Star Destroyer Redeemer

Thrawn's personal armada came out of hyperspace first and was quickly followed by the Third Fleet and several of Emperor Vader's 501st Legion ships. All together there were eight Imperial- Class Star Destroyers, four Victory-Class Star Destroyers, four Interdictor-class Star Destroyers, ten Carrack-Class Cruisers and two dozen Close Support Craft.

Luke gazed out of the bridge viewport somewhat in awe at the massive fire power of which he was in command. It was at this time that he realized he wasn't sure what his next move should be. They had come to find either an abandoned fleet or the Resistance outpost. Instead, they found a planet that was most likely infested with Sith and led by the clone of Darth Sidious. They were prepared to fight the Resistance, but now he was faced with a planet full of people that have yet to show any aggression towards him or his crew. It didn't feel right to do a preemptive attack.

"Your order's, sir?" Commodore Vanto asked.

Luke turned to his subordinate standing by his side. "We came here to commandeer ships. Until the population on the planet show aggression, we don't attack...but ensure all ships are prepared for a fight. Shields up and weapon systems online. Get the shuttles ready to ferry our engineers over to the Katana Fleet. Have fighters escort them. I want two platoons of Stormtroopers to breech the Dreadnaught that we sensed lifeforms aboard. Try to take the prisoners alive and have them interrogated. We need more information about what is on the planet below. Also, inform Admiral Pellaeon that I want him to take his fleet to the far side of the planet. I don't need any enemy ships launching from there to surprise us."

"Yes, Sir." Vanto barked out orders to his crew and had Luke's orders transmitted to the other ships.

"Ensign Walker," Luke addressed the ship's communication's officer. "Contact my father on the Executor. I want to make sure he doesn't have contradictory orders."

The young lieutenant nodded before sending off the transmission. After a few seconds his hand when up to his earpiece before turning back to Luke. "Sir, the commander of the Executor said Emperor Vader is not with them. He will be arriving shortly in a new flagship."

That caught Luke off guard. He didn't know his father had commissioned a new flagship. He turned to Commodore Vanto. "Did you know anything about that?"

Eli shrugged. "No Sir, maybe he wanted it to be a surprise." Commodore Vanto suppressed a smirk. "Do you have a birthday coming up?"

Luke scoffed under his breath.

Ensign Walker called out, "Sir, would you like me to contact Coruscant Central Command inquiring on the proper frequency to contact the emperor?"

"No need. I was able to contact him earlier on his private frequency. I'll get ahold of him shortly."

Luke watched as Admiral Pellaeon maneuvered his ships around the Katana Fleet and took positions at the rear of the planet. Thrawn was obviously giving orders of his own as various Star Destroyers were deployed to positions around the abandoned Dreadnaught Heavy Cruisers and planet. Luke recognized it as a precursor to a possible pincer maneuver if ships attacked from the planet below. Eventually, a group of breeching shuttles approached the cruisers. If they were lucky there would be little need for them. There was a distinct possibility that the magnetic shields that would normally prevent a ship from entering a docking bay without permission were now nonoperational. The bad thing about that was the crew would have to wear Enviro-suits until they could slice the airlocks and enter the interior corridors.

Once the boarding crew entered the dreadnaught and secured the ship, the engineers would attempt to get the engines operational and fly them to the galaxy core. There, they would be refurbished and added to the Imperial Navy. Any ship not able to make the journey would be destroyed. Depending on the number of ships salvaged, Talon Karrde would most likely have a substantial finder's fee coming to him.

The shuttles were almost to the fleet when an uneasy sweat started to dampen Luke's brow and the nerves started to dance in his stomach. He wasn't sure what brought on this case of the chills, but he was sure something bad was about to happen. "Sensors!" he called out. "Do we have any incoming ships?"

"Weapons scan is negative," the Intercept Officer replied. "Visual, mass, radiation, and proximity sensors are also negative for enemy contact."

That should have allayed Luke's fears but the tension in his body increased, and he could feel the hair at the base of his neck raise on end. "Contact all ships. Tell them to proceed with extreme caution."

Commodore Vanto moved up to Luke's side. "What is it, Sir?"

Luke shook his head. "I feel...I think it is the Force...it is telling me something bad is going to happen."

Suddenly the bridge was bathed in a bright blue light and the ship shuttered violently knocking Commodore Vanto off his feet. Luke stabilized himself with the Force and halted Commodore Vanto's fall. The man floated in midair for a second before Luke lowered him to the deck.

Vanto was shaken but immediately started shouting at the crew. "What the hell hit us? What did we miss? That came from the planet! How the kriff did we miss a weapons system large enough to hit us?!"

The Intercept Officer pushed buttons frantically before turning to Commodore Vanto with panic in his eyes. "Sir, it must have been an ion cannon. Our sensors are disabled."

"Ship-to-ship communications are also disabled," another officer called out. "Shields down."

"Weapons malfunction."

Luke stood in disbelief as each bridge officer confirmed all systems hit by the bolt of light were down, including the ship engines. "What is working?"

"Ray shielded interior systems are still operational," the Bridge Engineer called out. "Intercom systems, Life Support, Navigation computers, artificial gravity, and internal doors." The man paused to listen to something on his earpiece. "Sir, I have been informed that the bay magnetic shields failed opening the area to vacuum. There are casualties."

"And we can't contact the Chimaera?"

The communication officer shook his head. "We have internal comms, but the exterior signal relay is not functioning."

"Kriff!" Luke walked over to the bridge's large transparisteel windows. It was then he noticed the Redeemer was not the only ship affected. Three other Star Destroyers, including the Chimaera were dark and listing to the side. "There are at least four Star Destroyers hit!" He pointed to the ships in the distance as he turned and glared at the Intercept Officer. "How did our sensors miss a weapon's system large enough to take out four of our ships at once?"

The man looked terrified having never seen his Supreme Commander so angry. "I don't know, Sir. Perhaps they have a cloaking device of unknown nature."

There was another brilliant flash in the distance. Luke turned and realized this was not a bolt from an ion cannon. This stream of energy was similar to cloud-to-cloud or chain lightning one would see in large thunderstorms and it was quickly disabling the other ships of the fleet.

Eli moved next to Luke, his jaw slack with surprise. "That can't be lightning." He paused. "I know current can flow in a vacuum, but we wouldn't be able to see it. There're not enough electrons in a vacuum to ionize. Anyway, I've never seen lighting leave the atmosphere of a planet. This must be a new form of plasma cannon."

Luke shook his head dejectedly. "No, this is Force lightning. I've seen it. I've been hit by it before." He lowered his voice to a whisper. "This is coming from Palpatine."

Eli made a noise that started out as a scoff, but he quickly disguised it as a cough. "Sir, if you had been hit by something like what just hit us...I doubt there would be anything left of you. How could you and your father kill a man that can do what we are seeing?"

Luke closed his eyes as he took a few slow calming breaths. "That planet is called Ixigul. It is a Sith bastion and probably a darkside nexus. Its population are Sith cultists. There is a chance that Palpatine is tapping into the power of the nexus or perhaps drawing power from the populace. With a million Sith to draw power from...this could be possible."

An idea came to Eli. "Sir, you once told me that your father deflected the Emperor's Force lightning with his lightsaber. Was that true?"

Luke rubbed a hand over his face in frustration. "Yes. Are you suggesting I get out on the hull of the ship and ward off the attack with my lightsaber?"

Eli gave an irritated expression. "A lightsaber is a plasma blade. If a plasma blade could deflect Force lightning perhaps a plasma cannon can disrupt these attacks."

Luke nodded absently. "Yes, but our weapon systems are down." He looked out at the ships in the distance as they one-by-one were hit by blue bolts of lightning. "And it looks like everybody else is in the same predicament."

"You sent the Third Fleet on the far side of the planet. Unless Palpatine can make the lightning move like a guided missile, there is a good chance they are still operational. We just need to get a message to them to attack using their plasma cannons. Then maybe they can do a space-to-ground bombardment."

"How do we contact them. Our ship-to-ship communications are down?"

Eli thought about it. "Perhaps the Tie-Fighters tethered in the ventral bay were shielded enough to keep their thrusters and radios operational. The signal won't be strong enough to get a message to them from here, but if they could move closer, they could communicate with Admiral Pellaeon's ships. If we send one or two, then they perhaps could go unnoticed by those on the planet."

"The bay is a vacuum, would a pilot in an enviro-suit fit in a TIE-Fighter?"

Commodore Vanto thought about it for a moment. "We have a handful of TIE Advanced X1s. They are large enough."

"That might work. Send two of your best pilots." Luke turned to the communications officer. "Ensign Walker, does the Naval Academy still teach military flash code?"

The man looked confused. "Yes sir, but that uses short burst transmissions, and our transmission relay is down."

"Yes, but it can be done with light. We have Hi-intensity searchlights on some of our Hull Repair Droids. See if any of the HRDs are functional and we'll send the Grand Admiral a coded message using flashes code. Commodore Vanto will brief you of our plan. We may also be able to use the transmitters in our TIE-fighters to communicate with the TIE-Fighters on the other ships, that is if any are still functional." He walked to the Ready Room. "Meanwhile I am going to try to contact the emperor."

"But Sir," Eli started to object.

Luke turned and smiled weakly. "I have a way to contact my father without a transceiver. If I can contact him or Mara, then they could possibly relay a message to the Third Fleet in case our Tie-Fighters are unsuccessful."

A look of understanding crossed Vanto's face. "Yes, Sir."

.

.

Death Star II Mobile Battle Station

Mara had finished drying her hair and notified Emperor Vader as he requested when she started to feel strange. There was a pressure behind her eyes that eventually got her left eye twitching. She was worried she was coming down with something when she heard a faint voice call out, "Mara! Father! Can you hear me?"

It was Luke. She sat down and rubbed her fingers against her temples as she concentrated. "Luke! I'm here!"

She felt the pressure ease and loosening of tension. She realized she was sensing Luke's feeling of relief upon contacting her. "Mara! Palpatine has attacked the fleet." There was a pause or a break in concentration but eventually she heard the words. "Force lightning...took out...entire fleet."

She jumped when Emperor Vader stormed into her quarters unannounced. "Do you hear him?"

She nodded and risked putting up a hand gesture for 'quiet'. "Luke! Did you say Force Lightning?"

There was another longer pause. "Stay away. Palpatine has attacked the fleet. I need you to communicate a message to Admiral Pellaeon's ships."

"What is he saying?" Vader burst out impatiently. "I only heard my name. I can't make out what he is saying."

Mara glanced up at the emperor. "Palpatine took out the fleet with Force lightning. Is that possible?"

"What?"

Mara heard Luke call out again. "Wait, Luke is talking again." She concentrated and reached out with the Force, listening, straining to hear. She looked back to Emperor Vader. "Luke said Palpatine is on a Sith planet and is tapping into some dark energy. He is disabling most the fleet with Force lightning. There is a possibility that Admiral Pellaeon's ships are still functional, but he can't communicate with him. He wants us to relay a message for him to use plasma cannons on the planet." Her eyes went wide. "Luke, wants us to stay away."

"That is not going to happen," Vader said firmly. "Never! Ask him for the coordinates of the planet. The exact coordinates." He walked over to the room's computer and pulled up a Celestial Coordinate System map allowing him to locate astronomical coordinates based on the galactic center. "If he can give you the coordinates input them here."

Mara acknowledged Vader with a nod before walking over and sitting in front of the computer. She called out to Luke for the location of the planet. After a minute she started typing a string of numbers.

Vader started at the map for a second before ushering Mara out of her seat and taking over the keyboard. He punched in a second sequence of numbers and then digitally drew a line between the two. He pointed at the new coordinates he inputted. "Tell Luke we will be exiting hyperspace at this location. If possible, make sure the path between that location and the planet are clear of our ships. He may be able to use the Force to push them away."

Mara stared at Vader knowing what he was planning. "Should I tell him we are coming in the Death Star?"

"If I can hear him then Palpatine might be able to hear him also. The Sith will know we are coming, but hopefully they will be unprepared to take out a battle station."

Mara nodded then closed her eyes and sent the information to Luke. Eventually her eyes fluttered open and she returned her gaze to Vader. "Luke is not happy we are coming. He realizes he can't stop you but wants to ensure we will send that message to Admiral Pellaeon."

"Tell him we will notify the Admiral. Advise him you must limit communication in case Palpatine is listening in." Vader stood and motioned for Mara to follow him. "Come with me. We are going to the bridge."

.

.

Star Destroyer Redeemer

Luke broke contact with Mara Jade and let out a frustrated groan. He asked her and his father to avoid the area. He should have known there was no way they would abandon him. At least they could get a message to the Third Fleet. Maybe they had a chance to ending this problem before his father's arrival.

He strode out of the ready room and onto the bridge, calling to Commodore Vanto. "Report."

Eli turned to face his Supreme Commander. "Sir, the TIE-Fighters have moved around the back of the planet. There is a good chance they were successful in contacting the Third Fleet. I have crew members checking the functionality of all the TIE fighter and Shuttle radios berthed within the ship and we have the hull repair droids ready to go outside to signal the other ships in the fleet. The vacuum in the bays has delayed operations. It is harder for the crew members to do function checks while in an Enviro-suit."

"I understand," Luke acknowledged. "I was successful in contacting my father. He is on the way and plans to attack the planet probably as soon as he exits hyperspace. I checked the positions of the various ships and it looks like he will have a clear line of fire. I think with the Third Fleet softening the target with plasma cannons my father might have a chance at a successful planetary bombardment. We will..."

Luke was interrupted by a blinding flash. He brought his arm up to shield his eyes as the Redeemer was hit by another blast of Force lightning. The ship rocked violently as the lights flickered and the computer screens went dark. After a few seconds emergency power was restored, and the various stations rebooted.

"I should have gone down and taken out Palpatine," Luke muttered under his breath. He wondered if it was too late. They did have functioning TIE-Fighters. There was a chance that a ship of that size could slip Palpatine's notice. He looked at his wristchrono and realized he didn't have time. His father's ship would be coming out of hyperspace before he would be able to fly to the planet's surface. He had to standfast and pray for a miracle.

.

.

Death Star II Mobile Battle Station

Mara Jade had to run to keep up with Vader's long strides. "Emperor Vader, if you blow up the planet with this station's laser the explosion will take out all ships within the orbit...including your son. I know you want to kill Palpatine, but you have your people to consider." She was fairly certain Emperor Vader didn't give a flying kriff about his navy, but Luke was Vader's legacy. He wouldn't risk losing his son...unless...unless he really thought she was pregnant. Then perhaps he would settle for a grandchild as an heir. Was he going to risk killing everybody just to take out his former master? Should she try to stop him? A cold shiver ran down her spine when she realized the only way to stop Emperor Vader once he came to a decision was to kill him.

Emperor Vader suddenly stopped and stared at her menacingly. "Mara Jade, you must learn to shield your thoughts better."

She gulped nervously and broke out in a cold sweat as she realized he sensed her treasonous musings. Vader had expressed concern that the former Emperor might have put a Force suggestion in her mind and now she gave him reason to believe it true. "Palpatine is not controlling me," she said weakly, knowing it probably wouldn't save her from his wrath.

"Yes, I know. You are considering attacking me to safeguard Luke. You are willing to face certain death for him."

She wasn't sure if that was a question or not, but she decided to answer truthfully. "Yes, I would do it to protect him."

He stared at her for a few more seconds before turning and continuing down the corridor. "Good."

She was flabbergasted by his response. She continued to follow him, determined to dissuade him from using the battle station to take out Palpatine. "I don't understand."

Vader didn't stop but glanced over in her direction. "Your concern for my son is admirable, but unwarranted. I do not intend on harming him or my Fleet. There are power settings on the laser. We can kill Palpatine while keeping the planet intact. There will not be fragmentation."

Mara was relieved to hear that, and shocked that Darth Vader thought her willingness to fight him to save Luke was a good thing. For the first time she considered that Vader truly loved his son and didn't see him merely as a way of continuing the Skywalker name.

They arrived at the Death Star's bridge and Vader pointed to the communications station as he addressed Mara. "Use the communications station to send a message to the Third Fleet." He turned and addressed a tall, dark haired, human male in an Admiral's uniform. "Admiral Fel, power up the weapon systems. Place the superlaser at twenty percent and all other systems on full power." He sat down in the Command Chair and tapped on a datapad built into the armrests. "I am inputting the coordinates for our target. We will fire the laser as soon as we exit hyperspace."

"Should we wait long enough to ensure our ships are not in the path of the shot before firing?" the Admiral asked with an accent Mara found peculiar. She recognized the obvious Corellian inflection but there was a modulation in his words that reminded her of the speech pattern of Admiral Thrawn and Commodore Vanto. She suspected the Admiral spent time on Csilla before taking command of the battle station.

"No need," Vader replied. "My son will ensure the path of the laser is clear."

Mara truly hoped this was true. Vader put a lot of trust in his son, but she wasn't sure any Force user could push a floundering Star Destroyer to safety if they were indeed between the Death Star and Palpatine.

"Yes, Your Eminence," the Admiral said before calling out orders to his crew.

The communications officer vacated his seat allowing Mara to sit and compose orders to the Third Fleet indicating they should use plasma cannons to bombard the planetary location where the lighting attacks originated. She didn't specify the reason, but she included a warning for them to stay clear of a particular section of space. She didn't need any Star Destroyers flying into the path of the superlaser. She frowned when she didn't get a response. There was a chance that the Third Fleet was taken out by Palpatine already or they were in the middle of a battle and too preoccupied to respond. She looked back to Emperor Vader as she stood and relinquished the seat back to the communications officer.

She knew he told her to limit communication with Luke, but she desperately wanted to know that he was okay. She considered reaching out to him, but she feared Vader would hear her and she was already treading dangerously around the Dark Lord. She started to walk over to Darth Vader when the pressure behind her eyes returned, the same feeling she felt before she connected with Luke earlier. "Emperor Vader," she called out. "I think Luke is trying to contact me."

Vader stood and closed the distance between them. "What is he saying?"

Mara reached out in the Force readily, eager to touch Luke's brilliant Force presence, but what touched her mind was evil and malignant.

She drew in a sharp breath when she heard her former master's familiar voice echoing through her head. "My Hand return to me."

Her eyes snapped up to Vader's as she felt the blood drain from her face. Vader moved closer until he loomed over her, tall, dark, and deadly. She feared what he would do when he realized Emperor Palpatine was trying to call her back to his service.

"What did he say?" Vader repeated.

She shook her head. "It's not Luke." She took a deep breath against the panic. "It's Palpatine."

She flinched when Palpatine called out to her again, this time more demanding. "Emperor's Hand! Obey! Return to me!"

She pulled in a shuttering breath as she closed her eyes and tried to shield her thoughts and keep the Sith voice at bay. The shouting in her head became louder and nearly unbearable. She opened her eyes and looked up to Vader pleading. "Don't let him control me again. I don't want to hurt Luke."

"I won't let him have you," Vader boomed as he reached toward Mara.

She wasn't sure what was happening as her vision darkened and then suddenly went black.