Chapter 51
As Vader was leaving the conference room, he paused, sensing something through the Force that he hadn't sensed in a long time. That's odd. He said to himself as he reached out with the Force, feeling the fleeting Force signatures of several Force users that suddenly disappeared. Who is on that ship? I could have sworn I felt Obi-Wan's presence among them, but who else is with him? Well…whoever they are…I will deal with them later. But perhaps I can finally have my revenge by killing Obi-Wan.
Vader stormed the rest of the way to Docking Bay 2037 in thought and contemplation of what he wanted to do to his former master when he finally confronted him. When he entered the docking bay, he tried keeping his anger for Obi-Wan somewhat at bay; and he nodded to the commander of the stormtroopers as he joined him. They walked towards the boarding ramp of the Falcon, expecting to be confronting some prisoners, one of them Vader hoped being Obi-Wan; but, to his disappointment, they were met by an officer and several armed stormtroopers that came down the ramp to greet them instead. A voice could be heard over the intercom…"Unlock on-five-seven and nine. Release charges."…as the officer approached them.
The officer saluted Vader. "There's no one on board, Sir. According to the log, the crew abandoned ship right after takeoff. It must be a decoy, Sir. Several of the escape pods have been jettisoned."
Vader crossed his arms in front of his chest with frustration at this news and sighed with disgust. "Did you find any droids?" He asked the officer.
The officer shook his head. "No, Sir. If there were any on board, they must also have jettisoned."
I know you're on board that ship, old man. Vader thought to himself as he looked up at the ship before turning to address the officer again. "Send a scanning crew on board. I want every part of this ship checked."
The officer saluted. "Yes, Sir."
"And if you find anything, I want to be informed immediately." Vader instructed.
"It will be done, my lord." The officer said with a bow as Vader turned quickly and left the hangar.
The officer then turned to the commander of the stormtroopers. "Get me a scanning crew in here on the double. I want every part of this ship checked!"
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Inside the Millennium Falcon
A trooper was running through the hallway of the Falcon and then proceeded to go down the exit ramp, leaving no one but the souls hiding below the floor in the smuggling compartments. All that could be heard were the muffled commands of an officer in the hanger bay that soon became distant and finally faded. It had then finally become very quiet as the group tried to listen for any more movement on the ship or just outside the exit, but they hadn't heard any for several minutes.
"I think it's all clear." Anakin whispered finally as the three floor panels of the smuggling compartments suddenly popped open and were slid aside by Han, Anakin and Obi-Wan.
"Boy, it's lucky you had these compartments." Luke said as Obi-Wan climbed out of their compartment and proceeded to help Luke and the others out.
"I agree with that." Anakin added as he was helping Ben and then Padme out of their compartment. 3PO was more of a challenge but Anakin used the Force to help pull him out.
Han looked up at them as he boosted himself out his compartment and sat on the floor with his feet dangling into the opening. "I use them for smuggling. I never thought I'd be smuggling myself in them." He paused, looking over at Anakin and Obi-Wan as he got to his feet and Chewie got out, helping R2. "This is ridiculous. Even if I could take off, I'd never get past the tractor beam." Han declared.
"Leave that to me!" Obi-Wan exclaimed, causing everyone to look at him with a start, especially Anakin who was looking at him skeptically. "What are you up to Obi-Wan?"
Han looked at Obi-Wan and shook his head. "Damn fool. I knew that you were going to say that!"
Obi-Wan just smiled knowingly at Han. "Who's the more foolish...the fool or the fool who follows him?" He told him as Han shook his head, muttering to himself and Chewie growled in agreement.
Anakin, a little frustrated by Obi-Wan blocking him out and not answering his question through the Force, finally asked the question aloud. "What are you planning, Obi-Wan? Whatever it is, you're not doing it alone."
Obi-Wan took his attention off of Han and turned to Anakin with a weak smile. He walked over to his former padawan, his 'brother', and put his right hand on Anakin's shoulder. "We each have our own path, Anakin. And you must trust me to take mine."
Anakin squinted at Obi-Wan with concern. "What do you mean?"
Obi-Wan sighed. "Anakin, we've known each other for a very long time. Please trust me on this. Let me do what I have to do. You protect your family and get those droids to the Alliance. Will you trust me, Anakin?"
Anakin sighed, looked down, and then nodded as he looked back into his 'brother's' eyes. "I trust you, Obi-Wan. But it still doesn't mean I have to like it."
Obi-Wan smiled. "Good. Now we better going if we're ever going to have any hopes of getting off of this space station."
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Outside the Falcon, some crewmen were carrying a heavy box of scanning equipment to board the ship. They walked up to two stormtroopers who were now standing guard at either side of the ramp. "The ship's all yours." One of the troopers said to them. "If the scanners pick up anything, report it immediately." The crewmen nodded. "All right, let's go."
The crewmen then nodded again and entered the ship, but then the troopers heard a loud crashing noise come from within the ship. "Hey down there, could you give us a hand with this?" Han shouted from inside the ship. The stormtroopers turned to look at each other and then went up the ramp. A thud was heard and a round of blaster fire.
Inside the ship, Han and Tobin were frantically putting on the stormtrooper armor as Padme turned to Luke, Sarah and Ben. "Now you stay close to me and your father. Ok?" She told them.
"Now what a minute." Anakin started as Padme turned to look at him. "You, Luke, Ben and Sarah are staying here, hidden in these compartments."
Padme gave her husband a look of determination. "Oh no, you don't. I'm coming with you."
Anakin sighed, looking at her with concern and put both of his hands on her shoulders. "No, Padme. It's too risky. If Vader sees you…"
"Ani, I'm not some fragile little flower that you need to protect. I can take care of myself." Padme interjected.
Anakin chuckled and smiled down at her. "I know, my Angel. But it's too dangerous. If Vader sees you, who knows what he'll do." He then sighed again and brought her close to him, putting his arms lovingly around her. "Besides, you should stay here with the children. The rest of us can take care of this."
Luke, who had been listening to this exchange between his parents, stepped towards them. "Dad, I'm coming with you. Leia's my sister. I want to help save her." He exclaimed.
"Me too." Both Sarah and Ben protested in unison.
Both parents turned to look at them. "We don't have time to argue about this. Now you're going to stay here with your mother. And that's final." Anakin told them with authority.
Ben and Sarah both agreed reluctantly as they nodded their heads in disappointment; but not Luke, who turned to his father with resentment. "But, Dad, I'm 19 years old now and considered an adult. When are you going to start treating me like one?" He protested. "I can take care of myself. I'm not a child any more."
Anakin let go of his wife and walked over to Luke and sighed. He is growing up, isn't he? Anakin thought to himself, weakly smiled at him and then sighed. "Ok. But stay close to me?" He told him as he pointed his right index finger at him.
Luke smiled and nodded in agreement. "Thanks, Dad." He replied as he threw his arms around his father and his father returned his embrace. "Thank you for trusting me."
"You're welcome, Son." Anakin replied as they backed out of their embrace and smiled at one another.
"How does Luke get to go and not me?" Sarah spoke up. "I'm nearly 17."
Anakin turned to her, still holding his son's shoulders and then became serious. He released his son's shoulders and walked over to Sarah. "Sarah, no arguments. You may be turning 17 next month, but that still doesn't make you an adult yet. So you are staying here with you mother and Ben."
"But Dad…" Sarah rebelled as she crossed her arms in front of her and looked away. "It's not fair. I want to help Leia too."
"Sarah Skywalker." Padme started, putting her hands on her hips. "You will not talk to your father that way. I agree with him. You are staying here with me and Ben and that's final."
"Yes, Mom." Sarah said reluctantly and looked away with tears starting to form in her eyes. "I'm sorry, Dad."
Anakin then weakly smiled at his daughter and pulled her close to him in a fatherly embrace. "It's ok, Sarah. And you'll get your chance to prove yourself, but now is not the time." He told her as he kissed the top of her head and then backed up to look at her. He took her chin in his left hand. "Ok?" He asked her as she reached up and wiped the tears from her eyes.
"Yes, Dad." She replied. "I'm just frightened for Leia and want to help her."
"I know. We all do." Anakin replied with a sad smile and then released her, turning to the others. "Well, we better get going."
"I'll second that. It's not like we have a lot of time here." Han said sarcastically as he held the stormtrooper helmet under his arm.
"Do you have an extra blaster, Han?" Padme asked him.
"Yeah…right over here." Han told her and he walked over to open an overhead compartment to pull out a rather large blaster. "Are you sure you can handle one of these things, Padme?"
Padme just smirked at him as she took the blaster from his hands and cocked it. "Oh, yes. I've had plenty of practice with one of these."
Han gave her a crooked grin and then looked over at Anakin. "Tough lady you have there for a wife, Anakin."
Anakin chuckled as he looked at Han and then smiled over at his wife. "Oh, yes, she's not only beautiful, but she can hold her own in a fire fight, believe me." He said as he walked over to Padme and kissed her on the lips one last time before they pulled back to look into each others eyes.
"Be careful, Ani. And bring Leia back to us." Padme pleaded.
"I will." Anakin said with a smile before becoming serious again and nodded to Han to proceed.
A few moments later, a Gantry officer looked down through a window from the control room overlooking the docking bay, realizing the guards were missing. He reached over and turned on the comm. "TK-four-two-one. Why aren't you at your post? TK-four-two-one, do you copy?" One of the 'stormtroopers' came down the ramp and looked up at the control room waving. He pointed to his helmet, indicating that his comlink wasn't working. The gantry officer shook his head with disgust and turned to go to the door, giving his aide an annoyed glance. "Take over. We've got a bad transmitter. I'll see what I can do."
As the officer approached the door, it slid open to reveal Chewie, who towered over him. The gantry officer stumbled backward in shock as Chewie let out a bone-chilling growl and, with one blow, sent the officer to the floor. The aide immediately reached for his laser pistol, but Han, dressed as a strormtrooper came up behind Chewie and blasted the aide. Anakin, Obi-Wan, Luke and the droids entered the room quickly followed by Tobin, also dressed as a stormtrooper.
Tobin quickly removed his helmet. "You know, between his howling and your blasting everything in sight, it's a wonder the whole station doesn't know we're here." Tobin told him as he closed the door behind him.
"Bring them on! I prefer a straight fight to all this sneaking around." Han retorted as he went to sit in a chair at the consol.
Anakin, Luke and Obi-Wan just shook their heads and exchanged worried but amused looks as R2 and 3PO hurried over to the computer consol. "We found the computer outlet, Sir." 3PO informed them as R2 plugged himself in and turned to look at Anakin and Obi-Wan.
"R2, I need you to find a schematic on the tractor beam systems." Obi-Wan instructed. "I need to know what needs to be done to shut it down." R2 beeped in compliance and started to turn the dial with the plug he had extended and inserted into the outlet.
"And, R2, also do a search of the network to see if you can find where they are keeping my daughter, Leia Outlander." Anakin added and R2 beeped again.
As R2 brought up the schematics of the space station, Obi-Wan, Anakin and Luke watched the screen with anticipation, looking for what they wanted to find. R2 then let out a series of beeps when he found something. "He says he's found the main computer to power the tractor beam that's holding the ship here. He'll try to make the precise location appear on the monitor." 3PO interpreted for them as the readouts came up on the computer screen. "The tractor beam is coupled to the main reactor in seven locations. A power loss at one of the terminals will allow the ship to leave."
Obi-Wan studied the data on the screen. "I don't think you boys can help. I must go alone." He then turned to Anakin. "And I mean it, Anakin."
Anakin then looked at his friend with sadness and nodded. He then approached Obi-Wan and embraced him in a brotherly hug. "Be careful, old friend." He said as they backed out of their embrace and weakly smiled at each other. "May the Force be with you."
"And with you, Anakin." Obi-Wan replied with a smile.
Han, who had watched this exchange between the friends, looked on, trying to hide his concern. "Well…Whatever you say. I've done more that I bargained for on this trip already."
"Uncle Ben, I want to go with you. You shouldn't go alone. Dad, please tell him." Luke exclaimed as his father and Obi-Wan turned to look at him.
"No, Luke. You need to stay with the rest of us." Anakin told his son as he walked over to him. "This is Obi-Wan's path, not ours."
"But Dad…" Luke tried to protest.
"Luke, part of being an adult and a Jedi is to do the right thing, even if it hurts you to do so." Anakin told Luke as he put his hands on his son's shoulders.
"You should listen to your father." Obi-Wan added with a smile. "May the Force be with you Luke and you also, Tobin." Obi-Wan said as he turned from Luke to Tobin.
"And with you Uncle Ben." Both Tobin and Luke said in unison.
Obi-Wan weakly smiled back at everyone and bowed his head. He then adjusted the lightsaber on his belt, opened the door and silently stepped out of the control room, disappearing down the hallway. The door closed behind him.
Chewbacca growled a comment and Han shook his head in agreement. "Boy you said it, Chewie." Han said and then turned to Anakin. "He may have been "the Negotiator' but I still think he's crazy to go by himself like that." Han told him and then weakly smiled. "You two are quite close friends, aren't you? A real team."
Anakin weakly smiled back at him. "Yes. And we didn't get dubbed 'the Hero with No Fear' and 'the Negotiator' for following convention and always taking the safe route…So, yes, I will have to agree with you that him going alone is kind of crazy. But this whole situation is crazy."
Then suddenly R2 began to whistle and beep, causing all of them to go over to see what he'd found. "Did you find Leia, R2?" Anakin asked with anticipation.
R2 let out another series of beeps. "Yes, it appears that he has." 3PO interpreted. "He says she's on Level five. Detention block A A-twenty-three. And I'm afraid she's scheduled to be terminated."
Anakin, Luke and Tobin looked at the droids with shock. "Oh, no, Dad! We have to get her out of there."
Anakin turned to Luke. "We will, Luke." He told his son before turning back to R2. "R2, See if you can find a way into the detention block?"
"What exactly do you have in mind? Or do I dare ask?" Han asked as Anakin, Luke and Tobin were watching the data R2 was bringing up. "Because marching into the detention area is not exactly my idea of fun, Anakin."
Anakin turned to look at Han with a smirk. "Well…" He started as he began to look around and then found what he was looking for. "3PO, can you please hand me those three sets of binders behind you?"
"Yes, Master Anakin." 3PO complied and turned around to retrieve the cuffs and then handed them to him.
"Chewie, is it ok if I put these on you?" Anakin asked as Chewie growled something at Han.
Han gave Anakin a crooked smile. "Don't worry, Chewie. I think I know what he has in mind." Chewie then growled apprehensively in agreement and let Anakin put the binders on him.
"Oh, I get it." Tobin interjected still wearing the stormtrooper's armor. "We're going to be escorting some prisoners to that cell block."
"That's exactly right, Tobin. Only you and Han will be transferring us prisoners from another cell block." Anakin answered him as he finished putting the binders on Chewie and then turned to Luke. "Come here, Luke. Let me put these on you." Luke nodded and then approached his father, letting him put the binders on him.
"Master Anakin, Sir! Pardon me for asking...but, ah...what should R2 and I do if we're discovered here?" 3PO asked as Han was helping put Anakin's binder's on.
"Lock the door!" Anakin answered him as Tobin opened the door.
"And hope they don't have blasters." Han added.
3PO sighed and banged his left arm down on top of R2's dome. "That isn't very reassuring." 3PO replied as Tobin and Han put on their helmets back on with the group briefly looked back at the droids. Tobin and Han then escorted the 'prisoners' out of the control room and down the hall, leaving the droids to themselves. "Oh dear." 3PO exclaimed as the door shut closed again behind them.
