Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world. - Yeats
Yavin 4 was a steamy, soaking wet hellhole.
The twins were irritable and out of sorts the moment they stepped off the Falcon. Still, they'd been true to their end of the bargain, and had helped Han and Chewie search the Falcon from stem to stern for any sign of an Imperial tracker. Leia was the one who'd found it, tucked up under one of the shield generators. Han had lifted her up so she could reach it, all the while not dwelling on how her waist felt beneath his hands. He also wasn't thinking about goodbyes. He kept his thoughts focused on the cold hard cash that was going to be his and Chewbacca's any minute now.
Leia had gone to haggle with someone over possible ground transportation for her and Luke, and Luke had stayed behind to help unload the few things they'd brought on board.
Han had assumed all along that they were sneaking to Yavin for some sort of wild party, but neither of them were dressed for that. They both looked practical, like—be honest, they look like they're headed for a fight. He didn't miss the cache of weapons they had with them, or the ones they both had stowed on their bodies.
"So… how are you two getting back home?" Han meant for the question to sound like idle curiosity.
Luke looked up from where he was crouched next to one of their bags. His eyes were miles away; there was something unrecognizable in his face that nearly made Han take a step backwards, something hard and wild. "Huh?" He smiled and the illusion vanished briefly. "We'll find someone. Trust me, you don't want to stick around."
"What the hell are you two planning, Luke?"
Whatever changes had happened on the Death Star, they looked to be permanent. Han had seen cold blue eyes before, but he'd taken this kid for a spoiled brat, and now the brat was looking at him with killer's eyes.
"Don't worry about it. Just get off-world as soon as you can." Luke stood and dusted off his hands. "We'll be fine."
"Sure. Of course you will."
Leia came into view, looking grimly satisfied. "I've got a couple of speeder bikes for us."
Not a landspeeder—that suggested they were going somewhere remote. Han tried to tell himself it wasn't his business, or his problem. Not anymore. "Great. Well, if you two are all set…"
"You want your money, of course." Leia handed him the cash, stepping close enough to hide the transaction from any observers. Before he could pocket the credits, she grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled him down for a long, slow, very thorough kiss. "Take care of yourself, hotshot."
Luke followed after, with a slightly more restrained hug and a kiss pressed to his ear. "Stay safe."
"You too." He caught Luke's hand as he drew away. "Hey kid." When Luke turned back to him, he was at a loss for words. "I mean it. Whatever crazy thing you two are planning, come back in one piece."
"We will. We always do." There was that feral grin again, the one that raised the hair on the back of his neck. Han suddenly felt a little sorry for whoever they were going after.
Han tipped them a mocking salute then forced himself to turn his back and climb on board the Falcon. By the time he got the cockpit, they were out of sight.
#
Leia had the coordinates for the most likely location of the school. If they were lucky, it would take them less than an hour to get there on the bikes. Neither of them spoke as they loaded up their bags, and neither of them looked back to the Falcon.
They were halfway there when it started raining so hard the visibility dropped to nearly nothing and they had to stop.
Their wet-weather gear was little use against the downpour and they huddled beneath a tree for shelter.
"We should still have a few hours before dark to get a sense of the layout," Luke said, practically having to shout over the rain.
"That many Jedi, they're bound to feel us coming." She'd argued this before. They had no chance of a total surprise attack.
Their plan, such as it was, was simple. They had enough detonators in their bags to bring down a large building or two and weapons enough to face an army. If they used the detonators and some well-placed blaster shots, they could herd their opponents for the best possible location for a massacre. Barring that, there was really only one person that Luke wanted to be sure they targeted: Obi-Wan Kenobi. With the leader gone, the rest of the order would be weakened. And perhaps, whatever hold Kenobi had over their father would end.
"Just because they know we're around somewhere, that doesn't mean they can stop us." He wasn't wrong—they both had some shielding ability, so they could hide their exact location, if not their presence.
"What are we going to do about Vader? He'll be right behind us." With the Death Star, neither of them needed to say aloud.
"They're not going to use it on this moon with us still here." Luke sounded more certain than Leia felt.
"Maybe not, but that won't stop him from sending troopers after us. We could wind up fighting on two fronts."
The rain started to slacken enough for them to see the path ahead, so they mounted the speeder bikes again. "They'll have to find us first." He gave her a grin brimming with overconfidence, and if it were anyone else, she'd think he was going to get them killed. But she'd seen him pull off the impossible too many times, wearing that exact grin, to lose faith now.
Leia shook the rain out of her eyes and followed him.
#
"Status report," Vader demanded.
"We should be arriving at the Yavin system in less than an hour, Lord Vader," the technician said.
Vader looked out the viewport, seeing nothing but the space through which they traveled. The Death Star was fast, but a small ship like the Millennium Falcon would be faster by far. Were Luke and Leia already on Yavin 4?
He should have taken care of Obi-Wan long ago. Now he would, if only to keep his children from doing it. It was this thought that kept him occupied until the technician announced they were about to drop out of hyperspace.
When they arrived, Vader was already in a shuttle, ready to take off the moment he got clearance. He'd have to act quickly. Tarkin was under orders not to fire until Vader gave him the signal… but Vader knew better than to trust his life or the lives of his children to that man. He could count on having no more time than it would take for the Death Star to get a clear shot of the moon.
It was a chance he had to take.
#
The twins had made planetfall. Obi-Wan could sense them, two burning-bright flames drawing closer. He could register nothing but their existence, no hint of their thoughts or plans, no suggestion how close they were.
Obi-Wan wasn't the only one who could sense them. Ferus met him as Obi-Wan left the main building. "They're coming. This threat you've been talking about."
"Yes." Obi-Wan watched the patrols moving around the school's perimeter. There were roughly a dozen Jedi remaining at the school, and half again as many older padawans.
"Master, don't you think it's time you tell us who we're up against here?"
There were too many secrets locked away in Obi-Wan Kenobi's mind; he'd forgotten how to share them, even with his second-in-command. "The Emperor's children."
"The Sith twins?" Ferus's face wrinkled in disgust, reminding Obi-Wan of the boy he'd once been. Ferus wasn't a boy anymore; in fact, the gold streak in his dark hair was turning to silver. "I didn't think the Emperor ever let them out of their cage."
"They're not Sith, not yet. Not while their father lives." Obi-Wan lived in a world of half-truths and misdirection. "But the twins are trained, and they are strong."
"How many troops are they bringing with them? Can you tell?"
"I think… perhaps… none." Obi-Wan should have expected no different from the children of Anakin Skywalker. And if they were anyone else's children, such a foolhardy plan wouldn't be worth worrying about. It remained to be seen if the twins had inherited their father's blind luck at pulling off the impossible.
Ferus laughed. "You can't be serious. What, do they expect us to just surrender?"
"You of all people should know the damage that just one or two people, strong in the Force, are capable of," Obi-Wan chided.
"But against all of us, Master, what chance do they have?"
"Ferus," Obi-Wan reached out and took him by the arm. "I want you to tell the others. No one is to harm either of the twins."
"Forgive me for saying so, but I doubt that they'll give us the same consideration."
"I know, but you must trust me, Ferus. We cannot let anything happen to them." He waited for Ferus to ask him why, but for once, he did not. Obi-Wan went on. "These two… they have an important role to play. They may not even know it yet. But we must keep them safe."
"All right." Ferus wore a skeptical smile, one eyebrow raised. "I'll tell the others. No trying to kill the two people coming here to kill us."
"I mean it. They're no use as a bargaining chip if they're dead or maimed." Obi-Wan had no intention of bargaining with the Emperor, but that knowledge he'd keep to himself for now. Ferus was much more likely to follow orders if he thought he knew the reason behind them.
He watched Ferus walk away and shook his head at the caprice of fate. Once Ferus and Anakin had fought against each other at the temple, both trying to be the best. Obi-Wan had favored Anakin, and yet here they were, Anakin as good as gone, and Ferus as loyal and dedicated a second-in-command as Obi-Wan could have wished for.
#
The alarms sounded across the compound just after 1600 hours. The afternoon rains were still falling, cutting down visibility. Shara sat in the mission briefing thinking about how tricky getting out of atmo was going to be.
It turned out, there were bigger things to worry about. General Dodonna detailed the defenses and armaments on the battle station currently hanging over their heads, and then said something so ridiculous that Shara wasn't sure she'd heard correctly at first. "A small one-man fighter should be able to penetrate the outer defense."
Shara spoke up. "Pardon me for asking, sir, but what good are snub fighters going to be against that?" The pilots around her echoed her concern.
"An analysis of the plans provided by Mon Mothma has demonstrated a weakness in the battle station."
It was worse than Shara thought, as Dodonna went on to describe the impossible: hitting a two-meter square with a proton torpedo, flying at speed, with fire coming at them from all directions. The mood after the briefing was less than elated, more like grimly determined.
They broke to get to their ships. Kes stood waiting by Shara's Y-wing. Her astromech was in place already, all she had to do was get on board.
Kes read her face as she approached. "That bad, huh?" He was in uniform, but the chances of the Pathfinders seeing action were minimal. Why would the Empire bother sending troops down here when they could just blow the moon out of orbit?
Shara answered him by throwing her arms around him, pressing her face against his neck. This was a rotten mindset to go into battle with, but she couldn't shake the notion that this was the last time.
"Hey. Hey," Kes cradled her head and pressed kisses into her hair. "We've been in tight spots before. And I hear we've got a sure-fire way to blow that station to hell."
"Not that sure-fire." Shara was horrified to hear her voice thicken and she swallowed the lump trying to form in her throat. "But it's a chance."
"So get up there and save our asses, Shara Bey." Kes pulled back and looked her in the eye, giving her the smile she'd first fallen in love with. "Cause if anybody can do it, it's you."
Shara kissed him hard, because if it was the last time, she was going to make it count. "When I get back you and I are going to have a talk about the future, Captain."
"Babies?"
"Let's talk about one, first." She kissed him again. "If we wait until this war's over, it might be too late."
Kes stepped back and watched her climb into the cockpit. "Hurry back."
"Be good while I'm gone." It was they always said before a fight, and Shara swallowed hard again as she pulled on her flight helmet.
As soon as it was on, though, a quiet sense of calm descended, and everything in the universe narrowed to the controls beneath her hands, the sky in front of her, and the voices in her comms.