Chapter 93 - Retrieving the Asset

"Hand me that Hex Wrench. Leia. Leia!" Han waved to get her attention.

Together they had found a nook in a tiny engineering bay where a ship rested. The thing was being taken apart for pieces. It was probably almost ready to be shoved off into one of the meteor belts that function as derelict graveyards when imperials decide they don't want to properly recycle their trash. Space litter! The ship needed a lot of work if it was ever going to fly again. When he finished hammering the giant crack in the hull, he'd need to install the somewhat outdated engine they found in a storage room. It all would go quicker if his assistant weren't so spaced out. "Leia!" He stopped to shake her.

Leia shook her head. "I'm sorry. It's the dark side. It's really strong here." She looked down and handed him an L-bolt.

Han didn't correct her. He just picked up the Hex Wrench, and went back down under the ship. He didn't understand how the Force worked, but he'd seen men who had head injuries in the war get spaced out like this. Whatever it was, the sooner he could get Leia away from it, the better.

"Hide. Hide now." Leia suddenly stood up as she warned him. Han reached up to grab the tarp that had covered the ship until they found it. He reached out and pulled Leia back in, under the tarp with him. She involuntarily fought him for a few seconds, then falling like a rag doll, landed on top of him. Whatever this dark side was, Han could tell it wasn't good.

Han put his hand to her lips to signal her to stay quiet, in case she woke up confused again. He could hear the sound of footsteps outside, and loud breathing from some kind of machine. The figure cast a quick shadow in the room, then walked on by.

Han breathed a sigh of relief. Vader, Sith Leia called him, had moved on. This meant they had another four to five minutes until he circled back around, and Han intended to use his time wisely.

"Wake up!" The lights in the tiny room suddenly turned on.

Obi-Wan blinked as his eyes adjusted to the light. A dark figure walked across his room and pulled clothes out of the dresser for him. It let off a cloud of worry he would recognize anywhere. "An-Anakin?"

"Luke had a vision. Rebellion squad eight needs assistance. I'm prepping a team. We're heading out." Obi-Wan recognized the commanding voice of General Anakin from the war. The one he'd use when everyone was stressed and needed a firm command to obey.

"Warned against this, we have." Yoda's ghostly voice came from over his shoulder. Obi-Wan looked, and there was a bluish version of the formerly green Jedi watching them.

Anakin sighed. "Leia is in that squad. We're going."

He turned and suddenly the tall ghost of Obi-Wan's former Master appeared in front of him with his arms folded. "It's too risky. You know dreams are about as likely to predict the future as a game of cards. Obi-Wan tell him. You could be putting her in more danger just by going."

Anakin put up a hand to block the ghost as he stepped through him. "No. We're going. I've said it, and it is final!"

Obi-Wan recognized that voice especially. It was final. Anakin can be especially stubborn when he gets something into his head.

Qui-Gon looked at him in earnest, begging him to say something.

Anakin saw this look and he threw out his best argument yet, "If it was Ella-Reese?"

Obi-Wan gave Qui-Gon a juvenile, apologetic look, similar to when he was a teenager and was caught out after curfew at the Temple. He reached out to slip on the shirt Anakin had pulled out of his drawer earlier. "Do we have the latest reports of the squad?"

"Yeah, Luke has it on the ship now." The two started to jog, leaving behind a pair of cross looking Force Ghosts.

"They're on our six!" Han shouted. "Get me that engine now!"

"Urph!" Leia fought with the weight of something behind him. "Okay now!"

Han pulled something on the panel in front of him, and… nothing. He hit the panel and tried again. Nope, it was still dead.

"I've got nothing. Are you sure you hooked everything up correctly?" he asked.

"You've met my brother and my dad. Do you think I wouldn't know how to install a Hyperdrive engine?" She responded.

Han rolled his eyes. "Of course not, milady." His head turned as an idea came to him. "Shut it down."

"What!"

"Shut the whole thing down. We're pulling it out. That thing is obviously A load of drutash castings. Put it, and everything you can into the trash chute."

"Uh Han. You know we're flying in space right now. We kinda need an engine to get away from that Imperial Destroyer, before our charges explode."

"We don't, actually." Han said proudly. "Just do it. I'll explain it to you later."

Leia let off a loud sigh from the back, and then she grit her teeth again. "This better work, or you're a dead man!" She threatened.

Han let out a dark laugh. If this didn't work, they'd both be dead. He reached up to set a few controls in-place.

From the back of the ship he heard a clink, clink, BANG, as the broken drive made its way down the trash shoot.

"Alright, how's this going to work?" Leia asked as she climbed into the copilot's seat.

"You got the whole thing in there? Fuel tank and all?" Han asked.

"Yeah, it's in there," Leia confirmed.

Han nodded. "An engine works by a very primitive system, actually. A chamber in the engine fills with fuel and an explosion pushes the turbines. Our trash shoot is now a tiny space filled with explosive, burnable trash."

"You're going to set it on fire!" Leia filled in.

"We won't have more than a single push forward, but it might get us a click away. You know, if we filled that trash shoot more…" Han's eyes glanced over to the left.

"No. No. No!" Leia insisted. "We talked about this before we left the dreadnought. It's the Force's will that we even got the chance… The intelligence that can be obtained will be invaluable to the Rebellion."

Han rolled his eyes. He can't say he was surprised she felt that way. "Okay, Hold on. We're about to gallop." Han pushed a lever on the ship to start the process.

"Huh!" Han tapped the screen in front of him. "Where did they come from?"

"The rebellion army. What the Crik are they thinking?" Leia swore.

"I don't know." Han uttered, then he shook his head. "We have to get a jump in before they start to fire at each other."

Leia nodded.

Han reached up and flicked another switch, then pressed his clutch.

Onboard the Mark II Assault Frigate, Anakin glared at the dreadnought on his screen. He was riding in the only ship in the Republic battalion he could claim so fast. The only one that stood a chance against that behemoth.

"They're onboard." Luke had identified, from their long range scanners.

He'd himself tried to reach his daughter over their bond, but something was getting in the way. It was making the father panic. His son, though, had a stronger connection to his twin, and Anakin would use it, once his son finished meditating. Luke had been very upset over his visions. Anakin knew how that could feel. So he ordered his son to meditate onboard the Frigate as they flew.

"Skyguy, there's a smaller fighter jet propelling away from them now." Ahsoka announced.

"It's heading away. Would be easy to take out with a cannon." Obi-Wan proposed.

Anakin was about to answer in the affirmative, to order them to shoot, when Luke emerged from his meditation. "No! Wait! Leia is onboard. That's them escaping."

"Really," Anakin tried to look into the ship again, but it was like he was looking in a dark room. "Alright, you know what that means." Anakin nodded to Obi-Wan who took up command.

"Fire on that Dreadnaught. Point zero zero one, up ahead. Now."

As the light beams from their ships cannons reached the imperial ship, there were beams of light as the ship broke into tiny pieces. It was as if their canon hit some kind of explosive on the ship. There were a few fighters stranded now, in mid space flight without a ship to return to.

Ahsoka began to air to the pilots a general message demanding their surrender.

Anakin turned around and walked off the bridge.

"Where's he going?" Ahsoka asked.

"He's going to find a shuttle, I'd imagine. He's going to go get Leia."

"Yeah, he's going to be surprised when he sees what Leia's got with her," Luke added. His master eyed him, wanting an explanation, and Luke decided it would be more fun to wait and let him find out on his own.

As their ship jumped away from the two opposing forces, Leia let out a "Whew!" She caught eyes with her companion, and they smiled at each other. There was a long moment as they sat there staring at each other. Leia couldn't keep it in anymore. She reached over and kissed Han on the lips.

Han seemed surprised at first, but as Leia got anxious and worried she had acted rashly, Han reached out and kissed her back. They kissed for several minutes, until they needed air. Then they'd separate for a few seconds, gasping for breath, before one of them would start kissing again.

She almost missed it. The clicking sound of another ship attaching onto theirs. But in the end she was glad she stopped. In the next few moments, a blond-gray head appeared and pushed open their hatch.

"Dad!" Leia screeched.

"Master Skywalker." Han ran around to help the older man come through.

"Leia, Han. It's good to see you. Your brother had a vision and we were worried." Anakin reached out to embrace his daughter. "We have an Assault Frigate, and when we get you two back, we can join the fight to defend Kashyyyk."

Leia blushed. An arm went up to brush her hair. "Actually, we have a valuable asset in the hold. It would be far easier if you would tow us back to the Frigate, then we can open the hold there."

Anakin reached out with the Force and sensed the darkness that was blocking him earlier. Reaching up to touch his lightsaber on instinct, he nodded to his daughter. Whatever it was in there, he did not want to face it here. Maybe not even on the Frigate with Obi-Wan and Ahsoka nearby.

"Go to my ship. Deploy the tractor beam. I'll make sure it gets a good grip." He ushered both Leia and Han out through the hatch with his arms. Only one of them needed to be onboard to shut down the engines and make sure they glided in on the tractor beam.

Anakin sat down and read the piloting controls, or lack thereof, and he let out a swear. This thing reminded him more of his old pod racer than an official vessel. There were no safeties, and as he learned when he tried to flip a few unresponding switches, no hyperdrive either.

"Guess we're going to have a happy landing then." He strapped himself into the seat, and used the Force to guide the ship along with his other vessel. There were only a few bumps along the way, mostly as he was entering the Frigate's bay doors. But he was able to walk off the ship in the end.

Leia had gathered a small team of forces at the foot of the ramp, by the time he stepped off. Their blasters and lightsabers continued to stay aimed at the door to the ship.

"Leia!" A very excited Luke ran in and hugged his sister. He was given a playful rub on the head by Han.

"Let's see what you've brought us," Obi-Wan said. Anakin had learned to trust the man, and he turned towards his children to make sure they stepped back.

"You have to understand. We had like no time. And he's got to have valuable intel," Leia prematurely argued.

Obi-Wan used the Force to open the hold while everyone around him continued to aim their weapons. There was a click and a hiss as the doors opened.

What happened next was a confusing mix of stomping feet and yelling of orders from superiors all around the bay. Anakin did manage to look up, as the men carried out a tall dark figure. Vader himself.

Anakin gave his daughter a look of shock. "How did you?.."

Leia shrugged. "He was becoming predictable, searching for us on that dreadnought. When we had the ship almost ready to fly, I laid bait by the hatch door, and then pushed him in." She paused for a moment. "I may have broken his collarbone in the process. He's got all that armor on, you wouldn't think he'd be so soft. But I heard something crack when I kicked him."

"Um-hmm," Anakin hummed in disbelief. Vader looked weakened slightly. His head was down and his frame was bent as he was forced to walk to a holding cell. Anakin forced himself not to laugh. It would be incredibly un-jedi-like to laugh at this. But he was very proud of his kid, at that moment. All he could think about was how, if he were the fallen-jedi turned sith, he'd stand no chance against Leia.

Hello, happy Star Wars day, May the fourth be with you all, lol

Anyways, in writing this, I was inspired to write Leia's reaction to the dark side kind of similar to a few of the less obvious types of seizures. Her brain isn't reacting well to it.

And I had the rebellion capture Vader here for a specific reason. A reminder, in this AU Vader is Tel-Mac, the Jedi who fell in chapter twenty four. Anakin is still on the Light side. I hope you don't blame me for skipping those capture scenes, I felt it would have a better flow this way.

Next chapter, I don't really have a feel for it yet, but I think we'll be back on Beskarn after the whole defend Kashyyyk thing. The Rebellion is going to ask for a favor. Anakin is going to get an idea, and his Force Ghost advisory pool is going to hate it. There will be a lot of drama. I'll see you then.