Chapter 21

Executor 2

"Grand Admiral Thrawn." Garr said to him as he entered his quarters. "We will be coming upon Wayland shortly, Sir."

"Very good Admiral. Please let me know when we arrive."

"Yes, Sir." Admiral Garr said and then turned to leave, pushing the button to open the door and then proceeded out into the hallway.

Thrawn just sat and contemplated how he was going to confront C'Baoth if he hasn't gotten his new padawan yet. It won't be easy but I'll find a way to learn all the secrets of Mt. Tantiss from him somehow. I'll just have to play on his ego somehow.

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Mt. Tantiss

"Do you see the storm troopers yet, Han?" Anakin asked with Padme still in his arms.

"Not yet, but they're close. We better get out of here and fast."

"Oooh." Padme winced. She had felt another contraction come on and put one of her hands on her belly. Her family looked at her with concern.

"Are you alright, Padme?" Anakin was getting very concerned whether they were going to make it out of there before their baby arrived.

"I'm fine." Padme tried to assure him as she tried to hide the pain as another contraction came on her.

"We're going to be cutting this close." Leia said. "Come on…We don't have much time."

The Skywalker family ran back to the hallway Mara had led them down previously, with Padme still in Anakin's arms. They just made it around the corner when they heard the startled reactions of the arriving storm troopers as they saw their defeated counterparts lying in front of Padme's cell.

"Move! We're about to have more company!" Han shouted as they ran a little faster down the hallway. They could hear the storm troopers gaining behind them and they desperately started looking for a means of escape. Laser fire started to be fired at them from behind and those with blasters shot back at the pursuing storm troopers. Luke took his position behind the group, trying to block as many of the laser blasts as he could as they all ducked around another corner to head down the hall that leads to the front doors.

A shot just missed hitting Anakin's shoulder and Padme screamed thinking it hit him. "Anakin, are you hit?"

"No, it missed me." He answered as he shifted her in his arms to get a better hold on her as they ran closer and closer the main entrance.

"This is crazy. They know we're going to be heading for this entrance. It's the only way in or out." Luke said.

"Yeah…don't remind me." Han said as he pulled out his comm link. "Chewie meet us just outside the front doors. We're coming and will need your help." Chewie growled back a reply. "I don't know Chewie. Use your imagination! We're running out of ideas here!" Han told him just as he noticed what looked like a room full of weapons. "Wait a minute. Now that's something." Everyone stopped short as Han quickly ran into the munitions room and came out holding several thermal detonators.

"What are you going to do with them?" Luke asked.

"I'm going to get us out of here!" Han said as he ducked to miss a laser blast shot that was fired at them by the storm troopers who had just came around the corner at the far end of the hall. He set one thermal detonators and threw it down the hall at the approaching troops, who stopped dumbfounded as it landed just in front of them and exploded.

The Skywalkers just made it around the corner before the blast and continued running towards the front of the complex.

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"What was that explosion?" C'Baoth yelled as they heard the rumbling of hallways collapsing and smoke coming towards where he and Mara were standing. "Skywalker!" C'Baoth said as he ran down the hall towards the front doors with his red light saber ignited.

"Wait!" Mara shouted as she ran after him down the hall. Great! Now what do I do?

She followed C'Baoth until they came to the main entry way, just in time to see the Skywalkers emerge from the side hallway near the front door.

"Skywalker! You can't escape! I want that child for my padawan" He yelled at the group turned to see C'Baoth glaring at them with crazed eyes and waving his light saber around.

"Sorry to disappoint you!" Anakin yelled back at him. "But you'll get my wife and child over my dead body!"

"We can fix that!" C'Baoth yelled back and started coming at them at full attack. Luke jumped forward to block his blow just before he hit Anakin and Padme. "Get out of my way, Boy!" C'Baoth yelled at Luke.

"Never." Luke answered him while continuing to block C'Baoth's frontal attacks. "You're not going to hurt my family any more, C'Baoth." Luke said as he started pushing C'Baoth back farther into the complex, swinging his light saber to meet C'Baoth's attacking blows.

Mara arrived with a blaster in hand. As did some storm troopers from another hallway on the other side of the room and started shooting at the Skywalkers, who ducked behind some equipment for cover. They started returning fire.

Mara stood watching for what seemed like an eternity but was really only a matter of seconds. She started shooting at the advancing storm troopers and ducked behind some other equipment as they returned her fire.

C'Baoth and Luke continued their light saber fight and were moving farther and farther back into the complex. The Leia and Han were still firing back at the storm troopers and Anakin had sat down against the outer wall, with Padme in his lap now, trying to comfort her.

Padme, starting to worry about Luke, watching in horror as he and C'Baoth disappeared from sight. She was still trying to hide her pain from Anakin, even though the contractions were starting to get closer and closer together. But she knew she still had time until the baby came. "Ani, help Luke."

Anakin looked into Padme's eyes. "But Padme, I can't leave you here. I need to carry you out of here."

"Don't worry about me. Now put me down and go after Luke." She looked at him with pleading eyes. "Please Ani. I don't want anything happening to him and he'll have a better chance if both of you are fighting C'Baoth."

Anakin sighed. He didn't want to leave his beloved wife alone, even if Han and Leia were right there. But they were preoccupied with the storm troopers and he knew Padme wouldn't be able to move very fast without help.

"Please Anakin." She continued to plead.

"Anakin, she'll be ok. I'll make sure she gets out of here. Go help Luke." Han said as he overheard Padme's plea. Anakin looked up at Han and Leia who had both looked back at him with sad eyes before returning more laser fire to the enemy.

"Ok." He reluctantly agreed and set Padme down on the floor. "You'll be ok?"

"Yes, now go! I'll be better once I know Luke is safe."

With that Anakin ignited his light saber and ran towards the hall that C'Baoth and Luke had disappeared into. He blocked laser blasts as he went and ducked into the hall way just as a laser blast missed hitting him and slammed into the opposite wall.

Mara noticed Anakin's running down the hall in pursuit of the ensuing light saber battle, but continued firing on the storm troopers figuring he can take care of himself. She had to concentrate getting out of here herself and help Padme and the baby escape.

"This is your chance, Mara. They'll both be together and they trust you right now. They won't see it coming when you turn on them and kill them."

Mara screamed as the voice ripped into her very being, causing pain in her head as she resisted it. "NOOO!"

"You will kill Anakin and Luke Skywalker, Mara. Or you will die in their place."

Sweat started pouring down Mara's forehead at the pain. The pain became so great that she fell to the floor in agony. I can't. I can't do it!

"Then you will die."

"NOOO!" She got up and then ran down the hall after the Skywalkers, blaster in hand, hoping the pain would go away if she ran after them.

She ran and ran closer to the sounds of light sabers hums and strikes. As she approached the great room in the center of the complex, still holding her blaster out in front of her, she turned the corner just in time to witness both Skywalker men defending themselves against force lightening C'Baoth was now using against them. They were holding it back with their light sabers and were starting to falter. And she was right behind them with the perfect opportunity to do as her master commanded.

"This is your chance, Mara. Shoot them. Shoot them both, while they still have their backs to you.."

No, I can't. But the pain in Mara's head started to increase the more she resisted. No, I can't kill them. I just can't. Tears were starting to run down her cheeks now with pain, with regret and with frustration.

"You must and you will"

"I can't!"

"DO IT!"

"NOOOOOOOOO!" She yelled out loud, which caused the Anakin and Luke to spin around to look in her direction. She held her blaster right on them and both Skywalkers looked at her with shock. This made C'Baoth stop and start to laugh with insanity. She squeezed the trigger…about ready to do her master's bidding…but then at the last moment turned the blaster in C'Baoth's direction, shooting him right in the chest.

C'Baoth clutched his chest and his face went vacant as he dropped to his knees, dropping his light saber, and then his body fell to the floor. Both Skywalkers and Mara watched as life faded from C'Baoth's eyes. He was gone.

Mara dropped her blaster to her side, breathing hard. "NOOOO!" Came the evil voice in your head, which started to fade and become more distant…and then it was gone.

She looked up at Luke and Anakin who were still looking at her with shock and had both of their light sabers still ignited.

"Mara…Thank you." Luke finally got out. Still not quite understanding exactly what had happened with Mara.

Anakin was looking at her still with some distrust. Is she going to turn on us now?

"If you think I'm going to kill you, I would have done it already." Mara finally said, looking directly at Anakin.

Anakin thought about what she said and then relaxed a little before smiling at her. "Thank you."

"Don't mention it." It was then that their attention was brought back to the sounds of laser fire still coming from the front of the complex and a feeling of panic and determination came over them.

"We've got to get back to the front entrance." Anakin said and they all nodded in agreement.

They ran back to the front of the complex as fast as they could. Luke and Anakin blocked laser blasts and Mara shot at the storm troopers as they fought their way back to where Han, Leia and Padme were still crouched behind the equipment near the entrance to Mt. Tantiss.

Padme wasn't looking good at all, Anakin noticed. She was pale and looked like she was in a great deal of pain. "Padme." Padme smiled as he approached. "Is it getting bad?" He said as he crouched down next to her.

"A little, but I'm ok now that I know you and Luke are safe." Padme responded as she took Anakin's hand in her's. "But we need to get out of here. I don't know how much longer it will be." She said as she winced again with pain and put her hand on her belly.

"Han, use some of those thermal detonators the blow the door. I don't think we're going to be able to get to those controls for the door in time." Anakin said.

"Wait a minute!" Han said as he held up his hand to Anakin and then took out his comm link. "Chewie, where are you?" Chewie growled that he was just outside the doors. "Good, start blasting at those doors. We need to get out of here!" Chewie growled in compliance. "Let's go farther back in the hallway. I'm also going to throw one of the thermal detonators at the door."

Anakin picked Padme up again and they all ran far back into the hallway as Han threw an activated thermal detonator towards the doors. They also heard the laser blasts coming from the Falcon as a huge explosion blew the front doors apart with debris flying all over the place. They all ducked around the corner at the far end of the hall. Smoke and debris filled the air and they started to cough.

Once the smoke cleared a bit, they all headed back to the main entrance and ran out into the clearing, smiling as they saw Chewie land the Falcon and lower the ramp. Han activated more of the thermal detonators and threw them all back through the doors to keep the storm troopers from following them. They all ran up the ramp and into the Falcon, with Anakin carrying Padme back into the sleeping quarters, setting her down on the bed.

Anakin could tell she was in a lot of pain now and sat down on the bed next to her, taking her hand in his. He kissed it and rubbed his cheek on it. "Padme, we're safe. We'll get you to a medical facility. Just hang in there." He then leaned down and kissed her on the lips.

Padme returned the kiss but then winced again, pulling away from his lips. She grasped onto his hand tighter and moaned in pain. She looked up at Anakin who was looking at her with concern. "I'm ok." She tried to smile. "It's not that bad." He looks like he needs more comforting than I do.

They felt the Falcon take off and shake as they headed off into space. And Luke and Leia came back to see how their mother was doing. They saw Anakin sitting on the bed comforting her and smiled at them from the doorway.

"How are you doing in here?" Leia asked them.

"Ok. But we need to get her to a medical facility quickly." Anakin responded as he was now dabbing Padme's forehead with a wet cloth that he had just brought back from the refresher. The Falcon shook, sending Leia and Luke grabbing at the door way to keep their balance.

"That was a laser blast." Luke said.

"Luke! You better get up here! I need you're help!" Han yelled through the comm.

Luke and his family looked at each other with shock. "We'll be fine. Go Luke!" Anakin told him. Luke ran up to the front of the ship, just in time to meet Han near the gun turrets.

"It's Thrawn!" Han shouted as the headed up the ladder to the gun turret on top. Luke went down to the one below.

"Where's Karrde!" Luke yelled.

"I don't know! But he better get here quick!" Han said as he put on his head set and they both started shooting at TIE-fighters.

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Wild Karrde

"Karrde, it looks like Thrawn's armada just arrived and the Falcon is under heavy fire."

"Well, get out there! We need to help them."

Karrde moved his ships out from behind the moon they had been hiding behind and started opening fire on Thrawn's forces.

"Millennium Falcon, this is the Wild Karrde. We are coming to your aide. Hang in there!" He shouted over the comm.

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Millennium Falcon

Mara, Leia and Chewie watched as they saw Karrde's ships open fire on Thrawn's armada with excitement. Chewie let out a cheering growl while Leia and Mara shouted with joy as well.

Chewie continued flying the Falcon up and over and through the Imperial forces as Luke and Han fired back at their attackers. One by one they were knocking out each of the TIE-fighters. Although, even with Karrde's force helping, the Imperial forces seemed to be besting them at every turn. It would take a miracle to get them out of this now.

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Back in the sleeping quarters, Padme was becoming more and more uncomfortable as Anakin continued to comfort her as the ship shook and roared through the ensuing battle outside. Anakin held her close, rocking her and kissing her forehead. "It will be ok, Padme. We'll get through this."

"Oh Ani." Padme was almost in tears by now.

"Shhh. It will be ok. We'll get out of this." Anakin said as he continued to rock her and kiss her hair. The lights flickered as another blast hit the Falcon's shields. Anakin and Padme looked up at the lights with concern. "We have to."

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"Luke! Watch out! 9'O'Clock!" Han shouted.

"I see them!" Luke responded as he shot at the on coming TIE-fighters. "Got them!" He paused and then blinked as he couldn't believe his eyes. "Han, am I seeing things or does that look like the New Republic attack force arriving?"

Han turned his gun turret around to see what Luke was looking at just in time to see more New Republic star ships come out of hyper space and start firing upon Thrawn's star destroyers. "You're not seeing things, Kid! That's them alright! WOOHOO!"

"Yeah! Just in time!" Luke yelled back.

"Hey guys! Do you see them too?" Han yelled into his comm to the cockpit. "Hey, I think Thrawn's running!" He said as they watched Thrawn's turn tail and start to head away from them with sub light engines.

"Yes, Han. We see it too!" Leia answered him. She then ran back to the sleeping quarters to let her parents know. "The New Republic fleet has arrived and Thrawn it retreating!" Anakin and Padme smiled back at their daughter and Anakin embraced his wife closer.

"Hey guys! Thrawn just took his fleet into hyper space!" Luke shouted into the comm.

The entire ship erupted into excitement and joy at their victory, as did Karrde's forces and those of the New Republic.

Luke and Han climbed out of the tunnel to the gun turrets and ran back to the cockpit, where Han spoke into the comm. "Hey Ackbar, guys! Thanks for showing up when you did. We thought we were goners."

"Well, we won the battle, not the war." Ackbar said. "Thrawn will be back. We can be sure of it."

"Hey, how is Padme doing, Han?" Lando asked.

"Not good. She needs medical assistance. Any way you can help?"

"Just dock the Falcon on the medical freighter." Ackbar responded. "And we'll make sure the senator is well taken care of."

"Thank you. Starting docking procedures." Han responded as he reached around the cockpit turning knobs and flipping switches to set the docking procedure in motion.

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Executor 2

Thrawn sat in the command chair on the bridge of the Executor 2, staring at the passing stream of stars. You might have won this time. But I'll be back, and in time, the Empire will rise again bigger and more powerful than ever before.

He continued looking out the view port with his red eyes glowing with rage. Yes, this isn't the last they've seen of the Empire. We will rise again.

Epilogue:

The Skywalker family patiently waited in the waiting area aboard the New Republic's medical freighter to welcome the new addition to their family. As soon as Thrawn's fleet had retreated, they immediately docked with the Falcon and Anakin carried Padme to the where she could receive the medical assistance she needed to deliver their child.

She was still in a lot of pain, but was relieved that now they all were finally safe and Anakin was with her for the birth of their child. How she wished he could have been there for the birth of Luke and Leia, but it wasn't meant to be then. But he was here now and that filled her heart with joy.

Padme was lying on a white maternity bed where the medical droids were encouraging her to push. They had given her something for the pain now, so the contractions didn't seem to hurt so badly. So she was able to smile up at Anakin who was sitting on her bed and holding her hand and kissing it, trying to comfort her. She winced as one last contraction came over her and then they heard the cry of their child as it took its first breath.

"It's a boy!" The medical droid announced as the droid wrapped the baby in a blanket and held their son out to Anakin. Both parents smiled as Anakin stood up from the bed, and he took their newborn son into his arms. Anakin smiled down on him, brushing a hand through his son's thick, chocolate brown hair.

"Benjamin Skywalker." Anakin said as he looked down as his wife and smiled. He sat back down on the bed and then bent down to kiss her softly on the lips.

Padme reached up and stroked her son's head. "Yes, Benjamin." She paused and smiled up at Anakin. He looks just like you, Anakin." And he did, except for the color of his hair, which was the same shade as his mother's.

Anakin laughed. "I guess he does." He then got a devious grin on his face. "See…I told you we would have a boy."

"Oh, Anakin! It's the couch for you!" Padme replied in jest.

They both laughed and then Anakin bent down, while still holding Benjamin in his arms, to kiss Padme softly on the lips again. He pulled back and they stared lovingly into each other's eyes.

Yes, they would finally have the happy ending they had dreamed about all those years ago. And little Benjamin Skywalker, along with his older sister and brother, will all be able to share in that happy ending.

"I love you Anakin Skywalker." Padme told him as they kissed and then lovingly fussed over their newborn son.

Anakin looked up into his wife's eyes and smiled. "I love you too, Padme. You will always be my angel now and forever."

Finis

Author's Note: Well, this certainly was a lot of fun to write; and I hope you enjoyed reading this story as much as I had writing it.

Thank you for all your reviews. I appreciated the constructive criticism. It helped make this story better…and all the positive reviews kept me going. So, again, thank you.

Stay tuned for the sequel to "Return to the Light", entitled "Lost in Time", which is already in the works. Until then, may the Force be with you all.

QueenNaberrie