Chapter 8 – Metal and Plastoid
Leia kept her eyes to the ground as she walked. Luke led the way through the spaceport, head on a swivel. Nobody seemed to be following them. But Leia doubted their luck would hold much longer.
They turned a corner and encountered Chewbacca standing guard by the hangar bay door. The Wookiee nodded in greeting before leading them inside.
The hangar was a circular, dusty space, two dozen feet below the surface. Leia squinted, stepping out of the spaceport hallway into the open air. A rather dingy freighter was parked in the middle of the landing pad.
Luke stopped. "What a piece of junk!" he said.
Leia couldn't help but agree. She had never flown something so… rugged. But she believed in herself. Leia knew she could fly anything.
Captain Solo emerged from underneath the loading ramp. "She'll make .5 past light speed," he said. "She may not look like much, but she's got it where it counts, kid. I've made a lot of special modifications myself."
"Really?" Leia said. "Such as?"
"Don't let me bore you with the details, sweetheart," Solo said. Before Leia could reply, he held out his hand. "Now. You got the money?"
Luke and Leia looked at each other. He reached for his lightsaber. She reached for her blaster.
But before they could, Chewbacca was pointing a bowcaster at the back of Luke's neck.
"Keep it cool," Han said. "I thought you might pull something like this."
"I don't know what you're talking about," Leia said, hands darting away from her belt, eyes wide with innocence. "We haven't done anything."
"Don't play me for a fool, sister," Solo said.
He stepped forward, finger pointed at Leia, but he didn't get any further. Luke, with incredible dexterity, launched himself into the air, over Solo's head, and landed behind the stunned captain. He drew his weapon, grappled Solo by the arm, and raised his active lightsaber blade to the man's throat.
"No one is going to get hurt," he said, deathly calm. "Drop the blaster, Chewbacca."
The Wookiee hesitated. Then he folded, lowering the bowcaster slowly to the ground.
"Who the hell are you?" Solo asked, "and why does the Empire want you so bad?"
"Yeah right," said Leia, "as if we'd tell you that."
"We're going to take your ship, Captain Solo," Luke said. "I'm sorry, but there's no other way."
"Eat dirt, kid. You're not taking my ship."
"You're free to accompany us. We need passage to Alderaan, but after that we have no need of your ship."
Solo made a big show of deliberating. Leia realized a moment too late that it was all for show. With Luke's grip slackened, Solo threw his arm back, striking Luke in the gut with his elbow. The lightsaber dropped to the ground and Solo spun free from Luke's lock. Chewbacca reached to scoop up his bowcaster while Leia drew her blaster…
The hangar exploded in blaster fire. Leia dropped to the ground on instinct, hands held to her ears.
"Stormtroopers!" she heard someone yell. Solo perhaps.
A blaster bolt whizzed over her head, so close that its heat singed the hair on the top of her head. Shocked into action, Leia sprung to her feet and ran for the open ramp.
"Hey!" Solo yelled, taking cover behind one of the struts. "Get back here!" Leia ignored him. She rushed down the curling hallway in the direction of the cockpit. She didn't know the freighter's layout, but Leia had been in enough ships to know where to go.
"Leia!" Luke's voice called from down the hallway. "Get us out of here!"
She threw herself into the pilot's seat and pushed the throttle to the max. Grabbing the control sticks, she pulled on them and felt the freighter roar to life. Inertia carried her backward, and she nearly flipped over the back of the chair, having not strapped in. Leia gripped the sticks as hard as she could, and felt herself laughing, screaming.
Euphoria and catharsis in equal measure.
How she loved to fly.
Δ Δ Δ
Vader stood in an empty conference room on the Death Star. There was no viewport, so he stared at the wall instead.
His metal hands were balled into fists at his sides. He didn't want to be here. He sensed that his chance to find his daughter had slipped away. She had escaped Tatooine. It could take her twenty years to find her, as it had taken him twenty years to find Kenobi.
It could not take that long. It would not. From here on, Vader would do everything in his power to find her. That meant defying Palpatine if need be. His master clearly did not want him to find her. That was why he had ordered him to this meaningless assignment in the first place.
The door to the conference room opened. Vader heard the sound of footsteps.
"My lord. You asked to see me."
The door sealed shut. Vader turned.
"Director Krennic."
The director was dressed in flamboyant attire, a pristine white uniform and a matching cape. His chin was raised, defiant. He was a confident man. Vader had to give him credit. Most wilted before Vader's presence.
"I have been informed about the incident on Jedha," Vader said.
His foreboding tone evidently went unnoticed by Krennic. "Then you know the weapon performed as expected," he said, lips twitching with pride.
"As expected?" Vader echoed. "Tell me, Director, do you believe this incident serves the Empire well?"
"Why of course," said Krennic. "We have demonstrated the Death Star's true destructive capability. It will be known now that resistance to the Empire is futile."
"Incorrect, Director. The destruction of Jedha will only strengthen the Rebels' cause." Krennic attempted to speak, but Vader raised a finger to cut him off. "A holy city destroyed, a planet left in ruins. This does not inspire fear in the hearts of Rebels. It inspires anger, and engenders desire for revenge. Your senseless act of violence has mobilized the galaxy against us."
"But with the Death Star –"
"There is no Death Star. The Senate has been informed that Jedha was destroyed in a mining disaster. Is that understood?"
Krennic looked at the floor. "Yes, my lord."
Vader flexed his fingers. He dearly wished to strangle this monstrous man.
"I never supported this project. Grand Admiral Thrawn's TIE Defender program showed much greater potential than the Death Star ever will."
"Thrawn is dead," Krennic said, with a hint of triumph, "as is his project."
"Be careful, Director," Vader warned. "Thrawn had the patronage of the Emperor. You do not. One more blunder, and this whole project will be in jeopardy."
Krennic's confident expression cracked. A look of resentment took its stead.
"Remember your place," Vader said. "You may have been in charge of Operation Stardust, but Governor Tarkin is the ultimate authority aboard the Death Star."
"Yes, my lord," Krennic said. "I understand."
Vader was no fool. He knew Krennic's sort. Ambitious, conniving, unscrupulous. He would say what he must to Vader, but when the Emperor's emissary was no longer looking, he would do as he pleased. Vader knew this. But he didn't care. He never had. Politics was an arena in which he never wished to foray.
"Tell me about this security breach which led to the incident on Jedha," Vader requested.
"The situation is under control," Krennic said.
"I did not ask for a status report," Vader said. "Tell me everything."
Krennic swallowed visibly. "A pilot by the name of Bodhi Rook defected from the Imperial facility on Eadu."
Vader thought at once of his daughter. He suppressed the memory of the Imperial shuttle blinking out of sight into hyperspace back on Palaam.
"We do not know Rook's intentions, but the threat he posed has since been eliminated with the destruction of Jedha."
"He could not have been working alone," Vader said.
"No, my lord. Governor Tarkin made the same observation."
"This breach occurred under your watch, Director. How do you plan to resolve it?"
"I was on my way to Eadu, my lord. Your arrival delayed my trip."
"Forgive me for being an inconvenience," Vader said dryly.
Krennic ignored the sarcasm. "Any collaborators will be identified and summarily executed, I assure you," he said.
Vader considered. He had drawn the parallel right away between his daughter and this deserted pilot, but it was merely a superficial one. Yet could there be a genuine connection? The timing certainly was suspicious. Could there be a Rebel cell on Eadu? If so, could it be linked with the one on Palaam somehow? Perhaps the incident on Palaam was designed to draw attention away from Eadu, or vice versa.
It was a stretch. And even if there was a connection, Rebel cells were intentionally ignorant of the activities of their comrades in arms. But if Vader managed to find someone high enough along the chain of command, he might be able to learn where his daughter may have gone.
"Your initiative is appreciated, Director," Vader said. "But there will be no executions. Not yet."
"No executions, my lord?"
"I will accompany you to Eadu. Who is in charge of the facility?"
"Galen Erso is his name. He is the main architect of Stardust."
"Very good. I will speak with him."
Δ Δ Δ
Thud.
Thud.
Thud.
"Open up, dammit! This hatch won't hold forever! Chewie will tear it down, I swear!"
The Wookiee roared.
Leia rolled her eyes.
"Don't worry," she assured Luke. "That hatch is sealed shut. There's no way they're breaking in."
She and Luke had barricaded themselves in the cockpit of the Falcon. Chewbacca and Solo had been banging on the door for the past hour to no avail. After a dramatic escape from Mos Eisley, the trip had been rather routine. They were now in hyperspace on the way to Alderaan.
"I feel kind of bad," Luke said.
"About what?" Leia asked.
He leaned against the wall, fiddling with the loop on his belt which held his lightsaber.
"It's like we stole his baby from him. Han really loves this ship."
"We didn't steal it," Leia said. "He'll get it back when we make it to Alderaan."
Luke shrugged and looked away. "What then?" he asked.
"On Alderaan, you mean?"
"Yeah."
Leia sucked in her lips. She really didn't know how to answer that. What would she do on Alderaan?
"I don't know," Leia confessed. "But I have to warn you, Luke. They're not going to let us leave easily."
"They?"
"The Organas." Leia hesitated. "My parents."
"Oh."
"I ran away for a reason. They want me to be a princess. But I don't want that. I never have."
"My parents wanted me to be a farmer," Luke said. "I probably would have ran away too if Ben hadn't been there to train me."
"So you understand my predicament, don't you?"
"Sort of," Luke said. "But we don't have anywhere else to go. Why don't we lay low on Alderaan for a while? You said we'll be safe there."
"I can't stay there," Leia said.
"Why not?"
The real reason? Because she didn't trust herself. Deep down, she knew she missed home. She missed feeling safe and secure, being tended to and pampered. She feared that if she stayed for too long, she might not be able to leave.
But she had to. She wasn't the same girl who was destined to become heir to the throne. She was a soldier now. She was indebted to those who had sacrificed themselves so that she might escape. It was her duty now to fight their fight.
"We need to find our way to the Rebellion," Leia said. "We can help them, Luke. You're a Jedi. I'm a pilot. They need our help. The galaxy needs fighters. It doesn't need princesses."
Luke seemed unconvinced, but he offered no argument. He looked down the hall to the hatch where the pounding had yet to cease.
The hours ticked by. Luke strapped himself into the copilot's chair and stared out at the rushing white and blue swirl of hyperspace. His eyes were wide. Leia had to remind herself that he had never been in space before. No doubt it was an awesome experience for him.
Meanwhile, Leia sat in the pilot's chair with her feet up on the control panel. In her lap was the lightsaber Obi-Wan had given her – her father's lightsaber. She turned it over, inspecting the grooves with her fingers. It was beautifully crafted. She was quite enamored with it, really. Yet nonetheless Leia could sense something off about the weapon. Something… somber.
She didn't understand what it meant. Perhaps it was nothing. But what Luke had told her about the Force continued to play in the back of her head. This lightsaber felt like a living being, in a way, and she could sense it in the same way she sensed Luke. They both had feelings which Leia could pick up on.
She was too afraid to ask lest she sound like a fool. Because it was foolish. Of course the lightsaber didn't have feelings. It was a hunk of metal and plastoid, nothing more.
Metal and plastoid. It reminded her of another. Whose presence – intimidating, impressive – was nonetheless permeated with that same somber element. Darth Vader.
Leia feared him mightily. Of course she did. But there was something fascinating about him. His actions were nonsensical to her. Why had he expressed so much interest in her? Why had he acted so… possessive? If that was even the right word. Protective, even.
It was strange. But Leia didn't get the chance to contemplate it further. A red bulb on the control panel flashed.
"Looks like we're there already," Leia said, sitting up straight. She clipped the lightsaber back to her belt and grabbed the control sticks. "Solo wasn't lying. This ship sure can move."
A minute later, the stars streaked in the viewport and the swirl of hyperspace was gone. Leia felt her throat tighten.
There it was. A blue and green orb, greyish clouds rolling along its northern hemisphere. Alderaan. The world she had left behind.
"Well," she said, "here goes nothing."
She assumed manual control over the freighter. Luke did not speak as she piloted, and for this she was grateful. Leia wasn't sure she would be able to reply.
Alderaan grew larger. Leia's breath grew shallower. They entered the atmosphere, and right on cue the coms system crackled to life.
"This is Aldera control station. You are not on the arrival log and do not have permission to land. Identify yourself and your purpose. Over."
Leia looked at her companion. No turning back now, she thought. Reaching to the control panel, she activated the coms system on their end.
"This is Leia Organa. I request an audience with the queen and viceroy. Over."
A long silence met this statement. And then…
"Copy that. Welcome home, Your Highness. Over."
Welcome home, indeed.
Author's Note: It took a while, but here you go! A new update. Hopefully I'll be a bit more regular about updates in the future (but honestly I have no idea - I get them out when I can, that's all I can promise). Hope you enjoyed! Elements from Rogue One are going to start popping up in the story now. Next chapter will feature Vader's arrival on Eadu to interrogate Galen Erso, as well as Leia's audience with the Organas. Should be a fun one! Thanks for your patience and thanks for reading!