PROLOGUE
Aaris III
4 ABY
Two days after the Battle of Endor
Crunch.
Luke Skywalker grimaced as the sounds of the now-trampled fern bounced off the trees around him. Pausing to adjust his drooping backpack, he pulled out a small water canteen and took a long swig, craning his neck upwards toward the rainforest canopy. Two beads of sweat raced down his darkened brow. He screwed the cap back on his canteen and reattached it to his belt, shortly before activating the comlink on his wrist.
"Han, do you copy?"
"When have I not?" a masculine voice jested in response. A few beats passed before it sounded again. "Find anything interesting?"
"Nope." Luke sighed softly. "Nothing. Artoo sensed life forms before we landed, but so far I'm only seeing trees, trees, and… Well, trees."
Not even the comlink could muffle Han's snort. "Yeah, well, don't count on it."
A faint smile touched Luke's lips. "I'm going to go farther south and try my luck near Kastays." He lowered his left arm, glanced this way and that, and then continued walking in a new direction, keeping an eye on his holo compass. As he continued to hike, a V-shaped stain gradually appeared where his pack met the backside of his grey tank top. The Jedi winced at the dampness, resisting the urge to guzzle down some more water.
Aaris III was hot; he could give it that. Not much sunshine could escape through the thick canopy above him, but the humidity radiating in the jungle around Luke was enough to make him consider a long vacation in Hoth.
Taking note of a large batch of tall plants ahead, Luke grabbed a machete from the right thigh holster of his cargo pants and flexed it in his grip. Soon, he'd met the ferns and had begun to chop a path through them, breaking every few minutes to wipe the back of his non-dominant hand against his perspiring face. He'd almost made it to the other side when he heard it: the soft, but clearly audible clink as the toe of his combat boot met a metal object.
He looked down to see what looked like a large spearhead halfway buried in the dirt. Luke got on his hands and knees and quickly dug it up, placing it in the palm of his hand as he stood back up. Strands of moist, dark blond hair fell in his eyes and he frowned, turning the object over a few times and examining it. "Han?"
"Yeah, kid."
"No signs of life, but I found some sort of metal ingot." Luke fingered a small brown thread that was attached to the article, noting how it looped around to form a necklace. "Triangular in shape, maybe an eighth of a meter long, five centimeters thick." He closed his eyes, reached out in the Force, and his frown deepened. "There's definitely a form of energy coming from it, but I'm unsure of its intentions."
"So you found a possessed rock," Han replied skeptically, "Maybe a remnant of civilization. Either way, your objective was to rescue any natives who would've been imprisoned by the Empire—or, more importantly, Sarne. If you think this… Ingot… displays signs of intelligent life forms, maybe you should stop playing with their toys."
"This is no toy," Luke murmured, closing his dirt-caked fingers around it. Suddenly he became all too aware of his surroundings, and looked up sharply. His pale blue eyes widened. "Han?" he repeated uneasily. "I've got company."
Author's Note [PLEASE READ]: So, I see you've stumbled upon my story, and have managed to reach the end of the prologue. I hope you didn't die of boredom, as I'm a bit rusty in the fanfiction/writing in general department. If you enjoyed this snippet and would like to read more, please leave a review. Even if you didn't enjoy it, or just want to rant about politics or stale, crusty bread they sometimes serve at Subway, or the really gross orange things inside of green olives, feel free to leave a review as well.
The next chapter will be a huge Easter egg for me. I hope that you, fellow reader, will stay around long enough to savor it too.