14 years later:
Alliance Command Ship Home One:
General Padme Amidala Skywalker slept in her quarters as her flagship traveled through Hyperspace. Her comlink buzzed as the voice of Admiral Ackbar spoke, "General Skywalker you have been requested on the Bridge, Captain Skywalker says that it is time."
Padme's eyes opened as she let out a deep sigh. She silently let out a curse as she spoke, "Tell him that I am on my way."
Padme sat up and kicked her feet to the edge of her bed. She slipped her boots on before standing up. She then slipped on her Alliance uniform and buckled her blaster belt on over it. She reached for the waiting yet cold cup of caf and took a sip of it.
Then turned and walked out of the door of her quarters.
Fourteen year old Luke Skywalker stood on the bridge of Home One and stared out at the racing stars as he sensed his mother's approach. His left hand rested on his lightsaber as he anticipated the reversion to sublight. The young Jedi turned and locked eyes with his mother as he noticed the sad look in her eyes. "I am sorry that I have such a burden on your shoulders my son."
The ship shook as Luke spoke, "It is only a matter of time before Vader becomes aware of our survival."
Padme raised an eyebrow as she spoke, "Sooner than later. I wouldn't be surprised if he already knows about you and your sister. I just am afraid that he will kill you"
At that moment Luke felt Home One lurching as the reversion to Sublight commenced.
Within moments the vessel was directly above Tatooine. Luke looked at his mother and spoke, "Leia said in her message that their signal was detected and that a Star Destroyer was on their tail."
"That is not good," Padme replied.
"I have the aft bay with twenty fighters prepared for deployment. With your permission I would like to take the fighters out into space before they arrive. That way we can ambush the Star Destroyer."
Padme looked at her overly eager teenage son as she contemplated his statement. It made her sad to think that at fourteen her son and daughter both were junior officers in the Alliance army instead of living like typical teenagers. What bothered her even more than that fact was the fact that the two of them enjoyed fighting like they did. She pushed the thoughts from her mind as she struggled to return to reality.
"What is your strategy son?" Padme asked.
"As the Star Destroyer is chasing the ship we will sneak up behind them and destroy their bridge deflector shields as well as their propulsion. I have two sets of proton torpedoes on my ship and I have R2. I have Wedge and Biggs. I can make it work mom."
Padme smiled, "And I scoop the Tantive IV right up and make it look like it never was there."
"With the cannons blazing. Home One can take on one Imperial Vessel that is incapacitated. We won't have long before reinforcements arrive which is why you must make sure to jam their signal before they detect you."
Padme turned her head to Admiral Ackbar as she spoke, "Admiral take us into the atmosphere where we won't be detectable."
She turned to her son as she spoke, "Captain Skywalker, Deploy your squadron and contact me when you find them and send me the coordinates."
"Yes General," Luke replied as he left the bridge. Padme took in a deep sigh as she stared out of the window. She noticed Admiral Ackbar at her side as he spoke, "When are you finally going to give that boy and his sister the promotions that they deserve?"
"When the time is right," Padme replied.
"You are rather firm on them. I mean more firm than you are with anyone else."
"They are my children and they are fifteen. I am not going to play favorites with my own children. This is an army after all and respect is earned."
"If you ask me he has earned it. Wedge and all those guys have no problem with taking orders from him."
"I've given him Rogue Squadron. He has plenty on his record in terms of responsibilities and the same is said for Leia. The next time they do something major I will consider giving them a promotion but not before then," Padme stated.
Padme turned and walked away from her subordinate as the Dac native let out a sigh.
"I do not blame you, Luke does have a tendency to be reckless after all."
Space above Tatooine:
Luke stared out of the viewport of his X-Wing as he saw the small Corellian Corvette fleeing from the Victory Class Star Destroyer. He smirked as he thought of the size of Home One when compared to the Star Destroyer. Home One had not yet seen action but its size was greater than that of a Star Destroyer although a Super Star Destroyer was still much larger. He had confidence that Home One would be capable of defeating a Star Destroyer. With the aid of capable fighter pilots Home One could perhaps even defeat a Super Star Destroyer. Luke ended his thoughts as he turned his attention back to the fleeing blockade runner. He activated his communication signal as he spoke, "Lock S foils in attack position. Let's move in boys. Red Two inform General Skywalker that we are engaging the Star Destroyer."
"Copy Red Leader," Wedge Antilles replied.
"Red Two, Red Three you're with me. Keep your eyes and scanners open for Tie Fighters they will be deployed as soon as they recover from our ambush..
Red Five, Red Six you and your wingmen move towards your designated targets."
Tantive IV:
Princess Winter Organa looked at her Jedi bodyguard in horror, "Jedi Leia we just lost the Main Reactor. We are dead in space. We are about to be tractor beamed!"
Leia nodded, "The men are prepared to hold off the boarding party. My mother and brother have something planned for them. Hand me the plans Princess."
Devastator:
Darth Vader stood in the main hanger bay alongside the boarding party as he stared at the holoprojector of the Rebel Vessel. The Tractor beam had just been locked onto the vessel. It was only a matter of minutes before they would commence the rampage to find the stolen plans to the Death Star. As he fingered his lightsaber he felt the Star Destroyer shaking. He could hear the sounds of an explosion as he almost lost his footing.
A frown appeared on his face as he quickly stormed towards the turbolift in shock.
He activated his comlink as he spoke, "Bridge report?"
"Sir, we are under attack!"
Vader gasped in shock as he knew the turbolift couldn't stop soon enough.
The doors hissed open and he stormed out of the turbolift as he saw the panicked young captain receiving a report from a junior officer.
"Report Captain?"
The seasoned officer turned to his Superior and met his eye as he spoke, "The X-Wings appeared out of nowhere. They took out our hyperdrive with their first shot. Our main tractor beam is gone and our shields are down by twenty five percent. I've never seen anything like it."
Vader's yellow eyes flickered for a moment as he spoke, "The Tie Fighters?"
"I deployed twenty they are in need of reinforcements."
Vader nodded as he turned towards the turbolift, "I sense a powerful pilot out there."
"Probably the one that took out five fighters. His wingmen are rather skilled as well but he is most likely the leader. I think this is the same squad that hit Kuat a few weeks ago. They are exceptionally lethal according to the report."
Vader stared out of the viewport as he saw the large Mon Calmari vessel that was emerging from the atmosphere of Tatooine.
"I need to get out there. Keep in close contact. Reroute all shields to the port side to counter the turbolasers of that vessel and radio for reinforcements."
"Our signals are jammed."
"Get a crew to work on them. We cannot hold them off on our own. Get the signal repaired andissue a distress call once the signal is repaired."
"At once sir!"
Vader turned towards the turbolift as a smile appeared on his face, "Me and you Jedi are going to have a little fun today."
Home One:
Padme looked at the holographic image of Leia and Winter as she spoke, "Luke is moving into position to cover you. I want you both to bail in the escape pods. I have already contacted Commander Solo. He has his vessel on the way to rescue you. You need to protect the plans. That is your priority all others are second to none."
"Understood General."
Padme stared out of the viewport as she noticed a distinct Tie Advanced x1 joining the fight. She let loose a shiver as she spoke, "Admiral Ackbar please assume command."
She spoke into her comlink as she spoke, "Hanger bay one have my flight gear on hand. I am joining the fight!"
She then ran off of the bridge without even looking back at Admiral Ackbar.
Her son was in danger. Anakin had sensed their son and he was already on the hunt.
Vader looked towards the escape pod as he spoke, "Devastator why did you not target that escape pod?"
"They are out of our range sir! Our long range guns are damaged. I am working on repairs."
Vader clenched his teeth as he spoke into the comlink, "All fighters prioritize that escape pod that is where the plans are. We must not allow them to make it to the surface of Tatooine,"
Vader flew towards the Escape Pod as he lined it up on his targeting screen. He placed his fingers on the triggers of the ion cannons. He was going to destroy the Escape Pod.
Before Vader could fire, he was thrown off course by a barrage of cannon fire.
The Jedi, Vader realized as he moved to engage the fighter pilot. Vader struggled to outmaneuver his Jedi attacker as he realized that that he was on the target screen of his enemy. "I need help back here!" Vader yelled.
Luke struggled to shake off his two tie fighter attackers as Biggs came to his aid. He could sense the deaths of the two Imperial Pilots as Biggs blew them away with little effort. Biggs was an ex Imperial. Biggs had studied in the Academy at Imperial Center. That experience only aided him because he knew their game. He knew their tactics and their methods. Darklighter knew every weakness in the piloting pattern of the average Tie Fighter Pilot. That was why he was the first Ace of Rogue Squadron with the highest number of kills next to Luke.
"Red Three get back to the escape pod I can handle this."
"Copy," Biggs replied.
Luke flew towards Vader as he started to fire his cannons. The two fighters flew at one another head on. Luke cringed when he felt his fighter shake. Two engines had been knocked out.
"R2 see what you can do with the engines. I am going to fly with the escape pod."
Vader smiled as he saw the almost neutralized and smoking X-Wing flying towards the the diving Escape Pod. He had moments before the escape pod entered the atmosphere. He had moments to destroy the escape pod and stop the plans from falling into the hands of the enemy. The two remaining X-Wings were engaging a swarm of tie fighters. He moved to destroy the pod as it appeared on his target screen.
"I have you now!" Vader stated as he moved his fingers towards the triggers of the cannons.
Much to his shock his fighter shook.
"What?" Vader screamed in disbelief.
His engines had been hit. He gasped in horror as he looked out of his rear viewport at a lone X-Wing fighter. He was now trapped in the gravity well of Tatooine with failing engines. As his fighter started to loose control he struggled to level his fighter.
He reached for the activation button that would activate his emergency engine that would minimize the crash impact.
He clenched his teeth as he spoke, "Captain, I have been hit. You will need to dispatch a detachment to retrieve the plans from the escape pod. There should be no one to stop us this time."
Padme watched as her husband's starfighter started to slow down. She had destroyed the propulsion systems but not the fighter just as she had hoped. She had used the lowest setting in the guns of her X-Wing in order to insure that she wouldn't destroy Anakin's craft. She had only neutralized his fighter. She also knew that Anakin was more than capable of surviving a crash. It was something he had done more than once in his life.
Padme smiled as she spoke, "Luke you are all clear get your sister and the Princess to Mos Eisley. Use whatever means necessary and hurry before Vader recovers from that crash."
"Yes mom," Luke replied.
Tatooine:
Luke emerged from his damaged starfighter as he saw Leia and Princess Winter emerging from the escape pod a few hundred meters away.
R2 ejected himself from the starfighter as Luke examined the two engines.
"Good job Flyboy!" Luke heard his sister chant.
Luke raised an eyebrow as he looked back at his sister and the white haired Princess of Alderaan.
Both had their blasters in hand as Luke examined the damaged X-Wing.
"How bad is it?" Leia asked.
Luke slipped his flight suit and helmet off as he spoke, "The hyperdrive is good. The power coupling for the two right engines is just fried from that blast."
"Can you fix it?" Leia asked.
Luke looked at his sister with a sigh, "Yeah I should be able to," he replied as he turned his head towards the escape pod.
"If your engines are still intact fixing it won't take long at all. R2 see if you can gut that I'm going to go see what I can salvage off the escape pod."
Vader pushed the canopy of his fighter open as he climbed out of the damaged fighter.
He found himself perplexed when he realized that he could sense two distinct force sensitives on the planet. Who were they? Who were their masters? How had their masters survived for the last fifteen years? He raised the hood of his cloak as he did his best to protect himself from the bright sunlight. Tatooine, The planet of his failures. The planet where his mother died in his arms. The planet where he had been raised as a slave. How he hated this dustball. He stormed towards the force auras of his quarry after seizing a survival pack. He wouldn't give them any time to recover and escape.
Winter folded her arms as she stared at Luke in disgust, "This is wrong, me leave you two with that monster on this planet? My father would not approve! He will be furious when I show up on Alderaan without you." Winter stubbornly declared.
"As far as Vader knows we are stranded here with no way off of the planet. We can play hide and go seek with him until Han gets here. By then you should have gotten to Alderaan with R2 and the Death Star plans. It is the last thing that he will expect. Besides your father will know how to retrieve the plans," Luke stated.
Winter thought for a long moment before nodding, "You're right. This is a war and we have to take risks to win. I will do what you have requested Skywalker."
"Fly low. R2 will take you into the atmosphere once you have flown to the far side of the planet. That way they won't notice you until it is too late. Go while you can. Princess."
Winter complied with a deep sigh as she climbed into the cockpit of the fighter and took Luke's helmet.
As the X-Wing took off Leia spoke, "Placing the plans in R2 and having Winter leave so we can keep Vader busy is brilliant. I just have a feeling that we are gonna get it if we make it back home."
Luke laughed, "The key word is if."
Leia slapped her twin brother on the shoulder as she spoke, "Time to walk we need to find shelter before the sandpeople come out at sundown."
"Or before Vader catches up to us," Luke added.
The twins both moved away from the crash site of the escape pod as they could sense Vader hastily moving to catch up to them.
Well that is it for now. As you can see a full on jump into action as the fic implied it will be an OTC AU centered around mostly Vader/Padme. Please read and review. Let me know how you like the development so far. More will be happening and I have some pretty awesome ideas for this fic.
-Fallen Jedi 79