Teen Titans / Star Wars crossover: A Galaxy Far, Far Away

Chapter 15: Plans Within Plans

….

Okay, people. Sorry for the late posting, but as Marvin the Paranoid Android used to say, "Life. Don't talk to me about life." It can be a real witch sometimes. (I cleaned that word up just a hair.)

I'd wanted to post this chapter before Christmas, as a present to those following it. So please forgive me for being so late.

Again, much thanks to Edgar H. Sutter and Sharnorasian Empire for their invaluable help on this project.

Hope you enjoy, and don't forget to review!

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Chapter 15: Plans Within Plans

The name-changing ceremony for the newly-rechristened battle station, now the Victory Star, was brief. Darth Vader could appreciate the need for ceremony, but he was more acutely aware of the Emperor's schedule.

The rebellion must be put down. Vader was no fool; they'd crushed a major outpost of the rebels, but there were others. And while this battle station was moving through the darkness between the stars, it couldn't very well be crushing more pockets of rebellion.

Put another way, this would be a good time for the rebels to strike at one of the core worlds, with the Victory Star too far away to counter it.

Not for the first time, Vader wondered why the Emperor was so intent on building such an enormous engine of destruction. It was an excellent weapon of intimidation, true, but so was a fleet of smaller dreadnoughts, which could have been built with the funds allocated for the Victory Star.

It basically centralized the Empire's attack forces. One ship, no matter how large, no matter how powerful...could be destroyed in any number of ways. And if so...then what?

Still, Palpatine was Emperor and his Master. So it was not his to question why.

"My Lord?" Asmodeus came up behind him, as he stood there, musing over the still-ongoing repairs to the bay area below him. The girl, whoever, whatever she'd been, had surprised him both with her sheer power and her ferocity. He'd never encountered anything like that, particularly any combination of the two. She was untrained; that was very probably the only reason the Victory Star still existed. Had she had the training he'd had...he almost shuddered to think of the damage she could have caused.

Well. Finding, capturing, and / or killing her had just become a top priority with him. He was certain the Emperor would be of the same mind. "Yes, my apprentice?"

Asmodeus bowed respectfully. "It occurs to me that you no longer need me here. Might I be excused? I've a certain...project that requires my personal attention."

"Oh?"

"Yes, Master. From the very hand of the Emperor himself. I can show you the orders if you'd like…"

Vader waved him off. "No, no need. Go about your mission, Lord Asmodeus. Alert me should you detect any indication of rebel activity, however."

"That goes without saying, my Master. I shall do so." And with yet another respectful bow, he took his leave, his own personal shuttle already prewarmed, his pilot awaiting orders.

…..

"Garfield, no!" Raven was aghast at the notion. "You can't be leading squadrons out there!"

He came over and took her hands. "Rae...I have to. This is not combat, not yet, but Cy and I have to show these new recruits how these X-wings work in real life. For that matter, I need some hand's-on, myself. The simulation is only so good, you know. I mean, look at these guys. Back home, they'd be junior high students-and that's the oldest of 'em. I have to show them that I'm not afraid of combat. And Rae…" Here he kissed her hands, "sooner or later...there's gonna be conflict. And I won't be able to just stand back and watch these guys get killed."

"No…." She laid her head against his chest. Jeeze Louise, he wondered, what would she be like if he did have to go into combat? "Rae. Look." And he curled a finger up under her chin, raising her face to his. "Rae. You have to get used to the idea that, yeah, I may be flying into combat sometime soon. But remember: there is no safe place. Yavin taught us that. Just hanging back, directing things from here...that wouldn't be any guarantee of survival, now would it? Besides," and here he quirked a smile, "I...kinda have a plan. Something Galen Marek mentioned."

"A plan?" Were those actual tears on Raven's face? Of all people?

"Yeah. Nothing written in stone yet, but...I think it'll work."

"What is it?"

He shook his head, "Too soon to tell you. And I may not ever need it. It's just a worst-case scenario."

"I'll stop you. I'll cocoon you in-*"

"Raven, no, you won't. What would that do for morale? Now think about it. My girlfriend-" he used the word for the first time regarding her, "-tying me up? Keeping me from leading the squad? People would be saying I instigated that, or, at least, was okay with it. They'd call me a coward, or worse. Do you want that for me?"

She sniffled. "N-no. But you better not die on me out there! I'm...I'm getting used to you...to you h-holding me at night. You go and get yourself killed, and I swear to Azar I'll never speak to you again."

He tilted her face up and kissed her. Part of him marveled; here he was, kissing Raven, of all people. At one time, he would have said that was a physical impossibility, like rappelling out of a black hole. "Well then. Now you know I won't get myself killed."

…..

Dagobah: Robin was increasingly concerned about Luke's mental state.

Ever since leaving Hoth, the young man seemed to have withdrawn into himself, cocooning himself within a tight field of rage. He hardly spoke at all. When asked, he'd not responded well to inquiries about his well-being, and Robin had learned not to make them. No point.

"So this is Dagobah," he said, by way of making conversation. It had been an uncomfortably quiet journey. "Where are the landing fields? For that matter, where's anything?" The world below them seemed to be one gigantic swamp.

"Doesn't matter," snapped Luke, "I'll find us a clear place to land."

Thirty minutes later: "Well," quipped Robin, a still-unconscious Starfire slung over his shoulder, "I guess it's true what they say: any landing you can walk away from is a good one,"

"Shuttup," said Luke, in a strengthless voice. He had done his best. Landing in soft mud beat landing on hard rock. "Now to find this great warrior Marek told me about."

"Hmph," said a voice from the edge of the treeline, "wars do not make one great." A small, shriveled being of a type neither of them was familiar with stood there, supporting himself with an improvised cane. Even though obviously crippled, the creature exuded an aura of confidence.

Luke strode up to him, heedless of any of that. "Do you know where I can find someone named 'Yoda'? I need to find him."

The being harrumphed again. "Find him, you already have." He turned to Robin, still carrying Starfire. "Sensed your need, did I, from across the stars." He gaze sharpened on Starfire. "To live, not long the girl has. Bring her."

….

"Prince Xizor! My brother!" Jabba spread his stubby arms as best as he could. His techs had finally managed to get the head of the Black Sun dynasty online.

"I'm not your brother, you slithering pile of shit. Now what did you want? I'm busy." In the background, Jabba could see several slave girls in various stages of undress...

"Why, business, of course! I want to buy some ships from you. I will pay excellent price…"

"What's this all about? Don't you have enough?"

"Old and unsafe are mine. I...have a certain...business venture I wish to pursue. For that, I need ships. Good ships. Modern design."

"I see. And what might this 'business venture' be?"

"Ah, that is best reserved for more secured lines, no? However...perhaps I could, uh, be persuaded?-to share in the profits of it. Yes, I could be persuaded...perhaps. With my brother."

Xizor thought rapidly. He had no doubt the Hutt was involved in something that promised great value, no matter what it was. In spite of his stupidity, the Hutt never did anything that didn't pretty much guarantee a good return. So, yes...a profit-sharing scheme did make sense...sort of.

Although something in the back of his mind warned him of danger, he ignored it. Surely, a person of Jabba's low intellect could be easily manipulated. "Alright, 'brother,'" he said, motioning the slave girls to go, "Let's talk business."

…...

"Master, I'd like you to see these budget reports for the ending fiscal year."

The Emperor of Man shifted on his throne. There was a disturbance in the Force, a powerful one, stronger than any he'd ever sensed, and he'd been trying to pinpoint it. "And just precisely why," he said, in a dangerous tone, "would I be interested in such trivia? Isn't that what I pay you for?"

"B-But, Master, I, I really think this is something you need to know."

"Oh, very well," sighed Palpatine. It wasn't worth the Force-lightning to blow this one away. "What's so important that I have to see it?"

"It's this, Sire." And the accountant dared approach more closely, to show his Emperor what he was talking about. "You see these reports? Not all the funds allocated to Imperial projects are actually making it there. Some are being siphoned off."

The Emperor took the paper, his gaze and mind sharpening. He was savvy enough to know what he saw. "Sooo...where are these funds-these Imperial funds, I might add-where exactly are they going?"

The accountant took a deep breath, grateful that he still could. "Sire, you know we purchase goods and supplies from across the board. Some, from, shall we say, questionable sources? I mean, their stuff is just as good, right? As long as it passes inspection, I mean.

"Except...Black Sun-we get some things from them-has somehow managed to access at least partial control of other accounts...and are skimming the profits from them. Very little, it's true, but a little here, a little there… How, I don't know. Spies, perhaps? Subtle programs, inserted into our computer banks? But it is happening. Black Sun-Prince Xizor-has been battening themselves off our other projects. Especially project 3003-02. I know how you feel about that particular one. At this rate, it won't be completed on time. We simply won't have the credits." He drew back, his message delivered.

"Hm," said the Emperor. "Yessss….you've done well, my accountant. Above and beyond. Thank you for this information." He turned to the much-relieved man. "You can go now. I'll handle this matter personally."

…

After the accountant had left, he set up a far-off hologram to one of his most trusted Admirals. "And you see, this is what's happening, My Admiral. Black Sun has suddenly become a liability to the stability of this Empire. Thieves-especially those who steal from our own accounts-simply cannot and will not be tolerated. So...I give you leave to deal with it as you see fit."

The image before him bowed respectfully. "Thank you, my Emperor. Rest assured the matter will be dealt with," said Grand Admiral Mitth'raw'nurodo, or, as he was known in human space, Thrawn.

After the connection was cut, Thrawn turned to the dark figure behind him. "Well, Lord Asmodeus? Your thoughts?"

Asmodeus walked over to one of the large visiscreens on the Star Destroyer flagship. The two were in Thrawn's personal command chamber. "It's a trick, of course. Prince Xizor would never be so clumsy or so obvious as to drain off Imperial funds so brazenly. The Hutt Empire is his major competitor...they would stand the most to gain by his downfall. Agreed?"

"But of course." And I'm fairly sure the Emperor was not deceived by this.

"However…." mused Asmodeus, "...however, our Emperor has given us leave to eliminate one annoying cluster of insects. Why not take it?"

Thrawn smiled slightly. Although he couldn't know for sure, he had something of an idea where the young Sith Lord's actions were taking them. "My sentiments exactly." He clicked a switch. "Helm? Coordinate with Intel. Access Imperial databases. Locate nodes of Black Sun operations." He leaned back in his command chair, resting his chin in his hands. "It seems we've a clean-up job to do."

But one thing was going through both their minds: what game is the Hutt playing? And why?

…

The first inkling Xizor had of Imperial attention was when his outermost stations came under heavy fire. At first he thought it was brigands, and dispatched some more-heavily armed ships to deal with them.

But after what seemed like a short while, they went silent, nor did the "black boxes" in them-designed to survive the destruction of their ships-report back. He called a meeting with his most trusted advisors. "What do you make of it all?" He hadn't really lost that much capital, but even a little was troubling.

"Sire, we believe this to be the work of the Hutt Empire. They are the ones who stand to gain the most from our losses."

Xizor chewed his lip. "The Hutts don't have anything like the kind of firepower to annihilate our posts. Besides, we're in the middle of a business negotiation. You're sure it's not pirates? What about some outside race, maybe from outside the Empire?"

"There's been no indication of anything like that, milord. You know we keep an open eye out for any possible extra-Imperial incursion." It was a fear common throughout the Empire: some power, possibly from outside the galaxy, invading Imperial space. The likelihood of it was low, considering how far such a species would have to travel to get here, but it was a case of "better safe than sorry."

…...

"Dr. Jaggers? What is this incredible discovery you've made? I trust it will be a good one...you pulled me away from an excellent meal." The two, along with support staff and Bib Fortuna, were on frigate as far from Imperial space as was feasible at the moment. The Hutt's criminal empire actually extended beyond Imperial space, including many nonhuman races. Sometimes those races had extraordinary resources, and Jabba, ever the business-being, was not one to let them go to waste.

"Oh, I promise you, milord, you won't regret my interrupting your meal one bit. But I can't take all the credit for this discovery myself. I'd like to introduce my adjunct, Dr. Swarza." He turned and indicated a young, bespectacled woman with dark, waist-length hair, and almond shaped eyes, wearing a lab coat. Although Jabba was not human himself, he'd made it a point to be knowledgeable regarding human features and appearances. By all standards of any version of humanity he was familiar with, she was extremely attractive.

He made a small bow of respect, his stubby right hand over his breast. "It is good to meet you, Dr. Swarza. I take it that you've been a major asset to Dr. Jaggers' team."

She bowed in return. "Thank you, milord. I have done my best."

"And her best," broke in Dr. Jaggers, "has been astounding, my lord! That is why I insisted on showing it to you in person, and," he lowered his voice, conspiratorially, even though there only trusted crew personnel present, "as far away from the Empire as possible."

Jabba's massive eyelid rose slightly. "Very well. Let's see this…'astounding' breakthrough."

The frigate-an old one, not one of the newer models recently purchased from Black Sun-was pulled up in empty space, with targets deployed at standard ranges. At Jaggers' nod, the hastily attached blaster modules opened fire, their familiar shuddering recoil resounding throughout a craft not really designed for them. But it would do for this demonstration, Jaggers knew.

Jabba stared. "Doctor...are my eyes deceiving me, or are those targets exploding before they actually get hit?" Even in space, the coherent, self-contained particle beam of a blaster bolt still shed enough energy to be visible, even if only for a split second.

Jaggers chuckled. "Your eyes are not deceiving you, my lord. With Dr. Swarza's help, we have managed to tweak the nature of spacetime itself: the effect can be made to precede the cause. Not by much, it's true, but by a very small amount." He paused, then resumed, thoughtfully, vocalizing his lord's thoughts without seeming to rub them in his face. "A fighter craft, or, for that matter, an Imperial Star Destroyer, would have a hard time dodging weapons fire that hadn't actually been fired yet."

"Hurm, yes, doctor…" Jabba was, plainly speaking, stunned.

"But there's more. Now, this one was, I confess, of my own design." Again, a nod, and another blaster bolt thrummed its way out, this time only one….

...and suddenly, space was filled with blaster fire, all radiating from a central point, a blossoming of the original bolt. It caught the remaining targets, raining nucleonic fire upon them, demolishing them even more thoroughly than they already had been. Triumphantly, Dr. Jaggers turned to Jabba. "I call it, death blossom.

"My lord, we may well be seeing the end of the day of the individual fighter pilot.

"And perhaps of the Star Destroyer itself."

…..

"So...what's in there?" Luke asked, lightsaber drawn, ready to ignite.

"Fear."

Luke turned and looked down at the diminutive Jedi master. "I have no fear."

"You do." Yoda leaned forward slightly, "You will." You must. He sighed and turned towards his hut. Things were not going well, on any front. "Now, to the alien girl, I must see. You," he turned sharply to Luke, "must see to yourself." He turned back, muttering. "Yes, to yourself it is that you must see, to yourself, most of all. But be warned," he half-turned, even as he shuffled off, "not all light leads to enlightenment." Then he was gone, into the shack where Robin and Starfire waited.

…..

Robin was exploring the strange swamp around Yoda's hut-the Jedi Master having told him, quite sharply, to leave and let him work-when he heard a very small a-hem behind him. He whirled, to see a young man wearing dark robes, seated on a rock, just off the path. "Well," said Asmodeus, "took you long enough."

…..

"You," said Robin, almost under his breath, "You're the one who betrayed us, with those fake plans, and the trojan in 'em." He had already unlimbered his electro-staff, even as a part of him wondered just exactly what he was going to do with it. He'd seen what Force-users of both stripes could do…

Keep him off balance. What do you know that he may not think of? Find out what he wants. Look for weaknesses. "Oh, please," said the young man. He actually seemed younger than Robin. "You won't need that thing," he gestured at the electrostaff. Robin was surprised that it didn't fly out of his grip. "If I was here to fight, you'd be dead by now. All of you. With the possible exception," he looked to his left, down the pathway which Robin had taken, away from Yoda's hut, "of one." He sighed, shaking his head. "And he'll be gone soon."

Robin was taken aback. The boy in the dark robes actually seemed remorseful. "What do you mean?"

"Master Yoda is expending his own life energy, burning himself out, to heal your girl. Don't bother crashing in there and trying to stop him, even if you were so inclined: he'd just throw you out. And, right now, I can tell he's already reached and passed the point of no return, so you'd just be destroying something he's given his life for. Honor that, Boy Wonder."

Boy Wonder… "You're from our world."

The Sith Lord cocked a finger at him. "Almost. I'm from a world where all of you are comic book characters, and this," he gestured expansively at the night sky, "is a movie. Rather convenient for me, or so I thought. Opportunity, knocking, you know. It's as if you were from the future, so you know how the stock market is gonna go, so you buy up all the soon-to-be-profitable shares, right? Only…" He seemed to turn pensive. "Everything you do, changes things. I confess, quantum physics was never my strong suit. I didn't really count on the simple fact that, just because I'm here, things will be different now. So it was either that, or resign myself to being a complete and utter nobody. I guess you don't have to be a detective to figure out which path I chose, eh?"

"You betrayed us to the Empire. Tricked us into installing warped plans. It was because of you that Red Squadron died. Why should I listen to anything you have to say?"

"Because you need to. Believe it or not, I'm not your enemy. My master, Lord Vader, had already planted tracking devices on your ship. He didn't even need my help. It just...well, bottom line, to put it in conventional terms, I figured it would look good at my performance review."

"For a person who says he's not the enemy, you sure do a damned good impersonation."

Shrug. "One has to do certain things to survive in this galaxy. I need to maintain my position, if I'm to be of use to anyone, myself or anyone else.

"And-I suppose you can be forgiven for your attitude towards the Empire. You've only been exposed to the seamier side of it, the dregs of stormtroopers placed in the most out-of-the-way places possible where, it's hoped, they can do little damage." He drew up a knee onto the rock he was sitting on. "Not everybody is gung-ho for the rebellion, you know. Many people see you as terrorists, inciting trouble, trouble they don't need. Imagine, back on your world, someone blowing up a police station, or some military installation. Just imagine. No matter how you feel about the police, could you really blame them for clamping down on individual liberty? Instigating martial law? Come on."

"Why did you come here?"

The figure in dark robes hesitated a moment, looking off towards the cave Luke had entered. "Walk with me here, a moment, Robin." He started off down the path, Robin following warily. "I'm going to have to go. I've got things to do. But. He's going to need you, Robin." He glanced upward towards the sky. "She's going to need you. The princess, I mean. And, believe it or not, I'm going to need you as well.

"I can't be everywhere at once, and things are about to get bad. Like, real bad.

"It's not beyond the reach of possibility that you may be the only one who can save the galaxy."

…..

Out beyond the rim of starlight, on the very edge of the galaxy, two very unusual things were happening.

One, a flotilla of very odd looking (by human standards) ships were entering the galaxy. The beings within breathed a sigh of relief. Their gods were with them; they'd actually made it to another galaxy. Perhaps here they'd be safe. Perhaps.

But not far from their entry point, slightly behind them, something else passed the first few marker stars that humanity regarded as the "edge" of the galaxy, something even more odd. It was very black, so black that it absorbed any starlight that fell upon it, and so was invisible in the blackness of intergalactic space, except where it occluded stars and other sources of light.

But its long journey had exhausted it. It was very very hungry. And so it selected one of the marker stars it had passed, a red giant barely visible from human space, and fell upon it, absorbing it, greedily drinking in all that wonderful photonic energy...

…

Dagobah: Lord Asmodeus looked up sharply. "Damn. It's starting." They'd reached his ship. Robin had been carefully sizing up the situation. If there was an opportune time to attack the Sith Lord, it never came.

"What's starting?"

"The end. Maybe the end of everything." He climbed aboard his ship. At the top he turned to Robin. "Look, I've got to go. I've got a million things to do, and I can't babysit everybody. So I'm gonna need you, Dick Grayson." Robin started, as the Sith Lord rattled off his real name. "The Empire will need you. The rebellion will need you. Humanity in general will need you. Maybe I can contact you later with details, but even my foresight is limited, probably by the very powers about to be unleashed." He jerked his chin towards Yoda's hut. "Go on back to your princess. Give Master Yoda a proper burial. And for God's sake, keep Luke grounded. Beat his ass a time or two. Something. Anything.

"And one last thing," he said, as the cockpit began to close and the engine whined to life, "You really should do some detective work. You've been so wrapped up in fighting the Empire than you've let some things slide. Just ask yourself: where's all the money for the rebellion been coming from? You think they just, like, find all these wonderful toys lying around? Not hardly. It takes some serious bank to fund an operation that size.

"There's a saying back on Earth, 'follow the money, honey.' Do that. The answers might surprise you." And with that, he activated the antigrav drive and lifted off into the sky, leaving a very confused and frustrated Robin behind.

Wondering just who the enemy really was.

To be continued…