Hello everyone!

Welcome to chapter 41, as always thank you so much for your patience. I won't bore you with empty platitudes and get right to answering last chapter's reviews:

-TheEmeraldMage:

-RFK22: YES HE CAN, sometimes :) Let's see if Obi-Wan has an answer for one of his biggest challenges yet...

-Monkey D. Conan: I always enjoyed Leia being the emotional rock that so many characters rely on, but also want to see her more combative and warrior side. Hope to build up to that in a good way.

-LordBod1970: thank you so much! Luke has been through hell and I think he's nearly fully matured to the Luke we see in the original Ep VI. His demons will always be there, but he has learned to master them rather than deny them or fear them...

-Elemental Ninja 1608: Glad you're enjoying the story so far! I agree the commando's deaths in the Citadel were too soon after their introduction. If I had to redo it, would definitely construct it differently. Hope you're excited for what's to come!

-Jeda31: You've very sucintly and very brilliantly put it out there :) hope that the stakes feel important and that the action is building cohesively. Can't wait fot these final few chapters.

And with that, on with the chapter!

Obi-Wan was struck by the sea of people that had come to see him be executed. Some of those people had also struck him physically, throwing rotten produce and small Imperial flags. Every few hours, a cleanup crew had to remove the piles of debris around him, and dismissively clean Obi-Wan's face off with a rag.

He welcomed this test of faith. At no point, since being placed on the gallows, had he cast a single unpleasant look or uttered any venomous word at these waves of disgruntled people. He could have used Jedi mind tricks to dissuade some of them, but it did not feel right to him somehow.

A red-haired human girl stepped forward, clutching a very ripe shuura in her hand. Obi-Wan prepared himself for another throw, but instead, the girl quickly took out a delicate Hai-Ka flower from her jacket and threw it over the barricade. It landed right under his face. Obi-Wan was speechless, the flower was beautiful and no doubt impossible to grow on Coruscant. As he looked into the girl's eyes, she gave a shy smile before backing away. The girl was quickly rebuked by her mother and waved away by the Stormtroopers on guard. The flower was stomped on and swept away into the trash pile.

Obi-Wan tried to see where the girl went, but she had already disappeared into the shapeless crowd. Instead, another citizen chucked a maggot-ridden lamta right in Obi-Wan's eyes. The Jedi had to work very hard to maintain his composure.

The jeering and pelting continued for hours. Obi-Wan occasionally saw a sad face in the crowd, rather than a scornful sneer or insult, but they were rare. And none of them were as brave as that girl. The vengeful crowd kept pouring in and showed no signs of slowing down.

The Stormtroopers guarding him were relieved by others, and the cleanup crew came out again; everything was starting to blur together. The smell of rot faded away, the jeers of the crowd spaced out…

Obi-Wan's blurred senses allowed him to rely on the Force even more

At some point, a stage and grandstands started to be built around him. Another indication that the time of his execution was drawing nearer. And still, the crowd did not decrease. Citizens from across the galaxy were eager to see a real Jedi with their own eyes before they were all wiped out, as one might visit an endangered species at the zoo.

Eventually, a large white tent was placed around Obi-Wan, to the disappointed boos and jeers of the crowd.

"The preparations for the ceremony are being finalized!" one of the Stormtroopers shouted to the crowds. "Disperse and return tomorrow at the specified time of the execution!"

The shouting and booing diminished but did not stop. A rotten fruit hit the exterior of the white tent, making an Imperial technician inside yelp in surprise.

"Grab that man!"

The shuffle of Stormtrooper boots, mixed with the panicked voices of the crowd made Obi-Wan nervous about the gross spectacles happening outside this tent.

"Disperse! Disperse immediately! We will detain anyone who continues throwing and cheering!"

As the sounds of the crowd died down, Warrant Officer Leenus made her way into the tent. Her aid walked her through every step, reading off of his holo-tablet.

"The Emperor will deliver his speech, at the end of which he'll turn to you and say 'Warrant Officer, you may proceed'. You will salute, and walk five paces up to the gallows. Make sure you are on the prisoner's right side since you're left-handed; the Department of Information wants good footage. You'll then address the crowd, a holo-mic will be right here for you."

The aid gestured around Obi-Wan, granting the old Jedi a meticulous look at the young man's boots, buffed out to a perfect mirror finish.

"I can see my reflection in these."

Obi-Wan's comment prompted a reflexive snort from Warrant Officer Leenus, which immediately made her aid redden and stare angrily at the Jedi.

"Ignore him," Leenus told her aid reassuringly. "Continue."

"As I was saying," the aid continued. "You will have a microphone, and a prompter in case you forget these words: 'Obi-Wan Kenobi, for your crimes against the Empire, we sentence you to death. May redemption come to you in death, as you did not earn it in life.' Make sure you really let the crowd hang on to every word. You will then unholster the blaster that you will have received beforehand and… you will end the proceedings."

Warrant Officer Leenus had to give him a disbelieving glance at his choice of words.

"Oh, so you're not executing me anymore?" Obi-Wan asked in mock confusion. "Seems odd to end the proceedings on such a suspenseful note."

"You be quiet!" the aid snapped at Obi-Wan.

"Proper verbiage is important," Leenus said with a knowing smirk. "Say it plainly, you want a blaster bolt through his head."

The aid did not appreciate being the butt of a joke, especially not when it came from a death row inmate and was being cosigned by his superior officer.

"I have done my part, Warrant Officer," the aid spoke curtly. "I will leave you to do yours. Good day."

The aid saluted briskly and left the tent. It was now just Obi-Wan and Warrant Officer Leenus.

"I hope you don't get in trouble for that," Obi-Wan said congenially.

"He knows better," she replied easily. "If he even thought of complaining to our superiors, best case scenario, he'd get laughed out of the room. Despite what you may believe, the Empire is not an army of hate-filled drones."

"I never believed that," Obi-Wan answered genuinely. "But I have seen it encourage and reward our worst traits. It attracts bad actors, encourages good people to embrace their darker impulses, and punishes or silences those who disagree."

Leenus did not immediately rebuke, but her silence was not an admission that Obi-Wan was right. She took a few seconds to scan his face as she squatted down to see him eye to eye.

"You could just as easily have been describing the Galactic Republic," she said. "An inefficient elected body, rampant corruption and suffering masses across the galaxy. Then the Clone Wars began and… well, the Empire was born in all but name at that point."

Obi-Wan found it hard to disagree with her. Despite how much he despised Palpatine, his takeover and corruption of the Galactic Republic's institutions had been masterful. So slow and methodical that hardly anyone noticed they we living in a dictatorship until it was too late.

"You're right," he finally admitted, breaking from her gaze. "The Republic had grown lethargic and complacent. The Jedi had become so embroiled in political and military affairs that our ability to perceive the Emperor's plans was severely diminished. In a way… we brought this on ourselves. Our arrogance, our complacency, were all used to destroy us."

Leenus took a moment to consider Obi-Wan for a moment. She tamped down the empathy she was starting to feel towards the old Jedi; such feelings would do her no good. She was part of something bigger than herself and had committed herself to the Empire long ago.

"Don't feel sorry for what you lost, old man. Something better took its place," she said, standing back up and pacing around the gallows. "Everything isn't perfect, can't say it ever will be, but for the first time in a millennia, the galaxy is animated by a singular vision with the power to affect real change. I also clamored for democracy in my younger years, but as I matured, I realized that everyone having a say only leads to a cacophony rather than a clear voice. We are in a better place than we were under the Republic."

"And all it cost was the loss of civil liberties, uninterrupted military conquest, and the genocide of an entire people," Obi-Wan ground out painfully. He locked eyes again with Warrant Officer Leenus, keeping his emotions in check. "I've seen a holorecording of my old padawan murdering Jedi younglings… children as young as four. He slaughtered them… You'll never make me believe this galaxy is in a better place. This Empire is built on the graves of innocent children, and you should never get to forget that."

The warrant officer held his gaze unflinchingly, drawing out this heavy silence for an eternity. Their eyes were inscrutable; an unspoken conversation that only they understood.

"Try to get some rest," she finally said, snapping away from him at a brisk pace.

"Yes… who knows what could happen tomorrow."

Obi-Wan did not mean to make it sound so ominous, since he had absolutely nothing to base his statement on. Perhaps deep down he hoped that his death would not all go according to plan; that something would happen at the eleventh hour to flip the script the Emperor had spent so much time crafting.

He kept that hope in his heart. As long as people had hope, they could never truly be defeated. Even in death, his journey would not be over.

"Making the jump."

Han made the announcement over the Imperial shuttle's intercom before pulling down the lever that sent it into hyperspace. The Lambda class T-4a shuttle was a lot of fun to fly. He only hoped the stolen transmission codes would fool the small Imperial blockade around Endor.

He was alone in the cockpit. Leia was breaking down the attack plan for the strike team, while Chewie, 3-PO, and R2 were caught up in yet another game of holochess. When the Wookie had finally managed to beat R2, his constant gloating ground the little droid's gears so much, that he immediately challenged him to a rematch. C3-PO was stuck as the arbiter of this endless back and forth between two immovable and stubborn objects.

Han could not remember the last time he had felt this relaxed. Even though he was headed for one of the most important and dangerous missions in the Rebellion's history, the fact he had been reunited with Luke, Leia, and Chewie made everything else feel small.

Han, Luke, and Leia had been able to spend some time just the three of them before leaving for their respective missions. It had been strange to reminisce back on the first time they'd met each other and everything they'd been through since.

It had only taken place a few hours ago, but Han could still recall the scene so clearly:

"I can't believe I've never heard this story," Leia tried to mask her excitement as she shifted in her seat. "What went through your mind when you met Han for the first time?"

They had all piled into Luke's temporary room onboard the Rebellion's lead starship. The former vapor farmer had somehow managed to get his hands on some Bantha milk, and had insisted on having his friends try the blue liquid from his home planet. After strong initial reluctance, Hand and Leia found the strange looking milk quite enjoyable.

"Full disclosure, my first impressions of Han weren't very good," Luke admitted guiltily, to which the former smuggler just smirked and shrugged. "I thought he was arrogant, a liability, and a criminal."

"Can't say I blame you," Leia said humorously. "And he's only gotten more arrogant and more criminal since."

"Yeah, only the old man believed in me," Han said.

"He could read you like a book. The Force offers great insight into a person's true intentions," Luke explained, reminiscing fondly. "It was clear to him that you're honorable and loyal."

"Jury's still out on the first one," Leia remarked jokingly.

"Alright, what is this? My birthday? All this love is making me uncomfortable," Han threw up his hands in surrender. "Can't say you made a strong first impression on me either. When I saw you I thought: whiney, immature, out of his depth, entitled kid."

"Wow… and here I thought my rescue was a work of tactical genius, but it's starting to sound more like good fortune," Leia said, taking another sip of milk. "How did you two ever get along?"

"Obi-Wan held us together," Luke said, letting his eyes wander. "He always knew how to keep our heads cool and get us pulling in the same direction."

"That is his gift…" Leia acknowledged, staring at her empty cup.

Her silence told Luke and Han that there was more she wanted to say. Since his capture, the subject of Obi-Wan was a sore spot for many people. No one wanted to fondly remember him like he was dead, and it felt wrong to talk about him when he was still alive and no plans were being made to save him.

"I never told you this," Leia finally spoke up. "But I met Obi-Wan when I was still a child."

Han and Luke were surprised. They had always assumed Leia had only ever heard about Obi-Wan. He had never shared this with Luke during his training.

"He rescued me from kidnappers at my father's request," Leia continued. "We went through quite an adventure together for a few days. Vader was hot on our tail. He wanted to get even with Obi-Wan."

"And now, he just might if you don't stop him, kid," Han said to Luke.

The young Jedi nodded slowly. He did not seem disturbed by that possibility.

"My father is more than that," Luke said. He could see it made Leia uncomfortable. "Every time I've faced him, I could sense something… off. A part of him that could not fully commit to the dark side. It's the same thing I sensed in Mara."

"Luke, I love you, but that… thing is not our father," Leia tried not to sound bitter, but she couldn't manage it. "He tortured me… Whatever you think is left of him is gone."

"Wait… did you say father?" Han thought he had hallucinated.

"I'm not going to try to convince you, Leia," Luke answered respectfully. "I just can't ignore what I've sensed. There is still good in him. I know it, I can feel it. The Emperor hasn't corrupted him fully."

"Okay, back up… I swear you said father a second ago." Han was fighting for his life.

"I don't want you risking your life to try to save him, Luke," Leia got up in frustration. "His life is not worth yours! He picked a side and has to face the consequences!"

"Who the hell is your father!"

Han finished reminiscing, as he recalled his outburst. No one had yet to come to see him in the cockpit, and honestly, he preferred it that way. It gave him more time to mull over the fact that Luke and Leia were siblings, and the big, bad, Darth Vader, was their father.

"I've got a bad feeling about this," Han muttered to himself as he put his feet up on the console and tried to get some sleep before reaching Endor.

The band of Jedi was on their way to Coruscant in the Ghost, which Hera Syndula had very generously let them borrow. She also let them take Chopper, her unhinged navigator droid.

Rex was almost fully recovered, and could not quite believe everything that had happened when he was unconscious. Cody had retold him everything a second time, and their dire situation was finally setting in.

"Feels like this is make or break," he confided in Cody. The Clones were alone in the cockpit. "If we fail, we won't get a second shot at this."

"We're both lucky to have survived this long, Rex," Cody replied. "I mean, you took a blaster bolt to the head and are coming back for seconds. Can't think of a recent event where the odds were in our favor."

Rex took off his helmet to run his hand over the bacta pad on his head. There was hardly any pain. He stayed silent for an auspicious amount of time.

"I made a decision after I woke up from surgery," Rex spoke slowly, deliberately. "I should have died on Tatooine. No other way to say it. I somehow drew the lucky card in a rigged deck… and I survived when General Madine and Luke's aunt and uncle didn't. I'm an old man, even worse, an old clone. My number should have been called long ago… Why is it that the people who need to live and who want to live, are snuffed out, but we're allowed to keep on going?"

Cody stayed silent. Truth be told, he'd pondered that same question himself. He had come to terms with his death after being incarcerated in the Citadel. And ever since Obi-Wan freed him, he felt he was playing with borrowed time. This mission was his way of giving back to the man who had given him a second chance.

"No point making sense of it," Cody replied, pragmatic as always. "Duty is what guides us, always has. And the way I see it, the way to honor those that died before us, is to make the most of the time we have. If we don't succeed, all their sacrifices will have been in vain, and that is far more tragic than two old dead Clones."

Rex could not hold back a smile. Commander Cody had often been mistaken as a callous and unfeeling man, but those who served under him and alongside him knew better. He just knew how to dedicate his entire being to the mission at hand.

"Fair enough, Cody," the old Clone said. "Let's get General Kenobi back safe with enough time to spare to get to Endor and destroy the Empire for good."

"Now that sounds like a plan, brother."

The two soldiers bumped fists before double-checking their weapons and equipment for the third time.

The strike team's approach to Coruscant went surprisingly unimpeded. They had decided to land a ways away from the Jedi Temple, where security was most concentrated. All it took was a falsified shipping manifest which the planetary security team barely glanced at before allowing them into Coruscant's atmosphere.

With the amount of travel in and out of the capital city, it was simply a matter of finding the best entry point and having redundancies in case the first plan did not work out. Thankfully, in this case, they had gotten through no problem and headed straight to a private hangar they had reserved for one standard day.

Cody and Rex got out of the shuttle first to make sure the hangar was secure. They did a full sweep, disguising their Clone armor under long robes that made them look the part of nomadic salesmen. Once they'd confirmed that no one was listening in and all accesses were locked down, they returned inside the shuttle's main dining room where the rest of the team had assembled.

Luke, Mara, Ahsoka, Yoda, and now Cody and Rex, gathered around the holotable. The blue projected image was a rough scan and recreation of the Jedi Temple and execution site. They had done their best to piece together an interior map of the Temple, relying mainly on Ahsoka and Yoda's recollections, but there were still a lot of blind spots.

"Let's start with what we know for certain, which admittedly is not much," Luke stood at the head of the table, the unofficial leader of this team. He had assumed Master Yoda would lead the team, but the old Jedi had deferred his leadership position to him. "Obi-Wan is being held in the gallows, here, in front of an enormous crowd. The time of his execution is being orchestrated down to the exact minute: tomorrow at midday, exactly. The whole Imperial top brass will be there. Some of them will give speeches, most likely Grand Moff Thrawn and Grand Admiral Tarkin will be among them. And it will conclude with Palpatine giving the final order of execution."

"Do we know if Vader will be in attendance?" Mara asked cautiously.

"Unfortunately, this is where we get into second-hand information and conjecture," Luke said. "We don't know if Vader will be there and where he might be. Also, no clue as to where the detonation charges for the Temple are placed. Total Imperial troop count is also a very rough estimate, same goes for what sort of reinforcements they have nearby."

"In this uncertainty, a path will draw itself," Yoda spoke evenly. "Trust in the Force we must. Trust in each other we will."

"Cody, Rex, and Ahsoka, you're on bomb disposal," Luke turned to them. It made the most sense that the two people with the most explosives experience should take care of this. And they worked well with Ahsoka, who could provide some helpful backup.

"Getting the old band back together," Ahsoka said whimsically. "Think you can keep up, boys?"

"We'll take care of it, commander," Rex spoke with measured irreverence. "You just make sure you keep the Imperials distracted."

"That leaves us three to rescue Obi-Wan," Luke looked to Yoda and Mara. "What do you make of that?"

Mara leaned in closer to the holoprojection of the gallows area; it looked terrible.

"Absolutely no cover to speak of. They'll see us coming from a mile away."

"Can we approach through the crowd?" Luke asked.

"Don't think we have much of a choice," Mara responded somberly.

"A distraction I can give you."

All eyes fell on Master Yoda. Everyone shared some nervous glances. It did not take a doctor to understand that Yoda's age was finally starting to catch up to him, after only 900 years. His insane feat of summoning a Krayt Dragon on Tatooine had taken its toll. If he tried something like that again, it's not clear if he would walk away from it.

The Jedi present all eyed each other, expecting one of them to speak up and dissuade Master Yoda. Ahsoka finally spoke up:

"Master Yoda—"

"Worry not of my well-being," Yoda said with a mischievous smirk. "Immune from death, none of us are."

"Don't like the sound of that, sir," Rex spoke up. "The plan is still to leave this planet with one extra person, right?"

"Face Sidious, I must."

The silence that followed seemed to draw the oxygen out of this massive hangar. It dragged for several seconds. Ahsoka silently gestured to Rex and Cody.

"The boys and I will head over to the Temple from here and start working diffusing those charges," Ahsoka said. "Let's keep in touch on our progress."

Cody and Rex followed Ahsoka toward the exit, giving supportive gestures to the others. Mara shared a questioning look with Luke but he could not convey an answer to what Master Yoda was implying.

Once the others had left, the silence of the hangar was somehow even more omnipresent, save the dull buzz of the holomap.

"Play on Sidious' ego, we must. Believe he is all powerful he does. Wish to finish what he failed to do before he will."

"Confronting the Emperor is risky, master," Luke finally spoke. "You'll be severely outnumbered."

"He'll want to take the fight inside. He can't do it in front of the crowd," Mara spoke up. "He still needs to keep up the façade of being a harmless old man."

"Can't say our public image would remain intact," Luke added. "It won't just be a prisoner breakout but an assassination attempt on the Emperor. But if everything goes according to the plan, the Empire will be destroyed by the next standard day and it won't matter anyway."

"Or we'll all be dead, and it also won't matter anyway," Mara added her touch of morbid humor.

"Agreed."

"So to recap," Mara leaned in closer to the holomap. "We'll approach through the crowd, staying in constant contact with each other and the demolition team."

"Make my way through the sewers and vents I can," Yoda added. " To better ambush the Emperor and give you your distraction."

"Will it be one of those 'you'll know it when you see it' distractions?" Mara asked coyly.

"Precisely."

"Chopper, you'll have to keep the Ghost on standby as close to the Temple as you can," Luke turned to the maverick protocol droid who responded with clonks and waves.

"Standby on the roof of the Temple?" Luke repeated to clarify what the little droid was telling him. "Can you actually do that? Without being spotted?"

Chopper replied with a spin of his dome and a threatening wave of his claw.

"Alright, alright," Luke admonished. "We'll stay in touch and give you a signal when we need our exfil."

"We'll need you to pick us up as soon as we free Obi-Wan," Mara reiterated so Chopper was clear on this. "We'll be completely exposed. It'll be like shooting scalefish in a barrel, even with the Stormtroopers terrible aim."

"Of course. We need to wait until the last possible moment to get Obi-Wan out. We can only hope that the demo team will have done their job before the execution time."

Everyone nodded quietly to this final declaration. There was nothing more to discuss. The plan was as sound and detailed as they could make it, but there were still gray areas and unknowns that would have to be dealt with on the day.

"May the Force be with you all," Yoda murmured as he placed in his earpiece.

"Thank you Master," Luke replied as he and Mara took their own earpieces. "May the Force be with you."

They shared a final empathetic look before breaking away from the old master. Luke and Mara headed towards the hangar exit, while Yoda trailed a few feet behind them.

Outside, the air of Coruscant felt heavy. This was Luke's first time on the capital planet, Mara had been here a handful of times, while Master Yoda had called this place home for the past several centuries. Even to him, this whole place felt unfamiliar now; the city had only grown more crowded, more anonymous, more shapeless.

They disappeared into the crowds, Luke and Mara going one way, Master Yoda going another.

By tomorrow, the fate of the galaxy would change forever; it was up to them if it was for the best or for the worst.

Thanks everyone for your patience and support! very excited to get into the final chapters of this story. Hope you've been enjoying the journey as much as i have.