The flight back to the Rebel fleet wasn't eventful. Luke and the Flying Banthas secured Mara in the cargo hold of the Mynock, a shuttle that had been turned into an electronic warfare and support ship. Artoo was able to program a new vector back to the Rebel fleet, and once they were free of the planet's gravwell, they made the jump back.
It took eighteen hours of travel before they reached the fleet. Luke was able to pull out the small medkit in the fighter, checking his vitals. He had Artoo keep him awake, not wanting to chance falling asleep before he got back to the Firestorm.
When they exited hyperspace, the Rebel fleet looked even more numerous than before. The Fleet now had the Firestorm, the three Corellian corvettes, a Dreadnaught that was Garm Bel Iblis's flagship, two Nebulon frigates, and one Alderaanian Thranta-class war ship. There were also a number of freighters and courier ships that flittered around the fleet.
"Artoo," Luke said as he checked the scopes. "Give me the name of the Thranta."
Artoo chimed merrily, replying with text CRUISER NAME VALIANT.
Luke went through his head. The Alderaanian defense forces didn't have a cruiser of that name. "Ackbar." He whispered. Even if the deal had never been solidified, he had given them the ships they wanted. Brilliant.
He approached the fleet, and went through the usual channels of docking the ship. The Banthas also got clearance to land on the Firestorm. "Be advised, Firestorm," Luke added. "We have a prisoner who needs to be secured in the brig. Highly dangerous."
"Copy, Your Highness." The comms officer said. Luke knew what his priorities were.
The first of those, unfortunately, was medbay. 2-1B, a medical droid with an almost excessively patient personality matrix, diagnosed Luke with a few cracked ribs and some light bruising. Luke took the bacta plunge, and woke up about ten hours later. By then, the Banthas had moved to depart.
Commodore Serrin came to visit him in medbay as he was changing back into duty clothes, a set of tan fatigues. The Commodore now had a rank badge on her jumpsui. "Prince Organa, I suppose we've both been busy."
"How do the X-Wings look?" Luke asked.
"Antilles is more than happy with them. The design team has given us the schematics that will allow us to manufacture the X-Wing. While we won't be able to make them by the dozen, we now do have a facility we can manufacture them at."
That got Luke's attention. "Really?"
"It seems that in the chaos of the Empire's rise, a number of assets were seized by private hands as the Confederacy was in its death throes. One of them was a moon base that we're calling the Nest. The moon itself isn't particularly large, but it'll serve as a useful base until we can find something else."
"Does the Empire know it exists?"
She shook her head. "I don't think they do. Considering that the Nest also hosted a Providence-class battleship, if the Empire had known it existed, it would have been vaporized long ago."
Luke's eyes widened. One of the old Seppie cruisers was an even better find. "No battle droids yet?"
"They were long-deactivated. We did find a number of repair units on board, though. It'll help us cut down on crew." She paused. "Now that you're here, we're enroute to the Nest. From there, Mon Mothma and Iblis want to have a conference to lay down some form of government." At that, she sniffed rudely. "As if we can't just go on being pirates."
"It's rough, I know, Commodore," Luke deadpanned. "As for the prisoner…"
"Secure in the brig. Who is she? She was furious when the sedatives wore off."
"Mara Jade. She's an agent of the Emperor." Luke sighed. "She's awake, then." He finished buttoning his jacket, then asked. "Has Ahsoka returned yet?"
"No, she's still out on her mission. We've been receiving transmissions, but they've been shaky at best."
Luke sighed. He wished that Ahsoka was here, and that he could talk to her before confronting Mara. But he needed to know. He knew he couldn't trust Mara, but she knew it. He could feel it.
"Very well. I'm going to talk with Miss Jade. Keep me posted."
"Aye, Your Highness." She said, giving him a curt nod.
The brig was a small compartment, with only room for four cells. Mara's was the only one with occupants, with ray shielding between her and the outside world. A trooper stood with a blaster rifle, snapping to attention as he came inside.
"Trooper, wait outside." Luke said, using the most imperious tone he could muster.
The soldier nodded, and said, "I'll be right outside, Your Highness." She said, as she sealed the access hatch behind her.
Luke walked to the cell, and he sat down on the bench that sat between the cells.
Mara was sitting on the cot in the cell, holding a ration bar in one hand. She had a look of disinterest on her face, as if not noticing or not caring that Luke was there.
Luke let silence hang in the air for a moment before he produced her lightsaber. It had a solid casing, with a shroud over the blade emitter. The bottom of the saber was ridged, so that its wielder could have a solid grip. There was something else about it. Even for how well-kept the saber was, it seemed old. Older than Mara, even. "This isn't your lightsaber." He surmised.
That seemed to get the attention of Mara. "What makes you say that, Your Highness?"
"This blade is older than you are." He smiled softly. "It doesn't look like an assassin's blade, either."
"No," Mara smiled thinly. "It's a soldier's weapon. A relic of the Clone Wars." She set her ration bar down, and asked him. "Would you like to know who the blade belonged to?"
Luke felt a little tremor in the Force, and suddenly he had an idea who it might have belonged to. "Anakin Skywalker."
"Very good." She said, with a wide smile on her face. "The Emperor slew Anakin Skywalker, took the lightsaber from him, and has kept it ever since."
"Why give it to you?"
"The Emperor saw my potential in the Force. I am his Hand, Prince Charming. His personal assassin. He raised me to be his weapon. So he gave me the lightsaber of the finest warrior the Clone Wars saw."
Luke should have walked out of the brig, left her to her own devices. "Who was my mother?" He had to ask.
"Padme Amidala." She tilted her head to one side, gauging Luke's reaction. He felt his own emotions begin to unravel, a lifetime of wonder, curiosity. The Organas had given him a family that had never made him want to know anything about his birth parents. Whoever they had been, Luke hadn't sought them out. Bail and Breha Organa, along with his sister, were all he needed.
Luke narrowed his eyes. "She was a Senator, one of Bail Organa's contemporaries."
"Indeed. She was one of the founders of this little rebellion you've started. When the New Order rose, she was a Senator from Naboo. The Emperor wanted her arrested, for he knew she carried the child of Anakin Skywalker in her. She went into hiding, while it seems you were secreted away to Alderaan. She was found by the Emperor's agents, and killed for her treasonous activities."
Luke felt a warm crackle or rage. He wanted to lash out at her, to hit something for what she was saying. She was talking about the murder of his mother so casually. "When did she die?"
"Almost a dozen years ago. I was not there, instead being raised by the Emperor." She smiled. "Luke, the Emperor is wise. He can see help you. Understand the true nature of the Force. You and I, we are linked. Don't you know that?"
That sent a spike of ice through him, and all rage billowed away quickly. "What did you say?"
"We dreamed. We both shared that dream, and we both know it." She stood up, placed her hand near the ray shielding keeping her in the cell. "I would have liked to have met you through entirely different circumstances, Luke. Maybe at a ball like the one we dreamed of."
Luke stood up, walking so close that if the shielding hadn't been there, they would have been able to close the distance in a step. "What do you want from me?" He asked, his voice strained to keep from trembling.
"Luke, take me to Coruscant. Let the Emperor show you power and how to use it. He has seen you in the Force, and he wants to help you."
"To what?" He whispered. "Murder and subjugate?"
She shook her head. "Luke, before the Empire, we had a government so fractious and weak that it couldn't even keep corporations in line. Now, we have a safe and secure Empire. Those wars the Emperor wages, it's to end slavery, to drive the Hutts out of power, to see to it that no one ever has to live under the whim of a whip."
That was all Luke needed to hear. "Tell that to my father Bail in prison, and my mother who's living under martial law." He hissed, and walked over to the brig. He hit the wall comm so the trooper on the other side could hear. "We're done here."