Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II by Sean Williams Page B

close. “For what he’s worth. “
    “You mean you’re not…” stammered the flight wing commander, looking from face to face in confusion. “And you are…”
    “All on the same side, yes, ” the Quarren said. “Thanks for your help. “
    “But I didn’t…”
    Juno almost felt sorry for him. “Explosions, timed to coincide with the honor roll you didn’t order. It won’t fool anyone for long, but it had exactly the right effect in the moment, don’t you think?”
    Footsteps sounded on the ramp above. They looked up to see PROXY returning, the Tarkin disguise he had adopted during the battle slipping away with an electric crackle.
    “I led the troopers, in the opposite direction from the real Grand Moff, ” the droid said. “They are currently on their way to the landing pads, with orders to arrest the pilots responsible. “
    “Good work, PROXY. It went almost perfectly. “
    Derricote stared at the droid in shock, clearly beginning to piece events together.
    “What are you going to do with me?” he asked.
    “Nothing, ” said Ackbar.
    His eyes narrowed. “Nothing?”
    “Tarkin will accept your explanation, ” Organa explained, “but I’d say your career is pretty much ruined here regardless. Grand Moffs don’t like inferiors who draw attention to themselves. You might want to pull your head in for a while, if you still have one. “
    The Senator released him, and Derricote stepped slowly away, as though expecting to be shot at any moment.
    “You’re really letting me go?”
    “Yes, ” said Ackbar. “You are a witness to what happens when one interferes with the Dac resistance. “
    The commander was too busy hurrying up the ramp to promise anything, but Juno didn’t doubt that the message would get out. With one short action, the Empire had been humiliated and the local resistance strengthened. It was the very embodiment of Kota’s methods.
    Juno wondered if Mon Mothma would see it that way, when she found our.
    When they were alone, Organa put one hand on Tels’s shoulder, the other on Ackbar’s. “I don’t think I need to say anything, ” he said, echoing Garm Bel Iblis’s philosophy: Actions speak louder than words.
    “In this case, yes, ” said Tels, tentacles curling rightly in gratitude. “Thank you from the free people of our world for showing us that we can fight together-and must fight together in order to remove the Emperor’s net from our world. We will join your Rebellion as one world, in the spirit you have shown us. “
    “Does he speak for you, too, Ackbar?”
    “You know he does, my friend. And I thank you, too. ” Ackbar’s large, golden eyes took in Juno and PROXY. “We owe your Rebel Alliance much already. “
    “It’s not ours, ” said Organa, and for a moment Juno feared that he would declare it to be Starkiller’s, as Kota had on Felucia, once. “The Rebellion can’t belong to any one person, or it’s no better than the Empire. It’s yours. Everyone’s. It belongs to all of us. “
    “Our dead, too, ” said Tels, acknowledging the body his fellows had lifted in preparation for leaving the city. “We have lost so many already. “
    They stood in silence for a moment, Juno thinking of Kota and Starkiller and wondering what they would make of this strange moment of communion among three species in a waterlogged basement.
    There was no way of knowing, now. No way at all.

Part 2
REVELATION

CHAPTER 7
    The same day.
    “Where is she?”
    Kota stumbled into the cockpit behind him. He was covered in blood and dirt and looked on the verge of collapse.
    Starkiller didn’t care.
    ” Where is she? “
    “I don’t know. “
    “Why not? This is her ship. “
    “It was. It isn’t now. She’s moved on. ” Kota slumped into the nearest seat and put his scarred face in his hands. “The Rebel Alliance fleet is scattered across the Outer Rim, constantly on the run. She could be anywhere now. “
    Starkiller frowned. It just didn’t make sense.