Star Wars - The Han Solo Trilogy - Rebel Dawn

by A. C. Crispin

  Ho-HO! Jiliac hooted. And just yesterday you spent half the afternoon watching that new slave-girl cavort all over your throne room, while your new band ofjizz-wailers played for you!

  How did you- Jabba began, stung, then he sub-sided into silence. So what if hed taken a few hours off to amuse himself? Hed been up at dawn, working with the clerical droids and scribes on Desilijicg financial records, getting them in order so he could prepare a complete report on the implications of the new Besadii price hikes.

  I have my ways, Nephew, Jiliac said. But of course I dont begrudge you your leisure time. All work and no amusement makes for a dull Hutt indeed, However, in turn, I expect you to respect my need to be with my baby.

  Yes, Aunt. I do. Of course I do, Jabba said, seething inwardly. Hastily, he changed the subject. I believe Besadii should be called to account for these increases in the cost of their spice. It is possible that we may be able to rouse the other clans against them. To what purpose?

  Possibly official censure and a fine. I have heard enough grumbling among the other clans to suggest that they are suffering from this price increase nearly as much as Desilijic. It is worth a try. Aunt, can you re-quest that the Hutt Grand Council call a meeting of the kajidie leaders?

  Jiliac nodded, evidently wishing to be conciliatory, too. Very well, Jabba. I will request such a meeting be-fore the end of the week.

  Jiliac was as good as her word, and three days later,

  Jabba, along with the Desilijie bodyguards, undulated

  into the huge Hutt Grand Council chamber. All repre-sentatives or leaders of the Hntt crime syndicates, or kajidies, as they Were called, passed through multiple scanning and security devices in order to be allowed to enter, as did their bodyguards. Nothing that could be deemed a weapon was permitted inside. Hutts were not trusting sentients ....

  Jabba took his place in the location allotted to the Desilijie members, and cautioned the other represen-tatives to allow him to do the talking. As Jiliae top lieutenant, he had that right, and they readily agreed.

  Jabba noted that even his parent, Zorba, had sent a rep-

  resentative. The two of them were not close, but it was

  comforting to know that Desilijic was well-represented,

  and that all of the Clan families had taken Jiliac sum-

  mons seriously.

  When the representatives of all the kajidics were present, the Executive Secretary of the Grand Council, a recent appointee named Grejic, called the meeting to order.

  Comrades-in-power, siblings-in-profit, I have con-vened you today to discuss concerns raised by Desilijic. I ask Jabba, Desilijic representative, to speak.

  Jabba wriggled out in front of Grejic dais and lifted his arms for quiet. Wben the other Hutts continued to whisper to each other, he raised his tail and brought it down against the stone floor with a loud WHAP! Silence ensued.

  Fellow Hutts, I come to you today with some seri-ous allegations of wrongdoing on the part of Besadii ka-jidic. Over the past year, their actions have grown more and more reprehensible. It all started with the Battle of Nar Shaddaa. All of us suffered because of that attack- except Besadii. We lost ships, pilots, cargoes, part of the Moon shield-not to mention how much trade we lost! And then there was the aftermath of the battle. The loss of part of Nar Shaddaas shield caused the de-struction of several blocks of buildings from the crash of the Peacekeeper. Cleanup and reconstruction is still go-ing on. And who has paid for it? Each clan lost property and credits-except Besadii. And they alone-they who suffered no loss, who could most afford it-they have paid nothing! We have all suffered and lost- except Besadii!

  The other Hutts murmured to each other when Jabba paused. He looked over at the section of floor re-served for Besadii, and saw that Durga had not deigned to appear. Instead he had sent Zier and several lesser members of the kajidic as his representatives.

  And what did Besadii do while Nal Hutta was threatened? They sold slaves to the very Empire that was attacking their homeworld! All of the clans cooper-ated in paying the credits for the exorbitant bribe of Ad-miral Greelanx-which proved to be the only thing that saved our world from a devastating embargo. All of the clans, that is... except Besadii.

  The other Hutts murmured muted affirmatives. Jabba was proud of the way his speech was going. He was verging on true eloquence, he thought, and even Jiliac, acknowledged orator that she was, could not have done better. He was actually glad that Jiliac had been too occupied with her baby to appear today. She wasnt as versed in all of this as he was, and things didnt affect her these days the way they used to ....

  And in the months since that battle, fellow Hutts, what has Besadii done? Helped us rebuild? Offered to recompense the other clans for their share of the bribe? Sent a single work crew of slaves to help with the re-building? Jabba let his voice scale up to a near-shout. No! Fellow Hutts, what they have done is to raise the prices on their spice to the point where the profits of every kajidic are compromised-at the worst possible time! Some may say this is just good business, just the urge for profit but I say, No.t Besadii is trying to take over! To put us all out of business! Besadii wishes that there was no Hutt clan on all of Nal Hutta-except Besadii?

  Jabbas voice had risen to a thundering pitch. He

  slapped his tail for emphasis, hard. The echoes fled around the cavernous hall.

  I demand that Besadii be censured! I demand that the Grand Council take a vote to censure them now, and levy a fine, to be distributed among those they have wronged! I demand this in the name of all Hutts everywhere!!

  The hall erupted into pandemonium. Tails slammed, voices cried out with indignation. Some Hurts turned on the Besadii contingent with threatening tail-waves, shouting insults and curses.

  Zier looked around wildly, and saw no friendliness in the hall. He raised his arms and voice, shouting in turn, but his voice was drowned out by the combined fury of the other Hurts.

  Finally the furor began to die down. Grejic slapped his tail for quiet, and finally got it.

  By custom, Zier, as the ranking member of Besadii, has the right to answer his accuser. What have you to say to all this, Zier?

  Zier cleared his massive throat, swallowed. Fellow

  Hutts, how can you condemn Besadii? Making profit is

  to be lauded, not denigrated! Jabba and Jiliac lost the

  most in the attack on Nar Shaddaa, and they are at-

  tempting to sway you into siding with them against Be-

  sadii. The truth is, Besadii did nothing wrong! We did

  nothing-

  You did nothing, all right! the leader of Trinivii ka-jidic shouted, breaking in. Desilijic offered the strategy that saved us. Besadii grabbed profit at all our expense!

  Zier shook his head. What we did was-

  We are Hutts! another leader shouted. It is our pride to take from other species! It is our pride to make profit! But we do not seek to destroy our own kind!

  Compete, yes... destroy, no/

  Chaos erupted., A cacophony of tail-thumps, shouts, curses, bellows, and raging diatribes filled the air.

  Grejic had to tail-thump many times to restore order. I believe it is time for a vote, he called. All kajidic representatives in favor of officially censuring and fining Besadii-vote now, yes or no, on the motion.

  Each kajidie leader pressed a thumb against the vote tabulator before him.

  Moments later, Grejic raised a hand. The votes are tallied. Forty-seven to one in favor of censuring Besadii.

  Cheers rang out.

  Zier of Bes-

  Wait! A voice broke in. Jabba recognized that voice, and turned to see Jilia/c undulating across the room. Wait, I did not vote!

  Jabba voted for your kajidic, Lady Jiliac. Why this interruption? Do you wish us to re-take the vote? Gre-jic was respectful, but clearly impatient to get on with the matter at hand.

  Re-take the vote? Jabbe looked at his aunt and their gazes locked. After a moment, she shook her head. My nephew is my acc
epted proxy, Lord Grejic. Please proceed.

  Jabba let out his breath very slowly. For a moment hed thought Jiliac was going to question his judgment and his authority in front of everyone. Many of the other Hutts were giving him curions glances, clearly wondering why Jabbe had been voting if Jiliae was not going to support his position unreservedly.

  Jiliac glided over to lie beside her nephew, but Jabba found himself wishing shed just stayed away It was em-barrassing to have his judgment questioned in front of his own people. He thought again of what it would be like just to run Desilijic by himself, without interference--- and unthinking interference, at that.

  Zier of Besadii, said Grejic, continuing where hed left off, it is the will of this Council that you be ex-cused from our ranks until your clan has paid one rail-lioncredits in damages, to be divided among the other kajidics equally. May I suggest that you endeavor in fu-ture not to regard your own people as you would those of other species-as dupes to be exploited.

  The Executive Secretary waved to the guards and their ranking officer, who were standing at the en-trance. Guardsmaster, you will escort the Besadii dele-gation from this hall.

  As Zier and the other Besadii undulated along toward the entrance, Jabba saw that they were all trying to look confident and scornful and failing utterly. The soft mutter of the other Hutts swelled into a tumult of hooting laughter, raucous bellows, and shouted insults, jeers and threats.

  Jabba smiled inwardly. Not a bad afiernoon work, he thought smugly. Not bad at all ....

  Bria Tharen walked briskly down the corridor of her command ship, the light cruiser Retribution. She was on her way to review her troops before their planned raid on the slaver vessel Helot Shackle. Inwardly, Bria was excited and eager, but her features were composed and her blue-green eyes were as cold as deep glacial ice.

  Mentally she reviewed her battle plan, analyzing it for weaknesses, making sure shed covered every possi-ble contingency with a backup option. This operation should go down smoothly, but the Helot Shackle was, after all, a heavily-armed Corellian corvette, a formida-ble vessel in her own right.

  Retribution was almost the same size as the Shackle, so they should be relatively evenly matched. Bria ves-sel was a Republic Sienar Systems Marauder-class corvette, sleek and streamlined, capable of both space and atmospheric combat. The Marauders were among the most common capital ships in the Corporate Sec-tors picket fleet. The Corellian underground had pur-chased this Marauder second-hand from the Authority, and given it to Bria for her flagship.

  The Corellian commander had an operative working on the space station orbiting Ylesia. The operative had tipped Bria off a few days ago that the Ylesian priests were planning on shipping out nearly two hundred Exultation-addicted and malnourished slaves to the mines of Kessel.

  For a moment Bria wished she could give in to her own desires and go out with her people in tile first boarding wave. The troops aboard those three shuttles would see the maximum amount of combat, make the most kills. And Bria had a personal grudge against this particular slaving vessel. Nearly ten years ago, Helot Shackle had narrowly missed capturing Bria, Han and their two Togorian friends, Muuurgh and Mrrov, as theyd made their escape from Ylesia.

  Bria sighed, but she knew that her place during the first wave was aboard her command vessel, coordinat-ing the attack, identifying pockets of heavy resistance in order to best allocate her troops for the second wave.

  This was Retributiong fifth mission for the Corellian resistance, and Bria was glad to be back in action. Dur-ing her eight years with the Corellian underground, shed done whatever shed been assigned to do, and done it well. But she had hated the undercover spying projects... and hadnt much liked liaison work. Shed been glad to leave them behind and get back to real fighting.

  It was Mon Mothma who had made it possible for Bria to go back into the real action. The renegade Im-perial senator had both the influence and the eloquence to convince individual resistance gr oups that a Rebel Alliance was a necessity. The Senator was better at it than Bria had ever been, and spent all her time travel-ing from world to world, meeting with underground leaders. Just a month ago Bria and the rest of the Corellian resistance had celebrated the signing of the Corellian Treaty.

  Publicly, Mon Mothma was credited with engineer-ing the Treaty, and there was no doubt that she had helped. But Bria had heard a rumor that Corellia own Senator Garm bel Iblis had secretly been one of the main architects of the Treaty. In addition to CoreIlia, the other signatories to the Treaty were Alderaan and Chandrila-Mon Mothma home planet.

  Traveling system to system, world to world, Mon Mothma made contact with resistance groups where they existed, and created new groups where there had been none. The former senator fame was both help and hindrance; on the one hand it gave her access to important nobles and leade of industry, but on the other hand, especially in the beginning, some groups had expressed the fear that she might be an Imperial plant, sent by Emperor Palpatine to test their loyalty.

  The renegade senator had faced death many times, both from Imperial troops and from suspicions resis-tance leaders. Bria had met Mon Mothma and con-ferred with her soon after the senator had fled the Emperor charge of treason. Shed been impressed-

  almost awed-by Mon Mothma quiet dignity, her unswerving resolution and her formidable intelligence.

  It had been one of the high points of Bria life when

  Mon Mothma had shaken her hand and told her that

  she, Bria Tharen, had been one of the people whod

  been instrumental in getting Bail Organa to change his mind about Alderaan pacifism. The Viceroy was now committed to the thought of armed revolution against the Empire. He faced considerable resistance from his government, however, and, so far, Alderaans efforts at arming itself were small and extremely clandestine.

  The Corellian Treaty had inaugurated the Rebel Al-liance Bria and the other Corellians had been working toward. The individual Rebel groups would retain much of their autonomy, but, in theory at least, strategic command of the Alliance was now vested in Mon Mothma. To date, the fledgling Rebel Alliance had not been tested in battle. Bria was hoping that would soon change.

  Bria rounded a corner in Retribution corridor, and was joined by her medical officer. Daino Hyx would be in charge of handling the slaves once they were res-cued. Hyx was a short, bearded man with the brightest blue eyes Bria had ever seen, and a shy smile that most people found irresistible. Hyx had been a scholar at one of Alderaan top universities. There hed studied medi-cine and psychology, and had wound up specializing in the treatment of addictions. Since joining the Corellian resistance six months ago, hed applied his formidable skills to the problem of the Ylesian Pilgrims.

  Bria was convinced that there were many frustrated idealists to be found among the underfed, overworked ranks of the Ylesian Pilgrims. Since her first raid on Yle-sia nearly two years ago, sixteen slaves that shed res-cued were currently topnotch fighters or operatives for the Corellian resistance. Another ten had been awarded medals for valor... posthumously.

  Bria had pointed out to her commanding officers on CoreIlia that Ylesia, with its thousands of slaves, was a potential goldmine of Rebel recruits-if only they could find a way to overcome the addictive effects of the Exultation. True, Bria herself had overcome addic-tion to the Exultation to become a valuable addition to the Corellian underground. But it had taken her nearly three years of unrelenting effort to cure herself. Shed tried everything from meditation to drugs-and had only found the strength she needed when she decided to dedicate her life to the eradication of slavery and the Empire that condoned it.

  But they didnt have three years to devote to curing the Pilgrims. They had to find a cure that would work in weeks or months, rather than years.

  That was where Daino Hyx came in. By thoroughly analyzing the physical, mental and emotional effects of the Exultation (at one point hed traveled to Nal Hutta to meet a number of tlanda Til males and studied how they produced the effect) Hyx beli
eved hed found a cure. Hyx cure involved a mixture of mental, emotional and physical treatments, ranging from anti-addiction drugs to interactive and group therapy.

  Today, if all went well, Hyx would get the chance to begin putting his new treatment to the test.

  He glanced up at Bria. Nervous, Commander?

  She smiled faintly. Does it show?

  No. Most people wouldnt notice a thing, Im sure. But Im not most people. I got to know you pretty well while we were first working on the new therapy. And as-sessing the mental and emotional states of humanoids is my job, remember.

  That true, Bria admitted. Yes, Im a bit nervous. This is different from capturing a customs patrol ship or raiding some lonely Imp outpost. This time, were going up against the people who used to own me, body and spirit. Im always just a bit afraid that when Im exposed to the Pilgrims addiction that my own will somehow come back.

  Hyx nodded. You have an emotional stake in this raid, not just a military goal. It perfectly understand-able that youd feel anxiety.

  Bria gave him a quick glance. That wont keep me from doing my job, Hyx.

  I know,] he said. Red Hand Squadron is very effi-cient, I hear. From what Ive observed about your peo-ple, theyd follow you into a black hole and out the other side.

  Bria laughed a little. I dont know about that. If I were crazy enough to mess with black holes, I hope theyd be sane enough to hold back. But my troops would follow me into Palpatine Imperial Palace, that I knOW.

  You wouldnt last very longff he said dryly.

  She smiled, but no warmth reached her eyes. But wed have fun for a while. It would be worth my life to get a shot at Palpatine.

  How soon does the first wave launch?

  She glanced at the tiny chrono-ring she wore. Were waiting for the signal from my operative on the space station. Then well microjump into position. Hell tell us the moment Helot Shackle undocks from the Ylesian space station. We want to catch the slavers before they can leave the system. Makes sense.

  Bria turned right and entered the turbolift. Im go-ing down to do a final check of my troopers who will be going in the boarding shuttles. Want to tag along? Sure.