Chapter 28: The Base

Luke awoke to dark gray walls. He rolled over in his bed and spotted Leia asleep in the bed across from his. This room was small and thin. Just enough for the two beds and a small walkway between them. At the foot of the bed was a cabinet for storing clothes and toys, though Luke only had two toys right now. He had been given a small spaceship and funny looking stuffed animal.

He kicked his sheets off of him and crawled out of bed. The floor was cold and felt a bit wet. Everything seemed to be wet here. He made his way out of the room. He softly padded down the hallway. He hated this place. They called it a base. There were no windows. Just the always wet floors and gray walls.

He even hated the adults here. They kept lying to him. Maybe they thought Luke was just a kid who wasn't smart enough to tell they were lying. But Luke was smart enough. They were lying to him. He kept asking about his mother. At first they said she was on another ship and would be joining them soon. Then they said she was keeping away the bad guys. Now they just said that Luke had to wait and be patient, which he hated hearing.

He remembered leaving that white place with the pretty rocks. He was on the spaceship when he felt his mother. She was really scared, and that made him scared. Luke could also feel his father, who was angry. Really really angry. Angier than that time Luke and Leia had snuck out down the big turbolift to find Leia's other parents and Luke's aunt and uncle. But father had also been scared. It was buried under a lot of anger, but it was there. That also made Luke scared. Why were his parents scared?

Luke really, really missed his mother. She was so nice and pretty. She held him and kissed him and played with him. She also didn't lie to Luke. Or at least lie about important things. She would lie that there was no more fruit to eat, but that was a small lie. His mother had told Luke all about his father. How Father had a good person and a bad person inside of him. Luke missed his father too, but only the good father. Not the bad one. That one was scary and cold. But . . . right now Luke would rather be with the bad scary father than be in this stupid base place.

Luke walked down the hall towards the refresher, but he didn't go in it. He heard voices coming from down the hall. One voice sounded like . . . sounded like father. Scary father, but father. He quietly walked down to a large open room. Luke spent a lot of time here playing with Leia. The adults called it the common room. He wasn't sure why they just didn't call it a living room. It looked like a living room. Just a really big living room with lots of couches and tables. Luke peeked around the wall into the room.

The common room was mostly empty save for a group of adults sitting towards the back. Luke got his knees and crawled forward. The other sofas were hiding Luke as long as he stayed small. He crawled along the sofa and under an end table. He peeked at the people sitting and standing near a table. On the table was a holoprojector. The projector was showing a blue holograph of a man that Luke instantly recognized as his father. Father looked angry. Luke tried to focus on what his father was saying.

"- traitorous rebels shall be rooted out," father said. His voice was hard and cold. "I implore all good citizens of the Empire to report suspicious behavior to the nearest Imperial garrison or comm the displayed frequency."

Luke frowned. He didn't know what his father was talking about. He had hoped he would be talking about Luke going home or mother coming here. Luke sat quietly watching the blue hologram of his father. Every now and then Luke would glance up at the adults to see if he had been spotted, but he hadn't. They were all watching the holograph. The adults were all different types. Some looked human, some didn't. The adults would talk to each other and say bad words Aunt Beru had said that Luke should never say.

"That karking piece of sithspit," one adult grumbled.

"And people just eat his words up," came another voice. "Believe any shavit he spits out."

The blue holograph of Father changed. It showed a woman kneeling on the ground. Her hands were behind her back. Her long dark hair fell loosely down her shoulders. She looked sad and angry. Luke started listening again when he heard the word Alderaan. That was the place Leia was from. She talked about it a lot.

"Breha Organa, Queen of Alderaan, you shall be executed for your crimes of being a rebel and traitor to the Empire," came the voice of Luke's father. His father talked some more but Luke was staring at the woman. Luke frowned. There was something about her. Something that tickled Luke's brain. Like he had seen her before but couldn't remember where.

The holograph zoomed out. The woman was sitting on a platform. Father was standing nearby. There were lots of people standing around the platform shouting. They seemed angry. They didn't like this woman.

"Traitor!" one voice shouted.

"Kill her!"

"Rebel scum!"

Luke watched as his father pulled out the metal tube off his belt. Luke had sometimes seen the metal tube, but didn't know what it was. A bright light shout out of the tube. It looked like a laser coming out of the tube, like a laser sword. That was pretty cool. Father slowly walked towards the woman with his glowing laser sword. Once he stood next to her, he raised the sword up and swung it down. It slashed right through the woman's neck causing her head to fall off. The people around the platform cheered. The adults watching the hologram cursed.

"Did Bail see this?" asked one of the adults.

"Of course he saw this," replied another.

"Poor guy. How's he taking it?" asked a third.

"How do you think?"

"He's been in his bunk since he saw it."

"Alone?"

"No, a few people went in to check on him. Though probably wants his space."

One of the adults walked over the projector and turned it off. Luke decided it was time to go back to his bed before any of the adults saw him. He made it back to his room. Leia was still asleep on her bed as Luke crawled back into his.

He remembered one of the names the adults had said was Bail. That was Leia's father. Her other father. He was here. Leia was so happy to see him. She cried the first time she saw him. Luke was happy for her, but it also made him miss Mother and Aunt Beru and Uncle Owen and even Father. He had mentioned it to Leia once.

Leia looked over at him and gave him a face. "I don't miss them at all," she said. Luke frowned. She was lying. It was a small lie. She did miss them or maybe she just missed Mother.

Luke had met Bail, Leia's other father. She called him Papa. He was nice. Luke was sure he made a nice father, but he wasn't . . . he wasn't Luke's father. The one who played starships with him or even took him flying on a real starship. The one who picked him off the floor, twirled him around, threw him up in the air, caught him and hugged him tight.

The next day Luke and Leia were playing the common room when Leia's papa walked over. His face was all red and long and sad. Luke could feel the sadness coming off of him. Bail took Leia away saying the two needed to talk. Luke had a feeling it was about something sad, and that Leia would be sad later. This left him alone with his one starship toy and his odd stuff animal. He played quietly by himself for a while until an adult walked up to him.

"Hello Luke," a man said. Luke looked up to see it was the man that his mother knew. They had met on the place with the pretty rocks. He was tall, but not as tall as Father. He had red hair and wore long white robes. It made Luke think the man might be from Tatooine.

"Hello . . . um . . ."

"Obi-Wan Kenobi," the man said when he realized Luke couldn't remember his name.

"Obi-Won," Luke mumbled. The man smiled.

"Tell me, young one, you look sad," Obi-Wan said as he sat down next to Luke.

"I miss my mother," Luke said softly. "Do you know when I'm going to see her?"

The man's face got all scrunched up as he thought about what Luke said. "I don't know when you'll see her again," Obi-Wan said. His words were soft.

"Why not?" Luke asked. "Can't you just comm her? Please?"

Obi-Wan sighed. "I know you miss her, Luke. I know it's hard to understand why you were taken away from her."

Luke had stopped listening to the man for a moment. Taken? Taken away from mother? Something cold ran through Luke. He realized the man was still speaking.

"But it was dangerous there. I don't think you realize how dangerous it was. It was very important we get you somewhere safe," Obi-Wan explained.

Luke nodded his head. "'Cuse me," he mumbled and grabbed his toys and ran out of the common room to his room down the hall. He jumped on his bed and crawled under the covers. Luke suddenly recalled something Father had said when Luke was in his father's work room. Luke had asked about seeing his aunt.

"I said I work to keep the galaxy safe, yes? I'm afraid your aunt and uncle were helping a bad man. A very dangerous and bad man. He's responsible for a lot of bad things. I'm trying to find him. That man would try to take you away from me. He would try to take Leia and your mother away too. I'm trying to keep you all safe."

Luke had thought . . . Luke was sure his father wasn't telling the truth. There was no way his aunt and uncle helped bad people. They just didn't. But . . . but maybe Father was at least right about the dangerous man who had taken Luke and Leia away. Luke curled up into a ball and squeezed his eyes shut.

His missed Mother so much. If she was here, he would go to her and she would hug and kiss him and hold him. He thought really hard about her. Maybe he could find her, but he couldn't. Yet if couldn't find Mother, maybe he could find Father. Luke focused on Father. He thought really hard. Really, really, really hard. It was like digging through lots of sand. No matter how much sand you pushed away, more sand just came tumbling back down on you. But there was something just there. Just through the sand. Something cold.

Luke?

It was a whisper. Luke barely heard it. He almost let go, but thankfully he didn't. The voice came again.

Luke?

It was hard to hear the voice. It was muffled. As if the voice was from another room and coming through a wall.

"Fa-father?" Luke whispered.

The coldness Luke had felt pushed its way through the sand. Luke tried to pull away, but it wrapped around him.

Luke!

"Father?" the boy asked again. Luke grabbed at his bed sheets, ready to pull them down, but he already knew. His father wasn't here. He wasn't in the room.

Yes, Luke.

"Where are you?" Luke asked. "I want to go back. I don't like it here. I want Mother."

Father didn't answer immediately. Luke could sense sadness from the coldness, but there was a flicker of heat. Of anger.

Tell me where you are Luke, and I will come bring you home.

"I'm in a stupid base place," Luke replied.

Yes, but where is it? Do know what planet? What system?

"I . . . I . . ." Luke could feel the tears starting to well in his eyes. "I don't know," he cried. "I don't know."

Luke. Luke. Calm down. It's alright. Father said in a soothing voice.

"No it's not!" Luke shouted. "I hate it here! I want Mother! I want you!"

Shhhh. Shhhhh. Father said. I know it's scary, but you're being so brave young one. Don't worry. I'll come and bring you home soon.

"When-when?" Luke said between a sob.

Soon . . . Father's voice was fading away.

"Father?" Luke asked. "Father?"

But there was nothing. Not even the coldness. He was alone. Luke grabbed his pillow and cried himself to sleep.

"Bail?" Mon Mothma asked as Bail walked into the conference room. In his arms he carried his daughter Leia.

"I'm sorry," he said. His voice was ragged and course. "I told her the news . . . and she just didn't want to leave me."

Mon along with the others of the Alliance High Command all nodded knowingly. Leia looked around at them. They all knew. They all knew her mama was dead. Papa had told her earlier that Mama had died. When Leia asked how and why, Papa said she died protecting Leia. That was all Papa would tell her.

Bail walked over to a chair in the back and placed Leia down. "Remember what we talked about?" he whispered. "I'll be right over there. You have to sit here and be quiet." Leia nodded. She didn't want to leave her papa right now, but he had to come this meeting. Bail straightened up and walked over to the rest of the group. They were gathered around a large holotable.

Leia looked at the group. She of course knew her papa and she recognized Mr. Kenobi and Senator Mothma as well. The rest were mostly human, but there were a few aliens. Two of which were Mon . . . Mon . . . Mon Calamen. Leia nodded to herself. Two of the people were blue holographs.

"How are you doing?" someone asked.

"I am . . ." Leia's father said. "I am managing." Papa's voice was full of sadness and pain. The others in the group nodded their heads.

"Sorry to call you like this," said one man. He was one of the blue holograph people. "But you needed to be here Organa."

"I understand," Bail replied.

"I'm glad to you safe Organa, but I'll be blunt," the holograph man continued. "The Emperor is out of blood. Whatever you did in the Velm system has left him pissed. He's placed a high bounty on you and Kenobi."

The large holograph table lit up. Two blue holograms slowly spun above the table. It showed a picture of Leia's father and Mr. Kenobi. Attached to their picture was a number. It was a very long number with lots of zeroes.

"Kriff," someone said softly.

"That's a very generous bounty," Senator Mothma said.

The blue holograph man laughed. "Generous? That's putting it lightly. If someone cashed in on that bounty I'm no sure how Vader would get the credits. You could buy a planet with those two bounties combined."

"Alive only . . ." Mr. Kenobi said softly while he stroked his beard. "Has Vader put anything out on the twins?"

"Luckily nothing official or on the black market," came a new voice. It was female, but it wasn't Senator Mothma. Leia leaned to the side of her seat, but couldn't tell who was speaking. "However there is another development."

The blue holograph man spoke up again. "The Emperor has placed a reward for any information regarding known rebels and their families. He's capturing families who are tied to rebels. This message is then sent to the rebel."

The two images of Papa and Mr. Kenobi disappeared from the large hologram table. Instead it was a picture of him. The Emperor. Leia's other father.

"To the rebel receiving this message," the Emperor said in his mean voice. "Your family has been captured. In two standard weeks they'll be executed for treason. If you wish to see your family alive, then turn yourself over to an Imperial Garrison."

"Kriffing all nine hells," someone whispered.

"However I am a generous man. If you provide information on Obi-Wan Kenobi or Bail Organa, then your family will be freed from imprisonment. If you provide information on these two children . . ." A still image of Leia and Luke flicked onto the holograph. "I will release all rebel families. All charges will be erased."

The blue holograph of the Emperor disappeared. The room was quiet, but several people exchanged looks with one another. A few looked over at Leia.

"How many confirmed families does he have?" Mr. Kenobi asked.

"We don't know," replied the female voice from earlier. "We don't keep track of all our agents' families."

"Has anyone from this base been targeted?" Senator Mothma asked.

"Again," the woman replied, "We don't know."

"A few agents have come forward," a new voice sounded. It was a man. He stood next to Senator Mothma. He was old with white hair. "That is why we know of this. We need to decide how to handle this. We can make an official announcement throughout the Alliance, asking for any agents involved to step forward but . . ."

"It will spread paranoia," a new voice said.

"Vader's favorite weapon is fear," Mr. Kenobi said. "It's a well played move, as much as I hate to admit it. It strikes at the very core of the Alliance, our members. Those who aren't affected will fear they may be next, and may leave the Alliance to protect their families. Those whose families have been taken may also leave the Alliance. And Vader knows there is no way we can save every family. When members approach us for help, we will have to decline. Which will only drive more into Vader's hand than ours. Thus the best thing for the Alliance to do is to hand the children back over to him."

A heavy silence fell across the group. Then they started whispering to one another. This talking went on for several minutes before Senator Mothma called for silence.

"Regardless of what we decide," Mothma said, "Bail, Kenobi, and the twins need to be moved to a safe and secure location. A location that is highly classified. And we'll need to act fast. Get you on a ship today or tomorrow if possible."

"We should plan to abandon this base," a gruff man's voice said. A few people nodded their heads.

"Is there no way to appease Vader?" one voice asked. "Couldn't we give one of the children back? The boy?"

A few people shifted around uncomfortably. Mr. Kenobi spoke up again. "Vader will never be satisfied with only one child. Plus it's far too dangerous for him to get his hand on either one. Both children are very strong in the Force. If Vader turns trains them into Sith, I fear the galaxy will be forever tainted in the Dark Side for decades to come. Training the children in the Light Side is our only hope to truly defeat Vader."

"So you're saying we just wait around for another ten, fifteen years, Kenobi?" one annoyed voice asked.

"Would you want a little Vader running around the galaxy?" came the female voice from earlier. "Two of them? Look at the harm Vader does by himself. Imagine that doubled or tripled."

"I am with Kenobi on this," Senator Mothma said. "I may not know much about the Force, the Jedi, and the Sith. But I do believe it is for the best that Vader does not get his hands on the children."

Leia had listening very carefully. They were clearly talking about her and Luke about going back to that man. She was glad some people didn't want her to go back. Leia didn't want to go back. Her birth father was scary and mean and he hurt Papa. But Leia did miss her birth mother. She wasn't Leia's mama, but Mother was nice.

"What about the baby?" Leia asked.

Everyone in the group turned to Leia.

"Baby?" Papa asked.

"The one in my birth mother's tummy," Leia explained.

Several people in the group exchanged looks and whispered to each other.

"Padme's pregnant?" Mr. Kenobi asked.

Leia nodded. "She got sick and went to see a doctor. Then she told me and Luke she got sick because there was a baby in her."

"What happened to Amidala in Velm?" someone asked. Leia saw that it was one of the Mon Calamen.

"She got separated from the group when troopers arrived at the hangar," Mr. Kenobi explained. "We were forced to leave without her. I assume she's in Vader's custody again."

"What does it matter?" The person who asked was the same person who suggested giving Luke back over to the Emperor. Leia decided she did not like this man. "Are we going to kidnap every child the Emperor has? Clearly he can go around impregnating whoever he wants. Can't stop him from doing that. For all we know he could have banged out multiple children by now."

"I highly doubt that," Mr. Kenobi said softly to himself.

"You can't seriously think the Emperor is faithful to Amidala? There have been numerous reports of his escapades when Amidala was actively part of the Alliance."

"Which I think he did to make Padme mad," Mr. Kenobi argued. "To hopefully cause her to slip up. I don't see him having children with anyone but his wife."

"If Padme is with Vader," Bail spoke up for the first time, "I don't know if we'll be able to get to her or this new child. The past four years, and especially the last few months, haven proven one thing. Vader is very focused on his family. He sees them as his rightful property, and he's ready to go to extremes to get them back. I doubt he will allow himself to be lax in his security surrounding his family again. He does learn from his mistakes."

"If we can't get them out, we could always eliminate the threat," came a quiet voice. All the heads of the group turned towards someone on the far side of the holograph table. Leia couldn't see who it was.

"You don't mean," Senator Mothma said softly.

"If it that big of a threat to the galaxy then . . . I'm just saying it's a lot easier to slip some poison into a cup then to extract someone."

"You mean to kill Amidala?"

"Possibly . . . or at least cause her to miscarry and become sterile."

"We are not the Empire," Mothma said. She stood tall with her head raised. "This is not how we do things. Right now we are getting off focus. What we need to do is to focus on what to do about our current problems."

"Please not like the Alliance hasn't played dirty before," a voice grumbled. Yet everyone else ignored him and went on to talking about the Emperor and rebel families.

Luke finally saw Leia again at dinner. She had been gone all day. They were in the mess hall, which was a big room full of tables. The food wasn't good. It always looked gray and blobby. Luke didn't like it. Even the food on Tatooine was better than this.

"Where did you go?" Luke asked his sister.

"I was with my papa," Leia said. Neither one said anything as they poked at the food on their trays. Leia spoke up again, "I saw a holograph of . . . of Father."

Luke looked up. "I did too!"

Leia looked surprised. "You did?"

"Yes! He was on a platform with lots of angry people around him. He had a laser sword."

"Hmmm. That's not what I saw."

"What did you see?"

"He was angry that we were gone. He took some people's families. He said if they wanted their families back, then they would have to give us back to him."

Leia frowned as she glared at her food. She clearly did not like this idea.

"Oh . . ." Was all Luke could say.

Leia said, "Plus the big group said they wouldn't give us back." She sounded pleased.

"Oh." Again silence fell between the brother and sister. "I hate this place," Luke said softly. "I just want to go back. To Mother."

"Well we're going to be leaving soon," Leia said.

"Leaving? To Mother?"

"No. Just somewhere new."

"Do you know where are now?" Luke asked. "Like what planet?"

"Some place called Sump," Leia said.

"Do you know where we're going?" Luke asked carefully.

Leia shrugged. "I think they said a planet called Kwenn."

Luke pursed his lips to avoid the smile threatening to come out.