Wild Karrde, Ord Mantell

"Admit it," Chin grinned at Mara as they walked up the Wild Karrde's boarding ramp. "You used a Jedi Mind Trick on the Correll boys, didn't you?"

Her green eyes narrowed as she gave him a frigid glare. "I did not use the Force to get them to lower their price. That would be unethical."

Chin gave a soft snort of disbelief. "When did you start worrying about ethics?"

"When we became Imperial traders. We now have rules to follow."

Chin chuckled. "In other words, you don't want to disappoint your Imperial boyfriend."

Frustrated and annoyed she shook her head. "I don't want to put him in a position where he is in a continuous state of pardoning us for Imperial indiscretions."

"Ha!" Chin grinned furiously. "I noticed you didn't deny he's your boyfriend."

She sighed softly. "There is no use denying the obvious."

"What's obvious?" came a voice from behind her.

Mara turned to see her boss walking out of the ship's flight deck. "My relationship with Skywalker."

"Ah," Karrde muttered seemingly uninterested. "Inform me when the cargo arrives, and it gets properly stowed. We'll leave as soon as that's done."

"You got it boss." Chin grabbed a drink out of the galley cooling unit before walking down to the base of the boarding ramp to wait for the shipment delivery.

Mara looked around the ship. "Where's Aves?"

Karrde made a dismissive gesture with his hand. "I told him to take a commercial transport back to Myrkr and rendezvous with us on Kuat with one of our mid-size shuttles. We have a split shipment with a time crunch."

His response gave Mara pause. Not because what he said was outside the norm, but because she could sense he was lying about something. Her hesitation didn't go unnoticed by Karrde.

His blue eyes locked on to hers as he asked, "Is there a problem?"

She knew there was a problem, but she was also aware that her employer disliked her use of the Force to spy on his inner emotions. "No problem, and if there was something wrong, I am sure you would let me know...if you needed my help that is."

He gave her a knowing look. "Yes, I would." He turned and moved to his cabin. "Let me know when we are ready to depart."

"Will do." She walked down the boarding ramp to wait with Chin. She knew Talon was lying about something, but he was also truthful when he said he'd tell her if he needed her assistance.

.

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Karrde closed his cabin door behind him and sat down heavily on his bunk. He hated keeping things from Mara, but he knew, whether she admitted it or not, that she was an intelligence conduit to the supreme commander. They had a bond and he doubted she could keep anything from Skywalker, even if she wanted to. Whatever she knew, Luke would eventually find out.

Although Han Solo and Princess Leia didn't appear to have any reservations when it came to capturing Luke Skywalker, the Supreme Commander obviously was protective of Han and Leia. Karrde wasn't sure how Luke would react when he found out what Karrde did to his former Rebel friends, and he couldn't afford to get on the wrong side of the Imperials, especially since he left the Smuggler's Guild. It was best to keep things quiet.

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Star Destroyer Redeemer

Luke walked over to his cabin's galley, opened a bottle of wine and poured himself a full glass before he sat down on his couch and took a long sip. As he finished his drink, he heaved a sigh. He was deeply disturbed over Obi-Wan's revelation that Leia was his sister, and the fact that she was missing left him in an emotional turmoil.

This entire situation was not fair, and he was furious that he'd been lied to all his life. He was separated from his sister shortly after birth. His Aunt and Uncle lied to him about his father's identity. Obi-Wan told him a deceptive story about Darth Vader murdering his father. The only people he truly trusted now was his father and Mara Jade: a Sith Lord and a former assassin. He chuckled darkly as the irony of the situation had not escaped him.

Obi-Wan could have been lying about Leia being his sibling, but Luke sensed the truthfulness of Ben Kenobi's words through the Force. Princess Leia was his sister and now she was missing, both physically and through the Force. For the last two days he preoccupied himself with finding his twin sister. He ordered the Empire's Intelligence division to intensify their efforts to find the rebel leader, but so far, she hadn't surfaced on any public surveillance vids.

He considered telling his father, but that would necessitate revealing how he acquired the information. He wasn't sure how Darth Vader would take the news that his arch nemesis was haunting Luke. His father already believed Kenobi had turned his mother against him. Luke was positive his father would immediately believe the Jedi Master was now trying to do the same with his son. Luke couldn't risk any mistrust coming between them. The longevity of his recent government reforms depended on his father's good will. It was imperative that he maintained a friendly relationship with his father.

No, he wouldn't mention any of this to Vader for now. He needed to find the Princess. He was working on the presumption that she wasn't dead, therefore that meant the Force was being blocked...and he knew of only one way to block the Force...with what Mara called 'Force- blocking tree lizards'.

Could Leia be traveling with those creatures? Was she on Myrkr? Talon Karrde might have some information that would help Luke, but he hesitated to contact him. Luke really didn't want to explain why he was searching for Leia. Mara had already expressed jealously over his friendship with the Princess and the last thing he wanted to do was aggravate the woman that he dearly loved...especially so soon after the start of their relationship. He could tell Mara that Leia was his sister, but that would lead to more questions and then he would end up explaining how he was being haunted by a Jedi Master.

His best bet was to find Han and see if he knew Leia's whereabouts. The most reasonable avenue for that line of investigation was to contact another smuggler and that brought him back to Talon Karrde...and that meant he needed a good story for wanting to locate Solo that didn't involve Leia.

"The dreadnaughts," Luke whispered to himself. He would ask for information on locating Han in hopes of discovering the location of the dreadnaughts.

He moved to his desk and keyed in Karrde's private comm number into his holoprojector transceiver. After a few minutes the imaged of Talon Karrde appeared.

"Supreme Commander," Karrde looked at him warily. "How can I help you?"

Luke straightened in his seat and gave a forced smile. "Hello, Talon. I was wondering if you could help me find Han Solo. Are you still in the Smuggler's Guild?"

Karrde went slackjawed for a long moment before swallowing hard. "No, I quit the Guild. Why are you looking for Solo?"

"I...um...I am hoping he could provide me with the current location of the dreadnaught that attacked Corellia."

Karrde's brow furrowed. "Why would a Rebel reveal to you that information?"

'Why indeed,' Luke thought, realizing he was really bad when it came to duplicity. "Han's a good man. I'm sure he doesn't condone the recent attacks on civilian targets. Have you seen him recently? Do you know where I can find him?"

Karrde looked uncomfortable with the conversation. "I can't help you. I'm an Imperial Trader. I no longer associate with rebels."

Luke sighed deeply. "Talon, I'm not accusing you of being a traitor. I just want to know if you have seen Han Solo since Myrkr."

Talon's face hardened. "I can't help you and even if I could there is no way Han Solo would help you find those Dreadnaughts."

That last word caught Luke's attention. Only Imperial Intelligence knew there was more than one ship conducting the attacks. Luke hadn't told Mara, so Talon shouldn't be privy of that information.

"Dreadnaughts," Luke said slowly. "Like in more than one?"

Luke watched Karrde closely and thought he saw the man flinch ever so slightly. Talon straightened his shoulders and maintained eye contact with Luke. "I haven't confirmed the information, but my various sources indicate there are three."

"And when were you going to get around to telling me that?" Luke exclaimed, pretending this was the first he heard of this information. "You are an Imperial citizen and are part of the Imperial Trade League. As a member of the League, you have a legal obligation to report that type of information in a prompt manner." Luke blew out a breath and looked at the man sternly. "You of all people, I would think would want to cooperate with the government in order to find the people responsible for the Corellia attack."

Talon's eyes lowered and Luke heard him mutter a profanity under his breath. When he looked up, he said, "I'm an information broker and a good one. I always confirm my information prior to dissemination."

Luke ran a frustrated hand over his face. "Talon, I can understand you doing that when it comes to selling information, but I don't have any problem running down any leads, even if they are just rumors." Luke paused and focused his attention on Karrde. "Or were you planning on selling that information to me?" Luke's voice took on a hard edge. "I thought we were friends. But are you saying you were going to sell to me information about the people who attacked you and Karrina?"

"No, no," Talon threw his hands up in exasperation. "I just found out and was planning on telling you. Wanting to confirm information is an old habit that is hard to break." He squared his shoulders and gave Luke and unflinching gaze. "I heard there were three Dreadnaughts and they are not under the control of the Rebel Alliance, but an organization called The Resistance run by a man called Ewon..." Talon hesitated in thought.

"Klanto," Luke supplied.

Karrde nodded. "Yes, that's the name."

"That confirms what I have been hearing."

"Luke, there was one part of the story that maybe you can confirm. There were rumors that the Dreadnaughts were old...probably pre-clone war era. Do you know the color of their hulls?"

Luke chuckled. "If you are asking if their hulls were black...then yes, they are. I know what you're thinking. Could they be part of the Katana fleet? Grand Admiral Thrawn thought they might, but we are talking about a fleet that hasn't been seen in over fifty years. They probably made a blind jump into a blackhole, otherwise somebody would have found them already."

Talon's eyes widened. "Luke, the Katana fleet was massive! Two hundred Dreadnaughts!" He paused, collecting his thoughts. "If the Resistance did find the fleet, why would they only employ three ships?"

Luke shrugged, not knowing the answer to that. "It is possible that this new resistance leader could only outfit a crew large enough for three ships. He might be trying to recruit new fighters to man more ships."

"If the Resistance found the fleet, perhaps they are using the fleet location as a base of operations." Talon ran a hand over his beard. "And that means, if you find the fleet, you may find the Resistance...and the people responsible for the attack on Corellia."

Luke sighed deeply. "Unfortunately, if anybody knew the whereabouts of the fleet, I doubt they would reveal the location to the Empire. The black-market value of those ships would make a person a trillionaire. If they report their position to the Empire, they would only get a fraction of the value in the form of a finder's fee."

"A finder's fee?" Karrde gave Luke a curious look. "What type of finder's fee?"

Luke shrugged. "It is usually only one to five percent of the actual value of the salvage."

"Okay," Karrde said while closing his eyes in concentration. "Even if it was one percent of the value. If the fleet is worth a trillion credits isn't one percent of a trillion...ten billion credits?"

Luke was confused as to why Talon went down this tangent. "To be honest, Talon, math was never my favorite subject. It's either ten billion or a billion. I'd have to run the numbers through a calculator program. What does it matter?"

Talon didn't answer right away. It appeared he was having an anxiety attack. He took a few calming breaths before he spoke again. "Luke, are you saying the first person to report the location of the Katana fleet to the Empire will immediately become a billionaire?"

"Ah, yes." He narrowed his eyes as he stared at the holoprojection of Karrde. "Talon...do you know the location of the Katana Fleet?"

Karrde didn't answer as the blood appeared to drain from his face. The man was previously standing but was now slumped against the wall of what appeared to be his cabin.

Before Luke could say anything, he heard a pounding on Karrde's cabin door and then the sound of somebody entering the room. A second later he saw Mara Jade rushing to Talon's side.

"Talon? What's wrong?"

Karrde appeared shaky on his feet and Mara helped her boss to his cot. It was then that Mara noticed the hyperwave transceiver was on. "Luke?" She looked back to her boss and then back to the image of her lover. "What's going on?"

"I don't know. We were talking about the Katana fleet, and he suddenly got ill."

Karrde reached up and touched the sleeve of Mara's flight suit. "Can you get me some water?"

Mara nodded and rushed from the cabin. Karrde looked over to the transceiver and said, "Luke, I want to discuss this in greater detail, but not over the comm. Can you meet me on Kuat. We will be at the Capital landing port."

"Yes, of course. I'll be there."

Luke was about to say something more, but Karrde stumbled up to his desk and disconnected the communication signal. He then moved back to his bunk as Mara rushed in with a glass of water in her hand. She looked over to the transceiver. "Did Luke disconnect?"

"No, I did." He clutched the glass in trembling hands as he raised it to his lips.

"Did Luke say something that upset you or are you sick?" Her brow rose and eyes went wide. "Is it Karrina? Is she okay?"

"This is not about Karrina," Talon muttered.

"Then what is it?"

"I'm just feeling under the weather." He handed her the now empty glass of water and leaned back in his bunk. "Mara, if you want answers contact Skywalker. I need some rest."

Mara bristled at being dismissed but nodded and left his room. She then walked down to the communication station. She would contact Luke and get some answers.

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Star Destroyer Redeemer

Luke was not surprised when a communication from Mara came in on his transceiver no more than a few minutes after Karrde cut contact with him.

She gave him a frosty glare before she began questioning him. "What is going on?"

He shrugged. "I simply called Karrde for help finding Han Solo. We then got into a conversation that Talon thought was best not to discuss over the transceiver...and if my hunch is correct about the information that he has in his possession...I agree with him and think we should have this conversation in person." He could tell she didn't like that answer. "Mara, our lines of communication are heavily encrypted, but it is not foolproof. The Rebel Alliance already hacked into our holonet communications...the Empire could have a traitor within the ranks helping them. If that is the case, then our communication system might be compromised."

She shook her head in frustration before throwing her hands up in the air in defeat. "Alright."

"Look at the bright side, we'll get to see each other soon." Luke flashed a sweet smile. "I really miss you."

Her green eyes shone with pleasure. "I miss you too, Supreme Commander."

He stared at her lovingly for an awkward pause before clearing his throat. "I'll see you soon. It is best that we talk in person."

"There are a lot of things I want to do in person," Mara said with a smirk.

Luke could feel a blush heat his face. "I look forward to our reunion." With that said he cut the connection. He grinned like a smitten schoolboy before the enormity of what Talon suggested returned to the forethought. If Karrde knew the location of the Katana Fleet it would be a boost to the Empire and a blow to the Resistance. If, in fact, the Resistance dreadnaughts had come from the legendary fleet.

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The straight-line distance between Ord Mantell and Kuat would have made for a short trip if there was a direct hyperspace lane between the two planets. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case. The Wild Karrde would first have to make two small hyperspace jumps to get to the Hydian Way trade route that would lead to Kuat.

Karrde stood behind the pilot seat currently occupied by Mara Jade. "Arriving at first transfer point in one minute," his second-in-command reported. "The second jump is calculated and ready to go on arrival."

When they exited hyperspace, they were surprised to find themselves surrounded by dark hulled Dreadnaughts.

"Evasive action!" Karrde called out. "Get us out of here."

Mara pulled back on the controls to make the jump, but the ship engines groaned, refusing to move.

"Kriff! They caught us in a tractor beam." She reversed sub-light engines in an attempt to break free.

"Chin," Karrde shouted to his Communications officer. "Get a distress call out to the Imperials!"

Chin frantically pushed buttons on the comm, before turning to his boss. "long-range radio frequencies have been jammed, but they have left the short-range ship-to-ship channels open."

Karrde gazed out of the viewport apprehensively. "They want to talk to us." He blew out a shuttered breath. "I guess that's a good sign. I suppose we should say hello." He pressed the communication button. "This is the cargo freighter Wild Karrde. We are in the process of switching hyperspace lanes. We are carrying cargo to Kuat. We are a merchant ship carrying nonmilitary cargo."

There was a short pause before a deep male voice responded. "This is Vice Admiral Wirriz of the Resistance's Dreadnaught Independence. Cooperate and you will not be harmed. Proceed to the starboard docking bay for inspection."

Mara and Karrde looked to each other questioningly.

Karrde muted the microphone. "They don't have authority over us."

"I think their twin heavy turbolaser batteries and ion cannon gives them authority," Mara pointed out.

Apparently, Admiral Wirriz wasn't one to wait for an answer. When the Wild Karrde didn't move a warning shot from the turbolaser encouraged compliance.

"Independence, this is Captain Talon Karrde. Hold your fire. We will obey...but can we ask what is going on?"

"Once you are on board, we will discuss your situation, Admiral Wirriz out."

"Maybe joining the Imperial Trade League wasn't a good idea," Mara muttered under her breath as she maneuvered the ship to the docking bay.

"Do you think they are going to confiscate our cargo?" Chin asked.

"Probably," Karrde said darkly. "It makes sense to pirate in order to pay for their insurgency. Hopefully they will let us keep our ship."

Chin gazed at the huge ship filling up their viewing port. "I don't know boss; it would be easier just to space us."

"Don't worry," Karrde reassured his crew. "Worst case scenario, they take everything and strand us in an escape pod."

Mara wasn't as confident as her boss. She had a bad feeling about this. She didn't know if it was the Force whispering to her or just her standard paranoia.

As they neared the starboard docking bay her anxiety increased when she noticed the area was filled with resistance members with blaster rifles aimed at them. Standing among the highly armed soldiers was a tall, red skinned Quarren, a sentient cephalopod species with prehensile tentacles surrounding their mouth and gills protruding from either side of the head. The Quarren was wearing a white admiral's uniform and a pissed off expression on his squid-like face.

They docked, powered down the ship and gathered in the galley. Karrde addressed his crew as they lowered the boarding ramp. "Cooperate. I don't know what they want, but we don't need to provoke them."

They were immediately boarded by a dozen men waving around their blasters in a menacing manner followed by their Admiral who walked directly up to Mara.

"I am Admiral Wirriz of the Resistance." His Basic had a deep accent but with a clip articulation that suggested he had spent some time on Coruscant or another core world. "You are now my prisoners. Cooperate and you will not be harmed."

"What?" Mara said surprised. "We're not Imperial military."

The Quarren cocked his head to the side. "True, but rumor has it you are someone very valuable to the Supreme Commander."

Mara realized their run in with the Resistance was no accident. They must have sliced into the hyperspace transit authority, found their flight plan, and now was going to use the Karrde crew to draw in the Supreme Commander.

"Kriff!" Mara whispered under her breath.

The Admiral's tentacles on the sides of his mouth raise slightly. It was a facial expression that Mara recognized as the species' form of smiling. "Kriff, indeed." the Quarren's voice was deep and ominous. "As you can see, you are not our target and there is no reason for you or your friends to be harmed." He pointed a suction-tipped finger at her. "Don't make us kill you."

Mara knew she could do a Jedi Mind Trick to make him order their release, but that didn't mean his directives would be obeyed by all on board. All they needed was one senior officer balk at the command and their escape would be at risk. Mara looked to Karrde.

"We won't be harmed if we cooperate?" Talon's question indicated to Mara she was to stand down.

"I guarantee it." The Admiral gestured to his soldiers. "Take them to the detention block." When his men roughly grabbed Mara's arm the Admiral added, "Gently."

They were hustled out of their ship and down the Dreadnaught's corridors. The ship was old, but the damage she saw as she was escorted to the detention block didn't appear to be from normal wear-and-tear. There was carbon scoring along the walls, dark splatter staining the floors and there was a musty smell that permeated the ship. It was a smell of desiccation and death. Something very bad had happened aboard this ship.

The guards escorting Chin and Karrde pushed them into the first cell of the detention block and moved to put Mara in another cell down the hall. She balked and shrugged out of their grip. When the guards reached out to her, she put a hand up and said using the full power of the Force, "Stop! Place me in the cell with my crew." The two human guards hesitated before their eyes glazed over slightly. They didn't speak but simply brought Mara back to the cell with Chin and Karrde, opened the cell door and pushed her inside.

Talon put a hand on her shoulder. "Are you okay."

"Yes." She walked over to the cell's bench and sat down. "We need to warn Luke."

Talon sat down next to her. "Can you...communicate with him across the vastness of space?"

She pulled in a long breath and closed her eyes. "I can try." Before she could do anything, she felt the ship shutter. "They've made a jump. Even if I could contact him, we have no idea where we're going."

"But we should warn him, though," Talon whispered to her. "Tell him it's a trap."

She gave a nod and closed her eyes as she reached out with the Force...grasping out for Luke's Force presence.

'Luke!'

She didn't expect a response, but she soon felt him searching out for her. 'Mara!'

'Luke, the Wild Karrde crew has been abducted by the Resistance. Three Dreadnaughts intercepted us between Ord Mantell and the Hydian Way Hyperspace route.'

She could feel his panic. 'Where are you now?'

'We made a jump...we don't know where.'

She sensed his dread magnify. 'We haven't been able to find those Dreadnaughts. If they have a hiding place, it is far off the beaten path. They must be moving though a new or once forgotten hyperspace lane otherwise somebody would have seen them. We have Imperial probe droids at every hyperspace juncture.' There was a pause. 'Is Talon with you now?'

She furrowed her brow at the change of subject. 'Yes, why?'

'When we last talked, he mentioned that if the Resistance had found the Katana Fleet they may be using the location as a base of operations.'

'So?'

'Mara, I think Talon knows the location of the fleet. He just didn't wish to broadcast the location over the holonet transceiver. You may be on the way to the fleet. Ask him.'

Mara opened her eyes and turned to her boss. He looked at her expectantly. "Did you get ahold of Luke?"

"Talon," she whispered while leaning close to his ear. "Do you know the location of the Katana Fleet?"

He grimaced. "I see you did get in contact with Luke."

When he didn't answer she nudged him with her elbow. "Do you? Because Luke thinks we might be going to that location."

Talon's mouth flattened to a flat line. "I do, but I don't have a safe route to get there. I found the fleet after doing a blind jump and thinking I jumped into an Imperial blockade I did a second blind jump out of the area. I can only give him coordinates. He has to find his way in and out."

Mara closed her eyes and sent the information to Luke after a moment she returned her attention to Talon. "He wants the coordinates. He thinks he knows a navigator that can get him there safely."