Traits Of Descent

Chapter Two

Coruscant - Mon Mothma's New Republic office

The room was serene, which echoed the same nature of the figure who occupied the office. It offered a wide view of the constant motion of Coruscant traffic on the other side of the transparisteel wall. The office had little else in the way of decor. No sculpture. No paintings. Not even one holo of a loved one on the desk. Most others would comment on the impersonal aspect to Mon Mothma. Luke Skywalker knew that it was just part of her no frills attitude.

Luke and Corran Horn had come into her office after her assistant had let them in. They each had been summoned individually on the previous day by the Chief of State. The meeting's subject had yet to be determined. Corran had enough instinct in his CorSec background to guess. He read HoloNet news. He knew why he was summoned. He pondered why Luke had been called concerning a killing spree of criminals.

Mon Mothma's assistant led them inside and directed them to the two seats opposite the Chief of State's desk. Each man sat down before nodding to Mon Mothma as she stood in greeting. She addressed her assistant. "Thank you, Miria, that will be all. Please hold all of my calls until we are finished. And, Miria, if anyone asks, I am in an important Senate meeting."

Miria answered before she disappeared behind the sliding doors, "Understood, Miss."

Mon Mothma addressed the men as she sat in her seat behind her desk. "I want to thank you both for interrupting your busy schedules to meet with me"

Luke gave a nod and said, "It's no problem. I have all the trust in Tionne and Streen as substitute teachers."

"I have no doubt," she answered. "I will get to the point. As you may or may not suspect, I need an important favor to ask of you both. I'm not sure how well versed you are in current events, but one in particular has been brought to my attention."

Corran spoke in turn. "You're talking about the murders on Nal Hutta the other night."

"Correct. How much do you know?"

Corran shrugged. "Some thugs and their boss were cut down by a vigilante. Cut and dry, if you ask me."

Mon Mothma turned to Luke to ask what he had heard.

Luke stirred in his seat and was almost embarrassed to answer, "I'm sorry, I really didn't get a chance to get any details. A Twi-Lek student of mine did mention something about it yesterday. One of his relatives lives in the suburb where that tapcaf is. I usually don't have time to catch up on the latest murders across the galaxy." Luke winced. "Sorry if that sounded patronizing."

Mon Mothma smiled sweetly. "I understand. As you are both somewhat familiar with the official report, let me fill you in on the unofficial. This vigilante, as Corran called him, was not after a random leader of a nefarious gang. The leader who was murdered was a former Black Sun Vigo. The weapon used on him was a lightsaber."

Both Luke's and Corran's ears perked up. Corran commented first. "Is that so? That explains the lack of truth surrounding the whole mess. Not that Nal Huttan authorities are all that truthful anyway."

Mon Mothma replied, "Nal Huttan security had gone to extreme lengths to keep that out of the HoloNet."

Luke questioned, "Are they sure it was a lightsaber?"

Mon Mothma stated grimly, "Cauterized wounds. No blood spilled."

Corran noted, "I thought that didn't happen with Defels. Their blood is too thin to be cauterized or something."

She replied, "The Defel was not killed by lightsaber. He and the two WeeQuays were simply cut down with a vibroblade."

Corran noted, "It takes more than one vibroblade to take down a Wraith."