Star Wars: Second Chance

2: We Escape then Crash Land

2: We Escape then Crash Landing

"Artoo, get down here. Artoo, do you copy?" Anakin asked into his commlink.
As they all went down a hallway toward the hangar bay, Luke tried to take an unassisted step and promptly fell, agitating his foot even more. He released a strangled gasp of pain but clenched his teeth to stop a scream. Obi-Wan looked down at his foot and his eyes widened when he saw that Luke's foot was pointed completely in the wrong direction. "I'm not going to lie, Luke, that's not good." Luke nodded and gestured for a hand up, not trusting his voice. Obi-Wan assisted him and they continued after everyone else.
It was extremely windy in the hallway as bits and pieces were continually sucked into space. The hangar bay doors were closed, but great stresses were being exerted as the ship twisted, re-entering the atmosphere of Coruscant. They stopped in a doorway leading into the hangar bay.
"None of those ships will get us anywhere." Obi-Wan said.
"I agree." Anakin said.
"What are we going to do?" asked Palpatine, pretending to be afraid. Luke didn't buy it.
"I don't know." Anakin shrugged, keeping a watchful eye on Dooku.
Anakin and Palpatine both looked to Obi-Wan. "Don't look at me. I don't know." Obi-Wan said then shrugged his shoulders. Suddenly, the ship turned on its side. "The pipes on the ceiling!" Luke cried, leaping. He cried out as he put weight on his foot but used the Force to try and suppress the pain.
"Here, Chancellor, lock this around your waist, and hold on." Anakin told the Chancellor.
"We'll head toward the bridge and see if we can find an escape pod." Obi-Wan said as Anakin handed Palpatine the end of a cable that attached to his utility belt and Palpatine secured it around himself. Anakin and Obi-Wan joined Luke on the ceiling pipes, using utility cables Luke lacked. Dooku leaped up and wrapped his stubs around a pipe.
When Obi Wan moved out of the hanger, two droids started firing at him. Obi-Wan dispatched them and gestured for the rest to follow. When a pipe broke, Palpatine fell, wrenching at Anakin, who was attached to the other rend of the cable.
They were surrounded by sparks and large explosions as the ship twisted and tried to break apart. Anakin moved out of the steam released when the pipe broke and struggled to pull Palpatine back to safety. Anakin was almost pulled loose in the buffeting winds but Luke grabbed his leg to stop him from falling. The ceiling behind them buckled, causing pipes to break, creating geysers of steam. In a last desperate attempt they made it through the doors and closed them quickly. No longer in serious peril, Luke's ankle gave way and he fell against the wall, leaning on it for support. Anakin looked at Luke, registered his ankle and mouthed "you did all that with a seriously broken ankle?! Wow!" Luke smiled but couldn't muster  a response because he was out of breath like everyone else.
"Well, that was close." Anakin and Obi-Wan said at the same time. They laughed, and Luke smiled, wondering how Anakin could be so close to Obi-Wan then become his enemy as Vader.
They ran down the hallway, Anakin supporting Luke. Suddenly, ray shields dropped down around them, putting them in an electronic box in the middle of the hallway.
"Ray shields!" Anakin exclaimed. He looked at Dooku who was hiding a smirk in his beard.
"Wait a minute, how'd this happen! We're smarter than this." Obi-Wan said.
"Apparently not, Master. This is the oldest trap in the book . . . Well ... I was distracted." he said as he gestured at Luke who raised an eyebrow at being used as an excuse.
"Oh, so all of a sudden it's my fault." Obi-Wan said sarcastically,
"You're the Master. I'm just a hero." Anakin said playfully.
"I'm open to suggestions here." Obi-Wan said,
"Why don't we let them take us to General Grievous. Perhaps with Count Dooku as a prisoner, we can negotiate our release." Palpatine suggested.
The three Jedi looked at each other in disbelief.
"I say . . . patience." Anakin said.
"Patience! That's your plan, is it?" Obi-Wan asked.
It's like they switched places! Luke thought.
"Yes, Artoo will be along in a few moments and he'll release the ray shields . . ." Anakin said.
Artoo came skidding across the hallway and bashed into the opposite wall. He took a moment to compose himself. Luke looked at the droid in astonishment. It was the same R2 unit he possessed in the future. Artoo had belonged to Anakin?!
"See! No problem." Anakin said.
Suddenly, several doorways opened, revealing two Destroyers. Sixteen Super Battle Droids followed behind.
Artoo turned and zaped one of the droids who then kicked Artoo over.
"Do you have a plan B?" Asked Obi-Wan.
-SW-
All of them were brought in front of General Grevious. Dooku had been released and was now standing by the droid general's side.
Obi-Wan, Anakin, Luke, Palpatine, and Artoo were all captured.
"Oh yes. General Kenobi, the Negotiator. We've been waiting for you. That wasn't much of a rescue." Grevious said.
A droid walked over to Grevious and hands him the Jedi's lightsabers.
"That depends upon your point of view. Hah!" Obi-Wan replied.
"And Anakin Skywalker ... I was expecting someone with your reputation to be a little older." Grevious said, turning to Anakin.
"General Grievous . . . Supreme Commander of the Droid Armies. You're shorter than I expected."  Anakin quipped back.
When Grevious turned to Luke he said "Who are you?"
"A Jedi." Luke answered.
"Ahhhh, Jedi scum!" Grevious said. "Your lightsabers will make a fine addition to my collection."
"Not this time. And this time you won't escape." Obi-Wan said.
"Artoo." Anakin ordered.
Artoo created a distraction by extending all his arms, shooting out electrical pulses, and bouncing around.
Obi-Wan, hands restrained with electrobonds, spun around, reached out and, using the Force, yanked his lightsaber out of the General's hand. He then ignited it, and cut his bonds. He continued to spin around and cut Anakin and Luke free.
"Crush them! Make them suffer!" Grevious screamed.
Anakin and Luke used the Force to yank their lightsaber out of the General's hand.
The droids that surrounded them began to fire. The Jedi jumped into the fray and the bridge degenerated into chaos. Obi Wan and Anakin were locked in a pitched battle between electro staffs and laser swords with Grevious's bodyguards, leaving Luke to fight the General.
Grevious ignited his four blades and began to rotate his hands, spinning them in a deadly kaleidoscope of colors. Jedi colors. Blue and green, no red in the mix. Luke had no time to ponder that as he engaged. He parried a stroke aimed at his face and dodged one at his ribs. Time slowed as Luke drew on the Force to aid him and suppress the pain in his ankle. An unknown amount of time later, Anakin and Obi-Wan joined him and Grevious was forced to retreat before the might of three trained Jedi.
Alarms blare as the giant spacecraft began to list and fall out of orbit. A pilot yelled "Sir, we are falling out of orbit! All aft control cells are dead."
"You lose, General Kenobi." Grevious shouted.
"The ship is breaking up!" A pilot yelled in the background.
As the Jedi charged, Grevious turned and threw his electrified staff at the window. It broke causing chaos as everything that was not nailed down was sucked into space. Grevious was the first one sucked out. He fired a cable from his arm that attached to the ship. He swung in and landed firmly on the hull.
Obi Wan, Anakin, Luke, and Palpatine held on for dear life while Dooku, lacking hands was sucked out into space. A blast shield closed around where the window used to be, causing the jedi and the Chancellor to fall. Luke's ankle cried in protest making Luke want to scream in pain.
Anakin and Obi-Wan disposed of the remaining droids, while Luke lay propped against a wall.
"The hull is burning up!" Palpatine exclaimed.
Anakin went over to the navigator's chair while Obi-Wan helped Luke stand. Luke's eyes were glazed with pain and he was trying hard to focus.
"All the escape pods have been launched." Anakin said.
"Grievous! Can you fly a cruiser like this?" Obi-Wan questioned.
"You mean, do I know how to land what's left of this thing?" Anakin asked. He sat in the pilot's chair and saw on a screen the back half of the ship break away. With a great jolt the ship tilted forward.
"Well?" Obi-Wan questioned.
"Under the circumstances, I'd say the ability to pilot this thing is irrelevant. Strap yourselves in." Anakin said, slapping buttons on the console.
Obi-Wan, Luke, and Palpatine strapped themselves into chairs. Anakin struggled with the controls of the ship. The ship started to glow, and pieces broke off. Artoo moved in on Palpatine's controls and assisted in flying the cruiser. Luke pulled a lever on his armrest and the ship slowed fractionally. Anakin looked at Luke in astonishment. "I'm good with flying." Luke said with a grimace.
"Steady . . . Attitude . . . eighteen degrees." Obi-Wan directed.
"Pressure rising. We've got to slow this wreck down a little more. Open all hatches, extend all flaps, and drag fins. Anakin ordered.
"Temp steady. Hatches open, flaps extended, drag fins..." Obi-Wan said.
A large part of the ship broke away.
"We lost something." Anakin said
"Not to worry, we're still flying half the ship." Obi-Wan half-joked.
"Now we're really picking up speed . . . I'm going to shift a few degrees and see if I can slow us down." Anakin said tightly.
"Careful . . . we're heating up-twelve thousand . . . thirteen thousand . . ." Obi-Wan reported.
"What's our speed?" Anakin asked.
"Eight plus sixty-forty. Eight plus sixty-twenty. Eight plus sixty. Temp ten thousand, nine thousand . . . we're in the atmosphere . . . " Obi-Wan answered.
Anakin pointed to one control. "Grab that! Keep us level!"
"Steady. Steady." Obi-Wan said as Luke pulled the lever,
"Easy, Luke. Hang on, this may get a little rough. We lost our heat shields." Anakin grunted.
"Five thousand. Three thousand . . . two thousand. Fireships on the left and the right." Obi-Wan acknowledged.
"We'll take you in." The fireship pilot said.
"Copy that. Landing strip's straight ahead." Obi-Wan replied.
"We're coming in too hot." Anakin warned.
"Easy-easy." Obi-Wan coaxed.
The ship left a contrail as it streaked across the Coruscant skyline. Palpatine, Luke, and Obi-Wan held on for dear life as the ship shook and rattled toward an industrial landing platform.
The ship landed, tearing up the permacrete as it skidded to a halt amid a halo of sparks.
"Another happy landing." Obi-Wan quipped. Then he looked over at Luke's seat and saw it empty, broken restraints flapping.

*1849 words