Chapter Text
The planet was nameless and unoccupied, its atmosphere was barely breathable, and the weather was volatile and hostile. It would be an atrocious place for a base, at least in the long term, but for a mining operation and storing resources, it was perfect.
It had first come to their attention during a standard scouting mission. Luke had fallen out of hyperspace a little earlier than expected, a gravitational anomaly pulling him into a system that was barren and barely charted, but it had turned out to be a lucky break, since he’d come across the rock they were surveying now. Initial scans indicated it had promise for the Alliance, but he needed better, more specialized equipment if they were to know for sure if it was worth putting their resources into. Most of High Command was skeptical, but Leia had faith, so she sent him out with the Rogues to see if this system could be of any use to them, or if they were just wasting their time.
As it turned out, all the readings did indeed check out, and Luke grinned to himself as he got word from his squadmates investigating planetside.
“Everything looks good from down here, Boss,” Wedge’s voice chirped through his comm. “Just as we thought. Air’s a little thin, wouldn’t recommend doing any sort of lengthy workouts down here – though that might be good for training, actually… But probably not for living here long term without any additional oh-two source. There’s more building space than initial surveys suggested, though, especially underground. This place might be even more promising than we first thought. Good call on this one, Luke.”
“That’s great, Wedge!” Luke chirped back as he skimmed over Artoo’s readings on his X-wing’s display. “Checks out with all the scans from up here, as well. Tons of rich spots full of ore and minerals. Might just be able to put off the Alliance’s resource crisis. Leia’s gonna be happy to hear it.” She really would be, he thought grimly. Though she worked to cover up her anxiety, Luke knew full well just how worried Leia was about the Alliance’s supplies. For the sake of morale, the higher ups didn’t care to let on just how low they were running, but with the way Leia was acting, he had a sneaking suspicion it was getting desperate.
“Just got a couple more scans to do down here, then I’m heading back up.”
And then they could get out of there.
Or… so he thought.
It seemed their luck wasn’t meant to last, and as Artoo beeped several frantic curses into his ear, Luke whispered a couple under his breath as a star destroyer came out of hyperspace right in front of him. “Uh, Wedge?” he said as he locked his S-foils. “You might wanna hurry up and get up here. We’ve got company.”
“Shavit. Of the Imperial kind?”
“Yep.”
“Alright, I’ll gather the others and tell ’em to get to their X-wings. Make sure they’re all off-planet before heading up myself. How did those sleemo find us, anyways?”
Luke had been asking that question himself, but he didn’t have time to dwell on it. “We can figure that out later, just get off-planet as fast as you can. We gotta get everyone to hyperspace and fast. I got no interest in losing anyone today.”
Several TIE fighters flew at Luke and the other Rogues still in space. His squadron was skilled and coordinated, and Luke had a lot of faith in them, but there was something different about this star destroyer and its own fighters. The starship was larger than most others he encountered, its TIE squadron more skilled. They were putting up more of a fight than was typical, and a bad feeling was starting to prickle at the back of his neck.
Everything made sense when the modified TIE flew into view.
“This is Rogue Leader to Rogue Squadron! Everyone, if you can, jump to hyperspace now – Vader is here. I repeat, Darth Vader is engaged in combat. Get out immediately!”
Wes’ voice crackled over the comm. “All due respect, boss, but we ain’t leaving until you’re leaving, and we know you’re not going anywhere until everyone else is off that planet. We may not be able to take Vader down, but we can at least hold him off until everyone else is out of the atmo.”
Luke gritted his teeth. Janson was right, of course, but he wasn’t really keen on admitting that. “Alright. But anyone’s fighter takes enough damage then you get yourselves the hell out of here and we’ll meet back at base. No unnecessary risks, just enough to keep everyone alive, got it?”
“Aye, sir.”
He hated when the Rogues called him sir, but he didn’t say anything about it – he was too busy gripping the steering yoke of his X-wing and trying to keep himself out of Vader’s sights.
That was proving to be no easy task. Strangely enough, most of the TIEs seemed focused on the rest of the Rogues, who were falling out of battle one by one as they took numerous hits. Vader, on the other hand, seemed to have eyes only for him, and even then, Luke felt like he was being herded more than hunted. That… did not bode well. For whatever reason, Vader wanted him alive, and a cold pit formed in his stomach at that thought.
As he pulled evasive maneuvers and shot down as many TIE fighters as he could in defense of his friends, he could have sworn he heard a voice in his head, urging him to jump to hyperspace as well. It didn’t sound like any of the Rogues – in fact, sounded more like Ben Kenobi than anyone – but he chalked it up to survival instinct. Probably, it was the rational part of his mind that he so often chose to ignore.
Rounding past Vader, Luke shot forward to take down a TIE blasting determinedly at Wes. The Imperial pilot was skilled, evading many of his shots and causing even more to glance off the sides, but with some skilled flying of his own, Luke finally managed to line up a shot and take down the enemy fighter. “You’ve taken too many hits, Wes, get outta here! Now! That’s an order, this time.”
“Yeah, you got it boss. Make sure you do the same as soon as you can.” Reluctance coated Janson’s tone, but he complied quickly. Good thing, too. Another group of TIES had flown out of the hangar and was quickly descending on the space where Janson’s fighter had just been. Fewer and fewer Rogues remained, and the hope of everyone making it out alive was slowly dwindling.
“How ya doing down there, Wedge?” Luke asked as Vader flew back into his sights. Wedge’s response took a few moments, and in those moments, Vader managed to damage some of Luke’s weapons systems. He’d been distracted, and though he was still flying, his ability to fight back was dwindling.
As Luke swerved away from Vader and towards another cluster of TIEs, Wedge’s uneasy voice buzzed to life in his ear. “Got a bit of a problem down here, Luke,” he said, the grimace he was surely wearing perfectly audible through his voice. “That star destroyer shot some kinda ion beam down here. The others made it off just fine, but my X-wing took a direct hit. It’s fried.”
Gritting his teeth, Luke glanced around at who was left. Only about two other X-wings remained in flight, and the way this battle was going, they wouldn’t be around much longer. They already looked pretty badly damaged, so they would be getting out of here soon. Two more would be coming up into space from the planet below, but that still left Wedge stranded. He had to do something to get his friend and squadmate out safely, but options seemed limited, especially with Vader and Black Squadron on their tails.
“Just get outta here, Luke.” It was as though Wedge could read his thoughts. “Get back to base, I’ll be fine down here. Got rations and supplies to last me a few days at least.”
Luke pursed his lips as he considered listening to Wedge for at least a few seconds, but he shook his head. Somehow, he doubted Vader would make things that simple for him. Though the TIES had been shooting to kill at the rest of the Rogues, they hadn’t done much to block their escape. With their resistance thinned, though, they were starting to swarm onto Luke’s position, flying alongside their commander, in a pointed attempt at guiding him towards the star destroyer looming before him. It was taking every ounce of determination in him to avoid his fate, and he wasn’t sure he’d be able to hold off much longer or get a clear shot at a jump to hyperspace.
If he was going to make it out of this, he’d have to do something stupid.
“Artoo? Send a distress signal to the Alliance, let them know where we are and that the mission’s gone south. We can’t leave Wedge behind. And… I’m sorry, buddy, but you’re not gonna be very happy with me for this.” The droid trilled in response, but Luke blocked him out, instead patching through to Wedge’s comms again. “That’s a negative, Wedge. I’ve got a different plan.” Transmitting to the rest of the Rogues, Luke committed to his plan and sealed his face. “Rogue Commander to all remaining Rogue Squadron. Jump to hyperspace now. It’s me Vader wants, so it’s me he’s gonna get. Skywalker out.” He disabled his comms to prevent any protest and set his sights on the fighters surrounding him.
Where had all these TIEs come from? He could’ve sworn they’d taken out more than this. There was practically a wall of them in front of him with Vader right on his heels. Luke shot at them, trying to take out at least a few, but another shot rocked his X-wing. The readout promptly informed him that his shields were down and his power was running low. He cursed under his breath and switched to evasive maneuvers.
It took almost all of his skill and concentration, but he managed to get away from the thickest cluster of fighters. Still no luck losing Vader, but that was probably for the best, at least for what he had planned. He would have to line it up just right to catch as little collateral damage to his X-wing as possible. Unfortunately, another cluster of TIEs rounded on him, successfully managing to completely take out his weapons systems.
Was he imagining it, or was there a faint sense of satisfaction radiating from Vader’s fighter?
Dismissing the thought, Luke took a deep breath to steady himself. He didn’t need his weapons for this. He just needed the right approach – the right angle – for this to work.
Luke shut off his display, much like he had at the Death Star. Trust your instincts. It had served him well so far, and with his weapons down and his chances slim, it was really all he could do if he had any hope at standing against Vader. Finally, he managed to loop his X-wing in a satisfying manner, bringing him to face Vader’s modified TIE head on. He was close, much closer than he’d ever hoped to be to the Dark Lord’s fighter, but it was necessary for what he was about to pull off.
Fortunately, it seemed he’d taken Vader by surprise, because he didn’t correct his course quickly enough to avoid Luke flying his X-wing straight into him. Unfortunately, he had corrected his course just enough that all Luke had managed to do was hit mostly non-essential systems on Vader’s ship – and take out quite a few essential ones on his own.
“Sithspit!” His curse mingled with the shrill shrieks coming from Artoo, and warning klaxons blared in his ears. “Are our stabilizers working at all?” he asked desperately. Artoo chimed a negative, and Luke felt his stomach drop as they began their quick descent towards the planet below. “Is anything working?” It seemed there were just enough systems functioning that he could, with enough talent and a healthy dose of luck, manage to crash land in a way that would at least allow them to walk away alive – if not necessarily intact. But it was clear that of the two, Luke would be coming out of this much worse for wear than Vader.
“Hold on tight, Artoo, and keep an eye on Vader’s location.” He’d managed to hit enough on Vader’s TIE that neither one of them was going to make a graceful landing – one would just be more graceful than the other. If Luke could keep his sights on Vader, he might be able to control his landing just enough to land far enough from Vader and close enough to Wedge that they’d have a better chance of getting rescued before they got caught. “I’m gonna try and lead him off course before guiding us as close as I can to Wedge’s coordinates.” Artoo’s response was doubtful, but Luke would be damned if he wasn’t going to try anyways.
Too bad it was shaping up to be a fool’s errand. Too many of Luke’s systems were malfunctioning. Luke had even less control of the ship than he thought – and Vader had even more. They’d both entered the atmosphere, and Luke’s chance at losing the Dark Lord was dwindling with every metre they descended towards the surface. “Sorry, Wedge,” he muttered to himself and, at the last second, violently jerked his fighter to veer as far from Vader’s course as possible before engaging what was left of his thrusters and speeding his descent. The ground approached at breakneck speed before greeting him violently, the crunch of metal thunderous in his ears, and the impact barely had enough time to register in his mind before his world went black and Luke fell unconscious in his wrecked X-wing.