AN: Sorry about how long the update took. I can now unfortunately say through fist hand experience that getting hit in the face with an airbag SUCKS.

Shadow of the Force

Chapter 33

-Luke-

"Here's the command room." Luke whispered as the four of them located the thick metal door. They'd been sneaking through the facility, their escort ship having landed outside of the Imperial Outpost, hidden and out of sight.

"Think this is where we'll find the useful information?" Maris asked, her saber tonfa ready to be activated at a moment's notice.

"It has to be." Grievous coughed, "The most secure location is the only one that would have access to all the intelligence in the facility."

"Dobby is ready to fuck the shit up!" the smaller being grinned, holding a blaster ready.

Nodding to the others, Luke used the force to open the door, lifting the latch as Maris rushed in first, spinning her weapons like a graceful angel of death, cutting down the Imperial officers inside the room in an instant.

Moving inside, Luke focused on shutting the metal door as quickly and silently as he could, Maris moving the bodies out of sight while Grievous and Dobby worked to go through the intel systems.

"Troop movements." Grievous coughed, "And a list of the new ships as well as who is captaining them."

"Useful, but nothing groundbreaking." Maris frowned, having moved the bodies as out of sight as was possible in the command room, "That can't be all that's here. This place wouldn't have so many stormtroopers around if that was all that was kept here."

Luke grimaced at that, having not enjoyed the hours they'd spent slowly working to infiltrate the facility. Having to wait to dodge patrols, hide in small out of the way areas, and avoid taking out any of the guards until they got here to the command room. There was no way to know what was where in the facility, or where patrols were at any given time, so they couldn't risk having Dobby 'Apparate' them to where they needed to go. But once they had the intel that they needed, then they could apparate back to the Mandalorian ship and get out quickly.

"Dobby has found the secure files!" Dobby spoke up, the little Officer's fingers flying over the keys, more and more images appearing on screen. Luke recognized the images and schematics of the Death Star he'd helped Harry and the others take down so long ago.

But then more images came. Other designs, other schematics, many marked 'rejected' until a new Death Star, appeared on the screen. The size was significantly larger and with more security on the vents that had led to the super weapon's destruction the last time.

"By the Force." Maris whispered in horror as more and more of the station's statistics got pulled up. Staff numbers, destructive capability, location of creation, and current rate of completion.

"It'll be ready within the year." Luke felt nauseous as Dobby started hastily copying everything on the server about the new Death Star for them to take back to Mandalore.

"We'll have to mobilize our fleet." Grievous coughed, "As well as The Lord of Tatooine's forces." As Grievous and Maris debated who else could be mobilized, Luke glanced at the various security screens, wanting to make sure there weren't any Storm Troopers heading toward the command room.

"Wait, that's the ship!" Luke jerked forward, seeing a camera that seemed to be linked to a Trooper's helmet providing feedback to the command room. On the screen he could see the Stormtroopers setting up artillery canons on the cliff overlooking the Mandalorian ship that had brought their group to the planet.

"Captain!" Maris didn't waste any time as she pulled out her communicator, "Get out of-" the artillery canons opened fire, ripping into the Mandalorian stealth ship. On the screen, he could see explosion after explosion tearing through the metal as the Stormtroopers didn't let up on the barrage.

"Dobby will go try and help!" Dobby twisted as Luke awaited the crack of apparition. Instead, Dobby let out a pained cry, flung back by some unseen force.

"Dobby!" Luke hastily crouched down by his friend, noting the black lines of power crackling along Dobby's skin for a moment before fading.

"Something…something's blocking my magic." Dobby panted, "I can't apparate out."

"They must have been working on countermeasures from all our raids." Maris cursed, "Probably some creation from Sith Alchemy." On the screen, the explosions had stopped as the Stormtroopers outside observed the burning husk of what had once been a Mandalorian Stealth ship.

"We'll have to steal an Empire ship." Luke swore as he readied his lightsaber. Hearing the computer beeping, Luke looked over to see Grievous closing down the documents tied to the Death Star, having copied them into a data chip which he forced into Luke's hand, the information on troop movements being held in Grievous' own.

"Take that and go." Grievous ordered him, "You can easily pass off as an Imperial officer with a uniform. And Maris can wear Stormtrooper armor to hide her nonhuman features."

"What about you?" Luke demanded, hoping the cyborg general had a plan, already stripping out of his current clothes to put on the Imperial officer's uniform Dobby quickly repaired, whatever was stopping them from apparating apparently designed to stop transport magic but not repairing abilities.

"I will draw them away from the hangar." Grievous coughed, "I can fight better without having to worry about protecting you three."

"Two." Dobby sat up, "Dobby cannot pass of as human, so Dobby will go with you. You will need Dobby to get Apparate you away once we're away from here."

"I…we can't…" Luke's eyes widened before Grievous roughly grabbed his shirt.

"You can and you will!" the cyborg shoved him toward the door, "The Alliance needs that intel, you and Maris are the best ones to get it out of here. This isn't up for debate so go! We'll catch up."

"He's right." Maris scowled even as she put on the white ceramic armor, her expression showing she was just as unhappy with this as Luke himself was, "We need to go."

"…" Luke looked them in the eye before turning and hurrying off with Maris, hearing Dobby and Grievous loudly moving the other way.

-Dobby-

"He knew you were lying." Dobby commented as he and Grievous stood over a large mess hall of Imperial soldiers relaxing and having lunch.

"I know." Grievous coughed, "But the others need that information, or the Empire will have a major weapon that will destroy who knows how many planets before its stopped. That information is worth more than my life." The cyborg general glanced down at him, "You can still slip away. Sneak outside and apparate onto whatever ship Luke and Maris fly away on."

"Hmph." Dobby scoffed, "Dobby knows how important this is." And leaving one person to draw the enemy away with no one to watch their back was too likely to fail, "Dobby bets he will kill more Imps than you."

Grievous chuckled, igniting his four lightsabers, "Very well then. Loser buys drinks on the other side?"

"You're on." Dobby leapt down, his dagger sized lightsaber digging into the top of the head of the Imperial soldier he landed on, a blaster in his other hand catching a second Imp in the chest.

Grievous let out a metallic roar as he landed with a boom on a table, four glowing blades lashing out as the closest Imperial soldiers fell to the ground in pieces.

"INTRUDERS!" an officer shouted into a communicator, "Intruders in the mess hall! We need back u-!" his order was cut off to a blaster to the face, Dobby and Grievous tearing through the unprepared Imperial forces even as they heard more charging to their location, likely actually ready for a fight.

-Luke-

"INTRUDERS!" a panicked shout came out of a communicator Luke had swiped, "Intruders in the mess hall! We need back u-!" the voice was cut off by the sound of blaster fire.

"Move!" Luke ordered the nearby stormtroopers that were gaping at the alert that had just been given, "I will secure the hangar, go apprehend the intruders!" the other Imperial soldiers in white armor fled the hangar room, slamming the door shut behind them as Luke and Maris sealed it behind them.

"We need to hurry." Maris hastily had an Imperial shuttle undocked; a device Harry had created confirming there weren't any trackers on it as they boarded the shuttle.

"I know." Luke whispered, his soul aching as they took off, knowing just what Dobby and Grievous were doing. As they got out of the range of the facility's guns, he could see flashes of light from the area were the two had gone. Blaster fire raining inside the building.

Until it suddenly stopped, leaving an oppressive silence as he felt two souls leave this world and become one with the Force.

-Palpatine-

"Sir." The voice of one of his Fleet Admirals approaching him roused Palpatine from his plotting and ruminations, "The Delta Facility was recently attacked. The special unit you had placed there were able to find a Mandalorian Stealth ship which they destroyed. Shortly afterward, two individuals tried fighting their way out of the facility with the information on the latest fleet assignments before being cut down."

"Good." Sheev smirked, knowing this fool before him wasn't able to see the whole story of what was going on, "And who was found?"

"The revived General Grievous and the strange short alien that was seen with Captain Peverell that didn't match any other known records." The admiral stated, "Their remains are being brought here as you ordered with any ranking members of the resistances."

"Leave me." He waved his hand, dismissing the man who hurried to obey the command.

"Pathetic." Sheev scoffed, "All of them." Plans within plans was the true way of the Sith, a way that even his own people seemed unable to comprehend, let alone notice. Ever since he had seen more of what this 'Captain Peverell' and his people could do, he had begun experimenting to find a way to stop certain abilities they possessed. This was the success he needed to stop their infiltrations going forward, or at the very least hamper them. But more than that, Grievous would not be so incompetent as to waste his life on a suicide charge, not with such unimportant information. No, the 'Good General' had brought others on that mission, others that had escaped with the information he'd wanted them to find on his new Death Star."

"And thus, the trap has now been baited." He smirked wider, able to sense the paltry traps his 'apprentice' was currently enacting as well, "But how rewarding will my prey be?"