Part XVI
As he exited the turbolift and stepped into the hallway off of which Ghent had set up in a private room with Losek's computer files, Jacen's heart sank.
The corridor was darkened, lit only by emergency lighting. Since the turbolift had functioned fine, Jacen was forced to assume that someone with easy access had cut the power to the floor specifically- possibly and probably the same person who had killed Losek in his heavily guarded cell. This way, there were no alarms, and the average person probably assumed a routine maintenance malfunction was to blame.
Unlit lightsaber in hand, he crept down the hallway towards the door where he had left Ghent earlier that same day. Reaching out in the Force, he sensed no presences behind the closed door, and palmed the release pad. The door slid open and Jacen ducked inside, cringing against acrid fumes of burning circuits. He stared stonily- the computer and the access console through which Ghent had attempted to access the files were both smoking.
Ghent was nowhere to be seen, nor Shevu. He wondered if Shevu had been playing him after all, perhaps attempting to lure him into a trap…
Sensing nothing out of the ordinary, Jacen cautiously returned to the hallway. There were a half-dozen doors on each side of the corridor, some of them perhaps opening into new hallways and stairwells, accessing other parts of the CSF headquarters. It would be too much to investigate on his own, but he daren't trust anyone else within Coruscanti security. He could call for Jedi backup, but most of them were gone, attached to the Second and Fourth Fleets, save the eight who were returning to keep an eye on Omas per Jacen's request.
A movement caught his attention, and the sound of a door sliding open slightly. He whirled, igniting his lightsaber, but no attack came. After a few seconds, a low voice hissed, "Solo! Down here."
He cautiously approached and slipped through the indicated door, coming face to face with a young CSF guard whose name tape read 'Lt. Lon Shevu' and a nervous-looking Zakarisz Ghent. "What happened?"
Shevu was grim. "It seemed safest to abandon the computer. Good thing, too- one of our own people showed up just after we slipped away and blew the thing. I think he thought we'd retreat to another level, rather than stick around here, we've been waiting for you now instead. What do you want to do?"
Jacen grimaced. This wasn't really his area. "Have we lost everything from Losek's computer then?" he asked while trying to think about how to proceed.
"Oh, no," Ghent assured him, much to Jacen's surprise. He held out a datacard. "I copied everything onto here, right before the power blew too."
"You sliced it already?" Jacen asked, shocked at the man's efficiency.
Ghent shrugged. "It was a similar setup to the one I did for your sister." Jacen refrained from pointing out that this was for Jaina as much as the other one; Ghent had always been a little… out of the loop of the greater galactic goings-on.
Jacen looked unsurely between the two men. "We let it go," he finally decided. "We have what we want, and the other man thinks he succeeded. Therefore, he believes his job is done and will report to his superiors, which will give us the element of surprise when we sift through the data on that card."
"Mr. Ghent won't be safe," Shevu warned. "They'll still want to take him out, just in case."
"I can hide him," Jacen assured the other man, reluctant to say where in case they were being listened in on. He would take Ghent to the Jedi temple, sequester him in a room deep inside the stone walls, set him a personal guard, and get him anything he needed in order to pry as much data from Losek's computer files as possible.
Finally- progress.
Scene. Scene. Scene. Scene. Scene. Scene. Scene. Scene. Scene. Scene. Scene. Scene. Scene. Scene.
Jaina, Han, and Leia joined Jag as he made his way to the conference room for a briefing with the chief Bastion defense coordinators, his father, retired general Soontir Fel, and Admiral Pellaeon, the latter two of whom had shuttled down only an hour prior from their respective vessels in orbit.
Jag and Soontir nodded to each other in greeting, too professional to publically display any joy they felt over seeing one another for the first time in more than a year. Hands were shaken all around, introductions were made, but Jaina was impatient to get to the part about what had transpired since the fleet had fled several hours earlier.
"A pleasure to see you again so soon, Admiral," Jag shook Pellaeon's hand, "though I wish the circumstances might have been different in either case."
"As do I," the aged man sat and the others followed, respectful of his superior rank. "I can only hope that we are a step closer to resolving all of the matters at hand," his gaze flickered over Jaina before returning to Jag, and she nodded gratefully. "As it stands, we have taken close to one hundred prisoners from damaged and stranded vessels; most have surrendered without confrontation."
One of the majors from Bastion spoke up. "I don't suppose we have any of our traitorous Moffs in that number?" he asked skeptically.
"No," Pellaeon grimaced wryly. "No, they are far too wily for that. Nevertheless, there is likely some pertinent information to be obtained, if not from the crews themselves, who were undoubtedly following vague orders, than from the ships' computers."
"Yeah, well," Jag looked bitter, "we tried that once, Admiral and lost two men in the explosion for our efforts. Your men will certainly need explosive experts on hand."
"I don't know about that," Jaina spoke softly. All eyes swung to her and she went slightly pink. "What I mean to say is… the admiral is right, surely these ships were just following orders, these aren't like the people who were willing to die to protect their secrets; they wouldn't have surrendered, if that were the case. If there is a connection here to the attack on your fleet, Admiral, to the Coruscant bombing…" she trailed away, and everyone read the missing to my daughter's disappearance. "If there is a connection to be found, it's bound to be a subtler one- a constant contact, a rendez-vous point… something that will pinpoint a mastermind behind the whole thing, because if they are related, than the Moffs are just pawns in a game."
Soontir regarded his daughter-in-law thoughtfully. "That's an astute analysis," he said approvingly.
"Really, Jacen was the one who realized," she conceded softly. "He was the one who realized that the attack on Bastion was a diversion, to make the galaxy think this whole scheme was geared towards the Remnant, rather than the entire Galactic Alliance."
"Yes," Pellaeon murmured, "And the Alliance owes quite the debt to your brother for his deductions. Now it is time to do our part. Leia, Captain Solo," he turned to them suddenly, "Master Skywalker suggests that you might send along your protocol droid so that he could assist his astromech counterpart in analyzing the data we pull from the captured ships faster."
They exchanged a quick look. "Of course," Leia nodded. "In fact, we can just bring him ourselves. I think we're done on Bastion."
"Did your search prove fruitful?"
She sighed and shook her head ruefully. "Not unless anything Threepio registered has any interesting cross-matches in what we find later. But we thank you for your assistance, Admiral."
As the meeting progressed, Jaina was anxious to be on their way, sure that they were closer than ever to getting to the bottom of this. And deep in her mind, she was still aware of Leyla's pent up excitement and eagerness, and she hoped that she was right in her guess of why…
Scene. Scene. Scene. Scene. Scene. Scene. Scene. Scene. Scene. Scene. Scene. Scene. Scene. Scene.
In the dead of night, Kyp tapped softly on a cool, metal door and waited, using the Force to lightly nudge the sleeping occupant awake as he knocked. Several seconds passed, indicating that said person was making themselves presentable… and then with a whoosh, the door slid open, revealing Tahlia in a plain, black robe, an odd contrast to the flightsuit and cloak in which he had seen her until now.
"Master Durron?" she asked, confused and tired, but eyes brightening slightly in a way that made Kyp regret ever more what he was about to do.
"Tahlia," he murmured lowly, "I wonder if I might have a word?"
She looked momentarily taken aback, before she blinked and said, "Of course. Come in."
He did so. Her small quarters were barren, almost as much as his own that he had just taken up. "What can I do for you, Master Durron?"
"I'm going to need to know the access code to the turbolift and the passkey to gain entrance to the shuttle we came in on."
A full ten seconds of silence hung heavy between them. "Why?" she finally managed. "Is something wrong? Do you need to leave?"
"Yes," he smiled wryly, "something like that."
"I…" she hesitated. "I shouldn't. Not without speaking with Lord Wrynn first."
He sighed. "I was afraid you'd say that. Tahlia, relax."
Before she could say another word, she was unconscious. Kyp took the pertinent information regarding the turbolift, the shuttle, and Leyla's own room, and used the Force to place the limp woman on her bed. He didn't bother erasing her memories of the encounter with him; there was no point. They would know soon enough anyway.
Checking for anyone else in the hallway, he found it empty; in fact, aside from Leyla, who he had nudged awake ten minutes prior, he sensed no other wakeful beings in the place. Nevertheless, he exercised caution as he exited Tahlia's room and pressed the release to close the door once more. Stepping softly down the corridor, he came to another room, just one in a set of identical doors that hid all of the sleeping residences of this underground stronghold.
He pressed in the code, knowing that this would be the moment for an alarm to sound, if Tahlia's memories had been inaccurate. For an instant, he held his breath… and then the door hissed and slid open, and Kyp stepped into the brightly lit room, closing the door behind him…
…and was almost bowled over by Leyla as she barreled into him, short arms partially encircling his waist, burying her face in his robes. "You came for me," she half-sobbed, half-laughed. "I knew it, I knew you'd come, Kyp!"
He smiled in relief as he reached down and picked up her, studying her infectiously happy expression. "Of course I did, sweetheart," he hugged her close to him before setting her back down and dropping to a knee to meet her at eye level. "How are you? Are you ready to go? We have to hurry."
Her expression of incredulity was entirely her mother. "Let's go," she said definitively, grabbing a small bag with an extra couple sets of clothes. He was impressed with her planning and organization; then again, he supposed she'd been waiting around all day for him, since she first sensed his presence.
"Hold on," he smiled at her, "I want to tell you a couple of things first. We're going to go upstairs and take a ship. I don't think anyone else is awake, but if anyone comes after us and I have to fight them, you stay behind me, okay? And if I tell you to run, you do that." She nodded gravely. "Good girl," he hugged her again. "Alright…" he stood and reached out, sensing… "let's go."
He held her hand as they crept quietly towards the lift. Suddenly, he sensed a presence becoming more alert, awakening, and he sped up their pace. Leyla asked no questions, attuned to his urgency, and quietly waited as the turbolift car opened in ominous silence. They stepped in, and Kyp did not hesitate to press the single button that sent them careening back to the planet's surface. Leyla giggled once at the sensation, and then they were arriving.
The sensations of the various unfamiliar minds deep beneath him became difficult to read from the distance, but Kyp assumed the worst, and hurried her out of the turbolift and down the hidden corridor, pressing the release that slid open the hidden panel, hiding the entrance to the safe house.
As they exited the corridor, Kyp heard a sound indicating that the car had been recalled back to the lower level. Cursing softly, knowing that they were discovered, he pressed onward.
He sensed a guard at the door of the covered hangar. Pressing a finger to his lips, he released Leyla's hand and drew his blaster, setting for stun. "Stay here," he mouthed at her, and crept around the corner.
The guard never saw the shot coming. Motioning Leyla forward, he pulled her along again into the hangar bay, instantly relieved to see the same shuttle on which he had arrived still sitting, undisturbed. He opened the control panel beside the ramp and pressed in the key code. As he finished the sequence, he felt a presence approaching at a run. With a hiss, the ramp began to lower; at the same moment, a young man came careening into the hangar.
"Go inside," he barked at Leyla. She went a few steps up the ramp but stopped there.
Kyp drew his lightsaber. The man stopped short. He was young, no more than early twenties, Kyp guessed.
"Let the girl go, Master Durron," he ordered shakily. "She's of no interest to you."
It was almost funny. Almost. "And she's of interest to you?" he asked mildly.
"I'm her ward," the man said, growing slightly more confident. "Lord Wrynn charged me with her safety."
"Safety," Kyp bit, "would have been leaving her alone in the first place. She belongs with her parents; I'm going to take her to them."
The man looked unsure. "You… you are?" he asked in confusion.
"Vulcor." Both men looked in surprise at the girl who had descended the ramp unnoticed to come stand beside Kyp. "Vulcor, please. I told you- I don't belong here. Maybe you do, but they stole me from my home, and I want to go back."
Vulcor took a step forward. "Leyla, I understand, I really do, but I don't think you should trust him. If he's one of us, then…"
"I'm not one of you," Kyp snapped. "I never was."
"You… but why… this whole thing was about her?" he stared incredulously as Leyla stepped closer to Kyp and grabbed a fistful of his robe in her nervous hands.
"Kyp's my friend," she said softly, adamantly. "And he's going to take me home now. Goodbye, Vulcor."
Kyp regarded the young man piteously. He had a good heart, not yet twisted by the manipulations of Wrynn and Croyel. "Come with us," he offered. Vulcor started and looked at him, unsure. "There's nothing for you here; you aren't like them."
"I… can't." Vulcor smiled sadly. "Go then. Get her back to her family. The alarms will sound as soon as you leave the hangar though, all departures have to be preapproved by Moff Croyel or Lord Wrynn."
"How long does it take for the blast doors to close?"
"Thirty seconds. Why?"
Kyp looked at him wistfully, wondering if the young man would survive this failure. "Sound the alarm as soon as we lift off; tell them you got here just barely too late to apprehend us." Vulcor nodded slowly, and Kyp knew that he understood that his own life was very possibly forfeit by letting them go and refusing to join. "May the Force be with you, Vulcor."
"And… with you," he replied unsurely. "Goodbye, Leyla," he smiled at the girl who gave a small wave before allowing Kyp to nudge her up the ramp of the shuttle.
True to his word, Vulcor did not sound the alarm until the ship was rising off of the landing pad, giving them plenty of time to edge through the blast doors before they fully closed. Soon, they were rising through the atmosphere of Gree Baaker, and they had almost made low orbit before the sensors even picked up other ships approaching from the planet. The jump to lightspeed was calculated long before any of them got remotely within range.
Nevertheless, Kyp let out a long sigh of relief when he pulled back the levers and the stars streaked into lines, vaulting them away from Gree Baaker and Red Hand. For now… they were safe.
He turned and saw Leyla yawning in the co-pilot's seat, little legs sticking straight out from the edge of the chair. "You tired?" he asked softly.
She nodded, but made no move to get up and retire to the cabin. Kyp watched her, sensing her emotions roiling, and realized a moment before it happened that she needed to vent her pent up fear and sadness. She started crying and he picked her up, cradling her in his lap as he had done when she was much younger and smaller, rubbing her back in soothing circles and hugging her tight against him.
"It's alright now," he whispered. "Let it out. I promise you, they'll never touch you again."
For a long time, he held her like that while she sobbed and sniffled, wetting the front of his robes with her tears as she buried her face against him. He stroked her dark hair until she fell asleep, and then he carried her into the cabin and laid her gently down on a lower bunk, covering her with a thick blanket.
He sat on the bed opposite her, unwilling to let her out of his site while he pondered his next move.
They couldn't go to Coruscant; he knew now that Jaina and Jag had gone with Han and Leia to Bastion, and he certainly couldn't take Leyla there. Jacen was the only family left on Coruscant, and he was busy foiling bombings and probably investigating them now- not to mention that he'd have as much luck landing on Coruscant right now as a tauntaun would surviving a wampa attack. That had really left him with one move, if he hoped to get Leyla to someone who was family, and who Kyp knew would protect her fiercely.
The Fourth Fleet had suffered heavy damages in the engagement against the Red Hand armada. Croyel had revealed though, that Pellaeon had taken his fleet to Bastion to handle the Moffs. That meant that Wedge must have remained behind to oversee repairs of Pellaeon's ships and, hopefully, the damage was bad enough to keep them there another few days.
They had just over two days to be in hyperspace and, when they reverted, Kyp had to figure out how to ensure that first of all, his passenger remained a closely guarded secret and, second of all, that Wedge Antilles not blow him out of the sky on the spot.
End Part XVI