Star Wars: Last Hope

The Plans

"The Death Star plans are not in the main computer." said a white armored Stormtrooper to the tall, black armored Darth Vader.

"Where are those transmissions you have intercepted?" he said to a rebel officer he had grabbed by the throat "What have you done with those plans?!"

"We have... Received no transmissions." the officer sputtered out as he grabbed the Dark Lord's arm in an attempt to free himself "This is a Counselor's ship. We're on a... diplomatic mission."

"If this is a Counselor's ship then where is the ambassador?" The Rebel didn't respond. Instead, his arms dropped and his eyes rolled back. Vader angrily threw the corpse against one of the shiny white walls of the Tantive-Four. "Tear this ship apart until you've found those plans! And bring me the passengers, I want them alive!"

Princess Leia Organa snuck through the empty hallways of her starship, carefully avoiding the garrisons of Stormtroopers that were searching every inch of the transport. They wouldn't find the plans, she had already sent them off the ship with a droid. If the Empire wanted to find it, they would have to search an entire desert to do so. Now all she had to do was get out of here. Leia noticed a dark, black hallway at the other end of the hall. Quickly, she ran towards it and as soon as she entered, hid around a corner. The hallway she had entered turned out to be an intersection point of multiple hallways that lead to other areas of the ship. However, before Leia could decide which one to go down, she heard footsteps coming closer. She hid around a corner and carefully listened to see if the footstep's owner was a Stormtrooper.

"Lord Vader said to make sure to bring the passengers alive." said a voice

"I know," said another. "And be quiet, I think I heard something." Leia peared around the corner and saw two Stormtroopers at the other end of the hallway. She grabbed her blaster and started to aim at the Imperial soldiers.

"There's one," said a trooper "Set for stun!" Leia fired, hit one of the troopers and ran. But she had forgotten she was wearing a white dress which stood out in the dark hallway she was in. The second Stormtrooper fired a stunning shot which hit Leia in the back. She collapsed to the floor as another group of troopers entered from another area of the ship.

"We've got one." said one of the Imperial soldiers "Inform Lord Vader we have a prisoner." Two Stormtroopers grabbed the knocked out Princess by the arms and started to drag her towards the command center where Vader was currently in. However, Leia, for as small as she was, was heavier than expected. The two troopers struggled to carry her weight and at about halfway through their journey, she flinched and the Stormtroopers dropped her. But they picked her up again and continued to walk to the command center

"We still haven't found anyone sir," said an Imperial officer "I believe all the people aboard this ship were killed during the boarding."

"No captain," said Vader. "There must be someone aboard this ship that we can use to learn the location of the plans." Suddenly, the door to the command center opened and a group of Stormtroopers entered holding the unconscious body of Princess Leia of Alderaan.

"We have a prisoner, my Lord," said one of them as the group laid Leia against a wall. A third trooper walked in front of the knocked out princess and slapped her across the face. She didn't wake up. The trooper paused for a moment, slapping someone that was stunned usually woke them up or at the very least, made them awake enough to talk. The trooper slapped her again but nothing happened. All the other Stormtroopers showed signs of confusion too, even under their white helmets. The Imperial put his finger next to the Princess' neck. Instantly, he drew back. Everyone in the room looked at him.

"She's...She's dead." said the trooper, fear and shock in his voice.

"I told you to set your weapons to stun!" said Vader angrily.

"I did, my Lord." Suddenly, an Imperial officer entered the room holding a datapad. The officer's face was red and he was sweating. It looked like he had run from the other end of the ship to get to the command center. He turned to the Dark Lord.

"Lord Vader," the officer said "We just detected an escape pod exiting the ship with one lifeform inside. It seems to be headed towards Tatooine." Vader immediately looked at the group of Stormtroopers

"Calculate where that pod landed and secure the crash site. The person inside might have information on the stolen plans."

"Yes, My Lord." said the Stormtrooper Commander who then immediately exited the room with the members of his squad. Vader was about to follow when one of the officers sputtered out a question.

"Excuse me, Lord Vader, but what will we say about Organa's death? The public won't be exactly happy that an Imperial senator was not only working with the rebels, but was killed during a boarding party." The Dark Lord turned to Leia's body for a moment, as if he was thinking of what to say. Then, without turning away from the corpse, he said

"Bring her to an Imperial hospital for an autopsy and inform the public that she was murdered by a Rebel who fled to Tatooine. With public support, finding the man aboard the escape pod will be all too easy." and with that, the Dark Lord exited the room.

The desert planet Tatooine was widely thought as one of the worst places to live in the galaxy. The heat was almost unbearable due to the planet's twin suns and the Sand People made traveling a living Nightmare. But on this planet, two droids, who just escaped the Empire's raid of the Tantive-Four, were trying to find civilization.

"How did we get into this mess," said the Gold Protocol Droid, C-3PO "We seem to be made to suffer." The round stubby droid, R2-D2 beeped a response at his companion as they climbed a small mountain of sand.

"I've got to rest before I fall apart," said the gold droid "My joints are almost frozen." A moment later, the two made it up the mountain to see nothing in the distance, just piles and piles of sand. Threepio turned back to the escape pod they had arrived in. He was surprised the Empire didn't attempt to shoot it while it flew down to Tatooine's surface. Although, now that he thought about it, they most likely didn't detect any life forms aboard the pod. He turned back to R2 but noticed his friend was going towards a rocky cave in the distance.

"Where do you think you're going?" asked Threepio. The blue and white droid beeped. "Well I'm not going that way. It's much too rocky. What makes you think there are settlements that way?" R2 stopped and beeped again without turning back. "What mission? What are you talking about?" the Droid beeped another response.

"I've just about had enough of you," said Threepio "Go that way. You'll be malfunctioning in a day you nearsighted scrap pile." R2 turned to his friend who started to walk in a different direction. For a moment, the droid considered following him. They had been friends for a long time, longer than the gold droid even knew. But R2 turned back to the cave. His mission was much more important than him or Threepio, so as much as he didn't want to, he continued his journey towards the cave.