Chapter Forty-two:
Leia looked to her companion, who was too busy flying to notice her scrutiny. She was amazed at his ability to pilot: she'd not ever seen someone fly in such a manner. And though she still didn't understand the odd attraction to the boy beside her, she decided it didn't really matter right then. Either way, something about being in his presence, and seeing him being so fearless in the face of such danger spoke to Leia on a level she hadn't known was possible. Time seemed to slow for her, and she forgot about their predicament for a moment.
Leia had in truth been struggling to find herself ever since her master had given her what Luke had referred to as a memory wipe. She'd had no memories left; no idea how she used to be or her original personality, interests... nothing.
She had tried to reclaim something of her past, but nothing the young lady attempted garnered any results. So in truth she didn't know how she was supposed to act. Had she been timid or courageous before she could recall?
What had she been interested in? Where had she come from? Did she have a family like the other children she'd seen in the city? Who had her parents been? Leia knew instinctively that she had parents, because she had come from somewhere.
Facts like those made sense to Leia so she didn't doubt them. It was the tidbits that had to do with who she as deep within that Leia struggled with. So for as long as she could remember, Leia had been shifting back and forth between personality traits she had seen in others. She liked to refer to it as trying on clothing: which things would fit her and which would not?
Leia had tried the timid, frightened approach with Luke, and while that had earned her some attention from Luke in response, she didn't like how... vulnerable that way of being made her feel.
Leia hated above all else to feel vulnerable. In fact, if she was being honest, she'd felt the most alive when she had stood up to her former master. Something had just felt so... right that Leia had clung to how she was choosing to act, even though it had landed her out here.
Still gazing at Luke, Leia thinned her lips and came to a decision. She didn't need anyone to tell her how to be, how to act, etcetera. She would go off of her gut; her instincts. She felt most at home whenever she acted brave and firm. Like when she'd rescued Luke: she had felt so alive!
Closing her eyes, Leia took several deep breaths and allowed herself to center. Only when she felt complete did Leia open her eyes. Grasping her blaster with a renewed energy, Leia spun in her seat and took aim.
Let's do this.
00000
Luke, who had noted Leia's sudden lapse in attention but hadn't commented, jumped when Leia abruptly spun and began firing with a different sense about her. She wasn't just shooting at anything behind them as she had been before. No; this time Leia was talking aim... and causing a lot of damage.
Luke blinked at the sudden change, but then grinned when her eyes met his and he saw a new fire that had been lacking previously. She gave him a curt nod and Luke refocused on his piloting, smirking still.
Those behind him were gaining ground, which didn't bother Luke as much now that Leia seemed to have come out of her shell. He did not know what had brought about the change, but he was glad to see it.
Luke maneuvered the speeder in the direction of the base in a general sense; having to make headway as he was able to since he had a tail. Those following him were on their comlinks again, and Luke felt a shiver run down his spine just before he rounded another corner.
What he saw made Luke blanch. Only meters ahead was a barricade of three new speeders, all waiting to ambush him. Luke gripped the yolk harder, but then shouted to Leia seconds before he pulled a maneuver their speeder might not survive. "Hang on!"
Leia merely grabbed hold of a handle and held tight while Luke barrel-rolled the speeder, watching as everything not tethered down flew from the cockpit when they were inverted. But his maneuver did put them out of the direct firing range of the three speeders in front of him.
Luke put the speeder on its side like he was exiting the canyon on Tatooine in his podracer, and slipped between the left two speeders. Leia took the opportunity to shoot at the two occupants and one went down with a shout. The second pilot swore when his arm flashed with a hit, and then Luke and Leia were past them.
Luke righted their speeder, and then grimaced when the engine spluttered ominously. Luke glanced to Leia, who was looking at the engine housing with consternation.
"That doesn't sound good," Leia said what they were both thinking.
Luke shook his head, fighting off a new wave of memories of Ando Prime. He would get through this... he would. Luke swallowed the subconscious fear with a concerted effort, and began flipping switches to convert what power he had left into the repulsors and engines.
He saw the outer wall of the base and gauged their distance from it. "We're going in!" Luke warned Leia, who swallowed.
"Will we make it?" she called back.
At that moment several blasts hit the rear of their speeder, and Luke was thrown from his seat. He hit his head, which made him see stars, and he lost precious seconds to the black fuzz that attempted to cloud his vision. He gritted his teeth and battled to stay awake, knowing that if he lost consciousness they'd crash... fatally. Luke heaved himself back into his seat, gunned the engines, counting in his mind.
"Luke, we're going to crash into the wall!" Leia warned, a hint of fear coloring her tone.
... three
"No we're not!" Luke replied. ... two
... one
Leia glanced from him to the wall, and then ducked more shots coming overhead. She glanced back to see their pursuit slowing down. Clearly they thought the same thing Leia did: they'd never make it! Leia was impressed by Luke's flying skills, yes, but this was suicide!
"Luke!" Leia cried when her courage dipped low: the wall was mere feet in front of them.
... NOW!
Luke shut off the engine and threw everything into the repulsors. Leia gasped when their speeder literally bounced over the wall... and then plummeted to the ground.
Luke, unwilling to relive all of Ando Prime, grabbed Leia's hand and leapt from the speeder moments before it landed in a ball of fire. Luke tuck-and-rolled, pulling a shaken Leia up when he rose swiftly. The resulting fire would cover their escape from the immediate vicinity.
"Come on!" Luke hollered, tugging Leia along. She stumbled, her legs clearly wobbly from the near-death experience, but she moved as swiftly as she was able to. Luke was surprised to find that she was still grasping her blaster. "Don't lose that, we may need it!" Luke added.
Leia looked to the weapon, and seemed to garner a measure of confidence from it, because she straightened and loosed her hand from his. "Got it!"
Luke led Leia to the first building he could see, and promptly climbed in through a window that was close to the ground. Leia dropped in behind him and Luke flattened himself against the wall in the darkened space, Leia following suit as the men who'd been chasing them arrived on scene.
Luke saw from the light of the fire that this was some sort of storage room. Knowing they would make their best time under the guise of their deaths, Luke urged Leia back to her feet. "Let's move on."
"Alright."
00000
They were close to the outer edge of the dome that protected the city now, and so Anakin spotted in the distance what looked like a vehicle chase. Pausing, he pulled out a pair of macro binoculars and peered through them. Thus it was that he tensed when he saw two small persons in a speeder being chased by many others who were clearly intent on harming them.
"What's the matter Anakin?" Obi Wan asked, stepping up beside his friend.
"Luke's out there," Anakin said tersely, watching a bit more before he lowered the binocs. Anakin then turned to Saez. "Where is over there?" He pointed to the area he spoke of and watched as Saez looked and then thinned his lips.
"It's a base; it's actually where my men operate from planetside," Saez said, and for once, Anakin sensed his total honesty. Clearly Dewlanna had frightened the man deeply. In fact, he threw a sideways glance at the Wookiee in question as if he expected her to snap at him again.
Anakin frowned. "If you knew that base was out there, why did you not tell us before?"
"Because you only asked me to show you where I took the kids," Saez said a little warmly. "Or don't you recall dragging me about for hours on end?"
Han rolled his eyes. "Oh, give me a break. What's a little walk gonna do to you, ruin your shoes?"
Saez started to snap angrily at Han when Dewlanna growled warningly and he wisely shut his mouth. "You need to decide where you really want me to take you, Jedi. Because I can't take you both places at once."
At that moment Anakin felt a spike of utter terror and spun back around in time to see an explosion. His heart leapt into his throat, and Anakin stepped forward, a hand extended as if he could stop the fireball.
But the Jedi relaxed when he realized he could still feel his son and... his daughter? Anakin spun back around and gestured again. "There. That's where you will take us, and if you try to delay, so help me you have not seen anger yet."
Saez actually back-stepped, and even Han paused as he wondered if Vader was making a reappearance— if even for a second. But Han didn't see any of the tell-tale signs to signal that. Obi Wan had told Han of those things in a conversation they'd had during Luke's time in the hospital. But no; Han realized Anakin was simply trying to get to his son as swiftly as possible.
Well, Han wouldn't argue with that.
Saez clearly decided not to chance Anakin's anger combined with that of a Wookiee, so he nodded and moved swiftly in a new direction. Han reflected that he had never seen the man move so fast, even after Dewlanna had gotten in his face.
"We will go to my docking platform I use to bring in their goods." Saez called as the others kept pace with him. "Besides, I need to check on my operation after that explosion."
Ah... Han thought, understanding now. Saez was still being selfish... but at least he was doing it quickly. Han snickered and followed along, grateful to be nearing the end of this manhunt.
But after that explosion he was worried for Luke... especially when Han thought about Anakin's reaction to it. Han didn't like the fact that Luke was in grave danger yet again, but there was nothing Han could do about it except what he currently was doing.
Anakin, meanwhile, was keeping tabs on Luke's presence now that he had located it. Anakin refused to let it go again until they were reunited. He felt Obi Wan's steady presence beside him and Anakin was grateful to his friend for sticking with him in this.
Saez was moving in what seemed a direct line now, and Anakin chose to be glad rather than angry that the man had taken so long to come around. Better late than never, Anakin supposed.
To Anakin's surprise, Saez turned to a wall that appeared to be flush, but the man glanced about and then pressed something Anakin couldn't see. A panel opened and Saez ushered the group within after he himself entered.
This allowed them to pass between groups of buildings in their rear and thus move much faster than if they'd stuck to the streets. Now Anakin understood how Saez had lasted as long as he had here: he was smarter than Anakin had supposed, and apparently he knew things no one else did.
Either way, they were going to get to Luke that much sooner, and that was just fine with Anakin.
00000
Luke led Leia quietly along the corridors of their building. He supposed that the bulk of everyone's attention was on the crash site, which was why they had so far encountered few people on their way deeper into the complex. But Luke knew that would change once the men of this base discovered that there were no bodies in the wreckage.
"Where to from here?" Luke asked in a low voice as they crept cautiously along their current hallway.
"I don't know, I've never gotten this far in," Leia answered. She paused and then went on. "I still can't believe we survived that collision."
Luke laughed off his nerves. "It was a better crash than my last one."
Leia gave him a look. "Is crashing vehicles a hobby of yours?"
Luke snorted, amused. "One might think so, but no."
Leia lifted a wry brow. "Well, we're alive, so that's what matters. And... nice flying out there."
Luke smiled. "Thanks."
They continued along, and Luke was surprised when it was Leia that picked up on the sound of footsteps approaching before he did. She touched his arm, gestured fore and Luke nodded. They ducked into an alcove and hid in its deepest shadow, lowering themselves to the ground a bit more so they weren't in the direct line of sight of the people approaching.
There were two of them, and Luke saw from their light armor that they were guards on patrol. One put a finger to his ear and gestured for his fellow to pause. They were right next to Luke and Leia, who held their breaths.
If the men turned to their right, the youths would be discovered.
"Go ahead Sir," the first guard said. He listened for a moment, and then nodded, gesturing to his companion. "We're on it."
He motioned and the two began to walk the way Luke and Leia had come. "Apparently whoever was in that speeder isn't in the vehicle's remains. That means they have to be in the complex somewhere. They want us to check our building because it's on the perimeter of the crash site."
"Who could survive that crash?" the second asked incredulously. "They have to be dead. Maybe the explosion cooked 'em to a crisp."
"But their corpses would still be there," the first reasoned in a fading voice as the guards pulled farther and farther away from the kids. "Unless the fire was hot enough to..."
Luke and Leia looked to each other after they were once more alone.
"I guess our grace period is over." Luke commented.
"Yeah, but we made good time in here," Leia gestured ahead. "I see an exit."
"Let's go."
Luke stood and they both jogged to the door Leia had spotted.
