A/N: Wow! Thank you to all my reviewers for your encouragement, and here is the next chapter! I'm so sorry it took me so long to post this, but locked my account for a little while because I hadn't taken off a songfic I'd written ages ago. Here's the next chapter for you now! The next one will come on Friday afternoon. But first, some individual shout-outs.
Hopeless4Life: Your wish is my command!
zebraFinch: Yes, it will be shocking, but it won't happen just yet! Glad you like the plot.
Countess Jackman: Thank you! And here is the next chapter. I'm not updating as fast as my first fic, but I hope you forgive me!
LaPapillion: Wow! Thank you! I'm glad you're liking it.
doreenthatshot: Thank you :)
Stephanie C: Yeah, I thought I'd like Luke to have known Obi-Wan before...and yes, it does make it so they had a kind of family relationship, although Owen wouldn't let Luke see Obi-Wan much at all. Thanks for your review!
Sweet'Lovely: Thank you! Here is the next chapter for you :)
The Broken Bow: Aww, thank you. Glad you like it :)
TriGemini: Thanks! Hopefully the rest of the story is to your liking, too.
Aladailey: I'm glad you chose to read this fic! I'm a fairly big fan of the prequels myself, and I tend to write more on them, but I felt that I needed to write in the wonderful classic Original Trilogy. I hope I'm doing it justice!
This chapter is more focused on Padmé, so just assume that everything on Tatooine happened as normal. Enjoy!
Chapter Two
Luke raced home across the wasteland in his landspeeder. He and Obi-Wan had found the remains of the Jawas that had sold the Lars family the two droids – they had all been slaughtered by Imperial stormtroopers. The droids had been traced.
The fear and panic rising in Luke's throat threatened to overwhelm him, and it was all he could do not to break down when he saw the homestead.
It was in ruins – smoking holes in the ground all that was left of his home, his childhood. Debris littered the area, and it was obvious that some kind of battle had taken place. As much as he hated Tatooine, it was the only home he had ever known, and his aunt and uncle had loved him for his whole life.
Luke leapt out of the speeder and stumbled around, calling his uncle and aunt's names. Then he saw them – or what was left of them. Stunned, all he could do was stare. How could I have let this happen? His fear was slowly being burnt up in the fire of his anger.
The Empire did this, he thought, clenching his fists. They have destroyed everything right and just in the galaxy. They will not get away with it.
He turned abruptly and jumped back into the speeder.
Obi-Wan looked up from the bonfire of the dead Jawas as Luke approached. As soon as he saw his face, he knew that what he had feared was true. He walked over to him.
"There's nothing you could have done, Luke, had you been there," he said, placing a hand on the boy's shoulder. "You'd have been killed, too, and the droids would now be in the hands of the Empire."
Luke turned to him, and his face, though grieved, was steady. "I want to come with you to Alderaan. There's nothing left for me now." He looked at Obi-Wan, and his gaze was resolute. "I want to learn the ways of the Force and become a Jedi like my father."
Leia watched defiantly as the stormtroopers opened her cell door and let the Imperial guards in. Nothing you can do will make me betray the Rebellion, she thought, somewhat smugly. But then the torture droid entered, followed by Darth Vader. She shrank back as his menacing presence filled the tiny cell.
"And now, Your Highness, we will discuss the location of your hidden Rebel base," Vader stated as the torture droid moved forward.
She glared at the Dark Lord despite her fear. She didn't care what they did to her – if they killed her, the Rebellion's secrets would die with her.
Just before the droid's hypodermic needle touched her, Leia squeezed her eyes shut.
Mother! she screamed silently. And then she was lost in a haze of sharp pain.
Padmé sat up in her bed, eyes wide. Something told her that something was wrong – very wrong.
Leia…
She leapt out of bed and grabbed her robe, heading out the door. She knew Bail would still be awake – she had retired much earlier than normal, and it was still relatively early in the evening.
Bail was walking down the hall to her room, his face troubled. When he spotted her, he stopped and waited for her to approach.
"Bail, what has happened?" Padmé asked bluntly.
He looked at her for a moment, slightly taken aback. Regaining his composure, he answered gravely, "We have picked up a distress signal from the Rebel Blockade Runner. It appears that they were attacked by an Imperial Star Destroyer."
Padmé's hand touched her mouth. "Leia?" she whispered, dreading the answer.
"We believe she has been captured and is imprisoned on the Death Star," Bail said gently, his face full of compassion and sorrow.
She turned away and blinked rapidly to dispel the tears forming rapidly in her eyes. Not my daughter…not my daughter!
Stop being weak! she ordered herself, shaking her head slightly. You swore you would be strong. Are you going to stay here and do nothing?
She turned back to Bail, her mouth set in a grimly determined line. "Bail, prepare a ship for me. I'm going to help her."
"Padmé, it's too dangerous!" he exclaimed, following her as she walked down the hall. "Darth Vader is on board that Death Star. We need you in the Rebellion."
She stopped walking and turned to her friend. "I will not stay here on Alderaan while my daughter is being tortured. The Rebellion needs her. I need her." She took his hand in hers and fixed him with an intense gaze. "I will bring her back, Bail. I won't lose her."
Luke followed Obi-Wan and a Wookiee called Chewbacca to a booth where the starpilot, Han Solo, sat. A young man of about twenty-seven, he looked tough and confident, and greeted them with a cocky smirk.
"Han Solo. I'm captain of the Millennium Falcon," he introduced himself matter-of-factly, sizing them up. "Chewie here tells me you're looking for passage to the Alderaan system."
"Yes indeed," Obi-Wan answered. "If it's a fast ship," he added.
"Fast ship? You've never heard of the Millennium Falcon?" Han sounded incredulous.
Obi-Wan raised an eyebrow. "Should I have?"
"It's the ship that made the Kessel run in less than twelve parsecs!"
The old Jedi looked unimpressed.
"I've outrun Imperial starships. Not the local bulk-cruisers, mind you," Han continued boasting. "I'm talking about the big Corellian ships. She's fast enough for you, old man. What's the cargo?"
"Only passengers," Obi-Wan answered. "Myself, the boy, two droids –" he leaned forward slightly, emphasising his next words: "– and no questions asked."
"What is it?" Solo asked, a little curious. "Some kind of local trouble?"
Obi-Wan gave a small, mirthless smile. "Let's just say we'd like to avoid any Imperial entanglements."
The ghost of a smirk twisted the smuggler's lips. "Well, that's the real trick, isn't it? And it's going to cost you something extra. Ten thousand in advance."
"Ten thousand?" Luke cried indignantly. "We could almost buy our own ship for that!"
"But who's going to fly it, kid? You?" Han scoffed.
"You bet I could! I'm not such a bad pilot myself!" Luke shot back. He turned to his companion, fed up. "We don't have to sit here and listen…"
Obi-Wan held out his hand, silencing the young man. To Han, he said, "We haven't that much with us. But we could pay you two thousand now, plus fifteen when we reach Alderaan."
"Seventeen, huh?" Han pondered the offer for a few moments. "Okay. You guys got yourself a ship. We'll leave as soon as you're ready. Docking bay Ninety-four."
Obi-Wan nodded. "Ninety-four."
Only when she was a few parsecs away from the Death Star did Padmé realise that she didn't have a plan.
What were you going to do? Fly right up to them and demand Leia's release when you have no weapons and nothing to bargain with? she chastised herself. You fool, Padmé.
The space station loomed before her, and she was suddenly aware of the magnitude of the Alliance's enemy. She did not know the full extent of the Death Star's power, and she did not wish to ever find out. A prayer went forth silently from her lips – not only for her daughter's safety, but also for the success of Leia's mission. If she had failed, the Rebellion – and the galaxy –was doomed.
How am I going to get her out? she thought frantically. The station is believed to be fully operational, and it will be crawling with stormtroopers…
Perhaps leaving by herself with no plan of attack was not such a smart thing to do. Brave, but foolhardy. Somewhere in her zeal to be stronger, she seemed to have lost her logic.
Maybe I should return with reinforcements, and we can cause some damage as well as rescue Leia, she rationalized. Nodding resolutely, she began to reverse her starfighter.
Nothing happened.
Panicking, she checked the systems. They were all fully functioning. So why was she still travelling towards the Death Star?
She glanced up at the station and her body crew colder.
A tractor beam.
They had her.
She was trapped.
"My Lord, we have captured an Alderaanian starfighter. The pilot is the mother of Princess Leia."
"Very well," the cold voice of Darth Vader cut through his black mask. "Put her in a cell. I will question both of them later."
"Yes, my Lord." The stormtrooper nodded and hurried off.
Behind his faceless helmet, the Dark Lord smiled faintly. Now he had two Rebel leaders in his iron grip. They might have stolen the plans to the Death Star, but he would ensure that the Rebels never got a chance to use them. Soon the Rebellion would fall, just as the Old Republic did. Just as the Jedi Order did.
He would destroy them.