Legacy of the Sith

Chapter 22: Come What May

Shuttle Tyberium landed in the hangar bay of the huge space station. For effect, Han, dressed in Imperial uniform, saluted when he strode down the landing platform. Even without Vader's help, Han had plenty of confidence when it came to Imperial procedure. The id card that they scanned was a first rate fake. "Officer Draygo, we'll get this cargo out of here for you now; it looks like you've got quite a schedule to keep. The computer is showing you headed for the base on Gall next...oh, wait a minute..."

Han was able to keep all fear out of his voice as he responded, "What?"

"I apologize, but you're not going to be able to leave this station," the deck officer told him.

"Is there a problem?" Han asked, keeping his sheild up, but sorely tempted to try just one little tiny Mind Trick...

"It appears that the Death Star is under a lockdown. Frankly, I don't understand it either. But just between you and me, Officer Draygo, GA Thrawn's been acting, well, a bit weird. In fact, nothing about the last couple of months has been what you'd call normal. Lord Vader has not even made an appearance here yet (not that any of us really mind that)," the deck officer chatted away.

"I know what you mean. But it looks, to me anyway, that you're all just about finished here," Han commented as casually as he could.

"Between you and me, I think we are all finished. Completely finished, if you get my meaning."

"Really?"

"We worked our asses off, but yeah, I think we're ready for that Rebel Fleet attack that everyone keeps warning us is on it's way."

"Well, that's a surprise. Need help getting this stuff out? It's mostly food, I think," Han asked helpfully.

"Sure, let's get this started, then we can go to the comissary," the deck officer suggested. Two stormtroopers climbed aboard Tyberium, then the deck officer. Han was about to follow when suddenly, he heard the deck officer yell, "What the hell is this...alien?"

Han peeked up into Tyberium's cargo hold. Nestled between stacks of cartons was Master Yoda, with a strange little grin on his aged green face. The stormtroopers raised their rifles, but never got to fire a shot. Han's jaw dropped as he watched Yoda's lightsaber materialize faster than instantly. Luke's appeared only a half-second later, eliminating all three Imps effortlessly. Even the chatty deck officer.

"Good work, guys. Now, to keep Thrawn from sending anyone else down here..." Han said as he went to the deck officer's computer and keyed in a codeword. Just then, the communicator crackled alive.

"Has that last shuttle boarded?" Han glanced at Luke, mouthed the word Thrawn, then turned back to the computer console.

"Yes, Admiral. Shuttle Tyberium has just unloaded its supplies. He's requesting permission to leave the facility..."

"Permission denied. There are to be no more shuttles either to or from this station. We are now under a lockdown."

"Yes, sir." Han sighed when he signed off. Looked like part one of Han's desperate plan to shut the Death Star's laser down was successful. But now...with the lockdown, they might have a real hard time getting out of here. He should have known it was too easy.

"Hey, what's that sound?" Luke asked, surely talking about the loud banging sounds coming from the shifting shields that surrounded the Death Star's immense hull.

"They're locking down. I'm telling you, it's a miracle that Thrawn even let us aboard. If we had messed around even another five minutes thanks to your stubbornness, we'd have been screwed, Luke!" Han snapped.

"I'm sorry, Han, but it's for the best," Luke sighed. Han nearly shouted that the kid sounded just like his father, but he didn't dare. "Why are you so upset? At least Leia isn't up here!"

"No, of course you're right about that, but frankly, I'm not too crazy about her being down there with Kenobi either," Han grunted as he led the small party to an elevator. Han had the holographic map of the Death Star on his comlink, the plans the Bothans had gotten from the Empire. Of course, Han had also studied the Death Star plans that Vader had given him, and they were committed to memory, so the map was really more for show than anything else.

"Why, Obi-Wan will protect Leia from anything that comes her way!" Luke protested.

"Yeah? He gonna protect her from himself?" Han shot back. The elevator door shut, and Han punched a down button.

"A Jedi Master, Obi-Wan Kenobi is! To uphold the Jedi Code, he will always commit himself!" Yoda countered.

"With all due respect, Master Yoda, I think we'd better table this conversation until we get ourselves out of here."

"A wise decision, that is. Have a look at that map, I think I should," Yoda suggested.

"Yeah, here. You and Luke can memorize it. We need to get here..." Han pointed to a huge cylider-like object, with what seemed like thousands of tiny spikes protruding from it. "That, my friends, is the Hammertong laser. Pride of the Empire."

"Oh, joy. What are we going to do? Just push the 'off' button?" Luke joked.

"Actually, Luke, it does have an off button. But I think, if we're going to have any hope of keeping some smart-ass Imp from coming down here and pressing the 'on' button again, we're going to have to do more damage," Han said.

"A lightsaber to those spikes should do the trick," Yoda pointed out.

"Too bad you don't have one, Han," Luke grinned.

Han grinned back, unable to keep his face so straight. "Let's split up when we get to Level 13. You and Yoda get started shaving this thing, and Chewie and I will press the 'off' button. We'd better not try to use comlinks to contact eachother, but let's try to meet back up here ASAP." Han suggested.

"Sounds like a plan to me. Here we are..." Luke said eagerly as the elevator stopped at Level 13. "May the Force be with you, Han, Chewie."

"Yeah, you too." And with that, Luke and Yoda went one way, and Han and Chewie went the other.

Obi-Wan Kenobi had not led a battle in nearly 25 years, but that did not mean that assuming command over others didn't come easily back to him. Within five minutes, he had the rebel troops assembled, ready to attack the heavily guarded power station that generated the force sheild surrounding the Death Star.

"This station looks more completed than I'd been led to believe," he commented to Leia, who had crouched beside him behind a huge fallen tree, watching the station.

"The Death Star seemed to grow more and more since Chewie and I had arrived. The local indigenous species, called Ewoks, had told us that the ships coming to and from the hangar there was constantly busy," Leia told him.

"Not so busy right now. In fact, the place looks dead," Obi-Wan critiqued.

"That shuttle that Han and Luke took up there was the last one I've seen leave," Leia trailed off. "He still doesn't know...about Vader."

"Luke was supposed to be the one to tell him. My former Padawan was remiss. And now, he's beginning to show signs of his father's arrogance," Obi-Wan complained.

"Luke isn't capable of Vader's arrogance, or at least, I'd rather not think so," Leia frowned.

"He, like Anakin, has learned from me. There's no telling how many of my mistakes I'd made with your father I might have made with Luke too," Obi-Wan sighed sadly. Leia squeezed his hand, saying nothing. Suddenly, what had been flitting around in the air between them since he'd arrived on Endor threatened to ignite the very oxygen in the air. "Leia..." he breathed.

"Oh, sorry." She let go of his hand.

He took her hand back. "I feel so much less troubled when you are nearby, and yet, you must know there are a lot of complications."

"It's so difficult sometimes to be strong for everybody else. We've spent so long preparing for this attack, and now, I pray the Rebel Fleet doesn't get here in time," Leia confessed.

"The Jedi Order had always forbidden permenant attachments for this very reason, Leia. They had always reasoned that if you are afraid of losing someone you love, you hesitate to do what must be done. That little bit of hesitation can destroy all chance of success. And yet, the thought of Luke and Yoda up there, protected from destruction by a sheild that it's our job to dismantle, causes me more distress than you know. Especially since it's hurting you so much."

A captain marched up to Obi-Wan's and Leia's hiding place. She surely must have noticed them holding hands, but instead merely said, "We've just gotten the signal; Admiral Ackbar and the Fleet have entered the Endor system."

"Then we begin the attack, Captain..." Obi-Wan said, but not without the nagging feeling that he was just signing the death warrants of Luke, Han, Chewie and Yoda. Princess Leia still held onto his hand, and he tightened his grip as the shooting began.

"Forgive me Lord Vader, I mean, my Lord Emperor, but I must say this is happening very fast," Admiral Piett said carefully to the large hologram of Darth Vader looming over him.

"Admiral, I am entrusting Executor to you. The flagship will lead the attack on the station. I've already sent word to Grand Admiral Thrawn that he is to have the entire station evacuated by the time the Imperial Fleet arrives. I am only hopeful, at best, that he will obey my orders. I have it on very good authority that the Rebel Fleet might just beat us to Endor. If you see them, ignore them unless they engage you."

"You mean the Rebel Fleet that had assembled in the Sullust system? That is virtually every last Rebel in the galaxy aboard those ships!" Piett protested.

"Precisely. If the Hammertong laser has been activated, and Thrawn should decide to start shooting, why put the Imperial Fleet in his way?" Vader reasoned.

"Do you really think that Thrawn will fire on Imperial ships?" Piett asked in a quiet, shocked voice.

"I am almost certain of it. Because you see, Admiral, he will not be viewing the Imperial Fleet as Imperials, but as my fleet. I have a feeling that he will not be recognizing me as Emperor," Vader told Piett.

"My lord Emperor, that would be treason! Surely Thrawn is not capable of it! You and he used to get along so well!" Piett gasped.

"I beleive he likes his laser better than he likes me," Vader quipped. Piett seemed a bit blanched. "At all costs, that station must be destroyed. Do what must be done, blow away anyone standing in your way, forget that some of your fellow officers may be aboard that station. Those are your orders, Admiral Piett."

Heavy-hearted, Peitt answered, "I copy, my lord Emperor."

Admiral Ackbar's ship was the first to find out the force sheild was still up. "Take evasive action! The shield is still up!" he boomed across the observation deck of his flagship.

One of Ackbar's immediate junior officers rushed up to him. "Our scopes detect another group of ships entering the system."

"Vader?" Ackbar gasped. What a great time for him to show up!

"They are still too far away to get positive ids, but we must assume that Executor will be among them."

"Keep me updated with regular reports on the situation...Yes?" Ackbar said, responding to another officer appraoching at top speed.

"Admiral, I've just gotten a confirmation--Emperor Palpatine has passed away earlier today," the officer reported. The shockwave could be heard and felt among the Calamari on the observation deck.

"How did you hear this?" Ackbar demanded.

"A few Bothans have confirmed that he is dead. One says it was a natural death, another alludes to possible assasination," he answered in an urgent murmur.

What timing! This news could tip the battle's scales wildly. If the other Rebel forces have learned this news, it could embolden them greatly--and make them take greater risks. And there was a question of succession, within the Imperial ranks, that is. No rebels will recognize any successor to Palpatine unless he or she was duly elected by the people. Dozens of what ifs raced through his mind like drunken X-wings. But first things first...

"Regardless of anything else, we are to remember what we are here to accomplish today. As soon as that sheild is down..."

"Sir, the sheild is down; and part of the Imperial Fleet has arrived. Executor is among them. So far, they seem to be on standby," one last officer reported to Ackbar.

"Very well. General Calrissian and the Rogue Squadron will begin their attack!"

Thrawn saw the Imperial Fleet behind the Death Star, on the far side of the forest moon. He saw the Rebel Fleet in front of him. Surely they must be asking themselves why he hasn't sent a mega-dose of TIE fighters out to shoot down those Rogue fools who thought they were going to do another "Luke Skywalker" and destroy this Death Star with one shot. Well, he thought it was high time they all found out.

With a smirk, Thrawn pressed the com button on his command console. "Fire at the Rebel Flagship when ready, Captain."

A voice sounded off through the corridors of the Death Star, "Activating primary ignition..." Everyone, including the four lone rebels scurrying though those corridors, seemed to stop for a moment and hold their breaths. Only those lone four rebels let out their breaths when the voice announced, "Ignition defective..."

"What?" Thrawn exploded, which startled any Imperial officers around him. "We just went through the relays this morning! How can this be?"

"Admiral! There are unauthorized persons in corridor 414," one tech suddenly sputtered.

"Put them on the screen!" Thrawn commanded. The images of four individuals, two of them in traditional Jedi garb, one in Imperial uniform, and one Wookiee appeared before him. "What are you waiting for! Activate the ray sheilds!"

Luke, Yoda and Chewie followed Han down the next corridor. Suddenly, the three of them were trapped by a white sheilding bubbled around them. "What's this?" Luke asked, taking out his lightsaber and trying to poke a hole in it. That only caused the bubble to shudder, but it never punctured.

"Ray shields, these are. Since the Clone Wars, these had not been in use," Yoda reported unhappily.

"Great, what made the Empire put these in their halls?" Han asked in a panic. He let his own sheild slip off. Yoda and Luke seemed to not notice.

"Probably me," Luke sighed.

"Great, how do I get you out?" Han asked. He glanced up, saw the control for the sheild up above their heads, and tried to fire off a shot. It riccocheted back down, blasting a hole in the black floor.

"Deactivated by central control, the ray sheilds must be," Yoda told him.

"Fine, don't worry, I'll get you out of there!" Han assured them, then ran off.

Back at the observation deck of the Death Star, Thrawn got the report that the two Jedi and the Wookiee have been captured, and that they made a positive id on the other rebel. "Han Solo, right?" Thrawn growled softly. "Well, we will send a squad out to catch him; at least he isn't Jedi material. But first, we have to solve this present situation. What is your report on the Hammertong?"

"It's damaged quite badly, sir. Not impossible to fix, but it will take time."

"How much time?" Thrawn asked calmly.

"Half the conduits have been hacked off with a laser sword type tool. It will take days to reattach every one of them," the officer answered uneasily.

"Very well. The sheild protecting this station has been deactivated by the rebels. They are sending their Rogue Squadron in. We have no laser to fight back with."

"Executor and the rest of our Fleet is here, sir! They will protect us!"

"No, they won't, they will only mop up if the Rebels flub this attack. No, there is only one way; we must order a retreat."

"A retreat? But we never got any orders from the Emperor," the officer stammered.

"And you won't. The Emperor is dead. Darth Vader killed him earlier this morning. No, we need to leave here at once."

"We'll start evacuation procedures," the officer nodded, seemingly too stunned to do anything else except what comes automatically.

"Evacuate? Not a chance! We are taking the Death Star out of here! Prepare to make the jump to hyperspace. I've programmed in a destination; it's outside Imperial space. Do it now, Captain!" Too spooked to refuse, the officer gave the stunning order to the central control.

As Han raced through one corridor after another, he felt the shifting under his feet. "No, it can't be!" he gasped aloud. To hell with keeping his Force-sensitivity a secret! He took out the lightsaber, held it ready to ignite, and then, trying to keep calm, he made contact with Vader...

Once the small power station generating the force-sheild around the Death Star had been destroyed, there was little Leia could do except watch the Death Star above her. All she could be grateful for is that the Death Star hadn't fired on anyone yet.

"Princess Leia, I've just gotten some news from the flagship. Palpatine is dead," Obi-Wan told her.

At last! A bit of great news! "Obi-Wan! That means Luke isn't in danger anymore! And it means that the Rebel Alliance will be able to sweep in and take control...what?"

"What's going on up there? The Death Star is moving!" Obi-Wan gasped. Abot two second passed, and the Death Star just disappeared! Leia screamed. Obi-Wan knew in an instant why; she could sense, as he could, that Luke, Yoda, Han and Chewbacca never made it off that station before Thrawn took off. His stunned helplessness was interrupted by a beeping. He pulled his comlink out, the one that Vader had given him with his private line, all those months ago.

With dread, he answered it. "Obi-Wan. I know what's happened to my son and his companions aboard the Death Star. I want my daughter here on Coruscant, immediately."

"You apprentice is with them, you know. I'm sure that's how you found out so quickly. Are they alive, at least?"

"For the moment. Obi-Wan, please, bring Leia here," Vader answered, sounding more shaken than Obi-Wan had ever heard him.

"Anakin? Luke will be alright. Master Yoda is with him, as is your apprentice. All of them are clever, and their mission must have been successful."

"For the moment. Luke, Yoda and Chewbacca are captured. Thrawn has committed mutiny, and he's going to act like a man backed into a corner. He's going to work night and day to get that laser back online, and once he does that... Now, the only one we can depend on to get them out of there is my apprentice."

Obi-Wan swallowed, signed off and glanced at Princess Leia, who was shaking with rage and grief and comletely oblivious to anything around her. Yes, the fate of the galaxy was now resting on Han Solo's abilities in the Force. A mere Sith fledgeling. May the force be with them all...

This is the conclusion of Legacy of the Sith. The sequel story, Legacy of the Jedi, will pick right up where this left off, so keep an eye out for it!