Luke and Leia were soon separated when the ship rocked upon being hit by a shot from a pursuing TIE Fighter. While getting away from the station had been relatively easy since they'd been pretty much let go, they couldn't get into hyperspace until they cleared the asteroid field that had been Alderaan the day before. Apparently, the escape wasn't going to be nearly as easy as they thought, since the Imperials apparently wanted to convince them that they'd escaped rather than been let go, hence the TIE fighters which were rather easily dealt with, clearing the way for them to finally enter Hyperspace.
"So, what do you think, five random hops and a pit stop on that Force forsaken planet Myrkr to pop the homing beacon?" Luke commed his sister who was in the cockpit with Solo from the gun turret.
"No, we take the information in the R2 unit directly to the Rebellion. They'll be more likely to pay more for whatever solution to the problem we come up with if the situation is urgent enough." Leia commed back, smirking slightly at the aforementioned droid. "Besides, I'd love to see the looks on the faces of "dearest daddy's" friends when their precious "Princess" Leia demands a quarter million credits for the plans."
"A quarter million? They're worth a half-million at the very least!" Luke exclaimed as he hopped out of the gun turret and made his way back to his sister, slightly surprised that Leia would give something over for less than half it's worth. The droid that carried the valuable plans began to beep and whistle in an extremely irritated tone.
"What's he on about now?" Luke asked wondering whether it would be important or not.
"Artoo says that he can hardly believe that the two of you are the children of the late Senator Amidala, and that if the genetic analysis hadn't proven it to be so, he wouldn't have." the R2 unit's protocol droid tag-along replied.
"Genetic analysis? When did it have time to- Nevermind." Luke said, remembering how the droid had gotten within two inches of both him and his sister several times within the enclosed space of the Millenium Falcon since they'd taken off, any one of those times could've been it. He decided to ask a different question. "Why was he so interested in who our mother was anyways?"
There was a loud beeping and whistling noise from R2-D2.
"My counterpart says that he used to belong to Mistress Padme, that he served alongside your father during the Clone Wars at her behest, and that whoever raised you did a very poor job of it." C-3PO responded, hoping that the expression on his new master Luke's face didn't mean that he had offended him.
"Well, if your "Mistress Padme" hadn't trusted those shabla Jedi and lived to raise me, then maybe dad wouldn't have had to." Luke practically snarled at the droid.
The R2 unit backed off whistling and beeping something as he did.
"Artoo would like to know who raised you to be as ill-tempered and as ill-mannered as you are." C-3PO said over R2-D2's whistled protests which needed no translation.
"Boba Fett's a great man, and if you insult him one more time, you'll be scrap. Death Star plans or no Death Star plans. Understand me?" Luke said whacking the R2 unit on its dome with the unlit lightsaber that he pulled from his sleeve. R2-D2 wheeled backward warbling.
"Artoo apologizes and requests that you don't turn him into scrap. I'll have to request that you don't turn me into scrap either." C-3PO said. There was further warbling from R2-D2 "As a peace offering he has decided to offer you every holographic record he has of your parents which he has stored in my backup memory...Backup memory? What backup memory? I don't have a backup memory."
There was a further warbling from R2-D2, as well as something that sounded like a raspberry being blown.
"What do you mean my primary memory was wiped and replaced by language files the day the twins were born?" C-3PO whined as the R2 unit continued to whistle and chirp.
"I don't know what you're talking about you malfunctioning junk heap, there's no way I was built by a nine year-old, that's preposterous. Admittedly, the Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker was reported to have been a brilliant and resourceful mechanic, but..." C-3PO continued as R2 warbled at him in a mocking manner.
Luke and Leia watched the droids argue for a while, wondering at the revelation that the droids had belonged to their parents. Leia was a bit more surprised than Luke at this, because Bail had kept the droids for a number of years, and had given them to Captain Antilles as a gift at one point. She had used the R2 unit to hide the plans to the Death Star, because it had been convenient at the time.
"So, if what the R2 unit is saying is true, and the droids did belong to our biological parents..." Luke began wondering if he even wanted the annoying droids. Well, they were some sort of a family heirloom after all. Maybe after some major reprogramming...
"That means they're ours, and we could do what we like with them and any information they happen to be carrying." Leia said getting to the practical reason for claiming ownership of the pair of droids. Some of the leaders of the Rebellion might try to stiff them by pointing out that the droids belonged to them, since Captain Antilles had left everything he owned to the Rebellion in his will.
"So, how will we divvy them up after we sell the plans?" Luke asked his sister who had seemingly decided to pretend that she had never left his side.
"Dibs on the protocol droid." Leia said running over to the aforementioned droid and grabbing its left arm.
"Damn."
&!&!&!&!&
After a long ride, during which Leia found C-3PO's backup memory, downloaded everything on it, and began "improving his personality", they had finally reached the Rebel base on the fourth moon of the planet Yavin. The ship hadn't been greeted with any great enthusiasm, until Leia went on the comm and demanded permission to land. They had been directed to one of the Massassi temples which littered the planet, that had apparently been converted to a modern military base.
"Princess Leia, I'm glad to see that you're alive." One of the leaders said as he approached the small group consisting of Han, Leia, Luke, Chewbacca, and the droids as soon as they disembarked from the Falcon. "Who are these people that are with you?"
"General Riekaan, this is Han Solo, captain of the Millenium Falcon, Chewbacca, his copilot, and my brother Luke, and the protocol droid C-3PO. This droid here, is a matter we need to discuss." Leia said smiling sweetly at the man who had been one of the now deceased Bail Organa's best friends as she gestured to each member of the group in turn ending with R2-D2.
General Riekaan turned to Luke. Leia's brother? He had known that Leia had been adopted at one time, so it was possible. However, if the General remembered correctly, during Leia's long captivity at the hands of the notorious bounty hunter Boba Fett, she had been held there by claims of a fictitious brother. The boy however, did bear a slight resemblance to the princess...
"I'm General Riekaan, what's your name son?" The general asked, introducing himself to this puzzle before him, deciding that the smuggler and the Wookiee were beneath his notice for now.
"I'm Luke Skywalker." Luke replied wondering what Force begotten impulse had pushed him into using the name of his biological father. Oh well, the name Fett probably wouldn't be welcome here, and it was always good to have another identity to fall back on.
General Riekaan stared at the young man in front of him. The more he looked, the more physical resemblances to Anakin Skywalker he saw. The smile he'd given him after introducing himself was similar to that of Anakin Skywalker's, and brought out the young man's boyish good looks. There was something hard and dangerous about the boy though, something cold and unforgiving. He saw it in the way the smile didn't quite reach the boy's icy blue eyes, eyes that looked very much like Knight Skywalker's had near the end of the Clone Wars.
The negotiations on the price for the information on the Death Star shocked all of those who "knew" Leia. Eventually a price was agreed on, and the information was taken to be analyzed. Luke hung around somehow knowing a much larger bounty was headed his way. Leia sat beside her brother comforted by the fact that he was there, and wouldn't be leaving her any time soon. She would have to face what happened to her eventually, but for now, she was content to pretend that she had never left her brother's side.
During the briefing of the mission to destroy the Death Star, Luke offered to destroy it for two million. The Rebel pilots who were going to do it for free were understandably shocked and outraged. One of them, a Tatooine native named Biggs stated that he was ashamed that he had even known him. Apparently, the Larses had visited the Biggs family farm quite often, long ago before Luke had "disappeared". A pilot named Wedge Antilles tried to sock Luke in the face only to find himself on the floor instead.
&!&!&!&!&
"So, let me get this straight. If I destroy the Death Star you will give me the two million, but only if I keep quiet about the payment and tell everyone at the meeting that what I said was a joke made in poor taste." Luke said to a woman named Mon Mothma, who had a bounty on her head that was about equal to an eighth of what his Death Star take would be, ten minutes after the eventful briefing.
"Yes, that's pretty much what I said. Are we agreed?" Mon Mothma replied wondering how someone who looked so much like a cross between Anakin "Hero Without Fear" Skywalker and Senator Amidala could be such a cold-hearted mercenary.
"Deal. I will provide the necessary information to transfer the funds to my account upon my return." Luke said as he finally realized exactly why he had given the name Skywalker to the Rebels. If the name Fett ended up in connection with the destruction of the Death Star, dad wouldn't just loose business from the Empire, he would be in a shitload of trouble for raising the person who destroyed it as well. The sort of trouble that got one publicly executed in front of the HNE news cameras. Anakin Skywalker was dead, and in no risk of coming to any further harm.
Shortly after Luke sent Leia and an extra payment off with Solo, just in case the base got destroyed before the Death Star did, he walked up to the X-wing fighter he was supposed to be piloting. He waved off offers of a new droid, as the R2 unit he'd arrived with had gotten his biological father out of a number of near-fatal scrapes during the Clone Wars. A newer droid might be less effective.
Wedge Antilles and Biggs Darklighter came to get him for the remark he made earlier, and he apologized, "embarrassed" over the "poor joke" he had made. Both of them wished him luck and left, Biggs telling Wedge that Luke was a good kid when they were little, and that he'd forgotten about his friend's twisted sense of humor in the years since they'd last seen each-other.
Soon, it was time to take off and battle the mammoth battlestation that was rather uncreatively called the Death Star. The X-wings and Y-wings which were the only craft the Rebellion had that could get through the station's energy shields which had been designed for protection from bombardment by larger ships reached the trench to the exhaust port that was their target, many being lost along the way. Luke covered Wedge as he made his run, knowing he would fail and wanting to see how badly, and exactly how difficult the shot was in the conditions they were under. Wedge failed as expected, and they broke off for another run, Luke now knowing what kind of shot he was going to have to make.
There was nothing for it. He would have to take the "lazy option" as dad called it. Without using the Force, the shot would be nearly impossible. Especially now that there was an added element. TIE fighters, three of them. He briefly wondered why there was only three, and then realized that there had probably been a disagreement in command between the station commander and some surprisingly intelligent officer who had seen the threat had most likely been sent out with a small escort in hopes of his getting killed.
He began his run with Biggs and Wedge following right behind him. The TIE fighters followed. The lead, a TIE Interceptor fired, taking out Biggs. Next, it fired again nearly taking him out, and severely damaging his R2 uint. The droid had been useful, and good at fixing things on the fly as he'd seen when something on the craft had come loose. He would have to get it repaired when this was over, if he survived that was.
He pushed that extraneous thought and all others aside a moment later. He would have to focus on the shot he was going to make, and ignore the feeling that someone had locked him on target. He wouldn't focus on the fact that in a moment he was about to die. He refused to. There was only the shot he needed to take.
Suddenly, out of the sunside of the system, came the Millenium Falcon. It targeted on and fired at the TIE fighter on the right. The TIE fighter slammed into the TIE Interceptor in the center sending it spinning away from the Death Star and into the reaches of space, out of control. It wouldn't be nearly as bad for the pilot as it would be if he were in a standard TIE. TIE Interceptors were equipped with hyperdrives, unlike their exceedingly cheap short-ranged counterparts.
"You're clear, now blow this thing so we can go home." came Han Solo's voice called out over Luke's comm.
He smiled. It appeared that he owed the smuggler one. If his sister had hijacked the ship, the smuggler wouldn't have been in any condition to talk. He turned back to his task moving his targeting computer out of his way and calming himself so he could focus on the shot he was going to make. He focused until everything stilled, his hand on the firing controls. He reached the point of no return. He fired. The shot was perfect, he felt it. He broke off, Wedge and the remaining X-wings following him.
They just barely escaped from the range of the blast with the Millenium Falcon beside them.
Upon landing on Yavin 4, Luke dodged the crowd of cheering people who all rushed up to hug him or pat him on the back. If they only knew. He ignored Leia's protocol droid's whining at the tech crew tending to his fighter, and walked over to the lowered ramp of the Millenium Falcon. His sister raced out and hugged him. Solo followed shortly behind, reached out to ruffle his hair, saw the look on his face, and swiftly changed his mind. Chewbacca, having no second thoughts about such things due to his size and strength, did so.
"So, what do you want, ten percent?" Luke asked Solo wondering exactly how much of his bounty would be going to the smuggler as his share for aiding in the destruction of the Death Star.
"Actually I don't want any money for that. I did it for reasons of my own. Long story. Besides, you paid me enough to pay Jabba back and live off of for a while, to help rescue and look after your sister." Han said, smiling at Luke. He would be joining the Rebellion after he went back to Tatooine and paid Jabba. He owed it to Bria, even though the woman had double crossed him and gotten him on a number of smugglers' shit lists. Besides, Chewie wanted to join the Rebellion, and would be miserable if they didn't.
"So, you're going back to Tatooine?" Luke asked, knowing what the answer would be.
"Yeah, why?" Han asked wondering what the kid in front of him was going to get him into this time.
"Well, I sort of need a lift there so I can go and get my ship. I'll pay extra." Luke said smiling at the look on Han's face.
&!&!&!&!&
After the medal ceremony honoring the "Heroes of the Rebellion" Luke received his payment for his actions in secret. He tried to hand the medal back to Mon Mothma only to have her return it to him stating that even though he was paid, he had saved the Rebellion from destruction. Han, Luke, Leia, Chewbacca and the droids set off for Tatooine in the middle of the night while people were too tired from their partying to question their departure too much.
"So, why did you give the Rebellion that bullshit name?" Han asked the kid the instant they were in hyperspace on course to Tatooine.
"Well, my dad's kinda a persona non grata with the Rebellion for some of the bounties he took, and the name wasn't entirely bullshit, it was my name before I got adopted." Luke responded, smiling slightly because he had some idea where the conversation was headed.
"So, what's your real name now?" Han asked his companion, curious about the trouble-making kid who had just gotten himself into really hot water with the Empire.
"Luke Fett." Luke replied, noting that Solo had pretty much the standard reaction to his name.
Solo had jerked back, his eyes wide with surprise, his mouth gaping like a landed fish. He opened and closed his mouth a couple of times as if he was trying to find the right thing to say. Eventually he gained some semblance of composure.
"Damn kid, you know that if Fett hears you using his name like that he's going to kill you." Han said, having convinced himself that the kid had to be one of the biggest liars in the galaxy. Sure, he had some talent, blowing up the Death Star proved that. But, since he most likely had some nothing name that would leave most people scratching their heads and saying "Luke Who?" he'd apparently decided to use a name familiar to everyone in the galaxy and claim to be related. Why he was claiming to be related to the bounty hunter Boba Fett as well, he didn't know.
Luke just smiled and left the cockpit. Let Solo believe what he wanted to. The next time they ran into each other, he'd get one hell of a surprise. Leia sat waiting for him in front of the holochess board.
"I finally changed that protocol droid's personality into something more tolerable." Leia said smiling as she held up one of the tools she had used to work on C-3PO
"That's nice." Luke said noticing how R2-D2 sat near his longtime companion warbling mournfully "I don't think the R2 unit is happy about it though."
"He'll get used to it." Leia said with an odd look in her eyes. Suddenly she threw herself into Luke's arms and started crying. He had been waiting for this to happen. She would have had to stop pretending eventually. As she cried, he held her and comforted her until she was ready to talk about what she needed to.
&!&!&!&!&
At the end of the trip to Tatooine, much of which Luke spent talking to and comforting his sister, there was someone waiting in the docking bay when the Millenium Falcon landed.
Han descended the ramp first. He saw the armored man standing in front of the ship and knew that the confrontation to come would most likely be very bloody. Every time he'd run into Fett, there was some sort of trouble, and the bounty that was still on his head was somewhat lucrative. He sighed in relief when the man ignored him, continuing to stare at the ramp of the ship instead. The kid descended next, smiling the whole time. That poor kid, he was dead, and he just didn't know it. Fett never took to kindly to other people using his name.
"Hi dad." the kid called out grinning the entire time, while Han stared over at him with a look of pity on his face.
"Hello son." Boba Fett said as he embraced the boy who had some serious explaining to do, like what made him think he could blow up the Death Star in the first place, and why he was stupid enough to do so. Right now however, he was relieved that the boy was alive. Any discussions they had could come later.
He found himself watching in amusement as Solo fainted.
Chewbacca laughed. He'd suspected something along these lines since he'd caught the very faint, yet familiar scent on the boy in the Mos Eisley Cantina. It had been the reason he'd told Han to leave the kid behind.
Edited on 3/13/2012