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| - It was like a wind, cold and touching the soul instead of the skin. Luke shivered, his awareness in the Force heightened before he even realized what had happened. A cold lump settled in his lower stomach, sent fingers of ice from his center out through his veins. He felt angry, afraid, ferocious even. But he knew it wasn’t he that felt those things. Somewhere, the dark side had taken hold of one of his students. “Master Skywalker?” He glanced up, still distracted. Belindi Kalenda waited in uncertainty for his answer, along with everyone else. He realized then that it had been his turn to speak. Luke sighed. They had already tried recording their plea three previous times, and had made too many errors to continue. And now they would have to do it again, because he had stood with his mouth open like an idiot, staring at the wall when he should have been lending his voice to the cause. “Sorry,” he couldn’t prevent a worried hitch in his tone. His head throbbed, the world tilted around him. He covered his eyes with one hand and leaned on Mara’s arm. “Farmboy?” she whispered, but the playfulness was gone from the word. Her jade eyes shone with concern. “What’s going on?” Iella asked; everyone had already forgotten the holoshoot. It was rare they saw the Jedi Master flustered. “There’s a disturbance in the Force,” he answered them all, reaching out to the fallen, hoping that he was wrong and knowing he wasn’t. “It’s Mom,” a new voice. They turned, and saw Anakin beside Kalenda, white as a sheet. “No,” Jacen disagreed uncertainly. “It can’t be. It’s the dark side.” Immediately, they all new what had happened, even Jacen. “Oh no,” Mara murmured into his ear, leaning on him in despair. He clenched her hand in both his, confused and distraught. How could this be? Leia, his sister, Leia… “Now hang on a minute,” Han snapped suddenly. “I know what you all are thinking, and you’re wrong. Leia wouldn’t do that. It’s somebody else. It has to be.” He floundered at their stares, then turned to Jaina for help. She had been the only one of his children to not yet give an opinion. “Tell them, Jaina.” She stepped away from her grandmother’s side and laid one hand on his arm gently. “Dad—” “Don’t you ‘Dad’ me!” he raged. “Tell them what they feel has nothing to do with your mother.” She sighed, eyes imploring Luke for help. He wanted to say something, but had no words. Mara spoke for him. “Han, calm down. No one’s saying anything for certain yet.” It was a lie. They knew, they all could feel Leia Organa Solo faltering; she had stood on a precipice, wavered, and then fell. The echoes of her crash still reverberated in the Force. It was a horrendous moment for them all. Luke had a vision of their father, heard the rasping breaths in his ear. He shivered again. His eyes turned to the woman who had gave birth to him, who had never held either of her babies, and now realized that one of them might never return to her. He found Padmé’s eyes were already on him, empty and full of despair. “That’s right,” he heard himself saying. “We can’t know what’s going on for sure. It could be someone around Leia using the dark side. It could be a number of things. We’re not going to jump to conclusions. I’m sorry I ruined that take.” Everyone let out a collective breath of relief. They had believed him, down to the last one. He never lied, after all. Even the twins and Anakin took in his words as fact, trusted his experience. It was only Mara who shot him a shrewd glance out of the corner of her eye. He squeezed her hand again, and smiled reassuringly at his mother. Whatever it took, he wouldn’t let her heart be broken again.
* * * Another soldier fell at her feet, twitching as he struggled with the invisible hands around his throat. Leia stepped over him, continuing her way to the hangars. She would find a ship, she would leave, and she would kill anyone who tried to stop her. She was invincible. Blaster bolts came from behind her. She whipped around, catching the energy in one palm like it was a nothing more than a play toy. The man who had fired on her fell over dead, his heart frozen in his chest. There was a moment of déjà vu for her; suddenly she recalled a time long ago, when a man she hated more than all others had completed such a task. And now, she knew for sure that the same power worked in her. She had doubted her birthright in the Force before, believing that she could never be what Luke was. Now, with the might of her hate, she saw the truth. Leia didn’t even ponder how she had rapidly gained so much control in the Force. Truthfully, she wasn’t even in herself. There was no Leia then; there was Leia’s body, and her hate. She didn’t have time to think or wonder or ask questions. It just happened, and she was more than happy to let it. The march through the corridors of the Dintellion was uneventful. Some that saw her didn’t care or notice. Those that did, she disposed of. Cale had been the only one in the room when she had lost control and now he was dead or incapacitated. There was no one to raise the alarm. She half expected the woman, Zeya, to meet her before the end. Actually, she was almost hoping she would. That Baci had played just as great a part in her suffering as Cale had. Oh, how she would like to demonstrate her true powers. In the hangar, no one questioned her, somewhat disappointingly. They had seen her free before; before she had gotten pregnant. Cale had trusted her then, gave her privileges and benefits normal captives didn’t get. She knew now that it had all been in his sick little plan to sire her another baby. Her anger grew even larger. She picked a ship, a small starcruiser with the same elongated horseshoe design the Dintellion had. There were a few Baci going between the landing struts, doing their usual maintenance work. Leia stopped before them, hands on hips. “Move aside. I am commissioning this ship on behalf of the Premier.” Her voice was deeper and sharper than normal, she noted with a frown. They balked at her a moment, then one said something to her in their native tongue. She grew agitated. One hand gestured broadly for them to get out of her way. “Move, damn it, I have to get out of here.” The palms of her hands began to burn again. She could kill them, sure, but that would create a scene and hinder her escape. The Force wouldn’t be as useful a tool after she boarded. Reluctantly, she refrained. The same crewman stepped hesitantly forward. Leia could feel him probing her in the Force, sensing the darkness around her. Somehow, he construed that as a good thing. She felt more in tune with the other Baci than she normally did. In fact, to his mind’s eye, she almost resembled the Premier… Leia drew up short. This being was comparing her presence to being with Cale? What? “Authorization?” he struggled with Basic, faced his palm up and waited for her to present and identicard. She waved her hand, still troubled but not ready to face those thoughts yet. “I don’t need authorization.” He repeated the words clumsily, glassily. “You don’t need authorization.” “I will be given full control of this ship.” “You will be given full control of this ship.” “Move aside.” “Move aside,” he ordered his companions. They looked confused, but followed their superior’s orders. Leia stepped onto the boarding ramp and into the cockpit. It was small and unfamiliar, but if the Force was in her blood then so was piloting. With confidence she sat at the controls and did what she supposed was a power up sequence. It took half the time the Millennium Falcon usually took, and soon she was gliding out the airlock and into the void. The burning disk of Clak’dor VII still hung below them. Her subspace radio buzzed, and alien words came out. She didn’t know what they meant, but the tone gave her a pretty good idea. “Kiss my jets,” she murmured, and plotted a course for Coruscant. She stopped. No, she couldn’t go to Coruscant yet. Something held her back, stayed her hand. She had to figure out what to say to her family about everything. She had to rebuild her inner defenses, prepare herself for their rejection. Coruscant was no longer a safe haven. It wasn’t home, and wouldn’t be until she knew that Han and the kids could forgive her sins. A new set of coordinates entered what passed for the Baci equivalent of a navicomputer. They were coordinates she knew by heart from many years ago. The Dintellion began firing its batteries at her aft shields just as she pulled back on the hyperspace lever, aiming for home. To Alderaan.
* * * “You must be the stupidest male I have ever met.” Cale winced at his cousin’s chastisement, but had no defense against them. She was right. “Did you catch her?” he managed to rasp, his throat on fire, like the rest of him. That little witch had tricked him again, maimed and try to destroy him when he least expected it. He had let his guard down over something as stupid as sex. What kind of leader was he? “No,” he could hear the bitterness in Zeya’s tone, even though she was out of his sight. He lay on the surgical table as a fleet of medics swarmed quietly around him, plugging needles of medicine into his veins and worrying over his vitals. So far, the only disquieting damage was a severe case of calcification and a change in the regularity of his heartbeat. Both could be healed with rest and medication, but at the moment he saw double and had involuntary muscle spasms. “She had a ship before we ever knew she was gone. We’re attempting to track her possible courses now.” “That flotting spacewitch took my heir!” he slammed his fist on the medical table with surprising force, causing the doctors to jump slightly and scurry around him as they completed their treatment. “That was going to be my legacy!” “I tried to warn you she was dangerous,” Zeya replied, no emotion to back her arrogance. He was starting to become offended that she dare reprimand him in front of an audience, but again, knew he had no sound argument against it. “But you wouldn’t listen. She we wheedle out a plan to get you a powerful heir, and it works. But no, you have to fangle that up too. Cale, if you weren’t my cousin, I would challenge your clan leadership.” He craned his neck to shoot her a hurt look. “You don’t mean that.” “Your unstable and incompetent,” she continued harshly. “And I’ve put up with it for the last time. You led us here saying that things would be easy to overcome, and so far they have been. But with that woman on the loose—who knows so many of our secrets—we could be doomed! And to make matters worse,” she persisted, pacing as she gave her diatribe, “she is carrying the only heir to your—our—house. Do you know what that means?” He swallowed. The laws were very clear on lineage disputes. “If I die, she is the legal heiress of the Baci Nation,” he murmured. “Until the child is old enough to speak for itself,” Zeya finished, staring at him hard. “How we were raised in the same house, and yet I ended up with all the intelligence, is a marvel.” Cale turned away, meditating on these thoughts. Leia was now second in line to the throne, steward of the Nation until his baby came of age. That was a risk he could not allow to continue. “If you find her, kill her,” he ordered. “You’ve stopped thinking again,” Zeya moved so that he had to look up into her judgmental face. “Has it become a habit?” “I’ve had enough of this talk—” Her eyebrows shot up defensively. “Oh? Are we going to order me around now, hmm? If you remember, the last time you ignored my advice you lost our civil security!” “I know!” he bellowed, sending the remaining medics on a hasty retreat, leaving the two members of Clan Wilos alone. “You don’t have to keep reiterating the point.” “Don’t I?” she sounded amused. “Apparently logic has failed to work thus far. What other choice do I have?” “I am still your senior, Zeya Wilos, and I urge you not to forget it!” he sat up suddenly, shoving a warning finger in her face. The attempt made him dizzy, but he kept any discomfort out of his features. “Whatever you have to say, say it with respect. There will be no more insolence in our conversation, is that clear?” Her eyes darkened, the set of her mouth grew hard. “If you kill her, you will have wasted all our careful planning and resources. We want that baby. We can kill her afterwards.” “No,” he shook his head. “It’s not worth it. I want her dead for what she’s done to me.” “Revenge sometimes has a greater price on the vindicated than the violator,” she warned. “You will gain much more by finding the baby.” She leaned close, her following phrase conspiratorial. “Cale, our clan has held the Premier seat for five generations. The other clans are starting to grow restless. If you die without a suitable heir, we could lose everything. You have to maintain our control at all costs. This child Leia Solo carries belongs to no other house but our own. No one else will hold claim to the supremacy if it succeeds you.” He lay back down, thinking. His mother’s clan, House Bunai, had fought mercilessly for control when he succeeded his father to be Premier. They had tried to win his allegiance and so regain the dominance in Baci politics. He had stayed true to his father’s clan, however, and narrowly avoided a clash between tribes. Zeya was right about Leia’s baby. There would be no power struggle if he named the child as his inheritor. “I’m not so sure I agree,” he pondered aloud. “You are right about our clan’s insecurity. But I think Leia is more of a threat to us alive. Kill her.” “You are making a mistake.” “Have it done.” Zeya sighed. “As you wish, Premier.”
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