For a moment she gazed out at the distant planets. Wondering if Luke Skywalker might be among those the New Republic would send to help clean up that mess.
“Whenever you’re ready, Mara.”
With an effort, she shook away the thought. “Yes, sir,” she said, reaching for the board. Not yet, she told herself silently. Not yet. But soon. Very, very soon.
The remote swooped; hesitated; swooped again; hesitated again; swooped once more and fired. Leia, swinging her new lightsaber in an overlarge arc, was just a shade too slow. “Gah!” she grunted, taking a step backward.
“You’re not giving the Force enough control,” Luke told her. “You have to-Wait a minute.”
Reaching out with the Force, he put the remote on pause. He remembered vividly that first practice session on the Falcon, when he’d had to concentrate on Ben Kenobi’s instructions while at the same time keeping a wary eye on the remote. Doing both together hadn’t been easy.
But perhaps that had been the whole idea. Perhaps a lesson learned under stress was learned better.
He wished he knew.
“I’m giving it all the control I can,” Leia said, rubbing her arm where the remote’s stinger blast had caught her. “I just don’t have the proper techniques down yet.” She impaled him with a look. “Or else I just wasn’t cut out for this sort of fighting.”
“You can learn it,” Luke said firmly. “I learned it, and I never had any of that self-defense training you got when you were growing up on Alderaan.”
“Maybe that’s the problem,” Leia said. “Maybe all those old fighting reflexes are getting in my way.”
“I suppose that’s possible,” Luke admitted, wishing he knew that, too. “In that case, the sooner you start unlearning them, the better. Now: ready-“
The door buzzed. “It’s Han,” Leia said, stepping away from the remote and closing down her lightsaber. “Come in,” she called.
“Hi,” Han said as he walked into the room, glancing in turn at Leia and Luke. He wasn’t smiling. “How’s the lesson going?”
“Not bad,” Luke said.
“Don’t ask,” Leia countered, frowning at her husband. “What’s wrong?”
“The Imperials,” Han said sourly. “They just pulled a three-prong hit-and-fade on three systems in the Sluis sector. Some place called Bpfassh and two unpronounceable ones.”
Luke whistled softly. “Three at once. Getting pretty cocky, aren’t they?”
“That seems par for them these days.” Leia shook her head, the skin around her eyes tight with concentration. “They’re up to something, Han-I can feel it. Something big; something dangerous.” She waved her hands helplessly. “But I can’t for the life of me figure out what it could be.”
“Yeah, Ackbar’s been saying the same thing,” Han nodded. “Problem is he’s got nothing to back it up. Except for the style and tactics, this is all pretty much the same rear-guard harassment the Empire’s been pulling for probably the last year and a half.”
“I know,” Leia gritted. “But don’t sell Ackbar short-he’s got good military instincts. No matter what certain other people say.”
Han cocked an eyebrow. “Hey, sweetheart, I’m on your side. Remember?”
She smiled wanly. “Sorry. How bad was the damage?”
Han shrugged. “Not nearly as bad as it could have been. Especially considering that they hit each place with four Star Destroyers. But all three systems are pretty shook up.”
“I can imagine,” Leia sighed. “Let me guess: Mon Mothma wants me to go out there and assure them that the New Republic really is able and willing to protect them.”
“How’d you guess?” Han growled. “Chewie’s getting the Falcon prepped now.”
“You’re not going alone, are you?” Luke asked. “After Bimmisaari-“
“Oh, don’t worry,” Han said, throwing him a tight smile. “We’re not going to be sitting ducks this time. There’s a twenty-ship convoy going out to assess the damage, plus Wedge and Rogue Squadron. It’ll be safe enough.”
“That’s what we said about Bimmisaari, too,” Luke pointed out. “I’d better come along.”
Han looked at Leia. “Well, actually … you can’t.”
Luke frowned at him. “Why not?”
“Because,” Leia answered quietly, “the Bpfasshi don’t like Jedi.”
Han’s lip twisted. “The story is that some of their Jedi went bad during the Clone Wars and really mangled things before they were stopped. Or so Mon Mothma says.”