing this Chapter of Dark Times.

Neither Consequences nor Downfall have been forgotten or shelved. I have intend to finish all my tales - eventually.

Thank You for your patience. I would also like to thank you all for your comments and apologise for not replying to them all. I have appreciated every one.

My thanks as always go to Kazlynh for beta reading.

Lastly:

Disclaimer: I suppose I now need to say that I recognise that Disney and Lucasfilm own the rights to Star Wars and that my meagre fanfic make no profit. This is all just for the fun of it.

Summary:

While on a mission to destroy a munitions factory on Escaal Luke Skywalker was shot down, wounded and initially hidden by the Resistance Network led by its Commander, Dade. His hiding place was eventually discovered and Luke was captured, interrogated and tortured by Major Erwin Rhovan. During the interrogation Rhovan revealed himself to be Dade and, just as Vader arrived to take possession of Luke and with some help from Artoo Detoo, he rescued Luke and returned him to the Alliance.

Shortly after arriving at the Alliance base both Luke and Rhovan are debriefed. However, Luke senses that Vader knows where they are and desperately pleads with command to evacuate. In the process he falsely admits that he told the Empire where the base was. The Imperial fleet arrives and Luke is ordered to evacuate – an order he disobeys, endangering himself and the two soldiers tasked with his well-being. In a last ditch attempt to help with the evacuation Luke approaches the advancing Imperial Army to give himself up. He is stopped by the soldiers who have seen the Millennium Falcon arrive on the scene. However, one of them is gravely injured by Vader.

Meanwhile, Vader and Palpatine, each know who Luke is but neither have admitted it to the other. They each of their own designs for him.

Luke is arrested for disobeying a direct order and for endangering the lives of colleagues. He is grounded and confined to the medical facilities. A formal debrief (hearing) is convened where his actions on Escaal and holding out under interrogation is commended. However, his actions on Escaal are found to be conduct prejudicial to good order and discipline and, with Luke's agreement to forgo a formal court martial, he is reprimanded and sanctioned.

Mon Mothma, concerned about Vader's growing interest in Luke, confesses to Rhovan that Bail Organa left a message for her to be delivered on his death. This message detailed the relationship of Senator Amidala with the Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker and the children which resulted from their union. She explains to Rhovan that Darth Vader is Anakin Skywalker and Luke and Leia's father. She tasks him with watching Luke and, if needs be, eliminating the pilot should there be any indication that he may join his father.

As Luke heals, the Alliance receives intelligence that the Empire is developing a biological weapon on an orbiting space station in the Cusrean System. An attack is planned and Luke given his flight status back to take part. On reaching the attack co-ordinates Luke senses that the station poses no danger and that he can feel innocence. He does not fire when commanded – again disobeying an order. Pushed with conflicting emotions, and his squad mates being decimated around him by Vader's men, he comes to a decision and fires after all, obliterating the space station and killing all on board.

Again he eludes Vader's attempts to catch him.

On his return to base he learns that the space station housed refugees and that he has killed over twenty thousand civilians. Torn and emotionally fraught he suffers a flashback and attacks Rhovan, only to be hustled away by Han and his squad mates. He wanders away from the Falcon and seeks solace in lightsaber drills, during which he has a vision of Vader who shows him his feelings on destroying the station – something Luke had been denying to himself and yet was causing him great guilt.

He is found by the sergeant who had been previously injured by Vader and taken into custody for attacking a superior officer in the execution of his duties. A serious offence.

There is an immediate backlash against the Alliance following the Cusrean attack. Representatives from the Alliance are invited to Horaarn, a close ally to Cusrean, to discuss the attack that the Alliance has since discovered was set up by the Empire. The Horaarn's demand that Luke be among the party to give evidence in committee.

Leia, Luke, Han, the two droids, Chewbacca, Thecla and Haslam (the two soldiers who previously escorted Luke) are sent to Horaarn. On arrival Luke is taken into custody, Leia (along with the droids) is given an apartment for visiting dignitaries and Han, Chewbacca and the soldiers are forced to remain with the Falcon.

Rhovan discovers that the diplomatic mission is another attempt by Vader to secure his son and is sent by Mon Mothma to intervene.

Meanwhile, Vader is the Horaarn system and has been in conference with the First Minister and has designs to take possession of Luke through purely legal means.

Dark Times:

Absolute

Part Three

Leia lifted the fine, crystal glass and took a sip of the rich, red wine. She remembered a time when she would have closed her eyes to savour the flavour as the alcohol slipped easily down her throat. It was delicious: it had been so long - too long - since she had tasted something so exquisite. It had been a long time since she had been surrounded by luxury and opulence; ate off thin, delicate porcelain plates using silver cutlery; sat in a comfortable chair at a large ornate table covered in pure white linen with servants to fill her glass and place her meal before her.

Instead, it now irritated her: disgusted her. There were so many out there, on this planet and elsewhere in the Galaxy, who hungered for food and craved even the most basic of shelters.

She had been shallow in her youth: having so many at her beck and call, having her every need met within the walls of her Father's palace. It had been all she had known until she expressed an interest to follow her father into politics, into the senate, and her father had taken her away from the luxury… to places where the people suffered abject poverty and horror. Her father had shown her a different side of the Imperial glitter of the Grand Empire: an Empire where life had been ground into bloodied dirt and dust under the heels of Palpatine's oppression.

She had seen, then, that Palpatine's Empire had not been about the "Peace and security" he had spoken of in his first appearance as Emperor. It was about something much simpler than that. It was about power.

Heart saddened and angered, she had pursued her Father's ambitions, taking them on as her own.

"This is Carn Mor, isn't it?" she asked, turning the glass in her hand as First Minister Teraten cut into the delicate portion of meat on his plate. "My father used to import this for his functions."

Teraten chewed the sliver of meat before answering. "From the province of Errlo on Escaal, yes…" He lifted his own glass and briefly toasted her before taking a sip.

Leia winced at the name of the planet, so casually spoken. Escaal was where Luke had been shot down and captured, subjected to interrogation and torture. Leia placed her glass on the table, feeling uncomfortable at the reminder: at knowing Luke was currently in another prison cell while she was indulging in an expensive wine while enjoying an equally expensive meal.

Lifting her napkin she dabbed her lips and set it over her plate indicating that she was finished.

Teraten paused as he ate. "Not hungry, your Highness?" he queried looking at her barely-touched meal.

"My apologies, First Minister. It has been a long trip and I need to review my data before the Committee Hearing tomorrow," she explained.

"Ah, yes… about that…" Teraten said, putting his cutlery down. He gestured to the waiting servants to clear the table, saying nothing more, keeping Leia waiting and wondering, until they were gone before he spoke again.

Pushing back from the table and lifting his wine glass, he took in a deep breath and a large swallow of his drink before addressing Leia.

"Your Highness," he began, seeming unsettled and uncomfortable. "Since the fall of the Republic, large sections of the Horaarn people have embraced many of our more…. ancient traditions and cultures: ones we had once set aside as a member of the Grand Republic. Now that we are an independent system, our laws have changed accordingly."

Leia shifted in her seat suddenly uneasy, disquieted. "I'm not sure I understand you, First Minister."

"We no longer regard many of the principles and values of the Republic as our own. You witnessed the Ambassador's demand that your young friend be restrained because our ancient laws call for those who have committed crimes to be restrained, held in custody and not permitted to mingle with the general population. We have no bail system and all criminals are imprisoned."

Leia ignored the implication that Luke was a criminal as she scrabbled through her mind trying to recall any history lessons on ancient Horaarn law she might have had… She drew a blank. "I'm not sure what this has to do with the committee tomorrow," she said, slowly, suddenly extremely anxious about Luke and the whole situation.

Teraten had the good grace to look embarrassed. "Princess, on Horaarn we do not presume innocence before guilt, we presume guilt before innocence. An arrest is a conviction. The onus at any legal hearing is on the criminal to prove innocence and…" He licked his lips nervously, before continuing, "As a criminal, Skywalker will not be permitted to enter the apartments you currently occupy."

Leia rose, her anger tangible but controlled. "You gave your word that Luke would be brought to me before the hearing!"

"The parliament vetoed any such freedoms for him. They will not suffer a criminal to…"

The Princess had to fight to keep her voice controlled, to keep her anger from spilling over into her clipped words. "First Minister, with all due respect, Luke is not a criminal. He was not arrested on Horaarn."

"No," Teraten conceded, "but, Lady Mothma informed me that he was being escorted while under arrest. Is that not correct?"

Leia, stared down at the white table cloth, at the glass sitting there. She wanted to lift the glass, wanted to throw the wine in the First Minister's face. Instead, she steadied her anger and fought to keep her rage at bay. "Yes, but the Alliance recognises the presumption of innocence before guilt. Luke was arrested by us, not by Horaarn law enforcement. Your argument is invalid, Teraten."

Luke needed to be with her, needed to be prepared, prompted, ready for the questions that would be put to him. Any slip, any hesitation that could add to the doubt the Horaarns already held about the veracity of the attack on the station and the Alliance would lose the system's support and supplies.

That couldn't happen. They had lost so much already; had been almost constantly on the run from the Empire since Yavin. The victory they had gained over the Empire's Death Star had brought the entire might of Palpatine's armed forces down upon them and the galaxy was suffering for it.

Worlds, like Cusrean, were being plundered for resources to build arms. People were being ensnared and drafted into the army and star fleets. Any who resisted saw their worlds invaded and subjugated, the population slaughtered.

Alderaan had been obliterated because of the Rebellion.

Leia forced her hands to remain relaxed as a wave of despair and grief washed over her, refusing to allow Teraten to see any weakness. Nausea rose in her throat, the rich meal she had shared with Minister Teraten roiling uneasily in her belly.

She looked around the room at the gilded decor, the soft furnishings, the large windows overlooking the snow-swept city.

Everything felt wrong.

Everything felt out of sync: off kilter.

Even her doubts…

She rarely doubted, rarely allowed her convictions to be clouded and questioned. The destruction of Alderaan had merely strengthened her faith in the Rebellion. Her grief drove her, giving her the passion to carry on what her father had conspired to create.

So why did disquiet pick at her, nibble at her and make her question everything?

Leia took in a breath to calm herself as Teraten spoke again, his face sombre. "I am sorry, your Highness. Skywalker agreed to… how was it he put it?"

He made a play of recalling Luke's words and Leia's heart sank. She knew what Teraten was about to say.

"Ah, yes… 'I willingly submit myself to your authority'…" Teraten looked grave. "A courageous and courteous young man. If a little foolish."

At that moment Leia couldn't have agreed more. "First Minister…. Surely it is not the Horaarn's intention to pass judgement and sentence, too? Luke is merely under suspicion of…"

"Striking an Officer in the execution of his duties in a time of war," he broke in, finishing her sentence. "A capital offense if I'm not mistaken – even under the Old Republic."

Leia was stunned. That information could only have come from Mon Mothma.

What was going on? This was supposed to have been a relaxing dinner before the committee hearing tomorrow: a hearing to establish the facts about the Cusrean attack, followed by a negotiation to maintain the support of the Horaarn Government and the supplies they currently gave to the Alliance. Suddenly, inexplicably, it had become something else.

It had become about proving Luke's innocence and Leia couldn't fathom why.

"Lieutenant-Commander Skywalker has not appeared before court martial! Guilt has not been established and capital punishment is not being considered!" Her voice was clipped, her words sharp. "Luke has suffered enough, First Minister…"

"Ah, yes… He was also arrested by the Empire, on Escaal, for crimes of treason and murder was he not? As I said Your Highness he is considered guilty under Horaarn law."

This time Leia couldn't reign in her temper; her panic for her friend. "I am also considered a criminal by the Empire, First Minister?" she snapped. "I have been under arrest and imprisoned by the Empire. Are you going to incarcerate me, too?"

Teraten suddenly laughed, delighted by her anger. "You are your father's daughter, Princess! My Goddess, I have missed sparring with him these long years."

He poured himself some more wine and offered Leia a top-up. She shook her head, unsure, uncertain if the First Minister has just conned her for his own amusement or if there really was a more sinister undercurrent at work here.

"I'm sorry, Leia," he said, bringing the formal meal and discussion down to a more personal level by the use of her first name. "I could not resist seeing if you have your father's passion and I have not been disappointed. Please be assured that we have no intentions towards Skywalker other than his appearance tomorrow at the committee to give his evidence. However, due to our laws as I explained, he cannot be brought to the apartments."

Leia was quiet. Her anger still stirred, simmering just below the surface. She lifted her wine glass and sloshed the liquid around while she thought, still temped to throw it over her host. "If Luke cannot come to the apartment then perhaps he can be brought early to the assembly rooms, where I can confer with him before the hearing?"

Teraten was quiet and Leia had the feeling he had more to say. "I will try to arrange something, Your Highness, but criminals are also barred from Government buildings therefore the committee is not convening within the assembly rooms as first arranged. It has been rearranged for the High Court…"

"Court…." Leia echoed, her consternation cloying, sickening.

The First Minister smiled. "Yes, the Court has excellent facilities. I don't know why we didn't consider it in the first place. Skywalker is to be transported there at oh-seven-thirty. I will see that your transport picks you up shortly thereafter so that you have time to confer with him before the hearing begins. Will that suffice?"

She nodded in acceptance. It seemed that it was the best she was going to get.

He looked at her, his face softening when he noticed her disquiet. Leaning across the table he took her hand in his. Leia wanted to pull away, to jerk her hand from his. His touch was vile and she could not believe that her father was once friends with this man.

"Don't look so worried, Leia," he smiled, gently, as though to put her at ease. There was no warmth to his eyes, though: no concern for her or Luke. Instead there was a flare of something else in his dark orbs that Leia struggled to place. "I'm sure that all will go well tomorrow."

It was only when she was escorted back to her apartment by officers of the First Minister's protection detail that it came to her. First Minister Teraten had looked scared.

There was only one thing that she could think of if that would have caused such fear in the First Minister.

The Empire.

It explained everything.

If the Empire was threatening the Independence of Horaarn then perhaps she and Luke were the bargaining chips? Hand them both over to the Empire and Horaarn remained free?

Except she had never known the Empire to keep a bargain.

If her suspicions were correct, if her feelings were confirmed and there was more riding on this mission than just supplies, then she knew that the promise she had made to Luke was moot. They would not be leaving after the hearing.

The door to her suite swept open.

"Your Highness!"

The double doors of her bedroom were open and See Threepio toddled out, pleased to see her.

"Has Artoo managed to patch into the security systems?" Leia asked as soon as they were alone. She stripped away her outer layers and handed them to the droid, knowing her sleep clothes would already be laid out for her.

"Ah, yes, Your Highness..." The droid turned on his heels and followed her into the room. "He has scrambled all monitoring of these rooms and reports that he has been able to bypass several firewalls and access..."

"Has he located Luke?" Leia kicked off her shoes and padded into the adjacent bathroom, beginning to unpick her elaborate hairdo.

Artoo, standing by the wall and fixed to the city's computer outlet by his scomp link, twittered excitedly.

"Yes, Your Highness," Threepio affirmed as Artoo bubbled on. "He says that Master Luke is being well cared for and has retired for the night. He is scheduled to leave the prison and travel to the High Court at oh-seven thirty."

Good. At least that hadn't changed.

"I'm being picked up around the same time and I'll need…"

Artoo blew a raspberry.

"What is it?

Threepio looked uncertain. "I'm sorry, Your Highness. But the First Minister has rescheduled your speeder for oh-eight-forty-five."

Leia stormed into the bedroom. "That son-of-a-b... Can Artoo contact Han?"

A muted bloop, and Leia didn't need to Threepio to translate that. As yet no contact had been established with the Falcon.

Leia sat on the bed feeling alone, feeling trapped. They were keeping Luke apart from her, keeping her apart from Han and the others. They had them nicely sequestered away from each other and now would be a good time for the Empire to swoop in and take them all.

But if that had been the idea behind the request for Alliance delegates, along with the pilot who had destroyed the Cusrean station, then why not just take them on the landing platform?

Why this elaborate ruse?

If it was a ruse...

Perhaps she was just reading more into this situation than she thought. Perhaps she was just being paranoid. The Horaarns had always been staunch supporters of her father, had keenly supplied the Alliance with food and medical supplies. That's what this mission was about: about maintaining that affiliation. Leia was sure that relations could be salvaged after the committee saw the data she had to present.

So why keep Luke from her?

She couldn't march back to Teraten and demand to know why the plans for her transport had been changed. That would give away Artoo's monitoring of the security systems and they needed Artoo where he was.

She needed to speak to Han. She needed to share her thoughts with him: needed to share her doubts and misgivings and her conflicted notions of what was happening here.

"Keep trying to get Captain Solo, Artoo."

The little droid blooped in reply and hummed quietly to himself as he worked.

"May I get you something, your Highness?" Threepio asked sadly. "The suite has a well-stocked selection of beverages and..."

"No, thank you, Threepio. Just bring me the diplomatic pouch. I need to review all the data on the attack before tomorrow morning."

She needed to know what she was saying. She needed to know and understand the data in minute detail. She had to be faultless in her testimony and second-guess what questions she would be asked, what answers would be demanded of her to adequately explain the deaths of over twenty thousand civilians at Alliance hands.

At Luke's hands.

A stiff bow and a muted "Yes, Your Highness," was her reply.

Leia rose from the edge of the bed and crossed to the large window. She stood still and watched the snow storm rage beyond, watched flurries caught by the wind dance in the external light of the apartment block. It was stark and beautiful but Leia was not fooled by its charms. She knew just how dangerous such a storm could be when caught in one.

ooOOoo

"Anything yet?" Han asked the sergeant as he threw himself into the acceleration couch and rubbed a hand over his face, his palm scraping across rough stubble. It was a rhetorical question, just something to say to break the quiet that had fallen over the ship; he knew the soldier would have advised him the minute Artoo Detoo had been able to connect him with Leia.

Thecla shook her head, glancing over at him from the engineering station where she was monitoring the comms.

"Nothing, sir... and the public channels are only broadcasting replays of the battle and the time of the committee hearing with the promise to the people that they will hear Luke Skywalker himself explaining his actions."

Han winced. It had been an unwelcome surprise to learn that the hearing would be broadcast and he worried how Luke would manage in the limelight. The sooner Artoo could splice through the city's comm systems and establish a link the better.

"He'll not let us down," Han told her, absently. "He's a tenacious little bugger."

Thecla looked confused. "Uh, sir... are we talking about Skywalker... I mean the Lieutenant-Commander?"

Han snorted laughter, "I was talking about the droid, but yeah, Luke's a tenacious little bugger, too. The kid never knows when to give up…" He paused, thought for a moment before finishing… "Which is probably why we're all here."

He watched her smile, watched her turn back to the comms. He grinned, sat up and leaned over the table. So, he hadn't misunderstood the looks she shot the kid, or how she had reacted when Luke appeared all dressed up.

"You like him?" He stated, sounding sure. "Don'tcha?"

Thecla stiffened and Han didn't miss the light flush that coloured her face as she turned further away from him.

"Ah! I knew it! There's something between you two!"

"I don't know what you mean, sir," Thecla told him coolly, frowning as she concentrated on her duties. "There is nothing between the Lieutenant Commander and myself."

Han knew he had her. "But you'd like there to be, wouldn't you?"

Thecla sighed, turned around as she rubbed at her tired eyes. She'd been trying to track comm. transmissions for hours and was getting nowhere. "Sir…"

"Han," he told her.

"Captain Solo, sir, I…"

"Han," he repeated, having fun.

Another sigh. "The Lieutenant Commander…"

"Luke," Han supplied, with a grin.

Thecla smiled in spite of herself. "… is a commissioned officer. I am a non-com. He is a pilot. I'm infantry. We don't fraternise."

Han wasn't giving up. "But you'd like to, wouldn't you?"

Thecla held his gaze as long as she could before she couldn't help but grin and laugh. "I wouldn't mind checking out his thrusters if that's what you mean, sir."

Han laughed aloud, impressed by the petite soldier. Luke would be a lucky man when he finally got around to knowing her a little better; she was feisty! The kid could use getting laid right about now: it was probably the best medicine for him. Even a five minute frig in a closet was worth more to a man's soul than hours sat in a chair talking to a head shrinker. Not that Han would dissuade Luke from attending his appointments – the kid needed all the help he could get.

"Just don't say anything to Haslam, he wouldn't understand," she requested as she turned back to her task.

Han gestured, 'lips sealed' with his fingers to his mouth. "Where is he anyway?" he was suddenly aware that neither the large soldier nor his co-pilot were anywhere to be seen and it was awfully quiet.

"Outside," Thecla said, frowning as she ran the scans over the comm channels again. "Haslam wanted to reconnoitre the landing platform, see if there was any way off. The Wookiee took a toolkit, I figured he was using repairs as a cover for Haslam being outside."

"Tool kit?" Han said uneasily, he hoped Chewie hadn't forgotten they may need to make a quick exit and wasn't attempting modifications while they were stuck here. "I'll uh… I'll see how they're getting along."

Han slid from the couch and grabbed his jacket, pulling it on as he walked to the hatch. He hit the release and walked down as it lowered. The wind hit him immediately and a flurry of snowflakes drifted into the ship. Pulling his collar tighter around his neck, Han ducked down under the ship. It was dark now and the snow was heavily blanketing and muffling the area.

For a space port it was awfully quiet. Han wondered if the snow was impeding travel, or if everything was being redirected away from the area because the Falcon sat here. He suspected the latter. He suspected that turbo cannons were aimed on his position from various vantage points, that the exit of the landing bay was heavily guarded and that the snow effectively dulled the spot lights the Horaarn's had washed the place with.

He also knew that any sound monitoring systems the Horaarn's had set up were being scrambled by the Falcon's jamming. Anything said within the ship and within twenty metres outside of the ship would be heard as static. He just hoped it would hold up.

So far the snow blinkered everything. That just might work in their favour if they had to blast out of here. They only had to find a way to interfere with the Horaarn's scanners and infrared readings, which is what Artoo was for.

"Chewie? You here?"

A muted growl was his answer and Han went searching under the ship. The ground here was relatively clear of snow and he found his partner and the soldier both crouched on the ground.

"What is it?"

Haslam looked up, gesturing to square grating on the floor. "It's a drain. Not ray shielded. We thought we had found a way off this platform, but it's too small for any of us to get through."

Han came around them, hunkered down beside them. A drainage system had to come out somewhere in the city. It would be an advantage to have one of them free to roam, free to check up on the Princess and Luke.

But the hole was smaller than any of the three of them and it may get thinner further in the tunnels.

He glanced around, couldn't see any other drain covers under the ship. There may be others on the platform, but they'd be snow covered and in the open for prying eyes to see.

It had been a good idea but…

"Captain?" Thecla called from the bottom on the hatch. "I have something!"

At last!

Han started forward, eager to speak with Leia. Then he stopped and looked back at the grating. "Sergeant?" he called, "Just how skinny are you?"

ooOOoo

"They keep changing things…" Leia paced as she spoke with Han over the secured comlink channel that Artoo had created for them. "First I was to come alone, then Luke was to come. Luke was to be brought here this morning so we could travel together to the Assembly Hall, then he was to meet me there. Now my speeder won't get me there in time to see him before the hearing. Han…"

She paused turning to walk the other way. "…they've changed the venue. It's now the Horaan High Court."

"High Court?" Han echoed, his voice tinny over the small device she clutched. "What's the deal?"

Leia sat on the bed, wilting with fatigue and anxiety. "A criminal is not allowed on Government property – or something like that."

"So much for innocent until proved guilty…" Han grumbled.

"On Horaarn it's the other way around," Leia informed him. "He's guilty until proved innocent. I won't even get to speak with him, now."

Han was quiet for a moment. "Leia, did they tell you it's going out on the holonet?"

Leia chilled, staring at the small comlink in her hand as though it was a foreign and strange thing she held. She rubbed at her forehead, feeling the pressure increase.

"No," she said thickly, suddenly more afraid: suddenly realising just how much they have been lied to and manipulated. "They didn't"

"This is bantha shit, Leia," Solo told her succinctly, getting straight to the point as always. "What do you want us to do?"

Leia hesitated.

What do I want to do?

I want to run. I want to get Luke back and run. I want to tell the Horaarns that the deal is off; that we have no intention of going ahead with this farce; that we will no longer grovel for their support – they either believe in the Alliance or they don't.

But the consquences…

They had lost so much recently, were running scared…

The supplies were…

The supplies are already lost…

She closed her eyes briefly at the truth of her inner thoughts. She didn't have to be a Jedi to know that. She didn't have to be clairvoyant to know that the Alliance had been brought here under false pretences and the Horaarns had an entirely different objective in mind.

Why broadcast the hearing? What were the Horaarns gaining by that? What would the Alliance lose?

But, they couldn't run.

They couldn't call it off.

She had a feeling they wouldn't be allowed.

They had been backed into a corner and had to see it through; no matter what the Horaarns were up to, no matter what their agenda towards the Alliance, towards Luke, was.

The Empire…

But that didn't mean they couldn't prepare.

"I have a feeling you have an idea," she smiled. Han was brimming with ideas – not always good ones, or successful ones, but he always had them.

"Yeah, I have a few." He sounded awkward, unconvinced of his plan's success. "I need Artoo to slice into the city's mainframe. I need him to disable the scanners and thermal imaging they have on us. I need any sound monitoring shut off. And, Leia….?"

She could see him running his hand through his unruly hair.

"… tell the little guy to be discreet."

Leia smiled, knowing Han was trying to get off the platform without the Horaarns being aware of him. "I'll have him send the city schematics to you."

"Just what I need, sweetheart," there was a smile in voice.

"Thanks, Han."

"That's why I'm here – to keep you and the kid outta trouble."

"You haven't been very successful so far," She told him, grinning, feeling happier and feeling that someone had her back after all.

"Yeah?" The word was snorted with gentle humour. "So what do ya call the Death Star?"

She laughed. "A fluke."

"A fluke?" he rasped, sounding hurt. She knew he wasn't.

"Besides," she told him, "the rescue was Luke's idea."

Grinning she shut off the comm before he could reply, effectively shutting him up.

She felt better having talked with Han: felt that she wasn't quite so alone in this. She had no idea what he was planning or what the execution of it would be. She only hoped that it worked and that when the trap was truly sprung on them, they would have an open escape route.

ooOOoo

She shot out the door controls, securing it shut and looked at him. He could see indecision and fear in her eyes – the first time that he had seen any weakness, any sign that the seasoned warrior held such emotions.

"Now what?"

There was a thud against the door as though something hard and heavy had struck it. A klaxon rang out, a loud insistent electronic alarm.

"Now what?" she called again, shouting to be heard over the noise.

The door was hit again, the middle buckling...

Luke grabbed her hand and pulled her toward the large, ornate windows. He pushed them open and stepped onto the balcony, into the heavy curtain of falling snow. His feet crunched in the thick drift that had collected at the balustrade.

He looked down and over the edge, at the icy river he knew lay beneath them.

"We can't!" she shouted as the door was hammered once more.

"We have no choice!" he shouted back, climbing up onto the stone banister and offering her his hand again.

She hesitated, glanced back into the warm room.

The door burst open, spilling soldiers in white armour into the room.

"Now!" he yelled.

She grabbed his hand, climbed up beside him and at the first shout of "Stay where you are!" they jumped together into the air, into the snow and fell hitting the water feet first.

The sudden cold drove the breath from him, his grip on her slipping as the strong current caught them and tugged and pulled at them. Thecla's hand was wrenched from his. Luke frantically felt through the water, arms flailing as he tried to find her in the dark water. But with his lungs burning for air, he kicked, propelling his body upward, muscles working against the currents. He burst through the surface, gasping in a breath of freezing air, frantically looking around for her.

"Thecla!"

A shadow fell over him and he turned in the water...

Luke started awake with a gasp, heart hammering as the insistent klaxon still sounded in his ears.

It took a moment for him to realise it was an alarm he heard, the same one from his dream, but that he wasn't running from chasing stormtroopers, or flailing in freezing water. He was lying under a thick quilt, in a warm bed.

And the alarm was sounded to wake him.

He groaned, partly from relief, partly from a desire to curl up under the covers and fall back asleep, but the alarm continued and, as sleep retreated, he realised where he was and what today meant.

"Shit..." he breathed, pushing aside the thick bedding and sitting up, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

The alarm silenced at his movement and the cell intercom crackled.

"Sir? You have an hour before the speeder leaves for the High Court. Your clothes..."

There was a slight scraping sound and a panel in the cell wall slid aside, revealing his uniform neatly folded in a recess.

"... have been cleaned for you and breakfast will be delivered once you are dressed."

Luke couldn't help but smile as he swung his legs out of bed and sat on the edge of the mattress, his feet flat and warm against the floor covering.

If this was how they treated criminals on this planet he must break some laws here. This was more luxury than he had ever known in his life.

The outside of the penitentiary was as forbidding as he had expected. Thick, high, grey walls had loomed in front of the speeder through the snow storm. The massive gates had raised just enough to allow the vehicle access into a well-lit tunnel that had angled downward under the main prison building.

His anxiety had been at its highest when the speeder had come to a stop inside a small garage and a door had swooped shut behind it with a heavy clang. A small side door had cracked open and Luke had seen a detachment of armed prison guards waiting for him.

It was at this point that the surprises had come.

"Welcome, Lieutenant Commander," the lead officer had said without a trace of sarcasm and offered Luke his hand to help him out of the speeder.

And when Luke had tripped over his feet because of the shackles he was told. "Don't worry, sir, we'll have you out of those in a few moments and you'll be more comfortable."

He had been taken into a well-equipped medical bay, shackles and cuffs removed, allowed to shower privately and given a medical. His still-healing back wound and the injuries to his face were noted and painkillers offered. He was then asked to change into the prison attire; loose fitting black pants and a similarly loose tunic with an orange patch stitched into the sleeve.

"We have categorised you as a remand prisoner, sir," an officer told him, tapping the patch. "Your uniform will be washed and returned to you for the committee hearing tomorrow."

He was lead from the area into a corridor and then a turbolift that headed upward into the facility before stopping several stories up. From there he was taken along a corridor of cells. Clearly of Imperial design, the cells sent tendrils of fright along his spine. When they finally stopped, and the door shot open, he was expecting to see the dark, bland, interior of the Death Star detention facility, or the tiny closet size of cell he had been held in on Cusrean.

It was neither.

It was a room.

A very white room.

A room with a view, no less... The transparisteel window looked out to the raging winter storm beyond. There was a real bed covered in white sheets and a heavy quilt. A small table was laid with food. There was a holonet player and in the corner, placed discretely behind a wall, was a wet room with a 'fresher and a shower.

"I trust you will be comfortable, sir," he was told before the door closed behind him.

He had spent his evening watching the holonet, catching up on news events and current affairs – although the Committee Hearing the next day wasn't mentioned - while snacking on the food. When the holo player had been shut off and the lights blinked out, he had lain on the bed and dragged the quilt across his body. He had plumped up the pillows and lay, watching the window as eddies of snow fell against the dark of the night, until he fell asleep.

Now, Luke stood and stretched, rolled his shoulders, trying to ease the tension he felt growing at the thought of sitting in front of strangers while giving an account of his actions over Cusrean. He glanced back at the window.

It had stopped snowing. The view was of massive snow covered walls and beyond them rolling countryside bathed in pure crystalline light as the rising sun glinted off the fresh snow.

It was beautiful, stark and quite foreboding and Luke felt a shudder of apprehension ripple through him. There was something wrong here, something not quite what it seemed: his senses were unsettled. An eddy of anticipation twisted his belly.

It was like Escaal, before the troopers had found his hiding place: that certain knowledge that something was about to happen, but he just didn't know what.

It was like Ra'imar just before Vader's attack on the base…

…Vader…

He shook himself.

No. It couldn't be Vader… He didn't sense him.

…reach out with your feelings…

He turned from the window.

No, he couldn't do that. He couldn't take the chance that Vader might sense him and bring the Empire down upon his friends, upon Leia, and destroy all hope of maintaining the relationship between the Horaarns and the Alliance.

Luke glanced around the room once more. He had the hunch that the comfortable cell, the kind treatment was all an act designed to fool him, designed to put him at ease and lull him into a false sense of security before the real cell door closed on him.

Feeling uneasy about the day ahead Luke turned from the window and, reaching for his uniform, he began to dress.

ooOOoo

Darth Vader smiled behind his mask.

His son was disconcerted, unbalanced, his presence in the Force tinged with anticipation and nervousness.

Luke fought the urge to reach out, struggling against his instinct to touch the Force. He was so unsure of his powers, his abilities and talents, afraid to use them.

Someday, my son, you will have no such fear, no such qualms. You will be a storm across the Galaxy, levelling all opposition in your path.

Not that Luke would have sensed his father even if he had sought the Force. Vader had cloaked himself, wrapping his presence in the heavy folds of the dark side. He was hidden from Luke, he was a vague shadow, nothing more, and he would only reveal himself when the time was right.

Then he would take his son into custody.

Before the entire galaxy, Luke Skywalker would be placed into his care. Luke would have no choice but to submit to the authority of the law.

Vader piloted the shuttle himself, easing the ship out of his private docking bay to join the waiting troop transporters and landing craft that had been assembled to accompany him to the surface.

ooOOoo