Chapter 105

AN: Thanks again to everyone who read and left reviews!

Soon everyone felt a slight shaking as the engines changed. That meant they had changed engines, which also meant that they were entering the atmosphere of Endor.

"I feel a bit more relieved," Cal admitted.

"Enjoy it while you can," another Rebel remarked. "The hard part is just starting."

Cal and Ari shared a glance at this remark. They both knew that he was probably right, but that did not help with their nerves. In fact, Ari felt her mild relief fade and the familiar nervous feeling take over.

It was like a knot in her stomach that seemed to then reach out and sometime her muscles seemed to ache from how tense she was.

Ari gave her head a very small shake. She was a Jedi. She was not going to let herself be ruled by fear or any nervous feelings. It not only clouded her connection with the Force, but could lead to more dangerous emotions.

Closing her eyes, Ari reached out with her mind and quickly found the Force. It was always there, surrounding her, moving through her, but connecting with it took a bit more concentration. In time, she knew it would be easier. She just had to keep practicing and training. One thing she had learned to do was to use the Force to help relieve herself of those unnecessary emotions. She closed her eyes and took in a deep breath before letting it out slowly. As she did, she willed her nervous energy to leave her as well so that she could stay focused for the task at hand. After doing this a few times, she could feel the tension leaving her muscles and the knot in her stomach disappearing as well.

She opened her eyes when she felt the ship touch down on the surface of Endor. "Well, this is it," she remarked.

"Yes, so you will need this." Cal reached over, grabbed her helmet from where she had placed it on the floor by her feet and put it on her head. He then knocked on the side. "Yep, it could be helpful."

Ari laughed at this and felt even more ready to face their task at hand. It would not be easy, but they had overcome obstacles before and they could do it again.

As the ship was powering down Luke, Han, Chewie, Leia and the droids came into the back.

"The shuttle is hidden by the trees here, and while we are relatively close to the shield generator, it is still going to be a bit of a hike," Han announced to the others.

"In other words, we are on the right side of the planet," Leia remarked quietly, clearly trying to tease Han a little.

"We're ready when you are, General," Major Derlin answered as he picked up his own pack that was at his feet.

"Then let's go; we have a shield generator to destroy," Han remarked.

The other Rebels picked up their bags as well and Ari rolled her shoulders, trying to position it comfortably. It was a bit heavy, but she knew that everything packed was necessary. She shifted slightly and felt her lightsaber brush against her leg. A small smile passed over her features. No matter what, the Force was with her, and with all the Rebels.

She glanced over at Luke and her smile faded. He looked worried and had a far off look on his face. Reaching over, Ari put one hand on his arm to get his attention. He gave a slight start at this and then glanced over at her.

"Are you alright?" she asked him, concerned. He was not usually so distracted. She wondered if it had to do with his feeling that Vader was close by.

He nodded and gave a small smile. "I'm fine." Ari raised an eyebrow at this, not completely certain. "I am," he insisted.

"Alright," she nodded, and then let her arm drop so that Luke could join Han, Leia, and Chewie. They would go first with the strike team and the droids would bring up the rear of the group.

Han led the group, followed by Leia, Luke and then Chewie. Behind these four were the members of the strike team. Due to the foliage, the Rebels had to walk single file. Following the Rebels would be the droids.

Ari paused for a moment as she stepped onto the ground. She pulled back her helmet slightly and looked up, an amazed look on her face. Yavin was like a jungle and while this was also a very green planet, it was much different. It was not as hot and humid and the trees were amazing. Not only were they large, they were also tall. Standing where she was, she could not even see the tops of the trees. She knew they sky was probably blue in color, but could not tell. The canopy of trees seemed to cover everything. However, sunlight managed to enter. It was fairly bright and Ari wondered how bright it would be without the trees there.

She walked to one that was very close and touched the bark. Even though it was not alive in the same sense as she was, she could feel the Force there. It was everywhere on this planet. It connected Ari to all the trees, plants and all the other beings on the planet. Endor was certainly full of life. She smiled slightly and patted the tree as she quickly slid herself into the line. They were walking down a slight decline and she quickly noticed that she could hear the songs of Endor's birds as well as insects and other creatures. She glanced over her shoulder to check on the Rebels and noticed that a few Rebels were in the back of the line, three of them walking behind the droids. All the Rebels had their weapons raised and ready.

They had not gone far when Han held out his hand to stop everyone. He glanced back at something he had seen once more, and then moved his hand to motion everyone to get down. The Rebels followed orders by quickly dropping to the ground. Ari followed suit as they others all dropped into a crouching position all of them being very quiet as they did.

"Oh, I told you it was dangerous here," Threepio remarked and Ari turned back to him, holding a finger to her lips. While the droid had not been too loud, it was better safe than sorry.

Ari was sad that she could not see what was going on. All she could see this low to the ground were the plants around her.

She shifted slightly and stood slightly so she was only half crouched. She saw Han, Leia, Luke and Chewie heading to where it appeared the path dropped off. They all got down low and looked down at something. While she was no longer upset about not being a part of the command crew, she did wish she could be there with them to see what was going. She tried to stand up a little bit more but then the Major, who was in front of her, pulled her down again, and then gave her a look. He did not have to say anything. She knew that he was telling her to stay down like Han had instructed. From this position, she could not see anything

It was so quiet, it was almost eerie. The animals of the planet were making sounds, but Ari did not hear anything else, though her ears were straining to pick up on something.

Then she heard the familiar sound of a blaster being fired. It could not have gotten more of a reaction if it had been right next to her. She was immediately on her feet. She knew that she was not supposed to, but she was worried about the others. She then heard someone shout something. It did not sound like any of the Rebels though.

She then saw Luke and Leia run down a small path and turned to the Major. She wanted to follow them. The Major sighed, and then nodded. Ari knew it would probably only her status as Jedi in training that allowed her these privileges, but at the moment, she did not care. She was very worried about her friends.

She got to the little area that the others had been looking from and saw Han fighting with one trooper. A streak of red caught her sight then as Chewie fired and hit a scout on a speeder bike. There was an explosion, but she in the best position to see it. She then started to run down the same path that Luke and Leia had just taken.

Ari heard the sound of speeder bike engines as well as a flash of white. There were of them. If they were able to tell anyone, this entire attack might fail. It would almost mean certain death for the fleet. This was the last chance they had. They could not let some foolish stormtrooper on a bike stop that.

She pushed herself a bit harder and half slid down the steep path down. While she still held her weapon in her hand, she knew she could not shoot at the troopers. There were moving too fast.

Then she heard Leia shout something, and then Luke's voice. "Wait, Leia!"

She got to the small clearing just in time to see two camouflaged figures take off on a speeder bike. Luke and Leia were going to try to stop troops from reaching base.

"Hey, wait!" she heard Han call. She turned to follow the sound of his voice. He was fighting another trooper. It had probably been his speeder that Luke and Leia had taken. The white clad man lunged at Han. For a moment, it looked like Han could be in trouble. Then Han grabbed the trooper's arm and flung him over his shoulder and to the ground. Once down, the stormtrooper did not move.

"Han, what happened?" Ari asked as she rushed over.

"You were supposed to stay with the others," he remarked, then sighed when she gave him a sharp look, hands on her hips. "I stepped on a stick," he admitted, looking a bit sheepish. "It broke and the troopers saw us."

Ari turned and looked at where Luke and Leia had taken off. The sound of the speeder bikes had already faded, the forest sounds now the only thing they heard.

She sighed then glanced back at Han. "So now what?" she asked. There were many options. They could attempt to follow them on foot, but there was no way they could possibly catch up to speeder bikes. They could make their way to the shield generator and meet Luke and Leia there. However, if the troopers did get the message out to others, the Rebels could walk into a trap. Even before Han spoke again, Ari knew what they were going to do.

"We wait."