Post 6

One day later…

"We are gathered here today…Ow."

"Han, sit down."

"Did you have to hit me, sweetheart?" He asked rubbing his arm as the group chuckled. Everyone knew darn well that it hadn't hurt. Leia glared at him and he just smiled back.

"All right children. Calm down." Iella called from the top of the table. She set down her stack of flimsi's and picked up the stack of datapads that was sitting on a small console next to her. As she walked around the table to hand them out she started talking.

"You've all been briefed on the basics of this case so I won't go into that, at least not yet. This meeting is mainly to start a plan of action and give everyone their assignments." She finished as she regained her seat and gave them all a minute to look over what they had been given.

"All right, Suna and Chaz are the primary undercovers for this case." The pretty blonde from Adumar to Iella's left said nothing as she continued to puruse the info she had just been given. They had all seen the information in a more basic form before this meeting, but Suna liked to make sure about things. Chaz Kalar however, didn't need to look at the data pad. Being a Duros, everything Iella had showed him to this point was already floating around in his brain. Like most of his kind, he had a photographic memory, one of the many reasons he was an intelligence agent. "They will be shadowing the Senator on any of his trips."

To their left was seated a young, crimson-hued Twi'lek woman whom Iella had worked with on numerous occasions when dealing with slave rings. "Tee'ana has been working with her contacts to see if there is any information that we can get from the underground." The woman nodded but didn't say anything. Tee'ana Velos had been a slave girl on Tatooine under the hutts for most of her childhood. Instead of moaning and looking for pity, she had put the knowledge she had gained from that experience to good use in intelligence.

Next came Han and Leia at the other end of the table. "Han, I thought perhaps your smuggler history could help us. Especially if you still have some connections." He flashed a grin and Leia rolled her eyes. "And Leia, I need your help with the Senate because I don't even want to learn how to deal with that." Everyone laughed and Iella moved on.

Wedge sat between Leia and Iella and sent the latter a questioning look. "And my reason for being here?" He asked jokingly.

"You're cute." A voice from the corner piped up. Iella continued as if it hadn't spoken.

"Because you think outside the box so well and I think we'll need that." She retorted coyly. "Plus, you have good connections also."

Raxle Starseed was the next member of the team. Raxle was a human male from Tatooine who had actually ran a small slave ring with his father up until four years ago. He had fallen in love with a slave girl and when his father had found out she had been disposed of as a lesson. The young man had then left behind everything he had and came to Coruscant. He had ended up talking to the right person and was working in Intelligence not too long after.

"Raxle will be providing background information once we infiltrate the ring and help us take it down from the inside hopefully.

"All right, you've all had a chance to skim over the information again so let's…"

"Um, Mrs. Antillies I have a question." Wedge snickered beside her as she tried not to roll her eyes.

"Yes Han."

"What's Janson doing here?" Everyone turned to look at the man in question as he graced them with a smile and a wave from his seat in the corner. Iella sighed and turned back towards the table.

"He's here to give the group flavor."

"Don't you think there's enough flavor already?" Chaz asked quietly.

"I heard that Kalar."

"Yub yub Janson."

"Alright. Settle down. Let's go over what we know so far. Who wants to start?"

"I'll start." Chaz said quietly. "Bela Mnaa, senator for 9 years. Grew up on Aargau , where slave trading was a hot commodity. Only child of Merla and Higgins Mnaa. 39 years old. Joined the military on a local planet after he got done with basic school. Graduated in the top 15% of his class. Found he had a knack for politics and decided to run for Senator of his home planet. Won the post with a majority vote and moved here. Fought to stop slavery not only on his own planet but many others in the galaxy. Was successful almost every time and became one of the most popular Senators in the history of the Senate.."

Suna picked up the story. "A week ago, his wife Ambassador Jade Storm found a file on her computer that was not hers. She concluded that it was her husbands and when she found slave-trading information in the file she called Intelligence. Or at least Iella."

"The paper trail on Mnaa's said file only goes back seven years, but it is so well put together that he either has been doing it for much longer or has a partner. Probably uses his numerous Senatorial trips to cover any dealings so there is no suspicion." Wedge added.

"I would guess that his guards are also in on it, since they are not supposed to leave his side for any reason. Or at least some of them are and that puts his wife at risk as well. She has offered to work undercover and try to get more information that someone who isn't on the inside can get." Leia said as she continued the data stream they had started.

Han spoke next. "The prices listed in the file are high, so that would make me believe he deals in higher end clients which would make it more than worth his while. Would probably explain why he's kept doing it for so long too."

"You think he's in it for the money?" Iella asks.

"His family was very poor growing up, so it's not out of the realm of possibility." Chaz offered.

Han leaned back and put his hands behind his head. "Money talks sister. I should know."

Iella turned to Raxle. "You have anything to offer?"

The young man shook his head. "Not yet. When we get some more information I will."

The intelligence agent nodded and then took a deep breath. "Ok. It's a start. I believe the senators next stop is Corellia after a few days home. When he does leave again, Suna and Chaz will be following him. We'll meet before he leaves. Any questions?"

/____________________________________\

Three days later….
Senator Mnaa's personal shuttle

The senator leaned back in his seat and closed his eyes in weariness. The deal had been lucrative, but even after 20 years of doing this it still left a bad taste in his mouth. Though that didn't stop him, he was starting to wish something would.

He was eager to get home and make sure Jade was safe. His parting conversation with Shaw had left him uneasy.

"I'm not doing this anymore Shaw." Bela was met with silence as he waited for the older man to say something. His head still looking down at the document before him, Shaw moved only his eyes to look up at the senator. He stared at him for a moment, then looked to be holding back his comment. Silently, he stood and directed his gaze at the man again.

"We've been over this before Bela. You're in too deep and there's no way you can get out. At least not alive." His voice was quiet, but the sharp edge made Bela shiver slightly. He had known this was not going to be easy. It was necessary though. Doing this was eating him up inside and he wasn't sure who he was anymore.

"I'm done." He simply stated.

Shaw just leered at him, then started to amble in his direction. Though his heart was pounding fiercely, Bela stood his ground. This had to end. He met the older man's eyes and the hard glint made him angry.

"You know, I'd hate for something to happen to that beautiful little wife of yours." Shaw whispered. Bela's eyes went wide and he clenched his jaw to keep from screaming. This wasn't the first time the slaver had threatened Jade. Every time Bela told him he wanted out, he did this. That didn't mean it couldn't make him angry. One thing that hadn't changed about him was his love for his wife. She was the main reason he wanted out. If she ever found out what he did, he would lose her. That was something he didn't want to comprehend.

"Even used she would bring a nice price." He goaded the man on and when Bela didn't say anything, he kept going. "You know that most buyers like it when they don't go willingly." Before the last word had even left his mouth, Shaw found himself on the ground a raging Bela over him. His jaw felt broken, but he smiled through the pain. It was worth it to get under the man's skin. He wasn't about to let him leave this business. Not when he brought him so much business. Plus the control he had over the powerful senator was like an aphrodisiac or a drug.

"Enough Shaw. I told you I'm done and if you ever come near Jade I'll kill you." The slaver watched Bela walk off and smiled to himself again.

"We'll see about that, Senator."

Surely Shaw wasn't stupid enough to come after the wife of a prominent senator. He thought to himself.

/____________________________________\

"Ma'am?"

Jade looked up to see Jared pop his head in the door. She smiled at him and waved him in. "I'm almost done Jared. Give me a few more minutes. And stop calling me ma'am."

"Yes ma'am." Jared retorted and ducked out of the doorway as she sent something flying in his direction. A chuckle escaped him as he moved to look out the window of her office. Jared was her age, 32, and from Nyreen. They hadn't grown up together, but had become friends since he had applied for the job on her husband's guard. She and Bela had decided when she became ambassador they would just use his guard for both of them. It saved on costs and looked good to the people he served.

Jared had become more of a friend than a guard, especially since Bela was gone so much. She had a feeling Edward had assigned the young man to her guard detail because he really didn't like Jared. The Nyreenian was too happy for the security captain's liking. That and he always talked too much. Jade chuckled to herself. Those were the exact reasons she liked Jared.

Jade finished her last report and set it to the side of her desk so her aide could send it off in the morning. Rising from her seat she grabbed her coat from the chair and looked up to see Jared standing next to her holding her bag. She thanked him and grabbed it to follow him out of her office.

The trip home was quiet. Jared must have sensed that she didn't really want to talk because he didn't try to strike up a conversation like normal. She was thankful for that, as she found herself staring out the speeder window, lost in though.

It had been two months since Jade had found her husband's secret. Two months of acting like things were still the same. Two months of forwarding little bits of information to Iella and her team. She was surprised she still had her sanity. Her home, the place that had once been her refuge, was now the last place she wanted to be. She exited the speeder after it stopped and grabbed her bag out of the seat. Jared walked behind her as another guard met them at the front door. The only saving grace was that Bela was frequently out of town so he was gone for a week at a time, sometimes two. If she didn't have that time to be at peace she knew she would have been in trouble a long time ago.

It was quiet as she entered the house and made her way up to her office. The guard that had waited at the door followed her upstairs, but she paid him no mind. She was used to their presence by now. At one time they had made her feel safe. Now, she wasn't sure anything made her feel safe. That wasn't true. Jared was the only one she trusted now. She opened the door and set her bag down on one of the chairs. When she looked up, she gasped and stopped in her tracks.

"My love. I'm so glad you're home." Bela told her as he pulled her to him and brought his mouth to hers. She forced herself not to cringe and tried to remember how she had felt before all this had happened. What she sometimes still felt, though not as deeply. He pulled back from her and smiled.

"You're home early." She whispered.

"I wanted to surprise you. I got done earlier than I thought I would." He said as he cupped her cheek and ran his thumb down to her lips. She smiled and hoped it looked genuine. They had a pleasant dinner, as Bela talked about his trip with her and she relayed everything he had missed Senate wise during his absence.

They were sitting on the couch a few hours later, watching a movie when Jade sighed a little louder than she had intended.

"You ok?" Bela asked. She was leaning against his shoulder, his arm wrapped around her and she found that she could only nod. He seemed satisfied with her answer, and gave his attention back to the movie. Closing her eyes, she wished she could just climb into bed and forget about everything for a while. Stress wasn't a foreign thing to her, but she was finding it hard to function without her safety net. Bela had always been someone she had gone to with her troubles and now she was forced to deal with things on her own. Not that she wasn't capable, but it was so much easier when you had someone to share things with.

Finally, Jade couldn't take any more and made some excuse to go up to bed. She lay there a few hours later, Bela asleep beside her, trying not to think about what her husband had become. She tried to imagine the picture of her husband from before, but it was getting harder and harder to pretend.

Intelligence had gotten quite a bit of info on him so far, but all of it circumstantial. They hadn't found anything to charge him with that would stick. She fought a cringe as she felt him tighten his arm around her and took a deep breath. Determined to get some sleep, she forced herself to relax and finally did.

/____________________________________\

The following morning Jade woke up alone and sighed in relief. Slowly she rose and stepped into the fresher. Bela wanted her to make an appearance with him today. He was going to speak on a new bill he wanted to get passed and she usually went with him to those events. This would be a big rally today. Bigger than he had ever appeared at and even though she didn't want to go, she would. She had to see this through to the end.

An hour later, she was dressed in a long skirt and simple shirt and walked downstairs to grab something to eat before they left. Bela was in the kitchen and he smiled as she entered. She poured herself a cup of caf and he went back to watching the holonet. It was going to be a long day. Over the years she had learned that he wasn't trying to be mean when he ignored her like this. He was putting on his game face, as he liked to call it. Now she found herself thankful for his little ritual.

He sat close to her in the speeder and Jade closed her eyes and leaned her head on his shoulder. She had to keep up appearances. The Sludgenews would have a field day if she didn't look like the loving and devoted wife they always thought she was. Or had been at one time. She wasn't sure what she felt for Bela now. Disgust was at the top of her list. Jade was sure that somewhere in her heart she still loved her husband, but this was something she could never forgive. She tried to think about who she would be seeing tonight and her spirits raised instantly. Her father was on the planet and would be meeting them at the appearance. It had been a couple weeks since she had last seen him, but it was never often enough for her. She and Jake were always excited when his job brought him to Coruscant. Her brother wasn't going to be at the rally, but had promised to meet them later for dinner. The only one missing was her mother, but she hadn't been feeling well. Jade would just have to make the best of what she had at the moment.

Taking a deep breath as the speeder came to a stop at the side of the stage in the plaza, Jade put on her happy face and stepped out after her husband. The crowd was deafening as she smiled at some of the other senators that lined the steps to the podium. Again, she found herself wondering how many of these men had hidden secrets also. She hated how cynical her thoughts tended to become now, but she couldn't help them anymore than she could stop breathing. So she had learned to deal with them. Bela stopped at the row of chairs that were set up about ten feet behind the podium and leaned down to kiss Jade on the cheek. She kept her smile in place as he walked up and eventually got the crowd to quiet down.

Tuning out Bela's speech, she slowly raked her eyes over the crowd and again found her feelings torn. All of these people were here to hear him speak about his new proposals to stop the slave trade. If only they knew what a hypocrite he really was, they might not be cheering. Not for the first time, she wondered who Bela really was. Had he really been the man she thought she had married at one time? Or had his entire life been a lie? Jade turned her attention back to him and suddenly heard a popping sound. Reaching over to scratch her arm she felt something wet and when she looked down, a dark stain started to grow slowly on her sleeve. Another pop was heard and her right shoulder exploded into pain.

Before she could process what was happening one of the security guards tackled her to the ground and her breath caught in her throat as she landed on her right side. Pain blossomed from her shoulder and threatened to make her pass out. Another pop sounded and she felt another sting on her left temple. She reached up with her hand and found blood on her fingertips. Someone had shot at Bela and hit her.

She heard someone call her name through the fog that was taking over her brain and looked over to see Bela throwing one of his security officers off and crawling over to her. He pushed the guard off of her and she saw his face pale visibly as he took off his jacket and laid it over her. A groan escaped her lips as she took a deep breath. Bela pressed his hand against her temple and she knew he was speaking but she couldn't understand the words over the rushing in her ears.

Blackness started to creep in on the edges of her vision and she fought to stay awake. And lost.

/____________________________________\

"Mom, are you sure you don't want some help?" Myri asked for the fifth time. Iella snickered to herself and shook her head as she took the nerf roast out and set it on the platter. Jake must really be getting under her skin today if she was asking to help in the kitchen.

"No honey. I'm good. But thank you for asking." She could picture her youngest daughter stomping back to the living room rolling her eyes in disgust. One of these days those two were going to stop annoying each other and realize they actually liked one another. Until then it did provide some good entertainment for the rest of the family.

At least once a month everyone got together and had dinner at someone's house. Last month it had been the Solo's. This month it was the Antilles residence. Iella didn't mind since she didn't really have an opportunity to cook anymore. Plus, her girls were home which was always a blessing to her. The only person that would be missing today was Jade, but she had an appearance with Bela. She stopped for a moment as she thought about her friend and felt a shiver run down her spine. Any day now she kept hoping they would find the big one on the senator so Jade could start getting her life back in order.

Loud laughter from the other room brought her out of her thoughts and she smiled. It was always noisy when the old folks got together. That's what their children called them. She busied herself getting things finished and had just reached up into a cabinet to get a bowl for the vegetables out when a newsflash came across the holonet. She always turned it on when she was cooking for background noise. Iella turned around to see what the news was and froze.

"To repeat, there has just been a shooting at the Senate rally today. We're trying to confirm who, if anyone, has been hit but so far we are getting nothing from authorities." While the reporter repeated the information they didn't have over and over again, the footage of the shooting started showing. Iella frantically tried to find Jade after the shots were heard, but the camera hadn't been focusing on her. Bela had been the one to call the rally and naturally he was the one everyone was concerned about.

"Wait, I've just gotten confirmation that one person was hit. It looks like senator Mnaa's wife, ambassador Storm was hit. We are not sure how many times or how serious the injury is but as soon as we know we will be sure to tell you. "Again, there was a shooting at the senatorial rally today…."

Iella didn't feel the dish slip from her hands. Nor did she hear the subsequent crash or the sound of her husband running into the room. Wedge carefully stepped around the shards of the dish and pulled Iella over to the side. She couldn't take her eyes off the holonet as they looped the shooting over and over again.

"Ella?" When she wouldn't answer him he finally looked to see what had upset her. The scrolling words on the bottom of the screen made him curse loudly and pulled her from the room and into the hall.

"Sweetie, I'm sure she's ok." He murmured as he pulled her into his arms and felt her relax against him. Wedge was trying to keep her calm as he felt anything but that himself.

"I never should have let her do this Wedge. If anything happens to her, I'll never forgive myself." Her muffled voice sounded from his chest. Neither one of them heard Jake and Myri come up behind them.

"Dad. Is everything ok?" She asked tentatively.

He turned his head to look at his daughter then transferred his gaze to Jake. Wedge liked the boy, a lot. Not only was he a damn good pilot but he had become like family since the Storm kids had come into their lives. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

"There was a shooting at the rally." He saw Jake stiffen and gave himself a mental smile as he saw Myri reach for the young man's hand. "Your sister was injured Jake." Before he could even finish, the pilot had turned to run back down the hall and presumably, out the door. He looked back at his daughter and sighed.

"I need to go down there." Iella said, as she raised her head off his chest. He looked down at his wife and saw the tears in her eyes. "I need to know she's ok." Wedge nodded and moved to go and get his keys. Myri walked over to hug her mom.

"I'll take care of everything here." Myri told her as Iella hugged her daughter back and smiled.

She started as she felt her husband's hand on her arm and kissed Myri on the forehead. "Thank you honey." Then they left.

/____________________________________\

"Face it Durron, I kicked your butt. The sooner you admit it, the sooner I can start celebrating."

Kyp shook his head at Jaina as she walked a few feet in front of him. He was never going to live this down, at least from her. They walked quietly down a hallway at the temple and Jaina slowed as they approached the nearest common room. The Viewer was so loud you could hear it down the hall.

"In case you are just joining us, here is the breaking news. There was a shooting today at the Senate rally in Celebration Plaza." The room was mostly filled with teenage students, but Kyp looked over and saw Jag leaning against one of the back walls and made his way over to him. Jaina silently followed, her eyes still on the broadcast.

Jag looked up and dipped his head in acknowledgement.

"Which senator was injured?" He asked the former Chiss commander.

"None."

"Damn." Kyp responded, jokingly. He turned to watch the broadcast and was confused when a picture of Ambassador Storm popped up behind the reporter.

"Ambassador Storm's condition has not been commented on, but sources say she was hit three times. We don't know how serious or where. One person did say they saw blood on the ambassador's head, but that has not been confirmed."

"Wow." Kyp heard Jaina whisper from beside him. He frowned and turned to her.

"Isn't that Jake Storm's sister?" She nodded in response and he whistled.

"Yeah. I've never met her but he's ultra-protective. I'm sure he's not taking this well." Jaina added quietly.