Chapter 4 – The Rebel Infiltration

After a few hours, the nav-computer on her ship alerted Ashla Fett that she had reached the Yavin System. She pulled a lever and the ship dropped out of hyperspace. The first thing she saw was the planet Yavin Prime looming before her. Yavin Prime was a bright red gas giant, about 200,000 kilometers in diameter, with hurricane force winds and intense pressure making it impossible to explore. The planet had 26 moons, three of which were inhabitable. The innermost of the three was the fourth moon, which was comprised mostly of jungles and rainforests.

Five thousand years prior, Yavin 4 had been under the control of the ancient Sith Lord Naga Sadow, who ruled an army of Sith warriors known as the Massassi. Under his Empire, the Massassi built numerous temples to honor the dark lord. After nearly a millennium, the Sith Empire was driven off of the moon and the temples were deserted. One of the stone ziggurats, known as the Great Temple, had been recently inhabited by the Alliance to Restore the Republic. The temple was abandoned after the Imperial Death Star was destroyed in its attempt to annihilate the moon.

As Ashla flew closer, she could see the temple clearly. However, she couldn't tell if it was occupied or not. Just in case it was, she decided to land a kilometer away from the temple to avoid detection. There was a small clearing in the trees that was big enough to accommodate her ship. After she landed, she gathered up several tools and other supplies she might need on her expedition. Once she believed that she had everything she needed, she exited the ship and began to hike in the direction of the temple.

Ashla reached the edge of the jungle and peeked through the trees. She was right at the main entrance to the Massassi temple. What made her happy, however, was that there were two men standing in front of the large stone doors. They wore matching camouflage jumpsuits and helmets and carried blaster rifles. Just as Ashla had hoped, the Rebellion still had a presence inside the temple. She was certain that if she went in, she would find out where Han Solo was.

The only problem was getting past the guards and into the temple. Ashla could easily overpower them, but that would alert the rebels to her presence. But if she lured the guards away from the door, it would take too long to get the doors open, even with her code-breaking machines. She would have to wait for the doors to open by themselves in order to enter. She figured that the doors would have to open when the guards rotated, so that would be her best chance. Now, how would she distract the guards? Perhaps she could sneak up to the temple and then throw something against the wall. That would get their attention. She found a large rock on the ground and tested its weight. It was perfect for throwing.

Ashla circled around the base until she was no longer in the sight of the guards. Then she clambered up one of the diagonal struts until she was on the roof of the first layer of the ziggurat. She then crept along the roof toward the entrance, careful not to make any noise. When she was right above the guards, she sat and waited. After several minutes, she heard the heavy doors slide open. She looked down and saw two new guards begin to switch places with the old ones. Not wasting any time, she lifted her rock and threw it against the nearest strut. Responding to the sound of the impact, all four guards hurried away from the doors, brandishing their blasters. While they were investigating, Ashla lightly landed on the ground and ran through the open doors. As soon as she was through, she backed against the wall and listened to make sure no one had seen her enter. Satisfied that she had made it undetected, she snuck further into the rebel base.

The interior of the temple was comprised mostly of stone hallways lined with doorways leading to other halls and rooms. The base was mostly deserted, so Ashla didn't have to worry about being caught. If she did hear someone coming, she could always duck into a room until the person passed. She noticed that most of the rebels were teenagers or young adults. They had no military experience, they wore no armor, and many of their weapons were outdated. She couldn't imagine why the Rebellion would use such inexperienced and ill-equipped kids to fight the Empire.

Ashla arrived in a large, open area that appeared to have been converted into a hanger. Large stacks of crates were scattered throughout, and less than twenty X-Wing and Y-Wing starfighters were being serviced by a handful of technicians and mechanics, all in-training, of course. It seemed that the entire base was connected to this hanger; the commander center, barracks, mess hall, and infirmary all appeared to lead from some of the doorways around the hanger. Ashla began to wonder where she was most likely to find the information she was looking for. She highly doubted that any of the trainees would know about Han Solo, or even the location of the main rebel base. She decided to go to the command center, where she would find people who were higher up the chain of command.

Ashla didn't want to go through the hanger for fear of being caught, so she went back into the hallways and navigated her way around, using her best directional estimates to guide her. She got lost a few times, but she eventually managed to find her way. When she arrived at the command center, she was surprised by how empty it was. Not only were there very few rebels, but there was almost no equipment. There were five or six computers used for different purposes, a few holographic communications devices, and four officers to operate everything. Ashla supposed that most of the more advanced staff was at the main base, but, judging by what she had seen so far, the Rebellion appeared to be nothing next to the Empire.

Against the back wall were sealed doors leading to what Ashla assumed to be personal offices. Several young rebels were lined up outside of the office situated at the corner. Judging by their personal conversations, it sounded like they were waiting to meet with the base's commander, who would be arriving soon. Ashla realized that the commander would surely know where the main base was, or at least where to find Solo. She reached into her backpack and pulled out a small, spherical device. It was a little smaller than a human eye, made of a soft but strong polymer, and covered in microscopic fibers that allowed it to stick to fabric. It was a listening device. If Ashla could get it onto the rebel commander, she could use her comlink to listen to sounds around him, including secret conversations about the rebels' plans.

A moment later, Ashla heard heavy footsteps approaching from the hallway. She backed against the wall of the room she was hiding in and didn't step out until the coast was clear. When she stuck her head out through the doorway, she saw a large man with military-cut brown hair and a white jacket. Since she hadn't seen anyone else with white jackets in the base, Ashla figured that he was the commander. Quickly, she threw the listening device, which stuck to the jacket right underneath the collar. As the commander exited the hallway, the recruits fell silent and stood at attention. The commander ordered in a deep voice, "At ease. Thank you all for coming. Unon, I will see you first. Come." The commander went into the office, followed by a young man. The office door slid shut behind them.

Ashla crept back into the deserted room and pulled her comlink off of her belt. She typed in the listening device's frequency and held the comlink to her ear. A few seconds later, she was able to hear voices. She stood back against the wall and listened.

First, she heard the commander's voice. "So, Unon, why do you wish to join the Rebel Alliance?"

The young man called Unon replied, "A few years back, some stormtroopers occupied my homeworld. They were patrolling the streets, searching our homes, and interrogating everyone. Then they began to attack and arrest people they believed were conspiring against the Empire. My father was one of the prisoners taken off-planet."

There was a brief silence, and then the commander asked, "You say this happened a few years ago. Why did you decide to join now?"

"I had thought about joining the Rebellion, but I didn't think there was any chance that they would succeed. When I heard about the Death Star being destroyed, I realized that there was hope."

"Be that as it may, your story is one we have heard hundreds of times. Unfortunately, your reasoning is not sufficient enough to earn a place in our ranks."

Unon stammered a bit, "But this is what I want, more than anything. I want to fight!"

"For the Alliance? Or the Empire? We have had many recruits over the past year, some of whom turned out to be Imperial spies trying to gather information."

Unon began to panic. "I'm not a spy! I swear! Please don't hurt me!"

The commander's voice began to soften a bit. "Calm down, son. We're not accusing you of anything yet. We just want to make sure you're telling the truth. For now, you will stay here on Yavin, carrying out assignments as ordered. If you prove your loyalty to us and your opposition to the Empire, then we will talk again. Is that clear?"

For the next several seconds, everything was silent except for Unon's heavy breathing. Finally, the boy replied, "Yes, sir. Thank you, sir."

Ashla scoffed silently. No wonder the Rebellion was so small and weak; their commanders are paranoid that everyone is a spy, and they're scaring everyone away. Ashla then heard the sound of a chair scraping, presumably as Unon stood up and left. A minute later, the chair scraped again, suggesting that a new recruit had arrived.

The commander said, "Dotoo, I would like to thank you for the information you brought back from your mission to Christophsis. You have been a big help to us."

A woman's voice replied, "Thank you, sir. It's an honor to serve the Rebel Alliance."

"Yes, you have proven your loyalty. Now, we're sending you to the third planet of the Hoth System."

"Hoth?" repeated Dotoo. "Why would the Empire have any presence there? It's a wasteland."

"The Empire does not have a presence there; we do. You will join several other recruits at our main base on Hoth, where you will be officially inducted into the Rebellion."

Dotoo failed to hide her delight. "Oh! Thank you so much! I'm truly grateful, sir."

The commander chuckled. "Just don't mention it to anyone else on the base. We're still suspicious that there are Imperial spies among us."

"I understand, sir. I won't tell anyone."

"Good. Report to the main hanger at 0800 tomorrow. A transport will be waiting to take you and the other inductees to Hoth."

Ashla decided that she had heard enough. The main rebel base was on Hoth, and it was possible that Han Solo would be there, too. She snuck back through the base to the exit. After distracting the guards once again, she hurried back to her ship. She now had a lead to Solo's location. All she had to do was wait for that transport to leave in the morning. She would follow it to the rebel base, and then she could call Boba Fett when she found Solo. And if anyone got in the way, she would take care of them.

Luke Skywalker was lying in his bed in Echo Base. After a long day of reconnaissance, he was thoroughly exhausted. All he wanted to do now was sleep. As he closed his eyes and slipped out of consciousness, a sudden feeling of alarm awoke him. He looked around, expecting to find an intruder. But there was no one else in the room. All Luke saw was the squat, domed astromech droid R2-D2 in the corner on standby mode. Also, there were no alarms blaring, so the base wasn't being attacked. So, what had Luke felt?

Was it possible that the Force had spoken to him? Was it trying to warn him of a future event? If so, was Luke in danger, or was there something else going on. The feeling didn't feel necessarily bad, but neither was it entirely good. Did that mean that something was coming that was both good and bad at the same time? How was that possible?

Whatever it was, Luke could feel that his life was about to be changed, for better or for worse.

On the Executor, Darth Vader sat in his meditation sphere. He felt a disturbance in the Force. A new threat was rising. He couldn't tell what – or who – it was, but there was something familiar about it. He could also feel that the Force was very strong with it. Could it be a Jedi? No, the Jedi were extinct. Vader himself had made sure of that. But what if it was a new Jedi? Perhaps the Force-sensitive rebel pilot from the Battle of Yavin was growing stronger. If so, Vader knew that this person had to be caught.

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