Chapter 79

Captain Darius Crazell marched about on the bridge of his ship, the Star Destroyer Accuser. Everything was going as planned. The blockade was effectively smothering Alderaan, preventing both communication and transportation to and from the planet surface.

So far there had been no resistance whatsoever from the occupied Alderaan people. They were, however, known to be a peace loving people, and possessed little in the way of weaponry. Pacifists, Crazell thought derisively. No wonder the emperor holds this planet in such contempt.

The emperor had given very little in the way of direction with regards to this blockade. All they had been told was they were to jam all communications, destroy any vessel that tried to leave the surface, and wait for further orders. So far it had been easy, and, if truth be told, rather boring. Crazell found himself wishing for a little more to do. He could only inspect the men under his command so many times. They were as bored as he was, and had the time to make sure they were doing their job well.

"Sir, we have a message coming in from the Engager," announced the communications officer.

"Oh?" Crazell said, pleased for the distraction. "What is it?"

The officer listened to the earpiece in his ear, a frown forming on his face. He looked up at his commander. "Sir, he says that there are a large number of Rebel ships entering the system!"

Crazell's eyes widened in surprise. "What?" he exclaimed.

The comm. officer nodded. "Yes," he said, continuing to listen. "At least twenty ships, sir. The Engager is asking for our help, sir."

Crazell's frown deepened upon hearing this. He didn't know what to do: the emperor had made it clear that the blockade was to continue until he decided to call it off. But the Engager was alone on the edge of the system with a veritable armada bearing down on them; surely that changed things. Surely they needed help.

"Hail the Intrepid," he said at last. "I need to speak with Captain Norvall."

"Yes sir!"
Crazell clasped his hands behind his back nervously, suddenly wishing for the boredom of an uneventful day once again.

Luke found himself excited at the prospect of the approaching battle. Not that it would be much of a battle, he reasoned. No doubt they would not be able to divert all four of the destroyers from Alderaan; they were hoping for two, three if they were really lucky. But even three destroyers against twenty two Rebel ships would not be much of a contest.

"Commander Skywalker!"
Luke turned to the communication officer. "What is it?"

"Sir, we have enemy ships heading our way," the young woman replied with a smile. "They took the bait."

Luke smiled. "Fantastic," he said. He looked over at his sister.

"Told you he was a genius," she said with a smile.

Luke nodded. "Yeah, he sure is," he agreed. He turned back to the comm. officer. "Contact my father on the Executor. Tell him the trap has been set."

"At once, sir."

Padmé watched as her husband paced up and down the length of the Executor's enormous bridge. The tension was thick as everyone waited. Anakin glanced over at his wife, knowing that she was as edgy as he was.

It was with great trepidation that Anakin had sent Luke and Leia to coordinate the Rebel attack. Cognitively he knew that they were both more than capable of rising to the challenge; in fact they thrived on it. But in his heart he was still a father, and he worried about his two precious children. Having spent a lifetime apart from them, he found it difficult not to be over protective where his family was concerned. Even though Luke and Leia were adults now, he knew that no matter how old they were, he would always feel as though he needed to protect them.

"Lord Vader, a message from your daughter," the communication officer announced.

"Put her on," Anakin said, moving over to the comm. station where he was joined by Padmé.

"Leia!" Anakin said, relieved to see his daughter's face appear on the screen. "What's going on?"

"We've picked up two destroyers on the long range sensors," Leia reported. "So the plan worked."

"Excellent," Anakin replied with a smile. "Think you can handle them?"

Leia smiled. "Yes, I think we're okay," she said. "What about you? It will be two against one."

Anakin lifted an eyebrow. "Not exactly," he said. "They won't know what hit them, believe me."

"I'm sure," Leia replied. "Good luck, Dad."

"Thanks Leia," Anakin replied. "You too. May the Force be with you."

Anakin looked at his wife, knowing that she was as worried as he was about their children.

"They'll be fine," Anakin told her. "They are experienced leaders."

Padmé nodded. "I know," she said softly. "That doesn't mean I'm not going to worry."

Anakin smiled and stood up. "I know exactly how you feel," he said, bending down to kiss her cheek. "I'm going to brief the pilots. Coming?"

Padmé stood up. "Yes," she said. "I need to be sure you and Han don't get into an argument," she added with a smile.

Anakin laughed. "That won't happen," he said. "Not this time at least. With Luke gone I need him to lead the squadron."

"And he'll do a great job," Padmé replied. "Almost as great as you," she added.

Anakin smiled and took her hand. He brought it up to his mouth and kissed it. "Let's go," he said as they made for the exit. "Piett you have the bridge!" he called over his shoulder.

"Yes sir!"

"General Kenobi, we have enemy ships in sector 342," the tactical officer of the Reliant informed Obi-Wan.

Obi-Wan nodded his understanding. "Raise the shields," he said. He looked over at Yoda. "Here we go again," he quipped.

It wasn't long before the two star destroyers joined the Engager on the edge of the Alderaan System. When they arrived, the hapless ship was already under heavy fire from the Rebel fleet and was in distress. Joining in the fighting, the Accuser and the Intrepid were alarmed by the large number of Rebel ships and the efficiency of their attack. Whoever had organized this strike was obviously well versed in Imperial protocol, as well as a strategic genius. They knew exactly how to split up the blockade, effectively dividing the imperial forces. It had worked exactly as planned.

Meanwhile, on board the Executor, everyone waited anxiously to hear from the Rebel fleet. Once phase one of the strike had been accomplished, phase two would commence. The squadron of TIE fighter pilots, lead by Han Solo was already in their ships when the simple message came from the bridge: stand by.

Making a hyper jump that took the Executor from the edge of the system to within striking distance of the remainder of the blockade; the Executor emerged within visual range of the two remaining Imperial ships.

"Sir! The Executor!" shouted one excited young officer when the mighty vessel appeared seemingly from no where.

The commander of the vessel, Captain Needa, breathed a sigh of relief. He had been uneasy since the Accuser and the Intrepid had left orbit, leaving his ship, the Avenger and the Striker alone. Now that the flag ship of the fleet had arrived, Needa could breathe easier, knowing that the Rebels wouldn't stand a chance against the Empire's mightiest vessel.

"Hail the Executor," Needa said.

"Right away sir."

"Lord Vader, the Avenger is hailing us."

Anakin folded his arms over his chest. "Ignore it," he said. He activated his comm. link. "Solo do you read me?"

"Loud and clear."

"It's time. Launch the attack."

"My pleasure, sir."

Captain Needa was puzzled by the Executor's silence, and was starting to get an uneasy feeling about the entire situation when an astonishing sight unfolded before his eyes. On the screen before him, he saw what he was certain was the entire compliment of TIE fighters flooding out of the Executor.

"What are they doing?" he muttered. "The Rebels aren't here, they're…." he stopped as the cold realization of what as happening hit him.

"Raise the shields! Raise the shields!" he shouted, but not before the first wave of TIE fighters was able to deliver a volley of laser fire upon the two destroyers. Both ships sustained significant damage before they were able to raise their shields.

"Sir, shields are only at thirty percent!" the weapons officer announced in alarm.

Needa wasn't surprised by this; whoever was behind this daring and treasonous attack obviously knew exactly where to target the attack.

"Ready our own fighters," Needa said at last. "We'll have to fight them ship to ship."

"Yes sir!"

Needa knew that they were badly outnumbered even with two ships' compliment of TIE's against the enormous forces of the Executor; but he was desperate at this point. "Do your best to target as many of those fighters as you can," he added. "Fire when ready."

"But sir, how are we to tell their ships from our own?" the weapons officer asked.

Oh no, we can't… "Belay that order," Needa said, starting to perspire under the tremendous pressure he was suddenly under. Damn you Crazell for leaving us like this! he thought angrily. "Try hailing the Executor again," he ordered. "Ask them for their terms of surrender."

The officers and men on the bridge were shocked by their commander's order. No star destroyer had ever surrendered, it was simply unheard of. But then again, no star destroyer had ever been attacked by another. Needa was at a loss to understand what was happening, but didn't have time to consider it.

"Sir, the Avenger is hailing us again."

Anakin did not reply, his eyes focused on the dog fights in front of him. Solo had impressed him with his skills both as a leader and a pilot. Seems we do have something in common after all.

"Time to end this," he said. "Train primary weapons on the Intrepid," he said. "Maximum fire power."

"Yes Lord Vader."

Anakin turned away from the screen to look at his wife. "Fire," he said.

Padmé could see that the actions he was forced to take were troubling to him. As Darth Vader he would not have thought twice about blowing an entire ship from the stars; Anakin Skywalker however had a conscious, and the deaths of so many men weighed heavily upon that conscious.

"Sir, the Avenger is signaling their surrender."

Anakin turned around, surprised by this news. "Surrender?" he asked. His eyes went to Piett's, whose face bore the same expression of shock as his own.

"They're on self destruct mode," Piett said.

"Bring them down," Anakin said. "Maximum fire power, widest possible spread."

"At once sir!"

All eyes watched anxiously as the enormous fire power of the Executor was unleashed upon the Avenger. Everyone knew what would happen should the vessel self destruct: it would become an enormous bomb capable of taking out half of the planet below it.

Anakin watched in silence as the Avenger was bombarded, reducing it to rubble within moments, killing each and every officer and crewman on board.

"Recall the fighters," Anakin said, his voice heavy with regret.

"And what of the enemy fighters?" Piett asked. Anakin looked at him, not saying a word.

"Understood sir," Piett replied. He turned to the weapons officer. "Destroy the rest of the TIE fighters once our men are on board."

Anakin turned and walked over to where Padmé stood.

"You saved Alderaan again," she told him. "You did what you had to do to save them."

Anakin nodded. "I know," he said. So why do I feel this way? "I'm going to the hangar to meet the men," he told her, and then walked off the bridge.