"Our pride demands that our enemy be executed by our own hand - or by our proxy," Vedo's voice boomed in outrage at the other remaining members of the Hutt ruling council. A mysterious force using imperial weapons had been taking over Hutt space, even going so far as to attack Rotta the Hutt, legendary for reclaiming his father's empire and forcing Talon Karrde into New Republic space.

Queen Jool merely shook her head, retorting, "They claim some space wizard is with them. We must make peace and return business to normal. If the attacks continue apace we will lose half of our assets within three months!"

Before any of them could continue, a soft chuckle echoed from the corridor, and the three breathing members of the Hutt ruling council turned at the intruder who dared to intrude on three of the most powerful crime lords of the galaxy. A sole hooded figure walking slowly towards them caused all three of the Hutts to snicker. Ka'Pa turned to Queen Jool, in all seriousness stating, "Five thousand credits our guards will have him dead in two minutes."

Queen Jool agreed, and the three towering Hutts waited in anticipation for the hooded figure to arrive. "Rotta sends his regards," the voice boomed, and all three Hutts were suddenly lifted up by an invisible force, choking desperately as the sole figure stood still and silently. As they all fell limp to the floor, their credit chips flew into the hands of the hooded figure. He turned and left the silent room without another word, striding past the dozens of guards littering the floor beside him.

Darth Waise opened his comlink, once again greeted by Gradress Nall. "Take all the assets from these." Nall nodded in confirmation and began decrypting the credit chip data Luke had sent him. With Darth Vader's fortune of several quadrillion credits, easily the cost of a Death Star with heaps of change, Wause had only seen fit to expand his fortune to fund the remilitarization effort. With the subjugation of much of the Northern territories and now Hutt Space, Waise would soon have streams of trillions of credits a day in taxes flowing into his coffers. But Darth Waise cared little for credits. For he had the force, and after much practice he could build ships by sheer willpower.

As he boarded his shuttle, the ramp closed with a hiss, and immediately took off. The pilot knew his Emperor did not like waiting, and pressed his shuttle slightly faster than normal, reaching the Chimera in under a minute. As the Emperor strode onto the bridge, every crew member stood rigidly to attention, only returning to work after they were acknowledged by a nod.

"Welcome back, my Emperor. My personal congratulations on the fleet you assembled last week," Grand Admiral Thrawn stated after greeting Emperor Waise with a curt nod.

"Grand Admiral Thrawn. I have heard good news on the front. It is I who should be congratulating you. I have read your report on the enemy massing for a strike from the Veragi sector." Grand Admiral Thrawn nodded, clearly waiting for his Emperor's next words. Darth Waise paused for a moment, as if hesitating about his next words, before continuing, 'I have also read your requests to move ships to evacuate civilians."

Grand Admiral Thrawn bit down on a moment of hesitation, but maintained his cool complexion, responding regally, "Yes my Emperor. I believe that the benefits outweigh the costs. I estimate that we can complete it using around fifty Imperial Class-2 star destroyers or the equivalent in smaller ships."

Darth Waise motioned for the Grand Admiral to take a seat, and the Chiss sat down, biting down on a small twinge of doubt and curiosity as the Emperor and the Grand Admiral observed each other closely. Darth Waise spoke first, asking, "Do you wonder why I ordered you not to fire on the Hutt fleet and instead deploy boarding parties?"

Grand Admiral Thrawn pondered for a moment, trying to piece together the dots his Emperor placed before him. Collecting his response, he stated, "An ordinary officer would presume you wanted to boost our logistical network. However that could have been easily done with your new abilities if not from our rebuilt shipyards. I believe that you want to launch a surprise attack without exposing yourself, perhaps on smugglers or the New Republic?"

Darth Waise considered for a moment, understanding Thrawn's approach to analysing his motives. "Your reasoning is sound, Grand Admiral, but no. I intend to move the refugees with them."

The Grand Admiral's red eyes opened in surprise momentarily, but he collected himself. Understanding the Emperor expected a response, he questioned, "Moving the refugees could have been achieved using other less costly and more efficient means. You want to use these ships to send a message somehow."

At this, the Emperor broke out in a smile, responding, "Very good, Grand Admiral Thrawn. Do you recall when I ordered a Base Delta Zero on the planet Equanus near the beginning of the war?" The Grand Admiral cringed inwardly, remembering his firm objections to the Emperor's decision. While the planet had been largely evacuated Emperor Waise had ordered hundreds of thousands of dissidents to be ferried to the planet, given weapons and left to fend for themselves. That was several months ago, when the Yuuzhan Vong was still steamrolling across the northern provinces of Darth Waise's Empire of the Twin Suns.

"And you will notice that the Yuuzhan Vong have largely refrained from keeping hostages owing to the large costs and the limited leverage over us?"

Thrawn closed his eyes in concentration for a moment, finally connecting the dots. "My Emperor, you did that to remove opposition and demonstrate the the Yuuzhan Vong that casualties would not stop your advance. By using Hutt ships you ensure that the Yuuzhan Vong do not believe you are ferrying refugees, as that would alert them that keeping refugees can be used for leverage. This way you ensure that they remain adamant that you would actively harm civilians to achieve your goals, thus leading them to refrain from targeting civilians if it provides no strategic advantage."

Darth Waise rose, beaming with satisfaction and pride. "You are correct Grand Admiral. I hope that you now understand why the order was given."

The Chiss rose in respect, swiftly responding, "I apologize for failing to see your greater plan, my Emperor. I was wrong to question your judgement." Darth Waise merely dismissed this with a wave of his hand, stating, "Grand Admiral, it is precisely for questioning my order that I have put you in your position. You understand when to fall into line regardless of nonsensical orders and when to question it. Your troops are famous for this, and now you know too. Grand Admiral Thrawn, I now renounce my title of Supreme Commander. You are ready. Congratulations."

The bridge of the Chimera broke out in applause, and Thrawn offered his Emperor a crisp salute. "Thank you my Emperor. I will ensure that the war is won. With your permission I will now take care of the refugees."

The Emperor considered for a moment, before stating, "No Grand Admiral. The Yuuzhan Vong have placed agents within the population. I will oversee the process myself. You will focus on preparations for operation Rukh."

The Grand Admiral politely nodded, within his mind respecting Emperor's careful planning and pragmatic nature slightly more than before. As he watched the Emperor's shuttle lift off from the hangar, he told his aide, "Admiral Pellaeon, prepare the fleet for hyperspace. We have our orders. Meet me in the secondary bridge at your leisure. We have much planning to do."

Admiral Pellaeon walked off briskly, relaying orders to the other admirals of Death Squadron, named after Darth Vader's elite force. Comprised of eleven Imperial-II Star Destroyers, as well as seven of Luke's new Imperial-III class Star Destroyers, it was one of hundred task forces, a testament to the calculated efficiency Emperor Waise's shipyards as well as his personal ability to conjure ships at will. Thrawn stared at the Jade, Luke's personal flagship, as well as the three Super Star Destroyer sized dreadnaughts flanking it. Thrawn had been offered each as they completed construction, but had politely declined, instead opting to remain on his historic flagship. Emperor Waise surprised the Grand Admiral by accepting his decision, as well as his offer to upgrade the Chimera with modern weapons, which the Grand Admiral had accepted. Many wondered why the Grand Admiral had remained on the Chimera, arguably one of the weaker ships. But between only Waise, Thrawn and Pellaeon, the Chimera boasted of an upgraded albeit reduced turbolaser compliment, dedicated anti-starfighter laser canons and vastly improved shielding, putting it on par with Luke's new ships.

The tie-avengers flanking Luke's shuttle became a speck on the Chimera's viewports, but the Jade stretched across most of the glass, stretching an eye-widening thirty kilometers and boasting of enough firepower to take out an entire Yuuzhan Vong battlegroup, a feat it had achieved nine times with minimal damage and casualties. Thrawn was forced to admit the usefulness of an axial superlaser, though in his defence it was through Emperor's expertise in the crystal focusing technology and mechanical genius that allowed for the prior unstable technology to achieve exponentially greater results with reduced resource consumption and space requirements. The Emperor had managed to equip several dreadnaughts with super lasers with an equivalent power output of a Death Star. Thrawn found it almost poetic that Luke had managed the even more impressive feat of equipping his flagship with a Phrik coating. Impressed by both the lengths his Emperor went through to get the resource, as well as the fact it could withstand a direct shot from Luke's own superlaser design with no damage. Emperor's discovery of the small box in the ruins of Alderaan was was akin to Thrawn's own journeys to Wayland and more. He remembered the surprise when he found out that Luke Skywalker and Mara Jade had found his clone body but left him alive. But alas there was only so much one can learn from history. Thrawn now had to focus on the war effort. He had only seen his Emperor kill a traitor once, but force lightning was motivation enough to conform formerly dissident Imperial officers until they slowly began to respect Darth Waise for his leadership and concern for his subordinate's wellbeing. As arrogant as it sounded it reminded Thrawn of himself.

Luke watched outside the viewport of his flagship Jade, seeing three smaller blades flank his ship. Blade, Fist and Hand, all named after Darth Waise's metal hand. It was a reminder of his foolish past and the power of the dark side. A power he now wielded.

"My children, you will go to the front lines to deal with the Yuuzhan Vong. Take a star destroyer each. I expect the taskforce to be...gone within two weeks. I will see you all on Bastion after I have handled the refugees."

The adepts nodded in unison, and within minutes their shuttles flew towards three separate star destroyers, which jumped to hyperspace soon after they docked. Briefly glancing at the bridge of the Chimera, Darth Waise felt Grand Admiral staring attentively and in rigid poise, flanked by an equally poised Admiral Pellaeon. Giving a nod to the captain, Darth Waise stared at the viewport as streaks of light formed, briefly reminiscing at his younger years when adventure lurked in every corner.

He quickly crushed the thought. He had refugees to save. While he would not hesitate to punish those guilty, he could not stand by and watch countless innocents die without cause. He was better than Palpatine. His ability to end the cursed Sith alone for a second time proved as much. Darth Waise was a pragmatist at heart.

He marched off the bridge, flanked by Erv Lekauf, who he had asked to join him after being sure Mara would be unable to track him. Darth Waise was still Lekauf's master at heart.

Darth Waise enjoyed playing with Lekauf's daughter, much to the distaste of his apprentices. Try as they may, Waise knew they craved solely power. They could be disposed of after galaxy was his. But for now they remained.

After several hours of meditation, Darth Waise awoke, walking to the bridge just as the ship exited hyperspace. "Captain, position the fleet defensively, have half the fleet engage cloak and deploy the repair barge shells. I trust the fighter pilots inside have been briefed?"

The captain nodded, and quickly relayed the orders. It amazes him how Darth Waise somehow had come up with such an elaborate plan to hide the presence of the fleet. It equally surprised him how exactly as the Emperor predicted. Perhaps the least surprising was that the visible fleet was comprised of the Hutt fleet that the Emperor had kept for months in advance just for this.

Emperor Waise entered a Tie Advanced X2, modelled after his father's. As he shot out of the hangar, Yuuzhan Vong ships had already begun engaging the ill equipped Hutt fleet, failing to notice his fighter exit a cloaked ship.

Darth Waise pulled the control stick up, sending his fighter up vertically before entering the controls to angle the wings downwards. The column of Yuuzhan Vong ships did not know what hit them as Waise's fighter unleashed a barrage of missiles and laser fire. A squad quickly broke off an attack on the faltering Hutt ships to engage Emperor Waise's fighter, but he simply sent his craft into a dive, veering left, then right, before engaging reverse thrusters, throwing himself behind his five confused pursuers and quickly destroying all in a furious torrent of laser fire.

Then Luke gave the order and dozens of fighters launched out of the repair barges surrounding the Hutt ships. The Yuuzhan Vong were simply overwhelmed by this unexpected show of force. They had yet to see an imperial craft-assuming Darth Waise's was some modified old fighter due to it's unorthodox design-and certainly did not expect various Hutt snub craft and bombers to engage in the middle of the battle. The Yuuzhan Vong scrambled their assets as bombers streaked past fighter screens and right at the main Yuuzhan Vong ships.

Darth Waise, knowing the battle was won, engaged his cloaking field once again and headed to the surface of the planet with the Hutt transports while Hutt snub fighters picked off Yuuzhan Vong survivors.

On the bridge of the Jade, the captain watched amazed at the tactical genius of his Emperor. He was certain the other officers of the cloaked imperial fleet were equally shocked that with such inferior technology and numbers their Emperor had defeated the Yuuzhan Vong. It almost put to shame the Gears of struggle they faced as the Yuuzhan Vong had pushed forward countless times prior. Before, Grand Admiral Thrawn and Darth Vader had failed to hold the Yuuzhan Vong, only able to slow their advance, occasionally encircling a Yuuzhan Vong fleet if it overextended, but always being rebuffed everytime they counterattacked. Yet with the arrival of Emperor Waise and the overhauled ship building infrastructure, the war progressed quickly, pushing years of Yuuzhan Vong gains back in mere weeks. It had only been three weeks since Emperor Waise's return from dealing with the Hutts, and here they were.

On the surface of the planet, Darth Waise walked through the lines of refugees gratefully assembled before their savior. "My people, you are saved. I will now move you to the safety of the New Republic until we have repelled our invaders. When the day comes we will return and rebuild. But for now, my friends, observe the brutality of our enemy."

Darth Waise lifted his hand, more for show than necessity, as around one hundred beings were floated in front of the crowd of several hundred thousand. Darth Waise merely twisted his grip, and the floating individual's true appearances were revealed, much to the horror of the audience.

Darth Waise choked them and pulled the lifeless corpses to the stage, setting them down in an unceremonious pile. "As you see our enemy is deceitful and dangerous. I now offer you three choices: Go on to the ships and leave for New Republic space, board the ship for Imperial space, or join me as we fight back the invaders."

Applause erupted from the crowd, and they began to shuffle in lines, most heading for ships bound for Imperial Space. Many more joined Waise's military right then and there, determined to fight back the invaders. Only a thousand amongst hundreds of thousands chose to join the sole transport bound for New Republic space. And most of them did not have faith in the New Republic. They were there as agents of the Empire, to keep an eye on the New Republic.

The week after, citizens of the Empire rejoiced at the footage of several Yuuzhan Vong worldships being pushed into a sun by a dozen old spacetugs Emperor Waise had salvaged from a Republic era warehouse. After years of fearing a mysterious and brutal force, seeing such displays boosted morale of citizens in the border regions, many of whom had lived under Yuuzhan Vong occupation, and inspired them to follow their savior Darth Waise. Or as many informally called him: Luke Skywalker.

Mara watched the holenet, completely baffled that some extra galactic invaders had been present, and were being pushed back by her Luke, somehow renamed Emperor Waise now. That was wrong on so many levels.

Mara knew that in a native Tatooinian dialect, Waise meant enlightened. In Huttese it meant abandoned or alone. Mara knew that this was how Luke felt. Now if only she could find him.

Unfortunately, Luke had made a very efficient empire, and soldiers patrolled every street. Mara was surprised to learn many were volunteers of the "People's guard", a reservist home guard comprised of volunteers grateful for the safety of their Empire. In a time when the New Republic was facing a looming famine and nearing a civil war from some rogue systems in the colonies, the people of the Empire seemed well fed, happy and more surprisingly, free. Mara admitted that the streets were lively and peaceful, akin to the propaganda pieces of the old Empire. But no, this was real.

Admirations aside, the Empire of the Twin Suns, which Mara easily guessed the meaning behind, had vastly improved the efficiency of its security forces. Even with her power she nearly got caught several times before being able to cross into Imperial space. The border was well maintained and strictly enforced. It did not help that much of the northern provinces, where the fighting and presumably Luke or Darth Waise, was under strict lockdown, only allowing Imperial ships in and refugee ships out. But Mara had a trick up her sleeve.

As the Triumph, cloaked and naked to the invisible eye and most sensors, streaked towards the military border, Mara lurched forward as she was pulled out of hyperspace, and face to face with a very armed and very well prepared star destroyer.

"Unidentified craft, you are in violation of the cordon. Reverse course immediately." Mara's silent prayer that the cloaking system worked blew up in an instant. Reluctantly, she yanked the controls to the right, veering one hundred eighty degrees in defeat as a wing of tie avengers monitored in escort formation.

The streaks of lights on the viewport did not cheer up Mara as she went back into former Hutt space, not wanting to risk another encounter in the Northern provinces. As she arrived on Tatooine, she was surprised to see several blue bodies of water on the planet, and even patches of green on the surface. It was a beautiful sight to behold, and one she was sure Luke had created. She appreciated the scene for a minute, still unable to take in the fact less than a month ago Luke had blown up her ship on a very different Tatooine. Mara descended on the coordinates of Luke's former homestead. She observed the grave outside the entrance, noting grimly it must be Luke's parents'. But something was off.

Danger? Reaching out with the force, she felt no danger, and looked around at the humble residence. Mara ducked under the entrance, greeted by long abandoned and antiquated furniture, but the sand. That was it!

'The sand patterns did not make sense. Someone, several someones in fact, had been exploring Luke's home. Mara decided she might as well try. Perhaps the visitors left a clue for what happened.

Mara found Luke's abandoned bedroom, observing quickly a panel was on the floor. Prying it open, she found an empty holder. A book had been here. Mara held back disappointment, suspecting she would never see the book. As she looked around more, she suddenly had an urge go reach out with the force, feeling the surroundings. Visions of pain and suffering, regret and remorse filled her. Mara watched through Luke's eyes at Owen's abuse and Beru's negligence.

Boiling anger simmered throughout Mara. It amazes her how Luke had forgiven them so easily, speaking highly of them and even making a grave. If Mara could she would have disintegrated them both or worse. Then again Mara had done much worse to Luke.

Knowing she would not find Luke until he chose to return, Mara stayed several days anyways, looking through Luke's former home and scavenging any journals and mementos she could find. It occurred to her that the intruders had taken what must have been most of Luke's journals, as only a few well hidden ones remained.

_
Dear diary,

Yet another day on the farm. Dusting crops and removing sand from the moisture farms. I look to the sky. I feel destiny calling to me. Alas not today, because uncle beat the whole length of my hands with a wrench. Then he told me to get back to work and left for Mos Eisley to the cantina with his friends. Beru left soon after with another man, committing to an affair while her husband was drunk and away. So I'm the only one here. I don't know why he does that. I did nothing wrong today. Sometimes I wish I would just wither away, carried to freedom by the desert sands. It is wrong but I wish for it my diary. Only you understand me. But I must stop writing now. I hear a slender nearby, must be uncle coming back. My hands are too hurt to write more anyways.

L
_

Mara looked at the blood stained pages, reminiscing of a conversation with Luke years ago. She had a memory of her instructor beating her and the Emperor making her kneel till she bled. Luke had comforted her then, even as she ridiculed him, telling him he would never understand. If not his confrontation with Vader, then this proved that he did. Mara had the force to soothe the pain. Luke did not, notwithstanding if the date was anything to go by Luke was only seven when this happened. Mara felt guilt surfacing, an all to familiar feeling as she continued to discover more about Luke. His life seemed to only get more tragic. Now she began to understand why Luke claimed to understand her pain. She thought it was nativity then. In truth it was because Luke did. "Oh farm boy, why didn't you tell me? All those therapy sessions between us should have been the other way around," Mara chided to no one in particular.

After leaving Imperial Space, Mara found herself wandering the galaxy alone just like many years ago. But this was different. She caused this. And force knows she deserved every moment of it. Mara decided to return to Naboo, to find Lekauf and regroup.

A day later, Mara found herself alone in the walls of Theed Palace, wandering aimlessly through the catacombs knowing the Erv Lekauf was no longer here. Mara felt truly lost. Truly alone now. Mara decided to stay in self imposed exile. It had been two months at this point since the Jedi Temple incident, and Mara was no closer to finding Luke. She decided to meditate on it, training herself and preparing for Luke's returned. An amused force ghost called Anakin Skywalker saw it fit to pester her as he was "her future father in law". Mara made it an open secret she would strangle the ghost if he made one more Vader joke.

"Emperor's hand, need a hand, hmm?"

Am amused Obi-Wan and Yoda chuckled softly beside the ghost of Anakin Skywalker. Mara was frustrated enough that Anakin wasn't able to communicate with Luke. He had been shut out ever since Luke killed Rotta on Tatooine apparently. After that Anakin had gotten himself killed and now was here pestering her. It also unnerved Mara that Anakin was quite ecstatic to hear of Rotta's death, albeit slightly concerned that Luke maybe possibly was going to become a more powerful version of Darth Vader.

"Guess that's what getting a girlfriend that wants to kill you ends up doing," Anakin joked.

"Don't you go taking this out on my daughter in law Ani, you're not out of the rope for choking me and cutting of our son's hand yet?" Mara listened to the voice amazed as Anakin faded from view.

Obi-wan merely stated, "His wife is quite fiery, must be why Luke's attracted to you. Probably a Skywalker thing." Mara scowled as he faded from view, leaving her to contemplate how she had failed miserably at finding Luke. She had failed again, left alone in a bed alone.

Mara wandered through vision after vision of Luke, one where they were walking together in a garden. Luke held her arms, their fingers intertwined as she blushed, leaning her head on his shoulder, a valenic flower in her hair and a green dress hugging her body tightly. Luke was in the black jedi robes he loved so much, much to Mara's chagrin. They laughed at some old joke as they neared a blanket by the shore, sitting down as they lay comfortable side by side, each snaking a hand behind the other and locking into a warm embrace underneath the warm sun.

But that faded away, and Mara found herself in front of Palpatine. She recoiled in horror as darkness extended on all sides, trapping her with her former master. "My hand. You have failed me again."

He cackled in glee at Mara's disgust and fear. "Then again that is not fair I suppose. After all, if not for you, Luke Skywalker would have never embraced the dark side."

Mara heard the truth in the late Emperor's words, but refused to believe it. This must be another one of his mind games. The Emperor was dead. If not, he would have found her long ago. A snort interrupted Mara's thought, and the Emperor admonished, "You think so highly of yourself, my hand. Though perhaps rightly so. Skywalker did trade his life for yours."

An ominous laughter permeated the dark scene, and the Emperor simply stated, "My work is complete, you see. In spite of a few interruptions, Skywalker is now in the dark side, as he was destined. If only I could have lived long enough to kill you. Alas, he has become powerful. Still not ruthless enough, but certainly powerful. Mara could only stare as the Emperor's ghost faded into oblivion. Part of her rejoiced: Her Luke had put an end to the hideous abomination that didn't pass for a man. But at what price? The Emperor had long feared Luke's power before his turn. If the Emperor was so confident in death then surely Luke, or Darth Waise as he called himself, must be stronger than ever. As Mara returned to reality, covered in sweat and eyes wide open, she looked around her empty and undisturbed room. A vision. It was only a vision. Mara glanced at the chrono, deciding that it was too late to sleep anyways. Unknown to her, a viper droid stared through the window at the moment, hovering before retracting its microphone and flying away, its mission complete. Finally losing the will to continue, Mara decided to return to New Republic space and rethink her plan. She would stay on Naboo just over six months before being visited by the force.

"Emperor's hand!" The familiar voice boomed and Mara woke up instinctively, by reflex saying, "Master?"

"Hardly. I took care of him years ago," the grinning ghost of Anakin Skywalker said as he stood before an annoyed Mara.

"Any reason why you had to wake me so suddenly, wheezer?" Mara asked in a very bitter and annoyed tone. Anakin merely scoffed, admonishing her, "Gods how did my son choose such a lazy and arrogant wife?"

Mara heard the same soft feminine voice from months ago yell angrily at the now embarassed Anakin, and he continued, "Anyways I'm here to tell you that the force is in motion. You need to go to Coruscant. The darkness conjures there."

As his ghost faded away, Mara immediately set about collecting her possessions. Coruscant. That was easily a week away. She would have to make haste if what Anakin said was true. If it wasn't she would stab herself just to be one with the force and strangle his ghost then. His admonishing tsks rang in her ear as she said quietly, "Get out of my head, Skywalker."

He chuckled as his force presence faded away. Mara smirked at the thought she was talking to the man once known as Darth Vader.

Darth Waise stood before the hundred beings that had chosen to go to the New Republic on their own will. He did not judge them too harshly for it. Most had family and lives to go to, relatives who thought them long dead, friends who believed them gone forever. Waise was happy for them to go to the New Republic. As a matter of fact, he would have been disturbed if that was not the case. Refugees did have their uses: they created sympathy, and could get more information for him. The nine hundred other "refugees were in fact highly trained Imperial agents, preparing to take over the New Republic government when the time came. But for the one hundred not outright loyal to him, he had a simple command, "My people. You have been saved from a grave fate. As per your desire, we are ferrying you to the New Republic. I consider myself a fair man, and ask only that you recount me as such, as well as keep the information of the invaders to yourselves to prevent galaxy wide panic."

At the nods of the one hundred assembled before him, Emperor Waise smiled, stating, "May the force be with all of you," before he strode out of the room, his black cape billowing behind him. The group stood in awe and reverence as their savior left, never demanding anything in compensation. Most of them returned to their quarters, staring out their viewports in anticipation. They had been told what not to say, but aside from that were not forced to do anything. In a few hours they would begin a new life.

President Leia watched the lone transport as it descended on Orinda. She was at the edge of New Republic space, any systems north having long been taken over by a mysterious force. The trickle of refugees, however small, troubled President Leia greatly. It was not the refugees that troubled her. It was the mysterious savior they spoke so highly of, though they never went into detail. That, and that Leia had to recall most of the military assets into the core regions in preparation of an all out civil war. The loss of Mon Cala to the Hutts several years ago had been troubling on its own, but at least they held on to most of the Midrim and within. Now, an all out civil war was about to break out, and hysteria over some mysterious "eight fleet" and rumors of Grand Admiral Thrawn had made many systems hoarded resources when what the Republic needed was unity.

"What do you make of this,' She asked Han. "I don't know, Leia, I don't know. But security in the borders is tight as hell. You should have seen it. Interdictors and checkpoints everywhere. Hell they blocked of the Strabin nebula and maintain starfighter patrols in the damn thing. No one goes in or out unless they want them to hon."

"So you never managed to search the Rim?" She questioned, slightly disappointed. Han shook his head remorsefully. "I only managed to check planets in the border regions but were still technically part of the Republic. Anything behind that border is anyone's guess. Have to tried asking those people?"

Han gestured to the refugees and Leia simply shook her head. "It's no use. Thanks anyways." As she turned to look Han in the eyes, she asked the question lurking in her mind, "Han? Have you ever regretted choosing me? I've put you through all this, and I'm sorry Han."

Han looked momentarily stunned, but quickly composed himself with a goofy grin only bested by Luke's. "Leia, I love you. I'd do this for the rest of my life to see you happy." He held her tightly as the to-be-weds hugged tightly, hoping that one day they could live in peace. "Now, let's go back home. I'm sure you have many meetings to attend, madam president," he teased. Leia simply shook her head as she playfully elbowed the smuggler.