"Hey Sergeant, look at that!" The private on guard pointing up at the star studded night sky.
The watch sergeant at the North Entrance gate swung his head to the Northwest and saw what his man saw.
"It's just a falling star, Johns." He said, dismissing it from his mind. It was a warm muggy night and he had only 3 hours left of his 8-hour shift. The sun had just set an hour before and now they had to be extra alert till their releifs showed up. They have been on high alert ever since that alien ship crashed on Hope Island. The first month his and his men would have called in a snapping twig. Who knew how the aliens would attack? After a few weeks they began to relax again. So far none of the aliens had left their ship or launched the counter attack. Many in the media said that the Empire of Goth had chosen some really bad allies in their bid for world conquest. Then when the squad of aliens were brought in to be held for execution, thing got jumpy again. Now the edge was getting dulled and the early evening watch was becoming routine.
"Wow it just exploded! Did you see that sergeant?"
The sergeant tuned out his man's annoying voice as he scanned the sky to the south wishing that it was midnight so he could head back to the barracks.
Tahiri stopped and did a slow scan around her using the special 'night enhancement' goggles that she had strapped to her head. She was about an hour away from her objective and that meant moving slower so she wouldn't trip any hidden sensors. The droid had found the blueprints to the Command and Control base and a complete layout of all sensor and anti-personal mines. So she knew that the chances of actually tripping over a new sensor was small but this close she didn't want to take any chances. The complex was buried under a mountain with one main surface entrance at the North side of the mountain. There was only one surface road leading to the complex and a small air craft field. It had 25 levels with each level having about 4047 sq meters of floor space. Each level served a different function from barracks, to supply, to vehicle storage, weapons training. It was a complete military camp but completely under a mountain. Armed with this secret information she was headed to the only weak spot in their armor. After doing a complete scan, she started heading up the side of the mountain to her first objective.
The stolen plans showed that a forward assault was out of the question. Although the 10 meter thick reinforced doors, a 'steel' and 'concert' mixture that she didn't quite understand but had read that it was designed to withstand several hours of high explosive attack, was no real problem for her concussion missiles but it would allow the natives critical second in which to either kill the prisoners or move them to a new location in the base. She didn't have the manpower or the time to do a room-by-room search of the 25 level complexes. She knew what level and what area that the crew of the Widowmaker was currently held on, she knew how to get on that level and how many guards both fixed and roving were in that area. She knew when they would switch the guards, when the heaviest traffic and repair times were. In short, her partner had found out everything that he could about everything that happened in that complex. Right now and until they had a reason to change everything she had a huge advantage over them, one that she didn't want to give up.
So the only way to keep her advantage was to get in the complex and to the prisoners before they found out that she was there. She would have to go in alone, a fact that didn't sit well with the droid, by using the air vent system found on the West side of the complex. Captain Arien Yage wasn't very happy to hear her plan either. She wanted Tahiri to come to the Widowmaker first pick up some support then attack the complex.
"My storm troopers could support you easily. With their help we can blast open that front gate and get our people out no matter where the aliens hid them."
And how many more people, ours or their, would die in the process? Tahiri had thought to herself.
"Yes Captain, but if I sneak in we can stage the rescue with no lost of life on our side. If I stop at the Widowmaker first, they will know that our next stop will be at the complex. Right now I know everything about the working of the people inside, when they do maintance work, how often guards are changed, when the prisoners are feed, questioned, and other things. If they know we are coming they could change everything and they may decided to kill your people before we have time to find them. If I can get in there undetected, get to the prisoners' cells, and get them up to the main floor; my partner will fly in and blow the front doors open. We get out to the Double Trouble and head down to your position before they can figure out what has happened."
"Your partner? The droid!"
"Yes ma, he can fly my ship and fire the missiles at the door."
"And what happens if you are caught or killed?"
"My partner is instructed to fly down to your location. I will be wearing sensors and comlink so he can follow my movements. Also to help me I have a special data pad, which he has modified, that I will be able to slice into one of the data hub near my entry point. That way he can monitor, advise and help draw away any troops if I am discovered."
Tahiri heard her mumble something about crazy Jedi but in the end she signed off on the mission. So Tahiri would sneak in, get the prisoners out and then head down to the Widowmaker and pick up the rest of the crew. Captain Yage and her storm troopers would lay down cover fire while the rest of the crew, armed with emergency rations and air supplies, would board the ship. Tahiri knew it would take 2 weeks to jump to the nearest Galactic Alliance planet, Galantos, and her ship's environmental systems could not handle the extra 219 bodies for that long. They all will be breathing can air long before they make it there.
They also had tried once more to contact the GA using the Widowmaker codes but the idiot at the out post must have made it a blanket blackout since they were still unable to get past the outpost. Tahiri had uttered some more Shaper curses, vowing to make Ensign Hertz the new pool manager on Hoth. So after some sleep, she would crawled into her one working escape pod and ride it down to the surface. On another planet, with advance sensors, the pod would have been identified for what it was. On this planet with only 'radar', which would pick it up, they would assume that it was a meteorite since the metal in the pod was roughly the same amount found in the meteorites in this system. She wouldn't be able to use the retro-jets or replusers until she was safely beyond the visual sight of the base, so it should be an interesting landing.
She wore a mat-black combat suit with armor plating in the arms, legs, chest and back area; mat-black boots that came up past her ankles, a black jacket, and a black face mask. Under her jacket she had two full bandoliers of thug bugs, one of the gifts from the Shapers before she left, 4 thermo grenades on her belt; data pad, extra clips for her pistol in her pockets, tools to help her slice into information wires, a small medical kit incase any other the prisoners need help, night goggles, communication equipment, small scanners, a special amphistaff, filled with a venom that puts people to sleep not to kill them, wrapped around her waist. She had a pistol on her right hip and on her left hip a special holster that will hold her light saber and not allow it to swing. When she walked out of her cabin the droid gave her a low and impressed whistle and made some comment about her looks that she found amusing.
"Thank you, I'm sure Anakin Solo would have said the same thing."
She looked over the air vents with both her enhance vision and a small portable scanner. Each vent was about 2 meters in height and about one meter in width. According to her information there were no visual sensors in the vents, only sensors to detect atmosphere conditions. In the event of an attack or abnormal atmosphere conditions the vents could be closed with more of those 'steel and concert' panels to cut off their air supplies and prevent access by hostile forces. The wire mesh that protected the vent was fine enough to keep most animal life out and yet allow the flow of air. She held her hand up to the vent and could feel the air being drawn in by the huge fans further down the line. With one last look around the area, she pulled out her light saber and cut enough of the mesh to lift up and crawl under. The files that the droid had access showed that in one hour, just past the midnight hour, they had a team of guards do a walk by of the vents, she would still be in the complex when that happened so she couldn't leave any signs that she had been here. For once her small size was an asset instead of a problem, she could easily walk down the tube to her next objective.
After walking about 27 meters her next challenge came into view. The tube bends in a 110-degree angle to lead down to the huge fan that was pulling the air down into the complex. Not only was it a steep angle with smooth walls that offered no handholds, but also it was about a 30-meter drop into a wire mesh that protected the fan. She kneeled down at the lip of the drop and checked the time on her data pad. According to the information they stop each vent fan for one hour during the day to let them cool down. That is why she chose this vent over the others since it would be easier to get by them without damaging it when they were stopped. Since she was not 100% sure what cutting them would do or what alarms it might set off she would rather do it this way. She reached out with the Force behind her and found the 4 guards that were patrolling the vents. They were semi-alert on what was going on around them but sure they were wasting their time. She reached up and turned off the power supply to her goggles as she saw a light source getting closer to her vent. She could hear their hushed voices and saw a light source play over the vent. She felt no heighten suspicion as the guard walked by without bending down. She let out a breath that she hadn't notice holding. The second chance of being discovered went by without any complications. When she was sure they were moving on she turned back on the power to her goggles and looked down the vent at the fan. She could start to see it slow down some. Maneuvering her body around she held herself above the vent, waiting till she could hear it come to a stop. Taking a deep breath she let herself fall. Using the Force to slow her decent enough to keep her moving but not fast enough that when she landed to make any noise or get hurt. Once she hit the mesh she reached out with the Force to make sure nothing had changed. After she cut a hole in the mess she dropped the 3 meters to the bottom of the vent, where it bended back to a straight shot. She had about 45 meters to go till she reached the point that she could cut her way out of this vent.
Luke Skywalker let out a small sigh as he sat through a session of the Chief of State's Advisory Committee. Being the leading Jedi Master and on the High Council on Jedi Affaires was not enough torture to suffer through Cal Omas, his long time friend and Chief of State of the Galactic Federation of Free Alliance, had also asked him to also be on the Advisory Committee. To help him lead the GA down the right path. But sometimes he felt that he would rather face the Yuuzhan Vong again then deal with most of the non-sense that was discussed in all these committees.
How did Leia ever develop the patience to deal with these people is beyond me. Luke thought as a representative from Kuat was discussing the problems caused by the late Senator Viqi Shesh defection to the Yuuzhan Vong during the war. It was not the problems that Senator Shesh caused that had the new Senator from Kuat complaining but the perceived discrimination that the Senate has towards Kuat. The new senator was lodging a complaint that the Senate was deliberately slow on payment for the ships made at the Kuat shipyards, ships that were helpful at the retaking of Coruscant.
"Senator, we are paying your government according to the contract that was signed shortly after the Fall of Coruscant." Cal said sounding calm and interested in what the Senator had to say.
"That we were forced to sign with a knife at our throat!"
"Senator, please." Cal said in soothing tones, "We all were in the same position at that time. The Yuuzhan Vong …"
"The Yuuzhan Vong was not the knife I was referring to but at the disinformation that was spread about my late friend Viqi Shesh by the Jedi and other forces that wish to topple the Kuat government."
"Sir, I'm not a fan of the Jedi as you know," Senator Fyor Rodan said. Luke knew that was a huge understatement. Senator Rodan has never been what Luke would call a friend of the Jedi; he has tried to obstruct the Jedi at every turn. For a long time Luke never understood why Senator Rodan was so against what he and other were trying to accomplished until he talked to the man shortly after arriving at Mon Calamari. He was mostly worried about the real threat of a government-supported cult that refused to participate or follow the said government laws. That Luke's Jedi were nothing more then half trained vigilantism causing more trouble then helping. Luke had to admit that Rodan made a large amount of sense and he made many changes due to Rodan's concerns. "But we have independently verified the facts that Mister Skywalker has presented to this body."
Before the new Senator could respond, Corran Horn rushed into the chamber and walked quickly up to Luke's position at the table.
"Excuse me please sirs, but I need to speak with Master Skywalker."
"What's wrong?" Luke asked quickly after killing the power to his microphone.
"We have a big problem Luke, it is Tahiri."
"What! What happened to her?" Luke looked over at Cal while standing up, "Excuse me Chief of State, but I must go and supervise a problem that involves one of my best Jedi."
"Are we about to be pulled into another war Mr. Skywalker?" Rodan asked sarcastically, talking over the low hushed voices in the chamber.
"No, sir." Corran answered the senator, "But Jedi Knight Tahiri Veila had found the Imperial Frigate Widowmaker and is in need of immediate assistance."
"The Widowmaker!" Cal asked looking at Corran. Corran nodded his head but didn't look all that happy. Luke wonders why Corran was not happy about this news. "This wonderful news, I believe we should take a recess so that I can be briefed on this news along with Master Skywalker."
"May I join you sir?" Rodan asked
"Of course you may," Cal answered after checking with Luke and Corran, "We will reconvene after the afternoon meal period.
"Two days ago Tahiri attempted to contact us but was blocked by the relay outpost." Corran told the three men on the way to Chief of State's office. "It seems the officer on duty had thought Tahiri was just a kid playing around with the hyper-comm. net. He forwards a report to Military Intelligent, hoping that they could track down her. One of the Intel people couldn't figure out how she was able to bounce the signal way out in the Unknown Space so they contacted me to make sure it wasn't a practical joke."
"Are you sure it was her?" Luke asked as the walked in Cal's private office.
"The codes all check out, plus when I contacted the Outpost a hour ago they told me that they recorded a new call from the same location but this time the codes identified as the Imperials." Corran activated the communication consul tying it in with the Holo-net. "She didn't broadcast very long the second time. They are trying to contact her now."
"Have we contacted the Imperials yet?" Rodan asked as Corran raised the outpost.
"Not yet Senator Rodan, we don't have the full story from her yet. All we know that they are still alive but in some kind of danger."
"This is Outpost Alpha-Gamma 056, how can we assist you?" A female voice said over the speaker.
"This is Jedi Master Horn, I am with Chief of State Omas, Senator Rodan and Master Skywalker and we wish to talk with your Captain please."
"Yes sir! One moment please!" The voice sounding nervous and true to her word within seconds a new voice replaced the young woman.
"This is Captain Delion."
"Captain Delion, this is Master Skywalker. I understand you have some information about one of my Jedi?"
"Unfortunately not much right now sir, we have been trying to reestablish contact with the Double Trouble since Master Horn asked us to."
"Captain Delion, this is Chief of State Omas; what can you tell us?"
"When Jedi Veila contacted us two days ago she reported that she found the Widowmaker on a uncharted star system in the Unknown Region. The Widowmaker had crashed landed on a primitive planet and was under attack by the natives of that world. They only have 219 surviving members left and enough power in their batteries for one week of shields. She was requesting that we establish contact with Master Skywalker so he could arrange a rescue effort."
"Captain, we have reestablished contact with the Double Trouble channel Y-098."
"Tie it in with my current channel."
After a few seconds all four men heard the sounds of a R2 unit. Luke knew it was the R2-L616 he had assigned to Tahiri. Luke tied in a program that would allow him and the others to see what it was saying.
"R2-L616, this is Master Skywalker; is Tahiri awake?"
YES.
"Could you have her come and talk to us?"
IMPOSSIBLE, TAHIRI IS CURRENTLY ON THE PLANET SURFACE.
"What?" Corran asked, "What is she doing down there?"
TAHIRI IS ATTEMPTING TO RESCUE 5 SURVIVING MEMBERS OF A NEGOTIATION TEAM THAT WAS CAPTURED BY THE KINGDOM OF HYTER.
"She is doing what?" Corran exploded.
"Maybe the droid had better give us a complete briefing on what is going on." Senator Rodan said before Corran could ask any more questions.
"I agree, droid could you tell us what you know about the situation there?" Cal asked.
All three men and the outpost listen as R2-L616 gave a detail report on Tahiri's actions since arriving at the planet, the conditions of the Widowmaker and the planets population. And how she came up with the rescue plan after being cut off from outside help.
"What is her plan after she gets the prisoners free?" Luke asked after the droid finished the report.
WE WILL TRAVEL TO THE WIDOWMAKER POSITION AND LOAD THE REST OF THE CREW SINCE THEIR SHIELDS WILL NOT HAVE ENOUGH POWER TO PROTECT THEM WITHIN THE NEXT TWO DAYS. THE CREW HAS BEEN BRIEFED TO BRING ONLY EMERGENCY OXYGEN AND FOOD SUPPLIES SINCE THE DOUBLE TROUBLE DOES NOT HAVE ENOUGH TO SUSTAIN EVERYONE FOR THE TWO WEEKS IT WILL TAKE TO REACH Galantos.
"Why didn't she go and get the crew first before she went after the prisoner? The crew of the Widowmaker could have helped in any rescue." Cal asked out loud.
WE HAVE COMPLETE ACCESS TO FLOOR PLANS AND STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES FOR THE COMPLEX. SHE WAS NOT CONFIDENT THAT THEY COULD REACH THE PRISONER ALIVE IF THEY KNEW SHE WAS ON THE WAY.
"Which is what would happened if she went after the Widowmaker first. The next logical stop would have been the prisoners." Corran said grudgingly.
"Did she attempt to contact the natives of the planet and open up any discussions?" Luke asked, already knowing what the answer would be.
NO.
"Why not?" Rodan asked, his tone not accusatory but curious.
TAHIRI FELT THAT SINCE SHE WAS CUT OFF FROM OUTSIDE HELP TO CONTACT THE NATIVES MAY NOT BE IN HER BEST INTEREST SINCE THEY HAVE NO KNOWLEDGE OF US IN ORBIT AROUND THEIR PLANET.
Senator Rodan nodded his head thoughtfully as he walked over to one of the chairs in the office. Luke looked at Corran and Cal and saw men also nod their heads, it was not the best solution but probably the best considering the situation she found herself in.
"How long has she been on the surface?" Luke asked.
FOUR HOURS 18 MINUTES, SHE HAS A TRACKING SENSOR ON HER BODY SO I'M ABLE TO MONITOR HER PROGRESS. SHE IS CURRENTLY IN THE VENTILATION SYSTEM MAKING HER WAY TO A POINT WHERE SHE CAN ENTER THE COMPLEX WITHOUT BEING DETECTED.
"Very well," Cal said after sitting down at his desk, "Double Trouble you are to maintain contact to the outpost and brief Jedi Veila when she gets back. If she runs into any trouble you are to contact us at once, understand?"
YES.
"Captain Delion, you and your team is going to give this your top priority. If you lose contact or receive any more information you are to contact me at once, understood."
"Yes Chief of State."
"I'm going to try to find a ship or two to get out there, at least to the outposts position to assist her when she get that far. I'll be in touch." Cal closed down the channel. He spun his chair around to look outside. "Master Horn, would you please go to the Supreme Commander's office and see what they can give us for this operation. A ship, at least as big as frigate hopefully bigger but a frigate would do, that can be routed to the outpost a.s.a.p. If we can get it there early enough we will coordinate with Veila to meet them along some point earlier."
"Yes sir."
"Sir, I would like Master Horn and his son Valin to meet Tahiri and the Double Trouble when they arrive."
"Very well, I'm sure she will be happy to see a friendly face. But I don't want a ship routed here then out there, if they have to they can meet the ship at the outpost."
"Yes sir, I'll get started right away."
After Corran left, Luke looked over at Senator Rodan who was still looking thoughtful.
"Will we tell the Imperial Remnant that she found their missing ship?" Luke asked.
"Yes," Cal said turning back to look at Luke and Senator Rodan, "I just hope the Grand Admiral will be reasonable about all this. He is a pretty level headed solider except when his troops have been treated like they have been there. He may want to go bomb them in to the Stone Age for what they did to some of those prisoners."
"Sounds like they already at the stone age there," Rodan said with a snort, "Just my luck although, I finally have a Jedi who is perfectly willing to work with in the law. And she gets her support cut out from under her." He got up from his chair and started walking towards the door. "I'll go see if I can get that whinny Kuat Senator to postpone for a few days, at least until this problem is more secured."
Luke tried to keep his surprise from his face as Senator Rodan walked out of the office; the chuckle from Cal told him he was not completely successful.
"Relax Luke, Fyor is a good man underneath that tough hide. His priories are just different then your that is all."
"I know, I'm still trying to get use to this politician life that you and Leia take for granted." Luke said with a small smile, "Still I thought he would be breathing fire over this problem."
"He would be if the situation had been different. But Tahiri Veila had tried to work within the law but due to conditions outside her control was forced into doing what she is doing. Had she been in contact with us then attempted this rescue, well then he would be. But right now he know the main question is more important then spreading blame."
"And that question would be?" Luke asked after a small pause.
"Can she pull this off without getting herself and the rest of the crew killed?"
Luke nodded, that was the question that has been on his mind since he asked her to undertake this mission. Was Tahiri mature enough to handle this mission? Was she in control of her different heritages to act, as a Jedi should and not as a Yuuzhan Vong? Until her mission with Corran to Coruscant and then to Zonama Sekot he would have assigned another Jedi to help her. Now he was surer that she could handle this on her own. Or at least he did until he found out that she was in a middle of a war zone. Of all the younger Jedi, Tahiri has been a special person to him. A young orphan, who was raised by the Sand People of Tatooine, who had over come some serious hurdles to be what she is today. Her shaping, the death of Luke's nephew Anakin Solo, the merging of her two personalities, all crises that she has faced and come thru even stronger then before. Tahiri, whom he worried about her safety as much as he worried about Jaina or Jacen or his own son Ben safety; she is a member of his family. Could she pull this off? Yes that was the question. Luke took a deep breath and faced Cal squarely.
"I hope so Cal."