AN: Thanks again to everyone who's been following this series. I still don't own Star Wars, but you knew that. Anyway, this episode was inspired by Star Trek, Justice League, and just about every other TV show with an "evil alternate dimension" episode.

"Defenders of the Force Episode 7: The Other World"

By EsmeAmelia

Chapter 1

When Han was released from the hospital, the medical droids advised him to stay at home and get as much rest as possible, but a week later he and Leia showed up at the Jedi Academy's cafeteria. Regardless of whether or not he was recently in a coma, he wasn't going to miss his twins' birthday.

"Hey Han!" Lando called the instant he arrived. "Look who's out and about!" He poked his friend's arm in a playful manner. "You old pirate, you had the whole galaxy terrified for a while."

"Yeah, well I survived carbon freezing, didn't I?" said Han, returning the poke. "Glad you could come to the party."

"You think I'd miss the twins' sweet sixteenth?" said Lando. "Bein' a general doesn't mean you can't have some fun once in a while."

Luke and Rianna always decorated the cafeteria when a student (or in today's case, students) had a birthday, which meant there were holobanners wishing Jaina and Jacen a happy birthday, candy cups on the tables, and balloons tied to the chairs. Not only that, but lunch hour was going to be expanded to two hours so they could properly celebrate.

"They're sixteen," Leia murmured as she gazed up at the banners. "How does time go so fast?"

Just then Chewie burst into the cafeteria, holding a present in each paw. After placing the presents on a table, he rushed over to Leia and Han and gathered them both up in a tight Wookiee hug. [Congratulations on your cubs turning sixteen! I can't believe it – it seems like just yesterday they were babies.]

"I know," Han said in a muffled voice under Chewie's arm. "Thanks, pal."

Before long, the teachers came filing into the room – Luke, Rianna, Ahsoka, and the droids among them. Owen was skipping along to the side, having been given permission to take the two hours off from school for his cousins' birthday party.

"Han!" Luke exclaimed when he saw his brother-in-law. "Shouldn't you be sitting down?"

"Oh dear," said 3PO, hobbling up to Han. "Master Han, since you have recently been in a coma, I must advise that you go home at once. After all it would be quite a disaster if you were to collapse during the birthday party."

"I ain't gonna collapse," said Han. "And I sure as hell ain't gonna miss my kids' birthday."

"But Master Han . . ." 3PO began, but fortunately he was interrupted by the students pouring in.

The instant Jaina and Jacen saw their parents, they came running up to them.

"Happy Birthday, sweethearts!" Leia exclaimed as she wrapped her arms around her twins, both of whom were taller than her.

"Thanks Mom," said Jacen.

"Yeah kids, Happy Birthday," said Han, taking his own turn to hug his children.

"Dad, shouldn't you be at home?" Jaina asked.

Han groaned and rolled his eyes. "Is everyone gonna ask me that?" He cocked his head at his daughter. "Sides, didn't someone get her speeder license the other day?"

Jaina gave an embarrassed grin.

"I mean," Han continued, "I was gonna let that person borrow Dad's speeder to go home in, but if she's not interested . . ."

"Okay, Dad," Jaina said as her embarrassed grin grew wider. "You can stay." She shifted her eyes. "Did you mean it? Can I really borrow your speeder?"

"Maybe."

"Attention everyone!" came Luke's voice booming out of the speakers, causing all heads to turn towards the east wall, where he was standing in front of the Coruscant view and holding a microphone. "Attention!" he repeated. "Thank you. Now, as many of you know, my niece Jaina and nephew Jacen are celebrating their sixteenth birthday today, and as such we have an extended lunch break so we can celebrate! After lunch there will be cake and presents, so let's all have a good time. Happy Birthday Jaina and Jacen!"

"Happy Birthday!" the crowd repeated.

. . .

"Hey guys, wait up!"

Mae, Anakin, and Tamyra all turned to find Jaina and Jacen following them, elbowing their way through the students wanting to head on home.

"What's up?" asked Anakin. "Is there leftover cake?"

"Unfortunately, no," said Jacen, grinning at his younger brother.

"But there's something even better!" said Jaina, bearing a wide grin similar to her father's. "You know how I got my speeder license the other day?"

"Yeah?" said Mae, her eyes shifting cautiously.

"Well . . ." said Jaina, her grin unwavering, "Dad just said I could use his speeder to drive us home!" She put her hands behind her back, leaning forward slightly, rocking back and forth on the balls of her feet. "So what do you say? Wanna come with us?"

"That would be rather pointless," said Tamyra, "since I live here."

"Then think of it as going for a ride," Jaina persisted. "I could take you back here after I drop the others off."

Anakin's teeth were rubbing against his lower lip. "Is Dad gonna be with us?"

"Nope!" said Jaina. "He's going home with Mom. I'll be driving – if you'll excuse the expression – solo."

Mae didn't think riding along on someone's very first solo drive sounded like fun, but she couldn't find it in herself to say no when her cousin was so excited.

"Come on," said Jacen, "what could happen?"

Mae thought of a number of unpleasant things that could happen, but then again, Jaina had been taught to fly by Han Solo, generally considered one of the best pilots in the galaxy. She probably already knew the tricks to driving a speeder.

"All right," said Mae, "I'll come." She glanced at Anakin and Tamyra. "What about you guys?"

"I'll come too," said Anakin.

Tamyra shrugged. "Why not? It will be a change of pace, at least."

. . .

It was only a few minutes after the group of five left the temple when a sudden thunderstorm struck, the rain hammering on the speeder's roof, the wind tilting it this way and that, always threatening to send it out of control. The lights of the other speeders outside blurred and expanded in the rain, looking like tiny suns moving every which-way.

"Why did I agree to come with you again?" Anakin shouted.

"I was just wondering that myself," said Mae.

"Come on," said Jaina, gritting her teeth. "It's just a little rain."

"A little rain?" exclaimed Tamyra. "It sounds like the whole sky is going to fall on us!"

A long, loud burst of thunder interrupted the bickering, irritating every ear.

"Now it sounds like the sky is cracking in half," said Tamyra.

"We're okay," Jaina insisted. "We're okay."

The speeder rocked back and forth in the wind, further and further with each swing until it felt like they might fall out of their seats. Mae was finding herself becoming increasingly thankful for her safety restraint, though it was starting to dig into her waist every time the speeder tilted.

"Jaina," Jacen said in a stuttering voice, "don't you think we might want to pull over somewhere and wait the storm out?"

"Why?" said Jaina. "I've got it under control, I've . . ."

Another burst of thunder sounded, this one so loud that it made the entire speeder vibrate and forced everyone to cover their ears. Pain shot in Mae's ears, back and forth as if it were passing through her skull.

"Hang on!" Jaina shouted. "I think we're going down!"

"WHAT?" everyone else exclaimed.

"Just what I said!" Jaina's voice finally sounded panicked. "We're going . . ."

And the speeder crashed.

. . .

"That's it," said Anakin as they crawled out of the speeder, "I'm NEVER getting on a speeder with you again.

"I just don't wanna be there when Dad finds out you crashed his speeder," said Jacen.

"Oh come on," said Jaina. "Dad and I can fix it in a jiffy."

Mae struggled to her feet and pushed her wet hair out of her face, squinting at Coruscant's ever-shining lights through the rain. "So . . . where are we, exactly?"

Tamyra's breath was heavy. "Something's wrong," she said in a soft voice.

"Well yeah something's wrong," said Anakin. "We're stranded in the middle of nowhere in the rain."

Jaina groaned. "Look, all we need to do is call a cab and we'll be fine."

"No, wait," said Tamyra, her blind eyes blinking rapidly. "Something else is wrong, I can feel it."

Just then, a small group of white-armored men came marching down the street, making all their eyes widen. Mae's heart started racing and her breath became shallow. No, no, this wasn't right. They didn't exist anymore . . . they hadn't existed since before she was born . . .

"Are those . . ." Anakin whispered, ". . . stormtroopers?"

Within a moment, the armored men had surrounded the five teenagers, raising their blasters at them. "Halt!" one of them called.

Jaina gulped as she stepped to the front of the group. "Uh . . . hi. Um, are you guys going to a costume party or something? Well, our speeder crashed and we just need to call a cab and then we'll be on our way . . ."

One of the men dressed as a stormtrooper noticed the lightsaber dangling from Jaina's belt. "Unregistered lightsaber!" he shouted.

"What?" Jacen exclaimed.

"Another one!" shouted another of the stormtrooper-dressed men.

"You're under arrest," the man in the center immediately said. "The Empire forbids any unregistered lightsabers."

"What kind of costume party are you going to?" exclaimed Anakin. "Are you in one of those weird role-playing clubs or something?"

"Quiet!" shouted a trooper as the circle of blasters leaned in closer to them. "Get in a line and put your hands behind your heads, NOW!"

His tone was enough to startle the group into putting their hands behind their heads, but before they could line up, blaster shots came firing through the air – and they didn't come from the stormtroopers.

Another man came leaping in, a tan cloth wrapped around his head and face, a blaster rapidly firing in his right hand. The stormtroopers attempted to return the fire, but the man was both agile and a better shot than they were. Within a minute, all the troopers had fallen.

"WHAT THE FUCK?" Jaina exclaimed.

The man turned to face the group and peeled enough of the cloth down to let them see his hazel eyes. "C'mon kids," he said In Han's voice, "you'd better follow me if you wanna live."

"Dad?" exclaimed Jacen. "What the hell's going on?"

Han cocked his head. "Dad? Kid, you look too young for that – I stopped doin' that sorta thing almost twenty years ago. Now c'mon."

"What?" the entire group exclaimed in unison.

Mae quickly brushed the man who had Han's voice with the Force . . . and he matched the Force signature of her uncle, but she also sensed that he didn't recognize any of them. "Wait," she said quickly, trying to keep her breath steady, "you are Han Solo, right?"

The man suddenly darted his head from side to side as if he thought he was about to be attacked. "Shh, shh, SHH!" He clapped his hand over Mae's mouth. "Look kid," he whispered in a harsh voice, "I dunno how you know my name, but you'd better not go blabbin' it or we're all gonna be in big trouble, got that?"

Mae's eyes grew so wide that she felt them starting to dry despite the rain dripping down her face. Why didn't he recognize them? She had just seen him at the birthday party and he seemed perfectly fine. Did his recent coma do something to his brain? Maybe, but that didn't explain the presence of people dressed as stormtroopers who seemed to actually believe they worked for the Empire.

"Now c'mon," said Han after he released Mae's mouth. "I gotta speeder parked just around the corner. We should be able to get to it if we don't run into any more Imperials." He turned around and drew his blaster, holding it in front of him in a protective stance. "Well, are you coming?"

Jaina looked at the others before talking. "Er . . . I guess."

The group hesitantly starting following the man with Han's voice and Force signature through the lightening rain, but Mae stopped short when she noticed a news bulletin was playing on one of Coruscant's large hovering screens.

"Sit tight," said the newscaster, "the Emperor is about to give his speech."

Emperor?

Mae was frozen in place, her breath panting, her heart racing as the "Emperor" appeared on the screen. He was wearing the black hood her father had always described, but instead of the twisted face and the gravelly voice from old news holos, there was a face she knew far better, the sight of which nearly made her faint.

"Dad?"