Same Disclaimer
Chapter 7
Han stood on the deck of the command ship. Being one who had traveled from one end of the galaxy to the other not many things surprised him anymore. Immediately upon their arrival they were caught in the cross fire between the local government and what appeared to be an Imperial Star Destroyer. He immediately opened communications between his ship and the unknown Imperial Ship, "Unknown Imperial fighter, this is General Han Solo of the New Republic, cease fire." On the other end he just heard silence so he repeated the command. Still there was nothing but silence from the other end. Without warning the Imperial ship fired upon their cruiser. "Ok, it looks like our friends out there want to play."
Han ordered the deployment of the X-Wing squadrons and he watched as the Imperial Ship released their TIEs. The battle was over in record time, Wedge and the other pilots made waste of the TIEs and moments later the Imperial Star Destroyer jumped to lightspeed.
Han and Lando met with the Governors of the planet and discovered that this particular Star Destroyer had been jumping from one small planet to the next wreaking havoc but no one had any idea who the commander was. It was decided that the Republic would keep a small squad posted on the planet incase the Imperials returned. Lando agreed to stay and command them.
When Han was boarding the transport to take him back to his command ship one of the governor's assistants caught him. "Sir, I was told to give you this. Our intelligence picked up communications from the Imperial ship, and we don't have the capability to decode it." Han took the data chip and told him that he'll get his people right on it.
Han returned to his ship and relayed his mission report to Coruscant. He had a bad feeling that this wasn't over yet.
"Gah," Leia shouted as the bolt from the remote hit her in the thigh. She shut down the lightsaber. "Luke I just can't do this. What's wrong with a Jedi just using a blaster?"
"You must unlearn what you have learned," he quoted one of Yoda's favorite sayings. "You can't give up now; look at how far you've come." He suddenly had an idea. "Leia do you have a blindfold?"
Leia went into her room and after a bit she came out with a blindfold in her hands. "What is this for?"
"Put it over your eyes, and pick up the lightsaber." Leia did as instructed and the remote sprang to life with the first bold promptly hitting her in the shoulder.
"Kreth, Luke how is this supposed to help?"
"Just stretch out and picture the remote. Stop thinking about what you can't see; sometimes the biggest danger lies in what can't be seen."
Leia lifted the lightsaber once again and this time when the remote fired its shots she successfully deflected them. Leia deactivated the lightsaber and removed the blindfold. "It was like I could see the bolts coming towards me." Luke smiled, remembering how Obi Wan had used the same method on him. Leia then rubbed her neck and realized that they had been training for over three hours. "I think we ought to call it a day. I don't need to over exert myself, and plus I think your nephew is getting hungry."
"Yes you should take a break, and as quick that you're picking this up, I think you should start working on your own lightsaber, one that is truly yours."
"I would like to do that." She paused to rub her belly, now even under her clothes was a noticeable bump. She was nearing the end of her first trimester and so far everything was going good. She reached through the force to touch her son's mind. "I think he's going to be a powerful Jedi."
"Yes the force does flow strong through him." Luke looked at his sister, "But you must not be afraid of his power."
"I'm not; I know that as long as I know how to use my power, I'll be prepared when it's time for him to train." Leia then went into the kitchen to fix herself something to eat. She sat down in the dining room and Luke sat in a chair beside her. "I wish we'd known sooner that we were siblings. All those years I always felt there was something between us that I couldn't explain. Losing you so soon after finding out that you was my brother made it much more difficult."
"But you haven't lost me, I'm still with you."
"But it's not the same. You should have gotten off that Death Star."
"It didn't work out that way, and I'm sorry. You know I'm glad that you've had Han all these years."
"Me too, it's kind of funny to look back to when we first met him. I could bet the Falcon that if you told him he'd be like he is now he would have shot you."
"You know, Obi Wan knew that his destiny lied with ours. But you're right; he didn't think there was a force out there controlling his destiny."
Leia chuckled, instantly missing her husband. She had heard the transmissions that he had sent a few days before, from the sound of things he probably would be stuck out in the outer rim for a few more weeks, possibly a month.
"General Solo," Han turned in his chair to face the young officer, "We have decoded the transmission intercepted from the Imperials," The young man paused, "Sir, I'm afraid it's not good at all."
Han took the data chip and plugged it into his data pad. Upon reading it Han shouted, "Get an immediate message out to Coruscant! Then set our course to Coruscant, shortest route as possible!" He had to get home and he had to get there soon.
Leia tossed and turned in her bed. Something felt wrong; she woke and stretched out into the force. Nothing; she couldn't feel anything. Silently she tried to call out to Luke and her father, but she couldn't reach them. She reached under her pillow for her lightsaber but before she could activate it she suddenly felt a tight grip on her wrist. She was forced to drop the lightsaber. She was forced out of the bed as the unknown being put his second hand over her mouth. Another being stuck a needle into her arm. "Relax," one of the beings said, "it won't hurt your offspring." Leia soon fell into unconsciousness.
