Out of the Shadows 6
This story is mainly for my beloved Mona because I
could not do without her and also for all my friends on the SSB list. The
characters all belong to Lucasfilm and I am only playing with them for my own
pleasure. If you are looking for the established timeline (?) and character
continuity…forget it. This is a very alternative universe albeit still a Star
Wars one.
The head librarian sniffed disdainfully as one of the
assistant collection keepers stood anxiously before her. “What do you mean
you’ve discovered some things in a pile of junk you were told to clear?” she
questioned sharply, annoyed at the interruption. “There’s nothing in that
store room but rubbish and I don’t know why it wasn’t thrown away years
ago.”
The small Omwati female shook her blue feathery head
nervously. “No, Mistress. Most of everything else in the room was exactly that
- junk.”
“Then why are you coming to me about this?” She
let out an exasperated sigh. She was much too busy to deal with the trivialities
of the inept.
“I think there’s one of the containers you need
to examine more closely.”
“I have enough to do…”
“But these things I think…belong to the Jedi.”
“The Jedi?” the librarian uttered sharply as her
piercing eyes speared the hapless assistant.
“Yes, Mistress Yachek.”
“Ridiculous.”
“No, Mistress. I have researched the history of the
Jedi and…”
The tall humanoid woman looked down her long nose at
the Omwati and sighed. “That was a rather dangerous occupation to indulge in,
Quo Zacx. The Jedi were a danger to the galaxy and the Emperor…”
“Emperor Palpatine is dead,” Quo Zacx squeaked
bravely. “And the Jedi were good and kind. They believed in equality for all
species and there’s been a directive from the ruling council of the
Iloncka Yachet’s pale yellow eye’s narrowed.
Never particularly interested in politics she had, however, been a product of
the decaying
Quo Zacx had sharp ears and glared at her superior.
“We must contact Coruscant.”
“That rule was there during the Empire. Are you
certain this was from the New Republic Council?”
The Omwati stiffened, her chin lifting proudly. “I
may not have as many degrees from the cream of the Core World Universities,
Mistress, but I can read official communiqués as well as anyone.”
The head librarian let the unexpected insolence pass.
Quo Zacx had rarely opened her mouth before this. No, Iloncka Yashek
longed for a post at one of those prestigious universities and this could be her
chance. Under Imperial rule she would not have been considered for such a
promotion as she wasn’t completely of human descent. She had been allowed to
attend the best universities but to teach at one – unlikely. “Contact the
head curator immediately. We must confirm that the items are of Jedi origin. Why
didn’t you say so earlier?”
“I…I did.” Quo Zacx stuttered. “I’ve tried
to make three appointments this lunar week to see you but you were
unavailable.” She had finally resorted to braving Mistress Yashek in her
office.
“Oh.”
“I read an article that stated the New Republic
Government was searching for items of importance to the Jedi lost under the
reign of Emperor Palpatine and then this directive came in only three days ago.
It has been signed on behalf of Princess Leia Organa of Alderaan.” She handed
over the message cube.
“And you definitely think that’s what you have
found - items that could have belonged to the Jedi? You could be mistaken.”
“I don’t think I am, Mistress. It’s all been
packed rather haphazardly but carefully too – as if they were in a hurry.”
Her large dark blue eyes were clear and direct. “Maybe they were in a
hurry.”
“Well…”
“There are data storage rods and crystal discs that
look older than the Clone Wars.”
“That doesn’t automatically say ‘Jedi’ to
me,” the head librarian sneered. “We find antique storage systems every day
and often it’s some minor noble’s household accounts. We must be absolutely
sure.”
Quo Zacx’s lip curled. “There are several
lightsabers.”
“Lightsabers…Oh.” Suddenly, Iloncka Yashek
could see her new desk in one of the top Core World learning establishments in
her mind’s eye.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Dagobah
Luke stared with misgiving at the state of his
x-wing. The constant warmth and dampness of the climate did not agree in general
with mechanical objects and this showed in the decaying condition of his beloved
ship. With a snort of disgust, he pulled something slimy, green and growing from
one of the engines and flung it in the direction of the nearest swamp – which
wasn’t far. He no longer crash landed on the planet but his ship was looking
as if he did. He wiped some brown sludge from the snub-fighter’s nose and
scratched off a little more peeling paint as he did so. His kill markers, he
mused thoughtfully, peering at the numerous markings. He’d become an ace on
his very first flight which wasn’t something that happened very often. Usually
the pilots were killed if the battle was as fierce as Yavin and Hoth had been.
He rubbed at the little symbols representing his
presence at those very battles and his part in the destruction of the first
Death Star and noted how the picture came off on his hands. A sense of loss
overcame the young man. A Jedi shouldn’t have such things inscribed on his
ship but he was proud of what he had been and had achieved. Before all of his
discoveries, his joys and his pains, Luke Skywalker had been a pilot first and
he had been a good one. Sometimes he wondered what his life would have been like
if he had remained a pilot but as Yoda kept reminding him, he could not unlearn
what he now knew.
Now he was a different man, a Jedi Knight, and his
self-imposed exile was coming to an end. It hadn’t been discussed between him
and Yoda but Luke sensed that things were about to change. It might be tomorrow
or the day after, a month or even another year but the Force was telling him
that things were inevitably to change. He saw familiar images in his dreams and
unknown faces in his meditations but not once had he seen again the beautiful
cold-eyed woman he had first glimpsed on his arrival on Dagobah and he’d been
so sure she was important.
Three years, he thought. In all that time he had been
off the planet a mere half a dozen times. Either to get supplies or to find
pieces of Jedi history that Yoda decreed should return to the Jedi. Luke was
going to be the first of the New Order and would need all the help he could get.
The old Jedi had been concerned when Luke had mooted
trips off world. But Luke had been adamant. “We need some power packs and I
need some droid parts for Artoo and things to keep my ship in good working
condition. I can find out many things through the Force but I still need to pick
up information. I will have to return to my world one day, Master Yoda. You know
that.”
“Interfere with your training this will,” he had
said but Yoda was impressed at Luke’s clear-sightedness. The boy had grown up
though he still had his faults, was still reckless, still generous and with a
heart as open as the skies he still wanted to escape to. Luke Skywalker had many
of Anakin’s traits but he had much of his mother in him too.
“No, it won’t interfere,” Luke insisted. “We
need these things and the chance to collect possessions that should never have
been taken from the Jedi. Its too good a chance to miss. You told me where they
were and I will go and get them. It’s as simple as that and we need fresh
supplies.”
“Manage I do with what this planet gives me,”
Yoda maintained stubbornly.
One of Luke’s eyebrows arched cynically. “Maybe,
but my human constitution cannot exist on swamp stew and ration bars alone.”
Yoda had chuckled and had finally agreed that if Luke
was careful, then something different would be appreciated. Fresh fruit and
vegetables were not of the dark side.
Of course nothing was ever that simple for Luke but
he had managed to complete his tasks without discovery and vanish into the mists
once more. He hated clouding minds but it was vital that no bounty hunter or
Imperial agent got wind of his whereabouts. Or perhaps more tenacious by far,
Han Solo had been scouring the galaxy for him. Luke knew that. He had sometimes
felt his family’s presence close by him while he slept. They were never far
from his heart and mind. He was doing this for them and the children they would
one day have. He wanted all children to be able to live free. He didn’t know
why he was so certain that Han and Leia would have children together; he just
was and it felt good.
Han Solo was more thorough than any bounty hunter
when it involved those he loved. Luke knew he hadn’t accepted the idea of
Luke’s mission to complete his training. He respected Luke and the powers he
had seen him display but had little regard for a hokey religion that had wiped
itself out before Luke and Leia were born. He didn’t see that Luke needed to
learn anything more.
One of Luke’s trips had taken him to Sluis Van, a
planet only three days away from Dagobah. Coincidentally Han had been there a
mere twenty four hours before him. Luke’s eyes had darkened at the news
displayed over the holonet in the quiet tapcaf he had patronised in the hope of
finding a hot meal. He saw Leia in his dreams but it wasn’t the same. He had
just discovered his sister, only to leave her. It had been hard to do but he had
his promises to keep.
************************
Luke wandered around his ship making his final checks
before flight. She didn’t look like much these days but she had it where it
counted. A pang of something bittersweet swept through him. Han had always said
something similar about the Falcon. He wondered if Han’s ship was still
being held together with hope and dodgy wiring. “I’m going to head
towards Sluis Van as usual to pick up supplies and some new parts for the x-wing
and then I think I’ll head back along the Rimma trade route and see where the
Force leads me. It’s a tried and tested path.”
“Ready to go, are you?” Yoda asked, his sharp
gaze assessing the shaggy haired young man standing before him wearing the
typical orange flight suit of an alliance pilot. He didn’t look like the last
hope of the Jedi but Yoda knew that he was that hope.
Luke turned and smiled down at the little green
being. “Yes, Master.”
“Luke, careful you must be.”
“I will, Master.” Luke grinned. Yoda never failed
to urge him to be cautious. It was as if the old Jedi Master considered him to
be…reckless. His smile widened. That was probably true but Luke also knew that
Yoda loved him and wanted him to be safe. “I’ll see you in a weeks time.”
“No longer, Luke. Our time is running out and we
still have things to learn.”
“You feel that too,” whispered Luke. A slight
feeling of dread gripped him. Yoda appeared frailer as time passed and Luke knew
that now he was the one hiding their presences from the galaxy and not Yoda. The
old being was holding on for Luke’s sake.
“Longer than expected we have had, young one.“
Yoda’s voice broke into Luke’s thoughts. “Glad am I.”
“Yeah,” Luke swallowed. “Glad I am too…I
mean, it’s been good.”
“Perhaps, a haircut you will have time for on this
trip?”
Luke ran his hand through his hair. It now reached
well below his shoulders and he’d got used to tying it back. “A haircut and
a shave?” he wondered, blue eyes glinting with mischief.
“Have a chin you still do under all that hair.”
“It’s a good disguise. Makes me look older.”
“Age is not all that it appears. My bones ache more
than they used to.”
“After one of your training sessions Master, so do
mine. Seriously, though, if I’m to re-establish the Jedi I need…”
Yoda’s heart softened. “A heavy burden placed on
you we have. Sure you will succeed with it I am. But wish not away your years.
They go without the wishes.”
Luke’s mouth firmed and he nodded. At times he felt
much older than his twenty-five years. He didn’t think he would be blessed
with nearly nine hundred years of life. “I understand. Artoo…you ready?”
“Luke,” Yoda’s voice was suddenly urgent.
“You will not do it alone.”
“At first I will be alone.”
“No, your sister have you and I sense that there
will be others.”
“Others…” Luke stared down at his boots and
then back at his Master, a wry smile on his well shaped lips.
“You have learned well, my padawan. The Force is
with you.”
Artoo Detoo wheeled himself towards Luke and waited.
“Up you go, little fella,” he murmured. With a casual lift of his hand the
droid began to rise and, with a screeching wail of protest, was levitated into
the x-wing. “Stop squealing, Artoo. You must be used to this by now.”
The droid was not impressed and let Luke know with a
cascade of electronic invective.
“Luke… The data and artefacts you are to retrieve
are vital for the rebirth of the Jedi. I did not know they still existed.”
“But you sensed when they were found.”
“Powerful ally is the Force.”
“What is so special about these articles?” Luke
queried casually. Yoda had been far more eager for him to find these things than
usual.
“My old friend and leader of the Jedi Council, Mace
Windu held these in his safekeeping for many years and when he was destroyed by
the Sith, lost also I thought these were.”
“Mace Windu,” Luke echoed and immediately a
picture of an imposing figure with dark skin and a noble face entered his mind.
“I see him,” he said.
Yoda nodded with satisfaction at his pupil’s
ability. He had thought of his old friend and instantly Luke had caught the
image and held it. “A great Jedi. As the Sith grew in strength and the Jedi
fell, Mace Windu travelled the galaxy and hid our records and our precious
artefacts. Who knows what destruction could have been caused if these items had
reached the hands of the Sith and Emperor Palpatine himself?”
“What are the items?” Luke asked again.
“Force detectors, data storage rods, thaissen
crystals and training manuals. Not certain am I.”
Luke had been taught well. He knew what these things
did. The Force detectors had been used by Palpatine to weed out Force users but
Luke would be able to discover those with Force ability – those he
could train. They were powered by thaissen crystals which glowed when in close
proximity to Force strong individuals. He’d held a thaissen crystal in his
hand on Mimban – the Kaiburr crystal it had been called. It had nearly cost
him and Leia their lives. It was also the first time he’d met Darth Vader,
fought him and survived. It was the first time that Vader had respected the
strength of Luke’s own power in the Force.
“Mace kept some things that were sentimental to the
Jedi. Toys we used to train the younglings in the crèche, Jedi Credits from
Corellia when a Corellian Knight became a Master.”
Luke’s eyes narrowed. “There’s something more.
Something you hope survived but aren’t certain that it did. Toys can be
constructed again. This is something precious.”
“Your insight serves you well, young one. Mace had
in his possession records of Jedi families gone into hiding and possible
recruits. We destroyed every surviving record apart from one. No choice had we.
Agents of the Empire were everywhere. Few beings could we trust with such
knowledge. The Emperor was powerful with the dark side.”
“And this is what you hope could be in this
cache.”
“Yes…it may even lead us to the identity of the
woman you keep seeing,” Yoda said consideringly.
Luke coloured. “I don’t keep seeing her,” he
muttered defensively. “She only appeared in my visions once or twice.” He
had wanted to meditate more on her but somehow he was afraid to do so. Her
future, he sensed, was clouded.
“But she has never left your mind, Luke. Once was
enough.” Yoda sighed. “I’ve told you before, young one, ‘a Jedi should
not know love’ but that’s not your way.”
“No,” Luke admitted. “And I don’t love
someone I’ve never met. How can I?”
“Your father knew love and his downfall that proved
to be.”
“We’re speculating over nothing,” Luke
protested. “The Jedi should know love and they didn’t. That is why they
failed my father and he them. We should not be afraid to love – love can be a
strength. There are many forms of the emotion and I may never meet this woman.
I’ve seen many beings during my meditations and you have never commented so
often on them.”
“Perhaps you are right, Luke,” Yoda said tiredly
but in his eyes was a strange expression as if he knew something that Luke did
not. “In motion our futures are but she made a powerful impression on you –
a powerful impression. Now go and return as soon as you can.”
“What happens if the records you require are lost
forever?”
“Then these people were never found and they
survived the purges.”
“What if we don’t find them either?”
“In the Force will we have to trust.”
Luke placed one booted foot on the ladder and gave
Yoda an unsmiling nod before turning and mounting quickly. The ladder dropped
away as Artoo fired up the converters.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Somewhere in space – Sluis Sector
Wedge
“Boss!”
His com crackled to life.
“Hobbie?”
“Something’s overheating. I think my coolant
coils have cracked. I thought I’d had all of the damage fixed after we had the
run in with those pirates.”
“So much for the superiority of the Sluis Van
techs,” he muttered under his breath. “Give me the Verpine any day.” Wedge
frowned and flicked at a couple of switches pulling up the data from all the
squadron. He remembered the incident very clearly. They’d been lucky not to
lose anyone. It was something when peace time became more dangerous than the
heat of combat but in certain places things had become somewhat lawless with
neither the
“It’s flashing the red light I usually associate
with ‘not good’.”
“Oh, that red light,” Wedge’s tone was
sardonic. “You know, Hobbie, for a pilot of your experience, can’t you be
more specific? What about your R2 unit?”
“It’s not speaking to me.”
“Not again,” Wedge groaned. Another temperamental
droid! They were supposed to do their assigned function and nothing else.
“What did you call him this time…no, don’t answer that. I really don’t
want to know. Get its memory flushed when we return to base. Will you be able to
hold on until then?”
“Don’t think so, Boss. The red light is looking
awfully urgent to me.”
“Where’s the nearest stopping point from here?”
Wedge mused aloud. He could hear the serious note in his friend’s voice hidden
under the humour.
Hobbie checked the navicomp and breathed a sigh of
relief. Thankfully they weren’t in an uninhabited section of the galaxy or in
the middle of some dogfight. “Bpfassh is about sixty light years ahead
or…” he paused. “We could try Praesitlyn.”
“Praesitlyn. It’s closer. Is your engine trouble
that serious?” Rogue Squadron’s second in command, Tycho Celchu, joined the
conversation.
“I think it could just about make it as far as
Bpfassh but I wouldn’t like to have to aim for Sluis Van. It’s just a couple
of clicks too far.”
“Praesitlyn has a
“Boss…The R2 unit has finally decided to speak to
me. It’s beeping furiously. That means things are grim.”
“Okay, Hobbie, Praesitlyn it is. Did you all hear
that? Wedge broadcast the information to the rest of the unit.”
“Sure we did,” Janson chimed in. Wedge could hear
the smile in his voice. “Trust Derek to break something.”
“Who are you calling ‘Derek’?” Hobbie
muttered, his voice hostile.
“I believe it was the name your mother gave you,”
Janson taunted.
“Did he have one of those?” Pash Cracken
muttered. “I thought he emerged into the galaxy fully formed…”
“Now boys, enough squabbling,” Feylis Ardele
scolded affectionately, trying to keep the concern from her voice.
“Yes mother,” chanted Janson cheekily.
“Set your navicomp for Praesitlyn, Hobbie,” Wedge
ordered. “Hobbie, you and Pash come with me and the rest of you head back to
Sluis Van with Tycho.”
“Copy that, Rogue leader,” answered Tycho
formally.
Wedge watched as nine x-wings peeled away from their
perfect formation and with a blurring of star lines disappeared into hyperspace.
“Come on, let’s set course for Praesitlyn.”
“Already done,” Pash Cracken answered. “It’s
not far; we can do it using sublight engines.”
They kept com silence until their courses were set
and then Pash asked quietly, “Boss…you going to ask about Luke again?”
“Your father thinks that Luke is dead,” Wedge
replied slowly. Pash’s father, Airen Cracken, was head of the
“I don’t believe my father thinks that,” Pash
said. “But he would like to know what happened to him.”
“Wouldn’t we all. Your father got any ideas, Pash?”
Hobbie asked.
“None. He doesn’t say anything to me but he
wasn’t happy when Luke disappeared.”
Wedge shrugged, feeling his harness tight against his
shoulders. “Luke needed to go. It’s a Jedi thing.”
“Then we hope he does the Jedi thing and comes
back.”
Wedge gave a sad smile. “Yeah, his friends miss
him. But even if he does come back he won’t fly with us. He will be rebuilding
the Jedi and that won’t be an easy task because he will be doing it on his own
and from nothing.”
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Luke spent a total of twenty four hours on Sluis Van.
In fact, he never left the civilian spaceport. He’d gazed enviously at the
workshops the Sluissi had where an entire ship could be overhauled in a matter
of hours. They didn’t call Sluis Van the starship repair planet of the galaxy
for nothing. Luke couldn’t afford the credits a service would cost but he knew
the vital parts that he needed for his ship and he could do his own work for
absolutely no credits at all. Then there was the contentment he felt when
working with his hands, fixing his own ship. For an hour or two he could push
away the ever approaching, ever increasing burden of the Jedi and just be Luke
Skywalker, a farmboy turned pilot who was good with his hands.
Luke paid for the parts he needed and returned to his
x-wing. Artoo stood guard faithfully waiting. “Hi there, little fella,” Luke
greeted his small friend affectionately. “I told you I wouldn’t be long.”
Artoo blew a sarcastic raspberry.
“I resent that, Artoo. I said I’d be here and I
was. So none of this ‘you didn’t expect to see me for at least another day
and covered in bacta patches’. I don’t do bacta any more…don’t like the
taste.” Luke stowed his purchases in the aft cargo compartment and pulled out
his flight suit. Artoo moaned. “Yeah…it’s a little wrinkled. But I’m not
expected at any fancy Coruscanti balls today.” He pulled on the suit and
grimaced at the sight he made but no one was looking at him.
Half an hour later they were airborne. “I’d like
to fly manual for a while, Artoo. What? No, just want to have a little fun.”
He soared past the vast orbital defence stations and immense shipyards ringing
the planet, thankful that Sluis Van wasn’t one of the Imperial Navy’s most
vital resources any more. He didn’t fancy meeting a star destroyer right now.
“Artoo…once we’re clear of domestic traffic,
could you lock my s-foils into attack position?”
“Brrr dooweet!” Artoo, secure in his droid socket
behind his pilot, tootled a question.
“No, I don’t think there’s an attack imminent
and yes, I know you can’t see anything on the scopes. I want to…fly.” And
for the next hour Luke played in the sky like a boy again, sending the x-wing
whirling and spinning as if involved in a fierce dogfight with an invisible
enemy. If someone had been watching it appeared as if the tiny craft was
dancing.
Luke practised manoeuvres that had kept him safe in
all the years of bitter and dangerous fighting whilst an
If Artoo could have laughed and joined in, in an
organic fashion such as carbon based life forms did, he would have done so. It
had been a long time since he had seen Master Luke so carefree. The faithful
little droid wasn’t certain the last time he had seen his master happy. He
wasn’t happy without Princess Leia, General Solo, Chewbacca and even Threepio.
Threepio could be strangely illogical and irritating for a droid always so
confident that he was right. – even when he was wrong. Artoo decided that he
too could suffer from emotions belonging to carbon based life forms. He missed
Threepio.
With a last barrel roll Luke finally levelled his
ship and began pulling the data from his navicomp. Bpfassh…Praesitlyn…Sullust…
Luke paused and went back to the previous name.
Praesitlyn.
There was something there. He felt something echo
through the Force. “Artoo, have you any information on Praesitlyn? Holos…or
data that I might find useful if I’m looking for…stuff?”
The little droid twittered happily, glad to be of
use.
“I’m going into a trance once we make the jump to
light speed. Setting co-ordinates for Praesitlyn. We should be there in about
twelve hours. Then we’ll see what’s there. I get the feeling something
is.”
**********************************************************