Reader beware: plot twists ahead!

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Chapter Eleven: The Rewards of Loyalty

Aliana paced the small space of the command room, anxious to do something besides sit and wait. Shadow was busy coordinating with the Eagle's Talon and DIE to come up with a rescue plan, the republic delegation had been escorted to a safe zone, and she was expected to sit and wait like a docile child. I am not an invalid, so why are they coddling me? At the least I should be in on the plans, and know what's happening on my ownplanet! She was still fuming when the intercom buzzed.

"Yes?"

"My Lady, there's a transmission coming through for you, someone named Coriana." She smiled grimly: Coriana had been the name she'd told Boba Fett to use when he needed to contact her on Deneva. Ironic, really: he uses my cover for his own, at my wish.

"Patch it through down here, and have DIE record it." Turning on the screen, she waited, expecting to see the armored bounty hunter.

"Aliana?" A strong-looking face filled the screen, brown hair growing in all directions. The man was unkempt and had a weathered look about him, but she knew his face too well.

"Pareus? Is it really you, or am I dreaming?"

"Dream though you may, I promise it's real this time." Her brother chuckled. "I daresay it's no worse than you dreaming about finding your own Prince Charming."

Aliana smiled, a few tears trying to escape her smiling eyes. "I thought you were dead. Where were you all these years?"

Pareus snickered. "Hiding in plain sight on Coruscant, amongst the lower classes. Even the Imperials wouldn't go there, not unless they had to. Unfortunately, that made it even harder to find passage home once I learned of the Emperor's death." His eyes narrowed. "Not until this bounty hunter found me, saying you'd sent him. Why, Aliana?"

"Because our word is being torn apart, and you're Deneva's last hope. I needed to find you, and this was my only choice." She sighed. "Look at me, Pareus, before you ask me to justify myself."

Her brother was silent. When he spoke again, his voice was laced with regret.

"Forgive me, Aliana. I didn't realize…"

"There's nothing to forgive. You're alive, and that's all that matters." She brushed a tear away from her face. "I need to go now, Pareus. Take care of yourself, you hear?"

"I'm older than you are, Ali." Her brother smiled. "See you soon."

As she turned off the com unit, Aliana turned to see Shadow standing in the doorway. She didn't need to know her friend well to know he was pleased.

"You were right, Aliana, and the rest of the world will know it now."

"Save that thought for another time, old friend." A look of concentration crossed her features. "Do you have what I need?"

"Yes, I have the information, and the plans." Her old friend scowled. "You know how I feel about you leading this op."

"Shadow, trust me on this: I have to be there. If I don't, things will only be that much worse. Besides, you know I'm trained, so why are you worried?" Blue eyes gazed at him, sharp and unblinking. "Or is there some other reason, something you don't want to admit to?"

Caught in what was clearly a difficult situation, Shadow tried to sputter out an excuse, but Aliana continued staring at him. Finally he gave up, merely nodding his head to her silent query.

"I wasn't going to tell you, my lady," he finally muttered, sounding a lot like a child in trouble.

"Why?" Aliana scowled. "You went to all the trouble to look older than I was, even though you knew I could find out the truth easily: dying your hair, faking the wrinkles, acting older than you really were. Did you really think you could fool me? Why, when you're only five years older than me in the first place?"

"Because it wasn't possible. You're a princess, and I'm just an intelligence operative." Shadow fought to control his emotions. "It was never possible, but I couldn't help myself anyway. I care about you, more than I should, but I have to keep away."

"Shadow, you are a stubborn ass, and most times I'd probably take you to task for it. Right now, though, I'm in a bit of a hurry." She tried to move past him, but Shadow blocked her path.

"I'm not going to let you go!" he whispered angrily, seeming to have come to a decision. "I lost you once, I'm not going to risk losing you again!" Pulling her to him, he kissed her soundly, the fire surprising her. He'd left her no choice; hating herself for what she had to do, Aliana brought her hand down against his neck, knocking him unconscious.

"Forgive me, but I had no choice," she whispered, trying to lower him gently to the ground. "If I live through this, I'll explain everything."

"Get that skiff in here, on the double!" There was chaos everywhere, but Aliana kept her head.

"There's too much blaster fire, will someone shut down those ground batteries!" an answering voice shouted in reply.

"I'm on it," Aliana commed in, maneuvering her speeder closer to the batteries. Spinning to avoid oncoming fire, she strafed the ground and nailed as many targets as she could. "Move that skiff in now, I'll cover you."

She circled the skiff providing cover as needed, while the hostages were loaded into the vehicle. "Hostages secure, we're out of here."

"Good. I've got your back," Aliana replied, hoping nothing would go wrong: everything had gone smoothly up to now. The skiff accelerated, with the Princess following behind. The blaster shots seemed to be focusing on her speeder, almost as if they knew she was there. What's going on?

"C&C, this is Eagle One, I'm getting pounded here! Somebody at least tell me the hostages are ok."

"They're fine, Princess, but you won't be." What?

A speeder was right behind her, guns blazing. She had no time to evade, and almost no time to react. Her speeder buckled from the impact as the blasts hit, and the ground was coming up fast. There was nothing she could do but jump…

"Shot down? How could you let this happen?" Shadow bellowed, trying to ignore the dull ache in his head: Aliana had done her work well.

"We didn't. She went in there herself, and she knew the risks. The hostages got out, and we lost a lot of people along with her. They're still looking for survivors."

"Odarno!" Noran burst in, followed by the delegation from Coruscant; after a quick scan of the room, he turned to his old friend with a worried look. "What happened? Where's Aliana?"