CHAPTER TWELVE
When Kylo Ren had arrived at Naboo, the last thing he had expected to see was the Supreme Leader’s flagship, the Supremacy, hovering over the city of Theed like some vast, predatory bird.
Even moreso, he had not expected the immediate feeling of dread that entered his heart when he saw it.
He knew that his mother was down there; he could feel it. As was his father. If they hadn’t been already, they were most likely being taken to the Supremacy at this very moment, where his uncle and his grandfather’s clone already were.
This was his master’s plan, wasn’t it? To have every living member of the Skywalker bloodline in his grasp. Once he was done here on Naboo, he would move on to find Leia’s other children—Kylo’s siblings. After that… Kylo didn’t want to even begin to imagine what Snoke’s plans for them were. Turning him to the dark side had been one thing, but he found it hard to imagine his mother or his uncle being so easily swayed. The same went for his siblings as well; after all, they had not been abducted at an early age and brainwashed to believe that their family had abandoned him. Not like he had been.
Kylo ran a gloved hand over his face (it felt strange to no longer feel his mask over it). He wasn’t sure where he was going to land his TIE silencer. If he landed it in the Supremacy’s hangar, he would be expected to head straight to the Supreme Leader’s throne room and then… what? Had he passed his master’s test on Mustafar? Was this part of the test? He had always found Snoke’s instructions to be murky at best. But after his experiences on Mustafar, he was now more in the dark than ever before.
Perhaps that meant something. Perhaps it meant that he wasn’t destined to fulfill the purpose that Snoke had intended for him. But if that was the case, then what was his destiny? What even was he anymore?
Without even thinking about it, he entreated the Force for an answer. Not the dark side, but the Force in its purest form. It was, as far as he recalled, the first time he had ever sought the touch of the light, having put his faith in the dark for so long.
He felt his mind touch that of another’s and it did not take him long to figure out whose it was. Their voice spoke in his mind with such clarity, it was as if they were right there in the cockpit with him.
Ben.
And just like that, with a sense of resolve he had never felt before, Kylo Ren piloted his ship towards the Supremacy and headed straight for the hangar bay.
* * *
The streets of Theed had been cleared to make way for Queen Reneme and her procession. Although Leia and her party did not wear any sort of restraints at the Queen’s insistence, they might as well have been with Captain Fallos and his men surrounding them with blasters in hand. Toah wondered if this was meant to be a walk of shame of some sorts, or if the Queen was leading them somewhere.
His question was soon answered when he spotted a large black shuttle with long wings descend from the Super Star Destroyer above, flanked by a pair of TIE fighters. The shuttle’s wings folded up as it slowly touched down in an open part of the plaza and a ramp lowered from beneath the cockpit. A squad of stormtroopers—clad in eye-catching red armor rather than the traditional white—came marching down the ramp, led by one with a cape draped over their shoulder. The squad came to a stop before the Queen and her procession, not offering her any form of salute or courtesy. If it bothered the young monarch, Reneme did not display it on her serene face.
“Welcome to Naboo,” she said in greeting. “I must admit, I was expecting the Supreme Leader himself to arrive in person.”
“The Supreme Leader has other matters to attend to,” the lead stormtrooper said curtly, a gruff, masculine voice emitting from their helmet’s vocalizer. He tilted his head to regard Toah, Leia, and the other prisoners-in-all-but-name. “Are these the ones to be taken to him?”
“If that is the Supreme Leader’s wish,” Reneme said, bowing her head.
With a sharp gesture from his hand, the lead stormtrooper directed his men to apprehend the six Resistance members. Each accosting stormtrooper drew a pair of stun-cuffs and forced them onto their hands. While Toah, Leia, Finn, Han, and Rey complied (if with a hint of reluctance from the latter two), Chewbacca was quick to issue a growl as the red trooper approached him. A sharp reprimand from Han compelled the Wookiee to allow the stormtrooper to place the restraints over his large hairy wrists.
Within moments, the six of them had been ushered onto the shuttle, and just as quickly it was taking off and returning to the Star Dreadnought whence it had came. None of them hardly spoke a word to each other or to the stormtroopers, knowing that doing so would earn them nothing but scorn. Once the shuttle had landed in the Super Star Destroyer’s hangar bay, Toah felt a cold shiver run down his spine yet again, one which was shared by Rey and Leia if their grim expressions were anything to go by.
Whoever this Supreme Leader was, Toah knew that they were getting close to him. And that, whoever he was, he was strong in the dark side; stronger than anyone Toah had ever encountered before. Not since facing Darth Vorath had he ever been in the proximity of such darkness.
And as soon as he had thought the Sith Lord’s name, Toah realized that Vorath was here as well.
Whether the others realized it or not, they had entered the heart of the darkness that they had been facing for the last two years… and he was not certain that they were going to come out of it alive.
* * *
Captain Fallos watched as the First Order shuttle departed as quickly as it had arrived, returning to the belly of the massive Star Destroyer that loomed over the city of Theed. For the past several minutes, his stomach felt as if it had been tied into knots, and it was only getting worse the longer he allowed the events of the last several minutes to sink in.
He looked over to Queen Reneme, who was observing the Star Destroyer with the most peaceful expression he had ever seen anyone regard such a terrifying vessel. Deciding to take a risk, he cleared his throat and spoke. “Your Highness, I must admit that I am… very confused about all of this. Confused and concerned. Did you know that these… these people were going to show up?” He hesitated to use the word “Imperials,” unsure if it was the proper terminology for these mysterious dark forces.
“Of course,” Reneme replied. “I invited them here. As soon as I learned that Princess Leia was going to be here on Naboo, I contacted the Supreme Leader as soon as I could.”
“But… why? How long have you been in contact with this ‘Supreme Leader?’”
“Not too long. I knew that he wanted the Princess of Alderaan for a specific purpose, so I decided to appease him with a gift. After all, we want Naboo to be in the First Order’s good graces when they eventually come to power.”
Fallos found himself staring at his Queen with his jaw hanging open, unable to even comprehend the words she was speaking. “But… but the Alliance is in power,” he stammered, his voice coming out as a croak.
“Not for very long, Captain. If you’ve been paying attention to the news, you will know that it is only a matter of time before a transfer of power is made. A transfer that has been a long time coming.”
Fallos shook his head. “No,” he murmured. “No, this isn’t right. This… this is the Empire all over again!”
Reneme looked at him, giving him that insultingly sweet smile of hers. “My dear captain,” she said, her voice as soft as silk. “That is the entire point.”
Fallos opened his mouth to issue another protest but never got the chance. He caught a gleam of silver as the Queen drew her holdout pistol out of her sleeve and pointed it at his chest. The last thing he saw was a flash of green light before darkness consumed him.
* * *
“We need a plan.”
“Right,” Bedo said dryly, slumping in his seat at the Renegade’s holo-table. “Because we are so good at those.”
“I’m serious,” Valrisa said sharply. “Princess Leia and her party have been captured. We can’t just leave them on that Star Destroyer!”
“We can’t leave at all,” said Kyla Kishanti, emerging from the cockpit along with Ace. “The Queen has shut down all the airspaces. We’re stranded here.”
Bedo threw up his hands. “Fantastic. If anyone tells me they had their money on ‘the Queen of Naboo is actually evil’ in their sabacc pot, I’m gonna tell them they’re lying.”
“I will admit, there is something off about all of this,” said Zarin Kal. The Kiffar Dark Jedi was leaning against one of the control stations, rubbing the stubble on his chin. “I sense a great darkness coming from that Super Star Destroyer. It would be suicide for any of us to try and break in to rescue the Princess and her company.”
Valrisa looked at him. “What do you suggest we do then?”
“Well, if the Queen is involved, then we naturally look there. Which means we break into Theed Palace.”
“Val was literally just there,” said Typha. “Do you think she could get back in?”
“I doubt it,” Zarin answered grimly. “If the airspaces are closed, then the palace is sure to be on lockdown as well, if not the entire city.”
“Wait,” said Vessin Ordo. “If we’re stuck here, then Valrisa’s sister—that Teramo lady—must be as well. Maybe she can get us back into the palace.”
“I doubt it,” Valrisa muttered. “She pretty much threatened to kill me the next time she saw me. And I don’t exactly have her frequency number.”
At this, Bedo cleared his throat, shifting uncomfortably in his seat. “I… might have something like that,” the Ortolan said quietly.
Everyone stared at him incredulously. “You have Lady Teramo’s frequency number?” Valrisa asked.
“No! Gods, no. But I do have a frequency number.” Bedo reached into his pocket and brought out a comlink. “When we were at the wedding, I, ah, asked Boss Binks if I could stay in touch with him and he, uh….”
“He gave you his frequency?” Wiskin asked, not bothering to hide his incredulity.
“Look, I’m a fan, okay? He’s one of my biggest idols!”
“That explains a lot,” Kadar muttered.
Kyla ran a hand through her hair. “All right, call him then. See if he can get us into the palace.”
With a quick nod, Bedo activated the comlink and put in the frequency code. After a brief moment, an old yet energetic voice picked up.
“Yesa?”
“Boss Binks? Hey, it’s me, Bedo. Remember me? The Ortolan you met at Senator Naberrie’s wedding?”
“Oh, yesa! Meesa remember palo Bedo berry well! How are yousa doing?”
“Uh, with all due respect, Boss Binks, I would love to chat but, uh, my friends and I need an urgent favor from you, if you don’t mind.”
Boss Binks said nothing in response; Bedo could only take this to mean that the Gungan leader was listening.
Nervously, the Ortolan said, “Uh, Boss Binks, are you still at Theed Palace?”
“Yesa, meesa still at palace. Why yousa ask?”
“We need to get into the palace because, uh, a friend of mine forgot something there. Since everything is on lockdown, do you think you could convince the Queen to let us in?”
There was a bout of silence from the other end of the comlink. The other Renegades looked on, wearing expressions that varied from apprehension to a still-lingering sense of disbelief.
Just as they thought they weren’t going to get a response, Boss Binks’ voice crackled through once more. “Meesa can do that for yousa, yesa.”
Bedo’s eyes widened. “Really? I mean, uh, thank you, Boss Binks. You have no idea—”
“However,” the elder Gungan interjected. “Only a few of yousa may enter. It might be muy-muy suspeect if all of yousa came in.”
“So how many of us should come?”
“Three or four, five at most.”
Bedo sighed. “All right. That makes sense, I guess. Thank you again, Boss Binks. You have no idea how much—”
“Pleasa. Tank meesa when you are safe.”
With that, the Gungan leader ended the call on his end. Bedo let out his breath as he leaned back in his seat.
“I can’t believe that actually worked,” the Ortolan said.
“It hasn’t worked yet,” growled Wiskin. “We still need to actually get into the palace and do what we need to do without dying or getting captured in the process.”
“Right,” said Ace. “So which of us are going? Other than Valrisa, I mean.”
“I’m going, of course,” said Typha, wrapping an arm around Valrisa. “She’s not going anywhere dangerous without me.”
“I’ll volunteer,” said Zarin Kal. “I sense a darkness behind this whole conspiracy. Might need a lightsaber-wielder for that.”
“I’ll go as well,” said Kadar. The others waited for him to provide further elaboration but the former Mandalorian did not offer any.
“All right then,” said Kyla. “There’s our four. The rest of us will stay here and standby in case you need rescuing.”
“You don’t have any confidence in us?” Zarin asked, part-jokingly.
Kyla eyed him evenly for a moment. “More like I have yet to see one of our missions go off without a hitch.”
“Well, there’s a first time for everything,” said Valrisa. “Come on; let’s go.”
* * *
Darius Naberrie awoke to the sharp sensation of pain. His shoulder felt as if a hundred needles were being punctured through his skin. However, when he looked at the medical droid attending to him, it was prodding him anywhere but where his wound was.
When the Senator of Naboo tried to move, the droid snapped its head to him and spoke in a calm yet authoritative tone. “Please do not move, Senator Naberrie.”
Darius gritted his teeth as he mustered the strength to utter a sound other than an agonized scream. “Did the doctors run out of bacta or something?”
“I needed to remove the bacta gauze in order to proceed with the operation. Bacta chemicals tend to interfere with proper readings of bloodstreams.”
“What is that supposed to—” Darius yelped in pain as the droid prickled his hand with its needles. He saw his own blood go up into a small tube attached to one of its many appendages.
The droid’s photoreceptors flashed for a brief moment. “Interesting,” it said quietly. “Senator, do you know the identity of your paternal unit?”
Darius took a moment to recompose himself before speaking. “He was never part of the picture. He left as soon as he knew my mother was pregnant.”
“Allow me to repeat the question: Do you know the identity of your paternal unit?”
“No,” Darius growled. “No, I do not.”
The droid said nothing further on the subject, continuing to stand there while Darius lay in pain. Finally, the droid said, “Unfortunately, the M-count in your blood is insufficient. Despite our hopes, you are not the one we seek.”
“What is that even supposed to mean?”
“Not to worry, however. There is another viable subject here on this very planet. I should attend to them as soon as possible.”
With that, the multi-armed droid turned on its servos and walked out of the medical bay, leaving Darius to lie there in pain without any bacta being applied to his shoulder wound. It was not long before the senator of Naboo found himself slipping back into unconsciousness.
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