Balance and Victory: A Star Wars Alternate Universe [COMPLETED!]

Chapter 31

Padmé didn't know if she could stand to listen to the pilot's comm channel for another moment. Her head was spinning, she felt too light, and her heart was racing unnaturally fast. She found it necessary to lean on the control panel to stay standing. Anakin's ship had just crashed.

"Gold Leader?" one of the pilots said.

There was no response except for the crackling of white noise.

"Gold Leader, do you copy?"

"Please, Ani," Padmé whispered. The knot in her stomach tightened when the silence persisted.

"He's not responding," someone else said online. "He's probably dead."

Cold shock gripped Padmé's heart like ice.

The twins would be devastated. They were far too young to go through something like this. Anakin should have never been the lead pilot, it was too dangerous, and everyone knew that...

"No, I'm okay, just stuck on the ground." Anakin's voice was a surprising relief to everyone who had been listening. But Padmé did not feel at ease yet, because sounds of scuffle came through the other end- including a sinister laugh and a lightsaber activating. Then Anakin's end of the line was cut off, and the other pilots continued to chatter.

Padmé glanced up to see that her friends were staring at her in concern. Her inner turmoil must have shown on her face.

But she didn't want to be pitied. She wanted to help Anakin, if that was at all possible.

She could be of no use against a lightsaber-wielding opponent, but there was something else she could do.

"We have to take down that Star Destroyer," she announced.

"Padmé, I understand your concern, but we already sent out the reinforcements," Mon said. "We have to let them do their job."

"I know, but they're pilots. Their job will probably involve defending our cruiser and shooting TIE fighters. They might not have time to actually take down the Star Destroyer. No, I'm suggesting we fly up a stealth team to destroy it from the inside. I want to lead that team."

Bail sighed and shook his head. "I think we've already done all we can- and all we should. Why waste the resources, when we already have pilots out there working on it?"

Padmé studied his face. His eyes looked dull and tired, and his usual passion was gone. He was afraid... afraid of another failure. But his proposed solution was wrong. So far, this battle was being treated exactly like the first and second.

"This is the problem," she said. "If we have the resources, we should use them. Otherwise, we'll surely lose all the pilots and the cruiser. Please, there's no time to argue about this! I will go alone if I have to!"

"No, you won't go alone." Mon stood up and looked pointedly at Bail and some of the others. "I'm not going to just sit here either. There is a risk associated with this course of action, but if enough people go with us, that risk is reduced, and our chance of saving the cruiser is much higher."

Maybe this was a foolish idea and it would fail miserably, but other people seemed to be catching on. Everyone in the room was thinking the same thing. Maybe the problem with the last two battles was simply that the Rebels had hesitated to throw everything they had at the Empire.

As a ship was prepared to transport the stealth team up, Padmé hurried towards the living quarters. Threepio was supposed to bring the twins to her so she could tell them what was going on.

They chattered excitedly at her, clearly wound up about something, but she had to interrupt them for time's sake.

"I'd love to hear more about it later, but please listen to me for a moment. I'm going up with General Mothma to take a stealth team to go blow up the Imperial Cruiser. I might be gone for a little while."