Chapter Fourteen

Escape

+17:00

Harry welcomed the break in the fighting as the last of the Stormtroopers were brought down of the latest attack on the Phoenix Order. They had been fighting for the last three and a half hours and he felt that the only thing that was keeping the Imperials going was the fact they had so many men to throw at the Jedi. That and there was a Sith guiding them. Thinking back, he realized that they had underestimated Palpatine again and even with defeating the Sith, the Jedi were still facing destruction. Harry was certainly going to have a word or two with Commander Fey'la concerning his intelligence gathering. According to the Bothan, intelligence had put the majority of the Imperial fleet on the other side of the galaxy and that the most the Imperials would have on hand for reinforcements would be only a few Destroyers and Frigates from the nearby systems.

If that had been the case, their contingency would have been enough and Alliance reinforcements would be able to break through any blockade and rescue any of the stranded Order. Only two things had managed to stave off defeat; bottlenecking the Imperials and the fact they wanted to keep the Academy in tact. Things would not have been going as badly either, if the Empire had not employed their latest counter to the Phoenix Order, DarkTroopers.

Jedi Katarn had briefed Harry on them during a lull of the fight since their retreat into the courtyard and they agreed a droid with that much firepower and nearly curse and lightsaber resistant was the biggest threat since the Death Star. If the Jedi lost their edge on the ground as proof of so many being killed in the first fifteen minutes of the DarkTrooper employment, then the war was taking a turn for the worse. Their numbers had dwindled under two hundred Knights and only fifteen Jedi accounted for, as the four from the caves had not reported in. Of that fifteen, there were only three Jedi Knights from the Old Jedi Order, everybody else having received training under the Phoenix Jedi.

A crack of somebody apparating in attacted his attention as well as the rest of the battle weary camp, "Sirius!" Harry called out and stopped as he recognized his son was alone, "Where's your sister?"

"With Luke and Leia." Sirius answered quickly, glancing at the men and women of the Order still living and noticing that very few did not bear a red badge of war, "We managed to make it through the caves and they're setting up protective wards near the entrance. We were going to set up a Fidelus, but only you and Uncle Anakin know how to do it."

"We're not going to be able to move everybody there, Sirius." Anakin pointed to the littered Knight at the CCP, numbering forty.

"I can set up a portkeys." Sirius nodded to the casualties, "Stick them to the stretchers and have somebody standing by to levitate them safely to the ground."

Harry nodded in approval, "The just might work. We can't be sure when they're going to attack again, so we need to start making them. Anakin, let's go buy us some more time."

"Kenobi!" Anakin shouted to his old Master, "We need a distraction and diversion."

"I always did think you'd be the death of me, Anakin." Kenobi frowned as he listened to Potter and Skywalker lay out the plans, "No time like the present, let's go."

x x x

+17:30

"Madam Skywalker, you're needed on the bridge."

Padme looked up from the desk she had been sitting at and glanced at the desk chrono. Since the Council had been alerted that the Jedi needed reinforcements and had actually agreed to send aid, more than six hours had passed and Padme could only pray that her husband and two children were still alive. She was aboard one of the modified Assault Frigates bound for Korriban, having insisted that she accompany the rescue. Their plan had turned quite simple; use their cloak capable Assault Shuttles to establish contact and rescue the survivors on the surface. Once contact was made the frigates would jump to a rendezvous just outside of detectable range of Korriban and wait for the Assault Shuttles to escape the planet. That was if all went to plan, which in Padme's experience, it never did.

Picking up her customized sidearm, she realized that her pacifistic ideas had been discarded years ago when the Jedi had been slaughtered by a simple command and lie by a person she had once called a mentor. Stepping otu of her door, she secured it and was about to continue when her name was called, "Yes?"

"I want to go with you to the surface, ma'am."

Padme glared at the dark red-haired woman opposite her, "I thought we agreed you were strictly observing, Jade. From the Frigate."

"Same could have been said for you." Mara shot back, "You're part of the Council. Having a bodyguard would look better on the report and less reckless or even less personal."

Pausing to consider Mara's words, Padme eventually nodded and continued to the bridge of the Assault Frigate, "You're right. I am on the council, but I'm also one of the few capable and experienced in heavier combat situations. I'm very capable of taking care of myself. Admiral Ackbar was already assigning a team of Knights to escort me so you really..."

Mara cut her off, "I'm going with you, Skywalker. Is it me or are you all stubborn? I know you're still trying to deny it, my fate is tied to Luke. It happened the day he spared me on the Imperial Center and took me 'prisoner'."

"Luke gave you your lightsaber back?" Padme noticed the weapon hanging on the nineteen year old's belt.

"He changed the crystal to violet." Mara put a hand on the hilt, "Luke gave it to your Artoo unit before he left. Instructions were to pass it on later if I was going to need it."

"Did he just give it to you?" Mara nodded, "What about the one you were using before?"

"That was just at training blade."

"How can I trust you?" Padme's resolve was weakening, already knowing what the outcome of this argument was going to be.

"Luke trusts me."

They paused outside the bridge and Padme gave the younger woman another once over, "If you do anything to jeopardize this mission, if you put my family or any of the other Jedi in danger, I WILL kill you myself." Padme stepped closer, staring hard into the green eyes of Mara, "If you're toying with Luke in any way, I'll make your death slow and painful. I'll make you wish the Emperor had you instead."

"I understand." Mara nodded.

A moment later they entered the bridge and found the Captain, "We're about to enter Korriban, ma'am." Admiral Ackbar is preparing to stay in the fight until our shuttles are launched. Once we located the survivors, our ships will jump out. Our fighters will be on station until you make contact with the surface. Get out of here as soon as possible."

"Do we have their frequency?"

"Of course, ma'am." he nodded and handed her a comm, "This will get through to them regardless of any wards they might have set up. Captain Hamner is going to be on your shuttle in addition to two squads of Knights."

"I want Mara Jade to be logged as my person escort, Captain. What about the other Jedi aboard?"

"Captain Hamner is the only Jedi abaord the ship, ma'am. We've a total of twenty Jedi on mission, one for each shuttle." he eyed Mara with distrust, but remained quiet, "I'd recommend you get to your shuttle, ma'am. We're almost there."

"Good luck, may the Force be with you." Padme turned to leave, "Mara, let's go."

They hurried off the bridge and through the network of halls to the main hanger. A squadron of A-wings were in a preformation around the Assault Shuttle while several chalk-red, fully armored Knights were wishing the pilots luck and lightly joking with one another.

Master Kenth Hamner was the first to see her and a smile formed until he spotted Mara behind her, "I was under the impression she was to remain aboard the Frigate."

His cold tone surprised Mara, considering he had been her sponser, and she returned his stared, walking towards the shuttle, "She's going to be my escort, Hamner. You're in command of the squads, but Miss Jade will be with me."

They walked up the ramp and the idle Knights on the deck hurried to their positions aboard the shuttle, recognizing Padme as the signal of their imminent arrival to the system. Padme and Mara strapped into the cockpit and almost immediately, felt the deceleration of the Frigate.

"Romeo Sierra One, this is the Deception, wait for all fighters to launch. Activate cloak on take off."

"Understood, Deception. What's it look like out there?"

"The Executor is adjusting to engage us, along with fifteen of her Star Destroyers, I's and II's. Stay alert, they have a fighter screen arrayed around the planet."

Around them, the squadron launched, "Thanks for the hitch, see you at the rendezvous."

The Knight in the cockpit lifted their shuttle off the deck, engaging the cloak a second before hitting the thrusters to take them into the space battle. From their perspective, the Imperials had already come in range and the two sides were slugging each other with their turbolasers. At the rear of the Imperial formation, the Super Star Destroyer cut through space towards the valley of death. Their Assault Shuttle swung uner the frigate, informing the Deception that they were clear.

x x x

+17:50

Admiral Piett watched patiently as his fleet pushed against the outnumbered rebel ships. He was seething at the Alliance as they deployed stolen Imperial ships against him, though he could not discount how resourceful the Jedi had become since the Battle of Hoth. He had been at Hoth, watching how effective the modified Alliance ships were against the Empire. He had never seen any of the weapons they had developed and the EMP type weapon they had, was extremely effective.

That was why he replaced the fool Admiral Ozzle. The Executor had been kept back from the battle, as Ozzle believed that the other Destroyers were enough to stop the three Old Republic style capital ships. It was a mistake Piett had benefitted from as he watched Ozzle get executed and then received a battlefield promotion. He was not going to make the same mistake, the Super Star Destroyer was going to take as many Alliance ships down as possible.

"Admiral Piett."

"Yes, Lord Melak?"

"They're sending reinforcements to the surface."

"I suspected as much." Piett was not surprised, "They're cloaked, my Lord. Our Destroyers are having trouble tracking them. I have already alerted our fighters." Piett turned to one of his aide, "Designate Folly to hunt down those shuttles and scan the atmosphere for emission burns. The Jedi are proving very resourceful and I don't want to lose more of our people. We've lost more than enough to those Jedi on the ground."

Darth Melak nodded his approval of how Piett was handling everything, a more worthy commander than Ozzel since he himself had executed the man at Hoth, "Admiral, you have everything under control here. Ready my Interceptor. I'm headed to the surface to help track down the Jedi."

Piett nodded to another aide and then moved to the comm, "General Veers, this is Piett."

A small hologram sprung to life on the console, "Sir?"

"What's the status?"

"The Jedi seem to have retreated from the Academy courtyard, Admiral. We're working on clearing the rubble that's keeping us from pursuing. We believe they've entered the cave systems down here as we've lost comms with our advance teams that were in pursuit. It's pure speculation however, until we get a stronger presence in there because there's heavy interference."

"Time's running out, General. We're currently engaged with a rescue force that we believe have deployed cloaked shuttles. Stay alert."

"Understood, Admiral. We'll begin aeiral sector scans immediately, anything else?"

"Lord Melak has left in his Interceptor for the surface. I don't know if he's planning to join you or to hunt the Jedi on his own. He never said."

"Yes, sir. General Veers out."

Piett looked out his bridge and smiled as one of the Alliance Destroyers began to explode.

x x x

+18:10

"Any ground commander, this is Skywalker, please respond."

Harry looked down at the comm on his belt and then back to Anakin, "That's your wife, mate."

Anakin stared at it in disbelief as he heard Padme repeat the call, "Give me that. Padme? Is that you?"

"Anakin! We're on our way! Can you give us a location?"

"When did we get married?" Anakin asked.

"After Geonosis. Harry and Ginny joined us on Naboo to witness it."

Anakin stared at the sky, "Luke, transmit our coordinates! Padme, what the hell are you doing here?"

"Don't even pretend you wouldn't have done it too if our situation was reversed, Anakin!" Padme answered indignantly, and was about to continue when Harry interrupted.

"As much as I'm interested in how this argument will play out, they can trace this conversation. Please, feel free to continue it once you've landed."

"We have the coordinates and we'll be there momentarily."

Anakin shut off the connection, "We need to get our wounded out of here first. Get them back to our ships before we lose more. That Super Star Destroyer is probably tearing the fleet apart."

"I have an idea." Harry's eyes lit up and Anakin's eyes widened as Harry outlined the idea.

"We don't have the people for it, Harry."

"You, me, our kids. I know that Kenobi will want in on this. Everybody else can get back to the fleet, or Safehaven."

"All right, though Kenobi is probably still a little tired from our diversion." Anakin chuckled as he looked up and engines of the first shuttle began to kick up dust around them. Still cloaked, the Assault Shuttle touched down and Padme ran off the ship, "Padme!"

Harry watched painfully as the two embraced and he was reminded of how much he was missing his own wife. He made his way over and gave Padme a quick hug, "Doesn't surprise me that you're here. But what is she doing here?"

The question was directed towards Mara Jade as she cautiously decended the ramp behind the Skywalker Artoo unit, "She's with me. My bodyguard."

"Mara!" they all turned to see Luke hurrying towards her, delight and surprise evident on his face. Mara grinned at him, but there was still a reserved timidness and yet a resolve behind it to find her place next to Luke.

A second Assault Shuttle touched down, "Let's get our people out of here!" Harry shouted to the men and women around him. As the fresh clones began to offload to help, the wounded began to board.

Master Hamner strode up to Harry, "Just received an update from Admiral Ackbar. Two ships lost, three enemy destroyed. They're beginning their retreat as planned to our designated rendezvous point."

Harry nodded, "Excellent. I assume this was part of the plan since our shuttles can make the necessary jumps?"

Hamner nodded, "A hit and run was the safest plan and the one with the least losses, Master Potter."

There was a pause and Harry looked at the sky, "Did you feel that? We don't have a lot of time. Anakin, get your assault team aboard your shuttle. I'll take the second one and I'll join you once we're clear."

Only Anakin was not confused and he ushered as many volunteers he could with Luke, Leia and Mara as the Jedi team. Padme tried to figure out what was going on but both her husband and Harry unreadable. She boarded the shuttle and a minute later it launched.

"Lily! Sirius! Get aboard the next shuttle. I need an assault team with us!"

"On it!"

Harry could feel a danger in the Force, but he could sense it was holding back, as if observing them. He continued to stretch out towards space, trying to sense what was going on up there as more shuttles continued to land within the wards. That was when he felt the presence, something so familiar and yet muted, "Ginny." his whisper caught the attention of his son who looked surprised, "What's going on, dad?"

Trying to find the presence again, he realized that she was hidden again. Unsure if he was imagining things or if she really had been in the system, he shook himself from his reverie, "We've got an alternate mission, Sirius."

"We're not rendezvousing with the fleet?" Lily asked as she joined them and the three boarded the shuttle.

"We are. Just not right away." Harry saw Kenobi enter the cockpit and he sighed as he took a seat.

"Why do I get the feeling we're going on some hair brained scheme of yours, Harry?"

"Why would you think that, Kenobi?" Harry chuckled.

"Because I saw the same look on Anakin's face before they left and it's the same look that he gets right before doing something, reckless." Obi-wan felt the ship lift off as Harry tried to deny everything, "Besides, you're still a horrible liar. Now what are we doing, since I'm now involved being on the same ship as you."

"We're going to commandeer one of their ships."

"Why would we...no! We won't get close enough. Even with us cloaked, Potter!"

"Anakin's already in position. They're going to uncloak and draw some attention while we sneak aboard and take the bridge."

"That's what you two were whispering about before they all landed." Harry nodded, "I was right, completely reckless."

x x x

+18:40

Piett carefully examined the after action review on the rebel attack. There was no doubt they were either dropping off troops, or picking up the survivors. They would still be unable to confirm the rebel actions as the transports remained cloaked and undetected. There had still be no word on Darth Melak, General Veers reporting that he had neither landed or contacted him since Piett had last contacted him.

He had just finished the last of his report that would be forwarded to the Imperial Center, when his desk comm buzzed, "Yes?"

"An Assault Shuttle just uncloaked to port and attacked us. We're trying to capture or destroy it, but it's proving very elusive."

"Dispatch a squadron of Interceptors, Lieutenant. Be cautious, it could be a diversion since it didn't have to reveal itself."

"Yes, sir."

Piett reached up to shut off the comm but several loud cracks echoed through which was followed by shouts and blaster fire. He hated being right about danger.

x x x

+18:45

Harry appeared in the center of the Destroyer's bridge, crouched and ready to spring into action. Behind him, his two children and Kenobi materialized along with three squads of Knights. Both fresh squads went imediately into action, opening fire on the dozen guards of the bridge. The other squad raised shields which encompassed the entire boarding party. Harry drew his wand and began conjuring ropes to bind as many of the crew possible while Sirius and Lily assaulted the Imperials with stunners.

Kenobi, still more comfortable with the Force and his lightsaber, dropped into a defensive stance, ready to step in and defend in case any of their shields were broken. Within minutes, the Super Star Destroyer's bridge was secured and Harry locked the door with the most secure locking spell he could think of while the wounded Imperials and the one wounded Knight was treated, "Secure the prisoners! Anybody see the Admiral?"

His initial scan of the bridge turned up empty when Lily called out, "Found him, dad!"

She was standing off to the side of an open door, a shield raised in front that was absorbing multiple blaster bolts from the office occupant. Lily fired a pair of stunners that just missed, several more shots hitting her shield in response. Harry walked over, raising a second shield that overlapped his daughters just in case, "Piett, we have the bridge. I don't want to kill you, Admiral!"

"How the hell did you get on my ship?"

Harry waited for the next volley of shots to hit the shield before he glanced in, memorized the general layout of the office, and then disapparated. He reappeared next to Piett, "Expelleramus! Levicorpus!" Piett lost his blaster and found himself upside down, suspended by his ankle by some unseen force, "It was something like that, Admiral. Now, will you come peacefully, or do I have to stun you?"

With a sigh, Piett tried to raise his hands, but found himself still upside down, "Will you release me?

"Finite." Harry waved his hand, "What about your ship?"

"Doubt it."

"Figured." Harry muttered and then led his prisoner onto the bridge, "Sirius! Find the nearest hanger for Skywalker to set down in."

"They're already on approach, dad."

"Somebody figure out how to disable all weapons and begin to secure all personnel to their quarters." Harry looked up as he felt a disturbance before the door he had locked exploded inward, killing two Knights and knocking down the other two guarding the door.

Harry was across the room before the smoke had begun to rise, his lightsaber a blur. It was intercepted by a red lightsaber, but he pressed his attack, pushing the Sith away from the bridge and back down the narrow hallway that he had come up. A thrown console just missed him and Harry transfigured it into a lion mid-air.

If the Sith was surprised, he did not show it as the red lightsaber bisected the animal, despite the splayed claws catching the Imperial in his shoulder. Harry cracked a firewhip in the man's direction, but the Sith dispelled it with the Force, surprising Harry a little at how adept his opponent was, though it was not enough to stop him from following up with a flurry of strikes that was relentless against his injured side.

Two more upperstrikes and a feint, Harry unleashed a Force shockwave, a push mixed with lightning that tossed the Sith down the hall. Harry threw a disarming hex that connected, bringing the red weapon towards him. He swiped to cut the weapon in half, but the Sith caught the lightsaber in the Force and recalled it, igniting it again.

Harry unleashed a chain of curses that pushed Melak back on the defensive again, a bone crusher hitting him in the same wounded shoulder. Darth Melak was able to fight off the pain and barely caught Harry with a force push as his counter-attack. Righting himself midair, Harry enhanced his speed through the Force and rushed Melak.

The Sith tried to drain Harry of his life, but he had barely begun training in the tecnique, costing him time as Harry batted away the counter, spun under the red lightsaber and carried his momentum to the other side of Melak, the green lightsaber connecting with flesh and a second later, Darth Melak's body slid apart, a permanent look of surprise etched on the man's face with a small pool of blood pooling on the deck.

Harry shut down his weapon and saw his kids running towards him, "You kids good?"

"Us?" Lily laughed, "What about you? You're the one who fought him."

"He was pretty good compared with what we saw on the surface." Harry nudged the dead body. Echoes of feet put them on alert again until they saw Anakin, his family and a platoon of Phoenix Knights hurrying towards them, "Just missed the fun, Skywalker."

"We were right behind him." Anakin tried to pout at having lost, "We tried to get him, but Stormtroopers were everywhere."

"Casualties?"

"Two. Already being taken care of back at the shuttle."

"Status?"

They walked towards the bridge, "Piett is secured and we'll be ready to jump in two minutes."

"There are still a lot of Imperials on board." Padme mentioned, "Did you think of that?"

"We've locked down all weapons and all personnell are accounted for within their quarters." Sirius announced, "We might have convinced Piett to give the order and Imperials are pretty prompt in responding."

"How'd you do that?" Harry looked at his son curiously.

"Some magical persuasion."

"You released him?"

"Of course."

Harry frowned, "Well, I'd have rather you tell me before using that one. You know I don't like that one or the other two."

Sirius nodded, "I understand. It was a decision that had to be made before more Stormtroopers showed up. Lily and I agreed the Imperious was necessary."

"What curse is that?" Leia asked, "I've never heard of it."

"And I'll never teach it to you." Harry stared at her, "You'd best forget everything about it."

Anakin was quiet during the discussion, only half concentrating on the discussion. Instead, he was listening for the signal to jump from Korriban. It had been a vicious nineteen hours, and more than seventy Jedi were dead with two thousand Knights killed. They estimated thirty thousand Stormtroopers were sent against them along with nearly two hundred force sensitives killed that had been corrupted by the teachings of the Sith.

He spared a glance at his wife and then one at Harry. Even though his friend was not showing it, he could tell Harry was emotionally hurting from the fight and if he was guessing correctly, Harry would try to blame himself for the deaths of Offee, Tano, Luminara and Ti. Not for the first time, Anakin wished they knew where Ginny was, because she would be the only who could honestly pull Harry out of his moping.