this chapter is a work in progress, and will be regularly updated
As Luke settled back into his seat in the public gallery, he watched as the turbolift providing access to the dock rose. Ben, with his hands somehow still free, was standing with one arm around a fully restrained Vestara's shoulders.
After a ten minute wait, the usher called "All rise" and the judge entered the room looking extremely angry, and feeling even more so through the force. He did not waste time.
Getting straight to the point, he grated ". Ben Skywalker, you are discharged from this court, as the case against you has collapsed. Vestara Khai, I am dropping the charges against you concerning the driving offences. However, you are still charged with four counts of attempted murder, six counts of assault and with a breach of the peace."
"Furthermore the eight members of this jury named by Grandmaster Skywalker have been discharged from the jury, and will be tried for contempt of court, attempting to pervert the course of justice and will be questioned over corruption offences pertaining to a currently unidentified government aide,. The remaining four jurors will be retained, and eight new jurors will be selected. This court is adjourned until the jury is complete."
The usher called again, "All rise." And the judge departed the room.
After the press had swarmed out of the courtroom, Luke went to collect Ben from the waiting room.
As Luke walked in, ben rose and said "Thanks for getting me off, dad. Is there any chance of them letting Ves go?"
"No, Ben, there isn't," Luke replied, "You were only charged with driving offences committed by someone else. She's charged with the attempted murder of four police officers, among other offences."
"I will be there though. Whatever happens."
"I would hope so, ben. Now, let's get home, that trial will begin in the morning most likely."
When they got back, a judicial speeder was parked in the apartment's landing bay. Both of them could feel Vestara inside, and Ben could barely contain himself. As they got landed, the driver's door opened, and, judge Eyan, got out, dressed in a traffic officer's uniform.
"Master Skywalker," he began, "having reviewed the evidence and after arguing with the attorney general, I have managed to successfully drop the charges against Vestara. I used the simple logic that if she had not been charged with traffic offences she had not committed, she would not have committed the additional crimes she was charged with. He agreed, surprisingly."
"Thank you, judge," Luke replied "You took it upon yourself to return her. Why"
"Because, I am ashamed to admit, I would not have trusted an officer from this area to do so, seeing as it was their precinct house she smashed up a little."
After declining a cup of caf or a meal, the judge wedged himself into the pursuit speeder's cab and set off.
As he went back into the kitchen, Luke caught sight of the red squadron X-wing he had stapled to the kitchen calendar as a reminder about the annual Rogue reunion. The event was not welcomed by the CSF, after a 'dispute' between two inebriated pilots and an even more inebriated Aqualish had demolished a cantina's bar area, three speeders, and a squad of CSF officers sent to quell the disturbance.
He was always summoned to attend by Wedge, who saw it as a sacrilege if the man who blew the first Death Star did not attend the event.
For Luke, it was merely a distraction, for the simple reason that, ultimately, his old comrades were still small children at heart, even if they did understand the mechanics of the new cannon power booster Blastech had just designed. As a result, he generally wandered off before the formal dinner.
This time, wedge had commed the day before, and Luke was going to make everyone very happy. As he had a days' notice, and old rogues had higher clearances than most veterans, he had sourced a Stealth-X from the temple hangers.
He also had a dummy folded into the cargo compartment, along with an old flight suit from thirty years before. His Death Star suit had been lost to time during a dozen actions that had eventually left it charred, torn, and partially melted, and had been replaced with this suit, which had spent most of it's time in a wardrobe on Coruscant, before being hurled in a bag as Coruscant was evacuated. It had then spent a decade in the hold of the Jade Shadow, before being found while he was on his quest to destroy Abeloth. his first helmet, which had survived, was in the cargo compartment as well.
As the starfighter's engine note faded, Ben pulled open his bedside table, and withdrew a pair of stun-cuffs he had flinched from the Jade Shadow's security locker when they disembarked. Then he reached over to a groggy Vestara and nudged her awake, before binding her wrists and pulling her on top of him.