Disclaimers: All things Star Wars belong to Lucasfilm.
All non-original dialogue in this story is credited to The Empire Strikes Back script (Script adaptation by Lawrence Kasden and Leigh Brackett, from a story by George Lucas).
Please do not reproduce this story without permission from the authors.
BY THE GRACE OF LADY VADER
by Alderaan21, ami-padme, and FernWithy
Chapter Seven
Han wasn't sure if he was annoyed at Chewie for making mistakes, or if Chewie was making mistakes because Han had been short-tempered with him ever since the Falcon had started being uncooperative.
Probably the latter. Almost definitely.
So, I won't yell at Chewie anymore.
Something sparked, and Han pushed away from the lifter he was working on. "Hey, no! That one goes over there!"
Chewie growled, low in his throat. It wasn't anything that could be translated into Standard, but the message was clear: Get out of my hair.
Han threw his hands in the air in frustration, and stalked off.
Something hit the base, hard enough to shake snow off the ceiling, and Han immediately forgot about the Falcon, about Chewie, and about who was to blame for what. He was across the hangar in three strides, and headed for the command center.
He knew perfectly well that Leia wouldn't have left yet, and if no one took the trouble to actually put her on a transport - and strap her in if necessary - she'd wait here for Vader to show up, just for the chance to take a pot shot at him.
By the time he got to the command center, it was a wreck. Snowspills had left drifts across smoking and sparking computers, and monitors lay in shards across the floor. Only Rieekan and Leia were left at their posts.
Well, Rieekan, Leia, and Threepio, who never seemed to leave Leia's side when he could help it. Taking Leia would mean taking Threepio, because - despite her frequent annoyance - Leia would jump in front of a blaster to save the irritating droid. Go figure.
Another blast shook the room, and a snowslide dusted Leia's shoulders. She jumped to one side in surprise, and slid on the cluttered floor. Han caught her. "You all right?"
"Why are you still here?"
Good damned question, Han thought, but tried not to snap it at her. "Looked like the command center got hit."
She blinked rapidly, and waved him off with a brief chop of her hand. "You got your clearance. You should have already left. With everyone else."
To hell with you, then. I'll turn around, leave, and never look back. "I'll go as soon as I get you to that transport."
Threepio clattered across to them. "Your Highness, we must leave. It's the last transport."
She turned irritably to Rieekan. "General... "
"I have my own X-wing to get off-planet, Your Highness. You need to go."
Her brows drew in on each other, and Han could see how tightly her fists were clenched, even under the thick gloves. Her hand hovered at her side for a moment, then she grabbed her blaster decisively and drew it.
"Leia, what do you think you're -"
She turned the blaster on the main computer, and melted the circuits across the panel, then turned to the backup.
Rieekan was standing in front of it. He looked at her once, and didn't bother to argue before stepping away.
Leia blasted the backup computer. The command center was now a total loss. She looked around the room disdainfully. "But they won't get our records," she said. "Not a chance."
A tremendous shock hit the building, and part of the ceiling caved in. A warning alarm went off at the East entrance, and was suddenly and completely broken off.
"We're going," Han said, and took her elbow. He was maybe the only one who would dare grab her when she was in a mood like this; even Luke would have kept his distance. "Now."
He led her toward the door. She looked back over her shoulder. "Send out the evacuation code signal to whoever is left. And get out of here, General!"
"Come on!"
"Wait for me!" Threepio wailed behind them. "Please!"
Han didn't wait, but didn't need to. He could hear Threepio clacking and complaining only a few yards behind him as he made his way to the south hangar, from which the transports were taking off. Leia shook herself free of his hold on her elbow, but that was all right. She was running with him now.
Another blast hit, rocking the ice corridor. They were inside the base now, and every hit sent shivers of heat and pressure through the structure. A huge chunk of the ceiling shook loose; Han skidded to a stop and pulled Leia back before it could fall on him. He only had time to reach over her and shield her before the avalanche of snow and smaller shards fell after it. He could feel the debris pelting his jacket, and he had a fleeting moment to curse himself for an idiot. He could have been out of here yesterday. Or the day before. Or months ago. He could have gotten out before they blew the Death Star.
There's a reason you never wanted to be a hero and this is it, old buddy. Getting buried in ice until the Empire finds you ain't going to be a pleasant way to go.
Then the ice stopped falling, and there was only a dusting on his back. The main part of the cave-in was a meter ahead of them. Broken ice blocked the corridor from floor to the place where the ceiling had once been. No way he was going to get her over that and get back to the Falcon before the Empire showed up.
He raised the comlink on his wrist. "This is Solo," he said, turning around and heading toward the north hangar. "Take off. We're blocked. I'll get her out on the Falcon."
Leia started to say something, for once thought better of it, and followed him. They nearly ran down Threepio, who was making his way laboriously across the debris. Han heard him wail, "Where are you going?" but didn't answer. Threepio had enough logic circuits somewhere in his processors to figure it out.
As they ran, they could hear the Imperial troops coming in. Sounds carried around the place in a strange and confusing way. The clack-click of stormtroopers' feet seemed to be following them along the ceilings, and the blaster fire in the north hangar sounded like it was coming from the walls around them.
Then the other sound.
He couldn't tell where it was any more than he could tell where the others were. It was faint. It came through twice, disappeared, came through again. Hiss-shush. Hiss-shush.
Vader.
Damn.
Not that Han was more bothered by Vader than by a legion of stormtroopers - he'd heard that Vader had some not-exactly-standard abilities, but he figured that was probably just Imperial propaganda. It was Leia. She'd -
She was headed back toward the icefall, blaster raised. "Get back here!" he yelled, hoping that the echoes would confuse the Empire, too. "Leia!"
... ei. . a... ei... a...
The echo bounced through the corridor and Leia turned on him in fury. "Nice going."
"We're getting to the ship."
"Yes, Your Highness... " Threepio started.
"I've got a shot at Vader."
"Your Highness, this is madness!"
Han didn't much like taking Threepio's side, but dammit, this was crazy. "You've got a wall of ice and a bunch of stormtroopers on the other side of it."
She stood between Han and the icefall, and he could almost see strings tugging her in different ways. Finally, she put her blaster back in her belt. "Fine." She ran back toward him, and they got to the hangar door at last. Han keyed it open and shooed Threepio through. Chewie roared a reprimand for making him wait.
"Get her started!" Han yelled, then looked behind him. "Your Worship!"
Leia was standing in the door again, eyes boring down the corridor.
"You can't do it, Leia."
She shook her head and shot her blaster aimlessly at the wall. It caved.
"Good. Fine. Get on the ship."
She nodded impatiently, and pushed past him. He watched her running up the gangplank, a tiny figure in white with a crown of dark braids, and wondered why the hell he cared.
Leia resisted the urge to scream over her shoulder, Tell her she's nothing to me!
She didn't want to explain it to Han, and she didn't want to take the chance that they were right nearby. She didn't want Han and Chewie paying for her little family drama.
Besides, risking death to yell something nasty to her mother wasn't a very good way of proving how inconsequential she was. Her mind was beginning to cool with the flight. It didn't leave time for aimless anger.
She passed Threepio in the corridor of the Falcon, where he was staring at a flashing light and whistling something.
Chewie was in the cockpit, and Leia didn't need to understand Wookiee to know that the Falcon wasn't in any shape to outrun the Empire. Han brushed past her without a look
(Hey, I'm HERE!)
and took his place at the control panel. She followed and looked over his shoulder, though the ship's systems were such a mixed bag that she almost never knew what she was looking at.
Han started flipping switches. "How's this?" he yelled to Chewie.
Chewie shook his head and barked at length.
Another bank of switches. "This?"
Same reply.
Suddenly, it was too much. All this, and they'd be trapped in this tin can of a ship, waiting for the Empire to pick them off one at a time. Oh, except me. No, they won't kill me. They'll bring me to my adoring parents. But she was too busy to feel rage or fear. It was just annoyance. "Would it help if I got out and pushed?"
Han, unbelievably, flashed her a grin. "It might."
"Captain Solo?" Threepio's voice was less tentative than usual. "Sir, might I suggest that... "
Han punched the control panel (it lit up, miraculously), and gave Threepio a withering look. Chewie ran off toward another part of the ship.
"It can wait," Threepio said.
Leia glanced at the droid, wondering what had prompted him to interrupt Han in this sort of mood. It wasn't normal. She wished she could say that Threepio would never interrupt if it wasn't something of vital importance, but...
Han turned and went into the cockpit. Leia followed. Threepio clicked along behind, fretting to himself in a language Leia didn't know, though she did catch the occasional, "Oh dear, oh dear."
Leia dismissed him from her mind. "This bucket of bolts is never going to get us past that blockade."
"This baby's got a few surprises left in her, sweetheart." Han dropped himself into the pilot's seat.
Leia started to argue, but the ship rocked suddenly, and snow slumped across the viewport. Leia's eyes went to the closed hangar door. It was glowing... and then it wasn't there any more. Stormtroopers began to flow in.
A blast came from one of the Falcon's turret guns, scattering the squad and burning the large cannon they'd been hurrying to assemble. Chewie appeared in the cockpit and took the co-pilot's seat.
"Come on!" Han yelled. "Switch over, and let's hope we don't have a burnout."
A laser blast hit the shielding and exploded before Leia's eyes. She looked down at Han's hands, working the switches on the panel, and prayed, Don't let him lose this bet.
The engines hummed, fired, came to life. The Falcon lifted. Han flashed a grin at her. "See?"
"Someday you're going to be wrong - " Leia started, planning to finish with a sarcastic comment that she didn't really mean, but then the back wall of the hangar fell in, and a phalanx of stormtroopers pushed inside, something large and black following them. As the ice walls sped away, Leia saw something that dried up all her words, might dry them up for a long time.
Maybe she was wrong.
She had to be. After all,
(you worry about me far too much my love)
he wouldn't allow it.
But she could have sworn, in the last moment before the Falcon left the world of white to soar into the black skies above, that she saw a flash of the deep scarlet that marked the line between them.
"Wait here," was the command. "Once the base is secure, I will notify you." The stormtroopers that flanked her gave nods of assent. His head turned to her ever so slightly, but Amidala didn't acknowledge it in any way. He would never bring their argument out in the open, so his hands were tied. Once he walked off the ship, she was going to follow him. She knew that the group assigned to protect her wouldn't dare try to stop her. So they would all head into the base together, whether he liked it or not.
The door rose, blowing in a blast of frigid air and ice. Amidala winced against it, her thin red veils providing little defense. Her husband had almost laughed when she refused to change into something warmer. But these gauzy dresses and coverings were all her children really knew of her, and this was how she meant to face them. Whether or not the familiarity would be a help or a harm was a question she had refused to consider too closely.
Anakin strode purposefully down the ramp, and marched through a door that several troopers had just blasted through. After a calculated pause, she followed.
She could almost feel her guards' surprise, mixed with a touch of horror... Vader would probably be angry with them for ignoring his orders to wait. But no one wanted to be the one to run and grab her, as that probably wouldn't sit well with him either.
Good, let them be confused. It would make it easier for her to catch up.
"My Lady?" a brave soldier ventured. She didn't even pause, stepping high over the rubble and into the base.
She found herself in a cavernous hallway that seemed to stretch and echo endlessly before her. Anakin and his stormtroopers were almost at the end of it; behind her, her troops were scrambling out of the ship to stay by her side. She took a deep breath that chilled her to the core, and determinedly followed her husband.
Vader's pace increased steadily as they made their way through winding passages to the hangar. He knew she was behind him - he was surprised she had waited at all to ignore his warnings. Perhaps he should have stopped and waited for her, to ensure she didn't get into any serious trouble... but he didn't sense any danger. The Rebels were all but gone now. And what he could sense made it imperative that he hurry, even if it meant leaving her behind.
The children were about to leave.
A strong, almost magnetic Force-presence called out to him. There was no one else that it could be. They were both here. They were both near-by. And they both were trying to figure out how to get off this planet.
He felt nothing more specific than that, but he didn't need to. He could not allow them to escape. He would not fail Amidala again.
His own emotions about the children were worried and ambivalent - he needed them, but knew they would despise him; was thrilled at the thought of being reunited with them, but worried at what he might be required to do if they refused to join him. But Amidala's feelings, as naïve as they might be, were clear and simple and unrelenting. She needed her children. And that was the end of it.
Another set of blasters rang out, another hole opened up. Vader stepped into the hangar and found a sole transport preparing to leave. It had to be the last one left - the battle was already over, and they had taken an extreme risk of getting caught by waiting this long. On any other day, they would have all been taken prisoner. But Vader was certain that the children weren't on the ship, so he continued to walk past it, ignoring the confusion of his men, who had begun firing on it.
Amidala also slipped past them, and was now directly behind him. He didn't say anything to her; he didn't need to. They both knew that any ship still here would be waiting for the last of the Rebel leaders. With this ship gone, the twins would not be able to escape the base.
Amidala finally reached her husband's side at the far end of the hangar. In her thoughts, she knew that she was starting to get carried away, but she didn't care. She had earned it.
She could see Leia's face in her mind perfectly. Her daughter's status as a monarch and a Senator meant there were many holo-images to be had, and Amidala couldn't get enough of them - already adoring the beautiful, mature woman her Leia had grown into.
And Luke... well, his face was harder to conjure up. All she had was a blurry picture or two from Imperial spies. Anakin had tried to show her what he had seen of Luke - a quick glimpse, then the doors closing as Luke fled the Death Star. That had never been close to enough.
Amidala snapped out of her reverie, wondering why they were still standing there. Then she realized that neither of them had a blaster. Annoyance shook her to her core, then a few of the soldiers, realizing that the Vaders showed no interest in the transport, left the small battle and hurried to catch up. Finally, someone shot at the door.
Nothing happened. This door was apparently reinforced.
Three troopers quickly lined up, and fired in unison. The blast seemed to rock the entire hangar for a moment - she felt Anakin reach out briefly to steady her - and then a dusty haze of snow seemed to be everywhere. She peered through it, noticing that the door had been destroyed, but part of the hallway just beyond it had completely collapsed.
The troops recovered and lifted their guns to fire again, but Vader raised a hand to stop them. As the rest of the troopers continued their fight with the now damaged transport, he simply stood there, silent.
And then she heard it, clear and ringing, despite the commotion behind them in the hangar.
"Leia!"
"... ei... a... ei... a... "
Her heart leapt into her throat. She reached out to touch the wall of ice that separated them, and whispered, "Leia?"
Her husband took her by the shoulder, and gently but firmly moved her aside. After a curt signal, another larger blast rocked the hangar. And another. And finally, the hallway was free.
And empty.
Vader led the final charge down the hallway that connected the two main hangars, with Amidala nearly matching him stride for stride.
He was so focused on getting to Leia that he almost didn't see a blaster shot fly down the hallway, hitting the side wall meters ahead of them. He quickly moved to shield Amidala, but she was already brushing him off, impatient to get through this latest cave-in and keep going. He was starting to wish that he had brought a blaster of his own, though he never carried one. Waiting for the stormtroopers to react was maddening.
Another blast. Another short run to a sealed door. The sound of a ship gearing for take-off.
"This ship must be stopped," Vader barked as they went to work on the hangar door. He wanted no confusion after letting the transport escape. "All prisoners are to be taken alive."
The door disintegrated, and Vader immediately felt his words were in vain. As they entered firing, the ship came fully to life, and flew out of the hangar.
Amidala knew the feeling too well. She resigned herself to it.
It was the feeling of her heart and soul being forcibly wrenched from her. As her children left Hoth, that was all she was left with. Anguish. Again.
She didn't think she could take it... but just as she thought she was about to go numb, she felt something. A weight on her shoulder.
She turned, and was stunned to see her husband's hand resting there, reassuringly. For him, it was an outrageous breach of the protocol they had established - comforting her, even in this small way, in front of his subordinates. Such a little thing, but it was enough to pull her out of the despair she was prepared to throw herself into at the thought of losing her children again.
She smiled, and hoped that he could somehow see it, even with the veils.
He gave a final squeeze, then turned to the troops and began snapping orders to them, and then on his comlink to the fleet. All available resources - Star Destroyers, TIE fighters, everything - were to disable and capture the Millennium Falcon, and bring the passengers directly to him.
Yes, they can still be captured. She hadn't lost them yet. They wouldn't be able to get past the fleet.
That is what she told herself all the way back to the Imperial transport. For her, at this point, there were no other possibilities.
