Yup, this ended up being an extra long chapter. It just didn't seem right breaking this chapter early and having the end chunk shifted to the next chapter. I like leaving it off where I did.
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And as always...
Enjoy!
Luke was reluctant to let his mother go alone, but dutifully stayed behind, shutting the door to the control room after his mother had disappeared. He turned back to face Han and Chewbacca, who were both standing a few paces from the droids, having watched at least part of the exchange.
"Y'know, when I agreed to help you two, I did not expect to keep getting pulled deeper and deeper into Imperial trouble," Han said in an almost scathing tone.
"We were just trying to get to Alderaan—do you think we were expecting to find a giant space station and no Alderaan? My mother would have let you go your own way as soon as we landed if things had gone to plan—" Luke argued, leaping to his mother's defense. Han cut him off, waving his hand in aggravation in the direction of the door.
"Well, they didn't. And now we're stuck here while she runs around in the open on a giant station crawling with Imperials."
Luke felt his indignation spike at Han's continued skepticism, especially when it came to his mother. Luke knew she knew what she was doing, she had far more experience then Han did. "I didn't hear you give any ideas!" Luke snapped.
"Well anything's better than just hanging around waiting for her to come and pick us up."
"Why do you think—" Luke started to say, about to confront Han at his disbelief in Zelina's ability to shut off the tractor beam. Before he could finish his sentence, Artoo suddenly erupted into excited beeps over by the computer, drawing his attention away from Han and over to the droids. "What is it?"
Threepio turned to answer him. "I'm afraid I'm not quite sure, sir. He says I've found her and keeps repeating she's here."
Her? Artoo couldn't mean his mother, he wouldn't be that excited, and considering everyone knew what his mother was doing…
"Well…who? Who has he found?" Luke asked curiously, making his way over to the droids.
"Princess Leia."
Surprise snapped Luke into full, alert attention, eyes widening as he processed the news. "The Princess, she's here?"
"Princess?" Han asked in confusion. Luke ignored him, all his attention now on Artoo.
"Where, where is she?"
"Princess? What's goin' on?" Han continued to insist.
Luke continued to ignore.
"Level five, detention block AA23," Threepio translated from Artoo's rapid beeping. "I'm afraid she's scheduled to be terminated."
Terminated. The conversation Luke had with his mother on the Falcon played through Luke's mind in vivid color, how Leia was the adopted daughter of the man who'd saved his mother's life during the purges, who had been friends with his birth mother, how Zelina had considered rescuing Leia a priority. Now, with Alderaan gone, the very least he could do…
"We've got to do something!" Luke announced firmly.
"What are you talkin' about?" Han asked in worried irritation, coming over to stand by Luke and the droids as Luke took a step towards Han.
"The droids belong to her, she's the one who asked for our help—we have to help her!" he explained in a rush, part of him hoping that would be all he needed to tell Han, but part of him already knowing it would probably take a little more.
"Now, look, don't get any funny ideas, your mother wants us to wait right here," Han returned sternly, taking a seat by the monitors. Luke felt annoyance flicker across his face.
"She didn't know she was here! Besides, my mother's been talking about rescuing her since we heard the Empire captured her. If she knew the Princess was here, she'd have come up with a plan to rescue her," Luke argued, turning back to the droids. "See if you can find us a way into the detention block."
"I'm not going anywhere," Han snapped, setting his feet up on the desk.
"They're gonna execute her!" Luke stressed, leaning over Han. "Look, a few minutes ago you said you didn't want to just wait here to be captured, now all you want to do is stay?"
"Marching into the detention area is not what I had in mind!"
"But they're gonna kill her!"
"Better her than me!"
Luke had to force himself to step away from the argument as Han turned his back on Luke, with Luke putting his back to Han as well while he re-evaluated his argument, trying to think what he wanted to do now. He could leave and attempt the rescue on his own, but a part of him knew that wouldn't work out in his favor. He could also leave on his own and simply bet on Han's fear of what Luke's mother would do to him if something happened to Luke while Han was supposed to be sticking with him. Maybe that was strong enough to make Han follow, even if it took a few minutes.
But he also didn't want to depend on fear, either. Fear was a dark side tool, not a Jedi's tool.
Or I could always try bribery.
Luke turned back to the disgruntled smuggler, leaning over his chair. "You won't get the rest of your payment if we don't rescue her."
Han only laughed. "I don't think that's your decision, Kid—that's not gonna work."
Luke shook his head. "My mother was going to have Bail Organa pay you the rest—if he's gone, then Princess Leia is the only one left for you to get your payment." That made Han pause, the smuggler going still after his head tilted just so in Luke's direction. He was listening, but he still needed a bit more of a push for Luke to convince him. "Besides, rescuing her might come with a reward from the Rebellion, too. A reward, plus what you're being paid for transporting us. That's quite a bit of money, don't you think? You could pay off Jabba and still have plenty of credits to do whatever you want with."
Han studied Luke closely for several long moments before he pointed a warning finger at Luke's nose. "All right, Kid, you better be right about this."
Luke felt satisfying relief from the victory rush through him, rubbing his hands together as he pulled away, considering what came next. "All right…"
"What's your plan?" Han asked as Luke looked over what was available to them in the room. He spotted a set of binders over by Threepio, and felt a plan starting to form in his mind, pointing towards the binders.
"Um…Threepio, hand me those binders, there, will ya?" Threepio did as he was asked, and Luke undid the binders as he approached Chewbacca. "Okay…now, I'm gonna put these on you—"
Chewbacca roared angrily at the proposal, causing Luke to leap back out of the way of the Wookiee's swinging arms on a self-preservation instinct, hand shooting out to offer the binders to Han.
"Ah…okay, Han, y-you put those on."
Han smirked at Luke's failed attempt, walking over to the Wookiee and sliding the binders on him without any resistance. "Don't worry, Chewie, I think I know what he has in mind," Han reassured him. Luke picked up his stolen blaster and helmet, already making his way to the control room door. Before they could leave, Threepio's concerned voice stopped them.
"Ah, Master Luke, sir, pardon me for asking, but what should Artoo and I do if we're discovered here?"
"Lock the door," Luke answered with a smirk, as if it should be obvious.
"And hope they don't have blasters," Han added as Luke opened the door and they all started to file out of the room.
"That isn't very reassuring," Luke heard Threepio mutter before he shut the door behind them.
He pulled on the helmet again, doing his best to adjust it so he could see out of it a little better. Han pulled on his helmet as well, the two of them taking up the front on either side of Chewbacca, who was now playing the part of escorted prisoner. Every now and then Han would wander ahead, though Luke let him, choosing to instead stay by Chewbacca's side and keep up the pretext that he was the one keeping the Wookiee in line, though the idea was laughable in Luke's mind.
They received several odd looks on their way to the detention center, though to Luke's relief, those looks were mostly over the strange sight of a Wookiee being escorted through the space station, and not out of any kind of suspicion that they didn't belong on the station.
Luke was just glad no one was around to see Chewbacca scare a little mouse droid away with his roar.
Even though the entire time they walked, Luke continued to tweak his spur-of-the-moment plan, he didn't dare share his mental adjustments with Han while they roamed the halls. If he'd been walking with his mother, he would have been giving her little nudges in the Force to let her know he'd thought of something. Han, however, wasn't Force Sensitive, so Luke simply had to wait until they had a chance to speak, most likely in the lift on the way down to the detention center.
When they made it to the lifts, Han managed to keep anyone from joining them inside simply by gesturing towards the giant Wookiee that they were escorting, without any questions.
Not many people wanted to be in a tight space with a potentially angry Wookiee, understandably.
As soon as the doors slid shut and they were alone, Luke spoke up.
"I was thinking about the plan—"
"It's not gonna work," Han grumbled.
Luke resisted the urge to gripe about Han not expressing that concern back when he went along with the plan, instead choosing to spend what little time they had in the lift wisely.
"No, they probably won't fall for the bluff, and we probably can't just escort the princess without drawing attention. We just need to get out of the block without drawing attention and get something to disguise her."
"And how the hell do you plan to do that, Kid?" Han asked incredulously.
"Well…" Luke said hesitantly, but before he could propose any ideas, the doors to the lift slid open, and they were stuck improvising.
Hopefully this didn't go horribly wrong.
Luke and Han stepped into the room first, Chewbacca following close behind as the Imperials inside turned to see who the new arrivals were. Luke could see two standing by the hallway that led to the cells, the Lieutenant that was standing at the monitors, and one standing a little ways down the hallway.
As Han, Luke, and Chewbacca came to a stop in the detention center, the Lieutenant slowly turned to face them. "Where are you taking this…thing?"
"Prisoner transfer from cell block 1138," Luke answered confidently.
The Lieutenant's eyes narrowed at the statement, and Luke could feel suspicion quickly thickening around the man in the Force. "I wasn't notified…I'll have to clear it," he said skeptically, gesturing for the two guards standing by the hall to approach Han, Luke, and Chewbacca.
Luke's gaze tracked the officer, a warning in the Force telling him not to let the man activate the communications unit or they would be caught. He had to act now, before the guards even had the chance to reach them.
Luke quickly nudged Chewbacca with his elbow as a signal, grip tightening on the blaster in his hands a split second before Chewbacca let loose an ear-splitting roar and swung his arms up, appearing to break the binders that had been loose on his wrists the whole time.
"Look out, he's loose!" Han shouted for show as Chewbacca 'forcibly' took the large gun Han had been twirling about as they walked through the halls.
"I got him!" Luke shouted for effect as well, jumping to the side as if to get out of range of Chewbacca's arms before he fired at the Lieutenant, managing to take out the Imperial in one shot and without blasting a hole in his uniform.
After that, it was pretty much chaos, with the three off them alternating between shooting out the cameras and shooting at the other three Imperials in the detention block, trying to be quick about it so no one would get shot and if anyone happened to be looking at the security feed for this particular detention block, they wouldn't see that the block had been infiltrated.
While Luke spent more time focusing on cameras and any alarms he could see, Han and Chewbacca were opening fire at the other Imperials in the detention block, taking a shot at the security systems every now and then as well. Within what felt like seconds, the fight was over, and the block was entirely silent.
Luke hurried over to the controls, pulling the Lieutenant off of the desk, allowing Han access to the controls as Luke stepped away to do a quick survey of the carnage they'd left behind.
"Not bad, Kid," Han commented as he leaned over the desk. "We gotta find out which cell this princess of yours is in…Here it is, 2187. You go and get her; Chewie and I will watch the lifts."
Luke gave Han a quick thumbs up, then hurried down the hall, gaze roaming the walls as he looked for the right cell number. They had to be quick and get Leia out before anyone noticed something was wrong and sent a squad up to investigate.
At least if they managed to attract Imperial attention while breaking the Princess out, it would help draw attention away from his mother and what she was doing.
Luke slid to a stop when he finally saw the cell, slamming his hand down on the control panel to open the door before hurrying inside. He faltered when he set eyes on the Princess in person for the first time, momentarily dumbfounded as the beautiful young woman woke up, pushing herself up on her elbows and looking at him with a cautious, critical gaze. The silence stretched a few beats too long and the Princess put a hand on her hip, cocking an eyebrow at him challengingly.
"Aren't you a little short for a stormtrooper?"
Luke was taken aback by her question. "Huh? Oh, the uniform!" Pulling off the helmet, Luke stepped forward. "I'm Luke Skywalker, I'm here to rescue you!"
"You're who?" she asked in confusion, though she did slide into a sitting position on the edge of the metal slab she'd been lying on.
"I'm here to rescue you—I've got your R2 unit, you sent for my mother, Zelina Du'ahn—" Luke started to explain. He should have just led with his mother's name, because Leia's reaction was instant.
"Zelina Du'ahn? Where is she?" she asked, snapping to her feet and coming even with him.
"C'mon!" Luke said simply in answer, leading her out of the cell and down the hall. Han's head appeared around the corner at the sound of their footsteps.
"See you found your Princess, Kid, now how exactly do you plan on us smuggling her out of here?" Han asked as Luke and Leia made their way down the steps.
This time he'd had a few moments to think about it, and his shot earlier had actually given them a decent opportunity.
Luke turned to Leia, backstepping over towards the Lieutenant's body. "You don't mind impersonating an Imperial Officer for a little while, do you?"
Leia looked doubtful at the idea, but she was already moving towards the Lieutenant Luke clearly wanted her to impersonate. "I'm not sure that's a ruse that will last long."
"It just needs to get us most of the way, not all the way," Luke said, looking over her head towards Han with a shrug. The smuggler looked exasperated.
"You're making this whole thing up as we go along, aren't you?"
"Ah…"
"Great. You're gonna get us all killed."
"Hey, I've gotten us this far, haven't I?"
"You two sure are inspiring rescuers," Leia chipped in sarcastically, the Lieutenant's uniform draped over her arms. "It'll only take a moment to get in this uniform, and then from here on out, I'll lead the rescue, got it?"
"Listen, Your Worshipfullness, let's get one thing straight, I take orders from just one person—me."
"Yet from the sounds of things, you've been following someone you call kid. Even then, he seems to be the brains here," Leia said pointedly before she disappeared back into the hall so the two wouldn't see her changing.
Han turned back to Luke, a scowl fixed on his face. "No reward is worth this."
Luke hid a smug smile, pulling his stormtrooper helmet back on to help hide his reaction. "I don't know, she might have a point…" he said leadingly.
"Watch it, Kid, or I'll make sure you float home," Han griped.
Luke held back a chuckle, turning it into a cough as he turned to see Leia reappear dressed in the Lieutenant uniform. She had the hat situated carefully between the buns on either side of her head, and it seemed like she'd tucked parts of her dress on the inside to try and fill in any space left in the officer's uniform that unsurprisingly wasn't a perfect fit. She still managed to make it look like it was meant for her and was even smoothing out a crease as she made her way down the stairs.
"We need to get moving, before they realize the cameras aren't working and send a squad," Leia announced in a no-nonsense tone, already marching towards the door in a stiff manner that imitated the way Luke had seen Imperials walking around the station. Seeing that, Luke wasn't that stressed about having Leia lead the way. Maybe with a Lieutenant appearing to lead them, they wouldn't draw as much suspicion leading a cuffed Wookiee away from the detention centers.
At least until someone came by this detention block and found the stripped Lieutenant and handful of other Imperial bodies…as well as the empty cell.
Luke didn't hesitate to fall into step just behind the princess, turning back around and spreading his arms wide in a 'what are you waiting for' gesture when Han didn't immediately follow. The smuggler dragging his feet in reluctance now that the plan he already hadn't been entirely on board with had been hijacked by the Princess.
I remember a time…when I laughed at the idea…of me acting as a spy. And while I may not be looking for any information or anything like that, all this sneaking around in the shadows to sabotage the tractor beam sure feels like spy work.
And when we join up with the Rebellion, there will probably be plenty of undercover and spy like missions I'm going to be a part of…looks like I did end up becoming a spy of some sort.
Zelina's amused thoughts flickered through her mind as she quietly navigated the halls of the space station, keeping to the shadows and sending out small, carefully restrained probes in the Force to pick the emptiest halls, and using gentle mind tricks every now and then when she couldn't avoid crossing paths with an Imperial. If she hadn't been so worried about not raising the alarm, she wouldn't have even been sending out the probes after she'd sensed that darkness when they were first pulled into the station. She had her priorities, however, and right now she needed to get that tractor beam shut down.
Still, knowing something—or rather, someone—was exuding that much dark energy meant that she was also keeping tabs on Luke in the Force, wanting to make sure the young man was staying out of trouble. Or rather, since he was a Skywalker and she knew just how attractive that gene was to trouble, she was making sure that darkness stayed away from him.
However, it seemed Luke, Han, and Chewbacca weren't staying in the control room like she'd hoped they would, as she could sense them—namely Luke—moving through the station. Part of her was tempted to try and hunt them down and drag them back to the control room, but the fact that doing so would be a waste of precious time stopped her. As did a feeling that if they'd left the control room, it had to be for a reason.
And Luke's presence seemed to be burning with a sudden, focused purpose.
Keeping track of Luke in the back of her mind, as well as staying alert for the source of the darkness she sensed earlier, used a little more of her attention than she would have liked while trying to move through the station's halls undetected. She'd done well so far, however, so she tried not to let herself worry over it too much. In fact, she'd finally reached the service trench that the terminals for the main reactor were located, and they were disturbingly empty.
Wouldn't there be at least one guard down here, or were the Imperials just that cocky? She wasn't about to believe it was just luck.
Taking sure steps with just enough caution that she made sure she didn't slip and plummet to her death in the chasm below because she got too hasty, Zelina shimmied her way around the terminal, taking in the controls in front of her as she tried to decide how she wanted to go about getting rid of the power. She could take a very Anakin like route and simply shove her lightsaber through it, or she could take an Obi-Wan route and simple mess with the settings.
Or she could sort of do both.
Keeping her hearing carefully attuned to any possible intruders, Zelina started making adjustments to the terminal's settings, messing with some controls she wasn't entirely sure what they did, but also turning off the power. Then, just to be a pain and hopefully slow down any repairs a little further, she started using Force Enhanced pulls, yanks, and twists to break off the knobs and levers to the controls, letting them drop down into the cavern below her.
Suddenly the sound of footsteps reached her ears, enough to make her freeze in place as she turned her attention away from being destructive and back towards her surroundings. A small squad of stormtroopers were passing down the catwalk, the only thing keeping them from seeing her the terminal itself. Most of the stormtroopers moved on, but two remained.
Maybe they were the guards that she'd noticed were absent.
"Do you know what's going on?" one of them asked.
"Maybe it's another drill."
Zelina frowned, slowly and quietly making her way around the terminal in the direction opposite their voices. Had Luke's little group caught the Imperial's attention? Did she need to find them and intervene?
Turning her attention back to Luke, Zelina gently prodded at the area she could sense him in the Force, trying to get a feel for what he was doing.
She was surprised to sense another presence in their group, and not a malicious one, either. Not to mention, it was a presence that stirred an old memory, though for the life of her, she couldn't recall what that memory was.
If she'd encountered whoever was with them, it had to have been fleeting, and a long time ago.
Deciding to trust Luke knew what he was doing—for the most part—she focused instead on making her way back to the Falcon. Luke would know to meet her there.
Zelina peeked around the corner just enough to spot the two stormtroopers she had to sneak past, reaching out into the corridor opposite the one she wanted to escape down. Picking a light, Zelina gave it a rough shove in the Force, causing it to go out with an audible crash, drawing the attention of both stormtroopers. While they were distracted, Zelina easily slipped into the corridor and out of sight.
Honestly, they made it much farther than Luke had expected them to before they ran into trouble.
Leia had done well leading them through the base like they belonged, and she knew where they were going because Luke and Han had managed to remember to tell her while they were still in the lift. Any time someone of a rank lower than Lieutenant seemed to be giving them an odd look, she even managed to return it with a scathing or challenging leer, making them quickly turn away and mind their own business.
Of course, that didn't work when they were confronted by a Lieutenant-Commander.
"Hold it," the Imperial snapped, causing their small group to pause reluctantly as he stepped into their path. He was flanked by two stormtroopers as well, who held their blasters at the ready as the Commander studied them suspiciously.
Leia stayed standing straight, meeting his critical gaze head on without any visible signs of doubt. Luke, meanwhile, was trying not to fidget from nerves, though he was pretty sure Han wasn't succeeding at a similar inner battle, since the smuggler was fingering the trigger of his blaster.
"Where are you going with this prisoner?" the Commander asked suspiciously.
"It's being transferred to Kessel, Sir. We're taking it to its transport," Leia responded in a crisp tone.
Not entirely unbelievable, Luke thought.
The Commander arched an eyebrow, glancing at Chewbacca with disdain in his gaze. "Is that so…because a command was sent through the ranks that no one is to leave the station until an all clear signal is announced."
Well…so much for that…
Leia didn't grimace or give any other reaction that would have instantly given them away, but Luke could see in her eyes she knew they were caught. It didn't stop her from trying to dig them out of their situation.
"I apologize, Commander, the notice must have come through after we started the transfer," Leia said smoothly.
The Commander hummed, taking a step closer. Luke felt a warning hum through the Force, but instead of reacting with the blaster in his hands, he found his free hand inching towards where his lightsaber was hidden.
"There was also a Lieutenant that was killed…and his uniform stolen," the Commander said coldly.
The stormtroopers raised their blasters, as did Han, with Chewie 'breaking' the binders again so he was free to fight. Luke, however, pulled out his lightsaber and activated the blade as the stormtroopers opened fire, forcing his way between Leia and the Commander while he deflected the shots that would have been a direct hit on Han and himself. One of the deflected bolts soared right back into the stormtroopers, while Han shot down the other. Luke, being right in front of the Commander, easily cut the man down with a simple sweep of his blade.
The fight was over as quickly as it began, the sound of Luke's lightsaber deactivating apparently being the sign that it was time to speak.
"I don't think these disguises are going to be much help anymore," Han commented sourly.
"You didn't mention you were a Jedi!" Leia exclaimed accusingly.
"Um…Jedi in training. And it didn't come up?" Luke answered. "But that doesn't matter right now—it sounds like they know we're here."
"I suggest we stop chatting and get moving before more Imps show up," Han cut in, yanking off his helmet.
"What are you doing? We might still be able to—"
"Kid, they already know. No point in running around in them anymore."
He had a point. Luke would have liked to think they could slip by unnoticed in the uniforms a little longer, but if the station was already alerted that they were running around in disguise…
Luke pulled off his helmet, letting it drop to the floor. "Fine…I can't see anything in that helmet, anyway. Come on."
They didn't waste time peeling out of the armor in the middle of the hallway, simply left the helmets behind and kept the armor on for the time being. Getting all the armor off was at the bottom of their priority list.
They tried to stick to the emptier halls on their way back to the hanger, with Luke telling them which turn to take every now and then when he received a prompting from the Force. Han stopped arguing with him about it after they made it down several halls without running into stormtroopers.
Eventually, they managed to find their way to the level above the hangar bay, a small viewport allowing them to look down and see the Falcon down below. There was a squad of stormtroopers circling it, no doubt to keep them from boarding the ship, but if they were careful, they still had a chance to get past the stormtroopers and onto the ship so they could get out.
Luke just hoped his mother would be there when they were ready to leave. He'd sensed her in the back of his mind, maybe even sensed her checking up on him every now and then, but he didn't sense her in the hangar below, which told him she was still making her way back if she'd already sabotaged the tractor beam.
"There she is," Han announced, and it took Luke a moment to realize that no, Han had not just read his mind, Han was talking about the Falcon down below.
Speaking of other passengers that needed to meet them at the ship…
Luke pulled out his com unit, using it to reach out to the droids they'd left in the control room. "See-Threepio, do you copy?"
"Yes, Sir," came the thankfully prompt reply.
"Are you safe?"
"For the moment. We're in the main hanger across from the ship."
Good.
"We're right above you, stand by."
As Luke put the com back in its place, Leia turned to Luke and Han, pointing towards the Falcon down below. "You came in that thing? You're braver than I thought."
"Nice. Come on," Han grumbled, taking a sharp turn and leading the way down the hall on the right of the viewport. Luke somehow ended up in the back even though he'd been the one telling them which turns to make, with Chewbacca right behind Han and Leia staying in front of Luke.
Up ahead, as Han took a quick right turn into another hall, a stormtrooper's voice suddenly reached Luke's ears.
"It's them! Blast them!"
The stormtrooper hardly had time to bark out the command before Han shot first, opening fire on what had to be a squad of stormtroopers. Luke rushed up to the front of their group to see what was happening, but Han was already chasing the squad down the hall with Chewbacca close behind.
"Get back to the ship!" Han shouted as he disappeared around the corner.
"Where are you going?" Luke called back in protest over the sound of blaster fire echoing through the halls. There was no reply, and Han and Chewbacca had already disappeared. Luke had to struggle to stifle his annoyance as he turned back to Leia, who was standing at his side.
"He certainly has courage," she remarked once the sound of Han's blaster disappeared.
"What good will it do us if he gets himself killed?" Luke muttered, gently grasping her arm to pull the Princess in the opposite direction. "Come on."
He was able to lead them through a few more halls without any trouble, before the sound of stormtroopers coming up fast from behind reached him. He turned just enough to confirm that the squad was heading their way before urging Leia to move faster, taking aim as the stormtroopers as they appeared around the corner and laying down suppressing fire.
It was a combination of a warning from the Force and Leia's arm stopped Luke from plowing forward right into the sudden drop that was where the bridge was supposed to be. Luke's arms shot out on instinct as he attempted to regain his balance, looking around in concern.
"I think we took a wrong turn," he admitted sheepishly.
He'd just had time to regain his balance when a blaster bolt flew past his head, snapping his attention back to the threat behind them. His hand went right to his lightsaber, while the other offered Leia the blaster.
"You need that more than me," he said simply as she took the blaster from him. Something told him she knew just how to handle a blaster. "See if you can get the bridge up, I'll hold them off."
Luke shifted aside to give her more room, and to put some more distance between her and where his lightsaber might travel. The squad of stormtroopers rushed towards them once they saw that the two couldn't go any further, but the two at the front hesitated once Luke ignited his lightsaber, placing himself between them and the Princess.
Some over-eager stormtrooper in the back opened fire, causing the others to open fire as well on instinct. Luke let the Force take over, pushing down the fact this was the most people firing at him at once he'd ever had to handle, and this time it was full power shots instead of shots meant to only sting. His blade found just where it needed to be to keep the shots at bay, falling back on the Djem So form to let him send those shots back at the advancing troopers. It seemed they hadn't quite realized that if he could deflect their shots, he was trained well enough to take care of them if they got too close.
A loud mechanical sound behind him told him that the bridge was expanding, and he turned just enough to confirm by sight that was what was happening.
"Go, I'll cover you," he told Leia. She stepped as if she was about to do just that, but quickly had to take cover as another squad appeared in a doorway up above, firing down at the pair.
Luke cursed, stepping forward and sending the stormtroopers that remained in the pursuing squad flying backwards, which allowed him to turn and deflect the shots of those up above. Leia fired at them between Luke's deflecting shots, the two of them managing to get at least three. If there were more, they didn't try to fill in the open spots their deceased fellow stormtroopers left. Which meant Leia could finally cross the bridge while Luke took care of what was left of their pursuers.
They'd advanced while Luke had been deflecting the shots from above, so as he turned to take care of them, he let the Force guide his motions, and found himself cutting through a trooper that had been about to grab them from behind, apparently deciding that shooting at him wasn't the smartest idea. His partner tried to slam the back of his blaster into Luke's head, but Luke backstepped and ducked away. Before he could swing at the second trooper with his lightsaber, a blaster shot sounded, and the stormtrooper dropped.
Luke looked back to see Leia pulling the blaster she'd just fired back, one hand on her hip. "Are you coming?"
A small smile flickered across Luke's face, deactivating his lightsaber before he followed her across the bridge and into the hall.
After that, it was only a matter of getting to the Falcon and hoping the other three parts of their group would meet them there.
It seemed like the Imperials were putting all their attention on Luke's group, considering the halls that Zelina traveled were almost empty until she started getting closer to the Falcon. Then she started seeing stormtroopers—entire squads—and officers in the halls instead of the occasional droid or passerby.
Whatever Luke had gotten himself into had agitated the hive. They'd be leaving under heavy fire.
Zelina pulled into the shadows as another squad passed by, blending in easily with her dark cloak and some help from the Force. As the squad passed by unaware of her presence, she managed to catch a snippet of conversation.
"We think they may be splitting up; they may be on level five and six now, Sir."
They're getting close to the Falcon, then. I need to pick up the pace if I'm going to meet them there.
Once the squad had passed, Zelina slipped back out of the shadows and continued, her steps a lot faster now that she knew she had a window of time she had to work with. She stepped back into the shadows whenever she needed to, but otherwise simply rushed through the maze of halls, following little promptings from the Force when she wasn't sure which way to go.
At the same time, she could feel that darkness she'd sensed earlier getting stronger…closer…
Until at one point she realized that in order to get to the Falcon, she was going to have to go through it, because it knew where she was.
She had to repress the shiver that wanted to slither down her spine at the thought, instead reaching for one of her lightsabers in preparation.
The halls grew eerily quiet as she felt her goal grow steadily closer, until she knew with certainty that the Falcon was practically right around the corner. It was at that moment that the source of that darkness revealed itself.
As Zelina came around one of the curved corners of the hall she came to a stop, taking in the tall figure draped in black that was suddenly standing in her path.
Her first thought was a darkness that was the embodiment of the Void itself. Every inch of the figure was dressed in black, from the knee-high boots and elbow-high gloves, to the tunic and tabard tucked into the belt, from the hooded cloak attached to the figure's shoulders by disk shaped clasps to the breastplate that covered half the figure's chest—not a full breastplate like Zelina's which covered her entire torso, but one that covered just the ribcage region, where the heart and lungs would be—and had a harsh red glow emitting from the bottom middle of the breastplate. The hood of the cloak was drawn, shielding the figure's face, but even then, she should have been able to see at least part of the face, such as the chin or mouth.
She couldn't. A metal mask of pitch black covered the being's face in a way that made it so only the glowing yellow eyes could be seen from beneath the hood.
Just like her, the figure already held a single lightsaber in its hand, though it's was ignited, the blood red blade ready for a fight.
All around her the Force seemed to be thrumming in anticipation, the energy she could feel in the hall alone enough to make her want to coil and pounce into battle. It took far more effort than she was willing to admit to keep from acting on that energy fed impulse, as she instead undid her cloak and let it drop to the ground so she would be hindered by it, the dark figure approaching her as she did so.
She tried not to think about how it had been roughly twenty years since she fought a Sith, tried not to think of how it had been roughly ten years since she'd had a sparring partner other than Luke. She knew she was out of practice, but she was not in as desperate of a situation as she could have been.
"Come to die, Jedi?"
It took Zelina a moment to realize the voice had come from the figure, and not some cold, dark corner of her mind. It reverberated with a metallic sound, clearly modified by the mask, but in a deep, bone chilling sound clearly meant to strike fear.
There were a million answers she could give to the simple question, but of them all, there was only one she could think to reply with.
"I'm no Jedi," she said lowly, dark violet blade snapping to life before she dropped down into a half-crouched, at the ready stance, coiled like a spring about to be released.
Even though the figure was still at a distance, they were clearly taller than her—even if it was by a little—and probably had more physical strength as well. This would be one of those fights where she needed to rely on the techniques she'd taught Luke…which would be a switch from the past ten years where she'd been significantly taller than her sparring partner.
Don't think about that, she chastised herself, gaze fixated on the dark figure before her. Just focus on winning this fight and getting off this station.
She was ready for this dark sider, but she didn't make the first move. She wanted to see how they attacked and adjust her plan of attack as necessary.
She didn't have to wait long.
After a few tense moments of the two Force Users staring each other down and sizing each other up, the dark figure lunged towards her, blade twirling expertly in a form she knew well from all her spar sessions not only with Anakin, but Luke as well.
Zelina met the Djem So attack with confidence, the two lightsabers clashing midair as she raised her lightsaber in a firm block similar to the one she'd been showing Luke on the Falcon. She was quick to establish she wasn't above more below-the-belt tactics, sliding down the length of the dark sider's lightsaber with her own as she tucked her shoulder low and plowed into them, knocking them back several steps. She had to do a quick block behind her back as they tried to assault the brief opening, using the position to her advantage as she pushed the lightsaber up into the air and lashed out with a kick to the knee at the same time. The figure grunted, and she felt a fury begin to bubble within them.
Her lightsaber was knocked down by a powerful blow, making her shift her stance and come up with a slash before they could. She took a step back, taking a moment to re-evaluate the situation and get away from the vulnerable position. As the dark sider readjusted their position as well, Zelina twirled her blade loosely in her hand, deciding that the up-close and personal, aggressive assault was only going to wear her out if she kept it up.
Again, the dark sider charged her, but not in a blind, overly confident fury. It was calculated and controlled, the kind of attack that she couldn't entirely dodge in close quarters but wouldn't do well trying to hold firm against. She instead only stepped partially aside to redirect the attack, expecting the dark sider to overstep and leave a brief opening. Instead, as she deflected the blade and stepped out of their way, the dark sider seemed to move with her momentum, turning to face her again as they came even with her and rolling their lightsaber with hers, managing to get the upper hand and knock her blade aside. Zelina had to lean back as the dark sider took a swipe at her head, retreating a few steps back down the hall to again put distance between them.
They had fury fueling powerful attacks. They had agility and aggression, tactic and precision.
Enough prodding.
This time Zelina moved first, coming at the dark sider with a flurry of attacks, striking towards the left, the right shoulder, the waist, the chest, the neck. Each time she found her blade blocked, and usually had to deflect an attack from the dark sider as well before trying for a different spot.
Their purple and violet blades moved in blurs that formed arches through the air rather than appearing as single blades, their speed increased as their experimental prodding at one another bled away.
Zelina grabbed at the wrist holding the red lightsaber, and almost failed to execute the move she had in mind when she found that what lay beneath the glove was not the slightly giving density of human skin, but solid and hard, like metal.
She quickly had to push the discovery aside as she rolled around the dark sider, trying to bring their arm up and around with her to force them into an awkward and exposed position with their arm around the back of their neck. They managed to roll with her, their lightsaber dropping to the other hand and coming up to block her descending blade before pushing her back and straightening themselves.
Now the dark sider was between her and the hangar bay again.
Frustrated at the slight set-back, Zelina didn't hesitate to advance again, determined to push her way to the hangar. She started in a charge towards the dark sider, who seemed to be bracing for the brunt of her charge before she suddenly changed trajectories, using the same tactic she'd used in the fight against Maul and Savage years ago. She ran towards the wall, planting a foot against it and kicking off to come at the dark sider from above and the side, a move they unfortunately still blocked, though she was able to tuck and roll behind them, coming up in a low, wide crouch with lightsaber humming in front of her, one hand splayed on the floor. She was close to the door of the hangar now—closer than her opponent, at least—but she had to push up and meet them again as they came down on her with just as much speed as before, pushing her once more into the defensive. They fell into another rapid-fire exchange of blows as they both tried to come at each other from different angles only to be stopped by the other's lightsaber again and again.
Their blades crossed, with the dark sider pushing down on Zelina's blade until both tips were touching the ground. She let go with one of her hands, coming up with a solid punch to the face that made the dark sider reel back…
…and made her hand scream in pain. She really should have remembered the metal mask before going into that instinctive move.
In her momentary distraction from pain, the dark sider pushed out a hand, and Zelina found herself flung down the rest of the hall and landing with a painful crunch against the end wall.
On the bright side, she was now directly next to the hangar bay.
With her collision, Zelina suddenly felt the focus of a multitude of presences center on her, the majority of which were hostile. She didn't have the chance to properly examine them, because the dark sider was already bearing down on her again. Getting to her feet was painful, and she only got halfway there before the dark sider was on her. Her lightsaber was raised in a solid block even though she was on one knee, both hands on her lightsaber and pushing back against the attack. Before she could lose her strength, she tapped into the Force to augment her movements and rocked back, then pushed forward with the burst of sudden strength to push her attacker back and give her enough time to get back on her feet.
She stepped back, falling into a defensive position, and in that moment was able to take in several important factors.
There was a squad of stormtroopers on her right, ready to intervene if this dark sider couldn't beat her.
The rest of her party had reached the hangar.
Luke had spotted the fight, and was reaching out to her in the Force, ready to jump in and assist.
The last thing she wanted was for Luke to get tangled with this dark sider. He didn't have nearly enough experience for Zelina to feel comfortable with the prospect.
As the youth seemed to reach for his lightsaber, Zelina sent him a sharp reprimand through the Force, one that told him not to draw the weapon…though she didn't stop him from drawing his blaster and opening fire on the stormtroopers, who were now thankfully distracted from her fight with the dark sider.
She needed to end this fight. Now.
She didn't need to win it, and she didn't want to lose it. She just needed to get out of it.
"An apprentice?" the dark sider muttered, apparently catching the brief interaction between Luke and Zelina in the Force, even if they couldn't decipher what it entailed.
Zelina took the statement as a distraction, charging at the dark sider with another wall running maneuver, except this time the dark sider was ready. Much to Zelina's alarm, the dark sider seemed to reach out and pluck her out of the air as she pushed off the wall, bringing her around and slamming her into the floor. She felt a spike of fear from Luke but shook it off, quickly bringing her lightsaber around to block the rapidly descending red blade. Her back was pressed against the floor, the dark sider's glowing yellow eyes close enough she could see enough of the figure's mask to see its angular contours and the many scratches and chips that showed the wear of many battles. The lightsabers were both close enough to burn, and she knew she couldn't hold the dark sider off with their superior strength in this close of quarters.
Shifting slightly to the side, Zelina suddenly shut her blade off, causing the red lightsaber to embed itself into the ground just above her shoulder. It was still close enough to burn, but she ignored the pain in favor of getting away. She swiftly rolled back around just enough to trap the being's hand and lightsaber beneath her arm—something she only needed to hold for a few seconds. Her other hand reached up and hooked around the being's neck, pulling their head down. The dark sider tried to pull back, but in doing so left themselves open to her next move. As her feet came up to place themselves on either side of the dark sider's waist, she lifted them, pushing them up and over her head with their own momentum.
The flip disarmed the dark sider in the process, and before either of them could fully process what was happening, she knocked the lightsaber down the hall on her left away from the hangar bay. She rocked back so her feet were in the air and most of her weight was on her shoulders, hands planed on either side of her head, then pushed up, kicking back up onto her feet.
She didn't bother with another attack that might engage her in more of a fight. Instead, she made a sharp turn to rush towards the hangar, sparing a second to push out with her hands and send the dark sider—who had been calling their lightsaber back into their hands—rolling the opposite direction before she turned to face what was left of the stormtroopers.
There were screams for Luke to hurry and get on the Falcon, but the young man hadn't budged, still trying to pick off the stormtroopers to aid Zelina. As she transitioned from fighting the dark sider to facing stormtroopers, one did manage to get her in the upper arm, and she stumbled back a step. With a growl, Zelina reached out a hand and grabbed their blasters in the Force before making a fist and pulling them back in her direction. Once they were all disarmed, she shoved forwards with another powerful push in the Force, sending what stormtroopers Luke hadn't picked off into the gaping pit right behind them and clearing her way to the Falcon.
The dark sider was coming up fast behind her, and Zelina tucked into a forward roll to dodge a lightsaber throw that otherwise would have sliced cleanly through her, pulling out her second cyan blade and throwing it—ignited—at the control panel, causing the blast doors to slide shut behind her and keep the dark sider from reaching her. At least for a few seconds before she boarded the Falcon.
Calling her lightsaber back into her hand, Zelina broke out in a sprint towards Luke and the others.
"Go!" she barked. Luke was quick to follow her command only after she was almost even with him, the others having raced on board the ship as soon as the blast doors had shut. Everyone else was much closer to the ship than she was, and as a result, the landing ramp was already lifting by the time she reached it, barely jumping onto the ramp and ducking inside as the Falcon started to lift into the air and the landing ramp shut tightly behind her.