The Star Destroyer Revenge comes within Alderaan's orbit and slowly cruises along the axis. Inside the massive Imperial vessel, Darth Vader stands on the bridge looking out of the main window with his arms crossed together behind him. The view of the planet sends a light blue shine against the Sith Lord's polished armor and helmet. The reflection of the world's crest shimmers in his dark oval eyes.
Commander Altavis steps out of the lower floor control area and clicks his heals with pride.
"We've arrived my lord."
"I can see that commander…stating the obvious is not necessary." The hollowed voice of Vader breathes out to him.
"Yes, sorry."
Vader turns around to face him and unhooks his arms to allow his cape to wrap around his body again.
"Senator Organa will no doubt arrive soon. I want to investigate this planet before he arrives. Is that clear commander?"
Altavis jerks his head slightly and gives a slight grin.
"Completely sir."
The dark Sith steps towards the man and gazes down as he hovers over him.
"No mistakes this time, Altavis. I want troops on the surface, in every sector, in every location, wherever a small band of Jedi might hide. The mountains, the forest, everywhere and anywhere they might seek shelter. Take a squadron of fighters and scan the planet piece by piece."
The commander just gulps in fear and salutes him.
"It will be done my Lord."
"Make sure it is…Commander." Vader breathes out as he passes by him.
The dark lord of the Sith makes his way to the elevator and turns around as the doors close to take him down. Altavis gives an uneasy glance at the planet they orbit and folds his arms together lost in thought.
•••••••••••••••••••••••••
In the capital city on Alderaan, walking through the vast sliver and glass corridors of the royal palace. A royal guard and the city's minister approach the Queen Breha Organa. Both seem to rush to her as they bring the dire news.
"My lady…" The Minister gasps out of breath. "There is an Imperial Ship in orbit demanding they search our planet."
"What ever for?" Breha questions to them.
"For Jedi my Queen." The Caucasian guard states. "It has been decreed that all planets will be searched…by order of the Emperor."
"Well tell them they have no authority here. I forbid a search." She scowls in anger. "If they have a problem with that they can take it up with my husband…"
"Madame please." The Minister begs. "It's too late to deny them. They're landing as we speak. They will be in the city in minutes."
Shocked by the sudden news of it, she quickly runs down the hall as the men follow behind her. She finally understands why they were so frantic to find her. The only thought on her mind was protecting that of her daughter, Leia. She and the others dart down the many well-lit corridors of the sculpted building of glass and silver steel. Impressive architecture that would make any stand in awe of it's sheer wonder and design, truly this was a world of utter beauty and harmony. If this were any other stately arrival, the Queen would be a welcoming hostess and show them the wonders of their capital. But she's heard about the new Emperor and ill fate of the Jedi from his rise. Her husband Bail told her of all what has happened and of the change of direction the Senate has fallen into. He even told her about Leia.
"Majesty where are you going?" The guard shouts at her. "We need to get you to the main courtyard to greet the Imperial guests if we are to be cooperative!"
"I must tend to my daughter first. I won't leave her alone during all this."
"I will summon the nanny for you m'lady!" The minister says trying to comfort her. "She will look after her until this inspection is over."
"No…No!" Breha growls. "I must protect her."
The sound of the passing imperial fighters echo through the halls and tremble the ground as they sprint. Through the huge vertical windows of the palace, the ships can be seen flying low over the lush green landscape of Alderaan. Both the Minister and the Royal Guard were glancing in horror at the sight of so many fighters flying in formation over the vast city and it's surrounding territory. As they both paused in their steps, Queen Breha continued on towards a room a few feet away and passed through the opening doors. Inside the crystal like room was the sleeping child. Leia was at the very end with an oval window shining a light down onto her elaborate sliver crib, the artwork and detail of the etchings on it where the visions of masterful artisans. The pink silk sheets and embroidered lace pillows nestled the baby as she slept in her bed. Princess Leia Organa, an angel in her adoptive mother's eyes, one that must be protected from any harm.
"I must protect you." She whispers as she approaches the crib.
Stroking the sleeping girl's face, the adoptive mother kisses her lightly on the forehead.
••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
The large Imperial Shuttle had already landed on the docking pad close to the main capital. Darth Vader stepped down out of the shuttle with a group of Imperial soldiers that had their weapons firmly in hand. As the Dark Lord of the Sith walked across the platform, an Alderaan soldier approached him and held his hand up to gesture his halting from proceeding any further.
"By order of the Queen and the Republic of Alderaan…we protest this hostel action and…"
Vader quickly interrupted him by using the force to lift him up and slowly crush his throat from speaking.
"We are here on official Imperial business." The Sith Lord stated.
As the man continued to hover over the platform, Vader and his armed escorts passed by and continued on into the city. The man finally dropped down as he was released and violently gasped for air. The strangle hold on him was overwhelming and felt as if he was going to die. As he took in deep breaths, he took out his communicator from his utility belt and activated it.
"They're….they're coming….tell….the Queen…"
••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
Picking up the child from her bed, Breha wraps a blanket around Leia and proceeds to walk out the room. But before she can step out the door, the Minister bursts in with a nervous expression.
"You're majesty…quickly…they're coming. Please go and greet them in a friendly manner. I will look after the baby."
"No. We must not let them near her." She demands.
"Very well, come I'll take you to a secluded spot and perhaps we can stall the Imperial envoy till you are ready to meet."
As the two turn to walk out together, a pair of Stormtroopers enter holding their guns in a threatening manner and push the two back inside.
"Stay where you are! Nobody move!" The trooper on the left commands.
"How dare you enter these chambers! Who do you think you are?"
"We are the Empire." A booming voice replies.
The respirator breathing of the tall, black dressed Sith Lord causes the Queen to recoil in fear as she watches him step into the room like the specter of death.
"And as such…we have the right to inspect all worlds for traitors." Vader continues as he paces around them. "Even those that are loyal to the Emperor…and you are loyal are you not?"
The woman takes a deep gulp and nods.
"We've always been loyal to the Republic…the Empire will also receive our loyalty. Nothing has changed."
"Comforting to know." Vader muses. "Alderaan was also loyal to the Jedi Order, support was always strong for them too. Now that they have been branded traitors and enemies of the Empire…do you now still remain loyal to them?"
The Queen rocks the baby as she stirs from her deep slumber and begins to cry in hunger. Looking at Vader as he stops in front of her, she stares back at him with complete focus.
"We have no loyalty to them anymore. Whatever the Empire decides is best is what we will agree with."
Vader tilts his head back and probes her mind for the truth. Convinced of her statement he just nods and rests his hands on his belt.
"A wise decision, your majesty."
The baby continues to cry louder and makes Vader look down at her.
"I was unaware that you and the Senator had a child."
"We've been trying for some time."
"Highly unlikely that you should bare one now…" Darth Vader states, as he looks closer at her.
Breha steps back from him like the protective mother she is and continues to rock Leia in an effort to quiet her.
"We adopted her. Just recently." She says cuddling the baby. "The Clone Wars left many families torn apart. Many were left homeless and children left without parents to care for them. My husband and I adopted her from an outpost of refugees…she'd be sold as a slave if it weren't for us."
Vader seemed to jerk his head back as he heard that. He knew what it was like to be a slave, a child one at that. He could sympathize with the fact that the girl would be better off living with privilege that he never had. But then again, seeing how most royalty lives, it also disgusted him at how some growing up in such environments turned them into such spoiled brats. He probed the woman's mind to see if she was in fact telling the truth, but all he could get was the feeling she had when the child was brought home to her. A repeating thought that seemed only too natural for a loving parent. Vader dismissed her thoughts and turned around to the two stormtroopers still holding their weapons at them.
With a slight gesture to them, the guards lowered their guns and placed them by their sides. The tension in the room was now gone, Vader turned back to her and folded his arms.
"Once we've completed our search and found no evidence of Jedi….then we will take our leave of you. But don't resist us."
The woman finally manages to rock Leia into a lull and stares back at the towering dark lord.
"We're a peaceful world. We have no weapons here. There is no reason to resist, as I keep telling you over and over…we are loyal to the Empire."
"Then you have nothing to fear." Vader simply states.
Taking one last look at the baby, the dark lord turns about and walks out of the room. The two Stormtroopers follow behind and walk beside him as he strides down the hall. The Queen gives a soft sigh of relief and kisses the baby. The minister also lets out a long breath and smirks at the woman with satisfaction.
"The danger is over my lady."
"No." She sharply replies. "The danger has just begun…for all of us."
••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
Meanwhile, back in the Kessel System, on a small planetary outpost, the three Jedi wander about the streets searching for the port where Den Solo awaits them. Lenko walks a few feet in front as he scans the massive metallic doors with the numbers indicated on them. Faded, chipped and looking battered in some respects, the corridor of massive hangers is like stepping into the land of giants. Rather then have an open area to land into, like the ones situated on Tatooine, these ones are embedded in the rock cliffs with constructed ramps and large bridges connecting either side of the huge ravine setting. Jedi Master B'Ni and Laytana keep a steady pace as they watch the small child in front as they periodically check the door numbers as well.
"He shouldn't wander so far ahead." Laytana says with a frustrated tone.
"He's young." The old man sighs at her. "Much like you. Only you are more of an older sole then he is."
"He's a lot younger then me." Laytana peers back at him. "He's just a child."
"Yes, for now." B'Ni nods as he glances over at a door. "But years will pass and he will become as old as you are now. There is only a matter of seven years apart from you…."
Laytana gives him a very stern look and stops him in the middle of their stroll.
"What are you implying?"
The old man smiled at her and just blinked his eyes lightly. The woman gave a roll of her eyes and exhaled in disgust.
"You can't be serious."
"If the Jedi are to endure….then…we must continue the flow of the force."
"That is forbidden." She growls. "Not to mention just utterly immoral and quite shocking to hear a Jedi such as yourself to even think of such a thing!"
"Calm yourself." He replied grabbing her arm as they continue to keep up with the boy now very far ahead of them. "I wasn't implying for you to start something at this date and time. The boy needs to grow up…and it may come sooner then you think. All possibilities must be foreseen if the force is to survive. I only suggested this as one course of action to take…as it were."
"Can we please change the subject? Please?!" She pleads with him.
The old Jedi Master laughs loudly and shakes his head at her question
"Alright…I know you don't want to think about it at this present time. Perhaps he will meet another and spare you the 'immoral' thought of it. I was only pointing out certain necessities when the time comes. Hopefully it won't come to that for you or him."
She lets out a long sigh of relief and un-locks her arm from his.
"I'll be hoping for that too."
Suddenly the padawan Jedi child abruptly stops in his tracks and shouts back to them both.
"I FOUND IT!!"
They could see him pointing and smiling as he waved for them to hurry up. The old man gestured his hand for the boy to calm down as they slowly approached the doors. All three of them finally stood before the orange-red rusting doors and looked around for an activation pad or even a button to access them. But there was nothing to be seen. No entry button, no keypad, not even a link up port for droids to use. It puzzled the two younger Jedi who had never seen this sort of thing before. Everywhere they've ever been to had something to access easily. B'Ni just raised his hand up and slammed it hard on the door twice. The echo was loud outside, but they could also hear it being generated on the inside as well. Suddenly the door started to slowly open up, the sound of rusty metal scraping on the dirt jammed tracks squeaked in a high pitch. They could now see inside and of the two large droids pulling the doors apart for them. It looked rather primitive to see such old robots, lost relics of an ancient time of the galaxy. Still, it was impressive to Lenko, who couldn't help but let out an impressive "wow" as they appeared.
As the big droids finished opening up the bay for them, the Jedi walked inside and saw the ship they were to be riding in.
"You've got to be kidding me." Laytana grumbles. "What a piece of junk."
The ship was small in size, infact it was a dwarf in such a massive hanger like that. The room was round in shape, with a combination of stone and metal walls. The ship itself was slender in appearance, obviously rebuilt over the years, with engines that didn't match the original one that was still left on the back. The cockpit sticks out like a round oval that was molded into the frame of the ship. The octagonal window wraps around it and can see inside where the pilots would sit. The side of the ship had a single door that was down and acted like a ramp into the vessel. It was aged, beaten and looking like it had seen better days. Still the captain came walking out like a proud parent and motioned to it as he greeted them.
"Glad you could make it. There she is...The Razorclaw. She might not look like much, but she's built for speed and easy to get into small areas most ships can't."
"Perfect for smuggling and hiding inside asteroids." The old Jedi smirks.
"Yeah, she can do things most others can't. And she's all mine." Den Solo grins and walks past them rubbing the grease off his hands.
Laytana closes her eyes and shakes her head in disappointment.
"There has got to be another ship we can take."
"What are you talking about?" Lenko says to her. "It's awesome! That thing could out run a fighter no problem!"
The boy goes running aboard and laughs in delight. B'Ni just giggles at the boy's enthusiasm and gives Laytana a tight shoulder hug.
"Like it or not…this is our ride out."
She gives a low moan of disgust and follows the small boy inside the ship. The old Jedi turns back to Den as he returns from cleaning his hands and looks at him with a serious face.
"So what exactly is our destination? If I might be so bold to inquire."
Solo folds his arms together and strokes his beard.
"The outer rim is where you want to go. But I can't take you there in this ship. Small as it is, they'd spot it no problem. Those new cruisers they've got seem to have far better scanning abilities then those used during the clone wars."
"I see." The Jedi mutters.
"I'm taking you to the only place I can. The only place where the Empire isn't searching for Jedi right now. Or small cargo vessels like mine."
"Which is?"
"Muunilinst. It's the only place you can acquire a ship as of right now."
B'Ni gawks at Solo and shakes his head in disagreement.
"No…no, we cannot go back to the core of the system. That's not wise. "
Den gives a frustrated sigh and points at him.
"You need to start thinking a little bit more randomly. The Jedi are predictable. That's the problem, that's why they got defeated. They knew exactly where they were and how to stop them."
"You sound too certain of that my friend." The old Jedi stares at him.
"Maybe I do." Solo shrugs innocently. "I heard many stories from various captains about what happened. The Jedi did things the troops expected, they were out numbered and knew enough of their strategy to take them out. If you really want to send them on a wild goose chase….back track to the core, get a ship and hide within the system. Otherwise…they know you're trying to get out of their territory by any means necessary."
That made sense to B'Ni; he seemed to think about Den's advice as tapped his lip and looked back at the man waiting for his answer.
"Very well." The old Jedi replies. "But why can't you just take us somewhere else within the system? Why take us back to the heart of the Empire to get another ship?"
"As much as I'd love to go venturing out on a long cruise with Jedi, they've got my flight pattern logged. If I so much as veer off of it, they'll be on me fast. And this ship is way to small to hide anything. Even Jedi knights."
Den and B'Ni walk together and continue to talk as they approach the vessel.
"Is there another ship…a faster ship we could take to get us out and past the patrols near the outer rim?"
"You'd be hard pressed to find one. I've only heard of one ship that's dared to make the kessel run. The Millennium Falcon."
"Never heard of it."
"Not surprised." Den snickers. "It's fairly new, I've only heard the rumors about the ship, but I doubt the captain would be sympathetic to your cause."
As they enter into the ship, Den closes the door back up and looks back at the old Jedi who seems lost in thought.
"Trust me. This is the only way you can go. If those ships spot a ship heading for the Outer Rim…they'll intercept it. They're protecting that region of space pretty damn good for some reason."
B'Ni nods in agreement and smiles at Solo.
"I'm glad you're on our side. I am curious though, why are you helping us like this? This seems far beyond your sort of character. No offense."
Den smirks back at him and lowers his eyes.
"It's a bit of a payback to a Jedi that once saved my life during the Clone Wars. I was in the wrong place at the wrong time, he saved me and my friends from being executed by the Droid army."
"Who was this Jedi?" B'Ni questions.
Den shrugs his shoulders and heads off to the cockpit.
"I dunno. Obi…something. Can't remember. All I remember was him and his young friend taking on the droids as we fled."
As the cockpit door shut behind Solo, the old Jedi man smiled as he new of whom he spoke. Obi Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker. The two were always trying to take on more then they could chew. It made him shake his head in memory of them both, for he could just imagine the two hot headed Jedi trying to defeat the great number of Federation Droids. Turning towards the back of the ship, he could see both Laytana and Lenko sitting at a built in booth, small enough to fit four people and yet just as rundown looking as the rest of this ship. He joined them at the booth and sat near Lenko giving him a pat on the head.
"Where are we going?" Laytana inquires. "He didn't really say where he was taking us did he?"
"Well…" B'Ni sighs. "Let's just say we're taking a step back before we can go further."
••••••••••••••••••••
The Razorclaw powers up its various engines, the hover mode activates and the three-prong landing struts fold back into the ship. The landing bay doors were still wide open as the ship begins to move out beyond them. The two huge droids watch the ship pass by and give a slight wave as if to say 'thank you, come again'. The ship had an odd sound to it as it rose upward into the sky. The strain of the metal and the different pulse from the miss-matched engines gave it an irregular beat, as it broke out of the stratosphere, the engines gave yet another low rumble as it kicked into overdrive and shot