now, without further ado: THE NEXT CHAPTER!

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The tunnels beneath the earth began to shake. Leia turned her head behind her, yelling over the noise to Sixth and Seventh. "Essien! Ashon! This base is no longer secure! We have sent word to our people to get out of here. You should—"

"Do not worry, Lady Leia," replied Essien.

"The order has already been given," finished Ashon. "The First is awaiting us in a secure location, known only to The Seven, and now to you and General Han."

"And Padowan Tuari?"

"He may accompany you as well. But none others."

Leia nodded curtly as they continued down the corridor. A while later, safely in a small chamber deep underground, the exhausted Seven, Leia, Han, and Tuari sat around a makeshift table discussing the nights events. "I thought you said that the base was secure."

"It was, we thought. We had only key personnel and the Captains. We do not know what has happened."

"I'm sorry to say this, First, but I believe that you have a traitor in your ranks."

The Seven exchanged precarious glances.

"Not to say that it's us," Han quickly added.

"We do not suspect you… However… long have we suspected that a traitor had infiltrated our ranks—long before you arrived—but just how deeply, we did not know.

---

Paytah lowered his Imperial Trooper blaster. "That will teach you to mess with my Nuri." Turning, he walked away from the bloody corpse.

---

Luthando shook his head. "It still worries me that she hasn't contacted us."

Devante laid a comforting hand on Luthando's shoulder. "I know that she is with the Seven, so she is safe. Do not worry. Besides, we have our own problems right now." He motioned to the bunker the Lightning Squadron and the Rebels with them were hidden in.

Prem walked over to Jorn, beaming.

"What are you so happy about, you idiot."

"Calm down, Jorn. Don't ruin my fun."

"You're fun?"

"You know Lily?"

"That new officer that everyone loves? Duh. Who doesn't."

"Well…" he grinned, a prideful smirk on his face.

"…"

"Think about it for a second… a lonely girl, scared and looking for compassion…"

"…No, you didn't!"

"Yes, I did. It was easy."

"She's Devante's love-interest, you idiot! He'll kill you!"

"Take it easy, Jorn. I'm not the only one pairing up. I heard that Didier laid some chick named Nora…Nori…Nuri, something like that. She's an undercaptain in Fire. Things like this happen—"

A short burst of static rung clear on Luthando's communicator. "Luthando, this is Yukio. Do you copy? Over."

The room hushed as Luthando grabbed the comm link. "Yukio! I copy, I copy! It's great to hear from you. We can't contact anyone."

"Everyone is holed up in bunkers. I rigged a signal booster, so now I can get ahold of people in a certain proximity, namely you. I can tell you how to make one and once everyone one has made one, then we can all communicate and possibly reach Lady Leia. Any word from her? Over."

"No word, but great idea. Let's get started. Where is Didier? Over."

"…"

"Yukio?"

"He's dead. Over."

"…Dead? How?"

"Trooper… Now about the booster."

"…Right…"

---

"…Tantive V calling Leia… Tantive V calling Leia…" The comm officer turned around. "Still no answer, sir, and we've been at it for hours."

The other officer nodded. "Alright. Then proceed according to Alliance protocol. Send out a distress signal on all Alliance frequencies."

"Yes, sir."

---

Three minor Jedi stood about ten feet away from Luke, not knowing what to do. He was upside down, just resting there on his head and hands. He looked so peaceful that they didn't want to interrupt him…

But in truth, Luke's mind was reeling with images. Eventually, he slowly lowered himself and sat cross-legged on the compacted sand. "Leia's in trouble…" he spoke softly.

The three minor Jedi looked from one to another uneasily.

"I know that the comm systems are ready for the first test. Tell them to proceed."

"Yes, Master Sky," they quickly stammered out at once, scurrying off.

Luke relaxed his entire body thoroughly before standing and walking over to the huddle of Jedi, which parted for him instantaneously. After a slight "bloop" noise, the jedi hovering over the comm system exclaimed, "Receiving a Rebel Alliance distress signal, sir!"

Luke nodded slowly. "Everyone prepare for departure. We leave in twenty hours. Someone needs our help."

---

SOOOOOOOOOO sorry for the delay! School got the better of me, I suppose. But I should be better about updates from now on. But there are only like 5-10 more chapters left in this thing. Or I may continue it. Who knows.