ORD MANTELL
Standing on the main landing platform of Ord Mantell City's Capitol building, General Solo waited gratefully as the New Republic YE-4 gunship flew down from the cruiser above.
Han approached the gunship as it landed, reviewing the armored soldiers that came out of it.
The men and women stood at attention as their leader finally emerged.
Han grinned as Lando came out, and said, "So, you finally got off your seat and came."
Lando returned the humorous look, then replied, "Not all of us can be married to Jedi."
"That bad?"
"The Coalition tried a different tactic with the Twi'leks. They've convinced dozens of young people on Ryloth that the Republic is impeding on their freedom."
"That's why we're here, to show them that we're not like the Empire," Han replied, "We didn't fight a war with them for nothing."
"They don't realize that though," Lando said with a growing grimness in his voice.
Suddenly, Captain McCallum came out of the corridor onto the hangar.
"General Solo!"
"Captain," Han replied, "Did the Harvest make it back with the kids?"
"I was knocked out of the ship by the Black Sun fighters," McCallum relied, "I saw your daughter get aboard, but they took off from the planet a minute later."
"They left the planet?" Han asked, frowning in confusion, "See if you can get in contact with Commander Fel."
NIMBAN
The Blue Harvest lowered towards a large, barren algae reef that had been dried up. It was far beyond the eyes of the Coalition, as far as Kira and Sam could tell, anyway.
"Do we know the plan?" Sam asked as they prepared to exit the ship onto the new terrain.
"Put the tracking device on the Coalition ship and run as fast as we can back to ours," Kira replied, "Really that simple."
"Let's see," Sam said as he placed the round and metal tracking device on his utility belt.
Subconsciously. Kira ran a hand through the lightsaber hilt clipped to her Jedi robes as she thought about the danger ahead. Comparable to that on Ord Mantell, she supposed, though as far as she knew, all of Skyler's apprentice were engaged elsewhere. There would be none to confront here on Nimban.
The two of them began walking through the puddles of mud and diluted water, their boots stepping into a ground made largely of coral.
"Think they're watching us?" Kira asked.
"Maybe, but Hutt Cartel hasn't had as much money at its disposal since the Empire," Sam replied. He tapped on the tracking device clipped to his belt.
"Would be nice to have a quick getaway speeder though."
Eventually, the Coalition base was visible from the fog, with the occasional Syck fighter and HWL freighter going back and forth between the base and the green-hued clouds above.
"I don't think we've been spotted yet," Sam said. "You ready for this, kid?"
"Yeah," Kira replied with a vigorous nod.
She tapped into the Force with deliberation, willing their presences to remain undetected by any other being.
HAD ABADDON SYSTEM
Aboard the Sith cruiser Deathwish, Lord Ultor patched yet another communication with Gorga the Hutt, Talon standing closely and silently behind him.
"Dark Master?" Gorga questioned.
"Ah, mighty Gorga," Ultor replied, "You'll be pleased to know that the daughter of Han and Leia Solo is currently lurking near the Coalition fort on Nimban, no doubt on a mission to sabotage Hutt efforts there."
"Are you sure of this?"
"I have every reason to believe it," Ultor replied, "Have your mercenaries and assassins assembled?"
"I'm sending them in our Hawk freighters," replied Gorga, his protocol droid no longer serving a purpose with his decision to speak in Basic for the time being- given his newly restored respect for the Dark Master. "What about your apprentices?"
"They will meet your men in the Had Abaddon System, where you will then head to Coruscant. But remember, mighty Gorga, that you will have to use stealth to get past the Republic defenses."
"My assassins are up to the challenge," Gorga replied.
"Very good," Ultor declared, "With our combined forces, there will be no stopping us in achieving what we desire."
NIMBAN
As they slowly approached the Coalition base, Sam suddenly grabbed Kira by the sleeves and pulled her behind a growth of weedy coral.
"Trouble!"
"I know, I know!" Kira replied, watching as several armored and masked beings emerged from the main entrance, carrying heavy weaponry.
Kira could make out a mix of humans, Rodians, Twi'leks, Whiphids, Trandoshans, and a mysterious towering metallic man among the rabble of warriors boarding the awaiting Hawk gunship.
"That's Durge," Kira realized, "He's been around since the Separatists!"
"We'll want him to stay off our backs," Sam replied.
Then nine-foot-tall Durge broke ranks and stood still as his fellow assassins disappeared into the gunship.
He then activated his comlink and said to Krunge in a deep, smooth voice "My scanners detect two nearby intruders- I'll bet that the Solo girl is one of them."
"Eliminate them both!" Krunge replied.
Durge bent his steel, tattooed arm and a small gun popped out of the forearm.
He scanned the surrounding algae until he picked up on where they were hiding.
"Their ship is about to take off," Kira said as the door to the gunship slammed shut behind the Rodian who had last climbed aboard, "We have to throw the gunship fast."
"I know you're there, Jedi filth," Durge said as he stomped in the direction of Sam and Kira, "I'm going to kill you either way, so you may as well not waste my time."
Kira pulled her lightsaber from her utility belt, her arms trembling with dreadful anticipation.
"He can't be much harder than those two Dark Side Jedi back on Ord Mantell," Sam said in consolation.
"Sam, I just want to say something," Kira began, talking in a weaker voice than she would have liked.
"It'll have to wait," Sam replied, "You distract him while I throw the charge!"
At that moment, Durge opened fire on the coral where they were hiding, tearing open a wide hole and sending laserfire between Sam and Kira's heads.
Kira switched on her blade and without a second thought, revealed herself to the giant towering over her.
Through the metal plates completely masking his features, Durge glowered at the girl confronting him.
"I haven't killed one of your kind since the Clone Wars," Durge remarked, "This is to be fun."
"Not for long," Kira retorted as she charged.
Durge fired at her with the blasters attached to both his arms.
Now that Kira had his full attention, Sam darted from behind the coral and swung his arm clutching the tracker. He pitched it straight upward as the Hawk gunship lifted into the air.
The small device sailed through the fog, lowering just before it could attach to the back wing of the Cartel freighter.
Kira turned and briefly caught the device before it could fall further to the ground. With her mind, she flung it upward and sent it back up to the gunship, attaching it to the bottom as it soared out of sight.
Durge had reached Kira by now, and sent a fist in the direction of her forehead.
Sam fired at the bounty hunter with his own blaster, just barely missing his X-shaped eyes as he missed the lethal blow he had aimed at Kira.
Kira flicked her wrists to the right, attempting to send her lightsaber into Durge's wrists and amputate his hands.
The bounty hunter wrapped his steel fingers over the plasma of Kira's blade, to her astonishment. Kira gaped in shock as Durge threw her across the reef, sending her flying into a nearby ledge.
"Kira!" Sam yelled as she hit the mercifully soft ground and rolled into a lake of algae.
Kira wasn't hurt very badly, but she gagged at the smell of the gases around her and the dirty water into which she had splashed.
Still gripping her lightsaber, Kira caught hold of thr pores in the coral and pulled herself out onto the squishy land.
Meanwhile, Durge had set his sights on Sam.
He advanced on the young commander, with his fists raised to strike.
Sam backed away slowly, aiming his rifle to seemingly no avail. If Kira's lightsaber had failed to damage this bounty hunter in any way, Sam didn't see how he could do any damage.
"You puny Republic lackeys are nothing compared to the might of pure lawless strength. You have interfered with us free systems for the last time."
Sam pulled the trigger to fire, but of course, the shot bounced off of Durge.
The bounty hunter struck Sam's blaster with his arm, breaking it clean in half.
Kira ran to help her new friend, but she knew that even she may not have been fast enough to stop him from being crushed into a pulp.
"Take it!" Kira yelled, realizing there was only one chance to stop this dangerous creature.
"Take it!" Kira yelled, throwing her lightsaber in Sam's direction.
Durge grabbed Sam by the scruff of his uniform and hoisted him up so that his feet dangled high above the ground, level with Durge's kneecaps
Durge looked up in amazement as the lightsaber hummed through the air towards him.
Sam desperately clawed at the flying weapon, kicking against the distracted Durge to free himself.
Sam's shirt came clean off of his body, leaving him bare-chested as he tumbled onto the coral.
Breathlessly, he took hold of Kira's still-activated lightsaber, having no idea what to do with it.
Durge stomped his foot down, intending to shatter Sam's entire midsection, but Sam rolled away, causing Durge's foot to plunge into the coral from the impact.
Durge lashed out with both fists, grunting in frustration as he swung at Sam.
Kira had arrived closer by then, and summoned the lightsaber back to her via telekinesis.
Durge attempted to shoot Sam with his arm-cannons, but Kira leapt protectively in front of him and batted the shots aside.
"Come on," she said, pulling Sam up by the arm. She continued to draw Durge's fire as his foot remained stuck in the soft, squishy surface into which his foot had torn.
The two of them sprinted away as Durge finally managed to break free, hurrying after them.
"You...saved me...back there," Sam panted as they kept running, still feeling a tight pain in his ribs.
"Hey..." Kira replied, equally out of breath, "You...stopped him...from breaking me in half first."
"Guess we're even then?" Sam reasoned.
Durge was tearing along behind them, closing the gap with his incredibly long legs.
Kira turned around and summoned a strong burst of Force energy, directing it at the approaching Durge.
Sam marveled as Kira's blast sent the giant bounty hunter flying out of sight into the fog.
"There's...the ship!" Kira yelled, regaining her momentum as they got closer.
Sam wasn't as strong, due to his lack of Force-sensitivity, but Kira helped him along as they made their way to the ramp.
"Shut it!" she urged as Sam pressed the button to seal them in, speeding to the cockpit.
He pulled the throttle with all of his strength, bringing the Blue Harvest back into the clouds and fog.
They took off as fast as the Republic attack shuttle would allow, high above the coral and algae and the seething Durge.
"Do you have the Hawk gunship on your screen?" Kira asked as they exited the atmosphere of Nimban back into space.
"Got it right here," Sam confirmed, "I'm following their course now."
Kira could see a small generated image of the ship's trajectory on Sam's screen, heading into what looked like the Outer Rim's unexplored regions.
"I don't know what systems are there," she said, "I can't recognize any."
"We don't travel into deep space much," Sam replied, "but look, I think we've got some company."
Kira gazed outside to view the ship that had appeared on the scanners.
It was an orange NovaSword Superiority Fighter, belonging to Durge, and flown by his pilot droid that resembled a miniature version of the old hunter himself.
"Time to shoot them down," Durge rumbled.
"Lightspeed, now!" Sam urged as the NovaSword opened fire with rapidly circling missiles coming their way.
"Let me take the lead here," Kira said, pulling the throttle as she yanked the course of the ship sideways to avoid Durge's missles.
The cockpit tilted on its side as the missiles collided in a small explosion behind them.
"You really are good," Sam admitted.
Kira shrugged and kept zooming in circles to avoid the repeated missile launches from Durge's fighter.
"This would be a good time for lightspeed," Kira said as Durge's missile attacks increased in intensity and velocity.
"All right, okay," Sam mumbled, pulling the lever.
The ship began to launch into hyperspace...but then stopped dead in its tracks.
"What happened?" Kira asked, trying hard not to panic as she continued to keep them away from the line of fire, "Why didn't that work? Why isn't your lightspeed working?"
"It's working fine!" Sam snapped back, "I think he's pulling us back from going into hyperspace."
"Well we're going to have to lose him fast!" Kira shouted. She sped along away from Nimban's system, zig-zagging as Durge's fighter unleashed its maximum capabilities.
Durge growled in frustration as he continued to pursue the Blue Harvest.
Kira and Sam cried out as they were grazed by a missile.
It didn't hit the shuttle accurately enough to bore into it, but it caused the entire ship to flip upside down before ending up in the right position again.
"This is bad," Kira said.
"I'm going to try and get in contact," Sam replied, activating all possible radio channels.
"Hello? This is Commander Fel of Rogue Squadron. We're in the middle of..."
His sentence was cut off by Kira's maneuver to avoid Durge's lethal onslaught.
Kira then noticed a distant field of asteroids, with hundreds of small rocks revolving around a small cluster of larger bodies.
"Perfect," she whispered, speeding on ahead with renewed determination.
Durge followed behind them, refusing to relent as he watched them approach the asteroid field.
"Asteroids, really?" Sam asked.
"I'm surprised my dad didn't show you this trick!" Kira replied, jerking the Harvest downward as two identical pieces of rock zoomed past either side of the attack shuttle.
The sounds of the wings being chipped were very audible from the inside, causing Sam to cringe.
"Try not to take my ship apart piece by piece, okay?" Sam requested, just as Kira was sending them over another small swarm of flying chunks that nearly took them out from the left.
The layers of rock satellites were spinning as fast as a chopper blade, narrowly missing the Harvest as Kira led them in and out of their warpath.
Durge refocused the trajectory of his own craft as the location of his target continually changed.
Pressing another button on his control panel, Durge unleashed a volley of missile detonators into the field of larger asteroids into which Kira and Sam had disappeared.
"They're not getting out of this one," he growled. His pilot droid let out a series of low grumbles of agreement.
The asteroid was torn apart by the grenade explosions, sending its pieces into a series of collisions with the smaller pieces revolving around them. Several pieces of earth visibly struck the Blue Harvest, sending it spinning out of sight behind the globs of exploded asteroid pieces.
Durge scoured around the series of collisions and explosions taking place in a network, searching for any sign of his quarry.
Finally, he caught sight of one of the Harvest's wings, knocked clean off the ship, floating in the midst of the debris. This meant that the rest of the ship had been taken out.
Laughing in satisfaction, Durge steered his own craft into a clearing, departing the messy asteroid field.
Far below the scattered rocks and pieces, Sam and Kira laughed and whooped in celebration, impulsively pulling into a joyful embrace.
"You were so..."
"No, you..."
Exchanging smiles, the two were interrupted by a voice from the radio.
"Sam?"
"Ben, oh, yes, Ben," Sam said, flushing with equal embarrassment to Kira's.
"What's going on, where are you guys?"
"Well... Kira sort of knocked me out and hijacked my ship."
"She did what?" Ben marveled incredulously. He sounded both annoyed and sorely tempted to burst out laughing.
"Look, just don't tell your dad, please, okay? I'll never hear the end of it from him."
"Is she there with you now?"
"Hi Ben," Kira said sheepishly.
"Kira, what were you thinking? What happened?"
"We're on our way to rescue Tahiri, and we kind of took a detour. We just escaped from a bounty hunter trying to kill us."
"Well, where are you going now?"
"Let's see," Sam replied, checking his scanners, "It looks like our destination is the Had Abaddon system."
"That must be where Skyler lives now," Ben replied, now becoming filled with dread and anticipation.
"I heard his apprentices call him Lord Ultor," Kira pointed out, remembering her brief encounter with him in Ord Mantell's capital, just before they had grabbed and taken Tahiri away, "I think that's what he calls himself now."
"Then he's fully embraced the ways of the old Sith," Ben realized grimly, "He's starting their old order new again"
"Can you come meet us?" Kira asked.
"I'll be there to help as soon as possible. Just don't do anything stupid, okay?"
"Never have before," Kira replied.
"We'll see you soon," Sam replied.
"Keep her out of trouble, okay, Sam?" Ben asked.
"I would if that were possible," Sam replied humorously, "Try and hurry, okay."
"Copy that," Ben replied, "Over and out."
HAD ABADDON
Above the planet consisting of the Coalition's primary stronghold, the Sith cruiser loomed, casting an ominous shadow over the blue and black acid surface.
The Hawk gunship quickly approached the cruiser, pulling into its hangar from down below.
Ultor, Talon, and the Shadowguard wielding pikes with saber blades attached to the ends stood as the team of guerrillas approached to report for duty, led by Nihl, the other four Sith apprentices, and a guard of IG assassin droids. About four hundred warriors made up the total of the strike team preparing to invade Coruscant's criminal underworld.
"In order to successfully penetrate Coruscant's military defenses, you will have to forgo traditional means of arriving on the planet. Public transport will help you blend in. Then, you will regroup on the planet and launch your attack underground."
"What about you, my lord?" Nihl asked, glaring suspiciously at Talon.
"Talon and I will attempt to get the information regarding the location of the Jedi Academy," Ultor replied sinisterly, "We will use the Jedi prisoner and her friends who come and rescue her as the means to do so."
"Durge failed to kill them on Nimban," reported the lead Rodian named Farqua Peel, "They evaded him through the asteroid field."
"Some use may still come from the Jedi girl," Ultor replied, "With luck, we can extract the Jedi Academy's location from her, and then lure Skywalker into our ultimate trap."
The Blue Harvest came out of lightspeed into orbit of Had Abaddon just as the shuttles carrying the Coruscant invasion force departed the Sith cruiser, launching into hyperspace beyond sight.
"They have a surprisingly small defense," Sam observed, "too small."
"There's always a trap, if I've learned anything so far from these things," Kira answered, "Especially since Skyler's here- no, Ultor," she corrected herself. "Skyler was a completely different person once."
"How did he get that way?" Sam asked.
"I don't know," Kira replied, "Nobody knows for sure. One day, he felt the dark side calling to him, and then he went into the inferno and never came out."
Without exchanging any more words between them I order to focus on their objective, Kira and Sam flew the Harvest towards the surface of Had Abaddon and into its treacherous atmosphere.
Through the acidic clouds, Kira could see a black, haunted-looking castle built into the mountaintops, over the flowing rivers of acid below.
"Tahiri's here," Kira remarked, screaming through the Force at her friend, letting her know desperately that they were there now, that she was going to be okay, "She's alive, but badly hurt."
"It's lucky you can tell these things," Sam replied.
They docked low against the slope of the mountain leading up to Ultor's castle, next to a lake of acid that resembled a bright, neon colored body of water.
Sam picked up his pistol and placed it in the holster while Kira gripped her deactivated saber, ready for the certain host of enemies that would be swarming after them.
CORUSCANT
In the Senate's main lobby, Luke, Leia, and the droids met with Senator Mothma of Chandrilia, along with Ackbar.
"If Fey'lya allows the verdict to go through, which he certainly will, it may be difficult for you to get off Coruscant safely," the elderly, grey-haired Mothma stated.
"If it came to it, we'd be prepared to fight our way out," Leia replied, "We just don't want to harm anybody in the process."
"The Jedi may be facing bigger problems soon enough," Luke added, somewhat distracted and distant from the conversation.
"In any case, the last thing the New Republjc needs is a full scale war, especially when we are still "trying to win allegiance from pro-Imperial and independent-minded systems alike," Mothma said, "These will invariably side with the Coalition with the declaration of war."
"The influence of the Empire lingers within the Coalition's leadership," Leia noted, "even if they promote a message of anarchy. Their Dark Master has an authoritarian streak that comes from what he has learned from the dark side."
The group was then accosted by another cluster of representatives, including Roth Free Taa of Ryloth, Triclops of Nar Shadda, Ryes Quarn of Tinnel and Drussk of Trandosha, all accompanied by armed bodyguards from their homeworlds.
"Pardon me, Master Skywalker," Senator Quarn said, a false smile swimming onto his features, "But with your talk against the war on the Coalition, does this mean you support a weakened central Republic?"
Luke glared stonily at the group. "I support a free democracy, which I fought a war to bring onto the galaxy," he replied, "I do not intend to fight another war."
"You make a wise choice, Master Jedi," the reptilian Drussk chimed in, "The New Republic's laws against bounty hunting are unacceptable in the eyes of myself and my homeworld. We do not accept the laws of your governing body that destroy our long-standing practices."
Luke frowned and felt his insides clenching together. He loathed to stand by in favor of the practice of bounty hunting, especially when he, his relatives, and his fellow Jedi regularly prevented bounty hunters from terrorizing Republic populations, but he still could not endorse the war promoted by Fey'lya and Omas.
"I stand by the principles I set out to promote amongst my Jedi Knights," he said in a nondescript reply, careful not to betray his true feelings.
The Senator from Ryloth took a contrary position.
"Do you see, Master Skywalker," Free Taa demanded, "What happens without strong Republic control? Bounty hunting? The Empire was far better at keeping such practices under control."
"Might we remind you that the Empire regularly employed bounty hunters to underhandedly fight the Rebellion?" Leia asked, visibly fierce with defensiveness, "From which you profited greatly, Drussk," she added, now indicating the Trandoshan.
"We are a proud bounty hunting people," Drussk replied, "We view the Coalition as the best path to freedom to continue our way of life."
"I don't know why you refuse to conduct a full invasion of such Coalition sympathizers as Drussk over here!" Free Taa exclaimed, angrily gesturing at his rival Senator, "When you certainly have the capacity and the power to overtake them, Master Jedi!"
Luke took a breath and replied, "Just because I have the power to do something doesn't make it the right thing to do."
Inside the main Senate audience chamber, the broadcasting screen once again displayed the face of Cal Omas.
"The Senate is now back in session," Omas declared, "Let us make the finalizing vote that will determine the fate of this New Republic."
