Remnants of the Empire
Chapter 4
Vengeance
Luke's footsteps echoed along the long hallway. He was aware of everything that was going on around him. Likewise, Leia was just as alert. They moved in perfect unison. Neither one of them talked, but they still communicated with each other. They were like shadows. Not one stormtrooper detected their presence. Finally, they reached the control room.
"Whew!" sighed Leia, relieved.
"Shh! There may still be more troops around!" hissed Luke urgently.
"He's been on edge ever since we arrived." thought Leia.
They had executed the same maneuver on the TIE fighters and Star Destroyers that they had before, without any problems. It worked so perfectly that Luke had become visibly suspicious. He had said that it seemed too peaceful for him. After they had gained access to the ship, Luke told Han to stay with the ship in case they had to make a fast getaway. Han hadn't liked that. He and Chewie had both protested, but Luke held firm. He told Han to find an exhaust vent, and open it. Han had blasted it completely away. Luke again told Han to stay with the ship, and then he and Leia silently dropped to the floor of the ship from the hole that Han had created.
"Do you hear that?" asked Luke, bringing her out of her memories.
"Hear what?"
Luke crouched down and laid his hand on the cool metal floor, feeling for vibrations.
"That low rumbling. It's some kind of private generator."
"Private generator? What do you mean by private?"
"I mean that it is only being used to power a small area of the ship."
"How do you know?"
"It makes a higher humming sound than larger generators."
"Why would they need a smaller generator in a huge ship where they have plenty of juice? They wouldn't need another generator."
"I don't know, but we don't have time to investigate. We need to get to the bridge. Come on."
Leia and Luke hurried down the dark hallway. Suddenly an alarm began blaring, revealing dozens of stormtroopers with an eerie red light. Leia and Luke quickly stood back to back, as their hands shot to their lightsaber hilts. They both whipped them out, and ignited them, just as the stormtroopers began firing on them.
"Gahhhh!" yelled Chewie.
"I know, Chewie!"
Han slapped the wall of the cockpit angrily. He muttered under his breath moodily.
"Yeah, make me stay. Won't make me stay. Can't BELIEVE he made me stay!
"That's it! I'm going after them!" snapped Han.
"Gahh!"
"No, you stay with the ship."
"Gaahhhhh!"
"All right, all right, all right!"
Han grabbed his blaster pistol and Chewie grabbed his crossbow. They both then dropped through the hole. Unfortunately, their landings were a little less graceful than Luke and Leia's.
"OWWW! Chewie!"
Han rolled Chewie off of him and stood up.
"I wonder where we are."
"Gahhh!"
"What?"
Han bent down, and tried to listen.
"I don't hear anything."
"Gahhh!"
"Someone fighting?"
"Gahhh!"
"It must be Luke and Leia! Come on!"
Han and Chewie sprinted off down the hallway toward the sounds of battle.
"Oh dear, where are we?" asked Threepio nervously.
Artoo beeped nervously.
"Well, maybe we can find a computer terminal, and you can find out."
For once, Artoo whistled agreeably.
"All right then, lets go."
3PO started off down the hallway, with Artoo close behind. Suddenly, four stormtroopers rounded the corner, and spotted the two droids.
"Hey! You two! Stop right there!"
"Oh no Artoo! We must be on an Imperial Ship! Master Luke and Mistress Leia must have been captured! Run Artoo!"
"Hey! You stop right now! Go get them men!"
The stormtroopers had no trouble catching the fleeing droids and disabling them.
"Good work men. Take them to the prison level." ordered the lieutenant.
A shadowy figure followed the small band of stormtroopers, curious about their hostages. It moved silently, not alerting the troopers of it's presence at all. Suddenly it froze, and allowed the troopers to get away from it. It turned, and ran back in the other direction.
"Look out Luke, there's one behind you!" cried Leia warningly.
Luke spun, and in a single movement, disarmed the stormtrooper.
"Thanks Leia." he said calmly.
The master and padawan, brother and sister were standing back to back, in the center of the crowd of stormtroopers. Even with the Force to guide them, the two were slowly beginning to tire, while the crowd was relentless.
"We can't keep this up much longer! We're going to need to break through soon." said Leia.
"I know. I have a plan." Said Luke quietly.
"A plan?"
"Yes. Do you see that big trooper over there, the one with the rifle?"
"Which one? They're all big!"
"The one all the way to the left."
"Oh, that one?"
"Yes, that one. Now, when he fires his rifle again, I am going to break off to your left, and force a way through, and I want you follow and stop any of them from following us. Understand?"
"Yes master." Said Leia confidently.
Luke suddenly broke off to the left as the stormtrooper fired his rifle. Leia followed closely, her humming purple lightsaber blades keeping the pursuing stormtroopers at bay. Luke suddenly began sprinting away from the troopers, with Leia close on his heels. They rounded the corner, only to run directly into another squad of stormtroopers coming the other way. Luke took advantage of their surprise, and plunged into them, spinning and wielding his emerald lightsaber with ease. It seemed that it was a complete extension of his arm. He slashed and thrust with all of the skill and experience of a Jedi Master. Leia joined in the fray, using every technique that Luke had taught her, and making up new moves as well. The two Jedi's blades seemed to weld together, blending bright emerald green with deep royal purple. They broke through the squad of troopers, and continued running down the hallway. When they had lost the stormtroopers, Luke signaled Leia to stop.
"Leia, do you sense anything?"
"Do you mean that…evil feeling?"
"Yes. That is the Dark Side."
"Really?"
"Yes. That is what we are sensing."
"Who would have the power to use the Force, and especially the Dark Side?"
"I don't know, but we need to find out. Follow me. I have a plan."
"Come on Chewie!" yelled Han impatiently.
He turned around and looked at the troopers that were hot on their trail. He suddenly had an idea.
"Chewie! We need to hide in side hallway, quick!"
"Gahhh?"
"Don't ask me now! Just hurry up!"
Han and Chewie ran into a smaller hallway, and waited for the stormtroopers to pass. Suddenly, Han heard a lightsaber igniting, and saw a flash of green. The next moment, he looked down, and saw Luke's lightsaber across his throat. Chewie had one of Leia's blades across his throat.
"Han! Chewie! I told you to stay on the ship!"
"Oh yes, sorry master." said Han sarcastically.
"There was no way that I was going to stay on the ship, when you risked your life, and the life of my wife!" he yelled.
"It's okay, you two. Besides, this is not our current problem. The problem is the squadron of stormtroopers that you have brought with you." Said Leia.
"That is not a problem. We just need to stay with our plan." Said Luke confidently.
"So, great and esteemed Jedi Master, what is this plan of yours?" asked Han.
"We need to capture two… no, three stormtroopers, take their uniforms, make our way to the bridge, and capture the captain."
"That was exactly our plan!"
"Well then, let's get going." said Leia.
The squad of stormtroopers walked past, without noticing that three of their number were missing.
"I STILL can't see a thing in this helmet!" said Luke.
To anyone else in the hallway, it would seem that three stormtroopers were leading their Wookie prisoner to another prison level.
"Come on. The main bridge is this way." said Luke
The dark shadow watched the stormtroopers lead the Wookie onto the bridge. It reached into it's cloak, and pulled out a blaster. It ran across the hallway, and slipped inside the doorway just before it closed. It quickly hid behind some storage crates, and watched the events that unfolded.
"Be ready." warned Luke warily. "I sense the Dark Side of the Force very strongly in this room."
A quiet, sinister laugh filled the room.
"Very good, my esteemed Jedi master." Said a dark form, emerging from the shadows.
Luke and Leia quickly reached for their lightsabers, while Han and Chewie drew their blasters.
"So, you wish to fight? Well then, so be it."
Suddenly, six separate hidden doors opened, and dozens of stormtroopers entered the room. The dark figure reached under his cloak, pulled out a lightsaber, and ignited it. A crimson blade burst from the hilt. He stepped into the light where Luke and Leia could see him. Their foe was so twisted and mutilated, that Luke gasped.
"No! It can't be! Our father threw you into the reactor core on the Death Star!" yelled Leia incredulously
"Not quite, my young Jedi. You see, I was able to grab onto a beam, and pull myself up."
"Han and Chewie, can you handle the troopers? yelled Luke.
"Yeah, sure! You handle Palpatine!"
Sidious leapt at the two Jedi, driving them back. He whirled effortlessly, his heart rate not rising one bit, while Luke and Leia were already panting from exhaustion. Sidious Force pushed them into the wall, where they fell to the ground, breathing heavily.
"You fools! Do you really think that I could be defeated by the likes of you?" Sidious laughed.
Leia gritted her teeth. She knew that they needed to keep fighting, or Sidious would destroy them. She gathered her strength, and Force jumped over him. She spun, and blocked his swing at her neck. She swung at his chest with one blade, and brought the other down onto his head. He blocked the attacks with ease. He chuckled.
"You are much too slow, and you rely too much on just your lightsaber."
Leia's kick caught him directly in the chin.
"What was that, I didn't hear that part?" asked Leia, chuckling.
She charged at Sidious again, wielding her lightsaber with more speed than ever before. She blocked his stab at her neck, and retaliated. She stabbed at him with one blade, flipped over him, and slashed at his feet with the other blade. He jumped over the attack with grace that belied his age. As he came down from the leap, he brought his red saber down hard upon Leia. She was just barely able to get her lightsaber up to block the swing.
Suddenly, Sidious Force pushed Leia hard into the wall. She groaned, and slumped to the ground.
Luke looked at Leia. She seemed okay, but she was in no condition to fight. He crouched down, and sprang at Sidious. Luke was able to drive the Sith Lord away from his sister. He attacked with all of the strength that he had. Luke wove a glowing web around Sidious, using the most complicated techniques that he knew. He looked every inch the Jedi that he was, wielding his emerald lightsaber with all the expertise of a Master.
"You have grown even stronger since I last saw you. You don't need that puny girl with you do drag you down." said Sidious.
"You're wrong. Leia is the reason I have grown." said Luke calmly.
"You know that you cannot defeat me! Surrender now!"
"Your overconfidence is still your weakness." said Luke coolly.
"Your faith in your friends is still yours" hissed the Dark Lord savagely.
Sidious raised his hand. Brilliant blue bolts of Sith Lightning emerged from his gnarled hand. Luke was thrown against the wall as the bolts caught him in the shoulder. He glanced over at Han. He gasped as he saw that the stormtroopers had pinned both Han and Chewie down. Luke looked back at Sidious.
"Now, young Skywalker, you will die!" said Sidious evilly.
Sidious raised his lightsaber, and brought it down on Luke.
"Uuugh!"
Luke looked up in surprise at Sidious. He was holding his shoulder, and gritting his teeth. Something off in a corner caught his eye. A dark figure was standing in the shadows behind some crates, with a blaster in it's hand. The figure stepped forward. Luke, Leia, Han, and Chewie gasped in recognition.
"No, it can't be!
Ohhh, I love suspense! Sorry I haven't updated sooner, my brother has been hogging the computer, and I've had some distractions. Sorry. In our next chapter, our heroes get a shocking surprise. Stay tuned!