Gone - Prologue
Disclaimers: This is just for fun! All the characters belong to George Lucas. I am only borrowing them to take them out to play for awhile.
Rating: M (for overall fic)
Not suitable for children or teens below the age of 16 with possible
strong but non-explicit adult themes, references to violence, and strong coarse language
Author's Note: This is the first time I've posted here so hope this works and that the formatting is ok! This fic is an AU as I am playing around with things in the EU as it suits this fic so consider yourself warned! Please note I am British so spellings will not be Amercanised! Sorry!
Fifteen Years After the
Battle of Endor
Coruscant
Leia Organa Solo surveyed the
massed crowd from the balcony to their apartment.The noise of all
the citizens celebrating below cascadedtogether to make a wall of
living sound. There was a magical thrum to the noise, almost
beating like a pulse of a living entity. The
occasional
flickering light lit small islands of revellers, the pools
of
illumination bobbing along like waves on a sea. It was a
mesmersing
sight. The lines of speeder traffic and shuttles moving
between
the buildings were less then normal as Coruscant celebrated
the
Peace Treaty. Overhead the sky was still lit up by brief flashes
of
vibrant colour from the fireworks that were still punctuating
the
sky. Leia just let the cool Coruscant night air wash over her
senses,
observe the night's events. Leaning in to her husband,
they both stood
wordless, watching the world go by.
Never even in their dreams would
they have believed that this day
would occur. The day when the
Imperial and New Republic forces finally
and officially ceased
their hostilities. The Galactic Civil War was
now formally
consigned to history. Yet both Leia and Han were well
aware that
they were still factions out there they would still cause
problems.
The diplomatic work had not finished as the Imperial
Reminant and
the former New Republic Forces would be uneasy bed
partners until
the fragile trust built more solid foundations.
The former princess had experienced
this atmosphere several times in
her life but this time it was
different. Despite her hard work
bringing about this day, Leia
felt apart from the rest of the
celebrants. She appreciated the
unique occassion but was unable to
feel free herself to enjoy the
day like the many souls below. She
had lost too much on this
journey. The atmosphere evoked memories of
another time and
transported her back to another celebration where she
had felt a
part of the festivities. It had been fifteen long years
ago when
the Rebel Alliance celebrated the destruction of the second
Death
Star. In her mind's eye, she saw a forest with fireworks
blooming
from the X-wings flying overhead. The simple music and
dancing
round the fires high up in the trees seemed a lifetime ago.
What
she would give to be back there once more to enjoy that night
with
the more simple celebrations of the ewoks. It had been a happy
time
when she had partied on a timber platform surrounded by friends
and
colleagues. Leia's thoughts drifted back to that time just after
she
had found out that Luke was her brother. Unlike on Endor's
Moon,
there would be no reunion with Luke. This time, all she had
was Han
whose arms had tighten round her in response to her
unconscious reaction.
Appreciating his empathy, Leia
closed her eyes and let the moment wash
over her as she was
wrapped in Han's warm embrace. His strong arms
holding her while
his chin nestled on top of her coiled hair. He knew
she was
feeling fragile and his support throughout today had meant
such a
lot to her. He knew what she was thinking even without the
Force
to let him know.
For such a brash, loud mouthed
Correllian pirate, he really had such a
sensitive soul underneath
all the gruff exterior. It had taken her a
while to see past the
demeanor to the real man. Somehow her brother
had recognised Han's
true spirit despite the galaxy worn exterior.
Without Luke, Leia
knew that her and Han would have been unlikely to
get together as
a couple. Especially in the early days, they were
always sparking
each other off. Somehow, Luke had managed to keep the
balance and
also the peace despite Han's unnatural talent for winding
her up.
Smiling up at him as she turned round to hug him. She
whispered in
his ear, "I love you."
"I know." The usual reply
made Leia smile before his well made lips
claimed her own in a
searing kiss. Leia just gave in to the moment and
let her thoughts
drift away and let herself forget for a time.
Talon Karrde
watched the holonet report on the proceedings, taking in
the
Organa Solos appearance as Leia's recorded voice sounded round
his
office. Her posture showing her regal upbringing during the
formal
proceedings of the armistice while Han Solo looked more
relaxed at
Leia's elbow.
"I would like to remember
those who have helped bring about this day
but who are no longer
with us to celebrate this momentous occasion
on the ending of
years of Galactic Civil War. Please raise your
glasses and make
this toast with me." Leia had paused at this point,
to raise
her glass skywards.
However, Karrde was adept at
reading body language and could read the
tension in both of them.
The words of her formal toast had praised
the combined efforts of
the Imperial and New Republic for achieving
peace and looked with
optimism to the future but her words also warned
the gathering
about the price of war. Looking askance at his aide, he
wondered
what Mara Jade's reaction to this was going to be.
"To the future! And for those
who are gone but never forgotten, we vow
to build it to be such a
future!"
Karrde's thoughts turned back the
years to when he also had been
intrigued by Mara's reaction to
Luke Skywalker when they had stumbled
across the Jedi's X-wing
literally dead in space. He had watched their
relationship develop
from a be-grudging respect to a deep and sincere
friendship over
the decade. Karrde always had a healthy respect for
Skywalker's
abilities before he had met the Jedi but that he had
become to
know, like and esteem the man behind the name. He had often
wondered
about their friendship. He realised after news of Skywalker's
demise
that Mara had definitely been more involved with Luke than even
he
had known. She had taken it hard but never had confided him
about
this obviously deeply personal matter.
The former Chief of State raised
her glass and sipped the contents.
The holocam then scanned round
the gathered politicans and military
leaders as they all echoed
her words and actions before the feed went
dead.
"Mara?" Karrde turned
around not really surprised that the red headed
trader had killed
the holonet. He was just surprised that she had let
it run for so
long.
"I wish she would just come
out and say it." Mara Jade said bitterly,
steadfastly trying
read the information on the datapad in her hand
for the umpteenth
time, as she tried to blank out Organa Solo's voice
without
success. "Gone but never forgotten... in other words dead. "
Talon knew at least one of the
reasons behind her latest outburst.
Mara Jade had taken Leia
Organa and the NRI to task when the failed
undercover mission had
cost Luke his life. Mara still blaimed Leia for
his death and
after today's events, Talon had a feeling that Leia
still blaimed
herself too.
Talon Karrde knew the red headed
trader was a lot more bothered than
she let on. He still wasn't
sure of Mara's background, even after all
these years. The trader
had pierced together enough information to
hazard a good guess and
he knew after working with Jade for the last
decade that her
talents and training had meant special ops within the
Empire. He
just didn't know the details and he wasn't sure if he
wanted to.
"Galactic Federation of Free
Alliances!" Mara snorted with derision.
"What a
mouthful! Wonder how long they took in committee to agree on
that
name!"
"Still, it isn't going to
matter out of the Core." Mara continued. Her
tone mellowing
as she concentrated back on business. "The impact of
this
armstice is not going to affect the Rim Worlds for some time.
Most
will ignore this apart from looking at the holonet reports
before
continuing about their normal business in their normal
way."
"That is what I am counting
on." Karrde advised her. He had been
informing Mara of his
grand plans for his organisation. He planned to
offer his
information and intelligence servces to both the Imperial
Reminant
and the New Republic whilst still remaining neutral.
Mara looked up at him again from
the numbers he had sent to her
datapad. "I hope you are not
misjudging our capacity too much. Our
network although good, could
get swamped by yours plans and it could
back fire on you."
Karrde waved away her concerns. "We
will learn, adapt and grow as we
have always done."
Mara said nothing just raised a
shapely eyebrow. Her expression saying
it all.
Talon ignored her reservations. It
had to work and he would make it
work. He had the greatest
confidence in his people and knew they would
suceed. However, he
knew Mara was right on both accounts but the Rim
was a law unto
itself which was always a thorn to those only familiar
to the
Core. Centralised government was not very effective out there
even
at the height of the Old Republic and the Empire. Palpatine
indeed
had more of a presence in the Rim than many thought but these
places
were left to continue under the radar of the New Republic and
Karrde
had a hunch that aquite a few former Imperial officers who
were
maintain their bases, would look on with formation of the GFFA
with
suspicsion and try to make the most out of this current news
before
the Core caught up with them again. He was in the ideal
position
to take advantage and hopefully his organisation would be
able to
obtain quite a few of former Imperial bases and stations as he
had
expansion plans in his trading as well as the intelligence game.
His information network would have
to develop to handle the eventual
volume of information which
would be required between all the Core
Worlds and the Rim. If it
didn't, the whole thing would become a dead
weight around his neck
but he foresaw that not a lot would immediately
change. His
operatives were experienced and in the right places so he
was
optimistic. All they needed was time to expand and grow
their
capacity.
The change in political balance
could also provide a few new
opportunities for him to proft from.
He suspected his organisation
could take advantage in several
different ways. He already had plans
and it was about time to
inform Mara of what he wanted her to achieve.
End post - prologue
Well? Do you want Chapter One?