Welcome to the final chapter! But not the final part. ;) Still an epilogue after this! Yes, only one. This only needs one. Enjoy!
End credits music on the side. :) Play when you get to the last part of Danielle's POV. :)
***
The Death Star, Yavin System
Luke locked the S-foils of his X-wing, then felt his throat clench when he looked out of the cockpit towards the Death Star. He shook his head. How in the name of mutants did they build something that huge? Over the comm connection him to the other pilots, he heard Red Two – Wedge Antilles – gasp in shock when he saw it, too. “Look at the size of that thing!”
“Cut the chatter, Red Two,” Red Leader snapped, and Luke couldn’t help but smirk. “Gold Leader, this is Red Leader. Begin your attack run.”
“I copy, Red Leader,” the voice of Gold Leader replied. “Gold Three, Gold Five, pull in.”
The three Y-wings pulled away from the cloud of starfighters that had now reached the Death Star and dropped down onto the surface. There was the spatter of laserfire, and flashes of green were seen. “Turret guns!” Gold Three yelped in shock and surprise.
Proximity alerts began sounding in the cockpit, and Luke looked down at his screens. “Red Leader, fights coming in,” he reported.
“I see them, Red Five.”
Luke took a deep breath, then braced himself for the firefight coming up. Somehow he knew it wasn’t going to be pretty.
***
Down on Yavin 4, Leia had reached the same conclusion.
She leaned over the screen that the base was using to track the Rebel pilots’ progress, and she watched as the starfighters scattered to try and split up the attack group. She heard their voices throughout the base, shouting and yelling about backup. Her heart froze when she heard Luke’s startled yelp in surprise, then heard the voice of Red Three ask, “Luke, you okay?”
“A little crisped, but I’m all right,” Luke replied warily. “It exploded before it did any real damage.”
“None of us were anywhere near you, Luke,” Red Two told him just as warily.
Leia’s head shot up, looking around the screen at the other Rebels. They were just as confused as she was.
Are you really that naïve, Rogue?
Leia jerked when she heard the voice in her head, then she growled lowly, looking down. What do you want?
You still have Magneta’s mutation, don’t you? Use it.
Leia drew in a breath sharply when she realized what the Phoenix was saying. For once, thanks for pointing that out.
Just get done what needs to be done.
Leia looked down at the screen and closed her eyes, uneasily wondering how she was going to do this. She had never stolen a mutation and tried to use it several hours, let alone days, later. She remembered the feeling she had when she was trying to stop the walls from closing in on the five of them, the four other X-Men. She felt the magnetic grip in her head leading her towards the TIE fighters, and found a few that were getting too close to Luke for her liking. She reached out and grasped the fighters, then found the button she was looking for.
Self destruct.
Her mind pressed it instantly , and the ship went up in flames.
***
Luke watched as yet another TIE fighter exploded without anyone getting near him. He frowned, confused. He had seen the Falcon leave. Who was doing this?
“We’ve got your back, Iceman.”
Luke blinked at the unfamiliar voice. “Who are you?”
“The side of Rogue you haven’t seen. We have your back.”
“Thanks . . . I guess.”
“You’re welcome. Behind you!”
Luke jerked his starfighter into a corkscrew, watching as the TIE fighter behind him tried to follow in the dive and failed. Biggs’s starfighter flew over him, blasting the TIE fighter into an explosion. “You’ve got someone looking out for you, Luke,” Biggs commented.
Luke smirked. “And from what I know about them, they’re dangerous as hell if you get on their bad side.”
Biggs laughed, and Luke looked at his screens. He frowned. Something was wrong with the stabilizers. “Artoo, can you fix the stabilizers?” he asked.
Artoo chirped reassuringly and started his work. As they did, he heard the voice of Gold Five. “Red Leader, this is Krail. I lost Vander,” he announced, and Luke’s eyes widened. Vander . . . but that meant Gold Leader and the other pilot that had gone in there – Gold Three – were gone.
“I copy, Gold Leader,” Red Leader replied in a tense voice.
“They came from behi – ”
An explosion sounded over the comm, and Luke jerked in surprise when he realized that the just-promoted Gold Leader had been shot out.
“I’m going in,” Red Leader announced grimly. “Red Eight, Red Ten, cover me.”
“And the rest of us?” Red Six asked.
“Stay up there in case more of these things try to get there.”
“Delightfully vague,” Biggs muttered.
“You’ll be going next if Dreis fails.”
Luke scowled at the voice inside of his head. “How on Earth do you know Red Leader’s name?”
“I’m in Rogue’s head, aren’t I?”
Luke shook his head. “Just shut up!”
“Something wrong, Red Five?” Red Leader asked.
Luke blinked when he realized he had said that out loud. “No, sir,” he replied. “Sorry.”
There was sudden quietness down on the Death Star. Red Eight let out a noise of surprise and shock. “The guns . . . they stopped!”
Luke checked his scanners, then blinked when he realized they were right. He frowned, looking around. Something wasn’t right . . .
It was then that he noticed the three TIE fighters zooming down into the Death Star’s trench after the three X-wings. “Red Leader, you’ve got three on your tail!” he shouted.
“I can’t see them!” Red Leader replied. “Red Eight, Red Ten?”
“I see them,” Red Eight announced. “They’re coming right behind – ”
The lead TIE fighter’s guns spat, and Red Ten went up in an explosion. Red Eight’s startled yelp came over the comm before he, too, was shot down. “Red Six!” Red Leader shouted in shock.
“How’d he shoot that well?” Red Six replied, bringing his X-wing into a dive to join Red Leader. Luke waited for further orders, but the two other TIE fighters rose up to descend on Red Six.
Red Leader’s sigh came over the comm. “Red Five, take the run. Red Two, Red Three, cover him. It’s up to you three now.”
“What?” Luke asked in shock before two loud explosions were heard, and Red Leader and Red Six disappeared in flames.
***
“It’s up to you three now.”
“What?” Luke shouted, and Danielle winced when she heard the two loud explosions.
Han cursed, throwing a lever on the control panel. “That’s it. We’re going in. Beast – ”
“Trigger the cloaking,” Chewbacca replied, standing and leaving.
Danielle dropped into Chewbacca’s abandoned seat, flicking controls as she felt the Falcon shudder as its cloaking shield came into place. Han flew the Falcon down towards the Death Star, and she reached out with her magnetic abilities, calling out commands. Han, trusting his fellow X-Man, flew her way.
Before long, they had arrived and dove down into the trench after Luke.
***
As he led Biggs and Wedge down the trench, Luke was continually worrying about what would happen if he wasn’t able to take the shot that he needed to. He heard the guns firing back up around them, and then there were shots being fired from above. “When will those TIEs just give up!” Biggs barked.
“Until they know we’re out,” Luke replied tightly, trying to concentrate. “How’s it going?”
More fire sounded, then there was a horrible grinding sound. Luke looked down at his scanners and narrowed his eyes when he saw that Wedge had taken a few hits. “Wedge, you okay?” he asked worriedly.
“I can’t do much else,” Wedge replied, sounding strained as his X-wing wobbled.
“Get out of here, Wedge.”
“Sorry, Luke!”
***
Han watched as the X-wing covering Luke’s right pulled out, then looked at Danielle. “What happened?”
“He got hit,” Danielle replied, looking at him. “We gonna do this or what?”
It was then that they heard the loud explosion. Both of them looked towards the trench as the final X-wing behind Luke exploded in a large fireball. Danielle’s gaze swung to Han, her gaze wild. “Pyro!”
“Beast, get those cannons ready!” Han shouted into the comm.
“Already good!”
Danielle held out her hand, and Han grasped it hard in his own. She didn’t complain as they focused both of their energy as they stared after the three TIE fighters.
They were not going to let the other of their group get shot down in front of them.
***
Luke’s jaw dropped as Biggs’s starfighter was blown to pieces behind him. He looked behind him to see that the three TIEs were now locking on him. He swallowed, looking forward again. “Here goes nothing,” he muttered, hoping that Ben had been right about the Force as he turned off his targeting computer.
That was when he heard the wailing behind him. “Artoo?” Luke called, looking down worriedly. He wasn’t responding. “I lost Artoo,” he told the listening Rebels.
He was sure that he was a goner.
That was before he heard the groaning around him.
Luke froze, looking around as he saw the gun turrets shuddering where they were, seemingly malfunctioning. “What in space?” he muttered.
There was a deep rumbling, slowly growing louder, and he understood what was going to happen before it did. He picked up his X-wing’s speed just as the turrets began exploding all around. He looked down at his screens and watched as one of the two guarding TIE fighters exploded as well. Shots from above came down and peppered the remaining two until they slammed into each other and flew out into space seemingly helpless.
And Luke smiled as the Millennium Falcon’s cloaking shield dropped. “You’re all clear now, Iceman!” Han shouted. “Now blow this thing so we can get out of here and go home!”
“Bout time you showed up!” Luke called back, and he laughed when he heard Chewbacca’s roar of agreement.
“Just shut up and hit that thing already!” Danielle barked, and Luke closed his eyes, feeling a rush of confidence. Right . . . now! He pressed the button that released the torpedoes, and when he saw that his shot was good, he breathed a sigh of relief, then turned tail and fled after the Falcon as fast as he could go.
***
Danielle kept an eye on the scanners as the Falcon, Luke, and Wedge flew as fast as they could towards Yavin 4. She counted off, and just when they were out of range, the Death Star blew up behind them.
She sighed in relief, then started laughing. “Nice shot, Luke!” she called.
“One in a million!” Han agreed, high fiving her.
There was cheering over the comm that connected to the group on Yavin 4, and Danielle looked over at Han. “You know they’re going to expect us to stay now, right?”
Han looked back over at her and nodded slowly. “Yeah. I know.”
Danielle left it at that as they entered Yavin 4’s atmosphere. Iceman - Luke - was safe. That was the important part.
They’d worry about everything else later.
***
Luke landed his X-wing, then jumped down to the floor as various Rebels ran up to congratulate him on a job well done. Luke looked for Wedge in particular, and they grinned at each other, sharing more words in that simple action than could be said out loud.
“Luke!”
Luke turned when Leia called his name, and she ran towards him as fast as she could, practically knocking him off of his feet in a hug. He hugged her back, and when she pulled away, he noted the white streaks in her bangs. “What happened here?” he asked.
Leia shrugged. “I kind of went overboard. Danielle’s mutation stuck with me.”
Luke left it at that, when there was another shout of his name. “Luke!”
Luke’s smile grew even larger as the Rebels parted, and Han, Danielle, and Chewbacca darted forward, their X-Men suits still on. Luke’s own suit turned back to black, and he hugged Han, then Danielle. “I knew you’d come back, I just knew it!”
“We didn’t even leave the system,” Danielle whispered, hugging him tightly.
“Her idea, of course,” Han added, glaring at her.
Danielle punched him in the arm, obviously shocking him as Han let out a yelp of pain. “Shut up.”
Chewbacca whined, pointing to something above their heads, and Luke turned to look, then his eyes widened when he saw what was happening. “Oh, no,” he breathed, walking forward as the Rebel technicians lowered Artoo onto the ground.
Threepio hustled forward, too. “Artoo, can you hear me?” When Artoo didn’t reply, he started to freak out. “Say something!” Artoo still didn’t do anything, and Threepio looked at the technicians in fear. “You can repair him, can’t you?”
“We’ll get to work on him right away,” one of them replied confidently.
Threepio didn’t think that was enough. “If any of my parts are needed, I’ll be glad to give them to you!”
“Threepio, it’ll be all right,” Luke assured him before Leia and Han pulled him off in a different direction, Danielle and Chewbacca right on his heels.
He smiled. Today had just been his day. Leia was still alive, and Han, Danielle, and Chewbacca had returned to save his life.
That meant more to him than anything else in the world.
***
Danielle smiled, watching as Han and Luke pace anxiously around the hall. “Relax, you guys,” she told them, hiding a snicker. “It’s not like you’re going in front of the Senate or something.”
Luke glared at her, but there was no force behind it. “Yeah, sure.”
One of the guards came in from the set of doors they were waiting in front of. “They’re ready.”
Han nodded. “Thanks.”
The guard nodded and left. Danielle lightly pushed Luke to stand on Han’s left, then she took up position on Han’s right, Chewbacca at Luke’s left. Their X-Men suits fit on, and the doors to the hall of the temple opened up.
Danielle automatically followed Han and Luke down the hall, but she couldn’t help but feel nervous about all of the Rebels that were standing at attention and watching them. When she raised her eyes to the dais, however, she caught Leia, standing proud in her own X-Men uniform and smiling, and she couldn’t help but smile back at Rogue.
As Luke and Han got their medals, Chewbacca threw his head back and roared, loud and clear, and she heard the clicking of boots on marble as the Rebels simultaneously turned and faced the dais. Danielle smiled up at Leia as she got her own medal, then practically jumped out of her skin when she heard Leia’s voice in her head: “I need help with something after this is done.”
“Okay,” Danielle replied, and Leia gave her a smile of acknowledgement.
The four of them all bowed in respect to Leia, who smiled back and gave a bow of her own. Then a twittering drew their attention over to the left, where a shining Artoo had arrived next to a glittering Threepio. Threepio looked extremely happy as he placed his hand on Artoo’s dome. They were all finally whole again.
The four turned to face the Rebels, who were all smiling up at them, and then Chewbacca let out another roar. Cheers came from all across the throne room, and Danielle felt her eyes gloss over, and thunder cracked overhead. Luke’s skin took on an icy tone, Han’s form began to ripple with fire, and behind them, Leia’s gossamer wings spread out to its full wingspan.
The Death Star was gone. The Rebel Alliance had triumphed. And a group the Empire would fear forever had been assembled to their full potential.
The X-Men.
***
Only the epilogue left, which might get posted tonight!
Million dollar question: what does Leia needs Danielle help with? For X-Men fans, you should know. :)
Hope you enjoyed it!