Face caught up with Corran in time to see him disappear into one of Destiny's turbolifts. Out of breath, he summoned up one last burst of speed and wedged his foot in the gap between the closing doors. They whoosed open as they detected an obstacle, and the pilot collapsed into the lift.
"Horn," he gasped, "your feet don't seem to be on fire, but you must have shot out of that hangar bay faster than a lizard-monkey from an electric shock." Corran said nothing, just stood, staring blankly at the doors, simmering. "I take it you're on your way to the bridge to kill Durnick with your bare hands. I'll take your silence to indicate that this is not a million parsecs from the truth. Well..."
"Face we lost good men and women out there, good pilots because Durnick was so determined to eliminate those pirates, for what reason we don't know. Quite frankly, I don't care right now, because I am going to have his ass hauled up before a tribunal for reckless and ill-considered action leading to the deaths of too many people. So help me, Face, I am going to destroy that man."
Corran was physically trembling with fury. Had he not been confined in a lift, Face would have taken a step or three back. Corran's eyes burned and he had to look away. He opened his mouth to speak but thought better of it and closed it again. He turned to face the doors, standing next to his friend. Then he did risk speaking.
"Guess I'd better stick around then. Try not to do anything to get yourself summarily executed. Tact and subtlety are your friends." The words were barely out of his mouth when the lift doors opened and Corran stormed onto the bridge.
"Durnick!" he bellowed. All activity on the bridge stopped and all heads turned to watch Corran.
"I'd hate to see this guy being tactless," muttered Face as followed Corran off the lift.
"Durnick!" repeated Corran. "Get out here right now!"
"Horn!" came a voice from across the bridge, "you are in trouble." The admiral sounded almost as angry as Corran. "Wilful violation of a direct order, insubordination, insolence - you're heading toward a busting, let alone a court-martial, and now you have the temerity to stride onto my bridge and shout at me like I was a trainee! Get back to your quarters right now, or I'll have you forcefully removed and confined there!" Durnick was spitting blaster bolts, but Horn looked like he was prepared to actually open fire. Face winced.
"Well, there go our commissions," he muttered.
"I am going to damn well shout all I want at you Durnick, and by the end of this day, so help me, I'll have you up before Ackbar! What the sith were you doing out there, you stupid fool? You opened fire on your own people, then you sent them headlong into a trap! I warned you, I warned you it was a trap, but you were too caught up in whatever personal vendetta you must have against these pirates!"
The bridge was deathly silent, and the deck plates shook with the force of Corran's bellowing. Face was murmuring something about commissions not mattering when you're dead, but it wasn't nearly over yet.
"Horn, you are out of line! Security! Drag this man off my bridge and lock him in his quarters!"
"Stay back!" he screamed at the security guards (who, incidentally, had no intention of moving anyway), as the air around him began to crackle. Face had the option to step back this time, and did so. Corran's anger was manifesting itself through the Force. Not good, thought Face. This was going to get messy.
The shuttles took off from Destiny's secondary hangar, their pilots blissfully unaware of the confrontation on the bridge. The group of five Lambda shuttles deployed their fold-up wings and headed toward the disabled ships that had been readied for capture in the closing moments of the battle. The pirates watched the oncoming ships and prepared themselves for the inevitable interrogation, terrified. They needn't have worried about it.
The shuttles opened fire.
Face, a helpless observer to the unfolding battle felt his insides freeze when he saw the flash of light through the bridge viewport. He ran to it in time to see the shuttles flying through the remnants of the pirate ships. Corran was at his side. They both turned to back Durnick, faces like flint. Corran advanced on the admiral, who held his ground until he realised than Corran was not going to stop. He moved back, remembered that he was in command and halted. Corran stopped right in front of him. When he spoke his voice was so soft that Face could barely hear him. Durnick met his gaze.
"What have you done?"
"My duty."
"Your duty does not cover murder. You will answer for this, admiral, believe me." Corran pushed past him and marched toward the lift.
Face was also moving toward it when Durnick said, "My duty is to defend the Republic in times of war against its aggressors." To Corran's surprise, it was Face who turned back to the admiral.
"We're not at war any more!" he barked. "The war is over, admiral, the Empire is defeated, and we're supposed to be aiding the rebuilding of this galaxy, not destroying it all over again!"
The pilots entered the lift and the doors closed on their fury.
Borath answered his door in his bathrobe, still wet.
"Yes, what do you...oh, hello Captain. What can I do for you sir?" Corran was standing there, still in his flightsuit, looking tense. The smile didn't quite come off.
"You've done enough for me today. You acted with courage and presence of mind out there Bordan, and you probably saved us all - you certainly saved me. Without you, those fighters would have made space dust out of me. Thanks."
"My pleasure, Captain. Any time you fancy another trip to death's door, just let me know and I'll pull you back."
This time the chuckle was genuine. "I told you Borath - call me Corran."
"So, Corran, you killed Durnick yet?"
The other's face lost its humour. "I'm just going to make a call. See you around." With that, he turned and walked off. The door closed, and Borath hoped never to be in Corran Horn's bad books. His vidscreen then lit up, indictating an incoming call. He walked over to it.
"Bordan here. Oh, hello Kaz."
"We're going over to the Station for a drink. Coming?"
"Yeah, sure. You'll have to give me ten unless you want to be seen drinking with a man in a bathrobe in a public place."
Kaz grinned. "Oh, perish the thought!" She signed off, and Borath smiled. He went to find some clothes.
"Wedge, this man is not only incompetent, but he's hiding something. He has his own personal agenda on this mission, and that makes him dangerous." Corran was raising his voice again. General Wedge Antilles had known Corran for the best part of eight years, and could see the pain in the man's eyes.
"Corran, I can see how much this has upset you, but I really don't know anything about this Admiral Durnick. I may be piloting a desk, but I'm not the squadron leader, if you see what I mean. I don't know who all our line officers are, and I certainly haven't the authority to reassign them." He knew exactly how Corran felt about this, and knew what he would say next.
"Wedge, can't you go to Admiral Ackbar about this? At least find out who this guy is? You should have been here to see it - he nearly got his entire fighter force wiped out! At least two of ours went down after taking friendly fire from Destiny! And he just killed those pirates we disabled - there's something he doesn't want us to know, and the Republic doesn't work like this, surely?"
"Alright Corran, I'll try to get some background on the man and the mission. Meanwhile, you look awful, get some rest." Wedge knew how the other man was feeling - he'd felt it so many times, seeing children fly to their deaths in Rogue squadron.
"I don't feel like resting right now, Wedge. I want to prepare a formal report on this and get it logged with Command."
"Corran, that may not be the best idea. You know Command doesn't like unsolicited reports - you didn't have an assigned responsibility on this one, you could be making enemies that you don't need right now." Corran was getting agitated now, Wedge could see that even over the vidlink.
"Durnick sent those pilots to his death, Wedge, and he didn't listen to what we told him from the battlefield. What kind of a commander doesn't listen to warnings like that? He could have at least have his sensors check it out! I won't let him get away with this!"
Wedge sighed and ran his hand through his black hair. "If you think it's best Corran, then go ahead. Have your Jedi senses picked up anything that Durnick might be concealing?" Corran shook his head.
"Only a feeling of general unease, a little apprehension about the mission ahead. He could be concealing something, but only a well-trained mind could conceal something like that from a Jedi mind-probe. At the moment, I'm reluctant to tap into the Force, I..." He broke off.
Clearly something was really bothering him about his Force abilities. Wedge didn't dare think. With Corran this angry... Wedge decided not push it and just nodded. "I'll get on to Ackbar right away." He looked up at Corran. "He was wrong today, your admiral, and even if nothing serious comes out of this, Fleet Command are going to want some answers from him."
Corran thanked him. "And I'm staying on here, Wedge. I won't let Durnick throw me out. If anything I want more experienced pilots. We're certainly going to need replacements fast."
"They might be meeting you at Minos itself. I'll see if Ackbar will let me send another cruiser out there." There was a twinkle in Wedge's eye. "Meanwhile, try not to kill your immediate superior before Ackbar has a go at him." Corran grinned, but it was weak. Wedge's eye lost its twinkle. "Take care of yourself out there, Corran."
The other man nodded, and signed off, collapsing in his chair. He picked up a datapad and began to work, but found he couldn't concentrate. He needed to be relaxed if he was going to get this formal report done, and that wasn't going to happen sitting in his quarters brooding. He leapt up, and headed out the door and down the corridor.
Admiral Cruk Durnick gazed out of the window in his ready room. He had made mistakes today. He had made an enemy of Corran Horn, for one, and that was not a good idea. He had the feeling that Horn would be around for a while longer, and that he would be getting a call from Fleet very soon, probably from Ackbar himself. Horn was a hero of the Republic, and had contacts that could make serious trouble for Durnick.
But it had all been necessary, he knew it. All the deaths, they were unavoidable in war, and this was war, no matter what that smart-ass Loran said. And in war, there would always be casualties. They were necessary. In war, there were no murderers, only heroes.
"Thought I might find you here." Face Loran's voice cut through Corran's thought processes. Corran looked up, and saw Face hovering by the table. The other pilot sat down opposite him. "So, it looks like it's about time for the traditional post-slaughter discussion on the point of it all."
Corran managed a limp smile. "Well? What is the point of it all?"
"My friend," Face began wryly, "if I knew that, I'd be making millions selling my memoirs, not be sitting here talking to you."
Corran gave up the pretence of a smile. "There was no need for any of this, Face. Just no need. You said it yourself, the war's over. The Republic is supposed to be spreading peace through a troubled galaxy, not heading off to some abandoned backwater."
"The Old Republic made a serious mistake at Minos, Corran. You've read the briefing, heard the admiral's rant. We're out to bring justice back to Minos."
"What if they don't want it? What if they've had enough of our interfering? This isn't about justice, anyway - it's about politics, it always is. The Republic is expanding its territory, gaining influence and resources. It's politics and you know it!"
Face was taken aback by this; he hadn't expected Corran to come out with something like that. "Cynicism doesn't suit you, Corran," Face tried to make light of it.
"Come off it, Face, you know I'm right. What reasons does any government have to 'bring justice' to anywhere? The Emperor and his New Order brought justice of a sort to the worlds he conquered. Not all of them resisted the Rebellion from fear of the Empire - most of them were glad for the peace the Empire brought them. Thousands of worlds benefited from genuine law-enforcement."
Face had had no idea that Corran was going to be this bad. He must have been really hit hard by the battle, Durnick had really got to him. And Face found it hard to refute all he was saying. But not some of it.
"Corran, the Empire was led by the Sith, it practiced discrimination of all sorts, oppressed its opponents, killed the Jedi, established totalitarianism and suppressed democracy."
"And what has democracy got us?" Corran continued bitterly. "Now every fool gets a say in how the galaxy's run. People like Durnick wouldn't have been able to do what he just did in an Imperial fleet. And as for law-enforcement? Hah! The Republic's in the business of recruiting smugglers, black marketeers and other assorted criminals who have 'gone respectable'."
"Yeah, most of whom have sacrificed a lot for the Republic and been instrumental in bringing peace to the galaxy."
"Face, we don't have peace in the galaxy! What's this mission to Minos for? Imposing our order on another few sectors of space. Even the best intentions can be corrupted so easily. Sometimes I wonder why we bother with a central government at all. We only end up in wars and 'local disputes'. Legalised killing, Face. The admiral's right about one thing - we are at war. We'll always be at war, we'll just call it 'peacekeeping'. Ironic, isn't it"
Face was about to respond, but saw that his friend was upset. "Corran, we've lost friends in the line of duty too often to get like this every time something makes us doubt the rightness of our actions. You'd prefer that the various factions in the Minos Cluster continue their activities? You want some Twi'lek crimelord trying to wrest control from a corrupt corporation with everybody else caught in the middle suffering and being exploited? You can't say that's none of our business. Come on, Corran, pull yourself together."
Face was expecting another tirade, but he didn't get one. Corran spoke quietly now, without anger. "We didn't even lose any friends out there, Face. Maybe that's the point. Our friends are always hailed as heroes. They died for a purpose, for a reason, protecting their friends and loved ones, or defending some innocent population, or toppling an evil empire. These pilots just got slaughtered for no good reason, and no one will ever know." Tears entered Corran's eyes as he thought of all those he knew who had been lost in battle, and Face felt his own eyes prickling. He looked around.
Borath and his companions were sat at a table with similar expressions on their faces. He shook himself. "Hey, Horn, stop feeling sorry for yourself. Some people did lose friends today." He pointed over at the other pilots. "You can't isolate yourself from these people just because you might lose them too."
Corran was about to protest that this was not the reason he hadn't gone to sit with them, but stopped himself to think about it. It was, wasn't it? He stood, and Face did the same. "Alright." He wiped a hand over his face, ran his fingers through his hair, and walked over to them. "Mind if we join you?"
Borath looked up, met and held Corran's gaze for a second, and said, "Sure." The two older pilots pulled up chairs for themselves. He motioned to the server. "Lomin ales for these gentlemen, please." He pointed at Face and grinned. "On his tab." Loran's face was a picture of surprise and amusement. He nodded at the server, still grinning.
"Well at least you weren't standing on me this time." Kaz and Teskan both looked puzzled and Borath grinned.
"This is the mighty Garik 'Face' Loran, and his companion is Corran Horn." Borath turned to his own friends. "Katherine Hollway and Rogan Teskan." Nods were exchanged.
"You saved us all early, Rogan," said Corran. "We wouldn't have known about the trap."
"It was unfortunate that so many also died. And please, call me Tesk."
Corran only nodded. "One day we may find out why. It may even have been worth it."
The silence at the table was not any less poignant for all the background noise in the tapcaf. It was broken by the ship's intercom system.
"All hands, be advised that Destiny will be entering hyperspace en route to the Minos Cluster in thirty seconds. Repeat, twenty-nine seconds to hyperspace." Twenty-eight seconds later, they all felt the slight shift that indicated hyperspace entry had been completed.
"We may know soon," said Teskan. Kaz looked at him, slightly puzzled.
"Whether it was worth it," explained Face.
"I doubt it," muttered Borath. He hoped he was wrong. Corran knew that whatever it was, it had only just begun.