At the Start of Our Hope

Before the Tantive IV was picked up by the Star Destroyer, they were travelling kinda-sorta-but-not-really incognito: Kirra's representing Naboo as their princess and they were legit delivering equipment but it was an excuse to check out the location where supposedly plans for the Death Star were stored in outerspace in an unsealed, rusty container--and lo, the info was correct! But the drive was so heavily encrypted that one measly ship's computer had no hope to unzip it so they could find out who it belonged to and return it. 
.
>cue "A New Hope"<
Mako rests against the shed roof in the evening light of Tatooine's twin suns, formulating hypotheses as to why the two ships in the upper atmosphere fight]. 
""Hey, you finished?"" calls Chuck. 
"I completed my chores while you complained about having to do them," says Mako. 
Chuck huffs, crosses his arms and looks away, doesn't dignify that with a response—"Did you ever figure out what was up with Jay-One-En?" 
"I did not." Mako tempers a thread of frustration. "I put him to cradle and AGNIS is running a diagnostic."
"A glitch not even the great Mako Mori could fix." Chuck whistles, knocks on the shed. "Hey, Shack? Anything to report?" 
""Nothing as of yet, Chuck,"" replies AGNIS through the shed's intercom.
"I'm 'Mister Striker' to you, Shack." 
""That would imply I have some respect for you. Miss Mori, I do have a list of possible causes for your review if you so wish."" 
"You use a title with her!" 
""I respect Miss Mori.""
"I've been here longer!" 
""All the more reason, Chuck. Besides, seniority is of no relevance to me."" 
"You stupid—"
Aunt Nessa's voice crackles over the speaker. ""Chuck?"" 
"Yes, Aunt Nessa?"
"Hermann would like you to return to your chores. I would go sooner than later."" 
Chuck groans loudly—plants himself with a better view of the sky. "Is that—" 
""/Now, Chuck.""
He shtumpts off.
.
>A control room; the monitor displays a progress bar at 30%. Two humanoids; one with silver eyes without pupils and casually curly black hair leans against the control panel. The other with green eyes, thick, dark hair in a bun and two braids secured by a tiara and veil. Both wear quietly ornate layered robes and skirts<
VV31 asks, "Can you continue?"
The Princess nods, smooths her skirts. 
VV31's left eye glows. 
"Master Sevier, if this unit successfully uploads the plans to the Net and no one from the Resistance comes to collect it—"
The ship quakes—
VV31 steadies the Princess. 
"Thanks." 
VV31's eye blinks back on. 
"Please, Master Sevier. Please do this one last thing."
VV31's eye returns to silver. 
The Princess takes a deep, shuddering breath. 
VV31 squeezes her arms. "Just like we practiced." 
"Just like we practiced." The Princess squeezes back. 
The comm crackles. 
VV31 queries. 
The Princess nods. 
VV31's nose twitches. 
""Your Highness, the United forces would like to board."" >this is the only time they're called 'United'; they're 'Imperial' the rest of the time<
"If they're that interested in evaporators, they can have the run of the ship with my blessing."
The officer giggles. ""I'll let them know.""
"Thank you." 
VV31's nose twitches again. 
The Princess makes herself step from VV31's arms, wipes her palms on her skirts. She swallows, croaks, "Take care." 
"You as well, Princess." 
She steps back, smooths her robes. 
"It is an honour, Your Highness." 
"Likewise, W. May the Force be with you." 
VV31 smiles. "I'm merely the mechanized avatar of a vessel, Your Highness." 
She rolls her eyes, bumps a shoulder as she walks by. "No, you're not." 
The door slides open. 
"May the Force be with you, Your Highness." 
The door slides shut. 
VV31 heads towards the escape pods. 
.
Chuck tears back to the shed in record time. "Is that an Imperial cruiser? /Firing? Why didn't you tell me about this?"
""I am only concerned with the upper atmosphere when it involves weather, and ships when said topic is a subject of the curriculum or when they enter my area of alarm as established by Doctor Gottlieb twenty-five years ago.""
"I was talking to Mako, Shack."
"I didn't tell you as you were arguing with Doctor Gottlieb about the fuel lines."
Chuck grumps—"That ship is really small for a /cruiser to go after it—Any ideas, Shack?"
""An Imperial cruiser appears to be firing on a ship far smaller than its usual target."" 
"That's what I /just said!" 
""I do not respect you, Chuck, thus, if I had qualms, I would have none about stealing your ideas—""
""Mako, Chuck!"" Nessa's voice floats from the compound. ""Time for prayer!""
"Coming, Aunt Nessa!" calls Chuck. "Wonder what's going on ...."
The back of Mako's neck prickles. 
She thinks of mouse droids, slides off the shed, heads inside. 
.
VV31 slips inside an empty airlock, its escape pod long since launched thanks to a 'bug' in the ship's code, then seals the doors, and pushes off into space. 
One blast from GLD will propel VV31 out of range of the Princess.
Two well-timed blasts will propel VV31 out of the cruiser's hyperspace area-of-effect. 
The locator under her spine stands out brightly against the crew's comms, even as the ship's schematics fade with distance.
VV31 fires. 
.
Lords Blue & Vader!2 capture the leader of the rebel forces, Her Highness, Princess Kirra of Naboo, Avatar of Theed Palace, and takes the skeleton crew of her ship, the Tantive IV, l into custody after a battle in the upper atmosphere of Tatooine:
Five Troopers march the Princess through /her ship; four in honour guard formation, the fifth with a blaster to her back.
"Well, well, well," she drawls. "If it isn't the Dark Lord himself come to taint my ship."
"Have you considered growing up, Princess?"
"To you, Lord [Vader!2], I'm 'Exalted One', and I organized this mission. Tell me, how much were you involved in yours?" Thinks—"Oh, right, not at all. Your better half did all the work, as usual."
Vader!2 brushes a stray lock from her eyes. "You changed your hair." 
"Don't touch me." 
"It's nice." 
"Why do you always do this? /Stop /it." 
"I did not mean to overstep, Exalted One." He steps back. 
>enter another Trooper<
"Sir, Lord Blue has requested an audience with Her Highness." 
"Then take her to him." 
The sixth Trooper cues the others and they march the Princess to the bridge. 
.
>the cruiser's docking bay<
A Trooper salutes. "Lord Blue." 
"Please tell Her Highness I would like an audience at her earliest convenience." 
"Yes, sir." The Trooper snaps a turn, collects four more soldiers. 
.
>a humble, domestic setting; four people sit on prayer mats over mismatched rugs< 
HOO investigates a candle—
Aunt Nessa clicks her tongue. 
HOO backpedals, wheels around to his brother unit. 
"The market will arrive in a week," says Aunt Nessa. "I expect both of you to have your lists ready." 
"Sure," grunts Chuck. 
"Yes, Aunt Nessa," replies Mako. 
Uncle Hermann says, "I would like us to begin cleaning for the new term tomorrow evening."
Aunt Nessa adds, "Make a note of what won't last us the semester." 
"Fine."
"It will be done," promises Mako. 
"And Mako, I'm going to my friends' tomorrow. Would you like a lift to Sev's?" 
"Yes, please." 
Chuck glowers. 
Hermann looks at Nessa. "I believe that's all. Bedtime for you two." 
Chuck sighs heavily, rolls to his feet. "'night, Aunt Nessa." Kisses her cheek. "Night, Uncle Hermann." Kisses his cheek. 
"Goodnight, Chuck."
Mako stands fluidly. "Goodnight, Aunt Nessa, Goodnight, Uncles Hermann." 
"Goodnight, Mako."
"Sleep well. 
Mako kisses them both, follows Chuck from the room, but checks on J1N, tucked in his cradle, power indicators pulsing slowly. Satisfied the update remains on track, she leaves for the dorms. 
.
On the wings of a fourth blast from GLD, VV31 plows straight into the cruiser's trash ejecta—and lo! 
An empty freezing unit, ready to seal itself against anything that may compromise the provisions no longer inside. 
VV31 grabs hold, fires GLD one last time.
.
"I should be surprised you're here, but I doubt your pet shadow could pull this off on his own. Are the both of you even allowed away from your carer at the same time?" 
"Your godfather has guards aplenty, Exalted One." >more of a spiritual connection in PR but the way things will unfold led to this link; cool!<
"Which is why one of you has been glued to his hip for the last decade, of course."
"What would he think of this little game you're playing, Exalted One?" 
"I would expect he would be proud; his little Avatar of Theed helping those in need." 
"This is no mission of mercy, Exalted One." 
"This /is a mission of mercy, Lord Blue. My crew and I are bringing evaporators to the people of Tatooine." 
"The dry season doesn't begin for months." 
"We need to educate the people on how to use and maintain the machines, as well as gather census data on how many more we'll need."
"Which is why you have a mere skeleton staff." 
"They'll be bringing the rest of the order upon its completion." 
"Your story is well-thought out," says Blue. "Tell me, how were you going to >seems to be something missing here<
"We have reason to believe this ship is in possession of classified Imperial plans."
"You mean the drive we found in an unsealed, unmarked, rusted container floating in a Lagrange point? That belongs to the Empire?" 
"It does, Princess. Where is it?" 
"The plans—is that what those are?" The Princess looks down the hall.
"Princess—"
"Hey, Jules!" 
""Yea?"" 
"Where's the disk we found?" 
""The encrypted one? Aft computer.""
"Thanks." 
""You're welcome!"" 
"This way." Leads them to a computer bay; the progress bar reads '30%'. "We didn't have computing power at all quickly so we had no idea to whom it belonged." 
"Of course," says Lord Blue. "Detain them all." 
"Excuse me? On what grounds—" 
Lord Blue attends his next agenda item. "Keep her alive and put her in isolation." 
A blaster fires. 
.
X14NG and HOO huddle before J1N's cradle. 
""Unit J1N is experiencing a minor interruption of functionality,"" says AGNIS. ""He will resume his duties before tomorrow night."" 
HOO sighs. 
""If either of you wishes to complete your duties without recharging, I must recommend docking soon.""
X14NG and HOO drag themselves to their own cradles.
.
In the Devastator's brig, Kirra can hear her crew, but they can't hear her. 
.
>nighttime< 
GLD blasts open the freezer and VV31 climbs out. 
—-300 kilometres from Typhoon, BLKJD reports. 
VV31 sheds the official uniform of Ship's Avatar, weighs them down with a piece of debris. 
"Do we have the means to make transportation?" asks VV31. 
BLKJD and GLD confirm. 
BLKJD projects guide lines onto the freezer. 
GLD powers up the laser. 
VV31 begins to cut.
.
Kirra's escorted from the Devastator (to a shuttle?) to the Death Star. 
.
Liu books it towards civilization. 
.
Vader!2 meets up with the escort. 
"You again?"
"I'm in command of this battle station, Exalted one." 
"Should I be impressed you were promoted from guard dog or alarmed someone with your lack of experience is in charge?" 
Vader!2 says nothing, then, "The Emperor would like to know who else has the plans." 
"Who else /would have the plans? The file was too massive for anything smaller than a Capital class's main computer." 
Vader!2 acknowledges, steers--
"Do /not touch me." 
"My apologies, Exalted one." Draws his arm upwards--
The Princess clutches her throat, lifts off the floor.
--flicks his wrist.
The Princess snaps into the cell, crumples against a wall. 
"I trust that is to your preference, Exalted One." 
She doesn't stir. 
"We'll speak later." 
.
Kirra's being tortured. 
.
Jin!bot starts nattering on about Master Sevier but while Mako keeps her mouth shut, Chuck wonders if it means Miss Sev. 
.
They're executing the crew in front of Kirra, one by one, except for that one day when two crew died because the Empire found Ata and Rama hiding in the cargo bay and they shoot Rama to shut Ata up but she keeps talking so they kill her too. 
. 
Chuck asks about going to the Academy but Nessa forbids it. 
.
After day 6 or so, Kirra starts ... seeing things. could be the poison, could be the bloodloss (she's been seeing auras for a while), could be the extra electricity from the interrogation needles, but her dead crew are sticking around which makes her feel even more sorry for herself. They kinda become a cheerleading team and encourage her not to spend her alone time healing and quietly freaking out in a cell but pissing off the empire, and Force ghost!ata and Rama reminder her that she knows the layout of the base inside and out, she can pick locks, she has a plan--tho all she needs is a pilot 'cause she can't fly (she took children's lit instead (it's a plot point later) and feels dumb about it until ... don't remember. anywho.).
so she starts breaking out of her cell--she wants a better pillow, she could smell brownies, etc--and generally being a nuisance. 
First time they find her, she's actually back /in her cell, having strode down to the canteen like she owns the place and gotten better food
Second time she's raiding a supply cupboard for a better pillow because hers /sucks
.
The Danger won't leave until he gets to civilisation and prompts them, so Chuck and Mako are on Tatooine, Chuck is chafing to get away, Mako is quietly biding her time. 
.
More of Kirra's crew are executed, she breaks out of her cell a few more times. 
. 
One of the things the Empire doesn't notice, however, is that Kirra’s checking the date as often as she can because some time after her capture, there's a work placement program with people her age: 
The sixth time Kirra breaks out, she beelines to a monitor and checks the date. 
In eighteen hours, a group of student volunteers from [a system] will arrive to help with administration. 
Students in the administrative department wear grey and white cloaks with overlarge hoods. 
Kirra's eyes sting. All this work, and it's actually paying off. 
She swallows, pushes away from the monitor, and strolls the halls until a squad of Troopers marches her back to her cell. 
.
BLKJD informs W31 that they should be within sight of civilization by the next evening. 
.
The upload from W31 to Jin finally completes, and Jin!bot unit runs away in the night. 
.
Kirra gathers up her braid, tucks it against the back of her neck, puts her hood up, and breaks out of her cell for the seventh time. She strolls into down to Vader!2's office, introduces herself as the student assigned to this area. The bored admin's like, "awesome, all yours." and leaves.
With full access to the system, Kirra relogs the charges laid against her remaining crew as "drunk and disorderly" with additional details as "got drunk and thought it was a /stellar idea to dress up like rebels and storm the Death Star". Then she schedules a shift change in the brig guard for all new people who haven't interacted with her crew. Finally, she puts her people 'back' on the patrol roster and sends them off (in their ship) to a faaaar away outpost.
(With luck, thanks to her being somewhat dead, what they won't find out is while she was completing said paperwork, she was also changing the status of her surviving crew from 'prisoner' to 'petty officer - brig' under charges of drunk and disorderly conduct, that is, dressing up like a bunch of rebels. she also forges transfer papers to a bunch of out-of-the-way outposts and sends them off on the Tantive IV, and off they go!)
Then she does any paperwork she can find because if the torture doesn't kill her, the boredom will.
Vader!2 comes back eventually and walks into his office and the Empire finds her out of her ccell for the seventh time, in Vader!2's chair, with her feet on his desk, telling him she's done all the paperwork he's ignored for the last eight months. He's kinda torn between annoyed/mad and 'thank god I don't have paperwork anymore': 
Vader!2 returns to his office to find her sitting in his chair with her feet up on his desk. 
"You were behind on your paperwork," she drawls. 
Past tense? "I was /what?" 
"You, paperwork, behind." Pointing to each in turn, folds her hands in her lap, smirks. "Past tense." 
"You did my paperwork." 
She gets up, sleeves tied up over her elbows, bumps the desk. "What else was I gonna do?" Investigates an archive. "Sit around, bored out of my skull?" She laughs, eyes bright and bloody behind her glasses. 
Where did she get /glasses? 
His view screen registers the track marks in her arm as a lower temperature than her skin, somewhat ashen in the dull light, and the tourniquet bruise under her sleeve and the welt on her neck as higher.
"If you are unwell, Princess, I suggest you escape to Medical instead of my office." 
"If I'm un/well?" She laughs again, high and maniacal. "This?" Goes from giddy daring to a shrug in a split second. "Probably just the bloodloss, drugs, and the extra electricity in my brain--" She drops. 
Her heart finally gives out.
Her kidneys've thrown in the towel and her insides begin failing; (slowly turning her blood to acid, for instance, which is a symptom of some kind of metal poisoning I can't remember.) They get her to medical and get her pulse back, but the medical personnel tells them that if this course of action continues, she /will die:
"If I may be so bold," says the droid. "Should this avenue of interrogation continue, the princess will not survive."
While the Empire can explain away why she and her crew went missing for some duration of time, they'll have to explain how a very popular senator wound up dead under suspicious circumstances and they don't really have an out with a dead senator on their hands--no one wants that! 
Sure, no one can actually do anything about it, but it could lead to civil unrest and revolts. 
The CO snaps, "we'll just have to show them what happens if they do."
So the commander in chief of the Death Star changes tactics and breaks out the plan to threaten Naboo and, if necessary, turn her home to dust. 
.
Mako and Chuck track Jin!bot down to Tamsin, and she's all, we should probably get going and you can both be Jedi! 
Chuck's like, wat? Your parents were Jedi ...? 
Mako doesn't answer, though.
.
>Threatening Naboo with the Death Star's laser<
When Kirra's conscious again, she's brought to the observation deck and finds they're in orbit around her home. 
They ask her where the plans are, she says she doesn't know, the CO orders them to test the Death Star.
Kirra backtracks and explains, "I gave the plans to the ship's avatar, VV31, and sent it to Tatooine with the intention of enlisting the aid of Master Tamsin Sevier--
The hand on her shoulder tightens minutely. 
 
"--and of uploading the plans to the net." 
 
"Very well--" 
Kirra says, "so by all means, go for it. This will probably destroy what resolve I had left."
The commander in chief smugs, then Kirra says, 
"It will probably destroy your legacy, too."
The commander in chief pauses. 
 
Kirra points that they're going to blow up a planet in the empire because a full military couldn't get one secret out of a 22 year old. lame, much? She also argues that they’ll be killing innocent citizens of the Empire, grandparents, mothers and fathers, children, babies: "Would you rather be known as the person who commanded the most powerful weapon ever seen by the galaxy and showed mercy, or would you prefer to be remembered as the person who destroyed an entire civilization--including the homeworld of the Emperor--in a fit of childish rage all because you feared a tiny, disorganized uprising and couldn't make one--what was it you called me? A /child? You couldn't make one child answer one question so you'll murder millions of innocent, defenseless people--grandparents, mothers, fathers, children, babies--because a mere, twenty two year old aristocratic pet got the better of you." She's like, "you're going to destroy an entire planet because you couldn't get a twenty year old girl to talk." Rolls her eyes. "Pathetic." 
"You may still destroy my home," she continues. "And it will most likely deal a grievous blow to my confidence. You may still extract any secrets through torture." Everything greys out for a moment, but she soldiers on: "I would ask you consider your legacy. In a thousand--maybe two thousand years--when the empire born of yours chronicles your history, would you prefer to be known for your great mercy, as they who built a weapon of terrible power but then stayed their hand, or would you rather be known by the blood on your hands; the innocent blood of billions of people, of infants and children, grand--"
 
"I believe it would be best to leave the planet as is," says Vader!2. 
 
The CO, incensed, goes a funny colour, and, sneering at them both, spits, "Target the moon." 
So they vaporize a moon. 
.
Kirra saves Naboo by playing to Vader!2's soft spot for children. (Vader!2, Kirra has noted, seems to have a soft spot for children. Lord Blue, on the other hand, well, the songs they aren't supposed to sing describe the Lady Red laying waste to his squadron of troopers as they tried running down a young girl.) Alas, she doesn't have a chance to celebrate her tiny victory as her heart stutters to a stop.
Kirra, Ata, and Rama high five and follow her body back down to medical where they patch her up (again) but this time they go so far as to replace the organs of hers that've kicked it--free upgrade with extended torture!
Reviving the princess is the least of their problems--people on Naboo are sending out distress calls--our government--the people who /protect us--just tried to destroy us! Is that even allowed?!--and videos of the moon exploding are hitting the Net like hailstones and the emperor himself is coming and the princess's crew and their ship have quite literally vanished from existence--there's no record of them being detained, let alone of them /leaving. 
Once conscious, she's put back in her cell (against medical advisement). 
.
The spaceport; Tamsin gets them a ship--the Lady Danger--and when Mako and the TY-F00N bots meet back up with them, she barely sizes up the pilot before giving Tamsin a Look. 
"Don't worry, this isn't your copilot." 
Mako leads the bots up the ramp and off they go! 
. 
Kirra tries not to freak out about the giganitc fireball that was once a moon and almost her planet. Her people. Her /entire people. 
. 
The Danger falls out of hyperspace into an asteroid field and quickly finds herself in a tractor beam. 
.
Tamsin originally impresses upon Mako that she should stay in the ship; they cannot under any circumstances allow Lord Blue to sense her presence lest he then kill her (but the boys can all die; Mako and Tamsin can cover all their roles (eg flying the ship outta there)), besides, she's too short for a stormtrooper, and then Tamsin remembers when she and her master, Lady Luna, were sent to negotiate with the Trade Federation on behalf of Naboo and what happened to /that ship so she drags Mako along with her. 
.
The Princess sits in a corner of the cell, knees tucked tight to her chest and arms over her head. 
Chuck and Jackson shift—
"If I wanted advice I would ask!" hisses the Princess. 
"We didn't say anything," snaps Jackson. 
The Princess lifts her head, narrows her eyes—bloodshot, ringed with dark circles. "Why would I be talking to /you."
"We're—oh!" Chuck holsters his blaster, works on his helmet. "We're trying to rescue you." Gets it off. "I'm Chuck Striker." 
"Do you have a ship?" 
"We do and it's the fastest in the galaxy." 
"Then, thank you," says the Princess with a genuine smile. She stands—stumbles—
Chuck and Jackson offer—
She slips by them out of the cell. "Let's go." 
"That's it?" demands Jackson. 
"You sure took your time." 
Jackson splutters. 
The Princess rolls her eyes, takes the blaster out of his hands, and heads down the hall. "This way." 
A few corners. 
"In here," orders the Princess.
"But-what—"
She shoves them into a maintenance hallway.
A sanitation worker trundles by.
The Princess does an incredible imitation of a mouse droid.
The worker checks their comm, wheels back—
Jackson and Chuck arm themselves—
The Princess holds up her hand.
The worker joins them in the hall.
"Sasha," greets the Princess.
"Princess," replies the worker, handing her a bag.
"Thank you." The Princess starts on her gown.
Jackson gapes, quickly looks ceiling-ward, mumbles, "Why am I looking away?"
Alexi covers Chuck's eyes.
Sasha unzips her jumpsuit—she's wearing a uniform underneath.
"This plan finally paid off." The Princess is also in a uniform and fixing her hair.
"That it did." Sasha changes her shoes.
The Princess straightens her jacket, casts a critical eye over her reflection.
"Only two," remarks Sasha.
The Princess turns to Jackson, Chuck, and Alexi with her jaw set to 'I'm going give orders now and you're going to follow them'.
Jackson scowls.
"Ginger, walk two steps behind me on my left. Scruffy—"
"Oi!"
"You walk behind the Wall." She smiles apologetically at Alexi. "You're gonna have to play prisoner, sorry."
Alexi sighs.
"What's the plan?" asks Chuck.
"The lot of you do /exactly as I say." The Princess debates in her head. Finally, "We're going to walk straight to your ship and fly right out of here."
"Are you /nuts?" hisses Jackson.
The Princess looks at him with the full weight of Princess of Naboo. 
Jackson shuffles his feet.
"Do we have an understanding?"
"Yes," grumps Chuck.
Alexi grunts.
Jackson grumbles.
"Where's your ship?"
"Main hangar," says Chuck.
The Princess thinks.
"Do-able," says Sasha.
"Alright." The Princess adjusts her hat one last time. "Sasha?"
Sasha takes position by the Princess' right hand.
The Princess takes a deep breath and leads them into the main hall.
.
Tamsin drags Mako down hall after hall, deeper and deeper into the Death Star. 
"How big /is this thing?" asks Mako. 
"Really big," says Tamsin. "But~ we're almost there!" 
"You haven't said where 'there' is." 
"You'll see~" 
Another flight of stairs, an area under construction--a blond in a sad, Imperial construction uniform welding away--
"Excuse me!" calls Tamsin. 
The blond looks down--
Mako's heart flip flops. 
"Are you Raleigh Becket?" 
""Why?"" 
"The Lady Danger's in need of a pair of copilots." 
""I don't fly anymore."" 
"Will you come and talk with us please?" 
Becket heaves a sigh, slides down a beam, saunters ove, "I appreciate you coming all this way, but I--"
Mako's heart stutters. 
"--am so ready to go." 
Becket has very lovely eyes. 
Tamsin grins. "See? I told you I would find you a copilot." 
Mako takes a shaky breath, says, "He's not what I expected." 
Becket says, "I really hope you weren't picturing an Imperial construction worker." Then, "So you said the Danger's here? Are we leaving now?" 
"Yes and yes! This way, kiddos!" 
.
The undercover entourage comes upon a squad of Troopers after three turns.
"You lot," snaps the Princess. "With me."
The troopers turn on their heels and fall into formation around Alexi.
They march down to the main hangar.
"[curse befitting of an Imperial captain]," sneers the Princess. "What a pile of scrap."
Jackson stays. calm.
"Remain here," says the Princess. To Jackson, Chuck, and Sasha. "You three." Motions them to follow her up the gangway.
"What about the tractor beam?" hisses Chuck as they march out of sight.
The Princess looks down her nose at Alexi. "Flight deck?"
He grunts, leads them to the front of the ship.
Chuck eyeballs the orange sun glowing softly just below the mesh of the ceiling.
"Access the computer," orders the Princess.
All systems 'go' except for—
The Princess makes a sound of disgust. "The tractor beam's interfering with the main systems."
Sasha hands her the comm.
The Princess thumbs it on, mutters, "Stupid antique." Clears her throat. "Disable the tractor beam."
""Tractor beam disabled.""
The Princess smirks. "Copy." Turns off the comm. "We can leave any time."
"My friends're still out there," says Chuck.
"Why aren't they here?" The Princess demands.
Jackson ruffles. "Tamsin went to turn off the tractor beam and the droids were helping us find you, /Princess."
The Princess glares. "Good thing we have as much time as we want." To Chuck, "Call them back, please."
Chuck opens his comm. "Typhoon? We're getting ready to leave. Have eyes on Tamsin?"
""She's heading your way,"" reports Cheung.
""And so are we!"" chirps Jin.
"See you guys soon."
""Bye!"" replies Hu.
Chuck turns off the comm.
The Princess thumbs hers onto a private channel with the Troopers. "I need some droids down here." Closes it, waits a moment, reopens the channel. "Copy." Turns it off. "Now they won't wonder why droids are boarding and no one'll send any others."
(how the 'recover the millennium falcon' scene should have gone (imo))
.
A familiar, low refrain oozes against Mako's awareness. 
Tamsin says, "You two go ahead. Get to the ship but play it cool." 
"I can definitely do that," says Becket. 
Tamsin laughs, takes Mako's hands. "You can do this."
Mako nods.
"May the Force be with you." 
Mako nods, whispers back.
Tamsin squeezes, pushes her away. 
Mako and Becket hurry. 
Tamsin touches her lightsaber, takes a breath, walks towards the music. 
.
[Mako and Raleigh get to the Danger.]
.
Mako creeps from the ceiling, slips into the floor, and out of the ship from an exhaust port.
She sees Tamsin.
She sees Lord Blue.
She sees Lord Blue’s lightsaber swing.
She sees Tamsin’s lightsaber deactivate.
She sees Tamsin’s empty robes.
She stifles a scream behind her hand.
The back of her neck prickles.
Mouse droids mouse droids mouse droids. 
She crawls back up the exhaust port, bolts the cover back in place, and drifts to the flight deck. “We can leave as soon as the droids return.”
The colour drains from Chuck’s face.
.
"Made it to hyperspace," announces Becket. 
"Good," says the Princess. "Very good." And crumples--
Chuck--
--into El's arms. 
"Acute organ failure," they report. "She needs medical attention." 
Chuck asks, "What about the plans Typhoon was talking about? Could we bring them to ... wherever they're supposed to go?" 
"I'm unable to access their destination without Princess Kirra's verbal confirmation," says El." 
Mako adds, "I don't think it wise to return to Naboo." 
"It would not," agrees El.
Becket says, "Well, there's a medical facility a few sectors over--Polis Massa?" 
"That will do," says El. "Would you direct me towards a berth?"
 
as soon as the Danger's out of range of the Death Star, Kirra collapses, and since the rebel data stored with Liu can only be accessed by her or Tamsin, no one knows where the rebel base is. Jackson suggests medical center as being nearby (ish) and off the grid, so off they go. Once they arrive and get checked in, a freaking star destroyer drops out of hyper space BUT! The commanding officer explains that when Kirra never showed up with the evaporators, the Hutts complained very loudly to Naboo, then the ruling house of Naboo panicked as they didn't have any idea where she was (and neither did the rebels) and appealed to the emperor to help (being from Naboo himself and technically Kirra's guardian), the emperor mobilized his intelligence network, tracked her to Polis Massa, and sent a star destroyer to ensure she made it back to Naboo safely, and what wonderful ... /civilians (with kind of a sneer) this lot was for rescuing her from those awful Separatist holdouts. 
.
>En route to Yavin IV<
Jackson knocks on the door to the Princess' berth. 
She answers. 
"I brought you tea." 
"Why?" 
"I'm trying to be nice?" 
"'Nice'. Trying to curry favour with a princess?"
"Um--"
"Or are you after sex?" 
"Um--oh, would you look at the time, I have to go do a pilot. Do a thing that is pilot. Bye!"
.
Eventually the Death Star's in a position to blow up another planet (Yavin IV), and they charge it, and fire--
Destroying the death star: boom splody, 'cept less with the splody: There're also prisoners on board, as well as detainees, diplomats, volunteers, even famlies with children, so i don't want it to randomly blow up and kill everyone who's just minding their own business.
Thematically, the death star's splodiness was to parallel that of Alderaan and since that isn't happening anymore, no reason for the death star to go kaput.
--and learn that all the wiring melted during the test fire on Naboo. 
There was a rebel sympathizer in charge of its manufacture--The person who supplied the kilometers of wiring to the weapons system was a secret rebel sympathizer--so secret, in fact, that they hadn't done anything to that effect up until this point--and delivered sub-standard materials after selling them top notch stuff.
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