PART ONE
PART TWO
PART THREE
The stadium was in ruins. There were dead or dying Stormtroopers everywhere, the spectators had evacuated the stands, and most of the infield was on fire. Baseballs still hovered in the air, spitting blaster bolts at anyone who came near them. Goliath, Sherlock, Xanatos and Moriarty stood at home plate, talking to Yoda.
“Sorry for all the confusion, lads,” Moriarty said. “I needed to draw the Emperor out of seclusion. You three were the bait.”
“I see you’ve developed a few new talents,” Sherlock said dryly. “Care to explain?”
“Not really,” Moriarty said. “They’re a means to an end.”
“And what is the end you have in mind, Moriarty?” Goliath asked.
Moriarty pointed skyward. “That space station up there. It’s a weapon, powerful enough to destroy an entire planet. The Death Star, the Empire calls it.”
“Destroy the planet, Vader will,” Yoda interjected. “Stop him, you must.”
“Don’t worry,” Moriarty said. “I’ve got reinforcements on the way. They should be enough to persuade Vader to stand down.”
Yoda shook his head. “Surrender, Vader will not. Clouded by anger, his judgment is. And fear.”
“We need to get up there,” Xanatos said. “I’ll have Owen bring the jet around.” He turned to Yoda. “Come with us. We could use your help.”
“Leave, I cannot. My home, this planet is. My resting place, it will be. May the Force be with you.” Yoda turned and shuffled off.
“I guess it’s up to us then,” Sherlock said.
“Just like old times!” Moriarty added.
Weapons fire pierced the dark vacuum of space, illuminating the surface of the Death Star. The Cerberus/Rebel Alliance fleet had torn through the Empire’s defensive lines like tissue paper. Broken hulks of Star Destroyers drifted in orbit around the massive station. Only the Super Star Destroyer Executor shielded the Death Star from direct attack. The enormous vessel had taken heavy damage, but its sheer size and incredible firepower kept it in the fight.
The Xanatos space-jet flew through the wreckage, approaching the Death Star cautiously. The battlestation was slowly rotating to take aim at Dagobah.
“There,” Sherlock said, pointing to a scan of the Death Star on the viewer. “It looks there’s some sort of exhaust port. It’s unshielded. The opening is only about two meters wide… Not wide enough for a ship.”
“But wide enough for my armor,” Xanatos said. “I can fly along this trench here, towing one of our missiles. Once I reach the port, I can bring the missle inside and arm the tracking system. It should shoot straight down to the reactor core and detonate. That might be enough to destroy the entire station.”
“We don’t have enough time,” Goliath said. “We need to get over there and stop the weapon from firing. Moriarty and I will go aboard and find this Darth Vader. We’ll force him to put a stop to this madness.”
“How do you plan to get over there?” Xanatos asked.
“Right there,” Sherlock said, pointing out the cockpit window. A small shuttle was drifting, not far from the launch bay of a wrecked Star Destroyer. It appeared to be intact. “There’s our ride.”
The Death Star thrummed with power. The main weapon was almost fully charged. In a matter of minutes, the planet Dagobah would be reduced to an asteroid field of rock and frozen swamp water. He hoped Yoda knew that death was coming for him.
“Sir, there’s a shuttle requesting permission to land,” a lieutenant said. “They’re survivors from the Star Destroyer Fearless.”
“Bring them aboard. Estimated time to firing capacity?”
“Five minutes, mi’lord,” the lieutenant replied.
“Very good. Order the Executor to–” Vader’s command was cut off by a report from another lieutenant.
“Sir, there’s something happening in the docking bay. Security is reporting…”
Inside his mask, Vader’s scarred face drew into a hard mask of its own. “Moriarty.”
“Mi’lord?”
“I deal with the intruders myself. Destroy the planet as soon as the batteries reach full capacity. You have your orders.” Vader swept from the command center, his fresh cape swirling behind him.
The Stormtroopers guarding the docking bay never stood a chance. Moriarty used his biotic powers to pull them into space as the shuttle passed through the forcefield. The shuttle landed in a empty bay. Moriarty knew reinforcements would be arriving soon, so he told Goliath to stay on the shuttle.
“He’ll come to us. You’ll know when the time is right to strike,” he said. He strolled to the center of the huge bay and waited.
When the lift doors opened a few moments later, Darth Vader stepped out alone. His lightsaber glowed red and deadly in his hands.
“So, we meet again,” Vader said. “This time, I will destroy you.”
“You can try. I’d be surprised, Vader, I really would.”
“If you only knew the power of Dark Side.”
“Oh, but I do!” Moriarty launched a massive warp attack at Vader, who easily deflected it with his lightsaber. He used the Force to pull several large shipping containers down on top of Moriarty. Pinned, Moriarty cast a singularity at the ceiling. The containers floated off him.
“Your powers are nothing compared to the Dark Side of the Force,” Vader said. Before Moriarty could get to his feet, Vader closed in and swung his lightsaber, chopping down at him. Moriarty blocked the blow with a lightsaber of his own. Vader staggered back, surprised.
“Ta-da! Yoda had a spare. He said it used to belong to a friend of yours. Purple’s an odd color, though, isn’t it? Good thing I took fencing at boarding school,” Moriarty said.
Vader batted the attack aside. “Pathetic,” he said. He reached out with the Force and yanked the lightsaber from Moriarty’s hand, deactivated it, and tossed it down a cargo shaft.
Moriarty pounded the floor and sent a shockwave rippling across the room. It knocked Vader off his feet and sent him sprawling. “It’s time to end this,” he said, summoning a singularity to blast at Vader’s face.
“I agree,” Vader said. Reaching out with the Force, he seized the biotic implants installed in Moriarty’s body. Moriarty screamed in agony as the Dark Lord of the Sith crushed the implants connected directly to his nervous system. With a savage pull, Vader ripped the implants from Moriarty’s body. The human collapsed onto the deck, unconscious.
Vader tossed the implants aside. “All too easy,” he gloated. He didn’t sense Goliath behind him as the gargoyle grabbed the Sith Lord’s helmet and wrenched it off and crushed it between his massive hands. Gasping for breath, Vader dropped his lightsaber and fell to the deck.
“Yes, too easy,” Goliath said, hoisting Vader up by his chestpiece and dangling him over the cargo shaft. “You will order your crew to shut down the weapon, or you will die. The choice is yours.”
Vader wheezed into his comm device. “This… is Lord… Vader. Cancel… firing sequence.”
Goliath tossed the Sith Lord aside. “I suggest you order your men to evacuate the station,” he said as he scooped up Moriarty and carried him back to the shuttle. “I believe it’s about to explode.”
Back on board the space-jet, Xanatos was climbing out of his armor. “I set the missile to activate via remote,” he said to Sherlock. “What’s the status of the main weapon?”
“It powered down a few minutes ago,” Sherlock said. “It looks like they’re evacuating the station.”
“I take it Goliath and Moriarty showed them the error of their ways. I supposed we won’t have to blow it up after all.”
“Look, here comes their shuttle now,” Sherlock pointed that the viewport.
When the shuttle docked and the airlock opened, Goliath was cradling Moriarty in his arms. “He’s lost a lot of blood,” the gargoyle said.
“Contact the Normandy,” Xanatos ordered Owen. “They may have medical facilities that can help him.”
The Executor had been destroyed, and the combined Cerberus/Rebel Alliance fleet was busy rounding up the evacuees from the Death Star. Only a few fast-moving TIE fighters managed to get away. The Normandy docked quickly with the space-jet and transferred Moriarty over to their sickbay. The Normandy’s doctor said she believed that Moriarty would make a fully recovery, but that it would be impossible for him to receive biotic implants ever again, due to the shock to his nervous system.
Sherlock shook his head. “Can someone please tell me how my arch-enemy always seems to end up the hero of these adventures?”
Xanatos smiled. “We’re funny that way.”
EPILOGUE
Xanatos stood in the Death Star command center, admiring the view. He turned to Owen. “Magnificent. I’d like to add this to my personal collection. See to it, Owen.”
“I believe that both the leaders of Cerberus and the Rebel Alliance have staked a claim, sir. Their fleets have significantly more firepower than we do,” Owen said stiffly.
“They can’t both have it, but neither is willing to destroy it” Xanatos said. “I’m giving them a third option that allows them each to benefit and still save face: I’ll pay them each an obscene amount of money for it. After all, you know what they say: pay a man enough, and he’ll walk barefoot into Hell.”
TO BE CONTINUED IN THE NEXT FSL 3.0 CHALLENGE
