Hello again! Or, more likely, hello for the first time. The name's pancake, and welcome to the revitalisation of Death on Endor.
Because most of you don't know, Death on Endor was a fanfiction of mine that I had created long, long ago. And it...
was...
HORRIBLE.
However, I really liked the concept, and I finished the first book of DoE on an app called Amino. Now, I'm going back and revising that too. And I'm STILL not entirely satisfied with the results, but I don't want to wait any longer. In other words, here's the first chapter.
Now, I'll lay down the ground rules. I have the entire first book finished. I just have to revise it and publish it. It won't be overly long, but who knows. Maybe I'll get carried away.
As for the plot, I'll give you the basics. Death on Endor is a basic AU (alternate universe): the Empire is less STUPID at the Battle of Endor. There are more Destroyers and more fighters, and things take a drastic turn. Buuuuut... I'll let you figure out what happens.
Anyways, I sincerely hope you enjoy this new start. Please leave a review with any constructive criticism; I always need feedback. Otherwise, I really can't get better. Enjoy!
"Acknowledged, General Calrissian. I'm already on my way out."
Wedge Antilles wasn't known for missing a shot. Nor was he known for fleeing. So when Red squadron needed a new leader for the attack on the second death Star, Wedge was the optimal choice.
Of course, at the time he'd accepted his promotion, he hadn't known he'd be fighting a Death Star. After all, that was insane- crazy talk. The second Death Star didn't even exist as far as the rebels had been concerned. And then, even when they had found out about it, he wasn't supposed to be going inside!
Regardless, he was there. Flying like the devil himself was behind him. And then, just as Wedge was about to clear the reactor room, his comm. went off. Static, crackling, and then a voice. A very, very desperate voice.
"Wedge!" Lando Calrissian shouted. There was a grunt and a string of curses on the other end. "There's too many!" Another curse. "I've lost main power!"
Wedge let that sink in before answering. "Alright, general. I'm swinging back arou-"
"No! There's no- GAH-"
The other end of the call went dead as Wedge zipped out of the reactor room and headed for the outside world. Worry and a sense of dread settled into the pilot's bones, and even as he tried to reach Lando, he knew what the outcome was.
The Millennium Falcon had been shot down.
Lando Calrissian was dead.
And they were all absolutely fucked.
Admiral Ackbar's day wasn't going as he had planned. Well, not that there was much of a plan in the first place (aside from get in, get out, and profit). Still, no one had expected the amazing success that Rebel Alliance had attained so far- nor had anyone expected the catastrophic failure of the Death Star's engines.
What Ackbar and the rest of the Rebel Alliance were seeing was a sight unprecedented in Galactic history: a large, planet destroying super weapon sinking towards a moon.
The Death Star was falling from orbit, on a crash course for the shield generator on Endor's surface. And Ackbar hadn't the slightest clue as to why.
Luke wasn't really sure what to think when he felt the Death Star's gravity start to fail. His mind was, of course, otherwise occupied by his dying father. It would have been nice if the Rebels and the Empire stopped fighting long enough to allow him access to an escape route, but the last Jedi thought that that might be too much to ask for.
After a painstakingly long few minutes of extensive hallway navigation, Luke managed to drag Vader into the main hangar bay of the deck he was on. Stormtroopers, pilots, officers, and gunners raced around like ants, heading for shuttles and fighters. One pilot was successful, and stepped inside of his ship. The second he disengaged the supports, however, the ship was sucked up into the ceiling. It exploded upon impact, launching debris across the room and into other ships.
In other words, the gravity was completely gone.
"Lord Vader!"
Luke turned and saw a Stormtrooper running towards him, accompanied by a TIE Pilot. Both had E-11 blasters raised. The Jedi frowned as he prepared to reach for his lightsaber. Violence wasn't something he wanted more of at the moment, especially since he had never done combat in zero gravity, but he'd do what he had to do.
There was a first time for everything, he supposed.
As he and Vader floated, looking down at the Stormtroopers (the troops had magnetic boots and air filters), Luke shook his head. They didn't have time for a fight- surely those troopers realized this. Still, the pair didn't falter; their weapons stayed raised, and their feet remained planted firmly to the ground.
After a brief standoff, the Stormtrooper ordered, "Release him." He tilted his head towards Vader. "Now!"
Before Luke could respond (either with words or a laser sword), Vader did first. "Hold," his baritone voice said weakly. "He... is with me."
His black helmet lolled back to the side as he said those words, exhaustion taking its toll. The pair of Imperials hesitated. However, they were clearly experienced. They did not question their leader. "Yes, Lord Vader," the Stormtrooper said, and the two men holstered their weapon. "You, Jedi. Let's go. We don't have much time."
"We're falling out of orbit," the pilot added sourly. Luke could almost hear the glare in his voice. In fact, he could sense hostility coming off of both men in waves, all of it directed towards him. Not at him, mind you, but towards him. Towards the concept of him. They were angry at whoever did this to Vader, and at the moment, they thought that was him.
However, he didn't have time to question the Stormtrooper's use of the word "we", nor did he have time to explain his situation. Instead, Luke grabbed Vader once more and began to move. There was a Lambda class shuttle in the back of the hangar, surrounded by fire and floating debris. No one else had made a move for it.
Looking back, the Force had helped both Skywalkers that day.
After a few seconds of using the force to pull himself (and Vader) towards the shuttle, Luke arrived. The ramp was open, and the ship seemed ready to go. This shuttle, it seemed, was being emptied when the Rebel fleet had pulled into the system. The pilots just hadn't closed it up when they were called to arms.
Not questioning his good fortune, Luke dragged his father into the ship and set him in the troop bay.
And that was when the Imperials reminded him of their presence.
"Out of the way."
The TIE Pilot, who Luke had almost forgotten about, shoved his way past the Jedi and into the cockpit. Warily, Luke followed. Inside, the man's gloved fingers were a blur as they pressed switches and buttons. Luke sat down in the copilot's seat.
The Imperial pilot turned to look at him, but went back to his work a short second later. "Disengage the magnetic locks," he ordered. "We need to pull out of here if we want to get Lord Vader to safety.
Luke listened to the man's orders. And then, he shook his head. "No."
"We don't have time to argue about-"
"If we disengage the locks, we'll be pulled into the ceiling and crushed."
Luke pondered this for a moment as the pilot huffed. "You got a better idea, kid?"
The question flipped around in Luke's head. "Actually, I do."
Outside, in the hangar, a siren began to sound. Over the intercom, a male voice announced, /"This is Moff Jerjerrod. All hands abandon station. This is not a drill. We have entered the atmosphere. Abandon your stations and run."/
The pilot cursed as he heard the announcement. "Kid, we've got one minute tops before this thing goes supernova. We have to go now."
Luke let out a small smile. "You're right about that, at least."
The TIE Pilot moved to respond, but stopped. "Wait a minute... what are you-"
He didn't get a chance to finish as Luke yanked on the Hyperdrive lever and launched the shuttle into Hyperspace. The pilot let out a startled shout. In the back, both men could hear a loud curse and something falling over. "What the krif are you doing up there?!" The Stormtrooper shouted.
"I'd like to know just as much as you would!" The pilot shouted back. He then turned to Luke, glaring daggers at the Jedi. "Did you even enter coordinates?" He asked, a dangerous edge in his tone.
"No time," Luke replied. "Unless you wanted to crash?"
The pilot, at a loss for words, said nothing. He simply grumbled something under his breath about Skywalkers and leaned back into his chair. "We need to drop out."
"I agree," Luke replied, and then quickly pulled the lever. Once again, a loud crash could be heard as the Stormtrooper was launched across the cabin, letting out another long string of curses. The pilot, however, gaped out of the viewport.
Luke had pulled them out of Hyperspace directly in front of a large planet.
"How... how did you..." The black suited man sputtered, staring at the celestial body in front of him. "That's... did you know?"
Luke smiled, leaning back in his chair. "I don't know what you mean."
"The planet. Did you know?"
Luke turned his head to the pilot, an idea forming in his head. He'd heard the voice of this pilot before, he realized. Once, and not for very long, but he had heard it. "How old are you?" He asked the Imperial. "What's your name?"
The pilot didn't respond, still staring out of the viewport. What he was thinking, Luke didn't know. However, he sensed a great conflict within him. When he attempted to reach into his mind to see for himself, however, he was blocked. Something kepy him out.
Smile ebbing from his features, Luke got up from his chair and made his way towards the door. As he was about to leave, the pilot spoke suddenly. "The name's Broadside. My real name. Not a number." His head didn't turn from the viewport. "I know all about you Skywalkers."
Luke turned back around, now curious. "You sound familiar."
"Yeah? Well, you've probably met one of my brothers."
The Jedi Knight made to respond to that, but was cut off by a voice from the troop bay. "Skywalker! Get down here."
Broadside grunted, finally turning to face Luke. "I've been flying for over twenty years. I'd go see what he wants."
Luke nodded curtly and dashed out of the cockpit to the passenger area. What he found, he did not like.
Vader was slumped in one of the seats, with the other stormtrooper furiously tinkering with his respirator. His signature breathing could barely be heard, though it WAS audible. It sounded like gas leaking from a Tibanna canister; or, what a respirator should not sound like. "What are you doing?" Luke asked as he approached, eyeing the trooper's tool kit. "What's happening?" Worry seeped into his words, fusing with them to become its own strange sound. Luke was normally calm, but this...
To be honest, Luke was scared.
The Stormtrooper, meanwhile, either didn't pick up on it or didn't care. Instead, he began to speak in an orderly fasion. It almost sounded like a military debrief. "I'm saving his life. I'm no mechanic, but his respirator has taken massive electrical damage. I don't know how that happened, but right now it's not important. What IS important is that his suit is going to fail in the next few minutes if something isn't done fast."
Luke paused, soaking in the information, and then asked, confusedly, "And he's just letting you operate on him?"
The trooper snorted. "Force no. Thankfully, he's been blissfully unconscious this entire time. Still, even though I'm buying him time, he needs a medic. Soon. I think we should head back to the Executor and get him looked at."
"So I can get arrested? No. I know a place we can go to."
The Stormtrooper didn't move from his work. He couldn't afford to. Instead, all he said was, "We don't have time."
"It's only a few hours from here. Can you keep him alive for that long?"
The Imperial muttered something under his breath that sounded suspiciously like "fucking hell" before reluctantly saying, "I can probably buy us that long. If the helmet stays on I can get him by on minimal life support."
This was all working out, Luke realized, and a smile crossed his features. "I'm sure you'll do your best. Let me go enter our coordinates, and I'll come back and help you." The Stormtrooper grunted in response. "Just hurry up. You're probably better at this than I am."
Silently, Luke agreed that he was a better mechanic than a field soldier. He nodded to the man and turned to leave, already calling ahead to Broadside to prep the Hyperdrive. He had some things to discuss with his father, but that would apparently have to wait. Until then, he wouldn't tell the two troopers of their relationship.
Vad- Anakin could make that call.
A few moments later, he entered the cockpit. Broadside was waiting, his helmet removed now. He had rough features, and a face that looked to be about sixty years old. What really surprised Luke, however, was that it looked just like someone else he knew.
"You're a clone," he said, his surprise leaking into his tone. This was unexpected. He was lead to believe that the clones had all been kicked out of the Imperial Military. Apparently he was wrong.
Broadside snorted in response. "You think you're gonna meet any other human named 'Broadside', kid? Now put in your coordinates so we can get moving. Doesn't sound like Vader's got much more in him."
Startled, Luke said, "You were listening." It came out as a statement, not a question. It seemed fairly obvious in hindsight.
"I listen to everything. All the time. Always. Now... coordinates?"
"Right," Luke said, chuckling at Broadside's comments. "Setting course for Polis Massa."
Maybe things would be ok after all.