Drake fell down the tall cliff. The drop was only about fifty feet, but it felt longer. He imagined the Rebels at the top looking down at him. If he pretended to be dead, maybe be they would leave. He hoped his armor would keep him from really dying. His choice to jump was fueled by the same energy as his other decisions of the day. He made the decision purely out of fear.
Suddenly, Drake crashed into the lake. The impact stung, but atleast he was alive. Drake began swimming underwater towards the edge of the lake. He tried to stay underwater until he was sure the Rebels had gone back to the hangar.
Drake waited for another minute, until he couldn't wait any longer. He needed to breathe. He climbed out of the lake onto the land. His armor was soaked. He looked up at the hangar. Luckily, the Rebels had left. He looked in the opposite direction. Stormtroopers crowded the field outside the palace. The Rebels had joined the battle against the waves of Stormtroopers. People were being shot left and right. He could go join them, but he wasn't trained to be a ground soldier.
In the sky three TIE Fighters entered the atmosphere. Maybe they had come looking for Drake. The Fighter in the middle had strange shaped wings; like a trapezoid. It was like a mix of a TIE Interceptor and a normal TIE Fighter.
Drake remembered where he'd seen that Fighter before. He was told at the Imperial Academy that it belonged to Lord Vader. What was Vader doing here? The TIE Fighters landed on the other side of the palace.
Curiosity overcame Drake as the Fighter disappeared around the palace. He had to go see why Darth Vader was on Naboo. He found two paths to the Fighters, a more direct path that was sure to be crawling with Rebels, and a longer path around the palace.
Drake decided he wouldn't risk his life out of curiosity, so he decided to take the path around the palace. He walked past a group of Stormtroopers who were setting the palace aflame. One of them looked at Drake, clearly confused as to what a TIE pilot was doing in the battle. Drake continued walking. He passed a group of Stormtroopers who were taking Rebels as prisoners. One of the Rebels gave Drake a dirty look and seemed to curse under his breath. He had a big scar along the side of his face.
Drake tried to avoid as many people as he could. He didn't want to get caught in the conflict. He walked for about five minutes, and he noticed just how painful his blaster wounds were. He needed a medic.
When he got away from most of the conflict, he took his helmet off again and took in a breath of fresh air. He was exhausted. If he hadn't been shot down he would probably be back at the Star Destroyer right now. He imagined the rest of his squadron celebrating their success in defeating Naboo's air defenses.
Drake was almost to the Fighters, he could see them around a corner of the now burning palace. He limped to get there; his injuries prevented him from running. Suddenly he heard a voice behind him.
"Hey, you!" called the voice. Drake scrambled to throw his helmet on as he turned around. The voice came from a Rebel soldier who was clearly wounded recently.
"What're you doing out here? Seperated from your squad ain't ya?" The man had an eerie confidence in his voice. The man drew his weapon, a DL-99 blaster pistol.
"You must be the guy who tried to steal an X-Wing," the man concluded, "and as you know, we Rebels don't like you guys. The Empire is the worst thing to exist in our galaxy's history."
"Ok, you can shut up now," Drake muttered under his breath.
"Now I would kill you under normal circumstances, but we could use you to explain these plans we got for your Death Ball or whatever it's called," the man said.
"It's called the Death Star, idiot," Drake said as he pulled out his own blaster.
"Woah, careful there buddy. I can have ten more of my guys up here before you know it," the man taunted. Drake decided he had enough of this man.
"Now why don't you come with me to our base. We can use you. You might actually be important for something," the man laughed. Drake finally snapped and he pulled the trigger on his blaster, sending a bolt into the man's forehead. The man was dead.
The sound of the blaster attracted the attention of four Rebel soldiers who walked towards Drake. Drake ran back towards the palace. He could hear himself being chased. He got to the palace's doors, but they were locked tight. He reached again for the guard's blaster and shot the lock. He opened the doors and ran inside.
Drake turned and began running down a hallway, but quickly turned around when he saw several Rebels running through the following hall. He ran until he came to another room. Luckily it was empty. He locked the door and got a chance to breath again. He took off his helmet and threw it on the ground. He was exhausted. He looked out the window and saw the palace's courtyard.
One of the doors to the courtyard opened up and two or three dozen Stormtroopers ran out. There were several palace guards on the opposite side of the courtyard. About half of them ran to confront the Troopers while the other half ran inside, presumably to protect the Queen. Some Troopers died. All of the guards were killed.
The doors to the courtyard which the Troopers entered through reopened, and Darth Vader walked out. One Trooper walked up to him andreported something to him, Vader knodded.
Vader walked up to the doors on the opposite side of the courtyard. He threw them open with his force powers, and the rest of the guards rushed out towards him. Vader threw them all aside with the force and let his Troopers take care of them.
Vader ordered some of his Troopers to go in and capture the now unguarded Queen. In about a minute, the Troopers returned with her. Drake opened the window to the room to hear what Vadar was saying.
"Well now, look who we have here," Vader said, "a pretty little Rebel"
"What do you want?" the Queen asked.
"I don't want anything. I need you to tell me where you Rebels keep coming from. Where is your base?" Vader asked angrily.
"I'll never tell you you corrupt, evil person!" the Queen yelled.
Vader began force choking the Queen, "Tell me where your Rebel base is now, or I will kill you right here!"
"If you do, my people will fight you! They will not rest until they get justice!" the Queen snapped.
"If that is the case, I will have it that as soon as you are killed, we will wipe the very existense of you and your palace and everyone living around it. This will set an excellent example of the Empire's power. I will ask you only once more..." Vader said, "Where is your Rebel base?"
"It's... It's on Tatooine!" the Queen cried, "Just don't kill my people!"
"You are of no further use to us," Vader said as he choked her to death.
"Send some scouts out to Tatooine. If they have a Rebel base there, we will find it," Vader ordered a nearby Stormtrooper Commander, "and see to it that this palace is destroyed."
"But sir. We have used the Queen for her purpose. Why do we need to kill everyone?" the commander questioned.
"Are you questioning my power, commander?" Vader asked.
"Uh, no sir, Lord Vader. I will make sure this palace is destroyed," the commander responded.
"Make sure you do, commander," Vader said as he walked back towards his TIE Fighter.
Drake turned back to look at the locked door. He almost forgot he was being chased by Rebels. He had regained a good amount of energy and was ready to leave the room. He was unsure where he would go, but he figured he should meet up with some Troopers.
Drake unlocked the door and opened it slowly. He looked into the empty hallway and stepped out into it. He began to walk out into it when an explosion erupted in the room behind him.
He looked behind him and saw a Trooper holding a rocket launcher. They were destroying the palace just as Vader told them. Drake ran down the hall and went through a door that lead to a balcony.
He watched Vader and his two escorting TIE Fighters fly off the planet. Drake heard bombs going off in multiple directions, and he realized that he needed to get out of the palace. He ran back inside the palace and ran down the halls. He eventually found the same hangar as before and ran inside without thinking. The room was empty except for a some injured Rebels and some rubble. Some of the X-Wings were missing from the hangar, presumably from Rebels who tried to escape.
He ran up to one of the X-Wings that were in decent condition. Drake had time to rewire the ship as no Rebels were on his tail. The injured Rebels were as good as dead anyway.
It took him about ten minutes, but Drake finally got the ship in working order. The controls were almost exactly the same as a TIE Fighter, so it took him almost no time to get used to them. As he took off from the hangar he caught the attention of several Troopers and Rebels. Drake was halfway out of the atmosphere when he realized he didn't even know where he was going. The Star Destroyer may have returned to Coruscant, but he couldn't show up there with an X-Wing. He needed a way to communicate with his squad. He had his communicator in the rubble of his TIE Fighter. He might be able to get it working, but even then his squad probably wasn't in range.
In the distance Drake thought he saw dozens of small ships flying towards the planet. In a minute he saw them clearly. There were several TIE Bombers flying towards Theed Palace. They must have been sent to finish the place off. Drake then saw a much larger group of ships following the TIE Bombers. The larger group was actually firing at the Bombers. In a minute he saw that the group had several X-Wing Fighters and several smaller, quicker ships that he had never seen. The speedy ships were catching up to the more sluggish TIE Bombers. They were trying to blow them up before they reached the palace.
Within a moment it became clear to Drake. The Rebels had called for reinforcements.