Sweat dripped into Leana's eyes as she leapt back, narrowly avoiding the tip of Vader's blade. Her tunic stuck to her skin as she wiped at her face with the back of her arm. The chamber was already several degrees warmer than she was accustomed to, and the exertion of the duel was not helping.

Oh, well. It's far better than Dagobah, by any means.

She and Luke had gotten nowhere so far in their fight against Vader. The Sith wielded his red and green blades quite expertly, not at all like Anakin in the second film. A little bit more like Anakin in the third, against Dooku, and Leana didn't want this duel to end up like that one.

Being frozen in carbonite is much better than our heads rolling across the floor.

It turned out dueling someone with an ally was much harder than the movies made it look. Leana had quickly learned that she had to watch out for Luke's lightsaber just as much as Vader's, as one of his swings had almost taken off her arm. And although she hated to admit it, she had come pretty close to impaling him, when she jabbed at Vader just as Luke moved in closer in an attempt to slip under Vader's guard.

Leana had tried to reach out to Luke through the Force at the beginning of the duel and establish some sort of connection, a link, that would enable them to fight as one, but his mind was too chaotic. His worry for his friends and his anger at Vader were too much for her to penetrate through, and her own mind was too high on adrenaline to calm enough to form such a link. So she had quickly given up and just focused on fighting her own battle, which albeit meant defending herself from Luke almost as much as from Vader. It was exhausting.

How did Obi-Wan and Anakin and Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan fight Dooku and Maul together?

Vader lashed out at Leana and she parried his blade, stepping closer to him and forcing his lightsaber away from her. Luke had just blocked a blow from the other lightsaber, shifting back and away. His movement allowed Vader to slash at her with the other blade, forcing Leana to stagger out of range as quickly as possible.

This is not going well at all.

"You know a bit about the Jedi ways, younglings," Vader stated. "But can you defeat me? No, you cannot."

Leana would have loved to contradict him, but based on how the fight was going, Vader had some pretty strong evidence from which to draw that conclusion.

"I'm full of surprises," Luke grunted, striking at Vader.

Leana reached out through the Force, attempting to connect with Luke, and felt him recoil slightly from the mental touch. Luke, it's me! she thought at him, willing him to see a Force connection as a good thing. We need to be more mindful of each other – our true enemy is Vader, not each other.

"And you're not invincible," Leana spat as she felt Luke quiet through the Force, swinging at Vader with her lightsaber. Elation flowed through her at her ability to read Luke without even looking at him. One step closer.

"Pretty close to it," Vader scoffed.

"We found a design flaw in your invincible Death Star," Luke reminded him. "What makes you think we won't find such a flaw in you?"

"Ouch," Vader said. "That got personal real fast."

The Sith lashed out, moving as he struck at Leana with both his lightsabers, the force of it sending her staggering and falling to the ground. Then he whirled, slamming the lightsabers against Luke's so hard and at such an angle that the hilt flew out of Luke's hands, falling down to the platform below them.

Leana scrambled to her feet, launching herself at Vader as Luke leapt over the edge after his weapon. Their blades clashed, scenarios rapidly racing through her mind as she blocked and struck. Then she lit on one she had read about a while ago, one she had always wanted to try out but never could with a plastic lightsaber.

As her blade struck one of Vader's, his other one angled out behind him, Leana hit the ignition switch on her hilt and the blade snapped off. Vader's lightsaber swung forward, right at her, and she ducked, reigniting her lightsaber blade and jabbing upward.

Vader jumped backward, so her lightsaber missed him and struck the lightsaber hilt in his hand instead, cutting through it. The green blade flickered and vanished as Vader dropped the hilt, swinging his red lightsaber up defensively to take its place.

Okay, now we're getting somewhere.

Luke lunged toward them, his blue lightsaber igniting with a snap-hiss. Two blades against one, and the two Jedi were much more in sync than they were in the beginning.

"You are both strong with the Force," Vader observed. "Your destiny lies along the same path as mine."

"I sure as hell hope not," Leana muttered, a chill running down her spine as she remembered the voices in her dream and in the cave, telling her she would fall to the dark side. I will not follow you, Anakin. I am not you.

"No!" Luke declared loudly, and Leana wondered if he was remembering his time in the cave, too.

"Obi-Wan knew this to be true," Vader told them, his voice ominous.

"No way," Luke insisted through gritted teeth as they continued to exchange blows.

Vader lifted his hand and Force-pushed Luke backwards, off the platform and into the carbon-freezing shaft. Leana launched herself at Vader, catching him off balance as he used the Force to flick at a lever on the control panel.

"You're next," Vader sneered at Leana as a burst of steam erupted behind her. "Just like your friend. Just like both your friends. Except the thief is worth nothing, nothing at all."

Leana snarled, seeing red. "Lucas is worth more than you! He's better than you!" She lunged at Vader, too busy focusing on his lightsaber and where she wanted to stab him to see the booted mechanical foot lift to kick her.

Vader twisted sideways as his boot struck her stomach. The shudder ricocheted through her as she stumbled backwards, the air forced up and out of her lungs. It felt like all of her organs had just shifted, leaving her with a strange, painful sensation as she gasped like a fish.

Then, as she took another step backward in both an effort to regain her balance and to stay away from Vader, Leana's foot stepped onto empty air.

She plummeted backwards, down into the shaft she was sure Luke had just narrowly escaped from. She saw him above her as she managed to land in a half crouch, falling back against the side of the shaft. Instantly, Leana shoved herself up onto her feet and called the Force to her, leaping out of the shaft just as Vader turned it on and landing on the side of the platform, gasping for breath as she fell to one knee.

Luke was already dueling with Vader again and Leana snapped on her lightsaber, inhaling deeply and wiping the sweat from her eyes. She Force-leaped over the shaft and slammed her lightsaber down at Vader, catching his arm from above. Sparks flew as she struck his mechanical arm, but the Sith had moved enough in order to ensure it was only a glancing blow instead of a clean cut.

"Obi-Wan has taught you well," Vader intoned. "You have controlled your fear. Now release your anger!"

"When you take off that helmet!" Leana retorted.

"I can't remove my helmet!" Vader snapped back. "I can't breathe without it – it's a disability!"

Leana frowned. Um...yeah, I never thought about it like that.

Sensing each other through the Force, Leana and Luke charged Vader, simultaneously flipping over him and landing on the other side of the Sith, swinging their lightsabers at him. Vader, half-turning to meet them, retreated several steps to avoid their attack and ended up toppling off the edge of the platform.

"We've got him now," Luke said, hurrying over to the edge. He glanced back at her. "Let's go, Leana."

The two lightly leapt off the platform, landing easily on the bottom as they snapped off their lightsabers. Leana nodded toward a tunnel, leading away from the chamber, and she and Luke cautiously entered, senses on full alert.

The tunnel bled out into a darkened room, dim light coming from the viewport before the reactor shaft. Leana immediately scanned the room, reaching out through the Force to find Vader. She could feel Luke doing the same, probing the ominous tension for the Sith Lord's location.

Then they found him.

Vader ignited his lightsaber as they ignited theirs, the red, blue, and green blades casting eerie reflections off of the surrounding metal surfaces. Leana felt a surge in the Force and dropped into a crouch as a pipe whipped toward them, Vader using the Force to hurl it. Luke jumped to the side, glancing around as a case flew through the air from the other side, striking him. Clipping her lightsaber back to her belt, Leana stood as Luke copied her, looking a little doubtful. She didn't want to lose her weapon in the following moments.

Another pipe headed toward them, but Leana reached out with the Force and grabbed it, hurling it back at Vader. He shifted to the side, but Luke lifted up his hand and spun the end of the pipe back around so that it smacked Vader in the helmet, causing him to stagger against the wall.

"Enough!" Vader boomed, Force-pushing the pipe back at them. Luke grabbed Leana, forcing her to the ground, as the pipe soared over their heads and struck the viewport. A raging wind ripped through the chamber from the reactor shaft beyond, yanking Luke and Leana out the broken viewport and into the shaft as Vader watched them.

Leana couldn't see a thing, what with the wind tearing at her skin, eyelids, and hair. She reached out with the Force, trying to find something to grab hold of. She felt Luke grab her hand and wrapped her fingers around his, desperate to at least keep her grip on him.

Through the Force, Leana sensed the gantry railing and, eyes still closed, reached out and grabbed it. She felt her other arm jerk as Luke was pulled back by the wind, but maintained her grip on his hand. Then the pull lessened as Luke also grabbed onto the railing, and slowly, the two of them pulled themselves up onto the gantry, panting for breath.

"That sucked," Leana gasped. She noticed Luke still hadn't let go of her hand, and she had no intention of letting go of his. His grip was comforting, sturdy, as the wind continued to whip past them.

Luke gave a slight laugh. "You're telling me." His expression sobered. "Back to the fight?"

"Do we have a choice?" Leana groaned. She squeezed his hand, suddenly realizing Vader was about to relieve him of it. "Just...be careful, Luke."

"May the Force be with us," Luke returned, and he gave her hand a squeeze before releasing it.

****

Ben was pretty convinced that the Force was not with them today.

They were racing through the corridors, running from the stormtroopers and trading lasers. Firing while running improved nobody's aim, but that thought was not comforting when stormtroopers were already known from their less than stellar aim. Ben had already had a laser streak so close to his ear, he could still feel the vibrations in his eardrum.

"Lift tube!" Lumina panted, pointing up ahead. Ben could have sighed in relief, but he didn't have enough extra oxygen to waste in sighing. He barely had enough to keep running.

The Rebels crowded onto the lift tube, Lando inputting the level of the Falcon. Ben found himself wishing this lift tube was like the one in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, which could go whatever direction the passenger desired – including out the roof of the building.

Elevator, take me to the Falcon! Wait, wait – take me to Lucas, and then to the Falcon!

Unfortunately, the lift tube was not a magic elevator, and so it only took them to their level, not to the Executor and back. The door to Platform 327 was right there, and Lando punched the code into the control pad, although Ben and Lumina knew it wasn't going to work.

As expected, the door didn't open.

"Damn it!" Lando cursed. "The security code has been changed! Nobody's safe from the Empire!"

"We know that already!" Lumina exclaimed in frustration. "It's about time you figured that out!"

"Artoo, override the code," Ben and C-3PO ordered simultaneously, and the astrodroid rolled over to the panel and plugged into the socket, Ben pointed out the correct one so he didn't get zapped.

Lando pulled out his comlink and keyed in a frequency. "Attention all residents in Cloud City! The Empire has taken over the City! The Empire is taking over! Escape while you can. The Imperials are evil!"

Ben could tell Lumina wanted to scream at him again, tell him he was stating the obvious, but she just pressed her lips together firmly instead.

R2-D2 whistled and the door to the platform opened.

"Come on!" Lando called, and raced out the door onto the platform. Leia, Chewbacca, Ben, Lumina, and R2-D2 ran after him. Behind them, stormtroopers approached the entrance, all firing. The Rebels turned and squeezed off shots of their own, keeping the stormtroopers back.

Chewbacca, Lumina, and the droids headed up the Millennium Falcon's ramp, Ben, Leia, and Lando stationing themselves around the ramp to hold back the stormtroopers. Ben aimed his blaster at the troopers' white armor and fired, the red lasers scorching the armor plates as Imperial lasers flew past his head. One singed his leg and Ben flinched, falling back against the ramp as he yelped in pain.

He heard the engines fire up and Lando yelling for him and Leia to get on board. Leia grabbed Ben's arm, looping it over her shoulders as he limped forward, favoring his injured leg. Lando fired off several more shots before following them up the ramp, hitting the controls to close it.

When they reached the cockpit, Chewbacca and Lumina were in the pilots' seats, Chewbacca lifting the Falcon up from the platform. Lumina reached over and flicked a switch as the Wookiee barked at her, but then the engines stuttered and failed right as they cleared the platform.

The ship fell.

"What happened?" Leia demanded, desperately grabbing onto the back of a chair. Ben grabbed onto Leia, Lando bracing himself in the doorway as, back in the hold, R2-D2 screeched.

"I hit a switch," Lumina cried frantically.

"Hit it back!" Ben yelled.

"Okay, okay!" She flicked the switch back into its original position and the engines roared, Chewbacca yanking the yoke back. The Falcon soared up, sending Ben, Leia, and Lando flying back as they rocketed away from Cloud City.