04: Plans and High Command

Story song: “Love Is Pain” by Joan Jett and the Blackhearts

The comm connected to the bunk was chirping for attention. Luke blinked his eyes once before squeezing them shut again. That sound reminded him strongly of Medical, and he remembered leaving Medical to get some sleep. Making that chirp stop took more concentration than he had right now.

The warmth against his back shifted away, and the chirp finally stopped. Biggs’ voice rumbled into the comm. “Darklighter.”

“Lieutenant Commander Darklighter, we can’t find Master Luke.” Threepio’s worried voice filled the bunk. “He left Medical during third shift and he needs to have a final examination before resuming duties. Princess Leia is most insistent upon that occurring post haste, but Master Luke has two debriefs scheduled, and Chewbacca is growing impatient for his conversation with Master Luke before their departure.”

Luke cracked open his eyes. He had been unconscious. How had his life gotten this scheduled before he woke up?

Mara Jade rolled over in the bunk across the room.

“Pause, Threepio,” Biggs ordered. “I’ve got Luke. Is he medically restricted from eating breakfast before he’s cleared for duty?”

“Not according to his records.”

“Okay, I’ll get him up and we’ll go to the mess for breakfast and Chewie can see Luke then. Is he Luke’s first debrief?”

“Yes, Lieutenant Commander. The second one is with High Command after Medical has released Master Luke.”

“Okay, food and whoever wants in on the first debrief, then Medical, then High Command. Tell the Princess we’ll be in the mess in about thirty minutes.”

“Thank you, Lieutenant Commander. I will deliver that message.”

The comm clicked off, and Biggs growled a sigh before asking, “You heard all that, Luke?”

“Yeah, can we get Leia to stop scheduling my life?”

“Get another promotion and outrank her. That might slow her down. I gotta get dressed.”

Luke rolled to his feet so Biggs could swing out of the bunk. Mara had a curious tilt to her head as she looked at them. She straightened her head and smothered a yawn to hide her curiousity. “Good morning,” Luke said. “I hope you got enough sleep.”

“More than I have had lately,” she admitted. “And it doesn’t sound like anyone put me on your schedule.”

“Don’t take it personally, Miha. Threepio probably put you in second shift and plans on announcing it after lunch.” Biggs pulled out a uniform and headed to the ‘fresher.

She swung her feet out of the bunk and her face reddened as she looked down at a familiar tan poncho. “Sorry, I fell asleep in it.” She pulled it over her head.

“It’s okay. I get cold in space still. Glad you had it when you needed it.” He took it from her thrust-out hand.

She shoved her feet into her boots without looking at him. She was wearing a tan tunic with pale blue trousers. “If you still have medical needs, I don’t know if I should go first by lucking into being present now.”

The bruise and laceration on his face throbbed, needing a fresh dose of bacta salve, but he didn’t feel any pain in his right arm. “I think they will release me back to duty. You defected right? Came to help us.”

“I have defected,” she said softly before looking up with tense green eyes. “I saw you helping me reach my sisters.”

The Force thrummed like a drum between them. Her brightness was leaking behind a strong mental shield. “You have the Force,” Luke whispered in awe.

She nodded as Biggs exited the ‘fresher. “I’m not the only one.”

“Your sisters have it too?”

She nodded but didn’t look any happier thinking about them. “And the Emperor.”

Master Yoda had said nothing about that, but didn’t it fit with what Vader told him? Luke, you can destroy the Emperor. He has foreseen this. His father was a fury barely answerable to anyone but the Emperor and was plotting against him? If the offer to rule the galaxy together as father and son was a serious offer. An offer dependent on falling to the Dark Side too. Luke realized his new right hand was squeezing into a fist. He relaxed it. “That makes sense. Have you talked to High Command yet?”

“No,” she shook her head. “I kept insisting on speaking with you first.”

“And I found her in the medical waiting room where she got booted to wait for you.” Biggs jerked his thumb at the ‘fresher. “All yours, Miha.”

She nodded and slipped into the small room.

Biggs shoved his feet into his boots. His uniform was tan and blue too. “You want to go to High Command with this?”

“I don’t want them mad at me for leaving it out. I don’t know how they are going to take my six-week diversion, so it’ll probably go over better to be completely honest.” He ignored the dark, twisted voice inside, insisting that no one was ever honest with him. This was a group effort to take down the Empire; if he fell, others had to know to keep fighting and eventually win.

Biggs nodded. “They’re going to follow your lead with the Force stuff. They’ve always been hands off of that.”

Luke’s twisted inner voice vanished as he considered that calmly. His training wasn’t complete, but Master Yoda wasn’t leaving Dagobah. He was all the Alliance had. But maybe he wasn’t alone now?

His Bespin angel came out of the ‘fresher with a serious face. Luke smiled welcomely as he headed into it after her. All he really needed to do was comb his hair and clean his teeth. Because he had a feeling that Leia was going to be at breakfast, and he couldn’t deal with her being disappointed over his presentation.

Biggs herded them out of the bunk room once Luke was finished. “We also need to make time to loop Wedge in,” he said. “Nobody had told him anything when I came in and could access your medical records. He’s acting Rogue Leader now.”

“Debriefing sessions until supper I see,” Luke sighed.

“If you had told somebody that you were disappearing for six weeks, you wouldn’t have to face punishment now, Commander.” Biggs fought hard not to smirk.

“Wait, Threepio was calling you Lieutenant Commander. When did that happen?”

Biggs’ brown eyes narrowed as he thought. “Not before I left for Tatooine. Was a promotion in the works?”

“I just turn in the reports. I don’t know what higher ups do with them. Why did you go to Tatooine?”

“I thought you may have gone back there. I got a whole crate of stuff for you from old Ben’s.”

The turbolift stopped on the fifth level of the ship, and they headed into the mess hall. Luke saw he was right; Leia had already staked out a table with Chewbacca and the other man from Bespin. They were entering at the end of the breakfast rush, so they could speak without alarming the entire fleet.

Leia set her caf down as they brought their meal trays to the table. “So that’s why Threepio wasn’t able to find you.” She focused her gaze on Mara. “High Command wants to debrief with you after they finish with Luke.”

The redhead nodded as she took a seat, and Biggs shifted, so Luke took the empty seat next to Leia and Mara sat between him and Luke. “I’m ready for that,” Mara said.

“Aren’t we missing someone, or is he sulking on the Falcon?” Biggs frowned at Chewie, who slumped at the table.

Leia broke in before the Wookiee could speak. “You didn’t tell him? About Han?” Her gaze darted between Luke and Mara.

“I did not,” Mara answered.

Luke rubbed his face. “I was kind of hoping to wake up and find out I had hallucinated it between blows to the head and the pain pill you gave me.”

“Blows to the head?” Biggs demanded.

“So you know nothing, great.” Leia sighed as she picked up her cup of caf again. “I got cut off from the transports on Hoth and Han dragged me onto the Falcon. The hyperdrive malfunctioned. We evaded the Death Squadron in the asteroid belt, but they were relentless. When we finally thought they had moved on, Han went to Bespin because he thought Lando would help us.”

The dark-skinned man from Bespin stretched out a hand to Biggs. “Lando Calrissian, former Baron Administrator of Cloud City on Bespin.”

“Biggs Darklighter,” he shook the offered hand, “have to check on what my current rank is.”

Lando shrugged that off. “Boba Fett led Vader to Cloud City right before they showed up. Fett wanted Han for Jabba’s bounty and Vader wanted them all to set a trap for one Luke Skywalker. And I was responsible for keeping over five million lives free of the Empire’s control.”

“Vader froze Han in carbonite and turned him over to the bounty hunter.” Leia set down the mug without drinking from it. “Lando realized the futility of dealing with the Empire and helped us escape. Boba Fett left with Han, but we found Luke and Jade under Cloud City and made the jump to hyperspace before the Executor locked onto the Falcon.”

“Under Cloud City?” Biggs stared at Luke, glanced at Mara, and returned his gaze to Luke.

“I found him clinging to an antenna underneath the city,” Mara told Biggs.

Biggs’ expression told Luke that Luke would detail the fight with Vader later, before Biggs shifted his gaze to Leia. “So we’re plotting to spring Han from Jabba?”

“{Can’t wait that long,}” Chewie rumbled despondently at them.

“Life debt creeds aside,” Lando interjected, “every bounty hunter in the Outer Rim will be on an intercept course with Boba Fett to extricate Han from him and get Jabba’s bounty for themselves. If we play it right, we can use that confusion to get Han away from all of them.”

“And if that doesn’t work, we know where he will end up.” Leia’s voice was more exhausted than Luke had ever heard it, but she squared her shoulders as she twisted to look at Luke directly. “What will he face?”

“Depends on Jabba’s mood,” Luke said. Leia probably didn’t want to hear it, but she always appreciated honesty. “But with the amount of credits he put on Han’s head, he’ll probably execute Han as an example to the rest of the organization.”

Leia’s face pinched as Luke felt her optimism plummet. “So paying Han’s debt off and leaving with him alive is out of the question.”

“{Han’s defiance irritated Jabba too much for profit to rule his decisions,}” Chewie added.

“I could have picked up intel on what Jabba’s new murdering pastime is while I was there, but I didn’t do that.” Biggs shrugged as he poked at his breakfast with his fork. “He gets bored and likes to change things up,” he explained to the non-Tatooinians. “Want me to consult the Anoobas of the Dune Sea for what they know?”

Luke nodded. “They owe us, and that is something they can find out quicker than we can.” Jabba was angry; could they use that? Could they knock the slug from his perch on top of Tatooine like Vader had hurled things at Luke’s head? He shied away from that example. “Once we know what Jabba’s been favoring, we’ll know how fast we need to move.”

“All the more reason to get Han away from Boba Fett before he even lands on Tatooine,” Lando said. “Which is why Chewie and I want to leave within the hour. We’ll find them while you marshal the rest of your resources.”

Leia gestured with her mug. “What you see here is what we have, more or less.” Her glance at Mara was neutral.

Lando’s sweeping gaze around the table was incredulous. “This is it? But you’re a princess?”

Leia’s mug settled on the table again. “My people are in hiding or have already enlisted in the Alliance. High Command won’t authorize a strike against Jabba. To give orders countermanding that jeopardizes our fight against the Empire for my selfish gain.” She shook her head as her lips pressed tightly together.

Luke swung his left arm over her shoulders and hugged her from the side.

“Frankly, if anyone in the Alliance deserves a little selfish gain,” Biggs said, “it’s you, Leia. But you’re going to set an impossible-to-meet noble standard even if your selfish gain equals saving Solo’s life.”

“I’m not sure if I should thank you for a compliment or punch you for an insult,” Leia said.

“You’re welcome.”

“It’s okay,” Luke told Lando’s skeptical expression as Luke gave Leia one last squeeze before releasing her, “we’re more capable than our numbers imply.”

“If you say so. I have some favors to call in.” Lando focused on his plate and they all finished their meals.

Luke went to Chewbacca once their breakfast meeting broke apart for departures. “Keep us in the loop. I owe Han too. You don’t have to get him back alone.”

His long Wookiee arms wrapped around Luke. “{Watch your back and avoid Vader. You’re not ready to face him again. Go to Medical.}”

“He’s going.” Leia hugged Chewie next. “Be careful.” She let Chewie go and gave Luke a push toward the door.

The medical check didn’t take as long as Luke thought it would. His new hand reacted like Too-Onebee wanted it to. The contusion under his eye got a slather of bacta salve, and they watched the Falcon leave the Fleet from the huge viewport in the examination room. The freighter vanished with the pseudomotion. Leia braced herself, led them to a conference room on the third deck, and went in with Luke, leaving Biggs and Mara and the droids in the hallway.

Commander-in-Chief Mon Mothma sat at the center of the long table inside. Admiral Gial Ackbar sat on her right. Supreme Commander Crix Madine of the Alliance Special Forces sat on her left. The last figure arrayed against Luke and Leia was a grizzled man in a Pathfinders uniform. He had a neatly trimmed white beard, possibly making up for the lack of hair on his bald head to groom. He had put an empty chair between himself and Madine.

“Welcome back to the Fleet, Commander Skywalker,” Mothma said evenly.

Leia circled the table and took a seat, keeping an empty chair between her and Ackbar. Luke remained standing in front of the group.

Mothma did not take her blue eyes from Luke’s face. “We are here to discuss what took you so long to return to us.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Luke took a deep breath and wished he had given more thought about what to tell these people. “While we were still on Hoth, after I had escaped from the wampa, I saw Obi-Wan Kenobi. He told me to seek a Jedi Master and gave me the location. My stay in Medical recovering from the wampa and frostbite and then the battle with the Imperials kept me from requesting a formal leave of absence. After making sure the transport paired with me jumped to hyperspace, I put in the location Master Obi-Wan gave me and went there instead.”

“And you have spent all this time with Master Yoda?” Mothma smiled slightly at Luke’s wide eyes. “We have known which Jedi Masters survived the attack on the Jedi Temple, just not the locations they hid in.”

“Yes, ma’am, I spent the weeks since leaving Hoth training under Master Yoda’s tutelage until I started having visions of Leia and Han in danger. I left my training to rescue them and found them in Cloud City on Bespin.” Luke swallowed hard. “Darth Vader set a trap for me.”

“From what we understand,” Ackbar said, “the Imperials tested trapping you in carbonite on Captain Solo.”

“Vader dueled with me, and led me into that chamber. But I avoided getting frozen in that.” He glanced at Leia’s stoic face with what he hoped was sympathy on his. “And then our duel restarted.” His new right hand curled into a fist. “He cut my hand off to end it. We were on a gantry for something industrial in the city that had no other exit.”

“And Darth Vader did not kill you?” Mothma’s voice was very gentle.

Luke closed his eyes, remembering tales of just how many Rebels had died at Vader’s black-gloved hands. His father’s hands. Force, they could never know that. No one would ever trust him again. “He offered to teach me. The only way to defeat the Emperor is to use the Dark Side. I don’t accept that; didn’t accept that. I jumped rather than surrender.”

Madine shifted in his chair. “Vader wants the Emperor defeated?”

“He said the Emperor has foreseen me destroying him. Vader said we could rule together.” Luke opened his eyes. “Not tempted at all. It’s hard enough being in charge of the Rogues.”

Madine had his forearm pressed down against the conference table. “Have you had any visions about killing the Emperor?”

“No, sir. I don’t know if I would trust them if I did.” Luke could feel the question that generated among his superior officers and took a deep breath to explain. “Master Yoda told me to ignore the visions I was having of my friends, because the future is always in motion and I had to decide how to serve them best. I don’t think my conscience would have let me not go to them, but only timely interventions from Mara Jade and Princess Leia saved my life. Interventions that wouldn’t have been necessary if I hadn’t gone. Maybe if the Princess hadn’t had to pick me up from the underside of Cloud City, she could have rescued Captain Solo. So the Force doesn’t offer a clear to do list via visions for everything to turn out for the best.”

“You jumped off the gantry to escape Darth Vader,” Mothma said, “and ended up on the underside of Cloud City?”

“I fell through some chutes or ventilation shafts and grabbed hold of a sensor vane. Mara Jade found me first. She was trying to get me into some kind of local airspeeder when the Falcon arrived. And I don’t remember too much after that once I got treated with a medkit.”

“And at no time during this duel, did Vader try to pry any information out of your head?” Ackbar rumbled.

“No, he didn’t.” And since Luke was unsure just how well he could have handled a lightsaber duel while protecting the contents of his mind, he was grateful it hadn’t occurred to Vader to do that.

“So you are the only one who knows where Master Yoda is.” Mothma gestured for silence when Luke began justifying keeping that information from them. “That information is unnecessary currently, but your honest assessment is. Is Master Yoda willing to take up his generalship again?”

Luke remembered the defeated slump of tiny shoulders and the head shake. “Wars not make one great.” He shook his head. “No, ma’am. If he was willing, he would have already joined us.”

Mothma nodded and Ackbar gurgled, the Mon Calamari equivalent of a sigh. “In your absence, we assigned Commander Antilles command of the Rogue Squadron.”

Luke nodded. “They’re in excellent hands, so I’d like to ask now for an official leave of absence.”

Ackbar gurgled again. “An official leave of absence?”

“I promised to return to Master Yoda and complete my training after my friends were safe, so I have to free Captain Solo and keep that promise.”

“With or without permission, I suppose,” Mothma said.

“Asking for permission now that Imperials aren’t shooting at us, ma’am.”

“Permission granted, provided that you assist with appraising the defector Mara Jade and you leave the Alliance to Restore the Republic out of your vendetta with Jabba the Hutt.”

“Agreed. From what little I have spoken with Mara Jade, I have noticed that she is a Force user.” He took a deep breath. “She also said that the Emperor is one as well.”

“So all our hopes may fall to you regardless of plans,” Madine said softly.

“All due respect, Supreme Commander, defeating the Empire is a group effort. And Force users still have to breathe.”

“We just have to line up a lucky blast large enough?” Madine sighed after his rhetorical question. “Did Jade explain why she’s fixated on you?”

“Just that she needed my help.”

“Did she say with what?” Mothma asked.

“No, ma’am.” Luke shook his head.

“Well, I guess it’s time to see if she will tell all of us.” Mothma looked at Leia, who nodded and left her seat. She opened the conference room door and called Mara Jade inside. The young woman came inside with her chin raised but a carefully blank expression. Biggs also stepped inside, so the door shut behind him. Mothma raised her eyebrows. “Lieutenant Commander Darklighter, we did not call you to this debriefing.”

“I’m just here for moral support, ma’am.” Biggs slipped past Luke and sat in a chair at the end of the conference table before it rounded to the other side with Leia and the High Command representatives.

Luke felt a pulse of gratitude from Mara before she focused on Mon Mothma. Her body shifted into an Imperial parade rest standing next to Luke. “I was told my name was Mara Jade. My memories told me that the Emperor took me from my family as a small child, chosen because of my special abilities. I trained and passed all tests and earned the title of the Emperor’s Hand in 1001.”

Alarm sparked from Madine, but he kept his face impassive.

Mara’s green eyes flicked to Madine and then back to Mothma. “I did missions as his Hand until three weeks ago. Do you need me to detail those right now?”

“I believe that can wait for a later meeting,” Mothma said. “What happened three weeks ago?”

Mara took a deep breath. “I returned to the Imperial Palace and felt the Force presence of another potential Emperor’s Hand in training. I refused to be replaced so arbitrarily and went looking for details about my rival.” Her green eyes squeezed shut. “I found a room with three cloning tanks; one of my sisters was still growing in one.”

The old Pathfinder shifted in his seat. “One of how many?”

“I found records for the prime and seven clones, designed to circumvent some rule about apprenticeship. My designation is MJ-0002. The prime died in service to him. So did my sister decanted directly after me. She never made it through training. Three more are in training. I only met two of them. Just children. All being told the same lies I was.” Her voice cracked. “I have to get them out before they die too!”

Anguish and grief seeped through her mental shield and made Luke want to curl his arms around her. That display wouldn’t be dispassionate enough for the High Command present, and he really didn’t think Mara would take being hugged very well. “You tried, didn’t you? What happened?” he asked instead.

“I faked a mission so I could find a place to live, so the Emperor cannot just use us until we die. I told the two sisters I had met what I was going to do. Naava decided she had to come with me. I’m not sure what she did, but a squadron of stormtroopers followed her into the hangar bay, blasters hot. I took off, evaded pursuit, and made it to hyperspace. Then I found they had shot Naava and she died just inside the ship’s airlock. She was only twelve, physically at least.” Mara’s arms trembled and she tucked them behind her back to hide it.

Madine’s eyes were hard. “And the ones—your sisters—you left behind are younger than that.”

“Yes, sir.”

“What kind of training are they undergoing? What kind of training did you have?”

Mara’s chin twitched up before she answered. “Combat, especially hand-to-hand basics and simple weapons. And how to infiltrate different scenarios. That was a fun game compared to constant exercise and drills.” Her green eyes darted to Luke. “It’s grueling, and it killed one of them when she was eleven.”

“By the Force,” Mothma breathed out. Even Leia looked disturbed, and she usually only got angry over Imperial atrocities.

“You have the Force,” Luke said, drawing everyone’s attention to him. “And you said your sisters have it too.”

“They do.”

“Did the Emperor train you in how to use it?”

“Vader is his apprentice.”

Luke hardened rather than flinch at that answer.

Mara continued, “They both instructed me in some tricks to do with a lightsaber, should I ever run across one to use. But not dueling. The Emperor taught me how to shield my mind from Vader and to speak telepathically if I needed to. I was strong enough to do that, but nothing else.”

“I doubt that’s true,” Luke frowned.

“Given how much Palpatine has lied during his entire political career, that is a fair assumption to make,” Mothma said. “You want aid to rescue your sisters from the Imperial Palace.”

Mara turned her head to look at Luke fully. “The Force showed me you, so I followed the Death Squadron. I knew Vader is hunting you. Frankly, I cannot rescue them alone without resources.” She turned back to Mothma. “I’m prepared to exchange my skills for your cause, provided it earns my sisters’ freedom, safety, and peace.”

The old Pathfinder stirred again. “She needs a full medical scan, in case she’s chipped.”

Mara looked puzzled and resigned. Luke spoke up, mostly to establish his claim over Mara’s allegiance. The Force made sure they met, after all. “I’m sorry, but who are you?”

The older man smirked as fondness washed over his being. “My designation was CT-7567. I chose Rex, Commander Rex now. I served under your father’s command in the Clone Wars. Which I’m guessing General Yoda didn’t bother telling you about.”

Among other things, a bitter voice said inside Luke’s mind. Mara glanced at him, so he pushed it aside. “No, Clone Wars history didn’t come up during my training.”

Rex nodded. “They designed us Clone Troopers, and we trained to be the best soldiers ever seen in the history of the Old Republic. But the entire war was a trap. Palpatine as the Chancellor made sure we were all chipped with behavioral modification biochips and those made sure we killed our Jedi Generals when he gave the order.”

Mara’s face paled, making her freckles stand out on her face. “He can compel us to work for him?” Her strut-stiff body swayed.

Luke pressed his left hand against her upper back for support at the same time as Biggs shifted in his chair to catch her. He relaxed back when he saw Luke had her. “Deep breath,” Luke said out loud while sending her comfort through the Force. “The medical test can find the biochip if it is in her?”

Rex nodded. “Removal surgery is nothing to worry about, but since Palpatine hasn’t called you back to him that probably means you don’t have one. You also want to make sure you don’t have any active accelerated aging. I’m only thirty-five years old.” He chuckled.

Mara took a shaky breath. “The dates only make sense with accelerated aging, though it felt like time passed normally during my training.”

“You’re younger than the one I met,” Leia said. “So I suggested Commander Rex become involved in case it was a cloning situation.”

Everyone was staring at Leia, but Mara spoke first. “You met one of us? When?”

“It was an Imperial Senate event in 999. She attended as part of the Emperor’s entourage, and I was told she was one of his concubines. The name they gave me was Lianna.”

Mara’s lips twisted while her anger churned, hidden to everyone but Luke. “We have to share aliases as well as a name.” She recovered her stoic poise. “That was not me. I was still in training. I graduated in 1001.”

Luke patted her back at the lurking pain she put into ‘graduated.’ Now that she didn’t seem ready to fall over, he let his hand return to his side. “Do you want to be a Jedi?”

She only displayed her startlement by rapidly blinking. “That’s… that is an option?”

“I don’t see why not.” Luke nodded at Madine. “I’m sure Special Forces would like all the codes and any other information you have. And you’re trained in skills that will make you a sure bet for any division in the Alliance, but your Force Sensitivity is an option to explore.”

Mothma raised her eyebrows. “You feel ready to train others, Commander Skywalker?”

Did anyone ever feel ready to train others? “No, ma’am. I was thinking of taking her to Master Yoda.”

Rex made a harrumph under his breath. “They need Commander Tano here to help them with Force things. She agreed to help the Rebellion.”

Luke’s face scrunched with confusion. “Who?”

Mothma sighed. “I don’t disagree, Commander Rex, but she and the other Force users she had gathered either died or went missing before Commander Skywalker enlisted. General Syndulla knows to inform them of the Commander if they contact her.”

At least not being told about these lost Force users made logical sense, Luke thought as he internally winced at what he had missed out on. Mara gave him a mental nudge, and he focused on her. “Will Master Yoda teach a clone the Force?” she asked.

“I don’t think you being a clone will be a problem.” Luke glanced at the members of High Command to include them. “I can take you to Master Yoda to train while I help rescue Captain Solo from Jabba.”

Mara nodded. “I will go train. It sounds like Force users are in the shortest supply.”

“First, you must pass the medical check, Mistress Jade.” Mothma rose to her feet. “Welcome to the Alliance to Restore the Republic. Lieutenant Commander Darklighter?”

Biggs bounced to his feet as Madine and Ackbar stood. “Yes, ma’am?”

“If you are going to Tatooine as well, clear your leave through Commander Antilles.” She glided through the door while Biggs assented. Soon Luke, Mara, and Biggs were alone with Leia and Rex and they left the conference room en masse.

Leia glanced at her wrist comm. “I’ve got another meeting. We already alerted Too-Onebee to the possibility of clone tests, so you can head straight to Medical.”

“We’re going, Leia.” Luke punched in the turbolift code to call it to them. “Meet up for lunch?”

“Supper,” she corrected before disappearing down the hallway leading to the airlocks.

Biggs switched to Huttese. “{That is the same story Red told me last night. If you got this, I’ll go fix the bunk situation and find out if Wedge is on our schedule or not.}”

“{I’ve got this. If Wedge wants to yell, don’t have us meet in the mess.}” The turbolift arrived and Luke ushered Mara inside and Rex entered with them.

She looked a little startled as the door closed. “Biggs isn’t coming?”

“He needs to go check in with Wedge. We’ll catch up with him later.”

She nodded, smoothing the startle from her expression, but nervousness still rattled in the Force. That was understandable with the bombshell of the biochip and the possibility of still being under Palpatine’s control after everything she did to escape it.

Too-Onebee was ready for Mara in one of the smaller exam rooms. Rex waited with Luke outside the observation window. The Pathfinder squashed his nervousness and offered a conversational gambit. “You favor your father more, and I’m sure plenty of beings have told you that.”

Luke found his right hand squeezing into a fist. “People who remember him have,” he said calmly. It was a fact. Couldn’t change facts any more than you could change the course of a sandstorm. And there was no point in ruining Rex’s memories.

“But I see the Senator in you too.”

Luke turned from the exam window and the back of Mara’s head in the exam seat to look directly at the former Clone Trooper. “My mother was an Imperial senator?”

Rex let his pity show on his bearded face. “Old Republic Senator. Amidala died when the Empire took over, so she never served in that body. Nobody told you about her either? Mon Mothma and Bail Organa knew her.”

“I never got to meet Leia’s father,” Luke said. Maybe if the man hadn’t died on Alderaan, Luke would know more about both his parents by now. “Aunt Beru thought my father married the woman he brought to the farm once. A Core Worlder named Padmé.”

“Ah, that was her family-given name. Her friends used that one. To the rest of the galaxy, she was Senator Amidala. As far as marriage goes, they didn’t tell anyone about that. Jedi and clones couldn’t marry. But I don’t think there was anyone else for either of them, regardless of legalities.”

He had a name now. If things ever lulled enough, he might actually have a chance to research her. Maybe the Empire left her family, his relations, alone. “Thank you, Commander, for telling me about her.”

“You’re welcome.”

The exam room door slid open. “Commander Skywalker,” Too-Onebee called out. Rex let him enter the room first. Mara was smothering her sense of worry behind a mental shield. The medical droid’s skull-like head swiveled toward the two men. “I am relieved to inform you that Mara Jade does not have a behavioral modification biochip inserted into her body. Nor is the accelerated aging agent active in her cells, even though they subjected her to it.”

Luke smiled at the droid and Mara. “That’s great. Thank you, Too-Onebee. We’ll get out of your way now.”

Mara slid off the examination chair and the group headed back to the turbolifts. Rex put in a different stop for himself before looking down at the woman. “Just so you know, I plan to volunteer for the mission to storm the Imperial Palace and rescue your sisters. So you can count on one old Trooper with the Jedi and the flyboy you’ve already enlisted for it.”

Her green eyes widened. “Thank you.” She darted forward and wrapped her arms around Rex’s barrel-chest. He returned the hug and patted her back before the turbolift door slid open.

“Keep me in the loop on that.” Rex stepped out of the turbolift and sent them on their way.

Gratitude welled up inside her presence in the Force. “I really didn’t think I would find help.”

“You have, and we will figure out a way to get your sisters away from Palpatine.” The turbolift opened up on the deck they were quartered on and Mara’s smile was watery but ultimately a smile. The defeats were setbacks, but they were all still fighting.

They opened the cabin door. Biggs and Wedge were securing the deck plate around a new bunk above Biggs’ bunk. Biggs turned off his tool first. “Medical checks all done now? I figured this was easier than moving cabins, given how we probably won’t be with the Fleet much longer.”

Luke grinned back. “Good thinking.” They were all adults and could handle giving each other some privacy.

Wedge finished his deck plate and dropped off the wall ladder to it. “So, you missed out on the last round of promotions and lost a body part. Let’s see it.”

Luke shook his head. “You Corellians are the rudest when you’re having tooka kittens by the litter. Mara, this is Commander Wedge Antilles and current Rogue Leader. Wedge, this is Mara Jade.”

Wedge nodded at her. “Pleased to meet you and welcome to the Rebellion. Now show, you Jedi smart-ass.”

Luke rolled up the medical tunic sleeve with a sigh until the thin metal band where the prosthetic met flesh was visible on his forearm.

Wedge studied it critically before returning his gaze to Luke’s face. “And how do you feel? About all of it, Luke.”

“The pain is finally gone. You built the Rogues too, so you should be in charge. Getting Han back is going to be like emptying the Dune Sea of sand. But I’m not in the brig!”

“Oh, like High Command would toss you in the brig even though you worried the hell out of everyone. What about Vader?”

Luke rolled down his sleeve so he didn’t have to look at Wedge or Biggs. “He didn’t want to kill me and the Force isn’t done with me yet. I will know more by the time I have to face him again.” Though he wasn’t ready to even consider what shape that knowledge would be right now.

“And Solo’s on his way to Jabba?” Wedge leaned against the wall.

Luke nodded, grateful to move onto the rest of the list. “Chewbacca’s off to find him before the delivery, but I have a feeling we will have to face down Jabba to win Han’s freedom.”

“Jabba put the highest bounty we have ever seen on Han Solo’s head,” Biggs explained to Mara. “And we’ve got the Empire’s most wanted in this fleet.”

“There’s no way the Rogues can help with that, Luke. The Rebellion isn’t declaring war on the Hutts, as much as they deserve it.” Wedge sneered.

“Not asking you or them to fight Jabba. Tatooine has to deal with him or it will never be free. I’ll come see all of you before we leave.”

Wedge picked up the tool Biggs had used and nodded at him. “And you can take this bush pilot with you. I don’t wanna deal with him worrying if you leave him behind.”

“I’ll bring you back some starshine this time, I promise.” Biggs laughed at the rude gesture Wedge made as he left. The cabin door slid shut again. “All finished with official meetings, so now it’s my turn.”

Luke winced and braced himself for the bellows, but Biggs knelt on the floor and pulled a small storage box from the stowage that Luke had never seen before. Biggs opened it up and spun it around so Luke could look into it. There were three smaller boxes of various sizes made from salvaged metal or the clay that nearly everyone on Tatooine used for dishes and storage. He felt power pulsing from this collection. A bound flimsi book lay on top of the boxes. He picked it up. The title ‘The Journal of Ben Kenobi’ had been embossed on the cover, and on the first page inside was a letter addressed to Luke.

Infant you has finally drifted off to sleep, giving me this time to address the future you reading my words. I hope I will be able to tell you much of what this journal contains in my voice, but I fear in the dark times ahead for the galaxy that I may not have the chance for your own safety. Forgive me for that, young Skywalker.

Luke closed the book. “This is all the stuff you found in Ben’s hut?”

Biggs nodded. “Most of it was in a bigger chest labeled ‘For Luke.’ That wouldn’t fit on the X-Wing, so I packed it down. I also put in a proper bedroom underground, so it has enough room for Tatooine operations on the rescue Han mission.”

Mara tugged off her boots, climbed up into her new bunk, and let her sock clad feet dangle. “You think Calrissian and the Wookiee will fail?”

Biggs shrugged as he ducked around her feet and sat on the edge of his own bunk. “Boba Fett doesn’t have the reputation he has from being sloppy. If he really wants to get Han to Jabba, we should be ready to deal with Jabba.”

Luke sat cross-legged on the floor in front of the storage box. “Just how bad did you want to avoid Huff that you went on an excavation spree to keep yourself busy?”

“Are you trying to imply to Miha that I’m anything but a dutiful son of the most abrasive moisture farmer west of Anchorhead?” Biggs tapped his chest. “Me? When I was sitting in that hut waiting to see if you’d crawl out of the Jundland Wastes with sanctioned leave, mind you.”

Luke snorted and glanced up at Mara. “My mistake. He’s a loyal citizen of the Empire, too. Pay no attention to the rank insignia on his chest.”

“And after I brought you goodies.” Biggs toed off his boots and laid back on his bunk, spilling out of it to look up at Mara. “In seriousness, my father and I have issues. Namely about how he treated my mother, his business practices, and how he hates Luke. I hid in the Jundland Wastes rather than hear weeks of ‘stop letting everyone lie about how Luke heroically blew up the Death Star.’”

Mara cocked her head to the side so her hair flowed that way. “Is it a lie?”

“I have been telling Huff the truth concerning Luke for years and he doesn’t believe a word of it. But it isn’t. Luke nailed that monstrosity. I was there to see him do it and Huff won’t accept that it wasn’t my proton torpedo.” Biggs pulled himself back into the bunk and propped himself up on his elbow. “So, are you going to open those?”

Luke started with the smaller of the clay boxes and realized it was inert as soon as he put his hands on it. He lifted the lid on a mix of Republic credit ingots and peggats. “Currency. Well, that would have been useful for paying Han in Mos Eisley. Wonder why he left it behind?”

“Force told him you’d need it later?” Biggs offered.

“It really doesn’t work that way.” Luke swallowed down the lump in his throat. He set the lid back on that box and picked up the metal one with a hinged lid. Inside was a collection of circuits, wires, small metal bits that looked familiar, and “A diatium power cell inside a power field conductor. It’s not shaped to go into a blaster, even though it’s roughly the same size.” Luke held it up and turned the cylindrical power cell carefully in his hands. One end of the cell extended past the conductor to connect to something else.

Mara leaned further out of her bunk. “I think there is an etching on the interior of the lid. I can see it catch the light’s reflection.”

Luke tilted the metal lid so he could see it. “See my journal 984:7:2.” He put the power cell back into the metal box and called out with the Force. The book lifted from the stowage box and flew into his hand.

Amusement rippled above him and he glanced up at appraising green eyes. “Useful,” Mara said, “but also lazy.”

“Practice. You wouldn’t believe how hard it was to do eight weeks ago.” Luke opened the journal and only glanced at the dates acting as headers, not letting the words on the page grab his attention. He found the entry and the detailed sketches explained what his examining the parts did not. “Fierfek, these are lightsaber parts. Maybe everything but a casing and kyber crystal.”

Biggs leaned out of his bunk. “How important is the kyber?”

“It’s the heart of a lightsaber,” Luke said distractedly, as he closed the metal box and reached for the last clay box. The Force created by Biggs, Mara, and he amplified and hummed louder when his hands wrapped around the box.

“There’s something in that one,” Mara said sharply.

“You sense it too.” The clay box was only ten centimeters by seventeen centimeters and about seven centimeters deep, larger than the currency box, but not by much. Luke held his breath as he lifted the lid. Nestled amid Tatooine gemstones and fulgurite, pieces of clear kyber crystals sang to him through the Force.

“So you got a building project nearly ready to go. Good thing. Can’t be a Jedi without a lightsaber.” Biggs laid back on his bunk.

That was accurate enough. Luke set the smaller boxes back inside the stowage box. He needed to meditate on just what kind of lightsaber it would become.