Millennium Falcon
They were all sitting around the crew area when the ships alarms warned them that they were about to drop out of hyperspace. Han Solo and Chewbacca quickly made their way to the cockpit while Luke and Obi-Wan followed. For Luke who had never been off Tatooine this was a thrill. Just as the two Jedi took their seats Han reached up and pulled back a lever causing the star lines to disappear as they returned to normal space. Almost immediately something rocked the ship as asteroids raced towards them.
"We've come out into some kind of asteroid field" Han said looking at one of his displays "it's not on any the charts"
He started maneuvering the ship as quickly as he could to avoid getting hit again as Luke leaned over his shoulder.
"What's going on?" the young Jedi asked as Chewbacca growled something at Han.
"Yeah our position is correct but there's no Alderaan" Han told his copilot ignoring Luke.
"What do you mean? Where is it?" Luke asked.
"I don't know kid, but this is where it should be" Han said.
Behind them Obi-Wan stared at the asteroid field "Destroyed by the Empire"
Han and Luke looked at him. Realization dawned on Luke's face. "The voices crying out. It was Alderaan dying!" he exclaimed.
Han couldn't believe what he was hearing. There was no way the Empire could destroy a planet. The entire Starfleet didn't have that much firepower. He was about to say something when alarms started going off. He looked down at the display and saw another ship coming in.
"Ship coming in" Han told everyone.
"Maybe they know what happened" Luke suggested behind him.
"No, it's imperial fighter" Obi-Wan said from next to Luke. Chewbacca barked a warning as the ship was rocked by blaster fire from the fighter that went screaming past them.
"Maybe it followed us." Luke suggested.
"No, that's a short range fighter" Obi-Wan told them.
Han looked back at the old Jedi. "There aren't any bases around here"
Luke pointed out that the fighter was leaving in a big hurry. Han told Chewie to jam the fighter's transmissions as he raced after it. They were gaining on the fighter when they noticed heading towards a what looked like a small moon.
"It's heading for that moon!" Luke said pointing at the fighter's destination.
Obi-Wan leaned forward for a closer look "That's no moon! It's a space station"
"What? That's to big to be a space station "Han said as they got closer.
Luke started shaking his head slightly. "I've got a bad feeling about this"
Han agreed and ordered Chewbacca to reverse the engines get out of there but they kept moving forward. Luke told Han to do something but there was nothing the smuggler could do; they were caught in a tractor beam. Behind them Obi-Wan spoke.
"There's nothing you can do. But there are alternatives to fighting" the old Jedi said as he got up from his seat. Han, Chewbacca and Luke just stared at him before getting up and following.
Tatooine
After their encounter in the alleyway Juno and Ahsoka found a place a law low for a few hours while Juno waited for the imperial repair crew to bring the needed parts for the Rogue Shadow in the morning. Ahsoka told Juno she needed to get to the Sluis sector and then she would tell Juno what planet when they got there.
In the morning Juno's comlink chirped, it was the repair crew notifying her that they would be landing shortly. The blonde haired pilot made her way back to the landing bay and arrived just as the repair crew showed up. After looking the ship over the chief technician and his assistant came over to her.
"We can have you back in business in roughly twelve house Ma'am" the assistant informed her "they punched a hole straight through one of your regulators and melted one of your exhaust ports"
Juno was surprised at how little damage had actually been done to her ship to cause such big problems. "And the weapons system?" she asked the tech.
"Yes, well whoever designed that power regulator connected both the propulsion and weapons systems to it. I suggest adding a second power regulator, one for each system. It shouldn't add very much time to the repairs, an hour or two at most. The problem is getting that exhaust port removed and replaced" the tech informed her.
"Alright, do what you have to. I need to get back to Lady Vindicta as soon as I can." She said as the tech noticeably gulped.
"Lady Vindicta?" he asked.
"Yes, this is her ship" Juno informed the pilot.
"On second thought I can get you out of here much sooner. I'll just have to call a second crew in, it shouldn't be a problem" he said before turning away from her and ordering another a repair crew from the fleet.
Imperial Star Destroyer Vengeance
After being picked up on Tatooine, Darth Vindicta had returned to the Vengeance to learn that, while the freighter had escaped the system; they had left on a course that would take them directly to Alderaan where Darth Vader and Grand Moff Tarkin just happened to be with the Death Star. Despite this Vindicta was still displeased that the captain had allowed them to escape. After replacing the captain with the next in line she had reported the turn of events to the Emperor who had then ordered her to Imperial Center.
As the star destroyer dropped out of hyperspace above the city planet she marveled at the frenzied activity of the force as billions of beings moved along the surface of the planet. She could feel a strong presence of the dark side that could only be The Emperor himself. Her father had warned her to be wary around Darth Sidious. The Dark Lord of the Sith was a cunning as he was ruthless.
As her shuttle approached the Imperial Palace she could see the Emperor's red robed royal guard on the landing platform. When she exited the shuttle they stood on both sides of her and led her to the Emperor's throne room. When the doors opened they stopped as she continued inside. In front of her was high backed chair facing out the window. Though she couldn't see him Vindicta knew the Emperor was occupying the chair. She climbed the stairs to the throne and stopped six paces away and got to one knee.
"What is your bidding, my master" she said as the chair turned to face her.
The old man took her in with his yellow eyes peering from beneath his hood. "Lady Vindicta, you are to commended for your pursuit of the rebel plans. While you did not capture them you drove them right into the waiting hands of your father."
"Yes master," Vindicta replied.
"You are strong like your father, perhaps stronger" the emperor said as he watched her. "Tell me what do you know of your mother?"
Darth Star I
The imperial troops watched as the freighter was brought into the hangar by the tractor beam. There were two squads of storm troopers standing by to surround the ship and search it once it landed. In the main control room Grand Moff Tarkin and Darth Vader were informed the captured freighter had the same markings as the ship that had escaped Mos Eisley.
"They must be attempting to return the stolen plans to the princess. She may be of some use yet" he told Tarkin before going frown to the hangar.
When he got down there the troops were already on board searching the ship. The officer in charge of the troops came down and walked over to Vader.
"There's no one on board sir, according to the log the crew abandoned ship just after take off. It must be a decoy. Several escape pods were jettisoned." He informed Vader.
"Did you find any droids commander?" Vader asked staring at the ship.
"No sir, they must have been jettisoned as well" the commander answered the dark lords question.
"Send a scanning crew on board" he ordered still staring at the ship.
He felt something, a presence he hadn't felt in a long time. Turning Darth Vader exited the hangar. Obi-Wan was here, he had to inform Moff Tarkin and prepare for the confrontation. But first he had a plan. He would not allow the Jedi to escape again.
Millennium Falcon
Hiding in the smuggling compartments beneath the floor boards, Han Solo, Chewbacca, Luke and Obi-Wan waited with the two droids until there was silence. As soon as it was quiet Han lifted the lid of his compartment, Obi-Wan doing the same with his.
"Good thing you had these" Luke said to the smuggler.
"I use them for smuggling, never thought I'd be smuggling myself though" he said as they all climbed out of the compartments. Han looked around for a moment before turning back to the two Jedi.
"this is ridiculous if I could take off, I'll never get past that tractor beam." He said looking around trying to come up with an idea.
"Leave that to me" Obi-Wan told him with a smile.
"Somehow I knew you were going to say that" Han replied.
"who is more foolish? The fool or the fool who follows him?" Obi-Wan asked still smiling.
When the scanning crew came on board Han, Luke and Chewbacca jumped them and stole their uniforms. Going to the ramp Han called to the imperials still outside for assistance and quickly knocked them out too as they came aboard. To get the into the control room Obi-Wan suggested that Han, Chewbacca and himself sneak outside the door and have Luke feign having transmitter problems to get the officers to open it. It worked like charm, in a matter of minutes the four of them and the two droids were inside.
"between his howling and your blasting I'm surprised the whole station doesn't no were here" Luke said amazed the plan was working so far.
"bring em on. I prefer a straight fight to this sneaking around Han replied to the kid.
The droids found the computer network and obi wan called up a map of the station. He had a room plug in so he could talk to the imperial network. As the droid talked to the network Artoo started beeping and Threepio told them he found the power for the tractor beam. He also told them it was powered from seven different locations and a loss at just one would disable the beam.
"You boys wait here; I don't think you can help. I must do this alone" the Jedi told them.
"Suits me I've already done more on this trip than I bargained for" the smuggler said sitting down in one the chairs.
Luke tried to convince Obi-Wan to let him go along but the Jedi Master was adamant that Luke need to look after the droids. When Luke suggested that Han could do that he was still refused by his mentor.
"They must be delivered safely or other star systems will suffer the same fate is Alderaan. I'm very proud of the Jedi you've become Luke. But your destiny lies on a different path. The force will always be with you" Obi-Wan told him before slipping out the door and down a hallway.
"Where did you guys come from? That old fossil is out of his mind" Han said to Luke.
"Master Kenobi is a great man" Luke told the smuggler.
"Great at getting us into trouble" Han retorted as Artoo started beeping excitedly.
Luke looked to Threepio for a translation of the droid's beeps. "He says I've found her, she's here"
Han and Luke asked in unison "Found who?"
"who's here?" Luke asked the droid.
"Princess Winter" Threepio said as Luke's eyes lit up.
"The princess is here?" Luke asked before turning to Han, who he sensed was about to ask what was going on "The droids belong to her. She's the one in the message…we've got to help her"
"Don't go getting any funny ideas, the old man said to wait right here" the smuggler said, not seeing how it was worth risking his life.
Luke argued that the princess was about to be executed but the smuggler stood his ground. Try as hard as he might Han wasn't about to budge until Luke remebered something Obi-Wan and Ahsoka had once told him about greed making people do strange things.
"She's rich" Luke finally said catching the scoundrel's attention and causing Chewbacca to growl.
"Rich?" Han asked raising his eyebrows.
"Yes, rich and powerful. If you rescue her the reward would be- "Luke said as he suddenly stopped.
"What?" Han asked his curiosity aroused.
"More than you can imagine!" Luke said sensing he had the smugglers attention.
Han started to get up and pick up his blaster. "I don't know kid I can imagine quite a lot" he said.
They spent the next few minutes formulating a plan to rescue the princess and telling Artoo to call up the plans for the detention block. Once they had an idea of what they layout looked like Luke grabbed a set of cuffs to put in Chewbacca who knocked them out of his hands.
"Don't worry pal, I think he I know what the kid is thinking" Han told his Wookiee companion.
Tatooine
The repair crews fixed the damage to the Rogue Shadow in record time. Juno told the chief technician that once she returned to the Vengeance she would put in a good word for them with Darth Vindicta which made his chest swell with pride as he stood a little straighter. She kind of felt bad that the chief would never get the recognition for doing such an excellent job She was not going back to the Star Destroyer
.
After they left to go back to the cruiser waiting in orbit Juno went back and got Ahsoka. As they were settling into the seats of the cockpit a thought struck her. She could still go back if she wanted and turn the Jedi in and probably get promoted, but she quickly dismissed the idea. She had chosen her path and would stick with it for better or for worse.
As they took off, the cruiser asked the destination and Juno replied that she was on a secret mission for Darth Vindicta. Accepting that answer the cruiser wished her luck and told her she was clear to leave the system and with that the Rogue Shadow leaped into hyperspace heading for the Sluis sector.