The Fallen Savior
Summary: For the deadliest and most powerful man in the galaxy, Lord Vader, all seems to be in his grasp, all except for his redemption. Redemption, it comes in many forms. It comes for those both of the light and the dark. In a world where there is no black and white, but shades of gray, Lord Vader discovers what it means to be a Jedi, and a father.
Chapter 2: Art of an Angel
"You are keyed in for landing Skywalker," came the response from the control tower.
"Docking bay 5, right?" Skywalker verified.
"Yes, that's right, and if I may say, welcome to Bespin." There was a click as Control cut the connection.
Luke Skywalker sighed and lay back in his seat. To say the least he wasn't overjoyed at coming to Bespin, and his reasons for coming didn't really fall under the category of leisure, which is what he told docking control. There was a series of beeps and whistles coming in through his com, followed by a translation on his nav computer.
"Glad to see that one of us is happy to be here." Luke said with one eye open, reading what R2-D2 had to say.
"Better than Degoba huh? I don't know R2, sometimes people can be just as nasty as monsters." R2 responded with a series of loud exasperated beeps.
"Oh, can't be any worse than Yoda? You guys just never get along. Master Yoda's just a little weird." R2 let out a long sad whistle.
"Eh, cheer up, zap him the next time we see him, ok?" Luke looked out the cockpit, at the crimson red sky, a sunset in the clouds of Bespin. The blood red sky was slowly darkening as the hour past, giving way to night. His view was cut off, as his X wing entered the docking bay. There was a light thump as R2 guided them down to a perfect landing.
His X wing was approached by a docking droid with a ladder, for him to climb out and down of his cockpit with. Luke looked over the side, and contracting slightly, released himself in a high arching jump. He landed almost soundlessly a couple of feet away from his X wing. What he saw, or perhaps lack there of, disturbed him greatly. The entire docking bay, usually housing 5-7 yacht class ships was completely empty, of both ships and people.
The uncomfortable silence was broken by the docking droid, "Sir, may I be of any assistance to you."
"R2, prep the engines," Luke said cautiously.
There was affirmative beep.
"… and try and contact the nearest Rebel Base, we... no Bespin is going to need all the help it can get."
There was suddenly a melancholy moan that came from his astromech droid, and Luke feared the worst. His communications were jammed. Even with a farm boy's optimism, he knew they were in trouble. But he knew he had to go on. Han, Leia and Chewy were depending on him. They were his family. He could not allow his dream, his vision to come to pass.
"R2, let's get going then, we've got a trap to walk into."
……………………………………………………………………………..
"Yeah, and see you guys later," said the blue clad officer, the uniform of the Wing guard or more commonly know as the Bespin Security Guards. "Don't stay up too late."
"Yeah, whatever Daniel," said one of the other guards.
Daniel took a last sip of his coffee, which after years of service under the Wing guard, did absolutely nothing for him. Throwing the cup in the trash, he palmed the blast door open. Yawning he continued his way through the maze of hallways, and stair cases until he reached the exit. This was Bespin Security's central control tower. It was a looming white structure that was a pride of Bespin. Bespin's security system was certified by the Republic as A+ quality, and ranked top ten in this sector of space. No small part due to Labot, the security head, and Lando's personal escort and aid. Daniel frowned, they hadn't seen Labot or Lando recently, then again Lando probably just went on another gambling trip to Nar Shada. Daniel palmed the last door open. Stepping outside to the typically busy and vibrant night life of Bespin, he instead found himself in an empty corridor.
There was a clinking sound behind him, and he turned to see that the door wouldn't shut, it seemed to be jammed, but something, something that he could just faintly make ou...
The guard's body crumpled to the floor. Stepping over the body was a shape of a man, a man wearing a stealth field generator. Actually, if one focused, you could see that there were the faint silhouettes of about 10 men.
There was an unspoken signal and the small group of Fallen Angels slipped through the jammed door, dragging the body of the stunned guard with them. Even without their stealth generators the Fallen Angels were adept at sticking to the shadows, and remaining unseen, but with them, they were near undetectable. After electro-cuffing and hiding the stunned guard, the silent group of angels moved onward. They navigated the maze of corridors effortlessly, and the security doors seemed to willing open for them under their security and computer skills. Guards were disposed of before they even knew what hit them.
A short hour minutes later, they were 10 yards, and 2 doors away from the central control center. One of the Fallen Angels immediately knelt down beside the control panel, he started to get to work when suddenly they all froze, standing so still that they truly became invisible.
The voice of a guard came floating toward them, "Yeah, I think I'm heading home early too, you know Daniel isn't the only one with wife and kids."
The ambient sounds of machinery and conversation were cut off as the blast door dosed behind the guard. He approached the second door, the door that the Fallen Angels were behind, and opened it. His step faltered for a split second, but he kept walking forward. His stride quickened to a run, and one hand flew to his ear, activating his com unit, and he was struck down before he could say anything.
The Angels breathed a silent sigh of relief, only to hear the sirens of the security center. The guard was a former Republic special ops officer, and his sharp eyes had caught the sight of the man kneeling near the door. As one of the Fallen Angels approached the stunned body, he pulled out the guard's hand out of his pocket. In that split second, the guard had pushed the panic button.
Immediately the sounds of the Wing guards were heard seemingly everywhere. There were shouts, and orders coming from the control room.
"Damn it."
With those word the Angels, so silent before, were suddenly in action. Among them was Lieutenant commander Dihon, a close associate of Commander Massi. He was giving quick decisive orders, getting his men ready, and in position for the ensuing fight.
Dihon made his last arrangements, "Jahé move farther from the door, Anthony, back her up. Darren, keep your position, don't move till you sight your enemy." Dihon got nods in response. He himself, was standing on the left side of the door, with his back to wall. "Kex, and you get this door to open."
"Tell me when." Kex replied.
"Lady's and gentlemen, let's take the fight to them" He looked down at Kex, who was still kneeling by the controls. "Now."
The double doors opened, and the Wing guards were caught by surprise. Many were still grouping, and readying their weapons. What they saw coming towards them was a sight they would never forget, black angels.
Dihon ran towards his first target with inhuman speed. He drew his weapon at the last second, a silver bladed lightsaber. With a jump he flipped over his opponent, successfully striking him on the head as he sailed over. The second his feet touched the ground, he surged forward, choosing his next target. By now the Wing guard, Republic certified, outnumbering the Fallen Angels 30 to 10, now 20 to 10, had gotten their act together. The first shot was fired at Dihon; he effortlessly deflected it back, the bolt striking his assailant in the chest. He ran along the wall gracefully, his lightsaber extended, striking two men across the neck. The silver blades of the Fallen Angels were forming a dance, their styles, all seemingly unique, forming a cohesive piece of art. Twirling his body in mid jump, Dihon struck the last guard once in the front across the chest, and once in back as he landed behind him. There was a faint grunt as the guard fell to the ground.
"Casualties?" Lieutenant Dihon asked.
"Two, the rest are stunned." reported the medic of the team, Jahé. She was of coarse, referring to Bespin Security. The ten Fallen Angels stood untouched unscathed, and hardly out of breath.
"Excellent. Jahé, check for injuries and see what you can do about them."
She nodded in affirmative, and got on her knees immediately to scan the wounds they had inflicted. "Kex, how long will it take you to get this blast door open?"
"Well considering the bi-layer, and internal security systems, and the increased access control, I might need to find a back door or some kind of brid..."
"How long," Kex was new to the group, and wordy for a Fallen Angel. Hacker types were always a little strange, but Kex's skills were unmatched, even astromech droids, and security droids paled in comparison. Some wondered if Kex had a neural implant. Though prone to side affects, neural implants were popular among hackers, or as Kex liked to say it, computer analyzers. But Dihon doubted it, Kex wasn't a cheat, the Fallen Angel's were honorable, and Kex, though more talkative, was no exception.
"30 minutes to an hour." Dihon nodded, patience was a virtue that was taught among the Fallen Angels. Kex knelt beside the controls, and was about to get to work, when the blast doors opened. All ten Fallen Angels had their silver lightsabers out before the door was half way open.
Commander Massi stepped out of the central control room, behind him, lay five stunned bodies of the remaining guards. "Good evening."
Dihon let a flicker of surprise pass over his face. His companions were not as good at hiding theirs. "I was accompanying you the whole time," Massi said with a smile. "I went ahead when you got to this level. When one of the guards stepped out, and I slipped in to the control center." He looked at the 30 some bodies. "It looks like I missed out on some excitement." He turned his attention to the small group. "In the future, this group will be working together, I commend your skills. Come in, we still have some business to take care of."
Dihon could still barely believe that he hadn't detected Commander Massi all this time. He shook his head, rumors had it that he was training with Lord Vader himself.
"Dihon my friend."
"Yes commander Massi?"
"Just Massi, Dihon. The Fallen Angels have nothing against friendship. I was watching your little fight in the security camera."
"And?" Dihon said apprehensively.
Commander Massi smiled, "You're just an able fighter as ever, if not even better than the old days."
Dihon smiled as well, and grasped Commander Massi's outstretched hand in a firm but friendly hand shake. "It's been a while," said Massi, "Since we've had a chance to talk. Unfortunately it will have to wait just a little longer. Dihon, get Bespin's city shields to power down. Kex, get the defense grid turned off."
"Done," both said within the next minute. Now that the city shields were down, any chance of an arial battle would be suicide for cloud city. Bespin was almost in the Lord Vader's hands.
"Good," said Commander Massi. "Now we hand it to the stormtroopers." Massi said this last bit with a measured amount of scorn. Stormtroopers, though Massi saw the need for them, would get no respect from him. Especially their commander, General Brutus. Brutus had served on Lord Vader's ship for almost as long as Massi. They had served on the same special ops team, when Massi was yet to become a Fallen Angel, and Brutus was a heavy weapons specialist. General Brutus was everything a Fallen Angel shouldn't be. "Now it's the stormtroopers job to take Bespin, and they'll probably make a mess out of it."
There was a resounding laugh among the other Fallen Angels, who all shared the same sentiment. "Dihon, check camera 34." The large screen on one side of the room, switched to camera 34. It showed the picture of an empty cell, and two tied up stormtroopers. It seemed Labot, Lando, and Leia had escaped. If that was so than General Brutus had a more organized resistance to deal with. Labot was not unfamous for his bravery, and he would lead the Wing guards well. Commander Massi smiled, but the empty room also meant that their plan was perfectly in motion, and that the bait was set.
Commander Massi looked at another screen, on it was a small figure clad in robes moving cautiously down an empty corridor, and was being followed by a blue astromech droid.
Skywalker... you better be ready.