Heirs of the Fallen {1} (Remastered)

Chapter 23

The woman was tireless, Luke admitted to himself with a scowl. He and Leia had been at it endlessly with her and she was keeping up if not besting them at times. Their only strength was in numbers, not skill.

Add that to the fact that Luke now knew Leena was onboard for some outrageous reason, and his scowl deepened. The twins continued their duel while Leena sprinted down the hall not far from them, taking cover and hesitating before mashing her thumb down on the detonator.

Luke, Leia, and the woman all were sent sideways as the explosion ricocheted around the Destroyer, and immediately it started to fall. The woman apparently thought escape was more important than winning the battle, because she snarled but deactivated her lightsaber.

"Well, Skywalkers, it's been a pleasure." She snapped before pushing them both back and sliding towards the nearest one-man fighter. Luke and Leia attempted to stop her but couldn't in time; the engines roared to life and sent them both sprawling back behind it as she sped out into the atmosphere.

The twins grabbed each other to stabilize as the hangar became more and more vertical and the ground became the wall. They slid along with a few ships down into the now bottom, and Leia pulled out her comm while Luke sliced a ship in half to prevent it from hitting them. "Han! Han, can you hear me?!"

"Loud and clear, Sweetheart. That tanker's going down fast, I can hardly keep up with it!"

"And we're still in it!"

"I know, I know! I'll try to fly sideways into the hangar while it's falling but it's a risky move."

"Better than nothing." Leia snapped the comm off and turned to Luke. "Han's on his way!"

"Alright!" He shouted back over the chaos. "I'm gonna go find Leena!"

"Who?" Leia called, but he was already clambering up the side and into the door. She sighed but stayed put, knowing better than to go after him and figured it'd be better to wait for Han and update him once he arrived.

Meanwhile, Leena rolled onto the now floor from the original and struggled to find a foothold as she plummeted down the hall. She yelped as she realized everything around her was smooth and slick, and looked below her to see a doorway with edges just thick enough that they would catch her if she slid right.

She angled her legs so her body would follow, years of practice sliding down junk taking over. Leena landed ungracefully on the doorway, then stood up and looked around with a frown. The hangar Han dropped her off at was above her; how in blazes was she going to get there?

Luke almost blasted through a doorway but remembered that the halls were now pits, and stopped. He looked up, then down, then frowned in frustration. "Leena, where are you?" He muttered, letting his eyes drift closed and reaching out to sense her location.

Her signature was still very weak, but it gave him a relative location. She wasn't far, but she was above him, maybe in the same hall.

"Leena!" He called upwards, peering and straining to see a flash of orange skin. "Leena!!"

Leena heard an echo from below her and frowned. "Who's there?" She called down.

"Luke!"

"Hey!" She greeted with a proud smile. "I exploded the ship!"

"Yes, I know!" He snapped angrily, but sighed. "Just fall, I'll catch you!"

"Uh, no thanks, I'd rather take my chances climbing down!"

"Leena we don't have time for this, just fall!" Luke shouted, his already thin patience with her running even slimmer.

The girl yelped lightly and seethed as her injured shoulder stung to remind her of its presence. If she fell and Luke caught her then it'd be painful, but she didn't have time for anything else. "Just be careful!"

"I will, just jump!"

Leena took in a deep breath and stepped off the edge. She yelled as she fell, partially because she couldn't help it and partially because she wanted to let Luke know how close she was. The Jedi reached out with the Force and slowed her descent, then grabbed her by the injured arm and yanked her towards him. She groaned loudly in pain and yelled a Togruta expletive, and he immediately let go once she was standing next to him. Once she was coherent enough from the pain to notice she saw that he was looking all over her for injuries. "What? What??" He asked, grabbing her gently. "What's wrong?"

The kid said nothing, just gasped and shook her head while clutching her shoulder. Luke's eyes widened when he saw the cauterized stab wound in her shoulder but they didn't have long to talk about it, as a massive turbulent bump caused Leena to almost topple back over the side if it weren't for Luke grabbing her uninjured arm. The two ran back through the hangar where Leia stood waiting for Han, and she stared at Leena with a small frown.

Before anyone could say anything the Falcon slowly and carefully, keeping speed with the descending Destroyer, slid sideways into the hangar. Chewie was waiting at the ramp, leaning his arm over the side to help the trio up onto the ship.

Leia went first, climbing up the ramp, then Leena with Luke's help, then Luke. "We're all here!" Leia exclaimed. Han sped back out of the hangar and into the atmosphere while the three Force sensitives caught their breath.

"That was... Insane." Leena stated breathlessly, a small excited smile on her face and her eyes bright despite the pain. Luke said nothing at first, just slowly turned towards her with an incredulous glare that immediately wiped the smile off of her face once she saw it. Leia just cleared her throat and excused herself from the awkward space, going up to the cockpit with Chewie right behind her. Artoo wheeled out to greet Luke and Leena but, seeing their faces, immediately reverted back to the cockpit.

"What," Luke began, taking a deep breath to calm himself. "Were you thinking?"

Leena froze, not expecting his reaction. "Well I'm sorry for taking down an entire Star Destroyer by myself with no help." She crossed her arms and glared at him angrily. "If anything you should be thanking me!"

"I specifically told you to stay with Han!" Luke stared at her with a mix of shock and complete and utter frustration for her lack of obedience.

"Since when do I take orders from you?!" The kid responded snarkily.

"Since you decided to go off and almost get yourself killed trying to be a hero even though you had absolutely no idea what you were doing!" Luke pointed at her accusingly.

"Well everything turned out fine! I can handle myself!"

Luke gestured to her shoulder violently. "Obviously that's not the case!"

The kid narrowed her eyes and glared at him. "Well maybe I just shouldn't have come with you at all if you're gonna be this unthankful!"

"Maybe you shouldn't have!" The Jedi snapped. Leena's glare turned blazing, and she stomped away.

Luke stomped in the opposite direction, fuming. He sped into the cockpit and looked out the window with a huff. Both Han and Leia slowly looked over to him, then to each other, then back out the window as they approached the Mon Cala cruiser.