Disclaimer: Star Wars is not mine, never will be, and I'm lucky to be able to play around in this universe. Don't hurt me.
Author's note: This is EXTREMELY AU, if there is such a category. Things are quite different and really have no bearing on the existing universe beyond ROTJ. I made up a bunch of stuff. But please, give it a chance. I tried to make it rather heartwarming and touching.
Any comments would be incredibly appreciated and welcome.
Arryn Mandrello was caught between seven of the aliens. Their pikes glowed and hissed ominously as they waited for her to move. Her lightsaber glowed blue-green against their purple pikes, her breath calm and steady. Behind her she heard her comrades fighting, some dying. This must not be allowed to continue. She reached to the Force and at the same time balanced her weight to prepare for the attack she knew was coming. Behind her, she heard and felt one of the aliens shift, his claws raking the ground. She sensed the other aliens preparing to attack as well. The time had come to act.
As the alien behind her brought his pike up to bring it down on her head, in a flash she flung her lightsaber over her head to block it. The other alien joined the attack. Arryn was a flash of movement, blocking every pike that threatened her. The first alien that had shifted was likely a youngster, he was shorter than the other ones and was too confident. He swung his pike around his head before bringing it down on her head, giving Arryn plenty of time to swing at his chest. He fell silently, his pike falling from his hands. Angered, an alien aimed for her feet, but she jumped and slashed his head with her saber. He turned away, dropping his pike and clutching at his face. Another swung his pike at her from her left, but she stopped it for a split second before pushing and then slashing at his midsection. One, using his pike as a staff, brought it up under her chin, knocking her head back and throwing her into the air. She hit the ground on her back away from the attackers but was on her feet before they could strike.
The attack paused. Arryn had successfully removed three opponents. The remaining four, she could see, were well-muscled and well-trained specimens. They would be tough to kill. In order to get the upper hand, she decided to act first. She swung her saber in a circle, the aliens throwing up their pikes to protect their faces. At the same time, she dropped to a crouch and kicked the feet out from under one of them. The others tried to take advantage of her divided attention and aimed for her head, but she raised her saber, blocking all three pikes. With strength unbecoming one of her size, she pushed, throwing them off-balance. She struck at the legs of the one on her left, removing him from the battle. However, the one she had knocked off his feet was coming at her, pike whirling in the dusty air. She crouched and raised her lightsaber, all the while keeping track of the other two behind her. They brought their pikes down on her head as before, but she blocked it. Holding their pikes above her head, she leaned back and while balancing on one foot, kicked the other into the red earth, driving the sand into her opponent's eyes. As he lowered his pike to clutch at his eyes, Arryn pulled her lightsaber from behind her head and removed his head. Using her momentum from the spinning lightsaber, she allowed her body to spin with it, away from the pikes that slashed the air where she had been. One, however, had anticipated her movement and although missed her head, dug into her leg. The jolt of energy immediately numbed half of her leg while the pike itself left a nasty wound. Arryn backed off, limping, but still standing.
Facing the remaining two aliens, Arryn allowed the sounds of battle nearby to enter her consciousness. She heard screams from both sides, the screams of the people dying and the strange shrieks from the enemy they faced. She was unable to determine who was winning, but the aliens had the advantage of numbers. The ones in front of her twitched their feathers anxiously. They were skilled fighters, and had there been more Arryn would not have been able to face them all and survive. They were also angry at having been unable to defeat her, anger that could lead to mistakes she fully intended to exploit. Her leg ached and stung, but she couldn't afford to spare it any attention. She focused on the alien that was attempting to stab her. He expertly wielded his weapon, keeping her occupied and matching her every move. Her Force-sensitivity, however, allowed her to see through his plan. The second alien was moving behind her, albeit slowly, waiting for her to forget he was there. Arryn blocked a blow aimed for her head. As the one behind her prepared to stab her in the back, Arryn suddenly rotated, maintaining her block but stepping out of the way. His momentum allowed to alien to completely take out his victim, his unfortunate companion. Pulling his pike from the dead body, he screamed and raised his pike.
At that moment, Arryn felt a stab in the back of her mind that wasn't from a weapon. Something terrible had happened. The alien took advantage of her distraction to hit her right hand with the pike. Her hand went numb and lost her grip on her lightsaber. It fell from her hand. The alien spun on one foot, bringing the other into contact with her chest. She fell next to the dead alien, narrowly missing his active pike. Her attacker screamed again, preparing to stab her in the stomach. Using her foot to push the pike out of the way, she grabbed the one on the ground and jammed it into the alien. He dropped his own and clutched the pike in his chest, gurgling. He fell to the ground, dead. Arryn lay there for a second, getting her breath and hoping the feeling would come back. She wasn't as young as she used to be, and even the discipline as a Jedi Knight wasn't making the numbness go away any faster.
Slowly she got up to survey the battle. There were bodies all around, nearly covering the entire ground. Most of the dead were the aliens, their dead faces unearthly in the glow of their active pikes. It seemed the Alliance was the victor, although at a high price. Then she remembered the feeling in the back of her mind, which hadn't gone away. She looked around, the feeling suddenly getting stronger. Using it as a sort of homing beacon, she rambled through the dead, thankful that the joints in her leg were unaffected by the pike's numbing effects and were able to support her weight.
Walking through the dead she caught sight of a man in black lying in the sand. The stab returned tenfold—it was Luke Skywalker. Arryn ran up to him. His body was laden with wounds in a dozen places. His eyes were closed but he was still breathing. Barely.
Arryn sat down, holding his head up, hoping he would wake up. At the feel of her touch, his eyes flickered and he coughed. Arryn placed a hand on his forehead, using the Force to gauge his injuries. Her heart stopped when she realized that his injuries were mortal. His eyes opened, and he looked up at her with clear blue eyes.
"Arryn…" he said weakly.
"I can't save you Luke, not this time. There's nothing I can do for you…" She clenched her teeth and mouth, trying to hold herself together.
"My time has come. You must carry on." He gritted his teeth against the pain.
"I can't…"
"The Jedi Order depends on you and Leia. Don't let it fall into darkness."
"Luke, we can't…not without you."
He smiled. "I'm afraid so. Don't worry, I'll be there with you."
Arryn couldn't stop the welling tears.
He gave a small laugh. "Luminous beings are we, not this crude matter…" then began coughing again. Arryn saw blood on his lips. By the look on his face she could tell that he wasn't in pain anymore.
"There's some things you'll need to do…" he said. Arryn listened as he outlined what she was to do in the coming days. When he was done, Arryn knew his time was at an end.
"May the Force be with you."
"It already is." Luke closed his eyes and his breathing slowed and eventually stopped. Arryn sat still for a while. Then Luke Skywalker's body became One with the Force, like the generations of Jedi before him. Arryn had seen it before with Ben Kenobi. Taking the empty shell of what remained, she folded his clothes around his lightsaber, tucking the bundle under her arm. Off in the distance she heard strange sounds, like bugles with a metallic sound. The survivors were gathering for one last strike. Getting up she walked through the vacant warzone, picking her way quickly through the bodies to the Millennium Falcon.