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Chapter 23

Leia sat beside Luke on the shuttle, gently holding his hand for support and comfort as Buzz piloted them down to the planet. Two days after their official outing to the Opera Luke had received devastating news, his Grandparents were dead, killed in a Speeder crash. Leia hadn't even hesitated to take a leave of absence from the Senate in order to accompany him to Naboo for the funerals.

It had been amazing to see how his men rallied around their General once they knew, the Admiral had set course as soon as they had docked, without having to be asked. She had been given quarters on the same deck as Luke and her guard had remained with her, obviously happy to be back with their comrades. The ship had felt quiet and she knew it was for Luke. It was incredible the loyalty they showed towards him and it was encouraging as well, it helped prove that Luke was a good commander, one his people trusted. Few Imperial commanders were loved and respected, most were hated and feared or at least treated warily. It helped reinforce her hope for their working together to free the galaxy from the Emperor.

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Luke held Leia's hand as he watched the two sarcophagi being placed in the tomb next to his Mother's. At his right was the rest of the Naberrie family, his various Aunts, Uncles and cousins. They were all dressed in stiff, formal black and for one Luke too was all in black. Even Leia wore a gown of deep black velvet, her hair in two braids that coiled around her head simply. Their guards were scattered around, keeping out of sight so as not to interrupt the proceedings.

Finally, the tomb was sealed, and the crowds began dispersing. Luke had been a bit shocked at the numbers that had attended, not realising his Grandparents had been so well known after so many years of being retired from public life. their last public outing had been his Mother's funeral, eighteen years ago. They returned to Varykino to mourn in private with only family. He was happy that they made Leia welcome, he just wished his Grandparents could have met her. unfortunately, they had to leave the next day as they both had duties to attend to, but the family understood.

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Luke stood with Admiral Yularen, Captain Needa and Commander Cody on each side, able to feel their surprise as they flew into the Kuat Drive Yards and got their first look at their new flagship. Vader had collected his new flagship, the Executor, a few days ago and now it was their turn.

"How big is she?" Cody asked, unable to believe his eyes.

"19,000 meters," Luke answered absently as their shuttle approached. "Any issues with the new crew members Captain?"

"None so far, I doubt we have weeded out all of the spies on board," the older man warned, and Luke nodded. It was quite the promotion for him, from a member of Death Squad to becoming the Captain of a Squadron flagship and now he would Captain one of only two of the new Executor-class Star Dreadnought.

Yularen agreed with the younger man, the Emperor and perhaps even the Rebels likely had one or two loyal men aboard, especially amongst the new crew. He had remained with the Republic as it had become the Empire, he was career military. There had been actions he didn't agree with, but the Republic too had done things he found disagreeable. You didn't just resign over those things. He had been concerned when he had been pulled back into the Fleet to serve under Lord Vader and he hadn't understood why, until young Luke Skywalker had been brought on board and revealed as his son. He had worked well with General Skywalker during the war, so it had made his reassignment much more understandable. And now he served another General Skywalker, one who was calmer than his Father had ever been and yet in some ways still a child, much like Commander Tano had been at first. He was growing into an excellent General, willing to listen to his people and yet decisive when it was needed. He would prefer if he didn't throw himself into battle with the 212th though, it was always rather nerve wracking.

Their shuttle landed, and they stepped out into the massive main docking bay, practically able to smell the new paint. They were meant by company representatives who handed over new code cylinders which they slipped into the proper places on their jackets.

"Where would you like to see first Sir?"

Luke looked to his Captain and smiled, "The bridge please."

"Of course, this way please."

Emerging onto the bridge they took in the deep crew pits and massive windows out into space. "Think it'll do Admiral, Captain?" Luke asked, and Yularen smirked.

"It will definitely due General," he answered and Needa nodded, eyes a little wide.

At Cody's urging they went to the deck where Luke's quarters were, shocking him with their size. He had a whole deck to himself on the topside of the ship, although there was space for his personal guard and VIP guest rooms that had obviously been fitted out with Leia in mind. Yularen's quarters were the deck above his, a little closer to the bridge and also more exposed while Needa's were even closer to the bridge. He knew his Father had to be behind that, always wanting him more protected, but at least his Admiral didn't mind.

Getting the full crew compliment of over 280,000, not including Tie pilots, the 212th and the ships own compliment of Stormtroopers, aboard was a lot of complicated work but eventually they were ready to leave Yards.

"Course Sir?" Needa asked as they stood taking in the unimpeded view.

"Chandrila, Captain. Inform me when we are approaching. There is no rush so don't break our new engines, the rest of the Squadron needs time to catch up as well."

"Of course, Sir," Needa smirked slightly. This was their shakedown flight after all, he would not push the engines except in an emergency.

Luke left the bridge, mentally torn over the latest set of orders. He knew it was a test, why else send him to arrest one of Leia's mentors for suspected Rebel ties? If he returned empty handed there would be a price, but if he succeeded…Mon Mothma was a well-respected Senator, this was a bold move. Why now? She had been suspected since the Empire had formed, just like Bail and many others. There needed to be a way to warn her that could not be traced back to him. His Father had agents throughout the Galaxy that were loyal to him, he needed to start doing the same for situations like this. He had one contact no one knew of, but what could he do? By the time he could convince people he was alive it would be too late. And he didn't want to risk his first Master like that. He could try Ahsoka but unless she was nearby would he be able to get the point across enough? And would the Emperor sense his actions?

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Rex snapped awake as Ahsoka sat up, glad he could still snap awake like a soldier should. "What is it?"

"I…I'm not entirely sure. It was Luke, it's something important but we're too far."

"I'll get some food together, you warm the ships engines up," Rex told her as he got out of bed, pulling on a shirt and getting into his boots, never doubting she would want to get close enough to communicate clearer. He quickly put together the food that would perish and saw she'd grabbed their packs, so he joined her on the ship and they took off, Ahsoka using the Force to choose their course.

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Luke was meditating when he felt Ahsoka, much closer than when he had tried to contact her. he reached out to her and felt her reach back. She trusted him enough to do this, that he would not try to use their bond to trap her. then again, he had trusted her in the same way when he had followed her pain, it could have been faked and a trap. "Get Mon Mothma to the Rebellion. Orders to arrest her." he focused on the message until he felt her understanding.

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"Set course for Chandrila, maximum speed," Ahsoka ordered as she opened her eyes and moved to the comm.

"What is it?"

"Luke has orders to arrest Mon Mothma, we have to beat him there," she answered as she went to work trying to contact Bail to pass the warning along since he was her main contact with the others. She didn't have a direct method of contact Mon Mothma.

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Bail quickly checked the message on his encrypted comm and paled in alarm. He typed in a code and waited to be connected.

"Bail?"

"Get out, General Skywalker has orders to arrest you."

"You're sure?"

"Fulcrum is, she is on the way to rendezvous with you. Get to base, I don't know how close he is. She didn't know."

"I will leave immediately. Do you think this is a trap?"

"If it is it has eluded her senses and while I believe the Emperor could, I do not believe the General is that skilled yet."

"Very well."

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"Sir, we are approaching Chandrila," Needa stated as Luke joined him on the bridge.

"Very good, launch tie fighters to enact a loose blockade around the planet," he ordered calmly, hiding the internal turmoil. He had no idea if the Senator had received the warning in time. "Admiral, inform the others to do the same.

"Sir?"

"By order of the Emperor, Senator Mon Mothma is to be arrested. We do not want her escaping."

"Of course," Yularen went to rely the orders. Then all they could do was watch as the fighters streamed from the bays, Blade Squadron among them. The other ships of Vengeance Squadron came out of hyperspace and launched their fighters as well. "Do you wish to contact the government or shall I?"

Luke smiled grimly, "It's my responsibility Admiral but thank you for offering." Luke made his way to the communications section and contacted the planet, asking to speak with the Senator. He felt a flash of concern when told they would patch him through to her home but then her staff answered and after a lot of hedging finally admitted she was gone and they didn't know when or where. He made the expected threats before cutting the transmission. "I want destination data for every ship that has left in the last two days," he ordered and the ensign on duty nodded, quickly contacting the various spaceports while Luke went back to the front of the bridge.

"Sir?" Yularen asked, seeing his expression while Needa looked over. Even after several years serving under the young General it was hard to kick the habit of fearing for his life when something went wrong. Luke Skywalker did not Force choke his subordinates or anyone, for mistakes or even incompetence. He reassigned you elsewhere or put you on a punishment crew for a set time.

"The Senator is missing."

"I see," and he did, somehow, she had been warned and now his commanding officer would pay the price. He may be Navy, not Army but they both knew who held ultimate command of their Squadron and even the ship. He and Captain Needa both knew and accepted that they did not hold final power. They had both seen him helped aboard by his men after punishment by the Emperor, most often because he took the blame for someone else's error. Word of his actions had of course spread through the Squadron and it pushed them all to do better, no one wanting to be the reason their General was harmed, it made him the most loved commander in the Navy or Army.

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Mon Mothma moved from the small ship she had escaped in, into the larger ship piloted by Fulcrum and her Captain.

"Senator," the older clone greeted, offering her a hand in.

"Please, I am no longer a Senator."

"Very well ma'am. Quarters will be a little cramped, but the journey won't be long," he showed her the spare crew room and she put her bag down.

"It will be fine Captain."

"Just Rex these days ma'am."

"Then thank you Rex," they looked as footsteps were heard in the corridor and then Mon Mothma smiled at Ahsoka. "Thank you too, Ahsoka. Bail said you warned him."

"Your welcome."

"How did you know? Just as I jumped to hyperspace sensors picked up a massive ship arriving."

"Luke warned me, sorry it took so long but we were too far away for him to get the message through at first."

"Prince Skywalker told you he was ordered to arrest me?" Bail had mentioned the Prince, but she hadn't realised he had actually offered the information. "Surely he didn't trust a message to a comm unit?"

"No, he contacted me with the Force. We have had a weak bond since we first met, every time one of us has used it, it has strengthened. Maybe it is the Force telling us I would have been his Master had the Republic not fallen, maybe it is because we have both had bonds with his Father…who knows why the Force does what it does."

"Is it dangerous?"

"We can both block it so no. It is how I was saved from the Grand Inquisitor, he sensed my pain and came for me. He said he owed me after I warned him of Draven's assassin," Ahsoka explained.

"Can you track him?"

"To a point. Before is Fall I would have said Anakin and Luke together could easily take Sidious…the Emperor. With him in the suit…they're going to need help and I'm the only one available."

"What then? Young Skywalker takes the Throne?"

"Better him than Sidious. We could work with Luke to change things."

"Draven doesn't think so."

"Draven's a mad dog," Rex muttered.

"Rex is right, the man needs to be reeled in. if he hadn't gone rogue and tried to kill Luke he would be working with all of the Alliance. Instead of occasionally helping certain people or letting Princess Leia overhear things." Since they had begun Courting the Princess had funnelled back some interesting information, some they had acted on while other bits they had forced themselves to hold off on, to protect Leia from the Emperor's wrath.

"He is paranoid and justifiably so, but he also needs to follow the Council's wishes," Mon agreed, she did not like speaking ill of what equated to a department head, but this was Fulcrum.

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Groggy with sleep every sense still screamed danger and Leia was rolling out of bed without a thought. She shook of sleep and looked around to see a black clad figure with a vibroblade buried in her mattress. "Security!" she shouted even as she lunged for the hidden compartment, pulling the holdout blaster from within. She was tackled before she could take a shot, but she had trained since she was small in close quarters combat.

Soot and Longshot burst through the door the moment they managed to get it open, weapons drawn, only to see the two rolling on the floor, fighting. They waded in and grabbed the assassin, pulling him or her off with all their strength as Havoc and Jesse rushed in. Seeing they had the assassin the two moved quickly to help the Princess.

Leia accepted the help to her feet from Jesse and Havoc quickly handed her robe over to her. Leia slipped it on and tied the belt as the other two troopers finally got the assassin down.

"Are you alright Princess?" Jesse asked, and she nodded.

"I'm fine, thank you Sergeant. I want to know how they got this far into the Embassy without raising alarms."

"Of course, we will work with the Embassy security," Jesse moved in and yanked the hood form the assassin, revealing a man of perhaps thirty with rather forgettable features. "Take him away, keep him separate from any other prisoners and have him scanned, don't want him escaping or suiciding."

"Yes Sir!"

"Ma'am, I have to suggest moving you to the Tower," Jesse offered, and Leia hesitated. "General Skywalker has prepared in advance for this possibility," he quickly assured her.

"Very well Sergeant, for now." She was soon packed up and settled into a suite one floor below Luke's and therefore even closer to the emergency bunker.

TBC…