Missing and Presumed Dead

Return of the Lost

Ever since joining the Rebellion, Wedge had dreamed of bringing down the Emperor. What Rebel hadn't? If they took out the Emperor and Vader, the Empire would topple. Sure, there would be clean up to do, but ultimately no one was strong enough to take the throne and keep it going long-term. He'd always imagined taking them out by force, through some violent campaign that would probably see the end of most of the Rebellion.

He'd never expected Vader to turn, hand the Rebellion the plans to the second Death Star, then hand them a plan to take out the Emperor in a joint effort.

He didn't trust Vader, of course. No one really did. They half expected him to take the throne instead of handing it to Leia. Then there were some who were worried Leia wouldn't work with the Rebellion to transition power back into the hands of the galaxy. Wedge thought that was ridiculous, of course. Anyone who'd ever met Leia Organa knew there was no one more dedicated to the Rebellion than her.

Vader though...that he was unsure of. But he trusted Luke.

He couldn't explain that to his squad himself, though, not without revealing that Luke was still alive. So when he was asked why he was so willing to be part of the Coruscant Campaign, he simply answered, "It's what Luke would have done." That still got him a few skeptical looks, but no one wanted to sour the memory of their supposed dead commander.

Even if, by now, everyone knew Luke was the son of Darth kriffing Vader. Mothma had to tell anyone who'd been picked to go on the mission why they were trusting Vader at all, and it would be hard to do that without explaining, "Apparently Vader likes his children more than he likes the Emperor. Go figure."

So here they were. On Coruscant. The codes Vader had provided worked. Blending in with the crowds was surprisingly easy. After all, no one expected the Rebellion would be stupid enough to attack the capital, and the war had mostly stayed in the Outer Rim. So once they were through and on the ground, they simply slipped into the crowd as ordinary citizens, though Wedge and a few others made it a point to keep away from any security droids or cameras that might be alerted to their wanted status.

They reached the rendezvous point near Monument Plaza and met up with their promised contact. There'd been some debate on who it would be, since Vader just said, "A mutually trusted representative" would be there with the weapons and supplies needed, but when Wedge saw who it was, he wasn't totally surprised.

"I didn't realize Vader considered you a trusted representative," Wedge greeted none other than Lando Calrissian.

"I didn't either. I'm pretty sure he only marginally trusts me more than most people, so that probably counts. It's hard to tell with him." Lando grinned, but it didn't touch his eyes. He wasn't dressed in his usual finery and cape. Rather, he looked like any other mundane citizen with a simple black shirt and brown trousers. Wedge hadn't ever seen the man wear anything but expensive fashion statements, so it was jarring to see.

"You got the weapons?" he asked, flexing his fingers as he did so. He felt naked being in enemy territory without one.

Lando patted the stack of wooden crates next to him. "You know, now that you say it, I think Vader just trusts me to be able to smuggle highly illegal weapons more than he does Han." This time, his grin did touch his eyes.

Wedge motioned and his squad began opening the crates, passing the blasters and explosives around. "You know where we're going?"

"Got it memorized. You?"

Wedge nodded. "I memorized it too. I made everyone do it." He hesitated, then lowered his voice so the others wouldn't hear. "And our mutual friend? What's his role in all this?"