"Never get old, Obi-Wan", Anakin spoke about his master's mannerisms.
Chewie growled, urging them to hurry up said, poking his head up from Han and Luke's compartment,
Outside, the scanning crew, a pair of engineers arrived.
...
"The ship's clear. If the scanners pick up anything, report it immediately." One of the troopers told them. The engineer gave a perfunctory nod before helping his partner carry the equipment on board while all but the two troopers standing guard at the entrance left.
Barely two seconds after the engineers got on board, a large crashing sound came from inside the Falcon. The guards looked at each other, but thought nothing of it until a voice came from inside.
"Hey, down there! You guys mind giving us a hand here?" It said. One of the guards motioned for his partner to come help him and the pair went up the ramp. Soon after, a series of blaster shots were heard, followed by more crashing.
In a control room overlooking the hangar, an officer tried to call the guards.
"TK-421, why aren't you at your post?" No answer. "TK-421, do you copy?" Still no answer. He went to the observation window and saw one of the guards coming out of the ship.
They looked at him and pointed toward their helmet. He gave a small salute, before walking away. "We got a bad transmitter. I'll see what I can do." He said. When the door opened, he saw a trooper standing next to Chewie
Chewie growled before he and the trooper opened fire, taking out the skeleton crew in the observation room. With the room clear, Ben the droids and one more trooper filed in. Once the last trooper shut the door behind them, they tore their helmet off, revealing it to be Luke.
"Huh, crafty...", Ahsoka complimented.
"I wonder if they could see anything with that kind of armor.", Shaak Ti wondered.
"I don't know ma'am, but that looks nothing like Clone armor.", Rex boasted.
"You know, with all your blasting, I'm surprised the whole station doesn't know where we are!" he said angrily.
The other trooper, now revealed to be Han, took off his own helmet. "Well bring 'em on! I prefer a straight fight to all this sneaking around anyway!"
"Never wish for battle Mr. Solo. There are plenty more to come.", Master Mundi commented.
"We found the computer outlet, sir." Threepio reported.
"Plug in." Ben said, "It should give you access to the entire Imperial network."
A long rod came out of the side of Artoo and it plugged into an outlet in the side of the computer. He whistled as he worked, while Threepio interpreted.
"Work your magic, Artoo..", Anakin stated for the little droid as the people present were familiar of its talent.
"He says that he's found the main controls to the beam that is holding the ship here. He'll try and bring a precise map up on the monitor." A series of technical images appeared on the monitor, each with a red dot somewhere on it. "The tractor beam is couple to the main reactor in seven locations. A power loss at a single terminal will allow the ship to leave."
"That seems like a security flaw." Rex mused, "Multiple connections should decrease the potential for system power failures via redundancy, but the opposite is true. Why would the designers do something like that?"
"You do know the Seperatists were the ones who had the idea?", Anakin questioned.
Ben bit his lip before speaking. "I don't think either of you can help me. It's best if I go alone."
The audience present were now worried for Obi-Wan, feeling a sense of déja vu that something is going to happen.
"Whatever you say, Old Man." Han said, "Gotten more than I bargained for on this trip already."
"Let me come with you." Luke pleaded.
"Be patient, Luke. Stay and watch over the droids." He counseled. When he tried to argue, he cut him off "They must be delivered safely, or other star systems will suffer the same fate as Alderaan. Your destiny lies along a different path from mine." He opened the door, checking it was clear and looked at Luke square in the eyes. "The Force will be with you. Always."
Now Anakin was worried for his master and for Luke. His son never even met his parents and the family he had knew was gone, and he wouldn't imagine him being all alone if something happened to Obi-Wan.
As for Obi-Wan, he pinched his forehead in deep thought. This act of selflessness and assurance was a visage of everything that he and his futurehad went through.
He had lost the Master he looked up as a father.
Lost the woman he had truly loved.
Lost the Order that he knew as a family.
And lost the apprentice that was a brother to him.
And yet despite all that, he continued on, the Force guiding him of his path. If he had to give up his life to save the legacy of his brother and the hope for the freedom of the galaxy, he would do so without hesitation.
Chewie growled, not knowing what that meant. "You said it Chewie." Han said, leaning against his first mate's shoulder, "Where did you dig up that old fossil?"
"Ben is a great man." Luke said with a frown.
"Yeah, great at getting us in trouble."
"I didn't hear you give any ideas."
"Literally anything is better than waiting around for them to pick us up."
"You think- " Luke was interrupted by excited whistling from Artoo who was still plugged into the network. "What is it?"
"Honestly, sir, I have no idea." Threepio translated, "All he says is 'I've found her' and keeps repeating 'she's here'."
"Who?"
"Princess Leia."
"The princess? She's here?"
"Princess?" Han asked, looking at Chewie, who just shrugged.
"Where is she?" Luke asked Artoo.
"Level 5, detention block RT-13." Threepio translated. Artoo whistled a bit more. "I'm afraid she's scheduled to be terminated."
"What? No!" he looked at Han, "We gotta do something!"
"And fast.", Kit Fisto interjected.
"What are you talking about?" he asked back.
"The droids belong to her. She's the one in the message, we gotta help her!" Luke pleaded.
"Look, kid, don't get any funny ideas. The old man wants us to wait right here." Han said firmly.
"He didn't know she was here! Find us a way to get there." he told Threepio.
"I'm not going anywhere." Han said, taking a seat and kicking his feet up.
"They're gonna execute her! And aren't you the one who was arguing against staying put and getting captured? Now all you want to do is stay?"
"Waltzing into the detention area is what I had in mind!"
"But they're gonna kill her!"
"Better her than me!"
"But that's going a bit too far." Padmé clarified.
Luke looked like he was about to give up and go himself, before an idea came to mind. If Han's morals wouldn't be swayed, maybe he just needed to use a different approach. A small smile spread across his lips and he walked up behind Han. "She's rich." He almost whispered into Han's ears. Chewie facepalmed as Han was so easily drawn in.
"I guess the Skywalker convincing technique is passed on!", Anakin boasted to which others facepalmed, hoping that Luke didn't have too much of his father already.
"That is devious, Luke." Mundi commented. "I like it. Just like your father"
"They grow up so fast." Shaak Ti sighed.
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