Chapter
~18~
"Something's happening," Luke said as he focused through the Force. Sitting by Han, he tried to sense Leia's shift in emotions, to sort out why there was this sudden shock to her consciousness. Through her, he had a mild, dream-like view of the Senate chamber, but it was like watching something through five layers of transparisteel glass, silhouettes of people but no true definition.
"Can you talk with her?" Han asked. "Ask her how things are going?"
Squinting his eyes, Luke seemed to be getting something, a buzzing from his sister's mind…
Stupid, ridiculous, nerf-herding piece of—
"She's, um, unhappy," Luke commented and slumped back in his chair, the bridge between him and Leia severed.
From behind them, there was a stirring, then groaning, and Luke cast a gaze at the other end of the room, where Mara's limp body had suddenly become animated. With a burst of energy, she sprang up and then immediately hunched over.
Luke winced as he heard the bucket he'd left beside the cot being appropriately utilized.
"I'm guessin' she's not so happy right now, either," Han said, donning his crooked grin.
As Mara finished, she forced herself up, using the cot to balance herself, and as she approached with a walk that only a hangover could provide, Luke knew better than the sport the same expression Han had chosen.
"Sleep well?" Han asked as Mara reached them.
If looks could kill.
"Shut it, Solo," Mara said and dropped into an empty chair beside Luke. "I don't want to hear your voice in my head right now—it's annoying enough on a good day." Her body laid on the seat like a heavy coat, her hair as tangled as a plate of noodles. She rubbed her temples. "What happened last night?"
"You won," Luke said and he couldn't help but smile now.
Mara froze, fingers locked to the sides of her head. Luke sensed the snide responses swirling in the woman's pounding brain and he decided on a truce instead. "Here," he went on and grabbed Han's cup. "There's still a little water in there."
Blinking as though her eyelids weighed ten times more than they should, Mara accepted the cup and took a swig. Luke watched, wondering if he should say something or if he'd get a figurative door slammed in his face. "Want help with that?" he said gently.
"With what?" she asked as she finished up the last bit of water.
"The hangover, Mara. You can clear it faster with the Force."
She set the cup back on the table with a noticeable clank. "You want to show me?"
"Is that all right?"
"I don't know." She gave him an icy look. "Can you teach something without treating me like a five-year-old Padawan?"
Luke's smile dropped—there was the door. "That depends," he came back. "Can you accept that I might have something worth teaching you that you didn't previously know?"
"All right, Skywalker," Mara pointed at him, "let's just get this out there. I might not be a Jedi, but that doesn't mean I'm clueless when it comes to the Force."
"It still doesn't make you a Jedi Knight. You don't know how to control it, at least not as well as you could. As last night has clearly proven."
"You just said I won."
"And then you passed out and puked in a bucket."
Silence. Mara's sloshy eyes thinned into slits. She locked her glare onto him but he didn't turn away. Despite her tough exterior, he felt a touch of embarrassment rousing, that defensive shell hardened only because what he said had landed hard. In the Smuggler's Alliance, Mara was surrounded by non-Force-users, so her Jedi-like abilities were never questioned, but being around Luke—or any Jedi, really—and that illusion bubble quickly burst.
She didn't like that one bit.
Luke still refused to back down. "Mara, if you want to become a Jedi—truly wish to learn the ways of the Force—then return to the Academy. I can show you what it is to be a Jedi if you'd just be willing to learn."
Her eyes were locked to his, not giving up an edge. As the moment passed, however, her expression softened some. "Maybe that's not what I want, Luke. Did you ever think of that?"
"You'll never know until you see for yourself."
Her defenses were still up and armed as Luke's words hung in the air, but then a slight bit of optimism snuck through that tough exterior—
There was a surge of emotions surrounding Luke, engulfing him, as it surfaced from every direction, a tsunami of panic and confusion and fear. He gasped, the sudden flood forcing his head to spin, and he had to tap into the Force to gather himself. Across from him, Mara jerked back, arching her head towards the ceiling. She sensed it, too, but it wasn't emerging from either of them.
As Luke stretched out with his mind, trying to pinpoint the source, it became all too clear.
It wasn't from a person. It was from everyone.
The people of Coruscant—they were suddenly filled with terror.
"What in the worlds is going on?" Han started, but then Mara sprang up from her chair, knocking it over as she darted back to her cot and the bucket, waking up Chewbacca in the process. He growled/whined as she threw up.
"Han," Luke whispered, "we need to get out of here. Now."
"That Force vision of yours from last night?"
Luke nodded. "Whatever it is, it just became a reality."
The old smuggler didn't need more incentive. With Chewie switching on Threepio and then hauling the very confused droid up, all of them hurried out of their sub-level hideout, Mara lagging behind as she wiped her mouth. Taking the emergency stairs to the club's main level, the people inside were already in a scramble, stowing away smaller items like chairs and coins, and hoisting tables to the windows at the establishment's entrance.
Shala zipped about the room with the energy of a spof fly. Then her eyes found Luke and the rest, and she pointed towards the exit. "Out there! It's out there!"
From under Lando's bright red cape, Luke unclipped his lightsaber and handed Mara hers before charging towards the door. Han unholstered his blaster and followed; Chewie half-dropped Threepio to his feet, the droid shouting, "Well, really!" as the Wookiee swung his crossbow around, armed and ready. Out the door, Luke was met with a large walkway of panicked Coruscanti citizens, most scurrying away to shelter, but their eyes kept snapping up, as if waiting for a building to crush on top of them.
Luke followed their terrified gazes and spotted the source of all the chaos.
In the busy skies of the city-planet, it could have been missed. As the skylanes were being deserted, however, it was as clear as the Coruscanti sun. An Imperial Star Destroyer, low in orbit, already blasting at nearby vessels.
• • •
Leia sensed it, the wave of dismay from outside the Senate Rotunda, and any asinine declaration Omy'lya and other members of the senate session were muted. A second later, alarms sparked to life across the chamber, flecks of red light casting a blood-like stain on everything.
"What's happening?" Admiral Lasial asked into her mike, like anyone there knew.
Immediately, General Omy'lya switched gears. "I'll check it out. Everyone," he called into the chamber, "stay here, stay calm. I'll be back shortly." With that, he hustled away, off the repulsorpod and out of the Chamber.
Standing at her pod, Lasial shifted back and forth, seeming dissatisfied with Omy'lya's declaration, and then she activated her pod, propelling it up to President Gavrisom's central podium. A few words were exchanged before Lasial transplanted herself from her pod to the podium. After reiterating Omy'lya's declaration for "calm," she descended with Gavrisom into the sub-level of the Chamber, gliding below the floor. Then, the opening closed, a iris of metal merging together that separated Lasial and the President from the rest of the Chamber.
Everyone else, including Leia, stood like newly planted trees. She detected the distress rearing up from all around her; it felt like the whole planet was in sudden turmoil. Closing her eyes, she stretched out with the Force.
Luke?
Through her mind, a quick connection, just enough for her to feel his thoughts. Star Destroyer, was all he mustered, and that would suffice.
"What's happening?" Cal Omas asked. From the side of their repulsorpod, he approached her. "Are you sensing something?"
Placing a hand on her chest, Leia composed herself. "There's a Star Destroyer out there," she said as she switched off her mike.
Omas' mouth did a half-drop. "It must be one of ours. Certainly the Empire—"
"It's not one of ours,' was Leia's only response. She marched towards the exit of her pod, still attached to the main walkway, Artoo trailing behind like a devoted pet. She needed to get out of there, to her children, to help her brother and husband.
"Sorry, Councilor Organa," a young freckle-faced security officer inserted himself between her and the exit to the grand corridor. "But all senators need to stay here. General Omy'lya's orders."
• • •
Despite Shala's resentment towards Luke and the others, she was more than willing to offer assistance with an Imperial Star Destroyer overhead. As Han, Chewie, and Threepio were rushed via transport back to the Millennium Falcon, Luke and Mara took Shala's fastest speeder bike to the Senate District. Above, New Republic security was throwing everything it had at the new threat—a Dreadnaught, a Mon Calamari Star Defender, and a Victory-class New Republic Star Destroyer, heavily modified from its Imperial days. Along with the heavy cruisers, a battery of X-wings, Y-wings, and countless airspeeders had intercepted the new threat, plus several more random snubfighters.
Nonetheless, the mysterious Star Destroyer wasn't without its entourage. Surrounding the vessel was a Class-546 light cruiser and an explosion of TIE fighters, invading the sky like specks of darkness on a bright canvas. Along with those, several transport vessels—stormtroopers. They were trying to land stormtroopers.
"You all right back there?" Luke asked as he drove the swoop.
"Me and my hangover will survive." Mara pointed upwards. "What are they doing?"
"I don't know," Luke said, splitting his gaze between the almost deserted skylanes of Coruscant and the atmosphere above. "It's not like they can conquer the whole planet with one Star Destroyer."
"No, but they can certainly terrorize it with one."
Luke frowned. "It must be the Yarway," he said, referring to the Empire's lost vessel. "It appears that the faction has decided to move on from the Imperial Remnant for bigger fish."
"But why? Who wants to make an enemy of the Empire and the New Republic at the same time?"
"I don't know. This makes no sense."
"Unless…" Mara's hands dug into his sides, "Pellaeon was lying through his moustached mouth this whole time."
Luke threw a look behind his shoulder to Mara as the woman's gold-red hair whipped about her face, but he still caught the glint of concern in her eyes, that the Imperial Admiral might have played them for fools. Perhaps he was behind the entire setup, stringing them along, instigating the assassin to attack him on his own Star Destroyer. After all, stormtroopers had prevented Luke's pursuit of the assassin, and Pellaeon had been more than willing to hand over vital intel when prompted. Maybe there were Imperial agents within the New Republic itself, feeding Pellaeon the information he'd need to strategize this whole operation.
Luke's thoughts continued to circle in an endless loop that only became more dizzying with each pass, and he shook his head, forcing himself to focus on the here-and-now. He pressed harder on the bike's accelerator, and within another minute, there they were at the Senate Rotunda.
At its edge on its ground level, a transport of stormtroopers was landing.
"Mara," Luke said, and through the Force, he imagined what he intended to do, a quick mental visual that he tossed out to Mara, and she responded with a dramatic groan.
"On my mark," Luke said as he headed the bike forward, and Mara didn't protest.
Gathering himself within the Force, Luke eased off the throttle but not the rear brake. Then Mara and he hopped onto the bike's seats, the vehicle closing in on the transport.
Shala is really going to hate me after this.
The stormtroopers didn't see it coming. About a dozen had already exited the landing ramp, rifles ready, but the bike was rocketing in fast, and as Luke and Mara leaped from the swoop, it didn't slow as it slammed through the pile of stormtroopers and crashed into the back of the Imperial transport.
All the troopers still in the ship were knocked back, the bike making a horrid crunching sound of metal-against-metal as it crashed hard into the landing ramp. Nonetheless, the Imperials already out of the ship mostly escaped the collision, so as Luke and Mara dropped to the walkway, they eased their speed with skilled somersaults before jumping up to their feet. Lightsabers ignited. They were quickly met with blaster fire.
Absorbing himself within the Force, Luke allowed it to direct his hands, his body, his mind. Beside him, Mara followed suit, keeping herself angled slightly behind him, her sleeve blaster doing most of the work.
It wasn't that hard, however. The stormtroopers' aim was lacking, their precision off. Luke observed them, detecting their conflicted, complicated emotions. Stormtroopers, at least from the old Imperial days, didn't have such emotions; that was trained out of them at a young age.
As Luke deflected a blaster bolt into a trooper's chest, the rest of the group began backing off. Yes, they still shot at him, but unlike skilled soldiers, they were either too cowardly or too smart to try to fight Force-users. The few remaining troops rushed around a corner of the massive building, and Luke paused, sorting out what to do. The Imperial Remnant was dwindling, so many officers had been replaced by young and inexperienced ones. But these…
"They're imposters," Mara said what Luke was thinking.
"Perhaps," was Luke's only response.
He didn't have time to reflect on it. High above, another stormtrooper transport was zeroing in for a landing, and the stormtroopers who were uninjured from the bike crash were starting to shove the battered swoop out of their way so they could join the fight.
Leia, Luke called, and now closer, he sensed her presence far better. Are you all right?
Around them, TIE fighters soared between buildings, New Republic snubfighters desperately trying to rein them in but unable to gain control. Across Coruscant, throughout the Senate District, the Imperial Palace, the Entertainment District, even as far as the Works, Luke witnessed as stormtrooper transports descended, and he sensed the panic of every New Republic citizen within a solid ten-kilometer range, weighing him down from shoulders to shins.
Then, from his sister, he finally received a reply, and as he felt the words, it added his own fear within the crowd around him: They won't let us leave.
• • •
"Forgive me, Councilor Organa," the young security officer stated once again as they stood at the edge of the senate chamber, "but I'm under strict orders from General Omy'lya to keep everyone in here safe. There's a battle going on outside."
"That's right, and my family is out there in it," Leia said and attempted to press her way between the man and the two other officers beside him. Despite their calm demeanor, the officers pushed her back, and she was steadied by Cal Omas, plus another half dozen senators who had congregated in that area. Beside her, Artoo gave a low moan, something that sounded like a threat to the guards.
"Again, I'm sorry," the freckled officer repeated, and she could tell he meant it, but that didn't stop him from placing a hand on the end of his blaster, "but I'm under strict orders by the general. He was very insistent."
A shiver rushed up Leia's spine—the Force, offering some type of warning. Yes, they were under lockdown, but why would Omy'lya make such stringent demands? Something wasn't right; it felt like a chrono was counting down in her head.
Staring at the officers blocking her path, Leia set her jaw.
"This is for your own good," the young officer asserted again, tapping his hand on the edge of his blaster still in its holster. "But if you resist, I'm going to have to stun you." The other two officers mimicked the first, their bodies tensed, demanding that Leia back down.
Enough of this. Channeling the Force, Leia extended a hand. She was no Jedi Master, but her brother had taught her a few things—several things—and with a flick of her wrist, one officer was shoved to the side, landing on her butt with a winded oomph!
The two other guards immediately drew their blasters, but Artoo had already rolled up to one without notice, his electric prod extended, and zapped the older man in the side. In unison, the top compartment of the droid's dome opened, and Leia grabbed her lightsaber as soon as it popped into the air. Before the freckled officer could react, the lightsaber was ignited, the hot white-blue blade sizzling by his Adam's apple.
"You were saying?" Leia asked.
"Um," he kept his bugged-out gaze on the hot saber under his chin, but somehow, he still managed a smile. "Weapons aren't allowed in the Senate Chamber, you know."
"I'll keep that in mind," Leia replied and then chanced a look at Luke's little astromech droid as he zapped the other officer again. "Artoo, if you'd be so kind."
The little machine immediately whirled away towards the closed doors to the Senate Chamber. His computer interfacing arm swung out and plugged into the door's mainframe with several clicks and beeps. He circled his dome around to Leia, his mechanical eye staring at her, as though assuring her that he was bypassing the security codes.
Or at least, that's what Leia hoped he meant. Luke was much better at reading the little droid's nonverbal cues.
Around the large chamber, other security officers had taken notice of the situation and were hurrying in their direction. Some were on separate levels, but there were emergency stairs on every floor, and it wouldn't take long for them to reach Leia and the small pack of senators.
"Perhaps this isn't the most well thought-out strategy, Princess," Senator Omas said from behind. "If there is a battle raging outside, wouldn't the Chamber be the safest place for us to be?"
Several other senators expressed their agreement with Omas, and normally, yes, Leia would concede. Nonetheless, she had a feeling, an intuition that, in that instance, they were dead wrong. Was it the Force? Leia wished Luke was there to translate that, too.
"Artoo?" she called as he clicked away, and then above them, outside the Chamber's dome, there was a horrible, thunderous boom.
• • •
As Luke watched on in shock, a TIE fighter crashed into the durasteel exterior of the Coruscant's four-thousand-year-old Senate Building. The drum-like dome offered no forgiveness, but as the TIE smashed into a burnt-up husk of metal, there came a planet-shattering explosion. It shook the Rotunda, the walkway—most likely the entire Senate District felt the quake, heating the air, and with a gasp, Luke used the Force to keep himself upright.
What the…?
A second later, the fiery debris slid off the dome to the paved ground below on the opposite side of the shielded two-kilometer structure.
As Luke deflected another blaster shot coming at his face, he sensed Mara's distress that mingled with his own. Had the TIE been struck by New Republic firepower and then crashed into the Rotunda? If so, a little ship like that couldn't possibly make such an explosion on its own.
While the stormtroopers from the first vessel used the ship as cover, Luke and Mara stood their ground, the accident forgotten, until it happened again. Another TIE. Another crash. Another wild explosion that rocked the Senate Building to its core.
"What in the Force?" Mara shouted.
I don't know, Luke thought but was too exasperated to speak. The blaster shots were coming in hot—one, two, five—from the troopers behind the transport. Above, the second transport was still descending but had veered away several times as New Republic snubfighters attempted to keep it from reaching ground. Luke tried to focus on the Force, to keep himself balanced, but then another TIE torpedoed downwards to the Senate Chamber. A random B-wing sniped it out of the sky, but again the TIE erupted with ten times the fire of a normal starfighter, taking the B-wing along with it.
That's when it clicked.
The TIEs were fortified with heavy explosives—the pilots were intentionally ramming the Senate Building to blow the structure apart.
Before Luke had time to absorb what all that meant, he spotted yet another TIE. Even as he and Mara stood almost a kilometer away from the building's center, the explosion shook the ground again, and Luke had to use the Force to steady himself. This time, he felt the tiny cracks within the dome's perfect durasteel exterior.
"They're killing themselves!" Mara shouted.
With a burst of new energy, Luke bolted forward. With the Force, he jerked his free left hand outwards as he deflected enemy fire with his lightsaber and shoved the stormtrooper transport with his mind. The ship was insanely heavy and with his concentration fragmented between blaster shots and suicidal TIE fighters, all that energy only nudged the vessel.
It was enough. The stormtroopers directly utilizing the craft for cover were jostled back; they fled as Luke charged towards them, and he flung his left hand out again, mentally grabbing several and driving them even further away. Many of the troopers stumbled, dropping their blaster rifles in the process, apparently getting the message in a way regular stormtroopers would not.
Above, a set of TIEs surged downwards. As though watching something in a different reality, Luke witnessed as the two ships spiraled around each other from the atmosphere. The Force blared its warning, demanding his attention, alerting him to the danger as the TIEs plummeted towards the center of the damaged Senate Rotunda.
"Leia…" the name escaped his lips, and then nothing else mattered.
Extinguishing his lightsaber, Luke mustered everything he had, every bit of energy within himself—around him, through the Force and through his mind—and wrenched his hands upwards. Less than fifty meters from the top of the Senate Building, the two TIE fighters paused in mid-air.
As if carrying the vessels on his shoulders, the mental impact forced Luke down to one knee, forced a groan through his clenched teeth—for his hands to shake, his vision to blur.
There was a flash from memory, that moment on Dagobah when Master Yoda serenely elevated Luke's X-wing from the swampy confides of the planet's murky terrain. The Jedi Master's calm expression, his hand raised as if playing a musical instrument.
This wasn't like that. The ion engines were still active, the velocity of both ships causing them to feel like small planets Luke had suddenly plucked out of orbit. He tried to breathe through the strain on his mind, on his connection to the Force, sensing its infinite power and knowing that his body didn't share the same resilience. In the background, he heard a faint voice that seemed lightyears away and right by his ear at the same time.
"They're here!" Mara shouted, panic in her tone.
He didn't need to look to know what could have caused it—there was only one thing that made sense. The second stormtrooper transport had landed. As Luke remained in his mental hold, keeping the plunging TIEs from cratering into the Senate Building, all he heard were curses from a hungover Mara Jade as she clumsily tried to take on an armada of stormtroopers by herself.
End of Chapter 18
Thank you all for reading. If you like the story thus far, please comment and let me know, thanks.