Title: Night Must Fall
Author: JediMara77
Timeframe: 2-3 ABY
Characters: L/M, H/L, Darth Vader, Yoda, Rogues
Genre: Drama, Action, Romance
Summary: The Empire is on the offensive as the Rebel Alliance continues the struggle to bring freedom to the galaxy. When sacrifices must be made, will the Rebels lose all that they fight for?
A/N: Sequel to Alliance of Heroes. This is Part Two of a trilogy.
Disclaimer: Don't own anything, although I wish I owned Jedi-in-Training!Luke.

.

.

Dramatis Personae

With the Rebel Alliance:
C-3PO - protocol droid
Captain Wedge Antilles - Rogue Three
Chewbacca - co-pilot, Millennium Falcon
Commander Arhul Narra - Renegade Leader
Commander Luke Skywalker - Rogue Leader
Flight Officer Avy Valla - Rogue Twelve
Flight Officer Dack Ralter - Rogue Six
Flight Officer Kasan Moor - Rogue Seven
Flight Officer Kit Valent - Rogue Eleven
General Airen Cracken - Director of Intelligence
General Carlist Rieekan - Minister of War
General Crix Madine - Director of Special Forces Command
Han Solo - captain, Millennium Falcon
Lieutenant Hobbie Klivian - Rogue Four
Lieutenant Mara Jade - Intelligence agent, Rogue Ten
Lieutenant Rade Ticarus - Rogue Eight
Lieutenant Tycho Celchu - Rogue Nine
Lieutenant Wes Janson - Rogue Five
Lieutenant Zev Senesca - Rogue Two
Mon Mothma - Commander in Chief
Princess Leia Organa - High Councilor
R2-D2 - astromech droid
Red - astromech droid
Winter Retrac - Intelligence agent

With the Empire:
Admiral Firmus Piett - Death Squadon commander
Captain Lorth Needa - captain, Avenger
Darth Vader - Dark Lord of the Sith
General Maximilian Veers - Death Squadron ground forces commander
Palpatine - Emperor

Others:
Lando Calrissian - Baron Administrator, Cloud City
Prince Xizor - leader of the Black Sun
Yoda - Jedi Master

.

.

.

.

When you look at the Dark Side, careful you must be...for the Dark Side looks back. - Master Yoda

.

.

.

.

CHAPTER 1

Hoth was cold—extremely cold. The snow whipped around his slight body and stung the small patch of exposed skin on his face. He brought his hand to his scarf and tried to tighten it, but it didn't matter—whenever he was out on patrol, he thought he would never be warm again. Even after six months on this Force-forsaken planet, he only felt vaguely warm while in a hot sanisteam, which according to base regulations could only last one minute. The rest of the time he was either freezing, close to freezing, or only slightly cold.

Luke Skywalker keyed on his comlink and tried to raise his voice over the howling wind. "Echo Three to Echo Seven. Han, old buddy, do you read me?"

"Loud and clear, kid," Han Solo's voice came in over the comlink.

"I haven't picked up any life readings. What about you?"

"Nah, I keep telling Rieekan that these patrols are pointless. There isn't enough life on this ice bucket to fill a space cruiser."

Luke chuckled. Han had been on his case for the past six months—ever since their arrival on Hoth—as to why the Rogues had to suggest such a barren wasteland of a planet as the Alliance's new base. And of course Command had agreed with the suggestion. After all, not even Vader would want to chase the Alliance to an ice planet.

Luke didn't like the patrols either, but they were necessary. If Echo Base was to be protected from Imperial assault, they had to be vigilant and make sure there weren't any probe droids lumbering around the base. Not only that, but some of the patrols had indicated the presence of monstrous creatures, and if Echo Base was going to expand in the near future, they needed to be aware of any and all life forms on the planet.

But for now, there was nothing to be found. "Right. I've hit all my markers. Why don't we head back to base?"

"Sure, kid. I won't argue with that. Echo Seven out."

Luke readjusted his scarf and grasped his tauntaun's reins, then guided the creature in a circle and started the trek back to base. He wished he could just fly back, but they'd been having problems with the speeders since Day One and General Rieekan, the leader of Echo Base, didn't trust the patrollers to go out in them. So instead they were forced to use tauntauns, one of the only creatures that could withstand the cold weather on the planet.

They were also one of the slowest methods of transportation, and Luke suppressed a sigh as he lumbered back to base. But his frown soon turned into a smile as his mind turned to nicer thoughts, like Mara Jade. It had been a year since they became a couple—since their first real kiss, outside her quarters on Home One. They'd spent all their free time together since that moment, which was not nearly enough time in Luke's opinion. The Rogues were still flying across the galaxy on supply runs and escort missions. Mara flew with the Rogues on some occasions, but most of the time she was off on some crazy mission for Cracken or Madine. They seemed to love sending her to far-flung planets on dangerous missions that made Luke's skin crawl. He knew Mara could take care of herself, of course, but it didn't matter. He always preferred when she flew with him, where he could keep his eye on her.

Not that he would ever let her in on that fact, of course. If she knew what he was thinking, she'd probably beat him up. Luke shivered even more just thinking about it.

But tonight…tonight was going to be different. Tonight there would be no talk of missions, or death, or defeating the Empire, or anything else of that matter. Today was their first anniversary, and he was going to show her just how much he cared for her.

He'd planned a special evening, and it was going to be perfect. One of the cooks was preparing the dinner he'd gathered on the last supply run; he'd borrowed a holovid for them to watch afterwards; and he'd even bought Mara a gift—one that, thanks to some assistance from Winter Retrac, he knew she'd adore.

A gust of wind nearly blew him off his tauntaun. "Whoa," he cried, pulling tighter on the reins and righting himself. He shook his head and urged the creature to move faster. "C'mon, let's go."

Han and Luke rendezvoused about a kilometer from base and rode into the South Entrance together. As soon as he crossed the threshold Luke pushed back his hood and brushed off the snow that had accumulated on his head. He didn't think he would ever get used to being so cold. He'd lived nineteen years boiling under Tatooine's twin suns, and now he couldn't ever get warm. The irony wasn't lost on him.

"So, kid, you were in a bit of a hurry to get back," Han teased. "You're usually always up for a few more loops around the markers, just to get on Rieekan's good side. What's the matter—you got a hot date tonight?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Luke protested.

"Uh-huh, sure. Whatever you say, kid."

"Fine," Luke huffed. He jumped off his tauntaun and handed the reins to the attending deck officer. "Does everyone in this base know about my date tonight?"

The deck officer glanced up. "You mean your anniversary date with Lieutenant Jade?"

Luke rolled his eyes. "Yes, Ensign Connors. That's the one."

"Oh yes, Commander Skywalker, everyone knows." Connors leaned in and winked. "Good luck!"

"Thanks," Luke said dryly.

Han handed over his tauntaun and grabbed Luke by the shoulder. "Hey, you're the one who made the mistake of telling Wedge about it."

"I needed help setting everything up. He's my XO, who else was I supposed to ask?"

"You could've asked me. I'd've kept it quiet."

Luke snorted. "Yeah, right."

Han laughed. "You know me too well, kid. So, tell me," he leaned in conspiratorially, "Jade gonna be staying with you tonight?"

"Han—"

"I know, I know, you don't like to talk about it, but c'mon—man to man."

Luke sighed. Han was well-meaning, but he could be relentless. "I'm gonna ask her," he said, rubbing the back of his neck, "but…"

"But what?"

"I don't know if she'll want to."

"Wait a minute." Han pulled Luke off to the side of the hangar. "Are you saying you two haven't…you know—?"

"No," Luke said emphatically, glancing around at the officers milling around the hangar, hoping that Han would take the hint and drop it.

He didn't, but at least he had the decency to lower his voice. "Well, why the hell not? You two can't seem to keep your hands off each other."

Luke shrugged. As much as he wanted to explain the entire situation to Han, he couldn't. All he could say was, "She wants to wait."

"She wants to wait?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"It's...it's complicated." That was the understatement of the year. Luke remembered when things between him and Mara had started getting very serious, about six months into their relationship. As they grew closer and spent more and more time together, Luke couldn't help but anticipate when she would finally spend the night in his bed. He would never pressure her into doing anything she wasn't comfortable with (because she would surely punch him if he tried), and he was more than willing to wait for her to decide the time was right.

But then she had surprised him by saying that as much as she cared for him, she just couldn't sleep with him. At first Luke felt like he had been punched in the gut. He knew she'd been with other men before and couldn't understand why she would now want to wait. Was there something wrong with him? But then she had explained everything—that, as the Emperor's Hand, she'd used her body as a tool to gain information. Now, getting so close to Luke, she felt ashamed of the things she had done and didn't want their relationship to be ruined because she had never learned to connect sex and love. His heart had soared upon hearing her use that word, and he told her that he'd wait as long as she needed—that he'd wait for her forever.

"And you're all right with waiting?"

Luke nodded. He was willing to do anything to help her overcome her past for good. Especially since he was the only person she felt comfortable confiding in. "I have to be. I love her, Han."

Han broke into a huge grin. "You do? Well, have you told her that?"

"No. I want to, but I…I always chicken out at the last minute." Luke knew that Mara felt the same way about him, but he didn't know how she would react to him using that word. He was afraid she'd freak out and run away.

Han, apparently, had a different opinion. "Ya know, if you told her that you love her, it just might convince her to stay the night. Women like those sorts of things." He wiggled his eyebrows.

Luke smiled and shook his head. "You should take your own advice." Han scowled, but Luke ignored him. "For now…there's no hurry."

"I gotcha, kid." Han turned toward the entrance of the hangar, where two figures had just entered. "Well, speak of the devil!"

Luke followed his gaze and grinned. "Mara!" he shouted.

.

.

.

"Hey, wait up!" Mara Jade yelled. She picked up her pace and drew alongside Leia Organa. The Princess was walking much faster than her short legs should be able to move and she kept leaving Mara in the dust. Especially after Mara's last comment, which in retrospect wasn't the smartest thing she'd ever said. "Look Leia, you know we have to take the Falcon. She's the fastest ship the Alliance has got."

"First of all, the Falcon is not an Alliance ship. Second of all, I could never forget her speed. Han reminds me of that fact every single blasted day."

"Maybe he's trying to impress you."

"Oh please, Mara. If that's the case then he's also trying to impress every other woman in the Alliance. Did you see him talking to that twit Stacy the other day? I swear that girl had drool coming out of her mouth!"

"What's the matter, Leia—you jealous?"

"Of course not!"

Mara ignored Leia's protest. "Besides, as soon as you arrived in the hangar he stopped talking to Stacy and immediately ran over to you."

"Yeah, to antagonize me."

"C'mon, Leia. Haven't you heard the old adage? Men only antagonize the women that they like."

"Really? Did you get a lot of Imperial snobs pulling your pigtails when you were a young agent in training?" As soon as the words were out of her mouth, Leia stopped in her tracks. "Oh gods, Mara. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that—"

"Don't worry about it," Mara replied, waving her hand. "In fact, that never happened, which was how I knew that none of them really liked me."

"Luke never antagonizes you. He dotes on you constantly."

"You're just saying that 'cause you don't see how we act when we're alone," Mara responded, eyes twinkling.

With a resigned sigh, Leia turned and resumed walking down the corridor. "If you say so, Mara."

They entered the hangar that led to the South Entrance. Her belly did a tiny flip when she saw Luke standing there, having just gotten in from patrol with Han. It was one of those moments when she wanted to laugh at herself—if Palpatine could see her now, all aflutter over a man.

Luke immediately turned, and Mara knew that he had sensed her presence, just as she had sensed his. They'd been training together in some of their rare free moments, and their connection in the Force had grown stronger, even if Luke's Force powers weren't as refined as he'd like. But he was getting there—he was now able to call his lightsaber to his hand and could levitate small objects.

"Mara!" Luke called. She hurried toward him, walking as fast as she dared, not wanting to be ridiculed by everyone around them. But Luke apparently didn't care about such things, because he picked her up and spun her around.

"Happy to see me?" she murmured against his lips.

"Well, you always manage to get my blood boiling after a patrol."

Mara rolled her eyes at his overly sappy compliment. "Please." But she resumed the kiss, suddenly not caring at all about the whispers regarding the nature of their relationship.

A throat cleared behind her, bringing her back to reality. Leia stood there, impatiently tapping her foot. "Sorry to break up the lovefest, but we have important matters to attend to."

Luke cringed. "Hey, Leia. Sorry about that."

"Yeah, sorry," Mara muttered.

Leia shook her head and stepped forward. "Hello, Luke. Han, General Cracken wants to see you in his office right away."

The Corellian raised his arms innocently. "Hey, whatever it was, I didn't do it!"

"It's about a mission."

"Oh, great."

"Don't worry Han, they roped me into it, too," Mara reassured him.

Luke pulled away from her. "They did?"

She nodded. "Yup, sorry."

Leia cleared her throat again. "If you don't mind?"

"Sure, why not." Han fell into step beside Leia and shrugged more snow off his jacket. Leia gave him a nasty look as some snow fell on her head and she tried to brush it off. Han either didn't notice or didn't care.

"Hey." Luke placed his finger on Mara's chin and brought her attention back to him. "You're supposed to be fixing the speeders with me right now," he said, mock-pouting.

"I know, but there was a change in plans. You can take it up with Airen Cracken."

"I'd rather take it up with you," he said, tweaking her nose.

"I know," she replied, biting his.

He smiled and pressed his lips to hers again, and she had to remind herself that they were in the hangar, surrounded by techs and pilots, in order to keep from running her fingers down his chest. She didn't care that his jacket and pants were freezing and that she now had snow all over her jumpsuit.

After a few moments, Luke surprised her by pulling away. She was always the one to pull away first. "Don't you need to go with Han and Leia?" he asked, his voice deep and husky.

"Yeah," Mara said apologetically. "And you have to get to the speeders."

"I'd rather be working on you than working on the speeders."

"Luke!" She swatted him playfully, and he grabbed her hand and kissed it.

"What?" he said innocently. "It's true."

"Whatever." She kissed him gently on the lips. "Bye."

"Bye," he said in return.

She'd almost left the hangar when she heard him call out to her again. She turned around and he rushed forward. "What is it?" she asked.

"I just wanted to tell you that…that I…" He trailed off, looking awkwardly at the floor.

"What, Luke?"

"I…I'm really looking forward to our date tonight," he said in a rush.

Mara grinned. "Me too, Farmboy." She squeezed his hand, then took off down the hallway to catch up with Leia and Han.

.

.

.

"Master Luke!" C-3PO exclaimed. "It is so good to see you again. I take it that you had a successful patrol with Captain Solo?"

Luke approached the golden droid, who was standing in between two snowspeeders. "Yes, Threepio. It's good to see you, too."

There was a tweedle from underneath one of the T-47s. Luke bent down and saw R2-D2 hooked up to the ship's computer. "Hey, Artoo," he greeted his astromech. "How's the work on the speeders coming?"

Another loud beep answered him. Luke turned his head and saw R5-D7, Mara's droid, hooked up to the other T-47. "Hey, Red. You guys keeping each other company?"

He was answered by two very loud, very negative beeps. "I do say, Master Luke, that Artoo and Red do not seem to get along very well. Their antagonizing nature is really getting to my circuits."

Both astromechs took offense at that statement and began beeping incessantly. "Hey, hold up!" Luke cried. "Threepio, what's going on?"

The protocol droid raised his arms in an approximation of a shrug. "I told you, Master Luke. The droids do not get along. They seem to be angry about your relationship with Miss Jade."

"Threepio, you three are droids. It's impossible for you to dislike each other. But whatever, it doesn't matter. Do you know where Wedge went, Threepio?"

"Oh, Captain Antilles left the hangar to procure another cup of caf."

"Hey boss!"

Luke turned around and grinned at his XO, approaching with two cups in his hand. "Hey! I hope that other cup is for me."

"Of course!"

Luke accepted the cup and gratefully pressed it to his lips. "Oh, that feels good after an afternoon on patrol."

"Yeah? I'd've thought that you already warmed up back at the South Entrance. You know, making out with Mara in front of everyone."

"Ah, you're just jealous."

Wedge grinned. "You're right—I am."

Luke shoved his arm. "C'mon, fill me in—how bad are the speeders?"

"Pretty bad. And the droids won't stop bickering. I swear, it's like the closer you and Mara get, the more those two astromechs hate each other."

"Please, Wedge. Now you're sounding like Threepio."

"All right, then you spend an afternoon working with them."

Luke glanced back to where Artoo and Red were hooked up to the speeders. They were still beeping softly at each other, even though their domes were facing in different directions. Luke suppressed a laugh. "On second thought, I think I might prefer an afternoon on patrol. Now, about these speeders…"

"I don't know why, but they won't just won't seem to take the cold conversion. They seem fine at first, but as soon as we take one out for a spin, they break down after a few kilometers."

Luke groaned. "Well, we'll just have to work harder. We need these speeders. I don't want to have to patrol on tauntauns for the rest of our time here. Let's get back to work."

.

.

.

"I just do not understand why there is so much animosity between you two droids. Your masters are involved in a personal relationship—one would think that you two would be able to be friends!"

Threepio was walking down one of Echo Base's stark corridors, escorted by Artoo and Red, after having been dismissed by Master Luke, who said that all the bickering was driving him crazy. Of course, Threepio was left to deal with the two unhappy astrodroids.

A loud burst of noise caused Threepio's audio sensors to go into overdrive. "Well, I'll say! That was rather rude, Red!"

Artoo knocked into Threepio's leg from behind. "And that was just as rude! Artoo, what has gotten into you?"

The little droid began tweedling and twittling. Threepio cocked his head. "Artoo, you are imagining things."

There were more beeps and Artoo began rocking back and forth, as he often did when he was anxious or excited. "Well of course Master Luke spends much of his time with Miss Jade. They are involved in a personal relationship, which usually translates to spending copious amounts of time together."

Artoo whirred at him again. "He is not ignoring you, Artoo! I don't understand why you insist on saying so."

This time, it was Red who bumped into Threepio and began tweedling loudly. "Oh my, Red. I expected you to be less imaginative than my counterpart here."

Red whistled mournfully. "Of course Miss Jade still cares for you! She is your mistress." Another whistle. "Well, it is not her fault that she is sent on many dangerous missions and cannot bring you along."

Artoo twirled his dome and beeped proudly. "Artoo, it is not necessary to antagonize the poor astromech for things that are out of his control."

The two astromechs rolled toward each other and began extending all sorts of various appendages. Threepio knew that he had to do something to make them stop before things got out of control. "Oh my! Stop this madness, I say! Stop it right now!"

Instead of going against each other, Artoo and Red coordinated an attack and hit Threepio with their pincers. The golden protocol droid stepped back. "Now, see there? You two can work together after all." The two astromechs whirled their domes to face each other, blew loud raspberries, then rolled off in opposite directions.

It was one of those moments when Threepio wished he could mimic human gestures. If he could, he would have let out a heavy sigh. "Oh, my. Those two droids are going to break my circuits."

.