Vinda-Corp H.Q


Miles face had no expression as he observed the woman while she spoke. She was nervous about something, he knew that much, but what and why? She avoided his gaze and she was in a hurry. Not just in a hurry to get somewhere else but in a hurry to get away.

He watched her walk away and that was all he remembered...

It was all he remembered after the explosion, the corridor falling down around him, pieces of building knocking him to the floor and knocking him out completely...

Miles had laid under the pile of mashed building parts, unconscious, for at least ten minutes or so before his eyes slowly yet dazedly opened.

Yeah..everything is just fine Mr. V, not to worry..

He moaned and groaned as he slowly began to move the scattered debris of corridor off and away from him, slowly rising to his feet after he had finished.

He took a few moments to assay the scene around him. The area he was in seemed pretty much demolished, his office, was still intact.

He deduced that most of the employees had pretty much left the building to make their way to safety. As for Miles, he had other things to do, like detective work...

He quickly made his way to the emergency stairs.[i]

[i]He whistled at the condition he found to be for the first floor.

Well, could have been worse. Looks like I need to pay a little visit to the security room on the third floor...

It took Miles a little more time than usual to get to the third floor and into the security room, more time wasted, time he needed.

Miles quickly took a second or two to observe the security room, the cameras seemed to be still intact. Miles began to scan each one carefully. There were lots of cameras throughout the entire building but only ten camera views could be seen in the security room. That was all that was need really, everything could be pretty much viewed from those ten cameras, the entrance into Vinda Corp, HQ, the corridors, Mr. Vinda's office...

Well I'll be...what do we have here?? Look at that!

There she was, the woman that Miles had seen just before the explosion had commenced. She was in Mr. Vinda's office, shuffling through papers, among other things.

Miles removed his comm from within his coat pocket, placing a communication on the secret frequency. Mr. Vinda had given the frequency to Miles along time ago, incase such a situation like this should happen to arise, Miles didn't think that he would have ever needed it, he had been wrong.

"I'm afraid we have ourselves a situation...Mr Vinda's office, I want someone in there now! Pronto!"

Security: "Will do, Mr Johnson..."

"Proceed with caution, she could be armed..."

Security:"She sir?.."

"Yes! Never mind that, please! Get someone in there now!"

Security:"Yes Sir! We have a few people on that level now, sir, they should be in there any minute now..."

"Thank You, bring her to me when you catch her. Bring everything she has in her possession along too, I have something I'd like to discuss with her.."

Security:"Yes sir, over and out."

"Over and out.."

He placed the comm back into his coat pocket...Two minutes or so later, Miles watched as three security men entered Mr. Vinda's office, the woman still searching through Mr. Vinda's office. He watched as she looked up and straight into the camera inside the room.

"It doesn't pay to be so nervous, it causes suspicion," Miles said to himself as he looked back into the view screen

<!--EZCODE BOLD START--> Providence<!--EZCODE BOLD END-->


"Reverse engines!" the Captain shouted and the mighty Caprician Star Destroyer <!--EZCODE BOLD START--> Judicator<!--EZCODE BOLD END--> shuddered under the gravitational stresses inflicted upon it by the extreme close proximity of the gas giant Kendra.

"Enemy units coming in!" a scanning officer shouted out amid the commotion of mulitple damage reports coming in from all decks.

They Judicator's bow swung away slightly from Providence as it navigated the circular orbit of the planet with it's reverse engine thrust.

Everyone on the bridge held their collective breath hoping that the maneuver would allow them to slip by Kendra, as it's atmosphere was nearly touching that of Providences. If they couldn't slip by the gravitational pulls, they would be sucked into the gas giant and crushed like a small toy.

Every since the Yuuzhan Vong entered their area, the Caprician vessel had been locked in combat trying any way possible to prevent a landing. The invader's force was not large but it was too much for one ship to handle and several vessels got by.

The Captain hoped Leia and her soldiers could hold their own.

"How are our weapons?" Judicator's master asked.

"Planet-side guns erratic.... Shields slowly powering back up...patch teams attempting to seal the structural damage."

When the Yuuzhan Vong had struck, the nature of their weapons nearly ripped the Judicator's shields off, overloading and damaging many systems in many sections.

It was a testament to the structural integrity of the Judicator's construction to withstand the plasma blasts strikes that hit the hull unhindered.

"Fire what we've got at those coming up."

The massive throb of energies being directed into the discharge were felt through the deck plating.

Yuuzhan Vong corralskippers exploded as the Judicator's shots rang true.

Suddenly, Kendra's atmosphere merged with Providence's closing the gap that Judicator barely squeezed through.

Energies crackled in the area surrounding the merge and the pursuing Yuuzhan Vong vessels could not escape the gas giant's gravitational pull.. Kendra drew them deeper into itself and soon their yorik corral hulls were crushed by the pressure.

The crew cheered and the Captain wiped the sweat off his forehead and ordered their fighters to drop to confirm the status of the ground forces and the colony.

<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> We've been locked in combat far too long...<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->

The Captain had a bad feeling about what was going on down on the planet's surface..

<!--EZCODE BOLD START--> Providence<!--EZCODE BOLD END-->



The middle of the colony was a flurry of activity, with the colony's power dome connected directly to that position to combat the encroaching cold.

<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> It was strange that the aliens tried to come against their lines and not strike at their habitats directly.<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->


Tyscio drifted in and out of consciousness hearing people around him, some shouting, some moaning...


....and then silence.


He opened his eyes seeing that he was in the hastily built make-shift hospital building. In her own bed was a sleeping Leia covered as he was in many blankets.


A small monitoring droid was next to their beds respectively to monitor their conditions.


He felt totally exhausted and yet comfortable. Both of their armor suites were removed and Tyscio snuggled into the blankets more, feeling the warmth of them.


The Jedi's lightsaber was laying next to her bed, polished and sitting on top of some fresh clothes.


While he heard people nearby, they were relatively alone.


He laid on the bed content to simly watch her near silent breathing as she slept.


Questions drifted in and out of his mind and as his eyes traced the outline of her face, noting the new scrapes. He wondered what kind of person she had been before her becoming a freedom fighter.


She was relatively young to be promoted to Chief of Staff to a major military power.


<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> Strange things military powers. They take and take and take and when you are used up, they suddenly have no more money with which to pay out your retirement.<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->


But who was she? Did she have any friends?


<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> She slaves day in and out for her responsibilities but to what end? At what point would she say, "I am finished."


When Galactic Peace is achieved?<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->


Galactic Peace....


Suddenly his mind held images that he could find no frame of reference for..


Union....

Nephys....

Hespante....


<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> What do these mean?<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->



His eyes closed with only questions and he suddenly wondered how the battle fared..


.. he drifted off to sleep once more.

<!--EZCODE BOLD START--> Providence<!--EZCODE BOLD END-->

Leia woke out of her deep and cold slumber with a low drawn out groan, catching the attention of a nearby medical attendant. The attendant quickly moved to Leia's bedside to check on her anxiously.

Unlike Tyscio, who had consistently been drifting in and out, Leia had been out for the better part of two days now, and the medics attending to her had been beginning to worry about her condition.

Leia began to stir before her eyes actually opened and focused first on the ceiling of the makeshift structure. She squinted in the sudden bright light, and pulled her left hand out from under the heavy layer of blankets she was swathed in to clumsily rub an eye.

The unconscious world that Leia had been trapped in for so long now had not been pleasant for her. As she recalled it, it's cold, forboding blanket wrapped around her again, and despite all of the covers, she couldn't help but shiver.

The clink of a metal utensil against some sort of metal container distracted Leia from her umpleasant musings, and caused her enough reason to muster the energy to turn her head towards the noise.

She was somewhat suprised to see Tyscio in the bed next to her own, sitting upright calmly eating what appeared to be a hot bowl of soup. She didn't know what odd chances kept bringing them back together in the end, but she was grateful for them, the familiar warm presence of Tyscio both in person and through the force comforted Leia, and took the edge off of the odd cold weight in her gut.

About the next most immediate thing that pulsed into Leia's mind was her complaining bladder. She lifted her head to see where the attendant had gone, apparently to get a doctor, nobody was around now.

<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> Damn.<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->

A few feeble and unpleasantly sore attempts to move informed Leia she was pinned down by a lasting fatigue and the weight of the blankets on her. That caused a very uncharacteristic and odd thought to form in Leia's mind.

<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> Oh, screw it.<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->

Her face, which had been screwed up into an expression of discomfort, relaxed as she ridded herself of that discomfort. She blew out a long breath, then turned her head to look at Tyscio again, feeling her strength make a small comeback.

Wherever that attendant had gone, it sure was taking them a long time to get back.

"Tyscio? What are you doing here?" She managed.

<!--EZCODE BOLD START--> Providence<!--EZCODE BOLD END-->


The question so startled Tyscio that his bowl of soup slipped from his hands and into his heavily blanketed lap.

"Ow..ow..ow.. ahhhh.."


Instant relief came as he managed to bunch up the blankets to mop up the rather warm liquid.

He threw an embarrassed grin at Leia's bundle and chided, "I was trying to eat some soup..." and then mock growled, "thought you'd sleep for another two days.."

He reached a hand behind his back, pulled out a pillow and tossed it at her.

The scream of fighter engines roared overhead shaking the hospital and a dirty Mathias stumbled in.

"While you kids were napping, honest working Capricians have been taking care of business.."

"Sounds like you've had help," Tyscio commented pointing a finger to the ceiling.

Mathias grinned. "Your damned battleship up there finally decided to make itself useful and lend us some air support. Took out those plasma lobbing buggers real good."

"Make itself useful!!?? Why you old army dog! You landlovers couldn't get more than two feet in front of your precious trenchs were it not for my flyboys!" a rather jovial Captain interrupted.

The Master of the <!--EZCODE BOLD START--> Judicator<!--EZCODE BOLD END--> entered the hospital with as much authority as he carried aboard the ship.

"Poppycock!" Mathias grinned in return. "We had everything under control till you brought your boat into the mess.."

Tyscio laughed a bit and felt some relief.

<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> If everyone is joking then the battle must surely be won.<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->

He turned back to Leia who had a weird look on her face. Tyscio was trying to figure out what it meant when the attendant droid came over, his servos whirling and grinding as the cold weather took it's toll on machines and humans alike.

As Mathias and the Captain moved away to encourage the wounded soldiers, the droid instinctively started taking the blankets away from Leia when she squawked in alarm.

Tyscio tensed, sensing her mortification and as the droid moved more blankets he found the cause of her discomfort...

..or rather, the cause for her earlier relief..


"Oh...oh... oh... oh my," the droid untactfully said.


<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> Guess not all battles were equally won..<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->

Tyscio suddenly looked down at his own lap filled with the contents of his soup bowl.


A smile came to his lips...


<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> We lived to see another day..<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->

Leia was busy trying to figure out why the heck the droid was messing with her bedding anyways, all she had on under the protective shell of blankets was a thin white cloth hospital gown, hardly enough insulation against the chilly air in the not so well sealed med tent, especially in her condition.

The droid had stopped it's task, obviously it's logic circuits didn't contain any instruction on what to do now. It just kept stuttering.

Leia helped it out by fixing it with a quite wicked glare that could have melted durasteel, and had made many who found the misfortune to fall under it before falter. It caused the droid to falter as well.

"Scram" she snapped at it.

Taking a hint, it picked up it's bundle of blankets and shuffled away at a moderate pace. Leia decided it wasn't moving fast enough, and with a visible effort she sat up in bed, seized the pillow Tyscio had thrown at her earlier, and hurled it at the droid. It hit the droid square in the back, triggering a few more 'oh mys' as the droid dissapeared out of view.

With the annoying droid now gone, Leia heaved another heavy sigh, her expression reverting back to one of fatigue and troubled thoughts. She pulled the remaining two blankets that had been left up over her lap, finding that in the end she still didn't care about the fact that she couldn't have waited and therefore chose to... well, go. Really she wasn't embarrassed either. Leia noticed that a female attendant was making her way down the long ranks of beds on usual check up rounds, Leia figured she'd just wait until the attendant got down to them and get help with various things then.

Leia's gaze ventured back to Tyscio, there was suddenly a haunted look in her eye. She broke the silence that had ensued after the droid in an odd tone.

"It seems we have won the battle, but something inside tells me not the war..."

Those words hung in silence between the two for only a short time. That side of Leia also faded rather quickly as detachment took over again, leaving only tiredness. She looked Tyscio up and down, shifted uncomfortably in her soggy bedding, then picked up a pillow and hugged it as she rested her chin on it.

"How'd you manage to spill that blasted bowl of soup, anyways?"

A glint caught her attention and she spotted her lightsaber and a new change of clothes on the bedside stand along with a few other things. Clothes(which weren't even hers, they were Caprician military fatigues), and a lightsaber.

<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> Is that really all I have left?<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->

She closed her eyes.

<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> No. No....<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->

She buried her face in the pillow, hiding the lone tear that escaped her eye and started a run down her cheek before being absorbed by the fabric.

"..something tells me not the war.."


Tyscio had tried to remain as inconspicuous as Leia raged against the machine, triumphing with that last pillow toss.


The question, as she propped her head on the pillow was a sober one to consider.


He was still sitting up on his bed and shifted a bit to look at her.


"Aren't wars won by the victories of small battles?" he countered.


He wondered briefly if she had felt this way when the first Death Star had been destroyed. The war was far from over but the battle won...

<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> ..of course, they were fighting for ideals then... We just
fight for simple existence.<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->


His smile turned somewhat bitter <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> Ideals always seem to outlast the people..<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->


Leia was speaking..


"This soup, my lady was caused by you! I had everything under control till you interrupted my concentration.." he blamed outright in not so serious a manner...


...and when her eyes fell upon the clothes that a nurse had provided, he saw her head go down and he felt grief.....waves..



"Hey.. hey.. " he started, moving over to put a reassuring hand on her...



...when his hands went to his head as sheer pain pummelled through.


The hospital doors were kicked open and several soldiers came in, followed by some doctors carrying some type of creature..


<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> It's him!... the small one!<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->


The doctor's were cutting through the sharp protrusions in an effort to better reach vital parts of the creature's body.

A low moan escaped from the creature's lips and Tyscio's mind was on fire causing him to stumble to his knees.


The fire soon died, as one last sound was heard and an appendage went limp. The creature was dead.


"We caught it trying to crawl it's way back to the home position of the invaders.... We've units in the area securing it but the thing had too much blood.." a soldier said, as Tyscio walked over..


"No.. not 'thing'" the doctor informed, a monitoring droid coming up to record the proceedings.


He moved over and Tyscio saw the slivers of clothing attached to it... human clothing..


"What have those alien butchers done?" he heard the doctor lament as his skilled hands went to the protrusions.


As Korban studied the creature intensely, his face suddenly fell.....for this was no creature of the invaders but a those of a Caprician.


<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> It was just a mere child...<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->


And Tyscio's good humor faded...


<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> I've become a destroyer of children..<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->



He slowly walked back to his bed and noted that an attendant had cleaned the mess of soup.


<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> What good is existing if we sacrifice our ideals?<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->


..And suddenly, the war did seem bleak.




<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> And deep within his mind, his awareness expanded...<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->

<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> I've become a destroyer of children..<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->

The thought intruded into Leia's mind unbidden, through means she would never quite deduce the origins of. But then, it didn't matter.

"No" She said sternly to Tyscio, her expression hardening. She knew she had caught his attention, but he did not look over at her. She continued anyways, knowing her words would eventually catch his ear.

"You did not murder that child... the Vong did. You maybe even saved him... not from death, but from things much worse. Many others that day also survived because of that one act, including me. Your conscience may not tell you that, probably never will, mine surely doesn't."

Leia felt a hand come to rest lightly on her shoulder, the attendant had come to help her get moving again. She looked over her shoulder at the attendant, then back at Tyscio. Her words came softly now, and even Tyscio had to strain to hear them.

"But it helps...

Trust me. I know."

Leia allowed the attendant to swing her legs over the side of the bed, pull her out of it to her unsteady feet, and wrap a blanket around her. The attendant also collected Leia's clothes and saber, then lead her new charge off to a 'fresher to get, what else, refreshed. Tyscio was left alone to his own musings for a while.

Leia stepped through the threshold to the 'fresher unit, the attendant put her stuff and a few other things on the counter, and the door closed as the attendant left, leaving Leia... alone.

She took a shaky breath and forced herself to just keep moving. She turned on the shower, then paused to look in the small mirror she saw hanging on the makeshift wall.

She saw what she was expecting, there was a long gash across her chin, and she was covered from head to foot in other various abrasions like everyone else, but underneath the tiredness still evident in her eyes and the lines in her face, she saw the returning glimmer of herself.

She felt her mental walls suddenly start to lift again, and her mind began turning. Whatever had happened with Tyscio had broken through the thick fog in her brain and woken her up.

She had been here before. Not this place, no. But the circumstances.

The first victory.

But the start of a lot of suffering ahead.

The battle with the Empire. She had celebrated ecstatically with the rest of the victorious troops... but she had known there was a long dark road ahead of them.

As there was before the Capricians now. They celebrated today, tomorrow they'd be back in the trenches.

<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> They'd better enjoy it to the fullest while it lasts...<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->

With that, a rather detached Leia went on with her business, albight slowly and precariously, and a bit later she was able to walk out of the 'fresher on her own, and much better for wear than before.

A doctor had apparently been waiting for her, because he caught her elbow as she exited and escourted her back to her freshly made bed.

"You're not running out anywhere yet, you're not well enough to. Stay in bed and rest!"

The doctor ensured that she was actually tucked into bed and appeared to actually be planning to stay there awhile before he left. Of course, as soon as he was gone she kicked off her covers and sat up again. Tyscio was ambling around nearby, alone. She frowned, but knew well enough to stay put and do something else.

There was a datapad sitting on her table now next to her saber. She leaned over, picked it up... turned it on.

Casualty reports and other prospected losses.

No thanks, not yet. They weren't going to be even halfway accurate numbers yet anyways. She set that back down, then curled up into a fetal position and closed her eyes...

Only to get poked hard in the back by a grinning Mathias, and clapped on the shoulder by a grinning fleet Commander.

She sat up again to greet and congratulate them, they were both still jesting with each other.

But as much as she hated to admit it, her gaze eventually wandered back around the room, searching out Tyscio...

Tyscio smiled as Leia sternly (though compassionately) reprimanded him for thinking depressing thoughts.


As she moved off to the fresher he sat on his bed pondering..


<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> The fickle nature of life....an act now affects so many yet to come.


Some live..and some die. And people are left behind to go on...


Just as we will....go on...


..but for how long?<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->


His mind drifted back to Almania... where he drifted alone for nearly 3 years...


Their ship had been attacked by unknown persons...<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> His<!--EZCODE ITALIC END--> ship had been attacked...


He remembered training on some forest planet....he and about five others.. They were exploring uses in the force when they were on their way back to...Capricia?



<!--EZCODE HTML START--> <font color="light blue">"You are still Clannus Prime, sire.."

A blond woman flashed into his mind... Ferendi.. people called her Rendi...


Royalty?


Leia?</font><!--EZCODE HTML END-->




The small pain in the pack of his mind started to expand..


<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> Why can't I remember anything before that attack but vague images?<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->






<!--EZCODE HTML START--> <font color="light blue">. <!--EZCODE BOLD START--> I<!--EZCODE BOLD END--> say, that the future can be slowed, possibly captured, if you know what you want."

The grin falters...

"But, alas, no one truly knows what they want anymore. Our lives are so short, sometimes one needs to try very hard to make an imprint on the tapestry we call life."


"Capricia never made an imprint, did it teacher?" young Korban suddenly asked.


The aging man suddenly turned toward the boy in surprise. "Now where did that connection come from?"


"But it's true! The Sepan Sector came under the control of the Empire....before that, the Old Republic..."

The teacher laughed softly...

"There is history and then, there is history Tsycio."

"What do you mean?"

"Young man, you've still much to learn and we enter subjects not appropriate. When you are older..."

The old man put his hand on Tyscio's shoulder," ... you will see the tapestry Capricia made once... a long time ago."



...a long time ago..


... a long time ago..</font><!--EZCODE HTML END-->





<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> A long time ago....



How long ago?<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->




<!--EZCODE HTML START--> <font color="light blue">A laugh tore across his mind...

"You don't even know what you are..."</font><!--EZCODE HTML END-->




A door to the hospital opened allowing some soldiers come in to talk to Mathias and the Judicator's captain.


And the light snow that drifted in sparked a memory ....




<!--EZCODE QUOTE START--><blockquote>Quote:<hr> Over a thousand years ago, the only thing that existed were the Houses, divided into feudal states. Family feuds were common and whole families were wiped out from the small wars that would plague them.<hr></blockquote><!--EZCODE QUOTE END-->


<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> The wars...


He was leading thousands of soldiers across a field of snow...


.against other Capricians...


..and some type of lightning shot out from the opposing side...



Capricia had fallen to the Nephys plague.....






The last stronghold in the Union....



And so the Union fell...




..but THAT was thousands of years ago..



...thousands of children died then...<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->




With effort he pushed his musings into the back of his mind only to see the back-and-forth banter between the two aging leaders.


He looked at the body of the little Caprician boy being covered and wondered, <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> Why are they attacking us? What do they want with us? This isn't just conquest..<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->


And suddenly an aid rushed in followed by some soldiers....

"Sirs!" he shouted upon seeing Mathias and the Judicator's captain. "A probe just penetrated the ionization in the area...." he paused dramatically.


"Capricia is under attack.."


And the room went silent, all activity seeming to stop. For the colonists, they suddenly felt strange.. a mother world they had not known existed for the bast 5 years suddenly is in danger of disappearing..


..and yet her children had been sent to protect their homes..


Tyscio frowned a bit and his eyes instinctively (instinctively?) found the familiar gaze of Leia.


Mathias was also addressing Leia... "My Militia stand ready add to your numbers at your pleasure.."

The Captain huffed loudly and pulled out a comm. "Bring the Judicator up to battlestations! We leave within the hour.. plot a course for Capricia.." and turned to Tyscio and Leia..

"...and pray that we are in time.."



<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> Here we go again..<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->


He turned a tired smirk at Leia.. "At least we get out of the blasted cold.."

Leia's gaze met Mathias' unflinching gaze measuringly.

<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> He would really go to Capricia?

Well, why wouldn't he, or anyone else for that matter?<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->

She frowned with sudden thought.

"I would not suggest bringing but a very few troops... leaving Providence without a heavy defense would be an utterly stupid act. But if a few of you insist...."

She paused, shrugged.

"Then you're more than welcome to join us, we'll need all the help we can get. And I gather part of the ride is leaving directly..."

<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> "...at least we get out of the cold..." someone was saying, Leia didn't catch who.<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->

"Well, that's a good point for the optomists, anyways... I still remain attached to my conclusion that any planet is better than Hoth"

She smirked as well and slipped out of bed. She grabbed her saber, and put on a pair of boots. That about completed her travel preparations, bar for wherever her most likely unusable armor and the things she had with it had gone. She would have to track it down.



<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> 30 minutes later...<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->



Leia sat hunkered down in her flight couch, staring fixedly at the floor, as the shuttle she was taking for the ride back to Capricia thrummed with power and lifted away from Providence. She spoke aloud, not really realizing she was doing so. This caused the others around her to look up at her, surprised.

"I can't believe I'm doing this...."