Danielle looked down at the stormtroopers, then the armor plates on her suit began turning white, and soon she was a fully-equipped stormtrooper in front of them. "If anyone comes down here, I’ll be here to make sure they don’t get onboard," she told them with the monotone voice of a stormtrooper.
Han nodded, taking his blaster from his chair. "We’ll let you know when we’re out."
Danielle nodded, taking one of the stormtroopers’ BlasTech blasters and stationed herself down by the ramp. She waved everyone out, and as Han, Luke, Chewbacca, Obi-Wan, Threepio, and Artoo left, she stood in a perfect guard position. She heard Han mutter "I can never get used to that," and she smirked her satisfaction.
Good to know she could still creep her captain out when she wanted to.
***
Han held up a hand when they arrived at the office overlooking the Millennium Falcon. He looked the door over a couple of times, then scoffed. "No problem."
"What’re you going to do?" Obi-Wan asked.
Han looked back him. "I was planning on going inside."
"Captain Solo, the controls are right there," Threepio pointed out primly, pointing to the control panel on the left side of the door.
Han scoffed. "It’s going to be locked, Goldenrod." He tapped a few places on the door softly, then nodded. "See you on the other side."
Before anyone could say anything else, Han ducked and stepped through the door.
He blinked in the sudden light, then heard two startled yelps of surprise. He dropped to the ground quickly as blasters fired above him. He raised a hand, sucking the fire from the fired shots and swirling it back at the two officers. They screamed in shock, then fell to the ground.
Han panted, then sucked the fire back into his hand. He clicked the controls on the door, and he watched as it slid open.
***
"Won’t people be suspicious when they see burned officers here on the ground?" Obi-Wan asked, looking over the officers as Luke entered the room and looked around.
"Of course they will be," Han snorted. He waved out the window. Danielle gave a short nod from where she was standing and she ran out of view. "Who wouldn’t be?"
Wisely, Obi-Wan didn’t comment.
Danielle entered the office, turning back into her normal form. She closed the door behind her, then looked over at Han. "Now how do we get off of this thing?"
"Good question," Han replied.
Artoo beeped thoughtfully, then rolled over to a socket in the wall. He used an arm to plug himself in, and photos began flashing across the screen.
Obi-Wan leaned down to look closer. "The beams aren’t controlled from here," he said. "There are seven, but only one disruption will let the Falcon go free."
"Who’s going?" Danielle asked, tying her hair into a braid over her shoulder.
"Just me," Obi-Wan replied. "You all stay here where it’s safe."
"When do we ever do something safe?" Han muttered under his breath, but he plopped down into one of the command chairs.
Luke opened his mouth to complain, but a voice in his head stopped him. "He knows what he’s doing. Best let him do it."
Luke glared at Danielle in annoyance and a little anger. "And you know that he knows what he’s doing?"
Her gaze dropped and she cleared her throat, walking to look at the Falcon. He had struck a nerve. "We’ll be fine here."
Obi-Wan nodded and left. Luke slid the door closed behind him, then glared at Danielle. "Are you out of your mind?"
"He’s a Jedi, by the Force!" Danielle snapped, looking back at Luke. "And Jedi usually know what they’re talking about."
"You’re one to talk," Luke growled. "Are you one?"
Danielle’s gaze faltered, and she swallowed. This time, Han got involved. "Do you want to know how she joined me and Chewie?" he asked, standing.
Luke faltered in his anger. "She hasn’t always?"
"No," Han replied, folding his arms as Chewbacca drew Danielle back and began whining to her in sympathy. "We picked her up on her home planet where she’d been experimented on. All because of her mutations!"
Luke swallowed, swinging his gaze over to Danielle. She had her arms crossed and was leaning over to Artoo, seemingly overlooking the screens that he had pulled up. She suddenly narrowed her eyes. "What in space?" she murmured.
She had Han’s attention. He swung away from Luke and looked at her. "What is it?"
Danielle pushed a few buttons, and a list pulled up onscreen. "There’s another three-way mutant. Artoo found her."
Luke’s attention was caught as well. He walked over, looking at the screens. "Who?"
Danielle’s jaw dropped. "Great skies!"
"What?" Han demanded.
Danielle looked up. "Princess Leia Organa of Alderaan." She looked at Han. "We have to help her." Han looked hesitant, and Danielle sighed. "Han, she’s a mutant. Like us."
That got his attention. He sighed, nodding. "All right. Let’s go." He looked at the droids. "Stay here."
"And if someone finds us?" Threepio asked worriedly.
Luke rolled his eyes. "Lock the door!"
Han nodded, taking his blaster rifle. "And hope they don’t have blasters."
Threepio, if a droid could look that way, looked confused. "Er . . . yes, sir."
***
All around, nobody paid attention to the two men clad in black. All that they cared about were the fact that they were led by a stormtrooper with a Wookiee in binders.
Danielle took a deep breath, glad that their cover was not yet blown. She tagged one of the turbolifts, then waited impatiently for them to open. She bounced up and down on her feet, impatient. "Come on, come on, come on," she muttered.
"Calm down there, Storm," Han advised, looking around. "Don’t go all bang, boom, crash and the lightning flashed."
Danielle raised an eyebrow. "That’s a new low for you, Pyro."
Han shrugged. "Hey, I do what I have to do."
"Even if it’s annoying," Danielle heard Luke mutter from behind them.
The turbolift doors opened, and everyone filed in. "Everyone know what we’re doing?" Han whispered.
Danielle nodded. "Chewie and I go out first, say what we’re doing."
"If and when they attack, phase through the doors and attack them back," Luke added.
Han nodded. "And find the princess and break hell for the Falcon."
The turbolift dinged, and the doors behind Chewbacca and Danielle slid open. Danielle overcame her momentary confusion and stepped out, pulling Chewbacca with her. The doors slid shut behind her, but she used her magnetic powers to hold the lift in place. The control officer for the level looked up, frowning. "What’s this . . . thing?"
Danielle resisted the urge to kill him here and there. "It’s a prisoner transfer. He’s from Cell Block1138."
The control officer curled his lip. "I wasn’t notified." He shrugged. "I’ll have to clear it."
The guards behind him stepped forward, guns drawn. Danielle waited for a few seconds, then called, "Show yourselves, X-Men!"
Even in the Empire, the name ‘X-Men’ was regarded with fear. Danielle morphed out of her stormtrooper form and grabbed one guard’s helmet with her magnetic ability and threw him into the wall nearby. She heard a warping sound, and suddenly laser beams slammed into the control officer’s chest, followed by the remaining guards being blasted with ice. She looked behind her to watch as Han and Luke came out of the turbolift, Han’s eyes glowing dangerously, Luke’s hands frosted over. "Remind me never to get on your bad sides," Danielle commented.
Luke smirked as Han ran over to the control panels, blasting a laser into his hand. He conjured up the fire and threw it at all of the security cameras around the room. "It’s bad enough you had to shout out ‘X-Men’ before you attacked," he told Danielle. "Now they’ll really be looking for us." The console beeped, and Han looked down at it, then at Luke. "Twenty-one eighty-seven."
Luke nodded and darted down the hallway. Han grimaced, looking at Danielle. "Better be ready for company."
Danielle nodded, taking her lightsabers from her belt and bringing them into ready position. "Don’t worry about it."
Han groaned. "I wish you hadn’t said that."
***
Luke counted cell numbers as he walked down the hallway, repeating the correct one over and over in his head. 2187, 2187 . . .
He was halfway down the hall when he heard a hissing noise. He whirled around, his hands frosting completely over. "Han?" he called.
"We’re about to get company!" Han yelled back.
Luke nodded, then went down the hallway at double the pace. However, he stopped halfway when he saw the number on one of the cells. He pressed the control button, and the door slid open.
He blinked. It was empty.
He walked in, expecting to see better, and that was when someone grabbed him from behind by the neck.
Instantly, searing pain lashed up his spine, and he gasped, wincing and trying to break free. It didn’t work. "Who the hell are you?" a female voice hissed behind him.
Luke choked. "Mutant . . . " he gasped, trying to break free.
The grip on his neck slackened. "What?" the woman behind him asked.
Luke could still breathe, but his pulse began to race. "Mutant . . . three way . . . trying to help," he managed to spit out.
The grip on his neck was released, and Luke practically collapsed onto the floor, finally getting a look at the woman standing over him. She was about his age, with her dark brown hair curled into buns over her ears. A long white hooded gown flowed to her boots, which were off-white. A silver belt wrapped around her waist, a pair of similar white gloves tucked inside them. "You have a name?" she asked.
Luke nodded, slowly standing. "Luke Skywalker. Iceman. Whatever."
The woman smirked. "The latter the mutant name?"
Luke nodded. "Yours?"
The woman shrugged. "I figure you already knew. Leia Organa."
"The Alderaanian princess?"
"Since it got blown up, that title’s pretty much lost."
"Do you have a mutant name?"
"Ph – " She cut herself off. "Rogue."
Luke didn’t argue when he heard an explosion down the hall and startled shouts. "LUKE, GET OUT HERE!" Han yelled at what sounded like the top of his lungs.
Han angry was not a good thing. Pyro angry was something Luke wasn’t ready to face. "Come on," he told Leia, darting out of the cell.
Time to blast the guards to kingdom come.
***
Han heard the hissing before he saw the smoke coming from the turbolift doors.
He whirled, looking at the smoke, then gestured everyone down. Danielle and Chewbacca hid in the alcoves caused by the cells, their ears plugged. Han looked back towards the turbolift, then blasted his lasers at it. There were startled shouts of surprise as whoever was inside was wondering where the lasers were coming from. They turned into yells of horror as Han made the fire expand, and the turbolift exploded.
Shrapnel flew everywhere, but Han phased right through it. The metal hit a barrier, and everything fell to the floor. Danielle winced, but lowered her hand. Han took the moment’s pause to yell down the corridor: "LUKE, GET OUT HERE!" he bellowed as blasterfire started behind him.
Stormtroopers began spilling out of the other turbolifts, firing as they went. Han deflected it all, phasing through the ones he couldn’t get rid of. He heard the familiar snap-hiss sound of Danielle’s lightsabers ignited, then saw their blinding purple dance as Danielle deflected bolts away from her and Chewbacca. Together, the three ran down the hallway as fast as they could.
They literally ran right into Luke and Leia. Luke yelped, rubbing his head. "Well, thanks for that!"
"No problem, kid," Han growled. "Want to go face some freakishly annoying stormtroopers back there?"
"So our escape route’s cut off?" Leia asked, sounding incredulous.
Danielle snorted. "What, would you rather be back in your cell now?"
Leia opened her mouth to reply when Han suddenly grabbed Danielle and pulled her in for a hug. Danielle, recognizing what was going on, grabbed Luke and Leia and pulled them in. Chewbacca crowded in around them, and Han’s phasing ability passed onto them all as blasters started firing right through them.
Han’s hand fumbled around, and finally he met Danielle’s gloved ones. His eyes glowed red, and he saw hers glitter pearly white. All around them, a fiery barrier started forming, and it expanded so that the fire was separating them from the stormtroopers. Luke and Leia rolled to the right, pressing against the alcoves as Chewbacca scurried towards the left side. The barrier disappeared, and Han and Danielle made it to the alcoves just in time.
"Can’t go back that way!" Han growled. "Now what?"
"Some rescue," Leia muttered. "Didn’t you have a plan for getting out?"
Han pointed to Luke. "He’s the brains, sweetheart!"
Danielle punched him in the shoulders, looking around. Something seemed to catch her eye, and she narrowed her eyes. There was a creaking noise, and the grate by Han’s shin exploded.
Han jerked back. "What the hell are you doing?" he barked.
"Getting us a way out of here so the princess isn’t complaining nonstop," she replied, ducking her head through the grate. She looked back out, wrinkling her nose. "Not a good smell." She shook her head, then glared at Luke and Leia. "Into the garbage shoot, mutants," she ordered, sliding down.
Leia didn’t hesitate. She waited a few seconds, waiting for a wave of blasterfire to pass by, then she dived down after Danielle. Chewbacca crept closer to the edge, took a sniff, and recoiled instantly. He roared angrily at Han. "I’ve smelled worse on the wrong end of an eopie on Tatooine!"
"Are you kidding me, oaf?" Han yelped as Luke shot his blaster back at the stormtroopers. "I don’t care what you smell! Get in there!" He kicked Chewbacca in the back, and the Wookiee howled as he tumbled down into the garbage chute.
Luke smirked, looking up at Han. "Nice job."
Han shook his head. "I don’t know what to think of the princess."
"Rogue."
"Why’s that?"
Luke shuddered. "You don’t want to know."
Han groaned, shooting back at the troopers, then quickly ducking before a shot nearly hit him. "Wonderful girl! Either I’m gonna kill her, or I’m beginning to like her!" Wisely, Luke didn’t comment, but Han scowled at him. "Get in there!"
Luke nodded, then teleported to the edge of the hole and slid down. Han snorted. "Show-off," he muttered before diving down himself.
***
Luke, then Han hit the garbage chute, groaning in pain when they landed on chunks of metal.
Danielle smirked. "Oh, sorry. Didn’t see those there."
Chewbacca urfed in laughter from where he was standing by the doorway.
"Nice smell you discovered," Han retorted.
"Would you rather be up there being shot at?"
"How do we get out of here?" Luke interrupted.
Leia nodded at the door. "It’s locked."
Han snorted. "You kidding me?" He raised his blaster towards the lock.
Luke felt a wave of alarm. "No, wait!" he cried, but Han shot the lock.
The bolt ricocheted all over the garbage compartment. Once it was done, Luke glared back up at Han. "Are you insane? I already tried that!" he barked.
"Put that thing down before you get us all killed!" Leia snapped.
Han narrowed his eyes. "Well, of course, Your Worship," he muttered sarcastically.
Chewbacca suddenly roared, and everyone tensed. An unhumanlike groan was echoing through the chute.
"I got a bad feeling about this," Danielle murmured.
And all of a sudden, the walls around them started to close in.
***
"The walls!" Danielle screamed, and everyone was instantly reaching for something to try and stop the walls from moving in any further.
She looked around, wondering if she should let the Phoenix out, then decided against it. She looked at Danielle, whose fists were clenched and her eyes a metallic sheen. "Can you do something?" she asked.
Danielle nodded. "Can you?"
Leia nodded back. "Back to back."
The two women did, Leia a few inches taller than Danielle, and both of them reached their hands out and concentrated.
The wall by Danielle groaned more, and there was trembling as the wall slowly resisted moving forward. She felt Danielle start to shake behind her, then hissed. "Sorry, Danielle," she whispered, then put her palm against Danielle’s cheek.
She instantly screamed, dropping to her knees. "Dani!" Han shouted, leaping forward.
Leia ignored him, using her stolen magnetic ability and pushing the wall back. On her own wall, she used her telekinesis, making it grind to a halt, too. "Can you get through the door?" she asked Luke, nodding to the door that blocked their way out.
Han looked up instead and ran for the door, somehow going right through it. There was a full three-second count before the door hissed open. "Come on!" Han shouted.
Luke instantly ran out. Chewbacca helped Danielle, and they followed behind. Leia didn’t let the walls go until she was out the door. Only then did she break her concentration, and the walls slammed closed with a boom that could be heard throughout the halls.
***
May not have explained in the last chapter, dedicated this to her because I swear, other than KatieGuinn, she might be the only person reading this story. :) Wish someone else was interested . . .
Oh well! :p I'll get lucky eventually.