THRAWN

PROLOGUE

The group of four men worked tirelessly on the task they had been set, too terrified to stop in case they missed something vital that could be the key to unlocking the decoding. Failure was not an option, not these days. In truth, they were fortunate because the commander they served was better than most. He was not quick to anger nor did he expect the impossible, just excellence. He had given them this duty because they were reputed to be the best code slicers in the Imperial fleet and he expected to live up to their reputation. The code they were required to dismantle in order to learn its frequency signature was a marvel in itself. There were so many safeguards and firewalls that it was damn near impossible to navigate through it all and its construct was unlike anything seen before. It was the work of a mad man or a prodigy; the four could not make up their minds just yet.

It was not as if they had never seen rebel scrambler codes before. The nature of politics these days made it impossible for Imperial slicers to never come across such a thing. The Rebellion, considered fledgling at best, was starting to become more and more of an embarrassment for the Empire. Even though the Rebellion was hardly a military opponent that could take on the Imperial war machine with any measure of success, it did offer safe haven to any race who felt itself unfairly treated by the Emperor. Unfortunately, with Palpatine's new policies in place, the number of disgruntled citizens were growing with each passing day. Most did nothing about their dissatisfaction but others were flocking to the Rebellion, offering their support and collaboration. While outwardly, the Empire displayed no anxiety at the movement's capability to cause they any real opposition, behind the corridors of power, the attitude was very different indeed.

That attitude was the reason why the four men were working so feverishly to dismantle the code before them in order to trace it back to its origins. The transmission, sent from an electronic data storage facility on Bimissari, was meant for the rebel agent, Vin Tanner. A former bounty hunter and supposed Jedi apprentice, Tanner had allied himself with the rebels who were rumoured to be hiding in the Territory, a large body of uncharted space considered on the stellar charts as nothing more than wild space. It was not Tanner that their commander was so interested in but rather the leader of the rebels in the Territory. Mary Travis. There was not an officer in the Imperial fleet who did not know who she was and when the slicer team final cracked the frequency signature of the transmission in their hands, it would lead the Empire straight to Mary Travis.

The slicer team was aware that the Emperor had charged Grand Admiral Thrawn to personally supervise the capture of Mary Travis. Little was known about Thrawn other than the fact that he was a Grand Admiral and that he was not human. He was in fact, the only non-human still left in the Imperial fleet and for those who did not know the man, his appointment to such a high rank was a matter of mystery. It was not such to those who served with Thrawn. As far as they were concerned, as masterfully as Mary Travis had managed to run circles around the Empire so far, her skill was amateurish in comparison to Thrawn's capabilities in battle. The rumours had it that an attempt had been made to invade his home world and Thrawn, leading a number of smaller frigates, no match for the Imperial destroyers, had turned that invasion fleet into an Imperial massacre.

Shortly after, the Emperor brought Thrawn to Coruscant and entrusted him with a rank worthy of his genius.

If anyone was to be given the duty of capturing Mary Travis, it would have to be Thrawn. The Grand Admiral had not wasted his time combing the space ways as done by so many others sent to capture the elusive rebel leader. No, Thrawn had bid his time and watched carefully the machinations of Darth Vader whose determination to capture the rebel Vin Tanner, had inadvertently given Thrawn the opening he needed to find Travis once and for all. The transmission that they were currently working on so diligently would provide a frequency signature once they unlocked the secrets to its coding. After that it would be a simple matter of tracing all signals that had departed Bimissari at that time and following it to its source.

The team worked on it for almost a week, offering the Grand Admiral's adjutant the proper status report to ensure Thrawn did not come down himself to their sector and shake the answer from them. Instead, the man had been surprisingly calm about their progress, aware that his reputation for mercy would do more to inspire their incentive then threats upon their continued survival. Lieutenant Pallaeon had stated that the Admiral preferred them to be right rather than quick and so the team left no stone uncovered and conducted their work thoroughly. The freedom to carry out the chore in this fashion had allowed their progress to continue swiftly and after what seemed an exhaustive exercise in decoding, they were met with success. The code had been broken and though the team confessed a desire to meet the unorthodox designer, they were more appreciative of the fact that the task had been done and that they had results to present to the Grand Admiral.

That and the fact that they were still alive to savour their success.

If it had been anyone else but Thrawn, failure would have engendered fatal consequences. However, for this occasion, the only fatalities arising out of this whole situation would fall squarely on the shoulders of the rebellion and Mary Travis.

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

Grand Admiral Thrawn sat in his command chair on board the star destroyer Chimaera and mediated quietly as he waited for his young adjutant to approach with his report. The Chimaera had been in orbit around Bimissari for the past week now and while other commanders might be impatient by the period of time spent in inert activity, Thrawn merely used the time perfect the trap he had been setting for some time now. The perfect traps were never constrained by time if they were precise in their planning and he had no wish to terrify his people into performing out of fear for their lives. The slicers he had assigned the task of taking apart the transmission were the best there were to be found in the fleet. Thrawn knew that if those four men could not achieve success, then it would not be attained at all. The best course of action was to sit back and let them do their jobs. Too many commanders wasted resources by executing personnel who could not accomplish tasks fast enough. Thrawn was not one of these. He expected excellence from those under his command not miracles.

Lieutenant Pallaeon stepped away from the communications terminal where he had been carrying a number of assignments on the Grand Admiral's behalf. For Pallaeon, there had been nothing more rewarding than working for such a great man. Thrawn's command style ensured that those who served under him were more than willing to die for him. He was not only a good military commander but a brilliant strategist. The only thing that kept him from ascending further was the fact that very few people knew of the Grand Admiral's existence. Part of the secrecy surrounding Thrawn had to be his race but Pallaeon liked to think that Palpatine preferred to keep Thrawn's existence a secret in order to take his enemies by surprise when he unleashed the Grand Admiral.

"Admiral," Pallaeon announced himself as he approached, not knowing how else to intrude on Thrawn's mediation. "The Nimbus and the Raptor have just come out of hyperspace."

Thrawn opened his eyes and stared at Pallaeon for a moment, absorbing the information. "What about the Shadowstar?" He asked coolly.

 "The Shadowstar is in the Tion Cluster but Commander Daris has stated that if we give him the coordinates, he can meet us in Siraj when we arrive ourselves."

"No." Thrawn shook his head. "I prefer not to tip our hand too quickly Lieutenant. Tell him we will rendezvous in the Cordoba star system. There is a riddle there to which I wish solved before we proceed any further. We shall take care of our business there and proceed to Siraj after."

"Cordoba Sir?" Pallaeon looked at him with some measure of surprise, unaware of the Admiral having mentioned the place prior to this moment. "Is that not one of our smaller outposts, a monitoring station for the Territory?"

"Yes," Thrawn remarked. "I have been keeping my eye on that particular region of space and there seems to be unusual amount of rebel activity that appears by my reckoning to have gone unnoticed by the commander of the Cordoba base. Either he is incredibly incompetent which is hardly what his service record seems to indicate or he is not what he appears. In any case, I will know which one he is."

"Yes Sir," Pallaeon nodded and started to turn away in order to fulfil his request.

"Lieutenant," Thrawn spoke up before he could get more than two steps away. "When giving Commander Daris his new orders, be certain to impress upon him that should he choose to share what we are planning to do with the rest of the fleet, I will ensure there will be less pieces of him then there will be of the rebel base when we are done."

Pallaeon swallowed, perfectly aware that it was no idle threat. Thrawn was not prone to revenge but like everything else he undertook, Pallaeon was certain he would do it well. "You think he would betray us Sir?"

"Not really," Thrawn said casually. "However, the man is stupid and loud, with an ego to match. This strike needs to be surgical because our enemy is a commander I respect and she has no peer in the fleet, save myself. I will not allow her to escape because if she does, it will be exceedingly difficult to resume the hunt and I have no intention of disappointing the Emperor."

CHAPTER ONE

"Mary!" Louisa Perkins cried out with no small measure of exasperation.

"NO!" Mary Travis barked back as she stormed out of her office, hoping that the morale office would take the hint and leave her alone.

Unfortunately she did not.

"You're being unreasonable!" Louisa strode after her, not about to let the rebel commander slink out of giving her an answer no matter how intractable she might appear on the matter. Louisa had worked with Mary Travis long enough to know when the woman was absolute in her refusal and when she was being difficult. Her petulant manner seemed to indicate that on this occasion, the commander of the Siraj base of the Rebel Alliance was being the latter.

"I'm not being unreasonable, what you’re proposing is…is…undignified!" Mary exploded after wrestling with the correct word. Coming to the conclusion that Louisa was not going to let the matter drop, Mary paused in the middle of the corridor to confront the morale officer on this matter once and for all. "This is a military base! Not boarding school for bored teenagers!"

"Oh give me a break!" Louisa stared at the commander as if she were throwing a childish tantrum. The exchange was drawing the attention of most people walking past the commander and the captain, though none dared to make any comment on it because this was hardly the first time the two women had engaged in such public disagreements. Ever since her arrival on the rebel base, the arguments between Captain Perkins and Commander Travis were almost attaining legendary status much to the chagrin of those closest to them.

"We're talking about entertainers!" Louisa exploded in frustration. "Not Twileki dancing girls with no clothes on!"

Two officers paused in mid step at that remark and stared at Mary hopefully.

"Forget it." She hissed and sent them scurrying before turning back to Louisa. "You see, this is what comes of ideas like this! I mean I'm not even taking into consideration the security nightmare this is going to cause!"

"Mary," Louisa said trying to calm down herself before her own temper got the better of her. "I would not bring this up unless I had not considered those details already. I am a military officer, despite what you think and I am aware of the knife's edge we walk so I am perfectly aware of all the security considerations that must be taken into account before they arrive. However, I might also add that these are entertainers, singers, dancers, conjurers and jugglers. That sort of thing. They are members of the cause and know they are more use to us as entertainers rather than soldiers. They’ve already performed on a dozen of our others bases and so far none of them have managed to be reduced to radioactive mush!"

"It reeks of trouble!" Mary declared, starting to really hate this whole idea because it was growing on her. In truth, she supposed it might not be a bad idea if her command had a few days of entertainment. After all, the dynamics of rebel membership made it impossible for its troops and officers to get any kind of recreation other than what was available on hand, which was not much. The lack of it diminished morale and efficiency, not to mention everyone would be wound so tightly that the slightest provocation would set of a powder keg of trouble she did not need right now. "I just don’t like it." She grumbled.

"Of course you don't like it!" Louisa returned sharply, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "Since have you ever liked anything that was fun? I mean at the Academy! We'd all want to sneak out to go town and you'd be the one who'd want to think it wasn’t worth the waste of study time!"

"It was!" Mary exclaimed trying to justify herself but unable to deny that perhaps Louisa was right, she might have been a little too eager to thread on the straight and narrow in the past but she would die before admitting to that to this woman.

"How can such an able commander be such a complete....." Louisa started to mutter under her breath.

"Ladies." Josiah Sanchez suddenly interrupted with his soothing voice, after having come across the scene and deciding that their debate was being conducted in a venue too public for the ex-Senator's liking. It was not as if it was anything new to the rebels of the Siraj base but it did not do for two senior officers to be screaming at each other like children. "Do you think you could keep it down a little? This is hardly the place to be having one of your infamous arguments."

"It's not an argument," Louisa said haughtily, her gaze challenging Mary to say it was any different. "It’s a request which she shouldn't be turning down! At least not without good reason."

"You're not going to leave me alone until I say yes are you?" Mary glared at her with an exasperated sigh, wishing this whole matter and Louisa Perkins, not necessarily in that order was something she could dispatch into the brig with the minimum of fuss.

"Nope." Louisa stated defiantly with a smirk across her face. "This is my job and I say that if you don't allow these people to let off a bit of a steam and enjoy themselves, they're going to start killing each other. They’re under a great deal of pressure as it is being confined here when they’re not fighting a damn near invincible enemy. More than anything, they need to know what it is to take a breath and relax!"

"I am perfectly aware of that, Captain." Mary frowned in reluctant agreement that Louisa had brought forth some very valid points that should not be forgotten, despite her personal dislike of the suggestion to improve the situation. Even if the ‘entertainment’ as Louisa called it was not to her taste, Mary still ought to be giving the matter the consideration it deserved.

"Alright," she conceded mostly because she wished to be done with the whole subject. "I'm approving your request pending a security report on how these people are getting to my base without alerting the entire Imperial command to our presence."

"Well thank you." Louisa said sardonically. "Look at what I have to work with here." She glanced at Josiah for sympathy. "I mean show a little optimism will you Mare?"

"Go away Captain," Mary threatened with a menacing gleam in her eyes. "Go away before I shoot you."

"I'm going," the captain grinned, "Only because I have to be ray of sunshine in the face of your constant gloom." With that she took herself off down the corridor away from Mary and Josiah.

"I'd like to use a ray on her alright." Mary growled as she watched Louisa go and turned back to Josiah. "I hate her. I hate her lots."

"Well as long are we're being mature about this." The older man gave her an impatient stare. "You know what the problem with you two is?"

"That she’s an insufferable cow?" Mary answered with a smirk.

"That you’re both alike." Josiah said with equal smugness in his voice.

"If you didn’t technically outrank me, I’d have you thrown of my base for saying that." Mary pointed out with a raised brow.

"And that is why there is still order in our universe." He grinned at her. "Now if I continue on my way, do you think you are capable of managing to not get into trouble or should I fulfil my promise to your father to keep an eye on you by following you around like I used to do when you were a teenager?"

"I never got into trouble as a teenager." Mary said proudly.

"No you didn’t but you seemed more mature then." Josiah teased.

"Don’t you have somewhere to be Senator?" She asked, hands on her hips as she glared at him with mock offence.

"As a matter of fact I do. I’ll see you later." He replied before going on his way as well.

Mary watched him go before deciding to take a little walk through the base for a little break. She had been at her desk all morning and the encounter with Louisa was all that she needed to know that it was time for a little relaxation. Besides, it had been some time since she had taken a stroll through her command to see how things were going outside her the walls of her office. At the moment, things were relatively quite beyond the usual assignments the rebellion did in undermining Imperial authority as well as gathering their forces in secret. She supposed the stretches of time where nothing took place was part of the reason why people were starting to climb the walls as Louisa so quaintly put it during the opening act of her argument.

"Commander," Mary heard a familiar voice call after her as she was approaching the hangar bay and paused to look over her shoulder at the sight of Colonel Audrey King, one of her more experienced fighter squadron leaders. Audrey had been a veteran of the Clone Wars and had lasted with the Imperials long enough for them to require her squadron to bomb a civilian target, an order she refused and was later court-martialled for disobeying. As far as Mary was concerned, the Rebellion was lucky to have her.

"Have you got a minute?" She spoke out as she neared Mary.

"Sure Colonel," Mary slowed her pace and allowed the woman to catch up with her. "What can I do for you?"

"Well we need to boost our fighter ranks." Audrey replied. "We’ve had a couple of skirmishes and while my pilots are good, I think we need the extra manpower. It will be some time before Lieutenant Dunne is ready to take out this new Rogue squadron you've got planned and I'd like to schedule some training exercises. Particularly in close quarters combat."

"Buck's the one to talk to about that." Mary suggested. "The man is gifted. He's also a good teacher. He's done marvels with JD."

"I agree," Audrey nodded. "Except I can't seem to make the suggestion without his making his usual forward pass."

"Oh that?" Mary rolled her eyes. "Yes, when randy was handed out, Buck got more than his share."

"I'm flattered of course," Audrey chuckled, "just not interested."

"He'll be crushed." Mary retorted. "Still, you make a valid point."

Upon entering the hanger, Mary and Audrey caught sight of the Corellian pilot. It was a common sight whenever he had free time to find Buck Wilmington making some modification to his ship. If he was not making additions to the craft then he was usually fine tuning the existing system. Usually JD Dunne would be aiding him in the endeavour and on rare occasions, Chris Larabee might even lend a hand. There were times when Buck conducted such work on Vin Tanner's ship, the Tracker. Whatever he called it, there was no doubt that Buck's primary reason for working on the Rogue or the Tracker for that matter, was because he loved tinkering.

It was his second favourite thing.

On this occasion, Buck appeared to be conducting a minor overhaul of his ship's sensors. Components were lying on a greasy sheet of canvas on the nearby workbench as Buck carried out the task of cleaning each part for re-assembly. Mary wondered if there was truly a need for such major work or was Buck just bored and giving himself something to do. The thought unhappily surfaced the possibility that her command's need for relaxation might not be as outlandish or undeserved as she thought. Mary frowned inwardly at the idea that Louisa might be right. Although lately, the captain had been doing much to alleviate Buck Wilmington's morale considerably. They had been constant companions of late much to Mary's horror but she supposed that there was no accounting for taste.

"Hello Buck." Mary announced herself when she reached the handsome Corellian.

"Hey Mary," Buck's reaction was that trademark boyish grin that had the power over so many women. "Colonel King, couldn't stay away from me huh?" He joked.

"Oh get over yourself," Mary interceded before Buck could throw another forward pass at the squadron leader. "We're here on business."

"Can't blame a guy for trying." Buck smiled mischievously at the older woman.

"Well you are trying." Audrey chuckled.

"Children please?" Mary cut in once again. "Do I have to put you two flyers in different sandboxes?"

Buck and Audrey exchanged a look as they stifled verbal bantering and allowed Mary to get on with her proposal. "Audrey's suggested that we might start some training exercises on close quarter aerial combat. I think its a good idea. TIE fighter pilots undergo something similar and if we don't teach our pilots to compete, a lot of them are going to die."

"I agree," Buck nodded, sounding the complete professional now. "It takes a lot of instinct to do that though. Pilots got to rely on more than just the computer. There aren't many that can do that. You got a short list Colonel?"

"I have a few candidates in mind." Audrey volunteered. "These are the same names I've put forward for Rogue squadron when the new X-wings are built."

"Well JD's definitely got to be in. The kid's the best gunner we got." Buck replied without being able to hide his pride in the boy.

"Why Buck, I didn't know you cared!" JD chuckled as he entered the conversation, wrapping an arm around Buck's neck in a wholly inappropriate manner.

"Boy," Buck pried his arm from around his neck, "I told you, you need to date more."

"Hey Finn," JD glanced at the young blond pilot who had just come off patrol with him. Both youths were still wearing their flight suits and had just left their ships to the ministrations to the technicians who would run the standard post-flight maintenance. "Buck's missing me."

"Drop dead." Buck shoved the younger man away with a bemused smile. "Kids today."

"Anything to report?" Mary asked JD as he and Finn, the new pilot from Sollust, amused themselves at Buck's expense.

Since arriving at the Siraj base, JD and Finn had become fast friends, mostly because both of them were the same age and had come from backwater rural planets where they were still a little overwhelmed by the situation they found themselves in. Buck seemed to encourage the friendship, claiming it would not hurt for the young man to spend some time with people his own age.

"No Sir," Finn replied first. "Its quiet."

"I don't like it when its quiet," Mary sighed. "Too many reasons for things to go wrong."

"I SAID NO!" Nathan Jackson's voice boomed behind them.

"Don't like the quiet huh?" Buck said innocently and received a scathing glare from Mary before she turned to see what was annoying the command officer to such a display.

Nathan Jackson was storming towards them with Casey Wells following closely, immediately ending speculation for the captain's ire. For the past few weeks, Casey had been pestering Nathan to allow her to reconfigure all the communications codes with a new system she had devised. Since communications section of the base was one of Nathan's responsibilities, Mary had left it in his hands to deal with the young woman. While Casey's idea had merit, there was a great deal of risk in allowing her to dismantle the entire system to make her reconfigurations and the young girl did not know how to take no for answer.

"But Nathan, it will work!"

"Girl, do you want me to eject you into space?" Nathan glared at her as he came towards Mary. The young woman had intercepted him on his way to find his commanding officer, once again bombarding him with the possibility of allowing her to do what she wished on his communications station which he had no intention of doing.

"Nathan, you're being silly." Casey declared as if she was the adult and he was the pest for not letting her try what was clearly a brilliant idea. "I mean it will make things work faster because no Imperial agent is going to crack my codes!"

"Unfortunately we won't know that until we install the damn thing and let it work and if by any chance you're wrong, we'll all DIE!" Nathan growled.

"Now that was harsh," Buck grimaced.

"But Nathan, I'm only trying to help." She said in a small voice, her expression disappearing from that of a capable young woman to a little girl, disappointed and hurt.

"Oh no you don't!" He glared at her as he saw her face starting to break into a tearful expression. "You're not doing that to me!"

"I just wanted to make things safer for everybody." Her lips curled into a little pout. A bat of lashes and a glimmer of moisture in her eyes was all it took.

 Nathan threw his hands up in exasperation and cried defeat. "ALRIGHT, you can try it but not just yet. In a week or two okay?"

"Really?" Casey exclaimed brightly. "You mean it?"

"Yes," Nathan rolled his eyes, wondering how at his age, he could be affected by the sight of tears at his age! "I mean it." He agreed reluctantly.

"Oh you won't regret it!" Casey beamed brightly and hugged him hard. "I'm going to get things ready right now so that it will be perfect!"

"You do that." Nathan growled. "Just go do it somewhere else."

"Yes Sir." She saluted and hurried off, beaming while Nathan was shaking his head in disbelief at how he had fallen for that old trick.

"You know," Mary glanced at Audrey as they viewed the exchange and its inevitable end as Nathan started towards them again. "I'd forgotten how well that works."

"Yeah," the corner of Audrey's lips crooked into a little smile. "Its been awhile."

"Oh come on Nathan," JD cried out, never being able to remain silent where Casey was concerned. "You gonna let her get away with that?"

"I don't know JD," Finn remarked "I mean Casey's pretty smart, she could make it work." JD's new friend came to the lady's rescue.

"Are you kidding? She's a pain in the ass snotty blue blood!" JD exclaimed, wondering if Finn had suddenly gone insane.

"I think she's kind of nice." Finn admitted reluctantly.

"Nice?" JD stared at him. "What do you mean nice?" However, his tone was decidedly suspicious.

"I mean nice." Finn started to get uncomfortable and decided to leave this subject and the scene while he still could. "You know girl nice."

"Girl nice?" JD demanded and was not about to let him go without an answer. "What do you mean girl nice...."

None of the others said a word until after the two young men were out of earshot.

"What just happened?" Nathan looked at the other around blankly and feeling as if he walked into the middle of a play.

"Oh I think JD's just discovered another rooster in the hen house." Buck grinned, reminding himself he had better have a talk to the young man when time permitted or else the kid was going to challenge Finn for the Casey's hand especially when he so obviously had no feeling for her.

"Nathan," Mary asked after shaking her head at what she had just witnessed. "This idea of hers. Is it feasible?"

"Yes," Nathan nodded. "Extremely feasible once its working but also extremely difficult to implement, we'd have to rip out half the wiring to replace it with the kind that will do what she says it will."

"Casey's proved to be quite the slicer." Buck spoke in the girl's defence. "She knows code like I know women."

"God," Audrey rolled her eyes.

"Just let it go," Mary said with a sigh. "Let's just play it by ear before we decide to go ahead. I don't want our com system getting a major overhaul in case something happens."

From the corner of her eye, Mary saw Chris Larabee and Vin Tanner emerge from one of the unoccupied berths in the hangar bay. Chris often used the space to continue Vin's Jedi training because it was secluded and saw little chance of them being interrupted by interested onlookers. On this occasion, it had been the first time in weeks that Vin had been able to resume his lessons since he had been injured at the hands of Darth Vader on Ithor. Chris immediately made eye contact with Mary and approached, hiding his pleasure to see her behind a seemingly indifferent facade. Vin however, appeared as if he had been pushed to his limits as he was covered in perspiration as he towelled the moisture from his bare arms as he came towards them.

"Something up?" Chris asked as he arrived even though his Jedi senses detected nothing in the emotional states of his friends to indicate trouble.

"Not really," Buck answered continuing to work on his parts on the bench. "Just JD discovering that he don't like anyone else paying attention to Casey."

"If I recall you were the same Buck," Chris reminded with a little smile. "The first time Ezra looked at Inez."

"Die painfully Larabee," Buck scowled at him.

"Someday maybe," Chris grinned. "But not today."

"Get over it Buck," Nathan added. "It looks like Ezra and Inez are a permanent thing."

In truth, Nathan could not deny that he was just a little biased on this point. He liked the idea of Ezra finding someone finally. For two long, his old friend had kept people at arms length, men and women alike. Inez was the first woman with whom Nathan had ever seen Ezra form such a deep connection, much as it was to Buck Wilmington's annoyance. "Besides, I thought you and Louisa are together these days."

"Don't mention the L word!" Vin hissed jokingly, making pointing gestures at Mary, who promptly swatted him on the back of the head playfully.

"I wish you two would get a long," Chris sighed. "I mean you are so much....."

"Finish that statement and I will see to it that you die painfully." She warned.

Chris laughed, unable to hide the fact that he enjoyed watching Mary and Louisa argue sometimes. It was extremely entertaining and one of the few perverse pleasures the Jedi Knight allowed himself. "So did she get you to agree to the entertainers?"

"You know about that?" She stared at him in surprise.

"Yeah," Buck replied, eager to get his revenge at Chris' earlier statement about his jealousy over Ezra's and Inez's relationship. "Tell Mary how you are acquainted with a troop of entertainers, Christopher."

Mary saw the smirk on Buck's face and knew this had to be good. "Chris?"

The Jedi expression turned stormy and menacing as he sent daggers in Buck's direction before realizing that Mary was expecting an answer. "Its a long story." He muttered, refusing to meet her gaze.

"Sure it is." Buck sniggered under his breath.

"Okay, this is killing me. What is it?" Vin stared at Chris, able to tell from his friend's guarded emotions that this had to be an amusing story if not a highly embarrassing one.

"Nothing." Chris grumbled at the triumphant smirk on Buck's face. "Buck, I'll get you for this."

"Chris," Mary insisted. "I demand to know." She stared at him with arms folded, giving him that look of determination that told everyone present that she would be relentless in acquiring an answer from the Jedi.

"I'm not telling you Mary." He said abruptly and started to make a hasty retreat. Hopefully, she would let it go at that.

Unfortunately, it was not to be.

"Chris!" Mary started after him. "You're not getting away that easily."

"Buck," Vin turned to the pilot as Chris strode out of the hangar, with Mary in pursuit, firing the same question and appeared as if she would continue to do so until he responded. "You are a bastard, you know that?"

"Just for that," Buck met the younger man's eyes with a wicked gleam in his own. "I won't tell you about him and the lady acrobat either."

CHAPTER TWO

The minute Ezra Standish was told that the destroyer, Chimaera, had arrived in Cordoba system first, followed closely by the Nimbus and the Phoenix, he was visited by an ominous feeling of great personal danger even though he did not understand why. Ezra who was very much a creature of instinct, knew when to take such feelings seriously and one could not do anything but take three heavy battle cruisers very seriously indeed. Although he tried not to jump to conclusions as to what they were doing in Cordoban space, Ezra knew that he was a fool if he thought it was for any reason other than the Rebel Alliance. Only the Alliance could justify the dispatching of three star destroyers to a remote location as the Territory and Wild Space.

What disconcerted him even further was the fact that he had heard nothing about the trio’s arrival until they appeared above the skies of Cordoba. Normally the movements of heavy battle cruisers would generate some talk through the ranks, even if it were mere supposition or rumour. However, in this instance, there had been nothing. It was as if the three ships had appeared out of nowhere. Secrecy of this magnitude required planning from the highest levels of power and Ezra wondered who commanded the small fleet. He knew it could not be Vader for the dark lord never travelled without the superstar destroyer Avenger and last Ezra heard it was presently at Coruscant. The whereabouts of most Imperial commanders who would be entrusted this fleet were accounted for which only serve to deepen Ezra’s anxiety because this whole situation spoke of an unknown player and that was always cause for concern.

"Any idea on who is commanding the Chimaera?" Ezra asked as he studied the trio of ships displayed on the scanner grid. Within his command center of the Cordoba station, activity was pitched with excitement by the arrival and everyone's attention was focused on the status of the large battle cruisers.

"No." Lieutenant Julia Pemberton, Ezra’s second in command shook her head in response. "I didn’t even know they had commissioned a ship named that."

"The Chimaera has been around for two years," Ezra’s adjutant, Claire Moseley answered promptly. The young woman always seemed to be a veritable fountain of information. Claire always seemed to know what was going on and had a remarkable talent for gathering intelligence and keeping abreast of everything that would be of importance to him. "There’s not much information on its commission other than its existence. I do know that many of its officers are top Academy graduates. Whomever is in command demands the very best staff."

This did not alleviate Ezra’s growing concern. All this seemed to prove was someone with a great deal of power and a formidable arsenal was coming to his station. He tried not to think about what implications this could have on the rebel base hidden in the Siraj system since he had no proof whatsoever that it was the reason for the presence of the attack fleet over Cordoba. However, his gut instincts said otherwise and Ezra, who relied on those instincts in almost everything he did, could not abandon them now.

"Send our greetings, Julia." Ezra instructed coolly. His sea coloured eyes was fixed on the digital blips on the scanner grid, almost as if he could dissect their purpose here if he stared at them long enough. The fact that he could not and was left with his original speculation left him even more disturbed. "The usual."

"Yes Sir." Julia Pemberton answered, giving him a sidelong glance.

Ezra did not react but he was certain his first officer was trying to discern what he was thinking. Ezra made it no secret that he knew why Julia had been assigned to him. When he had encountered Darth Vader, Ezra had managed successfully to block his thoughts from the dark lord, that coupled with the fact that he had saved Vader’s life had earned him the man’s severest displeasure which resulted in Julia being assigned to Cordoba. Ezra had no doubt that she was Vader’s creature and that her sole purpose was to spy on him and satisfy the dark lord’s suspicion that he was a traitor.

"Commander," Julia rose her eyes from the communications terminal where she had just offered the orbiting ships the usual salutary welcome. "I’ve just received a message from Lieutenant Pallaeon, adjutant to Grand Admiral Thrawn. They will be arriving shortly by shuttle."

"Grand Admiral?" Claire found herself responding with a hushed breath.

Ezra ignored her exclamation. "Inform the Lieutenant that we will be honoured to receive the Grand Admiral."

"Yes Sir," she nodded once more and turned to the screen to carry out his order.

No sooner that he had finished speaking, Claire came up to him and asked quietly. "I’ve never heard of a Grand Admiral Thrawn."

"Neither have I but that he obviously does exist since very few impostors bearing that title would have the three destroyers to legitimize their claim." Ezra returned dryly. His indifference masked his growing worries that the situation was critical. The number of soldiers obtaining the rank of Grand Admiral in the Imperial fleet could be counted on one hand and they had sent this one here.

"What could he want here?" She asked softly, making certain Julia was not capable of hearing them when she made that inquiry.

"I have some idea." Ezra replied softly, shifting his gaze just enough to make eye contact with the younger woman.

She swallowed thickly, trying not to show that his speculation had frightened her. Unfortunately, it was too late for that. She stepped away from him at that point, in order not appear suspicious. However, as she pulled away, Ezra distinctly heard her mutter under her breath, one word.

Chano.

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

The Grand Admiral did not waste any time making his arrival at the Cordoba base. Less than an hour after the Chimaera had settled into orbit around the planet, his shuttle was descending onto the deck of the Imperial outpost. A full honour guard was in attendance, as protocol demanded but Ezra was fairly certain that the man would not be interested in such pageantry. However, as commander of the outpost that the Grand Admiral would be visiting, Ezra was required to show the man the full measure of respect for someone of his rank. In truth, Ezra was somewhat curious to meet a Grand Admiral. Such an entity had been scarce in Ezra's previous military experience. The rank itself was not in the usual military chain of command and was usually handed out when the person in question had exhibited exception military ability. Since Ezra had never heard of Thrawn before this day, he wondered how the man could have distinguished himself to earn such an accolade.

As Ezra awaited Thrawn's appearance, he could not help but feel uneasy, not simply because of the danger he suspected to the Rebel Alliance but also on a more personal level. For months now, he had walking a tight rope between the Empire and the Alliance, trying not to make a choice but unable to deny that his actions regarding the Rebellion had cleared marked his loyalties as being for the latter. Initially, Ezra's reason for aiding the rebels was to ensure that his best friend, Nathan Jackson did not come to any harm since he was one of them. However, Ezra's attachment to the movement had grown beyond those simple parameters. He protected the Rebellion at great cost to himself, not only because of Nathan but also because of Buck Wilmington, Chris Larabee, Vin Tanner, JD Dunne, Josiah Sanchez and the slew of people that had suddenly come to mean so much to him. They were his friends. There was a time when only Nathan shared that distinction but now he was part of the seven as Mary called the group of men who aided in their own way, the rebel cell under her command.

Ezra could not deny that he liked being apart of the seven.

Ezra enjoyed being with Nathan and it felt like old times, without the memories of tragedy or ideological differences marring their friendship as it had in the years prior to Nathan's membership in the rebellion. When he was with the six men, he felt like he was a part of something, more so than any other point in his life. Despite himself, Ezra was tired of being the loner and carrying out orders that was making it harder and harder for him to sleep at night. Most of all, he was tired of the duplicity, the danger of walking the razor's edge between loyalty and treason, of being neither one thing nor the other. Too much of his life had been spent on the outside looking in, he just wished he trusted enough to let down the defences that always kept him an outsider.

Such thoughts swirled around in his head and Ezra knew that he could not be distracted like this with Thrawn's arrival on his station only moments away. Returning himself to the here and now, he saw the shuttle had landed and the ramp was lowering from the hull of the craft to the steel deck. Taking a deep breath, he adjusted the collar of his uniform and glanced at Julia who seemed glacial in her preparation to receive the Grand Admiral. For reasons he could not fathom, she looked like she was the lady of the house at his side. The thought made him look at her in away he had never considered before and he wondered whether fear or insanity was making him regard her as a woman and not the thorn in his side she had been. He shook the notion out of his mind and faced front again, deciding he was definitely at a crossroads in his life if he was starting to entertain such notions about Julia Pemberton. Perhaps it was time he started thinking seriously about putting this double life behind him.

Thrawn's emergence from the shuttle immediately forced any other thought from Ezra Standish' mind.

The man who appeared out of the shuttle's hatchway was garbed in a white Imperial uniform, as rarely seen as Grand Admirals. His skin was indigo blue and his eyes were crimson in their colour and their intensity. Thrawn's eyes swept across the faces approaching him and in flash of insight, Ezra knew that this man was a greater danger to him than Darth Vader could ever hope to be. The nature of Vader's beast saw the dark lord extracting information through his Jedi abilities; however, this man did not use that technique. His was far subtler and a good deal more damning when proven right. Thrawn was not the Force. He was logic in all its cold, clinical ruthlessness. And the way he was scrutinizing Ezra told the commander of the Cordoba base that Thrawn's high-powered perception was presently aimed squarely at him.

"Grand Admiral Thrawn," Ezra greeted when he reached Thrawn. Behind him, Julia and Claire had followed and stood side by side. "It is an honour to meet you Sir and you as well Lieutenant Pallaeon. It is often nice to attach a face to the name."

Pallaeon bowed slightly in gracious acceptance of that greeting while Thrawn continued to stare, appearing pleasant enough but then most predators did before they struck. Preferring to give the man the benefit of the doubt for the moment even though ever defence mechanism that was in-built into Ezra Standish was presently on full alert, Ezra glanced briefly at Claire and Julia in order to introduce them.

"This is my first officer, Lieutenant Pemberton and my adjutant, Lieutenant Moseley." Ezra said pleasantly, aware that Thrawn had yet to speak and wondered why. The Grand Admiral's penetrating gaze was fixed tautly on Julia now and Ezra could see his first officer starting to flinch.

"Tell me Lieutenant Pemberton, " Thrawn lips curled into a little smile as he spoke. "Has anyone ever told you that you bear a striking resemblance to one of the Emperor's Hands?"

Julia's eyes widened so abruptly that Ezra knew without a doubt that Thrawn was perfectly aware that she was precisely whom he was alluding her to be. The man had simply wanted Julia to know that. Ezra watched her becoming flustered and she darted her eyes in his direction, confirming even further what the Grand Admiral had revealed to be the truth.

"Not at all Sir." She said quickly, recovering quickly enough for anyone other than Thrawn and Ezra not to notice.

"I've never heard the reference before, Admiral." Ezra remarked staring at Julia for a second longer and realizing that while she was wearing a facade of calm, she was squirming inwardly.

"It's an interesting office Captain," Thrawn finally addressed him. "The Emperor's Hands are assassins trained specifically to infiltrate and spy. Most of the time however, they run his errands although occasionally he arms them out for other duties."

Julia held up impressively well considering what was being said, Ezra observed. She showed no signs of being the least bit perturbed by anything Thrawn was revealing but then that was not the point of the exercise, he was certain. Thrawn was laying down ground rules between himself and Julia and Ezra shuddered to know what part he played in the Grand Admiral's scheme. The woman said nothing, maintaining her mercurial demeanour in the face of her dissection by the Admiral in front of Ezra and Claire.

"Admiral," Ezra faced Thrawn. "How can we be of service to you?"

Thrawn returned his crimson coloured eyes to Ezra and responded. "I think you are perceptive enough to guess the reason for my arrival with three heavy destroyers orbiting Cordoba."

"It is not hard to discern," Ezra answered. "I am assuming that a fleet like this is necessary for an engagement with the Rebellion?"

"Hardly," Thrawn chuckled as if the thought was amusing. "Our encounter with the Rebellion is not challenge enough to be called an engagement. Perhaps errand would be a better term."

Now it was Ezra who was struggling to hide his own reaction beneath a veneer of detachment. "I take it you have located their present whereabouts and are moving to take their base of operations?"

"More or less." Thrawn nodded. "However, any capture of the rebels in the Territory requires me pausing at this station first."

Ezra displayed his best face for sabaac and inquired further, putting on his best performance of bewilderment for the man's benefit. "How so?" He asked neutrally.

"Lieutenant," Thrawn glanced at Pallaeon to take the question for him.

"We are holding position over Cordoba because the Shadowstar is also involved in this offensive." Pallaeon answered while Thrawn watched Ezra for reaction. "When the Shadowstar arrives, we will continue to the Siraj star system."

Ezra had no idea where the rebel base was mostly because he had asked specifically not to be told in the instance he was captured and tortured for the information but if the base was in Siraj, it would make perfect sense. It was isolated and deep in the Territory, almost at the galactic rim. Somehow, Ezra could not imagine such a large task force sent out to capture the rebels unless the man before him was absolute about his information. "That is an exceedingly formidable task force." Ezra pointed out. "If you catch the rebels unawares, they will be completely overwhelmed."

"Even if they were somehow alerted to our presence, they are incapable of launching a defence against four star destroyers. Besides, they will not have the time to evacuate. The Shadowstar is due in Cordoban space within the hour and when she arrives, we will be departing. Still, I prefer to be certain about such matters so I’ve taken the liberty of blocking all outgoing transmissions from Cordoban space for the time being. "

"I see." Ezra replied, certain that Thrawn was studying him for a reaction. Ezra did not even bother to protest because he knew that it would be a futile gesture. After all the man was a Grand Admiral and Ezra was merely a captain. Thrawn could take over his command and Ezra would be powerless to stop him. It was also at this point that Ezra understood the real reason behind Thrawn's arrival had nothing to do with a rendezvous and everything to do with him.

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

When the Four Corners Tavern was abuzz with talk about three Imperial destroyers parked in orbit around Cordoba, the first thing Inez Recillos had thought was that it was news that required relaying to the Rebellion as soon as possible. Most of the patrons of the establishment had described the destroyers as being heavy battle cruisers with further murmuring that the reason they were here was because they were waiting for a forth ship. A fleet that size could only have one purpose and as Inez excused herself to contact the Rebellion, she hoped she was wrong. She had never been to the Siraj base herself but even she knew that they were not capable of standing up to an assault of that magnitude. Their only hope lay in being told early enough about what was happening so that they could evacuate the base before the Empire reached them.

It was too dangerous to risk a two way transmission so Inez sent her message through the special scrambler frequency, ensuring that it held a minimum of data but would concisely tell the Rebellion was coming at them. Once she had completed that undertaking, Inez returned to her customers and waited impatiently for news to reach her from the rebellion, telling them that they had received her information and were moving out. Despite herself, she tried not to think about Buck and the peril he might be facing if the Rebellion did not evacuate in time. Although Inez was fairly certain that she was in love with Ezra Standish, she still had deep feelings for her ex-husband and worried about his recklessness at flying in the face of danger.

The afternoon crowd had bled out of the tavern an hour after she had made the transmission and Inez could not help deny that she was grateful for that fact. She would prefer some measure of quiet while she waited for news. A quartet of star destroyers could do a great deal of damage to the small rebel base on Siraj. As capable as she thought Mary to be, Inez knew that there was no way the rebel leader could hope to fight off four ships with just the Purgatory alone. It may have been a while since Inez was actually involved in any military engagements herself, but even she knew this for a fact.

Inez had just retreated into the storeroom when she heard the door open and the sound of footsteps entering the place. It did not take her long to discern that there was more than one new arrival and with the situation the way it was, she proceeded cautiously to the edge of the doorway to see who her new patrons were. She did not need to make the effort because the demand emanating throughout the establishment made their identity unmistakable.

"Where’s the owner of this place?" The storm trooper's voice reverberated through the audio unit on his helmet.

Inez shrank back into the storeroom, feeling her heart pound in her chest as she frantically wondered what they were doing here. The most obvious answer was because of her, naturally but the timing seemed to be a little too coincidental for her liking. Was it possible that they had traced her because she had attempted to contact the rebellion? Despite her concerns for her safety, Inez was more gripped by the notion of whether or not her transmission had actually reached the rebellion. Three destroyers had more than enough range to carry out a planetary blackout. Her warning to the rebellion might not even left the atmosphere. If such were the case, the Rebellion would have no idea what was coming for them.

The demand by the Imperial storm trooper was followed by the sound of scuffling feet and glasses and tables being overturned as the contingent began searching the place. It would take less than a minute for them to find her here and there was no way out of the storeroom than through the main door which emptied into the bar area. Taking a deep breath, the lovely tavern owner decided that she would have no choice but to fight her way out. Moving immediately to one of the lower shelves, she retrieved a bundle of canvas that had been hidden away in the darkness. She could hear the footsteps approaching the entrance of her hiding place and knew she was out of time as she unwrapped the material from the object it encased.

The first storm trooper to arrive at the doorway was met with a bolt from a blast rifle square in the chest. The force of the energy beam sent him flying backwards, crashing into the other trooper behind him. Smoke trailed from the dark scorch mark left behind on the melted space on his armour and he remained still and unmoving. Inez wasted no time; the others attracted by the commotion were already raising their guns to fire, when Inez took aim to clear the path before her. She fired on the second closest trooper and immediately took refuge behind the bar as return fire came her way. Blasts of energy impacted on the wall behind her, sending chunks of debris flying in all directions. Inez kept her head down as she moved along the floor, trying for the door but coming to the realization that she would have to settle for the window as her point of escape.

Peering over the edge of the counter, she fired a few more shots at the troopers who had now taken cover in order to avoid being hit by return fire. All her customers were more or less gone now and the storm troopers were hiding behind tables flipped on their side. Inez fired a dozen or more shots in quick succession, three or four of those discharges actually meeting their mark. There was soon a lot less soldiers than had first entered the place but she was nowhere out of trouble yet. After letting loose a lethal barrage of fire, Inez took advantage of the confusion to make her escape. She could not remain behind the counter much longer for the protection it afforded was waning with each bolt of energy that impacted against it. She could smell its surface burning under the heat of multiple blasts and it would only be a matter of time before those energy beams cut through it and reached her. She was certain that the storm troopers knew it too and were biding their time.

Aware that she had to get out of here before they called for any further reinforcements or bring more troops into the vicinity, Inez braced herself as she debated what she ought to do next. The window was her only safe avenue of retreat even though she did not relish going through it to get out. Unfortunately, she was left with little choice. Aiming her gun at it, she fired at the plexiglass surface, shattering it with a resounding sound and sending sharp fragments through the air like a spray of water. Inez shielded her eyes to avoid being blinded by splinters and shards but could allow no more time for the eruption to pass before she was running forward. Leaping through the newly created opening, she winced in pain as some edges caught her skin as she passed through.

A barrage of blaster fire followed her as she landed on the ground outside and knew she had only a fraction of time to start running before those storm troopers took up the pursuit. Inez scrambled to her feet, the blast rifle still in her hand as she bolted forward. She did not even dare to look behind her to see if they were following and hoped the Force was with her because Ezra would have to find her before they did.

*********

It was almost with relish that Julia Pemberton entered Ezra’s office a short time after Grand Admiral Thrawn had returned to his ship, leaving the commander of the Cordoba base in a state of some anxiety. Ezra was trying to discern how he was going to get word to Inez or the Rebellion for that matter about the star destroyers that would soon be leaving Cordoba for their secret location. Unfortunately, Inez was in no position to make contact with the Alliance any more than he was capable because of the planetary blackout that Thrawn had imposed upon the planet. Nevertheless despite this obstacle, a way had to be through the net if Nathan and any of his friends were going to survive. Unfortunately, Ezra could see no other way of doing this beyond getting into a ship and escaping the planet's atmosphere. However, doing so would mean giving himself away not to mention the risk of being shot down by any one of the destroyers in orbit around Cordoba.

Ezra did not bother to rise from behind his desk as he pondered the situation but the worrisome expression on Claire's face as she accompanied Julia into the room certainly spoke volumes. Julia on the other hand appeared almost exultant, her lips stretched into a little smile while her green eyes seemed almost animalistic. It was an expression of savagery that put Ezra on guard but he revealed nothing of the kind to her, displaying a facade of utmost confidence.

"I do not recall sending for either of you." Ezra replied, easing back into his chair almost casually as he stared at them.

"I thought this couldn't wait." Julia returned silkily, thinking of all the humiliation her assignment to him had engendered. All of it seemed justified for this one moment of savoury delight. "I have just had a report from one of our security teams."

"Commander..." Claire started to speak.

"SHUT UP." Julia threw her a look of complete ice and venom.

Claire fell silent immediately and Ezra's hand began drifting.

"You obviously have something to impart to me Lieutenant," Ezra responded with just as much aloofness. "I suggest you forgo the dramatics and get to the point."

"Your lover," she said the word as if it left a foul taste in her mouth. "Inez Recillos has just killed a number of our troops after a scrambled signal attempting to penetrate the blackout was traced back to the Four Corner's establishment. She opened fire with blast rifle on the security team sent to investigate before we could question her."

Ezra rose to his feet immediately. "Who gave you the authorization to sent troops after her?" He demanded in fury, almost dropping the mask of cool detachment entirely. "If there was a question of such an implication, it should have been brought to me."

"Under the circumstances," Julia stared at him triumphantly, taking a closer step to the desk so that she could savour the look in his eyes, "your loyalty is suspect and as your first officer, I have the right to proceed without your authorization. I am sure that when I bring this matter to Grand Admiral Thrawn, he will agree with me."

"Perhaps he will but you still have no proof that I was nothing but misled in my relationship with her. As you should well know by now, women lie, don't they?" He glared at her.

"You are a traitor!" She hissed angrily. "You've always been a traitor! You have been her source while she passes on secrets to the Rebellion. I know I am right."

Unfortunately, the implication was enough and Grand Admiral Thrawn suspected him already. If Julia brought to him the confirmation she now had that Inez was really a member of the Rebel Alliance then both their fates would be sealed. Ezra thought furiously on what he ought to do and realized that there was only one thing he could do if he wished to see another sunrise.

Without giving he the slightest bit of warning, Ezra slammed his fist squarely into Julia's face, sending her reeling away from the desk, stunned. Producing the gun he had been reaching for behind his desk, he took a quick aim and fired. The bolt hit her in the chest and she crumpled to the floor without a sound. Killing her would have probably been the better course of action but Ezra could not find it in himself to be so merciless. The stun blast would ensure that she remained unconscious for quite a while, long enough for him to make good his departure. Rounding the desk, he removed a few things and stashed it into the folds of his Imperial uniform before regarding Claire who was staring open mouthed by the whole proceedings.

"Lieutenant," Ezra turned to her. "If you are coming with me, we had better get moving. Trust me, you do not wish to be around when she wakes up."

THREE

Why was she here?

She should have been trying to make her way to the spaceport in order to leave the planet. Imperial storm troopers were out in force searching the town for her. So far she had managed to avoid being captured but they were very good at what they did and it would only be a matter of time before their net closed in on her. Inez Recillos knew that she was being foolish and risking everyone's life by continuing to remain on Cordoba when she ought to be making every effort to leave but she could not help it. She had to reach Ezra. She had to reach him before he did something to give himself away when he learnt of what happened to her. There was no doubt in her mind that he would and even if he did managed to remain composed, Inez did not thing his long standing association with her would allow him to remain unscathed by the implication of rebel collusion. Certainly Julia Pemberton had been watching him for months, waiting for the signs of weakness and Inez's exposure was evidence of her suspicions.

Inez was certain the main concentration of the search for her would be focussed on the space station and so there was some logic to not going there immediately. Instead, she made her way to the Imperial base, hoping that it would be the last place they would expect to find her even though she was not foolish enough to believe that this was not a highly dangerous course of action. She wanted to watch the place for awhile in order to learn what had happened to Ezra. If he was captured himself, then she would have to leave Cordoba and somehow reach the Alliance by getting through the formidable blockade posed by those four ships in space above the planet. She would bring the news to Nathan that his best friend was compromised. Ezra's capture did not pose much threat to the rebellion. While he could identify every one of the seven that he was a part, it was information the Empire already had. It was through his own wish that he asked not to be told the location of the rebel base in case his captured forced that secret to be known. Inez tried not to think about what they would do to him in order to find out what he knew.

The base was located some distance away from the main settlement and Inez kept watch of those departing its gates from a good distance away. From the moment she had settled on Cordoba to be the Rebellion's eyes and ears in the Territory, she had known that there would be a day when she was discovered. Inez was no fool and she had made preparations to depart should anything like what happened this afternoon ever take place. Part of these arrangements included her own ship the Windsong which was presently awaiting her at a private berth at the spaceport, registered under the name of a Chandra-Fan trader who also happened to be a loyal rebel agent. Following her dramatic escape from the Four Corners Tavern, Inez had returned to a storage facility where she had secreted away in one of their holding bays, a land speeder and a good supply of credits. All rebel agents were advised to take such precautions and for one such as her, who was a long-term agent, it was utterly necessary.

From an ample distance, she studied the comings and goings at the Imperial base, hoping to catch sight of Ezra. Inez knew that unless he was already in custody, the first thing he would do upon learning about her situation is to make some effort to find her. She kept watch on the base religiously, praying to Force that he was safe. Inez had always thought that she would never love another man after Buck but Ezra had been such a surprise and a welcomed one. He was so different from Buck and was exactly what she needed at this point in her life. Although she would always care about him, she knew that her heart was definitely Ezra's Standish exclusive domain. She did not even want to think about his being hurt. Her heart could not endure it.

She had made her way here almost immediately after she had eluded the Empire's clutches, aware that time was not on her side. She had no idea how long it would take for Ezra to learn of her situation and if he was capable of acting, he would do so quickly before too much suspicion was aroused by his interest. Inez's intentions was to cut him off before he actually reached town because they could not afford to expend the time it would take to locate each other. Inez had no idea for how much longer that small fleet in orbit around Cordoba would remain where it was but when it left, she had no doubt where it was going. The lengths that the Empire was taking to ensure that the Rebellion was not warned of their coming convinced the Rebel agent that they knew where the Rebel base was.

Inez continued to watch all speeders departing the Imperial outpost, aware that she could not do this indefinitely for the search would intensity once their lack of success at apprehending her at the spaceport became less and less unlikely. They would fan out across the city and begin search other alternatives, like Ezra Standish. Suddenly, she saw a speeder moving through the sentry gates and immediately boosted the gain on her binoculars. The image before her eyes speeded up dramatically and from a far away shape indefinable, she saw Ezra Standish and his adjutant, a young woman named Claire Moseley, emerging through the gates in an Imperial speeder. Even though his features revealed nothing was wrong, Claire's eyes told a very different story.

They knew.

Inez thought as she saw the Imperial craft pull away from the base and headed. Wasting no time, she tossed the binoculars into the past of her speeder and lowered herself into the driver's seat once more, prepared to intercept them as soon as they were out of sight of the base. The craft was soon surging through the rocky terrain of Cordoba's atmosphere and did not take long before it was in the line of sight with Ezra's own speeder. Upon seeing her, the commander of the Cordoba base immediately changed course and headed her. Inez let out a sigh of relief seeing that he was safe. During her wait to see if he would emerge from the base, she was fighting off fears that she would never again see him alive.

"Ezra!" Inez exclaimed once both crafts had come to a halt next to each other. She climbed out of her speeder and ran into his arms. "Thank the Force, you're safe!" She cried out as her arms encircled him and she pressed her head against his shoulder.

"I might say the same." He said just as relieved as he held her in his arms for a second. She raised her head and stared into his eyes, telling him in that one instant how much she had feared for his life. Ezra lowered his lips to hers and their mouths met with a passionate kiss where for a few seconds the danger that they were in seemed very far away. Ezra could have easily become lost in the power of her lips if he did not know that they had very little time for such indulgence.

"Are you alright?" He asked her once they had parted and his gaze moved over her form. She was still clad in her work clothes at the tavern and he saw a few spots of blood that gave him cause for concern.

"Yes," she nodded quickly, noticing the direction of his gaze. "Its nothing that won't heal in time."

"I take it you were trying to contact the rebel base?" He asked her.

"Yes," she nodded. "They must have traced the signal I tried to send. What's happening? I know that there's four ships in orbit around Cordoba."

"They have the entire planet under radio blackout," Claire said helpfully. "They were trying to ensure their attack fleet reached its destination without anyone warning them."

"I am almost certain they knew the location of the base." Ezra stated firmly. "There cannot be any reason for so much precaution otherwise."

"Oh Ezra, we have to warn them." Inez exclaimed. "If those ships reach them without any kind of a warning, they'll be wiped out!"

"I know that," Ezra said grimly. "Unfortunately we have no way of doing that without getting off the planet."

"Any transmission we make will be jammed and traced back to us." Claire sighed, trying to keep her worries for Chano from making her irrational.

"Then we have no choice in the matter," Ezra replied coming to the only decision they could make at this juncture. "We will have to escape Cordoba and warn them before its too late."

"It won't be easy getting past that blockade," Inez pointed out.

"It is not getting past it that worries me," Ezra remarked as he gestured Claire to board Inez's speeder, abandoning their own. "It is them leaving before we can make the attempt."

Inez said nothing but they all knew that if that were to happen, there would be no chance of saving the rebel base.

No chance at all.

*********

"You were correct about Captain Standish," Pallaeon told Thrawn on board the Chimaera.

The Grand Admiral was standing by the huge observation window on the bridge of his ship. It gave him a magnificent view of the planet below them and the three destroyers that would be accompanying him on this expedition to destroy the rebel base in the Siraj system. The Shadowstar had arrived a short time ago and she appeared just as impressive as her sister ships. With her arrival, Thrawn had all the forces he needed to proceed to their destination. Although three star destroyers was already more than adequate for the capture of the rebel base, Thrawn was prepared to leave nothing to chance. The capture of Mary Travis was nothing to be taken lightly, like the woman herself.

"Well it did seem rather obvious since there could be no one else responsible for providing the rebels the information they seemed to be in possession of lately." Thrawn remarked relatively unconcerned. Ezra Standish was merely a curiosity he had wished satisfied a minor wrinkle that had very little effect on his overall plans for the Rebellion. "No doubt his liaison was his lover, a woman named Inez Recillos. If I am not mistaken, she was once wife to Buck Wilmington of the Rebel Alliance."

Pallaeon hid his surprise at how well informed the Grand Admiral was but then he recalled having Thrawn once tell him that the acquisition of data was power. Thrawn had a network of spies that were far more insidious and effective than any other in the Empire and resources whose existence was beyond the Emperor's knowledge. "His first officer has informed me that a planetary search has begun. There is no evidence that he has left the planet at this time."

"Tell Lieutenant Pemberton that she is expend every resource available to ensure that he does not leave the Cordoba. When we have him in custody, I am certain that he will make a nice little offering to Vader. No doubt, the Sith Lord will not be happy at my success at capturing Mary Travis and he is far too dangerous a man to have as an enemy. A little morsel may make my victory a little more palatable for him."

"Yes Sir," Pallaeon nodded and was about to turn away in order to fulfil that order when a thought crossed his mind. "Sir, what if he tries to warn the rebellion about our attack?"

"It won't matter," Thrawn turned towards the younger man, having already considered the possibility. "The only way he can penetrate our jamming signal is to make the transmission from space. Since there is every indication that he is still on Cordoba, the chances of that happening are remote. Nevertheless it is never wise to take chances. Following your instructions to Lieutenant Pemberton, I want you to give the order for departure. If by some instance that Captain Standish does manage to contact the Rebellion, it will do him little good. We will be in the Siraj system already."

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

"How many?" Ezra asked.

"At least three." She declared, looking over her shoulder. Behind them were at least three Imperial speeders, bearing down on them in close pursuit with heavily armed storm troopers in each one. Despite the danger to themselves, there had been little choice for the trio but to make the attempt to reach Inez's ship at the spaceport. Somehow, they had to make it into space to warn the Rebel base on Siraj what was coming for them in less than a day. The Rebellion was ill equipped to battle a quartet of Star Destroyers. If caught unawares, the consequences not just for their friends but the entire Rebel Alliance could be devastating. Unfortunately, accomplishing this minor miracle was easier said then done. No sooner than they had entered the town limits, the speeders had located them. There were already a sizeable number of Imperial troops in the community, thanks to the search for Inez to ensure that their departure from Cordoba would be anything but simple.

"At least three." Inez said apprehensively as she and Claire positioned themselves in the backseat of the craft and prepared to deal with the enemy behind them. Inez handed the younger woman a blast rifle and extra power packs, which Claire promptly stuck in her belt for easy access when she needed them. Exchanging a brief glance with Inez, she swallowed thickly, giving the rebel liaison indication that she was ready as she was ever going to be.

"We need to keep them off our backs until we arrive at the spaceport," Ezra ordered as he sat behind the controls of the craft, preparing to navigate through hell itself it was necessary. "Once we arrive, they will be less reluctant to open fire with so many civilians around."

"We'll do what we can Ezra," Inez responded bravely.

Ezra had not expected any less. Until a short time ago, those troops were under his command and he knew how thorough they could be. Turning the controls sharply to the right, the speeder darted down a narrow alley that cut across two major streets and a block of low cost dwellings. Ezra did not even bother to try hiding their advance to the spaceport because he knew Imperial troops would be swarming the place no matter what. Whether or not it was Thrawn's orders or Julia's did not matter, he was certain those troops were directed to intercept them before they left the planet.

The three speeders followed them into the passage way at top speed. There were barely inches between the vehicles and the walls of the alley as they surge through it, sending litter and garbage in the air as they moved down its length. Despite his best efforts to maintain a steady course, it was impossible for the speeder not to scrape against the uneven brick walls. The impact of metal against stone sent sparks flying through the air like frantic fire flies and created a screech of iron that tore through the night like the wail of a dying animal.

They emerged into a main street and narrowly avoided collision with a transport moving up the main thoroughfare. Ezra swerved out of the way a second before the vehicle could smash into the side of them. People were emerging from their homes to catch a glimpse of the commotion and were treated to the sight of Imperial speeders banking hard to avoid crashing into the vehicle that Ezra had narrowly avoided.

The lead craft in pursuit moved out of the way quickly and continued the chase while the second Imperial transports slammed headfirst into a nearby wall and exploded into a ball of fire. Debris and pieces of ignited metal rained down on the half empty street as the driver of the civilian transport brought his vehicle to a halt to investigate. Meanwhile the third speeder that veered hard to avoid the collision as well and had instead ended through someone's front window, was now backing out of the building to resume the pursuit. The dazed owner could only stare at the ragged hole of falling timbers and plaster falling through the front of his home. He looked in astonishment as the craft sped away, kicking dust and debris into the air.

"Are we almost there?" Inez shouted as she saw one of the two crafts in pursuit once again after that melee in the busy street.

"Almost but not quite enough." Ezra answered as a bolt of energy smashed off the back of the speeder's pexiglassed windscreen. Ezra had to turn away to avoid being hit by glass flying in all directions.

Inez cried out in surprise as sparks bit into her skin. "Keep your head down, they're shooting at us!"

"I had not guessed." Ezra said dryly. "Do you think you might reciprocate?" He retorted as he saw they were running out of back streets. He banked the controls hard and the speeder veered out of the alleyway emerging into another main arterial roadway. There were numerous civilian crafts, skimmers, speeders and large transports whizzing up and down the road in both directions even at this time of the day. As he pulled out onto the street, the other vehicles braked hard to avoid a collision. Ezra drove his speeder through the nose of oncoming traffic, oblivious to the fact that he was throwing the other vehicles into complete chaos in the frantic effort to avoid hitting him.

Inez watched the lights of the speeder coming at them in top speed with growing horror. She glanced at Ezra and saw that he was unconcerned with the danger of their situation and was making no move to alter their current direction. People were shouting at them and throwing curses as they drove past. Inez saw vehicles upturned, she saw them crashing into other docked transports and into buildings. People were wisely running off the pavements and going indoor to escape the carnage taking place on the roads.

As if things could not have been reduced to a further state of pandemonium, their Imperial pursuers began firing at them despite the number of civilians on the street. Now amongst the sound of crashing steel and shattering pexiglass, were the screams of frightened people trying to evade the blaster fire that ricocheting off their speeder whenever it impacted. The storm troopers did not seem to care that some of their random blasts were murdering innocents. The action infuriated Inez who began firing at their pursuers, hoping to kill them before they wiped out any more helpless civilians.

"They're insane!" She shouted. "They're going to kill innocent people."

"They are fodder to the Empire. We are the prizes worth capturing." Ezra retorted but he could not deny that he was just as outraged as Inez and Claire about this. Unfortunately, there was little they could do except shoot back.

Inez fired once more and decided that it was not enough. Sliding off her seat, until her body was draped over the back quarter of the speeder, Inez held the weapon and prepared to fire. Taking aim at the pursuing transport, she pulled the trigger and released a series of short rapid bursts. Claire held her steady, aware that the rough ride they were enduring made it impossible for her to do it herself.

"I've got you!" Claire shouted over the sound of gunfire, her arms wrapped securely over Inez's legs. "Take em out!"

Inez was more than happy to oblige and she took careful aim of her targets, careful not to let loose a murderous hail of random shots where only one in five blasts would meet their target while the others murdered innocent bystanders on the street. She took a deep breath and squeezed the trigger gently, firing only once at a time. The blast connected with the storm trooper behind the pilot of the lead transport. She saw him convulse with pain as the impact threw him off the back of the transport. Without missing a beat, she targeted the other trooper next to him and repeated the same action, killing him just as efficiently as he slumped against the side of the speeder, his body smoking with heat.

"Where did you learn to shoot?" Claire looked at her with mild admiration. Small arms' proficiency was not the usual requirement of a bartender but then Inez was hardly a regular bartender, Claire supposed. In fact there was much about the lady that she did not know even though Inez had been keeping Ezra's company for quite some time now. Claire wondered where Inez had obtained her training because she handled the blast rifle with the expertise of a professional who was very good at what she did.

Inez did not answer until she fired again. This time her shot hit the front quarter of the lead speeder and smoke began to billow from the fissure she had made in its hull. With satisfaction, there was enough clarity to see the dark rage on the pilot's face as the speeder was forced to come to a halt. No doubt, this was a temporary reprieve. There was one more fully functional speeder in pursuit and the spaceport was still some distance away. Besides, a protracted chase in the streets would bring other Imperial crafts to the pursuit and they could ill afford that at this time.

"I wasn't always a bartender." Inez replied. "I sure wasn't one when I met Buck."

Claire looked at her. "So what did you do?"

Inez did not answer as she took a moment to reload her weapon. "Do you know Ordianis 6 is?" She asked as her eyes darted back to see how much distance the other speeder had gained on them. At the moment, they were still some distance away and the traffic had thinned out enough for Ezra to switch lanes to the correct side of the road.

"Yes," Claire nodded remembering her history well enough. "It was one of the last worlds to fall during Clone Wars. There was a massive ground battle on the planet during the last days of the fighting. I think we sent thousand of Ground Pounders to take the planet."

"Well there you go," Inez responded as she prepared to shoot.

"You were a Ground Pounder?" Claire exclaimed with some measure of surprise. In the days before the Empire, Republic surface troops were often referred to as ground pounders. They were an elite force of battle hardened troops trained to win by any means necessary. A prelude to the Imperial storm troopers of the present day, in their time, the Ground Pounders had been a formidable force. With the coming of the new order, many of the Ground Pounders found themselves absorbed by Empire.

"Since I was eighteen years old," Inez replied tautly. "That's where I met Buck. He was one of the pilots that flew the Ground Pounder transports during the Ordianis 6 campaigns."

Inez shifted her attention away from the conversation she was having with Claire and looked at the streets around them. The spaceport was drawing closer and closer but if they arrived with that speeder still following them, they would never be able to lose themselves in the crowd or reach the Windsong. Somehow, they had to shake off their attackers and right now before they drew any more attention then they already had.

"Ezra, we can't keep this up." Inez shouted at his direction. "They're gaining on us and if they send in reinforcements which they are likely to do, we'll never get out of here alive."

"Agreed." Ezra answered. He had hoped to evade their pursuers before they reached the spaceport but since that had not happened, he had to come up with an alternate plan no matter how drastic it was. Ezra Standish had every intention of surviving this day and getting the information to the rebellion before everyone they held dear were wiped out in a devastating assault. He had promised himself after becoming a part of the Rebellion that he would not fail Nathan as he had done when Ana had died and he had no intention of breaking that promise.

Inez was about to respond when suddenly her words were cut short by a sudden burst of sound as a blaster bolt impacted inches from her seat. The leather of the cushions began to sizzle under the tremendous heat as both Inez and Claire scrambled away from its reach. Inez rolled onto her belly on the back of the speeder preparing to fire at the approaching speeder when she realized that the odds had changed considerably. Instead of seeing one speeder, she saw a dozen and they were gaining on them. The reinforcements they had feared would be called during the chase had finally arrived. She estimated an entire garrison of troops riding the convoy. She nearly panicked but knew she could not do that. Ezra needed her to keep a level head.

"Open fire!" She shouted at Claire and both women begin firing a deadly barrage of energy at the pursuing crafts. Unfortunately, their firepower was simply not enough.

"Ezra!" She called out knowing that it was time for his input.

"I see them." Ezra replied tautly. He thought quickly. This had to end now. If they did not shake those storm troopers now, they would be cut down before they could even reach the spaceport. "Inez, set your blaster rifle for overload."

She looked at him. "What?"

"Because we do not have explosives and that will have to do!" He said firmly.

Inez exchanged an uncertain glance with Claire but complied nonetheless, praying that he knew what he was doing. She found the power setting on the weapon and turned the dial until it could go no further. As she did that, she could feel the tickle of heat against the palm as the power core within began building up to critical mass. "I've done it." She announced over the whine of the engines and the sound of blaster fire.

"Throw it over. Make certain that it's directly behind us when you do!" Ezra retorted again.

Inez expected that and she flung the weapon over the back of their speeder. It hit the ground and skittered over the paved road until it paused in the middle of it. It would take a few seconds until the charge built up beyond the point of return. Ezra pulled out his own blaster and handed it to her. "Yours as well Lieutenant."

Claire took a deep breath, seeming reluctant to do away with their only means of defence but she trusted her captain and had faith that he knew what he was doing. She had to, there was no other choice. Without uttering a word of complaint, she repeated the procedure on the weapon and tossed it behind the speeder, watching it bounce of the paved road before coming to rest the same way that Inez's weapon had done. "If this doesn't work, we're in a lot of trouble." She declared.

"We are already in a great deal of trouble," Ezra deadpanned.

Ezra forced the speeder to surge forward at maximum acceleration. The force of the increased speed made Inez and Claire slide back into the back seat and held on for dear life. Ezra had not wanted to push the craft so hard. Although it was capable of handling this kind of speed, pushing it to its limits like this made steering difficult and increased the chances of engine failure. Unfortunately, he did not have the luxury of being cautious at this time. There was simply too much at stake.

Inez turned around to the sound of a sudden explosion of light. She saw a flare of white behind them as the blast rifles finally reached critical. It had erupted while a number of speeders were passing over it. Inez saw two of the transports flip unceremoniously in the air before they hit the paved floor with a loud smash. The others following close behind were unable to avoid the collision and Inez saw one transport smashed into the capsized two. While she hoped this would discourage the others from maintaining their pursuit, Inez knew better. She could already see the Imperial crafts matching their speed as it burst through the flaming wreckage of the other transports.

There were still a healthy number of transports in pursuit but this soon changed as she saw another explosion. This time, the others did not escape as unscathed. The rear of the lead speeder flipped upwards and Inez saw Imperial troops being thrown to the ground as transports fell around their ears. When it landed, it burst into flames killing everyone in it. Three other vehicles behind it took the brunt of the explosion, swerving before crashing into the buildings flanking the street. She saw the flames quickly envelop the structure as propellant leaking from the damaged craft ignited.

"It worked!" Claire gasped almost in astonishment.

"For now," Inez responded gravely but could not help feeling just a little relieved that they had managed to survive their arrival to the spaceport.

"I would not get too comfortable ladies," Ezra responded as he saw the spaceport in the distance. "I have a feeling this is only the beginning. It is going to get far worse than this before it gets better."

CHAPTER FOUR

The Empire had entered the Siraj system.

The four great ships entered normal space silently, like a school of dark predators under shallow water. They sailed forward through a surge of light and stars, a good distance away from the planet that was home to the rebel base, remaining undetected by any long range scanners as they closed in on the enemy. In truth, it made very little difference if they were seen or not. Moving gracefully through the dark, their silent journey ahead belied the frantic activity that was taking place in each of the vessel's hollowed insides. Behind every sparkle of light on the armoured surface, preparations were being made for the coming engagement. From space, the leviathans appeared somewhat benign, like sleeping giants that had not prodded into awakening.

On the bridge of the Chimaera, Thrawn was busy.

There was a great deal to do before the rebels became aware of their presence. Surface troops needed to be prepared for the ground assault. Walkers and armoured carried were being moved into smaller ships in order to make the journey to the Siraj 3. TIE fighter pilots were hurrying to their crafts, preparing for launch once they entered the range of the planet. With far more speed than would normally be credited to a force of similar size, the Imperial troops under Thrawn's command took their places with surprising efficiency. Under Thrawn's command, they could be nothing else. The four ships remaining closely together as they continued towards the planet, waiting until the optimum moment before they split their forces and closed the net over their prey.

Sitting in his command chair, Thrawn regarded the holographic projections before him. Within the next few minutes, the small fleet would be entering scanner range of Siraj 3 and the rebels would know that they were coming. It was vital that their troops were in position for their response. Thrawn had planned his attack strategy long before he had entered the system and it was now time to see that plan realised with each commander under his authorization following their instructions precisely. Pallaeon stood by his side as Thrawn debriefed his subordinates.

"Commander Daris, I want the Shadowstar scan for the Purgatory once we are in sensor range. The first few minutes are critical. I estimate no more than thirty minutes from the time we are detected on the scanners to Commander Travis issuing a response. The Purgatory will no doubt hold back to determine which of our ships will be involved in the surface assault. You will distract her while the Chimaera and the Nimbus move to intercept." Thrawn ordered, studying the figures closely for their reaction.

"Yes Sir." Daris' voice responded. "What about the surface batteries?"

"I believe the base has an ion cannon." Thrawn answered coolly, anticipating the question. "The rebels are ill equipped to have more than one. While you are engaging the Purgatory, attack fighters from the Chimaera and the Nimbus will launch. They will disable the ion cannon."

"Travis will launch all her fighters into the air," Commander Hutsen of the Nimbus commented. That's the only way she can evacuate her people in time."

Thrawn concurred with the commander's observation. "That is why I have taken the liberty of bringing a large force with me. We'll launch all fighters from the Nimbus, the Chimaera and the Shadowstar."

"That's a lot of ships," Daris said with a smile. "The rebels will have no idea what hit them."

"I am hoping that as well," Thrawn returned. "In the meantime Commander Trainee, you will deploy your surface through and armoured walkers to the surface. You and the Phoenix will take the base on the ground and our forces will finish them in the air. Your fighter squadrons will be deployed to the planet to give your ground force aerial support and also to disable their shield generator."

"Yes Admiral," Trainee nodded in response. "Are we to take prisoners?"

"As many as you can," Thrawn said automatically without having to think twice about the question. "I doubt that Travis will be on the ground. As soon as we are detected, I wager she'll moving to take command of the Purgatory. Her tactic once she takes charge of her warship is usually unpredictable, give her plenty of room to manoeuvre, you do not wish to get captured in one of her traps. The best thing to do is to avoid it entirely. In fighting the three of us, I am gambling that she will identify the lead ship and then charge. You are to let her come to me. At an appropriate time, I will give you the signal and the Nimbus and the Shadowstar will move in. We'll cut her off."

"An excellent plan Admiral." Hutsen commended.

"Save the premature congratulations commanders," Thrawn retorted icily, his red eyes gleaming under the dim light of the bridge. "At least until after we capture Travis."

*********

When Mary Travis was summoned to the operation center of the Siraj base, she anticipated trouble but until she saw what was on the scanners before her, she had not realized on what scale that trouble had come. For a few seconds after she had heard the taut request from Nathan Jackson to come to the central hub of the rebel base, she had hoped again hope that it was not as bad as she thought it might be. However, the tension in Nathan's voice did not escape her. The tendrils of fear running through her spine soon found her running, not walking but running towards the operations center. When she reached Nathan and saw the grim faces gathered around the long-range scanner as if it were the oracle of some dark truth, she knew that the worst was not even close to describing their present situation.

"They just came up on our sensors," Nathan announced, his voice nothing more but a hushed whisper.

Mary came forward and studied the readings on the long-range scanners, to see what it was that frightened him so badly. It took her no more than a second to translate the digital data before her and note the power levels emanating from the approaching crafts following the scans they had made to know immediately what it was they were facing. Unfortunately the rest of the command staff had come to the same conclusion as her and when she raised her eyes to meet theirs, she could see the fear was visible in their faces. Mary felt the same trepidation but she did her best to hide it from the others. Above everyone else, a commander could not show fear. A commander had to remain resolute or else none of her people would be able to do the same.

"How long ago?" Mary inquired, discarding immediately the woman she was and becoming the commander they needed.

"We alerted you almost immediately after the scanners pick them up. Three are still holding course; one has broken off from the main group. Judging from the trajectory, I'd say its heading straight for the Purgatory." Nathan estimated grimly.

"Make sense," Mary nodded, absorbing the information. "They need to take out our main defence first before the rest of them move in for the kill."

"We can't fight those ships." Nathan exclaimed, feeling the urgency of the situation rise up and strangle his senses for a brief instance. "We don't have the fire power."

"I don't need to hear that right now Captain!" Mary snapped sharply, unimpressed by him for showing weakness in front of junior officers, especially at a time like this. "We start talking defeat before we even start to fight we are all going to die here today and I won't have it, do you understand me?" She glared at him. "I won't have it. We've been in tougher scrapes before, we'll survive this." She concluded that statement by making eye contact with everyone in the room, so that they would see that she believed it.

"Yes Sir," Nathan nodded, feeling a little admonished for faltering under pressure. She was right of course, as a command officer, he had to present a confident front to their junior officers. "What are you orders?" He said in a more professional tone.

Mary threw him a little smile indicating all was forgiven before she took a deep breath to consider the question. There were vital first steps that must be taken even if they did not have a plan as of yet and they had to be issued immediately. Time was an extreme factor now. Whomever was in command of those destroyers had made their stealthy approach in order to give the rebels very little time to react. Unfortunately, it was a plan that worked well. As it was, Mary was amazed by the fact that those ships had entered the system without the Alliance having any clue that a small attack fleet had departed for Coruscant bound for the Siraj system under the notice of all their spies and contacts throughout the galaxy. Nevertheless, however the Empire had managed to sneak up on them it did not change the fact that they were still here and she needed to act.

"First; sound battle stations and initiate emergency evacuation." Mary began, running off orders from the top of the head. There was so much to be done so many preliminary preparations to take care of if they were to get out of Siraj alive. "Transmit the same to the Purgatory and have her move behind the planet's moon. That will make it a little harder for that Star Destroyer to find her. Prepare a shuttle for me, I'll be heading towards the Purgatory within twenty minutes and get all department heads here right now, I can't waste time trying to hand out orders to half a dozen sections."

"Shall I accompany you to the Purgatory?" Nathan asked.

"No," Mary shook her head and met his eyes. "Nathan, one of the command staff needs to make it. If I don't I'm counting on you to take command. Get everyone away from here no matter what the cost. Cut and run if you have to but take as many of our transports and our forces with you. There is only one reason for an attack fleet of this size, they intend to hit us with everything they got and take a hell of a lot of prisoners. If they capture as many of us as I think they are going to try, the Rebellion may never recover."

"I understand." Nathan spared her the trouble of saying it because he understood clearly what was about to happen. This was going to be a devastating defeat if they did not move quickly. Casualties would be high but if the cost of saving the whole was to sacrifice some then that was what would have to be done. Each member of the Rebel Alliance knew what they faced when fighting for a greater ideal. "I think we all do." He glanced at the others around him and saw that it was the truth.

Mary swallowed hard and faced them proudly; raising her chin and taking on the dignified persona that made so many follow her into battle no matter what the cost. "If they come for us, they come for us." Mary responded, making eye contact with each person in the room because that was what they deserved it. "If they try to destroy us, we will fight back and if they try to capture us," she paused a moment to catch her breath. "If they try to capture us then we will die fighting and we will take a hell of a lot of them with us!"

A roar of agreement erupted throughout the room as those present voiced their solidarity to resist the forces that were coming for them, no matter how insurmountable the odds might have been. Mary had never been prouder of being their leader then at that instant and her heart swelled with emotion for a few moments as she allowed herself to enjoy the feeling of pride inside her.

She had a premonition that before this day was done, that feeling of pride would turn into the ashes of defeat. 

**********

 "ATTENTION ALL PERSONNEL - IMPERIAL TROOPS HAVE ENTERED THE SYSTEM, PROCEED TO YOUR STATIONS AND BEGIN IMMEDIATE EMERGENCY EVACUATION. REPEAT IMPERIAL TROOPS HAVE ENTERED THE SYSTEM."

Chris knew that there was trouble even before the klaxons began screaming throughout the rebel base. He could feel it radiating from Mary like the heat of a thousand suns. It forced him to leave his quarters where he had been meditating and sent him hurrying towards the operations center. He had barely made it out the door when that electronic alert boomed through the air and was heard by all. Chris watched the faces absorbing the information relayed to them by the mechanical voice and saw the fear that surfaced as understanding seeped into their consciousness regarding the level of danger that was facing them. For a few seconds, Chris was almost as shocked as they were by the abrupt arrival of such grim news, wondering why the Force had not forewarned him that such danger was coming. While he might not be able to sense what exactly the trouble was, his Jedi abilities should have normally given him some indication that there was something on the horizon, even if it was vague.

Unfortunately, now was not the time to debate how it had sneaked up on him as it had the other members of the Rebel Alliance since the threat was here and he had to deal with it in just the same manner. By the time he entered the main juncture of the corridor, he saw the rest of the rebels reacting to the news they had been given and were moving quickly to their posts in order to begin the evacuation. Still, the scant information provided did not alleviate their increasing anxiety and without the ability to fully understand what was going on, gave some of them reason for greater panic. Like a room filling with water, Chris was soon in danger of being drowned in a tidal wave of emotions thick with fear. The surge was so powerful that Chris had trouble keeping it all out of his mind at first and had to reinforce his internal shields so that he could crushed it ruthlessly beneath the weight of iron control. If he could not, he was no good to anyone and he had a feeling that everyone was needed if they were to survive this.

Chris rounded the corner, all the while trying to avoid bodies that were running up and own the corridors, trying to get to their respective posts in order to help with the evacuation and caught sight of Vin Tanner was standing in the middle of the corridor. Judging by where he was standing, Vin had just come from the mess hall before he had frozen in this tracks, staying in one place as he allowed the others to sweep past almost as if he was stalled for some reason. When Chris neared him, the Jedi saw that his younger apprentice was silently meditating in the midst of the chaos swirling around him. It took no more than a second for Chris to discern what he was trying to do. Vin, who did not have the experience and the depth of training he had, was attempting to shut out the increased level of heated emotions invading his mind from all around him. Upon sensing Chris' approach, he raised his eyes to his Master and was clearly relieved to see him.

With Chris in his sights, Vin felt a little more confidence and closed his eyes once more, focusing his concentration on hearing Chris' thoughts and no one else. He forced the invasive noises to some place in his mind that seemed very far away, clearing the path so that Chris could send directly into his mind and Vin could hear it without distraction. Once he connected with Chris' thoughts, it was easy to push the voices even further into the dark until all that remained of them were lingering whispers on the edge of his consciousness. He started breathing a little easier once he felt his mind his own once more and tried to shake that uneasy aftertaste of so many frightened emotions.

"Are you okay?" Chris asked concerned once he reached Vin, needing a verbal confirmation of the settling discord he sensed in the younger man a few seconds ago. When he had sensed Vin's difficulty, he had reinforced Vin's efforts with his own abilities, allowing the young man to create the connection between them both that had allowed him to restrain all the other voices.

"Yeah," Vin nodded taking a deep breath to steady himself. "Just got to me a minute there. All that fear from the Empire finding us just got a little overwhelming. I'm fine now. Do you know any more than what's been announced?" Vin asked him, aware that his connection to Mary sometimes gave him access to more information than readily available.

"No," Chris answered automatically as he saw the evacuation procedures gain momentum around them. "But I can tell it's bad. It's got Mary plenty worried."

"That's not good." Vin commented and fell into stride with Chris when the Jedi started moving. "What scares Mary is usually pretty bad. I wonder how they found us?"

"I doubt it matters any more," Chris replied as they arrived at the hangar bay and saw that Mary was already there.

She was standing in the middle of the flight deck surrounded by fighter pilots and squadron commanders to whom she was giving out instructions on what to do. Despite the fact that hangar bay was alive with activity with technicians and maintenance people working hard to prepare ships as well as continuing with the evacuation, they were still focussed on what she was saying. Chris and Vin immediately melted into the crowd, noticing Buck and JD amongst the pilots who were all clad in their flight suits. Around them, flight technicians were working at frantic pace in order to prepare all the fighters for launch. Both Buck and JD were also wearing the orange flight suits, which indicated that Buck had probably handed over the Rogue to Louisa to pilot in order to aid the evacuation. The lady was not fighter pilot but she did know how to fly a ship and at this time, all their resources, no matter how unlikely would have to be utilized.

As he joined Buck and JD, Mary glanced briefly at Chris before she resumed talking again. Even though he could sense that she was glad to see him, she was now very much in the persona of the responsible rebel leader about to lead her troops into battle. That other side of her saw him as nothing more than one more person under her command she had to save. Sometimes, Chris wondered how the weight of that kind of responsibility did not snap her in half. It made him grateful that he was just a Jedi Knight.

"The first destroyer had been identified as the Shadowstar, she's Commander Daris ship." Mary continued to speak once he and Vin were settled into the group. "Our current monitoring of the ship has her placed on a direct interception course with the Purgatory. My belief is that she will attempt to keep the Purgatory from the main body of the fleet."

"Why?" Josiah inquired. "We don't have any other heavy warship capable of taking the other three."

"There's four of them?" Vin hissed in horror.

"Yes," Mary nodded upon hearing Vin's exclamation. "There are four Star Destroyers and they are all heavy battle cruisers. We've identified them as the Shadowstar, the Phoenix and the Nimbus. We have not been able to identify the lead ship. However, it appears that the Phoenix is moving into position to launch several smaller ships to the surface. These most likely contain surface troops for a ground assault as well as walkers and armoured carriers. Walkers and armoured carriers need something of a level terrain to proceed so I'm assuming that when they get here; they'll be coming at us from the northwest quadrant. Captain Jackson will be in charge of mobilizing the our ground pounders to hold them back while we continue the evacuation procedure."

"Commander what about the other two ships?" Audrey asked.

Mary took a deep breath and responded. "I assume as soon as they are in range, they will attempt to disable the ion cannon and begin aerial bombardment of the base in order to disable our shield generator."

A low hush moved throughout the room as everyone came to terms with how critical the situation had become. Mary waited until the sound had dissipated before she resumed speaking. "I will be boarding the Purgatory shortly so squadron commanders these are your orders. Major Kelis; I want you and Red squadron to prevent as many carriers from landing on the surface. Give Captain Jackson as much aerial support as possible because I am almost certain that when those ships land, they will do so with aerial support of their own. Once the transports touched down, I almost guarantee they'll come after our shield generator to create a two pronged attack on it. One from the ships in space and the other through their fighters. Until they lower our shield generator, they know we can keep them at bay indefinitely. I don't underestimate them enough to think they won't try and strike there first."

"Yes Sir," Kelis answered from the crowd.

"Captain Wilmington, thank you for assuming command of Blue squadron." Mary spoke in Buck's direction, offering a little smile of gratitude. "I will need you and Colonel King of Gold squadron to boost the fighter ranks on the Purgatory. We have to disable the Shadowstar quickly and decisively if we are to prevent the other two ships from destroying our transports as soon as we try to leave the surface. You'll have some latitude in firing protocols because I think the Empire is more interested in prisoners, so they will be attempting to board as many ships as possible, not outright destroy them."

"What about our transports?" Louisa Perkins asked. "Will they able to get past the Imperial blockade?"

"Lieutenant Dunne and Green squadron will provide fighter escort to all transport leaving the system. They will also have additional support from the ion cannon to clear the way as much as possible. Alright, you have your orders," Mary said concluding the debriefing because she needed to get to the Purgatory as soon as possible. "Those of you needing more information can report to your squadron leaders. You're dismissed." She ordered and then added before they had a chance to break up. "May the Force be with you."

With that the large crowd started to disperse with pilots hurrying to their ships or gathering around their squadron commanders in order to get further instructions on what they would be facing. Mary stood alone in the crowd for a moment as she caught her breath and despite her optimistic face in front of her troops, only Chris knew just how worried she was that they would survive this day. Her expression softened upon seeing him because it was a relief to be able to be herself with just one person even if she had to portray an iron front to everyone else. The others held back from approaching her for the time being, allowing their leader a brief interlude with the Jedi to make their own farewells.

"I have to go soon." She said softly as they came together.

"I know," he nodded. "I should come with you."

"No," she shook her head. "I won't be able to think straight if you're up there with me. I need to be focused about this if we're going to get out with our skins intact."

"Mary it will be okay," Chris assured her, taking her hands in his and allowing himself to soak in the texture of her lovely blue grey eyes. There was so much he wanted to say to her at this moment, so much he wished he could convey to her, even if it was to make her feel a little better rather than his own selfish reasons. Unfortunately now was not the time. Her mind needed to be clear. For what she had to do for all of them to survive, there was no choice on the matter. He just wished he could.....

No, Chris thought to himself. Not now. Not like this.

However, Mary had other ideas because it was very likely that she might not survive this day. Throwing caution to the winds and knowing this has to be done once before the courage left her, Mary pressed her lips against his in a soft kiss. She saw Chris' eyes widen in surprise and there was the natural impulse to pull away but her hand slid around his neck and she held on, trapping him in the power of her kiss. She did not care that the others had started to stare in surprise by this intimate gesture between their commander and their resident Jedi Knight, or that they were thinking that it was about time that Chris and Mary displayed their emotions. All she cared was whether or not he felt the same and how dreamy his lips tasted against her own.

Part of him was astonished that she had dared to take this step, even when he felt the silken luxury of her lips against his mouth. He had wanted this moment for so long but had been hesitant to do so because he feared so many things. It amazed him that she had dared to take the initiative when he had not. However, when he felt her scent heavy in his lungs, her tongue probing gently past his teeth and pulling him closer with each breath she took of him into her body, Chris knew that nothing had ever felt so right in his entire life. He wanted nothing more than to ravage that sweet mouth, to explore it forever as he arms slid around her waist and he pulled her close to him, until he could feel her heart pounding against his. For an instant, it almost felt as if they were beating together as one.

However, the moment as powerful as it was could not last and far too soon than either of them would have liked, Mary started to pull away because as much as he meant to her, those under her command needed her more. Meeting his gaze, Mary saw just how much the kiss had meant to him and it drew a little smile across her face. "Please take care of yourself. If anything were to happen to you, I don't think I could stand it." She whispered softly, still in his arms.

"I'll be fine," he responded, feeling his heart aching inside his chest because of the two of them, it was most likely Mary who was more vulnerable than him. She was going to face the enemy head on against overwhelming odds. "And I'll be with you, one way or another. You know that."

"Yes," she smiled. She did. She could feel him inside her soul, even when he was light years away. It gave her a great deal of comfort and certainly would on this day. "I do."

"Commander," Nathan interrupted, hating to intrude but there was no choice. She was needed on the Purgatory and she had to leave soon if she was to reach the ship at all. "You need to leave."

"Yes," she pulled away from Chris completely, the tender features of the woman Chris was almost certain he loved disappearing and replaced by the hardened warrior ready for battle. "You take care," she said finally and then turned to the others who standing by closely. "All of you, stay alive no matter what."

They all responded in a chorus of affirmations to that fact but the truth was, all of them were far more concerned about how she would fare rather than their own lives.

With that, Mary turned on her heels and walked away, without giving Chris a second look. He watched her make her way to the transport and felt a hand on his shoulder. Looking sideways, he saw Vin standing by him, looking onward sympathetically. "She'll be back Chris, she's the best commander in the fleet."

"Yeah," Buck agreed. "You know Mary, she'll run rings around those Imperials bastards."

Chris did not respond for a few seconds because the Force had given him a flash of insight in the last few seconds and though he did not know anything for certain, what he felt in his heart was clear enough allow him one accurate comment. "Then why do I get the feeling that I'm about to lose her?"

CHAPTER FIVE

After Mary had gone to the Purgatory, she left behind an atmosphere of heavy foreboding. Although the situation left the base charged for action, there was no doubt in anyone’s mind that their departure from Siraj was going to be anything but easy. While no one had seen the star destroyers for themselves, the Imperial ships were present in the thoughts of all rebel personnel as they raced against time to complete the evacuation they knew would not be accomplished before those destroyers arrived. Knowing that sapped morale considerably, from the maintenance tech working in the depths of the base to the higher offices of the command structure, especially when they bore in mind that their leader Mary Travis was facing those destroyers with less than adequate defences. Mary’s legend had great effect on those under her command. Her ability as a military commander and the warmth of her command style had produced unswerving loyalty from those serving under her. They returned her protectiveness for them in kind and were mindful that when she faced the four ships coming for them, she may not survive the encounter.

Chris could feel their concern as he aided in the ground defence of the base. How much they cared touched him on a personal level since he too, was filled with the same worries and at that moment, more than any other, he felt the deep kinship that had been formed since he had joined the Rebellion. Chris had never thought he would come to care for anyone as much as he had cared for the order of the Jedi and the family he had lost. However, the entry of Mary into his life had changed things for him so much that the possibility that she could die filled him with singular dread. Despite his effort to crush the fear inside him because it was a mind killer and the most dangerous liability a Jedi could have, he could not keep thinking about Mary and what she was facing. He thought about the kiss they had shared together and was somewhat unsurprised that she had the courage to take the first step in altering the boundaries of their relationship. They had been dancing around each other’s feelings for too long now and he supposed that it was just like Mary to be more decisive.

She had always been the stronger of the two of them.

Chris and the rest of the seven were still inside the hangar bay. Following Mary’s departure, the fighter squadrons had lingered long enough for orders to be given. Buck was leading a squadron against the fighters, while JD's would provide air support to the departing transports. Some of the commanders involved in the ground assault were flocking around Nathan who did not appear to be pleased giving the orders. Although he was something of her executive officer, meaning that he kept track of the all the incidentals that allowed Mary to do the things she needed to do as commander, Nathan was not much of a strategist himself. He was capable at ensuring people and resources were utilized to their fullest capacity and Chris could sense how much he loathed being charge of so many when the slightest error could cause them their lives. Nathan was too much the idealist to be issuing commands that could sent people to die.

"I want all our portable batteries on their carriers and ready to go to the northern perimeter." Nathan declared, issuing orders to the ground pounder commanders who were listening to him for instructions to proceed. "I want all the portable armour piercing weapons we have issued to those in the front lines. I’ve seen those Imperial walkers and AT-AT’s, they’re almost impossible to destroy without air support."

"How we gonna beat that kind of assault?" One of the voices asked.

"We don’t have to beat them, we just have to delay them long enough for the rest of the base to complete evacuations procedures."

No one seemed very hopeful and who could not blame them? The chance of surviving an Imperial assault of the magnitude that was coming at them was next to impossible. The Empire was better equipped and had more access to unlimited reinforcements, where else the rebels of Siraj would be fighting with what was on hand and when that was exhausted, there would be nothing else. Still, they all understood the cause for which they fought and all of them understood that dying was a required sacrifice when one was fighting for the freedom of an entire galaxy.

"I want all ground troops ready to move within the next twenty minutes." Nathan continued to speak. "We need to set up a defensive perimeter just beyond the range of the base. The enemy will be attempting to disable our shield generator through any means possible. If they can’t do it by air, they’ll make the attempt by land, which means they’ll be coming straight for us. If the shield generator is destroyed, we’ll completely defenceless and they’ll begin bombarding us from orbit."

Everyone understood and Chris noted the grim determination on the faces of those present. Suddenly, the sombre mood of overwhelming odds was replaced by purpose. They needed something to do and Nathan had just done himself a favour by giving those under his command an achievable goal. Forgetting for the time being the grander scope of their situation and concentrating on a less daunting task had gone a long way to convincing those assembled that they might survive the day. Chris could feel it surging through them, the iron clad resolve that was infectious in its own way. Nathan’s expression had altered from trepidation to powerful desire to see his comrades through this present crisis. Beneath that however, Chris sensed Nathan’s silent wish that Ezra Standish was here instead of him. Chris could not deny that he wished the same thing.

Ezra Standish was cut from the same cloth as Mary, except he was more prone to denying it than Mary who saw command as her responsibility and was determined to use what fate had been so gracious to provide her with for the betterment of those she served. It was through his abilities as a Jedi that Chris was able to deconstruct the complex structure of Ezra’s psyche. A normal person could not have done it because the façade Ezra had constructed around his true self was almost fool proof. Beneath that veneer of dapper charm and confidence was someone who wished very much to belong and still felt alone in a crowd. Humiliations early in life had eroded Ezra’s esteem to almost nothingness and instilled at the core of him, a deeply rooted insecurity that because he would never be considered good enough, there was no reason to try.

It was terrible waste, Chris thought. It was a waste because if he simply allowed himself to believe that he was the equal of any man present, he would learn that his ability to lead was almost equal to Mary. She held the advantage because she did not doubt herself to the degree that Ezra did. Her mindset was simple, to the job by any means necessary while Ezra’s was do the job, but cover all bases in case it failed. It was a minor difference to anyone else but to the persons that they were, it was a gulf as vide as galaxy itself. For the moment however, whatever the differences in them, the Rebellion could sorely use Ezra’s leadership about right now.

"Alright, move like you got a purpose!" Nathan barked finally, scattering the soldiers present before him with that loud demand.

Chris and Vin took that moment to approach Nathan, aware that their services would be best utilized if they were fighting at their friend’s side that appeared to need all the help that he could get. Around them, the evacuation was in full swing. Technicians and maintenance crews were packing as fast as they could, gathering objects in priority in case they were forced to leave before the evacuation process could be completed. Everyone was mobilized and hard at work. In the hangar bay, cargo was being moved into the transports with pilots standing by, hastening the process as much as they could.

"Nathan, where do you want us?" Chris asked.

"Right on the line with me." Nathan answered. "I need all the help I can get leading this ground assault. Josiah will be joining me as soon as he gets Casey squared away."

"Oh that will be easy." Vin retorted, knowing how difficult the young woman could be about matters of her own safety when she had decided that she was capable of helping though none of them thought she should.

"Yeah," Nathan nodded before his expression soured. "You notice we haven’t been bombarded yet?"

"I thought we’re still out of range." Vin retorted, finding that fact somewhat comforting. Aside from everything else that they would be soon facing, having the structure above them blasted into rubble was something they did not need just yet.

"We should be in range of a destroyer’s main guns. They may not be able to penetrate the shields but I’ve never met any commander worth their salt who wouldn't try to soften us up before they really start laying their artillery on us."

"Maybe they want to send the fighters in to take out the generator." Chris responded.

"Could be," Nathan frowned, appearing as if that answer was not quite good enough to satisfy his curiosity. "I’m probably just a little jumpy. I don’t like taking top spot. I’m a middle man, making sure everything runs okay."

"I know," Vin replied, sensing the same things Chris did in the captain. "But you’re doing good. People look at you and know that if you can hold it together, so can they."

"Thanks," Nathan smiled, genuinely grateful for their vote of confidence.

"If it makes you feel any better, I’ve got some strange feelings myself." Chris volunteered.

Both Nathan and Vin looked at him. Although Vin could sense most things from his master, he knew that Chris sometimes put up walls between them for the sake of his privacy. Considering what emotions must be running though his mind about Mary, Vin could understand why Chris had erected a shield over his thoughts for the last few hours. However, Chris bringing to light something unusual beyond what he must be feeling for Mary immediately sent waves of caution through the young apprentice.

"What sort of strange feelings?" Vin questioned because he had sensed nothing himself.

"I don’t sense any danger coming." Chris said with a slight grimace on his face. "Normally I get some indication that something is on the horizon, but not this time. Not at all. It was a complete surprise."

"How much of a surprise?" Nathan questioned.

"Like it just came out of thin air." The Jedi Master responded.

"I don’t like it," Vin declared immediately. In his case, he was far too new at using the Force or being a Jedi for that matter to have the premonitions that Chris was referring. However, Chris’ visions were shockingly accurate. He could personally attest to it because Chris had warned him that he would face Vader, less than a day or two after it had actually happened. If there was danger, Chris would normally have sensed it days before hand. Vin had thought it a little unusual that he had not seen this happening to some degree but had not mentioned it because even the Jedi were fallible.

"Neither do I." Nathan responded. "Unfortunately, it doesn’t matter a whole lot since we know they’re here now."

"True." Chris nodded in agreement before he noted Buck and JD moving across the hangar deck, about to get to their ships now that they had finished debriefing their pilots.

"Buck!" Chris called out, not wishing to let his friends go before he said goodbye. While his senses had not given him any warning about what they were facing, it did tell him that such efforts were worth taking the time to accomplish since the battle they would all be facing were dire indeed.

The three of them made their way to the pilots who were readying their X-wings for departure while at the same time waiting for them to approach before they climbed into the cockpits of their respective ships. The future was always difficult to see and in this case, it was opaque as opposed to vague. Emotions always played a large hand in the outcome and with the heated feelings moving through the base at this time, their fates beyond this day was a mystery.

"Chris." Buck replied, "you caught us just in time." He gestured to all the other pilots that were climbing into the fighters around them. "We were just about to go."

"I guessed." Chris nodded. "You want to talk care up there flyboy?"

"You know me," Buck said with a cocky grin. "I’ll give em hell."

"Well you’re good at that." Vin retorted.

"Thanks a lot junior." Buck smirked. "You’ll try not to trip over your sabre I hope?"

"Its gonna get intense up there," Nathan said unable to joke at a time like this. "You just stay alive and don’t do nothing fancy?"

"Me?" Buck gave him a look but his eyes said different. His eyes understood completely. Although no one had said it, it was anticipated that the X wing squadrons that went to join the battle along side the Purgatory would sustain heavy losses. Mary had asked for her most experienced pilots to be in the air with her because she had known that only the best would survive.

"Yeah you," JD responded. Even though JD was one of the best young pilots in the air. He was still lacking in experience and his assignment to act, as escort to the transport ships would ensure that he acquired some in the future. "You ain’t that good."

"Good enough to teach you a couple of things!" Buck declared and ruffled his hair, a gesture he knew JD loathed.

"Quit it Buck!" The younger man snapped. "I’m serious!"

"He knows JD," Nathan put his hand on the younger man’s shoulder. Nathan could see how afraid for Buck JD was.

"I’ll be fine." Buck looked at the younger man, allowing himself to show the warmth and affection that he often revealed only in his protectiveness. "You make sure you stay out of trouble too."

"I will if you will." JD replied, hiding how much he wished he could be at Buck’s side, watching the star pilot’s back.

The other pilots were already in their ships and Buck knew that he and JD had to get a move on. "You guys take care down here. Kellis is a good man but even he ain’t gonna be able to stop what you’ll have coming at you."

There was a moment of silence when the friends made their farewells with Chris wishing JD the best and Vin and the young man engaging in a little banter before it was time for the two pilots to go.

"Hey wait up!" Another voice entered the mix before Buck could turn to his ship.

The five friends turned around and saw Louisa Perkins approaching them. Since her arrival on the base, Louisa and Buck had become something of an item and his deepening affections for her could be evidenced by the fact that since she had entered his life, Buck did not seem as bothered about Inez and Ezra as he had been before. In fact, the pilot had come to the acceptance that life moved on and some times the roles people played in each other’s lives also altered in the same fashion.

"You come to see me off," Buck smiled in genuine pleasure at seeing the lovely redheaded morale officer.

Louisa offered him a dazzling smile and did not care that she had an audience when she came right up to him and planted a warm kiss on his lips, indicating her regard for him if not her worry about how he might come through this battle. Chris and Vin could sense the strong emotions emanating from her and knew that she was very worried indeed about how Buck would emerge from this crisis. However, Louisa was ever the morale officer, preferring not to show Buck her concern because it would only affect how he would conduct himself when he went to aid the Purgatory.

"Well I couldn’t let you take off without at least making sure you know you got to come back to." She smiled, her eyes twinkling with suggestion.

"You’re a woman after my own heart." Buck smiled as he continued to hold her in his arms.

"Its not your heart I’m after." She teased.

"Now I’m wondering I ought to be going at all." He laughed.

"Well you know what you men are like." She chuckled. "Always getting into one scrape or another. Leaving us women to clean up the mess."

"And we’re all terribly grateful for that ma’am." Vin could not help remarking.

"Especially when some get into trouble more than others." She gave him a pointed look.

"That’s my girl." Buck said proudly but soon shifted to a more serious note. "Now you’re taking my ship out of here ain’t ya?"

"Yes," Louis nodded, trying to sound braver than she actually felt. She was scared and she guessed that Chris and Vin could probably tell that she was but she was certain that they would keep it from Buck. He did not need to know that she was terrified for his life. He did not need that complication on top of everything else he was required to face today. "I've talked to Josiah and I'll be taking Casey with me."

"Casey's going with you?" JD found himself asking interrupting the moment between the two lovers. "On a transport? Is it safe?"

"That's not reassuring coming from the fact that you're going to be defending them JD." Buck gave the younger man a look.

"That's not what I mean..." he stammered, not coming out and saying absolutely what he meant, especially not in front of his friends.

"We get the idea," Chris said gently, understanding completely that JD's affections for Casey was something the young man was not about to admit.

"It should be alright," Nathan spoke up since he was in a better position to comment on the situation than anyone else present. He had stood alongside Mary when she had first formulated her strategy on the deployment of troops and ships to launch the rebel counter attack on the Imperial offensive. "We're guessing they'll be more interested in lowering our shield generator and taking down the Purgatory to come after our transports."

Although he tried not to react, Chris could not help but stiffen slightly at the probability that those four star destroyers were more interested in the ship Mary was presently commanding than the rest of the rebellion. Worries for her life surfaced inside him once more and Chris crushed them mercilessly a split second later but not fast enough to keep Nathan from seeing the expression on his face at the mention of it.

"Aw hell Chris," Nathan quickly apologized. "I didn't mean it that way."

"Its okay Nathan," Chris replied, putting the dark man at ease. "I understand the risks she has to take. Its what she is."

"Look," Louisa spoke out loud. "I know Mary Travis longer than anyone else here and she may be a stubborn, thick headed, arrogant..."

"I am guessing this is going somewhere?" Buck glanced at her.

Louisa ignored him and continued. "She is also the brilliant commander I have ever served with and if anyone can fight those Imperial ships up there. Its Mary."

Chris offered the lovely redhead a smile. "Thank you."

"You better get going," Nathan spoke up. Buck and JD's squadron were awaiting them to proceed and time was too much of a factor to waste on lengthy farewells. He hated being the voice of reason but as commander while Mary was off the base, he had no choice but to make the hard decisions. "They're waiting for you up there."

"Yeah," Buck nodded in understanding and turned to Louisa once more and kissed her again. "You know I'm crazy about you if I'm letting you take my ship."

"That's for sure." Vin remarked and earned a slight jab in the ribs from Nathan for the effort.

"I promise that I won't get a scratch on her," Louisa said holding her hand to her heart. "If you promised to stay in one piece."

"You can bet money on that." He grinned and turned towards the small leader that led to the cockpit of his X-wing fighter. "JD, you keep her safe now."

"I will," JD promised, trying to hide his own fears for Buck's life and started towards his own ship after receiving further words from his friends wishing him a safe return.

"Hey Buck," Chris called out as Buck climbed into the cockpit. "I think I've gotten too used to you butting into my life so make sure you don't stop any time soon."

Buck stared at his oldest friend in the world and nodded in silent understanding of what Chris was attempting to say. "I don't intend to."

With that, he slid into the cockpit of his ship and pulled the canopy of her his head. The others watched him for a few more seconds before they in turn began to scatter. There was too much too do and not enough time in which to do it. Chris noted how Louisa was staring at the X-wing as its engines came to life a few seconds later and felt the outpour of feeling for her to know that she did love his friend but the nature of what she was kept her from saying it out loud.

It was an affliction that a good many of them were suffering at this time.

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

On board the Chimaera Thrawn stood beside the slicers he had under his command, watching them work as he put into effect the plan that he told none of the other commanders about. In his lifetime, Thrawn knew that the best way for the machinery of war to function was to not tell all the cogs in it what the others were doing. Although he doubted that the other commanders could do very little to effect the duty he was watching the slicers at the console perform, Thrawn liked to minimize the risk by keeping as many people out of the loop as possible. When the time came, what he had done here would be clear to them and they could act upon it, as he desired. However, for the moment, the secret was his and he intended to savour it for as long as it lasted.

"How long?" He asked one of the code breakers at their station.

The leader of the group looked up immediately and answered. It was never wise to be silent when Thrawn demanded a response. "It is a complex program," the young man swallowed nervously. "The burrowing takes time. Piggybacking the signal as is needed to spear through their outer defences is not easy. It takes a great deal of coordination."

"I am certain that you will get it done soon." Thrawn said sharply. The menace in his voice was clear.

"Yes Sir." The man nodded, his Adam's apple bobbing nervously and the feeling rippled through the faces of all those present at the station with him. "It will be done."

Thrawn nodded and strode away, returning to the center of the bridge and was immediately met by Pallaeon who had been issuing his attack orders since the Grand Admiral had taken a moment to check on the progress of the duty he had assigned the slicers. Thrawn returned to the command chair as Pallaeon took up position next to him to offer the latest intelligence on the deployment of ships. The bridge was a scene of frantic activity with officers and personnel crisscrossing the floor to issue orders and make progress reports as they carried out their assigned tasks. Thrawn watched the pace and found himself taking a deep breath, almost as if doing so would allow him to take the charged atmosphere into his lungs and strengthen him.

"Any sign of the Purgatory?" Thrawn inquired as he swivelled around in his chair and faced the large window that gave a spectacular view of the space they were moving through. In the distance, the iridescent glow of the planet that was home to the rebel base lay in the foreground while behind it; the watery texture of the star itself glimmered through the twilight space.

"She's moving towards the Shadowstar to intercept." Pallaeon answered automatically. "As you suspected she would."

"Well its not a difficult assumption," Thrawn replied indifferently. Almost everything was transpiring as he had expected it would. That was the advantage of laying good groundwork to a expedition such as this. "She needs to get her transports away. No doubt an evacuation process is hastily being undertaken within the rebel base. She believes if she can drive the Shadowstar away from the planet, it will open up a corridor of space wide enough for her people to make their escape."

"Should we not move our ships to keep that from happening?" Pallaeon inquired and then wondered why he was questioning Thrawn who had no doubt anticipated this eventuality long before it had formed in his head. 

"No." Thrawn responded, forgiving the lieutenant for his naiveté. "A few transports getting past us is a sacrifice I am willing to endure if it means closing the net around Travis. In the final analysis, we will do far more damage to the Rebellion with her capture then we would destroying transport ships. Do not doubt that for an instant."

When it came to Thrawn, there was very little that Pallaeon did doubt.

CHAPTER SIX

As an uncle, Josiah Sanchez was well aware that he had been lacking. In some ways, he was closer to Mary Travis in that role then he was to the child of his sister Hannah. This state of affairs had mostly come about because Mary was a native of Coruscant and during his career as a Republic senator, had spent most of his time there rather than his native Sollust. He had missed the most important times in Hannah’s lives although as siblings went, they were close and had corresponded regularly. His responsibilities on Coruscant had kept him away and Hannah understood this because being the representative of their world on such a galactic stage meant that there was a price to be paid. Hannah knew that she would have to be content with her brother’s time being spent mostly in Coruscant and continued with her own life, treating his appearances as life’s little pleasures.

When Palpatine had made his bid for power and Josiah threw his lot in with the voices that stood opposed to his proclamation of instilling himself as Emperor, Josiah had never dreamed what a terrible cost Palpatine would exact in response to their defiance. Even now, whenever Josiah thought about that night, his blood would boil in his veins and the need for vengeance would strip away years of polished calm. None of the senators defying the shift in government from democratic to autocratic had any notion of what Palpatine had planned and the attacks had come in the night across a dozen worlds at almost the same time. Thus no one was able to warn each other until it was too late. They had come for Hannah and her husband in this manner, murdering them in their beds and the same fate might have befallen Casey had she not been staying with visiting the home of her Aunt Nettie.

In assuming responsibility for her, Josiah had thought at first that it was safer to keep her at a distance but her near capture by Imperial forces on Bespin had taught him how much of a mistake that was. Thus he decided, though somewhat reluctantly that perhaps it would be wiser to keep her closer to him, so that he could personally attend to her safety and her growth. Of course, having an impetuous seventeen-year-old with more than a passing knowledge of codes and slicing techniques did pose problems of his own. Josiah had endured most of it stoically because she was his blood and because she reminded him a great deal of Hannah and Josiah was determined to do better by Casey than he had with his sister. However, at this moment, he wished she was anywhere but here and despite the fact that the feeling would probably pass with the danger, he could not help cursing himself for placing her in this position. Especially when she had ideas of her own.

"But Josiah I can help!" She cried out as he stood by and watched her pack her things.

"No you can’t." Josiah retorted, his voice coming from him in a growl. "The minute you’re packed, you and Captain Perkins will be lifting off in the Rogue. I want you out of here."

"Josiah I know I can be of some help!" Casey insisted once more, not about to let the matter rest. "By the looks of it we need all that we can get."

"Casey," Josiah sucked in his breath and straightened up, a gesture, which indicated to his young niece that he was not appreciating this continued debate. "Everything that can be done is being taken care of. Right now, the best thing you can do is to be out of harm’s way."

"Don’t you mean out of your way?" She accused with just a hint of petulance in her voice.

Josiah’s expression hardened. "What do you mean?"

"I think that you just don’t want me getting underfoot. I’m not a child anymore." She declared, holding her ground and not about to let him brush her off.

"I know you’re not a child," Josiah sighed, wishing he could carry on this conversation any time but now. "I want you to go because I’m not sure I’ll be able to take you myself."

The words sunk in after a second of their speaking and she swallowed visibly, having never considered the possibility that the situation might become so dire that his life was in jeopardy by choosing to remain behind to defend the place.

"Josiah are things really that bad?" She asked, her voice nothing more than a soft whisper.

"Yes," Josiah nodded supposing in the last few minutes that she was right, she was no longer a child anymore. She was almost a young woman and the life she had chosen for herself in the Rebellion had certainly earned her the right to know everything, no matter how brutal that knowledge may be for her sensibilities. "The general consensus is that if we make it out of here, we will be lucky."

Casey said nothing for a second, feeling tendrils of fear moving through her body at the prospect of losing the only family she had left. Even though she spoke rarely about it, Casey missed her mother and father terribly but voicing that hurt would only serve to have others treat her even more like a child and that was not what she wanted. She wished they would understand that there was no reason to protect her because she had seen first hand what dangers existed beyond the veil of safety they tried to provide for her. She could see Josiah’s own anxiousness at what awaited him and she understood at that moment that his reason for sending her away was not that he feared for her life but rather he feared the effect that losing his would have upon her. He did not wish her to see him dead, not until it was absolutely necessary. In understanding that, the fight left her like a breath exhaled and she raised her eyes to it, somewhat sedately but in full comprehension of the situation.

"Alright Josiah," she nodded obediently. "When Louisa gets here, I’ll go."

"Thank you," Josiah said relieved but saw that she understood his intentions. "Whatever happens, I need you to stay alive."

"Whatever happens," Casey met his gaze. "I need you to try to do the same."

**********

On the bridge of the Purgatory all was deathly silent.

Perhaps it was because the situation as so critical. As Mary Travis sat in her command chair, she showed no evidence of any anxiety that the rest of the bridge crew must surely be experiencing as they saw in the main viewer the sight of the four destroyers that were coming for them. Until now, the Shadowstar had only engaged the Purgatory and that effort had been obligatory. Mary suspected that it was mostly to keep her from going after the Phoenix, which was attempting to deploy its troops on the surface of the planet. What disturbed her however, was the lack of action from the two other ships, the Nimbus and the Chimaera. For the moment, the two star destroyers seemed content to hold back and watch her engage the Shadowstar. Something about that disturbed Mary greatly and she knew it bothered Chano too but the exec was keeping it to himself for the time being. It was bad for morale if both command officers displayed their lack of facts regarding the battle ahead.

"Chano," Mary motioned her exec to her side.

"Yes Sir?" Chano leaned closer to her, taking note of the tone in her voice to know that she wanted their conversation discreet.

"Does this feel right to you?" She asked quietly.

Chano took a deep breath before he answered, his gaze instinctively moving towards the viewer before him as he saw the ships before them. The larger two vessels, the Chimaera and the Nimbus remained motionless as if it was waiting for something. Icicles rippled down Chano's spine when he considered what that might be. The fact that Mary did not know disturbed him because his commander always had some idea of what was taking place in a battle. He had served with her long enough to know that it was rare that she was captured completely unawares. He did not relish that this time might be the first.

"No," Chano shook his head. "Do we know who is in command?"

"I'm almost certain that the lead ship is the Chimaera." Mary responded. "But there is almost nothing on record about its crew or who is in command of her."

"That's unusual." Chano stared at her in some small measure of surprise. "Normally there is talk. Imperial commanders like to boast and I find it extremely unnerving that none of our spies know anything about it. I thought we usually had full appraisal of these things."

"Obviously not." Mary returned. "He's holding back and I don't know if its because he's trying to see what I'm going to do or is it because he's trying to exhaust our forces. They know we only have one ship, so maybe he is trying to wear us down."

"Then we're wasting our resources dealing with the Shadowstar," Chano retorted. "Maybe we should be conserving our strength."

"For what?" She stared at him. "We're not going to be able to withstand all of them when they finally make their move and that's what I think they're trying to do. I think they're trying to get their pieces into place and then converge upon us."

"Against all four of them?" He hissed and felt his stomach knot in fear. They would never survive that united assault.

"We have to outthink them." Mary pondered the question a moment. "We have to outthink them. The Chimaera is leading the attack," she stated firmly. "If she's pulling all the strings in the background, maybe we can cut them long enough for our transports to get out the systems. Remember, we can't beat them but we can disorientate them enough to give our people an opening."

"How do you suggest we do that?" Chano asked, seeing the flicker in her eyes, which usually indicated that she had some kind of a plan. It made him feel a great deal better knowing that she had some kind of strategy in mind. Sometimes, it was all that kept them from being defeated in a battle.

"We go straight for the jugular." Mary sat up straight and this time her voice escaped her loud enough for everyone to hear. She was no longer afraid of being heard because she knew what had to be done.

"Straight for the jugular?" Chano looked at her in confusion.

"Helm." Mary spoke up, ignoring his question for the moment. "Break away from the Shadowstar and proceed at maximum burn towards the Chimaera. We're going to take out their lead ship and mop up later."

"Commander are you certain about this?" Chano could not keep himself from asking following Mary's issue of orders.

"Yes," Mary nodded. "It's the only chance we have against these kinds of numbers. We'll send a spear right through the heart of them and take out the lead ship. "Chano, issue attack orders to all pilots, tell them to concentrate all fire power on the Chimaera."

"Yes Sir," Chano and immediately carried out the order.

As the viewer shifted its electronic eye away from the ships and followed the Purgatory's shift to port, Mary could see the console screen next to her command chair that revealed the progress of the fighters beyond the hull of the ship. There were so many TIE fighter and X-wings in the air that it was hard to believe that there was space between them to move. Although space was a vacuum that allowed little sound to penetrate through the hull of the Purgatory, Mary could hear the explosions that must be erupting when any ship on the screen before her was destroyed. The Purgatory had pulled away so abruptly, the Shadowstar had little opportunity to react until there was an ample amount of space between them. Mary's observation of her console revealed that the X wings were breaking and following the Purgatory as it moved at juggernaut pace towards the Chimaera.

That was the only way to win this, she thought as the Chimaera appeared in the distance twilight displayed on the viewer. Go for the jugular.

*********

"Sir she's coming straight for us!" Pallaeon exclaimed as he saw the Purgatory cutting its way through space on a direct heading for the Chimaera.

Thrawn allowed himself a little smile because he had been expecting this ever since the Purgatory engaged the Shadowstar. It would not take Travis long to deduce which one of the four was the lead ship and as it was in keeping with her brilliant and unpredictable style of command, the only way for her to beat the odds before her was to come for the lead ship. It was a bold effort and had it been anyone else but Thrawn in charge of this fleet, it might have worked. Fortunately, Thrawn had taken the time to study his enemy and her tactics in warfare, enough to be able to predict with a fair amount of accuracy she would do when cornered in such a manner. It was part of the reason why he had kept his command of the Chimaera such a closely guarded secret. He did not intend to give her the same advantage.

"You were right Sir," Pallaeon said in a softer voice once the obvious became known.

"Order the Shadowstar to keep on her rear." Thrawn continued, staring at the viewer on his own bridge with silent contemplation. "Maintain the illusion that we are trying to prevent her from reaching us. Tell him to concentrate all firepower on the ship's rear engines. That has just enough desperation about it to convince Travis that the Shadowstar is determined to stop her.

"What about the Nimbus?" Pallaeon inquired. "Commander Husten will want orders."

"Tell him to lay an ample barrage but ensure that a sizeable gap remains between them for the time being. Has the signal come in from the Phoenix?" Thrawn glanced at the younger man briefly.

"Yes Sir." He nodded automatically. "The troop carriers and armoured walkers have been deployed."

"Good," Thrawn answered, pleased that everything was falling into place. Even now, he could see the Purgatory surging away from the Shadowstar, its fighters following the Nubian warship closely and providing air support where the ship's guns could not reach. "Order him back here immediately and tell Commander Daris that when the Phoenix arrives, I want him to lay in course for the planet. The Phoenix, Nimbus and Chimaera should be more than a match for the Purgatory."

Pallaeon open his mouth to comment but Thrawn cut him off abruptly. "If he complains as Daris is often likely to do when he thinks he's being robbed of the glory, tell him that I have something particular planned for him and he will know it is when it presents itself to him." 

Pallaeon who was aware of what the Grand Admiral was thinking could only nod in agreement because the rebels would have no idea what hit them when Thrawn's genius revealed itself.

**********

It started with slight tremor of sound. A low rumbling that could have been mistaken for the ground quaking if not for the rhythmic pace. One after the other, it was not so much a sound as it was a trembling in their bones that they could not discern cause. During the onset of its emergence, too much was focussed on their preparations in facing the enemy that it never occur that the shudder they were all feeling was not the fear of the battle ahead but the reaction to something real and tangible. Chris sensed it far sooner than that although he said nothing at first, preferring to study the horizon at the end of the field they were presently occupying. As Mary had suspected, the ground assault had come from the north because the terrain was level enough for the AT-AT’s and the armoured walkers to traverse.

The rebels had taken up position at the edge of the woods that faced the grassy plain, using the cover of trees to keep their true numbers concealed. A short distance away from where they were presently preparing to face the enemy, were all their ships awaiting their departure once the evacuation process was completed, allowing them a hasty retreat when their work was done. Chris could feel the Empire approaching and as he walked to the edge of the tree line and peered into the distance, he knew without doubt that they were coming. Glancing at the rebels who were present, he saw them assembling the portable cannons and the large blast cannons that were manned by artillery units who would use them to battle the AT-AT’s everyone knew they were ill equipped to defeat. Chris could see the apprehension on their faces. It was coupled with grim determination to succeed no matter what the cost. He admired them for their courage and the devotion to the cause of freedom. There was honour in dying for a just cause.

For their sake, Chris hoped those were just not words.

Once he was certain that what he was sensing was the approaching Imperial attack force, Chris found himself seeking out Nathan who was issuing orders to the commanders in charge of the cannons, Josiah included. The ground pounders were checking their weapons, settling into position while Vin joined the snipers. Chris himself had relinquished his light sabre in favour of a blaster since he would be of more use to the fighting in that manner. Suddenly, Chris noted that Nathan had dismissed those before him when his com link began to beep a message. Only Josiah remained after the others had left and Nathan’s expression following his receipt of the transmission made to him spoke volumes. His emotions were a mixture of sorrow and acceptance that immediately brought Chris to him.

"What’s happened?" Chris asked.

"That was Colonel Kellis," Nathan said softly. "The Empire hit them with almost the entire fighter complement of two Star Destroyers. He doesn’t have enough pilots in the air to keep those fighters from coming down on us."

"What about the Gold and Blue squadrons?" Josiah asked, his gaze shifting to the sky to see whether there were any signs of the TIE fighters that were on their way to them.

"They can’t be called away." Nathan replied promptly. "The Purgatory is on its own up there, it needs all the help it can get. We managed to recall some of the pilots escorting the transports out of the system but they’re short too."

"My ship near by?" Chris asked suddenly.

"Yes," Josiah stared at him. "You know that."

"Good," Chris responded promptly. "Tell Kellis I’ll be up in the air within the next ten minutes."

"Chris, we need you here!" Nathan retorted, not wishing to see the Jedi leave. Chris’ presence offered morale as well as experienced combat experience.

"One more shooter is not going to make much difference down here Nathan," Chris gestured to the ground pounders before them. "However, one ship might be different."

Nathan wanted to offer more protest but the truth was, the Jedi was correct. They needed air support or no matter how well they stood up against the ground assault, it would mean little if they were blasted to kingdom come from the sky above. "Alright," Nathan conceded defeat and the words felt like ash in his mouth. "Go on and take care of yourself."

"Give them hell brother." Josiah added with a smile hating to see Chris leave the field as much as Nathan but like the captain, appreciated that Chris was most needed behind the controls of an X wing, not down here being one more gun where it would make little difference.

"What’s going on?" Vin Tanner asked. He had seen the trio gathered in the distance while he had been preparing his blast rifle for the battle and had come to investigate.

"I’m going up there." Chris said promptly.

"Going up where?" Vin asked, his expression a little dismayed because he knew what up there meant.

"I’m going to join Colonel Kellis. Apparently our fighters are taking a beating. They need all help they can get."

That might be true but Vin did not wish to see Chris risking his life especially when he was not there to watch the man’s back. However, he also knew his friend well enough to know that any protests he made in that regard would more or less go unheeded. Besides, if it had it not been for the fact that Vin was more useful behind the scope of a blast rifle, he would have joined Chris himself. Joining the Rebellion meant going where one was needed most and down here, Chris would be another gun lending his fire to a whole line of blasters. Up there, he was one ship that could make all the difference between victory and defeat. Of course he had to go.

"Good idea," Vin nodded, hiding how much he worried for the Jedi. "Watch your back though. Those Imperial flyboys play for keeps."

"I’ve been known to be able to hold my own against them but I’ll keep it in mind," Chris afforded Vin a little smile of thanks that he was not making an issue of this. Chris knew how protective Vin sometimes felt towards him. The truth was, he more or less felt the same way about the apprentice and would have objected if it were Vin making the offer. However, a Jedi had to follow one’s own path and his instincts told him that at the moment, he was needed up in the sky more than he was needed on the ground. If there was one thing that Chris had absolute faith in; it was the Force. The Force guided him in and through all things, no matter whether they were tragic or fortuitous. He had to believe that was a reason why he felt so strongly about joining the aerial siege above Siraj.

"In the meantime," he added just before he left them. "You guys make sure you stay alive."

"We will." Josiah returned. "The Force is with us all."

With that Chris acknowledged his departure with a slight nod and he was striding off the field towards the safe haven where their ships were awaiting for him. Chris’ X-wing was already there and would no doubt be fuelled and ready to leave in anticipation of his joining the battle above when Chris informed flight techs of his arrival. For a few seconds, Vin Tanner watched Chris moving further away into the distance and wished he could be as confident as Chris that he was needed elsewhere because Vin's own feelings told him that Chris had taken his first step into a world of trouble. 

***********

"I thought we were leaving." Casey asked as Louisa Perkins strode towards the command center. She was not at all happy to be leaving the rebel base but she did not wish to burden Uncle Josiah with fears about her safety and was thus begrudgingly accompanying Louisa without complain to the hangar for eminent departure.

"We are," Louisa remarked as she continued walking. "I just want to make sure that there are no last minute instructions before we leave."

It was hard to believe that Louisa could be at all flighty when the woman switched from the role of morale officer to rebel captain. This was the side of her she rarely showed anyone, especially Mary Travis. Sometimes Casey almost believed that Louisa enjoyed her adversarial role with Mary so much that showing Mary she was a capable officer would put them too much on equal footing. Besides, appearances could be deceiving on many fronts. For a long time, the rebel base had been their home and to a certain extent this isolated world removed from the rest of the galaxy while they fought their little battles against the Empire, seemed untouchable. Today, there was no illusion that this was anything but a place where death was the reward for discovery. The atmosphere inside the base was charged with people running up and down the catacomb like corridors, racing to undertake one task after another, against time and fear. The tension that soaked into Casey as she kept close to Louisa was almost choking and she began to understand why it was Uncle Josiah wanted her away from here so badly.

"I won’t be long," Louisa remarked quickly following their entry into the hub of the rebel base.

She nodded just as quickly, her attention shifting towards the occurrences inside the operations center. The room was abuzz with voices of officers and soldiers, reporting their current status, requesting further instructions and relaying attack signals. There were other voices also, panicked cries of dying fighter pilots about to crash, the tense voices of Mary Travis relaying her orders, transports that were penetrating the blockade and those who did not. Casey shuddered hearing it and she finally found she needed to occupy her attention or she would run out of the room like a frightened child. She glanced at the communications station because that was something she could understand and the binary language of incoming and outgoing signals would not reveal the sheer human panic that came with more conventional forms of communication.

She saw it almost immediately and later on would realized that she was the only one who could because it was her particular gift. Hurrying to the console screen, she stared at the numbers and codes filtering through the screen as if running water was moving across the glass. For a moment, her eyes remained fix on the plethora of code that moved past her, reaching their apogee in a matter of minutes.

"When did this come in?" She shouted on top of her voice and froze everyone still inside the room by its intensity.

"What?" Louis turned to her.

"This!" Casey tapped her finger on the screen impatiently, demanding an answer because only she could see its terrible potential.

A technician chose to answer her. "About ten minutes ago." He said seeing a child and addressing her as one. "Its just one of our codes bouncing back to us. It happens all the time. A faulty node in the communication relay."

"Ten minutes?" Casey felt her heart pounding so loudly, it should have droned out the sound of everything else. Ten minutes was an eternity of time when considering the language of code. Without saying anything further, she pulled up a chair and sat down.

"What is it Casey?" Louisa who knew the girl, recognized the panic in her eyes.

"This code, don’t you know what it is does?" She declared, her fingers pounding furiously on the keypad.

"This is crazy," the same technician replied. "Its just our signal!"

"It's not just your signal," she snapped glaring at them. "It’s a burrow program! It uses one of our own codes to infiltrate our main frame!"

Casey tried desperately to stop it but the program gained strength with its invasions and by now it had breached the rebel safeguards so deeply that it was impossible to pry it loose or stop it for that manner. Her stomach knotted as she struggled to keep it from going any further than it had but the truth was, it was too late. She knew it but the others staring at her did not know the true scope of their troubles. Casey did not think it would be long before they found out.

"By the Force!" Louisa exclaimed. "What’s it trying to do?"

Casey did not answer however, suddenly the lights overhead flickered for a brief instance. The aberration had not confined itself to merely to the lights but also consoles screens, control panels and even sensor terminals rippled unsteadily before returning to normal once again. Everything that required power wavered for just a second but the alarm it sent through everyone present was not as fleeting.

"What the hell was that?" Someone demanded.

Casey studied the screen for another few seconds before her eyes met Louisa's. The expression on her face was one of absolute horror. "That was the shield generator," she said softly, her face almost ashen. "It just lowered."

No sooner than the words left her lips, the first explosions roared through the air.

PART SEVEN

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