A/N: I am so awful at chapter length consistency, but whatever. Thank you for the reviews & follows & I hope you like the chapter.

Luke stood on the edge of the platform, looking down into the foggy abyss below. The wind blew his cloak out behind him and tousled his golden fringe. Behind him, his troops were hurriedly covering their shuttle in camouflage nets. They hadn't gone to such lengths before, but Luke had an unusual feeling that this time would be different. Something was about to go his way…

Luke looked up and out at the horizon. The misty cloud continued on as far as he could see, broken every now and then by large, spire-like trees. According to Imperial data, the fog was noxious to humans, which is why any settlements on this planet had to be built on raised platforms. That meant that there was limited landing space and so it was very likely that the Rebels at the outpost already knew they were here. So why was he bothering to camouflage his ship? He didn't quite know why yet, but he had a feeling it would come in handy later on.

Luke turned around as one of his troops called out to him.

"The nets are all set, my Lord."

"Very good," Luke replied. "Active them."

The trooper flicked a switch on a small, handheld device and suddenly the shuttle melted into the horizon. Luke took a couple of minutes to wander around the ship, checking the adequacy of the camouflage. The technology was not entirely perfect, which meant that occasionally a glimmer would give away the fact that something was being shielded, but if you were just passing by or looking on from a distance it wouldn't be noticeable at all.

Luke returned to his troops once he was satisfied.

"Let's move."

The trip to the outpost was short and uneventful. Many of the buildings that they passed looked as if they had been abandoned long ago. Some were even falling down. An eerie silence filled the air, but Luke put that down to the natural state of things rather than an indication that something bad was about to happen.

They moved swiftly and silently down the main pathway. Their scanner indicated that the outpost was located in the building at the very end of the platform strip, so that was where they were headed, although Luke halted them a couple of buildings away. His senses had warned him that they were about to encounter their enemies.

"Get your weapons ready and find some cover if you can," he ordered his troops. "They have us in their sights."

Brief acknowledgements reached his ears as the troopers quickly scattered. Luke turned his gaze on the building but did not move. He was out in the open in full range of the enemy's weapons yet he knew he was safe—for the time being at least. His presence was creating fear in the Rebels. He could sense it from here. The tension was thick and palpable in the air and it sent shivers of excitement down his spine.

He stared forwards for another couple of minutes as his troopers set up their weapons. His fingers were tingling with anticipation, but it wasn't the oncoming fight that excited him. It was something else. Something he couldn't quite put his finger on yet.

He turned to his troops. All of them had eyes on him, indicating that they were ready for action.

"Launch a smoke grenade at the doorway," he ordered as he unclipped his lightsaber from his belt. "Then enter swiftly and kill all that get in your way. I will enter from the back and obtain the codes."

The troops nodded then primed their weapons. One pulled out a small, circular disc and flicked the switch on the side. Luke gave the trooper with the grenade a short nod and then turned his gaze on the Rebel outpost as the metallic device was launched at the doorway.

The instant the grenade erupted into smoke, Luke disappeared from view and took off swiftly down the alleyway to his left. Blaster fire broke out behind him and he could sense his troopers moving swiftly towards the building. The Rebels were returning fire, but due to the smoke obscuring the air between the fighters, no one had hit a target yet.

Luke turned quickly around the corner and raced down the dark back alley that led towards the rear of the Rebel outpost. He slowed as he neared the edge of the building, extending his senses for any traps that the Rebels might have set. When he found none, he tugged his hood down even further over his face and strode forward towards the back door of the building.

The locking mechanisms creaked and groaned as they were forced open by Luke's extended palm and the door swung inwards seconds later. Luke didn't even pause to survey the darkened corridor in front of him as he moved swiftly through the doorway and headed in the direction of the nearest computer outlet. He pulled a data card from his pocket as he moved and clipped his lightsaber to his belt. All of the Rebels were currently engaged in the firefight with the stormtroopers at the front of the building, so he was perfectly sure that he could do without his weapon for the time being.

Luke pushed a door open and stepped into a darkened room. The wall to the left was lined with three computer terminals. Luke stepped up swiftly to the closest one and inserted his data card. A blue display popped up in front of him and he leaned against the desk as he began his search for the codes.

It didn't take him long to find them—barely thirty seconds had passed and he was already transferring the data to his card. He watched intently as the progress bar steadily filled up. Twenty percent… Thirty percent…

The transfer hadn't quite reached fifty percent when a sharp jolt in the Force broke Luke from his thoughts. He turned away from the computer terminal as he extended his senses to find the cause of the disturbance. And he cursed instantly.

One of his troopers had fallen, but that wasn't the only issue. The Rebels were falling back and were heading straight for him. Luke unclipped his saber from his belt just as the door burst open.

The Rebels skidded to a halt mere metres into the room as their eyes landed on Luke. They paused, momentarily shocked and uncertain. But suddenly the air behind them was alight with blaster fire from the stormtroopers and they barged into the room even further, raising their weapons at Luke.

Luke ignited his saber in a flash as the laser bolts began sizzling towards him. He swung his saber almost casually, deflecting every shot that came his way with ease. Two Rebels fell swiftly and were soon followed by a third. Fear swelled within the remaining Rebels but they did not break fire.

Luke continued to deflect the shots as his squad of stormtroopers entered the room. Now pitted against two enemies, the Rebels were quick to fall prey to the barrage of laser bolts flying around the room. The air was silent in less than a minute.

Luke gazed down hardly at the smoldering bodies of the Rebels. His saber cast a red tint over the darkened room, twisting the scene into one of a gruesome bloodbath. He stared for a few moments longer, breathing in deeply from adrenaline, before he turned and grabbed the successfully written data card from the computer terminal.

He turned and was about to storm out of the room when he was stopped short by a stormtrooper hurrying through the doorway. The man held a small scanner in his hand leading Luke to the quick assumption that he had been posted on watch whilst the others had continued the fight.

"My Lord, we have picked up two ships entering the system," the stormtrooper said quickly. "Their trajectory suggests they're heading for the landing platform."

"What ships?" Luke asked.

"An unidentified troop carrier and a YT-1300 light freighter," the trooper answered after a glance at his scanner.

Luke couldn't help the expression that crossed his face at those words. His eyes widened and his mouth split into a crooked grin. Luckily his face was covered by his hood, otherwise he was sure he would have come off as looking half-crazed in the red light of his saber.

So this was what that feeling from the Force had been trying to tell him. This was why he had had a feeling that something was going to go his way.

Finally, he had a chance at proper revenge.

Luke deactivated his saber, sinking the room into darkness again.

"It's the Alliance. Hide the bodies and then find cover within the base," Luke ordered as he pressed past his troops into the corridor. "Be prepared to fight, but whatever happens, I want the Princess and the smuggler Han Solo alive."

"Yes, sir," chanted the troops.

"Be quick and don't let anyone see you," Luke said as he turned and began walking towards the set of stairs that led to the roof. "We want this to be a surprise."

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Leia stared out at the milky white planet in front of them. The entire hyperspace journey here she had received nothing but bad vibes from the Force. Initially, she had just put it down to her concern about Skyro and the fact that she couldn't help him escape the dismissal from the Alliance that he was undoubtedly going to receive. But as they had pulled out of hyperspace, her bad feeling had magnified and now she had no choice but to accept the fact that it had to do with the mission ahead of them.

"I have a bad feeling about this" she whispered from where she sat in the back seat of the Millennium Falcon's cockpit.

Han gave her a brief look, but then returned to the controls as he began to guide them into Syriet's atmosphere.

"It's going to be fine, trust me," he said as he flipped a couple of levers. Chewbacca roared softly in agreement from the copilot's seat.

"No," Leia murmured, standing up slowly and moving into the space between the two front seats so she could see better as they passed through the atmosphere. "I sense…"

"What is it?" Han asked, concern immediately entering his tone. "What do you sense?"

"I…" Leia shook her head softly, a slight crease lining her brow as she tried to concentrate on the feeling she was getting from the Force. It was… strange, to say the least. She had never felt something like this before—not while she had been training with Yoda and not when she had returned to the Alliance. This was something new to her Force senses and she didn't like it at all.

"I'm not sure," she finished slowly, but her actions thereafter said otherwise.

She sank back into her seat and closed her eyes, reaching into the Force to make sure that her mental shields were as tough and impenetrable as they could be. The Force wasn't giving her any particulars about the situation, but the information about the prior attacks certainly did. If there was any chance that Vader's apprentice might be on the planet right now, she needed to be extremely careful. She couldn't risk him finding out about her talents, not when she was so inexperienced—she didn't even have a proper weapon to fight him with! Yes, caution was definitely the best option here, she decided as she double checked the security of her shields.

A long, grey strip soon materialised out of the mist below them.

"That's it, Chewie," Han said as he looked up from the scanner. "We'll put down close to the outpost. There's enough room there for the Falcon and the troop carrier to land nicely."

Chewie growled softly in agreement and soon enough they were swinging low over the buildings. The Falcon slowed to hover over the small landing platform, then the repulsors kicked in and they were gently lowered down.

All the while, Leia's eyes were fixed on the building that was the Rebel outpost. The windows were darkened and empty and she could see no movement within. A cold chill was swiftly spreading over her skin, lifting the hair on her arms and on the back of her neck. And suddenly she remembered some important advice Yoda had given her.

If she truly wanted to hide her secrets from a Force user, she had to leave some parts of her consciousness unshielded. That way they wouldn't be suspicious when they came into contact with rigorous, impenetrable barricades all the way round. Leia took a deep breath in and concentrated on her deepest, most important secrets. Those were the ones she truly needed to shield, everything else could be left relatively open for now.

It only took a few moments to make the changes in her shielding. Luckily, it was something she had taken quite well to during Yoda's training. After all, she had always been good at shielding her thoughts even when the Force hadn't been involved—that time on the first Death Star, for example. She had never given away the location of the Alliance base despite the torture and mental abuse Vader had put her through and she wasn't about to tarnish her record now.

She opened her eyes slowly and suddenly her head felt a lot lighter. For a moment she thought it was just the fact that she had reduced her shielding, but as she squinted towards the building again, she realised that the bad feeling from the Force wasn't as strong any more. She hummed quietly to herself, uncertain of why the change had occurred but taking it as a good sign nonetheless. Whether she was misinterpreting that or not, she didn't have time to consider, because Han and Chewie had finished shutting down the Falcon and were now clambering out of their seats.

"Ready to go?" Han asked. His tone was light, but the edges of his eyes were creased in concern as he looked at her.

She nodded and stood up, pulling her blaster from its holster as she did so. Han obviously noticed because he did the same after a moment's consideration.

"I'll let you brief the troops," he said as he slid past her to the back of the Falcon.

She followed after him and together they descended the ramp onto the landing platform below.

A bitter breeze blew at them the moment they set foot on the grey permacrete. Leia raised her hand to brush away the loose hairs dancing in front of her face as she turned to face the troop carrier which had set down beside the Falcon. She crinkled her nose at the smell in the air. It was sulphurous almost, but a touch softer, originating from the swirling mists below the platform.

Leia straightened slightly as the troops exited the shuttle and crowded around her.

"Lasdon, do you have the scanner?" she asked immediately. Her back was currently turned to the outpost building and it was making her anxious. For some strange reason, she felt like she was being watched, but she didn't want to give the troops the wrong idea, so she kept her focus on them and the scanner that Lasdon was pulling out.

"Can you get a reading on the building?" she asked.

Lasdon, a young, ginger haired man, turned a couple of dials on the device then angled it towards the building.

"There's interference but I'm picking up some lifeforms," he said after studying the display for a moment.

"Humanoid?"

"Yes."

"How many?"

Lasdon fiddled with the device a bit more. "I can't be certain. Ten, maybe more, maybe less."

Leia nodded slowly and finally turned her gaze back to the building. She narrowed her eyes as she looked at it. Her bad feeling from the Force had dulled but it hadn't left entirely and that could only mean one thing.

"We'll approach from the side and enter from the front," she said quickly. "I want weapons drawn and everyone on alert. There's a great chance that we're too late."

"What do you mean?" asked one of the troops. "There's lifeforms on the scanner. That means they're not dead."

Leia turned to look at them again.

"Yes, there's lifeforms, but who's to say they're not Imperials?" she answered. "If they're ours, why haven't they shown themselves yet?"

An uneasy silence spread across the company, but Leia didn't let it linger too long.

"Weapons out and let's go," she said, turning towards the building.

There were soft rustles of fabric and harsh clicks of metal as the troops primed their weapons and set off after her. The wind bit at their ankles and blew curls of white mist into their faces as they marched but they did their best to ignore it. An unsettling silence had spread over the group and Leia was beginning to regret voicing the suggestion that the Imperials might be waiting for them, although it would have been foolish of her not to. They were most likely walking into a trap, but at least they knew that. They were prepared for what lay ahead of them.

Well, unless Vader's apprentice was waiting for them…

Leia shook her head and brushed that thought aside. If Vader's apprentice truly was here, she'd get everyone out as quickly as she could, but for now it was only a possibility and they had to keep moving forward.

Leia stopped as they reached the thin bridge between the landing platform and the main platform stretch. She stepped to the side and allowed her troops to go first. They shuffled past her quickly and quietly, weapons raised and eyes wide. Leia was about to follow them when she realised Han hadn't gone past her.

She turned around and found him standing near the edge of the platform about twenty metres away from her. She frowned, confused and slightly annoyed. She was about to call out to him but his actions silenced her for the moment.

Han kicked a small chip of permacrete off the edge and leaned out to watch it fall. After a couple of seconds staring into the mists, he turned to Chewie and uttered something Leia couldn't hear. Chewie roared softly and shook his head in what seemed to be disagreement. Han argued back instantly and it took another couple of moments spent bickering before Chewie finally slouched and let out an acquiescent whine. Han clapped Chewie on the shoulder and then turned and began making his way towards where Leia was standing. She expected Chewie to follow close after Han, but he didn't. Instead, he turned and headed back up the ramp of the Millennium Falcon.

Leia couldn't help the confused frown that crossed her face as Han neared her. He obviously noticed her expression, as he quickly explained, "Chewie's gonna stay behind with the ships and keep an eye out for Imperials. He'll let us know if there's any trouble."

"Okay," Leia murmured, her frown disappearing as she realised that wasn't such a bad idea. She turned and followed Han as he began to cross the bridge. "What were you doing by the edge?"

"Just wanted to see how far down it went," Han replied. He shot a glance at the mist curling up onto the bridge. "I couldn't see too far, though. The mist is too thick."

"I'm sure it's a long drop," Leia commented, also glancing down over the edge of the bridge. "You wouldn't want to fall."

Han hummed in agreement.

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A tremor of excitement rolled down Luke's spine as he watched the Rebels from his vantage point on the roof of the outpost building. He was crouched low in the corner where the barrier that lined the rim of the roof was most intact. His cloak was wrapped tightly around him and his hood was drawn low, so if someone decided to look his way, they wouldn't be able to distinguish him from the dark features of the outpost roof.

Luke's eyes travelled along the line of soldiers making their way across the bridge. They held large, intimidating blasters in their hands, loaded and ready for action. They obviously had an idea of what was waiting for them inside the outpost. Luke grinned. The fight ahead would be the best one yet. But that wasn't what he was most looking forward to—far from it, in fact. Luke turned his gaze back to the landing platform and his grin spread into a positively predatory smirk as he laid eyes on his main source of excitement.

Leia.

Luke's eyes travelled up and down her fatigue-clad form. It felt like an age since he had seen her, yet in reality it hadn't even been two months. She looked much the same as she had when he had last seen her on Arka III—thinner now, perhaps—but Luke knew that she was a completely different person to who he had thought she was back then. She had lied to him, falsely stated that she trusted him and then left him to the mercy of the Imperials where he had been tortured and abused for days. It wasn't that he hated where he was now—he actually felt quite at home with Vader and the Imperials—he just hated that he hadn't seen through her sooner. In a way, he was almost thankful that he had ended up in Vader's hands because, unlike Leia, Vader had been honest with him, shown him the truth about the princess.

And now here she was right in front of him. Luke's hand itched for his lightsaber. He wanted more than anything to go down there and end this right now—make her pay for her betrayal—but he stayed his hand.

If he had learned anything from his time with the Imperials, it was that there were things much worse than death.

Luke turned his attention back to the scene in front of him and instantly he was filled with an emotion he wasn't quite sure how to describe as a tall, familiar smuggler stepped into his line of sight.

Han.

Luke wanted to be angry at him—wanted to feel the same level of hatred as he did towards Leia—but he just couldn't. There was absolutely no reason for Luke to feel contempt for his old friend. After all, Han had been encased in carbonite for a year. He hadn't been involved in the Arka III debacle and he hadn't had anything to do with Luke ending up in the hands of the Imperials. Luke shifted uncomfortably on the spot as he struggled to come to terms with his emotions. As much as he hated to admit it, he was very much relieved to see his friend alive and walking.

And what would Han think when he saw Luke alive and walking? After all, the Alliance thought he was dead and a traitor—of which, only one was true of course. Surely someone would have had to break the news to him after the rescue on Tatooine. How had he reacted? Luke felt queasy at the thought. He remembered how he had felt after discovering Han's fate on Bespin. He could only imagine how Han had felt hearing the news that his friend had been killed.

His friend… Luke couldn't help himself but wonder if they'd still be able to be friends once Han discovered he was alive. He sorely hoped so—Han had been like a brother to him—but given the circumstances… it was very unlikely. If they had told Han that he had been killed, then they had undoubtedly told him that he had died a traitor. Whether or not Han had believed that, Luke wasn't sure. But it would ultimately be proved true once they were reunited, even though the circumstances of Luke's betrayal were different to what the Alliance thought.

But Luke's momentary hopes and happiness regarding his old friend were swept away the second Han stepped close to Leia and engaged her in a brief conversation. Luke's fists curled as doubt seeped into his mind. He had been wrong about Leia. What if he had been wrong about Han too? What if Han had known all along about Project Cataclysm? What if he had kept that from him as well? Had he really trusted Luke and considered him a friend? Or were they all too scared of what he was capable of to even consider trusting him, let alone actually think of him as a friend.

Luke's gaze turned fiery as he watched Han and the princess make their way across the bridge and regroup with the soldiers. Well, they should be scared, Luke thought bitterly as he turned his attention to the Rebel troops. He breathed in deeply and extended his senses towards them, searching for the undercurrents in their minds. He smiled quietly to himself as he poked around. The troops would be easy enough to control if he needed.

He was about to withdraw from their presences when he paused for a moment, considering. A quick glance at Han and Leia made up his mind and he carefully pulled at a couple of strings. He didn't need to make too many changes to the Rebels' minds—just enough so that he would be able to control them with a simple nudge rather than a full blown command if he needed. He had originally considered using them to get to Project Cataclysm but that wasn't necessary any more. He had Princess Leia in his sights. She was the key to the Project and he would get his answers from her personally.

He finished up the manipulation and slowly withdrew from the minds of the soldiers, leaving none the wiser. He brought his vision back into focus and was surprised to see that the band of Rebels were nearing the side of the building.

Luke's insides squirmed with excitement. It was about to begin.

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Leia held up her hand as they neared the front of the building and everyone came to a halt. Sticking close to the wall, she took a couple of steps forward, then peered around the corner to get a glance at the doorway. She pulled back slightly, expecting a laser blast to fly at her, but when none came, she peered out again and her brow creased as she looked at the badly scarred doorway.

Leia moved forward, ignoring the quiet protests coming from Han, and trailed her hand along the cold, metal lining of the front wall. It was riddled with scorch marks and holes from laser blasts and when Leia pulled her hand away, she found that it was covered in black powder. She tried to brush it off on her fatigues, but the residue was stubborn and for the most part didn't want to budge. She sighed and was about to report back to her troops when a glint of silver caught her eye.

She bent down slowly and reached her hand out towards the small disc on the pavement in front of her. She knew better than to pick it up, so she just trailed her fingertips over the divots on the outside. From her quick examination, she decided that it was a smoke grenade and from the warmth that entered her fingers, it had likely been set off within the past hour.

Leia stood up quickly and returned to her troops.

"The Imperials have been here," she whispered quickly. "There was a fight at the doorway. No bodies, but plenty of laser blasts so there must have been casualties. The fight was recent. It's been less than an hour. They're still in there and they're waiting for us."

"Were there any lightsaber marks?" asked one of the troops, eyes wide with obvious trepidation.

Leia shook her head. "Not that I could see, but that doesn't mean he's not here."

Some looks were passed around the group. Everyone knew that the odds of going up against a Sith and winning were slim. Leia understood their fear all too well. She had encountered Vader a number of times now and she would not go up against him willingly. But at least Vader hardly ever fought in person on the battlefield—he always sent his stormtroopers to do his dirty work. This apprentice of his, however... He had killed countless Rebel troopers by his own hand. Many had fallen prey to his lightsaber or the return of their own blaster bolts, but some had met an even worse fate in the form of a brutal Force assault. Broken bones and crumpled bodies… This Sith was certainly not to be messed with. And the fact that he had taken out the entirety of Jabba's palace by himself showed just how powerful he was. Powerful, bloodthirsty and merciless.

Leia squared her shoulders and readjusted her grip on her blaster. It was almost suicidal to go inside and take the chance that Vader's apprentice would be waiting for them, but they had to. They had to start fighting back and defending the outposts, otherwise the Empire would discover that the codes were useless and the entire failsafe system would be for nothing—and the men at the other outposts would have died for nothing. She couldn't live with that on her shoulders.

"We're going in on the count of three," Leia said, her heart pounding in her chest. "If any stormtroopers come at you, shoot to kill, but if Vader's apprentice shows, don't shoot. He can send your blaster bolts right back at you. It's better to retreat than get killed. Do you understand?"

There were solemn nods from around the group.

"Alright, then. On my count," she said, turning to face the doorway. "Be careful and if it comes to it, don't go down without a fight." She took a deep breath. "Three, two, one, now!"

They rounded the corner and entered the building quickly and quietly. The instant she was through the doorway, Leia dropped behind the nearest shelter she could find and raised her blaster. Everyone else did the same.

They waited silently but no blaster bolts came at them nor could they hear any movement from further inside the building. Leia glanced across the room to where Han was crouched behind a flipped desk. He caught her eye, then nudged his head in the direction of the interior. She gave him a nod.

Han raised himself slightly on his haunches and lifted his blaster to eye level. Then he slowly peered over the top of the desk and scanned the area in front of him. Deciding it looked good, he started to get up fully, but suddenly a laser blast sizzled past his head and he dropped back to the floor in an instant, cursing silently.

Leia peered over the top of the box she was hiding behind, then quickly ducked back as she spotted the trooper that had fired at Han. Flicking the safety off, she lifted her blaster and took a deep breath. Then in the space of two seconds, she stood up and fired two shots at the stormtrooper. Her aim was perfect and the trooper's armor exploded in a burst of flame. He fell to the floor, dead.

Everyone took that as the cue to press forwards. They moved quickly into the next room, weapons raised, and suddenly the air around them was alight with laser fire.

Leia dropped to the floor and rolled quickly, easily dodging the two blasts that sizzled her way. She pulled herself up into a crouch and snapped off a couple of shots at the nearest stormtroopers. They fell with muffled screams, but she didn't have time to watch as another blaster bolt was coming at her and she was forced to duck behind a toppled cabinet. Leia took a couple of seconds to catch her breath, then turned and started firing again.

The chaos continued for a number of minutes. Blaster bolts whipped around the room, painting the walls with light and illuminating the fallen. Leia couldn't see how many Rebels had been killed or badly injured, but it seemed that they currently had the advantage. The amount of fire from the stormtroopers' end was steadily decreasing and the amount of agony she was feeling through the Force was declining. But that didn't mean it didn't affect her, however.

Leia leaned her head back against the fallen cabinet and squeezed her eyes shut as she struggled to keep the overwhelming emotions of the dying from collapsing her mental shields. She balled her hands into fists and dug her nails into her palms, forcing the pain of everyone else out and her own pain in.

She struggled that way for a number of minutes until everything seemed to stop and her eyes were forced open. She gasped for breath and unclenched her fists, reeling in the suddenly pain-free feeling. It took her a couple of seconds to regain proper focus, but when she did, she looked around the room and noticed that no one was firing.

She picked herself up slowly and looked over the scene. A number of Rebels were lying motionless on the floor, but the rest were relatively uninjured. Leia's eyes shot to Han and he gave her a nod to indicate that he was okay.

Breathing deeply, she turned to look for Lasdon, the man with the scanner.

"Are there any more in the building?" she asked hurriedly, not willing to put her blaster away in case there were indeed more stormtroopers around.

Lasdon shook his head. "I don't know," he replied. "The scanner was destroyed in the fight."

Leia cursed softly and turned to look at the area in front of them. Fallen stormtroopers littered the floor but beyond that was a corridor—a dark corridor that could lead to a second ambush, maybe even something worse. As Leia stared down the corridor, the shadows seemed to twist and distort, forming hands that reached out and tried to pull her in. She shivered. She didn't want to go in but...

"We need to make sure," she said after a moment's hesitation. She turned to look at her troops. "Those who are still capable of fighting, come with me. We'll return for the dead and the wounded later."

Grunts of affirmation resounded around the room as the Rebels started picking themselves up and brushing themselves off. Han took this opportunity to hurry over to her. He grabbed her softly by the arm and leaned close as he whispered, "Do you think…?"

Leia looked into Han's wide eyes as they flickered towards the corridor. She knew what he was asking without him having to finish the question.

"I don't know," she replied quietly. "Maybe he's in there, maybe he's not, but we have to make sure there aren't any more stormtroopers hiding around the base because the instant we turn our backs they'll make easy targets out of us."

Han nodded slowly, obviously thinking the same thing. Leia gently pulled her arm free of his grip and made her way to the entrance of the corridor. She stared inside for a moment, reaching out as far as she dared with the Force, but she couldn't sense anything.

Taking a deep breath, she lifted her blaster and was about to go in when she was pulled back by Han. She threw him a scowl but it wasn't received. He was too busy gesturing the troops forward.

"Half of you go in first," he whispered to them quietly. "Leia and I will follow, then the rest of you take up the rear. Got it?"

The group nodded. Leia was about to protest but the first half of the troops were already shuffling past her into the corridor, so instead she continued to scowl at Han.

"Forgive me for trying to protect you, sweetheart," Han commented dryly as he noticed her look. He laid his hand on the small of her back and steered her into the corridor. "Let's go."

Leia couldn't tell how far the corridor went, but as soon as she took a couple of steps inside she was instantly surrounded by inky darkness. The lack of light was almost unnatural. Surely the light from the other room would spill in further than this. But when Leia turned to look behind her, all she could see was darkness. She shivered.

They made their way slowly down the corridor, weapons lifted and senses alert. A couple of troops had switched on flashlights, although the artificial light only made it a metre or so in front of them before it was consumed by the shadows. Leia stared, eyes wide, as she tried to listen to the Force. She moved slowly, placing one foot in front of the other. And then she felt it.

It started as a cold chill down her spine. The hairs on the back of her neck lifted and her breath appeared to turn to mist in front of her. She inhaled sharply, coming to an abrupt halt in the middle of the corridor. Han turned around instantly to check on her but she didn't hear his words. Her ears were ringing and her pulse was throbbing loudly near her temples.

She turned around slowly. The troops behind her had stopped also, but she didn't even see them.

She just saw him.

A dark shadow in the already dark corridor.

She stared, wide-eyed, for a couple of moments, her breath caught in her throat. She knew she shouldn't be as scared as she was—he was just a person, after all.

No, she instantly corrected herself. He wasn't a person at all—he was a monster and a murderer—and he effectively had them cornered. That was why she was scared.

But that was also the reason she had to fight.

Leia lifted her blaster and pointed it at Vader's apprentice. Everyone else quickly did the same as they realised with startled gasps who was behind them.

A chilling silence spread rapidly over the group as they stared down the Sith. No one made a move or said a word—they were all too frightened to do so. Leia's hand was growing clammy around the grip of her blaster, but she didn't know what to do. Her action had seemed to stifle her fear for the time being, but now all she was left with was a cautious uncertainty. Attack would be foolish, but this standoff would drive them crazy if it went on for much longer. Leia shifted slightly on the spot.

"I'm glad you finally decided to show up," came the voice of Vader's apprentice. His words sliced through the uneasy silence like a vibroblade, but did nothing to dispel the fear in the air. If anything, the tension in the corridor seemed to triple as his dark tones twisted and echoed in a manner that was entirely unnatural. Leia readjusted her grip on her blaster. "I've been looking forward to this moment."

"You're going to pay for what you've done—for all the men you've killed," Leia responded. Her tone was sharp and her voice was steady. Her fear was under control for the moment. "You won't get away with this."

There was silence from the other end of the corridor and Leia squinted into the darkness to try and get a better glimpse of Vader's apprentice. But all she could make out were shadows upon shadows. Her heart skipped a beat as she wondered whether the Sith was still there, but then a slight movement in the darkness caught her eye and she sighed quietly.

But her relief was short-lived for a sudden violent snap-hiss shattered the silence and the corridor was instantly lit up in red light. The figure of Vader's apprentice was cast into sharp relief as the glowing red blade was lifted in the air and pointed towards the group of Rebels. A couple of the troopers took a step back in shock, others just seemed to jolt in surprise at the sudden ignition of the weapon. Leia didn't even blink, but her grip on her blaster tightened.

"Oh, I think I will," hissed the Sith in a dangerously low voice.

Then he raised his hand and suddenly the troops closest to him stiffened. Leia lowered her blaster an inch as she looked at her soldiers in concern. A moment of silent stillness passed.

Then the troops turned and suddenly all of the blasters in the room were pointed at her and Han. Han cursed loudly.