At least Pocket hadn't been injured when the plaster pinned him to the floor, Wynn mused as he stumbled to the lodge door. She was sleeping peacefully in his pocket. And Lando had assured him that Desha had been evacuated with the rest of the passengers. The door slowly opened to reveal Desha, still clutching the bundle of repulsor-skis she had gone to rent.

"Wynn!" The skis clattered to the porch as she reached for him. "What happened? The line was taking forever, and then the droid said we all needed to evacuate, but I ran to the Kiddie Slopes to look for you and the kids and then I heard explosions, but Lando's security droids wouldn't let me through until the Void Jumpers made them, and you need help!"

"Desha, calm down. Breathe." Wynn leaned on the doorframe, catching his own breath. "It's okay. We have a small invasion, but it's under control. I thought you were safe."

Desha slipped her arm beneath his shoulders and wrapped her lekku around him. "You're making less sense than I am. You need medical attention."

He shook his head. "After we deal with the Ssi-Ruuk."

"What?"

"We've got several Ssi-Ruuk and an unknown number of their 'enhanced droids' headed this way. I need to get you somewhere safe."

"Chief," Chance called, running up behind him, "we did it. All the entrances are blocked. Now we can get you some help."

"I have a special job for you, Chance." Wynn gently peeled Desha off of him. "Take Miss Lor to a safe place until the fighting is over."

"But, Chief, I want to stay and help fight."

"Please, do it for me. I need you to keep her safe."

Chance looked from Wynn to Desha. "All right. Come with me, Miss Lor."

"Wynn, I can't leave you like this!"

"Desha, please go. Do it for me," he repeated. He slipped his free hand into his pocket, pulling out the little Chitlik. "Take Pocket with you."

Desha stared at him with wide eyes. "Wynn, are you sure?"

"I can't take her into battle. I need you to look after her."

Desha took Pocket and slowly followed Chance into the Lodge. Wynn could hear her sobbing softly.

Wynn watched her go. He wanted Desha to be safe. He wanted to see her smiling face every day when he walked into his office. Being with her made all the unpleasant parts of his job bearable. The sudden realization made him waver and he clutched the doorframe again.

Desha was important to him. She was very important to him. More than that, he loved her. He straightened, resolving to do everything in his power to survive this fight and tell her how he felt.

A hand on his shoulder brought him out of his reverie.

"Sir," one of the Void Jumpers said, "the Ssi-Ruuk forces are here. We need to get you under cover."

Yes. He couldn't die now. Not until he told Desha.

He followed the Void Jumper to the defensive perimeter they had set up. Rows of gleaming droid-like machines glided over the snow towards the Lodge. Wynn turned to the Captain.

"Give me a blaster."

Vestara could see the Void Jumper shuttles racing towards the Lodge as the Admiral pushed the speeder to its limits.

"An advance group is already in position around the Lodge." Nek swerved to avoid a now-closed hot chocolate booth. "If they can hold for another ten minutes, we should have enough Void Jumpers on the ground to finish the job."

"Ten minutes?" Vestara winced at a sudden pain. "How long till we get there?"

"Less than two minutes."

Ben narrowed his eyes. "Ves, I've seen that look before."

She shook her head vehemently. "I'm fine. We have to get to the other Twins."

Ben raised an eyebrow, but didn't argue.

Their speeder raced through the resort, sending up a spray of snow in its wake. The Lodge loomed up, surrounded by Ssi-Ruuk droids trading blaster fire with a small group of Void Jumpers.

"Hang on, kids," the Admiral shouted. " And get down!"

He lifted the speeder higher, calling all up all its speed. They flew over the heads of the droids and the Void Jumpers, skidding to a halt in front of the porch. Another pain gripped Vestara and she stifled a cry.

Jumping out, the Admiral turned to his passengers. "Everyone all right? I'm afraid the speeder's a bit worse for wear."

Ben climbed out, lifting Vestara with him. "I think I'd better get Ves inside. You come, too, Hay-Hay. I sense the other Twins in the basement."

"About that." Chance appeared in the doorway, beckoning them over.

Ben hurried inside with Vestara and Hayden while Admiral Bwua'tu joined his Void Jumpers.

"Aren't the Twins and Allana in the basement?" Vestara asked as Ben carefully placed her on a couch in the lobby. "And why aren't you with them?"

Chance grabbed Hayden as the little boy tried to run. "Oh, no, you don't. Yes, they're in the basement. I'm not with them because I was helping Chief Dorvan blow up all the entrances to the basement."

"What?" Ben and Vestara gasped in unison.

"To keep those droid-things out. I guess they'd get through the debris eventually, but before they did, all the rest of the Void Jumpers would be here."

"Chance, that was very brave." Vestara smiled.

"And pretty risky. Not to mention, disobedient. I told you to stay in the suite with Allana." Lando strode in, trying to look stern. "I just talked to Desha Lor and got the whole story."

"Dad, I thought you were in the basement," Chance countered.

Lando gave a sheepish smile. "I guess we're both disobeying orders. I didn't think I could do much down there. And it looks like the Chief could use some help. What does he think he's doing?"

"Fighting, from the looks of it," Ben offered.

"He needs medical care, from what I hear." Lando shook his head. " I guess I'd better get out there and do my part. Are you kids all right?"

"We're fine-" Vestara began, only to be interrupted by another pain.

Lando looked at Ben.

Ben fidgeted. "I think Nek Bwua'tu's driving made the babies decide it's time."

"Now?" Lando turned round eyes on Vestara.

"Well, not this very minute. That's not how this works." Ben knelt, pulling her into his arms. "But the process does seem to be getting underway."

"The process is getting underway?" Vestara repeated. "Seriously?"

Ben pulled a face. "That's the best I can do at the moment. I'll be more romantic later."

Lando put a hand on Chance's shoulder. "I need you to find one of our medical droids. Take Hayden with you. I'm going to check our perimeter, see if there's anything I can do."

Chance nodded wordlessly and scampered through a door.

Lando patted Vestara's arm. "You two keep your comms handy. I'll be back."

Lando sprinted for the outer door, leaving Vestara and Ben. Another pain gripped her and she gripped Ben's hand.

"They're coming fast this time," he whispered.

She nodded. "I hope you've thought up some good names."

Wynn blinked, trying to focus his eyes on the droids. Aim for the weak spots, where the plates join, Nek had said. It would have been good advice, if Wynn could see well enough to find the joints.

"We're making a dent in them," Nek called cheerfully.

The Twins and Desha would be safe. If only he could hold on a little longer. The sound of blaster fire filled his ears. Raising his blaster, Wynn aimed at what he hoped was a joint.

A soft whirring sound joined the noise from the blasters. Wynn looked up in time to see the rest of the Void Jumpers leaping from their shuttles to land behind the SSI-Ruuk line.

A small group of robed figures floated down out of the shuttles to join the fight. Wynn blinked again. Han Solo and Chewbacca jumped down beside the rest of the Skywalkers and Solos. They might have known Master Skywalker would find out somehow.

In a few minutes, the fight was over. Wynn rested his head on his hands. They had done it. Now he could tell Desha.

"Allana, Hay-Hay is here." Carrie nearly bounced off the couch with excitement. She paused, frowned. "Mama's hurting. She's trying not to let us feel it, but she's hurting."

"We can't use the Force right now, remember? We don't want the Sith to find us." Allana had to resist the temptation to stretch out in the Force. Was Vestara in labor?

She looked down at her comm, wondering for at least the tenth time if she could risk calling Chance. She needed to know if he was still alive, if Hayden was truly safe and if Wynn was all right. The distant boom of explosives had told her they had successfully blocked the entrances.

Her comm chirped. Hesitantly, she flicked it on.

"Allana, Honey, we'll have you out of there in just a minute."

"Grandpa! What are you doing here?"

"We, ah, may have been following you," Grandpa Han said sheepishly. "It was your uncle Luke's idea."

"I'm glad you did. We need all the help we can get."

"You just hang tight. Between Chewie and these crazy Jedi, we'll have you out in no time. Poor Lando. He just finished upgrading the place."

"Don't worry about Uncle Lando. Wynn will make sure he's fully reimbursed for all the damage."

Author's Note: What in Galaxy happened in this chapter? I'm not really sure either. ;) Of course, Luke and Company have been discreetly following their "kids" and we needed some good Wynn and Desha content. Also, I needed to get the new set of Twins born before the end of the story. I know the "climatic battle" was kind of anti-climatic, but if you look at my summary you will see that fighting the Ssi-Ruuk is not actually the main problem. The problems that the story arc is based on are more internal- they're dealing with discontent, frustration and personal doubt. Each of our POV characters (except for Nek Bwua'tu and he only had one brief POV passage) has experienced a climax that has helped him or her see things in a new light.

There will be one more chapter! This now the longest story in The Love Commander Collection. Thank you for sticking with me this far! God bless you! Come back for the last chapter!