Star Wars: The Legion Saga

Padmé pressed a button and the image zoomed in to display a close up of the equatorial trench. The computerized image focused on a small exhaust port

"Only through the valiant efforts of our intelligence forces has this information become available." Padmé said grimly. "As you can see here, there is a small thermal exhaust port, just below the main port. It is the key to destroying the Death Star."

Padmé looked at the assembled pilots. There were so few left. Many of those who had not fallen in combat had simply given up the fight and returned home to their families. Padmé could not blame the rebellion for giving up hope. She had so little left for herself anymore. With the Empire destroying entire planets simply for aiding the Rebellion, there was little hope left for the Alliance. And with the latest intelligence report.....the one she had shared only with Akbar....

Han Solo stood and took Padmé's side. He could sense that her concentration was wavering. It was critical to motivate the few pilots still willing to fight for freedom in this most desperate hour. Padmé looked to him gratefully as he continued her briefing for her.

"I'll be leading this attack from the Outrider." He announced calmly to the soldiers, his confident tone focusing the room at once. "We'll skim the surface to this point and fire proton torpedoes directly into the main reactor."

Padmé's eyes locked Han's as he explained the attack plan. He made it sound so easy....so possible.

"Ray-shielded men. It's protons only on this target. And whoever scores that direct hit still has to pull out in time. I've tried to tell you men how important it can be to pull out in time."

The assembled troops let out a stifled laugh. There was so much tension in the room that even Solo's wit couldn't break it. This was very likely a suicide run. They all knew it.

"Then prepare your ships." Padmé ordered. "Today we avenge the victims of that abomination. Dismissed."

As the pilots began to disassemble, Padmé looked to Han again. She had grown extremely fond of the irreverent Correllian in the past months. He had proven himself a brave, capable leader in numerous skirmishes against the Empire. His time on Bespin had made him a natural leader of men. Despite how isolated Padmé had become over the course of the war....she couldn't help but feel an attraction to Han Solo.

"General," Padmé stepped closer to him, lowering her voice to a whisper, "Can it be done?"

Han frowned and looked back at the holo-image of the gigantic battle station.

"I'm going to destroy that thing." He stated emphatically, "I don't care if I die in the process. I'm going to send every imperial on that station straight to hell."

Padmé could see the pain behind his anger. She knew this war had cost him dearly. It had cost everyone dearly at this point. But somehow, she believed in Han...felt something for him. Maybe it was just trust....or even affection. But for some reason, she found herself staring into his eyes deeply, when a sudden voice broke the moment between them.

"Mother."

Leia Amidala stood behind Padmé and Han, rigid and tense. It had taken a great deal of time for her to rejoin the rebel command. She and Han had run afoul of a bounty hunter hired by the Grand Admiral while refueling the Outrider on Ort Mantel. It had nearly cost she and Han their lives. It was there they had chosen to split up to evade pursuit. Han had joined up with the Rebel fleet quickly. But Leia had vowed not to rejoin the fleet until she was sure she was not being tracked any longer. She refused to do something as foolish as leading the Empire to the Rebellion. Splitting up from Han, she had not seen her mother since their parting on Hoth.

Padmé looked at her daughter and saw the anger in Leia's eyes. Her daughter was seething....at her....she could feel it.

"My quarters." Padmé said simply, gesturing for Leia to follow her. As the two beautiful women walked silently down the corridor, Han was left to wonder at the strange reunion unfolding in front of him.

Chapter 2

"Mother!" Leia called out as Padmé walked along the corridor of the Mon Calamari vessel. "Mother! I need to speak with you now!"

Padmé turned to face her daughter. "Leia. Here." Padmé gestured to the door to her quarters on the massive converted luxury liner.

Leia entered the room without saying anything. Padmé entered behind her and shut the door. Leia spun suddenly to face her mother.

"I know the truth mother!" She announced, her voice wavering with anger. "I know who my real father is now."

Padmé said nothing, simply looking down at the floor.

"Why?!" Leia yelled. "Why did you lie to me? Why tell me my father was some dead Nabooan artist?"

"Leia I-" Padmé stammered.

"NO!" Leia was shouting "You LIED to me. You let Aayla raise me so you could fight this blasted war and you never even cared enough to tell me the truth!"

"Leia LISTEN to me!" Padmé shouted. Her voice was shaking, but she still held a commanding tone from years of leading the Alliance.

"I lied. But I did it to protect you."

"Protect me from what?"

"From the truth, Leia." Padmé lowered herself into the chair and starred at the wall as she spoke.

"I knew your father when he was a boy. A selfless boy who risked his life to help me."

Leia said nothing. Her rage still burned within.

"When next I saw him, that boy was dead." Padmé went on. "I never wanted to tell you about your conception. I have never spoken of it to anyone."

"Tell me mother." Leia commanded. "Tell me the truth now."

"He...raped me." Padmé said simply. "In the center of the Galactic Senate Chamber he raped me. And his Sith mistress....she.....violated me."

Leia felt her anger subsiding. Her mother had carried this pain for a long time. Leia began to understand.

"I see." Leia said quietly. "That's why you've never wanted to know me. That's why you wanted me to become a Jedi. So I could avenge what he-"

"Oh, Leia NO!" Padmé said, rising from her chair to face her daughter.

"You wanted me to be your vengeance....your weapon against him-"

"You couldn't be more wrong Leia." Padmé took her daughter by the arms and held her tightly. Padmé had tears in her eyes as she spoke.

"I love you Leia." She said firmly. "I didn't tell you the truth because I didn't want you to ever think you were unwanted."

"But I was-"

"No." Padmé said. "I am so proud of you my daughter. You are the woman I always hoped you'd become."

Leia looked deeply into her mother's eyes. Leia was so much younger, but her face was more mature than her mother's. Padmé had a girlishness to her features that gave her an almost perpetual youth. Leia's face was so different...in a way she looked more adult than Padmé ever would.

"And the Grand Admiral." Leia said coldly, the rage in her not yet subsiding. "You knew that he was my half-brother then?"

"I hoped you'd never know, my daughter." Padmé whispered. "I hoped you would never meet either of them."

"Well I did mother." Leia said angrily as she turned to face the wall, no longer meeting her mother's gaze. "I met him and was totally unprepared for the truth. He used it against me....all because you couldn't be honest with me from the start."

Padmé said nothing. She didn't know what to say anymore. She had lied. She had lied to her daughter. And she had kept her distance from Leia for most of her life. Aayla had raised Leia, it was true. And now there was little left to salvage between the two of them.

"Leia...it doesn't matter now anyway." Padmé announced bleakly. "This war is over."

Leia didn't face her mother yet.

"Leia, even if this attack on the Death Star succeeds....we lose."

Leia turned to face her mother now. "What do you mean?"

"You're father Leia...the Emperor." Padmé answered. "He's built a new Death Star."

Leia's eyes went wide with the news. If it was true...it really was over. Two Death Stars would mean the end of freedom for the galaxy. The Alliance had been nearly destroyed by the brutal use of just one of the super weapons. If the Emperor could actually create a second one...

"It's true." Padmé whispered. "I just received the intelligence report this morning. In orbit of the forest moon of Endor. A completely operational Death Star....far larger than the first."

Leia said nothing. Her father would be on that station. She felt it. He would command the Empire from his impenetrable new fortress.

"So you see, my daughter." Padmé said with resignation, lowering herself into her desk chair. "He's won."

"No." Leia whispered. "Not if I kill him."

Padmé looked suddenly at her daughter as Leia strode purposefully towards the door. Padmé quickly rose to grab her daughter by the shoulder. There was panic in the older woman's eyes.

"No!" Padmé cried as she turned Leia to face her, "You can't face him! You don't know how strong he is Leia! He destroyed all the Jedi...he'll destroy you too....or worse...my gods Leia come to your senses."

Leia's gaze ripped into her mother. For the first time Padmé actually recoiled in fear of the raw power of her daughter's gaze.

"I'm going to end this." Leia announced. "And not you, or anyone else in the galaxy can stop me."

Leia walked from the room silently, leaving Padmé to collapse onto her bed. The leader of the Alliance began to sob hysterically. It was over now. Her daughter was leaving to face her destiny, the Alliance was leaving within hours to make its final attack. It was truly the end of all things.

Chapter 3

The Imperial Shuttle Abaddon extended its wings as it lowered from the launch bay of the Star Destroyer Avenger. The elegant craft glided swiftly across the void over the sanctuary moon as it approached the completed superstructure of the second Death Star. Folding its wings up as it approached the massive hangar bay, the graceful ship touched down on the gleaming deck almost silently.

"Inform the Emperor that Grand Admiral Skywalker has arrived." The commander called out from his control station.

Two full battalions of black clad imperial soldiers flooded into the room, surrounding the shuttle. Rather than standing at attention, they stood with their blasters drawn and ready, all trained on the Abaddon.

Admiral Piett strode forward from the amassed troops, stopping in front of the shuttle's lowering ramp. Piett tried to control his trembling as the hydraulics lowered the entry ramp to the deck. The metal clicking of the Grand Admiral's metallic legs echoed through the hanger as the white uniformed figure descended to the deck.

Piett found it difficult to meet the intense gaze of his commanding officer as he came closer. The man commanded a strange power. Piett found it similar to being in the presence of the Emperor himself. It was as if the Skywalkers could see into a man's very soul with their burning gazes. Piett spoke quickly to cover his fear.

"Grand Admiral Skywalker, we are honored by your presence." Piett began diplomatically.

"Indeed." Luke said coldly as he gazed as the amassed troops, their weapons all trained upon him.

"Uh, yes sir." Piett said, nervously looking at the men, their weapons all conspicuously aimed at the Grand Admiral. Lowering his voice to a whisper, Piett continued, "Surely sir you are aware the Emperor has forbidden you to board this station."

Luke glared at the assembled soldiers. "I am your commanding officer."

"Y-yes sir." Piett replied. "But sir the Emperor himself--"

"My father." Luke corrected.

"Y-yes Admiral....he has specifically ordered--"

"I am here to see him."

Luke raised his black metal hand at the assembled soldiers reaching out with the force. In perfect unison, they lowered their weapons and returned them to their holsters.

Piett stood in awe, witnessing the total control his commanding officer had over the assembled troops. He looked fearfully back into Luke's translucent eyes. Piett knew he couldn't stop the Grand Admiral from boarding the station....knew he couldn't stop him from entering the Emperor's newly completed throne room. But he also knew he would likely be killed by the Emperor if he didn't follow his orders. Piett shifted nervously back and forth on his feet. He was in an impossible position.

Luke's hateful gaze tore into him, reducing Piett to a man who could barely speak.

"I've brought my father a present." Luke said quietly, extending his hand back to the shuttle. A black rectangular shaped floated down the ramp, suspended a meter above the ground. Piett looked fearfully at the ominous black shape that floated towards him. As it approached, he could make out the exposed breasts and nipples of what appeared to be a nude Twi'lek woman, her face contorted in a scream, frozen in carbonite.

"I'll find my own way." Luke said arrogantly as he walked past Piett and the assembled troops, his carbonite prize floating behind him.

Admiral Piett made no move to stop him, looking again at his troops who still seemed to be in some kind of trance.

Luke smiled to himself as he walked silently through the halls of the new Death Star. It was far larger than the first. Luke had overseen every aspect of the final phase of the first Death Star's construction. He knew that station like no one else. But this station was completely different. Completely better.

As he entered a large elevator with his carbonite encased prisoner, he marveled at how much more spacious this station was. It had been built completely in secret. His father had not trusted him enough to even tell Luke it was being constructed. As the elevator began its rapid assent, Luke felt stirrings of jealousy as he realized that a few select Admirals like Tarkin must have been aware of its construction for some time. Luke himself had only become aware of the new Death Star three days ago while interrogating a Bothan spy.

Luke been on the outside ever since his failed coup and his posting to the Avenger. A Grand Admiral in title only. More trusted officers like Tarkin and Piett were given the truly powerful command postings.

The door opened with a hiss and Luke stepped into the darkly lit throne room. Atop the staircase there were large windows surrounding a central throne.

Luke stepped forward, climbing the steps towards the chair, saying nothing. He could sense his father's power....just as his father could sense his. The chair began rotating as Luke approached. Despite the years that had passed since his immolation, Luke felt pain in the stumps of his severed limbs as his father's glowing eyes fell upon him.

Emperor Anakin Skywalker rose from his chair and pulled back his black hood. Those few moments in the vacuum of space had forever changed Anakin's appearance. His skin was a pale white with blue veins visible through the surface. A goatee covered his mouth and his sideburns were cropped sharply, accenting the man's angular face. He looked somehow crueler now than ever before. His blood red eyes seethed with the power of the dark side.

"My son." His voice came in a deadly rasp. "You are forbidden to be here."

"I only just discovered you built this station, father." Luke said, trying to avoid his father's wrath.

"Indeed." Anakin said, walking slowly towards his son. Luke felt himself tensing at his father's menacing approach. "Perhaps you haven't learned your lesson yet. Perhaps you have yet another limb I should cut off."

Luke realized he was playing with fire. He knew wasn't strong enough to defeat his father yet. It wasn't just that his artificial limbs had taken away his agility. His father was stronger now. Without Asajj Ventress as a distraction, Anakin had somehow grown stronger in the dark side than ever before. Luke could feel the power emanating from the man like a raging fire, barely kept in check.

"Father." Luke spoke quickly. "I am here for one purpose. To serve you. And to redeem myself in your eyes."

Extending his hand, Luke used the force to pull the carbonite block from behind him. He rotated it so that it stood up on its end. The perfect body of the Twi'lek woman was presented to the Emperor.

"Aayla Secura." Luke said triumphantly. "The last of the Jedi."

Anakin silently appraised the gift and then focused back on Luke with a piercing gaze.

"You think I am blind Luke?"

"Blind?" Luke stammered, "No father I--"

"My daughter Leia Amidala is the last of the Jedi."

Luke was speechless.

"Fool. Did you really think you were the only one who could sense her?"

"Of course not father." Luke lied, "That is why I've brought you this gift. Secura is more than Leia's mentor. She is her lover. The perfect tool for you to use."

"Ah." Anakin said, turning back to look out into the depths of space. "And together we will turn her to the dark side."

"Yes." Luke answered. "I encountered her in Bespin. She is strong in the force father."

"Quite an encounter it must have been." Anakin mocked. "I felt the tremors in the force all the way across the galaxy."

Luke was still unsure how much his father knew of his coupling with his half sister. He continued cautiously.

"She is...strong in the force father. A powerful ally."

A powerful ally to finally destroy you, Luke thought.

"Yes." Anakin said looking back at his son. "A family reunion."

Chapter 4

Padmé had finally managed to pull herself together. If this was the end of the Alliance, she would make the final stand with them. On the front lines. She walked confidently up the ramp of the Outrider, turning down the short corridor to enter the sleek ship's bridge.

Han Solo was at the controls, adjusting the instrument panel in preparation for launch. He looked up as she entered the small room to see the beautiful leader of the Alliance approach.

"We're almost ready to get underway here." Han announced, his eyes roving over the flawless body of the older woman.

"Good." Padmé replied, staring out the window at the hanger deck as the pilots readied their vessels.

Han's eyes roved over the body of the small woman. She wore all white, as usual. Her body accentuated by a tight fitting body suit and a white cape that gave her a regal countenance. Han had generally never found older women particularly attractive. But Padmé was something special. He had to admit, he'd been from one end of this galaxy to another, and seen a lot of strange pussy. But the beauty and dignity of Padmé Amidala was truly unique.

"Is there something you needed?" Han finally asked to break the silence.

"I'm going with you." Padmé announced, her tone leaving no room for debate.

"I don't think—"

"Do you know why the Death Star is heading for Naboo, Han?" Padmé suddenly locked her gaze with his. "It's going to destroy Naboo because the Emperor knows it's my home planet."

Han said nothing. He hadn't known if there had been any truth to the rumors that somehow the Emperor and Padmé had a history together. But her statement seemed to confirm that the war had become very personal.

"I'm not going to direct this battle from the command ship." Padmé continued. "I'm going to fly it with you right here on the Outrider."

Han stood up and stepped close to her. Padmé looked up at Han with tears in her eyes. She was trembling. Trembling to be so close to a man. She had avoided men entirely since this war began...no....it was since Anakin had raped her. She had vowed never again to allow herself to be hurt by anyone. But here, in this cockpit, so close to a man she had come to know to be heroic.... Padmé Amidala felt something stir inside her that had been dormant for far too long.

Han felt the vulnerability in the beautiful leader of the Alliance. She was closed off to the world...and untouched for so long. As he placed his hands on her shoulders, he could feel her trembling in his light grip.

Padmé looked away suddenly. Ashamed, terrified, exhilarated, her emotions were washing over her too quickly to sort out. Han lightly touched her chin, bringing her face back to his. He leaned in and tenderly kissed her quivering lips.