Chapter 43

8:00 a.m., December 7, Galactic Standard Year 5 — Cloud City Spaceport.

The Bespin Mandalorian Autonomous Territory rolled out full head-of-state protocol: a red carpet across the landing field, the Army’s Dragon Squadron standing as an honor guard, welcoming Bo-Katan Kryze and the Death Watch contingent she’d brought with her.

But unlike a normal state visit, the entire spaceport—really, all of Cloud City—was on hair-trigger alert. Sniper rifles, port turrets, even the naval ships’ turbolasers were trained on Death Watch, ready to fire at a moment’s notice.