The continuing adventures of Luke Skywalker Myth of the crystal moon

by Jared C. Phillips

Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. My tribute to George Lucas and the love of my life...STAR WARS! Why is Luke is so serious in R.o.t.J? Go on the ride of a lifetime aboard a stolen top secret Star Destroyer and if you are lucky Zoevella won't catch you. If you are weak minded these are not the storys you are looking for... IF YOU TROLLS DONT LIKE IT, SUCK IT!

STAR WARS

The continuing adventures of Luke Skywalker;

The myth of the Crystal Moon-Part 1

Jared C. Phillips

10 01 11

Co-edited by the author and Michele A. Phillips as best we could

This is a work of fan-based fiction and a tribute to the most awesome thing to ever happen to a nine year old kid.

All Characters and trademarked products owned by Walt Disney Studios respectively

Original character design and story concept by the one and only George Lucas

Original fan based story concept by Jared C. Phillips

For the Padawans of the next generation,

"The Force will be with you, always."

"Action, adventure…this the Jedi craves not."

-Master Yoda

CHAPTER 1

Luke Skywalker awoke from his medically induced slumber to the pleasant chiming of a chorus of high pitched bells growing louder in his ears after traveling for nearly three standard days through Hyper-space according to the hours set by the command figures of the Rebel Alliance.

His back felt stiff and his legs gave the tingle of numbness from sitting in one position for so long. The Rebel Alliance fighter jockey stretched as best he could in the tight quarters of the cockpit to regain feeling throughout his body.

The orange and white mechanized pressure suit enveloping him and its patches of bulky padding at each potential contact point were fashioned from a newly designed material which could 'theoretically' allow the pilot of a small attack fighter to not only survive an ejection into open space, but be able to maneuver to safety without being at the mercy of rescue droids. Lined internally with thousands of sensor pads and a host of automated first-aid measures and safety protocols the operating system ran independently or could link to become one with the ship's computer and the Astro-mech on duty.

Conceived by a top-secret Rebel Alliance Tech-Med unit, the unique design one day may become standard issue for all fighter pilots after testing and modification, but for now it only limited Luke's mobility even more in the cramped cockpit than if he had worn only his standard issue flight suit.

The alarm's chime grew loud through the speaker system inside the helmet. Luke forced his words past a yawn and said, "I'm awake, good morning."

Scanning his eyes across the Main Display Terminal the young veteran became overwhelmed with a simple thought, Something is wrong. Luke did not just think the thought alone, he could 'feel' the meaning coming from elsewhere.

"Something's not right." He said to the co-pilot. "Vizor, open." After the Astro-mech double checked the conditions within the cockpit the clear pane of glass slowly released itself with a hiss and raised upward allowing the groggy pilot to rub the sleep out of his dry eyes.

Luke took in a breath of stale air leaving behind the taste of overworked electronics and burnt microscopic dust in his mouth and said, "Where are we, Artoo?"

The co-pilot responded with a high pitched series of electronic buzzes and whistles indicating his puzzlement as well.

"These can't possibly be the right coordinates." He stated bluntly, checking the instrument panels in detail.

"Are you sure this is where we're supposed to be?" Luke questioned the R2-unit's math with the tone of his voice.

The Astro-mech sparked back with a quick chirp of disagreement at the notion.

Dropping suddenly out of hyperspace is always a gamble, your navigational charts better be up to date or you could end up inside a star or asteroid field or as Luke saw it, in the middle of absolutely nowhere.

"Double check and then triple that number, 'Three-pee-o' said you could handle it…so where are we?" Luke kept his cool but could not hide his frustration with the sudden letdown.

Arriving at their destination and not seeing a colossal planet draped in a never-ending sea of dark purple and bright pink roiling clouds and the dim star it orbited through the cockpit glass took Luke and his companion, the Astro-mech, R2-D2 by surprise.

On the Main Display Terminal, the navigational displays cycled random readings claiming each as the current location before recalculating and presenting yet another phantom local.

"Check the navigation array first, it may have lost its bearings and stopped us, we are pretty far out, you know."

Looking out the long, narrowing pane of glass down the length of the science and exploration modified X-wing fighter, Luke saw only empty black in front of him with a sprinkling of faint stars far along the edges of his view.

"We are really far out here." Luke whispered as the desolation became obvious. He could not help but think he sat either high above the galaxy and its trillions of worlds full of life or somewhere so far under it no one in their right minds would ever dare to venture this far into the black.

The pilot did not need an interpreter to understand the series of upset tones coming from his co-pilot behind him. R2-D2's assignments included taking charge of monitoring the hyper-drive and seeing them through to their destination while Luke was sedated and ran numbers with fierce determination to find an answer to the issue.

The giant, gaseous planet and the weak and nearly burned out mother star were extremely far beyond the outer rim of the known galaxy. The gas giant's gravity may contain at least two habitable moons while six more could hold valuable resources vital to the survival of the fledgling and outlawed ad-hoc military organization.

Enormous long range telescopes mounted on Rebel Alliance deep space probes confirmed the existence of the dying star-system, an against astronomical odds find considering the faint amount of light the body emitted. The readings fell suddenly off the charts recently adding urgency to investigate the matter. Luke knew the Rebel Alliance's fear now would be the Emperor commissioning yet another weapon of mass destruction and testing it in secret. The Alliance had far more to gain by searching out the secretive Imperial Forces Special Projects Division and hitting them first than waiting for its creations to find them.

Luke volunteered for the mission to confirm the findings against the wishes of the recently crowned Royal Majesty Queen Leia Organa of Palishii-E, knowing he would get an earful when she found out. Something told him she already knew, however service to the Alliance while removing himself from the equation of the Dark Lord and his master's untiring quest to enslave him had overpowering appeal.

"We can't be that far off, can we Artoo?" Luke said carefully not to agitate the Astro-mech further while gazing off into his surroundings. He tapped a thick padded knuckle against the glass. "There's nothing here."

The Astro-mech gave the 'double check' signal confirming its math and timing were indeed correct.

The Main Display Terminal snapped its display settings into crisis-mode, flashing a screen full of fluorescent green characters on a flickering blue background. The visor lowered smoothly and resealed itself automatically. R2-D2's confusion worsened into a fast series of whistles, taps and clicks.

The pilot tapped the pressure sensor on the outside of his helmet to de-activate the Visual Holographic Interface or 'Holo-vizor' as the fighter jockeys coined it to focus more on the situation.

The display flooded the cramped cockpit with a harsh glow. The auto-tint feature built into the cockpit glass had started to react, blocking out the few faint stars and any visual contact with the outside.

"Quick! Check the power transfer circuits, it smells like a regulator or inverter is overheating on the 'Main." Luke blurted out frankly.

The droid twisted his dome side to side while piping out his usual 'I'm on it' whistle in return.

"It might even be the reason we fell out of the jump." Referring to the safety protocols found within the hyper-drive computer.

The droid responded with a flurry of chirps and clicking tones in disagreement insisting the coordinates were correct beyond a doubt and reactivated the visual display to shoot a report on the functioning hyper-drive unit to the Holo-vizor for the pilot to read. Luke grabbed the file tab on the screen with his eyes then darted them upwards to close it then slapped the pressure sensor again to cut the feed once more.

"I don't need to read it, I trust you, but something is definitely going on here, I can feel it!"

Luke had been working with 'Artoo' for so long now he seldom needed his counter-part, the Humanoid-Cyborg Relations specialist C-3PO to interpret. Only the more complex technical information the Astro-mech could provide in length he referred to the gold robot for his data crunching skills.

Luke did not want to separate the two, but C-3PO insisted his master bring him for such an important mission and the Astro-mech was always willing to come along just to avoid the boring details of monitoring day-to-day activities aboard the larger starships in the fleet.

Luke raised a gloved hand in front of him to shield his eyes from the increasing glare of the display screen. The glove gradually became noticeably warmer through the thick heat-resistant material and a sense of connection to something beyond ensued.

Luke knew the feeling well, for it was the Force reaching out to him, enveloping his mind.

The heat was a comforting feeling, he had always complained about the cold of a space faring life having grown up in a world of extreme heat. As much as he enjoyed flying it seemed to him no matter how much you modified the craft or even how many layers of protection you wear, you just could not keep a 'snub' fighter warm.

The trade off for maneuverability and firepower was worth it, especially when you are trying to remain out of sight the fighter's size could not be beat. Even Imperial cruisers could not detect an X-wing style fighter until it was right on top of it, not that you would want to be.

The pilot allowed himself to close his eyes for a brief moment ignoring the flashing lights and frantic reports the Astro-mech fed on their status to the view screens.

Luke cleared his mind of confusion and questions and felt for the guidance of the 'Living Force'. Visions of beings and places and war from long ago raced past his mind's eye, destruction and enslavement, distress and hopelessness filled his heart. The message he received filled his ears with painful echoes of desperation and suffering gathering together into a chorus of one, a unified voice calling out, "Free us!"

Chapter 2

the Force gripped Luke compelling him to meditate and venture deeper into the whirlwind of information he received from a mysterious energy he had never experienced before nor could fully understand. The shrills and whistles of distress from the Astro-mech riding on the winds drowned out as he found his soft leather boot soles settling down upon hard sun-baked clay, his feet scraped lightly at first until his weight settled gaining him traction. A flurried wall of blurry images stood before him, some scenes had a familiarity as they sped past others were of places and persons he had never seen before. He lowered his head and pushed onward.

The familiar sensation of sand stinging his cheeks he once knew while living on a desolate world came back to him as the tiny rocks clawed at his eyes. Luke put his hands over his face, squinted while lowering his head further and ventured inward, drawn by the Force and the unknown.

The howling of wind in Luke's ears and the flying sand stinging his neck slowed as he pressed on. He found himself within the eye of a desert cyclone, looking up he could see a faint cluster of stars in a darkened night sky through the opening high above.

The constellation was the farthest visible with the humanoid eye from the world most frequented by outlaws and bounty hunters playing hide and seek and rich problem gamblers from the Inner Sun Belt seeking Jabba the Hutt, and for worse, finding him.

He remembered staring at the formation of starlight when he was a boy and swearing one day he would make it to them and travel as far as his eyes could see again, never coming back to Tattooine, ever.

The winds faded and the sand fell to the ground. Luke became engulfed within the vision, he had returned to his home-world and family, a place he knew was no longer there for him.

Cooking together again over the crackling evening fire after both suns had finally set with his Aunt Beru would be very different from the frozen concentrated protein chips and super-thick nutri-fluids found in all standard issue field kits.

Granted he detested Tattooine, but he did love his Aunt Beru and Uncle Owen who paid dearly with their lives stalling the terrifying Imperial Forces 503rd Storm-Trooper Brigade in an attempt to protect him.

They were plain and honest hardworking people tasked against their will to guarding a treasure from falling into the wrong hands, a burden they never could have conceived of until Obi-Wan Kenobi entered into their lives.

Luke could hear again the echo's of his uncle's drunken cursing of the exiled Jedi warrior coming from inside the domed entrance to the dwelling he once overheard when he was a very young boy.

"I'm telling you Beru, He's going to get us all killed!"

"Owen! Grab hold of your senses! He's just a toddler and if he hears what you're saying you will scare him half to death!"

"It's not the boy I'm worried about yet, Beru."

"I love him as much as my own flesh and blood and will always protect him for you sweetie, but I talked with the Hutt's water man in Anchorhead…"

"The contract you took against my wishes!" Aunt Beru sniped cutting him off.

"Anyway!" Owen pressed on. "He showed me the Hutt's current wanted list and he's at the top along with some long eared, green critter. The bounty on his head is so high we could buy our own moon and walk away and leave this place to the Sandmen for all I care."

"You're not seriously thinking about turning him in are you?" Aunt Beru sounded alarmed.

"No, that's a sucker play and would get us all killed by the Hutt's or the Imperials for sure, I just want him to leave here and go so far away no one, especially Luke, ever see's him again!" The sound of his uncle's steel cup popped against the table to push his point.

The voices faded away as his Uncle tried to disguise the tears and anxiety in his voice "I love that boy and you so much I just don't want anything bad to ever happen to you two."

"There, there, dear." His Aunt said in a soothing tone while hugging him, "That big, stupid worm and the Imperials will have to get through me first."

Within Luke's memory, he could still see their burned bodies heaped upon a pile of Jawa farmhands killed one by one as a means of extracting information according to Standard Imperial Forces Procedure for dealing with 'Enemies of the State'.

A powerful, sickening feeling longing for revenge formed in the background of his mind.

It is not the Jedi way, yet it feels right to him, justified somehow and begging to be embraced and to release his pain.

The grumbling, gravel-shredded voice of his long eared, green skinned master echoed from somewhere beyond the sand filled breeze, "Your hand, Hold warmly this thought does. Readily, it agrees with you, upon the path to the Dark Side, guide you it will." The words were said with contempt as if his master stood at his side.

The gentle whistle of the hot, dry winds cooling the merciless desert became louder. The noise rang with what 'felt' like the crying of lost and frightened younglings, becoming pitched and stressed into high fluctuating tones.

The din of distress melted into one long unmistakable screech closing in from the Dune Sea to the West.

Luke knew the sound all too well, Sand people were coming! Absolute fear gripped him, freezing him in his tracks.

The voice of master Yoda came thundering on the wind, "Fear is the path to the Dark side!" The master's words commanded with jarring authority as they shook their way into his head.

Luke was as terrified now as when he was a young boy.

The firelight's dancing shadows replaced the glare of the twin setting suns. Staring through the flames at the darkening horizon, Luke strained his eyes for any sign of the approaching threat. He heard his Uncle Owens' voice boom from inside the building, "Luke! Where's Luke!"

"Luke! Where are you! Get inside now!" His Uncle yelled and out into the dark.

The fire suddenly exploded in a maelstrom of sparks and embers, stinging sand and black smoke. Something heavy bashed Luke's chest in the dark, knocking the wind out of him. He backpedaled until he tripped over his own feet onto his back and skidded across the hard and dusty clay pad of the fire circle.

Luke rolled onto his stomach in an attempt to get back on his feet, powerful limbs wrapped around his body from behind lifting him up by his neck and torso.

He could smell the one of the beast's terrible breath as it roared past his ears.

Clawing at the thick layers of tattered wrappings the vile creatures covered themselves with at the expense of travelers and farmers they attacked and killed and stole from was useless. They were ten times as strong as a humanoid and absolutely feral. Luke remembered his Uncle's warning of how the monsters only stood like men but were pure animal and not to be trusted, ever.

Luke caught a fire-lit glimpse of a faded black and silver Imperial insignia patch as the last of its beaten and tired threads tore loose into his palm and flew away tattered and frayed into the hot wind and darkness. No doubt from the uniforms of underperforming Imperial officers sent on deep desert re-cons missions dodging the Sandmen patrols while procuring any and all resources available to fund the emperor's outlandish ventures in the quest of 'bringing order' to the galaxy. An acceptable risk, for the Emperor anyway.

Luke fought as hard as he could, convinced he was going to be killed or eaten alive.

The beast snorted and screeched in illegible and disturbing bursts claiming victory for itself as its prey succumbed to unconsciousness under the crush of its grip.

Luke floated into quiet darkness, and finally a silence washed over him, it was peaceful and felt like it went on and on forever.

His master's voice hissed softly in the darkness breaking the serenity, "Upon the path once stepped, forever will the Dark side dominate your destiny."

CHAPTER 3

A sensation of intense heat and prickly electrical shock enveloped Luke's body, jolting him back to the present.

Sparks, fire, and thick acrid smoke had burst from the seams of the Main and Starboard consoles filling the tiny cockpit of the 'X-Wing' fighter.

Luke's gloves were as hot as fire, his hands franticly clawed for Emergency Environmental Control system lever. A futile effort as the system had executed the safety measures automatically. The Crash Restraint System had deployed pinning Luke to his seat and resealing the Plasti-glass vizor plate shut once more.

The Astro-mech spun its high temperature glass and anodized metal dome frantically while screeching out of control to the pilot about a mysterious power surge overpowering the systems of the soon to be doomed transport.

The Main Display Terminal flashed white as the glass exploded through the billows of smoke and fire in an attempt to blind the pilot permanently. In a billionth of a second, the auto-tint blast shields of his helmet kicked in and all went black.

In the darkness, Luke felt a giant's fist punch him in the chest sending his body farther back into his seat as the backs of his gloves smashed against the blackened visor of his helmet. The restraint system belts ratcheted automatically, crushing down across his chest and legs tighter still. He felt the tiny spacecraft give in to the relentless vacuum of space, tearing itself apart and crushing in around him.

Behind his welded shut eyes in the sudden darkness and silence Luke thought solemnly to himself, "I'm sorry Admiral, the mission is over before it even started…I failed."

The piercing sound of microphone feedback blasted out of the helmet's speakers, scraping Luke's eardrums and signaling the helmet had linked back into the Astro-mech.

R2-D2's familiar whistles and pings filled the helmet.

"What's going on here?!" Luke almost shouted aloud with the realization he was still among the living. Prying his eyes open he was definitely not dead, the blast shields on his helmet faded and allowed the scene to come back into view.

R2-D2 had overridden the air-lock mechanisms a split second before the Main Display Terminal had obliterated itself. The pressure of the impact escaped the cockpit out into open space before fatally injuring the pilot and causing the destruction of the ship along with a perfectly good functioning Astro-mech as far as R2-D2 was concerned.

With gravity disabled and the cockpit wide open, the 'X-Wing' fighter drifted in empty space slowly rotating on a random axis. Random bits and pieces of debris floated in and out of the open hatch, bouncing off of the dead, smoke blackened surfaces, tiny burnt particles impacted the outside of his helmet and visor with a faint ticking.

The control panel had scorched itself beyond recognition, carbon scoring from the explosion decorated the cockpit cover and its seals, the panes of impact glass were chipped by shattered electronics parts and bubbled in some areas from the heat and force of the blast.

Luke knew he was lucky to be alive while Obi-Wan would say there was no such thing.

Chapter 4

Pinned to his seat and staring out into space in a cold sweat catching his breath, Luke had an unobstructed view of the black of space with only a few specks of far away light to accompany him. The Auto-Restraint System held him tight yet he gripped the straps with all his might.

He thought maybe Artoo could have sprung the hatch a little sooner but had to give him credit for original thinking, the little guy was the only reason he was still alive.

The droid had ejected all four of the craft's laser cannons to avoid any explosions caused by malfunctions further worsening a dire situation. Each unit slowly spun off into space in different directions as the powerless fighter drifted.

R2-D2 popped a lower front body panel open and produced a metal key, pushed it forward and locked it into a port on the wall of his pit. The key engaged a manual crank and shakily lowered the cockpit cover assembly while tiny burnt pieces of what once was the Main Display Terminal ground and crackled under the motion.

The Astro-mech buzzed and popped in the background of the speakers as it labored. The seating rails of the cockpit cover realigned themselves back down into their channels around the cockpit, squeaks of protest sounded off in an unnerving fashion as the latches engaged. The cover 'popped' as it finally ground to a stop, redesigning itself slightly as it went.

Still functioning by any means of power was Luke's specially designed helmet and suit. He hoped his heat damaged gloves could keep the pressure in check until life-support could be restored, if at all.

Tapping a pressure switch on top of the helmet, the internally mounted holographic display slowly resonated to life flickering occasionally, tiny constant streams of data flowing around the edges of his view waited for his summoning with the flick of a pupil.

Random messages from R2-D2 scrolled across the helmet's display every so often as the droid began his series of diagnostics on every last circuit aboard the ship.

Three-dimensional characters in the lower right corner indicated the helmet and suit were running off the power supply of the only other functioning item onboard, the Astro-mech.

Luke said, with a forced optimism, "That's good news, Nice to see your still in one piece buddy."

He received no reply.

The answer as to why the droid was still functioning and survived the intense electrical overload came to him, R-2 units run on a compressed bio-mass/fusion power supply separate from the ship and are insulated from the craft, the link-up wireless and all repairs were performed manually by the unit.

The Jedi trainee removed his Light-saber from the charging dock by his right knee and checked his weapon by habit. The machined cylinder floated weightless between burnt-orange gloved fingers.

The weapon had survived the ordeal and the crystals were undamaged but the power supply chamber indicated it was nearly empty. The pilot gave it a disapproving look then clipped it to his belt, he would have to wait to recharge.

Staring at so few stars so far out beyond the edge of the galaxy through the scarred window, Luke tried to wrap his mind around the bizarre event, he could not help but be bewildered at the vision the Force had brought to him.

He also could not help but feel intimidated by the sheer size of the universe, and how easily one could get lost.

Chapter 5

Alone in his chamber aboard the Super Star Destroyer 'Excelsior', Lord Darth Vader meditated, the sounds of his respirator absent. With his gruesome glossed black faceplate and cranial cover removed from his shoulders, he was relieved of the burden but far from free.

Sealed within a metal cocoon which breathed for him to rest and regenerate, an occasional but unavoidable inconvenience, the fallen warrior rested what was left of his organic parts. Doomed forever to being less human and more machine for failing his attempt to best his former master he was living proof pride is of no advantage while dueling with a master of the Light-saber and an agent of the Force.

The Dark Lord was assisted by a crew of Medical-droids monitoring an array of corrugated tubes and wires delivering vital nutrients and micro-shock therapy to his internal organs.

The jet-black Cybernetic suit of armor housing his body made him physically superior but also caged him within a prison he created for himself. Only Obi-Wan was to blame for his incarceration with all the rage and hate the center of his being could muster.

Behind the malicious expression of the faceplate twisted and distorted visions flowed in an out of the darkness that was now his mind and religion; Other times and other places, things curious and not known to him, things not from this time and space. The visions circling around his center of consciousness guided themselves into a black hole, swallowing the universe and all its beings, good and evil alike.

The Dark lord's mind entered a calm, neutral state he had not felt in decades. Visions of a story told to him long ago during the early years of service to his new master unfolded before him, scenes played out on a circular theatrical stage under white spotlights floating through the abyss.

Upon the closing of the final act the warrior who once was a young man by the name of Anakin Skywalker witnessed a dark feminine figure rise up tall above two small leathery shapes flapping and dying at her feet while laughing madly as the stars of the galaxy swirled in the palm of her outstretched hand.

The devilishly beautiful mistress unhinged her jaw, her insane smile grew wider to display her rows of sharpened glossy white teeth and in one fell swoop devoured the swirling, sparkling galaxy.

The creature morphed into a flapping, winged shape of pure dark red energy with the long claws of a tree dwelling creature. Flying away into the darkness the fading echoes of the insane laughter eerily reminded the fallen Jedi of his own master as he entertained himself with the suffering of others.

The Dark Lord's eyes snapped open wide with genuine surprise, staring across time and space he whispered in a crackled unassisted breath, "It could not possibly be true."

He stood up suddenly and slammed a black-gloved fist on top of the large padded plunger switch signaling the chamber to release him from his hibernation. As he fought his way out of the contraption tangles of steel braided and dangling clear plastic tubing broke loose and flailed wildly, hissing pressurized gasses and fluids.

Medical-droids frantically sprang into duty, a mess of tubes and wires slithered underfoot as fluids sprayed across the patient's feet and leaked through the grey metal grates on the floor. The Sith Lord moved so swiftly, the automatic door to the chamber had barely cleared the Imperial enforcer's first step when he charged out down the long sparsely illuminated ramp to the observation deck.

The black cape clinging to his neck rode an invisible wind as the Dark Lord cleared the length of the ramp in stride, his silhouette stopped at the oversized, circular, multi-panel observation window, millions of stars glistened against the black veil of space within the windows borders.

The arcing of hundreds of electrically charged wire leads falling to the chamber floor torn loose during his haste to exit his prison cracked and snapped off the steel grates of the floor, echoing off the room's cold metal walls as scrambling fire suppression droids worked their extinguishers to gain control of the emergency.

The Dark Lord lifted his fists and pressed them to the glass, fearlessly leaning forward against the window while staring between them into a dark region of space for several minutes.

Standing tall before the galaxy, he had conquered all with the exception of a small but determined band of renegade soldiers. His graying reflection caught his attention by staring back at him with faded, tired, yellow and red bloodshot eyes. Only then did he realize his faceplate and cranial cover were not in his possession and had been holding his breath.

"The least of any concerns now." He wheezed with a tired exhale.

The Dark Lord furrowed his brow in deep thought for a moment longer then turned swiftly, the black cape clutched his shoulders tight and flowed obediently behind the human shadow as he marched back to his cell.

Chapter 6
R2-D2 would not respond directly to Luke's repeated promptings for attention, instead the robot kept streaming its reports to the tiny portside display screen and the Holo-vizor display in his helmet. The machine's attention was fully engulfed by the task, keeping the pilot alive and the ship functional as best it could with what it had to work with.

He keyed in the code to deactivate the Auto-Restraint System and worked his way out of the belts then spent a few minutes looking over what was left of the cockpit.

Things were not as bad as Luke expected, there was a hole burned into the middle of the dash and the starboard bank was on a one-way trip to the Kessel Graveyard for recycling, but for the most part, the ship should function, if R2-D2 get them out of crisis mode and back into the game. Luke peeled the charred rubber coating off the control stick checking the buttons and stick movement for use if the opportunity ever arose.

The helmet and portside screens faded and went black along with the Astro-mech.

Luke shuddered at the thought the poor little guy may have finally succumbed to the overload of work and malfunctioned leaving him adrift in the darkness of space until his oxygen supply ran out. Luke held his breath in the dark for six of the longest seconds of his life when the craft bucked suddenly causing him to float up off his seat and crack his helmet against the starboard glass.

"Ow! Now what?" Luke cursed. A jarring vibration shook him by the seat of his pants as he strapped himself back in fearing what was left of the ship was finally giving for real this time.

The holographic display struggled to flicker back to life achieving its goal but appearing much dimmer than before, most of its energy diverted elsewhere. A dim message slid across informing the pilot a fully secured system reboot was necessary as intruder software had been discovered within the system and was purged.

"Do you think might be Imperial programming trying to get in?" Luke asked. "Cause' if so we may be in more trouble than we think my friend."

The droid kept to itself.

"Keep scans going for large ships approaching if you can, I know you have a lot on your plate right now." Luke said not really sure if he was heard at all.

The fact this particular mission had been so highly classified for agents of the Empire to have access to this particular 'X-wing' style fighter, or its programming would indicate a major breach of security at the highest levels and for it to go unnoticed by the admiral would be unheard of. The Imperials were not without their spies, but within the fleet they were usually limited to ground troops and supply runners and were more useful to misdirect the enemy than to help. The dangerous spies worked hard to keep close tabs in the affairs of families of power and played a more complex game of money and politics.

The locking pins of the X-foil assembly popped loose unexpectedly, releasing the dual-spring driven deployment mechanisms of the solar paneled wings. The vibration of heavy gears turning gave a familiar and victorious sensation down the rigid skeletal frame of the needle nosed attack vehicle until the whole ship rang like a giant iron bell as the steel wings slammed against the stops. Luke smiled at the performance but still had his worries.

The helmet conveyed R2-D2 was now running 'Upper-Tier' diagnostics and with any luck may have life support re-activated soon.

The flickering display showed engine diagnostics were not going well. The droid was busy making executive decisions ejecting each one's core by one as they failed his tests eliminating the dead weight. Only the upper portside engine passed inspection and remained onboard.

Luke sighed and rolled his eyes at the news. The Hyper-drive reported mechanical soundness but its computer had been damaged during the ordeal and would have to wait for a landing for the Astro-mech to operate and repair the unit.

"Well, so much for jumping back out of here anytime soon, my friend." Luke said with disappointment while throwing a piece of burnt rubber from the control stick into the hole in the dash. "Wherever here is anyway."

R2-D2 used one of his many keys to release a spring loaded panel in the floor of his pit. A pull-cord with a bright yellow oval handle floated out of the box, at the other end sat a canister wrapped in a thick, electrically impenetrable gold foil stamped with nuclear power source warning emblems and a series of icons explaining how to engage the device.

R2-D2 simply snapped down on the handle with a serrated toothed clamp and ripped the gold foil loose and threw it out into space. The same appendage twisted an oversized dial a quarter turn clockwise and the Auxiliary Power Core crackled to life then settled into a smooth rhythmic hum enveloping the entire ship.

The gravity system engaged and gave out several times before locking in at two-thirds of normal. Tiny shreds of metal and chips of carbon bounced off the walls and controls falling to the hardened floor plate with the sound of scattered beads.

"Good job Artoo!" The pilot exclaimed at the progress but received no response other than a muted 'click-click' from the automated cylinder behind him. "Best to let him work." Luke muttered to himself and went to work restoring some form of order to the half destroyed cockpit.

Chapter 7

Much to Luke's relief, his helmet finally reported the life support system re-booted itself and almost had the cabin fully pressurized.

There was still no response from the miracle worker behind him.

The pilot released the helmet-to-suit air lock after pressing a lengthy code into a flexible plastic wrist mounted computer screen. The seal broke as the pressure of the cabin equalized with the oxygen mixture inside the suit.

The air tasted burnt.

Luke gripped the outside panels of the helmet with the scorched gloves and peeled it up and off his head. Inspecting the damage the visor took during the meltdown he smirked, "Baskel is not going to be pleased with this." He admitted to himself the 'battle damaged' appearance was going to look good on a shelf in a museum somewhere one day if he could get back to 'somewhere' itself.

He immediately noticed a tiny super-high pitched squeaking noise developing from the forward right corner of the cockpit cover seal, air was leaking out into space and would get worse quick if he did not do something about it fast. R2-D2 shot a warning thru the tiny portside targeting computer's interface the craft was losing pressure and for Luke to put his helmet on.

"Relax, I've got this!" With quick action Luke reached between his knees and slapped the button centered below his seat, a thin chrome drawer slid out presenting him with the field ration kit.

He peeled a silver foil wrapper off a dark, gummy stick meant to pass as some kind of humanoid nutrition adding the smell of freeze dried meat and ground vitamins to the burnt atmosphere.

Luke smashed the half-frozen strip of dark brown mystery meat down into the channel with all the leverage the tiny room would allow and using his gloved fingertips pressed the silver metal wrapper into the sticky mess.

The vacuum of space took over freezing the food source in place and the squeak faded away.

One of the small portside screens flashed a green '100%' in the cabin pressure indicator area in synch with the 'Holo-vizor.'

Luke couldn't help but smile and be pleased at the field kits handiness when he jumped off his seat as R2-D2 popped back into communication.

The robot gave the 'all clear' call in relation to the life threatening events as busied sounds of computation filled the background of the helmet's speakers Luke held between his knees, evidence he still had a myriad of problems to deal with.

Luke almost went with a Bio-science style droid for the mission but It was C-3PO who insisted the Mechanical 'know-how' of an Astro-mech might be more useful as the science package was fully automated and the experimental suit would act as the in flight medical officer.

Luke was in the middle of congratulating himself when what was left of the cockpit sprang to life with the crackling of static electricity, spinning gyroscopes, whirring servos, and other miscellaneous pieces of equipment joining in a chorus of mechanical music he would not have otherwise noticed had he not been without their service in the silence of space.

Not taking any chances he quickly grabbed his helmet and forced it down over his head and into the chromed, flat locking rings, all indicators confirmed the pilot now had manual control of the ship, with only one engine and most of the docking thrusters but it was better than nothing.

Luke was starting to feel optimistic about their chances, but not being able to make a jump to hyperspace still supported his doubts.

The droid engaged the long-range scanners and fed star charts to the 'Holo-vizor.' The location of familiar stars were so far away R2-D2's calculations reported survival rates at less than one percent at the current top speed while the short range scans were picking up readings of water, oxygen and various trace minerals at an undisclosed distance directly forward of their current position.

"Do you think there could there be a cloaked cruiser out this far and if so, why?" Luke said to his companion.

Artoo let out a low worried 'cooing' sound as if to keep his voice low.

"It is possible the telescopic probe has been captured revealing the location of the planet and its star." Luke's blood ran cold at the thought of the enormous battleship 'Excelsior' and its heartless dictator, Darth Vader materializing in front of them.

He would be captured for sure this time and finally delivered to the Emperor to face his wrath for destroying his beloved 'Death Star.'

Luke shook his head at the Emperor's madness and put it out of his mind.

R-2 focused all resources on the forward scanner array, reporting enough metallic mass present to be an Imperial cruiser but the data had no shape or energy source on record to compare with.

"I'm not getting a visual on anything from up here." Luke said. "Unless maybe it's cloaked, by why hide from someone as small as us?

The droid pinged again insisting the mass was definitely there.

Artoo 'spoke' to Luke directly through the interpreter program on his 'Holo-visor' display, the typed message scrolled by:

"…What do you want to do?…"

Luke paused for a moment, taking a deep breath in along with the smell of the roasted cockpit surfaces.

Staring into the blackness before him, he exhaled the burnt taste and said, "Take us forward my friend…what choice do we have?

Chapter 8

In the distance, Luke could barely make out shapes floating against the black.

Was there a planet ahead?

Was it a dead star?

Lasers used to gather information reported only bits and pieces of floating material as the single engine struggled to inch them forward.

Stars were no longer visible, the infinite black mass and flecks of orbiting debris filled the view of the cockpit cover.

Creeping forward, the abyss began to give up its secrets. What at first appeared to be random rocks and space dust slowly turned to more recognizable shapes against the lifeless backdrop.

They were spaceships.

Luke's eyes went wider as he studied the picture deeper. These ships were not functional in any way, having been destroyed beyond repair, many beyond recycle value other than their weight in scrap. Millions of torn shapes were scattered about, trapped in orbit around an invisible object. Some designs were familiar to him, others were so alien they appeared as if at one time in the past they might have actually been alive.

The shapes tumbled, crashing and grinding into each other tearing themselves further apart as deadly currents of wreckage in the ocean of black before him became more evident.

"Hold on Artoo I'm getting us out of here…now!" Luke shouted into his audio pickup. "We'll take our chances somewhere else." He said directly to his friend as he gripped the control stick with both hands and pulled back using his whole body for leverage from his feet to his shoulders. Slowly the craft responded by drifting the nose upwards.

The droid spun his head all the way around twice piping back in agreement.

After completing a sluggish loop and nearly overheating the remaining thruster, Luke could see the field of stars that would guide him back to the center of the galaxy.

The faint flickers of light from so far away appeared to bend, into long sharp spears drawn past his view, pulled towards the littered abyss behind him.

Bits and pieces of torn sheet metal drifted into view gently scraping against the windows and wings, the single engine was no match for the gravity present and the craft was losing altitude.

Luke was beginning to think he was in way over his head now as his fears of falling to the surface were coming true.

The Droid argued back in rare fashion against the idea of setting down at this location, reporting a power surge from somewhere in the vicinity, possibly a form of weapon which caused the original malfunction leading up to the current situation.

"I don't like our options any more than you do pal, but we have to set down or use the gravity to slingshot us out of here!" Luke said with no apology in his voice.

With only one overheating engine to stop the fall against the increasing gravity, Luke had no choice but to turn the dogged star-fighter around against the protests of his co-pilot.

"A great many things we hold true depend largely upon our own point of view."-Obi-Wan Kenobi

Chapter 9

"Any word from General Skywalker yet?" Admiral Akbar's voice was all business as were his gigantic unblinking fish eyes. It was the tenth time he asked the question in the last two hours. C-3PO had kept count since his master and counterpart departed the Rebel Command Carrier 'Victorious'.

The behemoth battle platform was a gift from a colony on Palishii-E thankful to the Alliance for destroying the original 'Death Star' in the same fashion as it destroyed Aalderan. The donors took great offense to the Emperor's destruction of their home world, commerce and the millions of people who held family ties to the off world settlement.

It was rumored the Royal family fortune had been moved to the colony along with most of the members of the lower houses before the battle station struck.

The battleship had been originally commissioned and built in secret for a one way, all or nothing revenge mission to destroy the Super Star Destroyer 'Excelsior' and it's armada to prove to the people the Emperor and his forces could be defeated. The destruction of the Imperial flagship would remove the Emperors primary enforcement unit allowing the people to then rise up and stage a revolt.

The Joint Chiefs of the Rebel Alliance sent Admiral Ackbar's diplomats to convince the benefactors it would be much more effective for the attack on the new 'Death Star 2.' The Admiral explained the Emperor would never stand for such a blow to his pride, being only a matter of time before he discovered the deception and setting the new weapon's sights on Palishii-E as an example to the rest of the commonwealth of the galaxy.

Upon receiving custody of the new flagship the Rebel Alliance christened their new weapon the 'Victorious' to add insult to the Emperor's injury of losing his prize death machine.

"I have received no communication as of this point in time, sir." The gleaming gold Protocol-droid replied, his voice remaining unchanged from the last nine responses.

"However, Quee..." C-3PO was cut off mid-sentence, "Keep me informed as to any change." The Admiral barked at him.

"As I was saying, Quee..."

Admiral Ackbar plowed over the droids cordial tone of voice. "Immediately contact me when contact with Skywalker is made!" The giant fish eyes looked angry.

'Yes Sir, of course, Sir." The Protocol-droid squeezed in.

The Admirals tendrils flapped at the gold robot, his voice becoming more stern than it already was. "This better not be a waste of time. The last thing I want is to see a Star Destroyer appear in my window and start using us for target practice!"

"Yes Sir, I certainly agree, as I was saying sir, Quee..."

The Admiral caught something out the corner of his giant eye, "You there!..." He barked off at a random crewmember who froze in his tracks ignoring the droid as he spun away and walked off.

The Protocol-droid returned to blankly staring forward into the clear plastic display panel and its unending streams of code, multiple 'COM' cables bound with adhesive tape sprang from his chest plate and disappeared under the console. The droid spent hours without end remotely tuning the arrays for any response coming from region the Rebel soldiers now called 'The Dead Zone'.

The droid waited tirelessly for a response.

"Do be careful master Luke..." The droid's sentience programming said with genuine concern. "…and do try your best to stay out of trouble R-2." C-3PO added as a matter of fact.

"I shall not let harm come to the Republic I know and love, which has stood for ten thousand years."

-Senator Palpatine

Chapter 10

The crew of the Super Star Destroyer ''Imperious'' stood in awe on the command deck.

Everyone from the ship's top ranking officer, Admiral Qo down to the communications officers and even few sentience-programmed droids crowded the cold steel railing along the thick, wide rectangular windows.

The Emperor was out for his daily walk. The spectacle would not have been so unusual had he not been traversing the length of the Main landing strip on the outside of the ship without any form of pressure suit. The crew watched on in disbelief from up high in the Central Command Tower.

The Emperor had conditioned himself for years using the 'Dark' powers to withstand the rigors of empty space. He felt it gave him an edge over other organic creatures and helped achieve what he described to his apprentice, Darth Vader as a 'released' sense of body and mind.

Members of the crew muttered to each other under their breath as the Admiral shot them disapproving glances to keep their voices in check yet did not bother to order them to continue working just yet.

Truth told, the Admiral thought the old man in absolute power was absolutely crazy and would love nothing more than to see a meteor splatter him across the ship.

Chasing halfway across the galaxy after being appointed command of one of the most elite ships in the Emperor's fleet only to load up on miniscule amounts of rare mining deposits and to siphon water off uncontaminated moons for the Emperor's own personal use was not what the young Admiral had in mind after sixteen years of grade school, ten years of college, seven years of officer training and four years of war school.

"No human can survive thirty minutes in space." He thought to himself, "It must be a trick of sorts."

The weightless cloak he wore flowed and ebbed black as ink as it expanded and distorted, from high above the splotch of black looked more like a disease, an inescapable infection creeping its way up to the tower. The twinkling shards of light from the stars in the background 'bent' disappearing into the black mass sending chills down the crew's spines as the splotch of darkness crept slowly forward.

His feet never touched the ship as he walked and yet he did not float away. The newer members of the crew were silent now in absolute disbelief. The black cloud retracted like a poisonous anemone closing itself up for the night, rising and falling and contracting as if the entire evil mass was a single being.

The Emperor approached the top of the runway and stopped.

A formation of three Tie-fighters were inbound on a direct path for the Emperor, Admiral Qo could have called them off but chose to turn his attention to his second in command's digital plaque to review a list mundane Main Engine performance updates as the crew eyes remained fixed on the three incoming fighters.

The crew gasped as the fighters deflected, one tumbled and spun off into space, the others flattened and smashed into pieces across the runway as if two giant, angry invisible fists had landed upon them. The skidding, crushed remains separated at the last moment before contact with the dark image and impacted into the front face of the Command Tower.

Admiral Qo felt the impact in the soles of his boots and looked out the window in disappointment. The hooded figure continued towards the air-lock at the base of the tower unimpeded while turning its head and craning up at the windows. The spectators above were paralyzed with horror, ensnared by giant red eyes flash a seething glare.

The wraith turned and waved at the air-lock release lever, the control unit reacted opening the pressurized doors without contact from a clawed hand. The image in black slithered inside.

Admiral Qo went tense and stood up straighter still, his face went hard and cold. "Back to work!" He barked at his crew. "Unless you would rather be out there with him tomorrow!"

The crew scrambled to their stations in seconds as Admiral Qo stared at the air-lock for a moment longer and thought to himself, "This has to be the scariest place in the whole universe." The commander snapped his heels together then returned to his own duties as well.

CHAPTER 11

The modified X-wing fighter swung its nose lazily toward the darkness of the frozen sea of destruction and began picking up speed.

Luke squinted his eyes, he could make out the faintest traces of light on the horizon and said with a dash of optimism, "It looks like this might be a planet of some sorts." R2-D2's data and whistles did not agree, the machine had its doubts.

"I'm aiming for the horizon, lock it in for me will ya' buddy?"

The shiny dome's blue panels lit up and the machine spun its head while whistling the familiar 'I'm on it' tag. Luke felt a tingle of optimism at the sound of reassurance from his co-pilot.

As the tiny spaceship glided across the littered sea of black beneath them, the light on the horizon was stubbornly becoming more obvious. R2-D2 chimed in with a new concern, the craft fell faster than the droid was comfortable with toward heavier fields of debris.

"I feel it to, my friend, but we just have to ride it out." Luke's enthusiasm was not shared by the Astro-mech and the machine did not hesitate to disagree loudly.

Luke fought with the control stick and pedals to keep the fighter's nose up as they fell from space faster.

The Holo-display flashed, "AUTO PILOT ENGAGED…" and what little control Luke had of the struggling craft faded away.

"R2! What's happening! Why don't I have control?" Luke demanded.

The robot responded with a series of sounds so fast Luke had no idea what it meant.

Luke could feel the vibration of an elevator pad activate behind him, pushing the droid up and out of his cradle.

"Artoo! What are you doing?"

"Stay inside the ship, it's way too dangerous out there!" Luke ordered.

A spinning ball of crunched and mangled material dented the nose with a thud from underneath, bucking the front end upwards so hard Luke's teeth clicked together as his helmet snapped off the back of the seat.

To Luke's surprise the little R2-unit spun its magnetic wheels and sped across the topside of the cockpit cover and down the length of the fuselage to the nosecone on three legs.

Perched upon the tip of the spaceship, the Astro-mech went fully mechanical into battle mode while screeching the computerized version of Han Solo's 'Yahoo!' he usually let fly just before he was about to do something both brave and stupid.

The chrome and glass dome and giant blue eye spun into a blur as every door on the droid's body opened and presented a line of defense. Using everything from welding lasers, miniature tractor beams and even red-hot rivets, the Astro-mech began blasting and tossing objects out of the troubled fighter's way, the smaller pieces crashing into the cockpit glass and wings making Luke jump with each impact.

The horizon became brighter as the droid fought on hurtling and blasting life threatening objects out of their way while keeping the ship on a steady path via remote control.

Luke gripped the edges of the burnt up cockpit and held on for dear life watching on in wonder as the little warrior before him fearlessly cleared a path to safety, he hoped.

As the X-wing finally broke the edge of the yellow glowing horizon, the full on blinding daylight of a hot burning star boldly commanded his view, setting off the auto-tint visor of his helmet and cockpit glass again.

A new sense of dread washed across Luke as he observed the scene, the 'planet' on which they were jetting across and about to attempt to land on was not a planet or moon at all.

It was a space station.

The only thing in the universe he had ever seen like it was a planet killing terror known among the oppressed people of the Imperial Galactic Empire as the 'Death Star.'

Chapter 12

Luke's craft fell over the edge of the sea of darkness and into a pale sunshine, the clutter of trash no longer floated across the sky. The surface beneath had broken apart into jagged tumbling icebergs grinding and tearing apart the wreckage flowing within a vast ocean of dark water beneath them.

This side of the object was completely flat facing into the star, and had a close to normal artificial gravity field according to R2-D2's readings. In the distance an island slowly appeared with heaps of wreckage washing up on to the shore.

Jetting up out of the island high into space stood a glinting silver tower, a beam of particle matter energy pulsed from the star above into an antenna array mounted to the top of the spire making obvious the station recharged by stealing the star's power directly from its core.

Either way Luke felt an operation this size somehow had the Emperor involved in it.

Beyond the dying star the giant gaseous purple and pink planet held its tiny moons close as if in fear of the dark monster feeding on their mother star.

"Artoo, you were right!" Luke hooted excitedly. "You got us here but the space station is totally eclipsing the star! That's why it fell of the scopes!"

Looking around through the scorched glass Luke guessed the object to be a hundred times the size of the original 'Death Star.' The idea was starting to boggle his mind when he jumped in his seat as R2-D2 burst out with a panicked screech as red and blue security system lights flashed in the panels of his domed head as he sped back up the length of the ship.

The Holo-visor flashed bright red capitol letters, "…IMPERIAL FORCES ALERT!….IMPERIAL FORCES ALERT!…"

"Artoo, get back in your seat we' got trouble! I don't know how were gonna get out of this one!" Luke said to his co-pilot while rechecking his restraints.

The droid whistled in agreement while zipping across the cockpit cover and rattling the burnt glass overhead, returning in seconds to give control back to the pilot.

"Great!" Luke thought to himself. "It is another Death Star or something worse!" The droid had either intercepted coded Imperial Forces transmissions or visually identified an enemy ship and tripped the alarms.

He had his doubts about being able to destroy this technological terror with one engine, no weapons and no back-up fleet, just his wits and one trusty little droid.

R2-D2's scanners poured over the approaching mass and relayed the image to the 'Holo-vizor.' White lines carrying boxes of tiny dancing numbers and letters flashed, repeatedly outlining a ship partially buried in the wreckage, beached up against the mound with the giant tower.

"…IMPERIAL DESIGN MATRIX CONFIRMED…"

"…IMPERIAL METALLURGY SPECIFICATIONS CONFIRMED…"

"…IMPERIAL CRAFT PRESENT…UNKNOWN DESIGN…UNKNOWN ORIGIN….I.D. MARKERS ABSENT…"

The beached interstellar transport had features Luke recognized but far advanced in design than any known enemy craft in the Rebel Alliance database. It was a Super Star Destroyer and unlike any he had seen or encountered, the ship was long and needle sleek. It had to be at least three times the length and only half as wide as any known to exist.

"I got a bad feeling about this…" Luke said quietly, R2-D2 whistled quietly back in agreement.

The classic look of the tall and bulky control tower mounted aft was missing, replaced by a much smaller pyramid shaped unit. The ship looked more like a spears head with a forked tip than an interstellar transport.

The X-wing began to vibrate then bucked repeatedly as the alarms went off again.

This time R2-D2 confirmed a tractor beam emitting from the giant tower had them in its grip and they were now being 'assisted' with their landing.

"When you gamble, eventually you will lose."

-Master Qui-Gon Jinn

Chapter 13"Can you do anything to shake us loose Artoo?" Luke ordered urgently as he fought with the controls in a futile attempt to break free from the beam.

"…DISENGAGING UPPER PORT-SIDE ENGINE MOUNTS…" The busy little machine relayed the message to the Holo-vizor.

"What are you doing? We need it to get back out of here!" Luke barked out at him while throwing a hand up in frustration.

"…EXECUTING PREVIOUS COMMAND…"

The Holo-vizor targeting system cursor flashed red scanning the tower up and down until the source of the tractor beam was pinpointed then locked on flashing and emitting a high-pitched tone.

"…REMAINING ENGINE ACTIVATED 100%…"

"…TARGET AQUIRED…"

"…FIRING…"

Luke felt and heard the engine kick in with a screaming and distressed pitch causing the craft to wobble as they entered the thin atmosphere, he was not expecting to see it fly off the portside mounts and towards the tower like a missile.

"You've got to be kidding me!" Luke exclaimed.

"…I NEVER KID, KID…" Scrolled past his eyes.

Luke rolled his eyes quickly at the ad-lib and yelled back, "I think you've spent too much time with Han working on the 'Falcon' sometimes!"

With each passing moment the steel tower climbed higher into the sky and gleamed brighter in the light of the dim star, giving away its secret it was indeed made of metal plating, rivets and laser accurate plasma welds, some sections appeared to have been repaired after experiencing collisions from smaller objects over time.

The realization the facility was manufactured did not change the fact it was a threat to its own existence as the tractor beam guided the rocketing engine to its source. The improvised munitions' steady launch quickly turned to spinning end over end with a whipping tail of fire as the remaining fuel ignited in the cloud of oxygen surrounding the space station.

Luke held his breath as his eyes took in the scene from the Holo-vizor. R2-D2's giant blue ocular fed a dizzying view from a micro-cam fixed upon the engine in a small box in the screen's upper right corner as it zeroed in on its target. The plasma driven engine detonated with a ferocious blinding ball of white-hot light and sparks as it collided with tower walls and the tractor-beam emitter unit, the live camera feed cut out and turned to snow.

The silver corrugated side panels flashed in the weak sunlight as the torn sections blew apart outwards, moments later a secondary explosion rocked the entire structure from the inside sending a fresh new cloud of debris out of the vertical crater to cascade down the walls of the building to its base.

The Holo-vizor reported in, "…TARGET: TRACTOR BEAM…"

"…STATUS…ELIMINATED…"

"Great shot Artoo!" Luke howled in excitement as the X-wing fighter regained its feeble footing under the landing jets, "If there's anyone home they're not going to be happy with us!"

Artoo let out a victory squeal.

"We're not out of trouble yet buddy, we still gotta' try to land this beast and were fallin' fast!"

R2-D2 let out a set of enthusiastic chirps and whistles along with a few unsavory sounding burps of electronic arrogance.

"Let's get through this first, then we can negotiate the Imperials Forces surrender." Luke felt a good sense of humor could not hurt a bad situation, something he learned from his pirate friend Han Solo.

The co-pilot beeped and pinged in excited agreement.

The scratched and dented X-Wing fighter drifted on a downward angle toward the dead Super Star Destroyer washed up against the island, increasing its pace with each passing moment.

"Put us on that island, Artoo." Luke ordered over the droids reports.

The Holo-vizor streamed stats from the Astro-mech:

"…7/10 DOCKING THRUSTERS ONLINE…"

"…DOCKING THRUSTERS AT 19.30%…"

"…GRAVITY INCREASING…"

"…REDUCE SPEED!… REDUCE SPEED!…" flashed continually in bright red letters.

"That's what I'm trying to do if you haven't been paying attention!"

"…CHANCE OF HUMANOID SURVIVAL, 26.30%…"

"Turn off life support if you have to, do anything to get me more power or this is gonna' hurt when we set down!" The 'X-Wing's nose dipped farther forward giving Luke a clear view of the now colossal trash covered Imperial cruiser and a sense of vertigo as if falling in a dream.

"…LIFE SUPPORT OVERRIDE…"

"…EJECTING SPARE PARTS PACKAGE…"

"…EJECTING SCIENCE PACKAGE…"

"No! Not that!" Luke had spent weeks learning to use the equipment to log the information he was to collect. R2-D2 was having a fire sale with the ship, everything had to go.

"…EJECTING MICRO-METEORITE ARMOR PLATING…"

"…EJECTING X-FOIL ASSEMBLY…"

"…EJECTING HYPERDRIVE ASSEMBLY…"

The ship shook violently as explosive bolts blew each system's associated parts outwards and away in order with the info on the Holo-visor.

"…DECENT SLOWING…DECENT SLOWING…"

"…EJECTING 3/10 DOCKING THRUSTERS…" At this point Luke had given up arguing with the co-pilot. With a uniform 'Pop, Pop ,Pop!' He could feel the units free themselves from their mounts.

"…7/10 DOCKING THRUSTERS ACTIVE…"

"…DOCKING THRUSTERS AT 33.84%…"

"…CHANCE OF HUMANOID SURVIVAL 45.29%…"

Luke clung to the control stick for dear life fighting to steady the ship as it deconstructed itself into a wingless sled of an escape pod now under the command of either the miracle worker or mad scientist known as R2-D2.

Sparks snapped against the windows as all shielding with exception of the hardened nose cone broke away from the falling craft in an attempt to lighten up the load enough to give the pilot at least a fifty percent chance of survival.

"…IMPACT ALERT!…IMPACT ALERT!…" Flashed red and large as Luke felt the auto-crash restraint system ratchet down once more cinching him to his seat.

As the area of their inevitable crash landing came close into view Luke realized they were about to come up short of the island and plow cone first into the unforgiving sidewall of the Super Star Destroyer.

"Artoo!" Luke burst out, his adrenaline pumping. "Do something now to get our nose up or were gonna crash and burn pal!"

"…ASTRO-MECH MANEUVERING THRUSTERS ONLINE…"

"What the blazes!...Now what is he doing?" Luke questioned to himself eying over his shoulder.

The Astro-mech activated the maneuvering thrusters mounted on its legs while still engaged to the cradle docking clamps.

The droid let out a burst of high pitched, pain-filled shrilling noises as the docking cradle filled with fire scorching its way past the machine while peeling off its white paint in flakes as the droids oil drum shaped body and spinning domed head streaked with soot.

The law of action and reaction took over inching the nose of the craft upward just enough for the pilot to see over the edge of trash-strewn deck of the Destroyer. The belly of the ship was not going to clear unless they got the nose up just a little higher.

"We're almost there buddy, I just need a little more!" Luke grunted as he nearly bent the control stick pulling back on it.

Luke's blood told him something bad was about to happen then it nearly froze in the heat of the moment as he read the reply, "…EJECTING ASTRO-MECH…."

"…DOCKING THRUSTERS AT 51.25%…"

"…CHANCE OF HUMANOID SURVIVAL 66.66%…"

"…SPEED DECREASING…SPEED DECREASING…"

"…GOOD LUCK…" The Holo-visor went blank.

The explosive bolts blew the clamps loose inside the droids cradle ejecting R2-D2 with a scream and a plume of smoke and fire out and into the endless sea of debris.

The nose cone of the imperiled 'X-Wing' fighter turned escape pod sprang upwards at the last moment barely enough for the underside to scrape over the edge of the Star Destroyer's deck in a screeching blast of sparks sending it tumbling and smashing through rusted haystacks of twisted steel and broken glass.

"The Jedi shall not give in to anger, shall not succumb to hate." –The Jedi Code

Chapter 14

"No!, no!, no!" Luke screamed as loud as he ever could pounding his fists against the dead control panels and smashed in windows of the cockpit in a tantrum as he came to and faced the reality of his predicament.

R2-D2 was not a machine to him, he was his best friend who just sacrificed himself for what the machine calculatedwould be the best probability to complete the mission.

Suspended upside down by the auto-restraint system, the blood rushed into his face and tears of frustration poured from his eyes. Luke's emotions ran high and stung his pride with the feelings of defeat.

The force of the impact knocked him out cold long before the doomed escape pod rolled and skidded to a stop. His neck ached terribly as he wondered how long he lay suspended and unconscious after the crash. He could recall the Astro-mech punching out and the fighter's nose springing upwards to the sky in the last moment but how long he had been out had him concerned. He pulled back a flap and punched in a code on the wrist-mounted pad ordering the restraints to lower him down onto his hands and knees, the bits of glass crunched and ground against the deck as his weight settled.

Punching the plunger button to open the crushed and shattered cockpit cover frame beneath his knees was useless, the hydraulics were non-functional forcing Luke to use the hand crank.

After a few minutes of considerable effort, the body of the ruined lifeboat had raised up enough for Luke to squeeze between the cockpit cover frame and deck of the mysterious Super Star Destroyer.

Chills ran down his spine as he struggled to get back up on his feet while standing aboard what may have been the most top secret Imperial project ever, But what had happened here? Why is it in a scrap heap? What is the purpose of this space station to begin with? The questions were becoming endless.

Luke was almost convinced he was never going to see Han, Leia, Chewbacca or C-3PO again as his chances of escape just went from slim to almost zero.

Luke did not need a 'Holo' readout to let him know his suit was nearly out of power and having difficulty recycling oxygen, he could tell by the temperature slowly rising inside with each passing breath.

Artoo reported the station had a breathable atmosphere.

He paused to give a long hard look around, taking the time to confirm the damage to the smoke billowing skyscraper looming above him and taking note the particle beam was no longer charged and aimed at the dying star.

The survivalist then decided to show his trust in his departed friend by reaching up and over his head and popping the release tabs on the helmet-locking ring with his burnt-orange gloved hands. The motion sent stinging aches shooting down his back.

Luke knew he was shaken from the bad landing, now he was beginning to wonder if he had more damage to his body his adrenaline was hiding from him.

The orange helmet with Rebel Alliance insignias and white warrior stripes released with a muted 'Pop!' as the alien atmosphere mixed with the little amount of purified oxygen remaining in Luke's red-orange pressure suit.

The lone explorer took in a breath as he lifted the helmet skyward and forward over his aching head and neck. He scowled as he exhaled, the air was foul beyond anything he ever experienced, the next couple of breaths were even worse.

Even the trash compactor of the original 'Death Star' he had escaped from the detention center into during the rescue of then Princess Leia with Han and Chewbacca paled in comparison to the stench, This place just smelled rotten.

Luke stood leaning back at the angle of the listing deck of the Imperial cruiser, feeling a rising and falling ever so slightly beneath his feet. He could hear water crashing as if he were on an ocean planet, the white noise accented the echo of smaller icebergs cracking apart against hardened glass and vice versa and the twisting of metal framing as the larger bergs smashed against the shoreline.

Luke made a plan to seek shelter and a hideout somewhere else considering the lack of grace involved with the landing and the damage inflicted upon what he hoped was not someone's home or an Imperial base.

If this is a form of civilization, someone was bound to investigate and Luke definitely wanted the advantage of hiding until he could assess whether it was a friend or foe situation.

Instinctively he began to say "Artoo, check for radio transmissions…" He caught himself and rubbed his forehead clenching his eyes tight. He could hear the voice of Obi-Wan in his mind telling him to breathe and regain control of one's emotions.

"Easy for you to say old man, you're not the one who has to taste this air." Luke smarted back aloud shaking off the moment.

"Well, the Jedi way is one of exploration, right?" Luke sighed looking up at the giant gas planet above and the muted glow of it's star. It seemed so close he wanted to reach out and touch it. "Let's be on with it then." He said to it and turned to work.

He spent the next few minutes going through what was left of his fighter craft gathering his laser blaster, which was loaded, and charged amusing him slightly something left aboard was still operating properly.

The Med-kit came in handy for a couple doses of anti-swelling compound as well as a razor scalpel and a few other useful items. Luke double-checked the tightness of the safety cap before sliding the scalpel into one of the left arm pockets.

Luke tapped the button to the field ration kit under the seat and got nothing in return. He poked it harder with an index finger with the same result. He was in no mood to play with the chrome box. Clenching his robotic right hand into a hard steel club, he struck the faceplate repeatedly until the drawer twisted open scattering silver foil wrapped items across the shattered cockpit glass.

The pilot took the most appealing of the terrible tasting assortment and tucked them away into various cargo pockets then flung the worst out into the piles of wreckage.

"Good riddance."

Looking around for direction Luke found himself at a crossroads. Should he investigate the tower or the Imperial cruiser? His skin suddenly crawled, tingling with the heightened sensation the Force provides when danger is present.

He spun around in an instant whipping out the laser blaster and squeezed off several red-hot bolts of light behind him. The bolts hit random surfaces of wreckage and scattered with no target in sight, he heard the sound of steel tapping against metal surfaces with a measured beat for several moments afterward, different from the random crashing noises of the junk and ice filled ocean.

Luke slowly lowered the blaster, eying the area in front of him and slid it back into the holster leaving the strap unsnapped for quick retrieval.

The explorer picked up his helmet and clipped it to his belt in the middle of his back not taking his eyes or feelings off the area where the noises came from.

Weaving through the tight areas between piles of debris and decay toward the pyramid shaped command structure of the Super Star Destroyer, Luke stumbled and kicked a clone trooper helmet out from underfoot, its composite laser shielding clacked like hard plastic as it bounced and slid across the tilted deck.

Luke had only seen clone trooper armor on bounty hunters, mercenaries and the like having being deemed obsolete in favor of the over-armored all white or black 'Stormtrooper' design.

The armor had also been outlawed in the 'new order' as it reminded Emperor Palpatine of the Old Republic and the Jedi's nearly successful attempt to thwart the Sith's plans of ruling the galaxy once again. Luke couldn't help but be curious as he picked up the helmet, and spun it around to discover it was still occupied by the previous owner's mummified skull.

Luke felt no fear or shock, only a deepened sense of intrigue viewing a wound he knew all too well, this Clone-Trooper was killed by a Light-saber.

Looking upon the scene with more scrutiny the Jedi took note of hundreds of soldiers worth of severely damaged body coverings all bearing the telltale burn marks unique to that of his own weapon.

Chapter 15

"Any word from General Skywalker yet?" Admiral Ackbar gave the order to C-3PO, His voice unchanged from his last inquiry. The gold robot gave the same answer as it had before, its voice remaining unchanged as well.

"Inform me immediately when contact is made." The fish-faced humanoid's mouth opened and closed as if gulping for air.

"Certainly, Sir." the droid responded. Looking down to a busy monitor screen a block of characters flashed in an urgent fashion.

"However Her Majes…"

"I will have no choice soon but to assume the General has been captured, tortured and killed or has had life ending complications during travel." The Admirals voice boomed at the robot as he cut him off.

"Soon I will order the fleet to move to a new undisclosed location, I don't want him coming back and us not being where we are supposed to be." Making sure all aboard heard the message.

The Admiral also made sure crew members knew their every move is being watched by his unblinking fish eyes and no member is worth jeopardizing the Alliance regardless of rank or deeds.

During his weekly meeting with his officers he reminded all on a regular basis how the Empire dealt with enemies of the state.

Anyone caught spying aboard the 'Victorious' would find themselves shackled in an escape pod wearing an orange flight suit with Rebel insignias and shot like a missile at the nearest Imperial outpost in an effort to destroy it. If you survived the impact you were not going to live much longer once the base occupants apprehended you.

C-3PO jerked to sit up straight, surprised the admiral had chosen to comment to him directly. "I would suggest giving Master Luke more time if possible before moving the fleet sir." the droid answered in polite form as always. "It is a considerable distance to target and timeframes are based on estimates excluding any detours necessary to avoid damage to the science package or ship for that matter."

"If I want suggestions from a droid I'll ask one!" The Admiral howled locking eyes with the gold machine.

Neither blinked, nor could, adding to the tension.

"My appol…" C-3PO tried to interject.

The Admiral cut him off rudely, "It's still too early to count Skywalker out yet, but General or not he better not be out for a stroll on my time, he better be working and bringing us something we can use to our advantage!"

"Certainly sir, however her Highness…"

"Keep me informed." This was a command and not a request from the advanced aquatic life form as it shuffle-walked away to bark at another station.

"Yes Sir! I give you my apologies again." No one aboard the bustling command center even heard or paid any attention his words.

"Dear, oh dear, the humanoids really are becoming worried I think." The droid commented to no one in particular and missed R2-D2's usual acid tongued response. "They are not too good at hiding it though."

C-3PO bowed his head somberly, visually ignoring the endless streams of numbers and characters zipping across the transparent panels in front of him. The faithful droid gazed out the thick transparent wall of the command deck into the starless abyss beyond the edge of the known galaxy alone awaiting for a response from his master and best friend long into the night.

Chapter 16

Luke walked, climbed and occasionally stumbled over the heaps of wreckage. Some shapes and equipment were very familiar to him, standard fare for space travelers, miners and even passenger transports.

Another pile of wreckage held the wingtips of an old defeated vulture droid still reaching skyward having been struck down before ever getting a chance to launch. Within a few more steps he could clearly see it was dispatched through its Main Interface Screen in the same manner as the Clones were.

The faint, prickly sensation of danger clawed for his attention, he ignored it deliberately in hopes whatever the threat may be would present itself.

Walking the length of the Super Destroyer's Main landing strip which ran nearly the full length of the ship was a challenge for the adventure and his bruised legs. The decks on either side of the Main Landing strip slowly rose up with each step giving the effect of a trash filled canyon with high steel walls.

The listing ship created a dark grey shade from the stars weak rays as the starboard wall of the canyon rose upward adding to Luke's nerves as he pressed forward.

A piece of debris on a mound in front of him rustled and shook with life. Luke whipped out the blaster once more and sprang forward wading waist deep through the junk with the weapon outstretched aimed into the disturbance.

"Come out now!" I know you've been following me!" Luke said with a nervous authority as he tried to keep his balance.

The rustling stopped and the deck fell quiet except for the breeze within the canyon walls of the Main Landing strip.

Luke stopped momentarily then inched forward, "Come out and show yourself, I don't want to have to hurt you!" He demanded.

The trash remained still, Luke centered the blaster with one hand and reached forward with an outstretched glove to move a sheet of mangled sheet metal to the side when he heard the faint telltale beeps and whistles of a droid behind or beneath the flotsam.

"Artoo is that you in there?" Luke said with uneasy caution as he began to pick at the wreckage in hope of retrieving his co-pilot. To Luke's sudden surprise an armored insect almost twice his size burst out of the rubble in an attempt to flee from what or who had cornered it.

Luke backpedaled down the heaps of trash and metal somersaulting twice before he lost his grip on the blaster and it skidded across the deck.

He scuffled on his hands and knees to retrieve the weapon in time to swing the blaster into motion. The bug weaved down the incline on a thousand small legs toward him as its long sectional antennae twitched about assessing the humanoid as fit to consume. The clacking mandible full of millions of little needle-sharp teeth charged at Luke with intention to add to the meal he most likely interrupted.

Luke centered the blaster and pulled the trigger repeatedly, each bolt exploded in flashes of red fire striking the insect front and center as it advanced unhindered down the incline.

The insect kept its pace and bore down on its humanoid target, Luke dove to his left up the incline of the deck only a moment before the hungry beast lunged at his feet and missed crashing and disappearing into the wreckage.

Luke could hear the insect drilling through the piles of debris in a roundabout circle to attack once more. He stood up and steadied the blaster when the ground wobbled unexpectedly underneath his feet.

A closer inspection revealed he stood on a bridge of torn sheet metal loosely suspended by rusty edges over a deep dark entry shaft to the maintenance hangers below, the doors frozen half open, how far it went down was anyone's guess.

Luke heard Master Yoda's voice in his heart, "The day an unthinking creature a Jedi must kill to survive is for both the student and the creature a sad one indeed."

The bug burst out of the wreckage hissing and growling with the intention of finishing the humanoid off for trespassing. Mandibles clacked fiercely and frothed in agitation as Luke centered the blaster in hope of getting a shot off somewhere in the back of the beast's mouth full of teeth when he sheathed it quickly and snapped the strap down.

Luke let some tension loose and yelled at it, "Come on!, you're almost as ugly as Jabba himself!" Luke waved his hands goading the creature on as it stormed directly for him.

The insect raised its front end up at the end of its charge, bearing its teeth and millions of glossy, light brown hairy legs and lunged at the Jedi with all its might determined not to miss twice.

Chapter 17

The insect thrust its weight down at its target, in an instant the human was gone having leaped far into the air and somersaulting forward to land as light as a feather on both feet, his back to the noise of the unsuspecting foe smashing through the weak flooring and into the depths.

Luke felt bad he may have actually killed the brainless bug when an echo of angry hissing not to far below in the darkness alleviated any concerns he may have had.

"I just hope you're not from a big family." Luke quipped as he kicked a crusty unidentified loose part down the shaft. The beast cursed him in bug speak as the object clanged on the elevator pad below.

The prickly sensation of his skin returned more intensely and again he heard the sounds of a droid somewhere far away.

He was certain this time, droid or otherwise, he was not alone as far as intelligent, speaking and thinking beings were concerned.

Looking down the length of the long and narrow metal-walled canyon to the Command Tower Luke decide he better make up time and procure a form of shelter or discover a transport of some type still in working order. The next step being finding a way to contact one of the anonymous relay stations throughout the galaxy to warn the Alliance about the events taking place here.

Several hours later he was closing in on the command tower, knowing he was still not alone. The polarized pyramid of windows atop the command deck reflected the dim yellow light downward illuminating the canyons end, outlining in shadow the hanger doors which rose like high cliffs above the junk and scrap filled canyon.

The landing bay at the top of the runway was designed specifically for the Emperor's personal transport as the visible top-half of the Royal Imperial Crest rising above the mountain of discarded materials indicated. Absent were the landing pads and storage bays for the usual compliment of T.I.E. fighters and other defensive vehicles usually accompanying a starship of this size.

The Imperial Crest itself was quite impressive as it spanned the entire width of both slabs, having been stamped across both doors and deep into the red hot metal as they were forged.

Scanning the walls Luke's eyes found what he was looking for, a small lone set of windows marking the location of a traffic control center for the Royal Transport mounted high on the port side of the grand entrance. As fortune would have it one of the windows was shattered allowing him entry, this was good as his puny blaster would never be able to penetrate the meteor resistant glass panels.

A loose mountain of garbage stacked in a heap against the wall ending just beneath the window dared him to try his luck.

Luke approached cautiously, sized up the mountain face rising up to the shattered window and began climbing hand and foot up the hazardous rusty pile of crushed and twisted metal, burnt cracked plastic and broken glass.

Again the faint echoes of clicks and pings somewhere out in the wasteland menaced his thoughts. The bulky orange-suited mountaineer stopped and craned his head around looking for any sign of animal or mechanical motion. The foul smelling breeze whistled in his ears as he felt for the energy of the 'Living Force' to guide his motions.

Out of the blue Master Yoda's voice echoed in his mind: "Your next step beware, last of yours it may be."

Looking further upward, the shape of an arm complete from fingers to shoulder socket belonging to a service droid not much different than C-3PO protruded from under a crackled, sun baked piece of plastic material he estimated to be six or seven body lengths above.

He took a deep breath and continued to hoist his body upward then several pieces of twisted metal ribbing spiraled down from above the outstretched arm as if aimed directly at Luke's face.

Gripping the makeshift ledge with one hand Luke's lightning quick reflexes swung his upper body and face away from the rust covered spears as microscopic rust chips and dust flew into his eyes and mouth.

He covered his face with the dirty sleeve of the orange suit as he coughed and his eyes filled with tears.

"Whoa!, That was too close!" Luke complained as he wheezed and sputtered out the taste of dirt and rust over the noise crashing down the hill.

Reaching past his head he retrieved his helmet with his human hand, his other gripped a piece of twisted metal framing with the pressure of an iron vice keeping him in place, the fatigued metal tubes flattening within the robotic fist under his weight.

Working open the helmet's air-lock slide plate as he cradled it against the mountainside he activated the fresh air circulation fans.

Luke sneered at the 'fresh air' label and the irony there wasn't any aboard this space station. Twisting the locking screw of the visor plate down leaving a slight gap at the bottom for easier breathing.

He snuggled the tight fitting contraption onto his head and into the locking rings with his free hand. The locking ring consisted of three individual silver plated rings, stacked upon, yet independent of one another, rotating side to side in a similar fashion reminiscent of R2-D2's domed head. Individually each ring created a virtually unbreakable magnetic seal against the next before centering, allowing the reinforcement pins to fall into place and lock automatically.

The wrist mounted screen confirmed the action was sound and the climber set his sights to the sky and continued upwards.

The copper plated articulated metal fingers of the droid dangled in motion as if signaling for assistance as Luke heard the unmistakable sounds of a service droid loud and clear above him, he was absolutely sure this time. Could it possibly be a service droid buried in the trash heap for who knows how long? The thought intrigued him.

Luke felt this could be a blessing as a service droid's abilities may include being able to communicate through space or if necessary could be taken apart and possibly reformed into a communication device.

He allowed himself to hope for a moment the the Force had directed him here and a way to contact the Alliance and his friends may have presented itself.

"Be mindful of the future, but not at the expense of the moment. Be mindful of the 'Living Force' my Padawan."

-=-Master Qui-Gon Jinn

Chapter 18

Luke was closing in on the mechanical arm when the pinging and buzzers and other odd noises usually associated with other service droids went silent.

"Hey up there, don't give out just yet, I'm coming!" Luke hailed to above. The climber could barely make out an obsolete glass lens robotic eye staring out at him, the curve of the androids forehead disappearing into grey shadows.

A quivering base tone reverberated and hummed as an energy field generator began crackling gently overhead. Luke was all too familiar with the sound having rebuilt hundreds over the course of his life working on his Uncle's farm and was hopeful it may still have an active power source at least.

"Save your energy pal," Luke's breath steamed a circle of condensation on the inside of the face shield. "Of course you know I'm just going to put you right back to work." The air gap at the bottom was not helping his breathing as much as he had hoped for but in a place such as this it was better to be safe than sorry, he didn't need an old Jedi master to teach him such things. He hoisted himself up the final few meters. The hum intensified as he wedged himself against the mountain of junk beside the calcified copper plated service droid. The vibration still seamed to be resonating from somewhere else.

Looking around and back down Luke realized he was much higher up than the distance appeared from below. He wrapped a dirty burnt-orange glove around the android's forearm, the human heaved his weight back and forth in an effort to free it from the rusted mess.

"No guarantees…you're not gonna' tumble…all the way to the bottom, mister." Luke said, each tug adding more strain to his voice. "But I'll be…right back down…to get ya'."

The Droid's incomplete upper body broke loose with a crunch, swinging out over the mountain of garbage in Luke's outstretched arm as bits and pieces of its corroded insides scattered downward.

It was clear to Luke the droid had been destroyed in the same fashion as the clone troopers, this one burned clean through the face and chest in an instant leaving only the arm, shoulder and a section of the head with the camera eye mounted in it.

"Darn it, I was looking forward to getting to know you better." Luke quipped as he grimaced at the change in fortune, rotating the appendage while he leaned out off the cliff face inspecting the find. It was odd craftsmanship, the piece was hundreds of years old, even repaired with hand tooled parts at some point. There was nothing of any value to help his situation and he was about to discard it out into the waste.

Luke's skin stopped tingling and suddenly burned as the crackling hum of the mystery generator returned, the ominous sound finding its way in through the fresh air vents then pulsating loudly within the helmet. Luke turned his upper body slowly to face the threat still holding on to the make shift ledge with one hand while dangling the service droid's arm, shoulder and half a head in the other.

He was stunned to find himself gazing into a glass robotic eye as big around as his helmet, a stretched stunned reflection of his own face stared back at him. The bubble of glass, coated with yellow-green metallic tint was surrounded by six smaller units of varying size and metallic hues.

All were mounted into the body of what could only be described as a giant, gold, mechanical spider fitted with armor plated sections surrounding a bulging oval belly. Several of the legs protruding from a cluster of gears and machined joints at the center of the top of its back supported the gold pod leaving the free limbs to strike at its prey.

The golden arachnid's generator wound up, the whine of gears and gyros spinning accompanied the lifting of its front two legs high over Luke's head. The flared hollow tips produced the two short red beams of the droid's plasma cutting and welding set.

Luke's eyes went wide.

The gears gave away the robots next move, Luke swung the service droids arm dead center into the gold humming mass. What was left of the service droid's head bashed the giant reflective lens in showering Luke in a cascade of sparks.

The Spider-droid recoiled, Luke used the split second to retrieve the blaster, raised it and squeezed off a rapid succession of laser bolts. To Luke's surprise the machine swung the makeshift Light-sabers defensively, intercepting the red-hot bolts of light, repelling them back in all directions.

The spider then raised two more of its pointed legs, the tips of the spears clicked and sprung open on hinges. Steel cables shot out wrapping around the blaster and his robotic hand in an instant. The tiny razor-sharp barbs of the recoiling cables burned down into the material stripping the weapon away along with the shredded glove forcing out a scream out of Luke as the cybernetic skin reported the pain.

The weight of the droid worked against it, shaking the tubing Luke clung to loose, he lost his footing and began to drift back and away from the ledge he stood upon before hearing the whipping sound of steel cables again and feeling the lines wrap around his body several times in both directions.

Luke swung in a tangle in mid-air as the spider regained its balance and began hoisting the catch back up the hill. Instinctively he pried his Laser-sword loose from its clip with a barely free and bleeding robotic hand in a single last act of defiance.

To his absolute amazement the weapon activated and the blue plasma-driven laser burst from the black and silver machined handle cutting through the supporting cables with ease releasing the Jedi hopeful to fall to his death on his own terms.

Chapter 19

Luke fell half the length of the rubble before a single cable from the menace wrapped around his waist stopping his descent so suddenly he slammed into the side of the mountain of garbage.

Again the Light-saber activated in his palm and he cut himself free. Luke tumbled down the rest of the mountain along with an avalanche of debris slashing wildly with the Light-saber to untangle himself from the cable. Hitting the listing deck of the grounded destroyer he tumbled and skidded across an uncluttered area of the Main landing strip until coming to a stop against a nearly flattened cargo container and by chance his now scraped and dented laser blaster.

Luke let out a frustrated breath then holstered his weapon again. Struggling to get up to his feet in the bulky exploration suit and watch for the threat from above proved difficult. He rose up just in time to see the mechanical insect glowing in the yellow light of the star as it repelled down the cliffs of debris shooting and retracting the cables as it descended.

The spider leapt off the wall of trash while snapping its legs wide apart to form an eight fingered claw landing on its belly hard where Luke stood only a moment before. The machine jumped back up to its leg tips and produced the two red laser cutters again.

Luke knew what the machine was now, it was a Construction-droid probably upset at the damage he and R2-D2 caused the tower before the crash landing.

Luke held his weapon high in front of him with both hands. The handle was searing hot and its power cell on the edge of exploding and began to fuse into the metals in his robotic hand. Most of the cybernetic skin had blackened and flaked away from the area but releasing the weapon from duty at this point in time was not an option.

The machines gears fired up again, the six legs racing forward revealing the source of the clicking sounds he had been hearing in the background all day. It had been following him since he landed, Luke made the decision to continue his plans for contacting the Rebellion with the assistance of this droid whether it wanted to or not.

The insect's gold plated body armor flashed the sunlight into Luke's eyes as the assailant lunged forward with the red laser cutters. He countered each swing backsliding a step at a time to give him room for escape or defense.

Luke chose escape. Taking advantage of the listing angle of the deck, he jumped and somersaulted back and away to the upper port side of the Star Destroyer landing atop another heap of garbage. No sooner had he freed himself up and tumbled to an open area of the steel deck he heard and felt the Construction-droid heave itself up over the ledge and stop to size him up.

Luke sprang to his feet quicker than before and turned to give the menace something to aim for, either it was going to help him or he was going to dispatch it plain and simple. Master Yoda's words rang true, less concerned with its footing more focused on offense the droids three left supporting legs speared through the folds of a thick piece of woven plastic based material laying in a loose on pile the deck as it pressed forward. The three pointed legs sliced through the material and into a grated steel vent hidden beneath the mass of fabric tripping the terror up and slamming the right side of its belly against the deck.

In an instant Luke lunged forward with a classic figure eight swing of the blue plasma blade cutting clean through the front two leg tips removing the Construction-droid's weapons in a hail of sparks. He took advantage of the adversaries' misfortune and tapped one of the eyes with the tip of the electrified blade causing a small explosion of shattering glass on top of the head.

The extra moment of attack on the creature cost the swordsman dearly.

The Construction-droid freed up a leg in time to sweep the warriors' feet out from underneath him sending the orange-suited figure down to the hard deck. Luke landed flat on his back, the helmet cracked loudly with the force of the impact off the hard steel deck beneath, his vision blurred, the sounds of the gears, generator, and various computerized pops and gurgles from the golden spider faded in and out of his mind through the ringing in his ears.

Time nearly stopped in this pain filled place, Master Yoda's words came to him again, as if poking him with his little twisted wooded cane, "In the dark, to prey upon you danger will choose, happens when this does, your eyes you will need not."

Time began to rush forward through burning flashes of light. He fought with his vision and consciousness, both clearing enough to realize he was on his back and vulnerable, the scene darkened slightly and he felt the presence of danger crouching directly over his body.

Gears strained and grinded as the spider began to free itself while raising the same leg that swept Luke off his feet up as high as possible to deliver the final deadly blow.

Luke felt stinging in his arms as he shoved the hilt of the Light-saber forward with all his might with both hands through the white lightning bolts and scattered red, purple and blue flashes clouding his vision.

The spear of pure energy melted through the insect's armor in an instant with a single thrust, molten gold plating and liquid silver mercury splashed across his suit, microscopic drops burnt all the way through in some areas shooting Luke's adrenaline and consciousness back up to soaring levels.

The droid's inner workings released the sound and smell of burdened gears burning oil as it scrambled frantically up and out of the trap stumbling and nearly flipping onto its back. Luke thought he heard a muffled groan of pain come within the beast indicating it may have actual organic brain matter and other fluid-based internal systems. After struggling to regain balance the menace squared off its stance then returned to shooting the barbed cables in an attempt to ensnare its prey once again.

Luke swung the whistling blade of light in a blazing figure eight motion in front of him, shredding the cables into shortened pieces which whipped and cracked as they flew through the air and scattered across the deck. The Jedi trainee dispatched the steel webbing with ease until the geared spools emptied out, spinning with a high pitched hum for several moments until winding down to a stop.

The disarmed droid pitched forward allowing the front damaged and secondary row of now unarmed legs to bear the weight of the golden egg with and its smashed in eyes. The remaining limbs curled upwards gleaming along their edges in the star's harshly contrasted light, the second to last set snapped open bearing pincers for locking metal sheeting in place to be welded.

The teeth of the pincers clacked together several times demonstrating the deadliness of their grip. The final pair of legs erupted with the sounds of motorized equipment revving up and the rattling of multiple sets of reciprocating saw blades and spinning drill bits.

Luke spun the Laser-sword around once in a circular motion to loosen his wrist and let the shining gold insect know he meant business.

The assailant raised its rear legs high into the foul sticky breeze, the hinged, needles clicked to the deck with each step anticipating the swordsman next move.

Luke locked his gaze upon the sets of multicolored eye lenses past the glowing blue beam of energy readying himself for the next salvo, he felt for the warm current of the Force to flow through his body amplifying his senses and calming his anxieties.

He needed the attack to continue to finish disarming the contraption while hopefully not damaging the computer processing units hidden somewhere inside more than he may already have. If the beast's internal organic parts were damaged it may require first aid or even minor surgery which was R2-D2's area of expertise.

The Construction-droid paused to size up the situation, its cybernetic brain's probability matrix indicating its chances of success were most likely not any better than before.

The saws and drill bits went silent and folded back under their gold plated panels, the rear legs regained their slender appearance and lowered back down clicking lightly against the deck. A rear leg tapped against the deck slowly over and over in a display of indecision, confirming Luke's suspicions of sentience programming.

Horizontal rectangular panels directly under the array of glass eyes slid open, disappearing into the body of the machine while producing twin sets of small anodized silver tubes. The barrels burst to life firing an unending line of red-hot alloy based rivets, the cylinders raked across the deck in an attempt to cut Luke's feet out from under him as the spider advanced firmly one stubborn and careful step at a time.

Driven back by the onslaught of hot shrapnel chipped from the Super Star Destroyer's deck, Luke inched further down the incline mindful of the ledge behind him, the gold spider pressed forward determined to kill the pilot or force him to jump off the edge of the metal cliff and take his chances with the fall.

Luke swung the Light-saber as fast as he could blocking and repelling some projectiles with his weapon as others made their way past to sting his chest and stomach while nearly piercing through his suit's protective outer lining.

The makeshift weapons the rear legs wielded reappeared again along with the spinning and sawing noises ready to strike. Luke Jumped as high and as fast into the air as he had against the organic bug which tried to make a meal of him earlier in the day, an attempt to summersault forward up and over the mechanical terror to higher ground and regain the advantage.

The Construction-droid dropped its rear legs anticipating the move, the rivet-guns gained height catching him mid flight, stitching lines of burning hot embers across the panel of controls and composite armor plates of the beaten and battered pressure suit.

The onslaught of rivets pushed Luke away from the ledge of the mysterious Super Star Destroyer into a back dive leaving him to fall helplessly nearly a thousand meters down into the churning, frozen wreckage washing up onto the rust and mud covered island below.

Chapter 20

Luke tumbled backwards end over end, the view through the visor repeated showing the underside of the steely edge of the deck he had been forced off and the shoreline of wreckage below.

Luke spread his arms and legs leveling himself out in a free fall position with hundreds of meters left to the bottom and only a few seconds to make a change in fortune.

Luke slapped at the composite chest plate to release the hinged door concealing the control panel to the stabilizer jets, originally intended for easier negotiation across low or high gravity environments during the expedition. He knew activating the lifts may slow him down but they were never intended for use in free fall in near normal gravity.

First he had to get the chest plate open.

Luke used the sharp immobilized tips of his exposed robotic hand fused to the Light-saber handle to tear the panel loose. He tapped the first set of oversized square buttons with no response from the foot units, several of the flat, horizontally mounted six packs of push buttons were shot through by the hot rivets.

"This is not good! not good at all!" Luke exclaimed to himself as he punched at the array of unresponsive buttons repeatedly. As a last ditch effort he peeled back the cover of the wrist computer with a frozen exposed steel finger, he could feel the rushing sensation of wind on top of pain provided by the remnants of synthetic skin.

The screen snapped to life boldly, indicating the solar cell stitching had recharged the suit's power source to nearly full capacity with assistance from the webbing of kinetic mille-volt energy converters taking advantage of the recent vigorous activity. The wrap around liquid filled wrist screen displayed three flashing black and white icons, one to bring up the keyboard, another for the science package interface and a third indicating the Holo-vizor remained unsealed.

Luke tapped the helmet shaped icon and the Holo-vizor resonated to life in a flurried rainbow of colored lines and mixed characters. The confusion settled into large scrolling red words, …HELMET VIZOR IS UNSEALED…" "Never mind that!, bring up the Science Package Interface!" Luke commanded back to the helmet's onboard computer. The screen filled with a grid of flashing icons.

"Exploratory Mode!" Again the flashing icons changed narrowing down the choices.

"Stabilization Response Systems!" Luke tried not to yell as his heart rate increased. The constant monitoring of the suits environmental systems displayed the increases in stress levels in a partitioned area up top as an icon filled in with the letters 'S.R.S.' enlarged to full screen, within its borders lay a list of options.

Luke scanned his eyes down the list, the targeting curser followed in step highlighting each selection until both fixed upon the blinking 'System Diagnostics' box.

"System Diagnostics!" A new menu of boxes opened on the screen.

"Lift test!" Again the Holo-vizor changed its listings to a new set of icons

"Full power test of all units, activate!"

The Holo-vizor readout reported, "…FUNCTION NOT SUPPORTED…REFER TO SAFETY PROTOCOL…" An icon flashed in reference to the suit not being secured to a testing hanger to prevent injury.

Luke gasped in shock at the failure, ready to accept his fate when the electronic equivalent of nails against chalkboard filled the helmet's sound system along with the pinging and whistling of one of his best friends. The sound was music to his ears and pleased his eyes to see the readout scroll across the Holo-vizor, "…ASTRO-MECH LINKUP CONFIRMED…"

"Artoo, is that you?!"

The droid confirmed the command with a prearranged series of tones to assure his identity.

"I'm free fallin' Artoo!, I need the S.R.S. on full, now!"

Artoo gave his 'I'm on it' whistle followed by Holo-vizor readouts broadcasted from a location unknown,

"…STABILAZATION RESPONSE SYSTEM 100%…"

"…HUMANOID PHYSICAL INTERFACE CONTROLS NON RESPONSIVE…"

"…DIAGNOSTICS…5%…35%…55%…"

"Come on, come on, come on!" Luke prodded.

Time both stood still and rushed by as Luke had no choice but to put all his faith in a machine he couldn't see or hardly believe was still in existence.

"…75%…88%…93%…"

"Anytime now will be fine, really!" Luke's anxieties were on full as the approaching wasteland's shoreline waited patiently for his arrival below.

Beyond the busy workings of the Holo-vizor Luke could see the jagged piles of wreckage that would soon be his final resting place.

"…96%…97%…98%…99%…99.03…..99.06…99.9%…"

"Artoo!, now!" Luke screamed.

"…S.R.S. TEST ONLINE…FULL SYSTEM TEST ACTIVATING…3...2...1...0..."

"…RELAX…BREATH NORMALLY…LOOK STRAIGHT AHEAD…" Luke almost laughed from the adrenaline spike in his blood at the ridiculous pre-programmed advice.

The anti-gravity jets mounted within the pressure suits heels, toes, elbows, lower back and back of the helmet engaged with high pitched whistles, his limbs flailed wild until the stabilizer control gained its bearings and forced its dizzied occupant upright. The suit slowed suddenly to a survivable rate of descent while narrowly missing a twisted mass of girder beams jutting up from the water's edge, Luke had only seconds now as the blood rushed into his feet to curl his legs up and wrap his arms around them.

Knowing this landing would be nearly as hard as the X-wing's he took a deep breath, held it tight and clenched his eyes shut as he cannon-balled down into the cold rust and debris filled water.

Chapter 21

Luke's curled up body smashed a hole through the surface of the icy, debris filled water sending a circular splash ten meters high out in all directions while sinking him at least as deep.

His left arm, hip and leg flattened out beneath him as he glanced off and down an incline in the dark. His helmet cracked lightly against the surface several times. The contact made the familiar sound of hardened space-faring glass used commonly aboard larger starships.

The Holo-vizor went awry from the impact, its digital lines and numbers swirling and scattered while struggling to sort themselves out. Luke almost swallowed a gulp of the cold, rusty water spraying in through the fresh air fans and the vented helmet visor as he opened his eyes.

Scrambling to keep his footing on the slippery algae covered incline, he slipped further into the darkness as he worked quickly to close the fresh air vents and pop the manual lock loose on the visor allowing it to seal automatically. Luke's cybernetic hand's sharp tips scraped and gouged into the muck covered glass in an attempt to anchor his weight.

Fighting back against panic Luke held his breath as filthy water rushed past his closed mouth and down his neck into the suit, filling it up to his knees adding to his difficulties.

The spikes of his boots dug into metal stopping his slide, it was then he noticed the air bubbles exiting and cold water rushing in through the torn glove and sleeve of his right hand.

Fortune would have it the suit was contained a low-tech compliment of pull cords at the knees and elbows just in case of a breach by sharp rocks, a plants thorns and or the teeth and spikes of small animals possibly buying the wearer enough time to get themselves to an air lock attempt a repair or in this case back onto dry land.

Luke gripped the ring tab on the forearm just below his right elbow and synched it down. The suit began to pressurize back to positive buoyancy. The frazzled and swirling light display of the Holo-vizor impeded his concentration, he punched a thumb knuckle to the pressure plate switch on the outside of the helmet and cut the feed.

The helmet went black, as his eyes adjusted to the dark the lines scraped through the muck upon his impact glowed softly detailing the haphazard path he created during his slide into the darkness.

The suit achieved its maximum pressure for the circumstances then began its painfully slow return to the surface fighting against the extra weight of the water trapped in the legs. Luke padded and clawed at the glass to steady himself to keep from rolling onto his back.

What at first appeared to be daylight breaking through the surface above revealed itself to be another source of light radiating through the glass incline he originally scraped against on his way down.

"Artoo…, Artoo come in!" Luke hoped the link would travel through water, he could not recall going over the detail in training. "I'm on my way back up if you can hear me. There's something down here, I'm seeing lights of some kind, I want to get a closer look."

"I hope you can hear me." Luke whispered to himself.

The scene brightened further as Luke dragged the spikes of his feet against the glass to slow his ascent. Wide alloy framing exposed below the thick window gave away the islands construction. It was not an island at all, it was a colossal glass paned dome.

The spikes on his toes dug into the edge of the alloy window pane to hold his position. Specks of illumination became visible through the domes surface with tiny beams of hot white light piercing out of where he hit hardest.

A piece of frozen debris rudely elbowed at Luke to move aside, he pushed back against it and sent it tumbling slowly back from where it came then scrubbed the muck off the glass with his left glove. The full intensity of the mysterious white light burst out melting the dark water around him into a soft, silvery lit haze.

"Wow! What is this?" He said aloud in awe while his curiosity leaned in too close causing the Holo-vizor to snap off the glass surface.

Staring through the circle Luke gazed upon a smooth, sparkling surface of glowing white crystal curving ever so slightly away as far as he could see into darkness at its horizon.

Luke became entranced, he was certain beyond a doubt he could feel the Force within the light, filling him completely as if flowing from an unending river. He felt no pain, from his injuries or his experiences, only a desire to stay where he was and never, ever leave.

Luke could feel clicking of hard mechanical feet against the giant pane of glass descending from above.

"The Construction-droid!" He thought in momentary panic pulling his attention away from the glass and the mystery it contained.

"Stupid, stupid, stupid, Luke!" he scolded himself for not being mindful of his situation.

The 'ticking' sound of tiny robotic legs against glass searching the darkness zeroed in on him quickly from above as Luke was too late in pushing away from the glass. He felt tiny legs grab him by the wrist and crawl up his arm and shoulder then lock into the helmet followed by the sound of a drill bit sinking through the top.

Again the sound of feedback screeched through the helmet's speakers and the sound of R2-D2's whistles filed the inside once more as the Holo-vizor crackled back to life.

Luke's eyes glanced up as the words scrolled by, "…ASTRO-MECH LINKUP CONFIRMED…"

"It's good to hear you again, you scared me by sending the mini-droid down with the tether!" Luke piped in reference to the tiny three legged droid on the end of R2-D2's spacewalk tether cable which is programmed to locate and connect to the suit should wireless communication be absent.

"No more ejecting yourself, That's an order!"

Artoo whistled in compliance.

"…SPACEWALK CABLE LINK CONFIRMED…"

"Hey!, I don't know if you heard me before, but there's somthin' here below the surface, I've gotta' get some footage of this on the wrist link." Luke's farm boy accent slipped with his excitement.

"…TETHER CABLE RETRACTING…"

"No, wait!" Luke yelled. "This is important Artoo!, I really need to do this!" Luke struggled to open the wrist screens cover while trying not to let go of his position.

"…EXTRACTING…CAUTION…EXTRACTING…..CAUTION…"

"Artoo stop!" Luke fought against the tugging of the winch mounted in the Astro-mech's undercarriage.

The Holo-vizor display reformatted itself to live feed footage from one of R2-D2's dome cameras panning in on the Construction-droid peering over the edge of the deck of the star destroyer. The machine with it's damaged legs was gingerly inspecting and testing the surfaces to find a way to repel down the side of the massive ship without losing its footing and tumbling into the water as well.

"I can't leave here, Artoo!" Luke said in defiance fighting against the droids insistence he return to the surface.

Luke had not noticed the shimmering white light becoming brighter during his struggle until the helmet's auto-tint darkened quickly enough to get his attention. Staring into the circle in the muck set off the auto-tint mechanism.

The surface within was spinning at an astonishing speed, taking on the appearance of a hot burning star. Sparkling silver ribbons of energy twisted and stretched beyond the horizons, gliding slowly and effortlessly across the surface opposite to the motion.

Luke was speechless as he watched flares of energy appear on the surface swirl into dancing vortexes then disappear. One in particular stayed on a course in his direction. Luke fought to stay in the light, utterly fascinated at the sight and drawn to the feeling of the Force rushing through his bones.

The vortex bounced off the white hot surface turning into spinning ball of sparkling flames then launched itself on a path directly for the window. Luke's eyes widened when he realized it was coming straight for him.

As the ball of sparkling fire impacted the glass Luke threw his hands up in front of his face in a pitiful attempt to save himself. There was no explosion or shattering of glass, Luke 'felt' two soft, burning hot hands lay flat against his chest on the inside of his suit gently pushing him away from the window freeing him to return to the surface.

Chapter 22

Aboard the 'Victorious' Human Relations Protocol-droid C-3PO waited patiently for Admiral Akbar to make his rounds. The Admiral had been off the bridge for an extended period of time which was unusual considering the gravity of the situation at hand.

When the command figure finally made an appearance C-3PO gestured repeatedly for his attention and attempted to speak over the babble of officers lining up to hand over updates collected during his absence. The Admiral made a point of taking his time to read each one twice and questioning each officer extensively.

C-3PO unplugged himself from the his station and made way to the end of the line patiently waiting for his turn to access the Master Strategist General, the fish-humanoid's official position recognized among the Joint Chiefs of the Rebel Alliance.

As the officer finished grilling the last of his subordinates for information and dismissed her back to her station C-3PO spoke up, "Admiral Ackbar, my pardons sir, I have a message…"

"Do you have an update on General Skywalker for me yet?!" The Admiral boomed over the droids voice as the crowd of soldiers quieted down enough to eavesdrop at the mention of the farm boy who defied an emperor by smashing his crown jewel of death and destruction.

"No sir, but Quee…"

"I have an insurrection to run besides babysitting a hotshot pilot out dancing across the stars, when you have something of interest that may concern me give me a call." The Admiral turned to begin his rounds of the circuit of stations lining the back wall of the command deck when he felt the robots hard gold fingers pull on his shoulder.

"Sir, I must insist…"

"Unhand me or I'll have you turned into fish hooks and paperweights and sent back home!"

The security guards rushed forward with their weapons drawn in an instant ready to put the droid down.

"Sir!" C-3PO threw his hands up in the air. "I have an important message…"

"Return to your station and resume your duties, this is your last warning 'clanker'!" The crew gasped collectively, stunned to hear the Admiral use a derogatory term even if it was directed at a machine.

C-3PO froze with his arms in the air above his head, his eyes faded to dark as the whirring gyros throughout his body slowed to a halt.

Crackles of static energy faded as the droid's arms retracted and folded across his chest, his head and body slumped down into a squatting position and assumed the inactive storage and transport position.

"Just as well." The Admiral said waving off the guards. "This is no place for overheating droids or people for that matter, get a Special-Ops maintenance crew to remove this one and update a replacement with this ones information."

"That will take some time, Sir, and the station will be down during the work." Said a young woman sporting a metallic orange crew cut and a clipboard who seamed to appear out of thin air.

"Good, see to it, thank you."

Yes sir!" The soldier saluted while kicking her heels together and smiling then disappeared just as fast as she arrived.

The Admiral took one more look at the droid and shook his head puzzled as to whether he actually caused the shutdown or if it was just coincidence because the machine had been on an intense assignment and had been computing for days.

It was a risk he didn't like but had to take for the safety of the pilot and this particular mission, the outcome could be pivotal to the survival of the Alliance.

The Alliance was dangerously low on resources and the benefactors on Palishii-E were becoming impatient for results promised by the Admiral to balance the terms of the next engagement against the Empires worst creation yet, the 'Death Star 2.'

The Alliance was tired from running and needed to fortify a hardened base to rest its troops while armies of droids scour the landscape gathering and refining water, plants, and minerals into everything from medicines to weapons and food.

The crew's mumbling quickly returned to talking, then yelling and shouting over each other in a 'get busy' show of action for the Admiral as he made his way through the crowd toward the first station brave enough to wave for his attention.

"Report." The Admiral said politely and bluntly.

"Sir, I'm picking up a signal being received within the confines of the command deck." Said an elderly man with one arm and the same crew cut as the young woman only a bright silver in color sitting at a small station in charge of data encryption.

"Spy communications?" Said the Admiral with sincere interest and suspicion.

"I don't think so sir, it's authentic encrypted Rebel Alliance Top Priority code, only it's not being sent to us."

"Who then?" The Admiral curiously demanded an answer.

"Admiral Ackbar!" The commanders name was screamed with a pitch somewhere between a dragon breathing fire and steel scraping against steel with all the terror of shattering glass. The sound raked across the command deck straight to Admiral H ears, wherever they were located, from somewhere behind so loud it caused the entire crew to freeze at once.

Snapping to full attention, the Admiral looked to the ceiling and slowly turned to face the voice he knew all too well.

"It is I, Queen Leia Organa, representative of the people of Palishii-E and chairman of the Joint Chiefs of the Rebel Alliance and I demand an update on the whereabouts of General Skywalker and the Astro-mech in his company!"

All crew members snapped to attention as well as a few droids.

"Your Majesty I was Just about to…"

"Don't patronize me, Admiral!" The voice came from C-3PO's mouth speaker and clearly the droid was under her control as it unbundled and returned to standing on two legs then walked forward with an awkward jerking motion absent the smoothing effect of his balancing gyros. The Admiral watched while a holographic projector mounted within the robots chest cast a grainy blue image of the Queen in a white cloak with the hood raised over her head obscuring her face from view.

"I am well aware you have lost communications with the General." C-3PO's eye sockets flashed and went black emphasizing each word. "I also had your word he would not be participating in yet another dangerous long range mission."

The Admiral knew arguing with her was futile yet had to try. "General Skywalker insisted he be a part of the mission…"

"I insisted he not!" She barked cutting him off rudely. "The only way he could have known about the mission was if you or I approached him!" The droids right index finger clicked and clacked as it pointed blamefully and waved back and forth directly at him in a condescending fashion following the Queen's holographic motions. "Last I was informed, I am in command of your division and you are to follow my orders!"

The Admiral stood silent listening.

"I must to report to the Joint Chiefs soon. They want this location if it pans out but we are more concerned with the general falling into the wrong hands, now explain yourself, Admiral."

The admiral knew the Queen had her spies too, but to think she was in the loop about events so recent only reminded him further he was just another soldier in a very serious war.

"We have not received any report from General Skywalker as of this time, this Protocol-droid you are communicating through estimates the expedition may have encountered rough space terrain and may have slowed its pace as the area is not mapped for meteorites and so forth and our secret relay stations may be rerouting or holding back information until it is safe to broadcast." The Admiral hoped the Queen would buy his thin explanation as the crew stood frozen in wait for their Commander in Chief's response.

After a long moment of tense silence the Queen spoke. "I shall give your report to the Joint Chiefs, Admiral."

"Thank you your Maj…"

"Admiral, ready your fleet for a mission into the 'Dead Zone', you are going to find General Skywalker and return him to your ship where he will await transport to yet another secret location, which are becoming rare these days."

"Begging your pardon Majesty, but…"

"You have twenty four hours Admiral."

"There's no way we can be ready in such a short period without giving away our position again." The Admiral stood up to her the best he could.

"Twenty four hours! You have your orders, now salute and move out!"

"Yes your Majesty!" The Admiral stood tall and saluted along with the rest of the crew.

"…and Admiral, if anything 'unfortunate' should happen to this 'clanker' Protocol-droid you will be the one making fishhooks and selling paperweights back Hon Mon Calamari, do I make myself clear?!"

"Yes your highness, crystal." The Admiral was complacent.

The cloaked figure raised her hands and pulled the hood back to reveal her face. Leia Organa was known for her beauty and bravery across the galaxy. Her defiance of the Empire was revered so much fighter jockeys painted large silhouettes of her head on the nosecones of their attack vehicles just to enrage the Imperial Forces further.

What presented itself to the Admiral was a face wracked by worry and sorrow, for those who died at the hands of the Empire and those who still will.

Her eyes held all within her gaze as she spoke, "Admiral, your crew is the finest in the Alliance and we know you and your comrades are dedicated beyond reproach, you are fighting for the lives of others and to be free yourselves. All beings who share this belief are behind you arm in arm, you and your crew have our unending gratitude. Thank you and may the Force be with you."

"May the Force be with you!" The entire bridge crew responded proudly drowning out Admiral Ackbar.

The holographic image faded away as the Queen pulled her hood back over her face releasing C-3PO to resume his functions and smooth his awkward motions.

The Admiral let out his breath and stared at C-3PO. The Protocol-droid jerked backed into the moment, "Oh dear!, I must have overloaded and tripped a safety breaker, I hope I have not let the mission down, perhaps I should go to maintenance." He said to himself as he looked at the Admiral unaware of the conversation he was part of.

"The message from the Queen has been received, thank you, now return to your station and continue your work." The fish headed humanoid said with a sliver of contempt in his deep voice.

"Very well sir." C-3PO said politely then turned and walked back to his station to continue his monitoring of the deep space mission while the crew stared, some in fear and others with a newfound respect for the power he wielded.

As the gold plated droid shuffled passed the stunned young officer with the crew cut and clipboard pressed to her chest, he turned his head and said, "I wasn't aware of any message from the Queen, and they say us droids don't know what were talking about most of the time."

Chapter 23

"An old ghost may soon find its way to us, My young apprentice."

"I have felt it my master." Darth Vader responded as he kneeled before the grainy blue Holographic Interface and the cloaked in black image of Darth Sidious it cast before him.

"Your failure to capture young Skywalker may have doomed us both if he is turned before we can persuade him to join us."

"What of this new threat?, can it not be destroyed by our weapons of today?" The respirator breathed between words.

"No, my friend. It has under its control an ultimate power source capable of draining stars and vaporizing whole fleets of ships." The figure in black croaked and grumbled in his wicked voice, Darth Vader sensed his master's desire to possess the device, "…designed to wreak vengeance upon an entire galaxy, not to restore order and keep peace as we have used our talents for."

"Are we not guilty of the same by destroying whole planets, whole societies, does this not upset the flow of the Force thereby weakening us all?" The Dark Lord asked with the hint of defiance the Emperor once exploited to make him fall to the 'Dark Side' when he was a young man yet could never fully get rid of.

"No, we are not guilty. Those who do not join 'The Order' are those who do not want true leadership or absolute rule of law, They want chaos for themselves and all around. By vaporizing their planets after failed negotiations we simply have returned all life to a neutral state. the Force shall refill the void in time and achieve balance again." The Emperor seemed convinced of his logic, Darth Vader still had his doubts.

"Perhaps the threat intends to do the same to our galaxy as a whole." The Dark Lord replied.

"You are my greatest student ever and one day will hold the galaxy in your iron grip if we survive this!" Darth Sidious let out a muted wicked laugh.

"If we survive this!" The Dark Lord shot back directly to his master and old friend then paused in humility. "I apologize for the outburst, and thank you for the compliment ,my master." He said lowering his head in respect. "But how do we fight something we dare not approach?" The respirator cycling oxygen in and out remained as the only sound in the giant cold room.

"It is not our fight now." Darth Sidious replied staring deep into his underling in admiration of his defiant streak.

"If not our fight, who will combat this?" The Dark Lord asked in search of clarity.

The Sith paused to pull his cloaked hood back revealing his tired and paranoid red and yellow eyes. Gazing into his apprentice's soul from half a galaxy away he said, "Your son."

Chapter 24

Luke broke the surface of the water, bobbing up and down in the over inflated suit and catching a glimpse of R2-D2 before his head was pulled down into the water again as the winch retracted.

"Hey, easy!, that's my head your pulling me in by!" Luke complained as he flailed weightless in search of a hand or foot hold.

"…STABILIZER JETS NON-FUNCTIONAL…H20 SATURATION…" The holographic interface display scrolled.

"Yeah! Tell me something I don't already know!" Luke felt his fingertips dig through the mud and slip against the slimy glass, "Just get me out please!"

R2-D2 backed up the slope sliding Luke on his belly out of the icky water and into the rusty mud.

The Astro-mech spun his chromed head around and proceeded to drag Luke by his head up the hill toward the giant steel tower as Luke scrambled on his hands and knees out of the water into the rusty mud lining the shore.

"Wait! My suit is full of water past my knees, I can't stand up!" Luke pleaded.

The Astro-mech spun its head back around while letting out a series of disappointed electronic buzzes then sped forward bouncing off Luke's helmet and chest plate with a 'crack!' knocking him back on to his heels as his arms flew in circles to fight for balance.

The droid then reeled in the tether cable suddenly rudely jerking his head forward, Luke threw his arms out and hugged the spinning dome to keep his balance. He couldn't help but feel a sense of relief to be with his fellow warrior again knowing his chances of survival just increased ten-fold.

R2-D2 backed up and broke his grip while complaining about the slime and muck running down his panels as well as other pressing issues.

"I'm fine, thank you." Luke sniped at the lifeguard while wiping a wide streak through the liquid rust coating the vizor plate.

"…HOSTILE FORCES PRESENT…TAKE EVASIVE ACTION…HOSTILE FORCES PRESENT…TAKE…"

"I'm trying to tell you, I can't move my feet!, I gotta' get out of this suit!" Luke reached for the wrist screen to punch the release code.

"…NEGATIVE…SOLAR RADIATION OUTSIDE SAFE PERAMITERS…REMAIN STATIONARY…"

"Well then, what else am I suppose' to do?, the boots are sealed to he suit!" Luke threw his hands out in anticipation giving the droid a moment to present a solution.

A panel on the R2-unit opened and produced a spinning silver sheet metal saw blade on a robotic arm too reminiscent of the Construction-droid he had just dueled with.

"Whoa!, what are you doing?!" Luke tried to jump back instinctively, caught between the knee deep water around his legs and the grip the Astro-mech's tether had on him he was pinned in place.

"…HOLD STILL!…HOLD STILL!…HOLD STILL!…" flashed in red across the screen.

"CUTTING…"

"Yow!" was all Luke could get out as the droid swiped the blade in a side to side motion across the tops of his ankles while he held visions of his feet being cut off. The material split allowing the rust stained water to splash out across R2-D2's boxy metal feet which added to the machine's complaints.

"Don't ever do that again!" Luke yelled at his companion. "I guess you think I should thank you now?" Luke blasted his friend with all the sarcasm he could muster.

R2-D2 produced a small spigot from his head and shot Luke in the face with clean jet of water to clear the outside of the helmet's visor while letting out an obscene blurt of disgust at the lack of respect for his ingenuity. The droid spun its head away and yanked his master forward uphill by the tether cable.

It was then Luke noticed the droid was not tracking straight, no doubt from the hard landing taken after ejecting.

"Disconnect us." Luke ordered.

"…NEGATIVE…PROTOCAL DROID KINETIC PROGRAMMING ENGAGED…RELAX AND FOLLOW ME…" Was the response from the defiant little droid in reference to an uploaded version of C-3PO's balancing matrix.

"I can do it myself Artoo, now let me go!" Luke demanded as he fought against the grip of the micro-droid and its tether while falling to his knees again.

The deep space exploration pressure suit's automated micro-gyros located in each joint activated at R2-D2's leisure allowing the balancing system to overpower Luke and attempt to stand up straight. The droid tugged stubbornly forward as Luke resisted resulting in an awkward display as he attempted to keep his footing on the muddy slope.

The mud underfoot hardened with each step into a dried cracked clay making for slightly easier footing for both as they wobbled up the embankment together. Luke had no choice but to go limp within the pressure suit and ride along with it accepting the occasional stumble or fall as R2-D2 stayed on a crooked course uphill.

Luke observed the trashed landscape becoming more organized with improvised scaffolding and a system of organization similar to what he had seen at the wrecking yards on Tattooine. Usable parts salvaged from fallen craft lined isles on both sides, organized according to part types and size.

Luke saw hanging rows of Clone-trooper battle uniforms pieced back together after their defeat. The giveaway being the unmatched serial numbers as well as a Captain's helmet resting on a corporal's shoulder guards, the empty helmet stared back at him causing a cold shiver down his spine. While some thought of the warriors as expendable and without the guilt of sending real people to their deaths, Master Yoda had gone into great detail about them and how each was a unique life form, sentient with feelings no different from any other human.

Master Yoda said there strength came from the ability to have a singular focus while maintaining an all for one and one for all style of teamwork and Luke would do well to remember this.

Other uniforms for multi-limbed space faring cultures he was unfamiliar with hung eerily across the isles supported by ropes and poles giving the appearance of an alien museum.

Weapons had a row of its own and Luke's eyes dazzled at the fire power available. Luke's mind raced at the thought of the benefit to the Alliance the stash of resources could provide if no one already had a claim laid on it.

"…ENEMY APPROACHING… [5000] METERS…"

"…ENEMY APPROACHING… [4950] METERS…"

"Let's go down to the weapons isle while we still have the time, there has to be something we can use to knock this thing down!"

"…NEGATIVE…"

"Well then, what do you suggest, genius?" "…FOLLOW ME…ENEMY APPROACHING…[4900] METERS…"

The path through the wrecking yard became a wide, scratched and gouged sheet metal service ramp rising up out of the dry cracked clay. Luke's spikes dug into the soft metal ridges designed for traction giving him and the droid firm footing and speeding up their ascent dramatically to the base of the tower.

"I don't feel any human presence, Artoo. I think droids may have been left behind and have the run of the place now, still carrying out old assignments according to program."

"…CONFIRMED…NO CARBON LIFE FORMS DETECTED…"

"This must have been a busy place once upon a time, maybe it's deserted except for just one rogue Construction-droid, but I wouldn't bet on it just yet." Luke said cautiously looking around at the landscape as far as the helmet would let him. R2-D2 responded in agreement and in support of the dedication droids provide to their work.

"That's enough of your delusions of grandeur my friend, and speaking of psychotic droids on auto-pilot, where's our eight legged friend anyway?, I really would like to get it on its back so we can access its CPU's."

"…ENEMY APPROACHING… [4850] METERS…"

"There may be something there we can use to establish communications with the Alliance."

R2-D2 spun his head, the Holo-vizor lit up with a dizzying display of the outside world, the targeting cursor zeroed in on the Construction-droid's location almost instantly then zoomed in with a series of frame enhancements displaying statistics such as mass, distance and the targets speed.

"…ENEMY APPROACHING… [3950] METERS…"

The gold spider sped along the edge of the Star Destroyer's deck with incredible speed, having determined a descent directly from the steel ledge to the surface far too dangerous. R2-D2's math projected a path to the rear portside corner of the deck behind the control tower as it was the lowest point to the island.

The Holo-vizor flashed an outline of the route the enemy would most likely follow down flights of shoddy steel planking stolen from the walls of destroyed spaceships and supported by a shaky system of welded pipes and beams stripped out of the remains.

This explained more to Luke about the condition of the station, he figured the droid or droids must have continued sawing, stripping and recycling anything available until all that was left was heaps of unusable garbage. He also took notice other than the single broken window on the Star Destroyer the ship was untouched.

"…ENEMY APPROACHING…[3800] METERS…ENEMY APPROACHING…[3650] METERS…"

"That thing is really moving! Whatever your plan is it better happen quick or I'm cutting you loose and heading for the armory!"

"…ENEMY APPROACHING…[3100] METERS…" the Construction-droid neared the end of the Imperial cruiser's deck and jumped from a full run out to the scaffolding. Landing hard, shock waves shook the rusty structure, the spider became tangled for several moments before working itself loose and shaking the impact off then sped down the flights of criss-crossed ramps.

Luke spun his upper body against the gyros to get a better look but the suit over powered him and continued its uphill climb.

"…ENEMY APPROACHING… [2600] METERS…"

"…ENEMY APPROACHING… [1950] METERS…"

" …AIR LOCK LOCATED…ENEMY APPROACHING… [1800] METERS…"

The two stopped at the base of the tower, the walls of wide corrugated chrome panels polished to the last rivet cast harsh reflections of sunlight and gave away no points of entry.

"Great, now what? I'm going to the weapons isle!" Luke pulled his laser blaster out with a frozen robotic finger and put it in his left hand and aimed it at the micro-droid causing it to ping in terror at R2-D2 to talk some sense into their master.

"…SPACEWALK TETHER DROID DEACTIVATING…"

'…ASTRO-MECH LINKUP CONFIRMED…"

"Finally, thank you!" Luke smarted, R2-D2 ignored him.

R2-D2 released the micro-droid and retracted the cable as the three legged critter crawled down Luke's head stopping momentarily to peer into the visor glass from the outside to scold him for his difficulty with a series of irritated chirps and clicks.

Luke tried to wave it away with the barrel of the laser-pistol only to have it jump on his weapon and run down his forearm before diving down to the deck and skittering behind the retracting cable into the Astro-mech slamming a panel door shut behind it while still complaining.

"Sometimes I think sentience programming goes to far." Luke said insulted.

"…ENEMY APPROACHING… [1650] METERS…"

"…ENEMY APPROACHING…[1500] METERS…"

R2-D2 tracked to one side unevenly as he sped away from Luke along the platform ringing the tower franticly scanning the walls for an access port.

Luke tried to run behind as his feet sloshed, "So, this is your big plan?, run away and hope for the best!?" He was not impressed with the droids strategy.

R2-D2 stopped suddenly and squared himself off to the wall.

"…ACCESS PORT LOCATED…"

"…ATTEMPTING TO ACCESS…"

"…ENEMY APPROACHING… [1100] METERS…"

"Finding an access port is one thing but actually getting it to work for us is a long shot at best, and now we don't have time to reach the weapons isle!" Luke was trying not get upset considering how thankful he was to the little machine.

"I hope your combat training program is front and center, 'cause were gonna' have a fight on our hands real soon!"

"…ENEMY APPROACHING… [900.30] METERS…"

From the vantage point of the tower's cargo deck the rows of merchandise were as clear as the gold spider bounding across the tops in a straight line for them.

Several of R2-D2's panels opened up and produced multiple lasers and saw blades. The droid went to work cutting the control panel loose from the corrugated chromed paneling. A moment later it fell to the deck with a 'bang'!

Luke steadied his blaster to start firing the instant the thing was in range. He could only hope the Light-saber would mysteriously activate once more if needed.

"…ENEMY APPROACHING… [812.70] METERS…"

R2-D2's robotic pincers stripped and tack welded wires to a universal circuit board card extending from his center foot.

"…CONTROL PANEL ACCESSED…"

"…ATTEMPTING STANDARD DOCKING CODE TRANSFER…NEGATIVE…NEGATIVE…"

"…ATTEMPTING ADVANCED MATRIX (BaSk-1) CODE TRANSFER…NEGATIVE…NEGATIVE…"

"…ENEMY APPROACHING… [600.38] METERS…"

"You can stop now, I see the danged thing comin'!" Luke was ready for the attack.

"….ATTEMPTING IMPERIAL FORCES CODE PROTOCOL TRANSFER…NEGATIVE…NEGATIVE…" "…ATTEMPTING REBEL ALLIANCE CODE PROTOCOL TRANSFER…NEGATIVE…NEGATIVE…"

"…ENEMY APPROACHING… [400.03] METERS…"

Luke fired the blaster repeatedly at the oncoming threat far out of range hoping to at least delay its relentless approach, the bright red flashes hit nothing but racks stacked with equipment. The gold spider continued jumping across the racks determined to destroy them both.

As luck would have it, a stray laser bolt finally hit something of an explosive nature not far in front of the beasts path causing a blast and toppling racks, the spider tumbled out of sight.

"I think I got it, Artoo!"

"…NEGATIVE…ENEMY AQUIRED…ENEMY APPROACHING…NON-VISUAL TARGET … [350.47] METERS…"

"You take the fun out of everything you know!" Luke tAunted as he waved the blaster in anticipation.

"…ENEMY APPROACHING… [200.00] METERS…"

"Here it comes!" Luke opened fire as the Construction-droid leapt back up onto the top of the racks and resumed its run for them on all eight legs.

"Do something now Artoo!, or turn and fight, that's an order!" Luke commanded.

"…ATTEMPTING REPUBLIC TRADE GUILD CODE PROTOCOL TRANSFER…NEGATIVE…NEGATIVE…"

"…ENEMY APPROACHING…VISUAL…[100.74] METERS…"

"Give up and go tactical, now!" Luke pleaded as he rapid fired the blaster at the oncoming threat.

"…ATTEMPTING OLD REPUBLIC CODE PROTOCOL TRANSFER…

TRANSFERRING…TRANSFERRING…TRANS…" Suddenly the visor's display flashed in giant green characters, "…SYSTEM ACCESS…SYSTEM ACCESS…"

"Are you serious?!" Luke was absolutely boggled. "That code is a thousand years old!"

The blaster was becoming dangerously hot, the end of the barrel threw sparks as the bolts began to melt and pull microscopic pieces of metal with them as they flew. Several of the bolts found their mark just below the array of metallic tinted eyes impacting close enough together to knock the droid back in mid jump from one rack to another causing it to back flip into the isle of uniforms below. Clone-trooper protective battle gear scattered into the air, the helmets, boots and hard knuckled gloves rained down upon it to deal the mechanical terror one final beating, just for good measure.

R2-D2 let out a siren's wail.

"…CAUTION REMAIN STATIONARY…"

"Why can't you just say good shot or good job. Whoa!, what's happenin' here?" The platform vibrated with the feeling of colossal gears moving within the metal surface beneath his feet causing him to stumble back against the chromed wall.

Luke's eyes went wide with surprise as a robotic arm large enough to moor a space freighter broke loose and swung away upward from the platform scattering the nearest two rows of catalogued parts outward into the other racks. The gold spider barely had time to duck the flying pieces itself as it jumped back up to the top of the rack still standing closest to them.

Luke 'felt' the essence of an almost human presence as the droid gave a hard calculated stare directly at him, squaring off its stance the twin rivet guns reproduced themselves.

"…REMAIN STATIONARY…REMAIN STATIONARY…" Flashed in giant red again.

"What's your plan? I don't think it wants to shake hands and get to know us!" Luke opened fire again emptying the last of the ammunition as the droid fearlessly ducked, dodged and even took a few hits while not lifting a leg, determined to hold the position of high ground.

The barrel of the laser pistol glowed red hot and was scored beyond safe repair, it would never be used again from the damage it sustained. Luke threw it side-arm as hard as he could at it out of spite he raised his robotic hand with the dead Light-saber instinctively, ready to defend or run again if the case may be.

"…MOORING STATION ACCESSED….DOCKING ARM ACTIVATED…DOCKING CLAMPS READY…MAGNETICS CHARGING…10%…35%…65%

"I don't think it wants an oil change, Artoo!"

"…85%…95%…"

The gold plated Construction-droid sprang forward as far as possible into the scattered parts and toppled racks, crashing and stumbling in a mad dash to charge up and on to the platform.

Luke felt a sudden urge to run to save himself but knew his chances of survival were greater by R2-D2's side. Luke had just enough time to drop to his knees before a stream of rivets erupted raking the wall where his head just was.

R2-D2 took several hits to his chromed dome, several of the dark blue glass panels shattered and exploded. The fearless droid shrieked but continued working as no major systems were affected.

"Artoo, run!" Luke shrieked in return.

"…MAGNETICS ONLINE…CAUTION… REMAIN STATIONARY…"

R2-D2 spun his head in a one hundred and eighty degree turn while feeding the live images directly to the Holographic interface so fast Luke almost became dizzy.

The Astro-mech locked the targeting curser on to the advancing Construction-droid and activated the magnetic pad on the end of the colossal robotic arm. The devices four giant sectional fingers snapped open and closed with jarring shockwaves and deafening noise as they demonstrated their power and ability to moor or unload the largest of cargo ships.

The Construction-droid leapt up on onto the deck and squared the rivet guns directly at R2-D2 as if Luke did not exist and opened fire.

The deadly barrage never reached its target. The intense magnetic field of the claw scattered and redirected the red hot rivets back into the face of the would-be assassin, the beast lost several more of its eyes in a flash of shattered glass and sparks. The Construction-droid was mercilessly ripped away from the deck as well. Luke could feel the giant claw reaching indiscriminately for the metals in his suit and robotic hand.

The spider slammed against the magnetic pad, pinned helplessly.

R2-D2's magnetic feet took over anchoring him in place as Luke barely had time to grip the boxy shape of his outer right foot before being lifted feet first into the air.

"…TETHER DROID ACTIVATED…"

The Micro-droid released itself and was pulled to the magnet with the same force as everything else.

"That's really not helping, Artoo!" Luke groaned as he fought against the gravitational field.

Through the Holo-vizor Luke watched the giant fingers slam open and shut several times smashing down on the spider's body section causing more of the glass eyes to crack and explode outward as it bent and mangled its gold plated legs.

Luke was astounded it wasn't smashed flat instantly, "Good job Artoo, now kill the magnetic and hold on to it for me!"

R2-D2 cut off the magnetic field after wrapping the mooring arm's giant fingers around the spider's body to pin the droid in place.

Luke's fell flat against the deck with a thud knocking some of the wind out of him. "Thanks for that, Artoo." He said with a grunt. The micro-droid ran up Luke's leg and across his back jumping onto his head and burrowing its spiked legs and communications drill bits into the helmet angrily while complaining in detail as it went.

"…TETHER CABLE LINK-UP CON…" "Yeah, Yeah, whatever!…I suppose you want me to thank you again now?"

R2-D2 whistled in confirmation.

The Construction-droid squirmed enough to direct one panel of rivet guns at them and tried to open fire again.

"Artoo wait!" Luke knew instantly what the Astro-mech was going to do, he could sense at this point in the game the compassion area of his sentience programming had been worked enough for one mission.

In a split second the massive robotic mooring arm swung up, out and away opening the metal fingers at the end of its reach to hurtle the mangled gold menace back out into the wrecking yard. They both watched as it crashed pitifully through the isles.

Artoo let out a cool whistle at his handiwork.

Luke tried to put his hand over his eyes but the visor stopped him and gave a view of outside anyway.

"Great! You know for a genius you sure do some dumb things…now we have to go all the way back down there to get it, if it even still works." Luke turned away and kicked a rivet lying on the deck out of frustration. "Maybe we can find somthin' else that will help…Come on!" Luke said flatly while he waved his hand in the direction of the service ramp and began to turn away.

"…NEGATIVE…AIR LOCK ACCESS…OUTER HANGER ACCESS DOORS DEPPRESSURIZING…"

"Are you sure you should do that?" Luke questioned as his eyes followed the Holo-vizor targeting cursor as it traced an outline of the door seam up the wall and to the left at least two meters over R2-D2's head. "Yeah, I see it." It was either an entry point for humanoid sized or smaller passengers or a service way for freight lifting machines. "If that thing is out here I'm not sure I want to know what might be waiting inside."

The pistons squealed in protest as the single door pushed outward several millimeters fighting against the inner vacuum of the tower and the microscopic corrosion acquired over time.

"You are good I have to admit, but I'm still going back for the Construction-droid." The Astro-mech had rekindled Luke's interest in his work. "I don't like where this is going, now let's go."

Artoo spun his head around in a flash and nearly dizzied Luke again with the live feed, his body lighting up with flashing red and blue security warning lights.

"…NEGATIVE…PREVIOUS TARGET RE-AQUIRED…NON VISUAL [644.17 METERS]…ENEMY RE-ARMED…ENEMY APPROACHING…" Luke spun on his heels to face the racks R2-D2 highlighted with the targeting cursor.

The crippled, straining gears of the Construction-droid's mangled legs cracked and crunched as it feebly pulled itself back on top of one of the racks. What was left of its oil lubrication smoked and dripped down into the parts below, a small fire had taken hold on its rear legs and crept upwards to its body.

The two sides stared each other down, The human through his protective face shield, the crippled insect through its last remaining tinted-glass eye. Luke broke the truce by yelling, "Hey rivet breath!, are you ready to give up now and help me or do you want me to send my little droid down there to beat you up some more!?"

R2-D2 protested being volunteered while Luke felt the consequences of his arrogance coming as the last word left his mouth.

The Construction-droid labored with what was left of its burning rear legs to raise a two meter long Anti-Troop Transport missile sawed loose from its base mount somewhere in the weapons isle up onto its back. The adversary had been holding it out of sight until it could reassess the situation.

The now crushed and mangled mechanical insect, in a last ditch effort to come out of the battle victorious, used its whole body as a makeshift weapons platform to aim the projectile while a bent leg tip reached up and pulled the manual firing pin. "Oh, you have got to be kidding me." Luke said in surprise as he shook his head from side to side inside the helmet. The missile erupted in flame and launched itself toward Luke and R2-D2 with a scream, the force of takeoff sent what was left of the now scorched black Construction-droid back flipping into pieces and out of sight.

"Artoo, get out of the way!" Luke dove into the machine with outstretched arms no differently than he would a human. R2-D2's magnetically charged feet were no match for his weight and Luke slammed against the sturdy box and was stopped dead in his tracks.

"…MOORING ARM MAGNETICS CHARGING… MAGNETICS ACTIVATED…REMAIN STATIONARY!…."

Luke wrapped his arms around R2-D2's right leg and felt the super-magnet pull for an instant. The massive square-sectioned magnetic fingers missed catching the speeding missile by centimeters and thousandths of a second, the super-charged magnetic field altered the dead-on shot enough to narrowly miss both warriors sending its armor piercing tip tearing into the service door as it struggled in vain against the process of depressurizing.

The door obliterated into a jagged circular opening upon impact, the shock wave tore the Astro-mech's magnetic grip loose from the deck sending Luke and R2-D2 flailing down a long darkened hallway in a spiral of rushing air together as the space-station's vacuum sealed interior equalized with the stale atmosphere outside.

Luke saw sparks as his body came to a sudden stop up high against a super-thick glass wall at the far end of the hallway, a mere second later his ears split with crashing of mechanical parts. The two fell with dead weight to a hard landing, R2-D2 impacted the steel grating of the floor nearly upside down, smashing in the Astro-mech's pieces of thick blue glass and crushing the smooth dome inward. Luke came down on his knees and wrists before his chest hit the grating.

Luke rolled over groaning in pain and disorientation catching a glance of R2-D2 through his stinging eyes, the droid was down for the count with no signs of electronic life, the Holo-vizor went black along with it.

He fought off the feeling of getting sick in his suit and worked his way up onto all fours and crawled forward looking for a handhold to steady himself. His gloved palm pressed flat against the hard surface of impact and slid down the smooth glass to the floor dragging a trail of dust with it.

Within the streaks of pain filling his eyes Luke saw again the white-hot surface he gazed upon down in the murky depths of the water spinning as fast as his head was. The dynamo absorbed sparkling wisps and lightening bolts of pure blue energy vacuumed and captured from somewhere above spiraling down through a giant glass tube.

Even in such a weakened state there was no doubt in the young man's mind the energy was stolen from the already dying star above.

Luke slid down further in exhaustion, a beautiful sparkling face of a woman made of burning hot stars appeared and filled his vision, her eyes flashed emerald green as platinum blonde hair flowed delicately beyond the edges of his sight with a comforting and entrancing rhythm.

A set of thin, hot hands pressed against his cheeks and felt her message come to him as her lips moved and her eyes stared into his soul, the horrible visions that once filled a nightmare he dismissed as the anxiety of a young boy returned to him. He dreamt he was an outlaw explorer, something his Uncle would highly disapprove of, hopping from star to star in search of adventure. He met an old man who sold him a key to a 'doorway to anywhere and anything his heart desired'. All he had to do was envision what he wanted and hold out the key, he plundered countless universes until he was the ruler of all.

As he sat bored upon his throne he spied the old man in his crowded courtroom watching him and demanded he be brought before him. "You lied to me, old man! This key does not work!"

"How so? Look around, you have everything." The old man pleaded.

"It's not enough!" Luke complained.

"It brought me all I ever wanted, which was to be free of it."

"I will imprison you." Luke was furious.

"May I suggest instead you talk to the maker of the key, perhaps that will shine some light on your dilemma."

"That is what I shall do then, be gone from my sight." The old man bowed and shuffled away.

Luke closed his eyes, lifted the key and demanded the maker show itself and it did. A shadow figure rose up over his head when he opened his eyes, its giant fanged jaws parted in a wide, smile of pure wickedness and said, "I am the crafter of the key, the one who is found in the darkest places of all and now I am in your heart, I have corrupted you and now I will destroy you and all that you love."

The monster gave chase to the terrified boy, devouring everything in screams and fire from behind while swiping at his feet until knocking him to the ground. Luke rolled over with the key clutched in his hand offering it to the creature in surrender as it crashed down on him. He awoke to his own screams of horror in his Aunt Beru's arms as his Uncle stood over him giving a worried, distrusting look he would never forget.

The vision faded back into the beauty of the sparkling apparition, the woman gave Luke a look of sorrow then disappeared along with the blood rushing out of his head, the last thing he heard before blacking out were the heavy, clicking sounds of another Construction-droid's pointed metal legs running down the hall closing in on him.

Chapter 25

Luke awoke in a softly lit room. Rows of tiny spot lights glowed gently overhead outlining his figure covered in clean white sheets as he lay. He rolled onto his left shoulder and pressed his robotic hand against the table to steady himself.

Luke eyes froze as he stared at his hand, there was no sign of the metallic fingers or burnt out Light-saber. His hand had been repaired, as a matter of fact it looked exactly as it had before he lost it to the Dark Lord.

He sat up slowly while steadying his dizzy head with his new hand and looked around. "Lights." He said bluntly expecting the room to become brighter automatically, when he was rebuked he said it again with irritation present, "Lights!"

The controls reacted stubbornly raising the illumination of the room. Luke found himself in the state of the art medical bay back onboard the 'Victorious'.

The facility appeared as it was during his tour of the newly christened Command Carrier. The only difference were the trays of used medical equipment and bandages indicating an operation had recently taken place and most likely on him.

Located in the heart of the ship, the bay could treat thousands of species, intelligent or otherwise and even sentience programmed Cybernetic organisms with speed and precision never before seen within the ragtag fleet, allowing the wounded to be transported by a system of rail-tube cars in seconds to receive a range of services from first aid or critical surgery and be returned to battle within a matter of minutes or hours.

The people of Palishii-e were intent on destroying the 'Excelsior' even if it took days of fighting ship to ship in the vacuum of space. The mission was a matter of pride and vengeance unleashed upon the Imperial's in hopes of sparking a galaxy wide revolt against the Empire.

"How did I get back here so quickly!?" Luke thought to himself feeling genuinely alarmed and puzzled.

Luke felt for the presence of the Force and received nothing, in fact he felt as though he was being drained of life and it sickened his stomach. He slid his feet to the floor to stand while steadying himself against the nearly mirror finished steel table, grabbing the squared edge with both hands behind his back.

The sheet slid to the floor revealing the faded orange fire-resistant thermal under-liner of his exploration suit. The material was dry but the damage to the right sleeve from the Construction-droid's cables had been re-stitched with new pieces of generic fabric to complete the repair. Luke felt stinging welts the rivet impacts delivered as he ran his fingertips across his chest.

He bravely stepped forward falling to his knees as metal trays of brass and silver medical equipment flashed and scattered through the air landing all around the room with a crash.

The medical bay door slid open and in ran a younger woman wearing a white orderly uniform with orange boots and trim sporting the Rebel Alliance Crest. "Hey easy there, 'Champion of the New Republic'." She said with a humorous jab in her voice.

Luke sank further then felt a set of strong healthy arms wrap around his body before he reached the floor and hoist him up to his feet again.

"I got you, 'hot shot', I told the doc' you would come to when no one was around, and of course, I knew you would try to stand." The woman helped him back on to the table while kicking equipment out from underneath them.

"Now lay back down and get some rest, you've had another one of your 'adventures' again, I swear if you pull another stunt like that you might just actually get us kicked off our own ship." The mystery woman giggled as she pressed his shoulders to the table slowly with heavy hands. "Lights down." She commanded while turning away for a moment, the lights complied softly illuminating the room again.

"Wait, how did I get…" Luke croaked in a dry voice.

"The Captain reported an unusual object adjusting its trajectory to intercept our ship. Naturally you hopped into that old piece of 'X-Wing' fighter and set out to investigate an asteroid with heavy magnetic fields, which was stupid enough to begin with. Then you had a flashback or who knows what to your glory days and the lucky shot you got off on the 'Death Station'." The woman clearly was not enthused.

"'Death Star'." Luke croaked past his dry vocal chords.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever…you hit it with a 'Proton' torpedo or whatever you call it and the asteroid shattered into a gazillion little pieces and jammed up the engine workings. If it wasn't for the little obsolete droid you needed just to get the old thing started you probably wouldn't have lasted long enough to get back on board." She pulled down a long white rubber tube affixed with a silver button from over head and gave him a super fine mist of sterile water to coat his tongue and mouth while working at dabbling tiny drops of red from around his face, "…and then there was your crash landing in the crew bay on the back quarter, the Captain practically turned the ship on its side just in time for the Astro-mech to park you on top of the leave and recreation transports. Let's just say I wouldn't go near the landing bays or motor pool for a while, huh?"

Luke whispered as he faded in an out. "Where's Artoo?" Visions of the miracle worker drifted through his mind.

Any smile the woman may have had faded, "I'm sorry dear, the ship landed upside down and shattered the poor things head to pieces, and nearly yours too, maintenance and the motor pool chief cut its top off and gave it a good once over because they know what it means to you but the CPU's core had a tiny crack deep inside and fried to pieces when they tried to restart it."

"Artoo is dead?" Luke tried to lift his head but his neck was so tight it was a wasted effort.

"If you can call it that, the machine is also the reason you're alive, so I would say it did its job perfectly and it lives on in the light now." The words seemed unforgiving at the definition of what service droids were meant for. Luke did have the strength to raise an eyebrow in question to the end of her statement.

The woman took in a breath and held it while staring up at the ceiling and let it go "I didn't want to tell you now, but I don't see what difference it really makes, the Captain gave the order to have the droid and what was left of your ship sent to recycle where they were melted and compressed into a rather hefty, smooth ball of metal which then was loaded into a Magneto-Velocity cannon and shot into a star we passed just a few moments ago, I really am sorry." Luke sensed she could care less about the droid and ship and placed far more value on the life in her hands.

Luke clenched his eyes at the reality and almost started crying.

"Shush now and rest." She politely whispered to him while pressing a delicate finger to his lips.

Luke stared into her beauty, the iris's of her eye's were a deep brown disappearing into the black abyss of her pupils contrasting sharply against the bright white of her corneas, as she leaned in over his face, delicate, dark brown, shoulder length hair swung forward brushing his cheek with a tickle.

He couldn't help but smile lightly past the pain shooting up and down his body as she pressed her lips to his forehead while whispering softly, "Sorry about this babe, but it's for your own good."

Luke eyes flew open wide as he felt the sting of an old fashioned needle point pierce his left arm inside the elbow, he tried to reach for it but was no match for the woman in his current state.

She held his hand to her face as he fought to resist the sedative, their eyes found each other again and Luke asked through the fog overtaking him, "Who are you?"

She peered deep into him with a seriousness Luke had only seen in the eyes of Obi-Wan and Master Yoda.

"Who are you?" Luke asked again in complete puzzlement.

"I am Zoveya, your wife, sleep now, 'Master Jedi'."

Chapter 26

C-3PO raised an arm into the air, the single dimmed light over his station glinted a soft, golden flash received immediately through the toned down illumination of the room by Admiral Akbar's giant eyes. It was late evening again aboard the "Victorious' and the Admiral was engaged in mental preparation for the excursion into the 'Dead Zone'. He had ordered radio silence among the fleet and mandatory rest stations for the entire crew except for the medical and engineering departments which were alive with a flurry of activities readying their stations for the possible problems they may encounter but also in anticipation of the opportunity to explore.

After the Queen's communication was received gossip spread like wildfire, as far as the Admiral was concerned it all could be a ploy to fool the Imperials again and he could be ordered to move the fleet in the opposite direction at the last minute. For all he knew the young star-fighter jockey could have been captured already and tortured into giving away their previous known locations.

The Imperial Forces or bounty hunters they employed would use the plasma Ion trails to track and guess which resources the Rebels may be attempting to acquire. It was a deadly game of hide and seek and only the Astro-mech knew the exact location of the fleet as they moved at thousands of kilometers a minute through space.

The fleet would be three times farther away than when the mission started and the pilot would be asleep for almost a week on his return trip. The mission had been classified as a high priority if Imperial spies hadn't compromised the plan.

"Report please." The Admiral said politely after slowly crossing the room in thought causing C-3PO to pause for a split second, the Protocol-droid said politely in return, "Admiral, Her Royal Majesty Queen Leia Organa of Palishii-e request an update of your command information."

"Tell her all is in order."

"Aye sir,…Message sent and received, I have another transmission, pre-recorded coming in for your…'ears' only sir." C-3PO said in a quieted yet serious voice.

"Play." The admiral said flatly.

Queen Leia's recorded voice spoke softly and with grave concern through the desk's com-system speakers, "Admiral Akbar, I must order you to move the fleet in six hours, Luke Skywalker must not be apprehended by the enemy, return him to your ship or capture or destroy any Imperial ship with him onboard."

"I have all the confidence in your abilities and your crew, Thank you Admiral Akbar, I know you will do your duty." The message faded out into the crackling of radiation floating through space.

"What the blazes!, She wants us to disembark after only fourteen hours of preparation for almost a half a million people?!" The Admiral stared harder at the robot than any Wookie, C-3PO feared the Admiral might just rip one of his arms out of its socket as easily as Chewbacca could.

The Admiral grabbed his calm again and softened slowly and said directly to C-3PO, "You are the property of General Skywalker are you not?"

"Yes sir."

"You are sentience programmed and therefore can make assessments beyond just indifference engine mathematics, meaning you can give me an opinion or information based upon your previous experiences with General Skywalker?"

"Absolutely sir as a matter of fact I can recall all experiences to date… since coming into his possession that is." The robot was genuinely pleased to be part of the conversation.

"Are your data files encrypted?"

"No Sir, as a follower of the Jedi path, Master Luke feels he has no secrets to hide."

I have two hours to burn before I wake the crew, tell me how a farm-boy and follower of a dead religion became the 'Hero of the New Republic.'

"I'm not very good at story telling, Sir." C-3PO replied with a lack of confidence.

"Then you can practice by telling one to me."

C-3PO thought the Admiral was being sensitive, one look at his fish-eyed face revealed it was actually an order.

"Perhaps this will aid me…" C-3PO's chest plate slid open as a holographic display lens flickered to life. The faded, grainy blue light projected a scene of droids shuffling down a ramp out of a dark steel storage room and onto burning hot sand.

Two suns glared in the sky over a barren windy desert plain as filthy, brown-cloaked Jawas ran circles around the droids squabbling to each other in their language.

"Filthy little creatures!" The Admiral said with disgust.

"I agree whole-heartedly, Sir." The gold Protocol-droid said with conviction.

"To think, back on Mon-Calamari some citizens consider them a delicacy, give me a good thick piece of lightly seared Kacharuu eel any day, oh that cold slimy center..." The Admiral stared off in the distance and C-3PO knew he longed to be back home.

Hiding his reaction to the bizarre reference C-3PO simply said, "Yes Sir, moving on…"

The Jawas were busily lining up and polishing the pieced together machines in hopes of making a sale to the human moisture farmers. The camera panned down to a nervous R2-D2. The Admiral recognized his mission's mechanical pilot and could have sworn the thing was shaking in fear and now questioned whether he should have let the fighter pilot talk him into sending this particular one.

The Admiral's interest grew as a hard faced, middle aged human figure dressed in faded, dust and clay stained desert survival garb stepped up to inspect the merchandise. The farmer introduced himself to the Protocol-droid filming the scene, "I'm Owen Lars and I need a Protocol-droid who speaks Bocci and understands moisture 'vaporators…"

After several moments of discussion and sealing a deal with tallest of the one-meter high salesmen the master of the moisture farms' voice boomed with irritated authority over the desert wind in the direction of a teenage boy with shoulder length, sun bleached hair blowing across his face with the hot breeze.

"Luke!…Luke!, Get over here!" Owen Lars waved his right arm for the young man to hustle.

Standing in the doorway of the hardened, clay-domed entrance to the underground dwelling the young man handed a slim, long range computer-targeting laser rifle he had trained on the junk salesman over to a trusted and bathed Jawa farm hand.

The Admiral could see the Jawa disappear momentarily and the barrel of the laser rifle reappear through a circular air vent in the top of the dome. The well fed and housed Jawa stood ready to pick off the money-man or any of his cohorts if they tried anything stupid to jeopardize his meal ticket.

The Admiral leaned into the counter resting on his finned elbows and produced a package of seaweed crackers hidden up his sleeve and began to crunch them sloppily as he became fascinated with the presentation.

C-3PO enjoyed the meaningful interaction while ignoring the cascade of crumbs and continued practicing his story telling while entertaining the Master Strategist General in the quieted and serenely lit room.

Outside the stars raced past the giant glass window as the 'Victorious' slipped silently through the darkness of space.

Chapter 27

Luke drifted into consciousness again and found himself in a large, softly lit room surrounded by a large crowd of younglings of all ages. The youngest sat cross legged on the floor up front while the rest gathered in behind them, some of the older students forming clique's along the wall and seemed more interested in themselves than 'Story Time' for the little ones.

The room's occupants were dressed in similar fashion to Master Obi-Wan Kenobi as well as the handsome young man standing on a raised circular platform. The graceful line of a deep crimson colored handcrafted wooden rail separated him from the class.

The young man had a disarming smile as he introduced himself while staring beyond the gathering into Luke's eyes, "Good morning class, I am Anakin Skywalker."

Luke cringed at what he knew. This man would one day become the destroyer of the Jedi Order.

"Good morning, Master Skywalker!" The class chimed with enthusiasm while giggling among themselves. Luke sat silent and stunned.

The handsome young man spoke up while signaling the group to quiet down, "I know what you all have heard, but I am not a Jedi Master yet. The trials are not until next month, anything can happen between now and then."

A random alien youngling shouted from under his cloak in a squeaky voice, "No way!, your our hero, if any one can do it you will!"

The class erupted in cheer, Anakin's smile was laced with arrogance as his eyes darted beyond Luke to the short figure casting a long shadow propped upon his cane. Luke turned his head to see Master Yoda standing in the doorway, his face showed a mix of delight and disagreement with both the interest and the lack of dignity the class displayed while in the young warriors presence.

Luke sprang to his feet waving briskly and called to the long eared, green skinned dwarf, "Master Yoda! It's me, Luke!" It was then he realized he was speaking with the voice and waving the hand of a youngling.

Looking down at himself he could see he was dressed as a youngling Padawan Learner, His right hand was not robotic, the other instinctively clutched the hilt of a practice saber clipped to his belt.

The shadow figure in the doorway turned and hobbled quickly down an endless hallway of white marble as if to run away from Luke, disappearing into the distance.

"Master!, Master Yoda, wait!" Luke pleaded.

"Ahem!, do you have something you would like to share with the class before I begin my presentation 'Master Jedi'?, if not please be seated the rest of us are waiting." The instructor said with kindness yet kept the look in his eyes of a seasoned peacekeeper begging Luke to question his authority. Luke looked around at the impatient faces lining the room and blushed, he quickly took his seat in embarrassment and said, "Sorry Sir, it won't happen again."

"Good , see to it does not, now moving on to today's presentation. Everyone has been working hard and doing well this year so it is time to take a break and be entertained for a while."

"And for all you older students who probably would not be here if I had not talked Master Yoda into giving you extra credit for it, you might want to listen in, it is a rare opportunity to be told of this story, and it is not for the faint of heart." The instructor now had the rest of the Jedi Knight Cadets undivided attention.

"Where is my assistant now?, he was just here!" Anakin said spinning around in a full circle on one heel. R2-D2 sped up the ramp from behind dragging a thick woven bundle of power cables and dropped it at Anakin's feet with a whistle and stood at attention by his side.

The class giggled again but quieter this time as Anakin reached down and picked up a bulky high speed data and high voltage power plug with an impatient grunt as he hefted it up and locked it into the back of the Astro-mech.

"You were supposed to do this yesterday. Artoo, the presentation please." The instructor said under his breath to his assistant.

The Astro-mech had been fitted with a holographic display lens almost as big as the blue and silver dome it was mounted to. R2-D2 whistled and pinged for several moments as he darkened the room to near black. The younglings eyes went wide with awe and cheered as a high resolution three dimensional planet appeared filling the airspace over R2-D2 and Anakin Skywalker's heads.

The planet appeared as shiny as the chromed handle of Luke's Lightsaber, reflecting in its surface were the sharpened rays of prisom of light cast by an asteroid belt of randomly faceted jewels, each at least a hundred times larger than a space cruiser nestled in its orbit.

The crowd mumbled amongst themselves for several moments, Luke looked around then curled up tighter and pulled himself further inside his cloak as a cold feeling ran down his spine. The room fell silent as a sliver of glaring hot white appeared from behind the planet growing in size until the light spilled in and engulfed the room.

All were fooled at first into thinking the jeweled planet's mother star had broke daylight and were only mildly impressed. Nearly everyone in the room had seen a sunrise while taking off or arriving to a planet from space. The ball of light came closer and into focus, losing its harsh glare and revealing a glowing white sphere spinning slowly as it approached.

White plumes of sparkling dust trailing from behind the celestial body cascaded down to the planet below melting into the chrome surface. All were in awe now as details of the sphere were revealed, the satellite's rock hard faceted surfaces glowed with radiance from somewhere inside. Luke's blood ran colder, as he had seen it before.

Anakin Skywalker stepped forward and placed both hands on the smooth wooden rail. Everyone in the room listened with intent as he began his speech, "Today class, I will be telling you the story of 'The Myth of the Crystal Moon'."

Chapter 28

"The story dates back several thousand years, one of the last embodiments of evil was running desperately for his own life, hunted and chased to the far reaches of the unexplored galaxy by the Jedi Order." The soon to be Jedi Master scanned the room making sure all eyes were on him.

"He was the last of his kind, an evil so dark and consuming it was said to have permeated not only the man's mind and soul but his body as well, nearly transforming him into a mass of pure energy residing within the appearance of a humanoid being."

"This entity had at his disposal an entourage of dedicated disciples and mercenaries willing to do his dirty work in hopes of achieving the honor to be one of his apprentices, the competition for favor and reward was so intense the followers were willing to kill each other just for the opportunity to do his bidding."

The room fell even more silent.

"This 'Dark One' came across a lone civilization living upon the surface of a moon made of solid crystal orbiting a planet of pure liquid metal. Those inhabiting the moon were of a similar nature to his own existence, however the people of this world knew only peace, having never made contact with the outside universe. The society had a utopian existence on a world that generated an endless power source from within as it spun in orbit while maintaining a magnetic connection to its planet."

"The deceiver came to them adrift and nearly dead, the long cylindrical space craft he arrived on nearly crashed to the surface before the people of this world could envelope it within a plume of energy and guided it to a soft landing."

"The people gave him rescue and shelter. Months went by as he learned their language to communicate with them so he may deliver a warning, telling of a vast hoard of space pirates who had gained information as to the location of a 'world orbited by jewels' and had set out to plunder the system and end the inhabitants existence."

The class muttered and whispered in interest among themselves low enough not to draw attention.

"Claiming to have barely escaped from being killed or taken slave when the small asteroid mining outpost he was under contract with was attacked, he and a small band of men survived by hiding in a cramped empty fuel cell. The pirates only took what they could readily use or sell, recycling was work done only in desperate times or by the drifter scavenger communities always waiting at a safe distance until the pillaging was completed and then swept in to claim anything left behind."

"Hiding out for hours as the crew members tossed the rooms for valuables he overheard the crew's greed griping about the year they would have to wait and the preparation necessary before they made the journey to plunder the 'Gem planet'' and their doubts as to whether it existed at all."

"The crew gave away the location by complaining how long the voyage would take at what speed but the key was the mention of a few seldom used Old Republic transit markers along the way that would have to be avoided. The engineer did the math and the band took a chance to escape to the darkness beyond the outer rim knowing it was just a matter of time before the pirates planted explosives to destroy the outpost and the asteroid it was built on to conceal their deeds."

"The people of this world had no reason to believe the outlandish story of course, having not known concepts such as deception, suffering or for that matter…death."

The class as a whole felt a connection to Master Yoda and his teachings that the instructor felt was a distraction and raised his voice to command attention once more.

"The people simply welcomed him and his crew among them to forget past woes assuring they were safe to live out their lives in peace."

"The wicked strategist had his minions in wait to attack the moon, marauding and testing for planetary defenses by destroying some of the tall, crystalline buildings and bridges that had formed naturally over eons of time."

The people could have wiped out the marauders with a wave of the hand as masters of the free flowing energy but simply did not have the desire to fight back for fear of harming another life form."

"Volunteering to fend off the attackers the visitor presented a plan for defense against the coming invasion insisting they would not tire in their attempt to capture their world." A Mon-Calamari youngling threw a fin in the air and yelled out, "Set a trap and catch the vermin!" The class cheered in agreement.

Anakin Skywalker laughed along for a moment and said, "That's exactly what they did, now shut your tendrils, I'm on limited time here."

Anakin Skywalker pressed on, "He suggested the mining crew could use the craft they nearly crash landed in which contained a deployable net to capture gaseous clouds, comets, radio-active rocks or any other form of burnable energy found drifting through space up to the size of a small moon such as theirs."

"With the craft came a small compliment of construction and maintenance droids modified to process materials captured within the net as well as maintain the operational status of the mining drill."

"As the net contracted, a beam of energy was directed into asteroids or lifeless moons without atmosphere to melt rock and mine the metals hidden within."

Anakin Skywalker sensed he had the class right where he wanted them.

"The ultimate deception happened when the visitor convinced the people to allow him to envelope the moon as an energy source. The spacecraft could then fire a beam of energy so intense it would incinerate the entire fleet at once and because of the pirate's greed it was doubtful that anyone else knew of the location and therefore would eliminate future threats." Anakin Skywalker's voice and shadowed face were as hard as steel conveying to the class that he believed what he was saying to be true.

The class sat in silence, to still for Luke, he could see only shadows of the older students standing motionless along the walls and the cloaked heads of the younglings in front of him, the room felt empty of life and the hard flagstone floor he sat upon became much colder.

Chapter 29

"Admiral Korsche, wake up!, We have an emergency! The ship may be under attack from within and the Emperor has sent a messenger by transport from ''Torka-Pruum'' space station demanding an explanation concerning the whereabouts of Lord Vader and our operating status as per the recent events we have experienced."

Admiral Korsche pried his eyes open angrily from the deepest sleep he had experienced in years and then pressed a hand to his pounding forehead, the room smelled and tasted of burnt metal.

What his second in command said didn't make any sense to him, having been asleep for only a half hour after a nearly twenty hour shift the Admiral wasn't sure if he was dreaming or was being subjected to yet another test of his resolve by the politician who scammed his way to absolute power. He thought he could just be the victim of a practical joke by crew members held-up in service to the Empire long after their tours were over. Super Star Destroyers are capable of sustaining life for years before docking for supplies, if the crew can't leave then they must work to eat.

If it turned out to be a joke someone was going to be jettisoned out an airlock head first by him personally. The Admiral put his hand on the edge of the bed and closed his eyes again and took a deep breath, again he tasted burnt metallic in the air.

"Admiral!" A male voice and a hand with an iron grip both shook persistently to bring him to. "Admiral! please wake up!, we need your attention it's urgent!"

"Yes, yes!, I heard you the first time." Korsche replied rolling over to punch the switch to turn on the soft lights over his wall mounted bunk as his Captain jumped back to avoid a shot to the groin. The power to the anti-gravitational generators faded as the lights glowed, the warm, floating paper thin mattress sheet slowly settled to lay flat upon the cold steel slab that served as his resting quarters.

Admiral Korche sat up while pulling a disc shaped electronic device out from a box next to his bed and plugged a thin retractable cable into a tiny silver port mounted into his left temple. "This had better not be a joke." He hissed under his breath as he place his right thumb on the disk and pressed down hard.

"Sir, the ship is…"

"Hold." Was all he said as he held up an ancient, bony spear of a finger.

The Admiral winced as a spinning micro-needle pierced his skin drilling all the way down into the bone on the tip of his thumb.

A tinny sounding human voice came from a tiny speaker in the disk, "Identity…confirmed…Admiral Korsche."

Admiral Korsche's eyes rolled up into his head and his body trembled slightly for a few moments as locations of every life-form tag onboard, droids and spacecraft in hangers and on assignment scrolled through his brain. The Admiral pulled his thumb up killing the feed and reached for a numbing antiseptic swab mounted to the inside of the lid of the box, he cracked the plastic seal and applied it.

The information hadn't changed at all since the 'Dark Lord' ordered a course correction not fifteen minutes before the end of his shift and the report indicated that the Emperor's minion was in his meditation chamber as scheduled and all was in order or he wouldn't have gone to sleep.

At the time he was curious to the logged reports from both the Med-bots and the Fire-suppression droid units. An increase in fluids and nutrients were a slight concern shortly before he received orders to change course, but who was to say the tyrant wasn't just having another temper tantrum and smashing up the place as he had in the past or was actually in any physical danger.

Either way he wasn't about to just walk in and find out as Lord Vader specifically commanded not to be disturbed by anyone until further notice or risk facing demotion, everyone on board knew what that implied.

Captain Votch tried again, "Sir, the ship has…"

Korsche cut him off, "The safety of Lord Vader shall be addressed first and foremost and then we'll worry about this freezing chunk of steel and misery, has anyone actually gone to the door of his quarters to contact him personally." He asked the man with him in the cramped room knowing that if someone had, they may have already been killed by the madman, but at least it wasn't him.

"Yes Sir, Security sent a sentience-programmed Med-bot and a Fire-suppressor unit to cut their way in to perform a welfare check a few minutes before the Emperor's messenger landed and delivered the news." The Admiral could see the captain was rolling his eyes.

"And…?"

The captain produced a sheet of actual paper from an inside jacket pocket, "Security reports and I quote, 'It was as if an invisible beast grabbed the droids and smashed them to pieces off every wall in the hallway outside Lord Vader's chamber taking out the lighting units and cameras with it.' They also report all entrances to his chamber are sealed and there is no access to that area of the ship or command personnel quarters."

"Why did this not show up on my report just now?" The Admiral was disapproving of recent developments and the lack of sleep was making his head foggy and more irritated than alarmed.

"Sir we haven't been in control of the ship for the last thirty minutes, computers and ship to ship radio communications are offline, you are reading an outdated report." The Captain was ready to duck if necessary.

"Why wasn't I informed immediately you imbeciles!" The Admiral sprang to his feet pulling on his coat and snapping it down. "And what's that smell, has there been a fire?"

"Sir we couldn't reach you on the com-links and it took the Fire-suppression droids this long to cut through the three blast doors on this level and the door to your room. You didn't even hear this slam against the floor when it was cut and fell inward." The Captain tapped a foot against a jagged, burnt edged slab of steel that once served as the door to the Admiral quarters.

The Admiral gave it a hard stare and stepped on and over it while grabbing the Captain firmly by his arm and taking him in tow through the jagged opening to his quarters and down the smoke filled hallway past the droids busily cutting through doors to other command personnel.

"Are we still on the last programmed course?, I can feel the engines burning and the hull's vibration is good."

"Yes Sir, we have an Astro-telemetry droid perched on the nose of the ship outside, the data confirms that we are still on the heading you programmed."

The Admiral stopped them in their tracks, he stared in the distance thinking to himself for a few seconds then pulled them into a small enclave below a stairwell for privacy.

"Listen to me, if you want to understand what is happening. This is a dispute between the governing forces or a 'Royal argument' of some sort and we were to be played like un-witting puppets in some game here."

"What course of action do you recommend Sir?"

Admiral Korsche curled his left hand tight and placed an old, thin knuckle against his bony chin and stared into the distance again.

The command figure's eyes went blank as he spoke from experience, "First, imprison the messenger for possibly being a spy and not having filed a proper flight plan on record in advance to stall."

The Captain raised an eyebrow, listening intently.

"Second, shut down all rescue operations as life support is obviously not effected with exception to actual emergency."

"Third, all stations and transports with exception to Security and Medical stand down and maintain radio silence ship wide until this whole thing runs its course, go, do it now without so much as an explanation to anyone, that is an order."

"Very good, Sir!" Snapped Captain Votch as he saluted with relief that the Admiral's wisdom had seen through what had appeared to possibly be an attack from inside the destroyer by Rebel Forces in an attempt to capture or kill the Dark Lord himself, as impossible as it may have seemed.

Admiral Korsche reached out grabbing his Captain's arm again and spun him back around to face him. The Admiral locked eyes and said, "No! this isn't good, Captain Votch, while the Emperor has use for beings with magical powers the command crew will be lucky if he doesn't execute every last one of us for staging a revolt and trying to steal a Super Star Destroyer, because it is exactly what it looks like from where he sits."

Chapter 30

Luke found himself craning his head about as Anakin Skywalker's speech went on looking for any sign of Master Yoda or something more familiar to him when a 'BANG!' filled the room rattling him and causing him to jump to his feet. Luke was startled and tingling with the need to run out the door and down the hall to any where but this place, Anakin Skywalker stepped into the barely visible glow of an overhead spotlight waving a hand slowly at waist level then brought it gently to a lightly closed fist and said, "Padawan Luke, were you paying attention to the presentation or were we boring you?"

R2-D2 let out a blurt of disgust.

Luke couldn't move a muscle except for his eyes which avoided the acid stare of the instructor by glancing upward to see a massive glittering explosion suspended in time and space.

His eyes dropped to a small red light on the projector mounted to R2-D2's dome lit up with a stop watch ticking impatiently beneath the three dimensional snap shot of destruction since the moment the presentation was paused. The droid stared as hard as the darkened figure alongside.

"No,…Mister Skywalker…" Was all Luke could squeak out as Anakin Skywalker opened his fist slightly. "Good, we don't want to hurt my assistants' feelings now, he worked hard on this, now sit back down and pay attention, this is the good part anyway." He said with a wry smile as he lowered his fist a few inches.

Luke's feet touched the floor and he felt two giant invisible hands pressing down on his shoulders until he was firmly seated on the cold marble and staring straight ahead.

The instructors black-gloved hand uncurled and waved once more releasing Luke and snapping a button on the projector all in one motion.

Luke was able to breath again and gave his undivided attention to the presentation, not a single shadow in the room so much as turned a head during the interruption.

"Artoo, back up a ways will you, but skip the royal marriages and political details of moving the people to the jeweled asteroid belt, I think that's where we lost him."

R2-D2 let out the familiar and friendly 'I'm on it' whistle breaking some of the tension.

The display scrambled and returned to the silver planet with its belt of jewels and crystal moon in orbit.

"As I was saying, the ultimate deception came with the enveloping of the moon as a weapon." Anakin Skywalker guided his eyes upward making sure Luke was following along.

The display panned in on a long, corrugated chrome plated tube mounted on an umbrella of ultra thick space faring glass in orbit above the crystal moon slowly deploying a liquid black sheet of material guided by a smaller unit of the same shape fitted with an oversized anti-gravitational engine and hyper-drive unit to the far side of the spinning white crystal orb.

The smaller unit attracted the black mass of material and its cable sized thread gathering and cinching it down in a clockwise motion blocking out the glow of the moon as the satellite seated itself locking the device in place.

A small tower on the anchor station resumed the magnetic connection to the mother planet as the windows of the umbrella lit up scattering beams of light past the corrugated chrome tube of the drilling unit and off into space.

"The people of this world watched in awe from the jeweled asteroids closest to the moon as the weapon was tested on his own small fleet of disciples and mercenaries as they arrived as per their masters orders."

The giant overhead full color holographic display came to life with scenes of the black net contracting as the anchor satellite rotated releasing a blinding white particle beam of light out of the mining drills swiveling tip so hot it sliced clean through the larger ships in a circular motion dicing them to pieces and vaporizing all but the larger sections allowing the explosions from engine damage to finish off what remained.

Luke was so engrossed by the miniature battle taking place above he tightened up when Anakin Skywalker's voice cut in, "Smaller vessels in the fleet never even knew what hit them was their Master's betrayal now that he had an ultimate weapon and no further need of his minions." Luke could see something in the statement didn't sit well with the instructor.

"Several of the 'snub' fighter escorts escaped the destruction only to die alone in space due to the remote location but the story goes on to say rumors existed that one very young pilot who came from a humanoid race that required very little food and oxygen and capable of sustained periods of nearly ageless hibernation may have survived and went into hiding giving alternate credibility to the accounts in the Jedi archives."

"When asked if the assault was over the man explained what they had witnessed only a preliminary wave of foot soldiers to soften up any defenses and a full armada of ships many times the size of the largest just eliminated would soon follow with one aim, to plunder enslave and destroy all in the name of profit."

Chapter 31

Aboard the Super Star Destroyer ''Imperious'', sister ship to the 'Excelsior' and the Emperors lavish personal quarters Admiral Qo stood watch. He was a tall, well built and handsome human man with short dark brown hair. His facial expression seldom changed as he was working, even with the crew under him as he barked out orders and used the occasional vulgar insult to belittle them for their performance as a whole.

The crew members loved him, they all knew it was an act to appease the Emperor and would laugh and make comments as to his creativeness during the short periods of free time they had to themselves.

"Were losing gravity!" Admiral Qo shouted observing the water in his stainless steel cup break into droplets and slowly rise into the air just before taking a drink.

"Readings are normal sir, but we are breaking loose!" The voice shouting from along a wall to his left choked off along with every other voice in the room.

Admiral Qo turned around to witness members of his crew falling to the floor grasping at their throats to release themselves from being suffocated by an unseen force. Droids floated weightless, their arms waving through the air like helpless insects held by their backs.

Admiral Qo's arms and ankles were seized by unseen shackles raising him two meters off the command deck and pinning him in place in mid air. An Imperial coded R2-unit floated into Admiral Qo's view, its lightweight plastic dome spinning and whistling in confusion. The droid was slammed down against the deck so hard its outer legs broke loose and re-joined the floating droids behind him.

The Astro-mech fell silent as a holographic projector lens flickered to life. A grainy faded-blue image of angry possessed eyes filled the Admiral's vision.

"Admiral Qo…How long has the 'Excelsior' been out of contact now?" The voice of the Emperor boomed within his head as he was the only one in the room to hear the ruler.

"Exactly thirty two minutes, My Lord…" Admiral Qo's words were choked off.

"We both know I am not your lord, Admiral Palishii Qo." The Emperor stared deep into his soul.

"The only thing keeping me from turning the full wrath of my fleet on Palishii-E and ending your life here and now is the fact that I cannot 'feel' Lord Vader. The ability to sever the connection within the Force is beyond your abilities" The Admiral gave a truly puzzled look the Emperor sensed as genuine.

"Even as cunning as you are I doubt you have organized a revolt onboard the 'Excelsior'. The Admiral tried to respond to the statement but remained paralyzed by the Emperor's grip.

"For your sake and that of your family as well as your fellow crew members…" Several young men and women floated by bouncing off the windows and control consoles turning blue in the face while begging with their eyes for the command figure to do anything to help them breath again. "I trust no one you know is involved in an attempt to revolt or kill Lord Vader."

The grip loosened enough for Admiral Qo to force an answer, "No…My Lord,…I know…of no plans…of a revolt…"

The Emperors' eyes became full of rage, Admiral Qo sensed that the problem had more to do with the Emperor's relationship with Lord Vader than an actual threat from the Rebel Forces and the evil holding him in its grip knew it.

"If it were not for your expertise in strategy and the intimate knowledge of the lost 'Old Republic Battle Matrix' you received from your war school instructor…that disgusting fish-headed creature I look forward to cooking alive one day, I would gladly send you home in a block of clear polymer resin for the Royals to put on display and cry over for the next thousand years." The eyes burned deeper into Admiral Qo's soul looking for any traces of deception.

It was all the commander could do to squeeze out, "Thank you…My lord…I…need…my crew…" Several of the crew members had succumbed to the Emperor's grip while more would die soon if he did not release them.

The Emperor thought to himself for several agonizing moments more and said, "Send the seven largest ships in the vicinity to investigate." The Admiral could sense the cowardice in the voice of command. "I expect you to do your duty to me and give immediate reports as soon as they arrive….'Admiral' Qo."

The eyes disappeared as every object in the room crashed to the floor at once, the gasping for air and cries of terror from men and women alike at the edge of existence filled the room along with droids squealing about the damage received and lack of work performed in the last few minutes.

The Admiral fell to the floor breaking his right ankle and left elbow as he impacted the hard steel deck, he propped himself up on his good elbow and scanned the room to survey the crew. What he saw was pure hatred as the terrified crewmembers stared at him and their dead coworkers on the floor not understanding fully what had happened but blamed him nonetheless.

A Medical-droid wound its way up to the Admiral and attempted to address his wounds, it was met with several blasts from a laser pistol and fell over backwards.

Palishii Qo hobbled painfully to his feet waving off two of the storm-trooper security agents who attempted to help. The greatest student Admiral Akbar ever had stood proudly at attention ignoring the stinging pain from the broken bone protruding from below his elbow.

He shot both storm troopers in an instant then turned the blaster on his Captain and his lieutenants on watch and shot them too.

The crew was in stunned silence expecting to be next for their convicting stares and judgment when the Admiral said while unsnapping his coat, "All of you were dead the minute you stepped aboard this Star Destroyer, you are held here against your will and must continue to serve the 'Oppressor of the Republic' or your families will suffer, I know this. I am sorry for the loss of life about you and accept it is as my fault."

The sound of radios and the hard boots of Storm-trooper squads could be heard running up the hallways in response to the report of a discharging blaster. A low level communications officer punched through a glowing force field over a plunger switch slamming all the blast doors to the command deck shut automatically in a split second, nearly smashing the lead white-composite armored soldier as they were about to rush into the room. The soldier gave the man time to make his peace among the real humans who just suffered for him.

"Thank you, corporal Rox." The rebel said with a nod and a smile forced past the pain.

The crew gasped in shock as the Admiral tore his jacket off and threw it to the floor and spit on it, he raised his broken left arm high into the air while gripping the pistol tightly with his right. He tapped its barrel against a Rebel Alliance Crest with the silhouette of a woman's head within its borders on a sleeveless undershirt he had penned himself with an old fashioned form of ink he managed to either acquire or produce while onboard.

"I spent three-quarters of my life in school and the remaining years here in forced servitude to a pompous, arrogant, unfeeling monster and now understand that the most significant move anyone can make in war is to 'not engage in battle with an enemy but to remove its resources.'"

The women in the room were intrigued by the sudden display their commander's physical attributes and his bold defiance, the men in the room knew there was going to be only one logical outcome.

Palishii Qo pressed the barrel of the blaster hard against himself with an iron grip in both hands and pleaded to his crewmembers, "Return the Republic!, Victory to the Rebel Alliance!"

The Emperor's wicked voice appeared again filling Admiral Qo's brain and attempted to seize his body once more, "I will not allow this to happen, you are too valuable to my plans!"

"It's…too late now…you snake…Ackbar…will be the one…cooking you…mark my words…"

Admiral Palishii Organa-Qo squeezed the trigger ending his own life while dealing a terrible blow still unseen to the enemy.

Chapter 32

Leia Organa sat stunned in her office behind her desk. She didn't feel like a Queen or a warrior, she felt miserable. Her face drained of color as she fell over her chair's padded armrest and into her kneeling, graying Aunt Chasa's arms and began to sob uncontrollably.

"I've got you, go ahead and give it a good cry." She said stroking Leia's black hair.

"How can you be so calm, he was your son!" She struggled to force the words out through her tears.

"I raised both a son and a warrior of the Republic. My son died the day the 'arrangement' was made, today a great warrior has died in battle against the enemy and with his death he has wreaked havoc and paranoia upon the plans of evil." Aunt Chasa said with a solid pride Leia could feel radiating from her strong, wide chest.

She then placed a large round knuckle under Leia's buried chin and lifted her wet, tear soaked face up into the light of the room.

"I know he was one of your best friends, but this is a war and everyone will lose something precious for it and the time to mourn is stolen too." The look from her Aunt scared her back to reality. "He isn't the only warrior the Royal Houses of Organa and Qo have brought up, now it's time to pull yourself together, you've got some big decisions to make."

"I want to make the Imperial traitors pay, that seems simple enough!" Queen Leia said with angry authority while wiping out her eyes with the back of her hand.

Aunt Chasa kissed her forehead gently and met eyes with her, "Oh, your not the only one dear, Admiral Akbar will not be as understanding as you or I when you hand him the news."

Chapter 33

Luke, in his state of Padawan learner-ship remained seated on the marble floor recognizing the designs of most of the ships dropping out of hyperspace and forming battle lines as they appeared.

Old Republic battle cruisers, troop transports and medical frigates along with craft from various military organizations advanced cautiously within a hive of 'snub' fighters angrily buzzing the perimeter.

Spaceships kept appearing with no end in sight except for the limits of the Astro-mech's display. This was no band of pirates as the instructor had mentioned earlier, the ships were newer and well maintained. The battle lines were disciplined and in tight formation, the amount of firepower displayed could only be achieved by the joining of forces galaxy wide, something the Emperor had made considerable efforts to make sure did not happen again.

"A single message was sent in all known languages, 'I am Chairman Trompis Rox-iivon, Surrender to the Galactic Security Coalition unconditionally or be destroyed.' The hails were answered only with this…" Anakin Skywalker waved a hand toward the space station.

With a flash of light the drill opened fire again slicing apart and vaporizing the entire first half of the massive fleet as it advanced. The Security Forces rushed forward to fill the void only to be wiped out as effortlessly with another sweep of the particle beam.

The fleet attempted to break lines and spread out but the strategy was too little to late.

The beam swept through space randomly chasing down the largest ships breaking into retreat and finishing them off as they tried to escape.

"None of the larger transports escaped the carnage, leaving the single seat 'snub' fighter escorts behind to take their chances alone." Luke felt sick to his stomach from the loss of life and the extent of the deception.

The display continued on with the remaining smaller ships in the armada grouping for one final attempt to take down the drilling laser and the evil that controlled it only to be dispatched in an instant. All that remained of the epic battle, sparkling bits of flaming twisted metal floated aimlessly around the edges of R2-D2's display.

Luke jumped when the instructors voice broke the lingering silence, "The destruction of the fleet came at a heavy cost, the moon was nearly drained of power and the system's delicate balance of energy became unstable." Anakin Skywalker was staring above and away as he spoke.

The once placid and shining silver planet's surface bubbled and trembled causing the jeweled asteroids to slowly tumble end over end some nearly colliding with others.

"Appalled and outraged at not only the terrifying display of force and the total destruction involved but at the damage caused to their home-world the people demanded the man return their home and remain in their custody for the rest of his days allowing the system to heal and re-align itself as well as to ensure its secrecy.

The visitor refused, knowing the moon was a conductor of energy discharging to its mother star the deceiver reversed the polarity of the drills energy field forcing the moon to recharge directly from the radiation of the systems star."

The panes of glass at the base of the orbiting drill glowed red as the moon was forced to absorb all the power it possibly could, the planet below was awash with liquid metal tidal waves crashing into each other as it shook from its core outwards.

"The moons gravity increased hundreds of times causing much of the wreckage within the system from the recent battle to fall to its surface." The space station became more littered by the moment as burning twisted debris swirled around it and crashed to the surface bringing with them tons of water and the remnants of oxygen each carried to travel across the galaxy.

"Greed and need for revenge was his undoing, as the moon reached full capacity it had attracted so much weight from the crashing ships its massive anti-gravitational engine burnt out as it broke orbit."

"Adrift in space the 'Dark one' used his own powers to guide the moon into a gravitational slingshot around the sun allowing him to gain enough speed to activate the hyper drive and return to the center of the Galaxy where he would unleash his vengeance and destroy all in his path. He would have made it too…if this hadn't happened." Anakin Skywalker smiled as this was his favorite part.

Again the 'BANG!' filled the air as the silver planet exploded in a burst of white, silver and blue light with a rainbow of sparkling crushed jewels and in an instant it was gone, the star faded to black and the room fell silent.

Anakin Skywalker finished the presentation by adding, "The planet blew apart from the separation sending the 'Dark one' and his doomsday craft into the black unknown reaches of the deepest, darkest parts of space, imprisoning him safely away from all life, forever. The star darkened and died and has never been seen again."

The lights came on harsh and bright and Luke found himself sitting alone on a hard rusty colored packed dirt floor he could have sworn was hard cold marble just a moment earlier. The room was empty except for him and Anakin Skywalker, even R2-D2 and his oversized projector unit were no where to be seen. Anakin Skywalker walked down the steps and across the floor to Luke and put a hand out to help him up, "You have questions I presume?" He said with a cocky smile.

"Yes sir, where did the rest of the younglings go?" Luke said with a tremble looking around the room.

The smile fell slightly from Anakin Skywalker's face, "I…'dismissed' them, quite a while ago." Anakin Skywalker squeezed Luke's tiny cold fingers gently within a giant warm black glove and said, "Walk with me, I am sure you have something more interesting to ask me than that."

Chapter 34

C-3PO had just finished his presentation to Admiral Ackbar and was enjoying a light round of applause from his finned hands when he powered down and came to life again in the same unnerving fashion as before with another message from the Queen right in front of the Admiral.

After listening without interruption Admiral Akbar said, "Your Highness, with all due respect…I am putting an end to this nonsense of negotiation in an attempt to keep a madman at bay, ready or not this fleet moves into attack formation in sixty."

"That will not be necessary Admiral, after Palishii's death, our spy, a low level communication's officer by the name of Corporal Sorno Rox-iivan, the last member of a now extinct Royal House of Alderaan informed the crew the emperor had fled with a very large security detail to re-establish contact with Lord Vader who has apparently sealed himself within the 'Excelsior' for an unknown reason rendering the ship nearly defenseless, leaving the ''Imperious'' with a skeleton crew."

"And this means what to me?" The Admiral was in no mood to be placated.

"Corporal Rox-iivan explained to the command crew of the 'Imperious' he intercepted transmissions indicating orders were issued for all to be executed by Storm-troopers as soon as the fire suppression droids cut through the blast doors to the command center for fear of being involved with Admiral Qo's revolt."

The Admiral said with unwavering confidence in his greatest student, "Palishii would only have done this if something important was to be gained."

"Important is hardly appropriate Admiral, the final message from Corporal Rox-iivan was broadcast Galaxy wide on all frequencies and reads as follows, 'The Command crew of the 'Imperious' proclaims 'Death to the Emperor, demands the unconditional return of the Republic and claims ''Torka-Pruum'' Space station in the name of the Rebel Alliance."

"I'm not impressed Leia." The Admiral said making clear the statement was hardly worthy to dismiss such a dedicated student of peace and war.

The Admiral sounded off frankly to his other greatest student. "The Emperor is out in the open, the 'Excelsior's' defenses are down and we need to move to attack now!"

The Queen let the Admiral have his outburst then said, "Admiral, Palishii did well for us. The crew of the 'Imperious' hijacked the Super Star Destroyer and entered Hyperspace just long enough to plow it through 'Torka-Pruum' Space station, both have been wiped out of existence along with several more battle cruisers."

Admiral Akbar pounded his fist down on the counter next to him and said with authority, "Now that's more like the Palishii I know, but I still say we attack!"

"No Admiral, now that the Emperor has lost such a tactical advantage he will re-double his efforts to find General Skywalker and convert him to meet the loss and attempt to gain the advantage again." The Queen had a seriousness the Admiral did not dare doubt.

The Admiral softened his voice some, "Do you really believe one man can be more of a danger to us than all of 'Torka-Pruum'?"

"Lord Vader is."

"Hmm…point taken, what are your orders for us, Your Highness?" The Admiral awaited his direction with renewed enthusiasm.

The Queen did not hesitate, "Move out when ready and return General Skywalker to the 'Victorious' and report to me immediately, thank you Admiral, you are most respected and appreciated, again…Thank you."

"It will be done, your Majesty."

The communication cut out and C-3PO returned to his unwitting self again sitting at his console only to see the Admiral walking away from him without saying a word.

Chapter 35

"Where are we?" Luke asked the man walking with him.

"We are in the old Jedi archives." Anakin Skywalker said waving a hand in the direction of hundreds of desks, each with a grainy blue holographic interface casting a scene from Luke's life.

Anakin Skywalker waved a hand and the tall burgundy and gold trimmed curtains glided together dimming the afternoon sun, "Tint." He said with a slightly raised voice up towards the top of the towering pillars. A dome of glass nearly as big as the entire ceiling slowly blackened the daylight, allowing a faded blue hue from the endless rows of desks and holographic projectors each held to cast across the glossy marble floors.

The desk's projector nearest to him ran a loop of the 'Death Star' exploding over and over again as Luke's tiny X-wing fighter and Han Solo's Millennium Falcon rushed to escape the blast.

The next desk's display replayed the traumatic moment Darth Vader severed Luke's right hand over and over.

Another repeated a scene of a giant white haired beast leaping up from a snow dune and knocking him off his Taun-Taun and unconscious with one blow from a fur covered claw on the ice-planet Hoth. The next blow dispatched the creature Luke had ridden across the frozen landscape then repeated itself as well.

The next scene in line held the mining drill with the particle beam aimed into a dying sun, the next was of a Laser-sword fight between him and a mechanized gold spider aboard a crash landed ship and so on.

It was all coming back to Luke now. He stepped back a few paces and exclaimed, "I know who you are now!" He held up a stiff, convicting finger as if it would defend him somehow only to be distracted by the appearance of a boys hand much older than he was only a moment ago. Luke felt a tickle crawl down his neck and slapped at it only to yank the traditional long braid of a Jedi Padawan away from his scalp resulting in a sting.

He looked down at the brown and white Padawan uniform he wore and up at the young man who was only a head taller than he now and donning the a traditional black leather Jedi battle uniform accented with sections of clone-trooper armor.

Luke eyes became serious, "You are Anakin Skywalker, my father, and also the Sith Lord known as Darth Vader."

"I am a projection of Anakin Skywalker and nothing more, we are not in space-time as you currently know it, this place is somewhere else."

Luke raised an eyebrow at the figure before him with skepticism.

"You have questions Luke, and my time is short, it is in your interest to ask what you feel."

Luke stared at the floor then closed his eyes for a long moment feeling for the Force, a vision of the crystal moon presented itself and faded away, he then said without looking up, "What is the moon really made of?"

"Very good.' Anakin Skywalker said with a smile. "It is made of countless billions of trillions of fossilized Midi-Chlorians, it has been theorized that once upon a time the galaxy was a whole being all unto itself and for whatever reason it expanded and pulled itself apart as suddenly as the 'Death Star' had exploded." He waived a finger at the first grainy blue display.

"So you mean to tell me the moon was part of this 'Super Being'." Luke said skeptically.

"No, my young Padawan…"

"I am not your Padawan." Luke was offended at the notion.

"You are for now…moving along, the moon itself was not a part of the whole, it formed from orphaned Midi-Chlorians left floating through space after the 'Great Beginning'. Trapped in a random orbit of the newly formed galaxy they gathered over eons of time attracted to one another by likeness alone compressing into countless layers and then crystallizing in the frozen vacuum of space."

"So it's alive then." Luke butted in. "I saw a face before it all went black."

Anakin Skywalker paused at the comment then continued. "No, it is not alive in the sense you are, the fossils together in such an amount has a collective consciousness, more so like a memory of past existence."

"The 'Dark One' arrived and thought he had conned the people out of their greatest possession when actually it was the Midi-Chlorians simply abiding by the direction of the Force and his ability to conduct it."

"What was the silver planet made of then?"

"Ah, another good question, impurities ejected from the moons core as it formed. The moon existed first and most likely was much larger than it is now, later it formed its own planet of liquid metals. The planet was most likely a much smaller satellite of the crystal moon to begin with and grew over time until their positions reversed." Anakin Skywalker awaited more questions.

"And the star?" Luke almost couldn't wait to hear another outlandish explanation bordering on the edge of ridiculous.

"The star has a name, it was dubbed 'Fin-Astra' or 'End Star' by the Security Forces as it had been at the time the farthest body of light to ever be discovered and also because of the incredible distance from all others."

"The star was most likely adopted as the galaxy finally expanded enough and it crossed the path of the moon and planet's million-year orbit." Luke had to admit to himself that part made sense.

"Let us say I actually buy into what you of all people have to say, answer me one more question." Luke lifted his head and glared into the black center of Anakin Skywalker's eyes and said, "Why is there a top-secret Imperial Star Cruiser crashed upon the space stations surface?"

Anakin Skywalker smiled wide, put one black gloved fist against his belt and snapped his fingers with the other over his shoulder.

R2-D2 came whistling and charging through a doorway from behind minus the large projector unit, Luke side stepped fast enough to avoid having the outside of his right foot run over.

The Droid stopped, spun around and activated its own built in holographic projector. Three Super Star Destroyers, all of the same top-secret design floated side by side in the grainy blue display, moored to the skeletal beginnings of what would one day become the largest and most heavily fortified star base in the Imperial Navy.

Luke disapproved of the Construction-droids skittering across the scene, cutting and riveting sheets of steel into place.

"I am so glad you asked, this is the interesting part." Anakin Skywalker said while motioning to the space station under construction.

As R2-D2 zoomed in on the largest section Luke could make out giant white letters against a cold, blue-steel background, they read ''Torka-Pruum' Space Station.'

Chapter 36

Waking up on your back in total darkness, trapped in a cold steel and lead lined box is enough to worry any creature.

This one doubly so as it should have been called into duty to inspect the findings of the science package by now and make any internal adjustments or repairs to preserve the data and physical material collected.

When necessary it would assess any new life forms discovered, cross checking information with its zoological archives and decide if they were able to be safely transported on the long trip back to the Rebel Fleet or if to dangerous, ejected back out into space or released into their natural environments.

The five legged critter rapped against the hinges of the door and complained in a squeaky-fast computerized lingo to itself at not being released when it had demanded.

The Micro-droid then produced a micro-torch and went to work on the hinges, several minutes later the door was kicked angrily outward as the Micro-droid crawled into the daylight still complaining through the wisps of smoke.

The critter's tiny blue glass eye perched on the edge of its flat head did a three-sixty to survey the environment, immediately magnifying a tiny dark speck of an object approaching in the distance from far above. The largest detachable section of the modified 'X-Wing' fighter, the bulky rectangular science package had completed its survey mission of the system and was returning to rendezvous with the downed craft, guided by the last known coordinates before launch and sweeps with its own material identification beams, zeroing in on its base craft through a specially formulated alloy lining the skeleton of the entire ship.

Spinning its tiny head and eye frantically the tiny robot could see the particle beam atop the tower cutting out and re-engaging as the space station was nearing full capacity and shutting down its charging phase.

It jumped with a squeal when a colossal thud and the crashing of metals riding the surf came from behind, peering its eye up from the endless scattered rows of spare parts the machine witnessed the dark steel wall of the beached Imperial Super Star Destroyer slowly drift several meters away from the shore and then return to land with a rumble. The rows of catalogued equipment closer to the craft shook to the ground as the makeshift scaffolding tore to pieces and fell into to the rusty mud below.

Jagged pieces of steel scraped away layers of rusty dirt and mud as they slid down the umbrella of ultra-thick space-faring glass into the filthy water allowing for a burning reddish-pink glow to burst through. The rays of light were hot enough to bake the caked mud packed against the ship's sides into hard smooth sheets which broke loose and fell with the sound of shattered pottery when the super Star Destroyer crashed up against the shore once more.

Areas where the rays of light had finished breaking the caked mud loose were now busy burning layers of rust into powder. Rising caustic pink clouds laced with unknown combinations of poisons billowed as the water beneath steamed and bubbled as it was boiled from below.

The Micro-droid knew what was happening was way beyond its scope of abilities. Turning its attention to its host the machine skittered up across R2-D2's white, barrel shaped body and up to his shattered and beat up domed head.

The Astro-mech was lying discarded on its back in the junk pile but the droid's big glass eye was staring lifelessly downward. The Micro-droid complained in usual fashion as it gripped the eye's metal casing with two legs and heaved with the other three until the dome and the eye were almost centered forward again.

The tiny droid tapped against R2-D2's big glass lens with a pointed leg tip making a 'tink, tink, tink' sound and quietly awaited a response as its internal timer ticked down, 10...9...8...7...6...5...4...3...2...1...0.

A faint 'click' sounded from within, the tiny blue eye turned red as the Micro-droid assumed the role of SD-MS, the Service-droid Micro-surgeon it was originally designed to be by sprouting an array of barely visible saws, cutting lasers and needle tips with diagnostic leads disappearing under polished nickel armored plates and into its tiny body.

The SD-MS went to work on the smashed in top of R2-D2's dome, sawing carefully while prying loose the broken glass and twisted silver ribbing discarding it to join the pile of junk his patient lay upon. After the area had been cleared of broken bits and pieces and cleaned out with compressed air R2-D2 had a large, jagged circular hole cut into his dome revealing his cracked upper processing core and the thousands of wires disappearing down into his lifeless body.

The Micro-surgeon positioned itself directly over the area and lowered itself down into the center, a small silver metal barrel key popped out from its belly which it inserted into the dead core and spun several times and then quickly jumped to the side and watched as tiny explosive bolts ejected the processor core out into the toppled racks with a rocket driven high pitched whistle ahead of a trail of white smoke.

The SD-MS remained silent as it worked on cleaning and prepping for installation of a new core, Admiral Ackbar and his science crew left nothing to chance for this mission allowing for backup systems to avoid situations such as this when so far away from help.

The ship landed against the glass shoreline harder still nearly knocking the stubborn combat-medic loose from his perch, the micro-miracle worker swung itself back up onto his patient with the two legs that held their grip and centered itself again. The SD-MS spread its needle sharp limbs evenly around the work site and dug in.

The tiny machine shook its nickel armor under-plating loose which housed the Micro-droids inner secret, an emergency backup copy unit of R2-D2's processing core. The tiny legs which contained the SD-MS' operating processors lowered R2-D2's new core with care over thousands of microscopic pins and sockets, when finally seated the Micro-droid locked itself into place by drilling the tips of its legs into the ribbing of the dome creating a makeshift cage to protect the new electronics.

R2-D2's glass eye grew slowly brighter until blue again, sparks and pops came from within his barrel as his internal systems ran through a self diagnostic, shutting down non vital functions and redirecting power where it was most needed.

After several moments the droid automatically up righted itself and tumbled down the piles of equipment and trash nearly landing on his head again before stopping suddenly inches from the trembling ground. The Astro-mech rotated both robotic arms over the dome to the ground and then did a balancing act by flipping his body over and gently setting himself down as his center foot appeared.

R2-D2's projector came on suddenly and a grainy image of Admiral Ackbar appeared and spoke while his giant eyes stared blankly, "General Skywalker, if this message is being played then plans have gone very astray, 'Order 101' has been initiated by Command Authority and you are ordered to return to the proper coordinates at once."

"The backup core in this unit has special programming, it will acquire your body alive or not, it will acquire alternate transportation if needed, the unit is now dangerous and in full tactical mode and will use deadly force readily against droids and life forms alike to protect you and the particulars of this mission."

The Admiral paused a moment then said, "Should any 'unfortunate' entanglements happen this droid will self destruct to dispatch you to prevent your capture and the discovery of our operations, good luck."

The Admiral's image faded away leaving only R2-D2 to gaze up at the sky alone. The deafening screech of the Science Package Unit's engines grew louder as it set down next to the what remained of the 'X-Wing' fighter on the trash strewn deck of the Super Star Destroyer.

R2-D2's leg mounted thrusters kicked on with hot blue fire lifting him above the mess of scattered parts. He hovered and surveyed the hole that had been blown into the base of the corrugated chromed tower then spun his dome suddenly as the mystery Destroyer smashed the shore again. Scanning the ship from one end to the other a breach was detected in a window structure along the outside of the Main Landing Bay doors.

R2-D2 leaned forward while increasing the power to his jets and flew off across the junkyard following the remains of the shredded scaffolding up to the deck and in through the thick shattered window where his master had originally encountered the giant, gold mechanized spider.

Chapter 37

"I've seen one of these." Luke said pointing to the top secret battleships on R2-D2's display.

"Many have, but only you, I and the Emperor are still alive to tell anyone." Any smile that was there before was now gone. "I oversaw construction along with the Emperor and a selected crew of engineers 'contracted' for the job during my early days in his service.

There was no doubt in Luke's mind the apparition was convinced that the story may have some truth to it and if the 'Darkest One' ever returned would be a threat to not only his life and power but to the existence of an entire interstellar civilization which it now lay in wait to destroy.

Luke leaned in at the display and could see the tiny dark figures of cloned soldiers training, eating and sleeping on the glassed in decks of the new but only partially assembled space station.

Luke spoke up, "So you built these ships in secret and set out to find it, but what happened to the other two ships no one has ever seen them. I assume since there are no records of any in the Rebel Archives they must have been destroyed or are still hidden."

"I see there is no fooling you my young…" Luke shot him a dirty look, "…Yes, correct, the first was destroyed during engine testing, if Colonel Korsche had not insisted, out fear for his own life alone, for the space tugs to escort it as far away from the star base as it had been it would have destroyed the entire operation with the Emperor and I aboard 'Torka-Pruum'. The event gave us a reality check and we have made a point of separating ourselves more often since then, but that time will soon come to an end as he is now on his way to me."

Luke was sure he would have rather their deaths had happened then as Anakin Skywalker continued on, "The second phased in an out of this dimension and…"

"And just disappeared?" Luke cut in with a raised, condescending eyebrow.

"It is rude to interrupt, you know!" Anakin Skywalker frowned and pressed on, "It phased into…somewhere else, and disappeared never to be seen again by anyone's eyes since but the Emperor says he feels the continuing pain and suffering of the crew through the 'Dark Side' and they are still alive…wherever they are."

Luke felt a bad chill in his spine as he looked to the display, only one ship was left moored to a more than half completed but otherwise nearly vacant space station. The clone troops were still present however their numbers were far less and only a few decks remained lit.

"The ''Spurios'…" Luke flinched when Anakin Skywalker spoke suddenly, "…The name of the ship. Powered by a new form of engine that proved far to unpredictable for fleet use, it had one mission, to seek out the mining drill in the deepest reaches of space, over-run it with the Emperor's troops and capture it, if it existed at all."

"Well It sure looks to me like they found it and got their butt's kicked when they did!" Luke chuckled bravely to rub it in Anakin Skywalker's face.

He stopped suddenly when he couldn't help but notice his voice was becoming deeper and more familiar to what he knew was his own. Looking down at himself, his clothes had changed again into the faded orange under suit in its original undamaged state before the mission began and he could feel the weight of his robotic hand pulling his shoulder downward, a feeling he had almost forgotten until now.

"Go ahead and make fun while you waste my time, you will not be laughing in your near future." Anakin Skywalker was wearing a black cape now, hiding his features as it draped to the floor. Luke followed it back up to see a wide grin that dropped suddenly, unnerving him once again.

Luke crossed his arms and took another step back and with renewed seriousness asked, "What happened to the last ship then?"

"The ship was launched with a compliment of five thousand Clone-troopers, a small Medical-droid team, four Construction-droid's and a specially modified R2-unit, this ship had no actual 'Human' presence ,by definition, due to what had happened to the previous model."

Luke rolled his eyes and said, "Now I'm suppose' to believe the Emperor actually cares about his men?"

"Not in the least, he thinks they are stupid and the cause of the problem to begin with. I was originally slated to accompany the assault team but the Emperor felt it was to dangerous of a mission."

"Or you couldn't be trusted once you got your hands on an ultimate weapon!" Luke made no effort to hide what he was really feeling.

"Now your becoming your old self again, It is about time!" Anakin Skywalker said proudly as his image flashed in and out of existence several times quickly and became solid once more.

He looked around the room to its many doorways and long dark halls with an almost worried expression and said, "If you have more questions you must hurry, this place will collapse out of existence soon…the Emperor is near."

Chapter 38

"Ow!, Unhand me!, Someone help me!, If I'm not doing my job properly send me to diagnostics first! Help!" C-3PO wailed as the human Service-techs disconnected him from his station wrestling him to the ground.

"I found it!, it's inside a box just below the back plate!" Barked out a very short, wrinkly blue faced humanoid with four eyes and four arms. The squat beast had long, icy bluish-white hair bursting out anywhere his orange coveralls were not. He scanned the Protocol-droid with a laser pen on a cord running into a set of square orange goggles perched on his wrinkled nose. The Techs' young human assistant produced a white-hot torch from his belt and let the flame bite into to the nearly unnoticeable welds replacing the screws when it was secretly installed.

Admiral Ackbar commanded, "Don't harm him or shut him down!, just get that com-device out of him and get it to the torpedo room five minutes ago!"

"What com-device!, I assure you I contain no such device!, Help!" C-3PO pleaded as he feared being dismantled for reasons far beyond him.

"Yes Sir, working Sir!" The Tech responded as sparks bounced off the welding mask he wore and the smoke was sucked into a long nozzle dangling off the spindly arm of a fire suppression droid as C-3PO wailed on.

"E.T.A.!" The Admiral shouted.

"88...87...86...!"

"Strike Crew!"

The old one armed man reported loud, but with a cool voice. "Sir, the Strike crew says the incoming missile is driven by a Destroyer class Ion engine and is heavily shielded, our fighters are hitting it with everything they've got, they can barely keep up with it and nothing is getting through."

Admiral Ackbar knew when the wandering missile was first detected the thing had come across the Queen's broadcast and traced it to its receiving station and locked in the 'Victorious' as it's source.

The fleet had more to guard against than just the Imperial Navy, the Imperial Special Projects Division had many robotic terrors hunting the galaxy for the Rebel Forces, the creations all had one purpose, to seek and destroy.

"64...63...62..."

"Get a move on it soldier or you won't make your hot dinner date!" The Tech did not miss a beat as the Admiral's comment reassured everyone he has heard even the quietest and mundane mumble among the crew on the Command Deck.

"Putting the battery unit in now to keep the connection alive, and…" The service tech ripped the box loose from its last solder point along with a small bundle of wires that flew across his shoulder and whipped red marks across his neck under the welding mask.

C-3PO exclaimed, "Ow, that hurt!, and was very rude of you!" As he lay pinned to the floor.

"Shut up, this is all your fault anyway!" The First Class Service Tech kicked C-3PO's gold feet as he scrambled up and bolted to the Med-Evac tube in the corner.

"Get that to the torpedo room! The other way!" The Admiral barked watching the Tech with one eye and the incoming shielded missile in the near distance outrunning the fighters shooting at it out the giant windows with the other.

"56...55...54...!"

"No time, Sir!" The soldier jumped into the Med-Evac unit's sled and disappeared off into the tube.

"What's he doing!, he's taking it to the center of the ship!, we're all done for!" The Admiral threw his arms in the air and sounded more disappointed than in fear for his life and ordered, "Ready the Ion cannon and lets hope it works or at least slows it down enough to escape it!"

The white pill shaped sled appeared at its destination almost an instant, the Medical Bay was alive with people and droids scurrying frantically to prepare for the injured that would surely come if they were not destroyed entirely.

The Tech hopped out and ran across the room, "Hi there!" He said while flipping the short brown hair up off the neck of one of the doctors and almost knocking off her hat as he ran by.

"Hey!, what are you doing here?!, I thought you were on the Command Deck today!" She shouted over the crowd. "Are we still on for dinner!?" She said with a laugh knowing full well they may both not be there, some crew members giggled along, this drill was nothing new to them.

'I'll get back to you on that!" The skinny Tech-Soldier with streaks of black soot on his face yelled back as he slid and skidded to a stop at a wall-mounted control screen next to a bank of white, pill shaped units in the shape of the Med-Evac sled only much smaller.

He pulled out a key hanging from a chain around his neck, kissed it and pushed it into a notch in the panel. The Tech then tapped in a series of commands on the screen and one of the pills opened. He quickly dropped the box in and shoved the loose wires in behind it and slammed the hard plastic lid closed with a loud 'POP' gaining the attention of almost everyone in the Med-Bay.

He flipped open another smaller panel on the pill and didn't even reach for his wire cutters, he tangled the wires around his fingers and yanked them loose. "Ouch!" He screamed as a bare woven wire bit into the tip of his index finger, slicing it to the bone and shocking him at the same time.

He ripped the smaller door off its plastic hinges and threw it to the floor, he pecked at the screen once more and the action on the bridge, top secret for most of the crew was in full view past small red fingerprints for the Medical Team to see first hand.

"Admiral! Set the ship to these coordinates and engage on my mark!" The Tech shouted with authority.

In the speaker's background the countdown could be heard, "49...48...47..." The Admiral spun an eye around and stared at a screen over his shoulder without moving his body, a trait not shared by many life forms and to his advantage as a command figure.

"So, you are in command of this vessel now! We are about to go to light-speed!" The Admiral barked with a measure of sarcasm while still facing away.

"Admiral please, the missile most likely has programmed itself to the signature of our broadcasting system and has the power plant and tools to chase us down no matter what we do. Trust me, it will kill its engine and use the power to double its forward shields at the last moment to prevent a torpedo or an Ion-cannon from taking it out!"

The Admiral spun around and gave the Tech both eyes and boomed with more authority quieting the bridge, "Service-Tech Baskeearri, are you absolutely sure?!"

"That's how I would have done it!" The Tech answered frankly.

"What are you suggesting then!?" The Admiral demanded as the voice in the background continued counting down, "40...39...38...!"

"I've disabled the explosives on an ejectable Bio-Hazard Burn Unit and loaded it with the com-device, I'm killing all in and outbound transmissions from here and all other craft would fare well to do also after you relay these instructions to the fighter pilots…"

"You can't do that from there!, can he?!" The Admiral shot the one armed Com-Officer a look who shrugged his shoulders with out even turning around.

The Tech continued over the Admiral, "The missile will give chase to the source signature it has locked in on, when the engine cuts out all power will be sent to the forward shields, send a photon at it from the rear and don't miss 'cause when that pill bounces off of it and it figures out what we did it will fire up and come back around again looking for metal, and it's gonna be close!"

"Do it!" The Admiral yelled, it was an order to everyone in the fleet as all were listening.

"Launching the unit now Admiral!" The pill sucked into the tube and shot into space with a muffled 'Boom'.

The Tech tapped the screen a few more times and twisted the key, all communications ship wide ceased except for the two view screens in the Medical Bay and at the Com-Officer's desk.

"Coordinates set and waiting…the ship is yours!" the Admiral barked back loudly.

"Is it really that close, Baskel?" The doctor who's hair he flipped approached from behind and said with a soft voice from over his shoulder.

"Yes, I'm afraid so, Crizora." The Tech turned and yelled, "Everyone!, grab hold of something were gonna' get shook down!"

Crizora dug her nails into Baskel's left bicep as the crew scrambled to brace themselves.

"On my mark, three, two, one, mark!"

The Admiral motioned to someone off-screen and the Tech killed the feed with one more tap and the screens went blank.

The ship leaned and turned with such force the crew members found themselves going down to their knees as the massive engines created even more gravity as it executed evasive action.

A pulsating hum shook everyone's eardrums as well as the ribbing of the giant craft then it stopped suddenly.

"That was the energy shield of the missile scraping the ship and the engine cutting out." He said carefully to the doctor clinging to his arm while studying the ceiling.

"And…three, two, one,…don't miss." He whispered as he put his arm around the doctor and gripped the console.

When the torpedo exploded and the lights went out anything not fastened down or without magnetic feet bucked up into the air in spite of the increased gravity making a hard landing for all. Crizora's head cracked into Baskel's jaw nearly knocking a tooth loose and in an instant they were thrown halfway across the room, landing apart in total darkness.

The lights flickered to life again and the Medical Bay was a mess. Crizora found Baskel and helped him to his feet after lifting a pile of blankets and plastic sheeting off of him.

"Well at least you had a soft landing." She said pointing to a red swell forming on her forehead.

"The blankets landed on me after I hit the floor, thank you." He said with a pained grin while holding his jaw as he stiffly scuffled back to the blank screen with the wet red fingerprints and turned the key.

The view screens ship wide returned to life with the Admiral staring directly at him from the Command Deck.

The Admiral spoke, "The threat has been eliminated with minimal damage thanks to your quick thinking and that stunt you pulled with the communications hub. I'm looking forward to you briefing me immediately after your dinner engagement." The Admiral paused for effect, "'Master' Technician Baskel Baskeearri!." The Medical and Command crews erupted in cheer at the instant promotion. "Don't let the title go to your head." The Admiral flapped with his tendrils over the noise while motioning to someone off-screen, he let out a breath as the feed cut out.

Crizora threw her arms around Baskel and squeezed as hard as she could while jumping up and down, "So how does it feel to be a hero, big guy?!" She exclaimed excitedly over the applause.

Baskel looked past her at his hand covered in blood, she turned and shrieked when she saw the torn end of his right index finger sporting a small piece of shredded silver wire.

All Baskel had to say was, "Ouch?"

"That's it!" She snatched his wrist and twisted it forcing him to follow. "You can be a hero later, now get over here and get patched up and we may even have nineteen or twenty minutes to eat together before you report to your new assignment, 'Master' Technician Baskeearri."

Chapter 39

Luke and Anakin Skywalker talked on, the room's light faded until only the ghostly blue glow of the holographic projectors contrasted the walls with eerie shadows.

Anakin Skywalker said, "Have you ever thought about the fact some crystals used in laser-cannon and laser-sword production, which are not true Lightsabers per se, have formed in natural caverns or landscapes, while others can handle more extreme amounts of energy and are extremely rare, different colors, binding with the user and to the Force directly?"

"Of course." Luke thought he saw a shape high up above in the darkness beyond Anakin Skywalker twist and drop to the floor out of sight, scurrying under the desks and blue images somewhere.

Anakin Skywalker snapped his fingers rudely in his face and said, "Our time together is short now." Luke locked a set of cautious eyes on him again and stepped back into one of the pillars then decided to hold his ground.

"Of course you know the best metals for the handles are first gathered as microscopic beads of dust scattered in space and melted down into bars of one of the galaxies most valuable and rarest metals by sweeper vessels."

"Sure." Luke nodded slightly but closed his arms tighter, the room felt cold, his feet felt numb and his neck and back were getting stiff again.

"…And finally, these special crystals are considerably more focused when ground down. The heavy metals for the handle which are nearly indestructible are needed to hold the super-charged energy core we use today which had not been used in the production of the Lightsaber until only a thousand years ago, do you agree?"

Luke looked at him accepting of the logic yet didn't answer.

"The result is a heavy, powerful weapon that feels weightless and obeys the trained Jedi's commands and will explode if improperly handled by others." The instructor held his gloved hand out expecting Luke of all people to understand.

Luke looked hard at Anakin Skywalker not wanting to agree with him any further on anything and said, "You're correct."

"Then there is your answer to your question as for the remains of the shattered crystals and liquid metal planet." Anakin Skywalker sounded bored as he spoke, adding, "It was whispered the 'Dark One' had stolen something very important, a shard of minerals the people believed to be an actual piece of the original 'Super Being' and was pulled into this dimension without changing the state of existence it was in during the 'Great Beginning' I mentioned earlier."

For Luke the entire conversation was a lot to take in and had taken its toll and he lowered his guard and rubbed his forehead which was developing a stinging sensation and felt heavy on his eyes.

Anakin Skywalker took two strides forward and was in front of him again when he lowered his hand and said, "The Emperor never eats, or at least has not in decades that I have seen."

Luke tried as hard as he could to back up or move to the side but was pinned, his feet were numb and not responding.

Luke put up two fists and said with conviction, "What's that got to do with any thing?!" He was ready to fight if he had to.

The scratching and flapping sounds of little clawed feet and tiny leather wings filled the corners of the room somewhere just out of sight in the dark, the holographic displays flickered and danced, the desks trembled slightly as they ruffled through the spaces underneath and fought with each other.

Luke felt the whole room sway and creak at the tops of the pillars and thought it was his head giving out when the whole room rattled with a deep thundering 'Boom'!

Anakin Skywalker slid his eyes to the ceiling and said, "It has everything to do with it."

Luke's slowly lifted his chin and gazed up at the giant glass dome.

Brackish, rusty red water crashed down from above in an ocean of waves and splashed flat against the glass overhead dragging heaps of twisted flattened wreckage scraping and screeching against the glass as the water vaporized into clouds with each crashing wave.

"Well, it looks like you might at least have a little help, you are going to need it."

Far above the mayhem of waves and steam and crushed bales of metal a speck of white riding two blue jets of fire streaked by up and over the deck and was gone.

"Artoo?" Luke looked confused then his eyes went wide as the wall of the drifting experimental Star Destroyer darkened the windows and landed against the panes flattening the wreckage again and drifted off once more as the retreating waves dragged it back out.

The rust on its hull long since vaporized by a heat source that could only be coming from inside the Archive room itself, Luke could see giant letters stamped across the underside of the deck meters deep from when the craft was forged. Through the torn and scattered scaffolding swaying and twisting perilously against rusted cables, whipping and cracking with the motion, The name of the mystery ship revealed itself, 'Spurios 3'.

Chapter 40

The Emperor's shuttle approached the 'Excelsior's' Main landing strip head on as a crew of droids and heavy equipment struggled to back the giant blast doors open far enough for the craft to enter the hanger. The pilot of the shuttle had been instructed to land inside and not to halt or stop under any circumstances under penalty of 'demotion'.

"Does that mean even if the doors are still closed, Captain?" The young man who was hand selected by the Emperor himself to pilot his craft said unflinching.

"I should hope not Lieutenant Zycxz for both our sakes, you have your orders." The Captain said with his nose in the air at stiff attention, he did not care for the rookie, who for no apparent reason was ordered to the post by the madman over a list of qualified candidates he had trained himself.

"I've got about thirty seconds to pull away, Cap'."

"You have your orders." The Captain sounded tense and irritated now, he hated terms of endearment especially from a snot-nosed brat he did not know. "Where the orders come from is beyond me, be my guest to disobey." He said rolling his eyes, after his next breath he silently he melted to the floor without a sound and stayed motionless with exception to his breathing.

From over Lieutenant Zycxz' shoulder he heard the cockpit door open and reseal shut. The raspy voice of the Emperor himself, whom he had never even seen since he held the post spoke causing his blood to freeze. "Oh Ye of little faith, Captain." The Emperor stepped over the limp Captain's body and extended a crusty, scarred hand and forearm past the pilot.

The Emperor spread his long, sickly gray burnt fingers wide apart and pushed his palm forward.

"Stay on course, young one." The Lieutenant felt the claw of a dragon lay gently upon his shoulder, light as a feather but cold and hard as steel.

The Emperor snapped shut his outstretched fingers and pulled his arm back suddenly. The droids working to free the massive doors with the aid of large machinery were ripped loose from their magnetic grips and hurled out into space. Several large forklifts and the bodies of flailing pressure suited workers flew directly toward the shuttle.

Lieutenant Zycxz said calmly, "Excuse me, Mi'Lord." Reaching over to his right side he flipped a switch. The window lit up as automated laser-cannons sliced the equipment and flailing droids to smaller pieces.

He flipped a few more switches and the shield's monitor screen scrolled, "…DOUBLE FULL FORWARD…" The remaining bits and pieces along with the unfortunate worker's bodies vaporized as they contacted the invisible energy shields.

Lieutenant Zycxz felt a rush of heat from the claw that held his life in its grip.

"You have control of your fear, it gives you focus and makes you strong." The Emperor croaked to him.

"Thank you, Mi'Lord, I don't try, I do something or I don't." He said frankly as if talking with an old friend, his concentration on full to pilot the craft and defend it.

The Emperor smiled wickedly and thrust both claws out over the Lieutenant's shoulders and pushed them apart while letting out a blood curdling growl past the Lieutenant's ears rumbling the entire shuttlecraft.

The massive, thick, blue-gray metal blast doors screeched in resistance, a deafening noise to all inside the oxygen filled landing bay on the other side of the force field covering the narrow opening. The crews had taken forty minutes to retract the colossal doors only a few meters against the mysterious forces trying to reseal them.

Neither could match the anger and force of the Emperor's wrath and his desire to get to the bottom of recent troubling events.

The slabs of steel twisted and buckled until breaking loose from their slide tracks then blew outward scattering massive shattered gears and smaller mangled pieces of track in all directions, one of the crumpled doors came directly for the Emperor's shuttle, filling the tiny windows of the craft as it tumbled end over end toward the spaceship.

"Best to hold on to something, Mi'Lord." The Lieutenant felt burning hot claws sink into his uniforms shoulder pads. Lieutenant Zycxz pulled back on the control stick while working the pedals to send the shuttle into a spiral loop up and over the tumbling wall of steel and in between to halves of a cracked gear each the size of the shuttle itself. The shuttle's long, delicate triangular wings slipped through missing all of the deadly objects by less than a few meters each, the ship leveled out again just in time to break through the force field across the opening and land as light as a feather in the center of the bay.

"Wow, that was impossible!" The Lieutenant blurted out in near disbelief as the claws released him.

The Emperor whispered through his sharpened yellow-green teeth into his ear, "Nothing is impossible through the 'Dark Side' of the Force my son."

"Why you reckless, undisciplined little ingrate!, how dare you pull a stunt like that with our Lord on board!" The Captain of the shuttle shouted at the young pilot while he was still on his hands and knees having regained consciousness and struggling to right himself. Red in the face with rage as he worked himself back up to his feet assuming the stunt had knocked him out to begin with the Captain directed his anger at the pilot. "I'll send you so deep into the sewer system of Coruscant the only thing you will ever pilot will be a cleaning and maintenance barge and you will never see the light of day again!" It was as if the Emperor wasn't even there, the tyrant simply stepped aside and let the Captain have his say as he became more and more enraged.

Lieutenant Zycxz stood slightly hunched in submission looking down at the floor while rubbing the burning sensations still tight within his shoulder muscles and was about to mutter an apology when the Captain stepped forward and slapped him across the face so hard he saw sparks.

"Get off this bridge now!" The Captain screamed at the top of his lungs while raising his hand to strike him again.

The burning in Lieutenant Zycxz shoulders traveled into his chest and turned into ball of fire in his heart and then shot up into his eyes. He lifted his head to freeze the Captain in horror, the sight of yellow-red eyes and the fire within gripped the officer with the burning gaze of hate he had only seen in the Emperor until now.

The Captain tried to finish the strike but found his hands instinctively trying to free his constricting throat, he doubled over and clawed at his stomach in vain, he turned blue as his knees buckled and fell to the floor, never to stand or breath again.

The Emperor watched on in delight then stepped back over the now dead Captain's body and headed for the door as he said, "Again you have done well, I feel you may have talents you are as yet unaware of."

The feeling of raw power and rage drained from Lieutenant Zycxz' body as fast as it came on and left him standing with a red welt on his cheek and a face full of tears.

"Mi'Lord, wait please." The Lieutenant stood up straight and tall and composed himself.

The Emperor stopped and slowly turned around, his horrid face now recessed in the shadows of the black cloak's hood.

"Yes." Grumbled slowly from inside.

"Teach me please…if you can, it is the most incredible feeling and I am sorry about the Captain but I never liked that man anyway." The Lieutenant was sincere.

"Perhaps one day…until then you will continue to serve me here, is this clear?

"Yes, Mi'Lord." Lieutenant Zycxz said as he bowed to one knee.

"From this moment on you are in command of this ship and at my ready at all times and will pilot it alone…'Captain' Zycxz."

"Thank you, Mi'Lord." He replied humbly.

"Ready us for departure at a moments notice, I have business here." The Emperor said with a deep, chilling growl as he turned away and slithered out of the room.

The newly commissioned 'Captain of the Empire' let out a tense breath and looked at the body lying face down to the floor and smiled. He put a black leather boot under its arm and shoulder, lifted and rolled the dead Captain over.

He knelt down and began stripping the former commanders jacket and symbols of authority off the lifeless man, he said snickering to himself, "You know, Sir, I tried this on one day last week while you were in Physical Conditioning and I must say it fits very well with a little room to grow in."

The new Captain Zycxz admired his updated look in a strip of chrome plating on the nearest wall, especially the brand new block of colorful Captains bars and its nickel-silver plating. Upon closer inspection he noticed the mounting pin was not quite centered to his chest and removed it to adjust its location.

"Aye!, that was stupid!" He exclaimed as the sharp end of the pin pricked his fingertip and a tiny drop of red came out. He snapped the pin shut against its clasp in one hand and bit down on his fingertip cursing his own clumsiness.

He startled when the block of Captain's bars vibrated silently in his hand and a tiny hidden metal tab slid up revealing a rectangular recess with a tiny piece of paper with tinier black ink letters.

"What the…?" The pilot looked cautiously at the paper and down at the former Captain, then stepped over him and sat down in his new seat at the console.

He popped the latch on a small door at his knees and pulled out the electronics repair kit. After finding a pair of tweezers and a set of magnifier goggles the Captain carefully unrolled the strip of paper.

The paper was rough and worn, a light grey scrap that may have been made by hand with the faintest trace of pink on one corner as it had been read just recently. The magnified letters came to life and Captain Zycxz could not believe his eyes. The script was an old 'girls school' code used to cheat on tests and write in secret diaries as had been the custom of Royal Houses for thousands of years. Each was unique to each family and was passed down grandmother to granddaughter.

This was the code his own grand-Aunt Chasa had taught him when he was a young boy as she had no grandchildren, the writing of his cousin Pali was unmistakable even with his use of Old Republic script and his left hand.

The message read, "Captain Presch-you have your orders-use your authority to kill the Emperor by any means possible-Victory to the Rebel Alliance!-Qo."

Captain Zycxz felt a sense of betrayal so deep and hurtful he sat stunned staring out the cockpit windows at the droids and workers flying through the air while others were deck bound on wheels scurrying frantically about.

Small sparks of red and yellow anger danced in the dark of the center of his eyes as he whispered aloud in shock, "Pali,…I can't believe it…you were willing to let me die in order to kill the Emperor.

" Luminous beings are we, not the crude material you see you are made of." -Master Yoda

Chapter 41

"…the Force has allowed the Jedi in the past to locate life forms across great distances and to improve navigation during space travel in order to find them, the result was the deep exploration of space and the mapping of the galaxy as we know it today which is the basis for the Spectral Enhancement Drive Unit."

Luke ignored the creaking of the room and the waves crashing overhead as well as his headache which grew worse as he became fascinated at the concept Anakin Skywalker was unveiling to him.

"Take this room for example, it is not here in any sense and it is certainly not now as we are not in a place ruled by time, when a Jedi is in meditation the mind is in the same state and when in Hyperspace the same concept applies, you are not anywhere in space itself, but above it or below it so to say, and are occupying all points in distance between where the ship jumped in and where it will drop out, bound by the rules of time only before you leave and once again when you arrive at your destination."

The Spectral Enhancement Drive unit was designed to function within this Hyper-space environment with a special form of software that could only be provided by Midi-Chlorians themselves."

Luke raised an eyebrow to the idea but crossed his arms tighter.

"Master Yoda said Midi-Chlorians can only survive within a living being." Luke did not care how the instructor felt about interruptions anymore.

"Within a living tissue." Anakin Skywalker held up a black gloved finger.

Luke did not like the sound of the words he just heard, "The Imperial Forces Special Projects Division grew Midi-Chlorians in a lab?" He was personally alarmed at the notion as he said it.

"No, that is impossible, but when the newly self appointed Emperor turned on the Jedi and wiped them out not all were killed, some were captured while still unconscious and frozen in a primitive form of carbonite…" Anakin Skywalker moved his eyes to the display several desks away that held a frozen, pain filled image of Han Solo on his back in a black rectangle of the substance gliding behind a bounty hunter on an anti-grav cargo platform ushered by Storm-troopers.

An uncomfortable feeling fell across the room, the crashing of the waves disappeared, Anakin Skywalker's face hid in shadows only a step away as the holographic projectors flickered and froze the scenes of Luke's life in each moment of terror, drama and doubt he had ever experienced. The memories seemed to stretch on forever off into the scary black corners of a place that had been destroyed long ago by the hands of an angry young warrior held under the spell of a monster.

The rooms creaking and crunching faded into the mixed echoesof bodiless screams and shouts within the random percussion of battle heard from beyond somewhere above.

Down a hallway beyond the rows of cold holographic images Luke saw faint, ghostly outlines of younglings playing learning games at first then running in terror together only to be cornered against invisible walls. An oily avalanche of flapping, black leathery wings and tiny sharp claws flickered with the dim blue light of the room then poured down upon them snuffing out all traces of the ghostly light. The muted wailing of terror and confusion grew loud in Luke's eardrums until silenced as the dead Super Star Destroyer overhead landed once more with a 'Boom'.

Luke felt sick to his stomach and wanted this nightmare to end if it was one, he was beginning to ponder whether the giant gold spider had actually killed him or if he was in the process of dying.

Luke looked to Anakin Skywalker then pushed out with both hands suddenly and shoved him back several meters, "You are not Anakin Skywalker, you are the Dark Lord Darth Vader and an agent of evil, I demand that you release me from this place!" Luke forced himself to take a couple of steps to the side to give himself more room to work with. His feet felt as if they had sunk into the darkness of the floor and his balance was shaky, he found himself backing into one of the desks for support.

"Luke, we do not have much…'time', now please listen…", The darkened figure spoke as the echoes of his respirator breathed from somewhere inside. The figure took several steps forward and now towered over Luke from a body length away.

"Then make your point!" Luke said with tears of frustration in his squinted eyes, he was feeling distressed as he doubled over one of the desks into the blue display from the pain forming in his stomach.

"Here!" Luke heard the scrape of wooden legs against hard marble as one of the chairs was kicked and slid across the floor. His knees were taken out from behind landing him on his seat hard, he nearly tumbled over to one side but was seized by a lock of his hair and sat back up straight.

"Ow!…son of a…!"

"Shut up, quit your crying and be a man!" Anakin Skywalker leaned into him, his voice was crisp again with the sound of the respirator absent. With an impatient edge upon his words he said, "You may think you are done with me but I am certainly not finished with you."

Luke felt a sense of dread and anxiety over an unseen future he somehow knew he would soon face. Anakin Skywalker whispered menacingly, "You are not going anywhere."

Chapter 42

R2-D2's digital interface exploration via a service-droid access port located in a hallway pane of the 'Spurios' yielded positive results for the newly resurrected droid.

The ships primary-ignition energy core unit was still hot and active and other than the one set of destroyed windows the ship checked out as far as structure and life support.

The science package was magnetically sealed to the deck and in good shape next to the fallen 'X-Wing's' safety pod according to the auto-data link-up established automatically when the droid was back on his feet. The collection boxes were loaded with samples of alien life and minerals, and its computer banks filled with volumes of information collected from the nearby star, its planet and moons.

The command deck atop the pyramid shaped tower contained an odd arrangement, a glassed in modest space, about the size of a standard storage room located on the very top of the structure with room for five or six persons at the most. Four walls made of thick slabs of space faring glass met at a sharp point above a single Astro-mech seated within a transport cradle surrounded by a circular bank of controls. A single block of wrapped black cables were still attached to a socket below a badly damaged and burnt out red plastic dome.

In his current location, deep within the space craft R2-D2 detected a set of intruders and monitored their movement. From his post he opened and magnetically sealed a series of blast doors leaving only one path open for the intruders to follow and would lead them directly to the trap set by the Astro-mech turned commando.

R2-D2's steel key spun, retracted and disappeared, the droid retracted its center foot and rolled backward over to a flat, square white box sitting on the floor he borrowed from the ship's extensive armory and centered himself behind it.

The droid leaned forward and centered an invisible infra-red laser on a black lens mounted to the rear wall of the box then powered down its systems in wait for the attack only moments away.

The twin Construction-droid's harsh white flood lights bathed the hallways in search of prey when they came across the lifeless Astro-mech. The two spiders approached slowly and cautiously exchanging clicks and popping sounds, one hung from the ceiling, the other covered the floor.

After several moments of further inspection the Construction-droids determined the situation as safe to proceed and produced the same array of saws, drills, and rivet barrels as seen by the Astro-mech's master before. The spider on the ceiling dropped to the floor at his companion's side, both crouched together side by side to leap forward and deliver the attack.

R2-D2's large glass eye lit up red stopping them in their tracks, the top to the white box sprung open and the thick ceramic stubby barrel of an anti-troop concussion cannon popped up and swiveled left to right targeting each assailant.

The Construction-droids probability programming paused to re-asses the situation, the hesitation was their undoing.

Compressed acoustic rounds erupted from the cannon in a hail of rapid-fire, delivering devastating blasts of sound to the center of each attacker as percussive sonic booms echoed down the cold steel hall. The first rounds knocked the spider on the left out cold, the next salvo targeted and punched the shiny green-silver glass eyes and rounded front of the remaining gold mechanical terror inward beyond repair. The needle sharp legs with their weapons brandished were blown clean out of their sockets along with their bundles of gears and torn, flailing wires in a brilliant display of crackling sparks. The broken off heads of bolts and bits of torn gold plating ricocheted and pinged of the hard walls. The relentless barrage of sound waves continued pummeling and tumbling the flattened, mangled body and snapped off legs into yet another heap of wreckage which finally came to rest near the far end of the darkened hallway.

The Astro-mech powered up and flickered back to life, he rolled forward, produced an imposing array of saws and pincers of his own and went to work on the unconscious Construction-droid.

After several minutes R2-D2 reversed and backed up a few meters while his instruments retracted and watched his creation come to life, its insides rumbled and clicked and pinged as the beast rose and stretched its legs, its big, round, shining gold belly hovered just above R2-D2's head. The creature shook off the hard blow to the nose as the smell of burning dust and minor fluid leaks filled the air. R2-D2 directed a scanning laser into one of the smaller eyes to double check his work then spun around and produced a tow hook from beneath and coupled on to the white box, the cannon fell down out of sight as the lid sprang back in place and latched itself.

The Construction-droid clicked on its needles up behind the Astro-mech. It stopped as R2-D2 spun his head around suddenly, the two stared each other down. R2-D2 popped out his top mechanical arm and the spider flinched, cowering away from the little machine, R2-D2 whistled then motioned for the spider to follow.

Together they proceeded down the pitch black hallway with the cannon in tow back up to the control tower and its glassed in command deck to execute the next phase of 'Order 101'.

Chapter 43

Emperor Palpatine signaled the Royal Imperial Guards cloaked in deep red, to remain at the entrance to his personal shuttlecraft knowing they would just be in the way.

As Storm-Troopers gathered in formation to protect and escort the ruler he waved a hand and fifty of the white armor clad soldiers were lifted into the air and scattered about the Main Landing Bay of the 'Excelsior', the clones lifted their heads in confusion only to see him whisking across the floor to the door of the Royal Reception Room.

The doors of the room were forced open before his arrival and held apart by a quivering bar of metal that looked as if it would snap at any moment.

The Emperor held out a hand and steadied the bar long enough to step over it and then it shattered apart as he released control allowing the door to slam shut with deadly force close behind.

Admiral Korsche and his Captain stood tense and ready with a handful of nervous low level officers who had almost no clue as to why they were there.

The crew bowed before the Emperor, the aging Admiral said to 'The Wraith' as he had become tagged by the crew onboard the 'Excelsior', "Mi'Lord, the command crew awaits execution at your hand and I beg you to spare as many as you may."

The officers were shocked into a cold sweat at the news and were frozen in terror as they awaited the outcome.

"No, Admiral Korsche…your greed and desire for power has been an inspiration to me over the decades and you are wise enough to see through difficult situations.

"I thank you Mi'lord and await your direction with a hunger."

"Admiral, you are more important to the Empire than ever before, I now appoint you to the Governorship of the entire Imperial Navy."

"You honor me, Mi'Lord." The man did not look up as he spoke.

"You will gather all star ships in outlying regions and cease and desist long range operations, let the smugglers and bounty hunters enjoy themselves and gather more wealth, your admirals and captains will shake them down later, if they feel they cannot move they will not be willing to 'assist' us when needed. You will form a formidable armada of star destroyers and attack craft and bring the full force down upon Palishii-e until only rodents, insects and ashes are left upon my departure from here."

The Emperor then commanded the officer, "Rise, my friend." The aging Admiral stood tall and stared somewhere beyond the evil set of eyes he dare not look directly into.

The Emperor grumbled from down deep, "Are we in agreement 'Grand Moff' Korsche?"

"Absolutely, Mi'Lord." The former admiral kept his face stoic while his desire for the power over the lives of what he considered to be 'lesser beings', anyone who wasn't human or for the most part, not him, burned in his eyes. The Emperor split the slash across his face and displayed a satisfied row of gruesome teeth and said, "Stop trying to rescue the ship, it is beyond your control, the harder you try the more of your crew will be hurt." The Grand Moff thought it was an odd statement coming from the Grim Reaper himself but all the minion would ever say was, "Yes Mi'Lord it will be done."

"I will see to Lord Vader." The Emperor gurgled from down deep and walked on in his arrogance toward a sealed door to the rear of the room.

He swung an open claw up and snapped it shut into a fist, the door crumpled into a ball as if it were made of thin metal foil and was hurled over his shoulder, The Admiral did not flinch or so much as blink an eye as the mangled door passed in front of his face by only a few centimeters, close enough to feel a hot breeze from the crushed steel on the tip of his sharpened nose. The officers in formation who saw it coming dove for cover. A few in the second and third lines were not so lucky.

The rest of the crew looked at the newly appointed Governor as they recovered themselves in disbelief at his resolve. The one thing Korsche had learned in his two hundred and forty seven years in this galaxy was if evil had a purpose for you there was nothing to worry about until you failed to do your duty.

The Emperor snapped his clawed fingers commanding as he passed through the doorway, "Follow." The Grand Moff spun on his heels and obeyed.

The Emperor continued down the long steel hallways tossing droids about with a flick of his fingers as crew members suddenly lost consciousness and collapsed to the floor while he passed through the oil smoked corridors and the blaring hot centers of emergency spotlights casting hard shadows onto every surface. The Emperor's alter ego, Darth Sideous was not impressed with the illusion of panic his apprentice had so easily cast upon the unwitting crewmembers of the 'Excelsior', he was however satisfied with the amount of pressure applied to the spell, his apprentice never ceased to amaze him with his abilities.

Arriving at Lord Vader's quarters the Emperor tried to force the door in the same manner as before but met with incredible resistance. After another failed attempt the tyrant growled through his teeth as the deep red blade of his Lightsaber flashed to life angrily running the door through, A glowing red stream of molten steel ran down to the floor popping and hissing as it cooled into large hardened pools and droplets.

The Governor stood back and watched the boss work, he wasn't sure if it was the laser-sword or the Emperor's gaze alone that was melting the door he was just glad to be on this side of it.

The Emperor cut the power and the blade disappeared into the handle then it disappeared into his cloak.

What was left of the melted door buckled and tore apart as the pressure equalized between the hallway and the Great Room housing the 'Dark Lord's' meditation chamber. Blowing inwards, the melted door grabbed and smashed to pieces an unwitting maintenance droid awaiting release to resume its rounds on the other side.

Governor Korsche stood ready to grab a handhold on the wall if the thick panes of glass inside did not hold back the impact but would not dare beforehand as it may be conceived as a betrayal of his faith in his Master.

"Wait here." The Emperor croaked with a hint of caution as he stared into the darkened room, the light from the glistening field of stars in the giant round window gently flickered and cast a dim hue of silver off the walls.

Anyone else would have been terrified to step foot in the Great Room, for it was a place of darkness.

The dark however is the domain of Darth Sidious, and he relished the opportunity to remove himself from the light once more and slithered inside.

The entire room was clear from the floor to the ramp up to the meditation chamber, the melted door and destroyed droid were nowhere to be seen either. Darth Sidious knew that his apprentice was not keen on keeping possessions of a personal nature but he did have a knack for mechanics. After the young Jedi warrior went mad and fell to the 'Dark Side' his master forbid him to work non stop as his anger would drive him to no end and render him useless when needed. In effect grounding him to rest and meditation to focus on more diabolical deeds in tune with the a shared vision to crush resistance and dominate the universe and to refashion it as the 'Dark Side' has willed it to be.

Since the Dark Lord's apprenticeship began the echo's from childhood of who he used to be could never be fully suppressed. Darth Sideous recalled when he was younger man how he took every droid in the Great Room and wired them all together into a monstrosity of needles, surgical tools and tiny tracking lasers for effect and set it loose in the Main Landing Bay during a weekly troop inspection, many Storm-troopers were killed before their numbers swarmed it and cut it to pieces with their laser rifles.

It was then the newly self-appointed Emperor decided to create the Imperial Forces Special Projects Division with Darth Vader as the overseeing authority to new designs. The Dark Lord recruited the most wicked mercenaries the engineering field had to offer, beings whose own cultures had outcast and branded as madmen were contracted to assist him and execute the plans.

Darth Sidious scanned the room and saw the empty work benches and couldn't help but wonder if there was another twisted and deadly creation waiting for him in the black. He appreciated the fact that he may have walked into a trap, it would not be the first time an apprentice or enemy has tried to kill the master and seize power.

Darth Sidious breathed the room in and felt a lifting sensation pulling him off the floor. He fought if off easily with his mind and settled lightly back down onto the padded feet of his dark purple slippers, the dark-red blade of energy appeared slashing through the air with a hiss as he held it up high for light and possibly defense.

The red blade hummed and growled as he lifted it higher into the air, the light danced and made crawling shadows as it outlined the presence of every piece of machinery and tool in the room adhered to the ceiling. The wicked ruler smiled at the gruesomeness of the saw blades, hammers and the tangled welding equipment mixed in with the poor, twisted metal remains of failed miniaturized projects or ones he just got upset with.

The medical attendance droids were mixed in as well, with their twitching silver arms as helpless as insects caught in a spiders web.

'Lord Vader!…Where are you?!" Darth Sidious said with a loud grumble that had an edge more of concern than upset.

As he approached the ramp to the meditation chamber the blade of light revealed the chamber at the top was raised open and he could see the outline of a man's head within.

Absent the sound of the respirator and without his gruesome black faceplate the Emperor began to fear that this may have been foul play if their was such a thing for an agent of the 'Dark Side' and he was further within a trap set by someone other than Lord Vader, yet he could feel his presence only it was not here.

Darth Sidious remembered what his Master told him so many years ago, "You are a stronger and more cunning predator, an enemy may taste your flesh but you shall stew their bones." Then headed up the ramp.

Darth Vader sat alone and motionless, free of his helmet, his respirator absent and the meditation chamber was silent.

Darth Sidious approached cautiously, he thought about whether the machine could have malfunctioned somehow or if Darth Vader had finally succumbed to his wounds from his fight with his former Master long ago and passed away and what he was seeing and feeling was an aftermath effect of his death.

As the wicked ruler leaned in close to Darth Vader's face, the blade of the Lightsaber cast its red glow across wide open, unblinking eyes as entirely black as the Dark Lord's heart itself. Darth Sidious stared down into their abyss then heard a light gasp of air slip past the Dark Lord's lips. He waited with interest, almost a minute later the breath was released just as faintly, after another few moments he breathed in ever so slightly again.

The Emperor leaned in closer still, traveling into the black abyss of his apprentices eyes, the scarred and cracked mouth full of grey gums and yellowed teeth twisted apart into a wide acidic grin and with unnerving enthusiasm said aloud, "Yes, Lord Vader, where are you?, indeed."

Chapter 44

Luke steadied himself as he sat and listened to the likeness of Anakin Skywalker or Darth Vader or who knows what explain away the details of why the Emperor has not eaten or at least not been seen eating for at least three decades.

"…Now he has to use a system that taps into his blood stream directly, but the Emperor once added ultra pulverized crystals scavenged from the destruction of the star system 'Fin Astra' a thousand years later as well as super purified waters from the farthest reaches of the universe to his food sources until his internal organs became to fragile to process the nano-shards." Anakin Skywalker leaned in closer as his point was being made, "His body may appear humanoid, but he is not as much a part of this dimension as we know it, you cannot entirely kill what one cannot entirely touch, only one of his own kind has the power to seize his life-force and eliminate him, this is the way of the Sith." Anakin Skywalker stood tall waiting for a reply or more questions.

Luke braced his chin on the palms of his hands, his weight rested upon his numb and shaky elbows as he stared blankly forward through warm human fingers and cold robotic digits, across the rows of desk tops and grainy blue holographs ending at the room's tall, faded bronze curtains when a frozen blue image of Master Yoda cast from the final unit caught his eye.

His master peered across time and space into his soul, humble with an almost saddened expression on his face, a face that truly cared for him. There were moments Luke felt he betrayed his master by running off to help his friends and not keeping his commitment to complete his training, only now the moment carried a heavy weight and seemed to have no end.

Luke's attention darted over to an image of a 'Sandman' or Tusken Raider on the desk next to him, the beast had raised a long jagged blade made of rock native to Tattooine over it's head in terrorizing fashion.

"The Sandman…" Luke whispered with an understanding that still remained partially beyond his grasp. At that moment the bottom hem of the drapes burst into fire, Luke dropped his hands flat to the table at the sight and both men watched as the woven bronze material turned into yellow and orange flames then burned like tissue paper up to the ceiling.

The room was bathed momentarily in yellow light and dancing shadows as the red-orange flames climbed along a ribbon of blue and white swiftly and evenly. Burning flakes of material and tiny embers floated to the floor and hissed as they extinguished themselves, leaving walls darkened into nothingness behind wisps of grey smoke.

The room shook from somewhere down low. The ceiling appeared to creep slowly downward, the image of the spaceship and waves disappeared from the windows overhead and with one last thunderous clap the waves washed over the windows and all went deathly silent.

Anakin Skywalker spoke, "The Emperor has found and entered this place and soon it will collapse entirely, he still must search to find us, giving us more…time, so to speak."

Luke pushed several fingertips on his left hand into his abdomen just below the right side of his rib cage and said, "I had a vision just before we crashed, I was reliving when I was attacked by a Sandman when I was a young boy."

Anakin Skywalker leaned his back against a pillar and crossed his arms while tilting his head to listen in and said with renewed interest, "I detest those creatures to no end…you are lucky to be alive, do you care to share or is it too personal?"

"Ha!, if you call almost being eaten alive personal then you could say it is!, but what do I care, I'll share." Luke perceived his interest as sarcasm giving it back in equal amounts,

"When I was a kid I was outside by the fire pit as the suns were setting helping my Aunt Beru bring in equipment after the ranch hands had been fed and the pots and pans were burned clean when a Sandman attacked me. First it threw a big rock into the fire pit to blind me with the embers then it grabbed me from behind and lifted me in the air." Luke reached over and smashed the tiny glass eye of the desk's projector with a robotic fist leaving a sizable dent along with splintered wood.

Anakin Skywalker smiled at the fizzling electronics' puff of smoke and said " Do not stop now, you have me interested!"

Luke's eyes went blank as he told the story pondering its relation to current events and continued, "The rule was I was on my Aunt's heels all day and never out of her sight, my Uncle said when I arrived I brought him luck and water on the wind, by the time he died he said I caused him more worry than any money was ever worth." Luke turned giving a spiteful look into the eyes of Anakin Skywalker over his shoulder, "Now I know why." He said flatly and looked back away.

"Along with the increase in fortune came the need for more hands at the farm which meant more cooking and cleanup, so my job of course was running in all the equip' while my Aunt shuttered the main compound for the night otherwise they grow legs and walk off."

"Garbage Jawas." Anakin Skywalker referred to the lowest social ranking of the Jawa species, these were ones who committed crimes against their own or worse yet would not engage in crime against others and were forced out of their clans and away from the cities to survive or die alone in the desert. Jawas are delicate boned creatures for as leathery as they appear and a lone Jawa is soon to be an enslaved or eaten Jawa.

"Exactly, The thing had me in its grip and was about to silence me across the neck with the rock knife and run away to eat me somewhere when a garbage Jawa scaled the beasts backside like a lizard up a rock wall and ripped its mask to shreds while screeching and clawing it blind!" Anakin Skywalker started laughing and apologized, "I am sorry, but I have no sympathy for the scum."

Luke continued, "Aunt Beru saw the attack and screamed for help and watched as the rock knife barely missed my throat but the beast was bent on keeping its kill. The blade went clean through here like I was a blob of cooking grease." Luke's fingers outlined where the blade entered just below the rib in front and where it came out his back next his spine.

Anakin Skywalker let out a whistle of amazement at the brutality of the injury.

"The Jawa almost died too, after the Sandman dropped me and the knife it turned its rage on the little guy and almost chewed it to death, then the ranch hands surrounded it and shocked it into submission."

"Why not just shoot it?" Anakin Skywalker asked while raising an eyebrow.

"My Uncle liked to set an example for the rest of the packs. When one of them got too close, they'd rig together an old fashioned fuse and powder rocket then launch it with a rope tied around its feet toward their settlements in the West. It would land deceased or at least extremely crippled which is what my Uncle aimed for to be found as warning to the others to stay away or meet the same fate."

"A fitting end, how did you survive and what happened to the Jawa?" Anakin Skywalker was the one who sounded more like a boy who was excited to be entertained by a good story.

"My Aunt rushed me into the garage where the Surge-station was and threw me in the containment field. I remember being in a state of pain like no other except for maybe this!" He held his robotic right hand up without turning around and let it fall on the desk with a loud thump, "Then my Uncle and a couple of ranch hands had to cross the dune sea at night to get a doctor, I remember he was handsome and had a beard, he put me into a deep sleep and I awoke days later, the ranch hands had donated a lot of blood and tissue graphs to put me back together."

Anakin Skywalker listened patiently but seemed more interested in what happened to the Jawa.

"My Uncle wanted to shoot the Jawa to put it out of its misery but my Aunt overruled him in an instant and nursed it back to health. It turned out that he was actually well connected but a rivalry for power with his brother for control of his clan after their father died left him outcast when he would not condone the killing of a rival gangs leader who happened to be human for fear of payback on females and younglings."

"My Uncle gave him a job on the farm as Beru's assistant and I was banished to either the garage or the moisture 'vaporator fields."

My Uncle said my running around alone is what attracted the single outcast Sandman, it most likely was diseased and expelled from its tribe and in turn attracted the Jawa which was scavenging from the beast as it hunted but when it attacked a human child it felt it was time to act."

"Well there you have it, good deeds do give just rewards to those who deserve it." Anakin Skywalker tried his best at empathy.

"No, not really, his name was Chute, and he had a family, until your men killed them all along with my Aunt and Uncle."

Chapter 45

"Pexo-Colo, give the order!" Admiral Ackbar barked at the old human Com-Officer with the one arm not lost in battle many years ago. The old timer tapped in a series of top-secret code commands at lightening speed with only seven fingers on his left hand. "All members at the ready Admiral!" The old man shouted in return making a show of the departure.

"Do it!" The Admiral directed and stood tall and proud in front of the massive window and watched the stars stretch and disappear as the renegade fleet leapt into hyper-space to meet with and retrieve General Skywalker at a secret location. The Admiral knew in his seven-valved heart the task just could not be this easy, nothing involving this particular pilot ever was.

The Admiral's giant ears picked up on the security team entering the doors to the command deck in a concerted and uniform manner from behind, the dangling of leather, silver buttoned straps informed him their weapons were drawn.

The Admiral had yet to turn and face the commotion when a figure approached him and saluted. "Master Technician Baskel Baskeearri, reporting for duty, Sir!" The salute was crowned with a big white bandaged index finger.

"A fully armed security escort for your first shift is a bit much don't you think? I mean, we're all important here and besides you're almost an hour late." When the Admiral used sarcasm it just plain hurt.

The new Tech officer spoke up, "I felt it was necessary until we get something cleared up." When Admiral Ackbar turned to look at the new Master Tech he could see no hint of a joke in his eyes, only grave concern. The Admiral went as serious in an instant, "Report!" He ordered.

The Tech produced the key from around his neck, "Admiral, this key was created by my Grand-Uncle who was a master code writer for the Royal Houses. He originally designed the Com-system for this ship and it is used to access any and all communications and gives complete control of the system from any access point."

"How did such an item come into your possession?" The commander of the new ship stayed cool.

"It arrived in a box with some of my mothers possessions when she passed away, my Aunt's letter said her father slept with it on, when asked why he would always say 'why let a free meal get away from you'?" The Admiral looked to the ceiling not sure whether to disapprove or not. "…And that is exactly what I have used it for, extra food." The Master Tech smiled without shame.

The Admiral answered, "You wouldn't know it by looking at you, your so thin you could be used to pick a lock, So what's with all the guns, are you going to arrest me and take over my ship again from here?" The Admiral didn't seem to be bluffing.

"No Admiral, not you…him!" The Master Tech pointed a condemning finger at the old, one armed man at the Com-station, the security agents surrounded him and ushered the accused to the center of the room for all to see.

The Admiral was dead serious now. "Explain, and this had better be good, this man has been in service to the Republic a hundred years before you were born."

Master Tech Baskel Baskeearri laid out his case, "Admiral the Com-device the Queen had installed in the Protocol-droid was a one way valve so to speak, and received broadcasts through multiple coded relay stations. The only way the missile could have locked onto the direction of the signal was if it had the location of a secret relay station to begin with, which is not that great of a feat. Then it would have to access the relay's programming which again is not that hard to do, but to be given the encrypted I.D. tag for Queen Organa's transmission in particular out of billions sent every minute in order to chase it to its destination could only be done on this end by your Com-officer."

"And you know this, how?" The Admiral did not doubt the man, he wanted a good explanation of events.

The Master Tech held up the key and said, "After the threat was gone I went over the Com-Logs looking for anomalies outside the transmission band in hopes of finding what attracted it and this station is responsible, the data entered came from his seven digit customized keyboard and he was on duty.

"Anyone could have done that!" The old man yelled back.

"No, they couldn't, you're the only one in the fleet who can enter data with one hand that fast and don't forget while this is primarily a battleship it is also a state of the art medical frigate as well, every key stroke on this ship collects a D.N.A. marker, Have a nice ride and good luck with your attack on the nearest Imperial base." Baskel smiled wide and wicked at the traitor without a drop of sympathy.

"Explain yourself Pexo! Or I swear I'll hand you over to the interrogators and tell them to take off the gloves." The Admiral made it clear the rest of the man's life hung in his hands, it was up to him how much longer and how painfully he chose to live it.

The man dropped to his knees, "Admiral, please understand, I received a transcript from an anonymous source detailing the promotion of my great, great grandson to the post of pilot to the 'Dirty One' himself." The term 'dirty' in this tense was meant to be an insult to the tyrant Emperor Palpatine. "The Message contained a footnote that said if I did not comply when The Queen made contact he would be subject to more pain and suffering than you or the 'Truth Squad' could ever put me through." The old man pointed two of seven fingers at the Admiral as was customary on his planet to make his point. "So do with me what you will, Ackbar."

"How long have we known each other Pexo, at least a hundred years, you could have come to me sooner and we could have turned this into a tactical advantage!" The Admiral was upset but sincere.

"At the expense of my grandson? He's the last of our family and we will spare no expense to insure his survival, I would kill the Emperor with my own bare hand if he was here and you know it, Fishy!" The rest of the crew dropped their jaws at once in a collective 'Oh no, you did not just say that.'

The Admiral dropped to his knees within the circle of weapons aimed at the old man's head and gripped his skull tightly, "Relax or this will hurt, Pexo."

"I know, and I will not resist, My Lord." This was a term of endearment from long ago, not the twisted meaning it had now come to represent in these desperate times. The Admiral touched the crested tip of his head to the old man's and he went limp as if he just died in his friends arms. The Admiral held him a moment longer and let him slide down on to the floor.

The old man lay motionless as the crew stood unsure whether their commander had killed him in a manner much more humane than being blown out an airlock when the Admiral stood and said, "Get up and get back to your station you old, crusty coot, you knew all along somehow we would survive the attack."

The crew was blown away at the revelation, the man stood, smiled and saluted the Admiral with the only arm he had, then blew the new Master Tech a kiss and a wink as he spun around on one heel and made a mockery of marching back to his desk.

"Pexo!" The old man froze at attention as he headed back to his station awaiting the Admiral's next words. "You will report heavy casualties to the anonymous source and report a direct hit on the 'Victorious' and Master Tech Baskeearri will oversee your transmissions personally or all five of these men have permission to put a bolt in your head, is this clear?" The Admiral was not bluffing and the old man knew it.

"Yes, My Lord." Was his solemn answer and all his arrogance evaporated.

"Then get to it! All of you, now!" The Admiral was finished with the drama and turned his body to the window once more and his thoughts to calculating a strategy incorporating the new information while cooling his brain, the former war school instructor lived by his teachings, traitors can always be executed but if they are chained up tight enough they could be valuable assets also.

A Medical doctor sprang onto the bridge after jumping out of one of the Med-Evac tubes. Baskel immediately recognized his flame Crizora inside her white jumpsuit by the way the she glided across the floor. She shot him a look from behind a plastic face shield that recognized him and shut him off the same moment. She found the Admiral and then quickened her pace.

Baskel pulled back on a piece of the old traitor's hair and said, "I don't care if you were here before the 'Great Beginning' old man, I'll send you to the end myself if you screw around." Baskel snapped his fingers yanking some of the grey hairs out in the process as the old man winced and shook it off. Then he stood up tall and directed his attention to Crizora as she tapped the Admiral several times on the shoulder insistently to bring him out of his trance.

"Yes, what is it, Crizora." The Admiral had a liking for the middle aged medical officer who could be trusted enough to be part of sensitive top-secret operations.

Crizora's voice was soft and eloquent enough on its own, which drove Baskel mad with attraction, but when she whispered he felt as if he would jump through a ring of fire for her.

This was the same gesture to the Admiral's ear as she had done many times before to him and she never whispered unless she had something of great importance to say.

The Admiral put a fin on his head and looked to the floor as he thanked Crizora and dismissed her.

Baskel intercepted her just before she jumped into the Med-Evac sled, "What is it, Crizora?"

"I'm not allowed to tell anyone!" She commanded and tried to breakaway from him. He grabbed her and spun her around and locked eyes with her as if the plastic mask did not exist. "Hey, I thought we were the 'Top-secret' guys!" He waited for an answer.

Baskel felt warmed when she clawed his shoulder until he leaned over far enough for her to whisper in his ear loosening his jealousy of authority but chilled him entirely at the information she confided in him.

The Queen had fallen deadly ill and was now aboard the 'Victorious", upon her departure several weeks ago she sent her decoys on ahead, the crew had been attacked as it approached Palishii-E and all hands were captured, interrogated and executed. The Queen had been in hiding aboard another ship in the fleet and was rushed into the medical bay as it was the most advanced, the whole deck was on lockdown and any injuries would have to be treated on the spot should battle occur and many more may die because of the order.

Baskel nodded in understanding and let her get back to work, he walked over to Admiral Ackbar and addressed him directly. After several moments of discussion the Admiral nodded and went back to his trance.

Master Tech Baskel Baskeearri marched back through the armed guards to the old man at the Com-station and grabbed him by his collar and said, "Listen up good you old codger, I've got some new assignments for you, start typing or start hurtin', the choice is yours."

Chapter 46

"Luke, you must understand the Midi-Chlorians which make up the moon have seen or felt no other like you, at least not for or a very long time. The Midi-Chlorians were reaching out to you the only way possible, by accessing your memory and finding a situation in your life to draw a relation to in an attempt to establish a form of communication. Any story must have a balance good and evil to be worth its salt, every universe for that matter." It was clear to Anakin Skywalker his student was tuning him out and shutting down.

Luke lifted the sickened feeling that was his head and saw himself in the closest of the displays, only now the tiny holograms on the tiny desks within the hologram itself were different. A needle floated in space in one, a flash of glass in another, the faces of starving slaves filled the next while others displayed his face in both states of hurt and happiness. The tiny displays went on forever disappearing into the distance the same as those in the room Luke sat in. The harder he strained his eyes to make out details within the tiny displays the more the images eluded him.

"The future." Anakin Skywalker said plainly.

"What about it? I think it's safe to say it's over, you can tell me I'm dead and I will accept it." Luke was sincere in his assumption.

"No, you are not dead, and you are not that fortunate. The future is open and not set, it is the realm of possibilities, this is the secret behind the 'Spurios' and why its engine is so unpredictable, it will take someone anywhere and without the discipline to control it the results could be…undesirable."

"I have one more question!" Luke let his head fall back, he could feel the sweat in his hair and picked up on a sweet smell in his nostrils, he could almost place where he had smelled it before.

"By all means, ask, it will most likely be your last." Anakin Skywalker meant what he said as the room darkened and a ghastly howl of rushing wind raced up and down the long hallways searching for the disruption in the fabric of The Force.

"Why did my Lightsaber activate when it was so low on power, I think I know, but, I would rather hear one more deluded answer from you to entertain me with." Luke wanted to believe all he had seen and heard up to this point but felt the sarcasm would help keep his sanity.

"More than likely it was an effect caused by the moon itself, the moons source of power could be an indirect current system and the two like sources of crystal tried to reconnect when you opened the power switch, evidence the crystals in your weapon were once in balance with the moon and they interacted with each other."

As Anakin Skywalker spoke Master Obi-Wan Kenobi's voice echoed from somewhere, "Do not trust your eyes, they deceive you." followed by Master Yoda, "To Obi-Wan, you listen! Do you hear nothing that I say?" Luke heard the disappointed sound of a twisted wooden cane snapping against the floor and the Jedi master limping away, the tired and feeble voice aged almost a thousand years fading into nothing.

Luke heard the words as clear as day and tried to slip into a denial, casting the voices aside as another of the Dark Lord's tricks to make him succumb to madness when the surface of the desk disappeared from under the weight of his hands, causing him to pitch forward and lose his balance.

Anakin Skywalker caught him by the back of his hair and pulled him in with an arm around Luke's chest and lifted him up and ran to the nearest door as the room turned to black with millions of scratching, little claws stinging and tearing at them both in an attempt to drag them to the floor.

Luke, in his sickened state tried to claw against the arms wrapped around him escorting him to the exit of the Jedi Archive and down the same hall he had heard the voice of his master fade. The arm around his neck was wrapped in the desert garb of the Sandman he struggled against as a youngling, the other was that of the jet-black cybernetic armor of Darth Vader himself.

"What do you want from me!" Luke screamed in submission, as horrified as when he was a youngling fighting with all the strength he could muster determined not to suffer the same fate.

The two stumbled to the end of the hallway, the skylights above burned upon the undershirt he wore causing an itching that pricked at Luke's cold, clammy skin. The reflection off the polished marble walls stung his eyes, blinding him with painful flashes of white as he was spun around and held by his biceps against the wall at the end of the dead-end hallway within inescapable clenched black leather gloves.

Luke could hear savage breathing in his face as the sounds of a billion people screaming out in terror raced in from behind, the power gripping him said, "I want you to save all our lives of course, by saving yours first, swallow your pride and accept the truth…you are lying half-dead on a Med-Bay table on a space station in the hands of a madman, your veins are full of who knows what and you are probably leaking information about me, the Emperor and the Rebel Alliance as well a your mission and…"

"Leave me alone! I don't want to know, I just want to leave here!" Luke eyes were clenched shut, he was terrified, crying and kicking and fighting for his life when the howling and screams filling his ears stopped. The hands pinning him to the wall with brute force released and he felt himself break free of the aching gravity that gripped his tired legs.

He longed to stay where he was, in fear and paralyzed but this was not the Jedi way, not how Master Yoda conditioned him and not how he would meet his fate. The simplest of principles took over, spoken a hundred times to him in aged, tired words from his master, etched across his mind and soul forever, "Fear is the path to the Dark side."

Luke made the decision in the silence and darkness of his own withdrawn state to bravely open his eyes and face all that was in store for him. Darth Vader, gleaming in his jet-black cybernetic armor stood still, towering above him with his arms crossed, his respirator echoed within the marble hallway. Luke saw his reflection in the dark red surface of the lenses protecting his eyes and leaned forward to meet with them directly regardless of his height and said with a conviction he never felt before, "Enough! Your prison is your own making and I am not here for your entertainment, make your point, now!"

The Dark Lord leaned forward with a black leather gloved finger and dug it into Luke's chest as he resisted him in turn, "Luke, you are under the old Jedi mind trick!" Luke's eyes went wide as he suddenly understood the message. He tried to open his mouth to question the Sith further as he suddenly had a thousand thoughts he knew he would never have the time to ask.

Claws, black and made of steaming tar stretched out of the darkened Archive Room and down the hallway from far behind, the roar of anger and the screams of vengeance for the betrayal of his apprentice echoed off the walls as the burning claws of a dragon sunk into the shoulders of Darth Vader's armor from behind. The Emperors alter ego, Darth Sideous had found his servant and reclaimed him as his own.

Luke backpedaled by instinct, the wall he clung to for safety turned to vapor and disappeared, he fell backwards and flipped end over end down into the darkness.

"We were made to suffer, It's our lot in life."

-C-3PO Human-Cyborg Relations Protocol-droid

Chapter47

Admiral Akbar stood before Queen Leia Organa and informed her of the reception of a single encoded 'ping' from the science package signaling its activation by C-3PO, scrambled and sent through so many public and private networks across space the source location would take years just to trace. By the time the source was ever located the Alliance would be long gone.

The Admiral did not have the heart to explain the signal was a warning from the Astro-mech assigned to the mission and meant that the expedition must be encountering dire problems and to proceed to the rendezvous point immediately. He felt fortunate The Queen ordered the fleet to mobilize and had given the crews time to prepare before the message found its way to the 'Victorious'. Her wisdom always seemed to be a step ahead of the Admiral's strategy and he admired her for it.

"This may not be good news, Admiral." The Queen responded with a frail whisper as she lay propped on white pillows and sheets on an operating table surrounded by a tight circle of eight, leather clad, heavily armed guards, each cradling a 'Scatter-beam' laser rifle with thick, shortened barrels. Three of the closest guards aimed their weapons directly at the Admiral's head. One squeeze of the trigger and he and everything and everyone between him and the nearest wall would vaporize in an instant, if all eight fired at once it could very well wipe out the state of the art medical bay entirely and cause significant damage to several hallways and adjacent rooms. These men had died enough in the last year and now would be the ones doing the killing.

The men leaned in slightly as the Admiral took a step forward to hear her weakened voice more clearly, not that his ears needed to, the guard's cold, hard eyes begged to be challenged, telling the commander he would dead three times over if he moved too fast.

"This could be a trap, your highness, and with you on board I think I would be more comfortable sending a heavily fortified scouting unit that could assist in the return of General Skywalker without endangering you." The Admiral tried his best to be her authority but knew he would fail.

"Anywhere I am is dangerous, Admiral, I know you have your sources, but I must remind you attempts have already been made to end my life." The Queen rolled her head away from in despair and fatigue.

"My condolences on the loss of your decoy entourage, the members were some of the most dedicated ever assembled." The Admiral knew this would not help her but was necessary given the situation and did not want to appear to be unfeeling as one of the guards might just shoot him for it.

The Admiral dropped his eyes, not willing to bring a knife to a gun fight by staring into the crowd of weapons for too long. He traced her exhausted, rail thin figure in her white gown down to her bare feet, a slim black holster wrapped tight to the inside of her left ankle held a tiny blaster for her own defense. A visible outline under the thin, delicate folds of material she wore indicated her right hand lay across a laser rifle nearly half her size. There was no doubt in the Admiral's mind if threatened, she would find the strength one last time and use it to try to kill everyone in the room.

Leia looked away into the distance, tears filled her eyes and her voice shook as she talked, "Admiral, there have been seven attempts on my life in the last year alone, nine since I was crowned." The Admiral had only been informed of four attempts and was doubly alarmed at the revelation. "These men were originally part of a fifty man squad who ate, slept, trained and lived together in isolation for a ten year internship as part of their commitments to secure the Royal Families. They are all that is left to protect me, Ackbar, besides you."

"Your majesty, please let me break away and move on, I will hide you and protect you, there are other ships and commanders to take this fight on, I know what he means to you but Luke will have to take his chances with a scout, he just can't be that important." The Admiral stood firm, even if what he said was personal to her.

His student spoke with a broken spirit and he could tell he was losing her, "It matters not anymore Admiral, I am done running, the war is lost and it's just a matter of time the Rebel Alliance is through, one of these men can just shoot me for all I care."

The Master Strategist General and Advanced Old Republic Battle Matrix Instructor did not take kindly to what he was hearing. He snapped to attention gaining the sole focus of the men who he now understood were not only protecting the Queen's life but themselves, who had been targeted as an elite military unit and a way of life, hunted by the Empire and must now be eliminated at all costs. He put his fins behind his back making obvious he was an easy target and stood as tall as possible and smoothly took a step forward into the crowd of rifles.

The Medical crew and the Queen's assistants held their breaths from the tension filling the room. The sound of leather gloved, steel knuckled fists crackling as they tightened around the stocks and triggers filled the Admiral's sensitive ears, informing him he may proceed, he would have otherwise been missing his head by now.

The Admiral spoke plainly, "Fear is the path to the Dark Side."

Queen Leia opened her eyes taking in the room, a female medical doctor with kind, dark brown eyes knelt at her side stroking her hair in an attempt to comfort her. "What did you say?" Leia said stunned at the words coming from the Mon-Calamari humanoid.

"I said you are pathetic, and if you ever say those words to me again, I'll kill you myself!" The Admiral meant every word causing the guards to tighten in on him further.

Crizora saw flames light up in the Queens's eyes and knew it was time to back up and excused herself silently.

Leia Organa raked in a deep breath and screamed in rage as she kicked the covers off an anti-troop, hip-belt mounted laser cannon. She rolled over the top of the weapon and on to her bare feet as she cocked it and heaved it up to the Admiral's face, he remained tall and unflinching.

Everyone's blood in the room froze, as well as the oil in the gears of several droids, the guards had their hate to keep them warm, the Captain of the Guard stared at his wicked smile reflecting in the Admiral's giant gold and black eye, relishing the possibility of the Queen dealing out some death to make herself feel better.

"Don't you dare judge me!" Leia screamed all her words at the top of her voice through tears streaming down her reddened face, "I have given everything! what I have not given has been taken, destroyed, tortured or scattered across the universe!" Her guards shared her sentiments personally and the Admiral was still more concerned of being shot by one of them looking for any kind of payback they could deal out.

"And you are the only one? The day you see only your own worries and injustices is the day you may wed the Emperor to save yourself!" The Admiral meant to disgust and offend her, the rules of war state that anger in a soldier is more useful than despair.

The Queen dropped her jaw at the offense but understood the meaning.

The Admiral looked into her with his large eyes and said, "When you have nothing to lose…"

The Queen lost what strength her adrenaline provided as her rage released her and she returned to her senses. She slowly lowered the weapon's tip to rest on the edge of the operating table, she took in a deep calming breath, closed her eyes and said, "You have everything to gain."

"And?" The Admiral allowed his demeanor to soften slightly as he spoke.

The Queen replied as her face relaxed in understanding, "They have everything to lose and nothing to gain."

As the Queen and Admiral wound down the tense standoff, Crizora approached cautiously but fearlessly through the ring of fire carrying a clipboard pressed to her chest as if it would provide some kind of safety and said, "Admiral, Your Majesty, you have an urgent message."

"Tell them to wait please, Crizora." The Admiral said politely still locking eyes with The Queen.

"I would rather not, Sir. It's the Emperor."

The Queen's guards darted their eyes to Crizora as both warriors turned their heads to face her and said, "Who?!"

Chapter 48

Queen Organa sat tall upon a throne of shimmering white silk, her long flowing gown draping on to the floor as she mustered all the strength and patience she could find in her bones to face the monster about to appear before her.

Crizora was busy checking her medical stats as her hand maidens bickered amongst themselves as they fussed with her hair and every fold of material had to lay just right.

The throne actually consisted of a dentistry chair, medical bay pillows and the drapes over the windows from her quarters aboard her official Palishiian personal transport. Two Medical-droids held sheets of white material high behind her with long spindly, silver arms as a makeshift backdrop, another manned a surgical lighting rig.

Appearances are everything as far as The Royals were concerned and Admiral Ackbar was impressed at her handmaidens creativity. The guards had widened the circle of protection allowing her personnel room to work but kept all in their watch just the same, for some reason the Captain of the Guard still had his weapon trained on him personally.

"Is there a reason you are still staring at me?" The Admiral said to the man with the loaded and cocked 'Scatter-beam'.

"I don't like fish, hate the way it tastes, hate the way smells, and I especially hate the way it looks." The Captain's goateed grin turned to a mouthful of gnashed teeth and the Admiral left it at that while secretly admiring his front and clever use of words. He turned his attention to his newest Master-Tech who had just arrived and was being searched and scrutinized by two of the guards. One of the men lifted the key from around his neck with the end of his weapon and looked at Baskel with a question in his eyes, "It's why I'm here, handsome." Baskel winked at the man and gave him a wry smile. The guard let the key drop as the heavy barrel landed with a hard 'Thunk' against his chest and leaned in to his face and said. "Shut up and do your job, 'Techy', no interruptions of any kind, no sudden moves, get to your station and if you step away before the transmission is finished for any reason, that pretty doctor over there won't have enough left to put half of you back together." The guard backed him up a step and said, "Don't you dare mess around with me, now go!" Baskel lost the smile and nodded and spun around quickly in defiance and marched like a soldier to his station, the guard followed close and kept the gun on him the whole time.

The Handmaiden's Captain, Leia's Aunt Chasa motioned for all to clear the area, then for the guards to tighten their circle in again, she slapped their leather armor lightly with a small towel to buff the shoulder pads as she said, "Look mean boys and get those rifles up!" After the men reformed their ranks Admiral Ackbar could have sworn they were about to shoot everyone present.

"Quiet all of you!" The Captain of the Handmaidens barked and the room fell silent. "Sit up taller dear, taller!" The Captain motioned up to the ceiling, prodding her.

The Queen shot her an impatient and questioning look. After a moment her Captain gave her a quick smile and motioned for her to breathe before she passed out.

Leia took in a deep breath of sterilized air letting the dryness sting the inside of her nose and bottom of her lungs, she could hear her dear late father's words he said he once learned from an old wise man, "The dark feeds upon a lack of faith in yourself, your doubts and worries until it consumes you entirely." The Rebel warrior embraced this memory of her father, in turn it gave her strength. With furrowed brows and her eyes shut tight, the Queen rolled her head and neck in a full circle, the anger, worry and depression she felt grinded between her neck bones until a sickening, blood curdling series of pops and cracks were felt by all across the room.

The Captain of her Guard displayed a gritted mouthful of polished white teeth framed by a sharply manicured goatee topped with an angered brow and eyes burning for revenge against the monster who took so many of his men's lives.

With a final 'Pop!' from down low in her back the Queen's clenched eyes relaxed and parted into slits, she was ready to dance with a demon.

"I am ready Captain Chasa Qo." Her voice was deep, eloquent, royal. The Captain of the Handmaidens held up a heavy, calloused hand and counted down on her fingers, "five, four, three, two, one and…go." It was show time.

The grainy blue hologram resonated to life with the cloaked black figure most associated with the taking of it. After several moments of tense pause the Emperor said in deep gurgling voice incapable of hiding contempt, "Princess Leia."

The Queen smiled wide, enamoring all in the room and said, "'Senator' Palpatine, how nice to hear from you, do you wish to surrender?"

"Evil perceives the wisdom of The Force as much as a spoon can taste the food that's rests upon it."

-Jedi Proverb

Chapter 49

Back flips in total darkness, the dizzying feeling of falling-up, a sickness, black and slithering, swimming in, out and around him. Luke screamed out in the nothingness only to feel the darkness fill his nose and lungs, drowning him in a panic for his breath and yet denying him the relief of dying.

Luke heard whispers, menacing and secretive, plotting against and arguing over him, scaring him and laughing at his confusion. Voices that would not reach inside, only enough for him to know he was not alone and at the mercy of the merciless.

Luke felt boned knuckles and sharpened claws drill into his body then into his soul, until discovering what they were so desperately seeking, the center of his being.

He could feel the black scraping away at the rock that was the core of his existence and endless rows of sharpened invisible teeth shattered as they tried over and over to bite into and consume the last of his soul.

Luke doubled over in the darkness and wrapped himself into a ball in a vain attempt to defend himself. The blackness tried again and again to rip the center out of his existence as Luke fought on, memories of what he had to live for, the future he held in store for himself and others were what the beasts were after. It was then Luke knew he was alive, an instinctive reaction to the conditionings of the 'Dark Lord' and his master. This was the enslavement they wanted for themselves to benefit from and Master Yoda had gone into great detail over the difference between the capturing of ones body and ones mind.

The blackness tired itself out and finally released him, leaving him again to flip and spin endlessly in space, alone. Luke receded into himself, crying like a newborn youngling, the terror of the next attack already beating him down further before it even happens.

Luke felt the warm feeling of slimy, fresh mud wrap around his body, sealing him in place. He opened his eyes ready to face the darkness again and give in to it and found himself looking up past roots and trunks at the leaves of mighty jungle trees towering overhead as the scents of growing greens and composted browns filled his nose.

Flocks of feathered creatures jumped and half-flew through the branches high above chirping and screeching in a competitive chorus. A very thin, meter-long red snake slithered down off a vine dangling in Luke's face and kissed him with its thin, flickering black tongue a few times and assessed him as too big to consume and slithered off.

"Dagobah?" Luke was confused beyond all he ever could be.

"Pathetic, you are." He heard from past his feet as the hard, unforgiving muddy handle of a smaller, lighter Lightsaber dented into his chest with a dull thud as the ancient weapon landed.

Luke peeled himself out of the mud with both elbows while the miniature Lightsaber rolled into his lap. The trainee sat up looking down the length of his mud covered trouser legs and up to the squat, green hermit who had just insulted him.

"Master Yoda?" Luke said puzzled. "I thought…"

"Should not perhaps! Look where such things have landed you!" The old green man pointed his cane at his head to add to the scolding. "Feel you must, now feet of yours, find where you put them and beneath you again."

"Wait, what? ouch!" Luke winced as the blunt knobby handle end of his masters cane cracked against his shin, "Old am I getting waiting on you! Time you have not, up now and your weapon again, activate!" The old Jedi Master ordered with a voice box full of grinding gravel.

Luke pulled his feet in just before the cane landed again, the handle sunk into the mud, a splattering of dark, rich, wet soil flew across his face, "Up with you and feel you now." Master Yoda said.

Luke could taste the gritty muck covered handle as he placed it between his teeth, he avoided breathing in as he rolled over onto his hands and knees. He felt a small squirm between the fingers of his left hand and pulled it back out of the mud, a small, rounded armored insect flipped onto its back and righted itself onto thousands of tiny legs hissing at him as it curled its antennae in and burrowed back into the compost.

"Up!" rumbled through gravel again from behind with less patience now.

Luke finished laboring up to his feet and stood facing away from the voice prodding him and said as he gazed up into the treetops, "Haven't I suffered enough for you?"

Luke did not receive an answer. He turned to see his master climbing up a tall, steep, vine-laced pile of rocks until the base of a giant tree provided him a haven high above. He nestled his little frail body in the crook of two horizontal branches and snapped his stick against the tree motioning Luke to approach without being taught another humiliating lesson in proper footwork.

Luke's feet remained stuck in the mud and he fell forward with his hands out as the Lightsaber flew away back to the hand of its master. After getting to his feet again he sloshed forward a few meters and fell to his knees beneath the wrinkled, green and graying old man waiting for his words. As he struggled to catch his breath in the sweltering humidity, the sweat ran down his face and the sides and back of his neck in streams.

"What know you of suffering? Hmmm? Think you only the one to live an age alone in the desert, or to spend what years you have left forgotten in the brush?" Luke wanted to respond but knew he would not have a chance against the hermit. "What would know you about the loss of armies of living, thinking beings to machines and madmen? Of worlds enslaved and destroyed by the 'Dark Side'? Villains have you seen, a true body, not just an agent of evil to face, have you yet."

Luke let his head fall and wiped the hair stuck to his face back. Looking up into the cloudy eyes of the being perched before him he knew Master Yoda had seen it all in the thousand years before he was born. The old man spoke without riddle in a language Luke could understand, "You do not feel, you look, you see, you act. You think, you try, you doubt, you fail. When you fall you blame others and convinced are you your actions are for the greater good." Luke let his head fall forward again as he listened on.

"You see The Force and you sense the message, but you must feel for the wisdom of The Force presenting you with the path to what is right for all, not just you or a select few who share your views."

"What would you have me do then, stay in a cave like you so I can keep myself safe and away from all?" Luke sounded respectfully pessimistic as he slung a backhand of sweat out into the swamp.

"If necessary, yes, but too young you are yet and The Force in store has much for you, good or bad, choices equally you will share." The wise man had returned to his tongue and awaited a reply.

Luke took in a wet sweltering breath and spoke bravely as he felt the questions so many others had been afraid to ask well up inside of him, "Were you ever tempted by the 'Dark Side'? And how have you lived to be so old? I don't know if I'll make it." Luke was sincere in his asking while staring at the long pools of muddy water where he must have landed several times before.

The old man paused and looked up at the same branches Luke had first seen when he opened his eyes. "Yes, many times by men of wealth who could benefit from the Jedi mind trick if used on their competitors, by alien species asking for warlords to govern their conquered planets, offering power in exchange for the continued domination of living beings. These are the cobblestones of the path to your own suffering, better to die sinking slowly in the mud with clear heart and mind than willingly go into the darkness awaiting." The forest's creatures fell silent, listening and waiting for the wisdom the old wise one spoke of.

"The Force is a rock within you, unbreakable to all unless placed under the hammer of your own pride." Luke lifted his head at the words spoken to him and put his hands flat against his stomach, a flash back of shattering teeth from deep within shook his spine and the echoes of the whispers hissed like the snakes living in the tree canopy above. "It is the body of wisdom, a never-ending river of light, and we shall pass on when The Force has completed our purpose and when we have made ourselves one and whole again."

The dwarf stood, closed his eyes and fell over backward off the edge of the branch like a dead bird, Luke gasped as he witnessed the old man tumble only to see him gracefully land on his odd shaped feet in the mud with a 'plop!', stick in hand and his eyes still closed.

"Know not the ground, do I, Introduced itself to me it has not, lie to me my old eyes do as to where and what it is. Feel for it I must to be one and same again." The old man parted his bulging eyelids and looked into Luke's eyes while raising the corners of his crooked smile with confidence, proving it was not luck or a stunt but a result of being at one with the environment through the 'Living Force'.

"The more I feel the more it hurts." Luke said with a broken heart full of frustration at the hand life had dealt out to him. A vision of Tattooine and racing speeders with his friends and the first girl who ever kissed him flashed past his mind's eye. It was a time of carelessness, and not so long ago for the young man, he wished time would take him back, but knew the experience was far behind him and belonged to another farm boy now.

Dragging his roughly hewn cloak behind him through the mud Master Yoda plopped his fat, green, wrinkled claws forward one after another grunting as he labored until Luke could see them sunk into the mucky brown grit before him. The Jedi Master lifted his cane and Luke flinched expecting a disciplinary whack on the head for showing such vulnerability.

Master Yoda put the knobby handle of his cane gently under Luke's chin and lifted his head up to meet eye to eye and said in a peaceful manner, "Much have you learned from living and only a shred from me my Padawan."

"Life is pain, I get it." Luke said plainly.

Master Yoda replied, "An idea connected to brings pain, realizing a loved one is lost, a war and lives lost, The sting of foolish pride the practice saber gives you, examples abound, yet so many choose to avoid the pain of failure, only to lose themselves in misery over what they allowed themselves to not accomplish."

Luke felt a light, cool breeze brush across the back of his neck as the dimly lit canopy above faded into the blue-gray before nightfall, the activity of chirps and squawking returned as if to reinforce the old man's point, but these were the sounds of warning to seek shelter and safety against the leathery and scale covered creatures who ruled the night, searching high and low for the weak, sick and injured the daylight left behind.

Luke took in a breath and was about to speak when Master Yoda prodded him in the Adam's apple with the knobby stick causing him to choke on the words and fall over backwards in to a sputtering coughing fit.

"Perhaps best suited for you, a Farm-system is hmmm? Making animal sounds and rolling in the mud will be the way of the Jedi now, safer for you I think, find you there the Emperor shall not, for fear of dirtying his slippers." The old Jedi instructor was back to complete the days lessons.

"Up now and yourself, arm." The old man said directly.

"With what!" Luke demanded.

"Your senses, judgment, compassion and this." The Jedi master produced his Lightsaber and activated it's green blade with a white-hot, vaporizing hiss, slicing through the cool mist now creeping across the jungle floor.

Master Yoda threw the activated weapon at Luke as he almost finished standing upright, he caught the weapon by the handle as the blade nearly took his head off and fell into a backwards summersault springing to his feet with a fresh coating of muck and slime running into the small of his back.

"Alright then, old man, I'm ready for you!"

"Feel you are ready to, and no more." The green skinned dwarf locked eyes fiercely with his Padawan while slowly raising a claw up as high as he could to the canopy of the trees. The instructor dropped it halfway ending the motion with a stumpy little green claw aimed at Luke.

Luke braced himself for a burst of lightning. The old man simply stood his ground staring ever deeper into his opponents' eyes until the Padawan burst into a defiant laughter, "What are you going to do, scold me to death? My Uncle already tried that!"

Out of the fading twilight from above a black, leathery winged creature smacked into Luke's face screeching as it clawed at his eyes and bit into his upper lip and nose. Luke screamed and tore at it with his left hand and burned it with the miniature Lightsaber in his right. The beast sprang off his face as quickly as it had landed with a mouthful of Luke's face and lip. His ears rang from the little beast's vocals as he spit out a spray of blood and wiped the defensive tears of his eyes only to see Master Yoda sloshing up to him. The Jedi Master planted the short end of his cane into his stomach, doubling the trainee over.

"Have you, what you need to know." Master Yoda said as he pulled the now deactivated weapon from Luke's weakened grip. "Your mind is the only weapon you need." The old Jedi Master waved his thick, stumpy claw lifting Luke off the ground and carelessly tossed him backwards into the air end over end until landing in belly flop face down in a bed of thick, rich mud. Luke lifted his blood and mud soaked face long enough to catch the last of the jungle planet's fading light and the silhouette of a little man and his long ears disappear behind a thick wooden door covering the entrance to his little mud hut.

Luke rolled over and stared up into darkness as the forest lost the last of its star's rays and turned to black. Exhausted he breathed in the cool mist to the bottom of his lungs, closed his eyes and fell back into the place he was, a place of absolute nothingness.

Chapter 50

Rebel Alliance Captain Chasa Qo stepped between the two Royal adversaries interrupting the conversation. "You will address each other in the appropriate fashion or this transmission shall be terminated!"

"Who are you and how dare you speak to me in such fashion." The Emperor tried to get into the Captain's mind only to be held up at the door. "Don't try your cheap parlor tricks on me you snake! I am Chasa Qo, the mother of Palishii Qo, your former Admiral and hero of the New Republic." The old woman finished her point, "Mark my words, one day one of your own will do you in and will be a hero to me as well, Now start again or sign off, both of you!" The aging woman stepped away allowing the two to face off again but not without shooting Leia a seething glance for being childish and engaging him.

Queen Leia Organa squared her brow and awaited an address, the Emperor held his words and sat in silence, the outlines of his burnt and gruesome face barely visible under his black cloak.

Admiral Ackbar rotated a giant eye over to Master Tech Baskel Baskeearri and nodded it up and down several times. The tech took out his key from around his neck and kissed it again then pressed it to the same indentation under the screen he had been standing at when he dealt with the Imperial hunter-killer torpedo earlier and twisted it.

As the false Emperor addressed the Royal Representative the transmission was instantly broadcast galaxy wide using every ship in the fleet. The transmission jacked into all major news and interplanetary marketing networks. Within several minutes the transmission would be received in the outer rim and would find its way to the almighty Jabba the Hutt and he would have a vested interest in the information he was about to receive as would every vile bounty hunter in the universe.

The Emperor spoke first with a hiss in his voice, "Your Royal Majesty…Queen Leia, I wish to have an audience with you." The room felt cold when he spoke but the fire in the Captain of the Guard Wixxim's eyes burned hotter at the sight of the one thing he wanted to remove from this universe permanently.

The Queen returned a wicked smile holding back secrets at his folding and said with a lace of deviousness in her words, "Emperor Palpatine, I graciously accept and wish to present you with thoughts of my own."

"Let us begin." The Emperor wasted no time, "Palishii Qo is a murderer and caused the deaths of over nearly thirty million people aboard ''Torka-Pruum'" space station. He was unworthy of serving me and served you for the worse."

"How so, If you would kindly inform me is the loss so many of your terrifying shock troops and weapons of destruction not benefit the people who stand for freedom?" The Queen could have cared less at the loss of his expensive Star Cruisers, enslaved workers and illegal clone incubating colony.

"I have given the order to Grand Mof Korsche to exercise all facilities under his command to eliminate all life on Palishii-E and he will be arriving shortly." The Emperor was not bluffing and Leia knew it beyond a doubt and replied. "You have left me no choice, against my will and that of the people of Palishii-E, I must seek a bargain to ensure the safety of their home-world."

The Emperor pondered for a moment and spoke, "Perhaps a new 'arrangement' may be possible to keep the peace."

Leia was offended to the core of her being at the thought of being bound to the wretched creature and felt her stomach turn over and her spine go numb.

"Yes, Emperor you are correct." The Queen lifted a small digital tablet and inspected it, tapped it several times and sat it back down. "I have just given the order for two automated space cruisers loaded with treasures, fuel, food, water and weapons orbiting Tattooine to land and be placed in the custody of the almighty Jabba the Hutt. The deal is one ship is for payment to Jabba for his managerial prowess, if you attack Palishii-E or any of the members of the Royal Families for any reason ever, the other will be divided up as payment by the warlord for bounty on the top three officer's heads aboard any and all Imperial starships." The Queen meant what she said as well.

"You might be able to stay away from harm yourself, dear Emperor, but your men will never be safe, and that will make it hard for you to keep good help, I imagine you will lose more than a few able bodies to bounty hunters anyway as they stock up their cryo-freezers beforehand waiting for you to break the bargain so they may cash in immediately." The Queen raised an eyebrow signaling it was his play.

The Emperor brushed the threat off, informing Leia he was taken aback at the boldness of her move. "Now that your foolishness has betrayed the position of your precious 'Alliance', Grand Mof Korsche will be intercepting your path where I will graciously accept your surrender and imprisonment to me for the rest of your days in exchange for not executing the entire force of mercenaries in your employ one by one in the most inhumane way possible at the hands of Lord Vader personally." The Emperor had his own entourage of people just off screen to inform him of the galaxy wide broadcast and to give pre-determined orders to the fleet according to the information at hand.

Leia's Aunt Chasa shook her head and shot her a look of warning not to fuel the Emperor's already bad attitude but knew it was coming anyway.

The Queen smiled wide with the phoniest display of genuine affection ever presented and said, "And how is Lord Vader today? Should I send the recipe for my auntie's soup?" Captain Chasa Qo put her hand on her forehead and shook her head. "Your crew leaks like a sieve and I hear he is under medical watch." It was like blood in the water for the news networks, the markets went wild with the speculation of unhindered and untaxed trade routes as the upper management of the regime may be crumbling.

"As does yours, Your Majesty." The Emperor grumbled from low in his gut.

"Yes 'Dear Emperor', but our people have to be captured and tortured, yours hate you and can be bought and seek us out." Admiral Akbar smiled wide and snickered with the guards as the Queen ran him through with the needle sharp comment.

Just then everyone in the room heard and felt a muffled 'Snap!' from down low in her back and she jerked just so slightly as a piercing, stinging pain raced through her stomach and lung and out through the left side of her ribcage. Crizora tried to rush to her but Baskel grabbed her arm quickly with a little to much pressure pinching the soft underside as she spun around and shrieked silently with her eyes in reaction, Crizora whispered angrily, "Ow! I don't care who you are you don't have permission to do that to me you Jerk!" Then smacked him with her clipboard.

"Hush!" Captain Chasa barked at them down low.

The Queen put a finger to her lips casually and lifted it away slowly inspecting a spot of red on her fingertip, not letting on to the tyrant that either he or some invisible enemy attempting yet another assassination may just hit their mark and injured her.

The Queen gracefully wiped the red across her pale lips in a sleight of hand brightening them for all to see, while hiding the weakness in plain sight, the effect only made her appear more beautiful and defiant.

The Emperor knew he had lost this round and wrapped it up before he gave the tabloids too much to work with, "You may find my rule a fair and just alternative to the future near at hand…'Your Worship.'" Then signed off leaving only the projector eye hanging from the ceiling.

"What did he mean by that?" Leia thought to herself. She was convinced he was far beyond evil and twisted beyond return, but not stupid by any stretch of the imagination, and when he lied it just was not as eerie and chilling as when he actually told the truth.

Leia began to wobble and Crizora broke away from Baskel to rush to her side with the hand-maidens, the Queen held up a hand and all froze in their tracks.

The thought of a life of enslavement and marriage to the Emperor overwhelmed her and she pulled back the crystal-snow-white material and leaned over a shining chrome sink mounted to the dentistry chair and threw up.

The blood rushed out of Leia's head as Crizora and her handmaidens caught her before she slid down to the floor.

"Afraid, you will be."

-Master Yoda

Chapter 51

Darkness, darkness, and more darkness, Luke was in a place of forever lonesome, until the thing with him before returned again, he opened his eyes and blinked repeatedly trying to clear the liquid permanently filling them. He scrambled around like a rodent in the dark feeling for the walls of his prison, following the edges where they met the floor until he ran into another dead end. As he leaned against the wall for any kind of tether, it fell out from behind leaving him to tumble endlessly again.

In the dark Luke thought he saw a spark, so small it could have been in the back of his mind, maybe even the last of his sane thoughts burning out in one last flash. Then another, Luke waited an eternity staring, waiting and hoping that what he saw would return, a glimmer of hope in a prison without light.

As Luke's hope faded away, two sparks shot away from each other and disappeared, a lifetime later four sparks, the trails of burning white so far away and then gone, only the traces within his mind remained. Luke reached out in desperation, flailing in the sea of black for anything to cling to or at least to succumb to his own madness and end the ongoing suffering. Eight blistering hot streaks of light erupted in the shape of a star gone nova in front of him, the heat left burning streaks across his face.

Luke closed his eyes in the dark to no avail.

The light pierced his mind and gripped him, doubling again in heat and brightness as it exploded once more. Luke backpedaled and threw his hands up in a vain attempt to shield himself, all went dark and quiet. Luke held his eyes shut tight and folded his arms over his head and curled up in fear. He screamed in terror when the explosion doubled again and tried to run blinded without gaining any traction.

All went dark again and far beyond silent and Luke thought of the beast who attacked him before, trying to electrify his senses and force his submission through terror and fire, but he knew he was still alone, he could 'feel' it.

The sparks and noise doubled and doubled again as the detonations exploded from both somewhere beyond and within him. Luke was powerless to stop the light from burning his skin and piercing into his brain as the sound waves missed his ears his only to punish his bones and shake his sickly feeling insides.

The sparks multiplied and gained size, Luke panicked and tried to run from the increasing heat and glare but was pulled into it, caught in the gravity of a forming star, a ball of fire erupting to fill a void. Luke felt invisible fingers rush into his mouth and what felt like a hand hushing his lips with crushing force, his breathing was being controlled for him from beyond, he heard a respirator pulsing, so much like the 'Dark Lord's' a new set of fears formed he could not even fathom.

Luke tried and was denied a scream as the white ball of fire grew, enveloping and burning his senses awake in a flash. Pins and needles scattered and tore his brain as he was swallowed into the light and cast out the other side.

Luke awoke in a panic to the blinding glare of a single archaic operating table light, a Medical-droid with a series of blades and knives had attempted to open the exploration suit he was still wearing without proper authorization and tripped its security features,

The Medical-droid shook furiously, its circuits frying as thousands of volts of ungrounded electricity raced up the length of the saw blade and sets of pincers committing the crime and into the body of an ancient, half-rusted mechanical surgeon. The modern Med-Tech exploration suit took over, not only did it immobilize the droid, it drained the machine of nearly all power and hacked into it's core processor. Thanks to a program designed by Baskel Baskeearri himself, the suit's operating system acquired and copied all information on the droids hard drive while rendering the unit inoperative unless called upon by the Master Program Key holder.

The droid stopped its convulsing then retracted all its instruments and stood at attention. The unit extended a single spindly silver arm dangling a magnetic key on a chain similar to the one the new Master Technician of the 'Victorious' kept in his possession as it powered down.

Luke felt for his face with a thick padded glove and the cold bare metal alloy of his burnt and welded together robotic fingers, the suit's first-aid features had sprung into action, a set of tubes filled his mouth, throat and lungs, breathing for him, the contraption was held in place by a clear gel which flexed like rubber.

The midsection of the suit had inflated itself around his stomach and lower back, crushing against a wound he could feel in his mind but was numbed to by the in-suit surgical software protocols. Chief Medical Officer Crizora Axuki's point of view was not to have to wait to operate, the suit could start the job or stabilize the patient and transfer all statistics ahead and to the pilot in order for him or her to assist in their own recovery while awaiting pick-up.

Luke flashed back, he saw himself waking in a scream while wearing only the faded orange fire-proof underlining and fighting with the ancient Medical-droid, it must have removed the suit before the security systems could reboot after his hard impact with R2-D2 at the end of the hallway. The adrenaline the unit attempted to administer was an old, primitive formula containing a dangerous mix of chemicals designed to revive and immobilize him at the same time. The immunization schedule of nano-vaccines Dr. Axuki had him on for two weeks before departure reacted and corralled the intrusive fluid and deconstructed the compounds molecules, reforming the building blocks into medicines of use or casting them out to be ejected from his system through his sweat.

The nano-warriors refined and purified the old adrenaline mix into an updated ultra-high potency formula of Crizora's own design. The invisible medics encapsulated and weaponized the product by placing it within thousands microscopic artillery units formed by millions of tiny robotic bodies locking together. The nano-units 'walked' the pre-loaded cannons up the walls of Luke's blood vessels and arteries until taking strategically fixed positions within the linings of his heart and it's valve openings.

In concert with select lines of programming from the 'Old Republic Battle Matrix' playbook provided by Admiral Ackbar, the units engaged and fired in controlled, precise bursts shocking Luke to life with ten times the dosage that would be given to a humanoid under any other circumstances. The micro-medics restarted his heart with a 'Do not take 'no' for an answer' mentality.

Other members of the nano-army went on ahead to scout his brain and deliver oxygen while other medics raced to the scenes of other injuries, the units in his brain shocked his neurons with raw electricity in tandem with the adrenaline units jolting him back to his full senses in agony.

Luke knew he had to get away from where was, fast. He tried to sit up when a spearing hot pain shot through his midsection. He rolled hard to his left as he wailed then to his right grabbing the key from away from the powered down droid as he fell off the edge of the table, landing hard on his hands and knees, his midsection buckled from his injuries and he sunk the rest of the way down to the floor.

Chapter 52

"I swear I will finish you boy, if you had any thing to do with this!" The largest of Queen Leia's personal guard's eyes were quick and he said the words with a chilling effect to Baskel as he pinned the Master-Tech's head to the computer screen with the tip of his 'Scatter-beam' rifle. Baskel watched beyond the threat to his life out of the corner of his eye to Crizora, who had rushed to the Queens's rescue.

Chief Medical Officer Crizora Axuki took control of the room. "She's bleeding!" She shouted commanding the attention of all in the room. Leia's snow white gown turned crimson just above her waist on her right side and pooled onto the floor. "…and from what, I do not know! whatever it is it went all the way through and out again!, it could have been an assassins' shot through the hull but if so, why are we still breathing?!"

She scanned the room for Master Tech Baskel Baskeearri, "You there!" Crizora singled out the guard holding her attending Tech Officer down with a stiff pointed index finger, "Stand down and unhand him and let him work!, you are in my medical bay and by the laws set forth by the Joint Chief's of the Rebel Alliance, you will obey my orders or I will shoot you all personally after your Court Martials!" She did not scream, she did not shout, she commanded the situation with absolute authority over her domain and Admiral Ackbar looked to the ceiling in relief.

Baskel put a thumb and forefinger against the thick barrel and pressed it back against the soldiers chest, he took a long step forward and backed him up. "Technology wins the day, sunshine!" Baskel said as he winked at the man who was going to kill him and said with a light shout, "I'm on it, boss, no need to shoot a good man!" Baskel went to work looking for anything that may have breached the hull.

The Queens hand maidens lifted her weightlessly with all gentleness as Crizora ushered them to a containment unit with a bed and a '301' style 'Med-Bot', the most advanced unit in the fleet to stop the bleeding.

Leia Coughed and sputtered as she fought against the people desperately trying to save her life, "Ack!, Ackba…!"

"Leia, please don't try to talk!" Her Aunt Chasa pleaded with her.

Leia pulled a breath in past the shooting pain, her eyes opened wide as she struggled to free herself. With all her life she shouted with hoarse, graveled filled words that rang the Admiral's memory like a giant iron bell with a voice he had not 'felt' or heard in decades, "Ensign Ackbar!, Liberator of Tarnasi and warrior of democracy, I call upon my life debt to you!, I will not be denied!"

Admiral Ackbar's blood, if you could call it that, froze. The Mon-Calamari humanoid recognized the power speaking through the purest of his students and dropped to his knees while answering the Jedi Master who saved his life hundreds of years ago.

"What is your bidding, My Lord!" The Admiral said loudly and humbly knowing the Captain of the Royal Guard would not shoot as the Force now had other plans for them all. Crizora, Captain Chasa Qo and her handmaidens continued to rush Leia to the containment unit as a crew of automated surgeons fired up its power source and readied their programming and equipment to operate.

The Queen, or whatever was channeling through her body spoke to the Admiral directly as the Captain of the Royal guard covered him closer still with his weapon and listened in with a mix of interest and puzzlement, "Injured terribly, the new hope are, coming is your General and the Last Dragon, to the plan you must remain at all cost!"

Queen Leia Organa's voice faded away as Crizora injected her with pre-operative sedatives, the force field to the trauma unit engaged allowing the Medical-droids the peace to start work on their newest patient.

"It will be done, My Lord!" Admiral Ackbar shouted across time and space and gave a quick thought as to what threat the Last Dragon represented but could only imagine what trouble the young General had stirred up or if it was an omen to a final showdown with the Emperor.

Captain Wixxim had no clue who or what spoke through the Queen and he did not care, his orders were absolute as far as he was concerned. He Wrapped a gloved fist around the Admirals collar and hoisted all of his weight up with one arm gracefully with incredible strength, the gun barrel never moved more than a centimeter away from the Admirals giant left eye. "Alright, 'Master Strategist General', let's see if you're as good as the ancient history books claim you are."

The Admiral, being Mon-Calamari enjoyed the ability to belch silently and talk at the same time. He summoned up the fish crackers out of his third stomach he enjoyed during C-3PO's presentation and let the aroma flavor his words while he spoke in terms the Captain and his men would understand, "What you have learned from your Queen is the only reason you are still alive, and I am the one who taught her survival. To this day my students and I have caused the deaths of millions of oppressors and enemies of democracy, peace and freedom. Twenty two thousand, eight hundred and fifteen by my hand personally."

The Captain backed his weapon off in respect, the teacher of the Queen and an Admiral of the Alliance spoke into the men's hearts, "I have but one tyrant left to destroy, by means of any destruction possible with all the force at my command and you are going to help me do it!, You and your men under my command, now Captain Wixxim and it's time to kill some Imperials!"

The Captain smiled wide with a wickedness to match the Emperor himself and said, "Everything the books said are true, you really are a bloodthirsty murderer, but what are we going to report to the Joint Chiefs?"

Just then Crizora glided by the two co-conspirators, catching both of their eyes. The way she moved and the texture of her hair set their minds in motion, a light above her cast a shadow down upon her face outlining her cheekbones, both humanoids thought the same thing at the same time.

"Captain Chasa Qo and Chief Medical Officer Crizora Axuki, I need to speak with you please!" The Admiral bellowed loudly and returned the wicked smile to his now fellow warrior. Captain Qo looked to the warriors staring together at Crizora and said, "Yes, I see it." Eying her uncanny similarity to the Queen's features and replied, "Oh, definitely, I believe it may work!"

Crizora looked up from her supervising of the droid assigned to the sterilizing of humanoid operational tools to see the command figures sizing her up, with her delicate voice Baskel heard from over twenty meters away she said suspiciously, "What?"

Chapter 53

Luke could not move, the pain shooting through his mid section paralyzed him. The rolling wheels of the prehistoric Med-Bot frozen in place next to his face menaced him out of fear the thing could come back to life and try to resume its operations and finish the task of cutting him to pieces.

The suit's Holo-vizor readings were incomplete, broken by several long gashes burned in from one side of the view screen to the other. The readings scrolled across the screen disappearing and reappearing where they could. Luke didn't need a machine to tell him how badly he was hurt.

In his mind he heard Anakin Skywalker's words and their echoes, "You are not going anywhere." Luke fought to open his eyes past the blinding bolts of lightning and get to his elbows and knees again. Shakily steadying himself, a visions raced through his mind's eye, after fighting with the primitive Med-bot when he awoke the first time he quickly deactivated it by shorting its unarmored circuit boards with a strategic jab from his sharp, bare metal fingers. Scanning the room he found the door and its activation panel. He waved a shaking bare hand in front of a small, floating-dust filled laser beam, the door hesitated and resisted lightly as ancient gears toiled to slide the titanium slab into the wall to his left.

Luke still wore his orange, fire-proof under suit keeping his feet warm on the hard steel grates that served as the floor, underneath countless wires and tubes raced off to who knows where. Outside the Med-Bay a brightly lit hallway gave him only two choices, left or right. Luke chose right and padded silently down the hall looking for a place to hide or a way to escape. He assumed he was inside the space-station now, and it would be only a matter of time before his captors found him missing.

Luke ran past a storeroom door and stopped suddenly, turned around and looked in, his dirty, beaten and damaged orange exploration suit hung from a manually operated fire hose rack, the helmet hung on a vice mounted to a workbench beside.

He had the suit on and the Holo-vizor powered up three times as fast as Baskel had timed him after two weeks of practice and was thankful the low ranking Tech assistant had talked him into doing the drill twice if not three times a day. The inside of the boots were dry with a thin lining of caked, rusty mud, informing Luke he had been unconscious for quite some time. He checked his equipment, the scalpel was still in the arm pocket and the useless blaster with the heat damaged barrel was in its holster, but his Lightsaber was missing.

Luke heard the familiar steely, clicking tips of a Construction-droid's pointed legs lumbering down the hallway through the external microphones now set on high sensitivity. Luke knew he was no match for the giant gold spider cornered as he was and acted quick, he stepped back into the rack the suit was hanging on tapped several commands into the wrist pad and whispered into the internal microphone, "Security Systems engage…Stealth Mode..." The suit obeyed its programming, deeply tinting the Holo-vizor to conceal his face and the fog from his breath while crouching slightly. The unit powered down into a 'stand-by' mode. Luke went limp with it, and waited in the dimly lit corner with the sound of his pounding heart in his ears.

The Construction-droid stopped at the doorway and peered in, the machine knew something was different about the picture but did not have the programming to deduct what exactly had changed.

The beast, being too big to fit through the doorway extended a long, golden spear and tapped the top of the helmet several times and waited. Luke held his breath ready to lash out if he had to, a flinch on his part would send the suit into full power assist for defense leaving him no choice but to rush it and try to smash its large eye out with his blaster and hopefully run for it he confusion.

The machine extended another leg into the room and shook the suit carefully several more times, not being a dedicated cargo-lifter the machine had not recorded the original weight of the unit. After trying unsuccessfully to lift the suit with Luke's weight inside such a small space, the Construction-droid assumed the fire hose rack was unsuitable to support it properly, and simply made sure it was still secure as it sat and moved on.

Luke let out his breath and waited for the menace to turn a corner somewhere further down the hall before powering up and heading in the other direction.

He kept a watchful ear behind him for the Construction-droid, while focusing his attention on a junction at the end of the hall where he would again have the option of left or right or to open a door if he could and go forward.

Luke's pace slowed, with each step his skin prickled and stung as if his very life-force was ever so slowly being pulled away from him. It was the same feeling he had when on the surface of the Top-secret Star Destroyer. "If a ball of fire could feel, this must be the sensation the star outside is experiencing." Luke thought to himself, the feeling of your life being sucked out of you slowly, and painfully until there is nothing left but a dark core of despair.

"Prepared to feel are you, and nothing more." Master Yoda could not have been more right, Luke recalled. He felt it was high time to get as far away from this place as possible.

He tip-toed the best he could to the 'T' intersection at the end of the corridor. He could feel a dark, empty, forgotten hole punched through the universe waiting beyond the brushed-steel finished door. In an instant the retracting mechanism snapped to life and the door hissed as it disappeared into the wall. Beyond was an office once used to oversee the interior of the net of the mining drill when in operation. The same super-thick space faring glass surrounding the station acted as its floor, walls and ceiling. Beyond the room, the giant, white spinning globe and its mystical sparkle filled the room up through the clear floor panels.

The lights in the long hallway dimmed heavily, adjusting automatically to the sudden opening of the door allowing the white glow to reach only as far as the dark would allow.

Within the room propped up fearlessly and reclined across the top of a glass slab and against the glass wall it was mounted to was a figure, a three dimensional shadow of humanoid proportions.

Luke hesitated, his eyes tried to make sense of who or what he was looking at, the harder he stared the more he struggled to understand and make out the life-form, if it was one at all, it certainly did not feel like any he had experienced.

Whatever it was had not seen him yet or taken the time to, the creatures head was tilted and leaning into the glass with what appeared to be a hand with many fingers pressed flat against it. Luke felt his own heart cry out in despair as black tears ran down the glass like oil and slithered like snakes back into their master. The thing was crying.

Luke was locked in the moment, the emotions from the creature smashed into his mind with the force of storm driven ocean waves, wild hope, blind trust, betrayal, fear, anger, hate, suffering and binding it all existed the burning need for absolute revenge upon every single last creature in existence. In Luke's opinion, the emperor's terrifying presence paled in comparison to the destructive will alone of what sat beyond the doorway, this thing had only one clear mission, what it was Luke was not about to wait around long to find out.

Luke remembered feeling nauseated and stumbled as he tried to sneak past the corner and away from the emptiest place he had ever seen. The veteran pilot tripped over his own heavy feet and felt like a youngling learning to walk as he fell against the wall to the left of the door opening. He cursed loud at himself in his mind at his own stupidity as he froze while hoping he would not be noticed.

Luke's tears cleared enough to know he was on the floor of the Med-Bay, the pain shooting through his body replaced itself with a feeling of tightness and pressure intent to hold him still as he fought to keep moving forward. He found himself in two places at once, his body crawling like an infant across the grated floor in the here and now and in his mind's eye standing outside the door of the glowing glass room.

Luke made a decision to lift a foot to run when a voice came from out of the room, the dim silvery light filling the hall flickered and strobed as the words echoed with a muted hiss, "You…are not…not, going…going, anywhere…anywhere!"

To be continued…

STAR WARS

The continuing adventures of Luke Skywalker;

The myth of the Crystal Moon-Part 1

Jared C. Phillips

10 01 11

Co-edited by the author and Michele A. Phillips as best we could

This is a work of fan-based fiction and a tribute to the most awesome thing to ever happen to a nine year old kid.

All Characters and trademarked products owned by Walt Disney Studios

Original character design and story concept by the one and only George Lucas

Original fan based story concept by Jared C. Phillips

Chapter 54

Luke flashed back to his current predicament. his struggling yielded only a few meters of forward motion with each attempt, his body numbing itself to trauma and fighting against the weakened mechanics of the exploration suit trying to immobilize and stabilize his condition. The memories worked his mind over as he struggled, within piercing flashes of light the scenes played out, running down long white paneled hallways, a room made of glass with shattering walls, a jet-black figure resembling a girl or maybe young woman his age, maybe a little older laughing insanely while trying to kill him as she grew wings chased him above a white-hot, crystal surfaced planetoid captured within a colossal woven net of gargantuan metal cable large enough to park both the Rebel and Imperial fleets within.

Luke continued to hobble across the floor through the stale smelling Med-bay hooking the floors grates with the damaged bare metal fingers of his right hand while gripping the exposed metal wrist gearings with his left and pulling himself painfully forward inches at a time. With each kick of the spikes embedded in his steel toed boots the visions of recent memory worked his brain over as the tears and sweat from the effort ran down his face and across the Holo-vizor.

Luke left the physical suffering of his body as he scrambled feebly across the floor, his consciousness being pulled inward by memories enveloping him in a waking dream of past events catching up to him, He stood outside the doorway of the room at the end of the hallway in his mind where he heard the eerily spoken words, "You are not going anywhere."

Unknown words garbled and echoed until focusing into a uniform voice he could understand, that of a woman, educated and direct. "I come to you in peace."

Before Luke could answer the woman spoke again, "I welcome you."

Luke raised an eyebrow.

"Such was the message exchanged." The voice around the corner spoke as the soft light emitting from the room flickered down the hall in rhythm with the syllables, the source seemed to be without concern for his whereabouts, "It is impolite to sneak around. You may as well come in, you will not be leaving anytime soon." Luke looked up to the ceiling as he stood with his hands and his back to the wall. The game was up and he had to face what held him captive to get some answers as to what was going on in this place. Luke took a deep breath of the suit's re-circulated air tasting the faint traces of dried mud and rust and bravely stepped around the corner.

The thing never looked up as it spoke when he entered the short entryway of the room. Luke's first impression of the creature was a nearly discernable blob of black goo with accents of a humanoid outline reclined across the top of a clear slab mounted in the corner of the glass walled room. "She was a leading scientist who was looking for life elsewhere in the universe." A simulated human shaped arm with a formless hand uncurled to point to a low table made of a long narrow slice of ten centimeter thick space faring glass bent into a 'U' shape and turned upside down.

A square slab of cut crystal half as thick as the glass and the size of Luke's palm and outstretched fingers sat in the middle of the table by itself. The device used the light from the moon below cast a semi-holographic image of a young woman with a decorated uniform speaking in a graduation ceremony of an advanced school of thought surrounded by classmates and who he assumed by their proud expressions, her parents.

Luke was amazed at the invisible technology casting a miniaturized full color, several seconds long loop of her accepting an award and the applause which followed, It was clearly the high point of a young person's life.

Luke spied his weapon lying upon the table beside it.

"This was her prison cell and that was the only comfort the barbarians allowed her as she was enslaved, in time it only hurt her further as they all died one by one."

Luke knew the question, he could feel it, "What happened here?"

"She pioneered a form of communication by channeling the moon's direct current while in a meditative state to reach beyond their realm of darkness to the galaxy of stars so far away." The things arm melted like black wax and disappeared back into it as it still had yet to face Luke. "Extra Sensory Perception was a laughable field but was the only form of communication available as the culture had no means of energy powerful enough to escape the space they occupied to travel the universe or communicate with it and any attempts to leave their world met with disaster. All life came from the ingestion of water from massive rivers flowing in deep channels across the crystal surface. No one knew where the water and energy which powered their lonely world came from it simply appeared within the vacuum of their existence and so did they, what you call 'younglings' manifested themselves into existence and were discovered and cared for. The worlds of fire you call stars were not visible from their world and only existed in theories by an extra intelligent few who were more entertained for their insights versus being truly taken seriously by the population." Luke could see the mist rising into steam through the transparent wall and floors condensing into droplets beneath his boots and falling back to the surface. What appeared at first to only be just another round space worn planetoid to the uneducated eye now took form and he could see the damage done to the surface. Cracks and fissures ran in all directions, the crumbled and shattered crystal cornerstones of colossal buildings to rival the structures of Coruscant were all that remained.

The telltale marks of thousand meter wide excavators and material moving machines crisscrossed the surface, the tracks leaving a trail of ground powder and shattered tailings behind. Luke thought he saw ghosts, the heads popping up in curious fear at the black thing watching over them to get a peek at the visitor like younglings staring at a new outlaw arriving on Tattooine. The apparitions flickered and faded one by one into the steam and rose up into the dark net above to rain back down in droplets.

The mysterious form of life rolled over and took on the barely familiar shape of the emperor as it gracefully and weightlessly touched its newly formed boots to the glass floor with a light set of clicks and stood. A young man's face presented itself to Luke without color other than the black and grey's and shadows cast from the white light below coming up through the glass giving a three dimensional shape and handsomeness to the ancient, burnt and decrepit form the tyrant presented.

Before the surprised Jedi trainee could draw half a breath to speak the thing took a long step forward. Luke stood frozen nearly nose to visor with the it surprised with how quickly it covered the distance between them. Its eyes flashed once and stared into his soul, he took a step back and said through the squawking speaker box in half-belief of the image before him, "Emperor Palpatine?"

In genuine shock then turned blacker still, absorbing the white light cast from the moon and dimming the room as its mouth dropped open. It howled as it back-peddled then threw both dripping oily hands on its head while falling onto the clear slab that served as It's perch and then screamed out in a mad laughter.

There was nothing the helmet could do to stop the deafening sound, the thing was communicating directly into his mind. This was what attacked him while he tumbled in darkness.

The creature rolled over and exclaimed directly at the moon beyond the glass to it as if it were a lifelong friend, "Emperor he says! Can you believe it! Ha!, A scam artist! petty thief, scrub, unfit to be consumed by bacteria!" So far the thing was incapable of lying as far as the fighter pilot was concerned.

Luke could only watch on as the thing laughed itself into submission and broke down in streaming oily tears again for a few moments then just as suddenly as the creature was overtaken it stopped.

Luke's skin almost burned with warning from the Force.

The creature stood up, turned around gracefully and leaned against the desk bracing itself with two almost human hands, tar hissed as it fell in drops from the desk to the glass floor leaving acidic white burn marks behind as they sizzled and raced back into its feet.

The thing's voice changed and spoke with steady eloquence while still holding the merciless rulers younger form, "Your 'Emperor' Palpatine, answered the invitation first." The thing said calmly without emotion.

"He turned the people of this world into a slave culture forcing the population to mine crystal and siphon the moon's water supply as well as the liquid metal of the planet of what he branded 'Exo-Structor'."

The product was a commonly used element in Luke's universe, a few drops added to metal production would harden an existing design ten fold, common in the production of Imperial cruisers, even the framework of his Lightsaber was over ninety nine percent made of the material. His own robotic hand was reinforced with it as well, the cost to the Empire was considerable from the Command Personnel accounts hacked by Baskel, not all members of the Imperial forces were slaves, some were paid well to oppress the others. The Alliance put their funds to good use.

"By now I am sure he has helped cause the domination of most living things as he intended to deliver the plunder to his Master, Pleagus, to build a fleet and weapons for a new faction of betrayers of the purity of the darkness." The eyes hidden somewhere in the tar flashed at Luke.

"Yes he has, I know of his ability to cause suffering personally." The external speaker of the helmet squawked as Luke held up his damaged right hand.

The figure scowled at the cruelness then saw its reflection in the glass of the Holo-vizor, the machine was busy trying to run retinal scans of known Imperial terrorists as well as recording a long list of readings for Doctor Axuki to analyze later.

The mystery snorted at the glass with invisible nostrils in disapproval and turned back to the scene in the window and stared out again. "What know you of suffering?"

Luke's skin crawled at the repeated uttering of Master Yoda's words echoing his ears.

"I know it only causes more if left alone." He said with honesty.

"You could not be more right." The thing hissed back at him.

"The tyrant left to make his weapon production deals after almost all the premium minerals were extracted and the planet was nearly depleted of its oceans of liquid metal, leaving the rest to his under-lords as payment. They starved and worked the last thousands of the billions still alive to their grave, the caverns of the moon itself. The dying miner's bodies were cast down into the mineshafts, silenced as their spirits were forever trapped within the lifeless rock."

Luke raised his left hand and was about to speak when he was cut off, "The young woman who made first contact was betrayed in the worst way. She had succumbed to the young visitor's charms and fell in what she thought was love. She lobbied her government to allow him to return to the galaxy so far away in his craft and bring the finest scientific minds available, and he did."

Luke knew the work of the engineers the emperor contracted with, evil and self serving creators of automated terror and talented enslaved individuals. In this particular case it seemed to Luke the emperor did not have the usual financial or military backing he sported for his projects and it gave the feeling of shoddy if not amateur craftsmanship, it also made him curious if the Master-mind of all Sith, Darth Pleagus, even knew about this operation. From what Master Yoda told him the ancient ruler had a 'hands on' approach to his business affairs and treated an apprentice more like a slave and would never trust them with such a profitable venture.

"When the workers died off, the under-lords cleared out the technically skilled and threw them into the mines as well, the young woman being the most skilled of all was forced to maintain the mining drill and supervise the final stages of her own world's destruction. She was the last left alive and pleaded with the under-lord to take her with them as they readied for departure or to kill her and leave her behind, as she felt she had nothing left to live for but was denied."

For Luke the room grew colder, or maybe it was just his blood.

"She was ordered to the deepest recesses of the moons excavated caverns near its center to await her death as the bandits finished their pillaging and loaded their rock crushing machines back on board their cruisers."

Luke wanted to turn and run, but the story captivated him and the presence before him in all its terror and sadness held him in place with its words.

"Wandering the caverns in total darkness, she came across a half meter long shard made of what appeared to be rock, unlike any sample she had ever encountered in all her studies of geology on her home-world embedded within a wall in the heart of the moon narrowly missed by the destructive rock crushing machines.

The object glowed softly in the dark, lighting her way to safety after the last of the automated material transports harsh lights faded away and returned to the surface. The object called to her desperation, answering her prayers. She removed a pick-axe and chisel from the hands of a deceased worker and spent the next few hours burying the fallen slave, a former physics student of hers. She then set about carefully freeing the object from the layers of crystallized rock which encased it."

Luke broke in abruptly figuring he may as well get in on the conversation, "The piece of the 'Supreme Being' which survived the trans-dimensional rift during the 'Great Beginning'?" The thing paused at his interruption long enough to make the young man uncomfortable again and said, "Corruption cannot change, it only changes you and once infected it will destroy you entirely, it is only a matter of time."

Truer words were never spoken except for his Master Yoda as far as Luke knew.

"The delicate young woman heaved up the weight with both hands and pulled it in close to her and wrapped her arms around it feeling the power within comfort her, hold her while warming the water in her aching bones, quenching her thirst and guiding her down a path to a shared destiny, in her mind she tore out her broken heart and cast it along the wayside, there would be no place for a heart of any kind where she was going." Luke could hear and feel a lacing of the emotion of sobbing and sorrow turning to vicious anger floating out on top of the words. "She wrapped her arms around vengeance and married it with all her soul transforming into a pure enabler of destruction armed with an ultimate power source destroying anything it encountered. She returned to the surface an inhuman monster armed with a weapon which fought for her transforming an innocent life form into the agent of anti-existence, destroying all of the mercenaries upon the surface in a screaming insane rage before hijacking a transport to the mercenarie's orbiting headquarters. The lucky ones she killed, others were injured and left to suffer terribly for hours before their lives ended." Luke was fascinated at the things ability to convey the shouts of the mercenaries begging for mercy and being painfully finished off floating behind her speech. "The Warlord's security details aboard the mining drill were eliminated one by one in the same fashion as the others watched on in horror through video feeds at her relentless approach. The weapon tore through double-shielded blast doors like tissue paper, an end fitting for the pirates that had caused the devastation to her world."

The thing may have expected a reaction from Luke but he refused.

"After chasing down and capturing the Warlord responsible for the life and world she was deprived of she removed his brain and encased it alive within a Med-containment unit mounted within a hollowed out torpedo made of pure 'Exo-Structor' and launched it into the darkness of space with a repeating broadcast taken from the transport's flight recorder of her people's screams for mercy he ignored for him to hear for all eternity or at least until the nuclear fusion power supply failed."

"Not for at least a few hundred years." Luke figured in his mind and also thought it was a fair punishment for the crime.

"She stood upon the bridge of this vessel and wept at the destruction beneath her. Where natural bridges of crystalline rock spanning kilometers above the naturally forming towers of the city she called home were reduced to rubble. The waters were removed and the riverbeds were blasted with explosives and scraped clean into dark canyons."

Luke felt sick again as he had in the vision with Anakin Skywalker, the Dark Lord's story was a different account but the result was still just as appalling. There was no doubt in his mind now this was the work of the emperor.

"Seeing the Eco-sphere damaged beyond all repair she put her engineering prowess to work and took what was left of the crumbling moon and preserved and weaponized it by engulfing the sphere in the net of the mining drill." Luke understood now, then the thing answered before he could ask.

"The 'Deceiver' returned only to find the young possessed woman in wait with the ultimate weapon of her scorn and she released it upon the arriving band of pirates, vaporizing and melting the fleet into twisted wreckage to rain to the surface of the mining drill's cable net under the increased gravity of the moon's forced rotation, 'Your' emperor ran like a coward back to where he came from in a single seat fighter, several others may have survived, but not many I presume."

Luke had to admit the facts were adding up compared to the account the Dark Lord tried to twist his mind with. "I was told the Galactic Security Forces arrived and intervened."

"They arrived…to late, and were destroyed as well." The entity added, Luke felt a chill form in his spine.

The thing still would not look at him, "Knowing she would not live long enough to exact her revenge completely, she made a pact with the darkness and pierced her heart with the shard and died, giving me form and body in return for absolute vengeance upon the whole galaxy."

Chapter 55

"Baskel…," Crizora caught herself and continued, "Master Tech Baskeearrii has confirmed there was no 'shot' to speak of gentlemen, it is as if she just tore from the inside out and the Med-Corp Surgical-droid confirms the findings. I have never seen anything like it." Doctor Crizora Axuki briefed all the command figures equally as she worked hurriedly with the Queen's handmaidens to get into costume the admiral and the Queen's staff had talked her into against the silent protests of Baskel's watchful eyes as he pretended to man his station.

"She is stabilized for now, but in great pain and for some reason I can't figure out, we can't sedate her either. So far the Med-bots have reached the limits allowed for sedatives and she just will not knock out, all we can do is comfort her, Sirs." Crizora was in no mood to be as polite as she normally would have been, as far as she saw it this whole thing was getting out of hand and her tone and body language showed it.

A young, hardened before his time guard slid up next to Captain Wixxim and whispered to him and slid away again.

Crizora waved off the handmaidens the moment they were done with the rush job on the makeup and spun around, in a deep eloquent and royal voice she stunned everyone in the room, "I am ready Admiral Akbar, Captain Wixxim, Captain Qo. We may proceed with the plan."

The three command figures were surprised at the result and felt their diversion plan actually had a chance if the emperor did not see through it.

"Doctor Axuki, the Queen would like to have a word with you." Captain Wixxim said politely.

"I am your Queen now, Captain Wixxim, and you will speak to me in a proper tone or I will have you disciplined, do I make myself clear?" The Captain was taken aback and impressed at the seriousness in which she played the part, Admiral Akbar rolled his giant eyes knowing the doctor was relishing every moment. Captain Chasa Qo smiled and all of the guards raised an eyebrow at once.

The Captain of the guard snapped to attention and spoke directly, "Your highness, a patient requests your ear in her time of need."

"I will see her, guide me please, Captain." The new Queen said with polite authority.

Together they walked gracefully to the stabilization chamber where Crizora leaned in above Leia while sliding a hip onto the edge of the bed and spoke softly to her, "What is it you need, my friend?"

"Take this." Leia opened her hand to reveal a small ring made of clear stone around her little finger on her left hand.

"Really, I can't your Highness." Crizora whispered delicately.

"You have to, it was stolen from him long ago and he wants it back. It is why he has been eliminating my guards and trying to capture or kill me without damaging it." Leia's voice was dry and it was clear she was still suffering past enough pain meds to knock out all the guards around her, but for who, Crizora did not know. "If you're not wearing it, he will see past the deception."

Leia slowly slid the clear ring of rock off a shivering cold finger and gave it to 'The New Queen'.

Leia was delirious and found Crizora's eyes in the fog of her vision and said, "Save Luke at all costs except one…you cannot kill the emperor."

"Please, rest now." Crizora assumed she was delirious from the sedatives and would pass out any moment as she reached over and upped the dosage by keying in a security code on a number pad above her head.

Crizora turned away to stand and Leia grabbed her arm with both hands, her sharp, thin nails digging deep into the thin white fabric of her gown and spoke, "You will be afraid, and close enough strike, to kill a creature as vile as the emperor will corrupt your soul, by the hand of the 'Chosen One' he must die, fulfill the prophecy!" Leia's eyes rolled up into her head and she finally fell to sleep.

The imposter Queen stared at the exhausted creature laying asleep now and felt sorry for her for a moment, brushed her hair back gently then stood and turned looking up high to the tall, spindly Surgeon-droid and motioned to it. The towering machine lowered a long shining rod with a set of glass lenses above a speaker box and said in a smooth buzzing male voice, "Yes, Crizora."

"Med-Corp 301 unit, you alone are in command of this patient until I return, acknowledge!"

"Acknowledged." The machine replied passively.

"Plasma shield the unit per my code, If anyone tries to touch this patient before I return you have my permission to use all methods at your disposal to incapacitate them short of cutting them to pieces and shocking them to death like you did last time, Acknowledge!"

The machine lowered its head further at the tone of her voice and said, "Acknowledged."

The guards all grinned at the realization of the safety provided while Crizora kept it to herself that she made the last part up to gain the support of the adopted troops.

Crizora turned and grabbed her guards eyes, "Gentlemen, escort me to the next point of operation, please." The men gathered in a tight ring around 'The New Queen' and marched her past the admiral.

Crizora stopped at Baskel's station by the door and said to him, "Master Tech Baskel Baskeearrii, I trust I have your support on this mission?"

Baskel snapped to attention smiling and saluted, "Yes, your Highness, I will be monitoring all communications aboard your vessel as well as the rest of the fleet and await your command."

"Very good soldier, you may play a pivotal role in the victory on the battlefield today, carry on." Crizora smiled in pride knowing Baskel was there for her.

The resurrected Royal Majesty Queen Leia Organa turned to the leader of the Royal Guard and said, "Captain Wixxim, Please take me to my ship."

Chapter 56

"Incoming transmission Mi'lord." The newly promoted Captain Zycxz said to the emperor who sat at the Co-Pilot's station at his side.

"Identify." The emperor commanded with a graveled sneer as he stared out into the black of the 'Dead Zone"

"'PxCo', Is all it reads, Mi'lord."

"Play."

Captain Zycxz flipped a switch assuming this was the reason he had been sitting at his station for hours denying access to the emperor from the highest levels of his staff as he meditated eerily out into space.

The message scrolled across the glass panel window from the Holo-Projector mounted in the desk,

{[BEGIN TRANSMISSION]}

"A.A. orders fleet to Skywalker rendezvous point."…Break…"Queen is out in open….

{[DATA TRANSFER IN PROGRESS]}

The flow of characters meant nothing to the young Captain as they were obviously encoded and the sole property of the emperor,

{[+(*73)(00047)-++*920402.+-*.+]}

X

[{(9+3)-2-3*****-++}]

The message paused long enough to make the tyrant raise an eyebrow then continued.

…Entry angle 124.0045 Degrees…..If payment is not received by agreed time frame I will destroy the Queen myself and the ring with her….

{[END TRANSMISSION]}

The emperor masked his scowl but Captain Zycxs felt his anger like an earthquake in his own bones. the emperor turned to his Captain and said, "Send my order to Grand Mof Korsche to engage at these co-ordinates on my command."

"Aye, Mi'Lord."

"Send this to the transmission's source."

The emperor produced a chip of steel held between the scarred tips of his cold, bony, gray fingers. The Captain let the object fall into his hand and carefully set it on a magnetic reader on the control panel between them. The graphics on the small, flat screen above it scrolled a blurry stream of symbols and numbers then displayed the words, 'TRANSACTION COMPLETE'.

Captain Zyczx typed out and sent the message off to Grand Mof Korsche as the emperor stood and turned to slither back to his quarters. Spinning on his chair to face the tyrant he said, "Do we rejoin the fleet, Mi'Lord, or do we stay here?"

The emperor stopped, then turned slowly to face the young Captain and seized the young man in a gaze that made him feel as humble as a youngling caught stealing a sweet piece of candy and said, "You shall practice with this until I call upon you with new orders."

The emperor opened his hand and a weapon of the Sith order floated across the space between them and into his hands.

The weapon activated in the heat of the young man's hands, he watched the blade slice through the air, he could feel it bind with his life force energy, the blade was white as anything he had ever seen, the power at his fingertips engulfed him and filled him with the warmth a life in space denied you of. The weapon spoke to him and befriended him and set his will onto a path to right the wrongs of a universe in chaos.

"This is a practice drone." The emperor produced a ball of steel and circuits and twisted a key on its top then removed it.

"If you are unworthy, it will kill you, if you do not fight for your life, it will kill you."

The ball hummed and slowly drifted toward the now terrified young man. Acquiring its target, the drone pinged and buzzed in muffled tones as it approached with the intent of hurting the pilot, Captain Zycxz could 'feel' its intentions.

The menace shot a weak plasma beam at the young man to test his reflexes and back him up a step, Zycxz sent the beam back at it with a flash of the white humming blade and scored a hit as he looked to the emperor and his own hands in confusion.

The practice drone reassessed the skill level it was up against then lit up in angry red and rushed forward zapping the Captain relentlessly as he screamed in pain from the just short of fatal assault of lasers burning streaks across his uniform.

The young man screamed for the emperor's mercy, "I am not ready yet!" The unwitting trainee of the Dark Arts repelled half of the onslaught with wild swings of the Lightsaber as he was driven back against the controls of the craft.

The emperor laughed wickedly at the potential in his newest candidate for an apprentice, sparks rained down at his feet from the wild swings of the plasma blade burning into the walls, ceiling and everything else in the cockpit as the young man fought for his life.

Grumbling loud enough for the caged Imperial officer to hear the emperor laugh as he spoke, "You certainly are, young Zycxz, you most certainly are, now focus!"

The wicked ruler stepped back and waved the door to the cockpit of the Royal Imperial Transport shut and locked it behind him, then turned and snickered to himself at his handiwork and slithered down the hall to his quarters.

Chapter 57

Luke had numbed enough to concentrate on the wrist pad of the suit and stopped the auto-immobilize feature of the safety measures.

Having made so little forward progress on the floor he dreaded the idea of activating C-3PO's balancing matrix to command the mechanics of the unit stand him upright, but knew he had no choice. He shakily thumbed through the menu on the screen with a frozen metal fingertip and selected the proper icon.

Tears streamed out his red, swollen eyes as he gathered all the breath he could. He closed his eyelids and saw Leia, in pain with him, and heard the words from Master Yoda again, "Ready to feel you are, and no more."

Luke spoke to his friend in his mind, "I'm sorry Leia." Then tapped the icon in the dark, the suits gears and gyros activated as the confirmation message scrambled across the Holo-vizor screen.

Across time and space Luke and Leia screamed together as the suit fired it rockets and forced him to his feet and took over walking for him, no amount of anesthetic could ever stop the spearing, burning and searing white-hot bolts of pain tearing through both of their midsections at once.

The Surgery-droid onboard the 'Victorious' sprang into a flurry of action with its long, thin metal arms to stabilize Leia as her Aunt Chasa and her handmaidens watched on in horror as the Med-bay went into full lockdown.

Luke was not so fortunate, he was still millions of light years from help, injured and alone and blacking out from the pain.

"The Sith Apprentice is allowed to fail his Master once and live. This is called fairness, choose your failure wisely."

-Old Sith proverb

Chapter 58

Ordered by the emperor to oversee the final stages of the Death Star 2, Darth Vader was disturbed from his meditation by a nagging, itching and aching sensation coming from deep within what was left of his organic parts.

"Captain Eppiro, we have dropped out of Hyper-space and stopped, Sir." Lieutenant Chivok reported as he checked the instrument panels of the Dark Lord's shuttle's forward command housing. The Captain looked out at the field of stars against the black of space filling the windows of Lord Vader's personal transport.

"I see."

"Orders, Sir?"

"We wait."

The Holographic display flashed a single word sent from Lord Vader's quarters, "…HOLD..."

"And there it 'tis." The Captain said dryly.

The Lieutenant jumped in his seat as fifty 'Tie-fighters' popped into view barely missing the nose of the transport then forming an angry hive setting up a perimeter around the Dark Lords craft.

Farther beyond, the ominous presence of a Star Destroyer drifted along in the dark, the only telltale sign were the disappearing and reappearing twinkles of starlight. The Lieutenant did not have to read his instruments to know four more were in the vicinity and were launching defensive craft to assist as well.

Within another few moments the Star Destroyer's silhouette could hardly be seen past the hundreds of clone driven fighter units surrounding them. The incoming transmissions from his security detail demanded the condition of their master. Captain Lepiro sent confirmation of the Dark Lord calling an 'All stop and hold' order.

In his quarters the fallen warrior of the 'Old Republic' searched out the disruption he felt in the Force.

He heard screams, only these were not the screams of war or oppression which was a constant static in the background of this universe and only seemed to grow louder in his mind as the emperor ground his rules for existence into every life form he could.

This was different.

This hurt him deep inside somewhere. A glance at the medical readouts flashing across the wall screen showed no change in his physical health yet the pain was undeniable, not just from injury, but the pain of determination to survive, to reach out beyond all you know and sacrifice all for others.

Alone in the face of certain death was the message. A message he carried with him in what was once his heart, the Dark Lord had 'felt' this so many times as a young Jedi on his humanitarian missions before the betrayal of the 'Order' and knew it was what allowed the Force to flow through and comfort him and find a way out of whatever dilemma he found himself in.

These were the thoughts of a young man, a young Padawan who has yet to know the power of the true nature of the Force.

"Luke." The Dark Lord whispered only for the sound to be drowned by his respirator.

On the bridge of the Imperial transport the two member team watched the blur of Tie-Fighters screaming by. Each missing the others flat, vertical, octagonal wings by only meters as they whizzed by in what seemed to be random orbits.

The Captain put a hand on the nervous Lieutenant's shoulder and said, "Mindless creatures those clones, but they have a knack for awaiting orders and doing exactly what they are told, they are meticulous and relentless and will die together or alone to complete their mission. There is something there we can all learn from and something humanity currently lacks."

"Aye, Sir." Lieutenant Chivok replied not daring to look away from the window while still holding the edge of the console with a white-knuckled grip and drifting his free hand onto the Auto-Cannon stick just in case anything came too close for his own comfort.

Captain Lepiro stood tall and cool enjoying the exciting display having been a fighter pilot once himself. While awaiting the Dark Lord's next command, for the second highest scoring gunner and co-pilot in the Imperial Navy, the minutes seemed like hours.

In his chambers the Dark Lord knew his time was short and if he disappointed his Master again his time would be over. "This fight is yours, son. I cannot help you."

At the command console the young Lieutenant stated the obvious, "They are all slowing to a stop, Sir."

"I see."

"Sir…I thought they couldn't stop unless they landed on a magnetized runway."

"I know, wait."

All fighter squadrons slowly came to a quiet halt and floated a hundred deep forming a steel cloud around Lord Vader's craft. Lieutenant Chivok could see the confused pilots through the windows of the ball of steel mounted between the vertical wings fussing with the controls.

"Whoa!" Lieutenant Chivok exclaimed as he threw both hands in the air, the banks of Auto-Cannons lit up vaporizing the closest of the fighters in a hail of laser bolt fire, "This isn't me!"

Captain Lepiro grabbed his Lieutenant firmly by the shoulders and sat him back down in his seat gently and said with cool authority, "I know, 'Hold' are your orders, Lieutenant." Then released him.

The command crew watched on as the shuttle blasted and tore a hole through the cloud of Ion-driven fighters until the stars could be seen again at the end of a fiery, spark filled tunnel of torn steel and lifeless, drifting Clone-Trooper pilots.

The wreckage within the cloud drifted to the outsides of the tunnel mysteriously, as if it were 'vacuumed away' allowing room for the shuttle-craft to exit untouched and back on the original heading before the interruption.

"Orders?" The Lieutenant said with a raised eyebrow while staring at the last of the dying sparks and fading Ion trails from destructed Tie-Fighter engines.

"Wait."

The Holo-Graphic Projector scrolled, "…MOVE OUT…"

"Re-engage current course Lieutenant and well,…move out!"

"Aye Sir, gladly moving out!" Lieutenant Chivok slid a lever forward and watched the carnage and stars stretch out and disappear.

"It's someone else's mess now, Lieutenant. Our mission is far more important, if we are successful, by this time next year the Rebellion will be crushed and we will be rich men and have our own star systems." The Captain snickered to lighten up the Lieutenant.

"Sir, may I ask a question."

"Besides the one you just did, certainly."

"Did you know the destruction was going to happen and were you not scared one of those clones was going to fly right through us? They seemed way too aggressive I thought."

The forty something Captain Lepiro sat down in the seat next to the young Lieutenant and kicked the chrome foot-pedal latch allowing him to spin and face the young man. He said with a seriousness tempered by a hint of sarcasm through the sly smile of someone who has learned to survive in this crazy universe, "First of all, that is two more questions but I will give an extra answer on the house, No, I did not know that would happen, yes its obvious the clones programming has them in a very aggressive combat mode." The Captain paused and leaned in closer to his co-pilot and locked eyes with him and whispered "A visiting wise man once told me when I was about to graduate the 'Academy' to forget all the rules save one, 'As long as the emperor has use for you, you have nothing to fear'."

Lieutenant Chivok raised an eyebrow and let the advice sink in.

"Now, Back to work, you mouthy greenling!" The Captain barked into the air for show as he kicked his chair back around into the forward locked position with a loud 'Clack!'.

"Aye Captain, Back to work!"

Chapter 59

Leia screamed and writhed in pain a hundred million light-years away along with Luke as each jerky step the automated suit took forward tore at their insides together. The automated surgeons aboard the 'Victorious' were overwhelmed with constraining her let alone be given the freedom to operate.

Captain Chasa Qo attempted to come forward only to be repelled back by a force-field activated by the 301 Med-bot into the arms of the handmaidens nearly taking all of them down with her big frame. Leia's screams fell silent behind an invisible shield but her kicks and twists of resistance did not.

A hundred million light years away, Luke cried streams of tears through rivers of sweat but rising above the pain as if it was leaving his body and traveling elsewhere.

His sole focus with each mechanically assisted step was a torpedo shaped canister in the corner with the ancient text of a forgotten time stamped into its side. What was left of the Holo-vizor outlined and interpreted the text as a Bio-Hazard Ejection Unit, a prehistoric cousin to the more modern devices found aboard nearly every starship with a medical bay in modern times.

Luke felt the gravity of a thousand suns pulling him downward but the suit he depended on for his life kept trudging forward with him in the saddle until he fell over the body of the hollow steel canister with a thud sending the blood rushing into his face.

Luke flashed into a vision of reds, blues and finally a cascade of dancing white lights as he rested momentarily against the rounded side of the Bio-Hazard Ejection Unit. Master Yoda insisted constantly when other less mentally disciplined and gifted creatures would give up under such intense pain the Midi-Chlorians in his blood simply would not accept their fate as they were a separate part of the Jedi that made him whole. This is the most important time to meditate and seek the guidance of the Force, for strength in body and clarity in mind from your own personal experience.

Memories caught up with him, The fight with the 'Dark One'; Luke remembered 'Force-grabbing' his Lightsaber and running…a giant shard of blackened crystal emitting a blade of flame…shattered glass floors with energy barriers for walls jetting out over the surface…

Visions enveloped his mind again as it had when his 'X-Wing' Fighter overloaded on its approach to the space station, The 'Dark One' gave chase, driving him out onto the glass floored platform over the moon's surface holding the structure housing the focusing crystal of the weaponized drill. It went on to explain in its madness what it called the 'Crystal Saber' acted very much as his own weapon and was what the young woman found in the moon's core and used to kill all the moon's surface and aboard mining vessel.

The tarry image's words took over his mind, "It is now the focusing crystal of the mining drill itself, something your emperor could never conceive of with his simple mind as he set out to create mechanical terrors to enhance his own politics, seeking more powerful ways to bend others to his will by using deadly force." The mass of darkness uncurled a set of fingers to beyond the glass walls of the room to a horseshoe shaped structure made of the same material as the flooring and wall sections jetting out to a tall cylindrical glass chamber accessible by nearly invisible sliding glass doors built into the walls to his left and right.

Luke surveyed the scene of the piece of rock resting on a mount inside the clear cylinder and the flow of water cascading across it and raining down to the surface. The device mounted above it was not much different than the moisture evaporators he dealt with on Tattooine. The major difference being the massive electrical charge received from the dying star the space-station had been recharging the moon with. Water acted as a conduit flowing across the relic and then down to the surface. It was clear to Luke this was no ordinary piece of rock or whatever the material it may be, but it was the one thing holding the moon prisoner and the source of the weapons awesome power. "Which species are you?" Luke asked with genuine sincerity in hopes to understand his captor and its motives. Any attempt to use the Force for more information fell dead against it.

"Species…I can see how your primitive understanding would assume such of me." The entity replied. "In some dimensions others may even take the question for an insult."

Luke took in the reference to other dimensions of existence and dismissed it then assumed a more direct approach with the same feel as his conversation when he stood up to the vision of Anakin Skywalker, "What are you and why have you attacked and imprisoned me, if I may ask."

The entity leaned back against the edge of the desk against the glass wall then rolled its head and neck giving the ceiling an impatient glare from its slick, black eyes and spoke in a near whisper, "I am balance, pure and simple and you are not my prisoner here."

The creatures slick mass flowed into the graceful lines of a slender and beautiful woman in a thin floor length gown. The featureless face defined itself into an image Luke easily recognized as his fellow warrior and friend, Leia.

The image of Leia spoke, "You have imprisoned yourself."

"How is that so?" Luke asked with demand and in his voice.

The entity snickered and said, "No one sent you an invitation, you came by yourself. This is the end of all space and time, any being in their right mind would never allow themselves to be found in a place like this, alone."

Deep inside of Luke's mind he had to agree so far the thing had not lied to him and made sense.

The entity spoke again, "There is one thing that has been learned from the former occupants of this craft, If you see something you need you simply take it with force if necessary." Then looked down to the surface of the white-hot rotating moon through the pane of glass beneath their feet and spoke again before Luke could draw In another breath to reenter the conversation.

"The next lesson being, If you see something you want, destroy what needs it and take it for yourself anyway."

Luke responded, "My Master says this is the way of the Sith, are you an agent of evil?"

"I am an agent of change, Some may see it as such, others have embraced me against their own natural fears, what I do know is when spirits have been oppressed, tortured and sent to their deaths by the billions and have given up hope, I am granted my existence by the simple idea that what has done the worst deserves something worse." The last of the words spoken hissed.

Within Luke's mind the image of Emperor Palpatine formed, he had never seen the oppressor of the galaxy face to face, only a three dimensional image on the tiny hand-held holographic display his Master kept in his mud hut for his instruction. The device was the only piece of electronic equipment other than his own and his Masters practice saber to be found on the jungle-planet of Dagobah.

Deep within his heart Luke held the emperor personally responsible for the death of his Aunt and Uncle, Master Obi-Wan Kenobi and the countless others who have fallen under his rule.

The entity morphed into a scarred, burned image of the emperor in his dark black cloak, It was clear to Luke this creature possessed a form of extrasensory perception, if it wasn't reading his mind it was certainly interpreting his feelings either through the Force or some other method unique to the creature itself.

"My Master says this is revenge, A path once ventured you never return from."

The blackened, tarry image of the emperor spoke with his hoarse, gravelly voice, "You would rely upon old, tired words knowing full well that my death would prevent the pain and suffering and loss of life for billions to come!" The entity in the shape of Emperor Palpatine spoke loudly without yelling.

At that moment in time Luke was taken aback by the question having never been asked it before, and had to give deep and serious thought as to what he would do if he had ever actually confronted the emperor face to face.

The living sculpture of the emperor slid several steps forward towards Luke, He pulled his weapon to him from across the room as he stepped back then raised his Lightsaber without activating it.

"A cute trick, I'm sure you practiced for hours." The imposing black mass produced the same style of handle, forming out of the things blackened hand and raised it in the same fashion, "I know what you fear boy, and you will join me!" The image of Darth Sidious growled at him from deep inside the mass of tar.

"I am not afraid if you! get back now or I will hurt you!" Luke activated his Lightsaber, the blue-plasma blade sliced with a flash into the stale air of the ancient space station.

The sword whistled and hummed in opposition to the oncoming opponent. Luke's only real fear was the chance of the device running out of power before he could make his escape.

Luke took several slow steps backward, his boots spiked tips clinked against the glass giving his retreat away,

The creature melted back into the form of a woman, the one he saw when he awoke in the medical bay of the 'Victorious', the one who said she was his wife.

Luke spoke the creature's name, "Zoevella, I remember you."

"I remember her as well. She was hopeful, happy, young, intelligent and beautiful." The creature looked deep into Luke's eyes. "She was a perfect creation, her work on inter-dimensional communication and energy dynamics could have advanced the 'civilization' and well being of this galaxy a thousand fold, and yet she was destroyed. A callous young man broke her heart, pillaged her world then left her for dead. You can call it what you like, it does not change the past and it will not stop the future and I need your help to complete my mission."

"Did it ever occur to you to just ask? Maybe I would have been willing to assist you." Luke responded while holding his ground.

"Actually, I don't need your 'help' per se, I need something from you." The blackened figure took on a deadly serious tone and facial expression as Luke's skin tingled with the desire to flee the room as an immediate danger to his person became evident.

"And just what exactly may that be?" Luke said with a high degree of suspicion in his voice.

"Your blood." The creature said flatly. "It is special, very special indeed." It continued to speak as it looked Luke up and down from his head to the floor.

"So I have been told. You will have to pardon me, but I do not wish to part with it to a complete stranger." Luke spoke with his father's arrogance and in a manner his Master would not approve of. He felt the time for pleasantries and negotiation was over. "I'm going to give it to you straight, I need to get off of this space station on some type of transport and to reunite with my people and the fight against the Empire. If you help me, perhaps there is a way I can help you in the future." Luke distinctly heard the word 'future' echo and fall flat on the floor between them, the Force told him to run, he fought the urge and awaited a response since his options of escape from the station itself were quite slim at the moment.

The entity stayed polite in spite of Luke's tone, "I too wish to reunite with my, 'people' as you say, and join your fight against the one you see as 'The oppressor of your galaxy' and destroy him into nothingness." Again Luke had the feeling of not being lied to, in the creature's honesty however, he felt the words were laced with ulterior motives and could not be trusted in the long run.

"We have a prophecy, the 'Chosen One' will destroy the emperor and restore balance to the galaxy and will not be motivated by greed nor the desire for revenge." Luke recited his Master's teaching.

The entity clapped her hands and began to giggle at him condescendingly, then put one hand to its chest and the other to its forehead and laughed at the floor, taking in the sight of the moon spinning beneath them again.

Luke became impatient and was about to speak when he was cut off, "What do you know of prophecy? I will tell you what you do not know!" The thing held its hands out dramatically as if holding something precious then dropped them and turned away gazing out the window up to the black woven net of super-thick cables holding the moon prisoner.

The creature spoke without turning around, "The young man who captured Zoevella's heart had one flaw, something you would call 'guilt'. He too had a 'Master' as you say you do, I can only hope yours has not met the same fate as his..." The slick black entity turned around while morphing into the cloaked form of a Sith lord, its face appeared to be aged, possibly as old as Master Yoda himself yet the image remained handsome and distinguished. The entities voice changed to a deep tone with eloquent words and an exotic humanoid accent, "Your 'Prophecy' is no such thing at'all, that which you are referring to is actually a darkened spell of revenge playing out 'cross a grand stage we know as the galaxy, the worlds of life within are mere unwitting players for its execution."

the Force burned within Luke's veins for him to flee the situation and yet it told him the creature was honest for what it knew. Luke felt compelled to listen as the apparition continued, "A pupil of mine many of your lifetimes ago turned on me and killed me in my sleep."

Luke raised an eyebrow behind the plasti-glass of the Holo-vizor

"To become a Sith lord one must make many compromises with the Dark side. I explained to my new apprentice any attempt to defeat me would release a series of events far beyond his control and my revenge upon him would surely see him fall at the height of his power." The creature stared into Luke's eyes without malice, without so much as a hint of ill intention, simply conveying to him what it had told him was the truth.

Luke knew he was young but he also knew crazy when he saw it and this thing had been alone for way to long, he kept his thoughts on playing along with its need for conversation as long as it aided his departure from the space station in some way.

The creature morphed again into the young and even more handsome image of the most evil man in the known universe, Emperor Palpatine. The resemblance was uncanny to the image speaking before, if Luke had to guess the apprentice could have been family or possibly even a clone of the original Master himself.

The image spoke again its voice changing into that of an educated politician free from emotion, "Perhaps he did not believe me or his need for power was simply too much or maybe he felt in my age my magic had grown weak." The creature paused for effect, "None of this makes a difference now, what has been done has been done setting in motion a series of events that cannot be altered. 'The curse of 'Darth Pleagus'' will not be denied."

The creature changed its form again into a more friendly image of the young woman he had originally encountered, "Don't you see, together we can defeat the emperor, it must be done!" The woman's eyes pleaded with Luke, "How many more have to die before someone who has the power to change the way things are does something about it?" The shape-shifter's figure took several graceful steps forward in its friendly and disarming form. Too close for Luke's comfort, he took several steps backwards, the tips of his boots ground into the glass floor signaling his retreat to the doorway.

"No, wait, please." The creature stretched its arms and hands out to him and stepped forward again.

"Stay back! I am leaving here, do not try to stop me. I do not want to hurt you but I will if I have to!" Luke said the words loud and clear with authority.

The creature kept to its advance moving forward with smaller steps adding charm and a phony smile as she spoke to him in the voice and words as his dear Aunt Beru would when he was a young boy, "You are not going anywhere young man, you're going to stay here and help me whether you want to or not." The creature looked past Luke and waved its oily hand, Luke felt a dense, invisible ball of energy push him aside rudely as the main door to the observation post slid shut followed by the blast doors.

Luke spun around keeping his balance while brandishing his Lightsaber. After finding his footing again he turned to face his assailant when his blood froze.

Standing seven feet tall before him a slick, jet-black figure of the Dark Lord himself, Darth Vader stared him down.

The Dark Lords' respirator sounded off as the image reached out a black-gloved hand, and spoke, "Luke, join me, together we can rule the galaxy as father and son, do not make me destroy you."

"Get-out-of-my-head!" Luke screamed at it. The image of Darth Vader took one step forward and reached even further out with a dripping black glove. Luke could feel his fingers being pried up one by one off of the handle of his Lightsaber.

Luke laid the frozen robotic fingers of his right hand across the handle in an attempt to keep hold of the weapon but it was no use, the instant his index finger lost contact with the activation button the weapon lost its blade and the creature lunged at him.

Luke dropped to one side a split second before the imitation of Darth Vader's giant gloved hands seized him. The whistling blue-plasma blade of his Lightsaber reactivated with a bright blue flash and bit into the rushing image. With a wild instinctive swing the blade seized the beast in mid-attack vaporizing the black oily muck of its hands and arms sending slinging splatters of bubbling hot liquid across the room and down the front of his damaged chest plate from the lightening fast swing of the young Jedi's counter attack.

Smoke filled the air and clouded Luke's vision as the black oil sizzled down the front of the Holo-vizor and the room's glass walls, the goo slithered like headless snakes back to the safety of their Master.

The 'Dark One' screeched in pain, surprised and angered further by its prey's swiftness, the foul stench of rancid, burnt grease filled the room as Luke stood his ground slashing at the beast in perfect form. In the dark, he needed no eyes, he could 'feel' his opponent lose ground, corralled and directed under the unforgiving danger and command of the vaporizing power of the blue-plasma blade.

The blade became an extension of Luke's will, giving the creature no choice but to retreat until backed against a glass wall with a view of the imprisoned moon hundreds of meters below.

The smoke thinned enough for Luke to see the center of his target and a terrible tactical mistake ensued, his eyes lied to him, he saw a solid wall of steel behind his foe, another trick played upon him from the close proximity to the thing the vision of Anakin Skywalker warned him of, then ran it through shattering the glass wall behind them allowing the searing heat and steam from the captured satellite within the cable net rush into the room nearly dislodging the swordsman's footing.

The safety force field mounted within the framing structure engaged, Luke steadied his feet against the slick glass floor again and had his adversary where he wanted and spoke directly to it, "Stop! You are cornered, I am not your hostage or your enemy. Do not make me hurt you further or kill you!"

The 'Dark One' had not anticipated the force-field safety measure in its attempt to make Luke depressurize the room knowing if they were ejected it would survive the long drop to the surface below while the young Jedi would surely die on impact.

The beast clawed and tore at the Lightsaber in Luke's grip, the blade kept it pinned to the force field as its torso smoked and sizzled. The hold the Force kept on the weapon through both human and damaged robotic hands was unbreakable.

The monster let out a wide-mouthed frustrated scream through the black smoke rising from its wound leaving Luke to stare into an unhinged jaw full of countless rows of tiny, razor sharp, ivory white teeth disappearing down into the abyss of its throat.

Luke found himself at a terrible disadvantage, granted he had the adversary pinned but could not retreat as it had seized his wrists with an iron grip as well.

"I cannot die!" The thing screeched with a deafening effect drilling sparks into Luke's brain. With this distraction the injured beast took a gamble that paid off by swiping a red-hot, nine fingered claw of talons up and across the hardened, composite armor of the helmet burning three deep streaks through the Holo-vizor, sparks flew across the room and Luke felt the heat from the a clawed fingertip's nearly successful attempt to gouge out his eyes, if it were not for the reinforced magnetic rings between the suit and helmet locking down and compensating for the blow automatically, the thing would have torn off his face and broke his neck at the same time.

The force of the strike and the Auto-Tint feature of the Holo-vizor reacting to the trail of heat and sparks dimmed Luke's vision and nearly knocked him off balance, another blow struck under his left forearm to causing him to lose his grip on the laser-sword sending it spinning end over end out of his hand.

The 'Exo-steel' hardened handle's blue-plasma blade seared a laser-straight exit path through the beasts body before it was dislodged from Luke's hands, the wraith screeched in pain, a price it was willing to pay for the freedom to attack once more.

The weapon kept true to its purpose slicing clean through its adversary's insides in an instant splattering the animated oil slick along the blades path before it deactivated and cracked off the back glass wall of the octagonal room averting another shower of red-hot diamonds and cold jagged chips down to the moons surface.

The creature backed away as suddenly as it had attacked him screeching from its wounds. The beast quieted and then Luke heard a young woman's giggle and menacing words whisper in his mind just inside his eardrums, "I have one of these too." He could have sworn the voice kissed him on his cheek, the wet from the lips turned into the burning of acid as a rush of blistering heat burst into the room blinding his eyes with a hot, smoke filled wind through the tears in the Holo-vizor. The rush of air stopped as he felt the distinct vibration of heavy gears open and shut a pressurized door somewhere to his right.

The rooms fresh air circulation fans kicked into high gear removing the smoke and supplying the room with a fresh supply of stale oxygen, as the smoke cleared Luke witnessed a blackened shape not of a humanoid, more like that of a fleeting bird or leathery bat quickly make its way to the end of the glass horseshoe and to the containment unit holding the dark piece of rock.

Luke squinted his eyes to see through the thinning smoke and past a chaotically malfunctioning Holo-vizor. The shadowy figure wrapped itself around the containment unit disguising its next move, Luke took advantage of the time and held his hand out to retrieve his Lightsaber. The heavy handle of the weapon spun end over end across the room until landing in the palm of his left hand.

Motion danced around the containment unit as the smoke finished clearing. Luke's eyes went wide as his foes shadowy image stretched out into dripping black wings with a span as wide as the room itself with the jagged rock held within an eyeless head's monstrous jaw of teeth raised high above a humanoid body by a long bird-like neck then leapt from the containment unit platform across the wide open space with the intention of coming in through the glass back wall of the observation room.

"No way! you have got to be kidding me!" Luke exclaimed as he tried to back-peddle into the false sense of safety the short hall and the blast door provided. The creature came crashing in through the thick pane of glass with a deafening screech and shockwave, Luke was blown back against the wall before reaching the hall by a hail of glass needles driven by hot, wet air exploding into the room.

Chapter 60

Emperor Palpatine pulled his cloak over his head and growled, "Lights, mid-night." The room's lighting fell drastically to a faint trace of illumination. The heartless dictator left his politics behind the desk full of overly colorful charts and racing streams of numbers and with the wave of a few crusty fingers the highly contrasted lights and the numerous Holo-display screens glaring in his face faded to a dimmed yet still visible state.

The machines continued giving detailed reports on everything from troop movements, politics and what the pirate tabloids were printing as well as newscasts, Imperial sanctioned and Rebel Alliance propaganda alike while keeping a watchful eye to make sure the 'open' markets were being manipulated properly to his bidding.

Cautious as a pack hunter about to be cornered alone, he glided to the center of the dimly lit room and stood apart from the petty barrage of information deemed so important to the pathetic inhabitants of the universe. His alter ego, Darth Sidious took center stage and waited.

He could feel anger without control coming for him down the short hallway of the Royal Imperial Transport with a lust for vengeance he had not felt since before the death of what he referred to in the privacy of his own thoughts as his 'favorite one', the most innocent being he had ever corrupted into a force of pure, controllable rage. The devilishly handsome young man had been more than an apprentice, The Master Sith held the merciless beast in mind as his own son, giving him special treatment and a knowledge of advanced fighting skills nearly equal to his own.

The groom was worthy to inherit the throne and Darth Sidious could have pierced his own heart and went to the peace of the great black beyond knowing that such a creature and its offspring would twist ant turn and crush this galaxy into submission to the 'Supreme Order' of the dark side for all of eternity. But this was not to be and the memory of the young warrior, the only thing in the galaxy he ever chose to hold dear was lost long ago, murdered by the Jedi Order.

Darth Sidious had in his plans at one time a more subsidized use for the Jedi Order as a bound political ally and figurehead organization to smooth the implementation of his rule across the galaxy. While Darth Vader may be the ambassador and the ultimate enforcer of his terror, deep inside the scorched and corrupted core of Darth Sidious he too bears the blame equally for the death of his ultimate protégé, Darth Maul.

After the crime had been committed by Qui-Gon Jin and his reckless and misled disciple Master Obi-Wan Kenobi, Darth Sidious gave the order to kill all Jedi, young, old and anyone related.

The Sith Lord could have left Anakin Skywalker on the volcanic planet where he fell to die alone and in terrible pain for his failure to defeat Obi-Wan Kenobi after his seduction to the Dark side but the continued suffering and imprisonment in the cybernetic suit gave the tyrant a sense of fulfillment to the young man's honor as well as forcing Anakin Skywalker to continue his service to him.

The Jedi Master took his apprentice from him, he in turn would take Obi-Wan Kenobi's, Justice in the eyes of a Sith.

The thick, magnetically sealed door to his office tried to resist the force on the other side then ripped open and disappeared into the side jamb in an instant stripping out the gear works in the ceiling and floor. 'Captain' Zycxz walked forcefully into the darkened room and took a wide stance a meter away from the tyrant, breathing heavily behind the growling blade of the Lightsaber now bright red and channeling all his rage at the tyrant hidden behind the cloak in the darkness.

The Sith recruit's new jacket and chromed bars of rank were covered in his own blood, his uniform sported deep burn streaks across the front and back, exposing his skin where he had missed the repel swing and was tagged by pulse lasers, his face, blackened and scored red by hits from the practice drone bore a mouthful of gritted white teeth and fire filled yellow eyes.

The young man growled with conviction from deep in his throat, "I am going to kill you, old man, and do the universe a favor!"

"I can only hope so." Darth Sidious replied.

The young Captain's knuckles turned white as he gripped the Laser-sword with all his anger then let out a battle cry of hate and vengeance and lunged forward pushing the blade with all the anger in his blood through the heart of the Sith Lord and pulled it back out.

Darth Sidious laughed loud and wickedly and stood his ground.

The confused young man ran him through again, the Lightsaber's hilt beat against the thick material of the black cloak over and over again as the young man tried to strike the figure down while the mad, fearless wails of Darth Sidious' laughter grew into a deafening howl.

Darth Sidious waved a hand lifting the man and his laser-sword off the floor, then threw him to the rear wall of the office and allowed him to fall onto his face.

Captain Zycxz rose to his feet feeling the gaze of evil upon him and squared himself off again with the blade between him and his foe.

Darth Sidious held up an open hand and dropped a finger, the red blade fell silent and disappeared into the handle. Captain Zycxz looked down a the nonfunctioning weapon and watched the handle disappear into thin air along with the blood and burn marks across his hands and forearms of his jacket.

He looked down in amazement as the uniform returned to its pristine condition before the practice drone attacked him. The pain he felt resided and the anger left as he slumped in exhaustion to his knees with his head hung low.

"I don't understand." The young man said submissively.

"It is called the 'Sith convergence' it is how we teach the newcomers the skills of the Dark side in secret, you are worthy or you would have died."

"Will I be trained as a Sith?" The young Captain asked not daring to lift his head for fear of feeling the heat of a real Laser-sword's blade.

"In time, possibly. I have only shown you the power of the path, it is up to you yet to choose to walk upon it. Remember, once the path is chosen, forever will it dominate your destiny."

Darth Sidious threw his own weapon down at the young officer and said, "Pick it up and strike me down and I will rest and all the riches, power and problems of a galaxy will be your's alone. You will be called a hero and the price will be on your head."

Captain Zycxz looked at the ancient weapon on the floor and knew the door it would open for him if he took the tyrant up on his offer. He wrapped his hand around it and rose to his feet, grabbed the bottom of his jacket and composed himself.

Standing stiff at attention he clicked his heels together and staring into the dark void of his new Master's hood he held the weapon up in an open palm and simply said in tired and wiser words, "In time perhaps, what are your orders Mi'Lord?"

Darth Sidious sickening smile hid within the cloak's hood as he retrieved his weapon, the young Captain was sure he was about to feel a white hot blade pierce his own heart when the cloaked voice commanded, "Open your palm."

The Captain complied and a chromed bar of rank and a sliver of a data encryption tab fell into his hand.

"Take us to this location, and alert no one, do it now, 'Colonel' Zycxz."

The stunned officer stood straighter still and said, "Yes, Mi 'Lord, It will be done."

"You are dismissed." The Sith Lord turned and made his way back to his desk.

Colonel Zycxz returned to the cockpit to find it free of damage and the shattered and destroyed practice droid gone, vanished into thin air.

Chapter 61

"Pexo!"

"Aye sir!"

"Light it up!" Admiral Akbar's voice boomed across the command deck of the 'Victorious' momentarily drowning out the din of the workers hustling around him.

"Baskeearrii!"

"Aye, admiral!"

"Plug him in!" The admiral threw a giant eye over to stare up a nervous C-3PO who stood a step to his right side.

The Protocol-droid said with doubt in his voice, "I am not sure I am the right representative for this duty sir, perhaps a member of the Royal Family would be better suited." Master Tech Baskel Baskeearrii shoved a memory card into a slot under a polished gold, hinged flap on his back torso plate and spoke with confidence and a reassuring tone into the tiny microphones mounted in the back of his head, "You will do fine."

C-3PO was about to give a thankful reply but was cut of before he had a chance to speak. "Besides, the old coot absolutely hates being spoken to by a droid, this ought to be rich." The tech snickered and slapped the door down with a loud snap and buffed the top of his gleaming head plate quickly with a soft clean towel one last time.

"Ready, admiral!"

"All halt and watch this!" The crew skidded to a stop and all eyes were on the Main Com-screen. Those with experience working with the admiral knew the one thing he enjoyed as much as the fight was picking one.

The old, one armed man raised his only hand with seven fingers in the air to meet up with the admiral's other giant fish eye and counted down as the crew watched on, "…Three, two, one and you are going live, galaxy wide." The old man dropped his hand and popped a switch on his control panel.

The young woman with the orange crew cut and clipboard stepped into the lighted circle of the Holo-caster and recited the Rebel Alliance's official message, "This is an official communiqué from the Rebel Alliance. We are the liberating force of the peoples will. We will return the Republic to the citizens and free all who have fallen to the pressures of the self appointed dictator and false representative of the known galaxy…."

The young woman rambled on for five minutes following the text on her clipboard, Pexo raised an enthusiastic thumb into the air several times to confirm to the admiral's wandering left eye that all media sources were listening in as well as the Imperial Forces.

Admiral Akbar shot his other eye over to Baskel once to see him wink back confirming the transmission booster torpedo was still on course and broadcasting, traveling at nearly the speed of light away from their location giving the fleet time to jump into the safety of hyperspace if the source was intercepted by the Imperials.

Admiral Akbar walked slowly up behind the young woman and put a fin with fingers on her shoulder and said over her recital, "Thank you Lieutenant Perchesa, that will be all."

Lieutenant Perchesa spun on her heels and gave a textbook salute and said, "Aye, admiral!" and slipped off to the side and watched on.

Admiral Akbar took a wide stance and crossed his arms and stared straight forward for three minutes before Pexo snapped his fingers to signal an incoming official Imperial Forces transmission.

A holographic image of an aged, tall, rail thin man standing cold at attention as tall as the admiral materialized before him.

"Admiral Akbar, what's all this then?" The pale cadaver of a man in a dark grey Imperial Navy uniform said as cold as steel in outer space.

The admiral said nothing as he watched the hardened expression of his target turn to disgust as C-3PO stepped in, stealing away the image of Admiral Akbar.

C-3PO felt his oil reserves grow colder in the gaze of the emperor's highest ranking minion, second to only the Dark Lord himself, but could not defy his programming and stood as tall as his alloy frame would allow him, proving a droid could be even colder when obeying and executing a command from its Master.

"Akbar! This is low even for a bottom feeder like yourself!" An irritated Grand Mof Korsche shot past the droid. "How dare you even stand before me, 'Clanker'!" This was the second time in one standard week the term of disrespect was used against C-3PO and would be the last. The droid skipped the formal introduction and went straight to business "I stand before you because droids only simulate fear, we do not actually have it such as you do." C-3PO motioned slightly with his hands as he spoke, a split second before an almost enraged Grand Mof Korsche barked back he cut the human off, "Just as my Master has commanded a cold, unfeeling chunk of metal in the shape of a human to deliver this message, so has your Master commanded the same to…as the organic life forms say, 'Shut up and listen', the difference being my failure to complete my duty will warrant a 'systems diagnostic and refit' while you may possibly be 'decommissioned' to the relief of so many."

The droid did not back down and moved on to take the high ground, "Are you ready to listen, or shall I terminate the transmission and possibly your career along with it because of your prejudice?" Both sides crews stood stunned at the gold robot's audacity and his intellectual prowess, it was now clear to all why this particular droid had recently been stationed to the bridge over newer models that processed much faster, This droid was an expert on human relations and was a master of the game.

After a several tense moments, Grand Mof Korsche said through teeth gritted so tight a steel toothpick would have sparked and shot across the room if caught between them, "Proceed."

"The Joint Chiefs of the Rebel Alliance hereby challenge the Imperial Navy to a duel at the 'Inner Sun Belt' where Admiral Akbar will pilot the newly commissioned 'Victorious' and present you with a defeat of a most severe nature to prove to the galaxy the emperor has at his service only greedy mercenaries, and an army of overworked slaves to be freed upon your surrender."

The sunken, burning, hateful eyes made even darker by the gritty blue Holo-projector of Grand Mof Korsche chilled the rest of the room. Inside he wanted to break into a tirade at the protocol-droid and smash the bridge of the 'Excelsior' to pieces but knew his master was watching from far away, just not far away enough to keep him from being 'decommissioned'.

The droid paused, it was the Grand Moff's move.

The Grand Moff took his time to respond engaging in a stare-off with the droid long enough to make C-3PO have his own doubts about his strategy while proving to the rest of the galaxy he was just as cold and robotic as any droid in the service of his master.

Grand Moff Korsche inspected the robot from head to toe and back up again. The Protocol-droid presented a heavily hewn crimson sash draped around the back of his neck and shoulders trailing down to stop in a dagger sharp points just short of his polished gold boot tips.

The garment had been created by the Queen's Handmaidens and now was to be put on display for all to see the emperor had not crushed the ancient ways of crafting in favor of his mechanized methods.

The garment had been emblazoned with solid gold, silver, and platinum thread with the insignias of the Royal Houses of the Old Republic in exile within a wide, bold, fiery orange trim to signify their allegiance and financial backing to the Rebel Alliance as one.

Sewn in pure 'Exo-steel' in ancient script within the trim were the words, Dark Lordto the emperor!-Restore the Republic!'

Grand Mof Korsche appreciated the craftsmanship if not the message itself and hoped it could be retrieved for museum display after he forced the surrender of the Rebels and this all went down into the history books. His Master may even allow its existence to be entered into the old Jedi archives of which the Holo-Crons of the 'Old Order' were still in operation aboard the 'Excelsior'. The entire library had been transferred to the 'Excelsior' as the only treasure the newly entitled Dark Lord demanded be plundered from the Old Jedi Temple before his Clone Troopers planted semi-nuclear explosives throughout the structure and burned it to the ground as an insurance policy against the destruction of his personal quarters.

This standoff was not without its cost to both sides apart from military action and its casualties, as each painful second ticked by the markets of trade remained frozen in watch to profit of the destruction of one side or the other or both and for the opening of 'unofficial' trade routes not policed by the Empire due to the strains on personnel war demanded and therefore untaxed and 'off the record'.

The emperor and the Royal's were each losing hundreds of millions of credits per minute, as with all war it was fought with money as its primary weapon and both sides were showing a display of force by entertaining the delay.

Upon completion of the inspection Grand Mof Korsche broke the tense silence and said sharply, "The Imperial Navy accepts the challenge and will prove the Rebel Alliance is no more than a band of separatist scoundrels housing the very same who drove the Galactic Republic into the state it is today, we will put an end to the exiles who tempt the sons and daughters of the citizens of the Empire to their deaths with the shallow promise of becoming a hero for a lost cause."

The Admiral attempted to ramble on more for show to his own political gain when the Protocol-droid spoke loud enough to cut him off, "Thank you Grand Mof Korsche, that will be enough from and old, dried out cadaver in need of a memory wipe and the false words he has been programmed with." C-3PO waved an arm and Pexo-Colo cut the feed, the image of Grand Mof Korsche scrambled into blue and white snow and disappeared.

The markets went wild, the crew went wild with cheer and applause, Admiral Akbar shook the gold droid's shoulders from behind and howled with laughter, Pexo-Colo ran up to him and jumped, slapping his shining head hard over the Admiral's arms then fell over a console in a giggling fit, Lieutenant Perchesa wrapped her arms around C-3PO just before he lost his balance and fell forward and planted a giant wet kiss across the slit containing his speaker box leaving a behind a giant orange lipstick kiss print while standing him back upright then threw her arms in the air and spun and danced about as she sported a devious smile of victory.

C-3PO was the hero of the day and would never be disrespected within the Rebel Alliance again.

Chapter 62

Emperor Palpatine had no expression at all other than the gruesomely scarred face awarded to him by the Jedi Master Mace Windu and did not take sides on the issue of money and politics, he would profit in power or finance either way, Darth Sidious on the other hand relished the idea of a good old fashioned showdown to prove once and for all his superiority, but he had heard false challenges from the Rebellion before.

Emperor Palpatine pulled his heavy, black cloak's hood over his head and closed his eyes and became his true self, As he searched the inner darkness of his rotted soul and the marriage it kept with the Dark Side, the message within the darkness in his mind whispered, "This is not about war, this is about regaining an item of value, something missing, something…almost lost."

He saw a ring of crystal, a beast in black with a sword of flames and a path of destruction signed with the signature of a young Jedi in training he had become so familiar with.

He recalled the old story he was an inseparable part of and the teachings of his Master Darth Pleagus etched in stone upon his mind, "Tell me what it is you desire, so I may deny it to you, show me what you love, so I may take it from you."

Darth Sidious opened his tired and paranoid eyes, reflective reds and yellows flashed like flames within a fire-pit of purple, sleep deprived eyelids. He whispered in a breath laced with acid and greed for the one he needed to regain his lost son and bring his ultimate and complete legacy of dominating the galaxy to fruition, …"Luke Skywalker."

Chapter 63

The entity howled as it surfed the explosion of hot wind and a wave of glass needles clinging to the relic with almost humanoid arms and fingers, the talons of its bird-like feet dug into the glass floor as it skidded to a stop.

Spreading its oil-leathered wings as high as the room would allow the tips draped over the edge of the destroyed glass panel and severely malfunctioning containment force-field and dripped down to the surface below.

The thing screeched at him through its jaw of razors, "Come to your senses and join me! I do not want to injure you further or have to kill you!" The monster still had no eyes, only a head full of tall, terrifying white teeth perched atop a long, loose bird-like neck.

Luke kept the blue-plasma blade between them as he shook off the blow leaning into to the back wall and steadied himself. Luke looked on stunned and fascinated, the monster looked exactly like the stick drawings his Master drew in the mud on Dagobah when he told him of the beginning of the Sith Order.

Humans driven by their passions for war and dominance who were outcast to live in exile from the rest of the galaxy came across a planet of purely emotional, shape-changing beings with magical properties and became one with the culture bringing a level of intelligence and ambition to the powerful dark life-forms that should have never been allowed. When the colony had finally been discovered by the Jedi Deep-Space Corp it was to late, the Sith Order had been born, spreading across the galaxy quietly like a disease until it rose up and began the first of thousands of conflicts over thousands of years in a tug of war for control of the known universe.

"Only a Sith deals in absolutes!" Luke pointed in the air with his damaged right hand while leaning into the padded elbow of the other against the wall for support. "I would not join Vader and he is my father!"

Luke stood back up and waved the Lightsaber toward the beast gently to signal he still had some fight left in him, he then started laughing at the creature in defiance of a near certain defeat. "Heck, I can't even do what Master Yoda tells me to half the time! Why would I even waste my time with a…" Luke paused as he witnessed the entire mass of the giant dragon shaped monster shrink and reform into the body of a tall, thin and devilishly beautiful woman, the creature grinned at him through wide, thin red lips against the black of her being daring him to finish his sentence.

"A…" Luke was in too deep now.

"A what?" The shape of the woman dared him again finish his words while cradling the length of rock in her arms and tapping a toe against the glass several times.

"A desperate, insane, evil and exiled psychopath." Luke said the words with flat emotion, it was simply the truth from his point of view.

The entity leaned back clutching the rock tightly and burst into laughter, "That's the best you can do! I was expecting so much more!" The thing bore lashed a set of slits for eyes and laughed harder at him.

"…and I think your tricks are cheap, I've seen younglings put on a better magic show in a cave made of ice." The thing stopped laughing.

"And as for your image and style…"

A woman's set of eyes grew wider and lit up red.

Luke knew he had found the beasts weak spot, conceit.

"Better performers are owned by a disgusting worm on my home planet."

The grinning mouthful of razor sharp teeth widened and lost its cheer.

"You're worthless as well as useless, I see why the emperor left you behind to die and I don't blame him."

Luke barely finished his words as the woman welled up and screamed an obscenity at him in a language he had never heard before and swung the rock above her head as it burst into flames of red and blackened plasma.

"An advantage to you, the unwitting enemy may become." The words of his Master echoed in Luke's mind and now it was time to put them to the test. If this creature was one of the beings Master Yoda told him stories of it was ruled by its passions and aggression and could not be reasoned with, ever. The beast fell into Luke's plan of escape, there was no way he could open the blast doors with his weapon alone so the creature would have to lend a hand.

Luke braced his good hand with the frozen robotic fingers and raised his Lightsaber in a cross block over his head and stepped over to the center of the hallway to the closed blast door.

The woman lunged at him while screaming obscenities through a wide mouth of gnashing teeth, flames of red burst from her eyes as she beat the flaming rock against the blue-plasma blade over and over with all her anger and hate backing Luke up a step down the short hallway with each strike.

The entity swung the rock down low and then up in an attempt to slice Luke in two lengthwise to the top of his head. The Jedi trainee felt the Force move him to the side by spinning him on the ball of his right heel just in time to avoid the fatal strike. As the flat side of the flaming rock traveled past Luke's visor time slowed momentarily.

The weapon lost its material form for an instant revealing its true nature to Luke, this was no piece of rock at all or metal or anything else to be found in this universe, it was a fissure, a crack, a ribbon of energy opening into another place. He now knew in an instant why the emperor spared no expense in his attempt to retrieve it for his own gain.

Time sped forward as the weapon swung up and back around to slash across his mid section with lightening fast speed and precision then time nearly stopped again. After the weapon broke through the blade of his weakening Lightsaber Luke leaned his upper body back as far as he could, the tip of the ribbon of energy burned a scorch mark across the top of the hard composite helmet. Within a frozen moment in time Luke gazed through a window into another universe and the blade of energy told its story to him. He saw an argument between two beings become a fight between two cultures which in turn became a conflict between star systems until whole sectors of space engaged in interstellar military actions until the entire universe was embroiled in intergalactic war. He looked on in horror as the militaries began destroying the suns of their enemies systems as a means of mass destruction until a hasty, poorly planned attack near the galaxy's crowded center mass of stars caused a chain reaction engulfing the entire universe and turning it to cindered gasses afloat in total darkness. It was simply the end of all life and just the 'feel' of it nearly broke Luke's heart and caused him to lose hope.

"Employ many weapons the Dark side does, against your body, and more so your mind." Master Yoda's constant conditioning took over as it should in a moment such as this.

Luke closed his eyes and used the Force to clear his mind and prepare himself for the next few moments of his life.

Time rushed forward, the screaming beast heaved the blade of energy up to the ceiling and back over to come down upon Luke's head and deliver the death blow.

Luke brought the weakened blade of his Lightsaber up once again to cross-block the oncoming threat then cut the power feed to the blade and stepped forward stabbing his sharp, frozen robotic fingertips through the black goo that was the assailant's wrists, he forced his left forearm over the top of the monsters arms and fell with dead weight toward the door.

The monster screamed in pain and resistance at the boldness of Luke's move as the fiery blade tore a wide open gash through both the blast door then the main door of the observation post entry with ease.

The hallway outside depressurized to blast both combatants out of the short hall and across the floor as air rushed in to meet up with the interior of the observation post.

The entity tumbled slickly across the floor, Luke slid to a scraping stop on his stomach with his head over the edge of the platform. He stared far down to the surface into the glaring cracks and fissures of the white crystal moon, the ghostly flames rose up and fanned about the surface like a crowd of spectators being treated to a fight to the death among gladiators in an ancient coliseum.

Luke felt the crowd roar and gasp collectively, instinctively he rolled over to his right just before the blade of inter-dimensional energy took his head off.

The crowd of flame rose up and cheered with a roar as Luke scrambled on his robotic hand and his knees across the slick glass as he kept a tight grip on his Lightsaber with his left hand. The entity scowled at the surface of the moon and spun around to give chase to Luke stomping its claws one after another.

Luke was nearly on his feet when one of the two sliding glass doors to either side of the observation platform reflected and gave his attacker's next move away. Before the creature could cut his knees out from under him he dove forward and let the Lightsaber's blade loose shattering the door as he tuck and rolled the bulky pressure suit forward out onto the space faring glass-floor of the 'U' shaped walkway. Luke slid across a bed of shattered glass and would have rolled right off the edge to his death if the invisible power fields between the meter high poles at the seam of each section of glass had not reacted to their infrared beams being broken as a safety measure against just such clumsiness.

Luke sprang to his feet in time to meet the 'Dark Ones' next swing as the beast screamed demon speak at him. In volley's of lighting fast strikes the entity swung at Luke with untiring will. Luke returned the fight by meeting the blade of fire quickly in a rhythm of resistance then ducked in an instant causing the screaming woman-monster to spin around wildly off balance exposing her back to him.
Through the floor a roar of flame and rushing air from the surface below approved of the improvised move. Luke saw he stood behind the seam of two large sections of glass, he raised his right knee and kicked the assailant in the small of her back with his spiked boot as hard as he could then drove his Lightsaber down across the flooring shattering the glass panel out from underneath it.

The entity stretched out a thin, elongated arm and sunk the searing claws of its free hand into the alloy framework of the next pane, saving itself from a long fall as a cascade of shattered glass scattered to the surface below.

The flames erupted higher, the wind within the net roared in favor of the near defeat as it swallowed up the falling glass, melting the razor sharp pieces back into molten droplets before disappearing into the blinding white of the moon.

The entity hoisted itself up with ease and sprang into a back-flip leaping across the distance of the shattered walkway and over Luke in an attempt to gain the advantage and corner him. Luke ran to the middle of the U-shaped walkway before the thing could land and stop his retreat.

The adversary landed on its pointed black feet with its back to him and sprang again. The two clashed weapons again as the thing swiped at his head on the way over then landed behind him leaving Luke no choice but to run toward the containment unit the piece of rock originally occupied to direct the energy of the mining drill's modified weapon system.

The white-hot flames erupted from below with another roar and reached higher toward the platform as Luke heard a crowd of a billion spirits cheer him on, he felt for the Force and felt it flow through him as never before.

The woman had changed form again, this was no humanoid of any kind Luke had ever seen, it was an eyeless, soulless, blackened horror with a head full of teeth screeching in deafening tones while slashing with its weapon, kicking and spitting insults at him.

It wasn't a monster to Luke anymore it was a nightmare and it was out to kill him, period.

Luke gained advantage as it was predictable in its form of attack, almost basic once Luke allowed the Force to slow his mind and speed his motion, he sparred along with it while backing up a step at a time. Again, led by rage the thing played into his strategy. He ducked and let the thing send the blade of energy into the glass containment unit causing a burst of pressurized water and steam knocking Luke the rest of the way to the floor and blew the creature back into the observation platform's main room.

Luke stood up quickly, the beast was quicker, it sprang back out of the observation platform gliding on a set of bat's wings and across the distance in seconds landing on the edge of the containment units floor with clawed feet and gave chase again with absolutely insane anger.

Luke ran as fast as he could in the bulky suit toward the opposite entrance to the observation platform with the howling beast close behind. Luke swiped at and shattered each pane of glass flooring behind him with his Lightsaber as he ran across the seams in hopes of dropping the things feet out from under it and giving him a chance to finally escape.

In long, weightless strides the entity leapt across the panes a moment ahead of each ones destruction in pursuit of its target. Luke destroyed the pane of glass flooring out from underneath himself as he jumped forward to the next solid pane. The twisting towers of white flame and rushing wet winds shook the steel support structure beams and slicked the remaining panels removing any traction they may have provided.

Luke slipped off his heels and landed hard on his backside and skidded spinning down the remainder of the walkway bouncing off the energy shields as he went.

After coming to a sudden stop at the opposite entrance to the observation platform, Luke looked back up the destroyed walkway as he scrambled to his feet. The entity was airborne high above him again, its black wings unfolded to steady its flight for an instant as it raised the flaming piece of material high above its screeching head full of teeth. The wings wrapped themselves around its body tight and it fell with the weapon into a spiraling freefall.

The screeching terror opened a set of talons on each of its bird-like feet to land running on the wet walkway and slipped its footing as well, tumbling hard and sliding down the panels of flooring cradling its flaming sword and knocking Luke back off his feet again.

The beast was stunned from the impact and nearly dropped it weapon, Luke reached for it to disarm the assailant while on his hands and knees with the remains of his robotic hand. The beast hissed, rolled over and kicked him square in the chest with its talons, the glass sliding door behind barely opened fast enough for him to avoid being sent through it.

Luke landed on his back then somersaulted to his feet, his spiked boot tips dug in to the glass floor plate with a nerve wracking squeak, he deactivated his Lightsaber and anticipated the next attack as the beast righted itself and rushed in after him before he could make his way to the tear in blast doors and exit the room. The destroyed walkway behind him left him nowhere to run.

Luke decided if it was conflict the creature lived for then he would give it his fair share. The creature stopped before him and took the shape of a human woman again sweating black droplets and trying to catch its breath along with Luke and was about to attempt speak to him again when Luke rushed it with a Rebel yell to wake the dead. He activated his Lightsaber and came at it with everything he had, he swung the weapon up and over and under again. If the beast could be dazed and tired it could be defeated Luke set out to do just that, he held his ground as sparks and smoke filled his vision. He did not need his eyes and used the Force to fight on leaving the thing no choice but to fight back until the thing slowed enough for him to out-maneuver its swordplay.

In perfect form Luke seized an opportunity to strike. In one continuous motion he swung the weakening Lightsaber down low and up to the ceiling slicing the monster clean in two from the things crotch all the way out the top of its head.

The flaming sword went dead as well and flew into Luke's chest, he fumbled it for a moment before gaining control of what now appeared to be just a long, dark, jagged piece of rock brandished in the dirty, burnt-orange elbow of his left arm and supported by the frozen metal fingers of his right.

The room fell silent. The dripping, oily beast stood tall and motionless with its arms waving outstretched from the sudden death blow. Luke was sure nothing, not even a true shape shifter could survive such a devastating strike. The monster pitched backward and fell to the wet glass floor with a slick, sickening thud.

Chapter 64

Every nerve in Luke Skywalker's body told him to run away through the tear in the blast door and down the hallway behind him and yet he was paralyzed, holding the dark piece of rock and staring at the unidentifiable thing that he hoped somehow was not dead from the damage it had endured.

As the young explorer watched on, the split, black mass of a humanoid began to bubble slowly, black goo popped and sputtered into the air as clouds of blackened mist and smoke rose above the oil slick it lay in.

Luke was taken aback, "its still alive!" The thought of it surviving broke Luke loose from the grip his legs and feet had on the floor.

He walked slowly backward to the hallway one step behind the other as quietly as the steel spikes of his boots against the glass floor would allow him.

The space between the two halves filled in with wandering strings of black material growing like headless snakes reaching for their other half, pulling the two halves back together until its form was complete again

The beast's nine fingers on each hand spread out dragging a slick thin webbing between them and slid inward across the wet glass surface, the monsters arms dripped a mix of oily water as they quivered under the strain of its own weight, struggling to raise the bubbling, smoking black mass up to a sitting position facing away from Luke.

The thing put one hand to its head and wiped its brow, it looked silently at the dripping black liquid upon the back of its hand. Luke assumed it was the equivalent of blood.

The thing slung the black across the room, it sizzled into a puff of grey smoke as it hit the force field guarding the first of the glass planes that had been shattered.

Below his spiked feet the surface of the moon sparked in twisting painful flashes through the cracks and damaged landscapes and danced alive with white-hot flames as the winds roared and shook the platform in favor of his victory, a wild fire raged through the remains of the colossal crystal cities. The moon rotated faster beneath his feet, he could feel the gravity increasing.

Luke's skin burned with the sensation of danger and he quickly turned his thoughts to evasion and escape again, he swung the piece of rock close to the chest plate of his suit as he turned around and took a blind step forward toward the door, his eyes still fixed on the humanoid, if it even was one, resurrecting itself off the glass floor. The flames below and beyond it whipped into a frenzy at the things re-awakening, as if to wave in warning at Luke to run away.

Luke swung his head and helmet to meet up with the rest of his body to dive through the tear in the doors and bolt down the hall. His eyes went wide at the sight of the massive, gold Construction-droid blocking his escape through the tear, the dark piece of heavy crystal glowed and exploded back into a jagged blade of blackened plasma, within the width of the blade he could have sworn he saw the trillions of billions of stars of his own galaxy, destroyed or still tearing themselves apart. The scene had all the telltale markings of a universe decimated by war, a place this galaxy was already heading fast and would be delivered to if this device was allowed to be carried to its center or even worse delivered somehow into the hands of the emperor by this thing that may just possibly be his original converted minion returning from a mission started a millennia ago.

The vision within the blade held Luke fast as the Construction-droid lunged forward as far as it could against the other side of the doors with the golden spear of one of its spidery legs piercing the suits armor through his lower left side of his stomach and clean out his back Luke's breathing seized, the spider pushed its lance forward until Luke stood eye to eyes with his executioner, with one last defiant scream Luke raised the rock over his head and smashed in the center eye of the Construction-droid through the torn doors with the plasma driven blade as sparks and anodized green shards of glass pitted and scorched the Holo-vizor. Luke continued to beat in its eyes as the blood rushed out of his head and down the length of the spear he was pinned upon.

The Construction-droid lifted another leg and growled as it was about to thwart the attack, from behind the shape shifter screamed, "No, you fool!"

The relic flew loose into the air as Luke's body was slid off the spear forcefully by another sharp leg tip and onto his back on the scratched and gouged glass floor.

The monster leaped across the room diving in time to catch itsmost treasured possession before it shattered across the floor or took out the glass pane entirely from underneath them all.

The beast cradled the relic as if it was a newborn youngling and watched the fire disappear from it and looked up at the Construction-droid from its knees and screamed at it, "Idiot! You almost cost us everything!"

The Construction-droid bowed its round gold body and destroyed glass lenses in submission seeking forgiveness for its clumsiness.

The 'Dark One' scowled at the spider while turning to slither through the remaining glass sliding door with a limp, "Cut that door open, now!" The beast traveled back through the super-heated atmosphere filling the net and the room while leaping effortlessly across the missing sections of flooring and out to the containment unit and set the piece delicately back onto the cradle it originally rested upon.

The machine returned to draining the star of its life to the thing's satisfaction, the atmosphere calmed itself once again as if it knew the show was over and was time to get back to task of prison labor.

After returning to the false sense of safety the observation platform provided and waiting several moments impatiently as the damaged Construction-droid finished slicing the damaged doors out and carefully setting them aside the thing spoke to the Construction-droid just outside the doorway as it watched the flames below retreat into the cracks in fear of the presence watching over them once more, "Get him back to the infirmary and drain his blood before it runs out of him entirely and keep it alive for the software we need to activate the 'Spurios' drive systems…and save what's left for me, it will be a long trip to the center of this galaxy and I may as well put back what he took out of me!" The menace gave a seething glare to the moon below itsfeet.

"Then get back here, replace the chamber and get this weapon operational again!"

The Construction-droid awaited further direction, the entity wiped itsbrow again and slung a trail of black oil at it with an open hand, "That's it, Be gone with you and him!" The black figure gave the spider one more degrading look of disgust and spun around.

The Construction-droid reached through the doorway and lifted Luke's boots with one pointed leg and whipped a set of cables around his feet and dragged his body back down the length of the hall leaving behind a trail of crimson.

The wraith spoke to the long piece of mysterious material aloud, "Soon, soon, soon, we will find this 'emperor' and destroy him and all the rest of this cold and undeserving universe and be born again into a place of balance and warmth and peace."

Chapter 65

High above the trash strewn deck and perched upon a four-sided mountain of steel sat the glass pyramid that housed the command deck of the 'Spurios'.

The thick space faring glass walls came to a laser cut, seamless point several meters above the lone command console and magnetic cradle clamps designed specifically for an Astro-mech unit to pilot on itsmission.

The original pilot of the ship lay in a million little pieces scattered about the floor in a ring around the control pit. The giant, gold, egg shaped body of the reprogrammed Construction-droid ran gracefully in circles over the bits of electronic salvage, the exposed tools mounted within its leg tips sliced and sawed while soldering and riveting pieces back together in a hail of sparks and smoke and handing them over to his new Master with lightening speed and precision.

R2-D2 stood within another shower of blue sparks and black smoke as he redesigned and modified the control center of the 'Spurios'. The first modification being an extended set of trip-breakers to give himself enough time to disconnect before his core was burnt to pieces like the poor Astro-mech who was now a junkyard for the ship's new Master Tech and his first mate.

R2-D2 swung his soot blackened glass eye around and whistled loud, the Construction-droid stepped in close and opened up its doors to itsrivet guns, the droid switched off the rivet feeds and blew a powerful blast of compressed air into the droids face revealing a cold, hard devilishly red eye staring it down.

The Construction-droid bowed back and gathered its legs underneath it and waited for a command.

R2-D2 beeped and whistled several times to his first mate. The beast leaned gracefully in to the Astro-mech's smaller ocular next to the glaring red lens.

The gyros whirring within R2-D2's core processors went into a spinning, whine of overdrive. Trillions of bitsof data flowed from the infrared laser mounted in the ocular to one of the spider's eyes, a lens port of a similar design just below the large, metallic green coated center unit.

Several moments later R2-D2 whistled high and sharp ordering the beast to acknowledge. The gold body swung like a pendulum backward and each its pointed gold tips raised and dropped, cracking one by one against the hard steel floor as the discarded parts danced about from the impacts.

The Construction-droid scurried around the back of the control pit and stopped at the top of the stairs leading up into the command deck floor as R2-D2 rolled off kilter from the damage he sustained ejecting from the troubled X-wing fighter up to the deck's edge and leaned into the glass and surveyed the silver metal tower, the damage from the engine detonating had been partially repaired and the blackened cargo doorway at its base had been resealed by a set of welded plates to make for a makeshift patch job from the inside out.

The Construction-droid turned around slowly and spread out its pointed leg tips and hoisted itself up and centered itself over the control pit on back four legs and reached out with the other four and wrapped them around R2-D2's body and hoisted him into the air. R2-D2 made no sound as the spider flipped him onto his back and pulled him to it.

The power of the Construction-droid was put to use as it hoisted itsmassive egg of a body up and swung the Astro-mech back underneath itself and dropped him gently down into the locking clamps and cradle to pilot the ship.

The command console lit up as the droid took command of all the systems still functional aboard the newly acquired Rebel Alliance warship.

The Construction-droid snapped to attention front and center again. R2-D2 wailed out one more series of commands and dismissed the machine to go outside the ship and take itspost.

It snapped its leg tips once more and sped off behind the Astro-mech and down the stairs.

R2-D2 fired the docking thrusters over and over again and the ship began to rock side to side. The hull was sunk deep into the thousand year old mud and would take some work to break it loose. Each pulse from the thruster moved the colossal craft more to freedom but the Astro-mech could not also damage the station his Master was trapped within.

The massive walls of steel swayed and ground against the glass of the space station, a resounding 'Boom!' increased with each attempt as the mountains of garbage outside on the decks shook themselves flat with all the horrific screams and scrapes the twisted masses of former spaceships made when they were originally destroyed.

The brackish water splashed in tidal waves up onto the glass shore swirling the racks of salvaged equipment together in a perilous soup of explosives, weapons, tools and Clone-trooper armor.

The bergs of broken ice collided with weapons still loaded and active causing explosions to rise violently out of the water sending clouds of razor sharp debris and shrapnel to rain back down and cause the reaction all over again.

The droid worked on with the simplest of programming, 'Acquire General Skywalker…acquire transportation…return to rendezvous point by any means possible…deadly force authorized…if captured terminate Skywalker via self destruct…'

Chapter 66

For Luke Skywalker it was think quick or die, The Medical-droid was angrily rebooting itself with a series of clicks and clacking sounds while spinning about in a tight circle with its

scalpel in hand in an attempt to regain its rusty gyro balancing system, It would surely attack once it found its bearings.

Even if his escape plan worked there was no guarantee he wouldn't be killed anyway.

The visions of the black monster and the pain of the Construction-droid's lance piercing through his body faded into cold, hard reality.

That was then, this is now, Luke reminded himself and punched the plunger to open the containment torpedo. Inside mounted to the wall an old fashioned twist timer awaited to be set to a scale of kilometers. Beside it was a key, the instructions were written in an ancient Republic script. If it were not for Master Yoda forcing him to learn the basic's of the banished and nearly forgotten language he would not have had a clue as to how to set the device.

Luke felt the floor rumble with the 'boom' he had heard and felt before, only now it felt as if it were right on the other side of the mud blackened panes of the infirmary's windows.

Luke felt his skin tingle again and froze. The unmistakable tapping and clicking of a Construction-droid was approaching from somewhere down a hallway outside the door. Luke thought perhaps the Medical-droid may have tripped an alarm calling for backup since it was active but immobilized for the time being.

Ignoring the dull aching from his mid section he snapped open the Holo-vizor and brushed the stinging sweat out of his eyes with the back of his burnt orange glove then snapped the shredded pane of plastic and glass back down and set himself to work.

After reading the instructions Luke spun the black knob and its red arrow to its lowest setting of 100 meters and pushed in a button mounted in the knobs center, the button lit green to confirm the setting.

Luke twisted the key all the way around once to disarm the auto-detonate sequence and pulled it out and threw it aside. From behind Luke could feel and hear the Construction-droid approaching the doorway in double time to assist the malfunctioning Med-Bot and knew this was his last chance to escape, ever.

The Construction-droid burst through the doorway and ran up to the Med-Bot and hoisted it into the air. The Med-Bots' wheel section continued to spin freely as it gave an infra red data report to one of the Construction-droid's smaller, unbroken eyes.

The gold spider had just enough time to see and hear Luke force a muffled scream of pain past the apparatus filling his mouth and throat as he hoisted himself over the edge of the torpedo's hull and fell into the compartment.

The Construction-droid locked onto its target and ran toward the torpedo with the Med-Bot in tow.

Luke reached out and hit the plunger to launch the device and barely had time to pull his burnt and frozen robotic hand back inside the torpedo before the door slid shut and locked him in darkness.

A gold spike burst through the center of the thin sheet metal door, nearly impaling Luke dead center in his chest, the tip sprung open into a set of clamps and whining saw blades an instant before the torpedo broke loose from the magnetic docking clamps and sped down the rails and out the air lock taking the tip of the spiders leg with it.

Chapter 67

"Oh, Ho, Ho!" The heavy bass of laughter from deep within the grotesquely fat belly of the vile gangster and underground warlord Jabba the Hutt boomed off the stone walls of his lair dug deep within the cool rock of Tattooine, momentarily drowning out the chorus of an alien and humanoid zoo erupting in approval at the news of his acceptance of the deal with the Royal Houses.

Every bounty hunter in the room busily worked their connections and contacts via electronic and face to face communication, side deals were being struck before the first of the Imperial targets were even found.

It was easy to know Imperial Officers were now potentially lucrative targets but if you did not know who they were or where they would be you would never have a chance at getting paid. All were digging up the service of their 'Slicers', beings who scoured the endless streaming electronic frontier for secret, hidden or otherwise difficult to obtain information to be traded for profit. The hot topic now were Imperial Troop movements and more importantly their official meeting locations and transport to new assignment schedules, which were highly classified and for which the penalty for treason against the Empire would be far worse than simply being shot by a hired gunslinger.

Jabba the Hutt did not take sides, he would profit in power or finance either way. The four meter long, three ton worm slid down from his throne and across the cool stone floor.

A pack of beautiful humanoid slave women ran away from their alien zoo of customers, they joined in and surrounded Jabba along with the dancers who performed on the floor before him for his pleasure. Jabba had always had penchant for humanoid women.

The women leapt about as others held his hands and bowed before him enforcing the fact that no matter what kind of villain or scum you thought you were, they were Jabba's property and if you were in the room you most likely were too, through one arrangement or another. The warlord lumbered over to a large black rectangle mounted to the far wall of the lair, his mangy, nasty, yet faithful pet, Salacious Crumb rode upon his tail shouting illegible insults at the bosses employees, degrading them with wicked stares and spitting at them while laughing in shrills and screeches. The nasty little creature allowed one of the dancers to come close enough to pet his head then bit into the tips of her fingers with his sharp little teeth, the dancer shrieked in pain as the vermin burst into shrills of laughter and shouted more insults at her as she cradled her hand and kept dancing anyway.

Jabba flicked the little beast up onto his shoulders with his tail grabbing it suddenly and squashing it under his stumpy right arm then stroked the things head to quiet its outbursts. Salacious tried to nip Jabba's fingertip too only to be smacked across the top of his head to let him know his feistiness needed to back down. The room quieted along with the pet at the sight of the boss actually moving about the floor among his troops and listened in as he spoke to the frozen image of a man twisting in pain within the thick black rectangle, "Han, Mi bookie, you were the best, you should be glad to know you will live far longer than your friends in my care, one day I will awaken you and you will see and I will have my payment with interest."

The giant worm burst out in baritones of laughter with mad satisfaction, Salacious howled along with the boss as the lair of thieves and hired gunmen.

The giant worm burst out in baritones of laughter with mad satisfaction, Salacious howled along with the boss as the lair of thieves and murderers erupted again and laughed in a roar along with him.

Chapter 68

Admiral Akbar took in a clean sterilized breath of air past his gills and barked, "Lets do it!" To the engineer in charge of Main Engine Control then stood tall with his fins crossed over his chest watching with his giant eyes as the first armored cruiser units and the countless tiny attack craft escorting them disappear suddenly as they jumped into hyperspace. The thin light of the stars stretched out across the thick, wide observation pane of the Command Deck as the 'Victorious' engaged its hyper-drive and its massive engines broke the gravitational anchor of open space, the behemoth craft to disappeared into hyper-space along with the remainder of the fleet in an instant.

The next stop would be what was now known to the rest of the fleet as the Tarnishi Anomaly, a place where gravity and energy played tricks on sensor arrays and ultra-magnetic asteroids preyed upon unsuspecting ships, charging undetected out of swirling clouds of acidic gas when disturbed from their slumber.

When Admiral Akbar was a young ensign aboard a long range exploration vessel he had a role in liberating a colony of mixed life forms living in isolation on a lone terra-formed planet within the cloud of gas and asteroids orbiting the remote system's star from a Sith Lord who had trapped them on their world and kept them as slaves.

The only thing about the system that could be predicted was its unpredictability. Admiral Akbar had kept this piece of space in his pocket for just such an occasion.

He spent years studying the terrain, in wonder of how he and his crew survived the ordeal and what the old wise man who came to his dreams meant by "In time, how you approach, is what matters most."

On leave from the Mon-Calamari Navy on his home world he swam in the cool waters above his submerged village, staring up at the planet's moons through a tunnel of water between all of the tiny fish and sea creatures darting about and a sudden thought hit him like a sack of stone bricks, there is a path straight through and to stay free of harm is all in how you approach it.

A little more study and the admiral had his answer and kept the path of safety through the system a secret until now.

If the Imperial Navy were to enter the battle-field with the information Pexo-Colo gave them they would be in for a rude awakening indeed, the first destructive salvo from the Rebel Alliance would come from the terrain itself while the fleet stayed clear of any immediate threat and may even have time to launch a damaging attack and move through the anomaly untouched giving the long range, very heavily armed scouting party time to find and secure the return of General Skywalker.

What the Queen did not know would not hurt her any further right now he figured, and the Joint Chiefs of the Rebel Alliance agreed with the diversion as a ploy to occupy the Imperial navy while the hidden forces gathered arms and strength for the attack on the real Dark LordStar'.

Admiral Akbar firmly believed it was the will of the Force to have so easily defeated the original terror if only to warn others of the threat now building itself into a super-charged ball of destruction ten times bigger and thousand times more powerful.

There would be no help from now on in that fashion, it was up to every living, thinking creature to rise up now if they wanted to survive planetary destruction from a simple wave of the emperors hand.

C-3PO and Admiral Akbar discussed in detail the 'human' aspect of the plan considering human beings and human clones made up 99.9 percent of the Empires soldiers.

C-3PO's analysis of the emperor painted a portrait the admiral could agree with, tyrant or not he was a manager, and he was only as good as his Intel allowed, he would sacrifice millions, creditsand bodies to accomplish his goals, but there was a fatal flaw within his style all too common among the humanoids, it was more important to him that everyone followed his will than the outcome or the results since he figured blindly he was always in the right and all was part of his plans.

Admiral Akbar knew 'Grand Mof' Korsche was no idiot and would be expecting a deception, but he was a minion of greed and a bottom feeder for power and did what he was told to, in fact the admiral was betting on it.

Chapter 69

"We are in position, your Highness, and if you ask me, we are a sitting target."

"Thank you Captain Wixxim, and I did not ask you, keep your personal opinions to yourself please." The imposter impersonating the Queen kept command of the room.

"My pardons, I meant the threat posed by the anomalies, any one of these magnetic bergs could approach at any moment."

"Have faith in the admiral's planning captain, if he says this position is safe, then it is."

Captain Wixxim put a finger to his ear and stared blankly at the floor as he listened to an incoming communication, "Say again…, one more time, its the static."

The Captain listened in a moment longer and replied, "Maintain com-silence and patch the feed through to the Queen's quarters, thank you lieutenant, out."

Captain Wixxim looked directly at the Queen and reported in, "Your Majesty I have just received word of other craft appearing in our vicinity."

A fuzzy, black and white image appeared on a small, circular, wall mounted view screen inside a handcrafted wooden frame stained a deep-red. Within the snow drifts of static the emperor's Royal shuttle glided to a halt along with a small but heavily armed escort party minus the usual fleet of Star Destroyers and swarms of Tie-Fighters that accompanied the paranoid tyrant wherever he went.

The emperor's entourage was still three times the size of the fleet at the Queen's disposal and concerned Captain Wixxim, "This is too dangerous, Your Highness, we need to move out while we still can." The Captain watched on as the ships surrounding the shuttle fanned out into an attack ready formation.

"We don't even know if the Womp-rat is even onboard, I am calling this off!" Captain Wixxim worked at his earpiece trying to reach the cockpit to order a retreat but couldn't pierce the static.

Queen Leia felt the tiny crystal loop around the small finger of her left hand itch and burn slightly, when she tried to spin it to loosen it with her other hand she felt tiny teeth dig in in resistance as it tightened its grip against her.

It was then she realized this was no ordinary object, she could feel it was scared and being hunted and was holding onto her out of terror and self preservation. She wrapped her hand around it and held it close to her stomach and the ring loosened its grip slightly from the reassurance but held tight nonetheless.

"Captain, stand down now…please!" The Queen commanded.

"The emperor is most certainly on that ship, and we shall follow our orders, Captain Wixxim."

Crizora looked to the view screen once more and the armada positioning itself to capture the Queen in a what would be a brave move in galactic-political chess should the opportunity arise and felt the manifestation of evil inside the shuttle as if the distance between them accounted for nothing, coiled and still like a deadly snake gauging the perfect time to lash out and strike. "We shall wait."

Chapter 70

The pressure of Luke's blood rushed into his head as the Bio-evac torpedo shot violently off the end of the magnetic rails and out of the air lock.

All of his weight rested upon his shoulder pads and helmet as the torpedo skipped across the rust colored mud and debris filled water until tumbling end over end slamming Luke's body repeatedly off of the cylinder's cramped interior.

The ride came to a sudden stop, in the darkness Luke felt the torpedo bobble up and down as metal scraped against metal on the outside.

It was then the escapee realized he had either not set a release command or this model simply did not have one, meant to explode or to be shot off into the emptiness of space.

Luke reached instinctively for his Lightsaber which would have freed him in an instant only to find it missing. He cursed at the disappointment then gripped the blades and serrated clamps exposed on the tip of the dead and torn off leg of the Construction-droid still embedded in the slide door of the torpedo in the dark and heaved it down and away from his chest.

The auto-assist gyros of the suit took over and applied nearly all remaining power to the arms of the exploration suit. The door ratcheted down as its lightweight gears twisted and stripped against the raw torque of the mechanically enhanced limbs.

The harsh light of day broke in and blinded Luke until the damaged Holo-vizor completed its struggle to dim the incoming rays, through the torn visor and past the suit's breathing apparatus Luke could still taste the foul air and poisonous water and knew he was back on the outside of the station.

Luke tried to pull himself up and out of the torpedo's half opened door when a submerged tumbling rock of ice impacted the torpedo's underside rolling the cylinder over suddenly. He panicked and fought desperately to open the door enough to free himself as the unit filled with black water and sank like a stone with him still inside.

Luke was jolted by shockwaves from detonations in the distance and then bashed by a submerged tumbling piece of who knows what.

The torpedo smacked against the muddy submerged space-faring glass umbrella of the space station and shook Luke loose while continuing its tumble into the depths.

The foul water continued rushing in past the tears in the Holo-vizor filling up his helmet as the suit tried in vain to inflate itself, the damage it had sustained was too great to hold air and Luke felt the cold weight of the water enveloping and sinking him into the darkness as he kicked and clawed at the glass in a vain attempt to avoid the same fate as the torpedo.

His descent stopped as light as a feather hitting the ground. He waved his arms and legs and felt nothing, something had him in its grip, holding his body in space.

A woman's voice pierced the darkness and his mind, "Open your eyes."

The water around him boiled fiercely, his suit became warm and comforting, his pain momentarily disappeared.

He opened his eyes to the sparkling face and platinum hair of the beautiful woman he had seen in the darkened hallway before he passed out and was captured. Luke felt a woman's long, thin, delicate fingers wrap around his entire body keeping him from falling any further.

Luke stared deep into sparkling emerald eyes and saw the faces of a billions of spirits who's hopes of release from their timeless prison rested solely upon him.

He tried to speak only to have his voice arrested by the breathing apparatus, he could feel a warm fingertip press to his lips, the woman whispered, "The power of good will always have a need for you, you have nothing to fear." The woman's face scattered into a million sparkling jewels like the gems in the ring of the liquid metal planet the crystal moon orbited in Anakin Skywalker's presentation then disappeared. The water raged into white froth as Luke felt the hands wrap around his feet and throw him to the surface of the water.

He tumbled end over end as he broke the surface into the daylight and landed with a thud on the edge of the rust-muddied shore, a detonation close by shattered the air sending a fresh geyser of rusty water and twisted debris crashing in around him.

Luke struggled to his hands and knees as the pain in his mid-section returned. The water sloshed out of the suit anywhere it could, he lifted his head to see he was only several meters away from the port he had just escaped through inside the torpedo and cursed at the sight.

The mud covered pane to the left of the port exploded outward in a hail of shattered glass along with the mangled body of the ancient Med-bot. The droid blew apart in pieces from the impact and scattered down the slope to join the sea of debris.

Luke rolled over and lost his grip, sliding down the muddy slope head first and back into the water. While flailing in vain to hold on to the edge of the muddy shoreline the Construction-droid jumped out of the freshly shattered window and dug its spiked legs into the glass surface through the rust and mud with high pitch scraping noises as it slid to a stop and locked on to its target.

"Stop!" A woman's voice screamed from behind the Construction-droid out of the shattered window.

"Luke! What are you doing!" A young woman with shoulder length hair Luke's age struggled to climb out from the jagged edges of the destroyed glass pane of space faring glass.

"Ow!" The young woman yelped as she cut the palm of her hand from hoisting herself up and over the sharp glass then fell out clumsily onto the muddy slope.

The Construction-droid held its ground staring Luke down with angry smashed in electronic eyes, small clouds of black smoke leaked from the torn off leg tip as he gripped a piece of twisted framework with his left hand to keep from slipping down further.

The woman cursed as she slung the blood off her palm and pressed her thumb against the wound to stop the bleeding. "Luke, stop please! You are not well! This droid is trying to rescue you!" She pleaded.

Luke tried to yell in resistance but was muffled by the suit's first aid measures.

"You don't know what is happening to you! You're delusional…You were in an accident, you crashed your ship and almost died! Come back inside the ship before you depressurize! I only have a few minutes of oxygen now that my suit has a tear in it and the one you are wearing was damaged in the crash!" The woman stared into Luke's soul and he wanted to give in to her and save himself when the tide fell out from underneath him allowing the full weight of the suit and his body to crush down onto his injury in his mid-section as he hung by one arm against the muddied slope.

The woman's eyes were wide with terror and she threw her hands out, "Luke, I love you!" The woman pleaded with him, "Come to me, please before it is too late!"

In his most desperate of moments Luke knew, crazy or not, all he ever had that would not abandon him, could never be taken from him and would not lie to him was the Force. He closed his eyes and became one with it in what he felt were truly his final moments.

The message came without a graveled voice or evil hiss, in his mind he read and spoke along with the words, "A Jedi shall not know anger, nor hate…nor love."

Luke opened his eyes and stared at the feet of the woman pleading to him with her eyes and saw the drops of blood snaking their way back up to her and disappearing underneath the soles.

Luke felt a rumble off over his shoulder and the wind pick up through the torn Holo-vizor cooling the water on his face. He craned his head to catch a glimpse of a wall of water approaching, The entire starboard length of the previously grounded Star Destroyer 'Spurios' rolled silently, ominously toward the glass shores of the mining drill, a rising mountain range of steel broke the top of the tidal wave filling the scene from one end to the other and cast a long, creeping shadow.

The half-submerged canyon walls created by the Main Landing Strip scooped up millions of tons of water and debris setting its sights to avalanche the chromed tower and its glass housing into oblivion.

The Holo-vizor lit up past the gouges and cracks and Luke read the broken words as they scrolled by, "…ASTRO-MECH LINK-UP CONFIRMED…"

Luke closed his eyes tight and thanked his lucky stars. He cleared his mind and stopped fighting and just held on.

"Luke please! We have to go now!" The voice pleaded with him and gripped at his mind.

He opened his eyes again and looked directly at the shape shifting creature and beyond its mimicked form, he held up his useless robotic hand and waved it in defiance as he told the deceiver in his head, "No more tricks, 'Dark One' I have to go now…my ride is here!" Luke laughed away in his mind and let go of his grip to slide down the muck covered panes of space faring glass.

"Retrieve him!" The wraith screamed at the Construction-droid, its ruse having been broken.

Rumbling vibrations carried the sound of crushing, crackling and tumbled wreckage filled the thin, fouled air of the station as the wall of water approached, the Construction-droid raced and skidded down the muck covered bank shooting its cables in an attempt to snare the escapee once more, the muck and poor footing hindered its attempts. The Construction-droid dug its spiked legs into the glass and skidded to a stop as the shadow from the approaching tidal wave of black water and steel darkened the muddy slope.

The 'Dark One' returned to its natural form. A wraith made of tar flowing like an anemone or a black flower with long weightless petals, even a beast such as this knew it had not the fortitude to survive the sledgehammer and anvil impact about come down on top of it. The beast's center opened wide into white spiral of serrated teeth under-lapping each other as they endlessly wound down into the black pit of its being.

The monster screeched at the oncoming wall of water, turned itself into a set of leathered wings and disappeared as fast as a bat into the shattered opening of the medical bay window locking the blast doors behind it leaving the Construction-droid to fend for itself.

Luke felt cables whip around his feet and lock down into tight knots, in an instant he was swung upside down and out into the air, the rolling tidal wave and Construction-droid backpedaling up the slick, mud covered glass slope took turns filling the Holo-vizor.

"GENERAL SKYWALKER AQUIRED…SECURING…SECURING…"

Luke dangled and spun in circles with his arms over his head as he was reeled up into the sky.

Luke caught a glimpse of the 'Spurios' half submerged port-side deck within the tidal wave and could feel the million tons of steel the ship was made of driving the weight of the wave. As he was towed skyward an instant thought that made absolute sense went through his head, so much destruction to another's personal property and done so deliberately without a care for cost or feelings on the matter could only have one driving force behind it, this was the work of R2-D2 and the end result will not be pretty.

The cables slipped their grip and Luke tumbled end over end in a wide arch through the thin atmosphere until splashing head first into more water again. He flailed as he and righted himself, caught in the current of a raging river of icebergs and twisted wreckage and trash.

The 'Spurios' continued firing its docking thrusters lifting its port-side deck up and out of the tidal wave. The Star Destroyer surfed the wall of water's curl on a collision course to impact the glass umbrella structure and the chromed corrugated paneled tower with unstoppable force.

Luke could see the top of the canyon walls several meters above his head created by the Main Landing Strip of the 'Spurios', the upper decks edging the raging river of debris he was trapped within.

The brown-armored organic bug swept by catching Luke's eye as it clung to a spinning ball of trash with all its millions of little, hairy feet, its antennae twitching in confusion. Luke watched in horror as it fell off the edge of a waterfall at the end of the runway as the 'Spurios' punched its main docking thrusters at the same moment and heaved its forked front end up toward the sky and started its breakaway from the weak gravity of the space station.

On the surface of the space station's glass umbrella the Construction-droid could not back peddle fast enough up the slippery glass slope to escape the doom of the tidal wave of water and the steel plated portside wall of the Star Destroyer and froze in place to bravely face its imminent destruction.

The last characters the Construction-droid ever registered to its processor were the laser-etched, meter deep by one hundred meter tall letters of the ships namesake 'Spurios' before the wave of water and wall of steel impacted the glass umbrella crushing the gold spider flat as several giant panes of muck covered space faring glass panels exploded inwards. The tidal wave raced up the muddy glass slope dragging the 'Spurios' along with it until the rear section of the craft ricocheted off the base of the tower with a deafening 'Clang!' scattering panels of corrugated chrome into the air like sheets of paper. The tidal wave split as it slammed against the base of the tower as it struck then glanced upward toward space, the stations low gravity lost its grip on the edges of the upward crest allowing the filthy water to turn to mist which in turn rained down trash, twisted debris and frozen chunks of shattered icebergs.

The tsunami rolled on to the far side of the station and off the edge of the mooring assembly securing the net around the moon. A series of tumbling icebergs dredged up from the deep launched freeing themselves from the station's surface to become spinning garbage packed asteroids into the mist. R2-D2's timing of the Main Engine Sequence was flawless, The droid did not have to account for life support and all non-vital operations were shut down, the sleeping giant's chain of twelve nuclear fusion generators came to life, the single engine cone punched the air with a sonic 'Boom!' the once defeated and entombed experimental Star Destroyer broke free, bucking its nose upwards to begin its escape.

"the Force is my ally, powerful it is."

-Master Yoda

Chapter 71

The rising bulk of the Star Destroyer held Luke within a raging river of hazardous debris, ice bergs and rust filled water. Luke felt twisted pieces of wreckage claw at his legs in a last ditch effort to drown the young Jedi in training, the suit was working overtime frothing the water with bubbles of escaping air in an attempt to keep the soldier upright and the unit inflated. Luke latched on to a stable chunk of iced debris to keep him afloat digging his sharp, robotic fingers into the mess to moor himself, his free hand fighting against the current to keep his head above water.

Together the two swirled in circles down the grey steel channel until Luke felt the solid grip of the rushing cold water turn to mist as gravity disappeared releasing the river from underneath at the end of its journey. The mass of the iceberg pulled him downward stubbornly as it tumbled over the edge of the waterfall into the now nearly non-existent gravity.

Luke watched on as the forked nose of the 'Spurios' continued its rise into the heavens leaving him behind and all went quiet except for the low bass rumble of the massive single engine shaking the last layers of the stations thin atmosphere, he knew he would not survive the long fall to the bottom but the escape from where he was worth it.

As the newly born asteroid of frozen ice and ancient wreckage drifted away from the ascending 'Spurios' with Luke in tow the tumbling mass allowed for one last glance as the craft continued on its way.

Luke saw an insect scrambling out onto the forked tip of the ships bow then skitter underneath on a set of gold spears which dug in and anchored its egg shaped body to the hull, the machines shimmering green eyes stared him down from a distance, a look he had seen recently just before one of the beasts tried to destroy him and R2-D2 with a laser guided missile.

Luke craned his neck to keep the threat in his sights for what little it would do to help him yet the asteroid stubbornly pulled him along and took away his view. Luke continued to fight with the ball of ice in a futile attempt to release himself while in disbelief the Construction-droid could have survived the crushing forces of the tidal wave, not that it mattered anyway he was convinced again this would be his fate, floating away into the darkness to suffocate slowly or even starve to death in the farthest reaches of space.

Luke fought in vain to free himself from the asteroid using the spiked tips of his boots as leverage only to be defeated by the severity of his injuries and the cold creeping in through the suit any way it could in its barely functional but severely damaged state.

Luke's senses were awakened as a set of cables whipped around both his legs and across the scrambled Holo-vizor and his helmet several times before the millions of microscopic spikes lining the surfaces dug in and constricted. The tip of the cables stung his legs through the thick linings of the suit's material and cracked across the hard composite plating of his helmet as the barbed tips sunk in their teeth and seized their prey. The webs snapped loose their slack, in an instant the entire length of Luke's body stretched taught into a game of tug of war against the frozen asteroid and whatever had him in its grip, Luke screamed in pain as his midsection tore at his injury sending blistering hot flashes of white light to blind his eyes and sear his brain.

Across the galaxy aboard the 'Victorious' no sooner than the automated nurse crew stabilized the true queen and lowered the force-field for Captain Qo to come forward to her beloved niece's side Leia convulsed and her injuries reopened. One of the handmaidens fainted from the stress as their captain was thrown back outside the containment unit once again by the re-activating field of energy taking several more of the handmaidens down with her.

The Captain scrambled to her feet and burst out red-faced in anger at the hustling automated medics while pounding her fists against the invisible force field, "What in the fires of Kessel is happening here!"

Leia Organa broke into a blood curdling fit of screeches as she clawed at her stomach and sides, sending the 301 Med-bot and its crew scrambling once again. A nurse droid began preparing to force her into a set of restraints setting up the equipment as she dealt with the phantom injury she suffered from, Leia caught the droids motion past the tears in her wide open dazed eyes. "No!" Leia screamed so loud the force field surrounding the operating area crackled and flickered off and on quickly several times before the unit upped its power automatically and resealed, she sprung into an upright seated position and screamed again directly at the nurse droid.

Everyone in the Med-bay would be sworn to secrecy for the rest of their lives for what they witnessed next, the nurse droid and its flailing spider-like spindly arms was lifted from the floor, the arms whipped wildly then bent and wrapped around itself as its head and multiple camera lenses crushed inward and exploded in a hail of sparks. The droid was then slammed against the roof of the Med-bay and through the force-field's resonator unit wiping out the device and what remained of the unfortunate nurse. The instant the force-field disappeared another nurse droid attempted to rush in and subdue her, the 301 Med-bot being a surgeon refrained from the fight programmed not to intervene as its armatures were simply too delicate and could not restrain a clearly hostile patient. Leia dug her hand into one of her signature dark brown 'bun-wraps' of hair and pulled out a custom palm sized device and aimed it at the oncoming droid and pressed down a single button, a spike shot out of the weapon and burned into the body of the nurse droid, a moment later it exploded sending shrapnel and automated body parts across the Med-bay.

Leia screamed at the sheets covering the operating table as she hugged herself in agony "Auntie Chasa! Where are you!?"

Captain Chasa Qo having just witnessed the tantrum and recognized her niece for the scared little girl she would always be ran to her side only to be held up by the 301 Med-bot. "Please stand back, I have the situation handled." The machine buzzed in a voice far to calm for the situation for Captain Qo. The Queen's guards and handmaidens stepped up behind her in a show of force that would not be denied.

"Listen up, 'Gyro-brain! You will let me past or we will dismantle you, recycle you and have you turned into a nice gift of silverware for Baskel and Crizora's wedding! Now back off!" The surgeon's probability matrix took over and decided its chance of subduing the mob stood at about 0.12%, The droid was smart and simply rolled aside.

Baskel, still at his post alongside the guard assigned to him raised an eyebrow to the statement and wondered if there were any actual secrets aboard the 'Victorious' at all. The look in the older guard's eyes assured him there were secrets, only very few Captain Qo did not know about.

"I've got you baby! I got you." Chasa snuggled up to Leia and wrapped her giant arms gently around her as the guards glowed with frustration and the handmaidens held each other and their breaths while tears streamed down their faces at the helplessness they felt for not being able to do anything to aid their queen.

Leia squeaked in pain with each labored breath in her aunts arms, her aunt Chasa looked up at the 301 Med-bot grabbing its sole attention with the glare of her gray, battle hardened eyes then reached behind her head and slipped out a tiny syringe from a hidden pocket within her uniform's collar. She bit the plasti-wax protective coating loose covering the needle then spit it out on the floor and reached out to the 301 Med-bot and nodded to it to take the device and to stand by. The surgery droid scanned the device to read its bar code and paused.

"Admiral Akbar!"

"I'm right here, Pexo."

"Sorry sir, I did not know you were there." Pexo-Colo said with his usual dead-pan tone of voice, "A surgery droid is requesting clearance to use a series Nine…,"

"Keep your voice down, Pexo!" The admiral barked at him on the down low.

"Sorry Mi'Lord, I thought they were not allowed aboard Rebel Command ships." Pexo-Colo deliberately whispered.

"They are not." The admiral dismissed his obnoxiousness while taking in the scene of the Med-bay from the one armed Communications Officer's station's monitor and gave hard thought to the decision laid before him, not all Imperial officers survived the use of the volatile top-secret weapon reserved only for Rebel spies attempting to capture the agents of the empire while on what little leave they were allowed. After being revived some turned into babbling idiots by the time the Truth-Squad took custody of them and most of the codes and passwords they held in their brains were scrambled and useless.

Admiral Akbar was just about to give the order to deny the procedure when Captain Chaso Qo seized his giant fish eyes through the camera and monitor.

Without missing a beat the admiral said flatly, "Permission granted." He touched Pexo-Colo on the shoulder missing an arm and walked off slowly in deep thought toward the gold Protocol-droid's station, he could only hope it was an updated version of the formula and Baskel and Crizora had worked the bugs out of it.

Captain Qo turned her attention back to her niece, "Auntie, you're hurting me." Leia squeaked as Chasa squeezed her tightly to her chest. 'I know baby, but it will all be over soon."

The 301 Med-bot pierced the base of Leia's skull and injected her with the top-secret 'knock-out' drug, without a sound Leia's eyes rolled up into her head and she lost consciousness. Captain Chasa Qo laid her only living blood relative down to sleep and stepped aside to allow the surgery droid just enough room to resume its work.

Chapter 72

The cables ensnaring Luke tugged relentlessly at his body, the weakened grip of his human hand broke loose along with a piece of steel formerly embedded in the ice. The weight of the asteroid was too great as it kept true to its slow rotation, the fingers of his robotic hand refused to release, frozen in place by the cold of space.

Flashes of deep purple laced with streaks of blue and fiery red burst through his head as the cybernetic connections stretched and tore, white flashes of electricity jumped and arched across the severed electrical connections tearing and breaking loose in rapid succession showering the Holo-vizor with sparks and freeze-dried droplets of fine red mist setting off the devices auto-tint feature momentarily and confusing Luke's bearings even further.

The asteroid was kind in keeping to its spin and removed the robotic limb quickly, if it were not for the nano-vaccines working overtime in his system sacrificing themselves into an interlocking tangled mesh at the exposed end of each artery, blood vessel and capillary coupled with the instant freezing ability of space Luke would have bled to death instantly, with the last of his strength he reached over to the elbow of his right arm and cinched the cord down as tight as he could. He doubted it would help as the air rushing out of the tears in the Holo-vizor would deplete his supply of oxygen in a matter of minutes anyhow. He could already feel the vacuum of space trying to pull at his eardrums and the apparatus filling his mouth.

He hoped space would be kind to finish him off before he met up with whatever it was that had him and was reeling him in now.

Through the fading auto-tint feature of a nearly lifeless Holo-vizor and past the blotches of color filling his vision, Luke took in the full view of the mining drill. The machine was absolutely colossal, dwarfing the moon of broken and destroyed crystal it held prisoner and exploited as a power source for its engines and quite possibly the single most destructive weapon ever conceived of nearly ready to be unleashed upon an unwitting and defenseless galaxy.

The craft was capable of drilling into a planet's core and siphoning the liquid molten center dry or draining a star of nearly all its energy leaving it just stable enough to allow time to escape before the depleted ball of gas went super-nova. The power the machine released could vaporize fleets and the entity at the helm did not take sides, would not take prisoners and absolutely could not be bargained with. A device such as this could bring the galaxy to its knees and destroy whole sectors of life at will.

Luke now saw the horrific 'Death Star' as a cheap imitation and a completely unoriginal idea on the emperor's part. He knew now why the emperor and his young minion designed the 'Spurios' class craft and stocked it with specially trained Clone Troopers, if the Sith had such a weapon at their disposal the galax would have been conquered by evil decades ago and he would have been born into the hands of the Empire, delivered to the most hated man in the known universe by none other than the Dark Lord himself.

Luke eyes went wide as the twin main engine assembly ignited with the fire and heat of Tattooine's twin suns, a trail of white-hot plasma behind twin explosions of yellow fire scorched into the black of space before fading off into fluorescent streaks of green and blue exhaust.

The mining drill's power plant pushed itself too its limits straining to heave the space station and the moon it within its net around to allow the weaponized tip to swing within range to strike at the renegade 'Spurios'. Luke knew it would be a short lived attempt at freedom for R2-D2 if the Star Destroyer did not make the jump to Hyper-space in the next few minutes. The space station responded to the engines stubbornly, its own massive weight worked in favor of the escapees for the moment, Luke estimated R2-D2 had five minutes or less to work his magic.

Artificial gravity increased the blood pressure in Luke's head as he was reeled in faster and faster against the rising bow of the 'Spurios' and into the arms of a waiting Construction-droid. Luke closed his eyes envisioning another lancing from a gold spike to finish him off.

The death blow failed to materialize, he felt himself land gently on his back against the rounded top of the Construction-droid. Four of the droids eight legs wrapped around his legs and midsection securing his body for transport.

Luke had nothing left to fight with, his body refused to obey his commands. The exploration suits operating system dedicated all its resources to contain his injuries and keep the unit pressurized enough to maintain life support and could aid him no further.

The helmet's Holo-vizor feed disappeared, its allowance of power cut off by the Emergency Survival System.

Through the clear lifeless pane of Plasti-glass the debris in orbit around the mining drill scattered as the space station broke its charging cycle with the dim star and worked the chromed plated tower in the direction of the escapees.

Through the back plate of the exploration suit Luke felt the spider's gears kick into overdrive as its free magnetic legs clicked furiously up and across the hull of the ship until the machine forced their weight over the edge and onto the flat surface of the upper starboard deck.

Crumbling mountains of garbage and meter-wide jagged-edged flakes of rust and mud stripped away from the surfaces of the Star Destroyer as the craft lunged into space, its speed increasing by thousands of kilometers per second. the Construction-droid leaned forward and sped down the upper deck toward the command pyramid with the speed of a landing TIE-fighter. Luke was rattled and bounced left and right and up and down as the machine ducked, dodged, trampled on or leapt over the remaining pieces of destruction breaking loose as the 'Spurios' began to slice into space. The single massive engine cone scorched with every last electron of power at its disposal in a desperate attempt to outrun the range of the weapon now dialing in on its target.

Luke's upside down view of what lay ahead filled the plasti-glass of the Holo-vizor with a wall of steel. The droid ran full tilt at the front face of the pyramid, the Jedi in training braced himself for a neck breaking impact which never came, an entry port directly ahead depressurized as it kicked inward then seamlessly disappeared into the floor in an instant. The Construction-droid didn't miss a step as it sped through the door and down a series of hallways, Luke was tossed and turned and rattled again as the spider navigated a maze of ramps and stairwells in total darkness.

The wild ride stopped in an instant. Luke stared up a stairwell into a room with four walls of thick space faring glass meeting in a four-sided point in the center to form a perfect pyramid with a three-hundred and sixty degree view of its surroundings. The galaxy so many light years away barely filled a single window.

The Construction-droid took the last flight of stairs gently and glided its patient into the room assuming the role of a medical transport pad. The static from the water damaged speakers faded away into silence. The tingle of danger still worked at his skin and yet he was relieved not to die alone in space tangled in a frozen asteroid of garbage. He tried to think of Master Yoda and of the Force and felt confusion, he was injured and alone, fallen victim to his only weakness, the need for adventure.

He could feel the knot of scarring on the top center of his forehead his green skinned Master gave him with his hardwood cane when his thoughts wandered while he was to be concentrating on his 'mindfulness' skills. His Master grumbled at him, "The gift of the Force is foresight, you are to be mindful and prepared." Luke recalled lowering his head to say "I know." to placate his Master when the short little beast cracked him in the same spot again, sparks shot through his eyes as the young man stumbled down into the ground. The ancient wise one said, "Know us all different things, and of this I care not! This lesson remembered, is all for you and me required." The Construction-droid released Luke and laid him on the floor in front of the command pit's forward console. A moment later he was hoisted to his knees by the arms of the gold spider to face his new captor. R2-D2 stood before him recessed into the lone center console of the command deck of the 'Spurios'. The Astro-mech leaned forward as far as possible against the circular bank of its readout screens and glared at his Master with the deep red glass eye in doubt. Luke knew the look and was worried, 'Order 101' had been executed and if his blood cells did not show proper authorization he would be next.

Artoo leaned forward as far as the console would allow then pinged and chirped at the Construction-droid. The droid opened a clamp on the tip of a gold spear and creaked open the visor's glass exposing Luke's face. Another gold tip picked a speck of dried blood from Luke's face and handed it over to a tiny vacuum port just below the glaring red electronic eye. The speck disappeared into the R2-unit and Luke awaited his fate. The Holo-vizor lit up above Luke's face making him strain his eyes upward to read the message.

"ASTRO-MECH LINK-UP CONFIRMED…TARGET LOCATED…IDENTIFYING….…IDENTIFYING…."

What little blood Luke had left froze as he waited helplessly.

"…...…IDENTIFYING…DNA MATCH 100%/100% …IDENTITY CONFIRMED…GENERAL SKYWALKER REACQUIRED…""COMMENCE MIDI-CHLORIAN EXTRACTION SEQUENCE…"

Chapter 73

"Incoming transmission from Grand Moff Korsche, Mi'Lord."

"Acknowledge" The emperor croaked from the seat on the newly promoted colonel's right, his eyes fixed upon the Queen's craft through the shuttle's front windows with the patience of a true hunter in wait for the perfect time to strike.

The cadaverous image of Grand Moff Korsche appeared on a circular pad centered on the command console. The admiral's towering rail thin body stood at attention, the cold static and blue hue of the Holo-projector adding even more years to the deep lines of his old, battle hardened and nearly lifeless pale face.

The Grand Moff did not hesitate to deliver his report. "Mi'Lord we are moving into position as we speak."

Onboard the Queen's shuttle, Crizora kept a steely resolve as she and Captain Wixxim observed a string of Star Destroyer's materialize in the distance dwarfing and flanking the emperor's escort fleet off to either side. Captain Wixxim's alarm turned to satisfaction in the fish-admiral as an asteroid almost half the size of a star destroyer tumbled into the view screen and smashed one into pieces.

The super-magnetic mass of rock grabbed hold of the flaming wreckage dragging it off the viewscreen along with its trapped swarming compliment of tiny 'TIE' fighters.

The escort craft crashed down into the wreckage of their mother-ship and against each other or the jagged surface in quick sparks of light. The asteroid silently disappeared back into the clouds of gas dragging its prey along with it.

The Grand Moff observed the Star Destroyer disappearing off the troop movement display board and simply marked it as a casualty and moved on.

"Hardly a force work engaging Mi'lord, shall we form a blockade and capture her here and now?" The Grand Moff said dryly.

The emperor was quick to restrain his minion, "No, this is a formality only, my spies have assured me the rebel fleet will arrive shortly."

This is dangerous space Mi'lord, I see no margin for victory on their part if they are foolish enough to even show themselves." The Grand Moff was sincere in his thinking.

The emperor smiled at his dedication. "You will surround the enemy fleet and scatter them admiral, I want the 'Victorious' boarded by troops and that slimy fish in command captured, we have a dinner date. The Queen will witness the destruction as will the rest of the galaxy and bend to the Empire on our terms." The emperor smiled even more wickedly with a mouthful of rotted teeth, "Those are your orders, admiral."

"Yes Mi'lord it will be done." The static filled hologram saluted and faded away.

Chapter 74

Luke remained on his knees within the supporting arms of the Construction-droid as R2-D2 leaned back up right in the Comment but it Luke puzzled when all lights and whistles went black and the droid froze lifeless.

The Holo-vizor scrolled Astro-mech-droid linkup offline recharging batteries

Luke's eyes widened as the makeshift cage formed by the Micro-droid's legs unscrewed their anchors and lifted R2-D2's main processor up and out of his dome. The chrome spider cursed in fast irritated droid speak in protest at having been awoken from its slumber rudely to work once again.

The micro-surgeon scrambled down the dome and onto the main control console to glare at the Construction-droid and command it to raise the patient to his feet. Luke groaned as he was lifted but kept his eyes on the ill tempered chrome insect bossing the situation and found himself worrying more about who was flying the ship.

The micro-surgeon barked out a series of electronic gibberish with impatience then leapt off the edge of the console onto Luke face.

Luke tried to back pedal only to be clamped tight by the Construction-droid's arms pinning him to its body. The Micro-droid gripped the sides of the helmet as tiny arms pried open the lids of Luke's left eye even wider than it already was.

The machine identified the eye as a functioning humanoid eye and after shooting a blinding white laser into his retina determined it was General Luke Skywalker's functioning eye. The machine picked off another piece of dried blood as Luke flinched, a fresh drop of red appeared which the Micro-droid collected and let disappear into a microscopic port under its body somewhere. Luke waited in suspense until the tiny voice box within the machine played his 'ID song', a term the crew used for the series of bells and whistles unique to each soldier when being officially identified by Rebel Forces Command, the medic let out a sound of disappointment, Luke could tell the droid was more upset with having to work to save him when it could have just killed him and went back to sleep.

The Micro-surgeon released his face and helmet and skittered onto his left shoulder. The droid produced a microscopic set of keys and selected the top one inserting it into a slot in the top of his bulky shoulder pad after using a shot of compressed air to clear the crystals of frozen muddy water. The padding sprung open on a spring-driven hinge revealing the exploration suit's repair kit. The Micro-droid armed itself with stitching needles, poly-thread, tubes of instant dry first-aid cement and a supply of rivets and a slim stack of reinforcement plates.

The Micro-droid quit complaining and went to work at an urgent pace starting with the trail of claw marks torn through the Holo-vizor. The surgeon ran up and landed on top of the cranked open face-plate and began stitching a Nano-polymer thread across the damaged sections repairing and resealing the plate as it worked back and forth in a blur over the burnt jagged tears. After the streaks were sealed the droid produced a micro-torch and re-soldered any loose wiring connections at the harness.

Luke squirmed as the machine skittered up and down the full length of this suit, accessing, charging and shocking its operating systems and recalibrating the first-aid measures to its liking. The pressure of his midsection eased some even if the pain did not as the Micro-droid did not want its patient to drift off into unconsciousness.

The miniature chromed spider checked every pocket for its contents stopping suddenly upon discovering the razor-scalpel from the 'X-Wing's' first-aid kit Luke stashed in the pocket. The medic removed it and scanned its barcode acknowledging it as Official Rebel Equipment. The droid spun the scalpel on the tip of a pointed leg as if it were a musician's drumstick several times and ratcheted its clamps tiny razor-sharp teeth down around its chromed handle. The micro-surgeon pointed it at Luke's face and scolded him for placing such a dangerous instrument within the linings of the exploration suit it was in charge of.

The Micro-surgeon jumped back onto the command console then unreeled a coil of plastic tubing so fine Luke thought it was more of a type of thread or wiring of sorts, the Micro-droid unreeled the desired length and cut the tubing and jumped back on to Luke's faceplate. The machine drilled two holes through the upper right corner of the glass and ran the tubing through several inches and glued the work tight to reseal the glass.

Luke went wide eyed as the droid climbed onto his face again with the scalpel in hand, he winced as the surgeon made two tiny incisions in his right and left temples and inserted the tips directly into tiny capillary veins just under his skin. Both leads filled slowly as the fine lines of red were drawn into a port on the command console.

The surgeon patted the areas clean then sprayed a specially formulated topical anesthetic blood clotting agent onto each location which would not be attacked and disassembled by the Nanites patrolling his system. A few moments later the top of Luke's whole head went numb.

The glass wall behind the deactivated body of R2-D2 at his command console lit yellow with the fire of an exploding sun. Luke's view of the command deck turned white then black as the Micro-droid snapped down the Holo-vizor allowing the glass to auto-tint and save its patients eyes.

The 'Spurios' dragged and wobbled from the massive gravity created by the trapped moon as its power was stolen and used as a death ray against the fleeing ship.

As the auto-tint faded away the micro-surgeon peered back into the helmet and checked the line connections one last time then tapped on the glass while gibbering in droid-speak what Luke instinctively knew was a 'good luck, you will need it!' and jumped back onto the command console and climbed up to re-seat itself back into R2-D2's exposed dome in a hurry.

The Micro-droid had nearly seated itself when the 'Spurios' bucked violently and the command deck filled with yellow light. In the dim of the helmet Luke felt the Construction-droid come back to life and walk across the floor with a magnetized stomping and seize him before he went flying. The mechanical spider set him on the floor with his back against the command console and locked him down with a set of improvised straps, tailored and waiting just for him. The mining drill's weapon nearly hit its mark, the next shot may just get it right Luke thought desperately as his heart beat faster.

…"...ASTRO-MECH LINK-UP CONFIRMED..." The Holo-vizor lit up, the re-stitched screen's characters scrolled by uninterrupted "…MIDI-CHLOREAN TRANSFER IN PROGRESS…SPURIOS-WAVE ACTIVATING…SPURIOS-WAVE ACTIVE…" Luke was rattled within the suit as the Star Destroyer bucked harder. The blood rushed into his face is the ship was seized by the iron fist of the well of gravity created by the terrible weapon just before it unleashed the kill-shot on its target.

"Artoo do something!" Luke screamed in his head.

"…ENGINES AT 100% CAPACITY…"

"That isn't enough." Luke whispered to himself.

"…'SPURIOS' WAVE ENGAGED…ENGINES AT 100.0000001% …"

Luke closed his eyes as the white hot flash of light filled the windows of the command deck and blackened the Holo-vizor momentarily again. In the dark Luke's arms lifted and floated nearly weightless, the sensation of pure, quiet speed driven by an unstoppable jet of silent nuclear fusion filled his senses. He felt the body of the 'Living Force' as a whole creeping back toward him refilling his will to live as he rushed back into the waiting arms of it.

The young Jedi hopeful opened his eyes to see streaking jets of starlight and the galaxy at his feet beyond the front window light-years away approaching rapidly as the hull of the 'Spurios' pierced through the black void of space.

Luke jumped as much as the suit and restraints allowed him to as the Holo-vizor suddenly scrolled, "…HYPER-SPACE JUMP COMPLETE…ENGINES AT 100.0000001%….CURRENT SPEED {=}…LIGHTSPEED x 10 x 10 x 10 PER SECOND…"

Chapter 75

"We're here, Captain." Lieutenant Sika-Va said in a mild tone. "All numbers reporting in, Maam."

Thank you, Lieutenant, alert one through four to join us in formation." Captain Zeetas replied while strumming her fingers on the arm rest of the chair mounted several meters above and behind the lieutenant to share the view through the single giant pane of convex glass spanning the entire front face of the spherical shaped Rebel Alliance Search and Rescue vessel 'Venture'.

Four over-armored escort craft swept in from their post Hyper-space positions. Each little more thana massive cannon with an arsenal of projectiles in their ammunition bays took their places a kilometer apart from each other and settled into a synchronized orbit around the command ship facing forward with the crew and awaiting direction.

"No sign of the payday yet, Maam."

"Give order one, please."

"Order given, all units stopped with us, Maam."

"Stop calling me Maam, you're older than I am."

"Yes Sir, sorry Sir." The Lieutenant snickered.

"That's better, give order two." The Captain said past a yawn. "I'm kicking myself for staying up so late."

"Sleep lost over planning is better than lives lost over failing to plan, Sir."

"Who said that nonsense anyway?"

"You did, last night, Sir."

"Oh yes, but I didn't coin it, Akbar did." The Captain gave another yawn and said, "That's easy coming from someone who hardly ever sleeps or hasn't much need too." She took a hot pull of her cup and scowled adding, "I swear, the 'Venture' has the worst 'Caff' in the fleet, if that is even what this is."

"I agree Sir, never touch the stuff." The lieutenant stopped her busy finger hustle and stared at a screen.

The Captain chimed in "What is it?"

The lieutenant stared on at the information streaming in front of her eyes.

"Rebel Command to Lieutenant Sika-Va." The Captain prodded.

The lieutenant, fascinated by her readout ignored the Captain watching the code modify and adapt to the defenses in place on the 'Venture's' computer's firewall.

Captain Zeetas cleared her throat and spoke up, "Lieutenant, report please, or let me go back to bed for another hour."

"Work with me here Captain as to what I am saying, an old, highly modified and clever stream of Official Imperial Code is attempting to enter the system, Sir."

"And you know this how?"

"I wrote it, Sir, a couple of your lifetimes ago."

Captain Zeetas unsnapped her blaster's leather strap as the notion the person she grew to trust over the last two years may be a former Imperial spy. "You've got some explaining to do soldier." The Captain said to the back of her lieutenant's head as she rested her palm across her weapon.

"Oh I really doubt we have much time for that, Sir. This is incredible…I am picking up another copy of the same code accessing the source of this incoming code, only…oh my stars." The lieutenant paused, her eyes darted from the readout of the incoming transmissions and the patch of open space before them.

"You're making me nervous Lieutenant Sika-Va." The lieutenant had the Captain's attention but not in a good way.

Lieutenant Sika-Va looked up at the dim reflection of the captain in the giant observation pane and could barely make out the form of the weapon aimed at the back of her head ready to put an energy bolt through the gray bun of thin hair she sported. "Captain, I assure you I have never been, nor am I currently employed as an Imperial spy, so please don't blow the back of my head off. Beside the fact that that a ricocheting bolt in here might just ruin a lot of expensive stuff or even hit you."

"Give me your story in five seconds or less and I better believe it." The Captain was all business.

The Lieutenant kept to her scanning of her readouts as she spoke quickly, "I was to teach inter-dimensional communication theory at a university off planet from where I was raised, I was recruited, duped and enslaved to the emperor to work on his projects before the Rebellion stumbled across us trapped in an Imperial Special Projects Division outpost, they rescued me and the three Clone-troopers I reprogrammed."

"You get another five."

"After my work was done, they abandoned all four of us and left us to die on a drifting chunk of an asteroid in deep space, the last thing The emperor needed was a sweeper vessel finding my D.N.A. scattered a million light years away from where my ship 'disappeared' raising questions with the 'Royals'.

The Captain put her blaster away while saying, "That was more than ten seconds and the 'Clone' part sounds about right, and just how do you do that if I may ask." Captain Zeetas slipped her weapon back away and snapped it in place again.

"Simple really, I fabricated a transmission in the form of a damaged Imperial freighter forced to drop out of hyperspace from its convoy in need of a private docking point for repairs. I used a weak civilian frequency knowing that any unsavory characters would sell it out to the Alliance to overrun and loot for supplies and convinced them to keep a beacon going for it if it needed assistance.

"How the heck did you get them to go along with the plan?"

"Once I got it through to the troopers who I was and why we were left behind coupled with the fact no re-supply ships had been seen in three months and our supplies were dangerously low I had their survival mechanisms in high gear. I explained their I.D numbers were now on the Killed in Action list and they would never be able to return to their ranks again. Once the Rebels realized there were no Imperial ships anywhere near they investigated further and found us. The troopers surrendered to the Alliance and came along peacefully as a means of self preservation. Cloners use a really simple operating matrix focused heavily on survival training, once you know where to begin you can convince them tap dancing will save them. Lieutenant Sika-Va kept her eyes glued to the screen above her lap. "They work for us now, if they are still alive anyway, that was a long time ago." The Lieutenant replied and the Captain could tell she really did have a concern for the expendable soldiers.

"Well then lieutenant, the 'million credit' question is where are these transmissions coming from?"

"I couldn't tell you exactly, they are just coming into our space from nowhere, but it is being consistently broadcast. The second code set has distress markers indicating a major malfunction in engine dynamics still in progress, but the signature is phasing in an out with the markings of a cloaked cruiser."

The Captain didn't miss a beat, "Tell one through four to go black now, not a squeak!"

"Done, Sir."

"Thank you, now is the system holding from the attack?"

"I don't know if it is an attack, Sir, the first code has markers indicating a ship has been hijacked, possibly by us, the Rebels." The lieutenant paused for a few long moments.

Captain Zeetas took in a breath and said, "A scrambled echo?" The captain could only hope, they were armed enough to seriously injure an Imperial cruiser and escape with ease but could never defeat one without more backup if one should appear directly on top of them, if two appeared the fight would be short and they would more than likely lose.

"No, Sir, it's getting stronger."

"Go black now!" The Captain snapped quickly.

The lieutenant flipped a switch and the whole ship shut down and went silent except for the console at the lieutenant's fingertips which dimmed itself down to barely readable.

The two lone occupants sat in the dark gazing out into a field of stars along with the four drone gun-ships armed and standing silent, ready to unload a nuclear arsenal on anything other than General Luke Skywalker, Astro-mech # R2-D2, the top-secret science package and the modified X-wing fighter the unit rode along with.

Captain Zeetas took another pull from her cup and forced it down. Both women focused forward and waited. The lieutenant cracked her neck and the captain popped her knuckles and laid the fingers of her right hand loosely on top of the firing controls of the four gunner ships on the arm of her chair. The captain deliberately choked down the last of the steel cup of 'Caff' along with the sour grounds and whispered while quietly snapping it to its magnetic pad, "Yuck, that takes care breakfast."

"Something is on its way through, Sir, If I am not mistaken we are about to see a ghost, maybe even two."

Chapter 76

A semi-paralyzed Luke Skywalker watched the galaxy surround and absorb him, he was astounded at the speed the 'Spurios' graced the lanes between the stars. He recounted the incredible speed the overpowered 'Millennium Falcon' could achieve at full throttle but the 'Spurios' made the customized Corellian freighter look like a Farm-speeder.

Luke dizzied if he attempted to look out the side windows of the pyramid, he understood now why the 'Spurios' was built, to cover a massive amount of space in search of the emperor's ultimate failure…the crystal moon and the demon that was once a young and innocent woman now bent on destroying him at absolutely any cost. The destruction of an entire galaxy if necessary would not be enough if his death was not included.

"To hide the past, the Sith are desperate for, and futures promised that fulfilled are not, offer they do." Master Yoda echoed far away through the stinging recesses of his mind.

The Holo-vizor snapped back to life suddenly feeding a stream of thousands of digital constellations appearing one after another aligning themselves in an instant to the constantly shifting points of streaked light. Millions of burning hot suns kept the ships bearings as the 'Spurios' glided effortlessly across the galaxy.

Luke sat in awe. The 'Spurios 3' was by far the most technologically advanced craft he had ever witnessed with his own eyes. The Hyper-Drive unit was not bound by a single exit point from hyperspace and had the ability to navigate, change course at will and also communicate while engaged in faster than light travel.

Luke began regaining the strength in his shoulders and arms past the pins and needles stinging at his extremities. He tried to claw at the wrist pad with the damaged robotic hand only to be reminded it was no longer there. The MD-MS had closed his wound and stitched the suit shut with incredible precision, the Micro-droid also took the time to attach the tip of a flat steel armature from the scrapped Astro-mech formally in command of the renegade ship which lay in pieces around them to form a temporary splint as well as allowing the occupant to access the wrist screen.

Luke stared in amazement at the improvised use of available parts and thanked Baskel and Crizora in his head for incorporating such a clever if not ill tempered device to handle the first-aid details, and from the look of the situation he and R2-D2 were in, the little machine had performed above and beyond the call of duty.

Luke peeled back the cover of the wrist pad on his left forearm with the newly fashioned prosthetic and tapped the box with the Rebel Alliance crest and opened the main root of the operating system.

He tapped a box with the silhouette of an Astro-mech and tapped the Holo-vizor feed, the field of stars and the holographic overlays disappeared, replaced by a three dimensional rotating image of 'Astro-mech Unit # R2-D2'

The Astro-mech was in what the Rogue Squadron pilots referred to as 'Kill-mode', if a pilot crash landed and was seriously injured or about to be apprehended he or she could 'flip' the unit into a weapon authorized to use deadly force or even self destruct with the power of a small semi-nuclear device to avoid capture and deal a final blow to the enemy. No one in their right or wrong mind deserved what awaited them in the interrogation rooms of 'Black-Ops' Imperial cruisers.

In this instance, R2-D2 had been programmed to execute 'Order 101' had the two been separated or out of communication for a period of 2 hours allowing Luke time to explore his surroundings.

Admiral Akbar demanded 'eyes on' reports versus the video and data the machines collected. The Grandmaster Strategist would surely be interested with his account if he could find the fleet and not be blown to bits first for showing up in a stolen, top-secret Imperial Star Destroyer built long before most of the warriors of the Rebel Alliance were born.

Chapter 77

The resurrected 'Spurios 3' continued its charge across the galaxy on a new mission, ambitiously searching out constellations and adjusting its flight path to arrive at the rendezvous coordinates and transfer General Skywalker and the science package into the safety of the Rebel Alliance

Any attempt by Luke to override 'Order 101' was met with the same response, 'ACCESS DENIED PER ORDER 707'. Luke had no choice but to accept the fact someone much higher in the chain of command had altered the protocols locking him out and giving priority to the security measures via the Astro-mech on duty. He had a good idea who was behind the change in code "Leia." He said to himself.

She was the only person who could have the influence to override the admiral's plans and no doubt had her spies convince Baskel Baskeearrii it was in his best interest to stay in the Queen's graces considering the doors of opportunity a recommendation would open in the future for such a young and talented technology specialist.

If Baskel wrote the code there was simply no breaking it. He slapped the cover of the wrist screen shut with the armatures tips and let go of everything. Hope, survival and attachment alike numbed within his mind along with the spinning saw blades of pain working at his every joint.

He sat alone and still with his eyes relaxed dead forward gazing deep into the black of the universe as burning hot spheres of gas and the worlds of life they held in their orbits streaked past.

In the distance the tiny silhouette of a humanoid figure limped forward through the pitch black and jets of white-hot light. Luke heard the clicking of a twisted hardwood cane In his ears growing louder with each hobbled step. The creature grew in size as it continued its march until an apparition of Master Yoda stepped through the angle of the forward pane of the glass pyramid and stood on the deck with a worse than angry expression at the defeated Padawan. His Master's eyes burned with disappointment. Luke dropped his eyes to the floor.

Luke raised his remaining hand weakly and tried to speak.

'Crack!' The sound assaulted his eardrums as the hard composite helmet snapped back and off the command console behind him.

"Feel now, have you? Hmmm?" Luke tried to respond only to receive the same 'Crack!' to the helmet again from the Master's cane.

"…And who and what for do you feel for now?" The old man waited patiently for his Padawan's response. The hardwood cane clicked three times against the Holo-vizors glass plate snapping Luke's eyes open to face the scolding that would surely follow.

"Action…adventure…this, the Jedi craves not." The old Jedi Master surveyed the condition of Luke's suit, his missing hand and its makeshift repair. The old eyes traced the tiny tubes of his blood running from his temple to the control console behind him and gave it a disapproving frown. He locked eyes with Luke again, "At yourself look now, as much machine as man you are, someone we know, this reminds me of." Luke heard the deep echo's of Darth Vader's breathing apparatus as his Master finished his sentence and chilled with the thought he may one day face the same destiny as his father.

"Fear is the path to the Dark side, fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate leads to suffering and suffer you do."

Luke spoke out within his mind to his Master and said, "You're right, I was not ready for any of this, I should have never left you and Dagobah."

Luke looked down in shame as he continued, "Han is Jabba's, Leia is being hunted across the galaxy, Ben is dead along with my Aunt and Uncle and I am to blame for it all." Luke cried tears of defeat and frustration at the cards life had dealt out to him.

Master Yoda watched on for a moment then looked up to the stone faced droid with the large blood-red glass eye piloting the battle platform he stood upon. His expression softened, his point had been made. The dwarf kicked Luke's feet and legs wide apart and limped forward to stand eye to eye with his fallen Padawan with only the pane of glass of the Holo-vizor between them.

"At me, you look now." Master Yoda waved his hand gently at the helmet. Luke felt the warmth of the calloused paw of his Master lift his head up through the glass. "My Padawan still you are, released you I have not…much to learn and dead you are far from, wish for so soon and yours, such will be." He softened his voice more and said speaking plainly with the common tongue of politics. "Come to me ready to see you did, and see you have, ready to feel you were and feel you most certainly have."

Master Yoda's yellow-green eyes drilled into Luke's soul. "Now you will see how it feels to be a Jedi, stay to the prophecy of the 'Chosen One'." Master Yoda faded out of existence and the outlaw 'Spurios 3' came to a near instant halt.

The ship went black and silent leaving Luke sitting alone in the darkness to contemplate whether or not he had actually lost his mind when all of the ships lights and systems snapped backed on and revved back up

R2-D2 screeched to life, his chromed head spinning furiously as the large blood-red glass faded to glow blue again as the droid freed itself from 'Order 101' its head stopped and locked on to the last remaining Construction-droid. The Astro-mech shrilled commands at the unit. The giant gold spider bowed then clicked gingerly over to Luke and freed him from his restraints and stood him up in front of the new Captain of the 'Spurios 3'.

The Holo-vizor crackled to life automatically and scrolled, "…ASTRO-MECH LINKUP CONFIRMED…EMERGENCY LIFE SUPPORT MEASURES DISENGAGING…"

The Holo-vizors pane of plasti-glass ratcheted open quickly. Luke pitched over grabbing the console before him instinctively. He heaved and gagged as the slimy bundle of tubes filling his nose, stomach and lungs retracted. He felt suffocated and sickened as the snakes of plastic tubing slid out of his mouth and disappeared into the linings of the exploration suit.

The Construction-droid assisted on R2-D2's orders cradling him as he threw up the metallic taste of sterilized fluids. The smell of liquid rubber filled his nostrils and sent him into a coughing fit as he cleared his lungs.

Each breath of dry, stale air the 'Spurios 3' provided was no relief, painfully and slowly his breathing returned. Luke waved off the Construction-droid as he was released by another command from R2-D2.

Luke turned a small ways cautiously and stared at the Construction-droid with mean, squinting eyes, the spider cowered and backed into the corner of the glass pyramid. He looked back to R2-D2 and said with a hoarse crackle, "What's his story?" Then threw the appendage up just as R2-D2 was about to give a response and said, "Never mind, I don't even wanna' know."

R2-D2 whistled at the Construction-droid unit, it folded its legs under and laid down on the floor and went into stand-by mode. Luke felt relieved given his experiences with the machines even if this particular one had rescued him.

Luke put a hand back on the command console to steady himself then reached out with his appendage and tapped R2-D2's partially exposed dome while inspecting the work of the Micro-droid. R2-D2 flipped open a small panel producing a tube for Luke to drink from a small supply of clean water. He rinsed his mouth out and spit on the hard command deck then drank. "Thank you, good to see you are in better spirits my friend, I also see you're on your backup core, make sure you thank the team if and when we get back." R2-D2 chimed back cheerfully. Luke forced a smile and said, "I thought you lost me there for a minute pal."

Luke stared into his friend's giant blue eye. "We're neck deep in Bantha poodoo buddy, somethin' is going on here and it involves that thing, this ship and the emperor." R2-D2 agreed with a set of chirps and pings.

"The emperor has a price on his head higher than any of the Hutt's bounty hunters could ever dream of, and its just a matter of time before that space-station reaches a populated sector and starts wiping out life wholesale until someone hands him over."

R2-D2 let out a smooth, low tone of concern in response.

Luke scanned the glass walls of the pyramid shaped room and the streaks of starlight beyond as if to make sure no one was eavesdropping, "So where's the rendezvous point, Captain Artoo? You're the only one who knows."

Chapter 78

Captain Onotaka stood tall on the Command deck of the 'Spurios 2'. The last of the Command crew still alive and not driven insane by the events taking place aboard the malfunctioning Star Destroyer.

The ships compliment of Clone Troopers were busy trying to cut their way through the blast doors separating him from the soldiers gone berserk.

The crew of officers who were in a panic and trying desperately to somehow override the programming and potentially destroy the ship from the inside out were at peace now. The Captain had gathered them together for a final meeting and shot them all as they were no help in finding a solution as to what was happening around them and only compounding the problem.

That seemed an eternity ago to him as the blaster he held in his hand still smoked along with the wounds to the crew that lay at his feet.

"Everything is in reverse.' The Captain said aloud as if his crew was still listening. The view of space to his eyes was a negative print of the universe he knew. the black serenity of space glared as a white backdrop with the light of the stars represented in splotches of black ink splattered across a two dimensional surface.

The console behind him squeaked and pinged as it came to life. Captain Onotaka raised an eyebrow at the prompting and turned while stepping over the lifeless body of his Corporal. The ship had played so many tricks on the crews mind he was sure it was another attempt by his conscience to drive him insane with worry. The Captain squinted his eyes as he stared into the bright white screen with scrolling black letters, "…SUB-SPACE DATA LINK TO 'SPURIOS 3' CONFIRMED…DATA TRANSFER IN PROGRESS…"

Captain Onotaka was not sure if he was experiencing yet another hallucination such as the ones that drove his crew insane with fear causing them to try to destroy the ship to free themselves.

The Captain raised his left hand waiting for a prompt that never showed itself to key in a security code as he had a thousand times before. The 'Spurios 2' and its encrypted system had been overridden by the updated software of the 'Spurios 3' and was now streaming information in real time.

Captain Onotaka could almost not believe his eyes as he took in all the secrets the 'Spurios 3' spilled to him. The ship had hacked into every Imperial transponder within its extended range as well as accessing the mainframe of half of the Star Destroyers in the fleet and streamed the information directly to the 'Spurios 2'.

He punched keys quickly hunting for any details that may help him find his way out of wherever he was and back to the arms of the Empire when his blood froze and then boiled as he read on. The Clone Troopers had been programmed to attack an unheard of space-station upon its discovery if it was within his deep survey area. The soldiers were to commandeer it then eliminate the captain and his crew and to return to 'Torka-Pruum' with its location leaving half of the troops to defend it further if necessary.

The captain did not have a problem with the arrangement, the emperor's orders were absolute and he would follow them without fail, as he read further he became enraged to find that Colonel Korsche, a trusted friend for over fifty years who was originally slated for the doomed mission changed the roster several months before the 'Spurios 2' made its test runs citing concerns with anomalies in the engine operating matrix. His argument to the Dark Lord being Onotaka's superior math skills may have a part if any 'unfortunate events' should happen.

The Captain read on for another eternity as time had no hold in the space the 'Spurios 2' occupied. He took in everything from the gossip in the tabloids, the changes in the markets as well as troop movements and promotions. The timeline of events alarmed him, decades had passed since the ship malfunctioned, yet he felt as if both not a moment and an eternity had passed for him.

His mother was surely dead by now and his daughter would be an old woman. He thought about his wife and clenched his eyes, then put it out of his mind before the pain amplified itself.

The readout finished scrolling to the end of the most recent of promotions on record, this 'Colonel Zycxz' he had never heard of before and his promotions were quick and unusual but such things happened during times of war.

Captain Onotaka's eyes lit with a quiet fire when he read who held the emperor's number one naval command position. The Captain strummed the keyboard until he found the location of the ship he was looking for to exact his revenge on behalf of his crew and clones he was in charge of. First he had to get out of where he was before the remaining Clones made It through the last of the doors and finished him off, it was obvious they were programmed to destroy the ship if something of this nature went wrong.

The whole command console lit up in a display of automation he had not witnessed aboard the 'Spurios 2' before and took a step back.

The navigational display scrolled, "SPURIOS-WAVE RE-ENGAGING….ENGINES AT 100.0000001%…EVENT HORIZON LOCKED IN…'SPURIOS 3' ENGINE MATRIX SYNCHRONIZED…EXIT NOW?…CONFIRM OR DENY COMMAND…"

Captain Onotaka looked out into the white space before him and witnessed a blurred grey shape on a collision course toward his craft at an almost unimaginable speed and knew he was seeing a phased shadow of a 'Spurios' class destroyer, if he let it pass by he would be trapped once again and if he engaged it may upset the balance of history.

The Captain hit one icon on his keyboard confirming the command then spoke to his old comrade from a light years and several dimensions away, 'Well then, 'Grand Moff Korsche', it looks like we will make history together again you son of a…"

The forked noses of the 'Spurios 2' and 'Spurios 3' met and disappeared together into hyperspace.

The Captain stepped back over the lifeless corporal to where he stood before and watched with no relief as the stars returned to white against black then stretched across the windows and disappeared.

"When the galaxy has been forged into order we shall finally have an everlasting peace."-Emperor Palpatine

Chapter 79

The emperor sensed his new colonel's impatience yet remained satisfied with the young man's ability to contain it.

A single high pitched, short lived beep came from somewhere under the tyrants heavily hewn, jet black cloak. Colonel Zycxz raised an eyebrow would not dare look his way, his eyes remained fixed on the Queen's ship, his fingers tight on that trigger of his weapons. The emperor produced a chrome chip and inserted it into a port on of the console as he grumbled with pride, "The Art of War is fought with more than just weapons, son. Information is worth more than other's lives." His eyes flashed at the young Colonel from inside the hood.

Colonel Zycxz could feel the malice in the statement and knew it was somehow directed at him but to grab the meaning remained elusive at best.

The emperor redirected his eyes to multiple Holo-displays forming against the window in front of them.

"You are listening?" The emperor croaked.

"I am, My Lord." The ominous sound of the Dark Lords' respirator falling and rising filled the background.

"I as well Mi'lord.' Grand Moff Korsche responded in yet another attempt to show more obedience to their master. Colonel Zycxz observed the expressionless and terrifying black mask lean forward, he did not need any magical powers to sense the hatred and jealousy tempered by spite for what the Dark Lord regarded as nothing more than a dishonorable power grub.

Grand Moff Korsche felt his neck tighten from across time and space, it was the 'Dark Side' and nothing new to a man who had been In service to his aster almost 200 years before his latest minion was conceived by the Force or whatever and was nothing new to him. He didn't budge or even break a sweat.

"Vader! We have no time, Korsche can choose his own fate and I have ordained It." The Dark Lord leaned back and debated whether or not to release the Grand Moff then give his usual obedience after he raised a black gloved fist and poked the Grand Moff in the chest with an invisible condescending index finger pushing the tall, rail thin figure back a step to prove his presence and said, "As you wish My Lord, perhaps he has already chosen and does not even see it coming."

"Silence! Both of you, and listen!" The emperor hissed, colonel Zycxz dropped his eyes to his controls to stay out of the situation.

Two more faces appeared before them as the emperor eavesdropped on the enemy, "Admiral, why have you stopped?" Asked Queen Organa with a look of grave concern. Captain Wixxim's eye's started to burn into the admiral again.

"Your Highness, I must report more than half of the fleet has broken off and will not be part of what they consider tantamount to be suicide or torture at the hands of the Empire."

"They have their orders admiral!, They are only a fraction of the Alliance and will be punished severely when the emperor is overthrown If they do not the engage now!" The Queen stood forcing the orders through the grainy transmission.

The emperor smiled at her frustration and more so with the sight of crystal ring she twisted in circles out of nervousness. The ring was a gift to him of love from a young woman a long time ago and stolen by another he attempted to seduce to the Dark side, how the Queen ended up with it was anyone's guess but one thing was for absolute, the tyrant felt he needed it as much as he needed Darth Vader or even Luke Skywalker for his plans to succeed.

What Vader did not know was the emperor wanted his son to retrieve it for him as the Dark Lord had not been successful so far and ruler was growing impatient.

More Star Destroyer's appeared forming a wall in front of The Queen's small armada. Others appeared behind the front line of destroyers positions and blasted the magnetic asteroids into dust as they approached.

"Admiral, this engagement must happen!"

The Lieutenant with the orange crew cut and clipboard ran up to the admiral and spoke quietly at the side of his big head. The admiral patted her shoulder with a big red fin and dismissed her.

"Your Highness more forces are turning around there will be no war, the best we can do is distract the Empire long enough to get you out !"

"You will attack admiral!" The Queen yelled the words.

"This is now a rescue mission whether you like it or not! You are relieved of command for violating order 206-C."

"What?! I will have you and your entire crew court marshaled!" Crizora thanked the spirits she wasn't actually standing in front of the admiral himself.

"206-C states orders from the Joint Chiefs or any individual may not go forward without the consent of the Strategist General so prideful Royals like yourself may not order people senselessly to their deaths."

"Admiral, we must give the 'Venture' more time to retrieve the General, you cannot just leave him near the cluster to die in a black hole!

"I'm sorry your Highness, I now have orders to bring you back to the 'Victorious' to stand trial for overstepping your bounds. There will be no rescue for the General, details of the mission have been deemed closed and out of discussion."

"He's a human being and one of us! He could change the course of events !"

"He already has! look at the situation you are in, the Joint Chief's say it's a better to remove any strategic advantage to the emperor, what remains of the most dedicated to our cause will be jumping in to the fight them off long enough for you to escape 'Your Highness' I hope our lives are worth it."

The images of Admiral Akbar and the Queen faded. The Grand Moff had signaled for large detachment of destroyers to break away and head for the cluster. A group of about one hundred stars circling a black hole. Only the most powerful of spacecraft dare navigate it. He agreed it was a fine pick-up/disposal point, If the powers that be did not want to rescue the operative in a matter of hours the craft would be trapped and crushed into nothing and never seen or heard from again.

It was also pleasing to Grand Moff Korsche to see the Rebel Alliance would sacrifice their own if the stakes were high enough.

Both of the emperor's highest ranking minions motioned for permission to speak. The emperor stopped them with an outstretched palm. "Vader, you will continue your next assignment. The new equalizer must be operational as planned. Let the admiral know I look forward to speaking to him over his disappointments in meeting the deadlines I have set."

"My Lord, if I may…" The Dark Lord tried to grab his Master's ear.

"No you may not! Go Now! I command thee!"

"As you wish." The Dark Lord made clear his disdain by staring into Admiral Korsche one more time and cut his feed.

"Mi'Lord…"

"Shut up, Korsche, you have your orders. I also have a concern with Lord Vader's statement."

"I am listening Mi'Lord." Korsche had the obedience of a youngling.

"I Trust you have not made any decisions which may come to haunt you or the Empire for that matter?" The Grand Moff issued so many unethical orders and decisions over his years in service to the upcoming ruler of the galaxy he honestly could not remember a single one in particular which could effect current events and simply answered, "No."

"No?" The emperor's eyes flashed again, this time the snowy grain of the transmission cleared long enough to frighten the ancient commander to his core. The governor dropped to one knee as he spoke, "None Mi'Lord, none whatsoever." He continued his obedience by staring hard into the cold steel floor of his transport.

After a moment of searching his minions cold and obedient soul the emperor said, "Should anything jeopardize the recovery of Skywalker and the capturing of the Queen alive…" Korsche knew all the tyrant wanted was the ring, "I shall hold you personally responsible."

"Thank you, Mi'Lord…" The Grand Moff was cut off again, "…If you fail me you will be lucky to be burned alive as payment for your shortcomings." The panel went black before the Grand Moff could respond, the emperor having cut the feed.

The emperor spoke to the young Colonel, "What was the first thing your instructor told you on your first day at the Imperial Academy?" The tyrant looked directly at the young man demanding the answer.

"Failure of service to the Empire is unacceptable under any circumstances and is punishable by relief of command."

"Meaning?"

"Summary execution, Do your order's stand, Mi'Lord?"

"Yes, soon we will strike."

The emperor sat back and could not have been more pleased with himself as three moments of victory were now at hand, The seizing of the 'Victorious' and its leaders, the possession of the Crystal Ring and ultimately the capture of Luke Skywalker. The galaxy would surely bow to him completely if he possessed all three.

"The deepest of commitment the Jedi must have, possess the most serious mind does he."-Master Yoda

Chapter 80

Unknown to the emperor, Luke and R2-D2 eavesdropped on the conversation as the 'Spurios 3' possessed an open access code as a method for the 'Spurios 3' to always be able to find and navigate its way back to the emperor exclusively without anyone else's involvement, not even the Dark Lord. If all went as planned the ship would return with only half its compliment of Clone Troopers and the coordinates of his prize. The Fin-Astra Mining platform and the power it still held, overrun and commandeered by thousands of the Empires soldiers. With such a weapon the Queen and the Rebel Forces would be forced to surrender. Luke doubted the emperor had any clue he was about to witness his worst fear confront him, his past.

"Artoo, read and assess the probability of a successful rescue mission by the Alliance given current information. The calculating power of the Spurios 3 aided the Astro-mech response time. The Holo-vizor scrolled, " …41.73% + OR -1.25 %…"

"That's not enough, we have to engage sooner how long until the admiral arrives versus our E.T.A.?"

Luke was not pleased with R2-D2's estimate. The admiral and the Queen would be destroyed or captured at least ten minutes before they arrived.

"Is there any way we can move faster, and if so how? Luke never ceased to be amazed in R2-D2 and his ability to surprise with outstanding performance or his ability to confuse him.

"…MIDI-CHLORIAN TRANSFORMATIVE BI-LATERAL PROPULSION MATRIX VIA INTRA-DIMENSIONALLY FOCUSED SUB-SPATIAL INTERFACE…"

"Artoo, you will have to pardon me for being raised on a farm, what does that even mean?"

"…TWO SHIPS ARE FASTER THAN ONE…"

"I'm still not following"

The Holo-vizor lit up with their current speed and trajectory.

"I know all this, Artoo."

In the upper right corner the characters of the words and location of the ship flashed red impatiently back at him.

"Okay that's us, so what?" The Holo-vizor faded out momentarily then scrolled the words in flashing bright green characters, "…WE ARE ABOARD THE SPURIOS 3..."

Luke's mouth dropped when he realized what his friend was trying hard to tell him. Luke could feel the ship which had mysteriously vanished occupying the same space as the craft he sat upon and someone trying to communicate with him, he closed his eyes and felt for it through the Force.

"You can hear me? Yes?" A stern, quick paced voice of a man came to him in the dark, "I see you! Where I am your eyes cannot comprehend, look with your mind!" The voice held its harsh edge.

Luke's mind moved forward through grays and blacks and swirling shapes he heard an echo of Ben's voice drifting across his mind paving the way for his path to communing with this new player in the mystery he was sure he had all but figured out. "Your eyes will deceive you, let go of what you know."

Luke opened his eyes to see, he closed his mind to what we know of existence, hot and cold, gravity and color, time, space and anything existing within.

Before him in blinding blacks and whites stood a squat imposing man, the reflections off his Imperial rank plaque threw cruel beams of blinding lights into Luke's eyes. The man was a colonel in the Imperial fleet. His uniform was unusual in nature and Luke could not help but notice the classic styling

The armored helmet the figure wore draped down over his shoulders within its panels were engravings with scenes of a warrior battling with a creature Master Yoda described with a word Luke had never heard before, 'Dragon' meaning an almost unstoppable creature bent on malice over the innocent.

He wore thick undergarments more suited for a modest farm worker yet he was covered with ornately carved layers of shingled armor, his boots were steel soled and spiked on the tips and heels. A single blow from one of the talons could gut a Wookie Luke thought to himself.

The man's gloved right hand rested on the weathered handle of an ancient steel sword the other forcefully against his hip as he squared off in front of the young Jedi.

Luke could not help but notice the oversized gold medal he wore presented to him by the Old Republic Senate. Luke recognized it because he had one himself awarded to him for destroying the 'Death-star'.

Luke's eyes fixed on the medal and the figure spoke as he lifted it up with his sword hand. "You know of this?" His words were sharp and clear.

"I have one."

"Liar!" The man's eyes became harder still

"Why would I? It's brought me nothing but misery since."

The man looked at his medal and dropped it and spoke plainly dropping his edge, "I as well. If anything what, may I ask could a boy possibly have done to have one of these?"

"I destroyed the 'Death-star' and saved billions of lives and you?"

The figure squat over Luke's legs and grabbed him by his shoulders while cracking the brim of his helmet against the exploration suits. "In the last twelve hours of my command aboard an old Republic Battle-cruiser I was called upon to fulfill an old family life debt to the house of Arroganna-Qo."

"You mean Organna."

"Do not interrupt me again with your crude common tongue and your cheapened respect!" The man was short but powerful and deadly serious as he shook Luke once more and hard.

"I realize now I sacrificed my family for total strangers for!" The man looked away for the first time Luke could see the outline of his face his eyes were tight angled slits his nose flat with a sharp mustache and a tuft of black hair hanging off his chin. "Honor." He said while looking out the window the words sounded hollow.

"What honor can sacrificing your family be worth?" Luke was sincere.

"The honor of bringing balance back to the Force and ending the suffering and oppression of all life in this galaxy."

Luke sat silent, "…And all my exploits are surely as great as yours!" The man stared into Luke eyes as if he had seen them before long ago.

'How so if I may ask?" Luke gave him the same amount of attitude.

"You destroyed countless lives to save your own and a few others, I saved only two, but enough to ensure the continued existence of a trillion times a billion of life-forms.

Before Luke could respond the man forced his words, "I denied the 'New emperor' by playing his own game of politics. I demanded I complete my current loop as circuit judge to outlying star-systems. While performing the most noble of causes I denied the tyrant the most despicable of requests to destroy the medical frigate carrying two new born younglings and transporting them to safe havens before reporting in as all hands eliminated."

I know now Korsche somehow found out and placed me here in this situation to make me suffer for my disobedience." Lukes skin tingled once more, he knew the answer before he asked the question, "Who are the younglings?"

"The name was Skywalker and I have cursed that since."

Luke looked deep into the man's eyes and said with his father's arrogance and his uncle slap in the face tone of voice, "My name is Luke, son of Anakin Skywalker otherwise known as the Dark Lord Darth Vader and I too have the desire to repay the emperor for all the pain and suffering he has caused me and all others but I cannot engage in the act of revenge."

The colonel smirked at the statement having not been surprised after all he had seen and the one in a billion chance meeting and said, "I am not bound by your rules and my revenge is not against the emperor, what the Jedi refer to as 'The Prophecy' shall not be crossed paths with."

Luke was taken aback by the statement but quickly saw the colonel's point of view and said, "We have no time for talk, we need to move or none of this will matter."

"Where we are there is no time!…" Colonel Onotaka exclaimed, "…And we have all the time." He said softly as he waved his left hand to the black on white background of streaking stars outside of the glass pyramid enclosure then related his plan.

"I have my doubts." Luke responded when he was done.

"Which have always been the downfall of all Jedi younglings!"

The colonel drew his sword and knelt down over Luke again. He raised his left hand as if it could defend him from the long piece of hand forged metal.

"Good of you to offer." Colonel Onotaka said as he seized Luke's wrist. In an instant he ran the length of the razor sharp blade through any protection the exploration suit's padded gloves may have provided and into Luke's palm slicing into the flesh and burning across the bone. Luke screamed and tried to swipe at the weapon with the armature attached to his right wrist but was too late. The colonel sliced his own palm in the same fashion wincing momentarily and went stone faced again.

"What in the flames of Kessel is wrong with you Tetso-lorians?!" The history classes Luke attended under the instruction of Lieutenant Sika-Va paid off judging by the look of like surprise breaking the colonel's hard façade, "Do you have to be so severe when dealing with others! Its no wonder the Trade guild wont do business with your people and they are about as unfeeling as it gets!"

Luke held his hand out and watched the trickle of white run down to the floor. Colonel Onotaka locked their bleeding fists together and dropped his sword with a cold hard 'Clang!' against the command tower floor and put his armored, free hand over them both and squeezed hard enough for Luke to see colored spots of pain fill his vision momentarily. The young man held back his words and glared at the man with all of his own defiance.

"Together we will meet our fate as one!" The colonel said as he drilled his point into Luke's eyes.

"You could have just asked." He replied sarcastically. Suddenly a convulsion overtook him and his eyes rolled up into his head as the blood from the man gripping his fist hit his brain, he felt sick and dizzy then tumbled around in a froth of white lights and unseen winds only to come to a sudden gut wrenching stop. He remained in the same position he was in but upon realizing there was no longer a command console behind him he fell back bouncing his elbows off the hard floor beneath him.

"Don't embarrass me Luke, get up!" Obi-Wan Kenobi kicked at Luke's left hip with a dark tan leather boot.

Luke sat up and inspected himself for damage to his hands and couldn't help but notice he had both of them again and was dressed in all black, the sign of the Jedi at war with the Sith. The warriors did so to remind the enemy black is only a color and would not protect them from the all seeing eyes of the Force.

Luke pushed himself up to his knees and then to his feet. He stood slowly and looked 'Ben' Kenobi. The Jedi Master motioned for him to watch on with him but Luke refused "Forgive me Master, if I may be so bold is there reason for all this? Is there anything else the Force should tell me before I continue on? I was about to engage in a war if you haven't been paying attention." Luke's impatience showed.

"All things in time, my Padawan."

Luke locked tired eyes with his dead friend and mentor.

Ben's eyes could have beat him back but the master chose another route, "the Force is not a complete storyteller Luke, it can only tell you the story of each individual within the whole and we all weave our own destinies and the future is uncertain and prone to the possibilities and you would be wise to observe." The Jedi Master motioned with his eyes again and Luke caved in and turned around while rolling his eyes and letting out of frustrated breath.

The scene was of the Jedi Council Chamber during the reign of the Old Republic, applause filled the room, more people than usual packed the chamber Luke distinctly saw Master Yoda look at him from his perch upon a small antigravity chair while clapping and looked away back to the young man on one knee before the council.

Before the kneeling man another with dark skin and a bald head held a gleaming gold medal on a thick white lanyard in an outstretched set of arms with a smile of absolute pride on his face.

"That is …"

"Master Mace Windu." Luke cut him off, it had to be, Master Yoda had described him to the young Jedi beyond a doubt and eluded to him that he may still be alive after losing a duel with the emperor and having gone into hiding, He said his life force was still within the universe…somewhere.

"Very good you can pay attention, Anakin."

"Luke." He said the name with arrogance tempered with personal insult.

"Sorry, I couldn't tell you two apart for a moment there."

Luke's stared at him hard but was ignored by the Master as he turned about to watch on again.

Mace Windu's voice boomed over the crowd, "…And with the award of this medal you are hereby elevated to the level of Jedi Master!"

The young man put a shingle armored gloved hand Luke had seen just recently up to interrupt, the room fell silent and tense.

"On behalf of myself, my heart and my family I thank thee for this honor you have bestowed upon me but I must refuse."

The room gasped and Master Yoda stood on his elevated platform and spoke "Out ! All but the council! The doors, sealed they will be!"

In moments the room was empty except for the young man, Luke and Ben and the Council of the Jedi Masters.

Master Windu's arms dropped, his hands still clutching the medal "Onotaka, explain yourself please."

"Yes, indeed." Master Yoda added.

The young man answered "During the trial's I received message from the Force my Masters."

"Interesting indeed, go on." Master Yoda motioned with his cane. Luke recognized it as the twisted hardwood he used to grab his attention so many times.

"I was told I would be called upon to save two lives to save a billion times a trillion. I will be called again to give direction to the lost and to 'twist the string of time' …" The man went silent.

"And?" Master Windu demanded his student speak his mind.

"I do not see how…"

"Speak my Padawan!" Master Windu put him back in his place.

"…I will bring the Last Dragon to the doorstep of its fate."

Master Klaathu Spoke "Your family assured us the last of the 'Dragons' were destroyed."

"Yes, but this is not 'our Dragon'"

"Then whose is It?" the Jedi Master demanded further.

"It is the Chancellor's my Master, I have been told his path to his power has crushed and destroyed more than we will ever know and a 'Dragon' of his own he has created and it will not rest until it destroys him."

The Masters glanced among themselves and directed their thoughts to Master Yoda. Master Windu cast his eyes on the trainee and dismissed any judgment against the man, "Then go forward with you and heed the calling, we hereby release you of any given duties and bid you farewell and good luck to complete your commitments to 'The Living Force'." Master Yoda stared hard and deep into the young man, Luke had seen the look before. "Well, hope I do, may your destiny serve us all." Master Yoda added.

"Yes indeed." The young man said somberly as he stood tall and walked away never to return to the Jedi Temple again.

Luke spoke as the Masters glanced among themselves. "He refused the rank of Jedi Master?"

"Yes he felt his calling elsewhere." Ben replied.

"What could be more important?" Luke looked confused.

"Maybe you."

The room swirled again and Luke found himself back where he was with Colonel Onotaka still squatting over his legs clenching his white-bleeding fist in his steel knuckled gloves.

"You understand now, yes?" The man commanded.

"No, I do not" Luke replied.

"You will." The man shook Luke's fist hard then released it and stood up taking a step back to stand over him again.

"What now?" Luke said while inspecting the sliced glove.

"We will go over my plan of attack again!" Colonel Onotaka raised an armored glove and clacked it into a fist.

"I already have one if I may present it." Luke did his best to display his battle experience.

"I have read it. Your plan is flawed terribly."

"How so?" Luke did not hide his offense.

"You cannot approach Tarnishii from just any angle, it is sacred space and the resting place of the Gods, stumble into their den clumsily and they will punish you for disturbing their slumber."

"God's?" Luke did not see the relation between his plans and what was now sounding more like talk from a man who had been alone for way too long.

"Yes, when angered their beasts charge out of the dark to chase you down and devour you and then disappear back into the dark from where they came."

Luke could sense the man was trying to relate a warning of a tactical nature and listened on."The Last Dragon follows, yes? I feel it coming for you."

"Yes, I feel it to." Luke replied.

"Not much time now! I will show you how we will 'twist the string of time' to reach the battlefield and bring 'The Dragon' out of hiding and deliver it to the one it truly hunts for."

"Show me." Luke said.

Colonel Onotaka stepped aside and reached over flipping several switches on the command console. The front pane of the glass laid out in a black-on-white Holo-graphic display a series of battle formations across a digital grid with targeting cursors flying across the symbols outlining the former Imperial officer's plan. Luke had to admit the Rebels had a much higher percentage rate of survival if everything went to the plan. It was a big 'if'.

"It looks good but there is still one more issue…" Luke was interrupted by a loud burning hiss behind him growing louder until the air in the room de-pressurized suddenly as a deafening steel 'Clang!' assaulted his ears and shook the steel plate beneath the seat of his pants.

"They have broken through!" Colonel Onotaka exclaimed while retrieving his sword and pulling out a laser blaster from under the back of his armored coattail nearly identical to his friend Han Solo's. Han said he liked the model because he wasn't a sharpshooter but up close it could turn things into a mess and held twice the ammo as most others its size.

Luke could make out the distant sound of Imperial Trooper composite armor clacking beneath angry shouts of an enraged mob attempting to rush the room.

Luke was astonished when Colonel Onotaka crouched in classic Jedi form and launched himself up and over the command console to land his feet with a battle cry directly into the first two unfortunate Clone-troopers chest's attempting to enter the command deck through the stairwell.

The soldiers were knocked unconscious immediately, the weight of their falling bodies smashed into the line of troopers pushing forward taking entire squads with them to land hard on the grated steel deck at the bottom of the stairs.

The colonel nearly lifted the super thick steel door up off the floor and over its hinges to slam shut once again when two of the soldiers grabbed their footing and scrambled back up the stairwell.

Luke took in the reflection of black and white shadows in the top of the front window and witnessed the colonel swing the sword with his right hand to deflect white-hot laser bolts back down into the attacking troops while bracing the heavy steel door with his left knee keep it from falling back to the floor.

The colonel swung a wide circle over the top of the entry into the heads of two more soldiers before a targeted barrage of laser bolts bit off pieces of his glove and uniform's forearm sending armored shrapnel across the room along with several of the warriors' fingertips.

The gold scabbard of the blade cracked off the top of Luke's helmet before impacting the front pane of glass and clanging against the floor's cold steel plates.

The Colonel barked with pain and angrily rapid fired the blaster leaving the smoking stairwell stacked with defeated soldiers.

Colonel Onotaka heaved against the steel door with his all his strength. The door nearly reached its balance point when he heard the armored feet running up the hall below for another wave of attack, had the clones sent a dozen more men in the first attempt they may have actually made it in and killed the command figure and succeeded in destroying the ship or hijacking it to do even more damage elsewhere.

The colonel produced a thermal detonator out of another pocket of his armored jacket and bit his teeth into the ridges of the timer knob and twisted the ball of metal.

With a high pitched warning the sphere lit up In small white lights flashing a countdown to certain destruction.

"I am so sorry, it is a waste of such brilliant warriors." The colonel whispered and threw the device down the stairwell, an approaching Clone-trooper dove on it in a vain attempt to muffle the explosion as the rest of his men trampled over him.

Colonel Onotaka grabbed the right side of his neck with what was left of his right hand and glove and screamed out a vulgar insult as a bolt of energy burned past his skin and ricocheted off the glass burning a hole in the steel grates between Luke's legs.

The warrior grabbed the edge of the door with the spike mounted to his left heel and kicked it down onto the heads of more soldiers as he unloaded the blaster into the seams between the door and the steel creating a makeshift series of welds to buy the two more time.

A moment later an explosion rocked the room below and the shouts of the soldiers fell silent. The colonel stepped back over to Luke and squared himself off again. Luke surveyed the damage he suffered.

"Why are your own men out to destroy you?" Luke looked genuinely alarmed.

"They are no longer 'my men', this place has changed them, they know now."

"Know what?" Luke was intrigued as well as alarmed not being sure whether he would come to harm where he was.

"What they are, how they were made, what they have been used for and how they have been sent to their deaths by the millions for centuries. They know now they could have had wives and children and lives of their own but were denied to serve the greed of a tyrant."

Luke knew just who the colonel spoke of and replied sincerely, "Now, they want to kill you and the emperor and I can see why. Maybe they should just take the ship and pay him a visit." Colonel Onotaka saw the disapproval and contempt in Luke's eyes for the uniform he wore.

""No!" The colonel barked, "They want to destroy the ship."

"Why?" Luke knew he would not like the answer but had to know.

"This ship as well as the one you occupy are all Spurios-wave driven graviton warheads."

Luke's blood froze at the revelation as he responded, "The Spurios fleet were meant to be used as black-matter space bombs… unbelievable." And yet he knew it to be true.

"Detonated here in this place it will cause havoc and what we know of our home space, the laws of physics will twist and disrupt the fabric of our existence."

"But. "

"No ! There is no time as you said! You go now! We attack now!"

"We will never arrive in time anyway!"

Colonel Onotaka bowed forward, "So sure are you? Time…is a string, to twist it is to shorten the distance from one end to the other " He touched the Holo-graphic display on the glass, two flashing points spiraling in unison enlarged as they raced across the map of the galaxy.

Luke understood what R2-D2 was trying to explain to him. The two Spurios-wave drive systems were linked across dimensions denying the laws of local physics and time and space. Luke was absolutely blown away by the technology, it was truly faster than 'faster than light' travel and made hyperspace look like riding a Bantha. The Trade Guild would kill for the opportunity to move cargo so fast, something told Luke they did not know about the breakthrough but should have considering how much of the 'New Empire' they bankrolled. As a method of travel it was an astounding achievement, as a weapon delivery system it was diabolical. Bearing the mark of the emperor he was sure it was not just meant to find and commandeer the Fin-Astra mining drill but to crush any others who stood in the tyrants way. He was going to be surprised to say the least when two of his greatest weapons of mass destruction come out of nowhere gunning for him.

"Let's do it." Luke threw his hand out to Colonel Onotaka. He lock his left glove into Luke's, they looked hard into each other's eyes and said "Death to the Grand Moff and his Master!"

Luke finished with, "Long live the Rebel Alliance!"

Luke closed his eyes again and the armored glove disappeared from his hand.

Chapter 81

Luke opened his eyes to his own space and time. The holographic display on the front glass blared in his face as the same barrage of images he witnessed aboard the ghost ship raced across Holo-vizor.

"Artoo, cut the feed to the front display."

Luke raised his hand to shield his eyes and couldn't help but notice his glove was still intact with no blood and he felt no slice across his palm.

The feed cut out, a message scrolled past Luke's eyes, "…INTRA DIMENSIONAL TRANSFER DISENGAGE?…" R2-D2 awaited in silence for an answer. Luke could feel the energy of the machine's organic processing unit demanding a response.

"How long before Tarnishi?" Luke could sense the R2-unit had no perception of what information it had relayed to him and was simply acting as the machine it was, hijacked by the protocol-code supplied by the Mitochloreans.

The droid did know enough to inform his master a command had been executed without a verbal cue or a pre-programmed set of hand, eye, body language motions.

"…00:02:10 …" The Co-Pilot responded.

"Dig into this beast and get me all the information on the 'Graviton' it's carrying, do it now,…please."

Luke tried to look beyond the Holo-vizor but dizzied at the scene out the window. Aboard the Millennium Falcon or his own 'X-Wing' Fighter the view out of the cockpit glass was a swirling blur of soft white light until you dropped out of Hyper-space. The view with the human eye out the front pane of glass at the speed the machine moved at boggled the mind. Stars approached and grew huge filling the windows and bathing the command deck suddenly with blistering rays of yellow light. The Spurios adjusted its flight and missed the balls of fire by meters, using the intense gravity to slingshot itself even faster pass it, a planet and its two moons beyond flashed by in an instant, the dagger shaped body of the ship passing at a point exactly between the two heavenly bodies and taking advantage of their gravity as well. The guidance system phased the ship in and out with its intra-dimensional counterpart to cut straight through asteroid belts without a scratch in split seconds.

The view out of glass pyramid began to make sense to Luke, he could feel it because it was his own blood and that of Colonel Onotaka, the only person in the history of the Jedi order to refuse the rank of 'Master' guiding the two ships through the galaxy by will alone.

"Also block out everything but the information."

The Holo-vizor tinted black and the file R2-D2 compiled in less than three-trillionths of a second floated in 3-D on a black background, Luke was thankful for the break to his eyes.

"Open." The Luke commanded.

Luke's mouth dropped when he read into the details, upon the original Spurios 1 doomed trial run the ship's power supply literally out-ran the material the ship was made of as far as is physical properties were concerned. The entire ship's every last atom had turned itself inside out and continued forward into the space Colonel Onotaka now occupied. The command crew panicked and cut the power to the Spurios-wave Drive. The result was nothing short of catastrophic, upon returning so suddenly into this dimension the dark-matter of space collided with raw matter of the reappearing 'Spurious-1'

The reaction the vision of Anakin Skywalker explained earlier took place. To say it vaporized two star systems and damaged 'Torka-Pruum' space-station from three light-years away was an understatement, the planets and their stars disappeared in a split-instant, the light they emitted and material they were made of were sent 'elsewhere'. When the dark-matter of space rushed back in to fill the void the shockwave traveled another ten light-years in seconds, catching both the emperor and the Dark Lord off guard for their arrogance.

"Oh, if only we could have been so lucky." Luke read on. He now understood why Colonel Onotaka's men lay dead around him, they panicked. The colonel did the math and knew what wrong, again. His ship was a manned weapon of mass destruction with those aboard loyal to the Empire willing to die to make sure the weapon was delivered to its target. The colonel knew if they had stopped the ship again in the same fashion the same result or worse would have happened.

The gravity crater left in space by the 'Spurios 1' seized a series of star systems within its grip destroying all life on their planets, they are now a circling eddy of doomed masses of fire and crushed gasses now simply referred to as 'The Cluster', a place so dangerous not even the craziest of scavengers would go near.

Luke had been enlightened by Lieutenant Sika-Va's lecture on ancient weaponry and outlawed classes of warfare. The Empire had no problem employing such dastardly tactics if it furthered its leader's goals.

Dark-matter bombs were the most forbidden weapons of all time. The original devices were not engineered by any known race, the ancient weapons of mass destruction were discovered by the Sith during the great schism hidden within cave deep inside the rock of a dead moon. Legend has it many Jedi and their allies died to capture the devices and jettison them into the all powerful and crushing black-hole in the center of the galaxy. Any research on the subject was forbidden forever anywhere within the universe by Unanimous Decree of the Old Republic. It was now obvious the Empire's terror-techs analyzed the event and discovered how to turn each of the ships into a colossal dark-matter bomb as a bonus to their design and appeal to the emperor.

The suicidal pilots simply cut the drive system link at full speed and the ship stopped in an instant in front of its target. The fully charged core of the Spurios-wave Drive unit holding the dark-matter at bay as the ship reappears collapses in on the twelve overloaded nuclear cores and 'Boom' you have a blast radius of fifteen light-years. The crew of the 'Spurios 1' should have cut the engines one at a time and the disaster could've been averted.

Luke was sure now the Clone Troopers aboard the 'Spurious 2' had hijacked the engine controls from deep down inside the ship to remain cloaked until they could take the bridge by force to access the flight controls and the switchboard to cut the drive link at their own bidding, from there who knew what damage they would cause. Destroying Coruscant would most likely be their primary target, the center of the known universe but if they could find the emperor he would be the prize for sure.

Luke was alarmed at the discovery yet thankful his R2-unit was no fan of nonexistence especially when it was its own.

A short deliberate shrill for attention erupted in Luke's ears, "Cut it all off and let me see outside, Trajectory and battleship ID tags on display only"

R2-D2 complied, "…ARRIVAL AT TARNISHI ANAMOLY IN 10...9...8..."

The exit point Colonel Onotaka had chosen was dead center in the middle of both fleet's formations, the Rebels were in a follow the leader formation behind Admiral Akbar and the bulky oversized flagship 'Victorious' on a path streaking to intercept the wall of firepower the Imperial Forces presented as their lines inched forward cautiously, more Star Destroyers appeared out of nowhere to secure any routes of escape should the lines be broken.

"…6...5...POWER CHAIN DE-ACTIVATION SEQUENCE COMMENCING…" Luke could feel the giant nuclear engines cut out one by one through the floor plates and through the Force on Colonel Onotaka's side. "…4...3..."

Luke's eyes widened as the battlefield grew large through the glass pyramid before him. He tensed as the targeting cursors flashed red signaling the exit point in space where the sister-ships would make their grand appearance. "…2...SPURIOS-WAVE DEVICE POWERDOWN…1...ARIVING AT DESTINATION: TARNISHI ANOMALY…"

Luke took in as deep and calm a breath as possible and spoke to his friend R2-D2 with a voice tired of dealing with a reoccurring problem, "Its all are nothing now, buddy! Get those guns heated up we're gonna give the Queen and the Alliance enough time to escape and we're going to draw out 'The Dragon', the emperor has been on the run for far too long now and I can feel it wants to feast on his bones. We're gonna' serve him up nice."

Chapter 82

"Surrender yourself now Your Majesty and renounce your allegiance to the Rebel Alliance for all to hear and I will spare the destruction of the pathetic fleet of ships attempting to rescue you. Your diversion to protect young Skywalker has failed."

Crizora's face was chiseled in stone as she hid her contempt from the disgusting creature on the grainy viewscreen. The Queen's impostor spoke breaking a long silence. "Just what assurance do you offer you will not simply destroy me and my troops? Your track record does not weigh trust in your favor."

Crizora's face remained unchanged, Captain Wixxim stood close at her side, his face taught and angry, his eyes blinded by the raging need for revenge against the man who ordered the deaths of so many of his brothers and sisters in arms.

"Your comrades are no match for my forces and you know I have more to gain with your compliance than by destroying them, as hard as you have tried to conceal the fact nearly all of the Alliance is funded by you and what little is left of your family is well known to me. The resistance will crumble into dust without you."

Crizora felt the heat from the crystal band tightening around her left hand's little finger the message she received from it was to resist as long as she could a change in events was about to arise.

Aboard the 'Victorious' Leia sprang to consciousness Crizora almost at a loss for words felt the true Queen's aura enter her body and did not resist, in fact she welcomed the warmth and direction her presence supplied. The power of the Alliance's leader filled her heart and her words. "You have pursued me to my wits end, oh, mighty emperor." The adversary smiled wickedly at the prizes that soon would surely be his.

To her own offense Crizora found herself cowering as she spoke her words while moving slowly across the floor to the emperor via the snowy white view screens.

"Yes, come to me." The emperor hissed with greed to the beautiful woman. Colonel Zycxz was as morally offended as much as anyone else listening.

Aboard the 'Victorious' Baskel Baskeearrii, who held sway over all Rebel communications as per Joint Chiefs of Staff of the Rebel Alliance orders fumed with rage. The giant guard holding watch over him lowered his Scatter-beam rifle and delicately placed an armored glove on his shoulder. While the guard may have been trained killer he certainly recognized a young man in love who was willing to kill for it.

Baskel turned and gave the man a searing stare of jealousy, the guard seized his shoulder lightly and said, "Trust Her Majesty, she will keep us all alive. Believe me, please do your job as she would need you too." After finding trust in the older man's eyes Baskel bowed to his wisdom and went back to his duties.

Crizora felt a presence beyond herself come into her body and mind as the true Queen filled in her words."

"Will you comfort me?"

The emperor answered with lies.

"I will be safe with you forever?"

"Yes, certainly." The emperor could taste his victory Colonel Zycxz could feel this exchange would not end well.

Unbeknownst to the emperor, the communication had been broadcast galaxy wide using a new form of file sharing starting from the bottom up, simple video grabs were posted to illegal independent servers constantly. The empire could not suppress the info faster than it was posted in tiny files across every receiver on this half of the galaxy, once compiled and read in sequence there was no way to prevent the entire story from being viewed absolutely everywhere.

"Am I the most beautiful you will ever love or hold?" Crizora's eyes melted before the decrepit creature.

Baskel Baskeearrii felt his skin burn and his blood tingle as he heard the Queen speak through his one true love.

"Yes, absolutely." The emperor lied absolutely as his foul breath filled the room. The entire Rebel Forces listened in with the fear of being sold out looming in the hearts of its soldiers yet none had an ounce of distrust in its leader. Warfare was deception and they awaited their orders from their Queen and wise commander.

"Shall I be allowed to beg one more request from you, Oh Lord above all unworthy?" The impostor pleaded with her eyes.

The emperor stared into the impostor queen, his desire set on the tiny crystal ring on her little finger. "Your people will not suffer if this is your request."

"Yes, it is." The Queen said obediently.

"Done!" The emperor replied with satisfaction.

"…And if I may I have a personal request if you if you will hear it oh all and powerful emperor of the known galaxy.

"Certainly my new concubine."

The words sickened all who listened.

"May I choose a new name to be forever at your side."

"By all means, choose. I ordain it." The emperor could not have been more blinded by pride.

"Will you call me Zoevella as you have in the past…?" Both Leia and the impostor, Crizora smiled wide and with a beautiful sparkle of wickedness all their own. The look of satisfaction on the emperor's face melted to into genuine worry exposing an inner weakness to the entire universe to see. "…And we will be together soon."

Before the tyrant could open his mouth and strike back with his words Crizora motioned across time and space for Baskel to cut the feed.

Captain Wixxim and escorted Crizora back into her chair and spoke, "What was all that about?, And who is 'Zoevella'?"

Crizora placed a delicate long fingers on her Captains shoulder pad and said, "I have no clue, captain, but I feel things are about to get very interesting."

Chapter 82

One would expect an admiral would have a place of privacy to think as he entered battle, however that is the Imperial way and a waste of resources at hand as far as Admiral Akbar was concerned. He was swarmed by personnel attempting to give him compiled reports.

C-3PO waved a glittering gold arm for his attention saving him from the crowd. he waved everyone off stormed over to the Protocol-droid's station.

"Tell me you have a bead on Skywalker!" The Admiral's giant eyes glared at the gold droid.

"No, Sir, I do not."

"Then why am I here?" The commander demanded.

"Your security clearance entitles you to new information if I may relate it to you now or are you too busy, I can wai…"

"Go with it!" The fish-admiral exclaimed.

"Before embarking on his latest mission my master affixed both myself and the Astro-mech R2-D2 with what is known as an 'Intra-ceptor'."

"I know what one is and the device is prohibited for this mission!" The admiral looked concerned.

"That being said it has been done, Sir."

"Meaning?"

"Meaning the Astro-mech is within two light years of this locale, Sir."

"Skywalker is coming here now?!" The admiral exclaimed, the entire command crew came to a halt in their tracks, Pexo-Colo looked at the ceiling and snickered out, "Of course he is!"

Admiral Akbar shot his Com-officer a single eye and shouted, "Shut up, Pexo!"

"Aye, Sir!", The man laughed louder as he answered causing the guards tighten up on him again with their weapons.

C-3PO spoke up, "I cannot determine if my Master is in his company or not but the 'Intra-ceptor' device cannot activate without the proper subspace frequency which can only be activated by an organic life form's energy signature, its what keeps us from being stolen or misdirected by someone other than our master on worlds such as that horrible Tattooine, Sir."

"This is impossible!" The admiral resisted yelling at the droid then turned to look out the giant, curved front pane of glass as a blistering hot flash of light captured the attention of all on the battlefield.

"What in blazes is happening!" Admiral Akbar barked at C-3PO as he and all on deck covered their eyes momentarily.

"A message being relayed, Sir, It reads 'Astro-mech R2-D2 completing mission, Master Skywalker deceased during mission, body in custody engaging Imperial troops to aid in escape, good luck….Oh dear."

"I don't understand! An Astro-mech and a dead pilot are about to run interference for us? We don't need it!"

C-3PO seized the admiral with a golden metal hand with an iron grip and made sure the admiral was listening, "Death is only the beginning for the Jedi soul, one would be wise to abide by Master Skywalker's final wishes."

Admiral Akbar knew enough not to argue with the way of the Jedi. "What do we do?"

The fate of the mission now sat upon C-3PO's shoulders alone.

Within the Med-bay of the 'Victorious' the Queen slid off of her operating table to find her feet. She motion for the handmaidens to support her. They rushed gracefully to her pushing aside the humble yet curious 301 Med-bot.

Upon a whisper to her Aunt Chasa said she was whisked weightless lead over to Baskel Baskeearrii's station. The giant, graying, leather armored guard made his obedience bowing while stepping back several paces.

Leia laid a hand on Baskel's arm and eased him gently aside, he could not help but see the resemblance between the two warriors and it only made his worry Crizora worse.

Leah spoke to him while pulling a key similar to his own out of a concealed pocket in her crimson stained gown. She kissed it as she almost smiled and pushed it into another slot below the tech's own key. On the bridge of the 'Victorious' C-3PO powered down for a few short seconds and returned to the state of operation he held when the Queen used him for her secret communiqué before. The droid went unnoticed this time in the midst of the shuffle.

"Admiral Akbar, It is I…"

"Spare me, Leia, I am a little busy right now."

"Admiral Akbar, The com device you removed and destroyed earlier was installed while on Cloud-city before this droid was disassembled and planted for the Wookie Chewbacca to discover and I assure you I am still in command of this droid and of you."

The Protocol-droid's eyes flashed as eerily as before. "You will commence your attack on the Imperial forces! Take my word reinforcements will be here any moment. Go forth and destroy! Death to the emperor and long live the Rebel Alliance!"

Out of the front windows of the 'Victorious' Admiral Akbar witnessed two Super Star Destroyer's appear falling out of hyperspace as one with a colossal 'Boom!", shock waves traveled through space and met both fleets with the same sudden force indiscriminately.

"This has to be a trap Your Majesty follow close and we can escape now!" Admiral Akbar pleaded with the gold droid.

"No admiral, its Luke…and…" Leia searched her feelings.

"And what, Leia?!" Admiral Akbar demanded the truth.

"…And something else."

Chapter 83

Grand Moff Korsche stood tall and proud dead center in the middle of the command deck of the battle coordination vessel 'Vector''the 'Excelsior's' very own detachable battle command platform.

All Star Destroyers carried such craft, none as far advanced as the 'Vector'', The ships protocols could override and command all Imperial cruisers and direct their positions without the ship's own admirals or captains interfering.

Grand Moff Korsche looked over his final layout before engaging the emperor's command when he felt a deathly cold chill on the back of his neck. The deck lost its hustle and noise and fell silent. The governor looked up from his digital plaque to find himself alone.

"What trick now is this!" He spoke and looked around, "Show yourself! I've seen my share of illusions and it will not change the outcome of this battle!" Awaiting an answer the Grand Moff stood as tall and defiant as ever.

The Dark Lords' respirator sounded off "As you wish." The words thundered with a contentious growl from behind.

Grand Moff Korsche spun around on a hard heel, "What's all this then? I have a war to engage for our real Lord, the exalted one, Palpatine!"

The Dark Lord pointed the finger at the emperor's lap dog, "The emperor wages his own battles and is a cunning and resilient opponent."

"You state what I've known lifetimes before your cursed blood came to be." The Grand Moff smirked at the ghost of the emperor's minion.

The Dark Lord took direction of the conversation, "You could have served the Sith as if one of our own. You haven't a single particle of blood that is not dedicated to evil but your soul sees only its own desires for petty amounts of power." The respirator sounded off loudly.

"And yours does not? Don't mince words with me Anakin Skywalker. Yes! I am well aware of who you were…Our Lord has spent considerable time and money and effort monitoring your whereabouts since you were a young man. More of my time and attention has been spent in reconnaissance of your whereabouts that I would ever admit to. Our lord hasn't spent as much time monitoring you as you would like to think. I have been as much a part of your development as anyone and I will add I feel the end result is less than acceptable."

The Dark Lord let the governor have his say, the sound of the menacing respirator filled the room as the dark figure turned away as if to give the Grand Moff him a false hope of attacking him.

"You're a magician and am I to believe my whole crew dead or is it an ancient spell of cloakage?"

The Dark Lord spoke to the ceiling, "I assure you they are not here, this ship is now yours governor but the 'Excelsior' is mine.

"How so?" Grand Moff Korsche's eyes hardened even more.

"The ship contains the infinite knowledge of the Old Republic and the old Jedi archives, far too precious to be trusted to fooll like you." Darth Vader pointed to a large screen tracking the Imperial forces movements and snapped a finger and the flagship disappeared.

"And what of the crew! I will need them to execute this exercise regardless."

"The crew will awaken in their bunks aboard the 'Excelsior' they are mine as well, you will meet your fate here."

"You are as mad as our master!"

The Dark Lord stared into Grand Moff Korsche's soul for several unnerving moments, "Yes, perhaps but your destiny is now upon you."

"Be gone from here now! I will take it from here alone!" Grand Moff Korsche barked.

Darth Vader clinched a raised fist in victory, "No, Korsche, you will not be alone Colonel Onotaka will be here for you soon!"

The image turned to wisps of smoke and disappeared. The Grand Moff's eyes went wide at the revelation of what the emperor had questioned him for. There was a ghost in his past still haunting him and he could feel it was coming. He looked to the front glass and the trail of Rebel warships about to engage his forces when the window erupted in white flames.

An instant later a shockwave seized the 'Vector'' and rattled the ship with a thunderous clap, the Grand Moff flew off his fleet feet across the command deck and impacted against the hard edges of a series of steel consoles shattering half of his ribs on his right side while breaking the magnetic bonds of the chairs loose from the cold steel floors breaking both bones of his left forearm, wrist and three of his fingers.

Far as old and stiff the Grand Moff appeared he was in excellent physical health, he was lucky his back was not shattered. The governor screamed an insult out directly to Lord Vader across space as he discovered his injuries. His used his raw anger to hoist himself to his feet, his right ankle had begun to swell. As he attempted to stand tall and compose himself he sucked in an angry breath, the broken ribs against one of his lungs drove him down into one of the seats still standing. Grand Moff Korsche slapped the personal distress plunger on the station before him. A medical first-aid droid apeared out of a sliding door in the wall and rushed to the station he slumped over.

The droid its patient upright again and went to work assessing his injuries. Grand Moff Korsche forced a view of outside the 'Vector''s' front window through involuntary tears of pain to witness two ghosts from his past appear and begin to run a wide figure eight around the outside of both sides lines of defense at almost impossible speeds.

He thought back to the doomed 'Spurios' project, a hastily conceived and executed plan funded by stolen money built entirely by machines and designed by forced labor on a size and scope never before seen with the addition of unproven theoretical drive systems.

He shook his head as he once had so many years ago when he first heard of the Chancellor's plan, it contained everything the colonel felt at the time needed for things to go very wrong. He cursed his own greed as he seethed at both of the massive ships. The Spurious-2 and Spurious-3 began there near light-speed orbit of the battlefield.

Chapter 83

"In my opinion I say we continue on course Master Luke would have calculated your actions more than mine." C-3PO gestured kindly as he spoke to the strategist.

The admiral spoke without a moment's delay "Get me fire control now!"

A holographic image of a modestly framed human appeared, his uniforms creases were over pronounced and he wore a set of tall black lace up boots with chromed capped toes and heels. The man sported a set a dark lenses covering darker overworked irritated eyes perched on a scrunchy little nose. A set of yellowed, slightly crooked teeth ground nervously under a big graying push broom of a mustache. In the man's hand was a burning death stick and a non-regulation oversized mug of what the admiral had to assume was triple concentrated 'Caff'.

"Colonel T! I thought I warned you about that!"

The colonel tipped his cap back a millimeter and scrunched his nose further while holding up the mug, "Its only 'Caff', Sir!"

"I mean the smoking! Not on my ship! Not anywhere in fact! Now get rid of it!"

"Done Sir!" The colonel said and threw it into the muddy mug of 'Caff'.

"That's better!" The Admiral's stomachs almost turned over and his tendrils showed disgust as the man took a long pull off the mug.

"Let 'em fly Colonel and happy hunting!"

""Aye, admiral, let'n 'em fly!" The figure barked back loudly from under his moustache proudly and motioned off screen then disappeared. Moments before the adversaries engaged both sides let loose thousands of one and two man fighters, twin ion engine fighters fell like steel marbles one after another out into space off the noses of the Imperial Star Destroyers before unfolding their octagonal wings and racing a way to the oncoming rebel threat.

"What do you mean 'I don't know'!" Colonel 'T' growled at his lieutenant. "Sir the Launch bay covers were never tested to open at this speed! and the way we are changing our trajectory so suddenly they could tear loose and destroy our own launching attack vehicles."

"We have our orders, Ms. Po, hitting the switch is a risk we have to take! Do it please."

Lieutenant Po's scaly hands worked the controls while two of her birdlike feet clicked their sharp hard green claws in an earnest tap dance beneath the stool she sat half perched upon with her two rear legs. Her efforts were met with a series of flashing lights indicating in the doors refusal to open against the combination of the force and weight of the 'Victorious', its anti-magnetic shields and the lack of steady flight.

Lieutenant Po craned her long neck around to look the colonel in the eyes, large black oval lids clicked loudly as she spoke, "That's a no go, Sir, now what?"

Admiral Akbar's holograph appeared on the lieutenant's desk, "Colonel, where are my fighters?!"

"The doors will not open under these conditions, Sir!"

"These conditions are only going to get worse, get them open any way possible Colonel T!"

Colonel T raised an eyebrow, his teeth were arranged in a devious grin as his push broom danced, "By any means, Sir?"

"As long as it doesn't destroy half the ship!" Admiral Akbar was serious knowing full well the man had something up his sleeve.

"I'll have them open momentarily, Sir!" The Admiral had his concerns but gave the order since the mission was almost a guaranteed one way ticket to their graves, "Do what you must!" He rolled his giant eyes and cut the feed.

The colonel snapped his fingers over a shoulder, "Axe, Ice, front and center boys!"

"Aye, Sir!" Came from two twin soldiers who materialized out of the crowd of hustling workers, identical in every way with the exception of haircuts and facial hair.

"Are you good to go?!"

"Aye, Sir!" Both men barked together, each raised the white plastic detonator transmitters the two clenched in their fists with a thumb hovering over a bright red button.

"Are you sure they are where they should be?"

Both demolition experts raise the same eyebrow.

"Sorry I shouldn't have doubted." The Colonel said quickly, "On the next Port-side correction, let fly!"

An audio only feed cut in between them, "Colonel! Where are my fighters! I want them now! Were in a battle remember?!"

"On the next Port-side corrective action I advise all to hold on tight to their…"

"Just-get-it-done-now!" Admiral Akbar belted out to his officer.

The Colonel looked over his lieutenant's scaly shoulder to time the next correction while gripping the back of her chair and widening his stance, "Go in five, four, three, two, one, the Colonel shot the twin soldiers a direct look and nodded his head. Both soldiers grinned as they snapped their thumbs down on the red buttons.

Aboard the Royal Imperial transport Colonel Zycxz and the emperor watched on through the snowy screens and the front window at the Rebel Alliance's fearless approach to the Queen's tiny armada.

"Mi'Lord, the 'Excelsior' is gone!" Colonel Zycxz pointed to the troop movement display the emperor paused taking in the events.

"Yes I know, I ordered its withdrawal earlier..." The emperor hissed the words. Colonel Zycxz knew in his heart the ruler was lying but would not dare question him further, he said nothing of the two new arrivals as they set out on their paths across the battlefield. Colonel Zycxz eyes were fixed on the bulky beetle shaped 'Victorious'. The new Rebel flagship approached without the cover of 'snub' fighters.

"They know they are helpless to change this series of events, we may soon see the end of the insurrection today, they are ready to surrender but must still show a good display of force to save face with the 'Royals', a foolish gesture but commendable." Colonel Zycxz had his doubt in mind, it was not like the Alliance to fold so easily.

"Back us out of the fray, Colonel Zycxz." The young man sensed a poorly masked fear in the tyrant as he worked the panels and flight controls. The ship remained stationary, the pilot kicked the throttle peddles to the floor and pushed hard on the control stick, the ship refused to move with the engines topping out at full power. "Something has us Mi'Lord, it could be a tractor beam from a cloaked Rebel cruiser or an effect from the anomaly." The emperor laid a cold, clammy gray claw on the young man's sleeve, within the moments the emperor held his forearm Colonel Zycxz felt the range of emotions, love and purity thrown away for personal conquest, regret and blind pride consumed him. The man's spirit was tortured, out of control and embroiled in chaos. Most of all he felt fear, the fear of revenge upon one's self for their own actions of carelessness. "No, my son, what has us will be here soon we must wait. Disengage before we burn out our options for escape."

The Command Carrier 'Victorious' rolled over keeping to its erratic preplanned course as a series of explosions rocked the top half of the vessel. The ship's massive launch bay doors in the shape of a beetle's giant wings blew their hinges under the force of the high explosives planted by Colonel 'T's men in anticipation of the doors refusal to cooperate. As far as the Colonel was concerned, warship's were just that and were built to take damage especially if it guaranteed victory in the process.

The colossal wings tumbled end over end out into space in a hail of sparks and fire. An entire squadron of 'TIE-fighters' were wiped out by the debris before ever getting a chance to open fire, another squadron was eliminated as well as they flew into the wreckage of their comrades.

The honeycomb top side of the exposed 'Victorious' housed thousands of Rebel 'Snub' fighters, 'X-Wing', 'Y-Wing' and 'B-Wing style attack craft. The units swarmed out of their hive and engaged the imperial 'TIE-fighters' head on, cutting through and tearing apart the inside lines of oncoming formations. Heavy Laser-cannon fire filled the space outside the 'Victorious' as destroyed craft from both sides scattered in flaming pieces to vaporize against the massive ship's shields causing the less experienced crew members to shield their eyes instinctively. Admiral Akbar smiled was satisfaction despite the damage caused to his latest commission.

C-3PO spoke above the crowd cheerful and directly to the Admiral, "Sir, I have a message from General Skywalker! The admiral barked at the Protocol-droid without turning his attention from the windows, "You said he was dead!"

"Actually, he said he was dead, Sir, but I still have a message for you."

"Play it then!"

"It reads as follows, Sir. 'Admiral Akbar, continue with rescue mission…will buy time by engaging Imperial Forces… Rebel Forces Ship 'Spurios'…Confirm identity…'"

C-3PO spoke, "Sir! It is General Skywalker, he has hijacked an iImperial ship and is joining forces with us!" The droid ran a series of programs confirming the existence of the Astro-mech R2-D2 and Luke Skywalker and the coding as authentic "Confirmed, Sir! He is here, were saved, I always knew he would survive!"

"Tell him if we survive this he's got a lot of explaining to do."

"Aye, Sir, message conveyed…he says to stay on course, he's about to stir things up a bit, oh dear."

"That's exactly what I'm afraid of!" The admiral exclaimed as he spotted the knife of the ship about to charge directly across the bows of at least ten Star Destroyers on the front line.

"What about the 'Venture'?" C-3PO relayed the question through encryption and quickly replied, "The 'Venture' itself is fine, Captain Veetas on the other hand will surely give us an earful upon our reunion. He says to go easy on her, borrowing the gun-ships was the Astro-mech's idea." The floors of the 'Victorious' shook and trembled with the first impacts of the Imperial battleships' salvo of lasers from far away. The Star Destroyer's had no intention of seriously damaging the flagship, the weapons were powerful and accurate and the assault was merely a display of force meant to panic the crew members and soften the Command Carrier's shields.

It was a tactical mistake on the Grand Moff's part and played right into Admiral Akbar's trap. "Tell him I don't need is help and to butt-out before he gets killed or captured!" The admiral commanded with authority while staring hard into the black of space and the billowing radioactive clouds beyond the destroyers. The admiral knew what was about to happen as he had witnessed the phenomenon once when engaged in battle against a another Sith and his minions on the very same field long ago.

For as busy as the crew was all followed the lead of the Grandmaster Strategist General and knew something big was about to happen and kept one eye on the long windows of the command deck. Somewhere behind Admiral Akbar's stone face, deep inside his massively developed brain he stood within a dream still as fresh as when it came to him so many years ago. Mon-Calamarian's do not dream and they do not forget, a paradox he had lived with for so long and troubled his sleep cycles for as little as he needed them "Defeat themselves, the 'Dark ones' do, with their greed narrowly focused are they. Blinded by pride to their surroundings and the effect they have on it this is their weakness."

The Mon-Calamari responded, "Tell me, what must I do to defeat this evil?"

"The battlefield itself, your ally it is. the Force finds even the darkest and dangerous places of existence and brings balance. When treaded upon, correct itself violently it will if not respected as alive and breathing, to intrude upon rudely will surely be met with ill tempered response."

"You're saying to let the battlefield fight for me?"

"Hope for you ,still there may be."

The little green man and his cane disappeared as he awoke and he fought on to become known as the 'Liberator of Tarnishi' his career from a lowly Ensign skyrocketed over a few years to Rear-Admiral of the Old Republic's Security Forces.

After a series of high level assassinations of Admirals and Generals and any promising Majors or Colonels within the ranks just before the 'New emperor' took hold of the free universe drove many to shamefully abandon their posts.

These men are the command structure of the Rebel Alliance and have waited and dedicated themselves to hurt the Empire any way they can and today was their day.

The Admiral's eyes followed the 'Spurios' charging across the blockade, the streaks of plasma refusing to fire upon one of their own ships via battlefield protocol gave Luke and R2-D2 the golden opportunity to cause maximum damage to the enemies frontline. Admiral Akbar put a fin into his head and swung the other over to the gold droid. "Tell him I said back off! You're a fool! Get out of there now!"

Done, Sir! But he's begun his attack run!"

"He's crazy!"

"I wholeheartedly agree, Sir I tried so many times to tell him…"

"Shut up and watch this! You might be on the market soon, Control! take us down sixteen degrees and tell the fleet to fallback a hundred thousand 'clicks' on the next Starboard correction!"

"Admiral, going in closer is only going to get more fire our way from more destroyers!" Baskel Baskeearrii voice rang and through speakers directly over the Admiral Akbar's head.

"Look who suddenly graduated from war college! Keep the 'Com' clear!"

I'm just saying taking a full set of hits from a nother destroyer is gonna' knock our magnetism down hard for a few moments, small fighters might get through!"

"You have a lot to learn about physics! Control! Call in three squadrons to circle us!"

"T!"

"Aye, Sir!" Belted out above from the speakers, in the background Colonel 'T' could be heard calling in cover by color coded units. "Blue Wing fall in!"

"Aye, Sir!" crackled loosely through the magnetic shields from out of the front window somewhere.

Two seconds later a pack of five 'X-Wing' Fighters shot passed the windows followed by a dozen more battle fitted craft of various design. Some so close crew members could see the silhouette of the Queen on the crafts noses and caught a glimpse of the photon torpedoes on external mounts with vulgar insults directed toward the empire and its leader scribbled in hundreds of languages in white and orange Paint-pen.

The windows held out the vacuum of space but let the shock wave through with a series of "Booms!" to assert to the crew they had their backs, the crew gave a quick "Hoorah!" But kept to their tasks with dedication.

Admiral Akbar walked all the way up to the curved glass windows and stepped over the safety railing and directly onto the panes and stood on his web feet. He put both his webbed fists to the glass and pounded on it lightly. He stared hard with his big eyes as he spoke directly to the enemy as the next line of Imperial frigates and gun-ships backed up by three Star Destroyers charged up their weapon banks and opened fire.

"Come on I'm right here you signs of…"

"Akbar! Have you lost your minds! Get back in here!" Captain Pexo-Colo barked at his friend with a stiff set of fingers pointing to the floor.

"Shut up Pexo! I'm fine!"

In the distance the four drone gun-ship sentries following their new master, the 'Spurios-3' went into a synchronous orbit around the ship's hull increasing in speed until the barrels became a blurred rotating ring of steel.

"Come on, come on! I'm right here!" The admiral stepped back over the rail and held tight as another volley of multicolored lasers twice as thick as before impacted the magnetic shields scattering in white hot bursts the Victorious bucked to its port side against the blasts. Ship wide the crew members were shaken to their bones if they have them.

C-3PO exclaimed in fright, "Admiral, four more of the Destroyers are charging up their weapons! Where Doomed!"

The admiral heard the information but not the emotion within the machine, he blocked out the noise enveloping him and felt the moment then spoke calmly with lighthearted arrogance as the Star Destroyer's let loose with their weapons, "That should just about do it! Readjust to the next flight sequence, do not charge the shields!

"Aye, Sir!"

"Trust me on this one and watch this people!"

"Aye, Sir!" The crews responded.

Out of the billowing clouds of space dust clusters of super-magnetically charge rocks by the thousands rained down upon the Imperial fleet. The hits to the bottoms of the ships hulls blasted clean through and out the upper decks only to change course and rain back down again causing even more havoc. The crew erupted in cheer as one of the battleships was split lengthwise by a shadowy mountain sized piece of tumbling jagged rock before impacting the ship's power core and vaporizing the entire craft. The mountain crumbled turning itself to smaller deadly boulders which then set out on a path for the nearest battle cruiser to continue the relentless assault.

The Rebel crews cheered at the slaughter. "Alert the Queen to follow us!" The admiral barked.

Across space the guns spinning around the Spurios 3 forming a deadly halo erupted in a fusillade of deadly fire, missiles and pulse lasers sliced across the bows and runways of more advancing destroyers, 'TIE- fighters' were vaporized and sliced to pieces as they attempted to join the fight. To the Grand Moff's frustration the ship could not be fired upon yet it targeted weapons posts and launch bays at will deactivating the fleet's own weapons as it approached an eliminating them as well as slicing through the windows the Imperial officers used to survey the war those who survived the lasers were sucked out into the vacuum of space to meet their fate.

Luke's eyes dizzied as the drone gun-ships spun with a loud metallic shrill around the hull and forked tips of the 'Spurios 3'. The invisible shockwaves of noise gripped the ribbing of the ship shaking the control tower violently from below rattling the command deck. Luke almost had to yell over the noise to communicate to R2-D2.

"Whoo! Way to go R2-D2!"

The droid whistled loud in agreement. The view from within the glass walls displayed the path of destruction across the Imperial Navy's front lines. A barrage of multi-colored lasers fanned out slicing open the hulls of the enemy ships in rapid fire. The droid targeted strategic areas with the help of both the Imperial Forces own database via the link with the 'Spurios 3' and yet another array of hacking programs provided by Baskel Baskeearrii R2-D2 kept in his memory banks.

Missiles launched alongside the lasers fanning out to seek out sensitive parts of each cruiser and obliterate the station's leaving the cruisers without life support generators or directional control while severing their communication links to the 'Vector'' and ultimately Grand Moff Korsche. In the wake of the 'Spurios 3' the entire front line of the Imperial Forces crumbled and blew the pieces.

"…SEVERE MAGNETIC DISTURBANCE 180 DEG. AFT…"

"Let me see it on the visor."

A split second later a view of a ball of electricity forming behind the ship filled the Holo-vizor.

"Whoa! What's happening!" Luke could feel the disturbance in the Force, it was her. His eyes went wide, "Don't slowdown! Take us back to the fleet, give me the front view again, tactical only!"

R2-D2 screeched in panic as another Imperial Battle cruiser appeared of the suddenly clouds of gas. The droid opened fire again but the weapons quickly fell silent.

"…DRONE GUN-SHIP AMMO DEPLETED…"

"Great! now what do we do?"

R2-D2 locked a targeting cursor on to the windows of the oncoming Destroyer and altered the 'Spurios 3's course to engage it head on, "…DRONE GUNSHIP TARGET SYSTEM ENGAGED…TARGET AQUIRED...LAUNCHING…" The gun-ships broke away from their orbits and flew away from the 'Spurios3'. Each found their marks, one tumbled downwards and tore apart the Main Landing Strip along with hundreds of more 'TIE-Fighters' in motion to launch. The next impacted against the force field generator unit above the Main Hanger doors causing as mass depressurization and the deaths of hundreds of more pilots in wait. As a final blow both of the remaining gun-ships found their target together at the top of the command tower and blew through the front windows. The Star Destroyer erupted like a volcano in sparks and fire and spun out of control into its fallen comrades causing a chain reaction of detonations.

Luke was mortified as the 'Spurios 3' missed the top of the tower and the bloom of destruction by meters at most only for his blood to feel even colder. Before him the one and only 'Excelsior' filled his view.

The ship dwarfed the 'Spurios 3' and would vaporize Luke and R2-D2 in an instant if the hijacked protocols did not prevent it.

"Take evasive now Artoo!" Luke was surprised to say the least. The presence of the 'Excelsior' meant the emperor or the Dark Lord were nearby. His worst fear was now surviving the impact and then being captured.

"…COLLISION ALERT!…IMPACT IN 5...4...3...2...1...0..." The walls of the Imperial Flagship filled the windows and Luke with dread when the colossal craft simply disappeared.

"What was that?! Even if it cloaked it should have splattered us!"

"…TARGET: 'EXCELSIOR'…NO LONGER PRESENT IN THIS SECTOR…SCANNING…SCANNING…CONFIRMED…"

Luke knew he was fatigued but being kept alive by nothing more than the exploration suit, its safty measures and the craftiness of the Micro-surgeon but he knew what he saw.

Such a feat could only be done by a chosen few the galaxy over. "Vader." Luke could hear the Dark Lord somehow, low and almost nonexistent words traveld through his sick feeling bones, "Luke…this is not my fight…save yourself…she is coming for the emperor…run Luke!…come to me and together we shall defeat his monster together after it has rid the galaxy of the tyrant by its own hand."

"What of the Alliance and the friends I have made, of all the countless others who will die?" Luke asked out into space. He received no answer and did not need time to think about his response. "That's what I thought! Artoo show me the fleets and the Queen's ship minus the 'snubs' and overlay project Imperial troop movements."

Luke's eyes darted in all directions taking each targeting curser, the ships in play and their respective

ranks.

Luke could almost not believe the Imperial Insignia Shield's presence on the display indicating the emperors own shuttle was out in the open and in a faceoff with the Queen's armada. The Imperial Navy could have wiped out the tiny convoy in an instant. More Destroyers accompanied by smaller heavily armed escorts dropped out of Hyper-space on the outskirts of the Tarnishii Anomaly.

If the Rebels did not get to the Queen quick she would surely be captured an executed if they did not make their way out of the clouds soon and back to the safety of Hyper-space.

"Artoo! We have to run interference for the fleet and I think I know what we have to do!"

"…AWAITING ORDERS…"

Luke looked to the busy and crowded display, his eyes plotted a course down the center of both enemy lines. "Take us right down the middle, buddy!"

"…NOT ADVISED!…ESTIMATED SURVIVAL RATE…"

"Do it now! We don't have time to debate! If we lose the Queen we lose the whole game!

"…NEW COURSE CONFIRMED…"

"Now lets shake things up a bit!" Luke closed his eyes and became one with the Force. The stars of the universe appeared to him but he ignored their beauty and glare, he looked to the dark places where the light did not reach and nothing existed. He whispered over and over, " Zoevella, Zoevella come out and play!" Somewhere behind the backdrop of light Luke could hear the 'Dragon's' roar and felt the universe shake and tremble as it closed in on its feast it had waited so long for.

Aboard the 'Vector'' Grand Moff Korsche smirked at the confusion and destruction taking place on the front line. He gave Admiral Akbar credit for waltzing in and sucker-punching his adversary quickly but in doing so he created a wall of debris limiting the moves he had left. More Star Destroyers appeared, the governor tapped the plaque with quick flicks from his long cold fingertips.

The ship's icons were thrown into lines, their real world counterparts following suit out on the battlefield advancing forward and fanning out slowly to ensnare the Rebels in a net of firepower to force their surrender or destroy them for sure.

"Grand Moff Korsche." The ancient voice croaked an unsympathetic greeting.

Without looking up the governor replied from deep down in his thoughts, "I have not any more time for your trickery Vader! The old curmudgeon who holds our chains demands results from me. I have over two hundred ships to coordinate alone, so go find some inferior race of life forms to enslave or whatever odd job the emperor has for you next, be gone!" The governor flicked his fingers through the air as if shooing away a troubling insect.

"Korsche!" The anger in the emperor's voice shook the soldiers bones. The Grand Moff snapped to attention as best as he could against the splints and through the stiffening joints the pain killer injections had yet to work their way into. He could not see his master but his evil permeated the dry artificial atmosphere of the command deck.

"Aye, Mi'Lord!"

The tyrant waited long enough to make the governor nervous. Portions of the emperor's face appeared in wisps of shadow as tall as the Grand Moff himself before him then orbited his figure slowly as he gurgled the words, "I have ordered Lord Vader to take the 'Excelsior' and its crew on to the new battle station to oversee the final arming sequences. They have fallen behind schedule and need his 'motivational talents'.

The Grand Moff had his doubts over how much control he truly had over his aging minion but would never dare argue the point.

"Very good mi'lord."

"I Trust you have all in hand from your post? Or should I give control to the line commanders?"

"That 'Vector'' needs no other's my lord and

holds sway over the fleet sir with the exception of the new arrivals, they run undetected."

Grand Moff Korsche knew never to refer to the failed 'Spurios' project by name.

"Korsche, You are a military man the Force works in ways you will never understand Skywalker is aboard the 'Spurios 3' and will soon be forced to surrender to me, program the entire fleet to move in." A few taps on the plaque and the order was sent fleet wide. "It has been done my lord. What of the number two ship the arms it carries is considerable."

"Colonel Onotaka prides honor above all else and would never turn on his former comrades in the Rebel fleet, he will destroy himself after he achieves his 'inner balance' once again."

Grand Moff Korsche recalled his treachery against the former Jedi training.

"You have served me well my friend." The words hissed as they faded away. The room was empty of the Sith's presence. So was the governor's mind a feeling he had not felt in decades, he had been released by the evil magician.

Beyond the front windows the silver billowing clouds of magnetic space dust played with the shadows the black of space the cast upon them.

Red lights flashed on the Grand Moff's plaque in sequence with the consoles. The screen displayed "…Tractor beam alert…tractor beam engaged upon ''Vector'''…"

Beyond the windows Grand Moff Korsche watched the clouds split open as the one thousand meter tall forked tips of the five Kilometer long 'Spurious 2' flowed smoothly out into the space between the ''Vector''' and the magnetic dust dwarfing the command vessel.

The dust dragged and swirled off the massive bow filling the three Kilometer long Exo-steel canyon with an eerie thin river of smoky fog. The lights racing along the main landing strip flashed like lightning in storm clouds in sequence from the end of the runway up to the massive landing bay doors bearing the deep stamp of the Imperial Crest.

High above inside the brightly lit glass pyramid Korsche eyed a squat man's silhouette, the shape of the armor was unmistakable. He expected a hail from the disgraced colonel to gloat over him but received nothing. The figure stood and watched on as the ''Vector'''s' engines fought feebly against the tractor beam. The governor tapped quickly on his plaque for backup units but his former master had locked him out to face his fate alone.

The oversized Imperial Crest at the top of the runway split in two as the Main Landing Bay doors gears creaked to life. Harsh white light flooded the smoky runway from inside through the widening gap. The governor made out the shapes of hundreds of heavily armed Clone Troopers in a fashion of armor left behind with the fall of the Old Republic.

As the landing bay grew in size the scouts used macro binoculars to read the ships markings then relayed the information to the squad commanders who were busily using the Spurios 2's computers to identify its origin, command crew, passengers and cargo.

The Grand Moff could see disbelief in the faceless stares of the Empires most ruthlessly programmed killers and knew in an instant he was outnumbered and the treatment he was about to receive.

He hobbled as fast as he could to the weapons locker and shouted an insult as the bio-metric reader denied him access. He used his good hand to pull an all access maintenance key on a chain around his neck out from under his undershirt and tight collar. He shoved the thin blade of chrome into the lock and twisted it around three times. The entire lock came out in his hand and he flung it angrily away and slapped the door open.

He quickly armed himself with a long barreled blaster and cursed out loud again as he cocked it with his splinted fingers.

The ''Vector''' shuddered as it landed against its will on its underside without its landing gear. The craft rocked suddenly from side to side as troopers blew out its struggling engines with carefully planted explosives throwing the doomed ship's lone occupant across the room again to come skidding to a stop face first against the forward wall of space faring glass.

He saw he angry faces of soldiers who removed their masks to get a better look at the man who sent countless numbers of their brothers to their deaths and they smiled more wickedly than the emperor ever could. Fighting them off would be a worthless effort and he turned his thoughts to ending his own life when the glass exploded inward lacerating the Grand Moff's forehead and left cheek followed by the body of a repelling trooper. Before Korsche could center the weapon to his head and pull the trigger the trooper's boots landed on his forearm and weapon disarming him and shattering his good wrist along with most of his fingers.

A radio assisted speaker crackled as it barked at him, "Oh no! You don't get away that easy, mate!"

"I order you to stand down, now!" Grand Moff Korsche screamed past the blood running down his face.

"Your days of giving orders and throwing lives away are over." The trooper grabbed the governor by his boots and dragged him kicking and screaming over to the ledge and threw him down to the crowd of troopers below, "Give him a trial and then give him some air boys!"

The squads of Clone Troopers kicked and shouted insults at the former commander of the Imperial Navy as they dragged him across the landing bay floor and over to a maintenance droid air lock and forced him in and shut the door behind him.

The leader of the hoard flipped the Com-switch to open and spoke, "You are guilty of capital crimes against both cloned and humanoid life forms alike and hereby sentenced to death and will be executed quickly by firing squad should you ask for mercy."

"I am guilty of following orders cold and simple as they were given and nothing more!" Even in his last moments the man stood proudly defiant against the notion of sub-human creatures daring to judge him.

"It's time for you to finally feel what real cold is." The trooper cut the connection and slapped the plunger to open the outside door down ejecting Grand Moff Korsche out into the clouds of dust and the weightless vacuum of space.

Chapter 84

Dull roar of activity on the bridge fell silent suddenly and completely. Only the squeaks and pinging of droid-speak and the sizzling of high powered circuit boards remained to outlaw outdoors shipper sensitive ears the sound of his crew Holding itsbreath so suddenly could only mean one thing, but to Admiral Akbar's super sensitive years could only mean one thing.

"Welcome to the bridge your highness." The crew snapped to attention, Leia motioned for them to return to the war. The admiral rolled his giant eyes at the ceiling and then turned away from the busy scene of 'snub-fighters' chasing each other in a frenzy and the fiery destruction that ensued as the tiny craft on both sides tore each other to pieces with bright flashes of laser cannon fire.

The larger Imperial cruisers had lightened up the fire on the Rebel fleet to concentrate on the giant stolen Imperial vessel racing across the front lines to distract the destruction and aid the escaping renegades.

Taking on heavy fire, the length of the ship bucked and wobbled, its rear end skidded to the port side as the white-hot barrage of plasma bolts found their marks and dug in.

The admiral was impressed with the ship's armor and he knew its secret. The material was ten percent pure 'Exo-Structor' and nearly impenetrable versus the steel mixture found within the rest of its fleet. The bolts worked hard to break through the outer hull but if enough were concentrated in the engine area it may become disabled or even the destroyed. The admiral took in the scene of a feeble Leia and the two faces of Baskel and the guard assigned to him begging for forgiveness with their tiny humanoid eyes without turning around.

"You should be in bed, Your Majesty, and you two in the sick-bay also." Both men motioned to the Queen and shrugged their shoulders. Baskel grab a station and you, go stand with him and stay out of the way!" The guard followed Baskel after saluting quickly.

The Queen was about to speak when the fish-humanoid cut her off. "My bridge, my ship, my war. Sit." The command figure pointed a fin to an observation seat beside C-3PO's station.

"Good day, Master Leia it is a pleasure…"

"Its good to see you too." Leia said with a whisper.

The gold Protocol-droid took his cue and went back to work.

Leia sat and spoke, "Luke is on that ship, admiral."

"Tell me something I don't know, Leia."

"We have to distract the fire to get him out with us."

"Not a chance."

"We can't allow him to be captured." Leia pleaded lightly with her old schoolmaster.

"That's not a ship Leia, it's a self propelled black matter bomb your farm-boy friend is surfing across my battlefield."

"But…"

"No buts about it! We rescue 'The Queen' now and we're out of here before the Imperials can get off a lucky shot and turn the anomaly into a black hole!"

"A black matter bomb?!" Leia was taken aback at the thought of the banished weapon being used by the Empire but far from surprised.

"I am afraid so, it's called the 'Spurios' project, I learned of its existence of long before you were born, it's nothing more than a testament to the emperor's insanity.

Leia watched in worry at the stolen top-secret ship through the windows and the intensifying firepower bearing down upon it.

"We have to help them Admiral! Please!"

"There!" The admiral pointed a fin out the window to his left ignoring Leia's plea.

"The Queen's armada is just beyond those clouds! Lock in her ship's beacon and send all forward artillery units to form a blockade and do not fire upon the emperor's transport!"

"Aye, Sir!" Echoed from the Flight Control and Line Commander Stations. Leia gave one last desperate plea "At least send a small detachment to take away some of the fire!"

"They would be cut to pieces." Admiral Akbar turned to Leia and looked her in the eye while pointing a fin out the window, "That craft cannot be operated without his specialized blood as part of its operating matrix. He may have been compromised and it may be on autopilot, so far we have only communicated with the Astro-mech."

Leia stared back with disbelief.

"But I doubt it, there's a style to the path of destruction he leaves behind and I've learned to recognize it. As much as I refer to him as a farm-boy the truth is war makes the young grow up fast and you know this Leia, he is a grown man and without him drawing this much fire away we would never make it out here alive.

Leia lowered her tired head and slumped slightly farther down into her seat.

The admiral continued, "He's a warrior and he thinks you are on that ship we are rescuing, he's doing this for you."

Admiral Akbar slapped down the fleet wide communications switch and thrust a fin in the air and exclaimed booming at the top of his multiple lungs "Long live the Queen!" The crew shouted as one in return, "The Queen!"

"Long live the Rebel Alliance!"

"The Alliance!"

"Death to the Emperor!" The crews erupted louder still with all their hearts and souls, "Death to the Emperor!" While digging into their work harder.

"Baskeearrii!"

"Aye, Sir!"

"You hack into the Queen's armada's systems and override everything!"

"Aye, Sir!"

"When we come by we're going to be moving at breakneck speed and unleashing everything we got in the arsenal, I want those engines hot and trajectory's locked in you will have thirty seconds to 'Sync' us and we hit our window and jump out of here you got me!"

Baskel Baskeearrii whipped out his key and kissed it again for luck and barked, "Aye, Sir! Were out of here!"

"Pexo!"

"Aye, boss!"

"Is the dummy ship ready!"

"Yep!"

"Baskeearrii! Two seconds before we jump you send it's engine's power into the magnetic superconductor it's holding, that's gonna' cause a rock slide compared to what we saw before!" He turned to C-3PO and handed him a thin silver tap and said, "Relay these sets of escape coordinates to the Astro-mech you communicated with previously."

Leia looked up to the admiral's giant eyes.

"Make it happen people! My mom sent me a box of candied 'Gee-chee' heads and I haven't even opened them yet! I'll be happy to share if you get my tail fins out of this!"

The words "Aye, Sir!" echoed across the deck and multiple com speakers from across the fleet. Leia let out an "Oh, yuck!"

"You kids don't know what's good!"

Admiral Akbar searched the windows for the other mystery ship but did not see it and did not have time to search it out. The 'Spurios 3' was under a net of firepower and he hoped somehow the young man who stole and was now piloting it would make it out alive somehow if the ship didn't explode and take out a big piece of the sector and the Rebel and Imperial fleets with it.

The rendezvous point approached quickly. The admiral made out the shape of the emperor's Transport and its backup. He spoke loudly to leia over his shoulder, "I have to admit, he is as crazy as he is lucky and might just find a way to get out of this yet."

Chapter 85

The zoo of alien noise within Jabba's lair quieted as a squad of eight Storm-troopers marched in front and center to the crime boss and took positions before him.

Jabba let out a belly laugh while belching out the smell of burnt frogs and fermented Bantha milk.

The lead Storm-trooper carried a sun faded pack with its strap slung over his left shoulder, He stepped forward and said, "A message from Lord Vader for you, Sir."

"Acha veen arda boonchen." The warlord expressed his displeasure with the interruption. The worm waved to a small empty stage his band of musicians occupied in the evening hours. The lead Storm-trooper unpacked a small projector and set it up on the floor then hit the power switch and took his place again.

Jabba waved and the squad of troopers were surrounded by at least fifty men with weapons. A man wearing an illegally modified version of their helmet gear stepped forward. The voice from behind the green and red painted mask sounded nearly the same as the white armored troopers and said, "Disarm per order 161.635."

The troopers calmly handed over their weapons. "Holding position confirmed as per order 815.162" The Storm-troopers snapped to attention and saluted a group.

"Clones are so stupid, there all yours, boss." Boba Fett said then stepped back to his position at the warlords side.

Jabba laughed again and slapped his stumpy arm and hand down on an oversized button on his left. The floor retracted slowly from underneath the confused soldiers helpless to deny their programming. One by one they fell into the cell of his pet Rancor. A Horrific beast found off world and kept in the dungeons below to act as a deterrent to those who think about not paying him back in time.

The warlord ordered his assistant, Bib Fortuna, to reset the message and motioned for his minions to quiet down again. The Storm-troopers shouts of agony over the growls and screeching of the beast were left behind as the trapdoor raised and locked shut again.

The message started from the beginning then scrambled and went dead, "Perhaps I killed the Techno-trooper too soon?" The zoo of aliens went wild with drunken laughter then fell silent. "Good day Jabba." The words chilled the room as a real time image of the Dark Lord stood upon the stage "I hope your pet enjoyed the offering I sent."

"Whoota packa, katja goy batcha." The warlord made it clear he was not amused.

The Dark Lord pointed at the warlord as he spoke, "I should have not allowed Captain Solo to remain alive." The respirator growled alone in the background causing some mercenaries to lower their heads further. "Release him to me, it is in your best interest."

"Oh! Ho! Ho! A slave boy and a lap dog to the emperor does not dictate in my realm." Job growled back just as fierce. "Yes, I know who you are."

The Dark Lord opened his fist, "I offer the water reserves of ten destroyers." All eyes were on the warlord, the vile worm looked over to the tortured frozen face of Han Solo and said, "All the reason more to deny you and besides he's like a son to me, he belongs here."

"He will be the death of you." The Dark Lord clenched his fist.

"And maybe you too, I did not know the Sith were so charitable and…humanitarian." The alien gallery laughed guardedly to join in with the boss but kept their heads down low to hide their eyes from the Dark Lord as many moonlighted for the Empire to keep profits up, after all a job was a job.

Jabba motioned toward the device, a moment later it blew to pieces as the mercenary Boba Fett hit it with a single flaring red bolt of energy from across the room.

Jabba threw his hands in the air and exclaimed "Han mi Bookie, you're almost worth more than I am! The crowed went wild with obscene alien laughter then fell dead silent again.

A more ghostly apparition of the Dark Lord reappeared in the center of the floor before Jabba's throne, he held his fists proudly at his waist and stood tall as he spoke, "You would be wise to get rid of Solo while you still have time." The image of black pointed a gloved digit condescendingly at the giant worm, "You have been warned." Then disappeared into thin air.

Chapter 86

R2-D2's shrills of warning filled the speakers of Luke's helmet. The command deck of the 'Spurios 3' shook under each violent impact from the Imperial Forces laser banks reminding him of his injuries at the hands of the 'Dark One' and its deadly Construction-droid.

"I agree!" Luke shouted. "This is a very bad idea, but we have to give the Rebels more time." R2D2 disagreed blatantly, "I hear you!, just stay on course. Please!"

"….PRIORITY MESSAGE RECEIVED…PER ADMIRAL AKBAR…UPDATED HYPER-SPACE JUMP COORDINATES RECEIVED…"

"Good, lock em' In!"

…NEW RENDEZVOUS POINT RECEIVED…"

"Let's get out of this mess first buddy!" The Astro-mech agreed.

"…PROJECTED RATE OF SURVIVAL…18.5 %…"

"I didn't need to know that!"

…REBEL FORCES CURRENT ODDS OF ESCAPE…89.3% +or - (2%)…"

"That's good enough for the admiral any day."

"…MAIN ENGINE LINE OVERHEATING…WARNING!…WARNING!…"

"That's not good !"

"…MAIN ENGINE OPERATION OFFLINE…" The 'Spurios 3' dragged to near halt under the weight of the super-concentrated Imperial fire-power.

The relentless barrage stopped all at once, an eerie sense of quiet ensued beyond what was left of the Imperial lines. Small rainbows of laser-fire continued to pick off smaller magnetic asteroids threatening the fleet as the Rebel's 'snub' fighters were hustling to rejoin under the safety of battleship cannons.

"…INCOMING IMPERIAL TRANSMISSION…" A snowy grainy holographic image nearly devoid of color materialized on the angled front pane of glass. The emperor's face appeared towering over the young pilot as he sat strapped to the floor. At the corner of Luke's right eye the Construction-droid quietly crackle to life and skittered silently to R2-D2's side. The Astro-mech sent an invisible infrared message to it and the mechanized spider disappeared carefully into the stairwell without a sound.

The voice of the Sith was deep, growling with tempered impatience, "Young Skywalker, your abilities are not beyond the call of your destiny."

"You sound like my father and your dialog is as old and stale as you are."

"Your time to be within the graces of the Empire is now! The Rebel Alliance will soon fall apart. Surrender the 'Spurios 3' and yourself and I shall let the Queen and your friend Leia escape here alive and will pursue her no further."

"No chance cubes, the odds are in her favor." Luke replied smugly.

"So sure are you."

"Yes, I am. "

The emperor motioned off screen, a moment later the images of the Queen herself and her personal guards appeared below the emperor's image through blankets of digital snow.

The emperor hissed quietly with true malice Luke could feel then grumbled, "I give you one last chance."

"Go to any hell that's willing to take you!"

"So be it." The emperor motioned off screen again. Within the snowy image the Queen's closest guardian, Captain Wixxim Put a finger to his ear and nodded, in one lightning fast motion he turned and swiftly shot and killed three of the Queen's handmaidens with one blast from his scatter-beam rifle then took out two more guards with a blast center to each soldiers chest before either could react.

"Traitor!" The Queen screamed and attempted to draw her sleek pistol from her ankle leg holster but was met with the butt of the Captain's rifle to her jaw, knocking out some of her teeth in a spray of blood while subduing her in a daze.

"You Rebel scum are done for, 'Victory to the Empire and the death to the Houses of the Royals!" Captain Wixxim strode behind the dazed impostor and swiped a key card sealing off access to the room, He then seized the Queen by her perfect hair and pulled her back into the throne for all to see.

The Captain became enraged, "My men did not have to die! this is all your fault you stuck-up know it all, I should've done this a long time ago!" The snowy image swirled with static as Captain Wixxim shoved the barrel of his 'Scatter-beam' rifle into the Queen's back and pulled the trigger, her plea for mercy suddenly cut off.

"No!" Luke scratched out his voice to say the word as his blood went cold.

The screen cleared enough for Luke to watch Captain Wixxim put a smaller pistol to his head and pull the trigger, his limp body fell to the floor and the image faded away.

The emperor chuckled as he spoke, "The longer you disobey me the more suffering you will see and receive, perhaps next we shall thaw out Captain Solo without the drugs to eliminate the pain."

Across the Holo-vizor scrolled, "…MAIN ENGINE LINE OVERHEAT SAFETY PROTOCOL REMOVED…MAIN ENGINE LINE OPERATIONAL…"

Luke stared the emperor down, the loss of Leia changed the rules of engagement, "Sure, I'll join your party. Artoo, set collision course for the emperor's transport and punch the engines, we'll smash him flat first and what's left we'll cook until he's finished this time."

R2-D2 pinged with enthusiastic compliance and fired up the Main Engine Line the same instant the Imperial Forces opened fire once more with a vengeance. Luke had his doubts they would make it anywhere near the emperor before he could escape or they were destroyed. The Rebel Alliance fleet would escape before he met his end and was all that mattered to him now.

"Don't be foolish." The emperor's pride was unwavering, Luke searched the Force desperate for answers, his feelings told him Leia was still alive and the Alliance could still escape.

"….OUTER HULL BREACH…FORWARD STARBOARD BULKHEAD…" A mini-projection of the 'Spurios 3' appeared outlined in red, the starboard half of the forked tip had been completely sheared off by the onslaught of Imperial laser fire. The craft took on an unbalanced vibration from the sudden loss of material.

"…GRAVITATIONAL DISTORTION DETECTED…CRAFT DETECTED…PORT-SIDE…STARBOARD-SIDE…IDENTIFYING…CRAFT IDENTIFIED…UNNAMED…UNREGISTERED…UNKNOWN DESIGN…UNKNOWN ORIGIN…PREVIOUS CONTACT ON RECORD VIA ASTRO-MECH C.P.U…"

A series of still photos from the droid's perspective of their recent adventures sped by, Luke recognize the mining drill and knew another deadly adversary had joined the battle.

Luke watched the emperor's face twist, the tyrant had a front row seat to take in the appearance of an ultimate weapon built by a scorned and forgotten lover for the singular purpose of destroying everything in the galaxy starting with him.

The bulk of the mining drill bulldozed through the lines of Imperial starships splitting and cracking them into flaming chunks of twisted metal off the fabric of the cable-net imprisoning the crystal moon.

The Holo-vizor darkened along with the glass of the pyramid as a white-hot beam of raw power vaporized three of the Imperial Navy's star destroyers in an instant flash of destruction so bright it appeared for an instant to be the glory of a newborn star only to fade into a scene of the true horror of the weapon for all to witness.

Entire lines of approaching battleships and smaller destroyers were sliced clean through upon their approach into drifting, flaming halves. Other craft further behind tumbled without power into each other or met their fate against the larger asteroids, their entire crews already dead from the bone shattering impact of the beam as it weakened into the distance.

Luke spoke up bravely, "Reconciling your past is what is long overdue, 'Your Highness'."

Chapter 87

The emperor seethed as he took in the mining drill as its bulk shattered what remained of the Imperial fleet to pieces. Dead battle cruisers sliced holes in the cable net only to be melted and twisted from the light of the spinning crystal sphere within with scorching heat as the beams broke free from their prison.

The silence broke as the shockwave's arrival it with a hammer and anvil affect upon the kilometers long, super rigid frame of the 'Spurios 3'.

Luke screamed in agony as areas of the fresh temporary micros-stitching holding his insides together stretched and tore from the R2-D2 was broke loose from his magnetic footpads and screeched as he flew down the stairwell.

Luke coughed up blood as he read the Holo-vizor feed. R2-D2 rose up out of the stairwell and was quickly re-seated by the arms of the construction-droid who by chance was returning to the bridge after bypassing the engine overheat safety breakers in the depths of the ship somewhere and made the catch.

The interior of the emperor's tiny shuttle tore itself to pieces as the craft tumbled out of control, the wall panels twisted loose and flew through the air like razor blades. The emperor's alter ego sliced the oncoming threats to pieces in a thousands of a second with the flash of a red plasma blade. The young Colonel Zycxz was not so fortunate, his seat post sheared loose and sent him up and over the command console and through the front window along with it.

Darth Sidious dropped to the floor between his seat and the console gripping the jagged post with both claws, his Lightsaber's handle clenched within his sharp rotten teeth, the Sith lord exhaled his only breath to avoid de-pressurizing and used his dark powers to calmly stand and walk through the vacuum. He made his way to the cockpit door after the deadly debris cleared the room. He struck the plunger inside the hallway triggering the emergency force field. He slammed another fist into the emergency oxygen tank purge window shattering a thin pane of glass to activate the measures. He took in a fresh breath of air then marched back to his quarters to his desk to reassess the situation and take control of what was left of the ship from the rear command console.

Admiral Akbar took in the new arrival from the safety of the far side of the battlefield and spoke calmly with near disbelief, "Absolutely impossible."

Leia gripped her chair's arms in shock at the sheer size of the device and the firepower it had displayed, "Is it another Dark LordStar'? Leia asked cautiously.

"I don't think so." The admiral replied. "C-3PO!"

"Aye, Sir!"

"Cross check this thing with the report numbered 815.15.394, give me the schematic section logged by Lieutenant Sika-Va."

"Aye, Sir!"

C-3PO sent the information in an instant to a Holographic projector read out on his kiosk. The sketches and description were dead on.

"It is confirmed, Sir, it is a Fin-Astra mining drill model CC 99,000, this particular unit was recorded by the Trade Guild as hijacked, plundered and discarded into a hydrogen cloud mass by pirates and detonated many decades ago."

The gold droid found the command crew staring at him waiting for more.

"The Trade Guild has extensive records on its disappearance as its monetary value was quite significant."

"I did not know they were so powerful." Admiral Akbar said.

"This unit in particular has been modified, Sir, it's highly unstable." C-3PO added.

"You don't have to tell me twice." The admiral heard Baskel twist his key and watched the Queen's armada fire up their engines as one.

"The Queen's armada is online, it's a go, Sir!"

"We jump in thirty seconds, let's get the Queen and bug out of here!"

"Aye, Sir!" Echoed from every station near and far

"Colonel 'T'!"

"Aye, Sir! Everyone's in! That's a go from here, boss!"

"Pexo-Colo! Get the Magnetics ready!" The admiral knew full well the shockwave was coming but had no choice to continue forward, the fleet was simply moving too fast to change its plans now.

"It's good, boss!" Pexo-Colo shouted back.

The admiral felt the floor wobble and tremble under his webbed feet, the 'Victorious' was slowing down. "What's got us! Is it a gravity well?"

Pexo-Colo shouted, "I don't know, boss! The whole fleet is slowing, something is pulling us backward! I think it's that thing!" The old one armed man worked his console's finger pad feverishly, "I'm getting a read I've never seen before, I don't like this one bit, boss, lets get out of here!"

"Me neither, we're not here to make friends with strangers, stay on target! The command figure could see the empire trying to regroup around the new enemy and the trail of crushed star cruisers.

The girl with the orange crew cut and clipboard counted down the clock from her wrist mounted timepiece into the headset microphone in a fleet wide broadcast "…20...19...18...17…"

The audio hails from the mining drill were received by all on the battlefield and the transponder nearby. The Minoc was out of the bag and the secrecy either side maintained as to the whereabouts of this battle was blown. The news traveled the galaxy like a wildfire.

The voice within the transmission thundered as it was enhanced across the speakers, "I am here with you, at last."

The windows of every ship on the field darkened as the light from the torn cable net glowed with blood red flashes of light. Any wreckage unfortunate enough to cross the beams vaporized into dust. The swirling magnetic clouds in the distance took on the appearance of a deadly rainstorm marching in on the horizon. It was clear to Luke the creature trapped within was insane with anger and the opportunity for revenge trumped its own sense of self preservation.

"Shut it down, Pex!, I don't care what it has to say!"

"Nothing to stop it, admiral. I'll be darned if I know how it's doing it, but it's getting through. It might have a form of broadcasting we've never encountered before."

The voice became louder still, "Surrender Palpatine to me or be destroyed! I feel his vile and disgraceful presence, you cannot hide him from me!"

The last of the empire's defenses rushed forward in a suicidal show and bravery launching all the firepower at their disposal as the emperor's ship attempted to hobble way undetected.

"I see you now cowering like a frightened animal and scurrying away to hide, you will not escape me this time, my love."

The Rebel fleet nearly ground to a halt trapped by the sudden gravity created by the spinning crystal moon moving at over a million revolutions per second within the battered net.

Luke's mouth dropped as the wide red beam cut through the Imperial lines again, each giant destroyer turned to crushed and twisted metal. Another flash nearly melted the 'Spurios 2's' pyramid shaped glass top. The glass bubbled and warped, a moment later the room depressurized and shattered, the Construction-droid lost traction and became another casualty of the Tarnishi anomaly.

Luke was once again exposed to the vacuum of space.

He witnessed the weapon transform the emperor's transport into a cloud of radioactive dust, the galaxy had been freed from its tyrant by the hand of an executioner.

Luke knew even the emperor's death would never be enough to fill the blackness now in a place a living thing once filled it with light.

Smaller pebbles of magnetic rock began to rain down on the Rebel Alliance cruisers adding to the fleet's problems. The countdown continued as the shock wave from the drill's arrival scattered the fleet out of formation "10,9.8…."

"We're not where were supposed to be!" Admiral Akbar shouted, "We're going too slow to jump!"

Luke's spoke to the 'Dark One' with his mind as he had before when he was held captive. He had to try to reason with it at least for the sake of the crews aboard the fleeing Rebel ships.

"Zoevella! These people are no threat to you! Let them go! You have your revenge!" The menacing woman's voice he heard before replied "These un-evolved creatures are important to you?"

"Yes!"

"When I said I needed someone you ran away too! For this you shall suffer also!"

Luke pleaded, "Don't go further down the path of revenge, it has consumed you! Look at the destruction you have already caused!"

"What know you of destruction?" Visions of the crystal moon and it's billions of screaming people filled Luke's mind and ears.

"Revenge is not what I have become, it is what I am born from!"

Luke watched in horror as the weapon charged itself up again, "No, please!" He yelled himself into a coughing fit through a mouthful of blood.

Onboard the 'Victorious' Lieutenant Perchesa kept on with the countdown to the Rebel fleet's jump to the safety of hyperspace, "…Five, four, three, two, one."

"Make the jump anyway to anywhere! That's an order!" Admiral Akbar barked.

"Aye, Sir!" Baskel Baskeearrii replied.

The admiral could feel the colossal space station seize the fleeing spaceships with its gravity then he saw it release its deadly beam of light, his giant eyes watched on as it sliced its way through the Rebel Alliance fleet from the tail end forward and knew it was over. The battle had been lost by both sides, the true outcome of war.

He turned to Leia and said, "I'm sorry I failed you, your Highness." A blinding flash filled the windows and the 'Victorious' and all aboard were no more leaving Luke to stand alone again with the most truly evil creature the universe will ever know.

Luke could feel the galaxy falling apart all around him across the countless star systems. Law and order broke down. The balance of the Force was no longer off, it was gone, the prophecy was shattered and anarchy was taking hold of the reins and charging an intergalactic civilization into chaos.

Luke understood now this was its goal, not to destroy an entire galaxy by means of firepower but to remove the one pillar which would send it crumbling into ashes at the hands of its own life-forms.

"Come to me now, I command it, we will destroy the Dark Lord and make the galaxy bow before us."

"I think I'd rather die than be entertainment for an incurable disease, emperor, I know it's you, only the chosen one can destroy you, you goaded to the creature into killing you so you could take its form. With the galaxy of each other's throats it will weaken itself faster than the Imperial Forces ever could. You can then fill every creature's desire for power as you rein on forever. You also have no need for my father, he is too damaged to be of any use to you. You will need me and my blood if you wish to take the form of a young human again which is what I think has been your plan all along."

The silence filling Luke's mind confirmed his logic.

"…TRACTOR BEAM ENGAGING…LOCKED…SOURCE…ENEMY VESSEL…"

"He's pulling us in!" Luke sputtered.

"…MAIN ENGINE CRITICAL…MAIN ENGINES OVERHEATING…DOCKING THRUSTER FULL REVERSE…"

Luke closed his eyes and pondered his fate.

"So sure of defeat are you?" The voice of Colonel Onotaka filled his brain.

"This time I am."

"Your defeat can aid in your victory."

"How so?"

"Choose your own death and take your adversary with you."

"Suicide is not the way of the Jedi."

Self sacrifice is and sacrificed you are on the chessboard of life unless…"

"Unless what?"

"Two pieces attack at once."

"I don't know if you ever played chess but it's against the rules."

"If your opponent has no rules you must play by the same means. We shall join him together and end the existence of the Last Dragon here and now! This is a better fate than I planned for myself!"

"What do you mean a better fate?"

"I am on my way out of the anomaly I must take this device and detonate it somewhere safe and you should as well, the power of evil must not be allowed to use them, they should have never been created to begin with."

"The thing has me in his sights and there is no time to arm the warhead if I don't surrender now I'm toast, Besides the Main Engine Line is about to blow as it is!"

Luke expected an impatient interruption from the 'New Dark One' or instant blinding destruction. the Force flowed through Colonel Onotaka as his being gave it safe haven, Luke could feel the man was proud of his existence and results of his actions but he was devoid of personal pride and beyond corruption.

time had slowed in the open view of the destroyed glass cabin. frozen stars refused to twinkle, the red glow of the crystal moon within the tattered cable-net shot out in frozen blades into the reaches of space as the moon rotated slowly within. Luke knew the entire conversation was taking place inside a millionth of a second, Master Yoda told him the Force gave one the ability to slow time and can only be mastered by the Jedi who was true of heart and selfless to others.

The tactic was the deciding factor in the last great war with the Sith for control of the universe over one thousand years ago. During battle the luxury to stop and rethink your plan and relay those orders to others is nearly nonexistent, the advantage gave a squad of Jedi warriors the upper hand in combat exacting devastating blows to an enemy's weak points having reassessed the situation further into combat. After the Sith fell so suddenly and experienced such a bitter defeat the spirit forces of evil combined and returned with a new plan, to stay in the shadows and rise to power by feeding off the greed of others to foster hate and competition for resources and profit from it to complete the circle.

The massive armies of the Sith gave way over time to a select few of intense malice to carry out the deeds of the underworld with feared names such as Darth Plagues, Sidious, Maul and now Vader.

Luke's fatigued mind drifted to the thought of the first girl who ever kissed him after her first attempt to drive an old T-11 speeder his uncle let him work with put them nose first into a sand drift. She said, "Please don't tell your uncle or my dad!"

"That you kissed me or you crashed the speeder?"

"Both!" They burst out laughing and the moment was gone along with the girl and the speeder leaving him with only the dry dunes. He found himself sitting in the shade of a nearby moisture evaporator back on the farm, he felt as if he were home and yet something was out of place.

A tiny mirage of his Master Yoda limping on the Dune Sea's horizon played with his mind. A warming, peaceful feeling flowed gently over him and then it obliterated.

"Wake up!" Colonel Onotaka's jagged edged vocals pierced through him and brought him back to the here and now. "You are dying! These are your last moments and you choose to think of girls and little green men! these will not help anything!"

Luke's bloodshot eyes snapped open. He looked past the faded frozen medical readouts of the barely illuminated Holo-vizor displayed, the suit was barely producing oxygen, it's mechanics nearly burnt out from working in conditions far different than it was designed to. The Nanites in his blood were shutting down, the suit itself was burned and scarred, torn and re-stitched and filthy from head to toe inside and out. He was almost thankful for not having to return it Baskel.

Colonel Onotaka was right. He had two choices, go along with the plan or be captured to face the horror of the 'Dark One's' wrath as it consumed his soul and took his body as its own.

The choice was easy For Luke, "What do we do?"

"My warhead is configured, we only need to link Spurios-wave systems. I will set a course for collision, your Astro-mech will fire up your engines momentarily and cut them off, the collapsing area of dark matter created by both craft will make the Tarnishi anomaly a memory in the Navigation Guild archives.

"What of the Last Dragon? It still that the drop on us."

"If we are linked we will be here and not here, we will be where the breath of the dragon cannot reach and we shall be the spear that plunges into its heart!"

"What do you need from me?" Luke asked.

"Give your command to the droid to allow access to your banks, my com-link will take it over from here. We Sync the Spurios-waves and arm the warheads and become one with it now!"

"I understand," Luke replied across space in his mind.

"We must move now! The troopers will cut through soon! I must destroy this weapon before falls into their hands!"

Luke felt time rush back in, the crystal moon strobed red again. R2-D2's panicking wails and whistles filled the helmet's speakers.

"Artoo, allow the 'Spurios 2' to assume command of the ship and do what it tells you! Thanks for being such a good friend."

The droid beeped and complied without hesitation.

"…SPURIOS-WAVE activating…SPURIOS-WAVE detected… SPURIOS-WAVE engaged…collision course alert!… collision course alert!…"

In the distance the 'Spurios 2' appeared against the backdrop of radioactive clouds moving fast it would only take seconds more to arrive and Luke had to stall for time.

Luke spoke to the 'Last Dragon' directly, "I have conditions for my surrender."

"You will not dictate terms! You will take your place under my rule, it is our destiny!."

The 'Spurios 2' closed the distance fast. A moment more and the ships would make contact.

"I once thought my destiny was to farm water until the day I died." Luke's words were worn.

"You were unaware of the power you hold within you. I will unleash it and the entire galaxy will bow and tremble before you and beg for your mercy."

"I don't want the galaxy to tremble in fear of me, just you."

The Spurios 2 appeared suddenly and touched forks with the Spurios 3 at nearly the speed of light. both ships froze in time and flashed in and out of existence in the instant before total annihilation.

Luke felt the Last Dragon scream with rage, his brain felt as if it was bleeding from within his skull.

The mining drill released its fury into the targets with no effect passing through each craft and continuing off into space.

The two ships collapsed into each other's space and disappeared with a blinding blue-white flash of light.

Chapter 88

55 YEARS LATER.

Cheers erupted within Jabba-The wise-Hutt's lair.

He nodded slowly at the super-old human woman in approval of her presentation, good entertainment was hard to come by these days and she nodded in return to the alien zoo of spectators. Some tossed small sacks of coin onto the thick rolled out carpet she sat upon, her handmaiden and was quick to collect them.

Jabba let out a puff from his hookah and coughed up a ball of phlegm onto his pale countless chins. He wiped it off with a stumpy clawed hand flinging it across the room. A Protocol-droid slipped its footing on it and crashed to the floor sending the room into a new fit of laughter.

Jabba motioned for the room to quiet down and then went back to stroking the wiry hair on the ears of the taxidermed body of his most adored pet ever, Salacious Crumb, the little beast's fiery, vicious glass eyes and face remained frozen in the shape of the despicable grin it held along with its wicked laughter.

Jabba's voice still held its deep bass. "T'haachha chi-noona ti, Lady Sika-Va."

"Thank you as well, Your Excellency, so I've been told." The old woman replied with respect.

"That's quite a story, does anybody believe it?" Jabba asked with genuine interest.

"There are not many left to believe it, even less who can say they ever saw it." The old woman glanced at her handmaiden.

"Fable or not, I have been entertained, if it is work you want I will give you a contract for weekend performances."

"That is not why I'm here."

Jabba paused and stared into the woman's gray-blue eyes. "Pay chuta, no? Pay chuta Pa guya?!"

The woman produced a holographic projector memory cube and placed it on the carpet in front of her. The machine activated and the outline of two spaceships appeared.

"Years ago Queen Leia Organa negotiated a deal with you for the safety of Palishii-E."

"I remember what of it!"

"Communications are slow these days. Three days ago Palishii-E was destroyed by the 'Dragon Emperor' Sidious."

Jabba cut in, "My deal was to rein in the Dark Lord and the leader of the Old Empire, neither of which exist today."

"Did you see the public execution of Darth Vader?"

"No, I heard his respirator was rigged with a gas to keep him alive long after his mechanical arms and legs were torn off, it must have been an unimaginable suffering, pity!" Jabba let out his trademark belly laugh, the room joined in with him.

"The Black Death is now coming here for you, it may take a week or more to eat a fat slug like you alive if you're lucky or maybe half that if it decides to cook you a little some first. I hear the 'Dragon' has a penchant for devouring things alive over time.

Jabba stopped laughing and the room fell dead quiet, "How do you know this?" He demanded.

Lieutenant Sika-Va ignored his demands and pushed on, "While you think the deal with the former queen is over the current emperor is going to execute you now for making it to begin with, you were marked for death by the empire he inherited and your sentence has not been commuted."

"I am starting to think you came here just to be fed to my Rancor. I think you've had too much sun!" The room snickered uneasily in the background.

Jabba's assistant, the aging Bib Fortuna shuffled up to him and stiffly bent down to his fat head whispering. Jabba grabbed his minion's collar and shook him as he spoke, "Icha ga chura! Chi'I tagja sysa Tattooine!

"Yes My Lord! It comes this way now, she speaks the truth." The underling said cautiously while gazing suspiciously at Lieutenant Sika-Va with his blood red eyes.

Jabba looked at the old woman and thought about the gravity of her words, it was clear to all the thoughts in the worms complex mind were in overdrive.

"What are you bargaining for woman?"

"Do you still have the ships?"

"Only one is still in existence but the cargo has long since been sold or traded if you're seeking a particular item."

"Please tell me it's this one." The smaller of the two transports flickered as aged, thin fingers motioned through the image.

Bib Fortuna worked his digital plaque with stiff fingers crowned with tall white clawed tips for several moments. The henchmen whispered more to his boss. Jabba spoke, "You're in luck, it is in Mos Eisley. Any day now demolition and melting begins. The tenth of a percent of Exo-steel alone is worth more when extracted than when it was full of valuables."

"Oh thank the spirits! We just may have a chance. On the fourth engine there's a power breaker compartment that has been bypassed and welded shut, cut into it, carefully! And bring me the alloy canister inside."

"What is it!" Bib Fortuna growled before Jabba had a chance to ask.

"It is the last hidden stash of copies of my work." The old woman held out three glowing gems in the palm of her wrinkled hand. "With the information in the canister and these I can make now produce a miniature reproduction of the device onboard the two craft I told you of. When the emperor arrives he will demand your surrender. You must tell him you need him to sign a declaration to allow Tattooine into the Royal Court for protection from destruction and to show obedience."

"I will not bow down!" Jabba's voice boomed off the walls.

"Nor do I expect you to! Just lie to him long enough to get the device on a torpedo and get it into his hands. When it activates I promise you the 'Dragon Emperor' will get everything he deserves."

"Baaka dah uuncha, ibacha sa girra, Zeetas."

I wouldn't miss this for a world full of waterfalls. Former Rebel Alliance Captain Veetas frowned as she strode by the giant worm's side into a musty docking port deep in the cliffs outside Mos Eisley. A multi-stage rocket sat in the center of the circular clay walled room, its tip nearly touching the retractable steel doors overhead.

"Gahtoosha macha ahbee Lieutenant Sika-Va." The giant worm was sincere.

"I am sorry too, she was well over three hundred years old, at least that's what she told me, to think had she only held on for another couple of months. The monster sure took its time getting here."

Jabba spoke in the common tongue used most by humans as they made their way to the vehicle, to the captain's surprise he spoke quite fluently, "Do you really think this will work? The idea of two Star Destroyer's adrift in another dimension together suddenly converging on this point in space and time guided by this little device to confront and destroy the emperor and save us all from destruction is kind of farfetched if you see what I mean? No disrespect to the late Dr." Alone Jabba was always cautious. The long barrel blaster the captain war was quite obvious.

"I hear you, she's never been wrong for as long I've known her." Captain Veetas said with an exhale then rapped her knuckles on one of the rocket boosters of the missile that would carry the pill to its destination when the monster controlling the death-ray feared the galaxy over arrived.

"Make the call, frog breath. Either we do this or you give the order for everyone to bail off planet." Jabba had been called worse and overlooked the insult and said, "Even if it doesn't work he will surely destroy Tattooine."

"You got that right, sluggo." Captain Zeetas neglected to inform the vile worm soon this quarter of the galaxy would be turned to cinder and no one in the sector would have time to escape even at the speed Hyper-space provided. Soon here would not be here anymore.

Jabba admired the human woman's nerve for a moment then activated the launch clearance code, "Should this be successful you will become very wealthy."

Captain Zeetas didn't answer and simply punched in the numbers, one, two, three on the keypad in a small console mounted to the rocket, she pressed enter and snapped its cover shut.

The rocket's Ion driven engine cones glowed hot with a hum as the two exited the room. Jabba hit the plunger button to close the blast door behind them. A display screen to the right side of the door turned red, the words 'launch in progress…please wait.' flashed white in several common intergalactic languages. Seconds later a muffled roar and a muffled rumble filled the hallway as the two went their separate ways. The captain strode up into the daylight to find a 'Humanoids only' bar to spend her money in until either she was drunk enough not to feel the flash or if it was spent beforehand she was sure she could just let her hair down and her good looks and Human female companionship could keep them coming. The warlord slithered down into the false safety and darkness of the underground alone, even his own family had no clue what was about to happen having been ordered to a secret facility on the other side of the galaxy

Back in his lair the lone Hutt finally made contact after stalling for as long as he could. "Ku boc-cha no surrender tacha'a attana declaratim!" The darkened circles of the emperor's fire filled eyes had no affect on the wise and almighty Jabba the Hutt, he had dealt with such creatures his entire life. The beast's mind tricks were powerful but fell flat.

The words the emperor spoke were muffled and thick and took on the sound of being forced through hot bubbling liquid, "Send it to me. I will sign your…declaration.".

"Bochatta a tona a hachiiti now, O''Dragoona Empiriatta' Hmmmph!"

"Upon its return I look forward to your…trial." The words fell into silence and the feed cut out.

"I look forward to the end of your Reign and the beginning of mine!" The worms gold and black eyes sparkled as he thought about what he could gain without the tyrant and the Dark Lord around to resist his conquest of other planets.

Jabba slid across the vacant throne room over to his favorite decoration. The worm locked his stubby hands into Han Solo's frozen fingers and stared into his carbonite blackened silently screaming face, "Han, my boy, you're my good luck charm." The warlord pressed his secretly worried forehead against the smuggler's chest, "You have brought me so many riches, if you don't work for me this time you may never be free again."

Chapter 89

"…Updating chronograph…Updated."

Luke forced his dizzy eyes to the time setting on the Holo-vizor. "Three and a half hours have gone by!" Luke groaned out hoarsely. He felt like he passed out and woke up again only with a stinging headache and ringing ears, "What happened! Where have we been?!"

"Correction…COMMUNICATIONS transponder #486434 located…Updating…55 years…15:32:26...(+OR-1.2924 seconds)…"

Colonel Onotaka's sharp voice came in over the speakers, "The drive systems became unstable when the beam passed through the Spurios-wave. The link distorted, our signatures cancelled each other out and we became trapped."

Luke could see the forks of the 'Spurios 2' out of his peripheral vision to his right as the ships drifted side by side through space together.

"Why are we here now, fifty-five years later?"

"Somewhere another Spurios-wave device was activated to give us a point of reference to return to, this will lead you to the Last Dragon."

"Lead us, you mean."

"No! You must go on alone! They are coming through now! May the Force be with you my friend! Good bye!" The forked tips of the 'Spurios 2' broke off into the dark of space out of Luke's view. He knew Colonel Onotaka was about to detonate the black matter bomb.

"Artoo! We have to get out of here now! Where are we?!" Luke coughed out the words.

"…Engine's online…SPURIOS-WAVE activated…Destination?…"

Luke closed his eyes and felt for the Force and spoke in gasps, the oxygen in the suit was becoming hot and thin. "Blacken the visor and give me the new Spurios-wave source location." Luke opened his eyes and took in the faded digital map, "Those are the twin suns of Tattooine, I expected something more like the Inner Sun Belt or Coruscant."

"…Transponder navigational update…" "…coruscant…Non-existent…Palishii-E…non-existent…inner Sun belt…non-existent…cloud city…decommissioned/destroyed…hoth system…undetected…dagobah…nonexistent…Endor…non-existent…Lord Vader…executed."

"Enough!" The Holo-vizor fell silent.

The beast had been in Luke's mind and was now destroying everything he knew and everywhere he had been and everything the emperor knew of as well which could only mean one thing, the real emperor was trapped within the beast somehow and was being used for information. the thing must have figured Luke escaped and went into hiding and has been searching the worlds of the galaxy he and the emperor had played hide and seek in.

Luke's could see the thing had no clue whatsoever what had happened to him or Colonel Onotaka and may just be the biggest advantage he had yet.

He could only imagine how bad the interrogation of his father must have been and how long it must've lasted.

"Artoo, use the stealth feature and keep us out of sight until we're right here." Luke's eyes pinpointed a location on the interstellar map. The Astro-mech plotted several courses and outlined them. "Course three looks good, go with it." The route would keep the Spurios 3 concealed behind stars and planets, nebulas and asteroid belts until the last moment. "Engage new course."

R2-D2 complied, the beaten and plasma fire scarred, single forked spaceship turned to the port side gracefully cuttin across the black of space with grace.

"…TRANSPONDER UPDATE…GRAVITY WELL DETECTED…" Luke knew Colonel Onotaka was no more, all that remained of his legacy now was a new black hole in space.

"Never mind that, Let's finish this thing."

An overworked R2-D2 chimed back an agreement.

Chapter 90

The piloting deck of the Fin-Astra Comet Crusher 99,000 mining drill claimed dozens of the ultra-thick, oversized panes of space faring glass creating a quarter-dome of viewing area overlooking the cargo platform and down the length of the corrugated chrome barrel of the universe's ultimate weapon. High above the deck in the unlit room's darkest recesses a bubbling black mass of evil in its truest form hung from the bulkhead, Its feet burned into the steel slowly as it awaited the arrival of 'The Declaration'.

The 'Last Dragon emperor' salivated at the idea of torturing the worm into giving up the one to escape him so many years before.

"This is the last place he could be." The flow from the Dark side told the beast. The new emperor had scorched the galaxy in search of the one named Skywalker.

The inhabitants of the galaxy overwhelmed the Dark Lord and his defenses with a volunteer army a million strong. More than half lost their lives against his loyal troops to capture Lord Vader and turn him over in an attempt to quell the anger of the unstoppable terror.

The galaxy entrusted Vader as the natural sworn successor to the throne and the new Death-star to defeat the evil. He failed to have the station operational in time and fled. The new emperor had the space station demolished and used to repair the mining drill and re-enforce the walls of the moon's prison. The modified device now had tenfold the armor of its original design.

In his last moments during interrogation the Dark Lord fingered Jabba-the wise-Hutt as the keeper of Han Solo, the only connection to Luke left in the universe.

The beast finally did him in when the Dark Lord laughed and said without his helmet or respirator,

"You have changed."

"I have, indeed." It gurgled. "I am more now. I am all. the Force no longer controls me, I control it as my servant now." The horrific eyes lit with flames as it spoke with blind pride.

The Dark Lord gasped for air. "You changed the fabric of this plane of existence."

"My existence bends time and space now." The words bubbled thick.

"In my dying I feel the truth now, I was the chosen one, but that is the past." The beast let him breathe off his respirator slowly and painfully.

"I have altered the events you speak of as well, I rule completely now."

"You have achieved your goal then."

"I have all I have ever dreamed of and need nothing more."

"Then your one thousand year quest is at an end

And your time here is too."

The emperor gave the Dark Lord another series of breaths, "Explain."

Anakin Skywalker's scarred and pain twisted face still held an indestructible grin of arrogance, "You now have no future, no further purpose, no ongoing reason to exist. My son is the chosen one now and he is the future and he still exists for one purpose now, to destroy you."

"Impossible."

Anakin Skywalker laughed with his trademarked defiance, "You cannot escape the power of the Force or control it. You alone have upset the balance and when it corrects itself it will crush you into nothing."

"Good bye, Lord Vader." The emperor gave him one last breath.

In the here and now the 'Dragon Emperor' fidgeted and twisted in form uneasily, the words of the former minion worried the beast deep inside, anxiety festered with impatience up through the mass of black scales until its slash full of long sharp teeth regurgitated hot tar and spat it onto the cold steel grates of the floor with a screech, the mass raced quickly to the walls and burned its way up the steel and across the bulkhead back to its master again.

Within the banks of computerized consoles below a high pitched beep sounded off. Several moments passed and another beep cried out in repetition indicating the modified Fin-Astra Mining drill had arrived on the outskirts of the twin suns system of Tattooine.

The dragon unfolded its leathery wings while cinching its burning claws to add new scars to the bulkhead it hung from then sprung down to the floor to land in a crouch. Hard boot soles formed before meeting the floor and snapped off the grates from the landing. The beast assumed the shape of the human man, uncurling upward as its black mass contracted and compressed. The head and face bubbled and twisted up out of the shoulders while forming an expression of personal offense at having to assume the shape of such a primitive life form to deal with an even more primitive one.

The body cooled into a sharply tailored uniform of simulated black vinyl with raised impressions where the seams and creases and insignias of command once were. The collar of the jacket appeared out of a tall thin neck and ratcheted down in a stranglehold. The smirk of the ongoing disapproval of everything of Grand Moff Korsche forged itself above a chorus of bone grinding cracks and snaps.

The resurrected governor became a towering statue of hardened edges, stiff and colder than ever. Long daggered fingers flicked the controls and silenced the irritating wakeup call.

Tattooine may appear small on the navigational charts because of its remote location and singular existence but it is a gigantic planet with a with a cold iron core. The gravity was standard and it was essentially a rock with a solid ball of metal at its center where other planets were molten and could be easily demolished. This one would take nearly all the doomsday machine was capable of.

Several more pecks at the controls and the map of the system flickered to life.

The tyrant had no choice but to make a critical stop to steal radiation from the slightly stronger of the two spheres of burning hydrogen.

Due to the long journey to the outer rim the station's reserves of power were taxed heavily forcing the delay. Long sharp fingers speedily worked the controls setting up the charging phase. A final hard tap to the glass screen centered in the console chose the box marked 'confirm', yellow, fire filled eyes shimmered and flashed up to the glass dome and down the length of the chrome tower. There was no noise to be heard and no energy beam to be seen, yet, the process would take at least twenty to thirty minutes. The sun flashed and dimmed in resistance ever so slightly as it weakened and would increase noticeably as the ship drained it of life on its way to the desert planet, the home world of Luke Skywalker.

The thought of drilling into the center of a horrified planet and liquefying its iron core until it exploded managed to change the face's smirk to one of satisfaction. Another set of lights flashed indicating and incoming message on a secure an encrypted channel. The smirk of irritated disapproval returned.

A pointed finger started the recording of Jabba-the-wise-Hutt's head. A grotesque face filled the tiny holographic projection, he spoke with no formal greeting.

"The declaration has been sent at the sign of your arrival as agreed, you will receive the document momentarily. Upon its return only then will I surrender!" The ugly image faded to the 'Dark Ones' relief.

More automated panels of lights and whistles sounded off indicating an autonomous rocket locked on an incoming trajectory and asking for permission to be brought in to dock with the station or it would return to base.

With another flick of the fingers the rocket began to slow as a tractor beam system took over to guide it into a docking cradle. An automated process would retrieve the document and deliver it to the command deck.

The figure stood tall suddenly, sniffing the air instinctively. A prickly sensation of electricity racing down the length of its shape and into the floor leaving a nagging, paranoid, elusive sense of doubt behind and then it was gone.

Luke's vision became dim, his body begged for him to succumb to sleep. His consciousness became enveloped in an interwoven soup of reds, purples and blues against a black backdrop with tiny flashing streams of white dancing in radical rhythms. Voices spoke amongst themselves in whispers while indistinguishable shadows acted out scenes from his past, the echoes of his life lived were all he was now. Luke felt the heat of a woman's delicate hand stroke his cheek and a softened voice spoke to him, "You've done your best, sleep now young Jedi this is your fate not your fault."

The vision of his home world's suns, one blackened and the other exploding wiping them both out shook his mind with a sickening feeling.

Luke said to the voice now withdrawn back into a subconscious, "You are a cunning adversary indeed, your attack upon me commences through the Force before I even show myself, before you even know where I am, before you even know yourself. A true master you certainly are."

"I exist in more than body now, I can give you this power, come to me and we will live on forever and shed physical form as we travel to the unknown dimensions of the universe together."

A Jedi in this universe I'm not and will never be, to die here and now is my fate. My entire life I always tried to do my best and look where it landed me, I have done all I could to get myself killed and failed at it so far, if there is a 'Force' I know now it will let me rest only after I have done my absolute worst just for you."

Luke's eyes shot open as R2-D2 filled his helmet with a shrill "…Are you OK?…ERRATIC HEARTBEAT…LOW

PULSE….LOW BLOOD PRESS…"

Luke's mouth was coated in dried blood "No my friend, I'm not, I'm dying." He muttered weakly.

"…Searching transponder index for humanoid medical facility…"

Luke waved a hand as tiredly as he spoke "No, stay on target and fly through it, confirm."

The droid hesitated for several moments, an eternity for a computer that can perform three trillion calculations a second "…Confirmed…standing by…"

"Thanks buddy."

"…Contact WITH SPURIOS-WAVE source in 00:03:12..." The small map of the desert system in the upper corner of the 'Holo-vizor' indicated a fluctuation within one of the suns. The Spurios-wave beacon's icon sat nearby, Luke knew exactly what was happening and who was waiting with it. "This must end." He whispered to himself.

Chapter 91

The Dragon Emperor froze momentarily. "I am… coming, we will be…one…again." Distant words whispered and pried at the back of his mind from out of nowhere.

The beast dismissed the episode as an echo of its past lives and its own lonely insanity and snapped the button to open a vacuum delivery port beside the piloting deck's main entrance.

A blackened, tarry image of the former Emperor Palpatine wrapped a fist of scarred fingers around a blue cylinder with only two symbols of a dead language stamped into each end of its casing, they represented the beginning and the end.

Upon twisting open the cylindrical casing two items slid out, a piece of dry folded paper and a small glass pill about ten centimeters long. The creature peeled open the paper keeping the pill clutched in its curled up claw.

The note was written in a language forgotten to all but the burning yellow eyes reading it,

I am Chiri Sika-Va-Sheravoy-Palpatine, your daughter. My mother loved you and trusted you to usher in a dynasty of peace and prosperity the beings of this galaxy were undeserving of.

Her name was of Zoevella and you destroyed her most beloved creatures but not before she sent me far away in a lifeboat so to speak before you returned. I was rescued by an ensign named Akbar while adrift near the Tarnishi Anomaly, who thank the stars had enough crude brain matter to believe a young girl with such a ridiculous story.

In your merciless clutches you hold a set of three crystals suspended in a webbing of single strand glass molecules with Nanite formed components and circuitry, I did away with the barbaric organic Mitochlorean interface after creating what can only be called a 'Mito-droid', a synthetic version of the bacteria to control the engines and intra-dimensional phasing.

For over 450 years I had not eaten nor drank anything but absolute purified water charged by passing over these crystals found in the life support system on my escape pod to preserve myself to exact what I thought was my personal vengeance upon you for robbing me of the world I could've been part as a place of peace and perfection. I realize now I have been tasked to dispense justice upon you, do not seek me out for I have sacrificed myself for the satisfaction of this moment.

Your secrets you destroyed, mine I kept close.

You did not capture me, Admiral Akbar planted me into your clutches and we nearly succeeded in assassinating you and Lord Vader both aboard 'Torka-Pruum' Space Station as per my deliberate sabotage of the 'Spurios 1' and the mayhem which ensued and still you trusted me to work further like the blind idiots you really are!

A second attempt on your existence failed miserably when Colonel Onotaka figured out what went wrong and averted another disaster by keeping the Spurios 2 phased out and the Clone Troopers I reprogrammed at bay, they were suppose to have turned the ship around and stopped it right on top of you if the crew had not detonated it again by accident forcing the project to be labeled a loss and come to a close.

Forgive me for the delay. I hereby give to you the completed 'Spurios Project' as per our forced agreement. What once took a line of twelve nuclear engines at least five droids and a star cruiser's worth of electronics to achieve you now hold in your…hand.

I believe you are an infant in your understanding of the ways of the universe and undeserving of the rewards it holds and a simple creature at best. I warned you of the consequences of bending time and space and why this dimension is yours and should not be tampered with but your greed has done you in. You cannot have a beginning without an end, the device activated when you exposed it to light and this unit is designed without an interface leaving you helpless to stop the wave from enveloping the space you occupy, the craft and its cargo. Do not try to open the device or drop it as it is extremely fragile while activated and will break the circuit collapsing the dark matter it is resisting upon the awesome amount of power you have collected within the sphere of crystal you hold so close.

Essentially you are now standing on an armed black-matter bomb that will wipe out this area of the galaxy.

Due to the extreme remote location of Tattooine and the path of destruction you have already waged I imagine casualties will be limited.

I understand given enough time you can escape this fate, you may have destroyed your enemies but you cannot destroy the faith and prophecy of the few who are left. For twenty years I worked to unravel what happened to General Skywalker on his first mission and ultimately Colonel Onotaka whose last minute commission of the 'Spurios 2' turned out to be a move in my favor. I imagine the army of Clone Troopers aboard I hijacked have tried to take over his ship and he has detonated it versus letting them do further damage. I'm sure the tabloids have reported it by now, such a sudden disturbance in galactic gravity will not go unnoticed.

This leaves young Skywalker, the chosen one are not he is aboard the 'Spurios 3' in stealth mode and the pain of you killing his friend Leia is killing him. The Force is his guide now and will deliver the spear of justice to the Last Dragon and he will be here at any moment.

The Spurios-waves are now locked across dimensions and closing in, the black matter around both ships will collapse inward as they contact and you are the one who is helpless now and without any hope of escape and will die by your own invention!

Enough of me, I shall close with a message to you from my mother,

"All who died at your hands became something more in the end. Upon your ending you shall become nothing.

Goodbye and good riddance."

The control console came alive with panicking digital screeches of warning,

Power surge detected…identifying…radiation detectied…Bio organic fusion…nuclear fusion…Catalog reference=wavelength ID…Reference found…old imperial forces of special projects division number 8510.15 code name 'spurios'…

The tarry image of the emperor's evil grin melted into a terrifying, howling jaw full of gnashing teeth. The bubbling tar twisted and contorted as the shape shifter screeched with insane rage at the realization of being caught in the crosshairs of the dead scientist's last assassination attempt.

A scaled claw's burning tips dug into the control panel to ready an automated transport for escape when the operating system's software slowed to a frustrating pace.

The form's pulsating body and teeth grew in size along with the rage as the raw emotion enveloped and controlled its actions into pounding and stomping relentlessly on the control console's center glass screen until the glass and its frame work crushed and exploded outward with a deafening 'Pop!'. Thousands of tiny needles of sharp glass tumbled peacefully in a sparkling plume of dust. A violent mix of electrical arcs and caustic gasses formed into a rolling cloud until the scene stopped dead, frozen in place in front of the monster.

The consoles chairs should have snapped like dry twigs under the crushing stomps of its burning talons yet the unit's resisted stubbornly.

The creature threw itself into a demonic tantrum at the control being stripped away from it. The horrific screams spewed burning black saliva, the fluid froze in space as well refusing to return to its master.

The beast's fiery eyes caught a speck of gray racing across the black of space in the far distance. The craft dashed behind the suffocating twin sun caught in a gravitational stranglehold.

"Show yourself you coward!" A woman's anger screeched out to Luke's mind.

"Soon enough." The tired words whispered back.

"I can make you immortal!" The beast screamed forth the offer. Desperation in the face of defeat shook the words, "If you only come to me where you belong."

Luke responded, "You are the one who is stricken with fear now and with good reason to be. I am coming, we will be one soon, you destroyed my friends, my father and now you would destroy my home-world just for the sake of hurting me further?"

The beast stood silent knowing no answer would do.

"That's what I thought. This is the end of the story. Today we meet our fate together!"

"Don't trust your eyes, they will deceive you."- Obi-Wan Kenobi

Chapter 92

Luke's sat on the floor high atop the of the 'Spurios 3's command deck, the glass pyramid of safety now long gone and exposed to the dangers of space. The outer layer of the exploration suit he wore became pitted, fraying at the edges of the seams by micro-meteorites a million the size of a grain of sand. The nearly dead pilot of the stolen craft dismissed what would have sent other space walkers into a panic. Driven by the near speed of light velocity of the stolen top secret ship bits of rock impacted off the vizor, helmet and chest plate, Luke could hear tiny leaks through the weakly pressurized suit forming.

"…Estimated time of contact with SPURIOS-WAVE source…"

Luke gasped the words, "I will…Take it…from here…buddy…stay on…target. Please."

Luke used the last of his energy to raise his left arm and spread his dirt blackened, burnt-orange fingertips open across the gap between the twin suns in the distance. Luke recalled detesting the heavenly bodies and praying that one would disappear to lighten the burden of his work when he was a young man but to see it actually happening before him was heartbreaking at best.

Suffering in tandem the brighter of the two suns warped and fluctuated as the balancing force of its existence deteriorated. Solar flares whipped frantically across the distance in panic as if to help a drowning sibling only to be pulled in as well.

Luke let the heavy lids of his red, dry eyes finally fall together and gave his body, mind and soul to the Force to become its agent in his entirety. "I cant see a thing with the blast shield down!…"Don't trust your eyes…" Moments of his past unfolded into voices streaming by quickly in layers of unbroken sentences, "The Jedi stops everything…his plan he rethinks…transformed and unexpected the next strike is…unstoppable you become!"

"I know! I'm trying !"

"…There is no try, do, or do not, that is all."

Luke had perceived the hermit's words as nothing more than the ongoing philosophical rant of an old master and the mere encouragement of a hopeful trainee only to have their dire meeting revealed now, Time slowed by Luke's command, his mind cleared, his pain released him and his inner vision became peacefully black.

The universe reappeared to him as seen by the 'living force', an honor bestowed only to the truest of the Jedi order.

The twin suns reappeared as simple spheres, one gray and dying one yellow minus the blinding flashes of solar flares and harsh unfiltered light.

In the distance a slowly tumbling ball of clay colored rock clung precariously to its orbit around the two. The ever present scatter of starlight within the galaxy was nonexistent. The burning hot objects and the world's they held were now scattered across a black velvet backdrop in a motionless display of multicolored rocks and marbles more suited for a youngling to carry in a waist sack.

Luke felt the crushing gravitational pull of the dying sun dragging the 'Spurios 3' across its pre-programmed course faster as the heavenly body grew in size upon the approach. Luke opened his eyes again to see the shadow of his raised hand against a blinding, burning yellow wall of fire. Giant frozen arcs of magnetically twisted gasses spanned the distance between the suns under and over the bow of the Spurios 3 while catching fire at their ends with the effect of slow burning fuses.

Luke felt the ferocious collective gravity of the twin suns seize the 'Spear of Justice' and hurl it with all their might into the heart of the Last Dragon.

The existence of the universe in his last moments flashed by Luke's eyes in a series of still pictures, the only motion remaining constant throughout was the panicking tempest of the Last Dragon clawing and gnashing at the inside of the space faring glass and steel ribbing of its unbreakable prison aboard the mining drill. The atoms of the material itself were frozen in time and therefore immoveable sealing the beast's fate.

Luke snapped his fist shut and his fingers open again. The 'Spurios 3' lunged forward through time and space then froze in place at the end of the corrugated tower having narrowly missed the vaporizing power of the activated particle beam at its tip.

The beast stopped its panic suddenly and locked its flaming yellow eyes on the 'Spurios 3' and the tiny outline of the man it had hunted for so long. The horror screeched with the rabid anger of a caged wild animal.

Taking advantage of the hesitation frustration provides Luke repeated the motion with his fist.

The 'Spurios 3' leapt forward again in an instant stopping with the remaining forked tip dead center and inches away from the glass umbrella's control room. The flame-lit, long reflection of the beaten and scarred top-secret Star Destroyer nearly matching the length of the chrome tower stared back at Luke in the giant panes of glass.

A final flash from the 'Holo-vizor' faded into a dull gray characters as frozen in time as everything else, "…SPURIOS-WAVE source contact in 0.000000014 seconds…Order 101 protocol engaged…good luck…"

Luke felt the irony of the droid's last words having programmed them in himself to remind him there was no such thing.

Luke focused in on the glass panes and thought of the moon imprisoned within the net and armor beyond and the suffering its people endured.

He noticed the repaired window pane of the Med-bay where he was nearly cut to pieces before escaping. he thought of Leia purposely, opening the door of his mind to the beast again.

A hurricane driven blast of emotion came thundering in and tried to envelop Luke's mind. He let it in and then crushed it into nothing with his words, "Silence!"

The horror trapped within the glass dome settled in its shock, its robe of twisting black shadows clawing into the far edges of the umbrella with no result, its yellow flares of vision locked eyes with its adversary.

Obi-Wan appearing to tell him to do the right thing was absent as was the hardwood cane of righteousness tuning his foolishness and the innocence of the young farm boy. All that remained was the gruff cutthroat negotiating words of his murdered uncle and the searing arrogance of the father he had taken from him. Deep in his heart he knew this was not revenge, this was justice, this is the way of the Jedi.

"You have lost the game 'Dark One', the Force has told me, I am Jedi. I have defeated you. I give you one offer, you will call me 'Lord' now and forever or seal your fate with denial.

"…Certainly…My lord…" The words hissed with submission in their true voice.

"You will serve me until my final heartbeat and only then shall I free you." Luke commanded.

"…As you wish…My Lord…" The answer gurgled as the flames trapped within the glass cage grew large with a hypnotic motion. The grin of never ending rows of teeth filled the windows to the edges.

"The Spurios-wave device, show me!"

A giant black snake of a tongue unrolled through the teeth to present a small, blue, pill shaped container.

The harshness of Colonel Onotaka's words burst loose from Luke, "you will serve me to my last heartbeat, yes?!"

"…Yes."

"Bring me honor, riches and conquest! Yes?!"

"…Certainly…My Lord…Release me to do your bidding…" The beasts pride could taste its victory with yet another soul fallen to the lure of power.

"Feel what I feel! Yes?!"

"…Yes!…"

Luke spoke with an honest sadness directly into the nightmare image, "Then you will know what it feels like to be lied to."

Luke clenched his shaking fist, his blood went cold as he closed his eyes and dropped his arm.

All of time came rushing forward. The beast screeched insanely again at the realization of the deception. The 'Spurios 3', the pinnacle of the mad emperor's designs became 'The Spear of Justice' plowing through the ultra-thick panes of glass to shatter the blue pill shaped canister and pierce the back of the Last Dragons jaw full of endless teeth. Both beast and a machine tore through the decks of the mining drill and impacted the crystal moon within as the weight of the dark matter of a doomed universe crashed in upon it.

Chapter 93

Luke's lifeless body met up with the horrific evil entity and joined in its total destruction, in a split-instant the blast of the black matter bomb coupled with the power of the mining drill and moon removed nearly a quarter the known galaxy from existence in a violet-hot vaporizing flash. The shockwave released itself to obliterate all that remained crossing the distance of billions of light years in a matter of minutes. Colossal planets scattered into sand which rained back down into an infinite and growing black hole.

Luke was at peace at last, his spirit's

vision engulfed in a nearly blinding golden light.

"Is this the afterlife? He thought to himself.

The voice of his friend Leia responded. "It will be what you make of it."

Luke opened his eyes to a scene bathed in gold The deep metal canyon created by the Spurios 3's main landing strip raced away from under his feet at the bottom of the command tower ending with a single remaining fork pinning the horrific creature in place just before he destroyed it, himself and everything else. It's a giant flaming eyes were still, the long crooked sharpened teeth frozen in a flash of terror. The mortified beast remained still and as black as ever within the golden ribbing of the glass umbrella in which it was finally caged.

The pill shape canister held its place at the center of it all.

Luke yelled it out with his mind from where he sat clearly and without tiredness or pain, "Who said that! What the fire's of Kessel is going on here! I'm done playing with you!"

Luke thought he heard a young woman giggle. The voice of the woman who said she was his wife spoke, "don't be alarmed, soon you will understand."

Luke's sat absolutely stunned as the fire of the beasts eyes faded away into nothing behind its golden cage, the mass of terror melted down to the tiny form of a humanoid woman.

"Impossible." Luke thought with conviction, the image stretched out with a young woman's set of human arms. Her hands bent the alloy panes as if they were made of thin gold foil, the silhouette worked the material back and forth until a section tore loose in its hands. The image swung the piece of metal and smashed out the thick piece of space faring glass then cast the sparkling gold foil aside out into space along with the pieces where it drifted away gracefully like a silently falling leaf out of Luke's view.

"Absolutely impossible." Luke was now dumbfounded at what he just witnessed yet the presence of fear he associated with this thing was now gone.

"Now you are getting the idea!" A giggle accompanied the voice as it spoke.

"I give up." Luke meant it.

"I knew you would come to your senses, your kind are so stubborn." The thing spoke as it hopped out of the glass umbrella and onto the remaining forked tip of the 'Spurios 3'. the thing threw out its arms for balance then tiptoed down the fork like a youngling on the balance beam until leaping to land solid on two feet

Luke pleaded with it in his mind. "You can have me, Please just explain to me what you are."

"Give me a moment to get up there will you, besides I don't want you, who would?"

"It's not enough you're going to kill me you have to insult me too?" The shadow on the bow of the 'Spurios 3' took several long steps and leapt forward. Luke expected the wings and teeth of the Last Dragon to return and was surprised when the humanoid shape simply drifted down the length of the Star Destroyer and up the pyramid's front face.

The jet black, two dimensional image landed on a set of bare feet, her body's curves were visible without detail. Her eyes were windows lit from behind by golden rays of light, Luke was about to speak again when it stepped forward straddling his feet. The woman paralyzed him with her beauty, her true form gained detail as she came in close.

Her words filled his mind as she made sport of him, "Look at you now! How are you feeling champ? I'd say the suit is a success even if you are not!" Luke could only stare back speechless and insulted.

"Let's get you back on your feet now." Luke couldn't move to resist as she leaned forward and reached for the center of the suit's breastplate digging her fingertips in and prying open the armor plates as easily she tore through the metal ribbing of the mining drill. The woman ripped and tore her away upward until her fingers gripped the underside of the helmets locking rings.

"Wait, please." Luke pleaded.

"Oh, shut up you big baby." The woman heaved upward on the helmet with considerable effort, "You are really wedged in there, aren't you." The helmet finally gave way and tore loose into her hands and she tossed it away. No depressurizing took place and Luke felt no reason to panic or to even breathe. The woman tore the suits shoulder pads off freeing up Luke's arms. Luke held up his right hand to find it missing at the forearm, his faded orange fire-proof under-suit's sleeve dangled to remind him.

"Can you help or are you going to just sit there?" The sarcasm was real enough.

Luke gave an freshly insulted look and started tearing himself free with his right hand and what he could with this his left forearm, his aches and painful flashes were gone and his strength was back.

The woman extended a hand to help him onto his feet. He kicked at his suit's stained legs and boots until they tore lengthwise, he met with resistance breaking his feet loose with only one hand and stared in frustration where his missing right hand would be.

"Oh, come on I don't have all day, get up already." The things impatience was real also as it seized Luke's left forearm and pulled him to his feet rudely. Luke stood eye to eye with the woman in nothing more than his faded orange under-suit and its padded socks.

The two dimensional woman's eyes flashed gold as she threw out its hands, "Well, go ahead and ask away."

Luke stood with his arms crossed staring into the thing and he question. He closed his eyes for a moment and cleared his mind of its struggle to bring all he was experiencing together. When he opened them he said frankly with a slight hint of sarcasm, "Just what is your story?"

The eyes and smile glistened with gold flashes as the woman answered, "It's not my story, it's your story it always has been."

Chapter 94

"Come walk with me, please."

The shadow figure slid down the length of the front face of the command tower to land on its feet at the bottom. Luke followed choosing to slide on his left hip with his left hand to guide his descent, he stood after reaching the bottom and dusted himself off out of habit.

"Oh sure, now you play it safe." The shadow moved gracefully while placing its hands behind its back signaling time for diplomatic conversation as it walked slowly back toward the mining drill. Luke caught up and walked alongside, after a few steps and taking in the gold flares of light upon every surface he spoke, "Just where exactly are we?"

The woman replied, "Very good ,we are at the last point in time before the end, we can't be at it or past it, it's not there anymore get it?

"So this is death?"

"No, this is the moment before the end,"

"So we're alive then?"

"Oh, we're definitely not that at least not you, I do know what you're talking about, you are speaking of existence."

"Of course I'm speaking of existence." Luke felt it was obvious.

"Sorry, there's no more of that. You and you're selfish ways made sure you wiped it out completely for you and everyone in this galaxy anyway.

Luke gestured to the mining drill as he spoke. "Selfish how am I selfish? You wreaked havoc across the universe billions of people were silenced under you and your weapon."

"Only because you wanted it to be."

"So I am to blame for your villainy? This I have to hear." Luke was taken aback, "Tell me, what have I got to lose?"

The woman turned her head and spoke as they strolled towards the front end of the 'Spurios 3'. The upper starboard deck narrowed more with each step, "This has been about you and your childish need for adventure, speaking of such reminds me, here." Out of the black of the woman's hand his Lightsaber appeared, the chromed gleamed in the golden light as she forced it into his palm, "It's a nice weapon, but not my style."

"I've seen your style and your footing needs work."

Luke's smiled sarcastically.

"As if you are one to talk you rely on your eyes too much."

Luke knew he had been upped. The two remained silent as they traversed the length of the Spurios 3 until they were near the two meter wide end of the deck and stopped. The woman turned to him and said, "Luke, the only person you ever truly cared about was yourself." The words hurt but he listened. "You have created your own reality and this is what has come of it. You are a special person indeed, your blood influences the events of your future and gives you abilities few, even yourself, can understand. You have been given a special gift which you have been aware of and yet squandered recklessly."
Luke tried to interrupt but she continued over his gesture, "When the stolen droids came to you and escaped you could have told your uncle. He was already suspicious of the high quality of the Astro-mech assuming it was stolen and how easily he acquired them. If he knew one escaped he would've figured someone, maybe the Jawa nomads themselves may have been casing his operation and would have put ranch hands on sentry or abandoned the compound entirely for the cave in the mountains until he knew the threat had passed. He could have cared less about a bunch of slaughtered Jawas, the Imperials would have had found the droids left behind with their memories wiped."

Luke fired back, "That and the Death Star would still be killing planets."

"You don't know that! But what is for sure is your actions and inactions caused your aunt and uncle's deaths. Your Death Star will have still existed but you would not have been hunted by the empire and they would still be alive."

Luke was offended to his core by what the woman implied. "So you're blaming it all on me?"

"Yes and your fears and selfishness and lack of cowardice."

"Whoa! Excuse me? A lack of cowardice?!" Luke squinted his eyes.

"Yes, you could have refused to go to Alderaan and remained hidden, your friend Leia would have been killed aboard the Death Star and the Rebel Alliance would have fled Yavin 4 had she not returned and not chosen to make a stand and you would not have made what was probably an actual one in a million shot and in the process murdering thousands of people loyal to the empire or not."

"That's not how I see it." Luke engaged.

"Exactly! That's the problem! Look at yourself from the outside for once."

"Enlighten me further please." Luke's eyes demanded a response.

"Very well, you have spent your time running away, you ran from Tattooine, you ran from the Dark Lord, you could have destroyed him easily yet you allowed him to defeat you, so you could keep a running and playing a childish game of cat and mouse.

Your friends tried in vain to hide you and warn you of your reckless ways. You ran away from your Jedi master after you caused their suffering only to add again to your own." Luke knew she was referring to the loss of his right hand.

"You were to remain out of sight and yet you volunteered, no, insisted while using the mind trick on the Med-Tech crew to come out on top when you were one of the last three candidates suitable for the mission. You then set out on a long dangerous mission alone and into the heart of the 'Dead Zone' a place no creature in its right mind would ever dare travel."

Luke butted in, "If I remember correctly it's where I met you."

"It's where you met your fate by choice, you would have rather been killed by a monster of your choosing than facing the real ones who hunt you, which is cowardice, plain and simple."

"What happened two a lack thereof?" Luke demanded.

"Don't confuse knowing when not to fight with being scared."

"I'm certainly not afraid of you."

"No, just who you need to be."

"Just who is should I be? I've been trying to find him my whole life! It seems everyone else knows what's best for me. You may be able to read my mind but you have no idea what it means to be me!"

"Please calm yourself." The thing was sincere.

"No I don't want to be calm, I'm tired of running and I can face up to anything. I'm not a child anymore and I have had it with agents of evil trying to enslave me! If I had half a chance I would stick it to the emperor with this!" Luke held out up the Lightsaber "And break the spell my father's under, you certainly wouldn't be here and I would be with Leia and the fleet again." The blue of Luke's eyes drilled his point in.

The woman smiled with satisfaction, the rays of gold light flickered through her perfect teeth "It's about time." Luke dropped his expression. "The hardest thing for so many to understand is knowing what you want out of life. Too bad you waited so long to act when you felt what you wanted from such a young age, pity."

"The last thing I need or want is your pity."

"I never said I lack compassion, just empathy for the capable who choose not to be."

"Enough of your insults, make your point." Luke's said directly.

"I'd rather show you." The woman grabbed his hand before Luke could react and leapt across the short distance between the Spurios 3 and the mining drill while pulling him weightlessly back into the destroyed glass cage of the piloting deck of the space station he tried so desperately to escape. His padded feet followed her through the piloting deck where she knelt down and dug her fingers into the underside of the sealed double shielded blast door and with one fluid motion stood while lifting it throw her hands over her head. The doors broke free from their gears and disappeared up into the ceiling as the sound of cracked and broken parts fell to the floor inside the steel walls. After traveling through a series of white paneled halls they entered the half destroyed glass room they fought in earlier.

Luke immediately noticed the shard of rock missing from its cradle beyond the shattered front facing window and stopped. He saw set of fresh humanoid footprints in the deep dust he could have swore were his own on top of two older sets of tracks leading to a destroyed glass door on his right.

The woman tugged at his hand and smiled "You've come this far. What have you got to lose, right?" Luke followed reluctantly as a feeling of familiarity washed over him and then disappeared.

Together they made their way out onto the half destroyed 'U' shaped platform of glass. Luke surveyed the dry empty chamber at the far end of the platform which housed the relic and the thick panes of glass flooring he remembered destroying during his battle with the 'Dark one'. He thought to himself, "It all looks so…old."

"Time is about perception, come with me."

The woman guided them to a repelling cable tied to the post of a long inactive force-field actuator. Again the feeling of having been here before in a different way washed over Luke then disappeared.

The woman released his hand and fell almost weightlessly over the edge of the glass guiding herself with one hand on the cable down to the surface of the cold lifeless ball of crystal below.

Luke took his time and joined her on the surface. It was a scene of heartbreaking destruction, the surface of what was once a glittering world of advanced life forms and a miracle of natural design lay stripped, crushed and destroyed at his feet. He had never dreamed of or seen such savagery in all his life. The tracks of giant automated rock crusher droids meters deep ran in all directions up and over the horizon broken only by the countless craters left behind by drilling units of the same design. The moon was not just drilled into it was perforated, a coarse shell of what it once was.

"I think it's this way." The woman said pointing to a transport docked next to a crater in the near distance. They made their way to the transport where Luke took in the sight of the mummified bodies of heavily armored mercenaries scattered about in twisted poses of defeat as they were struck down. Some were cut clean and half at the waist by a plasma weapon of unimaginable power which could have only been wielded by a being consumed with vengeance. Others were not so lucky having been injured strategically and may have taken days to die while in agonizing pain.

She guided him down a steeply inclined darkened shaft within the crater.

"I can't see anything." Luke protested.

"Stop using your eyes." The woman said impatiently

Luke understood the message. He closed his eyelids and felt for the Force, the walls illuminated into a ghostly faded blue, the damage to the moon became obvious again. The deep, laser driven slice marks of the excavation droids lined the walls in a spiral pattern off into the distance as countless side tunnels ran in all directions.

Luke observed areas where the walls between tunnels and the floors and ceilings had been worked to only a half-meter thick. At their feet lay the ghostly outlines of fallen slave mining workers and their tools pushed aside to line the walls, starved and worked until they perished where they stood. Luke frowned at the cruelty displayed as they passed through what was now a tomb.

"You might not want to see this." The woman said.

"I never wanted to see any of this." Luke replied.

They passed by a crude cavern carved into the rock, the command post for the warlord's mercenaries to operate from and oversee operations. Luke's stopped at the consoles of electronics destroyed beyond functional recognition save a high voltage power cable leading from the power-block unit over to a large barbaric, thick barred incarceration cage with the steel grated flooring with an actual iron key lock. The super thick wire had been crudely welded to the bars by a plasma source. Luke recalled a similar unit being installed in his aunt and uncle's motor pool when he was very young to house and store the farmhands supplies of water for work and miscellaneous items of value. His uncle said he got it from a worm for cheap and now understood what he meant.

Within the cage he made out another crowd of fallen and mummified mercenaries in twisted shapes of pain. The power indicator on the nonfunctional box was set to just less than ten percent of its total voltage. Luke knew the pain must have been excruciating amplified by the men's heavily armored and metal reinforced suits and would have taken quite some time.

Upon the floor lay the bodies of at least thirty humanoids in organized rows, workers too weak to survive yet made comfortable with the last of the mercenaries water rations and sleeping quarter's amenities. Others sat propped up against the walls to die in peace to a serenade of their conquerors own suffering. The scene was an ongoing display of hard cold vengeance frozen in time.

Luke's attention darted to the back wall of the room, "Did you see that?" Luke pointed to a ghostly outline against the back wall.

"See what? We all see things differently."

"Enough with the philosophy, that person's eyes blinked at me! I saw it I'm not crazy!"

"Come, we need to go now, this place still has its ghosts."

Luke focused hard on the image, it was a man sitting in a chair with his hands folded on his lap, his eyes were closed and his head laid back and relaxed against the headrest. He wore a frozen smile as if he was enjoying the sweetest music he ever heard. He looked posed and out of place from the rest.

The woman tried to guide him away by the hand but he politely shook himself loose without breaking his gaze, "I want to…" Suddenly his blood felt colder. He could have sworn he had been in the room before but how? He felt for the Force perceived its presence in his own bodily presence and nowhere else.

The woman urged him more firmly, "Please, its best to let such things be, what's been done has been done, let's move on."

"I agree." Luke's said without looking away then turned to the tunnel again and stepped forward, "Let's get this over with." He kicked a small box the size of a chance cube with his boot tip sending it tumbling forward. He picked it up and examined the faded illegible paint markings obscured by time. "Stop. This is a trail marker." Luke knew his 'X-Wing' Fighter had at least fifty such devices to aid him with his failed science exploration mission.

The woman answered, "They could have been used to navigate the way to the crew's quarters."

"Maybe." Luke picked the device up, familiarity nagged at the back of his mind. A trail of the long defunct boxes met them every ten meters through a short maze of narrow icy blue illuminated tunnels. Luke touched the walls and marveled at the crystal which illuminated itself from some unseen power until the passages joined another large thoroughfare again. The ghostly outlines of the fallen workers returned to line the walls without end. Luke startled as the shadow against the glowing crystal backdrop spoke up, "Here we are, way up there." A shadowy arm extended to a tiny silhouette of what appeared to be a person far in the distance. The woman began running on ahead and yelled back to Luke with excitement, "Come on! We can't stop now!"

Luke trotted behind the shadow but it kept several steps ahead even as he started running. The silhouette of a person crouching down in the center of the tunnel in the distance grew slowly larger.

The two dimensional shadow of the woman thinned stretching into the distance "Wait!" Luke yelled and then she was gone.

His pace slowed as he approached the mystery ahead and then halted as he took in an impossible scene. A figure of a human in a heavily clad pressurized suit sat crouched on one padded knee with the jagged, meter long shard of rock cradled in its arms. The figures helmet tilted downward and in to inspect and analyze the object, Luke could feel the presence of the life form inside was different from the rest of the place he was in.

He approached carefully and leaned in close to peer through the dust covered plasti-glass visor. The face was hidden in shadow, obscured behind a long hanging tuft of light colored hair.

the Force taking refuge within Luke spoke to him without words, only intuition and feeling communicated from somewhere deep inside. He was at a place of intersecting planes of existence, a crossroads of similar events with unforeseen outcomes.

He was looking at the original disturbance, the theft of the relic itself. Just as he witnessed the end of events in his universe he could now see the original imbalance setting it all in motion to begin with. Once the act had been committed it echoed across all planes of existence.

Luke began to think the mummified body of the man within could be him.

Chapter 95

Luke's stood up in disbelief and looked around for any sign of the shadow of a woman and he found nothing. He did notice the distinct outline of a burial mound in the center of the tunnel about twenty meters away to his right. What caught his attention was a flat box with steel rivets deliberately placed on a small portable table in the middle of the tunnel between the crouching mummy and the gravesite.

Luke approached cautiously while looking it over and opened it, somehow he knew it was meant for him. Inside lay a scrap of paper written in what the inhabitants of Tattooine called barter lingo or simply 'Barto'. A complex mishmash of bizarre terms, sounds, slang and insults mixed with alien hieroglyphs and backward number keeping. A common tongue for alien commerce especially in the untaxed underworld's black market. Luke's uncle was a master of it and taught him well from a young age.

The characters read,

"Greetings from the 'Multi-verse'! My name is Zoevella Sheravoy, we have never met and never will. I don't expect you to understand fully the events which have taken place, even I do not entirely but I know our experiments with multi-dimensional communication have taken a terrible turn for the worse. It is as if a dark force of hate has sensed our operation from beyond and has torn a hole in not just the dimensions we call home but is now spreading like a disease across the countless dimensions of our galaxy and grows slowly stronger by the moment.

So many of us have been destroyed by war and famine we will be extinct soon if something is not done by you, whoever you are." Luke looked up and around again, "Just know as the multi-dimensional galaxy collapses time will melt and swirl, destinies will splinter and pure chaos will rule.

Luke could only think of one person who would want such a goal, the powerful dark wizard his master told him of, Darth Sidious.

He read on "Before you blame someone in particular I can assure you there are bad people everywhere or at least the ability to do so lies within all of us. We were a peaceful society until overpopulation of our multi-verse became an overwhelming problem.

Inter-dimensional communication provided proof of existence beyond what we know of inhabitable space only to open what my culture calls a…" The symbols were arranged phonetically into a name Luke had never heard of but the meaning of the phrase was perfectly clear "…A Daiphere's box." He said out loud, "…Of terrible consequences."

"Our culture fractured and divided into clans eager to claim entire dimensions for their own who still fought among themselves as they entered new territories without regard to the effects they would have on other events taking place. The result is what I can only refer to as a multi-dimensional domino effect.

The space you currently occupy is not what it appears, by now your dimension's strings of energy are already tangling and rearranging themselves into a self canceling loop and no matter what actions you take you arrive back where you started after a series of bizarre and impossible events.

The 'moon' you stand within is no such thing at all, it is what we call the 'Acumulus' in the center of the galaxy. The "Acumulus' can be found at the center of galaxies with enough mass and sentience in what you may refer to as a 'grave of a dead sun' or a black circle."

"A black hole." Luke muttered with just his lips, "The discovery and exploration was a sensational event. We found the remains of an ancient civilization on the other side of the black circle hidden within a dimensional rift, a place of alternate space not much different than our own created by the incredible power of the black circle itself since all you need are mass and energy to make a universe anyway.

The beings inhabiting this world had long since vanished or maybe we simply could not see them. Deep down inside an absolutely colossal, beautiful, naturally formed crystal structure we detected what we dubbed 'The Core'."

Luke knew immediately she was referring to the jagged rock relic with the mysterious properties.

"Within what became known as 'The Temple' our experiments proved the site to be an ancient doorway to other places of existence, you could literally dial the frequency of another dimension. It was only after millions of us passed through the portal did we realize the damage our departure caused, the collapsing of our own dimension's possibilities and the expansion and unbalancing of others. By the time you read this our existence will have crushed itself into absolutely nothing, not even that, it will have never been or ever will be, other dimensions will be expanding, changing in unexpected and surprising ways until they themselves either lose cohesion and dissolve or explode from matter overload or crush themselves out with a vacuum effect and the cycle goes on and on unless…"

"Always a catch." Luke rolled his eyes under his closed lids and went back to reading the ghostly letters,

"Our mathematician's theory is this disaster has happened before and it is stoppable, we're confident other advanced life forms have developed perceptual abilities to rival our own and our only option is to send them an S.O.S and a warning. We can only hope someone or something can hear us and can enlist help in any way possible."

Luke stared at the letter in disapproval and questioned why it was written in his home-world's language of trade, as he did the ghostly characters scrambled into illegible blocks and squiggles, "What the…" As Luke focused in on the symbols they danced back into familiar words. "Very clever." Luke realized he wasn't holding a letter at all, he was interpreting a thought being broadcast from the box itself designed to reach a medium of communication with any who may come across it.

Luke wanted to place blame on scientists, being so smart but not enough to just leave some things alone where they find them. It never ceased to amaze him how the worst tragedies were always derived from ones 'best intentions'.

"I must warn you doubly 'The Core' is powerful in ways no one can understand. The device can transform, alter and consume, it has the ability to create and destroy, it is all and it is nothing. Only a person who was clear of malice in mind and will can hold it without being consumed. We removed it from its resting place and hid it in an attempt to stop the damage only to lead to even worse events. After our own destruction of the portal our people began invading and destroying each other's star systems over competition for the remaining resources they needed to survive. Please forgive us though we do not deserve it, we never meant to harm anyone. The future, if there is to be one, is now up to you, search your feelings you will know what to do.

Sincerely,

Zoevella Sheravoy."

Luke let the yellowed, antiquated piece of dry paper fall to the crystallized rock floor, it disappeared before ever reaching it. The whole thing all made sense to him now. The emperor used his dark powers to sense the destruction taking place elsewhere and fostered it, he used the strife and pain of others as a source of energy from beyond. He also understood the concept of the Spurios-wave, the top-secret Star Destroyer needed to achieve faster than faster than light travel to slip this dimension's physical bonds and enter a black hole and exit again. "Absolutely ingenious." Luke thought even if the man was as mad as he was evil. The revelation also meant the man in the suit was not Luke or the emperor.

Luke approached the cadaver without caution and popped the manual release mechanism of the helmet and pulled it off the suit and threw it to the side without care. He leaned in close and brushed back the mummy's hair for a closer look at the face. An image of the handsome young Palpatine stared into the relic and off into eternity.

Luke spoke out loud to himself, "No, this is not the emperor, this is a clone of Darth Pleagus frozen in time. His Padawan killed him too soon and found out his secret too late. This is why the emperor wants the relic for himself so desperately, To break his master's spell of revenge and dominate not only this galaxy but possibly other levels of existence and to make himself a god."

Luke suddenly knew how he could wound the emperor terribly, by severing his connection with the chaos building in other dimensions and transform him from an invincible dragon back into what he really is, a sick, deranged monster of a man who can be destroyed in the here and now.

Luke seized the jagged piece of material with his left hand and the stump of his right forearm. The cadaver refused to release it. As Luke tore the relic loose from the frozen fingers he heard a groan of resistance become a numbing, pulsating echo filling his mind. The familiar voice of a middle aged woman called to him from down the tunnel far in the darkened distance, "Luke! Luke where are you! Come to me now!" More words added another layer to the message, "Luke! Listen to your Aunt Beru and do what she says!"

Luke knew his aunt and uncle were long gone and ignored the ruse. He leaned in closer still and spoke directly to the last physical remnant of the dark and powerful wizard, Darth Pleagus, "Your error was calling her my Aunt Beru, her real name is Noddia and my uncle referred to her as 'Your 'Nonn'aa' when speaking of her, it's actually Jawa and means 'The Matriarch' because they have a hierarchy system of social order, in Barto it is used in reference to the boss' wife or as you fancy types would say, 'Queen'. The title is considered a great honor among the people of my planet. It doesn't matter if they died then they would still be dead now and ultimately it is your crime for you are responsible for the actions of both your apprentice and yourself." Luke leaned in closer still and whispered into the darkness of Darth Pleagus' spirit, "The New Order of the Jedi Council finds you guilty of the crime of attempted genocide and willful destruction of an entire universe, your sentence shall be banishment from involvement from all that ever will be."

Luke ripped the object loose from the grip of the padded gloves and stood with it. The voices faded slowly along with the light of the crouching cadaver, its last source of power extinguished as well as any trace of existence. Darth Pleagus was now truly dead.

In the silence which remained Luke thought about Leia, of Han and Chewbacca and of course the droids and his grumpy yet kind hearted master's cane of all things. It wasn't until the thought of his father and the emperor came to him did he feel what needed to be done. He turned swiftly and strode back down the tunnel into the cavern and over to the smiling dead man reclining in his chair. It was another mercenary stripped of his armor and on display for Luke to find.

Luke lifted his right foot and placed it squarely on the armrest of the chair and kicked it over on its side taking the cadaver with it. Behind the chair he found what he was looking for.

Luke stood before a carved stairwell leading down into darkness. He marched fearlessly to its bottom and opened his real eyes. He held the jagged piece of rock in outstretched arms, it cast a glow of its own as he spoke to it, "You belong here."

The length of the mysterious artifact lit the room with a light Luke had never seen or felt before, it breathed, it had feelings, it spoke to him with a pure innocence, "You are surely worthy of the power you hold."

Luke answered, "I know I am, now, thanks to you." Luke took several steps forward.

"You can set things right in the universe again."

'Oh, I plan to alright, some are long overdue for the justice they have coming." He took another step cautiously forward, he was near the center of the moon, he could feel time stopping, crushing in on itself into emptiness, something was missing and Luke held it.

The flat side of the relic in Luke's view presented him with a wide, majestic universe he had seen before, the trillions of suns of his own galaxy glowed in burning hot whites, brilliant yellows and piercing tiny reds on a backdrop of deep purple fading into black. Luke was captivated with its beauty.

"You can be a god of your own making, and I will be your servant to obey your will."

"A generous offer and I am sure you are true to your word, as you are well aware every beginning has its end." Luke turned the rock over, the scene was that of which he had seen before when fighting with the tarry image of a woman in the glass room aboard the mining drill. It was a scene of absolute chaos, the galaxy had become embroiled in a war of epic destruction, supernovas in action swirled the drifting gasses of previously torn apart stars in a display far beyond anything the Rebel Alliance and Imperials were capable of. This was a universe destroyed by selfish wants and blind pride, the two things his master said if he did not learn to control would be the death of him as well as others.

"Your appeal to others I'm sure is overwhelming, but I am a farm-boy from Tattooine, all we ever wanted was to live through another day without being shot or eaten or dying of thirst. We both have our places in the universe and reasons for being called into existence, we just won't be together."

"You may regret this decision." The words fell flat on Luke's ears.

"Better to regret something you did versus something you should have done."

Luke threw his arms out releasing the rock back to where it belonged, in the center of the universe.

All Luke could see and feel crushed itself down to nothing. In an instant time and existence expanded and rushed forward until it exploded into the here and now.

Luke's consciousness retuned in a painful flash, he was heaving for his breath with streams of sweat running down his face. He was alive, he knew it.

He could feel it, he was free from wherever he was before.

His pressure suit's bright orange gloves were intact with his fingers resting across the jagged piece of rock as it lay in a cradle of polished crystal 'Y' shaped forks disappearing seamlessly into a large flat pill-shaped alter of the same material. The walls of the cavern were as white and smooth as the floors of the Jedi Temple he walked through with the apparition of Anakin Skywalker.

Luke snapped open his fingers and lifted his gloves carefully and backed away cautiously from the relic and its crystal alter one carefully positioned step at a time until he stood on the polished floor staring a it. He gave the shard so many had died over a final look and spun on his heels to face the entrance of the cavern and hasten his departure.

He was stopped dead in his tracks by a hologram filling the doorway.

The woman who faced him was Rebel Alliance Lieutenant Sika-Va. Her face was of the old woman Luke had remembered from the ancient history and warfare classes he attended aboard the 'Victorious' her body's size and features were one and the same as that of the dripping, oily monster who morphed into a dragon and tried so hard to end his life aboard the mining drill and the apparition who led him to the center of the moon.

Her deep-black eyes held Luke through the grainy blue image as she spoke, "Hello Luke, by now I am sure you understand the predicament I and Admiral Akbar have placed you in, and we don't blame you if you do not forgive us and we do not care. I myself do think you deserve an explanation.

You are not 'The Chosen One' you are just the one who was chosen to do an ugly job. You are in the center of a black hole, or more so, what lies on the other side. You were drugged and asleep for the journey before you left and I want you to know your mind tricks did not work on the Med-Tech crew, you were already slated for the mission, the admiral and I rejected you just to see if your abilities were as such, I must say it is an interesting survival mechanism to say the least.

You are not in 'The Dead Zone', you never were, stay away from that place. You jumped into Hyper-space and supposedly died and was blamed on you for over modifying your 'X-Wing' fighter , In fact the entire Rebel Alliance has been lied to and all assume you are killed in action, Your memorial was sweet for all seven minutes of it but there is a means to an end I promise, you may even live through it, if you are lucky."

Luke smirked at the thought of 'luck'. The woman paused and grinned slightly at him as if she understood his take on it then pressed on, "Luke, the Spurios Project and the threat it represents are very real I assure you. The technology was designed by me and an 'associate' of yours, Anakin Skywalker while he was in the Jedi academy. I was an advanced physics instructor at the time and a guest of your Master Yoda. The Fin-Astra mining drill is real, my civilization was real and was discovered here and destroyed by the original Palpatine, the 'Evil one' himself, Darth Pleagus. His cloned apprentice who calls himself the emperor killed him and kept the relic for himself. It wasn't until his mad scientists theorized where it could have come from and the disappearance of the mining drill was investigated further did the emperor realize the scope of his master's plans and set about kidnapping myself and others to finish the work we started at the academy.

After I was rescued the admiral's team and I worked tirelessly on replicating the technology in a race to return the relic and destroy this space station before the dragon can tear the center out of our universe and leave it in darkness. This weapon took decades to build and would melt the pitiful 'Death-Star' with a single shot, if allowed to leave here it will be the end of existence once and for all, it is already effecting the reality of this dimension just as it sits and in the hands of insanity who knows what devastations may come."

Luke wanted to respond but could only agree with the woman.

"I know more about you than you do yourself. I have done my homework and are aware of your abilities and your home-world and I have deduced who your father most likely is, it's the only reason the emperor would pursue you so relentlessly. The relic was stolen by another close friend of yours, 'Queen Leia' prior to this mission, many of her Royal Guards were killed and she nearly died herself to retrieve it from its hiding place before it could be reunited with this space station.

I am sure by now Admiral Korsche is worried sick over the theft under his watch and has kept it secret in hopes of returning it before the emperor find's out he failed him. I would not want to be him when it comes time to report in.

The Death Star 2 is deadly enough but is a diversion tactic to draw the Rebel Alliance out in the open en masse on the other side of the galaxy while the emperor secretly rolls out his real weapon and holds the universe for the ransom of the fleet's surrender.

Leia was right, you do have a pure heart and your dreams of greatness lay elsewhere."

Luke stood in awe at the audacity the woman displayed and at how he had been duped.

The woman laughed as if she had run a hated enemy through with a red-hot blade, Luke could feel the emperor was her true target. She started clapping then reached out of the transmission momentarily to return with a tall, slender glass full of some bubbly libation. She held it up and laughed as she spoke, "Mission accomplished, soldier! But now it's time to run as fast as you can! If I did not say the words before, thank you."

The image took a long drink, blew him a kiss and faded away.

Luke saw the door and bolted. He stopped once more in his tracks. Something dead was at his feet in the hallway, "Night vision on!" the Holo-vizor obeyed. Two lifeless bodies were before him, the old woman he knew as Lieutenant Sika-Va, lay on a blanket, peaceful and still, Luke could feel her age took her down while completing her mission. The other, Captain Veetas, sat slumped against a wall with a laser-bolt blast to her temple. Her mission complete as well, she went out the way a good soldier would.

Luke chilled when he saw the writing in blood across the crystal wall of the cave from a deliberately sliced finger, a final order from Captain Veetas read. "This ends now!"

The Holo-vizor broke in on Luke's attention as it streamed characters by at panicked speeds, the 3-D image of Astro-mech, R2-D2 spun in the upper left corner under a fog of condensation flashing in blue and red indicating a dire emergency was once again at hand. "ASTRO-MECH LINK-UP CONFIRMED…IMPERIAL FORCES ALERT!…ENEMY CRAFT APPROACHING!…IDENTIFYING…I.D. CONFIRMED…SPURIOS CLASS SUPER STAR DESTROYER APPROACHING…ORGANIC ENGINEERED HUMANOID LIFE-FORMS DETECTED…APPROXIMATE ESTIMATE: 20,000 TROOPS…(+/-100 UNITS)…RETURN TO SHIP!…RETURN TO SHIP!…"

Luke's skin tingled and burned with greater intensity with each moments passing. His blood screamed to him he needed to leave where he was now. Luke hit the Open-Com switch to communicate with R2-D2, the panicked screeching of the Astro-mech relayed the same message.

"Artoo! I'm coming out!"

Luke ran in a near panic up the steep incline of a pitch-black, narrow hallway. The hardened spikes mounted into the soles of his boots ground off the razor-sharp edges of the steps fashioned by droid-mounted cutting lasers into the crystal of the moon.

On his way in to the Imperial Forces Special Projects Divisions' latest attempt at crushing the will of free people and enslaving an entire universe or worse, universes, he cursed himself for not taking notice of the rope style charge-packs of explosives planted down the length of the stairwell along the edges of the walls.

A line of small metal cubes flashed in the darkness with piercing white strobes every one-hundred meters providing Luke with distant beacons of hope guiding him upward through the cramped passage.

With each running step he broke an invisible laser beam a second time triggering the arming devices of the explosives, each activated and charged up with high pitched whines filling the inside of the helmet through the tiny speakers.

The exploration suit's weight quickly taxed the speed of his escape, "I'll never get outta' here in time at this rate!" he barked in frustration. R2-D2 whistled anxiously in return.

Luke peeled back the wrist screen cover to his relief with his own robotic fingers in working order and punched in the key code for the suits Auto-Gyro Assist mechanism to speed his departure. An undamaged Holo-vizor scrolled commands back at him, …AUTO-GYRO ASSIST ON LINE…SCANNING TERRAIN…" A sweeping beam of scattered green targeting lasers mapped the challenge before it. "…ENGINEERED ESCALATION…A.G.A. SYSTEM ENGAGING…SAY OR ENTER DESIRED SPEED…" "Maximum forward!" "…COMMAND ACKNOWLEDGED…" The interior of the suit inflated with small strategically placed air bags lifting Luke safely up and away from its carbon fiber tendons and servo-units.

The suit pitched forward and began picking up speed with each assisted step. A flashing cube approached and was crushed out under the boots automated motion. The speedometer in the upper corner of the Holo-vizor climbed, ".50 km PER MIN….1.0 km PER MIN…5.0 km PER MIN…10.0 km PER MIN…30.0 km PER MIN…"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Luke protested as his bones were rattled with each step as the speed increased until the device outran his own body and took over his motions for him.

"…COMMAND NOT RECOGNIZED…45 km PER MIN…"

The perfectly cut walls sped by in a blur as the strobe markers passed underneath as Luke was taken for yet another harrowing ride upward at the hands of runaway automation.

Luke had a momentary flashback to his flight through the trench of the infamous 'Death-Star' until R2-D2 broke in over the Com-system urging Luke to return to the ship once again, while calling in a 'welfare check' on him. "I'm coming Artoo! Get the ship fired up now! Some people have a lot of explaining to do when we get back!" Luke did not feel anger toward anyone in particular but he was upset with just plain being suckered, something his Uncle would not have approved of or let him forget. "…COMMAND ACKNOWLWDGED…" Scrolled by on the Holo-vizor as a small 3-Dimensional image of his intact 'X-Wing' fighter resonated to life in the screens lower corner along with all the indicators R2-D2 was doing his job in double time.

Luke could make out the exit of the shaft in the distance, a small, open, rectangle of faded white approached painfully slow. A powerful deep rumble of bass from behind filled the helmet and shook the walls and floors, the suit stumbled and nearly took Luke down into the razor sharp edges of the steps before righting itself and charging forward again.

The Holo-vizor scrolled, "SEIZMIC DISTURBANCE DET…" Luke cut the Astro-mech off as he yelled, "They're explosives Artoo! Captain Veetas and Lieutenant Sika-Va planted them! I want that ship hot and ready for me to pull the stick and fly out of here! Go, go go!"

R2-D2 responded with his 'I'm on it' whistle and cut the feed.

Another explosion shook the walls harder as the next set of detonations took place ringing Luke's ears and lifting the suit off its boots and throwing them both forward. Again the Auto-gyro-assist mechanisms stubbornly kept to their duties firing off micro-rocket stabilizers and digging the spiked boot-tips into the crystal steps harder still as it continued its mission.

Luke counted five more strobes to the exit. His senses told him the last of the explosives would bury him just before he made his escape.

"Artoo!" The Astro-mech responded in wait, "Give me full forward Stabilizer Jets in 8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1,…" The last strobe passed under foot with only a hundred meters to the exit as the deafening rumble of explosives grew inside the helmet, timing the detonation shockwave perfectly as it lifted him and the suit off their feet Luke gave the order, "Now!"

The jets fired as the kinetic shockwave of the explosives slammed into Luke's back-bone sending him tumbling end over end in a storm-cloud of shattered crystal, dust and smoke out into the light of the exit as the shaft collapsed and destroyed itself.

Luke came to a skidding stop amid a raining cloud of pulverized white dust and fist sized rocks face down on the surface of the crystal moon, its condition no different than before, barren and destroyed. He scrambled to his feet, kicking at the blanket of loose rocks to free himself. He was blind by sight but the compass reading along the top edge of the Holo-vizor flashed a heading to R2-D2 and his 'X-Wing' fighter. He followed it without a regard for safety until the cloud cleared enough for him to see the dangling strobe-beacon on the end of his cable-pistol flashing in the near distance.

He gazed at the thick woven cable net of the Fin-Astra mining drill far above and gawked again at the sheer size of a craft capable of engulfing an entire moon and exploiting it as a power source.

R2-D2 shrilled again through the speakers as his update filled the Holo-vizor "…CRAFT STATUS: OPERATONAL…READY FOR LAUNCH…SPURIOS CLASS CRAFT APPROCHING…5000 Km…RETURN TO SHIP!…RETURN TO SHIP!…" The 3D 'X-Wing' fighter flashed green with red engines and laser cannons to indicate it was ready to escape and fight while doing it.

Luke followed the cable gun line up to the glass deck above jetting out in a 'U' shape from the glass walled and floored observation post. "Good job, Artoo!, I'm on my way up now!"

Luke sprinted to the cable-gun and clipped it into its socket on his waist and crunched the trigger with a robotic grip. The device whined loudly as it reeled its hundred meter line in with Luke in tow reaching the glass platform in seconds.

He unsnapped the cable-gun from his waist and left it dangling from the empty glass chamber which once housed the crystal relic as he sprinted down the glass platform and through the undestroyed automatic doors of the observation post. The room was intact and super clean with no sign of the fight he experienced with the 'dragon' before. He did not slow his pace but he did unleash his Lightsaber with a refreshed feeling of confidence and swung it fiercely as he rushed through the short hallway and dove through the sliding steel door tucking and rolling off the floor as he sprung to his feet once more and ran forward again as fast as he could down the long hallway. The hapless Construction-droid outside the door passing by on its routine rounds never knew what hit it. Luke's Lightsaber left a slice the full length of the blade clean through the giant gold spider's egg shaped body and giant green eye. Luke smiled when he heard the crash of metal falling in on itself. "So much for coincidences!" He shouted back behind him and hit the switch to the next door then bolted down the hallway, passing the storage room he hid in before then stopped at a portal on the right halfway down the length of white paneled walls. "If memory serves correct…" Luke waved opened the door ready to cut to pieces what had once tried to do the same to him.

The door slid to the side and disappeared into the wall and he stormed into the Med-bay, its appearance was clean and neat and new. A digitalized woman's voice, Zoevella's voice, addressed him, "I am a 201 Med-Bot, Do you require assist…" Luke sliced the droid clean in two without a second thought, deactivated his Lightsaber and marched across the metal grates of flooring over to a very modern Med-evac tube, "Artoo! Get ready for me, I'm comin' out!"

Chapter 96

The Med evac torpedo shot out of the glass face of the mining drill's umbrella driven by an explosive charge.

Luke dazzled out the sight glass as the torpedo carried him with it, he was on the other side of the black hole in the middle of the galaxy. The mining drill kept the moon isolated behind a force field which could only have been produced by a Spurios-wave device.

"The emperor has been busy." Luke thought to himself.

The light from the universe he knew swirled down above him and collided into the force field and was deflected to be absorbed by an ever growing hurricane of color and light around the edges of his view. He flashed back to his vision just before his 'X-Wing' fighter overheated landing him on the mechanical terror to begin with, the scenes were the same only added to his own memories were the experiences of every life form ever, every form of radio and subspace transmission, the debris of crushed stars from millennia before the galaxy as he knew it existed.

Luke gasped as the idea finally hit home, If the emperor were to pull the 'Acumulus' and its secret out into the open galaxy all hell would break loose. He would hop in and activate the trans-dimensional Spurios-wave drive and escape to new dimensions leavingit all behind to unravel into nothing. Vader, Luke, Leia and his precious Imperial Forces would be thrown away as he escaped with a terrible weapon to crush wherever he went into submission. He never wanted to rule this galaxy, he needs to destroy it so he can escape it.

"Your Master would be proud…" The torpedo rang like a giant bell as the mooring arm's magneto's grabbed the steel tube and swung Luke in a dizzying arc.

The magnetic claw carelessly let go of its iron grip tossing Luke in endless barrel rolls until the unit landed hard against the docking platform and skidded to a stop just before impacting the front landing gear unit on his 'X-Wing' fighter.

'Ow! I could have done without that! Get me out of here now! Ouch!"

R2-D2 scraped his eardrums again as he chimed in, "…HOLD STILL…HOLD STILL…."

"No! That's an order!" The idea of one of his co-pilot's cutting blades getting him this time did not appeal to Luke. He let his Laser-sword loose and began to slice his own way out as he barked at the Astro-mech, "Don't worry about me! Get in the ship now!

Luke freed himself in a flash of light and sparks and ran in leaps through the artificial gravity of the airless, soundless space station to the safety of the cockpit when a gaze over head revealed a familiar and terrifying sight, The massive hull and sharpened forks of a Spurios class ship were descending down upon him and R2-D2. In a matter of moments the two would be smashed to pieces and smeared across the deck along with his 'X-Wing' fighter.

"Artoo! Get in! We gotta' get out of here!" Luke screamed as he ran as fast as the suit would allow him. The Astro-mech fired up its rockets and launched itself up to its docking cradle on the attack fighter's back. A sudden hail of red and white flashing laser bolts rained from above, a blue glass panel exploded on the Astro-mechs dome, the force of the impact nearly throwing the machine off fits landing. R2-D2 screeched in angry protest as he went about his duties as co-pilot.

With a look to the descending threat above Luke could make out the outlines of hundreds of Imperial Assault Troopers repelling off the forked tips, weapons in hand and firing at him.

A trail of ricochets and molten splattering steel bit at his legs as Luke leapt onto the hardened nosecone of his ship and ran down the length of the fuselage dropping onto his hip at the last moment and sliding hard into the cockpit landing in the seat with a 'thud!' while catching a glimpse of the Astro-mech locking himself in.

As he worked his straps over his shoulders the cockpit cover snapped shut.

"Are we good to go?!" Luke commanded while cringing instinctively from the barrage of laser fire now incapable of penetrating the ships electromagnetic shields.

"…ENGINES 100%…FLIGHT CONTROL 100%…"

"Good work buddy! Make sure the Spurios-wave device the Admiral had installed is up and running!"

"…COMMAND NOT REC…"

"Don't play with me Artoo, I'll make you run a diagnostic on every ship in the fleet three times if we survive this."

"…SPURIOS-WAVE DEVICE OPERATIONAL…"

"That's better!"

Squads of Storm-troopers landed on the deck before them and were vaporized in an instant by the Astro-mech in control of the 'X-Wing' fighter's guns. Luke could see the plasma welds on the plates of Exo-steel running the length of the hull of the ship about to flatten him. Troopers were landing on the deck all about as he floored the pedals and pulled back hard on the stick.

The bursts from the engines cooked another squad of troopers before they even touched down as the 'X-Wing' fighter carelessly flattened those who stood in the way of its flight path as it let its power loose.

More troopers unfortunate enough to be caught in R2-D2's sights were vaporized off the ends of their cables as they repelled,

The 'X-Wing' fighter sped forward under the length of the cruiser outrunning its mass in time for Luke to pull the stick back farther still sending the 'snub' fighter up between the forks and another hail of trooper fire. "Woohoo!" Luke and R2-D2 let out their own versions at the same time as the fighter shot upwards to the impossible massive amount of gravity within the black hole they still had yet to escape.

Luke added a dizzying spiral to the 'X-Wing' fighter the instant he cleared the forks but the Spurios class warship was quick in anticipating the move and raised its bow hard in pursuit shaking loose its compliment of Assault-troopers to fall to their own fate.

The 'X-Wing' fighter leveled off with the length of the chrome corrugated tower beneath, Luke opened fire and held the trigger tight. The panels sliced open and exploded outward as the tower depressurized upwards to its weaponized tip.

Luke's world went silent. The scene beyond the cockpit glass astounded him, He stared down a perfectly round mirrored tunnel of light. He had never seen such a beautiful sight and knew he may never again. He felt at peace in his awe and that was when he felt it.

"Artoo, just exactly where is the Spurios-wave device located aboard this ship?"

"…IN THE BASE OF THE PILOT'S SKULL…"

Deep within Luke's brain another set of Nanites activated. Luke could feel what was happening yet was powerless to do anything about it. His eyes read the Holo-vizor as it scrolled, "…ASTRO-MECH LINK-UP CONFIRMED…REBEL ALLIANCE RENDEZVOUS POINT CONFIRMED…SPURIOS-WAVE DRIVE SYSTEM ACTIVE IN 29...28...27..."

Luke could feel the 'X-Wing' fighter moving forward even if the illusion of light did not show it. The forks of the massive ship in pursuit filled the aft camera view and him with dread.

"…INCOMING TRANSMISSION…"

"Play it."

A pale Holographic projection of a tall, rail thin man in an Imperial Admiral's uniform with a narrow chest full of rank insignias appeared, his eyes were closed and the figure stood stiff at attention. Luke was taken aback by the sight of a compact model Astro-mech with a human's brain floating within the clear glass panels. A bundle of tubes sprouted out of its top and ran in all directions to join with the human beside and the banks of computers surrounding it.

The tinny speakers within the fighter relayed an even creepier voice as the expressionless man spoke without opening his eyes, "I am Admiral Xotivor Korsche. Your escape is hopeless, I have been sent to retrieve you and give you to your new owner."

Luke floored the pedals for more power but was met with denial.

"You are within the wave-field of this ship and are now bound to our time and space. Your surrender is not necessary you will simply stay within this field until we arrive at the emperor's prison where he shall punish your disobedience and present you with all the horrors he has in store for you."

Luke was about to turn the craft and fight when the Holo-vizor scrolled, "…BASKEEARRII-TOX-FX-IMP CODEX#1029384756...INITIATING…LOGGING IN…DENIED…"

Luke eyed the ticker in the corner as if it would help the situation, "…17...16...15..."

"…LOGGING IN…DENIED…LOGGING IN…ACCESSING…ACCESS GRANTED…Attack commencing…"

"How dare you attack an Imperial vessel! I will crush you!" The admiral's reaction confirmed the effectiveness of the cyber warfare now being waged. The sightless cadaver of a man shook his fists as he barked the words. The Astro-mech screeched as it head spun back and forth shakily out of control. The brain inside was sloshed about as the liquid suspending it boiled until an umbrella of sparks shot out of the droid's top.

Admiral Korsche screamed as he dropped to one knee in intense pain with both hands gripping the digitally induced migraine his head experienced as Baskel's operating system virus wreaked havoc on the enemy, "Open fire all stations!"

The length of upper decks of the 'Spurios' class ship vented themselves to reveal banks of plasma cannons centering their targeting cursors on the tiny 'X-Wing' Fighter.

"I've got a really bad feeling about this!" Luke shuddered as red targeting lasers spread out across the nose and cockpit of his ship.

R2-D2 shrilled in agreement splitting Luke's eardrums

Luke eyed the Holo-vizor and let out a breath of relief, "…SPURIOS CLASS VESSEL TARGETING SYSTEM…OFFLINE." The spread of red lasers disappeared and the weapons backed down and into the decks. "…OPPOSING SPURIOS-WAVE DRIVE DISSENGAGING…MAIN ENGINE LINE…OFF LINE…"

"Sorry admiral, you just got 'Sliced' by the best and you're the one who's about to get crushed!"

"…6...5...4..."

The image of Admiral Korsche lost sound and distorted as he screamed silently while falling over backward in step with the Astro-mech's dome exploding. The transmission turned to static and disappeared as the 'Spurios' class ship lost its resistance to the all powerful field of gravity and stretched out into a thread in an instant and joined the rest of time and space on its venture to the center of the galaxy.

"…3...2...1...SPURIOS-WAVE DRIVE ENGAGED…."

Luke saw a face in the light momentarily, that of the woman he encountered twice before. She was smiling, his instincts told him the moon was safe and one day may even be whole again, the 'X-Wing' fighter leapt forward out of the black hole as his consciousness faded to black.

Luke was in a medically induced coma once again, his sleep center hijacked and controlled by microscopic machines in order to maintain the secrecy of the Rebel Alliance's movements, even such a trusted general is not allowed to know exactly where the fleet would be at anytime, this information is privileged only by the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the Rebel Alliance and the Grandmaster Strategist General, Admiral Akbar. Very few missions warranted a direct pickup in open space by an actual battleship of the Alliance.

As far as Admiral Akbar was concerned Luke was still a piece on a chessboard of a game long from being finished.

"Pexo-Colo!"

"Were lookin' good boss, not a thing in sight."

"Good, Baskeearrii!

"His vitals are fine and the droid is a bit beat up, but not as much as he is, he'll live!"

The admiral held the tiny 'X-Wing' Fighter in his view outside the thick wrap-around panes of space faring glass of the bridge of the 'Victorious'. His giant eyes could make out the sleeping outline of the young pilot inside.

"Any moment now." the admiral said to himself from deep within his complex brain system.

The view filled with an entire division's worth of Imperial Battleships. The crew gasped lightly, this was an event they were always training for. "Target General Skywalker's ship and let 'em know were heating up the guns."

"Aye, Sir!" Barked from behind the command figure as the window lit up with a burst of laser fire in a perfect circle around the 'X-Wing' Fighter letting the opposition know they would ruin their emperor's plans if they got too close or tried to cut off their escape routes.

Admiral Akbar turned to the Queen's Royal Guard and spoke while motioning to several more of the Bridge Police Force. "Seize him!"

The old, curly grey-haired man was pulled out of his chair by brute force, his only arm twisted behind his back. "What's the meaning of this Akbar? Have you lost all your minds or just one of them?!"

"Shut up Pexo, I've known you are a spy for months now and you played them right to me, thank you. What you and everyone should know is this ship uses a broadcasted bandwidth of signals which seeks out inactive instruments and identifies their presence as they come onboard, it's the same system used by the Royal Houses to find electronic contraband, especially those of Imperial design and keeps a copy the devices settings and sends a report directly to security. We've found it is better to hear first then react, it gives us more options to use misinformation or even the truth in this case control the conditions of the battlefield. Right now the Alliance is free to move and reposition into new secret locations as most of the emperor's forces are here. We never could have gathered so much opposition in one place without someone close to me trying to give us away."

The old man sneered as he responded to the allegations, "Call me what you want, it doesn't matter, you are as much of a murderer now as the emperor is!"+

"How so?"

"You have sent as many young men to their deaths as the emperor has! I have a daughter in the Alliance and grandson in the Imperial Navy! I can't let you kill them or let them kill each other! This war is over! Give up and surrender and end this thing! You are killing as many people as he is but you are going to lose by force eventually and then legions will be executed by the crippled shiploads for resisting further!"

Admiral Akbar stared deep into the old man's eyes for several moments keeping his stone faced appearance then spoke, "You are relieved of duty to the Rebel Alliance." The old man gave the admiral a hardened stare in return. "What happened to you? You are one of the Old Republic's most decorated and trusted warriors!"

The old man sneered, he knew what the admiral wanted, an explanation, "So what 'Fishy'? That was decades ago! Look at me now, a slave to a desk and running from all I ever fought for and loved, my wife was still on Alderaan when it was destroyed in service to the 'Houses' and I hadn't seen her in almost five years!" Pexo-Colo shouted the words loud with true anger and frustration. "She was destroyed why? Because a bunch of rich cronies were losing their hold on what they owned to another even more oppressive force and just did not know when they were beat and neither do you! At the rate we're going if we don't get cornered and wiped out first the Rebel Alliance will starve soon and disband!"

The admiral let the man have his say then spoke to him the way an old friend would, "I know you never wanted this life on the run and I am sorry for the loss of your wife, do you even care anymore Pexo about what happens to the beings of this galaxy and what horrors await their offspring should the emperor be allowed to continue his quest for power?"

The old man's cloudy, faded blue eyes went cold and hard as he spoke his heart, "No, 'Fishy'. I don't have a feeling left for any of it, you can toss me in a prison barge and torture me all day or send me out the air lock for all I care, I've thought about doing it myself but the safety systems on this ship are tamper proof beyond anything I can do and won't let me."

"That's good enough for me, Lieutenant Perchesa!"

"Aye, Sir!" The girl with the bright orange crew cut and the clipboard appeared at the admiral's side. She smiled with a bloodthirsty grin at the discovery of a spy in their midst. The former Rebel Alliance Communications Officer knew the game was up and his fate sealed. He lowered his head as the admiral spoke. "Log this please, lieutenant. Captain Pexo-Colo, you are hereby convicted of treason by evidence on record and your own admission to giving away troop movements and further jeopardizing innocent lives."

The old man barked at the admiral, "No one is innocent 'Fish…'Oooof!" The old man doubled over as the big guard socked him in the gut. "Shut up! The admiral is speaking!"

Admiral Akbar pressed on, "You work for the Empire now and you have failed your new master, I'm sure he will not be as fair in his assessment of your performance as I am. Good bye Pexo-Colo, We were friends but you threw it away and now it's my turn." Admiral Akbar flipped a fin to the windows, "Throw him a Med-evac torpedo and send him over to the other side where he belongs!"

The admiral turned to Lieutenant Perchesa and barked at her over the shouts of insults being dragged off down the hallway. "You are my new Com-Op! Control, transfer all Com-Op's to 'Captain' Perchesa's station.

"Thank you, Sir!" She belted out while saluting over the cheers and feeling of relief the crew felt at having a traitor removed from their midst.

The admiral spun her around to the window with a big fin and pointed with the other as a Med-evac torpedo raced across the space between the two enemies. A moment later a single shot from a smaller Imperial cruiser vaporized it as it drifted to close. "Just remember dear, our lives are in your hands, now get to work!"

"Baskeearrii!"

"Aye, Sir!"

"Send her out!"

"Aye, Sir!" Sending out 'The Queen'!

"Admiral Akbar!" The new Com-officer cued.

"Yes, Drosa," The admiral new everyone's first and middle names too, no detail however small ever left his memory.

"Incoming Transmission from Her Majesty, The Queen."

The admiral barked to the whole bridge crew, "No standing salute, got no time! Put it on for us!

A full color holographic image filled the floor between the admiral and the panes of glass. The crew's mouths dropped at the undeniable beauty of the woman sitting in perfect form on a throne of white marble and silky silver pillows in a crystal white gown under lights dimmed just enough make her features soft, dark and for a lack of a better word, perfect. Her expression was free from emotion and her lips were painted the color of the blood of the innocent shed by the Empire. Her eyes surveyed the crew upon the bridge of her flagship and made all who caught her gaze feel like an uncultured youngling.

Baskel's heart skipped a beat when the love of his life, however short it may be spoke as the Queen's transport grew smaller in the windows as it moved out onto the battlefield to take a position before the 'X-Wing' Fighter. "Admiral Akbar, now is the time for a different style of warfare, should the Empire destroy me you will not engage. You will eliminate the General and escape to join the fleet for the next engagement. These are your orders now. Am I clear?"

"Absolutely, Your majesty! We stand by your side!"

The Idea of losing Crizora hit home to Baskel and he felt a rock form in his stomach. The big Royal Guard rejoined him on the bridge after removing the traitor.

"Thank you admiral, may the Force be with you." The eloquence of her words melted all those who listened and galvanized the crew's will to fight.

"You as well, my friend." The image disappeared.

The big guard whispered to Baskel with sincerity, "Trust in Her Majesty, she will win this battle for sure." He winked and smiled a wide face full of giant round teeth which could have crushed bones and gravel if he was hungry enough.

Baskel thought about who the Empire was up against for a moment and broke down with a grin and a whispering snicker of his own, "Yeah you're probably right."

Right on time the admiral barked at them from across the deck, "You two in the corner! Shut up and get back to work!"

Chapter 97

The galaxy listened in as the Royal adversaries ships squared off. The prize, Luke Skywalker, asleep in the 'X-Wing' Fighter craft holding position at the rendezvous point was dwarfed by the transports holding positions on either side. The co-pilot anxiously awaited more commands but did not make a sound choosing instead to swivel his dome and document the standoff. The life of a farm boy, Jedi in training and General of the 'New Republic' hung in the balance. Emperor Palpatine's only concern being if the young man could not be turned to the Dark side and controlled he must be destroyed.

The admiral had his doubts the emperor was anywhere near but he could actually be aboard his transport, the Sith warrior within the twisted wreckage of a man was a bloodthirsty killer and blinded by pride and always loved to make a show of his power.

"Let's skip the pleasantries…" The deep gurgling growl crackled across the speakers signaling it was time for discussion.

"Very good then, emperor." The Queen stayed stoic.

Aboard the 'Victorious' Admiral Akbar shot a big eye over to Baskel who was waiting with a thumb up in the air and over to Captain Perchesa's station who nodded hard twice to confirm unspoken orders.

"The 'Victorious' has a communication system like no other, I assure you your attempts to block our transmissions are useless, we have very talented people we inspire to work with us and they are quite innovative, the galaxy is watching emperor."

C-3PO watched on with interest, the human interaction fascinated him, he was an observing scientist in his element.

Crizora could feel the emperor seethe as she spoke, "General Skywalker, the hero of the 'New Republic' will be returning with me to the Rebel Alliance Battleship 'Victorious' and we will be leaving here, there will be no bloodshed today."

The emperor took his time to respond, feeling the situation for deception. "You are in no position to dictate."

"Yes…I am." The Queen moved her left hand into the light, the crystal band adorning her little finger glowed, igniting a fire in the tyrants eyes. The Queen's other hand held a sleek, long barreled pistol which she aimed directly at the finger with the ring.

The emperor was quicker with a response, "You would not dare."

"My 'Dear emperor' trust me completely when I say I would gladly shoot off all of these fingers if it hurt you in an way. I would shoot my own heart here and now if I knew for sure it would kill you with me to be rid of you, however your death will come from elsewhere, at another time, even you cannot avoid the prophecy, the galaxy will find balance again when it is without you."

Admiral Akbar was at his moment of truth, everything hinged on the emperor not knowing Leia had stolen the mysterious relic from the Imperial Forces Special Projects Division's outpost on a small dead moon the Rebel Alliance overran and keeping the ruse of operations going, Luke returning the relic, and incapacitating the mining drill and 'Slicing' into and disabling a top-secret cruiser no one had seen but the Alliance knew existed.

What the emperor needed the ring for was anyone's guess but the tyrant would not rest until he had it in his possession which factored well into the Admiral's plans.

"I will show you no one can escape my wrath, Captain Wixxim."

Again the horrific scene of Captain Wixxim shooting the guards, laying his rifle-butt against the Queen's jaw and the spray of blood and teeth and her execution ending in a snowy transmission played out. The emperor laughed with ferocity at his deviousness as the galaxy gasped in horror at what they had just witnessed.

"You will surrender to me! All of you are now prisoners of the Empire!" The emperor's tirade of insane laughter quieted as his eyes took in another snowy transmission clearing itself.

An image of the Queen clapping her hands after picking herself up off the floor appeared and laughed along with Captain Wixxim, the handmaidens and the guards. The audio of the entire Rebel Alliance fleet having a good laugh at the emperor's expense thanks to Baskel's key. Crizora wiped the imitation blood off her lip and tears from her eyes as she spit out two sterile dental implants she had hidden in her cheek along with a spray of fake blood, she rubbed her jaw, "You kind of got me there, captain, that's gonna leave a bruise!"

"You said make it look real! Are you all right?" The Captain held out a glove in concern while the handmaidens dabbed the makeup off of the laughing guards. "I'll be fine."

The emperor was outraged, "What is the meaning of this Wixxim!"

"I gave the money to an orphanage, there seem to be more and more of them these days!" The Captain had the look of burning hate for the emperor again.

Crizora kept up the eloquence but gave it to the emperor straight, "Your latest attempt to end my life has met with failure, you bribed the wrong guard. If you kill me in public you will lose more than this ring, your weak hold on the galaxy will crumble further and without Luke you will never rule completely. If I were to command the 'Victorious'to charge and self destruct you and you fleet would be vaporized before you could even turn around, you are a fool for coming in so close to me."

"Then kill me and prove your worth!" the emperor roared.

"Killing you would give rise to your apprentice whom I actually fear and can respect as far as his management style and image. You demand respect while the Dark Lord commands it, maybe it is time for a change in leadership for your cause to continue and I am talking to the wrong person?"

Baskel was in love as she spoke with Royal authority. The older guard rolled his eyes and slapped Baskel on the back lifting him onto his toes for making all the right moves and giving him faith in the next generation.

The emperor scowled and conceded, "Enjoy your victory 'Your Highness', soon my grip on the galaxy will be even tighter and all who suffer my wrath will do it for you honor." The transmission cut out and the emperor's transport backed away.

Crizora signaled for the transmission to be cut off while flopping down on the pillows, her hands rested upon the smooth marble rails a she spoke frankly while shaking her head, "That man is the most disgusting and evil creature I have ever seen, Captain Wixxim!, put a tractor beam on Skywalker's ship and get him to the Med-bay!

"Aye, Your Highness!"

"Stop calling me that!" As much as Crizora liked being 'The Queen' for a day her departure from the role felt good.

Chapter 98

Luke came to in the state of the art Med-bay of the 'Victorious', the tall white walls were sterile and spotless. Absent was the room's usual hustle and bustle of hundreds of people and automated droids carrying out their duty commands.

At his feet in a charging dock near the end of his bed was the chromed Micro-droid, crouched on its curled under spider like legs with its flip-top lid cracked only enough to keep a single tiny red eye on Luke ready to spring at a moment's notice.

Next to the bed lay his diary in its tamperproof box. He worked his stiff finger bones over to the lid and let it I.D him. He was just about to pick up the book when the giant blast door at the far end of the room opened down into the floor.

In walked the fish-humanoid and Grandmaster Strategist General, Admiral Akbar with his fins behind his back. His pace was many beats slower than his usual hurried shuffle from station to station. He walked up to end of the bed and stood before his General, "Welcome back, Luke."

Luke managed to croak, "Thank you, Sir." He rubbed the back of his neck thinking about the Spurios-wave device and if it was still there.

The admiral held up a tiny pill-shaped piece of glass in his fin's digits. Before Luke could say a word he answered him, "It's what's left of the 'Spurios' Project." The admiral dropped it to the floor and crushed it under his big white boot heel. "…and hopefully the Imperial Forces Special Projects Division, now that Lieutenant Sika-Va is no longer enslaved to them and has passed on, they are a bunch of hacks at best."

Luke took his time finding the words, "So much happened, it felt like a lifetime."

The admiral thought about his response for more than a few seconds which meant the question was worth a more personal response, "Luke, you have been through an extraordinary set of circumstances, you have to understand, there is much more to the universe than just what we can see and feel. War knows no bounds in its destruction and cares not where it happens. I can assure you there are other planes of existence with their own triumphs and tragedies, but I cant police them all. We have to make sure the one we have doesn't wipe itself out first through one stupid idea or another."

Luke raised his eyebrow and nodded slightly in absolute agreement.

Again the admiral beat Luke to the words, "There will be no debriefing for this whole mission, it never happened as far as the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the Rebel Alliance are concerned, the fleet thinks you were stranded by engine trouble and presumed dead and were rescued. Baskel and Crizora have been promoted and will be manning the 'Victorious' under a new name, the 'Compassionate' which will become a full fledged Rebel Alliance Medical Frigate and orphanage of education under the command of Dr. Axuki Baskeearrii, Baskel will be her Master-tech and a consultant for the fleet on further development of the Baskeearrii Ejection/Exploration Suit, and will become special issue soon for fighter pilots and referred to as a 'BEES' unit. He says the info you gathered was quite 'unique'.

The admiral pointed at the Micro-droid, "This thing found its way in here from the science lab and wont leave your side so Dr. Baskeearrii assigned it to you for the time. The crew is on leave as this ship's weapons are transferred to the forward fleet for more fire power in the future."

"Where is Leia?"

"As usual her whereabouts are a secret."

"I understand."

The admiral tossed him a chrome chip of steel, "Your next housing arrangements. Again, Thank you Luke, by the way, your blaster is checked into the forward armory and your Lightsaber will be returned to you after my departure, security rules and all that."

"Thank you, admiral."

The admiral patted Luke's foot with a fin and said, "See you on the front line, son." He turned and walked out of the room.

Moments later a quiet group of beautiful young women silently glided an anti-gravity gurney up to Luke's bedside and quickly fluttered across the floor and out the giant doorway. As the door shut he was sure her guards were hidden out of sight somewhere.

A propped up, beat up and injured Leia found Luke's eyes and they felt relief to see each other.

He spoke, "I thought I would never see you again."

She slid a tired hand with a bruised wrist over to Luke, He held it delicately with his real hand. She replied "I never did, what happened out there?" The stare from her dark eyes came from a place of absolute sincerity.

"You wouldn't believe it, I just know I learned one thing after it all."

"What?" Leia smiled.

"Hell has no fury like a woman scorned."

Leia laughed even though it hurt, "You got that right, buddy. Now you have to tell me."

Luke told her his story until his voice was hoarse again. Leia never doubted a word of it. Leia told him of the assault on the Empire's secret base where the 'Spurios' project had been headquartered, the theft and transfer to the Rebel Alliance of the relic and the bravery of the Royal Guards, how they fought and fell side by side until they conquered the Imperial Forces stationed there and wore their uniforms to keep up the ruse.

The lower command figures were quick to follow along after a laundry list of evil criminal engineer master-minds and the upper-ranking authorities were convicted by the Royal Guard's acting Judge Advocate General of their war crimes on the spot and executed via the airlock along with the destroyed data and equipment for their research. She did not mention the cause of her injuries but she did say she felt stupid for not watching her back. As bad as her wounds were Luke did not push her for answers.

Somewhere in the late hours of their night their conversation wandered until they both closed their eyes in the safety of each others company and fell into a true and restful sleep together.

The end

Epilogue: An excerpt from Luke's Diary.

Can you believe it! They kept my 'X-Wing'! 'Top secret' they said.

They gave me a new one but its just not the same, the 'new parts' smell is awful. Artoo was not pleased when the transport pool gathered up a sizable crate of upgrade parts and about two hundred meters of welding cable on my request and dropped them off with orders to put them in.

The tracking system says he's in the bay working but when I page him I get an '…ERROR…PLEASE STANDBY…' I think I'll wait till morning before I try it again.

I heard through the weekly fleet briefing Leia Organa, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the Rebel Alliance and acting Queen of the Royal Houses commissioned from the people of Palishii-E has stepped down. The position is now in the history books in favor of a Parliamentary Democratic system to set the government in motion which in time will be the backbone of 'The New Republic'. The new constitution will dictate an Imperial system of government as forbidden with severe punishments for anyone who ever claims to be a singular ruler of any society anywhere, the emperor and Jabba the Hutt should get a kick out of that one.

I have been receiving messages from crew members fleet wide as well as from several stealth family housing installations scattered across the sector telling me of their children's special abilities and the presence of Mitochlorean life forms in their blood. An impromptu organization of school teachers and scholars of all disciplines has been formed and is soliciting donations from the Houses for a school in which I may eventually instruct them to learn control over their talents. I will be retrieving Master Yoda to be the new Headmaster, I'm sure he still has a place for younglings in his heart if they can take the occasional poke or crack across their practice helmet from a wooden stick if they are older, I have more to learn as well and will probably feel it a few more times myself.

During my rest up before I departed the 'Victorious' I thought long and hard about what I went through and ultimately let go of any doubts I had about facing my father and the monster who controls him. I will find my father and bring him back from the Dark side if it's the last thing I do, he did not choose the path, he was tricked into stepping upon it, his spirit can be cleansed and saved. He is 'The Chosen One', the emperor imprisoned him to hedge his bets and is guilty of all crimes by the Dark Lord's hand or mind. I have already defeated the emperor and will not die by his bidding, the Force has told me so.

I must find my father and set him free to restore balance to the universe.

I have a plan to rescue Han, Lando and Chewbacca actually came up with it which was the easy part, they don't have to walk in to Jabba's lair and talk to him if our first attempt does not work, either way C-3PO is not going to pleased with the role I have in mind for him.

The admiral says to be quick about it, he has another assignment for me.

-Luke

No Jawas or droids were actually harmed during the making of this book. Sandmen, Storm-Troopers and the like are played by professional stuntmen and while they take the necessary precautions it is very physical and fast paced work and injuries do happen occasionally.

Do not attempt any of the stunts contained within these pages and remember younglings, its not real blood and guts, its just fruit jelly thinned with some corn syrup.

The author wishes to thank the following people and organizations who helped in every aspect of this production,

My humanoid wife and carbon based pets.

The Jedi Path-tenth edition (Reference)

The guys and gals at The Kessel Graveyard for their help with parts and know-how. (Outside of mining drill/junkyard scenes)

Emperor Palpatine (I still can't get that joke out of my head, you are bad)

The Padawan learners of the Jedi Academy, (they are so cute) and all the cadets of the class of BYB 54'

Chief Administrator Master Yoda and Master Luke Skywalker

Master Talona Termina (The Dark One) Official Rebel Alliance licensed Ancient Arts and Personal Defense Instructor (Weapons, costumes and some totally wicked moves)

Darth Vader Charities (Reach out and lift someone up today-Donate if you know what is best for you)

Tracy Mooreland (The Sparkling Woman)

Jeanne Mooreland (The girl with the orange crew cut and clipboard)

Daymond Wisham as Captain Wixxim

The Royal Houses Film Commission

Organa Staffing

The Palpatine Elite Shuttle Service

Industrial Light and Magic-Coruscant Div.

The Hutt's Grand Hotel-Tattooine, Conference Rooms and Staff

Skywalker Moisture Supply (Couldn't have done it without you!)

Pok-Achaa's Catering (The best Jawa truck cuisine this side of the galaxy, thanks for adding us to the route guys!)

The House of Royals Guard Corps

Corellia Construction-droids LTD.

Supernova Modeling Agency (Handmaidens/Jabba's Dancers/Totally Hot)

Dagobah Galactic Game Preserve

Galactic Cruise Liner 'Spurios' and its 'Starlight Lounge' ('Victorious' Command Deck scenes, 'Spurios' scenes)

'Torka-Pruum' Space Station Public Relations and Tourism Board (For cutting the red tape.)

Grand Mof Korsche and The Imperial Navy

The 503rd Storm-Trooper Brigade Public Relations Unit

Joint Chiefs of the Rebel Alliance-Public Relations Unit

Axuki Emergency Medical Response and Transport ('Victorious' and Mining Drill Med-bay scenes.)

Baskeearrii Tech Solutions Unlimited

ASAP Printing-Morro bay California, Sol System-Planet 3

We all shall bow to the awesome power of The Fin-Astra Mining Company's 'Comet Crusher 99,000' (Crystal moon, space station and fight scenes and we really are sorry for the actual glass pane we broke.)

the Force for bringing inspiration in our most trying of times.