Chapter 33: Rough Times

On a speeder bike loaned from Fixer, Luke left Tosche Station and sped down the road to Mos Eisley. It reminded him of the last time he travelled to that spaceport, when he had a mentor and two droids with him in that old rustbucket of his. It seemed like somebody else's life, far simpler than the life he was living now. Still, Luke made sure to stop at the same ridge Kenobi had them stop back then, just to see the spaceport from afar to understand the scope and scale of the place. Luke drove up to that spot and parked the bike, taking a moment to see how Mos Eisley had changed.

For one, it had grown to twice the size it had been before, with an urban sprawl spilling out into the desert. There were ships coming and going all over the place, far more than there had been before. People and goods were moving in and out of the spaceport, both by ships and by land, lubricating a growing economy in what used to be a hive of scum and villainy. To the untrained eye it actually looked quite respectable now, a place where people could thrive without fear of being gunned down in the streets, by criminals and imperials alike.

Of course, appearances are often deceiving.

Luke saw that for himself when he drove into Mos Eisley, getting to see the place up close. The streets were filled with people busily going about their day, all trying to make the most of new opportunities, but making sure not to step out of line. On every corner were armed men and women standing guard, watching everyone passing through their part of the spaceport, a constant reminder of who was in charge around here. Luke kept his head down, avoided unnecessary attention, and made his way deeper into the spaceport.

He almost made it to the first landing area when the street was cut off by barricades, and Luke had to park the bike and pay someone to look after it. From there he walked through crowded sidewalks, slipping through unnoticed into the busiest part of the spaceport. He peeked into the first of many landing areas, seeing people working to unload a cargo ship before loading new cargo, and plenty of coin being passed to speed things along. It was certainly a good time to be a dockworker, and he could see officials attempting to persuade workers to switch companies with increasing pay.

Several city blocks further in, Luke was stopped by a pair of muscular men guarding entrance to a narrow street. "Identification please."

Luke made eye contact, focused on a little trick he had learned, and subtly waved a hand from one man to the other. "You don't need to see my identification."

One man looked to the other. "We don't need to see his identification."

Luke waved his hand again. "I am free to go about my business."

This time the other man nodded. "Go about your business."

"Move along," Luke said.

"Move along," the first man repeated.

The men stepped aside and let Luke through, completely unaware of what he did to them. Even now, when Luke knew how to do it, it still amazed him how the Force could influence the weak minded. It got him into a more militarized district of Mos Eisley, everyone here carrying some kind of weapon, like they were part of someone's personal army. Many of them did look at Luke, assumed he must have been invited to get through the checkpoint, and did not bother him further. Luke found his way to the seat of power here, stopping near the entrance to get a feel for the place.

It used to be the largest of the landing areas, now converted into an impressive fortress. The upper levels looked over the rest of Mos Eisley, tall spires in the corners filled with sentries, their presence keeping order in what was a lawless place. There were massive turrets on the spires, some aimed up, some aimed down, prepared for threats from every direction. Guards stood at the entrance to the fortress, wearing armor reminiscent of stormtroopers but painted dark red, with a splash of blue in the shape of a burning flame.

"She's been busy," Luke commented. The guards were eyeing him, and only that while he kept his distance. But then he noticed someone approaching the guards, someone he recognized. "Windy!"

Hearing his name, the young man turned toward the voice he thought he would never hear again. "Luke? Is that you?"

They met right in front of the guards, and Luke shook Windy's hand, looking into the smooth face framed by short black hair. "I was hoping I would run into you."

"You come back from the dead, and I'm the one you want to find?" Windy questioned. He laughed and shook Luke's hand. "It's good to see you. Where have you been all this time?"

"Off world," Luke answered. "I came back as soon as I could."

"You big liar," Windy said. He lightly punched Luke's shoulder. "Still, good to have you back."

Luke nodded. "We've got a lot to talk about."

Talking was really all anyone could do in Cloud City for a while.

Steadily descending deeper and deeper into the gas giant Bespin, the city maintained minimal power output to avoid detection from space. No one was allowed to use vehicles or operate heavy machinery of any kind, and all wireless communication was silenced. Sensors based in the city were shut down completely, and most off world sensors ceased communicating with the city. Anything that could reveal the presence of a city here was deactivated, and it would stay that way for as long as the imperial scouts remained in the system.

Finding ways to pass the time proved surprisingly difficult, the stress of wondering if the imperials would find them making it hard to concentrate. They tried to make do with various games and gambling, but no one was in a playful mood sitting in darkness. Even the most basic of physical pleasures weren't satisfying or distracting enough, the mind always turning back to the threat over their heads. The fear of discovery and subsequent attack was driving people mad one by one, all wishing that it would be over right now.

Standing outside the command center, feeling heavy under the weight of increasing atmospheric pressure, Aang felt the need to do something. "I'm going up there."

Having followed him out here, Han wanted this foolish endeavor to actually be productive. "Hang on a second. Take this up there with you."

He handed over a set of high tech binoculars, complete with a recorder, and Aang accepted it. "I won't be up there very long."

With the binoculars in one hand and his staff in the other, Aang was ready to leap into the sky and fly into the heavens. He unfolded his staff into his glider, crouched while summoning the wind, and shot upward with the force of a hurricane. Swirling winds knocked Han off his feet and threw him into a wall, and he looked up just in time to see Aang disappear into dark clouds. Even Aang was surprised by his newfound speed, the wind pushing him along faster than ever before, his glider barely able to handle the stress of so much air pressure beneath the wood and fabric.

Flying straight up Aang passed through the thick clouds of Bespin, still amazed that he could breathe on a world like this, told that it was a rare feature on gas giants. Flying through these clouds was certainly different, instead of getting soaked by water vapor he hit a strong stink instead, a sign of the gas mined by the city. The stink vanished at the top of the cloud, and Aang emerged into a clear evening sky. He kept going higher anyway, far above the normal altitude Cloud City would be, wondering just how far he could push extra powerful airbending.

The reddish-orange sky of Bespin started to fade to black when it became difficult to breath, approaching the edge of the planet's immense atmosphere. Aang collected the nearby air and made it condense around him, forming a bubble of comfortable air pressure, where he could hover at the apex of his ascent. There he could look through the binoculars and see all the way into space, getting a clear view up to high orbit. It did not take long for him to spot something moving, and he adjusted the focus to magnify what he saw.

"Uh Oh…" Aang muttered, not liking what he saw. "That's not going away."

In perfect view was a Star Destroyer, just now settling into low orbit around Bespin, all alone in this remote part of space. It was approaching this part of the planet, and it would be overhead within the hour. Aang dispersed his pocket of air and let himself fall, diving headfirst through the atmosphere, picking up considerable speed from gravity's pull alone. He folded up his glider and held his staff close to his chest, summoning the wind to increase his speed, accelerating without destroying the glider in the process.

Aang dived through the clouds and made his way back down to Cloud City's current altitude, somewhat lower than when he left, and a few miles east of him. Reversing the wind slowed him down to a safe speed, allowing him to unfold his glider without destroying it, and change course to head for the city. It took a couple minutes for him to get back there, and a few moments to find his way back to the building with the command center. His arrival was announced with a massive gale of wind, blowing people off their feet, scattering them away from his landing.

Folding up his glider, Aang saw everyone on their backs. "Whoops. Sorry about that."

First to get up was Katara, having come outside with Lando and Chewbacca, and being the only one here prepared for airbending. "Never mind that. Did you see anything up there?"

"Yeah, I did," Aang answered. He saw Han get up again, more than a little annoyed about being knocked over twice. "There's a Star Destroyer up there. I only saw one, but it's getting closer."

"Which means there's probably more on the way," Han said. He dusted off his clothes and helped Lando get up. "Are you prepared for when they find us?"

"If you mean fight them off, no," Lando admitted. He opened the door to let them all get inside. "This is a smuggler haven not a battle station. We could barely hold off a squadron of TIE Fighters let alone a Star Destroyer."

Katara was close behind the men as they entered the building. "You must have something planned."

"Yeah, what I always to when I'm dealt a bad hand," Lando said. The door closed after everyone was inside, and the lights in the halls came on. "Bluff."

Inside the fortress within the spaceport, Luke got to see the new power structure at work. Sure he had seen the reports about the new crime boss on Tatooine, but it was another thing to actually see it. Military style command and protocol had been implemented here, stark contrast to the informal style preferred by the Hutts. Formal uniforms were everywhere, the people wearing them moving about with great purpose, hard at work managing a growing criminal enterprise. Everyone took a glance at Luke and Windy as they walked through the halls, wondering why he had brought someone new here.

In the most secure part of the place was a large office, and inside Luke saw the new boss herself. "You must be the Azula I've heard so much about."

Now just short of seventeen, Azula had grown quite a bit since leaving Earth. Now standing just under Luke's height, she stood with all the regal grace of a crowned monarch. It wasn't the throne she wanted all her life, but one of her own making. The armor she preferred had become ill-fitting now, and so she had integrated it into something tailored for her. It looked like a simple red and black suit, just thicker around the upper torso and with shoulder pads. Unlike everyone else in this fortress she wasn't armed, for she didn't need a weapon here.

Azula looked him in the eye, studying him and finally having a face to put to a name. "About time we got to meet, Skywalker. I'm told you are quite the celebrity in the rebel alliance."

Windy looked back and forth between Luke and Azula. "Wait… you're with the rebels?"

"I was going to tell you," Luke said. "I just needed the right way to say it."

"Could you leave us be," Azula insised.

There was no refusing what Azula wanted, and Windy made a respectful salute. "Yes Ma'am."

Luke watched him leave and close the door behind him, and then he turned back toward Azula. "I really appreciate you letting me come in to see you."

"Anything for a close partner," Azula said. She held up her hand and examined her fingernails. "Now what can I do for the rebels? I presume there is something you need my people to get for you."

"Actually, I'm here for my own reasons," Luke said. He noticed a slight twinge of surprise. "A friend of mine needs help over at Tosche Station. One of the Hutts is moving in on that place."

"Tosche Station," Azula muttered. She took a look at several papers on her desk, stopping when she found the right one. "Right, that power station out in the middle of nowhere. I was going to let that Hutt have it for now, I've got other territory to claim. I'd rather not spread my forces too thin over something I don't really need."

"Then consider it a favor to me," Luke said. He didn't dare use the Force on her, suspecting that the trick would not work on someone like her, and not willing to breach her trust on something like this. "You can be sure that I will repay it."

"I would rather not wait to call in a favor," Azula said. She looked over the paper in closer detail, calculating alternative scenarios for dealing with the situation. "If this station is really that important to you, I'll provide the men if you lead the charge."

"You know, that's reasonable," Luke said. He crossed his arms and smiled. "I'll do it."

Cloud City stopped its descent into Bespin, starting its ascent back up to its normal altitude.

The Star Destroyer parked in low orbit directly above the city, clearly knowing where it was despite the thick cloud cover. TIE Fighters were flying into the atmosphere, escorting several shuttles on their way down. Knowing that they had been detected, Lando ordered all systems be brought back online. He tried to make it seem like this was part of normal operations, even if it was patently obvious they had been trying to hide from the Empire. It was going to be difficult to BS his way out of this, Lando was certain of that.

The Millennium Falcon was in the air, fully refueled and somewhat repaired, flying around the edge of the city and going underneath it. Chewbacca was in the cockpit flying the ship, expertly keeping it just barely beneath the base of the city. With any luck it would be hidden within the city's shadow, its emissions mixed with those of the city, virtually indistinguishable to sensors. Of course it wouldn't fool anyone looking at the city from below, but hopefully no one would think to fly that low. Chewbacca was the only one Han trusted to pull it off, hence why it was only the wookie inside the Falcon.

Everyone else remained in the command center, waiting for the arrival of the imperial shuttles. Lando was giving orders left and right, making accommodations for whoever would be on the shuttles. Han was watching everything he did, offering advice when he had something to say, and otherwise letting Lando handle this. Aang and Katara simply watched and kept their mouths shut, not having anything meaningful to say, hoping that it would be over quickly. That did not seem to be the case, given Lando's frantic and worried movements.

"Here they come," Lando said, seeing a visual of the shuttles on a monitor. "It's time to send out the welcoming committee."

Lando and his administrative staff left the command center, heading out to one of the landing pads outside, the same one the Falcon had used. Three imperial shuttles came in for a landing, touching down just as the building's doors opened. Each shuttle had a dozen stormtroopers inside, all of them marching out and into a circle formation around the shuttles, guarding them from every direction. Imperial officers came out next, eyes forward and focused on Lando and his group, meeting at the edge of the landing pad.

"Welcome," Lando said. He put his hands together and smiled. "I'm amazed you decided to come all the way out here just for our humble mining facility. How may we service the Empire?"

Behind the officers was Admiral Ozzel, already displeased at being assigned to this errand by the Grand Admiral, and not in the mood for pleasantries. "Come now Administrator, you know full well why I'm here. Turn over the rebels you are harboring and we can go back to pretending your little operation doesn't exist."

"Now why would I harboring those scum?" Lando asked.

"Don't play coy with me," Ozzel ordered. He crossed his arms and glared at Lando. "The rebel base was your next door neighbor, and you didn't make arrangements with them? I think not. They are here, and we will find them whether or not you comply. If you do not comply we will shut you down right now."

"When you put it that way…" Lando said. He turned around and led the imperials across the bridge. "Right this way."

When Luke finally returned to Tosche Station, the place had become a warzone.

A force of semi-organized thugs had come to claim it, threatening the use of force if the inhabitants did not submit, and made good on their threat. Violence broke out from the northern side, and it quickly spread through every part of the station. Every building was fought for with their lives, the defenders forcing the thugs to pay dearly for every single one. Blaster bolts were flying everywhere, thermal detonators going off all over the place, and many screams blended into one another. Neither side relented the slightest bit, and bodies fell by the score.

To make matters even worse, the noise had drawn the attention of tusken raiders. Allured by the possibility of an easy raid, the sand people swooped in while both sides of the fight were busy, ambushing them and indiscriminately killing everyone they could reach. Their angle of attack put the brunt of the casualties on the thugs' side, killing two of them for every defender, and losing plenty of their own in the process. Bodies were falling everywhere in Tosche Station, and the massacre was only just beginning.

Firing a blaster from behind his home, Fixer didn't see a way out of this. But then he heard engines on approach, this time from behind his position. "What now?"

That was the moment Luke returned, riding the speeder bike Fixer had loaned him, accompanied by several dozen other vehicles loaded with soldiers. They drove straight into Tosche Station and opened fire, targeting the tusken raiders first, easiest to pick out amidst the chaos. While shooting them Luke's forces identified the thugs and starting shooting them too, taking care not to shoot at the defenders of the station. Luke jumped off the bike, did a flip in the air, turning on his lightsaber as he came down in the middle of the thugs, slicing them apart in a mere moment.

Putting new skills with the lightsaber to work, Luke slaughtered his way through thugs and tusken raiders alike. Blaster bolts were reflected off the lightsaber blade, sent where Luke needed them to go, surprising enemies just before they died. Every swing of the lightsaber either cut down someone or deflected a blaster bolt, either way slaying an enemy. All around Luke bodies fell, and more were struck down by the soldiers brought with him. They took back the station faster than it had been lost, quickly turning the tide.

The tusken raiders fled from the station, realizing the seemingly easy raid had been a fool's errand, leaving with all the men they still had. The thugs remained and tried to continue the fight, under orders to not surrender or retreat, for the Hutt would kill them anyway for failure. Once the raiders were gone Luke and the soldiers finished off the thugs, wiping them out to the last man. They made sure there weren't any thugs just pretending to be dead, and once the all clear signal was given everyone put away their weapons.

Luke shut off his lightsaber and put it away, then turned around to face what was left of Tosche Station. "Is anyone still alive here?"

Sure enough, Fixer came out from his cover, surprised by what he had just witnessed. "Luke… what was all of that?"

He glanced down at his lightsaber, and Luke walked over to Fixer. "I've been through a lot since I left. I'll tell you all about it when we've cleaned up here."

The soldiers returned to their vehicles and started unloading them, hauling crates of medical supplies into the station. They sifted through all the bodies to find survivors, treated the wounds they had to the best of their ability, making sure that they would continue to live. They also brought some extra food and repair kits, to help the people in better shape get back on their feet. Then there was the task of clearing away the dead, with the bodies of the defenders identified and set aside, the thugs and raiders thrown into a pit for a mass grave.

Back in the bar, which now had a large hole in the wall, Luke tossed Fixer the keys to the speeder bike. "I'm sorry it took so long. I really thought I would be back sooner this time."

"At least you came through," Fixer said. While it was a relief, he was still concerned about what he had seen. "Where did you learn to fight like that?"

"It's a long story," Luke said. He looked through the hole in the wall, saw the soldiers at work getting this place back up and running, figuring that he had plenty of time. "You may want to sit down…"

It was tricky business hiding Han and the others during an imperial search.

Lando permitted the imperials full access to the city, and more transports delivered additional stormtroopers for the task. They systematically searched every building from top to bottom, going through every level and checking every room, using every trick they had for finding hiding places. Hundreds of stormtroopers coordinated by dozens of officers thoroughly searched Cloud City, commandeering the resources and facilities here, using Lando's own security systems to speed up the process.

None of the usual smuggler holes were going to hold up, not for the entire search anyway. Lando's men had Han and the others move from one spot to another, keeping ahead of the searching stormtroopers. Care was taken to avoid the security cameras and motion sensors, as Lando's men knew exactly where they were positioned. Once enough of the city had been searched they were led through one of many secret paths, bringing them back to the sections already searched, hoping that the stormtroopers wouldn't check it twice.

In one of many small rooms, Han waited for the next time they would need to move. "We can't do this forever. When they don't find us they will just search the whole thing again. And if that doesn't work they can just shoot down this entire city."

There's got to be something we can do," Katara said. She was leaning her back again a wall, looking at one of the doors out of here. "If hiding isn't going to work, we've got to try something else."

"It would help if we could do something else," Han said. "In case you haven't noticed, we don't have anything we can use. Not against a Star Destroyer."

Sitting in a chair right now, Aang raised his head up. "Actually, yes we do. At least, if I understand things right, it just might work."

Han shrugged and took a few steps toward Aang. "What do you have in mind?"

The idea was a crazy one, but it was the only one they had. Lando's men escorted them out of the room and through another secret path, avoiding stormtroopers searching the area again, making their way up to the top of the building. They exited through a rooftop access, coming out into the winds that blew over Cloud City. From there they could see some of the shuttles on the landing pads, as well as all the TIE Fighters swarming around the place. And high above the city was the Star Destroyer, hovering there in the upper atmosphere.

"Be careful up there," Katara said.

"Try not to get shot," Han said.

Aang nodded to them, his staff in hand. "I'll try."

He unfolded his glider and leapt into the air on the wind, summoning a gale that slammed into Han and Katara while lifting Aang upward. They had braced themselves and didn't get knocked over this time, and they got to see Aang disappear in heavens. Aang flew straight up into the sky of Bespin again, seeing the Star Destroyer grow bigger and bigger, feeling like a small speck underneath it. He flew through clouds wherever he could, staying out of sight as much as possible, putting up with the stink until he reached the proper altitude.

Parked at the halfway point between Cloud City and open space, the Star Destroyer had its ventral thrusters on a low but constant burn to maintain position. Aang stopped near the main engines, folded up his glider and spun his staff around, summoning the wind around himself. A cyclone formed underneath the Star Destroyer, disrupting the thruster burn, and creating a suction pulling on the massive ship. The rear end of the ship fell into the cyclone, tipping the entire ship backward, knocking everyone inside off their feet and hurling them toward the rear end of the ship.

Bridge crew recovered quickly and responded to the sudden turbulence, igniting the main engines to counter the downward pull and ascend instead. Aang saw the burn and discovered a potential vulnerability, if what he understood about this planet was correct. He flew over to the nearest large cloud, used airbending to compress the strange gas inside, and hurled the denser cloud at the Star Destroyer. It struck the engines and ignited, exploding into a massive inferno, burning into every exposed part of the engines.

Heat and flames scorched the engines and inflicted considerable damage, forcing the engines to shut down and avoid further damage. Thrusters burned even harder to compensate, yet the Star Destroyer continued to fall with the rear end first. Aang flew around the ship to get above it, and he landed on the top of the ship's command tower. There he could see the front end pointing up into the sky, taking in the full scale of what he was trying to do. He folded up his glider again, focused on the power within, bringing it out for his greatest feat of airbending yet.

Aang's eyes and tattoos glowed bright blue, the power of the Avatar State flowing through him. Combined with the power boost to airbending here, Aang twirled his staff to summon the force of a hurricane. Massive winds battered the Star Destroyer on all sides, pushing against the hull in a counterclockwise motion, spinning the ship round and round faster and faster. The higher winds came together in a twister above the Star Destroyer, came down on the command tower, slamming hard enough to tip the ship over most of the way.

Flying away from the ship, its front end now pointed straight up, Aang moved to a better position. Above the Star Destroyer now, he stung his staff down, hurling the wind into the bottom hull. That large blow tipped the ship all the way over, making down become up and up become down inside, flipping the crew over to fall on the ceiling. The ventral thrusters were still burning, and now they sent the ship down instead of up, and the Star Destroyer fell from the sky. During the fall it drifted away from Cloud City, just barely missing the edge of the flying city, falling into the clouds of Bespin.

Exiting the Avatar State, Aang watched the Star Destroyer fall. "There it goes…"

Thrusters at full burn to in a twisting direction, the Star Destroyer tried to flip back over. It was halfway over when it plunged into thick clouds, vanishing into the brown abyss, before the thrusters ignited the cloud and it burst into flames. The entire cloud burned in just a few seconds, scorched every surface of the Star Destroyer, and destroyed the thrusters entirely. The blackened husk of a Star Destroyer fell even further, disappearing into the next cloud layer below, plunging into the depths of Bespin to be crushed by increasing atmospheric pressure.

A minute later Aang landed in the city, right next to Han and Katara staring at where they saw the Star Destroyer fall. "Who else is surprised that actually worked?"

It had been good to catch up with a friend at Tosche Station, but it was time to leave again.

Luke had told Fixer everything that happened, including the part about him joining the rebel alliance. He didn't agree with it, but understood it nevertheless. Luke couldn't stay here, not after everything, but could at least say goodbye this time. Once everything was stable in Tosche Station, under the protection of Azula's growing organization, Luke made his goodbye and left the place for good. They weren't going to get back the friendship they used to have, not when Luke had to walk a different path in life.

Back at his X-Wing, Luke climbed into the cockpit and strapped himself in. "Anything fun happen R2?"

The droid made a few beeps.

"Thought so," Luke said. "Well, no news is good news. Let's get out of here and get back to the fleet."

A longer series of beeps and whistles came from the droid.

"We'll be fine," Luke reassured. "There are plenty of rendezvous points to try. We'll find the right one sooner or later."