This chapter is about normal sized. Not as small as the last one, or as big as chapter five. This segment gives mostly a continued look at the aftermath, so again, Ferb, Perry, and Darthenshmirtz appear sparsely, if at all. Enjoy!
"I WILL SAY THIS ONE MORE TIME!" shouted Denegar. "WHERE IS SOLO?!" He, along with several dozen assassin droids, reprogrammed battle droids and a couple of Ithorian bounty hunters were in the Star Destroyer's Hangar, and for the moment, had taken every Rebel they hadn't killed hostage. "YOU THERE!" he pointed his rifle at Baljeet. "GET UP!" Trembling, Baljeet got to his feet. "WHERE IS SOLO?"
"I-I don't know!" Baljeet said in a panicked tone. Denagar grunted, and, not satisfied, whacked Baljeet.
"WHERE IS SOLO?" he screamed. "I'LL SHOOT EVERY REBEL HERE IF I HAVE TO!"
"What did he even do to you?" asked Baljeet.
"Oh, nothing." Denagar replied, shocking Baljeet. "I'm just doing this because Jabba offered a lot of money for Han's capture."
"Scumbag." muttered Baljeet, not noticing that every Rebel had backed away, hiding behind boxes, leaving him and Buford out in the open.
"I'm sorry?" Denagar asked. "What was that?"
"Scumbag." replied Baljeet. "You are a scumbag." Now even Buford shrank backwards, ducking under the nearby remains of TIE fighter left over from the battle that had been dragged into the hangar to be cannibalized for spare parts.
Denagar strode forwards, nostrils flared, stopping in front of the impertinent Baljeet. He stood there for a minute, before turning, walking over to confer with a rodian who had just emerged from his ship. Baljeet breathed a sigh of relief.
"SEARCH THE SHIP!" The bounty hunter screamed. The rodian nodded, and waved over half a dozen of the assassin droids, relaying the order. Denegar watched, satisfied, as each droid led two B1 battle droids down different hallways, programmed with one directive: FIND HAN SOLO, KILL ANY OTHERS.
"Alright." Liea said, turning behind her to look at her followers. Behind her stood Han, Chewbacca, Luke, and the Ithorian engineer. Luke held his lightsaber, Chewbacca, his bowcaster, and the rest held rifles. They were in the hallway adjacent to the airlock that connected the Star Destroyer to the Tantive V. "Here's the plan: We use the air vents to sneak into the hangar, where we take out Dengar's ship, getting rid of the Battle Droid's control signal, shutting them down. We go after Denegar next, and take out anyone else working with him. Got it?" They nodded. "And captain," she spoke to the Tantive V's captain, who, with a single other trooper, was standing in the Rebel ship, on the other side of the airlock."If you do not hear from us in 45 minutes, detach the ship and fall back to the far side of Naboo, and contact Commander Antilles on the surface." The captain nodded, and sealed the door behind them. Han gulped.
The Ithorian forced open the vent, and the group climbed in, Liea first, Han last. As he entered the tube, Han grabbed the vent cover, forcing it back to its previous position, just as one of the IG assassin droids, flanked by a pair of B1 Battle Droids.
"There is nothing here, sir." stated one of the Battle Droids. The assassin droid looked at the droid, and turned to the airlock door sealed tight, and reinforced by another security door. Then he said, in the monotonous voice used by so many other droids.
"B1-23S7W, you will stay here, and guard this door. B1-71D5J will accompany me as I continue the search." B1-23S7W nodded, and stored over to the security door, standing guard while the others continued down the hallway.
"That's the last of the supplies." Isabella said as a load lifter carried the final crate off of her ship. She was in a hangar in Theed, unloading food and medical supplies for the citizens of Naboo. Wedge, standing next to her, nodded.
"Thank you, Lieutenant." Isabella started up the entry ramp to the Chihuahua, but stopped and turned back to Wedge.
"Say, Commander." Isabella asked Wedge. "Will I be seeing you at the meeting tomorrow?" Wedge sighed. The meeting in question was a conference located on the star destroyer, regarding how to reorganize the Naboo government, and protect it from another Imperial invasion.
"Yes, you will." Isabella raised her eyebrows.
"Something wrong, Commander?"
Wedge sighed again. "They want me to stay here and command the rebel garrison that will be stationed here." Isabella frowned.
"Wouldn't that be a good thing?"
"Well, yeah." he replied. "But I'm a pilot. People like me belong in the sky, flying fighters, shooting TIEs." Isabella nodded, and turned up the ramp, which lifted itself back into the ship as soon as she reached the door. As she walked the corridor to the cockpit, she was intercepted by Phineas.
"So what now?" he asked nonchalantly.
Isabella shrugged. "We return to the Star Destroyer I guess."
"You know," said Phineas said. "We don't have to return to that ship right away. We could stay in orbit around one of Naboo's moons together."
Isabella smiled, and nodded. "True."
"And log it as investigating a sensor anomaly..."
"You create this "anomaly", I'll get us to that moon." Phineas nodded and disappeared into the sensor room, while Isabella headed to the cockpit.
"Centennial Chihuahua." A voice came out of Isabella's com. "This is Theed docking control. You are cleared for liftoff."
"Roger that, docking control." replied Isabella. "Goodbye, Naboo." she muttered under her breath as she shut of the com. The Chihuahua lifted up, and zoomed out of the Hangar.
As her ship left orbit, Isabella spotted the Star Destroyer, with the Tantive V docked. Isabella briefly considered heading for it, but then shook her head. All the Imperials were dead or captured. They didn't need her. Everything was fine on the Star Destroyer.
"Everything on this Star Destroyer is not fine!" shrieked Baljeet, flailing his arms about.
"Oh, are you faking a panic attack so we can lure one of the guards over here under false pretenses and steal his weapon?" asked Buford.
"I am not faking, you moron!" he screeched.
"Ooh, method acting!" Exclaimed Buford. "I like it!" Baljeet groaned, though from Buford's stupidity or hisnervous breakdown, it was not clear. "Hey, guard!" Buford said to one of the Ithorians. "My friend here is having a panic attack! He needs medical attention!" The Ithorian grumbled, pulled his pistol out and started walking over. "Yeah, it looks serious!" continued Buford. "He's crying!"
"What?" hissed Baljeet.
"Uh, yeah…" continued Buford. "It looks pretty serious. He says he wants his mommy and everything! You better get over here pretty fast and everything. It looks like he's about to injure himself!" At this the Ithorian started running. As he reached the group, Buford picked up a nearby pipe and whacked him across the base of his head. Baljeet leapt forwards, and grabbed his blaster. He then shot an assassin droid standing over a trio of Rebel troopers. The droid went down, and the lead trooper grabbed his blaster, starting to shoot wildly at the assembled bounty hunters.
Standing next to an Imperial Gunship, Denegar and the Rodian turned. The Rodian ducked into the gunship, but Denagar pulled the rifle off his back and started shooting….at Baljeet. The former Stormtrooper ducked behind the fuselage of the TIE debris, to find his partner Buford…..eating pie.
"There is a battle going on!" exclaimed Baljeet. Buford looked at him quizzically. "WE COULD DIE!" For a moment, it seemed the severity of the situation hit Buford, but then he shrugged and continued devouring the pastry. Baljeet groaned, and turned back to the battle in the hangar. More and more assassin and battle droids fell, their weapons being claimed by rebels eager to join the fight.
At that moment, just when victory was in their grasp, Denegar pushed a button on a remote strapped to his waist. A dozen more battle droids ran out of his ship and started firing. It was all over in five minutes.
All thirty-seven remaining rebels stood in a dejected huddle next to an X-Wing, hands raised in the air. Denegar strode about gloating over his victory. The Battle droids, the two remaining assassin droids, and the two Ithorians ( one of whom had a bandage around the lower flat part of his head, and was glaring at Buford ).
Then, a rocket launched from a catwalk hanging from the ceiling. It hit Denegar's ship, which exploded. All of the battle droids, lacking a control signal, shut down, folding into themselves.
Up on the catwalk, Han lowered the missile launcher.
"Wow, nice shot!" said Liea.
"Thanks!" replied Han. Chewie and the Ithorian started shooting at the bounty hunters while Luke, lightsaber blazing, leapt off of the catwalk , slicing into one of the assassin droids, and stabbing Buford's Ithorian. He then force-pushed the corpse back onto the other Ithorian, trapping him under his twin's limp body.
Denegar, the Rodian and the final Assassin droid made it into the Imperial gunship, just barely lifting off as rebels all around reclaimed their weapons.
"Right." said Liea as soon as she and the others made it to the hangar floor. "Show's over, back to work. You, you and you, go find the deactivated Battle Droids and take them to my ship. And watch out for any assassin droids still roaming the ship." the rebels complied, scurrying around. At that moment, Candace walked, in whistling.
"Okay, Princess, I finished scrubbing the conduits so can I-OH MY GOD, WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED HERE?" Liea chuckled, before turning to Baljeet and saying.
"Private, go tell the good corporal what she missed." Baljeet nodded and led Candace towards a nearby couch, telling her about Denegar's arrival.
Finished, she turned to Han, the Ithorian engineer, and an officer, a commander. "The rebel fleet arrives in a week. The Naboo Government Restructuring Meeting is in two days. I want the bridge accessible in time for the meeting, and the repairs all but finished by the time the fleet arrives. I want regular patrol flights around Naboo, and Sensor Beacons dropped at the edge of the system to detect any incoming Imperial Ships." The group nodded, and dispersed, the Commander to organize the patrols, the engineer to begin repairs, and Han to…..go take a nap on the Falcon. Liea sighed and turned to the edge of the Hangar, across the chasm of space another hangar bay was located, empty save for several Rebel fighters, some Rebel guards, and a technician, repairing a cargo crane damaged in the battle. She sighed, and turned towards the airlock hallway, intending to take a nap. She yawned. Yep, definitely time to take a nap.
The cloning machine whirred to life in the Kaminoan facility. Dr. Tamni tapped a button on a console, and it slowed a bit, showing the crowd assembled the inside of each pod.
"The machine is working, my lord." he informed Darthenshmirtz. The Sith Lord nodded. Lieutenant Yaami, beside his master, smiled. Behind the two of them, sat NORM-3PO, and a maintenance crew, hard at work scrubbing the rust of the droid.
"And, take it offline!" ordered Darthenshmirtz. A technician sitting at a console next to Dr. Tanmi's nodded, and turned a dial. The tower gradually slowed, until it stopped completely. "Alright!" said Darthenshmirtz excitedly. "The tower's working perfectly! Now we just need to procure some funding an a sample of Perry's DNA and-" at that moment, the holo-com at the Concierge's desk turned itself on. The terrified concierge found himself facing Mas Amedda, Grand Vizier of the Empire.
"Darthenshmirtz!" The horned alien announced, frightening the Sith. "The Emperor has reviewed your project proposal, and has deemed it feasible. You have funding!" The room was silent for a minute, but erupted into cheers. Colonel Crefet slapped Dr. Tanmi on the back, Lieutenant Yaami did a little dance, and even NORM pumped his fist, which produced an awful sound that caused the maintenance workers to drop to the ground and cover their ears.
After the room quieted down, Darthenshmirtz asked the Grand Vizier "Um...how much funding?"
Ameda was silent for half a minute, before bursting into laughter. "Ho-how how much funding? The Emperor himself likes your project! How much do you think?"
"Oh, yeah!" shouted Darthenshmirtz as Amedda's transmission ended. "Now all we have to do is...get Perry..the Platypus'...DNA. Right. So now we wait. And wait. And...wait." The group shuffled around awkwardly. After ten minutes, Yaami coughed, and went upstairs to his room. Crefet, accompanied by his wife and personal guard of two Stormtroopers departed into a waiting speeder. Even the maintenance crew finished on NORM and left. Eventually, Darthenshmirtz said to NORM, the Concierge, Dr. Tanmi, the three technicians and four Stormtroopers "Well I guess I can work on my traps. No one leave in case Perry the Platypus shows up." Everyone nodded. The Stormtroopers patrolled silently. Dr. Tanmi and the technicians ran constant checks on the machine, while NORM watched, in a slightly creepy fashion.
Darthenshmirtz sighed as he adjusted a bolt on the trap he was working on.
"Yaami!" he shouted. The officer races downstairs, half dressed. A toothbrush in his mouth, his insignia bar and cap missing, and no boots. "Lieutenant Yaami, do you think we made the scavenger hunt that should lead Perry here way to hard?"
"Well.." Yaami said.
Felucia
Perry grabbed a bug off of a leaf. He inspected it carefully, and, finding what he was looking for, pulled part of a data chip off of it's wings and let it go. He inersted the datachip piece into an unfinished data chip, completing it. He had traveled to five planets to get each piece of this recording, and he hoped it wasn't in vain. Lights blinked on the device, and a holographic recording of Darthensmirtz flickered to life.
"Ah Perry the Platypus!" he said. "Or at least, I hope you're Perry the Platypus. Iwent to a lot of trouble to have these clues scattered across the Galaxy in an extremely complicated fashion." he took a breath. "Anyway, you are nowhere near being close to rescuing your family. You're not even at the halfway point!" Perry slumped against a tree. "Anyway, your next clue is on Zygerria. Ask for Kir Ga'f at the Drunken Dog Bar." Perry groaned
"Possibly." finished Yaami. Darthensmirtz contemplated this for a second, and then turned back to Yaami. "Get a team working on finding him immediately." Yaami nodded. As an afterthought, he added "And get dressed too." As the officer hurried upstairs, Darthensmirtz sighed.
2 days later
"Thank you all for attending this meeting." Liea said. They were on the bridge of the Star Destroyer, clustered around a central holographic projection table. Isabella sat in a chair off to the side. Wedge stood across from Liea and slightly to the left. Han stood close to the Princess, Chewbacca behind him. Luke stood on the other side, dressed in an orange flight uniform. Several more officers and pilots were clustered around the table. Candace and another trooper, in full combat uniforms, stood sentry at the door. Behind the group, technicians, under the Ithorian's direction, were hard at work repairing the bridge. Panaka, Boss Nass, a couple Government Ministers and Governor Bibble stood directly across from Liea.
"I have the latest reports from Rebel Intelligence right here, and it seems the entire Imperial fleet has retreated from this sector." Everyone cheered. Isabella rolled her eyes. "And as you can see, the repairs to our new Star Destroyer are progressing quite nicely."
"Now, I trust you have a plan for Naboo's defense?" said Panaka. "We are still not fully recovered from the Trade Federation's invasion thirty years ago." Liea nodded.
"The rebel fleet arrives in less than a week." Liea replied. "With them, they are bringing a trio of Hammerhead Corvettes. I plan to inform the new fleet commander Admiral Ackabar that those Corvettes are required for the defense of Naboo. We will also leave a squadron of X-Wings."
"And who will command the rebel garrison?" asked Boss Nass.
"We are leaving it under the command of Commander Wedge Antilles." Wedge nodded, a bit sadly.
"Very good!" said Governor Bibble. "And now to talk about the government restructuring…"
3 hours later
Isabella and Candace, extremely tired, walked the hallways of the Star Destroyer.
"Man, I thought that the meeting would never end." moaned Isabella.
"Indeed." muttered Candace. "That was too long."
"Bibble just kept going!" the young pilot continued. "All about committees and subcommittees and government organizations to be set up and the chain of command and integrating the rebel forces into the command structure."
"I'm just glad it's over." moaned Candace "I was starting to get a headache towards the end."
"So, is it true?" Isabella asked
"Is what true?" Candace replied as they passed a technician carrying a crate.
"That Denegar attacked, looking for Han?" Candace nodded. "Hmm."
"You're not thinking of selling Han out to Jabba, are you?" Candace asked in a concerned tone. "I heard about your semi-one sided rivalry with Solo."
"So what was it like?" Isabella asked, ignoring the question. "Being captured by Denegar, I mean."
"I dunno." replied Candace. "I wasn't in the hangar." Isabella frowned.
"But surely you were on the ship?" She asked. "I mean, you definitely weren't on Naboo, and-"
"I was scrubbing ion conduits." interrupted Candace.
"Why?"
"It was 'Punishment' for risking my neck during the battle on the surface."
"Ah."
"And where were you during all of this?" Isabella froze.
"Uh…checking a sensor anomaly! We thought we saw something or someone orbiting the other side of one of the moons." Candace raised an eyebrow, but decided not to press further.
"Well, goodnight." Candace said as they reached the Tantive V's airlock. "This is my stop."
"Good night." Candace sighed, and turned towards her room. She could, from fifteen meters down the hall, hear Buford and Baljeet, like they did every night, arguing over who would get the top bunk.
Liea relaxed in her chair, and started massaging her forehead. Damn, that meeting was stressful. Governor Bibble kept going on and on and on about policy. It kind of reminded her of her days in the Imperial Senate.
She swallowed a stress-relief pill. She started to lean back in her chair, closing her eyes and…the holographic communicator on her desk turned on.
She found herself facing the Rebellion's leader, Mon Mothma.
"Liea." she said. "First, just let me say, I am so sorry about Alderann. It must have been so terrible, watching-"
"Don't go there." interrupted Liea "Thank you, but don't go there." Mon Mothma nodded quietly, like a schoolchild called out for talking in class.
"So your report said you captured a Star Destroyer?"
"True."
"Is it in good condition?" Mothma continued.
"It's heavily damaged, but nothing we can't fix. It should be ready about the time the fleet gets here."
"Have you thought about what you'll name it yet?" she asked.
"Name what-Oh, the Star Destroyer!" Liea said. "Yeah."
"What?"
"The Freedom."
Glossary:
Mas Amedda - For those of you who saw the prequels or the Clone Wars Television series, he was the blue guy with the horns who was always standing next to Palpintine. His job was to keep the senate orderly, and he was one of the few people in the galaxy who knew Palpintine's true identity: Darth Sidious.
Felucia: A jungle planet it was not really important in the prequels or the Clone Wars.
Zygerria: A planet that appeared during the clone wars as the heart of a slave empire.
Admiral Ackabar: The Mon Clamari admiral from Return of the Jedi.
Mon Mothma: The Rebellion's leader. She was the woman from Return of the Jedi who briefed the rebels on the second Death Star.
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