Remnants of the Empire

Chapter 3

Disclaimer: Duh, I do not own Star Wars or anything else for that matter, I'm flat broke

In the blackness of space, two old friends caught up with each other.

"How are you doing? I haven't seen you since that celebration on Endor! asked Wedge happily.

"Yeah, how have you been lately?" asked Luke, curious about what his old friend had been doing since he had last seen him.

"Pretty good, we get a lot of calls from the Republic Fleet to help them out with skirmishes against those renegade ships from the remnants of the Imperial Fleet. That's interesting enough, I guess. But it's sad that so many rookies also have to go into those fights. It really gets me upset that we don't have enough experience, and that the young guys have to step up before they really should."

"I know its hard." said Luke sympathetically.

"Look out, there's an asteroid field coming up ahead!" said Han warningly.

"So, why would the Imperial Fleet want to attack Corellia?" asked Leia, trying to change the subject.

"You know I really need to concentrate, Leia." said Han tensely. "We also need to keep an eye out for ships. A ship could fly right past us and the scanner wouldn't pick it up. The asteroids interfere with it."

"Well Leia, Corellia is a huge center for trade, even though a lot of the goods are stolen. So if the remnants of the Fleet capture Corellia, the Republic would loose a lot of its economy." explained Luke.

"Thanks Luke, for the economics lesson, but you're really distracting me!" said Han tersely.

Suddenly a large asteroid came into view.

"You'd better watch out!" cried Leia.

"Look out! Get out of the way!" yelled Wedge.

"Wedge, you need to move too, there's an asteroid at your back!

"Whoa!"

Wedge quickly dodged out of the way

"I've told you, you need to keep your wits about you in an asteroid field." said Han.

"Thanks Han. I owe you one."

"I won't forget that Wedge." said Han, smiling.

"So, how do you plan on getting on to one of those ships to stop the attack? Any ship that they see approaching, they blow up." said Leia.

"Simple. We cause a distraction, you guys get in there, and we get away as fast as we can." explained Wedge.

"You mean we're going to be stranded on the flagship of the Imperial Fleet, without any way of getting off!" yelled Leia.

"That's the plan, Leia." said Han.

"Besides, they do have escape pods on board." said Luke.

"Why didn't anyone explain this to me BEFORE we left?"

"There wasn't any time. Besides, once we capture the captain of the ship, and hold him hostage, they might let us leave."
"And if they don't let us leave?"

"Then we leave anyway."

Leia sighed.

"Next time, I am definitely coming up with the plans."
"So we can get caught in another trash compactor?" asked Han innocently.

"No, so we don't have to go into one in the first place." said Leia angrily.

"Okay, break it up you two." laughed Luke.

"Just like old times, isn't it Luke?" chuckled Wedge.

"Just like old times."

Suddenly, an alarm light began flashing in the cabin, blaring out a warning.

"What's the matter?" asked Han.

Luke reached into the Force, to detect what was going on.

"It's a TIE fighter, coming right at us."

"Then the fleet must be around here somewhere, where else could he have come from?" asked Leia.

"Well he has a lot of guts coming right at us, when we outnumber him at least ten to one." growled Han.

"Umm, Han, I don't think we're outnumbering them, I think they're outnumbering us!" yelled Wedge.

At least twenty TIE fighters suddenly swooped down on them, firing constantly.

"Why didn't the sensors pick them up?" asked Leia.

"Han told you! The asteroid field interfered with the sensor!" cried Wedge.

"Come on Luke, the Rogue Squadron is going to need some help! Let's go teach those fighters a lesson!" yelled Leia tensely.

They ran to the gun pods, strapped themselves in, and began firing back at the TIE fighters. Even with the Rogue Squadron lending support, our heroes were outgunned severely, and began losing ground.

"We can't hold on much longer!" cried Wedge. A flaming TIE fighter shot by, narrowly missed hitting him. "We have to retreat! Han; you, Luke, Leia, and Chewie go, find the fleet, and get on with your mission. We'll lead the fighters away!"

A red beam of light lanced past the Falcon, narrowly missing Wedge's ship.

"We can't leave you!" yelled Han.

"GO!" It was not a plea, it was a command.

Another blast whizzed past them, taking out an X-Wing.

"NO! We can't leave you."

Suddenly a TIE fighter swooped past them, firing insanely. A random shot hit Wedge's ship right in the cockpit. The ship instantly exploded into a fireball, flames shooting out from where their friend had been just seconds before.

"WEDGE!" cried Luke and Han together.

"Han, it's too late! Wedge was right, we need to get out of here!" yelled Leia, taking charge.

"Gahhhh!" yelled Chewie.

"You're right" said Han, sighing.

Luke suddenly got up, and left the cockpit.

Leia looked over at Han.

"You need to pilot the ship. I'll talk to him."

Leia left the cockpit, and followed after Luke. She found him on his bunk, with his head in his hands. She walked over to him and sat down beside him.

Leia glanced over at Luke, and asked, "You okay?"

Luke didn't respond, he was staring numbly out of the window, and Leia thought she saw tears shining in his eyes.

"You okay?" she repeated.

"What? Oh… yeah, I'm fine. Don't worry about me, Leia."

Luke turned away, and tried to stem the tears. He wiped his eyes, and tried to reach into the Force to calm himself.

"I knew Wedge even when I was a little kid on Tatooine. He used to stick up for me a lot, because I was always being picked on. We had the greatest times together. When he left, I missed him a lot. Then, I finally saw him again during the Rebellion. I always just thought of Wedge as just sort of a friend, a comrade, someone that I would want to cover my back. I-I never really thought about it. He was just my friend, and I was his. I realize now that he wasn't just my friend. He died for me. He gave himself up so that we could complete some dumb mission!

He turned back to Leia, tears now flowing freely down his face.

"He was my first friend. He stuck up for me, but when he needed me, I didn't do anything!"

Leia was shocked. She had never heard Luke tell anyone about his childhood before, and he had never shown such emotion over a loss. She quickly regained her thoughts. She sighed. Speeches were definitely not her thing, especially not the heart to heart stuff, but she knew she had to do it for Luke.

"You always told me not to dwell on things that you had no control over. You couldn't have done anything to save Wedge. He died helping us, and he wouldn't have wanted it any other way. You need to think about it, listen to your heart and the Force, and act like the Jedi that you are."

Even later, when he looked back on that moment, Luke wasn't exactly sure what it was that broke through his despair, and made him come to his senses, but something did.

"You're right Leia."

He stood up, and smiled at her.

"You have grown so much as a Jedi, even in just a few months. I am proud to have you as my padawan.

Suddenly, Han's voice crackled over the communication system.

"Luke, Leia, get up here!"

Luke looked at Leia.

"I think it's time you put your training to the test. It sounds like Han found the Fleet."

"I think you're right."

Side by side, they both made their way to the cockpit.

Our heroes have found the Imperial Fleet, and are now trying to find a way to get on board. Meanwhile, 3PO is concerned with far less important things.

"R2, stop it! I have had quite enough of you! I was trying to get my circuits some rest before we get to wherever we're going."

Artoo whistled in reply.

"Oh be quiet! I'm sure that wherever we're going, it is very peaceful and very safe.

Artoo beeped and whistled sarcastically.

"Don't laugh at me. Remember, it was your idea to get on this ship in the first place!"

Artoo beeped sullenly.

"Now please be quiet and let me get some rest!"

Artoo beeped mockingly as he rolled over to another corner of the hold.

"I heard that!" yelled 3PO

Author's Note:

Thanks guys, for the reviews. They really do help me. Stay tuned for our next chapter, "Vengeance". I should update within a week or so.

May the Force be with you!