Chapter Ten:

Their small shuttle landed with no issues, something Luke found a little disconcerting. They had met with no resistance thus far in their assignment. But then, since their shuttle was incognito and their mission secret, it was also a great comfort to know that their landing had gone as planned.

Now, as they walked in silence toward their goal, something about the whole affair didn't sit well with him. He couldn't place it exactly, but he knew something was off.

"Hold on, guys," Luke murmured, and the six other men— spread out as they were— stopped quickly.

"What is it, Commander?" asked his second in command, a man named Tinal Nanos.

"Something doesn't feel right," Luke told him.

The man lifted a brow. "What do you mean, Sir?"

Luke thinned his lips. "I mean, we haven't met any resistance whatsoever. Shouldn't we have at least seen some sort of patrol or something?"

"Not if this base is supposed to be off the radar," Tinal rebuffed. "I think it's just jitters, Sir: but don't worry, we'll pull through this."

Luke shook his head. "I don't think it's nerves."

Tinal's mouth set in a firm line, an indication that he wasn't a believer in the Force, which was what was giving Luke pause. However, Luke had been given charge of this mission, so his second in command lifted a pointed brow.

"Do you want to turn back?"

The challenge was clear, even if the man wasn't technically stepping out of line. Luke ignored the challenge and closed his eyes, searching his instincts. Nothing screamed out at him, it was more a nagging feeling of something not being right.

Not enough of an alarm to turn around. Besides, Luke had agreed to come in order to rescue a fellow soldier. He intended to follow through on that.

With a sigh, Luke shook his head and motioned for his men to continue forward. They were in a field of exceptionally tall grasses, so high that they would have concealed Chewbacca standing at his full height.

As such, while they could not see their target save for the scanner Tinal held and Luke's vague Force sense, it also meant that their approach would be hidden. Luke was glad it was night time, though he couldn't help but recall— with some anxiety— the holofilm Han had talked him in to watching. One where creatures lurked in places like these, ready to prey on the unsuspecting fools who treaded through …

"We've reached the perimeter fence, Sir," another man said softly, and Luke nodded, forcing himself to focus.

Luke counted down from three with his fingers, and then signaled forward. As one, Luke and half the men scaled the fence once his technician had disabled the electric. Then they blended in to the ground as they crouched low and spread out over the grounds to take out the guards they spotted.

Luke kept his lightsaber clipped to his belt, since the glowing blue blade would have been an instant giveaway to both his position, and his identity. Instead, he reached over his shoulder to unsheathe the sword Han had given him, which he kept strapped to his back.

With the precision born of endless hours of practice, Luke wielded the blade. However, instead of simply killing the man just because he was a guard, Luke used the pommel to knock him out.

Luke did not want to kill needlessly; he just hoped his choice wouldn't come back to bite him. He heard com-clicks on his headset, and knew his men had also been successful. Luke motioned for the second wave of Rebels to join them.

The triplet of techs split up to join the three men of the first wave. Luke's splicer made quick work of the keypad, and soon Luke was making his way through the building. His splicer— Onad Koltan— kept pace as much as he could but Luke moved with a fluid grace the man had never seen before.

Luke had taken the time on the hyperspace trip here to memorize the layout their spy had been able to procure for them. Luke had felt an inkling of suspicion then, something akin to Madine's sentiments during his debrief.

But thus far they had been correct, so Luke knew where he was headed. His other two teams would be sweeping the halls around his position to keep their escape route as clear as possible.

Luke met the first pair of stormtroopers about three halls in, and was forced to slice their throats, since with their helmets a blow to the head wouldn't be effective. He dragged their bodies into the empty office they'd been standing near after a quick sweep with his eyes confirmed it was clear.

Then he continued on. When he got to the stairs that led down to the detention cells, Luke paused to listen carefully. He heard faint talking, and so he motioned to Onad to keep quiet.

Hugging the wall, Luke took the steps with silent footfalls, moving as quickly as he dared. He paused when the voices got louder, and peered cautiously around the bend. To his surprise, a small command center sat at the base of the steps, completely vulnerable to attack.

Or so it appeared.

His instincts told him that there were hidden defense systems in place. A tap on his shoulder drew his attention back to the splicer who'd tailed him.

The man showed him a datapad that showed their location, and that of their target. Three cells in on the left. Luke nodded his understanding. At that moment, he spotted two more shadows join them on the stairs.

Tinal stopped behind Onad and gave Luke one deliberate nod. Luke returned the gesture, and gave the signal to continue with the rescue. Tinal's answer was to tighten his grip on the blaster.

Luke took a deep breath and then charged down the stairs, his keen eyes picking out at least three perimeter guards as well as the officer in the center. Tinal used his blaster to take out two of the guards before Luke made it to the officer. When the grey-clad Imperial opened fire with his blaster pistol, Luke he ducked into a roll behind the consol opposite of the last stormtrooper.

Blasterfire began to erupt toward Luke as the officer followed his movements, and Luke spotted Tinal hovering in the stairwell, where he continued to exchange fire with the remaining guard.

Luke felt a spike of warning in the Force, not unlike those he got while in his X-wing. Looking left toward the corridor that led to the detention cells, Luke saw two more stormtroopers racing to help.

And he was directly in their crosshairs.

Not to mention the officer was still laying down the occasional suppression fire: just enough to keep Luke pinned down.

He knew what he had to do. Replacing his sword, Luke turned himself over to the Force and whipped out his lightsaber. Rolling back to where he'd performed his tuck-and-roll, Luke came up on his feet and ignited the blade.

The officer's eyes widened but to his credit he didn't flinch away. He instead turned his blaster on Luke and opened fire. Luke put all his self-training to use and deflected the bolts. He surprised himself with how easily he kept up, though he knew it was the Force aiding him.

Then the two extra stormtroopers opened fire as the flanked the officer from the entrance to the corridor. He was half expecting fire to come from his right as well until he realized that Tinal had at last taken that Imperial out.

Then, just before Luke sensed him in the Force, Tinal appeared behind him and began to shoot over his commander's shoulder.

After taking out one stormtrooper, Luke shifted his stance so he could defend against the officer and last trooper, both of whom were more on the left.

Luke shot a command over his shoulder. "Get Brandon!"

"But…"

"Go!" Luke cut him off. "I'll hold them off. Stay behind me, and take Onad with you to get the door!"

"Yes sir," Tinal acquiesced, motioning for Onad to follow.

Luke steadily moved in an arc with Tinal and Onad behind him, continuously deflecting blasterfire, though he wondered how much longer he could actually keep this up. The stormtrooper shifted nervously at Luke's daring maneuver, and his hesitation was all Tinal needed to get in a well-aimed shot.

Then Luke and Tinal reached the corridor, and Onad dashed inside, Tinal following. Then, to his utter surprise, the officer stopped firing.

"Can we talk, Rebel?" the man asked, something flickering across his face.

Luke hesitated, his blade held defensively across his body. "About what?"

"Your surrender," the man replied, an odd smile touching his lips.

Luke narrowed his eyes. "I think you're not in a position to make those kinds of demands."

"I think you underestimate the Empire, boy," the officer spat back, right before he pressed a button on something strapped to his wrist.

Even if the Force hadn't just set off a cacophony of warning klaxons in his mind, the arrival of a harried Tinal and Onad solidified Luke's previous statement that something wasn't right.

"Brandon's dead, Sir," Tinal reported gruffly.

"We need to get out of here!" Luke hissed, already moving. Tinal and Onad stuck to his six as they had before and Luke steadily backed them toward the stairs, but then a shout of pain echoed down the stairwell and the last splicer tumbled down in a tangle of limbs.

His limp body landed at Tinal's feet just as a company of ten stormtroopers arrived. They fanned out, filling the room to surround the three Rebels.

"The other two are down, Sir," the stormtrooper captain reported to the officer.

"Good, take them."

Tinal tensed. "Sir, we need to get you out of here."

"No, we all get out," Luke whispered back.

"I don't think that will be possible, Commander," Tinal replied as the stormtroopers converged on them.

To Luke's surprise, Onad produced a pair of wicked-looking blasters from hidden holsters.

"Tinal's right, Commander," Onad said. "You get out no matter what. Madine's orders."

A flash of righteous fury flashed through Luke. "What, exactly, did Madine order you to do?"

"If this was a trap, we were to see to it that you survived, even f it meant our lives," Tinal said, "and we all agreed."

Before Luke could respond, both Tinal and Onad sprang into action, taking out two guards each at once. They swept through the line of troopers like madmen, and Luke stood frozen in shock for a split second.

Then he came to his senses and joined the fray. As he engaged a pair of stormtroopers, Luke felt a warning in the Force… but wasn't fast enough. A third trooper appeared as if from thin air with a vibroblade in hand, and struck at Luke before he could properly defend. The blade sank into Luke's leg, causing him to scream in agony.

In the throes of survival instinct, Luke threw up his hand and pushed the man away, sending him to crumple when he struck the wall at a great velocity. Luke had no time to wonder how he'd done it, though.

Then Onad appeared at his side, taking out the two Luke had moved to engage.

"Get out of here!" Onad shouted, shoving Luke toward a pathway that had been cleared.

Luke stumbled as Onad ushered him, and he staggered up two stairs before looking back. To his dismay, three more squads of troopers were now pouring into the chaos of the room from doorways Luke hadn't known were there.

He was about to ignore Onad's request and return when the man was shot in the stomach. He whirled and fell to the floor, lifting his gaze to Luke's.

"G-go, C-Command-der!" he gurgled. "D-don't make-make our sac-sacrifice in… vain!"

His head fell limp, though he didn't die yet. Instead he continued to fire at random into the ranks of Imperials the room. Feeling his heart constricting, Luke finally obliged, turning tail to head out. To his bafflement, he encountered no enemies on his way out.

They must have put everything they had into that trap. How foolish… Then Luke chastised himself. Don't question it, you imbecile, just get out!

Sure enough, the thought had hardly crossed his mind when he heard the sound of stormtrooper armor following. Luke's leg was in agony, and he had to bite his cheek to keep from hollering.

Luke moved as fast as his injury would allow until he reached the fence. He hesitated a second, wondering if the Imperials had turned the power back on, but then he spotted the control panel… one that was smoking.

Without further vacillation, Luke ignored his throbbing leg and scaled the fence, literally flipping over the top and falling to the ground at the top when red blasterfire zinged past his ear. Luke cried out when, upon trying to push to his feet, he discovered that his wrist opposite his injured arm was either badly sprained or broken.

Broken left wrist… stabbed right quad… Luke sighed, but jerked in alarm when the blasterfire hit the fence behind him and began to melt through.

He forced himself up and plunged into the grasses. He was about to bless the tall grass when— upon glancing down— Luke realized that he was leaving a trail of blood along the plants that touched his leg. His leg also oozed, but he didn't have time to pause and fix the issue.

If he stopped now, he was a dead man.

Though the more he thought about it, the more he realized that had they wanted him dead, their shots wouldn't have been so off-the-mark.

Luke's first impulse once he'd established a steady pace was to get back to the ship. He was just angling that way when a fireball reached high above the tops of the trees in the heavy forest at the edge of the prairie.

This was definitely a trap. Luke mused. They were waiting for us at every turn…

That had to mean Vader was behind this.

With a pained gasp, Luke stepped into a small hole, and his leg wrenched. Biting back a sharp cry of pain, Luke pushed onward. He dove into the trees; going in as far as he could before his strength began to truly fail him.

He finally had to stop, his chest heaving, and his leg so agonized he couldn't describe the pain. His wrist, thankfully, hadn't yet given him too much trouble. He glanced down to see if he was still leaving blood, but in the deep darkness of the night, he couldn't tell.

But he could hear the shouts of the troopers.

Glancing about, Luke saw nothing but thick forest, complete with massive trees that dwarfed the ones he'd seen on Yavin IV. He threw his head back in a gesture of frustration, and noted that the boughs of the nearest tree were more than large enough to hold and hide him.

Thinning his lips, Luke approached the trunk, looking for handholds. There were a few, and while it was an immensely painful act, Luke finally managed to reach the first bough… where he promptly collapsed.