The Galactic underworld was, in many ways, a living organism. One perhaps most resembling a wild nexu. It required sustenance, had natural enemies and occasional allies, preyed on those weaker than itself, and had many different 'breeds'. But one would be hard pressed to find a 'breed' more peculiar than Crimson Dawn.
Once a powerful crime syndicate, Crimson Dawn was founded near the end of the clone wars by an unknown kingpin. While they lacked the ancient history and vast resources of criminal empires like the Hutt cartel or Black Sun, they had still managed to rapidly establish themselves as a powerful force in the underworld, with an influence rivaling even the Pykes. Their activities had included smuggling, piracy, the spice trade and even the slave market. However, they were known above all else for their infamous spy network that made the syndicate among The Galaxy's most sought after information brokers for many years.
And yet, despite all the influence and power, Crimson Dawn all but disappeared a few years before Yavin, only to make a brief return to the 'spotlight' after Hoth.
It was not a period Han liked to think about.
The months spent frozen in carbonite were certainly nothing Han wanted to relieve, but getting caught up on everything that had happened during said months made the experience even worse somehow. Han didn't appreciate getting stolen from Fett to be auctioned off to the highest bidder by The Dawn, but learning who was calling the shots for them at the time had hurt more than expected.
Even before that business, Han hadn't cared much at all for The Dawn. Ignoring his personal history with the group, there was often something about them that radiated evil, or even fanaticism. And when one had worked for the scum of The Galaxy like Jabba, that was really saying something. There were reasons as to why he'd worked for almost everyone except them during his smuggling days.
Unfortunately, the rebellion felt differently about dealing with the Dawn, and Han couldn't say he blamed them given the current situation. This wasn't the first time the syndicate came to their aid, and they had been useful in the past, even if it was only to further their own ends that simply happened to align with those of the Alliance at the time.
Besides, it was different this time. Or so they all hoped.
"Are you alright, General?" asked the white-haired young woman standing next to him. "I know you have history with those people, but we really need this."
"For the last time, Winter, it's Han. General makes me sound far too respectable." he joked. The Corellian had never entirely enjoyed the title, and he certainly wouldn't let the woman who was basically Leia's sister to call him by anything other than his name. "It's this place. Smugglers and rebels don't feel at home in open spaces. We're used to meeting behind closed doors."
And he couldn't help but suspect that the choice of rendezvous point was intentional on Crimson Dawn's behalf precisely for that reason. That, and there was some irony he couldn't quite put his finger on in making the exchange on the grassy plains of Dantooine.
The roar of sublight engines rang in his ears as a beautiful luxury yacht soared into view from behind them. It turned around and executed a perfect landing that placed its cockpit facing that of the Falcon. A hiss of depressurization was heard as the ramp was lowered, and two familiar figures walked down it.
Arriving in that pretty thing and fashionably late Han thought with mild irritation Sounds about right for that guy
"General Solo." the elegantly-dressed man greeted. He had that same, almost-smarmy grin on his face as he shook Han's hand. "It is a pleasure to see you again. I had a feeling you'd come around."
"Well, it's not a call I made alone Mr. Arakan." Han said with as much congeniality as he could muster. "And your proposal is still being considered. This is only a transaction."
"Of course. I understand." Arakan said before turning towards Winter. The grin he flashed her reminded Han of a younger Lando, and not in a good way. "It is a pleasure meeting you as well, Madame…"
"Oh, my name is not important." Winter said with false friendliness that completely blunted her words. "But likewise, Mr. Arakan."
"Once again, I understand." the somewhat flamboyant gangster said, utterly unoffended, before turning his attention back to Han. "You remember Senna, I assume." he said, gesturing to the middle-aged woman with a regal bearing to his right. It was the same woman who'd delivered his message to Han and Luke on Corellia. Han nodded cordially at her, and sensed Winter doing the same.
"Pleasure seeing you again, Ma'am." Han said before returning his attention to Arakan. "I assume you have the intel we asked for?"
"Straight to business, General?" Crimson Dawn's head honcho teased. "Please, join us on the Floating Diamond. I just added some fairly expensive brandy to the refreshments menu."
"I appreciate the offer," Han said with as much charm as he could afford given his hopefully invisible annoyance. "but fighting a war doesn't leave us with a lot of time for social gatherings."
"Regrettable, but that is reality. We do not always get what we want." Arakan said with regret that Han almost believed, before gesturing to his assistant. Senna reached into her pocket and produced a datacard bound in a leather cover that bore the Crimson Dawn emblem. "Everything we have is here" she said.
Not allowing his suspicions to show, Han handed the upstart crime lord the metal container in his hand. "One million credits in advance, the rest when we verify the intel. As agreed."
Opening the camtono, Arakan grinned at its contents before taking the datacard from Senna to offer it to Han, who readily accepted it. The Corellian General's datapad quickly confirmed that the over-priced article contained the relevant information. Or at least seemingly so.
"It's been a pleasure doing business with you, General." Arakan said, his smile somehow still persisting. "I know you rightfully have some suspicions, but I'm certain we'd be making many similar transactions in the future, once you've confirmed this information."
Han shook the galactic kingpin's hand. "I'd hope so, Mr. Arakan." He said, not entirely meaning it.
After exchanging farewells, the two rebels boarded the Falcon and started the trip back to the fleet. Han, naturally, elected to to scan the the ship for homing beacons before entering hyperspace. He'd had enough interactions with Arakan's ilk to know one could never be too careful around them, hence why he wasn't returning to the fleet directly.
"So?" he asked the woman sitting in his ship's co-pilot seat. "Did you recognize him?"
"No" she answered with disappointment "I'd never seen him before now, but I'm almost certain he was one of her lieutenants. He likely seized control when the syndicate was nearly eradicated before Endor."
Han frowned. Using an alias and a disguise, Winter had acted as the rebellion's liaison to Crimson Dawn during their earlier interactions with the group. He'd been relying on her perfect memory hopefully providing them with anything new about Arakan.
A comfortable silence stretched between them for a while, and Han found himself desperately trying to avoid thoughts of Arakan's predecessor.
Leia found herself hesitating for a moment as she stood in front of Han's door. She knew it wasn't a hesitation born of doubts, but rather of gathering courage. Because as much as she hated to admit it, Luke was right. She did struggle with expressing herself sometimes, and didn't even always understand her own feelings. But she needed to be honest with the man she loved. She needed to mend that bridge before they could move forward.
Tapping on the door, it slid open moments later to reveal a somewhat disheveled, and evidently surprised, former smuggler. "Leia." he said, almost stuttering. "Er, please come in."
"Why thank you, General." She said with a playful smile as she entered the room. As to be expected, the small quarters were more than a little disorganized, with clothes littering the floor and datacards scattered on the small desk in the corner. Moving to sit on the bed, Leia envisioned many light-hearted arguments in her future; ones not unlike those she recalled her parents having. Bail Organa hadn't always been an organized man outside of his work, much to her mother's occasional annoyance.
"So," Han started, "What brings you down to the slums, your worshipfulness?"
The Alderaanian rolled her eyes at the nickname and sighed. "I know things have been a little…tense between us, lately. I guess I wanted to talk."
Han snorted. "Sure took you long enough."
Leia mock glared at him as he sat next to her. Whatever her failings in communicating were, Han Solo was no better in that regard. They'd both wasted time because of stubbornness and pride before.
"I….wanted to tell you why I hesitated when you asked me to marry you." She explained .
Han's face soured a bit. "Leia, if you're having second thoughts, I understand. I mean, marriage is a pretty big commitment, and you're a princess. Princesses don't marry just any–"
"Oh, stop with the 'I don't deserve you' nonsense." she said with a smile "You've been spewing it since Endor and it was never true, Han. And it was never why I hesitated."
The Corellian frowned. "Then what was it? Because I thought after we confessed eternal love on Endor, you'd stop retreating every time we got closer."
Leia became somewhat dejected at that "I used to do that, didn't I? I didn't entirely understand why, to be honest. I thought I couldn't help lead a rebellion and fall in love at the same time, and I guess that was part of it. But mostly…I was just afraid of losing you to this war. I didn't think I could handle it after Alderaan. So I kept you at arm's length as much as I could."
Her eyes softened fractionally at Han's contemplative expression. "And...that's why you didn't give me an answer that day?"
"That's what I thought at first." She corrected. "But I believe I had already moved past that after I got you back, at least mostly. The bigger reason was…that you want to be a father."
Han opened his mouth, but no words escaped it. Leia smiled softly at that. "I've seen the way your eyes lit up when we talked about it. And I want to be a mother too, Han…. But this war has been going on for so long, and it doesn't seem to be ending. I don't want to bring children into a galaxy so full of strife."
"Then we make a better one for them first." Han said with no hesitation as he squeezed her hand, catching her off-guard completely.
"Leia I'm not bringing kids into this mess anytime soon either." he continued "Hell, I'm not even sure I'd make a decent father as I am, much less a good one. My old man wasn't exactly around for much of my formative years, so it's not like I have a clue what it's like. So as much as I want to know that feeling, I'm more than willing to wait."
Leia blinked before releasing a sardonic laugh. "Then…I guess we wasted time for no real reason again."
"No, your stubbornness did, your majesty." He said with that lopsided grin that made her heart flutter, although she hid that with an amused snort. "You're not one to talk, Laser brain. Communication problems are just one more thing we have in common."
"I don't disagree." He said. "So next time, we talk about it. And we make things work."
Leia grinned. "I agree. Because otherwise, spending the rest of our lives together would be harder than I thought."
The Corellian's eyes widened to a nearly comical degree. "You mean—" he started with a boyish excitement, only for her to interrupt him with a finger to his lips.
"Yes, Han. The answer is Yes." she said before initiating a soft kiss that they both melted into, and she didn't need the force to sense his joy. She was already sharing every bit of it.
The situation in the largest conference room of Home One gave Luke a deja Vu feeling that brought him back to that briefing before the Battle of Endor. But even though the current situation wasn't anywhere near as fateful, there was a finality to it that Luke couldn't quite pin down, and he wondered if the force was trying to tell him something.
The young Jedi sat on one of the stairs-like, graded benches as a technician tinkered with the large holotable lying at the center of the room. Supreme Admiral Ackbar and General Cracken were already conferring near the object, and the presence of two high command members told Luke to expect a moderately grave situation.
The various starfighter squadron commanders, ship captains and lower-ranking officers tensed as the holotable came to life, and Luke felt more than saw the tensed curiosity of the man sitting next to him.
"Just like Yavin, huh?" Wedge said in an attempt at levity, causing Luke to replicate his grin from the mentioned day. "Well, I won the bet we made back then, if memory serves me right."
Wedge stifled a chuckle. "Yeah, so no bets this time. They can't throw anything worse than a death star at us anyway, and those don't scare me at this point."
Luke's grin widened. "That's fair. You're the only one here with two of them painted on your starfighter."
Wedge opened his mouth to respond, only to be interrupted by Admiral Ackbar's voice. "Officers, May I have your attention?" the Mon Calamari said gruffly, and the room became quiet in an instant. "As you all know, we have recently suffered attacks that left us with some fairly extensive losses, in both lives and resources. Today, we gather to prepare a campaign that will bring justice to those fallen in said attacks. And you have all been chosen to take part in said campaign."
The holoprojection of a moustached man in an imperial moff's uniform appeared above the holotable, alongside that of a planet that Luke couldn't recognize and some scattered data.
"The man behind those recent attacks on our outposts is a rogue moff by the name of Xerath Rammus." General Cracken explained, and Luke resisted the urge to squirm given his last encounter with the moff's forces. "He'd been completely off the map for a year and a half before showing up to make his move last month." Cracken continued. "We had reasons to believe he was somewhere in wild space, or even the unknown regions, and recent intel confirms his primary base to be located in this system." He said, gesturing to the floating holographic orb.
"The Bakura system." Cracken elaborated. "Deep inside wild space, and easily the most important commercial hub out there. It might also be the civilized system farthest from the core to come under imperial occupation. We believed that the Empire had no presence there anymore, but it seems that Rammus moved his operation into the system after the Empire left."
Admiral Ackbar gave a wet sound that was the Mon Calamari equivalent of clearing one's throat. "Our intel from various sources, including our own probes and scouts, indicate that the former moff has no less than thirty-five star destroyers at his disposal; twenty victory-class ones and fifteen of the imperial class. He also has no less than two interdictors and five lancers, not counting starfighters." the supreme commander of the rebellion's navy explained. "Needless to say, that is nothing to scoff at. And we might require the full might of our offensive fleets to neutralize this threat."
Luke frowned. Thirty-five star destroyers were indeed a force to be reckoned with, but unless he was mistaken, they didn't require all of that.
The Alliance's military doctrine emphasized the use of starfighters and gunships over capital ships. While the Empire largely relied on star destroyers that could easily be used to subjugate planets and cause mass destruction, the Alliance focused on ships like the B-Wings, or the relatively recently introduced Nova-class gunships. Both were designed to nullify or destroy capital ships, if deployed in sufficient numbers.
The Battle of Denon alone had witnessed the destruction or crippling of almost twenty star destroyers, and the Battle of Arkanis saw the only super star destroyer in the outer rim retreating for repairs. Both battles, and most others since Endor, saw heavy use of those two models, effectively turning the tide of the conflict.
Truth is, the Empire had always underestimated star fighters, hence why run-of-the-mill TIE fighters didn't have much to brag about aside from their speed. And the imperials were leaning into the production of the more capable TIE interceptors far too late into the game. Relying on numbers only for starfighters clearly wasn't working for them anymore.
Like many rebel fighters, and all of high command, Luke was grateful every day that the TIE defender project wasn't carried out on a larger scale.
"If you'll excuse me, General." Evaan Verlaine interrupted. "How did he manage to hide that many star destroyers in one inhabited system without us noticing?"
"He didn't, Captain." Cracken explained. "He has a ground base on the planet, but the star destroyers are all a single lightspeed-minute out of the system, scattered at various points that we haven't been able to determine."
"Still, isn't the entirety of our offensive forces a bit overkill, Sirs?" Wedge asked, mirroring Luke's earlier thoughts. A sudden diversion of so much of their forces could leave some key systems vulnerable.
"I'm afraid not, Commander." Ackbar said. "We've also received an intel package from Omega source. And the contents confirm the situation to be much more complex and dangerous."
As the rebel leaders further explained the operation and assigned the officers their roles, the frowns filling the room deepened in between shocking announcements, and Luke finally understood the finality he was sensing about the campaign.
Xerath Rammus could barely remember the last time he had attended a conference of moffs. To most on the moff council, those meetings had been an incredibly dull, but ultimately very necessary evil where economics were discussed, military forces were redistributed and petty rivalries were ignited. Very often, the people in those meetings had held a mixture of envy, contempt and professional respect for one another.
The conference he was currently attending was certainly much more interesting than those old ones.
"You cannot rush this, Xerath." Moff Asghar's holographic projection said. "Destroying some poorly defended outposts does not mean you can take on their rebellion with their current numbers."
Rammus did his best to hide his contempt. His face illuminated by the office's comfortable lighting, a blue hue was added by the holographic projections of all five deep core warlords and that of High Admiral Daala. And He knew that every twitch of his facial muscles could send a message he didn't want to send.
"Perhaps I can't." He acknowledged "At least not with my forces alone. And perhaps even together we can't tackle both the current regime and the insurgents. But we can cripple the rebellion by destroying their offensive forces. And if you time it right, you could remove Drome from power."
"A coup is not that simple, Xerath." said Moff Gideon "Every piece must be in place before we go for the throne."
Rammus resisted the urge to grit his teeth. A former ISB colonel, Gideon was the de facto leader of the unofficial Empire formed by the warlords in the deep core. The dark-skinned moff was one of the most cunning minds Xerath had ever met, and he wouldn't change anyone's mind until he had Gideon's backing.
"What we're attempting is not a mere coup, my friend." Rammus said, almost passionately. "It is a restoration of the rightful government. The new order that we all spent half of our lives building and maintaining."
"It doesn't matter what we call it." Moff Dresdan said, "We are simply not ready to make our move yet. Your trap is a dangerous gamble, and you're lucky you're still part of this after you went ahead with your plans without consulting us."
"With all due respect, Governor, everything is a gamble in war. And ours is a highly calculated one." Daala objected boldly. "We have a reasonably accurate estimation of the rebellion's military strength following our recent operations, and their offensive capabilities are more outmatched than they think."
"And if they supplement their forces with ships from their garrisons?" Asghar asked, causing Daala to shake her head.
"That is highly unlikely, Sir." she said. "Any forces diverted from the garrisons would leave key systems vulnerable to attacks by the regime. They wouldn't risk that, especially after the goodwill they lost at Denash."
Rammus resisted the inclination to smirk, and his heart swelled with pride in the supreme leader of his fleet. Daala was a brilliant and confident officer, and he could tell the other Moffs were at least somewhat impressed by her. Although Gideon was as difficult to read as always.
"In that case, Admiral," the man in question said "We can only hope that the trap is indeed for them, and not yourselves."
Bakura was far from Luke's first campaign after Endor, and he was no stranger to the preparations that came with such an operation. He had attended more briefings than he could count during his years with the alliance. Flown into swarms of TIEs dozens of times. Briefed and rallied his men before every mission, and kept their hearts steady every time. But the actual mission's circumstances were certainly nothing he'd dealt with before, which likely explained the unease he was feeling.
Staring through the magnetic field into the depths of space didn't ease his tension much, and neither did the fact that the hanger he was standing in was uncharacteristically quiet, or as quiet as it got with the final check ups being made. Home One was Admiral Ackbar's flagship, and even its technicians were the best in the fleet. Despite the unease, Luke found himself relaxing somewhat as a familiar presence brushed against his mind.
"Reminiscing, Sir?" Rex asked. "I remember the General also found the stars calming before missions."
Luke turned around with a grin and gave the clone veteran a hearty handshake. "You could say that. I was remembering our first mission together."
"Ah, that was a good one." The clone said. "Stormed the castle of the most dangerous man in the Empire and lived to tell the tale. Not many people could've done that, but we pulled it off. A shame the squad didn't last long."
Luke's smile turned somewhat somber. "You know, Han once told me that nothing was forever, especially something like a squadron." He said. "I didn't really understand that then, but time and the jedi teachings helped me see what he meant."
Train yourself to let go when the time comes Master Yoda had taught him. As much as he missed the Krayts, he was happy with the choices they'd made. Anu had never been at home in the field, and seemed to be doing more good working directly with intelligence. Ahri also seemed happy back home on Lothal. Although he hadn't talked to a certain ornery dresselian in a while now…..
"Are you sure you want to do this, Rex?" Luke asked. In spite of Luke's suggestion, the clone wars veteran had elected to postpone his retirement, but mostly stuck to training 'shinies' after the Krayts disbanded. And Luke really didn't want to lead his father's old friend into combat again. Rex deserved better than being another casualty of war.
"Absolutely, sir." The bearded clone answered, before he seemed to hesitate for a second. "Although, as much as I hate to admit it, I'm not as efficient on the field as I once was. This one might be my final mission before I head to Chandrila."
Luke relaxed a bit. "I'll hold you to that. And if you die one me, you're getting demoted."
Rex laughed. "I wouldn't worry, Commander. After you faced your father at Endor, I doubt there's anything they can throw at us that you wouldn't handle."
Luke was beginning to laugh, until realization hit him. "You know?" he asked, utterly shocked.
The older man nodded sadly. "Ahsoka told me when she came back to us." he explained "Not that I didn't have my doubts before she said anything. She had faced a sith lord before, and it didn't shake her the way Vader did. I suppose the way you behaved in his castle made the guess more educated."
Luke didn't know what to say. "I'm sorry, Rex. I–"
"Don't apologize, Sir." Rex interrupted firmly. "I knew the General was far from a perfect man, even if I'd never imagined he would ever become such a being. But I am glad that even though he lost his way, you helped him find it back. I'll choose to remember him as the man and friend I knew. And you are like that man in every good way, Commander."
Luke could hardly process what the older man said, and could only muster a subdued. "Thank you."
The clone grinned once more and placed his left hand on Luke's right shoulder. "No need to thank me either, Sir. I merely speak the truth."
Luke was about to reply when another presence burst into his awareness, causing him to turn around and grin as a familiar ship approached Home One.
He suddenly had a really good feeling about this operation.
-O-
Author's Notes:
And so the stage is set for the big battle. Mostly a set-up chapter, but I hope you enjoyed it. I know the wrap up for the Krayts' fates was a little lazy, but they were always more of background characters and not a big part of the story.
Some more insight into the villains, and the rebellion is heading into a trap. How much do they know? What is the trap? Don't ask me yet. I can only say that the end is near.
As usual, let me know what you think. Likes/dislikes/thoughts...it will mean the world.