Star Wars: Rebellion and Betrayal

Chapter 1

She entered the cockpit with a grin on her face. "You should have seen me! I just got the rock to levitate a whole half-meter from the ground. It was so..." Her words trailed off as she noticed the small white planet visible in the viewport. Sitting in front of it, was a single Imperial Star Destroyer. The large cruiser sat motionless in space as a smaller ship flew into its main hangar.

"I thought you said this planet was secret. What is the Empire doing here?" Lena questioned. Rhodes was staring straight ahead with a blank expression. Lena leaned over and waved her hand in front of his face. "Hello? Rhodes?"

Rhodes snapped to attention. "Yes, the planet was supposed to be secret. The Empire must have gained access to the Jedi archives when the Republic fell. Why they are here, I don't know."

Lena raised an eyebrow while looking at Rhodes. "So, what are we supposed to do? How am I going to get my lightsaber."

Rhodes started rapidly tapping buttons on his control panel. "I can scramble the Kestrel's signal which can keep us hidden for a while but once we get close to that Star Destroyer, all bets are off."

"So, we are still going to Ilum?" Lena asked in a frantic tone.

"Precisely!" Rhodes began. "We are going to make a run right at the Star Destroyer."

"Are you crazy!"

Rhodes chuckled and looked at his apprentice. "Maybe a little. Hunter on the bubble turret, Lena on shields. Here we go."

Rhodes pushed a lever forward and the sub-light engines roared. The Violet Kestrel sped toward the Star Destroyer. As the ship neared the cruiser, the transponder began to beep. Rhodes pressed a button and let the message through.

An imperial officer's voice could be heard over the intercom. "Imperial shuttle 3825, you are in a restricted sector, slow your speed and state your business."

Rhodes was quick to respond. "Go to Mustafar, Imperial sleemo!" Rhodes quickly closed the channel, not letting the officer respond.

The Kestrel kept up its speed on a collision course with the cruiser's bridge. The Star Destroyer finally reacted and its turbolasers activated, spraying wildly at the small freighter. Rhodes veered from side to side, easily avoiding the incoming fire.

"We're going to crash!" Lena yelled.

Rhodes grinned and pulled up slightly, taking the Kestrel just over the bridge of the Star Destroyer. The ship sped toward the surface of the planet. "We are about to have company!" Rhodes yelled. As he said this, the radar began to beep. A squad of TIE fighters dropped out of the main hangar in hot pursuit of the enemy freighter.

"Four targets incoming," Lena noted.

"Let's give them a good chase then." The Kestrel entered the atmosphere of Ilum. The icy surface of the planet was engulfed in a blizzard obscuring the vision from the ship.

"We can't see a thing?" Lena yelled. "How are we supposed to pilot?"

Rhodes was still sporting a big grin on his face. "Check the radar again. We should be heading right at another ship."

Lena looked at the radar and noticed a new dot on the screen. "You're right, we are going to hit it!"

"Watch this!" Rhodes closed his eyes and banked to the left as a larger shuttle passed them on the right. Rhodes opened his eyes and smirked at Lena. "Hunter, fire directly behind us. Take out the shuttle!" The bubble turret spun around and came to life sending a spray toward the shuttle.

Lena waited in suspense, not fully understanding Rhodes' intentions. Suddenly, a loud explosion could be heard outside the ship. A green shockwave emanated from the Imperial shuttle, pushing the Kestrel forward. The crew held on until Rhodes was able to straighten out the ship.