At daybreak, Luke had watched with a deep angry frown on his face as his parents had said their goodbyes to him, Leia and June. Despite all their attempts to bring him out of his rut, he still couldn't believe he was being made to stay with Sabé and the droids, and he'd stubbornly refused to speak to them.

Luke knew, through the rightness he felt in the Force, that he should be going with them to help Lord Vader defeat the Emperor. But instead, because of their inability to listen and take him seriously, he was stuck with a babysitter. It all felt wrong.

They'd left a short while ago, and now he was lying on his parent's bed with his arms crossed over his chest, watching as Sabé headed to the door.

"I'm just going to retrieve something from Captain Tonra before he leaves, I'll be right back. Mind them Threepio."

"Yes of course Mistress Sabé," the droid agreed readily and Luke simmered.

As soon as she'd left the hut, he shimmied off the bed and went to Leia, who was looking down at Junie in her pop-up crib and playing peek-a-boo.

"I have to get out of here Leia," he said to her in a hushed tone.

His sister fixed her sceptical brown eyes on him. Through their bond she already sensed what he was planning, and she put a hand on her hip.

"How would you even get to Coruscant?"

"If I'm quick, there will still be ships leaving from the hangar to join the others. I can smuggle on board!"

"What are you two discussing over there?" Threepio interrupted. "I hope I'm not overhearing some reckless plan to get in trouble."

"No plan!" he smiled up at him innocently before sitting back on the bed and placing his head in his hands.

With a little effort, he continued to talk to Leia through their bond, glad that their abilities had improved enough to communicate without feeling mentally drained, though it still took a lot of concentration.

"Help me out Leia."

"But Sabé's guarding us," she replied, her voice echoing in his mind.

"There's a blaster on her hip. I bet it has a stun setting on it. Remember the stormtrooper blasters we stole to escape the Project Harvester ship?"

Leia met his eyes and he saw how shocked she looked. "Are you crazy? Do you know how much trouble we'll be in for doing that?"

"But this is important!"

She looked down at Junie, who was wriggling in the crib. "Mom and dad told us to stay because it's dangerous. What if you get hurt or worse?"

"I won't. I'll take Artoo with me, he's sensible."

She was thinking it all over. "What will you do when you get there?"

"I don't know. The Force is telling me to find Vader, so I guess I'll fight alongside the other grown-ups to defeat the Emperor," he told her, feeling excited and courageous at the thought.

"Won't the Jedi sense you following them?"

Luke was impressed, his sister really was thinking everything through, whereas he was being impulsive. Usually, it was the other way around.

"If I get on one of the last ships to leave, hopefully I'll be too far behind for them to sense me. Besides, they'll be busy thinking about the attack."

"What if the Inquisitor comes here?" Leia asked him, worried.

"Dad said it's unlikely. And anyway, Sabé won't be asleep long, just long enough for me to escape. You'll be protected."

"Luke," she turned to him, her eyes fixing him with a silent plea. "I want to come with you."

"We can't leave Junie by herself whilst Sabe is sleeping!"

"Let's take her with us then."

"No way. How are we gonna stow away on a ship when she cries so loudly? Besides, I feel like mom and dad will be angrier if we take her with us."

"Well, I'm not staying here whilst you get to go and fight," she crossed her arms.

"Leia, there's no other way. I need to do this."

She looked down at Junie with a sigh and held her tiny hand for a moment. Luke waited on bated breath to see if his sister would help him, or be her usual hardheaded self.

"Alright… I'll cover for you and stay here. But only because I ditched you after school that day, before everything happened…I guess I still owe you for that. Now we're equal."

"Now we're equal," he agreed. "Thanks Leia, you're the best sister ever."

True to her word, Sabé returned quickly, and the twins put their plan into action. Lowering a crate to the floor, he waited till her back was turned before stretching out with the Force to pull the blaster from her belt. His abilities had strengthened more than he realised and the gun flew into his hands so quickly that she noticed immediately.

Turning and fixing him with an astounded stare, she was about to demand for the gun to be returned, but Luke had already changed the dial to stun and pulled the trigger, and blue circular rays pulsed out, knocking her unconscious. She fell onto the nearest bed heavily and bounced a little on the mattress before becoming still.

Reeling from what they'd done and the course he'd now set in motion, Luke jumped up and went to grab Anakin's lightsaber from the wardrobe as well as some emergency bacta patches before he could doubt his decision.

"Oh my! What have you done?" Threepio cried in alarm, rushing over and waving his arms around. "Where do you think you're going Master Luke? Your parents have ordered me to keep you here…" his voice trailed off and his eyes dimmed. Leia had flipped the switch on the back of his head as they'd seen dad do.

"Sorry Threepio," she apologised with a voice laden with guilt, patting his golden arm.

Artoo was beeping rapidly, his lights flashing. Luke couldn't tell what he was saying, but he knew it wasn't encouragement.

"I know it's bad but I have to do this! It'll be safer with you with me Artoo, c'mon!" he said, trying to quell his racing heart.

"Luke, wait," Leia ran over and wrapped her arms around him in a hug. He hugged her back tightly. "Please be careful. Don't try to be too brave, and don't do anything stupid."

"I'll listen to the Force."

She nodded against his shoulder and then pulled back. "When we get in trouble for this later, it was all your idea, not mine."

"Yeah yeah, I know," he assured her. Then Luke quickly went over to the crib and looked down at Junie. She was dressed in a soft onesie and was wriggling her arms and legs, staring up at him with wide round eyes.

"Goodbye Junie," he touched her cheek. "I'll see you soon, be good for Leia and Sabé."

With that, he double checked he had everything and then he was out the door with Artoo, heading for the hangar bay before he had a chance to change his mind. It was mostly deserted, with only a skeleton crew remaining to keep the base secure, so it was fairly easy to sneak by unnoticed. As luck would have it, there were a few straggler ships preparing to take off.

Running and hiding behind crates with Artoo, Luke managed to sneak on board one of the ships and stowed away in the cargo hold, his heart hammering in his throat. He couldn't believe he was doing this, and for a moment he doubted himself. His parents were right, it was going to be very dangerous, and he was going to be in the worst trouble of his life when they saw him there. But the Force was with him, and despite his anxiousness, he felt brave. Clenching Anakin's lightsaber to his chest, he breathed steadily to calm himself.

With a sudden hiss the engines came alive, and then the ship was lifting steadily upward, lurching his stomach downward. Scrambling towards a small window, Luke watched as the base and the forest below blurred into sheets of pearly cloud.

Artoo whistled plaintively and rolled closer to him to also look out. He patted his dome, glad that his astromech was with him for the unknown journey ahead.

There was no going back now.

ooooo

There was vileness in the air of Imperial City, treacherous and repulsive. The Emperor had been receiving reports during the last few hours about a growing mutiny in the Imperial Navy. It had begun unsurprisingly with Vader's Fist, his 501st, and he knew that Piett had indeed tipped off his Apprentice about the assassination attempt. He would pay, very dearly, for his disloyalty.

This treachery had now spread to other parts of the navy. To his deep displeasure, an entire star destroyer orbiting Coruscant had mutinied, allowing all traffic onto the planet without chain-code clearance. These incoming reports had now stopped, as all communications to and from Imperial Palace had been jammed by the mutineers.

Despite sending out orders to his royal guards and palace staff, he had yet to receive any update on the situation in the navy, and the Force wasn't giving any clear answers either.

The mutiny was a cause of concern from a public relations point of view. Having hundreds, if not thousands, of men executed was not something that would make him particularly popular. Traitors deserved death, but these sorts of things stirred up all sorts of rebellious anti-Empire incidents across the galaxy, something that Vader would normally stomp out, but soon he would be dead.

As he was dwelling on these thoughts, he sensed Lord Vader's arrival. His Apprentice entered the cavernous throne room and headed up the stairs towards him, his boots heavy and his cape billowing.

As angry as he was, he felt a perverse kind of pride in his Apprentice's decision to overthrow him. Treachery and deception were the hallmark of a true Sith, a logical culmination of the Apprentice's training. It was a shame it wouldn't be much of a battle.

"So, you have decided to instigate a pitiful little mutiny against me Lord Vader. I must say I am disappointed. I wonder at the level of your stupidity, in believing that you have a chance to overthrow me."

Vader was silent, save for the rhythm of his respirator.

"What is your motivation for this betrayal?" the Emperor asked calmly, arching his gnarled fingers.

"You tried to have me killed."

"I have two new apprentices now, ones far younger and entirely unmarred," he gestured to his life support suit. "It is only logical, my old friend."

With a grin the Emperor could feel Vader's anger and hatred boiling rapidly. "I would rather die than let you anywhere near them!"

The Emperor stilled then. Probing Vader's mind, he was repulsed at what he sensed.

Resurfacing after so many years of suffocation under Darth Vader's hands, Anakin Skywalker's Force presence had returned as shining glimmer in the darkness. His adamance about protecting his offspring was only making that presence glow brighter.

The Emperor's lips curled into an ugly sneer. So, it was not just anger over the assassination attempt that had led to his betrayal. Despite all his years of hard work, his Apprentice was defective. Amidala and those two children had divided his loyalty, just by existing. The very leverage he had applied to get Vader in his hand was now being used to lever him back out.

Love. It was the final insult.

"All my life, you used me for your own end! I know you planted that dream in my mind," Vader accused him, raising a finger. "You have been manipulating me from the very beginning!"

"Lord Vader, surely this must not come as a revelation. We are Sith. It is our way."

He clenched his fist. "You lied to me about Padmé, and about Luke and Leia. You let me go to their funeral."

"I believed she and your offspring had died," he said, his voice icy. "You did choke her Lord Vader. What was one to think?"

"She used a vital suppressant. Surely in all your infinite wisdom you could have seen through such deception?"

"I believe I was too preoccupied with building a new empire to be concerned about your poor excuse for a wife," he spat.

Vader ignited his lightsaber and assumed a duelling stance as an explosion sounded from somewhere in the palace.

"You sent her and Kenobi's child away, didn't you?" Sidious sneered. "They are going to Dantooine, that is the location of the base. It is about to be bombed to the ground. Amidala, Kenobi, and every last rebel and Jedi will be turned to dust, leaving your children in my hands."

His Apprentice was still as the realisation of what this meant washed over him. The Emperor began to cackle, feeding off his misery, but then, Vader's shock turned to rage, and a Force push like a duracrete wall hit him square in the chest. Battling to stay upright, his laughter died in his throat as Vader's rage spilled into an uncontrollable storm of pure hate, erupting like the lava fields of Mustafar.

Igniting his blade in a split second, be brought it up to clash with Vader's. Sparks flew as red pressed against red in an X shape, screeching as Master and Apprentice began a battle to the death.

Sidious heard echoes of intense blaster fire and further explosions from outside the throne room and several of his royal guards backed up through the doors as 501st troopers began flooding the room. Sidious fought Vader, clashing and pushing each other back with powerful swings of their blades. After a brief fight behind them, the troopers lay dead, and his royal guards were triumphant.

"Is that all you've got?" he snarled as he sent Vader flying back with his own Force push, followed by a surge of Force lightning intended to short circuit his suit.

The Emperor's mouth gaped when he saw a blur of a man somersault over a red guard and absorb the electricity into his purple lightsaber.

Like a nightmare, he saw rebels and Jedi pouring into the throne room to aid Vader and his 501st, and pandemonium broke loose.

Amidst the chaos, Vader stumbled and rightened himself, bringing his blade up in readiness. Padmé Amidala and Obi-Wan Kenobi joined him, and Palpatine drew the Force to him in preparation.

"So be it!"

ooooo

Copying what she'd briefly seen her parents do, Leia changed Junie's diaper with some difficulty in the fresher. It was extremely unpleasant, but once she was clean it felt good to know she was doing a good job of looking after her.

Carefully containing her flailing limbs back inside her soft onesie, she carried her back into the room and grabbed a bottle of pre-prepared milk mom had made up earlier. Sitting on the bed beside the deeply sleeping Sabé, Leia held her at an angle as dad had taught her yesterday so she could drink.

Threepio had stopped lecturing her a while ago when she'd turned him back on, but he was still pacing the room, worrying like crazy. Despite this, she was glad he was here with her. Leia felt vulnerable without a grown-up around, and she hoped desperately that her mother's friend would wake up soon, even though she knew she'd be in huge trouble. Worrying about Luke, her parents, Vader, the Jedi and the rest of the rebels, she was starting to feel quite afraid.

Whilst she was waiting, Leia became gradually aware of a humming noise. It grew louder and louder, and distantly she heard the distinctive sound of ships descending. Surely, they weren't back already? Had something gone wrong?

Junie, who had been drinking peacefully, began to fuss and cry, perhaps sensing her own fear through the Force, or something else, and she tried to quiet her by cuddling her close, but it wasn't helping. A chill stole down her spine and the Force seemed to be telling her to run, but she felt frozen in place, her heart hammering.

"What is all that commotion?" Threepio said, moving to the window.

"Mom?" she called out tentatively, hating how feeble her voice sounded. "Dad?"

But the sounds outside didn't sound familiar, and there was no warm presence of her father to be found in the Force. Instead, all she could sense was coldness. To her horror the door of the shelter burst open, only to reveal a tall, thin, grey skinned alien with glowing yellow eyes and a double ended red lightsaber. Behind him, the forest was thick with stormtroopers ransacking the other shelters.

"Where are the rebels?!" he demanded, taking a step forward and filling up the doorframe.

"Oh my!" Threepio raised his hands in surrender.

Leia was so terrified she couldn't speak. Junie was howling in her arms.

"Where is your brother, Luke? Where are your parents?!" he shouted.

"I…I…"

Grabbing her by the arm, he hauled her to her feet and ordered the three of them to get outside. Emerging from the shelter holding her baby sister, and with Threepio behind her, Leia held her breath as they walked into a sea of stormtroopers and raised blasters.