The next morning Obi-Wan convened with the rest of the Jedi Council in his cabin to meditate and deal with any issues that might have arisen among the Jedi which was their responsibility as the newly dubbed 'Alliance Jedi Council' as they had been dubbed by the entire Council before they left Tython. There was, of yet, no complaints so the meeting was surprisingly short. They were enjoying meditating in the Light that was the Alliance fleet, so different from the darkness that blanketed the rest of the galaxy, when there was a shudder and a ripple, and for a moment the darkness lifted. There had been a change, and one not in the Empire's favour. The Council roused themselves from their meditative state to hear shouts from outside and the thundering of many feet. Windu dashed to the window and, after a moment, motioned the rest of the Council over, open-mouthed.
On the main plaza below numerous Alliance personnel were rushing around prepping multiple transports for take-off to the cruiser that loomed overhead, visible only when the Jedi craned their necks back.
At that moment there was a knock on the door and an unknown Alliance soldier called through "Master Jedi, Master Jedi! The Leader requests your immediate presence in the Command Centre!"
The Council left the room and followed the Private through the teeming corridors of the base to a large room which was similarly full of officers and numerous screens. Ahsoka, Anakin, Padme and Dodonna stood around a central holotable, speaking simultaneously to a Mon Calamari and a human officer.
Some sort of tracker was following a small diplomatic ship, an Alderaanian ship, through hyperspace. On sensing their presence Anakin glanced up and then stepped away from the holotable, motioning for the Jedi to follow him. Once a step away from the conversation he turned to them and spoke in a low voice.
"I need you to prepare the Jedi for instant mobilisation quietly, but Master Kenobi and Master Windu need to remain here in Command."
The remaining Masters disappeared and Obi-Wan raised an eyebrow at Anakin.
"The Empire have been building a new weapon, one with the power to destroy planets. It has fired on Jedha already. We sent a team in to get the plans off of the installation of Scarif. They managed to retrieve them but the team perished in the process. They have been transmitted to the Tantive IV, Princess Elena's diplomatic cruiser. She should be heading home to transmit the plans to us. But we've received news that the Empire is tracking her. They know she's got the plans. We're preparing an extraction team for her and the plans, as well as prepping to destroy the Death Star."
"There's a weapon with the fire-power to destroy entire planets?" Mace demanded in a harsh undertone.
"Yes," Anakin responded distractedly, eyes on a technical readout on his datapad. "Ah!" he glanced up just as the door to High Command opened and his twins walked in, followed by their friend Captain Solo.
They walked straight up to the holotable around which their mother stood and Anakin hurried back there, motioning for the Jedi to follow them.
"Captain Solo, Commander Skywalker, Lieutenant Skywalker, Lieutenant Jade" General Dodonna began.
"Han, Luke, Leia, Mara" Padme interceded in a soft tone. "You know about Rogue One's mission?"
They nodded before Padme continued. "Unfortunately Rogue One's team have all perished, but they did manage to transmit the data. Elena intercepted it and is trying to return to Alderaan but the Empire is tracking her. In 3 hours they will be over Tatooine. We need you four to be there in order to grab the droids and plans if the Emperor tries to take them."
At this point Anakin took over. "The Falcon looks like a typical smuggler's ship from the outside, it's the engines that count. You should be able to blend in on the surface. Your mission objective is to get the plans and the droids safely to us."
"And what of Elena?" Leia questioned.
Ahsoka and Anakin exchanged weary glances. "Elena knew the risks," Ahsoka offered finally. "Her diplomatic status should protect her."
"If absolutely necessary you can mount a rescue mission, should she be captured," Padme decreed.
"Something that seems increasingly likely at this point," Dodonna muttered. On seeing the glances the others threw at him he looked startled. "What?" he defended. "It's true! They know it's the Tantive IV, a consular ship registered to Senator Organa."
"Yes," Anakin agreed. "That's why I'm sending the 3 cruisers to Alderaan. When Artoo hooks into a certain port on the Falcon we should get the plans to analyse whilst in hyperspace to take the Death Star out once we get there."
Padme considered this for a moment before nodding. "Fair enough," she allowed. "You're right, Elena is likely to be taken on board the Death Star. We'll need her off there. Get her out."
"Alright," Luke said, eyes fixed on the projections, his head cocked to one side. He seemed to consider something before flicking his eyes to his father and asking speculatively, "If we happen to blow a few things up while we're there or accidentally deactivate a bunch of really important guns or machinery would you mind?"
Anakin considered something for a moment and then smirked at his first-born. "It couldn't hurt, but Luke," this with a warning note, "you will do the Rebellion no good if you do not get yourselves and the Princess off that battle station. That is your first priority, anything else is just a side benefit."
"And try not to reveal your lightsabers," Ahsoka said thoughtfully. "We don't want too much attention, attention that we will get if the Emperor finds out there are multiple Force-trained individuals with us. That he doesn't know about us is to our advantage."
"That's why the three of us have concealed our identities for so long," Padme agreed. "Especially Ani."
"Yes," her husband confirmed. "Although we will need to reveal ourselves after we destroy the Death Star."
"Why then?" Master Windu asked.
Padme looked straight at him. "This is not just a military war Master Jedi. It is a war of propaganda."
"And what better way to follow the destruction of the biggest weapon that the galaxy has ever seen then to reveal that Anakin Skywalker was the General in charge of the assault and that it is him who was leading the Rebellion," Ahsoka stated.
Obi-Wan considered his former Padawan and grandpadawan for a moment and then nodded. "Hope will spread like wildfire," he observed placidly.
"That is our hope," Padme acknowledged. She went to move away from the table and then checked herself, turning to examine Obi-Wan very carefully. After a moment she nodded to herself and then moved away again, muttering something under her breath. That did not bode well for him.
The younger Skywalkers, Jade and Solo had disappeared out the door of Command five minutes previously and Obi-Wan joined Anakin, who was stood over a comm station. A voice echoed over the speaker.
"This is the Millennium Falcon taking off."
"You're clear, Falcon," Anakin responded officially and then after a moment, in a quieter voice, "May the Force be with you."
The comm cut out and Anakin placed the receiver down slowly, clicking it deliberately back into place. Obi-Wan rested a hand on his friend's shoulder.
Anakin tensed under his grasp and then drew his head up. "The Fleet has been summoned?" he addressed Ahsoka, slipping back into his role.
She nodded, bent over a comm station, giving orders to the Lieutenants around her.
"Alright then," Anakin said, crossing his arms over his chest. "General Dodonna. Give the order for all pilots to prepare to launch and dock with the fleet. They have half an hour to prepare. Briefing room in thirty minutes. You will brief the pilots. I will brief the Jedi. The rest of the base…" he hesitated. "Prepare for evacuation when we return."
The General nodded curtly and then moved away to a tannoy system. A moment later his voice echoed through the base, relaying the orders Anakin had just given. Ahsoka disappeared out of the door a moment later, shouting for the crew of the Ghost. There was the clattering of noise around the base and yelling coming from all quarters as the Rebellion prepared for possibly the greatest battle of their existence.
On the Millennium Falcon itself Luke Skywalker was wielding his lightsaber against seeker droids. In his book there was no such thing as too much practice. Chewbacca was playing dejarik against the computer, and winning judging by his yowls of triumph, and his sarcastic comments on Luke's fighting style. Mara was watching him, occasionally upping the difficulty of the seekers. Leia and Han were in the cockpit, or elsewhere in the ship, talking and, most likely, kissing. An air of anticipation pervaded the entire ship.
Finally after only two hours they emerged from hyperspace over Tatooine to see a diplomatic ship drop out of hyperspace from the other side, closely followed by a Star Destroyer.
"The Tantive IV" Leia identified instantly. "I sense Elena on board. She's planning something."
"Descend to the planet," Luke said over her shoulder. "Hopefully Elena will launch the plans in the escape pod soon."
Han nodded in agreement and he and Chewie directed the Falcon down to the atmosphere where they skimmed inside the very edge of it, keeping an eye on the space battle ahead, but keeping the ship obscured by the shifting clouds of Tatooine's upper atmosphere. Above the battle raged.
Finally there was a shout from Mara who had been watching out of a window and the clattering of her feet as she rushed into the cockpit.
"A pod just launched from the Tantive," she exclaimed. "Only one, there's guns tracking the pod but they're not destroying it."
"There's no lifeforms aboard," Leia reported from where she was examining one of the instruments in the cockpit.
"Alright," Han said, pushing the Falcon lower into the planet's atmosphere until they were skimming the dunes.
Ahead of them the escape pod entered the atmosphere and plunged into the sand. The Tantive IV was being towed into the hanger of the Star Destroyer and Luke eyed it with regret. There was nothing further they could do for Elena, not for a little while anyway. He was about to join the others in preparing to open the pod and regain the plans when he noticed a shuttle launching from the Destroyer.
"Guys," he called warningly. "We're going to have Imperial company. They've just launched a crew."
"Got it," Han responded, manoeuvring the Falcon swiftly towards the crashed pod. The Imperials were descending fast so Han landed the ship quickly. Mara, the twins and Artoo were already by the back ramp with the tools needed to crack open the pod and the light that indicated the open ramp flicked on the second they touched down. Han threw himself out of the cockpit tossing a "Keep the engines running," over his shoulder at his co-pilot as he dashed out of the ship.
The heat hit him as he soon as he stepped out of the regulated temperature of the ship and the light took a moment to adjust to.
Glancing round, he spotted the twins working with Artoo and the blowtorches on the door of the pod. They were making steady progress as Mara kept an eye on the descending Imperial shuttle with field-glasses. Han headed towards the pod swiftly, they had landed very close to it, which meant that the Imperials would have to land a significant distance away in order to gain any cover before attacking their group. At that moment they burned through the pod cover and Luke tossed it aside with the Force.
"Luke!" Leia hissed, horrified at her twin's casual display of Force power.
"They're landing they won't see," he shot back without glancing at her, hopping inside the pod. Mara shrugged and followed him inside. Artoo whistled and collected the blowtorches, heading back to the Falcon, tooting his complaints about the sand the whole way.
From over the dune there was the whine of a landing ramp and then the tramp of stormtrooper armour. Han slid his blaster out of his holster subtly and stepped to one side of the pod's entrance. Leia pulled her blaster as well and stepped to the other side of the pod to guard.
"Luke, Mara," Han called over his shoulder. "Hurry it up in there, we've got imps incoming."
"We've almost got the plans," Luke shouted back. "Delay them for as long as possible."
"You have three minutes," Leia called, clicking her spare blaster pack into place.
Then there was the sound of a filtered voice through a helmet. "They must be Rebels trying to retrieve the plans. Shoot for stun. Lord Tenebris demands the retrieval of the plans."
Damn, Han thought, exchanging glances with Leia. They couldn't risk Leia displaying her lightsaber, no matter how much easier it would be to deal with the stormtroopers, the hunt that would ensue if a Force-Sensitive being attacked the troopers would not be worth the ease. So Leia and Han emptied their blaster packs into the incoming stormies dropping them with precise shots that pierced the armour. Anakin Skywalker had fought alongside these troopers for years, he knew best how to kill them, and he had passed that knowledge on. They had killed two dozen but the troopers just kept coming.
The first wave had just cleared the dune without instantly being shot down when Mara slipped out of the pod, unholstering her blaster, Luke following her as he drew his blaster as well.
"We've got them," he called, even as Mara dropped to the ground and began running towards the Falcon. Luke followed, covering her back with precise blasts as Leia and Han watched their flanks.
"Get the Rebels!" came the shout behind them as an officer cleared the dune. Mara reached the Falcon and dashed aboard, headed straight for R2, no doubt, as the astromech would take the plans to transmit them straight to the base for the Alliance to begin analysis.
Luke ran up the ramp next and Han followed him. Luke went right to the gun turrets and Han went left to the cockpit, yelling for Chewbacca to prepare for take-off. Leia fired the last couple of shots and then ran aboard, slamming her palm into the ramp retractor, yelling towards the cockpit "Go! Go! Go!"
The Falcon rose swiftly from the sand and skimmed low over the dunes as the landing gear retracted. Then the ship shot vertically out of the atmosphere and spun quickly. Leia had made it to the cockpit in time for Han to bark at her to help Chewie programme the navicomputer. She just had time to fling herself into a seat and pull a headset on before he yanked on the throttle and spun the Falcon in an intricate series of loops that her father had taught him. Around them lasers lanced through space as Luke and Mara laced the pursuing Tie Fighters with fire. Explosions rocked the ship briefly before there was a shout of clear and the Falcon levelled out and sped up. Leia gave Han the nod and then he pressed down on the lever and they shot to hyperspace.
3 hours until they would reach Alderaan. Leia only hoped they weren't too late. For Alderaan or Elena.
