Mara was both fascinated and moved by this unconditional commitment, this protective loyalty. The fact that it was being used to threaten her was in this moment unimportant. What mattered was that it was there- that Luke was safeguarded by this intense allegiance. That he inspired it.
Still, the confidence in Hallin's words spoke volumes, as did the fact that he would stand before her and admit this. His veiled declaration that there were others loyal to Luke, his assertion that they could now deal with any threat, secure in the knowledge that he remained untouchable, his position as Luke's close ally giving Hallin equal standing to Mara's as the Emperor's Hand.
Again Luke's words of the previous night came to mind; "It will get very complicated, Mara..."
At the time they'd seemed nothing; a passing comment - now, in light of Hallin's attitude...
Everything was changing as Luke gained ground and stature, Mara knew. Right now his support was still subtle and secretive, but it was clearly gaining confidence every day- and it wouldn't do that without reason.
For the first time it occurred to her to wonder what would happen when Luke eventually took power- whether those whom Hallin claimed believed as he did would be able to subtly exclude and undermine her.
"I won't hurt him, Hallin- that isn't my intent."
Hallin remained silent, expression set in stone. Did she care for him? Was she struggling between split loyalties or playing a role for Hallin's benefit? If she truly wanted to play that role, then surely she would have declared total loyalty to Luke and disavowed the Emperor... yet she remained caught between the two.
Could she be trusted?
"You're asking too much of him." Hallin said at last, searching her eyes.
"I ask nothing of him."
Didn't she understand - couldn't she see why the fact that her loyalties were not Luke's was so significant? That trying to find a path between her companionship and his own intentions was tearing Luke apart. He had few vulnerabilities before Palpatine- his greatest the Emperor didn't know- but he didn't need it; Mara was enough.
"What you ask of him- it destroyed his father, and he knows it. I won't let it destroy him."
"Neither will I." Mara realised in that moment just how much she meant it. How little everything else mattered by comparison.
Hallin nodded slowly. The warning was still in his eyes, though it hid something else, for Luke's sake; a willingness to withhold judgement... for now.
"I'll hold you to that."
Mara set her head to one side, throwing the words Hallin had murmured to her in the medi-center so long ago back in his face, "I'm not doing it for you."
Chapter 28
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
.
.
The Patriot was stocking up for its fifth trip to who-knew-where by the time Han finally made it onboard. He had a sneaky suspicion that there were three of them altogether who'd been given fake ID's and buried in the Duty Roster, but he wasn't sure- for obvious reasons, none of those sent knew about anyone else.
The fates had been with them though; there was a rash of inter-fleet personnel transfers every time the Patriot reappeared in the Core Systems, which had made it that much easier to get onboard with the crew rotations- and that much more worrying as to what was going on to cause them.
That was the great thing about Super Star Destroyers though, Han reflected as the crew shuttle set down in the Patriot's sprawling main hold; they were massive ships, extensively manned, and if you were going to smuggle a few short-term spies into the Fleet then this was where you did it. Which was just as well, because no-one seemed to have a clue as to where the Patriot disappeared to for three weeks in every four as she had done since her launch, and everyone was getting real jittery.
It had taken the best part of a week to persuade Massa to let him use one of the fake ID's, then almost the same to get Leia to okay it- sometimes having your other half be the leader of the Rebellion could seriously cramp your operating style. In the end, his questionable credentials as an ex-Imperial Officer - all be it dishonourably discharged - had given him the edge in that he knew operating procedures onboard a Destroyer.
That was what he'd claimed anyway- it was a long time ago and he'd not really paid much attention at the time.
But surprisingly it was all coming back to him with unnerving clarity now he was here, making the nine-day wait at the Shipyards in the Farlax Sector and the trip up to the Patriot a breeze. Now all he had to do was stay undercover long enough to see Luke; watch him operate here, watch him interact. That wasn't his mission of course - his remit was to lay a series of in-system bugs for information-gathering, but he figured anyone could do that. Han was the only one who could read the kid with any real sense of familiarity and prior knowledge to base his judgement on - and any genuinely impartial bias, as far as he was concerned.
And since the launch of the Patriot - hell, since the kid had let him go with the Falcon - he'd been desperate to know just what was going on in Luke's head. What was in his mind when he'd foiled an attempt on Palpatine's life then just turned straight around and saved Leia's?
He told himself that this was for the Alliance - that it was vital information, whether they knew it or not - but some niggling little voice kept on asking if the truth was that he just wanted to see Luke; wanted to look him in the eye and... what?
He had no idea. Maybe he just wanted to look the kid in the eye - maybe that was all he needed.
Or maybe that was the last thing he needed; admittedly their last meeting hadn't exactly been genial. It had raised more questions than it answered, none of them good, but Han was more optimistic this time. Clearly the trick was not to get caught on the back foot with Luke; make sure you're the one in control. To do that it would be smart to keep out of his way, keep your distance, keep hidden- just watch and learn, wait as long as it takes for the right chance to come along.
Yeah, that made sense.
Nodding to himself as he stepped off the ramp of the crew shuttle into the cavernous, echoing bluster of the Patriot's busy main hangar, troops and supplies being delivered and stored in equally impressive measure, Han glanced about, feeling stiff and starched in his fitted Petty Officer's uniform.
Stretching his neck as he ran his finger under the edge of his high collar, he nodded reassuringly to himself; this was easy. All he had to do now was get through inauguration and he was laughing...
They all stood in a straight line in the crew hangar close to the Officer's quarters. Han had been assigned a room - even had a window - given his clearance codes without problems and was now listening- kinda- to a Personnel Officer drone on about protocols and mealtimes and shift hours. Basically all the things that Han had been drummed out of the Fleet for ignoring first time around. That and the whole Chewie thing...
Han raised his eyebrows and effected a slight shrug; oh well- their loss, not his. He glanced back to the Officer, realising that he hadn't listened to a word so far-
"...several rules above and beyond the norm, associated with the fact that The Heir is generally onboard."
Han pricked his ears up at this, finally interested, as the Officer droned on.
"Although it's unlikely that any of you will meet him in your day to day duties, there are certain protocols established in case you do. You will stick to them as if your life depends on it, because if I find out that an officer under my command had breached them, then I will personally strip his ass back down to Private- are we all clear?"