What Could Have Been Part III: The Destined Warriors

Midnight Invasion

      Leia

      All day she waited.

      She had been so sure her father would come right away- maybe even by mid afternoon. But as the Felucian sun baked the ground from its peak in the middle of the sky, Leia found herself waiting in vain. The blue sky was vacant of any approaching shuttles that might being carrying the great Anakin Skywalker.

       Even as the evening drug on and Leia sat beside Maya, she hardly looked down from the atmosphere. Maya nudged her side and offered her the same ration bar that she had rejected at lunch. Again, she pushed in away. "I'm not hungry," she assured her passively. She eyed the sky skeptically until Maya shook her roughly enough to pull her back down to ground level. "Ease up Leia! Staring up into space won't make him get here any sooner," she pointed out candidly. Leia sighed. She was right. But that still didn't keep her from glancing up at the sky every so often just to once again be disappointed by its vast emptiness.

      It was an hour or so after dusk when Leia came to the conclusion that her father would not be arriving anytime soon. Maybe he was busy and hadn't seen the message yet or maybe BB-1's transmitter wasn't as strong as Maya had said and the message hadn't even reached him yet. Either way, dwelling on it wouldn't do her any good.

       Leia was stretched out across her bed, gazing longingly at the ceiling of the Royal Star when she heard the faintest vibrations coming from somewhere outside her quarters. She eyed the door suspiciously. Had the vents aboard the ship broken down? No, it couldn't be the vents. Whatever this sound was, it wasn't on board. And it was getting louder.

      Leia sat up slowly; her ears strained to keep the low noise from dissolving into the surrounding murmur of the Royal Star's crew. She reached for her intercom and raised it close to her lips. "Master Windu, do you read me?" She waited patiently for the Jedi Grand Master to reply but her only response was static. Now the buzzing had grown to a heavier hum. It was something mechanic. Something with an engine. Something big.

      Uneasy, she tried her com again. This time she contacted Maya. "This is Leia. Maya do you read me? I repeat, do you read me?" she asked, annunciating each word loudly and clearly. Leia listened for any trace of her friend's faint, cheery voice but soon the only things she could hear were the rumble of what was outside and the empty static on the other end of her com. Leia didn't know what was happening right then, but by will of the Force, Leia could feel what was about to happen in a matter of seconds.

      First the sharp scream of a laser echoed throughout the ship and sent the Royal Star shuttering like a Shaak frightened by it's own shadow. Unfortunately it wasn't the cargo freighter's shadow that had just fired at them. The humming outside was now the drone of what couldn't have been one, but multiple star ships. Where had they come from? Why didn't we see them approaching? Leia was now on her feet wondering these things and trying to steady herself so she might be able to get off the ship and get some answers. She instinctively reached for her lightsaber but before her fingers could find traction on its hilt, another blast came shrieking down on the Royal Star. In an instant the lights flickered and then sparked before dying out and leaving the quarters of the ship in total darkness. Leia stumbled back until she now leaned against the wall of her room. They must have fried the ship's power grid.

      The emergency lights came on three seconds later.

      The square room was drowned in red light which Leia had to force her eyes to adjust to quickly. She swiped her hand in front of the door and slid it open before sprinting out and down the hall. The passage way rattled again under the fire of weaker blasts from what must have been smaller ships. She needed to get out of here.

      But she had to make sure everyone else got out too. She sprinted down the corridors which were now flooded by the red lights which meant to evacuate immediately. She reached out with the Force in search of lifeforms aboard the ship. The cabins were empty but a distant yelling could be heard from the maintenance room. Leia made her way there only to find that the main entrance was jammed. She banged her fist against the door. "You're going to be okay!" she shouted. She could sense numerous beings trapped on the other side. A muffled reply came back through the metal door but Leia could just make out the words main cabin and auxiliary controls. Of course! If she could reach the main cabin, she wouldn't have to manually open the blast door. She could use the auxiliary controls to free the maintenance technicians!

       Leia sprinted down the halls toward the prow of the Royal Star. She could hear the chaos outside the ship growing louder and louder. She should be out there fighting. But something wouldn't let her abandon the men trapped in the maintenance room. She was a Jedi. She protected those who couldn't protect themselves.

       The main cabin had wide windows that provided the ship's frontal view. Now Leia could see all that she had been hearing. Dozens of ships- probably an entire fleet- had landed around the Alliance camp. Navy dressed men spilled out onto the Felucian floor and opened fire on Alliance scouts and soldiers. Smoke engulfed the grounds and blended with the dusty terrain; filling the air in thick smog so the all that could be seen were the lasers from blasters and climbing fires. Leia had to force herself to look away.

      Stay focused, she told herself. The controls were a mess of flashing colors and glimmering switches. Based on the monitors' indications, the hull of the ship had been critically damaged and a fuel leak in the internal combustion engine was spewing highly flammable gas all over the place. It wouldn't take much for the ship to go up in flames. Leia promised herself that the crew wouldn't be on board when that happened. She found the controls for the maintenance lock's emergency release and flicked the switch. The doors were opened and the men were free. There was an exit hatch around the corner from them and they would be out in no time. Leia took off down the passage way one last time. She herself would escape down the entry ramp on the ship's port side.

      Just as she was leaving the cabin, another blast hit the combustion engine.