Luke was sitting in a cross-legged position on one of the soft floor cushions in the Observation Hall. He had been meditating for half an hour and some future events were clearer to him now, although others still remained in the shadows. He could feel the tears on his cheeks, but he paid no attention to them. They would be of no help when...
Suddenly, he was thrown out of his meditative state by his father's abruptly overwhelming presence in his mind.
'Luke!'
'Yes, Father?' he replied instantly.
'Meet me in the Great Hall at once. Areen woke up and informed me that a massive attack has been plotted for noon today!'
'I'm on my way!' The young man darted for the doors.
'Alert everyone you pass!' Anakin ordered. 'We must evacuate all official buildings. They will be primary targets.'
'Acknowledged.'
'Where is the President?' Anakin asked. 'We must take her to the bunker.'
'I think she was scheduled to visit an exhibition at Coruscant's Gallery of Art. She insisted on not allowing them to interfere with our daily lives. Let's pray she's not gone yet.'
'I will look for her. Set off the alarm! The first to arrive will use the PA system. We must evacuate Coruscant's streets, as well. They're likely to be bombarded.'
'Bombarded?' Luke's mind froze, in shock. 'With what? How did they get the ships and weapons necessary for an attack of this scale?'
'A final shipment of Star Destroyers that Palpatine ordered built and I was never informed about. Somehow, Ylek found out about them.'
'But... but, this isn't a string of calculated murders anymore. This is a rebellion!' Luke's mind could hardly cope with what was happening.
'Exactly,' was Anakin's subdued, glum reply.
Luke burst out of the lift and bumped into Areen Worzzlek, who intended to enter. The two ended up on the floor in a tangle of limbs.
"Areen!" Luke exclaimed, standing up with effort, and helping the other man up. "What are you doing here?"
"I was on my way to warn you," Areen replied, trying to catch his breath. "Your father left sickbay before I could tell him."
"Tell him what?"
"They plan to blow up this building and several others, too!" Areen said, grabbing Luke's upper arm.
Luke was speechless for a short, horrifying moment.
"W-w-what?! HOW?" he asked.
"Did you arrest Keyholm, the Security Chief? He's involved," Areen explained.
"Yes, we did. He was one of Mon Mothma's most trusted men, and a genius as far as computers and explosives are concerned." The young man paled, as the implications of his own words became evident.
"He's been planting explosive charges in the basements of several buildings. As Chief of Security, he and his men have got access everywhere, on any planet."
"The traffic droids on Veltra," Luke understood now.
"Yes," Areen nodded. "And the land-mine on Ansion. The bomb in the Falcon was planted by the two traitors in your personal escort who shot me."
"Those are dead. They committed suicide," Luke said.
"I see," Areen's eyes looked absent for a second. "Many other rooms are bugged too, not just your father's! Even the Great Hall!" he remembered suddenly.
Luke smiled and placed a hand on the other man's shoulder, squeezing it affectionately.
"We know, my friend. We've been searching the building discreetly for the last couple days. Most of it is secure now."
Areen's eyes misted at the sound of the word Luke had used to address him. He looked down in shame.
"You shouldn't call me that. What I did..."
"...was proving to us that you are our friend," Luke's voice left no room for discussion. "Now go back to sickbay and help to evacuate the ill and all those you can. We'll take care of the rest. Hurry!"
"Yes, sir!" Areen obliged, sprinting for Sickbay, still dressed in his sickbay gown.
Luke ran down the corridor, until he reached one of the alarms. He set if off.
A deafening noise echoed in the walls, and the young man winced. This would bring people out of their rooms, and it would be easier to warn them, until either he or his father reached the PA system.
He headed for the Great Hall.
'Father!' he called.
'Tell me,' Anakin replied, less than a heartbeat later.
'I just met Areen in the corridor. He told me that our Chief of Security has been planting bombs in the basements of several buildings, including this one. They're going to blow them up.'
'Holy Force!' Anakin exclaimed. 'We must evacuate them at the double!'
'Their own men are locked up in this building's cells,' Luke tried to rationalize the situation. 'Do you think they'll still blow it up with them inside?'
'At this point, I don't think they care about a dozen of their men, Ylek included.' Anakin replied sadly.
'Yes, you're right,' Luke agreed dejectedly.
Right then, he saw Han and Leia turning a corner. They saw him too and ran up to him.
"What the hell's going on?!" Han demanded to know.
"Everything," Luke replied. "Areen woke up and told Father that the attack we were expecting, will take place at noon today."
"WHAT?!" was the joint exclamation of utter disbelief.
"They have a shipment of Star Destroyers at their disposal that no one knew about. We can only guess at their weaponry. And Keyholm has been planting explosive charges in the basements of several buildings, including this one."
"We must evacuate!" Leia cried out.
"Father ordered an immediate meeting in the Great Hall. He was looking for the President. Do you know if she left for the exhibition already?" Luke asked his sister.
"I think not," she replied.
"Then, he will find her." He set off running for the Hall, followed close behind by his friends. "We must evacuate all non-essential personnel and all the civilians."
Five minutes later, the emergency evacuation was proceeding uneventfully and Anakin and Mon Mothma were the last ones to enter the Great Hall.
"What measures have been taken so far?" she asked, hurrying to her seat.
"The evacuation of this building and several others is progressing smoothly," Thazzel replied, rising to his feet.
"Every holochannel is warning the population to stay at home, shut doors and windows, and hide in the safest rooms of their buildings," Madine continued.
"All Squadrons have been warned. Our planetary defenses are on full alert. When they come out of light-speed, we'll locate them," Rieekan informed.
"When will the Fleet arrive?" she asked Ackbar.
"In 20 minutes," the Mon Calamary replied.
"Lando, Chewie and I volunteer to go down to the cells and 'persuade' Keyholm to tell us what other buildings he has planted with bombs." Han looked at his President, a feral smile on his lips.
"Go," was Mon Mothma's answer.
When the three friends were heading for the door, her voice resounded anew, strong and firm.
"No harshness, General!"
"No problem," Han turned his head and let out his infamous crooked grin. "My gift of the gab will be enough."
"Take a comlink with you. All teams will carry one to stay in touch with each other. In case our frequencies are monitored, we'll code our transmissions. Code Delta."
"Acknowledged!" Lando replied, before the doors closed after them.
"How long?" Mon Mothma asked.
"21 minutes, 35 seconds," Madine answered.
A deafening alarm started ringing at that very moment.
"Or maybe not," Madine amended his own words.
Ackbar opened the communications channel.
"All Squadrons, report!"
"We've got visual contact," Wedge's voice came through.
"How many?" Rieekan asked.
"One squadron so far. Must be the advance patrol."
"Do not open fire. I repeat: do NOT open fire unless they do," Mon Mothma ordered. They had to give non-violence a last chance, even if it was useless by now.
"Understood," Wedge said.
A few seconds later, an explosion filtered through the static.
"We're under attack! We're under attack!" someone's voice cried out.
"Repel the attack! Repel the attack!" Mon Mothma cried out in an unwavering voice.
"Roger," replied Wedge's surprisingly calm voice.
Right then, a cacophony of screaming, explosions and ensuing orders made everybody give a start.
"It has begun again," Mon Mothma bowed her head, a shade of infinite sadness in her voice.
"Justice will prevail," Anakin reassured her, placing a hand on her shoulder. "This will be the final challenge to the Republic before true Peace becomes a reality."
"How can you be so sure?" she asked, raising her misted eyes to his.
"I am a Jedi, and we Jedi know about these things," he shrugged coyly.
She smiled, despite herself.
"I pray you are right." She let out a tired sigh.
"We must leave, your Excellency," Anakin reminded her softly. "This isn't a safe place anymore. We must go to the bunker. At least, until this building is secure."
Mon Mothma nodded resignedly.
The door of the cell 021 burst open. The man sitting on the bunk quickly stood up, facing Han, Lando and Chewie.
"Why, why, why. Look who's here," he smiled at the newcomers with a nasty smile. "Two men and a Wookie."
"Yep, that's us," Han replied, smiling back warmly.
"Don't tell me. Let me guess," Keyholm looked up and pursed his lips, as if in deep thought. "I know!" he snapped his fingers. "You're here to ask me something."
"You're a genius, Keyholm. Did you know that?" Lando praised, walking around him, and looking at him up and down.
"It doesn't take a genius, but thank you for the compliment." The tall man put his arms behind his back proudly.
A deafening alarm made everybody jump.
"Look at that!" Keyholm's eyebrows shot up in pretended shock. "Seems like we're under attack."
"For a second, you almost seemed honestly surprised." Han advanced closer and closer.
"Not really," Keyholm shrugged. "So, to what do I owe the honour of your visit?"
"Nothing big, considering what's happening up there right now," Han commented, his eyes flashing for a moment. "We know you've planted bombs in the basements of several buildings, including this one. We want you to tell us which buildings, and how to deactivate the explosives, in case you've included any 'surprises' in the bombs' mechanisms."
"And why should I tell you?" Keyholm asked.
"Because it would be very rude of you not to?" Lando replied.
Keyholm shook his head.
"I'm afraid not. I'm tired, and I'd like to lie down now. These bunks aren't exactly comfortable, but I'll manage. Good day, my friends." He began to turn, but Chewie's bulk stopped him in mid-gesture. The Wookie's big paw settled on his shoulder, and squeezed it brutally with a bone-chilling growl.
"Ah!" Keyholm cried out.
"C'mon, Chewie, don't be so impolite," Han tried to calm down his favourite Wookie. "Remember what the President told us. No harshness."
Chewie nodded and obeyed, releasing Keyholm's shoulder. His huge hand combed through the prisoner's hair, leaving it impeccable.
"You know, Han?" Lando turned to his friend. "I think we should give Keyholm a break. He's going to have all the time in the world to sleep when this building blows up."
"You're right, buddy!" Han slapped Lando's back enthusiastically. "We should leave him alone to prepare himself." He turned to the Wookie. "Let's go, Chewie."
The three headed for the door.
"Excuse me," Keyholm's less-than-confident voice sounded behind them. "The Galactic Convention on the Rights of War Prisoners states that in the event of an attack, all prisoners must be taken to safety."
"Really?!" Han asked, holding his chin. "I don't remember that one. Do you remember it, Lando?"
"No, I don't," Lando shook his head. "In any case, if they ever find Mr. Charm's body among the rubble, we can always say that we were in such a hurry to evacuate that we forgot about this cell."
"Good thinking," Han applauded. "And if we're defeated, who cares? We'll all be dead, anyway."
The three friends were leaving when Keyholm lunged forward.
"You CAN'T do that, you bastards!" he cried out, grabbing Han's vest from behind.
"And who's going to stop us, you little piece of shit?!" Han turned around, grabbed Keyholm by the front of his shirt and slammed him against the wall, his forearm across the man's throat. "Certainly, not you!" he spat.
The two men looked daggers at each other.
"The way I see it, you have two choices," Han inched so close that he ended up breathing on the other man's face. "Either you tell us what we want to know, or this building will be your grave."
Keyholm's face twisted in sheer hatred as he ground his teeth, trying to gauge whether the Corellian was bluffing.
Above Coruscant's atmosphere, an unevenly matched battle was being fought.
More and more Rebel Squadrons broke out of hyperspace. They were mostly TIE fighters, but some of them had been modified, and it was plain to see that they now had dangerously higher manoeuvrability and fire power.
"Remember, we must hold them back at all costs until backup arrives," Wedge reminded them all, blowing up a TIE fighter.
"And when will that be?" Vaughan's voice asked.
"Soon," Wedge eluded a direct answer.
"That means much too long," someone's voice translated unnecessarily for them all.
"Just my type of battle, against all odds," Vaughan commented with a chuckle, spinning maddeningly past a fighter's slipstream, making it lose control and crash against another fighter.
"Worthwing, you're crazy!" Kashee cried out, momentarily blinded by the big explosion.
"YESSSS, that's why I'm so handsome!" Vaughan roared.
"I've got an idea," yelled Green Leader. "What do you say to Spider's Web?"
"It could work," Wedge nodded. "We can't afford for them to get past our perimeter."
"And if someone gets past it, the ion cannons will take care of them," Red Four said.
"Don't count on it. They're too small," Kashee replied.
"Stand by to close up formation, on my mark," Wedge ordered.
"Copy, Red Leader," everybody acknowledged.
"Now!" Wedge cried out.
It took less than fifteen seconds for all squadrons to form a living net of X-Wings that maintained a steady formation, shielding Coruscant behind them and blasting into oblivion everything that came near it.
But more and more fighters were pouring out of hyperspace. They knew they wouldn't be able to hold them off forever.
Things were beginning to look grim, when two squadrons of Y-Wings came out of hyperspace.
"It was about time," Red Six commented.
"Hello, there," the Y-Wing Commander greeted his comrades. "Are we too late to join the party?"
"Just in time," Wedge replied. "But I'm afraid we're expecting more guests."
"Such as?" the Commander asked.
"Such as the Star Destroyer that just broke out of light-speed, point three four," Kashee's suddenly deep voice sobered them all.
"Oh, crap!" Green Leader summed up everybody's feelings to perfection.
"I think we're going to need more backup," Vaughan muttered to himself.
Han, Lando and Chewie burst out of Keyholm's cell. Lando took out the comlink he carried in a pocket.
"Team Two to Team One. Come in, Team One," he called.
"Go ahead, Team Two," Anakin's voice replied.
"Keyholm was happy to cooperate," Lando informed. "We know what buildings he planted with bombs, and where he planted them. They're set to be detonated in sequence. We just alerted the Bomb Squads."
"Well done," Anakin's smile shone through the comlink. "Now join us in the bunker. We're on our way there. Did you give orders for the cells to be evacuated, too?"
"Yes," Lando said. "The droids will take care of that."
"Good," Anakin approved.
Ylek stood up from the bunk. It was Time.
He opened a panel on the wall, revealing a hollow niche. He took out a tiny blaster and two small devices. He aimed one at the door and pressed the button.
The door slid open.
Verifying that no one was coming, he went out onto the corridor. One by one, he opened the doors of the other cells.
"So, this was the ace up your sleeve?" Keyholm asked, joining Ylek in the corridor. "It would have been nice of you to tell us sooner."
"Stop whining, Keyholm. I told you everything was under control," Ylek dismissed his partner's complaints disdainfully.
"Everything but the strength of a Wookie's paw. My shoulder will be black for weeks. I didn't know about your little plan and I had to tell them where I placed the bombs," Keyholm grumbled.
"It'll make little difference. They won't leave the building alive," Ylek smiled viciously.
"What do you mean?" Keyholm asked.
"They should be on their way to the bunker right now. In that case..."
"SH! Someone's coming," a voice warned.
Everybody hurried to find a place to hide.
"It's the Security droids," whispered Commander Jayson, from the Gold Squadron.
"No problem, then," Ylek shrugged, coming out of his hiding place.
"Ylek, what the hell are you doing?!" someone whispered angrily.
"Hello, guys!" Ylek greeted the approaching droids.
The droids turned their heads as one, but they never had time to draw out their weapons. Ylek took out the second device from his pocket, pointed it at the droids and pressed a button.
The droids froze on the spot.
"Execute Order 66-A," Ylek ordered.
Immediately, the droids turned around and left the same way they had come.
Thunderstruck, everybody came out of their hiding places.
"Order 66-A?" Keyholm asked, in obvious amusement.
Ylek shrugged casually.
"I figured that if we're going to kill the two remaining Jedi alive - among others - we can pay our particular homage to the guy who started it all. Palpatine was a monster, but he had class."
"You can say that again," Keyholm nodded ironically.
The lift stopped and the doors opened. Anakin exited first and had a quick look.
"It's clear," he informed the others.
Everybody followed suit.
"How long do you think it'll take the Bomb Squads to deactivate all the bombs, Father?" Luke asked.
"I could do it faster," Anakin admitted, immediately getting the hint.
"You're not going anywhere," Mon Mothma ordered categorically. "You're not expendable. It is time to put those drills to the test and hope for the best."
"Yes, your Excellency," Anakin obeyed reluctantly.
Right then, synchronized steps began approaching them.
"The Security droids," Leia announced, taking a fast look to her right. "Will we wait here for Han and the others, or will we meet them at the bunker?" she asked her father.
"I told Lando to join us in the bunker," Anakin replied. "However, they're bound to cross this corridor, so..."
A sudden silence made the older Jedi look in the droids' direction. They had stopped dead twenty metres away from them. The hair on the back of his neck stood on end, and he frowned in foreboding.
The hatches on the droids' bellies opened.
"RUN!" Anakin cried out without thinking, drawing out his lightsaber. "NOW!"
Next to him, Anakin heard the buzzing sound of his son's lightsaber being ignited.
Two seconds later, hell broke loose.
"Go to the bunker!" Anakin cried out to everybody. "We'll cover you!"
"We can take care of ourselves, thank you!" Thazzel yelled back, drawing out his blaster.
"Darn it!" Leia muttered to herself. "When I accepted training and gave up my blaster, I never thought I'd end up weaponless against a bunch of reprogrammed droids."
Just then, one of the droids rendered useless by Anakin and Luke's deflected fire, collapsed. Its blaster slid on the polished floor and ended up a few metres in front of her.
"Talk about having one's wishes granted!" she said to herself, using the Force to summon the blaster to her hand. "It'll have to do, even if it isn't the Jedi way," she justified to herself, beginning to open fire. She ran to Dodonna's side, who was flat against the wall, totally defenceless.
"Thank you, Princess," the old man expressed his gratitude in one breathless gasp. "How unfortunate that I don't have a blaster to protect myself."
"Be my guest, General," Leia handed him her own. "I'll find myself another."
"How?" Dodonna asked, arching his eyebrows.
"Like this," she replied, holding out her hand and summoning a second blaster on the floor.
"Like Father, Like Daughter, I see," Dodonna couldn't keep the admiration from his voice.
"Precisely," Leia said, blasting a droid's head off. "You stay behind me and shoot at every piece of metal that moves. I'll cover you."
"Thank you, young lady. My limbs and my aim are not as strong and good as they used to be, but adrenalin is pumping good."
"You're telling me," she rolled her eyes.
"Can you hear that?" Luke asked Anakin, deflecting a blaster bolt that was heading straight for his father's head.
"Yes," Anakin replied. "More droids are coming. We have to get moving." He used the Force to throw two droids backwards and slam them against the wall.
"Back up!" Luke ordered. "Hurry!"
"What about Han, Lando and Chewie?" Leia shouted.
Anakin threw the comlink at his daughter.
"Warn them! Tell them to head directly for the bunker, and beware of all droids!"
"Do you think they've reprogrammed them all?" Luke asked.
Anakin looked into his son's eyes for a millisecond. Anything was to be expected.
"We must assume the worst and be ready for it," he advised.
Blaster fire threw the two Jedi against the wall, looking for cover.
"They're surrounding us, Father!" Luke cried out.
"I know! We'll have to find an alternate route to the bunker!" Anakin replied. With so many people to defend, they couldn't display all their Jedi abilities or they would leave their friends unprotected.
"This way!" Luke yelled, indicating a small corridor to their left.
"Artoo, plug in to every terminal along the way and find out if they've meddled with the computers in any way. We don't want to come across any surprises," Anakin told the small droid.
Artoo beeped assent.
The group ran down a narrow corridor, with Leia and Thazzel on the front, and Luke and Anakin covering their rear.
In space above Coruscant, the intensity of the battle had just increased another notch.
"Star Destroyer number two, point four six," Red Seven reported.
"Wonderful," Wedge muttered to himself, checking the time. Four minutes for the Fleet to arrive.
"I think you mean Star Destroyer number three, point two five," Vaughan corrected his comrade's announcement.
"Erm, right," Red Seven cleared his throat loudly.
"Someone said anything about backup?" the Y-Wings' Commander asked Wedge.
"I thought *you* were backup," Wedge replied.
"True. I forgot."
"At this rate, I don't think we can maintain our formation for too long," Kashee stated the obvious.
"Any ideas?" Wedge said.
"What about the classic, old-fashioned confrontation? You know, blowing up any enemy vessel that we come across," Vaughan suggested.
"We must protect Coruscant at all costs," Wedge reminded them.
"Some ships will get past our perimeter sooner or later," Vaughan acknowledged for them all. "Our planetary defenses will take care of that eventuality."
"You're correct. But the later the better," Wedge decided. "We'll hold on for as long as we can."
Right then, a huge laser beam vaporized two Y-Wings.
A horrified silence befell them all.
"We're in big trouble." Vaughan couldn't believe what he had just seen.
Han, Lando and Chewie stopped in their tracks. Dozens of Security droids lay on the floor of the corridor, and many spots on the walls were burnt from deflected blaster bolts.
Han dropped to one knee and examined the disabled droids. He looked up at his friends.
"Well, here's where everything started."
Lando nodded.
"Let's trust they made it to the bunker safe and sound," he wished out loud.
"I don't dare to contact them again, in case they're fighing more droids and I distract them," Han stood up.
"Let's move. Hopefully, we'll meet them halfway or in the bunker," Lando suggested.
"Right." With a last look at the droids, Han hurried down the corridor, drawing out his blaster just in case, Lando and Chewie close behind.
The main group had painstakingly advanced several levels. It seemed as if all the droids in the galaxy had gathered in that building. Five blasters and two lightsabers seemed hardly enough.
"Artoo says he didn't find traces of any meddling with the computers so far," 3PO translated his little friend's beeping sounds.
"Let's be thankful for small mercies," Anakin commented, deflecting blaster bolts like a madman. The broken piece of a droid hit him squarely on the forehead, and a tiny trickle of blood ran down his nose.
"I feel uncomfortable standing here, watching you all protect me," Mon Mothma cried out above the deafening blaster noise. "Any chance I can get a weapon?"
"Your Excellency, it's our duty and honour to protect you," Madine replied respectfully. "You are already helping, just by staying back and allowing us to do our job."
"Well spoken, but impractical," the President shook her head. "Will you please hand me that blaster on the floor?" she asked her General.
"But, your Excellency..." Madine's eyes opened like two saucers.
"Now." Her voice left no room for objections.
Promptly, Madine complied with his President's order and gave her the weapon.
"Where to next?" Dodonna yelled.
"The lift would be faster," Ackbar replied.
"But if we take it and they're waiting for us when the doors open, we'll be sitting ducks," Luke reminded them.
"True," Anakin agreed with his son. "It'll be wiser to stay out of lifts."
"It will take us ages to reach the bunker, then!" Rieekan complained.
"Not really," Anakin let out a naughty smile. "If we reach the hangar, we can take the goods lift to the bunker. It goes there directly."
"It doesn't. It never did!" Ackbar contradicted the older Jedi.
"It does now," there was a mischievous gleam in the gentle blue eyes. "I had it installed when we decided to take new security measures to ensure our buildings' safety. You won't find it on any plans."
There was a momentary silence of sheer astonishment.
"Man, you're a gem." Thazzel was the first to speak, his voice dripping with unashamed admiration.
"Thank you," Anakin chuckled. "Tell Han, Chewie and Lando that if they can't make it to the bunker, try the hangar detour instead," he instructed his daughter.
Leia nodded, her eyes shining with total awe at the man who had sired her.
"Which way?" Madine asked.
"This one," Anakin indicated, finding himself in front of the team for the first time.
"No, Father!" Luke cried out. "More droids are coming that way!"
"This is the only way," Anakin replied.
Father and Son looked at each other, and it was as if they maintained the quickest conversation through their eyes.
"How do they do that?" Mon Mothma muttered to herself in wonderment.
The two men turned their heads to them in unison.
"Stay here. We'll take care of them," Anakin told them.
Mon Mothma was about to object, but her inner voice overrode the words before they reached her lips. She nodded and with a gesture, ordered her Generals to obey.
Anakin and Luke ventured a few metres into the corridor and assumed a back-to-back position, holding up their ignited lightsabers in one hand, the other arm hanging loosely at their sides.
The droids' steps resounded closer and closer.
A big hand looked for a smaller one and squeezed it. The smaller hand squeezed back with the same passionate intensity.
The inconspicuous but terribly touching gesture didn't go unnoticed by the expectant onlookers.
Drawing strength from that subtle but fiercely fervent touch, the two Jedi closed their hands around their sabers' handles.
The noises got louder and louder, and everybody sobered in alarm. The number of droids approaching had to be bigger than any group that had attacked them so far.
'Get back here!' Leia sent mentally to her brother. 'Must be at least 30 droids! You won't be able to take them all!'
Luke smiled as if he had picked up her thoughts, and winked at her. Then, he closed his eyes, took a deep breath and straightened up, totally in synch with Anakin's mirror movements.
The droids appeared before them one heartbeat later and on seeing the two Jedi, immediately aimed their blasters at them.
Anakin and Luke began turning around, always back to back. When the droids opened fire, they began deflecting the laser bolts steadily, unfalteringly. There was something mechanical in their movements, non-human; for no human could move with such relentless precision.
The droids spread out, shooting them at will, dozens of blaster bolts a second, and yet they still deflected them, turning around faster and faster.
"I'll be..." someone's voice reached Leia's ears despite the tremendous noise. "Their eyes are closed!"
Leia noticed then her father and brother's eyes. They were indeed closed. Sheer instinct was guiding them.
No. Not instinct. The Force. They had synchronized their movements to perfection through the Force. They had truly become one.
As if she hadn't been sufficiently blown away, her amazement reached unprecedented heights when Anakin and Luke began levitating and turning around faster and faster.
It became increasingly difficult to make out their forms, as they got more and more blurry the faster they moved. Leia had to half-close her eyes to see them more clearly.
Shocked gasps behind her didn't distract her from the sight unfolding before her entranced eyes.
Anakin and Luke became a devastating tornado that floated one metre above the floor, wiping out every droid that stood in their way.
Everything was over in a matter of seconds. Dozens of droids lay in a smoking pile before the now motionless Jedi, who turned off their lightsabers, looking down at their work, blinking in disbelief.
Little by little, people pulled themselves together and slowly approached them, in total silence. Too stunned to utter a word.
Leia walked up to her brother and stared at the disabled droids. She felt Luke's eyes on her, then he looked back at the droids, and then back at her. She returned his blank look.
"Yes, you can stop looking. You made mincemeat of them all," she answered his unvoiced question.
The young man let out a weak, dazed half-smile and turned his eyes to his father, who returned his incredulous stare, blinking in absolute perplexity.
Thazzel patted the two Jedi's backs warmly with a wide smile on his face.
"Ladies and gentlemen, may I present 'the Skywalker tornado.'"
The others were still too dumbfounded to say anything coherent, so they followed the two Jedi down the corridor, trying not to trip over their own feet.
Above Coruscant's atmosphere, X and Y-Wings were being methodically blown up by the Star Destroyers' improved laser beams.
"When the Fleet arrives, it'll become these monsters' main course," Kashee cried out.
"I know," Wedge agreed, resigning himself to the fact that they would lose at least one of their frigates the moment it came out of hyperspace. "But perhaps, together, we'll be able to come up with a strategy to defeat them. Rack your brains, my friends."
"I've been turning over an idea in my head for a while now," Vaughan butted in. "Gimme a minute to flesh it out."
"What?! Can you think and fly at the same time?" Red Six teased.
"C'mon, guys. You know I can multi-task better than any of you," Vaughan boasted, blowing up a TIE fighter that had just got on Kashee's tail.
"Worthwing, you're the biggest show-o..." was all Red Six could say before exploding in a ball of fire.
"No! Jesse!" Vaughan cried out with shock and horror for the loss of one of his closest friends. "You bastard!" he yelled, manoeuvering his X-Wing to chase the killer.
"The Fleet's here!" Wedge announced. "Vaughan, get back here and maintain your position!"
"I'm getting that son of a bitch," Vaughan hissed, forcing his ship to its very limit, until it got right behind the enemy fighter.
"We can't afford to lose you, Vaughan!" Kashee tried to reach his distraught friend.
"I know what I'm doing!" Vaughan shouted back.
What was left of the Red Squadron watched in horrified fascination how Vaughan hunted Jesse's killer implacably throughout the most impossible manoeuvres, until the fighter ended up cornered between a huge enemy frigate and a savagely determined Vaughan. The TIE fighter attempted a last desperate pull up, but it wasn't enough. Vaughan shot him with an animalistic scream of victory.
Just when everybody was heaving a collective sigh of relief, the huge laser beam of a Star Destroyer hit Vaughan's X-Wing squarely.
"NO!" All Wings cried out at the same time.
A heartbeat later, the Star Destroyer exploded in flames, blown up by its own shot.
No one could believe what they were seeing. Vaughan's X-Wing was intact. Intact!
"W-what happened?" Wedge stammered.
Still a bit dazed, it took a few seconds for Vaughan to reply.
"I think that laser beam hit the glass of my cockpit and it bounced back."
"Basic Optics," Red Seven said, automatically remembering his school lessons. "The laser must have hit the polished surface of the glass at such an angle that it was reflected back."
"Which answers the final question to the plan I've been plotting," Vaughan's voice was strangely calm all of a sudden. "We can line up the ring of satellites orbiting Coruscant, and use their crystal panels as a huge deflector shield."
Silence.
"Hey, guys, you still there?" Vaughan asked when no one answered.
"Mr. Worthwing, you are a great asset to the Republic," replied the voice of the Commander of the Fleet. "Give me a few minutes to get the satellites in position."
"Wait a second," Wedge chimed in, struck by a sudden idea. "If Vaughan's idea works, and I think it will, we'll only have one shot at this. The moment those Destroyers see what we're up to, they'll take evasive action and it'll be almost impossible to hit them again."
"What do you have in mind?" Vaughan asked.
"Let's create a diversion. Let's fight them with everything we've got, until the satellites are lined up."
"You're saying that we should use ourselves as bait?" Vaughan quickly caught up with his leader. He grinned dangerously. "I like that."
"And if we can get them to shoot us at the same time..." Kashee was smiling now from ear to ear.
"They'll blow themselves up," Wedge finished for them all.
Team One was only two levels away from the hangar. They had lost count of how many hundreds of droids they had disabled so far, but even more extraordinary was the fact that none of them had more than a few cuts and scrapes.
"Lucky doesn't even begin to describe it," Leia seemed to read everybody's minds.
Luke and Anakin continued putting droids out of commission tirelessly. If it wasn't a life and death situation they would be the most awesome sight to behold. They had stopped communicating verbally for some time now. Most of the time, not even a look was necessary. They just acted. Simultaneously. As if they thought the same things at the same time.
Mon Mothma had consented to let them be. It was obvious they were infinitely more efficient when they were on their own, and didn't have to worry about them. Her Generals were covering the rear, and taking care of the few droids that escaped the two Jedi's lethal blows.
Little by little, they were making it to the hangar. But when they were only two corridors away from it, father and son came to a dead stop in unison.
Something was off. Everyone could feel it.
For the first time in a while, Luke opened his mouth and whispered something to Anakin. The older man nodded as he pressed his back against the wall and took a peek at the intersection. He nodded again.
Quietly, Luke walked back to his friends.
"There are droids guarding the hangar doors," he said.
"Do you think they're expecting us?" Thazzel asked.
"Unlikely," the young Jedi replied. "They've probably been posted there to keep anyone from escaping the building."
"How many of them?" Mon Mothma asked.
Luke's eyes became absent for a second.
"About forty," he promptly said.
Everybody knew by now how he knew.
"What's your plan?" the President asked.
Luke looked down shyly. It made him feel terribly self-conscious that the President of the Republic was relying on his decisions.
Anakin's hand settled on his child's shoulder and squeezed it fondly. They seemed to be connected at a molecular level.
"Just the same as we've been doing so far," he replied. "You stay here and cover our backs as we take care of the droids."
"You got it," Madine nodded emphatically, getting his blaster ready.
"Father, the doors are 30 metres away. They'll see us coming," Luke reminded Anakin.
"I know," the Jedi master replied. He squared his shoulders and took a deep breath. "Well! It's been a long time since I tried my most acrobatic fighting style, but I guess this is as good a time as any." He looked at his child and held out his hand courteously. "Shall we, my son?" he invited.
Luke bowed his head, pursuing the light mood.
"Let's go, my father," he replied teasingly.
The two Jedi crossed the intersection and placed themselves in full view. They only had two seconds before the droids spotted them. They looked at each other, and everybody could feel that strange communion of souls taking place again between father and son. Something clicked loudly between them as they drew out their lightsabers, ignited them, and took a Force-enhanced leap together. They landed right in front of the droids, that hardly had time to raise their weapons before a dozen of them fell to the floor, sliced in several pieces.
Their friends were seeing it with their own eyes and it still seemed impossible to believe. It was as if the two Jedi had half a dozen arms each. They blocked the droids' shots, deflected them, and cut up the droids into pieces at the same time. They twisted, turned and jumped at breakneck speed, but always maintaining their position, back to back. They never intruded on the space the other was covering.
Still, it was as if they could see somehow what the other was doing and they could feel when the other would need them. Anakin suddenly invaded Luke's space when a fallen droid shot point-blank at his child from the floor. He kicked the blaster off the droid's hands, and deflected the blaster bolt to the droid's head, disabling it for good.
They swung their lightsabers round, destroying droids with a brutally devastating precision, but also with a grace and elegance that felt strangely out of place.
"It's as if they were executing a dance," Mon Mothma whispered to Leia, her voice dripping with awe and admiration.
Leia just nodded, absolutely speechless. They were simply mesmerizing to watch. If this was the level of unity two people could achieve when they opened up completely to one another, holding nothing back, then she had just found out what she wanted to become one day.
There was peace in them. Even now. Even facing a mortal danger that could kill either of them any second, they were totally at peace, safe in their love for each other. That was where so much strength came from. The thought hit her so abruptly that she almost fell flat on her back. Nothing would ever be strong enough to separate them, and if one day... her mind recoiled in horror at the mere thought of it, neither of them would survive the other for too long.
Leia shook her head, casting away the morbid thought that she refused to contemplate, even as a possibility.
Watching this, you could almost believe that death was no contest.
Blinking, the astonished Princess realized that everything was over. Every single droid had been rendered thoroughly inoperative, and a huge pile of smoking, broken pieces, made it almost impossible to walk among them.
Nobody said a word as they approached the two silent Jedi. There was nothing to say really, except rejoice in that wondrous connection and feel blessed by the honour of witnessing it. All of them felt lighter inside somehow, excited like little children. As if they had just seen the resurrection of a myth, the return of something that should never cease to exist.
When the group was reunited again, loud, hurried steps made everybody turn their heads.
Han, Lando and Chewie turned the corner and froze in their tracks on seeing them.
"We wanted to arrive in time to give you a hand," the Corellian raised an ironical eyebrow, walking up to his friends at a calmer pace now, "but I see it wasn't necessary. We only had to follow the trail of massacred droids to find you."
Leia hugged her beloved for all she was worth. These last few minutes had changed something inside her. They had opened a door in her heart that had always been locked, and she wasn't even aware of it. After witnessing such beauty, it was as if the ugliest part of her had been thrown away.
Han returned the hug and looked down at his fiancée, feeling the change in her. He softly caressed her hair and pressed her head to his chest, wondering what had brought this about.
The emotionally exhausted group took a little while to pull themselves together. Some of them hugged, others just smiled at each other meaningfully, and all of them shook each other's hands warmly, grateful beyond belief to see their friends alive.
For a moment, Luke's eyes turned to the hangar doors, and he shuddered from head to foot, not knowing why.
Anakin felt it and grasped his child's forearm questioningly. Luke met his father's eyes and shrugged, obviously not understanding his own weird reaction.
Anakin smiled and squeezed his son's arm reassuringly. Adrenalin was beginning to wear off from their systems. He knew the feeling.
"What are we waiting for?" Rieekan asked all of a sudden. "Until we hear from the Bomb Squads, this building could still blow up at any moment."
"You are absolutely correct," Anakin sobered immediately, berating himself for the momentary distraction from his duties. They were still in danger. "Let us go."
The group gathered round their President and Artoo opened the hangar doors at Anakin's signal, verifying first that the central computer was still untouched.
The massive doors began to open slowly.
"The goods lift is in the far right-hand corner. You must enter the password 1-1-3-8 to activate it," Anakin informed them all before the doors opened completely.
The group burst into the hangar. Dozens of ships, speeders, and the Presidential Shuttle appeared before their eyes...
...and two hundred battle droids, their weapons ready and aimed at them.
"Oh, my goodness," was all 3PO managed to whimper before the nightmare came alive.
"NOOO!" everybody cried out when the Raven, the Fleet's best frigate, was reduced to dust by one of the Destroyers' massive laser beams.
"300 beings," Green Leader mourned, swallowing the lump in his throat.
"Commander, how're those calculations going?" Wedge's voice was edgy and angry beyond belief.
"Just a few seconds more. The computer's about to short-circuit, sorting out so many variables," the Commander replied, just as upset as the Red Leader.
"We can't afford to lose anyone else," Vaughan's voice sounded uncharacteristically clipped and vulnerable.
"Coming up... coming up..." the Commander's voice rose excitedly. "Here it is!" he exclaimed at last. "Stand by to receive all data."
"Roger," Wing after Wing acknowledged the transmission.
"50 seconds to get in position. Lock your computers," the Commander ordered.
All remaining X and Y-Wings forced their ships to the maximum, presenting themselves as easy targets before the six Star Destroyers. They could only hope for them to take the bait.
"30-29-28..." the Commander counted down the seconds it would take them to find out if their crazy plan would succeed or not.
All of a sudden, the Mon Calamari watched in abject horror as two Y-Wings were blown up by TIE fighters. The same Wings that happened to be the baits for Star Destroyer number four.
"Change course to 2-7-2. Fast!" he ordered his navigator.
"But Admiral...!" a controller began, immediately realizing his Commander's intentions.
"Now!" his superior officer ordered. "Let's pray we get in position in time," he muttered to himself.
Luke and Anakin doubled over involuntarily when they felt the deaths of all those aboard the Raven through the Force. That saved their lives, for the droids shot at them first.
Once on the floor, the two Jedi rolled apart from each other, shaking off the shock of their comrades' deaths.
"We'll distract them!" Anakin shouted at his friends. "Take the President to the bunker! We'll join you there!"
Generals Madine, Rieekan, Dodonna and Captain Thazzel almost lifted Mon Mothma off her feet, carrying her to the farthest right-hand corner of the hangar. When they were only twenty metres away from the goods lift, a dark shape emerged from the shadows, pointing at them with a small blaster.
"What do we have here?" Ylek smiled teasingly. "How untimely of you, my friends. Just when we were about to leave."
"You bastard!" Thazzel cried out.
Ylek pulled the trigger and Thazzel collapsed with a moan, a big hole in his chest. His friends ground their teeth, horrified, barely holding back the impulse to help their badly wounded friend, and strangle Ylek next.
"I hate it when insults get personal." Ylek's voice was even and controlled. "But then, I guess all insults are personal. That is precisely the point, isn't it?"
Mon Mothma, Dodonna, Rieekan and Madine set their jaws and met the Twi'lek's cold expression bravely.
"And be grateful that the blaster wasn't set to 'fry,' as I call it. I made a few changes in it, you know? The highest setting could burn a hole in your chests big enough for a Wookie's paw to fit in." He adjusted the weapon's setting with his thumb. "See? Now it's set to 'fry.'" He raised the blaster and pointed it at Dodonna. "Who will be next? You, old man?"
Dodonna squared his shoulders and prepared himself for the inevitable.
That never came. Instead, something fell on Ylek from above, throwing him to the floor and making him lose his weapon.
A very determined Corellian grabbed the Twi'lek and punched him squarely on the face.
"Take her to the bunker!" Han yelled to the already running Generals.
"I don't think so," Keyholm appeared from behind a shuttle, placing a blaster's muzzle on Han's temple. "Hello again, Mr. Solo," he greeted. "Long time no see."
"Stuff it!" the Corellian replied, with his usual bravado.
Keyholm hit him over the head with the butt of his blaster. Han fell to his knees, bleeding profusely from a deep cut on his scalp.
"Tsk, tsk. That was so rude, man!" Keyholm shook his head.
Ylek got to his feet, wiping away the blood dripping down his nostrils, his recovered blaster in hand.
"Let's stop beating about the bush," his eyes flashed with hatred, pointing the weapon at Mon Mothma's head. He made a false apologetic face. "A shame, your Excellency, but..."
From his kneeling position, Han swept Keyholm's legs, making him lose his balance and fall on Ylek. The deflected shot made a big hole on the wall and sparks and smoke came out of it.
Just then, the buzzing sound of a lightsaber announced Luke's arrival. He cut Keyholm's blaster in two and kicked him in the chest, slamming him against the wall. The man's head hit it heavily, and he collapsed to the floor, unconscious.
Taking advantage of the commotion, Ylek escaped, sliding under the shuttle.
"You all right?" Luke asked Han, placing his hand on the cut on his friend's bleeding scalp and healing it at light speed.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine," Han nodded gruffly. "But he's not," he pointed at Thazzel, still on the floor. "Help him."
The young Jedi hurried to the Captain's side, squatted down and turned him softly on his back. He winced at the sight of the hole in his chest. Bringing a sudden, inexplicable tremor under control, he placed his hands on the gaping wound and closed his eyes.
Lando ran up to them.
"Luke, you must help your father! The droids have cornered him!"
Luke's eyes opened at once. Still, his hands didn't move away from Thazzel's chest.
"The prisoners have escaped," Han informed his old buddy, pointing at Keyholm, knocked out on the floor. "We got rid of this, but Ylek and all the others are in here somewhere, trying to get away."
"This looks like a big surprise party, only with a lot of unwelcome guests," Lando commented.
"All of them," Han made a face of disgust.
Luke stood up, his ignited lightsaber in hand.
"He's all right now," he said, looking down at Thazzel. "Take the President to the bunker," he told the Generals and Ackbar, who had just joined them. "You two and Chewie look for the prisoners."
"Roger-Roger!" Han stood at attention before his friend with a crooked smile. "But first, we must handcuff this creep, in case he wakes up." He knelt down next to Keyholm, and bound his right wrist to the railings with a pair of handcuffs that Chewie handed him.
Rieekan and Madine helped a semi-conscious Thazzel to his feet, and held him up by his armpits, as Dodonna entered the password.
Mon Mothma handed her blaster to Lando.
"I expect you all in the bunker in short order," her look hardened fiercely.
Everybody nodded solemnly, as the President and her escorts entered the lift and the doors closed after them.
In the meantime, Anakin had been trying to attract the attention of as many battle droids as possible. That way, the President and her escorts would have more possibilities of getting to the lift safe and sound.
He had succeeded, but soon enough it became obvious that he had attracted more attention than was safe. Jedi or not, the most gifted in history or not, he couldn't handle 50 droids all by himself.
When he was beginning to seriously fear for his life, he heard a loud clang a few metres in front of him. Artoo had knocked over a barrel of fuel. The liquid spread all over the floor. A few seconds later, all droids were standing on a pool of highly flammable fluid.
Immediately understanding the little droid's intentions, Anakin looked for a spot free of fuel, while deflecting more and more blaster bolts with increasing difficulty. It was only a matter of seconds before a laser shot penetrated his defences.
One of Artoo's little arms reached out, coming into contact with the liquid on the floor. A spark instantly set the fuel on fire. Two seconds later, a wall of fire, two and a half metres high, began to consume the droids.
Artoo rolled to one side, waiting for Anakin to jump over the fire and land safely on the other side.
Nothing happened.
Artoo beeped worriedly.
"What did you do, you stupid lump?" Threepio scolded his small friend.
TO BE CONTINUED...