Chapter 9
When Han and his team stormed the Imperial control room, it seemed as if everything was normal. Uniformed men worked at their stations, unaware that the Rebels were coming. The normal flow of work was immediately interrupted when Han fired his blaster pistol at the wall, alarming the Imperials in the station. The sight of the Rebel strike team and two Jedi made them think twice about resisting.
"All right!" Han exclaimed, motioning the men to stand using his blaster. "Up!"
The Imperials complied with the order, standing and placing their hands behind their heads. It was never a good idea to resist when a group of people pointed firearms.
"Han!" Winter said. "Hurry. The fleet will be here any minute."
"Throw me the charges, Chewie," Han said to the Wookiee.
Outside the bunker, events were not turning in the Rebel's favor. Threepio watched helplessly as Stormtroopers and controllers flooded into the station. The protocol droid was always squeamish when danger reared its ugly head, but there were moments when such concerns were genuine. This was one of them.
"Oh my!" Threepio exclaimed. "They'll be captured!"
Wickett observed the situation and began chattering in his language before rushing into the forest. Threepio was so distressed, he barely took time to comprehend what the Ewok said. Instead, he panicked.
"Wait!" Threepio shouted after Wickett. "Come back!"
Events inside the bunker flowed like clockwork. The trap was sprung, though most of the Rebels were not yet aware of it. Han busied himself with setting charges, determined to bring the shield down before the fleet arrived. Years as a smuggler never allowed his hearing to dull. He heard the sound of hurried steps approaching.
Han looked up to see a black uniformed Imperial officer step into the control room. He stood in front of the railing that kept workers from falling to their deaths in the reactor complex. The Imperial raised his blaster pistol and shouted, "Freeze!"
The realization that the Rebels were suckered into a trap suddenly occurred to Han. Needing to get even, Han angrily hurled the bag of charges at the officer. The officer was impacted square in the chest and hollered as he was thrown off balance, tumbling over the railing and to his death. No sooner than this occurred, another Imperial officer stepped into the control room and leveled his blaster at Han.
This time, the Imperial had backup from Stormtroopers. Kyp reached for the lightsaber at his belt, but was restrained by Kyle's hand on his shoulder. "Too risky," the older Jedi said.
"You Rebel scum!" the officer with a blaster pointed at Han said.
The Imperials began disarming the Rebels as they surrendered. The officer in charge confiscated the lightsabers personally before saying, "Move."
The Rebel fleet emerged from hyperspace in the space orbiting Endor, armed and ready to assault the Death Star. Inside the Millennium Falcon, Lando was immediately awed by the size of the Death Star. From the reports, the former administrator of Cloud City knew it would be large, but to witness it for himself forced Lando to reconsider just exactly what was possible with modern engineering. Lando remembered an old proverb that fit perfectly for the moment it is easier to know than to believe.
Lando flipped switches and checked his screen before addressing the fighters. "All wings, report in," he said over the frequency.
"Rogue Leader, standing by," Mara said.
"Gray Leader, standing by," a pilot said.
"Green Leader, standing by," another Rebel pilot reported.
"Blade Leader, standing by," a Rebel TIE pilot said as TIE fighters began to emerge from Rebel Star Destroyers.
"Black Leader, standing by," another TIE pilot said. Lando immediately cringed. Black Squadron was Darth Vader's old squadron. Anakin supposedly had a hand in resurrecting it for the assault on the Death Star.
"Blue Leader, standing by," a Rebel pilot said.
Lando listened to a few more squadron leaders reporting. Apparently, not all the TIE fighters were being deployed just yet. That was the call of Grand Admiral Thrawn, not Lando Calrissian.
"Lock S-foils in attack positions," Mara commanded Rogue Squadron.
The Rebel fleet began converging on the Death Star, or at least most of it was. Former Imperials were curiously remaining behind as the Mon Calamari cruisers moved to provide support for the Rebel fighters.
Lando looked to his side at a distraught Nien Nunb. He pointed at the control panel and chattered nervously to Lando.
"How can that be?" Lando asked. "We've got to be able to get some reading on that shield, up or down."
Nien Nunb said something else that confused Lando.
"Jammed?" he asked. "How can they be jamming us if they don't know..." Lando trailed off, immediately realizing it was a trap, "we're coming."
Lando hurriedly barked on the fleet frequency, "Break off the attack! The shield is still up!"
"I'm not getting a reading," Mara said.
Not bothering to explain, Lando ordered, "Pull up! All craft, pull up!"
Grand Admiral Thrawn observed as the Rebel fighters pulled up at the last minute through the viewport of the Executor. The ex-Imperial was not willing to let his comrades know he was in on the secret. The officers in the operations pit were frantically reporting new information.
"So it begins," he calmly said. "You've played your hand. Now we'll play ours."
As frantic as the situation was on the Executor, alarms on Home One had the Rebels in a near state of panic. Admiral Ackbar immediately began issuing orders over the fleet frequency. "Take evasive action!" he commanded. "Green group, stick close to holding sector MV-7."
A Mon Calamari controller turned in his seat to address Ackbar. "Admiral, we have enemy ships in sector 47," he said.
Ackbar looked through his screen at the Death Star and the massed Imperial fleet and his hopes sank to the pit of his stomach, his worst fears realized. "It's a trap!" he exclaimed.
The Millennium Falcon soared away from the Death Star and deeper into the Imperial trap with the rest of the Rebels. Lando was not the pilot Han was, but he knew the controls of his former ship well enough to hold his own. Even so, he knew he was in for a tough battle when his scanners detected new enemies.
"Enemy fighters, coming in," Lando alerted the Rebels.
TIE Fighters and TIE Intercepters opened fire, breaking formation to assault the Rebel fighters. Even with the assistance of Thrawn's forces, the Rebels were heavily outnumbered. Fierce dogfights emerged around the Rebel cruisers as the Rebel Star Destroyers closed.
Thrawn calmly watched the battle unfold. Admiral Piett took the duty of commanding the forces on the bridge while the Grand Admiral remained deep in thought. The Imperial Star Destroyers were not closing. The Emperor never described the intricacies of the trap, but Thrawn had a general idea what to expect. Palpatine's style was a massive show of force. His taste in artwork only confirmed this for Thrawn.
"Keep our ships as far out of the Death Star's range as we can," Thrawn ordered Piett.
"But Admiral, the Death Star's weapons are not yet operational," Piett stated as he approached the Chiss.
"Just issue the order," Thrawn commanded coldly. "We'll use the Emperor's tactics against him. Deploy more of our fighters to support this withdrawal."
On the bridge of Home One, reports kept flooding in as the fighter battle began. The controller that addressed Ackbar earlier turned to the Admiral and said, "We've just received a message from the Executor. It says we should pull back as much as possible."
Ackbar looked to the Death Star again and shook his head. "There's no need," he said. "The Death Star superlaser is not yet operational."
"There's too many of them!" a Rebel pilot complained as Imperial fighters swarmed the Rebels. Blaster bolts flew back and forth in the void of space as both sides began trading blows.
The Millennium Falcon was in the thick of the dogfight, gunners operating the quad laser turrets. They managed to take down a few Imperial pilots, their fighters exploding brilliantly. Lando Calrissian ordered, "Accelerate to attack speed! Draw their fire away from the cruisers."
"Copy, Gold Leader," Mara said.
Luke observed the fleet engagement with a horrified expression in the Death Star throne room. The offensive was failing even as it began. He tried to control his feelings, but they continued to roll off him in waves.
"See for yourself," the Emperor said. "From here you witness the final destruction of the Alliance and the end of your insignificant Rebellion."
Anakin remained silent as he attempted to cement himself in the light of the Force. He was searching for shatterpoints and saw them converging on Luke. Leia stood beside him, an unknown factor in the coming confrontation. He tried to turn the situation to his advantage with words.
"Still so sure of yourself?" Anakin asked. "I seem to remember the Battle of Naboo not going in your favor."
Darth Sidious took a moment to glare angrily at his former pupil. "But it did, Lord Vader," he said. "Adaptation to circumstances is the way of the Sith."
Anakin had no retort. It was a mantra he knew all too well. Before he could say anything else, he observed Luke looking to the lightsaber on the Emperor's throne longingly. Anakin attempted to send calming sensations to his son through the Force, but Luke's walls were slammed shut to him.
Sidious ran his hand along Luke's lightsaber. "You want this, don't you?" He waited for Luke to look him in the eye before saying, "The hate is swelling in your now. Take your Jedi weapon. I am unarmed. Strike me down with it. Give in to your anger. With each passing moment, you make yourself more my servant."
Darth Apostas and Anakin both observed Luke's agony. Luke said no before turning away from the Emperor. "No," he said.
"It is unavoidable," the Emperor Reborn said ominously. "You, like your sister, are now mine."
"Are you through taunting my son?" Anakin asked Sidious before looking to Apostas. "It's not permanent, Leia. What I told you about the dark side is true. It does offer you greater power, but you'll lose everything in your quest. If I can turn away from it, so can you."
Apostas turned to her father and shoved him down the stairs with a powerful Force push before she removed her lightsaber from her belt. "It's time I finish the job," she said before igniting the crimson blade.
Luke hurriedly called his lightsaber to his hand and the emerald sword came to live with a snap-hiss as it entered the Jedi's grasp. "You'll have to go through me first," Luke said confidently to his sister. "Don't think I won't do my duty."
Anakin leapt into the air, calling his lightsaber to his hands, landing in front of the throne as the Emperor stood. "You're not unarmed," he said. "I know better."
"You could have had everything," the Emperor Reborn said as a lightsaber fell into his grip. Both men ignited their lightsabers simultaneously. "But now all you shall face is death."
In almost the same instance, two pairs of lightsabers collided in close proximity.
