14: AFTERMATH
Hosnian Prime
The day after the Gemini’s destruction, Chief of State Leia Organa Solo convened with the Senate and told them the truth. She told them everything, from her being the daughter of Darth Vader to being the brother of Luke Skywalker.
The reaction from the Senate was mixed at best. Most of her supporters reacted positively, thanking her for her transparency, while most of her opponents had the opposite reaction, accusing her of hiding her true legacy for the sake of political gain. Senator Casterfo had been especially irate, given his intense distaste for Vader, while Senator Sidian made a theatrical display of astonishment at the fact that Leia was not Alderaanian by blood.
Leia could not care less about what they thought. She was more worried about how the rest of the Senate—those who did not feel strongly one way or the other about her—would respond to the truth, as well as the general public. Some took it well, others did not. At the very least, much of the public outrage had been quelled after she had delivered her speech, although some continued to make the claim that the whole incident with the Gemini had been engineered to distract them. Leia knew that no amount of convincing would get them to believe otherwise.
While there were no signs of the Senate moving to impeach her any time soon, she knew that her chances of being reelected had been greatly diminished. Even so, she wasn’t sure if she would have run anyway; she had been reluctant to take the position two years ago after the Imperial Sith War anyway, and she already saw many of her colleagues as better candidates anyway, especially Senators Omas and Villecham.
She would serve the the rest of her term and then step down, declining the option to run again. Perhaps she would officially retire and spend more time with her family. Or she would travel to Ossus to finish the Jedi training she had put off for far too long.
The possibilities were endless, she realized, and despite everything that had happened, she felt better about the future than she had been a week ago.
Until then, however, there were other matters to attend to. Matters that still required her immediate attention.
As she sat in her office after returning from the Senate session, the doors opened to allow in Intelligence Director Dif Scaur. The white-haired man approached her with a grim look on his face.
“Our operatives have reported back from Vjun,” he started, setting down a datapad on Leia’s desk.
“And?” she asked as she picked up the device.
“Dead. All of them.”
She raised an eyebrow in surprise. “Even Wavlud?”
“Most likely. We’re still trying to identify all of the bodies. But from what we can tell, all of the cult members that your children encountered on Vjun are dead.”
“Suicide, you think?” Leia was familiar with how certain cults tended to end up, especially those that were particularly deluded and fanatical.
Scaur shifted on his feet. “We’re still waiting on the coroner’s report before determining that. Although one of the bodies—the one we believe to be Wavlud’s—had major lacerations from their left shoulder all across their chest. We’re still trying to determine the cause of the lacerations.”
Leia nodded. “Understood. Anything else?”
“We’ve also been in contact with Imperial Intelligence. From what we can gather, the Imperials had no involvement with the Children of Vader and their plot. The two Star Destroyers they used for the Gemini had been stolen from their shipyards, and the crew under their command had been coerced into working for them. This corroborates with Captain Chaar’s report on the statements given by the pilots that had surrendered after the Gemini’s destruction.”
“I figured as much,” Leia said. “Although I still feel that this plot runs deeper than we’ve been led to believe. They still must have acquired the resources for the weapon itself somewhere, and it wouldn’t have been easy for them to do so without help.”
“Agreed,” Scaur said. “We will continue looking into the matter based on the leads we still have. Although with most of the cultists dead, I’m not sure how much we will be able to find.”
“Do what you can, Director. And thank you.”
“I do what I can, Chief.” Snapping off a quick salute, Scaur departed from the room, leaving Leia alone in her office.
Picking up the datapad, she turned it on and began to browse through the data. Thoughts about her retirement and the future would have to wait, maybe for a long time.
There was still much work to be done.
* * *
Lando Calrissian slammed his suitcase shut and sighed. He wasn’t sure where he was going, but it felt wrong to stay in any one place for too long. He had to keep moving, or else the person he was looking for would slip through his fingers.
He thought about returning to Cloud City to check in on how things were running. As far as he knew, Lobot was still working closely with the current Baron Administrator, who was planning on retiring and had even reached out to Lando to see if he would like to return to the position again. The offer was tempting, and he might be able to use the position as a means to finding more clues on his daughter’s whereabouts.
There was also another planet on his radar. Seven years ago, he had crossed paths with Luke during his search and the two had worked together to protect a down-on-their-luck family from a group of Sith acolytes. During their adventure, they had come across the planet of Pasaana, where Lando had made contact with the native Aki-Aki. He had thought about settling on the planet and taking up vigil as a hermit, watching over the villages and ensuring that their children did not share the same fate as his daughter had.
Lando realized just how different and almost opposite these lifestyles were, which he supposed just went to show how lost and directionless he felt. At least with the war against the Sith, he had had something to keep himself occupied. But now? He had no idea what to do with himself.
He heard a chime at his door and he braced himself as he walked over to answer it. He was expecting to see Han on the other side, having come over to convince him to stay on Hosnian Prime or offer some sort of consolation.
Instead, he saw his son.
Chance Calrissian stiffened at the sight of his father before averting his gaze, casting his gaze to the floor. “Hey, dad.”
“Hey, son,” Lando replied, just as quietly.
Ever since Kadara’s disappearance, Lando’s relationship with his son had become strained, and as soon as Chance had turned eighteen he had struck out on his own, getting his own ship to start his own life among the stars. From what Lando had heard, Chance had practically become a copy of himself, emulating his father’s mannerisms and antics to a fault. It sounded as if Chance was just as lost and without direction as Lando was feeling.
Perhaps that was something they could bond over….
“I heard you were leaving,” Chance then said before the awkward silence between them could settle in.
“And you came to say goodbye?”
“No.” Chance looked up, a hopeful glint in his eye. “I came to see if you needed a ride.”
Lando stared at his son… and couldn’t help a grin from breaking out onto his face. “You need a copilot?”
Chance shoved his hands into the pockets of his trousers and shrugged sheepishly. “And maybe some advice for courting women.”
“Now that,” Lando said as he clapped his son on the shoulder, “is definitely something I can help with.”
Chance beamed at him, and for the first time in thirteen years, Lando had a pretty good idea of where he was headed.
* * *
Coruscant
“Are you sure this is the right place?” Jaina asked.
“Wallen said it was,” Jacen replied. “He also said there were, like, over a hundred million people with the name Pavan living on Coruscant. And that wasn’t including the ones who weren’t human.”
Jaina looked at the address of the apartment they were at, located on one of the middle levels of the planet. She and her brothers had taken it upon themselves to seek out Hali’s family, if only to offer their condolences for their daughter’s death. But despite there being no records of any of her relatives having recently passed save for her grandfather, the residence appeared to be completely unoccupied. Even the receptionist at the front desk had suggested that no one had lived here for nearly ten years.
Jaina was still haunted by the sight of Hali—wearing a replica of her mother’s face—throwing herself onto her lightsaber. She had not brought it up to Leia yet and she wasn’t exactly planning on doing so anytime soon. She knew her mother already had enough on her plate as it was. They all did.
Sighing in defeat, she turned to face her brothers. “Well, I guess that’s that, then. I should probably head to the Academy. I promised Gavin I would help him train some new recruits.”
“You’re still flying with Rogue Squadron?” Anakin asked.
Jaina nodded. “For now, at least. I have heard some talks about forming a squadron unit made specifically of Jedi pilots… but don’t quote me on that.”
“I’m off to Ossus,” said Jacen. “I’m not sure what good it will do, but I want to see what records we could have on Vjun. It might not provide any answers as to where the Children of Vader came from… but it wouldn’t hurt to check, I suppose.”
Anakin frowned. He knew he should have been expecting it, but it still disappointed him that they were already going their separate ways again. He had been looking forward to spending time with his family at Remembrance Day, but now those moments had been tarnished by everything that had transpired since. He wasn’t sure if they would meet again next year, given what had happened on New Alderaan.
Perhaps sensing his feelings, Jacen put a hand on his younger brother’s shoulder. “You can come along, if you’d like,” he said with a small smile. “Maybe say hi to Tahiri, if she’s there.”
Anakin doubted it, knowing that Tahiri had been spending most of her time on off-world missions with her new teacher. Still, he appreciated the thought.
“Thanks, Jace,” he said. “I probably will. If only to clear my head after… everything.”
“Don’t I know it,” Jaina muttered. “Unfortunately, Gavin’s exercises don’t really involve meditation or anything like that.”
As one, the three Solo kids began to head off for their respective destinations, leaving behind the abandoned Pavan residence.
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