Disclaimer: I don't own Evangelion or Star Wars. Just this story.
Authors note: I am back. At long last, I have returned. You can thank straightedgebigevil for the PM that finally got me back to working on this. I'd been working on other stuff so long, and putting this chapter off. I'm sorry. Also, gotta thank Nickelback again, for their music inspires me in this story.
So, last time we left off, an alarm in the Death Star had just gone off. Keep in mind, this is not Episode IV. This is in fact the event that leads to the opening events of Episode IV, which will take place a good deal after this chapter.
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"What's going on!?" exclaimed Shinji.
"Sir!" came a voice over the intercom.
"What happened!?" demanded Shinji.
"It's a breakout sir!" explained the voice. "All the prisoners have escaped from cell block 21-8G!"
"Seal off the exits!" ordered Shinji. "Get all available men down there to suppress the-"
"Sir! The prisoners have armed themselves!"
"Then move on the double!" exclaimed Shinji. "I'll be there right away!" He contacted Alex and Red, telling them to organize the soldiers. He ended the transmission, and grabbed his helmet. "I do not need this right now!" he said, jamming his helmet on. He grabbed his blaster and ran out of the room.
'One moment worrying about his feelings for a girl,' thought Vader, 'Next moment off to battle. This is exactly what I was talking about.' He walked out of the room. He was sure Shinji could handle this himself, but he would be ready on standby if necessary.
Shinji ran down the stairs outside of the room, which was overlooking hangar 84-G. 'Why now?' he thought. 'Why does this have to happen right now?' He entered the hangar to find a scene of chaos. The Trooper who'd contacted Shinji hadn't been fast enough. Prisoners had already gotten out of the cell block.
Shinji opened fire immediately, shouting to his troops, "Set your blasters to stun! I wanna know who thought up this whole thing!" Shinji, up to this point, had never been able to use the stun setting on his blaster, always having to use his tranquilizers if he didn't want to kill. The only reason for this was because the stun setting emitted a very different looking blast than the regular setting, and it would have given away Shinji's merciful nature right away.
His men nodded, and set their weapons to stun. Luckily, lack of casualties made this a justifiable move. In a few short moments, every rebel was out cold. Shinji shuddered to think what would have happened if one of his men had gotten hit while using a stun blaster on the enemy. "Vader," said a voice behind him, speaking Shinji's thoughts, "Will not be pleased with this."
"And why not, Tarkin?" asked Shinji, turning around. Tarkin
"If one of your men had been killed by those Rebel scum," said Tarkin, "You would have been blamed. Using stun on an enemy who has no intention of sparing your life, is an idiotic-"
"It worked didn't it?" asked Shinji. "Now shut up, make yourself useful, and start dragging these Rebels to a secure location. I need every spare man I can getting these prisoners locked up again."
"How dare you order me?" asked Tarkin. "I am-"
"Very high ranking, and an important figure in the Empire," said Shinji. "I don't care. At this moment, and considering the current situation, I am the commanding officer here. So unless Vader or the Emperor says otherwise, you're going to have to do what I say. Understand?" Tarkin narrowed his eyes.
"Yes sir," he spat. He began helping certain Troopers Shinji selected to move the unconscious Rebels. Shinji picked out another squad to come with him to cell block 21-8G.
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A blaster shot hit right next to Misato's head. She shot back, taking out the Trooper who'd fired. "Damn," she said. "That one was close. Pfft, stupid troopers. Vader's Fist, huh?" She blasted another one. "If this is the best they've got, we can win this war easy."
"This is only working," said a young man next to her, "Because we caught them totally off guard. Do you know who I've heard is at the base?"
"Who?" asked Misato, ducking behind some crates for cover while she loaded another blaster clip.
"I've heard that they have a general here," said the man, blasting at a Trooper. "A general of legendary calabur."
"So what?" asked Misato. "He's just one man. What can one guy do?"
"I am just one man," said her partner, "And you know what I can do." Misato nodded. "And besides," continued the young man, darkly, "He's supposed to have been the general who was at the Jedi Temple when it fell."
"What!?" exclaimed Misato, almost dropping her gun. "But, the only general who was there... they say he took out the most Jedi besides Vader himself!"
"Exactly," said the man, handing her something wrapped in some tan-colored cloth he'd ripped from his own tunic. "Which is why you need to get out of here with this now."
"But," said Misato, "I can't leave you and the others behind. I helped plan this thing, I-"
"You are forgetting that this is the reason for the break out. With this, we can deal a crippling blow to the Empire. Besides, I sense someone else here. Someone worse than this general." Misato's face went pale.
"Y-you don't mean..." the man nodded.
"I'll cover you," he said. "Just go. I will start heading for hangar 85-G. I'll create a distraction there. You head for 83-G as quickly and stealthily as you can, alright?" Misato nodded. "May the Force be with you." The man jumped up and attacked the oncoming Troopers. Misato, left with no other choice, stayed hidden and began moving away from the battle. Unfortunately, to get to 83-G, she'd have to go back through the cell block she'd broken out of. 21-8G.
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The cell block was more chaotic than the hanger had been, Shinji quickly decided. This riot was much worse than he thought. He quickly radioed some of his men. "Don't bother trying to contain them at the cell block! Repeat, don't waste time containing the cell block! Concentrate on locking down sector G from the rest of the station. We can't stop them from getting out of the cell block, but we can stop them from getting out of this sector."
"Yes sir," said the Trooper on the other line. Shinji put down his communicator and started blasting. There were so many of them! Shinji rolled behind a control panel as a Rebel blasted at him. He took out a stun grenade and tossed it. It exploded, taking out 6 Rebels.
"Sir!" came a voice over Shinji's communicator. "We've just received intelligence from a roused prisoner. The Rebels are after the Death Star plans! We can't let them escape with those plans at any cost!"
"Understood," said Shinji. Suddenly, Shinji heard a voice from down the central hall of the cell block.
"I've got them!" said the voice, clearly female, "Cover me!" Shinji jumped up from his hiding place. He saw a purple haired woman in the direction of the voice, and started running towards her.
"Trooper!" exclaimed a Rebel. "Get him!" They began blasting at Shinji, who rolled out of the way and into an empty cell. He peeked out, at which point the Rebels blasted instantly. He was pinned down.
Meanwhile, as Misato and the other Rebels kept back the Troopers, one of the Rebels came up with a plan. "Permission to carry the plans commander!" he called in a loud voice. Shinji tried looking out to see who'd spoken, but was forced back into cover again.
"What?" hissed Misato, "Are you crazy? I have to-"
"It's the only way," whispered the Rebel, winking. Then, in a louder voice, he called, "I'll head to 85-G with it, like planned." Misato nodded. Shinji looked out just in time for her to hand him something.
"Permission granted," she said. They ran off in separate directions, her to Shinji's left and him to Shinji's right. He finally rolled out of the cell and blasted, taking out all of the Rebels in short order. He ran to the end of the hall.
"Damn," he said. This was one of the most treacherous areas in the station. It seemed to be some sort of reactor or power room. That's not what concerned Shinji. What concerned him was the fact that there were only narrow walkways with no railings between everyone there and a seemingly bottomless pit. Plus, the walkways were sometimes hard to distinguish from the walls, which were a light green color with several white lights. All in all, a very flawed room.
Shinji was snapped from his thoughts by blaster fire. He blasted back. It was almost impossible to avoid killing someone in this room. Even if he stunned them, there was a good chance they'd fall to their deaths. Shinji's men seemed to realize this, as the switched back to standard blaster mode. Shinji, instead of fighting, decided it would be best to follow his primary objective: recapture the plans from the Rebels. He saw the man he was after already halfway to the end of the room. Shinji ran after him full speed. Shnji blasted at him, but missed due to the stun blasts lack of range.. The Rebel, now quite aware that someone was after him, blasted back at Shinji. Shinji jumped back, carefully avoiding the edge of the walkway. The Rebel kept running. As he past the door, he blasted the panel. It took out the small bridge that connected the walkway to the next room.
"Ha!" called the Rebel. "Take that Storm Trooper! No man can make that jump!" Shinji didn't respond. He started running forward. No time to go get a jump-pack. The Rebel would be long gone by then As he was running, Shinji got a transmission.
"Sir!" said the voice. "The Rebels have taken control of the fire-control room."
"I think I'm headed towards it now," said Shinji. "Don't worry about it."
"But scans indicate the walkway is out!"
"I know," responded Shinji. The Rebel was still laughing.
"You can't make it!" he warned. "Don't try it!" Shinji didn't falter. Something about his confidence made the Rebel take a step back. Shinji reached the edge and jumped. The Rebel's mouth dropped open as he took another step back. He was to shocked to raise his gun and blast Shinji out of the air. Shinji cleared the chasm and landed right in front of the Rebel. Shinji looked at him and delivered an upper-cut. The Rebel was knocked back a few inches, and fell over. He scrambled to get up and get away, but Shinji was too fast. He grabed the Rebel and hauled him up.
"You'd best give me those plans back," said Shinji. Suddenly, there was blaster fire, and the wall next to Shinji's head was hit. Shinji ducked, letting go of the Rebel in the process. The Rebel made a mad dash to his comrades, who were aiming at Shinji. Shinji looked at them. 8 in all, and one of them was a Wookie.
"You picked the wrong day to get brave," said one of them. "Jumping that gap was impressive, but stupid. You're outnumbered."
"I've faced worse," said Shinji. Shinji got up and charged at them. They blasted, allowing the Rebel with the plans to leave. Shinji dodged their fire and blasted back. He stunned one Rebel and rolled out of the way of the retaliatory shots. He threw a stun grenade, knocking out three of them. He then took advantage of one of the Rebels who happened to be reloading. Quick as a flash, Shinji ran up and disarmed him. He grabbed the Rebel and held him in front of himself.
"Coward!" cried the Rebel. "Using a human shield!"
"Coward?" asked Shinji, aiming his blaster at the others. "Like I'm going up against a Wookie with no protection, right? Besides, in case you haven't noticed I'm not trying to kill any of you. I'm only using stun." He shot two of the remaining Rebels to prove his point. Now, it was just him and the Wookie. The man Shinji was holding struggled valiantly to get free, but was helpless in Shinji's vice-like grip.
Shinji and the Wookie were at a standstill. Neither wanted to fire: the Wookie because he didn't want to hit his friend, and Shinji because he wasn't sure if the stun blaster would work on the Wookie. Suddenly, Shinji threw the Rebel at the Wookie, then, taking advantage of the confusion, blasted at both of them. He knocked out the human, but, as he thought, the Wookie was still standing. Shinji shot him several more times, but it hardly slowed the Wookie down.
The Wookie tried firing back, but was out of ammo. He rushed forward at Shinji and tried to grab him. Shinji quickly dropped his gun. As soon as the Wookie reached him, he locked hands with him. The Wookie hadn't expected him to do this, so was rather caught off guard. The Wookie tried forcing him down, but found Shinji to be a lot harder to move than he thought.
"I've fought with Wookies before," said Shinji, "Back in the Clone Wars. They were such wonderful people." The Wookie was confused. What was this Storm Trooper doing? "Sure, we're enemies now, but I want you to know that I deeply respect Wookies."
"Rrrggg," growled the Wookie.
"Maybe I am trying to distract you," grunted Shinji. "However, the point I was trying to get at was this. My Wookie friends taught me a few moves." With that, he suddenly twisted at the waist, kicking out at the Wookie's feet as he did. It was a classic move used by Wookies when wrestling. Shinji used his opponents weight against him, and threw him to the ground. The Wookie was slightly dazed. Shinji pulled out his tranquilizer, which he always kept with him. He shot the Wookie a few times, finally knocking him out. He radioed back to his men. "I'm in pursuit of the Rebel carrying the plans. I may need back up, so hurry up and fix the bridge leading to the fire-control room."
He put his communicator away, looking at the giant cannon that was in the room. He'd once asked exactly what it was for. "For defense," Vader had said. Looking at it now, Shinji knew it was too powerful for just defense. What could a gun like this be used for? Why would they need something this powerful? Shinji looked closer at the gun. The energy source was showing. For some reason, it looked familiar.
However, he didn't have time for wondering what the weapon was for. While he rued the fact that he wasn't always told everything, right now he needed to get the Rebel with the plans.
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Misato dodged just out of sight, and watched two Storm Troopers run past her. 'That was close,' she thought. She could still hear the sounds of the battle behind her. 'I hope the others are all right.' She continued forward, knowing she couldn't stop. She had to get to hangar 83-G. She moved quietly through the corridors. Her friends were causing quite a distraction, as evidenced by the lack of Storm Troopers. As long as they led the Troopers all to 85-G, she could get away from 83-G no problem.
She kept moving, keeping a sharp lookout for the enemy. Suddenly, something caught her eye. Someone had left a surveillance room unattended, and the door was stuck open. She looked at the screens. She saw several shots of the battle. The whole thing was so chaotic that she couldn't tell who was winning. However, she eventually found a screen that was quite disturbing. It was labeled "fire-control room." She saw a lone Trooper take out 7 men, and then wrestle a Wookie to the ground. 'That's gotta be him,' she thought, not believing what she was seeing. 'That general he was talking about. What exactly are we up against?' She kept watching, following his progress through the corridors. She could tell it was him because he was alone, and because of the skill he displayed.
He moved through crowded corridors of Rebels, never once getting hit. He would practically plow through them. Misato paled as she watched. This guy was unstoppable! Suddenly, he was hit in the shoulder. Ha! So he wasn't perfect! Unfortunately, he hit the guy that had shot him soon afterwards. Misato kept watching for a few more moments, astounded. This guy must have been fighting for over 20 years. How could he still be this fit? He moved with the energy of a fresh young warrior, and the skill of a hardened veteran.
'That tears it,' she thought. 'I definitely need to get out of here before he finds out exactly what's going on.' With that thought in mind, she left the room, heading for the hangar.
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Shinji was holding his injured shoulder, pinned down in the hallway. He threw a grenade towards the Rebels, noting grimly that he was almost out. He had one left. The one he'd thrown went off, and Shinji kept moving. The hallway ended in stairs, which he ran up. He came into a room that was occupied by three Rebels. He took them out. "I'm almost at the hangar," he reported.
"Good," said Alex. "Red and I are almost there ourselves. We'll be with you in a moment."
"Good" said Shinji. "Hurry though, I still might need backup." Shinji took a few moments to check all his equipment. He had enough ammo, he was down to one grenade, and he still had his tranquilizer if it came down to it. Suddenly, several Storm Troopers entered the room.
"Shinji,"said Red, "We succeeded in fixing the bridge. There are several more Troopers on their way. All of the Rebels up to this point have been taken care of."
"Good," said Shinji. "Then let's go." They headed out of the room and into the next. Unfortunately, it was another room that had a pit. It was a long, oval shaped room, with one bridge connecting between one side and the other. there was a walkway all the way around, but the bridge was easiest. Unfortunately, the Rebels blew the controls as soon as they entered the room, causing the bridge to retract. "Not again," groaned Shinji.
He looked around. They would have to take the walkways now, but that would take too long "Alright, Red you go left and Alex you go right."
"And you?" asked Alex.
"I'll take middle," said Shinji. He took several steps back. "Someone's gotta slow them down so you guys can catch up." Before either Alex or Red could stop him, Shinji took a running jump and cleared the gap. He stumbled a bit on the landing. "Don't anybody else try that!" he called. "I just got lucky. I'll see you guys in a minute." Red and Alex watched as their friend ran off down the hallway.
"That Shinji," said Red.
"He's something else," said Alex. They started off around the walkways. Shinji, meanwhile, was hurrying along after the Rebels, blasting at those in the rear. The rest kept going, having heard from the Rebel Shinji was after what kind of man they were up against. They could take him in the hangar, they were sure of it.
The Rebel group got to the Hangar, down four men with only 7 remaining. Shinji was right in after them. However, he was confronted by at least 20 men, including the Rebel he was after. They seemed to be trying to hijack an Imperial Transport. Shinji fired, taking one out. The rest started firing at him. He dodged behind a crate. "Watch out," radioed Shinji. "There are at least a score of men in here, and they're all very hostile. I'll do what I can to thin them out."
"Roger," answered Alex. Shinji jumped out and opened fire. He kept running while he was blasting, making sure never to run in a straight line or a pattern. Rebels kept firing, but Shinji was able to evade them all. Suddenly, Red and Alex burst in with the reinforcements. Together, they made short work of the Rebels.
Shinji found the one they were looking for. He woke him up. "Where are the plans?" he asked. The Rebel smiled.
"Don't have 'em," he said. "He does."
"He?" asked Shinji, looking around. "Who's He?"
"Me," said a voice. Shinji turned around, seeing a man in a tan colored tunic walking towards them. He was spinning something around his finger. It was some kind of metalic device attached to a metal ring. It looked familiar, but Shinji couldn't quite tell what it was. "I'm the one who's got the Death Star plans, and the one who came up with this plan."
"So you started this riot, huh?" asked Shinji, stepping towards him. He signaled for his men to hold their fire. "Well, it's over. You may as well give up now. You're outnumbered."
"Hmph," smirked the man. "Outnumbered? That doesn't seem to stop you. You're the general, aren't you?" Shinji nodded. "I've heard a lot about you. They told us that the greatest general from the Clone War days was here, probably to frighten us or keep us in place. But, I wanna see if you're as great as they say." He stopped spinning the object and caught it. Shinji's eyes widened. It was a lightsaber handle. He took another from his belt. The man activated both at once. Two brilliant green beams shot forth from the handles.
"I am a Jedi who survived your attack on the Temple," he declared. "I was a child at the time. I heard you were there. Let's see if you can take me now!" He charged forward.
"It's a Jedi!" Red cried into his communicator. "We may need backup!" They started firing at the Jedi, now with the standard setting, but he simply deflected their blasts back at them.
"Stop firing!" exclaimed Shinji. "He's only going to deflect them! I can take him!" The Jedi kept charging. Shinji pulled out his tranquilizer and started firing. However, the Jedi dodged. The Jedi Reached Shinji and slashed, only to have Shinji roll out of the way.
Shinji was on his feet immediately. The Jedi brought both sabers down on him at once. Shinji caught his hands, grabbing the lightsaber handles in the process. Each struggled to gain control of the weapons. Finally, Shinji kicked the Jedi away, managing to keep his hold on one of the lightsabers.
"Fine," said the Jedi, standing up straight. "A lightsaber duel it is." He charged forward, feeling that he would have the upper hand. He slashed at Shinji, who blocked easily. Shinji countered, the Jedi blocking his attack as well. They kept attacking, the Jedi feeling less and less confident as the battle went on.
"Didn't think I could use a lightsaber, huh?" asked Shinji, going for a diagonal cut. The Jedi blocked, forced Shinji's saber away, and went for a horizontal slash. Shinji dodged and went for a vertical strike.
"No," admitted the Jedi. "I didn't." The Jedi and Shinji attacked at the same time, locking sabers. Shinji got his first good look at the Jedi's face. He gasped.
"You," he muttered. "Not you..." Shinji could still see the boy's face as he asked Anakin, "What are we going to do?" This was impossible.
"Huh?" asked the Jedi. They kept pushing their sabers against each other, neither wanting to back down.
"I remember you," whispered Shinji. "At the temple. You were one of the kids Vader was going to kill. I saved you." The Jedi looked astounded at first, then angry.
"Liar!" he hissed, pushing harder. "The person that saved me was a great man! He would never stay with the Empire! His name was-"
"General Shinji," said Shinji, "Of the 501st. I played hide and seek with you, and as I recall you were very good at it. I had to get Rei's help to find you." The Jedi's eyes shone with recognition.
"It is you," he whispered. He let his saber go slightly slack.
"Don't!" hissed Shinji. "Keep fighting! It's the only way I can keep you alive!" The situation was crazy. Shinji certainly hadn't had any plans to kill anyone, but now he had to go beyond that. He had to fight the prisoner to save his life. But, he couldn't let him die. He saved this Jedi in the first place. Technically, that meant this whole break out was his fault.
"Why are you helping me now Shinji?" asked the Jedi. "You're with the Empire now."
"Not by choice," said Shinji. "I just want peace. If I could get out of the military, I would." He jumped back and slashed at the Jedi again, taking the hint, the Jedi fought back. They exchanged a few blows before coming back to a standstill.
"If you want peace," said the Jedi, "Than join the Rebellion."
"No," said Shinji. "They want to start a war." He slashed at the Jedi, who countered.
"For the right reasons," said the Jedi. "But if you don't want to, I'm sorry."
"Sorry for what?" asked Shinji, blocking an attack.
"I can't give up," said the Jedi. "As much as I appreciate what you want to do, I can't cooperate with you." They slashed at each other again. "Only one of us is making it out of this battle alive!" he yelled, rushing at Shinji.
"Yes," said a voice. "That is correct." Suddenly, a red beam seemed to grow out of the Jedi's chest. Vader pulled his saber out and deactivated it. The Jedi fell to the ground. Shinji deactivated the lightsaber and dropped it, dropping down to inspect the Jedi. He was still breathing, but barely. Shinji removed his helmet. The Jedi looked up at him. He smirked.
"What are you smiling about?" asked Shinji, trying not to cry out. He hadn't wanted it to end like this.
"Heh," laughed the Jedi. "The plans. I... don't have 'em."
"What?" asked Shinji.
"We got you," he said, looking first at Shinji, and then at Vader. Both Shinji and the Jedi could feel Vader's rage building. "I handed the plans to someone else a long time ago. Then, she pretended to hand them off to him-" he motioned towards the man Shinji had chased "-who said he'd given them to me. She's long one by now. Ha... Ha..." He died with a weak, yet triumphant, smile on his face.
Neither Vader nor Shinji said a word.
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"The battle's over," Misato said to herself. "I just know it." She looked at the package in her hands. "This is it. This is the key to the Rebels' victory. I'll get this to Admiral Ackbar and the other Rebels." She looked back at the station. "Their sacrifices won't be in vain." She set the coordinates of the nearest Rebel hideout and jumped into hyperspace.
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"I want as many men as possible on Star Destroyers now!" ordered Vader. He stormed along a corridor, with Shinji right behind him. "We will get those plans back at any cost." He turned to Shinji. "I want your entire ship ready for takeoff within the hour."
"But Vader," said Shinji. "It's one ship. Why do I have to go after it? I'm supposed to leave-"
"You," interrupted Vader, "Are not going to be going anywhere Shinji. I left the guarding of this ship to you. I left quelling this riot up to you. Perhaps my faith in you was misplaced?"
"No," said Shinji. "I did stop the riot. They tricked me, okay? They tricked all of us!"
"This is not up for debate Shinji," said Vader. "Those plans are of the upmost importance. We must get them back. I'll keep you for another whole year if I have to. I am sorry, but the matter is closed." Vader walked away, leaving Shinji alone, speechless. Shinji slowly made his way to his ship. "Prep the ship for takeoff," he told a passing Trooper automatically. He saw Tarkin as he entered his ship. He was smirking.
"I told you," said Tarkin. "I dare say that you may have been better off just killing them." Shinji only looked back at Tarkin for a moment. Not responding in any other way, Shinji headed into his ship and to his room. He sat down at a small desk where he kept some of his personal items. He sat there for a moment, before his head went crashing to the desk. He put his hands on his head, a sob escaping his lips. He couldn't go home. He couldn't see Rei. All because he'd made a mistake.
For the first time since the very beginning of the Clone Wars... Shinji had failed.
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Rei went to bed, feeling very happy. She would see Shinji again in three days. She drifted off to sleep, smiling. Just three days.
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The mighty Shinji has finally failed. The Rebel Misato has escaped with the Death Star plans. Shinji can't go home. And poor Rei, so happy to know when he was coming back, has no idea.
What will happen with the Death Star plans? Where will tracking them take Shinji? And will he ever make it back to Rei? Tune in next time and find out.
So, there you have it. Chapter 17. Not the best battle, I know, but I'm out of practice. And besides, the battle itself wasn't the important thing. It was all the little things that happened in and after it, as well as the one big thing, Misato escaping. And yes, the Shinji/Tarkin interaction is going to come into play later. It wasn't just some random thing. And the Jedi being one of the Padawans Shinji saved back during Order 66 will also be important later.
Sorry again for the wait. I'll try harder from now on to keep that from happening. I think I'm finally back!