Dozens of high-ranking officers gathered around the table with datapads, muttering to each other as they sat down, leaving the head chair empty. Kess never attended one of these before. At first, the instruction surprised her . . . until she remembered that her big brother was now posing as the Emperor. There were more caps of him on the vid lately, but always in the helmet and never speaking. She could only tell it was Nik by the way the figure stood, but it was hard to read his demeanor because the robe they always had him in padded shoulders, as if they were trying to make him look tougher and taller than he already was.

Of course they would, she thought. They had plans for him. That much was clear. Exactly what those plans were was not so clear. Kess hungered to learn the Alliance's strategy for action.

All conversation drifted to silence as Mon Mothma entered the room. Droids closed the doors behind her. She ushered Admiral Ackbar to get started while she was still sitting down at the head of the table.

He turned his head along the table and announced it to everyone, "The new A-wings have arrived. In nine days, the fighter fleet will be ready to launch for the rendezvous point at 84 percent of strength," he said. "The rest of our preparations will be done while in hyperspace to bring us to approximately 91 percent before the attack." He looked down the table at Madine.

At the queue, General Madine turned his body to the table to tell them all. "28 thousand troops are packed and ready to go. That's not including supplemental forces from our allies, which will bring us to 52 thousand troops at the rendezvous. But we only have enough drop transports to send down 41 thousand planetside."

"I'm on it," Leia said, and pulled over a datapad to type in some notes.

Admiral Sikey spoke now, referring to a datapad. "Accompanied by the allies, 26 galaxy-class fighter carriers. 12 battleships. 57 armed escorts. And 42 fleet aides."

Leia blurted, "That's it?"

Kess's eyes stretched back and forth. That sounded like a lot.

Admiral Sikey shrugged her fingers. "I couldn't get the Glagan System to roll. They've got another 10 battleships and two armed escorts that I didn't count. And I'm not also counting any help we may get from the Serra Arm systems."

Mon Mothma shook her head. "We're not getting help from the Serra Arm Systems. All we asked of them is to defend themselves and neutralize their local forces."

"Have you figured out how to coordinate the attack so the Serra Arm Systems are on the same timetable?"

Leia shook her head. "Not as yet."

This seemed to draw the table to a stiff silence for a moment.

The meeting continued with finer detail of the same. All the hard work was paying off. The Alliance was more ready than Kess had expected. The farthest timetable she heard was from Ackbar: nine days. She mentally planned for it, and whispered out another prayer at Nik to hang in there.

After a long while, the discussion shifted to the planning of the attack itself. She didn't understand much of it because she didn't have the Coruscant map memorized, but it was clear they had a plan to puncture the defenses with the fleet and immediately drop troops to the center of circular precincts covering half the horizon.

Naturally, they expected the Empire to rush in and protect the Temple and Senate Precincts. The council discussed at length ways to overlap their blanket of troops 'crookedly' onto that center of power in order to secure whole circles of Coruscant without too much resistance, yet still acquire key areas. General Rieekan listed off the strength of Imperial forces they expected to come up against. General Madine worked openly across the table how to neutralize and overwhelm each listed item.

While it sounded like everyone had a well-thought out answer to every question, the overall map of this battle sounded like a complete fiasco to Kess.

Mon Mothma referred to some notes as she absorbed everything so far, and lifted her head to a General Dodonna. "The lynchpin."

Kess blinked when she recognized him. She thought he retired.

Dodonna nodded. "I have verified my 'ace in the hole' is still valid." He eyed General Madine. "Plan for 30 minutes, but we should have the shield down in ten."

"Ten minutes is a long time in a battle of this magnitude," Admiral Ackbar warned.

Kess listened intensely. She realized they probably pulled Dodonna out of retirement for this last hoorah. If anyone possessing a key element of access to bring down the planetary shield around Coruscant, it would be someone who was deep into the rebellion back when this whole war started. They were saving this 'ace in the hole', whatever it was, for the right moment.

Dodonna gestured his focus down the table to Luke and Kess. "I'm sure I could do it faster if my team were awarded some Jedi assistance."

Mon Mothma shook her head. "They can advise beforehand, but they have a mission of their own during the battle."

Dodonna accepted that and eyed Madine, and then Ackbar. "Thirty minutes."

The group went silent to plan accordingly.

Mon Mothma turned her eyes to the two Jedi. "For the surgical part of this mission?"

Kess rubbed her lips.

In the chair beside her, Luke lowered his fingers to tap on the table. "He's going to be in the Palace, surrounded by lots and lots of guards, and probably a Grand Moff or two. We're going to need a localized distraction, but I've got an idea on how to get in there without running into too much trouble. Once we do and we've got him face to face," he looked over and motioned to Kess.

She sat up but kept her hands clasped in her lap. "Nik's probably drugged, so I don't want to risk further harm by hitting him with a tranquilizer that might not mix well. Obviously I'll try to talk him down, but, if that doesn't work, I've got a family heirloom that will yank him out of it."

"What heirloom?" Mon Mothma queried.

Kess pulled the locket from under the collar of her tunic and showed it to them all. "This is my grandmother's wedding locket. Nik found it on her when he found her body after she died. He also found a goodbye letter from grandpa that day, which—not incidentally—is the same letter Gina thought was from him when he was kidnapped."

She looked Mon Mothma in the eye and continued, "That letter was a message to me. He was trying to tell me he was in trouble. Gina just didn't recognize it to call me right away. These lockets are unique, so Nik will know it's me even he's been blinded by drugs or the dark side. He hasn't seen it in a long time because I have it, but he knows this one. He knows where this came from and what it represents. Even if he's so twisted up that he tries to hurt me, seeing this locket will make him pause."

Ackbar sounded unsure. "Are you willing to bet your life on that?"

Kess hardly needed to think before she looked Ackbar in the eye with confidence. "I am willing to bet my life on that. Yes."

Luke turned back to address Mon Mothma. "I'll be in there with her."

Mon Mothma nodded to that, but eyed Kess with an order. "Consider taking a tranquilizer anyway. I know it's risky, but if the locket doesn't work, sedating him is better than having to kill him."

Kess angled her head sideways to consider that truth and nodded agreement. "Yes, ma'am."

"And Vanech? Will be helpful at all? Is he trustworthy?"

Luke answered that carefully. "Not trustworthy enough to be helpful during the siege, but once I soften him up a little more, I'm going to see if I can get a layout of the Temple Precinct underworks out of him. For us and for the troops." He gestured to Madine, who nodded honorably. "There probably aren't any easy paths for big troop movement, but saboteurs can get through to tricky places and take out planetary guns and communication towers."

"Oh, I like that," Han said with a smile.

Mon Mothma looked to him now. "General Solo?"

Han reported his own status. "I've got three teams of six ready to go. I already have a few paths mapped out but that," he pointed over at Luke, "will make this go a lot easier."

As Kess listened to the rest of the meeting in tense silence, she fingered the locket at her breastbone; rubbing it as if doing so would make Obi Wan Kenobi show up like a genie right here in this room and promise everything would be okay. He didn't, but having it around her neck now made her feel like he was closer.

Mon Mothma raised her face and wrapped it up. "Remind your teams that our goal is to secure, not destroy. We expect resistance from the general public. They have been under the thumb of the Empire and influenced by propaganda for a long while, and that's not their fault. The first step is to replace the thumb, but as soon as the fighting is over, we will gently lift it with an interactive government.

"I want every member of this rebellion to memorize this: 'We do this to give you a vote.' When accused of anything, from anyone, the answer is this." She tapped a hard fingertip on the table at each word. "We do this to give you a vote. . . . We do this to give you a vote. Our first order of business is to assemble a Galactic Senate. As it always has been. I want every 'rebel scum' out there to have those words memorized for use in every transaction between us and the Coruscant people. Flood them with it until they feel its truth." She paused to let that sink in, and then smiled, "Fortunately, ours is not propaganda."

When it was all over and the crowd dispersed in the busy halls outside, Kess dropped her shoulders against a wall with a tense huff, still rubbing the locket over her tunic collar.

Soon Luke settled his feet in front of her. He sighed briefly too. There were a lot of people walking back and forth in this hall, and more small groups collected for other conversations. They didn't speak. They didn't need to. When her eyes found him, his eyes were on the locket, but then they came back up to meet hers.

She dropped the locket to hang from her chest. "I wish we hadn't left him there."

"There was nothing we could've done."

Kess tried to grin.

Leia stepped up. "May I speak with you two for a minute?"

They both turned their attentions to her.

"In my office," Leia ordered and led the way.

Luke and Kess looked at each other. Eyebrows shrugged and they turned their feet to follow. Han joined them along the way. All four were silent until Leia closed her office door, but then she lit in like a lightning bolt.

"Tell me about Vanech."

Luke strolled between the twin couches and turned around to shrug at her. "I've got him meditating. I think he's coming back but it's going to take time. Why?"

"Because we need him to pull the Kein system in," Leia insisted. "Baron Flintob didn't have a clue what I was talking about."

Kess shrugged hard. "He wouldn't let me go to Baron Flintob."

"How exactly?"

"He was using the Force. I told you that. Every time I tried to approach anyone in the Kein party I felt a hard twinge. And when I looked, he shook his head at me. It was Vanech himself who read the proposal and toasted with the rest of them. Petra seemed to accept that."

"If Petra thinks Vanech has the connections, then he does," Leia pointed out.

"Okay?" Kess shrugged her hands.

Leia flashed a polite smile to break it down for her. "Which is why I need to know if I can trust Vanech. At the moment," her eyes turned to Luke, "I don't."

Luke shook his head. "Nor should you. Not yet. Give me some time with him."

"Luke, we don't have time! We're leaving for this thing in nine days!"

"And we'll be in hyperspace and rendezvous for at least four days after that." Luke told her. "We've got time."

"Can you turn him that fast?"

"I don't know." Luke stressed back, but he was smiling about it. "I will try."

Leia flopped her hands to her sides and paced to her desk.

Luke chortled and his voice rose to a laughing shout. "By the Force, you're worse than me! Patience!"

Leia crossed her arms at her chest and turned back, but she carried a little grin on her mouth now too. "Keep me posted."

"When have I stopped?"

Han shifted his eyes to Luke, "Can I use him on my team?"

Luke crossed his arms at his chest. "I don't if we can trust him that much that fast."

"I'm not asking if I can trust him. I'm asking if I can use him?"

Luke stared Han in the eye for a beat.

Leia expounded. "He's asking you as his Jedi Master."

Luke's eyes shifted with humor. "I understood that."

"So?" Han asked.

"Use him at your own risk," Luke finally said. "You've known him longer than I have. Maybe you can get through to him."

"We do this to give you a vote," Han quoted with a grin.

Luke smiled and shifted his feet to stroll a little. "I'm not sure that's what he wants."

Leia and Han exchanged glances and accepted that. Then Leia's eyes found Kess again. "How are you holding up?"

Kess shrugged hard. Her answer was a heavy sigh.

"How's your family?"

"Dad hates him." She thumbed over her shoulder at Luke. "And Gina's so pissed she won't let me get near Ben now."

"I'm so sorry," Leia was sincere.

"It's not your fault."

Luke explained to the other two. "Her father hinted that her mother was originally from Stewjon, which was where Obi Wan was from. I think she's the offspring of a brother or sister of Old Ben."

Han nodded. "It fits."

Leia agreed, "Explains a lot."

"But I still don't know who my father was."

"Well," Leia said, and grinned sympathetically, "I know how you feel."

Kess shared in the weak chuckle of it. "Yeah, I guess you would, huh?"

Leia strolled up to her. "Why don't you guys come over for dinner. Get a full meal in your stomachs . . . that isn't out of the galley."

Kess was warmed by the invitation alone, especially since the invitation was directed specifically at Kess. "I'd like that." She added, "It'd be nice to be around a family that doesn't hate my boyfriend."

Han shook his hand in the air. "Oh no. Don't get us wrong. We hate him too. We just tolerate him because he's 'special'."

Luke cringed. "Thanks."

"All right. Get out." Leia waved them all off. "I've got work to do."

They all moved. Leia watched Luke and Kess leave together. The two chatted briefly about where each was headed next. Others were milling about out there to come talk to Leia next but, for the moment her office doors were still open for the transfer of meetings, Leia focused on the couple in the hall.

Kess murmured something secretly by Luke's shoulder. Her eyes shined devious as she turned to go. Luke's feet stopped short at whatever she said, and his eyes shifted with a grinning evil to watch Kess leave in the other direction. He watched her go with a hidden expression that Leia never expected to see on Luke's face.

She found a similar expression on Han's face every once in a while, but when it was from Han, it was usually accompanied by a secret threat. 'You keep that up I'm going to jump you right now.'

Her own Force Empathy skill was still in the novice stages, but Luke swelled with such a strong cloud of that Leia didn't need much skill to detect it. Of course, she knew it already, but she hadn't witnessed such proof until today. Luke was madly in love.

As Han was leaving too, Admiral Ackbar came in, "We need to come up with something for this signal, Minister."

Leia lifted her chin. "Han, wait."

Han glanced back. At her gesture, he closed the door with him and Admiral Ackbar still inside.

Han set his hands on his hips as he turned. "What's up?"

She looked at Ackbar and then Han, and considered it another long moment before she grinned with mischief. "I have an idea."