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The Saga of the Chosen One, Chapter 25
By TVfan
Coruscant
"Has there been any report on this spy you have sent into the Rebellion's midst?" Emperor Palpatine asked of his new apprentice, hopping for some lasting success that Vader had never really achieved once the Rebellion began.
"Not as yet, but catching an opportunity to capture or kill a fully trained Jedi with only here meager training will take time," Darth Executer answered, "I don't expect a report from Shira Brie for some time yet."
"And where do you stand on the Mandalorian uprising?" Palpatine questioned, wondering how his new apprentice could handle the situation that had recent arose.
"Unfortunate that our troops there are no either dead or prisoners of the Mandalorians, but with no capital warships or even transports, and the fact that the Rebellion did not send them any aide, fighting there would be pointless," Executer answered, "We'd either waste a third of the entire Imperial army fighting them on their home ground, or we can wait until the new Death Star is completed and the Rebellion is destroyed. Then the entire planet can be destroyed from space. The destruction of the Mandalorians will then show other warrior races and cultures that to stand against the Empire is to invite total annihilation."
Palpatine gave a slight smile. There was no brilliance in Executer's plan, but there was a good trend of evil that he preferred. It also showed that Executer was far calmer then his predecessor. For the moment he would tolerate that. Executer was free to use whatever methods he wanted to try and capture Skywalker or one of his children, while Palpatine had already set in motion the next stage of a plan to draw the Rebellion into a trap.
Meanwhile, a few miles away, another powerful being sat quietly listening to a radio that was broadcasting whatever was going on at the Imperial palace. Obviously a meeting between the Emperor and his new apprentice.
"This is interesting," Prince Xizor commented with a slight smile.
"What is?" Guri asked from nearby.
"The Emperor's plans," Xizor answered, "apparently he wants one of the Rebellion's Jedi Knights captured. His apprentice must not be what he wants."
"I do not see how this relates to our plans," Guri spoke, "Neither directly challenging the Empire nor the Rebellion is a key part of the plan."
"Our plan is to create instability that we can profit from," Xizor answered, "and gather enough forces to free my home world so that I may rule it, and so that Black Sun has a safe haven that no one can search. Look at the recent events. Darth Vader is dead, his fleet trapped in the Fondor System while it is brought back up to full strength, and despite losing on Hoth the Rebellion is still heavily active. And now the Mandalorians have revolted against the Empire and freed their planet. They might make good mercenaries to free Falleen, by the way. The Empire is in chaos on many levels because of all of this."
"Wouldn't we attract Imperial attention if we kill one of the Rebel Jedi?" Guri asked, "or attention from the Rebellion, who probably will not tolerate us either if by some miracle they win?"
"Not if we can do it quietly," Xizor answered, "particularly with the Rebellion relying on outer rim planets that commonly have strong local criminal elements as well. Killing the Jedi will through both into chaos. The Rebellion for losing their only warriors that can realistically take on the Empire and win, and the Empire because of the Emperor's wish to convert them to the Dark Side."
Home One
"So, you're going out on this one?" Obi Wan asked as he watched Anakin check some of the equipment in Freedom One as it sat in Home One's hanger.
"Luke, Mara, and Rogue Squadron are off again with the Peregrine, searching for a new possible base location, and much of the rest of the squadrons are needed to protect the fleet," Anakin answered, "and the Bothans will need help if they're to take down this convoy that Empire is running by Bothawui. Ahsoka and I will head down there, link up with Rendar and see how many squadrons the Bothans have hid under the Empire's noses."
"And other then Freedom One and possibly a starfighter for Ahsoka, what will you be taking?" Obi Wan questioned, "I'm sure the Admiral would assign a Dreadnought or a Frigate to assist in capturing a lone freighter."
"We're going to have to rely on the Bothans having enough pilots," Anakin answered, "Or the ship not being well shielded. If we send any warship, they might cut and run before we can attack."
Obi Wan only sighed, sensing some truth in his former pupil's words, but it did not make him comfortable. Much of what the decrypts tat Mara and Kira Jade had recovered from the last Rogue's mission seemed to include a lot obvious information. Like it was deliberately being left to be found.
"Just be careful, my old friend," Obi Wan told him, "Something about all of this seems a miss. Like it was left for us to find."
"You mean it's a trap?" Anakin asked.
"Could be," Obi Warn replied.
"Only thing left to do is spring the trap," Anakin answered, "it's something we can't afford to pass up."
"I know," Obi Wan nodded, "Just be careful."
"Always am," Anakin answered with a smile and entered Freedom One.
He then took of and took his commandeered patrol craft into the space outside Home One. He found a lone Y-Wing being shadowed by an X-Wing. He then activated his radio.
"How's she doing?" Anakin asked.
"Quite well," the X-Wing pilot spoke, "you Jedi seem to be as good as our aces, and that is saying something since she's sad she hasn't had any experience flying."
"That's good," Anakin answered, "Very good," Anakin answered with a smile, "You can return your patrol."
The Y-Wing pilot then brought the Rebel star-bomber alongside Freedom One.
"So, what is our mission, Master?" Ahsoka asked over the radio.
"The information that Luke and Mara recovered from their last mission revealed the time and place of an Imperial convoy carrying vital information," Anakin answered, "We need to disable the ships and recover the information. And since the convoy with be passing by Bothawui, we don't need to worry about having the raw numbers to capture the ships, but it will likely still tough."
"When will it be passing through the system?" Ahsoka asked carefully.
"Sometime tomorrow," Anakin answered, "Which is why we're headed there now. We still have to meet with a smuggler who's been working for the Rebellion."
Tatooine
"Are you sure you want to do this?" Luke asked as he and two people he practically considered family walked down one of the streets of Mos Eisley, looking for some transport to Anchorhead.
"Luke, we hold no place in the galaxy that can really help," his Uncle Owen answered him, "I'm too old to fight, and Beru never had any interest in combat…"
"And some Tatooine women have taken on the role of warriors, given fears about the Sand People," his Aunt Beru added, "but not me. And neither of us know anything about politics. We would be more of a hindrance to you then a help."
"But your safety, and keeping everyone together," Luke protested.
"We've talked with Anakin and Padme," Uncle Owen answered, "they didn't sound to keen on the idea either, but we are not fit to be explorers or soldiers, or really even heroes. I hope you and your father destroy the Empire, but it's not my place to be there. Tatooine is my home. My whole life is here. If it weren't for the Imperials chasing Obi Wan Kenobi, Beru and I would have never left our farm."
"It's likely gone by now," Luke commented, "either looted by the Empire or the Tuskans."
"Your scanners showed that the buildings were still there," Uncle Owen answered, "that should be good enough to get started."
"Will you need any help?" Luke asked.
"Not really," Aunt Beru told him, "Our farm was never that big. It took a lot of work, but it isn't so big that we can't manage."
Luke sighed and nodded, "Okay. I'll still take you out there. Just in case there is any trouble."
"Thank you, Luke," Aunt Beru smiled, "You've been such a good nephew for us. And while your Uncle won't openly admit it, but he's enjoyed being able to talk with you and your father."
Luke nodded and turned to lead them toward a nearby speeder-cab service that was usually too rare on Tatooine to use. Hopefully, the Imperials or the Sand People didn't do too much damage to the Lars's old farm.
Elsewhere on Tatooine, Mara Jade looked out over an old and abandoned pod racing arena. It was a place that had clearly seen better days, but those days weren't any time soon. The nearby town, Mos Espa, seemed to be like many small rundown outer rim towns with street venders and other assorted riffraff. A lot of that turned Mara off in regard to using Tatooine as a possible base, as these crooks would likely sell the Rebellion out to make a few quick credits. This made that any large scale base near the towns and settlements were out of the question.
Their next option would be to set up a base in the more rural areas, but according to what Luke had told her, there were also the Tuskan raiders that might see the Rebels as an a threat to their tribal lands and might attack them as well. The only likely location that could be useful as a base was the large castle complex that had been constructed by Jabba the Hutt, but due to the knowledge of the Hutt's criminal activities, it was unlikely that the Rebellion would ally themselves with Jabba. That left Mara and Luke holding the short end of a very long stick.
She activated a holo-communications network with the Peregrine's Captain to give him an update.
"Do you have anything?" the Captain asked.
"Tatooine is certainly remote enough," Mara answered, "there are Imperial troops present, but they're located only in the towns, and there aren't enough of them to really pose a threat to even the small number of troops on the Peregrine."
"What about the rural areas?" the Captain asked.
"There is a different problem," Mara sighed, "either we spend a lot of effort constructing a base in the rural areas, which will likely attract Imperial attention and the people constructing the base would likely need troops to defend the workers from either the natives of Tatooine, who are rather tribal and would likely fight both us and the Empire, and to defend them from some of the wildlife on Tatooine."
Mara then paused for a moment and then decided to finish her report.
"The only other option would be to start a war with Jabba the Hutt," Mara finished, "which could be tough, if he calls on the Empire or the Hutts for help."
"We'll keep that option open," the Captain answered, "for now, run a quick overlook of wilderness. Perhaps there is an area that has escaped our space scanners and can be converted into a base."
Mara nodded and then terminated the link. She sighed and then continued walking. The present mission was largely to find a new location for the Rebellion to build a new base to train new recruits and begin building a force that could one day challenge the Empire in direct combat. Someone had suggested Tatooine because of its reputation for lawlessness, which might allow a Rebel base to go unnoticed by the Imperials. So far, however, Mara found that despite a reputation that might allow them to hide, the difficulties in setting up a base here, would be difficult. So far, it appeared that the risks in setting up a base on Tatooine outweighed its potential reward.
Jabba's Palace
On a different part of Tatooine, near the Dune Sea, the gangster hutt, known as Jabba, lay reclining on his throne as a couple of men approached him. They were heavily armed, but they were not Imperial storm troopers, nor were they any bounty hunter that he employed, or even one employed by the other Hutt clans in Hutt space. He also doubted that they were agents of the Rebellion. Other then the brief battle above Nar Shaddaa, the Rebellion had no presence on Hutt worlds or on worlds that they found economically suitable.
"Greetings, Mighty Jabba," the first man spoke with a bow, "we come before you to give you a warning and offer a proposition."
"You are very foolish if you come here to threaten me," Jabba growled in Huttese, "If I do not kill you, my guard will."
Both men gulped when they heard the translation. It was the second man who actually spoke.
"The threat to you is not posed by us or our organization," the second man said quickly, "the threat to you is someone else. A Jedi."
"The few Jedi that are left are more concerned with their war against the Empire," Jabba answered, "a war that if they win, I stand to profit from."
"From the war, possibly," the first man spoke, "but not from the Jedi. Remember the days of the Republic? You used to politically rule Tatooine, but the Jedi, leading their Clone Troopers took that power away from you because they do not like your business."
"I still control this planet's economy and the spice trade going through Tatooine," Jabba answered, "I have no reason to go after the few Jedi that remain. While they can not manipulate my mind, they can kill me with their lightsabers."
"Suppose…" the first man began to speak.
Jabba cut him off before he could finish, or even before the translator could tell him what the man was saying, as he was beginning to try the Hutt's patience.
"Why do you want me to pick a fight with the Jedi?" Jabba growled, grabbing the man and lifting him into the air, "Who do you work for that has decided they are his enemy and wants to use me as his tool?"
Both men then gasped nervously as they knew that Xizor did not want his involvement known to the Hutt, partially because of Xizor's interest in expanding Black Sun into Jabba's territory and the fact that the leader of a Jabba's main rivaling Hutt Clan was Vigo in the Black Sun. But, at the same time, they also knew that the enraged Hutt in front of them could kill them as well.
"We're sorry, we'll go now," the second man said quickly.
"Not until I get an answer, and it is an answer that I will tolerate," Jabba answered.
"We work for Prince Xizor of Black Sun," the first man finally admitted as Jabba tightened his grip, "He hoped that you would help him in eliminating the Jedi."
"Black Sun?" Jabba growled angrily, "That Falleen slime wants me to fight for him?"
Jabba then threw the first man down a trap door at the base of his throne and lifted the second man higher. Several of the other people, human and alien then gathered near as Jabba's pet rancor attacked and ate the first man.
"You can tell your 'Prince' that Jabba the Hutt does not serve Black Sun," Jabba spoke authoritatively, "If he wants a Hutt, he can use that Besadii slime, Durga. He's already sold out his people to your 'Prince'. I will not."
Jabba then threw the man across the room. His men moved aside as the man bounced off of a wall, and then got up and ran out.
"What should we do about this?" Bib Fortuna asked as he approached his master.
"I want a bounty on Xizor's head," Jabba growled back, "that snake wants my territory since Durga gave him the Besadii holdings. That will not be tolerated."
"It will be placed," Fortuna answered with a respectful bow.
Space over Bothuwai
Anakin took Freedom One out of hyperspace above the Bothan home world. As he looked down at the planet and the space around it. The first thing he noticed was the absence of any ships patrolling the area. There was not even any sign of Imperial ships patrolling the sector of space that Bothuwai was in. While it wasn't uncommon for Imperial ships not to be near a specific planet, it was strange that there wasn't an Imperial warship in the sector, particularly with supply ships on their way to replenish the garrison on Bothuwai.
"Is something wrong, Master?" came Ahsoka's voice over the radio.
Anakin checked Freedom One's scanners to see that Ahsoka's Y-Wing was following him in good formation.
"Nothing, strangely," Anakin replied, "It's just that I can't pick up a single Imperial ship in the sector."
"The convoy shouldn't be here, yet, though, right?" Ahsoka asked back.
"The Empire should still have a ship in the sector," Anakin answered, "Be mindful of what you can sense, I think Obi Wan was right about this being a potential trap."
"Of course, Master," Aksoka answered, "Do we abort?"
"No," Anakin sighed, "the possible information is too important to pass up."
Anakin then lead is two ship formation down into the planet's atmosphere toward a transponder signal that was coming from an area in the planet's eastern hemisphere. They found that the location was a relatively remote area surrounded by rolling hills. There were several craft visible, but as Anakin brought Freedom One into its landing cycle, he did not have time to identify the craft that the Bothans had gathered. As he came out, he found that most of the gathered starfighters were a collection of X-Wings or Z-95 Headhunters. The only other craft present was a Corellian YT-2400 freighter.
"That sorta looks like Captain Solo's ship," Ahsoka commented as she moved to stand slightly behind Anakin.
"Maybe, but the Outrider is nothing like Solo's piece of junk," came a strong voice from nearby.
The two then turned to see a red haired man in a largely blue jumpsuit leaning against one of the ship.
"Speaking of Solo, I thought you'd bring him along," the man commented.
"You must be Dash Rendar," Anakin commented as he approached, "Solo and my daughter are on a diplomatic mission at present."
"Oh well," Rendar smiled, "I guess he'll miss out on all the fun then."
"I suppose so," Anakin nodded, "We'd best discus the plan inside, as none of the Bothan pilots are here."
Rendar shrugged, "I guess so, since I'm the one giving the briefing."
They entered the room to find enough Bothans to equal the X-Wings and Z-95s outside, as well as a few more. They were most likely local leaders, either of the Rebellion or the planet's 'government'. One of them approached both Anakin and Dash Rendar.
"I am Lersh Gre'ly'a," the Bothan spoke, "the chief representative of the Bothan Union. We thank you for coming to our aide."
"How are things here?" Anakin asked, "Fey'lya doesn't really report much on your planetary conditions."
"I was under the impression that the Rebellion is not yet strong enough seriously begin retaking planets, even with the Mandalorians as members of the Alliance," Lersh spoke back questioningly.
"That doesn't mean we don't care," Ahsoka spoke up, "We all want to help."
"This is my present Padawan, Ahsoka Tano," Anakin commented.
"I admire her optimism," Lersh replied, "to answer your question, General Skywalker, things on Bothuwai are quite calm and relatively free for the Bothan people. The Empire has troops here, but they rarely leave their bases, and when they do, it is in massed numbers of infantry."
"No vehicles?" Anakin asked.
"No vehicles, and their patrols still move at such a pace that even if their scanners picked up something, they wouldn't notice it," Lersh explained, "Our people's ability to blend in has allowed us to ambush and assassinate them with ease."
"They're spooked," Rendar commented, "You guys do quite well."
"I would think it is more likely the Mandalorians joining the Alliance that has spooked them, and not us," Lersh replied, "their reputation as warriors is known to us and to the Empire. Just as our reputation of being able to spy on others is well known. The Empire could force a battle with us, and while they might take heavy losses, they would likely win, even with the meager forces they have on Bothuwai."
"Which is mostly why we're sticking to more guerilla style tactics until we can either weaken the Empire or strengthen ourselves to the point where we can start liberating planets," Anakin nodded, "Which I think brings us to situation at present."
Lersh nodded and motioned to the speaker's podium and the screen behind it. Dash Rendar and Anakin then walked toward it while Ahsoka moved to sit in the front row. It was Dash Rendar who spoke first.
"The mission is an interesting one to be sure," Rendar said with a slight smile, "As many of you know, the Rebellion is trying to discover any facts that might prove or disprove the rumor that the Empire is seeking to produce a new super weapon to replace the Death Star, destroyed over Yavin IV. Thanks to recent missions performed by Rogue Squadron, and Borsk Fey'lya's intelligence units we know that Empire is sending a cargo ship through this system to resupply the Imperial garrison. It is supposedly carrying plans that will be very important."
Rendar then turned to give a grin to Anakin, "and should hopefully pay quite well."
"The mission is a capture mission," Anakin then spoke, ignoring Rendar's attempt at humor, "if the ship is destroyed, the information will be destroyed with it. Dash Rendar, my padawan Ahsoka, and I will disable the ship and force to crash land near this location. Your squadron will be assigned the task of dealing with any escort the freighter has. If it has no escorts, you can assist in the disabling of the ship by targeting its engines an then escorting it down. Once it's down, we are to capture the crew and recover the information."
The gathered Bothans nodded. Anakin then sighed and decided to inform them of Obi Wan's suspicions.
"There is also the concern that the Empire is setting up a trap," Anakin then spoke, "if they send an escorting capital ship in addition to T.I.E. fighters, you are all to jump into hyperspace and rendezvous with the main fleet. I'm not going to sacrifice you to get information that could probably be obtained through other methods."
"We will not fail," the gathered Bothans answered.
"Now all we have to do is wait for the ship to arrive," Anakin said to end the 'briefing'.
Home One
Shira Brie, meanwhile, sat quietly in the main area used by the Jedi as their 'Council Chamber'. It was of the few main areas that she found she could get into. The engine rooms, munitions storage lockers, weapons emplacements, main council room, and even the environmental control center were off limits to her and had at least one armed guard. The presence of a squad of Mandalorians training Rebel recruits in various forms of combat did not ease her mind on being able to do much. She was not skilled enough in the force to take on a Jedi head on, especially with her present cover blown, and the way things were going, even the Rebellion's non-force sensitive members were becoming more difficult.
At the same time, her own mind was becoming more and more conflicted over he idea of completing the mission. Their actions contradicted what the Empire had told her. The Emperor had cast them as ruthless and evil terrorists seeking to plunge the galaxy into chaos. That only through the Empire would the galaxy know peace and order. She had found the Rebel politicians to be rather skilled debaters and through accessing their mission history logs, which she did have access to, most of the areas that the Rebellion attacked were either an Imperial military instillation or an area of space that housed an Imperial military instillation. There were barely any collateral damage inflicted by the Rebellion. The refugees on Home One all blamed the Empire for their being forced out of their homes, not the Rebellion.
"Great confusion, I sense in you," came a voice from behind her that made her jump slightly.
Shira turned and looked down to see the elderly Master Yoda standing not far from her. He had been instructing a group of former younglings on meditation and was also the one responsible for monitoring her for the day.
"Hide your feelings, you can't," Yoda spoke simply, "Great confusion, I sense in you."
"And I suppose you want to fix that?" Shira asked.
"Help you decide for yourself, I can," Yoda gave a slight grin.
Shira then watched as the elderly Jedi Master slowly crawled into the chair near her. Apparently, she wasn't about to avoid the conversation.
"It's just the facts of what I've uncovered so far," Shira spoke.
"Difficult, it is," Yoda commented, "for a spy who realizes she is spying on the wrong side."
Shira looked down at him.
"Know your purpose here, I do," Yoda answered, "Powerful ally, the Force is. Hide from it, you can not."
"So why are you wanting to 'help' me if you know I am an enemy?" Shira questioned.
"Sense the Dark Side in you, I do not," Yoda answered, "show you that you have choices, I can."
Shira was silent.
"Side with the Empire you do, to preserve order, you do," Yoda spoke slowly, "debated, that can be. If corrupted by the Dark Side, power, your goal would be."
"How can the Force have any side?" Shira questioned, "It's what a force sensitive does with it that defines them. The Emperor uses his powers to rule. You use yours to rebel against his rule."
"Sign of how poorly you were trained, that logic is," Yoda answered, "and to lead to the Dark Side, the training was. For knowledge and defense, Jedi use the force. Never for attack. Invites evil, denial does, and use it, the Sith always do."
Shira didn't know how to answer that. Vader had trained her a little, but not enough to make her a serious threat to fully trained Jedi Knight, and Shira swore she could sense fear in Vader at the time. These Jedi, despite the fact that they faced extremely long odds, lacked that fear.
"You're not going to try and persuade me to actually join you, are you?" Shira questioned, although her tone lacked much of the force she wanted to have behind.
"Your choice, that is," Yoda replied, "force you, we will not."
With that, Yoda hopped down and left Shira to ponder her situation and what to do and what her goals were. The elderly Master hadn't actually removed her confusion, but had in fact added to it, and that confusion made her question the purpose behind the mission she had been given. But, for now, she had no intention of changing her course. She would figure out what her path was to be and go from there.
Tatooine, Lars Family Homestead
The old homestead looked much as it did when Luke and Anakin left to join the Rebellion. All the buildings were there, albeit with some scorch marks, but nothing had destroyed. He was also quick to notice that there were no speeders in the hanger, so it was also likely that everything inside the Homestead was wrecked as well.
"You're sure you two want to go through with this?" Luke asked, "It'll take a long time to rebuild."
"I'm sure, Luke," Uncle Owen nodded, "As I said before, I'm a simple farming man. This is everything to me. Besides, the credits that your mother loaned us should more then pay the cost of repairing the house and any possible broken equipment. Hopefully, by the time we've earned up the money to pay her back, the Empire's been beaten."
"Will you need any help?" Luke asked as followed them inside, looking at the 'damage' done when the house had been looted, and remembering the countless times he good memories of the small desert home with his father, uncle, and aunt.
"Not really," Uncle Owen answered, "A person could easily inspect all the vaporators on foot in a day. Repairing the broken ones will take time, but it's not something that I can't do. And if necessary, I'm sure our neighbors would be more then willing to help. You have your own monumental tasks to take care of."
Luke slowly nodded, "Stay safe. We'll try to visit when everything relating to the struggle with the Empire is over."
Luke said some polite goodbyes and then moved to head out, and return to the ship that had taken him down from the Peregrine, which was still in orbit above the planet. As he stepped out, he slowly felt Mara's presence reaching out to him through the Force.
"Hey, Farmboy, how'd it go?" Mara asked.
"They got back safely," Luke answered, "they said they don't need us to help them get settled back in, and I'm headed back towards your Skipray. Did you find anything that could make a decent base."
"Not unless you want to take out Jabba the Hutt," Mara answered, "the scum and villainy in the small cities here would likely sell us out to the Empire, and the Tuskans are just as likely to fight us as help us. The only other option would be to start a war within a war with Jabba the Hutt."
"He's done nothing warrant such action at the moment," Luke sighed, "Unless he does something that takes him into direct competition with the Rebellion, we should leave him alone."
"My thoughts exactly," Mara answered, "I'll meet you back at the Skipray."
Bothuwai
Anakin was slightly surprised by what he saw, as he pulled Freedom One out of Bothuwai's atmosphere to confront the ship that had arrived. It was a lone Acclamator Class ship, under escort by two squadrons of T.I.E. fighters. Anakin had assumed that that class of ship had been phased out in favor of the Star Destroyers, but then, maybe they had been converted into supply ships, serving some sort of auxiliary role. This was the likely outcome as he couldn't see any weapons emplacements on the ship, but he could spot a hanger on the ship.
"Everyone ready?" Anakin asked.
"Always am," Dash Rendar answered as he brought Outrider along side Freedom One.
"I'm ready," Ahsoka spoke as she remained in formation.
The following Bothan pilots all gave their affirmative answers.
"Okay then," Anakin answered, "You know the plan. Bothans, draw the T.I.E.s away. Rendar, Ahsoka, you're to take out their starboard engines. I will take out the port side engine."
Anakin watched as the Bothan piloted X-Wings accelerated to attack the T.I.E. fighters. He saw at least two of the Imperial craft explode in that initial pass. He then took Freedom One into a slow looping turn and looked out to watch Rendar and Ahsoka's craft moving on the starboard of the ship.
Anakin was quick to bring Freedom One's full firepower on the port side engine. He fired several laser cannon shots, as well as a couple of shots from its mounted ion cannon, which seemed to weaken the ship's shields near the engines. His final shot was a homing missile, which destroyed the remains of the port side engine. With that engine out, Anakin pulled away to let the ship drop out of orbit.
Dash Rendar and Ahsoka launched their attacks in bursts. Rendar fired first with his laser cannons and then added two concussion missiles to it, for good measure. Ahsoka added to it with several laser cannon shots and two proton torpedoes. With the effect of the ion cannon shots that Anakin had fired, these shots easily destroyed the starboard side engines.
"There it goes!" Ahsoka said with a slight grin as the ship began to drift downward toward Bothuwai.
"That's not the end of the space battle," Anakin spoke over the radio, "looks like the T.I.E. pilots were well trained. Or the Bothans weren't so well trained."
The Bothan battle with the T.I.E. fighters was not as easy as the attack on the ship itself. They destroyed several T.I.E.s in their initial attack, but not all of them, and had already lost one X-Wing. The rest were trying hard to get a good shot.
"I'll take the two fighters on the left," Anakin spoke, "Ahsoka, you take the two fighters on the right."
"Yes, Master," Ahsoka replied respectfully.
"Guess that leaves the rest for me," Rendar spoke over the radio and took the Outrider directly into the twisting and turning battle of starfighters.
Anakin easily caught up with a T.I.E. fighter trying to gain a firing angle on an X-Wing. The Bothan pilot was doing a good job of keeping the T.I.E. fighter from getting a firing angle, but he wasn't doing anything to try and get away. Anakin quickly took care of the T.I.E. fighter with a quick burst of laser cannon fire as it flew fairly steadily trying to get the firing angle it needed.
"Thank you, General," the Bothan pilot answered.
"You're welcome, but if you seek to survive the war, you'll need to take some hard turns," Anakin advised, "try to shake him off your tail so you can get on his. Just staying out of a firing angle leaves you in danger."
"Of course, General," the Bothan pilot answered.
The space battle lasted another five minutes before the final T.I.E. was destroyed, though the engagement was not without casualties, as the Bothan squadron had lost nearly half its X-Wings. As they began to move to land again at the base, Lersh's voice was heard over the comm.-links.
"General Skywalker, the ship crashed not far from our base," Lersh spoke, "containment teams have already surrounded it. No one has left the ship."
"Good," Anakin answered, "Ahsoka and I will be there shortly to assist in taking the ship. No one is to try and go in until we arrive."
"Of course," Lersh answered.
Rendar then piped in over the radio.
"It was great flying with ya, General," Rendar spoke, "but I have some other supply runs to make, and I can't get behind schedule."
"You've done all we need," Anakin told him, "may the Force be with you."
Mos Eisley, Tatooine
Luke walked quietly through the streets of Mos Eisley trying to attract as little attention as possible. The area was still fairly rough, despite the Empire's image of trying to enforce its will on people, which apparently didn't apply to criminals. He was nervous that someone would spot him and sell him out to the Empire for a quick score. His hopes that he hadn't been noticed stopped when he moved to cross a street that would take him to Mara's Skipray to return to the Peregrine. As he moved to cross the street, a laser blast flew down at him from a couple of roof tops away.
Luke easily managed to dodge the shot, and then leaped into the air with his lightsaber ready. If some local smuggler decided to try and cash in on the bounties that the Empire had surely placed on him, he would be ready. As he landed on the roof of one of he buildings there, another shot rang out, which he deflected into the roof below him with his lightsaber. He then noticed a man with a powerful blaster rifle moving across a rooftop about a block away.
"Stop where you are!" Luke yelled after him and taking off in pursuit, using the force as much as possible to move across the rooftops, "Stop, and drop your weapon!"
The man didn't do that and took a couple more shots at Luke as the blonde Jedi leaped after him. The shots, however, were poorly aimed and most of them flew off into the air harmlessly. Luke deflected that came remotely close to him away. As Luke came down, he swung his lightsaber in a downward arch, cutting the blaster rifle in half and taking off the man's legs at his knees.
"Don't kill me!" the man screamed nervously as he found himself laying at Luke's feet, with emerald green lightsaber blade buzzing not far from his face.
Luke deactivated his lightsaber and hung it on his belt. He then lifted the man through the Force to talk with him face to face.
"If you had never tried to kill me, I would have never made pursued you," Luke told him.
The man didn't answer.
"Who do you work for? The Empire? Jabba?" Luke questioned as he leaped across the rooftops before coming to the edge of town and then leaping down into the sand to return to Mara's Skipray, talking his 'prisoner' with him.
"I can not say who," the man answered, "none of the two you mentioned, though."
Luke blinked at the realization that there was some new group that wanted him dead for some reason that he didn't know of. He could also sense the fear that was radiating out of the man.
"You can relax," Luke spoke, "I'm not going to kill you. I'll even argue in your defense to insure that the worst you face is life in prison."
The man relaxed, but still did not say anything. He did not speak for the entire walk back to the Skipray, where he found Mara waiting for him.
"Collecting some of the local riff-raff, Farmboy?" Mara asked him as he approached.
"Guy took a couple of shots at me with a rifle," Luke answered as he secured the man in one of the passenger seats, "said he doesn't work for the Empire or Jabba, so I thought it best to capture him and find out why he was shooting at me."
"You always find new things for us to do," Mara said with a sigh and moved to sit in the Skipray's pilot's seat, "I'll assume we need to take him to Home One."
Luke nodded and checked the communications links to make a report in with the Peregrine before Mara left the system to rejoin the main fleet.
Bothuwai
Anakin exited Freedom One to see the crashed Acclamator half buried in the earth. He could see half a dozen Bothans with various blaster rifles, waiting to move on the exposed entrances to the crashed ship. Ahsoka was quick to come up along side him.
"Has anyone tried to get out?" Anakin asked he approached.
"Not as yet," one of the Bothans answered, "We've set up two teams to advance into the ship from all sides."
"Wait until Ahsoka can move accompany a group on the far side of the ship," Anakin spoke, "then we'll move in to capture the bridge and recover whatever information is onboard."
The Bothans then nodded while Anakin turned to Ahsoka, who only nodded and moved to get to the other position.
"Remember, let the Force guide you," Anakin called after her.
They then waited silently for a few moments before a flare was launched from the other side of the crashed ship. With that, Anakin moved forward and began cutting open the hatch door. They were greeted by a hail of blaster fire from a couple of stormtroopers who were trying to get out. Anakin easily dodged the fire, but two of the Bothans following him were killed outright.
Anakin was quick to move in to block the shots with his lightsaber while allowing the Bothans to shoot the two stormtroopers down as they advanced into the ship.
"Stay alert," Anakin said to the remaining Bothans following him, "There are likely to be more stormtroopers either taking defensive positions or searching for a way out."
Ahsoka's group was greeted by the same defense of laser fire, and togruta padawan was surprised by the intensity of the fire. It was only the fact that most of the shots were very poorly aimed that allowed her to avoid taking a hit, and she soon deflected the shots back that took down the two stormstroopers near that hatch.
"They don't want to surrender their ship," Ahsoka commented as she stepped over the bodies of the dead stormtroopers, "even though their isn't anything they can do to save it."
"Bravery on the part of the foot soldiers, Ahsoka," came Anakin's voice through her comm.-link, "for many of them, they're only following orders and don't want to be involved in all of this."
"It's terrible that they're being dragged into this war," Ahsoka commented, "Isn't there a way we can stop this? Let everyone live?"
"I don't know," Anakin sighed back, "things of this nature are always complicated. It's something that took me awhile to learn. Despite all our powers, we can not prevent bad things from happening. We aren't omnipotent, no matter how much we may wish to be."
Ahsoka only nodded as they kept marching on, "hopefully this all doesn't last much longer."
The advance through the crashed ship took roughly half an hour as the two teams were continually ambushed by either stormtroopers or men who were standard starship crewmen armed with pistols. They posed little real threat to Anakin or Ahsoka, but both Jedi quickly found that the Bothans with them rarely did well when they didn't have the element of surprise on their side.
When they finally made it to the bridge, the number of Bothans participating in the attack had been cut in half. They also found several stormtroopers and the ships captain in the two crew pits, using the pits as cover.
"You'll never get the data pads!" the captain yelled defiantly as Anakin and Ahsoka were forced to deflect shots away and let the Bothans pick off the Imperial troops one at a time.
That took several minutes, and soon the group was searching the crew pits for the data pads that the captain had mentioned. Eventually, Ahsoka found something sitting inside a case near the front of the port side crew pit. She looked over the screen on it for a few moments before turning to Anakin, her eyes wide.
"Master, I think I found the information they were trying to hide," Ahsoka spoke nervously.
Anakin made his way and took a look at hit.
"We need to get this back to the Council and to the Rebellion," Anakin said nervously back after a few moments.
Home One
Luke found that the Millennium Falcon had returned from their mission as he and Mara Jade carried their prisoner off of their Skipray. Han and Chewbacca were actually working on something along the top of the Falcon.
"Hey there, kid," Han greeted him, "What's up with the legless guy?"
"One attempted assassin," Luke answered, "we were hoping to figure out why, as he doesn't work for Jabba or the Empire."
"They aren't the only ones that we've angered over the years," Han commented and then noticed something on the man's arm, "And I think I know who this guy works for."
"Who is it?" Luke asked.
"Notice the tattoo on his left forearm?" Han questioned.
Luke and Mara both took a look to see the image of black sun tattooed into the man's skin.
"They guy works for Black Sun, kid," Han told him, "the largest organized crime syndicate in the galaxy."
To Be Continued…