Chapter 53

Back at the secret base of Grand Admiral Thrawn, the Admiral himself was going through the recent reports from the battlefield concerning the war against the New Republic and he was very pleased about how things were going so far. Of course, they had lost a lot of ships during the battle in Saarn System but the most positive result despite all that was: Sensor Scans from the Fleet Flagship, that had been able to escape from the battlefield with only minor damage had indicated that the New Republic Listening Post on the surface of the first planet of the system had been destroyed completely.

Of course Thrawn would have preferred it, to collect at least some of the data that was stored in the databases of the base but with the base being the destroyed he could be sure of one thing: The New Republic wouldn't be able to keep their foot in the door into a system that had a lot of valvue to him because of it's big amount of resources. Meanwhile back at the Jedi Temple Luke and the rest of the Council had come to a decision, of course also on the most pressing matter right now: What to do regarding the whole delicate situation with Master Ralkitta which certainly had been a topic that been discussed for almost an hour. „I still think that it could be a mistake letting this thing go by unpunished at the end, because sometimes the Council needs to make decisions that are unpopular to most of the people." Kyp Durron said and even if he didn't show his disapproval that open in a emotional way, it was pretty obvious to Luke that he didn't appreciated it one bit that he had been overruled by the other members of the Council.

„I know that Master Ralkitta has been a great cause of concern for the Council in the past and I'm even if I do agree on the fact that the Jedi shouldn't play god considering the lifes of non-force users, i'm also not willing to ban someone from the Order and maybe risk this fragile construct to fall apart." Luke replied trying his best to explain it to his fellow Council Member, why it was an mistake to sanction anybody in a drastic way, even if Council Members like Kyp Durron for example still were a little skeptical of the new Code that Luke and his supporters on the Council had been busy with establishing since the formation of the New Jedi Order.

Back at the Apartment that Leia and Han shared, Leia had finally returned from the long meeting at the Office of the Chief of State Mon Mothma and it was obvious to Padme that something was bothering her daughter. Of course it also didn't go by Han unnoticed that his wife seemed very distraught by something and so he immediately approached and asked:

„What's wrong darling? You know that I hate to see you that said and that I would do anything possible to make you feel better, right?" It took quite a while for her to register the fact that he had just asked her a question, because everything that she had read in the reports from the battlefield had really gotten her shaken up even if this should be something that she already should been used to. But surrendering to all this negative emotions didn't get her nowhere so she took one deep breath before she said: „It's just has been a hard day, we've sadly lost a lot of lives today but I know that the New Republic will win this war!"

Padme hugged her daughter, seeing all the dedication she had when she first became Senator back in the days of the Old Republic and she truly was proud of the accomplishments of her children. Being wrapped up in her mother's tight embrace felt so good at this very moment, but it also felt still kind of surreal to hold onto the body of her mother for real after she had imagined how it must feel for all those years prior to this Unexpected Reunion.

Han never had been that kind of emotional person, but right at this moment he couldn't help but be touched by this display of affection between Leia and her mother. Meanwhile on the transport to his final destination, one of the two assasins was busy with going through the Plan for the attack on the target one more time, as the ship would land at the spaceport in a few hours.

He knew that this attack would hit the New Republic were it would hurt this fragile structure the most and it wouldn't take long to make it collapse completely at the very end. This joke of a government will plead for mercy, as they have all collapsed to their knees after all of their cities lay in ruins. He had an evil little smile on his face as this thought came to his mind, but of course he would have to make sure to not draw any attention to him, as this could put his important in danger and this surely wasn't a thing that he wanted to risk to happen.

„Since we have now got some more time for each other, I would like to make the suggestion that you and Han come along to spent some time with me on Naboo, as I would like to show you where I come from." Leia didn't need to think about that suggestion for all too long, because she loved the idea from her mother instantly and with a huge smile on her face she replied:

„Of course me and Han would love to spent some time with you on Naboo and I think that I need to take a break from this stressful work in politics."

Padme smiled back at her daughter, being so happy right at this moment that she could spent some time with Leia and Han on her homeworld, even if it would probably take a while to get used to her sourroundings after all those years that she has been absent from her homeworld.

Secret Base of Grand Admiral Thrawn Forces

Thrawn was now sitting behind the desk in his big office, which was just a few feet away from the Command Center busy with looking at a map of the space region around them as he was interrupted in his thoughts by the door signaling that someone seeked entrance in the room.

„Come in." Thrawn said in his uusal cold hearted sounding tone and after the officer had saluted in front of him in the uusal way he said:

„I just wanted to notify you, that Phase A of the Plan has started and our man will arrive in aproximately two hours at the designated target." Of course was pleased by the fact that everything was going according to his big masterplan so far, even if he wouldn't show it but he knew for a fact that this attack on the New Republic would be a big game changer in this war.

AN: What is the target of the assassin? So, Leia, Han and Padme will take a nice little trip to Naboo and maybe they will someone from Padme's family there. Thanks to- guest for reviewing this story, Thanks to- .5851 for reviewing this story, Thanks to- A.K. Skywalker for adding this story to her/his story alert subscription, her/his favorite stories list and adding me to her/his favorite authors list. Thanks to- Saphira Bright Scale for adding this story to her favorite stories list and adding it to her story alert subscription. Please read and review