Leia sat brooding in her office. Luke was gone, Han was gone, Lando was gone… What happened to me? she thought. My friends think I'd place a bounty on Mara?
I'm not sure if what she told me were reasons or excuses. That was what Lando told Karrde in the security recording she watched. The problem was, she wasn't sure herself. She may have not offered a counter-bounty, but she certainly had the resources to do something.
Her comm chirped. She glanced. If it was some bureaucrat… But it was the family line. She eagerly hit the receiver button.
A hologram of Chewie appeared, and the Wookiee gave a long series of growls.
"You're on Kashyyyk. Got it. And Han went to Yavin Four… he isn't back?"
Sad growl.
"He didn't contact me either. Not like him."
Another growl.
"No, I can't come. Han's alive—I would definitely feel it if he died."
Chewie muttered a question.
"Do you need money for a ship? Or anything else?"
Chewbacca barked a negative reply. "Your family's ship, huh? All right. Then I won't hold you up…
It's so frustrating here… One more thing—if you can find Lando or Talon Karrde, they might help you."
Chewie grunted an acknowledgment, and something else.
"I know. But I was there with him all these times. Good luck, Chewie. Bring Han home."
The comm disconnected.
Leia got back to her thoughts. Now, worry for Han was added to them.
I wish I could come.
Was it really that impossible? Did she really need to be here all the time?
I was there with him all these times…
She hated crises, since they always had the side effect—in addition to killing many good people—of
tearing her apart from her family.
You, telling me to decide who I marry based on politics.
Politics. Politics put Palpatine into power. Politics nearly let Thrawn destroy the New Republic. Politics almost got Han imprisoned for treason. Han…
When did you become a hypocrite, Leia?
She got the hint there. From a political standpoint, a marriage to Prince Isolder of Hapes would be a very good thing.
Was she really looking at this from the wrong angle? The political angle? Could Luke have been right?
The comm interrupted her thoughts again. She looked at it. The origin was military.
A hologram of Wedge Antilles resolved itself. "We're ready to depart, ma'am. But just so you know,
I've just received the latest update from Intelligence. No progress, no indication where they might strike."
"Hopefully, they won't strike at all. That's why I'm sending you, Wedge. That's why I'm giving you the Lusankya, despite the fact that every other Senator was shouting 'New Empire!' to anyone who would listen—and some who wouldn't."
"Like you," Wedge said. "Feels good to have one's efforts appreciated."
Leia took in the sarcasm. "You're going to go to the Imperial border and show the flag. Maybe a Super Star Destroyer will have a deterrence effect."
"Maybe. That's what Super Star Destroyers were built for, after all."
Leia knew that, and realized what that meant. "I don't have to like it. But if it prevents an all-out war…"
"I understand."
"May the Force be with you, Wedge."
"Thanks. Antilles out." The hologram vanished.
How did it come to this? Leia asked herself. The answer was not forthcoming.
XXX
"Were you serious about trying an ultra-fast hyperdrive?" Colonel Queder asked Luke.
They were taking a break from the meeting. Admiral Parck said he'd consider the suggestions and make a decision. There was definite concern about what was revealed yesterday. A small, faster fleet could be much more effective than a large slower one—especially if it primarily utilized terror tactics.
"Yes, I meant what I said. Why did you think I didn't?"
Queder didn't reply.
Luke changed the subject. "How did Kell get where he is?"
"Oh, he's not stupid," Fel said. "In fact, purely as a military officer, he's quite capable—it's just that unlike the rest of us, he spent most of the war at the Core, as part of Palpatine's personal fleet. And then, shortly before Endor, he was transferred to Byss. And the closer a fleet was stationed to the capital, the more indoctrination its officers were subject to. That's Kell. He made his way to us six years ago. He knows spec-ops—no one questions that. There has been some tension—he didn't want to let Chiss into his units—but Parck basically put his foot down and told him that if he didn't like it, he could leave. I still don't think he likes them," he smiled, "But he chose not to leave."
Queder looked at Luke. "Master Skywalker?"
"Huh?"
"I have done quite a bit of research about the history of the Old Republic. It's a hobby of mine. From what I understand, the Jedi Order held a lot of power—how did the Empire manage to come into existence in the first place?"
That wasn't what Luke expected. A discussion of Jedi philosophy with a commander of a stormtrooper legion? "Why do you ask?"
"Mostly curiosity. You'd say that the Jedi are the guardians of peace and justice in the galaxy. At the risk of sounding rude, one: you didn't do a very good job the first time; and two: who appointed you?"
Fel stared at the young colonel. "Jerrem," he started, but Luke raised his hand.
"Both of his questions are valid," he said. "And the answers are related."
"First of all, there are individuals who have the ability to use the Force, and to not let these abilities come to fruition is a waste of potential. That is no different from an aptitude for politics, for sports, for art, for science—or for warfare," he added, looking at the two officers. "No one suggests outlawing training in any of these disciplines."
"I can accept that, but—"
"Wait, I'm getting there."
"Second, since it is impossible to identify every such individual, there is always a chance that a dark side user will arise, and it is useful to have people who can counter him or her. And before you protest that it wouldn't happen without someone training that person in the dark side, you would be wrong. You can become proficient in the Force on your own—it's mostly confidence in yourself. And it is far easier to do that with the dark side."
Luke paused, then resumed his explanation. "The Jedi did keep the peace for thousands of years. But then, the Jedi order made a mistake. A mistake that Master Yoda explained to me."
"The Jedi Order's power and prestige peaked after the end of the Sith Wars, a thousand years before the Empire. And then, the Jedi in their pride and arrogance on one side, and the public that forgot the Jedi are fallible beings like them on the other, produced a change."
"The Jedi started to believe that their responsibility was fundamentally different from that of the rest. It isn't. The Jedi have more responsibility, but that is simply because they have more power. But the nature of that responsibility is the same as that of every galactic citizen."
He breathed. "Everyone is responsible. I don't like the moniker 'guardians of peace and justice' because every responsible citizen is that—that's what it means to be responsible."
"The Jedi, having forgone the responsibility of citizens for what they believed to be a higher responsibility, have ceases to be responsible citizens themselves. They isolated themselves from the ordinary people. And when that happened, eventually they took the easy way out."
"The Jedi were supposed to be servants of the people. But as there are countless quadrillions of people in the galaxy, being that is difficult. It means having to make some pretty hard choices. The smaller the number of people you serve, the easier it is. And so the Jedi first became servants of the Republic, then servants of the Senate, and finally servants of the Chancellor. And they didn't even notice it happen—each generation simply got a little closer to that."
"So once Palpatine became Chancellor…" Colonel Queder said.
"Exactly. That was just a culmination of what began centuries before. I may have made similar mistakes at the beginning, despite Yoda's warnings, when my biggest concern had been having any Jedi at all. About a year ago, Mon Mothma told me virtually the same thing: Jedi must be citizens first, Jedi second. I have been making some changes since then. The Jedi have to know what life is like in the rest of the galaxy. The good and the bad."
Colonel Queder looked at him in surprise. "That's an interesting point of view. I never really thought about it like that, but… remember the Ssi-Ruuk?"
Luke nodded.
"Well, that was just the tip of the iceberg of what we found out here. There's a reason they called it the Unknown Regions, after all. It may sound odd, coming from a stormtrooper commander, but I prefer not to fight if I don't have to."
"That's not odd," Luke said.
"It's maturity," Fel added. "When I first left the Academy, I was eager to fight and show these Rebels—no offense, Luke—something."
"None taken," Luke said. "I know that feeling."
"So do I," Colonel Queder told them. "But the stormtroopers I command are not mindless clones. They are recruits, volunteers. They have friends, families. And having them die under my command…"
"I know that feeling, as well," Luke told the colonel.
"I said I never thought about it in the words you put it, but you can thin think of it like that. All these dangers… That's what we've been doing out there, right? Protecting those who can't protect themselves. That was Thrawn's idea behind the Empire of the Hand—a shield between the Unknown Regions and the rest of the galaxy. And what we're doing is fulfilling our responsibility as galactic citizens. Which means," Colonel Queder finished, looking at Luke, "We are not so different after all."
"No," Luke said. "We are not." And he believed. Most of the people he met here insisted that the Empire of the Hand was not Palpatine's Empire, but these words from a stormtrooper colonel made him believe it. Like nothing else could.
A soldier entered and saluted. "General. Colonel. Admiral Parck requests your presence."
Fel nodded. "Tell the admiral we're on our way." They followed the man out of the courtyard.
Back in the meeting room, Parck and the other officers were waiting. Luke, Queder, and Fel took their seats.
Parck rose.
"If, as we believe, Admiral Sarim has been trying to recover the super-faster hyperdrives—which General Nath suggest we dub 'ultradrives'—of the Galaxy Gun missiles, we're facing a potentially serious threat. While the files we have on Sarim are incomplete, we do have numerous testimonies from when he was a commander, and Isard was running the Empire. Everyone agrees: he's a capable tactician, but a terrible administrator. If he plans to strike, it will be soon." Parck activated the screen, showing a map of a region of the galaxy. Highlighted in blue was a large strip of territory officially belonging to no one—not the Empire, not the Empire of the Hand, and not the New Republic.
"Admiral Taldine, you're to take your fleet into that territory, and find out what, if anything, is happening. The fleet will be supplemented by," Parck looked at Fel, "one starfighter carrier and its squadrons, which you can pick at your discretion from the units stationed here. Colonel Queder, your troops are to accompany them. General Fel will be in overall command of the task force. Master Skywalker, you will go with them."
Luke nodded. He was not subject to orders from Parck, but arguing over that was stupid—he would go with Fel no matter what, since if this Admiral Sarim had Mara…
"General Fel, you are free to take any action you deem necessary."
Fel saluted.
General Kell spoke up. "Sir, don't you have anything for me to do? You're not sending any of my men with them."
"No, I'm not. I have something else for you to do, General."
"What, sir?"
"You're going to Bastion."
Kell processed that, then nodded and sat down.
"General Fel," Admiral Parck said, "Your task force is to leave as soon as possible, by tomorrow morning at the latest. Good luck to all of you. Dismissed."
As they left the room, Fel motioned Luke aside and whispered.
"Luke?"
"Yes?"
"I have a bad feeling about this."