CHAPTER 20

The Millennium Falcon had made it into the Pyang system successfully, and landed on the main planet. Han and Lando had agreed that they should deliver real supplies, to make their cover story appear more legitimate. Han was outside discussing the price to sell some of his goods, while the others were packing a few things before leaving the ship.

"You think we'll be gone for a few days, Luke?" Leia asked.

"Probably, the capital is a good distance away. We'll probably want to get a hotel there."

Just then, Han walked back up the ramp onto the ship.

"Well I sold the fruit, but surprisingly nobody's buying the weapons."

"Did you get enough local currency for the next few days?" Leia asked.

"Yeah, we should be fine," Han responded. "Is everybody ready?"

"I'm ready," Lando said, walking out with a large bag.

"I'm ready honey," Leia said. "I packed some of your new clothes."

Lando rolled his eyes.

"I'm ready," Luke said, throwing his bag over his shoulder.

Chewbacca growled in concurrence.

"Alright, let's get moving," Han said.

"Mastah solo, shall we come," C-3PO asked.

Han looked at Luke.

"We don't speak the language," Luke said. "Besides, we might need artoo once we're in the capital," he added.

"Alright, come on," Han said to Threepio and Artoo.

They left the docking bay and walked through the spaceport.

"Hey, I don't get it. This spaceport is busy, but there's only one restaurant, and one bar. It's like a ghost town," Han said.

"Must be a depressed economy," Lando said.

The group walked out of the spaceport and the sun hit them.

"You ever notice after a long flight, you walk out of a spaceport and the sun seems extra bright. Like you've been sitting in a dark room all day," Han commented.

"Well, we've been sitting in a dark ship all day," Lando replied. "Taxi, taxi!"

"Sah, pahhaps I can be of assistance?" Threepio asked.

"Be my guest," Lando replied.

C-3PO walked to the street and held up his left hand, making a peculiar hand gesture with his fingers. This worked and a taxi stopped.

Lando looked at the droid for a moment, "Nice work."

"You're quite welcome Mastah Calrissian. This symbol is used in 7 systems in this region and…" Lando put his bag in the cab as Threepio continued with his explanation.

"Where to?" the cab driver asked, in a local language. Threepio told the man that they wanted to go to the capital. The cab driver started talking very fast with a frightened look on his face. Then he took Lando's bag out of his speeder and took off.

"I take it he doesn't travel to the capital," Leia asked.

"It would appear from his reaction that nobody does," Threepio replied.

"Yeah, we kinda got that Threepio," Han said. "So now what?" he asked, with a less than optimistic tone.

"Did you get enough money to buy a speeder?" Luke asked.

"I don't know. Let's go find out", Han said.

The group walked down the street until they found a speeder shop. They walked through the parking lot and were greeted before getting into the building. The man was well dressed by local standards, and appeared eager to make a sale.

"Threepio, tell him we want something used, and it has to be big enough to fit all of us and our bags," Han instructed.

Threepio did as he was told, and the man took them to a speeder. While the rest of the party went over to see it, Han went off to look at some other ones. He figured that the first one the guy showed them was the one that they had trouble selling, because it was a piece of junk.

"Threepio!" Han yelled from about 30 feet away. "Tell him that we'll give him 800 for this one."

The man pretended to be insulted when he heard the offer.

"Mastah Solo, he says that that one is priced at 2,000," Threepio responded.

"Tell him that 800 is all I got," Han said.

C-3PO spoke with the man for a minute. Then he responded to Han.

"He says that he will sell us this one for 900," Threepio said, pointing to the other speeder.

Everyone looked over to Han.

"No, tell him I want this one, for 800," Han said.

After another 15 minutes, they ended up buying the one that Han wanted for 1,100. They loaded up their bags and headed out, with Lando driving.

"Artoo, give me some directions," he said.

Artoo extended one of his metal components and inserted it into one of the speeders interfaces. A holo map appeared along with directions to the capital. Artoo beeped a few words.

"Mastah Calrisian, Artoo says that there is an energy shield around the capital city, and that it is only open twice a day. Workers are allowed into the city in the morning, and out in the afternoon," Threepio explained.

"Now what do we do?" Leia asked.

"Let's get close to the city, then we'll find a place to stay tonight," Luke suggested.

"Sounds good to me," Han said.

After leaving the city, most of the 3-hour ride was over desert.

"This place reminds me of Tatooine," Luke commented.

Chewy growled in concurrence.

"Lando, it looks like this is the last town before the capital," Han said. "Artoo, see if you can find us a hotel there," he added.

Artoo replied quickly.

"Artoo says there are no hotels in the town," Threepio translated.

"Ask him to find the closest hotel," Han said.

After several beeps from Artoo, Threepio started talking.

"Mastah Solo, Artoo reports there are only two hotels listed on this side of the planet, and both are in the capital," the droid explained.

"Only two hotels! Are you serious?" Lando asked incredulously.

It would appear so," Threepio confirmed.

"What kind of planet is this?" Luke asked rhetorically.

"It is a police planet," Lando replied. "Everything is controlled by the government.

"Well, what do you guys want to do now," Han asked.

"Did you bring the camping gear that Madine gave us?" Luke asked.

"Yeah. I figured we might need it. You think we'd be safe in the desert?" Han replied.

"As safe as anywhere else. Artoo's sensors can keep watch over night," Luke replied.

"Alright, let's find a spot," Lando replied.

He stopped the speeder. They were literally in the middle of nowhere.

"Is this good?" Lando asked.

#

Sixty kilometers from their camp site, someone else was camping out. He was in a place where a powerful Jedi had lived and died. The man had slept all day. Now, at 0130 hours in the morning, he was awake. He was getting ready for his own mission. He was confident that he had not been detected. This site where he had camped out all day was strong with the light side of the force, from the Jedi who had died there. That made it the ideal hideout for him, because it canceled out the dark side that surrounded him. He hopped on his speeder bike and took off for the capital.

#

Luke jumped up out of a sound sleep. He was sweating and his heart was pounding. He looked around, everyone was sleeping in their sleeping bags. Luke's eyes were wide open and alert. He grabbed his light saber as he scanned the area. He walked over to Han and Leia, staring off into the distance as he did.

"Han, Leia, wake up," he said, still scanning the dark landscape with his eyes, as if he expected something to jump out at him.

Leia sat up. Han, seeing Luke with his lightsaber in hand, jumped up and grabbed his blaster.

"What is it?" Han asked.

"I don't know," Luke said, still searching the horizon. "Get everyone up," he said without looking at Han.

"Luke, What's wrong?! You look like you've seen a ghost!" Leia said.

"Pack your stuff, we're leaving," Luke replied.

"Lando, Chewy, get up!" Han said as he kicked them both to get them up. "Threepio, switch on," he added.

Seeing Han and Luke's posture, the others quickly got up and armed themselves. Luke was still sweating and wide-eyed. He did not look at the others, he just stared into the darkness, saber at the ready.

"Luke, what's wrong," Lando asked, while holding a large, automatic blaster rifle.

Luke slowly turned toward him, his face bleak. He spoke in a low tone. "He's here," was all he said.

"Who," Lando asked.

But everyone knew who.

"Where is he?" Han asked.

"I don't know, but he's close".

That sent chills up Leia's spine, "Let's get out of here."

"Yeah, maybe we can tip off the authorities somehow, and let them deal with him," Lando said.

"Luke," Leia said, grabbing Luke's arm and making him look at her. "You don't have to do this," she said.

Luke turned to her with a grim look, "Yes, I do," he said.

Everyone was packing up their stuff as fast as they could. Leia opened her mouth to say something, but she could see that there was nothing to say. Han looked at Luke, his eyes squinting because the speeders lights were now shining in his eyes. He spoke in a low, emotionless tone.

"Alright, where do we find him?"

"We must go into the capital, that's where he will be."

#

"Admiral," an officer called, trying to catch up to Ackbar. "I need to speak with you," the officer said.

"Is it urgent?" Ackbar asked.

"Yes Sir."

"What is it?"

"In private, Sir."

"Alright Commander, follow me," Ackbar said to the intelligence officer, with a hint of annoyance.

They arrived in Ackbar's boardroom. There were several high-ranking officers in there already.

"Ok, what is it Commander?" Ackbar asked, clearly in a hurry.

"Does everyone here have clearance, Sir?" he asked, hoping not to piss off the Admiral.

Ackbar looked around, trying to think. He had too many things on his mind.

"Alright, if you don't have top secret clearance, then you have to leave," Ackbar said, rubbing his huge eyes from fatigue.

Two officers got up and left.

"Alright Commander, let's have it."

"Sir, I have a report from the commando mission."

"Ok, how did it go?" Ackbar asked, suddenly interested.

"Heavy damage to the Super Star Destroyer Exar Kun. She was not destroyed though," the report started. "She has heavy damage to her port side, which was flown through the atmosphere of Endor at high speed; many of the outer guns were burned off. Some of the armor melted away, and what is still there, on that side, will be soft from having melted and then cooled again. We think that most of her engines are offline, but they could come back online at any time. One of her hangar bays was blown to bits," he continued.

Ackbar didn't need to hear any more, he cut the Commander off, "Alright, get everyone in here," he said. Then he pressed a button, "all ships, this is Admiral Ackbar, make preparations to go to hyperspace.

After hearing the announcement, his officers ran into the boardroom. "Looks like most of you are here, so I'll start. This will be quick, so keep the questions to a minimum. The Super Star Destroyer Exar Kun has sustained heavy damage. That means it's time, gentlemen. We will attack the main body of the Imperial fleet as soon as our ships can get underway,"

Everyone looked around, not sure who was going to ask the obvious question. Finally, one of the more senior captains spoke up. "Sir, we're going to have to leave some ships behind," he said in a diplomatic voice.

"I'm aware of the condition of our fleet, Captain. And to answer your next question, yes, we will have to wait for the task force under Captain Mok. They should be back within two hours," Ackbar explained. "So, that gives us two hours to get as many ships as possible ready to move. Any questions… Good, let's move."

#

Eight hours later, the fleet was finally ready to sail. Captain Mok's task force had returned with several prizes, including a Victory-class Star Destroyer, which would stay at Sullust for repairs, along with the other damaged ships. Another prize was a strike class cruiser that was in good enough condition to go into battle with the fleet. Ackbar's flagship, Home One, had also returned, so that would be one more ship. He had quickly moved back on board with his senior staff.

"Admiral, what is the ship count?" Peto asked.

"Well, it looks like we have eight Mon Cal heavy cruisers, a few frigates, a Strike Cruiser, plus, three more mon cal. cruisers will be coming from Florina to meet up with us," Ackbar answered.

"What about the uprising on Florina, I thought we were going to support them?" Peto Asked.

"We did, for as long as we could. Now we need those ships," Ackbar said. "We have no choice Commander; the rebels must hold out on their own for a while. Besides, we would have to withdraw those ships sooner or later, anyway, the Empire will be sending a fleet there soon," Ackbar said with chagrin.

"Ok, so Florina was a decoy?" Peto asked, in a slightly accusing tone.

"Yes and no. I wanted to support them, but you're right, I knew that we might have to pull those ships if things started to heat up. They knew the risks. I was clear about what we could do. They wanted to fight, so we help as much as we could. Maybe the Empire won't have enough ships to send a fleet there," Ackbar said optimistically.

"So, we have eleven cruisers and a few frigates? It's still going to be tough," Peto said with a sigh.

"We have two more things going for us. We have a few ships from the Feegian fleet coming. In addition, the Soricans are launching a simultaneous attack against the Zamesian system, where the Empire has a big transparisteel mine and plant."

"Oh, well that should draw some Imperial ships away from Endor."

"I hope so."

"Sir," Peto said, looking at his console. "All ships are ready, except the Mantuak."

"Commander, patch me through to that ship."

"Yes Sir."

After a pause, a new voice came over the speaker. "Home One, Montuak," the voice said.

"Montuak, this is Admiral Ackbar, what's the problem?"

"Sir, it would be dangerous to start up our hyperdrive right now. We need at least two more hours to make repairs."

"Captain, we're on a schedule. I've already issued orders to other ships from other systems to begin their approach to Endor. Along with coordinated, diversionary attacks to be launched in other places. We need to go to hyperspace now. So, can you get underway, or not?"

"We can try to start up now, and make repairs underway, but my Chief Engineer says that it is very dangerous."

"Do it, we need you at Endor."

Onboard the calmarian cruiser Montuak the Captain gave the order to start the main engines.

The Chief Engineer passed the order down, "Engine room, Chief Engineer, startup the main engines. The order came directly from the Admiral."

Enlisted men began opening valves and closing breakers. The engine room came to life. With a loud hum, the main engines started up. An alarm sounded as the temperature on one of the bearings began to rise. The engine room watch supervisor, an experienced veteran, ran over to the alarm. He quickly began yelling instructions, to shut down the engines and adjust the coolant. Then there was an explosion…

"Admiral, there's been an explosion on the Montuak. It looks like they are shutting down their reactor," Peto reported

"How bad is it?"

"The ship is dead in space, Sir. The explosion was mostly contained to the engine room. It looks like the ship is otherwise fine, but she has no propulsion, and won't have any, anytime soon."

"Casualties?"

"Unclear Sir. There were 13 men in the engine room when the explosion happened…"

"Damn it," Ackbar said as he punched a computer terminal. "Launch fire and repair ships to help with whatever they need."

The Admiral looked away for a moment, processing what had just happened, that 13 men had probably just died because of an order that he gave. He thought about it for a moment.

Then he turned and punched the comm button, "All ships, prepare to go to hyperspace on my mark".

He gave the order. Then he left his operations center to get some air..

#

Captain Neestas walked over to Lt. Drakis' bed, where two other officers were with him.

"How are you feeling, Lieutenant?"

"Ok, Sir," Drakis replied in a hoarse voice.

"You did good Drakis. All of you did," Neestas said.

"Thank you, Sir," Dehees and Jarlenski said. Drakis made a gesture instead of using words. Then he tried to sit up, to say something, but the captain stopped him.

"No, no, don't get up. I have to visit the rest of the injured, I just wanted to drop this off," he said, as he sat a small box on the bed next to Drakis.

Then the captain walked away.

"How are you feeling?" Dehees asked?

"Ok," Drakis struggled to say.

"Drakis, I'm so sorry. I feel so bad, this wouldn't have happened if I had just…"

Drakis put up his hand to stop her from continuing. "You…" he coughed as he started to talk. "You were doing what you're supposed to do," Drakis said, as he coughed up a little blood. "I should have been doing the same thing."

"No Drakis, you were right. Even if I had hit the target with every shot, my blaster couldn't go through his armor."

"Hey Drakis, this is a pretty sweet medal. Maybe you'll get a promotion," Jarlenski interrupted.

Drakis rolled his eyes.

"You could be my boss. That would be awesome," Jarlenski continued.

"How bad is the ship?" Drakis asked.

"Keel's messed up. Them commandos brought in some sick explosives. Hangar bay 3 is toast," Jarlenski explained in his colorful language.

Then Dehees added, "Port underside weapons are completely gone".

Drakis was shocked to hear that.

"The ship went through the atmosphere at high speed, burned all the guns clean off that side of the ship. All the armor either melted or burned. Now, the port-side armor is so soft that you could throw rocks through it," Dehees elaborated.

"Yeah, the whole port side was red hot. I was pretty freaked out, I'm not gonna lie," Jarlenski added.

A female corpsman walked over to the bed.

"Ok, it's time for the Lieutenant to go in the bacta tank," she said.

"Oh, come on, can't it wait?" Drakis sighed.

"You'll feel much better when you get out, Sir. Ok, let's get you up," she said ignoring his pleas.

Jarlenski helped the corpsman lift him up.

"Thank you, Lieutenant, I've got it from here," she said.

#

"Well, getting into the city wasn't that bad, now what?" Lando asked.

"Let's ride up to the palace and find out what we're up against," Han replied.

The city had very little traffic for its size. Most of the speeders they did see were forty or fifty years old, like the one they had bought.

"Seems like every other speeder is a government vehicle," Han replied.

"There's the palace," Luke said, pointing ahead.

"It's huge," Leia commented.

"Now what?" Han asked from the driver's seat.

"Pull up to the gate," Luke said.

"Ok," Han said in an unsure tone.

They pulled up to the gate and two guards walked up, while a few more sat in the guard shack.

"What is your business?" one of the guards asked.

"We're here to do some ventilation work on the palace," Han said.

"Your vehicle doesn't have a pass."

"We don't need a pass," Luke instructed.

"Let me see if you are on the schedule," the guard said.

Han looked back at Luke.

"We're on the schedule, you don't have to check."

"They're on the schedule, we don't have to check."

"Signal the shack to open the gate," Luke said.

The guard turned around and made a hand gesture, and the guards in the shack pushed the button to open the gate.

"We can go in now, have a nice day," Luke said.

"You can go in now, have a nice day," the guard said.

Han drove forward and sped down the long driveway. After a few hundred meters, he slowed down and looked back at Luke.

"How in the universe did you pull that off?"

"I'll tell you later."

Han had to drive along a zigzag path around several barriers. Then they came around a curve and could see the second gate.

"Look at those towers," Lando said.

"There are more guards at this one," Han said in a nervous voice.

"And there are light cannon on top of each tower," Leia added.

"This might have been a mistake. Maybe they let us through so that these guys could deal with us," Han said. "You know the rule, for every gun you can see, there's one more that you can't. You want me to turn around Luke?"

"Everything will be fine, Han, just drive up like normal," Luke said in a confident, low tone.

"Look on the sides, there are bunkers with more troops in them," Han said. "You guys think we can take them all, if we need to. Chewy, you should get the guys on top of the towers; those cannons are the biggest threat?"

Lando looked down at the bunkers; there were several soldiers in each. They had their weapons at the ready. They looked kind of tense.

"Han, remember playing sabaac, reading people's faces. Look at the guard's faces," Lando said.

Han tensed up a little more. He pulled up to the gate slowly, reaching for his blaster. Four guards approached the speeder, these guards looked angry. Han lowered the window.

"Why did they let you through without a pass," the guard asked, clearly pissed off.

Luke leaned forward. "How are you today?"

He needed to calm the guard down.

"Ok, I guess," the guard said. He wasn't sure why, but he felt more relaxed.

"You guys have a tough job out in this heat."

"Yes, it's hot out here."

"Our vehicle doesn't need a pass, you can let us through," Luke said in a soft voice.

"Open the gate, they don't need a pass," the guard said in an authoritative tone.

The others, having been trained to follow orders and never ask questions, opened the gate without a second glance.

"Go in the guard shack and have a drink, you must be thirsty." Luke told the guard.

"I am thirsty, thank you," the guard replied.

He dutifully walked back to one of the towers and went inside, as the gates were opening for the speeder. As the speeder went through the gate, the group suddenly found themselves in a forest.

"The map says that this is the Presidential Zoo," Lando said as he pressed a few buttons on the keypad of the speeders computer.

They started to pass animals in cages. There was a mix of foreign and indigenous species.

"Look at that one, he's got one tooth sticking out of his mouth." Leia said, pointing to one of the animals.

Seeing the animals helped everyone start to relax.

"Let's focus on what we're here for," Han said.

"Lando, how far are we from the actual building?" he asked.

"It's hard to say, the palace is enormous. There are several buildings," Lando explained. "There's another gate coming up, and from there it shouldn't be too far," he continued.

"I don't see any guards," Han said, as he approached the third gate.

As he got closer, everyone could see what had happened.

"The guards are dead," Luke said first.

"I don't see any blast marks on the walls, whoever it was must have been a pretty good shot," Lando commented, a little confused as to what happened.

Luke's smile disappeared. His expression became grim.

"Those men weren't killed by a blaster," he said, his voice betraying no emotion. "They were killed with a lightsaber."

Han had an eerie feeling.

He looked back at Luke, "you want me to turn around."

"No."

Han pulled the speeder up to the gate, now everyone could see what Luke had sensed. The guards had been slashed and stabbed to death, with an ancient Jedi weapon.

Lando looked at Luke. "So, is he here?"

"He's here," Luke said.

"Well, I guess I could ram this gate?" Han said, more as a question. "It looks like a heavy one; I'm not sure what it will do to the speeder. It's too heavy for us to push open," he added.

He was looking to Luke for the answer. So was everyone else.

"Give me a minute," Luke said.

Then he closed his eyes and reached out with the Force. He put his hand out. The gate started to open. Look flicked his hand, and the gate flew away, as if a gust of wind had just thrown it. The gate smashed into a tall tree 30 meters away, and then fell to the ground. Everyone stared at Luke.

"I didn't think I was going to throw it that hard," Luke said with a shrug.

Han piloted the speeder through the gate and around a huge courtyard. Lando was looking out different sides, trying to see the ground.

"What are you looking at?" Leia asked.

Lando pointed down towards the courtyard. Chewbacca growled as he saw it. Artoo whistled.

"Oh my goodness," Leia exclaimed. There were dozens of dead guards, scattered everywhere.

"This guy sure knows how to make an entrance," Lando said, not feeling very excited about seeing the dark Jedi again.

As they pulled up to the main entrance to the palace, they could see more dead guards. They exited the speeder and Chewy passed everyone their guns and ammo, and belts. The group walked up the stairs, and into the palace. There was a grand entrance room, with paintings and artwork all over. There were also dead guards spread throughout the massive room.

"Look, blaster fire," Leia said, pointing to the walls.

There were blast marks all over the place, as opposed to back at the gate, where there was none.

"Those were deflected back at the guards," Luke said.

Han picked up a large rifle from a dead guard, and holstered his Blastec DL-44.

"Good idea," Leia said, as she and Chewy picked up some extra weapons and ammo from the dead guards.

The group continued to the other side of the entrance room, and then down a hallway. They had to step over the occasional guard, stragglers who hadn't made it to the big fight in the entrance room. As they moved on, they began to hear blaster fire.

"Come on," Han said, as the group began to run.

The sounds got louder as they closed on the source. Then, the gunfire stopped. They walked into a large room, only to find the dictator, Kingi, dead. Along with 40 of his personal guards. It was quiet for a moment. Then Luke stirred, as if he had heard something, but there hadn't been a sound. His lightsaber leapt from his belt, landing in his open palm. It ignited with a crackle, just as it reached his hand. Khan walked into the room. He ignited his own lightsaber. The hairs stood up on the back of Leia's neck.

"Get out," Luke instructed everyone. "Now," he added with authority.

No one argued, they all left the room.

If you liked the chapter, let me know. Leave a review, tell me what you think.