Chapter 6: Death Star
Leia strapped herself into the chair beside Chewbacca as the skilled wookie twisted and flipped the fleeing Millennium Falcon through the stars. Han and Luke had darted off, manning the ship's laser canons and Leia had slipped into the pilot seat if only to aid by monitoring the flashing readouts.
A handful of Imperial TIE fighters, small and agile, darted and buzzed around the ship, lasers blasting against the shielded hull. Chewbacca dove as one came from the front, spinning to angle the lower canon for Luke's shot. The fighter ducked out of sight, the Falcon's shot vanishing into space.
"They're coming in too fast!" Luke cried as he watched the fighter pop in and almost immediately back out of sight. He rotated quickly in his revolving chair, trying to find the little ship. He was a skilled pilot and his aim sure, but this was an entirely different breed of rat he was chasing and they moved with precision.
A formation of three burst from below him and he felt rather than saw the shots they rained on the upper-side of the ship, the Falcon shuddering from the barrage. Han swore and trailed them, just barely nicking the wing of the last ship and sending it careening away.
In the cockpit, Leia fearfully clung to the console until the ship stabilized. "We've lost lateral controls." She reported to both Han and Chewbacca.
"Don't worry, she'll hold together," Han assured and only Luke heard the added plea to the ship to do just that.
Chewbacca flipped a few controls before pulling the ship up and back in a tight loop that momentarily put them behind two more fighters. Leia tapped a button firing the lesser canons on the front of the ship, successfully forcing them to dive right into the more powerful canon's path. Luke smiled and fired, the ship exploding from the direct hit.
"I got him!" the boy whooped, looking through the connective passage toward Han.
"Great, kid! Don't get cocky." He pulled his own canon to target the other fighter and shot it down.
Leia's voice carried over their headsets, "There are still two more of them out there!"
As if called into being by her warning, the final two ships dove into view, splitting to address the upper and lower canons. Han spun, firing a tail behind his fighter, stabilized with years of experience as the fighters return blasts rocked his seat.
Below, Luke struggled to keep small ship in his sights, swinging left and right, only just managing to line up a shot before it was gone again. He bit his lip and screwed up his face in concentration as the fighter appeared in view again. It followed the same swooping path, and Luke aimed just ahead of the ship, firing his second direct hit. From above, the burning fragments of Han's destroyed fighter filled his view.
"That's it! We did it!" He pulled a victory lap, spinning the chair a full circle, Leia's cheers in his ear urging him on.
Chewbacca roared in celebration from his seat as he pushed the ship far away from the carefully watching Death Star.
Vader stepped behind Tarkin, arms crossed calmly behind his back. The ploy had lost them a few good fighters but it was worth it. "They have made the jump to hyperspace."
"You are sure the homing beacon is secure aboard their ship?" Tarkin glowered at the cyborg. "I'm taking an awful risk, Vader. This had better work."
For the second time this rotation, Vader imagined his hands crushing the Governor's throat.
"Ari…Ari, child open your eyes."
The girl groaned and turned on her side, waving away the voice calling to her.
"Ari, open your eyes. You've slept long enough, I think."
Again Ariala groaned, but slowly opened her eyes. The pale wall of the Tatooine hut flashed brightly as her pupils adjusted and she flopped to her other side. Ben sat, smiling, watching her. She frowned at the man and sat up. The hut was silent and still. She heard no wind, no chatter of rustling pests, no distant growl of a disgruntled wetback. Even the Force seemed lacking.
All at once, memories came back to her and she dropped her head into her hands. The space station, Ben, Vader, anger. So much anger. It flared again within her but quickly fizzled away as the old Jedi placed a calm hand on her shoulder. She pulled her hands from her face, but did not look at him. How could she? She had killed. They may have been agents of the empire, but they were innocent and she had killed them barely aware she was doing it. The sounds their bodies made as they broke haunted her.
Ben watched her silently, feeling the turmoil in her heart, and it echoed sadly in his own.
"This isn't real," Ariala finally said. "Is it?"
Ben sighed and withdrew once again to the chair. "It is, in a way."
She glowered in his general direction, still unwilling to meet his eyes.
"No, we are not on Tatooine. This place is a manifestation of our shared memory. But I, my pupil, am as real as you, as real as the Force." He tilted his head. "Do you not sense it?"
Ariala shook her head. It wasn't that she didn't sense it, but more that she couldn't. The Force felt muffled and she struggled to find synchronicity in it.
"You heart is clouded. Let go of your anger."
"I want to…" she finally risked a glance at him and his patient gaze shook her core. How could he still look at her so gently? "…but he killed you. He killed Bail and Breha and everyone I have ever had." She pulled her knees to her chest. "I'm alone again."
"If you continue to believe that, it will be made true." Ben leaned back and crossed his fingers in his lap. "The Force has great power to bring fear to life. It is why the dark side preys on it.
"But – "
"You are not alone. I told you, I will always be at your side." He stood and placed his hand over hers. She gasped as for a brief second his light in the Force glimmered. He smiled, pulled his hand away and was gone.
Ariala's consciousness floated in and out of the little grey cell, where she lay restrained, and the motionless desert hut. She moaned softly as she slipped into her physical mind, the glinting red of the ceiling and floor like fire, then back to the white walled room, to Ben's echoing promises. Reality blurred and she questioned which was the truth. Her heart yearned for the vision, she wasn't ready to let go, but her mind, coming out of the heavy sedative Vader used, knew better.
The cell fell into clearer focus, Tatooine returning to the inaccessible outer rim, and she bit the inside of her cheek to hold back her disappointed tears.
Luke's feet carried him without the boy fully paying attention to the destination. He stepped over the raised doorframe and into the small holding area, freezing as his eyes fell on the table on the opposite side of the room. The helmet, training remote, and lightsaber still lay there where he'd left them.
He crossed the floor slowly, hesitant as he pressed a hand against the saber. Had it really only been earlier in the day that Ben sat there, beginning the boy's Jedi training? It seemed a lifetime ago.
He fell into the chair, igniting the saber. Ben really had been a Jedi after all. The short tussle he had seen as the hermit held his own against the Galaxy's Greatest Villain showed his honed skill.
He sighed and dropped the weapon. Now who would train him? Now what would he do? Ben had had years and years of experience but he still fell to Vader in the end. What could a farmer from the end of the galaxy hope to accomplish?
His musings were interrupted when he felt, rather than heard, Leia stop at the doorway.
He turned, catching her eye as she started to leave. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to intrude," she said. "I was just-"
"-looking for a place to think?" Luke finished. He nodded and turned back to the table. "Me too." He glanced back over his shoulder and gestured to the empty seat next to him. "Come on. We'll think together."
Leia hesitated a moment, lingering in the doorway, then strode across the floor to join him. She didn't have to ask what the boy was thinking about. She had seen the old man fall, too. The princess covered Luke's hand with hers, drawing his eyes to hers. "I'm sorry, Luke. He was a good man." She sighed as Luke politely withdrew from her touch, continuing. "My father spoke very highly of him." After a pause she added, "Ari did too."
Luke nodded, paused, and then stared at her as though she had grown a second head. "Ari?"
Oblivious to his reaction, too lost in her own thoughts to see his face, Leia answered. "My friend and personal guard. Ariala. Obi-wan raised her before she came to Alderaan…" the rest of her words Luke failed to hear as he gawked, unbelievingly, the weight of ten worlds seemed to fall upon him. Ari...Ari was there…had been there...so close and he didn't even know it. And now she was trapped within the Imperial fortress.
"Why didn't you say anything?!" He suddenly shouted, cutting short whatever the princess had been saying. She jumped and stared at him. "Why didn't you tell us it was her? We can't leave her there!"
Leia blinked. "You know her?"
"Of course I know her! She's my friend." He dropped his head, eyes saucers. "I thought she'd gotten into the academy or just ran away... what was she doing there...what was she doing all the way in the core system?!"
Leia balked as she struggled - though not as much as Luke - to realize that somehow in the massive galaxy, she had managed to come across someone else who shared a deep friendship with her guard. Her guilt at leaving Ari doubled but she quickly stuffed it aside. "Obi-wan sent her to my father to complete her training." Leia answered. She had only recently learned that truth as the two sped for Tatooine: that Ari's "Ben" and Bail's "Obi-Wan" had been one and the same. That Ari was indeed a Jedi. The latter fact had been the main reason she wanted Ari rescued. There was no telling what Vader would do to the girl if he found out.
Luke's question brought her back to the present. "Training?"
She stared, again, slowly asking, "You don't know?"
He shook his head, realization settling on him even as he did so. The way Ari always knew where to find him, how she seemed to know how things were going to happen before they did, that far off look that she got when talking about the future. I think you'll find yourself in your own adventure. You just have to let it come to you... "She's a Jedi..." He stared at the lightsaber, blue eyes nearly bulging from his head. "Ben trained her to be a Jedi..."
"It is – was - one of the only secrets my father kept from me..." Her voice trailed off. Between Vader's torture and the impromptu escape, Leia had barely processed her emotions on her home planet. It had been so hard to believe it was gone even as she witnessed it explode, that immediate denial blinded her. Now, in the face of Luke's loss, her sorrow pressed down on her.
She could not fathom grief large enough to encapsulate the whole planet; she did not even feel she held enough for her parents. A part of her hoped that Bail had not yet made it back to Alderaan from the rebel base, but she knew better. He was a loyal ruler and would have made all efforts to be with his people when in the face of the empire's threats. Breha would have been at his side as he addressed the council. The guards and handmaidens lining the circular chamber.
Leia saw it all, the inevitable scene before the Death Star blew them away. She prayed they faced no pain, at least. No fear.
The silence in the little room stretched on, the two lost under independent clouds of incomprehensible grief. It was in this cloud, Han found them.
"Whoa...bad timing..."
Both youthful heads shot up at his voice and he raised his hands defensively."Easy. Didn't mean to surprise anybody." He pointed back toward the cockpit. "We'll be in the Yavin system soon. I need to know where we're going."
The switch in Leia was instantaneous, a shroud of authority falling over her as she stood. "I'll fly us in. They'll be wary of an unfamiliar ship and I'll have to transit my personal code."
Han opened his mouth to argue - no one but him and Chewie flew the Falcon - but her hard stare shut him up. She stepped from the room without another word and Han scoffed. "Nice lady."
The dense jungle of the fourth moon orbiting Yavin, to Luke, seemed ready to swallow the Falcon whole. As Leia carefully steered the ship over the high trees, circling twice while her code was verified and the ship scanned, the boy stared hardly believing his eyes. This planet was as alive as Tatooine was desolate. Whisper birds, gold and blue, darted into the sky, squawking in anger at the rumbling engines; flowers like a rainbow dotted the ground between the purple-leafed trees, and a sticky humidity clung to the air, fogging the ship's window. "Whoa…"
Han titled his head back and chuckled. "It ain't that impressive kid. Swamps and trees. You want to see something really nice - "
"Code authorized, you are cleared for landing. And welcome back, Princess." The confirmation from ground control interrupted Han and Leia smirked at the convenience. She titled the ship in a tight bank right, leveling out as an old, dilapidated structure came into view above the tree line.
The ancient temple of the Massassi lay shrouded in mist, but even without it, there seemed to be an eeriness about it that made Han's skin crawl. It wasn't bad, just something not quite normal, as though the rotting stones held a terrible secret.
The Falcon landed a ways from the building, on a landing platform they had only noticed when Leia brought the ship directly over it, crushing vine and twig.
A rag-tag group of officers gave them welcome, urging them into an armored speeder that carried them the rest of the way. They barely made it through the hangar door before Leia was bombarded, practically dragged out of the speeder.
"Commander Willard!" She waved to the man closest, and he gracefully pulled her out of the crowd, quickly ensnaring with a tight hug.
"You're safe! We had feared the worst." He pulled back and gave her a second look. A slight darkness hung behind her brown eyes and she was dirtied, but otherwise in one piece. He sighed. "When we heard about Alderaan, we were afraid that you were …lost along with your father."
The confirmation sent a cold wave through the princess but she made no sign of it. "We don't have time for our sorrows, commander. The battle station has surely tracked us here." She only mildly heard Han grunt in disagreement. "You must use the information in this R2 unit - " the little blue droid rolled dutifully forward with a soft whistle "- to plan the attack. It is our only hope now."
Satisfaction thrummed in Vader's chest as, to him, the Force seemed already shifting to his side, the last Jedi dead by his hand. Kenobi's death had opened a void in the Force that the dark side was all too eager to fill. The corrupted Force stroked his mind, seductively, whispering its continual promises of power and strength.
The last of the light side was gone, the vestiges of the old order swept away.
Except her.
His thoughts turned toward the young girl and a dark smile spread. Obi-Wan's little student had come as quite a surprise. His plans to kill her too shifted in light of her earlier display. The power and mastery of the Force in her rage struck a familiar chord in the Force. He recognized it as his own dark turn, the first steps he took toward becoming Vader, when a clan of sandpeople was crushed underfoot. The old guilt he once felt at the event had long ago faded, as he embraced what true power lay for the taking. The Jedi were too kind with the massive living Force, but a Sith took what he wanted.
In that moment, as the little one ravaged his 501st, she had done the same.
The dark lord leaned forward in his chair in the solitude of his chambers. Could he use her?
With the completion of the Death Star, the Emperor was one step away from absolute domination of the galaxy. The rebellion was soon to be destroyed and every planet would fall in line.
His loyal mind, always in fear of his master's endless awareness, contemplated her turn for the strength of the empire. Adding her to their power would confirm their position and ensure no other rebellion sprung up in the far sectors.
But in truth, his ever-greedy heart sought her for his own purposes. He had never wanted to be apprentice to the dark side. He only bowed to Palpatine when he knew he was too weak to win. That was when he was alone. His smile widened.
Pressing a button on the arm of his chair, he spoke without waiting to see if anyone was listening. "Bring the prisoner in cell 2816 to me."
Ariala had no hope of wriggling away from the troopers that half dragged her from her cell. She was still too much under the influence of the sedative, groggy and disoriented. The monochrome halls titled and swayed in her vision, so that even if they took a direct path, she was too unaware to recall it.
As they neared Vader's chambers, she felt him reach out to tap her mind, and through the Force she saw his power, a serpent, massive and unyielding slither toward her. She tried to peddle away but the soldiers, seeing not what she could, held her firm. A single tendril of the snake wound up her leg, across her back and settled on her shoulder. Red eyes pierced her soul and she heard his internal voice – not the one created by his suit – cackle at what the probing revealed. Her own power felt so far away, beyond the mist of her hazed mind, and she could only shudder as the snake went about its task.
She was only half aware when the procession stopped before the solitary door on this level. "Lord Vader, we have the prisoner as requested."
The door slid open, the dark room looming beyond. The troopers entered and Ariala watched the snake rejoin the cloud of malice ever surround the Sith Lord. She stared with wide eyes, unable to swallow the knot of inferiority. His swelling strength brought some clarity back to her senses, so that she maintained enough control over her limbs to avoid falling entirely on her face when the troopers thrust her forward.
"Leave us," Vader ordered and the troopers obeyed.
Ariala pushed herself to her feet, wavering slightly.
"Sit." A chair slid from elsewhere in the room and cut her legs, forcing her to fall into it. She moved to stand once, but the wave of dizziness kept her still. Vader, she felt, was pleased.
He watched her in silence, fingers intertwined, formulating his plan. She would not be easy to turn after however many years she had lived in the Jedi's pathetic manner and he didn't have the emperor's subtle skill to twist another's thoughts and emotions without the subject unaware. But he had seen – and felt - it done enough to give the girl a good imitation.
"You're so lonely, aren't you?" Vader finally said slowly, the deep tone of his voice as soft as he could make it. "I can feel it. It pervades your heart." He pressed out with the Force, not for himself, but for her, strumming the chord of her isolation. It reverberated, showing her he knew just how much it surrounded her.
She pulled in on herself, away from the fang of that cursed serpent, but remained silent.
Vader continued. "Yes. You have lost so much, haven't you?"
And now he plucked this string, the echo of its Force tones filling the mental silence between them. Her memories surfaced and he read them easily.
"Friend, planet, home…parents." Vader purred each word like a knife twisting into her heart.
She snapped her reddened eyes to him. "I didn't lose them," Ariala hissed. "You took them from me."
Anger seeped into the chorus of her swirling emotions and Vader inhaled the toxic emotion with a pleased sigh. Anger he could work with.
"Did I?"
She growled.
"Was it me who sent the Princess flying away? No. Was it me who turned Alderaan into a threat against the empire, thus leading to its fall? No. No, those were the fault of the very people you trusted. The princess abandoned you. Alderaan failed you."
"That's not true! Leia would never turn her back on me, on anyone!" Wouldn't she? Ariala shook doubt away. Leia would always stand strong for the rebellion, that was true, but she was not one to sacrifice others for the end goal. Still, a worm of uncertainty curled in the bottom of her heart.
Vader pressed forward without concern. "She turned her back on Alderaan."
"You're lying."
"I am not. She could have saved them, all of them, if she had only cooperated with our requests."
"You asked her to betray the alliance!"
"A small price, I think, to save those she claimed to love."
"She had no choice. You gave her no choice…" but Ariala quelled under his words. She hadn't been there, hadn't seen but she knew Leia could be obstinate, unbreakable, loyal to the end. Would she have truly allowed Alderaan's destruction to save the rebellion force? Would she really have sacrificed her father and mother?
The Jedi shook her head, snapping it side to side, clearing the dark lord's manipulation and pulling what she could grasp of the Force around her mind like a shield. Clarity dripped into her as the sedative ebbed away. He was lying. He was a Sith. He was broken and dark and trying to do the same to her. She would not yield. Ariala forced her raging heart to calm, taking a deep breath before meeting the black mask's eyes.
Her words came measured, deliberate. "You did it, Vader. You may try to wipe your hands of these crimes by twisting the truth, but we both know you are responsible." She unfolded herself from the chair and stood, closing the gap between them with heavy, shaky steps. The Dark Lord did not move. "And I will be the one to stop you."
Vader chuckled darkly. "I look forward to it."
"The target area is only two meters wide," Dodonna said, determined eyes running over the gathered rebel pilots as the death star plans flashed on the screen beside him. They rustled and exchanged dubious glances. He quieted the impulse to rush over this bad-news, worse-news information and pressed on.
"It's a small thermal exhaust port, right below the main port. The shaft leads directly to the reactor system. A precise hit will start a chain reaction which should destroy the station."
He would have preferred stunned silence to the murmurs of disbelief that ran through the room. He had checked and rechecked every inch of the data himself, this was the only option; as impossible as it may seem.
He disregarded their complaints, dismissing them to their crafts. The less chance for them to think on it, the better.
The disquiet over the plan was almost enough to make Luke question his confidence. He sat, not yet outfitted with flight gear, in the back of the room and watched. Seasoned pilots and jumpy recruits alike exchanged petrified looks, whispering their fears to each other. He wasn't sure if he simply didn't grasp the magnitude of the challenge, or just didn't think it so impossible, but the young boy seemed to be the only one not trembling in his boots.
He stood, following out the main crowds. Pieces of their conversation floated back to him.
"…that Erso's father is the one who got these plans..."
"…could be a trap…"
"…Mothma didn't even condone the mission…"
"Skywalker!"
The call of his name drew Luke's attention behind him, Dodonna jogging awkwardly to catch him. Despite the short distance the man had had to cover to catch up to the boy, he huffed slightly and took a bit more color to his naturally flushed brow. Luke politely waited him to catch his breath before speaking. "Yes, sir?"
"I didn't get much of a chance to talk to you before but the princess says you're a pilot?" When Luke nodded in affirmation, he continued. "Good, good. We'll need as many as we can get out there." He pressed a hand on the youth's back steering him down a side passage in the sprawling compound. "Head down this way and look for Tylrive - big ortolan, can't miss him – he'll get you set."
xxxxx
The room he had been directed to, like most of the old temple, was outfitted as much as possible for the alliance's needs. The molding walls peeked through sleek new tiles while blinking consoles and blipping screens illuminated the windowless space. In one corner, piled up to almost waist height, a hunk of orange and white fabrics, tubing, and wire tumbled together. Across from the pile, lining the stone wall, lockers stood in a line, their deep grey metal doors pocked with a multitude of rust marks. Each one had at least two names etched on the front, though one, he noticed, had as many as five.
Luke took a step further into the room. "Hello?"
A snorting grunt from the pile answered him.
"Hello?" He tried again. "I'm looking for Tylrive. I was told to come down here and - " Before he could finish, the pile shifted and lurched over as a tall and wide ortolan popped up, gripping several wires and fabric remnants in long trunk. The creature's large black eyes fell on Luke and he took two long steps over the mess to the boy.
" - here to get my suit." Luke finished lamely trying not to stare. Most ortolan's he had ever seen were shorter than him, stumpy little things that waddled around as though they could never quite get used to being on two feet. This one, though, came up almost to his chin and was twice as wide.
Tylrive snorted. "Of course, you are!"
"Be nice, we need him."
Luke turned to the source of the sudden voice, frowning as he tried to remember the name of the younger boy leaning in the doorway.
Realizing his confusion, the boy extended his hand. "Luke, right? Skywalker? I'm Wedge. Antilles."
Recognition lit Luke's face. "Yeah! You're like the youngest pilot or something? I heard your name floating around."
"Well, you know," Wedge said with a grin that displayed his false modesty. Luke chuckled in return and Wedge continued. "So womp rats huh?"
Luke glanced back, having turned back to the ortolan as he measured the boy's lanky limbs with unintelligible commentary.
"You done a star fight yet?"
"Sort of? Held off a few of the TIEs when we escaped the Death Star."
"In that junker?"
Luke shrugged, not sure what to make of that, and partly worried Han would materialize just to correct them.
"Pretty impressive you're not dead then." Wedge clapped him on the back with another smug grin. "You'll do alright." He turned to leave, pausing suddenly. "Oh! Right. I've got your assignment; Red Squadron. Looks like we're flying together."
The rotund station popped into existence before the Yavin system as it slipped calmly from light speed. The great red gas giant swirled before them and Vader, staring in anticipation from the command bridge window, scowled beneath his mask. Below him, in the trenches that lined the main walkway, he felt the nervousness of the flight navigator as the man realized the grave error; the blue forest moon that was Yavin 4 was not in sight.
"Lord Vader," he managed to squeeze out without a stutter. The dark lord turned.
"It seems our calculations of the planet's cycle were…incorrect." He swallowed, feeling a worrisome pressure on his windpipe. "Yavin 4 is on the other side. We will have to orbit the planet in order to be in range."
Vader's scowl deepened and his anger was clear in his voice. "How long?"
"Thirty minutes, Lord Vader."
The dark lord said nothing, turning back to the window. Patience was not something he had an abundance of, but in this case he could wait.
The flight hangar was abuzz with activity by the time Luke slipped back in, a neon beacon in his bright orange flight suit. His helmet tucked under his arm, he started toward the fighters, only just catching Han loading a mass of crates onto his ship. The boy sighed.
"So you got your reward and you're just leaving then?"
Han paused, recognized who in the sea of look-a-like pilots was addressing him, then continued to pass the crates to Chewbacca. "That's right. I got some debts I can pay off with this. Even if I didn't, you don't think I'd be fool enough to hang around here?" He shook his head. "Why don't you come with us? You're pretty handy in a fight -"
"Come on," Luke cut off exasperated. "You know what they're going up against. They could use a good pilot like you. But you're just turning your back on them."
"Attacking that battle station is suicide," Han spat back with just enough decency to keep his voice low. "And what good's a reward if you're not around to use it?"
Luke shook his head, foolish to believe the smuggler had changed at all in the short time since they left Tatooine. "Take care of yourself Han. It's what you're good at."
"Hey! Kid!"
Luke paused, glancing back over his shoulder.
"May the Force be with you."
Luke scoffed, waved something that could have been either 'get lost' or 'goodbye' and slipped into the crowds, migrating toward the long-winged fighters. As he ducked under wing and tube and ladder, looking for the unmanned ship that was bound to be his, he nearly collided with Leia. The princess was in final conversation with a squadron leader, but as she noticed Luke, his face drawn in frustration, she excused herself.
He had been through a lot recently and while she had had plenty of duty to keep her mind distracted, he maybe was not so lucky. "What's wrong?"
Luke started as she appeared seemingly from thin air. "Leia!" He sighed. "It's just Han. I thought…I guess I thought he'd change his mind."
The princess smiled sadly. "He's got to follow his own path. No one can choose it for him."
"I just wish…" he let the thought trail off, the memory of Ben's death too fresh to give it validation.
She squeezed his arm gently. "I know."
Blue eyes met brown as Luke sought her steadying presence. He felt calmer just being beside her. Almost like... Concern replaced disappointment and he lowered his voice, leaning closer so that only she could hear him. "What about Ari? I didn't hear anything about it…"
Leia's heart dropped. She had been partially avoiding the boy so as not to have to be the one to tell him. "Luke, I'm sorry."
"No…"
"We just don't have the resources to storm the station and destroy it. If we had more time - "
"We can't just leave her there to get blown up!"
"Don't think I'm okay with this either. I tried to convince them." She lowered her voice again, practically only mouthing the words. "I even told them she's a Jedi. But they said no." She sighed, dangerously distracting grief and guilt roiling in her gut. She couldn't do this now. She had to be strong for them. "It's my fault she's out there, and I would risk my life to save her. But it's not just my life her rescue would be putting at risk. If we don't destroy that station every star system in the galaxy is at risk. I have to believe she'd understand. I have to believe she wouldn't condone the risk, if she knew."
"But she doesn't! She doesn't know anything!" He stopped, eyes wide with ideas. "A message…what if we can get a message to her, tell her to break out and steal a ship or get in an escape pod!"
"How, Luke?" Leia's voice was full of tired sadness.
The boy looked around as though the room would somehow provide him answers. "R2…R2 can do it. While we're close enough he should be able to transmit a message and, if she gets it…" he trailed off, the half-baked idea crumbling as he spoke.
Leia sighed again, his frustration heartbreaking. "Do what you can. If it works, we can bring her home." She took both of his hands in her own and locked his gaze on her. "But if it doesn't, you can't blame yourself."
Swallowing the lump in his throat, Luke nodded. "We have to try something."
Leia nodded as well, and, standing on the tips of her toes, placed a chaste kiss on his cheek. "For luck."
Perhaps it was the sight of it before the blood red planet, the weight of the mission, or just his faulty memory, but as the rebel fighters pulled into space, the Death Star looming into view, Luke thought it looked bigger and more menacing, the concave firing disc a giant eye that stared coldly at the tiny rebel fleet. He shifted uncomfortably in his seat, hands flexing over the controls. He could do this. Nothing to it.
The voices of the other pilots, commenting on its size did little to assuage his fears and he was grateful for Red Leader's swift command. "Cut the chatter. All wings report in."
The Red Squadron sounded off and in the round of voices coming over his headset Luke could make out Biggs and Wedge as Red Three and Two respectively. He chimed in, "Red Five standing by," as he navigated the ship into position, flanking Red Ten's left side.
The ships shuddered in succession as the fleet drew closer to the station, the individual little lights and surface details coming into clear focus. "Lock S-foils in attach position and hold tight. We're passing through their magnetic field," Red Leader's voice called out through the headset.
The tremors waved through Luke's ship and, from the rear where the little droid was fastened in on the hull, R2 whistled his complaint. "Don't worry. We can do this."
"Accelerate to attack speed." Red Leader commanded. "This is it, boys!"
Luke powered the main thrusters, the ship rocketing to speed, diving toward the surface of the station, following the rest of his squadron as the maneuvered to take on the massive surface canons.
"Cut across the axis and draw their fire!"
The command hardly needed to be stated. Almost as soon as red squadron made their first pass, lighting the surface with fire, the station sprang to life, laser bolts pealing from top, side, and bottom as soldiers and machine within targeted the attacking Rebellion. The fighters split and dodged, weaving and twisting through the stars. A rainbow of explosions and bolts ignited the sky. It was, to Luke, amazing that there remained any order in the aerial dance. He swung across a computerized canon, arcing by faster than it could turn and destroying it with a few blasts. The flames licked across his ship, scorching the edges of his wings.
"Luke! Are you alright?" Biggs' voice rang in Luke's headset.
"I got a little cooked, but I'm okay." He switched to internal communications. "Was that long enough, R2?"
The droid beeped and whistled positively, the small satellite attachment retracting back into his dome-shaped head. The communication had been transmitted. Right about now, the worm that was the droid's command was zipping through the Death Star's computer network toward the detention level. If it wasn't stopped, all cells on that floor would open and he could only hope Ari would take the bait and try to escape. He climbed away from the station, pulling far enough to take notice of Gold Squadron's position. They hadn't yet begun their run, hovering behind the X-wings as the fighters worked to clear away the mounted canons. He could only hope there would be enough time for her to get out.
He grit his teeth and sped forward, clearing another cannon near the trench. It's not just my life that's at risk. Leia's words echoed back to him. Despite the battle raging in his heart, he knew she was right. Everyone out here was risking themselves for a unified task; he couldn't – wouldn't – dare sabotage their chances. Ari, would never forgive him if he did.
On the outside, the black-clad Sith Lord seemed calm as he watched the battle from the main bridge. His arms were laced across his chest, his stance wide, pupil-less helmet eyes focused forward. But inside, Vader listened to the agitated churning of the Force. The light side seemed to be swirling with an overabundance of hopeful positivity and his crooning dark side convulsed at the intrusion. Something was trying to shift the balance again. Destruction hovered between the two sides and he sneered. It seemed those buzzing little rebels had some power after all.
He turned abruptly, cape sweeping, and stormed from the bridge. Already the halls were marred with evidence of the rebel's attack. Unconscious troopers and officers lie sprawled against the walls, bulk heads and ray shields were slammed shut where shots pierced the hull. All around him, the soldiers raced, orders flew over his head and comlinks crackled with conversation. The Force trembled again, in warning, and he paused as the corridor was suddenly rocked with laser fire. Smoke billowed from the hole, sparks crackling. Two more troopers lie unmoving.
"They're too small," he mused, the pilot in him surfacing. He rounded on an officer clinging to the wall behind him. Whether he was just conveniently there or had been seeking the dark lord Vader didn't care to know. "We'll have to destroy them ship to ship. Get the crews to their fighters."
The officer's head bobbed in understanding. He slid away from the damaged hall back toward the bridge and within seconds, Vader heard the intercom announcements ordering fighter pilots to their stations.
Still, the Force reverberated with dissent, and he moved steadily down the smoldering hall.
The Death Star was pockmarked with the rebel's blaster fire, the thirty-something ships making decent work of the station's defenses. Automated or not, the canons were too slow to match the zipping fighters. The X-wings swung around, in loose formation for a third pass over the booming weaponry. TIE crafts screamed from the hangar of the station, quickly gaining ground on the corkscrewing X-Wings. Luke heard several calls as the fleet split off to deal with the incoming barrage. The small black fighters outnumbered the rebellion two to one, flanking the fleeing rebels and causing them to peel off in swift evasion.
Luke scanned his systems, eyes following Biggs craft as it looped and spun from a locked-on TIE. The aerial acrobatics did nothing to deter the Imperial fighter and Biggs tense voice reverberated in Luke's ears.
"He's on me tight, I can't shake him! I can't shake him!"
He dove, nose-first toward the looming Death Star, arcing up to skim the surface and glanced back cursing as the TIE easily matched the move.
Luke was already on his tail, so far having avoided drawing attention to himself. His X-wing swept behind the Imperial fighter, Biggs careened out of the way, and Luke fired, the TIE exploding with his accuracy. Elsewhere, the regrouping rebellion picked away at the black ships, only a few stragglers looping away from the poor odds.
Gold Team moved in position for their attempt at the reactor.
Ariala moaned and squirmed against her bonds, lost in a sea of images racing before her unseeing eyes. Even if she hadn't been bound, there was little chance she was capable of moving on her own. As soon as she had been returned to her cell, the sedative was re-administered, the constant flow keeping her in a plaintive twilight state. At any given moment, she was flung between Tatooine, her cell, Alderaan, the vacuum of space, and a myriad of locations she couldn't recognize. Voices and names called out to her – or rather called out around her - but they flew in and out as quickly as the images adding to her dazed state.
So lost was she in the miasma of broken information she gave no reaction when the door of the cell slid open and Vader stepped in, looming like death in the frame. He turned to the machine pumping quietly beside her bed, examining the concentrations. After their last encounter he had ordered a higher dosage, it impressed him to see her even semi-conscious.
The dark lord returned his attention to her, inhaling the fear so palpable in the air. He could see her power, flung outward, tendrils of energy reaching beyond the cell, beyond the station, and possibly even beyond the system, functioning with only a single ideal: escape. He watched as her desperation swarmed within the Force, the vague notion swallowed in the overpowering potency that was the Force's concrete resolution. Unawares as she was, she had no control over her impressive strength, and the Force sucked on her energy, enveloping her mind and spirit even as she tried to control it. That she maintained any individuality in such a state was a testament to her will. She was quite strong indeed.
The station rocked again as the battle continued, and the Force grumbled in response. The light pressed closer to the dark side, yawning expanse threatening to swallow it up. Images flashed before his eyes and a cold certainty revealed itself; the station would fall.
Vader snarled. The nearly thirty-year long project, the glittering symbol of the empire's dominion, was about to fall because of a pesky group of children and rotten princess! His hands curled into fists. He would stop this.
The door opened behind him, as though sensing his movement, and he stepped into the hall rounding on the mousey officer that had the misfortune to accompany the Sith. "Order my fighter readied, and…" he glanced back to the cell. "move her to the Executor on my command."
The officer bobbed in understanding. "Of course, Lord Vader. As soon as we have crushed - "
"Now, sergeant."
"Damnit, Biggs where you?" Luke hissed, glancing again over his shoulder. The X-wing slipped into a loop and the chasing TIE did not let up. He rocked and swerved, dodging near misses, R2 shrieking with surprise as a laser bolt tore into the rear hull. Small flames danced at the point of impact but the system registered the damage was minimal.
"R2, see what you can do back there?"
The droid beeped and whistled in response, rather calmly attending to the smoking wound.
The TIE continued to squeal after them.
"I can't shake him!"
"Hold on!" Wedge's voice came through. "I'm on him, Luke!" he dove across the horizon, moving rapidly toward Luke and the Imperial fighter. The TIE watched the oncoming X-wing, carefully maneuvering to stay behind Luke. He barely noticed when a second X-wing popped in behind him, the crossfire of the roaring ships tearing him from the sky.
Luke sighed in relief at the fireball that had been his pursuer. "Thanks, Wedge."
He risked a look at the trench, noting the speeding Y-wings glowing engines. Three fighters chased them, tight on the bulkier ships. Gold Two was nowhere to be seen, only a faint wisp of smoke from his destroyed craft. Luke swore and glanced around, realizing, he like the others, were hovering in stunned silence. He could just make out Red Four whisper, "That's Vader's TIE advanced…" in the din of their battle.
He watched the smaller, curved wing fighter that led the two flanking TIE and felt his anger bubble.
"Let go, Luke."
As suddenly as it had come on, it faded, and Luke whipped his head around. It wasn't the first time he had heard Ben's calming voice since they fled the Death Star with Leia and the boy smacked his helmet, shaking the memory of the old man from his head. It didn't matter that it sounded like he was sitting right next to him, didn't matter that he could have sworn to hear the words with his heart and not his ears, didn't matter how much he wanted to find out that Ben was standing in the control center, miraculously alive. He had seen the red blade slice through the hermit and that was that. Ben was dead, and Luke needed to focus on the task at hand.
Shouts drew him fully back to the scene before him, the debris that had been Gold Leader ricocheting into the air. He swerved to avoid the larger fragments, Gold Five checking in to confirm the loss.
There was no time to mourn. Red Leader took the helm, guiding Red Ten and himself into the channel while Luke, Biggs and Wedge, pulled out of range as a final hope.
The fighters were already faster than the Y-wings had been, zipping tightly around the mounted cannons and pressing toward the reactor opening even before the Imperial squadron rounded behind them. But their speed was little help. Vader's group squeezed them in, Red Ten falling to their fire with screams Luke was sure would haunt him for months. He watched, breath held, muscles tense, as Red Leader closed the gap between himself and the target.
"It's away!"
The proton torpedoes exploded in a rainbow of color and for a moment, jubilation ran through the company, Red Nine shouting "It's a hit!"
"No…" Red Leader answered, his voice grim. "Negative. It didn't go in. It just impacted on the surface." He sighed and wheeled around, lining himself for another run.
The screeching of a pursuing fighter called his attention, his ship rocking as it fired. "I just lost my starboard engine. Red Five, get set to make your attack run!"
Luke stared, momentarily as the older man tried vainly to avoid the enhanced TIE, angling as much as the single engine would allow. Vader fired again and Red Leader swept by them, crashing into the surface.
Only he, Biggs, Wedge, and Red Nine to watch the skies, remained. They had been more than two dozen and now…Luke shoved aside the wave of despair that threatened to overcome him and pushed forward. The TIEs were currently out of sight, most likely regrouping, and he was not going to waste the chance. He drove the fighter at full speed, the station blurring outside of his windows. "Let's close up. We're going in…full throttle. That ought to keep those fighters off our backs."
The two banked behind him, falling in to flank and protect his rear. "Luke," came Biggs' worried voice. "At that speed will you be able to pull out in time?"
"It'll be just like Beggar's Canyon back home!"
Biggs' chuckled nervously.
"Womp rats right, kid?"
Luke smirked as Wedge's voice rang out. "Just like 'em."
The trio dipped into the trench, the tight walls echoing the whine of their engines back around them. Cannons fired, but the smaller ships zipped by unharmed, barely two bolts leaving the affixed guns before they were useless.
"We'll stay far enough back to cover you," Biggs said, dropping back a few ship's length behind Luke. Wedge positioned himself just between the two. His eyes darted quickly, knowing the TIEs would be on them soon.
As though reading his eagerness, Vader swooped around the station, lowering himself and his group into the trench. He couldn't help a small grin as he accelerated, the TIE advanced designed for more speed. The others lingered further behind but he gave them no mind. There was no one else to worry about. The single fighter that remained above the station was only focused on the canons, and too slow to be of concern. He lined up for the rear fighter, watching as it bobbed in the confined trough, but unable to swing around and fire. He smirked. "Useless."
Calmly, the dark lord fired, the shot marking true, the fighter smoking as it pulled away. Not a perfect hit, but he was gone and no more trouble. "Let him go. Stay on the leader." As the chase continued, the Force whipped and tossed about him with anxious agitation and mixed warnings. He breathed deeply, hiccupping the regulator, calming his mind.
At the head of the convoy, Luke watched Wedge pulled away to safety, Red Nine joining him out of range, the two steering back toward the base. Biggs clung close behind Luke and just behind him, Luke could see the stiff-winged TIE that covered Vader's right side.
"Hurry Luke!" his friend called out, doing a decent job tempering his fear. "They're coming in much faster this time. I can't hold them!"
Luke grimaced, his readouts glaring back at him that he was already at maximum throttle. There wasn't much 'hurry' left to give. "R2, try and increase the power!" He twisted some of his own controls, shifting as much as he could to the engines. The little speeder whined as it gained a bit more thrust, stabilizers shuddering under the assault. He grit his teeth and bore it, watching as his distance to the tower shrunk in tiny bits.
If it had been possible, Vader would have whooped and hollered behind the rebel ship. It had been far too long since he had had any challenge and though the X-wing he targeted before him could hardly count as tough opposition, the pilot was skilled enough to evade a direct lock. The Sith dove closer, his speed more than a match for the rebel's evasion. He felt the pilot's fear, almost heard his plaintive cry as the TIE locked-on, and rejoiced as the man's presence was snatched from existence. A flash of fire as the exploding pieces careening and crashed into the hull of the station. Idly, Vader wondered if the impact had been enough to knock the leader off course.
He broke through the fireball and almost grinned to see the final X-wing still speeding ahead. The small blue astromech stared at him from the rear of the ship. That damned droid was the reason for all of this. He locked his focus on the robot and increased his speed to close the gap. "I'm on the leader."
Adrenaline overpowered stunned grief as Luke watched the wreckage of Biggs ship float into the stars. He never got to tell him about being a Jedi…about Tatooine. Luke swallowed roughly. Owen, Beru, Ben, and now Biggs…he placed the pilot in his heart and closed away the distraction. Now it was just him and those screeching fighters and the tower was still out of range.
He centered the targeting computer, the yellow cross-lines confirming his thoughts. The small red numbers ticking down the distance still read over thirty-five thousand. He grimaced, the fighters at his rear spiking dread in his heart. He peered again at the computer. Twenty-two thousand. Still so far…
"Use the Force, Luke."
Ben's voice again.
Luke started, the hope the old man's voice caused a sharp contrast to his alarm. He shook his head. This was not the time! He forced himself to check the computer again.
"Luke, trust me!"
That same tickling in the back of his conscious, of a presence greater than himself, called to Luke beyond Ben's phantom voice. The same calming sense he had had when he faced down the remote droid…the Force. Letting himself fall into it, he exhaled and pressed the targeting computer to the side.
Immediately, base command was in his ear. "You switched off your targeting computer. What's wrong?"
He shook his head, still trying to convince himself this was a sane idea. "Nothing. I'm alright."
The fighter streaked ever closer to the final target, Vader still sticking tight to his rear.
The Sith dropped back for a fraction of a second, the humming of the light side bursting into a brief chorus, echoing from the ship before him. "The Force is strong with this one." But that didn't mean he knew what to do with it. Vader's targeting system bleeped as it gained a lock and he fired.
Luke veered at the last second, the Force guiding him away from the shot. Blaster fire crashed into the rear panels, the fighter shuddering under the impact and above the crackle of melting and breaking metal, R2's bloodcurdling scream. The little droid shrieked and whimpered as the shot passed almost completely through him, circuits and frame fuming.
Luke swore. "I've lost R2!" The only response was the faint sound of the computer at base repeating the Death Star has cleared the planet. He was out of time. He resisted the temptation to look at the targeting computer again, focusing only on that enigmatic sensation that told him he would be fine.
From behind, Vader grinned. It was not the shot he had hoped for, but satisfactory. Revenge was good too. He twisted a few knobs and controls, pulling further ahead of his contingent. The gap between him and his prey closed. He centered the rebel ship on his scope. "I've got you know."
The blasters fired. An explosion behind him, the force rocking him and his shots off center. His right flanking ship gone. "What?!"
Luke started as the green bolts sped by his window, missing terribly, and the bright flash of fire behind him. Had Red Nine come back?
The loud cheering patched into his headset answered him, the Millennium Falcon swooping in from nowhere, raining a trail of fire. Han's exuberance swept through the base and even Luke allowed himself a little laugh at the close call. "You came back!"
The Falcon passed overhead, sights on the TIEs speeding toward Luke. Vader shifted, unperturbed, aiming for the nuisance. His wingman was not so confident. With a pathetic yelp, the pilot swerved suddenly, acceleration knocking the two warships together. One crashed into the wall of the trench while Vader was launched the other way, spinning uncontrollably, controls sparking, the Death Star growing smaller as he vanished into the darkness of space.
"You're all clear, kid!" Han reported. "Now let's blow this thing and go home!"
Luke smiled, the Force flooding him with optimistic confidence, and fired as the exhaust finally came into view. The torpedoes flew, arcing into the reactor port. Luke twisted out of the shaft, chasing the Falcon away from the impending explosion.
"Great shot, kid! That was one in a million!"
In a quiet corner at the Salin Corridor just south of the Yavin system, far from the destruction of their greatest achievement, the Executor popped into space, the diamond shaped Star Destroyer ominous as it hovered before a small, lonely Lambada-class shuttle.
"Sergeant," the shuttle's com crackled. The pilot turned to the officer behind him. "We have received your message. You are cleared for boarding. A contingent is awaiting the prisoner."
To be continued….