Tatooine

Danielle looked from Luke to Obi-Wan, then made a decision. "I’ll leave you here," she whispered, stepping back. "You’ll see me around sometime soon, I bet."

"I hope so. You’re the only one like me I’ve met."

Danielle threw a smirk at Luke. "Trust me. There are more." She spread her arms, and she got a firm grip on all of the metal on her armor. "You just have to know where to look."

She lifted herself into the air and took herself back to the Falcon.　She landed firmly. "Beast?" she called.

Chewbacca looked out of the cockpit and barked softly. "I’m here,"　she translated in her head from what Han taught her.

"I was wondering if you could do something for me," she told him.

Chewbacca cocked his head before grunting. "What can I do?"

"Is there any way you could build a device, large or small that could fit in the Falcon, that could sense mutants, humans, or any Force-sensitive being in the galaxy?" she asked.

Chewbacca scratched his head, whining. "That would be tricky."

"Is it possible?" she asked.

Chewbacca shrugged, whining more. "If I had the time."

"How long would it take?"

Chewbacca thought, then barked a reply. "If I had a design, I could tell."

"It doesn’t have to be complex. It just needs to be able to sense the being and give me an idea on where that being is."

Chewbacca thought some more, then nodded, grunting his reply. "If we get started now, we might have it done in about two days."

Danielle smiled. "Beast, you’re the best."

Chewbacca barked again, then began urfing in laughter. Danielle grinned, following Chewbacca up the ramp.

Hopefully, Han didn’t have any idea what she would be attempting.

***　

Luke drove his landspeeder up towards Mos Eisley, shaking his head slowly. Oh, how his life had changed recently.

He had met another mutant just like him – a three-way mutant – yesterday. In that time, he had learned that his father had served as a Jedi Knight during the Clone Wars, along with his mentor, Obi-Wan. The message Artoo had delivered was asking Obi-Wan to take secret plans for an Imperial station to Alderaan, and Obi-Wan had asked Luke to join him. Luke had rushed home, only to find that his aunt and uncle’s homestead had been burned to the ground. He had later found out why: the Jawas that had sold Artoo and Threepio to him had been tortured by Imperial stormtroopers and killed. Now they would be hunting Luke.

So Luke had done the obvious thing: he had agreed to go with Obi-Wan and learn how to be a Jedi. Of course, he had taken the droids with him.

Now, as they were stopped by a stormtrooper patrol, he was wondering if that had been such a good idea.

"How long have you had these droids?" the commander asked.

Luke shrugged. "Three or four seasons?" he replied.

It was a dead lie. And the commander seemed to know that. "How about we see some form of identification?" he asked.

Obi-Wan narrowed his eyes. "You don’t need identification," he told the commander.

The commander tilted his head. "We don’t need his identification," he repeated.

"These aren’t the droids you’re looking for," Obi-Wan continued. The trooper repeated that.

Obi-Wan smiled. "Move along," he murmured.

"Move along!" the commander barked. Luke jumped, before speeding away before anything else happened.

"I thought we were goners," he muttered.

"The Force is strong when used properly," Obi-Wan replied mysteriously.

***　

Han leaned back in his booth, tapping his fingers. Danielle had disappeared into the crowds on look-out duty. Chewbacca was at the bar, seemingly there just to drink. He smirked. Beast drunk is not a good Beast, he thought to himself.

Suddenly, a loud commotion erupted over at the bar. Han leaped to his feet, looking down to see what the hell was going on. Two thugs had started going after a young man a few years older than Danielle was, and Chewbacca was roaring. Han strained his ears. "He’s a mutant!"

Han’s blood boiled, and he narrowed his eyes, instantly knowing what was coming. But he couldn’t stand by and let another of his kind get hurt. He knew Chewbacca wasn’t standing for it either.

The lasers shot out of his eyes and hit the two men square in the back. Han closed his eyes, willing the lasers to stop short, and to his relief, they complied. He sat back down in his seat. Everything had happened in a short few seconds, and no one had noticed.

***　

Luke gaped in disbelief at the two dead thugs lying in front of him. Smoke was slightly billowing from the neat holes in their backs. How the hell did that happen? he wondered in shock.

It was then that he distantly heard murmurs around the cantina along the lines of "X-Men", "mutants", and "Cyclops." He frowned, looking up at Obi-Wan. "Cyclops?" he murmured.

Obi-Wan smirked, helping Luke up. "One of the many names of one of the X-Men," he replied. He turned to the towering Wookiee by the bar. "We’ll take it."

Luke blinked. "Take what?"

Obi-Wan nodded to the Wookiee. "Chewbacca has a ride for us to Alderaan."

Luke nodded thoughtfully, following Chewbacca as he led them into the darker booths of the cantina. As he did, Luke looked around the cantina more, and he thought he saw a familiar flash of black, silver, and white streaks pass by a table somewhere nearby. He blinked, but it was gone. He must have imagined it.

***　

Han had heard the entire thing. He stood to let Chewbacca into the seat next to him. "I heard you were looking for a ship," he told the two men in front of them.

The older one nodded. "A fast one," he added.

Han smirked. "You haven’t heard of the Millennium Falcon, then," he remarked. "Where to?"

"Alderaan," the man replied. "It’s going to be me, the boy, and two droids."

Han’s gaze swept over the young man who he knew was a mutant sitting next to the older one, and he immediately tensed. So this is the one that Dani told me about, he thought. Now I really need to help these guys.

"It’ll cost you, though," he warned them. "Ten thousand."

The mutant’s jaw dropped. "We could almost buy a whole ship with that!"

Han couldn’t help but grin. "And who’s gonna fly it, you?"

"I’m a pretty good pilot, actually," the kid snapped back.

The older man looked sharply at the mutant, who pulled back a little bit. "We’ll pay you two thousand before we leave, and a further fifteen when we arrive on Alderaan."

Han blinked. "Seventeen?"

The older man nodded. Han looked to Chewbacca, who was looking surprised himself. Then he looked over the crowd and found Danielle in the crowd. She was smiling, and she nodded her approval. "OK, you’ve got yourself a ship," he told them. "Meet at docking bay 94."

"94," the older man repeated.

Han nodded. Then he heard a voice through his ear piece: "Pyro, company."

He looked sharply over towards where Danielle was stationed, and all that he saw was flashes of grenades going off – stormtrooper grenades. "You might want to get out of here," he told the two men, standing. "Chewie can show you the way."

Chewbacca stood, beckoning for the two to follow. Wisely, they did.

That left Han to join Danielle in fighting off the stormtroopers who had come into the bar.

***　

Chewbacca watched over his shoulder as he saw Han and Danielle start to work on the stormtroopers. "Follow me," he barked to the two men he was showing to the Falcon. Of course, they didn’t understand him because he was speaking the Wookiee language of Shyriiwook, but they got the meaning. As Chewbacca sped up, so did they. When they reached the Millennium Falcon, he gestured the two men up the ramp. "Go!" he barked. They did, and the two men ran up the ramp. Chewbacca looked around, doing a sweep with his bowcaster, then ran up as well and began prepping for launch.

　***

Han ran towards the docking bay, drawing his blaster as he went. He heard wind whistling behind him, and he grunted when Danielle’s arms came around him and lifted him off of his feet. The rush of being off of the ground came back to him, and they headed towards the docking bay at an even faster pace. When they reached the walls surrounding the ship, Han twisted in Danielle’s hug and hugged her back. She gave a sharp yelp as Han’s phasing took them through the walls, and they crashed onto the ground in the docking bay.

Quickly, both of them jumped back onto their feet, ready for action. "Get up there and start loading up the turrets," Han ordered her.

"Yes, sir," Danielle replied, and rushed up the ramp without further argument.

Han looked down at his hand and shot a laser at it. His hand caught the fire with no trouble, and he launched it at the doorway so a wall of fire met anyone who tried to get in.

Then he, too, ran up the ramp.

　***

"Chewie, get us out of here!" Danielle yelled as she ran past the holding bay, stopping only to give a nod of recognition to Luke. Then she darted into the cockpit, practically throwing herself into the pilot’s seat.

Chewbacca looked over and growled. "That’s Pyro’s seat."

"Are you kidding me?" she yelped, starting to flip switches and get ready to launch. "He’s getting the turrets, or are you denying the gunner here the right to shoot at people who want to kill us?"

Chewbacca roared, holding his paws up in defeat. "Just saying."

"Hey, Danielle."

Danielle threw a smile over her shoulder as Luke came up behind her. "Hey there," she told him. "So, do you hate me yet?"

"Why should I hate you?"

"It might be because of me that we’re kind of in the middle of this situation."

"Nah, not yet."

"Stop the flirting and start piloting!" Chewbacca barked.

Danielle rolled her eyes. "Yes, sir," she drawled, and she flipped the engines, raising the Falcon into the air. "You there, Han?"

"Oh, yeah," Han replied. "Guns are hot and ready. Get us out of here."

"You got it." Danielle reached for the controls and sent them speeding out towards the atmosphere.

The proximity alert on the board began whirring and blinking. "Han, they’re coming," she announced.

"I see them. Can you help?"

Danielle smirked. "Thought you’d never ask."

　***

Luke heard the swishing of a cloak as Obi-Wan came up behind Chewbacca. "We’re being followed," Luke informed him.

"I know," Obi-Wan replied. "I felt them."

"Can you guys shut up for a few seconds?" Danielle asked abruptly, her voice sounding strange. "I’m trying to concentrate here."

Luke complied, but couldn’t help but ask, "What are you doing?"

Danielle turned to look at him, and Luke blinked. Her stormy gray orbs had suddenly turned pearly white. Her hair crackled with static, and the white in her hair became more obvious. "Trying to get us out of here."

She turned back towards the cockpit windows. "Han, be ready to start shooting." She looked over her shoulder. "And hang onto something," she advised. "It’s about to get bumpy."

All around, the sky started turning black. Then whirlwinds began to form all around, and Luke could hear the screams of TIE fighters now as they started getting caught in the whirlwinds. Then there was a rumble as the gun turret on top of the Falcon began shooting. Danielle flew the ship excellently between the tornadoes, and Han took care of the remaining TIEs. They burst into flames before the shots even hit.

Before long, they were in space, and Chewbacca roared something. "Go buckle in," Danielle ordered, flipping a switch above her. "We’re about to make the jump to lightspeed."

The two men obliged, leaving the two in the cockpit.

***

Han pulled off his comms unit and returned to the cockpit. "How’re we doing?" he asked.

Danielle smiled, her eyes returning to normal. "We gave away who we are, but we’re alive," she reported. "Ready for hyperspace."

Han nodded. "Cut it."

Danielle smiled. "With pleasure." She threw the switch, and the stars sped into starlines, and they made the jump to lightspeed with no trouble at all.

　***

Leia gritted her teeth, clenching her hands, then unclenching them. Her captors had been smart. They had made her wear the white gloves she had previously discarded on the Tantive IV and for some reason had clipped her angel wings. It wasn’t like she’d be flying anytime soon.

The only power she could still really use was her telekinesis, but there was nothing in her cell for her to throw around just for fun.

The door to her cell slid open, and Darth Vader entered. Leia started, then narrowed her eyes. The man himself had tried to torture her and give her information on the Rebel base. Being the true mutant she was, she hadn’t even given him the chance to try and make her tell. She had started using her telekinesis and had thrown the interrogation droid around and around before throwing it into the wall and smashing it.

"Come with me," Vader ordered.

"It’s not like you’re going to even give me a chance," Leia grumbled, but she stood and allowed Vader to escort her out of the cell.

They made it to the front of the Death Star, and Leia recognized the man at the viewport: Grand Moff Tarkin. She gave him a fake smile. "Tarkin, somehow I knew you were the one holding Vader’s leash."

He merely smirked in reply. "As charming as always. I must admit, I felt immensely guilty about having to sign your death warrant."

Leia didn’t make any move, but she was freaking out internally. Death warrant?! "Then you won’t find our base."

"Well, I might have a way," Tarkin replied, gesturing out the viewport. It was then that Leia realized where they were: Alderaan. Her blood immediately chilled, and she narrowed her eyes. "I believe it is time that we demonstrate the full potential of this battle station, and I have decided to demonstrate it on your home planet of Alderaan."

Leia’s jaw dropped. "Alderaan’s peaceful! We have no weapons – "

"You want it safe?" Tarkin snapped, turning to her. "Then name the system!"

Leia swallowed, looking over Tarkin’s shoulder at the planet in front of her. The Rebel Alliance was counting on her, but she had a sworn duty to her planet. What do I do?

"I will give you one more opportunity," Tarkin whispered softly, coming up close to her. "Where is your Rebel base?"

Leia gulped, looking down. "Dantooine," she whispered. "It’s on Dantooine."

She could practically feel Tarkin oozing with triumph. "There. You see, Lord Vader?" he gloated. "She can be reasonable." He turned to a control board nearby. "Fire when ready."

Leia jerked. "What?" she yelped.

"We will deal with your Rebel friends later," Tarkin assured her. "But we need to test out our system first."

Leia’s eyes widened. "No," she murmured, trying to move forward with her telekinesis, but a black-gloved hand clamped onto her shoulder and pulled her back. As much as an expert Leia was with telekinesis, Vader was a master at the Force and could block her easily.

She heard the whirring of controls all around her, and she prayed with all of her heart and soul that this new weapon of the Empire’s wouldn’t work.

It did, and Leia was forced to watch as her home planet blew apart.

She narrowed her eyes, almost losing control. The Empire is going to pay, she promised herself, feeling the ground tremble underneath her. She barely even noticed that equipment everywhere was lifting into the air.

Later, after she had been sedated and thrown back into her cell, she decided that this unnatural side of her had to be controlled somehow. But as strict as she was, she had to give it a name.

When she was sane and when she could control herself, she was either Rogue or Angel. But this unnatural side of her which came out when she couldn’t be in control was called the Phoenix. And if she ever ran into the Imperials again, she would not hesitate to let the Phoenix take over.

That was a promise she wouldn’t forget.