Disclaimer: Most of the characters featured are the property of G. Lucas.
No copyright infringement intended. I am NOT making any money with this.
ONLY TO BE ARCHIVED AT FANFICTION.NET
Timeline: Post- Vision of the Future, replacing Union
To M. For feedback, excellent company, fellowship in SW-madness and fun around the clock ;=) (Especially behind the wheel - I sure would like to see you with an X-wing!)
SPOILER ALERT: Planet of Twilight, Showdown at Centrepoint, Specter of The Past, Vision of The Future, Vector Prime as well as some later New Jedi Orders. (And naturally the Thrawn trilogy, how can anyone possibly avoid that? ;=)
WARPED UNIVERSE ALERT: For the sake of storytelling, Isard's not dead at all. Condolenses to those who get stomach cramps from the woman. I know what you're going through. Just thank the stars of Alderaan I didn't bring Callista back.
Star Wars: The Rising By Heidi Ahlmen (siirma6@surfeu.fi)
The holo continued, panning around some other high officials - both men and women, never aliens, seated near Isard, Daala included, but Senator Gann quickly stepped to his side and clicked it off because Luke could identify any others.
"I just thought you'd be interested to see this before I took this to the Senate."
As provocation, Luke almost retorted. This was getting cheap, even though the holo was quite a proof of Mara's former stature. He decided for a different approach. "If showing this to me prior to the Senate meeting is your way to trying to convince me that you might actually want to do me any favours then you've failed miserably. Where did you get this from?"
Before the Senator could for her reply, the hall door opened, and Leia burst in before it was even fully open.
"Something's happened," he told Luke with a tone so filled with agony that he stood up and stepped closer to his sister.
"Han and Lando have disappeared."
Luke didn't spare one more thought to the Senator who was left standing in the middle of her impeccably neat office as Luke hurried out of the Senate with Leia.
"I got a call from Mara and said that Han and Lando'd promised to get in touch this morning. Now we can't even trace the Falcon."
It was like a stun bolt had hit Luke. Mara had called and not wanted to speak to him? His worry over Han and Lando soon blanketed his disappointment as he noticed how fast Leia was walking.
It was only a quick trot across the avenue and they were back in the Palace. They didn't exchange a word during the run.
Luke caught his breath as Leia fingered the control pad to open the door to the Organa-Solo quarters. Inside they found Jacen sitting in front of Leia's ivrooy desk, fingers flying feverishly on the comm set.
Luke, Leia and Jaina and Anakin, wearing very worried faces for two teenagers, gathered around him.
"Any luck yet?" Leia asked.
Jacen shook his head. "The last beacon log came from Bastion, after that, nothing."
"General Antilles said there was something from around Ithor and sent it over. It was an old code or something, but it was moving slower than the Falcon usually does, so it was probably just a meteor."
Wheels began turning in Luke's head. If Han had disappeared from Bastion, and now there was s strange signal from Ithor as well as unexpected military action in the sector - -
"Signals can distort if they're transmitted from fleet carriers." Such as Star Destroyers, but Luke decided not to rattle Leia even though she could may as well reason it herself. He just didn't want to upset the kids.
Maybe Han and Lando had gotten in the middle of an immobilization of troops. What were the Imperials up to now? Leia had always had full confidence on the peace treaty, but there were a great number of those who felt that the Empire should've been wiped out completely and not leave shards of it to stir trouble.
Luke pushed Anakin gently aside and joined his nephew at the comm. He had a hunch Wedge had been as quick as he had. "Get me Wedge."
Jacen did as asked.
Wedge answered his comm quickly but the connection was bad as if he was on the move. "Luke?" he asked, and his tone was serious without a hint of pleasant surprise. "I was just coming to see you."
"What is it?" Luke and Leia asked in unison.
"We've picked up the Falcon's tracking signal. And it's coming from aboard the Judicator."
Luke was already going out of the door. Peace treaty or no peace treaty, this didn't sound good at all. "If the Squadron's flying out I'll go with them," he promised. Technically, he was still part of the infamous flying force, but with his teaching he seemed only to have time for flying from one place to another. It would be nice to take out his X-wing into action for a change.
Leia nodded. "You be careful." If anyone could find Han and Lando, it was Luke.
CHAPTER VIII:
Solo had been right. Bastion indeed resembled an abandoned mining town rather than a bustling Imperial stronghold. Naturally there were the usual guards and off-duty stromtroopers, but the air hangars were empty.
Mara had no trouble hiding the Ice in an empty fighter hangar near the Intelligence Headquarters. She wondered if it was too near, but decided to be arrogant. She secured her three blaster holsters on and headed out for the Headquarters.
The main avenue was still lined with hedges and well-trimmed lawns. mara kept an eye out for patrols, but there was only one which passed her from a distance.
Was it truly going to be this easy? She'd been all wrong sending Solo and Calrissian here - they probably couldn't tell a tapcafe from a governmental building. Sure, the major Imperial libraries were now open to anyone through the Openness Act added to the peace treaty, but the real information, the files New Republic Intelligence would most surely also be interested in, where housed in the Central Intelligence Agency.
Where Mara had, of course, broken into before. It had been one of her early assignments to break entry to recover a letter that would've proven quite awkwardly the true reason for Grand Admiral Thrawn's sudden disappearance from the lead. The reason that she had recently learned to be the Outbound Flight Project.
But how was she going to get in? The building was huge, but the windows didn't open. Last time she'd gone in during the night, using high-frequenzy laser cutters into an upper level window, but she had no such tools.
And the employees of the agency were probably above the addle-brained level of the stormtroopers, too intelligent for Force manipulation. Besides, it was not her forte, ay least to the extent to Luke's skills on the subject. Oh how he could come in handy sometimes. It had been a grueling confession from her, admitting to herself that she worked better as a team with him than alone.
Mara walked around the building, trying not to look suspicious. After all, if someone got interested she could always say she was looking for her pet rancor. That would be a distraction.
A distraction? Was that what she needed? The staff wouldn't probably be dimwit enough to fall for a window-breaking rock, but what if she could cook up something more sinister?
She jogged back to the hangar, and recovered her seldom used Jedi robes from the sleeping quarters. She snuck back to the side yard of the headquarters, and took a deep breath. This was going to work. It would have to.
Not to mention that she'd have to be quick.
After a short briefing from Wedge the Rogue Squadron boarded their X-wings. Luke's old fighter stood out unpleasantly from the later-model, more slimmer T-65AC4 models flown bu the rest of the Squadron, but noone ever threw a joke as they all knew that this was the very ship that had played a great role in the fall of the Empire.
Another reason perhaps being that Luke simply adored the battered little ship to pieces. It belonged to the picture, just like Artoo did.
When the little droid was securely latched into his place in behind the cockpit, Luke put his helmet on, and waved his hand to the mechanics who pulled off the stairs. He usually didn't use them, just used the Force to cover the hop, but it was nice to be given a hand for a change.
"Red five, would you like to do the honours?" came Corran's voice through the comm.
"Red five copy red two, I'm taking the lead."
"Gold leader copy," Hobbie declared, and the channel was quiet again.
Artoo whistled cheerfully. The hangar doors were opened and Luke felt the ever-so-familiar pang of adrenaline as he pulled back the ignition latch, waiting for the engines to warm and when they were ready, released the brakes. The X-wing shook as it gained speed into the Coruscant sky.
Artoo beeped a confirmation of their course to Ithor and Luke gave him the thumbs-up. He looked on the radar. The rest of the Squadron was following after him in an arrowhead formation.
"Takeoff clear," Luke heard an unfamiliar voice state to the comm. Probably one of the new pilots. He would've had to be a good one to be accepted to the task force. And if it was difficult getting recruited, it was probably more difficult to blend in as a NR military rookie, facing a group of old war veterans.
"Copy, gold leader," came Wedge Antilles' rattling reply from the surface.
"See you in Ithor," Luke announced and felt the engines kick into full throttle as they jumped into hyperspace, one X-wing after another.
************************************************'
Thank you for reading. Reviews and feedback would be greatly appreciated - they're the fuel that feeds this creative furnace.
Heidi Ahlmen siirma6@surfeu.fi
ONLY TO BE ARCHIVED AT FANFICTION.NET
Timeline: Post- Vision of the Future, replacing Union
To M. For feedback, excellent company, fellowship in SW-madness and fun around the clock ;=) (Especially behind the wheel - I sure would like to see you with an X-wing!)
SPOILER ALERT: Planet of Twilight, Showdown at Centrepoint, Specter of The Past, Vision of The Future, Vector Prime as well as some later New Jedi Orders. (And naturally the Thrawn trilogy, how can anyone possibly avoid that? ;=)
WARPED UNIVERSE ALERT: For the sake of storytelling, Isard's not dead at all. Condolenses to those who get stomach cramps from the woman. I know what you're going through. Just thank the stars of Alderaan I didn't bring Callista back.
Star Wars: The Rising By Heidi Ahlmen (siirma6@surfeu.fi)
The holo continued, panning around some other high officials - both men and women, never aliens, seated near Isard, Daala included, but Senator Gann quickly stepped to his side and clicked it off because Luke could identify any others.
"I just thought you'd be interested to see this before I took this to the Senate."
As provocation, Luke almost retorted. This was getting cheap, even though the holo was quite a proof of Mara's former stature. He decided for a different approach. "If showing this to me prior to the Senate meeting is your way to trying to convince me that you might actually want to do me any favours then you've failed miserably. Where did you get this from?"
Before the Senator could for her reply, the hall door opened, and Leia burst in before it was even fully open.
"Something's happened," he told Luke with a tone so filled with agony that he stood up and stepped closer to his sister.
"Han and Lando have disappeared."
Luke didn't spare one more thought to the Senator who was left standing in the middle of her impeccably neat office as Luke hurried out of the Senate with Leia.
"I got a call from Mara and said that Han and Lando'd promised to get in touch this morning. Now we can't even trace the Falcon."
It was like a stun bolt had hit Luke. Mara had called and not wanted to speak to him? His worry over Han and Lando soon blanketed his disappointment as he noticed how fast Leia was walking.
It was only a quick trot across the avenue and they were back in the Palace. They didn't exchange a word during the run.
Luke caught his breath as Leia fingered the control pad to open the door to the Organa-Solo quarters. Inside they found Jacen sitting in front of Leia's ivrooy desk, fingers flying feverishly on the comm set.
Luke, Leia and Jaina and Anakin, wearing very worried faces for two teenagers, gathered around him.
"Any luck yet?" Leia asked.
Jacen shook his head. "The last beacon log came from Bastion, after that, nothing."
"General Antilles said there was something from around Ithor and sent it over. It was an old code or something, but it was moving slower than the Falcon usually does, so it was probably just a meteor."
Wheels began turning in Luke's head. If Han had disappeared from Bastion, and now there was s strange signal from Ithor as well as unexpected military action in the sector - -
"Signals can distort if they're transmitted from fleet carriers." Such as Star Destroyers, but Luke decided not to rattle Leia even though she could may as well reason it herself. He just didn't want to upset the kids.
Maybe Han and Lando had gotten in the middle of an immobilization of troops. What were the Imperials up to now? Leia had always had full confidence on the peace treaty, but there were a great number of those who felt that the Empire should've been wiped out completely and not leave shards of it to stir trouble.
Luke pushed Anakin gently aside and joined his nephew at the comm. He had a hunch Wedge had been as quick as he had. "Get me Wedge."
Jacen did as asked.
Wedge answered his comm quickly but the connection was bad as if he was on the move. "Luke?" he asked, and his tone was serious without a hint of pleasant surprise. "I was just coming to see you."
"What is it?" Luke and Leia asked in unison.
"We've picked up the Falcon's tracking signal. And it's coming from aboard the Judicator."
Luke was already going out of the door. Peace treaty or no peace treaty, this didn't sound good at all. "If the Squadron's flying out I'll go with them," he promised. Technically, he was still part of the infamous flying force, but with his teaching he seemed only to have time for flying from one place to another. It would be nice to take out his X-wing into action for a change.
Leia nodded. "You be careful." If anyone could find Han and Lando, it was Luke.
CHAPTER VIII:
Solo had been right. Bastion indeed resembled an abandoned mining town rather than a bustling Imperial stronghold. Naturally there were the usual guards and off-duty stromtroopers, but the air hangars were empty.
Mara had no trouble hiding the Ice in an empty fighter hangar near the Intelligence Headquarters. She wondered if it was too near, but decided to be arrogant. She secured her three blaster holsters on and headed out for the Headquarters.
The main avenue was still lined with hedges and well-trimmed lawns. mara kept an eye out for patrols, but there was only one which passed her from a distance.
Was it truly going to be this easy? She'd been all wrong sending Solo and Calrissian here - they probably couldn't tell a tapcafe from a governmental building. Sure, the major Imperial libraries were now open to anyone through the Openness Act added to the peace treaty, but the real information, the files New Republic Intelligence would most surely also be interested in, where housed in the Central Intelligence Agency.
Where Mara had, of course, broken into before. It had been one of her early assignments to break entry to recover a letter that would've proven quite awkwardly the true reason for Grand Admiral Thrawn's sudden disappearance from the lead. The reason that she had recently learned to be the Outbound Flight Project.
But how was she going to get in? The building was huge, but the windows didn't open. Last time she'd gone in during the night, using high-frequenzy laser cutters into an upper level window, but she had no such tools.
And the employees of the agency were probably above the addle-brained level of the stormtroopers, too intelligent for Force manipulation. Besides, it was not her forte, ay least to the extent to Luke's skills on the subject. Oh how he could come in handy sometimes. It had been a grueling confession from her, admitting to herself that she worked better as a team with him than alone.
Mara walked around the building, trying not to look suspicious. After all, if someone got interested she could always say she was looking for her pet rancor. That would be a distraction.
A distraction? Was that what she needed? The staff wouldn't probably be dimwit enough to fall for a window-breaking rock, but what if she could cook up something more sinister?
She jogged back to the hangar, and recovered her seldom used Jedi robes from the sleeping quarters. She snuck back to the side yard of the headquarters, and took a deep breath. This was going to work. It would have to.
Not to mention that she'd have to be quick.
After a short briefing from Wedge the Rogue Squadron boarded their X-wings. Luke's old fighter stood out unpleasantly from the later-model, more slimmer T-65AC4 models flown bu the rest of the Squadron, but noone ever threw a joke as they all knew that this was the very ship that had played a great role in the fall of the Empire.
Another reason perhaps being that Luke simply adored the battered little ship to pieces. It belonged to the picture, just like Artoo did.
When the little droid was securely latched into his place in behind the cockpit, Luke put his helmet on, and waved his hand to the mechanics who pulled off the stairs. He usually didn't use them, just used the Force to cover the hop, but it was nice to be given a hand for a change.
"Red five, would you like to do the honours?" came Corran's voice through the comm.
"Red five copy red two, I'm taking the lead."
"Gold leader copy," Hobbie declared, and the channel was quiet again.
Artoo whistled cheerfully. The hangar doors were opened and Luke felt the ever-so-familiar pang of adrenaline as he pulled back the ignition latch, waiting for the engines to warm and when they were ready, released the brakes. The X-wing shook as it gained speed into the Coruscant sky.
Artoo beeped a confirmation of their course to Ithor and Luke gave him the thumbs-up. He looked on the radar. The rest of the Squadron was following after him in an arrowhead formation.
"Takeoff clear," Luke heard an unfamiliar voice state to the comm. Probably one of the new pilots. He would've had to be a good one to be accepted to the task force. And if it was difficult getting recruited, it was probably more difficult to blend in as a NR military rookie, facing a group of old war veterans.
"Copy, gold leader," came Wedge Antilles' rattling reply from the surface.
"See you in Ithor," Luke announced and felt the engines kick into full throttle as they jumped into hyperspace, one X-wing after another.
************************************************'
Thank you for reading. Reviews and feedback would be greatly appreciated - they're the fuel that feeds this creative furnace.
Heidi Ahlmen siirma6@surfeu.fi