Rogue Shadow
Ahsoka Tano, Juno Eclipse and Master Yoda were in the crew area of the Rogue Shadow as it traveled through hyperspace. Yoda was testing Juno's connection to the force by holding a data pad with several images on it and having Juno tell him what image she saw in her mind. It was an old Jedi technique used for thousands of years within the order, and so far she was doing very well. Though she didn't know it, Juno had correctly guessed all of the images so far. Ahsoka was sitting next to Yoda watching her.
"A Rancor" Juno said naming the latest image on the data pad.
"Good, Good" Yoda said putting the data pad down "Tell me. How feel do you?" the Jedi Master asked her.
Juno wondered what that had to do with anything but answered anyway "Nervous, to be perfectly honest. Three days ago I was a captain in the Imperial Navy and now I'm standing before two members of an order that was all but extinct, being told I have abilities I never knew of" she told the two Jedi Masters "My future is no longer certain to me" she finished.
Yoda nodded his head and looked at Ahsoka. "Wise, she is. Knows it, she does not. Hmmmm?" he said to Ahsoka with a strange giggle.
"Go, you may. To Master Ahsoka, I must speak" he said dismissing Juno who left to go back to the cockpit.
Reaching the cockpit Juno saw they still had ninety minutes before they reached Yavin. She wasn't sure what that test had been all about. She had really just guessed at the images and was certain if she had gotten any right it was pure luck. The entire trip the old Jedi had asked questions about every aspect of her life, how she felt about certain things? did she love anyone? Was she afraid? The truth was even if she did have the ability to use the force, as they said, she wasn't certain she wanted to be a Jedi. After all, Vader was rumored to have been a Jedi once and look how he turned out. That awful daughter of his used the force too and she was a terrible person in Juno's opinion. But Vader wasn't a Jedi anymore and Vindicta certainly never had been. Maybe she would be able to help people if she was a Jedi, she thought to herself.
In the back Yoda and Ahsoka sat discussing their plan of action once they reached Yavin. Yoda agreed that Ahsoka had taught Luke all she could but was not ready to give the boy the rank of knight until he met him in person. He then asked about what trials the boy had faced. Ahsoka told him that Obi-Wan had said the boy had passed all but two, but then told Yoda about the pain she had felt in Luke when his family had been killed, and how he had released it into the force.
"Master Yoda, when Anakin became Darth Vader, did he know about Luke and his sister?" Ahsoka asked "They're twins aren't they?"
Yoda looked at her "Serve you well, your insight does. Told you about the girl, Obi-Wan did not"
Master Yoda never ceased to amaze her. Sometimes it seemed if though the old Jedi knew everything, but Ahsoka knew it only appeared that way. Yoda was just wise and had almost a thousand years of experience to draw on. She wondered what the old master had been like as a padawan. Which brought another question to mind.
"Master Yoda, when we left Dagobah you seemed certain Luke would be at Yavin when we got there. But he and Master Kenobi went to Alderaan." She said.
Yoda closed his eyes "On Alderaan, arrive. Master Kenobi and young Skywalker did not. To Yavin, Skywalker has gone" Yoda said as he opened his eyes.
"How do you know this?" Ahsoka asked hoping master Yoda would share his ability to see things across the galaxy.
"Told me, Obi-Wan did. Passed into the force, he has." Yoda said solemnly as Ahsoka sat back, shocked at the news.
"How can you speak to him if he's passed into the force?" was all she asked.
"Training, I have for you Master Ahsoka." Yoda told her.
Yavin IV
Inside the massassi temple everyone was gathered into a small room set up for the briefing. In the center was a display of the battle station and to the right stood a group of senators, Princess Winter Celchu Organa and Mon Mothma among them. Han and Chewbacca stood in the back watching as pilots, navigators and astromech droids packed into the room to listen to General Dodonna.
The General explained that the battle station had more firepower than half the imperial fleet combined and was designed to withstand a large scale assault; but one of the small fighters should be able to penetrate the outer defenses easily. One of the flight leaders stood up and asked what good a fighter was against the battle station. General Dodonna explained that since the empire didn't consider a fighter to be a threat their defenses weren't as tight as they could be.
He then explained how the fighters would have to fly low, skimming the surface along a trench to a specific point. The display showed a small thermal exhaust port just below the main port that looked to be about two meters wide. General Dodonna explain that it was ray shielded so they would have to use proton torpedoes by firing them down the shaft and trigger a catastrophic chain reaction.
Sitting next to Luke, a young pilot by the name of Wedge Antilles from Corellia was watching General Dodonna's briefing and becoming more convinced they wanted the pilots to pull off the impossible.
"That's impossible" Wedge said gesturing towards the display "Even for a computer"
Luke, dressed in a brand new flight suit, spoke up "it's not impossible, I used to bulls eye womprats in my t-sixteen back home. They're not much bigger than two meters"
General Dodonna dismissed the group and the pilots started slowly filing out of the makeshift briefing. Luke got up and went looking for Han, he had seen him and Chewbacca standing at the back of the room watching silently but by the time he got up and turned around; the smuggler and his companion had vanished.
Luke walked into the hangar and saw X-wings, A-wings and Y-wings with their crews prepping their fighters for the coming battle. Threepio and Artoo were standing by the X-wing Luke would pilot as a part of red group. Off in a far corner of the hangar away from everyone else Luke saw the smuggler loading crates into the freighter. Luke headed over there.
Coming up on the smuggler Luke couldn't help feeling a little disgusted. "So…you got your reward and now you're just leaving then?"
Han spun around and looked at the kid "That's right, yeah! Look kid, I've got some old debts I've got to pay off. Even if I didn't you don't think I'd be fool enough to stick around here do you?" Han asked "You're pretty good in a fight, why don't you come with us, I could use you and your lightsaber,"
"I can't Han, I'm a Jedi. Take a look around. You know what they're up against" he said gesturing to the rest of the hangar "they could use a good pilot and you're turning your back on them"
Han did look around and then looked back to Luke "What good is a reward if you're not around to spend it? Besides, attacking that battle station isn't my idea of courage, it's suicide "he told the kid.
Luke shook his head again it was no use "Alright Han, well take care of yourself. It's what you're good at right? Luke asked as he turned around to walk away.
Han watched the kid go, part of him wanted to stay but the other part wanted to live and that was the part running the show. Sure he felt bad about leaving but he did have debts to pay whether the kid understood that or not. Before going back up the ramp he called out to Luke.
"Hey kid!" he called as Luke turned around "May the force be with you!" he yelled before turning back up the ramp.
Once he got to the cockpit he saw that Chewbacca had already finished the preflight checks and they were just about ready to go. As he sat down Chewbacca looked at him with a disapproving look.
"What are you looking at? I know what I'm doing" Han said as the Wookiee growled in shyriiwook.
"What do you mean your clan pledged to support the Jedi? When have you ever met a Jedi before this?" Han asked as he watched the kid walk up to General Dodonna and Princess Winter.
Luke walked up to an X-wing where General Dodonna and Princess Winter stood waiting for him. Winter asked Luke what was wrong and he explained how he thought Han might stay and Winter explained that Han needed to choose his own path. Which of course Luke understood but that didn't mean he had to like it. With Obi-Wan's death and Master Ahsoka off on a mission somewhere, Han had been the one person he felt most in common with. Both were new to the rebellion, but Han wasn't staying. For the first time in his life Luke Skywalker felt alone in the galaxy.
"I was sorry to hear about Master Kenobi" General Dodonna told him.
"Thanks General" Luke said still looking at the Millennium Falcon.
"You know, I remember him from the clone wars. Him and your father were quite the pair" Dodonna continued.
"I never knew him as anything but a teacher on Tatooine" Luke said with a half smile "it's hard to imagine Master Kenobi going into battle "
With that the general and the princess walked off to supervise the preparations for the fight against the Death Star leaving Luke alone with his thoughts. He looked around for Artoo and Threepio and spotted them next to the X-wing he would use and went over to check on their progress. He was looking up at the fighter when he felt a tap on his shoulder and turned around to see his old friend Biggs Darklighter standing next to a man in his forties with a scarred face.
Biggs threw his arms his old friend and grasped him by the shoulders "Luke you made it! How did you get here? You going out with us?!" Biggs asked excitedly noticing his friends flight suit.
"Yeah, I'll be there with you! Have I got some stories to tell you!" he said with a huge smile; happy to see a familiar face.
"Hey what's this is I hear about you being Jedi? When did that happen?" Biggs asked.
"Yeah, well it wasn't just something I could go around advertising you know" Luke said still beaming from ear to ear.
With that the man who had been standing next to Biggs stuck out his hand and finally spoke. "I'm Red Leader, Are you Luke…Skywalker?" the man asked "Have you checked out on the X-wing?"
"Yes sir, I have" Luke replied.
"Sir, Luke is the best bush pilot in the outer rim!" Biggs threw in for good measure.
"I flew with your father once, if he's who I think he is, if you've got half his skill you'll do better than alright" Red Leader said before leaving Biggs and Luke to go find his own fighter.
Biggs told Luke he'd look out for him during the battle before leaving as well. The crew chief offered to replace Artoo with an updated model but Luke wasn't having that. He and Artoo had been through a lot in their short time together. He climbed into his X-wing and started running down the preflight checklist as Artoo was loaded on board. He was just about done when the control center announced the Death Star would be in firing range in thirty minutes.
Death Star I
Darth Vindicta had dropped out of hyperspace in the Yavin system moments before the Death Star arrived. Now she stood in the control room with her father and Grand Moff Tarkin waiting for the battle station to clear the planet so they could fire on the moon and destroy the rebellion. Tarkin had been surprised at how young the girl was and also by the fact that she bore a striking resemblance to Vader's deceased wife, but he didn't say anything. He knew better than most what would displease the dark lord.
"This will be a day long remembered. It has seen the end of Obi-Wan Kenobi and will soon see the end of the rebellion" he said to his daughter and Tarkin.
The Grand Moff looked at Vader then turned to Vindicta. "Tell me Lady Vindicta, how is it you came to be in the service of Lord Vader and our Emperor? "he asked.
"That is none of your concern Moff Tarkin." She said rather coldly "I suggest you concentrate on destroying these rebels and we can play nice later."
The Grand Moff was not used to being spoken to so abruptly and was about to reply when a tech reported that the rebels had launched fighters against them. Distracted by the news Tarkin changed the topic.
"fighters aren't going to do them much good" He said as Vader and Vindicta turned and left the room.
Yavin IV
The fighter groups took off with all sections checking in once they cleared the atmosphere. Luke was in Red Group flying as Red Five. They were given the order to lock in their S foils for attack position. They were moving towards the Death Star in formation when Red Leader came over the radio saying they had passed the magnetic field.
Luke was adjusting his shield controls when turbolaser fire started coming from the Death star and bursting all around him. As they got closer the massive size of the battle station became apparent to everyone but Luke, who had already seen the massive space station. Individual blinking lights and complex designs on the surface were now visible, giving the impression of a small city.
"We're in position, I'm going to cut across the access and try and draw their fire" Red Leader said over the radio.
Two squadrons broke off and dove towards the Death Star. They started taking fire from the battle station and took their first losses as two X-wings burst into flames after taking direct hits. The first of the wings reached the surface and started flying towards the trench dodging laser fire.
Luke flew in after them with Biggs right behind him. The massive surface of the Death star streaked past their windows making it seem as if they were flying across a city skyline and not a massive battle station. Luke rolled and danced his X-wing from side to avoid fire from the batteries. A huge fireball erupted in front of him as Biggs yelled for him to pull up, but it was to late Luke flew right through it. He breathed a huge sigh of relief as Biggs came over the radio asking if he was ok.
"I got a little cooked but I'm alright." Luke told his wingman.
"Luke, let me know when you're going in" Red Leader told him over the radio.
"I'm on my way now" Luke said angling his fighter towards the trench to beginning his run.
"Watch yourself, there's heavy fire coming from that right side deflection tower" Red Leader warned.
"I'm on it" Luke replied.
Luke dove into the trench firing his guns taking out several of the small radar towers on the surface. Immediately on his right the deflection tower he had been warned about opened up before being silenced by Biggs who had followed right behind Luke.
Death Star I
On board the Death Star smoke belched from the giant laser guns as the crews worked to keep up their rate of fire. Darth Vader and Darth Vindicta walked through the hallways as the big guns reverberated through the ship. Troopers dashed back and forth to their battle stations and TIE pilots ran by to get to their fighters.
Every now and then there would be an explosion as one of the rebel fighter scored a hit on the batteries defending the massive battle station. Coming to the hangar where their Advanced TIE fighters were Vader stopped a group of pilots.
"Several of the fighters have broken off from the main group, come with us" he ordered as the two Sith walked passed them and got into their own fighters.
"We're going to take them ship to ship "Vader said over the radio as all five TIE fighters left the hangar.