The smaller ante-room at the top of the castle had been chosen by Blake as a temporary command centre for it's windowless, office-like qualities. It's book case lined walls offered a cosier atmosphere for a meeting room and the darkness, when they extinguished the lights, allowed for easy reading of the make-shift data console. She had gathered up all the data pads she could find, linking some of them together in a circuit so that, as each one displayed part of a holo-map, as a whole, they completed it. Another, larger data pad rested on the table with a holo-vid conference call to Admiral Ackbar ready to be initiated. Leia looked approvingly at the set up as she entered the room, admiring Blake's initiative.

Madine stepped forward to shake Leia's hand when he saw her.

"Princess, it's good to see you up and about. Commander Blake told us of the terrible news when we arrived. I had no idea when you called us here, what had happened." Leia dismissed his concern with a wave of her hand.

"Thank you, but there's no need for your concern. We need to concentrate our thoughts on ending this activity as soon as possible." She nodded an acknowledgement to General Kobar. "Thank you both for coming so quickly. She looked round the room at those present and frowned, turning to Han. "Where's Luke?"

"I'm here." Luke's voice sounded behind her as he came up the steps to the ante-room. "Sorry I'm late." He nodded to everyone round the room and leant in to kiss Leia on the cheek. "Leia, may I speak to you before you start your meeting?"

"Of course."

"I brought someone with me from Chandrila who is requesting a moment of your time and who I think you really need to speak to. May I bring them in?" She frowned curiously.

"Yes, do." she agreed. She had endless amounts of time for Luke and if he thought it was important, she trusted his judgement. Luke went back through the archway and ushered in his guest. Leia's expression changed from curiosity to one of reservation as Ambassador San'teefa walked sheepishly up the steps into the room. His hands clasped in front of him, he bowed deeply from the waist to Leia.

"Your Highness." He turned to the other members of the meeting. "Gentlemen" and to Blake, "Commander."

Leia threw Luke a dubious and slightly annoyed look. What was he thinking, bringing her most irritating government opponent here and what reason could he possibly have for doing such a thing? She was just managing to hold herself together for a meeting, she was too weary for a political argument. Luke returned her look with one that told her to trust him and listen. Han watched their sibling facial exchange, trying to pick up clues as to what was going on. Luke had requested passage on the Falcon for his guest and Han had readily agreed, trusting Luke would have a reason but he wasn't overly fond of Neimoidians, distrusting their avaricious tendencies. Thankfully, the Ambassador had spent the whole trip in his bunk so Han hadn't had to make conversation. It was clear how Leia felt about their guest.

"Ambassador San'teefa?" She greeted him stiffly. "This is a surprise. What brings you all the way to the Outer Rim?" she enquired.

"Thank you for seeing me, Your Highness." She nodded a little impatiently, wanting him to get on with it. "I felt I owed it to you to come here and see you in person." Her curiosity peaked.

"Oh?"

"I listened to what General Solo... Captain Solo told the Senate committee and was most concerned to hear what had happened to you. Captain Solo's words were direct and made your position here perfectly clear. I felt some personal responsibility for removing the military resources that may have prevented this from happening." Leia was surprised. She glanced at Han who was looking at the floor, slightly abashed.

"Thank you, Ambassador." Leia accepted his humility. She began to feel a little guilty that she had been irritated at his presence.

"That's not all." He continued. "Commander Skywalker brought to my attention that a tracking device placed aboard a slaver ship leaving Thyfeera, ended it's destination on Cato Neimoidia." Leia looked startled at Luke. He raised both eyebrows at her. "Of course, I immediately initiated an investigation and we believe we have found signs of similar activity to that which you are facing." Leia began to feel like she had vertigo and gripped the side of the meeting table tightly with both hands. Han shot her a concerned frown but she reassured him with a discreet shake of her head. She had no time for weakness.

"Do you think operations are still continuing there, Ambassador?" she questioned.

"We believe so. We have no military presence to speak of and I would appreciate your assistance." He paused, looking slightly uncomfortable. "I am afraid I am guilty of being blinkered by my desire to rebuild Cato Neimoidia to it's former glory. I do indeed want to build our trade enterprises but the merest hint of slavery linked with us will destroy any chance I have of legitimate business." His iris-less red eyes looked humbly at Leia. "I have made judgements of you based on very little knowledge. Your youth belies your experience and I should have paid more attention to what you were trying to tell us. Please accept my apologies." He bowed again. Leia was almost speechless, her mouth open slightly.

"Ambassador, I think we have both been guilty of making rash judgements of each other. I have tainted my opinion of you based on the behaviour of your ancestors and for that, I apologise. Perhaps some good can come out of all this after all." she smiled. "Of course, we'll do everything we can to help you." She looked round the room. "Ambassador, have you ever attended a military operational meeting before?"

"I'm afraid I know very little about military affairs." he admitted.

"Then this is a good place to start. Please stay and we will discuss your problem as well. It will be good for you to see what happens on the other side of things." She took his elbow and guided him further into the room, making a space for him round the table. Luke smiled to himself and Leia caught his eye and winked. Who said he wasn't cut out for politics?

"Down to business then." she said decisively, bringing everyone's attention back to the subject of the meeting. "Blake, can you get Admiral Ackbar on the conference call please?" Leia looked round the room. Everyone had been given a data pad with a detailed report and they all studied their copies as she spoke. "As you are all aware, from the intelligence Blake has provided to you all, several covert operations have been discovered that are carrying out conditioning techniques on children in order to develop some kind of controllable army. While this is disturbing news, the reason for the conditioning and the people behind it are a longer term problem and I don't believe we can solve it immediately. Our priority must be to destroy the bases we have discovered so far, disrupting their operations and disbanding the Imperial presence in those areas, if that's what it is." She called up the map of the Andronian jungle and surrounding area, the location of the base where she and Han had been held marked clearly in red on the green holo-display in the centre of the room. A further large mass of red was blinking on the map.

"With assistance from Maz Kanata's informants, we have been able to trace the remaining enemy troops to this area, just the other side of the Adronian Jungle." She pointed to the large red mass. "They are amassing quite a force here, too large to be just the personnel from their base. We believe they have gathered reinforcements and that, once they have enough force, they are planning to mount an attack; most likely on Al-Adreen."

"Why would they want to do that?" Han quizzed. The settlement had no military presence of it's own that was a threat, just a small civilian space port, and he could see no benefit to them in doing so.

"On Thyfeera, there were no real settlements in the area into which they had placed a presence. Al-Adreen not only hosted regular meetings for their slave trade but was also the site of the battle we were involved in, highlighting quite clearly the presence of Imperial storm troopers if nothing else. They need to eliminate witnesses to cut their losses and prevent exposure of their whole operation and the only way of doing that is to eliminate Al-Adreen." Everyone looked grim. Han couldn't argue with Leia's strategic foresight. If the operation was more widespread, with a long term goal, it made sense not to risk the exposure of the whole thing over just one or two locations.

"How many people are there in this settlement?" Lando brought it down to a human level. Leia looked serious.

"As far as we can tell, approximately eight thousand. Give or take the regular comings and goings of fifty or so pirate ships at any one time."

"Could we evacuate them?" General Kobar enquired.

"We could." Leia had considered this already. "But there's no telling, with their natural suspicion that they would recognise our authority and agree to leave, we could just be wasting precious time attempting it. I think we need to stop the attack before it reaches them."

"So what do you have in mind?" Madine spoke up. Knowing her as he did, she would never have called the meeting in the first place if she hadn't already got a plan. Leia nodded to Blake who typed instructions into her data pad, bringing up blue blinking indicators on the larger map.

"I propose taking in three platoons of ground troops. One just the other side of our enemy - here," she pointed to the appropriate area on the map . "and two this side of the jungle, just outside Al-Adreen. We can drive them through the jungle towards the other two squads with the security forces picking up any stragglers from the edges. The clearing and a line of rocks between the jungle and Al-Adreen will make an ideal place to collect them for arrest and transport. The squads will be backed up by air support, helping to eliminate heavier artillery."

"Princess Leia, how do you imagine we will accomplish this when you are aware we are severely lacking in personnel at the moment? We can't risk another tragedy like the one on Thyfeera." General Kobar voiced his concern. Leia acknowledged his worries.

"We are not lacking personnel any longer, General. I have recalled three platoons from their escort missions plus all my squadrons of X-Wings. They should be here tomorrow." Han raised both eyebrows in amazement, a crooked smile appearing on his lips. Leia had only been awake a day after a huge trauma and she'd managed all this. "Admiral. Thank you for joining us." Leia addressed the holo-vid on the accompanying data pad on which Admiral Ackbar's Mon Calamarian face had appeared. "What is your status?"

"We should arrive at the agreed time tomorrow." he replied, his voice distorted slightly by the faint connection. "I should warn you that we have detected the presence of a star destroyer heading for Takodana space. I can only assume with tie-fighters on board. As you suspected, they mean to do a thorough job of destroying their evidence."

"That's why we recalled the X-Wings, Admiral." Leia confirmed. She addressed the room again. "Admiral Ackbar has kindly agreed to assist us, providing the Home One war ship as base for the squadrons. I didn't think Maz would want us all parked in her front yard, putting off her customers. There is landing space in the next valley which should be secure for smaller troop transports. It looks like you might have to join the fight against the destroyer as well, Admiral. I hope you are ready for this." She looked at him appreciatively.

"General Solo, for all I disagree with his reckless regard for military or government protocol with his unceremonious resignation, made a valid point. I, for one, am fed up with the endless chatter about security. We need to get rid of these Imperial forces once and for all and we won't do that by sitting in meetings. If you say there's a problem, Leia, then there's a problem and we're here to help." Leia shared a smile with Han and Luke. The Admiral was blustering and impatient with the rules of government and their time-wasting. He liked to run a tight fleet and his battle record was second to none.

'Thank you, Admiral." she acknowledged. Madine looked slightly concerned.

"Leia, you're risking your own career recalling everyone like this. The New Republic won't like it." He glanced at Ambassador San'teefa as if he represented the whole of the New Republic Senate at this meeting. Leia scoffed.

"I am not interested in what the Senate think at this point. They should be quite used to me by now. Until they officially disband the Alliance, the personnel still take orders from me and I will recall them if I choose to do so. Besides..." she looked at Han. "Han may have coincidentally saved me that dressing down in the committee next month with his rampage through yesterday's meeting. They will be too embarrassed that they let something like this go undetected to bother taking it any further. I expect they'll sweep it under the carpet to save face." Han grinned.

"So I helped?" he asked cockily. She pointed a warning finger at him.

"I said you may have helped. Don't take the credit just yet." Han continued to grin to himself.

"I can head up the squadrons if you like." Luke volunteered.

"Actually, Luke. I would prefer it if you lead the platoon nearest Al-Adreen. General Madine and General Kobar, the other two." The generals nodded their agreement. "Admiral Ackbar will lead the air support. He might appreciate some help Lando if you are prepared to get stuck in but don't feel obliged."

"That's fine. I could do with some excitement." Lando replied, looking at Han to see if he received his joke. Han rolled his eyes and looked back at Leia.

"Great. I thought you were going to say you would be leading the X-Wings." Han sounded relieved as he looked at her. She laughed.

"I think we can all safely say, I won't be doing that any time soon. I do want to be there though and, although you have resigned and have no obligation to do so, I thought you and Chewie might agree to be my pilots." Chewbacca agreed before Han could get a word out. Han threw an irritated look over his shoulder.

"I was going to say yes." he barked.

"Good." Leia sounded satisfied. "Blake and 3PO will co-ordinate from here." she confirmed.

"I really had no idea what was involved in the work you all do." Ambassador San'teefa marvelled. "I didn't realise there was so much to consider. I certainly won't be making it any more difficult for you in future."

"I'm glad to hear that Ambassador." Leia said gently, laying a hand on his elaborately robed forearm appreciatively. She needed all the friends she could get in the Senate. "I will arrange for the children we have rescued from Thyfeera to be transported back to their families once this is over and the ones from Al-Adreen will be taken care of."

"Yeah, what do we intend to do with them all?" Han remembered the forty little faces in a room a couple of floors down.

"3PO? How did you get on with the task I gave you?" Leia asked the droid who was strangely quiet at the back of the room. He looked excited to be asked.

"Very well indeed, Your Highness." She raised a hand to halt his anticipated verbal diarrhoea, feeling too sick to be patient with him today.

"Just tell me how much you managed to raise."

"Two hundred and thirty seven credits." he announced proudly. "I have had it transferred to your personal funds on Chandrila." Leia looked pleasantly surprised.

"Thank you, 3PO. That's more than I expected. You've done well." 3PO puffed up at the back of the room. Leia turned to the others. "So, it seems we have enough funds to be able to provide those children with no families some sort of care and a roof over their heads." She answered Han's enquiry. She made to continue with other matters.

"Wait a minute." Han held up his hand to keep the attention on the current subject. "Two hundred and thirty seven credits is a whole lot of money." he said earnestly. "Where did you get it so quickly?" Leia tried to brush it off.

"I used some resources. It really isn't important." Han raised his eyebrows. She was trying to avoid his question and that made him more curious. Everyone looked between the two of them.

"It's important." he insisted. "3PO, how did you raise the money?" 3PO looked flustered, confused as to whether he should answer.

"Han, just leave it." Leia ordered. He held a finger up to her, continuing to look at 3PO. He was the only one in the room who would have dared that move.

"3PO? Tell me now, where the money came from." 3PO looked panicked, glancing quickly from Han to Leia and back again. He took orders from Leia but, if it was possible for a droid to feel intimidation, he was intimidated by Han. He looked at the princess for support. She gestured wearily for him to tell Han what he wanted to know and folded her arms round her body.

"Er. Well, Captain. The princess asked me to auction her robes and headdress from the Ceremony of Light to raise money to provide the children with a home and education. They fetched a handsome price, I'm sure you'll agree." 3PO announced proudly. Han turned to Leia, admiration on his face. They shared a long look. He appreciated why she had done it, to draw a line under the Chandrila incident and to make something good out of something bad, but the items were still an important part of her Alderaanian past and it was a big deal for her to sell them. She shrugged it off.

"Who'd have thought so many people would be interested in Alderaanian memorabilia." she said quietly.

"Now see." He gestured at her with an outstretched arm. "You do something incredible like this and then try to hide it." he said, dumbfounded.

"Well we don't all gloat about our activities." she said sarcastically. "Anyway, what good was it to me in a cupboard gathering dust?" He shook his head. "On a more personal note," Leia gave him a challenging look to stop him saying anything more. "there is something else I would like to consider." She took a deep breath. "Some of the Security Forces are Alderaanian, under the influence of conditioning. I would like to try to minimise the casualties if possible, weed out the mercenaries and see if we can rehabilitate the others."

"I think we owe them that much. They are as much victims of this as the children." Madine agreed. Blake cleared her throat politely.

"If I may interrupt." she said.

"Of course, Blake." Leia gave her her full attention.

"There is something I think can help, both with troop numbers and with the Security Force issue." she announced.

"What's that?" Leia asked, interested.

"It would be better if I showed you, if you can manage the walk." Blake said. Leia looked even more curious now.

"You are being very mysterious, Blake. OK, then." She gestured for Blake to lead the way. "Should we all come?" Leia enquired.

"If you all want to but it's more relevant to you." She addressed Leia, who looked at Han and made a quizzical face. He shrugged. No one else seemed to know what was going on either. Taking Han's arm, Leia, accompanied by all the other curious members of the meeting room, followed Blake through the large adjacent room and down the corridor to a lower floor where she led them towards one of the internal balconies, overlooking the courtyard. At the archway, she turned to take Leia's hand, leading her to the balustrade.

Leia's jaw dropped and she gasped as sixty smartly uniformed Alderaanian Security Force soldiers, stood to attention when they saw her. She leaned on the balustrade for support. It was an incredible sight. Their buckles and insignia shining proudly, they all stood in formation in the courtyard. Blake looked at her, smiling at her reaction.

"I don't understand" Leia said, astounded.

"When they heard what happened to you and the other officers at the hands of Duke Delcar, they wanted to help." she explained.

"How did you do all this?" Leia looked at Blake.

"It wasn't me. I just mentioned to the Vohemar crew on the way over here what had happened to you and how the Duke had taken advantage of the security force officers, using them to try to assassinate you. They went back and gathered all the ex security forces they could find. Every one of them volunteered. With your permission, they want to form a task force to retrieve their colleagues and work to re-train them, wherever that may take them and until the job is done. The officers amongst the citizens the duke left behind on Chandrila have agreed to join the programme." Leia's eyes filled with tears of pride and Han squeezed her shoulders. He shared an impressed look with Luke and Lando. The Security Force reputation was well renowned and there were many in the Alliance but they mingled with other Alliance personnel and he had only seen a few of them in uniform on the odd occasion when Leia used them for personal protection. He was impressed with their show of strength. It wasn't surprising Leia was so proud of them.

"Oh, Blake. I don't know what to say." Leia was completely overwhelmed. She looked towards the edge of the balcony where a set of steps led down to the courtyard. The distance to the bottom was daunting in her weakened state but she must attempt it. She turned to Luke.

"Can you help me down there?" she asked quietly.

"Sure." He took her arm.

"You don't have to go down there." Blake assured her.

"Yes, Blake. I do. If they can go to all this trouble. So can I." she insisted.

Han and the others moved forward to the balustrade, Han leaning on his elbows, and watched as Leia and Luke descended the steps and began talking to the commander. Han watched as she instructed them to relax and they gathered round her, as she spent time talking to each and every one of them.

"That was a great thing you did, Blake." he said kindly. "Thank you." She smiled at him.

"Really, I didn't do much. I didn't even know they were coming until this morning. They are a proud organisation and Leia has done everything she can for them since the loss of Alderaan. They wouldn't hesitate to do the same for her and the other members of their team. They might not be highly skilled front line troops but for covert missions, intelligence and stealth, they are unsurpassed. They will also have no trouble re-conditioning the others. Their skill in resisting and treating mind-control effects is highly practised." Han looked at her, a thought occurring to him. "Yes, that's probably where she learned it." Blake confirmed his unspoken thought.

While they chatted, Leia made her way back to the balcony.

"We're going to have to organise them something to eat. I don't know, if we get any more guests round here, we'll have to send out for more supplies."

"Did you agree to oversee their re-training programme?" Blake asked eagerly.

"I agreed, Blake. I think it's a wonderful idea but I don't think I should be the one to oversee it. I think that should be you." Blake looked stunned.

"Me?"

"Yes, Blake. You are a security force commander are you not? You have the skill and more than enough experience to do the job. If you like you can keep me informed of the progress but I put you in charge." Blake smiled. She would thoroughly enjoy the challenge.

"Thank you, ma'am." she said proudly.

"Eldon, I swear, if you call me ma'am again, I'll have you posted to Jakku digging for sand worms." Leia glared. Han and Blake grinned at each other.

"Thank you, Leia." Blake corrected. Leia squeezed the older woman's hand.

She felt uncharacteristically tired from the climb and very sick. The length of time it was taking to recover from the injection of toxins was far longer than on the Death Star and she was beginning to get frustrated with her own incapacity. When the duke said he had modified things, he was certainly telling the truth. "Lets sit down and have something to drink." she suggested, waving everyone inside with both hands. Luke hung back.

"Are you OK?" he interrogated, looking at her seriously. She just sighed. "You should have slept longer. Even your subconscious is too impatient. The toxins didn't have time to leave your system before you pulled all the tubes off." She looked guilty.

"I know that now. I expected it to be like last time but, if anything, I think I'm getting worse. There was just so much to do. I don't have the luxury of sitting around. Al-Adreen could be obliterated while I'm lying in bed." Her brow furrowed and she looked down at her hands. They were shaking. She clasped them together firmly to stop them. Luke looked sympathetic.

"What can I do?"

"Nothing." she insisted. "Please don't mention it. I'll get Blake to sort something out later. I just need to sit down for a little while." Luke looked like he was considering her request then he looked earnest.

"OK. Make sure you do. I'll be watching you and, if you don't recover soon, I'll have to put you to sleep again." She laughed.

"Thank you, big brother."

"How do you know I'm your big brother?" He looked suspiciously at her.

"I don't. You're just so wise... and also, I definitely look a few minutes younger than you." She hit him playfully on the arm and went inside.