This chapter was really fun to write. Partly because I finally got the battle that has been hinted at up til now (although it certainly won't be the last!) and partly because it gave me something to do on a really long plane ride. Enjoy!
"OH, CHEWBACCA!" The golden protocol droid shouted excitedly, hurrying up the ramp of the Millennium Falcon. The wookie groaned. Shortly before the Rebel forces had abandoned Yavin 4, Han had pulled his partener aside and asked him to watch the freighter during the attack on Naboo.
"I won't be gone long," the smuggler had said to his longtime partner. "Your job is just to watch the base for a while." The wookie had relented, and waved goodbye as the ships left the hangar. He had been looking forward to some quiet time alone in the Falcon, but, alas, it was not to be. In all the rush, C-3PO had been left behind. The droid had spent the last two hours hurrying in and out of the ship, looking extremely nervous. It appeared, now, he had something legitimate to worry about.
"CHEWBACCA!" The droid shouted, breathless. Chewbacca frowned. He didn't know droids could be breathless. "CHEWBACCA" The wookie gave a "go on" gesture. "I have received a transmission from Master Luke! We must go to Naboo system at once!" Before Chewbacca had time to respond, the protocol droid dragged him to the freighter's cockpit, and started the launch sequence.
The wookie rolled his eyes. Han was gonna be pissed.
The explosions rippled through the fleet. A V-Wing on Isabella's right just plain vaporized, while the left engine on a nearby Y-Wing caught fire. Multiple distress calls echoed through the radio network. Isabella reversed engineered the scanner, and ran a quick scan to determine whether or not there were any mines in between her ship, and the Y-Wing. The computer calculated this for half a minute before replying "NO" with a quick beep. Isabella maneuvered her ship into position.
"Green Seven" she told the ship. "Don't move. We're coming for you!"
"Roger that." The pilot responded, the fear in his voice evident to Isabella.
"Phineas!" she hollered. Prepare the cargo bay!" The young pilot placed the ship directly above the injured fighter. "Now lower the docking arm!" The Centennial Chihuahua had a retractable docking tube kept for situations like this one.
"Lowering docking arm…" Phineas said. "Almost there….just gotta reach…" A thud could be heard as the tube collided with the cockpit of the Y-Wing."We have contact." The airlock doors hissed as they opened, and the pilot climbed through.
"Releasing!" Phineas shouted, and the airlock snapped shut, as the tube retracted back into the ship. Isabella steered the Chihuahua away, just as the fighter exploded. If they had waited just a second longer, the Chihuahua would have gone down too.
"Thanks.." the Y-Wing pilot breathed.
Phineas nodded.
"You need to relax." Phineas told him. "Lie down over here." he gestured to a nearby bunk. The pilot nodded, breathing heavily, and sat down.
The speeder woodshed to a stop, and Ferb dismounted. He looked around at the near-deserted Mos Espa. An astromech tried to cross the street, but broke down halfway through, sparking. It was swarmed by a trio of Jawas, who ripped everything but the rocket and the head off, leaving them and a couple of burned-out spark plugs piled in a heap on the street. Ferb grimaced. He headed for a nearby diner, hungry after a long night of driving across the desert.
He opened the door to find the diner almost empty. A couple of chairs were overturned, and the maroon wallpaper was peeling off. An alien bearing resemblance to a warthog with two tentacles hanging on either side of the snout was tending the dingy bar, while a rodian and duro were intensely arguing over….something. Ferb sighed, and walked the bar. The Warthog glanced and Ferb, and grunted.
"And what does youse want?" he said in a garbled version of basic.
"Uh, the special, please." Ferb muttered. The alien grunted again. Ferb sighed. He usually relied on Phineas and his outgoing personality to do the talking for the both of them. It was going to be hard searching for his parents alone.
"The special." the bartender said, before turning back to a holo-program about sand. Ferb looked down and grimaced. A green, no a greenish mixture sat before him. Sprinkled on top were slices of Melroun fruit. Ferb took a bite, and was surprised to find that it was...okay. Better than it looked, at least. After finishing half of the bowl, as well as some Alderannian Wine (probably the last time he'd ever drink it, seeing as the Empire destroyed Alderann), he remembered why he was there.
"Excuse me." He said to the bartender. The alien turned to look at him, a look of mild disinterest plastered across his face. "Um, did any stormtrooper convoys come through here?"
The bartender grunted again. "Uh, yesss." He hissed. "They is always comin' through here. There's an outpost over on da east side."
Ferb thanked him, and hurried outside. He had a potential location! He was going to find his parents! He was going to be a hero! He was going to have a larger allowance! He was going to...be arrested by the platoon of Stormtroopers standing by his speeder. Dammit.
"Ferb Flynn-Fletcher!" An army officer in a black uniform announced. "You are wanted for three accounts of conspiring with the rebellion, two accounts of interfering with Imperial operations, and one account of parking your speeder in a handicapped spot!"
The Stormtroopers raised their blasters. Ferb gulped.
"Holdsa on a second." Boss Nass said, before disappearing into the bushes. The gungan had led his army, and the five rebels to the edge of a forest, saying he "had to gestsa something." He emerged two minutes later, followed by several dozen weary humans dressed in faded military uniforms.
"The Royal Naboo Security Force!" Leia whispered excitedly.
"I thought the empire dissolved them for having Rebel sympathies." Candace whispered back.
"Apparently they didn't dissolve it completely." muttered Han. Candace and Leia nodded. One officer stepped forward. Judging by his uniform, and the extreme weariness in his eyes, Candace guessed he was the leader.
"I am Captain Typho." he said. "On behalf of the Naboo resistance, I want to thank you for helping us take back our planet." The humans and the gungans cheered, while Typho gave a wan smile. Leia smiled back.
"You're welcome." she said. "We are hoping that losing Naboo will cause the empire to withdraw from this sector entirely." Typho and Boss Nass nodded.
The Stormtroopers marched Ferb through the streets of Mos Espa. The officer who had arrested him sat atop Ferb's speeder. He seemed to be sweating. Ferb wondered if he was hot in that black uniform.
"We're here." he announced suddenly, stopping the group in front of a low, grey compound. An AT-DP stood guard outside the gate, and a bored looking army trooper sat inside a hut, waiting to buzz them in. Each trooper submitted their credentials, and entered the base. The officer then submitted his.
"Lieutenant Yaami" the guard said. "Everything appears to be in order. And you are?" He said to Ferb.
"He's with me." Lieutenant Yaami said. "He's a prisoner." The guard nodded, and waved them through. Ferb found himself in an area that was unusually busy, considering the activity in the surrounding area (or lack thereof). Another officer ran up to Lieutenant Yaami.
"The prisoner is wanted in the command center." he said. Yaami nodded, and waved over two guards to escort Ferb. The four of them walked through a labyrinth of identical black-grey corridors. Mouse droids scurried by, and at one point, Ferb saw some technicians carrying a crate, but they alone for the most part. After ten minutes (although to Ferb, it felt like ten years), they arrived at a door marked "CENTRAL COMMAND: TATOOINE, SECTOR 4" . The doors hissed open, and Ferb found himself facing….Darthenshmirtz.
"Ah, Ferb Fletcher." the Imperial servant said. "I see you've recovered from your brief stint as a Sith Lord." Ferb glared at him. " Yes, yes, it's understandable that you're mad at me. I really do regret using you as a test subject for my Sith-Inator." Ferb rolled his eyes. " No, really. I did intend to use Perry the Platypus, but you got in the way, and became a Sith instead. I thought it was a gift at the time, but then you're becoming evil motivated your brother to destroy my creation, and well…." his voice trailed away. "But, I'm willing to let bygones be bygones!" He continued. " So, originally, I had this complicated plan to lure you here involving a time-share, and a drunk Bantha, but I settled on just kidnapping your parents." he smiled, and in that moment, Ferb realized Darthenshmirtz was quite, quite insane.
"You're probably wondering-Woah!" Darthenshmirtz stepped backwards and slipped on his cape, falling to the floor with a thud.
"Sir!" Lieutenant Yaami said, and rushed to help his master up.
"As I was saying.." Darthenshmirtz continued "You're probably wondering 'But why lure me here? Why not just kill me to get revenge?' The answer is; the one I really want revenge on is your brother. I need you to lure him here." Darthenshmirtz stood to let it sink in. "Alright, enough. Lock him up." Lieutenant Yaami grabbed Ferb, and forced him out the door. Behind him, Ferb heard Darthenshmirtz say "Through him in with…..his parents!"
"Alright" Leia said to the assembled soldiers as they snuck through the streets of Theed. "We're almost to the base. These were Luke's last coordinates"
"And remember…" Han said "What's here is the element of surprise." Right as he said that, Candace noticed the Millennium Falcon headed right for them.
"Um, sir?" Candace said.
"Yes?"
"Your ship is…." Han turned and looked at the Falcon, which was on a collision course with the Imperial Base.
"But, how?" was all he could get out before his beloved ship slammed into the street, running over several squadrons of Stormtroopers and destroying two hovertanks before sliding to a stop in front of the rebels. They covered their ears as the metal bulkheads on the freighter screeched against the stone roads of Theed while pedestrians fled in terror. Once the freighter had completely stopped, the airlock opened and out tumbled Chewbacca and C-3P0.
"We have come to rescue you!" the protocol droid announced before realizing no one was currently in trouble (yet). "Oh." he said quietly.
"Well that's just swell." said Leia sarcastically. C-3P0 trembled at his mistress' anger.
"FREEZE, REBELS!" Thirty gungans, forty-eight humans, one protocol droid, and one wookie turned around to find eighty stormtroopers, forty army troopers, and three imperial officers pointing blasters at them.
"Oh, shit." muttered Han.
Glossary:
Captain Typho: Nephew of Captain Panka. Appeared as Padme's chief of security during attack of the clones and revenge of the sith.
V-Wing: Small starfighter used during the Clone Wars. I felt like including it here just to show how poor the rebels are.
Duro: Blue-skinned species with red eyes and tall heads.
Jawas: Small aliens who wear cloaks and have glowing eyes. Live on Tatooine, and sell droids and scrap.
Bantha: Mounted creatures from Tatooine.