There were always several of these unofficial parks about any industrialised planet, Imperial Customs never quite up to speed in checking permits and authorising permission to unload. If one was willing to pay a little extra, the necessary access to the Col Din platform for required customs checks could always be speeded up, but many of the smaller haulage companies simply didn't have the profit margins to oblige, and so these loose unofficial clusters of ships huddled together to wait out permission, crew members travelling constantly from ship to ship with little regard for procedure, catching up on trade gossip with fellow-hauliers.
It was a nice, nondescript, easily-escapable setup - and a commonplace one too, likely to attract little attention. With less than an hour to go Chief Massa had named this particular cluster with care, providing ample opportunity for their Bothan contact onboard the Attin'Cho to make his unanticipated in-system jump from Col Din to the new co-ordinates- and for either Madine onboard the Sol or Leia and Mon onboard the Arcturus to do the same, should either need back-up.
The comm officer nodded as the Arcturus slowed, dropping into place in the losely-queueing starships, another dilapidated, rusted freighter which hovered to starboard seeming momentarily to be going backwards due to its stationary position beside the slowly-advancing Arcturus. The comm officer glanced to the side, then added, "We have the confirmation code from the Attin'Cho, along with docking co-ordinates. Commander Ollin'yaa sends his greetings, Chief Mothma, and invites you aboard."
Mon turned to Leia, smiling, "I'll leave things here in your capable hands."
Leia smiled at the compliment, watching Mon walk from the bridge of the disguised freighter, unable to shake the feeling that something... something...
.
Mon walked sedately from the shuttle now docked in the Attin'Cho's small hold, three Bothans waiting at the end of the ramp now, an irregular line of several others forming an Honour-Guard, a few Humans and a Devaronian making up the line. The trip over had taken less than five minutes, only one freighter between the Arcturus and the Attin'Cho, and that clearly trying to jockey a position forward of them, pinned in from starboard by a large, ponderously slow merchant vessel just as the Arcturus was. Mon glanced momentarily at the reassuringly open depths of space visible beyond the docking bay, the pale corona of Bothawuii just perceptible at its edges. If they had to make a run for it, then the Attin'Cho was well-placed to do so.
"Good afternoon, Chief Mothma," The first Bothan said easily, stepping forward, his fur rustling forward then back in the Bothan equivalent of a nervous tic.
Mon smiled politely, pretending not to notice, holding her hand out to the nervous Bothan who took it in his own, gesturing for her to continue, "You must forgive us - we aren't used to having so illustrious-a guest on board our humble transport. We believed we were simply transporting Commander Ollin'yaa to the Col Din Platform. We had little time to make preparations."
"No special preparations are necessary...?"
"Forgive me, Chief Mothma- my name is T'indarr- I'm Ollin'yaa's aide." The Bothan clearly realised from Mon's pause that he'd failed to introduce himself, another ripple brushing his pale fur. "If you'd follow me, I'd be honoured to take you to the Commander now."
Mon nodded politely, setting forward with the Bothan and his two companions, her own guard of six Rebel Special Ops soldiers falling in behind her. The Bothan pointedly didn't look back or mention them.
They walked only a short distance into the ship, very few crew in evidence, only a few Bothans and a Chadra-Fan pausing as they passed by, bowing their heads respectfully, the Bothan's fur rippling in a motion Mon recognised from long experience with the species to be nervous curiosity. She nodded easily as she walked by, always the politician.
Finally T'indarr paused before a room, reaching out his hand to rest dramatically on the door release, waiting for Mon and her entourage to catch up.
The door slid open... and Mon stopped dead.
The Bothan Commander Ollin'yaa, whom she had come to meet, sat tensely in a chair at the far side of the room-
Around him, weapons held ready, were two phalanxes of stormtroopers, their blue pauldrons identifying them as units from the 701st... And stood just behind him, hands on Ollin'yaa's shoulders... was Skywalker.
There was a flurry of sound and motion behind her as her guards drew their weapons, and Skywalker's sharp eyes flicked from Mon towards them - a sickening smack sounded behind her as bodies hit the walls, not one shot fired before they fell to the floor, unconscious or dead; she didn't know which.
Mon flinched just slightly at that indecipherable crack of bones and armour, but remained motionless as those cold blue eyes came back to her own and a slow half-smile spread across his scarred face.
"Hello, Mon."
Chapter 12
Leia resisted the urge to pace the Arcturus' bridge, aware that she was making Wyatt uneasy. Why exactly, she had no idea- everything was going exactly as planned.
They had a positive sighting of Vader's main fleet almost two hours at lightspeed from here, and every other Rim Fleet Destroyer could be accounted for. Nothing was within striking distance, save for the Star Destroyer at Col Din of course, but Madine would let them know the moment that it made any kind of move. Again a stray concern worried at the edges of Leia's mind but she couldn't lock it down, try as she might, her thoughts with Mon Mothma.
"Any problems?" she prompted Wyatt, walking up close to peer out of the viewscreen at the jumble of decrepit freighters waiting for permission to unload. Her eyes locked on the Attin'Cho, clearly visible around the rusting bulk of the freighter between them.
The Mon Calamari shook her head, bulbous eyes remaining on Leia, "None." She replied simply, though her tone indicated she was willing to be led by Leia on this.
But what could she offer? Mon's shuttle had landed and sent back the short confirmation code that all was well, as agreed. The Bothan leader Mon was coming to reassure had accepted the change of venue without rancour, the Attin'Cho making a short jump out and back into the system in order to clear the mass of Bothawuii, the meeting now taking place on his transport, whilst Madine continued to load the Generators from another Bothan transport onto the Rebel freighter Sol.
Everything was going exactly as planned - so why did she have the creeping feeling that....
"Ma'am, I have General Madine on the comm." Leia swing round to the comm officer, but it was Wyatt who spoke first.
"Put it on speaker." She said quickly, stepping to the centre of the small freighter's bridge, "General?"
Madine's voice was tight and urgent as he spoke, "Where's Chief Mothma?"
Leia walked into the mic's pickup range, "She's on the Attin'Cho. Why?"
"The Star Destroyer here - it's The Fury. It isn't part of the Rim Fleet, it's a Core Fleet vessel. It travels with the Peerless!"
That was what had been niggling her - all the Rim Fleet Destroyers were accounted for - how could there be one here? The full meaning of Madine's words seeped in then; the Peerless was Skywalker's Super Star Destroyer. Leia's stomach tightened into a knot. "You're sure?"
"It's not transmitting ID, but the Bothans did a close fly-by. They said it has Torrin manoeuvre thrusters from Soro-Sub. That puts it less than three years old, and it has a mark-nine transmitter array, plus Mytor equatorial heavy gun-emplacements. It's the Fury."