Chapter 9: Inside the Death Star
Tarkin was in his office with Vader, working through some military dispatches and a message to the Emperor in regard to the status of the Death Star when an Imperial officer entered.
"Yes?" he asked, not looking up from his work.
"Our scout ships have reached Dantooine." He reported. This caught his attention. "They found the remains of a Rebel base, but they estimate it has been abandoned for some time. They are now conducting a thorough search of the surrounding systems." His report finished, he saluted him, turned around on his heel and left.
"I knew she wouldn't give up that easy!" Ahsoka cheered.
"Loyalty is one of her qualities." Shaak Ti preened, "And after all that she's been through, she know exactly where knows where her loyalties lie."
"She lied." Tarkin growled. "She lied to us!"
"I told you she would never consciously betray the Rebellion's location." Vader said, trying not to sound smug.
"Terminate her! Immediately!" Tarkin ordered lividly.
"You better not, Tarkin...", Anakin lowly growled.
The Falcon screamed through hyperspace, shown as a swirling tunnel of blue and white.
"Alright Chewie, cutting to sub-light engines… now." He flipped a series of switches all at once. Immediately, the Falcon dropped out of hyperspace into a hail of asteroids. The ship shook with all the impacts, large or small. "What the?"
"Must've come out in the middle of a meteor shower or some kind of asteroid collision. Check the maps!"
Chewie growled as he checked the maps once more.
"What's going on?" Luke asked as he and Ben came to the bridge.
"Our coordinates are correct, but no Alderaan." Han said.
"Wouldn't they be close to the Death Star?", Kit Fisto questioned, worried to the fact that the droids containing the plans are with them and are at the grasp of the Empire.
"What do you mean? Where is it?"
"That's what I wanna know! All I do know is that it ain't there. Totally blown away."
Chewie growled in addition, stating that the they are in the right location and this asteroid field was not at the charts.
"Well, Welcome to Alderaan...", Rex said with a low tone of humor.
"Well then, how?" Luke said.
"Destroyed, by the Empire." Ben supplied.
"The entire fleet couldn't destroy the whole planet." Han said matter-of-factly.
"Until now.", Plo Koon added.
"It'd take a thousand starships with more firepower than I've- " a loud beeping stopped her. "There's another ship coming in on our six."
"Maybe they know what happened." Luke said hopefully.
"It's an Imperial fighter." Ben said, as Han flipped a few switches.
A TIE-fighter flew past them. "It followed us!" said Luke.
"No, it's a short-range fighter." Ben said.
"There aren't any bases around here. Where'd it come from?" Han said.
"Oh. OH!" Caleb held the sides of his head. "They're in trouble!"
"Ya think?" Rex said, trying to keep him calm along with Master Bilaba.
"It sure is leaving in a big hurry. If they identify us, we're in big trouble." Like said.
"Not if I can help it. Chewie!" Han ordered as the Wookie growled in response.
"I admire how good of a they are as a tem." Shaak Ti said, observing the smuggler duo.
"Probably best to let it go." Ben said diplomatically, "It's too far out of range."
"Not for long." Han said as he increased the ship's speed.
Ben frowned. Something about all this didn't feel right. "Fighter that size couldn't get this deep into space on its own." He said.
"I got a bad feeling about this...", Ahsoka muttered.
"Must've gotten lost." Luke guessed, "Been part of a convoy or something."
"Well, he won't be around long enough to tell anyone about us." Han assured them as they continued to chase it through the void.
"Look! He's headed for that small moon!" Luke said.
"Luke, turn back now...", Anakin warned him, knowing that Vader was also aboard the Death Star.
"Think I can get him before he reaches it." Han said.
"That's no moon." Ben said, his eyes widening, "It's a space station."
"It's too big to be a space station." Han argued.
"Boy, you have no idea what is going on here.", Mace said.
As they got closer, they saw that it's surface was too unnatural, too mathematical.
"I've got a very bad feeling about this." Luke said.
"Turn the ship around." Ben almost ordered.
"You know, I think you've got the right idea." Han said, "Full reverse! Chewie, lock in the auxiliary power!"
The Wookie complied, but it didn't work.
"Chewie, lock in the auxiliary power!" he repeated when they didn't turn. Chewie growled in response, saying they couldn't.
"Why are we still moving towards it!?" Luke yelled.
"Nothing we can do, we're caught in a tractor beam! It's pulling us in!" Han yelled back.
"NO!", Anakin, Ahsoka and Caleb yelled at the same time. The audience grimaced at the sudden turn of events.
"The Rebellion is hanging by a thread if they managed to get their hands on Threepio and Artoo.", Luminara grimly mused.
"There's gotta be something you can do!"
"There's nothing for it. I gotta shut down, but they won't get me without a fight."
"You can't win, but there are alternatives to fighting." Ben counselled.
"Calm as always, Obi-Wan.", Master Mundi complimented to his fellow master.
As the tractor beam pulled the ship into one of the docking bays, the group of four took in just how massive the Death Star was. Once the ship had landed, squads of Stormtroopers surrounded the entrance ramp.
"Yes?" Tarkin said into an intercom on his desk.
"We captured a freighter entering the remains of the Alderaan system. It's markings match that of a ship that blasted its way out of Mos Eisley."
"They must be trying to return the stolen plans to the princess." Vader said. "She may yet be of use to us."
A few minutes later, Vader entered the hangar where the Falcon was being held as a team of soldiers came down the entrance ramp.
"There's no one on board, sir." An 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."
"They couldn't simply abandon their ship can they?", Caleb questioned.
Kit Fisto interjected. "Take note that the two pilots are smugglers, they have something else in mind."
"Did you find any droids?" Vader asked. He seemed more focused on something else.
"No, sir. If there were any onboard, they also must have jettisoned."
"Get a scanning crew aboard. I want every part of this ship checked." he ordered. As the officer went to comply, and another squad performed a secondary sweep, he looked about again. "I sense something, something I've not felt since…" Without another word, he walked away in a hurry.
"I still cannot believe that he was Master Kenobi's apprentice.", Luminara stated in a sardonic tone.
"After the Order had fallen, I could imagine that I took another apprentice in hopes that we would be able to stop the Empire, but it ended up as a grave mistake. And Anakin's life was forfeited because of me...", Obi-Wan said in a regretful tone as Master Luminara placed a hand on his shoulder as a gesture of comfort.
"It's not your fault, Master.", Anakin quickly said. "One we know what actually happened, we'll stop this from happening."
Inside the Falcon the second sweep was finished. The whole ship was empty, not a soul or droid to be seen. As the last Stormtroopers walked down the ramp, a pair of panels off to the side of the entrance came out of the floor. Under one, hid Luke and Han the latter of whom had his blaster at the ready. Under the other, came Ben.
"Man, it's lucky you had these compartments." Luke sighed in relief.
"See?", Master Fisto said with a smile.
"I use 'em for smuggling." Han explained, "Never thought I'd be smuggling myself in 'em." He turned to Ben as he rose from his compartment, "This is ridiculous. Even if I could take off, I'd never get past the tractor beam."
Plo Koon spoke. "One of them has to go deactivate the tractor beam. Though it won't be an easy task considering the number of Imperials aboard the Death Star."
"Leave that to me." Ben said as he hefted himself up from the compartment.
"Crazy fool, I knew you were gonna say that."
"Who's the more foolish? The fool, or the fool who follows him?" Ben countered.
"Never get old, Obi-Wan", Anakin spoke about his master's mannerisms.
Chewie growled, urging them to hurry up said, poking his head up from Han and Luke's compartment,
Outside, the scanning crew, a pair of engineers arrived.
"The ship's clear. If the scanners pick up anything, report it immediately." One of the troopers told them. The engineer gave a perfunctory nod before helping his partner carry the equipment on board while all but the two troopers standing guard at the entrance left. Barely two seconds after the engineers got on board, a large crashing sound came from inside the Falcon. The guards looked at each other, but thought nothing of it until a voice came from inside.
"Hey, down there! You guys mind giving us a hand here?" It said. One of the guards motioned for his partner to come help him and the pair went up the ramp. Soon after, a series of blaster shots were heard, followed by more crashing.
In a control room overlooking the hangar, an officer tried to call the guards.
"TK-421, why aren't you at your post?" No answer. "TK-421, do you copy?" Still no answer. He went to the observation window and saw one of the guards coming out of the ship. They looked at him and pointed toward their helmet. He gave a small salute, before walking away. "We got a bad transmitter. I'll see what I can do." He said. When the door opened, he saw a trooper standing next to Chewie
Chewie growled before he and the trooper opened fire, taking out the skeleton crew in the observation room. With the room clear, Ben the droids and one more trooper filed in. Once the last trooper shut the door behind them, they tore their helmet off, revealing it to be Luke.
"Huh, crafty...", Ahsoka complimented.
"I wonder if they could see anything with that kind of armor.", Shaak Ti wondered.
"I don't know ma'am, but that looks nothing like Clone armor.", Rex boasted.
"You know, with all your blasting, I'm surprised the whole station doesn't know where we are!" he said angrily.
The other trooper, now revealed to be Han, took off his own helmet. "Well bring 'em on! I prefer a straight fight to all this sneaking around anyway!"
"Never wish for battle Mr. Solo. There are plenty more to come.", Master Mundi commented.
"We found the computer outlet, sir." Threepio reported.
"Plug in." Ben said, "It should give you access to the entire Imperial network."
A long rod came out of the side of Artoo and it plugged into an outlet in the side of the computer. He whistled as he worked, while Threepio interpreted.
"Work your magic, Artoo..", Anakin stated for the little droid as the people present were familiar of its talent.
"He says that he's found the main controls to the beam that is holding the ship here. He'll try and bring a precise map up on the monitor." A series of technical images appeared on the monitor, each with a red dot somewhere on it. "The tractor beam is couple to the main reactor in seven locations. A power loss at a single terminal will allow the ship to leave."
"That seems like a security flaw." Rex mused, "Multiple connections should decrease the potential for system power failures via redundancy, but the opposite is true. Why would the designers do something like that?"
"You do know the Seperatists were the ones who had the idea?", Anakin questioned.
Ben bit his lip before speaking. "I don't think either of you can help me. It's best if I go alone."
The audience present were now worried for Obi-Wan, feeling a sense of déja vu that something is going to happen.
"Whatever you say, Old Man." Han said, "Gotten more than I bargained for on this trip already."
"Let me come with you." Luke pleaded.
"Be patient, Luke. Stay and watch over the droids." He counseled. When he tried to argue, he cut him off "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." He opened the door, checking it was clear and looked at Luke square in the eyes. "The Force will be with you. Always."
Now Anakin was worried for his master and for Luke. His son never even met his parents and the family he had knew was gone, and he wouldn't imagine him being all alone if something happened to Obi-Wan.
As for Obi-Wan, he pinched his forehead in deep thought. This act of selflessness and assurance was a visage of everything that he and his futurehad went through.
He had lost the Master he looked up as a father.
Lost the woman he had truly loved.
Lost the Order that he knew as a family.
And lost the apprentice that was a brother to him.
And yet despite all that, he continued on, the Force guiding him of his path. If he had to give up his life to save the legacy of his brother and the hope for the freedom of the galaxy, he would do so without hesitation.
Chewie growled, not knowing what that meant. "You said it Chewie." Han said, leaning against his first mate's shoulder, "Where did you dig up that old fossil?"
"Ben is a great man." Luke said with a frown.
"Yeah, great at getting us in trouble."
"I didn't hear you give any ideas."
"Literally anything is better than waiting around for them to pick us up."
"You think- " Luke was interrupted by excited whistling from Artoo who was still plugged into the network. "What is it?"
"Honestly, sir, I have no idea." Threepio translated, "All he says is 'I've found her' and keeps repeating 'she's here'."
"Who?"
"Princess Leia."
"The princess? She's here?"
"Princess?" Han asked, looking at Chewie, who just shrugged.
"Where is she?" Luke asked Artoo.
"Level 5, detention block RT-13." Threepio translated. Artoo whistled a bit more. "I'm afraid she's scheduled to be terminated."
"What? No!" he looked at Han, "We gotta do something!"
"And fast.", Kit Fisto interjected.
"What are you talking about?" he asked back.
"The droids belong to her. She's the one in the message, we gotta help her!" Luke pleaded.
"Look, kid, don't get any funny ideas. The old man wants us to wait right here." Han said firmly.
"He didn't know she was here! Find us a way to get there." he told Threepio.
"I'm not going anywhere." Han said, taking a seat and kicking his feet up.
"They're gonna execute her! And aren't you the one who was arguing against staying put and getting captured? Now all you want to do is stay?"
"Waltzing into the detention area is what I had in mind!"
"But they're gonna kill her!"
"Better her than me!"
"But that's going a bit too far." Padmé clarified.
Luke looked like he was about to give up and go himself, before an idea came to mind. If Han's morals wouldn't be swayed, maybe he just needed to use a different approach. A small smile spread across his lips and he walked up behind Han. "She's rich." He almost whispered into Han's ears. Chewie facepalmed as Han was so easily drawn in.
"I guess the Skywalker convincing technique is passed on!", Anakin boasted to which others facepalmed, hoping that Luke didn't have too much of his father already.
"That is devious, Luke." Mundi commented. "I like it. Just like your father"
"They grow up so fast." Shaak Ti sighed.