A/N: And so, one more chapter.
Jabba the Hut and a half-dozen grisly alien pirates and purple creatures stood in the middle of the docking bay. Jabba was the grossest of the slavering hulks and his scarred face was a grim
testimonial to his prowess as a vicious killer. He was a fat, slug-like creature with a huge
ugly mouth.
"Come on out, Solo!" Jabba bellowed in basic as he faced the Millennium Falcon.
A voice from directly behind the pirates startled them and they turned around to see Han Solo and the giant Wookiee, Chewbacca, standing behind them with no weapons in sight.
"I've been waiting for you, Jabba," Han said.
"I expected you would be," Jabba told him.
"I'm not the type to run," Han told him.
"Han, my boy, there are times when you disappoint me...why haven't you paid me? And why did you have to fry poor Greedo like that...after all we've been through together," Jabba said in a fatherly-sooth voice.
"You sent Greedo to blast me," Han told him accusingly.
"Han, why you're the best smuggler in the business. You're too valuable to fry. He was only relaying my concern at your delays. He wasn't going to blast you," Jabba said in mock surprise.
"I think he thought he was. Next time don't send one of those twerps. If you've got something to say to me, come see me yourself," Han told him smartly.
"Han, Han! If only you hadn't had to dump that shipment of spice...you understand I just can't make an exception. Where would I be if every pilot who smuggled for me dumped their shipment at the first sign of an Imperial starship? It's not good business," Jabba told him.
"You know, even I get boarded sometimes, Jabba. I had no choice, but I've got a charter now and I can pay you back, plus a little extra. I just need some more time," Han told him.
Jabba turned to his men. "Put your blasters away," he ordered and turned back to Han. "Han, my boy, I'm only doing this because you're the best and I need you. So, for an extra, say twenty percent I'll give you a little more time...but this is it. If you disappoint me again, I'll put a price on your head so large you won't be able to go near a civilized system for the rest of your short life," he told him.
"Jabba, I'll pay you because it's my pleasure," Han told him.
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Governor Tarkin waited on the bridge of the Death Star for word of the Rebel Alliance's hidden location, knowing that they would have it once Vader was finished torturing Princess Leia of Alderaan. At the sound of mechanical breathing entering the room, he turned to see Vader approach.
"Her resistance to the mind probe is considerable. It will be some time before we can extract any information from her," Vader informed him, his irritation concealed within the monotone of his voice produced by the voice box in his mask.
Before Tarkin could give a reply, an Imperial Officer interrupted them. "The final check-out is complete. All systems are operational. What course shall we set?" he announced.
An idea came to Tarkin. "Perhaps she would respond to an alternative form of persuasion," he mused.
"What do you mean?" Vader asked.
"I think it is time we demonstrate the full power of this station," he explained and turned to a soldier. "Set your course for Princess Leia's home planet of Alderaan," he ordered.
"With pleasure," the soldier replied, turning to carry out the order.
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Obi-Wan and Anakin were standing in a sleazy used speeder lot while Luke was talking with a tall, grotesque, insect-like used speeder dealer. Strange exotic bodies and spindly-legged aliens pass by as the insect concludes the sale by giving Luke some coins.
"So when we reach Alderaan?" Anakin asked.
"We'll deliver the message," Obi-Wan told him.
"And?" Anakin questioned, knowing that there was more.
Before Obi-Wan could answer, Luke joined them. "He says it's the best he can do. Since the XP-38 came out, they're just not in demand," he informed them, producing the money he just earned for the speeders which was less than they thought it would be.
"It will be enough," Obi-Wan told him as they left the speeder lot and walked down the dusty
alleyway past a small droid herding a bunch of anteater-like creatures. Luke turned and gave one last forlorn look at his faithful speeders as they rounded a corner. A darkly clad alien moved out of the shadows as they passed and watched them as they disappeared down another alley.
"If the ship's as fast as he's boasting, we ought to do well," Obi-Wan said.
"That's a very big if, Obi-Wan. You know that I'm the only one who has figured out how to alter a hyperdrive to make it go at such a speed, and aside from you, I haven't told anyone," Anakin countered.
"And you aren't the only mechanical genius in the galaxy," Obi-Wan pointed out. "If you would get yourself off of that high eopie and stop thinking of yourself as all mighty, you'd realize that."
Chewbacca waited restlessly at the entrance to Docking Bay 94. Obi-Wan, Anakin, Luke and the droids made their way up the street. Chewbacca jabbered excitedly and signaled for them to hurry. The darkly clad alien had followed them from the speeder lot. He stopped in a nearby doorway and spoke into a small transmitter.
Chewbacca led the group into a giant dirt pit that was Docking Bay 94. Resting in the middle of the huge hole was a large, round, beat-up, pieced-together hunk of junk that could only loosely be called a starship.
Luke stopped to stare at the ship. "What a piece of junk!" he exclaimed.
The tall figure of Han Solo came down the boarding ramp. "She'll make point five beyond the speed of light. She may not look like much, but she's got it where it counts, kid. I've added some special modifications myself," he said, clearly upset with the insult to his ship.
Luke scratched his head. It was obvious he wasn't sure about all this. Chewbacca rushes up the ramp and urges the others to follow.
Obi-Wan continued forward into the hanger while Anakin stopped to look at Luke. "You do realize that looks can be deceiving, right?" he asked.
"I guess," Luke said doubtfully.
"You would do well to remember that your eyes will deceive you," Anakin told him, moving to catch up to Obi-Wan.
"We're a little rushed, so if you'll hurry aboard we'll get out of here," Han told them.
As they were boarding the ship, imperial stormtroopers piled into the hanger through the entrance, blasters at ready. "Stop that ship!" one of them called.
Han looked up and sees the Imperial stormtroopers rushing into the docking bay. Several of the troopers fired at Han as he ducked into the spaceship.
"Blast 'em!" a trooper ordered.
Han drew his blaster and popped off a couple of shots which force the stormtroopers to dive for safety. Anakin moved over to Han's side and reached for his lightsaber.
"Anakin, No!" Obi-Wan ordered, seeing what he was about to do, forgetting about the code name but he noticed too late because Anakin had drawn his lightsaber out and ignited it.
"Jedi, kill them!" a trooper ordered.
Han turned towards Anakin, seeing the lightsaber for the first time and widened his eyes before cursing himself for having gotten involved in this one.
The storm troopers began filling the hanger and started blasting at Anakin and Han, aiming to kill them. Anakin fended off the blaster fire expertly, while Han ducked behind the ramp and fired away with his blaster.
Obi-Wan cursed his luck and turned to Luke. "Stay here," he ordered, pulling out his lightsaber and joined Anakin, feeling like he had no choice.
"It doesn't look like there's that many!" Anakin said as he and Obi-Wan deflected the blaster fire.
"Thanks to you reckless move, our transport will be hunted down. It would have been nice to get to Alderaan anonymously," Obi-Wan chastised.
"Well, we'll just have to make sure the clones don't tip off their buddies," Anakin told him, moving away from the ramp and over to the troopers, effectively starting to cut through them.
Obi-Wan sighed. "I'm getting too old for this," he muttered as he joined him and in no time they had taken down all of the troopers in the hanger.
"Next time, heed my warning!" Obi-Wan told him sternly as they powered down their lightsabers.
"You guys really are a hot passage, this'll be costing you extra, you know," Han told them before turning around and boarding the ship followed by Anakin and Obi-Wan. Han went straight to the cockpit and climbed into the pilot's chair next to Chewbacca, who chattered away as he pointed to something on the radar scope. Han frantically typed information into the ship's computer. Little Artoo appeared momentarily at the cockpit doorway, made a few beeping remarks, then scurried away.
"It looks like an Imperial cruiser. Try and hold them off. Angle the deflector shield while I make the calculations for the jump to light speed.
Over the shoulders of Chewbacca and Han as they left Tatooine's atmosphere, the galaxy was spread before them. Obi-Wan, Anakin, and Luke made their way into the cramped cockpit where Han continued his calculation.
"Stay sharp! There are two more coming in; they're going to try to cut us off," Han told Chewbacca.
Before Anakin could even utter a suggestion, Luke spoke. "Why don't you outrun them? I thought you said this thing was fast," he demanded condescendingly.
"Watch your mouth, kid, or you're going to find yourself floating home. We'll be safe enough once we make the jump to hyperspace. Besides, I know a few maneuvers. We'll lose them!" Han replied, offended.
The ship shuddered as an explosion flashed outside the window.
"Here's where the fun begins!" Han declared.
"How long before you can make the jump to light speed?" Obi-Wan asked.
"It'll take a few moments to get the coordinates from the navi-computer," Han answered.
The ship began to rock violently as fire from the imperial ship hit it.
"Are you kidding? At the rate they're gaining..." Luke started incredelously.
"Traveling through hyperspace isn't like dusting crops, boy! Without precise calculations we could fly right through a star or bounce too close to a supernova and that'd end your trip real quick, wouldn't it?" Han replied snappishly, interrupting him.
"You should consider firing back head on, that would take them by surprise," Anakin suggested.
Before anyone could say anything to that, Luke spotted something flashing on the control panel. "What's that flashing?" he asked.
"We're losing our deflector shield. Go strap yourself in, I'm going to make the jump to light speed," Han told him as he pulled back on the hyperspace throttle.
The stars brightened and they moved faster, almost as if crashing a barrier. Stars become streaks as the pirateship made the jump to hyperspace.
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Tarkin stood in the control room, staring out the wall sized picture window, calmly waiting for their approach to Alderaan and for Vader to bring the traitorous Alderaani princess to him. He was quite certain that the sheer firepower of this massive battle station threatening her home planet would persuade her to give him the information to the hidden base of the rebels and once and for all he would be the one to crush the pitiful rebellion, a feat that Vader has repeatedly failed to do. Once the galaxy realizes the true power of this station, fear will keep everyone in line and no one would rebel against the Empire again.
"Admiral Motti entered the quiet control room and bowed before Tarkin, as a small green planet appeared in view. "We've entered the Alderaan system," he reported to the eerily calm governor.
Tarkin didn't acknowledge him and turned from the window as Vader led the way into the control room, with two stormtroopers accompanying Princess Leia, her hands bound. The princess had a look of defiance on her face and carried herself regally. Tarkin just watched her, knowing that her defiance would not last very long.
"Governor Tarkin, I should have expected to find you holding Vader's leash. I recognized your foul stench when I was brought on board," Princess Leia said both defiantly and haughtily
Tarkin walked over to her, his frame towering over her five foot one inch frame, affording him the ability to look down on her. "Charming to the last. You don't know how hard I found it signing the order to terminate your life!" he told her, pinching her chin between his forefinger and thumb to force her to look at him before snapping her away and walked back over to the view screen.
"I'm surprised you had the courage to take the responsibility yourself!" Leia shot at him.
"Princess Leia, before your execution I would like you to be my guest at a ceremony that will make this battle station operational. No star system will dare oppose the Emperor now," Tarkin told her.
"The more you tighten your grip, Tarkin, the more star systems will slip through your fingers," Leia told him condescendingly.
"Not after we demonstrate the power of this station. In a way, you have determined the choice of the planet that'll be destroyed first. Since you are reluctant to provide us with the location of the Rebel base, I have chosen to test this station's destructive power... on your home planet of Alderaan," Tarkin told her.
"No! Alderaan is peaceful. We have no weapons. You can't possibly..." Leia cried horrified.
Tarkin turned back to her. "You would prefer another target? A military target? Then name the system!" He ordered menacingly as he approached her once more. When she said nothing, he continued. "I grow tired of asking this. So it'll be the last time. Where is the Rebel base?" he demanded.
Leia overheard an intercom voice announcing the approach to Alderaan. She knew she had only two options, allowing Alderaan to be destroyed and remain silent or to name a system. Making her decision, she looked down and away, shamefully "Dantooine," she answered softly. "They're on Dantooine."
"There. You see Lord Vader, she can be reasonable," Tarkin said satisfied and turned to address Motti "Continue with the operation. You may fire when ready," he told him.
"What?" Leia cried in outrage.
Tarkin turned back to her condescendingly. "You're far too trusting. Dantooine is too remote to make an effective demonstration. But don't worry. We will deal with your Rebel friends soon enough," he told her.
"No!" Leia cried, moving to try to do something but was restrained by Vader, forced to watch helplessly as the weapons array loaded up and fired on the peaceful planet, obliterating it completely.
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Obi-Wan looked over at where Anakin sat next to Threepio with a look on his face that Obi-Wan knew meant he was planning something. He said nothing as he noticed Anakin catch the spot that Captain Solo's toolbox rested. He remained silent as he watched Anakin float the toolbox over to him, content to let Anakin work on whatever project that had popped into his head, grateful for the peace that would cause. Instead, he pulled out a seeker droid, a chrome baseball-like droid covered with antennae, that all younglings used to learn the basic lightsaber forms in the Temple and activated it, turning to Luke who had put down the forms book he had been studying. "Are you ready to practice what you have read?" he asked.
"Sure," Luke replied, standing up and grabbing the lightsaber Obi-Wan had given him.
"Remember to feel, not think," Obi-Wan advised as he began to supervise Luke's practice.
"Right," Luke replied, starting to attempt to put his reading to good use.
Anakin got Threepio's attention, having selected the right tools for the job he had in mind. "How would you like to recover the memories that had been erased from your memory?" he asked.
Threepio looked at him. "I am not certain that is possible, Sir, the process of erasing memory is irreversible," he said.
"Threepio, I built you when I was nine, I used certain precautions for certain situations," Anakin told him calmly. "See, I considered the possibility of your central memory chip becoming seriously damaged that I installed a backup memory chip to record everything. All I need to do is make a few minor adjustments to deactivate the wiped chip and activate the backup chip and you'll have your full memory archive," he explained.
"A brilliant precaution if I must say so, Sir," Threepio told him.
"Before I do this, though, I must stress to you that you do not speak about the past or anything having to do with me and anyone else with anyone but me or Obi-Wan over there," He instructed.
"I understand perfectly, Sir," Threepio told him.
"I know you do, now turn around," Anakin told him and opened up Threepio's backing, exposing wires and components before fiddling with them here in there, adjusting wires and rewiring a couple components before closing his backing. "Recognize me now, Threepio?" he asked as Threepio turning to face him.
"Bless my circuits, Master Ani!" Threepio said excitedly and a little too loudly causing Anakin to cover his voice box with his hand as everyone turned to look at them.
"Quiet, Threepio, no one knows who I am. I'm supposed to be dead," Anakin quietly reprimanded.
"Of course, Master Ani," Threepio complied when Anakin released him.
Anakin grinned, "I am glad to have you with me, Threepio, Artoo doesn't seem to trust me anymore," he said, the last part being a little depressingly.
"Well, I honestly don't know what his problem is, perhaps you should deactivate him for a while to teach him," Threepio suggested.
"Artoo is too useful to simply deactivate," Anakin told him dismissively. A sudden tremor in the Force caught Anakin's attention and the sheer power and suffering from it was nearly crippling. Anakin turned to Obi-Wan, knowing that he sensed it too, to see him place a hand over his heart and sit down heavily. "Master, what...?"
Luke, who seemed unaffected, noticed their sudden alarm, seeing that Obi-Wan seemed to be in pain. "Are you all right? What's wrong?" he asked.
"I felt a great disturbance in the Force...as if millions of voices suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced. I fear something terrible has happened," Obi-Wan answered and rubbed his forehead.
"You've felt it before, haven't you, Master?" Anakin asked, seeing through his friend.
Obi-Wan nodded. "This wasn't as powerful as the purge," he said. He turned back to Luke. "You'd better get on with your exercises," he said.
At this point, Han entered the room and lazily took a seat. "Well, you can forget your troubles with those Imperial slugs. I told you I'd outrun 'em," he announced.
No one really paid attention. Luke was busy with his exorcises with Obi-Wan supervising while Anakin had started to engage Threepio in a discussion. Han looked around at them, not really liking being ignored when he was doing them a favor. "Don't everyone thank me at once," he said.
Meanwhile Chewbacca and Artoo who are engrossed in a dejerik game in which three-dimensional holographic figures moved along a chess-type board.
"Anyway, we should be at Alderaan about oh-two-hundred hours," Han continued.
Anakin and Threepio's attention drew to the game between Chewbacca and Artoo. Chewbacca seemed very pleased with himself over a move as he rest his lanky fur- covered arms over his head. Artoo immediately reached up and tapped the computer with his stubby claw hand, causing one of the holographic creatures to walk to the new square and took down one of Chewbacca's figures. A sudden frown crossed Chewbacca's face and he began yelling gibberish at the tiny droid.
Anakin chuckled. "Good move, Artoo," he praised the little droid.
Threepio looked at Chewbacca. "He made a fair move. Screaming about it won't help you," he said in defense of his companion.
"Let him have it. It's not wise to upset a Wookiee," Han said, interrupting them.
Threepio turned to him. "But sir, nobody worries about upsetting a droid," he countered.
"That's 'cause droids don't pull people's arms out of their socket when they lose. Wookiees are known to do that," Han pointed out.
"I see your point, sir," Threepio acknowledged and turned back to Artoo. "I suggest a new strategy, Artoo. Let the Wookiee win," he said.
"I have a better strategy," Anakin said with a gleam in his eye and gave a few hand signals in Artoo's line of vision which earned some beeps and whistles from the droid of agreement before making another move.
Han tuned into what Luke was doing with Obi-Wan supervising.
"Remember, a Jedi can feel the Force flowing through him," Obi-Wan said to Luke.
"You mean it controls your actions?" Luke asked. him.
"Partially. But it also obeys your commands," Obi-Wan answered.
Suspended at eye level, about ten feet in front of Luke, the seeker droid floated to one side of
the him then the other. Suddenly it made a lightning-swift lunge and stopped within a few feet of Luke's face. Luke doesn't move and the droid backed off. It slowly moved behind the boy, then made another quick lunge, this time emitting a blood red laser bolt as it attacked. It hit Luke in the leg causing him to tumble over.
Han let loose with a burst of laughter. "Hokey religions and ancient weapons are no match for a good blaster at your side, kid," he said.
"You don't believe in the Force, do you?" Luke asked, the turn of the conversation attracting Anakin's attention who looked at Obi-Wan to get a feel of what he might say.
"Kid, I've flown from one side of this galaxy to the other. I've seen a lot of strange stuff, but I've never seen anything to make me believe there's one all-powerful force controlling everything. There's no mystical energy field that controls my destiny," Han said.
Anakin snorted. "You wanna bet?" he grumbled.
Han briefly glanced at him. "It's all a lot of simple tricks and nonsense," he said.
Anakin frowned as he thought of a way to make Han eat his words.
Obi-Wan looked at Anakin to see the calculating expression on his face and gave him a warning look, hoping that it would work for once. He turned back to Luke. "I suggest you try it again, Luke," he said, standing a grabbing a helmet with a blast shield covering the space where eyes would be and placed the helmet on Luke's head. "This time, let go your conscious self and act on instinct," he said.
Luke laughed. "With the blast shield down, I can't even see. How am I supposed to fight?" he asked.
"Your eyes can deceive you. Don't trust them," Obi-Wan told him.
Han skeptically shook his head as Obi-Wan threw the seeker droid into the air. The droid shot straight up in the air, then dropped like a rock. Luke swung the lightsaber around blindly missing the seeker, which fired off a laserbolt which hit Luke square on the seat of the pants. He let out a painful yelp and attempted to hit the droid.
"Stretch out with your feelings," Obi-Wan calmly instructed while Anakin couldn't contain himself from chuckling.
Luke stood in one place, seemingly frozen. The seeker droid made a dive at Luke and, incredibly, he managed to deflect the bolt. The ball ceased fire and moved back to its original position.
"You see, you can do it," Obi-Wan encouraged.
"I call it luck," Han told them smugly.
"In my experience, there's no such thing as luck," Obi-Wan told him.
"In your experience, Master, it's all bad luck," Anakin couldn't help himself from jabbing in.
"Look, going good against remotes is one thing. Going good against the living? That's something else," Han said smugly.
Obi-Wan got a thoughtful look on his face. "Ani, perhaps you might like to do some instructing," he suggested, giving Anakin an encouraging look.
Anakin caught his meaning and brightened at the prospect to show off his skill. "Certainly, Master," he said, standing up and pulling out his lightsaber.
Han then noticed a small light flashing on the far side of the control panel. "Looks like you're going to have to hold off. We're coming up on Alderaan," he told them standing up along with Chewbacca and made his way back to the cockpit.
"You know, I did feel something. I could almost see the remote," Luke said, looking at Obi-Wan.
"That's good. You have taken your first step into a larger world," Obi-Wan told him as he and Anakin moved towards the cockpit, followed by Luke.
Han sat in the pilots seat in the cockpit with Chewbacca in the co pilots seat. "Stand by, Chewie, here we go. Cut in the sublight engines," Han instructed. He pulled back on a control lever. Outside the cockpit window stars began streaking past, seemed to decrease in speed,
then stop. Suddenly the starship begins to shudder and violently shake about. Asteroids begin to race toward them, battering the sides of the ship. "What the...? Aw, we've come out of hyperspace into a meteor shower. Some kind of asteroid collision. It's not on any of the charts," he said.
Chewbacca flipped off several controls and seemed very cool in the emergency. Obi-Wan, Anakin and Luke made their way into the cockpit.
"What's going on?" Luke asked concerned.
"Our position is correct, except...no, Alderaan!" Han told them.
"What do you mean? Where is it?" Luke demanded.
"Thats what I'm trying to tell you, kid. It ain't there. It's been totally blown away," Han told him.
"What? How?" Luke asked.
Anakin pushed himself forward, shoving Han aside some.
"Hey! What do you think you're doing?" Han demanded crossly.
"You must not have punched in the correct coordinates," Anakin told him, checking the calculations and cursed a vary crude hutt curse.
"It's been destroyed...by the Empire!" Obi-Wan told them.
Anakin looked at him sharply and then at the remains of the once beautiful and peaceful planet, shocked, horrified, and slightly panicked, remembering Obi-Wan mentioning that one of his children had been on Alderaan.
"The entire starfleet couldn't destroy the whole planet. It'd take a thousand ships with more fire power than I've..." Han began to dismiss.
A signal started flashing on the control panel and a muffled alarm started humming.
"There's another ship coming in," Han told them.
"Maybe they know what happened," Luke said, trying not to believe that a planet had been destroyed.
"It's an Imperial fighter," Obi-Wan told them.
Chewbacca barked his concern. A huge explosion burst outside the cockpit window, shaking the ship violently. A tiny, finned Imperial TIE fighter raced past the cockpit window.
"It followed us!" Luke snapped.
"No. It's a short range fighter," Obi-Wan corrected him.
"There aren't any bases around here. Where did it come from?" Han snapped.
"It sure is leaving in a big hurry. If they identify us, we're in big trouble," Luke told them.
"Not if I can help it. Chewie...jam it's transmissions," Han said decisively.
"It'd be as well to let it go. It's too far out of range," Obi-Wan advised.
"Not for long..." Han said stubbornly.
Obi-Wan suppressed a sigh and turned Anakin to see the distressed look on his face and knew what it was about. "She wasn't on there," he quietly assured him.
Anakin looked at him. "She?" he questioned dully.
Obi-Wan merely nodded.
Han continued to gain on the tiny fighter. In the distance, one of the stars became brighter until it was obvious that the TIE fighter was heading for it. Obi-Wan stood behind Chewbacca.
"A fighter that size couldn't get this deep into space on its own," Obi-Wan said.
"It must have gotten lost, been part of a convoy or something," Luke said.
"Well, he ain't going to be around long enough to tell anyone about us," Han told them as he continued to gain on the fighter.
The distant star began to be distinguished as a small moon or planet. "Look at him. He's headed for that small moon," Luke said, pointing towards the moon.
"I think I can get him before he gets there...he's almost in range," Han said.
The small moon began to take on the appearance of a monstrous spherical battle station.
"That's no moon! It's a space station," Obi-Wan pointed out.
"It's too big to be a space station," Han dismissed.
"I have a very bad feeling about this," Luke said ominously.
"Yeah, I think your right," Obi-Wan agreed. "Full reverse! Chewie, lock in the auxiliary power," he instructed.
The Falcon shuddered and the TIE fighter accelerated away toward the gargantuan battle station.
"Why are we still moving towards it?" Luke demanded incredelously.
"We're caught in a tractor beam! It's pulling us in!" Han told them.
"But there's gotta be something you can do!" Luke cried.
"There's nothin' I can do about it, kid. I'm in full power. I'm going to have to shut down. But they're not going to get me without a fight!" Han told them.
Obi-Wan placed a hand on Han's shoulder to stop him. "You can't win. But there are alternatives to fighting," he told him.
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Imperial Officer Cass approached Governor Tarkin and Darth Vader.
"Yes?" Tarkin asked, awaiting notice that they had found the rebels.
"Our scout ships have reached Dantooine. They found the remains of a Rebel base, but they estimate that it has been deserted for some time. They are now conducting an extensive search of the surrounding systems," Officer Cass informed him.
"She lied! She lied to us!" Tarkin raged.
"I told you she would never consciously betray the Rebellion," Vader told him.
"Terminate her...immediately!" Tarkin ordered.
Before anyone could move to carry out the order the intercom beeped. Tarkin pushed a button and responded to the intercom buzz."Yes?" he demanded.
"We've captured a freighter entering the remains of the Alderaan system. It's markings match those of a ship that blasted its way out of Mos Eisley," an officer informed him through the intercom.
"They must be trying to return the stolen plans to the princess. She may yet be of some use to us," Vader put in.
Tarkin turned to him. "You have a plan?" he demanded.
"We'll have those plans back into our custody and another tool to use to find the rebel base, just leave everything up to me," Vader told him.
"If you fail, Vader, it will be your head served to the emperor, not mine," Tarkin told him.
Vader didn't say anything before he left the control room in preparation.