I have to say that I was SOO happy with all of the reviews I got! They seriously brightened my mood! I figured that you guys deserved an early update after all the praises I got. Thanks again!

Also, if you didn't already know, I have made a fic called "Follow the Light" about how things would have turned out had Anakin not turned to the Dark Side. It can kind of play as a prequel to this story in a sense. You can check it out... or not...


CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

Han and Leia were running as fast as they could.

By the time the guards had found out in which direction they went, Han and Leia were long gone.

The building they were in was very peculiar indeed. It was like a maze. Around each corner, a pair of those black-armored guards awaited them. Han and Leia would stop, fire their blasters, and then move on. They just needed to stall time for Luke to get the comlink.

Han abruptly stopped and pulled Leia back.

"What is it?" She asked.

Han pointed next to him, "Turbolift."

Leia's eyes flashed, "We can get out of here! Wait, what about—"

Han shook his head, "No time for that, he'll find his own way out."

Leia nodded and then got into the lift with Han.

Just before the doors to the lift closed, a pair of guards saw them. They tried firing their guns, but the door closed on them too quickly. Leia bit her lip and looked up at Han, "They saw us, what if they do something to hamper with the lift?"

Han opened his mouth to speak, but he was interrupted by a loud scraping noise made by the elevator.

"What's happening?!" Leia screamed.

The turbolift stopped for a minute. Han could hear his heart beating loud…or maybe that was Leia's?

Han tried frantically pushing the button to open the door, but just before it opened all the way, the lift suddenly started falling. Fast.

Han and Leia both grabbed on the walls of the elevator. The rate at which the lift was dropping was accelerating.

"If we don't get out of here fast," Leia screamed, "we're gonna go into free-fall."

Han nodded, not able to say anything—the wind was completely knocked out of him.

He tried scooting over to Leia; it was difficult, but he was able to grab her. The doors of the lift opened and the two could see different levels of this mysterious building flashing before them.

"Jump!" Han yelled.

While still holding on to each other, they made a jump for it, hoping they would not jump directly into the floors in-between each of the levels.

They fell on a hard, stone floor, right on top of each other.

Han fell on top of Leia, but a split-second later he jumped off, making a short "Ah" noise.

Leia quickly got up and turned around, looking about the room they were now in.

There were speeders and space crafts of all kinds in this large underground garage.

"Must be some sort of hangar bay," Han said.

"Which means there must be a way out," Leia replied.

She reached for her blaster on her belt, but there was nothing there. She groaned, "I lost my blaster in the jump."

This made Han aware of his possessions too. He started feeling around his pockets and jackets for any weapons that could still be on him. The only one he had left looked like a regular-issue blaster still attached to his belt. He unclipped it, "At least we have one blaster left."

They began to walk around the hangar. It wasn't completely empty, so they had to be cautious.

There was a group of men sitting far across the hangar, all huddled around a table, probably playing a game of sabacc or something.

Leia studied the men closely from the distance. They seemed to be wearing similar armor to the men upstairs. They didn't look like guards though; they were probably pilots, judging by their black flight suits. They all had their helmets off, but Leia couldn't identify any specific facial differentiations. They were all human and spoke with a funny accent.

"Pass me another bottle of whiskey, Kip," one of the pilots said to the other.

Leia frowned; they all spoke with the same accent as Han's. They were Corellian.

"Who are those guys?" Leia asked quietly.

Han shrugged, "No clue. Never seen any of those guys in my life."

"They're called Stormtroopers."

Leia and Han jumped at the voice behind them. They both quickly turned around, Han brandishing his weapon.

Luke just put his hands in the air, frowning, "It's me."

Han just gave him a weird look and put his weapon away.

"Don't sneak up on us like that!" Leia hissed, translating Han's facial expression.

Luke rolled his eyes, "Let's get out of here."

"Wait," Leia said.

Luke turned around.

"What do you mean they're called Stormtroopers?"

Luke gave her and Han an uneasy look, "They wear the same uniform as those who graduate from the Academy. Seeing that they're here, they probably work for the Empire."

Han's eyes bulged out of his head, "Wait, what are we doing here then? You said this wasn't…"

Luke shook his head, still trying to figure out if Cad Bane knew that he sent Luke and Han in to rob from the Empire. "I don't know… Let's just get out of here."

Leia frowned, wishing she knew a little more about this secret "empire" to which everyone kept alluding.

The three of them quietly tip-toed over to a speeder that looked like it wouldn't be missed if it was taken out.

Luke quietly crawled into the pilot's seat, Leia got in next to him, and Han leaped in to the back.

Luke placed his finger on the ignition, praying the Stormtroopers wouldn't hear the rumble of the speeder coming to life.

"What are you waiting for?" Leia hissed.

Luke activated the speeder, fully aware that the nearby pilots would probably jump at the speeder being taken out of the hangar without authorization.

The pilots sitting at the sabacc table looked up to see who had taken a speeder without clearance. They saw the speeder fly out of the hangar and then each one of them hurriedly jumped into their own specialized craft, trying to catch up to the hijacked speeder.

Luke was flying the speeder as fast as it would take him.

"Leia, check for any weapons in any of the compartments."

Leia nodded and started searching. She found one in the glove compartment, "Will this work?" she asked, pulling out a blaster rifle.

Luke nodded.

Leia turned around and climbed into the back seat next to Han with the blaster in her hand.

"Don't shoot first!" Luke warned from the front.

Leia and Han waited for any threat that could be chasing them. In a few moments, a handful of speeders came flying from out the same exit that they came from.

Luke was trying to ascend their craft to the upper Coruscant traffic so he could blend in with the other speeders.

The crafts behind him started shooting. Luke tried swerving the speeder around to dodge the shots, but he couldn't risk Han and Leia falling and not be able to get precise shots.

Han turned his head around, "We're never going to be able to get Caz and Mara if we're stuck in a speeder chase all night."

Luke agreed. "Han, get up here."

Han turned around again and frowned, "What?"

"Get up here." Luke said one last time. He put the speeder on auto-pilot and then stood up and leaped off the craft.

Leia shrieked.

Han quickly jumped into the pilot's seat and disabled auto-pilot and resumed maneuvering the speeder himself. He accelerated past the Coruscant traffic.

Once Han sped up, they lost the guys following them. Leia stayed in the backseat but now focused her attention to what was going on in front, "Be careful!"

The driving citizens of Coruscant shook their fists in anger as Han illegally weaved his way through the lines of speeders.

"It's okay," Han said at last. "We lost 'em."

Then, out of nowhere, twice as many of those Stormtroopers came chasing after them.

"You just had to jinx it." Leia muttered.


Luke was always one to act first and think later.

That's what was going through his mind as he fell through the Coruscant sky, belly down and arms and legs wide open. He kept his eye out for any speeder that he could latch onto. The clock was ticking fast; the longer he fell, the harder the landing would be.

He didn't even think, he just grabbed onto one.

He landed in the backseat and the driver of the speeder shrieked. He was the only other being in the speeder. It was a humanoid creature of some sort. Luke didn't have time to be nice. He pulled out Han's blaster pistol and pointed it at the driver's head, "Keep flying until I tell you to stop."


Han was flying like a maniac in the sky. At least, that's what Leia thought. She mentally kicked herself for being so stupid. How could she allow herself to get into this situation? She was in a speeder chase, shooting at suspicious "Stormtroopers" tracking behind her while an underage boy she hardly knew flew them to their deaths.

Leia just shook her head, clearing the thoughts from her mind. She shot at a speeder behind her, making a direct hit at its engine. The speeder started fuming and falling.

"Woo!" Han cheered from the front, "Way to go, Lilo!"

Leia rolled her eyes, fixing her blaster again to shoot at more speeders. "It's Leia."

"I know," Han said, "but Lilo rhymes with way to go."

Leia didn't know if he was trying to be funny, or just stupid.

"Uh oh." Han muttered.

"Did you say that because it rhymes with 'way to go' too?" Leia asked, fearing the worst as she turned around to face Han. "What is it?"

Han pointed at the police speeders racing towards them from the right, their sirens wailing.

"Kriff."

Han made a really sharp turn to the left.

The Stormtroopers chasing them caught on to the news. They knew better than to tangle with the law. The rest of the Stormtroopers chasing behind them turned away, leaving only the Coruscant Security Force speeders tailing behind Han and Leia.

"We're in deep poodoo now." Leia said.


Halfway through the ride to the platform that Luke met Cad Bane on earlier that night, the scared-shitless driver with the blaster pointed at his head couldn't stand the pressure anymore. The humanoid jumped out of the speeder, probably plummeting to his death for real.

Luke shook his head and grabbed the controls of the speeder. He really wanted to keep as much people alive tonight at possible…

He arrived back at the place Cad Bane told him to be.

Before getting out of the stolen speeder, he waited for a moment to catch his breath and try sorting through his thoughts.

No way can I give that guy the comlink with the Death Star plans on it…

Luke shook his head as he thought harder about it, Does Bane even know that he requested a comlink with the plans to the Death Star on them?

Does he know that I know about the Death Star?

Does he know about the Empire?

Does he know that I worked for the Empire?

He ran a nervous hand through his hair, What would Vader think if he knew about all of this?

Did he know about this? Could this all just be a ruse to get him back home?

Luke had no time to find answers to his questions. He had to save his friend.

He sighed and attached Han's blaster back onto his belt and got out of the speeder.

Mara and Caz's bodies were long since removed by now. The whole landing platform was empty.

A few seconds later, Cad Bane got out and walked towards Luke.

"Do you have the device?" He asked in his raspy voice.

Luke nodded, "But I can't give it to you until you show me that my friends are okay."

Bane folded his arms. After staring at Luke intently for a long moment, he gave a small nod. He turned his head and gestured his arm out, probably signaling someone to bring out Caz and Mara.

Two droids came out, each walking Caz and Mara out to the platform.

"The effects wore off before I ever had to resuscitate them," Bane explained.

Caz and Mara were able to walk. Once Mara caught sight of Luke, she brightened up.

Luke looked up to Bane, "Let them go first, or I won't give you the comlink."

Bane rolled his eyes and signaled for the droid to let go of Caz and Mara.

The two were freed from their binders. Mara just ran over to Luke while Caz—looking very confused and scared—ran the other way.

Luke raised an eyebrow.

Mara waved him off, "He was super confused when we woke up. I'm not surprised that he would just take off."

Luke shrugged, not really caring about the fate of Caz.

Bane cleared his throat, grabbing Luke's attention again.

"Oh yeah," Luke said. He pulled out a comlink from his pocket and placed it in Bane's hand. He figured Cad Bane should trust him by now, ever since he stole that stupid crystal skull for him earlier in the summer.

Before he could wait for Bane to activate it and inspect his prize, Luke just grabbed Mara's hand and they ran back to the stolen speeder.

Just as Luke was about to drive off, he took one last look at Cad Bane.

"Hey!" Cad Bane was yelling, "This is not the right comlink! This is just the look-alike I gave you! Come back!"

Luke pulled back on the throttle of the speeder as hard as he could and flew the hell out of that place.

Mara was turned around in her seat, watching back at Cad Bane's landing platform.

"What comlink?" Mara frowned.

Luke waved his hand, "Don't worry about it."

Mara rolled her eyes. She turned around and watched the disappearing platform of Cad Bane's secret hideout.

"Uh, Luke?"

Luke groaned, not looking behind him. "Don't tell me…"

"Yeah," Mara confirmed. "They're following us."

"Kriff, this is the third speeder chase of the night!"

"Third?" Mara repeated.

Luke didn't answer. He attempted to lose Bane's henchmen by twisting behind the skyscrapers and turning into heavy traffic. Mara held on to her seat as she endured this reckless flying. At the end, Luke drove behind some alleyway and stopped the speeder.

"What are you doing?" Mara shrieked, "They're gonna catch up to us now!"

Luke shook his head and jumped out, "Come on! Let's go on foot. They'll never suspect we jumped out to run on foot!"

Mara got out of the speeder, grumbling, "Yeah, because they don't think we're that stupid…"


Leia climbed back to the front seat. Great, Leia thought to herself as she expelled a sigh of relief. Now they were just being chased by the police.

"Han, maybe we should just stop."

"No!" Han almost yelled, "I'm not going back to jail!"

"We won't we'll explain to the police what happened—they're the good guys!"

Han scoffed, "Yeah, right." The speeder, however, unexpectedly began to fly slower.

"Han, what's going on?"

Han started messing with the controls; pressing random buttons and hoping some good would come out of it.

"Something's gone wrong! I don't know!"

Leia started to feel really warm, and she could hear her ears ringing again. "What do you mean? Han, the police—"

"I know!" Han said, starting to freak out. The speeder was halting to a stop at a nearby sidewalk.

"Let's get out of here!" Leia hissed.

Han put his hand on the side door, just about to open the latch to get out. Then, he heard several blasters click right behind the speeder.

"Stop right there!" One of the officers behind them threatened, holding out his blaster pointed at Han.

Han and Leia slightly turned their heads and saw a whole handful of Coruscant Security Force officers with their blasters out.

Han took his hand off the door and slumped in his seat. Leia groaned next to him.

Just as one of the officers began to come near the speeder, Han and Leia heard another voice behind them. "It's okay, officers. I got this."

Leia's eyes widened. She knew that voice…

"Alright, Master Jedi." The officer replied.

Han and Leia sat motionless in the speeder. Han's fingers were so tightly wrapped around the steering throttle, his knuckles were white. Leia could hear her heartbeat trying to break out of her chest.

Next to Han's window, a figure suddenly appeared.

Han's jaw dropped and Leia just covered her face with her hands.

"Leia?!"

Leia wanted to die.

Anakin folded his arms, "What are you two doing?"

Han was just staring up at Anakin, his mouth slightly hanging open.

Anakin was staring intently, but not at Han. He was glaring at Leia.

"Dad, I can totally explain—"

Han just frowned and turned his head, "Wait a sec, you are her father?"

Anakin opened Han's side door, "Both of you, out, now."

Han and Leia sighed and then exited through the pilot's side door.

"Mind telling me why you two were involved in a speeder chase around the city?"

Han bit his lip. Leia just looked down at the floor, "We were being chased by bad people…"

Anakin raised an eyebrow, "Who?"

Han and Leia just looked at each other then looked away.

Anakin frowned, "What are you two even doing together? How do you know each other?"

Han smiled sheepishly, "We have a mutual friend?"

Anakin raised an eyebrow, "Oh yeah, where is he?"

"What makes you think it's a he?"

Anakin wasn't amused, "Where is Luke?"

Leia groaned, "Dad, please, can we just go home? They're probably already home…"

Anakin raised an eyebrow, "Oh really? Do you want me to call your mother and check?"

"No!" Leia said quickly, "Never mind."

Anakin looked around the sidewalk. All signs of those people chasing Han and Leia vanished. They were alone. Anakin gestured over to his speeder, "Let's go. You two are going to tell me everything in the speeder."

Han and Leia both sighed and started following Anakin back to his own vehicle.

"I thought you said your dad was a cop," Han hissed.

"I never said that!" Leia hissed back.

"You made me think it," Han muttered.

Leia just rolled her eyes.

Anakin held the side doors open for the speeder. Han got in the backseat. "Leia, sit in the front."

Leia sighed but complied.

Anakin got in and stared out the window for a moment, trying to gather up all his thoughts before he shook the answers out of typical Solo and his surprisingly disobedient daughter.

"Where is Luke?"

Leia glanced back at Han, but he wasn't going to say anything.

Leia bit her lip. Maybe if she tried doing the Luke thing—not answering any questions and just staring at Anakin— her father wouldn't press it…

"Leia!"

She sighed, "Luke went to go get Mara because she was…left behind, but now everything is okay."

Anakin frowned, "Left behind where?"

Leia groaned, "Dad, please, I don't know!"

"Yes you do! You have to tell me."

Leia glanced back at Han again, and he was just sitting there, staring at Leia. His eyes didn't say anything.

Leia turned back around. Very quickly, she said "This guy shot Mara and someone else—Caz—and he said the only way he would save them is if we did something for him. So we literally went to the other side of the city to find this stupid comlink or something, and then we went back for Mara and Caz and to take them back and then…"

Anakin nodded encouragingly, "And then what, Leia?!"

Leia bit her lip, "Well I don't know… We were being chased by the people from whom we stole the comlink. So Luke jumped out of the speeder to go find Mara while Han and I were trying to stall time by just flying around."

"He jumped out of a speeder?" Anakin repeated.

Leia rolled her eyes, "Yes. And he's probably with Mara and Caz right now, taking them home."

Anakin's frown deepened, and he looked out the window.

"I don't think so…" He said quietly, "I think they're in trouble."