Apologies for the delay in updating.

XXX

Lera felt Dustil's presence the instant the fighter dropped out of hyperspace. Making hasty excuses she ran from the medibay to the hangars, using the Force to guide her to the right one.

She met Dodonna and a security detail approaching from the opposite direction.

'Lera?' Dodonna seemed surprised to see her, and filled that single word with distrust and irritation. Until she heard what the pilot of this small fighter had to say, this incident was classified, and civilians were not welcome.

Lera had not even stopped to consider Fleet procedure on her way here. Only now did she realise how this must look from Dodonna's point of view. It wasn't enough to make her turn around. 'I'm sorry. But Dustil is in there.'

Dodonna shook her head. 'You shouldn't be here. Go back to your quarters. If there is news, you'll find out when it is made public, like everyone else.'

Lera flushed, embarrassed. For a moment she wanted to walk away, to simply accept that she would never be important in the Fleet or the Republic. But she stamped down on that thought sharply. She was never going to be that person again, she promised herself. 'Then perhaps you can use the services of a Jedi,' she said, willing Dodonna to accept. 'Personal feelings aside.'

'Can you put your feelings aside?' But it was plainly a rhetorical question, as Dodonna continued with barely a pause. 'Very well then. But the slightest un-Jedi-like behaviour will see you dismissed.'

Lera followed the plainly curious soldiers inside, wishing she had some Jedi robes to lend her some authority. She knew many of these men, by sight if not name, and they knew her. But they certainly didn't know her as a Jedi.

Technicians were pulling the pilot out of the damaged fighter. It had been more badly hit than the scans suggested. Smoke was curling out of the side panels and rising to obscure the ceiling. Lera ran forward to assist Dustil. The techs lowered him, semi-conscious and unresponsive, to the floor.

Lera reached out through the Force, searching him for broken bones. 'He's inhaled too much smoke,' she said. 'I think I can…' Her voice trailed away. There were no words that could describe healing with the Force to a non-Force user.

Dustil choked and coughed suddenly. He spat out black sludge and for a few breaths his breath came out like cigarra smoke. Then it faded and his eyes opened.

'Report, soldier,' said Dodonna sharply.

'Long story. Fleet… captured.' He broke into another bout of coughing. The techs nearby murmured and Dodonna realised the mistake she had made in her haste.

'No more for now. Get this man checked out in medbay and have him in my office in one hour.'

XXX

The Fleet dropped out of hyperspace on the outskirts of the Benaar system. Standard procedure in these situations was to let the rebels see the Fleet coming, in the hope that their sheer numbers would force surrender. If that failed, half the fleet would enter orbit around Benaar Prime and open negotiations, while the other half hung back, ready for resistance from the other inhabited planets and their moons.

Admiral Onasi's wing would be the one to enter orbit, and Admiral Dolvenna was not pleased about it. He felt that taking the rearguard position was the place of the younger and less experienced Admiral, and that his diplomatic experience was best in the front. But the Sojourn was fitted with more sophisticated scanners that would be useful for determining the situation on the planet, while Dolvenna's flagship Impregnable had newer and upgraded fighters, better for scrambling against the resistance they expected from the military installations scattered throughout the system. Dolvenna had reluctantly agreed, but the rumour mill amongst the Fleet whispered that secretly Dolvenna wanted Onasi to slip up, so that he would be able to step in to save the day.

Dustil sat in his fighter, ready for launch, and watched on his fighter's sensors as his father's wing entered orbit. He tried to keep track in his mind of what would be happening. Now they would have opened a channel and sent out the standard surrender message. Now they would have received a diplomatic answer while the rebels tried to organise themselves. Any second now he would be scrambled to deal with the inevitable resistance.

But his sensors showed something else. The entirety of his father's wing lost orbital stability and began to drift. Two ships collided and one disintegrated as its hull was breached.

Dustil gaped. Cascade failure on a ship was possible, but throughout a small fleet? What could have caused it?

'All ships, move to the planet. Launch fighters.'

The captain's voice came over the comm and Dustil's fighter launched. The slip tube sped by and he wondered what the hell they were supposed to do. He had been assigned no specific target or objective, just shot out of the tube like garbage.

Gravity pressed him back into his seat before Benaar Prime loomed large through his canopy. They were close to the drifting fleet – closer than was wise, Dustil thought. He could see crackling ion energy wreathing the crippled ships below.

Debris from the destroyed ship flew at his fighter. He banked hurriedly to avoid it. Already travelling at some speed, he lost formation with his squad, who continued without him. The frantic seconds it took him to reorient and plot a course to join them again saved his life.

Dolvenna's wing had pulled into orbit only a hundred kilometres above the stunned ships. Dustil could almost hear the Admiral irritably demanding surrender, though of course his fighter's short band comm couldn't pick up the signal.

A ball of ion energy rose from the planet and enveloped the Impregnable. Like static electricity leaping between conductors it jumped from ship to ship in blue arcs that left a glowing afterimage on Dustil's retinas. Several fighters lost hull integrity and exploded in sad flowers of flame.

Dustil stared in horror as the two wings drifted in their steadily decaying orbits. If they weren't salvaged by the enemy in the next hour or so they would hit the atmosphere. Those that didn't burn up on uncontrolled entry would hit the planet's surface and splatter like dropped eggs.

His sensors pinged frantically, warning of a cluster of fighters launched from a nearby moon. Dustil set a course for the edge of the system, hoping his navicomputer could complete the hyperspace calculations before the fighters caught him.

XXX

Dustil finished his story and lowered his head.

All around the table the senior officers were silent. Standing at the back, Lera fought to keep her mask of Jedi composure, though she wanted to scream and shout and cry. Blood and pain, she remembered, the vision the Force had shown her as the Fleet left rising again unbidden. Blood and pain and fear. What had been a confusing jumble of images now seemed clearer.

Nobody wanted to be the first to speak.

'Send a recording of this to Coruscant Central Command. We will have to await their orders,' said Dodonna.

'We aren't doing anything?' asked Captain Jira.

'What can we do?' Dodonna spread her hands, appealing. 'If anyone has ideas, let's hear them.'

There was silence.

'We don't know what happened to the Fleet,' said another officer suddenly. 'We should send a scouting force to see if they can spot the ships or find out the fate of the crews.'

'They will be watching for Republic ships,' said Dodonna. 'I won't risk more lives until I can be sure they will be undetected. Besides which we have just lost two thirds of the ships and crew available here. We are already dangerously vulnerable to attack ourselves. I cannot send away our last protection without opening a hole in the net of Fleet bases. If an enemy slip through to the Core Worlds we are going to have much bigger problems on our hands.'

'Then you need a ship that isn't part of the Fleet,' said Lera. 'The Ebon Hawk is still docked here.'

'There are people who know about the Ebon Hawk and its association with us,' argued Dodonna. 'The rebels will have access to the Republic databanks. It's all in there, if you have high enough clearance. And make no mistake, there were some high-ranking officials on that planet.'

Lera shrugged. 'I have a computer full of alternative transponder codes.'

'That's highly illegal. Rules apply to Jedi, too,' said Jira, wrinkling his nose disapprovingly, plainly unsure whether her story was true. Lera wished again for robes to lend her authority.

'You trust your ship to a droid for just a few months and it's amazing what gets left aboard,' said Lera dismissively. So she had never got rid of them... 'The Hawk can get in and out of there undetected. I guarantee it.'

'Then we'll assemble a team and send them off in the morning,' said Dodonna. 'Thank you, Lera. I assure you that you'll be adequately compensated for the use of your ship.'

XXX

'That's what you think', Lera muttered, throwing her most practical and unremarkable clothes into a bag. 'Compensated! Ha!'

The door chimed and she cursed, sure her plan was ruined before she'd even left.

'Come in.'

Dustil stood in the doorway. He carried a bag very similar to hers. A blaster rifle poked out of the top.

'I bet myself that you wouldn't just let her requisition your ship like that. Looks like I won. You're taking off, aren't you?'

'Damn right,' Lera returned to packing and he followed her into her bedroom, watching her from the doorway.

'I'm coming with you.' He paused. It was hard to find the words for this confession and emotions warred on his face. 'I… I abandoned them, Lera. I just took off. I ran away. I should be shot as a deserter.'

Lera hugged him sympathetically. 'If you hadn't come back, we wouldn't have known what had happened. They would have sent other ships from another base and exactly the same thing would have happened to them. You did the right thing.'

He stared at the floor as she pulled away. 'My dad's going to be disappointed in me.'

Neither of them wanted to add 'if he's still alive', but it hung unspoken between them.

The door chimed again.

Lera frowned. Surely this time Dodonna had somehow worked out their plan… 'Come in.'

'I'm coming too!' Shelya charged in. She also carried a bag.

Lera turned to Dustil. She raised her eyebrow. She would have almost preferred to see Dodonna come to arrest her.

'OK, sorry, I might have let something slip to her,' he said. But he didn't sound very contrite.

'I have just as much right to come as either of you! My dad's out there too!' Shelya's eyes were full of tears but her voice was hard and angry. Lera knew even without the Force that Shelya would not take no for an answer.

But that didn't mean she couldn't try. Spending a week in hyperspace with Shelya made chasing off on an adventure less attractive. 'We don't know what we'll be facing out there. It will be dangerous. We might not come back.'

'I can take care of myself.' She sounded uncertain briefly, but covered it well. 'I can fire a blaster. And I'm coming no matter what you say!' She stamped her foot. 'If you leave me behind I'm going straight to Dodonna!'

'That settles it then,' said Dustil. He sounded pleased.

Lera scowled. Tempting as it was to try to leave Shelya behind, she couldn't risk her telling their secret before they were well clear of the base. She realised she had no choice. 'Let's go, then.'

XXX

Dodonna had posted guards outside the Ebon Hawk's docking bay. Dustil and Shelya shared worried looks, sure that they were caught before they'd even left.

'Sorry, ma'am, but this dock is off limits.' One of the guards stepped forward. He held his rifle ready across his chest, at ease but leaving no doubt that he would use it if forced.

'This dock is not off limits to me,' said Lera calmly. She waved her hand gracefully, as though greeting him. 'My friends and I are allowed to pass.'

'This dock is not off limits to you,' he said. 'You and your friends are allowed to pass.' He resumed his position by the door and Lera tapped her code into the terminal.

Dustil and Shelya followed her into the airlock. 'How did she do that?' whispered Shelya.

'If we get out of this alive, I'll explain,' whispered Dustil back. 'That was the easy bit. Now we've got to get out of the system. Fooling a guard is one thing, but fooling all the sensors on this station is another.'

'But fooling the people operating them is easy,' said Lera. Either their whispers were louder than they thought, or she was enhancing her senses with the Force.

The door hissed open. Red emergency lights lit the interior of the hangar. They cast ominous shadows around the Ebon Hawk, making it look like some devilish bird of prey with shadowed eyes.

The ramp opened as they approached and a droid bleeped from the darkness above.

'Get her ready for take-off, T3,' called Lera, striding up into the shadows. 'And be quick about it. We're going to have company very soon. You two, drop your things in the dormitories and get to the cockpit. Dustil, I'm going to need you to fly this ship out of here.'

XXX

The Ebon Hawk's engines fired up cleanly and her repulsor thrusters guided her out of the bay.

'Now it gets interesting,' said Dustil.

'Should someone man the turrets?' asked Shelya.

'And fire on our own people? No. Let me concentrate. I think I could buy us some time, at least.' Lera sat in the co-pilot's seat and closed her eyes. She reached out to the station, listening for the beginnings of surprise in anybody who might have spotted them and diverting them, making them think about other things.

'You're going to sleep?' asked Shelya incredulously.

'Just let her work,' said Dustil.

'If I'd known you were both this unstable I would not have come with you,' muttered Shelya. But she said it quietly enough that the others could pretend they hadn't heard her.

They were about a minute away from jumping to hyperspace when alarms started going off in Dock Command. No amount of persuasion could make Fleet personnel ignore them.

'They're signalling us,' said Dustil. 'Should I answer?'

Lera opened her eyes, focusing her awareness on her surroundings again. She opened the channel herself. A small blue holo of a Republic officer appeared on the console between them.

'Ebon Hawk, return to base right away. You are not authorised to depart. I repeat, you are not authorised to depart.'

'Fleet Base, this is the Ebon Hawk. I'm sorry you haven't been informed, but we are on a mission of utmost importance.' Lera adopted a calming tone of voice that reminded Dustil absurdly of the voice that told you your call would be answered shortly between the music when you comm'ed somewhere and were put on hold. He grinned, feeling slightly hysterical, excited and scared all at once.

'Flight plans have not been filed. You must ret-'

Dodonna's voice interrupted. Her holo appeared beside the officer. 'Lera, get back here right away. You are putting the security of the Republic at risk.'

'I'm sorry you feel that way, Dodonna. We can discuss the relative merits of a Jedi and a Republic intelligence team when I return with our missing men.' She cut the transmission. 'How long to hyperspace?'

'Twenty seconds. Um, they're launching fighters,' said Dustil. Twelve red blips appeared on their scanners.

'Will they hit us?' asked Shelya nervously.

Dustil grinned. 'Not while I'm flying this bucket.' The Hawk banked sharply as laser fire shot past them.

'They're firing on us!' Shelya screamed.

'Ten seconds,' called Dustil.

The fighters shot past and flipped to face the Hawk, matching its speed. The three humans in the cockpit found themselves staring down twenty four blaster cannon muzzles.

'Can you get through that gap?' asked Lera.

'What gap?' shouted Shelya.

'Sure can,' said Dustil. He spun the ship ninety degrees so that it was flying on one wing and they shot between the fighters. Sensors screamed proximity warnings, shutting off as the stars turned to lines and the Ebon Hawk was away.

'I think we might have lost an antenna or two, but we're in one piece,' said Dustil. He sounded pleased with himself, and Lera grinned widely.

'It'll take us seven days to get there,' he continued.

'Did it take you seven days to get back?' asked Shelya.

'Seven days sat in a tiny cockpit, slowly filling with smoke. This ship feels like a cruise liner by comparison.'

'It's still small for three people and a droid,' complained Shelya. 'Do I have to share a dormitory?'

'Unless you want to sleep in the medical bay, yes.' Lera laughed suddenly. She felt more alive than she had in months, bursting with excitement and glee. Until she remembered Carth, captured or dead at their destination. That hit her like a kick in the stomach and guilt rushed in.

'There's one more crew member,' she said stiffly. 'I'll be back soon.'

Shelya and Dustil remained in the cockpit. The young woman stood awkwardly in the doorway and wondered what to say.

'Are they… are they alive, do you think?' Her voice sounded small and echoed off the metal walls.

Dustil shook his head sadly. He kept his face turned away from her. She thought he was being rude, until he spoke and she heard the pent-up emotion in his voice. 'I don't know. They were, but I didn't see what happened to their ships. The rebels would be mad to let all those ships drop on them, but I don't know what they would do with the crew when they boarded. My dad wouldn't surrender without a fight.'

XXX

Lera opened the small cargo hold. The bronze shell of HK-47 stood there, deactivated. She flicked the switches on the back of his neck, watching as his yellow eyes glowed brighter and brighter.

His vocabulator crackled into life. 'Delighted Exclamation: Master! It warms my power cells to see you again.'

Lera felt happiness bubble inside her again. HK had been present for most of her adventures. Awakening him felt like one more step back to those times. 'The feeling's mutual, HK.'

'Excited Supposition: Reactivating me can only mean that you have beings you wish me to terminate. Hesitant Excitement: Am I correct?' He sounded like an excited child, despite his bloodthirsty words.

'Possibly. We'll see when we get there.'

'Query: Who are these beings you wish destroyed?'

'Again, I don't know exactly. I only know they've captured or killed Carth.'

'Statement: I do not know whether to congratulate them or pity them, Master.'

'HK…' Lera warned.

'Apologetic Statement: Master, I merely meant that I will pity them when we unleash our full fury upon them. I did not mean to imply that the Republic meatbag was in any way capable of causing extreme irritation likely to result in his death.'

'Maybe I should turn you off until we arrive…' Lera reached for the switches again.

'Reluctant Submission: My vocabulator was malfunctioning, Master. I intended to say that I look forward to blasting any opposition, should you order it.'

'That's better.'

'Suggestion: The Jedi Exile used to threaten me with violence when I implied things about her crew. Perhaps you could do the same?'

'Keep it up and you might get your wish.'

'Statement: The Republic meatbag was a pathetic… Master, I take it from your expression you wish me to stop?'