AN: This chapter starts incorporating stuff from Jedi: Survivor, my own personal theories, and goes over what changes I made from that game's story, so be wary of spoilers.

Shadow of the Force

Chapter 27

-Cal-

Carefully setting the Mantis down, Cal glanced out the window. Pyloon's Saloon still standing, thankfully, "Ah, it's good to be back." Greez grinned, clapping his hands together before helping Cere's floating chair down the ships exit ramp.

"Are you doing alright Cere?" Cal asked softly as walked beside his mentor, a blanket covering her legs that hadn't moved since the Empire's attack on Jedha. The Grand Inquisitor and three of his minions had come for her head, only the Grand Inquisitor walking away, having assumed Cere was dead.

"I'm fine Cal." Cere rolled her eyes but gave his hand a squeeze, "Relax, you know the injury doesn't hurt anymore." Cere's other hand rested on the scar where a lightsaber had severed her spine, paralyzing her from the waist down.

"I meant about the Skywalker…Vader…whatever." Cal shook his head, still working to tie the man they'd seen on that video call with the silent terror he'd met in that underground base.

"I forgave Trilla, Cal." Cere shook her head "I was willing to give Trilla a chance to join us again, to step back into the light. She was hurt and twisted into becoming the Second Sister. If I'm willing to do that when I saw the chance, I can't in good faith refuse Anakin that same opportunity. Palpatine and his regime twisted Trilla, they twisted Anakin, and so many others. If Anakin is trying to break free on his own? Then I wish him every chance of success."

"A sensible choice." Merrin nodded, a hand resting on Cal's shoulder as they walked through the town of Rambler's Reach, waving to the various locals who they'd gotten to know over the years.

"Cal!" Kata's eager voice had the red haired jedi smile as he caught the young woman as she leapt at him, hugging him tight with a laugh.

"Hello Kata." Merrin chuckled at the teenager's exuberance, the girl having become family to the group ever since her father Bode's death. Every day he still wished they'd have been able to talk Bode down, but he'd been to taken by the power of Tanalorr, the planet's natural presence in the force able to affect the minds of those most desperate and attached to the planet.

"What are you doing back here already?" Kata asked as she stopped hugging him to squeeze Merrin tightly, "Your last message said you were looking into the rebels, right?"

"It became more than just looking." Cere chuckled warmly as she got her hug, "We ended up joining one of the groups and even liberated Mandalore from the Empire."

"Seriously?" Kata's eyes widened, "You liberated a planet?!" the young force user was bouncing in excitement "You have to tell me everything!"

"We will little one." Merrin kissed Kata's forehead, "For now we need to go inside and talk to everyone. The Hidden Path might just have a new home, and a new hope."

"Right," Kata nodded, "Monk and I have been keeping things going here." She glanced over at Greeze with a teasing grin, "Does this mean a new franchise location on Mandalore?"

"Are you kidding?" Greeze laughed, "Of course! Do you have any idea how much those super soldier types drink? We'll make a fortune!"

"Same old Greeze." Cal snorted amused, "Come on, let's head on in. We've got a lot to talk about."

-Leia-

Head held high, Leia stood beside Oola as their Mandalorian ship, 'Valiant', began to touch down on the planet's surface. The intelligence gathered by the Rebel Alliance before it fractured, and by Harry's citadel forces after that had indicated that many of the survivors of Alderan had ended up here.

"Something's wrong here." One of the Mandalorians Harry had sent with them spoke up as he manned the helm, "I can feel it." And she could hear the suspicious frown in the man's voice.

"The force feels…tense." Oola spoke up, Leia nodding after a moment as she understood what her more experienced colleague was saying.

"But we don't have much choice." Leia shook her head, "My people are down there. I can't, I won't, abandon them."

"Just be prepared." The Mandalorian handed her a small side arm that could be easily hidden in her Royal robes, her garb reflecting her station and what she had come here for today, "I don't want you defenseless if things go sideways."

"We'll be cautious." Oola promised, a dangerous smirk on her face "Given that my Harry expanded this ship, I think any who try taking it will be in for one nasty surprise." Given the number of Mandalorians aboard that was the understatement of the millennium.

"Princess Leia of Alderan." The traffic control agent spoke up as they approached the landing pad near the capital city, "We've logged your arrival, and an escort is ready to take you to before the planetary Magistrate to discuss the relocation of the Alderanian refugees."

"Thank you." Leia kept her voice stoic and polite, even as she felt her gut squirm, something felt off. The pistol felt heavy in her robes, like it was expecting to be used, and soon. Glancing over, she saw Oola fiddle with the hilt of her light whip as it changed shape into a ring that she slipped onto her right hand.

"Another gift from Harry." Oola spoke up when she saw her look, "Helps to slip illegal weapons into places where we'd need them."

"I'll have to get one for myself later." Leia nodded as they moved to the exit of the ship.

"Oh my, hoping to get a ring from my husband?" Oola gave an exaggerated gasp, her eyes sparkling playfully as Leia felt her cheeks flush.

"I didn't mean it like that!" she felt herself get defensive even if she knew Oola was just teasing to lower any tension. It just made Oola grin wider, the both of them having to quickly school their features to look professional. Outside she could see several men in law enforcement uniforms waiting to escort them to the large ornate building that stood out, towering above the rest of the city.

"Leia Organa of Alderan." The lead officer nodded, "I've been tasked to escort you to the local magistrate." Nodding, she and Oola followed behind. As they rode through the city, she noted that the city felt too clean and calm, like a mask that was over the whole area. Reaching the Magisterial palace, Leia felt the gnawing feeling of impending trouble growing stronger. Inside, they were led to what could only be described as a throne room, gaudy ostentatious throne standing out as it sat on a dais placing it above all who came before the planet's leader.

"Princess Leia of Alderan." The planet's leader, an arrogant looking human man with a rotund stomach showing little effort ever being expended directly, "I must say, I never expected a visit from one such as yourself."

"Oh?" Leia held her hands in her sleeves, trepidation growing "And why is that? You have taken in refugees of Alderan. It is only natural that I come to do what I can for my people." The Magistrate of Orlais started to laugh at that, the boisterous sound echoing uncomfortably in the large marble room.

"We fail to see the joke here Magistrate." Oola's words were neutral, Leia able to recognize the subtle signs of the Twi'lek preparing for danger.

"Ah, it was referring to the Alderanians as 'people'." The Magistrate's grin was a cruel wicked thing, the man snapping his fingers as the guards who'd escorted them in readied blasters, "The Empire saw fit to destroy Alderan, to reduce that worthless planet to ash. Alderanians aren't people, they're property at best."

"You monster." Leia snarled, already seeing where this was going.

"How cute, the little pet things they can claw at their new owner." The Magistrate sneered, "But since you came all the way to me and even brought such a delicious looking friend, I'll be generous." The man leered at Oola as he spoke, "Strip down, please me enough and I'll spare those who brought you to my planet. Refuse, and I'll have them joining your so called 'people' working my mines." Leia's calm mask cracked, her rage bubbling over at this bastard's words.

The Force exploded out of her in a rage, hurling the guards against the marble columns with a series of sickening cracks, red blood staining the white marble while their blasters shattered apart. The Magistrate himself was being pressed against his throne by a continuous stream of force, bones cracking as the fat monster screamed.

"You dare!" Leia hissed, her hair whipping about as she showed that she was indeed a Skywalker, "You dare do this to my people! To threaten such against us!" around her, the marble continued to crack as she exuded everything around her in pure righteous anger.

"You…aren't…people." The fat bastard spat out through the pain, defiant to the last before Oola's light whip cut his head off.

Pulling out a token from Harry, Leia thought the words 'Sonorous', one of several spells 'pre charged' into the item for her to use if needed. Stepping out onto the balcony overlooking the city, Leia let her voice roar out "Hear me Orlais! This is Princess Leia of Alderan! You have kidnapped and enslaved my people and I will stand it no longer! Release my people or suffer the consequences! Mandalorians, you have my permission to engage! Rescue any slave you find and break any who would stop you!"

She could see the 'Valiant' opening fire in the distance, bright flashes indicating battle had begun at the vessel. Throughout the city she could hear shouts and see chaos starting to ensue.

"Come on." Oola's expression was cold as she pushed a full-sized rifle into Leia's hands, "We have a city to liberate."

-Oola-

Sitting down with a sigh, Leia ran a tired hand down her face. The 'Valiant' rising from the planet's surface where a smoking wreck of a town was being left behind. "You handled that situation well." Oola reassured her, the green skinned Twi'lek able to see how much the situation was weighing on Leia, "Anyone else in the inner circle would have done the same."

"Really?" Leia looked up, a hint of hope shining through her tired eyes, "I just conquered a planet. What…what if it was just the Magistrate that had been like that, what if-" the tired woman trailed off with a dejected sigh.

"My Harry detests slavery." Oola scowled, her fingers going to faint scars around her wrists, "Believe me, not only would he have not protested at your actions had he been here, but he might also have done them himself. The slaves were all over the city and outside it. People had slaves in their homes, in mines, in…brothels." Leia glanced away at that, the burning village growing smaller and smaller as the ship rose, getting to a safe height to enter lightspeed.

"And the rest of the planet?" Leia steepled her fingers, "What will happen?"

"I've already contacted Mandalore." Oola promised, "They're sending more forces to secure the planet. We couldn't find any records of Alderanian slaves outside the capital, but that doesn't mean there aren't other slaves. The Mandalorians will secure the planet and free those enslaved here. You did good, Leia. That said, there's something else we need to talk about."

"What's that?" the tired, but thankfully reassured, woman looked her way.

"Your attraction to my husband." Oola spoke as Leia's eyes went wide with panic, her ears burning red.

"Oola, I swear I would never try to seduce your husband!" Leia looked frantic as Oola laid a gentle hand on her shoulder.

"Leia, calm yourself." Oola smiled reassuringly, "I know you wouldn't try to break me and Harry up. But that's not what I wanted to talk about."

"Then…what?" Leia looked confused.

"Twi'lek culture is different from many other places in the galaxy." Oola fiddled with her wedding band, "There are far fewer male Twi'lek to women, by an extreme margin. The men of our people would often have several wives just to try and make up for this fact." Had to if they didn't want the vast majority of Twi'lek women go unwed before space travel had been discovered, what with only one man born for every nine women.

Leia's eyes widened incredulously as she realized where Oola was going with this. Before she could try to give an automated refusal, Oola held up a hand for silence, "I'm not saying you should say anything right now, or come to a decision right away. It is simply something that I wish for you to consider. For now, I shall leave you to think, I will be working with the Alderanian woman Junda to make sure those rescued are settling in well."

AN: The Twi'lek thing was something I created for this fic, but it felt like a good way to set up the polycule and there's the fact that we've seen a lot of female Twi'lek but not many men, so it seemed plausible, and I couldn't find anything to contradict it.