Author's Note: This is a gift request by Nihilus'sApprentice on ff.net. :) I hope you enjoy the story, and sorry for taking so long to write it! ^-^
~ Amina Gila
Her vision is still a little fuzzy when Leia pushes herself to her feet again, reaching for her lightsaber with a black-gloved hand. Her helmet's off, despite her father's firm insistence that she needs to learn to fight wearing it. She doesn't like it. Her visor is red, like Vader's, like all the Force-sensitives who fight for the Empire. Black and red are the colors of the Sith.
"Again?" Cody asks, raising his blaster.
After she got good enough with a lightsaber to combat simple droids, Vader took her to train with the clones. He did the same thing with his padawan, his former apprentice, back when he was still a Jedi. She's sixteen now, the same age that Vader's former apprentice was when he lost her.
Ahsoka had two lightsabers, though. Leia only has one. She still doesn't think that's fair.
But two lightsabers sound like a good way to relieve herself of a hand or two, so she can't complain.
Leia breathes in, shaking the remaining fuzziness from her mind and rebalancing herself, igniting the red blade. They shoot at her with stun bolts, and it doesn't hurt, though it's still a very disturbing feeling.
Let go.
She reaches into the Force, sensing their feelings, their intentions. She grew up with the clones, and they took care of her whenever her father was away. She knows them, their names and their Force-presences, can feel the up and down flicker of their minds with ease.
Her eyes narrow in fierce determination, and the clones raise their blasters. "I'm ready."
Cody fires first, and she deflects the shot, disintegrating it into a harmless shower of sparks, blocking left, and Force-jumps to avoid the next.
Beyond that, she senses the familiar feel of burning fire, a fire going black at the edges and drowned in smoke. Vader's back, and from the way the fire's edges are flickering, he's upset. A mission then – she can feel the sense of purpose and determined fire.
Leia ducks into a roll in the center, standing and parrying again.
The hangar doors open as he steps inside.
"Cease fire," he calls, hand dropping.
"Did you open the doors with the Force again?" Leia queries, teasingly, lowering her lightsaber and wiping her face off on her hand. "They're automatic."
He shrugs, a faint smile ghosting on his face. "How's the training?"
"Progressing," Cody answers for her.
"We have a mission?" Leia asks, reclipping her lightsaber to her belt.
Vader sighs. "Unfortunately." There's an anger burning in his blue eyes. They're usually blue when he's around her, and with Cody and the boys, but there are sometimes, some of his darker days, that they fade to a fiery gold like the Emperor and Darth Maul.
Her gut flips. "Did they attack another base?" Leia guesses.
"We might actually have located their base," he replies, "It's... an educated guess, but we're going to check it out." He looks at Cody. "Get the boys ready."
They're not boys anymore, at all, but the term still sticks. If their aging hadn't been changed, they'd still be young. Some of the youngest clones were born after her, even – before the Empire ordered the end of their production, because the cost was too great to continue – and they're already older than her.
They found a way to slow their aging – Vader had been insistent on it – but it had taken... time.
At least she won't have to worry about them dying so soon though.
She's been on missions before, but somehow, Leia can't shake the feeling that something about this one will be... different.
***
Vader is standing on the bridge when the Star Destroyers exit hyperspace. His visor is red, and it severely distorts the white and blue hyperspace swirls.
He can... sense something here. This is where something will change, perhaps finally the beginning of the end of the Rebellion. Vader has been fighting them for sixteen years. Ever since Leia's birth.
The Jedi even tried to take her from him. They're tearing the galaxy apart. Now, he can see why Sidious sent him to the Temple, told him to execute all the Jedi. He would have done it, too – tried. He would've if they hadn't already started evacuating when he arrived.
He doesn't know how they got the warning, but somehow, they did, and countless Jedi survived that night. Once, he might've felt a small measure of relief that he hadn't had to carry through with it like Sidious ordered, but now, he's truly seen what his master meant when he said that if the Jedi weren't all destroyed, there would be civil war without end.
Because there has been. The galaxy hasn't known any peace since. The war could have been over, but they won't stop fighting senselessly, no matter how much the people themselves don't want it.
The Rebellion has a large fleet in space here, and Vader immediately heads for his own fighter. A squad of rebel fighters breaks away from the rest of the fleet to concentrate fire on him as he flies in closer.
He's done this hundreds of times over before, sinking into the Force and letting it guide his every move as he streaks towards the fighters, spinning in circles to avoid any of their shots. The fighter moves almost like an extension of him, the way it always has.
Vader shoots down two of the fighters ahead of him, streaking past and making for the command ship. It's already exchanging fire with his Star Destroyer, not that it stands any real chance of winning. But they're still taking out his boys the longer this fight drags on, and he won't let that last a moment longer than it has to.
Circling over the top of the command ship, he fires on it repeatedly, before spinning his fighter up and around again as the Rebel squadron circles back to keep shooting at him. He takes down a few more of the squadron, spinning to keep shooting at the command ship when another ship launches from it.
It's... uniquely shaped, different somehow from all the rest. And there's something about it...
Vader can't tell what, but he flies away from the rest of the battle, to keep the ship clear of his own forces. It's shooting at him repeatedly when he suddenly senses something.
Someone's reaching for him in the Force, but it's not just anyone. The Force presence feels so familiar, and Vader reaches back for a moment, because he has to know if this is really who he thinks.
It's the same soft rose petals in the Force that Ahsoka always used to be, even if it's grown older and hardened, darker.
He feels Ahsoka prod at him again, along with someone else – it must be another Jedi – before he shoves them away, but it still leaves him reeling, even as he directs his ship away again.
Ahsoka is alive.
She's alive.
Vader knew that, to a point, but not – it's not the same to know as it is to feel it, and he feels it now. He never knew what happened to her. The Star Destroyer he sent with her, arrived back on Coruscant, with Maul still on board, some time when he was gone to Mustafar to deal with the Separatist leaders. Ahsoka had disappeared along with Rex, and no one's heard from either of them since.
But she's alive and here, and like he feared, fighting with the Rebellion, but she's alive. He couldn't ask for anything else.
***
She's never been shot down before. It isn't Leia's first space battle, so she knows what to do if it happens, but it certainly doesn't feel like that remotely prepared her for being so incredibly alone.
She has never been alone before – Vader always made sure she was with someone until right now, when everything spiraled beyond their control. She's crashing, spiraling to the ground, and if she loses control, the ship will explode and... she'll die. Yes, it's terrifying.
"Leia!"
It's Vader's voice over the comm system. He feels her fear, no doubt sees her crashing.
Focus, Leia. It could be worse – she's still here, but they have no reason to shoot her down when she can't shoot back. Probably. "Father," she manages, voice shaky. Usually, Leia is proud of her ability not to panic, but right now? All she can think about is how she nearly died, still could be about to, and she's all her father has left.
"Are you okay?"
"I – I'm fine," she replies, eyes darting over the controls as she grips the steering controls, trying to take herself downward at a safe rate so the ship doesn't burn up when it head-on hits the atmosphere below. "I'm crashing, though."
"Remember what I taught you," he answers, though she can feel his fear. He's trying to be strong for her, and she appreciates that more than she can say. Leia desperately needs some sort of reassurance right now, something other than the fear burning her inside out. And her father has crashed many times, so he knows what to do. He taught her a little, but it's different – it was never hands-on.
"I will," Leia promises. Doesn't make it easy.
Focus.
"Send me your coordinates when you reach a landing location," Vader requests, "I'll send someone down to pick you up."
"The rebel base is down there. I'll have to abandon the crash site." If she doesn't want to get killed anyway.
"That will not stop them."
Leia twists around, trying to get a glimpse out the viewport in the back. The space battle is still raging., and her father can't leave. She understands, even if she desperately wants to be with him right now. "It'll be a while."
The crash is a blur of Leia trying to keep control of her TIE fighter. The trip through the atmosphere is far faster than it normally would be, and the tension of it isn't something she cares to repeat.
She counts herself lucky they don't shoot at her, though. They could. It isn't as though that would be unheard of for rebels or anything. They're terrorists, after all. They're Jedi, and they may preach to be good, but reality shows otherwise.
The fighter touches down, and she sends the coordinates before opening the top and Force-jumping out, rolling when she lands and drawing on the Force to cushion the landing. The fighter crashes into the ground up ahead of her, dissolving into a shower of sparks and twisted scrap metal.
Leia pushes herself up, breathing heavily. The crash is over, and now, she just wants to sleep.
The fight's just starting, though. She has to move, to get out before the rebels detect her. Stealth is something she can do, at least. Even if she doesn't exactly like it.
She breaks into a sprint, crossing a hillside before scanning the surroundings with her macrobinoculars. Leia doesn't see anyone approaching, but what she needs to find is some sort of energy reading.
"Are you alright?" Vader's voice asks in her mind, and she sends a sensation of confirmation. Temporarily, at least, even if it doesn't really feel like it. She's still scared.
She wonders who it is that Vader's sending, if they'll even be able to get through to her because of the rebel fleet in space, but knowing her father, he has it under control. He'll protect her, make sure someone can get down here to retrieve her. She can still locate the exact positions and get an in-person read on the situation, though.
They need that if they'll prepare for an invasion.
She's crashed southwest of some kind of energy source, at least. It'd be easier if Leia had a speeder, but she doesn't. She can't fly – can only go on foot, though to be fair? That'll draw less attention.
Dantooine is a forest planet, or at least it has some trees, enough to help give her cover as she approaches. This will probably be a long wait.
***
It is a long wait, but Leia is crouching behind the top of a hill, seated on its side opposite the base to stay out of sight while keeping an eye out. She can sense more than she needs to see, though. She senses the reinforcements, and she knows them.
Clone Force 99.
They allegedly went rogue a bit after the Empire first formed, but that was so long ago. As far as Leia remembers, they've always been with her and Cody and her father. Omega helped take care of her when she was little, and the clones were the only people Vader entrusted her with. Omega was the only one who knew how to take care of her, having done the same for her little brothers years prior.
It figures – of course, they're the only ones who made it through easily. Hunter's been tracking her for a while now, can sense his fierce and unwavering determination. Leia sensed the moment they touched down, but she can't leave this spot. She can see some from here, if she's being careful, and she's trying to map out whatever she can see of the base.
She feels Omega and Echo's worry for her, Wrecker's grumpiness that he doesn't get to blow the place – some things never do change – and Tech seems slightly distracted, unsurprisingly. She can feel the flicker from Crosshair, almost hear the "found her" when he finally spots her from afar, and Leia waves even if he's the only one who can see.
"I found the base," Leia tells them as they approach, climbing the hill, turning to peak over the edge again. She'd have gone inside, too, but Vader would never want her to go alone, and under the circumstances? It would only endanger the clones. They can't go in blind.
Omega practically materializes at her left, pulling off her helmet and dropping into a crouch next to her. She used to be small once – Leia has seen holos of her young, but it's weird to think about. She can't remember a time before her sister was up to Hunter's shoulder already, a time before she got the same black and red armor as the rest of them. Her energy bow came first, apparently; hence it's clashing gold.
She has a blaster, too; one she never really uses.
Hunter crouches next to Omega, overlooking the valley and structure up ahead.
"Do we go in?" Crosshair queries, soundlessly dropping himself by Leia's other side.
Leia's a Commander, and technically the highest ranking of them all, but she finds herself looking to Hunter anyway, because he's their leader. He's older, and he knows what they're going into, even if she wants to rush ahead and burn that place to the ground. The rebels are hurting people, tearing the galaxy apart.
"What are we up against?" Hunter asks, and she can imagine the calculating look in his eyes as he watches, though his face is hidden by his helmet.
"I've seen worse," Leia replies, peaking over the edge of the hill again. It surprises her a little, too, unless this base was primarily focused on air defense. Unless this is a trap of some kind. Probably, it is. The rebels are resourceful. She has to give them that. "They have guards, but if we cause a distraction, we can get inside." As an afterthought. "Yes, we can blow it up, but after we get the information inside."
"Wrecker and Crosshair will cause a diversion," Hunter says, "But don't draw too much attention. The rest of us will go inside and see what intel we can gather."
Wrecker laughs. "That's no problem for us."
Leia and Omega pull their helmets back on, and they spread out.
Hunter is in front, and Leia lets him, shadowing not far behind. If something attacks, she'll be the first to react. They wait until the others distract the guards, luring them away from the door, so Echo and Tech can get them inside.
They creep inside and down the halls, glancing both ways before moving in.
Leia senses something. She can feel the fear here, and it's fueling the Dark Side and thereby, her, but there's something more here beyond what she can see. It feels... intentional. There's a certainty in the minds around her that shouldn't be there. This is all planned. Were they intending to lure her here, too?
Hunter pauses in front, motioning for them to stop and get back. They scatter, ducking up against the walls. Leia's by Hunter, and Omega's beside Echo and Tech who are shadowing each other, alternating in opening doors and scanning for cameras.
"Something's up ahead," Hunter says.
"I feel it, too," Leia replies, eyes narrowing on the hall up ahead. She does feel it. It's... oddly dark and light at once. It's not Dark in the way Sith are, but the Light in it is so much more brilliant than the Jedi she's faced. It's softer, gentler, but sharp and pointed, tainted. As if whoever it is has delved in the Dark and let it go, but never truly relinquished the thrill of fighting.
After tasting it herself, Leia can't imagine doing that either. She doesn't want anything except to fight. It's all she knows, even if her father talks about times past that. She thinks he can say the same as her.
"I'll go first," Leia says, clasping her lightsaber in her hand, the hilt nearly feeling cold through her glove, though that could just as well be her own anticipation and wariness. Something's wrong. She can feel the tension, the danger in the Force, but they've gone too far to turn around. Her suspicions are confirmed when a door slams behind them.
She sensed a flicker in the Force, like someone was using it.
It's definitely a Jedi.
"Show yourself!" Leia shouts into the darkness, stepping forwards, igniting her lightsaber. The hall is dark, and she can't see anything, though she can still feel. Right now, there's nothing to see though – whoever their attacker is, they're doing well at hiding.
There's a hiss as a door starts slamming between them. Leia whips around, nearly instinctively at the sound. "Hunter," she calls – didn't mean to use his name, but she's scared even if it won't stop her from moving forwards, and Hunter is the reasonable one. He figures things out, protects them, and he's done so much for raising her, even if he doesn't have the same gentle patience as her father does.
"Calling your friends?" a voice says, distorted through a vocoder, much like her own. "So they can come die for you?"
Leia starts at the sound, stepping back, then shifts it to readjust her position. Behind her, she can feel their fear, knows they're working on getting through. But the Jedi is right – if they come, they'll be killed. That gives her a very, very short time frame to finish this fight. "You're destroying the galaxy," Leia hisses, reaching deeper into the Force.
A gold lightsaber slashes towards her, and she dodges, diving aside and rolling, raising her blade to parry the next strike.
The masked figure – she can see their brown helmet now, and it's covered with some sort of design – pulls back, slashing again. They have two lightsabers, and they're significantly taller than Leia.
Leia stumbles to her feet, lashing out with the Force, but the Jedi flips aside, diving at her again. She rebalances herself, meeting the blow halfway with her own.
She's sparred with her father before, and this random Jedi can't be more difficult than that. Vader is the best duelist she's ever known, and everyone knows it. She's never been able to defeat him in a duel before, except that one time he was practically dead on his feet when they were sparring. Which... was because he'd been somewhat injured in his last duel with a group of Jedi who ambushed him, and she's never forgotten how angry she was about that.
She's used to her father constantly being out there fighting, and she knows anything could happen to him any time, but he always seems so untouchable. Rarely can anything get past him, especially with how much he knows of the Dark Side now, and if anything does, it's... terrifying to her.
But Leia needs to focus right now, and she pulls back, swinging at the Jedi again. They exchange a few blows, but the Jedi slashes at her repeatedly with both lightsabers, a surprising amount of skill and force behind it, and Leia backs away again a little, looking for an opening.
The Jedi jumps at her again, and she lashes out with the Force, throwing her back. At least that she knows she's stronger in. She's a Skywalker. The second most powerful Force sensitive ever. All she's lacking is skill.
And that is something the Jedi clearly has, with the ease they stab their blades into the floor to catch themselves, then outright jump at her. Their blades clash into a brief saberlock, before Leia jerks back, attempting to copy the move her father always does to send lightsabers flying.
She hardly knows what she's doing but she still tries, and her blade sparks against one of the Jedi's, momentarily twisting it out of their grasp. It skitters away across the floor, but the Jedi is already swinging their other blade at her, right for her head.
Leia tries to block the wild move, but she doesn't move quite fast enough. The blade slashes right across her face, and she can feel the heat of it burning right next to her face, dangerously close to one of her eyes. Her helmet is cracked right across her eye, and the odd angle is dangerously close to cutting her.
Leia shoves the Jedi back again, taking a few steps away and reaching up to the mask on her head, ripping it off. She's always worn it to conceal her identity, because it's safer if no one knows Vader has a daughter. It would be dangerous for both of them. But she can't risk keeping her mask on when it's broken, either.
The Jedi is already standing again, but for some reason, they don't immediately jump at her again. She can feel the way they're looking at her, even in the darkness of the room.
This is bad.
They can't figure out who she is, can they? She doesn't know. They don't know about her, because Vader's been careful to keep that a secret – which was part of why he refused to let her go to school the way most children do, and he and the clones taught her instead – but that may not mean much. If they figure out her identity, anything about her, it'll be far easier for the Jedi to use that against them.
Leia understands exactly how dangerous it'll be if the Jedi figure out who she is, because they can be used against each other, and the Jedi will do it. They will – they're Sith, and all they'll see is the enemy.
"The Empire's sending kids out to battle now?" the Jedi asks, lowering her lightsabers a little even if she doesn't let her guard down.
"As if you're any better," Leia spits out, "The Rebellion sends children far younger than me out all the time."
"Children who have lost their homes because of the Empire, from what I've seen," the Jedi replies.
"Or who have lost their homes because of the destruction you Jedi are causing," Leia throws back.
"Jedi?" she repeats, sounding amused for some reason, "I'm no Jedi. And I'm not here to debate the Rebellion's actions."
Leia pauses, staring at her. What? "Then who are you?" That doesn't make sense. Who would have a lightsaber and be a Force-wielder, not to mention this Light if they weren't a Jedi? Unless they got so disgusted with the Jedi's current actions they walked away, which Leia could completely understand, but she won't assume anything right now.
The apparently not-Jedi reaches up, opening the visor on her helmet to finally reveal her face. Her skin is pale, light gray in color. Her hair is cut short enough to fit under her helmet, and it's a silvery-blonde color. Icy blue eyes stare at Leia.
And it's familiar. Leia knows this person.
"Asajj Ventress?" she asks, stunned, lightsaber unintentionally dipping a little.
She smirks. "Surprised?"
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