That night Leia had been unable to sleep, so she'd stolen out of her chambers and down to an empty command post. She had tried to search for the mysterious Mustafar through the imperial network, but her search turned up nothing. She'd then hesitated for only a moment before hacking into her father's datapad, and this time, she'd found it. As she had suspected, Mustafar was a planet. In Vader's files, data on Mustafar was surprisingly easy to find, but nothing Leia found seemed to be of any importance. Mustafar was a desolate planet covered in boiling lava that had once been home to a thriving mineral mine owned by the Techno Union. It had been used as a base by Black Sun during the Clone Wars...none of this seemed relevant to her.

She banged her hands on the screen in frustration. The page detailing Mustafar's mining history jumped to the bottom. Leia looked up. The file concluded by saying that Mustafar's mining operations had ceased suddenly nineteen years ago on Imperial orders and the planet was subsequently abandoned.

Intrigued, Leia entered 'Mustafar' 'abandon' and 'Empire' into the search engine. She pulled up a file containing an old directive from the Empire declaring that the planet was becoming increasingly inhospitable due to rising levels of toxic gas from the mining operations. The directive ordered the planet evacuated and quarantined immediately, and was authorized by none other than Darth Vader himself.

Leia frowned. Now she was getting somewhere. What could possibly be on Mustafar that her father decided he needed a whole planet to hide? Mustafar had been quarantined the same year that she and Luke had been born, the year that the Clone Wars had ended. There was no way that was a coincidence.

Returning to the search engine she typed in 'Mustafar' and 'Port records', figuring that her father must have been on the planet at some point. She chose the records for the capital city of Fralideja and scrolled down to the bottom. About a standard month before the planet was evacuated, there was an abnormal flurry of arrivals to the planet.

Month 5
Day 24; Centaxday
10:15: Separatist cruiser Scarlet Star. 20 passengers, 5 droids, 7 crew

12:45: Separatist cruiser Aggressor. 15 passengers, 7 droids, 7 crew

14:55: Correllian freighter Limitless View. Five tons of minerals loaded

16:33: Separatist cruiser New Day. 30 passengers, 15 droids, 10 crew

Day 25; Taungsday

11:00: Interceptor-class frigate. 2 tons of miscellaneous supplies delivered.

12:30: Separatist cruiser Racing Fancy. 10 passengers, 2 droids, 7 crew

14:02: Delta 7-B Starfighter. 1 passenger, 1 droid

15:00: Separatist cruiser First Flight. 50 passengers, 30 droids, 20 crew

17:00: Naboo-class star skiff. 2 passengers, 1 droid.

Leia felt the Force tingling around her as she read the last few lines. Instinct told her that the starfighter was her father; there was plenty of documentation of his skills as a fighter pilot and at that point he would still be fighting in the Clone Wars. But what was her father doing arriving with a bunch of Separatists? Something told Leia that he wasn't there for peaceful negotiations. She felt an incredible warmth as she read the final line about the ship from Naboo, which she didn't understand. She didn't know anyone from Naboo.

She was struck by one more idea. She searched 'Mustafar' 'Fralideja' and 'security surveillance'. She selected the tapes for Month 5 Day 25, but instead of opening a giant message flashed across the screen.

PASSWORD REQUIRED.

She thought for a moment, then tried the codes she had used to break into her father's system. There was a loud whirring noise and a new message popped up.

ACCESS DENIED.

SYSTEM SHUTTING DOWN.

The screen went blank. Leia sat back in her chair in shock. She hit the power button several times but nothing happened. She began to panic. What if Vader could tell someone broke into his files? She stood and glanced at the screen one more time before rushing back to her chambers.

XxXxX

The next day Leia went back down to the detention block with renewed determination. She fingered the japor snippet around her neck absently as made her way down to Bail Organa's cell. The puzzle pieces were swirling around in her head, but she couldn't quite fit them together.

When she opened the cell door, she was shocked at his appearance. There were several fresh wounds all over his body, and he somehow looked smaller and frailer than he had been the day before.

When he saw her he opened his eyes and commented weakly, "I really don't think I'm up for another round right now."

Leia shut the door behind her. "I'm not here to interrogate you. Let me see that." She gestured at the large cut on his left arm.

Looking confused, Bail extended his arm towards her. "This might sting a bit." Leia warned as she dabbed bacta on the wound.

Bail winced. "This is nothing compared to how yesterday went."

"What else did they do? A mind probe wouldn't do all of this." She gestured at his battered body.

"Electrojabbers, vibrocutters...you name it, he tried it. You weren't exaggerating when you said Vader could draw it out."

"That was nothing." Leia said as she wrapped a bandage around his arm and tied it in a knot. "Did you tell him anything?"

"No." Bail said resolutely.

"Good." Leia half muttered to herself.

Bail stared at her. "Does your father know you're here?"

"My...father?" Leia repeated.

Bail smiled grimly. "Young lady, I have not survived twenty-five years in the Senate by being unobservant. At first I thought you were just an acolyte of Darth Vader, but after seeing the two of you interact yesterday...I put the pieces together."

Leia tried to shake off her newfound unease. "No, he doesn't."

"Then why are you here?"

"Because I have questions. And I think you might be the only person willing to answer them."

The senator frowned. "Well, you're very direct, I'll give you that. You remind me of your mother."

The mention of her mother completely threw Leia off-guard. "You...knew my mother?"

Bail nodded sadly. "I did."

"Senator Organa." Leia grasped his hands. "Please. Tell me about her."

"My dear, I don't think you're ready for what I would tell you."

"What do you mean?"

Bail looked away. "The past is such a mess. What should have happened...everything went so horribly wrong."

"But…"

The door to the cell suddenly opened and five stormtroopers entered the cell. "We have directions to bring Senator Organa to the viewing bridge."

"On whose order?" Leia demanded, hoping that it wasn't her father.

"Grand Moff Tarkin." The trooper said.

"Well, Lady Vader commands you to leave this man in peace." She said firmly.

"We were told to let nobody stop us. Excuse me, Lady." The trooper said and pushed her out of the way. Leia immediately threw herself back in between Bail and the trooper, but the second one grabbed her and held her steady while Bail Organa was roughly forced to his feet and marched out of the detention block. He looked fearfully back at Leia but she knew she was powerless to stop them.

Leia glared at the stormtrooper still holding her. "Do you realize who I am?" She asked as she forced her way out of his grasp.

"My apologies, Lady Vader. Governor Tarkin's orders." The trooper said uncomfortably.

"To hell with Tarkin." She said as she opened the door and sprinted down the corridor. She let the Force guide her to a turbolift that she took up to the main viewing bridge. I have a bad feeling about this.

As soon as the doors opened, Leia saw Bail standing between her father and Grand Moff Tarkin. The planet Alderaan loomed large in the window, quiet and peaceful.

"Governor Tarkin." Bail was saying sardonically. "I was wondering who they trusted to hold Vader's leash. I should have seen your hand in this from the moment I was brought on board."

Tarkin smiled silkily. "Senator Organa. Always a pleasure. You don't know how hard I found it signing the order to terminate your life."

"What for? I haven't committed any crimes." Bail said indignantly.

"You were caught in restricted space carrying a drive containing stolen plans of this battle station with the intent of delivering them to the rebellion…"

"Have you been paying attention? I didn't have the plans…"

"A fluke." Tarkin interrupted smoothly. "A result of having substandard spies, not a lack of intent. But before your execution, I would like to you be my guest at a little ceremony that will make this battle station operational. Since you are reluctant to provide us with the location of the rebel base, I have decided to test this station's power on your home planet of Alderaan."

Leia felt the ice cold fear strike Senator Organa. "No! Alderaan is peaceful, we have no weapons, you can't possibly…"

But Tarkin was relentless. "You would rather another target? A military target? Then name the system!"

She saw Bail bite his lip, the conflict raging in his face. And as she watched him, she saw into his mind. She saw what he was going to do the moment before he did it, and as she glanced at her father, she also instantly knew that he had missed it. "Dantooine." He said finally. "They're on Dantooine."

Tarkin smiled. "I knew you were a reasonable man, Organa." He turned to a junior officer. "Continue the operation. You may fire when ready."

"What!" Bail exploded. Vader's grip tightened on his shoulder. Leia looked at her father in alarm. Father!

But his shields were up. She couldn't get through. Leia pushed harder. Father, you have to stop this!

"Unfortunately Dantooine is too remote to make an effective demonstration, but don't worry. We'll get to them soon enough." She heard Tarkin telling Bail.

"No!" Bail cried.

Leia took a step forward and grasped the hilt of her lightsaber.

Suddenly Vader unleashed a large wave of power that made Leia stagger. Although he kept his eyes on the squirming Bail Organa, Leia felt the full brunt of his anger as though he was staring straight at her.

Take one more step and I will kill him.

Leia gasped.

In that instant, Alderaan exploded.

XxXxXx

Luke awoke with a start.

For a moment he couldn't remember where he was. Then the mud hut slowly came into focus and the smell of burning bantha dung filled his nose and he remembered. Tatooine. He was on Tatooine.

As the fog of sleep slowly cleared a dull emptiness began to creep through his veins and he instantly knew that Leia was hurting. He moved carefully so he wouldn't wake Mara on the other side of the room. She had been very explicit about what would happen if she even suspected Luke was trying to make a move on her, and he noted with detached amusement that she slept with one hand firmly grasping her lightsaber. He sat up slowly and sent out a silent call to his sister..

Leia.

For a moment there was nothing, and Luke wondered if she'd heard him. He was about to try again when he heard it.

Luke.

Suddenly the full force of Leia's being flooded his senses. He felt anger, stronger than he had ever sensed coming from his sister, almost bordering on frenzy. Then there was pain. Luke probed there cautiously and suddenly heard millions of voices crying out together before falling silent. There was a bright light and sudden fire and an armageddon the likes of which he'd never imagined...

Then it was gone. Luke tried reaching for Leia again but met only with her mental blocks. He looked over at Mara. "Mara, get up."

"Mhm, what is it?" Mara muttered sleepily. "Skywalker, I'm going to kill you."

"We're going back. Now. Something's happened."