Ten years, two months, and eight days after the Battle of Yavin...
Or the forty-fifth year, second month, and eighth day after the Great Resynchronization.
(Eight months and twenty-eighth days since arrival).
Cold and pain.
Pain and cold.
Despair, replaced by calm.
Calm, replaced by despair.
Elation.
Disappointment.
Pain.
Desperate attempts to stand on the edge...
"Leia..."
The young woman's eyes snapped open so suddenly that Lando, sitting next to her in the pilot's seat, shifted uncomfortably, casting suspicious glances at her.
"Luke?" Leia jerked forward, but the restraints stopped her, returning her to her place.
"Is everything alright?" Callrissian looked concerned. "Your meditation took a bit long, you know. Chewie and I were starting to worry."
Leia turned her head and saw the Wookiee standing behind the back of her seat, tilting his head in a silent question.
"Everything is fine," she said. "Probably."
"Jedi intuition?" the family friend clarified, looking at the hyperspace tunnel.
"I could swear I heard my brother's voice," Leia said.
Chewbacca grumbled.
"He's in pain," the former princess said thoughtfully. "Scared. But these are brief moments. He's holding himself together, the Jedi art helps him."
"Helps with what?" Lando asked quietly.
"Not to break," Leia replied just as quietly. "I... I didn't see, but I felt a pressing, aggressive, evil aura. A presence so vile and disgusting that it sends shivers down my spine... Like... Like..."
Callrissian took a breath:
"Like Palpatine's?" he asked.
The woman nodded silently.
Lando exhaled heavily, like a deflating balloon.
"You're no stranger to shattering my hopes," Lando sighed.
"You're not the only one who believed he was finally dead," Leia said, shivering. "I... Even though Galen Marek and General Kota said they managed to go there and find out what was what, saw Palpatine, I didn't fully believe it. And now... I have no doubts. He's truly back."
"We were told about this before, if I recall," Callrissian reminded her.
Leia nodded silently.
"Sometimes I think Thrawn wasn't so bad after all," she admitted. "The other Imperials... They are categorical, despotic. The Grand Admiral tried to convey to us that he wasn't like that. That it was best for us to work together..."
"I don't recall his exact words, but I thought he just asked us not to interfere with him," Lando scratched the back of his head. "And demanded help in building up his armed forces..."
"With him, at least, one could have a dialogue," Leia noted. "Palpatine is unlikely to be as talkative."
"That's also true," Callrissian agreed.
He sat in silence for a few seconds, then asked the former princess directly:
"Do you believe Marek, Kota, and Eclipse?"
Leia raised her eyebrows in surprise.
"They were at the foundation of a unified Alliance," she said. "Of course, it wasn't this Galen who initiated it, but..."
"I'm troubled by the fact that they, according to their words, managed to visit Palpatine's holy of holies—Byss—and left there alive," Lando confessed.
"What are you getting at?" the Alliance's Minister of Foreign Affairs frowned, her gaze hardening.
"That something doesn't quite add up," Lando said. "Palpatine knows them all by sight, right?"
"Yes," Leia replied.
"Then how did they manage to infiltrate and return?" Callrissian asked. "If it's so easy, why hasn't anyone else succeeded so far? Why didn't Luke escape from there?"
"I don't think all the other opponents attract Palpatine as much as Luke does," Leia smiled strained. "Galen, Kota, and Juno infiltrated Byss on the 'Eclipse,' a super-dreadnought that was once attacked by Tyber Zann at the Kuat shipyards. They hoped to destroy the ship and everything they found, but the starship was practically non-combat-ready by then. However, they managed to find out that the fleet in the Deep Core is not a fairy tale. It's a pity we learned this so late. Perhaps if we had this information earlier, we would have done something."
"I recall we tried to verify Thrawn's words," Lando reminded her. "It was limited to a few scouts sent to known Deep Core systems and..."
"We did what we could," the minister said.
"It's not enough," Lando grimaced. "I don't trust them... It's all too simple."
"I understand how unpleasant this all looks from the outside," Leia sighed. "But, unfortunately, the past cannot be undone. We don't have many friends to simply suspect everyone and anyone just because they visited our enemies' territory. If you recall, we are not without sin ourselves—we were in Thrawn's captivity for too long to prevent the Batarians from breaking into the upper echelons of power and dismantling the New Republic."
"You know I don't approve of this division," Lando said. "The New Republic, the Alliance... We gave too much to the cause of restoring the Republic to just walk away, leaving the Batarians with everything they achieved over the years."
"Unfortunately, that's exactly what most of our military thought," Leia admitted. "Now we are doing everything to ensure that the Alliance does not fall victim to the same intrigues as the New Republic. And before it, the Old Republic..."
"I doubt the government will ever have no secrets from the public," Callrissian snorted.
"Well, you know," Leia smiled, understanding that this "offense" was nothing more than pretense. "It's not just the government that has secrets."
Callrissian looked at her with an interested squint.
"What are you hinting at, Leia?" he asked.
"Iego," the former princess said. "During our last meeting, Carrde mentioned you had some business project. I don't remember you telling me or Han about it."
"Carrde's tongue has gotten too long," Lando grumbled. "And I don't have to tell every Tom, Dick, and Harry about where and what my interests are throughout the galaxy."
"And yet?" Leia raised a thin eyebrow questioningly.
Lando glanced at Chewbacca, but the Wookiee seemed equally interested in what new story the man who "sold them out" to Darth Vader in Cloud City a few years ago had gotten into.
"Have you heard anything about angels from Iego?" he asked the former princess from Alderaan.
"By the edge of my ear," Leia didn't go into detail.
"In general, there's a planet in the Ash Worlds sector, not far from here, called Iego," Lando said. "In the Extrictarium Nebula in the Outer Rim territories, to be precise. The nebula is difficult for astronavigation, so practically Iego isn't on any public maps, except perhaps somewhere in the databases on Obroa-skai or similar places. There's little of note for mass colonization there—the planet doesn't rotate, and the atmosphere is heated by stellar gases. You can live there, but without much comfort. During the Clone Wars, thousands of spacefarers got stuck there due to the numerous moons and asteroids surrounding the planet. However, not everyone knows that these were essentially poachers who hunted for diathimas. This is a flying species that inhabited forty-two moons out of over a thousand on Iego..."
"Lando, if I wanted a long, useful story about beauty or a description of something, I'd ask C-3PO to give me a lecture," Leia stated. "I just don't understand what you found there that made you go to such a backwater..."
"And here, you shouldn't rush the story," Lando grinned. Then, the smile left his face. "Just don't call C-3PO into the cockpit. Let him continue preparing for the diplomatic reception. 'Goldie' is impossibly tedious. And he still hasn't forgotten how Vader's stormtroopers shot him a little in Cloud City..."
Chewbacca growled an unpleasant remark.
"But you reassembled him, didn't you?" Lando reasoned. "As far as I'm concerned, he's better than he was."
The Wookiee had nothing to retort.
"You know, even in Cloud City, I noticed that you deliberately jump from topic to topic when you don't want to talk about your business," Leia said. "Like now..."
Callrissian sighed heavily.
"After all, Han was lucky with his wife," he admitted. "And how does he live with the fact that you see right through him?"
"Silently," Leia smiled. "We have a rule in our family—no secrets."
Lando cast a questioning glance at Chewbacca, as the only one who could confirm or deny the former princess's words.
The Wookiee, as expected, sided with her.
"When Thrawn tried to recruit me to be the manager of his underwater mines, the thought occurred to me: 'Why not do the same, but somewhere else?' And I used my old connections, learned about Iego," Callrissian clarified. "True, it turned out that not everything is as good as it might seem. There are fewer notable natural resources there than a Jawa has conscience, but there is something remarkable: the concepts of aging and hunger somehow elude its inhabitants."
"No one there ages or suffers from hunger?" Leia asked in surprise.
"At least that's what they say," Lando shrugged. "Lobot is currently studying what's going on there. I had to spend a lot to get there and debunk the myth that Iego is just a space traveler's tale. The thing is, the name itself is known, but few have managed to get there. And those who succeeded mostly couldn't leave. I managed to hire a couple of Verpine and Givin to calculate a safe course, as they know how to do. So, if I have something to build a luxurious hotel there, the myths about Iego will fill my pocket. I think many sentient beings will want to come and see a planet where no one feels hunger and no one ages."
"It's better to work on the advertising," Leia advised. "Strange places scare sentient beings away. And attract bandits. Imagine what a base Iego could become if you can only get through the asteroid field and moons by knowing the right course?"
"Well," Lando winked conspiratorially. "You see, there's something else that makes me unafraid of an attack."
"And why?" Leia asked. "Just don't tell me there's a Death Star or some star super-dreadnought there."
"Better," Callrissian smiled. "A laser defense grid. Yes, it's been damaged over the years, and it's incomplete in places—local old-timers say a couple of Jedi messed with it and disabled part of it. Because of this, many locals managed to leave the planet. But if you invest properly, you won't have to fear any invasion or anything like that..."
"Wait, wait, wait," Leia waved her hands. "What laser grid? I don't recall ever encountering a project with that name in the Imperial archives."
"And it's not an Imperial development," Callrissian winked conspiratorially. "This project is about thirty years old—it was built by engineers of the Confederacy of Independent Systems."
Chewbacca grumbled displeasantly.
"Yes, it's ancient, but so what?" Lando shrugged. "I know guys who still use CIS technology unchanged. Or should I remind you how Grand Admiral Thrawn used battle droids, separatist boarding ships?"
"No need," Leia winced.
The memories were still too fresh.
And, frankly, they were more like an unhealed wound.
"So what kind of technology is it?" the former princess inquired.
"There's an asteroid field and a graveyard of old starship debris in orbit around Iego, which were unlucky enough to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. This formation is mostly static," Lando explained. "Locals call it the Thicket. The Separatists calculated the orbits of most of the objects and placed a central emitter station there. When unauthorized starship movement is detected, the emitter emits a laser beam, which is reflected off the stops on the asteroids, redirected to other similar reflectors—and so on, until the entire Thicket turns into a web of laser beams several hundred kilometers deep. I think it's clear that flying through it and surviving is unrealistic. However," the adventurer paused. "They say that during the Clone Wars, a couple of Jedi did break through—and they damaged a significant part of the laser network. Now I need investors to launch the project anew—and that's millions of credits."
Leia looked at Chewbacca.
The Wookiee shook his head almost imperceptibly, indicating that he also didn't believe their acquaintance's candor.
"You know, I think these are excessive security measures for a resort," the former princess stated.
"Maybe so," Lando said indifferently. "But if Grand Admiral Thrawn brought anything useful into my life, it was the understanding that old technologies are undeservedly forgotten. And also, that in our time, any utterly madman, having a couple of Star Destroyers, can fly in and destroy your business."
Leia remembered that it was precisely this—invasion and destruction of a mining enterprise—that happened to Lando's business on N'klon.
And Grand Admiral Thrawn did it.
"You're building a sanctuary," Leia realized.
"Uh-huh," Callrissian grumbled. "Maybe the resort idea will work out, but it seems much more useful to have a place in the galaxy that's hard to reach. And there's a defense that can cut any armed fleet to pieces. Considering that, according to your friend Galen's stories, Palpatine has thousands of ships—maybe this place will be exactly what will become our reliable fortress in difficult times."
Leia reached forward and kissed her friend on the cheek.
"Sorry," she said. "I shouldn't have pried all this out of you like that."
"Oh, I'm used to it," Callrissian said sheepishly. "I just thought there was too much unrest in the galaxy, and a quiet harbor would be most welcome."
"That's for sure," Leia agreed. "You know, even though Jaina and Jacen are guarded by the best Wookiee warriors, and Winter too, I still set off on new journeys with a heavy heart every time."
"Well-ll-ll," Lando pretended to think. "Originally, they weren't planned for my resort, but I think some adjustments can be made to the builders' initial plan."
"Are you really going to do this?" Leia asked, looking at her combat comrade with new eyes.
"Why not?" he shrugged. "But there's a problem—by the time Lobot and I finish there, I suspect the twins will have grown up and become Jedi who can beat anyone themselves, so they won't need protecting."
"Investments," Leia nodded understandingly.
"Exactly," Callrissian agreed. "These are significant expenses. And I'd really rather not attract major investors. Especially now that you want to hide the children there."
The former princess looked thoughtfully at the hyperspace tunnel, which led them through parsecs to the capital of the Tion Hegemony.
"I think we can invest family funds there," she said. "There aren't that many, but it's better than nothing."
"You know, the Alliance could also help," Lando suggested. "Maybe I'll want to set up a military hospital or a rehabilitation center for war victims there..."
"I'll talk to Mon Mothma," Leia promised her. "I'm sure she'll help us finance such a project."
"Maybe," Callrissian replied. "Or maybe not. As far as I understand, she's interested in something else right now."
"What can you do," Leia sighed. "These are the times."
"And it seems we won't find any other times," Callrissian joked grimly, looking at the instrument panel.
The hyperdrive engine timer counted down the last seconds, heralding the end of the journey.
"Prepare yourselves," Callrissian said, addressing Leia and Chewbacca. "We're approaching our destination."
The hyperspace tunnel compressed into myriad stars, revealing from the cockpit of the Millennium Falcon a view of the beautiful planet Tion, sparkling in the blackness of space like a diamond in an obsidian setting.
Leia was examining the plains covered with oceans and green continents, so clearly reminding her of the lost Alderaan, that she didn't immediately realize there was a commotion in the cockpit.
Lando was clicking on the control panel, activating deflectors and powering weapons.
Chewbacca roared, connecting additional equipment.
"What happened?" Leia asked.
The Wookiee let out a guttural roar.
The ex-princess made room for him as co-pilot, not taking her eyes off Lando's finger pointing at the rapid lights approaching the Falcon.
"If this isn't a welcoming committee, I'd venture to guess we have an interceptor squadron on our tail," Callrissian said. "Imperial TIE Interceptors, may the Maw swallow them!"
The alarm buzzer sounded belatedly in the bridge.
Chewbacca drowned it out with his roar.
"And they just locked missiles onto us," Lando commented.
And the next second, several more separated from the approaching lights.
And they were approaching with such supernatural speed that there could be no doubt—they had been fired upon with missiles.
Callrissian threw the Millennium Falcon to the side, moving out of the line of fire.
"I'll be at the upper turret," Leia warned, running towards the ship's lounge.
A second later, Chewbacca joined her with the unambiguous intention of occupying the lower turret.
The visit to the Tion Hegemony began not with a festive dinner and pompous speeches.
***
"To your stations!" the order echoed through the corridors, executed in the traditional gentle style of the Mon Calamari, striking with their roundness and harmonious beauty. "Prepare to exit hyperspace! Activate transponders! Connect all systems! Use 'second personality'."
The orders were given quickly, concisely, and were maximally informative, and most importantly, they were executed.
He could expect such a thing from anyone, even from the warlike locals, but from those who had been doing nothing but picking their noses for years and had forgotten everything they were ever taught in the Military Academy out of boredom.
The hyperspace tunnel compressed into sparks of distant stars.
Diluted by the halo of the engines of ships in orbit around the planet Galidraan.
"Commander, all five cruisers have arrived at their destination," a subordinate reported to him. "The 'second personality' identifiers have been activated."
"Good," the operation commander said, his voice unwavering and his gaze fixed on the rearrangement of enemy starships. "Launch our air force. Distribute targets among the battlecruisers. Fire on the nearest enemy ship."
Ten Kaloth-class battlecruisers rearranged themselves from their usual cruising formation into a combat one, dividing into two for each of the invasion starships.
While they were engaged in such maneuvering, the battle had already claimed its first victims.
Bypassing the slow "Kaloths," the Interceptor IV-class frigates went in, intending to disrupt the attacking formation with a daring cavalry charge.
They didn't succeed very well.
Fifteen squadrons of "X-wings" and the newest K-wings intercepted the maneuverable forces of the defenders, leaving not a single ship a chance to escape without damage.
The space between the two warring sides was filled with the fire of turbolasers, laser cannons, missile streams, and flashes of hits.
With each minute, the battle became more desperate and bloody.
The Star Cruisers, having rearranged into a wake column one after another, broke through the defensive formation of the "Kaloths" with furious force, scattering their forces and forcing them into a "brawl."
While the newest Alliance bombers were crushing frigates, and "X-wings" were vaporizing the scarce enemy aircraft, ships of Mon Calamari design unleashed their fury on the enemy starships.
Here and there, the deflectors on the "Kaloths" were already cracking.
The hulls of some ships had already blackened in places from turbolaser hits and testified to the skill of the gunners on the Mon Calamari starships.
The MC80a themselves, protected by strong deflectors powered by numerous reactors, did not yet show signs of being disadvantaged in a quantitatively unequal battle.
A few breaches and scorch marks on the armor of such mighty ships were merely decoration, not evidence that the star cruisers needed cover and "nannies."
A fiery hell flooded the orbit of Galidraan.
The Star Cruisers, although equipped with not the best turbolasers in the galaxy, used them for their intended purpose.
Every shot found its target with surgical precision.
Every missile or proton torpedo brought irreparable damage to the enemy ships.
The battle lasted no more than thirty-seven minutes, and after its conclusion, having collected escape pods and shot-down pilots—both their own and the enemy's—the Mon Calamari Star Cruisers fled into hyperspace as soon as forces larger than those just defeated appeared in the system.
Unfortunately for one of the sides, the reinforcements managed to fix the jump vector of the star cruisers from the system.
And, just thirty minutes after their appearance, fifteen Kaloth-class battlecruisers set off in pursuit of the retreating troops responsible for the destruction of the Galidraan ship group.
The operation commander entered a small compartment for encrypted hyperspeed communication.
He launched all the necessary equipment for such moments, then patiently waited for a hologram a quarter of the original's actual size to appear before him.
"Mission accomplished, sir," the man said calmly to the humanoid in white and blue tones. "The ships in the Galidraan system have been attacked and destroyed. As you predicted, they had reserves that arrived shortly after the battle."
"Did they manage to calculate your exit vector?" the humanoid asked, stroking his chin thoughtfully.
"Affirmative, Grand Admiral," Commodore Brandei nodded. "The buzz droids dropped during the battle are already transmitting information to our ships: they are on our heels, heading for Lianna."
"The second part of your operation will begin any minute now," Thrawn reminded him, in a tone that suggested such a thing was impossible to forget. "Destroy all these ships – not a single pirate or mercenary must escape to report what truly happened to them."
"It will be done, sir!"
"How did the clones of former Rogue Squadron pilot Wes Janson perform?" the Grand Admiral inquired.
"The Alliance's new bombers have been mastered by Janson's clones quickly and effectively," Brandei reported. "They pilot the new machines slightly worse than X-wings."
"Which is quite logical, considering the difference in machine types and manufacturer approaches," the Grand Admiral mused. "Good. Continue with your task, then link up with the third squadron of star cruisers and return to base. I will be directly briefed on the third squadron's successes by its commander."
"Affirmative, sir."
Grand Admiral Thrawn's hologram dissolved, leaving Commodore Brandei alone.
Not much time had passed since he took command of all military forces in the Karthakk sector.
And in that time, he had already organized the interception of six transports with the enemy's newest bombers and distributed them among his star cruisers, significantly updating and strengthening their air groups.
He had used forged transponders to have star cruisers attack the armed forces' positions in the Thanium Worlds, forcing the reserves of these forces out of hiding and into pursuit.
Very soon, five Mon Calamari star cruisers would be pulled out of hyperspace by an Interdictor-class Star Destroyer and join the second squadron of star cruisers.
After which, the two squadrons would destroy the pursuers, completely opening the Thanium Worlds to any invasion.
After all, a weakened, tasty morsel always attracts those who appreciate delicacies.
The mission Thrawn had assigned to the third squadron of star cruisers remained unclear.
But, knowing the Grand Admiral, there was no doubt it was an extremely interesting mission.
***
If the Falcon had been in atmosphere, such a maneuver could have been called "diving."
But in a vacuum, it was simply "changing course."
The not-so-young freighter, like a provoked bantha, hurtled towards the missiles fired at it, inexorably approaching the lower geostationary orbit of Tion.
Leia, hitting the back of her seat painfully, scrambled into the gunner's position.
With a familiar, practiced movement, she put on her headphones and gripped the turret controls.
The screen flickered to life, a targeting reticle scrolling across it.
"Lando, how bad is it?" she asked.
"We're facing a full squadron of Imperial interceptors equipped with launchers," Kalrissian's voice was clearly far from friendly. "And they're trying to encircle us. The missiles..."
Leia saw smoky trails flash over the ship.
And then, several explosions appeared before her.
"...without heat-seeking warheads," the former Cloud City administrator would have finished.
"I don't have a single ship within range," Leia complained.
Chewbacca confirmed similar information with a roar.
"That's because they're staying out of range!" Kalrissian explained. "I'm trying to get closer to them, but... Oh, no..."
"What is it?" Leia asked.
"I've turned off the fake transponder and am transmitting our real call signs," Kalrissian explained. "And we're already within range of the low-orbit satellites. Our scanners have detected more ships. I'm broadcasting on all channels that we are nothing more than a diplomatic vessel. They are ignoring us and unequivocally leading us to the dark side of the planet."
Using fake identification data for long journeys through a turbulent galaxy was one of the precautions Han had always employed.
Apparently, Kalrissian had similar galactic travel habits.
"It's not so bad if it's just one attack," Leia speculated.
"I doubt thirty-six Star Destroyers, an Allegiance-class battlecruiser, and fifty Carracks emerged from the planet's shadow just to show off to a single, not-so-new freighter," Kalrissian said.
The former princess groaned, clenching her teeth.
The Imperial fleet.
But then, what was there to be surprised about?
The interceptors had to take off from somewhere, didn't they?
"Do we know their identification data?" she asked, wondering why the Imperials hadn't attacked yet.
"Transponders are off," Kalrissian said.
His voice made it clear he was thinking the same thing she was.
Several years after the Battle of Endor, when most of the Imperial Starfleet had either been destroyed in battles with the Rebel Alliance or in the bloody Imperial Civil War, the Imperial Space, as the largest "holder" of Star Destroyers, decided to disable transponder operation on their starships to make it difficult for the Republicans to identify and account for the Orinda fleet's armed ships.
And they hadn't changed their tactics since then.
"Either they have no claims against the Millennium Falcon, or I don't quite understand why they aren't firing at us," Kalrissian said, puzzled.
Leia was equally perplexed, not understanding what was happening.
First, the missiles, which the interceptor pilots had clearly detonated themselves.
Now, destroyers that see them but don't fire.
What kind of Imperials act like this?
Leia felt her mouth go dry.
She had a suspicion about who among those who exclusively used Imperial ships might not wish death upon the crew of the Millennium Falcon.
But if she was right, she had nothing more to do here.
The Dominion wouldn't let go of what was theirs.
But she shouldn't despair either!
One shouldn't give up just because Imperial-designed ships were sighted.
"We're being hailed," Lando announced. "Switching to speaker."
A click sounded in her earpiece, and Leia heard a deep bass:
"Alliance diplomatic vessel 'Millennium Falcon.' We are pleased to welcome you to the Tion Hegemony. We are transmitting the coordinates of the landing site. You need not fear our fleet – you will not be harmed..."
"And for that, thanks," Lando quipped sarcastically. "And your missiles, what about those...?"
"The duty squadron will escort you to the residence of House Tion," another click sounded in her earpiece.
The Tions broke contact.
"Leia," Kalrissian called to her cautiously. "Come back to the bridge, please. It turns out the ship identifiers are working."
"Coming," the former Alderaanian princess replied. "Whose are they? Dominion?"
Kalrissian grunted.
"I don't know if this is good or bad, but no. Pelleon has nothing to do with them."
"Then whose?" Leia froze.
"If no one has faked their identifiers, then all the destroyers and cruisers are local," Kalrissian said slowly. "Leia, this fleet belongs to the Tion Hegemony."
Things were getting worse by the hour!
Had the Hegemony captured the sector fleet of the Empire stationed here, and no one knew about it all these years?!
Her mouth turned sour.
The New Republic hadn't even suspected how little it knew about its closest neighbors in the past.
***
By the time Leia reached the bridge, the Millennium Falcon was already deep in the atmosphere, gliding over a surprisingly smooth cloud surface, occasionally smoothly circumventing the tops of monumental rocks protruding from the cloud cover like mist.
The Tion interceptors, lined up in two escort ranks, followed from the left and right, masterfully avoiding the mountain peaks and performing aerobatics in dangerous proximity to each other and the terrain folds.
"Wow! And this is the 'duty squadron'?" she asked Lando indignantly, sliding into the seat next to him.
Kalrissian, completely focused on piloting, shook his head negatively.
Then he thought and deigned to comment:
"These are some show-offs sent to orbit to meet us. And to scare us properly, at the same time."
"For such a purpose, they simply needed to deploy a Star Destroyer or half their fleet, as they did at the end of the 'diplomatic reception'," Leia nodded. "Fireworks missiles... Who in their right mind would dare to do such a thing? It's easy to declare war like this!"
Chewie, who had entered the cockpit, glanced at her, and although the princess could barely decipher the Wookiee's facial expressions, the surprise and irritation on her neighbor's face were undeniable to her.
"The main thing is that we're alive," she smiled at him. "And on the surface, we'll definitely figure out what's happening here and why we received such an undoubtedly 'warm welcome'."
Chewie looked at the princess for a few more seconds, then snorted and turned to the console.
Ahead and to the right, a compact group of very high mountains appeared, and the dark lace of buildings, clearly made by skilled builders, could be seen.
"Well, well, well," Lando said. "Apparently, this is the place they're leading us to for the meeting."
"Then it's time to land," Leia suggested, still nervously wringing her fingers.
The "warm welcome" had almost ended the entire mission in death.
But now, it seemed all misunderstandings had been cleared up, and they could stop worrying about themselves.
Chewbacca grunted softly, pointing forward.
His furry paw indicated that the complex they saw was much larger than it initially appeared.
And a little above it, there was a round platform, illuminated by ground lights.
Kalrissian directed the Falcon towards the visible landing pad, then circled above the platform a few times before beginning his descent.
At first, the princess thought the designated platform was too small and the Falcon's landing gear wouldn't be able to support the ship, but as soon as they approached the surface, its circumference increased several times.
Looking closer, the young woman realized that more than two-thirds of the outer part of the circular platform was painted to blend in with the terrain – rocks and snow on them.
It became clear that the local spaceport could easily accommodate not only a small freighter but also a passenger liner or, if it came to that, an Imperial assault cruiser.
Like one of those they had managed to see in orbit.
But she didn't want to think about that now.
The ex-princess assumed the Tions would organize some kind of ceremonial reception, and indeed, they had organized one.
Two tall, sturdy soldiers in armor polished to a blinding shine stood majestically on guard next to the Millennium Falcon while Chewbacca lowered the ramp.
It was impossible to distinguish these two because their attire, armor, and even cloaks were completely identical.
And their faces were hidden by closed helmets.
Upon reaching the ramp, Leia saw a tall, lean man standing between the two guards, smiling at her with a practiced smile.
She frowned, realizing she could breathe without a mask or anything similar without any particular difficulty.
The air here should have been so thin that she should have felt unwell.
But nevertheless, everything was within normal limits.
She didn't even feel any discomfort.
"Atmospheric dome," the greeter explained to her with a smile. "The residence is surrounded by it."
"Really?" Lando exclaimed. "I didn't even notice."
"It's custom-made equipment," the man explained. "The frequency of the screens is such that they are practically invisible to the eye."
He looked about forty to forty-five years old.
An aristocratic, slightly angular face, a short haircut.
The crest of House Tion was visible on his clothing, meaning he was someone quite significant in this family.
But despite his friendliness, his eyes seemed to hold frozen ice shards, and a barely perceptible aura of cold disappointment and irritation lashed out like a whip.
Leia walked towards him, hastily calling upon all she could remember of Jedi teachings, praying that no one would notice her fear.
She found it difficult to understand the Tions' behavior during the meeting, and now they were completely at their mercy.
"Princess," the greeter bowed to her as soon as she was on the landing pad. "It is a pleasure to see you. I am Lux Bonteri, adopted son of House Tion. It is a great honor for me to meet you."
"As it is for me, Mr. Bonteri," Leia smiled good-naturedly. "But please. I am the Minister of Foreign Affairs, not a princess. The planet that gave me my title has been destroyed."
"Yes, we know about that," Bonteri looked at her as if she were empty space. "I will escort you, Princess."
It became terribly awkward.
So much so that Leia felt an urge within her to turn around and flee.
She was clearly not welcome here.
And now she clearly understood that the Tions were demonstratively escalating the situation to showcase their strength and the helplessness of the Alliance's envoys.
Such tactics should undermine the diplomats' position, particularly Leia's, and lead to more favorable terms and outcomes for the Tions themselves in the negotiation process.
A dirty game.
"Yes, of course," Leia mumbled again, lowering her hand and feeling like a complete idiot.
Doubt crept in that the Tions were actually intending to negotiate anything at all.
What if it turned out to be an ultimatum?
Based on what she had seen in orbit, the Tions were doing quite well with their armed forces.
And they were of Imperial design.
Several dozen Star Destroyers – 'Imperial,' 'Victory,' a couple of others, rare ones like 'Tector' and 'Sector.'
The flagship was undoubtedly an Allegiance-class battlecruiser.
How they managed to assemble such a military force was not entirely clear. But the fact remained – the Hegemony was strong, demonstrably so, and not ashamed of its power.
Leia had no doubt that her mission to reduce the Hegemony's "appetites" was doomed to failure from the start.
In theory, she could already pack up and calmly head back to Dac, admitting her powerlessness.
But she drove away the apathy with an effort of will.
No one was obligating her to sign any documents or enter into alliances, make promises, or swear eternal friendship right here and now.
At the very least, she would listen to what House Tion wanted to offer her, or, to be precise, what facts they intended to present her with and what they wanted in return.
But one thing was certain – the Tions were wealthy enough to afford to maintain a pro-Imperial fleet.
Undoubtedly, they had brought out their best ships for the demonstration, and there were less combat-capable ones, but the fact remained.
The Hegemony was ready for war.
Along with Bonteri, she headed towards the main building.
If possible, she needed to refresh her knowledge of the Hegemony in some way to understand what she was dealing with.
If an envoy allowed himself such an attitude towards a diplomat, then the leadership of the House itself would treat her even worse.
"We were met with an unscheduled demonstration of your ships in orbit," she said in a neutral tone.
"A demonstration?" Bonteri feigned surprise. "No, of course, you are mistaken."
"I don't think so," Leia said with emphasis. "We were almost shot down. And then they chased us all over orbit like wild ku-pa."
"I would put it differently, but if you like fighting ku-pa, so be it," the envoy replied with a chuckle. "I have nothing against our guests' position. And no, you are mistaken. No one was meeting you – the duty squadron was hunting smugglers. Your freighter was mistaken for one because no one even thought you would use such a type of ship for transport. We expected to see a Mon Calamari star cruiser. They say you have new models that are as powerful as Imperial-class Star Destroyers."
Leia tried to maintain an impassive expression on her face.
"A diplomatic mission on a warship is not the best start for mutually beneficial negotiations."
"Yes, and such a position is valid," Bonteri said with a restrained smile.
"You are not a native Tion, are you?" she decided to try her luck from another angle.
"No," he agreed. "I was born into the Bonteri family. I joined House Tion after their last male representative, Lord Tion, became a victim of a hunting accident. I believe you know what I'm talking about – you were there, weren't you, Princess?"
Leia felt her fists clench.
She was being deliberately provoked.
Hence these absurd quibbles.
"I sincerely sympathize with the loss of House Tion," she said. "But, if I recall correctly, the head of the house and several of his sons were alive some time ago..."
"They died a year after the Battle of Yavin," Bonteri stated. "A terrible loss from which we can hardly recover."
Leia felt a chill run through her.
House Tion was an exclusively patriarchal family, with traditions and customs formed millennia ago.
The fact that they suddenly had no men left among them was a very alarming sign.
As was the fact that she was beginning to vaguely guess who she would have to negotiate with.
"So, you will be representing the interests of the Tion Hegemony on behalf of House Tion?" she asked.
"You are thinking correctly, Princess," the man said. "Since the Alliance has decided to settle in our region, we would have had to meet sooner or later. In my opinion, the sooner the better."
"I agree with you," Leia said evasively as they approached massive metal doors inlaid with patterns of precious metal. "Perhaps you would be so kind as to tell me what exactly you would like to negotiate about. I would like to know the subject of discussion in advance."
"Ah, don't pretend," Bonteri smiled coldly. "You know everything already. It has been on the surface for decades. The territories of the Tion Hegemony," with these words, the doors opened, and Leia was hit by streams of warm air as they stepped across the threshold, "must be restored to their historical borders."
"You have quite a strong fleet," Leia remarked. "Of course, I've only seen a small part of it, but I assume you could solve this problem without our participation."
"And we are solving it," the aristocrat declared. "We will solve part of the problem, and you will solve part of it, if you want our support."
She recalled the saying about chasing two speeders.
Or perhaps the adage about wanting to drink from two rivers at once would be more fitting?
"The Hegemony's support would be most welcome," Leia agreed. "But we would not want to solve problems, especially long-standing territorial disputes, by force of arms."
"No one is asking you to," Bonteri shrugged. "The method doesn't interest us. But the result – very much so."
"In that case, we need to get to the details, don't you think?" she suggested.
"No," the man stopped in the middle of a huge hall, surrounded by five-meter columns carved directly into the rock. "Negotiations, of course, should be held as soon as possible, but we are aristocrats, and we know the protocols for such events. You will be shown to your quarters," he gestured to a droid secretary who had hobbled over at his request. "Make yourselves comfortable, rest from your journey. Your companions," Leia blushed, only now remembering that Chewbacca and Lando had stayed by the Falcon, "will be escorted to the residence a little later."
Something in his tone displeased Leia.
She frantically searched her memory, recalling suitable instructions for such meetings...
And found one.
Her face paling, the former Alderaanian princess met the cold eyes of the head of House Tion:
"Lando Calrissian and Chewbacca are not my servants, let alone slaves," she said firmly. "They are my friends and comrades-in-arms!"
"As you wish," Bonteri shrugged. "You will be notified of the start of the negotiation process. Please excuse me, state affairs cannot wait."
He added the last part as one of the guards, identical to the two who met her at the residence's landing pad, approached him.
Despite Bonteri moving away from her, Leia, using the Force, sensed that he was radiating anger and surprise.
For a moment, the departing aristocrat turned and looked at the Alliance minister.
Leia felt as if she had been doused with cold water.
Bonteri sharply turned away and disappeared among the columns into one of the residence's corridors.
"An inhospitable place," Lando commented half an hour later, when he entered her luxurious, truly aristocratic apartments, which occupied a space equivalent to a couple of Corellian corvettes. "But they can live lavishly and know how to do it."
"Ostentatious luxury," Leia muttered, unable to calm down. "Lando, something is happening here."
"I realized that as soon as they shot missiles at us," Kalrissian said. "And yes, they weren't fireworks – the pilots detonated them before they could make bigger holes in the Falcon and us. Chewie, by the way, stayed with the ship – he's extremely negative about those brutes with disintegrators guarding the pad."
"Forbidden weapons in the galaxy?" Leia asked in astonishment, not even trying to hide her amazement.
"There's chaos in the galaxy," Lando reminded her. "Who is so bold and strong as to enforce prohibitions that were ignored even during the Old Republic?"
Leia had no answer.
***
Read the story months ahead of the public release — early chapters are available on my Patreon: Granulan