6

6

Aster woke up to see two soldiers pointing blasters at him. “Get up!” One soldier yelled and Aster sleepily complied. Cuffs were slapped on his wrists and he was led up to the bridge of the Star Destroyer. Isel swiveled in his chair to face Aster.

“We require further information on the meeting, smuggler. How many criminals will be there?” Isel demanded impatiently.

“I...I don’t know for sure, but there should be more than twenty of them from all over,” Aster stammered.

“I want you to make a list of names. If you don’t then you will die,” Isel turned away and the soldiers dragged Aster away. Bysal, returning after four hours of rest, rushed to his leader’s side.

“Sir, why do we need the smuggler? He’s useless to us now that we know the location,” Bysal said.

“But we still need to know who will be there so that none can escape. I don’t want anyone to slip through our fingers. In the meantime, any word from the container?”

Bysal looked on the data pad that he had just received. “No sir, they checked in three hours ago with nothing new. They should be arriving soon.”

“Very good. They will come soon, they just don’t want to make it look obvious. Now, how are our fighter squadrons?”

“They are ready for battle. All squadrons are reporting that they are fully operational, a total of four squadrons. Fifty turbolaser and all ion cannons ready for action.”

“Good, the ship is ready for combat then. Have a course set for Tatooine and put us at the far side of the planet.” Bysal nodded and carried out the command. Isel could see the planet ahead in the viewscreen. He knew that the smugglers wouldn’t come in on the far side, they would insist on playing out thier charade that they were legitamate traders and stick to the standard trade routes. He picked up the data pad that Bysal had left there. Everything was ready to go, except that the smugglers needed to show up.

Mara stood in the dusty back room behind a Mos Eisley bar. She and Aves were getting things ready for the meeting. The back room had once housed sabacc games, but the bar’s current owner had closed it when business had dried up during Grand Admiral Thrawn’s battle against the New Republic. Most of the chairs were in need of repair and the entire room would need cleaned up so that it would be presentable. Mara sneezed as she took off the cover of one of the tables and was assaulted by a whirlwind of dust.

“What a dump. Why of all of the planets in the galaxy did Karrde have to pick this dump,” Mara moaned.

“Because no Imperials bother to come out here anymore. Neither does the New Republic,” Aves replied as he set up the sound system.

“That still doesn’t help with the dust in here.” She polished the table and threw the cover aside. She wiped the sweat from her face and then decided to go to the bar to rest for a few minutes. As she stepped into the bar, she heard the sound of fighting. Two aliens were fighting and she could see sabacc cards and drinks spilt on the floor. The bartender was watching with amusement. Mara stood at the sidelines and watched the brawl like the rest of the patrons. But then one of the aliens pulled a blaster.

Mara had her lightsaber from her belt in an instant and then ignited it with the familiar snap-hiss sound. She swung downward and blocked a blaster shot fired by one alien. Both combatants looked at her, stunned. For a moment all that could be heard was the hum of the lightsaber’s blue blade.

“Stop it now,” Mara growled. Slowly the two aliens nodded. The one with the blaster put it down. “Pay the barkeeper for the damage.” The aliens took out whatever money they had and threw it on the bar.

“You...you are Jedi?” One alien asked in broken Basic.

“No, I am not. You two get out of here,” Mara said and then turned off the lightsaber as the aliens ran from the bar. “What are you all looking at!” Mara ordered a drink and stomped back to the back room. Aves stood in the doorway.

“Nice performance,” he grinned.

“Well, I couldn’t let them shoot the place up. I wouldn’t want our guests to find the place all shot out,” Mara said as she brushed passed him and sat down in one of the chairs. She gulped down her drink and tried to relax.

“I meant it. Not many smugglers would stand up like that. Then again most smugglers don’t have a lightsaber either.” Aves went back to work and Mara sighed. She set aside her drink, hooked the lightsaber back on her belt, and then continued to clean up.

The first ships began to arrive that night. They came in one at a time at random intervals. One hapless smuggler, flying in an ancient freighter, had miscalculated his jump and ended up on the far side of Tatooine, only to find a Star Destroyer in his path.

Isel bolted out of his chair as alarms sounded. He quickly walked along the crew pits. Bysal rushed over to him with a status report. “Sir a freighter has come out of hyperspace near us. It hasn’t sent any messages to the planet yet.”

“What are you waiting for? Destroy that ship!” Isel rapidly became impatient with his crew. Why couldn’t they use their own initiative for once? At his order the turbolasers pounded the old freighter into dust.

“The ship is destroyed, no escape pods were launched. No messages detected,” Bysal reported quickly as Isel continued to pace the crew pits. Isel slowly moved back to his chair and the alarms died down. Fortuneately for the Star Destroyer, the shots hadn’t drained too much power from the turbolaser batteries.

“Everyone, now hear this! Any more targets that could compromise us are to be destroyed immediately!” Isel ordered and then walked off the bridge.

Luke rushed to the hangar to check on his X-Wing. He had been in his quarters figuring out what he should do about his vision when he had felt a great disturbance in the Force. It had been like nothing he had ever felt before. He knew that it could only mean one thing: Mara was in terrible danger. He entered the hangar, Artoo struggling to keep up and furiously making noises to get Luke to stop.

Luke opened the door to the hangar and saw that the X-Wing was still not operational. He checked its systems and found out that the engines and electronics were off-line. He groaned and then ran to the main hangar. As he was running through a corridor he ran into Leia.

“Luke, I’ve been looking all over for you!” She said. “Did you feel it? It was the strangest feeling I’ve ever had.”

“You felt it? Then you know that I’ve got to go and find her. She’s on Tatooine. I need a ship, mine is still damaged,” Luke spoke calmly but hurriedly.

“I’ll arrange it. Hurry Luke!” He ran off and Leia pulled out her comlink. “I need you to have a fighter warmed up and ready for Luke Skywalker.”

“Yes, Princess,” an officer replied. “We’ll have an A-Wing warmed up and ready for him.” Leia was glad that the officer hadn’t questioned her authority.

Luke ran into a ready room and began putting on flight gear. Then he hurried to the hangar and an officer intercepted him. “Which one is mine?” Luke asked over the roar of engines warming up.

“Can you fly an A-Wing sir?” The officer asked.

“Yes.”

“Over here then. She’s all ready to go.”

“Thanks,” Luke said and as he climbed the boarding ladder he saw Artoo trundling towards him. “It’s all right Artoo, I can take care of myself.” Artoo moaned electronically and Leia came up to the ladder.

“Good luck Luke. Be sure to call as soon as possible,” Leia hugged him and climbed down. As she backed away Luke flashed her a thumbs-up and then lowered the canopy. The A-Wing rose vertically and then Luke put the throttle to take-off speed. He turned the A-Wing so that the nose was pointed out of the hangar and then rocketed into the sky. The speedy A-Wing climbed into the atmosphere. The planetary shield was down and Luke’s flight plan had already been filed.

As soon as he was into space he reached for the hyperdrive levers. He saw the damaged Diplomat undergoing repairs, with Rogue Squadron beginning to ferry down to the surface. The X-Wings saw the A-Wing and waggled their wings at him as they dove into the atmosphere. Luke smiled and pulled the levers. The A-Wing jumped into hyperspace. Luke leaned back into his seat and hoped that he was doing the right thing.

Leia and Artoo entered the empty, dark quarters and she quietly went into the bedroom she and Han shared. To her surprise the lights went on as she entered. “Trying to sneak back in? What was it, business or pleasure?” Han asked with a rougish grin.

“Neither really. Luke’s going to Tatooine,” Leia said as she undressed.

“Why’s he going there?” Han yawned and leaned back in the bed.

“He’s looking for Mara Jade. He thinks that she’s in trouble.”

“If I know Mara, it’s him who’s in trouble.” Leia nodded and turned the lights off.

Artoo rolled dejectedly into a corner of the living room. Threepio was in the twins’s bedroom and Artoo knew better than to disturb him. He shut down for the night and calm settled over the apartment.

Mara stood in the back room of the bar and noticed that nearly all of the smugglers had arrived. She knew most of the smugglers, but some were beginners who she had not met yet. She noticed that two smugglers hadn’t arrived who had already sent messages to the effect that they were going to come. She knew that if Aster or T’bela didn’t show the meeting wouldn’t be hurt too badly. They weren’t important.

Mara was standing on an elevated platform in the back of the room. She faced the smugglers and cleared her throat. Everyone’s attention turned to her. “Welcome everyone. We will soon begin. Our primary goal here is to come up with an agreement between all of the smugglers and the government of the New Republic. This agreement is to renew the agreement reached a couple of months ago during the war with Grand Admiral Thrawn.

“The New Republic would like to reach a permanant settlement on the issue of smugglers supplying information in return for payment. As the liason to the government of the New Republic I am here to negotiate the settlement. Also, Aves will be representing Talon Karrde who is mediating. Any questions?” Mara looked around the room. Most of the smugglers, who were all businessmen, understood what she was telling them. Mara sat down at a table on the platform, waiting for someone to speak.

“If the Imperials have broken up, why does the New Republic need information from us? We aren’t spies, we got businesses to run here! I’m not going to go running around the galaxy to snoop around for the New Republic!” A humanoid smuggler, Hak Vnus, bellowed. There were a few mumbled agreements, but many smugglers held their tongues.

“Whatever happened to our freedom! That’s what we lose if we work for them!” Another smuggler hissed.

“Wait a minute! We worked for them during the recent battles, and nothing bad happened! If Talon Karrde wants us to help the New Republic then I say let’s do it!” Replied Mazzic, who had supported Karrde during the recent battles. Several cheers went up at this. Mara looked around. She knew that some of the smugglers were undecided, but most wanted to follow the plan.

“Wait a minute! If Karrde wants us to join so badly, then how come he didn’t show up himself? I think he’s playing all of you for fools!” The tide seemed to turn at that and Mara watched the scene with interest.

“Karrde had an important meeting to attend,” Aves stammered over the roar of the crowd.

“So he’s too good to show up here! He’s cashing in on some runs while we all sit here like suckers listening to this garbage!” The crowd was turning ugly, but those few who still supported Karrde stood and taunted the others. Then fights broke out. Mara reached for the lightsaber on her belt but Aves grabbed her arm.

“It won’t do any good. Connections with Luke Skywalker will only make you seem like you’ve been bought out by the New Republic,” Aves said as calmly as he could. Mara nodded her understanding and watched tables be overturned and tables smashed into splinters. She sighed, all of her work was being destroyed.

Over the sounds of fighting, no one could hear the sounds of transports full of troops being launched. Even if they had been absolutely quiet they still couldn’t have heard it. The Star Destroyer Ravage was now in orbit directly over Mos Eisley. Scores of TIE Fighters launched from their bays to protect the transports and the Star Destroyer.

Isel watched the operation from the bridge. He knew that it was a very fragile operation at this point and one Rebel ship could really throw things off. Isel smiled as he saw the first transports, carrying stormtroopers and speeder bikes, enter the atmposphere and then disappear. They were on there way to Mos Eisley and he was on his way to bringing back the glory of the Empire.