The deafening sound of gunshots pierced the air, covering the small restaurant behind the door in a shower of lead. Leia Organa could not help but let out a small shriek; mere seconds ago there was nothing more than 'aggressive negotiations' happening on the other side of that wall, but now she was forced to very quickly come to terms with the fact that most of the men who had been her allies were dead.
The gunfire continued, followed by screams and shouts. Leia swallowed her fear as she frantically typed out the destination of the most important letter she would ever send. She estimated she had roughly five minutes until the Stormtroopers outside realised she wasn't there.
All but slamming the final letter into the typewriter, she tore the paper out and folded it hastily - thrusting it into the hands of the man stood next to her.
"Where am I supposed to go with this?" Artoo hissed at her, the gunfire still raging outside. He was a young officer, only a few years older than Leia herself, but her father trusted him, so she did too. He was effective yet unsuspecting, and this letter had to be delivered by hand. The Empire had eyes and ears everywhere; she trusted Artoo much more than the American postal system.
"Threepio is waiting outside with the car, he'll get you there," she whispered to him. "He has the plans stashed in the trunk; you get this message where it needs to go, and then straight to my father - now go!" He hesitated for a second. "Artoo what are you doing? Go!"
"Be careful Leia," he smiled at her sadly, and it took all her effort not to burst into tears.
"You too," she returned his smile and sighed. "Okay, you have to go!" Artoo nodded and dashed out through the back door.
It was in that moment Leia realised the gunfire had stopped.
A sense of dread spread through her as she drew her own gun, crossing the room silently and placing her ear to the small crack in the door.
"Sir the plans, I don't think they're here," she heard a rather scared sounding Stormtrooper say. There was a moment of silence, followed by heavy footsteps and the sound of a gun's safety being clicked off.
"Organa and the plans," a heavy voice announced. As she listened to the mechanical voice, an awful wave of fear and dread washed over Leia; she didn't have to look to know who it was. She had heard stories, rumours, but had never quite anticipated she would meet the man himself. "Where are they?" Darth Vader posed this more as a demand than a question.
"You'll never break the Rebels," she knew the voice straight away – it was Frank Flinn, a young trainee officer of her father's; she had known him for years. Leia considered him a good friend.
"No," the very sound of Vader's voice, muffled by the infamous mask, sent shivers up Leia's spine. "Perhaps not, but I can destroy them." With that, a single gunshot sounded. Leia knew immediately what it meant and it took every bit of her strength not to cry out. She wanted to scream, to fight, to do something… Despite knowing she would not accomplish much, she threw the door open and started shooting – her aim shockingly accurate considering the tears threatening to fall.
This act would ultimately end in her capture, she knew that, but if she could take down a few of the Troopers she figured it would be worth it.
Leia had shot down two of them before they had realised what was happening - she didn't allow herself to look around at the bodies on the floor, fully aware she would see the faces of her friends.
A sudden force slammed against her, knocking the wind out of her and sending her to the floor. She looked up and saw a Stormtrooper - wearing one of their trademark white suits - on top of her, aiming a gun at her face.
"Stop," the word was spoken softly yet the Trooper still froze with fear immediately. "I believe we have found the Organa girl." Leia felt her stomach turn. She couldn't bring herself to look up, not fully trusting herself to hide the fear in her eyes. The Stormtrooper moved off of her and offered her his hand, she didn't even bother to take note of him as she refused the help and pushed herself up.
Leia was putting all her effort into appearing in control of the situation, but that was proving to be difficult when the man in front of her towered over her by at least two feet. She swallowed her fear and looked up. She was met by the harsh glare engraved into Vader's mask.
"Miss Organa," stay calm, stay calm, Leia repeated the instruction to herself over and over, never fully convincing herself. "I believe you have stolen something of ours - we want it back." Leia was overly aware every Stormtrooper in that room was pointing their weapon at her, but she refused to be intimidated. Even by America's largest organized crime ring. She took a deep breath then snarled at Vader.
"The Rebels will not be intimidated by some half-assed criminals. Take away your weapons and mask, Vader, and what do you have? You're nothing but someone else's attack dog." What was she doing? Where did that come from? Everyone in this room would kill her without it weighing on their conscience for even a second – why did she think it wise to berate any of them, least of all Darth Vader?
The man in question took a step closer to her – this was Leia's first opportunity to truly look at him. He had certainly had mastered the threatening look; Vader was dressed head to toe in black – black suit, black shirt, black shoes... However the thing that was so famous for provoking fear was his mask. It covered his whole head and neck and distorted his voice, giving the overall impression of a villainous robot.
There were rumours he was horribly disfigured under the mask, charred to a crisp in some freak accident, but there was quite honestly nothing left for this man to do that would shock Leia.
"You should be careful girl," his tone gave away no information about the emotions he was hiding beneath the mask. "That sharp tongue of yours may get you into trouble one day – trouble you cannot get out of." Leia felt sick to her stomach. This was a threat, a direct threat. She truly feared whatever was to happen to her next.
Vader marched across the room and addressed the remaining Stormtroopers, "Take the girl, she knows where the plans are. She has refused to talk when asked politely so we are going to need to find alternative methods." Leia didn't have time to fully process what was just said, or to think about what was to become of her, as something hard hit the back of her head and she felt her grip on consciousness leave.
"I don't think Miss Organa will be able to escape this time," Threepio wittered on, his posh English accent as relentlessly annoying as ever. "The Empire has been looking for her for months! She will be captured for sure."
The minute he had stepped foot outside Artoo had insisted he would be the one to drive. If he focused solely on driving, there was the slightest chance he could make it across the country without strangling Threepio.
"I shudder to think what will become of Miss Organa. The Empire are not known for their compassion you know?"
"Just because," Artoo muttered under his breath. "Some things can be said out loud, does not mean they should be."
"I'm sorry, I didn't quite hear you," this man certainly has no knowledge of discretion, Artoo thought bitterly.
"Nothing," he sighed. "Leia is tough - she can handle herself." He said, more in an attempt to ease his own ever-growing worry.
"Oh I have no doubt about that. In fact, just last week Miss Leia said to me…" It was at this point Artoo decided to tune out the excessive chatting. He did not want to think, let alone discuss, all the possible horrors that could come from Leia's capture; he needed to focus on driving. That girl meant a lot to Artoo; if the last thing she was ever to ask of him was to deliver this letter, then he would be damned if he failed.
He sat in silence, still tuned out to Threepio, watching the loud bustle of Los Angeles surrounding him. He loved living here; the excitement of being part of the Rebels never ended, but in LA it was just that little bit more intoxicating - and to be quite frank he did not want to leave. It had taken every ounce of his strength to not stay and help Leia, but this was more important for the succession of the Rebels.
The letter was still gripped tightly in his hand, which was now also clutching the steering wheel. Realising he had not fully looked at the address yet, Artoo kept one hand on the wheel and used the other to open the letter and examine his destination:
Mr. Obi-Wan Kenobi
Tatooine Farm 3
Cheyenne County, Kansas
Artoo groaned. Whoever this Obi-Wan was, he had better be worth a cross-country road trip to Kansas.