Chapter 50
New Republic Listening Post, Saarn System
Any possible chance of escape had been destroyed by the attacks on the ship yards and by that the two remaining survivors of the battle were doomed to go down with the „sinking ship" so the speak. In twenty minutes this base would blow up into the pieces, hopefully this would be soon enough to avoid Grand Admiral Thrawn forces to make their way into the base and try to force them to undo the self destruct countdown. Even if he wanted he couldn't get his mind off the thought that his life would end like this, after he did have a long sucessful career in the military, first for the Rebel Alliance against the Galactic Empire and then as a part of the newly formed New Republic Military and never would he have thought that his military service time would end this way.
„I know it doesn't matter that much anymore Captain but, we both know that this attack on the base was no coincedence, somebody from our personell has turned on us and worked alongside with the enemy." Commander Richardson stated and of course he was aware of the fact that this might not be the best time to discuss such a delicate topic during the last minutes of their lives, but it would also be their last oppurtunity to talk about his concerns. Of course it was difficult for Captain Parker to decide if he even wanted to talk about this whole thing anymore, when the base along with them would explode in a couple of minutes because he maybe wanted to think about more positive things. But he also couldn't deny that his second in command was right, this definitely had been in inside job but who would turn on his fellow crewmembers and risk getting killed at the same time?
He sighed loudly before he replied: „It's hard for me to admit that,because before today I was sure that I knew everyone under my command very well but now I'm not so sure anymore. Yes you're right Commander someone from the Crew has turned on us and made it possible that Grand Admiral Thrawn could hit the New Republic that hard. It's disturbing to say the least that our enemy has been able to infiltrate our ranks, because that means that we have to step up if the New Republic wants to have a realistic chance of surviving this war."
Coruscant, Senate Building
Shortly after the end of the meeting with members of the military and the intelligenc service, Leia and Mon Mothma had made their way to the Senate Chamber to attend the emergency meeting which both of them had put on the agenda on short notice because of the sensitive nature of the situation in the Saarn System. Ta'laam Ranth, Senator of Antar 4 and also Head of the Justice Council at the same time was in the middle of his speech and you could see that he was very concerned because of the current situation:
„It's good to hear that we are on the same page concerning the huge security problem because of the current situation at the Saarn System and I think that I speak for every Senator, who is present in the Senate Chamber right now that it is indeed a huge tragedy for all of us because of all the lives that have been lost today. But I also think that it's obvious that today showed us how vurneable our defense systems are and like it or not, we have to think about a plan to find this security breach fast, because knowing how short the list of people is who knew about this base we have to assume that we maybe still have a traitor among us."
Of course neither Leia or Mon Mothma liked to imagine that someone was indeed leaking valvueable information to enemy but maybe Ranth was right and somebody was indeed not the trustworthy person that he or she maybe always claimed to be.
Apartment of Leia and Han Solo
Padme was standing now right in front of the big window in the apartment, from where you had an excellent view of the Big City like Planet and was deeply lost in her own thoughts before she faced Han again, who was standing right next to her: „I know that it maybe has never been a topic for you, because of my daughter's stressful job but I ask out of pure curiousty anyways. Did you ever talk about having your own children some day?" Of course the former Senator and Queen of Naboo knew that she might put him into an awkward situation by asking this delicate question but the whole thing was just important for her to know as a mother.
After hesitating with his answer for a few minutes Han said: „Of course me and Leia talked about this topic and we both agreed that we wanted to have children for sure, but it definitely had to be at the right time and we're both very well aware of the fact that we couldn't take care of a child when the New Republic is in such a fragile state." Padme could understand the decision they had made very well and the thought of having some grandchildren in future made her so happy at this moment. For a moment they didn't exchange any words with each other, before Han spoke decided to speak again, as he couldn't help but notice that troubled looked on her face:
„Is everything alright? Because it seems to me that you seem very concerned about something and maybe I can help you with that."
She tried her best to force herself to smile for a short moment, even if she knew that she probably couldn't fool her son- in law but she did it anyway. „It's just that I don't know if I'm going to fit into this new world, some many people that I knew died a long time ago and I'm kind of second guessing myself, as I don't know for sure if i can be any use after all those years outside of politics."
AN: Thanks to- Harry Skywalker for adding this story to his story alert subscription, Thanks to- shadow bella 987 for adding this story to her/his story alert subscription, Thanks to- .5851 for reviewing this story, Thanks to- Phoenix Brooke for adding this story to her/his story alert subscription ,adding me to her/his author alert subscription, adding me to her/his favorite authors list, Thanks to- drake 305 for adding this story to her/his author alert subscription. Please read and review
