The Legend of the Jedi Queen

22. All Lost Love

Tallis and Nellith entered a corridor of the Imperial Palace.

"It's been a while," Nellith said as they started walking. "It's just that I've been so busy. . ."

"So have I," Tallis said. He was looking at his boots, much cleaner and newer than he was used to. "Rey's wanted to make sure I catch up, and that means a lot of meditation, talking about feelings, that kind of thing."

"I do some of that too," Nellith said. "It's supposed to make it easier to be a Jedi if you know where your heart is."

"That's what Rey said," Tallis said.

The two continued walking, until Nellith found the part of the corridor she was looking for. She looked to her left and to her right before pulling her multitool off of her belt.

"What are you doing?" Tallis demanded as Nellith knelt down and started unscrewing a panel.

"Found this a couple of weeks ago," Nellith said. "There's secret passages in this castle."

"Really?" Tallis tilted his head sideways. "How did you figure that one out?"

"My mum took apart AT-ATs when she was my age, she taught me how to find gaps like this in schematics," Nellith said. "I found some schematics for the castle, and followed the gaps."

She pulled aside a panel, and gestured for Tallis to get in. He did so, entering the dark electric insides of the Imperial Palace. Nellith followed, securing the panel in place from the inside.

Nellith turned on the light on her multitool, illuminating the surprisingly large shaft and passageway within the palace.

"It's incredible you found all this," Tallis said, looking around in awe.

"Come on," Nellith said, a grin on her face reminiscent of her grandfather. "I want o show you something."

After what seemed like hours of crawling through the passageway of the castle, they entered a balcony room that overlooked the ice caves and frozen woods with none of the Imperial compound showing. In fact, Nellith could see a frozen pond at the edge of it all, and parts she'd never seen of the planet before.

"Isn't it beautiful?" Nellith asked.

"It's alright," Tallis admitted, as the two sat down, looking to the outside.

"I thought it would be a quiet place to talk," Nellith said. "Y'know, since we haven't really had much time lately."

"Yeah." It was then that Nellith noticed the dark circles under Tallis's eyes.

"Is everything okay?" Nellith asked.

"I'm fine." He then smiled, and somehow, Nellith believed him. Despite everything else screaming out at her.

"They say that they're already fighting on Corellia," Nellith said.

"Makes sense," Tallis said. "The Empire's always had its grip on that hellhole."

"Do you miss it?" Nellith asked. "It was your home for such a long time."

"It was a prison," Tallis corrected. "I don't really care what happens to it now. Corellia will always be where my mother died because of the slum lords and where my father abandoned us both."

"Have you learned anything about your dad?" Nellith asked.

"Not much more than I already knew. I know the Sith that came from my dad, and I know his name," Tallis said. "Now I know who he was to the First Order."

"Who was he?" Nellith asked.

"A man named Galen Palpatine," Tallis said. "He was a special Hand to the Supreme Leader, same as Mom. They were secret attack dogs, ones the Knights of Ren didn't even know about. Especially because of the Second Order faction forming even when Snoke was in charge."

"I see," Nellith said. "Did you ever know him?"

"I remember his face," Tallis admitted. There was a faraway look in his lilac-gray eyes. "But sometimes I think I imagined that. He wasn't around much, before he ditched me and Mom."

"I'm sorry," Nellith said. She placed her hand on top of his, and he gave a weak smile in return. He looked back to the horizon.

"It's not like he matters all that much, in the scheme of things," he said. "Not everyone has a family, Nellith."

"I know that," Nellith said, her voice sympathetic. "Mum didn't have one until she left Jakku. Sometimes real family isn't the one you have by blood."

"I know that, and I want to find that too," Tallis admitted.

"You will, someday," Nellith assured him.

The two just sat there, in the silence, watching the sapphire sky and the frozen world before, pristine and crystalline.

Then the castle rattled.

Nellith and Tallis scrambled to their feet and down the passage. Sirens blasted through the compound, rattling the castle as they came back out through the panel where they entered.

As they spilled out, Nellith saw stormtroopers running towards someplace.

Nellith and Tallis exchanged a look before running after them. As they turned a few corners and ascended a staircase, they saw the line where stormtroopers were stacked, ready to fire at blast doors.

Nellith slid to a halt. The only reason she didn't fall over was because Tallis caught her with his arm at just the right moment.

"Dad's in there," Nellith said. "We have to get in there!"

"Whoa, whoa, we are not getting past those stormtroopers," Tallis said.

Nellith pulled her lightsaber out just as Jaina and Rey arrived on the scene.

"Come on," Jaina said, gesturing for Nellith to follow her. With a few quick strokes, Jaina cut open a hole in the door, and entered.

Ben was fighting off several of the other generals, barely managing to hold his own in the fireflight.

Rey and Jaina leapt in, and Nellith was quick to block a shot from a General she didn't quite recognize, reflecting it right into his heart. He soared across the table and Nellith moved right behind another one, sending her lightsaber right through his shoulder blades.

Smoke filled the room, and a figure shoved past Nellith, knocking her sprawling to the ground.

"Hey!" she cried, and she scrambled to her feet, looking back. The stormtroopers fired, and Nellith turned her attention back to the room. Out of the smoke emerged a figure, and Nellith raised her lightsaber.

He dropped his blaster and raised his hands in surrender. In a heartbeat, Nellith recognized him as General Mitaka.

"I'm on your side, I swear!" Mitaka promised.

The blaster fire ceased and all that could be heard was coughing.

"We need to get the ventilation system going," Mitaka said. He headed to the control panel and hit a flew buttons. A breeze flew through the room, clearing it and dispersing the smoke. There were only a few dead bodies on the floor. Nellith realized in a heartbeat that the majority of the generals had escaped.

"The generals have betrayed me," Ben growled. The look in his eye was as feral as when he was Kylo Ren. "They most likely have already made their way to the Second Order."

"They tried to kill you," Jaina said. "A coup, an assassination, or both."

"We're getting old," Rey remarked. "I remember taking down a room full of guards with light-weapons more easily than this."

"And they knew who they were dealing with," Ben said. He looked to Mitaka. "Get me a list of anything that's missing— and their clearance files. We need to know what information they have and what they're bringing to the Second Order."

Jaina looked to Nellith. "Good news, kid. We're going back to Korriban."