Remnants of the Empire
Chapter 5
Decoys
Disclaimer: Well duh, I obviously don't own SW!
"Wedge!" yelled Luke.
Wedge's face was hard. He stared at Sidious with a hatred that Luke had never seen in his face before.
"I have lost countless friends because of you! You will not take any more from me! I swear that I will kill you Sidious!"
Wedge raised his blaster again. He aimed directly for Sidious's mutated and scarred face. Suddenly, the pistol flew out of his hand, and into the Dark Lord's.
"You fool! You are no match for the power of the Dark side!" laughed Sidious.
Wedge screamed with rage, his face as red as his enemy's lightsaber. He leaped at Sidious, punching and kicking. His attack was so fierce that it forced the Sith Lord to retreat a few steps. Finally, Sidious raised the blaster, aimed for Wedge's face, and fired.
"NOO!" yelled Leia.
Wedge flinched, waiting for the bolt to hit him. It never did. Leia and Luke deflected the bolt through the Force at the same time. Sidious snarled.
"You pathetic fools! You are too foolish to realize something that is right in front of your eyes! Do you really believe that the Empire would think some insignificant little planet that sells stolen goods would be in any way important? It was I who allowed the position of our next attack to be revealed. This is attack is nothing but a decoy, to draw away the Republic fleet and more importantly, to lure in the last two remaining Jedi in the entire galaxy!" yelled Sidious
He stood up, backed into the shadows, and disappeared.
"Hurry! We have to find out where he's going! yelled Luke.
Wedge grabbed Luke as he ran past, and pulled him back.
"Wait! We can't do anything about him right now! We need to get off this ship. Since it's not going to attack Corellia, it could be going anywhere. We need to get off the ship too.
Luke looked at Wedge.
"You're right. Let's go!"
As they ran down the hallway, Luke and Leia questioned Wedge mercilessly.
"How in the world did you survive that explosion? We all thought you were dead!" asked Leia breathlessly.
"Well, technically, my ship didn't explode." explained Wedge.
"What are you talking about! We saw your ship blow up!" exclaimed Luke.
"Well, I wasn't on that ship. I used a decoy. My X-Wing was only droid controlled."
"So we thought you were dead for nothing!" exclaimed Luke.
Wedge suddenly stopped them.
"Wait a second. I need to tell you guys something."
"So you're saying that you saw two droids that looked exactly like Artoo and Threepio being taken to the prison level?" asked Leia.
"Yeah. I thought we should check it out."
"I guess we should. Lets go."
Suddenly, Luke heard footsteps echoing along the hallway. He motioned for the other four to hide while he looked down the hallway. A pair of yellow eyes was shining farther down the dark hallway. Luke reached slowly for his lightsaber.
"Oh, Master Luke it is you!" exclaimed a voice.
"Threepio? Is that you?" called Luke.
He reached into the Force, and detected a presence that he didn't recognize. He jumped out of the way just in time as a red bolt of light flew past his head. His saber was out and blazing in an instant. His head snapped to his left. He saw a shining white helmet, and the ominous outline of an Imperial blaster. The stormtrooper raised the blaster, and fired again. Luke easily deflected the shot directly back at the trooper. As the trooper fell, another bolt whizzed toward him. He was caught completely off guard. Luke just barely ducked under the blast.
"Luke, look out!"
Luke spun toward the source of the voice. He caught a glimpse of something red flying toward him, but suddenly a purple blur filled his entire field of vision. Leia pulled her lightsaber away from his face, and turned to block another incoming shot from a blaster.
"Han! You and Wedge get Threepio, and get out of here. Chewie, follow us!" ordered Luke.
Han and Wedge grabbed Threepio's arms, and hauled him away. Luke jumped forward, with Leia and Chewie close behind. They cut a swath through the gathering crowd of stormtroopers.
"So, what's your plan?" asked Leia casually, as she deflected a bolt away.
"Well, we need to find out where R2 is being held, and get him out of here. Hopefully soon, or more troops will arrive."
"Right. Well, see you then!" Leia turned, and ran straight into the advancing stormtroopers.
"Wait! Leia!"
Luke had to spin and deflect a shot that was heading toward Chewie. When he turned back, she was gone. A trail of fallen stormtroopers marked her path. Luke gritted his teeth.
"I hate it when she does that! Come on Chewie, there is nothing we can do now."
With that, they ran in the same direction as Han and Wedge, back toward the ship.
Leia stopped. Panting, she glanced behind her.
"Whew. I've lost them."
She looked forward. Up ahead, the hallway branched off left and right into two directions.
"Great. Now what do I do?"
Leia sighed and knelt down. She closed her eyes, and probed the area through the Force. After a few minutes, she opened her eyes, and sprinted down the left hallway.
"Luke! Where's Leia?" asked Han.
"She isn't here?" asked Luke.
"I thought she was with you."
"We got separated. We'd better go look for her."
"Lets go! Chewie, stay with Threepio and the ship." Said Han.
Leia ran down the prison bay hallway. She reached out with the Force to guide her. She felt Artoo's familiar presence in a room three doors down. She ran up to the doorway, and drew her lightsaber. She ignited one blade, and in the same motion, stabbed it into the door. She cut a circular hole into the doorway, kicked it in, and stepped through the hole she had made. Leia looked at Artoo. He was tied to two spikes in the wall, hanging down. Leia used the Force to hold Artoo up while she cut his bonds.
"Come on Artoo, we need to hurry up and get off the ship!" exclaimed Leia.
Artoo whistled in agreement. He rolled after Leia, following her out of the doorway and down the hall.
Luke and Han ran down the hall, until Luke suddenly saw a shadow on the wall. He motioned to Han to get behind him. Luke crept up to the entrance to the hallway, ignited his lightsaber, and leapt out, bringing his blade down hard on Leia, who was running down the hallway. She just barely had enough time to get her blade up to block it. Luke looked at her in surprise.
"Leia! We thought you were in trouble."
"No brother, I'm fine."
Leia looked at Han.
"Sorry to worry you like that."
Han walked over to Leia and kissed her on the cheek. She kissed him back.
Artoo beeped loudly.
"Artoo's right. Come on you guys. This is not the time. We have to get going."
They looked at him, embarrassed.
"Sorry Luke." They said.
The three of them hurried down the hallway.
"Gahhhhh!" Yelled Chewbacca.
"No Chewie, we can't go looking for them, we might get lost. Besides, Han told us to stay with the ship.
Suddenly, Han, Luke, Leia, and R2 came around the bend.
"Okay, everyone's here, so let's get off this ship, finally!" said Han.
"Good idea! Let's go!" said Wedge.
The Millennium Falcon launched off the Vengeance just as it blasted into hyperspace.
"Well, we need to find out where the fleet is heading, but first we need to get to Coruscant, and warn the New Republic that the Sith have survived, and the Imperial fleet is planning to strike somewhere. We need to find out where and when." Said Luke.
"Agreed. So what are we waiting for?" said Han impatiently.
Darth Sidious walked over to the viewscreen on the bridge. He turned on the hologram projector and switched it on.
"Admiral, have you recalculated your position to the Jomino system?"
"Yes Lord, we are under way to Jomino."
"Very good, Admiral.
Sidious chuckled to himself.
"Soon those two Jedi will find where the fleet has gone, and they will bring the entire New Republic Military. Those fools. They are walking into a trap. Soon my apprentice will be ready, and I will again rule the galaxy.
Sorry! I've been away from the computer for a long while. I plan to update again soon next week. Sorry for the delay. Tune in next time for Coruscant.