Disclaimer: Most of the characters featured are the property of G. Lucas.
No copyright infringement intended. I am NOT making any money with this.
ONLY TO BE ARCHIVED AT FANFICTION.NET
Timeline: Post- Vision of the Future, replacing Union
To M. For feedback, excellent company, fellowship in SW-madness and fun around the clock ;=) (Especially behind the wheel - I sure would like to see you with an X-wing!)
SPOILER ALERT: Planet of Twilight, Showdown at Centrepoint, Specter of The Past, Vision of The Future, Vector Prime as well as some later New Jedi Orders. (And naturally the Thrawn trilogy, how can anyone possibly avoid that? ;=)
WARPED UNIVERSE ALERT: For the sake of storytelling, Isard's not dead at all. Condolenses to those who get stomach cramps from the woman. I know what you're going through. Just thank the stars of Alderaan I didn't bring Callista back.
Star Wars: The Rising By Heidi Ahlmen (siirma6@surfeu.fi)
Mara sprinted down the stairs, not letting her concentration down for a split second as she had to counter blaster shots from three directions at once.
She jumped over the railing to the Intelligence headquarters entrance hall, taking out two guards with a clean sweep of her sabre which then moved back around her head, countering blasts.
Stang, stang, stang, the doors were still locked and there was no way she could use her sabre to cut a hole through before they made bantha fodder out of her.
She had one chance, as good as any. She jumped on the railing again, guards closing in on her, grabbed the wiring of a high-hanging lamp, her lightsabre never stopping its parries. With one hand she flung herself to a window sill and with a scream, she flunged light-sabre first, through the window.
She landed, Force-padded onto the already familiar lawn, and took no time in getting up and dashing away as the double doors opened and a swarm of guards headed after her.
Thanking herself for using a hangar that was only a quick sprint away. At least a dozen heavily armed guards in pursuit, Mara reached the hangar, and stopped. She couldn't take the Ice. They'd blast her before she even got out of the hangar.
She hid herself in a control room, and using her remote, started the Ice's engines and sent it darting through the hangar roof.
As she heard the aerial defence cannons begin to fire, she climbed into the cockpit of a TIE, one of several still housed in the next spaceous hall. She pulled on the helmet which concealed her face perfectly, and waited.
The Imperials were as swift in their commands as they'd been in their days of power. Mara had just caught her breath from the run when five pilots ran in, ascended to their fighters, and took off. Mara started her engines simultaneously, and joined them in formation.
She broke off near the defence field to see the rest of the squadron still pursuing the empty Ice, scuttering its way, shields down, towards the edge of the city.
It took a minute for Mara to get the hang of it again. TIE fighters, once the smallest and most agile of all Imperial starships, were a thrill to pilot. They could turn in every direction even in atmosphere with their angled repulsorlifts, and in deep space there were even easiser to maneuver. The cockpit was round, and gave more freedom of leg movement than those cursed X-wings Luke was so fond of.
Mara had flown a lot of TIEs during her training at the military academy in Carida, and the skill was far from gone.
Changing directions quickly, engines on full throttle, Mara accelerated out of the rance of surface defence, and disappeared into hyperspace.
Leia was trying to convince his son Jacen that running off behind Luke Skywalker was not likely to end well, even if he only did want to help save his father.
She hated waiting. Since Endor it had usually been her part, sitting idling as her brother and husband once again battled incredible odds to protect the one thing neither of them would likely have crossed paths with if it hadn't been for her. The New Republic.
And now Leia feared again, for the tremor of the Force had not missed her. It had felt strangely close - it couldn't be Luke then, could it? Leia was not trained enough to identify its ground zero.
There was a silent knock on the door. Jaina jumped over Anakin's tools, scattered on the floor as usually, and opened it, ignoring her mother's advice about asking first.
A Palace guard stood waiting in the corridor with a young woman dressed in Jedi robes, left hand hidden inside her robes.
"Councilor Solo, she has demanded to see you. She says there is something you need to know."
Leia nodded and made a welcoming gesture. "Thank you, Officer."
The man nodded and retreated. Amarice stepped in. In other circumstances she would've been dumbstruck and curious to walk into Leia Organa Solo's, a rebel leader's and a High Councilor's home, but there was no time for celebrity-gazing now.
"Councilor Solo, I am a student of your brothers."
Leia took a lucky guess. "Amarice?" Threepio, in the droid's usually flamboyant manner, had spoken lenghtily of her, all positively.
Amarice nodded, embarrassed because her still rain-soaked robes were making a wet trail on the carpet. "We've got a Sith Lord on our tail. I held her off for some time - we fought in the throne room, but she threw me into a wall and disappeared."
So that was what had caused the change in the Force. Leia nodded grimly.
"She's probably taken off. Her ship's the Defiance ," Amarice informed Leia.
But her train of thought was interrupted by Jacen, still seeted at the comm, hoping to find out what was happening out there. "Mom, General Madine says there's a call for us."
"Well take it!" Leia snapped. The situation was bad enough without her children suddenly losing their ability for own initiative.
"But General Madine says it's being transmitted via Bastion from a TIE fighter. The pilot's claiming to be Aunt Mara."
Leia was at the comm in an instant, followed by Jaina, Anakin and Amarice. "With Mara you can believe anything. Take the call."
She changed seats with Jacen, and took the headphones. "Mara?"
"Leia - you've got to get Wedge Antilles to alert the fleet, the Imps are headed for- - "
"The fleet's on its way", Leia replied, and there was silence in the other end.
"Yavin?" Mara checked.
"Yes", Leia replied, "And Luke's with them as well."
Leia could sense Mara's concern, even halfway across the galaxy. "In the meanwhile we've got another kind of trouble stirring that you should warn Luke about. "
"A Sith?" Leia asked.
Mara bit her lip. How had Leia figured that out? "How'd you know?"
"I'm sitting here with someone who's just fought her."
Mara cut off short. "I'm going that way, too. I should be able to sneak in."
Leia shook her head. Only Mara could describe breaking entry into star destroyer with 'sneaking in'. Still, Leia had no doubt in the situation would aptly fit into the description.
Amarice broke the following silence with resolution. "If the fleet thinks this is just another Imperial attack they won't be paying much attention to what's happening on the planet. We've got to get to Yavin."
Leia simply nodded.
"This is Commander Skywalker of the New Republic. Judicator of the Imperial fleet, voice your intentions. You are approaching the autonomic space of Agamar."
The message on the military channel did not come as a suprise. Two Republican X-wings hardly went unnoticed flying near an Imperial star destroyer.
Staring at the radar readings on the command bridge of the Judicator, Admiral Pellaeon shook his head. After twenty years the New Republic still hadn't come learned it lessons. Send two X-wing to do a brigateer's job. He seized the controls, taking pleasure in the reaction his reply would cause. "Commander Skywalker, keep your distance or we'll open fire."
"Is this Admiral Pellaeon of the Imperial star destroyer Judicator?" came a disbelieveing question through the channel. But not all that disbelieving.
"Positive, Commander."
"This isn't a negotiation. Turn back or face the consequences."
Pellaeon snorted, feeling five years of too quiet a life falling off his shoulders. "And what might those be, Commander?"
"An open conflict," the speaker rattled, and Pellaeon noticed the amused looks on his crews' faces. There was still spirit in the Empire.
Pellaeon smirked, and opened the connection again. "That is an awfully nice name for war, Commander. Consider this a declaration, then," he concluded, aware that wordplay was not usually his forte but decided that he deserved to have a little fun every now and then. Then he closed the channel.
************************************************'
Thank you for reading. Reviews and feedback would be greatly appreciated - they're the fuel that feeds this creative furnace.
Heidi Ahlmen siirma6@surfeu.fi
ONLY TO BE ARCHIVED AT FANFICTION.NET
Timeline: Post- Vision of the Future, replacing Union
To M. For feedback, excellent company, fellowship in SW-madness and fun around the clock ;=) (Especially behind the wheel - I sure would like to see you with an X-wing!)
SPOILER ALERT: Planet of Twilight, Showdown at Centrepoint, Specter of The Past, Vision of The Future, Vector Prime as well as some later New Jedi Orders. (And naturally the Thrawn trilogy, how can anyone possibly avoid that? ;=)
WARPED UNIVERSE ALERT: For the sake of storytelling, Isard's not dead at all. Condolenses to those who get stomach cramps from the woman. I know what you're going through. Just thank the stars of Alderaan I didn't bring Callista back.
Star Wars: The Rising By Heidi Ahlmen (siirma6@surfeu.fi)
Mara sprinted down the stairs, not letting her concentration down for a split second as she had to counter blaster shots from three directions at once.
She jumped over the railing to the Intelligence headquarters entrance hall, taking out two guards with a clean sweep of her sabre which then moved back around her head, countering blasts.
Stang, stang, stang, the doors were still locked and there was no way she could use her sabre to cut a hole through before they made bantha fodder out of her.
She had one chance, as good as any. She jumped on the railing again, guards closing in on her, grabbed the wiring of a high-hanging lamp, her lightsabre never stopping its parries. With one hand she flung herself to a window sill and with a scream, she flunged light-sabre first, through the window.
She landed, Force-padded onto the already familiar lawn, and took no time in getting up and dashing away as the double doors opened and a swarm of guards headed after her.
Thanking herself for using a hangar that was only a quick sprint away. At least a dozen heavily armed guards in pursuit, Mara reached the hangar, and stopped. She couldn't take the Ice. They'd blast her before she even got out of the hangar.
She hid herself in a control room, and using her remote, started the Ice's engines and sent it darting through the hangar roof.
As she heard the aerial defence cannons begin to fire, she climbed into the cockpit of a TIE, one of several still housed in the next spaceous hall. She pulled on the helmet which concealed her face perfectly, and waited.
The Imperials were as swift in their commands as they'd been in their days of power. Mara had just caught her breath from the run when five pilots ran in, ascended to their fighters, and took off. Mara started her engines simultaneously, and joined them in formation.
She broke off near the defence field to see the rest of the squadron still pursuing the empty Ice, scuttering its way, shields down, towards the edge of the city.
It took a minute for Mara to get the hang of it again. TIE fighters, once the smallest and most agile of all Imperial starships, were a thrill to pilot. They could turn in every direction even in atmosphere with their angled repulsorlifts, and in deep space there were even easiser to maneuver. The cockpit was round, and gave more freedom of leg movement than those cursed X-wings Luke was so fond of.
Mara had flown a lot of TIEs during her training at the military academy in Carida, and the skill was far from gone.
Changing directions quickly, engines on full throttle, Mara accelerated out of the rance of surface defence, and disappeared into hyperspace.
Leia was trying to convince his son Jacen that running off behind Luke Skywalker was not likely to end well, even if he only did want to help save his father.
She hated waiting. Since Endor it had usually been her part, sitting idling as her brother and husband once again battled incredible odds to protect the one thing neither of them would likely have crossed paths with if it hadn't been for her. The New Republic.
And now Leia feared again, for the tremor of the Force had not missed her. It had felt strangely close - it couldn't be Luke then, could it? Leia was not trained enough to identify its ground zero.
There was a silent knock on the door. Jaina jumped over Anakin's tools, scattered on the floor as usually, and opened it, ignoring her mother's advice about asking first.
A Palace guard stood waiting in the corridor with a young woman dressed in Jedi robes, left hand hidden inside her robes.
"Councilor Solo, she has demanded to see you. She says there is something you need to know."
Leia nodded and made a welcoming gesture. "Thank you, Officer."
The man nodded and retreated. Amarice stepped in. In other circumstances she would've been dumbstruck and curious to walk into Leia Organa Solo's, a rebel leader's and a High Councilor's home, but there was no time for celebrity-gazing now.
"Councilor Solo, I am a student of your brothers."
Leia took a lucky guess. "Amarice?" Threepio, in the droid's usually flamboyant manner, had spoken lenghtily of her, all positively.
Amarice nodded, embarrassed because her still rain-soaked robes were making a wet trail on the carpet. "We've got a Sith Lord on our tail. I held her off for some time - we fought in the throne room, but she threw me into a wall and disappeared."
So that was what had caused the change in the Force. Leia nodded grimly.
"She's probably taken off. Her ship's the Defiance ," Amarice informed Leia.
But her train of thought was interrupted by Jacen, still seeted at the comm, hoping to find out what was happening out there. "Mom, General Madine says there's a call for us."
"Well take it!" Leia snapped. The situation was bad enough without her children suddenly losing their ability for own initiative.
"But General Madine says it's being transmitted via Bastion from a TIE fighter. The pilot's claiming to be Aunt Mara."
Leia was at the comm in an instant, followed by Jaina, Anakin and Amarice. "With Mara you can believe anything. Take the call."
She changed seats with Jacen, and took the headphones. "Mara?"
"Leia - you've got to get Wedge Antilles to alert the fleet, the Imps are headed for- - "
"The fleet's on its way", Leia replied, and there was silence in the other end.
"Yavin?" Mara checked.
"Yes", Leia replied, "And Luke's with them as well."
Leia could sense Mara's concern, even halfway across the galaxy. "In the meanwhile we've got another kind of trouble stirring that you should warn Luke about. "
"A Sith?" Leia asked.
Mara bit her lip. How had Leia figured that out? "How'd you know?"
"I'm sitting here with someone who's just fought her."
Mara cut off short. "I'm going that way, too. I should be able to sneak in."
Leia shook her head. Only Mara could describe breaking entry into star destroyer with 'sneaking in'. Still, Leia had no doubt in the situation would aptly fit into the description.
Amarice broke the following silence with resolution. "If the fleet thinks this is just another Imperial attack they won't be paying much attention to what's happening on the planet. We've got to get to Yavin."
Leia simply nodded.
"This is Commander Skywalker of the New Republic. Judicator of the Imperial fleet, voice your intentions. You are approaching the autonomic space of Agamar."
The message on the military channel did not come as a suprise. Two Republican X-wings hardly went unnoticed flying near an Imperial star destroyer.
Staring at the radar readings on the command bridge of the Judicator, Admiral Pellaeon shook his head. After twenty years the New Republic still hadn't come learned it lessons. Send two X-wing to do a brigateer's job. He seized the controls, taking pleasure in the reaction his reply would cause. "Commander Skywalker, keep your distance or we'll open fire."
"Is this Admiral Pellaeon of the Imperial star destroyer Judicator?" came a disbelieveing question through the channel. But not all that disbelieving.
"Positive, Commander."
"This isn't a negotiation. Turn back or face the consequences."
Pellaeon snorted, feeling five years of too quiet a life falling off his shoulders. "And what might those be, Commander?"
"An open conflict," the speaker rattled, and Pellaeon noticed the amused looks on his crews' faces. There was still spirit in the Empire.
Pellaeon smirked, and opened the connection again. "That is an awfully nice name for war, Commander. Consider this a declaration, then," he concluded, aware that wordplay was not usually his forte but decided that he deserved to have a little fun every now and then. Then he closed the channel.
************************************************'
Thank you for reading. Reviews and feedback would be greatly appreciated - they're the fuel that feeds this creative furnace.
Heidi Ahlmen siirma6@surfeu.fi