A/N: It's really late in my time zone right now and I have nothing intelligent to say. The fact that I worked over twelve hours yesterday is most likely an additional cause for my fatigue.

Hope my lovely readers are having a great summer!

Chapter 20: Countermove

Soon, the halls grew dark with the coming of night. Luke, Jaina, Ben, and Caliya crept quickly up the stairs and through the base. They passed the prisoner barracks, and entered the guards' sleeping quarters. As they walked along, they continued deeper and deeper into the heart of the compound.

"It would make sense for Rowena to put herself right at the center, to both control operations and for protection," Jaina whispered, and Luke nodded his agreement.

They followed the hallway to a door that looked different from the others; it was made of wood instead of metal. Rowena would be the only one here who could satisfy such inclinations.

Luke tried the handle, but it was locked. And no electronic panel was beside it. But wood was weak, and he was not.

Luke took a few steps back, and charged at the door, putting the full force of his body into his right foot. The wood split, and they all charged through.

It was even darker within, but they could still make out the bed, and Luke leveled the blaster at the figure springing upright. Ben turned the lights on, revealing a very confused looking Rowena. When she saw her intruders, her eyes narrowed into angry slits, then widened when she realized the danger she was in.

"Wha-how did you get in here?" she questioned angrily, trying to hold onto the power she'd lost when armed Jedi stepped in the room.

"We'll just make that our little secret, but thanks for asking. Now, are you going to cooperate, or are we going to have to do this the hard way?" Luke asked.

Rowena didn't answer, but began nudging the pillow next to her. The pillow that groaned and sat up, and turned out to be a man.

"Zevid?" Jaina asked, shocked. This was certainly the last place she'd expected to see him.

"We meet again…" Zevid commented, grinning at her.

"Wait, you two know each other?" Ben asked. "Apparently a lot happens while I'm gone."

"It's a long story," Jaina explained. "One I'll tell you as soon as all the prisoners are freed and you two are put away for a long time."

Zevid flashed Jaina an innocent look that her father would have been proud of, and reached to put his shirt on.

"You know he's a Sith, right?" Jaina asked Rowena.

"I like Sith," she replied coyly.

Luke rolled his eyes. "Talk about sleeping with the enemy," he muttered, keeping the blaster trained on Rowena and Zevid.

Ben glanced over at Caliya. She seemed to be alright, just trying to keep up. To be honest, things were starting to get a little confusing to him as well. Ben flashed her a reassuring look, and she smiled back.

"Now," Luke began. "This is how it's gonna work. You're going to issue a command that all guards stand down and allow the prisoners to go free."

"Or what?" Rowena challenged, meeting his green eyes with her own dark ones.

"Or I kill him." Luke stepped forward and pointed the blaster at Zevid's head.

"He's expendable."

Zevid shot her an insulted look, and she shrugged. "Well, you are."

"Then I'll kill you."

"You wouldn't kill me. You're a Jedi, the Grand Master of the Order. Jedi don't just kill people for no reason."

Luke almost laughed. "No reason? You don't think you've racked up a pretty long list of reasons why I should kill you right now?"

Rowena smiled sweetly. "I know you won't kill me, no matter how many reasons you can think of. You won't kill me because you know it's wrong. I am an unarmed, defenseless prisoner, and pulling that trigger would be committing murder."

"You really don't want to appeal to my morals right now," Luke hissed. "You tried to kill my son, and that doesn't sit well with me. You've ruined the lives of innocent begins who were pulled into your scheme. And this is where it ends."

Rowena didn't smile this time, and she almost looked a little frightened.

Ben stepped forward, a little afraid that his father was actually going to kill her in cold blood. "Dad…"

"Not now Ben!"

Ben didn't speak. Luke really wouldn't, would he?

"Hands up!" Luke told Zevid when his right hand began casually sliding underneath the blanket.

"Very well," Zevid agreed, pulling his hand back up. His hand that now held a lightsaber.

Luke shot the blaster just as Zevid's crimson blade came to life, and the energy beam was deflected easily. Zevid sprang off the bed, coming straight for Luke, who continued to shoot.

But as strategically placed as his shots may be, there was no way even he could defeat a lightsaber wielding Sith with only a blaster pistol. So he began to back up, everyone else scrambling out of the room behind him.

"Give me one reason why I shouldn't cut you down right now," Zevid taunted, his strokes cutting closer and closer to flesh. The scent of burnt fabric filled Luke's nostrils, and he looked down to find his tunic scorched.

"Run!" Luke yelled, and he jumped backwards out of the hole they'd made in the door. Jaina, Ben, and Caliya were already sprinting down the hallway when he regained his balance and took off after them.

"Should I go after them?" Zevid asked, turning back to Rowena.

"No, let them go. I'll have my best units of guards mobilize, and this whole thing will soon be over. They'll all be dead within ten minutes."

"But my queen, you deny me the pleasure of ending their lives myself."

"There may be other pleasures I won't deny you…" Rowena trailed off, smirking.

#

"So what do we do now?" Ben asked as they continued to run. Already, the sound of footsteps followed them. Rowena hadn't wasted any time calling the guards.

"We can't do much damage until we have our weapons back. Any idea where they might be right now?" Luke asked.

"I saw what looked to be a weapons supply room when I was looking around earlier, it's possible they could have tossed your lightsabers in there," Jaina suggested.

"Alright, you take the lead," Luke told her, and Jaina raced ahead of them, turning corners as fast as she could without falling over. She retraced her earlier steps in her mind, and they were soon standing in front of the supply closet. Thankfully, the guards hadn't discovered they were here yet, so they had maybe thirty seconds to arm themselves.

Jaina began pressing keys on the lock pad. "This one's more complicated; they're probably more worried about weapons being stolen than prisoners escaping."

"Not to rush you Jaina, but I hear footsteps," Ben told her.

"Yeah, not feeling any pressure at all."

After what seemed like hours to Ben, the lock was released, and they scrambled inside. The walls were lined with various kinds of blaster pistols and rifles, but there were no lightsabers to be seen.

"Here, this is better than nothing," Luke told them, passing out blasters.

"But where could they have put our lightsabers?" Ben asked, grabbing the blaster he was offered.

"Here, I think I might have found them," Caliya said, bending down to get a closer look. She turned back around, holding two shiny metal cylinders.

"Good eye," Luke commended, taking his and slipping it onto his belt. Ben did the same, giving Cal a grateful smile. Their chances of escaping went up significantly now that they were in possession of their sabers.

"We need to get out of here," Jaina warned. The clattering footsteps were drawing closer.

"Too late," Luke said. "We'll have to stay here until they pass. Here, shut the light off, close the door, and everyone get down."

Ben hit the lights, and Jaina gently closed the door with a small click. They all sat, huddled in the darkness. Ben wrapped his arm around Caliya, and she leaned into him. He could feel the vibration of the approaching guards reverberating through the ground, but they passed right by them. Ben sighed in relief, and they stood.

"Alright, we need to get to the central control room. That's most likely where Rowena went, and we need her to make this work."

"We should split up," Jaina added. "With so many guards looking for us, there's a good chance one of us will be captured."

Luke nodded in agreement. "Ben, you and Caliya stay together, and Jaina and I will meet you in the control room. Whoever makes it there, make sure Rowena is captured, and communicate with Han and Leia on the frigate, see what they need. We good?"

Everyone nodded.

"Alright, you two go first, and we'll follow after a bit."

Ben and Caliya stepped forward to the door, Cal gripping the blaster Luke had given her. Ben rested his left hand on the hilt of his lightsaber, his right hand resting on the doorknob.

"Ready?" he asked, turning to Cal.

"Yeah."

No guards were in sight, and he opened the door. They darted out and headed to the left, walking as quickly and silently as possible.

"Where is the central control room?" Caliya whispered.

"Um, in the center…"

"You don't sound too sure."

"I'm not too sure. But we're bound to run into it at some point."

"Before or after we run into the guards?"

"Before. I hope."

The left led to Rowena's chambers, so they took a right. They hadn't gone ten yards when the sound of footsteps came again, coming up from behind them. Ben grabbed Caliya's hand, and she looked up at him.

"Run!"