Tales of the Gold Wookie, Part 4

Two days later, Harry landed them at what appeared to be an abandoned Great War airfield just ten miles outside of Coruscant City. “I think I see our contacts.” A young woman in a pair of wide-legged trousers and a worn blouse and a slightly older man in a leather jacket waved their arms in their direction.

The hanger was a lot busier than Leia figured it would be. On the outside, it was merely a rusted iron half-moon. The inside was bustling with people poring over maps, checking equipment, and cleaning weapons. A very tall, balding man wearing silver-rimmed spectacles studied papers over a scarred and pitted desk.

“Welcome to the Coruscant Rebellion.” The young woman was short, with long-straight auburn hair pulled back into a no-nonsense bun and hard, dark eyes. She wore wide-legged trousers and a heavy jacket and carried a pistol from the Great War on her hip. “I'm Jeanne Erson. Cassian and I,” she nodded at the slightly taller man with the thin mustache and black hair, “will be your guides to the Coruscant Armory.”

Cassian spoke in a lilting Spanish accent. “We have gone into the Armory before, to scout out information that will lead to Chancellor Palpatine's downfall.”

“We're only interested in finding an artifact that's being kept at the Armory.” Leia pulled a sketchbook out of the envelope. “It looks like this. Long sword, blue gems, thought to be blue khyber crystal, gold hilt etched with suns and vines. The blade is a special extra-hard blue khyber that was used only for the swords.”

A tall older negro man with thick, salt-and-pepper hair limped over. He wore so many guns and weapons on his person, Leia was surprised he could move without falling over. “Miss Skylark.” He nodded. “Saw Gerrera. I knew Bail Organa and Andrew Skylark during the Great War. I'm sorry about what happened to both of them. They were good men and good fighters, even if I did argue with Bail over battle tactics.”

“Saw.” Ben took his shoulder before he tottered over. “It's good to see you, friend. Still fighting the good fight?”

He chuckled. “And you're still hiding behind your pen and paper. Andy spent most of the war trying to get you to actually fight it.” Saw smirked and nodded at Ben. “A Great War correspondent who hated fighting, hated driving a car, hated riding a horse, hated dirt, and wouldn't go anywhere without his tea bags and classic literature. You are a professor in a reporter's body, old friend.”

“Well, I'm here for that scoop now.” Ben patted Luke's shoulder. “This is my intern and apprentice, Luke Skylark.”

Jeanne frowned at Harry, Charrel, and the servants. “What about the rest of them?”

Clarence spoke up before Artie could. “I think we'll stay behind and guard the ship. I wouldn't go into a war zone for all the artifacts in Guatemala!” He grabbed Artie's arm. “Besides, someone needs to make sure no one goes after Miss Skylark's work.”

Harry made a face at Cassian. “Andorez, are you still playing at saving the world?”

“It's not a game, Harry. You never understood that.” The small, slender Spaniard glared at him. “I told you how important all this was when you ran guns to the Republicans that one time in Guernica.”

“And look how well that came out.” The taller pilot rolled his eyes. “I'm here to make sure the kids and Benton live long enough for me to get my money. That's all.” Charel gave him a small shove and nodded at Leia. “She's a...side benefit,” he muttered to his friend.

“Kay Tooney.” A tall, thin balding man in a tight black jumpsuit made his way over. “I was a linguistics scholar working in Spain with Captain Andorez's family. When my job was bombed into rubble by the Nationalists, I came here.” His thin lips pursed, practically disappearing. “I got a job as a secretary to the Coruscant Senate, but let's just say the Chancellor and Tarkin didn't appreciate my sense of humor.”

“We'll be accompanying you.” Jeanne showed them a slightly frayed map spread out over a table made from a wide, thin plank of wood and six stacked storage crates. “My father built the Armory to make it easier to take from the inside. It has so many underground tunnels and secret passages, it's more like a haunted house from the cinema than a government building.”

“What I want to know,” Cassian added, “is why swords are so important. They just look like artifacts to me.”

“Long story short is, the Coruscant Empire – and Papa Bail - believes them to conduct light. Light that could be hot enough to cut through metal.” Leia flipped to another page in the sketchbook. “The crystals reacted to the light and the latent ability to harness the power from that light in the user.” She pulled out another paper, this a sheet from a note pad with a long row of hand-written notes. “He believed that someone was stealing items from his dig and selling them to the Empire, but he didn't have the chance to figure out who before he died.”

Kay looked over her shoulder, not difficult given he had a foot on her. “I find the story about the swords highly improbable.”

“I do, too.” Leia shrugged. “But it's what Papa Bail believed...and what the Empire believes. Governor Tarkin and Derek Vader were both adamant about the swords possessing some kind of incredible power.”

“Explain it further on the way there.” Jeanne had pulled off her jacket to reveal a heavy black and gray Imperial uniform, similar to the one Tarkin wore in LA. Cassian wore a black version of the same uniform under his. “You three and the three of us are going to sneak in under Tarkin's nose.”

Harry made a face as Charel growled something. “Yeah, what about Charel? I don't do anything without him.”

“He can work with the rest of our team in the control room.” Cassian tossed Luke a gun. “Here, son. You'll need this.”

Luke frowned. “I know how to shoot it, but I'd rather not use it. I hate guns.”

“Suit yourself.” Several people jumped aside as a heavy armored Coruscant government car came careening in. Cassian made a face. “Bodhi, be careful!” He dusted imaginary specs of dirt off his jacket. “You could have damaged this!”

“Sorry, Cass.” A dark-haired head with a goatee and tanned skin popped out of a window. “I never was good at handling these heavy cars.” The tall fellow was a slender, rather good-looking Arab with dark eyes and shy smile. “Looks like you got some new recruits.”

Cassian patted his shoulder. “It's all right, Bodhi.” He turned to the others as he opened the back passenger-side door for Leia and Jeanne. “This is Bodhi Rook, of Jedha in North Africa.”

Leia frowned as she squeezed in between Jeanne and another, smaller dark haired man with exotic Asian features and cloudy eyes that never seemed to look at her. “Weren't they bombed by Coruscant three years ago?”

“Yes.” Bodhi frowned. “I worked for the Coruscant government for two years as a mechanic and communications specialist, but I never agreed with their politics. I defected six months ago. Cassian brought me here.”

Passing through endless trees and roads lined with greenery, they finally turned onto the main highway leading into Coruscant City. Leia had never seen a bleaker metropolis. Gray stone and granite buildings ruled the cityscape, with barely a tree in sight. Cinder block factories belched smoke into the coal-black air. Most of the people bustling to work barely noticed them. They wore plain gray woolen garments to protect against the air that never seemed warm, no matter how much the factories rumbled. Police officers stopped people on the streets to question them, sometimes even arrested them without explanation.

“Now I'm glad there's an embargo on this god-forsaken place.” Henry winced under the Imperial officer's cap Cassian gave him. “As soon as Charel and I finish this, we're out of here. We have to pay off Yasmin Hutt.”

“Are you still working for her?” Cassian raised an eyebrow. “Thought you said you'd broken things off.”

“I did break things off. Our last job for her...didn't go as well as we hoped.” He rubbed the back of his head. “We sort of owe her a few thousand dollars.”

“You'll get your money, Solomon,” Ben reminded him. “With interest.”

Leia turned away from Harry, even as he took her hand. “There's the Old Senate building, and the new Government and Finance building. The architecture is a lot more interesting here. The newer buildings look rather like temples, don't they?”

Jeanne scowled. “Those assholes out there like to pretend that they're gods. What they are is demons, sucking everything around them dry, just like they sucked my father dry. They kidnapped him from England and forced him to work for them for years, until one of their men had him killed.”

“Jeanne.” Cassian shook her shoulder. “I understand that you are angry about father, but you must be calm.”

“It is the will of the Force that we come here.” The two Asian men next to her were both in middle age. The shorter wore slight ragged monks' robes; the taller one with the longer hair and thick mustache sported a baggy jumpsuit. The shorter spoke; he had the most gentle smile Leia had ever seen. “All is as the Force sees it.”

“Do you really believe those fairy tales?” Harry's snort matched the other Asian man's. “We heard enough of them on the way here.”

Luke managed to shift over to the smaller man. “Are you a Jedi?”

He gave Luke that kind smile with cloudy pale eyes that didn't seem to see him. “I am Chirruit, a monk of the Temple of the Whills in Jedha. When that was bombed in the invasion, my companion Baze and I came here. We are not the ancient Jedi, but we know of the Force. It is something we have done an extensive study on.”

“If we have the time after this, could you tell my sister and me more about it?” Luke was taking his every word down on his tattered note pad. “We only just found out we had the Force.”

“I wouldn't mind interviewing you myself.” Benton leaned in a little closer. “Our editor would love to have a first-hand account of the bombing of Jedha.”

“You'll have to do it later.” Kay was reading a map of the area. “Bodhi, turn left into those gates, the ones with the Imperial symbol in the center. It looks like a cog in a wheel.”

The gates themselves were impressive. Heavy black iron spikes wrapped around the length of the area, blocking most of it from view. Four guards stood at a small wooden kiosk on one side. Cassian leaned out, speaking in surprisingly good Coruscanti. He argued with them for a few minutes before whipping a sheath of papers out of his jacket. The soldiers in uniforms and high rounded helmets finally backed off. One went into the kiosk and pushed a button, allowing the gates to swing open.

The Coruscant Armory was the most impressive government building yet. While it wasn't as ornate as some of the ones on the Imperialstag, it was massive. Three gray brick cinder blocks went off in two directions and seemed to stretch for miles. Cassian took them around the back, to a smaller building that seemed to be a parking garage for officer's cars.

“Hey Cass,” Harry asked as they all piled out, “how did you get those Imperial stiffs to let us through?”

Cassian flashed the card again. “I have fake ID, thanks to Saw and his people. They think we are inspectors on tour of facility.”

Jeanne lead them to what appeared to be a storm door. “Baze, Charel, and Chirrut, you stay here with the car and equipment. Kay and Bodhi, you're coming with us.”

“Oh, joy.” Kay fumbled with the buttons on his heavy black Imperial uniform. “I don't understand why they have to wear wool in the early fall. It's impractical.”

“I think they want people to suffer,” Leia grumbled. Harry did cut a rather dashing figure in his gray and red Imperial officer's jacket. Not that she'd ever tell him. His head was swollen enough as it was. “They enjoy it.”

The small Engishwoman rolled her eyes. “Enough.” The sub-basement Jeanne lead them through was a maze of shelves, all filled with dusty books and stacks of paper. She touched a tarnished spot on one of the heavy metal shelves. A door in the shelves swung open, revealing a dark passageway. She gave Cassian a small grin. “After you, dear.”

“Only because I have electric torch.” Cassian held up the gleaming flashlight. “I hope no one needs the bathroom. This could take a while.”

“Luke, you go with them.” Ben frowned, pulling a heavy brown coat around his shoulders like a cloak. “I'll go with Baze, Bodhi, and Chirruit and shut down the main gate and any alarms they have. It's the only way we'll get out of here once they figure out what we're doing.”

“I want to go with you!” Luke wailed. “What if something happens, and I miss the scoop?”

“Your destiny lies on a different path than mine.” Ben patted his shoulder. “The Force will be with you, my boy. Always.”

Charel shook his head, grumbling in Russian as Ben followed the two Asian men and the young Arab. “You said it, Char. Where did you dig up that old fossil?”

Luke glared at him. “Ben is a great man, Harry. He was one of the Daily Star's most respected correspondents during the Great War. He covered a lot of history. He was even in Guatemala when Papa Bail unearthed the Sword of Light.”

“Why don't we fight about this later?” Cassian tossed Luke a black Imperial jacket. “We have to get to that gun, before the Imperials use it on some poor country.”

Actually, it took an hour of walking up a dusty incline, but you'd never know it from Harry's complaining. “How much further?” Admittedly, he was stooped over in the narrow tunnel, built from stone and wood. “It's taking forever.”

“I agree.” Kay let out a yelp when he smacked his round head on the low ceiling. “I feel like we're climbing Mount Bane, and we'll never reach the top.”

“We're there already, you big babies.” Jeanne pulled a lever embedded into the wall and fingered a heavy black pistol with a gold handle. “Come on.”

It took Harry, Jeanne, and Cassian to shove open the wooden door in the wall. They all managed to squeeze past what turned out to be a metal display case. The laser gun contained in it was all gleaming chrome and rounded turrets, like something out of Buck Rogers. It was surrounded by electronic consoles that winkled like red and green stars, glinting off the heavy aluminum file shelves.

“Oh my god.” Leia waved her hand at a display case featuring intricate knives and short swords with golden handles. “Every single object in this room is listed as missing on that list of Papa Bail's. I recognize them from his excavation photos.” She pressed her nose against the glass. “These were intended for their royal guardsmen. Only those who were in the service of the queen and her family could wield them.” Two more displays were filled with armor. “And here's their ceremonial wardrobes. They should all be trimmed with khyber crystal.” Her finger ran along the glass across from one helmet, which had obvious craters in the crown. “Someone pried them out, rather clumsily, too.”

Cassian tapped his fingers on the gun's casing. “Why keep this here, then?”

“I...there's something about this...” Luke ran his hand around the barrel of the gun. “The Sword of Light is in here. It...calls me. It needs me.”

“That's crazy, kid.” Harry made a face. “Guns don't talk, unless you're shootin' at someone.”

The second Luke placed his hand on the gun, the crystal within glowed with an unearthly blue light. “It...I have to get it out!” The young man ran his fingers all around the casing, trying to feel into the metal.

Kay raised an eyebrow. “It's not that improbable that crystal could speak. You may have felt the vibrations of the crystal on the metal casings.”

“I know what I felt!” The young reporter tried to pry open the metal. “Darn it, it's stuck!”

Cassian had been standing at the door with Kay, his gun at the ready. “We must go.” He checked his weapon as footsteps echoed in the hall. “They are coming here.”

“Leia, get Luke and Harry out of here. Take the passage.” Jeanne managed to lift off the glass case. To Leia's surprise and delight, no alarm sounded over the intercoms, no announcements about the security being breeched reached their ears. “Sounds like Kenobi and our boys did their jobs.” She grabbed the gun and threw it into Luke's arms. “We'll meet you back at the car.”

They didn't have time. Jeanne had no sooner handed Leia the gun than four officers trooped in. A fat, arrogant red-haired man in a black officer's uniform sniffed at Jeanne. “I heard there were inspectors in this building. Were you authorized to remove this weapon from the premises, Herr officer?”

“He is.” Kay flashed his tag, speaking in fluent Coruscanti. “I am Kay Twomby, historian at the Armory's military library. These people are inspectors. They're making sure that the historical electric and plumbing in this building are up to Coruscant standards.”

“I wasn't notified,” the officer sniffed. “I'll have to check.”

Harry grinned at Luke. Cassian smirked. “Look out!” Harry “accidentally” nudged the gun as Luke set it back on the table. Cassian leaped onto two officers, while Jeanne elbowed another in the gut.

Luke felt around the control panel on the gun, trying to figure out how it worked. “Come on,” he grumbled. “Which one turns this thing on...whoa!”

He, Kay, and two officers managed to jump away just as a blue beam of light sizzled across the room. It burned into the wall opposite, slicing two golden Alderaanian spears neatly in half and burning a hole clean through a metal display unit.

“Luke, watch where you aim that weapon.” Kay's voice was calm, but his skinny frame shook like the remains of the shelf hanging by rung. “I don't think you need to slice us in half along with everything else in this building.”

“Besides,” Leia added indignantly, “those were priceless artifacts!”

Jeanne was already trying to force the tunnel door back open. “It's stuck!” Cassian joined her, swearing profusely in Spanish and Catalan, but the door wouldn't budge. “It's no use,” she panted. “We'll have to go out through the front.”

Leia was grateful for their uniforms. No one gave them a second look as they emerged into the main hall. They didn't even notice the large object wrapped in paper that Luke cradled in his arms. Harry was about to round the corner when he pulled back and pushed the others with him. “Oh hell,” he muttered. “Guess who's coming this way.”

Governor Tarkin lead several men down the gray and red hall, all wearing officer's uniforms. Derek Vader skulked by his side in his usual black suit and wide-brimmed hat that shaded the worst of his mangled face. One of the officers was giving him a glare that probably would have downright frightened anyone of a less-intimidating stature. “The Krennic cybomagnetic gun is now the ultimate power in Europe. I suggest we use it on something more than a government building. Perhaps destroying a good chunk of London or Munich.”

“Don't be too proud of this technological terror you've created.” Vader shook a leather-gloved finger in the officer's face. “The ability to destroy a country is insignificant next to the power of the Force and the khyber crystals.”

“Don't talk to me about your childish nonsense, Vader,” the man sneered. “Your sad devotion to a dead religion hasn't found us the other swords, or given you clairvoyance enough to...”

His words ended in a gasp. Vader raised his hand...and the man lifted in the air, clutching at his throat. “I find your lack of faith disturbing, Captain Motti.”

“Vader, enough of this,” Tarkin snapped. “Release him!”

“As you wish.” Vader let him drop to the floor. Motti almost landed on his knees, his face the color of brittle paper. “Tarkin,” he began, “I sense something. A presence I've felt only once in the past twenty years. There's someone...”

Luke didn't get out of the way fast enough. He ran right into Vader when he turned the corner. “What are you doing with that, young man?” Vader raised his hand...and a dark blood-colored light shot out, wrapping around Luke's throat and lifting him into the air. “It's not polite to take things that don't belong to you.”

“Get off my brother!” Leia saw red the moment Luke was lifted like a rag doll, his feet flailing helplessly under him. She angrily pulled the triggers on her gun without thinking. To the shock of everyone but Tarkin, a small red light flickered in front of his hand, deflecting the bullet. “How did you do that?”

Motti grabbed Jeanne's wrist. “I'd like to know the same thing. Such hocus-pocus can usually only be found in fairy tales.”

Harry lunged for Vader. “How's this for hocus-pocus, Ugly?” Leia ducked away as his fist landed in Vader's face. A faint green light illuminated his hand when it hit his scarred nose, throwing him all the way across the hall and into a squad of white-garbed goons coming around the hall. Luke dropped to the floor, his hand around his neck. “Hey,” he smirked, “I think I have something here.” His flailing fists sent Motti upwards so hard, he landed awkwardly in a gold and crystal chandelier.

“Don't touch my Jeanne!” Cassian went after Motti, but two of the soldiers tried grabbing at him.

“It's all right, love.” Jeanne elbowed Motti, then jammed her knee into a sensitive spot. He doubled over, allowing her to smack him over the back. “I can take care of myself.”

Luke took the gun from Leia as she went to help Harry. “Come on!” He muttered. “Don't fail me now!” As he felt around the casing, the blue glow lit up the barrel, the light spilling out, flowing around Luke. It melded with him, outlining him like a sparkling chalk drawing. Blue beams blasted from the barrel, cutting furniture in half and setting several walls on fire.

“You...” Vader's hiss was deeper, more like a snarl than a hiss as Tarkin helped him to his feet. “It's you. It's your presence I'm sensing. Yours and...”

He didn't get the chance to respond. Another light nearly parted his wide-brimmed fedora and black wig. Half the hall was going up in smoke. “Never mind that.” Tarkin waved his hand at the group ducking into the billowing flames. “We have to get that gun back!”

“Oh no, you don't!” Leia shot the chandelier Motti had abandoned. It crashed to the ground, sending shards of crystal and pieces of glass everywhere. She tried shooting Vader, but the hulking industrialist easily deflected it into the wall.

They heard the squeal of an alarm as the soldiers surrounded them. “We'll have to deal with them later.” Tarkin nodded at his troops. “Terminate the English girl, the tall one, and the Spaniard. Bring the others unharmed.” He took off, with Vader following rather reluctantly.

“We'll discuss the mumbo-jumbo later.” Harry pulled out his own gun as four more soldiers came in, this time armed. “I'll meet you back at the car!” With that, he took off like a shot down the hall away from the smoke, yelling like a lunatic at the top of his lungs.

“Well,” Leia admitted, “he certainly has courage.”

Luke rolled his eyes. “What good will it do if it gets him killed?”

“Harry may be loco, but I think he has the right idea. The smoke, it is getting thicker.” Cassian pulled out his own gun, shooting at Vader as well as he could while coughing heavily. “We'll meet you at main entrance.”

“I've already contacted the others.” Jeanne started down the hall after him. Kay followed, muttering complaints about Cassian's impulsiveness.

“Let's get out of here, little brother, before the sprinkler system kicks in and Vader knows what we're doing.” Leia shot off her pistol as Luke smashed the ray gun against the wall...revealing a beautiful flat polished sword with hard crystal edges and a finely-etched silver handle with three blue jewels down the side.

“Luke!” Leia groaned. “They needed that gun to inspect it!”

“They have the files.” Luke cradled the sword in his arms. “It needs me, Leia...and Ben and I need this story.” He gave her his sunny grin as they started back down the hall. “Don't worry. I'll donate it to the museum after we've found its mates.”

Leia rolled her eyes and shot at another guard. “How generous of you, brother.”

Fortunately, it turned out that they weren't that far from the main entrance. “There it is!” Leia turned a corner into the lobby, with Luke fast on her heels, running for the light at the end of the thick smoke.

Her brother groaned behind her. “But there's at least six guards around the door, and ten more outside! How are we going to get out of here?”

Harry was already hidden in an alcove across from the main door when they popped in next to him. “What kept you?”

“We ran into some old friends.” Leia peered across them; Jeanne's reddish-brown hair and Cassian's heavy jacket just barely peeked out from behind a heavy tapestry depicting Darth Bane and other famous figures of Coruscanti mythology. “I think the others are all right. We just have to get past those soldiers somehow.”

Luke's breath caught in his throat as Vader stepped into the main hall. Ben came from the other side, his long brown coat trailing behind him like a cape. “Benton Kenobi,” he hissed. “Came back to finish what you did in the Mufasar Temple?”

“No, Vader.” To Leia's surprise, a green glow surrounded Ben's hands...a glow similar to the one she saw on Harry's hands when he hit Vader. “I never wanted to hurt you. Only stop you from committing more murders in the name of that madman.”

Vader raised his hand, red light glowing within. “You should not have come back, old man.”

“You can't win, Vader.” Benton gave him a small smile. “If you strike me down, you'll become more powerful than you could possibly imagine.”

Their confrontation had attracted quite a few onlookers, including most of the officers and Vader's men. “Now's our chance.” Harry waved his gun at the exit and gave Luke a push. “Go, kid!”

“Ben?” Luke joined the onlookers, scribbling notes like crazy, even with the sword under his arm. “Ben, what are you doing?”

His mentor and friend just gave him the small smile and stepped back, letting Vader level two punches into his face. The moment his fists struck him, the blood-red light writhed around his body, tearing it apart until it dissolved into dust.

“NO!” Someone screamed. Luke was pretty sure it was him.

“Kid, come on!” Han grabbed his arm. “Blast the door!”

Luke wouldn't remember holding up the flat-edged sword later, or the blue light that leaped from the khyber crystals that left the heavy wood and metal entrance in splinters. He didn't even remember Charel pulling up with Bodhi beside him, and the rest of them piling in. Leia put his arms around him, and he barely noticed. He didn't see the orange flames leaping out of the west wing of the Armory, or hear the sirens of fire trucks wail in the distance.

“I can't believe he's gone.” The young reporter looked at the notebook clutched in his other hand. “He...Vader killed him...we'll never get to turn in this story together. What will I tell Miss Tano?”

“There wasn't anything you could have done.” Leia gave him a gentle hug. “It happened too quickly.”

“We're not out of Coruscant City yet, kid.” Harry leaned out a window as bullets shattered the back pane. “Leia, you've got your gun. Charel, got yours?” The massive Russian man nodded and held up a long, heavy rife.

“Who is that guy?” Luke peered over their shoulder at the red and green plated truck behind them. “He's not an Imperial. That pin-stripe suit says 'mafia,' not 'Coruscant Army.'”

“I don't know,” Bodhi squeaked as a bullet just missed his arm by an inch, “but he's not a quitter!”

Leia nearly fell out the window as she took a few pot shots. “Hey,” she yelled to Luke, “I know who he is! That's the guy who was following us back in LA!”

“Damn.” Harry leaned out the other side, ducking two more bullets from behind them. “I'd know that vehicle anywhere. The jerk is Roberto Fettara, bounty hunter, assassin, and professional pain in the ass. He'd shoot his own mother if the price was right.”

“Wish there was a way to get them off our tail.” Bodhi turned a hard right, throwing everyone into each other. Harry's gun went sailing out of his hand, even as he landed in Leia's lap.

“Well, hello there, sweetheart.” Harry smirked. “We keep running into each other.”

Leia pushed at him. “Would you get off me?”

The man whose lap she currently occupied gave her his lazy grin. “Don't get excited!”

“Mr. Solomon,” Leia snapped, “being held by you isn't quite enough to get me excited.”

Bodhi made a face. “You two are worse than Jeanne and Cassian.”

“I think it's romantic!” Luke's sweet face had a big, goofy grin. “So, when are you going to get married?”

Leia glared at him. “Luke, we just...ack!”

Another car rammed into their fenders. Cassian leaned out of the other car alongside them, an Imperial vehicle. “We're going to have to split up. Who's the other guy? I've never seen the one in green before.”

“Roberto Fettara. It's a long story.” Harry scrambled over Leia to the window. “You guys lead off Vader and his boys. We'll get rid of Fettara. I know how to deal with him.”

“I know back streets from spy work,” Cassian shouted over the car engines. “We'll get rid of them.” He turned down a narrow lane that lead into the older neighborhoods in the valleys. Most of the Imperial cars continued after them, but Fettara's truck and Vader's shiny black Dusenberg stuck doggedly to their trail.

Leia yelped when Harry flung open the door, grabbing hold of it. “Go that way.” He pointed toward a garbage truck. “See if you can get alongside, or better yet in front of, that.”

“Well, all right.” Bodhi swerved around the truck, sending Luke and Leia headlong into each other. “It's your funeral, Solomon.”

“Harry, are you crazy?” Leia rubbed her head. Luke's blue eyes were wide. Charel tried to grab him back in, but missed. “You're not in a Saturday afternoon serial!”

Harry's eyes were on the cars behind them. “They'd be crazy to follow us, wouldn't they?” He shot the tires on the garbage truck as they went by. It sputtered to a stop as the car sped across Plagueis Square and down Dooku Road. Leia managed to yank him in as Fettara's armored vehicle ran headlong into the back of the garbage truck, unleashing its rotting and smelly contents all over it and the road. Every bit of traffic was stopped in its tracks, including Vader's car.

“Hey, that was pretty good!” Bodhi grinned at him as he swerved around another corner between aging shops and tenements. “You're all right, Solomon. Nutty as a fruitcake, but all right.”

Charrel reached a long, hairy arm over the seat and swatted Harry in the head. “What?” Harry grumbled over a stream of Russian curses in a booming bass. “I did it, didn't I? Didn't even get a scratch!”

Though she kept an eye out, Leia was glad to notice that they seemed to have shaken their pursuers for the time being. “I think we'd better go in two separate groups when we get back to the hangar.” Luke pulled out his notebook, flipping it open to a certain page. “I got Yoda Chiang's address in San Francisco from Ben before he...” He gulped, then went on. “Well, I want to find him and see if we can get some help from him. Not only does he know more about this Force business than you or me, but he's an authority on the Jedi and the Alderaanian culture.”

“Great.” Leia groaned. “Luke, you can't just go wandering off wherever you please!” She threw up her hands in the air in frustration. “You know what? Do what you want. Everyone always leaves me in the end anyway.”

“Leia, stop.” Luke put his hands on her shoulder. “We need someone with credentials who can help you with the translations and figuring out all of Papa Bail's notes.”

“We need to find the other swords.” Leia frowned. “It'll take more than the six of us to decipher those notes and round up a crew. I need to call Dr. Mothma and see if she can recommend anyone reliable who would be willing to work for experience. I don't have much to pay them right now.”

“And we need to get in touch with our boss.” Charrel's growl was pointed. Harry rolled his eyes. “Yeah, I know. Fettara's one of Yasmin's boys. I told her I'd pay her as soon as I got the money.” The growl turned darker. “I'm all too aware of what Yasmin does to men who defy her. I've seen guys get their testicles hacked out, and...” He turned to his audience with a smirk. “Sorry, sweetheart. Your delicate ears didn't need to hear that.”

Leia only crossed her arms. Luke and Bodhi were the ones who turned pea-green. “I've done extensive research on Aztec tribal rituals and interrogation methods. What they did to their prisoners would make Al Capone look like Shirley Temple.”

Bodhi was relieved when their rusty headquarters made its first appearance over the horizon. “We're here!” The nervous driver nearly swerved into the hangar. “Everyone out!”

“Thank god.” Luke stumbled out first, running for the nearest bush. “I don't feel well.”

A second Imperial car showed up minutes later. Jeanne tumbled out first. “They're coming.” Cassian was already making for the hangar, while Baze checked his own snub-nosed rifle and Chirriut meditated against the car. “We shook them for a few minutes, but there's more.”

“I think this is a good time for you to go.” Chirruit said quietly to Leia. “This is our fight. You found what you came for.” The Chinese man in the monk-like robes strode over to her. “By the way, I am sorry about your older friend. I heard of Benjamin Kenobi when he was a correspondent in Jedha during the Great War.” He leaned on his long, ornately carved wooden staff. “Your name is Skyark. Any relation to Andrew Skylark?”

Leia nodded as Luke returned, wiping his lips and carrying his sachel and typewriter and Ben's small suitcase. “He was our father. He's dead now. He died before we were born.”

Baze came up behind him quietly, like a ghost. “Andrew Skylark worked in Jedha for several years, digging up ancient temples from the time of the earliest part of our order, the Whills. They said he was a good man, but a temperamental one. Could be hard to work with, especially after the Great War.”

Luke winced as shooting was heard in the distance. “I wish I could ask you more, but we don't have time. Do you know anyone who can fly me to San Francisco?”

Kay looked up from where he'd hid behind a car. “Wally Antilles should be in the hangar. He's the best pilot we have. I know he was working on the Rogue this morning.”

“Luke! Leia!” Clarence rushed out and threw his arms around both of them, nearly weeping with relief. “Oh thank heavens! You have no idea how worried we've been! I thought we'd never see you again!”

Artie rolled his eyes as he followed him. He patted Luke on the shoulder. “Glad to see you're back, kids. Where's ol' Ben? Is he coming in another car?”

“He's dead,” Luke croaked. His eyes were still red and raw from crying. “Vader killed him! He's gone because Vader killed him, just like he probably killed Papa Bail!”

Artie's round coffee-colored face turned deadly serious. “We'll get 'em back, kiddo. I think I have an inklin' of who Vader is and why he'd have it in for Ben, but we need to get outta here first. You do not need to be dealin' with that jerk close-up.”

Clarence shuddered. “I would prefer to avoid any encounters with that odious man at all, if I can help it. He's not even a man. He's more like a machine in a well-tailored suit!”

“I've seen enough of that jerk. Bad enough I'm havin' problems with Yasmin.” Harry dashed for the Silver Falcon. “Cass,” he called over his shoulder, “if you want to play rebel with the Empire, that's on you. I'll leave that to the professionals.” He turned to Luke, who was hauling his suitcase over to smaller former military plane. “You all right, kid? I know you were broken up about Kenobi. He was a little crazy, but a good guy.”

“Yeah.” Luke's smile didn't quite reach his eyes. “I'm fine.”

Harry didn't believe a word the kid said. At least he'd have Artie with him. He patted the kid on his shoulder. “Be careful.”

“You too.” His eyes never left Luke as the young reporter staggered to the back of the hangar. Harry finally just shook his head and went in the opposite direction towards the Silver Falcon.

“You know, you could be a major help to them, and to our expedition.” Leia followed him. “You're brave, a great fighter, and a natural leader.”

Harry was already climbing into the Falcon's cab. “No time to discuss this as a committee.”

Leia's annoyed “I am NOT a committee!” was loud enough to be heard over the whine of engines.

Charel handed off Artie's suitcase. “Are you sure about this, Arthur?” Clarence's horse-like face hung low and dejected. “After all, there's only one of Mr. Luke, and several people here. I could use your aid. If gangsters are involved...”

“Goldie, I know you're worried.” Artie took his suitcase and shivered as a chilly wind, more reminiscent of late fall than late summer, twisted and turned across the tarmac. “But we promised Mrs. Organa that we'd look after the kids. If something happened to them, she'd never forgive us.” He sighed. “And neither would their parents or poor Ben, God rest his soul.”

“Take good care of Mr. Luke, then,” Clarence insisted. “And,” he added, softer, “do take care of yourself.”

Artie gave him his round grin. “I will, Goldie. He's as safe as a bug in a rug with me.” Clarence's golden brown eyes under the round spectacles followed Artie to the other side of the hangar, at least until Charel let out of growl and yanked him in the plane.

“So kid,” Artie started as he finally caught up with Luke, “where are we off to, anyway?”

“San Francisco.” Luke waved at the slender man leaning into the heavily rebuilt Sopwith Camel. “Hey there! You Wally Antilles?”

“Aye, lad.” The pilot popped his head out of the engine, revealing a slight fellow with sleek black hair under a heavy pilot's cap and goggles. He sported a leather jacket with sheepskin lining and brass buttons. The words “Rogue Squadron” and a firebird insignia were embroidered in orange and red on the back. “Are ye Luke Skylark? Ol' Man Guerrara told me I'm supposed to get you across the sea to visit a friend. Besides,” he added, “he wants me to pick up supplies and talk to some of the American members of our group in California. He'd go himself, but he don't move around so well anymore. Got hit with mustard gas and picked up breathin' problems durin' the Battle of Verdun.”

“I'm Luke. This is my friend Artie.” They both somehow managed to snuggle into the front cab as Luke pulled the Imperial-produced wool jacket around him. “Yes, we're the ones going to San Francisco. I have to talk to a friend of my mentor...late mentor who can help us. Yoda Chiang.”

The pilot raised his thick black eyebrows. “I thought that old bugger died years ago?” He shook both men's hands. “I'm Wally Antilles, by the way, but you can call me Wedge.” He finally climbed into the back cab. “You boys strap yourselves and your luggage in. We're going to be taking off in a few minutes...whoa!”

Gunshots rattled the rusted tin hangar as heavy black cars roared onto the field. “You go! Get out of here!” Jeanne waved up to them. Her gun was twice her size and already aimed at two soldiers. Cassian took out three more. Bodhi was on the radio, calling for more help from local rebel units.

“You're both have ground clearance!” Kay waved two red-and-white striped flags. Five of Vader's men had already started shooting at the group. They weren't expecting to be smashed over the head by a long candy cane-striped flag, or kicked in sensitive places by flying feet clad in the robes of a monk. He knocked down six men before any of them realized what the blur was. Baze took out four more who came at him with knives.

Vader had just emerged from the unharmed Dusenberg as every dropped to the ground. Two plains, a battered Great War British fighter and a silvery cargo plane that was barely more than a pile of scrap metal, lurched down the runway. Feretta followed him, still dripping potato peelings and moldy cheese rinds and reeking of garbage, his needle-sharp Italian rifle cradled lovingly in his hands.

“Boss, duck!” Fettara pushed him down just in time to see the two planes lift off into the blue Coruscant sky. One turned south, towards France and the Mediterranean. The other did a u-turn west, just barely missing several radio antennas on the roofs of a few houses.

“Sir,” gulped one fat man with a blond mustache whose black wool suit barely fit him, “I felt surprise was wiser...”

“You're as clumsy as you are stupid, Ozzel.” A dark red light shot out, lifting Ozzel into the air. Choking sounds escaped from his blue lips as it squeezed the air out of him. “Thanks to you, they've vanished, we've lost the Sword of Light, and half the Coruscant Armory is burning to the ground.”

The other officers just watched in horror as the Vader squeezed harder. The moment Ozzel dropped limply to the ground, he turned to the slender, older man next to him. “Send every available fighter at the Tenebrous Military Air Yard after those ships. I want them alive, do you hear?” Vader ripped the red and blue enamel insignia from Ozzel's uniform and turned to the nervous officer. “You are in command now, Admiral Piett.”

Piett's already-pale face turned nearly white with nervous fear. “Yes, sir.” He turned to his junior officer in charge. “Alert all commands. Deploy the fleet.” A shaky finger pointed downwards at the remains of Ozzel. “And I need two of you to take him to the morgue downtown. The rest of you, return to the Armory and help the fire fighters sift through the rubble for survivors.”

Even as Piett returned to the smaller Maybach, Vader helped a wizened figure out of the Dusenberg. His heavy, fur-trimmed cape hung over his shrunken figure like a shroud. Bony fingers clutched a long black cane topped with a handle of polished gold. Every man parted as Vader fell in besides him. “My men have everything well in order, Your Highness.”

Emperor Stefan Palpatine's icy blue eyes missed nothing, including Chirrut knocking down two officers and Jeanne hitting another over the head with a chair. “I see.” His fingers rubbed the handle of the cane almost nonchalantly. “This matters little. We must get the Sword back. Our copies of the plans for the gun were burned with the rest of that side of the Armory.” The icy eyes slid questioningly to Vader. “You told me on the ride here that the Force had chosen its successors for the Swords.”

“Kenobi's young apprentice was the one who handled the gun. It worked on his command.” Vader's booming voice was hesitant. “The young man is my son. His sister was with him. They both have the last name Skylark, were both raised by relatives in the same Arizona town Andrew Skylark once grew up in.”

Palpatine waved him off. “They must be destroyed.”

“If their magic could be corrupted,” Vader interjected, “if they could be turned, they could be powerful allies. They and the dark-haired pilot with them showed abilities with the Force I'm not even certain they realize they possess.”

“Yessss,” Palpatine hissed thoughtfully. “Yes. Could it be done?”

“They will join us, or die.” He bowed low before Palpatine, nearly ending up on one knee. “You are my master in all things. When they're turned, they'll bring us the Swords, and with them, we will rule the world.”

Palpatine only nodded, cackling. “As it should be, apprentice.”