Chapter 22: Onto the Next Stops
As Luke flew off into the void, Han was having a decidedly harder time of things. At the moment, the Falcon was being pursued by a Star Destroyer. They had managed to get out of range of the larger guns, so the Destroyer scrambled a squad of TIE Fighters to chase them down.
Chewie growled as the ship was rocked by more laser fire.
"I saw 'em! I saw 'em!" Han yelled, sweat dotting his brow.
"Saw what?" Leia asked.
"Star Destroyers." Han pointed straight ahead. "Two of 'em, headed right for us."
"These ships are bound to be more powerful than the Venator-Class", Saesee marvelled at the sight of the warship. "Not to mention, it looked like three times the size of a Venator"
"That reminds me, sir", Rex suddenly spoke. "The Navy already has a few of them in service, with them being the largest for now while the Venator-Class is slowly being replaced"
"All the more sense that the future is bleak as it is", Mundi lowly said.
"So what does that make the one Vader is in?" Caleb asked.
"A Super Star Destroyer." Anakin said almost humorously.
Obi-Wan was about to speak, but stopped. "…That actually make sense."
"Captain!" Threepio said, walking into the cockpit, "Might I suggest- "
"Shut him up or shut him down! Chewie check the shields."
Chewie barked a reply to the smuggler.
"Fantastic. Well, we can still outmaneuver them." Han pulled another lever on the console and sent the Falcon into a dive right as the Star Destroyers got close. The fighters managed to follow, but the Destroyers were too slow to match them, and two of them collided with one another.
"Prepare to make the jump to light speed." Han said as the Falcon leveled out.
"Captain, I really think you need to hear this."
"They're getting closer." Leia stated the obvious.
"Oh yeah? Watch this." Han said as he pulled the lever to make the jump-
Only for the ship to make noises and they sure it shouldn't make when trying to make the jump to light speed.
The audience sighed. Just as they were going out of harm's way.
"Well, that doesn't sound right." Han said with a frown, sitting up. Leia, meanwhile, began to grin.
"Watch what?" Leia said.
"Is it just me or does she had Skywalker's mouth and mannerisms?", Luminara stated as the rest were also began to have a some sort of familiarity of the woman to Anakin, who merely focused on the screen.
"I think we're in trouble." Han muttered.
"As I was saying earlier, Captain, I noticed that the hyperdrive motivator has been damaged. It's impossible to go to light speed." Threepio informed them.
"Definitely in trouble." Han said as he climbed out of the cockpit.
"Way to point the obvious, Solo", Anakin commented. "They'll need to shake off the Imperial fleet if they're going to repair the hyperdrive"
Leia took over piloting as best she could while Han and Chewie worked on the ship.
"I don't know how we're gonna get out of this one." Han said to Chewie as he took a tool from a tool box and climbed underneath the floor. The ship was rocked yet again, causing the tool box to fall on Han. "OW! Chewie!"
"Can anyone else say that he has the worst luck among them?", Mace asked regarding Han.
"Being an accomplice of Jabba, got caught in a cross-fire, pursued by Imperial ships, had to use an insides of his mount for temperature, and pursued by three ships of mass destruction is more than just having the worst luck", Shaak Ti called out.
Han stood up out of the hole just as the ship jolted again. "That wasn't a laser blast, something hit us."
"Han, get up here!" Leia called. "Asteroids."
"Oh no!" Han said as he took his seat. "Chewie, set 2-7-1."
"What are you doing?" Leia said incredulously. "You're not actually going into an asteroid field?"
"For once, what is he doing?" Padmé asked.
"Something incredibly stupid and dangerous." Anakin said while the rest of the Jedi and Captain Rex looked at him. "What?"
"Coming from you, Skywalker, that means something", Depa said incredously.
"About par for the course with him, I'm afraid." Windu said, a little disappointed.
"They'd be crazy to follow us, wouldn't they?"
"You don't have to do this just to impress me." Leia said, flinching every time they came close to imminent death, which was constantly.
"I'd say it works", Kit Fisto agreed with her.
"Sir, the possibility of successfully navigating an asteroid field is approximately 3,720 to 1!" Threepio nearly wailed.
"For once Threepio gives helpful advice", Ahsoka uttered.
"Never tell me the odds!" Han told him.
The Falcon nimbly flew through the field, dodging asteroids left and right, but the fighters were just as capable. Though maybe not as capable as they thought, since one of them pretty much flew directly into an asteroid. Another one was clipped by a smaller asteroid and sent into a spin before it blew up on it's own.
"Impressive", Plo Koon admitted. "Just how many government starships had he outrunned with his piloting skills?"
"Years worth of experience, sir", Rex answered the general.
"You said you wanted to be around when I made a mistake?" Han said, "This is could be your chance, sweetheart."
"I take it back." Leia said, "We're gonna get pulverized if we stay out here much longer."
"Agreed. I'm gonna get us closer to one of the big ones."
"Closer!?" Leia and Threepio said together as Han aimed for a massive asteroid.
Dodging fire from the two remaining fighters, he went to the deck and found a channel between a pair of craters. The fighters followed him in, but then the Falcon went thin, turning sideways when the passage began to thin out. The fighters couldn't do anything except crash together, allowing them to make their escape.
"That's a close one. Even I admit, Solo has his way of being a pilot", Anakin begrudgingly admitted for the smuggler.
"Does that mean you're gonna give your approval, Master?", Ahsoka jokingly asked with a smirk.
"This is suicide." Threepio said, "There's nowhere to go."
"How about there?" Han said, pointing down in front of them. "That looks good."
"What looks good?" Leia stood up so she could see.
Chewie growled, seeing what Han had in mind.
The Falcon looped backwards and dove straight into a deep hole within another crater.
"I hope you know what you're doing." Leia said.
"Yeah, me too." Han agreed.
Light years away, Luke came out of light speed over a world shrouded in clouds.
"Yup, that's it. Dagobah." Artoo beeped behind him. "No, Artoo, I'm not gonna change my mind on this. I'm not picking up any cities or technology. Massive life-form readings, though. There's something alive down there." Questioning beeps. "Yes, I'm sure it's perfectly safe for droids."
"I'm still baffled to why Count Dooku erased the world from the Archives", Mundi stated, scratching his chin.
"If you don't mind me asking, what is importance of Dagobah?", Ahsoka inquired.
"That Ahsoka has a history that made the planet so attuned to the Force that was surveyed and explored many times. Unfortunately, a battle within the planet caused it to be tainted by the Dark Side of the Force. Since then, it was slowly forgotten and its existence is validated from the information gathered within the Archives", Plo Koon explained to her.
"I wonder for a moment. If Master Yoda is still around at this time, shouldn't any of the remaining Jedi stay with him or at least be an ally to the Rebellion?", Luminara said with matching curiosity as Ahsoka.
The rest also wondered. Why wasn't Master Yoda aiding the Rebellion if it was under the dominion of the Sith? Or at least try and rebuild the order even in underground?
The said Grand Master was also intruiged, wondering what he would have become overtime. And as to why he stopped at the planet.
Luke descended into the clouds and was immediately rocked by turbulence. Artoo beeped and whistled in alarm. "I know! I know! All the scopes are dead. I can't see a thing. Just hang on, I'm gonna start the landing cycle."
About a minute later, Luke saw the branches of trees pelting the canopy mere seconds before his ship crash landed in what he hoped was a shallow pond. Opening the canopy revealed that he had in fact landed in a massive swamp, the only consolation being that she landed close to the shore. He frustratedly took off his gloves and threw them at the floor. He flipped some switches that would release Artoo, then climbed out of the cockpit of his ship.
"Great, how is Luke going to get out of this one?", Kit Fisto uttered in concern for the boy.
"Well, he did inherit Anakin's tendency to crash-land his ships during our campaigns", Obi-Wan humorously recalled as thr audience shared a chuckle at this.
"And unlike you, I don't hate flying and I most definetly don't do happy landings!", Anakin shot back rather jokingly.
The place was the exact opposite of Hoth and Tatooine. Where both were barren wastelands, this place was teeming with trees, wild animals and other forms of life. Where one was frigid cold, and the other obscenely hot, this place was oppressively warm and muggy. He could feel the sweat building up already.
Artoo beeped behind him. "No, Artoo, you stay there. I'll take a look around." Suddenly, the ship rocked in the water. Luke nearly his balance, but Artoo was thrown into the muck.
"Artoo!" Luke called out, trying to spot his mechanical friend in the water, "Where are you?" His worry disappeared when a periscope topped by a piece of green metal popped up out of the water. Luke sighed heavily, hanging his head before fixing Artoo with a stern look. "You be more careful, ya hear?" Artoo whistled innocently. "Artoo? That way." He pointed at the shore line
Shaking his head, Luke tossed his helmet into the pilot's seat. He jumped into the water, prepared for potentially cold water, but not for how deep it was. It nearly reached up to his chin before he was able to pull himself out of the water. He looked back at Artoo, only to see his periscope pulled underwater, followed by the fin of some aquatic creature.
"Artoo!" he cried, pulling his blaster pistol. He scanned the water for any sign to the creature, but saw nothing, the water still and murky. Suddenly, Artoo was launched bodily out of the water with a scream and landed hard against some trees.
"Oh man." Luke said, when he found the small astro droid essentially face down in the dirt. "Let's get you up. You were lucky to make it out in one piece."
With no small amount of effort, Luke managed to get Artoo on his metaphorical feet. "Anything broken?" Artoo shook his dome. "Ho man. You were saying coming here was a bad idea. I'm beginning to think you were right. Ah, Artoo, what are we even doing here? It's like, something out of a dream or… maybe I'm just going crazy."
"Let's just hope Master Yoda didn't share the same sentiment as Skyguy here", Ahsoka whispered to Caleb.
"Can't just young Luke here sense Master Yoda?", Shaak Ti wondered.
"He wasn't as trained as he is when he learned under Master Kenobi, meaning he would have to find Master Yoda the hard way", Mace explained to her.
At the Imperial fleet, within the heart of the flagship, Piett walked into Vader's chambers to find the Dark Lord's meditation pod partially open. He didn't see much more than pale, sickly skin before it was covered by the Dark Lord's signature helmet. He quickly came to attention as Vader turned around and his pod opened fully.
"Those wounds look like they haven't healed for years." Saesee said, a little disturbed.
"But they're discolored." Obi-Wan commented. "Just what are the extent of his wounds?"
"All I know is, he is not well. Be it physically or mentally.", Mundi added.
"What is it, Admiral?" he asked.
"Our ships have sighted the Millennium Falcon, my Lord." Piett reported, "However, it has entered an asteroid field and we cannot risk- "
"Asteroids do not concern me, Admiral." Vader interrupted. "I want that ship, not excuses."
"Yes, my Lord." Piett bowed his head as Vader's pod closed.
Back with the Falcon, Han walked onto the bridge to see Leia helping Chewie with one of the ship's systems, her hands smaller than Chewie's and thus more adept for the task, and Threepio standing next to them.
"I'm gonna shut down everything but the emergency power systems." he informed them.
"I'm afraid to ask, Captain, but does that include me as well?" Threepio asked.
"Course not." Han said, reassuringly, "Need you to talk to the Falcon. See what's wrong with the hyperdrive."
Suddenly, the entire ship rocked from side to side.
"Captain," Threepio said, "It's quite possible that this asteroid isn't entirely stable."
"We can see that, Threepio", Padmé said in a deadpanned tone.
"Not entirely stable?" Han said sarcastically, "Well, color me glad we've got you here to explain these things. Chewie, take the professor into the back and plug him into the hyperdrive."
As Chewie and Threepio left, the ship was rocked again, harder. Han fell backwards into a chair and Leia was thrown into his lap.
"Oh my...", Shaak Ti, Luminara, and Depa said at the said time.
"Looks like Luke has competition here", Kit Fisto whispered to Rex with a grin.
Anakin's eye twitched all of a sudden and unconciously placed a hand on Obi-Wan's shoulder.
"Let go." Leia said, but Han shushed her, trying to get a bead on what was happening outside. "Let go, please."
"Don't get excited." Han chided.
"Ouch! Anakin!", Obi-Wan cried out, rubbing his shoulder when his apprentice's hand gripped it too hard.
"Sorry, Master. I just needed to cool off for a moment", he said in a feigned apologetic tone while Ahsoka and Rex looked at Anakin with an inquisitive eye, wondering why is he so protective of Leia all of a sudden.
"Captain, being held by you isn't quite enough to get me excited."
"Sorry sweetheart." Han pushed her back to her feet and grinned, "Haven't got time for anything else."
Meanwhile, Luke had spent his time since crash-landing setting up a small camp for him and Artoo, and off-loading what she could from his fighter using a makeshift bridge stretching from the shore to the nose of the ship. He gathered up the last of the emergency supplies and powered down the craft before heading back to the camp, built around where Artoo had landed. It was by no means pretty, essentially a rough circle of crates around a small portable lantern.
"Alright, ready for some power?" he asked Artoo as he laid down the supplies. Artko whistled eagerly, so Luke plugged his into a compact generator. "Alright, now we just need to find this Yoda, if he even exists." Luke sat down, pulled a pre-packaged meal box from his bag, and began to eat. "It's really a strange place to find a Jedi Master. This place gives me the creeps. Still, there's something familiar about this place." Artoo whistled curiously. "Hard to explain. It feels like- "
"Feel like what?" a voice said behind them. Luke whipped around, blaster drawn to see a small green being hiding behind his clothes.
"Like we're being watched." he said.
"MASTER YODA!", everyone cheered on seeing the Jedi Order's Grandmaster on screen, with many of then becoming elated at his survival.
"He's alive!"
"Thank the Force!"
"And I thought we were completely gone. Gladly, we were wrong"
"Scared him, surely I did not?", Yoda asked.
"If Luke is raising his weapon towards you, maybe you did", Ahsoka answered him resulting of the Master chuckling at this.
"Away put your weapon! I mean you no harm." The little being lowered his arm to reveal a diminutive green alien with a round, balding head, long pointy ears, large eyes, wrinkles everywhere, and dressed in faded tan linen clothes and clutching a walking stick. "I am wondering, why are you here?" he asked.
"I'm looking for someone." Luke said, lowering his pistol slightly.
"Looking? Found someone you have, I would say. Hmm? Heheheh!"
"Right…"
"Help you I can. Yes! Mmm."
"...Master Yoda?", Obi-Wan called out to the Grandmaster, bewildered at his actions.
"I don't think so." Luke said, putting away his blaster. The hermit frowned. "I'm looking for a great warrior."
"Ah! Great warrior." The hermit up, no more than three feet tall, and began to climb down off the tree he was sat on, "Wars not make one great." He walked over to Luke's meal box and munched on the food he had been eating.
"Hey! That's my dinner!" Luke pulled the box away before he lost anything else to the stranger.
"Bleh! How you get so big eating food of this kind?" he asked before climbing up onto one of the crates.
"Listen, friend, we didn't mean to land in that puddle, and if we could get our ship out, we would. But we can't, so why don't you just- "
"Aww, can't get your ship out." The hermit mocked before rooting through one of his storage boxes, tossing out things he didn't find interesting.
"Don't do that." Luke groaned, "You're making a mess." He turned around to see the hermit on the ground holding a small lamp, waving it in front of his eyes. "Hey, give me that."
"Mine!" he declared, pulling it out of his immediate reach. "Or I will help you not."
"I don't want your help. I want my lamp back. I'm gonna need to get off this slimy mudhole."
"Mudhole? Slimy? My home, this is." He didn't notice Artoo reaching out with a small claw until it latched onto the lamp and began to pull. What ensued was an amusing tug of war between the two. When the hermit looked to be losing, he grabbing his stick and began whacking Artoo's head with it until Luke ordered him to give it up.
Anakin couldn't help but chuckle at the sigh of Yoda and Artoo of all people fighting over a small object, as it was the first time he had seen Yoda acting like this. Said Grandmaster also shared the same feeling at seeing himself at screen, knowing this was just the first phase.
Needless to say, everyone was speechless at Yoda's mannerisms here, not expecting the Grandmaster to be acting this way until Caleb spoke "Is there any chance that Master Yoda isn't..."
"You haven't known Master Yoda that well yet, Caleb", Depa reminded her Padawan.
"He's testing Luke", Mace Windu stated.
"Now will you move it along little fella? We've got a lot of work to do."
"No! No, no! Stay and help you I will. Find your friend."
"I'm not looking for a friend. I'm looking for a Jedi Master."
The Hermit's eyes widened. "Jedi Master? Yoda! You seek Yoda."
Luke immediately got down on his level. "You know him?"
"Mmmm." He nodded. "Take you to him, I will. Heheheh! But first, we must eat. Come." Luke stayed put, wondering if the little stranger could be trusted. He turned around and beckoned him to follow.
"Artoo." He sighed. "Stay and watch over the camp."
"Is he testing Luke by any chance?", Ahsoka spoke up, not wanting to think Yoda had came to this.
The Masters knew that Yoda was acting strange because he simply wanted to test Luke of his patience, though the question is to why he couldn't fight the Sith is what left them baffled.
Yoda chuckled. "Crafty I may be. To test one's will and patience, a trait of a Jedi, I must"
"Where is Artoo when I need him?" Threepio complained. He turned to Han. "Captain, I don't know where your ship learned to communicate, but it has the most peculiar dialect. I believe it says that the power coupling on the negative axis has been polarized." Han walked over to see what he meant, a bundle of wire in hand. "I'm afraid you'll have to replace it."
"Of course I'll have to replace it." Han sighed angrily. "Here." he handed to wiring to Chewie, who was up in the ceiling of the common room, "And Chewie."
Chewie looked down at him and asked through a growl.
"Do what he said." Han confirmed while the Wookie growled back in complianxem
Han turned and saw Leia finish soldering a smaller piece of machinery before putting it back together. She then attempted to move another piece below it into position, but it wasn't moving. Han, being the good person he was, moved in behind Leia to try and help her, only to be shoulder-checked back.
"Jeez, Your Worship, I was only trying to help."
"Would you please stop calling me that?" Leia said through grit teeth, more angry at the part she was working on than Han.
"Sure thing, Leia." Han said casually.
Leia sighed. "You make it so difficult sometimes."
"Yeah, I do. I really do. You could be a little nicer, though. Admit it, sometimes you think I'm alright."
"Do you think a relationship between a smuggler and a Princess would work?", Luminara asked curiously.
"I could say it would. I mean, these two are bound to be together", Shaak Ti replied with a giggle, seeing the apparent dynamic with one another.
Leia gave up when she felt the skin on her finger split slightly. "Occasionally." She admitted, sucking on her finger to stop the bleeding. "When you're not being a scoundrel."
Han took Leia's hand and began massaging it. "Scoundrel?" she grinned roguishly. "I like the sound of that."
Anakin coughed at Han's way of flirting while Padmé nudged him on the elbow. "At least that was a little better than hearing how you don't like sand", she teasingly said to him that left him aghast.
"Hey!"
Leia faltered slightly, noticing how close they were. "Stop that."
"Stop what?"
Leia nodded at her hand. "Stop that. My hands are dirty."
"My hands are dirty too. What are you afraid of?"
"Afraid?" she saw Han leaning in.
"You're trembling."
"I'm not trembling."
"Don't overestimate your chances, Solo", Anakin lowly said, almost warning him not to do the deed while the rest felt strange.
"She was spiting Han when she kissed Luke. Now I understand", Kit Fisto pieced out while Anakin and Obi-Wan internally glared at him for reminding them of that part.
Han's voice lowered to a whisper. "You like me because I'm a scoundrel. There aren't enough scoundrels in your life."
"I happen to like nice men."
"I'm a nice man."
"No you're not. You're-" Han gently pressed their lips together, Leia quickly accepting it, her eyes closing. The moment could have lasted forever, if not for Threepio.
The audience heard a glass breaking as Anakin gripped the object so hard, with his face fuming a little at the sight, akin to that an over-protective father. He just doesn't approve of this, even though this is not his business to begin with, it was a sour sight to look at.
"Rex remind me to keep Han away from Anakin whenever we are near him at the present", Obi-Wan pleaded to Rex who merely nodded in response.
"Captain! Captain! I've isolated the reverse power flux coupling." He said happily, not realizing he had just blocked Han at something.
"Thank you. Thank you very much." he said, icily pulling away from Leia.
"You're perfectly welcome, sir." Threepio said innocently.
Out of the corner of her eye, Han could see the retreating form of Leia headed back towards the cockpit and sighed dejectedly.
"Aww, I was looking forward to that!" Ahsoka called out, apparently 'shipping' these two together alongside Shaak Ti and Kit Fisto. Depa, Yoda giggled and looked to the other masters, who were somehow managing to keep their faces neutral. Anakin still had a visible scowl on his face and pouted with his arms crossed, not liking that scene one bit, while Rex, Obi-Wan and Padmé all chuckled, seeing the protective nature of Anakin to Leia.