Title:  Republic Saga - Alliances

Author:  Jonathan Evans

Author email:  noggins@ic24.net

Summary: A year has passed since peace with the Mandalore began but the time has come for the attack on Coruscant but before anything can happen a team must infiltrate the planet - where Thrawn's new ally is waiting....

Disclaimer:  George Lucas owns everything and I'm not making any money off of this nor do I intend to (I'd like to but that's not the point).  You can distribute this freely provided that it's complete with this disclaimer.

				CHAPTER ONE

The time had flown by so fast but now, a year after the battle
with the Empire at Yarori, the Republic was close to finishing
the talks with the Mandalore. Soon they would be full members
with all the privileges members worlds have.

Mon Mothma's office was filled once more with military officers.
She addressed them just as she had before the Battle of Endor - 
this could mean the end of the galaxy as they knew it whether they
succeeded in their missions or not.
"Coruscant is, as it has always been, our primary target," she began.
"We have liberated dozens of planets since Ambassador Keylar
convinced his people to join us but now the time has come for
the big push." She turned to the Mon Calamari to her side. "Admiral
Ackbar..."

Ackbar stood forward and spoke. "We have sent a spy to infiltrate
the planet under the guise of an Imperial officer. There he discovered the locations of the primary planet defences."
"Surely they're located at every possible position possible on that
heap of metal. There's no way we can take out every single one,"
Wedge Antilles blurted out. Ackbar strode over to him and pointed
his baton at the veteran Rogue pilot. "Recent cutbacks after the loss
as Endor and Yarori have meant that they need to reserve power and
so only one generator, two at the most, needs to be taken down in
order to create a large enough gap in the shielding thus making a
serious attack possible."

The doors slid open and Leia arrived, the first Jedi on the scene.
She sat next to Lando and they both shared a worried glance. Ackbar
smirked at her. "So glad of you to turn up, Jedi Skywalker." He
had changed so much since the arrival of the Jedi, his power was
demeaned and now, after so long, he was in command again - something
he wasn't going to let the Jedi forget.
"I was at a meeting with the Jedi Council, Admiral. To discuss our
involvement in the battle."
"Of course. That is the most important part of all." He turned to the
rest of the group. "Meeting adjurned. You may leave now. Except you
General Calrissian."

Everyone departed except for Leia and Lando. Mon Mothma directed
them to come to her. "As you know, we have recently discovered
that the Empire is back under the control of an Emperor since the
death of Palpatine. The Interim Council voted the alien
Mitth'raw'nuruodo in as the leader."
Leia nodded. It was she who had reported of Thrawn's existence after
encountering him with Mara Jade on the Mandalorian shuttle a year
before. Mothma continued. "He has the Imperial alligned planets
under control and unless he is taken out we will not be able to
maintain control of the galaxy once we have Coruscant in our
possession."
"Surely you're not suggesting assassinating Thrawn?" Lando blurted
out. "How could we even get close enough to him?"
"That's exactly what I'm planning, General. And I plan to get close
enough to him by sending Jedi to do the job."
Leia was disgusted. "The Jedi are not assassins who work at the
whim of the Republic. We are the keepers of peace and justice not
mindless killers!"
"How do you expect there to be peace without the death of the new
Emperor?"
"I understand that, but you are using our abilities in a way I do
not agree with, that is against the Jedi Code."
"You were chosen for this mission because of your success at
Yarori. We know you are capable of coping in this kind of
situation. I don't want you to let us down."
"But I can't..."

Leia stopped as the doors swished open to allow Anakin and Keylar
to enter. The young Jedi shot a glance at her father who shrugged.
"The Council decided it would be for the best. We're going to
Coruscant!"
"They can't be serious!"
"They are."
Keylar moved towards Lando. "General Calrissian, I will be joining
you and your brother on the attack on the shields."
"Really?" Lando asked. His face was full of concern. "Does that mean
Leia and Anakin have to attack Thrawn alone?"
Mon Mothma nodded. "Anyone without Force abilities could threaten
the security assassination attempt."

Lando shook his head angrily and left the room. Leia watched him
go and quickly followed out into the corridor. "Lando, it'll be
alright. I'm not exactly keen on this either but we have to do
as we're ordered."
"Do we?" Calrissian asked. "What if the orders are ridiculous?"
"Then we prove that we can do this better than they think we can."
"I guess you have a point there, Leia," he replied with a smile.

*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*

The lower regions of Coruscant were homes to the most unwholesome
beings the galaxy ever had the misfortune to have within it.
Everything from almost extinct races, wiped out to the Empire and
biding their time until its fall.

Mara Jade walked passed the body of a dead Ithorian. She douted
it was caused by anything other than its own poverty. This was
pure hell. She had spent the last year wandering through the hole
and hovels befriending those who forced themselves on her but
ensuring she didn't get too close.

She entered a small building that on any other world would have
been considered a cantina. The bar man, a down on his luck Duros,
smiled as she entered. "Ah, my dear!" He exclaimed. "It is has
been too long!"
"That it has Grayt," she replied. "Any news recently?"
"I'm sure you noticed poor Saddon outside. They say he overdosed
on Gree Spice. No one seems to care about moving his body."
"I guess they're just too used to death," Mara sighed. "It's not
like I haven't seen enough of it in my time."

She ordered a drink and sat alone at a nearby table. She was unable
to take even a sip before another of the creatures she had latched
onto her took the place next to her. "Hello friend," the old,
even ancient human grinned. "Have you heard that the Republic is
planning to attack this planet?"
This piqued Mara's interest. She looked up. "Where did you find this
out?"
"My special trick. You'd never understand it."
"Try me."
The old man moved his cloak aside to reveal an old, dirty lightsaber.
"You're a Jedi?" Mara said almost too loudly. She lowered her
voice slightly. "How can that be?" She hadn't sensed any Force
abilities from him.
"I was trained many years ago," he replied. "I was once powerful."

A Givvin walked passed and bumped the old man's chair. He turned
angrily around. "How dare you do that to me?"
The alien looked confused. "I'm sorry. It was just an accident. I
didn't hurt you did I?"
The man took the lightsaber from his belt. He made a whirring noise
and swished the handle around his head. "I am a Jedi. You cannot hurt
me!"

Mad as a Tatooine moisture farmer with heatstroke, Mara thought. She
should have realised that earlier. She quickly left before she
could be associated with him. She walked around a corner and, just
in the distance, there was a black cape moving away from her. She
ran as fast as she could to the wearer. "My master!" she exclaimed.
The creature turned around to show that it was far from being the
old Emperor. "I'm so sorry," Mara stammered. "I thought you were
someone else!"

She continued along the side streets, her heart beating faster than
ever. She began to sweat uncontrolably. Voices in her head began to
scream as loud as they could, deafening her from within. "You will 
kill Leia Skywalker. You WILL kill Leia Skywalker." Mara fell to her 
knees in pain, clutching her head as hard as she could. "You will 
kill Leia Skywalker or you will incur my wrath!" She opened her eyes 
but could only see one face. Palpatine. He screamed at her. "You will 
die unless you take the Jedi woman instead!"

The former Emperor's Hand passed out on the dirt filled street with
only one thing on her mind as she collapsed. She had to obey the
command she was given...

*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*

Weapons and charges in metal crates were thrown into the cargo
hold of the Imperial Shuttle that had been taken after Leia and
Anakin escaped the secon Death Star. Anakin watched carefully
to ensure nothing went wrong. Ambassador Keylar was at the other
side of the room discussing tactics with Lando and Narril.

Leia walked into the cockpit and sat down at the controls. Her
head fell into her hands. "Why can't they see this is a mistake?"
she groaned quietly to herself.
"Perhaps they don't want to," was the reply. Leia turned around
to see Luke's shimmering image behind her. "It is amazing how
people can be blind to the truth even when it is in plain
sight."
Leia sighed. "I'm really worried about this mission, Luke. It
seems like Mon Mothma is intent on having control of Coruscant,
perhaps before it is time."
"It's a sign of control. Whoever has the capital has the galaxy."
"You make the Chancellor out to be a dictator."
"People can be blind to the truth even when it is in plain sight,"
Luke repeated. "As you go into battle I warn you to avoid any
confrontation with Thrawn or Mara Jade, especially the latter.
She is dangerous, my sister, the Dark Side is strong within her
but she is confused."
"I don't think I'll be able help encountering her."
"She wants you dead and will stop at nothing to make sure she is
not stopped. I love you, Leia. I don't want you to make the same
mistake that I did."

Leia nodded sadly as Luke disappeared. Anakin entered the cockpit,
not noticing the spirit of his son. "My daughter, we are ready to
leave. Prepare to release the docking clamps."
"O-Of course," the young Jedi stuttered, slowly coming back to her
senses. She began pressing buttons on the cosole and the engine
began to whirr loudly. Her father took his place next to her as
Lando and Narril sat in the seats behind them.
"So, we're off?" Narril asked.
"Yeah," Anakin replied. "But we should be wary. I sense a disturbance
in the Force."
"I don't feel anything," Leia said.
"It is faint as yet but the time will come when all will feel it..."

The shuttle took off from the docking pad on New Naboo and entered
the upper atmosphere before disappearing in a flash.

*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*

"The Republic will strike soon, my master," the old Sith Lord said
in a quiet hiss. "We must prepare for any eventualities."
Thrawn crossed his hands. "You have a point, Lord Maul. Increase
the amount of security probes orbiting the planet."
Maul looked annoyed at this suggestion. He closed his hands into
fists to control himself. "We will require more than that. The only
way to defeat the Jedi will be using the Dark Side of the Force."

The Emperor shook his head. "Not yet. The time is not right."
"You don't understand the power it can give you get. You have not
made use of the gift that has been bestowed upon you."
"Oh, but I intend to. I intend to. You may leave."

The Sith Lord stormed out of the throneroom. This was the first time
he had been able to use his powers since his defeat on Naboo and
now this self-proclaimed ruler was telling him to remain inactive.
It had been too long. Vader had prevented him from taking his old
position back. The two Sith commandment had gone too far but now
he was back.

A solider came running up behind him. With expert precision, Maul
turned around and grabbed him by the throat, forcing him up
against a wall. "What is it?"
"Em-Emperor Th-Thrawn... wants you.. *gak*... to go on a...
m-mission..."
Maul let go and the solider fell to the floor, grabbing his throat
and trying to get the air back into his lungs. "You may continue,"
the Sith ordered.
"His majesty wants you to retrieve Mara Jade. His spies have located
her and..."
"Tell him it will be done," Maul growled and continued down the corridor.

*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*

Just outside the Coruscant system the Republic shuttle exited hyperspace.
Anakin took over the controls from the autopilot and turned to his
daughter who sat next to him, looking more and more worried as they
got closer to the planet. "Be calm, Leia. The Force will guide us."

The communcations activated and the voice of an Imperial officer came
on. "Coruscant Outpost 327 to unidentified shuttle, what is your
cargo?"
"We are carrying local governers for a meeting with the Emperor
concerning their territories."
"I don't seem to remember hearing about that."
"You do remember," Anakin said, with a slight movement of the wrist.
There was a short pause before the Imperial spoke again. "Actually,
yes I do. You can go ahead. Have a nice day."

The shuttle continued on its way. Anakin grinned at Leia. "One day
you too will be able to do that. It's helped me out of a lot
of scrapes in my time." Lando suddenly noticed something on one of
the radars. "Uh, we have a problem! Look!" Leia scanned to to see
twenty small vehicles coming towards them. "Imperial probe ships!
They're headed this way. Something tells me that trick of yours
won't work on them..."

				CHAPTER TWO

The probes moved closer towards the stolen shuttle. Narril clenched
his fists, worrying that they would be captured only minutes into
their mission. He noticed Leia and Anakin speaking at the front and
turned to his brother. "What are they doing?" he asked.
"I'm not all that sure," Lando replied. "But I know it'll get us out
of this. I trust them."

Anakin and Leia closed their eyes as Keylar brought the shuttle down
towards a landing bay. The probes seemed to follow but at a distance
that if the group weren't looking for them they would have been missed.
"Concentrate, my daughter," Anakin said calmly.
"Of course," Leia responded.
"Just imagine them going in another direction. Push them with the
Force..."

Suddenly, the probes shot off away from the shuttle. Everyone sighed.
"We could have just blown them away," Keylar informed them.
"But that would have alerted the Empire to our presence and that is
not something we want." He turned to his daughter. "Our contacts will
be meeting us on docking platform twenty one in sector 327. It shouldn't
be too difficult for now."
"Yes, father."

The Jedi princess controlled the shuttle around several massive buildings
until she finally reached their destination. Just below were a group
of people in dark coloured cloaks. She brought their vehicle down near
them and opened the side doors. Anakin and Keylar left followed by Lando
and Narril as Leia activated docking clamps and followed the rest of
the team.

"Welcome friends," the leader, a white haired Thispian who's flowing
locks covered his entire body. Anakin recognised him as the same
race as that of former Jedi Council member Oppo Rancisis. "Come inside
before we are seen and we can discuss our plans further. I'm sure
Chancellor Mothma gave you the basics of what we are going to do."
"The basics?" Lando asked. "You mean it gets more complicated?"

*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*

A sweet aroma wafted into Mara Jade's nostrils and she began to come
to. She opened her eyes to see a kindly alien female looking down on
her with a smoking frish stick letting off the smell that brought
her to her senses.

"Hello little one," she smiled at the confused human. "You have been
asleep for a long time."
"How long?" Mara asked quickly, sitting upright and checking out her
surroundings. A tiny hovel, grime on the floor, a cooking stove in
one corner and only one bed - the one she was taking up right now.
"You're in my little house. Not much, I think but it's adequete.
It's been a nearly a day since I found you."
"You-you found me?"
"Collapsed outside. I decide to help you. Many people looking. Think
I not help. That I witch."

The woman shuffled over to her stove and brought back a bowl of steaming
stew. Mara ate it readily, realising how tasty it was. Being on the run
from the Empire meant she didn't get these kind of luxuries most of
the time. "I can't thank you enough," the Imperial assassin said with
a smile. "I doubt I'd have survived if I'd been left out there."
"I agree muchly. People come here and die. Only thing others care
about is if they're property worth much when sold."

Mara checked her belt. It was missing. "My... things have been taken!
I guess you didn't find me in time."
The alien shook her head. Her wrinkled features reminded Mara of...
someone. She just couldn't think clearly. The woman took the belt from
a cupboard. "I took it off. You'd be uncomfortable sleeping with it
on." She handed it over and Mara quickly re-attached it. There was
a silence that was only broken when the ancient creature spoke again.
"You're a Jedi?"
Jade was taken by surprise. "What?"
"I heard they were back but I feared that I would never see another
Jedi knight in my life."
"How did you...?"
"You're lightsaber gave you away. I apologise. But... you are a Jedi,
are you not?"

The former killer had been trained in the Sith arts, not the Jedi but
she felt she didn't want to hurt the feelings of the person who
helped her when she was down. "Yes. I am a Jedi. I'm on a mission
to destroy the Emperor."
"The Force should never be used for attack. That I know."
"How?"

The woman ruffled the many layers of robes and revealed her own
lasor-sword at her side. "I Jedi too. Hiding in darkness made me
difficult to find. I lose my Force powers quickly. It happens
when you block them not to be found."
This hit Mara hard. She was trained by Palpatine. She must continue
his work of destroying the Jedi. She unhooked her lightsaber and
her finger hovered above the activator switch. "You hid from Palpatine
all these years?"

"Yes, yes. He not know of Zsan Treil. I hid well, don't you think?"
"I have to agree," Mara said with a smile. "But isn't it possible
that a Sith could break in here and destroy you?"
"I would welcome death in battle. Sith are evil. I sense the good
in you, you will be one of those who will bring that evil
dynasty to its knees. I knew as soon as I saw you."

Mara re-hooked her saber. "Really?"
"The light fills you. You have done things in your time that you
regret but there is hope for all who do not fully embrace the Dark
as Vader did."

There was a crashing sound and the door. The two Force users turned
around to see the partly cybernetic and fully evil form of Darth
Maul standing before them. A twisted smile covered his face.
"Hello Mara Jade. Our master has need of you. You do not need this
feeble Jedi anymore." He ignited one side of his lightsaber and
charged forward.

*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*

The Republic team sat around the table with the Coruscant rebels.
Their leader Droll Friniss stood up to address them all. "The two
Skywalkers, along with Ambassador Keylar will infiltrate Thrawn's
temple to assassinate the Emperor himself..."
"Wait!" Keylar interrupted. "I thought I wasn't to be part of that
team. Mon Mothma gave the orders stating..."
"The plan has changed," Friniss continued. "Mothma seems to doubt
you abilities while I do not. Now, while you are doing this I and
my team, along with General and Ensign Calrissian will locate the
nearest shield generator to take it down before the attack begins."

The rebels all seemed to agree. Leia looked at her father with
a worried expression beginning to cover her face. Facing Thrawn
was now inevitable but Luke's warning was foremost on her mind.
She couldn't fight him and she knew it. He was too powerful
even for a Jedi yet now this was what she had to do.
"What's wrong, Leia?" Anakin asked.
She shook her head quickly. "Nothing. Everything's fine."
"Are you sure? You don't seem..."
"I'm fine."

*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*

Mara ignited her saber and dived at Maul. He pushed her away with
the Force and she crashed into a wall. The Sith Lord turned his attention
to the old Jedi. "This is a surprise. I haven't killed a Jedi in
over thirty years. It's time to change that."
"Over my dead body!" Mara got to her feet and projected Maul into
the opposite wall to the one she had impacted on. He somersaulted
back up and ignited the other side of his saber. With expert skills
Mara blocked attacks from both sides and kicked Maul away. He
was back on her again though, grabbing her by the throat and
holding her up high. "I would kill you now if the Emperor didn't
need you."
"You know as well as I do that that stunted slime isn't the true
Emperor! Palpatine was the only..."

Mara fell to the floor with a bump as Maul noticed Zsan making a
run at him. Her lightsaber hit his but the blade deactivated on
touch because of age and the amount of grime that had found its
way into the focusing chamber. Maul laughed as he ran his blood
red lightsaber into her and pulling it up through her head, splitting
it in two. He looked around at the Emperor's Hand who watched in
fear as the woman who had given her sactuary was now lying dead
on the floor. She deactivated her lightsaber and ran for the door.

The young woman jumped up onto the roofs and ran across them
with the red and black skinned Sith in close pursuit. She turned
around and with a flick of the wrist sent him off the top of the
hovels. Within a second he had leapt up again in front of her.
"You just don't give up do you?" Mara quipped.
"Neither do you. I admire you for that."
"Well admire THIS!" Mara swung her lightsaber and cut through one
of the wires that attached Maul's leg to his torso. He collapsed
under his own weight as Mara jumped back down to the ground and
continued to move and and out of various alleyways until something
hit her. A feeling. Leia Skywalker was here, on Coruscant. Her
assassin training came into action as she jumped up to an air
taxi hovering ten metres above her. She pulled the pilot out
and threw him down to the ground.

She took over the controls and began the long journey upwards
to Imperial Center itself. As she moved up she felt a weight
pulling at the back of the vehicle. She turned around to see
Maul pulling himself up with a frown on his face. She pushed
the taxi to its full speed, knocking it into the skyscrapers
as climbed upwards. She glanced over her shoulder and saw that
Maul was gone. She sat back with a sigh until a hand grabbed
at her from the side. She looked down to see the Sith with a
deranged look on his face.

"When Thrawn wants to see you he doesn't send someone who's
easy to kill, does he?"
"Nope!" Maul jumped up next to Mara with a smile. "You know
where to take us. And don't think of doing anything like that
again or someone else close to you dies."
"I wasn't close to that woman. She just helped me out."
"You felt something for her. You saw your grandmother in her."
"My WHAT?"
"You may not realise it, Emperor's Hand, but deep in your
subconscious there are memories you never knew you had. They
can be used against you if you do not do as commanded."

Mara switched the thrusters on and the taxi moved further
upwards. Maul reclined as his companion remained uneasy.

*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*

Leia walked through the corridor of the Rebel base on Coruscant,
her mind not on the plan that was about to go ahead. She heard
something behind her. A faint voice. She turned around but
say nothing. She sook her head and continued.
"Leia...." A voice! "Leia." Luke's voice!
"Luke?" Leia asked quietly in case she drew attention to herself.
She moved into a corner where no one was. "Is it you Luke?

"It is," was the reply. "The Dark Side is strong here, my ability
to focus is weak. I cannot project myself clearly. It won't
be long until I can no longer appear to you on this planet."
"Why? How?"
"The ultimate Dark has returned. Palpatine is back."
"He can't be," Leia said. "I saw Master Gallia kill him with
my own eyes!"
"He is back, my sister. And he wants you. Be wary, Leia. I can
no longer protect you..."

Luke's voice faded slowly away until Leia could no longer sense
his presence. She quickly made her way towards the meeting place
where Anakin would be waiting.

*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*

Mara fell to the floor at Thrawn's feet. She looked up at the
smile on his face. "I knew you would be unable to leave me
for long, my dear."
"Oh, I was making a darn good job of it until your you're pal
here came along."
"And I thought it was because you couldn't resist me."
"You can keep your delusions to yourself, Thrawn!"

The Emperor moved forward and pulled Mara forcibly closer to
him until their noses almost touched. "You betrayed me, Mara
Jade. You are supposed to be the Emperor's Hand! You are supposed
to obey me!"
"You are not Palpatine!"
"I am the Emperor!"

Mara looked into his blood-red eyes and saw something she recognised
but hoped she would never have to see again. Fear filled her body
and she fell to her knees. "What is thy bidding, my master?" she
asked solemnly.

Thrawn smiled. "The Jedi are on Coruscant. You know that already.
You were the first to find out."
"I probed her mind, master," Maul informed Thrawn.
"I know, I know." Maul seemed hit back by Thrawn's dismissal of
his actions but said nothing. The emperor continued. "You will
find and destroy Anakin Skywalker. His powers have not fully
returned from the years of blocking them to the Empire. He must
be killed before they do. He is the Chosen One and could doom us
all when he regains his connection to the Force."
"What of his daughter?" Mara asked. "I must kill her. It is
my sworn duty to..."
"Her father is Leia Skywalker's weak point. With his death she
will be brought closer to the Dark Side of the Force."

Mara stood up. "But I must kill her. If the elder Skywalker is
the Chosen One surely he would be of more use to the Dark Side."
"No! Leia Skywalker will be one of us. She will pay for what
she did to me!"

Maul looked at his master. To him? He'd never met her before
but Jade seemed to understand. Was there something he couldn't
see? That he wasn't meant to see. The Sith Lord continued to
observe the exchange of words.

"I will die if I don't destroy her!" Mara complained.
"Do you not think turning her would be a death? The death of her
Jedi heritage?"
"I suppose..."
"You must obey."

Mara Jade bowed and walked out of the room. Maul stepped up to
Thrawn. "Do you trust her?"
"She knows who I am. With that knowledge I can trust her more
than I could ever trust you. Leave me, now!"

Maul growled under his breath and walked out of the throneroom.
Thrawn rested his arms on his lap. "The time is coming.
The battle will begin..."

				CHAPTER THREE

Leia entered the room where Keylar and Anakin were checking their
weapons. Skywalker ensured that his lightsaber was ready while
the ambassador powered up his blaster rifle. Anakin saw his daughter
enter and smiled.
"Ah, my daughter. I see you are ready."
"I guess so," Leia replied. "Where exactly are we going to get in
the Temple?"
Keylar showed the princess Jedi a map of the Emperor's capital on
a datapad. She observed it carefully as he pointed out and entrance
near the bottom. "This supplies entrance has been derelict for nearly
fifty standard years since the Empire began. It has no guards due
to the fact its no longer needed."
"I wouldn't be surprised if the Empire didn't know it even existed,"
Anakin added. "We should be able to slip in here unseen and make
our attack slightly easier."

Leia nodded but a worried expression remained on her face. She pulled
her lightsaber from her belt and looked at it carefully. "Then there's
nothing we can do except prepare for battle," she said quietly.
"If things go as I plan there should be no need for a battle," Anakin
informed her. "Come on, we have a shuttle craft waiting for us."

The man who was thought to be the Chosen One, Anakin Skywalker, moved
away towards two large docking bay doors. He glanced back at his daughter.
"You are anxious, Leia," he said. "Tell me, what's wrong?"
"It's nothing... it's just... I have a really bad feeling about this.
There is somethinng behind this. A darkness like we've never encountered
before."
"Everything will be fine," he reassured her. "You'll see. It'll all be
over my tomorrow."
"You're reckless, father, you realise that?"
"No. I'm just better at hiding my fears."

Keylar had opened the doors and was climbing into the controls of the
shuttle. Anakin put his arm around Leia. "Come on, or Lando will have
done his part of this before we've even left!"
Leia gave a weak smile as she jumped in. Luke's spirit had left her.
He could no longer give her advice. Her father didn't realise how
close her relationship with her dead brother had become and how
his warnings has struck a chord somewhere deep inside her.

*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*

"Hey! Careful with that!" Lando called at one of the rebels as they
threw charges into the back of their strike vessel. He placed the one he
was carrying into storage and grabbed a blaster rifle which he threw
over his shoulder. "We've got enough fire power to take out a space
slug. This shoud be okay for now. We don't want to end up getting
blown to bits if we're caught. One stray shot and..."
"We get the point, Calrissian," a human dressed in ragged clothing
and covered from head to toe in grime from his work on the engines
of their transport.
"I'm just tryin' to save your ass here," Lando replied. "If we get
caught I don't wanna get put away by the Empire before we can get
this done."

Narril was already in the pilot's seat, pressing several switches
to turn on the engines. They began as a quiet hum but soon built
up to a deafening roar. "I think we're ready," he called out to
his brother. "You better get in."
"Got it!" Lando slipped a small blaster into a holster on the side
of his black leather boot and checked the one at his side. "Ya'll
ready here?" he asked the rebels. They all gave a quiet nod. Lando
had a feeling they didn't like him that much. What else did he expect?
Here he was, a Republic general coming into their fold and telling
them what to do. This was a tight-knit community of soldier, used
to doing whatever the hell they wanted to achieve their aim but
in this case their methods weren't enough.

Lando was about to take one of the two front seats in the cockpit
when he felt a hand come down on his shoulder. "I'll be sittin'
here, if you don't mind." Calrissian turned to see the leader of
the rebel unit. His mouth was surrounded not by what most would
call a beard but it was coming. He wore a bandana around his head
and had a large, customised blaster at his side. Lando, not really
wanting to cause trouble offered him the seat. "Be my guest. I'll
stay up back to keep check on the weapons."
"Good idea."

He jumped in as Lando moved around to the back. He stepped in just
as the doors behind him closed. The rebels looked carefully at
him. He gave them a smile and sat back, his arm resting on a crate
of explosives.

*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*

Mon Mothma's office was filled with a group eager for a debate as
it usually was these days. This time her policies concerning the
military control over the galaxy had brought three member of the
Jedi Council before her. She sat back in her large, luxurious seat
and folding her arms. "My reasons, Councilmember Yarled," she said
replying to a statement that was just made, "are that the Jedi's
numbers are still far to low to make an effective peacekeeping
force. Until you have trained enough new recruits it is logical
that we maintain military control over strategically important
planets."

The Rodian Jedi Master was not happy. "The Force is far more
powerful than you would imagine, chancellor," he continued. "It
is something that makes an entire army seem small in comparison."
"But would that be enough to maintain control? We don't want
the Empire to retake planets with entire fleets when only two
Jedi are guarding it. Surely your Force will not protect you
from over twenty star destroyers and a legion of stormtroopers."
"We would try," Yarled said.
"Trying isn't enough," spoke Mothma in a voice that was showing
the anger and stress building up inside her. "We need control!"

The Naboo human, Hela Zapalo stood forward. She, like Yarled,
had not spent the time of the Empire frozen in carbonite and had
witnessed all of the changes in the galaxy as they happened. She
saw her own planet wiped out by the cloned troops on the orders of
the then Chancellor Palpatine. "Control comes in many forms,"
she began. "What you are suggesting is exactly what Palpatine
used. The methods you yourself once opposed. I understand that
now you are in control it is difficult to think of other ways
to maintain order, but you should look back further than the
old emperor's regime."

"I agree that there are other methods, but right now the Jedi are
not one of them," Mothma sighed, the strain on her showing. Admiral
Ackbar who had, until now, remained silent stood forward. His
distrust of the Jedi had grown over the previous year, even more
than he would have liked to admit. His newfound strength granted
to him by Mon Mothma's new methods had made him able to speak
his feelings out more. "The chancellor is tired of your continual
pleas. If you want to be listened to you must change your plans.
The Jedi could have a place in the galaxy but right now what you're
suggesting is impossible."

"Only impossible to your thick skull," Hela whispered under her
breath. Thankfully no one but Adi Gallia had heard her. 'Be
careful what you say friend Hela,' she said telepathically.
'Of course master Gallia,' she replied. 'I let my emotions
get the better of me. I apologise.'

Adi Gallia stood up from the seat she was in. "I believe you
have made a valid point, admiral. We will leave now and discuss
the situation with the rest of the Council. Thank you for your
time."

Ackbar nodded as the three Jedi left the office. He turned to
the chancellor. "I don't like them, Mon," he said softly. "They
need to be brought down from the high level they think they inhabit."
"You should try to calm yourself. We will work things out and
the Jedi will be involved just as they were prior to the Empire
but right now they must understand that it isn't possible."
"It can never be like it was before," the Calamari protested but
his words fell on deaf ears.

*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*

Evajo Siinit met his teacher outside the office. "How did it go
master Gallia?" he asked. "Were you able to convince them?"
"Sadly no, my apprentice," Adi replied sadly. "Chancellor Mothma
is willing to accept our plan but not until the number of Jedi
is much higher. Admiral Ackbar, however, is against anything we
have to offer."
"He could easily be convinced," Siinit said. "He is suseptible
to Force persausion."
"That is not our way and you know it, Evajo. We must bide our
time until the situation arises. It may, however, take longer
than we once expected."

Yarled shook his head in dismay. "But will we be able to ensure
that the Admiral doesn't take us too close to being another
Empire before that time comes. By that point it may be too late
for the Jedi to maintain peace and justice."

*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*

The lower entrance to the Imperial Temple was locked shut. Anakin
closed his eyes and touched the metal that blocked his way. He
could feel everything he wanted to know from it - right down to
the people to constructed it. He was happy to know his lightsaber
would cut through it with little or no effort. He pulled it from
his side and ignited the blade. Within seconds there was a hole
where the door once was. He stepped carefully in and was followed
by Keylar then Leia who continued to look warily around.

The hallway was darkened, the power having been off for a long
time, almost half a century. "Are you sure there aren't any
security measures in here?"
"I told you before - the Empire probably doesn't even know it
exists any more."
"Somhow I doubt that, since this does happen to be Thrawn's own
personal temple. There's got to be something..."

Leia heard a sound behind her and with a split-second reaction
she activated her lightsaber and hacked whatever it was into
two clean pieces. Keylar picked up half of it with his gloved
hand. "Scurrier," he informed the two Jedi. "The place is probably
infested with them."
"Yippee," Anakin whispered sarcastically under his breath. He
had never like those vermin ever since he woke up as a child with
one on his face. The Mos Espa slave quarters were never guaranteed
rodent safe as he found out that fateful day. Ever since then he
had a fear of them. He stood forward and heard a squelching sound.
"I think you just stood on one, father," Leia smiled.
A shudder moved through Anakin's body as he jumped back a mile.
Once he had regained his balance and stopped shaking he tried
to take command again.
"The great bounty hunter Boba Fett is afraid of scurriers," Keylar
almost laughed. "I bet that'd ruin your reputation in the galaxy if
it ever came out."
"Never mind Boba Fett," Leia added. "I thought he was supposed to
be the Chosen One!"

Anakin started moving ahead without his two companions, his lightsaber
activated to act as a torch to guide him safely through the dark
passageway. His daughter and the Mandalore ambassador caught up
with him. "Sorry, Skywalker," Keylar said. "We're only joking."
Anakin said nothing. His face remained deadly serious. He stopped
walking and stood in silence. "I said I was sorry. Speak to me
will you?"
"There's something else in here," the Jedi whispered. "Something
slightly bigger than a rodent."
"I'm not sure. I've seen some pretty big rodents in my time."
"No. It's..."

"Halt!"
Five skeletal-like beings began to come out of the shadows, blaster
rifles in hand, trained carefully on the intruders. "Identify yourself."
Anakin instantly recognised them - Trade Federation Battle Droids.
But the question remained as to what they were doing here on Coruscant
so long after they were banned by Palpatine.
"I said identify yourself!"
Anakin hacked its head off with his lightsaber. It fell back into
the other droids behind it as tumbled to the floor in a lifeless
state. Leia activated her saber and with one swipe beheaded another
two while Anakin thrust his weapon through the chests of two who
stood in a row. All five were deactivated in seconds. Leia turned
to her father. "What exactly are those things?"
"Battle Droids. They were used by the Trade Federation when I was
still a child. They attacked your mother's home planet but with
the Force managed to destroy their control ship rendering them
useless. After that droids of this kind were outlawed by the Republic."
"Then what, may I ask, are they doing here?" Keylar asked. "Surely
they can't be guarding the temple."
"Maybe they are," Anakin pondered. "But our emperor doesn't realise."

Blasts started to streak towards them. The trio of warriors dived
into a corner where the lasers wouldn't hit them. "There's more?"
"This isn't going to be as easy as I thought."
"You don't say?"

*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*

Narril piloted the transport as close to the shield generator as
he could without being noticed. "We're here. Looks like we've got
quite a few guards here though. It may be more difficult than
we first thought."
"What are you? A coward? This will be a victory long remembered!"
"...for the Empire if we're not careful," the clone added. "We
can't just rush in. We need a distraction of some kind."
"What do you suggest?"
"An old Sabacc trick - we bluff."
"What do you mean," the ragged human asked.
"Quite simply we use some of the charges on a weakly guarded building.
The troops will be drawn there and then we attack!"

"Good idea!" Lando said as he stepped into the cockpit. The space
was cramped but he wanted to be here to make sure the rebel leader
wouldn't do something as stupid as both he and his brother felt he
would.
"I thought I told you to stay up back."
"I overheard the conversation. I say we go with Narril's plan." He
pointed at a building nearby. "That's the Imperial museum. It's been
shut down for the last year but it may bring troops over if there's
a big enough bang!"
"Well, as long as we don't waste the explosives."

Narril moved the vehicle away from the large shield generator that
towered above many of the skyscrapers covering the surface of
Coruscant. The pyramid shape at the top was used, along with others
of its kind, to generate to planet-wide deflector grid that protected
the atmosphere of the world from attacks. They had been set up centuries
before when the Republic was under attack from various enemy forces
but had been upgraded more recently by the Empire before cutbacks
meant that the power had to be reduced leaving it open to a localised
assault.

The transport came down on a landing platform halfway up the museum's
outer walls. Lando and two rebels came out, each with a charge in
hand. "We plant them several metres apart. That should give a wide enough
spread to draw their attention."
"You got it, general!"
The explosives attached automatically to the surface. "Set them to blow
in thirty seconds."
"Are you sure that'll be enough time?"
"I'll make sure it is!"

The timers were set with just a few movements of the fingers on the
buttons. "Start the engines!" a Aqualish rebel called out as he
jumped into the back with Lando. The last of their group, a young
human was too late. The transport had moved away from the platform.
"Jump!" Lando shouted at him.
"I..."
"Jump damn it!"

The warrior, still a boy and in no way ready for a battle such as this,
leapt into the air and just missed Calrissian's outstretched arm. "Move
us down!" he yelled at his brother.
"We haven't got enough time," the man sitting next to him replied.
"Yes we do," Narril hissed as he pushed the engines to their limit
and the transport came down at great speed until they caught up with
the falling boy. Lando grabbed his hand as hard as he could and began
to pull him up. "Go!"

The transport zipped away from the museum as the charges exploded.
Calrissian yanked the rebel he had just rescued up into the back
where he was. "Thank you!"
"It's okay, just don't make a habit of that."
"I won't. I promise."

Lando walked back to the cockpit to see Narril smiling back at him.
"Are those guards moving?"
"Yup, responding to the attack on their oh-so-honorable heritage."
"Then our plan worked. Better than a suicide move, don't you think."
The rebel who that comment was made at decided to keep his mouth
shut and sit back. Narril moved closer towards the power source
of the shield generator.
"Well I guess it's do or die from this point on..."

				CHAPTER FOUR

"They don't look very extinct," Leia said as a laser blast flew
passed her ear. "In fact they seem pretty much alive from where
I'm standing."
"Obviously they weren't outlawed everywhere and this is kinda out
of reach from the public." Anakin ignited his lightsaber. "Now,
are we going to deal with this or just stay here arguing?"
"Dealing with it sounds like a plan!" his daughter replied and
took her weapon from her belt, the glowing red blade extending for
almost a metre out of the hilt. She moved from her hiding place
and deflected a blast back at the droid that fired it. She ran
forward, hacking her enemies down as she went. Anakin followed
suite and was soon beheading them with his own weapon.

Keylar grabbed his Mandalore blaster and fired yellow energy at
the battle droids. One's head flew from its neck with the force
of the blast. It fell to the floor and the other tripped over
it in their relentless pursuit of the group. "Are these things
really as stupid as they seem?" Keylar asked.
"Look like it," Leia replied as she swiped a droid in two pieces,
one a mirror image of the other. "They make stormtroopers seem
positively sensible!"

Anakin threw his lightsaber forwards, cutting a pathway which
was quickly filled with more droids which were taken out as
he brought his weapon back to his hand with the Force. "They
may be mindless drones but in these kind of numbers they're deadly!"
"Don't I know it! It's as if this place is infested with them!"

"We have to find out where they're controlled from," Anakin said
as he hacked forward, brushing the droids aside with the Force until
he got through thier blockade. "It's the only way we can stop
them!"
Leia somersaulted over the battle droids, taking the heads off
several as she went. By the time she landed, Keylar had blasted
his way through them. "I have a feeling there's more. We have
to do this quickly."
"Then where do we go?"
"Follow me."

A set of blast doors to their left seemed to be creating a massive
power surge. The droids that were once on the floor and unable to
get up were now standing and heading towards them with renewed
vigour. "I guess this is what they're trying to protect."
Anakin quickly hot wired the controls and the doors opened. They
jumped inside and closed them before the droids could catch up.
"They should be blast sealed. It'll take more than a group of
dumb droids with rifles to get through here."
"I hope so or this mission is finished."

Leia looked at the Mandalore ambassador who was staring at a
body leaning over a console. It must have been there for decades,
the skin almost completely decomposed and a hole in its back
now a home for a family of turb-maggots. "I think we may have found
the control room!"

*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*

Sel'ine Dr'alik walked through the halls of the Republic base on
New Naboo, her head tails moving with each step she made. It
had been a long, hard time for her since her teacher, Mace Windu
became Darth Vader. If it hadn't been for Adi Gallia she would
be dead now, killed at the Sith Lord's hands. Being frozen in
carbonite allowed her to miss the Imperial regime and for that
she could only be thankful.

She looked ahead and saw Evajo Siinit, another Jedi apprentice,
his teacher being Master Gallia, the woman who had saved Sel'ine.
He too had grown weary of the wars and looked much older than
he really was. At this precise moment in time the expression
on his face was not a good one.
"What's wrong?" Sel'ine asked.
The young Jedi looked up to face his Twi'Lek friend in the eye.
He was trying his best to hold back his anger. "It's Mon Mothma!"
he replied. "She is still refusing to allow the Jedi to enforce
order in the galaxy. She just doesn't understand hwo important
we are."
"I'm sure Master Gallia is doing her best to..."
"That's the problem - she isn't doing enough. We could easily
persaude a few senators to side with the Jedi..."
"But that is using the Force for reasons that could lead to
the Dark Side."
"No it wouldn't. We'd be doing it for the right reasons."

Evajo seemed insistent. Were these the same thoughts that had
gone through Mace Windu's head before he became a Sith? The
thought of this happening to her friend send a shiver down
Sel'ine's spine. She had to convince him to change his mind
"And at what point do the right reasons become corrupted by
what you desire?"
"I... You're right. I shouldn't have been so stupid."
"I'm sure that isn't what you were doing. You know what is
right but sometimes the Force isn't the only way to make
sure that everything works out."

They walked down the corridor together. "No doubt Chancellor
Mothma is too occupied with what's happening on Coruscant to
think about what place the Jedi have. If it doesn't go well
there'll be no Republic for us to protect anyway."
Evajo nodded. "True. I wonder how Leia is coping right now."

Sel'ine smiled. "Oh, do you?" she asked playfully. Siinit looked
at her. "What?" he asked. "What are are smiling about now?"
"You really like Leia don't you?"
"I care for her as a fellow Jedi..."
"Yeah. Right."
"I'm serious!"
"I sensed something when you first saw her on the Death Star
two years ago."
"You couldn't have. I was too occupied with beating Palpatine."
"You had time to admire her though." Sel'ine grinned even more
watching Evajo squirm. "And you're old enough to be her father!"
"What?" the young Jedi snapped back. "Do I look forty?"
"Carbonite can take years off you, and you know it!"

She continued as her friend stood looking dumbfound. "I resent
that!" he called to her. "Even if I wasn't frozen I'd still be
young at heart."
"Hmmm."
"Seriously!"

*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*

The rebel transport came down near the bottom of the shield generator
that portruded from the top of a building small by Coruscant
standards but still towering miles above the surface. Three
stormtroopers walked up to it and tapped on one of the doors. It
slid open to reveal Narril Calrissian.
"Hi, what can I do for you?" he asked with a charming smile on his
face. One stormtrooper popped his head inside to look at the back
and was pulled inside by a set of arms. The other two didn't seem
to notice and remained occupied with questioning Narril.
"Do you realise this is Imperial property and no civilians are allowed
here?" the first asked.
"If would kindly leave and find a public docking platform we would
be most pleased," added the second.

Narril put his arms behind his head and leant back with no
intention of moving. "Oh, but I'm soooo tired. I couldn't possibly
drive any further.  My bones are just aching."
"Well, I'm sorry sir, but..."

Before the trooper could finish his sentence, the former slave had
pulled out a blaster and blew a hole through his chest. The
other scrambled for his own rifle but was too late and received
another shot through his head. "Well, that was easier than I
thought," he said to the rebel leader sitting next to him.

Lando and ten other rebels climbed out of the back with explosives
ready to be used. "Okay,!" Lando ordered. "Get them planeted all
around. I don't want this thing to be standing when we're
finished here!"

The leader seemed annoyed by Calrissian taking command of the situation
but let him do it nonetheless. The first three charges were planted.
"How long should we set them for?" someone asked.
"Make it a minute. That should be enough." Lando attached one to
the side. It clung on magnetically. He began to press the timer set
buttons when he heard a voice behind him.
"Hey! Stop there! Turn around - slowly!"

Lando looked back and saw something like thirty stormtroopers coming
from a doorway that led from the inside of the shield generator.
He'd underestimated their numbers when they planet the decoy explosives
at the museum. He didn't think they'd be as well armed as this. He
put his hands behind his head and turned around fully. The rebels
were in the same situation and were having their weapons conviscated.
An Imperial officer came from the doorway followed by the black-clad
figure of Darth Maul.
"You did well, Captain Dasson," the Sith said to the human who
was much shorter than him.
"Thank you Lord Maul. The Emperor will be pleased with this victory."
"It was much easier than I had originally expected," Maul nodded.
"But anything could happen before we have executed them all."

"Yeah," Narril shouted as he yanked his blaster back off a stormtrooper
and blasted several of the Imperial soldiers. "Something like this!"
Another ten rebels poared out of the back of the transport and began
firing like madmen at their enemies. Dasson looked at Maul with fear
in his eyes. "This was not expected," he stuttered.
"Yes it was. You underestimate the Republic. You should never to do
that." He ignited both sides of his lightsaber and headed towards
Lando who had his back turned, firing away at the white armoured
warriors. He suddenly sensed something coming up behing him with the
Force powers that Adi Gallia had always told him that he had. He
span around and took a shot at Maul's stomach.

The Sith Lord was knocked back by this surprise attack. The laser
ripped through him, hitting an important motor circuit that
controlled his robotic torso. His left leg stopped functioning
and he stumbled forward. Lando grabbed his robes and threw him over
the top of the barrier around the platform and dropped him down
to the depths of Coruscant. He picked his blaster up again
and turned to see the rebels outnumbered and outgunned. They could
never win here. They had to escape. "Retreat! Retreat!" he shouted
at them.

A rebel soldier got hit in the chest and flew over the fencing. Lando
ran to grab him but was too late. It was the boy he had saved only
ten minutes earlier. He had saved him once only to see him die
again. He had died before the fall, the blast penetrating his chest
and creating a hole that left his heart a scorched wreck. Things
were going to get worse if they didn't evacuate. "Retreat!" he called
out again but no one seemed to listen. Lando shot a stormtrooper
through the head as he ran back to the transport.

It was taking off just as he got to it yet most of the rebels were
still on the platform. Through the window he could see their supposed
leader running away from battle and leaving his comrades behind.
"You son of a womp rat!" Lando shouted before a red streak flew through
his shoulder and his vision went black.

*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*

Keylar looked at the body that lay slumped over a console. He touched
it and the piece of flesh that was just hanging by a thread fell
to the ground revealing yet more of the bones. "Looks like he's been
here for quite a while."
"Yeah. Probably since those droids back there were built," Anakin
added as he observed the blast hole in him. "Maybe even killed by
his creations..."
"But surely this isn't the man who designed battle droids?"
"Baktoid Combat Automata had many people working for them. This
could easily be one of them, forced out of work by the banning of
the droids and having to come here."

Leia was looking at one of the computers after brushing away the
web of a local arachnid. The screen must have been on for the last
fifty years but with the vast supplies of power of Coruscant no
one would have noticed this slight drain on resources. "Father,
ambassador, I think you should both look at this," she said
with signs of worry in her voice.
"What is it?" Anakin came by her side and looked the read-out.
"Oh. This isn't good."

Keylar read the information soon after and all three looked at
each other carefully. It was several moments before they spoke
and for the first time they heard the sounds of blasts on the
door that was keeping them safe from the battle droids.

"So they've become sentient? They can think for themselves?"
"Looks like it. A power surge must have gone through the entire
system years ago and destroyed the control module. Our dead
friend here must have tried to work on the droids to make them
act as better troops than they were during the Battle of Naboo."
Leia sighed. "And he succeeded. Or so he thought."
"Oh, he succeeded, all right. To the extent that his babies no
longer needed him."
"But they're still as stupid as Imperial stormtroopers," Keylar
added. "He can't have done that well."
"You have to remember that stormtroopers are sentient, despite
being clones. If Palpatine had known about this maybe it would
have saved him a lot of money and saved the galaxy the clone
wars."
"But then we may have had the droid wars..."

The blasts at the door stopped. The two Jedi and their companion
turned around slowly. "They've stopped," Leia whispered.
"Maybe they've given up."
"I doubt it. That'd be too convenient for us. Maybe they're trying
something else."
"There's only one way to find out. We have to get to the top
of the Temple sooner or later and I'd rather it be sooner."
"Let's go."

Anakin activated the door controls and the metal barrier slid
slowly open. He pulled out his lightsaber and jumped into the
corridor. Nothing. The droids had gone. He motioned for Keylar
and Leia to follow. "It's okay. They've gone for now."
"Like you said, Skywalker. Too convenient."
"Indeed," the Jedi replied. "Unless they're using their brains
like they're meant to."

"Uh, it doesn't look like it!" Leia said, pointing ahead of
them. Four wheels were moving towards them at a faster and
faster velocity. They didn't seem like they were going to
stop. "What are they?"
"Droidekas!" Anakin whispered.
Just before they reached the Republic trio, they stopped and
transformed into their battle configuration, multiple arm-
mouted blasters pointing at Anakin, Leia and Keylar. Their
shield generators switched on and they began to fire.

				CHAPTER FIVE

Lando slowly began to come to and opened his eyes. Two people were
looking down at him. As his blurred vision cleared he saw it was
Narril and one of the rebels - a young Quarran. He started to stand
up but his brother stopped him. "Don't get up just yet. We're trying
to clean your wound."
Lando looked at his shoulder where a bloody hole was being patched
up with a piece of cloth. It wasn't hurting anymore - just worryingly
numb. "What happened?" he asked as the custom made bandage was completed.
"Commander Jaszz got cold feet and left us to deal with the Imps,"
the rebel said. "We managed to get out on a taxi that was hovering
below us. I don't know what would've happened if it hadn't been there.
They're still looking for us but I think we may have only just escaped
with our lives."

Lando moved his arm around. Despite the lack of feeling he could
still use it. He grabbed his blaster from the holster, span in on
his finger and put it back in again. "Everything seems fine," he
commented before checking out his surroundings. They were in some
kind of docking bay. A droid was inspecting a taxi - obviously the
one they'd escaped on. It kept shaking its head and commenting on
how civilians abuse public transport. "Looks like our only means
of travel is out of action."
"It took quite a few shots," Narril pointed out. "We're lucky
it's still in one piece. More or less."

One of the human rebels came towards them with an R2 astromech
droid closely following it. It activated a holographic image
of Coruscant with red dots in various areas indicating shield
generators. The human began to talk. "As you can see, these
are the generators covering the planet. We've had a chance to
get some more research done and we now know which are the least
protected."

Lando sat upright and looked at the projection. The nearest
seemed to be on the other side of the planet. "They should
have got reinforcments there by now," he said. "Or if they
haven't they will have by the time we get there."
"Actually no," was the reply. "Our bombs on the museum had an
effect we'd never have imagined. It knocked out a communication
post which may give us more time."
"Then I suggest we make the most of that."

*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*

With their lightsabers ignited, Leia and Anakin deflected the
blasts coming from the destroyer droids. Keylar blasted at
them but the shots were blocked by the in-built deflectors
that they were projecting. Leia pushed two of the droids back
into each other with the Force. They stumbled giving her
time to rush forward and slice through the shields, cutting
their heads off. "I suggest we make the most of this! Come on!"

She headed down the corridor first and was followed by her
father and the Mandalore ambassador who hacked and blasted
their way through the confused droids.

The distraction didn't last long and soon the droidekas were
bounding after them. "We don't have time for this," Keylar
exclaimed as he fired back, hitting a metal girder. It
collapsed onto one of the droids, crushing it beyond
recogniton.

"I know that," Anakin replied. He came to a halt when a door
just ahead opened and more of the metal beasts came piling out,
both droidekas and battle droids. "How many of these things are
there?" he asked, half to himself and half to his companions.
Leia jumped upwards and grasped onto a hook coming down
from the ceiling. She swung over the incoming arm and landed
behind them. With her lightsaber ready she cut through the
door that had only recently been open.
"Oh no."
"What is it?" Keylar asked as he blasted two battle droids down.
"It's like they're recycling these things!"

She entered the room and examined a massive construction
droid that was piling spare parts into one of its cavities.
At the other side fully constructed battle ready war
machines were coming out. It was only warming up - recovering
after decades out of use but now their attack had caused it
to reactivate and begin production again. Their time in the
control room had given it more than enough to create a
veritable army.
"I really don't like the look of this," she continued as a
battle droid activated and began walking towards her. She
sliced it down before it could reach for its blaster.
"We have to do something quickly!"

Anakin and Keylar got through the remains of the door. "How
are we supposed to close this thing?" Keylar asked with
worry in his voice. "They can easily get through this hole!"
"Watch," the elder Skywalker smiled. He moved his hand and a
large scrap of metal flew from the floor and covered the
entrance. The Jedi closed his eyes and concentrated more.
Slowly the two separate pieces melded together as if they
were one. He smiled. "Looks like my powers really are returning.
I never expected it to take over twenty years, but..."
His attenrion turned to Leia and Keylar who were battling the
droids. "Take out the machine!"
"It has a shield generator. Not even my lightsaber can
penetrate it."

Anakin thought back to all that Yoda had taught him. The
saber would always aid a Jedi in his duties but he had to
rely on the Force above everything else. Anakin walked
forward slowly somehow managing to avoid all of the blasts,
deflecting them before they hit him. The generator morphed
and seemed to develop a pathway through which Anakin walked.
His daughter and the Mandalore watched in amazement as he
struck out and forced his weapon through the control panel.

The huge machine slowly stuttered before it finally deactivated.
The remaining droid was able to make one last stand before
a blast from Keylar's rifle took its head off. The body
slumped to the floor with a crash. Anakin studied the remains.
"Well, that was easier than I'd expected."
Leia stood aghast. "You call that easy?"
"For a Jedi, yes."
"So what now?"
"Now... we make our way to Thrawn's chamber. This way!"

Anakin flung the door that he had only just repaired aside
with a flick of the wrist and the trio re-entered the dark
corridor. They stopped at the opening of a ventilation shaft.
Leia grasped the edges tightly and ripped it off. "The only
way seems to be up. And it'll be harder to detect us if
we go this way."
"Ventilation shaft, huh?" Anakin smiled. "Obi-Wan once told
me he'd tried something like this on a Trade Federation vessel."
"Nice to know we're following a Jedi tradition," Leia replied
as she sniffed the air inside the shaft which was even staler
than that where they were currently standing.
"Who's first?"

*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*

Mara followed Darth Maul out of the throneroom and once they
were far enough out of the range of Thrawn the Sith Lord
stopped and turned around. "I don't know what you're playing,
Emperor's Hand," he hissed. "But I do not think you are
fully prepared to do as you have been commanded."
"You don't seem to trust me," the woman said. "Or is it you're
afraid I'll replace you as his closest confidante?"
"Don't mock me. You are just a child who knows little of the
Dark Side of the Force. I am a Dark Lord of the Sith!"
"Strange... I didn't know Sith Lords spent forty years hiding
away..."

Mara's smile was wiped from her face as Maul grasped her throat
and pushed her up against a wall. "I could kill you right now.
I can easily do what you are supposed to. I can kill all of
the Skywalkers!"
"But..." Mara gasped. "That's not... what Thrawn... wants."
Maul dropped her. "Yes. He wants the elder of the two. The
one who was a boy when I saw him last. I doubt he has
changed much."
"You really don't know much," was the reply Mara gave as she
massaged her throat. "He's the Chosen One."
"The one who brings balance to the Force? While there are
Sith in existance that will never be!"
"If you keep getting thrown over buildings for me to save your
skin there probably won't be any left!"

Maul checked the newly repaired servos that were whirring inside
his robotic torso. Yes, he was lucky that Jade had been there
watching as he and the Imperial troops attempted to protect
the shield generator but her current demeaning tone was not
acceptable. "I was lucky... but I have survived worse without
you."
"Hence those wires holding your body together, I see."

The Zabrak Sith growled quietly and began to walk further
up the corridor. "You will not fulfil your promise to the
Emperor and when that happens I will kill you..."
"He's not the Emperor and you know that as well as I do.
He's just some military commander who Palpatine seemed
to prefer over you." Maul turned around. "That bugs you
doesn't it? The fact that he ensured that Thrawn would
take over from him even though you would have been a far
better choice." The crimson skin on the Sith's face seemed
to grow even redder with rage. Mara continued. "Someone
who doesn't understand the Force like you - Palpatine's first
apprentice - is given a position that means he can control
you..."

Maul's hands began to to twitch. "What are you trying to
tell me?"
"You hate Thrawn just as much as I do. If not more. No matter
how much we hate each other we are still loyal to Palpatine.
We must do something before he takes too much advantage of
us."
"You expect me to work with you to... kill Thrawn?" he said
probing her mind carefully. That's exactly what she wanted.
"Those are brave words but from what I saw of you with him
you could not do it. His presence has control over you. It is
you who are weak."
"There is... something... stopping me but you don't have that.
The reason you don't kill him is because you're afraid."
"I am not afraid! I will strike the death blow. But only when
my true master's last wishes are obeyed."

*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*

The Jedi Council on New Naboo sat in their seats and discussed
their current situation. Things has grown tense in the last
two days and despite their many attempts they could not
get audience with Mon Mothma. Hela Zapalo tapped the arm of
her chair. "Ackbar is the cause for all of this," she said.
"We must deal with him before we can get to Mothma."
"Hela," Adi Gallia replied. "You are starting to sound like my
apprentice. This headstrong attitude should not be found in
a member of the Council."
"I apologise, Master Gallia but recent times have put a great
strain on many people. You must remember that I witnessed the
death of my planet knowing that I could not do anything while
Palpatine's troops overran it. That will happen if Mothma
takes the same path that he did."

"I understand your fear," Kas Grendor continued. "But it is
not possible to take the Chancellor from power. There is
no one strong enough to replace her."
There was silence. Everyone turned turned to Yarled as if
they had sensed something. "Do you think she could?" Adi
asked. "It would mean her giving up training and I cannot
allow that."
"Leia Skywalker has a history in politics. Her adopted
father *was* the man who began the Alliance. She was the
youngest member of the Imperial Senate before it was
dissolved."
"She is also the daughter of the most powerful Jedi in
existence! She can bring the Jedi back together. A person
can have many choices  but only one destiny."

Yarled nodded. "Yes. Indeed. But will she choose her destiny?"

*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*

Lando looked over the map for what must have been the hundredth
time. He pointed at the area they were currently in and then
at the final destination but not saying a word. He turned to
his brother. "Think we can do it?"
"With you in charge?  Hell, we could do anything."
"You're forgetting - you're me too!"
"True..."
"So," Lando pondered. "What would you do?"
"Well, since we fried the last air taxi we're going to need
another transport. I'd go for another of the same. There's
so many of them we'd remain inconspicuous."
"Good idea. We haven't much time so we'd better get to it
fast." He turned to the Coruscant rebels with a smile on his
face. "Hope one of you know the comm-channel for the nearest
taxi rank 'cause we haven't got time to find the number at a
cantina."

*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*

Anakin grasped the hand hold and pulled himself further upwards
into the main levels of Emperor Thrawn's headquarters. He looked
down to see Leia coming up behind him followed by Keylar who's
heavy Mandalore armour was slowing him down. He turned his
attention to what was ahead of him. There was going to be at
least another twelve hours of climbing ahead of them. Thankfully
the Force was with them, taking the fatigue away.

"I'm getting to old for this," he muttered before remebering
that Qui-Gon was a full fifteen years older than he was now
when he fought a fully trained Sith and, he considered, fighting
a Sith was a lot more difficult than climbing a ladder.

"You're slowing down, father," Leia commented. "Is there something
wrong?"
Anakin shook his head. "No, no. I was just thinking back to when
things were more complicated than they are now."
"Ha!" Keylar exclaimed sarcastically.

*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*

Mara looked out over the Coruscsant skyline and sighed. She was
slowly starting to get through to Maul but she knew that it was
a mistake, just like the whole of her life had been. Palpatine
had offered her hope as a child. Hope to live and let her powers
flourish rather than be killed by Vader but that came with a price.
She was his. She would have to obey his every command.

Mara punched a wall as hard as she possibly could but felt nothing.
The blood trickled from her knuckles and dripped onto the floor
but there was no pain. The felt something behind her and whipped
around, her hand resting on her lightsaber.

"My, my. That's no way to treat a friend," Darth Maul smiled.
"What are you doing here?"
"Just making sure you're not wasting time that could be used
tracking down Skywalker."
"Then you've caught me out. This is pure unadultlerated time-
wasting."
"Then you'd better get to it before Thrawn realises what you're
doing. You don't want to die before I can prove you wrong and
finish you myself."

Mara opened her mouth to reply but a pain shot through her head.
She grasped her temples and staggered forward towards the end of
the balcony. Her foot was first to go over the edge followed by
the whole weight of her body. Maul moved forward and grabbed
her hand, pulling her back up.

"What is it?"
"I know where Leia Skywalker is."
"That is not of importance right now."
"Her father is with her. That is what you want isn't it?"
"Yes. And now you will go to kill him."
"You're being trusting..."
"Oh, I'm going with you to ensure you do as obeyed."

Maul pushed her forcefully towards the entrance of the building.
"You know where they are. I'll follow, but don't try anything..."

				CHAPTER SIX

"Sir, would you mind stepping out of the vehicle?"
The pilot of the air taxi turned his head to see a blaster pointing
directly at his head and on the end of it, Lando Calrissian. He
began to look nervous as his shaking hand reached under the glove
compartment for his own weapon.
"I really wouldn't recommend that. It'd only be disrupting New
Republic business."

The alien stopped his hand and stood up. He exited his taxi and
finally opened his mouth. "New Republic? What New Republic?"
"You don't know the Galactic Republic was restored two years
ago?" The pilot shook his head. "Thrawn has been doing a good job.
Now, if you don't mind, we're kinda rushed. We do have an Empire
to bring down..."
"Sure, go ahead. You may need a pilot though. I'm sure I could
do it just as well as any of you plus I know the planet pretty
well..."

Lando glanced back at Narril and the Quarren rebel leader. They
both nodded. "He seems good." Lando turned to their new companion
and smiled. "Welcome to the family."

The rebels piled in with their blaster and charges ready. Lando
took the front seat as they took off from the landing platform
and into the authorised skylanes. "Where are we going?"
Lando took out the datapad he'd been carrying and showed the
pilot the map of the shield generators. He pointed one out.
"I need to get there as quickly as you can do it."
"I reckon I can do it faster," he replied and flicked a few
switches. The taxi zoomed forward, swooping in and out of the
other traffic.

*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*

Sel'ine Dr'alik ran through the corridors of the Republic
base on New Naboo heading towards the Jedi Council Chamber.
Her breathing became heavier as she picked her speed up, the
head tails swirling around behind her like a cape. She rushed
around a corner and collided with Evajo Siinit.
"Hey, slow down!" he said once he got his bearings back. "Where
you going so fast?"
"I have to tell the Council - Admiral Ackbar is about to lead
the fleet to Coruscant!"
"What?! We haven't heard word from the teams there yet!"

Sel'ine shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe he just heard and
hasn't made the statement yet, but..." the was a pause.
Evajo looked her in the eyes with an unworded question.
"... I sense that isn't the case as do you, no doubt."
Her friend nodded. "Yeah. I don't trust that Calamari as
far as I could throw him."

"We have to remain objective, Evajo. It is for the Council
to make these decisions."
"But we know they never will unless Mon Mothma makes a move
against them. That's what happened with Palpatine and that's
what'll happen now if we don't do something." He felt the blue
hand touch his cheek kindly. His frustration subsided as he
listened to what Sel'ine had to say. "Don't do anything you
may regret, my friend."

He nodded and let her continue her journey to the Council
before turning his attention to the direction she had come
from - Mon Mothma's office.

*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*

Anakin, Leia and Keylar sat on an outcropping half way up the
huge shaft leading to the top of Thrawn's throne-building.
Leia looked down at the seemingly bottomless pit which, if they
hadn't climbed it themselves could easily have been. "The
Force has brought us far."
"There's still a long way to go..." he father replied. Suddenly
a bleeping sound came from his utility belt. His hand moved down
to take out a communicator seconds before the sound began. "Skywalker
here."

Lando's voice was heard on the other side. "This is Calrissian.
We've have had a few problems but we're headed towards another
shield generator. I'll explain when this whole thing's over
with!"
"Glad to hear it. But what's wrong?"
"Nothing... yet."
"Strange. I sense something... I don't know..."

A blast appeared from nowhere and blew the communicator from
Anakin's hand. He looked up and saw a shadow disappear through
a doorway six levels up. The bridge across had been taken
away. He could reach this if he could just focus his powers...

Leia's hand rested on her father's. "I know what to do. I did
it with Luke when he rescued me from the Death Star. Have you got
a rope?" Anakin nodded and took the wire from his belt. Leia swung
it upwards and, with some Force guidance it hooked onto the controls.
"You want to go first, father?" she asked with a smile.
"If you insist."

The elder Skywalker grasped the wire and swung across the distance
before hitting the wall and launched himself upwards with all
the strength his legs had. He reached the doorway their attacker
had entered before dropping the wire down and entering.

His eyes slowly began to adjust to the darkness as the blast
door behind him slammed shut. He whipped around. Something
went through the door just after he entered. Something...
familiar.

"I wouldn't bother with that," a female voice ahead of him
said. "They're behind dealt with." A lightsaber activated
and its beam shone on the face of Mara Jade. Anakin reached
for his own weapon and ignited the blade. "But right now
its you I want?"

She lurched forward with an attack that Anakin easily deflected.
She struck again but his blade blocked the path to his head
and pushed her back. "You've changed your tune. Last time we
met you were trying to find my daughter."
"My target has changed."
"Yet you seemed so determined."

Mara lauched into another frenzied attacked, raining blows
from both above and below all of which Skywalker detected
and blocked. She became more and more erratic as her
speed increase. The harsh clashing sound filled the dark
room so that nothing else could be heard.

Anakin jumped back and held his hand out. The red blade of
Mar'a weapon went back into the hilt. She looked carefully
and tried to reactivate it but to no avail. Her eyes
turned to the Jedi. "What have you done?"
"I've turned it off. You could have someone's eye out with
that."
"I must kill you!"

She jumped at him, trying to claw at his face but he pushed
her aside with the Force. She landed on her feet and turned
around. "How... how can you do this?"
"The Force is strong with me but you're anger and frustration
weaken you also. You do not want to do this. My death mean
nothing to you. You have a task which you must fulfil."
"You don't know anything about me!"
"I know that, but your emotions reveal so much, Mara Jade,"
Anakin said calmly. "You're heart is in conflict with your
mind. Fell, don't think. Use you're instincts."

Mara began to breath heavily, her anger starting to build.
"What if my instincts tell me to kill your child?"
"Then I will stop you. But that is not what they are telling
you. You must learn to close your mind and let the Force
speak to you. Then, only then, will you learn about your destiny."
"I have no destiny!" Mara said, using Anakin's distraction
as an opportunity to get control of her lightsaber. The blade
emerged once more and she ran at Anakin. He reached for
his own but it dropped to the floor forcing him to raise
his arm in the path of the blade.

*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*

Leia side stepped out of the way as the huge Sith Lord came
bounding down at her. He ignited one end of his lightsaber
and grinned, showing his rotting teeth. The Jedi princess
noticed the wires and cybernetic parts that were holding
him together. She was brought back to the present when
the blade came towards her face. She moved away in time.

"Prepare to die Jedi!" he hissed as he lauched an attack
on Leia who ignited her weapon and blocked him in time.
He was fast and strong and could easily beat her but she
had one advantage - he was closest to the edge of the
shaft. She tried to push him down with the Force but he
blocked every attempt.
"Your thoughts betray you. I knew what you were planning.
You are weak, Skywalker but in time the hate will make
you strong."
"What hate?"
"The hate you will feel upon the death of your father
which is taking place right now."

Maul motioned towards the closed doors. Leia looked up
and felt pain coming from them. Something was happening
in there. Something bad. She hacked at Maul's head but
he intercepted and put his saber up in time. He kicked
at her and she stepped back, stumbling at the edge of
the metallic canyon. Using the Force she managed to
regain balance but the Sith moved his hand slightly
giving Leia the feeling of being prodded back until
she lost all control and slipped down, grabbing the top
rung of the ladder in time.
"It's such a shame I'm not meant to kill you," Maul
smirked. "It would be such fun."

"I know what'd be fun too!" a voice behind him called.
The Dark Lord turned around to receive a blast in
the shoulder, the force of which sent him staggering
back. "Mandalore!" he frowned as he rushed at Keylar
with his lightsaber ready. Leia flipped back up to
the platform and landed in front of him, knocking his
blade away. "It's not a good idea to underestimate a
Jedi but looking at the little war wound down there I
think you already know that."

Maul remembered the feel of the Jedi apprentice's weapon
going through his flesh as if it were paper and his
anger grew. This foolish girl would not hurt him
as easily as she thought. He brought his saber down
onto hers and they engaged in a deadly dance once
more, this time with Leia in command of the situation.
"Your anger has made you weak. You obviously lied to me
about its power," she mocked him as she increased the
pace of her attack. "The Dark Side is like a shadow
to a real being. It is flat and disappears while
the tangible exists forever."
"The Sith will always be there and when we re-emerge
from the ashes of the old we will lay the Jedi to waste."

Maul stepped back and disappeared down the shaft with
a laugh. Leia turned to the ambassador. "Something
tells me we'll be seeing him again soon," she muttered.
"No doubt," was the reply. "But I think we should see
to your father."
"I agree."

Leia launched herself upwards and grabbed onto the door
controls. She dangled above the huge hole and began to
press the buttons to extend the bridge which slowly
moved from one side to the other. She climbed onto it and
threw the rope down to Keylar. All the while she heard
the clashes of lightsabers inside then... silence.

*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*

The air taxi came to a stop on the unguarded shield
generator. The rebels jumped out with their explosive
charges ready and attached them around the power
lines. Lando watched the progress while talking to
the taxi driver. The alien had been force into this
occupation when the Empire took over his lucrative
trading business upon the collapse of the Commerce
Guild years previously.

Narril came to his brother with the good news. "The
charges are in place. They'll be detonated on your request."
Lando observed them all and smiled. "All of you get in here
and we'll get out of the range of the explosion!" They all
obeyed amd jumped back into the taxi. Lando spoke to
the driver again. "Take us to the top of that building
over there," he pointed.

They took off once more and just as they were safely
away Lando pressed the detonator. The explosions ripped
around the generator in a perfect circle at the charges
had been placed and the generator was soon weakened,
its huge structure beginning to fall down onto the Imperial
barracks next to it. The taxi gave a victory spin as the
rebels held onto their seats and eventually came to a
standstill on a public docking platform.
"Not a bad bit of work," the Quarren rebel observed and
the two Calrissians nodded.

*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*

"Take us out of hyperspace!" Admiral Ackbar ordered and
the Republic fleet began to slow down within distance of
Coruscant. A nearby cruiser noticed them and sent a
legion of TIE-Fighters to intercept. "Launch Rogue
Squadren," the Calamari told Wedge Antilles over the
intercom.

"You heard the man!" the hotshot pilot told his crew
in the docking bay of Home One. "Let 'em rip!"
Twenty X-wings flew out and a TIE was ripped to
pieces by laser fire within seconds, its cockpit
erupting in flame and sending the pilot into the reaches
of space where he was killed by the wing that flew
off its hinges.
"Woagh! That got him!" Rogue Seven shouted.
"Keep your concentration," Wedge ordered. We have to
give the fleet time to get closer to the planet!"
"Yessir, boss man!"

Red Seven took on two TIEs, chasing them with all four
guns blazing. The first was hit and it rolled through
space into the second and soon they both collided with
explosive results. His companion in Red Two took
out another with little or no trouble as the huge,
imposing structure of Home One flew passed towards
Coruscant.

Admiral Ackbar checked the computer. "The security
shield is still up. We haven't much time. If we're
detected before the attack begins a fleet of Star
Destroyers will be brought in soon."
"Wait, sir!" a Zabrak lieutenant called out. "I'm
detecting fluctuations in the field matrix. There's
something happening..."
"Is it coming down?"
"There's an overload on a generator in sector XX-321.
The shield is deactivating!"
"Lauch the attack!"

*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*

With amazing manipulation of the Force Anakin stopped
the blade with his arm but soon the heat was spreading.
Mara pushed down harder and he knew he would not keep
this up. Blisters started to appear on his forearm
which burst soon after formation and reappeared again
within seconds. He called his lightsaber to his hand
and, with one huge force, pushed Mara Jade back and
ignited it.

"How... how did you do that?" she asked.
"The mysteries of the Force are not to be questioned,
only thanked. Now... kill me. Prove that you will
do as Thrawn has commanded you. Give in to him and
make yourself forever his slave." He turned his weapon
off and tossed it back on the floor where he had only
just retrieved it. "Strike me down and prove that all
you are destined for is the Dark Side."

The Emperor's Hand held the blade to Anakin's throat
and was ready to plunge it through him. He closed
his eyes and waited for her reaction. For her to
give in or to accept salvation. If only he could
see the future as he once did and would soon be
able to again.

The sound of the doors opening could be heard and
light spread through the room once more. Leia and
Keylar arrived in time to save Skywalker but it
seemed none was needed. Mara turned off her weapon
and put it back at her side. "You have been spared
now and I may suffer Thrawn's vengeance for this but
only because you are not my target." She stepped back
into the darkness and seemed to disappear. Leia ran to
her father. "Are you alright."
"I'm more than alright, my daughter. I have aided a
misguided soul in its first steps on a long hard journey
back to the ways of the Force."
"What do you mean?"
"In time you will know. Now come. We have to deal with
our would-be Emperor before it's too late."

*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*

Lando surveyed the damage with macrobinoculars. The
Imperial base had been ripped in half by the falling
shield generator and its once proud frame was now
rubble. He smiled. "Have they begun their attack yet?"
Narril asked. Lando turned his attention to the
skies and changed the frequency of the binoculars that
they could penetrate the harsh atmoshpere.

The fuzzy image soon turned into several specks that
were coming closer to the planet. Bolts seemed to flash
in between some indicating a battle going on above them.
He put the viewers back at his side, just below his
blaster and nodded. "They've arrived. I recommend we
get moving before they open fire on the planet. A
shuttle should be sent down at sector GC-768 and I
don't particularly want to miss it."
"What about the Jedi?" the Quarren asked.
"They are remaining behind to deal with Thrawn. I
know Jedi well and they'll do fine."
"Glad to hear it. Come on!"

As they were about to re-enter the taxi a doorway
leading onto the roof they were situated on burst
open. The sea of crimson emerged and were quickly
identified as the Emperor's Royal Guard. They pressed
a button on their staffs and a two foot long
razor sharp blade came from the end. The rebels looked
at them then at each other and frowned.

*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*

A TIE Fighter headed towards the bridge of Home One
on an intentional collision course when an X-wing swooped
down in time to destroy it with a well placed proton torpedo.
"You're all clear Home One!" Wedge called.

"Thank you Rogue Leader," Ackbar noted as he turned to
a human manning the docking controls. "Lauch the rescue
shuttle immediately!"
"Yes admiral!" was the reply as several buttons were
pressed opening the air lock on the bottom of the
Calamari cruiser. A shuttle exited with its pilots heading
towards Coruscant. The X-wings gave it time to get through
by destroying all of the enemy craft heading towards it.

*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*

On board the shuttle the two pilots watched the events
unfolding outside and were obviously nervous. A stray shot
hit them and the whole vessel shuddered. They glanced at
each other worriedly but once the shaking stopped they
began to calm.
"That was a close one."
"Damn right. We're nearing the shield perimeter. All scopes
indicate its down. Looks like we're clear."

*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*

Ackbar looked at the command screen on the side of his
chair. His eyes bulged with horror as he noticed energy
fluctuations around the planet. He turned to the communication
officer. "Tell the shuttle to increase speed!"
"Sir?"
"Tell them to..."
There was a huge explosion as the shuttle was ripped in two,
the front half heading towards Coruscant while the engines
remained outside the atmosphere, cut clean in half by
the new force-field which surrounded the planet.

The admiral turned to one of the other bridge crew with
a look of disbelief. He couldn't say anything but it was
obvious what question was on his mind.
"They had a secondary procedure that we didn't know about.
It was activated just as the shuttle entered the perimeter.
It's like the Imps knew we were coming..."
"Can you get a communication to General Calrissian?"
The officer shook his head.
"If they don't know what's happening they can't get to
the source of the problem."
"And if they don't do that we're stuck here!"

Ackbar pressed a button and his seat moved higher above
the crew members as he bellowed further orders. "Retreat!
All ships retreat!"

It was too late. With a flash twenty Star Destroyers
emerged from hyperspace and launched their fighters on
the unwitting Republic.
"It's a trap!"

				CHAPTER SEVEN

"We have to retreat, Wedge!" Rogue Two called out just as a
blast flew passed his wing. He turned the nose up and avoided
any further attacks before joining the leader of the squadren.
"That's not exactly possible, Janson," Wedge called out and
looked out of the cockpit window to see his fellow pilot
wipe a bead of sweat from his brow. "We can hold out as
long as Lando realises that we need another generator
down."

"Somehow I can't see that happening, boss," Rogue Four informed
him. "The shield has interfered with all surface communications.
I've been trying to get through..."
"Then we keep fighting to the death!" Wedge replied as he
pulled his fighter up into a collsion course with a TIE
Fighter just above him. He pushed his finger down on the
trigger and blaster fire blew the TIE into a million pieces.
Wedge came out at the other side of the explosion with a
shout "Yee ha! That's how you do it!"

He straightened himself out and activated the thrusters
to stablise himself before looking ahead of him. "Oh
no." The huge Star Destroyer loomed just metres in front
of him as Wedge noticed almost all of its blaster cannons
aiming in his direction.

*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*

Lando stepped back in shock as the Crimson Guards came out
of the building onto the roof they now found themselves.
One pulled out a blaster and shot at the engine of the taxi
they were about to retreat in. Smoke came from the bonnet
and the driver jumped out, taking his own pistol and firing
at them. One got knocked back but his armour protected
him. Within a second the alien pilot found a blade through
his chest. Blood dripped from his mouth as he died with
a huge metal spike sticking through him.

Narril grabbed a rifle and took a shot himself, blowing
the arm off one of the guards. "See how you like that!"
he called out.
"Don't risk it," Lando instructed him. "They'll fight to
the death no matter how many limbs they have!" He stepped
back out of they way of a rebel body falling to the floor
in two pieces. He ran in the other direction, blasting
randomly and avoiding slashes coming towards him. He
ducked down as a clump of hair disappeared from his head.
"Fall out! Get away!" He made his way to the taxi and
put his hand into the back to pull out the one thing
that could save him - a rocket pack. Another hand came
in to take the one sitting somewhat comfortably next to
it. He looked up to see Narril. "What about the others?"

The two brothers looked back to see the last rebel fall
to the floor, cut down by a red cloaked guard. All of
them turned their attention to the Calrissians. "It's
now or never. I just hope the shuttle comes down to pick
us up soon!"

Lando jumped off the building and activated the pack. The
rockets fired and two flames came from them. He found himself
falling less and floating more. He noticed Narril was in
the same situation and nodded. "Head for the rendevous
point. Ackbar *should* be sending a team down soon!"
Narril looked up to the sky. "Y'know, I'm beginning to
doubt that..."

One of the guards pulled out a blaster and took aim.
The younger of the two brothers saw it out of the
corner of his eye. "Move!" The blast flew passed his
ear as he pushed Lando away. The red streak hit his
pack and a small explosion ricketed through it. The
first of the boosters sputtered to a stop and the
other was seconds later. His arm outstretched to grab
Lando's hand but was too late as he began to fall, their
fingers touching for less than a second before the wind
whizzed passed his ears. "Help..." he said, his voice
trailing off his he moved further down Coruscant.

*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*

In the throne building on Coruscant several Stormtroopers
stood discussing the latest blaster modifications with
more vigour than usual. Two officers walked passed and
their conversation came to a sudden close but began 
again when the  two "green-suits" were out of range.

"I personally don't know why Blastech are doing it,"
one said. "It's not like this 'upgrade' makes any
real difference."
"It's more economical on power."
"Yeah, but what good is it doing to do? Just between
you and me, but most of the other troops coudn't hit
the broad side of a Death Star. You've seen Steve, haven't
you? Totally flunked the target course back at the
academy but look where he is now..."
"Yup. First infantry brigade on Dantooine."

The other nodded and a smile would have been seen covering
his face if the white helmet hadn't blocked it out.
A small crash was heard behind him. He turned around but
saw only a metal wall. "Man, I must be getting jumpy."
"You really should lay off those peptabs of yours. They're
doing you no good whatsoever."
"Stop taking them? With the shifts that Thrawn gives us?
You've gotta be kidding."

Their words were cut short when a blue blade came through
the wall. They both jumped out of the way as it turned
into a semi-circle then a clean hole. The plate was
knocked off and a figure came out. The troopers pulled
out their weapons and began to fire.

All things considered, they had the best aim in the Imperial
forces. They could hit a Jawa from two miles away given the
right focusing equipment. It was a shame, however, that
they had never trained to deal with Jedi Knights. The
first red streak hit the lightsaber blade and ricocheded
into the opposite wall while the other went back on its
firer. Before the only surving Stormtrooper could fire
again his rifle had been hacked into two pieces.

Anakin Skywalker turned off his sword and put it back at
his belt. Leia and the Mandalore Keylar came out of the
hole in the wall soon after. The Stormtrooper began to
slowly back away until he realised some invisible force
was preventing him from running away. Skywalker's hands
were twitching as if he had some sort of control over
this strange sensation. He spoke for the first time.
"Where's Thrawn?"
"Uhm... in his throneroom - th-that way." He pointed
in the right direction, his arms being the only body
part that was working in the way that they should be.
The Jedi nodded. "Thank you very much. You will now
leave."
"I will now leave."
"You're going to take the next transport off Coruscant."
"I'll take the first transport..."
"You will join the Rebellion and they will put your
abilities to good use."
"Join the Rebellion."
"You're now free."

The former Stormtrooper took off his helmet and threw
it to the ground. His features were that of a Correllian.
Roguish good looks, dark hair, presence of stubble on
his chin. He smiled, took up a blaster and made his way
in the opposite way down the corridor.

"I didn't know you could do that." Keylar was stunned.
"Change people's political leniation, that is."
"He never wanted to be in the Empire," Anakin replied.
"I could sense that. He joined the Academy and was
drafted into service. He wasted much of his life but now
he can finally live as he was meant to." There was a
pause. "Now, to Thrawn."

*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*

There was havoc outside the Imperial Temple. Within minutes
of the shield generator exploding many of the pathetic
aliens had been spurred into action, fighting against
the years of oppression they had suffered. It was all
futile. They barely made up their minds before the troops
came in to deal with them. Still, you had to admire their
efforts. Several buildings had been fire bombed in those
few spare seconds. Emperor Thrawn smiled. This was what
he wanted to see. The Empire making a show of what it
would do to those who tried to rebel. He had only just
left a meeting with a group of officers as to when the
first executions would take place. Things couldn't have
been better. Above them the fleet of the self proclaimed
Republic was cornered with little or no hope of salvation.
First the Republic and then the Jedi. Maul was missing
but he was irrelevant.

The door behind him opened. He didn't bother to turn
around to see who it was. He knew his current visitors
all to well, by reputation if not in meeting. "Welcome
Anakin Skywalker," he smiled to himself. "Welcome too,
young Leia Organa and Keylar Gravvele. You are most
welcome here."

Anakin looked around in dismay. This that was once the
meeting place of the Jedi High Council was made into the
dark, opposing residence of the Emperor. He moved further
towards the centre where, as a child, he had been told
that he was not to be trained. How little they knew back
in those days. He looked at the back of the Chiss' head.
"You are to come with us back to the Republic and face
trial for your crimes or..."
"Or I will what, Jedi?" Thrawn said as he finally
turned to face his visitors. "I will die? Somewhere
I highly doubt it. I have died before but now I am back.
You cannot destroy me."

"You arogant son of a..." Keylar lifted up his rifle and
took aim at Thrawn. Before he could pull the trigger he
found himself being hurled across the room and landing
in the corner of the room. "As I said," the red eyed
alien continued. "You can't destroy me."

Leia looked at him and back to her father. "He has control
over the Force," she murmured. "How can that be possible?"
Anakin shook his head. "I wish I knew."

*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*

Wedge felt the first blast hit him from the side. He quickly
turned himself around while switching deflectors to full
back. The barrage sent him further forward then he anticipted
as the shields couldn't take the strain. "I need help back
here!" he called over the intercom. "Straight aw..."

The explosion ripped around him as the newly installed ejector
seat send him out into space. He struggled to pull the air
mask over his face and look a long breath. "Home One this
is Rogue Leader. I need immediate pick up!"

A Y-wing started to head towards him ready for him to settle
into the gunner's seat. He activated the minimal boosters but
was too late. Two long, metallic arms wrapped around his body.
Wedge looked back to see himself being pulled in by an Imperial
shuttle.

"Uh, Home One," he said as he began to panic. "This is Rogue
Leader. Some assistance would be helpful right now."
The crackling sound of Admiral Ackbar's voice could be
heard. The communications unit in the ejector seat wasn't
as powerful as that of the X-wing but the closer he got to
the Shuttle the weaker the connection became. "This is Home
One. We... *tzzzzzzzt*n't get any*tzzt*ne to your
loc*tzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzt*n't want to injure our best
pi*tzzzzzzzzt*cue operation will beg..." and with that it
completely broke down as he entered the docking hatch. A
set of blast doors closed as Wedge was finally put down.

Three Stormtroopers armed with blaster rifles came marching
towards him as he pulled the air mask off. They motioned
for him to get up which he did somewhat reluctantly.
"The admiral will want to speak to you," the one that seemed
to be in charge said.
"Antilles, Wedge. Rank: commander. Serial number: Beta-two-three-
seven-nine-zero-two."
"I'm sure he'll get more out of you than that."
"Somehow I doubt it," Antilles replied harshly.

*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*

Thrawn walked slowly towards Anakin, his grin becoming
bigger and bigger as the confidence of his control grew.
"The Republic is defeated. You will not survive this battle.
Mothma made a mistake in attacking Coruscant of all places."
"Unless you haven't realised, your entire shield network
will be collapsing any time soon," Keylar replied as he
got to his feet. "We'll attack and the planet will be free
of Imperial control."

"Oh, you're much mistaken, Mandalore. I'm sure your Jedi
friends have realised by now that things are much more in
my favour." He turned to Anakin knowing that his warning
was very much true. Skywalker nodded. "They have a dual
shield system. Activated just after we got here. We weren't
to know. I sense an incredible amount of fear above the
planet."
Thrawn was pleased. "Very clever, Skywalker. I detected your presence 
almost as soon as you entered the system. I am right in surmising you 
know how hard to see the Dark Side is. Hiding myself from even you, 
the Chosen One, was easy."

Leia moved forward so she was next to her father. She stood as 
defiant as she had in the control room of the Death Star when she 
faced Palpatine and there was no way she would back down. "What I 
don't understand is how you have such mastery of the Dark Arts. Your 
race is known for its inability to communicate with the Force."

Thrawn smiled as he walked up to the princess. He stroked her cheek 
before she pushed his hand away with the Force. He gave a small 
laugh. "Haven't you realised yet? Don't you recognise me? Thrawn is 
just a body now, it is I who has control, as I always did."
For the first time Leia knew who she was facing. "Palaptine."
"Clever girl. The ability to transfer my essence to another
being was something I learnt before you were even born. I never
thought I would need it but your abilities when we last met
proved me wrong. I will never underestimate you again, Jedi."

"You won't have time to," she said ferociously as her lightsaber
flew into her hand and was ignited with a touch. It's red
blade hummed quietly as she ran at the person she once
thought was Thrawn. He raised a hand and she found herself
unable to move forward. Her weapon turned itself off and
she threw it to the ground. Palpatine smiled as he made
her walk closer to him. "You would make a perfect apprentice,
my dear," he cooed. "But you could also help bring forward
the new era of the Sith. You are young, fertile... I could
make use of you."

"Never!" Anakin shouted, his hand moving up and pulling Leia
away from the blue skinned alien. She came back to her senses
immediately and stepped back to where she stood before.  Rather
than annoyed the emperor seemed impressed. "Anakin Skywalker.,
you amaze me. It seems your powers are returning. You may
make a most excellent adversary yet."

"But not now..." the old Jedi replied quietly. "You're going
to get away and we'll let you. The battle for this planet
will mean nothing even if we do break through the shields..."
"...which you won't."
"You'll find we're full of surprises."
"Is one of them the ability to avoid the blasts of almost half
a squadren of TIE fighters?"

Anakin looked out of the window to see the last of the Imperial
fighters took position. Ten of them were aimed at him alone
and had nothing against firing on a lone man. Palpatine
had turned his attention to the door where six of his
Royal Guards came to take him to his private shuttle. He looked
at Leia. "In time you will be mine. Mara Jade will see to that."
Then to Anakin. "You are clever, Chosen One, and no doubt you
will survive this but you will not save all of the innocents
in this building. When we next meet your anger will make you
strong and we will fight. I will have constructed a lightsaber
especially for it."
"It will be the last one you ever hold."
"We shall see."

The Emperor was escorted out by the red robed guardians and
the door closed behind him. Keylar frowned. "You could have
killed him. He is not as strong as he boasts, surely."
"He is, and possibly stronger."
Leia glanced at the imposing sight right in front of them. "So,
father... What do we do now?"

*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*

Lando put his rocket pack into reverse or, at least, what
would be considered reverse given that this situation was
taking place horizontally rather than vertically as it
currently seemed to be. Narril's velocity was increasing
but not in a favourable direction, his now useless pack
dragging him down even faster.

"Take that thing off!" Lando called out as loud as he could.
"It'll lower your speed. I should be able to catch up
with you!" His brother tried to do as was suggested and
tried to pull the straps off his shoulders. The longer
this was taking the more gratful he became that the
average building on Coruscant was several miles above the
surface and it would be quite a while before his body
found itself being the same consistency as Gundark
droppings after a high fibre diet. Nonetheless he wanted
to get out of this situation as quickly as possible.

The first sign that he was getting somewhere struck
Lando when the now separated pack almost knocked his head
off as it flew passed his face. At least it meant Narril
was falling at a slightly slower speed now. He reached
his hand down to grab that of his brother's which was
slowly coming into range. "I've nearly got you. Just a
little further..."

Finally! Lando grasped Narril's hand and activated the
boosters. As their desent ever so slowly came to a stand
still they noticed something quite worrying right in
front of them. "Uh, Lando," Narril asked quietly. "Are
those  TIE Fighters in front of us?"
"I think they are."
"Good. I thought I was seeing things. And is that Anakin
I see them aiming at?"
"I think it is."
"Do you get the impression that we're in the wrong place
at the wrong time?"
Lando chose not to respond.

*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*

All things considered, things weren't going well for the
Republic and for the team Anakin found himself leading
things were looking like getting even worse. The two
Calrissians were outside the window, between them and
the Imperial fighter squadren - a place where the average
person, human or otherwise, would not like to find themselves.

One of the TIEs looked like it was charging its weapons.
The blaster cannons on it would have put a good dent into
the deflector of an X-wing so the effects it would have
on the humanoid body weren't the sort of things you
would want to experiment with in this kind of problem.

Deciding to do the only natural thing, Anakin closed his
mind and held his arms up above his head before whipping
them down as if throwing a heavy object. Outside, three
of the fighters found themselves spiraling insanely
towards the first structure that was in their path.

*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*

The workers on the shield generator were caught by surprise
as a TIE fighter exploded through the armour plated wall,
interrupting the break from duty they were currently
enjoying.

The other two hit the main reactor. Tiny lights deactivated
on a computer panel some miles away as the Imperial technicians
began to realise exactly what was happening. The entire
deflector netork was collapsing. The Emperor hadn't
predicted this. He said anyone trying to destroy one
generator wouldn't live to destroy another before it was
too late. Things weren't looking good for the Imperial
presence on Coruscant.

"Does anyone else here have a bad feeling like this?" one
asked.

*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*

Anakin allowed Lando and Narril to enter the now shattered
window over looking the anarchy that was beginning to
take place outside. He smiled at his handywork before
taking on an air of calm for the others to see.
"I sense panic ensuing all over the planet. The shield is
down. The Republic and Mandalore will begin their attack."

"At least one part of this mission was successfully completed,"
Leia said sadly. "We let Palpatine... Thrawn... whoever he
is get away. Sometimes I really wonder if following the
will of the Force is the way to get things done!"
Her father was slightly more positive as he place his
hand on her shoulder. "Surely you understand that we
could not have defeated him but this overall victory
will cause his power over the galaxy to decrease. With
that in mind he will begin to weaken. The anger of
the Dark Side only gives strength for so long. When
we next strike the Light will be victorious."

Keylar, who had watched the whole fiasco with some
interest, slowly realised that whole fleets of Republic
fighters were finding their way through the planet's
atmosphere and were taking on the Imperial's who
were beginning to realise what was happening to them.
"I think we'd better move. They'll be sending a shuttle
down for us soon and I'm starting to wonder whether or
not this'll be the first place that's in the line of
fire when the attack really starts."

"You have a point. Let's go!" Anakin ignited his lightsaber,
as did Leia while the others pulled out blasters and
started to work their way through the corridors of
the Temple, much easier than they way they had found to
get to the top. They worked their way through the troops
who tried desperately to maintain control in their
attempts to prove there was still power and not chaos.

*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*

Up above Coruscant, on the bridge of the command ship
under the control of Admiral Ackbar there was a sense
of definate victory. The Mon Calamari leader raised
his hand to order silence. "We have been able to begin
this but victory is not yet assured. We are to maintain
control over the orbit while bombers deal with the Empire
on the surface."

An eager young ensign told everyone the latest new.
"B-wings have been launched sir. They are headed for the
Imperial Temple and all known control centres. They won't
be able to call for help."
"Destroy or capture any Imperial vessels trying to evauate
the planet. With Emperor Thrawn hopefully out of the way
they will begin to scatter."
"Yes sir!"

Ackbar looked out of the viewscreen and smiled. Despite
the current situation with the Star Destroyers once a
presence on Coruscant was sealed the Republic would have
what was once theirs.

				CHAPTER EIGHT
For the second time Mara found herself at the lowest she
could possibly go. Wandering through the old, seedy district
of Coruscant she found herself at the home of Zsan Treil,
the Jedi woman who had protected her but found herself on
the wrong side of Maul's lightsaber. The door was left ajar
and she pushed it open slightly to look inside.

In the corner of the room was a figure rummaging through
the ancient human's artifacts, throwing unwanted items
across the room, often smashing the more fragile ones
on the wall. Finding something that was wanted the strangely
familiar being pocketed it. Mara put her hand around the
hilt of her lightsaber and slowly moved in.

She hadn't been seen yet noted by the broken datapad
flying aimlessly through the air but finding itself on
a collision course with her head. Using the Force she
made it stop in its motion. After several seconds the
figure turned around, noticing that the pad hadn't made
a crashing sound on the floor. His eyes were filled with
fear as he saw the item he had just hurled floating as
if held by an invisible force.

Mara realised who it was. The mad old man from the cantina
who claimed to be a Jedi when being accidentally bumped.
He obviously remembered who she was and tried to make
an escape. As he ran he found the datapad fly in front
of his face and shatter on the wall. "If you want that
to be your head," Mara informed him. "I'd not move."

"The woman is dead," the 'Jedi' stammered. "She couldn't
use any of this. I could."
"For what? To sell it on the black market? Making money
out of other's poverty?"
"Jedi don't do that. I am a Jedi. As are you, it seems."

The Emperor's Hand walked in front of the old man and
pushed him gently against the wall with her finger.
She wasn't showing any violence but it was more than
enough for her companion to realise she wouldn't hesitate
in doing so if she had to. "Actually, my dear, unknowing
friend, I am a Sith." He started to panic, trying to 
shimmy away from her put soon noticed an arm was blocking his
path. He threw the bag of loot to the floor before finding
himself there too. He looked as if he was about to beg
for mercy.

"I'm so sorry. Don't kill me. I'm not really a Jedi."
"I knew that."
"You did? Then you'll let me go?"
Her booted foot came down on his hand that over confidently
let itself rest on the floor. The old man let out a howl.
"You may not be a Jedi but I'm still a Sith. The woman
who lived here taught me the Black Arts and I will not
have anyone trying to bury her memory into the ground
before she is even dead two days."

The man finally caved in. Tears started coming from his
eyes as he fell limp and weak in fear for his life. Mara
lifted him up by his collar. "You will put everything
back in its place. I will be back to ensure that
nothing is moved. If it is you will be the first person
I destroy."
"Wh... What if someone else does it?"
"You're going to make sure that they don't."
"Oh-okay. I'm sorry. Thank you... thank you for sparing
me."

"So you should be." Mara went to the man's belt and
took the lightsaber hanging from his side. Just as
she'd noted during their last encounter it was broken
and possibly beyond repair, the durasteel shell rusting
in places. She put it on her belt and dragged the
thief out of the house and shut the door behind her. With
one move she threw him through the air until he landed
on the floor with a thud.

For the first time Mara smiled as she watched him run
away as fast as his legs could carry him. No one would
harm Zsan's possesions now.

Then it happened. Shrapnel began to fall from the sky
like rain. Mara glanced upwards to see battles taking
place between Republic and Imperial fighter, laser
blasts flying in all direction and... bombs. B-wings
were focusing on the control centres but some of
their missiles were not quite hitting the targets
they were meant to as some found themselves heading
into the slum districts. One exploded in the cantina
next to her. Two Wookies outside were caught in the
blast which sent Mara flying through the air. She
managed to land on her feet but realised others were
not so lucky.

"Screw this," she muttered to herself as she ran towards
the docking bay she had left her private starship
after she last came to the planet. It had been a long
time and she could only hope that it hadn't been
stolen. At first the high pitched sound behind her
meant nothing but as it became louder she realised
there was more to this than she thought. Whipping around
with her lightsaber activated, Mara Jade found herself
face to face with a concussion missile headed straight
for her.

*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*

Leia led her father and the rest of the group to the
designated landing point for the rescue shuttle but it
soon became evident that they were going nowhere. The
air battles rained around them and there was still no
sight of their salvation.

Anakin pondered the situation. "We're going to have to
find some other escape route out of here. Any idea
where they keep starships on this planet?" He knew
the answer before he finished his question. On a
skyscraper just opposite them sat a rather shiny
looking Nubian vessel that reminded of the Naboo
Royal Starship that... she had. Why couldn't he get
to terms with her death? It had been so long ago and
now he had a daughter he never thought he had. Why was
the memory of the goddess-like queen so hard to accept?

He brought himself to, shaking his head back into motion.
The ship was aged and had quite a few modification, a
series of blaster cannons salvaged from something
more Correllian but he wasn't going to complain. He took
out his laser sword. "Cover me!" With a huge leap he
made the gap between the buildings as Keylar, Lando
and Narril fired at any fighters that would have interfered
with his attempt.

On the other side, Skywalker forced the sliding door open and
entered. It was dirt and obviously hadn't been used in
quite some time. The license must have run out years
previously and the owner wasn't able to afford to register
it again. Right now, whether or not it was legal to fly
by Imperial standards wasn't his problem as he raced to
the cockpit to start up the engines.

Upon pressing several buttons it did just that but with more
of a stutter than a roar but that wasn't exactly important
since, as long as they got them off the ground, they
would be fine.

*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*

Keylar watched as the impressive vehicle lifted off and
headed towards them, the door open enough for them
to jump onto the landing ramp and to safety. Keylar
prepared for the leap, his legs bending slowly.

Just then a piece of the nearby building broke
loose and headed for the hull of the starship. With
a loud crack, the shields blocked it in time and, in
slightly more fragments, it fell down to the parts
of the city below.

The Mandalore jumped up and scrambled into the cargo
hold. Lando and Narril were soon after followed by
Leia whose Jedi dexterity allowed her to make it
much easier than the others.

"I'm going to catch up with my father. We should get
us off this dump." She disappeared through a set
of sliding double doors as the brothers and the
Mandalore staring out over the battlefield until the
landing ramp blocked their view. "Strange, isn't it,"
Lando commented. "We're leaving the planet so we
can take it over. I'll never work out Ackbar's
mentality."

*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*


Admiral Dasson looked at the viewscreen where Thrawn's
face was barking orders to him. "I will be taking my
private shuttle and meeting with you. Ensure that
the fleet does not evacuate to hyperspace until I am
safely aboard."
"Yes, my Lord," the nervous officer replied. Was this
the time to tell the Emperor that they had captured
a Republic pilot? Realising it would put him in a
slightly better mood than the one he was currently
in, Dasson voted yes. "And another thing..."
"Yes?"
"An enemy pilot was captured and is currently in the
holding cells. We haven't got anything but his
name, rank and number but that's enough to tell us
he could be useful to us."
"Excellent. I look forward to meeting him."
"Yes sir."

The face disappeared only to be replaced with the view
of the stars and the battle going on outside. The Empire
seemed to have the upper hand against the Republic
fleet but with the capital of the galaxy below soon to be
under the control of the enemy they were definately
going to be the losers in this battle. It was only
best to cut their losses and get out while they could.
This, despite what impression he gad to give to the people
under his command, was what Captain Dasson had wanted
from the start. He didn't believe in Thrawn. Hell, he
didn't really agree with Palpatine and his obsession
with sorcery. All Petri Dasson wanted was to maintain
order. He was brought up to believe in order and it
was his god given right to ensure that everyone else
did to. If it meant killing the occasional anarchist
then so be it.

Dasson walked to the front of the bridge where his first
officer was looking out into space where TIE fighters of
all kinds - standard, Interceptor, bomber - were going
head-to-head with their Republic counterparts.
"You heard our orders?" Dasson asked.
"Yes sir," Commander Rellith replied. "Evacuation is
our only bet. It will give us time to regain our
forces and come back even stronger."
Dasson was forced to agree. "Indeed. Our problem is
the very battlefield. It's our property, at the moment
that is, and therefore we immediately find ourselves
on the defensive. When we're here next the tables will
be turned."

*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*

Mara swifty sliced forward and somersaulted backwards as
the explosion ripped through the street but to a lesser
extent than it would have if not for her. Before she
could accept the thanks of those she had saved she started
running towards the only safe place. Her starship was
definately not far from here.

She jumped over the rubble of a collapsed building,
ignoring the helpless aliens trapped underneath and
picked up her pace more to avoid further rubble falling
from the sky. Out of the corner of her eye she saw a
spark and looked up to see a sleek, shiny starship taking
off from a landing platform some miles above. She knew
the Skywalkers were there but had to remain focused.

There it was! In a hidden garage just ahead. Mara made it
to the entrance and entered her authorisation code and...
nothing. She'd been blocked out. She'd paid for two years
rental. The passwords should still be active unless someone
had changed them.

With that the door opened. Despite the darkness Mara
could see there was someone in here, someone she didn't
want to see at this precise moment in time. Darth Maul
sneered. "Why do you bother, my dear Emperor's Hand.
Every time you try to escape I will always be there to
capture you again. It is your duty to Thrawn that prevents
me from destroying you here. Strange, isn't it?"
The young woman frowned bitterly. "I wouldn't know."
"But don't think you'll be going on any more jobs for
him this time. The only reason he wants you is to..."
a smile covered the Sith Lord's lips. "...punish you."
"I'd like to see him try."
"He'll do more than try."

Maul whipped out his lightsaber but before Mara could
react the handle collided with her skull. She heard a
loud crack from within and just before she passed out
noticed blood trickling down the side of her face.

*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*

Anakin sat alone in the cockpit to the starship they
had just borrowed. All sorts of thoughts went through his
mind as he controlled the vessel further towards the
atmosphere and out of the range of any attacking fighters.
Why did he let Thrawn go? He could have fought - to the
death if necessary. Why did he get so afraid? And... and
just the thought of Her made him shut down. How could it
be possible that he couldn't accept the death of his
wife that occured over twenty years ago?

"Father, we're safely aboard."
Anakin turned around quickly as if he wasn't expecting
Leia to walk in on him. The Force should have alerted
him to her presence. He was getting stronger with
each day that passed. Of course.  He was too distracted.
He calmed down before spoke again. "I'm glad to hear that.
Shall we rejoin the fleet?"
"Couldn't think of anything I'd like more," his daughter
smiled as she took a place next to him. "Let's get going!"

*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*

Mara hit the ground with a thud and finally came to, although
still a little groggy. The first thing she saw as her eyes began
to focus again were two leather-booted feet. She looked
up and squinted to see Thrawn looking down on her. A frown
covered his face. "You betrayed me Mara Jade," he hissed
in a voice completely different to the one Mara had last
heard him speak with. It was more... familiar.
"Master?" she asked.
Thrawn held out his hand and Mara felt herself being lifted
to her feet by the Force until she was at eye level with the
emperor. "I trained you to serve me. You were meant to
follow my orders without question."
"I - I didn't know it was you. I thought..."
"You thought it was Thrawn. That would be acceptible if
you were anyone but the Emperor's Hand. You should know
me from the other side of the galaxy."

He dropped Mara to the floor again. When she tried to
get up she was pushed down by another foot - that of
Maul. He was getting some perverse pleasure out of his
treatment of her and the more Mara noticed the more
her anger got out of control with no way to work it off.
"I tried to follow your last orders..."
"I changed my orders to you. Leia Skywalker is to be mine.
She is to be my apprentice... my new Hand."

Maul, with one strong push, took Mara to the ground completely.
He held her down with his foot as he spoke to his master.
"And what is to become of... this?"
"She will be punished. I am a forgiving person, Mara, but
you have gone beyond even my generosity." He smiled but
realised that it made the age show even more on his
face. He gave a quick glance to the Dark Lord. "Bring her
into my shuttle."

The Sith picked Mara from the floor and dragged her up
the landing ramp of Thrawn's personal shuttle all the
while wondering what he would be refered to in the future.
Thrawn or Palaptine. But more importantly, where would
he stand if Skywalker's daughter became his replacement.

*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*

"I'm getting a communication from Admiral Ackbar," Leia
informed her father as a indicator on her console began
to flash uncontrolably. "Shall I respond?"
Anakin frowned. "I'd rather we waited until we got back
to base before we tell him anything. He's already got
enough against the Jedi as it is. He may start firing
on us if we tell him we failed."

Leia nodded with a smile. She rejected the call and
took over the sensors again. Within seconds another
emergency stopped her from relaxing. "Father, there's
an Imperial shuttle coming up behind us. It's weapons
are active."
"Palpatine!" Anakin hissed as looked at a nearby viewscreen.
He began to charge up their weapons. "Last time I flew
one of these babies it didn't have much in the way of
blasters. Looks like we're about to see the tables turned."
"You're suggesting we attack? After you stopped us from
taking him on back at the Temple? Are you sure that's
such a good idea?"

The starship shook as a blast hit it. The determination
in the old Jedi's eyes increased fourfold. "You bet it's
a good idea."

*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*

The Nubian designed ship span around on its axis until it
was facing the Imperial shuttle. Three shots rang out as
the laser blasts hit the quickly approaching vessel. Inside
Maul staggered across the cargo hold and collided with the
wall. Mara jumped to her feet and flew at him, her foot
causing a loud crack in his ribs. As if he didn't feel
any pain, the Sith grabbed her leg and threw her to the floor.
"You shouldn't have tried that, Jade. I could very easily kill
you right her."
"Go ahead."

Maul ignited one end of his lightsaber and stabbed down at
Mara's face, only stopping just before the skin. He
laughed. "You'd like that wouldn't you? For me to kill
you before our master can torture you. I didn't credit
your intelligence enough."
"You need some yourself to be able to do that."

A growl came from deep down Maul's throat as he tried
to resist using his anger and killing her where she
lay. Another shot hit them.

*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*

Leia began to panic. "Father! Their shields are much stronger
than ours. We can't take any more shots! You said yourself,
we'll have a better chance when we meet them next!"
Anakin seemed determined. He switched the weapons to proton
torpedoes and held his thumb above the trigger. He said
nothing in reply to his daughter.
"You can't use them at such close range! We'll be destroyed
too and what good would..."
"There is no death, there is the Force!"
Leia shouted out her next words without even thinking about
them. "Mara's on board that ship!"

Anakin turned around. "What?" The Shuttle flew passed them
and into space. With a flash it entered hyperspace and
disappeared. The elder Skywalker looked annoyed. "They
got away." His daughter said nothing but he could sense
the relief she felt.

*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*

"Today a great victory has been won," Mon Mothma said in
broadcadt that could been seen all over the galaxy. She
stood in the centre of the Galactic Senate as hundreds of
camera droids from every holo-network circled her. "The
Republic once again has control over Coruscant. From this
strong vantage point we will be able to maintain control
over the galaxy and ensure that peace is finally restored
after the regime of the Empire. It will be hard and will
take a very long time but all I request is that the former
Republic worlds meet once more in the Senate in order to
sign the New Republic Treaty. It has been a long, hard
journey and it is not over yet. Thank you."

The holograph disappeared and Hela Zapalo looked over at
Adi Gallia. "Yet some worlds will never be able to return."
"Naboo lives on in the hearts of its survivors, Hela. It
is your job to ensure it never dies out as Palpatine wanted."

Kas Grendor spoke up for the first time since Mothma began
her speech. "There was no mention of the Jedi," he informed
the rest of the Council. "I feel she is afraid to talk of
us. There are too many people like Ackbar in the Republic."
"As the Chancellor said herself, the journey is not over
yet," Master Yarled stated.

Gallia nodded. "Nonetheless I still fear that we will not
be properly represented in the Senate."

*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*

Leia had settled into her quarters on Coruscant in an area
that had not been seriously damaged in the attack. Her father
had recommended a nearby nightclub that he claimed to
have frequented when he was still an apprentice but she
didn't feel like joining the celebrations that were
starting there.

The lights in her room were off so she quickly noticed
the blue glow which signified her brother's presence.
She turned to look at Luke's shimmering spirits and
noticed the smile on his face. "Palpatine is gone
and the light has returned. I have missed you, sister."
Leia smiled jokingly. "You'll never guess what my day
was like."
"Actually I was with you at all times. It was painful
not being able to show myself but the darkness was too
much. I couldn't project myself."
"Well I'm glad you can now. Father is having problems
in dealing with letting Palpatine go yet at the same
time he was the one who suggested we do so."

Luke nodded. "He has a lot to deal with. You must remeber
he lost much of his life trying to be Boba Fett, the loss
of his powers didn't help. They are returning yet he can
no longer control them. Give him time."
"I guess so," Leia replied. "He did question my reasons
for letting Palpatine go. He thinks my feelings for
Mara Jade are blinding me to my mission."
"And what are your feelings towards her?"
"I... I don't know," the Jedi princess whispered loud
enough for her brother to hear. "She wants to kill me
yet she can't bring herself to. I want to help her but
father doesn't understand that."
"So you understand that the time will come when you
must face her. If she has got over her initial
apprenhension and is willing to destroy you, will
you be prepared to do the same?"
"I am ready to face her, Luke."
"That wasn't what I asked."
"I know."

			THE END.... FOR NOW
To be continued in Republic Saga - Betrayal beginning very soon!