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The blockade runner jumped out of  hyperspace with a jolt – hard enough to knock some of its guards off their feet

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The blockade runner jumped out of  hyperspace with a jolt – hard enough to knock some of its guards off their feet. "Begin your descent toward Tatooine." Leia Organa, the Princess of Alderaan, instructed the ship's pilot.

Her best friend, turned closest advisor, Elara Aldridge, glued her eyes to the ship's radar, keeping watch for Imperial ships – just in case they had been followed from Scarif. As she suspected, one appeared, then two. She turned towards Leia, and pointed to the monitor. "Leia, we have a problem."

"Deploy all defense mechanisms, Captain, and send the signal to your men." Leia ordered.

The princess quickly left the cockpit, followed close behind by Elara. "You remember where to go?"

Elara nodded her head, and followed the Princess through the burrows of the pristine ship into a secret corridor. Leia's father had this added when the Empire took control of the galaxy, so that he could hide his family, and refugees, within.

Leia presses her hand against a small patch of wall, which opened a concealed compartment with the scan of her hand. Stashed inside were several simple blasters. Both girls grabbed one, and continued on down through the dark corridor.

Imperial fire against the ship made navigation deeper into the corridor difficult. Both girls stopped, and braced to a wall to keep from being sling side to side with every violent shot. "I don't know if we'll get out of this one, Leia."

Before the Princess can respond, the violent shakes come to a stop, then by several loud bangs indicative of a larger ship latching on. "I have a bad feeling about this, Ellie."

The two women duck into a crevice between some pipes. "What do we do now, Leia," Elara rested her head on a wall, voice laced over with fear, "if they find us, they find the plans, Scarif was for nothing. Then all of Rogue One died for nothing."

Leia remained silent. To be honest with herself, she didn't know what to do, and she didn't want to lie saying she did. And Leia always knew what to do. She peeked her head out, eyes scanning for anything that could help them.

A familiar blue and white droid wandered into her field of vision, giving her the idea they desperately needed. "Artoo," she motioned the droid to come to her, "we need your help."

The little droid eagerly beeped to accept his task, and made his way toward the two young women.

"Okay, Artoo, we need you to record a message," she nodded to Elara, "and when we're finished, you are to take an escape pod down to Tatooine and deliver it to Ben Kenobi, and only Ben Kenobi. Don't even tell Threepio. You know how much of a blabbermouth he is."

The droid beeped his acknowledgement and activated a recording.

Leia took a deep breath, and began to speak.
"General Kenobi. Years ago, you served my father in the Clone Wars. Now he begs you to help him in his struggle against the Empire. I regret that we are unable to present my father's request to you in person, but our ship has fallen under attack and I'm afraid our mission to bring you to Alderaan has failed. I have placed information vital to the survival of the Rebellion into the memory systems of this R2 unit. My father will know how to retrieve it. You must see this droid safely delivered to him on Alderaan. This is our most desperate hour. Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi. You're our only hope."

Elara passed the delicate disc that held the Death Star plans to the Princess, who lodged it inside the droid in a way only she or her father knew how to retrieve.

She motioned for the little droid to go on with his mission, and dodged back into the crevice.

Soon after Artoo's departure, the sound of Stormtrooper boots on the metal floors drew nearer. Leia's heart sank – they had found the secret corridor.

With their blasters ready to fire, both women peeked again from their hiding spot. One of them caught sight of Leia. "There's one! Set for stun."

•••

The squadron of Troopers escorted both women down then hall, much to their objection, but neither attempted to struggle. They were stopped by none other than Darth Vader himself, who emerged ominously from the ship's cockpit.

"When the Imperial senate finds out about this–" Elara started, receiving a forceful shove by a Stormtrooper.

"Shut up, Rebel."

"Darth Vader, only you could be so bold," Leia spat, "the Imperial senate will not sit still for this! When they hear you've attacked a diplomatic-"

"Don't act so surprised your Highness. You're not on any mercy mission this time." Vader retorted, "several transmissions were beamed to this ship by rebel spies. I want to know what happened to the plans they sent you."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Leia shook her head, "I'm a member of the Imperial senate on a diplomatic mission to Alderaan!"

"You are a member of the Rebel Alliance and a traitor! Take them away!"

a/n
I hope y'all enjoyed! If you did, don't forget to vote and comment! I appreciate everyone who reads this story. Have a lovely day! 💕

[partially edited and rewritten; 09/05/2021]

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