Although many worlds had now sided with the Free Federation against the Galactic Empire, they were still vastly outnumbered. With the Rebel Alliance on their side, things would be more even. But there was no guarantee that the Rebel Alliance would join with the Free Federation, even though they both shared a common goal. If the Empire was ever defeated, would the Rebel Alliance and the Free Federation declare war on each other
His thought pattern was broken when Captain Watt approached him.
"Admiral, now may be the time to do the final test devices."
"How far away from Tattooine are we?" MacCleod asked.
"Just over two hours."
"Very well."
MacCleod rose to his feet, and turned to Worf.
"Mister Worf, please signal the fleet that the final test of the Istarian cloaking devices are about to commence."
"What about the Defiant, Admiral?" asked Worf.
"Ask them to cloak and keep an eye on us with their sensors."
The order went out. MacCleod watched the screen as every ship in the fleet shimmered, and then one by one vanished. The Defiant, with its Romulan cloaking device, was the last to do so.
"Sensor readings, Mister Tompkins," Watt ordered.
Tompkins began to operate his panel.
"All cloaking devices are at full capacity," he reported. "And... I'm picking up every ship in the fleet!"
"Confirmed!" added Worf. "Every ship is cloaked, and detectable only by us!"
"You sound surprised, gentlemen!" said MacCleod. "Didn't you think this would work?"
As the transport ship Tantive IV neared the outlying desert planet, Captain Antilles knew that he had no chance. Phaser blasts from the Imperial Star Destroyer were raining down on him. He didn't know the name of the ship after him, or the name of its commander, but at the moment, that didn't matter. The ship then buckled under his feet. He didn't need a junior officer to tell him that a tractor beam had just latched onto his ship. Antilles knew what was coming next.
All of these happenings were uppermost in the mechanical thoughts of protocol droid C-3PO and Astromech droid R2-D2. In the many years since their construction, they had been from one end of the quadrant to the next, and had seen their share of battles, but somehow, this was different.
As usual, Threepio was complaining about the state of the ship, the state of his systems, and the way his counterpart seemed to be going off ahead. In fact, he paid no attention to the crewmen who were pushing past him carrying various energy weapons. Then, something drastic happened, something far more important than the imminent threat of invasion by a party of Imperial soldiers, something that annoyed him even more.
Artoo had not done as he was told. In fact, he had gone missing!
The test on the cloaking devices had gone well. It appeared that there weren't any flaws in the new systems. The dwarves, it had seemed, had earned their keep.
"We are approaching Tattooine now," O'Rourke reported.
"Go to half impulse power," Watt ordered.
Worf relayed the order to the rest of the fleet. As he did so, his own feeling of anticipation grew. It had been a long time since he had seen his brother. Perhaps with the sons of Mogh together fighting for the Free Federation, Gowron would finally see fit to enter this galactic war.
As the fleet came to impulse power, Worf's sensor panel suddenly came to life, as did the sensor panels on the rest of the ships.
"I'm picking up two ships almost in orbit of Tattooine," he reported. "One a small transport ship... the other... an Imperial Star Destroyer!"
Suddenly, Trospheo sprang to her feet and stared at the two ships.
"What is it, Counselor?" MacCleod asked.
"I can sense something on the Star Destroyer! A powerful, truly evil presence!"
"Sirs, we are being hailed by the Liberator," Worf reported.
The image of Blake and Tarrant was soon before them.
"Admiral MacCleod, we've got to do something!" said Tarrant. "We've got to help that transport ship."
"We do nothing," said MacCleod, sternly.
"But the Liberator alone could probably take out that Star Destroyer," said Blake.
"And you would alert the Imperial forces to our presence in the Delta Quadrant!" replied MacCleod. "As I said, we do nothing!"
"I'm picking up transporter activity from the Star Destroyer," said Worf. "They're boarding the transport ship."
"I have to agree with Admiral MacCleod, Del," said Watt. "We can't do anything to compromise our mission here!"
Almost madly, Threepio searched the corridors of the Tantive IV for Artoo. So far, he had had no success. Soon, he entered what appeared to be an empty cargo chamber. From within the chamber, he heard noises, the beeping of an Astromech Artoo unit. He did not know of any other Artoo unit on board, so it appeared that he had found his longtime companion.
Turning a corner, he found that he was correct. However, he also found something else, something he was not expecting. Crouched down next to Artoo was a young woman, dressed in white robes. From this distance, Threepio could not tell who she was, but he could tell what she was doing. She appeared to be inserting something into the droid, some kind of data chip. Then, upon hearing Threepio approaching, she scurried away.
"What are you doing over there! You're not meant to be in here! You'll get us both dismantled!"
Artoo let out a bleep, and began to move towards Threepio.
Captain Antilles joined his men at the main airlock, laser blaster in hand, ready to repel any invaders. But to Antilles' surprise, they did not come through the airlock - they beamed aboard!
The firefight began, but the crewmen of the Tantive IV were prepared for Imperial Stormtroopers, not the better-trained Jem'Hadar warriors that accompanied them. They did not outnumber the crewmen, but were still more than a match for them. The ship was theirs in a matter of minutes.
With the ship secure, the ominous figure of Vader beamed aboard. He had only one thing on his mind. One of the Jem'Hadar pointed out Captain Antilles to him. Vader strode over to him.
"You are the commander of this vessel?"
"I beg of you, we are a diplomatic vessel, bound for Alderaan. We..."
"If that is the case, where are the members of the Royal family?"
Antilles did not offer an answer. This enraged Vader. He reached forward, and placed his huge hand around Antilles' throat, and lifted him off the floor.
"Where are the data tapes that were stolen from Wayland?"
Antilles tried to answer, but the pressure from Vader was so great that his voice did not allow him to.
"Where is the Princess?"
Antilles could answer no more. He was dead. Realizing this, Vader dropped him to the ground. He then motioned to one of the Jem'Hadar.
"I want that data tape! Take this ship apart piece by piece if you have to! I also want the passengers found, and I want them alive!"
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