Buffy 'Elisa' Kenobi- 46
Obi-Wan Kenobi- 60
Willow Amidala Kenobi- 20
Obi-Wan Alexander 'Alex' Kenobi- 17
Giles Jinn 'GJ' Kenobi- 3
Han Solo- 30
Anakin Skywalker- 44
Padme Skywalker - 50
Luke Skywalker- 20 ½
Leia Skywalker- 20 ½
Buffy Skywalker- 16 ½
Chapter Three -o- Trapped Within
There was a bright flash as Buffy's ship The Night Hunter came out of hyper drive. They were still a good distance off from the planet that they suspected Juno was on but Buffy didn't want her to see them coming. Of course that was assuming that Juno was even on the planet and this wasn't just another wild bantha chase. Buffy shifted in her seat as they flew. Something felt very...off to her. She closed her eyes, knowing Luke was fine with the controls, and focused in on that feeling. Something was wrong, something very close to them. She opened her eyes and looked out the window at the planet below them.
"Master does something feel-"
"Off?" Buffy asked, nodding her head. "I can't quite-" She stopped when she saw the red beam that shot up from somewhere that seemed to be almost behind the planet. "Luke!"
"I see it!" he shouted as he began evading the blasts. "Think they were wrong about the planet?"
"No," Buffy told him, shaking her head. "I think she was on that planet."
"Was," Luke agreed, nodding. "A trap then?" he asked before swearing in two languages, both of which his mom would have killed him for knowing; he just barely avoided a shot.
"So it would seem," Buffy said. "So much for an easy retrieval."
"Oh come now Master," Luke said and Buffy swore when a ship appeared from out of no where. "Where would the fun in that be?"
"You sound just like your father!" Buffy told him, swearing again as they began to take fire from the ship as well.
"So I've been told!" Luke yelled back as he moved through the energy beams from both the planet area and the ship as Buffy fired on the ship.
"We should land before we take a-" Buffy was flung against her restraints as something hit them from behind.
"We've been hit!" Luke said and Buffy smirked as he fought against the controls to keep them from spiraling out of control.
"No kidding!" she shouted back as beeping began to come in over the comm. "I know we've been hit R2!" she shouted at the droid. "Can you fix it?" There was more beeping and Buffy and Luke both swore again as Buffy continued to fire on the now two ships.
"This is going to hurt," Luke said as they began to enter the atmosphere. "Hold on!" he shouted over all the noise.
-o-o-o-
"Dad?" Willow asked suddenly, looking up at Anakin. They were sitting in their apartment, meditating, or trying to. Willow it seemed, took after her mother. "Something's happened." She said and Anakin looked slightly confused until the front door slid open and Obi-Wan walked in.
"Anakin," Obi-Wan stepped into the room and Willow could see that her feelings were right, something was going on.
"What?" she asked, standing and cutting off Anakin before he could even speak. "What happened? Is it mom?" She asked, trying to keep the worry from her voice but she was sure it showed in her eyes.
"Their ship was shot down. It seems it was some kind of trap," Obi-Wan said, not looking at his daughter. "R2 sent out a distress signal but we only received about half of it." He took a deep breath and looked over at Willow then. "We've lost contact with them."
"How long has it been?" Anakin asked, finally finding his voice.
"We received the distress signal an hour ago. The ship went down at least two hours before that."
"Why the delay in transmission?" Anakin asked and Obi-Wan shook his head.
"We don't know," he told them, his shoulders sagging a little. It was times like these, and only times like these, that Willow could see the age beginning to show on her father's face, in his eyes. He was not the young man he seemed to be on the outside, not anymore.
"It's ok dad," Willow said, deciding that now wasn't a good time for 'Master Kenobi.' "Mom is such a strong fighter and Luke, well, he's better than all of us. They'll be fine."
Obi-Wan smiled at her and nodded his head once. She saw it as soon as the 'Be strong for the kids' face slipped into place.
"Of course they will," he agreed, nodding his head again then he looked over at Anakin.
"That's not all is it?" Anakin asked, reading something in Obi-Wan's eyes.
"No," he said, shaking his head slowly. "The council has already decided on a rescue mission."
"That's great!" Willow said, a relieved smile gracing her lips now. "Who are they sending?"
"Master Sors Bandeam, and his Padawan," Obi-Wan said after a long moment of silence. The smile faded from her lips in an instant.
"Alex?" she whispered and he nodded his head. They all knew something was going on with Alex, in the last few weeks or so he'd become distant and easily upset. She was sure he was not ready for this, and she could see her father agreed.
"What are they thinking?!" she demanded, again cutting off Anakin before the words had left his mouth.
"They think it will break him out of this...what ever it is, or, the majority of them do," Obi-Wan said, hating that he didn't know what was wrong with his son. That everything he had done to try and help had been useless. "Maybe it will," he said, sounding half hopeful.
'And maybe it'll get them all killed,' Willow thought, but kept it to herself.
"Master, may I be excused?" Willow asked after a long silence. Anakin looked up at Obi-Wan and knew he had something else he wanted to say, without Willow there.
"Yes," he said, nodding his head as he put his hand on her arm. "They will be fine," he told her and she nodded her head.
"I know," she told him with a forced smile. "I'm going to go see how Leia is doing."
"Good idea." Anakin said nodding his head. Even if she hadn't been told yet he was sure she too knew something was wrong.
-o-o-o-o-
"So we're in agreement then?" Willow asked, her face pale with worry. Leia nodded her head gently as she looked to her right, where her younger sister sat, her hands in her lap.
"We are going to get in so much trouble," Buffy said, a slight smirk on her face when she met Leia's eyes.
"I'll get Martyne, he'll want to help," Willow said, nodding and smiling at Buffy, totally agreeing with her. "So, we're just going to need a way to get there," she said knowingly as both she and Buffy looked at Leia.
"Do we have to?" she asked, slight desperation in her voice.
"He's the only one who can, would, do this for us," Buffy said and Willow nodded in agreement, still smirking.
"And I think you should ask him," Willow told her and Buffy nodded her head.
"Ok," Leia agreed, if slightly reluctantly, "I'll ask him, but if he calls me princess again, I may not be held accountable for my actions."
-o-o-o-o-
"You want me to what!?" Han said a half hour later, after Leia had explained their plan to him; he was now pacing back and forth in his small flat. He looked as though he were battling something in his head, Leia hoped the 'help them' side was winning. "Look Princess-" He stopped at Leia's glare and smiled, worked every time.
"Please help us Han, you're our only hope, without you, our plan won't fly, literally." Leia told him, sighing as the glare faded from her face. They really did need him, he was the only way to get around getting clearance to leave because he came and went as he wanted, the Council didn't keep tabs on him. "You know something not of the good is going on here, we have to help."
"Yeah, I know we do," Han said reluctantly as he sighed. "You guys are going to get me in so much trouble."
"Thank you," Leia said, taking a deep breath. "We'll see you tonight then?"
"You will," he agreed, nodding his head. "The Falcon is parked-"
"We know," Leia said, smiling. "We'll see you there," she told him. He watched as an odd look passed over her face and then it was gone. "Thank you," she said before she turned and walked out his door.
-o-o-o-o-
"Luke?" Buffy said as she slowly came out of the darkness that surrounded her. She lifted her head slowly, hoping there would be no dizziness. "Luke?!" she called again a little more urgently this time.
"No need to shout," Luke said as he sat up with a groan. "Well, let's do that again," he said, smirking as he turned to look at her.
"Right, any minute now I'll burst into laughter," Buffy said, pulling herself from her now mangled ship. "Until then, how about we get out of the open?" she added and he nodded his head, his face a little more serious now.
"Though, technically, we're not really in the open," Luke said, looking around them. They were in what seemed to be a very dense forest. Buffy looked up into the tree and had a hard time seeing the tops. They must be hundreds of feet tall.
"All the more places to hide," Buffy told him as they both climbed out of the ship. "Obi-Wan is going to be pissed," Buffy said, shaking her head. "That was an anniversary gift," she sighed, and looking back at the ship before they disappeared deeper into the forest.
-o-o-o-o-
"Going somewhere, are you?" Willow whipped around at the sound of the voice. She schooled her face quickly, but the worry and guilt had been there for a moment.
"Master Yoda," she said in surprise. She had been so busy getting a few things together she had not even heard the door open, some Jedi she was.
"Troubled you are, clouds your mind it does," he told her and she opened her mouth to protest but he held up his hand to silence her. "Win in this fight you can not, if clouded your mind is." She swallowed her words and nodded her head slowly. He wasn't going to make her stay. He knew what they had planned and he was going to let them go.
"I understand Master," she finally told him. Her eyes darted to the door as it slid open again and Leia and Buffy came walking in, closely followed by Martyne.
"Oops," Buffy said with a small smile as she and her sister tucked their packs behind their backs a little.
"Ready are you?" Yoda asked, looking at their faces before turning to Willow. "Not easy will your journey be."
"We're ready Master Yoda," she told him, nodding her head and squaring her shoulders. 'We have to be,' she added in her mind.
"Then go now you should, for understanding as I, the others will not be," he told her, a knowing smirk on his face. She new he was right, her father and Anakin would never let them go.
"Thank you Master Yoda," Willow said, shutting her bag and slinging it over her shoulder. "We'll see you soon."
Yoda watched as the four of them slipped from Willow and Anakin's apartment. He shook his head as the doors slid shut behind them. "See me, you will not," he murmured, to the now empty room.
-o-o-o-o-
"I'm pretty sure I know where we are, " Luke said after some hiking in silence.
"Well then, enlighten me my young Padawan," she said, turning to smirk at him. He sighed and shook his head, he hated it when she called him that, just as his father had with Obi-Wan, vicious cycle it was.
"We're on Endor, or to be more precise, one of its moons," Luke told her and she nodded her head. She stopped and looked around, all they'd seen was trees, lots and lots of really tall trees.
"Is it inhabited?" Buffy asked, sitting down on a downed tree log. It was getting dark, they were going to need to think about setting up a camp of some kind.
"Not that I know of," Luke said, shaking his head as he sat down next to her. He set his pack down and took a deep breath. "So, trap?" Luke finally asked after a moment of silence. "Juno?"
"Yeah," Buffy answered, agreeing to both. "So, we're on her turf here. She picked this place for a reason."
"So, what we need to do is find that reason before she finds us," Luke said and Buffy nodded her head in agreement.
"So, your comm jammed up too?" she asked, looking down at the useless comm in her hand with a sigh.
"Yeah, I tried it as soon as we started walking." He pulled it from his pocket now and glared down at it. "Some kind of interference blocking it."
"Yeah, that's what I thought. We'll have to figure that out soon so we can get word out." They both looked at each other as their stomachs growled.
"Dinner first?" he asked, mildly hopeful.
"Yeah, we're no good if we're weak," Buffy told him with a smile. She turned to pick her pack up from behind her. "Luke?" she asked, her voice low and even.
"Yes?" he asked, matching her tone.
"Uninhabited?" Buffy asked, her tone a little wary now.
"As far as I-" He stopped as he finally turned around and saw what Buffy was seeing. Three small furry creatures, were standing behind them, long spears at their sides, questioning looks on their faces. "Ok, so...I was wrong."
"Hello?" Buffy asked, hoping against hope that they might speak English.
"Heellloo?" A high slightly squeaky voice said, though it sounded more like a question and Buffy sighed then decided to try another tactic.
"I'm Elisa," she said, pointing at herself.
"I Elisa?" the little guy said, mimicking her movements.
"No, I'm Elisa. ELISA," she told him slowly, pointing at herself. "I'm having a very 'I Jane you Tarzan' moment here," she told Luke who gave her almost the same questioning look as the little furry guys. "Never mind," she said, shaking her head. "I'll tell Giles when we get home, he'll think it was hilarious," she muttered to herself.
"Elisa," she said again, looking at the little guy, then pointing at Luke she said "Luke." She smiled and pointed at herself again. "Elisa," pointing at Luke again, "Luke." The little furry guy in the lead finally smiled and nodded his, 'his?' she wondered, head.
"Talu," he said, pointing at himself. "Sele," he told them pointing left then right, "Few."
"Ok," Buffy said, nodding her head. "Oh!" She stood up quickly and smiled at Luke who frowned when all the little guys jumped back and pointed their spears at them speaking in high fast voices saying things neither Buffy or Luke could understand.
"Jumpy little guys aren't they?" Luke asked and Buffy nodded.
"Luke, didn't your dad just finish his translator?" she asked and Luke nodded his head.
"So?' he asked and Buffy gave him a look and waited a moment. "Oh, yeah," he said, nodding his head as she rolled her eyes. He reached down, slowly, and picked up his pack. The little guys watched him carefully as he pulled a small round flat object from his bag.
"I don't have any idea what species to look under," Luke said, turning a little to Buffy. She thought about it a moment then smiled.
"Can you look by planet?" she asked and he began scrolling through the options. Anakin had only given it to him that morning, kind of an early 'congratulations' gift for taking his trials.
"Yep," he said, smiling at her. In another second he looked up from the translator and looked at the little guys. "Ewoks?" he asked hesitantly and the little one in the lead met his eyes and nodded slowly. Luke nodded happily and fiddled with the screen a bit more.
"I'm Luke Skywalker and this is my teacher Elisa Kenobi," he said and when he was done he pushed a small button and a voice that sounded suspiciously like Padme's spoke the words in their translated form.
The little guy in the lead nodded his head, a funny, mildly confused look on his face as he looked from Luke to the translator to Luke again. He looked at Luke for a long moment before he finally nodded his head again, he spoke fast, in a long string of words that ran together so much Buffy was afraid the translator might not work. But, after a few seconds the translator spoke his words.
"We hear those names spoken by the red light wielders." Buffy looked to her right and met Luke's eyes, neither of them liked the sound of 'red light wielders.' Buffy pulled her lightsaber from her belt and looked to the leader, Talu.
"I'm going to show you something, please don't be afraid, I mean you no harm," Buffy said and then Luke pushed a button and Buffy waited till it finished translating before she met Talus' eyes.
He looked from her face to the deactivated lightsaber in her hands. After a moment he nodded his head and Buffy turned it on. The two next to Talu jumped back a little but he held his ground as the two behind him started talking at the same time. He turned and started talking to them too, their three high voices spilling over each other.
"Information overload, unable to translate," the translator said and Buffy smiled a bit. Finally Talu barked out what seemed to be some kind of order and the other two went silent. He then turned back to Buffy and Luke with a slightly suspicious look on his face. He spoke softly now, his voice more formal than it had been before.
"You are light wielders as well?" There was a small accusing tone to his question. Buffy nodded her head and he glanced between the two of them, seeming to think something over. "Will you cut down our homes and steal our men as well?" Buffy was shocked by his words and wondered just what Juno was up to now. What need of their men could she possibly have?
'What has Juno done here?' Luke spoke in her mind and she sighed and closed her eyes for a second.
'That's a damn good question,' she thought back, shaking her head. "We are here to stop the 'red light wielders.' To help," she told him. He looked up and met her eyes again, he had a strong mind for such a little guy and Buffy knew he was looking for something in her. After a moment he nodded his head and Buffy hoped he'd found what he needed to let them help.
"We hear them speak of you. They do not like you, but you are expected here," he told them and Buffy nodded her head. She would have to find out where they heard the 'red lights' talking about them, it might be a good place to gather intel. "It is not safe here at night, come with us."
Buffy looked at Luke who shrugged then smiled at her 'What do you think Master?' he thought, though he was sure he already knew her answer.
"We'll go with them. I think we can help each other," she told him and Luke just smiled before he bent down and picked up both their packs, handing hers to her.
"Lead the way," Buffy told Talu, smiling. He nodded his head and Buffy was very interested to see where this would lead.
"This way," he said, turning and heading towards the deep forest. "We are well hidden now, we will not make it easy for them to create their star of death." Buffy stopped in her tracks and looked down at him.
"Their what?" she asked, her face full of shock.
-o-o-o-o-
"So, do we have any idea where we're going?" Han asked, looking over his shoulder at Willow.
"Endor, or well, one of its moons," she told him, looking up from her data pad. "It says they crashed onto the forest of Endor's smallest moon."
"Where does it say that?" Han asked, slightly suspicious of the tone of her voice.
"In the Council's records," she told him in a very nonchalant voice as she set the data pad down.
"The Council's private records?" he asked, his voice only somewhat surprised. "And where did you learn how to hack into their private files?"
"Mom told me she's done it before," she told him, trying to justify herself, while totally not answering his question. He turned and gave her a look, something she was sure he'd learned from Elisa. "Martyne may have shown me, maybe."
"Why am I not surprised by that?" he asked, shaking his head.
"Arr warre Errar?" Chewie said and Han laughed while nodding his head.
"What did he say?" Willow asked, knowing it had probably been about her. Han looked back at her again and just smiled before he shook his head. Willow glared at both of them for a moment before she picked up her data pad and began to read again.
"When will we be there?" she asked after scanning the screen for a few moments. "Alex and his master landed two hours ago," she told him and Han's smile faded at the worry in her voice.
"Everything will be fine Wills," he told her, the use of the old nickname making her smile a little. "Three hours, but I think I can push it to two and a half, two if Chewie can work some of his magic."
"Thanks Han," she said, standing up with the data pad in her hands. She walked over to their chairs and smiled at both of them. "You guys are the best."
A/N- So, I know, way longer wait than I'd hoped, but here it is, waaayy shorter a wait then last time so a bit of a win. :-) Hope you all like it! Reviews make me so happy, and happy me writes more!
