Chapter 10

Location: Tendrando Arms corporate headquarters on the planet Coruscant

Daddy!

Help Me Daddy!

Mommy Needs help!

Daddy! DADDY(the words dissolve into shrieking screams.

That is what awaits Lando every night on his pillow. No one tells you that the worst part of loosing your Mate and your young child, is not the fact that you can never see them again. No, as bad as that is, it's nothing compared with the truth that you just want your loved ones to stil be alive because: They just deserve it. Because it completes you to know that they are taking in breath, experiencing the world around them, and always evolving as a person. Even if they are going through bad times: life means hope. At least there is the chance that something will make them smile.

But their death really means their chance at deserved happiness is gone forever. Their beautifully unique scent, is gone forever. It's like getting pierced in the heart by a sword who's blade has no end.

Thoughts like these coax the grieving one to a sort of sleep. A twilight of consciousness in which one is damned to spend their nights searching for their lost ones, that can never be found.

That's why Lando stayed as far away from a pillow as he could. After just arriving on Coruscant and settling his friends into one of Tendrando Arms's several guest suites, Lando found an empty chair, in an empty board room, overlooking the mesmerizing light show that was Galactic City at night.

He had never spent much time here, in this building or on Coruscant. But being the large GA military contractor, that he was, he needed to have a corporate headquarters within spitting distance of the Defence Force Command building. Yes, the YVH-1 was their biggest success, but it had grown into much more. Specialty droids for every day of the week, cloaking technology, autonomous starfighters, interstellar missile tech, and nano weaponry were just some of the pies that Tendrando Arms, had its thumbs in (along with some strange and unusual endeavours still in development in top secret labs.) This building was a good showcase for everything Tendrando Arms had to offer. And it wasn't just for the GA.

Governments, and the wealthy, galaxy-wide used Tedndrando's services. Lando had no idea what would become of Tendrando or the rest of his operations now that Tendra was gone. Lando had always been the "Dreamer" or some would say the visionary that saw the needs of the now and the Future. But the fact of the matter was that it was Tendra behind the success of all his ventures. Lando would talk the talk, and dream Big, but Tendra made those dreams a reality. She had the "stick-with-it-ness" that Lando lacked. What would become of it all?

At this moment, to Lando, this unfathomably huge building, this symbol of success only served one purpose: To hold up the table, that held up his Sabaac deck and his bottle of Merenzane gold. Lando had always sneered at Sabaac solitaire.

"That is just an abomination!" He was once inspired to say.

It wasn't just because the single person version resembled the full version very little.The fact was, he dreaded being alone. After all Lando was a people person, and people made Sabaac, Sabaac. But tonight? No people, no problem. As long as he was doing anything but pretending to sleep, it would do.

In the stillness of the room, it was hard for even this new, and most definitely not improved Lando, to miss the blinking light that suddenly appeared in the middle of the table.

Lando spent a few seconds staring at the thing, then said: "Activate!"

With that, a shrunken ghostly blue version of Master Corran Horn appeared on the table and said: "Lando, I'm glad to see that the three of you made it to Coruscant."

For one sickening hopeful second, Lando thought the three of them referred to him, his wife, and his boy. In that second, the accident never happened, in that second they were still alive.

But in one more second, the illusion evaporated into his new reality and he said: "Hey Master Horn, yeah... yeah we're here."

"I'm glad to hear Lando. Luke and the rest of the team have gone to check out a new lead, and I wanted to give you an update and was hoping you could fill in some blanks." Corran told him.

"You guys figured out what went wrong with that million credit piece of garbage?"

He asked.

Corran's reply was: "One thing I can tell you is: there was absolutely nothing wrong with that shuttle."

It took a moment for Lando to pick up Corran's meaning (which seemed on par for him these days) then he said with a shaky yet steely cold voice: "you mean someone did this?"

To Corran, this wasn't merely "an update". He was using his years of investigative experience to gauge Lando's responses to the investigation's revelations. So far Lando was checking off all the right boxes.

"Are you familiar with a V.O.C?"

He asked.

"Of course, I know what a Voc is, our mining operations go through them like ...whoa... Wait... just wait one damn minute! Are saying that's what happened to the shuttle?" Lando responded with a mixture of disbelief, hurt and anger.

He owned several major mining interests. Due to an unfortunate mining accident years back, he was familiar with what a V.O.C could do to a person. The fact his family had ended their lives suffering the effects of such a device, was almost too much.

Tears rolling down his cheeks and eyes drifting to unseen horrors, he still was able to hear Corran's voice say: "Lando, someone planted the device under the pilots console. It seems like Tendra had discovered it right before it was fully active and sent Lando Jr to the back pod but there was just no time... Uh... Lando... I know this is hard but do you have any idea how Tendra would have discovered the device?"

Lando pulled himself back fully to the here and now: "I don't know... but ... the only thing I can think of is she must have heard the thing." He said.

"Are they loud?" Corran dug.

"No, But it doesn't matter, Tendra has a... I mean she had... photographic memory. If she saw or heard something just once, she would remember it, I know she would."

Lando said with a hint of regretful admiration.

"That would fit with the evidence so far." Corran agreed he then continued: "I need to ask, Lando..." he looked down, took in a large breath and then looked up at Lando: "Why did you get off the shuttle at Foundry?"

Lando knew what Corran was doing. He had absolutely no intention of calling Corran on it, in a big protest of harassment and unjust treatment, even though that's how he felt. Why? Simply put It was because Lando was getting more information from Corran than Corran was from him. He had a feeling that if the case of Dena Yus was any indication, the Jedi would track down the big scary Sith Spawn that did this, and give them a year long hug, and then send them on their merry way. He wasn't going to let that happen.

So he would put up with the Jedi and the GA and anyone else as long as it led him to the right people.

So in a tone that didn't reveal his true feelings he told him the truth about that shuttle trip: "The GM for our mining operations on Foundry holocomed us when we were on the way, when I told him where we were he asked us to stop by and help settle a dispute between the miners and management. You can get ahold of the guy and confirm, it was all very last minute and it wasn't my idea. Tendra was tired and asked me to put out this fire. So I stayed for an hour or two to help straighten things out and then I just hitched a ride with a light transport that was headed for the Hapes cluster. We were travelling way faster so I knew I would beat them to the station. I... I... couldn't wait... to see the look on their faces..."

Corran nodded, and said: "Lando the investigation team wanted to let you know: Right to the end Tendra was selfless and brave and gave up her life without pause or regret so Chance could try to escape. We need more of her in this Galaxy and absolutely not less. I am so sorry Lando. I'll update you if we learn anything new or if Luke's lead turns up something."

Lando looked at the small glowing Jedi, and Said: "Thanks Master Horn. You just do what you gotta do."

At that Corran replied: May the force be with us all ."

The hologram bowed and disappeared. Lando just sat there staring at the middle of the table, and then finally said:

"And I... I will do what I have to do."