New Cov - Ilic City

She took Han to a small room in the Amethyst building, turned him over to a couple of guard-looking men and then headed deeper into the facility with his blaster, comlink and ID card. After studying the two guards, he tried to strike up a conversation with them but got no more response than a few apathetic looks. After a few attempts, Han resigned himself to sitting quietly and waiting while listening to the waling sirens outside. When the graying woman finally returned, she was accompanied by another woman. This second woman was taller and had an unmistakable air of authority about her. "Good day to you;" she greeted him politely enough. "Captain Han Solo, I believe?"

With his ID in her hand, there didn't seem to be a point in denying it. "That's right."

"We're honored by your visit;" she said with just a touch of irony in her voice, "though greatly surprise by it."

Han scowled. "I don't know why. The visit was your idea. Do you always pick people up off the street?"

"Just the special ones;" replied the tall woman, one eyebrow raised. "You want to tell me who you are and who sent you?"

Han's scowl deepened. "What do you mean, who am I? You've got my ID right there."

"Yes I do;" she replied, turning the card over in her hand. "But there's some difference of opinion as to whether or not it's genuine."

Looking at the door, she beckoned. In stepped Tav Breil'lya. "I was right;" said the Bothan, his cream-colored fur rippling in an unfamiliar pattern. "As I told you when I first saw his ID. He is an impostor. Almost certainly an Imperial spy."

"What?" snapped Han, staring at the Bothan. It was Tav Breil'lya alright. "What did you call me?"

"You're an Imperial spy;" Breil'lya repeated, his fur rippling again. "Come to destroy our friendship, or even kill us all. But you'll never live to report back to your masters."

He turned to the tall woman in charge. "You must destroy him at once, Sena;" he urged. "Before he has a chance to summon your enemies here."

"Let's not do anything rash, Council-Aide Breil'lya;" Sena soothed, "Irenez has a good picket screen in position."

She turned to face Han. "Would you care to respond to the Council-Aide's accusations?"

But Breil'lya cut Han off before he could respond. "We have no interest in the ravings of an Imperial spy."

"On the contrary, Council-Aide," Sena countered. "Around here, we have interest in a great many things."

She turned back to Han, lifted his ID. "Do you have nay proof other than this that you're who you claim to be?"

"It doesn't matter who he is." Breil'lya jumped in again, his voice starting to sound a little strained. "He's seen you, and he must certainly know that we have some king of arrangement. Whether he's from the Empire or the New Republic is irrelevant - both are your enemies, and both would use such information against you."

Sena's eyebrows lifted again. "So now his identity doesn't matter," she said coolly. "Does that mean you're no longer certain her's an impostor?"

Breil'lya's fur rippled once again. Clearly, he wasn't as quick on his verbal feet as his boss. "He's a very close likeness," the other muttered. "Though a proper dissection would quickly establish for certain who he is."

Sena smiled slightly. But it was a smile of understanding, not of humor... and suddenly, Han realized that the confrontation had been as much a test of Breil'lya as it had been of him. "I'll keep that recommendation under advisement."

Just then, Irenez received a call on her comlink. After conversing inaudibly for several moments, she looked at Sena. "Picket line reports another man approaching. Medium build, dark blond hair, all in black and carrying what appears to be-" and she glanced at Han, "a lightsaber."

Sena looked at Breil'lya. "I believe that ends the discussion. Have one of the pickets meet him, Irenez, and ask him if he'll join us. Mark it clear that's a request, not an order. Then return Captain Solo's weapons and equipment to him."

She turned to Han and handed him his ID. "My apologies, Captain. You understand we have to be cautious. Particularly given the coincidence of this."

Han nodded as he heard the sirens outside. "No problem. What are the sirens about anyway?"

"An Imperial raid; but it's no big deal," she assured him. "They come by every few months and take a percentage of the refined biomolecules that have been packaged for export. It's a covert form of taxation the city governments have worked out with them. Don't worry, they never come any farther in than the landing level."

"Yeah, well they may change the routine up this time;" Han growled as his switched his comlink on. "Luke?"

The younger man's voice replied, "I'm here, Han. My escort tells me I'm being brought to where you are. You all right?"

"Just a little misunderstanding. Better get here fast - we got company."

"Right."

Han shut off the comlink. Sena and Irenez, he saw, had meanwhile, been having a quiet conversation of their own. "If you're as touchy about Imperials as Breil'ya implied, you might want to find a whole to disappear into;" he advised.

Sena assured him, "Our escape route is ready," as Irenez left the room. "The question is what to do with you and your friend."

"You can't just turn them loose!" Breil'lya insisted, trying one last time. "You know full well that if the New Republic learns about you-"

"The commander is being notified," Sena cut him off. "He'll decide."

"But-"

"That's all, Council-Aide," she cut him off again, he voice suddenly hard. "Join the others at the lift shaft. You'll accompany me on my ship."

Breil'lya threw one last unreadable look at Han, then silently left the room.

"Who's this commander of yours?" Han asked.

"I can't tell you that;" Sena studied studied him a moment. "Don't worry, though. Despite what Breil'lya said, we're not enemies of the New Republic. At least, not at the moment."

Han snorted quietly. "Oh. Great."

There was the sound of footsteps from the hallway outside. A few seconds later, accompanied by two young men with holstered blasters, Luke stepped into the room. "Han;" he greeted while giving Sena a quick once-over, "You all right?"

"I'm fine;" Han assured him. "Like I said, it was a little misunderstanding. The lady here - Sena-" and he paused expectantly.

"Let's just leave it at Sena for now," she said dryly.

"Ah;" said Han noncommittally. He had hoped to get her last name, but clearly she wasn't in the habit of giving it out. "Anyway, Sena thought I was an Imperial spy. And speaking of Imperials-"

"I know;" Luke said. "Lando's gone up to see if he can clear our ships from the landing record."

"He won't be able to," Han shook his head, "not in time. And they're bound to pull the landing list."

Luke nodded in agreement. "Then we'd better get up there."

"Unless you'd all rather come with us," Sena offered. "There's plenty of room on our ship, and it's hidden away where they won't find it."

"Thanks, but no," Han said.

Wasn't about to go off with these people until he knew a lot more about them. Whose side they were on, for starters. "Lando won't want to leave his ship."

"And I need to get my droid back;" Luke added.

Irenez slipped back into the room. "Everyone's on their way down, and the ship's being prepped," she told Sena. "And I got through to the Commander." She handed the tall woman a data pad.

Sena glanced at it, nodded and turned back to Han. "There's a service shaft near here that opens up into the west edge of the landing area. I doubt the Imperial know about it; it's not on any of the standard city maps. Irenez will guide you up there and give you what help she can."

"That's not really necessary," Han told her.

Sena held up the datapad. "The commander told me to give you whatever aid you require. I'd appreciate is if you'd allow me to carry out my orders."

Han looked at Luke with one raised eyebrow. The young Jedi shrugged slightly in return. He didn't give any sign that he sensed duplicity or deception in either of the women. That didn't mean that Han was going to be happy about it, though. "Fine, she can come along;" he growled.

"Good luck;" said Sena before she exited through the door.

Irenez gestured to the door after her. "This way, gentlemen."

The service and maintenance shafts were a combination of stairwells, personnel lifts and even a cargo lift that were set into the city's outer walls. The good news was that the landing area was only three levels above Sena and Irenez's base. Unfortunately, due to Ilic's high-ceilinged layout, translated into quite a distance of travel by stairs and lifts - and, as it turned out, more stairs were needed than lifts. The lifts were probably still being used by Sena and the main body of their base. By the time they reached the landing level, Han's legs were beginning to tremble and his breathing was labored. By contract, Luke and Irenez seemed obnoxiously un-fatigued. "Now what?" asked Luke as he peered around.

The X-wing's nose was just visible around the bulk of a W-23 Soace Barge. "Let's find Lando;" said Han, grabbing his comlink and thumbing it on.

"Lando?"

"Right here;" came the reply in a whisper. "Where are you?"

"West end of the landing area, about twenty meters from Luke's X-wing. How about you?"

"About ninety degrees away from you toward the south," Lando answered. "I'm behind a stack of shipping boxes. There's a stormtrooper standing guard about five meters aaway, so I'm sort of stuck here."

"What sort of trouble are we looking at?" asked Han as he peered around the corner again.

"It looks like a full-fledged task force," Land said grimly. "I saw three drop ships come in, and I think there were one or two on the ground when I got here. If they were fully loaded, that translated to a hundred and sixty to two hundred men. Most of them are regular army troops, but there are a few stormtroopers in the crowd too. There aren't too many of either still up here - most of them headed on down the ramps a few minutes ago."

"Probably gone to search the city for us;" murmured Luke.

"Yeah. Hey, it looks like Artoo is still in your X-wing."

"Yeah," said Lando, "but I saw them doing something over that way. They may have put a restraining bolt on him."

"We can handle that;" replied Han. "I think we can make it to the X-wing without being spotted. You told me on the trip here that you had a beckon call for the Lady Luck, right?"

"Right, but it'snot going to do me any good," Lando said. "With all these boxes around, there's no place I can set it down without opening myself to fire."

"That's okay;" Han told him, feeling a tight smile twist at his lips.

Luke might have the force, and Irenez might be able to climb stairs without getting winded; but he would bet heavily that he could outdo both of them in sheer chicanery. "You just get it moving toward you when I give the word."

He switched off the comlink. "We're going over to the X-wing," he told Luke and Irenez, adjusting his grip on his blaster. "You ready?"

They acknowledged, their own weapons in their hands, and Han gave one more look around before they headed as quickly and silently as they could across the 'crete. They made it to the space barge without incident and Han waited a moment as the others caught up to him. "Shh!" Luke suddenly hissed.

Han froze, pressing himself against the barge's corroded hull. Not four meters away, a stormtrooper standing guard was starting to turn in their direction. Clenching his teeth, Han raised his blaster. But even as he did so, his peripheral vision caught Luke's hand making some sort of gesture; and suddenly the Imperial spun around in the opposite direction, pointing his blaster rifle towards a patch of empty floor. "He thinks he hears a noise," Luke whispered, "let's go."

Within moments, they were beside one of the X-wing's landing skids. "Artoo," Han stage-whispered up to the droid. "Come on, short stuff, wake up!"

A soft and rather indignant came from the socket in the X-wing. At the very least, the restraining bolt hadn't shut the little droid down. "Alright;" called Han, "here's how this is going to work:"

He explained his plan to them and they readied themselves. "Okay Lando. Go."

It was several long seconds before the distinct whine of repuslorlifts became audible over the background noise. The Lady Luck rose from among the other docked ships and curses and blaster fire followed. Ponderously the ship began to turn and more weapons began firing on it. As the ship slowly made it's way towards Lando's new hiding place, Irenez whispered, "You know it'll never get there. As soon as they figure out where it's going, they'll be all over him."

Han gave a tight smile. "That's why it's not going to get to him. "

After another couple seconds, every Imperial soldier and stormtrooper in the area had their focus fixed on the rogue ship. "Ready, Luke... now!"

The young Jedi leaped onto his X-wing and ignited his weapon. With a whoosh and a sizzle, he removed the restraining bolt from his droid without even darkening the droids outer plating. "Restraining bolt's off;" he announced. "Now?"

"Not yet;" said Han. "I'll tell him when. You get ready to fly interference."

"Right;" and Luke dropped into the X-wing, powering up its own repulsorlifts.

There was no way that, over the whine of the Lady Luck's repulsorlifts, they would hear the X-wings, especially since they were all crowded around where the Lady Luck was hovering. It was half way to the wall when Han yelled, "Okay, Lando, shut down. Artoo, your turn. Call it back this way."

The sudden change of direction caught the Imperials off guard. There was a halt in their firing which didn't resume until the yacht was nearly to the X-wing. "Now?" Luke called.

"Now;" Han confirmed, "Put 'er down and clear us a path."

The yacht lowered to the ground and the Imperials, thinking they had finally brought it down, gave a shout. The shout was short lived as the X-wing lifted into the air and swung around in an arc before blazing away at them. They scattered and, if they had the time, would regroup but Han had no intention of allowing that. "Come on;" he said to Irenez.

They made a mad dash to the Lady Luck. "Guard the hatch;" he snapped, "I'm going to go pick up Lando."

He pelted towards the cockpit. Luke continued to sweep around, reeking havoc as Han lifted into the air and went over to Lando's hiding spot. The stormtrooper that had been there was gone and Lando charged up the ramp. "We've got him;" called Irenez. "GO!"

Han swiveled the ship around and put full power to the repulorlifts, heading upward and into one of the city's huge exit ducts. There was a slight jolt as he cleared the magnetic seal and then they were clearing, screaming towards space. Four TIE's were skulking around just above the city, waiting for trouble. But they apparently weren't ready for the amount of trouble that Luke and Han could bring. Luke vaped three of them and Han got the forth in short order.

Lando plopped down into the copilot's seat and began tapping away at his instrument panel. "What are you doing?" asked Han.

"Running a multinsensor airflow analysis. It'll show up any large irregularities on the hull. Like if someone's attached a homing beacon on us."

Han remembered the mad dash from the Death Star those many years ago and muttered, "I wish I had a system like that for the Falcon."

Lando chuckled, "It'd never work. You hull's so irregular already, the system would go nuts just trying to map it."

After another moment, Lando sighed, "Okay, we're clear."

"Oh no we're not;" said Irenez and pointed.

The sensor display showed an Imperial Star Destroyer leaving orbit and pursuing them. "Great;" muttered Han before hitting the comms unit. "Luke?"

"I see it;" he said. "Any ideas besides running for it?"

"Running for it sounds like a great idea;" said Han. "Lando?"

"Calculating the jump now. It ought to be ready by the time we're far enough out."

Luke's voice sounded tense as he said, " There's another ship coming up from below - right out of the jungle."

"That's ours;" said Irenez. "You can parallel them by changing course to one twenty-six mark thrity."

The Star Destroyer had launched fighters in pursuit and Han said, "We'd do better to split up."

"No - stay with our ship. Sena said we've got help coming;" she insisted.

Han glanced at the Destroyer and at the light transport, which looked to be pretty fast but other than that, not much to speak of. "They're going to be in range before we can make the jump;" murmured Lando, audibly echoing Han's own thoughts.

"You'd better be right about that help, Irenez;" he muttered. "We have more TIE's coming in on the port side."

"I'll get rid of them;" said Luke before peeling off.

"Watch yourself;" muttered Han.

As they watched, Luke displayed his famed piloting and dogfighting skill, weaving through the TIE's and eliminating them, emerging from the cloud of debris unscathed. Irenez seemed slightly surprised. "Well so much for that group;" she murmured.

"Luke, you alright?" asked Lando.

"I'm fine but I don't think I can get back to you."

"Don't try;" said Han. "As soon as you can get clear, jump to lightspeed and get outta here."

"What about you?" Luke asked, his question garbled by a twitter from the comms.

Irenez smiled and said, "That's the signal. Here they come."

Han frowned, searching the area around them. He was about to comment that he didn't see anything when three ships suddenly dropped out of hyperspace in perfect unison and ended up directly in front of them. Lando gasped, "Those are old Dreadnought cruisers!"

"That's our help;" said Irenez. "Straight down the middle of their triangle. They'll cover for us."

As Han followed her instructions, the Dreadnoughts began to blast away at the Star Destroyer with ion cannons, clearly not willing to test their metal against and Imperial-Class Star Destroyer. As they did, Han contacted Luke, "That answer your question?"

"I think so; Okay, I'm gone. Where do I meet you?"

"You don't;" said Han. "Get back to Coruscant and we'll contact you there if we need you at all for the mission anymore."

"Roger that;" replied Luke. "Take care you two."

Lando glared at Han. "So now it's my mission too, huh? I knew it. I just knew it!"

Han didn't answer, turning to Irenez instead and asking, "You got any particular place you'd like us to drop you off?"

"Actually, our commander was rather hoping you'd accompany us back to our base;" she said rather offhandedly.

Han and Lando glanced at one another before the latter growled, "And just how hard was your commander hoping this?"

"Very much."

They both glared at her but it seemed pretty clear they had not choice until she said, "Don't misunderstand - it's not an order. But when I spoke to him, the commander seemed extremely interested in meeting again with Captain Solo."

"Again?" asked Han.

"Some old friend of you've never mentioned?" asked Lando just a little sourly.

"I don't recall having any friends who own Dreadnoughts;" Han countered, "What do you think?"

"I think I'm being nicely maneuvered into a corner;" retorted Lando, even more sourly. "Aside from that, whoever this commander is, he seems to be in contact with your Bothan pals. If you're trying to find out what Fey'lya's up to, he'd be the one to ask."

Lando was right, of course. But on the other hand, this whole thing could easily be a trap with talk about old friends being designed to lure him in. Even so, Irenez was sitting behind him with a blaster snugging her hip, not to mention the three Dreadnoughts. "Okay;" he said. "What course do we set?"

Luke watched as the Dreadnoughts and their charges flickered with pseudo motion and were gone. He was alone - with a Star Destroyer and a squadron of TIE fighters. "Alright, Artoo. We're going."

Swinging around, Luke pulled the hyperdrive lever and the stars turned to star-lines. He was very much looking forward to getting back to Coruscant.

Coruscant - The Imperial Palace High Council Chamber

Mara readjusted her position in her chair in the council chamber. The further she got into her pregnancy, the harder it became to get comfortable. It didn't help that all of the High Councilors were looking at her and that Fey'lya was still pontificating on the terrible ghastliness and violation of her idea to investigate all the members of the High Council, their aides and the members of the Military command structure. "Further more;" the Bothan said smoothly, "to treat every member of this council and their aides as suspects of treason would be a massive blow to their moral and our credibility as a governing body. We are trying to restore the personal freedom of all beings in the galaxy. How can we do that if we are summarily treating every official member of the governing body as a potential criminal?"

"I'm so glad you asked;" said Mara, jumping in before the smarmy Bothan could continue his monologue.

He glared and was about to object when she said rather coldly, "We are building the confidence of the people by showing them that we are holding our leadership accountable, thereby checking their power. The fact that information, vital information, is being leaked to our enemies, especially enemies like Grand Admiral Thrawn and Darth Diabolis, is something that we cannot allow to continue. This kind of security breach in this situation is worse than having representatives and military leaders in the pocket of the Zann Consortium. Tyber Zann just used the information and contacts to continue to get rich and allow his corruption to spread through our government. Thrawn has and will continue to use it to acquire high value targets and to react to our actions if not directly manipulate them, or have you already forgotten Bpfassh and Sluis Van?"

Fey'lya snorted in disgust. "Mon Mothma, please! Jedi Jade Skywalker uses information to support her argument that has not yet even been verified. We do not know that there is any Grand Admiral or an alliance between the Imperial and the Sith Lords. As far as Sluis Van and Bpfassh, what little evidence we have points as much to Ackbar's incompetence, or treachery as it does to any other situation."

"Well then, let me investigate him;" snapped Mara, feeling her temper quickly beginning to fray. "I can follow the trail of the money that was transferred to his account. Tell me something, Madam President, how important is it that this leak is fixed?"

Mon Mothma looked back and forth between Mara and Fey'lya. With a sigh, she replied, "Of course it is of the utmost importance, Jedi Jade Skywalker but I worry about what the rigors of such an investigation would reveal of each of these being's personal lives."

Mara nodded, "I understand that, Madam President. I've handled military secrets my entire life. My record for confidentiality is unimpeachable. Rest assured that no one but myself and my single assistant will learn any of this. I promise on my oath as a Jedi Knight."

"Yes, most of your life being spent in the service of the Empire, of course;" said Fey'lya.

Before Mon Mothma could admonish him, Mara shrugged and said, "And every single mission that I conducted as the Emperor's Hand is a matter of public record. Every method I've used, every weapon in my arsenal, every life I've taken can be accessed by anyone who can read it. My whole life, before joined the Rebel Alliance, has been given to the media and they have done a twelve part series on it. Tell me something, Fey'lya, have you been so open with your life?"

The Bothan's fur rippled and his eyes narrowed. "I never served the enemy."

"We'll see now won't we?" said Mara before she glanced at Mon Mothma, "Assuming I have the green light."

Mon Mothma looked around. Many of the council still seemed skeptical. Suddenly, a smooth, harmonious and slightly sultry voice spoke. "I would gladly submit to any investigation myself but getting the records would take quite some time. Nevertheless, I have no problem with this."

Mara blushed ever so slightly. "Madam Ambassador;" and she paused before just saying, "Mesa, I wasn't going to include you! You are the representative of a separate, if allied, body."

Mesa Lorilli laughed musically and said, "Well who more than someone from another faction would have something to gain? I, of course, will submit myself to this investigation. I will have every one of my dealings ever since I arrived on Coruscant, every one of my media interviews and the minutes from every one of my officials meetings that you weren't a part of. I can even submit my consort for questioning if you'd like?"

A low murmur of laughter and amusement went through the room. Everyone knew that the young Jedi Knight Wade Vox was in a relationship with Mesa Lorilli, the Ambassador from the Hapes Consortium. That seemed to decide the issue for Mon Mothma and the others. "We will all submit to your background checks and investigation, Jedi Jade Skywalker. Where will you start?"

Mara gave a smile and stood carefully, yet still gracefully, to her feet. "We need our Supreme Commander back, Madam President. I'm going to start with the money that was deposited into Admiral Ackbar's bank account."

"And we trust that if you find that there was duplicity on his part, you will inform us;" said Fey'lya, doubt and mistrust clear in his voice.

Mara's cold, dangerous smile caused everyone to fidget in their seat. "If I find that Admiral Gial Ackbar is a traitor to the New Repbulic, rest assured, I will do everything in my power to see that he faces the consequences to the full extent of our law, Councilor Fey'lya. Of course, that goes for anyone who the evidence shows to be traitorous. Remember that I did this for most of my life. I will find the truth, no matter how hard anyone tries to hide it."

With that, she left the room, looking far more intimidating than any pregnant female ever should and leaving several of the council members highly uneasy, even if they truly had nothing to hide.