By the time Anakin headed for the engines, he sensed Luke on the way. There was a second magna rail car straight for the Executor from the Emperor's palace. He'd given them the codes and maps to reach it, as well as the back door schematics. Luke would be coming in nearer the command section and they would make sure the computer virus was propagating through there, as well as sabotaging the weapon batteries.

Anakin sighed, deeply. The quiver of the Force warning him had not faded. Striding through the Lusankya to the engines, he cast his senses out for the danger, trying to pinpoint it. But there were places he couldn't seem to touch, whether due to the Dark Side or something else. Working on the engines, he took a short cut. He repurposed a couple of droids to help. He knew the weak spots of an SSD's engines, none better, for the Lusankya was twin to Vader's own ship, Executor. And he had always made sure he was an expert on his own ship and his ship's power.

When Luke and Han arrived with Artoo, the massive malfunctions in various ships systems began. Confusion reigned among the crew as they sought, initially to find the bug. But when system malfunctions led to explosions, the stormtroopers and security led the charge to investigate and the prisoners were locked down. By the time they found external communications down from internal sabotage and jamming, they were scattered. Leia and Ahsoka made short work of the remaining prison guards, who weren't out chasing computer gremlins. Blaster fire bounced off walls and the malfunctioning holocams were blown away completely as Ahsoka's lightsaber deflected shots. Leia had a training saber, but she was busy blasting away with her gun in the other hand and taking down guards. She hurried to release the locks on the cave like prison. Confused faces peered out.

"We're here to rescue you!" She called.

For an eternally long moment, no-one moved. The poorly clad prisoners were barefoot, battered and poorly clothed in prison garb. To them she was an apparition.

"Princess?"

"General Dodonna!" Leia gasped, surprised to see a man she thought long dead. "Help me! We need to get everyone out."

A prisoner objected, "Princess, if we resist...we're dead. They'll take it out on him..." he motioned to the General.

"Leia, remember, they don't know where they are!" Ahsoka reminded her.

"Listen, you're on a ship...buried under Coruscant. It's a Super Star Destroyer and if it lifts off or starts shooting it will kill billions!"

"Impossible!" Someone scoffed.

"Not impossible! We had intel...but we couldn't confirm. The Alliance already has a team on the planet to get the shields down! We are taking this planet back from the Empire!" Her brown eyes narrowed insistently. "If we don't stop them, they'll wipe out a good chunk of the city on the way out!"

"I believe you, Princess." Dodonna said firmly. "What do you want us to do?"

"Help us sabotage the guns. We've already got someone sabotaging the engines."

"You sure he knows what he's doing?"

"Definitely." Ahsoka said.

"Are you really a Jedi?" Someone gasped, eyes falling on the lightsaber at her belt.

"Yes. I am."

Dodonna organized them into teams. Leia took one group, Ahsoka another. Leia started to work her way back toward the engines, directing her ragged group of rebels to destroy blasters. Thanks to their short work in taking out the guards, they had weapons and every stormtrooper that went down, another prisoner was armed.

Ahsoka headed with the somewhat larger group to the front of the ship. Eventually, she'd meet up with Luke and Han and the group was subdivided further.

Somewhere above the timer had ticked down. Rogue Squadron had managed to infiltrate a program into the computer core that let them hijack certain operations. And to top it off, they had their X-Wings smuggled in and destroyed the shields. The Alliance fleet roared out of hyperspace and took on the skyhooks, battle stations, TIE fighters from the system's base and the stationed orbiting star destroyers. Civilian traffic in space dodged frantically to escape the battle and air traffic in the atmosphere at all levels dodged wildly for the nearest landing places, hiding places and secure bunkers. X-Wings and TIE fighters mixed it up in the atmosphere. Soon they were joined by Y-Wings, B-Wings, A-Wings and assorted Alliance freighters armed to the teeth. There was no avoiding catastrophic side effects. Debris from explosions reigned down on the city and smashed through skyscrapers. Coruscant had not seen such intense action since the end of the Clone Wars.

Meanwhile, Lando and Chewbacca had roared out of hyperspace at the nearest system accessible in the deep core. Accessible wasn't saying much. Their eyes widened and Chewbacca let out an alarmed howl. Somehow, for all of Anakin's warnings not to underestimate Thrawn and company, they had not expected this. A battle fleet sat there and was charging toward them, obviously aimed for Coruscant and with hyperdrives already beginning to activate.

"Yow!" Lando whipped the ship around, for a split second wondering about those other nearby star systems. If this is what awaited them here...the idea of what might be waiting to jump out of the other nearby systems was terrifying. He and Chewbacca evaded weapons fire as they leaped back into faster than light speeds. For a long, stunned instant they stared at the hyperlanes rushing past. They looked at each other with matched alarm in their eyes.

On the Lusanyka, the engines began to thrum. Anakin's eyes rolled around, almost holding his breath. He knew he'd succeeded in destroying the repulsor cradle linkages but was it enough? The whole city around the ship rocked and quaked. Building shook and rattled crashing down on hapless victims. But the ship did not lift off. It tried to shoot it's way out of it's imprisonment and in some places this worked. It's engines tried to fire and heated up. They began to melt through the building's foundations behind it. But less then half the guns fired. Between viruses and battery sabotage, the rebels had done there work. Maybe it would be all right after all. Even as he thought it, he felt that ominous chill again. They were missing something.

Leia brought the training lightsaber up. It was blue and bounced weapons fire aside before she brought it down through another generator. She was down to only a few allies now. But what happened next she couldn't have predicted. The woman came in, Isard herself, weapon pointed at her. Leia spun toward her, lightsaber leading and suddenly hit the floor as something hit her from behind. She looked back in horror to see one of the former prisoners had attacked her. He had a strange look on his eyes. Isard was smiling coldly. Leia battled up from the floor, but she was at a disadvantage. Still, she'd never fought so hard or well. A kick here, a twirl of the training saber knocked two troopers out, but suddenly she was on the floor with Isard pressing a blaster to her chest as the lightsaber spun out of a suddenly numb hand. Isard was no longer smiling but she snarled "Bring her. We've lost our weapon and my ship but we won't leave without a consolation prize."

Leia reached into the Force, calling Luke...calling for help...calling Ahsoka...and wishing she'd had a real lightsaber.

Isard yanked her along charging through the corridor toward the hanger. She had an escape route.

"I warned you." The blue skinned man stated calmly, as she stormed into the hanger. His red eyes were narrow. "If Lord Vader is with them, he would know this ship as well as his own."

"Stop gloating and move your fleet in!"

"They are already on there way. And I have people hunting Lord Vader...with an edge."

For the first time, Leia reached into the Force and awkwardly called Anakin, trying to warn him.

Luke was racing for her position but he was on the other side of a ship the size of several city blocks and several floors away. Ahsoka was closer, Leia could feel her. Both had to battle through an armed crew, even the standard engineering and crew members had been armed.

The impending sense of danger was hammering at Luke and Ahsoka, binding them in the Force with a terrible sense of urgency.

Anakin had felt Leia's warning. He also felt he was being hunted. Nonetheless, she was in danger. And he could no more ignore that then he could turn himself into a Naboo swamp bird. His lightsaber was out now and singing a deadly humming song. He gave himself to the whirlwind of the Force, and Force sprinted to the hanger, deflecting blaster shots into every stormtrooper who saw him and took a shot. He charged in as they were shoving Leia in a shuttle. Coming from the side, he charged to cut them off, slamming a deadly blow through one of the stormtroopers and taking off the other's arm. Leia hit the ground, rolled and called the training saber to her hand from Isard's belt. She started deflecting laser blasts. What was that odd, hindrance in the Force? She grabbed a blaster and started shooting one handed. She had a growing sense of danger. Remembering Obi-Wan's lessons, she knew she shouldn't call on the Force in this when she felt her fear and anger rising. But it was no small thing to fight that and the external battle as well. Something to mediate, when she had time. If she had time. She saw Anakin out of the corner of her eye. He managed to move between her and most of the blows. She was backing away quickly. Ahsoka was coming, her presence a fast moving blur in the Force.

The shapes of the stormtroopers charging them were odd. A lizard like creature hung on a peculiar backpack they each carried. The Force was flickering like a short circuiting light. They were moving to block Leia and Anakin from the exit they backed toward and they were going to succeed. Both knew the risk and knew it was better to go down fighting.

Anakin's speed suddenly increased. His lightsaber became a blazing blue blur. No-one looking on would've thought the lizard like creature was having any effect on his powers. But in reality he felt weak. His breath felt short, he felt light headed and confused. Ysalamiri. The name finally floated up from his Jedi studies. Creatures that somehow blocked the Force. Probably perfectly explainable had the Jedi ever cared to research it scientifically. They had not. But he had a few advantages that went beyond the Force. Sheer, stubborn will power and combat experience counted too. He used every bit of it now. But they were still going to block them from the exit. Finally Anakin put everything he had into an overhead power leap and roll. He hit the ground perfectly balanced but very hard, slicing clean through the two nearest stormtroopers with ysalamir that were blocking the door. He leaped and kicked another, hit the ground and rolled, tripping two, was up again and charging. A shot got through, then another but Anakin ignored it.

Leia was at the door. She looked back.

"Go!" He roared. The troops were gaining again, Thrawn's troops, too kriffin many, he thought...moving to intercept and they would succeed. He scooped up a blaster. Leia was just on the other side of the door, waiting, motioning to him, shooting, resisting the need to fall back...Ahsoka was nearing, he could feel her flicker of presence in and out as he killed ysalamiri and stormtroopers. Ahsoka would be facing these things too. He aimed, fired in a single swift motion and blew out the door controls. Leia yelled as it thundered shut, leaving him trapped with Thrawn and Isard.

Anakin decided to go for the throat. Take out the leaders and distract the enemy. He charged for them, a whirlwind of death. He wasn't angry or frightened now, only determined. He wasn't happy about the death, he hated it, but he accepted it. They would not take his family and it would be better to go down in a blaze of glory then be taken alive. His shoulder blazed where one shot had hit home, another spot burned where one had glimpsed him. Something slammed into him from behind, they were trying to pile on him now. The hard stock of a rifle hit him and pain exploded in his head, making him dizzy. Suddenly a massive shock jolted him from behind and he lost his breath and went down, consciousness fading away.

Leia had almost frozen in shock as stared at the door. The sense of danger flared brightly as she was separated. She spun around looking for another way back to a hanger. She didn't take time to consider if she was afraid for Anakin for his own sake, or if it was the fear for what it would cost the Alliance. The shocking realization that he'd just sacrificed himself shook her. She was racing along connecting corridors which were nearly empty. Most of the troops were already in that hanger or dead. Ahsoka charged up so suddenly she nearly shot her.

"What happened? Where's Anakin?"

"In the hanger! Locked in, with them! Thrawn and Isard!" She came to life again, running for another route to the hanger.

"I'm having trouble sensing what's going on in there..." Ahsoka fretted, running alongside her.

Leia panted out a response. "There was...some kind of creature. The stormtroopers were carrying it. Whenever it got close, it got hard to sense the Force."

Ahsoka palmed a door switch, raced through a series of connecting rooms and suddenly her stride checked, for just a moment.

"Is it possible? To block the Force somehow? Or was it just me...he certainly didn't slow down..."

"There are creatures that affect the Force. It's possible."

"But it didn't seem to affect him...he didn't slow down..."

"I can't feel him." Ahsoka whispered, slowing to a walk. Her eyes were wide with fear.

The two hit the hanger bay from the side. They quickly dispatched the few stormtroopers with lizards on that side, but there were many more on the other, just breaking through the far door. But the thing that made there blood run cold was the sight of the shuttle vanishing out the door.

Ahsoka opened her mouth and Leia cried out "No!" Ahsoka yanked her back as the stormtroopers pursued.

"We can't let them take him..."

"Alive?" Ahsoka's voice shook.

"Maybe he isn't?" Leia couldn't believe she was saying it. Her own voice seemed to come from far away.

"I think he'd prefer that. But if so, there isn't a body. And even if he isn't...we can't let them have his body." Ahsoka's fists were clenched.

"Why not? Never mind. I don't need to know." Leia's voice shook with fear. "I saw the look on his face when they said the order was to take him to Byss."

Luke nearly collided with them as he came down from a Force sprint. "Han's getting your assorted surviving prisoners out, including General Dodonna. Where's Father? What's happened?" There horror was obvious, he knew something was wrong.

Ahsoka grabbed his arm, propelling him to the entrance they'd used. "They got him."

Luke froze, nearly toppling at her pull. She yanked and he followed, shaking his head. " No. No! We have to rescue him!"

"Not here. Not now. Those creatures block the Force and they have too many. We won't help him by getting caught too."

"There has to be a way."

They signaled Rogue Squadron as soon as they were clear, Luke ordered them to intercept and stop the shuttle. He swallowed hard and looked at the others. "We want them alive, Wedge...if possible."

"I can't guarantee it, but I'll try."

to be continued