Chapter 26: Exodus

In the space around Coruscant, a fleet of Star Destroyers took shape yet again.

Now that rebel activity across the galaxy had ended, with a few exceptions in isolated systems, the majority of the Empire's resources could be redeployed elsewhere. Death Squadron was brought back together again, its two vacant spots up for grabs between four temporary members, and nearly ready to head out. Their destination would be Earth again, their mission to drive out the rebels that had taken the planet and its unique resources. All they needed was the order to depart, but that would have to wait for the arrival of Darth Vader.

Looking out at space from the bridge of the Executor, Grand Admiral Thrawn stood with his hands behind his back. His gaze moved from one ship to another, surveying the forces at his command. He heard the bridge crew hard at work, including those that were trying to look busy while someone was watching. Thrawn did nothing to dissuade those particular officers, understanding the boredom of waiting and wanting more important things to do. It was one thing to patiently wait for events to play out, but it was another to waste time waiting for someone he didn't need to arrive.

A customized TIE Fighter finally emerged from hyperspace, and Thrawn watched it approach the Executor. "Prepare the hangar for Darth Vader's arrival."

While that order was being carried out, Thrawn continued to wait on the bridge. He watched the hangar doors open and the TIE Fighter enter, and his view was over when the hangar doors closed. It took another ten minutes for Darth Vader to move from the hangar to the bridge, one of many drawbacks to Super Star Destroyers in Thrawn's opinion, and when Vader finally arrived Thrawn turned around to watch him enter. Everyone on the bridge silenced themselves as Darth Vader passed, and for a moment the only sound was Vader's automated breathing.

Darth Vader took a spot beside Thrawn, and both looked out into space. "I'm sure you have waited longer than you wanted. It is time the fleet departed."

Thawn nodded, and turned his head towards an officer. "Take us out."

The order was relayed throughout the fleet, and it was quickly carried out. Every ship aligned on the same vector, and one by one they made the jump to hyperspace. Last to leave was the Executor, with Vader and Thrawn sharing the view of the stars changing to the blue void. It would take some time to complete this journey, even with the state of the art hyperdrives each Star Destroyer possessed. Vader and Thrawn turned away from the windows and walked through the bridge, looking at the bridge crew working at stations in the lower level.

"Was it really necessary for you to come to us?" Thrawn asked. They stopped and Vader looked him in the eye. "Your ship came all the way from Earth. We could have rendezvous there."

"I would prefer to lead this attack personally," Vader said. "The rebels do not know all the secrets hidden on Earth. We have the time to make sure we do this right."

Thrawn nodded, appreciating this small bit of patience Vader demonstrated from time to time. "Very well. If you insist, we will do this your way."

After a trip that felt way too long, Luke brought the airspeeder in for a landing in Gaoling. There was a suitable spot near the edge of the city, not far from the large ships that landed here. A few rebels Luke knew were waiting there, ready to take the airspeeder off his hands now that he didn't need it anymore, none questioning where he had gone with it. After landing Luke got out and walked away from the airspeeder, heading straight for the largest of the ships nearby. He ignored everything and everyone he saw along the way, and he reached the ship in just a few minutes.

Inside he went straight to a meeting room, where he found Leia with Aang and Katara, both of whom had gotten here just ahead of him and took seats around a table. "Good, you're all here. We need to talk."

"What happened?" Leia demanded.

"Something took Sokka away," Luke answered, the memory of it still vivid in his mind. He took a seat and looked at everyone else in turn. "I don't what exactly, these weird shadow snake things, but they took him away and I don't know where."

"Spirits," Aang said. He pinched the bridge of his nose, his irritation obvious to everyone. "Why did it have to be spirits?"

Leia turned toward him. "I take it you're familiar with this sort of thing?"

"Unfortunately," Aang answered. "There was only one time when spirits actually did something helpful, and it took the moon dying to make that happen."

"Do I want to know the story behind that?" Luke asked.

"Maybe later," Katara said. She put her arm on the table and looked at Aang. "Why would they take Sokka this time?"

"This time?" Leia questioned.

"Another long story," Aang said. He thought about the last time, when the spirit Hei Bai was abducting people in his forest. "I don't think it is like that. I mean, last time the spirit was mad over his home being destroyed. Nothing's happened to the South Pole recently, well nothing that I am aware of."

Katara turned back toward Luke. "Did Sokka mention anything out of the ordinary when you got there?"

"He didn't know what ordinary would be like there," Luke said. "This was his first time visiting the Everstorm. He had no idea what to expect there."

"Wait, did you say Everstorm?" Aang asked. He saw Luke nod. "The monks told me that it's been raging for centuries. It's apparently older than all of human history."

"Did they say anything about a glowing blue orb at the center?" Luke asked.

"No," Aang said. "But it does sound vaguely familiar, though I'm not sure why."

"Maybe the spirits were protecting it?" Katara guessed.

"That would be my best guess," Aang said. "Still, it doesn't help us any. Sokka's still gone, and we have no idea how to get him back this time."

"And I'm afraid we have bigger issues," Leia said. "Our spies in the Empire are reporting a big fleet deployment. The Empire is on its way back here, and we need to be gone before they arrive. We can't stay to deal with a problem none of us have any idea how to solve."

Aang slammed his fist on the table, suppressed the need to curse in frustration, and realized that there was no changing that particular fact. "How much time do we have?"

"A day at most," Leia answered. "And I want to be gone by half a day. For all we know the Empire could be redlining their engines to get here faster than we expect them."

"Yeah, bad picture, we get it," Katara said. Reminded of that, she wondered about something else. "How many people did you get on your ships? And how many more can you get up there in time?"

"About two thousand already, we could probably get another five hundred before we leave," Leia answered. She didn't like the low numbers, but it was difficult to get the word out quickly in a preindustrial society. "I wish we could do better, but there isn't enough time."

"There never is," Aang grumbled.

"Okay, time for you to go."

Han was in a better mood than usual, no small thanks to the lovely lady he had invited aboard. After their little bit of fun Han had gone back to work on the Falcon, having a much better time dealing with issues than he had been earlier today. Course, he had left June in his quarters earlier, and she had taken her time in coming out. Having no further reason to keep her on the ship, Han wanted her gone as soon as possible. It wouldn't do to have her roaming the ship while he was trying to get some work done, especially when he might have to leave at a moment's notice.

"So that's it then?" June asked. Her hair was messier and her outfit considerably looser, and she walked through the ship on slightly wavering legs. "Bring me in, we have fun, and kick me out."

"Pretty much," Han bluntly answered. He was checking a display on a wall, surprised to find not one red alarm symbol anywhere. "Off you go now."

June walked away from him, and Han got back to work. For once everything seemed to be in order, nothing in need of immediate repair or replacement. That had Han worried that there would be some catastrophic failure at the worst possible time, like the hyperdrive not working during a frantic escape attempt. Yet when he checked that part it was working just fine, along with every other crucial part of the ship. Han checked the time, figured there was enough to work on less vital things, and so he went to the passenger rooms to get something from there.

And when he got there, he wasn't surprised by what he found. "I told you to leave."

June was lying on one of the beds, trying to make sense of the language one of Chewbacca's books was written in. "I know."

"Do I really need to get Chewy down here?" Han asked. "He's not too fond of people messing with his stuff. He's been known to rip their arms out."

June put the book back where she had found it, got up, and she stood in front of Han. "Alright, I'm going."

This time Han walked with June through the ship, just to be sure she would leave. However, on the way they heard a beeping sound, and Han went into the cockpit to answer an incoming transmission. "Yeah, what is it?"

Leia's voice came through the transmission. "Finish what you're doing. Start loading up passengers. We're heading out by the end of the day."

"Got it," Han said. He ended the transmission and looked at June. "Just… clean up in here. It's going to get real crowded real quick."

"What happened to getting rid of me?" June asked.

Han ignored that and went to another part of the ship, as close as he could get to where Chewbacca was working. "Chewy, we're heading out soon. Put that thing back together and get down here."

A loud roar was Chewbacca's answer.

"I know, I know," Han said. "We're only taking them to orbit and that's it. They're her highness's problem from there on out."

A slightly quieter roar came from Chewbacca.

"I'll keep them away from your stuff," Han promised. He turned away and walked through the ship again, this time heading for the entrance ramp, and halfway down he stopped and stared at what he saw outside. "Huh…"

There was a massive crowd in front of the Falcon, and it was growing with every passing minute. Easily a few hundred people were here, of all shapes and sizes, all willing to leave this world and start a new life somewhere else. In the distance Han saw similar crowds around the other ships nearby, many of which were filling to capacity and about to take off. Han's gaze moved through the crowd in front of him, from the lone individuals to large families and everything in between. For a moment Han just stood there, and all eyes in the crowd were on him.

"That's a lot of people," Han muttered. He cleared his throat and raised his voice. "Okay, listen up. I only have room for a seventy people, a hundred if you're packed in like sardines. So whole families first, and stick together once your inside. The Millennium Falcon is taking off once it's full."

Han walked back up the ramp, and the first families came aboard. They were also the first to see Chewbacca, and a roar from him announced his presence to everyone outside.

"Don't scare them off," Han said. He watched more people enter the ship, and then he went into the cockpit to start the engines. "Let's get this over with."

Having little reason to remain on Earth anymore, Luke had boarded the first transport back to Home One. It was the ship he preferred to stay on among the fleet, as he knew much of the crew and was on good terms with most of them. Luke was warmly greeted by the crew in the hangar, and he said hello to most of them as he passed through. From there he returned to a room granted to him during his visits, small and sparse but sufficient for his needs. It was the closest thing he had to a home now, having no real place to call his own.

Once inside the room Luke locked the door, wanting to be alone for a while without interruption. He sat on the floor in the middle of the room, legs crossed and hands together while his eyes were closed. He spent some time trying to clear his head, yet was having trouble with that simple task. His thoughts kept going back to what happened on the planet, all the various ways he had failed, the guilt ever present in his mind. Luke wanted to correct his mistake somehow, but he still had no idea how to do that.

In response to Luke's inner turmoil, the ghostly form of Kenobi appeared before him. "I see you are troubled."

"That's obvious," Luke said. He opened his eyes and looked at Kenobi sitting there. "If there's anything you know about this, I'm all ears."

Kenobi closed his eyes, thought long and hard about the matter, and then looked Luke in the eye. "Go to the Dagobah system. There you will find Yoda, the Jedi Master who instructed me. Learn from him, and he may have the answers you need."

"Are you sure?" Luke asked.

"Yes," Kenobi said. "If anyone can help, it will be Yoda."

Luke saw Kenobi fade away, and he was left alone again. Luke stood up and walked to a control panel on a wall, and he pressed a button to contact someone in this ship's hangar. "Lieutenant, its Skywalker, has Katara come aboard yet?"

The lieutenant took a moment to check the transport logs. "No sir, she has not arrived yet."

"Okay, good, could you send a message for me," Luke asked. He got a confirmation, and Luke continued. "Tell Katara to bring Aang along with her. I want to speak with them as soon as possible."

"Will do sir," the lieutenant said.

Luke cut the signal, and he returned to his spot on the floor. Back to the cross-legged position, Luke focused and waited. "Okay… Dagobah… it better be worthwhile."

It was time to go.

Aang didn't want to admit it, but that was the simple truth of the matter. The ships around Gaoling were taking off one by one, each bringing a full load of people up to the fleet in orbit. Although he didn't want to leave Earth behind, Aang knew it was the best course of action. The last half a year had proven the futility of fighting the Empire without help from the stars, and the only way to keep that help would be to leave with it. But Aang wanted to stay for as long as he could, and so he had scheduled a departure on the last ship that would leave Earth.

At the moment Aang was standing on the tallest building in Gaoling, where he had the best view of the lands outside the city, stretching from horizon to horizon in every direction. He took all the time he wanted with the view, wanting to keep it in his mind forever and ever. He also got to see the ships lifting off and heading into the sky, disappearing in the distance to the edge of space. Footsteps interrupted Aang's enjoyment of the view, and he turned to see Katara walking onto the rooftop. Aang turned back to the view, and Katara stood beside him.

"Sorry to interrupt," Katara said. "I just got a message from Luke. Apparently he wants to see you as soon as possible."

"Figures," Aang said. He sighed and looked Katara in the eye, wondering what this was about. "So where is he?"

"In space already," Katara answered, not liking what that meant for them. "That means we need to leave on the next ship."

"Of course," Aang grumbled. He picked up his staff and unfolded the glider. "Want one last flight, for old time's sake?"

Katara smiled. "Sure."

Each with one arm around the other's shoulders, and the other arm holding onto the glider, they leapt off the building. Katara screamed at first, an unavoidable habit, but the screams quickly morphed into laughs. Aang summoned the wind and they soared into the air, flying above the city and getting a bird's eye view. For fun's sake they took the scenic route, diving down to a mere thirty feet off the ground, weaving back and forth in between the taller buildings. People below them heard the laughs and looked up, most envious of the fun they were having.

Enjoying the sensation of flying through the air, Katara didn't want it to stop. Aang lifted them higher into the air again, as high as he could go with just the glider an airbending, though not as high as a sky bison could go. They saw the last of the buildings pass by underneath them, followed by the low wall that surrounded the city. Up ahead were the rebel ships, and Aang took Katara over them first, circling around while looking down while people were boarding. The rebels heard the joyful laughter from above and gave strange looks, which Aang and Katara completely ignored.

But the trip had to end sometime, despite them wanting to make last forever. They landed in front of one of the smaller ships, which they would take up into space. Katara's arms were tired after the flight, out of practice from not doing this with Aang in a long time, but it was worthwhile. Aang's smile couldn't be brighter, and he saw the same kind of smile on Katara. He folded his glider back into his staff and held it at his side, and with Katara on his other side they walked towards the ship, taking their time along the way.

"This is the next one to leave, right?" Aang asked.

Katara nodded. "Let's get on."

While there was a line of people waiting to board, Aang and Katara got to skip to the front and enter before everyone else. Once inside they quickly found seats next to a window, Aang sitting between it and Katara. They had to wait a little while for the ship to fill up with passengers, but soon enough the ship was full and the entrance was closed. Then the engines roared to life and the ship took off, and most of the passengers were nervous and having second thoughts about leaving. Those with window seats got to see the ground fall away, and most were able to enjoy the sight.

Aang in particular reveled in it, soon getting to see the world from even higher than a sky bison could fly. "This doesn't seem so bad."

"Wait for it," Katara warned, speaking from experience. "This next part hits some people harder than others."

That soon became apparent when the blue sky started shifting to black, where the air was thinning on the way to the edge of space. Earthbenders amongst the passengers began to feel sick, like something deep inside was being torn out of them. Plastic bags had been distributed before the flight, and most of the earthbenders quickly made use of them. Aang managed to keep his stomach down, but to Katara he looked even worse than the earthbenders. Eyes closed, one arm wrapped around his belly, Aang endured the pain as well he could.

"Yeah, this is not fun," Aang complained.

Katara looked back and forth between Aang and the earthbenders, and a thought crossed her mind. "Hey Aang, try to airbend in here."

"Okay," Aang said. He held out one hand and flexed his fingers, and his eyes went wide when nothing happened. "What the…"

"That's what I thought," Katara said, feeling bad that she was right. "It looks like airbending doesn't work in space either."

"Not enough air in this little ship," Aang said. "Also, the air feels… caged. There's no natural wind in here. Sure, it seems like fresh air, but it's like stale air to me."

"Are you going to be okay?" Katara asked.

"I think so," Aang said. He took in a deep breath, and it helped him feel better. "Water and fire still work up here, right?"

"Until we go into hyperspace," Katara answered. "I recommend getting as much sleep as you can before then. I find it helps make it more tolerable."

"I'll try that," Aang said. "Thanks for the advice."

When her ship took off, Leia barely noticed.

She was too busy dealing with reports from the fleet in orbit, as well as reports from across the rebellion's spy network. In addition to Death Squadron being on its way here, other Star Destroyers were attacking systems the Empire suspected of harboring rebel forces, eliminating several rendezvous points Leia had in mind for the fleet here. Already she had to pick a new system three times now, and the backup locations were less than ideal for a quick exit. Fortunately it didn't seem like any Star Destroyers were heading for Hoth, and so their secret base was safe for the moment.

Leia pressed a button to contact the ship's bridge. "Commander, pick up the pace. The sooner we get into hyperspace, the better."

"Acknowledged," the commander replied. "We should be ready for departure within the hour."

"Good," Leia said. "Let me know when we're about to make the jump."

"Yes ma'am," the commander replied.

"Over and out," Leia said. She looked at a monitor and pressed another button, making it display the view outside of the ship. "Okay, that looks like everyone."

She watched the other ships flying alongside this one, knowing each and every one of them. Some were passing her on their way into space, having better acceleration than this ship. That didn't matter to Leia in the slightest, well aware of the limitations of this particular ship. She even saw the Millennium Falcon out there, moving more sluggish than normal, no doubt due to being filled to capacity and then some. Leia imagined Han being frustrated with the situation, no doubt cursing her name over the matter, and the thought had her smiling.

Leia watched the view of the sky gradually change from blue to black, the atmosphere becoming thinner with increasing altitude. The ship reached the edge of space and flew into the void, leaving the planet behind. Most of the other ships got there first, and the view allowed her to see them flying into formation in orbit. One by one the smallest ships flew into the hangars of the larger ships waiting for them, Home One in particular receiving the most passengers. Then Leia turned her attention back to her work, at least until her ship would dock with Home One.

A beeping noise alerted her to an incoming transmission, and Leia pressed a button to answer the call. "Yes."

"Hey Leia, its Luke. I know its short notice, but I need to borrow an X-Wing for a while."

"What for?" Leia asked. "Where are you going this time?"

"I need to go to the Dagobah system," Luke answered.

"The what system?" Leia asked, not recognizing that name.

"Please, just trust me on this," Luke insisted. "I need to go to Dagobah if I'm going to straighten this mess out."

"Fine," Leia grumbled. "Just don't lose anyone else this time."

"I promise I will try," Luke said.

The transmission ended before Leia could say anymore, and she grumbled a complaint to herself. "Luke… you better know what you're doing."

"Come on R2, get in there."

Standing in the hangar of the ship he was in, Luke had brought the little astromech droid along, despite its protests. For some reason he couldn't fathom R2-D2 didn't want to get in the X-Wing, even when Luke had asked nicely. Sure it wasn't the usual X-Wing they would fly together, but Luke didn't consider that a good reason to avoid it. R2-D2 beeped his complaints, but eventually conceded to Luke's request. The droid was lifted up and over the X-Wing by an automated machine, gently placed into the slot for the droid behind the X-Wing's cockpit.

By then Luke recognized two people walking towards him, happy to see them here. "Katara, Aang, glad you could come by."

Having come to terms with double space sickness, Aang was feeling fine when he walked up to Luke. "So why did you need us to come up so quickly?"

"Yeah, what's going on?" Katara asked.

"I got a lead on where we can learn about the supernatural," Luke answered. "There's someone waiting in the Dagobah system. Aang, I was wondering if you might want to come with me."

"Really?" Aang questioned. "Are you sure that's a good idea? Last time you ran off with someone, Sokka didn't come back."

"I know," Luke said. "And that was my fault. I should have known better and left things alone. So I have to make things right. If Kenobi is right about this Yoda person, then I have to go to him. If you don't want to come along, I understand."

Aang nodded. "Okay then, I'm going with you."

"Really?" Katara questioned. She looked Aang in the eye. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah," Aang said. He turned back to Luke. "I have a good feeling about this one. "I'm not sure why, but it's there. I want to see where it leads."

"Okay then," Luke said. He grabbed a ladder on the side of the X-Wing and started climbing. "We're just about ready to go."

Luke reached the top of the ladder, opened the X-Wing's cockpit hatch, and he dropped down into the seat. He heard Aang climb up after him, and then saw Aang looking down into the cockpit, staff still in hand. Luke adjusted the seat forward as far as it would go, making enough room for Aang to get into another seat behind him. The cockpit hatch was closed, Luke fired up the engines, and Aang felt the vibrations through his seat. Meanwhile the hangar doors were opened, with special force fields keeping the air inside, and everyone in the hangar got out of the way.

"Here we go," Luke said, his hand on the throttle. "Hold onto something."

The X-Wing lifted off the floor, and then shot forward into space. Aang laughed with exhilaration, enjoying the thrill of fast flight. At a safe distance away the X-Wing turned back towards the bigger ship, turning to fly in the same direction as the entire fleet. The fleet was making one last pass over the Earth Kingdom, getting around the planet one more time. Soon the ships were facing a specific patch of stars, where the Hoth system lay many hundreds of light-years away. The X-Wing faced a slightly different direction, and it stayed behind the rest of the fleet.

"Check this out," Luke said. He tilted the X-Wing a bit, giving Aang a better view of the fleet. "Should be leaving any second now…"

One by one the ships lunged forward, disappearing in the blink of an eye. Here one second, gone the next, Aang couldn't fathom the speeds involved. In under a minute the entire fleet made the jump to hyperspace, leaving just the X-Wing still in Earth's orbit. Luke adjusted the X-Wing's vector again, put the coordinates of Dagobah into the navigation computer, and engaged the hyperdrive. Aang felt his body pushing into his seat, saw the stars turn into streaks and then be replaced by a blue void, and felt his stomach sink farther than he could imagine.

"Oh man…" Aang grumbled, looking down and wrapping one arm around his stomach. "That is not good."

"Are you okay back there?" Luke asked.

"No," Aang answered. The other arm wrapped around his gut, but did little to deal with losing two more elements. "This is, by far, the worst."

His vision was already darkening around the edges, and Aang leaned forward to rest his head on the back of Luke's seat. He felt completely empty inside, as if everything had been ripped out and replaced with a bottomless void. But then something emerged from deeper within, a source of power disconnected from the world outside his body. Aang's eyes and tattoos glowed bright blue with that power, and the glow filled the entire cockpit with its light. The Avatar State filled the void in Aang's gut, and yet there was none of the usual destruction around it.

Luke turned his head to look back, seeing Aang hold his head up and letting him see the glowing eyes. "Is that something you do all the time?"

The glow left Aang, and he was feeling as good as normal. "Yeah, I do that when I need a power up. I don't think it's helping my bending right now, but it made me feel a lot better."

"What exactly is it?" Luke asked.

"The Avatar State," Aang answered. "Just another part of being the Avatar, I can do that whenever I want to, and when my life is in danger."

"Good to know," Luke said. "So how exactly does it work?"

"I'm not exactly sure how to phrase it," Aang said. "It would probably take a lot of time to get the whole thing right."

"This is going to be a long trip," Luke said. He looked at the controls and checked the time to destination. "I think you have the time to tell it."