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The shackles were uncomfortably tight around Luke's wrists as he was lead to the control room, but he figured that was kind of the point; no special treatment for his status.
He straightened his shoulders.
“Governor Tarkin,” he spat out; his heart was hammering, his throat tight, but he knew he couldn't let on to that, even as hard as it was not looking over to Alderaan creeping closer. “I should have expected you babysitting Vader.”
“Charming,” Tarkin said, his nose wrinkling distastefully. “You don’t know how hard I found it signing the order to terminate your life.”
“Didn’t have someone else do your dirty work?” Luke said.
“Prince Luke,” Tarkin continued, “before your execution I would like you to be my guests at a ceremony that will make this battle station operational. No star system will dare oppose the Emperor now.”
“The harder you try,” Luke said, “the harder they will, too.”
“Not after we demonstrate the power of this station,” Tarkin said, turning to face the thick glass, his hands clasped behind his back. “In a way, you have determined the choice of the planet that will be destroyed first. Since you have been reluctant to provide us with the location of the Rebel base, I have chosen to test this station’s power on your home planet of Alderaan.”
“You can’t do that!” Luke shouted, roughly pulled back by one of the Stormtroopers at his side. “We don’t have any weapons, Alderaan isn't a military target--”
“Would you prefer a military target?” Tarkin interrupted. “Name the system.”
Tarkin turned around again, his eyebrow raised.
“I grow tired of asking, so this will be the last time,” he said. “Where is the Rebel base?”
Luke could see the lights twinkling down on Alderaan where it was getting towards nighttime; the console buzzed with the announcement that they were within range.
“Dantooine,” Luke said. “They’re on Dantooine.”
“There,” Tarkin said, a small, sickening smile stretching his face, but it was all condescension. “You see, Lord Vader, he can be reasonable.” He turned again to face the admiral by the control module. “Continue the operation, you may fire when ready.”
“What--?”
“You're far too trusting,” Tarkin said, turning back to Luke again. “Dantooine is too remote to make an effective demonstration, but don’t worry, we will deal with your Rebel friends soon enough.”
“No!”
“Commence primary ignition,” Vader said; Luke might as well not have said anything.
A panel lit up on the console at the push of a button before one of the troopers pulled a lever, Vader pulling the next; another panel lit up, and after another few buttons were pushed, Luke could feel the floor vibrating with the power building up as a few beams of light all converged into one, shooting steadily forward until the station was rocked with the force of the planet ahead of them shattering to pieces.
It felt like something had been ripped from Luke's chest.
Leia was slow to get the hang of it without being able to see what she was blocking, but it was coming along, fewer bolts hitting her and more thrumming against the lightsaber; the next bolt narrowly missed her shoulder when she turned towards the sound of Ben sitting down, frowning as she flipped the visor up.
“Are you alright?”
“I felt a great disturbance in the Force,” he said, his voice weaker than it had been earlier. “As if millions of voices cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced.”
Leia lowered the lightsaber.
“I fear something terrible has happened.”
He sounded far away, his eyes not quite focusing even as he looked up at Leia again.
“You had better get on with your exercises.”
Leia flipped the visor back down at the same time as Han came back in.
“You can forget your trouble with those Imperial slugs,” he said, “I told you I'd outrun them.”
Leia rolled her eyes behind the visor.
“Don’t everyone thank me at once,” Han added. “We should be at Alderaan about oh-two-hundred hours.”
Leia ignored the rest of what they were saying, fighting to ignore whatever argument had started about the game the Wookie was playing with Artoo, but she didn't get very far before she almost dropped the lightsaber as the next bolt scraped past her arm.
“Oh, enough of this,” she muttered, whipping the helmet off and dropping it on a seat nearby, shifting her hands on the lightsaber as she watched the small metal sphere dip and swerve in the air in front of her.
“Remember,” Ben said, looking pointedly at the helmet, “a Jedi can feel the Force flowing through them.”
“And I can see it even better,” Leia mumbled, spreading her feet a little wider just in time to block the bolt coming at her, but the next one came quicker than expected, the lightsaber dropping to the floor as it hit her hand.
“Your eyes can deceive you,” Ben said. “Don’t trust your vision alone. Stretch out with your feelings.”
Han rolled his eyes, but Leia ignored him, taking a deep breath as she focused on the feeling of the sphere twitching ahead of her; she shifted her hands again, steadier this time, trying to hone in on the feeling as much as she watched, and the next two bolts disappeared into the blue of the lightsaber.
“You see, you can do it,” Ben said.
“I call it luck,” Han said.
“Why don’t you try--”
“In my experience,” Ben interrupted, “there's no such thing as luck.”
“Going good against remotes is one thing, going good against the living? That's something else.” Han paused, looking off to the side. “Looks like we’re coming up on Alderaan.”
He gestured to Chewie, both of them leaving for the cockpit.
“I did feel something,” Leia said, waiting until the sound of their footsteps receded. “Like I could feel where it was moving almost more than I could see it.”
“That’s good,” Ben said. “You have taken your first step into a larger world.”
The Officer looked uneasily between Vader and Tarkin as he came into the conference room; only one of them had ever seemed to get the idea of not shooting the messenger.
“Our scout ships have reached Dantooine,” he said. “They found the remains of a Rebel base, but they estimate that it has been deserted for some time and are now conducting an extensive search of the surrounding systems--”
“He lied,” Tarkin barked. “He lied to us.”
“I told you he would never consciously betray the Rebellion,” Vader said; he didn't pay the Officer any mind.
The Officer let out a slow breath.
“Terminate him immediately,” Tarkin ordered.
Leia stumbled and had to catch herself against the wall as the ship slowed down, but it wasn't steady, like the ship was being jostled as it switched down from the hyperdrive.
Ben looked far away again.
She kept her hand against the wall as she went into the cockpit, still having to brace herself a couple times before she made it in to sit down in the seat behind Han.
“What…” Han frowned and flipped a couple controls. “We came out into a meteor shower, it’s not on any of the charts--”
“What’s going on?” Leia asked.
Han shrugged, flicking the radar screen before he said, “Our position’s correct.”
“It can’t be--”
“There’s no Alderaan,” Han said.
“There can’t be no Alderaan,” Leia said. “Where is it?”
“That’s what I'm trying to tell you,” Han said. “We’re here, it’s not. It’s been blown away.”
“That’s impossible,” Leia said, but before she could say anything else, Ben came up behind her.
“It’s been destroyed by the Empire.”
“Their entire starfleet couldn't destroy a whole planet,” Han said. “It’d take a thousand ships with more power than I’ve…” He trailed off, interrupted by a bright light and a ping on the dashboard. “There's another ship coming in.”
“They might know what happened,” Leia suggested.
“It’s an Imperial fighter,” Ben said, and just as he did, the ship was rocked again with a blast too strong to be another meteor.
“They followed us?”
“No,” Ben said. “It’s a short range fighter.”
“There aren't any bases around here, though,” Han said. “Where did it come from?”
They didn't have much time to wonder about it before the TIE fighter shot ahead of them without any more of an attempt to take them down.
“It’s in a hurry,” Leia said. “If it identified us, we’re good as dust.”
“Not if I can help it,” Han said. “Chewie, jam its transmissions.”
“It’d be as well to let it go,” Ben said. “It’s too far out of range.”
Han’s lips pressed into a tight line as he sped off after the TIE fighter. “Not for long.”
With all her focus on the TIE fighter, Leia didn't notice where it was heading until it seemed to be going straight towards what looked like a moon without any planet to orbit around.
“I thought you said there weren't any bases nearby,” Leia said. “It’s going to that moon.”
“There aren't,” Han said. “It’s probably stopping off to...we should reach it before it gets there, it’s almost in range.”
They were steadily gaining on it, but before Chewie could get started jamming its transmissions, Leia heard a sharp intake of breath from Ben behind her.
“That’s no moon,” he said. “It’s a space station.”
“It’s too big to be a space station,” Han said.
It set Leia’s teeth on edge. “I have a bad feeling about this.”
The ship slowed down slightly.
“You know, I think you’re right,” Han said. “Chewie, full reverse, lock in the auxiliary power.”
The ship rumbled with the strain of the engines, but it stayed on its course.
“Why are we still going towards it?” Leia asked.
“Shit,” Han muttered, his hands flying over the dashboard as he unsuccessfully tried to break away. “We’re caught in its tractor beam, it’s pulling us in.”
“There has to be something you can--”
“I’m trying,” Han said, “we’re at full power, I'm going to have to shut it down.”
The cockpit fell silent, no one saying a word as the engines powered down, drifting a little more smoothly towards the space station without the ship trying to resist it; it had looked big before, but the closer they got to it, the more it set in that the station was huge, looming over them as a docking port opened in front of the ship.
“Chewie, you two, get the droids,” Han said, flipping through another control panel before standing up; there was no way they would be heard, but his voice was still low. “Follow me.”
Leia and Ben went back to get Artoo and Threepio, leading them out to find Han pulling a hatch up from the floor, Chewie already crouching into a second one before pulling that hatch back over himself.
“Get the droids in there,” Han said, hauling a couple more hatches open before gesturing to Leia. “Get in.”
Leia squeezed herself into the compartment while Han pulled the hatches back over Ben and the droids, dropping in next to her a couple seconds later.
“Watch it--”
“Gripe at me all you want when we aren't about to get boarded,” Han said, and just after he pulled the last hatch back over them, she heard the hiss of the loading ramp being opened down the hallway.
It was hard to get a deep breath with the still, stuffy air in the compartment, Leia’s heart hammering as she heard the heavy footsteps of what had to be more than a dozen Stormtroopers searching the ship. It felt like hours before it sounded like they had left; Leia tilted her head to try to get her ear as close to the hatch as she could, swatting at Han when he tried to tug her back down, but there wasn't enough room for either of them to do much of anything.
“There’s no one on board, sir,” she heard someone say. “According to the log, the crew abandoned ship right after takeoff. It must be a decoy, sir.”
Han looked relieved.
“Did you find any droids?” another voice asked, deep and mechanical and unsettlingly calm; it made the hairs at the back of Leia's neck stand on end.
“No, sir. If there were any, they must have jettisoned with the crew.”
“Send a scanning crew on board,” the other voice said. Leia's eyes went wide, but Han just held a finger up to his mouth. “I want every part of this ship checked.”
Leia's shoulders tensed until her neck hurt at the sound of more footsteps, waiting for the hatch to be opened, but the steps left again, and it stayed put.
“Give it a minute,” Han whispered.
They waited a little longer, until they could be sure no one else was still on board before Han pushed the hatch opened and rapped his knuckles against the others.
It still took a minute for Leia's heart rate to slow down.
“You get boarded a lot?” she asked, no effort to keep the sarcasm out of her tone; so much for his promise of being able to avoid Imperial cruisers, she thought.
“No,” Han said, “I use them for smuggling, never thought I'd be smuggling myself in them.”
Han held out a hand to help Ben out, but he didn't take it.
“This is ridiculous,” Han said, nudging the hatches back into place. “Even if I could take off, we’d never get past that tractor beam.”
Ben smoothed out his robes. “Leave that to me.”
“I knew he would say that,” Han mumbled, turning to Chewie with an exasperated gesture towards Ben. “I knew he would say that!”
Leia jumped at the sound of footsteps coming back towards them--heavy, troopers again--but she wasn't the only one who noticed; Chewie stepped into an alcove while Han waved Leia and the droids back towards the cockpit, motioning for them to wait in the hall before ducking under the dashboard for a long, heavy wrench.
Leia didn't mean to hold her breath while the footsteps came closer, taking another step back closer to the cockpit; Han held up his free hand, tipping it down just as two Stormtroopers came into view.
Not theirs, Leia realized, not with the peripheral vision they had to have with those helmets on.
Han swung the wrench against the back of one of the Stormtrooper’s neck, hitting right between the helmet and the upper part of the backplate at the same time as Chewie slammed his fist down onto the other’s helmet, both of them dropping like bricks.
Han and Chewie both reached down to haul the two Stormtroopers out of the way, unclipping the blasters and checking that they were properly charged.
Chewie held up two fingers, and Han nodded, clearing his throat before he shouted down the hallway, “Hey, could you give us a hand with this?”
The next two Stormtroopers that Chewie had signaled to Han about only got a few feet past the top of the loading ramp before they were both shot down.
Chewie pulled them both up the hall at once, and he and Han didn't waste any time before unclipping their armor, tossing Leia one of the helmets.
Leia looked down at the unconscious Stormtroopers and pointedly held one of her hands above her head.
“Best we got,” Han said. “Hurry up, someone's gonna notice.”
Leia took the rest of one of the Stormtrooper’s armor and undershirt into the cockpit, quickly changing into it before snapping the armor into place; it wiggled, but she supposed Han was right about not having anything better.
Han was putting on one of the other helmets when she got back out.
The comlink in her helmet crackled, and it looked like Han’s did, too, his helmet tilting up at the staticky, “TX-412, why aren't you at your post? TX-412, do you copy?”
Leia stood up as straight as she could before walking down the loading ramp, pointing towards her ear and shaking her head as she looked up to the command deck.
The Officer turned away, and everyone else quickly followed her out to the command deck.
The door slid open, but before the Officer had the chance to say anything, Chewie howled and hit the top of his head, and he crumpled to the ground just like the other troopers had; the second Officer didn't have the chance to do anything either before Han shot his blaster.
Leia pulled her helmet off with a huff. “You know between all that,” she said, gesturing between Han and Chewie, “it’s a wonder the whole station doesn't know we’re here already.”
“Let them,” Han said. “I'd prefer a straight fight to all this sneaking around.”
“That’s just idiotic--”
“We found the computer outlet, sir,” Threepio said to Ben.
Ben hurriedly typed at the keyboard, a map appearing on the monitor, but he didn't have much time to look before Artoo started beeping.
“Yes, plug in,” he said, turning back to Leia and Han. “He should be able to read the entire Imperial computer network.”
Artoo plugged a metal attachment into a socket, the screen rushing with lines of text too quickly for Leia to read before he started beeping and whistling again.
“He says he’s found the main computer to power the tractor beam that’s holding the ship here,” Threepio said. “He’ll try to make its precise location--”
The screen went still; Ben’s eyes narrowed slightly as he read through it.
“I don’t think you two can help,” he said. “I must go alone.”
“Whatever you say,” Han said, stepping over one of the downed officers to sit down. “I’ve gotten more than I bargained for on this trip already.”
Leia frowned at him before turning to Ben again. “I want to go with you.”
“Be patient, Leia,” he said. “Stay and watch over the droids.”
“But Han can--”
“They must be delivered safely or other star systems will suffer the same fate as Alderaan. Your destiny lies along a different path than mine,” Ben said, stepping away from the monitor, his hand resting at his hip. “The Force will be with you, always.”
There was something chillingly resigned about his tone, but it didn't feel like he was leaving much room to argue; he adjusted his lightsaber slightly, and left without another word.
Chewie growled at Han once the door had closed.
“Yeah, you said it, Chewie.” Han swiveled the chair around towards Leia. “Where’d you dig up that old fossil?”
Leia frowned again. “He’s a good man.”
“Yeah, good at getting us into trouble.”
“I don’t see you coming up with any better ideas.”
“Anything would be better than just hanging around waiting for him to pick us up,” Han said.
Leia opened her mouth again, but she was interrupted by more of Artoo’s beeping, practically shaking even still attached to the outlet.
“What's going on?” she asked.
“I’m afraid I'm not quite sure, miss,” Threepio said. “He says ‘I found him’ and keeps repeating ‘he’s here’.”
“Who--?” Han started to ask.
“That prince,” Leia realized. “He had a recording.”
Artoo whistled again.
“Prince Luke,” Threepio confirmed.
“He’s here?”
“What prince?” Han asked. “What’s going on now?”
“Level five,” Threepio said. “Cell block A-23. I’m afraid he’s scheduled to be terminated.”
“We have to do something,” Leia said. “Artoo was supposed to be getting back to him.”
“What the hell are you talking about?”
Leia rolled her eyes and turned back to Han. “He’s the one in the message Artoo had for Ben, we have to help him.”
“Don't start getting ideas,” Han said. “That old man wants us to wait right here.”
“So now you've decided to start listening to him?” Leia asked. “Ben didn't know he was here when he said that. Will you just find a way to the detention block?”
Han kicked his feet up on another monitor. “I’m not going anywhere.”
“You just said you didn't want to wait here to be captured,” Leia said. “Now all you want to do is stay put.”
“Marching into the detention area isn't what I had in mind.”
“They’re going to kill him.”
“Better him than me,” Han said.
Leia's jaw clenched, but, “You know he’s rich.”
Chewie grumbled at Han.
“How rich?”
“He’s a prince,” Leia said. “Rich enough that you'd be getting more reward money than you can probably think of.”
“I can think of a lot.”
“And you'll get a lot,” Leia said.
“I’d better!”
“You will,” Leia said, “if you get up and do something about it.”
Han narrowed his eyes at her before looking up at Chewie; he shrugged with another grumble.
“Alright,” Han said. “But you better be right about this. What's your plan?”
Leia put her hands on her hips as she looked around the room; the droids wouldn’t be too believable an excuse to get to the detention block, even if they could risk that, but each of the unconscious officers had a set of shackles on their belts, and she unclipped a pair before going over to Chewie.
“I’m going to have to--”
Chewie cut her off with a loud growl, and Leia quickly handed over the shackles to Han.
“You're going to have to put those on.”
Han took them, but he didn't move any closer to Chewie; for the first time Leia had seen, he looked scared, less imposing even as much as he towered over her.
“We need a way in,” Leia explained. “They might not stop us if it looks like we have a prisoner.”
Han raised an eyebrow. “Might?”
“You asked for a plan, I gave you one. Do you want your reward money or not?”
Han looked up at Chewie again; he didn't step forward until Chewie ducked his head in a small nod, holding his hands out for Han to clip on the cuffs, leaving them unlocked.
“Excuse me, miss Leia,” Threepio said. “Pardon me for asking, but what--what should Artoo and I do if we are discovered here?”
“Lock the door,” Leia said.
“And hope they don’t have blasters,” Han added.
“That isn't very reassuring,” Threepio said.
Han and Leia put their helmets back on, quickly closing the door behind them before anyone else could see inside as they walked off down the hall; her plan seemed to work, no one paying them much attention as they passed through the other troopers and guards on their way to an elevator.
Another officer rushed forward, but Leia hit the button for the doors to close as Han shook his head with a quick gesture towards Chewie, and they were alone for the ride up.
“I don’t know how they expect anyone to see out of these things,” Leia said.
“I’m not complaining about their design flaws, we don’t need them doing their jobs any better,” Han said.
Chewie growled at them.
“I know, buddy, we’re almost there,” Han said. “Then you can get those things off.”
There were more people than they had passed before when the doors opened.
“This isn't gonna work,” Han whispered.
“Sure, if you act like it’s not going to,” Leia said. “We’ve gotten this far.”
They weren't far from the detention block, but they still had to pass another control room to get there, and with their fake prisoner in tow, Leia willed up the confidence that they wouldn’t be stopped; her confidence faltered when a grim-looking Officer approached them once they reached the control room.
“Where are you taking this…” He looked up and down over Chewie. “Thing?”
Chewie growled.
“Prisoner transfer,” Leia said, thankful for the way her voice was masked through the helmet, scratchy and rough. “From block one-one-three eight.”
“I wasn't notified,” the Officer said. “I’ll have to clear it.”
Leia still couldn't see much with the helmet, but she could see Han’s moving slightly, looking to the cameras in the corners; he waited until no one was facing them before unclipping Chewie’s shackles, dipping his head slightly towards Leia, and she took a step to the side just before Chewie let out a howl and grabbed Han’s blaster.
“Look out, he’s loose!” Han shouted.
Leia took her cue; the cameras were still running. “He’s going to pull us apart!”
Han and Leia both purposefully missed Chewie, shooting out the two cameras behind him while Chewie shot around the rest of the room, taking out the last of the cameras and most of the guards, but not before the Officer made it to the alarm button on the console, shot down just a second too late before the comlink started screeching questions at them.
“We’ve gotta find out which cell he’s in,” Han said, stepping over the Officer to search through the console. “There it is...cell twenty-one-eight-seven, you get him, I’ll hold them off here.”
“What happened?”
Leia raced off down the hall before she could hear whatever answer Han came up with.
She counted down the cell numbers, blasting the lock and slamming the door open with her shoulder.
It took a couple seconds from the smoke to clear from the sparking lock, but once it did, there was the prince she had seen in the hologram.
He only looked startled for a second, sitting up a little straighter as he looked from the broken door to Leia.
“You're a little short for a Stormtrooper.”
“Oh, this,” Leia mumbled to herself, pulling the helmet off. “I’m Leia Skywalker, I’m here to rescue you.”
“Who?”
“Doesn't matter,” Leia said. “I’ve got your R2 unit, I’m here with Ben Kenobi.”
“Kenobi!” Luke's eyebrows shot up. “Where is he?”
“We have to go, come on.”
Luke ran out after her, stopping for a second once they reached the control room again to see the mess and the bodies on the floor; their only warning was a loud buzzing noise before the door blasted open, held off for a few seconds by Han and Chewie shooting through the large hole in the door, long enough for them to run back down the hall out of range of the Stormtroopers’ blasters.
“Can’t get out that way.”
“So you've lost our only escape route,” Leia said.
“I’m this close to trading you for the prince,” Han said.
Leia ignored him, pulling a comlink from her belt as Han and Chewie started shooting back at the Stormtroopers who had made their way through the door.
“Threepio,” she said, and then a little louder, “Threepio!”
“Yes, miss?”
“We’ve been cut off, are there any other ways out of…” She could hear Threepio’s voice, but it was covered by static, barely audible. “What? I didn't copy--shit--I don’t think--”
A blast of light narrowly missed her side.
“I can’t hold them off forever,” Han said. “Now what?”
“When you came in here,” Luke said, “did you have a plan for getting back out?”
“This was her bright idea, ask her,” Han said, gesturing towards Leia.
“Shut up,” Leia snapped. “Give me a second…”
She had to duck into an alcove to miss the next few shots, but the armor she was still wearing clacked against something hollow; she carefully turned without moving any farther out yet, stepping back behind Chewie when she had a second between blasts before shooting at the grate behind her, the sparks almost reaching Han.
“What the hell are you doing?”
“Not getting killed,” Leia said, kicking what was left of the grate out of the way before pulling at Luke’s sleeve. “Get in.”
“Are you really--”
“It’s either that or them,” she said, gesturing towards the Stormtroopers as she shoved Luke to the opening, but that was enough to get him to crawl inside.
“Chewie, get in there!” Han shouted, blasting another couple shots down the hall as he pushed at Chewie with his free hand. “I don’t care what you smell, just get in there and don’t worry about it.”
Chewie disappeared down the shaft with a concerned growl.
“Get in,” Han repeated to Leia; the last thing she saw before she slid down was Han shooting at a light panel on the ceiling, the smoke giving him enough cover to slide in after her.
She barely had time to get out of the way once she reached the bottom.
The smell should have given it away, drifting up more clearly once she had shot the grate, but she was still startled by the muck reaching most of the way to her knees.
“Oh, the garbage chute, that was a really wonderful idea,” Han said, flicking a few drops from his arm before raising his blaster to a hatch in the wall. “Let’s get out of here, get away from--”
“Han, no!”
Leia didn't have time to stop him before the shot ricocheted off the walls.
“They’re magnetically sealed, you dolt, do you know anything about--”
“Would you put that thing down?” Luke said. “You're going to get us killed.”
“Whatever you say, your highness,” Han said, turning towards Leia. “I had everything under control before you led us down here, it’s not going to take them long before they figure out what we did, you know.”
Leia looked up to where the sound of blasters had gone quiet above them. “It could be worse--”
She was cut off by an echoing, warbly howl, the sound bouncing off metal walls making it feel even louder.
“It’s worse,” Han said.
“I think there’s something alive in here,” Leia said, standing as still as she could manage, but the water was still rippling around them too much to see if anything else was moving, or where.
“You're imagining things,” Han said. “It’s just the--”
Leia yelped and stumbled into a mound of scrapped parts. “Something just moved past--right there! Look, did you see that?”
“What?” Han and Luke both asked, but Leia didn't get the chance to answer before whatever she had felt just then wrapped around her leg with a sharp pull, and she was suddenly dunked under the dark, rancid water.
She could almost register someone calling her name--Han--but it fell to the back of her mind as she scrambled to get out, only able to tell which way was up when her elbow smacked against the floor. There was only time to suck in a deep breath, no time to shout for help, before something wrapped itself around her neck and dragged her back under.
She tried to scratch at the thick tentacle, her other hand grasping desperately above the water before landing on something hard and smooth being pushed towards her; she let go of the tentacle to try to hold on more securely, only making it up long enough to hear Luke shout, “Blast it! This isn't going to--”
She was yanked under the water again, but not for long before she heard an inhuman shriek muffled through the water, the tentacle loosening from around her neck enough for her to pull it off and stumble upright; all she could think about was trying to get a breath, not realizing until it was too late to act before she was pulled under again by another tentacle around her ankle.
“Leia!”
She couldn't tell who had said it, her lungs burning, too much for her to notice the grinding sound and the deep shudder wracking the room before she was suddenly released.
“Help her out!” Luke shouted.
Chewie hauled her up from the water, holding up most of her weight as she caught her breath.
“What happened?” Luke asked.
“I don't know,” Leia croaked, pulling in another deep breath before she could continue. “It just let go of me, I don’t know--” She was cut off with a loud, hacking cough. “I don’t know where it went.”
“I’ve got a bad feeling about this,” Han muttered; just as he said it, the room lurched again, but before anyone could say anything else, the walls edged visibly closer.
Luke's eyes went wide, bracing himself against a shuddering mound of rubble. “The walls are--”
“Don’t just stand there,” Leia said, shaking Chewie’s arm away to stand as steadily as she could with her head still spinning, “try to brace them with something!”
They rushed to try to jam the large pieces of metal between the walls, but they bent with an unsettling creak before snapping under the pressure of it as the walls pushed steadily closer, the trash piling up around them as it was crammed together.
“Oh!” Leia pulled out her com again. “Threepio! Threepio! Where the hell is he?”
The walls kept pushing in with no response on the other end; they kept trying to slow it down, Chewie pushing back against one of the walls, but they kept moving without pause.
“Threepio!”
Han and Luke scrambled out of the way of a falling pipe and up onto a pile of the rubble.
“Leia, get up here!” Han shouted.
“I--” Something slipped under her foot, sending her sinking a few inches between two chunks of debris too high for her to climb out of. “I can’t--where did he go?!”
Han and Chewie held out another pipe, but they couldn't pull her much higher up; she could see by their faces, even if they didn't say it, that they were quickly losing hope of getting out.
Leia held onto the pipe as tightly as she could.
The sound of metal bending and snapping around them was nearly overwhelming, so loud she almost didn't notice her com beeping at her after an agonizingly long couple minutes.
“Are you there, miss?”
“Threepio!” Leia shouted, wedging her hand between her hip and the metal closing in at her side to reach her comlink.
“We’ve had some problems--”
“Listen to me! Shut down all the garbage compactors on the detention level,” she said, but after a couple seconds of nothing but static, “Threepio! Do you copy? Shut down the trash compactors on the detention level!”
The walls kept moving; Leia's leg was caught, her foot starting to feel numb from how tightly it was crammed between the debris, but just before she expected to hear a snap from the armor breaking, there was a deep rumble around them, and the walls slowed before going still.
None of them said anything at first, all holding their breath in anticipation of it starting again, but a few seconds went by, and Leia let out a relieved shout, finally letting go of the pipe as Luke scooted down to help her get some of the rubble out of the way from around her legs.
“You did it,” she said into the comlink once she was free, sagging against a pile of rubble. “Threepio, we’re alright.”
Chewie clamored over to help her up; it took a second to get her balance, shaking her leg out to try to get some of the feeling back before carefully stepping over the rubble to get to a hatch that was still uncovered.
“Threepio,” she said again, “open the maintenance hatch on unit...where are we?”
Han took the comlink from her. “Unit three-two-six-eight-two-seven.”
The hatch slid open, and they all scrambled out after each other, coming out into a dusty, blessedly empty hallway; Leia shook some muck out of her boot as she and Han peeled the armor off of themselves, both of them cringing at the way it had held onto the water.
“I think if we quit taking your advice,” Han said to Leia, “we should be able to get out of here.”
“Because wading around in garbage is just infinitely worse than being shot to death,” Leia said, taking the belt from the armor to wrap around her waist. “Let’s get going.”
Chewie growled, a whine to the tone of it as he pointed towards the hatch before running a little ways down the hallway.
“Hey, where are you going?”
One of the tentacles from before wriggled its way up and out of the hatch; Han pulled his blaster from his belt and took aim.
“Han!” Leia hissed. “Someone will--”
Han took the shot, the tentacle pulling back with a shriek.
Leia and Luke exchanged an annoyed look before they both jumped at the sound of an alarm.
“Where did you find him?” Luke asked.
Leia rolled her eyes with a shrug before turning to Han. “I don’t know why Ben picked you of all people,” Leia said, switching off the safety on her blaster as she started off down the hallway. “We would have been fine if you would just listen to me.”
“I’m not about to start taking orders from anyone,” Han said, “let alone from some backwater farmer--”
“It’s a wonder you’re still alive,” Leia said, gesturing back towards Chewie. “I think he has better judgment than you do.”
She didn't look behind her as she turned a corner.
Han shook his head to himself and nudged his elbow against Luke's shoulder. “Can you believe this girl?”
“With how this is going so far, yes.”
Han frowned and shook his head again as they followed after her.
They didn't run into anyone even as they made the next couple turns down the hallway, the alarm still blaring; Leia was listening so carefully for anyone nearby that she almost missed the large window until she got to it, overlooking a landing bay with the Falcon surrounded by what had to be at least a dozen Stormtroopers.
“There she is,” Han said, relief clear in his voice.
Leia pulled out her comlink. “Threepio, do you copy?”
“For the moment,” he said with an anxious tremor. “We’re, ah, in the main hangar across from the ship.”
“We’re right above you,” Leia said. “Stand by.”
“You came in that piece of junk?” Luke asked Han.
“And it’s your only ride out of here, don’t knock it.”
“Would you two come on?” Leia said, waving them both after her. “You can complain about that rust bucket later.”
“I should never have agreed to pick you up,” Han muttered, but Leia didn't have the chance to respond before they turned another corner and were faced with another dozen Stormtroopers.
“It’s them!” one of them said, but it wasn't clear which with the helmets. “Blast them!”
Han started shooting as he and Chewie ran at them, at close enough range that one of the Stormtroopers was knocked into the air by the blast.
“Get back to the ship!” Han shouted over his shoulder.
“Where are you going?” Luke shouted back at him, but Han had already turned around the next corner. “Some rescue team.”
“Don’t look at me, I didn't choose him,” Leia said. “Come on.”
They weren't as lucky as they had been before as they ran for the hangar; another group of Stormtroopers came through an adjacent hallway, and Leia shot back at them as best she could as she and Luke darted down the other end, only sure when she had hit someone by the clack of armor hitting the floor.
“In there!” Luke said, almost tripping as he pointed to an open door on the side of the hall; there were still the sounds of footsteps running after them, and Leia took another couple shots behind her before following Luke through the doorway.
He was still going too fast, and she barely got to him in time to yank him back by his sleeve as his foot slipped over the edge of a retracted bridge, the shaft below them so deep they couldn't see the bottom of it.
“I think we took a wrong turn,” he said breathlessly, interrupted by the sound of more shots being fired behind them.
Leia charged up her blaster, ready to take aim down the hallway, but Luke hit a switch by the door before she had to.
“There's no lock,” Luke said, still frantically tapping at the keypad. “Leia, there’s--”
“Move!”
Luke darted out of the way for Leia to shoot the control panel, sparks and lines of smoke drifting up from it before she heard the clang of someone trying to get through the other side.
“That should hold them for a while.”
Not as long as she would have hoped; as soon as she said it, it sounded like a drill was being pushed into the wall, louder by the second.
“Where's the control to extend the bridge?” Luke asked. “Wait--!”
Leia shot up into the shaft to a Stormtrooper who had appeared above them.
“I think that was it,” she said, gesturing with her blaster to the charred control panel.
Luke looked panicked, but Leia didn't have time for that; she patted down the belt she had taken earlier from the Stormtrooper armor, pulling at a hook that extended with a thin cable attached to the belt.
Leia held the blaster up for Luke. “Hold this.”
Luke only looked startled for a second before shooting across the shaft to another Stormtrooper.
Leia pulled the cable out as far as it would go, looking over the shaft through the bolts coming from both Luke and the other Stormtroopers; there was a cluster of pipes above and a little ways ahead of her, and she spun the end of the cable to build up some momentum, shifting her feet a little wider apart before throwing it over.
It took a second try before Leia got the hook caught between the pipes, giving the cable a tug to check that it was secure just before the drill made it through the wall.
“They’re going to--”
Luke cut off with a yelp as Leia wound her arm tight around Luke's waist.
“Hold on.”
Leia took a couple steps back, kicking back against the wall to get a little more force behind it, and she jumped.
She didn't think they were going to make it.
Luke’s feet hit the floor first, grabbing Leia with him just in time for her to turn around and fire at the Stormtroopers who had just made it through the door.
Luke took the blaster to cover her as she unclipped the cable from her belt, looking around the corner to check that no more troopers were coming in the other direction before they ran down the hall to the hangar.
Leia took the blaster back once they got to the end of the hallway, keeping close to the wall as she leaned over to get a better look into the hangar; there were still Stormtroopers making their rounds, but she could see Han and Chewie, ducked into an alcove just out of view of anyone else. She held her hand up in front of Luke, holding her breath until she saw an opening and tugged at his shirt to get him to follow her over to Han and Chewie.
“What kept you?”
“Ran into some friends of yours,” Luke said.
“Is the ship alright?” Leia asked.
“Seems okay, if we can get to it,” Han said. “Just hope that old man got the tractor beam out of commission.”
“What about Ben?” Luke whispered. “Is he on--?”
Something caught Leia's eye in another hall across the hangar, flashes of blue and red between a dull buzzing sound.
“Shush! Look!”
The other three poked their heads out to see Ben up against a tall, foreboding figure in black, the mask nothing like the Stormtroopers’ helmets; it made Leia shiver.
“Vader,” Luke whispered, his tone steely and strained.
It hadn't only caught their attention; the Stormtroopers who had been guarding the ship all ran to Ben and Vader, leaving their posts clear for Han to gesture for them to follow him out of the alcove.
“Now’s our chance, come on.”
They made it to the ship at the same time as Artoo and Threepio, rushing over from another connecting hallway.
“Oh, miss--!”
“Shh,” Leia hissed, all her focus on the duel across from her; the Stormtroopers circling them had been enough of a distraction that Vader’s lightsaber almost hit Ben before he managed to swerve out of the way, but he couldn't get very far, trapped between black armor and white.
Ducking out of the way had gotten Ben facing Leia and the rest of them, keeping Vader’s back towards them; he and Leia made eye contact for just a second before he raised his lightsaber, his face too calm, but Vader raised his first, and with the air crackling from the red lightsaber being swung down, Ben was gone.
Leia wasn't able to stop herself. “No!”
The Stormtroopers around Vader turned towards her; her hand was shaking as she fired her blaster at them, backed up by Han as the droids sped into the Falcon, her only thought taking as many of them down as she could.
She couldn't get all of them--she didn't think all of them would be enough--but she didn't have the chance to try before Han shouted at her, almost inaudible over the sound of blasts whizzing past her, her ears ringing, her hand starting to shake even more as Vader slowly, almost casually started walking towards them, the nonchalance of someone who knew it wouldn’t be a fair fight.
“Leia!” Luke said, his hand on her arm snapping her attention away. “It’s too late, we have to go.”
“Blast the door!” Han shouted.
There was a control panel next to the hallway where Vader and now the Stormtroopers were coming towards them; Leia missed the first couple shots, dread setting in in full force, before she remembered what Ben had told her earlier as clearly as if he was saying it right then.
She reached out.
The next shot hit the control panel, and the heavy door slid shut in front of Vader and a few of the Stormtroopers, but not all of them, three still running towards the ship; the brief moment of something close to serenity Leia had felt when she hit the control panel was gone, and she ran at them without thinking, firing haphazardly as she heard the Falcon’s loading ramp being lowered behind her.
“Run, Leia.”
It was only once she had turned back around for the ship that she realized the voice hadn't come from Han or Luke.
She stopped for a second at the bottom of the loading ramp, looking back in the vain hope that she had seen wrong, that Ben was still alive, but the only thing coming towards her were more blaster shots from the remaining Stormtroopers.
“Leia!” Luke shouted from the top of the ramp, Han and Chewie already making their way to the cockpit. “Come on!”
She fired another couple blasts as she darted up into the ship, the ramp closing just before the Stormtroopers tried to take another shot.
The ship rumbled, and Leia and Luke barely made it to the cockpit in time to sit down before it lurched up from the hangar floor, jolted by the blasts from the Stormtroopers still outside.
“This is gonna be a real short trip if that tractor beam’s still working,” Han said, his hands rushing over the dashboard before he said to Chewie, “Hit it.”
The relief of the ship making it out of the docking bay was dampened by the sound echoing in Leia’s ears of Vader’s lightsaber being swung down that final time.