Part XVIII
Coruscant was in an uproar. In three days, five mid to high ranking government officials in various offices and departments had been arrested, and another nine citizens who worked various jobs from cargo pilots to restaurant owners had been taken into Jedi custody, mostly by the swift and effective team of Jacen Solo and Tesar Sebatyne.
And now another two dozen obvious cases had disappeared, admitting guilt by fleeing the tide of arrests. Their names were added to the ever-expanding list of names which began with Losek's files and grew every time they took a conspirator alive. A couple had succeeded in killing themselves before being taken, and one had even put up such a fight that Shevu's hand-selected team had been forced to kill him to save their own lives, but Jacen wasn't concerned… they were getting more than enough information, slowly unraveling the plot from the one, loose thread that had nearly eluded them, but for Ghent's fast work.
He wished Uncle Luke were there to handle to handle things, but he had the full support from both Cal Omas and Sien Sovv, who were more than eager to eliminate the moles in the government and in the military. And from what Jacen had heard from Bastion, it sounded like the rest of his family had stumbled on to another loose end of the operation.
Now just to hope that the two ends met in the middle- and with Leyla.
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Wedge Antilles was stir-crazy. He estimated another week before the last of the repairs were completed to Pellaeon's ships, but the galaxy was coming apart around him and he wanted to be out there defending it and trying to find out just who or what was behind this massive conspiracy.
It was late by standard time, but his schedule was off. Without any real work to be done besides the usual systems' monitoring, most of the crew had gone to bed, leaving a relatively bare-bones staff still awake at this hour. Consequently, the mood on the bridge was relatively relaxed and light as he meandered across the deck, making routine checks.
He was preparing to surrender to the night and return to try for a few hours of restless sleep in his cabin, when a sudden exclamation caught his attention. Glancing over curiously, he saw a couple of officers approach the terminal where the surprised man sat, and then one of them approached him.
"General," he snapped to attention in front of Wedge, "a ship just entered the system; it doesn't carry a transponder we recognize, but bears similarities to many of the ships of the forces who attacked a week ago. We're attempting to raise it now."
Wedge joined the lieutenant down to the communications console where a young ensign was addressing the craft. "Unidentified shuttle, state your name, purpose, and cargo." He paused and waited. "Identify yourself, or we'll be forced to disable you."
"What's his entry vector?" Wedge peered around the viewport, looking for the small oncoming craft in the depths of black space in futility.
"Eight point four, sir."
He turned towards the indicated direction, still searching. "Arm ion cannons," he said distractedly. "But hold your fire."
The bridge snapped to action at his order, and Wedge thought he glimpsed the shimmer of the shuttle against the darkness of space. A new set of footsteps approached, and he turned to see Kenth Hamner, Saba Sebatyne, and Zekk approaching quickly, but without alarm. "Trouble?" Hamner asked mildly.
"Can't tell yet," he murmured, peering back out into space. "Couldn't sleep either?"
"Ah," Zekk said, "your first mistake was assuming that Jedi require such mundane, human things as sleep, General." Wedge shot him a look. "And no, we sensed… something."
Before he could seek clarification, a soft beeping sounded from the communications terminal. Captain Bimb, having just arrived following the status alerts, leaned over and consulted with the ensign. Straightening, he walked quickly over to Wedge and handed him his datapad. "Message for you, sir."
"Message?" Wedge asked, nonplussed.
"Yes, sir, from the incoming craft. Standard Alliance encryption."
Frowning, he took Bimb's datapad and keyed in his encryption code- and stared at the screen for close to thirty seconds. "General?" Hamner asked hesitantly.
"Come with me," he snapped. He led the three Jedi to a private briefing room on one end of the bridge and, the instant the door closed, spun on them. "Can you sense that shuttle?"
"This one doez not understand," Sebatyne said slowly.
His voice was impatient. "The shuttle- can you sense who is on it?" In tandem, the three Jedi exerted themselves across the hundreds of kilometers still separating the two vessels. "Well? Is she there?"
Zekk was the first to notice it. "Yes," he gasped in surprise. "It's Leyla."
"And Kyp."
"What?" Wedge spun on Hamner. "Durron's got her?"
"General," Zekk interrupted pointedly, "what did the message say?"
Wedge held up the datapad. "Not much- 'General Antilles, I carry sensitive cargo to be delivered to you personally and discreetly.' What do you think?" he asked worriedly. "Is he using her as a shield screen? Or insurance?"
Zekk looked skeptical. "If he were, he'd have broadcast it across the ship. I think he's looking for a quiet reception."
"Well," Wedge grimaced, "we can certainly give him that." He strode back out of the conference room and approached Captain Bimb who was standing with the newly arrived Lieutenant Drixl. "Captain, send a transponder beacon to direct that shuttle to my personal hangar bay, arrange to have my X-wing moved if need be. And then, Lieutenant, you will select your two most trusted guards and join us to await it."
"Yes, sir," they snapped into action.
"Come," he gestured the Jedi to join him, "let us see what Master Durron has to say to defend himself this time."
Zekk spoke up quietly, hesitantly. "He did bring Leyla here…"
"After attacking a Jedi and a Master, disappearing, and turning up days later as part of an attacking force rebelling against the GA," Wedge snapped.
The rest of the journey was made in silence at a hurried pace. They stood outside the blast doors to the private hangar for several minutes, waiting for the shuttle to land and the force-field to return breathable atmosphere to the bay. Shortly before the all-clear was given, they were joined by Lieutenant Drixl and two sergeants who looked appropriately disinterested, simply following orders.
As they entered the hangar, the hiss of the descending landing ramp sounded. Wedge waited with bated breath as the Jedi stood tensely by his side until, finally, the clunk of heavy boots could be heard, with a faint patter of quieter feet accompanying. He inhaled sharply as he saw Durron appear at the top of the ramp, arm outstretched…
And then Leyla took his hand and they descended together. She looked nervous; Durron's expression was unreadable. When they reached the bottom of the ramp, Wedge called out to them. "Stop there, Durron, it's far enough." He approached, still flanked by the Jedi; Drixl and his guards stood at the entrance to the hangar. "Let her go."
He watched in consternation as Durron drew his hand away from Leyla's, and she reluctantly released it. She looked up and smiled upon seeing him, but didn't move. "Go on," Durron murmured, giving her shoulders a slight nudge. She looked up at him nervously. "Hey," his voice was deceptively soft, Wedge thought. "Remember what I told you?" she nodded. "Go ahead then; they'll take care of you."
Slowly, she walked forward, smiling again and Wedge kneeled down to embrace her, beaming. "We've all missed you, Leyla," he said quietly. "But you're safe now. You know Zekk, right?" She looked up at the tall, dark-haired Jedi with wide eyes and grinned. "He's going to take you to my cabin and I'll be along in a minute, okay?"
"Alright," she murmured, slipping her tiny hand into Zekk's much larger one. They were almost out the door before Wedge turned to Kyp.
"Kyp Durron, you are hereby placed into custody of the Galactic Alliance under suspicion of treason against the state and the military. Masters Hamner and Sebatyne, as well as Lieutenant Drixl's men, will accompany you into the holding block, where you will await our return to Coruscant and a military tribunal." He spoke in a soft, deadly serious tone. "I don't think I need point out, Master Durron, that a guilty conviction is liable to be accompanied with a death sentence."
He heard a gasp from across the hangar and spun. Leyla wrenched her hand out of Zekk's grip and stood, frozen, staring between him and the prone Jedi Master who was watching her with a sorrowful expression. "It's alright, Leyla," Durron spoke softly. She let out a sob and raced back across the hangar.
"Leyla!" Wedge barked. The others just watched, perplexed, as she ran to Durron and launched herself into his arms, crying.
"Oh, sweetheart," Durron lowered her to the ground and knelt before her. "I told you not to worry, remember? I promise you that everything will be alright, but for now, you need to go with Zekk and wait for your parents, okay?" He stroked her hair and she nodded, hiccoughing through her tears. He looked up as Zekk approached slowly, regarding the two of them with an apologetic air about him. "Keep her safe," he said softly to Zekk, who nodded and picked up the upset girl.
Wedge watched them leave this time, before looking back calculatingly at the Jedi Master who stood calmly, waiting to be led away. "Don't suppose you'd care to explain anything right now?" he asked sarcastically.
Durron just smiled wryly, looking around the hangar and focusing a look at Drixl's guards. "No," he said simply.
Hamner and Sebatyne led him away.
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Jaina sat in the Falcon's co-pilot seat, anxious to lift off. They were to accompany the Jedi strike team that was heading to Generis in the slight but hopeful chance that Leyla would turn up somewhere in the governor's palace. Since she had woken up two nights ago, her daughter's emotions had been helter-skelter and Jaina had begun to fear that she had misread the girl's happiness- wishful thinking, perhaps.
"Relax, honey," Han glanced over at her. "We'll be on our way soon enough. They're just going over Jacen's last report from Coruscant."
They had been amazed when they learned the full extent of Jacen's activities in the past handful of days. Particularly startling had been the highly encrypted communiqué between Admiral Sovv and Admiral Pellaeon which had identified three more crew members on Pellaeon's own flagship as well as four high officials within the Imperial hierarchy. Of the seven, one had fled, one was dead, and the other five were successfully contained. The prisoners had not yet been interrogated, but Luke didn't want to wait, fearing that they would lose their window to strike quickly, now that the galaxy at large was becoming aware of the vastness of the underground organization.
But they were still just sitting here on the Right to Rule…
Sighing impatiently, Jaina stood abruptly and paced the cockpit for a minute, before heading aft, determined to see what was taking so long. She was turning the corner to descend the landing ramp when she nearly ran headlong into Admiral Pellaeon himself. "Oh!" she exclaimed. "My apologies, Admiral. Are we ready for liftoff?"
"There's been a change of plans actually," he said, eyes bright. Jaina frowned. "Ah, Colonel Fel," Jag stuck his head out from the cockpit. "A word?"
"Certainly, sir," Jag joined them near the ramp. "A change of plans, you said?"
Pellaeon smiled. "I just received a transmission from General Antilles that I'd like to show you. Here," he pulled a datapad from his pocket and passed it over.
Jag glanced at it and frowned, looking back up at the admiral. "This is your-eyes-only, Admiral…"
"Just read it," the older man waved him off.
Jaina read it twice before the words began to sink in.
Second intercepted lost package- in good condition- please inform owners.
"You mean…" she was breathless. "He has her…?"
"I see no other plausible explanation," Pellaeon said, smiling warmly. "He included rendez-vous coordinates embedded in another message, midway between you two so as to shorten your journey." He passed a slip of flimsi to Jag who took it dazedly.
"I…" her eyes were suddenly, inexplicably damp, and she turned to Jag, smiling hopefully. He still looked mildly stunned as he drew her into a fierce hug.
He spoke over the top of her head softly. "Thank you, Admiral; for everything."
"Of course," he graciously smiled. "Now go get your daughter; Master Skywalker will handle the mission to Generis." After shaking their hands, he swiftly departed to inform Luke of the update.
Jaina dragged Jag into the cockpit where her parents were sitting, watching them with poorly-veiled curiosity. "Start her up," she grinned at her dad. "We're leaving."
"Is Luke's team ready?"
Her smile broadened. "Doesn't matter; new mission." Her eyes were bright and shining. "Wedge has her."
Total silence reigned for ten seconds. "What? How?" Leia finally managed.
"Don't know, don't care." Han started up the primary sequences. "Let's get her first and ask questions after."
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Zekk looked up as Wedge walked into the sitting room of his private cabin. Leyla was curled up on a large chair, dozing lightly, and Zekk watched her, wishing Jaina and Jag were here; her heartache had been gut-wrenching when he last saw her.
"She alright?" Wedge asked quietly.
Zekk shrugged. "I think so… you sort of freaked her out."
Wedge grimaced. "Yeah, thanks," he bit. "I thought you'd left. Anyway, what's her attachment to Durron? Or do you figure he's cultivated that since…?"
"We don't know what happened or how he came to have her," Zekk said firmly. "But we do know that he brought her purposefully to you, so you might start giving him a little more benefit of the doubt… Sir."
For a moment, Wedge pursed his lips, trying to decide whether he was annoyed. Then he let it out and sighed, sitting down heavily. "Maybe," he conceded. "You know, you Jedi really don't hesitate to speak your mind, do you?" Zekk shrugged. "I just… I met Kyp Durron when he was just a kid, and a matter of weeks later, he went on a murderous rampage and killed millions of people with the Sun Crusher. He hurt a friend of mine, stealing her memories, rendering her almost helpless- much like he's done now to that Jedi girl back on Coruscant," he added pointedly. "I watched while he used Jaina Solo to achieve his own sadistic ends, and then had to witness the aftermath- it tore her up inside, what he did, and she eventually ran away for it."
"I thought she ran away because she was pregnant."
Wedge shook his head. "Who knows, maybe both then. The point is that for twenty-some odd years, I've watched Kyp Durron rise and fall repeatedly, and every time he falls, he destroys everything he touches on the way. Oh," he smiled bitterly, "and did I mention? He's erased the ship's computer data; any information Durron has to offer, we're going to have to get it the hard way. Does that seem like an innocent thing to do?"
Leyla stirred and the two men quickly abandoned the line of conversation. "Leyla," Wedge called softly, "let's get you to bed, you've had an exciting night. I've had an exciting night," he added ruefully. She blinked a few times before sitting up suddenly and looking around. "What's the matter?"
She scrambled down from the chair and reached into a pocket of her little jumpsuit. Walking quickly over to Wedge, she pulled out a datacard and handed it up to him, eyes wide. Zekk frowned bemusedly.
"What's this?" Wedge asked, smiling but confused.
"Important things that Kyp didn't want the bad people to know you had," she answered seriously.
Wedge and Zekk exchanged a quick look. "What sorts of important things?" Zekk asked slowly.
She shrugged. "He didn't tell me. But he said that there are lots of bad people and that I should only trust Uncle Wedge and the Jedi." Her grave voice shook a little.
Slowly taking the datacard from her fingers, Wedge pulled out his datapad and inserted it. It took a few moments for the data to load and when it did, Wedge quickly found himself scanning and scrolling through it- and there was a lot.
"What is it?" Zekk asked.
"It's… everything. The computer data from the shuttle, coordinates to the last known location of the armada, coordinates for the planet where they're headquartered… precise location of the headquarters themselves… names… and…" he frowned. "A message."
"Oh? Saying what?"
Wedge smiled grimly. "That the walls have ears." He sighed and closed his eyes in exhaustion. "Either I underestimated Master Durron- or he's playing a far more complicated game that I ever expected."
End Part XVIII