Twist of Darkness - Chapter 24

Triona Elyob was dreaming of babies...Well only one baby really, and it was huge...

She was trying to hold it in her arms but it was wriggling and screaming and for some reason it was naked.

She was standing at the top of steps leading down into a cantina...

Even as the semi-conscious part of her mind wondered what she was doing in a cantina with a baby, the subconscious part of her mind recognised the place, remembering it from years before... Tatooine... She was back on Tatooine...

She'd met someone there, someone whose name had become well known in both Imperial and Rebel circles...

She swallowed hard, the dream warping and moving around her, leaving her standing in front of a table. HE was there, with his friends. Chezzie was there too.

Chezz waved at her, telling her, "Sorry, love. Didn't have any clothes for a baby..."

Triona ignored the absurdity of the statement, watching as HE lifted his head, looking at her with those blue eyes that, even now, stole her breath away.

"Triona..."

She smiled...

"Triona Elyob..."

She nodded, "You remember..."

"Pilot Officer Elyob..."

She frowned. How did he know her rank? She wasn't wearing a uniform...

"Pilot Officer Elyob, can you hear me?"

"Pilot Officer Elyob," the droid repeated, "can you hear me?"

Standing behind the droid, Mon Mothma watched the young woman drift back toward consciousness. A frown brushed across the pilot's face and she mumbled something that could have been a name... Luke, perhaps?

The pilot's eyes slid open and she blinked, obviously confused by her surroundings. The droid checked the bio-readings on the panel above the bed then moved away. Mon Mothma stepped forward laying a hand gently on her shoulder and assuring her, "It's alright, Triona. You're safe now. You're in the Medical Section on the Home One..."

"In..." Triona began trying to swallow down the acrid, chemical taste in her mouth. Then her eyes went wide as she recognised the woman standing beside her. "Ma'am..." she began, struggling to sit up, the movement causing a fit of coughing.

"No," Mon Mothma advised softly, gently laying a restraining hand on the pilot's shoulder, "Please... Stay where you are..."

Triona did as she was told, sinking back gratefully against the pillows, swallowing on a dry throat, wheezing as her lungs protested.

"They tell me," Mothma told her, "that you will feel a little disoriented for a time, but that it will pass..."

Triona nodded, letting Mon Mothma know that she understood. Then, as the coughing subsided, she tried, "What... what happened?"

Mothma turned, looking at her aide, who supplied, "There was a malfunction in the main processing unit of the T-65. It meant that you weren't receiving enough oxygen and passed out. The situation was exacerbated by fumes from a coolant leak being drawn into the cockpit because of the computer malfunction..."

Triona nodded, commenting, "That would explain the bahdjer tongue..."

"Find out if Triona can have some water," Mothma told her aide, who nodded and went off in search of a medi-droid. Mothma turned back, stepping in towards the bed and laid a reassuring hand on Triona's arm.

"You need do nothing now but rest and recover," Mothma assured the pilot. "The Home Two is not as badly damaged as we first feared and we will get you back to your squadron as soon as we can."

She smiled, asking, "Is there any message I can pass on for you?"

Triona nodded, "There is, Ma'am... Can you let my husband know that I'm okay...?"

"That I can gladly do," Mothma assured her. "He serves with Omega Squadron too, I believe."

"Yes, Ma'am," Triona confirmed. "He's Knight One Three..."

She frowned, something Mon Mothma had said coming back to her. The Home Two is not as badly damaged as we had first feared...

"Ma'am," she asked, "how long was I out? I mean, how long was I unconscious?"

"Almost three hours," Mothma told her. "There was some damage to your lungs that had to be repaired. The droids will, I am sure, explain everything to you... For now, as I said, all you have to do is concentrate on your recovery."

Triona nodded, "Thank you, Ma'am."

A droid moved in, helping her to sit up, giving her a carton of sweet-smelling liquid. Triona sipped at the juice, remnants of the pre-waking images washing back into her memories as the liquid eased the dryness of her throat and washed away the acrid taste from her mouth.

The guilt that she always managed to keep boxed away in the back of her mind, tugged at her again and, for the first time since she had married Dav, she allowed the memories of the life she had once led to flow to the surface...

Memories of her time on Coruscant...

Memories of the covert journeys she had made with her parents as they tried to secure supplies and hardware for the growing ranks of the Rebel Alliance...

Memories of the blond-haired, blue-eyed farm boy she had had a dalliance with on Tattoine while her father bartered with the Hutts...

Memories of holding the newborn babe in her arms as he yawned and drifted into a contented sleep after his first feed...

She fought back the tears, knowing that if she gave into them now, she would never stop... Knowing that she had been wrong to keep her son's existence a secret from Dav...

She would tell him. The minute she got back to the Home Two she would tell him. He was her husband. He loved her. And he would understand... Wouldn't he?

~*~

Maggs Ronnoc lifted her head, listening. She was sure she had heard something moving on the other side of the bulkhead. The noise came again, a scraping, juddering sound.

She frowned, turning her head, realising that the sound was coming from behind her, from what the people on the other end of the pad link had told her was, the destroyed Command Deck.

Emotions flooded through her, jockeying for position - hope that someone was alive on the other side of the bulkhead - terror that the bulkhead was failing and that her office would soon be open to the vacuum of space.

The pad beside her bleeped into life, startling her. She swore and pulled it to her, reading the message. Help is almost with you, Lieutenant, the message read. There's a force field in place across the Command Deck. They're coming through that way.

Maggs swallowed down a wash of sadness, knowing that she had been stupid to let hope surface. She had survived the last few hours by simply refusing to deal with any grief for the friends she had lost on the Command Deck, telling herself that she would grieve later, once she knew the details...

Not going anywhere, she typed back.

From the other side of the bulkhead she heard a whooshing sound and recognised it as the sound of a cutting torch on the metal. She rested her head on the floor, unable to see where they were cutting through the metal, listening to the sound getting louder, wondering if the pain in her hip was getting worse because she was unconsciously starting to relax now that she could hear rescue within her grasp.

After a long few minutes, the torch sound stopped replaced by the deep, heavy thump of something hitting the bulkhead. With a screech of protest the metal gave way, moving into the room.

"Lieutenant Ronnoc?" a voice called.

"Over here!" she called back. "I'm trapped beneath the beam..."

She heard the sound of someone crawling across the floor then grinned, resting her head back on the floor as a young man appeared at her side.

"Hello there," he greeted, shooting her a smile.

"Fates," she told him, "but am I glad to see you..."

"I'll bet," he told her then assured, "We'll have you out of here in no time..." He touched her hand, "I'll just have a quick look to see how tightly you're wedged beneath this thing, okay? The medics are right behind me."

She nodded and he disappeared from her view. She heard him making small noises of approval and disapproval over the sound of other people moving into the office.

"Sheesh," another officer told her as he dropped to his knees beside her. "You need to sack your cleaners, Lieutenant..."

She giggled despite the pain, shaking her head, "Idiot..."

"Yeah, well, this idiot has painkillers with him, so you'd better play nice..." he shot back, already opening the medical kit. He looked her over, checking for injuries, before filling a hypodermic. "This will kill the pain but it won't knock you out, okay?"

"Okay," she replied.

He found a vein, pressing the hypodermic home and pushed the liquid into her bloodstream.
"The Admiral?" she asked.

"I don't know, Lieutenant," he told her. Then he admitted, "But so far you are the only survivor we've found on the upper decks..."

She nodded, pushing away the grief that threatened to overwhelm her, feeling the pain recede as the drug began to do its job.

"Better?" the man asked.

"Better," she told him. "Much better..."

He grinned again, "Excellent... You're in good hands, Lieutenant. And I'll stay with you until they get you out, okay?"

She nodded, suddenly very grateful to him, "Thank you..."

~*~

Laruna poured yet another cup of kaffin and stretched, reaching for the packet of sandwiches she had ordered from the canteen. The console behind her beeped and data began streaming across the screen. Laruna lifted the kaffin and sandwiches, heading back to it, settling herself on the chair, typing one handed as she drank from the kaffin mug in the other.

She frowned, stopping the data, putting the kaffin down slowly as she ordered, "Show the footage..."

The screen fizzed for a moment and then a picture swam into focus. Laruna's frown deepened as she watched the image - a long corridor of doors. Fingers dancing across the console, she tried to make the picture sharper.

"Confirm the location of camera," she ordered, biting her lip, a cold knot of dismay settling in the pit of her stomach as a line of data marched across the bottom of the screen. Not good... Not good at all...

Laruna watched the footage intently, waiting to see if the nagging suspicions in the back of her mind would be confirmed. After a few moments an Imperial officer appeared out of one of the doors and began walking towards the camera. Laruna stopped the recording, isolating the picture of the officer and setting a cross-referencing program into motion before starting the tape again.

On the screen, behind the officer, two other, more junior officers appeared holding a prisoner between them. Laruna stopped the footage again, her heart sinking. Part of her praying that she was wrong, she cross-referenced the woman's image before starting the tape again, watching as Commander Kazlyn Hawkspar was escorted down the corridor and past the camera.

Sighing softly, Laruna rewound the tape to watch it again.

The console burbled at her and she turned, bringing up the data on a second screen. Any lingering doubts, any hope she had had of being wrong, were wiped away. Alliance records confirmed Commander Hawkspar's identity...

Laruna closed her eyes for a moment, running her hand across her face before reading through the information, her heart sinking further. There were very few details allocated to the cell the Commander had been dragged from, except for a note that the same prisoner had occupied it for almost sixty-eight hours...

The unit burbled again and another picture appeared, this time of the more senior officer. Laruna quirked an eyebrow, surprised to find that the data had come from Rebel Alliance records, not Imperial ones. Morrit Pon'Ton... He had briefly been a prisoner on the Home Two after the Richlo's Rest incident but had escaped, killing a Chief Technician and injuring both another engineer and Kazlyn Hawkspar in the process...

Before she had even finished reading the information, more data began to scroll across the screen below Pon'Ton's picture, only this time it was Imperial information, and according to that his name was Martellon and he was a Fleet Commander...

Intrigued, Laruna set up another program designed to extract as much information about this Martellon as she could from any source that she could find.

Then she started the tape again, scrutinising the images of Commander Hawkspar, trying to see how badly she was injured, how close to collapsing she was, trying to find any detail that might give them an idea of what was happening to her.

Finally, after watching the footage for a third time, she printed out the images of both Commander Hawkspar and the Fleet Commander, took a hard-copy of the data from the computer, swallowed another mouthful of her kaffin and then headed for Elhen Anders office: thanking the fates that the Major had managed to appease Darrik Hawkspar with assurances that they would contact him as soon as they knew anything before persuading him that he should get some proper rest in his own quarters.

Laruna pressed the chime, stepping into the office as the door slid open.

Elhen Anders looked up at her and knew from the expression on the Lieutenant's face that she had found something. "You have news..."

Laruna nodded, "I do, Ma'am, and it's as we feared. Commander Hawkspar is in Imperial hands..."

The Major sighed, her shoulders drooping slightly. "Well," she ventured, "At least we know for sure now..."

Then she pulled herself up straight again, asking, "What did you find?"

Laruna handed over the pictures and printouts to the Major, supplying, "She's been held in the detention cells beneath the Imperial Palace on Coruscant. There's no record of her as such, but I set up some programs to search for anyone matching the Commander's description. They came up with this. The photographs were taken from camera footage of the detention cells. I've linked it through so you can access the recordings from your console, Ma'am..."

Elhen nodded, "Thank you..."

Laruna shot her a sad smile of acknowledgement, then went on, "It's definitely Commander Hawkspar. I have no idea where they were taking her... yet... but if we found her on one security camera, we'll find her on another."

Elhen was scrutinising the photographs and Laruna continued, "You can see dressings across the Commander's collar bone. The prison data says that the detainee in the cell has been interned for over sixty-eight hours. She's been "questioned" but there are no details, apart from her having received medical attention..."

Elhen read through the information Laruna had given her, lips tightening into a thin line. Sixty-eight hours... The Commander must have been caught only minutes after making the transmission to the Home One...

And after almost three days of interrogation it would only a matter of time before she broke, if she hadn't already...

Elhen looked back up Laruna, "I want as much information as you can give me on this Martellon, Lieutenant."

Laruna grinned at her, "Already onto it, Major... The programs are running as we speak."

"Good..." Elhen nodded, "Then once they've finished running, we are going to take a trip across to the Home Two to ask Lieutenant Commander Lainy Kal'Ten some questions..."

"We?" Laruna asked, mildly surprised to be included.

Elhen nodded, "You've been in on this since the beginning, Lieutenant. You know even more than I do at this point and I want you with me."

"Of course, Ma'am..." Laruna accepted, assuring, "I'll make sure that you get everything you need once I've collated it."

"Thank you, Xen," the Major acknowledged, turning to her workstation. "I want you to read the debrief Lainy Kal'Ten gave after the Richlo incident so that you're fully up to speed on everything. Kal'Ten and Hawkspar both knew this Imperial Officer."

Laruna quirked an eyebrow, intrigued by the information. "Do you think there might be some connection between that and her capture?"

Elhen looked back up at her, handing her a data pad, "I'm not sure, Xen, but we have to exhaust every possibility in this game."

She pushed herself wearily to her feet. Tucking a stray curl back behind her ear, she sighed, giving Xen a sad smile, "And now that we have some concrete evidence on Commander Hawkspar's whereabouts, I'll inform Mon Mothma... and the Commander's father..."

~*~

Xen Edraa followed the marshaller's instructions, settling the X-wing on the hangar deck. He gave her the thumbs-up, moving away and she started the spool-down sequence as the canopy clunked forward and slowly began to lift.

On the other side of the hangar, Lainy was already throwing off her restraints. Pulling her helmet off she ran her hand through her hair, grinning as Aryes Drayke appeared beside her at the top of the ladder.

"Any problems?" he asked.

She shook her head, patting the side of the fighter, telling him, "Running like a dream, Chief. Running like a dream."

"Well, your Chief will be pleased that there's no carbon scoring on her this time!" he muttered, climbing back down the ladder. "Either you're flying better or their aim's getting worse!"

"Hey!" Lainy shot back, dropping her helmet on the seat as she stood up. She leaned over the side, shouting down, "Leave my flying out of this!"

He grinned up at her, "I would if I could, Lieutenant Commander! I would if I could!"

She poked her tongue out at him then sobered, asked, "Where's my Chief anyway?"

"Helping run power cables to the front of the ship..."

"Oh..." Lainy replied, then asked, "Any news of Triona?"

"Nothing as yet... Sorry..." Ary told her, "The Flight persuaded Dav to go to the crew room and wait for news, though..."

"Cut the chat, Chief!" Lori Enilra ordered as she moved past the nose of the fighter, heading back towards the Deck Officer's desk, "and get that T-65 refuelled!"

"Aye, Flight!" Ary confirmed, jumping the last few rungs and snapping orders to the rest of the tech crew.

"Flight?" Lainy called, swinging her legs over the edge of the fighter, dropping down the ladder to the hangar floor as Lori turned.

Lainy jogged over to her, asking, "How bad is the damage to the Home Two? Chief Drayke said they were running power lines forward...?"

"I honestly don't know, Ma'am," Lori admitted. "We were only told that she was secured and able to accept Omega back in."

Lainy frowned, "Communications still that bad ship wide?"

Lori gave her a quick grin, "No... We've just been too busy with you lot to worry about what's happening outside of this hangar..."

Lainy grinned back at her then told her, "Well, some of the freighters are docked and unloading their cargoes. Medical supplies have the priority; then everything else is coming in as and when it can... Oh," she finished, suddenly serious again, "Chezz trashed his bird..."

"Is he okay?" Lori asked.

"Walking wounded," Xen Edraa answered, walking up behind Lainy.

"Think he took out a TIE," Lainy added, "Literally... The turbulence in the atmosphere was mildly worse than we were lead to believe..."

"The SAR picked him up," Xen went on. She paused for a moment, before telling the Flight, "Dalhanyo and Thieer weren't so lucky..."

She saw the dismay wash across Lori Enilra's face and pushed her own grief away before she could dwell on it, asking, "Any news on Triona?"

"Nothing so far," the Flight confirmed, "But we've been a little busy. News might have reached your crew room, though. That's where we asked any information to be sent. Her husband is there... I'll see what I can find out..."

"That's okay," Xen told her. "No news is good news... I hope..."

She trailed off, catching sight of three pilots she didn't recognise; two women and an older man. She frowned, sure that the pilots who had joined them from Pryatt had been two males and a female. "Those aren't the Aryad pilots, are they?"

Lori looked round, shaking her head, "No... Those three came in on one of the freighters. They suited up as soon as they walked through the door. Seem pretty switched on. We pointed the Aryad pilots in the direction of the crew room. The rest of your pilots should be there too, getting fed and watered... I don't think Lieutenant Redav or the Rookie have left yet, though..."

Xen glanced round, seeing Shei walk towards them. Baz was nowhere to be seen. "I'll greet the fresh meat," Lainy offered, "if you go to say hello to the Aryad bunch..."

Edraa nodded, "Sounds good... Flight?" she went on, turning back to Lori, "do we have fighters for... the... newbies...?" She trailed off, grinning at the look on Enilra's face. "I don't have to ask, do I?"

Lori shook her head, assuring her, "They'll be ready to go when you are... Now will you buzz off and let me get on with my job?"

Lainy chuckled, grabbing Xen's arm. "I'll keep her out of your hair, Flight..." she told Enilra as she dragged Xen away.

"Why does that scare me?" the Flight yelled after her, shaking her head and turning away.

Six pilots... Xen thought as she and Lainy walked slowly across the hangar, pausing for Shei to catch up. Six new pilots and we've lost four... The odds were beginning to pick up at last...
"You okay?" Lainy asked, glancing at the smaller, dark-haired woman.

Xen nodded, "Yeah ..."

Lainy grinned, accusing gently, "You look as tired as I feel."

"Been a long day," Xen acknowledged.

"And it's going to get longer..." Lainy reminded, pulling a face.

"Couple of jugs of kaffin and we'll be set..." Xen assured her.

"Kaffin?" Shei asked as she reached them. "Did you mention kaffin? I have been dreaming of a long mug of kaffin for the past few hours..."

"You and me both," Lainy grinned. "I'll bring the new meat along for some, once I've introduced myself..."

"If the others are in the crew room we may as well both say hello..." Xen decided.

"Do you think I might scare them off?" Lainy demanded in mock disgust.

"She does not think you would scare them," Shei put in before Xen could answer, "She knows you would scare them!"

"Hey!" Lainy countered. "I resemble that remark!"

Xen chuckled softly, shaking her head, the tiredness fading in the face of her friends' banter. She took a deep breath then began walking more purposefully towards the newly arrived pilots.

Mason Arnwald quirked an eyebrow, watching the trio of Omega pilots as they walked towards them. "So, my very own little oracle" he asked Arla, "Which one is Hawkspar?"

"None of them," the Lieutenant told him softly, frowning.

"That can't be good..." Mason muttered, then found one of his most charming smiles as the pilots reached them.

"Welcome aboard," the smallest of them greeted, "I'm Lieutenant Commander Xen Edraa, Omega's Acting CO. This is my Second," she went on, indicating the tallest pilot, "Lieutenant-Commander Lainy Kal'Ten and this is Lieutenant Shei Redav..."

Mason stood, mouth slightly open, totally transfixed by Shei Redav. He had never seen anything like her in his entire life. She was looking back at him, her eyes changing colour from a deep green to a light violet.

Arla stepped forward, holding out her hand, "Lieutenant Arla Ma'Etihw," she introduced.

Xen smiled, taking the offered hand and shaking it as Arla went on, "This is Pilot Officer Lorah Piaenk... and Lieutenant Mason Arnwald..."

"Most people call me Pink," Lorah offered as she shook hands with the Omega Acting CO.

"Pink it is then..." Lainy grinned then turned to the older, male pilot. "And what do most people call you?"

Mason dragged his gaze away from Shei, offering his hand to Lainy, "Mostly stuff you couldn't repeat, but Arny will do..."

"Okay, Arny," Lainy began grasping his hand.

Mason was never quite sure what happened next. There was a jolt, almost like electricity zapping through him, running all the way up his arm and through his body. He gasped, watching Lainy's eyes go wide.

Shei stepped back abruptly, fear stabbing through her as she sensed the sudden fluctuation ripple through the fields of energy that the Jedi had called the Force. The emotion from Mason and Lainy swept over her, almost knocking her off her feet. She fought for composure, steadying herself, seeing Mason jerk his hand away from Lainy's, only to step forward, catching Lainy as her legs gave way and she crumpled to the deck.

Xen was turning, yelling for a medic.

Mason sank to the ground, Lainy held tight in his arms.

Eyes closed, Lainy took a shuddering breath...

The detention cell was cold and dark, only the small glow from a light above the door permeating the almost complete blackness. It was ominously silent.... Almost silent...

Behind her, she could hear the soft, laboured sound of someone breathing.

Lainy turned, somehow already knowing who was in the cell with her. Groaning in dismay she moved to Kaz's side, reaching out to touch her friend's shoulder.

Then she stopped short, seeing through the tattered remains of the black jumpsuit, the dressings placed across Kaz's collarbone. Lips tightening into a thin line, she checked her friend for other injuries, unable to miss the dressings covering the soft flesh on the underside of Kaz's forearms. Her face was bruised, the skin around her cheek and eye swollen where someone had hit her...

Kaz moaned softly, frowning, swallowing on a dry throat. "Lainy..."

"Shh," Lainy reassured, reaching out to brush away the hair from Kaz's face.

Kaz frowned, her eyes sliding open. "Lainy...?"

"Shh... Rest..." Lainy comforted. "You need to save your strength..."

Anger flared again as she sensed the panic and despair that flared through her friend. The breath hitched in Kaz's throat and she moaned softly, "No..."

Lainy reached out, grasping Kaz's shoulders gently, assuring her, "Kaz, you need to be strong... We won't leave you... We'll come to find you. You just need to rest and be strong..."

"Lainy..."

The image was beginning to fade. Lainy could hear someone talking to her from far away, the low whine of X-wing engines floating behind them. She squeezed Kaz's shoulders, assuring her again, "We'll find you, Kaz... We'll get you out..."

Behind her, the door to the detention cell was opening but the image was fading further. Lainy fought to stay with Kaz, sensing the wave of mounting panic that swept through her.

"We'll come for you, Kaz! We'll come for you! Just hold on..."

"Lainy..."

"Lainy?" Xen called. "Lainy, can you hear me?"

"She... She just needs something to eat..." Mason covered.

Eyes locked with Shei Redav's, Mason was trembling. He didn't quite understand what was happening but somehow, instinctively, he knew that he had to cover for the young woman who was lying in his arms. No one would believe him if he tried to explain the ghosts of the images that floated through his mind. He wasn't even sure that he believed what he was seeing himself...

"Blood sugar's probably shot to hells..." Arla put in, knowing how long the Omega pilots had to have been flying.

Pink rummaged in her pockets, "I have some kandy somewhere..."

"Lainy?" Xen tried again.

Lainy's eyes fluttered open. She blinked, confused, looking up at Mason and Edraa. She swallowed hard, croaking, "Xen?"

Relief flooded through the dark-haired woman and she found a smile, even managing to wag a finger at her friend, "Will you stop trying to give me a heart-attack by pulling these stunts!"

Lainy looked up at her, but Xen could see that her attention was still focussed somewhere else. She offered Lainy a hand, helping her sit up.

"Medic's on the way," Deck Officer Ymra informed them, skidding to a stop beside them. "Bring her over and sit her down at the desk..."

"I'm fine..." Lainy tried.

"The medic will tell us that!" Xen contradicted. "Can you stand?"

"Of course I can stand!" Lainy snapped back, unable to shake the sense of foreboding or the image of Kaz lying in the detention cell. She turned, looking at Mason, swallowing hard again.
He wasn't looking at her. She followed his gaze, finding Shei gazing back at him as intently as he was gazing at her...

Lainy frowned, climbing unsteadily to her feet, shrugging off Xen's help despite her protests. "I'm fine..."

"Perhaps Lieutenant Arnwald is right," Shei ventured, blinking, breaking her gaze, looking round at Xen. "Perhaps we all need sustenance... We have been flying for many hours..."

"Maybe..." Xen repeated, still not quite sure.

Pink found the bar of kandy, offering it to Lainy, "Here you go..."

"There's food and drink waiting for you in the crew room," Ymra reminded them. "Should I let command know that you might be delayed on your launch?"

"No..." Lainy began.

"Yes," Xen contradicted, hating to admit defeat but acknowledging that if Lainy was being affected then, despite feeling okay, she was probably operating at less than optimal efficiency herself. Shei was looking a little preoccupied too...

Lainy glared at her but Xen shook her head, dropping her hand onto her friend's shoulder, "Privilege of rank, Lainy!"

Before Kal'Ten could argue, Xen had turned her attention back to Orise Ymra, "Thanks, Deck..."

"You're welcome, Ma'am," Ymra acknowledged, saluting quickly before heading back towards her niche in the hangar.

"I'm fine!" Lainy pushed.

"You might be," Xen countered, with a smile, "but you're the one with the kandy bar in your hand! I think the rest of us could do with one too..."

She turned, looking at Arla and Lorah, "Head to the crew room and I'll brief you there. The Flight has allocated X-wings for you when we're ready to head back out..."

"We're ready when needed," Arla told her.

Xen looked at her, nodding, recognising something in the other woman that told her that, although barely out of her teens, the younger woman was a seasoned pilot. Suddenly, Xen found herself feeling really old. Did Kaz ever feel like this? she wondered, but that only brought another train of thought she had no wish to follow.

"Okay..." she tried, pulling herself together, forcing herself to focus on the here and now. "Let's go to the crew room... Once we've eaten and chilled out for a while then things will seem more normal..."

I hope...

~*~

Martellon stepped back into the shadowed inner sanctum of the Emperor, walking slowly towards his Master, fighting to keep his emotion in check and not to give in to the pleased little smile that threatened to pull on his lips. The telltale rasp of a respirator unit told him that the Lord Darth Vader was also in audience to the Emperor, but the Dark Lord's presence only added to the excitement he felt, rather than bringing the usual fit of pique.

He had spent the last few hours poring through data, searching for the information that would confirm the details he had acquired from Kazlyn Hawkspar. He had not been fool enough to take her words at face value...

Martellon stopped in front of the dais, kneeling before the Emperor.

"Rise, my young apprentice," Palpatine ordered softly. "You have news for us..."

It was not a question and Martellon rose fluidly to his feet, answering, "I have, my Master. The Rebel Hawkspar has provided me with the whereabouts of Mon Mothma and it is only a matter of time before she is in our grasp..."

There was silence for a moment, broken only by the suck-hiss of the machine that breathed for Vader.

A slow smile spread itself over Palpatine's face and he leaned forward, "Indeed? And exactly what did your Rebel tell you?"

Martellon forced himself to remain calm. Now was not the time to give in to the glee that wrapped itself in knots around his chest.

"Mon Mothma," he announced, "was with Leia Organa at the Rebel base in the Hoth system. They escaped the Imperial blockade of the system, in a ship called the Millennium Falcon."

They had escaped Vader's blockade... Vader had allowed them to escape...

For another long moment there was almost silence. Then Vader stepped forward out of the shadows. Martellon looked at him, waiting for the Emperor's backlash against the Dark Lord...

"You," Vader rumbled softly, "have been misinformed."

Before Martellon could open his mouth to contradict him, Vader continued, "Organa was allowed to escape the blockade in order to lay a trap that will be sprung imminently. The Millennium Falcon has been tracked continuously since leaving Hoth. Mon Mothma is not, and never has been, aboard that ship."

He paused for a moment, allowing the boy time for the words to sink in before continuing, "Mon Mothma was not on Hoth."

Martellon felt Palpatine's gaze boring into him. He turned, ready to defend himself, to supply the Emperor with all the information he had found that backed up Hawkspar's story.

"Master... I have proof..."

Palpatine cut him off, "You have proof of nothing! You have allowed your emotion and your pre-occupation with this woman to cloud your judgement! You will return to your Fleet and await your orders!"

The order slammed at Martellon, the anger and vehemence in the Emperor's voice stabbing fear through him. He dropped to his knees in obeisance, acknowledging, "Yes, my Master."

Palpatine wasn't listening. He had already turned away, announcing, "The Rebel Commander will be transferred to your ship, Lord Vader. I have no reservations that you will succeed in wresting from her the information that the Fleet Commander has failed to obtain! Ensure she is kept alive, Lord Vader and return her to me when your interrogations are completed..."

Behind the obsidian mask, Vader allowed himself a smile. In a few hours he would be back on his ship and following the trail that would ultimately deliver Luke Skywalker into his grasp...

He bowed in acknowledgement, responding in an echo of Martellon's words. "Yes, my Master..."

Martellon raised himself from the floor of the chamber slowly; aware of the complete inattention The Emperor and Vader afforded him. He turned stiffly, and stalked out of the room, heading towards the detention cells.

Fury raged inside him, completely unfettered and uncontrolled. Only instinct allowed him to avoid those crossing his path, and that same instinct directing him towards the object of his intense anger. Hawkspar. She had lied to him, lied under torture, and his best efforts to break her. Fuelled by his hatred, he felt the Force building up inside him, reverberating around the inside of the very fabric of his being, lifting him, and guiding him.

He arrived at Hawkspar's cell, and grasped wildly at the door control. The electronic panel shattered under his intense gaze, but that would not stop him - the Force reached out from within him, and battered the door aside, rending the silence with an enormous crash and screaming metal.

Martellon distractedly noticed Hawkspar's expression of terror as he arrived inside the shattered doorway, noting also the reflection of his own image in her eyes. He exulted in what he saw, a man in full control of the living Force, bending it to his will, and almost radiating Power.

Hawkspar raised her weary body, ready to defend herself however she could against this monster she saw in front of her. Martellon it was, but he looked very different - there was a fire in his eyes, a fluidity to his movements, like someone or something else was controlling him. His face a mask of fury, that much was obvious. Commander Kazlyn Hawkspar had suddenly never been so in fear for her own life.

Martellon's intense gaze turned to Kaz, making her wince as the searing heat from his gaze seemed to burn her to the very core. He raised one gloved fist, opening the fingers slowly as he did so, and Kaz felt herself rise from the floor, under no power of her own.

Martellon raised Kaz into the air until she was fully two feet off the floor, and her auburn hair was slowly spreading out around her head, like she was having some kind of electricity passed into her through him. The air positively crackled, and smelled lightly of ozone as Kaz realised she had stopped moving. Still floating in mid-air, she turned her full attention to her captor.

In his turn, Martellon already had his full attention where it needed to be - he would crush the life from this upstart Rebel, blast her into a million pieces like that puny Alderaan had been blasted by the Death Star, and then he would deliver her to Darth Vader, challenging him to uncover the truth from her.

The Force reached out through Martellon, and he felt the absolute Power it lent him. It coursed through his veins, out of his fingertips and into Hawkspar.

Kaz writhed in agony as the Force Lightning charged into her body, lighting up the dim room with a bright blue flash of light. She had never felt so much pain in her life, but knew suddenly the reason for his outburst.

He knew she had lied... He knew he hadn't broken her...

All rational thought was forced from Kaz's mind as the pain wracked through her while Martellon pushed ever harder to make her suffer. She became aware that she was spinning slowly, but with gathering pace. He was making her spin in mid-air - end over end and around. She became a whirling ball of screaming electric light as Martellon assuaged his awful fury upon her body, and she responded in the only way her animal instincts could let her.

She screamed long and hard.

Then, she fell to the floor as the pain and light ceased abruptly. Her body spasmed as the electricity forced through her took its toll. She could smell burnt hair and flesh. Her body was wracked with spasms of pain, the agony enticing a small groan from her throat.

She dragged her eyes open, terrified of what was coming next, knowing that she had no hope of standing up against him. If he pushed for answers now, she would give them...

But the room had one more occupant than a few seconds before.

Vader.

Martellon flew across the room. Vader made a small gesture with his right index finger and Martellon's body flew back, striking the far wall, but not falling to the floor. Vader paused for only a moment, then Martellon was subject to the same torture he had unleashed on Kaz, the Dark Lord of the Sith pushing ever harder with his own Force lightning.

Martellon reacted in the only way he could, manipulating the Force to avoid the worst of the effects, as the lightning seemed to course around him more than into him.

Instinct, some sixth sense, warned Kaz that her reprieve had only been brief. She lifted her head suddenly aware of Martellon's intense gaze on her. As she made eye contact, Vader's Force Lightning suddenly changed direction, and was bouncing from Martellon to envelop her again.

The agony took on a new dimension as all of Vader's power was momentarily magnified by Martellon. Her body writhed in pain, her consciousness barely able to hold on. Then it stopped.

Hawkspar fell to the floor like a wet rag, breath exploding from her. Basic animal instinct made her curl into a ball, and she lost consciousness, her body shutting down to protect itself.

The titanic battle continued to rage, the two dark Jedi battling over and around her. Martellon was holding off Vader, but the tide was inevitably moving against him. Measure and countermeasure slowly stripped away the naked hate coiling around both Martellon and Vader's souls. Eventually, all that was left was instinct and training. Lord Vader had so much more experience in controlling the Force than Martellon, and he was certain to win - the only question was whether Martellon would be left alive at the end of the fight. Just one finger reaching towards a light sabre would be enough to finish it. Vader certainly had the advantage with the ancient weapon of the Jedi, as he had proven on many occasions.

Eventually, Martellon was spent.

He dropped his guard after one last attempt to stun Vader, and dropped to one knee in capitulation to Vader, bowing his head in anticipation of the killing blow. The blow never came.

Vader stood, looking at the kneeling figure on the floor in front of him. The boy's powers had grown in strength, had grown far more quickly than Vader had anticipated. That was not a mistake he would make again.

The plans he had laid would deliver Skywalker to him and he would not allow this apprentice upstart to affect his design for the future. When the time came, Martellon would be dealt with.

A few seconds passed before Martellon dared raise his face. He saw Vader motion a medi-droid towards Hawkspar. "Care for her! I do not want her damaged any further."

The droid moved and Vader looked back at Martellon. "Your powers grow strong Apprentice, but I cannot allow your emotions to put my mission in question. You will leave this place now and return to your fleet as your Master ordered."

Vader turned away, leaving the twittering and bleeping droid to care for Hawkspar.