CHAPTER SEVEN

Chris let his gaze sweep across the city of Etti IV upon leaving the Rogue in the spaceport behind them. Unlike Cordoba, Etti IV was not a community put together in any random arrangement. The men who had been responsible for its construction, wanted a city that would represent splendour that could be comparative to the contemporary designs of Coruscant as well as an oasis in the wilderness of Star's End. It had succeeded in a small way, Chris decided as he saw a skyline serrated with the tops of spires, office buildings and lavishly designed skyscrapers. Hover cars whisked about the tree lined streets and people went about their business, like they did anywhere in the core worlds, oblivious to all except those who might make them profit, which was the main reason for being in Star's End. 

Beyond the boundaries of the Etti IV, was nothing but bland landscape travelling as far as the eye could see. Doily looking ornithoids glided across the watery blue sky, pausing long enough in the sand to be devoured by the sand feeders, ravenous creatures who hid beneath the sand with their jaws agape, until some foolish victim chose to cross what it though to be just another odd shape stone formation. It was a place that would not support human life and not his first choice for the establishment of vast city. Unfortunately, according to Rogue's directories, this world sat in the heart of Star's End and provided a central convergence point for all ventures that transpired in this place. 

"We should get off the street." Chris heard Vin Tanner remark after a few seconds in the open. Vin had reacted just as they all had to the presence of the trio of Espos, Secret Police, walking past. Espos, no doubt abbreviated from some ostentatious official title, had the same powers in the Corporate Sector as Imperial Stormtroopers and it was a wise idea to not call their attention.  

"Where to Ezra?" Nathan asked. "You're the expert." 

"As much as I may detest it, I think we shall visit my mother." Ezra said reluctantly. 

"Your mother lives here?" JD asked with no particular intent behind his question, other than curiosity. The youth was still new enough to space travel to be fascinated by every port they made since joining the Rebel Alliance. His eyes were studying everything and the others had become accustomed to his wide eye observation.

"Yes," Ezra answered. "After her contract was done with the Hutts, she took her sizeable recompense and come here to become an entrepreneur, if I recollect her words correctly." 

"I don't know why you get so embarrassed about her Ezra," Nathan said disapprovingly. "I know she's a little bit of a con artist, for that matter so are you but Maude don't hurt no one who never asked for it." 

"I'm sure your judgement would be so stellar if she were your mother." Ezra gave his oldest friend a look. 

"So where is she?" Chris spoke up with a tone in his voice that indicated that this idle chatter was not bringing them any closer to Mary.

Ezra could sense the tension in the Jedi, like the rest of his companions and decided that it was probably prudent if they made a hastier progress than they were presently accomplishing. "Fortunately," Ezra looked at Chris. "She is not too far away from our present location so we will not be needing the services of a hover car." 

"So what does your mother do for a living?" Buck inquired as they crossed the street into something of a boulevard flanked by trendy shops, sporting everything from clothing to exotic pets.

"She owns a bistro called Standish Room Only." Ezra announced as Buck's eyes followed two leggy human females walking past them on the sidewalk. 

"Wait a minute," Vin spoke immediately. "I know that place. I had to get my payoff on a job there once, its not a bistro, its a entertainment club." 

"An entertainment club?" JD asked, once again showing his inexperience. 

"Yeah," Buck grinned. "That means we're talking about gaming lounges, dance floors with rich, idle women, some places have stage shows for the customers and did I say women? Lots of women." He put an arm JD's shoulder an offered the younger man a little smile. "Maybe while Ezra and the others are conducting their business, we might see to putting some whiskers on that baby chin of yours."

 "Settle down big fella." Chris gave his friend a look because just the thought had made JD shudder with fear. "We're here to find Mary." He reminded Buck.

 "Sorry," Buck made a quick apology and shrugged his shoulders in JD's direction. "Next time kid." 

"Fine by me," JD returned in irritation. "And I do have whiskers on my chin." 

"No you have peach fuzz." The older man teased. 

"As much as I hate to interrupt this intellectually stimulating conversation," Ezra broke into the two's conversation. "I believe we are here."

The Standish Room Only Bistro was definitely not a bistro. Even though it was barely evening, a steady stream of customers were departing and entering the establishment. It was certainly no dive as it was evident from its external view that this was a place of opulence. Glass facades gleamed from the departing sunlight and as they approached the automatic doors, a gust of cool air-conditioned air greeted them from the interior. The gentle bass thumping of music could be heard through the glass walls, not to mention the cacophony of voices in utter revelry. 

"I am impressed." Nathan declared, unable to remember when was the last time he had been in such a place and then remembered that it was probably the last time he had been an Imperial officers. The life of a rebel did not allow the opportunity for such luxuries. "Maude always knew how to do things with class." 

"Yes she does," Ezra begrudgingly admitted as they entered the place and was greeted by a statuesque, auburn pelted Wookie bouncer who kept watch on the patrons and ensured that no one got rowdy lest they wanted to be the focus of its attention. "If you gentleman will find yourselves a table, I will go find my dear mother in all this."

"No problem." Buck retorted as Ezra drew away, his eyes already focussing on a table occupied with a bevy of beautiful women clad in chryosilk and other luminescent material, giving him come hither looks.

"Someone hold onto Buck." Vin joked. 

"Very funny." Buck gave the apprentice Jedi a short glare. "Ezra said to mingle." 

"He said to grab a table and wait." Nathan retorted and grabbed Buck gently by the arm and towed him away from his drift towards the ladies.

"Hey look, they got Starfight games!" JD exclaimed as he glanced in the direction of the gaming room and found that aside from the countless sabaac tables were also one on one games like Mind Jam, Reflex Races and Senso Switch."

 "I got him," Josiah remarked tugging JD by the collar before the young man gave in to his impulses. 

"But...but...but..." JD started to say as Josiah guided him to an empty table.  

No sooner than they sat down, a curvaceous native of Ulan 2 came up to their table in order to get their order for drinks. She trailed a soft plume of dark auburn feathers behind her as she sauntered to them, her skin hidden by the luxuriously delicate covering of white feathers that tapered into her bird like face with wide, indigo collared eyes. A small metallic object hidden away in the folds of white allowed her to speak and be understood. She was one of many non-human types in the establishment. There was so many that the six men, except for maybe Josiah had trouble identifying from which planet some of these eclectic sentients originated. Respirators, odd shaped drinking utensils were provided for those who required more than the conventional cutlery and atmosphere could provide. Strobe lights flashed in their direction from the nearby dance floor where a bubble of low gravity had been activated so dancers would appear graceful and light on their feat when they moved. 

"This is my next vacation spot." Buck said firmly.  

"We don't get vacations in the Rebel Alliance," Nathan reminded with a smile. "Remember you're a patriot."

"In your dreams." Buck retorted as he went back to entertaining himself with the establishment's fine selection of female patrons, performers and employees.

"Ezra's mother must be doing quite well." Josiah remarked, taking another look at the place. "Its not even evening." 

"Well Maude was always a shrewd business woman." Nathan remarked as the same Ulanite waitress returned and served them their drinks. She always knew how to make gold from nothing."

"Hey there's Ezra." JD pointed out and the group cast their gaze in the direction of the Imperial officer approaching their table with a very handsome woman of vintage at his arm. Although the resemblance between the two undoubtedly gave away their relationship, she certainly did not look like anyone's mother. A tasteful shimmersilk dress clung to her body, showing quite firmly that keeping her figure was not a problem and her golden hair with little signs of grey, was mounted on top of her head in a stylish twist. It made all that viewed her wonder how spectacular she must have looked in her younger years. 

"That's his mother?" Buck exclaimed with obvious approval. 

"It appears so." Chris muttered, having to admit that Maude Standish did keep her age well but he could not be as appreciative as the others because his thoughts were too cantered on Mary to be so easily distracted by the obvious charms of the Standish Room Only establishment. 

"Nathan!" Maude gushed seeing him. Nathan stood up and was immediately on the receiving end of a warm hug. She paused a moment from her happy greeting to give him a more serious look. "How have you been?" 

Nathan knew that she was referring to how he was getting on since Ana's death for Maude had been there for their wedding, with Ezra as best man. "I'm surviving."

"I see," Maude nodded, still

"Mother, may I introduce you to my friends," Ezra started running off the names of his companion when Josiah Sanchez stood up and make his own introduction.

 "It's been a long time Maude." Josiah said with a smile.

"As I live and breathe, Josiah Sanchez! What are you doing in this neck of the woods, Senator?" She asked as Josiah took her hand and kissed it gently on the knuckles. 

"Mother?" Ezra asked suspiciously as he saw the long, wistful gazes being passed between the two old 'acquaintances'. "Have you two met?" 

"I'd say that's a distinct possibility." Nathan remarked, just as surprised by the reaction. 

"Oh darling," Maude looked up at Ezra, Josiah still holding his hand much to the Imperial officers chagrin. "Josiah and I go way back. Before your father in fact." 

"Just how much did you con me out of?" Josiah gave her a warm look. 

"I believe I won those fifty credits from you Senator, fair and square." She returned his gaze with mischievous wink before Josiah pulled up her chair for them to join them. 

"This galaxy is becoming all too small for my liking," Ezra grumbled as he sat down, not at all liking the way Maude was looking at Josiah. In the years past, there had always been suitors, a woman as beautiful as Maude could not expect less but she always viewed those suitors as conquests to be made, not paramours worthy of her. The way she looked at Josiah was different and the commander of the Cordoba base did not know whether or not he ought to be happy about this reunion. 

"Ma'am, this is a mighty fine place you have here." Buck found that he had to comment on this before they discuss any further. 

"Why thank you Buck," she smiled and then her eyes met Chris. "I did not think there were many of you left." She did not need to say Jedi but Chris could tell clearly that was what she meant without having to use the Force to read her thoughts.

 "There are a few of us." Chris said politely, no wish to discuss that subject on any level. 

"So Ezra," Maude turned her attention to her son. "I did as you asked, I sent your base on Cordoba that message. You care to tell me what it is you're involved in?"

"It is probably best that you don't know Maude," Josiah interjected smoothly. 

"Oh Ezra," Maude shook her head in disapproval. "You could have been the best around, for you to be wasting your god given talents on the military and now god only knows what, it just breaks my heart."

"Mother..." Ezra had no wish to get into this with her right now. He knew that she was disappointed that he had not followed her into the business but the point of his enrolment into the Academy was for that very reason. 

"Maude we need your help," Josiah responded rescuing Ezra from any further discussion on his career choices. "We need to find out how to get to Black Sun." 

Maude's eyes widened in shock. "Are you insane, all of you?" She asked in a low voice and then turned to Ezra. "Darling, you are not involved in this hazardous escapade are you?" 

"Brace yourself," he gave her fair warning. 

"Oh Ezra," she grumbled again, disappointment clearly showing in her features. 

"Do you know how to find them?" Chris asked in cool, soothing voice that seemed to end any further argument Maude had and the woman nodded slowly, as if hypnotized by his voice. Chris hated using his powers on her that way but he had no choice. His patience had run out.

"Yes," she said almost dreamily. "There's a man named......" 

************

"Kelso." Alex forced the well-known snitch back into his booth in the dark corner of the bar she and Mary had entered a few seconds ago. 

This place was not at all luxurious but came with dark corners and odd smells that reeked of booze, inadequate respirators for non-oxygen breathing life forms and a host of narcotics that were sold under the table. The dim lighting kept its clientele partially obscured but not from someone like Alex who dealt in shadows and knew where to look. Kelso's reputation among the underworld was well known. He was a bunko artist who was more proficient in information gathering than the art of the con. The weaselly little man was having a meal when Alex and Mary happened upon him. Upon seeing the two-armed women approaching him, Kelso had tried to make a run for it but could not get past Alex. 

"What do you want?" The man asked nervously as Alex slid into the booth with him on one side while Mary took the other flanking position. His protests did not become so vocal when Alex jammed her gun into his stomach under the table. Around them, the other patrons of the bar who were engaged in activities almost as illegal if not more than simple coercion, ignored the trio of humans. 

"Information." Alex said simply. 

"I don't know nothing." The man retorted quickly. 

"Now that's not what we hear Kelso," Mary remarked smoothly. "They say that if there's news to be had in this town, you're our man." 

"They're wrong." Kelso answered starting to twitch. "I'm just an honest businessman." 

"Whose got more scams running that usually end up fizzling then any other 'honest businessmen' in the quadrant." Alex hissed. "Now, you're needing a sure thing about now Kelso, so I'm going to give you a hand." 

"A hand?" He looked at her in puzzlement.  

"Yeah," the operative narrowed her eyes and stared at him with a menacing look. "If you don't tell us what we need to know, I'm going to kill your right here and now because you're not use to me alive if you can't give me information. Is that a sure enough thing for you?" She punctuated her threat by tightening her finger around the trigger of her gun. 

"I guess so," the man said reluctantly, having little choice to concede to the argument considering that his refusal would most likely see his innards spread out across the booth. "What do you want to know?" he asked, licking his lips. 

"Black Sun." 

As soon as he heard the word pass her lips, Kelso stood up abruptly in fear. "No way," he declared with an unprecedented surge of bravery. "I ain't crossing swords with Chase, I ain't getting fed to no kryat dragon." 

"Sit down." Alex ordered once more, pulling him down and quashing any ideas he might have that he was walking out of here without giving them any information. "You won't be crossing swords with Chase. All we want to know is where to find her. We hear she hires female talent. We want to take her our resumes personally." 

Kelso found himself in an untenable situation. If he did not give these two women what they wanted, he was sure that they would kill him right this minute. Of course, if news leaked back to Black Sun that he had talked, he would also be just as dead. No matter how he looked at it, he was in a no-win situation. Finally, he opted for the extension his life from this point on. "Okay, okay," he grumbled and took a big gulp of his drink. "You won't tell her where you got your info?" He asked hopefully. 

"No," Mary answered before Alex could. "If you give us what we want, you're involvement is over. We won't tell her anything. We just want to meet her personally." 

It was not much of a guarantee but at this point, he had little choice in the matter. "I don't know nothing fore sure except that Chase likes to move around a lot."

That much was consistent with what Alex knew personally about the woman. Laurel Chase had made a lot of enemies in her time and it did not surprise Alex that she would opt for a secret base of operations. "Go on." She instructed. 

Kelso twitched anxiously before he started speak. "All I know is that her last boyfriend was a Baron or something on Orron 3. When she had him snuffed out, she took over the place and moved Black Sun in there." 

"Orron 3," Alex frowned, recognizing the name. 

"You know it?" Mary asked. 

"Yeah," Alex nodded. "It's no more than a day's journey from here." She answered. However, she was not happy that Orron 3 was also notable as the last star system before passing the galactic rim into the void that existed between their galaxy and its nearest neighbour.  

"You better be right about this." She turned to Kelso and poked the barrel of her gun deeper into his side. "If you're sending us on some wild snipe hunt, I guarantee you'll regret it when we get back." 

"I'm telling you the truth!" He insisted. "That's all I know!" 

"Okay Kelso," Mary met Alex's gaze and indicated that it was time to go. "It's been a pleasure doing business with you." She said sliding out of the booth. Alex lingered long enough for Mary to have her hand poised over her own gun, in case Kelso decided to do anything stupid, before withdrawing her own weapon and moving away from the snitch.

The two women strode out of the bar, garnering appreciative glances as they sauntered towards the door. Neither of them spoke until they were well and truly beyond the dank surroundings of the establishment and back into the setting warmth of Etti IV's daylight.  

"You think he was telling the truth?" Mary asked as they made their way back to the spaceport where the Tracker was berthed in a restricted bay paid handsomely by Alex to maintain their anonymity and where Casey Wells was still seething from being confined to the ship while they took care of business.  

"He was too terrified to lie." Alex said coolly.  

"Tell me," Mary found herself asking. "Would you have shot him if he didn't tell us?" 

Alex looked at her with a little smile and replied. "Hell no, but he would have a good scar to remember us by."

CHAPTER EIGHT

According to Maude Standish, Black Sun kept its location a veiled secret from most. Laurel Chase was said to have many enemies, Hutts notwithstanding and often moved her base of operations from place to place, thus never allowing those who would harm her, a reliable target at which they could strike. However, like all secrets, there was always someone trading in information and quiet whispers that knew more than was preferred known. While Maude rarely had reason to employ the talents of such men these days, she did know of their existence and pointed the seven in the direction of a local snitch named Kelso.

By the time seven arrived at Kelso’s usual haunt, the man had already concluded his discussion with Mary Travis and Alex Styles regarding the location of Black Sun’s most current address. Chris had entered the seedy dive and immediately knew the man they were seeking; shifting through the conundrum of emotions that emanated from the patrons of the establishment, to capture the flash of memory in Kelso’s mind at the unmistakable visage of Mary Travis. While Kelso had no suspicion regarding who he had spoken to, Chris saw a face that was Mary’s and not quite Mary’s either. It would have been a source of great discontent if he had not realized that Mary would have been too astute to embark on a crusade like this without taking some precautions to hiding her identity.

Despite having missed Mary and Alex in what appeared to be a matter of hours, Kelso was still able to impart them with the same information that he had produced for the two rebel commanders. It did not even require coercion in any form; the same method that had proved so successful at extracting information from Maude Standish was also employed by Chris on the snivelling Mr. Kelso. Less than fifteen minutes after their arrival into the tavern, the seven were on their way out of it, this time headed for the spaceport once again. If there were lucky, the Tracker might not have departed but if it had, then they themselves would be departing for Orron 3.

"What do we know about Orron 3?" Josiah inquired as the entered the confines of the space port with its menagerie of different alien species, bound by a similar state of transit.

 "It is a barony." Ezra explained. "Nothing much in the way of profit but someone with dreams of a title established something of a colony there about 120 years ago. I believe it is mostly an agricultural world and earns its lot by providing sustenance to the rest of the worlds on Stars End. In its way it is wealthy but not exactly the most sought out place on the tourist agenda. Unfortunately, it has the dubious honour of being last star system before the galactic rim. Being so far away from civilization, makes it a perfect venue for Lauren Chase’ purposes." 

"Probably full of dumb farmers with no idea what she’s up to." Buck drawled, having visited similar worlds and found that the people usually had very little interest anything other than seed, weather and livestock. It explained why the women were always so starved for company.

"That would suit her just fine." Vin retorted, not at all happy to be running into the lady again. "Secluded with people who don’t know any better what she’s doing and wouldn’t be able to do anything about it even if they did."

 "Is she really that bad?" Buck glanced at the bounty hunter turned apprentice, unable to believe any woman could inspire such fear. Of course, he understood that he was probably a bit near sighted when it came to the members of the opposite sex. He so loved women that it was impossible for him to imagine that they could be so devious or sadistic, in the case of Black Sun’s feared leader.

 "I know a couple of bounty hunters who did work for her once," Vin answered as Nathan went to the counter to inquire after the arrival of any new ships in the last day that might have departed a few hours later. "Said they wouldn’t work for her again. Rookie named Dengar had his faced mangled by one of her people when he brought in a mark dead instead of alive. Half his face was gone because she set a krayt dragon on him." 

"A krayt dragon?" JD exclaimed, hearing of such animals spoken of as if they were things of myth, not real. As far as he knew krayt dragons were big and mean, with a tongue that was capable of stripping think layers of skin off flesh. There was no death more agonizing than being the meal of krayt dragon. 

"Yeah," Vin nodded, not at all exaggerating which only made his story all the more chilling. "Dengar got out alive because he was pretty smart but he ain’t much to look at any more." 

"This does not give me much hope for Stephen." Josiah muttered glumly. 

"Same here." Chris frowned, sensing real fear in Vin beyond what he was telling them. There was very little that tested the bounty hunter’s resolve but Chris sensed that it was more the woman’s consummate evil that frightened him rather than actual fear for his own life. Chris could appreciate that. When he had been fighting with Vader, just sensing the darkness radiating from the Sith Lord had been enough to make him shudder. It was a hard thing to know that just as there were inordinately good and noble people in the galaxy, there were also vile creatures that had no business breathing the same air as the rest of them. "

 "I am afraid there is every reason to be concerned regarding the state of Mr Travis." Ezra replied. "In recent years, her name has been whispered about in dark corners because no one wishes to incur her wrath. The lady does not kill her enemies cleanly. I have heard of poor souls in her clutches who have endured most lingering ends."

 "The idea of Mary being anywhere near a creature like that is decidedly unpleasant." Josiah remarked. 

"Actually I don’t think that’s what you got to worry about," JD said offhandedly as they reached the departure terminal of the spaceport, in order to learn whether or not the Tracker had departed Etti IV in the last few hours.

"What do you mean?" Buck looked at the young man in question.

 JD looked up and swallowed thickly upon realising that an explanation was demanded of him for his statement. He took a moment to articulate what he was going to say into something that would not make him appear foolish in the company of his more experienced companions. "Well Mary’s no fool. This Chase woman may be bad but we are talking about a commander whose got more guts than I’ve ever seen, not to mention she’s real smart. She runs a rebel base doesn’t she? She figures things out way faster then any of us. I mean when we had to escape from Zhar and that Destroyer was waiting for us? Until she came back on board with Chris, we weren’t sure we were going to get away. Ten minutes after she took the bridge we jumped into hyperspace. I don’t think we ought to be worried about how much trouble she is in but rather how much trouble she’s willing to cause to get to her husband. I figure nothing is holding her back so maybe we ought to figure out what to expect instead of trying to save her from Chase. Besides, knowing Commander Travis, she’s got that part figured out all on her own."

 For a moment, none of the six men spoke and when the silence was finally broken, it was Ezra Standish whose voice was heard commenting first. "Granted I do not know Commander Travis as closely as you do but I do believe the young man has made a valid statement. The lady is known for her ability to handle herself." 

"You’re right JD," Chris added, similarly impressed by JD’s insight. They had been so worried about Mary, he included, it had never occurred to him what a force she could be if unleashed. Mary was passionate about the things she loved and being on the receiving end of that affection, he reminded himself that she had once abandoned her ship to come save his life because she refused to let him go out of this life so needlessly. When Chris had been willing to die, it was her voice that had brought him back from the brink. Now he had to do the same for her, even if it meant losing her to Stephen Travis. "Mary would have had a plan for how she was going to get Stephen back. If we go in there without any idea what she’s got in mind we could get her killed, not to mention ourselves." 

"So what do you suggest?" Josiah asked. 

"When we approach Black Sun, we do not make any reference to Mary." Chris stated. 

"That’s going to be hard." Vin retorted. "If this place is under Chase’s thumb, we’ll need a good reason to go there." 

"If I might make a suggestion?" Ezra spoke up. "All of you are known criminals who are wanted in every civilized star system in the Empire. The location of Black Sun’s present hideout is remote enough to warrant the interest of persons other than herself as a refuge from the authorities." 

"If she’s holding Stephen Travis prisoner, might our arrival, as known members of the rebel alliance make her a little suspicious?" Buck returned. 

"Yes it would," Ezra nodded with a smile. "However, do you know of a better way to get in?" 

Nathan Jackson took that moment to return to his companions, an expression of grim disappointment on his face. It required no clairvoyance to guess what the results of his inquiries had been. In truth, it had been a slim hope that Mary would remain in Etti IV after learning what she needed from Kelso. Her actions so far had proved that she was determined to find Stephen and would waste no time or expense in achieving that end. She had left everything behind her when she departed the rebel base with Alex Styles.

"A ship matching the Tracker left here about an hour ago." Nathan announced. "The flight plan they lodged for the records indicated that the ship was bound for the core worlds."  

"That’s just a smoke screen." Buck guessed immediately. He had pulled that trick several times when he had come across customs officials with a little too much interest in his business. "Something safe that won’t make the Espos blink twice. She’s on her way to the Rim."

"Well at least my ship is in one piece." Vin grumbled, still unable to believe that Mary had opted to go on her crusade on his beloved vessel.

"Which is more than I can say about your light sabre." Nathan deadpanned and was shot a dark look from Vin as a small burst of laughter erupted.

 "Are all of you gonna give me grief about that?" Vin glowered. 

"Only until you build it." Buck grinned at him.

 "We better get after her," Chris cut in, reminding them they had purpose, as he started towards the bay where the Rogue was presently berthed. "At the rate we’re going, we’re not going to catch up with her until the dust settles."

**********

"Why can’t I come with you?" Casey Wells whined shortly after the Tracker had landed in the rustic surroundings of Orron 3. It was night on the planet and their landing site had been a clearing in the woods since the main settlement on the world and the most likely place to find Black Sun, had no space to speak off. Thanks to Vin who ensured his craft was outfitted with military grade sensor equipment, they had been able to detect the main focus of settlement on the rustic world. The rest of the planet was undeveloped, with large tracts of vegetation and forested continents, steeped above calm, blue oceans. If not for its remote location, the planet would have settled by more than just farmers trying to eke out a living in this isolated corner of the galaxy.

 "Because it isn’t safe." Mary said wearily as she and Alex prepared to leave the Tracker. She check her gun once more and slid it into her holster while Alex powered down the ship and left minimal power running so that Casey would be able to use the amenities on board. Vin Tanner’s ship had been his home as well as his main mode of transport and there was more than enough comforts on the vessel to ensure that Casey would not be languishing while they were continuing their search for Stephen. "We need a legitimate excuse to infiltrate Black Sun and with the identity papers that we managed to get on Etti IV, we might be able to bluff our way through Chase but you won’t be easy to explain."

 "But it’s so unfair." Casey grumbled, her lips curving into a pout as she sat down heavily on the captain’s chair, expressing her displeasure with a series of complaints. "I know I could be of help to you."

 "You can." Mary did not look at her as she continued her preparations to leave the ship but she was nonetheless listening to what the girl had to say. "You need to make sure that nothing happens to our only way of this planet if anything goes wrong. Besides, we both have transmitters which we can use to communicate so we won’t be completely out of touch." 

"If anything goes wrong, I won’t be able to leave the ship!" Casey exclaimed. "I don’t know how to fly her."

 "That is true," Mary turned to her patiently, frankly amazing Alex at her ability to endure this annoying child’s prattling. "However, you do know how to send a coded signal better than anyone I know, so if we are in trouble I know I can count on you to get us help but that will only work if you don’t get captured with the rest of us."

"Okay," Casey finally conceded defeat, appreciating the situation even though she did not like it

"Listen kid," Alex added after Mary had finished pacifying the young woman. "You’re smart and much too young for Chase to take seriously. If we took you with us, we’d compromise our cover and honestly, you know too much about the Alliance to fall into the hands of a woman like that. She knows a prize when she sees it and you are a prize."

"Really?" Casey asked, unable to deny feeling some pride at having an agent of Alex’s note endorse her contribution to the Alliance. Most of the time, she did not feel that what she was doing for the organization to be of any importance. She had hoped to aid Mary in her quest but despite her chagrin understood her limitations and why she could not go. Mary was taking a gamble by letting her stay on board as it was, instead of putting her on the first transport back to someone who could see her safely to the Alliance. Casey did not even want to imagine what Uncle Josiah would say if he knew she was here. There was probably so much going on with them discovering that Mary had taken off that they probably had not even noticed she was gone, not even that peasant JD. 

Handsome peasant though. She found herself thinking unconsciously and shook the thought out of her head. Stupid farm boys were not good enough for her. She was an aristocrat.

"Really." Alex said with a warm smile, knowing that it would mean a lot to the girl. She was annoying and opinionated like every other seventeen-year-old that Alex had ever met but she was also spirited and unreasonably brave and Alex liked all those qualities too much to dislike her. "You're our ace in the hole in case we get into trouble. If worst comes to worse and we get caught, you're the only thing that's going to save our necks." 

"We have to go." Mary declared finally. The time for this discussion was done.

Alex and Mary exchanged glances following that final statement. Their eyes held each other for a brief instance; the ritual between warriors about to embark upon an uncertain for a battle whose outcome they could not predict or were certain could win. However, there was no turning back from taking the path, even if it led to destruction or their oblivion. Even though the odds were good that they would not find Stephen alive, that this was a fool's errand, they had to try because of the circle. Their friendship had always been strong but when Mary through Alex's introduction had married Stephen, it had evolved through the marital union to be something special beyond the ability to describe. When Stephen had died the circle had not merely broken it shattered. 

Now was a chance to mend it again, to make it whole, to make each other whole. His death changed everything. It had made Mary whom until then only considered joining the rebellion throw herself fully into the cause, forsaking everything. For Alex, who had tipped first, had lived with the guilt that perhaps is she had not approached Mary about the rebellion, if she had not brought Mary's attention to the cause, perhaps Stephen would have been alive. Perhaps Mary would have her Star Destroyer command.

 "You be careful." Mary threw her a final warning at Casey as she and Alex started towards the Tracker's main hatch.

 "Don't talk to any strangers." Alex winked at her.

 "Good luck," Casey called out, watching them reach the hatch. Despite herself, as she watched them out to face an evil she could not imagine, the young woman suddenly felt a sliver of fear run through her at the prospect that if they did not return, she would be trapped on this forgotten world all alone.

**********

The skies above Orron 3 were eerie.

 It was eerie because in one corner of the sky, the stars glittered against the canopy of space like diamonds scattered on a bed of velvet. The core systems were gleaming jewels in the night, moving towards the horizon of tall, deciduous trees, before disappearing like the sun setting in the distance. The rest of the sky, however, was empty. It was the stark contrast between the two which produced the constricting fear of the immense blackness of what lay beyond the edge of the galaxy, where there was truly nothing but emptiness, soul crushing in its depths. It was one to thing to hear of it, to know it existed somewhere but to see it for oneself, to find the edge of the maw and stare into its cold darkness, could crush the spirit from the sheer understanding.

 It had been no easy feat to find a suitable place to land amidst the thick covering of trees beyond the main settlement of Orron 3. Alex had circled the ship above the vicinity of the settlement, in search of a landing site that would not be too far away since they would have to reach it by foot once they were on the ground. Now as they walked through the ring of forest that surrounded the clearing of land where the town was situated, they could see the flicker of lights in the distance. Glittering points of light beckoned them in the night and Mary estimated that the town was only slightly smaller than the outpost on Cordoba. According to the military grade sensors that Vin Tanner had fitted onto his ship, there was very little technology on the planet. However, she did not delude herself with notion that someone like Laurel Chase would not know how to circumvent sensor readings if she desired. However, this played out, Mary knew with absolute certainty that if Laurel did not already know about the arrival of the Tracker to her bastion at Stars End, she would do so when they entered the settlement and showed themselves. No doubt, Laurel would have agents planted in the community to keep an eye on her interests. 

Neither spoke for a time after leaving the ship, their minds fixed on private thoughts as they journeyed through the darkness towards the settlement. Mary kept thinking about Chris and then invariably felt guilty for doing so because she was meant to be singularly focussed on Stephen. Her feelings about him were confused especially now that there was the possibility of finding Stephen. No matter how much she tried to concentrate on the task of freeing Stephen, Mary found her thoughts drifting almost involuntarily back to Chris. It angered her that she could not put him behind and because the reasons of why that might be were more than she could cope with at this moment. It remain inside, a Pandora's box she dared not open for once unleashed inside of her, would taint everything she was trying to do and everything that she was.

You weren't afraid of opening it before.

 That was before, she told herself defiantly. Before Stephen. Before she had gone from being a widow to a wife.  

She needed to talk about something else. She needed to think about something else or she would be no good to Stephen when she finally found him. No good at all.

"Do you care about him?" Mary spoke up, breaking the silence in the darkness. 

Alex looked up and then at her. "Who?" She asked in puzzlement, the question coming too quickly for her mind to grasp its meaning on first hearing.

 "Vin." Mary said with a little smile, noting that her friend seemed somewhat introspective about the bounty hunter. 

"I don't even know him." Alex returned quickly. "It was just one kiss and I think he only did that to distract me from kicking his butt."

 "Obviously it didn't work." She declared, perfectly aware of the thoughtful expression that crept into Alex's face at that moment.

 "Obviously." Alex said shortly.

 "I see." Mary remarked somewhat nonchalantly and the pause stretched for a few seconds although to Mary she knew it was inevitable that it would be broken, she knew her friend well enough. 

"Okay, maybe it worked a little." Alex spoke as predicted. "I mean it's been a while. Men don't usually affect me that way with a kiss. I mean it wasn't even a long kiss, just a quick one....uh kiss that is. I mean where the hell would a bounty hunter learn to kiss like that anyway? I never heard him having a reputation with women, just a reputation as the most relentless bounty hunter around. I mean when I heard that he was with you, I thought you were insane but then I also remembered that you would know better than anyone would what you're doing."

"Alex, you're rambling." Mary pointed out.

She fell silent immediately. "I was not."

"You were rambling." Mary declared firmly. "You were rambling like that time what his name asked you out two months after we first bunked together at the Academy, remember?" 

"What's his name?" Alex looked at her blankly, unable to recall that far back in time. It was almost another life away. "Oh him, with the freckles. Hey we were fourteen years old! We all rambled, you about Stephen and pierced ears." 

Unconsciously, Mary reached for her ears. "Where did it all go?" She asked in a small voice. 

The moment was over and Alex looked up at the sky. "We grew up." 

"It was not supposed to happen like this." Mary blinked and suddenly tears ran down her cheeks. She did not know when they had even started to form in her eyes. "If he's alive my whole life changes, you know that? I will walk away form the rebellion because when I let the cause become more important then my husband, I lost him. I won't make that mistake again. Stephen deserves his family, Billy deserves his father and Orin deserves his son." 

And she would do it too, Alex thought. She would do it because she was Mary Travis. There was no other explanation beyond that simple declaration. If Mary said this was what she would do, Alex believed her. "And what about Chris?" 

Another tear ran down her alabaster skin as she blinked. "Chris and I will continue to remain friends, nothing more."

CHAPTER NINE

Laurel Chase was not what Mary expected.

Although Alex had described her to be a fearsome creature whose beauty could make men lose all good sense, it was not quite the same as seeing the woman in person for the first time. They had been intercepted by a number of Black Sun members in a Skimmer prior to arriving at the settlement. The leader of the group was Selonian, one of the two worlds that made up the Corellian star system. Like all natives of that world, she was reptilian. She stood slight taller than Alex, a sleek, slender creature with rows of serrated teeth and a powerful body, covered in indigo scales, made for attack. Alex identified her quickly as Glorith Dar, the bounty hunter whom had stolen Stephen away from them.

Considering what his supposed death had done to her life, Mary held herself in remarkable restraint upon learning this. She showed Glorith no indication that the Selonian was known to her, launching instead into the carefully rehearsed speech they had concocted regarding their reasons for seeking out Black Sun. Whether or not Glorith believed their story about seeking work was uncertain because the bounty hunter was unwilling to make any decision until they were brought before Laurel Chase herself. After being ushered onto the Skimmer surrounded by Black Sun's operatives, they were driven to its headquarters.

The Domicile as the others referred to it resembled something out of a fairy tale. It sat on a high cliff, a fortress perched above sharp rocks with jagged architecture that made it look as harsh as the organization it was home too. Tall spires and needle like towers sat against the deep velvet skyline and simply staring at it had made Mary shudder. There was no way into the structure other than through the massive doors that had been erected into base of the cliff. Although Mary did not believe in any structure being absolutely impregnable, she had to admit that it was quite formidable and would take some heavy firepower to breach.

The journey to what passed for Laurel's main court gave Mary even graver concerns for their successful retrieval of Stephen. There were guards everywhere and the place was like a maze of catacombs, with distant voices of creatures growling loudly. Some of them sounded like screams, others like tortured sounds of wailing while some were just full of fist pounding fury that made Mary shudder just hearing it. She wondered what produced those noises and decided that she was not all that eager to find out. She just needed to find Stephen and get him out of here.

If he still lived.

When they were finally ushered into Laurel Chase's audience chamber, Mary felt as if she were stepping into the royal court on Coruscant. Surrounding them was finery in the best and most luxurious form. Expensive silks covered the upholstery; soft large cushions inhabited by handsome beautiful men, with vacant expressions lay on top of expensive carpeting. Fine marble made up the floor and pieces of valuable artwork hung on the embroidery-covered walls. Laurel herself was dressed in a sweeping gown, a crimson red that matched the colour of her painted lips and she sat awaiting them on a chair that looked undeniably like a throne. In this place, Mary had no doubt this woman saw herself a queen and possibly behaved in such a manner too. Mary also noticed that Laurel was lounging gracefully in the chair, stroking a small, furry creature on her lap. Mary had never seen anything like it and she wondered what its origins were.

Laurel Chase was in Mary's opinion, the most beautiful woman she had ever seen. Although her beauty had been described as extraordinary prior to their first encounter, Mary did not realise how much until she actually saw the woman for herself. It was no wonder why men were powerless by her when even Mary found herself overwhelmed. Everything about Laurel exuded raw, sexual power that was enchanting to men as well as women. She had the kind of face, both sultry and angelic, which made for a very dangerous combination if the mind behind it was as sadistic and ruthless as Laurel was reputed to be. Her effect on Alex was the same and for a few seconds, Mary found herself gawking stupidly at Laurel, trying to imagine what it must be like to wake up every morning with the face of a goddess.

Laurel studied Mary for a moment, trying to break her down into pieces by simple observation. The mahogany haired siren cast her emerald gaze on the new arrivals and decided that she was uncertain of what they were. Normally, such an action would mean their instant elimination but there was something about them that gave her pause. "Who are these guests you've brought to me Glorith?" Laurel asked smoothly, her eyes still fixed on Mary, trying to size her up.

"They say they are looking for work." Glorith responded, her voice was no more than a raspy hiss. "I do not trust them." The Selonian turned to give them a hard stare through slitted yellow eyes.

"And why not?" Laurel asked smoothly. "They look perfectly lethal."

"Because of their ship." Glorith stated firmly.

"The slipstream?" The leader of Black Sun eyed her reptilian associate.

Mary and Alex exchanged glances, feeling a pang of apprehension when they realised that perhaps Glorith recognized the Tracker as being Vin Tanner's ship. However, for the sake of their continued existence, neither made comment and hid the fact that Glorith's accusation held any concern for them. How the next minutes played out would decide whether or not they lived out the night or died where they stood.

"Its registration has been altered but I know it anywhere." Glorith glared at them, no longer facing Laurel at all. "It is Tanner's ship."

"Vin Tanner the bounty hunter?" Laurel asked, her brow arching slightly.

"It is Tanner's ship," Alex spoke up before anything else could be said. "I took it from him."

"No body takes Tanner's ship." Glorith spat in disbelief. "He is the best there is."

"He was the best there is but he's a wanted man these days," Alex stared at the Selonian, prepared to do all the talking because she would rather the attention be taken off Mary. "A man with a death mark tends to go to ground, especially one who has made the friends he has."

"Explain." Laurel stared at Alex hard. "And believe me, your answer weighs very heavily on your future."

"Obviously," Alex said confidently, "your Selonian is out of touch with Guild gossip. Tanner has been on Imperial wanted lists for the last three months. Apparently, he's joined the Rebellion."

"That is a lie!" Glorith hissed. "Tanner was the best bounty hunter in the Guild. He would not go soft."

"He's done worse than that." Alex revealed triumphantly. "He's become a Jedi apprentice."

"I will tear out your tongue for that insult to one of my kind." Glorith sprang at Alex. The rebel operative dropped to her knees as the Selonian came at her, allowing Glorith to sail over her head. Alex stood up and spun around quickly, slamming the heel of her boot into the small of the Selonian's back, sending her sprawling. Guards moved to intervene but a quick gesture from Laurel halted them in their steps. Without giving Glorith chance to recover, Alex leapt on top of the Selonian, her knee connecting with her back and sending her falling face first onto the marble floor. Alex kept her pinned to the hard surface, her legs resting on the Selonian's forearms, while her hands kept her head pressed to the floor and unable to get up. It was no easy effort keeping the voracious bounty hunter down but Alex had a feeling that if she could manage that, she might convince Laurel that they were worth keeping alive.

"Glorith," Laurel remarked indifferently. "If you are done squirming. Perhaps you'll now learn the wisdom of letting our guest finish." She turned to Alex and said with equal dispassion. "Now, please. I am most intrigued by this idea that a bounty hunter of Tanner's reputation having chosen to change his spiritual affiliations."

"Only if you can ensure your lap dog doesn't try to tear out my friends throat when she's not looking." Mary said firmly. Although their weapons had been liberated before they had reached this audience chamber, Mary injected enough force into her voice to make her words sound like a formidable threat not to be ignored.

Laurel crooked the corner of her lip into a faint smile and regarded Glorith. "Glorith you will behave for now." She gave the minion a sharp look, which held no illusions for anyone present what the punishment would be if she were disobeyed. Glorith hissed angrily at Alex, baring her teeth in fury for this humiliating position she now found herself but nodded slightly in an indication of subservience to her mistress. Alex noting her acknowledgment of Laurel's demand, released her grip on the Selonian. Glorith rolled onto her feet and took a step towards Alex, appearing as if she might attack when Laurel's voice cut through the air sharply.

"Glorith. I will not tell you again." Laurel repeated herself.

The Selonian narrowed her eyes at Alex and a low hiss escaped her throat. No doubt, Alex had earned Glorith's undying hatred for humiliating her in front of her mistress. However, for now she would obey Laurel's demand for she had no wish to incur her wrath.

She knew first hand how fatal that could be.

"Continue." Laurel turned back to the new arrivals in her court.

"Tanner and I are 'friends'." Alex declared, making up her story as she went and hoping that it was good enough to pass. She glanced at Glorith briefly before adding, "intimate friends."

"Intimate friends?" Laurel smiled. "Lovers?"

Alex swallowed and thanked God that obnoxious Jedi apprentice was nowhere in sight to hear this before continuing. "Yes, casual lovers. The man is quite exceptional in that area, other than being an excellent bounty hunter. Considering the radical course of career he was about to embark upon, at our last meeting he confessed his intention to disappear and I offered to buy his ship. He felt it to be an uncomfortable reminder of what he used to be and was more than ready to relinquish it for a little monetary recompense."

"I see and your companion?" Laurel pointed a sharp eye at Mary.

"I speak for myself." Mary spoke up before Alex could. "My name is Koryander of Mystral."

Laurel stared at Mary for a few seconds, trying to determine whether or not she was lying. The face standing before her was glacial in its control, which corroborated the strict regimen of Mystral training. They were the best bodyguards in the galaxy save the Jedi Knights themselves and certainly more accessible since services as a bodyguard was the world's main source of income. One had to be an Imperial governor or someone of immense wealth to be able to afford a Mystral in one's service. Unfortunately, the order tended to be selective about whom it chose to as their employers and thus, Laurel had never been able to acquire the services of one and was quite pleased by the idea of that changing.

"You are a long way from Emberlane." She pointed out. "Why seek me out?"

"I have no wish to serve a man." Mary declared defiantly. "And for this I have been ejected from the order."

"I see," Laurel nodded, understanding a great deal better than she let on. The Mystral considered the protection of their charges a sacred trust, to violate that meant a disgrace upon them all. She had no doubt that this Mystral was not just ejected but also permanently exiled. That made the prospect of having one in her stable of lethal employees all the more attractive. Still Laurel was not one to take anything on face value and would nevertheless keep her eye on this woman with the unreadable eyes for the time being. "And you wish to come into my service, why?" She asked.

"You seem worthy of my talents." Mary replied with an air of superior arrogance. In the background, she heard some of Laurel’s guards snort in derision at the remark while the male members of her court seem to enjoy the encounter with nothing more than insipid smirks on their faces.

A rueful smile crossed the lips of the dark haired siren and she responded in that smooth as silk voice that had no doubt beguiled many in her time. "How refreshingly confident."

"In my profession, it is wise to be so." Mary stated proudly and then added. "As women, it is often easy to underestimate us. Males tend to believe that even though we can kill as well as any of them, we still lack the mental capability to be complete equals."

"Yes they do," Laurel agreed, Mary’s word striking a chord inside her. She had used her face to get her everything she wanted and knew that much of her success was her ability to play men who thought that she was the sum of her beauty. They had never expected that the intellect behind her emerald collared eyes was far more formidable than her beauty. Those who had underestimated her had paid dearly for it. She had seen to that. "And you?" She turned to Alex. "Other than your predilection for bounty hunters and an impressive ability to best my trusted Selonian ally, what is reason here?"

"I’m just here for the work." Alex said cockily. "My name is unimportant but they call me the Knife."

"I’ve heard of you." Laurel nodded in recognition. "You’re reputation precedes you. You’re one of the best assassins in the galaxy."

"Thank you," Alex said graciously. In her line of work, she had a number of identities ready for use in such instances like this. She had encountered the real Knife six months ago in the Hapes Consortium, attempting to kill one of the planetary rulers. The Knife had not walked away from their meeting and Alex had claimed the dead assassin’s identity as one of many the rebel operative sometime employed for varying purposes. Over the course of the last six months, Alex had maintained the Knife’s identity, acquiring docking bays in that name and making appearances in selected venues, calling herself the Knife. Since the assassin was somewhat elusive and the only thing really known about her was the fact that she was female, Alex was allowed a certain amount of freedom in her charade.

Mary was also utilising one of these identities. Koryander of Mystral was in truth, a member of the Rebel Alliance and had not been seen abroad for some time. The order did not take kindly to inquiries regarding their own, especially one who was disgraced, thus Laurel had very little chance of finding out that Mary was other than what she claimed to be. The nature of assassins and bodyguards alike ensured that they remained in the shadows, seen by few, remembered by even less. Those who usually could put a name to a face never lived long enough to point it out in a crowd. If she were truly determined, Alex held no illusions that Laurel would not uncover the truth sooner or later but by then both Alex and Mary had every intention of being well out of Black Sun’s clutches.

"Let us come to the point." Alex took a step forward and immediately saw Laurel’s personal guard react by raising their weapons, preparing to intercept her. "My companion and I have heard of your reputation and the growing eminence of your organization. There are rumours that you will soon be in a position to challenge Nal Hutta. My friend needs work and I am weary of the assassins game, I believe we can be of use to you. If you feel otherwise, we’ll go as we came, peacefully."

Laurel eased back into her throne and kept her eyes fixed on both women, scrutinizing them deeply and knew that there was something about the Mystral that she could not put her finger on, even though she believed their desire to join Black Sun was genuine. Still, Laurel always liked a mystery and something told her that there were hidden depths to Koryander of Mystral that might be worth the fleeting distraction of uncovering.

"Well it seems I cannot refuse an offer like that, can I?" The woman stared at Alex and for the briefest hint of a second, the rebel operative thought she had been looking into the eyes of rancor.

"We’re hoping not." Alex responded, shaking the thought out of her head.

"Mistress, you cannot trust them!" Glorith barked angrily, glaring at Alex with unconcealed hatred.

"Glorith," Laurel answered her minion without even looking in the Selonian’s direction. "Your next words will be your last if you question my judgement again."

Mary saw Glorith pale, if it was even possible for a Selonian with scales to manage such an effort. However, the fear in her eyes was apparent and the Selonian seemed to shrink back in terror. The rebel leader wondered what in the stars about Laurel Chase could engender that much fear from a creature as vicious as a Selonian. She prayed inwardly that Stephen did not know the answer. The fear was not just from Glorith but from every one in the room, from the armed guards to the members of her harem. It ran so thick in the room, it felt like a physical presence and something inside Mary told her that they had proceed very carefully around the leader of Black Sun. There were few people who could engender this much fear. The Emperor was one of them, Darth Vader was another, did Laurel Chase make it a triad?

"You will bring your ship here," Laurel instructed Alex. "And then we will keep you both on retainer. If I like what I see, we’ll talk about making your involvement in Black Sun more permanent. If not," her eyes became as cold as dark star. "You will wish you never heard of us."

Alex met Mary’s gaze and they both thought the same thing; she was not lying.

**********

The Rogue jumped out of hyperspace a fair distance from Orron 3 in order to avoid detection by any sensor equipment that Black Sun might have to monitor incoming ships. With no idea how Mary and Alex intended to infiltrate the organization, the Rogue’s arrival might complicate their plans or at worst, place them in danger. Buck had claimed that he would have no difficulty penetrating any sensor devices in place when the time came for them to make a surface landing but he would have to know what he was up against first before making the attempt. His ship had been outfitted with sophisticated scanner detection equipment since he had become a full fledged member of the Rebel Alliance because he was often using the vessel to run their errands and carry out important missions. 

"Can you detect anything yet?" Josiah asked as he stood over Buck’s shoulder following their entry into normal space. 

"Oh yeah," Buck nodded in affirmative, his scanners directed at the planet were picking up a number of readings. "The sky is hot. I’ve got multi-phasic sensors and a protection grid. That planet may be full of farmers but the hardware surrounding it says go away." 

"Can you get through?" Chris asked. 

"The protection grids have fluctuations every 0.56 seconds in certain sections of the planetary shield. If I do this real careful like, I can slip through one of them." 

"They occur every 2 hours Mr Wilmington." Ezra added. "I suggest we take point behind that small moon until then. The gravitational wells out to keep us cloaked for the time being." 

Buck looked over his shoulder at the Imperial commander. "Not bad for a bridge officer." 

"Any sign of my ship?" Vin called out from the next room. The apprentice was once again attempting to assemble his light sabre and this time had made more progress than earlier efforts. He had constructed part of the power supply unit and was attempting to build the casing around it.  

"Nope." Buck sang out before adding playfully. "Guess you’ll just have to wait until you see your girlfriend again to ask her what she did with it."  

"She ain’t my girlfriend!" Vin roared back, much to the amusement of those listening in the cockpit. 

"What pray tell is so funny?" Ezra asked when he saw Nathan, JD, Josiah and Buck laughing out loud Even Chris was sniggering a little.  

"We’re not quite sure yet," Buck chuckled. "But its got to be good, we get a rise like this out of him every time the girl’s name is mentioned." 

"Very funny," Vin retorted, hearing the conversation. "And I’m sure you just as thrilled that Inez is dating Ezra." 

Buck’s expression turned into a scowl when he saw Ezra looking at him with question. "Is there a problem, Mr Wilmington?" The Imperial captain asked. His voice though polite, sounded taut. 

Buck looked over his shoulder and though Vin was out of his line of sight, managed to glare fiercely in that direction nonetheless. 

"No problem." Buck said betraying nothing, though he did not meet the gazes of his friends around him. They had all been privy to his ramblings the last few weeks regarding Inez’s relationship with Ezra Standish and knew that he was lying through his teeth. However, none of them would comment and somehow managed to be looking elsewhere during the awkward moment. 

"If there is something between you two that I am unaware of ….." Ezra persisted, not wishing to be any unresolved feelings on this matter. Inez meant a lot to him and though he would be sad to have her leave his life, he would not stand in the way if her affections had been promised elsewhere to begin with. 

"No," Buck said through gritted teeth, hating to expose his jealousy but knew that Ezra was waiting for an answer. "There’s nothing, except that I expect you to take good care of her." 

"I had always intended to." Ezra declared firmly. "She’s a remarkable woman and I would not dream of toying with her affections for me." 

"Ezra’s a gentleman with the ladies," Nathan said in his best friend’s defence. "He’s just a complete bastard in a sabaac game." 

"Thank you," Ezra gave Nathan, who was grinning at him, a look. "With friends like you, I do not need enemies." 

"Just don’t hurt her." Buck said seriously. "She deserves more than I was able to give her, I expect you do better." 

"You have my word of honour." Ezra returned earnestly, meaning it.  

"Buck," JD spoke up, interrupting the moment when all of a sudden, a light started flashing on his side of the cockpit controls. "I’m detecting something." 

"What?" Chris demanded before Buck could answer. 

"It’s a large sub-space distortion….." JD started to say. "Right on top of us." 

"Fire thrusters at maximum and get us out of here NOW!" Ezra barked  

"I got you!" Buck did not have to think twice and fired the Rogue’s thrusters.  

The Corellian freighter surged forward and though none of them saw it, they heard the scatter of light sabre parts on the deck from the abrupt burst, followed by a series of profanities uttered in quick succession by Vin Tanner. They were all hanging onto something to keep from falling over as the ship blasted forward. The Rogue left the space it formerly occupied and sped towards the safety of the moon in orbit around Orron 3. The area behind them shimmered, like the stars had appeared merely painted on the velvet canvas and was rippling in the breeze. 

"What the hell just happened?" Vin entered the cockpit. 

"Subspace distortion." Buck quickly answered as his hands flew over the controls, ensuring that they had made good their abrupt departure. 

"A distortion of that size and intensity can only be caused by one thing," Ezra explained, watching the readings on the consoles with just as much concentration as the pilot. "A ship emerging from hyperspace." 

"A big ship coming out of hyperspace." Nathan added, coming to the same conclusion although not as rapidly as Ezra. Then again, Ezra had always been a good warship tactician, although the lacklustre attention to his career had always kept him from getting his own command of one. 

The Rogue’s rear scanners revealed what would have emerged right on top of them if Ezra had not acted when he did. The Star Destroyer materialized in the screen before them, a giant leviathan moving soundlessly through the vacuum. The stars seemed to streak from it, as it appeared, its white grey hull a stark contrast against the black. While it was certainly not a super Star Destroyer like they had seen in orbit around Zhar recently, it was a heavy cruiser carrying at least four squadrons of TIE fighters and capable of planetary bombardment. She was heavily armoured which made her more or less invulnerable against one small freighter. 

"Get us behind the moon and shut down on all our engines." Ezra continued to issue orders and Buck took them readily because the man had a better knowledge of Imperial warships than he did.

"Standard procedure for warships is to scan the system for enemy vessels." Ezra continued to speak. "You are not dealing with protection grids that wait until you get into proximity to detect you. Warship sensors are far more sensitive, if there is so much as a particle of dust that should not be where it is, they will find it. Our best bet is to stay behind the moon and also get as close to the surface as you can manage without actually landing. The readings radiating from the moon will cloak the ship." 

"What are they doing so far out?" Vin asked. "I thought big cruisers like this usually hung around the core systems or protect the main space lanes." 

"That’s pretty obvious," Chris said grimly. "They’re for Stephen Travis."

CHAPTER TEN

The Star Destroyer remained suspended above Orron 3 unmoving and unaware that in the wilderness it currently occupied, it was being watched with as much scrutiny as it continued its vigil over the planet. The Rogue also remained frozen above the skies of Orron 3’s dead moon, its occupants uncertain about what their next move ought to be with the advent of this latest complication. Minutes stretched into hours as the limbo of indecision lingered within the Corellian freighter. At the time of their retreat, it had seem like a wise idea to remain concealed in order to ascertain what it was a ship of the line was doing so far from the core systems. However, the unknowing was playing havoc on all their nerves, especially when their purpose for coming to Stars End still waited for them on the planet below. 

"We can’t stay here forever." Buck Wilmington declared. He hated being forced to stay in one place when his natural impulse was to get his ship and run from that huge Imperial cruiser.  

"I am afraid we have little choice." Ezra Standish countered the big man’s disdain. "The minute we leave the refuge of this moon, their sensors will detect us." 

"He’s right Buck," Chris returned. Nathan added. "We got to sit put until we know what they’re planning." 

"They could be there for days." Buck pointed out, refusing to concede the point. 

"Look," Vin added his voice into the mix. "We know that they’re probably here for Travis but we can’t just go barging in down there. Mary can’t have been too far ahead of us. I don’t know about you but any fool is gonna know something is up if we suddenly appear just hours after she did. Orron 3 is not that popular at the best of times. We just show up and we’ll get her killed." Vin said not too kindly. However, he knew the enemy and he liked Mary, he did not want to see her harmed because of their impetuousness. Vin had not become the best bounty hunter in the galaxy by rushing in where angels feared to thread. He was a man accustomed to waiting out his prey and striking when the moment was opportune.  

"I wonder what they’re waiting for." Josiah mused as he stared at the large ship on the scanner. 

"I believe Mr Larabee was correct in assuming that they are here to collect Mr Travis. Perhaps, the appointed for the exchange is drawings close." Ezra remarked.

 "Which mean," Nathan said grimly. "Wherever Mary is in all that, she’ll have to make her move soon."

 "And we’re stuck here with no way to help her." Buck reminded. 

Ezra could see that Buck was not going to let the issue rest until his ship was far away from here and he turned to Chris Larabee. The Jedi had been silent all this time, most likely considering their next move and keeping counsel to himself until he came up with a solution. Chris was seated with hands pressed together beneath his lips in silent contemplation, looking very much like a Jedi. As dangerous as Buck’s desire to leave the moon might be, Ezra could not deny that it was unacceptable that they remain here if they wanted to help Mary Travis in any way. A way had to be found to avoid being seen by those sensors. The Empire was keeping watch for good reason, no doubt to ensure that no one left the planet before they could claim their prize. 

"Yes." Chris nodded. "I think you’re right." The Jedi said firmly, meeting his gaze, aware of what had been running through his mind. "I think it would work."

"What would work?" Vin looked at them both. 

Ezra was as equally mystified since the thought had only been swirling around his head and not solidified into any coherent shape. "It was just a random……" 

"It makes sense." Chris said coolly. He had not intentionally intruded upon Ezra’s thoughts but sometimes, it was difficult when some thoughts had such potency, they possessed an aura of their own. Ezra’s in particular was difficult to read because the man had trained to keep his emotions and thoughts buried deeply to maintain the façade of indifference he wore like a shield around himself. However, the spark of inspiration that had flared up in Ezra’s mind at an unguarded moment was so strong that no matter how fleeting it was, it still managed to capture Chris’ attention almost immediately.

"How about letting us in on it?" Buck retorted, now that all eyes were on the Jedi and the Imperial commander. 

"Would you?" Chris glanced at him with a little smile. 

Ezra nodded somewhat dazed and managed to speak after a moment, "I was thinking that perhaps the purpose of that warship is not to keep anyone away from the planet but rather keep in. If Lauren Chase had indeed made an offer to the Empire for Steven Travis, it would not be difficult for Imperial agents to find out who she is and with whom her affiliations lie." 

"With Stephen involved, they would use any means necessary to find out everything there is to know about Black Sun." Chris added. 

"You mean, this isn’t an exchange?" JD asked, starting to catch on. "They’re not here to make some kind of rendezvous?" 

"They’re here because they know that Black Sun in here and if Black is here so is Laurel Chase and Stephen Travis." Vin understood though what he knew did not make him feel any better. "They’re not going to pay any ransom or let her dictate terms to them."

"Precisely," Ezra nodded. "The Empire does not pay ransoms, especially those made by gangsters, even for a morsel as tasty as Stephen Travis."

"Hell," Buck cursed, understanding what the others were trying to tell him. "You mean…." 

Chris nodded. "They’re going to attack."

**********

Mary and Alex found themselves in the operations control of Black Sun. From here, Black Sun's primary defences were controlled and coordinated including the planetary sensor grid which had detected the Tracker the minute it had entered Orron 3 space was located here, not to mention the short range scanning equipment that sought out ships on an approach vector to the planet. Laurel had spared no expense fortifying her bastion on Orron 3 and Mary had to confess that she respected the woman even though she held no illusions to how dangerous it was to make an enemy of the Black Sun's beautiful leader.

 They had been summoned to the operations center shortly after Alex and Mary had brought the Tracker back to the Domicile's private hangar. Although Casey had complained bitterly, Mary had ordered the girl to remain on board, giving no reason for anyone to believe that the Tracker was being inhabited in their absence. Everything about the Domicile told Mary that she did not want Casey involved in what they had to do here. Besides, the young girl was their only salvation if anything went wrong. 

With the rest of Laurel's private guard, including Glorith Dal, Mary and Alex discovered what it was that had suddenly sent the entire fortress into such a state of flux. She saw the readings on the console and while the scanner did not show what was waiting for Black Sun in space, Mary knew instantly what she was looking at. 

"It appears we have company." Laurel remarked as she stared at the readings. "A large Imperial vessel." 

"That's not just a large Imperial vessel," Mary spoke up. "Energy readings that high can be from only one type of vessel; an Imperial Star Destroyer." 

"That's impossible," Glorith hissed. "The closest Imperial ships to Stars End are busy protecting the Hydian way."

"Impossible or not," Alex returned. "If my friends says that's an Imperial Star Destroyers, then that's what it is." 

"For many years, I was bodyguard to an Imperial officer," Mary responded, explaining her knowledge. "That's a Star Destroyer and by the looks of those energy readings, a warship. That means," she glared at Glorith. "There's four squadrons of TIE fighters, a legion of surface shock troops and enough fire power to annihilate us from orbit. A ship like that does not come out here for no reason unless it's preparing to destroy something."

 "I suppose it was too much to assume that they would play by the rules," Laurel let out a sigh and glanced over her shoulder at Glorith, her face illuminated by the screen before. "I am afraid our Mystral is quite correct Glorith, that ship is here for us." 

"If that is true, we need to evacuate." Glorith retorted.. "Immediately." 

"That won't be necessary." Laurel said not in the least bit perturbed. "However, we should be prepared for some posturing. Men are so predictable that way."

"Laurel," Mary cleared her throat because she also knew why a Star Destroyer would be here. No doubt, the Empire had decided they would not wait for Laurel to deliver Stephen to them and would take him by force. They would attempt to frighten her at first with the threat of aerial bombardment, then perhaps they would actually launch an obligatory force that would create something of a light show. If by then, Laurel had not seen good sense and produced Stephen, shock troopers would land and they would take the Domicile by any means necessary and kill anyone who tried to stop them. "You cannot remain here. They will come after you. Shock troopers are not deployed without good reason. I do not know what you have done to incur the Empire's wrath in this way but they have entered the Corporate Sector in order to reach you." 

Laurel studied her for a moment. Her eyes seemed to cloud over as if she was hiding her feelings from her minions so that she could make a decision without their deciphering what was on her mind. "You are of course correct. I have what they want and they will use any means to acquire it. No doubt they must have employed similar methods to obtain this location. In truth I was rather expecting them, though not so soon. However, since they are here, we shall have to deal with them. What do you suggest?"

"Me?" Mary asked. "I am a body guard, I do not know anything about battle strategy.'

 "And yet you have made some rather astute observations already," Laurel retorted smoothly. "More astute than my trusted associated Glorith. However, one cannot expect much from Selonians," she gave Glorith a depreciating look which the reptilian did not at all appreciate.

Mary could see that Glorith was accustomed to being Laurel's counsel on such matters and the fact that she might have usurped that position had earned the Selonian's further dislike of the new arrivals. Although Mary was reluctant to help Laurel in any way not only because it might endanger her cover but also because she wanted the freedom to roam about and search for Stephen instead of being trapped here in Laurel's operations room, helping the insidious creature fight off would be predators. However, the reality of the situation soon impressed itself upon her that she had no choice. For the moment any way, she was Laurel's creature.

Letting out a loud exhale, she saw Alex giving her a look which silently instructed her to be exceedingly careful with how she conducted herself from this point on. "First off, raise your shields if you have any. If they aren't scanning us yet they soon will. You don't need them to know just how defenceless you are."

"We have shields. Not military grade of course but enough to keep us cloaked." Laurel explained before turning to the young woman operating the shield generators. "Do as she says."

 Mary thought quickly and then added. "If you have some kind of evacuation procedure, I suggest you get it into motion. When they come, they'll come in force and quickly. Shock troopers are known for speedy penetration of supposedly impregnable fortresses. Any surface batteries?"

"A few." Glorith found voice enough to speak, knowing that the Mystral was making sound statements. "Not enough to fight a vessel like that." She countered, challenging Mary to respond to that.

 "You won't stop a destroyer that way and they won't waste the time when their TIE's will do the job well enough down here. I'm not offering you a way to beat them, just to stall them long enough to get away. I did not see any fighters of your own in your hangar so I assume you are in no position to fend off an aerial attack when it comes. The best that you can do is put them on defensive, at least until the evacuation is done." 

"Well," Laurel stared at her. "I am impressed."

 "Save your admiration for later." Mary said wearily. "If we survive this. For the moment, however, I suggest you make contact with them and start talking terms. They want something from you, if they did not they would already attacked. You need to buy yourself and your people some time."

 "That my dear," Laurel said with a smile. "Is what I do best."

 Mary had no doubt of that. 

**********

 Laurel had ushered everyone out of the operations center when she prepared to contact the Star Destroyer and Mary guessed it was likely because she did not wish the others to know what it was that had brought the Empire to Orron 3. Laurel struck Mary as someone who would keep her secrets guarded because she trusted no one. It was uncertain whether or not she would confide in a trusted lieutenant like Glorith about her deal with the Empire just as it was entirely possible that no one knew Stephen was here and even if they did, were in the dark about his value. As Mary and Alex drew away from the operations center, Mary feared that she might have given herself away by her military prowess in assessing the threat of the Star Destroyer to Black Sun.

"That was not wise." Mary said softly as they started down one of the many catacombs that made up the Domicile. Laurel had assigned them quarters for the duration of their stay and until she had completed her conversation with the Imperials, everything was trapped in a state of limbo. Mary and Alex had made some excuse to retire to their assigned accommodation as they intended to make good use of the time away from the woman. Mary wanted to know what was the source of all that pain and wailing she had heard when she first entered the Domicile and Laurel's presence. She was terrified that it might be Stephen who was enduring such agonies and needed to see what was there just for peace of mind.

"I agree." Alex replied as they left the others behind them and turned down another dark, stygian corridor. "You may have blown your cover." 

"Even if I did, she can't kill me just yet." Mary retorted.

"Why is that?" Alex looked at her sceptically. "That woman is capable of anything."

 "That she is," Mary conceded Alex that point. "But she likes to win and she knows with me, she can."

 "I don't follow you." The operative replied, confused. "What do you mean."

 "She's not going to give up on her 10 million credits if she can help it." Mary whispered. They turned into another corridor, further and further away from the main chambers. The sound of that terrible wailing became louder, coupled with new sounds of growling, loud, harsh and bitter. The roars made both of them shudder a little even though their brisk pace did not falter one bit. 

"If she can get ten million credits for Stephen, imagine what she can get for me? She'll use me long enough to keep the Empire at bay and then around and serve me to them." Mary replied tersely. 

"I hope you know what you're doing," Alex sighed loudly. "I've got a real bad feeling about all this and what is that?" She exclaimed in the darkness of the cave like corridor. The walls were grey and uneven and reminded Alex of a dungeon from one of those fairy tales of her childhood. The way was lit with dull lamps at every hundred paces and from this corridor, there was nowhere else to go but straight to the end. The path gradually sloped so they were walking down an incline. 

"I've been hearing it ever since we got here," Mary answered, her voice hushed as if their surroundings demanded it. 

"You think Stephen is down here?" Alex asked quietly. The length of the passageway made their voices echo and she could think of nothing worse at this point for her words to reach someone else's ears in this way. 

"I hope not." Mary whispered, her stomach hollowing at the very notion he had spent the last year in this hell, locked away from everything in a dungeon of darkness with that terrible sound of anguish that seeped into the walls with every sorrowful wail. 

They finally reached the end of the corridor and the way their voices echoed as they spoke told Mary they were deep with the heart of the Domicile. The corridor emptied into what looked like a cellblock. There were doors on either side; all controlled by heavy security doors no locks. Mary had seen such doors before. There was no lock to pick, no control panel to access. The locking mechanism controls were probably not even here, needing to be accessed from the upper levels of the fortress, possibly even the operations room they had just come from. The doors were made from pure beryllium. It would take nothing less that a laser torch to even mark the finish of its high-density steel surface.  

"By the stars." Mary gasped at she faced the near impregnable obstacle before her. "What could she have in here that justifies this?"

"I don't know," Alex shook her head and stepped forward to the nearest door and peered through the small opening that allowed the jailer to see the prisoner.  

"Lex be careful," Mary warned instinctively. "You don't know what's in there." 

No sooner than she said that, a large furry hand had forced its way through the orifice. Alex staggered back and fell down on her rear as the large arm, flayed wildly, trying desperately to grab something. An angry roar followed, propelling Mary forward. 

"Lex!" Mary cried out as she rushed to Alex's side who was more shocked than she was hurt. "Are you alright?" 

"I haven't been the same since that idiot kissed me!" She growled. "Getting blindsided, letting big hairy things almost rip my head off and not shooting teenagers who giggle every time the word kiss is mentioned! It wasn't that great a kiss!" 

Mary rolled her eyes. "I guess that means you're okay then." She said sarcastically and turned her attention to the creature bellowing within its cage. It was one of many although this one at the moment was the angriest and most vocal. Mary saw the arm withdraw back into the cell and despite herself, took a step forward because she needed to see what was inside it. The edge of anger had evaporated from the occupant's bellowing and the roars that emanated from the room soon became like all the others, despair trapped in frustration and futility. It was a feeling Mary knew all too well. Taking a deep breath, she braced herself to move if it tried to attack again. Mary peered inside the cell, expecting to see something terrible trapped within its confines. 

Instead, she found herself looking at a Wookie. 

Judging by the deep russet pelt and the shape of its seven-foot tall frame, the Wookie was a female. She was growling mournfully and the sound reached inside Mary because there was so much anguish in it. That low growl whispered so much sorrow that Mary felt her fear dying at its hearing even though she knew it was a bad idea to let down her guard. 

"Mary, be careful." Alex offered the same warning she had refused to heed when given earlier.

Mary did not answer. Instead she took a deep breath and spoke. "Hello." Her translator was working and she hoped it would be able to reach the female on some level. 

The Wookie turned to her sharply as the small device Mary wore on her person, allowed her words to be understood. The Wookie growled back. 

<What do you want? Have you come to take me now?> 

"Take you?" Mary asked confused. "Take you where? What are you doing so far from Kashhyk?"

 <I do not speak with our jailers!> 

"I am not your jailer. I don't even know why you're here." She asked, trying to sound sincere so this Wookie would not believe Mary was here to harm her.

Alex listened to the growls being exchanged by Mary and the Wookie. She did not have a translator herself but knew that some kind of a conversation was taking place between her sister in law and the sentient trapped inside the cell. She listened closely as she back-pedalled, ensuring that no one was coming down the corridor to find them. There was only way into this place and should anyone discover them here, there would be no place for them to go except into a cell and at the moment, that was an eventuality that Alex wanted to avoid. After ensuring that no one was indeed coming, Alex continued her investigation of the cellblock, always keeping Mary in her view.  

She had not even finished peering through half the cells to discover that all the prisoners at present were Wookies. They came in all shapes and sizes, female, male, adolescent, even the old. Grey pelts, russet and deep mahogany faces peered at her, some angry and enraged for their incarceration but most were despaired and suffering. Wookies originated from a world where sunlight was their constant companion. Being trapped in this dark place must have been the closest thing to hell imaginable for these poor souls and Alex wondered what they had done to deserve such torture.

"LEX!" Alex heard Mary almost snarl. The sharp intensity of her voice immediately stopped Alex dead in her tracks and she ran all the way back to Mary. 

When she reached Mary, the rebel leader was barely able to conceal her rage; her anger smouldered off her skin like smoke. Even before she spoke, Alex could see the fury in Mary's eyes and she wondered what terrible thing the woman had discovered to engender that kind of a reaction. There was a heart stopping moment when Alex thought Mary had learnt something about Stephen, something final and fatal that made their whole quest pointless. 

"What is it?" She asked in a soft voice. 

"She's using them." Mary was so outraged she could barely speak. After being in the Rebel Alliance, hearing stories about Imperial cruelties and atrocities, she thought that there was little that could inspire her anger any more, that she was too jaded to let anything truly reach inside of her and clench her heart with such a stomach churning intensity. She was wrong.

"Using them?" Alex looked at her confused. "What do you mean?" 

"The Venom," Mary managed to say, revealing it to Alex as the Wookie had revealed it to her trapped in the cage behind her. "The narcotic that Black Sun makes. Its primary ingredient is the adrenal secretion found in Wookies! She's extracting it from them!"

Alex's jaw fell open from the horror. "Kessel!" She uttered a strangled gasp. 

"She's been paying slavers to abduct these people from their homes to be brought here so she can take their adrenal glands and extract the substance. All these Wookies in here are going to die!" Mary's gaze moved across the expanse of the cellblock.  

"We have to help them." Alex exclaimed. "We have to get them out of here. This is illegal even by Imperial standards. This is murder!"  

"I know that," Mary hissed, a new hatred forming for this woman, not just because she had taken Stephen from her but what she had done to these poor souls and so many others that had died since. "I'm not leaving here without Stephen or them. Somehow, we're going to get all these people out of here." 

Alex nodded, not about to argue with Mary on this point, however there were realities they had to face. "It's not going to be easy. Laurel might already suspect who you are." 

"She doesn't even know the half of what I am." Mary retorted, her eyes blazing. "She'll find out soon enough." 

CHAPTER ELEVEN

When the first of the TIE fighter’s left the belly of the Star Destroyers, Ezra and Chris decided that it was finally time to move. Despite his worries about Mary, Chris found himself gaining a new admiration for the Imperial officer that was choosing to risk everything by helping them get her back. He wondered how well Ezra and Mary would work together and quickly came to the conclusion that they could be a formidable team. For the moment however, Chris found that Ezra’s strategy regarding how they would deal with slipping past the Star Destroyer to be sound and agreed that the Imperials would be more interested in who was departing the planet rather than who was attempting to land on it. When the phalanx of TIE fighters started towards the planet, Chris saw the perfect opportunity to not only land but also slip past the formidable sensor net that surrounded the planet.

"Okay everybody strap yourselves in." Buck instructed as his fingers began moving deftly across the cockpit controls. "I’m going to try and keep some distance away from them but still stay close enough to confuse those sensors down there."

"Will it matter much?" Josiah inquired from his place behind the pilot and co-pilots seat.

"Not really I suppose," Buck had to confess. "But we’re playing it safe. If she’s got sensors that sophisticated, I’m betting there will be some air defence batteries too."

"You mean, we could get shot down?" JD exclaimed beside him.

"No while I’m flying," Buck grinned with confidence. "Air batteries are good but not that good and with almost a full squadron coming at them, we’ll get past them easy."

"Can you pin point where exactly Black Sun is?" Chris asked.

"Absolutely," Ezra responded. "All it requires is a little recalibration of our sensor equipment, finding of course the strongest concentration of shielding and logic dictates that we ought to find ourselves Black Sun’s enclave."

"In a word ‘yes’." Nathan retorted.

"I believe that’s what I said." Ezra gave him a look.

"How close do you want to get?" Buck asked.

"I’m hoping that the aerial attack creates enough confusion that we can slip in and find Mary." Chris replied.

"It will undoubtedly be a large structure," Ezra pointed out. "Can we be assured of finding her?"

"I’ll find her." Chris said enigmatically. Even now, he could feel her. Although the sensation was distant, like trying to find someone in a fog, it was nevertheless there. She was alive and for the moment, Chris was grateful enough for that.

"What about Travis?" Vin asked and it was a question directed more at Chris than anyone else.

"If he’s alive, he comes with us." Chris did not hesitate in his answer, even though he wish he could be callous or selfish enough to do otherwise.

"I wonder if she’s found him yet." Josiah asked no one in particular.

"She won’t stop until she does." Chris responded. Inwardly, he dreaded what would happen when Mary returned to the Alliance with Stephen Travis. He knew for certain that he would be unable to stay with the rebel cell in the Territory. Just seeing him with her, knowing that Mary would never be his was more than Chris’ battered heart could take. Losing Sarah had almost killed him but at least she went with some finality, Mary would be taken from him piece at a time. He could not endure it. Not even a Jedi was strong enough for that.

The Rogue pulled away from its low orbit around Orron 3’s moon, causing all its occupants to feel the sudden movement tugging at their innards as it escaped the gravitation field of the small satellite. The squadron of TIE fighters was already speeding towards the planet and the Rogue caught up to them easily. The Corellian freighter stayed close enough to become lost in the signals of approaching ships that Black Sun’s sensor surely must have detected by now and hoped the same went for the Star Destroyer, though this seemed unlikely. Still, Buck ensure that his ship maintained enough distance to convey to the fighters that he was not closing in on them at an attack vector.

Fortunately, the Imperial pilots were more interested in their mission than the freighter and so the Rogue was regarded with general disinterest as it approached the planet. It took a matter of minutes for them to enter Orron 3 airspace and the darkness of the cockpit was soon illuminated by light from the blue morning sky. Orron 3 was a forest world and as the Rogue surged towards its destination, it swept past large tracks of lush green vegetation, intermittently interrupted by bodies of water either as lakes or seas. Unfortunately, none of this panoramic vista had any effect on the TIE fighters or the occupants of the Rogue. The readings pinpointing the exact location of Black Sun’s base were easier to read now that they were skimming across the planet surface.

On his scanner, Buck noted the TIE fighters forming into attack formation and guessed that they were very close to their target because the small ships would soon begin their aerial bombardment. Buck had no intention of being anywhere in the vicinity when that happened because it was too easy for some over eager flyboy to take shots at them. He changed course as the fortress where Black Sun resided came into view.

"That’s it." Buck stated as the passengers got their first glimpse of the place.

Even in the light of day, it looked just as impressive. The sunlight gleamed off the surface of the dark rock and there was no doubt in their minds that while aerial bombardment would eventually breach the fortress, it would not be any easy feat. The place had been erected to fend off attacks from air and land. It was a fitting residence for an organization that was so feared.

"It feels cold." Vin pointed out, reminded of the chill he had felt when Darth Vader was in close proximity but there was something more, something he could not pinpoint. It made him uneasy.

Chris could sense it too but he was more adept to defining what it was that was wrong. It felt as if there were something inside that fortress that was beyond the force. Like stepping into a vacuum chamber while outside, a millions voices screamed in unison. Chris shook off the disorientation and tried to shrink away from that emptiness but found himself inevitably drawn to it out of sheer curiosity.

"What’s wrong?" Josiah asked concerned, seeing the unsettled expression on Vin’s normally unflappable features. He saw the corresponding look on Chris’ face and immediately knew something beyond their immediate concerns was transpiring.

"I feel cold inside." Vin stammered. "I don’t know why."

"I do," Chris responded, staring straight ahead. "There’s something in that place that deflects the Force."

"That’s impossible." Josiah declared. "The Force is everywhere." Jedi spirituality always interested the former senator and he knew that the Force was an energy field binding all living things together. Midiclorions had been created at the formation of the universe and it was that through, which the Force flowed. The tiny organisms existed in the fabric of every thing that lived and breathed in the universe, for there to be an exception to the rule was almost unheard of.

"We can’t worry about this now," Chris said abruptly, forcing himself away from that place because they had more immediate concerns. "Buck set us down out of the firing range."

"You got that right." The pilot retorted as he saw the fighters spreading out and beginning their strafing runs. "I just hope we don’t get blasted to kingdom come trying to get there on foot."

Ezra winced at the imagery and let out a deep breath. "That is what I like about you Mr Wilmington, your unswerving optimism."

************

Mary had a plan that until a few moments ago was working quite well.

Prior to the commencement of the aerial bombardment, Mary had been aiding Laurel Chase with her evacuation of Black Sun, while Alex took care of arrangements in secret. The plan was a risky one and hinged entirely on the Star Destroyer sending out a squadron of TIE fighters. Mary has expected they would be coming because there was no way Laurel would submit and simply hand over Stephen when it was more profitable for her to do otherwise. Mary had no illusions as to how ruthless Laurel would be in acquiring what she wanted after seeing the poor souls incarcerated in the dungeons below. Mary had done what was necessary, ensuring that Black Sun made all the correct decisions and giving counsel to Laurel much to Glorith’s dislike, keeping the woman busy while Alex carried out her instructions.

When the bombardment had started, Mary felt a swell of relief moving through her because she could see the fragmented pieces of her plan falling into place. Although she had loathed to do it, Mary remained close to Laurel, ensuring that she did not cause undue complication to the preparations that Alex was undertaking at present. Most of the period had been spent in the lady’s company as she sat in her throne room, pretending that nothing was going on and that she was in complete control of the situation even though the Imperial Star Destroyer in orbit around the world would seem to indicate otherwise. Mary offered her advice willingly, all the while growing more and more certain that there was every chance that Laurel knew exactly who she was and was merely playing along in order to use Mary's expertise until the crisis had passed.

As the detonations above became more fierce and the disarray continued to run rife throughout the Domicile, Mary tried to find someway to leave Laurel’s presence in order to join Alex. The time was drawing short and by now Alex would have events into motion that could not be altered. However, each opportunity to do so was circumvented by Laurel who found some reason for her to stay at her side.

"I ought to check on my ship," Mary spoke over the sound of blasts detonating above them. The structure rocked precariously, streams of dust and loosened mortar were drifting through the cracks of walls and the few guards that were in the room looked about apprehensively. Laurel for her part seemed calm as she sat on her throne like chair, dressed impeccably in a sheath of green that melded against her body like a glove. She seemed completely unperturbed with no signs of fear. Mary wondered if she was truly that arrogant or did she have something planned that none of her associates were privy to.

"I’m sure the Knife will be able to handle that task adequately," Laurel said breezily with a little smile. "I require you here at my side."

"Should not that be a job for Glorith?" Mary asked. "I don’t want to be stepping on any toes here. Your second in command is already out for my blood for garnering all your attention."

"Glorith has her own amusement to occupy her attention," Laurel shrugged. "I find that you are better company."

"I would find that also, if we were on our way out of here." Mary retorted. "This structure cannot take much more. Its held up admirably but sooner or later, its going to start raining debris in here."

"We need not worry on our Imperial friends bringing down the Domicile on our heads, they are not foolish enough to risk what I have." Laurel said confidently.

"And what exactly do you have?" Mary asked as she counted how many guards there were in the room. There were five at the two exits, six if one counted Laurel. She did not know if she could take them all but if the timing was right, it was possible. In any case, she was not going to remain here and let her window of opportunity dissolve.

"I was hoping you would ask that." She remarked, her green eyes blazing with sinister light. Laurel glanced at the armrest and pressed a button on the small control panel there. She lowered her head slightly and then spoke.

"Yes, you can bring him in."

Mary felt her stomach clench as Laurel narrowed her eyes and glared at her. "You did not seriously think you were going to fool me for very long did you?"

Mary considered her next move and decided for the moment at least, she would continue her charade. "I beg your pardon?" Mary returned indifferently. However, she was observing everything, including the guards that were tightening their grips around their weapons.

"Do not play me for the fool!" Laurel bellowed. "How dare you come in here and think that your pathetic charade would fool me? I am Laurel Chase, nobody fools me, especially not some rebel whore!"

"Rebel?" Mary exclaimed, feigning incredulity at Laurel’s accusation. "You think I’m a rebel?"

"You’re Mary Travis!" Laurel spat, rising out of her chair and striding towards her in full fury. "You’re a member of the Rebel Alliance and the Hero of Jofa! Did you simply believe that I would accept that all that wonderful advice you have been dispensing was a product of observing some Imperial? You are no Mystral. Admit it."

"Why should I?" Mary baited her, knowing that nothing gave this creature more satisfaction then to be proven right. For as long as Mary could deny her that pleasure, she would continue to feign ignorance to Laurel’s accusation. "You seem to have made up your mind. If you are no fool, you should not need my confirmation. Should you?"

"Answer me!" Laurel screamed, lashing out and attempting to strike Mary’s face. However, the rebel leader caught her wrist with one hand before Laurel could make contact and snapped it back hard. Laurel let out a cry as the guards raised their guns to shoot.

"Go ahead!" Mary challenged them all. "Shoot me if you dare! Mary Travis is one of the most wanted rebels in the galaxy. If I am she and you kill me, the Empire will have your heads! What Mary knows is enough to finish the rebellion once and for all. Do you think the Emperor is going to forgive you destroying all that valuable information to save the likes of her?"

The guards looked uncertain. It was one thing to be outlaws these days, the Empire did not really pay that much attention to criminals but rebels were another thing entirely. The Empire made no secret of the fact they were absolutely ruthless when it came to apprehending members of the Rebel Alliance. Anyone harbouring rebels of impeding the progress of capturing them were dealt with the same manner and if there was even a chance that this Mystral might be the person Laurel believed her to be, then shooting her could be a mistake of fatal proportions. The wrath of Black Sun’s leader might be terrible but it was nowhere in comparison to that of Emperor Palpatine.

Not giving them time to debate the issue to deeply, Mary locked her arm around Laurel’s throat and dug the barrel of her unholstered gun into Laurel’s side. "Drop your weapons or your master dies!"

"Shoot her!" Laurel squealed in fury.

Mary let of a warning shot that ended any further protest that Laurel had to make. "I’ll kill you for this!" Laurel hissed in outrage as Mary held firm.

"Now listen to me all of you!" Mary regarded the guards once again. "Imperial troops will be entering this place in a matter of hours. Your only chance of getting out of this alive is to leave now. Drop your weapons and go!"

Slowly but reluctantly they began to comply, prompted to their final decision, not only by the weapon she was holding to Laurel’s side but also the growing intensity of the TIE fighter bombardment on the fortress. The streams of dust were coming more frequently and there was a loud groaning noise moving throughout the structure echoing ominous threats of destruction. They hurried out of the room finally, leaving Mary and Laurel alone.

"You are her!" Laurel insisted.

"Maybe." Mary returned, trying to decide what to do. She glanced at her chronometer and saw the time was fast approaching when Alex would carry out her part of the plan.

Suddenly the far door opened and both Mary and Laurel looked up at the same time. Being dragged through the door by two guards was a figure both painfully thin and familiar. His skin was almost pasty white and as he was dragged towards them both, Mary could see the hollowness in his eyes and the gauntness that held his skin close to his bones. His features were partially covered in stubble and his clothes were filthy and torn. As he was being carried towards Laurel, he raised his head weakly and barely registered Mary in his dull, weary eyes.

"I believe you two have met." Laurel sneered.

Mary could only stare in horror.

It was Stephen.

************

Alex was pacing along the corridor, watching it anxiously for anyone who might stumble upon what she was attempting to do here. So far, there were far too many people running to transports and attempting to flee the Domicile to pay too much attention to two humans standing before a computer terminal. However, it would only take one to sound the alarm. Alex did not even mind being discovered, painfully aware that it was always a possibility in operations like this, it would just be upsetting if it happened before she was finished completing this vital part of Mary’s plan. Unfortunately, if it were her doing the work, Alex would not feel as apprehensive as she did now but her expertise did not extend to slicing into the mainframe of the Operations Center of Black Sun.

"Are you almost done?" Alex hissed at Casey as she stood guard in the lone corridor.

"It would go faster if you didn’t ask me every few seconds." Casey retorted, sounding nothing like a teenager at the moment. Her ability to slice through heavily encrypted computer systems was the one thing the girl had complete confidence in her ability and when she set down to perform that expertise, she was as professional as any adult that Alex had ever met.

"Look, this whole place looks like it might come down soon." Alex returned tautly. "We have little time as it is to find Stephen and get those Wookies out of their cells."

"I know," Casey answered as if she were dealing with an impatient child as she let her tools and her fingers to the work on the computer terminal. She was moving through backdoors; finding obstacles and shattering their locks with specially designed programs that left the entire world of cyberspace her exclusive domain to wander freely. "But she’s got some pretty sophisticated software to protect her mainframe. I can’t get in there by just knocking."

"I know," Alex responded, deciding to relax and let Casey to what she knew better than any one how to accomplish. As it was, Alex was none to happy to expose the girl to danger. The intention had always been to keep Casey inside the Tracker, not reveal her existence to Laurel Chase and her organization. Casey was a conduit to Josiah Sanchez and if they captured her, the Senator would stop at nothing to see her safe return, even to the point of sacrificing himself. "I'm just kind of worried about Mary."

"You've known each other a long time huh?" Casey asked as she continued to work.

"Something like that," Alex allowed herself a little smile. A long time seemed an inadequate way to describe her friendship with Mary. Sometimes, forever seemed a more appropriate word. Mary had stepped into her life when she had needed her most. Orin Travis and her mother, Yasmine, Orin's second after his first Evie, had been only married for a year when she died during a shuttle accident. Alex had been devastated by the loss, unable to cope with having a new stepfather and brother she hardly knew. If it was not for Mary, Alex could not have imagined enduring that first year where she had felt completely and utterly alone. They had met as young teens in the Preparatory prior to Academy attendance and had been billeted together. While Alex was wild and rebellious, Mary was serious and practical. Their relationship had been night and day and somehow, they had found the common ground to be life long friends. It had carried them through the Academy, through service as Imperial officers and as members of the Rebel Alliance.

"I'm into the system!" Casey announced.

Alex quickly went to her side and found the young girl keying in sequences through a portable terminal she had used to interface with the Domicile's computer system. Casey's fingers were moving furiously as she keyed in new instructions to what was previously a near unbreakable security system. "Can you patch into the security systems on the prison level?"

"I've just accessed that sector now." Casey replied, as the small screen on the Domicile's terminal flashed with digitized data.

"Alright, disable all primary systems in the prison level." Alex instructed. "I want locking mechanisms opened and any kind of security grids or force fields shut down."

"The minute I lower those defences, the main monitoring systems will sound the alerts." Casey informed her.

"Can't you disable those?" She asked.

"Not unless you want me to take another twenty minutes. Those protocols are in a different sector and more encrypted than security." Casey pointed out. "Although I can give you ten minutes to delay the alert."

Ten minutes. It was not a great deal of time. Alex had already unloaded every weapon she could scrounge on the Tracker and left it in the dungeon. Fortunately, with an evacuation process taking place where equipment was being loaded onto ships and displaced, no one had noticed her bringing the cache of weapons to the prison level. Nor was anyone terribly interested in the prisoners when they were more worried about leaving the Domicile with their skin intact. Mary had already told the Wookie female, Tula, what to expect. While Tula had been sceptical about Mary's words being sincere, Alex had a feeling that the Wookie would act accordingly once the doors to her cell were open.

"That will have to be enough." Alex decided. "Do it."

Casey took a deep breath and nodded, carrying out the task of giving the escapees a ten minute margin of time to escape their cells and make it out of the prison area. When that was done, she finally turned her attention to releasing the doors in the dungeon and glanced at Alex just as she was about to initialize the system.

"Here's goes."

The minute she disabled the locking mechanisms, bright red words began to pour into the screen warning of the breach in security. Casey immediately moved to ignore the message and the angry words disappeared.

"It's done."

"I knew you were not the Knife." A low voice with a decidedly reptilian hiss said behind them. Alex looked over her shoulder and found herself staring at Glorith Dal.

**********

Thanks to the TIE fighters, their crossing from the Rogue to the Domicile did not draw any attention. As Chris approached the base of the fortress, it was apparent that the inhabitants had much larger issues to deal with. From the outside, the damage to the structure was apparent with smouldering marks on the stone walls and large sections starting to crumble from the constant bombardment. It would not be long before severe breaches in the structure would cause it to collapse. The TIE fighters were still raining down bolts of energy on the hapless building and Chris knew it was only the prelude to a ground assault. He would not be surprised if troop carriers were already on their way.

"There's the pressure door." Buck pointed out.

The small metal door was situated near the larger version where ships made their entry and exit out of the fortress. There was no chance of penetrating those for they were composed of inches thick beryllium but the pressure door was nowhere as secure and was probably used for maintenance purposes. With all the activity that had to be taking place inside, he doubted that it was well guarded.

Upon reaching it, Vin took note of the control panel at the side of the wall. "I've seen one of these before." He announced and went to work on it immediately. "This won't take long."

"Look." Ezra pointed to the sky.

They all looked up at the same time to see an Imperial troop carrier in the distance. Its arrival prompted the withdrawal of the TIE fighters. The carrier hovered over the ground some distance from them and prepared to land.

"Vin," Chris said as he watched the vehicles descent into the tree line. "Work faster."

CHAPTER TWELVE

 The seconds that ticked by after Stephen Travis was brought before Laurel Chase seemed like an eternity to Mary. Time seemed to slow as if they reaching the singularity at the center of a black hole. They faced each other, the short space between them the last leg of the great gulf that had kept them a part for a whole year. She had moved on and he had remained frozen, lost and alone. His eyes met hers and even though there was some confusion because she did not look entirely like herself, he knew her instantly. There were tears glistening in his eyes as he dared to hope that she was not an apparition, like the one that had kept him company in his dark cell for a year. 

"Mary….?" He croaked. His voice was barely a voice, just a hoarse whisper trying to make it past his throat. 

"Let me go or I’ll have him killed!" Laurel broke into their tearful reunion with her savage voice. Stephen’s arrival here had shifted the balance of power and given her an edge. "Guard, kill him unless she releases me!" Laurel ordered. 

Mary held on tight, not about to relinquish her hold on anything, not when she was privy to information that Laurel was not. She glanced at her chronometer again and knew that the seconds were inching closer for her to act. "The minute you kill my husband, your mistress will die. Make no mistake on that. If I am to lose him, it would be no trouble for me to reduce this beautiful face into ash." Mary glared at Stephen’s captors mercurially and in the face of her cold determination, saw them flinch with indecision. Without batting an eye, Mary said in the same icy voice. "Stephen, sit tight. I’ve got things in hand. 

He nodded mutely, mostly because he was too weak too do anything else and because in the memories he had been using to keep himself alive this past year, he knew that when she made such statements, it was seldom false. 

"Oh really?" Laurel sneered. "Exactly how do you have things in hand Mary?" Her voice was full of smug triumph. "My people are all around you, my guards have your husband. Even if I do not have you skinned alive, the Empire will take possession of you. You have no way out." 

"Don’t you ever get tired of being wrong?" Mary asked, her gun no longer digging into the woman’s ribs. Instead her eyes were fixed on the two guards even though they thought she was looking at her husband. "You know Laurel," Mary continued to speak, mainly to distract the woman as her chokehold tightened. "I’m kind of surprised to see a woman like you, one who seduces like a female insect before devouring her mate. I thought your kind had died out in the dark ages. I suppose that with your ambitions, wanting to be a queen but without a throne, it’s the only way to get by. Still, you have to remember that sex is too fragile a foundation to support the weight of your ego." 

"As opposed to you?" Laurel barked. "A righteous crusader fighting a hopeless cause?" 

"I have people who would be more than happy to die for me. All you have is paid servants who would run at the first sign of freedom." Mary retorted. 

Suddenly, the air exploded with the sound of klaxons blaring with almost deafening levels. An electronic voice spoke over the chaos in loud clear tones. 

"WARNING – SECURITY BREACH ON PRISON LEVEL. WARNING SECURITY BREACH ON PRISON LEVEL." 

The emergency lights bathed the room in crimson but Mary ignored all the pandemonium, shutting out the noise and the change in light hues and fired her weapon twice. The first blast caught the guard holding Steven in the throat. She did not even have time to scream. The other prepared to fire but Mary had already targeted her, a split second after she pulled the trigger on the first. The bolt of energy caught her on the shoulder first, severing the nerve that connected to the hand holding her gun. She dropped it immediately and staggered backwards. Mary did not waste time, taking swift aim again and firing. The third blast felled her to the floor just as dead as her companion. Stephen fell to his knees, unable to stand without support. He had been imprisoned under hellish conditions for a year and was in no shape to be of any help to himself or her.  

When the immediate threat dissolved Mary brought her weapon down on her captors’ skull. Laurel grunted in pain as Mary dropped her to the stone floor and hurried towards her husband. She had maintained her senses for this long but now, concern for his condition and getting him out of here alive had finally overcome her.  

"Stephen!" Mary exclaimed, pulling him to her in a warm embrace. "Oh my god Stephen!"  

"Mary, is it really you?" He asked again, his hands travelling over her face, feeling the familiar curves and lines that would make that fact irrefutable.  

"Yes," she nodded wildly, tears of joy running down her face. "Its me. Oh Stephen, I’ve missed you so much! I didn’t know you were here. I had no idea! We thought you were dead! When I went back home, there was nothing left!" 

"Billy?" Stephen asked fearfully. For the last year, he had been living with the hell of not knowing whether or not his son had escaped and reached safety. "Is Billy okay?" 

"He’s fine." She started to weep. "Stephen he’s so beautiful and he’s growing so fast. He’s going to be so happy to see you Stephen. Stephen I love you!" She embraced him again and felt his body shudder as he started to sob, finally crossing the threshold of belief that he was not dreaming and that she was really here. 

She held him in her arms, even though she knew they could not stay and suddenly, Mary remembered something else. Her eyes flew past Stephen in an instant and felt her heart turn cold as she saw Laurel no longer where she had been. Mary searched the room in an even swifter flurry of time to see the leader of Black Sun retrieving a weapon from a secret compartment beneath her throne. The woman glared at her with a widening smile, seconds ahead of any reaction Mary could make as she aimed and pulled the trigger. Mary tried to recoup, tried to push him out of the way but the moment the gun discharged, she knew that it was not her that Laurel intended to kill. 

"STEPHEN!" She screamed when she felt him spasm in her arms, following the blast of energy. His entire body convulsed and he was too weak to even cry out. There was merely a look of surprise as he collapsed forward, all strength draining from his body. Mary rolled him off her frantically, laying him down so she could examine the wound, all the while giving Laurel great satisfaction at the horror in her face. His back was a charred black mess. There was very little blood but that was only because the laser beam had cauterized the wound with its heat. However, Mary had been a soldier long enough to know that he would not live long enough for her to get him to help.

He was going to die. 

Mary started to sob harder, trying frantically to do something to keep him from reaching that end but her keen mind told her that it was too late. "Stephen, hold on! You’ll be okay, just hold on! I’ll get you out of here!"  

"Mary," he whispered, shaking his head. "I got to see you." He touched her face and felt a thousand delights beyond the pain of dying at the feel of her against his palm and the scent of her in his lungs. "I got to say goodbye." 

"NO!" She wailed in denial. "I won’t let you go." 

"How sentimental." Laurel said with glee. "Shall you still be in that pathetic condition when the Empire comes for you and I get my ten million credits?" 

Mary let go of Stephen and stood up at that, her blue grey eyes becoming black with fury as she turned her gaze upon Laurel.  

"You’ll never know," Mary answered in a voice that was not her own, "because I’m going to kill you." 

*************

 Thanks to the chaos taking place in the Domicile, it was relatively easy for the seven men to go unnoticed as they searched for Mary. Ships were being evacuated out of the main hangar and people were doing the level best to escape the premises before the Empire arrived in force. Chances were good that they probably knew about the shock troopers about to storm the fortress and were ignoring the seven's presence in favour of escaping prior to that arrival. Chris had been using his Jedi senses to hone in on Mary’s present location. It was no easy thing to do. If it were not for the strong emotional bond between them, he would never have been able to sift through the sea of frantic emotions that currently flooded the place to pinpoint her exact location. 

However, as he was in the process of telling Vin, JD and Josiah to break off in order to go find the Tracker, something sliced through his mind with such intensity that all the other emotions surrounding him seemed to drift away into nothingness. That light in the fog suddenly became a strobe, cutting through everything else until Chris could only focus on it alone. He knew instantly that it was Mary, he knew it because he could feel her rage burning through his mind. It was white-hot fury the likes of which he had never sensed from her and for a brief instant he was rather staggered by it. 

"Chris," Vin called out. "What is it?" The apprentice saw the strained expression on his friend’s face, in fact they had all seen it. 

"Its Mary." Chris managed to say after a moment. 

They were standing in a large corridor, one that led straight to the hangar deck and the other that led deeper into the fortress.  

"Is she alright?" Nathan asked quickly. 

"She angry." Chris responded, somewhat dazed. The anger was awesome in its power and Chris had to crush it into submission or else it would infect him too. He raised his eyes to them. "Something has happened. She’s furious. I can feel her rage."

"Stephen." Buck said without having to think twice. 

"Can you find her?" Ezra cut in. The metaphysics of this could wait until later, they needed to retrieve the woman and get out of here before those troops arrived. 

"Yes," Chris nodded, "I can find her." 

"Good," Ezra retorted. "Then I think we should follow your plan and have Vin find his ship. If worse comes to pass, we may need it for a speedy exit from this place." 

"He’s right." Nathan agreed. "We’re pressed for time." 

"Alright," Vin nodded and glanced at JD and Josiah. "We’ll go this way. I’m guessing you can find me." He looked at Chris. 

"I think I’ll manage." Chris remarked and then added on a more serious note. "Good luck." 

"You too."

He would need it, Chris thought inwardly. If what he was sensing from Mary was even as half as bad he suspected he would need more than luck. 

**************

The bolt of energy flew over her shoulder and impacted the ground behind her but Mary hardly noticed it or bothered with any mundane thoughts of self-preservation. Laurel winced at her miss and cocked the weapon to fire again but this time Mary was not giving her the chance, she lunge at the woman in a full body tackle that brought them both down, knocking the weapon from Laurel’s hand as she fell. The blaster skittered across the smooth polished floor, disappearing out of reach. Laurel cried out indignantly but Mary hardly heard her words, she could only remember what the woman had done.  

"BITCH!" Mary screamed as she straddled Laurel who was flaying wildly in an effort to throw Mary off her. However, Laurel who had traded in her looks all her life knew nothing about protecting herself because she always had someone to do it for her. This time was no exception. Mary caught Laurel’s hand with nail bared trying to scratch and if it were not for Stephen lying behind her dying, she would have almost found it amusing. She slammed the woman’s hand against the floor and pinned it with one bent knee before throwing a full fist into her face. 

She heard Laurel screaming in her ear, heard a litany of profane words escaping the woman, as she demanded to be released even though it seemed distant somehow. Mary could only think of Stephen, could think of how she had failed him by underestimating this sadistic creature and how she would never rest until she was content with the knowledge that she had killed the bitch with her bare hands. She hardly noticed that her fists were becoming bruised as she struck flesh repeatedly It did not even register that Laurel’s demands had lost their pompous and arrogant edge and were fast descending into desperate pleas for mercy. 

Mercy?  

The words sounded obscene coming from Laurel after what Mary had seen. Those poor Wookies in the prison level who were now free and hopefully screaming bloody murder for all the wrong that Black Sun had done to them. Young, old, weak, strong, they had all been butchered by this woman for profit and as if Laurel could not commit any worse crime, she had taken Stephen from her at the very moment they had found each other again. There was no punishment that could fit that crime except to rip away all that made her beautiful. The looks that had allowed her to seduce her evil empire into being would have to be destroyed or Laurel would win and that was something Mary could not stand. She unsheathed her gun and aimed it at Laurel’s face.  

The woman was badly beaten, her jaw was misshapen and her face was covered with dark bruises. Her blood stained Mary’s fists. Her green eyes stared at Mary, unable to speak, unable to say any more words of poison like she had when she had shot Stephen. 

"Please…." Laurel strained through shattered teeth.  

"Please?" Mary almost laughed maniacally. "How many people have you heard those words from? How many have begged you to let them live? How many who will never have the chance again? I think you’ve lost your right to ask. You’ve taken away the father of my son," Mary’s voice started to crack. "You stole him away a year ago and now you’ve made sure he’ll never see his child again. For that you have to pay but take comfort in the fact that I won’t kill you. You just won’t be needing a mirror any time soon." 

"Mary, that’s enough."  

Mary turned around and found Chris standing a few feet away. Behind him Nathan and Ezra was hurrying towards Stephen while Buck stood guard at the door they had entered. 

"What are you doing here?" Mary demanded angrily as she continued lowering the intensity on her blaster, preparing to do her worse on Laurel Chase. 

"We came to take you home." 

"He is my home!" She stared at Stephen, "and this animal shot him in the back!"  

"I know that but you’re not a murderer." Chris took another step, aware that in her present state that it would not be that impossible for her to turn the weapon on him. She was certainly angry enough. He let his gaze touch Nathan’s for a moment as the captain tended to Mary’s husband. Nathan had already reached Stephen and was examining the wound that was killing him. He raised his eyes to Chris and shook his head slowly. 

Mary stared at Chris, imploring him to understand, that she had to do this. "I won’t let her get away with this." 

"We won’t." He said firmly. "I promise you." 

"She just shot him Chris!" Mary shouted, feeling her resolve waver. Why did Chris have to be here? This was hard enough to do without having him watch her do this thing! She had to avenge Stephen! She had to do something! She had failed him so miserably. 

"I know." Chris responded. "As much as I want to find who killed Sarah and Adam, I know that won’t bring them back just as what you're planning to do to that woman won’t change what’s happening to Stephen." 

Stephen Travis, what was left of him, watched silently as the rebel captain and his companion tried to pull him back from the abyss into which he was descending. He saw his wife, the sorrow and anguish on her face and the stranger that was trying so hard to keep her from doing something unforgivable. Even as his life drained from him, he could tell that his Mary was listening to the man even though it might now seem like it. She was always a force of nature, his beautiful golden Mare, the only woman he had ever loved. She always took so much upon herself and it had always been his greatest privilege to be the only part of her life that could always be counted on to make that burden seem a little more bearable. Now he was dying and though there were many regrets, it did not seem as bad as knowing that she would have to shoulder all that responsibility alone once he was gone.

Or maybe not if the way the stranger was staring at his wife was any indication.

Mary was still sitting on top of Laurel, the barrel of her gun still pressed against Laurel’s bloodied cheek. She had not pulled the trigger of the weapon but neither had she withdrawn it. She merely sat there, eyes black, tears running down her face. Chris knew perfectly well what it was too hate with so much fury, he knew it because he had once felt that kind of rage. Mare had been the impetus that made him let go of all that anger. It was Mary who had taught him to stop mourning Sarah and Adam to instead relish their lives and what they had meant to his existence, to honour them by taking up a cause that would spare other husbands from enduring the same loss.

"Mary," Chris said again, certain that his words were reaching her. "Don’t let the last thing Stephen sees in this life is you turning into a killer. Don’t make his death meaningless." 

The words penetrated and with an audible gasp of horror, splashing over her like cold water. She looked at the weapon in her hand, realised that she was about to become no better than what she had tried to stop and flung it aside with just as much disgust as she had felt fury a short time ago. She climbed off Laurel, not even looking at Chris as she crossed the floor and ran to her husband’s side. 

"Stephen." Mary knelt down next to him as Nathan withdrew, unable to do any more for the man. "Stephen, you have to hang on. We’re going to take you home." 

"Mary," he whispered and placed his hand on his cheek. "I got to say goodbye." 

"No, Stephen," she shook her head wildly, crying harder now. "This is not goodbye." 

A loud roar muffled her response as a loud explosion roared in their ears. Overhead, the structure heaved in protest. Klaxons began screaming even more furiously. 

"That was not a fighter blast." Ezra informed them. "That was a charge explosion."  

Ezra need not have guessed the cause for an instant later, the message that indicate that there was a security breach, changed its content dramatically. 

"WARNING. IMPERIAL TROOPS HAVE ENTERED THE BASE. IMPERIAL TROOPS HAVE ENTERED THE BASE." 

"We have to go and we have to go right now!" Buck Wilmington shouted from his position. 

"Mary," Stephen said weakly, he was starting to fade and he knew it. "You…have…to…go." 

"NO!" She shouted vehemently, "Stephen I am not leaving you! You’re coming with us!"  

"Mary," he shook his head. "You have to go for Billy." 

"I won’t leave you Stephen!" She said refusing to let go of him. 

"Mare," he tried prying her fingers from his ragged clothes. "I love you. I will always love you but for me, you have to go now." 

"Don’t ask me Stephen." She sobbed, "don’t ask me to do that!" 

Stephen looked over her shoulder at the stranger whose eyes were filled with anguish as seeing his Mare in so much grief and recognised something at that moment that made his slipping out of this world a great deal easier to bear. The darkness was all around him now, it was starting to creep at the edges of his vision and was slowly shrinking his consciousness. He could no longer feel his body and knew the coldness he felt was the beginnings of his end. Raising his uncertain eyes, he met the intense gaze of the man staring at Mary with an emotion he knew all to well and realised that the man was a Jedi. The Jedi believed that in the afterlife, all things became apart of the Force, Stephen rather liked that idea.  

Chris Larabee saw Stephen Travis staring at him and for a moment, was jarred by the understanding that Stephen knew exactly how he felt about Mary. However, the man did not look back at him with betrayal or anger but rather hope and that startled the Jedi.  

"Take her." He ordered and Chris knew that Stephen was speaking only to him.  

For a moment, Chris did not want to do because he could feel Stephen’s life draining away. He was almost dead. He had lasted this long on sheer will alone and suddenly Chris could understand why Mary loved him so much.  

"TAKE HER!" Stephen cried again, more insistently with enough force to snap Chris out of his shock.  

That last order took all the energy Stephen Travis had left and as he saw the Jedi stunned into moving, he returned his fading vision back to his wife. Back to his Mare. 

"I love you Mare." He whispered and then he died. 

"NO! STEPHEN!" Mary wailed. "NO!" 

Chris felt his heart break at the sound of that tortured cry as the life slipped out of Stephen Travis and he faded away into nothingness. "Come on Mary," he said trying to tear her away from her husband. He could feel every ounce of her pain and wished that there were some way he could take it away. However, there were some things even beyond a Jedi’s ability to heal. 

"NO!" She insisted. "STEPHEN!" 

"Chris," Buck shouted, peering back at them from the door again. "We really have to go!"  

Chris nodded firmly and did the only thing he could do; he swept her into his arms and picked her up bodily.  

"LET ME GO!" She shouted. "I won’t leave him!" 

"Mary he’s gone." Chris said softly, wishing that he did not have to do this but he had no choice. What Buck did not say but was certainly the case, was that Imperial troops were swarming the building and unless they departed now, they would not be leaving at all.

 "No he’s not!" She insisted, refusing to believe it, her senses raw and still in shock. There was a part of her that refused to believe she had come all this way to find him only to lose him all over again.

They did not have time to debate the issue, carrying her in his arms, Chris pulled her away from Stephen’s dead form.

 "NO!" She shouted, her hands clawing wildly for Stephen as the others hurried to the door ahead of him. "Let me go!" She demanded sobbing.

Chris hardened his heart, thinking that he would never again be called upon to do anything as agonising when he had to bury Sarah and Adam, until this moment. Mary’s cries tore stabbed at him each time it echoed in his ears and yet he knew he could not give in to her. They had to leave now, while they still could and he had promised Stephen that he would take her away from here. No matter how painful that was going to be for Mary, Chris had no intention on reneging on that promise. It was the last thing the man had asked of anyone and it was for the safety of the woman he was leaving behind. 

Ignoring her desperate pleas to stop, Chris kept his grip on her even though she was alternating between her screams to be let go and her cries for her dead husband. He looked up at Nathan and Ezra, seeing their faces full of empathy even though neither of them wished to be in his place.

"Let’s get out of here." Chris said quietly with Mary’s voice screaming for Stephen in his ears.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

"Casey run!"

Alex shouted as Glorith lunged at her. The young girl barely had time to move away from the computer terminal she had used to slice into the Domicile’s security system when the reptilian attacked. The Selonian pounced like a coiled snake with both Alex and Casey having little time to get out of her path as she soared through the air with her razor sharp claws extended and her serrated teeth bared.

"Get to the ship!" Alex barked at Casey who was clutching her portable terminal to her chest, at a loss over what to do. "NOW!"

Casey jumped at the sound of Alex’s voice and started moving although she was somewhat reluctant to leave the operative behind. However, as she saw Alex and Glorith about to go head to head, she realised that remaining behind would only be a hindrance to Alex not a benefit. Fighting the knots in her stomach, the girl started running down the corridor, casting an anxious glance over her shoulder at regular intervals before Alex finally disappeared out of her line of sight.

Alex did notice any of this because she was too busy trying to keep Glorith from tearing out her throat. The resentment that the Selonian had felt at being usurped of her position and the damage to her prestige in Laurel’s eyes was evident on the snarl emitted by the reptilian as she landed on the floor, a few inches away from Alex with her scaled limbs flaying wildly. Alex stepped back, giving herself enough room to manoeuvre and did not react until Glorith gave her an opening to attack. Aware of the narrow margin of time in which she had to act, Alex waited until her moment and then struck, slamming her foot into the side of Glorith’s knee, forcing the Selonian to her knees. A split instant later, Alex threw a high kick that connected with Glorith’s jaw. The reptilians staggered backwards but she was stronger than Alex and her tough hide ensured that she could endure several lethal strikes if necessary.

"I knew you were not the Knife!" Glorith hissed as she swung at Alex with such speed that her limbs were like turquoise streaks in front of her.

"Gee, it only took sabotaging the Domicile for you to realise that." Alex retorted. "Are all Selonians this dumb?"

Glorith let out roar of indignation and swung. Alex leapt back to avoid the path of those half-inch talons but not far enough. Glorith’s claws ripped through the material of her body suit and met soft skin. Alex let out a soft cry as she felt her skin being lacerated and realised chillingly that had she not stepped back when she did, her intestines would most likely be spilling out onto her feet by now. Alex saw another arm swinging at her and caught it this time. Glorith swung her other arm in fury and was met with the same resistance. She pushed hard towards Alex, trying to free her captured arms when Alex brought up one of her knee and planted it firmly against the Selonian’s sternum so Glorith could not lean forward to take a bite out of her neck. Using the enemy’s body to brace herself, Alex kicked hard again and let go of Glorith’s hands, disrupting her balance as she fell backwards.

She ran forward as Glorith stumbled and threw another powerful kick in to the Selonian’s side. She was preparing to throw another sidekick when Glorith grabbed her leg and twisted it around so forcefully that Alex fairly spun in mid air. When the Selonian released her, she came down hard on the floor only to feel sharp claws digging into her scalp. Alex let out a yell of pain as she felt rivulets of warmth running through her hair at the sharp point in her skull. Throwing her leg up in a high kick, the toes of her boots slammed into the top of Glorith’s skull and resulted in her release.

Her head was stinging in pain but Alex brushed the sensation aside as she defended herself against Glorith’s latest attack. The operative met the bounty hunter's punches, blow for blow for they were evenly matched despite the differences in their species. Glorith was fast but Alex was better trained and both of them managed to do significant damage to one another as they traded strikes. However, Alex felt the time pressing against her and told herself that she had to finish this quickly because Mary was waiting for her, not to mention what Casey was up to alone.

"You’re good," Glorith managed to say when they paused a moment to recoup their energy. "You are not the Knife but you fight well. I will consider it an honour to kill you."

"As will I." Alex said sweetly as she ran forward and struck with a running kick that almost threw Glorith across the room. The reptilian slammed into the wall, her head taking the brunt of the impact and was momentarily disorientated. Not giving her chance to recover, Alex kicked her again, pushing her back against the obstruction once more as her ability to come back from the blow began to slow, giving Alex more opportunity to attack. Alex lashed out with her fists this time, one after the other, determined not to walk away until she was certain she would not have to look over her shoulder when she and Mary were escaping from this place.

***********

 Casey ran through the hangar, hoping no one paid much attention to her but there was very little danger of that happening with people more concerned about their own escape to worry about her presence among them. Overhead, she could hear the emergency warning system telling them about the impending arrival of Imperial troops in the Domicile and Casey felt stabs of fear as she closed in on the Tracker. She was hoping that she would not still be waiting inside the vessel for Alex and Mary when those soldiers breached the Domicile. Having almost once fallen into their custody, Casey did not relish the idea of being in their power again, not to mention what awful things they might to do to her in order to get to Uncle Josiah. 

Uncle Josiah, she thought with a wave of fear almost equalling the anxiety she felt at being an Imperial prisoner. He would be so furious with her if he knew she was here. In truth, he probably already knew she was gone but Casey hoped that when they returned to the Alliance, Mary might be willing to intercede on her behalf and take the edge of his anger. Anything had to be better than facing him alone face to face.

 "CASEY WELLS! WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?" 

Casey froze at the impossibility of that voice being here but she knew it too well to be mistaken. Turning around, she almost went white with stunned shock when she saw Uncle Josiah standing before, his face twisted in an expression of disbelief and horror, with Vin Tanner and God, she groaned inwardly, JD Dunne, standing next to him in equal astonishment.

 "Uncle Josiah." Casey stammered.

"What are you doing here?" Josiah demanded again, unable to believe that she was standing before him. When he had first caught sight of her running across the hangar floor, he though he had been mistaken but the others had seen her and was just as certain that it was Casey and not someone who resembled her. Josiah was almost choking in outrage at her presence in Black Sun's Domicile, especially after hearing how dangerous the place was as well as the fact that it was presently the venue for an Imperial invasion. 

"I have really good explanation but I think Alex should tell it." She stuttered, knowing that it was not going to get her out of trouble.  

"Alex?" Vin asked suddenly, "where is she?" 

"I can show you!" Casey spoke up, trying to do anything she could think to keep from telling Josiah how she had come to be on the Tracker. Somehow, she had a feeling he was not going to be very impressed by her tale of being a stowaway.  

"Just point." Vin stopped her before she could get past them. "By the way, where is my ship?" He asked further. 

"Its in Docking Bay 2," Casey answered, trying to avoid Josiah’s critical gaze or the smirk on JD’s face. "I can show you where it is!" She offered again. 

"You’ll show me where it is." Josiah said firmly. "Then you can explain yourself young lady." 

"You’re in trouble." JD smirked in a sing song voice. 

"You’re such a jerk!" Casey spat at him. 

"At least I’m a jerk who’s not in trouble. " He repeated in that annoying tone. 

"HEY!" Vin cut in, sharing the same irritated expression at the duo’s behaviour. "Let’s get a grip here. Where is Alex?" He asked again. 

"She’s down that corridor." Casey said meekly, pointing towards the far end of the hangar. "Vin you gotta hurry, she’s fighting this big reptilian woman." 

"Glorith." Vin recognised her description immediately before turning to Josiah. "You three get to my ship and fire her up. I’m going to get Alex." 

Vin did not wait for an answer and hurried across the hangar floor, fighting the bodies that were hurrying to their own transports in order to flee the installation before more Imperial troops entered the fortress. When he was gone, Casey found herself at the receiving end of a hard stare from her uncle. 

"I’ve got a really good reason why I’m here Uncle Josiah, honest." She said trying to sound her most sincere even though that was not easy to do with JD grinning at her with smug satisfaction at the amount of trouble she was in.  

"I'll bet." JD snorted. 

"Why don't you shut up!" She glared at him.  

"Yeah I am," he said with a smile, "but at least I'm not the one in trouble."

 "Peasant!"

 Josiah rolled his eyes and wondered if it would really be a bad thing if he broke his promise to his dear sister to keep Casey safe by leaving them both here.

 Certainly, the storm troopers would not stand a chance. 

**********

Vin Tanner hurried down the corridor Casey had directed him and heard the familiar sounds of flesh slapping against flesh in what sounded like bare-knuckled brawl of great savagery. He turned the corner and stopped short at sight of Alex and a Selonian he guessed was Glorith Dal battling like two vengeful hellions. Their dance was almost beautiful in its way; the slick coordination wrapped up in brutal strength. Alex was holding her own against her opponent and Vin could not help but sigh at the sight of her sleek movements even in this ferocious undertaking. She was incredible, Vin thought to himself before he realised that perhaps he ought to be helping her instead of gawking at her like a teenager.

 "Alex!" Vin called out. 

Both women froze for an instant and turned sharply at his direction. While Alex was dumbfounded at his presence Glorith merely narrowed her slitted yellow eyes and stared at Vin with her teeth bared.

"So Tanner, you have come for your lover?" Glorith glared at Alex with accusation. 

Lover?

 Vin's brow knotted with confusion. "What's she talking about?" He asked Alex as the two combatants paused for the moment.  

Alex did not respond because her attention was unwisely fixed on his surprise appearance. It was an unfortunate distraction. 

Vin saw Glorith pull back her arm and realised in an instant of horror what was about to happen. "Alex, watch out!"  

Events seemed to slow to a crawl as Alex shifted her eyes back to Glorith, just in time to see the Selonian swing her claws in a clean swipe at her mid section. The claws sunk deep into her skin in a perfect arch, slicing through flesh and organs beneath Alex's ribs. She let out a soft cry as she felt the pain cut through her, felt the warmth spill out of the torn skin until it became wet and heavy in her clothes. She looked ahead and saw a bolt of energy strike Glorith in the shoulder, sending the Selonian flying across the room. Alex watched in a dazed stupor as the reptilian hit the ground and did not stand up again. For herself, she did not even realise that she had fallen until she felt her knees against the hard stone floor. However, the pain seemed inconsequential in the face of fire burning her insides. 

Vin was there to catch her before she collapsed completely to the floor. He caught her in his arms as she slumped forward and felt a cold chill in his insides as her blood seeped through his clothes when he held her. Forcing away his horror, he quickly turned her over so that he could examine her injuries. There was no need for a detailed examination because her injuries were clear enough to be detected immediately. She was bleeding profusely for the Selonian's razor like claws had shredded her insides like paper. She was still conscious but clearly in agony even though she tried valiantly not to show it.. Vin had seen wounds like this before and he knew that unless he got her help soon, she would die.  

"I'm getting you out of here." He said brushing her hair out of her lovely face as he picked her up in his arms. "Just hold on okay? I'm going to take care of you." He said tenderly. 

She was losing coherence in her thoughts but her glassy eyes were still fixed on him. "You can't even put a light sabre together."

 Vin tried to crack a smile as he secured his grip on her and hurried back down the corridor towards the main hangar. "But you're still crazy about me." He offered her his most charming smile even though she was in no condition to appreciate it.

Alex opened her eyes and looked directly at him, completely focused before she answered. "Don't flatter yourself, it wasn't that good a kiss."

Then she passed out.

***********

"Watch your back!" Nathan shouted.  

Ezra swung around and fired at the Imperial stormtrooper raising his blast rifle to fire. He sent the man sprawling as the bolt of energy cut down the trooper before Ezra turned his back on him and continued forward again. Fortunately, that was the only trooper behind them and Ezra made a mental note to keep his face obscured to any other approaching troopers. While it was difficult to for anyone to identify him clearly with all the confusion that was taking place at the moment, Ezra knew that it was not wise to take any risks. He was more valuable to the Rebellion occupying his present position on Cordoba and he was not ready to join the organization entirely just yet.

"The ship's in Docking Bay 2!" Buck called out to them as they moved through the doors that led to the main hangar. The pilot had received his information via his com link while he took flanking position next to Chris who was in no condition to be able to defend himself as he had his hands full with Mary. The leader of the Rebel Alliance in the territory was still sobbing tearfully, incoherent to anything but her loss. Considering what she had just endured, no one could blame her for that. 

The hangar was in an even more frantic state of activity then before and their presence was hardly noticed as they ran across the floor. The main center of activity seemed to be the transports that were being commandeered by Wookies. Black Sun's personnel were being hurled out of their ships by the formidable race who seemed extremely violent and were not padding any of their punches. Ezra's sense of chivalry almost induced him to go to the aid of the Black Sun members, because they were women before he realised that he was not eager to incur the wrath of any Wookies, not to mention that there might be reason for their rough handling.

 "What's going on?" Buck asked mystified. "There's wall to wall fur in here!"  

"Don't complain," Ezra retorted, "just be grateful that they will provide interference when the Empire arrives." 

"Will the Empire hurt them?" Nathan asked concerned.  

"I do not know," Ezra shrugged, "it depends on their circumstances here. However, I do not think there will be many for the Empire to find." He gestured towards one of the larger transport carriers where Wookies were embarking in force, much to the chagrin of the Black Sun members who originally occupied it.  

"I hope they make it." Nathan mused softly. If everything he heard about Laurel Chase was true, then he doubted the Wookies were here by choice. No doubt, the woman probably had some heinous use for them that warranted their fury at the Black Sun members in their path as they attempted to leave the fortress. 

"They will." Ezra patted his friend on the shoulder. "Fortune favours the foolish. We must keep moving." He reminded. 

They had turned down the small corridor that led to Docking Bay 2 when suddenly; the group was confronted by a large Wookie with russet fur who was not letting them pass. She almost a foot higher than Buck who was the tallest among them and was heavily armed. She growled angrily at them and aimed the weapon in their direction, daring them to move. Her gaze was fixed on Mary in particular and did not seem happy that Chris was carrying her.

 "You want to use some of that animal magnetism of yours Buck?" Nathan retorted sarcastically. "I think she's female." 

"Very funny." Buck gave him a look.  

Chris stepped forward, still holding Mary in his arms and noted the way the Wookie was looking at her. 

The emotions he sensed were not anger or hatred but rather protective and he came to the understanding that her hostility towards them was engendered out of concern for Mary. Chris opened his Jedi senses further despite the fact that they were still somewhat raw from the emotional turmoil of dragging Mary from Stephen, and discovered Mary's part in the alien's liberation.

 "We're her friends." Chris explained, certain that the Wookie understood him. "She has lost her mate." He glanced at Mary who was sobbing in the crook of her shoulder.

 The Wookie named Tula let out a soft growl, indefinable as a language unless one had a universal translator but Chris could understand the sentiment behind it all too well. It reeked of sympathy for Mary's sorrow.  

"Come with us." He said. 

Tula growled again, the tone of her response having something that could be considered an affirmative that she reinforced when she lowered her weapon. She looked at the men with him and wrestled for a moment with whether or not she could trust them, however, she would not refuse them because Mary was with them. 

"Chris, are you certain about this?" Ezra asked warily after he pushed himself to the front and found himself swallowing at the sight of the Wookie's bulk. 

"Yes I am." He nodded. "She's not going to let us go anywhere with Mary." Chris looked down at Mary and felt his heart lurched at her soft whimpers.  

"If you say so." The Imperial officer agreed, becoming conscious of the shooting he could hear outside and was certain that the Imperial troops were filtering into the hangar. "However, I do not recommend that we remain here for much longer." 

"Ezra's right," Buck agreed. "They're coming in fast." 

"Well Madam," Ezra glanced up anxiously at Wookie female, "if you are coming with us, I suggest that you let us pass."

 Tula let out a grunt of approval, not certain of what exactly was said but appreciated the sentiments behind it and stepped aside, allowing them to continue ahead, falling behind them a second later. 

**********

 The first thing Mary truly become conscious of after she had been torn away from Stephen was being inside the Tracker once more. Everything else until this point had been a blur she did not want to define a symphony of pain she did not want to recognise. However, when she saw the familiar metallic hull enclose her world, the anguish of returning here without Stephen penetrated the veneer of grief she had surrounding herself. With sensation seeping into her consciousness, Mary became aware of Chris' arms holding her and yet she could not be grateful that he had brought her here. All she felt was this cold numb feeling inside of her that threatened to snap her in half from its sheer intensity.

"Let me go!" She snapped as they entered the Tracker, suddenly returning from the limbo where she had been since she had been forced away from Stephen kicking and screaming. 

The others had scattered to take their seats in the preparation for launch. The deck was humming beneath them and the engines were more than ready for blast off. She could hear the reverberation of systems coming alive across the vessel and internal lights flooding the decks. More and more systems were being initiated as the pre-flight checks were made. To get past the inevitable Imperial blockade would tax even Buck Wilmington's skill and the pilot was already shouting at everyone to strap themselves in as they waited for Vin to arrive. 

Chris loosened his grip around her and allowed her to stand on her own accord when Mary broke free of him herself and turned on him. "Why did you make me leave him!" She demanded. Her eyes wide with accusation. 

"I had no choice." Chris returned softly, his expression unreadable as he answered. "We had to go." 

"You didn't have to take me away from him!" She shouted furiously. "I should have been with him! You should have left me!" She cried beating her fists against his chest in anger. "You had no right!"  

"Mary....." Buck who was present started to speak in Chris' defence, recognising the sorrow in his old friend's face as he took Mary's verbal barrage stoically. Buck had seen the anguish in Chris' eyes as he made the decision to get Mary out of there after Stephen had died. It was a position Buck never wanted to find himself.

 "You should have left me there!" She shouted again, tears running down her face, continuing to hit him with her hands even though he made no move to stop her. "I should be there with him!" Mary insisted almost hysterically.

 Chris swallowed thickly, feeling a visible lump in his throat that did not dissipate after that action and his heart seemed to shrink at her angry words but he knew that she was in pain and that she needed to take it out on somebody. He cared enough about her to be that somebody. However, Chris also had to make her understand that he had not merely taken her out of there for her sake as well as his own but also for the sake of Stephen Travis who did not want the woman he loved to sacrifice herself for him needlessly

"I had to get you out of there Mary," Chris said quietly. "I had to because Stephen asked me." 

Mary stopped short and for a few seconds she held his gaze as the last vestiges of her restraint crumbled completely and all he could do was to draw her close to him as she began to weep. Chris glanced over his shoulder to ask Buck for a moment alone but the pilot was already gone. Turning back to her, he slid his arms over her body and drew her to him. Mary did not protest as she buried her face in the crook of his shoulder and began to cry harder. Chris wanted her to shed her tears, knowing that it was not easy for her to do. She tried to be strong and brave for the benefit of everyone and it was not often that she was permitted to show that she could be hurt like anyone else. Mary let herself be drawn into his embrace, allowing him to cradle her in his comforting arms as she cried for Stephen and the realisation that this time she had lost him for good. 

"Oh Chris!" She wept tearfully. "It's not fair!" 

"I know," he spoke softly into her hair, holding her gently because she needed to be held by someone whom she was unafraid to show her vulnerabilities. "I'm sorry Mary. If there were any way I could have saved him, I would have done it. For you."
It was the truth. No matter how much it would hurt him to lose Mary, he could not imagine her hurting her by allowing Stephen to die, even if it was for his own selfish reasons. He loved her too much to have denied her a life with the man she had married and to whom she had borne a son.  

"I know you would have," she nodded and answered in a small voice, still weeping through her words. "I just never thought I'd find him to lose him all over again." She broke down once more and sobbed more deeply, clinging to him tight because he was the only one in the universe who could possibly understand what she was feeling. 

"You haven't lost him Mary," Chris whispered, stroking her hair gently while he continued to hold her. "You carry him in your heart every day and he lives in your son. He may not be here but you still have him, never doubt that." 

Mary looked up and met his eyes. Emotion welled up in those pools of blue grey perfection as she gazed back him and started to speak when suddenly, they heard foot steps hurrying up the ramp. 

"Hey can I get some help here!" Vin Tanner demanded as he came on board his ship. 

The former bounty hunter was more than grateful to see his ship again but any elation at the return of his beloved vessel felt sour in the face of Alex's injury. She was still breathing but fortunately she had lapsed into consciousness. Vin never felt more thankful of the fact that he had equipped his ship with the best in medical equipment during his time as a bounty hunter. This was mostly because he could ill afford to stop at a medical centre whenever he was injured because he was usually on the trail of a bounty and could not afford to the detour. 

"Oh no!" Mary exclaimed horrified at the possibility of losing another person in her life so soon after Stephen. She could not bear it. Pulling herself away from Chris, she hurried to the apprentice and to her best friend. Alex's injury was returning her back to her senses far more efficiently than anything else. "Lex!"  

"She's still alive." Vin assured her, seeing the tears in her eyes and guessing that something terrible had already happened if the emotions he was sensing from both Chris and Mary were any indication. "We need to get her to my medical bay." He responded as he carried her past them. 

"What happened?" Chris asked as he followed them out of the passageway attached to the main hatch. 

"She had a run in with a Selonian." Vin replied quickly.  

"I've had enough of Stars End." Mary said with an edge to her voice as she saw Alex being carried away. The injury to her best friend reminded Mary that there were still other people in her life she could not afford to lose and while the pain of losing Stephen was a knife in her heart, she could grieve privately because now was not the time for it. So much had been lost already and she still had no idea whether or not Laurel Chase was counted among the dead however. For the moment all that could wait. Right now, the only thing that mattered was putting Star's End behind them.

With a sad sigh, she took Chris' hand in hers and surprised him by the warmth and affection in her touch considering her harrowing experience. There was no longer any anger in her face, just that overwhelming sadness that touched his soul whenever he looked at her. He could tell that she had accepted her husband's death even though she was far from over it.

"What do you want to do?" He asked quietly even though he knew the answer already.

Mary met his gaze directly and said firmly. "Let's get the hell out of here. I want to go home."

Chris was happy to oblige her.

EPILOGUE

Ezra Standish entered his office at the Cordoba outpost and found little had altered during his brief absence. It was odd to admit but after the turbulence of the last few days, what with his journey to Star's End, Stephen Travis death and the consequences on Mary, not to mention his mother, the quiet benign surroundings of his little space in the outpost was actually quite welcoming. There were reports and duty logs piled up in his in tray, no doubt requiring his assessment and his beverage mug was steaming with heat which indicated that Claire was up to her usual efficient self. Outside his window, he could see the ships flying arriving and departing at the main space station and supposed there was an arrival and departure log for him to review on his desk as well.

For once, Ezra did not mind that mundane undertaking with all the chaos that had been his life the last few days. They had returned from Star's end with the Rogue dropping him off in Pzob so that could take a commercial carrier back to Wild Space without arousing too much suspicion. Vin had remained on the Tracker with Alexandra Styles still in his medical bay and flew directly back to their hideout, since she needed proper medical care immediately. The others had opted to make the return journey on the Rogue since the Tracker was not as a big a vessel as the Incom Corsair Corellian freighter. Despite the fact that his entire trip away had been fraught with danger, Ezra knew he did not mind that much at all.

He had enjoyed seeing Nathan again and accompanying him on the mission to retrieve Mary Travis had been a reminder of the times they used to share together, when they were younger and looking for trouble as hot headed cadets. He also enjoyed the camaraderie with the five men whom Nathan called friends. He knew that his friendship would one day be the reason he would not be returning to this office and taking up his role as Commander of the Cordoba base. It was almost an inevitability that he would join them but it was for the oddest of reason, not at all for the cause but for their friendship. For one who had spent most of his life alone, it was an unusual feeling.

Ezra picked up his beverage mug to take a sip when suddenly, his door chimed.

"Enter." He said without thinking, assuming it to be Claire who was no doubt here to appraise him on the progress of his new second in command. He sniggered inwardly as he wondered how the Lieutenant would have reacted to finding him gone upon her arrival, certainly it would put a severe crimp in her spying agenda.

However, it was Claire that entered his room. He found himself at the receiving end of a stare from powerful emerald colour eyes. Although she was wearing an Imperial uniform, her skin looked like fine white silk against her uniform. Her lips red and full, were pressed firmly in an expression of indifference hiding annoyance The Imperial cap hid her the style of her hair but Ezra spied red copper strands beneath the material. Ezra found himself thinking that Vader played dirty by inducing him to work closely with such a beautiful female and wondered if it was the dark lord's plan for her to seduce him into giving away his secrets.

"Lieutenant Pemberton I assume?" Ezra asked smoothly.

"Yes Sir," she said coolly, no traces of the annoyance that had gripped her when she arrived here to find that he had gone. Even more so after she had spent the last few days reviewing every bit of data in the outpost logs and found nothing to substantiate Vader's belief that Ezra Standish was not acting in the interests of the Empire. "I am reporting for duty."

"Doing what exactly?" Ezra had no intention of being polite nor did he like those who were sent to spy on him. Using a woman and a beautiful one at that was insulting as far as the captain was concerned. Ezra felt incensed that Vader would think him sloppy enough to let his guard down simply because she was female. Obviously, Vader had never met Maude Standish or else he would know better.

"I am your second in command." She said stiffly.

"I had an able adjutant." Ezra responded. "Lieutenant Moseley has been acting in that capacity since I assumed command. However, since your appointment was done so without my say so and I have no choice but to tolerate you being here, I am certain that we will be able to find something for you to do." He said smugly and took great delight in the surge of anger he saw igniting in her eyes.

"I am aware that you don't want me here," Julia returned, feeling the restraints on her temper starting to slip. "However, I am here and I'm sure I can be of assistance to you if you just give me the opportunity."

"I suppose I could." H eased back into his chair and let his eyes drift over her as if she were a new specimen whose worthiness to retain he was attempting to discern. "What have you done since I was gone on my sabbatical?"

Julia stammered suddenly realizing that he knew perfectly well what her purpose here was and that he guessed that she had most likely been checking up on everything he was doing since taking command. Nothing else had been undertaken in regards to the smooth operation of the outpost itself. The role she was supposed to fill in his absence had been ignored because she had been too busy snooping. "I was familiarizing myself with the outpost and everything that has transpired until now."

"That kind of familiarization can wait until after you have taken care of the day to day operation of this outpost," Ezra moved in for the kill like as if he was about to lay a killer sabaac hand on the table for all to see. "My in tray indicates that none of this has been tended to." Just for effect, he reached into logs and reports that required evaluation and picked up one. "This should have been your priority the moment you arrive on my base, not playing 'catch up' as it were. I expect such familiarization to take place in your spare time not during your duty hours."

"I was...." Julia tried to defend herself but Ezra was not about to let her get a word in.

"I expect a better level of performance while you are on my station Lieutenant," Ezra rose to his feet in full authoritative pose. "This is not the most glamorous posting in the Imperial sphere of influence but that does not excuse lacklustrer efforts. I will have no member of my station behaving below the levels of excellence I demand. If you are incapable of that, I will have you out of here so fast you would not feel the door hitting you on the way out. Do I make myself clear Lieutenant?"

Julia swallowed visibly. If she could not maintain her cover as his first officer than he had every right to transfer her out of here. There would be nothing Vader could do to prevent it unless he wanted to explain to the chain of command why an officer with a less than average efficiency rating should be allowed to remain in her post. As powerful as Vader was, there would be deep seeded resentment if the higher echelons of the Imperial fleet knew that there spies planted in their midst, especially when there was no evidence linking them to any inappropriate behaviour.

"Yes Sir." Julia nodded. "Crystal clear."

"Good," Ezra sat down once again. "You are dismissed."

She wanted to say something further but the indignation she felt should not be allowed expression at this time. This was his arena and she would have to play by his rules. "Thank you Sir." She answered, hating herself for going so quietly.

Ezra watched her leave and let a little smile cross lips when her back was to him. She was not going to last a week.

*************

The first thing Alex became conscious of the moment her mind finally achieved consciousness; was the smell.

It was sharp and acrid, bringing to mind definitive images of all things clinical and sterile. Even in the darkness of her slumber, that one smell was more telling than anything that could be represented by a visual image. Alex immediately associated it with bright white lights and medtechs running up and down aisles in pristine white clothes, sticking temp meters down throats and hypos elsewhere. Disinfectant made her think of words like hygiene, medical droids and unwanted furloughs.

It made her think of hospitals.

Which was precisely where Alexandra Styles found herself when she finally woke up. She opened her eyes and found herself staring at a white ceiling above a bed whose sheets she was tucked comfortably within. For a moment, it all swirled in on her, consciousness that is. Once the room stopped spinning, he was able to focus a little more clearly on where she was. Alex tried to remember her last memory before waking up to find herself here. Glorith. Glorith and Vin. Vin had appeared out of nowhere. He had suddenly shown up and like some damn teenager, she had let the memory of a kiss allow an injury of this magnitude to be inflicted on herself!

Alex was beyond disgusted at herself.

Instinctively, she looked beneath the covers of the clean sheets covering her body and examined her torso. Where she recalled seeing discoloured and broken flesh, there was now white gauze wrapped over the wound. The pain was still there but she was familiar enough with the sensation going through her body to know that she had been given medication to cope with it. The monitor next to her bed pumped nutrients into her veins. As she scanned the room ahead, she knew without question that she was at the rebel base and let out a sigh of relief knowing they had made it back safely. Did they have Stephen? A thousand questions flooded through her mind and she sat up quickly.

"Hey, take it easy." Vin Tanner's voice suddenly spoke up and Alex turned to see him rising from the chair next to her bed where he had obviously been for some time, judging by the creases in his clothes.

"Where's Stephen?" She demanded quickly, not paying much attention to his warning until her attempt to sit up engendered pain and she was forced back into her bed.

"Now that's what happens when you don't listen." He said smugly.

"Ah bite me." She grumbled.

"You kiss me with that mouth?" He looked at her with a smile.

"Not again," Alex retorted and then turned her attention to more serious matters. "Is Mary and Stephen okay?"

His expression changed and Alex knew immediately by the dimming light of those cobalt collared eyes that he did not have good news to impart. "I'm sorry Alex, Stephen didn't make it."

"Damn." Alex swore softly as she turned away, not wanting Vin to see the tears that were forming in her eyes at that news. However, the truth was, she was not as hurt as she thought she would be even though hearing that he was really dead saddened her. Alex was always more sceptical about his being alive than Mary. She had mourned for her brother a year ago and had accepted his death. It made little difference if he had died a few days or a year ago, Alex had moved on. "I hoped for Mary's sake that it might have turned out differently."

"It didn't," Vin answered, preferring to wait a little longer until giving her the whole story about Stephen's death. She was weak and had barely survived the trip back to the base despite Vin pushing the Tracker almost to breaking point to get there. Alex had been unconscious for almost two days with Mary and Vin had alternated between keeping a vigil by her bedside. Vin had taken over for Mary a few hours ago, wishing the commander to get some rest not only physically but the brutal beating her heart had taken over her husband's death.

"Is she alright?" Alex asked, wiping her tears as she turned to face Vin again.

"She looks okay but that's not saying much." Vin confessed. "Mary's a private person."

"She is," Alex agreed and also knew that Mary would show nothing to those around her but suffer all her sorrows and grief alone in her quarters. "Everyone else get out okay? Casey?"

"Casey's fine," Vin answered quickly, finding himself more and more lost to her each time she spoke. "Josiah's grounded her for the next thousand years and I think she's going to kill JD before he can get shot down by an Imperial stormtrooper but she's okay." He reassured her.

"Is that the kid who's the peasant?" Alex asked weakly, finding her strength draining from her exertions since waking.

"That's him." Vin chuckled.

"So what are you doing here bounty hunter?" She asked with a little smile.

"I have a thing for leather." He gave her a look.

"Oh it must be like that thing I have for guys who can't even put their own light sabre together." She said sweetly.

"I'll get it done!" He said with exasperation. "By the way," he looked at her with an evil glint in his eyes "Why does Glorith think that we're lovers?"

Alex felt her cheeks become flushed with embarrassment and cursed a thousand deaths on the reptilian wherever she was for letting that slip to Vin. It did not help that he was grinning at her with a completely satisfied expression on his face either. Taking a deep breath, Alex responded with complete dignity even though it was hard to do when he was enjoying himself so much. "I had to explain how I had your ship. It was a convenient excuse so get that stupid smirk off your face!"

"Convenient huh?" He laughed, taking great pleasure in the embarrassed emotions he sensed from her. "I personally think it was just wishful thinking."

Alex rolled onto her side and retorted. "Don't flatter yourself. It was just a kiss."

"Sure it was." Vin replied, not about to believe her if the tone of her voice was any indication. "That's why you were muttering about it in your sleep."

"What?" Alex turned over again and stared at him. "I did not!" She cried indignantly.

The expression of glee in his eyes told her otherwise and Alex wondered why could not the bed open up at this point and swallow her whole. "Okay what if I did? I was delirious."

"Come on, you are crazy about me." He teased, enjoying her discomfiture. In truth, she had made no such revelation in her slumber but she did not know that..

"I do not have the least bit of interest in you Vin Tanner." Alex growled. "Now get out of here!" She pointed to the door. "I'm sick and I need my rest."

"Sure," he pushed himself to his feet and headed towards the door but could not resist pausing to add, "I'm sure you want to go back to sleep so that you can dream about me again."

"OUT!" She barked with the sound of his laughter still in her ears.  

************

This time he was really gone.

She told herself that repeatedly throughout the entire day she had spent in her office, staring at the window, leaving the room long enough to make her checks on Alex's condition. As of yet, her best friend in the world had not come out of her surgery-induced sleep but Mary was assured knowing that Vin would keep an eye on her during Mary's absence. Josiah and Nathan had advised her against going back to work immediately, citing she needed time to recuperate over what had happened. The Alliance had not been very happy about her actions and she had borne the brunt of stern dressing down by Mon Mothma but in light of her loss, the leader of the Alliance had opted not to take the matter further. While she would have been perfectly justified in taking some time to herself, Mary could not abide hours of nothing to do where she would only be thinking of Stephen.

However, now that she was in her office, she was not working much either. Her thoughts inevitably drifted to Stephen and the work before her seemed to be far away and an unimportant. Instead, she had spent a good deal of her day staring out her window, at the lust forests that made up the landscape even though none it registered in her mind because it was Stephen she was mostly seeing. She thought of how he had looked at those last moments of life, the happiness in his eyes at being allowed to see her just once more before he died and felt herself weeping all over again. She went through this process numerous times throughout the day and it did not seem like stopping any time soon.

"Mary." She heard Chris' voice at the door and was not certain she wanted to speak to anyone for a moment but then she remembered that Chris had been there for her these last few days and she could not deny him entry even if she tried. He meant too much for her to do that to him.

"Come in." She said quietly and turned her chair to face the door.

When the door slid open Mary could only stare for a second as she saw the Jedi standing there next to her son Billy.

"Billy!" Mary exclaimed, unable to believe that he was there. Tears ran down her cheeks again but this time there were tears of happiness instead of regret and loss. After what had happened at Star's End, seeing him was like an infusion of sunshine into her darkened soul still bleeding from its wounds.

"Mommy!" Billy ran forward across the floor into her waiting arms and Mary picked him up, hardly noticing that he was heavier than she last remembered.

Chris watched Mary's reunion with her son and found a small smile creeping into his face at her happiness. She had been so sad since their return from Star's End that it broke his heart every time he saw her. Thus he and Josiah concocted the idea of having Billy brought here for a little visit. Buck had volunteered to take the ship to Bakura in order to bring the boy to the rebel base because he was just the tonic Mary needed at this moment. Seeing her with him, seemed to indicate that he and Josiah was right.

Mary turned to Chris, still holding Billy in her arms as he approached her.

"How?" She asked, a bittersweet smile on her face.

"Josiah thought you could use a visit." Chris said softly.

Mary nodded as she came forward and planted a kiss on his cheek, certain that he had a bit to do with this as well. "Thank you."

Chris stared at her a moment, feeling a little unbalanced at the sensation produced by the soft silk of her lips against his skin. For a moment, he thought his head was swimming. "My pleasure," he said after a moment. "I only wanted to see you smile."

Mary did not speak but rewarded him with a radiant smile just for him.

***********

Vin Tanner sat down in front of the half-assembled light sabre and took a deep sigh. This time, he was not going to stop until he had completed its construction. He had also left explicit instructions that unless the entire Imperial fleet led by Emperor Palpatine and Darth Vader had come calling, he did not want to be interrupted. Closing his eyes, he took a moment to reach a state of calm and focus before reaching over for the tool needed to begin work.

His gaze shifted briefly to the window near his workbench and he admired the beauty of the stars beyond the walls of the Tracker, not to mention the iridescent jewel of Siraj 3 in the distance. His ship was presently in orbit around the planet that was home to the rebel base and would remain that way until he had finished building his light sabre. Vin turned away from the panoramic view of space and focussed his attention on the task once more with only one thought in his mind;

The things a man had to do to get some peace and quiet.

THE END

BACK TO MAIN PAGE