(AN: I think I can wrap this up in ten chapters!)
(Loose ends there may be, but the unraveling of those ends, the purpose of future ffs will be. [Yes, I just used Yoda-speak]. Now enjoy!)
Bail Organa was back at Alderaan's capital, spending some time with his wife Breha and the young Winter. She seemed quite fond of the young Leia, and Organa suspected that they would become good friends as they grew up. But as he looked on, he also remembered his promise to Padme.
The records had to be erased. Leia had to be re-introduced as Organa's adopted daughter.
Just then, the door chimed.
"Enter."
A security personnel entered, bowing before them.
"Your Highness," he began, speaking to Bail. "An unidentified star-ship has dropped cloak and entered the planet."
"Are they hostile?"
"They've maintained radio silence since they appeared," the officer continued. "We're tracking them now, sir. Here is where they're moving." He handed Organa a small holo-device that projected an image of a heavily modified personnel transport coming to rest at a lone tower out in the wilds.
His face blanched.
"Tell Antilles to get the Tantive ready for launch immediately."
"Yes, Your Highness!" The officer rose and departed quickly to carry out his orders.
"What's wrong, my love?"
He sighed. "They know where she's at."
"Who?"
"It doesn't matter who, just as long as they know. If the Rebels know, then it won't be long before the Empire knows. And if the Empire finds out that she is still alive, and that her children may have survived..." A cold sweat broke out over Bail's forehead.
"You're going away again?" she asked humbly.
"I should," he said. "I'm one of the only ones who know about it. We have to get her back." For some reason he could not foresee, he spoke again. "They'll most likely be going toward the Messiana system. That's where I'll start." He leaned in and kissed his beloved wife and queen, then departed.
Back on Coruscant, a shady figure stood before the throne of the Emperor in the shadowy, cathedral-esque Throne Room in the Imperial Palace. Mets Jantel, one of the lesser members of the Inner Circle, was sleeping there upon the throne. The figure looked upon him with contempt: this was not the Emperor, merely a puppet.
Did the Emperor actually enjoy people thinking he was a weak old man being controlled by the Inner Circle, or the moffs?
"Alias Agent One, I presume." The voice that spoke was sharp, serrated and gravely, but it was not the wheeze of Mets Jantel. The figure turned to his left. There, from out of the shadows, it seemed, appeared a figure clothed in black and gripping a cane in its gnarled, pale tree-trunk of a hand. Flanking this figure were the Inner Circle members the figure recognized as Sate Pestage, Sim Aloo, Janus Greejatus and Ars Dangor.
"My lord," Agent One bowed before the figure of the Emperor: the real Emperor Palpatine.
"What do you wish to report?" the Emperor queried. One noted that he did not say 'rise': it was the proper place for non-humans to remain, groveling at the foot of their divine emperor. That was the rhetoric of the Empire.
"The location is no longer secret," Agent One said.
"I have foreseen this," the Emperor nigh purred. "It means nothing to us. I will simply have the construction relocated to a safer system."
Palpatine and his entourage began to walk away.
"A rebel operative," Agent One continued. "Was captured here at the Palace. He gave information regarding his contact: a Naber-1138."
The Emperor halted, a slight growl escaping from the folds of his hood.
"I will inform Lord Vader to expect an attack." the Emperor said at last. "You may go now...Hura Nagar."
Agent One was suddenly struck with awe. How did the Emperor know his true name? Not even Tarkin knew that, and he was the one who had ordered his creation.
But he turned and left the Palace. It didn't matter that the Emperor knew who he was, or what he could be that he knew it: the Jedi had died three years ago, that he knew of a certain. The new order would be overseen by the Empire, who, though it killed non-humans in the public spot-light, used them in the shadows to do their bidding.
Hura was no fool. He had deciphered the code faster than any human could have, for human he was not. Now there only remained one last trip.
To Messiana.
At the rendezvous point, the small rag-tag of Rebel soldiers met in an abandoned factory. It had been used to create vehicles for the Commerce Guild during the Clone Wars, and had fallen into decay with Shu Mai's death and the collapse of the Confederacy of Independent Star-Systems.
Now it was being used by the Rebellion as they planned their next move.
Padme sat in the circle of the young soldiers and mercenaries in their group. Even when she re-took Theed from the Trade Federation, she never expected to be the lead of a commando assault like this one. She was wearing a sand-colored uniform, excellent for the barren, rocky terrain of Messiana. A single hand-blaster was in her hand.
"Listen up," she said to those about her. "What we're about to under-take is a suicide mission. But it's importance to the cause of the Rebellion is tantamount. If you wish to leave, you may do so."
"We made our decision when we joined up with you." one of the soldiers stated.
"Then let's execute our mission." she continued. "We'll send the ship in under cloak, while our slicers will attempt to hack into their radio traffic. We need to know where our target is before we make a move. Once we're ready, the team will secure the perimeter while I go in for the target."
They nodded. It seemed impossible, this plan of theirs. Even if the Imperial HoloNet was exaggerating about what the Dark Lord of the Sith was capable of doing, they were now going to prove if it was true...
If he could really destroy an entire army single-handedly.
The Viper Fang, a specially modified Imperial fighter - based on the new TIE fighter design that was making the old V-wings obsolete (mostly because they were less expensive and hundreds of them could be mass-produced, as opposed to the faster, more costly V-wing) - exploded out of hyperspace, appearing in orbit around the planet Messiana.
Hura Nagar watched the shuttles and tugs taking huge loads of metal from the many sky-hooks that were attached to the planet's surface. They were for the new project, but that did not concern him. Inter-system terrorism was what moffs and people like Ars Dangor did. The invisibles, like Hura Nagar and Tarkin's apprentice, they had other concerns. Ones that saw quiet removal from the shadows.
The com-channel light flashed on.
"Viper Fang," the voice of Captain Motti said on the other end. "This is the Destroyer. Transmit your security access codes at once."
Wordlessly, Hura typed the code in and sent it out at once.
"Viper Fang, be advised:" Motti's voice returned. "Lord Vader is not on the Destroyer, He is currently planet-side, overseeing the mining facilities."
Hura nodded, turning his ship down toward the rust-colored planet below.
The Messiana system was large, with the main planet separated from its nominative star by a ring of asteroids. These caused periodical eclipses which darkened the planet below and helped counter the excruciating heat of the day.
Currently, another thing was eclipsing the star of the Messiana system.
The Tantive IV appeared in space just outside the asteroids, on the far-side of the planet. On the bridge, a nervous Bail Organa sat, waiting for the reading from Captain Antilles' scans of the planet. Their hurry had been so great that half of the crew, including Captain Colton, were not on board.
"Here we are, Your Highness," Antilles said. "I'm picking up several Venator-class battleships in orbit on the other side of the planet and..." He paused. "...The Destroyer."
Bail's throat went dry. So Dorme's contacts had been correct: Darth Vader was here.
"There's something else, sir," Antilles continued. "Several sky-hooks on the planet, they're delivering raw materials - metal, durasteel, that sort of thing - up to an orbital platform of some kind."
"'Orbital platform?" Bail repeated.
"It's massive, sir." Raymus commented. "About three-fourths the the size of the planet, once finished."
"It's not finished?"
"A gutted shell floating dead in space, sir."
Bail Organa gasped slightly. What did the Empire need with an orbital platform of that magnitude?
Just then, there was a beeping on the console.
"Report!"
"Another ship coming in, Your Highness" Antilles said. "From our side." He looked at the read-outs. "It's the same ship that left Alderaan several hours ago."
"Try to hail them."
Antilles opened the channel and began.
"Unidentified freighter, this is Captain Raymus Antilles of the Tantive IV consular cruiser. Announce your purpose and crew compliment."
No response.
Organa nodded.
"Unidentified freighter, this is the Tantive IV. Respond at once."
The sound of a crackling, garbled transmission sounded from the other end.
"Senator Organa,"
He gasped. So it was true.
"I'm telling you this," Padme began. "Because I don't know if I'll survive this encounter. I'm going after Darth Vader."
Bail leapt up and pressed the intercom button.
"Listen to me," he called back. "You turn your ship around and go straight back to Alderaan immediately!"
"I'm not your citizen, Senator." she returned. Silence followed, interrupted only by the eerie crackle of a weak signal.
"Take care of Leia for me, Bail."
The transmission suddenly ended.
(AN: Yes, Sman-Esay, something is about to happen)