Chapter 13 – Return to Christophsis

The next few days saw Luke Skywalker, Ahsoka Tano, and the other rebel leaders planning the mission to Christophsis. It was not a particularly delicate operation; it was more likely that they would succeed (or so C-3PO calculated.) Nevertheless, the mission would require stealth and speed. Finally, the plan was set, and the team assembled. They were ready to leave.

The morning before the mission, Luke prepared himself for the imminent danger that came with every mission. It wasn't as much physical preparation as it was mental, however. Luke knew that he would have to be alert and focused at all times, and he would need the courage to stand in the face of death. As much as he wanted to avoid it, Luke had a feeling that someone wouldn't return from the mission.

He went to the hanger to meet the rest of the team at Ahsoka's ship. He paused, however, and strode in the direction of the Millennium Falcon. Han Solo and Chewbacca were loading crates onto the ship, which had recently been repaired. As Luke stopped near them, Han said, "Well, kid. This is it. Everything's fixed and ready to go."

In a last attempt to dissuade Han, Luke said, "Are you sure you don't want to stay? We could use your help on this mission. Besides, I think Leia will miss you."

Han laughed. "I doubt it. She's been wanting me to leave. She doesn't want me here."

"She does want you here," explained Luke, "and she'll be sad to see you gone. But since you're always saying that you're going to leave, and nothing will change your mind, she wants you to leave soon so she can get it over with."

"Maybe," replied Han, "but I can't stay here. I have to keep moving in order to survive. Besides, you don't need me anymore. You've got your Jedi friend to protect you now."

"So you've finally warmed up to Ahsoka?"

"Sort of. I still think that she might be trying to trick you, but every time she works with you it seems less likely. Still, you need to watch your back around her. If she is a Jedi, the Empire will be hunting her down. Besides, I think there are a few people in the Rebellion who don't want her here." Han's gaze shifted to the left toward Don Dain, who was skulking in the corner, watching the strike team prepare to leave.

Luke glanced at Dain, and then back at Han. "Thanks, Han. I'll take your advice. Maybe we'll meet again someday."

Han nodded. "Maybe." They shook hands and then Han and Chewbacca ascended the Falcon's boarding ramp. Within minutes, the ship was flying out of the hanger, taking Luke's friends away to some unknown place.

With the Falcon gone, Luke went to join the rest of the strike team at Ahsoka's ship. Everyone wore a standard rebel strike uniform, consisting of a large, white helmet, a tan jacket, a black vest, and grey pants. Ahsoka was the only person who was not dressed in this fashion. She wore her clothes that were meant to imitate her old Jedi outfit. She had also acquired brown wrist gauntlets with the rebel insignia sewn in. R2-D2 was also to be sent with them to help get through security checkpoints. He stood by Luke, warbling with excitement to be going on a mission.

The last team member to arrive was Leia Organa, dressed similarly to the other rebels. Ahsoka called for a final head count to make certain that everyone was present. Altogether, they totaled fifteen. Then she told everyone to file into her ship and find a seat. Most of the rebels found places to sit, but some of them still had to stand. Ahsoka climbed into the pilot's seat and Luke the copilot's. Ahsoka started up the ship's systems, and then took Luke by surprise by saying, "I sense that you're troubled about something. What's wrong?"

Luke answered, "I'm just sad to see Han go. I was so sure that he cared enough to stay, even though he wouldn't admit it."

Standing behind them, Leia said, "He does care, but he has other problems of his own he has to fix. I admit I will miss him, in spite of his sarcasm and such."

"Don't worry about him, Luke," said Ahsoka. "If he's a true friend, you may still see each other again."

Luke nodded. "You're right. But this isn't important right now. We've got a mission to complete."

"Good, you're staying focused." Ahsoka yelled to the other rebels, "All right, everyone, we're taking off now." Slowly, she guided the ship out of the hanger and fired the engines. They ascended through Hoth's atmosphere and flew into space. Finally, they jumped into hyperspace, heading for the planet Christophsis.

A few hours later, Ahsoka activated her ship's cloaking device just before they dropped out of hyperspace. It was then that Luke caught his first look at Christophsis. In his opinion, it was one of the galaxy's greatest natural beauties. The planet was completely covered in bluish-green hexagonal crystals, ranging in all sizes. The native Christophsians mined these crystals for raw materials and minerals, using them to create industrial materials to be exported. They built cities into and around the natural formations, using the largest crystals as the foundation and support of the buildings. One of the largest cities was Chaleydonia, more commonly known as Crystal City. It was also the rebels' destination.

Following the rise of the Empire, Christophsis was one of the Republic planets forced under Imperial control. The Empire seized control of one of Crystal City's towers and turned it into a listening station, bristling with the latest technology to intercept and trace communications, track and identify starships, and transmit data to tributary stations throughout the sector. The tower was forty stories tall and forty meters wide, and had three walkways leading out to three smaller towers, each of which were half as tall and wide as the main tower. Each of the smaller towers housed an immense power generator, and Anti-Aircraft gun emplacements were situated on their roofs.

Thankfully, the rebels' ship was cloaked, so they could not be seen by the guns or the Imperial sentries. Ahsoka carefully guided the ship to a landing at the base of the main tower. As she powered down the ship, she said, "The cloaking device will only last for two hours at most, and the Imperials may still find the ship, so we need to be quick."

Luke asked, "Shouldn't we land farther away from the base? The ship would be less likely to be discovered."

"Perhaps, but then we would be more likely to be discovered. There's no cover until we get to the base. We'll have to risk it. Don't worry; if they do manage to get into the ship, they're in for a little surprise." Ahsoka walked up to the hatch and said loudly, "Make sure you all bring everything with you. We won't be coming back until we finish the mission."

Each rebel was equipped with a standard Alliance-issued blaster, and some of them also carried backpacks filled with thermal detonators, which they would need to destroy the Imperial base. Ahsoka had explained to them, "Remember, we don't have very many bombs. They are to be placed only at the supports at the base of each tower and on the power generators. These crystals will be tough to break."

The rebels exited the ship and stole stealthily toward the nearest secondary tower. R2-D2 quickly plugged himself into the astromech socket next to the door. After a few seconds, the doors opened, and several of the rebels stormed in ahead of the rest, ready to shoot any Imperials that happened to see them. There were a few stormtroopers in the ring-shaped hallway, but they were dead before they could react to the intrusion. Other stormtroopers heard the shots and rushed in to fight the rebels.

Both sides were shooting at each other, and many of the stormtroopers had taken cover in the recessed doorways. Ahsoka had drawn her two lightsabers and was deflecting shots that came at the rebels. As the number of enemies dwindled, she charged forward and began to slice and stab the stormtroopers. Pretty soon, they were all dead. Incredibly, no rebels were killed in the battle, and they were all astonished to watch a Jedi in action.

But there was no time to savor the victory. Ahsoka ordered, "We need to keep moving. Group One, find the tower supports and set the bombs. Group Two, get to the power generator in the center of the building. You know where the critical points are. Now, move!" At Ahsoka's command, the rebels ran to perform their separate tasks.

While the first group found the crystalline tower supports, the other rebels had to take an elevator to the fifth story in order to reach the power generator room. It was a large, circular chamber that was a full ten stories high to accommodate the giant reactor. At the base of the reactor were several computer consoles used to control the mechanism, and the upper floors had walkways that reached the generator for the convenience of the maintenance teams. The rebels hurried to place their bombs in the prescribed locations.

Once everyone had finished, they met up outside the generator room. Ahsoka said, "That's it for the first tower, but we've still got three to go. We'll take the elevator to the walkways and reach the second tower from there." So the rebels moved on, eager to complete the mission which was already looking successful.

No one was aware of what was happening outside.

The cloaking device on Ahsoka's ship unexpectedly sputtered and died, leaving the ship exposed to view. A group of stormtroopers had already seen it and were preparing to investigate. They approached the entry hatch cautiously, half-expecting some rebels to jump out and surprise them. "Set your weapons for stun," ordered the commander. "We're to take them alive."

Some of the troopers stood against the side of the ship on either side of the hatch while another trooper prepared to open it. "Be careful," warned one trooper.

The stormtrooper pressed the button to open the hatch, but it didn't work. "It's locked, sir," he told the commander. He examined the panel next to the hatch and reported, "It's an electronic combination lock."

The commander said, "Slice the panel. Get the hatch open."

Another trooper came with slicing tools meant to hack into the computer. He removed the panel covering, exposing the wires underneath. As he tried to hook the handheld code-breaker to one of the wires, however, he was electrocuted and thrown back in a shower of sparks. The trooper convulsed briefly before he fell unconscious.

The stormtrooper who first tried to open the hatch examined the panel. "Whoever programmed this, made it highly electrified. We won't be able to hotwire it. But we may still be able to cut through the door."

The commander ordered, "Get a fusion cutter and cut this hatch open."

A third stormtrooper approached the hatch with a fusion cutter and inserted the tip into the gap between the hatch and the frame. He activated the tool and began to burn through the lock. Pretty soon, the hatch came loose and was pushed into the ceiling. The stormtrooper squad then entered the ship.

Unseen by them, however, the cutting of the locks and the opening of the hatch triggered another system that had been added by Ahsoka. A one-minute countdown began, and wouldn't stop unless a security code was entered. As the stormtroopers searched the ship, one noticed something on the computer. "Sir, it appears that all of the computer data is being transferred away."

"To where?" asked the commander.

"We can't tell. But it says here that the transfer is almost complete."

Another stormtrooper in the cockpit reported, "The homing beacon has been activated."

Sure enough, a homing signal was being sent somewhere, and the stormtroopers didn't know where.

"What's going on?" the commander asked himself. He never got his answer. The countdown ended, and the ship blew up in a massive explosion, taking the stormtroopers and part of the main tower with it.

Alarms blared throughout the Imperial base as a result of the explosion. The tower swayed slightly, throwing everyone off-balance, and then righted itself. The walkways to the other towers buckled and bent. Crews rushed to the base of the tower to put out the fires and assess the damage. Part of the tower's foundation and support had been destroyed. However, no one suspected an attack because no one who saw the explosion survived. Everyone assumed that there had been an accident.

But it hadn't been an accident, as Ahsoka knew. When the rebels reached the walkway from the first tower, they looked down and saw the explosion site. "That's where the ship was parked!" exclaimed a rebel. "They blew it up!"

"Yes and no," said Ahsoka. "I actually rigged the ship to explode if someone broke in, as a security measure, of course. That's part of the reason I chose to land at the base of the tower. If the Empire did break into my ship, it would explode, and the tower would be damaged."

Luke looked at Ahsoka with newfound respect. He had to admit that her strategy was a smart one. There was only one problem, as another rebel pointed out. "But if the ship's destroyed, how are we going to get off the planet?"

"We'll have to steal one from the Empire. But let's not worry about that now. Let's finish the mission, for starters."

Luke said, "They probably know that we're here. Maybe we should split up."

Some of the rebels expressed their disagreement, believing that they had a better chance if they stuck together. But Ahsoka agreed. "Luke's right. We have even less time than we did before. So, we're going to split up by groups. Leia, you lead Group One and Artoo to the tower to the left, and Luke and I will take Group Two to the tower to the right. We'll meet back at the main tower and set the bombs there together."

The two groups were organized and they set out in separate directions.

Back at Echo Base on Hoth, the rebels were excited about the mission to Christophsis being led by Ahsoka Tano. They were all awaiting news of the mission's impending success. The only person who was not happy was Don Dain. He still couldn't accept that an actual Jedi had joined the Rebel Alliance. And, what was worse, the Jedi was training Luke Skywalker to be a Jedi like his father.

Dain remembered Anakin Skywalker with distaste. Unbeknownst to the other rebels, Dain had been a Separatist Admiral during the Clone Wars. Even though he had been very young at the time, he was respected for his tactical and military knowledge. That is, until one fateful day when Dain's fleet was sent to attack a medical station and secure the Republic's supplies for General Grievous. But Anakin had also been sent to retrieve the supplies for a starving planet. After a long and pointless chase, Anakin tricked Dain and escaped with the supplies. Because of Anakin's treachery, Dain lost most of his forces and his mission failed. For that, he was punished by General Grievous and lost his reputation.

After the Clone Wars, Dain joined the Rebellion, hoping to begin a new Jedi-free life. Then, just before the Battle of Yavin, Luke Skywalker joined the Rebellion, and Dain figured out that he was Anakin's son. Remembering his suffering as a result of Anakin's actions, Dain immediately took to loathing Luke. He never saw him as a threat until Ahsoka showed up and began to train Luke. And now, everyone was talking about the Jedi in the Alliance, and was inadvertently constantly reminding Dain of his hatred toward both Anakin and the Jedi.

When he learned that Ahsoka and Luke would both be going to Christophsis, he decided to sabotage the cloaking device on Ahsoka's ship, hoping that they wouldn't be able to return. But Dain knew that the Jedi were too clever for that. They would find their way back, Luke would become a Jedi, and, when the Empire was defeated, Ahsoka would train more Jedi, and eventually, there would be hundreds of Jedi all over the galaxy. And Dain could not tolerate that vision. He had to act. But how?

Darth Vader stood on the bridge of the Executor, overseeing the Imperial fleet. The disturbance in the Force was becoming much too strong, and Vader wanted to be the first to hear any news that might be connected to it. For the past few weeks, nothing had happened, and Vader was losing patience. And all Imperial officers knew that when Vader lost patience, he would release his anger – onto one of them. That being said, they worked tirelessly to please the Sith Lord.

"Admiral!" called a voice. "You may want to see this!" Vader recognized the voice as that of Firmus Piett, captain of the Executor.

Admiral Kendall Ozzel went to join Piett at one of the computer stations. After a moment's silence, he breathed, "This is incredible. Who sent it?"

"We don't know, sir," replied Piett. "Whoever it was, used a secure frequency. We cannot trace it."

"Then it could very well be a trick," deduced Ozzel. "Do we have proof that this message is valid?"

"No, but we could send a team to investigate."

"Investigate what?" Both officers were surprised to hear Vader's deep voice behind them. They hadn't heard him approach them.

Piett explained to Vader, "We received this anonymous tip. We were unable to trace the transmission to its source, so we have no way of knowing who sent it."

Vader read the message on the computer screen. It said, "A Jedi survivor named Ahsoka Tano has joined the Rebellion and is training Luke Skywalker, the rebel pilot who destroyed the Death Star, to be a Jedi. They are leading a mission to destroy the Imperial base on Christophsis."

When Vader had finished reading, Piett added, "If it's of any interest to you, Lord Vader, we have received word of an explosion at that same base several minutes ago."

For a full minute, Vader was silent. No one was able to see his expression behind his mask, but they figured that he was not happy. Their guess was correct. After a long thought, Vader turned to Ozzel. "Adjust course, Admiral. Signal the entire fleet to go to Christophsis immediately." Without waiting for a reply, Vader turned and strode toward the doors of the bridge. Before he left, he added, "Have my squad of Star Troopers meet me in my personal chamber, and send word to our bounty hunter agent. Tell him to rendezvous with the fleet over Christophsis and report to me as soon as he lands."

Once Vader was gone, Ozzel began barking out orders to the officers on the bridge. Vader seemed to believe the message about the Jedi survivor, and was intent on stopping her. The entire Imperial fleet jumped into hyperspace en route to Christophsis.

In case you haven't guessed yet, Don Dain is the same one who appeared in Chapter 2 of my first story, The Clone Wars: The Final Season. There you can find out exactly what happened to make him hate the Jedi. The rest of his story will be told in time.

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