The Fett Dynasty II: Siege of Orri Prime

Even as the air was dense with the roars of twin ion engines ripping through the skies of the Southern Hem, it was the SNAP! of a twig being crushed under a boot that jarred Lando Calrissian back into consciousness. Still lying twisted on his side, pinned in place by the massive barrel of the now-destroyed platform cannon, he slowly opened one eye to see the unmistakably white armored legs of an Imperial stormtrooper standing just a few meters from him.

“Report,” he heard the stormtrooper bark through his vocoder.

“All dead over here,” replied the second trooper, stepping toward the other and into Lando’s line of view. He saw both pair of legs pivot in his direction. “What about those over there?”

“Let’s check.” The pairs of boots began to walk toward him.

Blinking hard to clear his fogged head, Lando frantically ran a mental scan over his shattered body. His right arm, on which he was leaning his head, was broken; but his left arm seemed intact, and was resting on his hip, just centimeters from his side arm…very, very slowly, he id hid his left hand downward toward the butt of his blaster…

He heard one trooper step around the destroyed platform. “Two humans and a Rodian, all dead.”

The other trooper came around to plant his feet just shy of Lando’s head. “This one looks dead, too.”

“Better make sure. Help me lift this off him.”

Lando still kept his eyes closed, listening carefully to the creaks and moans of charred metal as the troopers hoisted the barrel up off him, while his fingers unsnapped the holster and wrapped around the trigger…

Come on, Calrissian, light and quick and steady…

Suddenly, the first trooper, still holding the barrel over his head, snapped his helmet down. “Hey, he just moved! He’s alive!”

“Damn right!” Lando growled as he drew his blaster and fired right into the trooper’s armored gut. The trooper dropped his end of the barrel right on top of his helmet, giving Lando the split second he needed to roll out from under and peel off another blast right into the second trooper’s throat. The trooper fell back like a ton of durasteel, hitting the ground hard and the barrel hitting him even harder.

Lando fell back against the earth, panting hard. He listened carefully for any more troops for several long minutes. He heard nothing but the roar of TIEs off in the distance. Most of the troops must be in the townships, he thought. They only sent these two to scout this area. I have to get out of here before they come looking for them…

His legs felt numb, having been crushed under the barrel for so long. Clenching his teeth, he tried to pull his legs up. Slowly and with great effort, he was able to bend his right leg up; he then tried the left…something was wrong. Something…didn’t feel quite right, like his foot wasn’t catching the ground…He pulled himself up to rest on his good arm and looked down…

His left leg, from the knee down, was gone.
ndo ndo blinked a few times as his mind fought to comprehend what he was seeing. His pant leg was stained with blood all the way to the crotch. Feverishly, he looked back toward the fallen troopers, and saw his detached limb sticking out from underneath one of them. “No,” he rasped. “Oh, no…”

How did this happen? Was it the explosion? Or the charred, twisted cannon barrel slice it off? Ah hell, did it really matter at this point how it happened?

His head began to churn and swim from loss of blood. He had to stop the bleeding, and fast. Frantically, he placed his blaster on his lap and, by pressing the tiny buttons on the grip, adjusted the blaster to torch setting. He pulled the trigger, and a small blue flame shot from the barrel. Lando braced himself, biting down hard on his lip as he brought the flame down upon the bloody stump, and screamed to the skies as he cauterized the wound.

He felt his consciousness begin to slip away again as he fell against the ground once more. He fought it. No you don’t, Calrissian. Don’t you go now. Not like this. Not…like this…think…have to get help…need help…Han, Luke…they’re coming…they could be here by now…

His eyes snapped open as an idea instantly came to him. He pulled his blaster to his chin and clamped it there adjusting the buttons once again, before pointing it away from himself and blasting out a wide greenish haze in a rhythmic pattern.

“Han ol’ buddy,” Lando breathed shallowly as he fired, “I sure as hell hope you remember Birithi code…”

* * *

President Leia Organa, still wearing her delicate white gown, paced anxiously back and forth within her private office aboard the Defi, si, silhouetted against the massive red sphere of Orri Alpha, the system’s largest gas giant and most distant from its sun, Dia Prishina. Occasionally, she would stop and peruse the huge planet through the viewport. Dotted against its scarlet atmosphere were the forms of A-, B-, Y-, and X-wings, as well as other ships such as the medical frigate, six medium troop transports, five Tantive blockade runners, and the familiar, unmistakable silhouette of the Millennium Falcon. Delicately chewing on her thumbnail, Leia seemed to be more looking through the ships rather than at them before stepping back into her nervous stride.

“Leia,” Winter chided gently from her seat on the office’s austere sofa, “stop pacing. You’re jostling the babies.”

Leia’s only response to her longtime assistant and surviving friend from Alderaan was a curt look. Hastily, she stepped off the port platform and strode to her desk, hitting the com button. “Has the reconnaissance drone returned yet, Admiral?”

“Not yet, your Excellency,” Ackbar replied for the fourth time in the last ten minutes, eloquently masking his slight frustration with the young president.

Leia irritably rubbed her brow. “Can’t we just download the data from the drone processors?”

“You know we can’t, Excellency. We can’t risk the Imps picking up any communication signals. The drone must return physically, and then we can download the information. Leia,” he added softly in his croaking voice, “It will only be a few more moments. We must know precisely what we are up against before we go charging into a blockaded system. Please be patient.”

“Patient,” Leia repeated dully, seating herself lightly on the desk’s edge. “How much longer can we ask the people of Orri Prime to be patient?” Unconsciously, her hand came to rest upon her slightly protruding belly. “Or the governor and her baby?” It was then she realized that her voice was beginning to falter and would betray the intense wave of sadness now crashing over her. Swallowing hard, she cleared her throat. “Admiral, you will contact me as soon as the drones have arrived back into bay.”

“Of course, your Excellency. Ackbar out.”

Leia clicked the com off. She folded her arms over her chest, rounded her shoulders, and bowed her head. Winter waited for several long,et met moments before she spoke again. “Leia…?”

“I must be getting soft, ” Leia murmured, raising her head just slightly. “Force knows this is hardly the first time I’ve gone into battle. And yet, this time…I don’t know, it just seems harder.”

“Well, for one thing, this time you’re pregnant,” Winter pointed out. “Your hormones are a mess right now, Leia. You’re bound to be a little more emotional.”

“It’s not that, Winter.”

“Then what is it, Leia?” Again, she waited for her friend’s response, but Leia did not reply. Winter rose from her seat and stepped toward her. “You’re blaming yourself for this, aren’t you?”

“Well of course I’m blaming myself!” Leia snapped heatedly, rising from the desk and resuming her pace. “I knew the Empire was lying in wait, just biding their time! But I thought they would hit larger, more prominent targets like Corellia or Naboo! I thought they would go after the shipyards or the food supply—“

“And you secured those places, Leia. You did exactly what you should have done! How were you to know they’d go after a mining world—“

“That’s just it, Winter. I should have known! It’s my job as President to know these things! It’s my responsibility to protect these worlds! And what was I doing?” Leia’s face darkened into a grimace of self-loathing. “I was throwing a party, basking in the glory of my own self-importance!”

“Leia, you were celebrating your marriage! There’s nothing wrong with that—“

“Yes Winter, there is something wrong with that! Because of that, because of my own arrogance and complacency…another world may be destroyed.”

Winter’s breath caught in her throat at Leia’s words. “Oh, Leia. Will you ever believe me when I tell you, over and over again, that Alderaan was not your fault?”

Leia once again sank onto the desk, clasping her hands in her lap. “Maybe someday I will, Winter. But right now, you can’t convince me that Orri Prime is not my fault.”

* * *

*Cub*, Chewbacca rumbled from his throat, flexing his huge paw, *enough. I’ve heard less drumming on Kashyyk during Life Day.”

“Huh?” Han grunted irritably before he realized that he had been anxiously rapping on the Falcon’s console nonstop for the last ten minutes. “Oh, yeah…sorry, Chewie.”

*Relax, cub.* Chewie pointed a furred finger at one of the monitor screens. *The recon drone has passed through the system undetected. It’s making its way back to the Defiance as we speak.*

“Well, it’s taking its own sweet time, isn’t it?” Crankily, Han spun his pilot’s chair around at the sound of a low cough coming from the Falcon’s hold. “Could you guys keep it down back there! We’re waiting for information here!”

Several helmeted heads leaned in to peek through the cockpit hatch. “Sorry, General,” one of the Pathfinder troops muttered. They all glanced at each other and shrugged as they took their seats once again in the Falcon’s hold.

Huffing through his nose, Han spun his chair back—and caught the narrowed-eyed dubious expression on Chewbacca’s face. “What?” he snapped.

*I’m only going to say this once more, cub. RELAX, or I’ll stuff you in a cargo bin and fly this mission myself.* Han glared at Chewie for a brief moment, then turned away toward the cockpit window. Chewie sighed. *Lando’s my friend, too. Don’t worry, we’ll find him.”

“Yeah, Chewie, we’ll find him. But here’s the question; just how DEAD will we find him?” Han murmured moroselroppropping his boot up on the console, Han pinched the bridge of his nose. “This is all my fault.”

*Cub, don’t start again--*

“Well, it IS, Chewie! Talon Karrde told me this would happen, he warned me! He told me that Black Sun and the Empire would team up! And what did I do? Absolutely nothing!”

*You reported it to the Council, that’s all you could do. And they, being the flea-whelping bureaucrats they are, said they would ‘look into it’. It’s not your fault that they were wary to act upon the word of a smuggling kingpin. Besides, even if you knew they had teamed up, you still had no idea where or when.*

“Yeah, well…what I should have done was mass my own force and gone to Ord Mantell myself and dealt with Czethros head on!”

*Oh, sure,* Chewbacca grumbled sardonically, *Lead a band of Republic vigilantes to take down a one of the galaxy’s most powerful businessmen for a crime you have no proof he did. Yup, that would reflect nicely on your wife, the leader of the free galaxy.”

“Argh,” Han growled, leaning his head back against the chair rest and setting his palms against his eyes. “Chewie, what happened to those simple days of running Imperial blockades with three metric tons of spice jammed under our floorboards?”

Chewie chuckled. *I think those days ended when a certain princess threw you down a garbage chute.* He softened a bit, putting a massive Wookiee paw on Han’s knee. “He’ll be OK, Han. You two are a pair of spider-roaches, impossible to kill.*

* * *

The com on the desk buzzed with the voice of Admiral Ackbar. “Madame President, the recon drone has arrived intact.”

“I’m on my way. Inform General Solo and the squadron leaders that the drones have survived.” Clicking off the com, Leia strode toward the door linking her office to the bridge of the Defiance. “The drone made it back in one piece. Well, it’s nice to know that we can make new technologies that work, too.”

As the door slid open, Winter caught Leia’s arm before she walked through. “Leia,” she murmured to her friend, “This isn’t going to be Alderaan. We’re going to win.”

Taking in a deep breath, Leia looked into Winter’s eyes, a tough, defiant smirk playing across her lips. “Damn right we are,” she whispered crustily before she marched through the door.

The bridge of the New Republic’s flagship Defiance pulsated with activity. Techs and junior officers swarmed over the deck, relaying information and messages to and from the dozens of pilots out in space and the squads of SpecForce troops onboard. Huge monitors set above the bridge blared maps and reliefs of the Dia-Orri system, while the enormous holographic projector set in the center of the bridge emitted the luminescent images of Republic ships within the Defiance’s perimeter, including the Millennium Falcon and the twelve X-wings that had come to be known as Rogue Squadron.

“At ease,” Leia said as techs and officers immediately snapped to attention in her presence. With Winter in tow, she made her way across the vast bridge to Admiral Ackbar seated in his captain’s chair in front of the viewport. “Have we retrieved the drone’s data yet, Admiral?”

“We’re downloading i we we speak, your Excellency. It will only be a few moments.”

Leia glanced toward the holograph. “Are we in contact with Generals Solo and Skywalker?”

“We can hear you loud and clear, sweetheart,” Han’s voice sounded from the loudspeaker.

Leia, as did most everyone on the bridge, instantly smiled upon hearing Han’s confident baritone. “General Skywalker, do you copy?”

“Rogue Leader here, Excellency,” Luke answered chipperly. Instead of using the com, Luke decided to continue the conversation to his sister in his own way. I’m here, Leia, he pathed. Are you all right? I’m sensing agitation from you.

The serenity of the Light Side swept over Leia as she answered back, I’m fine, Luke. Just…worried. She breathed deeply. Can you sense I’Lai?

Somewhat, but the link is vague. But she is alive, as is Kai.

Thank the Force, Leia pathed, bringing her hands to her face in relief.

Luke’s voice drifted tenderly through her mind. Leia, do not blame yourself for this, please. I can feel your guilt, and this is not the time. A Jedi must be in the present moment in battle, with no past and no future clouding your judgment. Focus on the task at hand.

Yes, Master, she sent with light sarcasm, to which Luke let out a softly audible laugh.

“So,” sounded the voice of Wedge Antilles over the speaker, “when do we get this party started, huh? Starting to get a little ansty up here!”

“I’m right there with ya, Wedge,” Han said over the com. “I got a troop of Pathfinders in my hold about to break out the sabaac deck!”

“We are downloading the drone’s data as we speak, gentlemen!” Ackbar croaked cantankerously, becoming annoyed with the impatience of youth surrounding him. “It would hardly behoove any of us to fly willy-nilly into a blockade of Imperial fighters without first knowing exactly what we are up against! Unless there are those of you who have some sort of death-wish up there—“

“Hey, I have absolutely no intention of dying today,” came the bright, youthful voice of crack Rogue pilot Tycho Celc“Not“Not after Winter has finally agreed to go out with me.”

For a brief moment, all activity stopped on the bridge as every head, including Leia’s, turned toward the lithe, silver-haired young woman standing on the viewport dais. Leia’s eyes widened a bit, and she cocked a delicate eyebrow as an amused smirk played across her lip. Winter’s face eded ded in a crimson blush as the congratulations and jibes of scores of pilots flooded the airwaves.

“Hey, way to go, Tycho!”

“What you do to get her to go out with you, Celchu? Cry?”

“Nice work, my friend!”

“Hey Celchu, can you give me some good groveling tips?”

“All of you just be quiet!” Winter snapped at the com mics overhead. “By Force, we’re about to go into battle, not a stag party!” She threw her hostile glare at Leia as well. “And you—stop looking at me like that!”

“Did I say anything?” Leia drawled with feigned innocence.

“Leia, I’ve known you since we were six years old—and you can speak volumes without saying a word!”

Admiral Ackbar could feel the heat beginning to swirl around his normally cool damp head, and was about to launch into a fiery diatribe about military discipline and focus and whatnot…until he found himself actually chuckling. The years of battle stress, the constant barrage, the loss and the pain and the endless running from the Empire had turned these young, half-trained, and undisciplined novices into crack pilots, keen strategists, and fearless warriors. And now, instead of barely-functioning discards, the New Republic had new weapons and vessels to rely upon. Instead of annoyed, Ackbar found he was actually pleased that his troops were relaxed and confident before battle. Besides, with Han and Leia and Luke and everyone else distracted with each other, he could calmly and quietly peruse the recon drone’s data dotting across his viewscreen without interruption…

Or so he thought.

“Admiral,” barked the Sullustan communications officer from his console, “I’m picking something up from the Orri Prime surface.”

A hush fell upon the deck as all heads turned toward the com console. Ackbar rose from his chair. “Is it an Imperial signal?”

The Sullustan, still holding the headphone to his ear, shook his head. “I don’t think so, not strong enough. It sounds like a low-frequency wave from a sub-light particle beam.”

“It could just be chatter from all the blaster fire on planet,” Leia offered.

Again, the Sullustan shook his head. “I don’t think so, Excellency. It’s coming in bursts, in a rhythm…almost like it was code…”

“Code?” Han blurted. “Hey, Oebe, can you patch that through up here?”

“Sure thing, General. Stand by.”

The low, thumping electronic signal fizzed through the Falcon’s loudspeaker. Han sat grimly still, concentrating intensely on the rhythmic pops and pulses. The Pathfinder troops in the hold, unsure what to make of the sound they were hearing, became even more confused when Han Solo suddenly and most happily yelped and whooped from the cockpit.

“It’s Lando!” Han shouted with gleeful relief through the com. “It’s Lando! He’s alive!”

A collective gasp swept through the Defiance, the Falcon, and every cockpit of every fighter throughout the Republic force, followed immediately by a wave of cheers. Leia rushed to the com console. “Han, how can you tell?”

“He’s using Birithi code, sweetheart, an old smuggler’s trick.. Lando and I used it to coordinate pickups and drop-offs in the old days. Good to know the Empire still hasn’t caught on!”

Ackbar made his way to the console. “General Solo, what is he saying?”

“Well, my code’s as little rusty, but I think it’s to the tune of ‘Where the hell are you guys?’ Wait.” Han paused, putting two fingers to his ear as he translated the latest series of pulses. “He’s giving me his com frequency. Chewie, open a channel to four point three megs.”

* * *

“Lando,” Han’s voice crackled over the tiny speaker, “Lando, do you copy? Lando! We got your signal!”

In spite of his devastating pain, a quiet and immensely grateful chuckle came from Lando’s lips. Having crawled across the scorched ground and nestled himself under the twisted scrap of the cannon platform, he was now fumbling with his good hand for the comlink on his belt. “Han,” he rasped through bloody phlegm, “Gods and hells, you sound prettier than a Twi’leki diva.”

Cheers broke anew from all the Republic forces as Lando’s voice came over their coms. On board the Falcon, Han smiled and sighed with relief. “You sound pretty damn good yourself, friend.”

“Ah, don’t start lying to me now, buddy,” Lando chided with a harsh cough. “I sound like hell.”

“Lando, are you all right?”

“Let’s put it this way-- I won’t be doing a lot of dancing at the victory celebration.” He coughed again, and his tone turned serious. “I’m…I’m hurt pretty bad, Han.” He paused as he struggled to get the next words out of his mouth. “My arm’s busted up, I’m pretty sure I’ve sustained some major internal injuries, and…” he swallowed hard, “I’ve… lost my leg.”

The Republic forces fell into a stunned silence. Luke drew his lips into a thin line. Leia dropped her head into her hands. Han clenched his eyes closed in angry frustration, running a hand through his thick hair. Chewbacca whimpered quietly.

Shaking himself straight, Han pressed on. “Lando, can you tell us what the situation looks like down there? Where are you?”

“I’m just a few hundred meters from Security HQ—or what’s left of it. As far as I can tell, I seem to be the only survivor. They hit us good, Han.”

“Baron,” Ackbar interjected, “can you give us a rough estimate of t for forces from down there?”

Lando sighed deeply, shaking his head. “It’s hard to tell, but from what I can see, it’s a typical Imperial smash-and-crash job. At least two TIE squadrons for the initial attack, now down to four ships just scouting the area.” He leaned over to peek out around the wreckage. “I can hear scout walkers in the distance—sounds like two. And so far, they only sent a couple troopers to canvass this area—they probably thought they killed everyone during the first pass.” He chuckled bitterly. “They were right.”

“Did they find you, Lando?” Luke asked.

Lando’s pained smile only grew. “Sure did, kid. Don’t worry—they won’t be bothering me again.” His sentence was harshly cut off by another bout of thick, violent coughing.

“Lando, hang in there,” Han said with gruff reassurance, “Don’t you die on me, buddy.”

Lando sank back against the torn and twisted metal, resting the com on his chest, his eyes sliding up to the azure Pri Prime sky. “Easy for you to say.” He laughed quietly. “Don’t worry, Han, I’m not planning on going anywhere, but…” His voice became weak and throaty as it trailed off, “I think I’ll just take a little nap right now…”

Han let a few seconds pass. “Lando?” Silence. He bit into his lip. “LANDO?” His hand curled into a fist as he held his breath, as did the entire Republic collective aboard their ships…And along with everyone, Han let out a sigh of relief when he h Lan Lando’s soft snores coming over the comlink.

“Admiral,” Han snapped over the com, “Is that data coming in, like, oh, I don’t know…TODAY? Do we have ANY idea how many Destroyers we’re dealing with?”

“Yes, General Solo, we do. We’re dealing with one.”

Leia’s head turned in astonishment. “ONE?”

“ONE?” Han exclaimed.

“One?” Luke repeated incredulously.

Ackbar nodded briefly, then turned toward his first officer. “Load the data,” he ordered. As he made his way back to his seat, rows upon rows of data scanned across the bridge’s monitors as well as those of all pilots. The hologram of the collective Republic forces was replaced with glowing image of the Destroyer Imprimatur and its surrounding escort of TIE fighters. “As you can see, we are dealing with a lone Victory-class Destroyer with, from what we have scanned, a standard regiment.”

“Whoa, wait, hold the com,” Han interjected. “Admiral, are you telling me that, for the first time since this war began, WE have the advantage?”

“Well, General…I wouldn’t say we have an advantage, but…for once, we are not out manned or outgunned.”

Leia stepped toward the hologram, aghast. “This doesn’t make sense. Why would the Empire only send one Destroyer to take a planet?”

“If that planet was a provincial mining world with substandard defenses, it’s not all that inconceivable,” Luke interjected faintly, a lace of guilt threading his words.

“But still,” countered Leia, “To attack a mining world with no indigenous refineries with only ONE Destroyer? It just seems…amateurish.” She shook her head. “This just doesn’t sound like the Empire.”

“Remember, sweetheart,” Han reminded her, “We’re dealing with Black Sun here as well.” He ran his hand over his mouth. “I dunno…maybe—“

*Maybe Czethros bought the Destroyer,* Chewbacca interrupted matter-of-factly.

Slowly, Han turned toward his first mate as realization slowly crept over him. “Come again?”

“What did he say?” Wedge asked.

*You remember what Talon Karrde told us. The Empire is hurting, its funds are worthless, they need help. On the other hand, Czethros is hungry for power, and he saw an opportunity arise that he couldn’t pass up.* Chewie leaned back in his chair, giving Han an incredulous look. *This scenario never occurred to any of you?*

Han sat mildly stunned for a moment before his patented lop-sided grin over took his face. “Chewie, you’re a genius! I take back everything I ever said about you.”

*No, you don’t.*

“What did he say?!” Ackbar croaked brusquely.

Han turned back to the com. “Admiral, my faithful first mate just hit upon an epiphany. He said—“

“Hold on!” Wedge interrupted curtly as his scanners went off. “Anyone else getting this?”

“Getting what?” Luke asked over the drone exasperated groans coming over the links.

Veering his X-wing around the northern pole of Orri Alpha, Wedge stated, “My scanners are showing a ship coming out of hyperspace. Are we expecting anyone else?”

“No, we’re not!” Luke answered firmly, gripping his fighter’s controls. “Wedge, follow that signal! All pilots, stand by!”

“Affirmed, Rogue Leader. Rogue Six standing by,” Tycho answered. All the pilots of the escorting squadrons repeated his affirmation with their various call numbers.

As his X-wing cleared the rounded crest of Orri Alpha, Wedge checked his scanners again. Line by line, the image of the emerging ship connected itself into form, while tactical data ran along the bottom of the screen. “Cargo ship, modified, a Kuat Firespray 31…gods and hells…”

(And in that Kuat Firespray 31 cargo ship, a certain armored bounty hunter, having just jumped from hyperspace and running his own scans, lifted his masked eyes from the monitor and peered out his window to see Wedge’s X-wing careening toward him. Slumping back slightly in his seat, Boba Fett muttered jadedly under his breath, “Shit…”)

Tearing his eyes from the scanner display, Wedge glanced out his cockpit window at the elliptical-shaped, heavily gunned vessel hurtling toward him over Orri Alpha’s horizon, haloed by the red glare of its powerful ion engines. His hands scrambled over the control console as he shouted, “Enemy craft approaching! It’s the Slave I! Slave I!”

“Oh, GREAT!” Han barked sharply, dropping his forehead into his hands and kicking the underside of the console, “This is ALL we need right now!”

“Boba Fett!?” Ackbar blurted over the com. “That’s impossible! Boba Fett is dead!”

Leia’s eyes grew widely staggered as she threw her attention to one of the huge monitors. There, she saw the Slave I glide across the screen, and thought she could actually make out a T-shaped visor through the cockpit glass…“No, Admiral,” she murmured heavily, turning her gaze toward Ackbar, “Boba Fett is very much alive.”

Ackbar’s large amphibious eyes squinted. “Princess,” he uttered disbelievingly, absently calling her by what had become more of a term of endearment rather than a formal title, “is there something you haven’t told the rest of us?” Leia’s only answer was her lids fluttering to the floor and her head turning away. Pulling a deep breath through his gills, Ackbar gruffly turned his attention back to the monitor. “Wedge, onscreen! Blasters ready!”

“Admiral, no!” Leia cried.

“Wedge, hang on! I’m coming up on your port side!” Tycho called.

“Tycho, get up behind his stern!” Wedge ordered. “I’ve got him targeted from the front!”

“Wedge, he’ throwing up his shields!”

“I’m on him, Tycho!” His finger curled around the trigger. “Target locked! Lasers—“

“Hold your fire, Wedge,” Luke commanded softly.

With his finger still wrapped on the trigger, Wedge knit his brow. “What?” he shook his head, unsure if he deard Luke right. “But Luke, it’s Boba Fett! What are you—“

“Don’t question my orders, Commander!” Luke warned sharply, hitting the thrusters and steering toward Wedge’s coordinates. “I said hold your fire! Tycho, you too! Both of you, fall back and flank me!”

“Yes, sir,” Celchu answered dutifully, if somewhat reluctantly.

“General Skywalker, what do you think you are doing?” Ackbar demanded.

“Admiral,” Luke answered calmly yet sternly as the Slave I came within his artificial horizon, “trust me on this. Let me talk to hileaslease.”

“Admiral, listen to the kid,” Han groaned grudgingly, gritting his teeth, “he knows what he’s doing.”

Ackbar threw his glare to Leia, who nodded pleadingly to him. He exhaled sharply. “Permission granted, General. But the channel stays open, understood? And I want a FULL explanation from all of you.”

“Understood, Admiral. I’m attempting to open a channel.” Luke lifted his gaze up from his instruments to peer out before him, just as the Slave I was making its approach toward him. His communication sensors ran a variety of different frequencies before locking onto the right one. He took a deep breath. “Slave I, this is General Skywalker of Rogue Squadron, do you copy?” Silence. “Rogue Leader to Slave I, please affirm.” Again, silence. Luke pursed his lips. “Slave I, this is General Skywalker of—“

“I heard you the first time, Skywalker.”

Now, most in the Republic forces had never even seen the infamous bounty hunter Boba Fett (save for holonet images), much less heard his voice. So when Fett’s flat, cold, and laconic synthesized tones hissed over the loudspeakers, the hair, scales, and feathers of every crewmember, troop, officer, and tech stood on end. Every single being, organic and mechanical, human and non, stopped whatever he, she, or it was doing and focused all attention on the nearest loudspeaker.

Luke’s mouth twitched under his helmet’s clear visor. “Then why didn’t you respond?”

“Are we on a public channel?”

“Yes.”

“There’s your answer, farm boy.”

Luke exhaled in frustration, wiping his gloved hand over his mouth before addressing the Defiance. “Admiral Ackbar, permission to speak to Boba Fett privately—“

“Absolutely not!” Ackbar snapped, rising from his chair. “Bounty hunter Boba Fett, this is Admiral Ackbar of the New Republic vessel Defiance. I demand to know your reasons for being here!”

“Funny, I was about to ask you the same thing,” Fett replied dryly.

“We are here to defend a chartered world of the New Republic from immediate Imperial threat.”

“Great job so far,” came Fett’s muttered response.

Ackbar’s wide, thin lips twitched in irritation. “You will answer my question. What are you doing here?” The Admiral’s query was met by a cold pause, the only sounds coming over the link being the light clicks of controls being employed.

After several long, excruciatingly silent seconds, Han snapped into the com, “Oh for Kest’s sake, Fett, answer the damn question! You’re here for I’Lai, aren’t you?”

“Very good, Solo,” Fett drawled mockingly. “For a minute I thought I’d have to start using flash cards.”

“Governor I’Lai? What does she have to do with him?” Ackbar asked, confused. He turned his large domed head back up to the ceiling mics. “What is she to you, Fett? Money? An Imperial bounty?”

“That is none of your concern, Admiral,” Fett snarled quietly, with just the slightest hint of ferocity coming through his vocoded voice. “And frankly, you’ve wasted enough of my time.” Gripping the controls, Fett swerved the nose of the Slave I away from the three X-wings toward the sun…

“BOBA FETT!” Ackbar barked imperiously, his finned digits curling into fists at his sides as he glared at the monitor, “If you move one degree from your current position, I will give the order to have you blown out of the stars!”

Fett’s low, murky synthetic chuckle grated over the airwaves. “Well then, Admiral… you’ll just have to blow me then, won’t you?”

The usually cool and collected Admiral Ackbar slammed an uncharacteristic fist into the arm of his captain’s chair. “That’s it! Rogue Leader, lock on target!”

“Admiral, please, wait—“ Luke pleaded.

“That’s a direct order, General Skywalker!”

Luke clenched his eyes and swallowed with difficulty. “Aye, sir. Wedge, Tycho, ready proton torpedoes.”

Wedge held the Slave I in his focused glare as it rotated away and revved its engines. He flipped the lid up on his weapons controller. “Torpedoes readied, sir.”

Han ran an edgy hand through his hair. “I can’t believe I’m saying this,” he muttered under his breath before shouting into the Falcon’s com, “Fett, for once don’t be a jerk! Stop! They’ll blow you apart, they will!”

Leia rushed across the bridge, gripping the arms of Ackbar’s chair. “Ackbar, please, call off the order!”

Ackbar looked down at her from his raised seat. “Leia, I don’t what the hell is going on here, but you know better than anyone that Fett has repeatedly served as a hired gun for the Empire—“

“Yes, I know, Ackbar, but not this time! Please, you have to believe me!”

“Target locked onscreen, sir,” Tycho Celchu reported.

Focused intensely on the Slave I projected across the huge monitor, Ackbar uttered, “Fir—“

“DELAY THAT ORDER!” Leia roared over the com.

In his X-wing cockpit, Luke let out an audibly relieved exhalation. “Wedge, Tycho, fall back. That’s an order.”

“Aye, sir,” both pilots affirmed simultaneously, veering their fighters back into their flanking positions behind Luke’s.

Han slumped back in his chair, throwing his head back and huffing at the bulkhead. Chewie slumped forward on the console and rubbed his already stressed eyes.

A wave of hushed shock blew over the entire bridge as all heads, mouths agape, turned toward the young presidenckbackbar gaped at Leia in utter disbelief and slow, burning anger. She met his glare head on. “I’m sorry, Ackbar,” she said firmly yet breathlessly, “but as Supreme Commander of the New Republic forces, pullpulling rank. You’ve given me no choice.” She stepped away from the captain’s station, raising her chin toward the ceiling com. “Boba Fett, this is President Leia Organa. Can you hear me?”

“Your Excellency,” Fett answered with dour deference.

Pulling herself straight and flexing her hands at her sides, Leia firmly and forcefully announced, “I want to HIRE you.”

“WHAT?” exploded Ackbar.

“WHAT?” yelled Han.

“What?” Fett grunted.

Luke’s only reaction was a slow, proud smile under his pilot’s helmet.

Leia took a deep breath. “I want to contract you, as an independent mercenary, in this campaign against the Galactic Empire. Name your price.”

In the cockpit of the Slave I, Fett paused, leaning back in his seat. “You couldn’t afford me,” he stated brusquely.

“Try me,” she answered assuredly.

In spite of himself, Fett had to admit that every time he crossed paths with Leia Organa, he became a little more impressed with her each time. “Are we negotiating, your Excellency?”

“I was under that impression, yes.”

“I don’t negotiate in public. Close this channel, and then we’ll talk.”

Leia nodded. “Agreed.” She stepped over to the communications station. “Lieutenant, shut down all comlinks, except those of the bridge and Generals Skywalker, Solo, and Rieekan.”

“No deal,” Fett growled. “You and I talk alone.”

Leia’s head snapped back toward the ceiling com. “Master Fett, if I am to hire you on this campaign, we must be in contact with the military commanders you will be working with in order to incorporate you smoothly.” She raised her chin. “There is NO negotiating this aspect. If you refuse…” She closed eyes as she took a long, slow breath, “then you risk the chance of your son growing up without his father.” She opened her eyes. “Am I understood?”

A collective gasp swept over the bridge. Ackbar already bulbous eyes grew even larger. Luke’s breath caught in throthroat. Even Han turned an incredulous gaze over to Chewie, raising his eyebrows and blowing a silent whistle. “And you wonder why I love her,” he murmured with his crooked grin.

Every follicle on Fett’s body stood on end at the thinly veiled threat as well as the mention of Kai. He ran his tongue along the underside of his teeth before gritting his jaw. “Perfectly understood,” he muttered before adding distinctly and a tad contemptuously, “Princess.”

“Good.” She clasped her hands behind her back as she relaxed her stiff posture a bit. Turning toward the communications officer, she caught his nodded affirmation that he had performed her request. “Now, name your price.” Only the cold silence of space fizzed through the speaker. “I’m waiting.”

After several more silent moments, Fett finally spoke. “In lieu of a purse, Princess, I will waive my usual fee… for a demand.”

“A demand?” Leia cocked an eyebrow. “And that is?”

“That I take the palace alone,” He leaned in closer to his console mic. “And Czethros is MINE, with no…questions…asked.”

“Absolutely not!” barked General Rieekan from the bridge of his troop transport, the Gilardi. “We’re not about to hand the rescue of a New Republic official over to a common thug!”

“I prefer to think that I’m not all that common,” Fett retorted dully.

“I always knew you were working with a bent spanner, Fett,” Han muttered over the com with a derisive smirk in his voice. “You think you’re just going to waltz into I’Lai’s palace and take on, Force knows, how many Imperial stormtroopers single-handedly—“

“First off, Solo, I don’t waltz. Secondly, there are no Imperial troops in the palace—just Czethros and his pack of rylled-out clowns.”

Luke furrowed his brow, as did Leia in her position on the bridge. Their inner voices echoed in each other’s mind as they both asked the same question, How does he know that…?

Han was also mildly confused, but he shrugged it off and pressed on. “Well, that’s all well and good, but…we still come to the harsh reality that we don’t even know if I’Lai is dead or alive!”

“She’s alive,” Luke, Leia, and Boba Fett all stated simultaneously.

“How do you know that?” Leia demanded.

“Yes, Master Fett, how do you know she’s alive?” Luke asked softly. “How did you know it’s Czethros who holding her captive? For that matter, how did you know about the invasion, period? The Empire destroyed all the interstellar satellites, there was no way she could have contacted you.”

Fett ground his teeth as Luke barraged him with questions; he felgeregered frustration stewing in his gut. “It’s none of your concern how I know, Jedi,” he bit out.

Leia, Luke pathed to his sister, his mouth hanging slightly, I think Fett and I’Lai are Force-bonded.

Leia gasped slightly. Luke, is that possible? I’ve never detected any Force ability in Fett.

Neither have I, he sent back. But… Luke was about to press the bounty hunter further, but was cut off by Admiral Ackbar.

“No! I must protest this…absurd proposition!” Ackbar bellowed emphatically.

“I have to agree, your Excellency,” added Rieekan. “We cannot allow some mercenary to use an act of war to satisfy a personal vendetta.”

Leia sighed, and tightly shook her head. “I have to agree with Admiral Ackbar and General Rieekan, Master Fett. Baron Czethros has clearly attempted to steal Orri Prime’s mining operation, and hence he must be brought before Republic justice—“

“Czethros doesn’t give a rancor’s ASS about the mining operation, Princess!” Fett spat over the com. “He doesn’t want the ore.” He clenched his gloved fist as he added quietly, “He wants ME.”

“Oh, THIS should be good,” Han muttered derisively over the com. “Fett, is there anyone in this galaxy you haven’t pissed off?”

“Only slightly less people than you have, Solo.”

“Why does he want you?” Luke asked firmly.

Fett leaned back in his chair. “You know Czethros is blind?”

“Yeah, so?” said Han.

There was a pause before Fett answered straightforwardly, “I’m the one who blinded him.”

Leia’s hand settled over her pregnant belly, a gesture of unconscious consolation. “What happened, Fett?”

“I don’t want to get into it,” he answered curtly.

“Get into it,” Leia replied sharply, then immediately softened her tone. “I would appreciate it if you told me, to let me know what sort of enemy we’re dealing with here. I promise you, Master Fett, no one outside this conversation will hear about this.”

Fett was about to tell Leia to go to hell, but abruptly changed his mind. He remembered that during the time he was detained and recuperating on Orri Prime, neither Leia Organa nor any of her faction had told anyone about his confinement. Indeed, Leia had even permitted his release at I’Lai’s request, even when all of her advisors, he assumed, voraciously opposed it. And although rumors about him “faking” his death ran rampant on the holonet, the New Republic’s official statement always sided with the original report that he had perished on Tatooine. And hadn’t she just saved his ass from being shredded by three X-wings…? Hadn’t she just extended him the opportunity to save his family? ‘Trust’ was not a word that exactly flourished in his vocabulary, but at that moment, Fett decided to brush the term off and use it—at least sparingly—with this former princess of Alderaan.

“I did a job for Czethros about fifteen years ago, when he was still a C-grade foot soldier for Xizor. When I came to collect my fee, I found him in the storeroom of a cantina he wasningning.” He paused as he took a shallow breath. “Where he was raping a fifteen year old human girl.”

A shared breath of unease swept over the bridge. Leia cleared her throat, as it had just constricted with disgust. “What did you do?”

Fett clamped his eyes shut as that long-ago girl’s screams of terror and torture tore through his memory. “I threw a stun grenade into the room. My purpose was to stun them both long enough to get the girl out of there…but I let my anger take over, and I miscalculated my throw. The grenade went off in Czethros’s face.” A bitter chuckle escaped his lips before he continued. “I grabbed the girl, put her in my ship, and took her back to her family…and Czethros has been after me ever since.”

Silence hissed over the com until Han broke it. “Is that true, Fett?”

“No, Solo, I made it up because I thought it was funny,” he snarled. Fett straightened his posture, and spoke in a low, rock-solid tone. “President Organa, I know what this son of a bitch is capable of, and I know how to deal with him and his kind. He couldn’t kill me for fifteen years, so now he’s gone after my mate and my son to lure me in.” Leia’s eyes widened at Fett’s use of the word, “mate.” Fett continued. “If he wants me that badly…” His tone became even more menacing, “Then let him HAVE me.”

Leia shifted her gaze to the deck as she pondered Fett’s request. Admiral Ackbar rose from his chair and stepped toward her. “Leia, you can’t seriously be thinking of permitting this?”

“Sweetheart,” Han appealed, “even if you could trust him, we’re talking about one man going up against a small army!”

Leia clenched her eyes. Luke…?

Leia, don’t ask me. Ask your feelings, your heart…what does the Force tell you?

Slowly, Leia lifted her head, eyes still closed, her face serene, almost rapt, as she called to the Force…all upon the bridge held their breath as they waited upon her decision…

In a medley of sudden movements, Leia’s eyes snapped open, her head jerked up toward the ceiling com, and she took three fierce, potent steps forward. “Boba Fett, you will take the palace and free the governor and her son.”

“Leia!” Han barked.

Ackbar threw his finny hands up in frustration. “This is ridiculous!”

“Gentlemen, please!” Leia snapped. She turned back to the com. “On two conditions.”

“Those being?” Fett grunted warily.

“The first is that you will have a squadron of SpecForce Pathfinders backing you up. You will go in as first strike, but once you have infiltrated, you will contact them for second wave. You will also be in audio contact with the Defiance at all times.”

Fett cursed under his breath—he was never one for being a ‘team’ player. “And the second?”

“You will bring Czethros back here alive.”

“And unharmed, I assume?” Fett asked with a slight groan on disappointment.

Although her expression remained passive, a slight narrowing of her eyes and a tilt of her chin belied Leia’s inner thoughts. “Just…alive. We do have the medical frigate at our disposal.”

A slow, impressed grin formed under Fett’s Mandelorian helm. “As you wish, Your Excellency.”

“Then we are agreed?”

“We…are agreed.”