Chapter 13: Alliance of Convenience
Katara felt really sick.
It had happened the moment the stars turned into bright streaks, and were then replaced by a strange blue void. Han Solo had called it 'making the jump to hyperspace' at the time, and then he had to catch her before she could fall to the floor. For Katara it was like having something deep inside her being torn out, something as vital to her very being as her heart or soul. Han put her in the copilot's seat and strapped her in, not that she could tell after passing out. When Katara awoke she found that the blue void was still here, as well as the void within herself.
"What the…?" Katara muttered. She looked around the cockpit, seeing Han leaning back in the pilot's seat. "Right… I'm stuck here."
Han heard her and he looked at Katara, but kept his arms behind his head. "Are you feeling any better?"
"No," Katara answered. She unbuckled the chair's safety harness and got up, feeling a little dizzy doing it. She put her hands on the console in front of her and looked out the cockpit windows. "What is this place? It looks really freaky."
"Hyperspace," Han answered. "They say if you stare at it long enough, you'll go insane,"
"Really?" Katara questioned, looking at Han.
"Probably not," Han admitted. "Still, not worth testing to find out."
"Suppose not," Katara said. She groaned and put a hand on her stomach. "Does everyone feel this terrible in hyperspace? Or is it just me?"
"It's you," Han said. He got up and pointed toward the rest of the Falcon. "It's going to be a while before we come out of it. There's plenty of time for you to get some sleep. It'll do you good."
Katara nodded and stood up. "So is there a bed in this thing or what?"
Han gestured for Katara to follow. "It's right down this way."
Luke Skywalker had to admit, that little R2 unit was worth all the credits in the galaxy.
Not only did it manage to hack the troop transport's navigation computer over a wireless channel, R2-D2 managed to coordinate a synchronized hyperspace jump with the transport and the X-wing Luke was flying. The jump brought them to the next solar system over, one with a habitable planet for them to use. That planet happened to be a known smugglers den, so they could only stay for a brief time. R2-D2 guided the transport to a landing zone, and Luke landed the X-Wing next to it. There Luke got out of his ship and boarded the transport, taking over for the teenager that had no idea what he was doing.
From there R2-D2 took full control of the X-Wing, flying the small ship without the need for a pilot. Luke piloted the transport back into space, able to fly it more effectively than by remote control. Soon they were back in space alongside the rest of the X-Wing squad, and going back into hyperspace for another jump across the galaxy. But there was only so far this transport could go, given the bare bones hyperdrive and 'emergency use only' navigation computer. Luke was a little worried the hyperdrive would burn out soon, so he plotted the shortest jump necessary to reach friendly territory.
"So how did you get your hands on this thing?" Luke asked, glancing at the teenager in the cockpit with him.
"I stole it," Sokka answered.
"There's got to be a story behind that," Luke asked.
Sokka nodded, though he kept his eyes on what Luke was doing with the controls. "Do you have an hour or two for me to tell it?"
"If we don't burn out the hyperdrive by then, yes," Luke said. He checked something on the controls. "These things weren't meant for long distance."
"Are we going to make it?" Sokka asked.
"Probably," Luke said. "But I wouldn't want to make another jump in this thing afterward."
"Is it really that bad?" Sokka asked.
"Whoever designed this thing really didn't know what he was doing," Luke said. "I mean, why bother putting in a hyperdrive at all if it can't even go thirty light-years without breaking down."
"I get it, this is a piece of junk," Sokka said. "I didn't really have any other choice."
"I figured," Luke said. "So… how did it happen?"
"Well…" Sokka said, taking a deep breath. "It all started with this guy that has spiky black hair…"
A nap helped Katara feel better, but it didn't fix the sick feeling in her gut. She sat up in the room Han lent her, looking around at all the various things he had in here. The valuable looking things she had spotted before her nap weren't there anymore, as if Han expected her to steal them when he wasn't looking. Katara stood up and walked out of the room, figuring that she might as well explore the ship a little while she had the time. Katara heard some voices coming down a corridor, and she walked over there to find them.
Katara entered a small room split into sections, one corner of it having a curved couch in the corner. She spotted Wedge and Wes sitting on the couch, facing a short circular table with a checkerboard pattern on top. They were playing a game that involved holographic pieces depicting various creatures, moving across the board and attacking each other. Although Katara had no idea what the rules were, it was clear that Wedge was winning. Given the smug look on his face when he ordered one piece to take out another, he was just about to finish the game.
"What are you playing?" Katara asked, standing next to Wes and leaning on the wall.
"Dejarik," Wes answered, watching another one of his pieces be removed. "And as you can see, I don't get to play it very often."
Wedge grinned, and then looked at Katara. "Whatever you do, don't play against a wookie."
"Why?" Katara asked.
"If you win, they'll rip your arms off," Wedge answered.
"That can't be true," Wes said.
"It totally is," Wedge said. "Why do you think wookies are banned from major tournaments? There's a reason for the stereotype."
"Uh…" Katara said, pointing toward the opposite entryway.
"He's over there isn't he?" Wedge asked. He saw Katara nod. "Crap."
A loud roar announced Chewbacca's presence.
Wedge turned toward the wookie. "Apologizing isn't going to help, is it?"
A growl seemed to say no, and Chewbacca walked away.
"Maybe you should play against him," Wes proposed. "And then let him win."
Katara managed to laugh at that, but it didn't last. She sat down next to Wes and rested her left arm on the table. "I don't suppose either of you know what's wrong with me?"
"Sorry, not a doctor," Wedge said. He made another move, and smirked when he saw Wes's reaction. "You're forked now. Anyway, Katara, are you sure it's not just a cold or something?"
"It's not," Katara said. "The only thing close to this was that one time a lunar… eclipse…"
Wes made the choice to save one of two pieces, and then looked at Katara. "What do you mean?"
Worry made the bad feeling worse, and Katara ignored Wes's question. She grabbed her waterskin, uncorked it, and made a pulling motion away from the waterskin with her free hand. Nothing happened, not even a single drop of water moving against gravity. Katara poured some of the water on the table, ignored Wedge and Wes's complaints, and then swept her right hand upward. But the water did not react to her command, instead dripping off the table and on everyone's feet. Katara repeated the movement to bend the water, but still nothing happened.
"It's not working," Katara muttered. She put her waterskin away and ran for the cockpit.
"Okay…" Wedge muttered, watching her leave. "What was that all about?"
"I dunno," Wes said. He looked at the table, frowned, and hit the surrender button. "Rematch?"
"Here we are," Luke said, pulling back on a knob. "We're coming out of hyperspace, now."
The blue void changed into long streaks of light, which shortened into the stars amidst the black void of space. Around the transport the X-Wing squad came out of hyperspace, escorting the transport into another solar system. This one had two suns orbiting each other, one a red giant and the other a white dwarf. There weren't any terrestrial planets in this system, just a couple of gas giants orbiting the pair of suns. Hardly the best place to set up a rendezvous point, but given the circumstances it was the only option available.
As the transport coasted into the system, Sokka couldn't help but stare at the two strange suns up ahead. "That… really drives it home, doesn't it. This is really far away from home."
Luke checked the navigation computer. "If this thing is right, you've only gone twenty-five light years."
"And how many miles is that?" Sokka asked.
"Let me put it this way," Luke proposed. "If we could see the light coming from your solar system, we'd see it as it was twenty-five years ago."
"That's really far," Sokka said. "I'm having a hard time wrapping my brain around it."
"Oh if you think that's big, you haven't seen anything yet," Luke said. "The galaxy is over a hundred thousand light years across. You've only taken a very small step."
Sokka sat down, trying to imagine that kind of distance, and was failing at it. "I think I need a moment."
The transport continued on its way into the system, heading for the closest gas giant and its assorted moons. The largest of those moons was a typical ice shell world, its deep oceans buried beneath ice too thick to bother drilling through. Orbiting that moon was a large cruiser, shaped like a submarine but with various oval shaped compartments sticking out of the sides. Luke flew the transport straight toward that cruiser, and he started transmitting a signal to identify himself. Within moments there was a hailing signal in return, and Luke answered it.
"Independence, this is Skywalker," Luke said. "We are requesting permission to board."
"Permission granted," an officer responded. "Make it fast Skywalker. The admiral wants to jump to hyperspace before the hour is out."
"Understood," Luke said. "Please send a scrub squad to the hangar as soon as we arrive. This rig's bound to have an imperial tracking device broadcasting as we speak. There's also an imperial pilot on board, ready for questioning."
"Acknowledged," the officer said. "Independence out."
Luke shut off the signal, and then looked at Sokka. "I bet you'll be glad to get out of this tin can?"
"And into a bigger tin can," Sokka said.
"Fair enough," Luke admitted.
The transport flew into the Independence's hangar, followed by the X-Wing squad. They were barely inside when the hangar doors started to close, and the engines were still running when the hangar was sealed. After landing Luke opened the transport and walked out, followed by Sokka right behind him. Right beside the transport was Luke's X-Wing, and a machine was lifting R2-D2 out of his compartment to put it on the floor. Sokka stopped and stared at the little droid, rolling over toward Luke and beeping at him the entire way.
"You said you could handle it," Luke said. He listened to the droid beeping some more. "Hey it's not like I was going to abandon you out there. Besides, you did a great job piloting that thing."
Sokka would have asked about how Luke could understand the little machine's beeping, but he was too busy taking in everything else he saw around him. While most of the people moving about the hangar looked human enough, there were plenty that were clearly alien. They looked like fish that walked on legs, with big round eyes that swiveled around every which way. The various shades of orange skin were a little discomforting, though not as much as those webbed hands. The weirdest part was that the normal looking people and the fish aliens were getting along, as if there was nothing out of the ordinary.
"Okay, this is probably going to sound rude…" Sokka said, hesitating a little because of that. "What exactly are those guys?"
"Oh they're mon calamari," Luke answered. He stopped and leaned closer to Sokka to whisper. "Whatever you do, don't bring up the smell."
By then Sokka smelled something off, like fish and seawater fused together. "Ah, got it."
That smell got stronger as a group of the aliens walked past, heading into the transport to inspect the stolen craft. One of them stopped in front of Luke. "Welcome aboard Skywalker. The admiral would like to debrief you and your squad personally."
"These two as well," Luke said, pointing at Sokka. "He's the ones that brought the prize. I think he'll want to hear him out."
Katara wasn't sure what she was going to do.
Figuring out that the problem was her bending, or lack thereof, had Katara furious. She walked through the Falcon heading straight for the cockpit, where she figured Han was right now. Katara wanted to freeze him to a wall, but only got angrier knowing that she couldn't do that anymore. However when she got there Katara saw Chewbacca in the cockpit, hesitating at the thought of a wookie ripping her arms off. Judging by the look he was giving when their eyes met, Katara got the feeling that Chewbacca would actually do it.
Katara calmed herself, and she looked at Han. "We've got a problem here."
"It'll have to wait," Han said, keeping his eyes on the controls, his hand subtlety working on them. "We're coming out of hyperspace… now."
The Falcon returned to normal space, and the view from the cockpit was dominated by a blue gas giant. Immediately the Falcon banked left, swerving into a retrograde orbit around the planet. Directly ahead was one of many moons, this one being two thirds the size of Earth with shallow seas scattered across its surface. Han set a course for the moon's North Pole, currently in its local summer and experiencing a midnight sun. In moments the Falcon was flying through atmosphere and clouds, coming in for a landing on a vast sandy beach.
Along the way Katara felt something strange, but in a good way. The void within her was vanishing, and soon she felt as good as ever. Better even, feeling like she could take on the universe. She didn't even notice the smile until she saw her reflection, and by then the Falcon had landed. Katara heard the engines shutting off and the entry ramp opening, and she was almost running there to get out of the ship. She was the first one out and setting foot on coarse sand, taking a breath of thick moist air and looking out at a crystal clear sea.
When Katara looked up, she got a sight she never could have imagined. "That's… wow!"
From here the blue gas giant filled up half of the sky, its bands of blue and darker blue clouds blending into the light blue sky around the planet. And that was only part of the planet visible up there, half a hemisphere of daylight with the straight edge slanted toward Katara's right and the curved edge pointed toward a very small sun. Just looking at the planet was mesmerizing, enough for Katara to feel like it would lift her off the ground. That planet up there put out more light than the full moon ever did, and it certainly put Yue to shame.
The sick feeling all but forgotten, Katara walked up to the edge of the nearby sea. "I wonder…"
Katara held her hands close to her chest, and then thrust them apart as far as she could. The water erupted in a geyser fifty feet high, and in a straight line farther than Katara could see. From there the water separated and flowed in opposite directions, creating twin walls of water that moved apart from each other, exposing the shallow seabed to air. The sea itself was split in two all the way to the other side, leaving a path wide enough for hundreds of people to cross on foot. Katara couldn't help but laugh, truly amazed by what she just did.
Meanwhile Han and Chewbacca had exited the Falcon, both seeing the parting of a sea. "You know, that's the sort of thing that makes you wonder if hokey religions are true."
When Katara lowered her arms the walls of water came crashing back together, and the resulting wave drenched her completely. She didn't care about that, turning around with a brilliant smile. "That… makes this whole trip worthwhile."
"I take it you're feeling better," Han said.
"A lot better," Katara said. A simple wave of her hand pulled the water out of her hair and clothes. "Okay, I've had my fun. Why are we here?"
"Meeting someone," Han answered. He looked around in every direction, including up. "She should have gotten here before us. Not sure what's taking so long."
Chewbacca roared something, and he laughed.
"I doubt she drank herself stupid," Han said. He spotted something in the corner of his eye, and he turned his head up and to the right. "That would be her now."
Han was looking at another one of the moons orbiting the planet, a heavily cratered rock about to transit the gas giant. A ship was coming from that direction, long and narrow and almost looking like a flying shoe. Like the Falcon this ship looked like it had been heavily modified over the years, though it appeared to be in much better condition. This ship flew straight toward this moon, entering the atmosphere and diving toward the Falcon. The ship landed not far away, and a hatch near the back opened to let someone out.
A redheaded woman walked out of this ship, crossing her arms when she saw Han and Chewbacca. "Well now… fancy meeting you here Solo."
Han crossed his arms, indulging the woman's sense for theatrics. "You know, Delia, for a moment I wondered if you were going to sell me out."
"After that stint on Cyrkon, it's tempting," Delia said, taking a few steps forward. "But we know they'd just take me prisoner too."
"At least I can count on you covering your own ass," Han said. He reached into his pocket, took a few credit chips out, and tossed them to Delia. "Payment in advance, just the way you like it."
Delia caught the chips and pocketed them. "Very well, job accepted."
It was a short walk to the bridge of the Independence, with Luke leading the way for Sokka. Along the way Sokka took in the sights as best he could, trying to remember the path back to hangar in case the worst happened. The bridge was a round room with stations lining the walls, save for one side where a long window showed the view of space. Most of the people on the bridge were mon calamari, and a big one in particular presided over the rest. Luke approached him in the middle of the bridge, and when he turned around the two shook hands.
"Skywalker," the mon calamari said, clearly happy to see him. "Glad you could join us."
"My pleasure," Luke said. He turned and gestured to the teenager behind him. "Ackbar, this is Sokka. He's the one that got the imperial transport sitting in your hangar."
"Ah yes," Ackbar said. "We may get one or two secrets out of it."
"Anything to help," Sokka said. He glanced out the window in time to see the stars turn into streaks, and then the blue void. "Where are we going?"
"Back to the fleet," Ackbar answered. He turned his attention back to Luke. "So, how did the scouting mission go? I mean besides the unexpected prize, of course."
"Generally speaking, it was a bust," Luke answered. "None of the systems we scouted were any good. Either the worlds were uninhabitable, or smugglers already claimed them."
"Figures," Ackbar said. He then glanced at the teenager. "What about his planet?"
"I don't know," Luke said. He turned back toward Sokka. "Where exactly are you from?"
"I'm from Earth," Sokka answered. "I'm told that it's in 'the middle of nowhere' space."
"Never heard of it," Ackbar said.
"That's probably for the best," Sokka said. "The Empire is invading Earth as we speak."
That bit of news had Ackbar's undivided attention. "How much of their forces have they committed?"
Sokka shrugged and held his hands apart. "I saw a bunch of those big triangle ships. And there was an even bigger ship in the middle."
"A Super Star Destroyer," Ackbar muttered. Certainly knowing where one of those monstrosities was lurking about would be useful information. "Skywalker, did you check the transport's logs?"
"Yes I did," Luke answered. "If it's accurate, the transport was launched in the Neutral Zone."
"Intriguing," Ackbar said, holding a hand up to his chin. "If the Empire is preparing for a full scale invasion, it will leave domestic forces relatively thin. This could be an opportunity to strike."
"Strike at Earth, or strike in general?" Sokka asked.
"Either or," Ackbar said. "It would depend on where the Empire's forces are at their weakest. Even then, an attack elsewhere could draw ships away from your world, making an attack there more likely to succeed. Regardless, we will need to adjust our strategy to accommodate this new information."
"I'm sure Leia and Mon Mothma will want to learn about it as soon as possible," Luke said. "They are with the fleet, right?"
"Yes," Ackbar answered. "It will take some time for us to get there. In the meantime, my men will prepare quarters for you and your guest Skywalker."
"Thank you," Luke said. "We appreciate it admiral."
Luke led Sokka out of the bridge, heading back into the main part of the Independence. Soon they found a particular pair of mon calamari crewmen, who then led them to a room on the same level as the bridge. That room was a set of living quarters, though divided into smaller portions to fit more people into and save space. The beds were small, but given the circumstance Sokka didn't really care. It was still a relief to be able to lie down in relative peace and quiet, and let everything that happened catch up with him.
And a sickening thought hit him. "I'm never going home, am I?"
"Never is a long time," Luke said. "It may take years, but I think you will get back there eventually."
"Still seems like I'm stuck here," Sokka grumbled.
"For now maybe," Luke said. "Ackbar will want you off his ship as soon as he can, so you'll probably be dropped off with the fleet. From there, well we'll see where it goes."
"I suppose," Sokka said. Then he remembered something. "Hey, I don't think I ever thanked you for picking me up. I probably would have died out there if you didn't."
"You're welcome," Luke said. "Force willing, we'll get you back home safe and sound."
Back in hyperspace again, Katara felt the sickness return.
At least now she understood what was going on, having enough pieces to put the puzzle together. While the Falcon was in hyperspace there were no tides pulling on the ship, no moon in the sky exerting an influence on the world. The blue void had nothing to power a waterbender, and the lack of bending had the symptoms of an illness. In contrast, on the surface of that moon, the tides from the planet were far greater than on Earth, and so waterbending was stronger accordingly. And it only lasted so long as she remained on that moon, confirmed when she aboard a ship and went into hyperspace again.
Except this time she wasn't aboard the Falcon, but the ship that Delia used. Not by choice either, but rather at one step away from gunpoint. Apparently Han had hired Delia to transport Wedge and Wes somewhere, and insisted that Katara go along with them. Given that the choice was either go with Delia or be stranded on that moon, Katara didn't really have any choice at all. Now Katara was sitting in the Serendipity's cargo hold, which was repurposed as a mobile cantina. But at least she had Wedge and Wes for company.
"Why are we riding in this bucket again?" Katara asked.
Wedge had taken out a deck of cards, and was shuffling while he answered. "Han needed to take care of something somewhere else and didn't need us tagging along. Delia happened to be in the area, so they came to an arrangement."
"Can we trust her," Katara said, glancing at the door leading to the rest of the ship.
"Probably not," Wes answered. "Han knows her through the smuggling trade. The one thing you can count on is that they'll go for the highest bidder."
"Most of the time," Wedge said. He stopped shuffling and started dealing cards between him and Wes. "Besides, Han only needed us for that one job. We've got other things to do once we get back to the fleet."
"I still need to get home somehow," Katara said.
"Ask the brass when we get there," Wedge suggested. He finished dealing, but didn't put the deck down. "Hey we're going to be in here for a while, so do you want me to deal you in?"
Katara took a look at the cards, and she shrugged. "Sure, it's not like I can go anywhere."
"Word of warning," Wes said. "I happen to be a mean sabacc player."
Although Katara didn't know what sabacc was, it didn't deter her from trying to play the game. Wedge took the time to explain the rules, which seemed to be simple enough. Seventy six cards, various values and face cards, closest player to a certain number wins the hand. Still, it took a couple hands for Katara to really start understanding the game, and she could see its uses in gambling. But Wedge and Wes were just playing for fun, since they didn't have anything to bet with anyway. It certainly helped pass the time, and Katara was even starting to have fun.
Sure enough, right when Katara was starting to get good at the game, it was time to quit. She felt a slight rumble in the floor, and noticed the others recognizing it. "What was that?"
"We're here," Wedge answered. He gathered up the cards and put the deck away. "Or we've broken down. Either way, we're getting out of this thing."
Another slight rumble signaled that the ship had landed, and the cargo hold door opened. Katara was the first one to get out, feeling a need to stretch her legs after being cooped up in that ship. She then discovered that she was inside an even bigger ship, looking to the left and seeing space out there. It seemed that she was in a large hangar, and smaller ships were passing through a blue field on their way to and from space. Most of those ships were smaller than the Serendipity, looking like one man crafts meant to fly in swarms.
Wedge was next to come out, and he recognized markings on the far wall. "Welcome to Home One."
Right behind him Wes walked out, stretching his arms and smiling at familiar faces. "Good to be home."
Katara turned around to face them. "So what happens now?"
"Debriefing for us," Wedge answered, pointing to Wes and himself. "As for you, well I'm not sure."
"Well if you want to chat with the boss ladies, I suggest you look all impressive," Wes said. "You are the only person from your planet here, so technically that makes you the ambassador."
"I can work with that," Katara said.
Wedge and Wes led the way through the ship, waving at familiar faces that they passed by. Along the way there was a slight rumble everyone felt, the telltale sign of a similarly sized ship docking with this one. Katara noticed considerably more activity after that happened, as if the crew of this ship was expecting someone important to arrive. It was reason enough for a slight delay, as the docking hatch was on their route anyway. There was also a bit of a crowd there, men and women in uniform standing at attention while the hatch opened.
Katara got to see the people coming over from the docked ship, although the word 'people' was not the first thing that came to mind. "Huh? Walking fish. Who knew?"
"Hush," Wedge said, nudging her with his elbow. "That's the admiral."
"Oh," Katara muttered. She watched that alien enter, and was followed by several more. Then there were people that looked normal, and much to her shock she recognized someone. "Sokka!?"
Finally off the Independence, Sokka hadn't expected to hear his name. "Katara!?"
Both started stuttering the same thing. "What…? How…? Why…? Never mind!"
Then the two siblings ran for each other, ignoring everyone else and even where they were right now. Both of them wrapped their arms around the other, the kind of hug only siblings could make. For a moment it was just the two of them, everything else pushed out of mind during this happy reunion. The tears were flowing freely, neither bothering to wipe them away. Afterward they held each other at arm's length, finally returning to the here and now. There was so much to ask, so much to tell, and no idea where to begin.
"I thought I'd never see you again," Sokka said.
Katara wiped away some tears. "Surprise."
They didn't say anything more, but instead hugged again, tempted to never let go.