Chapter 58: Convergence
After catching up with his friends all day, Aang spent the evening deep in meditation.
It was something he had neglected over the last year, given his feelings of failure and wavering beliefs in spiritual matters. Now that things were finally starting to look right in the world, he owed it to himself to correct that mistake and seek balance within himself. He picked a remote spot in the Agrarian Zone to do it, where the gentle winds blew through the fields of crops that fed Ba Sing Se. His friends were there to watch over him while he meditated, just in case he ended up in the spirit world and left his body behind.
Naturally, that's exactly what happened.
Separated from his body during the thoughtless bliss, Aang found himself somewhere very different from Ba Sing Se. He was sitting atop a vast plateau, looking over an endless abyss that stretched before him. The night sky above him was filled with stars, a sight he had missed in the ever-lit cityscape of Coruscant. The full moon was in front of him, nearly large enough to fill the western horizon, bathing him in its oversized brilliance. Aang wasn't sure if that was an optical illusion or just part of the spirit world, or a combination of both.
"Is there something you want to tell me Yue?" Aang asked.
The moon's light intensified, becoming far brighter than on any night in the physical world. It focused on a spot beside Aang, and within the light a figure took shape to become real. Aang watched as the young woman appeared in the light, choosing to appear as she was in life instead of a more spiritual guise. The moon's light returned to normal, though Yue remained with a sheen of moonlight radiating from her. She sat down next to Aang, and there was a shared moment of silence as they enjoyed each other's presence.
"It's good to see you come home alive and well," Yue said. "When you were taken away by that deceitful woman, I wasn't sure if you were going to return this time."
"You weren't the only one," Aang admitted. He leaned back and looked up at the sky. "For a bit there, I thought I was going to have to die and reincarnate in order to get back here."
"Good thing you didn't do that," Yue said. "Because we need you now."
"I know," Aang said. He turned his head to look at her properly, and noticed a small scar beneath her right eye. "What happened to you? I didn't think spirits could get scars."
"Oh, this," Yue said, putting a hand up to her eye. "I saw one of the invader's ships be destroyed from within, and its remains crashed on the moon. It left a mark on the surface, and as the moon spirit, it left a mark on me as well."
"Sorry to hear that," Aang said. Still, there was more to deal with than just Yue's looks. "Okay, hit me with it. What's about to go terribly wrong?"
"I've been keeping an eye out on things I can see from the moon," Yue said. "Right now I see something big heading toward us. It's very faint, still very far away, so there's still time before it gets to Earth. And I'm getting a very bad feeling from it."
"Can you show it to me?" Aang asked.
Yue held out her hand to him. "I think so."
Aang placed his hand on hers, and he was pulled away from this spot. They dropped into the endless abyss before them, leaving the spirit world to cross over into the physical world. Instead of returning to his body Aang's spirit was brought to where Yue resided, and he found himself on the moon looking up at the Earth. Here his appearance was in various shades of blue, and he could not interact with the world around him. Yue was standing next to him, in her spiritual form with flowing white mists around her, with her gaze meeting his.
"It is that way," Yue said, pointing at a patch of sky away from Earth.
The viewpoint shifted around them, zooming in on the spot Yue pointed at. Clear focus was lost immediately, but there was something there they could see. A blurry gray disk grew larger, though at best it was only the size of a coin at arm's length. He couldn't make out exactly what it was, but it clearly wasn't a planet or a star, and it was gradually getting larger as it got closer. Aang wished he could ignore it, but knew that would not make it go away. The longer he looked at it the colder he felt, with a shiver going down his spine.
"Something very bad is on whatever that thing is," Aang said, having his suspicions as to who it might be. "And it's not something I can deal with alone."
"You have your friends, and your allies from space," Yue said. "I've been watching them too since they arrived. They've been working hard to get rid of the invaders."
"I will have to thank them for that," Aang said. "And I need to let them know about this, if they haven't already realized it's coming."
With his training underway again, Luke was focusing on his connection to the Force. He listened to instructions from Yoda, and he was testing the limits of his power. Standing in the cargo bay of Home One, Luke was moving just about everything that wasn't bolted down. From metal crates to broken down X-Wings and everything in between, if it was nearby Luke was moving it with his mind. The space above the cargo bay was a swirling mass of materials, moving past one another ever so close, yet not actually touching each other.
"Good, your control has improved," Yoda said. "You have come a long way in a short time."
"Shorter than you might think," Luke admitted. He pushed his reach farther and made a Y-Wing float upward, along with the spare parts meant to repair it. "For a while I lost my connection to the Force entirely. Still, I focused on what you taught me before, and it helped me get through that time."
"I see," Yoda said. He observed Luke's practice for a while longer, until a presence demanded their attention. "We are not alone."
Luke sensed it too, and he gently set the moving objects back on the floor. "Must be important if he's contacting us this way."
Sure enough, the ethereal blue visage of Aang appeared in the cargo bay, facing Luke but spotting Yoda as well. "Oh, good you're alo- oh hey Yoda. I wasn't expecting you to be here."
"It has been some time," Yoda said.
"Good to see you up and about," Aang said. He turned back to Luke. "At least you won't have to tell anyone why it looks like you're talking to yourself."
"Appreciated," Luke said. "So what's so important that you couldn't use the comms?"
"I didn't want to start a panic," Aang answered. "Something big is headed our way."
Yoda took a moment to reach out in the Force, and he could confirm that something was coming. "Yes, a disturbance is approaching."
"Whatever it is, it's massive," Aang said. "Like bigger than that massive ship Han somehow crashed into the moon, that freaking big."
That story seemed to be getting around faster than Luke had expected. "You're certain about that?"
"It was really far away and still seemed huge," Aang said. "You know I'm still not good with the exact numbers, but it was bigger than anything I've seen short of a small moon."
There was only one thing Luke could think of that fit the description, especially with that choice of words. "They built another Death Star, didn't they?"
"Is that as bad as I think it sounds?" Aang asked.
"It is a space station that can destroy a planet," Luke answered.
"Ah," Aang said. "So worse than I was thinking."
"Yeah, I see it…"
Leia was standing on the bridge of Home One, near the station for the long-range sensors and looking over the shoulder of the officer sitting there. She had Luke and Yoda on the internal comms, and had taken their advice to look for a threat approaching Earth. Long-range sensors had confirmed the presence of an enormous vessel in the space between systems, heading their way at a slow but steady pace. Granted, they couldn't make out exactly what it was from this distance, not without tipping off whoever was there that they had been discovered.
"Definitely big enough to be another Death Star," Leia said. She checked the records of the previous space station and compared them to the passive sensor data. "We knew they were building another one, but what is it doing all the way out here?"
By all accounts through the bothan spy network it should still be in orbit of Endor, and although the network was compromised that bit of intel made more sense than what was going on here. The new Death Star couldn't possibly be finished yet, not without bankrupting the entire Empire. The sheer amount of material and manpower put into that would have easy for the Rebellion to track and confirm the intel, and although there had been a surge in recent weeks it wasn't enough to complete such a massive station in that short a timescale.
"We're not entirely sure," Luke said. "We need more information before we do anything about it."
"I hope you have some suggestions," Leia said. "I can't send scouts out there without letting them know we're here. Or do you want to assume they know that already?"
"There's one thing we want to try," Luke said. "If it doesn't work then go ahead and gather intel the proper way. I'll let you know how it goes."
"If it fails, do what you must," Yoda advised.
"If that thing doesn't change course within the hour I'm sending scouts out anyway," Leia promised.
"Fair enough," Luke admitted, before closing the comm.
Leia turned her attention to the officers on the bridge. "Get a message out to the rest of the fleet. We need reinforcements here as quickly as they are available. And have the engineers finish patching everything that can be fixed now. Anything that needs long-term work will have to wait."
It wouldn't do to have sections of the ship taken apart for repairs when a battle began, being worse for combat than just leaving the damaged sections alone. There would be complaints amongst the crew, having to put parts of the ship back together without effecting repairs, but understood the need to mitigate weak spots in the ship as much as possible. From there they would work to getting the ship battle ready, focusing on the weapons and shields, putting whatever spare parts remained toward those systems.
Just when Leia was about to leave the bridge and assist in repair work, she heard an officer raise her voice. "Incoming transmission from Admiral Ackbar!"
"What are you waiting for?" Leia asked. "Put it through."
A hologram of the Mon Calamari admiral appeared in the bridge. "I got your message Leia. Are you absolutely certain your intel is accurate?"
"As certain as I can be without tipping them off," Leia answered. "Is your fleet in any condition to send reinforcements?"
"Currently I can spare a quarter of my forces," Ackbar promised. "Once my fleet has secured Mon Cala, I should be able to send another third of my ships your way."
"Did your battle go well?" Leia asked.
"Much of the imperial defense force had been redeployed prior to our arrival," Ackbar described. "Casualties were light, but a few of my ships took considerable damage. They are out of commission for the foreseeable future."
"I'll accept whatever you can spare," Leia said. She motioned to end the transmission. "Over and out."
Leia could only hope the Empire was having this much logistical trouble too.
Aboard the shattered wreck that was the second Death Star, Mara alternated between coordinating the workers and participating in the work.
It was a lost cause in just about every sense of the phrase, something just about every person aboard the station could agree to that. The sole exception was the Emperor, who forced many workers to continue on pain of death. He had already killed a dozen exhausted workers as examples for the rest, and with Force Lightning to display the power he wielded. People were working until they collapsed from exhaustion, and even then when they recovered they were immediately sent back to work. They tried to burden the droids with as much work as they could, but it wasn't enough to spare anyone.
More workers and droids were arriving with Star Destroyers brought to reinforce the Death Star, with all nonessential personnel being transferred to the station. The ships flew in formation to cover the most damaged sections of the station, especially the big gaping hole where it had been rammed. People were being sent over in shuttles, while various droids were simply launched into the void to make the crossing the hard way. Every Star Destroyer was quickly brought down to a skeleton crew, enough to fight a battle but not much more.
At the moment Mara was directing the latest shipment of workers from the Subjugator. "You five, ferry components to weapon port three. The rest of you, work on the conduits between reactor three and weapon ports four and five. Move it!"
The newest arrivals quickly marched to their assignments, and once they were out of sight she turned back to her own work. If there was any silver lining to this whole ordeal, it was a distraction from her personal troubles as the Emperor's halfhearted apprentice. Her lessons in the Force and Sith philosophy were put on hold, along with all the pain that went along with them. It was only a matter of time before those lessons ended permanently, and the most likely outcome was one that she wanted to put off as long as possible.
Despite everything that had happened, the Emperor still had his sights on the young Skywalker for an apprentice, even after all the chaos caused by the senior Skywalker. How he planned to bring the young man under his wing, Mara had no idea and frankly didn't want to find out. But from what she knew about the Sith there could only be two of them at any given time, a master and an apprentice. In practice that rule was rarely obeyed, with secret apprentices being trained all the time, often ordered to be executed when the true master deemed them too powerful.
Mara suppressed such thoughts and kept her focus on the here and now, turning her attention to a navigational display in the command center. "Of all the places to bring reinforcements to, it just had to be as remote as possible…"
The Death Star was coasting into the now-defunct border at the edge of the Empire, heading into the one solar system anyone bothered with out here. A call for reinforcements had been put out across imperial space, but the distance was causing delays in getting them here before Vader's fleet would catch up. So far only the remains of the fleet from Endor had arrived, and only because that world was relatively close and could be instantly abandoned. Yet there was one place of similar status, yet so far there were no reinforcements from Earth.
"What is taking them so long?!" Mara demanded, facing the officers in the command center. "The Earth occupation fleet should have been here hours ago. Someone get a fix on their position."
It took a moment for the officers to search for the identification beacons that should be broadcasting, only for them to get frustrated quickly. "Ma'am… they're not where they should be."
Mara stood behind the officer and looked over the sensor readout. "That doesn't make any sense. Why would that entire fleet just leave?"
"Could they have been summoned to Coruscant?" the officer asked.
"Not every ship was recalled," Mara answered. She walked over to a comms station and put on a headset. "Send a transmission to Earth, highest encryption. There's got to be someone down there that can give us answers."
"Okay, I'm ready to give this a shot."
Aang was still in his spirit form aboard Home One, having followed Luke and Yoda to the hangar for their little experiment. They had discussed it during the walk, with odd looks from crewmen that noticed two people talking to a third they could not see. The hangar doors were open as shuttles and fighters moved in and out, allowing a view of space with only the atmospheric force fields keeping the void at bay. Luke and Yoda stood in one corner of the hangar, opposite of where they sensed the approaching threat in the stars above them.
"Either we succeed, or we do not," Yoda said.
"Time to find out which way this goes," Luke said.
Though his spirit form didn't need to breath, Aang still took in a deep breath. "Do it."
Luke and Yoda each held a hand toward Aang, focusing on the Force to transcend the divide between the physical and the spiritual. Aang was lifted off his feet, letting it happen despite the strange tingle that rippled through his being. He turned around, facing the direction he needed to go, and then nodded to the others. They thrust their other hands forward, and Aang was thrust into the void of space at great speed. There was no wind rushing past him, which felt all kinds of wrong, and once he couldn't see the ship or the Earth it was difficult to tell if he was even moving at all.
But Aang could tell distance, vaguely at least, by how it felt like he was on a rubber band being stretched farther and farther. And he saw other planets passing by, first the ringed gas giant before one of its lesser blue siblings. It was farther than he ever thought possible to go in the physical world this way, and he tried to avoid worrying about it might do to the connection between his spirit and his body. Aang kept his mind on where he was going, that little gray speck that wasn't another star. Eventually that speck grew into something larger, and he willed himself to slow down and take in the view.
Bigger than any spaceship he had ever seen, this space station was clearly intended to be a near perfect sphere. But it was incomplete, and what had been finished was heavily damaged. Most of the lower half was missing, as well as a portion of the upper half, and there was a hole that reached halfway to the core. But the eye was drawn to the shallow disk embedded in the sphere, the only part that didn't appear damaged. And there was the part Aang could not see, the dark presence that permeated this space station, and the lesser presence that he recognized.
"Mara…"
Aang let himself be drawn into the ship, following the presence of the woman he once thought might be an ally. It brought him into the station's command center, where Mara was frantically giving orders to anyone and everyone. That was the only reason she didn't spot him immediately, she was simply too busy to notice. Of course, hiding behind other bodies didn't hurt, which Aang did to keep out of Mara's view as much as possible. Just because she could see his spirit form didn't mean he appeared through others, walls and bodies and such could still conceal him from her.
"Finally, some progress," Mara muttered, before getting on the comm. "Master, the primary weapon port is back online. It can handle single-reactor ignition, enough to destroy a Star Destroyer in one shot and cripple a Super Star Destroyer."
The voice of the Emperor came through the comms. "Make sure it can fire multiple times. We cannot allow it to burn out after a single shot."
"It will be done," Mara said. She waited until the Emperor ended the transmission before letting out a deep sigh. "Will nothing ever satisfy him...?"
Aang took that as his time to leave, before either Mara or the Emperor would sense his presence. The stretched rubber band suddenly snapped back, with Aang being flung through the void even faster than when he came. The planets whipped by, the Sun returned to its proper size, and the rebel fleet appeared with Earth. But then he went straight past Home One, despite wanting to stop there and tell Luke and Yoda what he found. Instead he fell straight into the atmosphere, and slammed straight into his physical body.
Gasping for air as physical sensations abruptly returned to him, Aang's vision was a little hazy as he leaned forward. "Okay… never going that far again…"
It was the middle of the night now, and his friends were still here watching over his body, though it was Sokka's shift to stay awake. "What took you so long?"
"Sorry, one thing led to another and another," Aang answered. He groaned as he stood up, muscles aching from being still too long, and waited for his vision to clear before taking any steps. "We've got trouble inbound. Do you have one of those communicator things the rebels use? I need to let them know what I saw out there."
"You're certain they were talking about targeting Star Destroyers?"
Leia was in a meeting room near the bridge of Home One, with Luke and Yoda in there with her. They were being briefed by Aang over the radio, since that was currently easier than another spirit walk. The description provided was a match for the Death Star, albeit one that wasn't complete. However, the severe damage Aang described was confusing at best, since no portion of the rebel fleet had gone to Endor. Someone else had attacked the incomplete Death Star, and it certainly led credence to the rumors of who was fighting the Empire.
"Yeah, and the larger version too," Aang said, his voice crackling through the transmission. "You guys don't use them, so either someone stole imperial ships or they're just comparing to what they know."
"It has to be Vader," Luke said. "He's the only one that could commandeer an imperial fleet, let alone attack the Emperor with it."
"Rumors of his betrayal have intensified with the attack on Coruscant," Leia said. She had a summary of those rumors on a pad and shared them with Luke and Yoda. "I'm certain there is some truth to them."
"Yes, that would match what we have sensed in the Force," Yoda said. "Two strong in the dark side, the apprentice turning on the master, seeking to take his place. Should Vader succeed, he will be an even greater threat than the Emperor."
"As long as both are still alive and fighting each other, it helps us defeat them both," Luke said.
"Unless they set aside their differences to fight us instead," Leia said.
"That is still a possibility, should we strike at the wrong moment," Yoda admitted. "We will need to be careful. When one Sith battles another, there is always chaos."
"Just let us know when the fighting starts," Aang requested. "Sure, there's not much we can do for you guys in space, but my gut's telling me this will end up on the ground, again."
"We'll keep you informed," Leia promised. "Over and out."
From there they discussed various battle plans, for all the different scenarios that might await them. Whether or not the Death Star would be sufficiently repaired, the number of Star Destroyers accompanying the station, the presence and size of Vader's fleet, and so on. There were options for Leia's fleet, only limited by the amount of time to get the ships in position, and they discussed where the ships should be when the Death Star arrived. Putting the fleet behind either Earth or its large moon, or splitting between the two locations, was agreed to be the best options for buying time.
However, their discussions were interrupted by a call from the bridge, which Leia answered. "Report."
"Ma'am, we've detected several new contacts on the long-range scanners. It looks like an imperial fleet just came out of hyperspace near this system's primary gas giant."
"Is it near the Death Star?" Leia asked.
"No Ma'am, that station is still beyond the smaller ice giants."
"That's too far apart for a rendezvous," Luke noted. He checked the positions of those planets and the sensor data being sent from the bridge. "If I'm not mistaken, it looks like they were trying to hide their arrival behind that planet."
"And not from us," Leia said. She looked at Yoda, who had his eyes closed and appeared to be deep in thought. "Do you think it's him?"
"Yes," Yoda said. His eyes opened and he looked at Luke and Leia. "Vader is here."
Having transferred his fleet's command structure to one of two remaining Super Star Destroyers in his possession, Vader resumed his pursuit of the Emperor across the galaxy.
Now Vader stood on the bridge of the Reaper, the ship that had led the fleet's retreat from Endor in the absence of the Vengeance. It had survived this long with little damage to speak of, though many of the Star Destroyers with it were not so fortunate. The other Super Star Destroyer at his command, the Arbitrator, had taken some damage to its starboard hull, to the point where there were holes in its shield coverage. That ship had a few Star Destroyers assigned to cover its flank, while the rest of Vader's fleet kept formation behind the Reaper.
This ship had been in the personal service of Grand Moff Kaine, a middle-aged man disillusioned with the Emperor's rule. He had been sent to fight the Rebellion when he wanted to wield political power instead, and he had taken his dashed ambitions as a personal insult. Kaine had been all too eager to throw in his lot with Vader, certain that if this coup succeeded it would put him in a position of real power. Granted, going up against an incomplete Death Star had not been a part of the bargain, but it was too late now to change his mind.
"My Lord, we've entered the border system next to the largest planet," Kaine reported, walking over to stand behind Vader. "It should conceal us from the Death Star for a few hours."
"Gather the fleet here, and deploy the probe droids," Vader ordered. "Determine the status of the Death Star and the strength of its support fleet."
Time was needed to get the rest of his fleet here, given that many ships had needed to stop for field repairs between Endor and here. Vader imagined that the Emperor was in a similar situation, needing to wait for reinforcements from that system and elsewhere. He didn't want to wait too long, since time was something the Emperor needed far more than he did. The Death Star and its support fleet were moving into the system, crossing the orbit of the outermost planet, its current course taking it toward the imperial facilities on Earth.
However, when Vader turned his attention to Earth, he felt something familiar. There was a presence he hadn't felt since leaving that rock, and so it seemed that his long lost son had not been able to escape that planet. But there was someone else he sensed, someone he hadn't seen or heard from since the end of the Clone Wars. Vader thought he had been thorough with hunting down survivors of the Jedi purge, with his former master being the sole exception he knew about. Apparently he hadn't done a good enough job, if the ancient Jedi Master being alive was any indication.
"Yoda…" Vader muttered, barely above a whisper. "What brings you here?"
It was something to investigate later, after his vengeance was complete. Vader had every intention of ending this in space, no matter how many ships would have to be destroyed to do it. He turned his attention back to the sensor feed from the probe droids, which had cleared the gas giant and were scanning the Death Star from afar. More ships had joined the station, though that fleet was at only a third of the strength the Emperor commanded at Endor. Still, there were three Super Star Destroyers to Vader's two, and with their respective power in the Force he figured the battle could go either way.
Fortunately, the probe droids detected a third party, which Kaine brought to Vader's attention. "My Lord, the imperial occupation fleet around Earth appears to have been destroyed by rebels. They have a small fleet in orbit, and it is likely they have detected us."
"Yes, I suppose they would have by now," Vader said, noting that the positions of the planets would not hide them from ships around Earth. "Change of plans. Let the Death Star cross the orbit of this planet, then take us in behind it."
"Pin the station between us and the rebels," Kaine surmised. "As you wish, sir."
Vader turned his attention back to the Death Star. "Your move, Sidious."
Unlike everyone else aboard the station, Emperor Palpatine allowed himself a moment of rest.
Even a master of the Dark Side of the Force had limits, something that had become abundantly clear over the last few days. He would never admit that of course, having portrayed a visage of unlimited power to his underlings. And he wasn't showing it now, having retired to his personal quarters with no one knowing he was there, including the royal guards that usually accompanied him for public appearances. Palpatine needed to be at full strength when the next battle began, certain that he would be fighting his former apprentice again.
At least the Death Star could fire something now, even if it was only at a fraction of its full destructive power. That was the milestone Palpatine set for himself before getting any rest, and the work could continue without him. Even in sleep he was strong in the Force, and in his dreams he still commanded the workers to go beyond their limits, even if it led to their deaths. But also in his dreams there were memories from long ago, in particular a fight he had at the dawn of his Empire. The wrinkled green fool of a Jedi was on his mind, the only one of his kind he knew had escaped the purge.
When Palpatine awoke from a few hours of sleep, he realized the memories were a premonition. "Yoda has returned, after all this time…"
That was not the only threat Palpatine sensed, once he took in the full extent of the Force around him. Skywalker was with him, mixed with all the strange sensations that made Earth unique. And then there was Vader, just as powerful as ever, lurking in this system and biding his time. This wasn't the convergence of Force-wielders he had foreseen, premature and beyond his control, the outcome far from certain. And the source of the interference to his plans lay ahead of him, the seemingly insignificant planet where Vader had increased his power in the Force.
It would be the perfect place to demonstrate the Death Star's power to the galaxy.
Going to the station's command center immediately after his nap, Palpatine frightened into silence everyone he passed along the way. When he arrived he found a bustle of activity, with all the officers hard at work managing the station and all the personnel aboard. They doubled their efforts upon his arrival, since his rare presence in direct command usually meant he'd be leaving bodies behind. The only person that wasn't completely terrified was his temporary apprentice, who turned around and got on one knee when he approached.
Palpatine did not let her linger in that pose. "You sense them as well."
Mara nodded. "It seems like everyone is here."
"Yes, perhaps all of my enemies can be disposed of in one fell swoop," Palpatine said.
"That will not be easy," Mara said. She stood up and gestured to the sensor reading coming from Earth. "The occupation fleet isn't coming to reinforce us. The rebels attacked and destroyed half the fleet before the rest retreated. Between this and the other rebel attacks elsewhere, it is the largest military operation they have ever attempted."
"They are desperate and exploiting a perceived weakness," Palpatine surmised. "They only have this much success because of Vader's betrayal."
"What do you want to do about them?" Mara asked.
Palpatine brought up the visual record of Earth, eying the planet and its large moon, thinking about all the trouble that had come from this backwater rock. "I grow weary of this world's continued existence. Once Vader is dead, turn the weapon on Earth."
"So let me get this straight…" Sokka said, before taking a deep breath.
"We've got an enormous space station coming our way, supposedly powerful enough to destroy planets, carrying people that use Luke's Force powers. Not only that, Darth Vader is here, he wants to fight the other Force guys, and both will shoot at the rebels just as quickly as they would each other. And here we are, caught in the middle again, in way over our heads."
Sokka got that off his chest shortly after Aang relayed what was going on up in space, telling all of his friends what they were dealing with. There was a general sense of agreement amongst the group, with Katara and Toph nodding in regards to the last part. Suki and Kori hadn't wanted to believe the part about the planet destroying space station, having difficulty just to comprehend it. Aang hadn't even tried to interrupt Sokka, since every bit of it was true. Sometimes he just needed to vent, and best to get it out now.
"Did I miss anything?" Sokka asked.
"No, that's about it," Aang answered.
"So what are we going to do?" Toph asked. "I for one don't want to just sit around here doing nothing while the space battles decide who takes over our home."
"Seconded," Kori said. "We didn't fight so hard to kick out the imperials just to let them come right back a week later."
In the light of the morning sun Kori waved a hand across the landscape of the Agrarian Zone, where everyone could see farmers getting to work reclaiming their land. It seemed like life was finally getting back to normal, albeit with people using the high tech tools the imperials left behind. They were going to need those tools to repair much of the fields before planting the crops, given the number of craters from fallen wreckage that needed to be cleared and tilled. Yet despite reclaiming the city and the planet for the people of Earth, it could be all too easy to lose it all again.
"I'm open to suggestions," Aang said. He looked to Sokka. "I don't suppose you have any ideas?"
"Well what could we possibly offer to help?" Sokka questioned. "Earthbending and airbending don't work in space, so what could we do with water and fire?"
"We'd have to get aboard that station to do anything," Katara said. "I don't see that happening."
"Unless the rebels organize a stealth mission," Suki said.
"Not very likely," Sokka admitted. "I mean, if Aang's right about there being Force users like Luke aboard that station, they're going to detect anyone that doesn't belong there. And Leia knows that."
"They would have spotted me if my spirit stayed any longer," Aang said.
"Then I guess all we can do is hold down the fort here," Suki said. "Stay out of the rebels' way so they can focus on the imperials."
"If only it were ever that easy," Katara grumbled.
"Yeah, Sugarqueen's right about that," Toph said. "There's no way we're staying out of this fight, even if we try to avoid it. So we'd better prepare for all the possible ways we could be drawn into it."
Aang nodded. "Then let's get to work."