Chapter 8
"Level 11," proclaimed a sign hung on a gray door entering one of the main stairwells.
Luke and Andover ignored it and opened the door, silently passing through the threshold. At the same time, a small contingent of Stormtroopers barreled through from the opposite direction. The two Rebels were nearly flattened.
"Well that was close," Luke said, his voice echoing in the now-empty stairwell.
They began climbing the stairs.
"You should know, I am trained in hand-to hand combat," Andover informed.
"Oh," Luke said, barely interested.
"I was just gonna say if you get caught in a jam, I'm useful."
"Yep," Luke agreed. "You annoy the Imperials to the point where they can't think straight anymore. You know, that is a technique used by both Sith and Jedi called Dun Moch, using distraction and doubt as an offensive mechanism."
"I am an offensive mechanism in general…" Andover agreed.
The two continued walking up the stairs.
"Listen, Luke, wherever we go on this Star Destroyer, I take the lead. You are invaluable to the galaxy. I am expendable, a mere engineer. You, at all costs, must be protected."
"That's why I have this," Luke countered, gesturing to his lightsaber at his hip.
"And I have this," Andover said, tapping the side of his head. "You will stay behind me."
"You're as wanted as me," Luke pointed out. "You are one of the best engineers I know, you leveled a courthouse and killed many important people. You are just as guilty-"
"But worth a lot less."
Sighing, Luke changed the subject.
"You got the mind-reading thing down pretty well," Luke commended.
"Actually, I didn't learn that from your descriptions. There was this old Jedi pamphlet on the downed Cruiser, and I came across it in the wreckage. I didn't know I was force sensitive at the time, but I figured I'd give it a try."
"The Rebels let you keep a recovered piece of sensitive Imperial intelligence?"
"Oh, yeah!" Andover informed, like it was no big deal. "You can keep whatever you want as long as they don't know about it."
Luke smirked, but said nothing. They continued climbing the myriad of stairs. The repulsorlifts fell past them as they climbed, transporting everyone to the escape pods.
In a burst of inspiration, the Jedi soon came up with a plan of attack.
"Andover, what number level joins to the bottom of the bridge?"
"Eighty-eight, I think?"
"Let's split up there. You'll go across and check from the starboard side; I'll look in the port side. We'll meet in the middle, cross, and sweep the level."
Andover looked up thoughtfully. "You're going to have to give me a few minutes on Levels 88 through 90. That's where Star Destroyers house their Intelligence officers and command posts. I want to see what papers I can get my hands on."
"How do you know which level Intelligence is stationed on?" Luke asked, though he felt he probably already knew the answer.
"I told you. They let you keep-"
"Whatever you want if they don't find out," Luke finished for him.
Andover winked. "Precisely."
"Level 87," Luke announced. "We're almost there."
"Let's split up," Andover suggested. "See who's still here."
"I thought the plan was we work upward and sweep the decks," Luke protested.
"New plan. You go up to the bridge, make sure everything's secure. No self-destruct or anything. You work down, I'll work up. Then, we take this think back to the Hoth system."
"Sure," Luke complied. There probably wan't anyone left on any of the command levels anyway.
They climbed the last few feet, until they came across a door. It was different from the others. It was white, comprised of unusually thick durasteel, and padded on the outside. "88" was stenciled over a white plate bolted to the front.
It was almost like an airlock, as this vital room was probably airtight in case of emergencies.
Luke looked through the small window. At least a hundred people remained at their posts in this large white room. It had a huge projection of the galaxy on both side walls. People were seated on each side facing the screens. This entrance led to a path that split the room in two, with three lines of holo-consoles on each side. Luke whistled slightly in amazement.
"An airtight room," Andover surmised. "Open the door with the force and follow my lead."
Luke pushed in the door, and he ignited his lightsaber as Andover ran in. Everyone in the Intelligence room was too surprised to react.
"Reach for the stars!" Andover commanded, brandishing his blaster pistol. The Imperials slowly raised their hands.
"That was the worst double entendre I have ever heard," Luke commented as they scanned the crowd.
"You will stop what you are doing NOW!" Andover commanded, waving his hand. He lowered his voice. "Just watch," he whispered. "Arrange yourselves into a single file line on this center pathway!" he commanded the Imperials.
"You will not hurt us in any way," Luke said, using the mind-trick as a safety measure. The guards dropped their weapons and stood at attention, as the grumbling contingent slowly worked its way into a line.
"Who the hell are you two?" an adult woman asked.
"Oh, did we not introduce ourselves? I'm Andover Casimir. I was the one who destroyed the Chandrilian Capital Building. And this is Luke Skywalker. He fired the shot that destroyed the Death Star. And we have just nearly cleansed this beautiful ship of the evil crew inhabiting it. Count yourselves lucky you are not dead and are merely our hostages."
A collective gasp permeated the room.
Nice, Luke sent through the force.
I know! Andover replied telepathically. I should try this on my sister!
Andover walked over to the woman. She was considerably shorter than his 5 feet 11 inches, and he used that to his advantage.
"Who are you?" he asked.
"1st Lieutenant Lyudmila Trut," she responded, unfazed.
He looked at her, intrigued. "If you could pull your nose out of your ass and think about who's the good side in this war, you would be a great Rebel. I'm sure you would be paid well."
"Go piss up a flagpole," she retorted.
Andover smirked. "When Luke and I get this ship back to the Rebel base, I'll try it off the bridge. Is that an okay substitute? If not, I'd be happy to do it on your colleagues here."
Lyudmila opened her mouth, but shut it, unable to come up with a good retort.
"You know, Lt. Trut," Luke said, "I hear Finis Valorum said the same thing. Nothing." He got a high-five from Andover. With the situation under control, Luke left to check the other decks.
Andover went to one of the lockers in the wall, and began applying stun cuffs to people. He put one cuff on someone's left arm, and then connected it to the next person's right side, creating a human chain. The now-captors were slightly unruly, and it was probably because of Andover's caustic put-downs of the Imperial system.
He got a bit bored after a while, and sped up the process. But he stopped when he came to the last un-cuffed Imperial, a redheaded teenage girl. He confidently re-holstered his blaster.
"And who are you?" he asked.
"You don't need to know," she curtly replied.
"Are you related to that Emperor's Hand chick, what's her name…Mary Jane?"
"You mean Mara Jade?"
"Jade! That's the one. Her."
"You could say that," the girl responded. "I am Mara Jade."
Andover looked at her curiously, and laughed. "No you're not! She had green eyes. Yours are blue. How dumb do you think I am?" He secured the last stun cuff to her right wrist.
"Dumb enough not to notice my force presence," the real Mara Jade exclaimed coldly, striding forcefully into the command center.
Luke calmly opened the door to the bridge, and walked onto the central causeway overlooking the crew's pits below him.
Hands behind his back, he stood immediately behind the windowpanes and looked down towards the bow of the ship. The massive frame slowly tapered itself downward. This sleek shape stood for the Empire's true projection of power.
Until the Death Star, which he destroyed.
Luke smirked, remembering how annoyed all of the captured Imperials had been. Their friends, who were not at Yavin, crawled back to ships like this one.
He turned around, strolling back on the catwalk towards the upper level computer consoles at the rear of the bridge. All of the posts had been abandoned in a second, and most of the computer processes were still running. He looked toward the holocommunicators. In the frenzy created by the hull breach alarm, it was left on too. Luke fiddled with the dial, setting it to "Wide Angle-Level 88."
The holoprojector clicked a few times, and a grainy hologram shot up before him. The Emperor's Hand, clad in a black bodysuit, was standing across the room from Andover, holding a blaster in her hand.
Gasping in shock, Luke ran off the bridge toward the staircase.
Back in the Level 88 control room, you could hear a pin drop. Andover, on the port side of the room, watched Mara Jade walk fully into the room, shutting the door with the force behind her.
He was nervous, but he didn't let it show. He calmly joined his hands, letting them fall near his waist.
"Lieutenant Casimir," Mara greeted, her blaster pointed at his face.
"Mary Jane," Andover replied, purposefully saying the wrong name.
Mara's eyes narrowed to slits again. "It will be Commander Mara Jade, understand? Thank you."
"You're welcome. No trouble at all," Andover shot back coolly. Some of the Imperial bystanders snickered.
"That's enough out of you," she growled. "You are hardly in the position to be you usual insolent self."
"Should I be in this position?" he asked, vaulting up a small flight of stairs to a higher platform lining the wall. He then pulled his own blaster and shot hers, disabling it.
She dropped the useless weapon and activated her lightsaber.
"No. Reach for the sky, you Rebel scum."
Andover held his pistol in both hands, and pointed it at Mara. She grasped her lightsaber tighter and dropped into a combat stance.
"I don't think that is what I told you to do," she stated.
"It is," Andover sarcastically announced. "I'm pointing to the nearest planet's atmosphere. You just happen to be in the way."
Mara scowled, and jumped up onto the platform on Andover's left. He turned, keeping the blaster pointed at her chest.
"What are you doing?" she asked in a fake-sweet tone. "I don't see any planets there."
"I see two," Andover countered. "They're under that bodysuit." Infuriated, she let out a force scream and slashed at him. He jumped evasively down onto the main floor.
He smiled. This Dun Moch thing is fun, he thought."That lightsaber isn't much of a substitute for the Death Star," Andover remarked. "The planets are still there."
She back-flipped down to a spot between two rows of consoles and attempted a vertical slash at his head. He slid out of the way and fired two blasts, which were expertly deflected by Mara. One of the guards, still standing at attention from Andover's "stand down" order, was hit by the ricocheting bullet and collapsed.
"Nice shot," he remarked dryly, as Mara looked at the Imperial she accidentally killed. His words propelled her into a fury. She repeatedly slashed horizontally and stabbed at his torso. Andover jumped out of the way every time.
"That's strike one. The pitcher winds up…" Mara stabbed at him again.
"Hey batta batta, hey batta batta, hey batta SWING batta!" he mocked, likening her style to an improper shockball technique. Her anger flared again, and Mara continued trying to hurt him.
Andover reached out to Luke, who was running down the stairwell, through the force. Mara, however, noticed and created a force "wall," essentially blocking his transmission. At the same time, she yanked on his blaster with the force, pulling it to her hand.
Everything happened so fast that it seemed to blur. Andover, his blaster moving towards Mara, was unarmed. Instinctively, he used the momentum of Mara's force pull to assist a force push of his own. Just before it landed in Mara's palm, the blaster flew forward and into the garbage chute.
"Unwise," Mara commented."Your mediocre use of the force has left you unarmed."
"Better than you with two weapons," Andover replied. He crouched into a fighting stance, while Mara held her weapon in front of her. Amused, she threw her weapon aside and arranged herself in a similar stance.
"You want hand to hand combat, I'll give you it," Mara complied.
The cuffed line of Imperial personnel moved out of the way.
Andover blocked a swift pattern of strikes by Mara's arms and ducked below a kick. Spinning, he knocked her off her feet with a rotating kick to the calf, and pushed her back. As she slid back, she sent a reverse roundhouse kick into his stomach. He fell to the floor doubled over.
Mara lifted his injured body into the air with the force.
"Nice try," she mocked. With a flick of her hand, she ruthlessly threw him into the wall, hard. His head bounced off of the padding, and Andover fell three feet to the floor.
Mara stood, poised over him, calling her lightsaber back to her hand.
Meanwhile, Luke could sense that Andover was in trouble. He became worried when the force message was cut off. That either meant he was too injured to finish, or he was being masked by someone far superior in the force. It had to be Mara. That was the only explanation.
He ignored the last few dozen feet, and force-jumped down to the Level 88 landing.
"This is always the best part," Mara whispered quietly to herself. The Rebel was nearly unconscious at the foot of the wall, and she was about to do a major part in crushing the Rebellion. Once he was gone, he would be no threat to anyone.
She ignited the purple blade…
And it was crossed by a blue one. The Jedi's.
He frowned. "You want to hurt him? You're going to have to go through me."
Sorry about the wait. But review anyway!
-ClaptonJr.