Chapter 13 TIE fighter attack!
Markus backed away from the monitor to allow the group to witness the raid, himself still in shock. A collective gasp , followed by cries of shock, emanated from the gang as they watched the terrifying scene before them. The camera view, while limited, showed the basics of what was happening. No more than eight H-shaped TIE fighters and four agile, newer TIE interceptors darted around in the sky, taking potshots at the ground, firing their lasers at anything that moved below, including the residents of the Valley. Dinosaurs scattered at the laserfire, running for their lives and into the trees at the sounds of the strafing runs. So far it seemed these TIE pilots were poor shots, as no bodies could be seen. But the laser blasts were getting more accurate...
“We gotta do something!” Littlefoot shouted after he couldn't take the sight anymore.
“Way to state the obvious!” Cera replied. “The question is what do we do?”
Delta squad stared at the monitor. “Things really have changed.” Boss said in a solemn voice. “In my day we at least had discipline. No one in his right mind would just shoot up a place like this, and we especially didn't target natives.”
“Yeah, even we weren't that crazy!” Scorch chimed in, himself disturbed at the mindless attack on innocents.
Littlefoot turned back to Markus, who was busy tapping something up on his datapad. “What're you doing!” he practically shouted, his voice marinated in panic. “We have to find a way to help them!”
“Hang on!” Markus yelled, back, tapping furiously. He looked up and spoke quickly. “I got it! We gotta find a way outta here, right? I downloaded a map while I was up in that control room. If we go to stasis three and take the first cargo door on the left, that hall will take us directly down to one of the hangars at ground level. While I doubt half the ships down there even work after so many years here, there is a ship we can use, and it's right out in the Valley.”
“The Ebon Hawk!” Shorty finished as he caught on. Markus nodded.
“We go out into that forest where I parked it. Me and the droids practically finished repairs from my landing before I came to the Valley. It's got a decent amount of weapons, and we could probably take these fighters easy.”
“But how're we gonna get out there in time!” Ali cried. “It takes too long to run!”
“Who said anything about running?” Markus answered wryly, pointing. The gang looked over to see a gray parked cargo landspeeder in the corner, its broad nose facing outward. The unit consisted of a repulsorlift engine in front, with a windshield and open passenger cabin with three seats. The rest of the speeder was a cargo bed which reminded Markus of a pickup truck's bed, about three meters by 1 meter, perfect for the gang to ride in. It sat on the floor with its repulsors disengaged.
Markus turned back at the group. “Everybody in!” he shouted. “HK, over here for a sec.” he said to HK. The droid obliged and ran over to the monitor that Markus had used to show the TIE fighter attack in the Great Valley. He pressed keys furiously, engaging program after program. In a moment, he finished. “Come on.” Markus said, and he and HK ran to the speeder, where everyone else was just about on board. The gang was all in the back, with R3 hauled up onto the bed with them. Sev and Boss were in the back, too, their rifles in hand.
“I'm driving.” Markus told Scorch, who was in the driver's seat. Scorch obliged and moved over, though he clearly wasn't happy about it.
“Why can't I drive?” he mock-pouted, his voice a little muffled through his helmet comlink.
“Because I'm older.” Markus replied, making a joke out of a true fact. He scanned the controls, thinking as he glanced at each one. Gas pedal here, Brake pedal here, steering wheel here, lights, shift control,...
Markus pressed a button he thought started the engine, and suddenly the speeder rose a few centimeters off the ground. “Yes!” Markus cried in jubilation. “HK, set your comlink signal to 83.3 megahertz. It'll allow you to interface with the base's central computer and open the doors in this place. Ready?”
There was a pause. “I am ready.” HK replied. The first door whooshed open.
“All right, let's ride!” Markus yelled over the revving engine. He slammed on the accelerator, and the speeder's engine revved again.
It flew backwards a few feet and slammed into the wall, the clang of the metal echoing through the stasis chamber.
Everyone shouted at the collision, then stared at Markus in shocked silence. “Uh, sorry.” Markus said, pulling a level in the cab. “Had it in reverse...” He shifted to the correct position and muttered in the silence. “Let's try this again, shall we?”
He revved the engine one last time. The speeder sped forward, gaining speed. “Yeah baby, yeah!” Markus yelled as they sped out the door and into the next chamber.
The wind flew past Littlefoot's face as the speeder sped through the wide halls, the doors in their way opening at HK's summon. Throughout the entire ride, the gang actually started to enjoy the ride, Ducky hanging on to the back of the seats , looking out the windshield and marveling at their speed. The speeder, being relegated to cargo duty, did not have a very high top speed compared to other landspeeders, but the 120 mph top speed it did possess was perfect for whipping around wide hallways in the newly lit hallways of the base.
The scene soon changed as they turned tenth corner. The hallway opened up to one of the large ground hangars, which was filled with walkers and gunships and other Clone Wars era attack craft. Markus sped through it all, all the while eying the huge hangar door at the end. “HK?” he shouted over the din. “We could really use that door open now!”
“Copy!” The door was hauled open, and the light from the Great Valley shone through. They flew out from under the slow-moving door and into the sunlight of the Valley. No sooner had they exited the facility when they saw the denizens of the Valley still running and screaming as the TIEs swooped down on them, scorching the grass with laserfire. The speeder tore through it all, evading any blasts that got too close. They passed by dozens of dinosaurs, receiving strange looks from all.
“Grandpa! Grandma! Dad!” Littlefoot shouted as they drew nearer to the three Longnecks, who were busy heading into the forests where they couldn't be spotted from above. The Longnecks turned their heads, and their jaws nearly hit the floor upon seeing the landspeeder come out of nowhere and fly by, the kids in the back and Markus driving at full speed. Their eyes widened as a shot narrowly missed them.
“What are they doing?” Ducky's mother cried, seeing the speeder as well.
“I don't know, but it seems like they do!” Bron answered, hurrying everyone into the trees.
Suddenly, the TIEs had lost their interest on the dinosaurs, and were circling the landspeeder as it sped through the meadow. One dropped behind them and fired a volley, directly into its path. The ground exploded, and the landspeeder flew through the smoke a few feet into the air before slamming to the ground. The TIE that had been chasing them had broken off pursuit, but another was about to take its place. “We have to stop them!” Cera yelled over the sound of the engine and the scream of the TIE engines in the air.
Sev was busy snapping attachments onto his DC-17 blaster, already forming a plan. “I got it covered.” he said, snapping on the last attachment, completing the sniper mode of the multi-purpose rifle. He aimed at the closing TIE fighter, and fired.
Captain Des Moghan allowed himself a slight smile inside his black helmet at the sight of the scurrying natives out his TIE interceptor's viewport. His squadron, Iota, had been assigned to patrol duty as soon as the Broadsword had landed on the planet's surface. But once they had located the base, things had gotten pretty boring.
That is, until Iota 6 had suggested the over sized natives would make great target practice. That had started a frenzied attempt to mow down the lumbering reptiles, but so far no one had actually hit anything yet, always just missing the scrambling beasts.
Suddenly, Iota 6 got back on the comm line. “Hey Lead, one of those hangars is opening.” A pause was heard over the subspace radio, then , “Hey! There's a landspeeder! Somebody was in there!”
Startled, Moghan turned his fighter around to face the ground. Then, he saw it: some cargo speeder filled with something unidentifiable was racing through the meadows at top speed. “Permission to open fire?” Six had asked.
“Granted.” was his immediate reply. Whoever it was, they had just made themselves hostile. He turned back to watch. Iota 3 had also heard Six, and was finishing an unsuccessful strafing run on the speeder. He pulled up, only to have Six dive in where he was. Moghan watched intently as Six closed in.
He was practically at point-blank range when a single blue bolt darted up at his fighter.
Moghan watched in disbelief as the bolt struck the only place on a TIE that was vulnerable to small-arms fire, the fuel line on the left pylon. The line exploded, and Six's fighter went out of control and slammed into the ground, incinerating everything within 5 meters.
Moghan swore loudly, then sent out another transmission. “This is Lead. Take down that speeder!”
Markus turned back just in time to see the TIE fighter above them burst into flame. It drastically increased in speed and slammed into the ground 30 meters left, the explosion glowing bright yellow. “Nice shooting!” he shouted back to Sev. Seeing the familiar forest from which he had first entered the Valley, he drove the speeder in through the trees, trying his best to avoid everything in his path.
They drove for another thirty seconds before reaching the clearing. The Ebon Hawk sat exactly as it was left, with only a little rust on the red and gray paint job to show how long it had been.
Markus skidded the speeder to a stop, jumped out, and dashed over to the boarding ramp access. He slammed his hand onto the control, and the ramp lowered, hissing. He ran through the narrow halls to the cockpit, the others not far behind. The ramp hissed shut as soon as everyone was aboard. Everyone crowded in the cockpit, eager to take off.
“Well?” Scorch said, exasperated. “what're you waiting for?”
“Let's go!” Cera added.
“Hang on!” Markus shot back. He looked over the array of controls, unsure of how anything really worked. He forced himself to relax and feel the Force, and suddenly it was all clear. He flicked three switches in a row, and the cabin suddenly lit up, the power generator having been activated. “Ok.” he said, glancing at the status monitor. “The hyperdrive still doesn't work, but I doubt we'll need that. Let's hit it!” He pulled a lever to engage the repulsors, and the ship lifted off the ground. Two more levers activated the sublight engines and retracted the landing gear, and suddenly, the ship was in the air, blasting out of its forest prison.
Littlefoot and the gang felt the shaking of the ship as it left the ground. Everyone looked out the window at the fast-retreating ground below. “We going fast!” Petrie exclaimed, eyes wide. Markus and the commandos were busy pressing levers, and generally trying to figure out what was what. Littlefoot glanced up at the forward viewport, and his eyes widened.
“Look out!”
Markus reflexively pulled the trigger on the control stick, and looked up just in time to see a TIE fighter they were headed straight for explode all around them, destroyed by the forward guns. Only the shields protected the ship from the superheated debris. Markus let out the breath he had held in. “Well, they know we're here now.”
“Looks like we have gun turrets on this thing.” Fixer said, looking at a schematic on one of the screens.
“Right.” Markus said. “I'll get in one.” He was about to tell Sev to come with him, but suddenly, he felt something pull at him, as if the Force, just as it had helped him start the ship, was also directing him now. At first the idea seemed preposterous, then it suddenly clicked.
“Ducky, come with me.” he finished.
“Me?” she said, bewildered.
“Yes!”
“But I do not know how to do this kind of thing! Oh no no!”
“Yeah, wouldn't it be better if one of us filled the gunner role?” asked Sev, incredulous.
Markus ignored Sev. “Come on, I'll help you. The Force tells me you can do this. I can't explain it. Let's go!” At that, and for fear of losing precious time needed to save the Valley, she jumped up and followed him to the gunwells. “I'll take the top, you take the bottom.” Markus instructed.
Ducky jumped in and climbed quickly down the ladder to the bottom. She ended up in and over sized seat, with a lot of lights to either side of her, a firing/movement control stick and a large clear window spread in front of her, on the other side of which she could see the two laser cannon barrels sticking out from either side of the turret, and the Valley below.
“You in, Ducky?” Markus' voice asked over the speakers.
“Yes.” Ducky answered.
“Ok, we don't have much time. See that control stick in front of you?”
“Yeah?”
“There's a green button on it. Press it.”
She did, and suddenly a crosshair was projected onto the window. On the screen in front of her, there was a picture of the outline of the ship, surrounded by little yellow dots.
“I pressed it.” she answered.
“See the dots on the screen? These indicate where the fighters are. To move around, just turn the stick left or right to swivel the turret, and move it up or down to aim in that direction. To fire, just pull back on that black button on the front of the stick. You want to get the fighters right in the crosshair on your window before you fire. Got it?”
“I think so.” Ducky replied uncertainly.
“Good. Whose flying this thing?” he asked.
“We are, and we're doing a damn fine job of it!” Boss replied, half joking.
“They're closing in!” Scorch said, worry creeping into his voice. “Here they come!”
The TIE came down on them, firing lasers. The Hawk darted and spun, but some bolts still struck home. Both Markus and Ducky fired, their laser cannons lurching backwards from the recoil, but there shots went wide as the TIEs sped by. The TIE came around and fired again, but no one could manage a hit.
“They're too fast!” Ducky yelled over the din, squeezing off another laser shot that missed its target.
“Reach out, Ducky! Let go of your fear!” Markus instructed over the comm. Ducky tried as best she could. I have to do this! She thought, watching the fighters come around again. I don't want to know what happens if I don't.
The TIEs came in firing, and Markus lined up his target and fired. The volley tore through the TIE, tearing it to pieces. Markus whooped as the fighter exploded, already tracking another. The fighters passed by, but Ducky had already swiveled around. She fired at the group, and her bolt blasted out another fighter's engine. “I got him!” she cried triumphantly.
“Great!” Markus called back. The battle wore on. Ducky scored three more hits on the TIEs, with Markus getting four. Now only two more had dared to challenge the Hawk, but they had the edge, as the ship's shields were almost gone.
They came around, and Ducky fired just as the fighters came into range. Her shot caught the right ship on the wing, sending it spiraling to the ground. The other TIE, however, had its chance to fire, and its last volley shook the ship. “Shield's gone!” cried Scorch.
Markus tracked the TIE along its return course. Markus fired twice in rapid succession, the first going wide as the fighter juked, and the second compensating for the maneuver, hitting the fighter squarely in the ball cockpit. The fighter exploded in midair just as it came into firing range.
Markus flopped back in the chair, sighing. Ducky looked at her targeting scanner and shouted jubilantly. “That it! We did it!”
Victorious cries could be heard on the comm as Markus and Ducky climbed out of their turrets and back to the main floor of the ship. The gang was already waiting by the gunwell entrance, barely holding in their excitement.
“That was great!” Littlefoot exclaimed. “They'll think twice about shooting at us again!”
“Great work, guys!” Ali added.
“Ducky got most of 'em. She's a natural.” Markus said, gazing at Ducky with pride. Ducky blushed.
“Thank you. You did get one more than me, though.”
“Yeah, but that was because we faced an odd number of ships. I got lucky. You, on the other hand, had never done anything close to this, and you managed to pick it up in a matter of seconds. Without you, we all could've died. You've proven not only that you're very accurate and a good shot, but also that you work well under intense pressure. That's not easy.”
Ducky held her head up high, smiling back at Markus. Before she could say another word, Fixer shouted from the cockpit. “Don't get cocky just yet! Another one of those ships was watching us outside our sensor range. It's heading south!”
“Follow it!” Markus yelled back. “Come on.” He and Ducky dashed into the cockpit, where the gang and the commandos had already crowded in to see the latest Imperial fighter over the Valley. Fixer was at the helm, with Boss in the copilot's seat and Sev and Scorch in the back seats, monitoring ship systems, and optimizing performance.
“Nice shooting, by the way.” Boss said. He pointed at Ducky. “Especially you. That must be great beginner's luck.”
Markus was already glancing at display monitors. “It's heading into Canyon Pass.” he observed, referring to the broad, incredibly long canyon at the southern end of the Valley that served as an entrance for visitors. He looked out the window, watching the TIE interceptor tear across the sky.
“We can't attack it.” Scorch muttered. “It's too far out of range.”
“Not for long!” Markus answered defiantly as the Ebon Hawk dove into the canyon after the screaming TIE, blazes of yellow light rocketing out of its two huge circular sublight engines.
Moghan, after witnessing the unknown freighter burst forth from the forest and immediately destroy one of his fighters, had ordered Iota squad to turn it to dust. He, however, had stayed behind to observe, seeing this as a test for his new squadron. He watched in sheer horror as the freighter's gunners blasted TIE after TIE apart, the fighters falling from the sky like damp moths. Even the last two fighters, the best shots in the squadron, had failed to destroy the transport.
He punched his engines, knowing full well that he didn't stand a chance against someone who annihilated an entire TIE squadron with nothing more than two laser turrets. These people really are dangerous. He thought as he watched the ship turn towards him.
His fighter screamed towards the canyon where the Star Destroyer had been docked, hoping to find some sort of refuge there.
Malak sat in Observation 1, meditating in the morning sun as it flowed through the enormous transparisteel window that made up a wall of the room. He had completed his return to life, his skin retaining its pale color and striped tattoos adorning his bald skull. He chose this room of the Star Destroyer as his private sanctuary, with the transparent wall allowing him to gaze out at his surroundings.
Currently, a canyon wall blocked half of his view, due to the fact that the Broadsword was currently docked to a prefabricated repulsorlift docking station situated on the side of the canyon almost thirty miles south of the valley containing the facility, but he did not mind. Not when so many other things would soon change his fortune, as well as the rest of the galaxy's. He would rise the Empire out of its ashes and bring it back to its former glory and rightful place. All with the power of the Force-and the Galaxy Gun, the new superweapon Thalus' engineers had been working on for nearly six years.
The weapon was actually a ship, over 38000 meters in length. It bristled with 850 turbolasers, 1000 point-defense laser cannons, and 500 ion cannons, and its hangar bays held over 400 starfighters, along with assault shuttles and other ships. But that wasn't nearly as immpressive as the primary weapon-the particle-disintegrator warhead launcher.
The barrel design of the starship attributed to the launching system. When a target planet or other large mass was selected and the ship was in firing range, the missile would be launched. While carrying very little fuel and thus requiring the weapon to be relatively close to the target, they sped along at near-light speed and their shields protected them from almost any weapon, while they in turn could punch through any shield.
Once the warhead impacted, it exploded, triggering immense nuclear reactions that surrounded the target. Within moments, all matter would be converted into energy, destroying everything in the target area.
While a version of the superweapon had been used by Emperor Palpatine during his clone resurrection and subseqent bid to take over the galaxy about 14 years prior, Thalus', built in secret, was much more powerful and could fight an entire fleet without any support ships. It had one purpose: to kill anything and everything in its path.
Malak's thoughts were interrupted by the scream of a TIE interceptor hurtling down the canyon. He paused for a moment to wonder what hurry the pilot could possibly be in, then returned to his meditation, quietly embracing the Force.
“Cheif of State Fey'lya will see you now.” the white-furred Bothan secretary announced in a slightly bored tone.
“Thank you.” Luke Skywalker replied, and he and his sister Leia walked through the door into the Chancellor's office.
It had been awhile since Luke had visited the city-world of Coruscant, nearly a year and a half. He had dropped by Han and Leia apartment for a quick hello, but he wasn't there for pleasure. With Leia's help, he would attempt to persuade Borsk Fey'lya to allow him to reestablish the Jedi Council as a governing body for the Jedi that could interact with the New Republic the same as it did during the Old. While the idea of peacekeeping Jedi seemed very noble to Luke, he knew Fey'lya always had a secret agenda, and would probably see things very differently.
After all, he was a Bothan, and a conniving one at that.
Bothans were furry mammalian humanoids who hailed from the planet of Bothawui, a forested, cosmopolitan planet in the Mid-Rim of the galaxy. Descended from feline ancestors, they usually stood around 1.5 meters high and were completely covered in fur, which could range from jet black to creamy orange. Bothans were most notable for creating the Bothan Spynet, which was an intelligence agency that assist the Rebel Alliance on many occasions in the Galactic Civil War, including delivering vital intelligence concerning the construction of the second Death Star over Endor.
In the wake of Imperial dominance, however, Bothans had created a powerful place for themselves in the New Republic. While exhibiting extreme loyalty to their causes, Bothans were known to be a little xenophobic and power-hungry. With their innate eloquence and opportunistic nature, the species had worked its way into the heart of the relatively new government. Fey'lya had been the head of the movement, taking power at every opportunity, with no deed ever deemed unthinkable. Twice, Fey'lya had nearly destroyed the Mon Calmarian Admiral Ackbar's career, once by accusing Ackbar of embezzlement of war funds and the other by citing pilot error when Ackbar's B-wing crashed into a cathedral on the wind planet Vortex, by exploiting circumstantial evidence. Fortunately both incidents were proved to be attempts by the Empire to induce infighting in the Republic, but Fey'lya still held onto his power. In the last election for Chief of State, which was basically a renaming of the title of Chancellor, he won.
Luke and Leia stepped into the room. The red carpet and walls had not changed since Coruscant was captured by the New Republic, and the color seemed to accent the large window and desk at the end of the room, not to mention Fey'lya himself, who was dressed in a brownish Bothan suit that clashed with the rest of the room. He looked up from a datapad and smiled politely at the pair, his violet eyes focusing on them. “Ah, Jedi Skywalker, Councilor Solo. Come in. Have a seat.” he greeted them, his voice carrying a plesant businesslike tone Luke knew Fey'lya had perfected over the years.
“Thank you, Chancellor Fey'lya.” Luke said, using the old title. Fey'lya shifted a little, then spoke once the two had been seated.
“I understand you wish to form a Council of Jedi to help fully restore the order to its former position beside the Republic. A very worthy goal. However, I would wish to know the manner in which the Council would serve the Republic, and the terms of that relationship.”
“Of course.” Luke prepared to recite his newly memorized speech for just such a question. Suddenly, the Holonet transceiver on the desk warbled slightly, and sound played forth from the speakers.
“Leader of the New Republic, I transmit this message under grave circumstances.”
Luke's eyes widened as he felt a premonition of sorts. In the back of his mind, he had made the connection. He felt that somehow, this person, whoever it was, was what he had felt through the Force on Yavin, over three months ago. He listened intently as the transmission wore on.
“What is the meaning of this?” Fey'lya exclaimed, his cream-corlored fur rippling in surprise as he engaged his intercom. “This is Fey'lya. Who authorized this message? I'm in the middle of a meeting.”
“I don't know, sir.” the secretary replied in a confused and slightly worried tone. “The signal was routed directly to your desk. It must've used your transceiver's precise frequency.”
“How?” Fey'lya muttered. “Who could know my personal frequency?”
“Listen.” Leia urged, captivated by the message. It continued, and the voice seemed to be male.
“The Empire is trying to claim the base through force, and they will launch an attack in no less than a few hours. They know the base contains weaponry and other things that could help the Imperial cause. They are being led by a Sith named Darth Malak.”
At that Luke and Leia exchanged worried glances. A Sith on the loose? That could only mean trouble. The message played on.
“I, along with the locals of the planet, are the only things standing in their way, although alone we will surely perish. I ask for any assistance you can offer. Help us, leaders of the New Republic-your efforts will not be forgotten.” The transmission crackled, then ended.
“Who was that?” Fey'lya wondered aloud, utterly baffled at the sudden plea.
“Someone named Markus Silverman.” Leia answered, already out of her seat. “ We have to trace that signal-”
“We're not doing anything yet.” Fey'lya said, and suddenly the attention was on him. “We have no idea what this could mean.”
“We have every idea what it could mean.” Luke shot back. “This was obviously a call for help, and I guarantee it's from someone important if they knew your desk frequency. He said something about a Sith, as well, and the Sith mean nothing but trouble. We are obliged to help whoever this is.”
Fey'lya paused to consider Luke's suggestion. He had a point. This person had gotten a message into his very office, breaking through any communications subroutines in its way. It had to be important. And a base full of weaponry added to some neo-Imperial organization on his watch would no doubt damage his popularity once news got out. And the Sith-they were certainly dangerous to him. After all, they had brought down the Old Republic. Whose to say a new one couldn't destroy him, as well?
“Very well.” he conceded. “I'll call an emergency meeting of the Council. Until then, we should work on tracing that signal.” He stood and walked out of the room to his secretary's office, Skywalker and Organa Solo right behind him.
In half an hour, the Council was seated in its chamber, with Leia Organa Solo among them. The Council was an organization designed to make decisions that were too urgent for the Senate. Han Solo and Chewbacca, along with Luke and R2-D2 and C-3PO, also were among the group assembled. Fey'lya sat at the head of the table, and began as soon as everyone arrived.
“Less than thirty minutes ago, we received a distress signal from an unknown person, who described an immanent attack on his world by the Empire, who apparently were trying to gain access to an Old Republic base stationed on the planet. They are also reportedly being led by a Sith named Darth Malak, and the signal originated from a system in the Unknown Regions, on the third planet.”
“Well, what're we waiting for?” Han said, his expression clearly confused. “They're obviously in some kind of trouble and need our help. Why don't we give it to them?”
“I agree with General Solo.” Alderranian Cal Omas added. “We should be doing something instead of sitting around here.” Others nodded in agreement, as if it was just common sense.
Fey'lya stiffened slightly. He hadn't expected such a unanimous reaction from everyone. He regained his composure. “I assume we are all agreed?” Every council member reiterated their previous sentiments. “Very well.” Fey'lya conceded, knowing he couldn't back out now, not with the Empire being as weak as it was now. “There is the matter of sending a combat ship to the system, as well as negotiators to handle anything that should come up.”
“That new Nebula-class Star Destroyer's in orbit.” Han offered. “I think it's called the Abolisher. Your cousin, Admiral Kre'fey, is in command at the moment. It doesn't have its full compliment of starfighters, but I hear Rogue squadron is assigned to it. They can handle just about anything. As for negotiators, I'll go.”
“Me and Luke will, too.” Leia chimed in.
“R2 and I as well.” C-3PO added.
Fey'lya was about to give the order to allow this new mission to proceed, when something at the back of his mind made him think of something. It seemed absurd at first, but somehow it made sense. “I will go, as well.” he announced.
“Are you sure, Chancellor Fey'lya?” Leia asked, slightly stunned at the Bothan's uncharacteristic action.
“Yes. I've been meaning to get away from Coruscant for a few days.” He turned his attention back to the Council. “Than it's settled. I will inform the Abolisher to leave spacedock within the hour. Council dismissed.”
