Star Wars: Rise of the Sith
Chapter 7
OH MY GOSH!!!!! I just finished Star By Star, and I knew Anakin died and all, but reading it was so terrible!!!!
It's not fair. At least this way he's still young in my fic.
"We're coming up on the planet Hoth," Nike announced to over the commlink. "Everyone strap in and prepare for landing. Ben and Sylor sat down in the second cockpit, and Moria sat in the copilot's seat next to Nike. Damian stayed in the back with the droids, trying to hold his stomach as they entered the atmosphere.
"So where exactly are we landing, Slayner?" Nike asked. When there was no response she repeated herself. There was still no answer. "Hey Damian, you dead or something?"
"Ehh…I'm about to be," he moaned, and Nike rolled her eyes.
"Come in here, you big baby, and tell help me with the coordinates." Damian moaned, but a moment later appeared in her cockpit, and sat in the seat behind Moria. He reached across and typed in some coordinates into the Navacomputer, and then sat back. Nike looked over them and steered the ship onto the outskirts of that area.
"We're here," Nike said as she sat the ship down on Hoth's snowy surface. It was spring on this side of Hoth, but you wouldn't know it from looking around. The only indication that this planet was in "the season of growing" was the fact that there wasn't a blizzard going on.
"I don't see any cloning center," Sylor said sarcastically as they looked out the main hatch and across the snowy terrain.
"Well of course you don't see it," Ben said, "it's underground."
"Yeah, it's underground," Nike said, "on the other side of the planet."
"WHAT?!" Ben and Sylor cried together. Moria's jaw dropped.
"Why are we here and not there?" Ben demanded.
"Because," Damian said solemnly, "if you want to sneak around somewhere you don't park your ship right on the enemies doorstep. You land away from them and make your way to them subtle-like."
"Okay," Sylor snapped, "so in about a year or so, we can do just that!"
"We have three speeder bikes, don't we," Nike pointed out impatiently.
"You two could have at least told us," Ben muttered.
"Damian didn't even tell me," Nike said, "I'm just not an idiot. I figured it out using coordinates and Zero."
"Yeah, yeah," Sylor muttered, let's go get those speeders."
"Just stop and think about this for a moment!" Launie pleaded with her sister.
"Think about what?" Lane snapped back and she made her way forcefully down the hall of the Space Station to the meeting room.
"The fact that the rest of us can't feel Anakin, and you say you can, and if Uncle Luke and the others can't feel him, they're gonna think you're insane or something," Reuben pointed out, walking on the other side of her.
"I'm confoosed," Padme said and she trotted behind the three older children.
"Listen," Suddenly Lane was stopped and facing her twin with a very Chiss-like stare, "I heard him, and whether anyone believes me or not, it doesn't matter. All that matters is that I find out why I can sense him."
"Maybe you're not really sensing him," Launie said, "I mean, I can't, and we are twins." Just as suddenly as she had stopped, Lane had wheeled around and was walking again.
"He contacted me," Lane said sternly, "we both know that I'm not that strong in the Force."
"Yes you are," Reuben argued, "you just don't like admitting it because-"
"Just shut up," Lane snapped over her shoulder, and without even bothering to knock or wait at the door, she pressed the turbolift button and walked through as if she owned the place.
Very un-Lane like.
Reuben, Launie, and Padme poked their heads in to see the Jedi Council, and more then a dozen military leaders all sitting around a large wooden table, looking at Lane with puzzlement. Jag's gaze drifted from Lane to Launie, and his eyes narrowed on her, demanding to know what was going on.
"Uh-oh, wrong room," Reuben said lamely, "guess the…'fresher's in that other room…"
"Is something wrong?" Jaina asked in a mixture of maternal worry and annoyance.
"I need to talk to Uncle Luke," Lane stated defiantly. Launie-along with Reuben, Padme, and most of the others in the room-gapped at Lane as she marched over to where Uncle Luke was and stood in front of them.
Launie looked at her mother and could see that she was doing all she could to keep from getting up and dragging Lane outside by her ears for talking to her like that.
"Lane, we're very busy," Jag tried to put in, but he was ignored.
"Uncle Luke," Lane said solemnly.
"Yes?" Luke recognized her, but seemed a little uneasy, probably because of the tension radiating from the group.
"I need you to feel out in the Force for someone."
Well, that wasn't what anyone expected. A few exchanged uneasy or confused looks, Launie's parents being one of them. She swallowed the lump in her throat and straightened herself.
"Lane, this was a bad idea," she said quietly.
"I just want him to try," Lane replied, at almost a whisper. She turned back to Luke and met his gaze evenly. "I need you to reach out for Anakin Solo." If the fact that a nine-year-old girl had barged in on a private military meeting had surprised anyone, then what she had said was on the level of a heart attack or stab in the chest.
"Who?" Luke asked back.
"Anakin Solo."
"Lane…" Luke looked up at Jaina, and then to Jacen, and then to Leia and Mara, anyone who might help him out here. None of them could say anything. "Lane, Anakin's dead."
"Do it," Lane ordered, but this time it didn't seem strange. Launie suddenly felt the Force flowing around her sister. The Force was speaking for her. It had been since they got in the room.
Without another word, Luke-and every other Jedi in the room-reached out for Anakin. A moment later, Luke opened his eyes again and looked at Lane.
"I don't feel anything," he told her.
Lane furrowed her brow at her uncle's response. How was this happening? How could she feel someone that no one else could? She could barely hear her mother asking if she was all right, and hardly felt Launie take her hand.
If they couldn't feel him on their own, then she was going to help them feel him.
"Uncle Luke, take my hand," she ordered sharply. Her uncle frowned at her, but did as told. "I need you to focus with me. Follow me." The strange sensation covered her insides and pricked her skin again as she felt the Force flow through and out of her, reaching out in her voice to give it a milky texture.
Uncle Luke was with her, so was a number of other Jedi: her mother, her grandmother, Launie, Reuben, Aunt Mara, Valin Horn, Uncle Jacen, and more that she recognized but couldn't name.
She pulled them out off the space station and into space. She searched for Anakin's aurora-his Force-sense.
Anakin, she called out to him.
Ah, so you're back, he said playfully, I was beginning to think that you'd left me for good.
I brought some others with me…
You did? I can't sense them…
But you could contact me. Why would it be any different for them?
Uh, just so you know, kiddo, you're the one contacting me. Not the other way around.
What?…
So anyway, you're Jaina's daughter.
How'd you know?
I'm good like that.
You're cocky too.
I'm a Solo, what can I say?
You sound like Nike.
Who?
Oh, that's gonna be a shocker.
What?!
I'll talk to you again later. Contact me if you need me.
Were you not listening? I can't contact you! Only the other way-
She stopped listening to his then, and brought herself and the others back to the space station. She opened her eyes to see the weary faces of the other people. Apparently the whole experience had taken a lot out of them.
"Lane-how did you-" She heard a blurry voice say. Suddenly she realized she didn't feel so good. She tried to open her mouth, but nothing came out. Why couldn't she talk? She stumbled backwards, her eyelids suddenly heavy. Her alarm senses were going off all over her mind.
Why was she so tired? How long had she been doing this? The last thing she heard was her mother calling her name and she crashed to the ground, and the world went black.
Nike cursed everything from the sky to the nexu of Cholganna for her misery as she trudged through the snow. They had parked and hid their speeder bikes more then a kilometer back, and were walking the rest of the way in hopes of being inconspicuous.
This was completely okay with her three comrades. They were Jedi, so they were keeping warm with the Force. They sure didn't feel as if their noses were about to fall off. But she sure did.
They had talked her into this. This was all their idea, not hers, and they were paying desperately for it. As soon as she could stop shivering enough to speak, she was going to give them, their Force, and their big, warm Sith and Jedi robes a piece of her mind.
"Come on Solo!" Sylor called back with an evil smile, "you're falling behind." Nike pulled her hand out from under her armpit long enough to give him a rude, Corellian hand-sign, at which he laughed.
"You know Nike," Ben called to her from the front of the group, "that offer for my robe still stands." She murmured something that she wasn't even sure she understood, and continued walking.
Stupid, stupid Solo pride, she cursed as she lifted a boot high out of the snow and then back into it.
"Look!" Ben called. Nike looked out from the cliff they stood on and to where he was pointing to see what looked to be the remains of a Rebel hideout.
"Oh, then we're-" She never finished. An Imperial model probe droid shot up from the edge of the cliff squealing. That wasn't what shut her up though. That was taken care of by Damian throwing himself on top of her and slamming her into the ground, with him still on top of her.
"OW!" Only came out after the blaster fire had already begun. Ben was deflecting it with his lightsaber. Sylor sliced through the droid and Moria pulled Nike up out of the snow while Damian brushed himself off.
She had to give it to the Jedi: they were fast.
"You okay?" Moria asked.
"I've been better," Nike muttered. "I think there's snow in my bra."
"Sorry about that," Damian replied.
"Forget it," Nike grunted, limping away and trying to get the snow out of her clothes.
"Well, that droid sent a signal to the inside," Sylor said, "no doubt about that. We need to get cover."
"Oh yeah," Nike snapped, "and how are we going to do that? We're in a valley full of snow, without trees or any kind of shelter. We're like a red Star Destroyer trying to hide in a TIE fighter compound, which by the way I've done, and it's doesn't work."
"We can take the caves," Damian suggested.
"Caves?" Nike and Moria asked together.
"You mean there's been caves this whole time," Sylor declared, "and you didn't think to mention them?"
"I did think about it," Damian countered, "but they're infested with wampa ice creatures."
"Then I'm
not going!" Nike snapped, "No one said
anything about man eating animals on this trip!"
"I
think we'll stand better chance against a few furry creatures then an army of
Sith," Ben said, "and besides, the caves will probably be warmer."
"Then let's go!" Nike said instantly, pushing Damian forward.
Luke Skywalker made his way down the dimly lit hallway on Calrissian Space Station to the Med. Center, where Lane Fel was unconscious on a bed. As he walked, the only thought in his mind was how in the galaxy this nine-year-old girl had been able to not only contact someone who was presumed dead, and from a great distance at that, but to make communication with that person open to a group of other, fully trained Jedi, who had not such skills.
"Uncle Luke," a small, but demanding voice interrupted the silence. Luke turned slowly to see Launie Fel-standing in the Med. Center waiting room-who was as much confused about all this as anyone else, if not more so.
"Yes?" He replied, only half turned around.
"What did Lane do?" The little girl asked. Her brown eyes gazed into his blue, full of question and confusion…and something else. Something deeper and darker, but he couldn't put his finger on.
"She…" Luke wasn't even entirely sure what had happened, "well, she took us, through the Force, to the other side of the galaxy…where it seems that…someone…is."
"Oh…" She still looked confused. He had probably messed things up even more for the girl. "Well…how did she do it?"
"I'm not sure," Luke sighed, sitting down in a seat and motioning for Launie to sit beside him. "Sometimes we end up having different strengths or powers then we thought or knew we had."
"Yeah, but Lane and I are twins," Launie countered, "and so shouldn't we be able to do the same things?"
"I don't know," Luke shrugged, "I just don't know."
"Do you know if it's true?" Launie questioned, "About who she was contacting? Anakin Solo?"
"I guess we'll find out," he replied, trying to give her a comforting smile, and only half succeeding.
Lane Fel wasn't unconscious, and she was fully aware of her father snoring softly right beside her bed, and fully aware of the presence of her sister and Master Skywalker in the next room. In her mind she could make out a complete map of where everyone on the space station stood.
She lay there, faking unconsciousness, until she felt Uncle Luke and Launie leave. Since there was no chance of her father leaving her side unless a full on attack by the Sith hit the station, then she decided that she would just have to get away with him there.
She stood up and slipped off the bed, daring only a short glance at her father, just to make sure he was asleep. She was still wearing her blue tunic and brown breaches, and just had to pull on her black boots before heading out of the room.
She crept through the dimly lit hall towards the stairwell. It was too risky for her to take the elevator, so she was going to take the long way, to ensure no one seeing her.
She finally reached her destination-her suite. After feeling around the room to make sure it was empty, she entered and ran into her and Launie's room.
Lane wasn't quite sure how to do it, but she knew that she had to find out what was going on with her. As soon as her parents and the other Jedi knew that she was awake, they would want to bombard her with questions, and that was something that she couldn't handle right now.
Having a full conversation with anyone telepathically wasn't something to take lightly. But it hadn't been her. Lane closed her eyes.
Lane sat in the command room, listening to her sister and cousin bicker about something, when a strange, tingling sensation tapped into the back of her mind. Frowning, she focused her mind on that spot, trying to figure out what was going on.
"So Lane Fel this is," an odd, rubbery voice said.
"Yes, this is her," another male voice, this one filled with wisdom and power.
A vision began to form from a blur of colors in her mind. A little green creature was looking up at and old man with a white beard.
"Well, take her to young Solo," the green old snapped.
"Yes Master," the other replied, and with a wave of his hand, Lane was suddenly enveloped by a fading Force presence. Fading not from lack of strength, but from something else.
"Who are you?" The Force presence asked.
"Who the dirt of Sith are you?" She retorted before she could even think.
Lane opened her eyes again, realizing that she had finished packing her shoulder bag. Those two people-the green one and the old man-were doing something to her, or they knew something about her. The only way she could think of to find anything out about them, was to go to the Academy and look over what files they did have.
She left a quick note for her parents on a datapad, and slipped out of the room.
Anakin lay on his bad on the pitiful cot. He stretched his feet up until they touched the ceiling, and then brought them back down flat. He blew out a long breath that moved his bangs off his face, and then rolled over on his side.
He was bored. More bored then he had ever been before in his life.
Life. He couldn't believe that he was actually alive again. I feeling of breathing new air into his lungs, and the feel of-
His thoughts were interrupted by the sound on his door opening. He looked over with a scowl as three silver droids stepped into the room, followed by two men in black robes. Dark force energy was radiating off them like wildfire. Flung his feet around the side of the bed and was almost standing when one of the men reached out a hand.
"Sit," he ordered, and Anakin felt himself be pushed quickly down onto the cot.
"Nice trick," he said with a smirk. The man ignored him and turned to the droids.
"Cuff him and bring him out," he ordered. The droids came towards Anakin.
"Oh as if I'm just gonna-" Anakin started, and tried to stand, but realized that he couldn't. He couldn't even move. He was hopeless and the droids picked up him immobile arms and cuffed them together. The did the same to his feet.
"Who are you?" Anakin asked, trying his hardest to resist and failing, "and what the kriff did you do to me?"
"In answer to the first question, we are the apprentices of Lord Reth Slayner of the Sith, the future Emperor of the galaxy. My name is Klif Harwin and this is my associate Tork Morten."
"Tork?" Anakin asked mockingly, "no wonder you turned to the dark side." He was answered with a blow in the head that left him moaning but not unconscious.
"In answer to your second question, Tork has temporarily paralyzed you," Klif said, "and if it wasn't for my master wanting you alive and healthy, I would allow him to cripple you completely."
"Alright…" Anakin said, collecting his thoughts, "now what was that about the Emperor?"
"I am forbidden to speak of our plans to inferiors," Krif said, and gave a slight hand motion to the droids. They lifted Anakin up and carried him out of the room.
"So how did he temporarily paralyze me?" Anakin asked.
"My powers are none of your business," Tork snapped, "at least not until you embrace the dark side."
"Fat chance," Anakin retorted sharply. The Sith only smirked and continued on.
"If this is warmer then outside then I'm-"
"Nike, okay, I'm sorry. I was wrong. It's not warmer. Sue me. But you are wearing my robe, so I don't want to hear you complain anymore," Ben snapped back. Nike scowled at him and stepped over a block of ice.
She wasn't sure how far into this icy cave they had traveled, but she guessed it was more then a kilometer. And she was not happy about that. She hadn't complained too much, but she hadn't exactly inherited her mother's sense of endurance to such things either.
She was mostly mad at herself for coming along on this stupid trip instead of staying in the ship like was suggested to her. After all, she was a Jedi, or any kind of warrior for that matter. She'd have to remember to talk to Aunt Mara about hand-to-hand combat and weapons training.
"Hey, look!" Moria called to the others. The three other Jedi jogged over to her, and Nike tried, but ended up stumbling with every step.
"What is it?" Nike asked as she reached them. She shut her mouth when she looked down and saw a huge room with machines all around it. There were multiple conveyer belts, leading back to tanks. Machines reached into the tanks and took out a dripping mold of some kind, which quickly turned into blue humanoids. They were placed on the conveyer belts and sent down the line, to where droids tweaked them. It was an assembly line for making blue people.
"They're cloning Chiss!" Ben declared.
"Well thanks for that, Captain Obvious," Nike muttered sarcastically.
"They're all Thrawn clones," Damian said, giving Nike a warning look-which she ignored.
"So this really is happening," Moria's voice trailed off.
"Hey, check out the Sith," Sylor said, pointing. It was then that the rest noticed the five Sith, overseeing the cloning. There was a Mon Calamarian female, a human male, a human female, and two Twi'lek males.
"I say we take out the Sith and figure out how they make their little, life-sized Dollies," Sylor said.
"I'm in for that," Ben said.
"Oh great, you bunch of geniuses," Nike snapped, "because it's not as if these Sith aren't fully-trained killers without mercy and loads of backup, and you guys are Jedi Apprentices with nothing for backup except me, and really, that-I'm humble enough to say it-isn't saying much."
"I agree," Damian said, "I'm full Coreillian and all, so these stupid plans do spark some interest, but they wouldn't work. Besides, I already know how the clones are made."
"You do?" Moria asked, and Nike demanded, "How," at the same time.
"I'll tell you that later," he replied, "but for now, we need to consider the best and fastest way to get in there, get Anakin, and get out."
"True," Ben nodded, "any ideas?"
"First off," Nike said, "where is he?"
"They're holding him in cell block Oh-Nine-Two. That means that we're on the opposite side of the facility from him," Damian said.
"Great," Nike muttered.
"But, you see that door over there?" He asked, pointing.
"Yeah," Nike said, "what about it?"
"You see, there's a secret passage to a secure hallway in this room," he told her, "it will lead us right to your brother."
"So…"
"So, we need a distraction to get there," he explained, and Nike raised an eyebrow, "so on the count of three, you're gonna make like lightspeed to that door. Once you get through, you'll lock it. There's an old command room in there, and when you get to it, you can connect a line to this comlink here, and then communicate with us."
"Wait," Nike said, holding up a hand, "you think that I'm gonna be your little distraction? I got news for you Slayner, there's no way-"
"One."
"-that I'm doing this, because-"
"Two."
"-you have two perfectly good legs-"
"Three." And then he shoved her over the side of the opening, and she hit a pile of melting snow that had fallen out of the cave.
It took Nike a moment to realize what had just happened. Damian had pushed her out of the cave so that she could distract the Sith. The Sith that were running right for her.
Get to the doors! Something-or someone-in her mind screamed. She did just that. She got up, and bolted to the doors. Damian was either a genius when it came to timing things out, or a homicidal idiot who took a lucky guess. She prayed it was the former as she reached the door and slammed her fist down on the button to close it and lock it, once she was inside.
She could hear on the outside, the Sith talking, just barely, and she swore she heard someone say, "she's as good as dead anyway," right before she turned around and was met with two glowing yellow eyes.
Reth Slayner sat silently and in solitude in what the apprentices had named "the Throne Room." He looked out the huge window before him and into the vastness of space.
There was an odd disturbance in the Force.
It was nothing dark or malevolent, but more pure and subtle, almost childlike. He frowned and ran his thumb and finger down his chin.
Some powerful Jedi was making a connection with another Jedi. A connection that should be impossible to make.
He motioned towards a datapad that was sitting beside the large holoscreen and computer system.
He had heard the stories of these powerful Jedi. For every generation one would rise and take the mantle. Since the rise of the Empire, no Jedi had claimed the mantle though, but maybe, just maybe, this powerful young Jedi would.
And when they do, Slayner thought, opened the datapad, I will have to make sure that they embrace the dark side, or there will be no hope for the Sith Empire.
Lane was pretty sure that what she had just done wasn't something that she would be able to live down anytime soon. Actually, she was pretty sure that she would be sixteen before anyone even began to forgive her. After all, it was a pretty stupid reason to be running away. She could just explain to her parents that she was going to Coruscant to check out the Jedi archives there, but then of course they would want to send someone with her.
She had always felt a strong connection with other Jedi, but not like what she was suddenly experiencing. It was like, just by looking at another Jedi she could hear their thoughts burying themselves into her mind, and it hurt. She had to find out what was going on with her, but she was a reserved, quiet person, and the last thing she wanted or needed was the Jedi Council probing her brain. So she was on a mission to Coruscant.
In Valin Horn's X-wing-it had been the first ship she could see. On the screen in front of her, Valin's astromech droid, Chopper, protested her actions.
"I'll return it as soon as I can," she insisted, but Chopper wasn't buying it, or shutting up.
Yup, there was no forgiveness for Lane Fel.
Review please, I'll try to make the next update faster! And since I hate HATE editing, I'm going to hope that I didn't make any grammar mistakes (yeah right!).