Written by: Sean Bonner (See bottom for disclaimer)
email: haight3898@hotmail.com - Please email me if you like
this story, or if you hate it, I like opinions. Unfair
criticism will be mocked mercilessly.
This story takes place directly before, and during the events
in Star Wars, A new hope. It tells what happened directly
before A new hope begins, as well as telling a little about what
Vader, and Princess Leia were doing when the camera wasn't on
them.
(||::|(=========================================================-
Star Wars - Futility
Chapter 1 - Before
Darth Vader looked out of the large forward viewport on
the bridge of his flagship, the Executor. His sterile breath
hissing loudly in and out of his black, life sustaining
helmet. He was standing, arms crossed, with his back to his
second in command, Admiral Jared Josil, who had approached
Vader to give his hourly report. Admiral Josil waited nervously
as Vader continued to gaze out towards the view of the vast
star field that lay before him.
The ship that they were tracking was not yet visible to
the naked eye, rather, to any normal person's vision. Vader
could see it quite clearly using the force, but the craft was
clearly visible on the ship's sensors. They had been tracking
it for a few hours, and despite his long time Jedi training,
Vader was growing a little anxious for the small ship to make
its next move.
Stretching out to the force, he slowed his breathing, and
closing his old eyes inside his helmet, Vader was enveloped in
a Forced induced calm. He was a Jedi Knight, and A Jedi was
always calm in any situation.
"Report, Admiral." Vader said. His synthesized voice flowed
with a hatred contained within an iron clad mind and millennia
of Jedi knowledge. Keeping his eyes closed, Vader had known Josil
was standing there, in fact, Vader had sensed his approach all the
way from the turbolift, but being a Dark Lord of Sith gave one the
luxury of keeping people waiting. Josil swallowed audibly, and
straightened respectfully.
"My Lord. Communications has intercepted a signal sent by
the long range Correllian scout ship to another, larger
Corellian Corvette in orbit around Tatooine, half a light year
away. My Lord, sensors indicate that it is the Tantive IV, and
sir..." Josil hesitated nervously. "Sir, records show the ship
is carrying Princess Leia Organa of Alderaan, a member of the
Imperial Senate." Admiral Josil finished his report and
continued to stand arrow straight, waiting for a reply from the
dark Jedi.
"Very good Admiral." Vader replied, unmoving. "Prepare to
jump to light speed and intercept the corvette upon arrival.
I want a boarding party with full weapons ready to board the
ship when we dock. Your men will eliminate any resistance that
is encountered, but I want Senator Organa taken alive. You are
free to use any means necessary, as long as she is not
permanently injured" Vader turned from the transparisteel
viewport to face Admiral Josil with a pointed finger. "Is that
clear Admiral?" Vader demanded.
"Completely my Lord. We will bring you the Senator, and in
perfect health." responded Josil. Vader turned his back once
again to Josil and went back to looking out the front viewport.
Taking the hint, the Admiral clicked his heels and dashed off
to get underway.
Vader was willing to pardon the ship that sent the signal,
and it's occupants for the time being, the ships scans had
recorded everything it picked up concerning the Rebel scout
ship and could be used for future encounters. However, he knew
that if he took the time to intercept the Rebel scout ship, he
might lose the opportunity to capture the bigger prey and nip
this rebellion in the bud.
Vader thought about his daughter and the position she had
taken in this futile, disruptive attempt at rebellion. Though
Vader had, by this time, been buried under years of Dark Side
influence, he often thought of the two children that he had
fathered eighteen years previous. Luke, his son that he had not
seen since his birth resembled himself, thought Vader (Anakin).
From the moment Luke was born, he could feel the Force talent
that flowed through, and from the newborn infant. And Leia, who
looked so much like her mother, Padme. Vader continued to
relive the past within his memories but was broken out of his
thoughts when he noticed his ship was moving into hyperspace.
All the dark feelings rushed back into Vader with renewed
strength, as he turned to walk away from the viewport, to
prepare for what lay ahead.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Chapter 2 - Tantive IV
"Sir! We will be approaching the Tatooine system within
five minutes, shall I raise shields?" The officer sitting at
the ops console shouted out to Captain Antilles, startling him
out of his reverie. The Captain looked around, remembering
where he was, and nodded an affirmative to the officer. "Yes...
yes, do that, yes raise the shields. When we come out of light
speed, take us into orbit around Tatooine."
Captain Antilles paced worriedly around the bridge of his
ship. Worried about what the Empire would do to him if he were
caught doing this.
His ship, the Tantive IV was a Correllian Corvette, or a
blackade runner as was the more common term. It had been built
only last year, one of a newer model that was a definite
improvement over the older, blockier, and heavier model used
for the past fifty years since the Clone wars. Antilles had
fought in that war, along with Obi-wan Kenobi and Anakin
Skywalker back when he was a young and cocky fighter pilot
eager to kill Mandalores.
The captain stopped his pacing again for a moment and
composed himself, it wouldn't do for his crew to see him in
such an agitated state. He walked over to the communications
console, where a young man sat monitoring the communications
station. "Ensign." Said the captain, with a nod of greeting.
"Please inform Princess Leia that I would like to see her on
the bridge immediately."
"Aye sir." Came the prompt response. Walking away from the
console, Antilles found his way back to the oval transparisteel
window to resume worrying. He was soon met by Princess Leia,
who walked onto the bridge with her usual determined look.
Leia, who was the youngest member of the Imperial Senate in
over four hundred years, was the adopted daughter of system
Viceroy of Alderaan, Bail Organa. Growing up, away from any
Jedi teachings, Leia lived a life of luxury and extravagance,
constantly doted upon by government aides, and her adopted
sisters. Though Leia was raised as a Princess, she hardly fit
the role. As a child, she was adventureous and mischievious.
Her closest friend and aide, Winter, was often mistaken as the
princess because of her quiet, reserved personality.
"You wanted to see me Captain?" Leia asked with only a curt
nod as a greeting.
"Ah yes, Princess. I just wanted to inform you that we are
just now entering the Tatooine system, and after we establish
orbit around the planet, we will await the transmission from
the contact ship."
"Excellent Captain, I will be in my quarters. As soon as
the plans are downloaded, please have the plans re-encoded,
then patch them to the terminal in my quarters. We will have
to begin the search for Kenobi immediately. If My Father's
information is correct, it should be a simple enough matter.
If we can't find him within five hours, we'll have to go on
to Alderaan first, then come back for him, we can't afford to
arouse suspicion with the Emperor, if we're late getting to
Alderaan, he will notice. In the mean time Captain, I shall be
waiting." Said the young Senator.
"Yes your Highness, I will have the plans sent down the
second we receive them." Leia gave another nod, and walked off
the bridge leaving the captain standing at the window.
Antilles went back to looking out the viewport and watching
the star lines fly by at speeds far exceeding the speed of
light. If they could just pull this off, it would be a great
leap for the Rebellion. Simply put, the concept of a super
space station, capable of reducing a whole planet to space
debris scared the hell out of Antilles. If some sort of
vulnerability could not be found, then the end of the Rebellion
he knew, would soon be over.
After a short, tense wait, the transmission came in and his
staff began to download the information. Antilles continued
looking out the viewport.
"Captain! Please come here quick!" Came a sudden call, that
once again gave Antilles a start. He turned from the viewport
and walked over to the officer at ops.
"Yes Commander?" Antilles prompted his second in command.
"Sir, theres an Imperial Star Destroyer coming out of
hyperspace, two hundred thousand kilometers port and closing."
'Oh God' Thought Antilles with a sudden sickening horror.
'I'm dead'.
"Sir. The Imperial ship is hailing us." Antilles looked
from the officer down to the information on his console.
Breaking out into a cold sweat, but doing a good enough job of
keeping himself composed, he thought of his alternatives. He
could either surrender or fight. While fighting meant certain
death, in a glowing ball of ignited gasses and flying debris,
the thought of just surrendering his ship sickened him. "Open a
link to the Imperial ship, commander, audio only" Antilles
waited a moment for his order to be carried out.
"Sir, we have established contact." The Captain didn't have
time to respond, before a stern voice came over the speaker.
"Correllian vessel! You will surrender immediately and
prepared to be boarded at once! Do not attempt to resist! Any
such attempt will result in heavy damage to, or destruction of
your ship! I repeat, you will lower your shields and surrender
your vessel at once! Cut all power to your weapons and eng-"
Antilles cut the volume on the speaker.
"Did we already receive the complete download of the
transmission?" Asked Antilles. "Aye sir." Came the reply from
the officer.
Captain Antilles ground his teeth with tension for a
moment, then made the decision. "Commander, get us out of this
gravity well as fast as you can so we can make the jump to
light speed."
"But sir-"
"You have your orders commander, you will follow them." The
Captain interrupted curtly.
"Aye sir, right away."
---------------------------------------------------------------
Chapter 3 - Battle over Tatooine
The Tantive IV broke orbit and began to make its escape
attempt from the much larger Imperial ship. Moving at top
sublight speed, the smaller blockade runner didn't get very
far before shots began to explode off her rear deflectors.
Space around the ship lit up like small suns and she shook as
if boulders were being bounced off her hull.
"Increase as much power as you can to the rear deflectors!"
Shouted Captain Antilles, anger rising. He wasn't about to let
these dirty Imps take him without a fight. "And keep firing
turbolasers. We're going to have to outrun them." Antilles knew
that he had not a chance in hell of outfighting the Imperial
Star Destroyer, but if he could only outrun it, he could move
out beyond Tatooine's pull of gravity and make the jump to
light speed. Hyperdrives on starships could not initiate warp
power while in the gravity well of a large object such as a
planet, or a star. Another direct hit rocked the ship and
Captain Antilles had to hold on for support.
"Sir, our shields are down to twenty percent and falling."
Said the young officer. "Another direct hit on our rear
deflectors and we will be defenseless." No sooner had he
finished his sentence, when another direct hit shook the ship,
rendering the shields useless. The young officer looked up at
the Captain with fear in his eyes. "Sir...we are now without
shields." Two more blasts hit the ship, triggering warning
klaxons all over the bridge. "Sir, our hyperdrive has just
been taken out and our sublight engines are damaged. We're
slowing to fifty percent speed. Sir, the ship is gaining on us."
Antilles knew he was beaten. He nodded with defeat on his
face and addressed the officer. "Take main engines offline, we
dont want them to overheat and-" Antilles was cut short as a
groan of metallic stress issued throughout the ship. The lights
flickered off for a moment, then came back to life. "What the
was that??" Demanded the Captain.
"Sir, we've just been grabbed by a tractor beam. We do not
have sufficient power to break free." The officer waited a
moment then continued. "Sir, shall I order the crew to
evacuate?"
Antilles thought about it for a second. "No." He finally
said. "The Imperials would blast every escape pod to space dust
as soon as we become visible. No, what I want you to do
Commander, is mobilize the troops, I want them posted at the
main airlock. Also, Make sure the Princess is guarded. I don't
think we're going to get out of this alive and I'd rather go
out shooting." He looked to his second in command for a
response.
"Aye sir, me too. I will mobilize the troops at once." The
officer turned smartly to leave but Captain Antilles grabbed
him lightly by the forearm. The officer stopped and looked at
his captain. "Sir?"
Antilles looked at his officer with a sense of loss, and
sighed. "It's been good serving with you, Commander Glensu.
If you make it home in one piece....." The The Captain
hesitated, then straightened, with pride. "May the force be
with you, Commander."
Commander Glensu straightened as well "And the same to
you sir, it's been an honor. And if I may be so bold sir, if
I don't make it, I'll meet you on the other side." The two men
shook hands.
"Last one there buys the Sullustan ale." Said the Captain
with a smile. Commander Glensu smiled back, weakly, then two
men released hands, and parted ways.
** ** **
The Tantive IV, now poweless, began to turn in position,
held in the iron fist of the Imperial tractor beam. Looming
closer and closer, the gigantic Imperial star Destroyer
completely blocked the view of the stars from the top of the
small Correllian ship. Moving slowly, it crept up into the huge
belly of the Imperial ship.
Inside the Tantive IV, rebel troops ran frantically into
the corridor that led to the main air lock. They took up thier
positions, blasters aimed at the door. They could all feel the
slight rocking of the ship and the metallic clanging of the
ship being docked with the other. Moments passed by, tensely
as the troops psyched themselves up, and waited.
The shuddering and the clanging stopped, and for a moment
all was quiet. Suddenly, the silence was pierced with a loud
hissing and a bright light as the main air lock was blasted
outward from behind. Blaster shots began to fly.
** ** **
Princess Leia Felt the Imperial turbolasers buffetting the
ship with destructive force, and knew what was happening. She
removed the encoded datachip from the terminal in front of
her and slipped it into a side pocket. Getting up, she
retrieved the blaster that was in one of the desk drawers,
and making sure the weapon was set to kill, she went to the
entrance of her quarters and opened the door.
Leia poked her head around the corner, with her blaster
raised defensively. Seeing that nobody had yet arrived on this
deck, she stepped quietly out of the doorway, shutting the door
behind her. She then locked it, using a long string of random
numbers. if they came looking for her, this would slow them
down a bit.
Finishing her task, leia made her way down the corridor
to a maintenance hatch a few meters away. She could hear the
ensuing battle on the decks above her, which only made her move
faster. Leia reached the hatch at the end of the corridor, and
looking around again to make sure no one was watching, shoved
the blaster down the front of her robes.
Leia removed the covering of the maintenance hatch and
crawled in. Closing the hatch behind her, she took out a black
rectangular object and placed it on the floor in front of her.
Pushing a button in the center of the object, a bright holo-map
schematic of the entire ship flashed into existance. Leia
manipulated the controls to center on the flashing red dot
inside the transparent walls of the holographic ship which
indicated where she was on the ship. Leia hit another button
and the computer suggested the most efficient escape routes to
a hidden section of the ship. Leia recorded the coordiantes in
her head and switched off the holo-map display.
Leia returned the map device to her pocket and then from
the other pocket, took out a small commlink, and switched it on.
"Artoo, do you read me?" A prompt response in the form of a
chirp and a few beeps came back to her over the commlink. Leia
smiled. "Good. Now listen Artoo, Ive got a very important job
for you to do." Artoo responded with more bleeps, blatts, and
chirps. "I need you to meet me at the coordinates that Im going
to send you. I need you to meet the there in five minutes. I'll
be sending the coordinates now. Leia out."
Leia switched off the commlink and placed it back in her
side pocket, then sent Artoo the coordinates from the holo-map,
using the weakest, thinnest band necessary to get through the
walls of the ship, to reduce the odds of being detected.
Taking a moment to listen, and look around, Leia placed the
holo-map unit back into her pocket, then crawled down the low
ceiling tunnel towards a maintenance ladder straight ahead.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Chapter 4 - Stolen Plans
Vader, followed by two stormtrooper guards, walked through
the ruined air lock and stopped for a moment to look around and
survey the damage. These trouble makers brought it upon
themselves, Vader thought to himself. Vader ceased his
inspection and continued to walk into the ship. He felt no
sympathy for the fallen rebels, anybody that defied the law of
the Emperor, was only asking to be repressed. He saw Admiral
Josil standing at the end of the corridor, with two storm-
troopers and a captured rebel officer who currently had his
hands on his head.
Vader approached the group, and addressed Josil. The rebel
physically shrinked back in fear. "Report Admiral."
"My Lord. The ship's Captain was killed when he was
captured and attempted to resist arrest. This is his second in
command, Commander Kade Glensu. Vader probed the man's thoughts
and found exactly what he was looking for. Grabbing Glensu by
the throat, he lifted him off the ground, raising him higher
into the air. The man struggled, quite futilly, against Vader's
grasp. His rage remained unbroken as a stormtrooper approached
to give a report. The trooper came to a halt in front of Vader.
"The Death Star plans are not in the main computer." Vader
turned back to his victim and tightened his grip around
Glensu's neck.
"Where are those transmission you intercepted, what have
you done with those plans?" Vader demanded. Glensu tried to
respond, but could get no air into, or out of his lungs.
"We intercepted no transmission!" Said Glensu painfully
through the vice-like grip around his throat. He bagan fading
in and out of conciousness. "This is a consular ship.......
we're on a...diplomatic mission!" Vader could feel the lie
flowing from the man in waves, and it infuriated him. How dare
he lie to a Dark Lord of Sith? Vader began squeezing Glensu's
neck until the sound of cracking bones could be heard in the
corridor.
"If this is a consular ship, WHERE is the AMBASSADOR?"
Demaded Vader with uncontrolled fury. Vader tossed the
Glensu's lifeless body into the bulkhead like a ragdoll,
and turned to give Josil an order. "Commander tear this ship
apart until you've found those plans, and bring me the
passengers, I want them alive!"
** ** **
Princess Leia reached the top of the ladder, which
incidentally was the floor of the deck above her. She stopped
to listen for footsteps nearby, and hearing none, carefully
pushed open the cover to the maintenance tunnel, and poked her
head out. Leia looked around again for safe measure, and then
pushed herself up on her arms and sat down on the rim of the
hole. She wished that she could get rid of the cumbersome robes
that she was wearing for something more convenient, or at least
more camouflaged. She thought about her lifelong friend,
Winter, and what she would say about her current situation. She
would probably scold her for being so wreckless.
Leia quietly replaced the cover on the opening of the
tunnel and stood up in the storage hold corridor. Looking at
her chronometer, she waited anxiously for one of the ship's
Astromech Droids, R2-D2 to arrive. It was most crucial for
her to make sure the stolen Death Star plans were passed on
safely to Kenobi, and she felt every ounce of the pressure
of the importance of that. She reached into her pocket and
retrieved the data chip in preperation. After a few moments,
she heard Artoo's whistles, and cursed inwardly at how loud it
sounded. She could also hear Threepio, the annoying protocol
droid, following behind him, whining about something or other.
She sure wasn't going to miss him she thought, rolling her eyes.
Leia didn't have to wait very long. Artoo came rolling
around the corner, stopped in front of her, and chirped
cheerfully. "Shhhh" Leia said, putting her finger over her
lips. "Do you want the whole ship to hear us?" Artoo came
back with a low quiet moan of apology. "It's ok, just be more
quiet in the future ok?" Artoo replied with a color change
of his optical sensor from blue, to red.
"Okay Artoo, I need you to take down a holo-recording
of me to pass on to General Kenobi. It is most important
that he gets this message, also, Do not divert from your
mission for any reason, is that clear?" Artoo blinked an
affirmative with his optical sensor. Leia bent down and
switched on the droid's holo-cam. Leia stood back up, in
respect, and began to speak.
"General Kenobi. Years ago you served my Father in the
Clone wars. Now he begs you to help him in his struggle against
the Empire. I regret that I am unable to present my Father's
request in person, but my ship has fallen under attack, and I'm
afraid my mission to bring you to Alderaan has failed. I have
placed information vital to the survival of the Rebellion into
the memory systems of this R2 unit, my Father will know how to
retrieve it. You must see this droid safely delivered to him on
Alderaan. This is our most desperate hour. Help me Obi-Wan
Kenobi...you're my only hope." Leia looked around, to make sure
nobody had heard her, and detecting no one, bent down to switch
off Artoo's holo-cam.
While she was already bent over, Leia inserted the data
chip into the slot on Artoo's domed head, and Artoo's internal
computer brain downloaded it, encoded it, and erased the data
chip, reducing it to a blank data storage unit. Artoo kept the
chip inside his drive as to not leave any evidence behind for
the Imperials to find. She could hear blaster shots getting
closer so she patted Artoo on the head and bid him farewell.
"Thanks Artoo, and may the Force be with you. Now go, now"
Prodded Leia. Artoo chirped an affirmative and shook side to
side. Artoo turned, and extending his third, center leg,
rolled off to carry out his mission.
Leia pulled the hood off her head, and watched Artoo roll away.
She gave a short prayer, for his success, and ducked back into
the small corridor behind her.
She made her way to another corridor, and finding some
cover, waited out the inevitable. She reached down the front
of her robes, and pulled out the blaster she had been hiding.
She'd be damned if she was going to go without a fight.
Leia didn't have to wait very long before she heard the
metallic sound of plasteel covered feet clanging on the metal
floor heading her way. It was a bad choice for a hiding place
she realized to herself, a bit too late but it was all that she
could find with all the activity around her. The Imperials had
spread over the ship with amazing speed and space had grown
scarce at an equally fast rate. If she stayed where she was,
the approaching troops could not miss her, so she checked her
blaster setting once again, and peered around the edge of her
hiding space. The lead stormtrooper, who was looking around,
glanced up and saw her standing there.
"There's one, set for stun." Leia levelled her blaster at
the trooper's chest and pulled the trigger. The trooper was
thrown backwards, with a smoking black hole in his chest.
"Leia took advantage of the situation and dashed off in
the opposite direction. If she could make it around the corner
of the intersecting corridor, there might be a chance that she
could find another hiding spot and maybe take out the persuing
troopers one by one. Leia got about two meters, when she felt
the stun blast hit her in the back, and collapsed heavily onto
the floor.
Leia lay there parylized. She was still concious, but
fading. She saw a white leg walk up next to her, but since she
couldn't move her head, all she could see was a leg and a foot.
She was able to keep a grasp on conciousness only for a few
seconds more, and heard the trooper say something before
blackness overtook her.
"She'll be alright...."
(||::|(========================================================-
Disclaimer: This is a fanfiction story, and to my knowledge, no
copyright laws have been violated. This is a story based upon
Star Wars, but is in no way intended for profit. The author
recognizes that all names and situations are copyright
protected by Lucasfilm.
Feel free to distribute, as I dont own it, I only write about
it. :)