Chapter 20: Coast to Coast

"Obi Wan Kenobi?" Aang repeated. "You say that name like I'm supposed to know it."

Still standing in the sand-snow desert in the spirit world, Aang faced this old man that had come to his call. If he didn't know any better Aang could swear that the old man didn't know where he was, taking every opportunity to look around and study the area. Still, Aang was grateful that someone had bothered to show up, even though the old man looked like just another human. Aang was certainly curious about where the old man had come from, since the white robe and brown cloak spoke of fashions entirely unfamiliar to him.

Kenobi smiled, glad to have new company. "No, I suppose not. You're too young to have known who I am, and my return from retirement was all too short."

"Was?" Aang questioned, picking up on the use of past tense. "Does that mean you're retired again?"

"In a manner of speaking," Kenobi said. "I am dead, after all."

That surprised Aang, though he recovered quickly. "Dead huh? Figures."

Now it was Kenobi's turn to be surprised. "Is this not strange for you?"

"I've been talking to my past lives all day," Aang said. "I've kind of gotten used to it."

Kenobi shrugged. "Fair enough. Now then, may I ask, who are you?"

"I'm Aang, and I'm the Avatar." That's when he realized something. "Hold on, let me guess, you don't know what the Avatar is?"

"Avatar, a person that is a vessel for a supernatural entity," Kenobi answered. He looked at Aang closely, sensing something otherworldly about him. "Yes, I see it now. There is something within you that I do not recognize. I wonder, what entity do you contain within you?"

"I… um… uh… don't know," Aang admitted. He rubbed the back of his head. "I'm told that the Avatar is the spirit of the world, but my gut is telling me that's not true."

"Perhaps," Kenobi said. "It seems we have gotten distracted. I was drawn here by your call for aid. What is it that you need help with so badly?"

"There's an alien invasion that's taken over my world," Aang answered. "There is a resistance trying to fight, but we're just not enough to defeat the Empire."

A feeling told Kenobi that it was the same Empire he knew, knowing its influence even through the words of someone else. "I will do what I can. But first I must see how matters are in the living world. I cannot help if I do not know what is going on."

"Fine," Aang said. He sat down and focused on the connection to the physical world. "Come with me."

Once again the landscape shifted around Aang, leaving the sand-snow desert far behind. The various parts of the spirit world whipped by, a maelstrom of colors going too fast to make out properly. It slowed down when he reached the endless fields, and came to a stop when he reached the center. Kenobi stayed next to Aang the entire way, as if anchored to him by an invisible tether. At the place Aang had entered the spirit world he left it behind, vanishing from this world to return to his physical body.

The sounds and sensations of the spirit world disappeared, replaced by different sounds and sensations that felt far more real. Aang's eyes were closed when the change was complete, and he suddenly felt very stiff in his legs and lower back. He opened his eyes and looked around, now back in the cave where he had departed the physical world for the spirit world. Aang groaned as he stretched his legs, feeling like he hadn't moved in days. It got the attention of those around him, those that had been guarding his body while his spirit was away.

Among them was Kori, only an hour into her latest guard shift. "Welcome back."

"Good to be back," Aang said. He saw Kori's offered hand, and he let her help him up. "How long was I gone? Feels like forever."

"Just a day," Kori answered. "You were starting to worry us."

Aang's stomach rumbled fiercely, and he put a hand on his gut. "Yeah, I'm feeling it now."

Kori looked away and snapped her fingers a few times, and someone brought a tray of food out for Aang. "This should help you feel better."

There were all sorts of fruits and vegetables on the tray, considerate on the cook's part, and Aang devoured the food in just a few minutes. He nearly choked from eating too fast, but it was worth it to fill up his stomach. "Ah… that hit the spot."

"I'll bet," Kori said. "So, how did it go in the spirit world?"

"Not what I was expecting," Aang admitted. "Of all the spirits I found, only Yue wanted to help, and all she can do is let us know what's going on between here and the moon."

"That's it?" Kori questioned. "No one else wanted to help us?"

"Not exactly," Aang said. He saw Kenobi appear before him, only now he was a translucent shade of blue. "He says he's here to help."

Kori looked at the spot Aang was looking at, but she didn't see anything there. "Is 'he' invisible?"

Aang looked at Kori, then to Kenobi, and then back to Kori. "You can't see him?"

"I wouldn't expect her to," Kenobi said, his voice sounding like it was coming through a filter. "Not everyone has a strong connection to the Force."

Now Aang just looked at Kenobi. "What in the world is the Force?"

While the stolen ship cruised through hyperspace, Luke leaned back in the pilot's seat with his eyes closed, somewhere in between being asleep and awake. Times like this was when Luke thought about what he had lost over a year ago, when his old life ended and his new one began. The loss of Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru, leaving Tatooine behind for good, the death of his brief mentor Obi Wan Kenobi, it all came back to him. He missed the first most of all, never doubted the second, but the last was the greatest loss.

Yet it seemed like the old man was still with him, watching over Luke from the great beyond. Gone, but not forgotten, Kenobi was always there looking over him. Luke could swear he heard his voice from time to time, providing guidance when he needed it most. He wished he could have spent more time with him, for there had been so much Kenobi wanted to teach Luke about the Force and being a Jedi. The few lessons he got aboard the Millennium Falcon were cherished memories, yet sorely lacking compared to what Kenobi had wanted at the time.

A beeping noise interrupted his thoughts, prompting Luke to turn his attention back to the controls in front of him. The navigation computer was reporting their approach to their destination, about fifteen minutes before they would arrive. While waiting during those minutes Luke looked over at Katara, who had slept in the copilot's chair for most of the trip. She was starting to wake up too, stretching her arms while making a big yawn. Though Katara tried to go back to sleep, it wasn't going to happen, so she turned toward Luke.

"Are we there yet?" Katara asked.

"Almost," Luke answered. He waited a little bit longer, and put his hands on the controls. "Coming out of hyperspace… now."

The view changed to normal space, entering a system with a blue giant star and a few gas giant planets. It was the rendezvous point with Home One, set up in case the Empire managed to extrapolate the vector of Luke's jump and follow him here. Luke was grateful for that bit of foresight, certain that this stolen ship had a tracking beacon in case of theft. He transmitted an identification signal to Home One, telling the rebels aboard that he was on this ship and not some random traveler. Home One's hangar doors opened, and Luke flew the ship towards the hangar.

Feeling much better now, but still not in a position to go back to sleep, Katara leaned back and relaxed as best she could. "Finally, we're almost there. I can't wait to get out of this thing."

Soon enough the ship landed in Home One's hangar, and a moment later Luke shut off the engines. Katara was out of the ship first, enjoying the chance to stretch her legs. Luke was out right after her, and they passed by some crewmen heading into the ship to examine it. Everyone else in the hangar eyed the stolen ship, some impressed that it had been taken undamaged. Luke got some complements from people he passed by, but didn't have the time to chitchat about it. A proper debriefing had to come first, for both him and Katara.

"Let's get this over with," Luke said, walking beside Katara now. "Sooner we tell Mon Mothma everything, the sooner we can get back to base."

"Fine," Katara said. "Not like there's anything important going on right now."

The ceiling shook.

"Uh Oh…" Aang muttered.

The ceiling shook again, harder this time, and shook dust and dirt off the ceiling. Aang and Kori had been walking through a tunnel at the time, on their way out of the underground camp. The ceiling shook a third time, and it had them suspecting the worst. Everyone was on the move now, getting away from the surface and heading further underground. The highest tunnels were empty when their ceilings collapse, demolished by bombs dropped from the sky. More bombs were dropped through the holes, exploding and further damaging the underground camp.

"They've found us," Kori said. Part of the ceiling broke apart, and she put it back with earthbending. "We need to get out of here now."

Aang closed his eyes and stomped one foot on the floor, getting a vibration picture of the camp and the damage it sustained. "This way."

"You've got to show me how you do that," Kori insisted, following the path Aang picked.

The lowest tunnels were still intact, including some of the escape tunnels set up ahead of time. The closest one was damaged, likely to collapse before they could get to it. The next one over was in better shape, and Aang figured it was their best bet to leave. Along the way the earthbenders in the resistance were reinforcing the tunnels, repairing the damage as best they could so that the firebenders could get out first. But they couldn't keep up with the bombardment, and the tunnels were blown apart into rubble one level at a time.

As Aang and Kori ran for the escape tunnel, Kenobi was floating behind them. He was looking up at the ceiling, finding something out of the ordinary. "The aerial bombardment hasn't stopped. Why haven't they sent in the stormtroopers yet?"

"They know better than to fight us underground," Aang said. Another bomb made the ceiling collapse ahead of them, and Aang cleared away the rubble with earthbending. "This is the reason why."

Kenobi saw the earthbending, and understood the obvious applications. "That would do it."

They reached the escape tunnel and hurried through, heading due south toward Yu Dao. Resistance fighters followed them through, the firebenders first and then the earthbenders in the rear. Once the last of them were in the tunnel the earthbenders collapsed the entrance, and earthbent the rock to make it look like a natural wall. As they went along the earthbenders filled in the tunnel with more rock, at least until they were beyond the perimeter of the camp. With any luck the bombardment wouldn't expose the tunnel past that point, and they would be gone before the Empire realized what they did.

The escape tunnel ended in a thick forest north of Yu Dao, with the city just over the horizon. Aang and Kori were the first to emerge, earthbending aside a large boulder nestled between a few trees. The thick canopy concealed them from the air, but they could still hear the TIE Bombers flying overhead. They also heard the explosions from distant bombs, still raining down on the underground camp. They could imagine the big hole in the ground now, and they considered themselves fortunate to have escaped it.

Aang sat down at the base of a tree, looking up while still hearing the bombers in flight. "Looks like I got back just in time. Any longer in the spirit world and we might have been trapped in there."

"Yeah, that was close," Kori agreed. "What I want to know is, how did they figure out we were there?"

"Ground penetrating radar would do it," Kenobi answered. A lack of reaction from Kori reminded him that she couldn't hear him, so he turned to Aang. "It lets them detect underground fortifications."

"Kenobi says they got tech to see underground," Aang said. "Makes sense, they've done this kind of thing before. Nearly killed me one time when I wasn't expecting it."

"We'll have to find another way to stay hidden," Kori said. She watched the resistance fighters come out of the tunnel, fortunate that so many had made it out. "We should disperse until we figure it out."

"Yeah, no point staying together until we know our next move," Aang said. He looked at Kenobi, who was nodding in approval. "Right now we need more information."

In a private meeting room aboard Home One, Mon Mothma debriefed Luke and Katara. They told her everything that happened during their mission, from the underwater stealth to the battle and the eventual escape with the stolen ship. The only interruptions were for the sake of clarity, when Mon Mothma didn't quite understand something in particular. Otherwise Mon Mothma patiently listened to them, all while a protocol droid recorded everything. At the end of it Luke handed over the transfer drive with the Kamino server data on it, the whole point of the mission in the first place.

Mon Mothma held up the transfer drive, eager to put the data within to good use. "Excellent work. I can see why Leia picked you two for this mission. You get the job done."

"Thank you," Luke said. "Some things didn't go as planned, but we adapted and achieved our goals."

"Indeed," Mon Mothma said. She pocketed the transfer drive, and her gaze settled on Katara. "I'm a little concerned though about this ability of yours. What did you call it again?"

"Bloodbending," Katara answered, the only word that seemed appropriate. Just thinking about it sent shivers down her spine. "I didn't even know it was possible until this mission. I'm not even sure if it would work back home."

"Could anyone with your abilities do this, under the same conditions?" Mon Mothma asked.

"I guess so," Katara answered. "Well, most waterbenders forget that the body has lots of water in it. They wouldn't think of trying to bend that water. But once word gets out that it's possible, everyone would be doing it."

That was a troubling thought for Mon Mothma, considering what the Empire might do with such power. "In that case, we may need act sooner than we've planned. Skywalker, Katara, take the next transport back to Echo Base. Leia has been working on a plan to strike the Empire at Earth."

Katara's eyes lit up at that. "Really! We're finally going to do something about my home?"

"What that something is depends on Leia," Mon Mothma said. "The transport leaves in an hour. Get something to eat, and head for the transport. Don't be late."

Late in the evening the night sky was a beautiful sight, all the stars shining bright with the full moon hanging just above the horizon. Far from the lights of Yu Dao, Aang could see all the starlight without the glare of the city interfering with the view. A meadow in the forest offered a clear view of the sky, centered on the thick band of stars along the plane of the galaxy. Aang leaned back in a seat made from rock and dirt, looking up at the sky from a comfortable angle. He watched the full moon start to rise above the tree line, patiently waiting for the whole thing to come into view.

While Aang waited for the moon Kori was sound asleep, and Kenobi was standing watch beside Aang. "Are you certain she will be here?"

Aang nodded. "She told me she could tell us what's going on up there."

Sure enough, when the full moon rose into view, someone arrived. The light of the moon focused onto one spot, and Yue appeared before Aang. "Hello Aang. Good to see you made it back to your body."

Here Yue had a more spiritual appearance to it, her body made of the pale moonlight and wreathed in white mists. Aang gestured between her and Kenobi. "Yue, this is Kenobi. Kenobi, this is Yue."

"Pleased to meet you," Yue said, making a polite bow.

"It's my pleasure," Kenobi said, returning the gesture. "Aang tells me you have a unique perspective on matters in this solar system."

"I see everything in front of the full moon," Yue clarified. She turned toward Aang, having something for him to hear. "One of those big ships left a few hours ago. The other four are still there, including the biggest one. Those are still hovering over the Earth Kingdom."

"The admiral in command must think that one Star Destroyer is no longer needed," Kenobi figured. "This could be a chance to lure the Empire into a false sense of security. Let them divert resources elsewhere, and strike when they are weakest."

"If we had a way to strike those ships up there," Aang muttered.

"There's more," Yue said. "A lot of transports are going back and forth between one of those ships and Earth, bringing their men down and taking people from the cities up there. But I can't tell what they're doing with them."

"I would say they are conscripts," Kenobi said. "But here, with these abilities your people have, it is more likely they are being used for experiments."

"They want to figure out how bending works," Aang said. "Could they succeed?"

"We have no way of knowing," Kenobi admitted. "If the abilities are purely biological in nature, it would be theoretically possible. But I sense a spiritual aspect at work, something more than just the physical control of the elements. That makes recreating the abilities… complicated."

"It would be easier to convince benders to join them," Yue said. "Either way, we can't let them exploit bending for their own purposes."

"Agreed," Kenobi said. "We must strike before they can achieve that goal."

"How?" Aang asked. "We don't have anything that can reach those ships."

"You don't," Kenobi said. He started fading away. "Someone else does…"

It was difficult to find sleep in a crowded transport, sitting shoulder to shoulder with so many others, but Luke found a way to manage it and sleep during the ride back to Hoth. He dreamed of memories from the last few days, jumbled and warped and very much out of order. Various times he could have drowned threatened to turn his dreams into nightmares, yet the memory of Katara's presence kept the nightmares from manifesting. In the dream she seemed more powerful than in the waking world, subjecting an entire ocean to her beck and call.

At the best part the dream began to fade, but was not replaced by another dream. Luke found himself in a dark gray void, filled with thick mists that enveloped him. It was not a place he had ever been to, and part of his dreaming mind realized that he shouldn't be dreaming this place. The mists parted in front of him, and a shadowy figure appeared and walked towards him. Luke couldn't tell who it was at first, yet was certain that there was nothing to fear. Soon the figure walked into the light, and Luke couldn't be happier.

"Ben?" Luke questioned. "You're alive?"

Kenobi shook his head. "Luke, I do not have much time. There is a world that needs you. It is on the border between empires, a world called-"

"Earth," Luke interrupted. "I've heard of it, met a few people from there too."

Surprised, Kenobi nodded in approval. "The Empire has just sent away one of its Star Destroyers. They are not expecting an attack in space there. The locals do not have that capability, and the Empire does not suspect the rebels know of Earth's existence."

"Leia is planning something for Earth," Luke said. "We should be carrying it out soon."

"I would advise stealth for now," Kenobi said. "Once the Empire realizes you know of Earth, and its role in their plans of conquest, they will reinforce their armada in orbit. They will not allow Earth to slip free from their grasp."

"They really want those benders that badly," Luke said. He noticed an odd look in Kenobi, something troubling the old man. "Or is there something more I don't know?"

"A feeling, more like," Kenobi admitted. "The Force is strong on Earth. It flows there in a way unfamiliar to me. The light side is personified there, yet the dark side is not. I do not know what this means for the Force as a whole, just that I get a bad feeling from it."

"I'll keep that in mind," Luke promised. He felt something change, and he saw Kenobi start to fade away. "What's going on?"

Kenobi knew. "You're waking up."

Abruptly Luke was back in the crowded transport, fully awake and aware of everything around him. The transport had just landed and its doors were opening, allowing everyone inside to get up and make their way outside. Already the dreams Luke had were fading away, except for the last one that lingered on. For a moment he wondered if that had really been Kenobi, speaking to him from beyond the grave through his dreams. Regardless, Luke stood up and walked for the exit, barely noticing Katara right behind him.

"Are you okay?" Katara asked. She noticed that Luke looked tired, despite getting more sleep than she did during the trip. "You looked like you saw a ghost."

Just outside the transport was the hangar of Echo Base, and there Luke stopped and turned back toward Katara. "On your world, do you have anything that would be light personified?"

Katara stopped and had to think on that, wondering why Luke would ask such a thing. "Well if you think of light as goodness, I suppose Aang might fit. He is the Avatar. Why do you ask?"

"Just a hunch," Luke said. He resumed his walk and Katara followed into the base. "Come on. We don't want to keep Leia waiting."

"It is done."

The voice of Kenobi stirred Aang from slumber, and the first thing he saw was the old man. Aang had fallen asleep not long after Kenobi left, and now it was well past sunrise. Kori was already making a small breakfast over a fire, the last thing to do before heading out of this forest. Yue was nowhere to be found of course, the full moon being nowhere in sight during the day. Kenobi seemed to be a little more transparent than usual, barely seen in the light of the morning sun. Aang stretched his arms and legs, yawned loud enough to wake the dead, and stood up to face Kenobi.

"What exactly did you do?" Aang asked. "You were kind of vague about it last night."

"I made contact with someone in the rebel alliance," Kenobi answered. "When you meet them, ask for the name Skywalker."

Picturing someone literally walking on the sky got Aang to smile. "Sounds like my kind of guy."

"He is gifted in the Force, though still untrained in its ways," Kenobi said. "It is that gift that allows Skywalker to see me, and allows me to share information between the two of you."

"So you're our own personal interstellar courier," Aang summarized. "It's something we didn't have before, so I'll take it."

That remark got Kori's attention, and she walked over with a hot meal for Aang. "Did I hear you right? You're invisible friend can get the word out to people in space?"

"Yup, and this one in particular fights against the Empire too," Aang said. "Thanks to Kenobi, we should be able to coordinate those rebels and our rebels to do some serious damage."

"That may prove difficult in the long run," Kenobi said. "It was… taxing, to force contact. I do not know how often I will be able to do it, or what effect it may have on me if I do it too much."

"So we save it for the important stuff," Aang said.

Kenobi nodded. "That would be wise."

"Is there anything else I should know?" Aang asked.

"Skywalker was already aware of Earth and the Empire's presence here," Kenobi said. "The rebels are on their way, though he does not know how they are going to act."

That put Aang in good spirits. "That's great news!"

"What is great news?" Kori asked.

Aang turned towards her. "Help is on the way."

"You're certain of this?"

Leia was understandably skeptical of what Luke had told her, given that it could not be verified by any other available intel. Luke relayed the news he heard in a dream, something he would only admit to close friends. It still seemed very unlikely to be true, even if Luke had faith in Kenobi's words. Leia needed more than the voice of a dead man to go on, especially for a delicate mission she was preparing. She had to plan for what she knew for certain, that Death Squadron was still orbiting Earth with its full complement of Star Destroyers.

"I am certain," Luke said. "It will be easier to sneak past them now."

"Easy is relative around a Super Star Destroyer," Leia pointed out. "In any case, it's the Executor we need to worry about. One Star Destroyer being missing won't make much of a difference."

"I presume you've already got something in mind?" Luke asked.

"Of course," Leia said. "Han took scans of the planet as he left Earth. I think I've found a way to get you in undetected. It shouldn't be as difficult as what you pulled off on Kamino."

"Yeah, that wasn't exactly a picnic," Luke said. "So, who's on the mission?"

"You, Katara, Sokka, Han and Chewie," Leia answered.

"Han's back already?" Luke questioned. "I thought he had some super-secret thing to deal with?"

"He just wanted everyone to think that," Leia said. "Really, Han was just taking care of old debts. He owed a lot of people a lot of money."

"Oh, okay," Luke said. "When do we leave?"

"When Sokka and 3PO get back from their mission," Leia answered.

That improved Katara's mood even more. "He'll be happy to hear that."

"Of course he will," Leia said. "Now go get some rest. You're going to need it before you leave."

Katara nodded. "Will do."

Leia watched Katara leave the room, and now it was only her and Luke left inside. "Is there something else?"

Luke made sure that Katara was gone, and then he turned back to Leia. "I'm surprised you're sending both of them back. I figured you'd want to keep at least one waterbender around here."

"You're going to need guides on Earth," Leia said. She got up and started heading for the door. "And you're probably going to need both of them."

Another night came on Earth, but this time Aang didn't need to stay up all night for a midnight message. But while he did not need to be awake, Aang couldn't get himself to fall asleep. He couldn't stop thinking about the news Kenobi had brought him, the news that help was on its way. Unlike the other times aliens had promised good intentions, this time Aang had a feeling in his gut saying that it was legitimate. For the first time in months things were finally turning for the better, and Aang couldn't wait to see how things would play out.

Lying down with his head facing the night sky, Aang's eyes were wide open and looking at the stars. To think that searching for spirit help had brought space help instead, it got Aang wondering if the universe had a sense of irony. He still felt a little bitter about the spirits that wouldn't help him, as if they owed nothing to the physical world and the people living in it. Yet a dead man from worlds away had come to help, driven by his conscience and a desire to do good even after death. That would have to be enough, and Aang could settle for that much.

Still, that didn't make Aang feel better about the spirits, bitter over their refusal to help. "Who needs them anyway…"

Meanwhile, in a deep part of the spirit world, someone watched the happenings in the physical world. He resided in a barren waste where few spirits dared to tread, a place devoid of life in nearly all forms. The sole exception was a large tree older beyond measure, its hollow trunk and gnarled branches standing still since time immemorial. Though he remained trapped in this tree for nearly an entire age, he was aware of the world in spite of his prison. He knew that the Avatar had wanted help from spirits, and had gotten it from a different kind of spirit.

"So that's the way it will be," this ancient spirit said to himself. He gazed into another part of the physical world, centered on a warrior clad in black and fused with machinery. "Two can play at this game, Raava."