Chapter 20- Death Star Plans and the Battle Briefing
Talon Orran was standing in the communication center when the Force screamed at him. Talon looked up a feeling of excitement shivering through him. Lena and Leia were alive and were coming! "General, aircraft coming," a tech said turning to Dodonna.
"Your Highness, you are a Jedi. Is this ship a threat to us?" Dodonna asked. Talon closed his eyes and reached out with the Force.
"No. It's Leia and Lena," Talon said, opening his eyes with a brief smile curving his lips.
"The princesses? Are you certain, Sire?" Dodonna asked.
"Positive. When you raise children, it doesn't take a Jedi to know them. Me being a Jedi is just an added bonus. I have known both of them since they were babies and one of them is my daughter. Permission to greet my niece and daughter?" Talon asked.
"Of course, Master Jedi," Dodonna said. Talon practically ran out of the room and to the hanger. Talon froze in shock. Lena and Leia were standing there with a dark haired man, a wookie, and a boy with blond hair. Talon knew without a shadow of a doubt who the boy was. He looked too much like Anakin had at his age. Of course his build had come from Senator Amidala, but there was no denying who the boy's father was; the same man who had also sired Leia and Lena. This was the first time since birth that the triplets had been in the same room.
"Lena, Leia, you're safe. When we heard about Alderaan, we feared the worst," Talon said, gathering both girls in his arms.
"I know, Papa. I did too. I felt the disturbance in the Force when it happened," Lena said, pulling back to look into his blue eyes. Talon traced her face gently with his hand. His daughter looked tired and judging by the smell of hers and Leia's clothes they had landed in something that smelled bad.
"We have no time for sorrows, Uncle Cail. You must use the information in this Artoo unit to help plan the attack It's our only hope," Leia said.
"Of course, but you two look as if you need food, a nap, a refresher, and clean clothes," Talon said as they walked to the techs in charge of Artoo.
"We do at that, Father, but first, Solo, come over here. Papa, this is Han Solo. I promised him a reward if he helped me and Luke rescue Leia," Lena said, indicating the dark-haired man.
"Of course. The Rebel Alliance doesn't have a lot of money on hand, but we'll give you what we can, Solo, with my thanks for rescuing my niece and daughter," Talon said.
"Thank you, Your Highness," Solo said. Something in the Force screamed that this man was usually sarcastic, but he had held his sarcasm in check. He went off, probably to check his ship.
"Father, this is also another friend who helped us save Leia from Grand Moff Tarkin and Darth Vader; Luke Skywalker," Lena indicated the blond boy.
"Welcome, young Skywalker. I knew your father before the Empire," Talon said, shaking the boy's hand. Bail had told him that shaking hands wasn't dignified for a prince of the royal house of Alderaan, but Talon had shook hands with people all his life and Bail had finally despaired at teaching his adoptive brother not to do that.
"Thank you, Your Highness. You knew my father?" Luke asked.
"I did at that. I was a Jedi Padawan at the Jedi Temple on Coruscant when the Jedi Order fell. Anakin Skywalker was known as the ""Hero Without Fear. I was there when you and Lena were born and your mother died," Talon said, intentionally not mentioning Leia was Luke and Lena's sister. He had told his daughter when she was quite young that Leia was her sister, but Lena had appeared to forget that he had ever said that. If Luke joined the Rebel Alliance and word got out that Lena and Leia were his triplet sisters, Vader would find them. Vader might find Luke or he might find Lena, but Leia would always be safely anonymous. Talon had always known that Vader would eventually find Anakin Skywalker's human offspring. Vader might deny that he was Anakin, but he wouldn't be able to deny Luke or Lena considering Luke looked just like Anakin and Lena looked like Padme, with the exception of Anakin's blue eyes and all three Skywalker children had Anakin's ability to use the Force. Luke was untrained, but it was easily felt in all of the triplets.
"Uncle, Luke wants to join the Alliance do we have a place for him?" Leia queried.
Talon smiled and stroked his niece's face. "He saved your life. Of course. If he's as good a fighter as Anakin was, he is welcome," Talon said as they walked into the control room.
"LENA! LEIA!" Cora screamed and ran to Leia and Lena, wrapping her tiny arms around their legs. Lena stooped down and gathered Cora in her arms.
"Hey, little sister. It's a good thing you weren't on Alderaan," Lena said with relief as she hugged Cora.
"Yes, it was. It was the will of the Force that she was with me," Talon said, touching Cora's small head with his large hand.
"Lena, I want Mama. Papa says we can't go home," Cora blinked her large brown eyes sadly.
"Papa's right, little one. Mama, the boys, Aunt Breha, and Uncle Bail are one with the Force. Technician, how long will it take to access that Artoo unit's memory?" Lena asked a tech who was hooking Artoo to a computer.
"Not long, Your Highness," the man said as Artoo beeped and swirled his domed head around as the schematics of the Death Star appeared on a screen.
"It looks impossible to destroy, Master Jedi," Dodonna said, coming over to the screen.
"That will be why we would fail, General," Lena said, gnawing her lips as she looked at the screen.
Talon smiled briefly and picked up Cora. "Daughter, what do you see. Use the Force," Talon asked his five-year-old. Cora looked at the screen as she wrapped her small arms around his neck.
"It doesn't look as if it can be destroyed, Papa, but I think there had to be an exhaust port," Cora said. Talon kissed his daughter's forehead.
"Like Master Yoda would have said, 'A child's mind is truly a wonderful thing. Tech, look for an exhaust port," Talon instructed. It didn't take long for the technician to find it.
"There it is, Papa," Lena said, leaning close to look at the screen.
"It's not that big, Lena," Luke said, joining her in looking at the screen.
"No, but it should be enough, Luke. One or two direct hits down the thermal exhaust should destroy the battle station," Lena said.
"We'll call the X-wing pilots. Your Highnesses," Dodonna said by way of farewell as he went to the comm station.
"Come on, let's go to the briefing room. Uncle Cail, can you give the briefing?" Leia asked Talon.
"Of course. Jedi knights have been giving orders since the time of the Clone Wars. Luke, Lena, your father Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi were the first Jedi, besides Yoda to go into battle," Talon said, as they walked down the corridor.
"I thought Jedi didn't fight battles," Leia said.
"We don't. It usually exceeded our mandates, but when we thought the clones wouldn't kill us, we became soldiers. I was mostly at the Jedi temple since I wasn't the best lightsaber duelist on Coruscant and I was still a Padawan at 22 when the Jedi Order fell and I adopted Lena and Obi-Wan took Luke to Tatooine when Anakin and their mother died," Talon said as they entered the briefing room. Talon put Cora down and she grabbed at Lena and Leia's hands. Talon smiled as all the X-wings reported in. Luke took his seat next to Wedge Antilles and out of the corner of his eye Talon noticed Han Solo and Chewbacca.
"Master Jedi, here is the hologram," Dodonna said, popping the disc into the wall.
"Thank you, General," Talon said, the room growing quiet.
(A/N: I know in the movie it was General Dodonna that gave this briefing, but I decided to have it be Talon who gives it and that he and Dodonna are the heads of the Rebel Alliance.) Lena watched as the room quieted and everyone looked at her father in his regal Jedi robes as a schematic of the Death Star came on the screen. Most people who looked at Talon thought he had been born into the royalty he had been adopted into, but it didn't take long for most people to give him deference as a Jedi and the Prince of Alderaan; much like the pilots were doing now. The Rebellion knew that Cail was a fiction and that Talon was his real name, but the Rebellion ignored that as he had proven to be a capable leader and most continued to call him Cail Organa. Even Talon called himself Cail at times.
"Welcome, fighters. For those who do not know me I am a Jedi knight and the Prince of Alderaan, Cail Organa. I will keep this short as time is of the utmost importance. The battle station is heavily shielded and carries a firepower greater than half the starfleet. Its defenses are designed around a direct large-scale assault. A small, one-man fighter should be able to penetrate the outer defense," Talon said as the picture moved illustrating his points.
"Pardon me for asking, Your Highness, but what good are snub fighters going to be against that?" A pilot asked.
"Well, the Empire doesn't consider a small, one-man fighter to be any threat or they'd have a tighter defense. An analysis of the plans provided by my niece and daughter the Princesses Lena and Leia, has demonstrated a weakness in the battle station. The approach will not be easy. You're required to maneuver straight down this trench and skim the surface to this point. The target area is only two-meters wide. It's a small thermal exhaust port, right below the main port. The shaft leads directly to the reactor system. Two precise hits will start a chain reaction which should destroy the station. Only two precise hits will set up a chain reaction. The shaft is ray-shielded, so you'll have to use proton torpedos," Talon said as the screen showed the Death Star being circumvented and then blown up.
That's impossible! Even for a computer!" Wedge Antilles said from his place beside Luke.
"It's not impossible. I used to bull's-eye womp rats in my T-16 back home. They're not much bigger than two meters," Luke explained.
"Then man your ships and may the Force be with you," Talon said and everyone got up.
Lena made her way to her father. Talon smiled at her briefly and kissed her cheek. "What was that for, Father?" Lena asked.
"I guess I'm hoping you'll change your mind about joining Gold Squadron and Rouge Flight up there," Talon said
"I know, but you know the Force. It'll want me to help them," Lena said, resting her forehead against Talon's shoulder.
"I know. Just be careful, Lena Skywalker, and may the Force be with you," Talon said, kissing her forehead.
"I will, Papa. And may the Force be with you," Lena said, kissing his cheek as she went off to suit up and get to her ship.