Saga Point of No Return--Dark Leia fic, majorly AU--Part 1 concluded, 8/9

LOL, yeah, I know.

 

"Han," Leia was hissing as she shook him awake. "Come on, Han, we need you awake and cooperative."

"I'll be cooperative," he mumbled. "I can't promise awake, since it's..."

"0317," she supplied. "I know it's early, but our Bothan friends are pinned down in the Senate district..."

"Oh, great," he snapped, throwing back the blankets. "Couldn't they have been caught in a less conspicuous place?"

"Not much we can do about it now," she countered, "and we don't know that anyone knows what they were doing there. You know how much the Empire adores aliens."

"So, what do we do?" he asked as she crossed to the door.

"We do some creative assets-diverting," she pronounced. "A convenient skiff here, a squad of stormtroopers given false leads, that sort of thing."

"Sounds like half a plan," he grumbled. "You have the other half?"

"I don't have time for that," she retorted, "which is where you come..."

The comm sounded and she moved out of sight, but he could hear the heavy breathing and frantic murmurings of Kre'fey's voice. The fact that they couldn't hear blaster fire was a momentary good sign, but Leia didn't seem to think so.

"You know to change transportation a few times," she reminded, her voice slightly strained. "What intersection are you coming up on?"

"3000 and 7900 on the grid," Fey'lya supplied.

"Good," she replied. "At 3300 and 8000, they're going to make a delivery. I'll have..."

Han crossed to look over her shoulder. "They're in a catering transport?"

"In the cold storage compartment," she supplied.

"You can't use another of those," he murmured. "There will be a courier service transport after the next caterer and that'll be heading towards the main lanes for the..."

"All right," she interrupted. "We'll have the courier transport run into a bit of traffic at that intersection. From there, you'll have a longer trip to the Palace district."

"With all due respect, Princess," Fey'lya said in a tone that suggested it had nothing to do with respect, "we're on a mission. We don't need to go Imperial sightseeing."

"Maybe not," she rejoined, "but you need to get a reliable transport towards Invisisec. Having a Senate district transport make a long detour through that area would attract too much attention."

She finished the list of instructions, then shut off the comm.

"I suppose, then," Han said, "that we should get the ship warmed up?"

"Much as I hate it," she murmured. "They might deny us an exit vector because of our fugitives. Ideally, we would lay low, but we can't trust that it's possible."

He kissed the top of her head, then headed to the bedroom. "I'll meet you at the docking bay," he explained. "Try not to get into too much trouble."
*****
Leia arrived at the freighter with two wounded Bothans, a datapack, and a grim expression, but Han didn't bother to ask questions until they were in hyperspace.

"We couldn't get to the others," Kre'fey said grimly. "There was no time to wonder if they were dead or not, but we got out of there with enough trouble as it was."

"No one will fault you for doing your duty," Leia assured him, "and the sacrifice of your team will not go unrewarded."

"We don't doubt it," Fey'lya sighed, "as long as it's known what race the martyrs of the second Death Star plans were."

"We'll make sure of it," Leia agreed. "Your peoples' reputation for infiltration and espionage is respected enough that they've probably already guessed your full names on the Imperial end of things."

Kre'fey showed a unnervingly toothy smile. "That's the idea."

Han frowned at the medical scanner. "We'll have to keep both of you under sedation for the next couple of days," he surmised. "Nothing life-threatening about those blaster burns, but it'll be much easier to heal if you're not aggravating the injury."

"No complaints here," Kre'fey said with a smile. "There's not much we can do before getting to Sullust as it is."

Fifteen minutes later, with the Bothans sedated and five days in hyperspace ahead of them, she

 

- So, now I'm wondering... did Leia really rescue those Bothans, or did she betray them? You really have me guessing here with Leia's motives.

 

That's the intent. :-D Sorry I didn't update in nearly a month, but my heart just hasn't been in this one for a bit. It's back now.

 

I loved that last post, i never thought of the possibility that leia may have betrayed the Bothans, i can't wait to see where this ends up!

 

I'm in the same boat, I guess. Leia must be up to something, I suppose, but directly costing people their lives, that's pretty harsh.

 

Yes, but the question that you're probably wondering if I'll ever answer is: She's up to something, but who does it favor?

 

"They're covering their tracks well," Leia explained, "but we've managed to confirm that two of our people were captured, not killed. There's still the chance that the others are being hidden instead of packed into body bags, but it's not good."

"Not necessarily," Rieekan mused. "They could be taking care with their prisoners, just in case they can't get one to break."

She grimaced genuinely. "It only takes one to break and Lord Vader tends to be more persistent than cautious."

"Optimistic, aren't you?" General Madine snorted.

"We lost ten of the twelve operatives," Rieekan countered. "She has every right to be a bit of a pessimist."

"But we obtained the readouts," Mon Mothma interjected. "No matter what the cost, it's a significant step forward."

"So?" Han queried.

"So, we proceed with caution," Leia supplied. "We keep close tabs on the Bothans that we have been able to track, but we plan the assault based on the assumption that the mission has not been compromised."

"It's starting to sound too much like Ord Mantell," Han grumbled.

"But we succeeded in that mission," Leia protested. "We can start basing our optimism off of that idea."

Mon Mothma cleared her throat gently. "Since we are on the subject of the assault, we have done preliminary reviews of the information and ascertained that there are three primary leadership positions to be filled. Admiral Ackbar will, of course, direct the Fleet, but we have need of a commander for the fighter contingent."

"Commander Skywalker," Leia suggested. "He is, after all, our most experienced fighter pilot."

"If he were more reliably on base..." Madine groused.

"Meaning?"

"He was absent without leave for three months after Hoth..."

"I was gone for ten months," Leia shot back. "Surely, that's no reason to suspect him."

"We don't suspect him, per se," Rieekan soothed, "but he has been taking regular leaves since his return and, as a result, we cannot be sure where his priorities will lie when it comes to this mission. As it is, we haven't been able to ask him because he has been absent from the base since the second day after you left."

"Absent where?"

"He alleges that it's some kind of training," Madine sniffed rather haughtily, "but what sort of Commander would put spiritual exercises ahead of his duty to the Alliance..."

"His duty to the Alliance," Leia interrupted, "is as the last of the Jedi. I would think that a man who was alive for the Clone Wars would appreciate that."

"Which is why he is absent with leave," Mon Mothma replied patiently. "The third leader we require is someone with experience in ground assaults."

"Rieekan's your man," Han suggested. "He certainly had enough experience on Hoth."

"We were considering someone with more...unorthodox tactics," Rieekan corrected carefully.

"Is that a diplomatic way of asking me how I like the sound of General Solo?" Han laughed.

"Yes," Rieekan confirmed. "It would come with certain benefits such as resources for your repairs..."

"I'm not the mercenary that came to Yavin four years ago," Han rejoined. "The fringe benefits can wait while I say yes."

 

"I'm not the mercenary that came to Yavin four years ago," Han rejoined. "The fringe benefits can wait while I say yes." That says it all! Wow, excellent post! I, too, am sort of wondering what Leia's agenda is here....

Oooh, first post! Yes!!!

 

Still nervous, but she seems to trust Han anyway. I think.

 

They don't suspect leia...Thats what i like to see...or maybe not, i guess it depends on how much torture your going to put the characters through.

Loved the last, post. Way to go Han, we all we knew you'd come back.

 

dm1--"I'm not the mercenary that came to Yavin four years ago," Han rejoined. "The fringe benefits can wait while I say yes." That says it all! Wow, excellent post! I, too, am sort of wondering what Leia's agenda is here....

Well, a lot will be explained and/or implied in the next post, when Luke returns from that deathbed yoda scene and tells Leia what's expected of them.

Oooh, first post! Yes!!!

Congrats.

ccp--Still nervous, but she seems to trust Han anyway. I think.

Yes, she does, at the moment...

 

Oh, you have no idea what I've got going on. Lucky you. And yes, Han's the good guy.

 

If she wasn't still dark Leia, wouldn't she feel terrible pain every time she had good or whatever thoughts towards those she cared about - I thought Vader put that in her head and that Luke had sensed that?

 

Good catch on that, but there's a specific reason that it's not happening and it doesn't have anything to do with me being sloppy with my continuity.

 

I enjoyed Han's remarks in this one.

 

Oh, I never thought for an instant that you were being sloppy in your continuity. I just thought it was a sign that she was still dark Leia.

 

RebelMom--I enjoyed Han's remarks in this one.

I'm glad. I like him around the brass.

leias_girl--Oh, I never thought for an instant that you were being sloppy in your continuity. I just thought it was a sign that she was still dark Leia.

The continuity thing was a note to myself because for a moment, I panicked and thought I'd left something out, but then remembered why.

 

Ahhh. So Madine, the all around jerk, suspects Luke! (we don't like Madine, do we?)

 

Well, he tends to get the wrong person at times...

 

"I'm not the mercenary that came to Yavin four years ago," Han rejoined. I really liked this line. And I am REALLY uneasy with how much everyone is blithly accepting the word of Vader's Sith-trained daughter. I mean, hello!!!! Ya know what? I'll bet they don't trust her as much as they are letting on and that Han is the spy (for her own good, of course).

Zonoma

 

"I'm not the mercenary that came to Yavin four years ago," Han rejoined. I really liked this line. And I am REALLY uneasy with how much everyone is blithly accepting the word of Vader's Sith-trained daughter. I mean, hello!!!! Ya know what? I'll bet they don't trust her as much as they are letting on and that Han is the spy (for her own good, of course).

That would be a safe bet, but not quite. The mission to Coruscant was kind of a probation where Han was their spy and keeping tabs on her, seeing how far she could be trusted, and she pulled it off perfectly. Therefore, she's deemed slihgtly more trustworthy than they'd previously evaluated.

 

"seemingly" I don't like the way you said that. You make me nervous, Ishy. You know that, right?

Zonoma

 

Great update Ishy!

And then:

Therefore, she's deemed slihgtly more trustworthy than they'd previously evaluated.

Heh. No comment.

 

I like making people nervous. I scared the spit out of IEJ this morning by telling her exactly what will happen in the rest of the story.

Though, I have an announcement. This will be a two-part story. The first part will be concluding this week, the sequel to be done in a few months. I need a break from it and I feel like it'll be a better story after the hiatus.