The Millennium Falcon rested beyond the stolen Imperial shuttle, which looked anomalous among all the Rebel ships in the vast docking bay. Chewie barked a final farewell to Lando and lead Artoo and Threepio up the shuttle, crowded now with the Rebel strike team loading weapons and supplies. Lando turned to face Han. Luke and Leia had said their good-byes and started up the ramp, Anakin trailing behind them almost protectively.
Han sighed as he caught Lando nervously eyeing the Falcon. "Look. I want you to take her. I mean it. Take her. You need all the help you can get. She's the fastest ship in the fleet."
Lando perked up, a smile on his face. "All right, old buddy. You know, I know what she means to you. I'll take good care of her. She-she won't get a scratch. All right?"
Han raised an eyebrow. "Right. I got your promise now. Not a scratch."
"Look, would you get going, you pirate." Lando said with a laugh, shoving Han playfully.
The friends paused and chuckled, exchanging salutes.
"Good luck." Lando said.
"You too." Han said, patting his friend on the shoulder before moving up the ramp. Lando watched him go and then slowly turned away.
Luke and Anakin were silently working on a back control panel as Han came in and took the pilot's seat. Chewie, in the seat next to him, was trying to figure out all the Imperial controls.
"You got her warmed yet Luke?" Han asked over his shoulder.
"Yeah, she's comin' up." Luke said.
Chewie suddenly growled a complaint.
Han chuckled. "No. I don't think the Empire had Wookiees in mind when they designed her, Chewie."
Leia came in from the hold, looking at Anakin for a second before she took her seat near Luke. Han raised an eyebrow, catching how Leia seemed to be looking at Anakin a lot recently.
Great...first Luke, now this guy. What did a guy have to do to get a princess's attention?
Chewie barked and hit some switches. Han's glance suddenly fell on something out the viewport: the Millennium Falcon. Leia nudged him gently, concerned.
"Hey, are you awake?" She asked with a smile.
Anakin observed them with a scowl.
"Yeah, I just got a funny feeling. Like I'm not gonna see her again." Han drifted off, wondering why he felt so nervous.
Chewie, hearing this, stopped his activity and looked longingly out at the Falcon as well. Leia put a hand on Han's shoulder.
"Come on General, let's move." Leia said.
Anakin noticed how close they were getting, and his frown deepened. He cleared his throat rather loudly, catching the attention of everyone on the ship.
"Problem, Jedi?" Han asked, an eyebrow raised.
"Oh nothing." Anakin said tightly. Luke sent Anakin a confused look. Why was the man so strange?
Han rolled his eyes and put his focus back on the controls. "Right. Well Chewie, let's see what this piece of junk can do. Ready everybody?"
"All set." Luke said.
"Here we go again." Threepio said dreadfully. Anakin looked back at the golden protocol droid, almost forgetting that he and Artoo were on board.
"All right, hang on." Han said, slowly lifting the ship off the ground and into the air. The ship slowly left the main docking bay of the Headquarters Frigate, lowering its wings into flight position, and zooming off into space.
The cold presence from before returned and Anakin shivered, hoping they weren't all making a grave mistake.
***
The converted control room was dimly lit, except for a pool of light at the far end. There, the Emperor sat in an elaborate control chair before a large viewport which looked out across the half-completed Death Star to the giant green moon of Endor.
Darth Vader, cautiously approached his master. The ruler's back was to his apprentice as he studied the depths of space. After several tense moments, the Emperor's chair rotated around to face him.
"What is thy bidding, my Master?" Vader asked.
"Send the fleet to the far side of Endor. There it will stay until called for." The Emperor said firmly, probing his apprentice's mind.
Vader tried not to squirm under the mental touch. "What of the reports of the Rebel fleet massing near Sullust?"
"It is of no concern. Soon the Rebellion will be crushed and young Skywalker will be one of us! And of course...the other Skywalker will be taken care of?"
"Yes, my Master." Vader said tightly, knowing that his past self could feel all his mental probes. But he still couldn't find a location... It infuriated him, yet worried him to no end. If that other form of him corrupted his son in anyway, just like Kenobi had...he would probably tear him apart himself no matter who he was. So what he erased himself from existence? It would be a fair price to pay, that he knew.
"Then your work here is finished, my friend. Go out to the command ship and await my orders." The Emperor said, glad he was still able to manipulate his wary apprentice.
Vader bowed, then turned and exited the throne room as the Emperor cackled sadistically behind him.
***
There was a great deal of Imperial traffic in the area as construction proceeded on the Second Death Star. Transports, TIE fighters, and a few Star Destroyers moved about.
Han looked back at Luke, Anakin, and Leia as Chewie flipped several switches.
Through the viewport, the Second Death Star and the huge Super Star Destroyer were clearly visible.
Han took a deep breath. "If they don't go for this, we're gonna have to get outta here pretty quick, Chewie."
Chewie growled his agreement.
After a few moments of static, a voice came over the ship's commlink, speaking to Han. "We have you on our screen now. Please identify."
"Shuttle Tydirium requesting deactivation of the deflector shield." Han said calmly.
"Shuttle Tydirium, transmit the clearance code for shield passage." The controller over the comm said, sounding slightly bored.
"Transmission commencing." Han responded, typing in the code to send to the Star Destroyer.
The others listened tensely as the sound of a high speed transmission began.
"Now we find out if that code is worth the price we paid." Leia said solemnly.
"It'll work. It'll work." Han said, not sounding very reassuring.
Chewie whined nervously. Luke stared at the huge Super Star Destroyer that loomed ever larger before them.
"Vader's on that ship." He whispered suddenly, fear shooting up his spine. Anakin looked over at his son, who had gone a few shades paler. He put his hand on the boy's hand for reassurance but Luke seemed too distracted to be comforted by it.
"Now don't get jittery, Luke." Han said, looking back at his friend. "There are a lot of command ships. Keep your distance though, Chewie, but don't look like you're trying to keep your distance."
Chewie barked a question, confusion overcoming him as he tried to comprehend the strange statement.
"I don't know. Fly casual." Han said with a helpless shrug.
Luke suddenly felt a cold presence probing at his mind and his eyes widened in horror. "I'm endangering the mission. I shouldn't have come."
Anakin carefully probed his son mentally, wondering what was bothering him. The same cold feeling he had been feeling recently was there, and it reacted violently to feeling another presence besides Luke's.
Anakin pulled back immediately. Luke was right, neither of them should have come. Through the Force, his future self had to know that they were on the stolen ship. Their plan would fail.
"It's your imagination, kid. Come on. Let's keep a little optimism here." Han said, trying not to panic at how serious Luke sounded. His little feelings usually turned out to be right in the end.
Chewie barked his worry as the Super Star Destroyer grew larger outside of the viewport, their ship drawing closer and closer to it.
Meanwhile, on the bridge of the Star Destroyer, Lord Vader stood staring out a viewport at the Death Star. A tremor in the Force caused him to turn suddenly, his eyes narrowed behind his mask. After a moment of stillness, he walked down the row of controllers to where Admiral Piett was leaning over the tracking screen of the controller connected with Shuttle Tydirium. Piett straightened at Vader's approach.
"Where is that shuttle going?" Vader asked, sending a mental probe towards the signatures on the shuttle.
Piett leaned over the commlink quickly. "Shuttle Tydirium, what is your cargo and destination?"
A staticky voice returned, sounding vaguely familiar to the Sith Lord. "Parts and technical crew for the forest moon."
The Bridge Commander looked to Lord Vader for a reaction.
"Do they have a code clearance?" Vader asked simply.
"It's an older code, sir, but it checks out. I was about to clear them." Piett said, his voice impressively steady.
Vader looked upward, a presence suddenly registering in his mind.
Luke.
But wait...
Vader snarled.
Anakin.
"Shall I hold them?" Piett asked, unable to tell how his superior was reacting through the opaque mask he wore.
Vader looked at the Admiral and growled low in his throat. "No. Leave them to me. I will deal with them myself."
Piett looked momentarily surprised, but quickly recovered, nodding at Vader. "As you wish, my lord." He nodded at the controller near the commlink. "Carry on."
The group inside the stolen shuttle waited tensely.
"They're not goin' for it, Chewie." Han said nervously, his hands tightly gripped on the steering wheel.
Suddenly, the controller's voice came back over the comm. "Shuttle Tydirium, deactivation of the shield will commence immediately. Follow your present course."
A collective sigh of relief from everyone...everyone but Luke and Anakin, who both still looked worried. Chewie barked.
"Okay! I told you it was gonna work. No problem." Han said, a bit too optimistically.
He steered the ship towards the moon and entered the atmosphere gently, landing in a clearing of the moon's dark, primeval forest, dwarfed by the ancient towering trees.
He shut off the engine and blew off a breath. "Here's where the fun begins."
Anakin chuckled dryly. "I said that before a battle once, I promise, it's not much fun afterwards."
Han looked at him. "And what battles have you been in, Junior?"
Anakin scowled. "Don't call me-"
He paused, realizing that from the Corellian's perspective, he was older than Anakin. The time-traveling Jedi scowled. "Let's just go."
Anakin was still jittery about feeling the cold presence of Vader in his mind, and he knew Luke was as well. As they all clambered out of the ship, a foreboding feeling came over all of them.
This was it.
The Battle of Endor had officially begun.
•••
A/N
Not very exciting I know, but Endor is next, WOOP WOOP!
And I love writing Han and Anakin's bickering. It makes me laugh every time I write it because I play it out in my mind and just go, "yep, yep...uh huh, that's what they would say."
Oh, and tomorrow I get to pick up my pre-ordered copy of Star Wars Battlefront!!!! I'm so excited!
XD, ok bye! :)
May the Force be with You,
- lucky_ducky_123