The Key and the Force
Chapter 1
Luke Skywalker, Jedi Master of the New Republic, stepped out onto the balcony of his apartment building on Coruscant. It was night, but you would never know it. Millions of beings lived on Coruscant, and at no time was it ever quiet. Even now hundreds of vehicles soared through the skylines of the planet city, each one making so much noise as they flew it was hard to imagine how anyone slept on Coruscant with all the noise. Far below on the ground countless numbers of beings, human and alien alike, traversed the walkways, going into clubs, cantinas, nightclubs, and performing many other activities, not all of them legal.
Coruscant itself had much history as well. For nearly 20,000 years it had been the capitol planet of the Old Republic, until its collapse, and the Empire was born. The Empire, under the command of the Emperor, ruled the galaxy with an iron fist. The Imperials, as those who served the Empire were called, made all the laws and controlled everyone's way of life. Coruscant was now under Imperial control and was where the Emperor and his most ruthless minions resided. It was all but impenetrable. However, in response to the tyranny of the Empire, the Rebellion formed. The Rebellion was for peace and justice, and for the end of the tyrannical might of the Empire. In the end the Rebellion won and the New Republic was formed. Now the New Republic has been in existence for nearly 25 standard years, with Luke Skywalker's sister, former Princess Leia Organa Solo, as the Chief of State.
The night air cooled Luke down, and he breathed a sigh of relief. Life should have been going well for the Jedi Master. The New Republic was at the height of its prosperity, protecting thousands of worlds. The evil of the Empire had been defeated and had signed, after much hardships, a peace treaty with the New Republic, and Luke himself had even settled down with his own wife, Mara Jade Skywalker.
However, everything was still not right.
Everyone, especially Luke, knew that at some point yet another threat would come to threaten the New Republic. It has already happened many times before, and it is bound to happen again. For many nights now Luke had had trouble sleeping. His dreams were haunted by a nameless fear, something he could not quite understand. Dark shapes swirled around in his mind, of strange creatures, falling stars, and… a key?
Luke looked up at the night sky and gazed at the wonder of the universe. Above him billions of stars sparkled, each one beautiful, giving life to who knows what beings. But something was wrong. As Luke stared at the stars, he felt a disturbance, not in Force, but in something else. As Luke continued to stare, one of the stars, an extremely bright one, dimmed and flickered out. Where the star once was, there was now just empty space.
Luke braced himself for a tidal wave of fear and pain to rush through him in the Force, but nothing happened. There were no feelings of pain, fear, or anger at all, just nothingness.
Darkness.
"I got a bad feeling about this." Luke said into the night.
In another part of the city, Chief of Sate of the New Republic Leia Organa Solo woke up. Next to her, former Imperial officer, smuggler, scoundrel, and now husband, Han Solo slept soundly. She had woken up with a start, feeling something that she could not quite figure out. She did not see the star flicker out, but she did feel a sense of worry from her brother. But also another feeling as well.
Darkness.
She whispered, to the shadows of the room, her voice full of fear "They are coming."