CHAPTER SEVEN
"Padmé, you're pacing again."
Supreme Chancellor Amidala spun around from the wide window of her ceremonial office to face the old friend seated across her desk. "Sorry," she said. "It seems to be a habit of mine lately."
Bail Organa smiled knowingly. "I can see that."
Padmé scowled in mock outrage. "Would you prefer I became a spice addict? I hear they're quite mellow most of the time."
"That has possibilities," he said with a straight face. "Although I doubt Anakin would approve."
"No, I suppose he wouldn't."
"Listen to me carefully, Padmé," he said gently. "You did what you had to do. You couldn't let the Senate interfere in the war any longer. So many have already died. So many have already suffered. You made the right decision."
She sighed. "Your certainty is disconcerting, you know. I adjourned the Senate indefinitely, Bail. I didn't just postpone a vote or table a motion. I suspended democratic governance."
"I remember the burdens of this office, Padmé." Bail looked hard into her eyes. "I would have made the same decision."
"You can't know that," she said. "Maybe there was another way. Maybe if I had fought harder to –"
"Enough," he interrupted. "Enough. The power you invoked is perfectly legal. It's been part of the Chancellor's authority for centuries. It is used rarely, to be sure, but you're not the first Supreme Chancellor to need it. You won't be the last. Keep this crisis in perspective."
Padmé crossed her arms over her chest. "You're acting as though this isn't a significant action."
"And you're acting as if you've carried out some horrible coup. Don't think so highly of yourself. The Republic has survived Chancellors far more corrupt or far more malicious than you."
Their eyes met, but they left unsaid their memories of how close Palpatine – Darth Sidious – had come to destroying the Republic two decades ago, and of the long years it had taken Bail to repair that damage as Palpatine's successor. "I know," she said after a long moment. "You're right. I'm sorry."
"Not to mention," Bail said, "how well I know you. This isn't only about the Senate. There's something more going on. Something secret."
Padmé nodded weakly.
"Ah, yes, of course," he laughed. "This is you, after all. Secret – and extremely risky."
She scowled again, this time not in jest. "It's not funny."
The voice that spoke next wasn't Bail's. "What's not funny?"
Padmé looked up to see Sabé marching into the office with Nalé and Jenny on her heels, and chuckled. "Bail is mocking me."
"You probably deserved it," Sabé said.
Padmé threw up her hands. "Now that we've all had our fun at Chancellor Amidala's expense, can we please move on to the real business of this office?"
Bail and Sabé looked at each other and shrugged.
"Thank you," Padmé said.
"You know where to find me," Bail said as he rose to his feet. After Padmé nodded, he tipped his head politely to the new arrivals and strode quickly out the door.
Padmé smiled warmly at Nalé. "You look well."
"I am. Thank you," Sabé's younger daughter said. The seventeen-year-old girl, who only two years ago had insisted she had no interest in politics, was now a royal handmaiden – just like her mother all those years ago. "Queen Vivonia sends her greetings."
Padmé nodded. "Our monarch is well, I trust?"
"She is," Nalé said. "She also asked me to convey her full support for your recent action, and to express her complete faith in your leadership. The people of Naboo stand behind you once more."
"Please thank the Queen for her words," Padmé said. Then she shook her head. "I know the Queen means well, but her parents are barely old enough to remember the blockade crisis. She's making me feel old."
Nalé grinned. "I'll just tell her the thanks part."
Padmé laughed. "I appreciate that."
"Speaking of the real business of this office," Jenny said pointedly, "it's time to go. As it is I've let you cut it close for getting us to Corulag in time."
"Then let's be on our way," Padmé agreed. "You have the latest version of the address?"
"Of course," Jenny replied. "Is there anything else you need?"
Padmé glanced over to Sabé.
"No," her dear friend groaned. "You'll be gone a few hours. No changes of clothes. No work to be done. Nothing. Get on the transport, finish the blasted speech on the way, and I'll have a status memo ready for you for the flight back. Can you handle that?"
Padmé winked. "I think so."
"Wonderful," Sabé said, waving her hand dismissively. "Now get going."
Padmé followed Jenny out of the ceremonial office and into the corridor of the suite. "You know," she chuckled as they walked speedily along, "I think I need to remind Sabé that I'm the one who's the Supreme Chancellor."
Jenny chuckled too. "I'll make a note of it. First item on the agenda when we get back – Put Bellion In Her Place."
Padmé wrapped an arm around her friend's shoulders. "Excellent. Item two – Remind Anakin Who's Boss. He's overdue by now, don't you think?"
They both burst out laughing as the main doors of the Chancellor's office swished open in front of them.
---
Anakin smiled at the two female Jedi Masters standing with him in the wide, brightly lit docking bay of the Galactic Senate building. "He likes you."
With a broad grin on her face Barriss Offee glanced up from the bundled infant in her arms. "How can you tell?"
Anakin laughed. "Mostly he screams at new people. For you, he's quiet."
"Maybe so," Aayla Secura put in, "but he's looking at me."
The golden-skinned Mirialan woman met the Twi'lek's gaze sternly. "You're blue, Aayla. Of course he's staring at you."
Anakin shook his head. "If this is going to be a problem…"
"No," the two Masters said simultaneously.
"Very well, then." He leaned down closer to Nyklas. The baby boy giggled, and a tiny hand reached out to bat Anakin on the side of his face. With a finger Anakin ruffled the thin strands of dark hair on his grandson's mostly bald head. "Now listen, Nyklas. I expect you to be on your best behavior with Barriss and Aayla. They're doing your grandfather a big favor. Don't ruin it for me. Understand?"
Nyklas' wide indigo eyes blinked a few times.
"Thank you," Anakin said, kissing the boy gently on his forehead. Then he stood up straight again and briefly put a hand on each woman's shoulder. "And thank you as well. This really means a lot to Padmé, to know she's leaving Nyklas in such capable hands."
"Of course," Aayla said. "It's our pleasure."
Barriss nodded. "Has there been any word from Mara?"
"No," Anakin said. "I'm afraid not."
Barriss frowned. "What do you think happened? It's not like her to disappear without any explanation – especially before a mission like this one. And to steal your ship…"
Despite himself, Anakin laughed. "She may have borrowed my ship, but that tells me whatever she's up to, she believes she's doing her duty as a Jedi."
Aayla furrowed her brow, and her lekku twitched. "How do you figure that?"
"If she went rogue," he said slowly, "she wouldn't want to keep around any connections to the Jedi – or to me. No, this is something different. I'm not sure what, but something. Some form of guidance from the Force, most likely."
"We will defer to your judgment on this," Barriss said. "For now, it is not the Council's concern."
"Thank you. I have faith in Mara. She won't let you down." Just then Anakin sensed Padmé's imminent arrival at the docking bay. "I'm sorry," he said in a rush, "but my wife is almost here. I'd better go meet her."
Aayla grinned mischievously. "Yes, my friend, you'd better."
Barriss smiled too. "We'll take good care of Nyklas, I promise. May the Force be with you, Anakin."
Already striding rapidly away, Anakin turned back and waved a half-salute. "And also with you."
---
Bryon activated the holographic projector in the center of the circular auditorium and began the mission briefing for the nearly two hundred gathered soldiers and pilots.
"The operation now underway is called Victory Strike," he explained, gesturing toward the green-and-blue image of a planet. "Our target is the enemy capital planet of Vyhrrag."
A rumble of surprise rolled through the room.
"The principal component of the plan is a deployment of Navy warships," he continued. "From a series of secret rendezvous points across the Republic small strike forces will make hyperspace jumps to the edge of Vyhrragian-controlled space. They then will make coordinated, simultaneous jumps to Vyhrrag itself to form a massive invasion fleet. The warships in our flotilla are but one small part of that fleet."
Another startled murmur passed through the gathered team.
"Our fleet will be considerably larger than the defensive force Argis maintains around the planet. The Navy will overwhelm the enemy warships and the orbital defenses, then proceed immediately with selective orbital bombardments and the landing of four divisions of infantry and support forces. By seizing the enemy's command-and-control infrastructure, we will conquer the planet and compel a complete surrender."
This time the reaction was nods of satisfaction and confident whispers.
"None of this can succeed, however," Bryon said calmly, "until the first part of Victory Strike is carried out."
He tapped a button, and a red spherical shell formed around the representation of the planet. "Vyhrrag is protected by a planetary energy shield. Neither the Navy's missions nor the landings of the Army forces can occur while the shield is in place. Accordingly, the goal of my team is to take down the shield."
A round of hoots and cheers rose from his personal platoon of Special Forces soldiers behind him. Infiltrate-and-destroy missions always had been their favorite.
Bryon tapped the button again, and the image zoomed in on a location on the northern continent. "The shield generator is located in an isolated area of dense forest approximately one hundred kilometers from the capital city and Argis' royal palace. Using stolen enemy codes obtained by the Intelligence Department, the freighter carrying our shuttle will gain passage through the planetary shield. During the descent our shuttle will be released from the cargo hold. Relying on expert piloting and a sophisticated package of signal-jamming technology, we will land in the forest without being detected."
The skeptical muttering was back again.
Bryon glanced over to the side. "Captain Solo has volunteered to fly the shuttle."
Han tipped his head in a self-conscious acknowledgement.
"After the landing," Bryon continued, "my team and one squad of the Special Forces will head directly for the shield generator complex. The other three squads of Special Forces will deploy in an extended perimeter around our path to provide surveillance and defense as we move through the forest. We will converge again at the shield generator for the final attack."
Bryon gazed quickly around the room. Most of the Navy pilots and Army officers still were looking at him dubiously. His Special Forces troopers, on the other hand, were grinning confidently. Han was huddled in a whispered conversation with Leia, Lando, and Chewbacca while next to them Luke and Danaé sat impassively with Threepio and Artoo.
Sarré, of course, was lost in the dreamy gaze she always got when she watched him give military briefings.
Bryon swallowed his chuckle by clearing his throat. "Let me turn the briefing over to my team's operative from the Intelligence Department to give you the final details."
The petite young woman in black fatigues stepped forward. If it weren't for her white hair, Bryon thought, she would be a nearly identical double for Leia.
"Thank you," she said. "As General Skywalker explained, I will be accompanying his team for the shield generator attack. My code name is Targeter."
A few ripples of recognition passed around the room.
"I have been assigned to this mission because of my perfect memory," Targeter continued. "Approximately three weeks ago I was inserted on Vyhrrag and gained access to the shield generator compound. In addition, I acquired full schematics of the facility. Thanks to this knowledge we now will be able to execute the most efficient strike possible against the generator."
Bryon noticed quite a few surprised soldiers and pilots around the room. If this agent could infiltrate a facility as secure as Argis' shield generator, she must be one of the most talented operatives in the Department. Bryon knew she was even better than that. After a long stint planning war strategy on Coruscant during his recovery from the devastating wounds that almost had killed him, a few months ago he finally had begun leading real combat missions again – and Targeter's assistance had been crucial to his victory in the very first one.
"Despite these advantages," Targeter said after she had elaborated more on the nature of the ground mission to take out the shield generator, "the mission carries a high degree of risk. Our time window for destroying the generator is quite narrow, and the Navy fleet cannot risk waiting once it arrives. If the shield is not down within twenty minutes of arrival, the fleet will be ordered to withdraw."
Shocked gasps broke the eerie silence in the auditorium when the reality of how precise the timing had to be sank in.
"The Supreme Chancellor is counting on us to succeed," Targeter said with a knowing glance at Bryon. "And we will not let her down. My information and General Skywalker's tactical skill will give us a wide range of contingency plans should we encounter unexpected obstacles during our mission. Consider who is present in this room, and you will understand just how important Victory Strike is. Our very best soldiers and pilots, generals and admirals, agents and spies have joined together to carry out a military operation of extraordinary boldness. The risks may be great, but I cannot imagine a better and more courageous group of comrades for this fight than the ones I see around me now."
A hearty round of cheering and applause greeted those words.
And Bryon remembered why he'd asked her to address the briefing. "Thank you, Agent Targeter," he said with deep, booming confidence. "Our next hyperspace jump will take place shortly. Once we arrive our insertion freighter will deploy immediately, and my team's mission will begin. We will succeed – and Argis' capital will be ours."
More cheers and applause started, but Bryon silenced it with his raised hands.
"There will be time to celebrate when the war is won," he said grimly. "For now, prepare your troops and your ships for the operation ahead, and when the time comes do your duty to the very best of your abilities. The moment is here to end this war once and for all, and the task has fallen on each of us to do our part."
Bryon gazed around the auditorium one last time.
"Fight bravely, clear skies, and may the Force be with you."
---
Bryon cinched his utility belt tightly around his waist and reached down to check his armament. Two blaster pistols. Four concussion grenades. Two thermal detonators. And the heavy blaster rifle he snatched off the table and slung over his shoulder by its strap. Striding out into the corridor of the freighter, he adjusted the fit of his camouflage fatigues over his light body armor. It wasn't the full black battle armor he typically wore, but it was better than nothing. He'd just have to remember to be a little less brazen than usual.
Soon he arrived in the converted cargo hold to find his team's small military shuttle primed and ready. Waiting for him at the bottom of the boarding ramp was the rest of the group: Sarré, Han and Leia, Luke and Danaé, Chewbacca and Calrissian, and the droids.
"The platoon's on board," Han said. "We're ready when you are."
"Excellent." Bryon turned to face the Navy lieutenant standing patiently to the side. "The preparations are complete. What's our status?"
"We're in high orbit over the sixth planet in the system," the lieutenant replied. "We proceed on your order."
"No time to waste," Bryon said. "Send the notification transmission to Admiral Ackbar."
"Of course, General," the lieutenant said, saluting crisply as he turned to go. "Right away."
Bryon saluted in return, then waved his hand to the others. "Let's go," he said. "Let's do this."
While the others filed up the ramp Sarré stayed behind and took his hand. She looked up at him and smiled warmly. Even without a single word her complete confidence in him was infectious.
Bryon smiled back and squeezed her hand, and they walked together up the ramp.
---
Luke glanced over at his twin, who was strapped in next to him in one of the shuttle's passenger compartments. "You're sure you wouldn't rather be up in the cockpit?"
"I'm sure," Leia said, reaching out to take his hand. "How are you doing?"
"Fine."
She shot him a stern glare. "Luke…"
"You're right." He sighed. "I'm better now, though. Really. I promise."
"Where do you think she went?"
"I don't know."
Leia squeezed his hand. "I'm sure she's safe."
He nodded. "I'd sense it in the Force if she were in danger."
"Or worse."
"Or worse."
"Mara wouldn't just walk away from her duties, Luke," Leia said. "That's not like her at all. There must be something else going on. There has to be."
"I think so too," he said. "I just wish she'd told me what it was."
"Would you have let her go without you?"
"I don't know. Why?"
"It could be that whatever it is she feels she still has to face, she has to face alone."
Luke closed his eyes for a long moment. "I don't think so," he said when he opened them again. "She's passed her Trials. She's proven herself. She doesn't have to face anything alone."
Leia squeezed his hand again. "Have you ever told her that? Really told her that?"
He paused. "I… I suppose not."
"Maybe it's time you did."
Lost in his own thoughts, he didn't say anything.
Leia released his hand and wrapped her arm around him. "It's never too late to make things right."
"I know." Despite himself, Luke shivered. "I have a very bad feeling about this."
---
Bryon leaned forward, braced his elbows on his knees, and propped his chin on his hands. "I wish you'd stop worrying," he said to his sister across the small passenger compartment. "You'll be great."
"I'll do my best," Danaé said. "Still, I wish we had Mara along too. I'm not half the warrior she is."
"Maybe not," Bryon conceded. "But you're a Jedi Knight. That's never a liability."
Danaé smiled a little. "I suppose not."
"Don't forget," Sarré put in from Bryon's side, "most of this mission is getting through the forest. Your talents will be really helpful with that."
Danaé nodded. "True. I hadn't thought about it that way."
The white-haired intelligence agent put her hand on Danaé's knee. "They're right," she said. "You're a great asset to our team. No matter what we confront down there, you'll give us an advantage."
"All right, all right," Danaé chuckled. "You win, Targeter."
Bryon laughed. "You're good," he told the agent. "It usually takes us much longer to break her."
She winked. "And interrogation isn't even my specialty. Please, Danaé, forget the codename. We're friends. You don't have to be so formal."
"I'm sorry, Winter," Danaé said.
"Just so you know," Bryon interjected, "she's going to call you Targeter anyway. You saw her call me General a few minutes ago. She can't help herself."
Danaé shrugged helplessly and smiled, and Winter nodded knowingly.
"So," Bryon said, changing the subject back, "I take it this kind of mission is your specialty?"
"Yes," Winter replied. "I only need one pass through a structure to reproduce an exact floor plan. It makes target selection that much easier for the attack squads that go in later."
Sarré looked at Bryon and furrowed her brow. "I thought you said you'd worked with Winter before?"
He laughed, and Winter laughed too. "Not exactly," he explained. "You remember the mission at Barrak Station? That was the only time Cerule's team ever outdid mine."
Sarré's lavender eyes lit up as she glanced between the two of them. "And Winter was with Cerule?"
He grinned. "Why do you think I've got her on my side this time?"
Now all four of them burst out laughing.
"You're exaggerating," Winter said when they quieted. "That was mostly Cerule."
"No, she's not that good," he shot back. "Not compared to me. You're pretty much the only explanation."
Sarré batted him on the back of the head. "Shut up, Bryon."
---
In the rear cargo hold of the shuttle Artoo extended his third leg and wheeled over to where Threepio was strapped into a makeshift jumpseat. When he arrived he blooped and beeped a question.
"I'm not certain," the protocol droid replied. "Master Luke apparently didn't see fit to inform me of the details of this portion of the mission."
Artoo blatted. "Well, no. It didn't occur to me to ask."
The astromech trilled and razzed. "There's no reason to be rude," the protocol droid snapped. "Next time you can just ask Master Luke yourself if you're so desperate to know."
Artoo whistled in annoyance. "Really, Artoo," said Threepio firmly, "I'm quite sure there will be plenty of excitement for you once we've landed."
Artoo beeped another question. "Oh, yes. I perused the dossier on this planet yesterday. There are any number of predators that could give us trouble in the forest."
The astromech trilled and beeped excitedly. "Not only that," the golden droid said, "but we'll almost certainly encounter enemy patrols before we reach the shield generator."
Artoo honked. "The predators? Oh my. Well, the most dangerous is…"
---
Han tapped his fingers impatiently on the cockpit console of the shuttle. "What's taking them so long?"
"Han, old buddy, you really need to calm down," Lando said from behind him. "I'm sure everything's fine."
From the co-pilot's seat Chewie rumbled his agreement. "Yeah, well," Han muttered, "they're not giving me a lot of confidence down here."
"The codes will work," Lando said. "Trust me."
Han looked back and scowled. "And if they don't?"
Lando shrugged. "At least we won't realize we're about to be blown to bits."
"Wonderful," Han said. "Very reassuring."
A moment later the communications line crackled open. "Captain Solo, you're all clear."
Han nodded to no one in particular. "We're ready when you are."
"Roger," the voice of the cargo freighter's second-in-command said. "We'll be at the release point in five minutes."
"Sounds good," Han said. "We're activating the jammers now."
"Copy, Solo," the officer replied calmly. "May the Force be with you."
"Yeah, thanks," Han said as the feed clicked off. "How're we doing, Lando?"
"Jammers activated," his friend replied. "Everything's all set."
Right on schedule the wide doors to the cargo hold suddenly swung open. Chewie hit the repulsors to propel them forward, and in an instant they were away from the freighter and into the open sky.
Han waited a few more seconds, then slammed the atmospheric drives to maximum. The shuttle burst forward with a jolt, and he swung the nose of the craft around to face their destination in the forest beneath them.
"Jammers fully functional," Lando reported quickly.
"No reason to take any chances," Han said, pushing the shuttle into a series of diagonal dives as they plummeted toward the treetops below.
Chewie growled a warning. "I know, I know," Han snapped. "Don't worry about it."
He pulled them out of the descent just above the forest canopy and kept them at top speed as the blur of green flashed by.
Chewie wroofed another warning. "I agree," Lando said. "Slow it down a bit."
"I don't think so," Han said. "We're not gonna sneak up on them flying casually."
Chewie howled mournfully, and Lando sighed in frustration. "You won't listen to reason, will you?"
Han glanced back and smirked. "Do I ever?"
---
Darth Vengous felt the tremor in the Force long before the long-range scanners of the Ebony Fang detected the approach of the starship she had been expecting. Near the edge of the Coruscant system, guarding the most direct hyperspace corridor in the direction of Naboo, she had lain in wait for her nemesis. Now the time had come.
The Sith Master immediately adjusted the sensors to focus exclusively on the incoming vessel. Yet another small part of her trap was about to be sprung, and she would have only one chance to set this bait.
As the computers analyzed the data to confirm the craft's identity, she found herself surprised at this turn of events. Surely the Chosen One had learned of her threat to Naboo days ago – the Jedi could not possibly have missed the clues she'd confirmed had been left for them. She had expected him to react immediately or not at all. To act after so long a delay, then, was a surprise.
Vengous smiled. This was getting more interesting all the time.
The console beeped and she glanced quickly at the scanners. The Lady Vader was indeed on its way. And not even flying under one of the Chosen One's many false registrations. Apparently he wasn't expecting company.
Yes, this was definitely getting more interesting.
Vengous set an intercept course and slammed the sublight drives to maximum velocity. The Ebony Fang shuddered, sprang forward, and surged in the direction of her prey. Quickly she checked that all the weapons were primed and the shields fully charged. Her ship was ready – and the distance to her enemy already was almost closed. She adjusted her trajectory, readied her fingers on the triggers, and waited.
---
Mara tensed her grip on the two-handed control stick of the Lady Vader. "How much longer until we can jump to hyperspace, Jaytoo?"
From his station in the back of the cockpit, the black-and-gold astromech razzed a quick reply.
"No," she said. "I'd rather not fly into a star. I'll wait."
She caught herself tapping her feet as she scanned the readouts on the main console in front of her. All systems were functioning at top efficiency. The hyperdrive was ready to activate. Everything was fine.
Then why, she wondered, was she clenching her jaw and scowling?
Suddenly Jaytoo honked a warning and a burst of information scrolled by on the heads-up translator projected onto the viewport.
"Charging us? Where?" Mara immediately looked to the sensors, and Jaytoo already had the data marked. It took her only a second to see that he was right.
"Shields to maximum," she ordered. "Arm the weapons."
Jaytoo trilled. "I know it'll draw power from the hyperdrive," she snapped. "I don't think we have a choice."
The droid whistled his agreement as Mara reached out into the Force to the pair of co-pilot's stations behind her. In her mind's eye she adjusted the settings on the port console to increase the power to the aft shields while she readied the rear-aiming and lateral-firing laser cannons on the starboard console.
As if from nowhere their pursuer was right on their tail. Mara swung the Lady Vader into a steep climb, but her opponent tracked the evasive action easily. The proximity alarms wailed, and she plunged the starship into rolling twist. Again it didn't help.
"Blast!" she hissed. "Whoever this is, they're good."
Jaytoo squealed – and Mara flinched when the first cannon blasts collided with their shields.
---
Leia gazed around the small clearing in the forest. Their military shuttle rested on its landing gear at the far end, shielded from aerial observation by the dense canopy of leaves that had reformed above almost as soon as they had passed through. All around them the towering trees soared high into the air; some of the trunks were nearly as wide as the shuttle. The air was heavy and humid, with no breeze and a vibrant scent of the flora and fauna of the planet. It reminded her of some of the ancient forests back home on Naboo, except on a far grander scale.
To her left Bryon was giving a last set of instructions to the four squads of camouflaged Special Forces troopers they had brought along. Sarré was standing beside him, just listening. To Leia's right Danaé and Luke stood a few meters apart, each seemingly lost in meditation as they faced into the forest. And back at the shuttle the final members of the team appeared to be closing up the ship. Leia decided to join them.
"Hello, Winter," she said when she got there. "It's been too long."
"Yes it has, Leia," the white-haired intelligence agent replied with a smile. "It's good to see you again."
Lando stepped over to them. "You two know each other?"
"From Alderaan," Winter said. "My family is very close with the Organas. Jarren was one of my best friends."
Lando nodded solemnly, then squinted at them for a moment. "You know, without ever seeing you side by side before I never realized how much you look alike. If Winter dyed her hair you could prank a guy real good someday by switching places."
Leia winked. "Oh, we know. We're just waiting for the perfect victim."
"Sounds like a plan," Lando said. "But don't you dare do it without me if it's Han."
"What about me?" asked Han as he walked up to them. Behind him Chewie gave Leia a knowing wink.
"We were just wondering what was taking you so long," Leia said easily while giving Lando a nod.
"Hey, just making sure everything's all set," Han said defensively. "We're done now. Right, Chewie?"
The Wookiee wroofed approvingly, and Leia was pretty sure he was trying his best not to laugh.
"It looks like the other squads are heading out," Winter said. "We'll be next."
Their group began to walk toward Bryon and the remaining squad of a dozen soldiers. Leia sidled up to Han and wrapped her arm around his waist. "Han, do you remember once, when I told you that you didn't have to fly like a madman to impress me?"
"Of course, Princess," he said. "Sure, I remember."
"That's still true."
"What? You didn't like the way I flew the shuttle?"
"I didn't say that," she replied. "But next time try to remember that not every ship handles like the Falcon."
Han flashed her a lopsided grin. "I'm just doing my job, Your Highness."
Leia laughed. "And I'm just doing mine, Captain."
---
Danaé closed her eyes and opened her mind to the living Force, letting the pulsing currents of its energy flow unimpeded through her awareness and her body. Its intensity was not as great here as on Dagobah, but it was quite strong all the same. The gigantic trees were beacons of power in the Force, and the vast array of plant and animal life surrounding them filled her perceptions with the wonderful sensations of life.
She could not dwell on the beauty of the forest, though.
In a few minutes she would join her brothers and her sister in a trek through this living maze to reach the planetary shield generator. They would destroy it, and that would allow the Republic to conquer this world, which in turn would lead to the enemy's surrender and the end of the war. Many thousands of individuals would die in the battle to come when the invasion began. But the surrender they achieved would save tens, if not hundreds, of thousands more across the galaxy.
To saves lives the Republic would have to take lives.
And Danaé had to accept that her duty was to do the same. For the Republic to prevail, she had to prevail. And that would require her to kill – she had no doubt of that whatsoever. She would do her very best to spare as many lives as possible, of course. But she would not shirk her duty.
To save lives she would have to take lives.
That prospect brought a shiver of regret to her meditations. Danaé had not killed another sentient being in a year. She hadn't killed all that many in her whole life for that matter, but she hadn't killed anyone in a year. Since the mission at Gimna 3.
Since she had killed Oga.
Danaé knew she wasn't supposed to regret killing him. He had fallen to the dark side. He had joined the Sith. He had tried to kill her – and would have, had she not killed him first. He had given her no choice, and she had done her duty. How could she regret that?
But she did regret killing Oga. She didn't know what had happened to him in the year he had been gone, but she couldn't imagine he willingly had given his soul to the dark side. All Jedi were tempted at some point or another; her family was proof enough of that. But Oga had been a good man – the best kind of man there was. He would not have chosen the evil path. And yet Oga had become a Sith anyway. It should have been impossible, but it had happened.
She couldn't help but wonder if she could have saved him from the darkness, if she had only had more time.
Danaé opened her eyes and looked off into the distant mists of the thick Vyhrragian forest. Soon she would have to fight. Soon she would have to kill. Soon she would confront within herself the worst impulses of her power in the Force and her Skywalker heritage. Soon she would look darkness in the eyes and choose.
She would choose the light.
Danaé took a slow, deep breath and turned around to join the others. She was a Jedi Knight with a duty to perform. Part of that duty would require killing at least some of those who opposed her – and killing them without anger or hate. She had done that before. She would do it again, now and in the future.
It was time to stop thinking.
It was time to act.
---
Sarré finished tying back her hair in the traditional Naboo combat braids, then glanced over at Luke. He still was standing alone at the edge of the clearing, fidgeting. She couldn't tell whether he was bothered by having to wear the brown-and-green camouflage tunic over his indigo Jedi robes, or whether it was something else. With a sigh she headed toward him.
When she arrived at his side he didn't react, so Sarré put her hand on his arm. "What's wrong? It looks like something's troubling you."
He nodded distractedly. "More than one thing, actually."
"Oh," she said, frowning. "Is there any way I can help?"
"Not really. Thanks, though."
"Sure."
Luke took a slow, deep breath. "Aren't you afraid that you'll orphan your son? How could Bryon let you come along on this mission, with all the dangers it poses?"
Sarré laughed. "Bryon may be a general and I may be a handmaiden, but I think you have a distorted view of the chain of command in my marriage."
For a brief moment Luke grinned – but then he became entirely somber again. "I was serious."
"I know you were," she said, crossing her arms over her chest and gazing off into the forest. "I'm not willing to live my life in fear, Luke. My parents didn't. Your parents didn't, even when there were threats to them, to all of you, for many years. I can't spend my whole life afraid that someone close to me will die."
"Maybe not," he conceded. "But this mission is different. You know how great the risks are."
Sarré shrugged. "I do. I also know that everything hinges on this battle – on this mission. Bryon's place is here. And my place is with him. I may not be a Jedi, but I can feel it. If it's the will of the Force that we both lose our lives in service of a greater good, to give Nyklas a better future, then so be it."
For a long moment Luke continued gazing off into the forest too before he turned to face her. "You're braver than I am," he finally said quietly. "I wish I had your courage."
"But you do," she insisted, gazing intensely into his eyes. "You're a Jedi. You're a Skywalker. That's all you need to know. You have to push away your fear, Luke. You have to find a way. Otherwise the Sith have already won."
He nodded slowly, lost in his own thoughts again.
Suddenly Bryon's voice intruded into their quiet moment. "There you are," her husband's booming voice said. "The other three squads have deployed. It's time to move out. Are you ready?"
"I'm ready," Sarré said.
At her side Luke smiled to her for just a moment before looking at his brother. "I'm ready too."
"Good," Bryon said. He reached out to take Sarré's hand. "Hope you're prepared for a walk."
"Sure," she said, meeting Luke's gaze again. "With you here, I'm prepared for anything."
---
In the deserted starship lane in the outer reaches of the Coruscant system the blindingly fast duel between the two unique vessels lit the black starscape with flashes of red and green.
Approximately thirty-five meters in length, the gray arrowhead-shaped vessel bristled with laser cannons and torpedo ports along the sides of the wedge. Yet the Lady Vader's main weapons were silent – the craft could not shake its relentless pursuer.
Although the sleek, dagger-shaped black star yacht was nearly fifty meters long, it matched each of its opponent's maneuvers with ease. The Ebony Fang lacked any visible armament – but iridescent red cannons bolts lanced outward from its smooth hull nonetheless.
The Lady Vader arced into a tight loop as its shields absorbed the incoming blasts. From rear-facing cannons concealed in the design, the hunted returned fire on the hunter with brilliant bolts of green.
The Ebony Fang's shields were more than strong enough too, and the trailing starship mirrored the loop only a split-second behind. Another burst of red shot outward –
– and flew wide as the smaller craft spiraled away in a rolling dive across the constellations.
Without hesitation the larger ship followed, plunging after with cannons firing.
---
Mara's black-gloved hands gripped the control stick with bone-crushing strength. Without question she was a capable pilot, but not a genuine ace like the lover or the Master she had left behind. And whoever was chasing her was closer in skill to them than her.
Not good.
"Divert all power from the front cannons," she ordered the astromech at his station behind her in the cockpit.
The droid blooped a second later, and Mara used the Force to slam the firing control on the starboard co-pilot's console behind her. The suddenly enhanced rear-aiming laser cannons erupted in a flurry of shots – but her sensors told her that once again her enemy's shields had repelled the attack.
Jaytoo honked in dismay. "Well," she said, "it was worth a try."
---
Darth Vengous knew she'd misjudged the situation. The Lady Vader was not flying and fighting like the personalized starship of the Chosen One. As much as she hated him, she had to admit her nemesis was one of the greatest starpilots in the galaxy – and a cunning warrior. So from the first moments of the deadly dance in space one thing had been perfectly clear to her.
The Chosen One was not at the helm of his ship.
It didn't take Vengous long to analyze the situation. The pilot clearly was a Jedi – the impossibly quick instincts told her that. The Chosen One's son was nearly as good a pilot as his father; he would've put up better resistance. The Chosen One's daughter was the prudent one; she would've tried to escape by now, rather than continuing to engage with a clearly superior opponent. That left only one possibility.
Jade.
In just that moment another barrage of green bolts flew out from the aft of the Lady Vader and splattered away against the Ebony Fang's shields. A quick check confirmed they remained at over eighty percent strength.
"You think you can hold your own with me?"
Vengous laughed as she squeezed her triggers. "So be it, Jedi."
---
The pounding on the Lady Vader's rear shields was getting more intense every second, and no matter how hard Mara tried she couldn't gain even a moment's freedom from the fusillade. For an instant she diverted her concentration from flying the ship to the port co-pilot's console – just long enough to reduce fore shields to minimum and pour all that power to aft.
Another steep dive did nothing to lose her pursuer.
"Jaytoo, run the hyperspace jump calculations," she said in a rush.
The astromech toodled and squawked indignantly. "You run the calculations," she spat. "I'll worry about getting us to the jump point."
She fired another round of blasts from the aft cannons, but she knew it was fruitless. The sensors were clear – the Lady Vader's shields were being worn down at a much faster rate than the enemy's.
Jaytoo blooped and whistled. "Okay," Mara said. "I'll be ready."
---
Although Vengous hadn't scheduled the young woman's death so early in her design, there was no time like the present. This particular ambush had been for the Chosen One himself. Without him here, she was wasting her time.
With a quick flick of a thumb switch on her control stick Vengous readied her proton torpedoes.
---
Mara pulled with all her strength on the control stick and wrenched the Lady Vader into swift reverse barrel roll that brought her around for a straight charge toward the jump point to hyperspace. It didn't even matter if she gave away her destination in the Mid Rim in the vicinity of the Naboo sector. She just had to get out alive.
"How much longer, Jaytoo?" The droid warbled anxiously in reply.
"Then we'll make it be soon enough," Mara hissed, switching off all the weapons and pushing the sublight drives beyond maximum speed.
---
The Ebony Fang's console beeped to indicate the torpedoes were ready. Vengous had to admit that Jade was putting up more of a fight than she'd expected.
"Too bad, young one," Vengous whispered. "You would have made an excellent Sith. But you have left me no choice. This ends once and for all. Now."
Vengous squeezed her triggers and watched six shimmering blue orbs launch toward the Chosen One's ship.
---
Jaytoo honked and trilled his readiness at the very same instant the proximity alarms screamed out the warning of a massive proton torpedo attack.
"Now," Mara yelled. "Now! Now! Now!"
---
And suddenly, impossibly, the Lady Vader shuddered – and with a blinding flash of light the starship sprang away to hyperspace.
The six torpedoes flew through the empty space where Jade had been, then trailed off into the black landscape of stars until finally detonating uselessly far in the distance.
Darth Vengous ran her black-gloved fingers through her long, straight black hair, leaned back in her pilot's seat, and steepled her fingertips at her chin. Naboo was Lady Delicti's mission – and when that was over, it would be time for Vengous' own. She probably ought to depart right away.
No, she decided. It could wait a few hours. She had learned much about her enemies just now, and she had to consider all of that first.