AN: Sorry about how long this took to get out, things have been hectic since my family put our house on the market (so I had to help prepare for that) and it sold in less than a week so we've since been working on moving out. Added to that I've been handling moving into a new place, dealing with a lot of situations with work, my brother in law being in a motorcycle accident, working on a major project, and a bunch of other things. Hopefully things go back to normal soon.

Shadow of the Force

Chapter 12

-Vader-

Standing still as a statue, Darth Vader stared down at the burning twisted lump of metal that had once been the Rogue Shadow. "The tractor beam is still fully operational Lord Vader." One of the officers reported, snapping to attention while giving the report "There is a rather large commotion currently going on as a Lieutenant is leading a frantic search through the galleys, claiming that the intruders poisoned our food stores."

Frowning behind his mask Vader considered the facts of the situation "Captain," he turned towards the officer, ignoring the fear he can sense rolling from the man in waves "send more men to check the tractor beam generator, it is quite possible that one of the intruders was able to use the force on the clones."

"Right away Lord Vader." the Captain didn't hesitate or bother to question, he would have to remember this officer. "Second Lieutenant Dumas, send two troopers to check the tractor beam generator." The captain ordered from the command station communicator, "Orders from Lord Vader himself." The mad scramble to obey his orders he heard on the other side of the cummionaction before it was cut off was mildly amusing. "Anything else you need Lord Vader?" the Captain asked professionally, showing none of the fear he could feel the man filled with.

"Check on the prison level, it is likely they are here to rescue the Princess." As the Captain once more nodded and moved to obey Vader thought back to their prisoner, remembering the rage he had felt when one of the Stormtroopers had moved to take his pleasure from her. The look of drugged but still heart clenching fear on her face caused the face of his beloved Padme to flash through his mind. She would never have approved of such an act. Without even thinking he had reached out and crushed the body of the trooper, snapping bones and bursting organs before dumping it in the garbage like the trash it was.

"Lord Vader, the prison guards aren't responding." The Captain's report roused him from his thoughts "I've sent a battalion to go and reinforce the containment cells and to capture anyone down there."

Nodding he wrapped his fingers around the hilt of his lightsaber, "I will be going down to the Hangar bay, that's where the intruders will be going. You are to go appraise Tarkin of the situation, ensure he does nothing foolish." Orders delivered he turned and stalked out of the command tower, his fist clenching hard on his lightsaber. Yes, Padme wouldn't have approved of what that Stormtrooper had attempted to do. But then again, Padme wouldn't have approved of much of what he had done in the past twenty years either.

-Harry-

"Captain!" Galen shouted, poking out from behind cover to fire at the Stormtroopers who had flooded into the prison sector "I think it's possible they know we're here!"

"You don't say?" he snarked back, firing his own bolt and attempting to hit the door lock to keep more troopers out. "Luke, how you holding up over there!"

"How the bloody hell do you think I'm holding up?!" Came Luke's far from pleased voice as the once farm boy kept firing randomly over the edge of a control panel, not even looking where the bolts were going. It wasn't likely to hit anything, unless Luke suddenly became far more intuned with the Force than Harry realized, but it was keeping the Stormtroopers on their toes.

"Not good, got it." Getting tired of this he focused his anger and frustration, bringing forth power as electricity began to crackle in his hands. Ignoring the princess' wide eyes stare he leapt from behind cover and blasted forth with the lightning, arcs of pure energy hitting his enemies and bouncing to those around them, Galen quickly coming out to do the same as the Troopers inside the prison fell, their armor melted or shattered.

"Now what?" a shaking Luke asked, pointedly refusing to look in the direction of the dead bodies as they enjoyed the momentary pause to breathe the locked door was giving them. "That's the only door in this place and it-" they all looked up as sparks started flying from the metal, the Stormtroopers on the other side beginning to cut through the door "is about to let in more of these assholes."

"We can't go out then we go down." Galen pointed at a grate, the metal ripping itself from the wall with the merest thought.

"Let's get going." He nodded "I'll go first, then Luke, then you," he turned to Leia and nodded "Galen, you bring up the rear." That said he jumped down the shaft, using the force to cushion his fall as the garbage and sludge was pushed away from his landing. Moments later he heard Luke falling and redirected him with the force so that his friend wouldn't get hurt upon impact. Leia however had jumped down far sooner than he had expected and instead of using the force to guide her fall he ended up catching her in her arms, having only been able to slow it down. Thankfully Galen could handle his own landing as Harry set down a blushing Leia and looked around, his nose wrinkling in disgust at the putrid smells in the pit they found themselves in.

"Joy," Luke grimaced "a garbage compactor. Harry, can you get this door open?" nodding, and stepping over an oddly crushed storm trooper gauntlet that was sticking out of a pile of rubbish he placed his hand on a control panel, focusing his technomancy into the machine. The lights flashed wildly as he overrode the systems before the door opened with a hiss.

"How did you do that?" Leia demanded, her eyes seemingly stuck in a state of wide shock.

"Magic." He grinned as Galen stifles a snicker and Leia seems unamused. The door to the compactor closes behind them easily. "Now come on, we need to get to the hangar bay."

"Should probably change first," Galen scowled and flicked sludge off his remaining Stormtrooper armor "we'll draw a great deal of attention covered in slime." Recognizing that he moved over to a terminal and hacked into a map.

"There's a supply room that way," he pointed "let's go." Inside they found several uniforms of various styles and rank. Quickly he grabbed an officer's uniform "We're on a low level of the station and we'll have to work our way back up to the hangar. Galen, Luke, you two put on armor again. Leia, the only women on this station are secretaries for officers so you'll have to play that part." The princess seemed far from pleased at that but complied, going to a corner to change behind some boxes into the uniform of an imperial secretary while he changed into his officers uniform and Galen and Luke swapped dirty armor pieces for clean ones. "Alright you three," he nodded when everyone had changed "let's move. We only have ten minutes before our extraction is set to arrive."

-Vader-

"Lord Vader!" turning from the Stormtroopers he was giving orders to in preparation for the arrival of the intruders he saw the Captain from before running over "The Tractor beam is down. I have a team down there to repair the damaged pieces and get it back online."

"How long will this take Captain?" he demanded, not wanting this group to slip through his fingers.

"Twenty minutes."

-Remus-

Gone. That one word haunted him like a plague, repeating over and over in his mind as he was forced to accept that Harry, a child he had never done right by, was gone and would likely never come back. James and Lily refused to see what they did wrong, they refuse to see how they betrayed their pack and their status as alphas.

Sirius was lost to the bottle, lost to grief and misery with no one to support him given that Remus, once again, had fled like a coward.

"No more." He hissed, nails digging into the palms of his hand as he sat in his tiny hut, hidden away in the depths of the forests. "I will not be weak anymore." Forcing his aching bones to obey him he sat cross legged and closed his eyes, trying to find the spirit of the wolf within him. The damn thing had given him nothing but pain in the past but no more. Now it would be his salvation, whether it wanted to submit or not.