Klatooine- Sunday
Thanks to Fandom, it wasn't a surprise that Luke was working with a tribe full of Sith, but Jaina still had a whole lot of Feelings about that. What was a surprise was to get to where she'd been trying to meet Luke and finding a Hutt ships firing on Sith ones, with a smaller passenger ship in the area.
After a moment, one of the ships hailed her, identifying itself as the Rockhound, captained by Lando Calrissian. That Jaina would accept, and instead of using her StealthX's comm system with Sith around, she pulled up her comlink to call back. "Hey, Uncle Lando. What are you doing here?"
He sounded surprised, too. "Jaina? I might as the same question of you."
"I asked first."
"I'm here to help Luke, except he's apparently gone off without me and, uh… left a couple of buddies behind," Lando explained. "Jaina, listen, something's happening down there. And Luke's… colleagues-"
"I know about them," Jaina interrupted, rather than have him tiptoe around it.
"Oh, okay then. Well, they're wrapped up in it and asking for my help."
Jaina cursed under her breath. Stupid Sith. Stupid everything. "Let's go find out what's going on, then. Permission to dock?"
"Of course. But you didn't tell me why you were here," Lando said.
"Nope. Sure didn't."
Jaina docked her ship, and then headed up to the bridge, where Lando was ending a transmission with the planet. He looked frustrated, but gave her a quick hug. "Hey there, little lady. So come on, you can tell Uncle Lando. You came here to help Luke, didn't you?"
Jaina nodded. "I was supposed to be one of many," she said. "The Jedi have a whole fleet of StealthXs assembled. Luke and Len have had to handle this completely alone. Sith, for crying out loud, Lando. A whole tribe of them. So we were going to come and give them the means to end this forced alliance."
"So why is it just you? Not that you aren't a formidable foe," Lando added quickly.
"Because Daala has begun a siege on the Temple, and we can't launch without being shot down before we get three meters," Jaina sighed. "It's long, it's ugly, and it's irrevelant right now. We need to get to Luke."
"He's in the Maw right now. He left a very lovely and alarmingly pleasant woman behind to wait for me, but apparently there's been some sort of trouble. I'm not sure if Luke wants me to help out or ditch them."
Jaina did an actual double take when she heard the ship's voice, which sounded startlingly like a woman. "Sir, Chancellor Darima Kedari wishes to speak to you."
"She's some conversationalist," Jaina said dryly.
"I'll tell you later," Lando said, with absolutely no shame. "Ornate, put him through."
An elderly male dressed in fancy robes and a high collar and flat hat that framed his face appeared on the screen, and Lando greeted him with a big smile. "Darima! How are you doing?"
"In desperate straits if I am to converse with you," the man said, "but it seems I must do so."
"Er, right," Lando said, but recovered. "May I introduce Jedi Jaina Solo. Jaina, this is Chancellor Darima Kedari, the leader of the Klatooinian Elder Governors. We go way back."
"Sir," Jaina said with a nod.
"Jaina Solo. Your reputation precedes you as well," Darima said. It was a reaction Jaina had gotten pretty used to over the last couple years. "First Master Skywalker, now you. Two of you, no less. A question for you both, then, since I believe the Ancestors have sent you to us at this crucial juncture. Are you formally or informally connected with the captains or any crew member of the Starstalker or the Winged Dagger?"
Lando scratched his head as if considering this very carefully. "I came here at the request of Luke Skywalker. I know that Luke was cooperating with them, but I've never met these people before in my life."
"And I came here to see Luke, but he wasn't expecting me," Jaina said, leaving it at that.
"We are… in a crisis," Darima admitted. "The crew of the Starkiller has allegedly violated the no-technology zone of the Fountain. It appears they even had the audacity to take samples of the wintrium."
Lando's jaw dropped. "What?"
"I know you know what this means, Lando. Now you understand why we are forbidding anyone to come to Klatooine. It is all we can do contain the riots."
"No kidding. I'm surprised you can even do that."
"Wait, what?" Jaina finally asked. "What happened? Lando, you look… serious. That alarms me."
"There's a natural formation called the Fountain of the Hutt Ancients," Lando began. "It's highly sacred to the Klatooinians. No one is allowed to take anything but the most primitive technology within a kilometer radius."
"I don't mean to be rude, but… you generally aren't that concerned about something like this," she said, and looked to the Chancellor. "No offense."
"There is more than our racial pride or religious sacrilege here, Jedi Solo. The protection of the Foundation was the key to the drawing of the Treaty of Vontor twenty-five thousand years ago. The Hutts swore to protect it. In return, our people and the Nito swore eternal servitude," Darima explained. "The Hutts did not protect the Fountain. If they do not act appropriately-"
Now Jaina got it. "If they don't act appropriately, the deal's off, and the Hutts lose slaves they've had for twenty-five millennia. I think I see why everyone's so upset."
"The Treaty states that if there is ever a question of violation, at least two, preferably more, offworlders must be present to render judgment, as both the Hutts and the Klatooinians have decided interests in the outcome."
"Oh, come on, Darima, surely there's gotta be someone else," Lando said.
"This is Hutt territory, Lando," the Chancellor said. "People who have business with them come here. There are some who come to see the Fountain, but they are few. You two both arrive the very day of the sacrilege. And although I cannot believe I am saying this, I… trust you to be fair in hearing both sides. And I can say the same of a Jedi, even one I have not met."
Jaina and Lando exchanged a glance. "Give us a moment," he said.
"Of course," came Ornate's voice, and the sound was muted on the transmission.
"I don't want any part of this," Lando said. "I say we leave them and get to Luke."
"I'd say the same thing except for the fact that the liberty of an entire race rests on it," Jaina countered. "Your friend is right. This isn't a place known for attracting decent and fair-minded beings. Anyone else they get is going to know what side his bread is buttered on. The Hutts'll win for sure."
"And can you be impartial? Suppose the evidence suggests that the Hutts did do everything they could. Could you stand there and tell the Klatooinians they're stuck being slaves?"
"I've made a lot of hard decisions recently based on what I thought was right, Lando," Jaina said calmly. Hi. She'd assassinated her brother for the good of the galaxy. She'd just tried to end her engagement over it. She had no idea how Jag would react to her when she got back home. "I'm the Sword of the Jedi. I stand, supposedly, for justice. If the Hutts really did keep their end of the bargain, then my answer is yes, I can look the Elders in the eye and say that."
"I really don't want to do this," Lando admitted.
"Then don't," she told him. "Take the Rockhound and join Luke in the Maw. Hopefully I will be there soon. I'll be one of their offworlders, and they can find someone else. Really, it's okay."
He was quiet for a moment, then muttered, "You are far too much like your mother sometimes, you know that? You damn diplomats."
First time anyone had ever called Jaina that.
*****
On the way in to Klatooine, they saw the scene from above. The Chancellor had actually downplayed the rioting, with soldiers and vessels all around the capitol. When they were set up in a room in the palace to listen to arguments, they did so with what was normally a beautiful view of the Fountain, and what was today nothing but violence.
That was probably one of the reasons this whole thing was as upsetting as it was. With that in the literal background, she and Lando listened to arguments and testimonies from Hutt representatives who insisted that they were there to stop the trouble as soon as it started, and from one Sith who threw the one who'd been commanding the Starstalker directly under the bus and said he'd acted on his own. By the time they'd finished up, Jaina wasn't even pretending to hide her contempt from the Sith.
"Chancellor," Lando said finally, "I think Jedi Solo and I have heard enough to reach a verdict. Is there somewhere we could talk privately?"
"Certainly," Darima said, and led them out to a small room outside the hall where they could sit at a table and talk. "We have prepared some food for you, in case you are hungry. There is a comm panel on the right side of the door. When you have reached your decision, ring to let us know, or if you require more food or beverages."
"Don't suppose you've got any Corellian whiskey?" Lando asked. "I prefer Whyren's Reserve, but I'll take whatever you've got."
"I remember you were fond of that," Darima smiled. "Unfortunately I do not have any. However, I will send you a bottle of one of our local favorites."
As soon as he was gone, Jaina turned to Lando and said, "You shouldn't joke."
"Who's joking?"
"You're going to drink? Now?"
"Can't think of a better time," Lando said dryly.
Jaina sighed and flopped into a chair. "Lando, what do we do? It's a miscarriage of justice either way. No one's innocent here. The Sith did violate the Fountain- and I don't for a nanosecond believe that Holpur was acting on his own initiative- and the Hutts didn't prevent it."
Lando nodded, but sat in a chair opposite her. He picked up the cover on a plate, picked a piece of something off of it, and ate it. "And you know the Sith were lying how?"
"They're Sith," Jaina said.
"I suppose I see your point. But that's bias."
"You had to have seen how Holpur reacted when Faal chucked him under the speeder."
"Yeah, I did. But frankly, all we have are the reports, and what the Sith and Hutts tell us. You should try one of these blue things, they're pretty good."
"Not hungry, thanks," Jaina said.
"More for me, then," he said.
"So this Faal woman seems to think you're siding with her, right? Because you had come to help Luke, and Luke allied with them?"
"Right. But I can't let the fact that they're bringing a frigate and more warm bodies to the fight sway me, and neither can you," Lando answered.
"I know," Jaina said with another sigh. "I just need to do the right thing."
This was a lot harder than she would have thought. They could side with the Sith, who were obviously lying, or they could side with the Hutts, who were also lying, and stood a chance of losing slaves and completely upending the way an entire planet did things, and the people didn't get a say in this at all. Every decision they came to was going to be a bad one. And for half an hour, Jaina and Lando talked and debated and argued, until they finally entered their comments onto a datapad and called Darima to say that they were done.
They followed him back into the hall, where they stood on the dais where they'd heard the arguments, and Darima began to read aloud from the datapad. "We, Lando Calrissian and Jaina Solo, affirm that we have given this matter due thought and care. We act solely from a point of what we perceive as justice, with no influence one way or another. We perceive that there are two issues before us: Whether or not the Fountain was violated, and if so who was at fault, and whether the Hutts acted appropriately in defense of the Fountain. As to the first, is it clear to us from all accounts, even from the accused, that the Starstalker, at the very least, did deliberately and knowingly violate the one-kilometer technology-free zone. Captain Leeha Faal has agreed to turn over the entire crew of the Starstalker for justice under Klatooinian law."
That got murmurs from the crowd, and the Elders looked satisfied with that part. The penalty for violating the Fountain was death, and Jaina felt bad about that, but the Sith knew what they were getting into when they started this, and these weren't her laws.
"Secondly, as to the actions of Tooga Jalliissi Gral and the Hutts, we find that they did not obey the exact words of the Treaty of Vondor, but he did obey its spirit. The Hutt people have suffered, and their ability to protect the Fountain from such a completely unexpected and overt attack, something that has never occurred in twenty-five thousand years, should not be considered a dereliction of duty. The Fountain was violated, but not due to anything the Hutts in charge of its protection could reasonably be expected to have foreseen."
There were more murmurs and some surprise, but immediately Jaina could tell that at least some of the Elders understood. Jaina and Lando had gone as middle ground as they could in a situation where everyone was a liar.
"Thus ends the emergency session," Darima said, pounding on the dais with his staff to release the others. He turned to Lando and Jaina. "Thank you for your help. You may go now."
"You don't agree with our decision," Jaina said.
"It's not that I disagree, Jedi Solo," he said, looking sad. "Actually, I would say given the circumstances, you rendered a remarkably well-thought-out verdict. The problem is, it doesn't matter. Whatever verdict was reached, it would not have mattered."
"What do you mean?" Lando asked.
"It's too late," Darima replied. "There are riots occurring all over Klatooine. Hutts, even decent shop owners who have lived here for years, are being attacked. We are getting reports of uprisings throughout the galaxy. Lando, my people have been loyal to the treaty for twenty-five thousand years. Many chafe underneath it, and this incident… I do not honestly think that even if the Hutts had intervened in time, had prevented the Starstalker from violating the no-technology zone entirely, that things would be different. Too many are looking for the slightest excuse to call the treaty null and void. And the Starstalker gave it to them."
On one hand, Jaina didn't feel bad about that. While she didn't have personal experience with slavery, she knew her grandfather, and Kyp, and Chewbacca. She wasn't sorry to see slaves rise up against their oppressors. On the other hand, this was going to throw the planet into upheaval- already was- and it might never recover from that. "What's going to happen now?" she asked.
"Only the Ancestors know," Darima said. "We will give them the crew of the Starstalker. The law is clear upon that. Such a blasphemy calls for execution. But that will not be enough. I fear that Klatooine is at a crucial juncture. We are beholding the end of something- and the birth of something new. And I fear it will be birthed in blood."
"Such things usually are," Jaina said quietly. "I'm sorry we couldn't be of more help."
He gave her the tiniest smile she had ever seen. "You cared enough to try to find justice. More, no one could ask. Believe me when I tell you this has little to do with your decision. But at least we can say that all formalities were observed. Go now. While it's still safe for you to fly."
Despite those words, Jaina knew it would be a while before she could sleep okay again.
[NFB, NFI, OOC okay. Taken from Allies by Christie Golden.]
After a moment, one of the ships hailed her, identifying itself as the Rockhound, captained by Lando Calrissian. That Jaina would accept, and instead of using her StealthX's comm system with Sith around, she pulled up her comlink to call back. "Hey, Uncle Lando. What are you doing here?"
He sounded surprised, too. "Jaina? I might as the same question of you."
"I asked first."
"I'm here to help Luke, except he's apparently gone off without me and, uh… left a couple of buddies behind," Lando explained. "Jaina, listen, something's happening down there. And Luke's… colleagues-"
"I know about them," Jaina interrupted, rather than have him tiptoe around it.
"Oh, okay then. Well, they're wrapped up in it and asking for my help."
Jaina cursed under her breath. Stupid Sith. Stupid everything. "Let's go find out what's going on, then. Permission to dock?"
"Of course. But you didn't tell me why you were here," Lando said.
"Nope. Sure didn't."
Jaina docked her ship, and then headed up to the bridge, where Lando was ending a transmission with the planet. He looked frustrated, but gave her a quick hug. "Hey there, little lady. So come on, you can tell Uncle Lando. You came here to help Luke, didn't you?"
Jaina nodded. "I was supposed to be one of many," she said. "The Jedi have a whole fleet of StealthXs assembled. Luke and Len have had to handle this completely alone. Sith, for crying out loud, Lando. A whole tribe of them. So we were going to come and give them the means to end this forced alliance."
"So why is it just you? Not that you aren't a formidable foe," Lando added quickly.
"Because Daala has begun a siege on the Temple, and we can't launch without being shot down before we get three meters," Jaina sighed. "It's long, it's ugly, and it's irrevelant right now. We need to get to Luke."
"He's in the Maw right now. He left a very lovely and alarmingly pleasant woman behind to wait for me, but apparently there's been some sort of trouble. I'm not sure if Luke wants me to help out or ditch them."
Jaina did an actual double take when she heard the ship's voice, which sounded startlingly like a woman. "Sir, Chancellor Darima Kedari wishes to speak to you."
"She's some conversationalist," Jaina said dryly.
"I'll tell you later," Lando said, with absolutely no shame. "Ornate, put him through."
An elderly male dressed in fancy robes and a high collar and flat hat that framed his face appeared on the screen, and Lando greeted him with a big smile. "Darima! How are you doing?"
"In desperate straits if I am to converse with you," the man said, "but it seems I must do so."
"Er, right," Lando said, but recovered. "May I introduce Jedi Jaina Solo. Jaina, this is Chancellor Darima Kedari, the leader of the Klatooinian Elder Governors. We go way back."
"Sir," Jaina said with a nod.
"Jaina Solo. Your reputation precedes you as well," Darima said. It was a reaction Jaina had gotten pretty used to over the last couple years. "First Master Skywalker, now you. Two of you, no less. A question for you both, then, since I believe the Ancestors have sent you to us at this crucial juncture. Are you formally or informally connected with the captains or any crew member of the Starstalker or the Winged Dagger?"
Lando scratched his head as if considering this very carefully. "I came here at the request of Luke Skywalker. I know that Luke was cooperating with them, but I've never met these people before in my life."
"And I came here to see Luke, but he wasn't expecting me," Jaina said, leaving it at that.
"We are… in a crisis," Darima admitted. "The crew of the Starkiller has allegedly violated the no-technology zone of the Fountain. It appears they even had the audacity to take samples of the wintrium."
Lando's jaw dropped. "What?"
"I know you know what this means, Lando. Now you understand why we are forbidding anyone to come to Klatooine. It is all we can do contain the riots."
"No kidding. I'm surprised you can even do that."
"Wait, what?" Jaina finally asked. "What happened? Lando, you look… serious. That alarms me."
"There's a natural formation called the Fountain of the Hutt Ancients," Lando began. "It's highly sacred to the Klatooinians. No one is allowed to take anything but the most primitive technology within a kilometer radius."
"I don't mean to be rude, but… you generally aren't that concerned about something like this," she said, and looked to the Chancellor. "No offense."
"There is more than our racial pride or religious sacrilege here, Jedi Solo. The protection of the Foundation was the key to the drawing of the Treaty of Vontor twenty-five thousand years ago. The Hutts swore to protect it. In return, our people and the Nito swore eternal servitude," Darima explained. "The Hutts did not protect the Fountain. If they do not act appropriately-"
Now Jaina got it. "If they don't act appropriately, the deal's off, and the Hutts lose slaves they've had for twenty-five millennia. I think I see why everyone's so upset."
"The Treaty states that if there is ever a question of violation, at least two, preferably more, offworlders must be present to render judgment, as both the Hutts and the Klatooinians have decided interests in the outcome."
"Oh, come on, Darima, surely there's gotta be someone else," Lando said.
"This is Hutt territory, Lando," the Chancellor said. "People who have business with them come here. There are some who come to see the Fountain, but they are few. You two both arrive the very day of the sacrilege. And although I cannot believe I am saying this, I… trust you to be fair in hearing both sides. And I can say the same of a Jedi, even one I have not met."
Jaina and Lando exchanged a glance. "Give us a moment," he said.
"Of course," came Ornate's voice, and the sound was muted on the transmission.
"I don't want any part of this," Lando said. "I say we leave them and get to Luke."
"I'd say the same thing except for the fact that the liberty of an entire race rests on it," Jaina countered. "Your friend is right. This isn't a place known for attracting decent and fair-minded beings. Anyone else they get is going to know what side his bread is buttered on. The Hutts'll win for sure."
"And can you be impartial? Suppose the evidence suggests that the Hutts did do everything they could. Could you stand there and tell the Klatooinians they're stuck being slaves?"
"I've made a lot of hard decisions recently based on what I thought was right, Lando," Jaina said calmly. Hi. She'd assassinated her brother for the good of the galaxy. She'd just tried to end her engagement over it. She had no idea how Jag would react to her when she got back home. "I'm the Sword of the Jedi. I stand, supposedly, for justice. If the Hutts really did keep their end of the bargain, then my answer is yes, I can look the Elders in the eye and say that."
"I really don't want to do this," Lando admitted.
"Then don't," she told him. "Take the Rockhound and join Luke in the Maw. Hopefully I will be there soon. I'll be one of their offworlders, and they can find someone else. Really, it's okay."
He was quiet for a moment, then muttered, "You are far too much like your mother sometimes, you know that? You damn diplomats."
First time anyone had ever called Jaina that.
*****
On the way in to Klatooine, they saw the scene from above. The Chancellor had actually downplayed the rioting, with soldiers and vessels all around the capitol. When they were set up in a room in the palace to listen to arguments, they did so with what was normally a beautiful view of the Fountain, and what was today nothing but violence.
That was probably one of the reasons this whole thing was as upsetting as it was. With that in the literal background, she and Lando listened to arguments and testimonies from Hutt representatives who insisted that they were there to stop the trouble as soon as it started, and from one Sith who threw the one who'd been commanding the Starstalker directly under the bus and said he'd acted on his own. By the time they'd finished up, Jaina wasn't even pretending to hide her contempt from the Sith.
"Chancellor," Lando said finally, "I think Jedi Solo and I have heard enough to reach a verdict. Is there somewhere we could talk privately?"
"Certainly," Darima said, and led them out to a small room outside the hall where they could sit at a table and talk. "We have prepared some food for you, in case you are hungry. There is a comm panel on the right side of the door. When you have reached your decision, ring to let us know, or if you require more food or beverages."
"Don't suppose you've got any Corellian whiskey?" Lando asked. "I prefer Whyren's Reserve, but I'll take whatever you've got."
"I remember you were fond of that," Darima smiled. "Unfortunately I do not have any. However, I will send you a bottle of one of our local favorites."
As soon as he was gone, Jaina turned to Lando and said, "You shouldn't joke."
"Who's joking?"
"You're going to drink? Now?"
"Can't think of a better time," Lando said dryly.
Jaina sighed and flopped into a chair. "Lando, what do we do? It's a miscarriage of justice either way. No one's innocent here. The Sith did violate the Fountain- and I don't for a nanosecond believe that Holpur was acting on his own initiative- and the Hutts didn't prevent it."
Lando nodded, but sat in a chair opposite her. He picked up the cover on a plate, picked a piece of something off of it, and ate it. "And you know the Sith were lying how?"
"They're Sith," Jaina said.
"I suppose I see your point. But that's bias."
"You had to have seen how Holpur reacted when Faal chucked him under the speeder."
"Yeah, I did. But frankly, all we have are the reports, and what the Sith and Hutts tell us. You should try one of these blue things, they're pretty good."
"Not hungry, thanks," Jaina said.
"More for me, then," he said.
"So this Faal woman seems to think you're siding with her, right? Because you had come to help Luke, and Luke allied with them?"
"Right. But I can't let the fact that they're bringing a frigate and more warm bodies to the fight sway me, and neither can you," Lando answered.
"I know," Jaina said with another sigh. "I just need to do the right thing."
This was a lot harder than she would have thought. They could side with the Sith, who were obviously lying, or they could side with the Hutts, who were also lying, and stood a chance of losing slaves and completely upending the way an entire planet did things, and the people didn't get a say in this at all. Every decision they came to was going to be a bad one. And for half an hour, Jaina and Lando talked and debated and argued, until they finally entered their comments onto a datapad and called Darima to say that they were done.
They followed him back into the hall, where they stood on the dais where they'd heard the arguments, and Darima began to read aloud from the datapad. "We, Lando Calrissian and Jaina Solo, affirm that we have given this matter due thought and care. We act solely from a point of what we perceive as justice, with no influence one way or another. We perceive that there are two issues before us: Whether or not the Fountain was violated, and if so who was at fault, and whether the Hutts acted appropriately in defense of the Fountain. As to the first, is it clear to us from all accounts, even from the accused, that the Starstalker, at the very least, did deliberately and knowingly violate the one-kilometer technology-free zone. Captain Leeha Faal has agreed to turn over the entire crew of the Starstalker for justice under Klatooinian law."
That got murmurs from the crowd, and the Elders looked satisfied with that part. The penalty for violating the Fountain was death, and Jaina felt bad about that, but the Sith knew what they were getting into when they started this, and these weren't her laws.
"Secondly, as to the actions of Tooga Jalliissi Gral and the Hutts, we find that they did not obey the exact words of the Treaty of Vondor, but he did obey its spirit. The Hutt people have suffered, and their ability to protect the Fountain from such a completely unexpected and overt attack, something that has never occurred in twenty-five thousand years, should not be considered a dereliction of duty. The Fountain was violated, but not due to anything the Hutts in charge of its protection could reasonably be expected to have foreseen."
There were more murmurs and some surprise, but immediately Jaina could tell that at least some of the Elders understood. Jaina and Lando had gone as middle ground as they could in a situation where everyone was a liar.
"Thus ends the emergency session," Darima said, pounding on the dais with his staff to release the others. He turned to Lando and Jaina. "Thank you for your help. You may go now."
"You don't agree with our decision," Jaina said.
"It's not that I disagree, Jedi Solo," he said, looking sad. "Actually, I would say given the circumstances, you rendered a remarkably well-thought-out verdict. The problem is, it doesn't matter. Whatever verdict was reached, it would not have mattered."
"What do you mean?" Lando asked.
"It's too late," Darima replied. "There are riots occurring all over Klatooine. Hutts, even decent shop owners who have lived here for years, are being attacked. We are getting reports of uprisings throughout the galaxy. Lando, my people have been loyal to the treaty for twenty-five thousand years. Many chafe underneath it, and this incident… I do not honestly think that even if the Hutts had intervened in time, had prevented the Starstalker from violating the no-technology zone entirely, that things would be different. Too many are looking for the slightest excuse to call the treaty null and void. And the Starstalker gave it to them."
On one hand, Jaina didn't feel bad about that. While she didn't have personal experience with slavery, she knew her grandfather, and Kyp, and Chewbacca. She wasn't sorry to see slaves rise up against their oppressors. On the other hand, this was going to throw the planet into upheaval- already was- and it might never recover from that. "What's going to happen now?" she asked.
"Only the Ancestors know," Darima said. "We will give them the crew of the Starstalker. The law is clear upon that. Such a blasphemy calls for execution. But that will not be enough. I fear that Klatooine is at a crucial juncture. We are beholding the end of something- and the birth of something new. And I fear it will be birthed in blood."
"Such things usually are," Jaina said quietly. "I'm sorry we couldn't be of more help."
He gave her the tiniest smile she had ever seen. "You cared enough to try to find justice. More, no one could ask. Believe me when I tell you this has little to do with your decision. But at least we can say that all formalities were observed. Go now. While it's still safe for you to fly."
Despite those words, Jaina knew it would be a while before she could sleep okay again.
[NFB, NFI, OOC okay. Taken from Allies by Christie Golden.]