I do not own the characters created by George Lucas, only my own. I also use direct dialogue from the movie, since some scenes are copied from it. I do not claim to own them. Much thanks to the book 'A New Hope' by Ryder Windham to help with the lines and stuff for this one, and to the online scripts I've found. They really help.

Again – I do not, in any way, claim that any lines that have been published before are mine... They are necessary to fit the story.

Vataloni's View

"It's a good thing you had these compartments," Vataloni commented as Obi-Wan lifted her out of theirs, "Or we'd have been caught for sure."

"I use 'em for smuggling goods," Han explained, "I never thought I'd be smuggling myself in them. This is ridiculous. Even if I could take off, I'd never get past the tractor beam!"

Vataloni let out a frustrated sigh and ran a hand through her hair. Han was very quick about jumping to conclusions. Most of the time, it seemed, the first thing that came to mind came out his mouth. He never took a moment to think things through.

Obi-Wan made sure the droids were in good condition, and then pulled his hood up over his head, "You leave the tractor beam to me."

"Damn fool," Han snarled, "I knew you were going to say that!"

Vataloni glared at him, and made a motion to jump to her love's defense, but Obi-Wan merely dawned a calm smile, "Who's the more foolish? The fool or the fool who follows the fool?"

"Don't you-"

"Enough," Vataloni hissed, causing the attention onto her, "Bickering won't get anything done. We need to get off this ship and into the station. From somewhere safe we'll make out plans... We're in the open here, and will most likely have to deal with some sort of resistance."

"Maybe we should get some kinda disguise?" Luke suggested, his eyes brightening up. Han made a growling noise deep within his throat and he crossed his arms, "And what should we go as? Dancing girls? C'mon, kid... Be-"

"Stormtroopers," Obi-Wan said loudly, "First, we'll need uniforms. Once we have them, Han, take Chewbacca and go to the control room. It'll be a good place to make a plan in. Luke, Vataloni and I will follow, along with the droids. Incase you run into trouble, you'll have to handle it."

"That's a good plan, old man," Han noted, casting a look at Chewbacca, "But where are we supposed to get the uniforms?"

"Lure two of them up here," Obi-Wan stated, "When they come check on the cargo near the ramp, call them up... Vataloni and I will deal with them then."

Luke grabbed Han's arm and dragged him off to the entrance of the ship, leaving Obi-Wan and Vataloni alone. She wrung her hands together nervously, "Ben... What if we get caught?"

"Come now," he chuckled, planting a kiss on her forehead, "That doesn't sound like a Jedi... If we get caught, we escape."

"Promise me nothing will happen to you," she whispered. Obi-Wan grinned and smoothed her hair out of her face, "I promise."

Two gunshots went off from the main entrance of the ship and Obi-Wan let out a growl,then followed Vataloni to the source of the noise. Han stood over a smoldering pair of stormtroopers, Luke at his side, telling him off. Chewbacca growled angrily and picked up the officers, then began removing their helmets and armor. Vataloni clenched her fists together, "You had to resort to a gun? They could have heard that!"

"Well you two were taking your glory sweet time," Han scoffed, taking a helmet from Chewie and stuffing it into Luke's stomach, "I figured I should take things into my own hands."

"Never assume you, of all people, should do that," Vataloni snarled, crossing her arms, "The less amount of commotion we make, the better!"

Luke and Han quickly put on their stormtrooper uniforms, and while Luke remained behind, Han snuck out with Chewbacca, making their way towards the control room one floor above the flight deck. Vataloni discarded of her black cloak, and resumed her black dress. It was long, nearly past her feet, but form fitting around the top half of her body, making it easier for her to move. It was a personal preference for the wide bottom part of the dress. She used to hate dresses like that, but over the years she grew fonder to them. She attached her lightsaber to her hip, and let her hair hang loose. She grumbled at its length, then whipped out her lightsaber and ignited it, cutting off a large chunk hair.

"You know, I hate it when you do that," Obi-Wan commented as she tossed the large pile of hair into the back. Obi-Wan had a weird phobia of loose hair; he always made a big long rant that it should be attached to people's heads, not floating around in the air. Vataloni would give him her typical eye roll, and usually tuned it out.

Her hair was now the same length as it had been when she last saw Anakin, the real Anakin. It was several inches below her shoulders, and began to produce larger curls, due to the fact it was no longer being weighed down.

"I'm getting a message," came Luke's muffled voice beneath his helmet, "It says... TX-four-one-two. Why aren't you at your post? TX-four-one-two, do you copy?... What should I do?"

"You need to distract them away from the microphones, so they can't call for help when Han breaks in," Vataloni explained, "Go down the ramp, and signal to the main controller that your helmet transmition isn't working. Hit your ear twice, then shrug."

Luckily, Han had followed the simple instructions he was given, and when Luke, Vataloni, Obi-Wan and the droids made their way up to the control room, the two guards were dead and stuffed into the corner. However, Vataloni had heard the shots all the way down the hall, and was not pleased that he did not even bother to silence his gun. Perhaps only the guns of her youth had silencers on them. She reminded herself her youth wasn't that long ago, and she needed to stop thinking she was old.

She was the last to enter, and quickly shut the sliding door and made sure it locked. Luke pulled off his helmet and slammed it on one of the control panels, "You know, between his howling and your shooting everything in sight... It's a wonder the whole space station doesn't know we're here!"

"Bring them on!" Han argued, "I'd prefer a straight fight to all this sneaking around!"

Vataloni rolled her eyes and turned to 3PO, "Find a computer plug in and try to find the power generators. When we find those, Obi-Wan will be able to shut them down."

"Yes, ma'am."

Vataloni glanced around the control room. Everything was in grey, other then the flashing, colourful buttons on the panels. Many of the monitors were black with red writings moving quickly across it, most likely checking up on the functions of the space station. There were small seats located in front of the many desks, all of which were loaded with more machines and monitors. Grey, black and white seemed to be the most predominate colours in the room, which, for some reason, gave Vataloni the chills. She faintly heard Obi-Wan talking with 3PO about the location of the power generators, but she didn't bother to listen. She knew he would make her stay behind anyway, and if she knew where he was going, she would be tempted to follow him.

"I'm afraid you boys will have to stay behind," Obi-Wan concluded. Han snorted, "Fine by me... I've gotten more on this trip then I bargained for anyway."

Vataloni moved over to Obi-Wan quickly and gave him a tight hug, then let go, not saying anything. She knew by the look in his eyes something bad was going to happen.

"Love you," she whispered, her voice barely heard above Luke begging to go with Obi-Wan. He smiled, "Love you, too."

He turned to Luke and planted a firm hand on his shoulder, "The Force will be with you... always."

He sent Vataloni one last look, then opened the door, his back facing out. After quickly looking over his shoulder, he disappeared, the metal door whooshing closed behind him. Vataloni sighed and settled down in a chair, listening to Chewie let out a low moan, then an abrupt bark. Han smirked at his friend, "Yeah... I agree. Where did you dig up that old fossil?"

Vataloni shot him a glare, and Luke moved to Obi-Wan's defense, "Ben is a great man."

"Yeah," Han chuckled, "Great at getting us into trouble."

"I don't see you giving any ideas."

"Well, anything would be better than just hanging around waiting for him to pick us up..."

"Who do you think-"

R2 suddenly burst out into an array of loud whistles and beeps, its domed head spinning around in a circle a few times. Vataloni frowned and stood up, slowly walking over to him and glancing down at the monitor he was in front of. It was a birds-eye display of the detention block, and one of the cells was flashing. 3PO hobbled over and listened to R2 for a moment, then turned to her, "He says... "I've found her!" and keeps repeating, "She's here." I'm not quite sure what to make of it."

"Who? Who has he found?" Luke demanded, putting his quarrel with Han aside for a moment and joining Vataloni. 3PO stayed silent for another few seconds, listening, then replied, "Princess Leia."

Vataloni's eyes widened; of course! In her message she said her ship had been taken over, and she would soon be prisoner. This must have been where she was taken, and if she was here, that meant Anakin was here. Vataloni already knew Anakin, or Lord Vader, was here, since she could feel the entire station pulsating with the Force before they were even inside. Obi-Wan felt it too, but he remained silent about the issue.

She tuned back into the conversation as 3PO told the group what cell block she was in. Vataloni could feel Luke's energy picking up, and could tell he was getting excited, "We need to find her! We need to rescue her!"

Han, looking utterly confused, stumbled forward, "What's going on? What are you talking about?"

"These droids belong to her!" Luke exclaimed, motioning to R2 and 3PO, "She's the one in the message! We've got to help her!"

"Now hang on a sec," Han ordered, trying to calm Luke, "Don't get any funny ideas. The old man said to wait here."

"We need to help her," Vataloni agreed softly, "She's in pain. I can feel it."

"Exactly!" Luke cried, awkwardly adjusting his stormtrooper uniform, which was slightly too big, "Ben didn't know she was here! Look, will you just find a way into the detention block?"

"I'm not going anywhere," Han stated, folding his arms over his chest while R2 scanned the files. Luke groaned and moved towards his companion, "Look, it says they're going to execute her! A few minutes ago you said you didn't want to just wait here to be captured. Now all you want to do is stay!"

"Marching into the detention hall is not what I had in mind!"

"They're going to kill her..." Vataloni mused to herself, a little louder then she meant to. Han glared at her, "Better her then me!"

He sat down on one of the large black chairs and turned away from the group, signifying he wasn't going to move from that spot. Vataloni figured they may as well let it go, but Luke decided to pursue the issue. He leaned down on Han's chair and whispered, "She's rich."

Vataloni grinned; he had said the magic words.

Han slowly turned his head to face him and raised an eyebrow, "Rich?"

"Yes. Rich, powerful! Listen, if you were to rescue her, the reward would be..."

"What?"

"Well more then you can imagine!"

"I don't know... I can imagine a lot."

"You'll get it."

"I better."

"You will!"

"All right kid," Han sighed, standing up and towering over Luke slightly, "But you better be right about this."

Vataloni cleared his throat, "How exactly are we going to get in there? Only the pair of you have stormtrooper uniforms... Chewie and I don't."

Luke chewed on his lip for a moment, then darted to the back of the room, returning with two pairs of handcuffs. He walked over to the wookie and went for his hands, "Okay... Now I'm going to put these on you-"

Chewie let out a thunderous howl and swatted him away, his upper lip snarling at Luke. The young man slowly backed away and stuffed the handcuff into Han's hands, "Okay, you're going to put them on him."

Han snatched the handcuffs away and moved over to Chewie, "Don't worry pal... I think I know what he's getting at."

"And Vataloni, let me put these on you," Luke stated, nodding for her to turn around. Letting out a sigh, she placed her hands behind her back and squirmed slightly when Luke snapped the metal cuffs onto her wrists. She hoped he had the keys to get them out of these when they were in the right place, since she wasn't in the mood to summon the Force and use it to help her escape. She missed Obi-Wan already, which was starting to drain her abilities. She needed to snap out of it and stay focused on the task.

"Let's just hope we don't get separated," Vataloni declared as she stood beside Chewie, looking up at him, "We'll kinda stand out, don't you think?"

The wookie let out a soft growl and nodded his furry head. Luke and Han pulled their helmets back on, and Han grabbed Chewie's arm, then waited for Luke. 3PO watched them leave, and called out in distress, "But Master Luke... What should happen if we are discovered?"

"Lock the door?" Vataloni suggested. Han nodded, "And hope they don't have blasters."

"That's not very reassuring..."

Vataloni had received a few curious stares from the officers as she strolled through the halls of the Death Star. It was very reassuring that she had her stormtroopers behind her, which had turned out to be a huge advantage; no one once had stopped them for questioning, so far. She was getting used to the dress code. Stormtroopers were in white, superior commanders and officers were in black, and the higher ranking officials were in grey.

"I can't see a thing in these helmets," Luke stressed quietly as they passed another troop, "Vataloni... If I step on your feet, I'm sorry."

"What do you mean, IF?" she hissed, "You've done it like... eight times already!"

"Sorry."

Han snorted loudly, but stopped when a commander in black stepped in front of them. His eyes traveled over Chewie with disgust, then onto Vataloni and he raised an eyebrow, "Where are you taking these ... prisoners?"

"Detention block 1138," Luke said strongly, stepping forward. The officer frowned, "All human captives are supposed to go straight to Tarkin and Vader... I'll have to take her."

Vataloni's eyes widened and she shot a look of dismay back to Luke, who scrambled to get her hands back in his clutches when the officer took her away. Luke chuckled nervously, "That's not necessary... We... uh... cleared it already."

"They want to search all human prisoners personally," the officer explained, grasping Vataloni's bound hands and dragging her down the hall, only after sending Luke and Han annoyed glares. Vataloni's brain began clicking, thinking of any possible ways for escape. The halls were long, and doorless, and she had a feeling the rare door here and there would have people behind them anyway. The officers were all in jackets, pants and boots, all of their rank colour, topped off with large or small hats. She couldn't blend in with any of them, and the fact that she was a girl didn't help her situation that much either.

"Do you think you could loosen these cuffs?" she asked as they made their approach to a large, black door, "These are really tight... My fingers are going numb."

"I'm sure you'll survive," he grunted, pressing on the comlink, then taking a step back. A raspy voice came out from the small speaker, "What!"

"I have a prisoner here, Sir," the officer stated, "A human from the ship that's being searched."

"Bring him in."

Vataloni glared at the door; how could they just assume she was a man? The door slid open and she felt herself being shoved in by the officer. Her eyes immediately fell on Darth Vader. He was standing next to a long, silver table, and at the end was seated an aged man in a grey uniform, most likely the Tarkin character the official had been talking about. He had an oddly shaped head, almost resembling an upside-down triangle, and was balding, and thin. Vataloni had seen him in the senate once or twice before, when he had hair.

But Darth Vader was huge. He towered over everyone in the room,and seemed menacingwith his large, black exterior suit and helmet. His breathing was steady, but loud. She had heard his lungs were nearlydestroyed, which was the main reason to have a raspirator.A lengthy black cape hung loosely down his back, and he just seemed much bigger then what Vataloni remembered. When she and Anakin worked together, they were close in heights, though he was always taller. Now he was a good head and a half taller, which was intimidating. Vataloni held her head up high and kept her expression blank, hoping he wouldn't somehow sense her growing fear. She'd always had difficulty masking her fear.

"Well, this is a surprise," Tarkin exclaimed, rising from his chair and dismissing the guard, "And who might you be?"

Vataloni remained silent, but kept her gaze fixed on Vader. He held up his hand, and instantly her lightsaber flew into his grasp. She cursed silently; it was stupid not to have given it to Luke or Han. Straightening up, she knew she could handle herself, with or without her weapon. Tarkin strolled over to Vader and took the sword, igniting the double-sided weapon with slight awe, "I didn't think these were made anymore."

"They are a rare find," Vataloni stated, her voice completely even, "And I'd like it back, please. You know it's rude to take other people's things, Anakin."

Tarkin raised an eyebrow, "Vader... Do you know this Jedi?"

He slowly nodded, his heavy breathing staying at the same pace. Vataloni wondered if the constant inhale-exhale-inhale-exhale ever got annoying. She took a large step towards Vader and made large eye movements to her lightsaber, "Give it back, Anakin."

"That name," he snarled, his voice sounding mechanic, and a lot deeper then she remembered, "Means nothing to me. I'll be keeping this, for now. And you will address me as Lord Vader and nothing more, understood?"

"I'll call you whatever I damn well please," she hissed, her eyes narrowing at him, "I know you as Anakin Skywalker, and I will call you Anakin Skywalker!"

"I don't mean to break up this tender moment of your meeting," Tarkin cut in, setting the lightsaber down on the table after he had turned it off, "But we have more pressing matters to discuss, at the moment. Do you know that ship you were on is wanted by the Imperial forces?"

"I hadn't the faintest idea," Vataloni lied, glaring at him, "All I know is that we were attacked when we were leaving Tatooine for no apparent reason. The wookie and I-"

"Were not the only ones on the ship," Tarkin snapped, "Where are the rest of them?"

"We were the only ones!" Vataloni argued. She thought of using the Force on him, but his mind may already be too strong for it. She needed to get out of here, or she knew she would be hauled off to the detention area. A light bulb turned on; that was it! If she was there, hopefully she would run into Luke and Han.

Tarkin moved between her and Vader and roughly grasped her upper arm, hauling her back and forcing her to sit on the table. She was in shock at the old man's strength. Perhaps he knew how to manipulate the Force too. She shot him a glare, "Careful now... I tend to bruise."

"Vataloni has always been one with a poisonous tongue," Vader commented, "Though she has gotten bolder with age... You haven't changed much, Vataloni."

"I'm sorry I can't say the same for you, Anakin," she snarled, looking him up and down again, "Is there actually a man in there, or a machine with a voice chip?"

"She does have fire," Tarkin laughed, clutching her chin and shaking her head back and forth for a second, "I can see why the Emperor liked her so much."

Vataloni's eyes widened and she gulped, "Emperor? Palpatine..."

"It's good to see you remember your Master," Vader complimented, "He's been searching for you, Vataloni. You have a Sith tradition to uphold for him."

The very thought made her want to throw up and she shifted uncomfortably, "I'm not a Sith... I don't owe him anything."

"I'm not one to argue with you," Vader stated, "You'll battle it out with him once we send you there. Now, where is Kenobi?"

Vataloni's breath suddenly became uneven, "Send me there? Send me to him?"

She was normally very calm in situations like this, but the very thought of returning to Palpatine, after all these years, was enough to send her into a panic. Tarkin placed his hands behind his back, his eyes narrowing at her, "Answer the question... Where is Kenobi? We know he's on board... Vader can sense him, so there's no point in lying."

"Send me to him..." Vataloni repeated, still stewing over the idea, "You can't... I won't let you!"

She used the Force to ignite her lightsaber, which cut her hands loose in the process, then managed to send Vader and Tarkin stumbling back into the black wall surrounding them. She grasped her weapon, using the Force once again to slide the door open and dash out.

"STOP HER!"

Glancing back, she noticed Tarkin and Vader were out of the office, ordering a hord of stormtroopers to recapture her, and bring her back to them. Groaning, she picked up the pace and tore off down the hall, her long blade deflecting oncoming shots from both in frontand behind her. Where she was running, she had no idea, but she decided to just let her feet guide her, noting that they had served her well in the past.

She needed to regroup with Han and Luke, and perhaps Obi-Wan, sometime soon. Finally, she rounded a corner and pulled a lone officer against the wall, stuffing her lightsaber up close to his throat, "Where is the detention area?"

He stayed silent, so Vataloni pressed her hand against his throat and pushed the lightsaber a little closer, "Don't think I won'tkill you... Where is it!"

"Third floor," he grunted, taking shallow breaths loudly. She reversed her grip on his neck and twisted it, temporarily knocking him out. The loud clunking sounds of the stormtroopers boots became louder and louder as they got closer to her, and she took off again, running to the nearest elevator and locking herself inside. Hopefully they wouldn't shut off the power to that specific elevator.

Hopefully.