Chapter 14: Rebels in the Jungle
The Executor shot out of hyperspace for the second time since its service began. Vader looked out over his new ship and the Imperial class star destroyers flying above it, they looked like simple cargo frigates compared to the super star destroyer. All were in orbit around a smooth green planet, a moon actually. Yavin IV.
"Scan the surface of the moon." Vader commanded, he turned to his crew. "Any technology you find must be reported."
"Scan beginning Lord Vader." Piett said from a control console. "Showing data on bridge screen."
Vader looked above the viewport as the screen above them flickered to life and displayed Yavin IV, the surface they were facing anyway. It was divided into four part, the scanner, represented by a glowing blue line swept through the four parts slowly. If there had been any technology large enough for it to read a red dot would have appeared. When the scanner finished and came up with nothing Vader turned back to Piett.
"Send down a probe droid." Vader commanded.
"Yes sir." Piett said. "But we picked up not technology."
"It is possible that the rebels are somehow jamming our scanners, or perhaps they do not have very much technology with them."
XxX
The bridge screen flickered to life once more as the probe droid, on the grounds of Yavin IV opened up and broadcasted what it was seeing to the bridge. It's pod seemed to have landed in a small clearing, in a jungle. It stood up and looked around, revealing dense trees and brush. Little critters walked here and there and ran in fright when they saw the droid. Following its designated programming after the droid scanned the entire area with a three hundred and sixty degree turn of its head it set out in the direction in which it thought there was technology. Vader watched impatiently as the droid broke through the brush and into the jungle, leaves brushing against the photoreceptor broadcasting the real time feed back to all the star destroyers in the fleet. After about an hour of floating through dark jungles light appeared in front of the droid, casting zigzagging lines of gold onto the jungle floor. The droid floated towards a bush with light escaping from its leaves and broke through into a clearing with a huge temple to the left.
The droid immediately turned to the temple and began making readings which displayed at the bottom right of the screen. A small three dimensional map of the temple itself appeared followed by a series of red lines connecting together to form symbols of what was inside. Vader clearly saw the shape of X-wings in the hanger bay.
"That's it, the rebels are there." Vader said.
"I agree milord."
"Ready a ground attack… wait a minute." Vader turned his attention back to the screen, two men in camouflage exited the temple, each carrying a good sized blaster rifle. Once they saw the probe droid one opened fire and the other ran back inside the temple to raise the alarm. Five red laser bolts flew directly at the droid and all hit their mark, the bridge screen went blank as the probe droid was destroyed.
"The rebels will now be alerted to our presence milord." Admiral Piett said.
"I agree."
"Should be strike from orbit?"
"No, we have to storm the temple in order to know who we have killed. If the leaders are there and we kill them the rebel alliance is finished but we have to know. Prepare a ground attack, leave the details to the commander."
"Yes milord, it could take an hour or so to muster the troops."
"Then get busy Admiral. I will head to my shuttle and wait until we are ready to go." Vader said. He turned to Ravan. "You are coming with me."
"Yes master." Ravan replied. Vader walked out of the bridge and Ravan followed him closely, the two headed for a turbo lift to take them down to the hanger area. Once the turbo lift doors smashed shut Ravan turned to his father.
"Father?"
"Yes my son?"
"Did you sense that?"
"On Yavin IV you mean?" Vader asked, surprised that he sensed it at all.
"Yes, it was like a Force presence. Like ours but lighter with I don't know a… blue aura around it like ours is red."
"I sensed it to, and I am surprised you did."
"Do you know what it is?"
"It has to be someone who can use the Force, a safe bet would be Obi-wan Kenobi, after you were captured it would make sense that he would join the rebels." Vader explained.
"I think you might be right."
"Once we get onto the moon I will be able to tell you for sure. I know what my master presence feels like."
The turbo lift doors drew open in front of them and both headed for the shuttle hanger.
XxX
About an Hour Later
Vader had just received confirmation that the troop and AT-ST transports were ready to go, he was currently sitting in the co pilot seat of his personal Lambda class shuttle with captain Kagi doing circles around the Executor. Ravan sat behind Kagi, eagerly watching out of the front viewport as white troop transports shot themselves out from the undersides of the star destroyers in Vader's fleet. They all resembled Lambda class shuttles in the way they had wings, though they were about ten times bigger and shaped more like a square with a triangle sticking out of it. The AT-ST walker carriers followed them, looking more like a bent cereal box on its side. They all gathering in a certain sector of space over Yavin IV and began getting into formation. Vader's shuttle joined them, all together they made a giant hammer head square and all began to descend at the same speed to their designated coordinates of Yavin IV, they were headed to a huge field or plain in the middle of the jungle close by the rebel's temple base. Admiral Piett had found it at the last minute and thought it a good landing site, they could also set up a mobile command center.
Yavin IV began to fill the viewports more and more until the shuttle broke the atmosphere with a rocking jolt and began its descent towards the ground with a row of troop transports in front and everything else in back. Two squadrons of TIE fighters escorted them, which were twenty four fighters in all. Once the convoy of ships landed they took off back into space. Vader and Ravan stood up to exit the shuttle as Captain Kagi contacted the star destroyers to confirm landing.
Ravan thought the Yavin air was dense and humid, Vader had the luxury of not being able to feel it, though the annoyance when his mask changed through different filters so no humidity or moisture came in, Vader needed dry air and a lot of oxygen, moist air and his scarred and burnt lungs would collapse as water collected on them. Less oxygen, he could not breath, nor could his body give the oxygen to his blood to help his heart. Vader looked around in satisfaction as storm troopers and AT-ST's began to exit their designated transports and set up a small command center which was comprised of one troop transport and a lot of auto turrets and communications antennas. After that the troops would make a perimeter of auto turrets and begin lining up into formation.
The plan was to send in the AT-ST's first while the army of storm troops stayed unnoticed in the jungle. The AT-ST group would eliminate any feeble defenses the rebels had mustered and blast a few ways into the temple. Then, unchallenged the storm trooper army would enter the temple and destroy the rebels. It was all very simple. If any transports managed to escape they would be caught in a tractor beam or disabled, and then caught in a tractor beam. This was to check who was onboard. Any fighters would simply be destroyed. Vader suspected the rebel fleet would come out of hiding as well and attack his ships, but with the super star destroyer they were more than capable of handling anything, plus they were under the command of Admiral Piett.
Vader turned to Ravan who earlier had asked about the Force presence they both felt on the planet, it was much stronger now and it reeked of Obi-wan. Vader was sure that was who it was.
"Do you feel it now my apprentice?"
"Yes master. Is it Obi-wan?" Ravan asked.
"Yes, I have a question however. Will you be able to kill him? You've known him for a long time no doubt."
"I never really knew him until you told me the true stories, of how he made my mother take him to you so he could kill you. And how he knocked you down a lava bank with no limbs and left you for dead. I could kill him."
"Good, we may have to."
"Let's get the troops ready."
This chapter had very little action. The next one will, Promise. And you might get to see the fight of Obi-wan vs. Vader and Luke, who knows? Well I do…. In fact I'll be nice and give you the next chapter.