When She Was Gone

Chapter 29

Ahsoka heard the sirens blare, but didn't register them right away. She was, after all, half-asleep.

When their low, slow alarm turned into a frantic evacuation beep, she jumped and fell out of her chair. Looking around, she realized she had fallen asleep in the training room. She pulled her lightsabers to her and took off, her slight limp slowing her run a bit.

The base's hallways were eerily quiet. Where was everyone? She skidded around a corner and slammed into someone.

She stumbled, not quite used to her new leg, and cried, "Watch it!"

Luke was dressed in full pilot gear, so Ahsoka didn't recognize him right away. When she did, she grabbed his shoulders and looked into his terrified face. "What's going on out there?" He opened his mouth and shut it again like a beached fish. Ahsoka jostled him again. "Pull yourself together, kid! What's happening?"

"They're evacuating the base—"

"What? Why?"

"The Empire's here."

~

Leia gripped her lightsaber hilt tightly, poised to strike.

She was positioned in front of the newly repaired safe room door, listening for any movement, senses dialed to 11. So focused was she on what was in front of her she faltered for a moment when someone tapped her shoulder. She whipped out her lightsaber and raised it to their neck in one smooth movement.

Her father raised his eyebrows, looking down at the green blade only an inch away from his throat.

Leia sighed and replaced her lightsaber. "Don't hide your signature from me and I won't accidentally discombobulate you." Anakin chuckled. "What is it?"

He paused before telling her the news. "They've broken through our first line of defense, and your brother is heading up with a squad to cut off their air support."

Leia sucked in a breath. "I should go with him."

"No. I need you here."

"To do what? Watch kids? Dad, Makari got to them because she could feel mom, and no one connected to the Empire's even in there." Her father sighed. Leia grinned. "Permission to jump in an X-Wing and blow something up?"

"Permission granted."

As she jumped in her X-Wing to blow something up, someone yelled at her. "Need a copilot?"

She looked down to see Ahsoka standing there, helmet tucked under her arm. Leia gestured to the back seat. "By all means."

~

The air was flooded with TIEs.

Luke was surrounded on all sides, and was pulling an Anakin, spinning wildly and shooting at everything in his path. He cleared an opening wide enough to zoom past them, then jerked to the side and cleared out the rest of them.

His comm was flooded with screams.

One by one, he watched as his squad perished, and listened as the Rebels on the ground met the same fate.

His body was flooded with panic.

So, in the face of overwhelming odds, Luke did the only thing he could think of.

He punched the engines and sped toward the Star Destroyer that was releasing yet another group of TIEs. Too quick to be targeted, he rushed past them, swerved towards their mothership and fired at their shield generators. The faint halo blocking off the main hangar flickered and died. He rushed back to the fight, and with the element of surprise on his side, he took out three TIEs at once.

"The landing bay shields are down, Red Leader!" He yelled into his comm, narrowly avoiding debris as it came flying at him. "I've bought you about three minutes!"

"Copy that! Red squad, on me!" Four Rebel wings soared towards the underbelly and started shooting.

"Ook!...olla?...Aya!" Luke whacked his console, and the comms fizzed a little more and then connected. "Luke!"

"Leia!" He shrieked, swerving yet again. "What's going on?"

"Reinforcements are coming your way!"

He whooped as five more fighters rose from the ground, Leia's among them.

"Let's take them down, kid," Ahsoka's voice came.

~

Anakin regretted letting Leia get in that fighter the moment he laid eyes on the Stormtroopers.

There had to be at least a hundred of them pouring out of the transports for every five minutes that passed, and the Rebels were vastly outnumbered.

Then again, they had four Jedi on the ground and three in the air.

So Anakin squared his shoulders and charged into the fight.

He had barely taken out fifteen troopers by the time Obi-Wan joined him.

"We've had a—" he blocked a bolt. "Minor—setback—"

"Setback?"

"Kaivo's here!"

The world slowed down. Anakin nearly got shot before regaining his sense and ducking.

"How?!"

"We don't know! They're—keeping him—at the back—of the fight!"

"He can't have—survived—that's not--possible!" But as he cut down another Stormtrooper and paused, he could indeed feel Kaivo's presence.

"Oh, kriff."