Ten years, two months, and eight days after the Battle of Yavin…
Or the forty-fifth year, two months, and eight days after the Great ReSynchronization.
(Eight months and twenty-eight days since the moment of arrival).
Cold and pain.
Pain and cold.
Despair giving way to calm.
Calm giving way to despair.
Elation.
Disappointment.
Pain.
Desperate attempts to hold on at the edge…
"Leia…"
The young woman snapped her eyes open so abruptly that Lando, sitting beside her in the pilot's chair, shifted awkwardly, casting suspicious glances her way.
"Luke?" Leia jerked forward, but the restraint harness stopped her, pulling her back into place.
"You okay?" Calrissian looked concerned. "Your meditation dragged on a bit, you know. Chewie and I were starting to worry."
Leia turned her head and saw the Wookiee standing behind her seat back, head tilted in silent question.
"I'm fine," she said. "Probably."
"Jedi intuition?" the family friend clarified, glancing at the hyperspace tunnel.
"I could swear I heard my brother's voice," Leia said.
Chewbacca growled.
"He's hurting," the former princess said thoughtfully. "Terrified. But only in flashes. He's holding himself together—Jedi discipline is helping him."
"Helping him with what?" Lando asked quietly.
"Not break," Leia answered just as quietly. "I… I didn't see anything, but I felt a crushing, aggressive, vicious aura. A presence so vile and repulsive it makes you shudder… Like… like…"
Calrissian drew a deep breath.
"Like Palpatine?" he asked.
The woman silently nodded.
Lando exhaled heavily, as though a deflating balloon.
"You're never one to crush my hopes gently," he sighed.
"You weren't the only one who believed he was really dead," Leia said, shivering. "I… Even after Galen Marek and General Kota said they'd been there, seen Palpatine with their own eyes, I didn't fully believe it. But now… I have no doubt. He truly has returned."
"We were told that before," Calrissian reminded her.
Leia nodded silently.
"Sometimes I think Thrawn wasn't actually that bad," she admitted. "The other Imperials… they're absolute, despotic. The grand admiral at least tried to convince us he wasn't like them. That it would be better for everyone if we worked together…"
"I don't remember his exact words, but it felt more like he was just asking us not to get in his way," Lando scratched the back of his head. "And demanding we help him build up his armed forces…"
"At least you could talk to him," Leia noted. "I doubt Palpatine will be anywhere near as chatty."
"Fair point," Calrissian agreed.
He sat in silence for several seconds, then asked the former princess directly:
"Do you trust Marek, Kota, and Eclipse?"
Leia raised her eyebrows in surprise.
"They were at the founding of the unified Alliance," she said. "Sure, Galen wasn't the initiator, but…"
"What bothers me is that, according to them, they managed to visit Palpatine's inner sanctum—Byss—and walk away alive," Lando admitted.
"Where are you going with this?" the Alliance Minister of State frowned, her gaze hardening.
"That something doesn't add up," Lando said. "Palpatine knows all three of them by sight, right?"
"Yes," Leia replied.
"Then how did they infiltrate and get out again?" Calrissian asked. "If it's that easy, why hasn't anyone else managed it? Why didn't Luke escape?"
"I don't think every other enemy interests Palpatine the way Luke does," Leia replied with a strained smile. "Galen, Kota, and Juno infiltrated Byss aboard the Eclipse—a super dreadnought that Tyber Zann once attacked at the Kuat yards. They hoped to destroy the ship and everything they found, but by then the starship was barely combat-capable. Still, they confirmed the fleet in the Deep Core isn't a myth. Shame we learned it so late. Maybe if we'd known earlier, we could have done something."
"We did try to verify Thrawn's words," Lando reminded her. "It ended with a few scout ships sent to known Deep Core systems and…"
"We did what we could," the minister said.
"Not nearly enough," Lando grimaced. "I don't trust them… It all feels too convenient."
"I understand how suspicious it looks from the outside," Leia sighed. "But unfortunately, we can't undo the past. We don't have so many friends that we can afford to suspect everyone just because they've been on enemy territory. If you recall, we're not exactly innocent ourselves—we spent far too long in Thrawn's custody for the Bothans to worm their way into the upper echelons and tear the New Republic apart."
"You know I never approved of that split," Lando said. "New Republic, Alliance… We gave too much to restoring the Republic to just walk away and leave the Bothans everything we'd achieved."
"Unfortunately, that's exactly what most of our military thought," Leia admitted. "Now we're doing everything we can to keep the Alliance from falling to the same intrigues that brought down the New Republic. And before it, the Old…"
"I doubt any government will ever be completely transparent with its citizens," Calrissian snorted.
"Well, you know," Leia smiled, realizing the "grievance" was mostly feigned. "Governments aren't the only ones with secrets."
Calrissian narrowed his eyes at her with interest.
"What exactly are you hinting at, Leia?" he asked.
"Iego," the former princess said. "Karrde mentioned during our last meeting that you've got some business project there. I don't recall you ever telling me or Han about it."
"Karrde's tongue has gotten too long," Lando grumbled. "And I'm not obligated to report every interest I have across the galaxy to anyone who asks."
"Still?" Leia arched a slender brow.
Lando glanced at Chewbacca, but the Wookiee clearly shared his curiosity about what new scheme the man who'd once "sold them out" to Darth Vader in Cloud City had gotten himself into.
"Ever heard of the Angels of Iego?" he asked the former princess of Alderaan.
"By rumor only," Leia said, avoiding details.
"There's this little planet in the Ash Worlds sector, not far from here—Iego," Lando explained. "In the Extrictarium Nebula, Outer Rim territories, to be precise. The nebula's a navigational nightmare, so Iego isn't on any public charts except maybe in the data banks on Obroa-skai or similar places. Not much there worth mass colonization—the planet doesn't rotate, and the atmosphere is superheated by stellar gases. You can live there, but comfort isn't included. During the Clone Wars, thousands of spacers got trapped by the countless moons and asteroids ringing the planet. Though not everyone knows those "spacers" were mostly poachers hunting dianogas. A flying species that lived on forty-two of Iego's more than a thousand moons…"
"Lando, if I wanted a long, boring lecture on scenic beauty, I'd ask Threepio to read me one," Leia declared. "I just don't understand what you found in such a backwater that made you want to go there…"
"That's exactly why you shouldn't rush the story," Lando grinned. Then the smile slid off his face. "Just don't call Threepio in here. Let him keep preparing for the diplomatic reception. That protocol droid is insufferably dull. And he still hasn't forgiven the stormtroopers for nearly blasting him apart in Cloud City…"
Chewbacca growled something unflattering.
"But you put him back together, didn't you?" Lando reasonably pointed out. "If you ask me, he's better than ever."
The Wookiee had no comeback.
"You know, I noticed back in Cloud City that you love jumping from topic to topic when you don't want to talk about your dealings," Leia said. "Like right now…"
Calrissian sighed heavily.
"Han really is lucky with his wife," he conceded. "How does he live with you seeing right through him?"
"Quietly," Leia smiled. "Family rule—no secrets."
Lando shot a questioning glance at Chewbacca, the only one who could confirm or deny the former princess's words.
The Wookiee predictably sided with her.
"When Thrawn tried to recruit me to manage his underwater mining operations, an idea occurred to me: 'Why not do the same thing, but somewhere else?' So I pulled some old contacts and learned about Iego," Calrissian explained. "Turned out things weren't quite as rosy as they seemed. Natural resources are scarcer than a Jawa's conscience, but there's one remarkable thing: somehow the concepts of aging and hunger simply don't apply to the locals."
"No one ages or goes hungry there?" Leia asked in surprise.
"At least that's what they say," Lando shrugged. "Lobot's studying it now. I had to spend a fortune just to get there and debunk the myth that Iego is nothing but a spacer legend. The name is known, but very few have actually reached it. And most who did never left. I hired a couple of Verpine and Geonosian navigators to plot a safe route the way only they can. So if I can afford to build a luxury resort there, the myths about Iego will fill my pockets. I figure plenty of sentients will want to come see a planet where no one hungers and no one ages."
"You might want to work on the advertising," Leia advised. "Strange places scare people off. And attract pirates. Imagine what a perfect base Iego could be if the only way out through the asteroid field and moons is knowing the exact route?"
"Well," Lando winked conspiratorially. "That's why I'm not really worried about raids."
"And why is that?" Leia asked. "Just don't tell me there's a Death Star or a Super Star Destroyer hiding there."
"Better," Calrissian smiled. "A laser defense grid. Yes, it's suffered over the years and isn't fully operational—local old-timers say a couple of Jedi had some fun and knocked out parts of it. That's how a lot of locals managed to leave. But with proper investment, no invasion force would ever get through…"
"Stop—stop—stop," Leia waved her hands. "What laser grid? I don't recall ever seeing a project by that name in Imperial archives."
"Because it's not Imperial," Calrissian winked again. "It's about thirty years old—built by Confederacy of Independent Systems engineers."
Chewbacca growled disapprovingly.
"Yeah, ancient tech, so what?" Lando shrugged. "I know people still running unmodified CIS gear. Or need I remind you how Grand Admiral Thrawn used battle droids and Separatist boarding craft?"
"No need," Leia grimaced.
The memories were still too fresh.
More like an unhealed wound.
"So what exactly is this technology?" the former princess asked curiously.
"There's an asteroid field and graveyard of old shipwrecks in Iego orbit—vessels that ended up in the wrong place at the wrong time. The formation is mostly static," Lando explained. "Locals call it the Thicket. The Separatists calculated the orbits of most objects and installed a central emitter station. When an unauthorized ship was detected, the emitter fired a laser beam that bounced off reflectors on the asteroids, redirecting to others—until the entire Thicket became a web of laser beams hundreds of kilometers deep. Flying through that and surviving? Impossible. Though," the gambler paused, "they say during the Clone Wars a couple of Jedi did break through—and damaged a good chunk of the grid. Now I need investors to restart the project. We're talking millions of credits."
Leia glanced at Chewbacca.
The Wookiee gave a barely perceptible head shake, indicating he didn't buy their friend's candor either.
"You know, that seems like overkill security for a resort," the former princess observed.
"Maybe," Lando said indifferently. "But if Grand Admiral Thrawn taught me anything, it's that old tech is criminally underrated. And that these days any lunatic with a couple of Star Destroyers can show up and wreck your business."
Leia remembered that was exactly what had happened to Lando's operation on Nkllon—raided and ruined by Grand Admiral Thrawn.
"You're building a bolt-hole," Leia realized.
"Yep," Calrissian grunted. "The resort idea might pan out, but a hard-to-reach spot in the galaxy with defenses that can shred any armed fleet seems a lot more useful. Especially after what your friend Galen says about Palpatine having thousands of ships—this could be our fortress when things get ugly."
Leia reached forward and kissed her friend on the cheek.
"Sorry," she said. "I shouldn't have pried like that."
"I'm used to it by now," Calrissian said, embarrassed. "Just figured with all the unrest in the galaxy, a quiet harbor wouldn't hurt."
"You can say that again," Leia agreed. "Even with the best Wookiee warriors and Winter guarding Jacen and Jaina, every trip still tears my heart."
"Well," Lando pretended to think. "I didn't originally plan for a nursery at my resort, but I think we can make a few adjustments to the builders' plans."
"You'd really do that?" Leia asked, looking at her old comrade in a new light.
"Why not?" he shrugged. "Only problem—by the time Lobot and I finish, I suspect the twins will have grown into Jedi who can hand anyone their own backside without needing protection."
"Investment," Leia nodded knowingly.
"Exactly," Calrissian agreed. "It's a major expense. And I'd rather not bring in big investors. Especially now, when you want to hide the kids there."
The former princess gazed thoughtfully at the hyperspace tunnel carrying them parsecs toward the capital of the Tion Hegemony.
"I think we can put in some family funds," she said. "Not a fortune, but better than nothing."
"You know, the Alliance could help too," Lando suggested. "Maybe I'll want a military hospital or rehabilitation center for war victims there…"
"I'll talk to Mon Mothma," Leia promised. "I'm sure she'll support funding a project like that."
"Maybe," Calrissian replied. "Maybe not. From what I understand, her priorities lie elsewhere right now."
"What can you do," Leia sighed. "Times are what they are."
"And apparently that's all we're going to get," Calrissian said glumly, glancing at the console.
The hyperdrive timer was counting down the final seconds of the journey.
"Brace yourselves," Calrissian said to Leia and Chewbacca. "Approaching destination."
The hyperspace tunnel collapsed into myriad starlines, revealing from the Millennium Falcon's cockpit a breathtaking view of the planet Tion—glittering in the blackness of space like a diamond set in obsidian.
Leia studied the ocean-covered world with its green continents and plains, so vividly reminiscent of lost Alderaan that she almost missed the sudden bustle in the cockpit.
Lando was tapping the controls, raising deflector shields and powering weapons.
Chewbacca roared, bringing auxiliary systems online.
"What's happening?" Leia asked.
The Wookiee let out a guttural bellow.
The ex-princess cleared the copilot seat for him, eyes locked on Lando's pointing finger—at the fast-approaching pinpoints of light.
"If that's not a welcoming committee, I'll venture they're a squadron of interceptors," Calrissian said. "Imperial TIE interceptors, may the Maw swallow them!"
The alarm buzzer finally sounded in the cockpit.
Chewbacca silenced it with a roar.
"And they just locked missiles on us," Lando added.
A second later, more streaks detached from the oncoming lights.
They closed with supernatural speed—no doubt now, missiles.
Calrissian rolled the Millennium Falcon hard, breaking the firing solution.
"I'll take the dorsal turret," Leia warned, sprinting toward the lounge.
A moment later Chewbacca joined her, clearly intent on claiming the ventral gun.
The visit to the Tion Hegemony had begun far from festive banquets and pompous speeches.
***
"Stations! All hands to stations!" the order echoed through corridors finished in the gentle, rounded Mon Calamari style that never failed to impress with its harmonious beauty. "Prepare for realspace reversion! Activate transponders! Bring all systems online! Switch to secondary ident."
Orders came fast, concise, maximally informative—and, crucially, were obeyed.
He could expect that from anyone, even the warlike locals, but not from those who for years had done little more than pick their noses and forget everything they'd ever been taught at the Academy.
The hyperspace tunnel collapsed into pinpricks of distant stars.
Diluted by the glow of maneuvering thrusters from ships in orbit around Galidraan.
"Commander, all five cruisers have arrived at the designated coordinates," a subordinate reported. "Secondary ident transponders active."
"Good," the operation commander replied without raising his voice or shifting his gaze from the enemy vessels rearranging formation. "Launch all fighters. Assign targets among the battlecruisers. Open fire on the nearest hostile."
Ten Kaloth-class battlecruisers shifted from cruising order into combat line, two per invading capital ship.
While they performed that maneuver, the battle had already claimed its first victims.
Interceptor-IV frigates darted past the lumbering Kaloths, attempting a bold cavalry charge to disrupt the attackers' formation.
It didn't go well for them.
Fifteen squadrons of X-wings and the newest K-wing assault starfighters intercepted the nimble defenders, leaving no frigate unscathed.
Space between the combatants became a storm of turbolaser fire, laser cannons, missile trails, and explosion flashes.
With every minute the battle grew more desperate and bloody.
The star cruisers, formed into line astern, smashed through the Kaloths' defensive wall with ferocious momentum, scattering their formation and forcing a brutal close-quarters brawl.
While the Alliance's newest bombers savaged the frigates and X-wings vaporized the scant enemy fighters, the Mon Calamari-designed capital ships unleashed their fury on the defenders.
Deflectors on several Kaloths were already flickering.
Some hulls showed blackened scars from turbolaser hits—testimony to the gunnery skill aboard the Mon Calamari vessels.
The MC80a star cruisers themselves, shielded by robust deflectors fed by multiple reactors, showed no signs of distress despite the numerical disadvantage.
A few hull breaches and scorch marks on such mighty vessels were mere decoration, yet it did not mean they needed babysitting.
Hellfire engulfed Galidraan's orbit.
The star cruisers, though not equipped with the galaxy's best turbolasers, used what they had to devastating effect.
Every shot found its mark with surgical precision.
Every missile or proton torpedo inflicted irreparable damage.
The engagement lasted thirty-seven minutes. After collecting escape pods and downed pilots—friend and foe alike—the Mon Calamari star cruisers vanished into hyperspace the moment larger reinforcements than those just destroyed appeared in-system.
Unfortunately for one side, those reinforcements managed to record the cruisers' exit vector.
Barely thirty minutes later, fifteen Kaloth-class battlecruisers leapt in pursuit of the raiders responsible for annihilating the Galidraan task force.
The operation commander entered a small compartment equipped for encrypted hyperspace comms.
He activated the necessary systems and waited patiently for the quarter-size hologram to appear.
"Mission accomplished, sir," he reported calmly to the white-and-blue humanoid. "Hostile ships in the Galidraan system attacked and destroyed. As you predicted, they had reserves that arrived shortly after the engagement."
"Did they obtain your exit vector?" the humanoid asked, stroking his chin thoughtfully.
"Yes, Grand Admiral," Commodore Brandei nodded. "The buzz droids deployed during the battle are already relaying data to our ships: they're following us toward Lianna."
"The second phase of your operation begins momentarily," Thrawn reminded him in a tone that suggested forgetting was impossible. "Destroy those ships—no pirate or mercenary must survive to report what truly happened."
"It will be done, sir!"
"How did the clones from former Rogue Squadron pilot Wes Janson perform?" the grand admiral inquired.
"The Alliance's new bombers were mastered quickly and effectively by Janson's clones," Brandei reported. "They fly the new craft nearly as well as X-wings."
"Logical, given the differences in design and manufacturer philosophy," Thrawn mused. "Very well. Complete your task, then rendezvous with the third star cruiser detachment and return to base. The third detachment's commander will report its success directly to me."
"Yes, sir."
Grand Admiral Thrawn's hologram dissolved, leaving Commodore Brandei alone.
Not much time had passed since he assumed command of all military forces in the Karthakk system.
In that time he had already intercepted six transports carrying the enemy's newest bombers and distributed them among his star cruisers, significantly upgrading their fighter wings.
Used falsified transponders to lure reserves out of hiding with star cruiser raids on Thanium Worlds positions.
Soon five Mon Calamari star cruisers would be yanked from hyperspace by an Interdictor-class Star Destroyer and join the second detachment.
Then both detachments would finish the pursuers, leaving the Thanium Worlds wide open to invasion.
A rich, weakened prize always attracts those with refined tastes.
Only the third star cruiser detachment's mission remained unknown.
But knowing the grand admiral, it was bound to be fascinating.
***
In atmosphere the Falcon's maneuver would have been called a dive.
In vacuum it was simply a course change.
The aging freighter shot away from the missiles like an enraged bantha, plummeting toward Tion's lower geostationary orbit.
Leia, painfully slammed against her seat back, climbed into the gunwell.
With practiced, automatic motions she donned the headset and gripped the turret controls.
The targeting display flared to life.
"Lando, how bad is it?" she asked.
"Full squadron of Imperial interceptors with missile launchers," Calrissian's voice was far from friendly. "They're trying to box us in. Missiles…"
Leia saw the smoke trails streak overhead.
Then several explosions bloomed ahead.
"…dumb-fire," the former Cloud City administrator finished.
"No targets in my firing arc," Leia complained.
Chewbacca roared confirmation from below.
"Because they're staying outside it!" Calrissian explained. "I'm trying to close, but… Oh no…"
"What now?" Leia asked.
"I dropped the fake transponder and started broadcasting our real codes," Calrissian said. "We're inside low-orbit satellite range. Sensors are picking up more ships. I'm transmitting on all channels that we're nothing more than a diplomatic vessel. They're ignoring us and herding us toward the planet's dark side."
Using false transponder codes on long journeys through an unstable galaxy was one of Han's standard precautions.
Apparently Calrissian shared the habit.
"Not the worst outcome if it ends with just one attack run," Leia suggested.
"I doubt thirty-six Star Destroyers, an Allegiance-class battlecruiser, and fifty carrack cruisers emerged from the shadow just to show off to one battered old freighter," Calrissian said.
The former princess groaned, clenching her teeth.
An Imperial fleet.
Though what else should she expect?
The interceptors had to launch from somewhere.
"Do we know their ident codes?" she asked, wondering why they hadn't opened fire yet.
"Transponders off," Calrissian said.
His tone told her he'd reached the same conclusion she had.
Years after Endor, when most of the Imperial Star Fleet had been destroyed fighting the Rebellion or in the bloody Imperial Civil War, Imperial Space—the largest remaining holder of Star Destroyers—had disabled transponders fleet-wide to hinder New Republic tracking of Orinda's remaining warships.
They hadn't changed the policy since.
"Either they have no quarrel with the Millennium Falcon, or I don't understand why they aren't shooting," Calrissian said, puzzled.
Leia was equally baffled.
First missiles—clearly self-destructed by the pilots.
Now destroyers that could see them but held fire.
What kind of Imperials behaved like that?
Leia felt her mouth go dry.
She had a guess which Imperial enthusiast might not want the Falcon's crew dead.
But if she was right, there was nothing more for her to do here.
The Dominion never let prey escape.
Yet neither would she despair!
She refused to surrender just because she saw Imperial-designed ships.
"They're hailing us," Lando announced. "Putting it on open channel."
A click in her headset, then a deep bass voice:
"Alliance diplomatic vessel Millennium Falcon. We are pleased to welcome you to the Tion Hegemony. Transmitting landing coordinates. You have nothing to fear from our fleet—no harm will come to you…"
"Thanks for that," Lando snarked. "And the missiles were…?"
"A duty squadron will escort you to the House of Tion residence," the voice said. Another click.
The Tionese cut the channel.
"Leia," Calrissian called cautiously. "Come back to the cockpit. Their ident codes are active."
"On my way," the former Alderaanian princess replied. "Dominion ships?"
Calrissian snorted.
"I don't know if this is good or bad, but no. Pellaeon has nothing to do with them."
"Then whose?" Leia froze.
"If no one faked the codes, every destroyer and cruiser out there is local," Calrissian said slowly. "Leia—this fleet belongs to the Tion Hegemony."
Worse by the minute!
Had the Hegemony somehow seized the sector's Imperial fleet and no one knew for years?!
Her mouth tasted of copper.
The New Republic had been shockingly ignorant of its closest neighbors.
***
By the time Leia reached the cockpit, the Millennium Falcon was deep in atmosphere, skimming over an unnaturally smooth sea of clouds, gracefully weaving between monumental mountain peaks rising like islands from the mist.
Tionese interceptors flew in perfect escort wings to either side, threading the needle between jagged spires with virtuoso precision.
"Some 'duty squadron,'" Leia said indignantly, sliding into the copilot seat. "That's just showing off."
Calrissian, fully focused on flying, shook his head.
Then reconsidered and commented:
"Flashy pilots sent up to greet us. And scare us senseless while they were at it."
"They could have just rolled out a Star Destroyer or half their fleet like they did at the end of the 'diplomatic welcome,'" Leia nodded. "Missile fireworks… Who in their right mind does that? One step away from declaring war!"
Chewie, entering the cockpit, gave her a sidelong glance. Though Wookiee facial expressions were hard to read, the astonishment and irritation on his furry face were unmistakable.
"The main thing is we're alive," Leia smiled at him. "And once planetside we'll figure out what's going on and why we received such a 'warm' reception."
Chewie stared at her another second, then snorted and turned to his console.
Ahead to starboard a compact cluster of impossibly tall mountains appeared, dark filigree structures clearly built by master architects visible among them.
"There we go," Lando said. "That must be the place they're taking us for the meeting."
"Time to land, then," Leia prompted, fingers still nervously twisting.
The "warm welcome" had nearly ended the mission in disaster.
But the misunderstanding seemed resolved, and they could relax.
Chewbacca growled softly, pointing forward.
His huge paw indicated the complex was far larger than it first appeared.
A little higher rose a circular platform lit by landing lights.
Calrissian brought the Falcon in, circling the platform several times before descending.
At first Leia thought the pad too small for the freighter's landing struts, but as they neared, the visible circle expanded dramatically.
Closer inspection revealed the outer two-thirds of the platform were painted to blend perfectly with the surrounding rock and snow.
The local starport could easily accommodate not just a small freighter but a passenger liner—or, for that matter, an Imperial strike cruiser.
Like the ones they'd seen in orbit.
But she didn't want to think about that now.
The ex-princess expected some ceremonial welcome—and in a way, that's exactly what the Tionese provided.
Two tall, powerfully built soldiers in armor polished to a blinding sheen stood at perfect attention beside the Falcon as Chewbacca lowered the ramp.
The pair were indistinguishable—identical armor, cloaks, and fully enclosed helmets.
On the ramp, Leia saw a tall, lean man standing between two more guards, smiling politely.
She frowned, realizing she could breathe normally without a mask.
The air at this altitude should be thin enough to make her light-headed.
Yet everything felt perfectly normal.
No discomfort at all.
"Atmospheric dome," the greeter explained with a smile. "The residence is enclosed within one."
"Really?" Lando sounded impressed. "I didn't even notice."
"Custom-built," the man said. "The shield frequency renders it nearly invisible."
Mid-forties, aristocratic features, high cheekbones, close-cropped hair.
House of Tion crest on his clothing—someone of significance in the family.
Yet despite the welcoming smile, icy flecks seemed frozen in his eyes, and a faint aura of cold disdain lashed like a whip.
Leia walked toward him, frantically calling on every Jedi calming technique she could remember and praying no one noticed her trembling.
She struggled to read the Tionese behavior, and now they held all the cards.
"Princess," the man bowed as she stepped onto the platform. "A pleasure to meet you. I am Lux Bonteri, adopted son of the House of Tion. It is a great honor."
"The honor is mine, Lord Bonteri," Leia replied with a warm smile. "But please—I am Minister of State, not princess. The planet that granted me the title is gone."
"Yes, we are aware," Bonteri said, looking at her as though she were furniture. "I will escort you, Princess."
The awkwardness was suffocating.
Leia felt an urge to turn and run.
She was clearly unwelcome.
The Tionese were deliberately heightening tension to demonstrate their power and the Alliance envoys' helplessness.
Classic tactic to weaken a diplomat's position—especially hers—and extract better terms.
Dirty play.
"Of course," Leia murmured, lowering her hand and feeling like a complete fool.
Doubt crept in that the Tionese intended to negotiate at all.
This felt more like an ultimatum.
Given what she'd seen in orbit, the Hegemony's military was no joke.
All Imperial-pattern.
Dozens of Star Destroyers—"Imperial," "Victory," a few rarer classes like Tector and Secutor.
Flagship unmistakably an Allegiance-class battlecruiser.
How they'd assembled such a force was unclear.
But the fact remained: the Hegemony was strong, flaunted it shamelessly, and was ready for war.
Leia had no illusions—her mission to curb the Hegemony's "appetites" was doomed.
She might as well turn around now, fly to Da Soocha, and admit failure.
But she forced the despair away.
No one was forcing her to sign anything here and now.
She would at least hear what the House of Tion wanted to propose—or rather, what facts they intended to present and what they wanted in return.
One thing was certain: the Tionese were wealthy enough to maintain a pro-Imperial fleet.
They'd shown only their best ships; lesser vessels surely existed, but the message was clear.
The Hegemony was ready for war.
Walking beside Bonteri toward the main structure, Leia realized she needed to refresh everything she knew about the Hegemony.
If an emissary treated a diplomat this way, the head of the House would be worse.
"Quite the unplanned display of your fleet in orbit," she said neutrally.
"Display?" Bonteri sounded surprised. "No, you are mistaken."
"I don't think so," Leia pressed. "We were nearly shot down. Then herded around orbit like wild kath hounds."
"I would phrase it differently, but if you enjoy hunting kath hounds, by all means," the emissary chuckled. "I take no issue with our guests' preferences. And no—you are mistaken. No one was sent to greet you. The duty squadron was pursuing smugglers. Your freighter was misidentified because no one expected you to arrive in such a vessel. We anticipated a Mon Calamari star cruiser. I hear you have new models rivaling Imperial-class Star Destroyers."
Leia kept her expression neutral.
"A diplomatic mission arriving aboard a warship is hardly the best start to mutually beneficial talks."
"True, and that view has merit," Bonteri allowed with a restrained smile.
"You are not Tion-born," she tried a different angle.
"No," he agreed. "I was born into House Bonteri. I entered the House of Tion after their last male heir, Lord Tion, became the victim of a tragic hunting accident. You were there, were you not, Princess?"
Leia felt her fists clench.
Deliberate provocation.
Hence the petty jabs.
"My deepest condolences for the House of Tion's loss," she said. "Though I recall the head of the house and several sons were still alive some time ago…"
"They perished a year after the Battle of Yavin," Bonteri stated. "A terrible loss from which we may never recover."
Ice formed in Leia's stomach.
The House of Tion was fiercely patriarchal, traditions forged over millennia.
The sudden absence of any male heirs was an alarming signal.
As was the growing suspicion of whom she would be negotiating with.
"So you represent the interests of the Tion Hegemony on behalf of the House of Tion?" she asked.
"Precisely, Princess," the man said. "Since the Alliance has decided to establish itself in our region, a meeting was inevitable. Sooner is better than later, in my view."
"I agree," Leia said evasively as they approached massive metal doors inlaid with precious-metal filigree. "Perhaps you would be so kind as to outline the topics you wish to discuss. I would prefer to know the agenda in advance."
"Oh, don't play coy," Bonteri smiled coldly. "You already know. It has been on the surface for decades. The territories of the Tion Hegemony," the doors swung open, warm air washing over Leia as they crossed the threshold, "must be restored to their historical borders."
"You have an impressive fleet," Leia observed. "I saw only a fraction, but I assume you could address the issue without our involvement."
"And we are addressing it," the aristocrat declared. "We will handle part of the problem; you will handle the rest—if you want our support."
The old saying about chasing two speeders at once came to mind.
Or drinking from two rivers simultaneously.
"Hegemony support would be invaluable," Leia conceded. "But we prefer not to resolve—especially ancient territorial disputes—through force of arms."
"No one is asking you to," Bonteri shrugged. "The method is irrelevant. The result is what matters."
"In that case, shall we move to specifics?" she proposed.
"No," the man halted in the center of a vast hall ringed by five-meter columns carved directly from the living rock. "Negotiations should begin soon, of course, but we are aristocrats and observe protocol. You will be shown to your quarters," he gestured toward a protocol droid that had shuffled over at his request. "Rest after your journey. Your companions," Leia flushed, only now remembering Chewbacca and Lando were still at the Falcon, "will be escorted to the residence shortly."
Something in his tone set Leia's teeth on edge.
She searched her memory for proper etiquette in such situations…
And found it.
Face paling, the former Alderaanian princess met the icy gaze of the head of the House of Tion:
"Lando Calrissian and Chewbacca are neither servants nor slaves," she said firmly. "They are my friends and comrades-in-arms!"
"As you wish," Bonteri shrugged. "You will be informed when negotiations commence. My apologies—affairs of state wait for no one."
He added the last as one of the guards—identical to the pair at the landing platform—approached.
Even as Bonteri walked away, Leia sensed through the Force a surge of anger and surprise radiating from him.
For a moment the departing aristocrat glanced back at the Alliance minister.
Leia felt as though doused in ice water.
Bonteri turned sharply and vanished among the columns into one of the residence corridors.
"Not exactly the friendliest place," Lando commented half an hour later when he entered her lavish, truly aristocratic apartments—large enough to park a pair of Corellian corvettes. "But they certainly know how to live large."
"All show," Leia muttered, still unable to calm down. "Lando, something's going on here."
"I got that the moment they fired missiles at us," Calrissian said. "And yes—those weren't fireworks. The pilots blew them up before they could punch bigger holes in the Falcon and us. Chewie, by the way, stayed aboard—he's not thrilled about those goons with disintegrators standing guard on the pad."
"Disintegrators? Those are banned galaxy-wide!" Leia asked, stunned.
"The galaxy's in chaos," Lando reminded her. "Who's brave—or powerful—enough to enforce bans that were ignored even under the Old Republic?"
Leia had no answer.