Lightsabre Training and the Death Star
Thanks to LordBod1970 for favouriting and following this story
As the Millennium Falcon flew through hyperspace towards Alderaan, it's occupants settled down for the flight. Chewbacca, R2 and 3PO were playing a game of Derjarik, while Luke was practicing with his father's lightsabre under Obi-Wan's tuition. Juno leaned against the wall, watching Luke practice. Suddenly, she stiffened, while Obi-Wan turned away from Luke and sat down, both Jedi looking faint. Luke saw this and he switched his lightsabre off and approached them. "Are you both alright? What's wrong?" he asked.
"I felt a great disturbance in the Force..." Obi-Wan replied sadly, "as if millions of voices cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced. I fear something terrible has happened."
"I felt it too, Master." Juno said. "Is it the Empire? Have they done something?"
"Maybe..." Obi-Wan murmured, then he suddenly shook himself out of his daze. "You'd better get on with your exercises." he told Luke.
Just then, Han joined them. "Well, you can forget ya troubles with those Imperial slugs." he said smugly. "I told ya I'd outrun 'em." Nobody paid him much attention, for Luke was busy using his lightsabre to block shots from a seeker droid and Juno and Obi-Wan were both busy watching him. "Don't everybody thank me at once." Han grunted as he sat down. "Anyway, we should be at Alderaan about 0200 hours."
Chewbacca and the droids meanwhile were engrossed in their game. Chewbacca made a move, then it was R2's turn. "Now be careful, R2." 3PO advised his counterpart.
R2 made his move, which overpowered Chewbacca's, causing the Wookie to howl in annoyance.
"He made a fair move. Screaming about it won't help you." 3PO told Chewbacca.
"Let him have it. It's not wise to upset a Wookie." Han told the Protocol droid.
"But sir, nobody worries about upsetting a droid." 3PO said.
"That's 'cos a droid don't pull people's arms outta their sockets when they lose." Han retorted. "Wookies are known to do that."
"I see your point, sir." 3PO said to Han, then he turned to R2. "I suggest a new strategy, R2. Let the Wookie win."
Luke meanwhile was still practicing with his lightsabre. "Remember, a Jedi can feel the Force flowing through him." Obi-Wan coaxed him.
"You mean it controls ya actions?" Luke asked.
"Partially, but it also obeys your commands." Obi-Wan replied.
Suddenly, the seeker fired a shot too quick for Luke to deflect and it caught him in his thigh, stinging greatly. "Bad luck, Luke." Juno said sympathetically.
Han thought it funny. "Hokey religions and ancient weapons are no match for a good blaster at your side, kids." he chortled.
Juno turned to him with an unimpressed look. "Huh, I'd take my lightsabre over one of those clumsy hairdryers any day." she told him.
Luke shut his lightsabre off and glared at Han. "You don't believe in the Force, do you?" he asked dryly.
"Kid, I've flown from one side of this galaxy to the other. I've seen a lot of strange stuff, but I've never seen anything to make me believe there's one all-powerful force controlling everything." Han replied coolly. "There's no mystical energy field controls my destiny. It's all a lot of simple tricks and nonsense."
Juno rolled her eyes at Han's dismissals, while Obi-Wan just smirked wryly. "I suggest you try it again, Luke." he said as he stood up and picked up a helmet with a blast shield, then he walked over to Luke. "But this time, let go your conscious self and act on instinct." he advised as he placed the helmet on Luke's head, the blast shield covering the young man's eyes.
"With the blast shield down, I can't even see." Luke complained. "How am I supposed to fight?"
"You can't always rely on ya eyes, Luke." Juno told him. "Sometimes you've gotta use your other senses."
Luke begrudgingly activated his lightsabre and tried to fight blind, once again getting stunned by the seeker. "Stretch out with your feelings." Obi-Wan instructed him. The seeker fired again, only this time Luke managed to deflect the shots. "You see? You can do it." Obi-Wan said proudly.
"Nicely done, Luke." Juno praised as Luke deactivated his lightsabre and removed the helmet.
"I call it luck." Han remarked, spoiling the mood.
"Of course you would." Juno rolled her eyes at him. "And I'd like to see you try it, Hotshot."
"Look, good against remotes is one thing. Good against the living? It's something else." Han retorted, then the console he was sat by started bleeping. "Looks like we're coming up on Alderaan." Han said as he stood up and walked back to the cockpit, Chewbacca following him.
"You know, I did feel something." Luke said to the Jedi. "I could almost see the remote."
"That's good." Obi-Wan smiled. "You've taken your first step into a larger world."
"Still a long way to go, Luke, but with patience and training, I think you're gonna be a great Jedi Knight." Juno added, patting the young man on the shoulder.
Luke smiled at the praise. "Hey, I've been meaning to ask. Why's your lightsabre purple?" he asked Juno.
"It's the Kyber crystal." she replied. "Yours and Master's sabres have natural crystals, which tend to be either blue or green. I had to make mine myself and it came out purple."
~8~
Aboard the Death Star, Vader and Tarkin were in the conference room when Officer Cass joined them. "Yes?" Tarkin asked him.
"Our scout ships have reached Dantooine." Cass reported. "They found the remains of a Rebel base, but they estimate that it has been deserted for some time. They are now conducting an extensive search of the surrounding systems."
Tarkin was furious. "They lied. They lied to us!"
"I told you they would never consciously betray the Rebellion." Vader said calmly.
"Terminate them... immediately." Tarkin ordered, his ego stung.
~8~
"Stand by, Chewie. Here we go, cut in the sublight engines." Han said as he flipped a switch and the Falcon dropped out of hyperspace. Immediately, the ship was pelted by rocks and debris. "What the?" Han muttered as he sat down and checked his instruments.
Chewbacca gave a growl, asking Han where they were.
"Uh, we came out of hyperspace into a meteor shower." Han told him. "Some kinda asteroid collision. It's not on any of the charts."
Luke, Juno and Obi-Wan entered the cockpit at that moment. "What the hell's going on?" Juno asked.
"Our position's correct, except... no Alderaan." Han told her.
"What d'ya mean? Where is it?" Luke asked.
"That's what I'm tryin' to tell ya, kid. It ain't there, it's been totally blown away." Han replied.
"What?! How?" Luke stared.
"It was destroyed... by the Empire." Obi-Wan said grimly.
"That must've been the disturbance we felt." Juno realised, feeling sick at the thought of all those innocent lives being murdered in cold blood.
"The entire starfleet couldn't destroy the entire planet." Han disagreed. "It'd take a thousand ships with more firepower than I've..." He was cut off by a beeping from the flight console. "There's another ship coming in."
"Maybe they know what happened." Luke suggested.
"It's an Imperial fighter." Obi-Wan said grimly, and sure enough, an Imperial TIE Fighter flew overheard, it's engines producing a bloodcurdling scream.
"It's followed us!" Luke burst out.
"No, it's a short-range fighter." Obi-Wan told him.
"There aren't any bases round here. Where'd it come from?" Han wandered
"It sure is leaving in a big hurry. If they identify us, we're in big trouble." Luke said
"Not if I can help it." Han countered. "Chewie, jam it's transmissions."
Chewbacca complied, pressing a button to scramble the TIE Fighter's radio transmissions. "Might as well let it go. It's too far ahead." Juno said.
"Not for long." Han countered, steering the Falcon on a pursuit course after the TIE Fighter.
"A fighter that size couldn't get this deep into space on it's own." Obi-Wan frowned as the Falcon began to close the distance.
"He must've gotten lost, been part of a convoy or something." Luke suggested.
"Well, he ain't gonna be around long enough to tell anyone about us." Han said.
Luke then noticed a spherical shape in the distance. "Look at him, he's heading for that small moon." he said, realising that the TIE Fighter was probably based on that moon.
"I think I can get him before he gets there." Han said. "He's almost in range."
As they continued to close the distance, the small moon began to take on the appearance of a monstrous spherical battle station. "That's no moon. It's a space station." Obi-Wan said gravely.
"It's too big to be a space station." Han disagreed, but even he couldn't deny that the sphere ahead was clearly not a moon.
"I have a very bad feeling about this." Luke murmured uneasily.
"You and me both, Luke." Juno agreed.
"Turn the ship around." Obi-Wan ordered Han.
"Yeah, I think you're right." Han said quietly, starting to have a bad feeling himself. "Full reverse. Chewie, lock in the auxiliary power." Chewbacca did so, but nothing happened. "Chewie, lock in the auxiliary power." Han repeated.
Chewbacca growled, telling Han that he had, and the engines were indeed at full reverse yet the ship was still moving forward. "Why're we still moving towards it?!" Luke hollered.
"We're caught in a tractor beam, it's pulling us in!" Han realised.
"There's gotta be something you can do!"
"There's nothing I can do about it, kid. I'm at full power." Han told him. "I'm gonna have to shut everything down. They're not gonna get me without a fight."
The space station continued to loom closer and closer. "You can't win, but there are alternatives to fighting." Obi-Wan murmured to Han.
~8~
As the hapless Millennium Falcon was towed closer to the awesome metal moon, the immense size of the massive battle station became staggering. Running along the equator of the massive sphere was a mile-high band of docking ports towards which the helpless freighter was being pulled. The Falcon was brought into hanger bay 327 and Stormtroopers marched towards the captive ship, ready to board it.
~8~
The intercom in the conference room sounded. "Yes?" Tarkin acknowledged.
"We've captured a freighter entering the remains of the Alderaan system." a hanger officer reported. "It's markings match those of a ship that blasted it's way out of Mos Eisley."
"They must be trying to return the stolen plans to the Princess." Vader observed. "Our prisoners may yet be of some use to us."
~8~
Presently, Vader arrived at hanger 327. An officer came out of the Falcon and approached Vader. "There's no one on board, sir." the officer reported. "According to the log, the crew abandoned ship right after take-off. It must be a decoy, sir. Several of the escape pods have been jettisoned."
"Did you find any droids?" Vader questioned.
"No, sir. If there were any on board, they must also have jettisoned." the officer replied.
"Send a scanning crew aboard. I want every part of this ship checked." Vader ordered.
"Yes, sir." the officer acknowledged.
"I sense something." Vader murmured to himself. "A presence I've not felt since..." He turned on his heel and walked away.
"Get me a scanning crew here on the double." the officer ordered his men. "I want every part of this ship checked."
~8~
Two Stormtroopers aboard the Falcon finished their search of the ship and met up at the hatchway. "There's no one here." one reported, and they both exited the ship.
As soon as the troopers were gone, a floor panel near the hatch was pushed open to reveal Han, Chewbacca and Luke hiding underneath, while another one nearby was pushed open to reveal Juno, Obi-Wan and the droids. "Boy, it's lucky you had these compartments." Luke remarked as they all climbed out of their hiding places.
"I use 'em for smuggling. I never thought I'd be smuggling myself in 'em." Han grumbled. "This is ridiculous. Even if I could take off, I'd never get past that tractor beam.
"Leave that to me." Obi-Wan told him
"Damn fool, I knew that you were gonna say that." Han huffed.
"Who's the more foolish: the fool or the fool or follows him?" Obi-Wan countered.
"What d'ya say to that, Hotshot?" Juno smirked at Han, who rolled his eyes.
~8~
A scanning crew arrived in the hangar with a heavy box full of scanning equipment. "The ship's all yours." the Stormtrooper captain told them, "If the scanners pick up anything, report it immediately. Alright, let's go." he ordered his troops, and all but two of the Stormtroopers left the hanger, the two remaining troopers guarding the Falcon's boarding ramp.
The scanning crew, comprising of one male and one female, heaved the heavy box up the ramp and into the ship. Moments later, the two Stormtroopers on guard heard a crash. "Hey, down there." a voice called. "Could ya give us a hand with this?"
The two troopers, suspecting nothing, entered the ship. Moments later, blaster shots sounded but no one heard them.
~8~
In a command office overlooking hanger 327, the on-duty officer noticed that the two Stormtroopers guarding the captured Falcon had left their posts. "TK-421, why aren't you at your post?" he said into his radio. "TK-421, do you copy?" Receiving no answer, he went to the observation window and saw Stormtrooper TK-421 emerge from the Falcon and tap the side of his helmet, indicating comlink problems. The officer gave an acknowledging hand signal and turned to his aide. "Take over. We've got a bad transmitter. I'll see what I can do." He went to the door and it slid open to reveal Chewbacca and a Stormtrooper standing there.
Before the officer had a chance to say or do anything, Chewbacca promptly tossed him across the room like a rag doll, causing him to slam into the wall and break his neck, killing him instantly. The aide rushed to apprehend the intruder, but the Stormtrooper promptly shot him dead. Chewbacca and the Stormtrooper moved into the office to reveal Obi-Wan, R2, 3PO and Juno, who was wearing the female scanning crewmember's overalls. As they all entered the office, the Stormtrooper removed his helmet to reveal Han. Stormtrooper TK-421 came hurrying in after them, closed the door behind him and removed his helmet to reveal Luke. "Ya know, between his howling and your blasting everything in sight, it's a wonder the whole station doesn't know we're here." he told Han dryly.
"Bring 'em on. I prefer a straight fight to all this sneakin' around." Han retorted.
"Huh, you would." Juno grunted, taking her hat off and running a hand through her long hair.
R2 meanwhile had moved to the computer terminal and beeped something to 3PO. "We've found the computer outlet, sir." 3PO informed Obi-Wan.
"Plug in. He should be able to interpret the entire Imperial network." Obi-Wan acknowledged.
R2 extended a datalink into the computer and began sifting through the data. After a moment, he beeped something to 3PO.
"He says he's found the main controls to the power beam that's holding the ship here." 3PO told the others. "He'll try to make the precise location appear on the monitor."
R2 worked fast and soon had a diagram of the station up on the monitor.
"The tractor beam is coupled to the main reactor in seven locations." 3PO explained. "A power loss at one of the terminals will allow the ship to leave."
Obi-Wan studied the diagram closely for a moment then turned to the others. "I don't think you three can help. I must go alone." he said, and began to walk away.
"Whatever you say." Han said, slouching down in a chair. "I've done more than I bargained for on this trip already."
"I wanna go with you." Luke said to Obi-Wan.
"Be patient, Luke. Stay and watch over the droids." Obi-Wan told the young man. "They must be delivered safely or other star systems will suffer the same fate as Alderaan. Your destiny lies along a different path from mine."
"Then let me come with you, Master." Juno tried. "You stand a better chance at succeeding with me with you."
"You destiny lies elsewhere, Juno, not with me." Obi-Wan told her. "I've trained you ever since you were a child, but now it is time for you to forge your own path." He opened the door and checked to see if the coast was clear, then he turned back to the two youngsters. "The Force will be with you both, always." he told them sincerely, then he adjusted the lightsabre on his belt and set off on his mission to disable the tractor beam.
"May the Force be with you, Master." Juno murmured as she and Luke watched him disappear down the stark grey corridor.
Once they were alone, Chewbacca growled something, apparently making a remark about the old Jedi. "You said it, Chewie." Han remarked, then turned to the two youngsters. "Where did ya dig up that old fossil?" he asked snarkily.
Juno swung round sharply. "Shut up!" she snapped.
"Ben is a great man." Luke added, angrily storming up to Han.
"Yeah, great at gettin' us into trouble." Han smart-mouthed.
"I didn't hear you coming up with any better ideas, Hotshot." Juno argued hotly.
"Well, anything's better than just hangin' around waiting for 'em to pick us up." Han retorted
"Who d'you think that..." Luke began, but was cut off by R2 whistling and beeping urgently. "What is it?" Luke asked.
"I'm afraid I'm not quite sure, sir." 3PO replied. "He says 'I've found them' and keeps repeating 'They're here.'"
"Well, who? Who has he found?" Luke asked.
"Princess Leia and her aide, Miss Kali Marek." 3PO replied.
"The princess? She's here?!" Luke stared.
"Princess?" Han furrowed a brow in confusion.
"Where are they?" Juno asked the droids.
"Princess? What's goin' on?" Han demanded.
R2 searched the Imperial records and beeped something to 3PO.
"Level five, detention block AA23." 3PO translated for Luke and Juno.
R2 beeped more information.
"I'm afraid they're both scheduled to be terminated." 3PO translated.
"Oh, no." Luke breathed. "We've gotta do something!"
"What're ya talkin' about?" Han demanded.
"The droids belong to the princess, she's the one in the message." Luke said hurriedly. "We've gotta help 'em both."
"Now look, don't get any funny ideas." Han said. "The old man wants us to wait right here."
"He didn't know they were here, and he'd want us to help them." Juno countered. "Find a way to get us into that detention block." she ordered the droids.
"I'm not goin' anywhere." Han said stubbornly.
"They're gonna execute them!" Luke told him. "Look, a few minutes ago, you said ya didn't wanna just wait here to be captured. Now all ya wanna do is stay?!"
"Marching into the detention area's not what I had in mind." Han retorted.
"But they're gonna kill 'em!"
"Better them than me." Han said indifferently, and turned his chair away from Luke.
Luke lost patience with the self-centred smuggler and was about to give him a piece of his mind, but Juno put a calming hand on his shoulder. "Leave him to me." she told him quietly, and approached Han. "Ya know the princess is rich." she said lightly, appealing to Han's love of money.
"Rich?" Han questioned, turning to face the young woman.
"Rich and powerful." Juno continued. "Think about it; if you were to rescue her, the reward would be more wealth than you could ever imagine."
"I dunno, I can imagine quite a bit."
"You'll get it."
"I'd better."
"You will."
"Alright." Han conceded. "You'd better be right about this. What's ya plan?"
"He's got a point." Luke said. "We can't exactly just go walking straight into that detention area."
"Actually, we can." Juno countered. "Remember, we are dressed as Imperials, and they'll let prisoner escorts into the detention area."
Luke realised what Juno was thinking. "3PO, hand me those binders there will ya?" he asked, and the Protocol droid handed him a pair of binders that been lying on the desk nearby. Luke then approached Chewbacca with the binders. "Ok. Now we're gonna put these on you..." he began as he tried to put them on Chewbacca's wrists, but the Wookie gave a roar of protest. "Ok. Han, you... you put those on." Luke said, tossing the binders to Han.
"Don't worry, Chewie, I think I know what he has in mind." Han said to Chewbacca as he began to put the binders around the Wookie's wrists.
"Right, let's go." Juno said, tying her hair back and putting her Imperial hat on.
"Uh, Master Luke, sir," 3PO spoke up, "pardon me for asking, but what should R2 and I do if we're discovered here?"
"Lock the door." Luke replied.
"And hope they don't have blasters." Han added.
"That ISN'T very reassuring." 3PO grumbled, and R2 beeped in agreement.
"You'll be fine." Juno told the droids. "Just act like you belong here, and they'll leave you alone." Then she and the others set off on their mission to rescue the Princess and her aide.
Author's notes: And here's the first post of October. Note that I had Juno disguise herself as a scanning crewmember. I've read a few OC fics where the OC disguises themselves as a Stormtrooper, like Luke and Han. I decided to do something different and have Juno "borrow" a disguise from the scanning crew. Not much else to say about this chapter, but next time we get the rescue scene and all of our young heroes meeting at last. Until next time, then.
