Chapter 5

Princess Leia sat alone at a small worktable in the cramped confines of her personal quarters, deep inside the Rebel Alliance's hidden base on the moon Kozur Two. Across the table lay half a dozen tools, including a small welding torch and a crystal splicer. The princess focused intently on the precise adjustments being made to the small cylindrical device in her hands, seemingly oblivious to the beeping noise coming from the sealed door behind her.

"Yes, yes! Come in already," she finally spoke up, not once turning her head away from the project she was focused on as the door to her quarters slid open.

A handsome, dark-haired Corellian pilot wearing a brown leather jacket over half of his orange X-wing flightsuit stood in the doorway, staring at the back of Princess Leia's body hunched over the worktable. "You're going to be late for the meeting," he reminded her.

"No I'm not. I'm almost done here, and then I'll be on my way," she responded.

"Are you still tinkering with that thing?" he asked curiously.

"It needed some more fine-tuning," answered Leia, adjusting the cycling field energizers after calibrating the focusing lenses on her device. "Go on, Wedge. I'll catch up with you in a few minutes."

"All right," General Antilles said, pausing to give Leia one more look before leaving her quarters, the door swooshing closed behind him.

Leia sat back in her chair and removed the magnification goggles from her eyes, setting them on the table top as she turned in her seat. Holding the small cylindrical object vertically in front of her, she flicked the switch on its side, igniting the cerulean blue glow of her lightsaber's blade with a sharp hissing sound.

"Perfect," she said with a confident smile, the brilliant illumination of her saber reflecting onto her intense brown eyes.

This was, in fact, her second lightsaber, a more technically-refined model to replace the experimental version she had constructed a few months ago. The first lightsaber had served its purpose for developing her skills as she learned fighting techniques under the instruction of her disembodied Jedi Master, Luke Skywalker. However, Leia felt she needed an improved model if she were to begin using this weapon in combat. Satisfied with her new saber, she could sense the spirit of her brother looking upon her with pride, having guided his sister through the completion of her training to become a Jedi.

Disengaging the glowing blue blade, Leia stood up and clipped the saber to the belt of her gray jumpsuit. She ran her fingers through her long dark hair, pulling it back and cinching it into a loose ponytail as she headed out the door of her quarters to the base's command center.

Over a year and a half had passed since Leia's escape from Prince Xizor's tropical hideaway and her return to the Rebel Alliance, yet it seemed like so much longer. During this time of readjustment to her former life after years of sexual servitude, Princess Leia helped rebuild the battered rebel fleet struggling to survive under the shadow of the Empire's almighty Death Star.

Upon her return, she had learned the awful details of the Rebellion's massacre at Endor three years prior. General Crix Madine had led a ground assault on the green moon in an effort to take down the Empire's shield generator protecting the new Death Star. Madine's group seemingly failed in their mission, and their mysterious disappearance was attributed to a vague report about savage natives that had been intercepted during the rebel fleet's later retreat.

The active shield prevented the Alliance's ships from proceeding with their assault on the Death Star, but when the Empire revealed that its new superweapon was fully operational, the rebels had no choice but to flee. Breaking off their attack, they were ambushed by the Imperial fleet hiding on the other side of the moon. All hell broke loose as they tried to escape back into hyperspace. The smaller ships were swarmed by dozens of TIE Fighters while the Death Star targeted and destroyed several of the larger command ships.

Only a third of the fleet survived, bravely led by Wedge Antilles and the remnants of Rogue Squadron, as the defeated Rebel Alliance fled back into hiding. The horrific details of their massacre on Endor filled Leia with despair as she imagined what might have happened had she been there with her friends to help them. Nevertheless, it gave Leia a new determination to make up for lost time and help continue the Rebellion's brave resistance to the Emperor's cruel dictatorship.

In addition to her private Jedi training over the past twenty months, Leia had participated in a series of strategic attacks throughout the Outer Rim territories, targeting various Imperial outposts to weaken the Empire's control in the distant sectors of the galaxy. These smaller guerilla tactics to oppose the Empire reminded Leia of the early days of the Rebellion, before her enslavement to Jabba the Hutt and the tragic deaths of her friends.

Despite earlier rumors, the Battle of Endor hadn't completely decimated the Rebellion – it just set them back a few years, forcing them to split into smaller cells to keep hidden from the Empire while they regrouped and reorganized. Several worlds had abandoned the Alliance soon after the Endor massacre and the obliteration of the planet Sullust, fearing the Empire's superweapon might target them next if they continued to openly support the insurgents.

Yet, with Princess Leia's morale-boosting return and her courageous leadership, the rebels gradually regained the freedom of several worlds. This helped rally some of the older systems back to their cause as the Alliance began forming a new plan to destroy the looming threat of the fully-operational Death Star.

The most recent development had been the return of the famous Corellian senator and general Garm Bel Iblis to the Rebel Alliance. Bel Iblis had parted ways with the Alliance following the death of Bail Organa, concerned that Mon Mothma would become a new Palpatine without the moderating influence of Organa. However, confronted with the revitalized strength of the Empire, Bel Iblis had been persuaded to rejoin the Alliance with his Corellian Resistance forces at the urging of Mothma who was finally humbled enough for a rapprochement with her former colleague.

Leia had played an important, if behind the scenes role, in the reunification of the two revolutionary groups, having sought out and finally located the reclusive Bel Iblis with the help of her former aide and childhood friend Winter. Having found the man she had once called "Uncle Garm," it was easy enough for Leia to use her diplomatic skills to convince him to at least join Mon Mothma at the negotiating table. It had been Leia's first major operation for the Alliance since her escape from Xizor, and it had convinced the polite skeptics on the High Command – and more importantly, herself – that despite her three-year absence, she still had a relevant and vital part to play in the war against the Empire.

So as their war campaigns grew and the Rebel Alliance went after greater targets, Leia served as a beacon of hope for those who thought all hope was lost. During her training to learn the ways of the Force, she had discovered an aptitude for the particular Force skill of battle meditation. From the bridge of the Mon Calamari command vessel Freedom, Leia could instill a greater sense of morale in the rebel troops during a battle while simultaneously reducing the enemy's will to fight through the influence of the Force.

As she became more proficient in this skill, Leia was able to coordinate entire regiments of ground troops and full starfighter squadrons from a holographic display aboard the command bridge, astounding the rest of the Alliance's leadership with her newfound abilities.

Rebel campaigns were now moving inward through the Mid Rim sectors, liberating such worlds as Rodia, Ithor, and Bothuwai while the core leadership formulated its ultimate plan to eliminate the Empire's main weapon. A meeting of the Alliance's leadership was now underway to discuss this plan further.

Leia entered the briefing room and took her seat between Chief of State Mon Mothma and Colonel Airen Cracken of the Alliance's intelligence branch. Across from her sat General Antilles and other members of the rebel military leadership. The meeting had already begun shortly before her arrival.

"Operation Darksaber is underway," Mon Mothma spoke in her soft, calm voice. "Colonel Cracken's recent communiqué with our new Hutt ally has informed us that the construction of the weapon is advancing sooner than expected. A small envoy has been requested to go coordinate the move of the weapon off planet so that it can be tested and prepped for use."

Leia shifted in her seat as she listened to the mission briefing, still uneasy about the new alliance with Durga Besadii Tai, a former Vigo of the Black Sun who now ran his own criminal operations in the Outer Rim. Before Leia's return to the Rebel Alliance, Durga the Hutt had approached the rebels to propose a plan for building a laser weapon similar to the Death Star, but in a much smaller scale that could be transported aboard a large command ship.

He had acquired the technical design schematics of the weapon from an Imperial defector named Sulamar soon after the destruction of Sullust. These plans were based on early conceptual designs for the original Death Star's laser, and the defector hoped that they might reach the hands of someone who could use the data to eliminate the Empire's new destroyer of worlds.

Durga agreed to finance the laser weapon's construction through his underworld resources, but he lacked the military power to put this weapon into use once it was built. He convinced the rebel leadership that they shared a mutual interest in defeating the Empire, which had tightened its control over the galaxy even more by using the new threat of the Death Star to keep systems in line. Various criminal factions throughout the Outer Rim were in as much danger as the rebel insurgents these days, and Durga recognized the growing need to protect Hutt Space from Imperial domination.

His laser weapon, dubbed "Darksaber" – or "Sibogethan" in Huttese – began construction over a year ago as a joint project between Durga's fringe associates and some of the Alliance's most brilliant scientists. Rebels assisted in smuggling materials to the secret facility on the largest moon of Nimban, where the native population of highly intelligent nimbanels assisted in the weapon's assembly.

"Assuming the Darksaber weapon proves to be fully functional," Mon Mothma continued, interrupting Leia's reverie, "the time to launch our final operation against the Emperor will come." Mon Mothma turned her gaze past Leia, to the grizzled figure sitting beside her. "Colonel Cracken?"

The iron-haired man stood. A veteran of the Contruum resistance, Cracken had risen from a simple mechanic to the leader of the guerilla revolution that had liberated his planet from the Empire. Leaving Contruum to engage in the wider rebellion against the Empire, Cracken had ascended to the role of Chief of Alliance Intelligence. During the Battle of Endor, he had helped coordinate the rebel fleet aboard Mon Mothma's personal flagship, the Dreadnaught cruiser New Hope. When the New Hope took a direct hit from the Executor's turbolaser batteries, a shower of molten durasteel had left him with brutal scarring along half of his face. It had not hindered his abilities, however, and Cracken refused to have it treated with bacta until this war was over and he could personally stand in the Grand Corridor of the Imperial Palace on Coruscant.

"Over the past three years, we've all gone over the reasons for our defeat at Endor time after time," he began with his usual brusqueness. Leia shifted again in her seat, not wanting to draw attention to the fact that she had been absent from those discussions, but all attention was on the colonel.

"Some," he nodded toward Wedge, "have maintained that our basic strategy was sound. That if General Madine had been able to take down the energy shield, we could have prevailed in our direct assault, even with the unexpected presence of the Imperial naval squadron. That may be so. Nevertheless, opportunity now presents us with the chance for a more subtle approach, and we would be fools not to take it."

Cracken removed a datapad from his belt, tapping at it. The lights in the conference room dimmed and the central holographic projector turned on. The center of the chamber was filled with holograms of the now-completed second Death Star. There were dozens of holographic images, each image replaced with a new one every few seconds. They were obviously taken from close up, with Coruscant prominent in the background of many. More than one holo contained images of the interior spaces housing the reactor chamber, engines, and superlaser mounting.

"These images – and a score more like them, along with very detailed schematics and schedule rosters for its military garrison – were provided to us by Baron Soontir Fel, a former TIE squadron commander in the Imperial Starfleet. Following the massacre at Endor and the destruction of Sullust, Baron Fel defected to the Rebellion with his family. A Baron of the Empire is always a welcome defection, especially when he's an ace pilot and his wife is Wynssa Starflare, but we struck aurodium with the Death Star information he was able to bring with him."

Leia noted Wedge now shifting in his seat uneasily, but he had no reason to worry. No one brought up the fact that Fel's wife, the famous holostar Wynssa Starflare, was Wedge's estranged elder sister, or that the family reunion had been made even more difficult by the fact that Wedge's brother in law had been directly responsible for the deaths of several pilots under Antilles' command. Although Wedge's relation to Fel had been known to most of the top Rebel leaders, Leia was honored that he felt close enough to confide the secret of it to her personally. Leia herself had her own suspicions.

While Fel's claim for defection had been that he could no longer serve a sovereign willing to destroy entire worlds for the pursuit of power, Leia was acutely sensitive to the fact that Alderaan's destruction had not apparently been enough of an impetus for him. She wondered if internal power struggles had more to do with it – with the Rebellion seemingly defeated after Endor and Sullust, the Emperor or one of his cronies likely saw the popular Baron Fel as more of a threat, with his skill in the cockpit no longer a saving grace. Whatever the cause, his defection was seemingly genuine and vital to their plans to once more attempt to topple the Empire. For better or worse, Wedge would have to work with Fel, and Leia vowed to provide whatever support to her friend that she could.

"The Death Star plans have allowed us to determine a method by which a small group of infiltrators can neutralize its defenses from the inside," Cracken continued. "We may not be able to deactivate the superlaser targeting systems, but we can get to its shield generators, tractor beams, and hyperdrive motivator. The station will be a sitting duck, at least for a few critical minutes before its crew can restore operations. The trouble is how to get our team onboard the battle station – a problem we have just solved."

A new hologram appeared, that of an Imperial star destroyer. "This is the star destroyer Chimaera," Cracken continued. "Since Endor, it's been one of the destroyers assigned to accompany and defend the Death Star in its operations. It is also an older ship, and is currently undergoing renovations at the Black Fifteen shipyard around N'zoth. In ten standard weeks' time, the renovations will be finished. Under a skeleton crew, it will return to the Death Star to pick up its new full crew complement. All of this is according to the deployment schedule copy provided to us by Baron Fel."

"In reality, a team of commandos led by Baron Fel, Commander Col Serra, and myself will infiltrate the Chimaera at N'zoth. When it departs to return to Coruscant, during the time that it is in hyperspace and unable to communicate with the outside galaxy, we will overpower the skeleton crew and seize control of the vessel. One half will split off and sabotage the vital systems of the station, while the other group will remain to operate the ship as a diversionary measure until our main strike fleet and the Darksaber arrive at the precise pre-ordained time. And when they do—"

"And when they do, we will finally strike the fatal blow against the Emperor we were so narrowly denied three years ago," interrupted a hard, staccato voice from the back of the room.

The assembled High Command turned to view the source of this voice. The years had not been kind to Admiral Ackbar, Supreme Commander of the Alliance Fleet. During the Battle of Endor, a damaged TIE fighter had crashed into his Home One command cruiser, damaging the bridge and crippling the ship. It had been pulled down into the atmosphere of Endor and destroyed, with only a few of the crew making it to escape pods. Ackbar had been one of them, although not by choice; one of his officers had placed his unconscious body into the pod, choosing to save the commander of the fleet over his own life.

By the time Ackbar had received medical attention, it had been too late to save his spine, and he was now paralyzed below the waist, unable to move beyond a hoverchair, his shell now dull and grayish in tone. More debilitating than the physical injuries, however, had been how his mental injuries had weighed upon him – the bitter defeat at Endor and slow retreat ever since, and the knowledge that he had been cheated of an honorable death alongside his friends and comrades aboard Home One.

Nevertheless, Ackbar remained an important commander in the fleet, and Leia knew – better than anyone else in the High Command, even better than Ackbar himself was aware – how difficult it could be not to succumb to bitterness and despair in the face of total defeat, and the realization that you were the only one of your friends to survive what was supposed to have been a stunning victory. Leia could only assume that was the reason someone with such a strong moral compass as Ackbar's had agreed to this plan.

"With all due respect, Madame Mothma and gentlemen," Leia rose to finally address the High Command's chiefs of staff. "I appreciate all the hard work and planning that has gone into this strategy, much of it while I was unfortunately unable to be here." To her credit, Leia's voice did not quiver in the slightest as she suppressed the rush of memories of her slavery. "But I still don't believe this is a wise decision. The hutts are gangsters. They have never been trustworthy in the past, and they will sell us out at the first chance they get if they think it is to their own advantage. They have no morality, no scruples, and no qualms. They represent part of the corrupt society that let the Emperor rise to power in the first place, and would stand against the new galaxy we all hope to build once this war is over. Even if they stand with us now, we owe it to our children not to mortgage their future by putting ourselves in debt to the hutts."

The conference room was silent. Leia's antipathies to the hutts were well known, and she had spoken of it among lesser gatherings of the Alliance leadership before, but it was almost unheard of for her to confront Mon Mothma this directly. To her credit, however, the Chandrillan never once lost her stately composure, and her voice was calm and friendly as she replied.

"Princess Leia, I believe I can say for everyone here that no one is pleased about us working with the hutts. In fact, I would say that we would all agree that your characterization of them was far too generous." A ripple of polite laughter circled the room, laughter which Leia did not join in – nor, she noticed to her pleasure, did Wedge. "However, on a larger scale, this is far from the first time we have been forced into a marriage of convenience with criminal elements. We have a vested mutual interest in overthrowing the Empire, and their 'Darksaber' weapon is too valuable for us to pass up using. Nor would we want them operating it independently. Hutt-linked contractors will also be invaluable to us successfully infiltrating the N'zoth drydock."

Mothma's gaze left Leia's eyes to sweep around the chamber, and Leia knew she was no longer the sole intended recipient of the Chief of State's words. "What's more, time is of the essence. The N'zoth repair work will end at the earliest possible moment the Darksaber becomes operational. This is the best chance we will ever get to destroy the Empire's ultimate weapon. For whatever reason, the Emperor's attention over the past year has drifted from his new toy. His gaze is wandering about the galaxy, and his inattention and absence from the Death Star leaves it vulnerable. We have no idea what project or goal he has in mind, but if the Emperor finds or completes whatever he is now focused on, it will only serve to solidify this tyrant's grasp over the galaxy. We cannot let that happen. We cannot afford to wait another year, or two, or ten, for such an alignment of factors to favor us again. That is why our alliance with the hutts is essential. With them, we have a chance – a very real chance – to finish the work we ought to have completed at Endor three years ago. My friends, in ten weeks, let us drink to victory on Coruscant itself!"

This time as the cheers went around the High Command, Leia joined in the applause – but her misgivings remained just below the surface of her thoughts.

The meeting went on for another hour, planning out the tasks that would need to be completed for the assault on Coruscant to have even a chance of success. Cracken and Serra were to pour over the rosters of the Alliance's top remaining intelligence operatives, special forces, and technicians, hand-picking their elite team for the hijacking of the Chimaera and infiltration of the Death Star.

Winter would have been perfect for the mission, Leia privately considered, and she felt a small pang of guilt at having recently redirected her friend on another a small, more personal mission instead.

For her own part, Leia had been assigned with Wedge to survey the Darksaber construction site on Nimban, one of the Hutt Cartel's oldest client worlds. The Darksaber was a vast, intricate vessel and the date of the Chimaera's return to the Death Star upon which the whole plan hinged was at the very earliest possibility for completing of the Darksaber. The rebel team that Leia and Wedge were leading would include several technicians and scientists who would hopefully be able to speed it along. A shakedown cruise would be ideal, for Leia would feel much better about the rickety second-hand Death Star imitation if she knew it wouldn't explode the first time they tried to fire its superlaser. Leia supposed she would know soon enough; the meeting had been the final joint gathering of the High Command before the battle, and shortly the supervisory team would be leaving for Nimban.

With the briefing adjourned, Leia and Wedge left the command post to walk outside, heading in the direction of the base's utilitarian starport landing field. The headquarters on Kozur Two was modest even by the former standards of the Rebel Alliance. Unlike Dantooine or Yavin IV, there were no massive ruins from a past civilization to appropriate, and unlike Hoth, there was no major construction programs to establish their secret base. Instead, the Alliance had been reduced to operating out of a few prefabricated military buildings and barracks, leftover Old Republic military surplus from the Clone Wars.

Kozur Two was a jungle world, and the moon's atmosphere – even more humid and oppressive than Yavin – caused Leia to immediately burst into a sweat, her gray jumpsuit clinging to her instantly. To his credit, however, Wedge pretended not to notice, eyes straying from her own but once as he continued, nonplussed, in their conversation from inside.

"For what it's worth, Your Highness, I agreed with every word you said in there. I want my future children growing up in a galaxy that is truly free. I don't want a bunch of hutt criminals taking credit for our victory and then being free to continue peddling slaves and spice across the galaxy." He laughed. "Who knew I could still be such an idealist?" A shadow fell over his face. "Sometimes, I don't even feel like I can be."

Wedge shook his head, briefly bringing the right side of his face into Leia's view. It was a face that looked older now, more worn and battle-scarred – both figuratively and literally – than the carefree Wedge Leia remembered saying goodbye to prior to leaving for Tatooine to rescue Han. A thin white scar bisected his right cheek, barely hidden by the light beard he now wore.

After the massacre at Endor, Mon Mothma had promoted Wedge – one of the senior Rebel pilots remaining – to the rank of General. Along with commanding Rogue Squadron, he was now one of the senior members of the Rebel High Command, and clearly feeling the pressure. Having felt that same pressure for years, Leia didn't wish that duress on anybody, much less her friend. In an effort to reduce the tension, Leia lay a hand on Wedge's shoulder, smiling.

"Future children, Wedge? I never knew you wanted to be a daddy."

He laughed again – a genuine laugh this time, not the rueful laughter from before. "I suppose it's crossed my mind a few times lately. I guess all the losses we've felt have made me think about the importance of bringing new life into the galaxy. An entire legion of Wedge Juniors would be enough to put the fear of the Maker into any Imperial, after all. But I've barely had time to even think about it, much less try out the dating scene. Need to find a woman who could put up with me, first."

Leia was all too aware of how his gaze drifted, just for a nanosecond, into her own eyes when he said the words, before darting away again. She felt an intense burst of emotion coil like a spring in her belly at the intimation, before drawing on the Force to temper it down. The last thing she needed at the moment was to start blushing like a schoolgirl walking home with her new crush. Instead, she smiled again.

"I can't imagine a hero like you would have trouble finding a woman, Wedge. You're one of the greatest leaders the Alliance has ever had, and you've played a major role in helping keep the coalition together since Endor. We very well might not be here today without you. Everyone – here on Kozur Two, in the Alliance, and everyone else in the galaxy who hopes deep in their heart that they might one day be free again – owes you so very much."

Leia had worried about blushing before, but now it was Wedge whose face turned crimson. He smiled modestly, bringing his hand up to the back of his head, obviously embarrassed. "Well, I don't know about all that. I'm just a simple pilot, regardless of whatever rank Mon Mothma wants to give me. I'm just doing my job, Your Highness. I'm not like you." His eyes once more met her own, and Leia felt an electric surge up her spine at the intensity of the gaze and the earnestness of the words.

"Mothma may be the official leader, but you were always the one to inspire respect and admiration throughout the general populace. People looked up to you, Your Highness. They still do," Wedge continued. "When you came back, after so long of being assumed dead – it's hard to put into words. We may have technically rebuilt forces since Endor, but on the inside, spiritually, we were still nothing more than the walking dead. When you returned, it was a new hope for us all. You gave us life again. You made it all right for us to dare dream that we actually might be able to take the fight to the Emperor again, and come out on top. We all believe in you." He took one of her hands in between his own, holding it tight. "I believe in you, Leia."

The princess felt like she couldn't breathe, not for any physical reason, but that she was so overwhelmed by the praise, the passion from Wedge – normally so polite and reserved around her – that her mind was unable to do anything more than try to process his words. They were so simple, so heartfelt, so raw, and they cut into her in a way that an entire datapad worth of flowery praise from the likes of her erstwhile fiancé, Prince Xizor, would never be able to do.

Wedge seemed to notice the effect his words had on her. Clearly nervous and embarrassed by his outpouring, he let go of her hands, taking a step back from her. During their walk, they had reached the starport field, the merchant freighter they were due to board only a few meters away. The ship's female captain stood outside, making a few final adjustments to the engine manifolds with her hydrospanner.

"I should ... go inside and check everything out." Wedge rubbed the back of his head again. "These older freighters ... You never know what quirks are going to pop up. I'll see you aboard, okay?"

Leia could do no more than nod as Wedge took off – quickly, but not impolitely so – toward the ship's loading ramp. The Flurry was a Quasar Fire-class bulk cruiser that had originally belonged to the newly-liberated revolutionary government of Virgillia 7. Allies of the Rebellion, the Virgillians had loaned it for use at Endor. After most of its command crew had been killed in the battle, and the Virgillian government defected back to Imperial control in the aftermath, the Alliance had retained the ship, giving it a new commander.