Vader coerces Valum into ordering all remaining members of the facility's staff to evacuate. As the many stormtroopers and other imperials board the star destroyer, Vader speaks with the former inquisitors. "You knew Luke Skywalker had been captured this whole time," Vader states.
Kadin replies, "We did. I was always going to tell you after the mission was complete. But I-"
"You didn't want me to drop everything and go after him. A logical decision all things considered," Vader admits.
"But that's not all we knew about," Kara says, "The Emperor knows where Leia Organa is going."
"How?" Ahsoka asks.
Vader answers for her, "The Emperor has spies among the rebels."
Kara tells them, "The Emperor has sent a fleet to intercept her ship."
Vader bows his head, thinking through solutions to their problems, searching for the ideal one and not letting his emotions get in the way of his search. "Kadin, Kara, Luna, Tetch, you four must escort the prisoners in the star destroyer. Do not let the prisoners know I am not with them. They will be more compliant if they think I am on board. And take the detonator with you. Ahsoka and I will rescue Luke and Leia."
"I suppose this is where we part ways," Kadin says.
"For now at least," Vader replies.
After telling them the coordinates where the fleet intends to find Leia, Kadin tells them, "Vader, Ahsoka, you have our gratitude. If it weren't for you, we would still be slaves to the Empire. We will never be able to fully repay you."
Vader tells the former inquisitors, "Your forgiveness is more than enough repayment for me at least."
Vader and Kadin shake hands and tell each other, "May the Force be with you."
The four former inquisitors turn away and leave for the star destroyer, wondering if they will ever see Darth Vader or Ahsoka Tano again.
Vader tells Ahsoka, disheartened, "We must split up if we are to reach Luke and Leia in time. I wish it were not so, but . . . Ahsoka, you must be the one to rescue my son while I help Leia Organa."
Ahsoka stares at him, her eyes wide open. "I would have thought you would insist on doing this the other way around." An assumption that makes sense because Vader doesn't know that Leia is his daughter.
"It is only logical to proceed this way. Your skills of stealth far exceed my own; as do my piloting skills exceed yours. Luke needs you and Leia needs me."
Ahsoka is stunned that Vader is thinking so clearly even when his loved ones are at stake. The old Anakin Skywalker would have rushed into a stupid plan or let everyone else burn for the sake of those closest to him. The old Anakin would have let Leia Organa die and gone after Luke, taking Ahsoka with him. But now, he recognizes Leia's importance to the greater good. He is even willing to send Ahsoka on a dangerous mission by herself for the greater good. On top of that, he seems to have faith in Ahsoka's ability to complete that mission. And Vader's plans for the rescues are logical and rational.
He has proven himself.
Vader says, "I know it is a lot to ask of you, but it would-" Vader's voice trails off as Ahsoka comes at him and puts her hands on each side of his mask. She pulls him in and presses her lips against the part of his mask in front of his mouth. Vader's breath is taken away and Ahsoka can hear his respirator working harder. The fact that Ahsoka is kissing his helmet means a lot to him because it shows that she accepts him even with his conditions. He wraps his arms around her and lets her kiss him for as long as she wants.
When Ahsoka finally breaks away, she tells him breathlessly, "I won't let you down . . . Master." This isn't the first time she's called him that. But this time, she puts a whole new meaning behind that word.
They both leave the Post-Separatist Holding Facility and go to their respective missions.
Ahsoka wears a cloak and hood as she walks the streets of Coruscant. Not that there's anything wrong with her outfit underneath; she just needs to keep a low profile. She looks up at the building Luke is being held in. With all these imperials around, it's going to be tricky to reach the building, let alone get inside it. Ahsoka sees a balcony on one of the higher levels. If she could reach that, she could probably get indoors pretty easily. She can't climb all the way up; not without proper tools and a lot of luck. She's going to need two things; a way to fly and a big distraction. Ahsoka sees a tie fighter fly above her and preparing to land for refueling. She takes a good look at an AT-AT marching in the distance and a plan is quickly cobbled together. She makes haste, running to where ever that tie fighter is landing. Ahsoka sneaks her way to the tie fighter, climbs inside and stabs the pilot through the chair with her lightsaber. She pushes him out of the seat and inspects how much fuel is actually left; it's not much, but Ahsoka won't need to fly for very long. She takes off in the tie fighter, confusing the stormtroopers that knew the pilot came to refuel. Ahsoka flies around, pretending to be doing regular patrols and avoiding suspicion. Ahsoka hovers the tie fighter over an AT-AT and carefully lands on top of it. A few civilians see this, but for all they know, tie fighters landing on AT-ATs is standard military practice. Ahsoka opens the hatch and gets out of the tie fighter, landing on the AT-AT. She uses her lightsabers to cut a hole in the top of the AT-AT and jumps through. She makes her way to the AT-AT's cockpit and dispatches the two pilots. She grabs the controls and points the AT-AT's heavy cannon at the building. Ahsoka takes a deep breath. Once she starts this next part, she will need to move fast. Ahsoka exhales and fires.
Everyone within earshot was terrified to hear the thundering sound of the AT-AT firing a heavy bolt. And they were more terrified to see the bolt create a massive explosion on the side of a building.
"GO, GO, GO!" Ahsoka tells herself. She rushes out the way she came, climbing to the top of the AT-AT. She makes an impressive jump to the hatch, gets back inside the tie fighter and takes off, but she does not close the hatch. Ahsoka turns on the tie fighter's comlink and says, pretending to be hysterical, "HELP! That AT-AT has gone rouge!"
A voice comes through, asking, "What's going on over there?!"
"I'm not sure! I think they messed with my tie fighter's controls!" Ahsoka lies.
"Pilot, land immediately and tell us what you know about that AT-AT."
"You're breaking up! I'm going to crash!" Ahsoka cuts off the transmission and flies toward the building. She flies with erratic turns to sell the lie about losing control of the tie fighter. She pulls back on the controls and flies straight up alongside the building. Ahsoka waits for the exact right moment as she holds the controls steady, watching the windows rush past her as she flies higher and higher. She's coming up on that balcony. The exact moment is nearly upon her. Ahsoka does the unthinkable; she lets go of the controls, moves from the chair to the open hatch, and jumps from the tie fighter.
The tie fighter keeps flying upward without a pilot and Ahsoka keeps moving upward thanks to the momentum. She gets closer to the balcony as her momentum diminishes. She reaches her peek height right above the edge of the balcony and, when she falls, she lands gracefully on the banister, bending her knees and grabbing onto it with one hand. Ahsoka is in a state of amazement. Her crazy stunt actually worked. She laughs with excitement and relief. Ahsoka steps down from the banister and gets inside as the abandoned tie fighter crashes into the top of the building.
Ahsoka's plan is working perfectly so far. Inside, people are scrambling, panicking about the giant hole in the side of the building, and sending battalions of troopers to investigate the AT-AT. Those stormtroopers are going to rush all the way over, only to find that the pilots are dead and everyone else on board is just as confused as they are. For now, Ahsoka has her distraction and no one knows she's inside. After all, who would be crazy enough to jump from a tie fighter moving that fast?
In her position, others might have disguised themselves as a stormtroopers, but that's not an option for Ahsoka because her montrals wouldn't fit in a stormtrooper helmet. Instead, Ahsoka moves through the halls, either making sure she isn't seen or making sure that whoever sees her doesn't live long enough to alert anyone else.
Ahsoka peeks around a corner and sees a group of troopers rushing off somewhere. Based off their direction, Ahsoka knows they aren't headed for the exit or the damaged part of the building. Her guess is that they're going to find either their prisoner; that being Luke, or the Emperor, who might be with Luke. Ahsoka quietly follows them, keeping from being noticed and, sure enough, the troopers assemble outside a room that the Emperor walks out of, wondering what's going on. The Emperor leaves either to hide or coordinate while half of the assembled troopers stay outside the door. Ahsoka reasons that Luke must be in there. According to Ahsoka's count, there are ten stormtroopers guarding the room. The question is, can she take them all out before any of them call for help?
Luke senses something. He can feel the presence of someone else both strong with the Force and steadfast to the light. This person is not far away from this room. Luke uses the force to press the button with the cylinder to free himself. Struggling to move, Luke somehow stands up and grabs the cylinder with his hand. Fortunately there is something else, Luke has managed to hide in this room. Out from under a control console, Luke summons his lightsaber.
Ahsoka can sense that the time to strike is near. Somehow, she knows that the thing for her to do is slowly approach the stormtroopers.
"Hey! Who are you?!" a stormtrooper demands.
Walking closer to them, Ahsoka says, "Is this not the way to the mess hall? I get so turned around in this place."
"What are you talking about? We've never seen you before."
Suddenly, the doors open and Luke ignites his green lightsaber. Ahsoka ignites her own lightsabers and the two of them rush the group of stormtroopers. Even in his weakened state, Luke manages to take out four of them while Ahsoka handles the other six. Between the two of them, the stormtroopers didn't have enough time to call for help.
Luke deactivates his lightsaber and leans against the wall, already needing a break. "Who are you?" he asks, wincing with pain.
For a split second, Ahsoka considered telling him she just might be his future step-mother, but that's a bombshell for another time. "My name is Ahsoka Tano. I'm here to rescue you."
"Is there anyone else with you?" Luke asks, hoping to hear his father's name.
"No. But there is someone who sent me; your father asked me to get you out of here."
Ahsoka wraps Luke's arm around her shoulders; a task made tricky because of her third head-tail which Luke's arm hast to slide underneath. Ahsoka helps Luke walk to an elevator and they both get inside.
"We can't go down to the first floor," Luke cautions. "There's too many of them down there."
"Don't worry. We're not going to the first floor," Ahsoka says before pressing one of the buttons.
The elevator takes them just a few floors lower where Ahsoka leads Luke to a window. "Right on cue," Ahsoka comments, looking at the f-143 ships below. The f-143s are spraying water on the burning portions of the building that had been set alight by the AT-AT's cannon fire. Ahsoka points to one of the f-143s and says, "That's how we're getting out of here."
They take a few steps back before Ahsoka uses the force to shatter the window into an explosion of shards. "You ready."
"I've been ready since I got here," Luke replies.
Ahsoka and Luke make a running start, jump out of the building through the hole where the window used to be and land on one of the f-143s. They cut their way in and persuade the pilot to fly them away from the site. When the pilot is asked over a transmission why he is leaving, Ahsoka has him lie about being out of water. After that, Ahsoka breaks the communications equipment so the pilot won't be able to call for help. The f-143 lands far away from the building where Ahsoka and Luke disembark and make their way to Ahsoka's own ship. Now, they're home free. By the time the Emperor finds out about Luke getting out of his chair, it's too late. Ahsoka was in and out of there in a flash and she kept them too occupied with the chaos to know she was there until she was long gone.
Ahsoka makes the jump to light speed while Luke sits in the seat next to her. "Impressive," Luke compliments. "Thank you so much for getting me out of there. It was so horrible." Luke's face falls, thinking about all the torment he endured.
Ahsoka puts a hand gently on his shoulder and says, "You're going to be okay now, Luke. Whatever he did to you, it's over. Your father and I won't let that happen to you again."
"How do you know my father?" Luke asks, welcoming a change of subject.
"We fought together in the Clone Wars. Back then, we were both Jedi. But, more recently, we took over a very important facility together; a facility that might help win the war."
Ahsoka can't help thinking about the most recent change in her relationship with Vader. She remembers vividly how almost silly, yet ultimately satisfying it was to kiss him while he still had his helmet on. She tries to figure out if this is the right moment to tell Luke about that kiss, but before she can make up her mind, Luke asks her, "Was it you? Did you turn my father to the Light Side?"
"Ye- well, really it was both of us; me and you. I talked him into it, but the real reason he wanted to turn to the Light Side was so he would be on the same side as you."
"You seem to know my father well. Would you happen to know who my mother was?"
"Her name was Padme Amidala?"
"Was?" Luke repeats, asking if that was the correct choice of words.
"Yes, was," Ahsoka clarifies with a heavy heart. "She was a senator with good relations with the Jedi. She would be very proud of you."
Luke wants to learn more about his mother, but not now. The confirmation of her death has made the topic too sensitive. Only after he has had time will he be ready for more information. For now, there is something else he is itching to ask. "What was it like? Being a Jedi back then?"
Ahsoka's grip on the controls tightens as conflicting memories flood her mind. "It was complicated. This might be hard to hear, but the Jedi weren't perfect."
"What do you mean?" Luke asked, almost sounding like a child who had just been told his favorite legendary character is just pretend.
"The Jedi had rules that were just dumb. They forbid attachment and became cold. I know that you want to be the one to restore the Jedi order. Maybe you can bring it back better than it was before." Ahsoka proceeds to tell Luke all about her experience as a Jedi; including how and why she left the order.
"This is a lot to consider," Luke says thoughtfully.
"I mean, it wasn't all bad. At least I got to spend time with your father." Ahsoka clears her throat and decides that maybe now would be a good time to tell him. "Luke, um . . . Since I reconnected with your father, things have . . . changed."
"How so?" Luke asks.
Ahsoka says awkwardly, unable to look at him, "Um . . . things have gone in a . . . romantic direction."
Luke looks at Ahsoka like she had just swallowed a live loth-cat. "Romantic?"
"Surprise," she says before offering an awkward laugh that dies quickly.
Luke takes a moment to consider what he makes of this. "Well, a former Jedi who fought in the Clone Wars, brought my father back to the light and rescued me from the Emperor? That's as good a person as any to have as a step-mother."
Ahsoka drops her awkwardness and puts on a warm smile. "I like you, young Skyguy."
Luke thinks, "I wonder if Leia is going to feel the same way I do about this."
A star destroyer bombards a Mon Calamari cruiser, chipping away at its shields. Tie fighters swarm the area, battling the outnumbered x-wings and y-wings. On board the cruiser, Leia shouts, "Why haven't we made the jump to light speed?!"
"Our hyperdrive was sabotaged right before the star destroyer showed up!" an engineer explains over a comlink. "We think there might be a spy on board!"
They haven't lost any of their pilots yet, but they haven't been out there very long. Three tie fighters chase a single x-wing. He zigzags to avoid their fire, but he won't be able to keep it up forever. The pilot calls out, "I need help over here! I've got three ties behind me!"
Piloting the millennium falcon, Han spots the x-wing. He's far away, but there are no friendlies closer. "I'm coming! Just hang on a little longer!"
Suddenly, a tie advanced x1 comes out of light speed, popping into the area. "Ah, great. Like there weren't enough of them out here," Han complains. Han moves in the x-wing's direction, but more tie fighters appear in his way. Han has no choice but to steer in a new direction and fend off his own attackers."
Without the falcon to help, the x-wing keeps trying to avoid enemy fire. On top of that, the tie advanced x1 is headed straight toward him from the opposite direction. Thinking this is the only problem he can solve, the x-wing pilot opens fire, but the x1 is too evasive. For a split second, the x-wing pilot thinks he's about to die.
The tie advanced x1 fires, destroying all three of the x-wing's pursuers as it passes by. The x-wing pilot is dumbfounded by the event. "Did any of you see that?"
"What happened?" Han asks.
"That tie advanced x1 just saved my life."
Looking out a window, Leia watches as the x1 rampages throughout the area, destroying countless tie fighters and avoiding fire from the rebels who haven't caught on yet.
A bridge operator tells her, "Someone is trying to reach us on a transmission."
"It's probably the mystery hero out there. Put him through." Once the transmission is accepted, she is about to ask something, but her words get stuck in her throat as soon as she hears that respirator. Leia is frozen with fear, already knowing who it is before a single word is said.
"This is a defector," Vader says, "requesting access to your pilots' channel."
Leia is speechless. She stares out the window as her blood runs cold.
"Should we give him access?" the operator asks.
Leia tries to think as fast as she can. She is terrified of Darth Vader, but . . . it makes sense for him to defect, doesn't it? Luke said that Vader was his father and it wasn't Vader that captured him on the moon of Endor. Leia swallows hard and makes a hard decision. "Give him access," she says nervously.
Vader tells the rebel pilots, "This is the pilot of the tie advanced x1. I have come to help the Rebellion."
"Copy that, x1," says another pilot.
Han on the other hand, recognizes that voice. He is stunned for a second, but he shakes it off, thinking there must be something wrong with the transmission that's making him sound like that.
Sitting across from Han, Chewbacca makes a few noises as a question.
"It can't possibly be him. He wouldn't be helping us."
Chewbacca roared an argument.
"I know it's the same kind of ship. But he's a defector. If he was going to steal a ship from the Empire and leave, it makes sense to steal a good ship."
As Vader shoots tie fighter after tie fighter, his impulses keep thinking he should shoot at the rebels, but he remembers not to each time. Fighting for the Rebellion is going to take some getting used to. His mind has been trained to shoot them on sight. He hast to keep reminding himself that they're on the same side now.
Vader tells the others, "All pilots, I need you to lead the tie fighters away from the star destroyer."
"What for?"
"The turrets on that destroyer will tear the cruiser apart in time. I can take them out, but I cannot contend with turrets and tie fighters at the same time."
Han doesn't know who's piloting that x1; he's in denial about it anyway. But whoever is piloting that ship seems to be the only one here with a plan. Reluctantly, he tells the others, "You heard the man. Let's give him some room to work with."
The rebel ships move away from the star destroyer and the tie fighters peruse them. For the time being, Vader keeps them covered, destroying those who threaten the x-wings and y-wings.
"We'll hold them here, x1. Go for it."
Vader breaks away from them, flying back toward the star destroyer. He moves passed enemy fire with perfect evasion. He flies in close, moving just above the haul of the star destroyer. Where he's flying, few of the turrets can fire at him, but he has a good view of them. Vader zooms along the star destroyer, blasting each turret with a thorough sweep, never missing a single one. He then flies down to the underside and clears out all the turrets on that side, too.
"All turrets have been destroyed," Vader announces.
"What?!" Han exclaims dubiously. He takes another look at the star destroyer and, sure enough, they're all gone. "Well, isn't that something?" Han asks, amazed.
Vader flies back to the fleet and helps them fight the tie fighters. This time, they have an advantage because, unlike the star destroyer, the rebel's Mon Calamari cruiser still has turrets. Vader diligently protects the rebels while destroying the imperial ships. What seemed like a hopeless battle has shifted in their favor. Eventually, the remaining imperial ships retreat back into the star destroyer and they make the jump to light speed as rebels cheer for their victory. When the rebel pilots fly back to the Mon Calamari cruiser, Vader is also permitted to enter.
Once he lands, Vader opens the hatch of his ship, wondering what kind of welcome he's going to receive. Now he can hear the cheering and applause of those who have gathered around, not knowing who their mysterious hero is. Vader climbs out and they see him. The applause and cheering instantly begins to diminish, but some of them begin again, accepting his place among them. Many of them stay silent and even back up a bit. Vader steps down from the ship and, once the noise is finished, he says, "It is an honor to hear your welcome. I look forward to more battles in which I will aid the Rebellion."
"Darth Vader," Leia says, approaching him with armed troopers by her side just in case.
"You are brave to face me personally after our previous encounters. I had expected you to send someone in your stead."
"Then you weren't paying enough attention on our previous encounters." Leia tells him.
"Perhaps not enough. But I remember clearly your reasons to distrust me."
"So why did you come here? Why did you think I would trust you now?"
"I did not," Vader says plainly. "I do not expect you to trust me when I tell you I wish to join your Rebellion. I expect you to trust Luke. The next time you see him, Luke Skywalker will vouch for my new loyalties."
Leia's face darkens as a bad memory comes back. "Unfortunately, Luke Skywalker has been captured."
"I am aware. More than that, I am aware of his location and, even better, I have sent my most trusted ally to rescue him."
Leia's heart races at the idea of Luke being so close to safety. She isn't the only one who's spirits are lifted. All around, rebels exchange excited looks. "Wha- where is he?"
"He has been kept on Coruscant," Vader answers.
"Can you tell us where exactly on Coruscant?"
"That will not be necessary. By the time you reach the planet, Luke will be long gone. What I could tell you is where my ally and I have agreed to regroup with each other."
Leia is pinched by fear, immediately thinking this could be a trap.
Vader continues, "But I suspect you would prefer I retrieve him and bring him back to you."
Leia tells him, "We're not staying here. The Empire could send another star destroyer. How will you find us?"
"Go where ever Luke would meet with you. I will be waiting for you there."
Vader turns to go back to his ship. But Leia calls out, "Wait!"
Vader faces her, waiting for her to go on.
Leia swallows her fear and says, "Take me with you."
"WHAT?!" Han cries, stepping in. He grabs Leia's shoulders and says concernedly, "Leia, what are you doing? You can't go with him."
Understanding how crazy she seems to be, Leia says, "Han, I promise I'll explain later. Just trust me; I think he's telling the truth."
"That's it?! You'll explain later? I need to make sure you're not doing something stupid now!"
Leia desperately leans forward and whispers in his ear, "He's Luke's father."
Han heard her clearly, but he can't help thinking he heard wrong. Those words sound crazy. But judging by the solemn look on Leia's face, it seems that crazy message is exactly what she meant to say. Leia tries to walk past him, but Han pleads, "Hang on. If you've got to do this, at least let me come with you."
Chewbacca makes noises that Han recognizes as insistence to go as well.
Vader tells them, "My ship will not hold four people."
"We'll take the Falcon," Han says, almost regretting it as soon as the words leave his mouth.
Author's Note: I love it when an idea I wanted to do for one reason happens to also work perfectly for another reason. I wanted Ahsoka to rescue Luke while Vader rescues Leia because those were the interactions I wanted to write and those were the relationships that the characters didn't know they needed. Obviously, Luke and Vader want to be in each other's lives, but there is also the daughter and the potential step-mother to bond with. At one point I suddenly thought, "Wait, doesn't that also happen to work perfectly with their respective skill sets? YES!"
In canon, there was never a time when Vader talked with Leia while she knew they were father and daughter and he didn't. I got excited about the interaction they're going to have in the next chapter. And I wanted Ahsoka to meet Luke, mostly because she's the potential step-mother, but also because Ahsoka has all this knowledge about the Jedi order making her someone who can guide him. I really liked the idea of Luke seeing Ahsoka as a mother figure for both reasons. (Not just because she is his father's girlfriend.)
Something I would dive deeper into in a potential sequel is the contrast where Luke and Ahsoka are not related by blood, but Luke does see her as family while Leia and Vader ARE related by blood, but Leia does NOT see him as family. Notice how Leia told Han Vader was Luke's father, not that he was Luke's AND HER father.
Remember to read my other fanfiction, Disney Princesses: Extermination. I forgot to mention this before, but the first chapter of Disney Princesses: Extermination is kind of slow. Chapter 1 takes the time to introduce the characters and establish the kind of relationships they have with each other. But that chapter, for the most part, isn't really a representation of what most of the story is like. If you want to try that story, I recommend holding on until the end of Chapter 2 before deciding if you want to drop it or continue it. I assure you that DPE is an action-packed fantasy epic with deep themes, NOT a series of tea parties and ballroom dances. Also, I wrote it to be understandable even for people that haven't seen all the Disney Princess films so, even if you're not a Disney Princess fan, you'll be able to follow along with what's going on. I honestly think that Disney Princesses: Extermination is my best fanfiction so far. So if you've enjoyed Star Wars: The Unending, I highly recommend reading Disney Princesses: Extermination.
(This next part was added in later.)
I have a YouTube Channel now. I review fictional couples, talking about how well they're written, how good their chemistry is and the story of how they get together. You'll be able to find me by typing into the search bar –
Couple Reviews by MVPKnight
