"You brought Luke, I see," Bail said. "Are you sure it's the best idea?"
"There's not much else that I could do, old friend," Obi-Wan replied, as Breha sorted out the payment for Han. "His uncle and aunt are dead – there's nothing left for him on Tatooine. We need to get him trained."
Luke swallowed, stung by the reminder, and touched the lightsaber on his belt.
He was the heir to a near-forgotten legacy… a legacy which he had to live up to.
And, just as importantly, he needed to live up to the legacy of Owen and Beru Lars. Hardy people from a hard landscape, who'd been quiet but firm believers that the corruption of Tatooine should never work its way into their lives.
"Sir!" someone shouted. "A massive signature has just emerged from hyperspace!"
R2-D2 whistled in a foreboding way, and Luke ran outside to look.
There was something like a moon, in the sky. But it glittered like metal, brighter by day than any moon should be, and it had a single massive crater.
That was no moon.
"...Dantooine," Leia said. "They're on Dantooine."
"There, you see, Lord Vader?" Tarkin asked. "She can be reasonable."
He glanced to the side. "Continue the operation. You may fire when ready."
"What?" Leia asked, shocked.
"You're far too trusting," Tarkin said, with a smug little smirk. "Dantooine is too remote to make an effective demonstration. But don't worry. We will deal with your rebel friends soon enough."
Vader clamped an arm around Leia, stopping her from hurling herself at Tarkin, and she stared at him.
"No…" she breathed.
Lights and status displays lit up, showing the energy flow through the massive battlestation as it all focused towards a single overriding goal. Multiple beams of light coalesced into a single point, then stabbed out towards Alderaan in an intense blaze of light.
Leia hadn't wanted to watch, but felt she had to. That standing witness was something she could do.
Which was why it was so very strange when the beam died down, and Alderaan was still there.
"What?" Tarkin asked, sharply. "Where is the explosion? There should have been a planet-shattering explosion! Has Krennic done this?"
"No signs of incomplete operation," one of the technicians said. "All displays indicate systems performed as expected. Everything is in cooldown, we won't be able to fire for another twenty-four hours."
"Unacceptable!" Tarkin snapped. "I want an explanation now!"
Luke stared at his hand, then at the sky, then at the blue lightsaber he was holding.
When he saw the Death Star lighting up, he'd raised Anakin Skywalker's lightsaber in an act of defiance – and – and -
It had blocked the beam.
A blast of intense green light had shot out of the sky, clashed into the blade in his hands, and done nothing.
"You all right, kid?" Han asked. "You're hyperventilating."
Luke caught his breath, holding it for a second, then shook himself sharply.
"Wouldn't you be?" he asked. "What just happened?"
R2-D2 beeped, then projected a hologram in the air.
"What's that?" Bail asked.
"The inner workings of the Death Star, apparently," C-3P0 provided. "It seems R2 has isolated part of the design of what is called the super-laser, which can be fired at full power only once a day. It involves a powerful array of what he calls Khyber crystals."
"The same kind of crystals used in a Jedi's lightsaber," Obi-Wan provided. "Well done, Luke. It appears you have just saved millions of lives."
"We need to evacuate the planet," Bail declared. "Immediately – or as soon as possible. And publicize what just happened. The Empire tried to murder my planet – I will not let them succeed."
He clapped Luke on the shoulder. "Like your father at his very best, Luke. I'd make you a duke of Alderaan but I'm not sure how much that will mean by the end of the week."
AN:
Imagine a shower of sparks and a kssh, like a saber blocking another.
That's it.