The Last Command by Timothy Zahn

Star’s attack on Alderaan—and as Mon Mothma began subsequently to draw more and more power to herself—Bel Iblis had left the Alliance and struck out on his own. Since then, he had continued his private war against the Empire… until, almost by accident, he had crossed paths with fellow Corellian Han Solo.
    It was Han’s urgent request that had brought Bel Iblis and his force of six Dreadnaughts to the New Republic’s aid at the
Katana
battle. Mon Mothma, speaking words about burying past differences, had welcomed Bel Iblis back.
    And had then turned around and sent him to bolster the defenses in the outer sectors of the New Republic. As far from Coruscant as he could possibly have gone.
    Leia was not yet ready to ascribe vindictiveness to Mon Mothma’s decision. But there were others in the New Republic hierarchy who remembered Bel Iblis and his tactical genius… and not all of them were quite so willing to give Mon Mothma the benefit of the doubt.
    “The General’s expertise is needed at the battlefront,” Mon Mothma said evenly.
    “His expertise is also needed here,” Ackbar retorted; but Leia could hear the resignation in his voice. Ackbar himself had just returned from a tour of the Farrfin and Dolomar defenses, and would be leaving in the morning for Dantooine. With the Imperial war machine on the move, the New Republic couldn’t afford the luxury of burying their best line commanders away in ground-side offices.
    “I understand your concerns,” Mon Mothma said, more gently. “When we get the situation out there stabilized, I fully intend to bring General Bel Iblis back and put him in charge of tactical planning.”
    If we get the situation stabilized
, Leia amended silently, again feeling her stomach tighten. So far, the offensive was going uniformly the Empire’s way—
    The thought broke off in midstride, a sudden belated awareness flooding in on her. No—it wasn’t her
stomach
that was tightening….
    Ackbar was speaking again. “Excuse me,” Leia cut him off, getting carefully to her feet. “I’m sorry to interrupt, but I need to get down to Medical.”
    Mon Mothma’s eyes widened. “The twins?”
    Leia nodded. “I think they’re on their way.”

    The walls and ceiling of the birth room were a warm tan color, with a superimposed series of shifting lights that had been synchronized with Leia’s own brain wave patterns. Theoretically, it was supposed to help her relax and concentrate. As a practical matter, Leia had already decided that after ten hours of looking at it, the technique had pretty well lost its effectiveness.
    Another contraction came, the hardest one yet. Automatically, Leia reached out with the Force, using the methods Luke had taught her to hold off the pain coming from protesting muscles. If nothing else, this whole birth process was giving her the chance to practice her Jedi techniques.
    And not just those having to do with pain control.
It’s all right
, she thought soothingly toward the small minds within her.
It’s all right. Mother’s here.
    It didn’t really help. Caught in forces they couldn’t comprehend, their tiny bodies being squeezed and pushed as they were driven slowly toward the unknown, their undeveloped minds were fluttering with fear.
    Though to be perfectly fair, their father wasn’t in much better shape.
    “You all right?” Han asked for the umpteenth time since they’d come in here. He squeezed her hand a little more tightly, also for the umpteenth time, in sympathetic tension with her hunching shoulders.
    “I’m still fine,” Leia assured him. Her shoulders relaxed as the contraction ended, and she gave his hand a squeeze in return. “You don’t look so good, though.”
    Han made a face at her. “It’s past my bedtime,” he said dryly.
    “That must be it,” Leia agreed. Han had been as nervous as a tauntaun on ball bearings ever since the labor started in earnest, but he was making a manly effort not to show it. More for her