"Where is Luke." Leia asked Han from the corner of her mouth, "He should've been here three whole hours ago."
"He just got caught up in some Jedi thing." Han said, shrugging, trying to hide his own concern. The Kid would never miss something so important. He just got a little late, and then it got amplified 'cause of the flying. You know how Coruscant ground control gets when some event is on the planet.
"I just have a bad feeling, I guess." Leia said. She also tried to shrug it off. She surreptitiously straightened her long white and gold gown and smoothed her long brown hair that she had intricately woven around her head. "But you are probably right and it is nothing." Her lips tightened as she saw her seven-year old daughter try to pull off the ribbons in her hair. She went as fast as she gracefully could to her daughter. "Jaina, no." She commanded. "Don't make me tell Threepio to keep an eye on you."
Jaina scowled. "Ugly ribbons."
"Be that as it may." Leia did not have time to discuss this; the ambassadors would be expecting an official welcome momentarily. "Right now is not the time."
Leia smiled beatifically and lifted her hands. All chatter stopped. "I would like to welcome the Ambassadors from the Senex on behalf of all the worlds of the Republic. May our negotiations be fruitful. May wonderful friendships result from this meeting." Leia began, and then she ended with. "Please, enjoy yourself everyone."
The applause was resounding. "You outdid yourself that time, your worship." Han whispered when Leia reached him.
"Thanks." But what she was really thinking was, where is Luke. A deep fear had begun to gnaw at her heart. She had tried to Force call to him but she had gotten nothing in response. She knew he was alive, she knew that she would've felt something if he wasn't, but that wasn't much of a consolation. Something told her that he was in grave danger.
She did not know what she would do if something happened to Luke. He was her best friend. She counted on him more then she had yet admitted aloud. Just then her fears were confirmed when a junior Lt came running in. She curtsied deeply. "Madame Chief of State." Junior Lt. Calinda said, practically whispering. "May I have a private audience."
Leia could feel the nervousness pouring off of her. But then Junior Lt. Calinda was new, and to have to give a message to the Chief of State when you are new can be intimidating. "Of course." Leia excused herself to the ambassador and followed the Junior Lt. to an adjoining room.
"I have the Warlord Semi on the line. He says that he needs to talk to you now."
Warlord Semi was the new supreme commander of the Imperial fleet. Leia unconsciously tossed her head imperiously. "Put him on."
"Right away." Calinda said fiddling with the buttons.
"I am very busy." Leia said to Semi once the connection was established and she could see into his eyes. "Quickly."
"What I have to say could be very quick." Semi said, his ceremonial whites twinkling under the lights of what she presumed was his command ship, the Aleanid.
"Give us back the power you usurped."
Leia sighed deeply. "And here I thought you were calling to arrange your surrender. But I guess it is hard to accept defeat."
"We were not defeated, Highness, not by a long shot. Look at who I have with me." Semi said to her, then he addressed his lackeys. "Bring the prisoner."
The feeling of terror intensified in the pit of her stomach as they brought out enhanced torture equipment. "Turn it around so her Highness can have a good view of our prisoner."
As the stormtroopers turned the 'chair' around Leia saw Luke bound to it. She gasped. "Yes, your Highness." Semi said basking in his moment of glory. "Your Brother. Turn over your government to us or he dies."
Leia grabbed a nearby table, her knuckles turning white. "I won't sacrifice a million lives for one no matter how much that one life means to me." She said, avoiding making eye contact with Luke.
"Oh, I think you will change your tune soon." Semi said, he raised his hand.
The machines started operating. Unwillingly Leia made eye contact with her brother looking deep into his blue eyes. *I am so sorry.* She said with her eyes.
*No, Leia, don't be. Don't give in. The Republic is more important then me, trust me. I will have no regrets in such a death. Don't give in.*
*I love you.*
*I love you too. Now, always.*
Han came in at that moment. He seemed about to open his mouth and say something. But he took in the situation in a moment. He grabbed Leia's arm and squeezed it tight. Then he turned around and left. Leia figured he had gone to round up Lando and Chewie.
Leia watched as blood started to ooze from all over Luke's body. She spent her energy not letting the pain, horror, and anger she was feeling manifest itself in her body. Don't let him know he is getting to you. "Your Highness says the word and this will all stop. You have my word."
"Trust the word of an Imperial, I don't think so."
"I don't think you have a choice."
"Let my brother go, or face the consequences." She said, her voice dripping with the ice that gave her her nickname as the ice queen.
"You are not in a position to make such statements."
"Watch me." Leia said.
"You have two days, or your brother dies." Semi said and he cut the line.
Leia leaned against the wall, all of her energy sapped. A few minutes later she remembered Calinda who was standing around, uncertain of what she should do. "Go, thank you. Please do not mention what you saw to anyone. If someone questions you as to what you were doing, or what happened tell them you have orders from me and to take it up with me."
"Yes Madame." Calinda curtsied and left.
Leia composed herself as best as she could and went back in the room. She noticed that Han was gone as were her three kids. She had been so involved in what she had seen and what she was going through that she had forgotten that her children could sense her pain. She was sure that was why Han had taken them. Thank goodness one us had the presence of mind to think of them.
Leia felt bad for a moment, but then consoled herself with the thought that Han had thought of it so they were taken care of. Besides, the force just kept bombarding me with Luke's pain.
Leia apologized to the Ambassador and her husband who assured her that it was okay. "It happens, trust me, I know." The ambassador said, dryly.
Leia engaged them in a conversation about the economic trademark of the Senex, the Paprika spice. She searched with her Jedi powers for Han and her children. She found that Han, Lando, and Chewie were at the peripheries of her sensing abilities So he left without me to go rescue Luke and that her children were all in her bed. She ended the event as early as she could.
Then she raced to her room. "Will Lukie be okay." 5-year old Anakin asked as he saw or felt her come in, she wasn't sure which one.
Leia felt her heart tighten. Of all of her kids Anakin, ironically, had bonded the most with his Uncle. "Your father has gone already to help Luke. I am going to go in the Alderaan as soon as I ask Wedge to look after you and make sure you guys are okay." She said, picking first Anakin, then Jacen, and finally Jaina up and holding them tightly.
"So you are going to take the Alderaan?" Jaina asked.
"Yeah. Remember-"
"-the Alderaan is a secret and the fact that you are gone is a secret too." Jaina finished.
Leia smiled at her daughter and took out the ribbons in Jaina's hair and said. "Smarty."
Jaina smiled at Leia. "Go already."
Leia called Wedge on his comm. Link, she knew he couldn't be too far from her suite.
"What's up?" Wedge asked, concernedly when he was inside. "Han wasn't at the party after the first fifteen minutes and you disappear for twenty/thirty minutes and come back like a ghost."
"The Imps have Luke."
"What." Wedge said, reeling from that.
"Yeah. So, I need you to watch the kids while I go after him."
"You may need Rogue back up."
"I need you here, watching them. Lando and Chewie went with Han. You are the only one left whom I trust with the kids for long periods of time. C3PO can watch them while you are at work." Leia said. "Wedge, please. Every minute we waste…"
"Go." Wedge said. "Call if you need Rogue. Corran is a capable commander in my stead."
"Thanks." Leia said, smiling at him. "The kids are in my room."
"Be good for Wedge." She called. "Love you."
Leia practically ran to the Alderaan. On the way she called her secretary and cancelled all her appointments for the next week. Ah wow you know work rules your life when you can even remember to cancel appointments on the way to rescuing your brother. Then Leia reached out and pinpointed her brother's location as best she could. She felt that he was on an Imperial base on Berenda. Semi had no faith in my Jedi skills if he didn't think I could pinpoint Luke. That bothered her, how easy it had been. If she was right and she got Luke out alive she would ask him.
Leia computed the hyperspace path to Berenda and then went. She wasn't as good with the proscribed routes as Han, not having the years of piloting experience so she only used those as far as she could trust her Jedi abilities.
She knew in her heart of hearts that she was their real chance of getting Luke out. Han would get there too late. He did not have the advantage of using the force to home in on Luke. He was going to have to stop somewhere and get the information as to where the Imperials were keeping Luke. Wait, maybe Han had already gotten that information which is why he left so early. She wasn't sure. But she didn't expend her Force energy trying to find him, she wanted to save t to find Luke.
As Leia got closer she kept a constant eye on where Luke was. She couldn't feel how he was doing, Semi had placed Ysalamari around him, but the big gaping hole was an easy way to find where he was. Two gaping holes, Myrkyr and a concentration on Berenda.
What Leia missed was someone else homing in on Luke's position, Arielle Kenobi. "Drat it, Luke." She said, willing her hyperdrive to go faster. "Can't keep yourself out of trouble. I knew when we met again it would be me rescuing you. Come on baby, come on. We need to get Luke outta there." Arielle force enhanced the power of her hyperdrive. "That's the ticket." She said as it zoomed.
Arielle brushed her long curly blonde hair out of her face. She reached the planet an hour before Leia.
She hid her ship in the curve of a grove (AN-Aenied anyone) at the foot of a cavernous crag. Arielle tried to use the Force to see where Luke was or what shape he was in but all she got was the Ysalamari wall. "Shoot." She muttered. She felt with her sensing abilities as far as she could.
There were three guards standing on the east door, five on the west and ten on the north. "Well, that tells you where to go." She went to the east door covering her face and body with a black cloak and used the force to flip them on their back and pinned them.
She felt very tempted to call out to them and mock them but she knew that would be unwise. The less these…things were able to identify her, the better for her and Luke. She got to the door and searched for a door panel. She could not find one. Puzzled she kept searching. So this is why they only had three guards on this door. It only opens from the inside. Well… let's show them what a Jedi, even a mostly untrained Jedi can do. Arielle stuck her lightsaber into the door and let the heat melt a big gaping hole in the place.
She clambered through the hole quickly and then assessed the situation. She climbed back out and grabbed the armor of one of the downed storm troopers. She put it on. Then she took off her power off of the stormtroopers and then using lightening fast Jedi reflexes, she hit them over the head so they were unconscious. At least I didn't hit someone who was already down.
She climbed in the hole again, weighed down by the heavy armor. She then walked in parade formation with the other stormtroopers until she reached what she thought was the central mainframe. She then sheltered herself from the others so they wouldn't see her or remember her.
She jimmied the lock so it would not open from the outside. She raced to the computer in the middle of the big high-tech room. She then took off her helmet and frantically pressed buttons. "Come on." She muttered aloud. "Come on, give it to me."
Finally she was able to hack into the systems and find the prisoner list. It said "Luke Skywalker, chambers A-234."
She pulled up a map of the station next and found where A-235 was. "Shoot." She said aloud. She would have to pass the main garrisons of the station before getting there.
She took a deep breath. She had a feeling that she could not count on the force to get her past the guards. She thought about it deeply, what should she do.
Timing was of the essence, so she couldn't just stand here all day. Besides, the longer she stood there the more the chances were that someone would realize something was amiss.
She remembered her father's words. Information is your friend. Know as much as you can. No detail is meaningless.
She took a deep breath and looked at the map committing every part of it to memory. There was an air valve that ran over room A-235. She took a deep breath. That was probably her best chance to rescue Luke. Problem was that there was no way to know what kind of air or lack of air was in the valve. Once she was in there she was at the mercy of luck, chance, and the force.
You are the daughter of Obi-Wan Kenobi. The heir of a great rich Jedi tradition. You have survived exile. You have survived being on the run from the Empire. Fear does not become you. Go. Be Brave. Make those before you proud.
She saw that the valve originated two halls over. She went over there and inspected the sight. The valve was deep inside the wall. She cut herself a whole before the source of the air for the valve. The wall was hollow. Just enough for her to fit tightly inside. She then decided to cut herself into the air valve. She just hoped they didn't have an alarm when the air valve lost pressure. They probably would. She bit her thumb and then realized all she had to do was cut very precisely so that the piece could be replaced and the little air that was lost she could direct through the Force. She replaced both of the pieces. She used the force to make sure that the air went properly and that no one noticed The Force was with her. The Ysalamaris formed a cordon with a radius of only 10 cellblocks. Arielle shook her head. They forgot the first rule of combat, never underestimate your opponent. Either you thought Luke would be completely debilitated and there were no other Jedi or you underestimated the power of the Force. Both dumb dumb mistakes. I am not saying this is going to be a cakewalk, it is just more of a cakewalk then I imagined.
Arielle's challenge would be to get Luke out very quickly, because once she was in the Ysalamari influence her illusion would fall and people would see the gaping hole.
As Arielle reached the 'borderline' of the influence she took a deep breath. Here goes nothing. She scampered as fast as she could to what she approximated to be the center of the circle. Based on her knowledge of military tactics that is where Luke would be held. But she didn't count on that too much. She knew that any smart commander would anticipate that move. She did count on the fact that she had the cellblock number. She had hesitated once when she had heard the voice of a bunch of Imperials below her. This must be where the main Garrison is housed. She froze for a moment, fear overtaking her. She calmed herself Anger, Aggression, Fear, the dark side are they. Besides, you have a plan for getting by them. Just enact it. Like you are doing. Easy does it.
The trouble was, Arielle knew that she didn't have a whole lot of time. For two reasons, Luke's vital signs had been very unstable the last time she had been able to check, and the longer she delayed the more chances there were that someone would see the gaping hole. This was an active base, after all.
She took a deep breath and went as quietly as she could. Still she heard, to her horrors of horrors, an Imperial (of high rank, she assumed because of the manner in which he spoke) said "Must have musckice, I hear somethin' crawling around in the walls."
She tried to keep her crawling at a muskice-ish sounding pace after that for awhile so just in case the Imperial had gotten suspicious he would get nothing more. Stopping would be a mistake because that would make the Imperial more suspicious. Muskice were not sentient. They would not understand and react to that statement.
When she finally reached the middle of the cordon she used her vibroblade, not a lightsaber, lightsabers made too much noise and were harder to control, to cut herself a seeing hole in the wall. She saw some techies walking, hurry up. She waited until they had passed and then counted to 100. Then she cut herself a bigger seeing hole. But then as she was cutting an even bigger space so she could jump down, her blade got stuck in the metal and when she tried to get it out it cut too much and the piece went clanging to the floor making a huge noise.
Arielle cursed and took out her blaster. A firefight could really put her behind. Besides, after the death star escapade the Empire was much more vigilant about surveillance cameras just going dead and there definitely were surveillance cameras in this area. She noted that they were all surveying the floor. They definitely didn't plan for an intruder coming in through the ceiling. That still didn't help her any. She would have to drop to the floor, and then the camera operator would see her and ring an alarm throughout the entire base. Then Arielle remembered her disguise. She smiled to herself as an idea came to her. The sound hadn't been THAT loud, and the piece of metal was still small enough that it could be taken as simple musckice gnawing. Sure enough only two stormtroopers came to investigate. As the first one came to the hole to investigate she dropped to the ground using him as cover. Perfect, he is about my height. His partner immediately saw her and started firing. "Stop firing." She grated. "I am TK432." (She had checked and seen which stormtroopers were stationed where, TK432 was stationed on the outside hallway and should've heard.) "I was dispatched to check out what happened. I was waiting behind. Your incompetent firing gave away our position, we will never know if it was a musckice or not. You will be lucky not to be demoted. Go and check in the hole."
The stormtrooper looked to his partner who nodded. "You, come with me and we will check and make sure the area is still secure."
"Let me call in."
"Quickly."
The stormtrooper called in, and said that there was nothing to indicate it wasn't a musckice, but he and TK432 were investigating.
"Finish your investigation quickly and report in. The Admiral will be arriving to meet with the warlord soon. No mistakes."
"Roger."
Arielle had noted the surveillance cameras on the map she had seen. She knew there were no cameras in the prisoner hallways, (so there would be no record of the torture that took place), she also knew she had to hurry. They could notice the other hole any moment.
She also saw that they were still two hallways away from Luke. Good, this way it will be even less suspicious.
The fact that the stormtroopers were not on high alert told Arielle that very few knew about the special prisoner their prisons held. That meant that her luck was holding. Not telling people was a double-edged sword. It meant that there were fewer to betray you, but it also meant the soldiers would be more on guard.
But again, after the Death Star incident, anything to do with the prison banks was taken more seriously.
Arielle and her 'partner' combed the hallways and all of the cell banks. I will be back Luke. Arielle thought as they passed Luke's cell. "Nothing." The trooper reported in. "We checked all the prison bays."
"Good. Both of you return to your posts."
"Roger."
"I will cover you as you return in case someone is hiding." Arielle let the stormtrooper pass and go away, TK432. As another matter of security after the death star incidents stormtroopers were not allowed in the prisoner hallways unless chasing a rebel.
She had purposely ended in this hallway because cell A-342 was immediately opposite Luke's cell and was empty (remember, the Imperial higher-ups didn't want anyone to know they had Luke here). I knew memorizing the map would come in handy.
Technically Melisteel Metal, which made up the cell walls, was unbroachable, but Arielle knew that a lightsaber could make short work of it. Arielle listened at the wall to make sure no one was in there. She cursed again. There was a camera in there. But she had no choice. She had to get Luke out of there. She kept her lightsaber at ready. But she would use it as little as possible. Better not to let the Imps know she had Jedi powers. She knocked at the wall three times to tell Luke that she was on the other side and to get him to move away.
She heard something thump and assumed that was Luke. She pushed her lightsaber into the wall. "Come on." She said. "Hurry."
Speed was of the essence.
Finally it cut through enough so that she could climb over and go to Luke. "Oh my." She said, horrified by the shape Luke was in.
"Its been worse." Luke said, attempting a smile.
She saw that Luke had 'accidentally' knocked over the camera.
He shrugged when he saw her looking at it. "Pin two wampas with one bolt. They will come to fix it, so we have to hurry."
"Ari, is that really you?" He said, changing subjects really fast.
"No, it is the Angels from Bago Yaven." She said, sarcastically. "Luke, we don't have time for hello's, they might be here any minute. So let's leave all this."
Luke nodded. She has a point. But there is so much I want to know… He took as deep of a breath as he dared. He was a Jedi Master. He knew the value of patience.
Arielle saw that Luke was in no condition to clamber through the hole. She sighed. This would take more time. She took out her vibroblade to try and undo the lock.
"Shoot." She said, when it did not work.
"Lemme try." Luke said.
Luke used his years of skills with locks to get it open in 20 seconds flat. "Shall we?" He asked, gesturing Ari out first.
"Uh-uh, they expect you to escape. 'Sides, you need me covering your back." Arielle said, handing him her lightsaber. All Imperials they would encounter except the ones they would encounter if caught, would assume Luke had gotten his lightsaber back. That was good for two reasons, one it added to the 'Jedi Skywalker myth' and it protected Arielle's identity as a Jedi.
Luke couldn't argue with that, though he was worried about Ari, the back was where they were most vulnerable.
Luke cautiously went into the hallway, Arielle's lightsaber in hand. "Now where." Luke asked Arielle once she sidled out.
"Give me a second." Arielle said, taking a deep breath to calm herself. She tried to remember where they were in terms of the map and which way was closest to the exit.
She knew not to go to the closest border to the Ysalamari's influence, because if the commanders of the base were worth even the plastisteel of their armor they would have the crux of their force there. Besides the fact that it is so close to an exit… trap.
"Left." Arielle said.
Luke followed. "I expected you to argue, the Luke I knew would've."
"I have matured." Luke said, simply. "I have had too much combat experience to not trust the person with the map."
"Besides, Master Yoda trained you, he doesn't take insubordination."
"True." Luke said, laughing a bit as he thought of his old training master. He winced a bit. Laughing is definitely a mistake.
He tried to cover it up by talking some more. "So, you have the entire rescue planned out. Right?"
But, as usual, Arielle saw through it. She gave him a concerned once over. "As you said earlier, we don't have time. We need to go." Luke said.
"Luke," Arielle sighed, finally deciding to say something about the look on Luke's face. "I know you too well. You want me to spill my guts about where I was the last decade and a half and why I didn't come back earlier. You know the discussion is going to get emotional for both of us. We can't afford that right now. It would make us easier to hear, and less concentrated."
"You are right, that doesn't make it easier, though." Luke said.
"Right." Arielle said.
Just then they heard the clank clank of stormtroopers. They looked at each other. The noise indicated at least fifteen or twenty. "10-1, not bad." Luke mouthed.
Arielle shook her head amused as she took out her blaster, Luke was better with a lightsaber then she was.
As these two readied for battle Leia walked behind the stormtrooper legion (AN-I am not sure what the proper term is.) She had entered the base at about the time Arielle was dealing with the stormtroopers in the communications area. Unbeknownst to Luke or Arielle a guarded alarm had been sounded in the area adjacent to where Arielle was. (The Imperials didn't want the rebels to know they suspected something.) When Leia had heard this alarm she had suspected that someone had reached Luke before her, so she had decided to follow the stormtroopers, wearing 'borrowed' armor of course, and let them lead her to Luke.
Now that they had stopped and had supposedly reached their target she wanted to confirm that it was Luke before revealing herself. She lifted her blaster with the others so it would appear that she was readying to fire. She had to confirm quickly. Luckily the hallway was narrow so the troopers could not stay in parade formation. She let herself get pushed to the front for a second. She saw that it was indeed Luke, and the person next to him was a human female.
She let herself get pushed to the back. Then she opened fire…on the stormtroopers. This took them by surprise and in the few moments it took them to react Leia had felled about 10 of the twenty in a big swoop move. Luke nudged Arielle, and Arielle shot a warning blaster bolt to warn the stormtroopers to pay attention to her as well. When they started turning around and firing Luke deflected the bolts back at them and Arielle fired her blaster.
"Luke." Leia said, stepping over dead and stunned stormtroopers to hug her brother.
"Leia." Luke said warmly. He winced a bit as the pain hit. "Uh Leia, that's not a good idea right now."
"Sorry." Leia said. "Who is this?"
"The name is Arielle-Arielle Kenobi. I happened to be flying close by and felt Luke's pain so I came to rescue him." Arielle said, not used to being able to use her full name yet.
"Ari is a friend from Tatooine." Luke said, blushing a bit.
Leia raised an eyebrow, but knew it wasn't the right time. "Pleased to meet you, Lady Kenobi."
"Please, Arielle." Arielle said, waving her formality away.
"All right, Arielle. We should get going." Leia said, changing subjects abruptly when she remembered the blaring alarms. It was easy to get lulled into a false sense of security as the alarms weren't blaring here. But then, she thought, that was the point.
"Where were you planning to exit from." Leia asked as they moved.
"A little alcove a few hallways away."
"Good one, except what from there." Leia asked, having too much experience with what can happen with bad planning.
"Well, I am hoping Luke can cover us so we can go outside the outer periphery to my ship. It is hidden, hopefully well enough to ensure we won't have a huge firefight on our hands. As for the space battle… well, we will have to plan that as we go."
"Are you sure the alcove is there." Leia asked.
"Yeah, the first thing I did when I got here…well almost first thing, was study a map of this place."
"Wow." Leia said, impressed with the foresight and planning. Most of the people she knew, herself included, had a tendency to rush in with minimal planning or no planning.
"Thanks." Arielle said, then she fell silent trying to remember as many details about the map as she could.
Leia was keeping as keen of an eye out as she could. So she saw Luke falter. "Luke." She said, rushing to put her arm under her brother's shoulder.
She stood like that with him for a moment. "You okay?"
Luke managed a feeble smile. "Yeah, let's just keep going."
Leia gave her brother a critical eye. "We have no choice, we have to keep going." Arielle said to Leia, quietly. "We will just have to keep him dunked in a Bacta tank when we get him to…well, wherever."
Leia knew Arielle was right. There was nothing she could do for Luke standing there in the middle of an Imperial base. In fact she was just placing him in more danger. Arielle came to Luke's other side and with Luke supported by both of them the trio moved. "Right, left, right." Arielle said.
Finally they arrived at the alcove. "That was all too easy." Arielle said under her breath.
"Don't jinx it, Ari." Luke said, a little weakly.
Sure enough then some stormtroopers came behind them. "Go." Luke, having caught sight of them first, whispered urgently.
The trio pressed themselves to the walls on both sides. "That was close." Ari said.
They waited with baited breaths until the company passed.
"See, no jinxing." Luke said.
"Point taken." Arielle said.
Walking got a little tougher for Luke as they hit the jungle, because the Ysalamari influence extended a little ways into the jungle on this side. "Sorry Luke." Arielle said. "But jungle is good for hiding."
"No duh." Luke said, trying to keep the conversation light.
"Let's keep moving. The sooner we get Luke out of the Ysalamari influence the better." Leia said.
"You are right." Arielle said, getting up and craning her neck.
Then immediately she fell back. "Jungle scout." She hissed.
Leia unholstered her blaster, as Luke took out his lightsaber, and Arielle her blaster. But they flattened themselves against the trees. "Use bioscans set for humans." They heard the stormtrooper commander say.
Leia, Arielle, and Luke exchanged panic-filled looks. How could they fool a bioscan inside the Ysalamari influence.
With a flash Arielle remembered a little device her father had given her before she had left. She pulled it out of her pocket. She set it for 20 miles and aimed it. "They are not here, they are on the other side. Move." The commander ordered.
The jungle scout moved away and Arielle, Luke, and Leia breathed a huge sigh of relief.
"My father gave me a Laxo 4 before I had to leave." Arielle explained.
Leia whistled. "The rebellion was looking for one for years."
A sad expression came on Arielle's face. "One of my father's old friends, Dex, I am pretty sure his name was, gave it to him. Dex read the signs better then any Jedi. He told my father that he would need it. Father gave it to me, saying he was more adept at hiding himself. But you know what happened there."
Neither Leia nor Luke knew what to say. Arielle shook her sad thoughts away. "Let's go." She said business like.
Luke looked like he was about to say something, but Leia mouthed later to him.
The trio hugged the trees as much as possible to go to the ships. The Alderaan was the closest.
"All right, Leia, give us cover as Luke and I go to my ship." Arielle said, when they were inside the Alderaan.
Arielle put up her hand to ward off any complaints. "My ship has better medical supplies on it."
Leia looked at Arielle distrustfully. "I have been living off my ship for so long, I had better have good medical supplies on it. I am not a fully trained Jedi, mind you." Arielle said.
"Fine." Leia said, knowing her medical supplies were not nearly adequate for the extent of Luke's injuries.
"See you at Yavin." Luke said, smiling a bit.
"Yeah." Leia said, "take care."
"you too."
Luke followed Arielle. "Unfortunately my ship is a little far back, Luke."
"I am not a child, Arielle." Luke said, his voice getting a little clipped.
"Luke." Arielle sighed.
Luke looked stubbornly forward for a moment. "Listen, I argued with father. Every day. I told him you were not a child. He knew you were not a child. That wasn't it."
"What about leaving me behind and not telling me a thing. Did he make you promise-" before Luke could finish his angry diatribe they heard another patrol coming their way.
They were quiet and hugged the trees. But then they heard a loud click and double click and the patrol left. "It means rebels escaping." Luke translated. "They think Leia has all of us onboard." Panic entered Luke's voice. "They will send everything against her. Hurry."
Love for his sister and panic as well as the force hastened his feet. Arielle took a deep breath, she had to get used to this aspect of the force as well. She let the force and her father's training hasten her feet so she could catch up to Luke. So they reached her ship shortly. "Hurry, hurry, hurry." Luke chanted as Arielle punched the access codes.
"I was wondering when the Tatooinian farm boy would surface." Arielle remarked. "There it is open."
Luke clambered in. He climbed in the pilot's seat. "Hey."
"No." Luke said seriously.
"My ship."
Luke turned to Arielle, and she knew not to argue anymore. The look on his face was that of utmost resolve and stubbornness. Besides, she knew he was the better pilot with more combat experience. Hers was more running experience. She gritted her teeth as she thought of that. She hadn't wanted to run. She had wanted to stay and fight. Fight and av… defend. But her father had been adamant. She still wasn't really sure why. But in the end she knew that she had to trust her father's judgment. Besides, had something happened to her… she knew her father would've known and that it would have killed him. He already blamed himself for too much. She hadn't and didn't want him feeling even more guilt on her account. It had truly been that that had made her listen to her father.
So Arielle clambered into the gun turret. "Ari, star destroyer. Starport." Luke's voice came in clipped. "We are going towards it."
Arielle saw a star destroyer on the tail of Alderaan, and figured out why Luke was so worried.
Arielle watched in amazement as Luke did a five point turn and hit the star destroyer straight in its weak point. "Thanks." Leia said.
But before she could say anymore the duo was surrounded by a fleet of TIE fighters. "Shoot."
"All right, it just got tough." Luke said.
"As usual." Leia said, trying to keep her voice light.
"Sorry, Ari." Luke said cutting off the comm. "I guess you came to rescue me just to get yourself killed."
"Is that any way for a Jedi to talk." Arielle asked. "There is no greater honor for a Jedi except to die in service to the light. Especially our best friends… Our love."
Luke's eyes went bright. "You love me."
"Always have." Arielle said. "You knew that though, didn't you?"
Luke fixed his eyes on the floor. "I just assumed you would have found someone else."
"I assumed the same." Arielle said. "After all, you didn't even know I was alive."
Luke leaned in and kissed Arielle. "I could wait for you until the afterlife."
A flash from a TIE fighter broke up their kiss. "Alright, here goes."
Luke did a few more five point turns and took out a few more ships. Then he did a complicated swoop maneuver. Then he had an idea. "Leia, 5-2-4-3."
"Right behind you."
As
the 5-2-4-3 dictated Luke did a swoop maneuver to the right and Leia to the
left. Both had their deflector shields protecting the other side, but at the
crucial point first Luke dropped his deflector shields as Leia covered him and
converted the deflector shields to speed then the other way around. The 5-2-4-3
took out 50 ships. But even then, there were 50 left.
"Luke, we don't have many
missiles left." Arielle said, in as calm a voice as she could manager.
"All right. Well, we took a lot with us." Luke said.
He was about to radio this to Leia when he noticed that some TIE's on the opposite side of Leia were being shot down. "What?" He asked.
"I don't know." Leia said, telling Luke that he had accidentally flipped the comm.. button on.
Then Luke recognized the fighting style. A broad smile came on his face.
"You know who it is." Arielle asked.
"Yes. I should've known he would come."
"Han." Leia said. Her happiness at her husband arriving to the battle scene safely showed through.
"Yes." Luke said, simple.
(AN-I can't for the life of me remember Han's battle cry. But just pretend I am right.) "Yeaaaaah, the Falcon rescue squad here again." Han crowed. "Come in A-"
"Right here." Leia said, quickly. The Imperials already knew she was here. She didn't want them to have the name of her ship as well.
"Luke's here too." Luke added promptly.
"Wha-you okay, kid?" Han asked, taken aback by the fact that the person he had come to rescue was okay, and already rescued.
"Yup, Ari and Leia came and got me."
"Ari, who is Ari." Han asked, suspiciously.
"Introductions later, Captain Solo. Let's get rid of the pests first." Arielle said, getting on the line for the first time.
"I assume that is Arielle." Han said.
"Yes."
"Well, right you are, Madam Arielle." Han said.
"It would have been nice if you had brought more ships-" Leia said.
"Hey, the Falcon has served us well." Han said.
"I know!"
"But who says I did not bring more ships." Han said, grinning. "Come on out guys, 3-4-2."
Leia and Luke gasped in surprise as three more ships came out of seemingly nowhere. "And you guys say I can't plan." Han said, enjoying their surprise.
With 5 better trained ships they made short order of the TIE fighters and then escaped into hyperdrive. "Rendezvous at 3-2-1." Leia said.
"Not us." A voice piped from one of the other ships. "Solo, we owe you no more. See you around."
"Keep your nose clean."
"Always."
Leia didn't get what was going on, but assumed it was just some banter they engaged in.
Anyways, they all needed to depart before the Imperials sent anymore troops after them. "2-2-4-2-1." Luke said, giving the code for I am going to Coruscant.
Luke turned off the comm. "Buckle in, darling. We are going to blast off."
Arielle complied saying. "I can't believe we made it out of that, not only alive, but having won!!!"
"The light always wins." Luke replied. "Just as long as those who serve it remember what their mission is and keep their wits around them."
Just then the effects of the Torture, and not to mention expending so much energy he didn't have hit Luke. "Um, Ari, you take over now. I am going to go… to the Fresher."
"I am afraid I don't have a guest cabin." Arielle said, completely ignoring Luke's feeble attempt at a cover. "But you can use the fighting room. The mats are actually comfortable. Let me get you some sheets."
Arielle took Luke to the fighting room and sat him down and then went to go get him some sheets. "I can't believe you have a fighting room on your ship." Luke said.
"Well, remember that this is basically where I have been living for many years. I needed this to be self-sufficient. Especially since I live alone." Arielle said.
Luke felt some sadness that his friend had had to be so lonely, so completely deprived of contact.
Arielle sensed these thoughts. "Father gave me a lot of company. Even after he died, he came and talked to me. He, for some reason, couldn't train me much. He would always say, that is not my place. But he kept me sane. He also kept me informed. In fact, it was his urging that had me venture this side and rush to fix my hyperdrive when it broke."
That helped Luke, a little. But he still felt bad. "Don't, Luke." Arielle said, cupping his cheek. "There was nothing you could've done. You coming with me would've endangered both us, not to mention been the death of the galaxy."
Luke snickered a bit. "Rest, Luke. From what I have seen of your sister, she will have my head if you leave this ship worse then when you came on it."
Luke snickered again, that was very true. "Can you do a healing trance." Arielle asked.
Luke shook his head. "Too many injuries, I am too drained."
"Then just sleep." Arielle said. She pulled down something from the wall. "This is a communication device. Press it to call me. Don't use up too much energy trying to Force call me. Just in case I don't feel you faint or something."
Luke nodded and Arielle left. Luke slept for the rest of the journey back. "I hate to wake him up." Arielle murmured to herself. "But, not being strapped in on the way back would be bad for him."
So she shook his awake. "Luke," she said gently. "We will be entering Coruscant subspace in four minutes. "Come, you can fall asleep in the cockpit."
Arielle supported Luke and they walked and then strapped Luke in. Then something occurred to Arielle. How was she going to get permission to get into Coruscant. Luke was asleep again. But her problem was solved when the voice said. "Unidentified ship, Chief of State Organa Solo has given you permission to land on the Imperial Palace. Realize any deviations from the prescribed flight plans means that you will be fired upon."
"Understood, thank you Coruscant Ground Control." Arielle said, not knowing how but thanking the stars that Leia had arrived before her and cleared her landing.
Landing on the Imperial Palace meant that they could get Luke to treatment sooner. She could tell that he was in very bad shape. Arielle sensed a worried Leia pacing and waiting for Luke at the Palace dock. She also felt a flurry of other people, some of whom seemed to be, she couldn't be fully certain, Holo reporters.
/?/ Leia, can you please help me unstrap him. /?/
Arielle opened the ship door for Leia, and almost immediately Leia and Han were there. "I got him." Han said to Leia and Arielle. "The med personnel are right outside the ship." He said. "I didn't want to give them permission to come on your ship."
Arielle appreciated the gesture. "Thanks." She said, touched.
Han gave her a roguish wink. "You seem like my kinda gal, someone who needs her ship to be her personal space.
You don't know the half of it. This has been my personal space for years. Arielle was overwhelmed by the holo reporters. She had known that they covered Luke, that was one way she knew how he was doing… that he was still most probably single.But still seeing the frenzy surprised Arielle.
She admired how expertly Leia cut the crowd and got Luke to the med center. Arielle was just following, concerned about Luke. "Please, move. Let him get to the med center." Leia kept saying to the reporters. "A statement will be issued LATER."
"Was it an Imperial attack?" some reporter asked.
"Luke was taken prisoner by the Imperials, a group of us rescued him." Leia said, as she ran with the stretcher into the med center itself.
A 2-enbee droid stopped Leia, Arielle, and Han from following the stretcher into the bacta room. "Please, sit down. A medic will be with you shortly. You can't go in."
All three were going to protest, but the 2-enbee droid gently insisted. "Please, it can't help him if you get sick." The 2-enbee was obviously programmed to deal with distraught family members.
The droid guided the trio to seats. A medic came out a half an hour later and they were on their feet again. He smiled at them sadly. "I am afraid Jedi Skywalker has very serious injuries. I have put him in bacta immersion already. I will take him out tomorrow for a brief interlude."
"Thank you doctor." Leia said, giving him her best attempt at a smile.
Han squeezed her shoulder. "Madame Chief of State, if you give me your code I will contact you before I take him out."
It was Han who answered though. "3xs32s. When someone answers give the code Skyforce."
"If no one has any more questions, I will get back to my patients. I will contact you if something changes, and/or before I take him out."
"Thank you." Han said.
The medic bowed himself back into the inner rooms. But instead of leaving, they want to the bacta chambers and sat with Luke.
Leia, Arielle, and Han did not leave Luke's side all the long night, and the medic found them sitting by his bacta tank when he came around for his morning rounds. "You all did not get any sleep last night, did you?" He asked.
Leia shook her head. The medic sighed. "Please, all three of you, go get some sleep. You will not do Master Skywalker any good by sitting here tired."
When none of the three budged he said. "You don't want to be asleep when he is taken out of bacta, now do you?"
That got their attention and he pushed a bit more. "I've heard emotions affect Jedi. You want him to feel only positive emotions, right?"
That caught Leia's attention. "Come on, let's go." She said to Han and Arielle, then she turned her attention back to the medic. "You will call us if anything changes."
The medic bowed. "Yes, Madame."
Han got up, albeit reluctantly, but Arielle was still sitting glued to the chair, her face a pale white. Leia went and put her hands on the girl's shoulders. "Come on." She said, gently, guiding the girl to her feet.
She could guess what Arielle was going through after spending hours with Han at the med center as he got his hibernation sickness treated.
Arielle let Leia lead her back to her apartment, and put her on the guest bed. "Get some sleep." Leia ordered. "I will wake you up before we go to the med center to be with Luke as he comes out of the bacta tank."
"Follow your own advice, your worship." Han said, putting his arm around Leia's shoulder and taking her to their bed. "Sleep." He said, laying her down. "I will monitor the comm."
"Don't you need to sleep?" Leia said, propping herself up.
"Chewie will relieve me." Chewbacca had gone to check on the smuggler's Han had recruited to make sure they had gotten home all right.