XI - Darth Vader

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"There's gotta be something you can do," Luke said, panic rising in his voice.

"There's nothing I can do about it, kid, I'm full power." Han flicked a switch off behind him, followed by many more. "I'm gonna have to shut down. They're not gonna get me without a fight."

"You can't win," Ben stated, leaning towards the pilot. "But there are alternatives to fighting."

Han looked at him defensively. "Are you suggesting we take off? Because that ain't happening, old man. I'm not abandoning this ship, not on your life. Mar', back me up, here."

Mara didn't say anything. Her mind was whirling, desperately trying to figure out a way out of this mess. Her fingers curled around the pilots' seats. They couldn't fight, they wouldn't flee, so what could they do? She then looked up from the ground, realizing they did indeed have a third option.

Impatiently, she slapped Han on the shoulder to get his attention.

"Ow! What?"

"The compartments," Mara said.

Han stared at her. "What compartments?"

"The underground compartments we used for smuggling," she explained. "We can hide under there."

Han gave her a slight nod. "Great," he granted, halfheartedly. "And then what? They're gonna know someone's on the ship. Hiding will only delay the inevitable."

Mara shook her head, staring down at him with a cunning grin. "Not if they don't think there's anyone aboard."

Han stared back at her for a few moments, before it finally clicked. He nodded at her, holding up a finger. "The escape pods. If we drop a few, they might just think the ship is a decoy."

"Exactly."

"Alright. Me and Chewie will go lose a few pods. You get to the compartments." Han started to leave, before glancing over his shoulder, saying, "Save me a seat, will ya?" and departed with a wink.

Mara gestured for the rest of the group to follow her out of the cockpit. "C'mon, this way." 

She lead them to the main hallway, near the loading dock. She got to her knees, drawing her fingers over the cool, dark tile, the tips of her nails coming across a groove, which she pried up to reveal the deep underground compartments she and Han had used countless times before.

"You know this ship pretty well," Luke commented as he helped Mara open a second compartment.

Mara gave a noncommittal shrug in reply. "Well, I've spent a lot of time here with Han."

Luke gave her some kind of look, but she didn't say anything as they slid into a compartment together, quickly pulling the panel over them again. It was nearly pitch-black inside. She could hardly see the tip of her own nose, let alone Luke, who sat across from her in the large-ish space, although it felt much smaller with no light.

She would never admit it aloud, but she hated small spaces. She'd much rather be out in the open, completely exposed, even, instead of breathing in thick, warm air, cornered in a place she couldn't escape from. Luke seemed to sense this, reaching out to her in the dark, grappling blindly for her hand for a few seconds. He held it, both of their grips tightening at the sound of footsteps above them - Imperial troops boarding the ship.

"There's no one here," came an unrecognizable voice - a stormtrooper, no doubt.

Two pairs of footsteps waltzed further down the corridor, before disappearing down what was presumably the boarding ramp. Once it was quiet again, Mara tentatively pushed open the compartment, peeking her head out. She saw Han and Chewbacca rising out of their own compartment, Ben doing the same in another one further down.

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