Chapter 16

Reunions

Whatever hope they had in secrecy was gone now.

They knew that much.

They knew that even before the general alert sounded. Quietly capturing a few guards on a cell block was one thing. Escaping a prison riot was something that would get noticed no matter what. As their liftcar continued along, they all prepped their weapons, knowing that they would get used. It was Winter that was first to break the silence.

"Blast!"

"What is it?" Leia said.

"The lightsaber I smuggled in, it's gone. I must have dropped it in the fray!"

Leia closed her eyes and sighed. She knew that she should have used one of the other lightsabers they had. But for some reason, when grabbing one for Winter, she felt that it ought to be Qui-gon's. Now they'd lost it for good.

"You're better off with a blaster anyway," Biggs said. "The lightsaber was just supposed to be back up for the first part of the plan. That's gone out the airlock by now."

"Which brings us to a pertinent question," Bail said. "What is the current plan?"

"Get to a shuttle and hope that Kenobi came through on his end," Fett said. "If that tractor beam is still operational we won't be going anywhere."

"Obi-wan will do his part," Leia said then glanced to her father. "You were right to send me after him."

"He's one of the finest men I've ever met," Bail smiled wistfully. "It will be good to see him again after all these years."

"Yeah… about that," Leia said. "He might be-"

The lift came to a stop and the doors opened, presenting them with nearly an entire squad of stormtroopers. Before any of them could react, Fett shoved a fist forward and flames belched out at the soldiers. The stormtroopers stumbled over each other and ran, with Fett in hot pursuit. Leia, Bail, Biggs, and Winter just stared at the scene with a slight sense of confusion. One man chasing an entire squad, not something they ever expected to see.

"He certainly is brave," Winter said.

"Not going to do him much good if he gets himself killed," Biggs said. "I doubt that armor can take another shot to the chest."

"Come on," Leia said. "We have to try and find a hanger that…"

Her comlink beeped and Leia almost jumped. With any luck, it was good news from the Jedi she and her father had placed so much confidence in. While already moving out of the lift, she raised the comlink and answered.

"Obi-wan?"

"Sorry sweetheart Obi-wan is a little busy right now," came a voice that Leia couldn't quite place.

"Who is this?"

"Don't tell my you've already forgotten me!" the voice said. "After how close we got at the corner booth in the cantina?"

Without thinking, Leia's eyes darted to her father then shot back to the comlink. "Captain Solo," she said. "If I'd have known you were aboard I would have looked for you at the ship's lounge or perhaps the garbage chute."

"Seems like the kind of place we'd meet isn't it?" Solo's voice came. "Listen sweetheart, I just met with your Jedi friend and he's chartered my ship for your little escape. So if you can make it to Docking bay 327 I'll be your ticket off this thing."

"Captain Solo I've seen your ship, are you certain you've used enough adhesive tape and glue to hold it together?"

"I'm your best shot at getting away from here sister! Don't get snippy with me!"

"I wouldn't dream of it Captain Solo, we'll meet you there as soon as we can."

"Great, and try not to bring a platoon with you, getting out of here's going to be hard enough as it is."

"We'll try our best," Leia said as the transmission ended.

She then looked up to see her three companions firing curious stares her direction, particularly her father. Quickly Leia stashed the comlink away and started toward the nearest exit. Behind her, Biggs and Winter made some sort of comment about her needing a private conversation but she did her best to ignore them. Was it so wrong that she matched Solo's attitude? Especially when he was offering them a way out?

Such thoughts unfortunately, didn't have much time to germinate in her head as when they rounded the corner they came upon another detachment of stormtroopers; this one clearly looking for them. Leia had said that they'd do their best to avoid bringing patrols and now she had to find a way to make good on it.

Blaster fire shot from both sides and just as quickly, Leia and her father found themselves split from Winter and Biggs. Without having to say the words to one another they ran separate directions, knowing that they would all meet at the appropriate location when the time came. They had to.

Biggs' heart pounded as he raced with Winter alongside him. At some point they'd taken a wrong turn and now were completely lost. Every now and again they would pass a mouse droid and he longed to approach it and order it to guide them to the docking bay. Which would be a great plan if they weren't being chased by a squad of stormtroopers.

What really got him though, was the fact that based on some of the things he could overhear, some of them thought that Winter was the Princess. Given the resemblance they had to one another that wasn't completely surprising but still, even in these circumstance he couldn't help but find that amusing.

Up ahead a pair of blast doors began to close. Biggs looked to Winter and the pair of them charged forward, this was their best bet to get out and clear. Behind them the stormtroopers began opening fire again but the shots went wild. In an effort to hold them back long enough, both Winter and Biggs returned fire while running as well.

Winter got through the door first, followed by Biggs next, diving through just as the door pressed shut. He landed hard on his knees but quickly pulled himself up to a sitting position, resting for just a moment against the blast doors that separated them from the stormtroopers.

"Come on," Winter said, holding her hand out to him. "It won't take long for them to get those doors open again. We need to use this time to find our way to the docking bay."

"Right," Biggs nodded and took her hand. The moment he stood she broke into a run, leaving him to catch up to her.

In spite of the situation, Biggs smiled at her. Over the course of the last few days they'd been constant companions and barely had time to talk or get to know one another, yet as he ran alongside her, he realized just how close he felt to her. When this was over he really wanted to spend some actual, sit down get to know each other time with her.

Then his thoughts clouded when he remembered Luke was still aboard.

"Think about your friend later," Winter said, as if reading his thoughts. "At the very least you got through to him. Hopefully we can send a message to him once we're out and he can get free."

"I…" Biggs' first response was to tell her how unlikely that was considering he was now in the heart of the Empire. But when he looked at her normally demure face and saw actual concern, he smiled and nodded. There was always hope.

Which was exactly when the rounded the corner and came upon another patrol.

The pair dashed down the hall, both noticing markers indicating they were nearing the docking bay. With increased speed they barreled down the hallway and charged through an open door… and nearly plummeted to their deaths. Beyond the door the hallway ended and a chasm stretched out to swallow them.

The stormtroopers behind them opened fire and Winter jammed the door controls. That of course still left them tip toeing on a ledge. Winter tugged on his sleeve and motioned at the controls.

"There's no lock!" she announced.

Biggs nodded grimly and aimed his blaster at the controls, hoping to fry them on both sides. However, before he could, Winter took his blaster and aimed it away.

"That's also the controls to extend the bridge," she said, hitting the switch. "Think before you blast Darklighter."

The bridge began extending just as the door behind them hissed open. Biggs jammed door switch again, shutting it before the stormtroopers could get through, only to have it start snapping open yet again. Knowing it was only a matter of time before the stormtroopers got through, Biggs ignored Winter's admonition and blasted the controls.

The door remained shut, but the bridge was just shy of three quarters of the way across. Winter sighed and shook her head.

"What now?"

Behind them the door hissed a bit, the stormtroopers were already at work overriding the system. Biggs pried open the panel, intent on finding some way to override the bridge controls but blaster bolts rained from above as stormtroopers on an opposite and higher entryway had found them.

Winter returned fire as Biggs fiddled with melted wires and fried circuitry. He found a pair that he thought would do it but instead inched the door behind them open a bit more. Finally Winter grabbed his shirt and huddled them in the corner of the door's alcove as best they could.

"We're going to have to jump it," she said. "What I wouldn't give for a grappling hook and a fibercord right now."

Biggs stared down the bridge. They could get a running start but even then, the actual jump was a long way off. And they'd have to do it while getting shot at. He didn't like those odds one bit. But the door behind them had inched up enough that the stormtroopers could duck down through if they wanted to. They had no choice.

That in mind, and still huddled in the corner, Biggs leaned over and planted a quick kiss on Winter's lips.

"For luck," he said.

Her somewhat scandalized look quickly faded to determination and the pair spread out over the doorway, firing at the stormtroopers above for cover before breaking out into a sprint. Biggs reached the edge first and forced himself not to look at Winter or at the chasm below but instead just leap forward with everything he had.

The ledge hit him square in the chest but he made it, slapping his hands on the metallic floor and groping the threshold of the entryway for support. Winter came a second later, landing beside him and similarly struggling to pull herself up. Somehow she found purchase and lifted her body, then a leg over before flopping onto the solid floor and helping him up.

"I can't… I can't believe that worked!" Biggs huffed as they started down the hall.

"I never doubted it," Winter smiled.

"Must have been the good luck kiss," Biggs said.

"No, I used to do distance jumping in the Academy."

Even Boba Fett knew better than to take on a massive room filled with stormtroopers. Sure, given the right amount of planning and firepower he could probably have taken them all, but in the current situation he found the best strategy was to run.

The entire way he cursed himself for taking the job. If it wasn't for the ultimate pay out he knew lay in store for him at the end he would have put a blaster bolt into the Princess a long time ago. Hang the Rebellion and hang the Empire, her constant snark and attitude were almost too much for even him to bear.

Still, a job was a job and if he chose never to work again after this one was done, he easily could. With the payout he was offered he could buy Mandalore itself. Hell, he could buy the next few neighboring systems if he really wanted to.

All he had to do was see it through to the end. Incessantly whining princess or not.

After giving the stormtroopers the slip, Fett keyed up the comlink in his helmet, ready to find out where the hell she was and whether or not he needed to personally find them a ship to escape in. With that in mind, it was only with great annoyance when the voice that came over the other end wasn't the princess, but instead her obnoxious droid.

"Hello? I say hello? Is anyone there?"

"What do you want droid?" Fett growled. "Are you with the princess?"

"I'm afraid not sir," the droid said. "R2 and I are still stuck in maintenance! Though we did get a message from the princess to meet them at Docking bay 327."

"Then get off this line and get over there," Fett said. "I have better things to do."

"No! Wait! Please don't end the transmission! You don't understand! We can't leave, when the general alert came on they sent a pair of stormtroopers down here! They won't let us leave!"

Fett pursed his lips. The princess wouldn't leave unless they had the Death Star plans and those two droids were their only reliable way of getting them. He thought about telling the droid to deal with it himself but he knew that would probably get the di'kulta droid blasted. After a couple of moments to consider other options, Fett sighed and told the droid to sit tight until he got there.

Along the way, Fett stayed clear of the patrols. With each passing one he got the sense that more and more havoc was being raised across the station. Whatever the princess and her friends were up to, they practically had half the station clamoring after them. He could only hope he'd reach them in time to keep them from getting their heads blown off.

Finally he reached the droid maintenance bay. Giving his blaster a quick once over he took a breath and got ready to blast the unfortunate pair of stormtroopers that had been stationed there to guard the droids. Poor guys just drew the short straws that day so Fett would do his best to make it quick.

The door slid open and Fett froze where he stood.

Instead of seeing a pair of confused stormtroopers scrambling for their weapons, he was greeted with the sight of blood covered walls and four corpses laying on the ground with multiple stab wounds, lacerations, and plasma burns. One of the stormtroopers still had the plasma torch embedded in his face and he actually looked like one of the lucky ones.

On the far side of the room the R2 unit sat in pieces, disassembled by the Empire no doubt. However, Fett's eyes soon zeroed in on the shiny golden droid, standing next to the astromech, hands covered in blood.

"What. the. kriff. happened. here?" Fett said.

"Oh no! It was awful!" C-3PO said. "They decided they wanted to wipe Artoo's memory core and then one accidentally fell on the plasma torch while the others tripped into the screwdriver!"

For half a second, Fett actually tried to imagine events happening as the droid said but only an idiot would believe it. However, if they weren't freak accidents, then that really only left one possibility, one that made him almost wish it had been an accident. Slowly he drew his blaster up on the droid.

"How did you do this…why did you do this?"

"I don't know what you're talking about!" the droid said. "Declaration: I'm an interpreter, not a mass murderer!"

"…HK-47?"

The lights of C-3PO's photoreceptors blinked out a couple of times before coming back on only with an eerie red hue. The droid shuffled forward, shaking his hands slightly to remove some of the blood. Fett nearly pulled the trigger right there.

"Statement: You are correct Mandalorian," the droid said in HK-47's voice. "I am indeed responsible."

"Why? And how did you get… is the Princess's droid even there anymore?"

"Statement: C-3PO's memory and personality have indeed survived my… tagging along. He is fluent in over six million forms of communications, or at least he was until I deleted four million of them and inserted myself shortly before you awoke on G0-T0's yacht."

"Again… why?"

"Explanation: I knew that G0-T0 would likely still have access to my systems even after I rebooted my programming. Thus I copied myself onto your protocol droid should I be double crossed and destroyed by the fat droid."

Fett glanced around the room, particularly the computer.

"If you're programming can jump from mainframe to mainframe… why are you still in that protocol droid and-"

"Query: And not in the Death Star's main computer?" the droid said. "Explanation: While the idea of becoming the most powerful superweapon in the Galaxy and thus gaining the ability to obliterate billions of meatbags at once is not without merit or appeal, I find that such mass slaughter to be ultimately unfulfilling. I was programmed for assassination, killing in such a way that it's personal and intimate. No, I will be fine in a droid body. Besides, that's really an IG series droid idea wouldn't you say?"

Boba shook his head, trying to wrap his mind around such a thing. Sure he killed all the time, but he didn't take psychotic joy out of it. It didn't make sense for sentient beings and it sure as hell didn't make sense coming out of the mouth of a protocol droid.

"Let's cut to it then," Fett said, keeping his blaster aimed at the droid. "If this is some sort of grand scheme of yours… why am I here to see your handy work? Why reveal yourself?"

"Statement: While I am free of G0-T0's control, a number of his directives still infect my base code. Included in this is the desire to preserve the Republic," the droid said. "However, unlike G0-T0 I recognize that the best way to do that is to support the Rebel Alliance. Therefore I must to neutralize threats to its wellbeing."

"That doesn't explain a thing. I'm working with the Rebellion."

"Query: Are you?" the droid began to pace, his crimson eyes flickering with each syllable. "Extrapolation: Imagine you are the most feared bounty hunter in the known Galaxy. Imagine that you receive close to ninety percent of your contracts from not just the Galactic Empire but from Darth Vader himself! What would then, be the result of not only taking a contract from the Rebellion, but a contract that involved springing one of its key leaders from Darth Vader's clutches? What would you stand to gain by sticking by the side of said leader even after it became obvious that the payout for such a job might never materialize and would surely cost you more than it was worth? You would become an enemy of the Empire and on the personal kill list of the most dangerous man in the Galaxy. Conclusion: You are not working for the Rebellion. You are working for Darth Vader, no doubt trying to get the Princess to reveal the location of the Rebellion's hidden base."

Fett's finger curled around the trigger and his eyes narrowed at the droid. Under his breath he cursed his luck.

"You realize that now that you've figured it out," Fett said. "I'm going to destroy you."

"Statement: On the contrary, you're going to do what you were hired to do and aide the Rebellion," the droid said. "And you're going to start by helping me reassemble the R2 unit."

"How do you figure that?" Fett advanced a step closer. "What could you possibly say to me that will convince me not to blast you into slag right here and right now?"

"Sintas Vel."

Without realizing it, Fett lowered his blaster. Of all the things the droid could have said. Promise of wealth, luxury, or glory, none of those would have had any effect. But the name of his ex-wife had Fett listening whether he wanted to or not.

"Sin? What about her?" Fett said.

"Statement: G0-T0 has her. Or rather, he has conned a crimelord into capturing her for him, she's currently in a slab of carbonite awaiting you to ransom her," the droid said. "This was planned to have happened next year but G0-T0 accelerated his plans for reasons unknown to me."

"Why take her? What's she got to do with any of this or with G0-T0's damn collection?" Fett said.

"Statement: Oh it has nothing to do with her. It is all about you," the droid said, approaching the R2 and ensuring it's systems remained turned off. "Explanation: G0-T0 studied targets for years and laid subtle groundwork for their eventual capture well ahead in advance, so that when it came time, the target was drawn in and never heard from again. Sintas Vel was to be a trap set for you."

"Where is she?" Fett raised his blaster.

"Dismissal: You cannot threaten me with destruction if you intend to learn her location. She is safe for now, and will remain safe for the next year. A year you will spend in service of the Rebellion to earn her freedom."

"You can't do this to me!"

"Correction: Oh but I can. Meatbags are predictable creatures you see. You just need to know what drives them in order to control them," the droid said before nearing Fett himself. "Addendum: However I can tell that with you I will need to… sweeten the deal as they say. Therefore I present this to you."

The droid opened up a nearby draw and pulled out a lightsaber. Fett first questioned how he got it but realized it would have been easy. Nobody paid attention to droids after all. Upon closer inspection, Fett realized just exactly whose lightsaber it was. He'd memorized it from the time he was a child.

"Mace Windu's weapon," he said.

"Correct," the droid's eyes flickered crimson. "Query: Wouldn't you like to drive it through his still beating heart?"

"I believe we've lost them," Bail said as he and Leia peeked around a corner.

"I can't believe we don't have stormtroopers marching down every hallway," Leia said. "This place seems far too disorganized."

"Imperial arrogance," Bail said as they began to advance. "They consider this place to be the ultimate fortress so they barely contemplate the idea of it being attacked, especially from within. Half the soldiers here probably think this is some sort of drill."

Leia nodded and followed after him. As much as she worried about getting to Captain Solo's ship, she was at least grateful to not have been separated from her father yet again. Especially considering… no, she couldn't allow herself to think on Alderaan's destruction at the moment.

"So tell me about this Captain Solo," Bail said. "Apparently you're… acquainted."

"That's probably the best word actually," Leia said. "He helped me out of a jam on Tatooine and we shared a brief conversation together. It was only afterward that I found out that he had been chartered to fly an Imperial assassin, along with Artoo and Biggs' friend to the hands of the Empire."

"Biggs friend Luke," Bail slowed his steps slightly. "How did he get mixed up in all of this?"

Leia explained what few details they had to her father, noting the heavy lines forming on his brow. That the Empire would recruit a farmboy was strange but she couldn't fathom why it seemed so concerning to him. Eventually she would ask him about that, but for now she had other questions that weighed on her mind even more.

"How… how did you get here?" she said, already suspecting the answer.

"Darth Vader captured me shortly after we received the 'news' that your ship had been destroyed by asteroids," Bail said. "He and Tarkin attempted to… coerce me into reveal the location of the Alliance's base."

"Did they…" Leia folded her lips together as she thought on the Empire's interrogation techniques. "Are you…"

"Let's not speak of it," Bail said. "At least right now. They didn't gain access from me. Though what happened to our home was a result of their attempts. Tarkin intended to destroy Alderaan all along but he tried to get me to reveal the location to stay his hand."

"I'm so sorry."

"No," Bail stopped and gripped her shoulders. "I am sorry for what you had to endure. You've had to go through hardships on this mission that I never wanted for you."

"I haven't even had time to tell you about what happened to me," Leia said.

"You don't have to tell me," Bail said. "I'm your father. I can see it in your eyes. Your mission has changed you. Why else would you have a lightsaber now?"

Leia's eyes shot to the cylinder clipped to the belt she'd taken from a stormtrooper. It was far better than relying on the makeshift straps under her sleeve. She hadn't even considered what her father might think of the Jedi weapon or what knowledge it implied that she had with it in her possession.

"Obi-wan has convinced you to undertake Jedi training then?" he continued their path.

"I… I don't know," Leia said. "He wants me to but I haven't made up my mind."

"Obi-wan is a good man," Bail said. "And if it is what you want then I will support you in it. Just try to be careful, the Empire will seek after you more than ever if they learn that you are training to be a Jedi."

With almost a sigh of relief, Leia nodded. She still didn't know what she wanted to do but it somehow made her feel better, knowing that she had his blessing should she choose to go forward with the training. All the more surprising to her given the fact that she knew he was never entirely comfortable with her level of involvement in the Rebellion. He would much rather she stayed strictly on the political side of it.

"We will defeat the Empire father," Leia said. "With General Kenobi working with us we'll be able to ensure that those who died on Alderaan did not do so in vain."

"So he is Kenobi," a woman's voice came from behind them.

Leia and Bail spun around to find the red headed assassin standing there with a blaster pistol aimed at them. Though she looked disheveled and a bit ragged, she still had something of a smirk on her face after getting the drop on them.

"Imperial Intelligence will be most interested in learning how you found him the way you did," she said. "Drop your weapons. Governor Tarkin will be most pleased to have the two of you back in custody."

The more havoc wrought upon the station, the more he knew only Obi-wan could be responsible. Tarkin doubted of course. It had been so long since anyone had seen a Jedi that they had all forgotten what one could accomplish when given free reign. If left unchecked, Obi-wan could probably level the entire station by himself.

But that would not happen. Instead his old master would perish.

Darth Vader advanced forward, letting the feeling of Obi-wan's presence wash over him. Once again his instincts had served him correctly. He had considered chasing him down the station, following disaster to disaster but ultimately that would have accomplished little.

Instead he reached out with his feelings and let the Force guide him to this location. The place that would mark their final confrontation, one that he had yearned for, for nearly twenty years. The Emperor had sought in the early days to dissuade Vader from his obsession with pursuing his master but like so many things Vader went down his own path.

It led him to Obi-wan's birth world Stewjon, where he confronted Obi-wan's brother Owen. It led him Mandalore and a battle with Bo Katan, the sister of Kenobi's dear friend Satine. And it led him into a trap on Kessel where surviving Jedi attempted to assassinate him. After years of searching, Vader reluctantly conceded, at least out loud, that Kenobi had passed on. Yet in his heart he always knew they would meet again. And now his path had led him here.

He would never have guessed he would meet his old master in a docking bay in front of a battered Corellian light freighter on the Empire's ultimate weapon. Perhaps it was fitting that it would be so. A duel to the death on the symbol of the New Order with a reminder of the old times sitting only a few meters away.

The optics in his suit targeted the man before him though Vader did not need them to know that the hooded figure just on the opposite end of the room was Obi-wan. He could feel his presence, even shrouded in a bit of shadow and half his face covered, Vader knew it was him.

"I have been waiting for you Obi-wan, we meet again at last," Vader said as he strode over to his former friend and brother. "The circle is now complete, when we last met, I was but the learner now I am-"

The words caught in his throat as Obi-wan lowered his hood. Instead of seeing the wizened face of a man almost twice his age… he saw a man who had not aged a day. Obi-wan stood there looking exactly as he had the last time they had met. Straight shouldered, light brown hair and beard, and a thoroughly disappointed look upon his face. For a moment Vader suspected it to be a trick, a hologram, or some wizardry with the Force, but he sensed none of that. His eyes did not deceive him. Obi-wan had returned as though the last nineteen years had never happened.

"This is impossible," Vader muttered.

"As I taught you a long time ago my very old padawan," Obi-wan said as he dropped his robe altogether and ignited his blade, holding it out behind him in an attack position. "With the Force, only nothing is impossible."

A/N: Yeah, I know that this is quite literally the worst place to leave you guys hanging and unfortunately that is the good news. I cranked this update out because due to personal travels and other factors, I won't be updating again for at least two weeks, possibly longer. So I hope you all bear with me on this mini hiatus, I promise you'll all be getting the rematch this story has more or less promised you when I return. Thanks everyone for reading and commenting!