STAR WARS - RESCUE
Chandrila, One Year After the Battle of Endor...
The ship arced over the landscape of Chandrila, it was sleek and silver and bore a resemblance to that of the Royal starships of Naboo. This ship however belonged to Leia Organa.
Her brother, Luke Skywalker, sat on board in the pilots seat. R2-D2 sat next to him, plugged into the ships navigation system.
R2 beeped a question.
" Yes Artoo, " Luke chuckled, " Threepio will be there. "
Luke and Artoo were returning from a mission on Coruscant and were on their way to the Chandrila Senate House to meet with Leia and Mon Mothma. Leia had sounded worried on the comm and Luke grew more worried himself the closer they got to the building.
Luke saw the building on the horizon and smiled despite the worry on his mind. After all their fighting against the Empire they'd finally established a new government, one that didn't strike fear in the hearts of its citizens. Luke remembered once when he was a young boy, fourteen or so, Imperial stormtroopers had come to Tatooine in search of an outlaw said to be in the area.
Aunt Beru had answered the door that day had been terrified to see those menacing helmets. Luke had never forgotten how panicked she was about that visit. When Uncle Owen got home Beru told him all about it and he had a similar reaction.
Luke had then thought she was merely scared by the soldiers but he now knew they both thought Luke's father had found him. His aunt and uncle had wanted to leave the planet after that visit.
It had never occurred to Luke that Owen and Beru lived in fear because of him. They lived day in and day out wondering if today would be the day Darth Vader stormed into their home and took Luke, and most likely their lives, from them.
Luke had his arguments and rivalries with Owen but he knew that Owen cared deeply about him otherwise he might have just palmed him off onto Old Ben. Ben would of protected him from Vader but Owen and Beru elected to take care of their nephew.
Luke stared at the sunset of Chandrila and felt sad his uncle and aunt never got to see him become a Jedi. Luke hoped they would be proud.
He saw that the Senate building grew close and he began the landing process, he touched down on a small platform on the building and draped a light brown cloak over his black clothing.
The entrance ramp lowered and he walked down it with Artoo close behind, he was approached by a young Zabrak woman with a datapad.
" Hello sir, my name is Karri. May I please have your name? "
" Luke Skywalker. I'm here to see Leia Organa. " Luke replied.
Karri nodded and began tapping away on her data pad.
" Welcome, Master Jedi. " She said, gesturing for him to move forward.
" Oh I'm no master. " Luke chuckled, " I still have a lot to learn. "
Karri smiled politely and again gestured.
Luke walked towards the turbo lift with Artoo behind him.
After Luke had entered the lift and the doors had slid shut Karri opened a comm channel with a man that sprung up in blue holographic form.
" He just arrived. " She said.
" Good. Make sure you hide it well, we don't want to him to catch on to us. " The man said, in a regal voice.
Karri nodded and the man disappeared, she opened a small satchel on her hip and withdrew a small semicircular device and headed for the silver ship.
Inside the building Luke walked the quiet halls, occasionally passing a senator or an aide. He smiled at everyone and engaged in a conversation with more than one familiar face. Eventually he arrived at the Chancellor's office.
He opened the door and saw Mon Mothma sitting at a large decorative desk with Leia sitting on the other side of the desk, occupying one of the three chairs in the room. The golden droid C-3P0 stood next to Leia.
" Greetings, chancellor. " Luke said.
Mothma chuckled.
" Chirpy as ever I see. " She proclaimed.
" Try to take away Artoo and he wouldn't be so happy. " Leia grinned, elated to see her brother for the first time in weeks.
" Just try it and see what happens. " Luke laughed, patting Artoo on the head and receiving a beep and a whistle as a response.
Leia stood and wrapped her arms around Luke.
" What happenend here? " Leia asked, indicating to a tear in Luke's cloak.
" An angry Trandoshan named Gebb. " Luke murmured, shuddering at the memory of the drunken lizard like man.
" Sounds like fun. " Leia joked, moving back to her seat.
" You have no idea. " Luke said, taking a seat next to Leia.
" Hello Master Luke, it's brings me joy to see you alive and well, sir. "
" Now, the reason why I called you both here. I've received reports from some of our, for lack of a better word, spies that Imperials have been spotted and are believed to be amassing a fleet near Abafar. "
" Have you sent a recon team? " Luke asked.
Mothma shook her head, " That's where our problem is. "
Leia turned to Luke, " Abafar is currently having political issues. They have no leader and are at great risk of a hostile takeover from the Empire. "
" So what? We find a leader for them? " Luke asked.
" Not find. Rescue. An old general named Aurix used to live on Abafar. He was born there and served in the Rebellion. We recently discovered that he was captured by the Empire. " Mothma said.
" The chancellor believes that General Aurix would be wiling to act as a leader for Abafar, at least so the Empire can't assume leadership over the planet. " Leia said.
" Why would that stop them? " Luke asked, puzzled.
" If Abafar has a leader, that leader can represent them in the senate. Therefore the planet would have our protection from the Empire. " Mothma explained.
" We can't protect them now? "
" Not officially, no. We have no jurisdiction. It's early days for the New Republic and we're trying to get the public to trust us. If we show up at Abafar with a fleet and no agreement from its locals then how would we be any different from the Empire? " Mothma stated.
" Why Abafar? I mean specifically? It's barely inhabited and as much as I hate to say it our resources are sparse. " Leia asked, seemingly for the first time to be as in the dark as Luke.
" Abafar could be any other planet. It could be Sullust or Endor or Corellia it makes no difference. We established this government to help. Any planet or system or moon that needs our help whether they know it or not it's our responsibility to be there. " Mothma said, her voice as commanding as possible.
Leia and Luke both agreed with Mon Mothma, they both knew that neither could resist helping when asked for it.
" I've assigned you and one of my best men to rescue General Aurix and return him to Abafar where he can assume leadership of its people. He's a war hero so they should accept him as they're leader, certainly more than they would the Empire. " Mothma said to Luke.
She stood and handed Luke a small device, " Here is the mission information. "
Luke thanked her and left the room, Leia followed him out moments later and stood in the hall with him.
" Your ship is parked on the south side landing platform. " Luke said.
" Any scratches? " Leia asked, eyebrow raised, " It's a pain having a silver ship. "
" Maybe a few, I got into some trouble with a few pirates on the way back. Some Weequays who worked for a guy named Ohnaka. " Luke smiled.
Leia shrugged and gave her brother a hug, " Hang on to it for now. You can take it Abafar, looks like I'm going to be stuck here for a few days. "
" If you say so. Out of interest who am I working with on this assignment? " Luke asked.
" A fighter named Quinn, he joined recently and he's been invaluable ever since. " Leia said.
" Can he fight? " Luke asked, watching Artoo interact with another R2 unit.
" He certainly can. And he can fly. "
" Reminds me of a certain Corellian I know. " Luke smirked.
Leia gave him a grin and left, calling over her shoulder, " Your new partner is in hangar three! "
Luke called for Artoo to follow him and headed for hangar three where he found a short man working on a small cruiser.
The man looked up and saw Luke, he wiped his hands on a cloth tucked into his pocket and shook Luke's hand.
" I'm Quinn. " He said.
" Luke Skywalker. " Luke replied.
" Good to meet you sir. I'm just finishing up on the Chancellor's ship and I'll be right with you. "
Luke nodded his head and once Quinn had finished his work, showered and eaten they both headed for Leia's ship, they passed the Zabrak named Karri who wished them well on their journey and then they boarded the ship.
Luke sat in the pilots chair once again and Quinn and sat next to him.
The ship rose off the ground and they soared into the clouds.