A Star Wars Fairy Tale: Return, Part 10

The remaining Imperial guards were not ready for flying carriages, never mind Rebel dragons. Most of the guards were just staring slack-jawed as they came to a stop by the entrance to the treasury building. Hera jumped off the driver's seat. “Last stop! Everyone off!” She opened the back door. “Anyone have to use the water closet?”

Sabine came out first. “Nope, I'm ok. I just want to blow up something.”

The guards finally realized what they were seeing and were reacting accordingly. Which is to say, they were shooting and missing. Zeb, the big greyish fellow, looked positively ecstatic. “You girls take Calarissian and Numb to break open the vault. Let us blokes handle the leftovers.”

“Oooh, a buckethead fight!” Ezra was nearly as happy as Zeb. “I love these.”

Kanan, to Lando's surprise, pulled out a blue crystal sword. He was even more surprised to see that Ezra's crystal knife was attached to a short bow. “How many Force knights are wandering around out there?“ he asked, raising his eyebrows.

The older knight shrugged as he sliced a soldier's bow in half. “We don't know. To our knowledge, Commander Skywalker and the two of us are the only ones left.”

“We'll discuss how they survived later.” Hera was already starting down the hall, shooting arrows at two guards. Sabine threw one of her explosives at another one, filling the area with pinkish dust. “Right now, we have to get to that vault.” Lando grabbed Niem Numb by his arm and rushed after her.

The vault was heavily guarded, not only by soldiers, but by secret arrows and axes that shot out or swung from the wall. Lando went behind the two women, watching them ducking and rolling under and around them. Lando and Niem handled the remaining guards, shooting them or knocking them into the arrows and axes.

To Lando's surprise, the vault itself wasn't all that impressive, just a very thick metal door. He'd seen bigger ones. Hera must have seen the look on his face. “Don't underestimate it. The Bothans said it's ten meters thick and guarded by black magic.”

Sabine snorted. “Magic I can get around. The thickness may take some more work.” She set up what looked to Lando like large black balls and spirals all around the door while he and Niem kept an eye on the hall.

Lando adjusted his bow as Sabine pulled back. “How's it coming, kiddo?”

“Just finished.” She ran in the opposite direction. “Everyone stand back!”

Those balls seemed awfully small to Lando. “But, how...with those little things?”

Hera just grabbed Niem and Lando's sleeves and pulled them both back towards the hall. “Trust me. Sabine knows what she's doing.”

Sabine had just made it back into the hall when a gigantic explosion rocked the entire castle, sending great clouds of red, blue, orange, green, and pink smoke everywhere. All four were knocked to their feet, ending up on top of each other.

Kanan, Ezra, Zeb, and the little man who had helped Arthur at Jabba's Palace came rushing down the hall, dodging the smoke. “Good grief, Sabine! How many did you use?”

Zeb was coughing loud enough to be heard in a neighboring kingdom. He swatted at the pink smoke. “I think you overdid it a bit, lass.” The smaller man's fingers flew in a language identical to the one Arthur used. His more stately friend rolled his eyes. “You are not dying, Chopper. The smoke just got into your eyes, that's what. It'll be gone in a minute.”

Ezra had ignored the other men. He emerged from the rapidly clearing smoke to what remained of the vault...and the entire hall around it. The boy pushed aside a few bricks, sliced a thick piece of metal with his knife, and then...saw it. Saw it glowing dully in the light of the few remaining torches. He saw the silver. “WOOHOO!” He let out the loudest, longest whoop he possibly could, then ran over to grab Kanan's hand. “You've gotta see this! The Empire's loaded!”

Kanan's jaw nearly hit the floor. What remained of the vault was larger than the entire Rebel carriage fleet and all of the Sith Dragons, good and bad, put together. It was stuffed from top to bottom with bars and coins of gold and silver, jars of precious spices, trunks overflowing with precious gemstones, gold cups and plates, and fine jewelry, armor and weapons made from pure platinum and gold, paintings by master artists that had been lost for decades, and even a whole carriage covered in gold and gems.

Ezra scrambled into the driver's seat of the carriage. “Hera, I want you to teach me how to drive this!”

Zeb's eyes were wide. “We could feed Lothal Village for centuries! We could rebuild the whole place from top to bottom!”

Hera held up a silver brick. “I could buy eight of the Ghost with one of these.”

Lando grinned. “I could repair the Falcon six times over.” Behind him, Niem was happily swimming in coins. Chopper gave a diamond the approximate size of his fist a hard appraisal.

“What?” Sabine picked up a painting to admire it. “You uncultured people aren't going to appreciate fine art? Not only are these gorgeous, but I'll bet there are museums out there that would pay a fortune for them!” She grinned. “And they're giving me great ideas for my own work.”

Hera finally put the brick aside. “We have to go get help. It'll take days to get all this out.”

Lando nodded. “Hera, you take your group and see if you can find anyone with carriages that can carry all of this. Better yet, use the gold carriage. It looks big enough for the first round.”

“All right!” Ezra's shout of delight showed he totally agreed with that sentiment.

Hera was already hauling out a smaller trunk. “What about you?”

The former baron was already pulling his long-jowled friend to his feet. “We're going to go find Han and the others. I have the feeling this isn't over yet.” He pulled out his bow and hurried back down the hall to the Falcon, followed by a very reluctant Niem.

~*~*~*~*~*~

“Your fleet is lost,” King Palapatine continued as Luke watched the dragon battle. “Your friends in the dungeon will not survive the hour. I've already given the command for Solowolf to die the moment I wed the princess. The Kingdom of Aldran and the Kingdom of the Empire will be finally united, with me ruling both, of course.”

Luke had been probing his mind for the better part of twenty minutes. He didn't like what he was finding. “You're lying. You don't know where Leia is. Or Han, for that matter.”

Vader's voice showed his annoyance plainly. “You let her go?”

“I know where she is.” Palapatine gave Luke his simpering smile again. “Our operative will retrieve her easily.”

“She's not a pet dog who'll come when you call.” Luke glared at him. “Stop treating her like she is.”

“You have other concerns at the moment.” The green light sword by Palapatine's arm shook even harder. “I know you want this. Use it. Strike me down. It's my mind that controls the Empire's Sith Dragons. They are under my command. If you kill me, they will back down.”

Luke had never struggled so much with the darkness within. If he continued to fight that darkness, the Emperor would let the dragons kill the others. He would take Leia for himself and have Han murdered. But if he destroyed him...if he destroyed that creature... His anger rose. He would not let him harm the others anymore.

The green sword flew into Luke's hand. He lunged for the King. Vader jumped in, parrying his swing with a lunge of his own. Father and son stared each other down as the false king cackled behind them.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Leia knew Luke was in trouble. She could feel him give in to his anger. “Han,” she gasped, “we have to pick up the pace! Vader...and Luke...they're fighting...”

“Hold on, Princess.” Han directed Chewbacca across the courtyard and into the main building. “We're just about there.”

They'd made their way into the antechamber before the throne room when an arrow thumped into the floor near Chewbacca's feet. The Wookie stallion whinnied and stepped back as Boba Fett stepped out from behind a column. “Going somewhere?”

“As a matter of fact, yes.” Han was already getting off his horse. “We were just about to get into the throne room to help out my future brother-in-law.”

“You're not going anywhere, Solo.” Fett held out his bow. “I don't know how you managed to get out of Jabba's alive, but your luck ends here.”

Han pulled his Endorwood longbow out of one of Chewie's saddlebags. “Didn't you know, Fett? My luck doesn't run out. It's never-ending.” He looked over his shoulder to give Leia, who remained on Chewie, a brief grin. “Especially when I have a good-luck charm with me.”

“Jabba was an idiot. He should have kept his eye on the prize, not wallowing in his own fat.” Boba pulled up his own Aldranwood bow. “I won't make the same mistake. Lord Vader wants his daughter back. I'll be sitting on the easy path for the rest of my life with what he's giving me for her.” He aimed for Han's heart. “He wants you dead, Solowolf, and I for one can't blame him.”

Han sneered at him.“Not today, Fett.” Fett did shoot first. His hands were faster than Leia could keep up with, but Han's were even more so. The first arrow went right through Fett's, splintering it into bits. His second arrow hit a rope holding a crest behind the wall. Leia lead Chewie over as the heavy metal crest hit Fett right on the head. He was distracted enough for Chewbacca to kick him out the front door...and into the arms of several Rebel troops.

Han turned to the troops. “Take that guy to the dungeon. We'll deal with him later.” The former thief stroked his horse's mane. “Good work, Chewie.” He gave Leia a kiss on her cheek. “And good work too, Your Worship. We'll let the Rebels handle Fett. Right now, we have to save your brother again.”

Leia clutched her head. “And hurry! He's...he's so dark...”

“Right.” Han climbed on Chewie, and they galloped through the open door towards the throne room.