Corellia Cut 5

by gdedwards11

The Great Corellian ship yards. Like Coruscant, it is a planet wide company. Ian Bartholomew, the leading ship builder on the planet. The Empire wants him, the Rebels don't want the Empire to get him. He wants his home planet to be rid of the Empire.

Novel - by Geoffrey D. Edwards Under no
circumstances will this manuscript be released without the express
permission of Disney and/or the copy write holder

Staris Warsis

Corellia

Contents

Corellia

2. The Academy 27

3. Dr. Ian Bartholomew 51

4. Stronger Yet 66

5. Infiltration 72

6. Sith Come Of Age 84

7. Macy Windy 86

8. Government 91

9. Great Ship 97

10. Another Helpless Planet 105

11. Deception 120

12. Magus 124

13. Student Becomes The Teacher 139

14. Unexpected Help 155

15. First And Second Escape 165

16. Light Saber Acquired 189

17. Immaculate Conception 194

18. Followed 274

19. History of a living ship 295

Star Wars Written by Geoffrey D. Edwards

Corellia

One of the largest space ship manufacturers in all
of the known galaxy. The planet name, Corellia.
Several light years from Coruscant. Home of the
great Corellian ship yards. Many of the ships
that are built here are so big that they have to
be built in space. They have vehicles for personnel
transport, there are dozens of elevators stretching
up to the massive space manufacturing facilities in
space. The elevators, modern, a newer fixture for
the Corellians. The elevators moved rapidly.
Moving a person to the space facilities in thirty
minutes or so. Complete with their version of
Coffee and condiments, a rest room and TV for
entertainment. They can sit or stand, no issues
with air pressure and ears. Enough room for thirty
people to sit comfortably and very Safe. The Corellian
ship yards, like most ship yards have parts of old ship
projects strewn about the plant, planet wide. Junk
has collected over the years, much of it, covered
with soot, rust and dirt from wind and rain, some
covered by vegetation that has been there since
the beginning, since the start of the ship
manufacturing revolution. Most of the junk
has been lying there for so long that it has all
taken on much the same color. Kept for possible
parts-needs in the future, the problem, most of
it or all of it is too old or outdated to use anymore,
even for parts. The best anyone could hope for
was to recycle the metal or maybe re-purpose it.

When he was a boy, Ian Bartholomew was just a
gofer of sorts. Running around for all the great ship
builders and engineers getting the things they needed,
some of whom didn't even speak the human language.
Ian was forced to learn their languages as best he could,
partially in order to accommodate them, partially to
know when they were talking about him behind his
back and what they were saying, not that he could
do much about it if they were. A parts man, often
not knowing what the part that was ordered, was for.
Never knowing if that part might have some adverse
effect on his body or worse.

One time, a part was ordered that contained a very
highly penetrable radio-active substance, necessary
in order to make it work. Ian was exposed, shortly
taken ill and sent to one of the company infirmaries
for medical assistance. Fortunately for Ian, the
Corellian medical higher ups discovered a cure for
radio-active poisoning. Unfortunately… a device
had to be surgically implanted in his neck to absorb
the poison from his system, one white blood cell at
a time. The device was very uncomfortable, it got
in the way when he did certain things, made
certain body movements very difficult and/or
painful. It was bad enough that he had to ask
his supervisor to excuse him from performing tasks
that involved those particular body movements.
The officials at the Corellian Ship Yards were not
happy with Ian during that time. Ian felt sick for
about one year before the device was said to
have, "completed" its task, by the infirmary doctors.
Then, the device had to be surgically removed. Ian
felt sick for about another year after the device was
removed but was expected to resume performing
his normal duties at that time with all disregard for
his illness and pain. When he brought it to the
attention of his doctors, they couldn't explain Ian's
so called reaction. Years later, after Ian learned
more about radio-activity he believed that his
body still contained some of the radio-active poison.
The device removed enough to make the poison
non-fatal but his body was expected to eliminate
the rest. Ian believed that if he weren't a Nether,
the device would have been placed so that it
wasn't so uncomfortable and left in longer to
absorb more of the radio-active poison. The device
cost capital while in use. In other words, it was
expensive and as on most planets, doctors were
well paid.

The entire planet was dedicated to building space
ships, good space ships. There were several divisions,
large ships, passenger, private and military, medical
frigates, fighter ships, military transports, large and
small, space stations and the more often common
ships that people bought for personnel use, Speeders
that resembled cars. There was no such thing as a
used Speeder lot. Speeders were either scrapped or
sold under the table by their owner. Who also had
to hope that the buyer wouldn't turn him in. All ships
baring the name Corellia, were expensive too. Of
course they all bore the same Corellian brand name.
They built some of the fastest, most advanced and
largest ships in space or for that matter, in the
galaxy. They even had a division dedicated to building
custom ships, if they weren't too expensive. Their
motto was "No questions asked" In other words,
they would ask you what you wanted built but
they never asked why. A card shark by the
name of Lando Calrissian came to the Corellian's
for a custom Space-Race ship but it was even too
difficult for the greatest of Corellian Designers to
build, although they tried. Lando was particular, he
wanted good deflector shields, powerful weapons,
Hyper Drive capability and some secret compartments
that allowed him to hide freight in case he needed
to. He would test Corellian prototypes but they were
never to his satisfaction. Lando was educated,
trained in combat techniques and well to do. His
parents were precious stone dealers where he was
from, which was the planet of Socorro. They left
him a gold mine of capital. For awhile Lando went
back into the precious stone mining business when
the Space-race business eventually made him and his
great ship, an afterthought. After the precious stones
were mined and packed on automated cargo pods,
Corusca gems that were mined by GemDiver
Station, were sent to Lando Calrissian's Corusca
gem broker, who lived and did business on Borgo
Prime. His broker was responsible for the actual
selling of the gems to interested parties. Though
his broker contract with Calrissian allowed for him
to reap only a small percentage of the profits made
by selling the gems, this was offset by their extreme
value.

Another commissioning was a huge space-station
and its design was attempted by the Corellian's but
was never large enough or efficient enough
to the satisfaction of its idealists/buyers. It was
commissioned by an unknown person. That person's
name was never discovered though it was made known
or at least rumored, that he was from the Empire,
never proven.

There were other ship builders in the Galaxy and
they even built large or fast ships but none the likes
of the Corellian's. Most of the ship builders and
engineers or designer experts went to the infamous
Academy, complements of the Corellian government
and at the expense of the tax payers. Ian
Bartholomew was too young to go to the Academy
at first. He was given a job on Corellia as part
of an orphan program set up through the Human
Resources department on his home planet of
Alderaan. They had made arrangements with
different companies on different planets to employ
and house orphans, or escaped slaves from slave
colonies. Many of the orphan's were sent to
companies on Coruscant. Ian, in spite of his family
being killed when he was a baby, rejected the
notion that he would be adopted by the Corellians,
as a laborer, and not by some nice family. The
operators of the adoption agency, where he
was sent, were lazy, careless and sometimes
quite evil. So getting out of there, under any
circumstances was welcome.

Ian Bartholomew was different, by the time he
was about six years old, he was known to be
young but bright and inquisitive. He seemed to
understand what was being told to him, even
if it was very scientific in explanation and of course,
sometimes he didn't understand. But most
of the time, based on what he had learned
up to that point, he understood what was asked
of him and most of the time and could be counted
on to bring the correct part or parts.

His superiors were often harsh if he brought the
wrong part. Some of the designers and engineers
were all too eager to report his failures, they had
no concept of "Tattle-tails" or loyalty and no concept
of caring for the youth of any species. He lived with
one of the Corellian engineers, made management
and a government official, in his older years by the
government of Corellia. On Corellia the government
was management. (Toliman Prel-fee) was kind
to Ian and defended Ian when he could. There
were times when Ian, in his older days, unknown
to himself, found himself in violation of some
government rule or law. He would be taken in
by the Corellian authorities to a holding facility and
most of the time, Toliman was called. The
authorities office was modern and pristine. The
holding facility was remanded to one of the original
buildings built by the originators of the world wide
plant. Once Ian was even processed through the
penal system and almost hauled away to prison
where Toliman would probably never see Ian again.
Toliman was again, older, was married, very Corellian
but not the usual, shared his home openly. Toliman
would dash into the authorities office and demand,
insistently as a government official, that Ian be
released. Sometimes there was an argument, to
which Toliman would, in all his brilliants, easily defend
Ian against prosecution and sometimes there wasn't
an argument, Ian was just let go.

For instants, one time Ian was hauled in based on
parts that he had in his vehicle that were picked up
on an authority vehicle sensor. The parts were ordered
by the engineers, who loved getting Nethers in trouble
just for a laugh and who knew that the parts were listed
as "Top-Secret." That Ian, at his own expense, would
surely come up on someone's sensors and be hauled in.

When Ian was still somewhat younger, he was unable
to obtain a "Top-Secret" clearance and just didn't know
any better. Toliman would often argue that particular
point based on the fact that he knew, based on what
he'd learned when he worked as an engineer, what
their tricks were. Toliman had occasion to have
participated in the joke from time to time himself in
earlier years. There were lots of species from other
planets working there, many of which had homes
there. But you could only be a government official
and have lavish accommodations on the whole, if
you were Corellian born and had been to the
Academy, as per their law. But if you were an
Academy educated Corellian you could pretty
much get what you wanted, within reason. The
government or management, was very communist
in nature but treated Corellian born graduates quite
well. They decided what you were going to be once
you reached adulthood and where you would live and
work, even if you were born there. If a person took in
an orphan from another planet, orphans were known
as Nethers, the person taking them in would most
likely be subjected to the treatment of orphans and
have to deal with the emotions that came with it.
Nethers were frowned upon by many and often
picked on or treated badly. Considered low-lives by
most, Nethers were, when older, assigned less
than accommodating or comfortable housing if
allowed to stay on Corellia at all. Toliman was forced
by the government to take Ian in but Toliman
actually had an affinity for Nethers. He, unlike
most Corellian's, felt sorry for them. He often
wondered what it must be like for someone with
no family. Just to have someone to be close to,
a mother and father.

He took Ian in gladly, Ian was only nine months
old and a charming child, when Toliman and his
wife Aladfar (Alad-far) took him in. They raised
Ian like he was their own. When Ian was four,
the Corellian government put him to work against
Toliman and Aladfar's better judgment. Toliman
quickly realized Ian's ability to learn and began
teaching him, at a very young age, about ship
design. Toliman was impressed with Ian's
obvious advanced intelligence and dexterous
abilities. Ian put electronic or mechanical things
together that normally required many
years of training. At five, Ian was able to
solder components together, at will, to become
part of one of Toliman's designs, often even when
Toliman wasn't sure himself. Toliman continued to
teach Ian as long as he continued to show interest
in what was being taught. Toliman and Aladfar
grew to love Ian so much that they eventually
adopted him into their family, much to the reproach
of the Corellian government. Adoption from the
government, which was allowed if you were a
government official, into a private family was
difficult and cost a lot of capital but they believed
he was worth it.

Aladfar, Toliman's wife, died from a disease known
as Merga when she was Fifty, Merga was basically
fluid around the heart. On Corellia it was considered
a cancer. And as one might imagine, on Corellia
there were plenty of cancer types to go around.
There were few, if any safety regulations to prevent
inhalation of a lot of the dust types that were
released into the air as a result of mass production.
Infection was rampant and did often turn into cancer.
There was no knowledge of infections or infection
control on Corellia. People were just thought to be
"taken ill." Toliman was deeply in love with Aladfar
and her death was the beginning of his down-fall.

When Ian was fifteen, Toliman, on his sick bed,
had to pull his Nether aside and explained that he,
Ian, would need to find a more profound job,
something that paid a higher wage in order for the
two of them to survive. Toliman was too old to take
care of Ian anymore. Corellian's lived a little longer
than Humans. Toliman was Seventy-Four. Toliman
was considered to be a great engineer and designer.
He taught Ian everything he knew even though
teaching Nethers anything was strictly forbidden.
Nethers were allowed to learn by osmosis, which Ian
did a lot but not allowed to be trained by anyone.
Toliman even taught Ian how to read, write and speak
Corellian. That in and of itself was punishable by life
in prison so it was all kept very hush-hush by this
family and others who knew.

Toliman had many friends, friends he could count on,
friends that were impressed by and liked Ian as much
as they liked Toliman. Ian learned from Aladfar to be
kind, even when people didn't deserve it. Ian would
go from one ship community on Corellia to another
once he was old enough to pilot a transport. Often,
requests for parts came from facilities up in space.
Having his own ship as opposed to using the
elevators and public transportation, made
traveling a distance on the surface easier but he
continued to do the same low-life sort of jobs.

The transport he flew was akin to a Caravan type
vehicle and not very well maintained when the
government assigned it to him. Ian was able to
update the transport himself, at his own expense
mind you, with his vast knowledge of almost any
type of vehicle but kept the ship looking
un-maintained for the purpose of maintaining a
certain appearance. All too often, the nicer
transports were taken from Nethers and given
to less knowledgeable Corellian born distributors.
Eventually the harassment and chiding would
stop as Ian became one of the only Currier's or
parts gofers that could be counted on. Often
other parts gofers would have to ask Ian to
clarify what was on the requisition. The
Corellian children were sent to schools to
learn to read, write and then, what they were
good at was further taught as an enhanced
subject, at the request of the government.
And if they weren't good at much, they still
ended up working for the Corellian ship
manufacturers and worked as parts distributors
and messengers like Ian but got better treatment
and were given better equipment to use to do their
jobs and they got better accommodations to live in.
Often, the Nethers would get older accommodations
or if accommodations had to be built, they were
cinder-block, not well supported, cold in the winter
and hot in the summer. The Corellian government,
as was usual with communist run agencies, ran the
planet with an iron fist. They usually didn't have a
problem but none-the-less didn't like dissidents.
Dissidents were usually found out and hauled off
to prison or a place of captivity and were often not
heard from again. Sometimes people, in spite of
their emphatic and proof lead, honest denial of
such things, were still labeled as dissidents and
hauled off, never to be seen again. The leadership
of the Corellian government seemed, as is often
the case, paranoid. The supreme leader, a dictator
by the name of Carth Dettun was a typical ruler
in this kind of government and once more held
on to the position for security, lavish
accommodations and to have a position of public
admonishment. And even if people didn't really like
him. Carth new of Ian (Dr. Bartholomew) but acted
if he didn't. Carth tried not to show partiality to Ian
but everyone noticed. There was never retaliation
for such a thing for fear of retribution. Ian, on
occasion, got special treatment in spite of the fact
that he was a Nether. Special treatment by Carth,
secretly of course when Ian produced something
or effected something that made the Corellian
government a lot of Capital. Toliman was always
appreciative because even he didn't get that kind
of treatment. Carth had children of his own and
would try to get them to spend time with Ian in
hopes to gain a better reputation. Toliman would
have none of it. But Ian and Toliman were so
greatly appreciated that Carth would often just
look the other way. No telling what made officials
of the planet decide

that someone was against the government. Other
planets around Corellia and the galaxy, knew this
and were either run similarly in nature and in
governmental style or they just accepted this type of
governing and ignored it.

There were a few citizens of Corellia or other planets,
that investigated such behavior and tried to rebel but
were often quelled or convicted as spies, imprisoned
or were forced to become mercenaries or bounty
hunters hiding their identities behind a literal mask.
Like Jango Fett for instance. A lot of the mercenary
or bounty hunter types were good people at one time
as was Jango Fett. He was brought up by his parents
as an upstanding individual, always doing what was
right. Jango was strong, coordinated and bright. But
doing what was right got him in trouble one time, so
he had to hide. Hiding from governments made the
bounty hunter types more aggressive or evil because
they would often have to resort to many types of
behavior, regardless of the cost, to evade those who
were looking for them. Jango Fett was very bitter at
being torn from his family, especially when he knew he
would most likely never see them again. As a bounty
hunter, he could make enough capital to stay alive.

Many of the newer ship builders who were just
out of the Academy, treated Ian pretty badly at first
but quickly began to realize that Ian was no slouch.
They would see other engineers reaction to him,
the engineers that had been there for awhile. Ian was
very good at what he did and he seemed to learn or
understand even quicker in his older years, gaining
much respect by his peers. Toliman, in spite of his
advanced age, still often came to Ian's defense in
certain situations. Toliman was Ninety when he died.
He should have lived longer but there was no vaccination
against Cerofl (Cero-full), a disease of the skin. A
Vaccine would have prevented the illness but the
Corellian medical community was not very good at
creating vaccinations and were really just not aware
of what a vaccination was or they often did not recognize
the need. The government, especially Carth, took
Toliman's death hard. It meant that one of their
advanced ship designers was gone and caused
an anticipated loss in Corellian capital. Upon
Toliman's death and in spite of his praise of Ian,
the government determined that Ian was too old
to be taken in by another Corellian family and was
given one week to get off the planet. The Corellian
government, being somewhat jaded and corrupt,
expected to be able to bring Ian in on charges that
he'd outstayed his one week just to spite Toliman's
death. They ended up amazed at the brilliant way
he put all his affairs in order and left the planet in
only two days. Ian left the planet un-detected.
Ian's fellow parts distributors were also hampered
by Ian's absents. Productivity was never the same.

Ian, Twenty-two by then, used his brilliant research
abilities to find a home on one of the moons of a planet
near Corellia called Devaron, a forest moon called
Base V with few inhabitants. The Corellian government
eventually discovered where Ian was but couldn't do
anything about it, bound by interstellar laws. They
secretly wished they hadn't dismissed him.

Devaron's Base V moon's only proof of another
existence at one time, was an ancient and abandoned
Jedy Temple. The Devaron moon had breathable air
but was extremely thick with forest like vegetation.
Very tropical in nature which forced its inhabitants
to build homes that were, tropic resistant as the moist
atmosphere would creep in and destroy much of the
living arrangements and mechanical equipment,
transports and such.

Most of the inhabitants were political outcasts from
other planets and unable to find employment on their
home planets because of their political affiliations.
Some, more often than not, were in hiding and were
well hid. The rest of the inhabitants were just planetary
outcasts because of their apparent unruliness or
lack of interest in what was going on around them.
A family by the name of Stalrif (Stall-Riff) took Ian
in with the understanding that he would attend the
Academy as soon as he could get accepted. They became
most encouraged and aware of Ian's abilities when he
quickly fixed the family transport, actually making it
better than when they purchased it.

The Stalrif's were originally from the planet of
Dantooine. Dantooine had the potential to be a civilized
planet but its government, also run by greedy politicians,
imposed on them, a very serious set of rules and laws
that made everyone angry. The Dantooine government
also seemed to think the Empire was what was best for
the ruling system there. One of their rules was, that
if a family had a child, the first born was to stay with the
family growing up as a normal child but the second born
was to become the property of the government, raised by
the family but to government standards. The second born
child would eventually be indoctrinated into the military at
a surprisingly young age and rumor was that if the child
didn't have what the government needed, the child would
still be entered into the military but be sent to the front
lines with a short life expectancy, to be sacrificed,
apparently for the good of the planet.

The Stalrif's actively opposed the government's laws,
rules and choice to let the Empire in. They were, at
that point, informed by a secret rebel agency, that
the government had sanctioned them for removal
of the worse kind. The family was able to leave with
the assistance of the secret Rebel force. The Stalrif's
eventually returned once they had heard that the
government was reduced to much like a third world
planet by outside rebel infiltration. The Devaron moon
was once, many hundreds of years ago, occupied by
an organization of the Jedy knights and was a
headquarters or an outpost for the Jedy to be closer
to a Sith held planet. The Jedy force was rumored to
have had some success against the Sith presents
keeping many of the Sith in that space sector to
a minimal population.

The best of the Jedy, trained by a younger Yodi,
would attack Sith positions on nearby planets. The
Jedy, at one time, actually procured ships from Corellia.
The Jedy were pretty well trained but the Sith
had their own ships and often fought well against
the Jedy. he Jedy were trained in how to use the
Force but not as well trained in fighting and combat
techniques. As a result, the Sith eventually out
fought the Jedy. The Temple was also rumored to
have been the starting point of the current Galactic
Republic.

The Temple was eventually found by the Sith. It was
attacked on several occasions and it eventually fell to
the Sith who captured, brutally tortured and killed most
of the Jedy stationed there. The Sith had no need of it
when it was finally overtaken and it was eventually
abandoned by both the Jedy and the Sith. Teel, father
and husband, grew up on the planet of Dantooine and
was raised by hunters, which at the time, were fairly
common on that planet. The hunters were violent,
aggressive people and Teel became hardened by his
hunter family. Of course Teel's family decided that he
needed to be "educated" rather than grow up a hunter
as his father, mother, brothers and sisters, grandparents,
aunts and uncles had, so that he might one day advance
to a more civilized way of life. Teel, as a young man,
was against this but was eventually sent to take exams.

On the way to Coruscant, his path was detoured by the
Trade Federation which was a prominent evil force in
the Galaxy at that time. Instead of going to the Academy,
Teel ended up fighting with a resistance, a Resistance
that found him and spared him from certain life in prison
in a trade Federation prison camp. When that resistance
was brought down. Teel escaped. Eventually another group
of separatists against the Trade Federation, took him in,
which hardened him even more. When the separatist
group decided to join the Trade Federation rather than
battle it, Teel and a few others left, Teel returning to his
home on Dantooine.

His family had become old and unable to hunt for
themselves so Teel took up the challenge providing for
them in their time of need. While he was there, for
enjoyment, he would attend a bar of sorts complete
with dancing girls. He became well known at the bar
as a great fist fighter and not to be messed with,
which was just fine with him, he really didn't want
to be bothered. Of course when one acquires a
reputation for such a thing there are always those
who had come and challenge him.

Eventually one of the dancing girls became his wife
Aladfar. Aladfar had a well rounded up bringing which
surprised Teel, but whose parents were also killed
when she was younger. She danced only to support
herself, not to offer herself for capital like some of the
other dancing girls, desperate or not. When Teel was
married but not very long, the Dantooine government,
now composed of an entirely new regime of personnel,
began implementing their own extraneous laws and
rules which were even worse than before. They acquired
the government per a coup that cleansed the government
of do-gooders. Teel rebelled and you know the rest of the
story.

Teel and his wife, who was pregnant with their first, were
once again threatened by the new government. The first
time the government attacked, Teel was able to fend them
off. But he knew they would be back in force, so he took his
family and left. Teel being somewhat of a seclusionist, didn't
have a means of transport and had to find one. He
attempted to use common commercialized services at first
but they repeatedly told him they could not allow him and
his wife on board. They said it was because she was pregnant
but he knew that was bullshit. He knew it was because of the
government, so he began to look for other ways off the planet.
Unfortunately, the only ones that would take him asked a
high price and were less than trustworthy. He was forced to
enter places where his life would surely be in danger. He
ended up killing a few people in such facilities where he
earned himself a warrant for murder and ended up hunted
by bounty hunters. He had become quite good with a blaster,
before finally earning the respect of an older man by the
name of Dodge Kilvaari. Dodge wasn't always old and
wasn't always alone.

Dodge was one of Yodi's trainee's, eventually made a Jedy
master, having trained some of the Jedy himself. He married
a fellow female Jedy named Bree Tull. She and Dodge were
often in competition of a good natured sort, and eventually
became interested in each other. She was a blue Twi'lek,
who were occasionally referred to as Rylothians. She, like
Dodge, was a tall humanoid species whose most striking
feature was a pair of long tentacles protruding from
her skull. She hailed from the planet of Ryloth, in the
Outer Rim Territories. Bree, like many other Twi'lek
females, was destined to become a slave. At a very
young age, she was known to have the ability to
manipulate the Force and was sent, by her parents, to
train as a Jedy, rather than have their daughter hauled
off as a slave. Dodge had his own story. In his younger
years he was cocky and foolish. He would go into, other
than moral establishments and pick fights using his power
over the Force to win. He was tough too. The Jedy council
would often have to go in and pull him out.

Humility was taught, even to Dodge, who also trained
others in Humility regardless of the fact that he lacked
that which he taught. He later would benefit from his bar
fights being that he had, one night, picked a fight in
an establishment where Sith were hanging out. The
Sith pulled Light Sabers of the double ended type and
answered his challenge. Dodge was surprised and
figured he was in trouble. He drew his own Light Saber
and fought against the four Sith. He had to use every
ounce of training that he'd been taught by Yodi, to
stay alive. He was doing well but was still in over his
head and he knew it. Fortunately, the Jedy council
was alerted and arrived just in time to keep Dodge from
getting killed. They let the Sith go in an attempt to find
where they were staked out. Unfortunately, the few Jedy
encountered a Sith guard and had to turn and run as
they were out-numbered. One of their ships was
destroyed by the Sith. The pilot would have died but
used to Force to protect himself in space until one of
his fellow Jedy picked him up.

Yodi was told, upon their return, about the Sith. Yodi went
back with the Jedy to their last location. The Sith guard
was ready and waiting but they didn't know that Yodi was
one of the Jedy they would encounter. The Sith got beat,
badly. The Sith location was exploited. The Jedy returned
in force and cleaned up. Again, with Yodi in command. Teel
really didn't trust Dodge either but the price was right and
time was growing short. Teel was able to pay even though
it took every last ounce of capital he had. The old man knew
how relentless the government and others could be and would
have probably taken them even if they didn't have any capital.
Dodge knew of a place where Teel and his family could go if
they needed to hide. The old man had an old ship, it looked
barely space worthy but that's how Teel ended up on Base V,
the moon of Deveron. Teel had hoped the old man could help
him further but the man was gone before Teel could ask him,
the Stalrif's were on their own.

2. The Academy

The Academy was on Coruscant, everyone who was anyone,
went to the Academy when they were old enough and then
of course, taking the exams was also dependent on their
obvious potential or skills. There were those who couldn't get
in or those who just didn't want to but because of the Empires
involvement in so many of the planetary issues, those that
didn't want to go to the Academy were often unable to find
adequate employment and suffered often from starvation and
lack of living arrangements.

There were entrance exams at the Academy and one was
required to pass them although no standards were ever
disseminated. No one knew exactly what would be on the
tests. The exams were given in most languages and were
very difficult. One could pass the exams at different levels.

The ones who scored low but high enough to pass were
taught a trade. Laser welding, metal working, laboring
for different entities, mechanics of sorts if the mechanics
wasn't too complex. Freighter ship handlers, freight
handlers at other locations, cement handlers,
space garbage handlers, etc.

Those who passed at an average level were trained as
technicians in any number of fields such as, Lab
assistants, Capital processors, dispatchers, computer
operators, higher level mechanics, etc. Those who passed
pretty well were trained as teachers, law enforcement,
military, military officers, all by Old Republic Standards
or by the individual planets standards. And those who
passed with high honors were trained as Doctors,
Engineer/Designers of sorts or Jedy if the Force was
with them, governmental officials and managers for
many civilizations, or ship pilots, either fighter ships or
pilots of large Corellian freighter vessels.

The Academy offered a grand selection of learning
options that students could choose from if they didn't
have a specialty. They could learn, to teach and all
according to their planets standards, lots of engineering
types, lots of different pilot training and all based
on what type of ship they wanted to pilot. The Academy
had all sorts of Medical training all the way from Janitors
to Doctors. They had the quintessential business
management courses, art, if you could make a living at
it, biology, psychology and the list goes on.

Ian took the exams for entrance into the Academy and
passed in an average class but excelled in ship design,
electronics, droid design and computers. Occasionally the
heads of the Academy would poll the governments of other
planets to extend more capital when someone from that
planet maybe scored average on the exam but scored high
in specific areas. Those people would be placed in fields
that were appropriate to their talents. Ian would be trained
in ship design and engineering, electronics, droid design and
computers. He would eventually be sent back to Corellia
upon graduating, as a Dr. of his multiple fields, for them.

In his first year at the Academy he attended classes but
was easily corrupted by those who thought their time at
the Academy was best spent partying. He would get drunk,
get into fights, lose often and find himself in the Dean's
office defending himself, often when he often wasn't at
fault. Ian almost flunked out of his first year. While at
home with his temporary family on Base V for a break
between grade levels, his father figure, Teel Stalrif
sat him down and explained the finer points of taking
the Academy seriously and also that if he wasn't going
to honor his agreement with the Stalrif's about the
Academy, that he would have to find another place to
live. Ian was no fool, he listened to Teel and took his
advice to heart. Upon returning to the Academy in his
second year, his old friends, many of different species,
tried to encourage him to waste precious time partying
the year away as usual. When Ian refused, they
ostracized him. He tried to explain his reasoning but they
wouldn't listen. "Who cares?". Over time, many of his
so-called old friends would see him and tease him.
Sometimes to the point of physical violence where he
was again, often on the losing end. Ian made it through
his second year in spite of the opposition by his old
friends and his grades improved immensely. The
leadership at the Academy was very impressed and
reinstated all of his privileges as well as a few others,
free meals, lower tuition and such. They looked forward
to his returning for his third year.

He became the focus of many's attention. They had even
thought of grooming him for leadership at the Academy
until they later discovered that his true love was for that
which he excelled at, not education. Ian returned his third
year, was put on the student council and publicly recognized
for his accomplishments and designs in many of his science
classes. He found himself competing against some guy by
the name of Raymus Antilles. Not well known at the
time but a great student and pilot in training.

Ian had designed newer ships and droids. Introducing
the possibility of idiosyncratic behavior, an advancement
to the computer brains of droids. This, of course, forced the
development of better droid designs including the design
of the first Astromech type droid. The Astromech droid was
in design only at that point, too expensive for the Academy
to build in mass. The idea or design was purchased by the
Techno Union planet which added a lot of capital to the
Academy's bottom line to which they were very pleased.
This didn't hurt Ian's position with the Academy either.

The Techno Union, somewhat dated in their own design,
were great at building droids and built many of the droids
used by other species in space. The Techno Union built a
few prototype Astromech droids, arrayed in white and
blue. One of the prototype Astromech droids was given to
Ian to experiment on. He, in the name of experimentation,
incorporated his idiosyncratic behavior system. The droid
communicated in beeps, strange noises and blips. It was
given a nomenclature but not a name. It's nomenclature
was R2D2T. Ian had to design a computer program that
would read and translate the droid language. As much as
Ian tried, he could never get the droid to speak the Human
language. This puzzled Ian, it was as if the droid rejected
the language programming itself.

The droid disappeared one day. Ian never found it. It
apparently accessed a ship and flew somewhere in space,
it was never known where. Ian eventually wrote several
textbooks that the Academy adopted as part of their study
program for electronics, ship, computer and droid design.
Some of the textbooks are still being used by the Academy
today. He wrote a book telling of his time at Corellia as a
"parts distribution technician". That particular book gained
popularity because of his famous name but was not very
good and eventually lost peoples interest and lost popularity
by word of mouth.

One of his fellow students, a rather large Noghri by the
name of Silus Nidor took an interest in Ian when he,
Silus, was having difficulty passing a computer class
based on droid memories. Being that droid memories
was one of Ian's specialties, Ian helped Silus get caught
up to the point where Silus could finally finish on his own.

Silus, being a warrior from Tatooine, began his training
as a fighter, wrestling younger Dune Lizards. Almost eaten
several times but rescued by his father, Silus, who seemed
to be hiding his ferocity at the times, came out of his shell
when he and some friends thought it would be fun to visit
the planet of Honoghr (Hone-ogg). Upon entering an
imbibing facility there, two of his friends were shot and
killed by a Caster from Bixa-Loca, a planet in the
outer-rim. A cowboy by the name of Sessel Bane, a
drunken bounty hunter. Silus was so angry that he
disarmed and killed Sessel Bane with his bare hands.
He then mopped up the entire facility before one of his
friends had to stop him and bring to his attention
the fact that there was no one left to fight with. He
was shocked but came into his own at that time.
Despite his quiet, dedicated and somewhat ferocious
demeanor, Silus, with great appreciation for Ian's
assistance, befriended Ian. So the first time Ian's
friends, turned enemies, began harassing him and
Silus saw them, the harassing ended. It ended because
Silus thrashed the group of five of them with hardly any
problem. One of them was even a notorious
Klatooinian power-wrestler by the name of
Draco Toral.

Silus and Ian often had very scientific conversations
but Ian would often lace his conversation with humor.
Noghrian's generally lacked any sense of humor. Ian
grew tired of this and bravely stood up to Silus
demanding that he loosen up a little. Silus was
impressed with Ian's bravery and a little embarrassed
at the comment.

Later, Ian recanted his chiding of Silus' lack of humor,
stating that his attempt at humor was more
embarrassing than anything else. Silus went
back to being his overly serious self and was not
offended but rather relieved. Ian and Silus made it
to their fourth year at the Academy together. Silus
graduated as a fighter pilot for the Noghrian space
fighter squad. Ian, at the encouragement of the
Academy, went on to further his studies. Ian and
Silus would stay friends forever but over the years
Ian was only able to visit Silus a couple of times. Until...

Ian went on to five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten,
and even eleven years at the Academy. He finally
graduated a doctor of Electronics, computers, droids,
droid electronics, droid programming, ship engineering
and design. He was again pulled into the world company
of the Corellian's but this time with open arms at the
begging of Carth Denton. He was given one of the nicer
accommodations that they had and was put at one of
the highest positions of government and management.
He relished his position in government and won the
appreciation of much of the population of Corellia for
championing the "Better Housing" act. In fact, because
of his high position as a government official, the food got
better too. Ian was so proud. He vowed never to build a
bad ship even if it were for less than savory characters.
Which would later prove to be a less than ideal vow. He
designed the space race ship that the Corellian's had been
trying to build for Lando Calrissian for years. It was given
the name The Milleninim Falcony by its owner who went
on to be one of the most famous space racers ever. Ian
excelled on Corellia, he built amazing ships, some small,
some huge, all idiot proof, some aerodynamic, some not.
The Imperialists on Naboo commissioned a fleet of very
aerodynamic fighters and several ships for the Queen.
Very stylish, very fast, very powerful, very well armed
and very technologically advanced.

The Trade Federation hated Naboo and secretly instigated
civil war between the Naboo and the Gungans who
shared the planet. The Naboo didn't want civil war but
the Gungans fell for it hook line and sinker. Despite the
Naboo requests for peace, the Gungans, an unrealistic
species, insisted that they had been humiliated by the
Naboo. The Trade Federation exploited this and was able
to glean much of the beautiful resources from Naboo as
part of their trade propaganda. The Gungans blamed the
Naboo for generating such a great loss of resources from
the planet and wanted the planet Renamed. They wanted
to call it, "Plub" for which the Naboo vehemently protested.
The Trade Federation used much of the capital from Naboo
to order a fleet of large trader ships from Correllia, all of
which Ian designed with Naboo resources included. Some
of his designs were built right there at the Corellian yards,
some never left paper. The Corellian government urged
that not even a design on paper would be given out
without payment. The Empire ordered a space station the
likes of which no one had ever seen. It was not built
because the Empire didn't have the capital at the time
but Ian designed it and the Empire took the design,
promising to pay. That's when the Empire discovered
Dr. Ian Bartholomew. They wanted him but they would
have to implement other parts of their system before they
could get him. The Empire would have to implement its
own government complete with personnel before they
could do much of anything. The Empire would be slowly
and methodically built by a brilliant, dangerous and well
known Sith by the name of Darth Plagueisies. The
Empire was a small form of government, no one had really
heard of them. Or at least the Empire had not become a
household name yet. Darth Plagueisies had ordered some
Core Ships designed and built at the Corellian yards but
they were not as effective as he had hoped. He ordered them
from the Corellians and recruited some humans from a nearby
human populated planet but the human species was young,
under educated, substandard and so was their culture. On
one occasion Darth Plagueisies ordered his small fleet to
test the ships ability to attack other simulated ships. He
used some junk that he got from Corellia and set it adrift
in space. He set up a mock scenario, trained the human
contingent (who were under the power of Darth Plagueisies
and his ability to use the Dark Side) to act in a simulated
attack. The Core-ships weapons were limited, not very
powerful. The human contingent, just not capable of what
was considered a well-trained emergency reaction. They
attacked the space junk, they missed everything, couldn't
get target locks on anything even when it was just floating
or stationary, and when they finally did, the junk that
they locked on was still somewhat operational, actuated
a defense computer program, armed what weapons it had
and destroyed one of the Core Ships. There was no way to
control the space junk so they had to run. Several of the
Core Ships were damaged by the time the human
contingent was able to get the ships moving and away
from the dangerous junk. Darth Plagueisies, knowing that
the dangerous junk was still active, would have to react
the next time his fleet was in range, to orchestrate the
junks destruction before they settled in the area. Shields
up, weapons locked on, they did finally destroy it but it
managed to all but bring the lead ships shields down to
about 5% before they destroyed it. Darth Plagueisies
decided he had to find more competent humans that he
could manipulate and he had to order better ships from
the Corellians. The Core Ships were still incorporated
into the Imperial fleet. Better, newer, ships were needed.
And he still owed the Corellian's for the last fleet he
ordered. His capital was depleted from the first order.
What to do?

Members of the Trade Federation came to him looking for
something to Trade. That was when Darth Plagueisies
realized that they really didn't care who they worked
with as long as there was a promise of Trade somewhere.
Nute Gunray was not one of the sharpest leaders Darth
Plagueisies had run into. As a matter of fact the
Neimoidians as a whole were really kind of wimpy
and stupid. It's a wonder how they became so powerful
as the Trade Federations main specie. The Trade Federation
didn't actually have any of their own fighter ships. They
would hire out for those types of defenses when needed.
Their large ships have a complement of weapons but are
often not used. The Neimoidians seem to believe that their
ships, containing a lot of valuable Trade objects had become
ships that no one wanted to destroy. To destroy Trade
Federation ships was to destroy something valuable inside.
That theory would eventually prove wrong.

Darth Plagueisies didn't have to use the Dark Side to
convince them to join the Empire. In fact he didn't
even have to make them a part of the Empire. He
promised them Heavy Trade from the Empire based on
the success of the Empire. So they loaned him all the
capital he needed. Darth Plagueisies went back to the
Corellian's and ordered better ships. This time Ian built
them Star Destroyers. The Trade Federation loaned Darth
Plagueisies lots of Capital so he ordered lots of Star Destroyers
and one by one they were brought to Coruscant as a show
of power even though people were told differently by Imperial
members but it worked. Before designing and building them,
Ian would travel to the far reaches of the Galaxy to find
superior weapons, technology, engines and shields to equip
them with, he never built inferior ships. Upon request, he
also designed a great fighter ship for the Empire called the
Tie Fighter and Several Shuttles that looked like Swans that
were also well armed and all at the expense of the Trade
Federation.

Darth Plagueisies found out about a race of Human's near the
edge of the Galaxy that were said to be more competent and
more technologically advanced. A planet called Rishi. He
headed there but the leaders of that human race were less
than cooperative and had to have their hand forced
a little. His original Human force wasn't too capable but
they were none-the-less tough and could be made to be
aggressive if necessary. The Human race on Rishi was
threatened and after some aggressive negotiations,
convinced to join the Empire.

Other Sith joined the operation and assisted in the
assimilation. Darth Athala, Darth Obdris and about
sixteen others. All with the ability to manipulate the
Dark Side and all with an overwhelming desire to construct
a New Sith Presents in the Galaxy and destroy the
Jedy in the process. On a whim Ian also designed other
ships some of which were purchased by the Empire and
some that just sat on display at the Corellian ship yards
for the avid onlooker, sort of like a car sales lot. One of
the ships he designed he called the Corvette which
was loaded with all the latest technology and well
armed.

It came with eight great engines that made it a
force to be reckoned with in speed anyway. The
Corvettes were later all purchased by someone of
unknown name and origin. The powers that be in
the Empire asked the Corellians for the purchasers
name but the Corellians were reluctant to answer
at that time. Ian designed what he called a Blockade
Runner.

Similar to the Corvette, but even more well armed.
The Blockade runners were all, also purchased by an
unknown source to which the Empire was not yet privy.
"No questions asked." Ian was asked by the Corellian
government to design more advanced fighter ships.
They were well designed and deadly to all that were
brave enough to attack them.

The Corellian's remained neutral for a time. News
got around that the Trade Federation, a source that
many used to feed and supply their own, was teaming
up with the Empire. The Empire was growing but still
not a popular force. The Empire insisted that the Trade
Federation not trade with local planets unless
they were willing to replace their governmental
systems with the Empire. This alerted the Jedy. At
first the Trade Federation still traded with certain
planets but eventually all trade with any planet that
wasn't part of the Empire had ceased. Governments
of many of the planets began to worry.

The Jedy were selfless, they were the peace keepers
of the galaxy but did not force anyone to take them
on as government leaders. Yodi, lead the Jedy and
trained many of them. The Empire was also turned
down by many planet government systems. The
Empire Star Destroyer force was huge and it was
time for them to make an example of all who would
defy them. All of the Core ships and several of the
new Star Destroyers surrounded a planet called
Yag'Dhul. A planet that vehemently rejected the
Empire. News reached many over the next couple of
days, that the Empire, along with several Trade
Federation ships, had surrounded the planet and
made threats. Several of the Jedy were dispatched
with their own versions of fighter and command
ships that were not designed by the Corellians
or Ian Bartholomew. The Jedy ships were formidable
but no match for the immense size and ability of the
Imperial ships. The Jedy were too far away to be
effective. It was made clear that the Yag'Dhulian's
rejected all of the Empires requests to be their
government. So the order was finally issued by
Darth Plagueisies himself. "Reduce the planet to
ashes."

Upon that order, the Core-ships and the Star-
Destroyers began firing, from space on the defenseless
planet. In a matter of moments, the entire planet
was reduced to a moon like state with no
atmosphere. No resident life, no vegetation, no
vestige of any existence on the planet. Yodi and
other Jedy sensed this. Several more planets were
targeted and destroyed before the Jedy could make
a stand. The Imperial ships moved quickly and
covertly as not to alert anyone to their presents or
where-abouts. The Star-destroyers were most effective.
Sometimes the Core-ships were involved but the
Star Destroyers were really all the Empire needed.
The weapons of the Star Destroyers were powerful.
The Jedy finally caught up. They engaged the large
ships but the Imperial Star Destroyers were too
large and their shields too powerful for the small
fighter ships to have any effect. Tie fighters were
dispatched from the Imperial ships and the Jedy
did make easy prey of them. The Empire decided
not to lose anymore of the small fighting force
and simply moved on. The Jedy did not pursue.

The Jedy convened a meeting of the Jedy council
on the planet of Coruscant. Coruscant, the entire
planet, one big city. They reserved a small hall in one
of the buildings there on Coruscant. Yodi was at the
head of the meeting along with several Jedy that had
eventually also become heads of the council.

Yodi called the meeting to order. "Order I, the first of
business. Recommend I that, on Coruscant, a temple
we should build."

The vote to establish a temple on Coruscant was
unanimous. The Government of Coruscant was asked
and the Jedy request was quickly approved. It was approved
because the Empire was establishing its own presents
on Coruscant. Coruscant was at the center of the Galaxy
and the hub of most initial activity for the galaxy. Before
long the government of Coruscant itself was told by the
Empire that it should make the Empire its government
system. And of course, the request was denied. And of
course, many of the Imperial Star Destroyers were soon
surrounding the planet. The Jedy presents were nowhere
near great enough to ward off the Empire. None-the-less,
the Jedy manned their ships and set out to protect the
planet. Yodi was the leader of the defense force and in
touch with many of the Jedy leaders.

"How to defend Coruscant, I do not know how. But
defend it we must." Said Yodi.

It was clear from several other encounters with the
Empire that the Jedy would be no match. Suddenly out
of nowhere, several other large ships appeared dropping
out of Light Speed. At first no-one knew what to make
of them. But as the Empire began to line its ships up for
the onslaught, the new ships on the scene began to fire
on them. Much to the pleasure of the Jedy, the Imperial
force was quickly broken up and evasive maneuvers had
to be taken by them. Soon space around Coruscant had
become a war zone which wasn't the first time and
wouldn't be the last. One of the Star Destroyers was
honed in on and destroyed. The Empire had to turn tail
and run. The next time the Empire surrounded a planet,
there would be more resistance. They would be ready.
In the mean time one of the leaders of the other ships
hailed Yodi.

"Commander Yodi." The radio squawks in Yodi's
command ship.

"Commander Yodi here, to whom is this I speak?"

"Bail Organa at your service sir." The voice
commands.

"Know who you are, I do." Says Yodi.

"The new leader of the Republic Galactic Congress."
He replies.

"Remember you now, I do. Just in time, you came.
Owe you our lives we do." Says Yodi.

"Perhaps you'd heard about a ghost ship attacking
the Empire." The voice comes back.

"Not recently, we have not." Replies Yodi.

"No, the Empire managed to score a few hits on
her. She's in for repairs right now." Says the Senator.

"Some effect have you had, a rebel force you are."
Acknowledges Yodi.

"The Rebel Alliance to be exact." He replies.

"A location have you?" Yodi asks.

"Not at this time great leader." The voice acknowledges.

"Then a place for you to settle, we must find. Meet,
can we, to discuss this?" Yodi asks.

"If it pleases the great leader of the Jedy, we
will join forces. We should meet on the planet
surface." Says Bail.

"On the planet surface, we will meet." Says Yodi.

3. Dr. Ian Bartholomew

Dr. Ian Bartholomew, now the most prominent ship
and electrical engineer, ship designer, droid programmer
and general space scientist on the planet of Corellia.
Aware of the news but still un-aware that his ships were
being used by the Empire to cause such destruction. In
denial about the Empires use of his ships and ship
designs.

"What's this?.. I recognize these." Ian asks of one of his
government official friends on Corellia as he picks up
dusty blueprints all rolled up in a pile of other defunct
blueprints. His friend glances at them.

"Plans for a Space Station?" Replies the official. "Scrubbed."
He replies further.

Ian looks at the plans, he peruses them. His friend,
the official is doing something else.

"I remember these, I can improve on them." Ian blurts.

The official looks over as Ian continues to peruse the
plans. "It was scrubbed. There's no need now."

"But I can…" Ian stops mid sentence realizing that
his friend was right.

He rolls them back up and tosses them aside "What
a shame, the one who thought of this was very
ambitious and inspired."

His friend is reading something and turns his attention
to Ian. "Have you paid much attention to the news lately?"

Ian is looking at other things, focused on what he's
looking at and really doesn't react to the question
directly. "No, not lately."

His friend reads a little more, and then comments. "This…
Empire, they are all over the news lately. Apparently
they believe they are what should be the new government
around the galaxy."

Ian still isn't paying much attention. "Yes, I've heard of them
in passing but I'm too busy building and designing ships to
worry too much about that."

His friend tosses the paper aside, "Suppose you're right."

Ian looks up. "Nothing in this room worth looking at,
suppose we move on?"

"Oh, good show Dr. good show." Ian's friend replies, glad
that Ian has decided to leave that room, his friend was
board.

They leave the room, shut off the light and the door
slides closed automatically. In the corridor of the
building, small droids and other automated devices roam
around. The place is abuzz with activity. A modern office
complex on a work day. Everyone there has a job
somewhere in that building. Many recognize Ian and his
official friend as prominent people there. Celebrities of a
sort. Most of it goes unnoticed by Ian and the official.
They walk down the corridor chatting as if nothing were
wrong. But among all the buzz, the Empire is planting its
seeds of corruption. In some obscure part of the building
Imperial officials make plans to take over Corellia. In a
meeting hall on Coruscant in the new Jedy temple, Yodi
and Bail, among other officials, sit around a table chatting.
Yodi finally brings the group to order.

"Confidential this is." Says Yodi.

"I believe we are among friends here." Says the
Senator.

"Very well Senator, a place, we have possibly
found, for you to set up operations, for Your
Alliance.

"Wonderful, where?" Asks the Senator.

Yodi looks around, he takes note of everyone in the
room. "A moon… Yavin, in this system." Says Yodi.

"Yavin, I've heard of it. Yavin one? Asks the Senator.

"Yavin four, I believe." Says Yodi.

"Yavin four, I guess I didn't know there was more
than two moons there." Wonders the Senator.

"Nine moons has Yavin." Says Yodi.

"Nine, I know less about that system than
I thought."

"No one, this system knows of, either." Says Yodi.

"If, don't know of it, you do not, then, do not, others
know either. Hope I." Says Yodi.

"I hope not either, but you are right master Yodi, if
I have not heard of it, then it is probably a good
place to settle." Says the Senator.

"This Empire, very aggressive they have become." Says
Yodi.

"Yes, insisting that people make them government,
forcing people even." Another official says.

The meeting goes on and it is finally decided that
the Empire is more than Evil and should be stopped.

"Who is leading them?" One official asks.

They all look at each other but no one answers.

Yodi perks up. "Find this out,
we must. Then, better their intentions, can we
determine."

"Agreed." Blurts Bail. "Who do we task with
finding this out?"

No one speaks up at first, then one of the Jedy, a man
by the name of Count Dooku perks up.

"Commander Yodi, I and my team could begin
this investigation.

We may need more people at some point.

"

"When necessary, more you shall have." Replies Yodi.
"Begin immediately, this investigation you must."

Count Dooku stands up and leaves the table. As
he's leaving the room… "I will assemble my team
and we will plan accordingly commander Yodi."

Yodi waves him on. The meeting continues. "A fleet
of ships have they, great they are." Says Yodi.

"Yes, they have a Corellian appearance to them."
An official adds.

"Yes, I'm sure these are Corellian made ships." Another
official says.

"Then we must ask the Corellian's to stop building for
the Empire." Says Bail.

"Ask this, we cannot." Comments Yodi.

"Why not?" Asks Bail.

"Their problem, it is not. Stop, they would not anyway."
Answers Yodi.

The meeting goes on, more issues on that particular
subject are discussed. Count Dooku and his team arrive
on the planet of Corellia. He and several members
of his team disembark and are met by Corellian officials.
The Corellian officials act as though they are willing to
assist in any way possible but Yodi was right, the Corellian
government was good at putting on an heir of cooperation
but have no real intention of doing so. As Dooku's team
leaves, a group of officials from Corellia cordially see them
off. Count Dooku is skeptical and reports to Yodi. Yodi, tells
him that it was the first place to inquire and their reaction
was indeed suspect. Dooku and his team leave Corellia and
travel back to Coruscant. But this time they bypass the
Jedy temple and arrive at the place where the Empire is
placing their ships as a display of power, the Coruscant
ship yards. Dooku's team attempt to go aboard one of
the ships that is being retrofitted with something, it is
unclear what and security is very high. They are unable
to gain access without a warrant from the Judicial Branch
of the Republic. Even after repeated attempts, they are
refused access.

"What are you trying to hide?" Dooku asks one of the guards.

"I'm not authorized to say sir. And quite frankly, I don't know."
The Imperial answers.

Dooku maintains calm. He thinks, "Probably safer that way."
Dooku leads his team away a gain. On board their Corvette,
Dooku asks of the team to return to their offices and continue
the investigation retrieving data about the Empire over the
computer, at least for the day. He assures them that the next
day there will be more to look into. That night, Count Dooku,
being the ever persistent Jedy, covertly arrives back at the
Coruscant ship yards with his own ship. He is careful not to
arouse any of the guards and uses his Jedy powers of
persuasion (the Jedy mind trick) to divert the attention of
the guards long enough for him to gain access. Dooku enters
the one of the grounded Star Destroyers.

In the mean time Yodi calls throughout space for more
Jedy assistance. He calls a meeting of the present Jedy
force and the Jedy that are far off, join by hologram. The
fact that the Empire has forcefully incorporated the
assistance of another race of Human's is of great concern
among all of them. Preparations for an eminent attack
by the Empire, on other planets is believed to be planned.
It is assumed that another planet where the entire
indigenous specie is Human, has them wondering. It is
decided that Concord Dawn would be the next logical
choice being that it is the most concealed of all the
Human controlled planets.

One of the younger, newer Alliance soldiers asks one of
the older soldiers about the Jedy.

"Who are they? Are they from a different planet, and
where are their weapons?" Asks the young soldier.

"No, Jedy come from many races and planets around
the galaxy. They follow some ancient religion they call
The Force. And they do carry weapons, see that long
mechanism hanging at their sides?"

"Yes, I just figured that was some field equipment, part
of their issued equipment."

"Well, that is what is known as a Light Saber. When
actuated, a beam of light emits from the device and
becomes a weapon like a sword. A weapon like no
other. That's all they carry."

"Can anyone be a Jedy, can anyone get a Light Saber?"

"Well, I've never seen someone who wasn't a Jedy carrying
one. I guess it happens from time to time but only a Jedy
can really wheel one. They use their religion to assist
them. Jedy are people who have supposedly been
chosen by the Force and are given powers of strength
and control, much greater than that of ordinary men.
No, just a chosen few become Jedy." The older
soldier says.

"They dress funny." The younger soldier notes.

"Look carefully, the clothes they wear are simple. The
Jedy stand out because of their selflessness. They, like
most venerable men, have no need of lavish things. They
live only for the resistance of evil and defend those who
can't defend themselves."

"They seem to keep to themselves. Pretty sure of
themselves aren't they?"

"Actually, if you were to talk to one, which I have, you
would find them quite pleasant and conversational. They
just don't indulge in simple conversation. They don't really
talk about things that don't matter. They would talk to
anyone, you should some time. Just ask them about
themselves, tell them about things that bother you, they're
quite insightful." The older soldier says.

"So they're just… born with all this power, they don't need
any training?"

"As far as I understand, they usually don't know they have
the power until someone of the Force brings it to their attention.
As I understand, they must be trained from a very young age
and training lasts most of their young lives. As far as I know,
training never really ends. At some point they receive the title
of Jedy Knight but I don't really understand all that." Says the
older soldier.

"But they're powerful… un-killable?"

"Not un-killable, many Jedy have died in the service of the
Force but yes… powerful none-the-less. No ordinary man
could kill one."

They are looking at Kiber Storm who sits looking out the
window of the vessel he is traveling in.

A detachment of Jedy and Rebel forces is sent to Concord
Dawn to stake out one of the planets but after several days
no attack comes. On or about the forth day, news carries
a story of how the planet Etti IV has been attacked which
is near Concord Dawn. The majority of its male contingent
has been taken, rounded up like cattle, men separated from
boys. Many resist and are brought down by some sort of
incapacitating pulse. When fired from the strange rifle, one
can see the pulse as it erupts from the rifle. A clear pulse
and yet it foils the air, growing larger as it passes quickly from
weapon to escaping specie. It makes no noise when it hits
someone and it seems to take out more than one at a time
rendering them unconscious for a time. Hundreds of pulses
can be seen when we look down into a valley where the
indigenous are being rounded up. Some of the male
specie are able to jump Imperial soldiers who are
unprepared for the resistance. The males understand
that this is permanent and wrong. The indigenous kill
rather than just incapacitate, some of the Imperial soldiers
lay dead. Others punish those who would set against the
Empire but the fallen Imperial soldiers are ignored, left
by their fellow compatriots where they lay. Who took
the men, and where? The Empire claims it knows nothing
about this attack but the Jedy know better. Analysis of the
Empire by advanced computers indicates that the Empire
has increased in personnel by a large percentage. The
Jedy can only assume this is because of the males that
have been kidnapped and assimilated. During one
of Yodi's meetings with the Jedy leadership, word
of Dooku's disappearance is discussed. He hasn't been
seen for weeks. Yodi sends another detachment of
investigators, to include some of the Rebels, to the
planet of Etti IV to see if any information of value
can be gotten about the count. Upon inquiring of
many of the female contingent of the planet, none
are able or maybe un-willing to divulge any information
on the loss of the men or Count Dooku. The
investigators are simply given the same story, most
of the men just disappeared. One of the Jedy officials
takes this as a sign to speak to one of the few
remaining men on Etti IV. They are also unable
or unwilling to shed any light on the matter. Upon
further analysis, it is discovered that only married
men are taken. The men left behind did not have
relationships or families. Other than that, no
other information had been retrieved. Yodi on
Coruscant, tries himself to gain access to one
of the Imperial ships located on the planet.
He uses one of his often used military ships to
travel to different locations but cannot board
without proper authorization. Finally the Judicial
branch of the planet is polled and based on the
reputation of the Jedy for being correct more times
than not about certain hunches, a warrant is
authorized. By the time the warrant is issued, the
Imperial ships are gone. Upon trying to find out
why and where they have gone, Yodi is met by a
dead end. When he reports back to the judicial
organization that issued the warrant, Yodi is
suddenly met with resistance on the matter. In
fact, all knowledge of the warrant is denied and
Yodi is told by the judicial group that he is no
longer aloud to intervene in this matter and that
any and all investigative teams dispatched by
the Jedy Council are to be recalled and all
investigations into the Empire are to cease
and desist. A secret meeting of the Jedy High
council is brought about. The Judicial branch
of Coruscant is not aware of its convening.

"What did you find out about the Empire
master Yodi?" One of the Jedy masters asks.

"Nothing."

Another Jedy master speaks up. "The Judicial branch of
Coruscant issued the original warrant did they not
master?"

"They did."

"Did you report any findings to them?" Asks another Jedy
master.

"I did not."

"Then we are to assume that you were unable to do so
master?" Asks another Jedy master on Holo.

Yodi turns his attention to the Holo. "Correct you are."

Several of the Jedy High Council murmur among each
other.

"Master Yodi, would it be presumptuous of us to ask why?"
Asks the first Jedy master.

"It would not." He continues on. "My determination it is,
that from the Empire, the judicial officials, gotten to, they
have been. By the Dark side the judicial officials here on
Coruscant, are they controlled. Through the Force,
controlling them, someone is."

"By the Dark Side. There is only one faction that knows
how to control the Dark Side." A Jedy master presumes.

"Not a Jedy but, involved are Sith I believe." Sums Yodi.

More murmuring.

Yodi continues. "Assume we must, a Sith the Judicial branch
is controlled by. At this Juncture, into our own hands, this
matter must be taken."

"It has been a long time since the Jedy have taken matters
into their own hands." A Jedy master states. "Are we really
doing the right thing?"

"Believe it is time, do I." Says Yodi.

"If you believe it to be so master, then I suggest we all
concur."

All agree, Yodi is set to lead the charge.

The first thing Yodi suggests is that several planets be
staked out. Yodi and certain officials stay behind to
coordinate the effort. And as the Jedy are persistent
and wise, they determine that an attack on another
planet near Concord Dawn would be too obvious.
A stake out of planets in remote locations on the
other side of the galaxy is planned.

This time, they are correct. In fact, one planet called
Sedratis is already under attack when a detachment
of Jedy and Rebel forces arrives. The indigenous males
are being kidnapped by the Empire as forced labor. More
Jedy and Rebel forces are called. The force that is
already there wastes no time, they attack immediately.
For awhile, space around the planet is a war zone.
Imperial Star Destroyers cruise through space firing
on Alliance and Separatist ships. Streaks of light energy
pass through space from one ship to another. Green
pulses from the Jedy. Sedratis ships and the Rebels,
red light pulses from the Empire. Rebel ships pass
near the Star Destroyers firing as they go in sea battle
|fashion as though only there were only cannons between
them. A few Jedy and rebel forces descend to the
planet's surface to quell that attack there. The Imperial
force has them out numbered. The few Jedy that are
there are themselves a powerful force. As soon as they
are in the open air, their light sabers ignite and they begin
deflecting shots or swinging at the Imperial soldiers and
Imperial Droids with precision thrusts. The Jedy cut through
Imperial troops leaving a swath of bodies behind each of
them like a combine cutting through corn. Unfortunately
the Sith are not far off, two are in space and begin to attack
back at the Jedy and Rebel forces there. The Jedy have their
own fighter ships and use the force to hone in on the
Imperial Tie fighters, destroying them in droves. When
the Sith come in with their strange fighter ship
configurations, the Jedy are always surprised at their
accuracy.

The Jedy aren't the only ones able to use the Force to assist
them and even in space. It would seem that the Tie Fighters
have no deflector shields or if they do, they are not a result
of modern technology. The Tie fighters explode the minute
an Alliance ship or Jedy fires on it. The Star Destroyers
however, take damages but the damage is small. Their
deflector shields are fantastic and even the larger
Alliance ships don't have much effect.

4. Stronger Yet

Each time the Alliance again faces Imperial Star Destroyers in
another battle, they become more and more difficult to damage.
Their weapons seem stronger and their deflector shields seem
more advanced. One would wonder why the technology has
not moved to the Tie Fighters, unless the Tie Fighters are a
front for something more powerful, no one really knows. The
Jedy didn't have to concentrate as much on the Force when
up against the Imperial Tie Fighters but when the Sith come
in, it's every man for himself. The Jedy are well trained in their
space fighter abilities and soon gain the upper hand again. The
Sith, as good as they are, are still out gunned, out manned and
out maneuvered when facing Alliance and Jedy forces in space.
A few of the Alliance fighters suffer fatal blows but even they
know enough to fall into formation against the Sith. The Jedy
fighters take over and soon have the Sith fighters on the run.

Before long the Jedy use the Force to maneuver behind the Sith.
They lock on target and begin to fire, the Sith have no choice but
to turn hard to avoid being destroyed. Their shields are good but
will weaken if pounded enough which the Jedy do. Where one
Jedy loses a lock on a Sith target another is right there to take
over. And if a Sith gets a radar lock, the Alliance ships are right
there to throw them off. Before long, additional Rebel forces
show up complete with Jedy. They make it all most impossible
for the Imperial's to gain any control, the Empire is soon
overwhelmed.

More Sith on the surface also jump in. Now the few Jedy that
seemed to be taking the fight to the Empire are busy with their
own battles. The tables begin to turn, the Empire is beginning
to win back ground. Eventually more Jedy and rebel forces
would be able to join the fight. In the midst of the ground
battles, the Jedy are in the middle using every ounce of the
Force that they can muster to sense laser bolts or Sith Light
Saber attacks coming their way so that they can block them
with their Light Sabers and yet at the same time, they have
to fend off physical attacks by Imperial Soldiers or Imperial
Droids, the Imperial Droids are wicked in a fight. When a Sith
comes, the Jedy, a force to be reckoned with, has to break
off any of the simpler battles and devote most or all their
attention to the Sith.

Jedy and Rebel forces staking out other planets are busy as well
with fights in space or on the surface of those planets in different
areas and are unable to pull away to offer assistance at the
moment. Now the amount of Imperial Forces on the surface
along with the Sith outnumber the good forces ten to one. The
Empire sustains heavy damage but the Jedy even with their
additional efforts, are beginning to fall. Sith and Imperial forces
continue to fall but the combined forces against the Jedy and
the Rebels are taking their toll. The Jedy are eventually beaten
and the Rebel forces are killed off. Some of the indigenous
species tried to assist the good guys but were eventually
beaten as well not being prepared for such a conflict. The Star
Destroyers, though not impenetrable, are quite powerful. They
have light speed capability, they are heavily weaponised and in
particular their shields are much better than anyone has seen.
Yodi notices that it has been a long time since a Star Destroyer
has itself been destroyed. The Star Destroyers sustain damage,
sometimes they even become immobilized but their shields
remain operational and their weapons continue to fire. Their
weapons, never as a single entity, but when fired with other
weapons of the same caliber, seem to have a destructive force
unlike any that the Rebels or Jedy ever seen. Different and
with a power that the Rebels would like to have in their
arsenal, the Alliance ships have powerful weapons but their
shields don't seem as powerful. Their weapons, no more
effective when combined as they are alone. All with Light
Speed capability but not nearly as maneuverable as the Star
Destroyers when not at Light Speed. The Large Alliance ships
are still more easily destroyed, the Rebels seem to lose at
least one during every battle. The difference… the Star
Destroyers are, indeed all Corellian designed and built.
Though some of the Alliance ships are also, they don't
seem to encompass the same technologies that the
newer Star Destroyers do, and it's well known that
the Empire is always looking for something better.

When the other battles are won, Yodi and others arrive in that
sector, the outcome looks grim. Pieces of ships linger in space,
some Imperial, some rebel. A few Rebel and Imperial ships had
run off rather than face a possible fate. No sign that any of the
Imperial Star Destroyers have themselves been destroyed. The
planets in the system are heavily scarred and a majority of the
indigenous males from the planets in that sector have been
taken. Though this time, not all of the Married males were taken
because the Empire disappeared with what they had before more
Jedy and Rebel forces could fend them off. When Yodi arrives at
the surface of one of the planets, he is shocked to see all the
Jedy that were present, dead from laser blasts or light saber
wounds. Most of the Rebel soldiers dead along with a lot of the
indigenous persons. They see some dead Sith but much less
than the Jedy.

Several of the High Council come to the planet's surface and
surround Yodi who is observing. "Too late we are. A great
loss this battle was."

"Yes master Yodi, the Empire has planned well and were
higher in number. It seems that the other small battles
were diversions." Another Jedy master says.

Yodi stops. "Needed, more Jedy are, train more, we must."

A leader of the Rebel forces speaks up with a newly
determined attitude. "This will not detour the Rebel Alliance.
We will continue to fight alongside the Jedy as long as it takes."

"Good this is but more Rebels I fear we will need." Yodi adds.

"Then we'll simply have to step up recruitment of more planets."
Says the Rebel Leader.

"Prepared to do this are you?" Yodi asks.

"We will… increase our efforts master Yodi." Replies the leader.

"Then hope there is." Says Yodi.

One of the other Jedy masters also speaks up with renewed
vigor and adds to the conversation. "There are many more
species that have the ability to manipulate Force in the galaxy,
we will find them, and train them. The Sith will not gain a
foothold again master Yodi."

Yodi bows his head acknowledging his appreciation.

5. Infiltration

As time goes on, it becomes apparent that the Empire seems
to have infiltrated the Senate Republic. They seem to be
everywhere, their weaponry has increased and their fleet
seems to have increased. Even more Star Destroyers, it
seems, have been added to the Imperial fleet and more
planets have fallen to them. The Jedy don't seem to be
able to track them down.

Finally more Jedy join the Alliance from around the
galaxy and there are still more, that have remained where
they were but send word and could be called into action on
short notice. More planets and planetary systems have
also secretly joined the Rebellion. The Rebel Alliance is
growing. The investigation into where the Empire will
strike next is on-going. A Jedy by the name of Sifo-
Dyas assists Yodi in investigating and planning. Sifo-
Dyas has his own idea about adding to the Rebel
Alliance and has proposed it to Yodi. The Kamino's have
gained a reputation for cloning, Yodi rejects the idea
immediately. But Sifo-Dyas, a bit of a rebel himself,
often goes around Yodi to get things done. Which,
up until recently, hadn't been a problem. Sifo-Dyas
disappears, Yodi knows that he has gone on a rampage
of sorts and recommends to the Jedy council that he be
removed from the council temporarily until they can
re-educate him. Sifo-Dyas goes to the planet Mandalore
to see about hiring some of the well known warriors there.
A bounty-hunter by the name of Jango Fett, in a bar on
Mandalore sits discussing something with another species
that also looks like a mercenary. Sifo-Dyas gets closer and
overhears them talking about a job Jango was doing for
the Hutt's. He was commissioned to kill a man on the
planet of Takodana by the name of Maz Kanata. Sifo-
Dyas had heard of Maz Kanata and though he wasn't the
most popular guy in the system,he was still a living being.
Jango had to be stopped, Sifo followed Jango to the planet
of Takodana. When Jango exited his ship, Sifo was waiting
for him and jumps out surprising him. Jango, startled,
draws his weapon but then holsters it seeing that it is a
Jedy.

"I cannot let you kill this man." Says Sifo.

Jango, behind his helmet in his low, menacing calculating
tone replies, "I've no quandary with you Jedy, stay out of
my way and you won't get hurt."

Sifo continues to get in his way even though Jango attempts
to go around him. "As a Jedy and a protector of this galaxy,
I must insist that you cease and desist all bounty hunter
activity.

"Why, the Jedy have never interfered before. Why is this
matter any different?" Asks Jango.

"Because the Jedy haven't been privy to bounty-hunter
action in the past."

"That doesn't make any sense. I'm sure the Jedy could
find us if they wanted to. Stand aside Jedy or I'll destroy
you."

Sifo pulls his Light Saber, Jango doesn't wait, he draws his
weapon and fires immediately. Sifo, being the well trained
Jedy that he is, uses his Light Saber to deflect the shot back
at Jango. Jango dives, rolls and fires again and again, Sifo
continues to defect the shots. A battle ensues between the
two men. It comes to hand to hand combat. Jango is no
slouch, he can fist fight with the best. The two men use
forms of self-defense on each other. Sifo eventually
outmaneuvers Jango, wins and takes Jango who is knocked
out, back to the Jedy ship and secures him for the trip back
to Coruscant. In hopes, secretly that he can sway Jango to
help the Jedy and recruit some of the warriors from
Mandalore to assist the effort. Yodi would surely consider
a different tactic but Sifo, as is often the case, is on his own.
As Sifo is traveling through space, he gets an idea and turns
his ship. Yodi has several of the Jedy masters in a meeting of
the Jedy council. They discuss plans to catch the Empire in the
act of kidnapping but the Empire outnumbers them greatly in
personnel and ships now, so planning must be precise. The
Empire must be caught and exposed to the public for their
actions. First to stop them from acquiring more unwilling
persons and second, to make known to the rest of the galaxy,
what they're doing and prepare if nothing else.

News travels fast, the Empire has somehow established
itself as the good guys in some realms. The galaxy is in
shambles because of the Empire, taking the Empire on as
government is what is best for the planets of each system,
so they say. The Jedy know better but now many of the
systems and planets in the galaxy support the Empire be-it
because of fear or because they truly believe that the Empire
is going to fix everything. The Sith want to invade and
dominate everything, that's their way. Yodi knows this better
than anyone. In a distant system, currently, Sith had gotten
together to pro-create hoping to add to their numbers, Darth
Plagueisies is the one who instantiated this. The first Sith
child to be born was named by Darth Plagueisies himself
and became Darth Sidiously. The Sith are fairly well
organized when it comes to their own. The parents of Darth
Sidiously gladly leave him in the hands of Darth Plagueisies.
Darth Plagueisies quickly becomes the father but quickly
realizes that he needs someone to mother the child until
it is old enough to function on its own. Sith women are no
good as mothers so he goes back to one of the planets where
they kidnapped the male inhabitants and has his minion's
line up many of the women from that planet. Plagueisies
interviews the women but none seem to really fit the roll.
He finally lands on a woman by the name of Shmee, she
is different, most of the women reject the idea of rearing a
child that is not their own and are of the Sith species.
Shmee seems to be open to the idea even though she
thinks Plagueisies and the rest of the Empire are evil. Her X-
husband resisted the Empires attempt to take him as
forced labor and was killed. This happened before he and
Shmee could have children of their own. Shmee decided that
rearing someone else's child was better than nothing even
if the child was Sith and child rearing was something she
wanted desperately. She agreed on the premise that one…
she would be able to teach the child as he grew. Plagueisies,
being the deviate monster that he was, agreed knowing that
in truth, he would be teaching the child Sith ways. And two,
that he and Shmee be married. Now as part of the Sith
creed, when two Sith married it was for life and a Sith
man could never kill off his wife, and vice versa. Who knows
why?

Darth Plagueisies married Shmee but had no intention
of honoring the marriage. He treated Shmee badly, he
beat her often even while she was in constant care of the
child. And he beat her in front of the child so that the child
would grow up learning this behavior. But Shmee was
relentless, despite her beatings she continued to hound
Darth Plagueisies about how the child was being reared
and taught. She did not want that child being taught the
Sith way. Darth Plagueisies would train the child one way
and Shmee would come along and teach the child the
opposite or that the Sith way was wrong. Eventually
Darth Plagueisies decided that Shmee had to go. Darth
Plagueisies was as evil as they came but he was a stickler
for the few traditions that accompanied the Sith. The Creed
was the creed, because they were married, and even though
he really didn't honor the marriage, and in spite of the fact
that she was Human, they were legally married. He decided,
even though she was human, that he could not just kill her
off. The child became older and was much attached to his
mother despite Darth Plagueisies' teaching. Darth Plagueisies
took Shmee to a slave colony on Tatooine not realizing that
the child had become very attached to his mother even
though she was not Sith. Shmee treated him well and
Darth Sidiously appreciated it. Darth Plagueisies gave her
away to a slave owner there. Often the slave owners had
to pay for a slave but Shmee was free for the taking and a
slave owner would be ever so glad to get a slave for free
knowing that they could take a complete profit from the
sale of such a commodity. Darth Sidiously was too young
to understand why his mother was sent away but as he
grew, it became apparent to him, despite what his father
told him, that his mother would in fact probably never return.
One day, Darth Sidiously asked his father, Darth Plagueisies,
about his mother. Plagueisies told his son the truth thinking
that the child was old enough to understand and would
appreciate his father's position on the matter. Besides, Sith
children didn't normally become attached to their mothers.
Of course their mother's weren't human mothers like Shmee.
Darth Plagueisies trained his son well so far, Darth Sidiously
had indeed become devious. But he was still fraught with
grief and anger by the news of his mother's demise but also
knows… he is too young and untrained to do anything about
it now. Sifo-Dyas is headed for Camino with his query in tow.
He arrives on Camino and is astonished at the great torrent
that engulfs the entire planet. How could anyone survive
here? The constant darkness, wind, rain, and crashing
waves of the endless ocean. The Kamino's really didn't
know the difference, one planet was the same as
another to them. Sifo-Dyas is met by a Camino by the name
of Char-Poof. (Father of the later Jedy master, Yarial Poof).
He pulls Jango, who was conscious now, from the ship but he
is still well bound. Sifo asked Char if they could clone a large
army from this one man, Char assures Sifo that it had to be
Jango's decision. Sifo had assumed that they, the Jedy, would
offer Jango a large sum of capital if he would agree to be
cloned. Sifo also decided that Jango would need a place
to stay assuming he would be a marked man now. Char
then asks Sifo how many people they want cloned.

"How many can you give me?" Asks Sifo.

"As many as you wish." Replies Char.

Sifo thinks a moment, "Would six-hundred thousand be
too many."

"No but there is a matter of… payment." Says Char.

"Per man I suppose?" Sifo inquires.

"100,000.00 in capital to be exact." Char replies.

"Per man?" Asks Sifo in shock.

"Per man." Char confirms. "We will… of course offer
a discount of sorts for so many."

"Then thee-hundred thousand. And I suppose you
want payment in advance?" Sifo asks.

"The word of a Jedy is sufficient, you can pay upon receipt."
Says Char.

Sifo gladly agrees, they shake and Sifo leaves. Jango
watches Sifo's ship take off from his apartment window.
Jango has other plans, Char comes to him later and
quietly comments that all requests would come from
the one who pays. Jango doesn't understand why he's
been released and questions Char about it. Char
explains what he and Sifo had decided about paying
Jango to be cloned, Jango agrees. Jango asks if the
process would hurt, Char assures him that a small
scratch of his skin would be sufficient and the process
would begin. Jango is given a place to live, his skin is
scratched right in his new apartment which causes him
no pain what so ever. The implement used to scratch
him is used to extract the DNA necessary to begin the
cloning process. Yodi finally reaches Sifo who is headed
back to Coruscant. Yodi asks him what he's been doing,
Sifo is about to explain to Yodi when an Imperial Star
Destroyer, who intercepted their chatter, sneaks up and
fires on Sifo's ship causing his ship to malfunction, the
connection to Yodi is cut, the Empire knew exactly where
to hit him, they tractor him in. Sifo knows he can't do
anything against the tractor beam and ready's himself
for battle. On board the Star Destroyer, preparations are
especially made knowing that they've captured a Jedy.
Sifo's ship is brought aboard, alarms sound all over the
ship. No one dares get close to it knowing how powerful
the Jedy can be. Even the two Sith on board the Star
Destroyer are somewhat hesitant to approach the Jedy
ship. Sifo has no fear and that can be seen from outside
his ship as well as felt by the two Sith through the Dark
Side. A ray shield is set as a trap but the Imperial's know
that a ray shield is no guarantee that the Jedy can be
held. The Sith enact a plan between the two of them, they
both pull their double edged light sabers and ignite them.
One stands aside while the other whacks at the canopy of
the Jedy ship. Sifo uses the Force to keep the light saber
from penetrating the canopy, he then uses the Force to
push the Sith away, slamming him up and into a wall
behind him. One of the Imperial generals whispers in
the Sith's ear. The other Sith is ready and uses his power
over the Dark Side to ward off Sifo's attack. The general
walks back toward his troops, the troops then surround
the Jedy ship. The other Sith is back in action and he's
pissed, he attacks the Jedy ship again but again Sifo uses
the Force to push the Sith away. This time that Sith is
ready, he uses his power over the dark side to quell the
attack from the Jedy as best he can, it's enough, the
other Sith cuts the canopy open. The imperial army
waits just long enough for the Sith to jump out of the
way and all fire on the Jedy position. Sifo is able to fend
off the attack by the Imperial Army but one of the Sith
jumps back in and hits Sifo-Dyas with a light saber
obliterating him completely, Jedy Master Sifo-Dyas is
dead. Darth Plagueisies senses this from where he is
and inadvertently broadcasts it to the Jedy. The Rebels
intercept the message broadcast by the Empire, the
message says, "Supplies are not difficult to acquire
and by the way, a Jedy has been destroyed." The Jedy
council hears this but are not convinced. Yodi enters, his
head hung low.

"Master Yodi," says one of the Jedy masters, "Message
monitors, in the Rebel Alliance have intercepted a
message saying that master Sifo-Dyas is dead but we
have no confirmation of this. We…"

"…True it is." Says Yodi.

"What?" Asks another Jedy master.

"Sensed have I, in the Force, a disturbance." Says Yodi.
"Died a Jedy has, master Sifo-Dyas it must be, just
talked to him I did, cut off we were, re-establish a
connection with him, I was not able."

"Master Sifo-Dyas was superior with the Force, it
seems impossible." Another Jedy master concludes.

"Not when, the Sith involved, they were." Responds Yodi.

"Then there is a vacancy on the council." Says a Jedy
master.

"Yes, a vacancy there is." Says Yodi.

Yodi requests that the best of the other Jedy be brought
up through the ranks and trained as a Jedy master.

6. Sith Come Of Age

Darth Sidiously is now thirteen, his father Darth
Plagueisies is constantly teaching him the Sith
way. They go hunting in places where hunting is
forbidden and hunting for things that weren't
supposed to be hunted, Sith make their own rules.
They steel from other non Sith ships in space
and commandeer the ships as pirates would.
They kill anyone who defies them even a little.
Darth Plagueisies and Sidiously were on an Empire
vessel when the Empire stopped a random ship
passing by them for an inspection. It was believed
that the Hutt's had smugglers moving illegal items
through that sector.

Darth Plague and Sidiously are present during the
inspection. An illegal item is found though the
occupants of that ship were not related to the
Hutt's. Darth Plagueisies being the evil man that
he was, lined up the occupants of the ship, man,
woman and child, pulled his Light Saber, tortured
and executed each member one at a time in front
of the other members who began pleading for their
lives. Darth Plagueisies was relentless, he was slow
and cruel about it, cutting off limbs before ending a
life. He set his Light Saber to sever a limb but not
high enough to cauterize the wound causing blood to
gush as he proceeded. The Imperial officers and crew
were shocked by the act but new better than to let
on. At first Darth Sidiously shrinks back at some of
this bloody violence but quickly gets over it, eventually
the young Sith would become hardened to it. Darth
Plagueisies builds his new apprentice a double-ended
light saber and begins to teach him to use it. At first
the young Sith is clumsy with it. Darth Plagueisies is
relentless, even cruel to the youngling. Learning
from a Sith Lord is always painful and somewhat
unforgiving. Shmee is on Tatooine and under the
rule of a harsh Slave owner. She doesn't care,
she only frets over the loss of the child she was
helping Darth Plagueisies to raise.

7. Macy Windy

One of the Jedy masters, a Jedy by the name of Fias
Shesh approaches Yodi and tells him about a child
that he'd run across during one of his missions to a
planet called Rokanh. They were able to study the
human residence on the planet to determine their
level of development for possible admittance to the
Alliance. While doing so, a child had been born. The
parents, though greatly revered in that particular
tribe, had no power over the Force themselves. The
child was great with it. A dessert planet where the
inhabitants are very early in their development.
The inhabitants have no language for which to
communicate, they draw pictures and grunt. The
child would have to be extracted without the other
planetary members knowing it. There is also the
matter of his parents, even though primitive in
their development, paternal instincts are still
strong. It would have to look as though the child
had died. The parents would have to leave the child
behind, abandon it. There is also a possibility of
dangerous wild creatures indigenous to the planet
which were largely un-studied at that time. To
disturb them would be to disturb the natural growth
of the indigenous species on the planet. To extract
the child, who is very young, they would have to be
careful not to kill any of these natural creatures in
the process. Yodi sends a contingent of six Jedy and
a few Rebel Soldiers to the planet to do what they
could to extract the child. Among them are two Jedy,
one by the name of Merton Dulius and the other a
Jedy master named Kiber Storm. Kiber would be
the expedition leader and would determine if there
was a proper time to extract the child. The planet
had to be scanned, a safe and secluded place had to
be found to land. Once a place was found they had
to be able to land without alerting anyone to their
position, including those who dwell in space, like the
Empire. So traveling through space would have to be
kept as covert as possible. They finally find a place to
land, basically behind a sand dune in the middle of
a remote desert.

They disembark with supplies on their backs and hike
toward the village where the child was last seen. The
hike would take several days. None of the member of
the search party complained in the least. Kiber used his
Jedy senses to be aware if there was an animal or
human nearby. No humans were detected during their
travels but they past several large beasts, some
menacing, some not so much. All the Jedy were well
trained with the Force and able to conceal their scents,
the scents of the other human travelers and their obvious
presents from the animals. As days past they began to see
vegetation or what looked like vegetation, most not known
to them so they would steer clear if possible. They eventually
arrived near the village where the child was purported to be.
There was no reason for Kiber to give last minute instructions,
they all knew their jobs and what was expected of them. What
they weren't ready for was the tree like creatures later known
as Sesslyn, which used their tree like camouflage to conceal
themselves until prey was near. The one female Jedy Aki Star
was closest to the beasts when they attacked. One of the tree
like creatures, large in constitution, scooped her up. She, as
a Jedy, was composed not to scream but the other five Jedy
and Rebel soldiers were instantly alerted to her situation.

The beast was tall and raised her up high out of the
reach of the other Jedy. They tried to get to her but
the Sesslyn transferred her to lower branches and
crushed her to death. When the beast was sure she
was dead, it dropped her. There were several more
Sesslyn surrounding the team and when she hit the
ground the other Sesslyn pounced on her. Their mouths
were where their root system would be and their seemingly
calm nature as trees gave way to deep growls and a
mouth full of menacing sharp teeth. They quickly made
a meal of her tearing her apart as a lion would and pulling
its part of the carrion away from the rest. Another Jedy
by the name of Drexel Tyandas drew his light saber and
was about to kill one of the beasts but Kiber stopped him.
She was already dead and they could all use their Jedy
powers to hide themselves from the other Sesslyn.
Kiber was the leader and despite his anger, Drexel
believed that Kiber knew best. He and Kiber quickly
re-donned the Force and the Sesslyn were unable
to find them. But now there was another problem, the
villagers were alerted because of the noise. More of the
Sesslyn came in like a den of lions and when the
villagers approached un-aware, the Sesslyn pounced.
This time there was lots of noise and blood. Drexel
Tyandas was about to jump out to help the villagers
when Kiber stopped him again.

"But they need our help master." Whispered Drexel.

"No, we cannot interfere, it is our law." Kiber whisper's
back.

Some of the Sesslyn were killed or run off by the
villagers with their crewed weaponry, and some of
the villagers were also killed. To the great fortune
of the Jedy, it was later determined that the parents
of the young child were among the dead. The villagers
rallied and began to move the dead bodies away from
the tribal area. The young child followed the dead
parents un-aware of what had transpired. Now
would the rest of the village take on responsibility for
the child or would the child be left behind. Another
stroke of luck, the child was lost in the process of
dragging the bodies away and overlooked by the
villagers. The child sat near the dead parents still
un-aware of his own loss. After several days the
child became hungry and began pawing at
the dead bodies of its parents and with the
tribe back in their own little community, Kiber
decided that it was safe to begin covertly extracting
the child. It was true, the child was great with
the Force, all of the Jedy could sense it. A plan
was made to coax the child in. The child was
picked up by the Jedy team and brought back
to Coruscant. The child was given to a family by
the name of Windy until he was old enough to
begin training as a Jedy. The Windy family was
allowed to give the child a first name so they
called him Mace.

8. Government

Many of the planets in the Galaxy become
disillusioned, the Empire is indeed the best way
to operate a government. Darth Plagueisies has
become the Emperor and his minions, his lords
and leaders. He is only Emperor to the Empire,
the Senate Republic is slowly turning to side with
the Empire, some members not in agreement.
The Trade Federation consider themselves separatist,
autonomous between the Republic and the Empire.
But the Empire sees it differently, eventually the
separatists will also be assimilated into the Empire.
Many of the younger generation use the Academy as
an excuse to prolong being pulled into the Empire or
set free to try to take care of themselves rather than
become part of the Imperial labor force. Some who
are close to retirement go with the Empire rather than
realize their fate staying with the Republic where they
end up with nothing for retirement because it is rumored
that the Senate Republic may eventually be dissolved.
For some, time is short and going with the Empire until
retirement is an option, not a good option but an option
none-the-less. Many of the residence of each planet
have moved to an Imperial occupation rather than
make a go of it on their own planet knowing that there
really won't be much left on the planet as far as jobs
go. What they don't realize is that the Empire really
doesn't have a retirement plan. Those who are too
old to work tend to be… dispensed with. The Jedy
see what is happening but have not become influential
enough to be able to convince people that going
with the Empire, as difficult as it is, is wrong and
dangerous.

A young almost human droid girl by the name of
Exit becomes secretary to one of the Imperial
Government officials. She is eventually moved
to a Star Destroyer with the official and ordered
to serve him there, she is not pleased, the official
fires her as she makes her feeling known. For a
time she waitresses for a small restaurant on the
planet of Basilisk. She made friends there but was
unable to make ends meet and eventually was forced
to go back with the Empire as was the case for many,
the Empire made it almost impossible for anyone to
make a go of it where they were, they convinced
enough people to join the Empire leaving the planets
barren. Exit worked for the Empire but she only did
what she had to since she was secretly not an advocate.
Ian was working hard for the Corellian's. In fact an
unknown visitor from the Empire came and presented
documentation for another space station similar to the
original. Ian recognized these but they had been modified
and enhanced since the older requests. Ian worked
feverishly on the blueprints for the Empire. They were
past back and forth between Ian and the representative;
amendments and improvements were on-going. Eventually
Ian put two and two together and realized that the Empire
were the ones causing all of the trouble around the galaxy.
It still really didn't affect him or the Corellians so he didn't
pay much mind to it. One day news that the Corellian
government was considering turning its power over to the
Empire got Ian's attention. He really didn't care what the
Empire was doing but he didn't want to be affiliated with
an organization that was receiving bad press. Ian had a
very influential position with the Corellian government
and this concerned him and the planets reputation as
continuing to be the foremost authority in Ship Building.
During meetings of the high government concerning the
Corellian business status which was almost all the
meetings, Ian would often protest and raise his own
concerns about the change.

His opinion was often shot down as hyperbole and his
position was often threatened if he were to persist. In
the mean time, he continued to work on the
blueprints for the Imperial Space station. At first it had
taken on much of the same design as the Trade Federation
ships but on a much larger scale. The Imperial contacts
between Ian and Corellia were not satisfied, the Corellian
government did not approve of his ideas. Eventually Ian
went with a different design which actually solved a
multitude of problems. A spherical design which ended
up making the station as large as a small moon. There
were two other problems with the design, propulsion
and defensibility. Ian found it difficult to find a system
large enough to propel the large station. It was a space
station, why did it have to move? But according to the
Empire, it had to and it had to move fairly fast. Ian went
to many of the Outer rim planets and planetary systems
to find technology. Most of the planets he visited didn't
seem to have what he was looking for. He began to visit
some of the planets that weren't named on the galactic
map. Planets that took weeks, sometimes months to get
to. Eventually he visited a planet called Ubbal.

It took Ian two months and four days to reach Ubbal.
The only reason he had gone there was that it was
rumored to have some high tech equipment. During
his visit to Ubbal he was able to tour some of the more
technical facilities. But they still weren't what he was
looking for. Some of the Engineers and designers on
Ubbal had heard rumor that there was another planet,
not part of the galaxy, not easy to get to. It would
take another two months to reach it. It was not on
any map and getting there was only rumored as well.
Ian followed the rumored coordinates and set out for
this planet. The rumored name of the planet was
Magus.

As Ian reached the somewhat unreliable coordinates,
the planet was where it was rumored to be. It was
clear to Ian that he was outside the known galaxy.
No communication into space or for that matter
around the planet itself. The planet was larger than
most and covered by a red haze that seemed to act
as a barrier or force shield to outside influences.
Ian was at a loss as to how to approach and
without any sort of communication, not sure
where to land or who to talk to if there was
anyone to talk to at all. And then, did any of them
speak his language? There was, however, a huge
ship, it was sizable compared to the planet itself and
it seemed to orbit the planet. It was not detected on
any of Ian's sensors and the only reason he noticed it
was because when it got close, it cast a shadow
through his front window. There was no way to
communicate with the ship. And for that matter,
no one to communicate with. The ship was
gargantuan, large enough, Ian thought, to house
most of the people on the planet.

9. Great Ship

An ark maybe? It seemed devoid of viewing
access on the outer hull until Ian was close
enough to see millions of windows. It seemed
devoid of any type of compartments for weapons
and such. But Ian also knew that just because
he couldn't see any weapons didn't mean they
didn't exist. It did have some sort of bridge or
cockpit but where the view window would normally
be was completely covered no apparent way to see
forward. The bridge was very small compared to the
rest of the vessel. The ship had sort of an oval shape,
rounded at the edges, an obvious front and a back.
It did have a propulsion system though not really
evident, it did seem to be pushed along by
something. According to Ian's readouts, it had
some sort of heat signature indicating propulsion
and openings at the back of the vessel for exhaust
venting. No apparent way to enter or exit the ship.

At great risk, he moved his ship even closer to
the huge alien vessel though it didn't seem
dangerous. He noticed what could have resembled a
vent of sorts though what ship would have a vent
into space, there was no air in space. As he got closer
to it he realized that it was so large in size that one of
the Star Destroyer's he designed could have fit inside
it. Easily. He passed through the vent and worked his
way toward the inside of the ship. Nothing preventing
him from traveling. It had a great propulsion system
though it didn't seem to be being used accept to power
the electronics inside of it. It orbited its planet based on
the proper distance and gravitational pull. It must
have used the propulsion system to begin its orbit.
Once in orbit around a planet, it would continue to
orbit, there would be nothing to slow it down. Ian
knew that in order for the beings to keep space
from coming in, there would be no obvious entry
way into the ship itself. As he past further into the
ship he began to see lights. The light emanated
from what were apparent residences, labs or
offices. But it would take some time to get close
enough to see inside these residences if that was
even possible. He then noticed a break in the skin
of the vessel. A means to an opening of sorts, it
actually began to open. A large bright flair, Ian
was sure this was the end of him but when the
flair dissipated nothing had happened to him, he
looked himself over, surely it had scorched him
or something. After a moment he realized that
nothing had changed, it was simply something
that was visible from his shuttle. Ian had to
adjust his ships harmonics in order to detect
anything on his instruments. Adjusting harmonics
was something you almost never did and was
often done by the ship designer when it was done.
The opening was closed but Ian was still convinced
that they knew he was there. Another bright flair,
he had to shield his eyes this time but the bright
light didn't concern him as much this time. Although
Ian assumed that his harmonic adjustments had
surely triggered something this time but again when
the flair faded, nothing had happened, no indication
that he had been detected. There was, this time,
something there before the but not after. His
computers apparently had recorded nothing so
he wasn't sure. His sensor harmonics detected
something for a moment and then after the flair
there was nothing. Ian remained inside the vessel
for days but nothing transpired, he was running
low on fuel and supplies. He was about to leave
the vessel when he noticed a large cube
shaped object floating in space. He hadn't
noticed the opening but apparently it had
opened and closed. No propulsion in the
cube itself, no windows, only a garage door like
hatch that his readjusted sensors detected on
one side of the cube.

Then something in the wall of the great vessel
opened up, no indicator that there was an
opening but two large laser like objects appeared.
Ian watched, when the laser like objects fired a
bright beam of light at the cubical object, it began
to glow. This all happened very quickly. Suddenly
a bright light appeared blinding Ian again, when the
light was gone Ian was able to uncover his eyes. The
laser like objects were retracting back into the inside
of the vessel and when he looked down the cube was
gone. He waited a little longer, a day past, nothing
happened. His fuel and supplies were running
dangerously low, he could wait no longer, he exited
the vessels vent and headed back for the galaxy.

When he arrived at Corellia and entered his
apartment there were people waiting for him. He
recognized two of them, they were government
officials, his bosses, the other eight he didn't know.
They were rather swarthy looking people in a
uniform of sorts. Ian stopped at the entrance to
his apartment, paused and then went in further.
He was shocked to say the least but he tried to
hide it.

"Ian," His boss, Volts Hyperlast opened.

"Volts," Ian replies trying not to sound suspicious.

"Ian, these people are from the First Galactic
Empire. They're interested in some of the
designs you've come up with for ships." Volts says.

"The First Galactic Empire, aren't they the ones
interested in building a space station." Ian asks.

"Yes, we are." Leo Mantisa steps up. Normal
looking but in a very well pressed uniform. "I'm
Commander Leo Mantisa, I originated the plans."

Ian looks at him not speaking for a moment,
he then notices a particularly strangely dressed
man, with some sort of war paint on his face. The
man was dressed in a black robe, strange shoes,
a pronounced collar, several necklaces with
pendants Ian had never seen and red and
white paint or even tattoo's of a sort, on his
face. There was something quite commanding
about him, he seemed to glow a bit, though the
others stood around him sort of protecting or
shielding him and didn't seem to gaze at him the
same way that Ian did.

"The idea for the Space Station are… inspired." Says Ian.

"Thank you." Leo replies.

"How can I help you?" Ian asks.

"We were wondering if you would like to come with
us. See our new ship building facility, give us some
pointers about what we can improve on." Sitau Siln
another Uniformed man asks.

Ian pauses again, not sure what to say. He fumbles
for words, "I… I have a lot of work to do."

Enoban Thul, the other of Ian's bosses, who
was also one of the high commanders of the
Corellian government speaks up, "Oh, Ian, we
can put your other work on hold. I think you should
go."

Ian is nervous but has to think. "I… well, alright, can
I take a moment to… look over my schedule, there
may be something important there?"

"Of course Ian." Volts answers.

"It's in my other room, on my main computer."
Ian replies.

They make way for Ian to enter the other room in
his apartment. In the back of Ian's mind he is very
alarmed and wonders how he is going to get away
without anyone seeing him. He is determined to go
back to Magus as soon as possible.

When he enters the other room, the door automatically
slides closed behind him, he was alone for the moment. He
looks around the room, an air vent in the ceiling. Maybe
just big enough for him to slip into. Heat came from the
vent and the duct work was narrow at best. He reaches
into his pocket and pulls out an object that allows him to
loosen the mechanism that holds the vent closed. Ian
pops the vent open, he carefully and quietly hoists himself
up into it, it's hot and he barely fits. It dawns on him that
the vent entrance will be hanging open. He hears a noise,
the vent has closed itself behind him, spring activated no
doubt. As best he can he begins to push himself through
the ventilation system.

The men in his apartment are standing, waiting for him.
One of the Corellian government officials looks over at the
strangely dressed man and smiles a little, the man does
not smile back, then the strangely dressed man speaks up,
his voice is altered, it's deep and commands attention.

"We should check the room, I sense that there is no one
in there." Darth Plagueisies comments.

"I… how would you know that?" Volts asks, but he is
immediately hushed and one of the Uniformed men knocks
on the door, no answer.

Darth Plagueisies springs to life, he pulls his light saber out,
ignites it and quickly and efficiently cuts a hole in the door.
Regardless of the red hot dripping metal, Darth Plagueisies
and several of the other uniformed men run in. The room
is as Darth Plagueisies sensed it, empty. Volts and Enoban
walk in, Darth Plagueisies looks over at them they look back
at him, the two Corellian officials sense that he may be the
last thing they ever look at.

10. Another Helpless Planet

Another helpless planet Alitsis, a planet that has resisted the
Empire, is about to be victimized by the Empire. The Empire
surrounds Alitsis with a fleet of Star Destroyers. The people
on Alitsis know of the Empires presents but are not prepared
for the onslaught that they assume awaits them. The people
send pleas to the Imperial ships but receive no return response
from the Empire. They finally have no choice but to relent and
let the Empire come to the surface to begin recruiting members
to their work force. Alitsis has a contingent of human's that the
Empire particularly wanted because of their high level of
intelligence. Their civilization is not that advanced but many
around the galaxy believe they will be at some time in the near
future. What the Empire wasn't ready for was their level of
resistance, a rebellion of sorts. The Empire came to the planet
hoping to strong arm this civilization. Though many of the
Alitsis were killed, they kept on coming, almost willing to die
rather than be governed by the Empire.

The Alitsis civilization seemed to feel that their resistance would
be a deterrent of its own. That enemies of this race would
eventually tire of the Alitsis patriotism and leave well enough
alone. That somehow, the Alitsis were a patriotic people and
that their patriotism would be their defense. This attitude
only served to irritate the higher ranking officials in the
Empire. The Empire has eventually decided it doesn't want
the male population from Alitsis for the Imperial work force.
They decide to make an example of this planet for other planets
in the system to see, in case those planets are thinking of
resisting. The government officials on Alitsis don't know what
to do, they don't really have the technology but attempt to
send an inter-stellar message for help. The Empire begins to
charge their weapons. Officials of the Rebellion ships receive
the plea as a static laced message and see the weapons
charged as well on their computers, they know the people
on Alitsis have no way of knowing that the Empire has its
weapons charged and is about to fire on them.

The Rebels must move quickly if they are to attack the
Empire ships before they can fire on the helpless planet.
The Imperial ships begin to fire, assets on the planet's
surface are being destroyed. The laser pulses are huge and
powerful destroying entire buildings at a time. Suddenly
Alliance ships begin to appear dropping out of light speed
near the Empire ships. The Imperial ships obviously sense
this and cease firing. The Alliance ships sense that the Empire
is re-training their weapons, smaller Alliance vessels begin
spilling out of the larger Alliance ships. They attach themselves
to outer hull of the Star Destroyers. Groups of Imperial Soldiers
are sent to several of the places where the Alliance ships have
attached on the other sides. More and more small Alliance ships
continue to leave the Armada ships and attach themselves to
the Star Destroyers. The Star Destroyers begin to fire on the
small Alliance ships. That's when all hell breaks loose, the
Alliance soldiers begin to pierce the hulls of the Star Destroyers
attacking like pirates of old.

The problem for the Empire ships is that some of the Alliance
ships also contain Jedy. The Jedy knights also hop through
deflecting laser blasts from the Imperial guns, some back
at the Imperial soldiers that fired them. Hundreds of Alliance
ships have attached and pierced the sides of the Imperial
Star Destroyers. There is only one Sith for all the Imperial
ships. The imperial ships were not prepared to be boarded.
Darth Crescentwar was on the Star Destroyer Musbedm.
He attempts to fight off the Alliance soldiers that have
attacked his ship and is fairly successful until one of the
Rebel soldier's calls for Jedy assistance. The Jedy are there
in no time in their own ships, they attach to the Alliance
ships and enter the Star Destroyer through the hole made
in the Alliance ship. Darth Crescentwar is suddenly just
defending himself, he escapes with his life after the Jedy
come in and begin attacking him. He hides and now the
Jedy and the Rebel soldiers are free to continue their
invasion.

"Are there more Sith on board?" Asks one Jedy.

"Not that I can sense." Replies another.

Some of them, the Rebel soldiers that did not
have Jedy accompanying them, get out-numbered
by the Imperial Soldiers and have to escape back
to their ships which detach themselves from the
Star Destroyers leaving perfectly round holes where
they were, allowing space to come in before emergency
shields can block the openings. The small Alliance vessels
proceed back to the larger ships of the Armada. The
Star Destroyers are tainted now but still attempt to fire
on the small ships. The larger Armada ships fire on the
Star Destroyers disabling many of their weapons leaving
them unable to fire. The Star Destroyers are well armed
and have very powerful deflector shields. None are heavily
damaged by the larger Alliance ships but have to begin to
turn tail and run or eventually suffer enough laser blasts
to disable their shields and be destroyed.

The Star Destroyers that now contain Jedy are not fairing
as well. Between the Jedy and the Rebel soldiers, some of
the Star Destroyers are slowly but surely falling to the
Alliance. Some of the rebel force along with Jedy, make
their way to the main bridges of the Star Destroyers, the
officers on the bridges try to fight but are easily cut down.
Two Star Destroyers fall into Rebel Alliance hands, the men
on board are taken prisoner. Some of the other Imperial
ships have their deflector shields disabled; then, just as
suddenly the rest of the Jedy and the Rebel soldiers run
back to their ships, detach and head back for the Armada,
every time a Rebel ship detaches, protective shields must
cover the holes. This takes a few seconds, many of the
Imperial soldiers and Imperial Droids are sucked out into
space as planned by the Alliance. The Empire thinks that
they've taken back their vessels only to realize, too late,
many of their shields have been disabled.

The larger Armada ships take advantage and heavily damage
or obliterate the Star Destroyers. The Alliance ships then
jump back to light speed and disappear, two of the Star
Destroyers are also commandeered and taken back as
war spoils with the Rebels. Soon many of the Empire ships
are left at the mercy of space, damaged to the point of
not being able to fire on Alitsis or not being able to move
at all. Other Imperial ships are sent to assist but are only
able to rescue not to defend. They leave quickly with their
tails tucked between their legs.

Back on Corellia Darth Plagueisies is furious. There are
other Sith and Empire Officers with him.

"We must, we must have that ship builder. He is the only
one capable of designing the space station that we need.
And now, in addition, we need him to incorporate a weapon
that will destroy a planet by itself." An angry Darth Plagueisies
says.

"And what of the Star Destroyers in our fleet your majesty.
We have many, have they become useless to the Empire?"
An officer asks.

"They will be used for other things. They are still great and
powerful but stand in the shadow of the space station." Darth
Plagueisies says as he contemplates the issue.

Ian scoots along in the ventilation system, almost cooking
from the heat. He passes over several offices, none seem occupied.
He hears something behind him, it's a small probe, probably
looking for him. He has to move fast now, he scoots over an
opening leading into an office where an attractive half human
half droid sits entering data into a computer. Ian smashes the
vent open and climbs out, the droid woman just watches, not
startled at all. Ian drops down and closes the vent opening
quickly. The probe passes them by.

"My, you're tall aren't you?" The droid woman asks seemingly
not disturbed.

Ian is frantic, "They're looking for me."

"Who's looking for you?" She asks.

"Imperial's I think, I'll give you anything if you'll hide me."
Ian asks.

A knock at the door, she opens it. Darth Plagueisies, the
other Imperial's and Ian's two bosses are at the door. "We
are looking for a man."

"So am I." She jokingly responds.

"We think he disappeared in the ventilation system." Volts
asks her.

She looks up and then around, looks back at them
and smiles, "No one here, I find it hard to believe a
regular size man would fit in there anyway." She says.

Darth Plagueisies looks around the office himself but
doesn't see anything. "He's near, I can feel him, take
us to other rooms near this one.

He commands the Corellian government officials.

They leave, the door slides closed. Ian climbs out
from under the desk. "I can't believe that worked."

"I can't either, the one guy was a Sith, I'm surprised
he didn't sense you here." She says.

Ian looks around, "He might have, what's your name?

"Exit." She replies.

"Why would you help me?" Ian asks.

"I really don't like those Imperial guys either. I work
for one and he's a creep." She says.

"I'm grateful." Ian says. "Now I have to figure out
how to get out of here quickly."

"Follow me, where are you going by the way?" She asks.

"To my ship, dock eleven." Ian replies.

"I'll get you there under one condition." She says.

"Anything." Says Ian.

"You look me up when you can, I have to get out of here
too." She says.

Ian agrees, she peeks out the door, no one is around.
She signals him to follow her, they cautiously make
their way down several corridors until they come to
the space platform where Ian set his ship down. Darth
Plagueisies and his entourage are down another hall
when Darth Plagueisies has another premonition, he
stops obviously sensing something. He quickly directs
everyone to the landing platform, they all turn and run
that way. When Ian and Exit get to the platform where
his ship is, there is a guard. When they try to get past
him, he stops them. He is about to question them when
he gets a call on his communicator. He holds his hand
up to his ear as to make sure he hears correctly, Ian
knows what message he's getting. Ian waits for the
guard to confirm his suspicions but before the guard
can react, Ian has him in a bear hug squishing him!
Ian tries to muscle the guard down but the guard is
too wiry. Ian ends up on top of him and has no choice
but to disable the guard. Ian strikes the guard
incapacitating him, then he puts the guard in a head
lock and proceeds to choke him to death. Exit is
watching and tries to stop Ian by crying at him before
he can follow through but it's too late, the guard's
arms go limp.

"Wow, I can't believe you just did that." Exit says.

Ian looks at himself, pauses and says, "I can't either."

Ian grabs her hand and pulls her into the landing platform
room. They dash towards his ship. When they arrive at it,
he pulls out a fob of sorts and presses something on it
opening a hatch. He climbs in. They say their last goodbyes,
she backs up and he takes off. Still low on fuel and supplies,
he makes for his old home on Devaron. He goes to the
Stalrif's, there is no one home, he breaks in, cleans out the
food stores and makes for a fueling station. Upon arrival
at the fueling station he produces a chit with what used
to have capital from his position on Corellia. He fuels
his ship but when he presents the chit to the proprietor
the chit comes back zero. The proprietor looks at Ian, he
hands the chit back.

"It says zero." Says the proprietor.

Ian doesn't know what to do. He has to move fast, think
fast.

"Do you have other forms of capital?" The proprietor asks.

Ian thinks, "No… I don't."

"You wait here, I bring the authorities." The proprietor says.

The proprietor is behind a ray shield, Ian can't get too him.
The Imperial's will surely find out where he is, he begs the
proprietor but the alien ignores him. When he tries to leave
to go back to his ship he finds that the doors to the refueling
platform are locked. He's a prisoner, a sitting duck for the
Empire when they find him there. He's a genius, there
has to be a way for him to escape. Authorities come to
the refueling station, Ian is taken into custody, put in
shackles and transported to a post on his home planet
where he is remanded to a holding cell. Once inside, Ian
looks around, but sees nothing. The room is devoid of
windows, panels, wall plates and vents. There is only
one way in or out. A small buzzing sound, a virtual screen
appears above the only table in the room. One of the
Authorities appears and asks Ian if he has representation,
Ian tells the man that he does not. The virtual screen
disappears followed by another buzzing noise. He sits,
then he gets up and begins feeling around the walls,
nothing. He calls out…

"Excuse me, can I talk to someone?" Ian asks the air.

The buzzing noise comes again and an authority appears
on a virtual screen again.

"What is it?" The authority alien asks.

"I work on Corellia, maybe someone there can help."
Ian replies knowing he can't really go searching
until the screen disappears followed by the buzzing
noise again.

This time, Ian almost pinpoints the
sounds. It comes from a tiny pin size hole in the
wall. Ian looks around the room, they've stripped
him of everything? He looks at the chair, he
supposed they figured he couldn't do any harm
with that. If he tried to hit someone with it, they'd
be ready and then he'd be in even bigger trouble.
Besides, his hands were still shackled. He thinks,
then he picks up the chair and puts it behind his
back. Surely they'd be watching so he would have
to move fast. He takes the chair with his shackled
hands and smashes it into the wall where the small
hole is, the wall cracks. He knows they'll be onto
him now, he takes the chair and smashes it into
the wall again, this time a piece of the wall falls out.
There are electrical components there. Surely there
must be a connection from the buzzer to the screen.
And where there's a connection to the screen there
must be something that controls the automatic door.
He looks, nothing. When they come in Ian is sitting
on the chair. He has one chance, he fights the two
men that come after him. He's strong but not a
fighter by any means. He gets out, closes the door,
smashes a panel on the outside of the room
jamming the door and adjusts something inside
the panel locking the two officers in the room.

"Dang, it worked." Ian says to himself surprised.

Ian tries the door to the outside but it's locked. He notices
a control panel, all that is on it is a key pad. He pries the
key pad panel open, looks, reaches in and before long
the door to the outside slides open. The door to the cell
is beginning to open, he makes a mad dash out the door,
finds one of the authority ships and climbs in. And not a
moment too soon, one of the Imperial shuttles, that he
designed, lands. Darth Plagueisies and several Imperial
officers disembark. The two authority aliens make their
way out of the cell really none the worse for wear, they
explain to the Imperial's what happened. They all assume
that he didn't have time to steal a ship so he must be
somewhere near the building. As they branch out to look
for him, the Imperial shuttle hatches close, comes to life
and flies off but not before turning its guns on the
remaining Authority ships still on the platform to make
sure they won't follow. The Authority men and the
Empire men including Darth Plagueisies dive for cover.
In the wake of the shuttle, everyone comes out from
hiding.

"I've got to learn how to use the Dark-Side to pin-point
my senses." Says Darth Plagueisies to himself.

Ian still doesn't have supplies but the shuttles fuel gauge
indicates full. And it holds more than his own ship did.
They would be looking for him but they wouldn't find him
where he was going. Supplies… Ian sets the ship to fly
automatically and begins wandering around the ship looking
to see if there is any food. He finally finds a few bottles of
water and some energy bars but there is nothing else. He's
determined, he continues to fly toward the edge of the galaxy
and beyond to the planet of Magus where he was before, he
is too determined to think about getting more supplies. Days
go by, the food and water are long gone. Ian knows he has
to get food before finishing the long jaunt to Magus. As he's
looking for a place that might have supplies an Imperial ship
identifies him. It's big and probably has a small galley on it.
He disguises his voice in an attempt to sound Imperial or at
least not like himself, he calls to them.

11. Deception

"This is commander Schmidt of the Shuttle Pratt. The
prisoner landed on a nearby planet and tried to get supplies.
We tried to apprehend him but he resisted and we had to kill
him." Ian says in an attempt to deceive the other ship.

A pause, then,

"Do you have the prisoners body with
you?" A voice from the other ship asks.

"Yes, the body is here." Ian replies.

Ian waits, they may have found him out.

"Where is the other ship?" The other voice asks.

"Destroyed. We had the prisoner on board when it happened.
He obviously didn't want us to find whatever he was hiding.
He fought, we had to kill him." Ian replies.

"We detect no residual objects." Says the voice.

"Different location, we traveled until we met you
here." Replies Ian hoping they'll go for it.

Another pause.

"We'll need confirmation, can you come aboard?"
The other voice asks.

"Affirmative." Ian says wondering what he's going
to do once on board the other vessel.

The Imperial transport opens a hatch at its lower side.
Ian flies the shuttle in, the hatch closes under him and
he sets down. He can see that his trick didn't work, soldiers
quickly approach the shuttle with weapons in hand. He has
to think fast, the shuttle lifts off again. The Imperial soldiers
look up at the shuttle, then they begin firing. Ian arms the
weapons on the shuttle and fires killing off most of the soldiers.
The rest duck for cover, Ian sees the men in the command
center. They will surely take control of the shuttle and maneuver
it manually, Ian fires at the command center. Everyone in it is
killed before they can take control, the explosion is huge. He
feels the remaining soldiers firing on him from underneath. He
turns the shuttle with what little room he has and fires on the
remaining soldiers.

When he stops firing, there is no one in site. He's willing to
bet there are more men waiting for him. He turns the shuttle
and fires on accesses to the bay. The accesses are built with
heavy doors; the shuttle can't damage them without firing
constantly for several minutes. Unsure of what else to do, he
lands the shuttle. He looks around, no one is coming. He opens
the shuttle back hatch, he grabs an Imperial rifle and carefully
moves down the ramp ready to make a fast break back into the
shuttle if something happens. There are Imperial Soldiers lying
dead all over, he notices a man dressed as a pilot lying dead.
Surely there must be more men. He cautiously moves toward
one of the accesses to the rest of the ship. Covered with blast
marks but still intact. He opens it, sure that someone would be
waiting but no one is. He makes his way down several corridors.
He accesses a computer panel to locate the galley, he finds the
galley; no one seems to be around. Apparently the ship just had
a small complement of men and was piloted by just the one
man. Ian begins taking food back to the shuttle with the use
of a transport droid. He thinks about taking the ship but
doesn't want to look too obvious and the shuttle is plenty
big enough to use for what he needs. He finally finishes
loading the last of the food. He exits down the ramp one
more time to make sure that he hasn't forgotten anything
when he is met by a single Imperial Droid with a rifle
pointed at him, Ian drops his rifle.

"Please… make it quick." Ian tells the Imperial.

The Imperial Droid lowers his weapon and takes off his
helmet.

He's a human wearing a droid uniform "I… I don't… I'm not
going to shoot you."

The man inside the Imperial Droid uniform looks normal,
just a man.

Ian is shocked, "You… you're not?"

"Just leave me with this ship, I'll use it to escape." The
Imperial says.

"Escape… from what?" Ian asks.

"The Empire, some of us don't want to be part of it. I have
a wife and two kids waiting for me, hiding." The man says.

Ian looks at him and smiles. "Do you want to come with
me?"

"No, I just want to go back to my family but… thanks."
The man says.

"What if they catch you?" Ian asks.

"I'll just have to take that chance. You have a shuttle,
please, leave me." He asks.

"I wish you the best of luck, what about food?" Ian
asks as he offers the man what he has in hand.

"I'll eat when I get to my family." The man answers.

Ian smiles at the man, picks up the rifle, walks back up
the ramp, closes it and lifts off. The man goes back inside
the main part of the ship and closes the access door behind
him. Soon the large doors below the Shuttle open and Ian
flies out. Still not sure that the Imperial Droid was on the
level, he watches the ship from a screen in front of him.
Soon the ship begins to move and shortly jumps to light
speed.

"Someone is watching out for me." Ian says to himself.
He sets coordinates in his shuttle computer and flies off,
tanks full and supply stores at max.

12. Magus

Several months go by before he reached Magus, the
galaxy is behind him, space in front of him but is
void of stars, dark and vast. He can see other galaxies
in the distance but Magus was not part of those
either. It would actually take him several more
months to reach another galaxy at Light Speed
even though he can see them from his ship. He
guides the shuttle toward the lonely planet. The
huge ship finally re-appears. He guides the shuttle
into the large vent and proceeds to the coordinates
where he was before where he witnessed the cube
being vaporized. He is in luck, one of the cubes is
floating out into the ships ventilation area. And sure
enough, the large lasers appear and fire on the cube
vaporizing it. Ian is shocked but then again something
about the cube being vaporized seems strange to him.
Usually when something was vaporized, there was
residual elements, even microscopic sometimes but
the shuttles sensors, better than the ones on his ship,
detected nothing.

The lasers seemed to vaporize everything including
any residual elements. That was impossible he
thought, unless… there were two possibilities. One,
he was witness to a new undocumented civilization
so they may have invented a way to vaporize
something without leaving a trace. If the Empire
ever found out about that… The other possibility
was that the cubes weren't being vaporized at all,
it was a form of transport. He scanned the area,
no trace of anything that would indicate a process
of transference. He goes back and reviews the
recordings, all good scientists' record major events.
He sits viewing the recordings and scanning them
as he watches. There! It was almost too small to
see, digital arrows pointed at it. A small beam
emitting from one of the lasers that pointed down
toward the planet. In fact, if his eyes weren't fooling
him, the beam went through the red haze. The cube
was gone in the recordings and must have been sent
down the beam, that was the only thing that made
sense. He would risk it, he would latch on to a cube.
Ian new exactly where the shuttle attachment controls
were because he designed the shuttle. If the Empire
was using his design for the shuttle, what other
designs of his were they using for their dastardly
deeds?

He waits several days, his supplies are running
low again. He was trying to conserve but he was
getting very hungry and thirsty. He calculated
that he would be able to last a couple more days.
Eventually he would have to return to his galaxy
to find more food. But he also knew that when he
did, his pursuers would be waiting for him. And
even if he had the power he did not have the
strength or where-with-all to evade them. Death
was sure, one way or another. Finally, on the
morning of what he would have considered to be
his last day, a cube appeared. He set his auto-
sequencer to fly down and latch onto the cube.
If his hypothesis was correct, in theory, when the
laser transfer was made, he and his shuttle would
be transferred with it. Or he would be vaporized
into non-existence. The shuttle flew in and latched
on. The large lasers appear and fire. When he came
to, he was on what he assumed was the planet
surface. He was burnt, exhausted and the shuttle
was destroyed but he was alive. Several of the
planets species were standing around looking
down at him, Ian passes out.

Imperial Admiral Arnothian sits at a panel aboard
a Star Destroyer. He punch's some things into a
keyboard in front of the panel and reviews what's
written, which appears in a different language.
"How did they know they could attack us from the
inside?" He asks himself in thought. "I would have
thought that most ship captains and warriors would
think that the hull was too thick to penetrate."

Darth Plagueisies comes up behind him. The Admiral
knows he's there but doesn't turn around. "With a
Light Saber Admiral." Plagueisies volunteers.

"A Light Saber?" The Admiral questions.

The Admiral turns around to look at the Sith Lord.
Darth Plagueisies pulls his Light Saber from its sheath
and ignites it, he waves it around so that it hums
when it passes through the air as he himself watches
it, then smiles.

"Amazing isn't it?" Darth Plagueisies
says still watching the Saber as he wheels it like a
true swordsman.

"I would have never thought they were that powerful."
Says the Admiral now watching the Light Saber also.

Darth Plagueisies turns quickly and cuts a huge iron table
in half behind him! The plating around the table is rather
thin but the components inside the table are also cut
clean in half and the floor where the Light Saber struck
before Darth Plagueisies pulled it back, had a deep crevasse
where it hit, in the shape of the tip of the Light Sabers
beam. Darth Plagueisies turns the Light Saber off and
sheath's it. The Admiral is amazed at how clean the cut
was and how it basically cut through everything it came
in contact with.

"A Sith, or a Jedy's Light Saber is his best friend Admiral.
And make no mistake, the Jedy are just as agile with
one as are the Sith, they will see you coming before
you know it and if they hit you with their Light Sabers
at full power, you will cease to exist. The Light Saber
will ignite your entire body and destroy it in an
instant." Says Plagueisies.

"I have heard of its destructive force in battle but I
have not seen it until now." The Admiral adds.

"A light Saber is an extension of its wheeler. Though
an electronic device, it is the source of the Sith or
Jedy's power." Darth Plagueisies says.

"Behind the Force of course?" The Admiral adds.

"The Force is what makes the Wheeler of a Light
Saber so dangerous. The Force guides the
Wheelers hand, the Light Saber is part of the
Force." Darth Plagueisies preaches.

"But not all of the Rebel ships had Jedy." The
Admiral suggests."A good Jedy, can be in
two places at the same time." Suggests
Darth Plagueisies.

"Can you?" The Admiral asks.

Plagueisies' Silhouette fades in opacity.
He speaks again but from outside of the
room. The door to the room slides open.
The Admiral sees Darth Plagueisies walk
in through the door. Then the figure that
walked in the door fades in opacity. Darth
Plagueisies is back in his original position.

"Amazing, isn't it Admiral?" Plagueisies
asks. "And one can use the Force to
manipulate the thinking of the weak
minded. Sith call it Sallaros the Jedy
call it… The Jedy mind trick."

The Admiral turns quickly to see that
Plagueisies is now standing where he was.

"Truly." The Admiral says.

Darth Plagueisies continues on with the Admiral.
For certain, someone had to know where on the
Star Destroyers to attach and pierce the hull,
the Admiral sees his logic. They continue to
ponder and discuss the situation.

Yodi is in a trance. As we look into his
thoughts, a Star Destroyer comes into view,
Yodi had used the Force to see the layout of
the large vessels. Since he was not sensing
anyone that knew the ways of the Force, his
telepathic went unnoticed. Several other Jedy
sit around Yodi, also in a trance. Yodi is
teaching them how to use the Force to
reach out through space, to see inside
material objects. He hasn't taught them
how to read minds yet.

Darth Plagueisies now sits entranced,
pondering the secrets of the Dark-side. As
we look into his thoughts we see that he
is trying to uncover the ability to manipulate
life… itself. The Force, good or bad, will not
let anyone take away a life simply by stopping
their heart. It does however, allow one to
manipulate, move if you will, a person's body
or even worse, set it afire. Difficult to do if the
person is not near you unless one is a master
of manipulating it. It allows one to sense danger,
even eminent danger. To produce a reaction
to someone's movements before they even
know that they're going to move themselves.
Even something as small as pulling a trigger
or as large as striking with a Light Saber. Darth
Plagueisies sees that, though there is no barrier
to bringing someone back to life, if their life force
isn't gone completely, if there is a way to use the
Force to bring someone back to life after they've
been dead awhile, even he does not know, though
he is close to unlocking the secret. His thoughts
proceed deeper. The way to animate someone
back to the living is becoming apparent to him
but the Dark Side stops him before he can see
the secret, he is brought out of the trance.

Yodi sees Darth Plagueisies' thoughts. Yodi
knows how to do this but he's not going to
let on. He knows about reviving the dead
because he had to do something similar
when he transported from his own Galaxy
to this one to chase after the Sith seven-
hundred years ago. Sith in the past were
able to do it but the practice was lost with
time. And thank God for that.

The Jedy all come out of the trance.

"Master Yodi, you were somewhere else for
a moment." A Jedy asks.

"Yes, into Darth Plagues' thoughts I went."
Says Yodi.

"Would he not know you were there master?"
Another Jedy asks.

"Not if, hidden in the Force I was. But
careful you must be, if into someone else's
thoughts you go, hidden you must be." Replies
Yodi.

"Teach us how to hide ourselves in the Force
master." Another Jedy asks.

"Reveal this to you, the Force will soon but
only when it is time." Replies Yodi.

The other Jedy don't question this, they know
that the Force does indeed reveal things when
the time is right, when one has learned what
he must, to control that power in the Force.
One of the Jedy asks Yodi what he saw. Yodi
replies that he saw Darth Plagueisies
wondering. Wondering who or how the
Rebels and the Jedy knew where to attach
the ships during their last invasion. Yodi
then told the other Jedy that the Empire
would be ready for such an attack the next
time. They would have to attack different
the next time.

"See the plans of their next attack, we must."
Says Yodi.

But Darth Plagueisies has not revealed his
plan yet, the rebels were fortunate the last
time. Yodi was able to read a Sith's mind which
got them close to where the attack was so
that they were able to respond quickly, they
would not be so lucky next time.

When Ian wakes up, he is fastened,
restrained to a table. Not a comfortable
gurney like on his planet in a hospital
ward. He is obviously in a medical facility
of some sort. He looks around hoping that
he is not the subject of an autopsy to see
how he ticks. One of the non-human species
comes up beside him, the specie looked similar
to a Shi'ido but clearly was not, his head was
more… human like, only the body looked
somewhat like Shi'ido. No elephant like snout,
just a face personality and smile, a lot friendlier.

The Magus specie utters Ian's last name but
the sound is animal like and not perceptible
to Ian, Ian understands what the creature
is trying to say, a friendly gesture at least
for now. Ian points to himself though is
arms are trapped by restraints.

"Ian… Ian Bartholomew." Ian attempts to
convey.

The creature is obviously inspired, its eyes
go wide and it rushes out of the room. It
comes back into the room several moments
later with some sort of device.

It flips a switch on the device and a Human
voice comes out of it. "Bartholomew…" It
repeats the word several times.
"Bartholomew… Bartholomew."

Ian responds with a smile. "Yes," he points to
himself. "Ian… Ian Bartholomew."

The creature plays the recording again. "Bartholomew…
Bartholomew."

Ian then realizes that though the voice, saying
his name is not his own voice that he's hearing
in the recording, or the creatures.

"Who… who is that?" Ian asks the creature.

The creature clearly does not know what Ian is
trying to ask. Ian tries to point but his hand is
restrained, the creature releases Ian's hands. Ian
points to the machine and does a "what" gesture.
The creature leaves again, this time for awhile, Ian
lies back down and closes his eyes.

When he wakes the next time, he is in the same
room but has been moved to a chair-like platform
and all his restraints are gone. His eyes are failing
him but he attempts to look around the room. He
sees three of the creatures, each one a little
different. He notices that each of them has a
distorted right arm which is muscular to the
extreme. Then his eyes scan back to a human,
an older man, dressed like the rest of the species,
long grey hair and beard. The human walks over
smiling.

"I have not spoken your language in a long time,
please forgive me." Says the Human.

Ian thinks a moment, then speaks, "No…
you're doing fine, I understand you."
"Your second name, it is Bartholomew?"
The human asks.

Ian thinks again, "Yes. I'm Ian Bartholomew."
The human thinks now, "Where… are you
from?

Ian has to think, "I don't… I don't know. I
mean, I don't know where I originated."

"Did you know your… mother?" The human
asks.

Ian thinks, "Not my… real mother. I didn't
know the woman who gave birth to me."

The human speaks into a device while
looking at one of the Magusian species
in the room. The human man repeats
what Ian said into the device. The
Magusian man nods his head in the
affirmative and smiles.

The human looks at Ian again, he
pauses before he speaks. "My second…
last name… is Bartholomew. If I remember
correctly my first name is… Renn."

Ian thinks, "I… I don't know anyone
named… Renn. Why do you say this?"

The human man repeats Ian's question
into the device while looking at one of the
Magusian men again. The Magusian man
smiles and nods his head again.

"I… believe, you might be a relation,
possibly even… my son. Although I don't
remember naming our son... Ian" Says Renn.

Ian's eyes go wide.

"How… many…" Ian Interrupts Renn.

"…Forty-five years old.

Renn calculates in his head for a moment.
"Yes, that is a long time for you… is it not?"

Ian thinks, "Yes, I suppose it is."

Renn goes on to explain that his wife,
possibly Ian's mother, died after Ian was
born. Renn was attacked by the Trade
Federation because of his own ship designs,
he was a good designer but when the Trade
Federation tried to find him again he had to
leave the planet. It was about fifty years ago.
Renn is now eighty-four or as best he can
remember. He goes on to explain that the
Trade Federation found him again, so he
jumped in a ship and flew away. He was
able to escape but the Trade Federation
caused irreparable damage his ship. He
was stranded.

Renn tells Ian that he had run out of
supplies and fuel and was adrift in space
near the edge of the galaxy when they
found him. The Magusian's were exploring.
They had some pretty good technology but
after some time they figured out that Renn
was quite the brilliant ship designer. Renn
then taught them how to design ships. He
taught them many scientific engineering
techniques. Their scientists were savvy and
good learners. They figured out how to break
down the cubes into molecular parts and then
molecularly transport the cubes and then a
computer re-assembles them upon arrival.
Renn explained that during the molecular
transport, the cube protects the people even
though they are broken down molecularly also.
For the first time, they were able to escape from
the cloud when ship creation was difficult for
such a purpose, from that point they could
transport anything that fit in the cubes. He
explained to Ian that the ship Ian was in, was
destroyed by the transporter rays. Ian was
exposed to the strange cloud that surrounded
the planet and had to be nursed back to health
or the gases from the cloud would have killed him.

Ian asked Renn about the huge ship. It was,
of course too large to build on the planet's
surface and there was no way for them to
transport it through the cloud without someone
getting poisoned or without destroying something
in the process. The ship was a lot smaller when it
started but the Magusian's began to extend
research to others from the planet and they
began to research the strange cloud. The research
continues. The reason the ship is so large now is
twofold. First, it had to be large enough to house
all the families that did the research. And two, the
Magusian's assumed that the planet would
eventually implode on itself and they needed
something large enough to house the rest of
the families in the event that, that might happen.

"I tried to explain to them that planets last a long
time, but they weren't convinced." Renn exclaimed.

Ian laugh's a little. Renn then tells Ian that there
was another on board. It was a female but not
human. She was damaged during the transport
but the ship protected her to some extent.
Ian knew who he was talking about, Exit!

"Is she ok?" Ian asks.

"Yes, I put her back together. She is quite
amazing, she has the ability to think like a
human but she is almost all machine. Some
of her parts, very specific parts, are actually
human, it was difficult to reconstruct some
of that, someone in your galaxy figured out
how to support parts of the human body
and re-animate them on a mechanical body.
I don't remember ever having the ability to
make a machine think like a human or to
reanimate human parts."

"And… She is very partial to you." Says Renn.

Ian knew, it had to be Exit. She must have
stowed away on his ship. Strange that he
did not detect her. "Where is she?"

"She waits, outside this room. She waits for
you." Replies Renn.

"Please, can you bring her in?" Ian asks.

Renn speaks into the device while looking
at one of the Magusian's, repeating Ian's
question. Their mouths do not move. Ian
determines that they must communicate
through telepathy. The device that Renn
speaks into, changes his language into
theirs and sends it through radio waves
that act as telepathy to them.

Exit walks into the room. She's beautiful,
smiling at Ian. She walks over and sits
next to him.

She kisses him on the forehead, "Hey sailor."
"Exit, what are you doing here?" Ian asks.

Exit explains that if she had stayed they
surely would have figured out that she
helped him escape so she climbed aboard
at the last minute. Renn and the rest of
the Magusian's leave.

Exit sits on a stool next to Ian. "I'm
glad you're ok." She says.

Ian looks at her, she was a droid, had she
somehow fallen in love with him? He'd never
known a droid to do that. Though he had
designed many of the droid computer brains
to think like humans. Ian called it Idiosyncratic
Personalities. But he never thought it was good
technology, someone must have improved on it.

Ian ponders a moment, "I… I'm glad you're
ok too… I think."

13. The Student Becomes The Teacher

A couple of days later Ian is back to his old self.
The Magusian's had good medicine. Ian was
walking with Renn. Renn told Ian of how the
Magusian's had adopted him. He taught them
everything. They didn't have any real good
technology or science when he came. They
really didn't know much about science at all.
Although they lived in fairly modern homes.
They were smart and picked up on Renn's
abilities quickly. Renn told Ian that when
he lived in the Galaxy, no one had invented
molecular transport. Ian informed Renn that
they still hadn't.

Ian would want to take this technology with
him if he ever went back home. Renn
explained how the Magusian's learned
the technology behind the lasers that
were originally designed as weapons.
Upon believing that they didn't need
them anymore, they decided to study
the technology and apply it to something
else. Through Renn they learned how
when a laser hits something it breaks
the object down into molecular pieces
but the pieces stay organized. Then
Renn tells Ian that computers they
built here became so advanced that
they were actually able to reorganize
and rebuild an object. Reanimating
beings was a little harder and they
had to learn how to do it without it
being painful or reorganized the wrong
way. Some of the reorganized experiments
came out, let's say, inside out. Ian told
Renn about the all the new ships he
had designed, the new technology. Ian
explained to Renn that he was a designer,
engineer, scientist, and a government
official for the Corellians.

Renn stops and looks Ian over. "You have got
to be my son."

"Could be… there does seem to be a lot of
similarities between us." Says Ian.

They walked on further, Renn asked Ian about
Exit. How was it that she was so human like,
how were they able to preserve human body
parts like that. Ian explained that it was a
scientific discovery that was discovered about
twenty years ago. A man longing to preserve
the love of his life learned to do it. The practice
was outlawed for a long time until it could be
shown as a safe procedure. Because at first,
the science caused very harmful viruses. Water,
simple water, is sent to the skin tissue and
disbursed via a very advanced computer to
the tissue reanimating nerves, blood, muscle,
tendons, ligaments and even bone. Then
designed by Ian himself, explained the science
behind Idiosyncratic Personalities in droids. That
by cross-referencing about a hundred personality
traits, the database inside the droid brain could
in effect, simulate human behavior. It took a
couple of years before he learned all of the
necessary science need to create such a thing.
Although he had to admit that he'd never seen
a droid that acted like Exit. He would have to
study this behavior if he ever had the chance.
Ian postulated that the droid Idiosyncratic brain
studied human behavior and added personality
traits itself. They were designed to learn.

Then Renn asked Ian a strange question.
"Can I trust you?"

"To do what?" Ian asked.

"To protect the Magusian's. To keep this place,
this planet a secret." Renn asked.

Ian had to think, he thought for a few moments,
then answered. "Yes, you can trust me. I will
never divulge the where-abouts of this planet.
Though I would like to take some of its
technological secrets with me."

"I think that would be ok," said Renn, "As
long as you can keep the source a secret."

"Of course."

"Good, come with me."

Ian followed Renn. They moved about on
public transportation that Renn originated.
They finally arrived at what appeared to be
a lab. The Magusian's wandered about like
humans, they worked there at the facility
and had research projects of their own.

Ian looked up, he could see the Red cloud
cover that seemed to engulf the planet.

Renn lead Ian down a couple of floors on
an elevator of sorts. Entered a code, hand
scan and slipped a card through a card
reading device. The Magusian's were very
protective of their new technology. He
opened the doors to what was a huge
engineering lab. In it was ship technology
the likes of which Ian had never seen
before. Ships of all sorts, and also what he
determined to be ship engines, guns,
shields generators and very advanced
computers that seemed small in size.

"I wonder… if you could explain some
of this to me." Ian asked Renn.

"Of course but it will take some time.
You will have to stay and the food," he
cringes, "takes some getting used to."

They worked together for days. Renn
explained all the technology. He started
with the ship engines. Explaining that he
taught the Magusian's about engine
technology but they improved on it making
ship engines that propelled faster that the
common Light Speed technology that he knew.
The engines, the weapons, the shields, the ships,
all prototypes, were infallible and more powerful
than any Ian had ever seen. Some were huge.
Ian understood that some of the technology was
so big that they had to be assembled in space.
Renn explained the technology behind making
the engines so perfect. That the Magusian's were
able to see outside the box so to speak and add
their own ideas. They were disciplined beings,
dedicated to an idea until it came true. Renn had
never seen such devotion to science. And they're
intelligence was incredible, though they had people
at the other end of the scale also. Renn then showed
Ian the weapons. They were perfect also and some
huge. They never jammed and hardly ever broke
down. The laser technology had even more energy
than anything Ian had ever seen. The technology
was relegated to huge clean rooms which were a
marvel of technology themselves. The weapons
were ultra powerful. They seemed to have a
destructive force that was ten times the
destructive capabilities of any weapons Ian
had ever seen.

But the most interesting of all was the computers.
They had speed, seemed idiot proof and were able
to do things that Ian could only imagine. Like
taking a person's thoughts and putting them
through an extrapolation process, producing
objects that were actually part of someone's
imagination. The computers were able to predict
things. To calculate based on only a few variables.
That the computers could be made small and fit
into a droids brain. He showed Ian the communication
device that he'd invented based on the computer's
ability to extrapolate. It was how he was able to
learn the Magusian language. The Magusian's
were responsible for much of the advanced
technology. Renn was amazed at how much
Ian understood about all that they had discussed.
Then Ian changed the subject.

"I was also running."

"From what?"

"There's a new faction in the galaxy.
They call themselves the First Galactic
Empire. They've convinced a lot of people,
civilizations, to join them."

"Then there are a lot of people that
know the Empire is evil." Ian went
on to explain to Renn all that the
Empire was doing.

The Magusian's had much of the technology
that Ian had been looking for. Highly advanced
computers, weapons, propulsion systems and
deflector shields. Their ships were huge, and
just sometimes very complex. For the larger
ships, it took huge propulsion systems to move
them. Renn explained to Ian that they had not
invented Hyper drives when he originally came
there. So Ian explained to Renn that there was
a different kind hyper drive in the galaxy. He also
explained how they could build that kind of
technology and adapt it to their ships. Renn
was grateful.

"There is one problem though." Renn stopped.

"Isn't there always?" Ian jested.

"Some of the Magusian's believe your being
here is bad for them." Says Renn.

"So… you'll convince them to trust me like
they trust you." Says Ian.

"I'm the only human on this planet besides
you. They've had fifty years to learn to trust
me." Says Renn.

"I get it. I really do." Ian says.

"You're getting it doesn't matter, there are
those who want to kill you rather than let
you go." Said Renn.

"Really?" Ask Ian.

"Ian, they trust me because…" Renn cuts off.

"Because what?" Ian asks.

"Because… I've agreed to never leave." Blurts
Renn.

Ian just stands shocked. Renn continues on…
"Exit was interesting to them so they allowed
me to put her back together. Ian, they,
destroyed your ship, it wasn't the transport
machine as you were lead to believe, please
don't tell them I told you, well actually it was
but that's part of the fail-safe, all machines
are automatically destroyed if they aren't inside
the cubes. They don't want you to leave."

"But… I have to." Pleads Ian.

"Yes… you do but you can't." Says Renn.

"I need one of your ships." Ian says.

"I'm pretty sure none of them will fit in the
cubes and that's the only way off the planet."
Says Renn. "You'll have to build your own."

"Or I could modify one of yours." Says Ian.

"Then what?" Asks Renn.

"One thing at a time." Says Ian.

That night Ian is at Renn's living quarters.
They're about to go to sleep when they
hear a loud bang. They both jump. Renn
jumped because he knew what it was.
Renn explains that the Magusian's are
using their huge arms to pound through
the walls. Renn tells Ian to take cover.
Renn runs to another room, then quickly
comes out. Ian inquires what Renn was
doing. He assumed Renn went to get a
weapon. Renn explains that they will
not allow him to have one. He simply
called for help. That's all he could do.
Another loud bang. This time, part of
the wall caves in. Another bang, the
rest of the wall comes down. The angry
Magusian's run in. Renn and Ian wrestle
with a couple of them but they have huge,
powerful arms and fast. Ian and Renn are
easily tossed across the room. More Magusian's
run in. Some of them are carrying weapons.
Ian charges one of them again but is easily
knocked away again. A couple of them train
their weapons on Ian and Renn, who assume
this is their last. But just as they're about to
be fired upon, good Magusian's and a friend of
Renn's, come from behind, they fire their
weapons into the angry mob. One of the good
Magusian's gets into hand to hand combat with
another. It's like two lions fighting. The battle
is fierce. It is clear to Ian that he would have
had no chance with any of them. The good
Magusian wins the hand to hand battle but
is bloodied and battered. The other bad
Magusian's are gunned down or run off. Renn
hears something and picks up his communication
device. He looks at Ian.

"My friends are saying you have to leave. I'm
to give you one of my ships." Says Renn.

"I thought you said…" Renn cuts him off.

"…I have one that might fit but it has to be
modified and it has no weapons. It's not very
fast but it will have to do." Says Renn.

The Magusian's protect them as they run usher
them to where Renn's lab is. Exit is there. The
ship Renn spoke of is fairly non-descript and it
would have to be modified, which he could do
and turned on its side to fit into the cube.

"Wait, how do we enter space?" Ian asks.

"When the cube is floating in space outside the
ships entryway, the cube will open. You and Exit
will have to be in the ship when the cube opens.
It's the only way to protect you from space. You'll
have to fly it out sideways." Renn explains.

"What about you? What about the other
Magusian's?" Ian asks.

Renn pauses, "None of us are going, you'll
have to leave by yourselves. We can monitor
you from here but there's no way to protect
us from space either once the cube is opened."

Renn hands Ian a package, then Ian and Exit
jump into the ship. The Magusian's push the
ship over on its side and push it into one of
the cubes.

Ian mouths the words through
the ships glass. "I'll be back."

Renn acknowledges him.

No sooner do they get the cube closed, do
the angry Magusian's attack from above, this
time with a bigger force. Other good Magusian's
arrive just in time in hovering ground attack
vehicles to counter the attack. Hopefully the
transporter lasers haven't been damaged.
The lasers point at the cube and fire. The
next thing Ian and Exit know, the cube is
opening and they're in space in the vent
area of the gigantic ship. Ian fires up the
engines and with a little scraping, they fly
out of the large ship vent and away from
the planet.

Exit stands next to Ian, "That was close." She says.

"Too close." Says Ian.

She puts her arms around his neck. He looks
up at her a little surprised.

"You don't mind this do you?" She asks.

Ian has to think. "Well… no… I guess not."

"Listen, I may be a robot but they designed
me to think like a woman. I need love to." She says.

Ian looks at her again as he maneuvers the ship
toward the Galaxy and enters something into its
computer. "I… guess I've really never been
approached."

"By a droid?" She asks.

"By any woman." He adds.

She steps back. "None?"

"No, I guess I never really thought about it.
Living on Corellia, the women I worked with
were… co-workers, I was attracted to them
but I… just never considered the possibility."
Said Ian.

She stands back. She is wearing clothing
but it really doesn't cover up much. Her
female parts are actually human adaptations
and barely covered. "Well, how do I look?"

Ian turns around, he is astounded at how
enticing she appears. "Wow, Exit, I can't
believe it. I mean, you're a droid but you…"

She sits in his lap and kisses his neck, then his
mouth, romantically.

"Exit, I don't know what it's like to kiss a girl
but… you elicit emotions in me and as far as
I can tell, there's no difference." He says.

"They designed me with real woman parts.
Lips too. I doubt I'm as nice as a real woman
but I think I can satisfy."

He picks her up cradle style. She's kind of heavy.
They kiss again, romantically. They move to the
floor. She pulls him on top of her. The rest is left
to the imagination.

Darth Plagueisies is commanding several legions
of Star Destroyers. His son, Darth Sidiously is grown
more and is with them. They know where Ian left
the galaxy. And they're pretty sure they know
where he's going to enter. They sit waiting. They
have lots of time.

As they sit, Yodi, in a different location, senses
that Darth Plagueisies is waiting for something.
But this time Darth Plagueisies senses Yodi. Yodi
jumps out of his trance. One of the Jedy meditating
near him asks him what's wrong. Yodi tells him that
Darth Plagueisies was ready for him and identified
him when he was sensing Darth Plagueisies' mind.
Yodi and the Jedy spring into action. One of the Jedy
asks Yodi if he knew where Darth Plagueisies was. Yodi
indicates that because Darth Plagueisies detected him,
he had to get out of the trance before Plagueisies was
able to reveal it. But Yodi also indicates that he knows
that Darth Plagueisies is waiting for someone and is
somewhere at the edge of the galaxy.

Yodi dares to try again while the Rebel ships begin
a scan of the space around them. Plagueisies has
a plan. He allows Yodi to reach out to him through
the Force. Yodi jumps back again. He indicates that
for some reason Darth Plagueisies has allowed it.
Yodi was able to determine a location closer to their
where-abouts. It would take some time to get there.
The Rebels head in the direction of Darth Plagueisies'
fleet. But Yodi is suspicious and goes to Senator Bail
Organa to hatch a plan of their own just in case.

As Ian and Exit re-enter the Galaxy they instantly
get an alarm indicating the presents of a part of the
Imperial Fleet. Ian assumes they must be waiting
for him. Darth Plagueisies' ship sensors pick up Ian's
ship. They are unaware of what kind of ship he will
be arriving in but they can do whatever they want
based on the fact that Ian's ship doesn't do much.
Darth Plagueisies issues an order to another part
of his fleet to attack another planet as a deterrent
to the Rebels.

Yodi and the Rebels are aware of the attack and
must supply some assistance. So part of the
Rebel fleet breaks off to assist the attacked
planet. Now Yodi's Rebel fleet is short which
could be a problem. The other Jedy with him
re-assure him that it won't but Yodi knows
better. Ian stops his ship. The Imperial
ships begin to advance.

"They're not waiting." Ian says.

"Ah-oh, we can't out-run them." Exit adds.

"Nope, but we can try." Says Ian.

He turns the ship around and starts to run
back. Darth Plagueisies believes the fact that
he is running is an indicator that it is Dr.
Bartholomew indeed. Several of the Star
Destroyers speed up in an effort to catch
Ian's ship.

Suddenly, Darth Plagueisies' ships alarms go
off. The Rebel ships are near, armed and
coming quickly. He sends a couple of Star
Destroyers to apprehend Dr. Bartholomew's
ship. They will easily over-take him. So Darth
Plagueisies relaxes and is able to concentrate
on fighting off the Rebels, which he knows
are short ships. He has also planned to meet
the Rebels with a hidden fleet of Star Destroyers
and Tie fighters to protect them from the rear.
When the Rebels arrive they are met in battle
by the rear wave of Imperial ships as well as
Darth Plagueisies' ships. Ian's ship isn't equipped
with a lot but his ship is equipped with sensors
that tell him and Exit that several Star Destroyers
are coming after them. The Star Destroyers are
almost on them and lock a tractor beam on them.
Ian's ship is in no way powerful enough to pull
away from the tractor beam. The Empire is
pulling them in.

14. Unexpected Help

Suddenly there is an explosion. The tractor
beam breaks loose of them. Several ships,
all different and none that Ian had ever
seen before are attacking the Empire ships.
Some of the ships that save Ian and Exit
are large, some are small. All have weapons
and are advancing rapidly. The Empire ships
are firing back but the deflector shields on
the strange ships are more powerful than
Ian had known of. A radio transmission
comes over Ian's ships speakers. It's his
father, Renn Bartholomew and some of
the people from Magus.

"Not a moment too soon dad." Ian tells him.

"We got ya son." Renn comms.. back.

The weapons on the larger Magusian ships
are powerful and wreak havoc on the Imperial
ships. The Star Destroyers try to run but the
Magusian ships continue to pound them.
Eventually one of the Star Destroyers explodes.
The explosion is enough to disable the other.
Darth Plagueisies sees this on his ships sensors.
The Empire is holding off and wreaking havoc
on the Rebel attackers. He is relieved of this.
But then the Magusian ships join the fight.
Ian and Exit are able to skirt around the fight
and head back to Corellia. Ian calls to his father.

"We have to run dad, this ship has no weapons
or defense capabilities." Says Ian.

"Run son, run!" Renn yells.

The Rebel ships are holding against the
Imperial ships. The Rebel ships that had to
break off earlier now join the fight with the
rear Imperial ships. The Rebels mop up. The
Imperial invaders that attacked the planet
for a deception were a small fleet and
between the Jedy and the Rebel ships, were
able to end the conflict quickly, so they raced
to join the other fight. Now the Imperial ships
are being attacked by Renn's ships on one side,
and a large group of Rebel ships on the other.
Renn's ships are almost impenetrable and the
Rebel ships are fighting well. The Empire must
again run. Darth Sidiously suggests to his father,
that instead of running back to Geonosis, they
go to Corellia to find Ian. Darth Plagueisies loves
the idea and turns his fleet toward Corellia.

Ian and Exit land at Corellia. They pass several
people but no one seems to be aware of their
current situation. They hurry to Ian's office.
When they arrive, Ian immediately begins to
round up blueprints and computer files
containing his designs. Exit just watches him.

"What was in the package that your father gave
you?" Exit asks.

Ian thinks. "I forgot about that."

"It's still in the ship isn't it?" She asks.

"It is." Ian replies.

"I'll go get it." Exit says.

"Be careful." Ian tells her.

She nods and leaves the office, Ian continues
to collect stuff that the Empire might find.
When Ian is finished he leaves his office. The
halls are strangely empty. He's not sure what
was going on. There is absolutely no one
around. He finds his old bosses, Volt and
Enoban lying dead in one of the corridors.
Exit comes over Ian's communication device.

"Exit." He calls into it.

She talks to him. "It's full of blueprints, things
your father designed for the Magusian's. And
it looks like some of the stuff they improved
on."

"Really, that's… that great." Says Ian.
"Be careful, something strange is going on."

"I will." She replies.

The place has an eerie feel about it. He arrives
back at the space port where he left his ship.
When he goes through the door, all the people
at his complex have their hands in the air. Darth
Plagueisies, his son Darth Sidiously and several
Imperial Officers have Exit at gun point. More
Imperial soldiers come from behind him. They've
caught him. They take him and Exit on board
and fly off. On board, they remand Ian to a
holding cell. Darth Plagueisies and Darth Sidiously
along with some Imperial officers, converge at
Ian's cell.

"We need you to continue plans for the space
station requested by the Empire." Darth
Plagueisies says.

"I'll do no such thing." Says Ian.

"Very well." Says Darth Plagueisies and he
pulls Exit out in front of them so that Ian
can see that she is their hostage and they
will surely execute her if he doesn't comply.

"You know what we'll do with her?" Darth
Plagueisies says.

Ian looks down in defeat. "Yes."

"Ian don't listen to them, I'm just a droid.
Let them end me, it doesn't matter…" Exit
is interrupted.

"Shut up!" Darth Sidiously orders to her.

"It does matter." Blurts Ian. "It matters to
me Exit. You may be a droid but… I have
feelings for you. I can't allow that to happen."
Ian looks up at Darth Plagueisies. "I will do
as you say."

"Good, I will arrange to have the current
plans displayed on a screen for you. You
can continue designing the space station
on another computer. By the way, we've
found your fathers plans. There's a
blueprint for a giant weapon and
propulsion that will go nicely on our space
station. Adapt them to our plans." Says
Darth Sidiously.

Ian nods his head in defeated agreement.
They tell Ian that he just saved her from
being deactivated and melted down, but
they pull her away. Ian goes to the edge
of the holding cell which is protected not
by bars but by a force field, Ray Shields.

He yells, "Hurt her and you get nothing."

When the two screens arrive, they are
hooked up, the blueprints to the current
space station and his father's plans for
a weapon and propulsion are also available.
He has to re-construct part of the space
station in order to adapt the advanced
propulsion systems and weapon to the
blueprints. He works tirelessly day in and
day out. He finally gets the idea that they
may have ended Exit so he calls them and
asks to see her if he is to keep working.
They bring her down and place her in his
cell. She immediately runs up and hugs
him.

"Ian… are you all right." She asks in a
tearful voice.

He looks down at her, she has tears in her
eyes. "You… you have tears."

"Yes, one droid, complete with tears and
emotions." She laughs in a tearful voice.

He laughs too and pulls her back hugging
her again.

"I told you not to give them anything, to
let them end me." She says.

He looks down at her. "If they designed
you right, you would understand that I
could not allow them to do that."

She smiles and looks down in defeat. "I
know… and I'm glad. I've been one lonely
droid."

"And I've been one lonely man." He says
looking down at her.

They talk for awhile. He shows her what he's
been working on. She can see the immense deal
of what he's designing. She knows he has no
choice but to comply. He is brought food. She
doesn't eat but she watches him. They sit
together while he eats. They talk about a lot
of things. He tells her his life story. But as
soon as it began, it's over. Imperial officers
come and tell them that it's time for her to
leave. That they have ten minutes. In ten
minutes he writes so they can't hear him
talking, telling her of a plan to escape. He
continues to tell her what he's been working
on to hopefully cover the fact that he's writing
something. There really isn't enough time but
she, as a droid, has the ability to record
everything. She knows it's risky and tells him
so. He says, of course that he knows but it's
the only way, she agrees.

Later that day Darth Plagueisies and Darth
Sidiously come before his cell. Darth Sidiously
uses his power over the Dark Side to lift and
pin Ian to the back wall of the cell. Ian smashes
into the wall and is held there. Darth Plagueisies
uses his power over the dark side to pull the
screens over to where he can see them and
pulls the blueprints up. Ian watches this but
doesn't know how he's doing that.

"We just want to make sure that you are
working on the plans for the space station
and not some ulterior thing. My son has
great power over the Dark Side does he
not?"

Ian can hardly breath, he squeaks out words.
"Yes… he seems… very powerful."

Darth Sidiously plasters Ian harder against
the wall still keeping him elevated off the floor.

"Easy my son, we don't want to kill him before
he has completed his task." Darth Plagueisies
says.

Darth Sidiously lets him fall to the floor, then
elevates him and plasters him against the wall
again. Darth Plagueisies just watches and smiles.
He looks the plans over, "You've been working
hard Dr. The Empire will thank you. Make sure
that our engineers understand the plans so they
can assemble it when it is complete. By the way,
you have ten more days."

Ian squeaks out more words. "Ten days… is
not… enough."

"Then… the droid woman will die before they
are complete. That would be a shame, however,
if you complete them in ten days, we will let
her live a little longer." Darth Plagueisies says.

Ian squeaks again, still being held against the
wall by some unseen power. "I want to see her
again."

"You've seen her enough, you'll just have to
trust that I haven't deactivated her. And Dr.
If you think what my son is putting you
through is painful, imagine what dying by
my hand will be like." Darth Plagueisies
says as he smiles. "Come along Darth
Sidiously, we have other matters to attend."

The two Sith walk off. Ian is still elevated and
pinned against the wall. Several moments go
by before the power holding him in place, is
gone. He falls to the floor, out of breath and
holding his chest. The ordeal was painful. Ian,
being the tough man that he is, gets up,
stumbles some, moves the screens back to
where he had them and goes back to work.
He works for ten days. Then he calls for Darth
Plagueisies saying that he wants to see Exit.
Darth Plagueisies and Darth Sidiously arrive
before the cell with some Imperial Officers in
tow. Darth Sidiously pins Ian up and against
the wall again. The force field over the
entrance to the cell is lowered. The computers
are taken out. Exit gets pushed in and the force
field goes back up. Exit sees Ian pinned but try
as she may, she can't get him down.

"They better be complete Dr. for her sake."
Darth Plagueisies threatens.

Plagueisies and his entourage leave. Ian stays
pinned a few more moments until Darth
Sidiously lets him go. He falls to the floor
again holding his chest. He is laying down,
his strength zapped from him. Exit holds his
head, she asks him if he's alright. He indicates
that he is, that he just needs a few minutes
to regain his composure again.

When he is revived, he asks her how they've
been treating her. She explains that they have
affixed a Restraining Bolt to her. She shows him.
They simply shut her down when they don't
need her. She'd been shut down the whole time.
He tells her that they need to figure out how to
remove it. There's no way without them finding
out. The moment they try to remove the restraining
bolt, they would be found out. He writes to throw
them off again. She reads but acts as if she is still
listening to him talk about what he's been doing
and his treatment thus far. "Are you ready?" Ian
asks Exit in writing. She nods.

A day passes, Darth Plagueisies and Darth
Sidiously approach Ian's cell to tell him what
their next move is and to thank him for plans
well done.

15. First And Second Escape

But when they arrive, the cell is empty. Dr.
Bartholomew and Exit are gone. Darth
Plagueisies hits an alarm and announces
ship wide that the two prisoners have escaped.
Darth Sidiously tries to activate Exit's
restraining bolt but it indicates that there is
no signal. No one can seem to find them.
Darth Plagueisies is eventually watching
monitors from the main bridge. The
monitors show smaller ships coming and
going. Darth Sidiously watches also.

"There!" Darth Sidiously yells, pointing at
a ship as it flies out of one of the bays on
the Star Destroyer.

Darth Plagueisies looks, he feels through
the Force. He senses them on the small
ship also. "Stop that ship." He orders.

He and Darth Sidiously run down toward
the bay but as they're running, the small
ship gives it the gas and vamps out quickly.
When the two Sith arrive at the bay, one of
the Imperial officers tells them that they
couldn't stop it, it flew off before they could
do anything. Darth Plagueisies heads back
out of the bay followed by Darth Sidiously.
The Imperial officer that allowed the prisoners
to escape suffers massive pain in his chest,
his eyes go blood red, his head begins to
expand, he is clearly in pain. When he is
finally released from the bonds of the Dark
Side he falls over and dies on the bay floor
still somewhat distorted from the exercise.

Ian and Exit are running like mad. The plan
worked, they fooled the prison guards and
were able to steal aboard a small freighter
ship. When the ship lands Ian and Exit wait
for awhile before they come out of hiding.
The ship is empty, the pilots and crew are
gone. Ian looks out the windows of both
sides of the ship but sees nothing. He
opens the ships hatch and starts out.

A sound erupts from outside the ship. Ian
falls from the hatch to the floor of the ship
unconscious. Exit is shocked, she kneels
down and checks Ian to see if he's still alive.
He is, she looks out the hatch herself. Imperial
Soldiers are waiting for them. One of the
soldiers presses a button on what looks like
some sort of remote, it makes a buzzing
noise much like the one the Jawa's used to
shut down R2 with a restraining bolt in the
very first movie.

This time, when Ian comes to, Exit is nowhere
in sight and he is shackled to a bulkhead in a
less kept holding cell. The smell around him
is profuse. He groggily looks at the shackles
and the chains holding him. Later that day
an Imperial Officer comes to him and throws
what might be food, at his feet.

"Today you will be moved to the ship works
where you will assist in building. The Empire
has no further need for you. The droid girl will
be deactivated but not until you can witness
it yourself." Says the officer.

Ian just sits and looks down in defeat. The
next day, several Imperial Soldiers lift him
up, remove his shackles from the bulkhead
and force him to carry the heavy shackles
to the ship works where he is chained down
again, handed a laser welder and ordered to
get to work. He looks around the room. Ships
are being built all over. He notices all the
misery. He looks at his situation, other slaves
or forced labor work building things according
to master ship builders who are dressed in
Imperial garb. Ian begins to work barely able
to hold himself up. Weakened from beatings
and lack of food. No sign of Exit anywhere.
Surely she must be deactivated or worse. He
continues to work.

One day, a Sith, unknown, and some Imperial
officers approach Ian. The Sith addresses him.
He looks up, dirty, sweaty, defeated and smelly.
The Sith asks him if he is Dr. Bartholomew. Ian
answers yes. The Sith tells him that the Empire
needs probes. Probes that will hunt space near
Geonosis, be undetectable, be self sustaining
and have the ability to destroy any ships that
come close that are not Empire. The Sith asks
him if he can build something like that. He
tells the Sith that he can do it easily but he
has to design it on paper first. The Sith agrees,
they release him and put him in a dark room
where there are keyboards and monitors. He
is to use these computers to design the probes.
The Empire wants three of them. Powerful
enough to encircle the planet, communicate
with each other and with surface security.

Ian goes to work. He's hungry and thirsty. He
inquires about food and drink assuming
someone can hear him. Moments later the
door to the room opens and a tray of food
and drink are set on the floor. They give
him ten minutes to eat. He eats. A while
later the food has given him some revitalization.
They take the recently eaten tray away and
leave. He tries the door just for grins. It's
unlocked. Surely someone will see this, come
and lock it. No one does. He opens it again a
peaks out. No one around. He steps out and
proceeds to a landing platform. No one is
guarding the platform. He steps through the
entrance to the platform. He looks around.
There are plenty of ships and no one seems
the wiser about his presents. He steps back
through. There is a computer terminal across
the corridor from where he's standing. He looks
around, people walk past but no one seems to
recognize him as a prisoner. He walks up to the
terminal and tries to use it. It is protected by a
sensor. Being the brilliant man that he is, he
enters something into the keyboard. The
computer comes to life and gives him access.
Just out of curiosity he starts to look for Exit.
First he types in her name. Exit and entrance
points around the Star Destroyer are listed with
an aerial view of the ships layout. Not what he's
looking for. Then he types in a search for droids.
This time he hits pay dirt. There is a list of droids
on board the ship and Exit's name is on it. He
clicks her name and an explanation of her
current condition comes up.

"Functioning – Shutdown – available – Clerical –
Male companionship."

"Male companionship, what does that mean?"
He clicks on it. It's what he was afraid of. Basically
if one of the officers on board needs female
companionship, she can be activated. Ian can't
let that be. He looks at the rest of the report on
her. She's in a droid holding room, 2, 11-D.
Second floor, room 11-D. He finds an elevator.
He enters and goes to the second floor. He
comes out of the elevator, people walks by
but again, no one seems to recognize him as
a prisoner. He begins searching for the room.
He finds it, there's an automatic door that will
only open with a specific pass, he wonders.
Just about that time, someone walks up and
asks him to move, they're polite. He moves
and the person opens the door to the room.
They step inside, Ian steps in after them. The
room is massive. There are droids everywhere.
Some hanging from hooks of some sort, others
stuffed in boxes and still others standing, inert,
but not collapsing. He looks around, there are
hundreds, no way for him to find her easily.

An alarm sounds, "Prisoner Escape, Prisoner
Escape" comes the announcement over the
loud speaker, Ian hurries. He sees another
computer terminal near him in the room. He
accesses it and searches for Exit. He finds her
and pushes a touch screen button next to her
name. The droids on the hooks begin to move
like clothes on a dry cleaning conveyor. He
sees her, she is hung up like a doll, lifeless
and looking quite shut down. He examines
the hook, no big deal, he releases her and
brings her down to the floor. Behind her head
is a small access panel. He opens it and turns
her on. She comes to life.

"Ian… how did you." He cuts her off.

"Shhhh… we have to leave now, that alarm
is for us." He says quietly but frantically.

She gets up under her own power. He takes her
hand and they leave the room. They make their
way to the elevator, then to the landing platform.
They begin to look for a ship. They are all accessible
but can't be activated without a pass so they just
pick one. Ian knows his way around the pass key
issue. Before long, they are detected. The room is
cleared out. Several imperial officers enter the room
and begin firing on the ship. Its outer hull is too
dense for standard blasters. Ian activates the ship.
He elevates it, turns it on the officers and begins to
fire its weapons destroying or killing everything in
its path. He is able to fly the ship around the room
but there's no way out of the bay. He aims the
weapons at the wall and fires opening a gaping
hole in the side if the vessel. Ian flies out. Several
of the officers and Imperial Droids are sucked out
into space before the invisible shield blocks the
opening. He immediately gets on a comm.. and
calls for help. He checks his instruments, he is
being followed by several ships, he assumes
they must be Imperial. He guns the ship, it
has Hyper-drive capability so he enters
something into the computer and makes the
jump. They're safe for the moment. Then,
suddenly, the ship shuts down. All of its
electronics and propulsion systems quit. The
ship drops out of light speed and floats helplessly
in space. He figures their caught again and
apologizes to Exit. She isn't listening to him.
She sees something out of the front window
of the ship they're on. Other ships, different,
are coming toward them. The ships pull up
next to them, one of them attaches. The
hatch is opened. Several men come out.

"Who are you?" They ask Ian.

"I'm Ian Bartholomew, this is Exit." He answers.

"Are you running from the Empire?" They ask.

"Yes." He answers.

They usher Ian and Exit onto their ship. The
hatch closes, they detach and begin to run
for it. But there are only two of them. The
pilot of the ship they're on, calls on the
comm.. system for assistance. The Imperial
ships follow and fire on them. They fire back.
They identify themselves as Rebel Alliance.
Ian has heard of them and knows they're
the good guys.

He re-assures Exit, "It's ok, these guys are
part of the Coup attempting to fight against
the Empire. I've heard about them."

She lets out a sigh of relief. But the trouble
isn't over, the pilot detects several Star
Destroyers bearing down on them. The
other ship that was with them explodes
right next to them. The ship they're on
is being tractored in. One of the men
aboard the ship asks who they are while
opening a comm.. to the rebel location.
Ian explains who he is, telling them that
he is the one who designed many of the
ships the Empire is using including the
Star Destroyer that is tractoring them
in but communications are cut off. Part
of the protocol that accompanies the
tractor beam.

One of the Jedy hears the call for help but
is unable to communicate back. He
dispatches several ships to the area
but it will take time for them to get
there. Yodi enters the room.

"Found something, what have you?" Yodi
asks.

"We had a transmission from one of our
scout ships but our instruments indicate
that their communications were cut off.
They were being pursued by Imperial Star
Destroyers. One of the Alliance ships was
destroyed shortly before the rescue." The
Jedy answers.

"Their cargo, what was it?" Yodi asks.

"Two passengers, a droid by the name of
Exit and a human by the name of Ian
Bartholomew." The Jedy answers.

"Ian Bartholomew!" Yodi repeats. "Who
this person is, we must find out."

"Yes master." The Jedy answers.

"Find these Star destroyers we must. Dr.
Bartholomew an important man he may
be." Yodi issues.

The Alliance ship enters the bay of the Star
destroyer, the hatch opens. Exit runs out
to try to reason with them. Ian calls out to
her but it's too late. Imperial officers and
Imperial Droids that have entered the bay
fire their blasters at her, several hit her. She
is a droid and doesn't go down right away
but she eventually goes down. Ian is beside
himself with grief and slumps. The pilot and
other Alliance soldiers are executed, the
ship is sent back into space and destroyed.
Ian won't go willingly so they have to drag
him. The Imperial Droids are strong and carry
him without a problem. He can only feel as
they drag him before someone. He doesn't
look up but someone instructs them as to
what to do with him. Ian doesn't hear but
he is carried back to the ship works, shackled,
beaten, given a laser welder, beaten again
and told to get to work. Later one of the
Imperial officers comes to him. He drops
printed blueprints in front of Ian.

"These are the blueprints for the probes
that you were designing?" He asks.

Ian looks at the officer, then looks down
at the blueprints. He picks one up and looks
at it. "They are." Says Ian but beaten and
defeated.

"Start building them." The officer orders.

"These blueprints are not finished." Says Ian.

"Then build the probes without blueprints,
and they better be good or you will suffer!"
Says the officer.

The officer leaves. The laborers around Ian
that were watching, all go back to work. Ian
picks up the blueprints. A master ship builder
dressed in Imperial garb comes up to him.
"What do you need?"

Ian begins constructing the probes. After he
builds the second one he throws the welder
down and yells to the ship builder. "Where
is my droid. I won't do any more until I
have my droid."

Several Imperial officers surround him and
start to beat him. After a few minutes, they
stop. He is all but unconscious. The officers
step back. Someone kneels down beside him.
"Ian, what have they done to you?" Exit asks.

Ian looks up at her. He's on his last legs. "They
repaired you."

"Yes." Exit says.

Ian detects that something is different about
her but he's too tired and withdrawn to figure
it out. Darth Plagueisies is asking about Ian.
He tells the other officers in the room that
somehow he must be made to continue the
design to the space station. Darth Plagueisies
asks what he's working on now. One of the
officers tells him that the Dr. is building three
armed probes to put in space around Geonosis.
Darth Plagueisies asks how it is that he's doing
this. One of the officers explains that another
Sith requested this and that they had him
beaten. He's tried to escape twice.

Darth Plagueisies gets angry and asks why the
Dr. is not continuing his work on the plans for
the Space station. The Sith then asks them if
they know anything else about him. They
explain that his girlfriend is a droid woman
who has had her thoughts altered so they
can get information from him concerning
the location of the Resistance and they have
implanted a listening device in her that will
allow them to listen in on his conversations
in case he divulges more about the design
of the space station or tries to escape again.
Darth Plagueisies then tells them to threaten
him if he doesn't comply. One of the officers
suggests that they simply program the girl
to get the information out of him. The Sith
Lord agrees.

One of the probes is finished and is jettisoned
out into space to begin guarding the Empires
efforts. The probe is actuated and does more
than they expected. It has powerful weapons,
only the Empire can track it.

It detects a couple of ships flying into Imperial
space. Freighter ships, not of the Imperial call
sign. The freighter ships don't detect it as per
what the Imperial's requested. The probe locks
on to one of the ships, fires and destroys it.
Before the other two freighter ships can figure
out what is going on the probe locks on, fires
and destroys the other two.

The Empire loves it. The Dr. may be a prisoner
but he's true to his word, he has never built
or designed a bad ship.

Several of the Imperial officers and Darth
Sidiously come to his cell. The Dr. sees Darth
Sidiously and as soon as he does, Darth
Sidiously uses the Force to lift and slam the
Dr. against the back wall. The officers explain
that he will be tasked with finishing the other
two probes and taking time to finish the designs
for the Space Station or be tortured. He
painfully agrees. They leave, and again after
several moments, the power of the Force is
relieved and the Dr. drops to the floor. Holding
his chest, he sits for a moment to regain his
senses.

Exit is allowed to stay in the cell with him
and runs to his side feigning to be concerned
about him.

"Tell me what to enter into the computer
for the Space Station and I will help you."
Exit says.

He agrees thinking that she could in fact
speed up the process allowing him to finish
the probes and finish the plans for the
space station in a fair amount of time.
So, as he works on the second of the
three probes, he verbally tells Exit what
to enter into the computer as he works.
If they see that he's making an effort,
they might leave him alone.

One of the Jedy comes to Yodi several days
later.

"We may have determined the identity of
the Dr. that the Empire was so interested
in." Says the Jedy.

"Listening, I am." Says Yodi.

"We believe he was the master ship builder
for the Corellian's. A superior ship-builder
unlike any known thus far, we believe the
Empire has captured him in an effort to
have him design ships exclusively for them."
Says the Jedy.

"Disconcerting this is, planning something
big they might be." Says Yodi thinking. "Find
out where they are holding him we must."

"Several ships have been destroyed around
the planet Geonosis and no one seems to be
able to tell what it is that is destroying them."
Adds the Jedy.

"Something un-detectable, they must have,
go to this planet and investigate we must.
Find the answers we are looking for perhaps."
Says Yodi.

"Yes master." Says the Jedy, he stops and
finishes a thought. "Master, I believe we
have detected an Imperial presents in the
area of this planet."

"Show me." Yodi orders.

"Come with me master." The Jedy says.

After several days the Empire releases Dr.
Bartholomew and allows him some time in
an apartment. Exit is with him. He showers,
she surprises him and climbs into the shower
with him. They make love (But it's only implied).
As they shower together she asks him something
strange.

"Are there things you're not telling the Empire?"
She asks.

Ian is surprised by the question, "I… why do you
ask?"

"I just… want to know what you know, I don't
want us to keep secrets from each other." She
answers.

Ian thinks, "Are you working for the Empire?"

"Of Course not." She answers.

"But if we're not keeping secrets from each
other you should tell me if you are." He says.

She thinks, "I… well I… No I'm not. I'm not
working for the Empire."

Ian knows that a natural human response
psychologically is to deny something but in
a hesitant way. He knows that this is most
likely a lie. He smiles at her. He reaches up
to the back of her head and tries to shut
her down.

"Dr." She says, "Are you trying to shut me
down? Don't you believe me?"

Ian knows another spot where she can be
shut down. A secret spot that only droid
designers know about. It's a spot just below
her shoulder blade in back. It must be pressed
hard. Ian feels for it.

"Dr. you don't have to press so…" She
cuts off mid sentence. She drops in his arms.

He carries her out of the shower. Dries himself
off and lays her down on the bed face down.
She is naked but since she is a droid, he really
doesn't pay attention to the fact that she is
really quite shapely and vulnerable. Very
woman like.

Ian knows a lot about droids and is able to
access a panel behind her head that reveals
her computer brain. He removes certain
parts, digging down to her conditioned
processing. All he sees is electronics but he
knows what he's looking for. He looks
around the apartment. There is nothing
obvious as far as electronics are concerned.
There is an electronic panel housing the
electronics for the door. He knows that
there must be a conduit to a computer
somewhere that allows the doors to open,
lock and unlock the door automatically
from a different location on the ship. Ian
is clever, he looks around for something
to use to open the access panel. There
is food in metal containers. He grabs one
of the containers, eats some of the food
out of it quickly, washes it out and uses
it to pry the cover to the access panel
open. He recognizes the wire that is
probably attached to a computer
somewhere. He pulls on it, it's long
enough. He knows where to hook it
to Exits computer brain.

Her mouth serves as a communication
device. He does something else to get
her talking. She speaks in machine
language but Ian understands it. The
sub caption says, "Girl, white female,
190 lbs, 30 years of age, name – Exit,
purpose, clerical, capability – clerical,
conditioning… change in Data, conditioning,
relay back to Empire, purpose, knowledge
of prisoners intentions, computer data link,
detention block authorization…"

Ian knows what that means, "computer data
link, detention block authorization." It means
he's been found out. No sooner does he begin
to put her back together does his apartment
door open! Imperial Droids and Imperial officers
run in, zap him with something that knocks him
out and drag him out of the apartment.

When he awakes he is back in the ship-works,
chained down in front of his most recent project
the space probes. He groggily reaches for a tool
and begins to work. In the back of his mind he
knows he'll probably never see Exit again but
he's too tired and beaten to show any emotion.

Darth Plagueisies and the younger Darth
Sidiously come in and stand before him in
the ship-works. He slowly turns to see who's
watching him. As soon as he sees Darth
Sidiously, his eyes go wide. Darth Sidiously
uses the Force to again, smash him to the
ceiling of the room. Ian is still chained down
so to add to the pain of being smashed to
the ceiling, his leg where the shackle is
attached is pulled in an odd direction. He
cries out in pain.

"Dr. it looks as if you are about to finish the
second probe." Darth Plagueisies says with
a deviate smile on his face. Ian looks at Darth
Sidiously and he is slammed against the ceiling
again, pulling on his shacked leg even more.

Ian answers through the pain, "Yes, and I've
begun working on the third one."

"Good… that is very good. And we have had
our own engineers and scientists go over
your blueprints for the space station. You
have done great work. They were able to
complete the plans." Says Darth Plagueisies.
Not knowing that Ian has built an un-noticeable
defect in it. Ian hoped that someone would
eventually uncover it. Ian knew that Darth
Plagueisies thought that he had finally out-
smarted the Dr. But that was hard to do, even
for the smartest of beings. As they began to
leave, Darth Sidiously rammed the Dr. around
before letting him drop twenty feet to the floor.

Darth Sidiously was older now. Darth Plagueisies
had taught the younger Sith all he knew about
the force. All he knew except how to bring
someone back to life. Darth Sidiously knew this,
which made him even angrier at Darth Plagueisies
withholding this secret in addition to his mother
being gotten rid of. Darth Sidiously was an ace
with the Light Saber and had become very
powerful with the Dark Side of the Force.

One day Darth Plagueisies came into the room.

"You are going to be given your own ship my
son." Said Darth Plagueisies.

"Then will I be in charge of the fleet?" Darth
Sidiously asks.

"No… for now, you will only be in charge
of the ship you are assigned to. I will remain
in charge of the fleet and the Empire." Answers
Darth Plagueisies.

Darth Sidiously was again angered by this.

Darth Plagueisies responds, "I sense that
you are angered by this?"

"I… I…" Darth Sidiously tries to think of
something to throw him off but then Darth
Plagueisies reveals more.

"I have sensed for some time that you are
angry at me. I began to sense it when I cast
your mother out as a slave on Tatooine."

Darth Sidiously drops his head in shame, "Yes…
yes father, I… I have been angry at you because
of that."

"Be cautious of your feelings young man, they
could be used against you." Darth Plagueisies
adds.

Darth Sidiously agrees but un-known to Darth
Plagueisies, Darth Sidiously has become so
powerful with the Dark Side that the feelings
that Darth Plagueisies sensed were fed to him
on purpose. Darth Plagueisies actually had no
knowledge of this ruse. So Darth Sidiously
thought.

Days went by, eventually Darth Sidiously was
moved to a new, more advanced Star
Destroyer in the Imperial fleet. He was
introduced to the Imperial officers just
below him in rank but in charge of that
ship. They planned and were given orders
to take the new Star Destroyer around
space to test its abilities. Dr. Bartholomew
had been moved to that ship also. The Star
Destroyer, followed by other Star Destroyers
in the Imperial Fleet were at light speed
headed toward a specific planet for testing.
When the fleet came out of light speed near
the planet, the Rebel Alliance was waiting for them.

The Alliance ships began firing at once. The Imperial
Fleet was caught off guard. Darth Sidiously seemed
eerily calm at the on-set of this attack. The Rebel
fleet was inflicting severe damage. Darth Plagues
sensed this and marshaled his own ship to rush to
the region.

Jedy used smaller ships to get into the Imperial ships.
Thicker hulls made getting aboard the new Star
Destroyer more difficult but it didn't stop them.
Darth Sidiously sat in his own chambers while the
rest of the Imperial's and Imperial Droids fought off
the Rebels. If the Rebels got too close, Darth Sidiously
knew it and was able to fight them off using the
Dark-Side. Of course the Jedy were different and
were able to access Darth Sidiously' chambers. But
Darth Sidiously was too good. When the Jedy entered,
he drew his Light Saber and brought them down fairly
easily. The attack went on for some time. Darth
Plagueisies' ship eventually arrived. Darth Plagueisies,
escorted by a group of Tie Fighters, was flown in his
shuttle to Darth Sidiously' Destroyer ship.

This was what Darth Sidiously was waiting for. When
he sensed that Darth Plagueisies was on board, he
began to use the Dark-Side to ward off each of the
men in Darth Plagueisies' entourage. Some of them
are dashed against a wall or lifted high before being
dropped, most of them are skewered by tools laying
around the bay. They fall dead in the bay where
Darth Plagueisies' shuttle had landed.

Darth Plagueisies saw this happening and knew
that Darth Sidiously was behind it all. Darth
Plagueisies and some of his entourage entered
a corridor and began to head up to Darth Sidiously
quarters. Darth Sidiously was so good, that all of
the men in the entourage were dead by the time
the few remaining, reached the entrance to the
younger Sith's room, cooked to a crisp. Darth
Plagueisies looked around him. All his men were
dead.

He smiled an evil smile believing that he was
still more powerful than Darth Sidiously. But
when Darth Plagueisies tried to open the
entrance to the room, Darth Sidiously used
the Force to bar his entrance. Darth Plagueisies
used more power from the Dark Side to open
the door. Darth Sidiously prevented it. Darth
Plagueisies tried using his power to bring things
attached to the ceiling inside the room, down
on Darth Sidiously. Darth Sidiously saw this
in time and prevented it. The two used their
powers over the Dark Side to try to injure or
kill each other but as Darth Plagueisies tried
one thing, Darth Sidiously was able to one-up
him. Eventually Darth Sidiously was able to
command the Dark Side to carry Darth Plagues
to a different area of the Star Destroyer.

While all this was taking place, the Jedy and
the Rebels were attacking other parts of the
ship. They made their way to the Ship Works
battling as they went. Even if the people or
species working in the Ship Works who didn't
like the Empire, fought against the Rebels.
The Rebels were crack and were able to thwart
most of the Imperial workers. The Jedy and
Rebels worked their way through the room,
cutting people down or destroying things that
they worked on. Dr. Bartholomew was hiding
behind his second creation. One of the Imperial
leaders caught up with the Dr. and made him
Jettison the second probe during the scuffle. The
probe left the Star Destroyer and immediately
began fighting against the Rebel ships. The leader
then told the Dr. to continue to work on the third
probe. As the fighting went on around him he
tried to work. Light Sabers were flailing. The
Imperial officer that was giving him orders was
eventually cut down. A Jedy used the Force and
leaped thirty or so feet to where the probes were.
When he landed, he used his Light Saber to cut
up the third probe. In the process the Jedy cut
the chain holding the Dr. in place. The Jedy was
about to kill the Dr. realizing that the Dr. had
been freed. The Dr. winced, ducking down
thinking that this was the end. While the
fighting went on around him, he realized
that the Jedy was gone and he was still alive.
The Dr. seized the opportunity and dashed out
of the room. There was still some fighting going
on in the corridor outside the Ship Works bay
but not nearly as much. The Dr. accessed a
nearby computer terminal. He discovered
where Exit was.

16. Light Saber Acquired

While he covertly moved through each of
the corridors he would come upon Rebel
Soldiers lying dead. He eventually came
upon a Jedy that had been killed. His Light
Saber was still lying next to him. Ian
picked it up and ignited it. Still working,
he continues to advance through the
corridors to find Exit.

Darth Plagueisies is also moving through
the corridors watching every step, as if
he were a cat on the prowl. As he turns
a corner Ian comes out of nowhere and
slashes at Darth Plagueisies. Darth Plagueisies
with his Sith senses blocks Ian's attack
with his own Light Saber. Ian is strong
and his slash was enough to knock Darth
Plagueisies down. Ian swings the Light Saber
several more times but his efforts are all
blocked by Darth Plagueisies. Darth Plagueisies
then puts his left palm forward, fingers spread
sending Ian flying backwards through the air.
Ian crashes through an access to another corridor.
When Darth Plagueisies comes through the
access, Ian is gone. Ian tries another attack
coming out of hiding, slashing at Darth Plagueisies
with the Light Saber. Darth Plagueisies blocks
it again, fans out his hand and pushes Ian
back and through the air. Ian lands hard about
half way down a corridor. He gets up as quick
as he can but Darth Plagueisies, powerful with
the Dark Side, brings walls, floor and ceiling
together, imploding them in front of Ian,
blocking his way. Ian tries to run the other
way but Darth Plagueisies does the same
thing behind Ian now trapping him in. Ian
doesn't wait, he uses the Light Saber to
cut through the wreckage behind him
and makes a run for it. He's pretty smart
this time. He enters a room, it is dark and
full of computers and other machines. He
hides behind some further into the room.
Darth Plagueisies enters the room.

"I know you're in here Dr. I'll find you
and kill you." Says Darth Plagueisies with
his warped smile as he carefully dances
through the room.

Ian is waiting for him. When Darth
Plagueisies is near him, Ian lunges at
him with the Light Saber! Darth
Plagueisies dodges one of his attempts
and blocks his other attempt again but
this time, knocking the Light Saber out
of Ian's hands. Ian takes advantage of
his opponents back swing and jumps on
him tackling him to the floor. They
struggle a moment rolling around but
eventually Darth Plagueisies with strength
through the Dark Side, throws Ian off,
tossing him like a tissue through the air.
Ian crash lands and is stunned. Darth
Plagueisies is on his feet, Light Saber
ignited, coming toward Ian ready to cut
him to pieces. Just as Darth Plagueisies
swings down at Ian, his thrust is blocked
by another Light Saber, it's Yodi.

"A long time have I been waiting for this."
Yodi says as he takes advantage of Darth
Plagueisies' surprise.

Darth Plagueisies begins to fight Yodi, dueling
with Light Sabers. Yodi is the best and makes
Darth Plagueisies work hard for his life.

Ian figures he can't help Yodi so he takes off
to find Exit.

When he arrives at the Droid Storage room
and enters he sees that another droid was
disassembling them. The Dr. Enters but the
disassembling droid begins to fight against
him. The droid has a blaster. The Dr. is able
to duck out of the way just in time. The
blaster shots burned into the bulkhead
but missed him. The droid was big and
the Dr. could hear him as he clanked along
the floor in pursuit. The Dr. had nowhere to
hide at that point. The large droid stood next
to the bulkhead that the Dr. was hiding
behind, looked over, saw the Dr. crouched
down, raised the blaster over the bulkhead
and pointed it at Ian. Ian was sure this was
the end again but just as the droid was about
to pull the trigger a bright light flashes back
and forth several times and the droid falls
down around him in pieces. A Jedy, of a
different species, looks over at the Dr. The
Dr. looks up at the Jedy.

"If that droid was trying to kill you then
you must be on our side." Said the Jedy.

"Yes." Answered the Dr. "I am Dr. Ian
Bartholomew."

The Jedy looked surprised. "We were told
about you. We were told that if we found
you that we should get you to one of the
Rebel ships immediately."

"Really?" The Dr. asked.

"Yes, although none of us assumed you
would be here." Said the Jedy. "Why are
you here?"

The Dr. had to think and at the same
time, comes to the realization that,
"The… Empire… was using me to
design and build for them."

"I see." Said the Jedy. "You must be very
good."

"I… guess I am."

"Come with me!" The Jedy ordered frantically.

The Dr. began to follow him out but then
stopped. The Jedy was surprised and urged
him to hurry. The Dr. told the Jedy to wait,
he ran to the bunch of droids set for
destruction and found Exit. The Jedy
looked at the Dr. like, "Really?"

The two ran out, Exit over the Dr's.
shoulder. The Jedy was great. It seemed
as if they were all but dead as Imperial
Soldiers and Imperial Droids fired at them.
The Jedy used his Light Saber to deflect
the shots, some of which he deflected
back at those who fired them or engaged
them in hand to hand taking them down
easily. The two ran down different corridors.
The Jedy used his Force attuned senses to
see attacks before they happened, cutting
down their attackers as the two moved
along.

They neared where a Rebel ship had been
attached. They were almost there when a
Sith came out of nowhere and cut the Jedy
down. Men from the Rebel ship fired at the
Sith. The Sith was able to deflect the shots
but the Rebels were able to close their hatch
and detach from the Star Destroyer. Ian hung
on and was able to see the Sith pulled out
into space through a vacuum that was
created when the Rebel ship released and
left a gaping hole. Shields eventually covered
the hole and the vacuum stopped. The Dr.
was alone with Exit's lifeless body next to him.
He picked her up and began running in the
other direction.

17. Immaculate Conception

Darth Plagueisies gets up and walks out of
the dark room of the Star Destroyer. Yodi
left him, he assumed, to attend to another
situation. But he is now in another area of
the ship altogether. He picks himself up and
begins to cautiously look around. He wasn't
smiling, he was attuned and concerned. He
enters another dark room. The room is quiet.
He has his Light Saber out and moves slowly
looking for a way out. Then a voice came,
Darth Plagueisies wasn't able to detect
where it was coming from but he knew who
it was coming from.

"My mother." The voice of Darth Sidiously
announced.

"Yes, your mother." Darth Plagueisies
responded.

"I… needed her." The voice uttered.

Darth Plagueisies has continued to keep
his guard up as he cautiously proceeds
through the room. "A Sith… has no
need of a mother."

"I guess that is true." The voice uttered.

"Then what is the problem. Why try to
kill me?" Darth Plagueisies asked the air.

No answer came for a moment. "She… she
was human, a human mother is different
from a Sith mother."

"Yes, I would assume so." Darth Plagueisies
responds.

"Yes, I became… attached to her." Darth
Sidiously's voice emits.

"Forgive me, I did not know." Darth Plagueisies
responds still trying to use the Dark Side to sense
the young Sith.

Darth Sidiously senses that he's lying but doesn't
acknowledge it. "You know, Sith never show
forgiveness." The voice utters.

Darth Plagueisies continues to search. "Then…
you must kill me." He says assuming that he
will eventually prevail and Darth Sidiously will
accidentally reveal himself.

"I know you think you are more powerful
than me but you taught me too much.
Now I want to kill you and I will rule
over the Empire." Says the voice.

"Maybe." Says Darth Plagueisies

"You will not find me… father. But I know
where you are." Says the voice

"I am… older… and wiser. You cannot hope
to defend against me. Soon I will find you
and I will strike you down." Darth Plagueisies
says.

"Strike me down, aren't you my father, fathers
don't kill their sons." Says the voice.

"You were right, I taught you too well. And
Sith fathers only kill their sons if their sons
try to take over."

"So you admit it father?" Says the voice.

Darth Plagueisies continue to search carefully,
and with much confidence. "That you are
more powerful than me, I have admitted
nothing."

"Are Sith son's supposed to be attached to
their mothers?"

"Not usually. I will find you… my son" Says
Darth Plagueisies as he continues to search.

But it wouldn't be so. Darth Sidiouslyly uses
the Force to lift Darth Plagueisies off the
floor. Darth Plagueisies uses his power to
bring himself back down but this is simply
a ruse by Darth Sidiouslyly to make his
father think that his father's power is
greater. To Darth Plagueisies' dismay,
Darth Sidiouslyly lifts him again. This
time Darth Plagueisies is unable to fight
against it. In signature style, Darth
Sidiouslyly smashed him against a rafter
high in the room. He then uses the
Force to dash Darth Plagueisies around
and smashes him into other things.
Finally Darth Plagueisies falls to the
floor. Just as soon as that happens,
large objects detach from their places
on the walls and begin falling on him,
pummeling him almost to death.

Darth Sidiously clears the wreckage away
and lifts his father, the embattled Sith up
again. This time Darth Plagueisies is slowly
raised to where he can see his son Darth
Sidiously. The young Sith is perched high
above on a walkway of sorts. He brings
Darth Plagueisies closer, but still elevating
him far off the ground.

"I just wanted a father… to learn from."
Says Darth Sidiously writhing in mental pain.

"But I am your father my son." Plagueisies
says, near death.

"So you say, now you will not only die but
you will relinquish command over to me."
Says Darth Sidiously as his father levitates
before him.

"I can help you son. I can teach you more."
Says Darth Plagueisies in another effort to
sway his son.

Darth Sidiously pulls his Light Saber, ignites
it. Darth Plagueisies' eyes close as he reaches
one more time into the Dark Side. His head
rolls back and he goes into a trance. He sends
something through the Dark Side but even
Darth Sidiously does not know what. Darth
Plagueisies has entered the deepest part of
the Force. His appearance is changing, growing
grotesque, only he has the ability to probe that
deep.

On the planet of Tatooine, Shmee is walking
down a street. Cut back to Darth Plagueisies,
still in a trance. Cut back to Shmee walking,
she stops. Others around her notice her. She
has a concerned look on her face. Cut back to
Darth Plagueisies in a trance but shaking now
and changing even more, in appearance. Cut
back to Shmee. She grabs hold of her stomach
and winces in pain. Some people come to her
side. Cut back to Darth Plagueisies, in a trance,
shaking, he jumps. Cut back to Shmee, she cries
out in pain, drops what she's carrying and drops
to her knees, holding her stomach. Those around
her react. Cut back to Darth Plagueisies, still in
the trance, he is shaking. Cut back to Shmee.
She cries out again in pain, this time she passes
out.

Cut back to Darth Sidiously, "What did you do
father?" Darth Sidiously asks in a determined,
angry voice.

"Ask you mother?" Darth Plagueisies ends in
an eerie victim's voice who knows his end is
near.

Darth Sidiously slashes downward cutting his
father in two. Tears come from the young Sith's
eyes as he releases the hold on his father. The
two halves drop to the floor far below. Darth
Sidiously is now the supreme leader of the
Empire.

On Tatooine, Shmee wakes up in a medical
facility, very limited in its capabilities since
slaves do not get good medical services.
She looks up from her lying position, naked
but under a sheet. The doctor looks down at
her.

"I am Doctor Liam Kenzee. I apologize, as
slaves we are not given much so there isn't
much I can do for you." The doctor says.

"What happened to me?" Shmee asks.

"You past out in the market area this
morning. People brought you here." The
Doctor answers.

"Do you know why I passed out?"

"No other than to say that I'm sure it
had something to do with your baby."

"Baby?" She asks.

"Yes, surely you knew you were pregnant?"

She thinks for a second, then looks at him.
"That would be impossible."

He laughs a little, "When you are with someone,
that can happen."

She thinks again, "But I… I was not with
anyone."

He laughs a little again, "That's what they
all say."

She ignores his comment. She thinks, then
she looks at the doctor. "Can I leave?"

"I don't see why not, there is nothing I
can do for you. If you feel well enough,
you may leave."

She gets up, puts on what clothes she
was wearing and heads out the door. When
she gets outside, she walks a little further
and eventually arrives at her apartment. She
walks in. Her slave owner, Watoo is waiting
for her.

"Well, did you get what I asked for?" Watto
asks.

She sits and thinks. "No… I…"

"NO? That is not like you Shmee, what
happened?"

She thinks, "I… I was caught ill."

"Ill?"

She looks at him, "Yes, some people
took me to the doctor."

"A doctor, what is wrong with you?" Watto
asks.

Shock comes over her face as she slowly
looks up at him, "Somehow… somehow I
am… pregnant."

"Pregnant, I have known your every-where-
abouts for years now, you have not been…
with… anyone."

She looks at him. "No one!"

Now Darth Sidiously is in charge. He makes
that clear to everyone in the Empire. Word
gets out around the galaxy that he is the
new Emperor. Kidnapping males from obscure
planets stops. Darth Sidiously believes that
there are enough men to build what needs
to be built. He also puts together a team to
find the master ship builder, namely Ian
Bartholomew. Ian's knowledge is too valuable
to allow anyone else to have. As long as the
Empire has the most powerful ships, they
have the advantage, they would rule the
galaxy.

Yodi, in a ship headed for Geonosis, sits in
a trance. Jedy master Fias walks in. He
sees Yodi is concentrating on something
so he doesn't bother the small Jedy leader.

Yodi is deep in concentration, when we look
into his opponents thoughts, we find him
battling Darth Plagueisies. In slow motion
we see him making moves that only he, Yodi,
is able to make, bouncing off objects in the
room, wielding his saber as he had successfully,
so many times before. The Light Sabers, bright
in the Dark room, flailing, we are barely able
to see the two opponents in Yodi's shadowed
thoughts. And yet, Darth Plagueisies, knowingly
unable to win against Yodi, has to escape. Yodi
must contemplate his mistakes. He eventually
comes out of the trance. Master Fias looks at
Yodi concerned.

"Am I invading to ask what presses you master
Yodi?" The Jedy asks.

"Failed I have, let Darth Plagueisies escape, I
did. What mistakes made, did I?" Yodi answers.

Fias has to think, "Maybe he was advanced in
the Force enough to have battled with
something you have never seen master".

"Possible it is. Perfect with a Light Saber I am
not."

"No, the best maybe, but not perfect." Says
Fias.

Yodi looks at him. "Apparently, the best, I am
not. And yet, I have felt Darth Plagueisies
death."

"His death master?" Fias asks.

"Yes, the Force has revealed that to me
but… and if true, is this, I am not sure."
Says Yodi basically to himself.

"Does the Force trifle with your mind master?"
Asks Fias.

"Experienced this, in the past, I have not.
Clear to me, one thing is, kill him, I did not,
if in fact, dead, he is."

"You are too humble master." Says Fias laughing
a little.

"Humility, in a Jedy, a good quality this is.
But kill this Sith, I needed to." Says Yodi.

"There see master, you needed to, maybe
you didn't want to." Says Fias.

Yodi contemplates. "This Sith, dangerous
he was, powerful with the Dark Side he
was. Stopped him, I tried."

"He was master, but maybe not by you."
Says Fias.

Yodi snickers a little. "Wise are you master
Fias, wise are you."

Ian looks cautiously into the ship works bay.
The room is dark, smoky and causing him
to wish for regular air but empty. Even as
the smoke filled his lungs causing him to
cough, he kept moving. He can hear the
battle still going on around him. He enters
the abandoned bay, Exit still drooped over
his shoulder. He cautiously walks through
the bay looking for anything that he can
use to escape. He sees the shell of the third
probe he was working on, somewhat wrecked
per a Jedy Light Saber. He races towards it,
sizes it up, throws Exit in its shell and begins
to rebuild it. Time passes and he eventually
moves the apparently completed probe onto
the Jettison ramp. He actuates the ramp and
climbs inside the probe. Inside the probe, it's
dark, Exit lies behind him. He sits in a hastily
made chair and straps himself in. In front of
him, a panel resembling the pilots panel of a
ship. He hits a switch, the panel comes to life,
light from the panel now somewhat illuminating
the inside. Outside the probe, large doors open
from the bay of the Star Destroyer, the probe is
carried inside a pressurized room. The large
doors close behind it. Inside the room where
the probe is now located, the sound of pressure
hisses, indicating that a vacuum has been created.
Doors to outer space open and the probe is fired
out of the Star Destroyer per its jettison system.
It floats in space, then it emits a propulsion flame
and begins a descent down to a nearby planet
seemingly being steered and propelled under its
own power. It reaches the atmosphere of the
planet, friction flames begin to gather around
it. Inside, Ian guides it effortlessly even though
it is surrounded by flames. As it slows enough
to dissipate the friction flames, a parachute
opens slowing the probe even more.

On the planet below (Tatooine) the probe lands
like a ship complete with landing gear. A hatch
opens. Ian climbs out still hanging on to Exit.
He looks around, a few men walk towards him.
One is obviously Basilisk, looks an awful lot like
a Rooster. They approach him with caution but
they are obviously friendly. Ian tells them of his
escapades on the Imperial ship and how they
escaped.

He is brought into town, a place they call the
Catacombs. The town is desolate, many businesses,
out of business thanks to the Empire.

Ian look at the Basilisk man. "Business looks
bad."

"Business is bad." The Basilisk says.

The other men look on but don't say
anything.

Ian looks around, it's a ghost town complete
with wind and tumble weeds. "What kind of
businesses survive around here?"

The Basilisk man thinks, he rubs his chin.
"Drinking establishments I guess."

Ian thinks. "Then a Bar it is." He pauses,
"Are any of these places for sale?"

The Basilisk man looks at the other men
with him. They shrug their shoulders.

"Most any of them I assume. And you probably
don't need a lot of capital. Say, if you happen
to run into someone who can fix all this, meaning
shut down the Empire forever, send him my way
would ya?" Says the Basilisk man.

"Sure, and the same goes for me. I'm pretty good
with mechanics. Maybe I can help." Says Ian.

Ian wanders around the town talking to the few
people that are still there. He finds a place that
he can build into a drinking establishment that
is empty and belongs to a local man. The man
said Ian could have it for free but if the business
goes good, then he could start paying rent. Ian
begins to order the favorite drinks of the locals
and puts a makeshift sign out front indicating that
a bar has just opened, or will open once the alcohol
shows up. It's a musty, dusty place but perfect for
a bar. He spies out the place, it's complete with a
hall that houses rooms. The rooms are simple but
will accommodate Exit and he, for the time being.

There is what was once an opening at the end of
the musty hall. Ian figures he has nothing to lose
and begins breaking open the covered opening.
When he finally breaks through, there's a small
cave carved in the rock. He ignites his flash light
and crawls in. When he gets through, it opens
up into a huge room carved into the small mountain
behind his place. He looks up, the top of the room
is rock but he contrives a plan to open it up where
he can come and go almost undetected by making
it into a camouflaged door. There's no power in the
space but Ian knows how to correct that too.

First he has to put Exit back together. She's in
bad shape, they were going to disassemble her
and melt down her parts for recycle. They took
out her power source so he has to figure out
how to replace it.

He goes to the probe he rigged to escape. Nothing
there, he would need to travel somewhere to get
the parts for a power source for her. No way to
travel except… the probe. Could be reconstructed
to at least get him to a place where he could find
a better mode of transportation. No way to move
it into the large space under the mountain so he
starts to work on it right there. He goes to some
of the locals and gets laser welders and cutters.
The locals are curious and go out to the probe with
him to see what he's doing. At first they think he's
just a hermit that thinks he knows what he's doing.
They soon find out that he not only knows what
he's doing but is very good at it. After several days
Ian reconstructs the probe into a small traveling
vessel. All are impressed to say the least.

One night while he and a lot of the locals are sitting
around a camp fire, one of the locals, an old man
named Zae Arrel asks Ian what he used to do. Ian
thinks for a moment, then decides to risk it. He
goes on to tell them about all the things that
happened to him during his travels… He begins
by explaining to them that he was trained at the
Academy. He then tells them how he vowed never
to build a bad ship. Unfortunately the Empire
recognized that and tried to force him to work for
them. To make a long story short, they asked him
to build three probes. He escaped during an invasion
by the Rebel Alliance, in the third of the three probes,
which he just re-purposed into a ship to which he
wants to use to travel through space to find a better
vessel for traveling. At that point he would set up a
lab, doesn't say where, build better ships and fix his
girl friend. Those around him are shocked at that
since they know she is a droid but not if they see
her.

Then he makes a request of them, "You cannot tell
anyone about me. If you do, the Empire will come
here, make slaves of you and kill me. And all I want
to do is be free to open a bar and travel a little."

Everyone agrees, he doesn't see anyone objecting.
He figures he's good but if he's not then he
determines that his life will end sooner than
later. At the end of the night Ian returns to
his old building, checks on Exit, who still lays
lifeless in one room. He goes to the room next
to hers, finds some old rags and goes to sleep.

On Magus, Ian's father is considering his sons
position. But he's old and needs help. He asks
a Magusian friend of his,Frax Xemo, to help.
Frax is an older Magusian but not nearly as old
as Renn. Renn tells Frax about Ian's situation
and that he wants to travel to Corellia to make
sure Ian is ok. Frax tells Renn that he must go
before the Magusian interstellar council to ask
permission. Ian's father knows that his son has
a prominent position there on Corellia but also
knows that, according to Ian, there has been
some trouble on that planet concerning the
Empire. Renn knows, according to Ian, that Ian
is a government official but opposes the Empire.
What Renn doesn't know is how much trouble
Ian is really in. He doesn't know that the Empire
kidnapped him, beat him, forced him to build ships
and probes for them and that he escaped to
Tatoinne and lives as a bartender there now.

Frax agrees with Renn having met Ian. Frax tried
to talk Renn out of it. That there are concerns but
that something needs to be done. Frax goes before
the council. He makes the request for Renn noting
all of the things Renn has told him about Ian. The
council explains that it needs to confer and that
they will get back with Frax about their decision.
Several days later a member of the council shows
up at Frax' home. Renn happens to be there. The
member, a Magusian by the name of Maco Spero,
brings up some of the things that the two men
need to be aware of.

"The Corellian's may be involved with or may be
being ruled by the Empire."

Maco says that the Empire is noted to be very devious
and dangerous. He tells them that there is really
nothing the Magusian's can do if the two are taken
or killed. That they must not, under any
circumstances divulge the where-abouts of Magus
or it's technologies.

"Magus is not known by anyone in that Galaxy except
Ian. And they have to trust that Ian will not divulge
this either.

" Says Maco.

Renn tells Maco, who works from a translator device,
that Ian has sworn secrecy. The councilman isn't
convinced. Renn further explains that Magus is a
secret that Ian wants to keep all to himself for future
technology needs. This time the councilor reluctantly
agrees and gives them a pass to leave Magus. Renn
tells Frax that he has taken one of the lab ships and
reconfigured it to fit in one of the cubes. Frax is glad,
they don't want to expose the main ship to anyone
in that Galaxy, Cygnus A, again. The two make for
the lab, the ship that Renn altered looked like a U-wing
but different. Not a lot of room but it would do. It was
fast. They used their type of a transfer droid (fork-lift)
to move the ship into a cube. They then zapped the
cube which appeared within the vent system of the
large ship and they pulled out with Renn at the helm.
No one knew of their travels. Even the Empire was not
aware of their coming.

(Modified U-Wing)

They had some knowledge of the coordinates of Corellia
which were good enough. And sure enough, the trip
would take several months. It would take awhile to get
to the edge of the galaxy and then awhile to get to
Corellia.

Once they'd arrived in Corellian space a voice came over
their comm.. asking what their purpose was for entering
Corellian space. They answered back but had no idea
what the proper response was. Two Corellian authority
ships were sent to their position to escort them in. They
had to land in an uncut field. The sun was almost never
out on Corellia. It was almost always overcast or raining.
The two disembarked and were met by Corellian
authorities. They were brought to the Corellian Authorities
office and questioned per their intentions. Renn explained
to them that he was looking for Ian Bartholomew, the
great ship builder. This raised some red flags, making the
Corellian's wonder why they were looking for him in
particular. Frax didn't speak, he let Renn do all the talking.
Frax was huge and a master at war and fighting. Authorities
with the Empire were notified. In the mean time they
were asked why common people would have the audacity
to ask for a conference with the master ship builder. It was
like me, the author of this story, asking to speak to the
president. He probably wouldn't be bothered and there
was about a Million to one chance that he would see them
anyway. Renn tried the "It's very Important." Line but
they really didn't care. The man doing the questioning,
asked them to tell him what they actually wanted. Their
mission was confidential, for his ears only. About that
time several Empire officials entered the room. They
were Imperial officers. The regular Corellian authorities
immediately backed off. An Imperial officer by the name
of Jagged Hentz approached them. Obviously very high
ranking.

He smiled as he questioned them. "I am Colonel
Jagged Hentz. I am the leading authority here on
Corellia representing the Galactic Empire."

They all shake hands.

"Curious, why are you here to see… well… quite frankly
one of our leading government officials and our leading
ship builder?"

Renn looks at Frax then at the officer, not sure what or
how much to say. "We… want him… to build a ship… for
us."

"Well then you need to talk to the Corellian ship sales
personnel." The Colonel says, knowing that's not really
what they want.

Renn is still somewhat hesitant about what to say. "No…"
he looks at Frax, "We were… told to speak to… Dr.
Bartholomew himself."

"Well, I don't know who told you that but I assure you,
he doesn't see just anyone. You would have to make an
appointment and then you would have to have a good
reason for talking to him." Says the Colonel.

Renn thinks, "It's kind of embarrassing but… we heard
he was… missing. To tell you the truth, we're looking for
him. Frax grimaces.

The Colonel stands pondering for a second. Then
decides to bait the two men. "To tell you the truth…
he's not here. He is, indeed missing. He has been an
integral part of the Corellian ship works and we are
concerned as well."

No one questions the Colonel but those around
him wondered why he would be so truthful about
such a thing. Renn and Frax look at each other.

"Oh, I was sure that wasn't true. I'm actually
surprised that it is. Do you have any idea where
he might be?" Asks Renn.

"No, we were hoping you might know." Say the
Colonel.

Renn and Frax stand up. "No, we have no knowledge
of his where-abouts either. Well, we will not bother
you any longer..." The colonel cuts him off.

"…You must stay. We have great accommodations."
Says the Colonel

"No, we really must go." Says Renn

The other Imperial officers in the room pull their
blasters and point them at Renn and Frax. Frax is
concerned now, ready to do battle. Renn puts his
hand on Frax' wrist, indicating that he needs to
stand down for the moment.

"We insist." Says the Colonel. "As a matter of fact,
the Dr. is very important to us. You're asking about
him makes us leery of you. If upon findings, prove
you are no threat to the Dr. we will let you go but
for now, you are our guests."

Frax chimes in, "Guests don't get treated like this
where I come from."

"And where do you come from my friend, you
don't look like any species I've ever seen?" The
Colonel asks.

"That is not for public…" Renn cuts him off.

"He is… Shi'ido." Renn answers.

"Let him answer for himself." The Colonel
demands. "I know Shi'ido and he doesn't look
like any Shi'ido I've ever seen." Another
Imperial officer says.

"Then you haven't met all the Shi'ido." Frax
answers in somewhat of a calm but insistent
voice.

The two men are still ushered out of the room
and put in a holding cell for the time being. Frax
isn't happy. He was not expecting to be detained
so soon in their travels. Renn is thinking, he tells
Frax that when things are shut down, there will
most likely not be so much security around. He
recommends that, the time would be a good use
the Magusian destructive right arm to smash the
cell open. Frax calms and sits indicating that he
agrees with Renn.

When evening falls, the lights are dimmed. The two
act as though they are sleeping. After a few hours
of shut down time, Renn and Frax quietly get up
and step toward the entrance to the cell. The cell
opening is actually blocked by a Ray Shield. But the
wall on the side of the cell leads to another cell and
there is no Ray Shield covering that opening. Frax
tells Renn that it will make a lot of noise. Renn says
that he is aware of that, that he was hoping that Frax
could use his arm to strike down any that might
oppose them. He shrugs his shoulders, just making
sure that Renn understood that, that might happen.
Renn assures him, he's ready. Frax stands back from
the wall, rears back and let's his fist fly. The wall is
thick and it takes several hits to open it up. Frax works
fast, when the wall is open the two make for the access
to the building they are in. When they reach the front
access to the building, that door is locked as well. Frax
pounds it open. Two Corellian guards fire on them.
Frax picks up a rock and with great strength and
accuracy, propels the rock at the two guards. It
hits one of the guards knocking him backwards
about ten feet. The other guard is shocked that
someone would be so accurate from such a
distance and at night. It's enough time for
Frax and Renn to get close to him. Renn
distracts him by calling out. The guard looks,
takes aim and Frax knocks him out. Frax picks
up the guards weapon. Renn picks up the
other one. No safety, both weapons work no
matter who fires them. More guards come
on the scene and fire at Renn and Frax. The
two fire back while they dash into the clutter
of rusty ship parts piled so neatly around the
facility. They move quickly, they run for
awhile. Finally Renn finds an old ship that
has its entrance hatch partially open. He
tries to open it enough for them to climb
in but it's stuck, probably rusted in position.
Frax sees Renn struggling with it, climbs up
and rips the hatch open with his great arm,
the two jump in to hide. What they don't
realize was that Corellia had its own species
of wild life. They had climbed in with a family
of Chippa's. And like most wildlife, they didn't
like people getting too close when they have
young around. A growl alerts the two to the
fact that they are intruding. Chippa's like most
wild life will generally run the other direction if
a man comes too near. They're sort of like a
shark, land dwelling, nocturnal, meat eater
and known to be quite ferocious when cornered.
Renn and Frax both shine their lights on the
animals. They both back up slowly, rifles pointed
at the beasts that growl angrily. Frax climbs
out of the hatch first. Ian stands under the
hatch not sure what to do. He knows if he
turns his back they'll jump him. Suddenly
Renn feels a tug on the back of his shirt.
Frax lifts him out of the hatch. They jump
down and start for a different place to hide.
Frax halts Ian for a second.

"They're probably tracking us." Says Frax.

"Possibly." Says Renn.

"Take off your scarf." Says Frax.

"Take off my… why me?" Renn asks.

"You're the only one wearing something
that isn't completely necessary." Answers
Frax.

"Not my… My grandmother gave me this."
Renn says defensively.

"It looks like something your grandmother
gave you." Says Frax.

Renn unwraps it from around his neck and
hands it to Frax. "What's that supposed to
mean?"

Frax looks at the scarf. "Humans, like
Magusian's bury their dead, do they not?"

"Yes." Replies Renn.

"They should have buried this scarf with
her." Answers Frax.

"I… my grandmother would have kicked you…"
Frax interrupts Renn.

"…Your grandmother would have never worn
that. No wonder she gave it to you."

"You know Frax, sometimes you can be a real
jerk in the…" Renn cuts himself off when Frax
tosses the scarf into the Chippa den.

"Come, we must keep moving." Says Frax
ignoring the fact that he has just thrown
Renn's scarf where Renn would not ever
likely recover it. They begin jogging deeper
into the junk yard.

A posy from the Empire comes about ten
minutes behind them. They have hunting
cobs with them. Cobs are only similar to
dogs in that they have a keen sense of
smell and men can trust them… mostly.
The cobs alert to the old rusty ship. The
ranking member of the Posy orders two
Imperial soldiers to go in after them. The
Imperial soldiers being the type of soldiers
that never argue with orders, climb into the
old ship. The rest of the posy waits outside.
Before long they hear… "Oh shit!" from inside.
Followed by ferocious growls and screams. The
cobs are terribly frightened. The Malay goes on
for a couple of minutes. Then silence followed
by crunching and chewing noises. The Imperial's
shrug their shoulders and move on.

The farther Renn and Frax wander into the
endless junkyard, the more vegetation has
grown up around the junk. They both surmise
that this junk has been here for some time.
Some of the vegetation becomes forest. It's
darker because of the shade. The path they
travel becomes thickets. Renn and Frax have
great difficulty pushing forward. Frax is in the
lead and finally decides to get down and crawl.
Renn sees this and at first is reluctant to follow
but then realizes that Frax is crawling along rather
easy. Most of the vegetation is hanging from the
trees as opposed to coming up from the ground.
Renn gets down and begins crawling as well. They
end up crawling for at least two miles. Renn finally
grabs Frax by the foot. He indicates via sign language
that he's pooped and needs to rest. Frax agrees. They
clear a spot of the vegetation and start a fire. Night is
closing in. Frax finally lays down and goes to sleep.
Renn watches him wondering how he can be so sure
that nothing will happen to him while he sleeps. When
morning comes Renn, who has been awake all night
keeping guard, wiggles Frax' foot. Frax wakes up slowly
at first. Then rouses quickly to the sound of someone
hacking through the thicket. He pulls his rifle out in
front of him. The hacking sound is coming from all
around them.

"Stop or I'll shoot!" Frax yells.

The sound stops. Whoever was coming has stopped.
Renn and Frax look around. They can see nothing.
Frax begins carefully gathering up their things. He
signals for Renn to follow him. He begins crawling
under the vegetation. They've crawled a good
distance and nothing has happened. They didn't
see anything. Frax smiles seemingly re-assured
that they've crawled past whatever it was. And
whatever it was is satisfied that they've moved on.
Then Renn feels a foot on his back and something
sharp against his head. Frax keeps crawling until he
realizes that Renn is not behind him anymore. He
hacks some of the vegetation out of the way and
stands up.

"Renn… Renn… where are you?" Frax questions in
a quiet tone. He doesn't hear anything. He turns
around and that's when all hell breaks loose. Men,
natives of sorts, attack him. Frax is a trained soldier.
He is able to thwart the attacks of several of them
but eventually someone gets his ankles. His feet are
pulled out from under him. More of the native men
pounce on him. He hasn't stopped fighting yet. Frax,
with his great arm, tosses several of them off. He
strikes several before someone knocks him clean out
by hitting him in the head with a big stick. When he a
wakes, he sees Renn tied up to a tree about fifty feet
away. He suddenly realizes that he is bound as well.
They've been brought into a clearing. Frax can still
see the old junk laying around. But where they are,
the junk has all been moved making way for flowers,
trees and shrubs as well as what seems to be the
domains of the native families. Some native children
run up. Very dirty and smelly but just as happy as
children always seem to be. The children observe the
foreigners. They don't have much on and look like one
would assume a native child would look. Something
whisks past Frax, then it whisks past Renn. Something
whisks past Frax again and his bindings fall to the ground.
It whisks past Renn, his bindings also fall off. They don't
say anything but they're watching each other, not sure
what to do next. They suddenly get their answer, what
or whoever it was, whisks past Renn again but this time,
Renn's arm is cut. It was so fast that Renn didn't even
feel whatever it was that cut him. It whisks past him
again cutting him again on the same arm. Several more
times the seemingly invisible entity flies past Renn
cutting him each time it goes by. Frax begins to yell
toward Renn.

"Come get me you bastard!"

Frax got heard, whatever it was that cut Renn,
now zoomed past Frax cutting his arm. The first
mistake the entity made was that it didn't cut
Frax' jacked arm. Frax can see by the movement
of vegetation around them that the entity was
coming again. The other mistake that it made was
that Frax' jacked arm was loose. Frax holds out his
huge arm, stiffens it and blocks the entity from
going by. The little native pygmy hits Frax' arm
and like a large clothes line, he is stopped dead.
He hits Frax' arm so hard that it spins Frax around.
The little native man stands staggering with all the
life knocked out of him. He falls on his face out cold.
A small knife falls out of his hand. Frax looks down
at the little man. Renn, holding his bleeding arm,
runs over to see what it was that cut him. The other
little natives surround them also looking down at
the flattened man. One of the more prominent
looking natives looks up at Frax.

"What?" Frax asks him in a somewhat frustrated
tone.

The apparent leader obviously didn't speak the
same language but none of them seemed threatening
now. The leader, looking at Frax, shrugs his shoulders.
He looks down at the downed man. The little man is
still out cold. Frax decides to take matters into his own
hands. He backhands one of the natives standing next
to the leader, sending him flying, just in case they
weren't convinced that Frax could actually do what he
did. The native people back up being somewhat shocked
at Frax' show of force.

As time passes the little natives decide that Renn and
Frax are ok. Not that they had much of a choice. They
shared food which wasn't what Renn or even Frax would
normally eat, but being the dignified people that they
were, they didn't want to offend so they ate, reluctantly
but they ate. They were presented with a small skit which
told them a little more about the culture. Including their
history of adapting to the planetary junk yard.

Renn had a theory that the apparent similarity in bodily
appearance meant that at one time, the Corellians were
descendants of the native tribes. But that didn't explain
the ability the natives seemed to have to run faster than
wind itself. After a couple of days, and after Renn being
the scientist that he sort of is, tried to determine which
of the little people was female. It was hard to tell, they
all looked very similar. It looked to him as though both
male and female shared the responsibility of tending the
children, which didn't look like they'd had much tending
at all. Anyway, the natives let them go. So Frax and Renn
cordially said goodbye and headed toward the Corellian
epicenter.

As they leave, Renn passes along more of his theory
about the pygmy's to Frax.

"I noticed nothing that would indicate a super ability
to move so quickly." Says Renn.

"Maybe only one of them has this ability." Says Frax.

"Maybe." Renn says puzzling as they continue to crawl.

Renn theorizes based on their bodies, that there is no
obvious bodily characteristic that could lend itself to their
speed. He then theorizes that some beings around the
galaxy have the ability to manipulate the Force but don't
have total control like the Jedy. They are given the ability
to do something physical by the Force. Some, have the
ability to see the future. Some read minds. Some control
minds. Etc.

Word got out that someone had infiltrated the Corellian
ship works. The news is communicated through news
sources. Ian gets wind of it, it is early at the bar, a box of
liquor sits atop the counter where the locals belly up. The
box says, "Royal Interest – Sweet." The box has been
sitting there for weeks. Ian has taken on the name of
"Sweet" and Renames the bar "Sweets". The name sticks.

Several of the locals stop in one day, for coffee but Ian has
Exit over his shoulder and locks the door as he's leaving.
The locals are confused. The bar is closed until further
notice. They watch Ian as he runs off with Exit.

He runs to the field where his make shift ship sits. It's
not finished but he decides he has no time, throws Exits
lifeless body in, closes the hatch and hopes for the best. The
ship comes to life and Ian quickly flies it out of the
atmosphere and into space towards Corellia.

In the mean time, Renn and Frax are hid out in another
old ship. They take turns sleeping and when they're both
awake and somewhat rested, they begin to make plans to
escape. The Empire now has several units of Imperial
Soldiers and Imperial Droids looking for them. Colonel
Hentz is frustrated about the news getting out and has to
answer to the highest authority in the Empire ranks. The
Imperial officials and Darth Sidiously appear on Holo. Darth
Sidiously is part of the questioning, the Colonel assures them
that the two prisoners will be found. Darth Sidiously doesn't
care, he doesn't like it when someone fails him. He reaches
out through the Force and cooks the Colonel to death.
Corellian and Imperial officials watch as the Colonel roasts
right before their eyes then falls dead in a smoldering heap.
Another Imperial official steps up to the Holo device and assures
them that the prisoners are currently being searched for and
will be found. Darth Sidiously hopes so for this officials sake.
The Imperial official shrinks at the idea that he might be cooked
next.

Ian is running low on fuel. He sees a nearby planet on his
scanner but it has never been visited by anyone of
importance. The planetary database simply says,
9WUP15150971. Meaning it has been recorded but never
visited. It's in sector 9W, the UP stands for Unobserved
Planet and is the 15 millionth, one hundred and fifty
thousandth, nine-hundred and seventy first planet recorded
but not visited by anyone in the galaxy. There are about
another three billion unobserved planets listed and about
another four billion planets recognized by the Old Republic
planetary database. Ian reads his panel. From a long distance
away, his panel indicates that the air on the planet is breathable,
and that there is life on it. When he gets closer he scans the
planet again. This time the scanner says that the beings are
Sentient. Ian opens a channel to the planet hoping that
someone there speaks his language. A response, they don't
speak his language but they speak one similar to one he knows.
He is able to put together what they are saying and puts together
a message that he needs to save one of his crew and that he
needs a better ship, that he would explain further upon landing,
they permit him.

When he lands he opens the hatch with Exit over his
shoulder. The planet terrain looks strange as do the
indigenous species though they seem to stand upright.
They watch him climb down in amazement. The fact
that Exit looks like his species and is lifeless is somewhat
disconcerting to them. He speaks to one of them in a
broken dialect. They have some trouble communicating
but Ian finally thinks they understand. They lead him
to a strange building where one of the species stands
holding a device. Ian holds Exits lifeless body in front
of the being. The being has others help him as Exit is
too heavy for one of them to carry. They bring her
inside and lay her face down on a table of sorts. The
being with the device seems to want to know where
her power pack would be located. Ian shows them, it's
under the skin at the base of the back of her neck. The
skin has to be cut in order to access it. The being
carefully opens it with a scalpel of sorts. The original
pack was removed leaving an empty space where it
used to be. The being looks at Ian with an "I don't
know if I can help you," look. He scans the cavity,
reaches in and pulls out a circuit board that has
contacts for the power pack. The being then appears
to be perusing some stock that he has on shelves.
Most of the stock is old, dusty and looking pretty out
of date. He finally stops and pulls out a device which
Ian has never seen before, it looks almost alive. He
puts it in her power pack cavity and re-inserts the
circuit board. He closes up the skin with a type of
glue and stands her up. Ian reaches behind her head
and switches her on. She comes to life but seems to
have to adapt to the new type of power pack. Ian
talks to her…

"Exit?" He asks her.

She looks at him, in robotic movements but
doesn't answer. The being tries to explain in
his language that "She will be able to survive
on the power pack that he put in her but she
might not remember anything until Ian can
put a proper one in her." Ian is struggling to
understand. Surprisingly she understands perfectly
and translates for him. But again she sounds very
robotic and doesn't know anyone including Ian.
Ian tries several different commands that he knows…

"Access, Bus, Pipe, calculate, install, Input…" He
voices.

Nothing seems to work, she just stands there
looking at him. He looks at them, satisfied but
has nothing to pay them with. One of the beings
notices a necklace that Ian is wearing. Ian
removes the necklace from around his neck and
hands it to the being that he was working with.
The being looks at it, then smiles and nods his
head at Ian in the affirmative. Ian smiles and
carries Exit back on the ship. The being stops
them just before they board. He ushers them
to a much more complete, strange looking but
modern vessel. Ian has never seen one before
and has no idea how to operate it. The being
tells Ian in his own language to just give it verbal
commands and it will do what he says, Exit translates.

Ian decides that if Exit can translate, that the vessel
will be fine. He asks how far it will travel with the two
of them aboard. Exit translates; the vessel will take
you as far and as fast as you need to go until it dies.
"It dies?" Ian thinks. What does that mean?

"It dies?" Ian asks the being. Exit translates.

Through Exit, the being explains that the vessel is
alive so to speak. It sustains itself by taking in Oxygen
and can survive on a very small amount for a very long
time. It gleans oxygen from the different planets it visits.
He further explains that the vessel has a name and all
commands should be followed by its name even in space.
The name of the vessel is: "Solari."

(Solari-living vessel of sorts)

Ian looks at the vessel, asks it to open its access port,
Exit translates ending with "Solari," and the vessel opens.
The two board, the living ship seems to welcome them.
It knows the difference between good and bad and can
sense an evil presents. It would reject the evil presents
by putting them outside the ship. They bid the beings
farewell and the vessel takes off. Ian gives it coordinates,
Exit translates and the vessel begins to move. He asks it
for all speed ahead, Exit translates and the vessel jumps
to hyper speed.

Frax and Renn have walked far.

"We have to find a way off this planet." Says Renn in
a low tone.

"Ya think?" Says Frax sarcastically.

As they move in the direction of one of the facilities,
they hear voices and have to change their course some.
They pass the old ship that contained the Chippa's. One
of the Chippa's has been out hunting and comes in just
as Frax and Renn get to the old junk. The Chippa bares
its teeth and snarls. Frax and Renn halt. They stand still.
The Chippa stops snarling but still shows its teeth. It seems
to study Frax and Renn. Finally it lowers its lip, no longer
showing its teeth as a display of defense. It leaps up on the
old wreckage, looks at Frax and Renn, then jumps into the
old ship hatch. Frax and Renn give a sigh of relief and move
on. As they're walking, they hear the Chippa behind them.
It makes a wining sound now. They slowly turn around. The
Chippa has Renn's scarf in its mouth. It sets the scarf down
and runs off. The two look at each other. Renn cautiously walks
over to where the scarf lays. He looks around, then slowly, while
still looking around, picks up the scarf. He looks at it. He gives a
"Not too bad," look and wraps it back around his neck. Frax
hates that scarf and gives a look of "I just can't believe it," on
his face. They walk on.

"Even the..."

"...I know, even the Chippa doesn't like it." Renn says as he
sarcastically cuts Frax off.

Ian tells Exit that he needs to fix some of her systems.
She asks why in her robotic voice, he explains to her
that she was different before. She asks how, he
explains that he really doesn't have time to explain.
She tells him that messing with her memory systems
is not advisable. He insists that he is very good at fixing
droids. She says that because of the power pack that
has been installed in her, that any attempt to change
her settings could be disastrous. Ian tells her that he's
willing to take that chance. She relents and turns her
back to him so that he can shut her down. He shuts
her down, she collapses in his arms, he lays her down
on the floor gently. He cuts open the power pack
covering and begins to work on it. To Ian's surprise,
the power pack takes the shape of a hand and grabs
him… tight. Exit turns her head and looks at him… her
robotic voice different.

"What are you trying to do?" She asks.

Ian thinks while at the same time, wincing at the
pain from the grip on his wrist. "Is this the power
pack I'm speaking to or the robot?"

She replies, "Both."

"Please let go, I mean you no harm. I am simply
attempting to change the parameters of the power
pack to resemble her own so that she will remember
me." Says Ian.

At first there is a pause. Ian thinks maybe it didn't
understand, then it speaks through Exit's mouth,
"Are you qualified to perform such a procedure?"

Ian in great pain shakes his head in the affirmative.
The voice emitting through Exit says, "I cannot hear
your head shaking, is that affirmative or negative?"

"Affirmative, affirmative!" He answers sharply.

The hand lets go of Ian's wrist and retains its
original power pack shape. Ian looks at it, he
tries to lift it out. Now Exit grabs his wrist but
not nearly as tight.

"I will help you." She says in the strange voice.

"That would be… fine." Ian replies.

Frax and Renn are moving covertly through
the rusty junk. They come upon another facility
in the distance and stop, hiding behind some
of the piled up parts.

"Now what?" Asks Frax.

"I don't know?"

Frax is looking around, "There doesn't seem to
be anyone around, how about we make a break
for that access-way over there?"

Renn looks, he sees the access that Frax is talking
about. Renn looks around. "I think you're right,
let's go for it."

The two take a last look around and cautiously
but quickly run for the access-way. Normally it
would open automatically but it stays closed as
they get near it. There is an air vent in the upper
portion of the door. Renn tries to move it by just
pushing on it. Frax moves Renn out of the way,
he pounds his fist through the vent and with his
massive arm, pulls the door open. Renn is sure
they've been heard but as he looks around, no
one appears, the two walk in. They move through
the corridors until they reach an elevator. The
elevator is active, the doors open and they step
inside.

"We need to find a space port, there should be
ships there. We can hot wire one and get the
heck out of here." Says Renn as they rise.

"What makes you think it would be on the top
floor?" Frax asks.

"They're always on the top floor." Say Renn.

"Oh." Says Frax.

When the doors open on the top floor, Renn
and Frax pear out to see if anyone is around.
The corridor is empty. Frax thinks this is strange
but follows Renn hoping he knows what he's
doing. They walk a ways, the facility they're in
is quite large. Ian opens one door and looks in,
Frax looks over his shoulder. It opens into a
factory area but the lights are off and all the
machines are shut down. They back out and
close the door. Renn moves further down the
corridor, Frax follows. They finally come to a
large door. It's heavily armored and appears
to open upward. Ian actuates the access panel
to open it. Frax backs up to the other side of
the doorway preparing to fire if necessary.
The door opens in an instant. They pear in.
Renn points indicating that he's discovered
something. The facility is running, the
Corellian's are building something that goes
in a ship. The two watch for a moment. The
part is systematically processed. It starts as
a couple pieces of flat metal simply laid on
top of the other. It goes through one
machine and comes out fused together and
in a non-descript shape. Via a conveyor belt,
it goes to the next machine. It passes
through the machine and comes out with
holes and other pieces fused to it. It then
moves to the next machine, passes through
it. Something has changed inside of it. It goes
through several machines before it's picked
up by a crane, wrapped neatly on a palette,
hoisted up and placed on a pile containing
more of the same. Renn guesses from its
appearance that it goes to some large ship
and is part of its engines.

As they try to prance in, Imperial's and
Imperial Droids begin to fire on them. They
fire back but have to back track quickly
down the corridor that they came through.
All hell has broken loose! Laser bolts come
from all directions. The two hide behind
objects in the corridor and return fire. Before
long they realize that the Imperial's must
have known they were coming because
they're being fired on from both directions.
The two have no choice but to give up.

The Imperial's and Imperial Droids hold them
at gun point. Darth Sidiously appears.

"Who are you?" He asks.

The two don't answer. Darth Sidiously, through
the Force, crinkles up Frax' rifle. He drops it
shocked by what is happening to it. Ian lowers
his to the ground and drops it. They both have
their hands up.

"I'll ask again, who are you?" Darth Sidiously
asks.

Renn speaks first, "I'm Renn Bartholomew."

Darth Sidiously has to think. "Bartholomew,
Bartholomew," He looks at one of the Imperial
officers next to him who is holding a blaster on
the two. "Isn't that the name of our missing
Master Ship Builder?"

"Yes… yes sir. Ian Bartholomew I believe sir."
The officer replies.

"Yesss. What relation are you?" Darth Sidiously
asks.

"I… I don't know what you're talking about." Says
Renn.

Darth Sidiously uses the Force to smash him into
the ceiling, letting him fall to the floor. Renn, as
old as he is, is easily maimed. Frax kneels down
to see if his friend is ok.

"What about you, who are you?" Darth asks.

Frax looks at him in discussed, "Can't you see
that he is old, why must you treat him that way?"

Darth Sidiously uses the Force and smashes Frax
against the ceiling, then lets him fall to the ground.
Then Frax is picked up and thrown down the
corridor to crash against a stationary object. Darth
Sidiously walks up to where Ian is attempting to
regain his composure, Renn climbs back to his feet.
Darth Sidiously uses the Force to flatten him again.
The old man goes down as though some heavy
invisible object has just been dropped on top of
him. He goes down with a grunt!

"Maybe I wasn't clear the first time. What relation
are you…" Renn interrupts him.

"…His father damn you. I'm his father." Renn finally
gives in to Darth Sidiously' control over his mind.

Frax is standing up in the background. Though our
view of him, in the background is blurred, it is
apparent that Darth Sidiously casts him against
the object again. He falls forward and to the floor.

Renn sees this out of the corner of his eye, "Leave
him alone, I'm the one you want!"

"Pick them both up, put them in Irons and put them
in a holding facility. Make it known that we have the
Master Ship Builders father. His son will surely come
looking for him and when he does, we'll have him,
and then… we'll kill him." Says Darth Sidiously.

"But sir, if…" Darth Sidiously cuts the officer off.

"…We don't need him and he'll just try to escape
again. He's more trouble than he's worth. We
may not have a great ship builder but neither
will anyone else. And… we have the specs for
the new space station and we control Corellia"

"I see sir, very good." The officer issues orders
to some of the men around him. "Bind them
and take them to the local holding facility."

The two are hauled up by their arms and
escorted off. The Imperial Soldiers arrive at
the containment area with the two prisoners.
Others come out with what appears to be
shackles. The two prisoners are sat down in
chairs. The Imperial's shackle the hands of
Frax first. He appears awake now and holds
his shackled hands in the air. Everyone stops
and looks at him including Renn. Frax then
flexes the muscle in his great arm. With little
effort, he breaks the shackles apart. With
their attention distracted, he knocks down to
two soldiers next to him, grabs one of the rifles
and begins to fire, destroying two of the
Imperial droids. The other soldiers and Imperial
Droids fire back but neither of our two hero's are
hit. They take cover behind another object just
outside the room.

"What the hell made you do that?" Renn asks.

"If I'm going to go down, I'm going to go down
fighting." Says Frax.

Renn shrugs his shoulders like, "Hey, it's not a
good reason but it's a reason."

Renn and Frax continue to fire back. The two
are in a shoot out with the Imperial's but
hopelessly outnumbered. The battle goes on
for several minutes but it becomes clear that
the Imperial's will soon have the upper hand.
Renn is about to give up again when laser
bolts come from a different direction. The
Imperial's are stumped and to their surprise,
are gunned down by Ian and Exit.

Ian comes running out with Exit at his side
holding a blaster, she has one also. "Heard
you were here dad."

Renn looks at Ian with great joy, "Came
here to save you son." Renn says.

"Good, let's get out of here."

As they're running, "Never killed anyone
before." Says Exit to Ian.

Outside they approach the strange ship
that Ian and Exit came in. Renn has to
stop and study it. Ian sees him and yells…

"Dad, we're kind of in a hurry!"

Renn begins to run again. The ramp up to
the entrance of the ship opens. They're all
just about on board when several laser bolts
fly at them. One of bolts unfortunately catches
Renn in the back. He goes down. Ian stops at
the bottom of the ramp and turns around as if
he knows something has happened. He sees
his father lying on the ground. He yells for Renn!
More laser bolts come at them. Ian and Exit,
amidst the hail of gun fire, fire back, now the
battle has come outside. The sun is shining
but the moment is grim. Ian and Exit run out
and pull Renn up the ramp, laser bolts flying.
Frax went in just before them. He turns the
ships weapons on the Imperial's and fires
causing great eruptions in front of them,
causing them to duck and run for cover. The
Imperial's have several AT-ST walkers which
aren't affected by the explosions. The Walkers
fire on the strange ship. Frax fires again but
only a few Imperial ground troops are affected,
the Walkers continue to fire. Suddenly, out of
nowhere and seemingly invisible, something
blows past the front line of Imperial ground
troops, slashing them fatally, giving Ian and
his gang a chance. Ian watches, Frax knows
exactly what's going on. The troops are stunned.
The invisible force attacks again cutting down
the second line. Frax turns the ship guns and
fires on one of the Walkers, destroying it and
causing the others to be pushed off their metal
footed accesses. Some of the Walkers regain
they're stance. More of the invisible force, this
time apparently many more of them, attack the
rest of the Imperial ground troops. Frax fires on
another Walker destroying it. The ramp of the
Solari lifts, the main door closes, all while the
ship takes off. Inside, Ian and Exit kneel next to
Renn. Frax watches out the front window. A man
appears almost out of nowhere. It's the native
man that originally attacked them. The rest of
the native tribe starts to appear as they kill off
more of the ground troops, waving goodbye.
Frax waves back.

Renn speaks to Ian with his dying breath. "Sorry
son, wasn't supposed to happen like this."

Ian is whimpering, "It's ok dad, we're going to
get you some help."

Renn looks at Exit, "She's cute son, not real but
definitely cute."

Exit smiles enjoying Renn's praises.

"No son, it's bad, I don't think we're going
back together." Says Renn.

"Dad… please, don't say that, I've hardly
gotten to know you." Says Ian through his
tears.

Frax looks back. Outside, Tie fighters attack,
firing on the strange ship. "What do I do?"

Ian calls to the controls, he's pissed "Destroy,
destroy!"

Exit, in a commanding voice, translates in
the ships language.

"I guess we'll just have to talk when you get
to heaven." Says Renn in a dying voice.

Ship replies in a soft female voice, "Attempting
to destroy attacking vessels."

"Heaven, where's that?" Ian asks.

"Not sure to tell you the truth." Says Renn,
thinking and dying.

The ship fires on the Tie Fighters, they're no
match for the seemingly living ship as they
explode, each in a ball of fire as the green
laser bolts hit them. Ian instructs the ship
to go back to Tatoinne. Exit runs up by him
and issues commands in the ships language
again. The ship dashes off into space at light
speed. Now Frax kneels down by Ian and his
father.

"Frax, why didn't you make him stay back?"
Ian asks blaming Frax for his father's wound.

"I tried Ian, he wouldn't listen."

"No Ian, it's not his fault, I insisted, it's my
fault son." Says Renn but he has to force out
his last words. Renn closes his eyes and dies.

Frax looks at Ian but before he can speak, Ian
runs away turning his back on Frax. Exit looks
at Frax with pity in her eyes, she knows it really
wasn't Frax' fault. Frax looks down at Renn, Renn
is dead.

"Goodbye my old friend." Says Frax to Renn one
last time.

Darth Sidiously is furious, this is the second
time prisoners have escaped. He wants to
kill someone but he is responsible this time.
A lower ranking Imperial officer walks by,
Darth Sidiously reaches out with the Force.
The young officer stops, he has a terrified
look on his face. He begins to shake and cry
out. His face turns bright red, smoke begins
to rise up from the openings in his uniform.
His cries become gurgles, his skin turns black,
his entire body, uniform and all, bursts into
flames. Darth Sidiously let's go of the man.
The man falls to the floor dead and
smoldering. His uniform is still burning.
Several Imperial's around Darth Sidiously
look shocked but glad it wasn't one of them.

"Now I feel better." Says Darth Sidiously,
paying no attention to what he has just
done.

Darth Sidiously then instructs those
around him to follow him to a meeting
room. When they arrive in the meeting
room all sit, Darth Sidiously stands pacing
back and forth in front of them.

"Plan, plan, we must plan, and this time no
one will fail me. That ship builder will be
mine or he will be no one's!" Says the Sith.

One of the officers dares to speaks up,
"Maybe sir, we could use more like yourself,
a being who has power over the Force like
you do."

"My thoughts exactly, I will contact help,
we will plan and we will get Bartholomew
or we will kill him."

One of the High ranking officers speaks up.
"Sir, if I may, we've killed his father. The Dr.
might be looking for revenge, especially if
we did, in fact, kill his father. He may come
to us."

Darth Sidiously looks at the officer as he
ponders. "You might be right, in fact, the
Force has revealed to me that someone
will come and attempt to attack us. I will
pursue this by meditating on the Dark Side
more. It may reveal more to me about future
events."

"Yes sir." The officer says.

Yodi, in the lead ship of a group of ships
nears Geonosis. The helmsman of his ship
gets a warning that a vessel of un-known
origin has locked on to them and armed its
weapons. The unknown ship attacks. The
rebel ships shields hold. The helmsman tells
Yodi that the ship seems to be unmanned.
Yodi orders the vessel disabled but not
destroyed if possible. It's one of the Imperial
probes. They see it and fire on it attempting
to disable its weapons and propulsion but
rather than be caught it incorporates a
self-destruct system and explodes in front
of them. The on board space monitor tells
Yodi that they did in fact disable it but it
self-destructed. Yodi understands. Another
probe is discovered but Yodi hesitates to
try again. He decides that they need to
scan the planet for life signs. The probe
fires on them but their shields hold. They
jump to light speed leaving the probe in the
dust.

They scan but the scans reveal a large
population, too many to figure out where
the Empire is located. Yodi thinks, what
would the Empire have that would give
them a positive scan? Yodi decides that
the only way they can determine the
Empires where-abouts is to delve into
the Force and see if anyone is meditating
in the Dark Side. Yodi goes into a trance.
Several other Jedy sense his meditation
and join him. Unfortunately Darth
Sidiously who is powerful with the Dark
Side, senses Yodi's trance. Yodi must get
out fast but he's not fast enough. The
Alliance position has been discovered.
Yodi's Helmsman gets a warning
message on his computer that some
sort of attack ships are headed their
way. Yodi must act fast, he dispatches
two Jedy fighters to Rendezvous with
the attack ships. In the mean time Yodi,
who doesn't know Darth Sidiously yet,
dispatches his own ship and flies to the
surface to meet this person of the Dark
Side in battle if necessary. They land in
a jungle of sorts. The indigenous species
presents is known to the Alliance landing
party but the little natives stay hidden
and watch. When Yodi exit's his ship, he
is acutely aware of the small creatures.
He senses that the small natives don't
seem to be a threat to the landing party.
Yodi orders some of his team to fan out
and search.

In space, the two Jedy encounter Tie
Fighters. There are about six and they
attack immediately. The Jedy take evasive
maneuvers and easily destroy the first
two. The Tie fighters circle around for
another shot. They're not so easy the
second time. The Jedy must make use
of the Force to finish the attack. More
Tie fighters join the fight. The Jedy use
the Force to evade the now eight
attacking ships. One Jedy, from his
cockpit, gets a lock on one of the Tie
fighters. He pulls the trigger. Green
laser bolts erupt from his guns. Just
about that time, two of the Tie
fighters are on his tail. He has to
break off the attack unable to destroy
the ship in his target lock. And just
about that time, the two Tie fighters
that are on his tail are destroyed by
the other Jedy. The Jedy receives
explosion warnings. He reaches out
with the Force to determine if the
two trailing fighters are indeed the
ones destroyed. His senses are
positive. This all happens in a second
and the Tie fighter that he was locked
on is barely out of his target area. He
re-engages, gets a lock, pulls the trigger,
green laser bolts erupt from his guns
once again, this time he connects. The
Tie fighter explodes, there are only five
left.

Yodi and his team use scanners but the
area is clean. They board Yodi's transport
ship and head back for the larger vessel
still in space. On the way, they encounter
the two Jedy and the Tie fighters. The Tie
fighters are busy with the Jedy ships and
don't notice Yodi's ship. Yodi orders his
ship to lock on to the two Tie fighters left.
The two gunners on Yodi's ship each lock
onto the remaining Tie fighters. The two
Jedy realize this and break off their attack.
The Tie fighters are confused about this.
The gunners get a target lock. The pilots
of the Tie fighters receive a warning that
they have been locked onto but it's too late.
Both of Yodi's gunners fire almost
simultaneously, the green laser bolts
make a piffling sound. The two Tie
fighters are torn to pieces before they
both explode from the attack. The
danger has past. The main ship
detects an ion trail left by the Tie
fighters from their place of origin. Yodi's
smaller ship re-enters the larger
Alliance vessel and the larger vessel
transports to just over the Imperial
location on the planet surface. An
Imperial presents on the surface is
confirmed but two Star Destroyers
are alerted to the position and the
fight is on. The Alliance vessel has
its hands full with the two Star
Destroyers. To compound the problem,
the second probe is again on the
scene and joins the fight against
the Large Alliance ship. The alliance
ship is taking a pounding and must
make a run for it. Its deflector shields
are beginning to fail. More Tie fighters
join the fight, fire and have an effect but
are easily destroyed by the larger Rebel
ship. The helmsman boots up the ships
main computer and they make the jump
to light speed and not a moment too soon.

But now the Rebels know of the Imperial
position on Geonosis. The fight has just
begun and Darth Sidiously knows it. The
Rebels must be found and destroyed.
The Imperial secret weapon, hidden
behind one of the larger moons of
Geonosis is in its beginning stages of
construction. Only time will tell when
it will be revealed and when that time
comes, the galaxy will be oppressed by
its power.

The Helmsman on Yodi's vessel gets
a proximity warning, they detect that
a Star Destroyer is on their tail, Yodi
orders his ship out of Light Speed.
When they slow to impulse engines
the Star Destroyer does the same. It
comes out of Light Speed with guns
blazing, another drops out of Light
Speed by its side and fires as well.
Yodi's personal ship is launched. The
Alliance ship has some of its deflector
shields fixed but moves out of range.

In the confusion of the Malay Yodi's
ship attaches to the side of the Star
Destroyer, the attachment is detected.
Darth Sidiously assumes this is the
attack he saw in the Future of the Dark
Side. A unit of Imperial Droids is sent to
where Yodi's ship has attached. Yodi
uses his light saber to cut a hole in the
hull of the Star Destroyer. The men with
Yodi jump in shooting. Yodi uses his
command of the Force to evade Imperial
gunfire by deflecting with his Light Saber
or bouncing off the walls to get around
them. The Rebels will keep the Imperial
Droids busy. Yodi makes his way to the
bridge of the ship, having studied a Star
Destroyer layout based on the two that
were stolen from the Empire. He cuts his
way into the bridge, Imperial officer's fire
at him. He deflects their shots killing some
of them instantly and cutting the rest down
with personal attacks. The person he was
looking for is not on the bridge. Using his
senses he looks for the Sith. His senses
tell him that the Sith is right outside the
door. Instead of charging through the door,
Yodi jabs his Light Saber through the wall
hoping to catch the Sith off guard but the
Sith, Darth Sidiously, is ready. He flips
through the air evading Yodi's jab. Yodi
jumps outside the room and begins a
Light Saber battle with Darth Sidiously.
At first Darth Sidiously is foolish enough
to believe that he can beat Yodi but soon
finds out that Yodi is not only good with
a Light Saber but is probably the best.
The two dual on but Yodi is driving him
back. Fortunately for Darth Sidiously, a
group of Imperial soldiers comes around
the corner shooting. Yodi, with his
powerful command of the Force, detects
the onslaught and deflects the shots
back killing some of the soldiers.
Unfortunately for Yodi, it gives Darth
Sidiously time to escape. Yodi is fortunate,
Darth Sidiously chose to run rather than
take advantage of the interruption. Yodi
cuts all but one of the soldiers down. He
lands on top of the last man, Light Saber
pointed at his throat. Yodi forces him to
tell using the Jedy mind trick, where Darth
Sidiously might have gone to. The soldier
tells of where his quarters are. Yodi leaves
the man alive and makes his way through
the Ship but detects that Darth Sidiously
has left the Star Destroyer. Darth Sidiously
escapes to another Star Destroyer and they
flee. Yodi calls for his ship to attach near
himself. Shortly the sound of metal against
metal is heard. Yodi cuts through the hull
opening an exit into his own ship. They
detach, a few Imperial soldiers get sucked
out into space. Yodi makes for the main
Alliance ship which has dropped out of light
speed near them long enough to take Yodi's
ship in, then they jump to Light Speed again
rather than battle with the Imperial Star
Destroyers.

"Back to this position we must come. Much
to learn have we from this place. Sense I
do, a large disturbance in the Force here."
Says Yodi thinking out loud before one of
his officers.

"Yes sir, we'll figure out a way to get back
into this sector undetected but we need to
leave this sector for now." Say the officer.

"Agreed." Says Yodi.

The Jedy mop up any remaining Tie fighters
and make the jump to Light Speed to
Rendezvous with Yodi.

On the surface of Deveron Ian has landed
near his old home owned by Teel Stalrif. The
Stalrif family is home this time. Teel comes
out to greet them. The re-union is great, the
rest of the Stalrif family comes out. Ian is
glad to see them but when Frax comes out
they all slow, noting the features of this
new specie. Exit comes out just after him.
Ian is still angry at Frax and rudely ignores
him asking Teel if he might enter the home.
Teel permits him, Teel's wife invites him in.
Teel then introduces himself and his family
to Exit and Frax.

"That's not like Ian." Looking at the
entrance to the home but talking to Frax.

Frax looks at the door, "He blames me for
his father's death."

Teel looks at Frax. "I didn't know Ian's
father was still alive."

Frax looks back at him. "He was my best
friend."

Exit chimes in. "He'll get over it."

"Maybe." Says Frax. "Mr. Stalrif, this
is Ian's… girl friend, this is Exit."

Teel looks at her. "Teel" He continues,
"And she's… quite beautiful but she's…"

"…A droid. Yeah, I guess it's a little strange
but…" Says Exit as finishes Teel's sentence.

Teel relents, "What the heck, whatever works."
Teel changes the subject. "What happened to
Ian's father?"

"His father and I were trying to rescue Ian. Ian
ended up rescuing us but his father was gunned
down in the battle. His body is still on the ship.
We need to bury him or encase him in carbonite
soon." Says Frax.

"His father is… dead?" Teel asks now realizing what
Frax said before.

"Yes." Replies Frax.

"You can bury him here. Pick a place, it really doesn't
matter where."

"I will do so shortly." Says Frax.

"Your Shi'ido, correct? Asks Teel.

"My name is Frax, I'm Magusian, that's all I
can say for now." Frax tells him.

"Say no more. So what about her?" Teel asks
referring to Exit who is walking up to the
entrance to the home.

"Apparently, and I don't know the whole story,
but apparently she helped him escape from the
Empire. That's really all I know." Says Frax.

Teel looks at Frax, "You seem like a good guy,
I can't believe you were responsible for Ian's
father's death."

"Ian's father was old. I tried to talk him out of
going but he insisted." Says Frax.

"You were his friend, you tried." Responds Teel.

"I guess Exit is right, he'll get over it… eventually."
Says Frax.

Teel invites him in. In the home, Ian sits talking
with Teel's wife and kids. Exit just sits listening.
When Teel and Frax walk in, Ian, who was
smiling as he told of his tales, suddenly stops
smiling and pauses mid-sentence while looking
at Frax. He then continues to talk to Teel's wife.
Teel leans over and tells his wife about Ian's
father. Teel's wife shows a look of great sadness.

Later that night Teel and Ian are alone, they
sit and talk together. Ian tells Teel all about
what he's been through. Then there is a pause.

"Ian, Frax tells me that you're mad at him
because your father was killed." Teel says.

"Yeah, he'd still be alive if Frax left him at
home." Says Ian.

"Frax was your father's friend, he came with
your father." Says Teel.

"If he were such a great friend, he would
have made my father stay back." Retorts
Ian hesitantly.

"Then Frax would have had to look for you
alone. This was your fathers mission."
Says Teel.

"Yeah, I suppose." Says Ian.

"He seems like a good guy." Teel interjects.

The next morning, Frax is moving supplies
to the Solari.

"Frax!" Ian calls for Frax.

Frax stops what he's doing and looks over
glad to hear Ian calling his name. Ian is
approaching and has a pleasant look on
his face. "Yes Ian."

Ian walks up to Frax. "Frax, I've been
thinking about the way I've been treating
you."

"Ian, I un…" Ian interrupts him.

"…No… Frax, it's nice of you to excuse
my behavior but I've treated you badly
and I know it wasn't your fault. Please
forgive me." Ian apologizes.

Frax smiles, "All is forgiven, I loved your
father, he will be missed."

Ian smiles and lowers his head. "Yes…
yes he will." Ian changes the subject.
"Frax, where are you going?"

"I have to go back to Magus and let
people know what has happened. Your
father had many friends, they will want
to know. Besides, we found you and
you are what we came for. It's time
for me to go back." Says Frax.

"Frax I…" Now Frax interrupts Ian.

"Dr. Bartholomew, you are welcome to
come to my planet anytime, visit me,
I hope you do." Says Frax.

Ian smiles, they shake hands. Frax
continues to load the Solari.

Frax is gone and the Solari with him.
Ian and Exit are without a ship. Ian
would love to get hold of one of the
Empire Shuttles again. He approaches
Teel, Teel asks if Frax is gone. Ian
confirms it. Teel then asks him what
is wrong, Ian tells him that nothing
is really wrong but they have no way
to travel. That's when Teel tells Ian
about the old man, Dodge Kilvaari
in the town of Mos Eisley. Unfortunately
Teel has had some dealings in Mos Eisley,
it's a rough town and Teel warns Ian.
Ian and Exit go to Mos Eisley to find old
Dodge. They go all over town, several of
the bars won't let Exit in, a problem with
droids or something. One of the bars has
some swarthy characters in it and they
approach Ian with less than good
intentions. They've never seen Ian before
and he looks like he might have something
they want. A different species, three of
them surround Ian and insist he empty
his bag and pockets. Ian, ignorant to what
evil people do, feels his blaster being pulled
out of its holster while they press him. Ian
swears he really doesn't have anything, he
invites them to come to his bar when he
returns. They don't seem to care much about
that. Another one of their thug friends brings
Exit in by her arm.

"Look what I found waiting outside the bar?"
Says the thug.

The bartender tells them that she's not
welcome there. One of the thugs points
a blaster in the bartenders face and
explains that they've changed the rules
for the time being. Ian asks them what
they want. They laugh, then one of them
gets serious and gruff.

"What have ya got?" The thug asks.

Ian tries to explain that everything he has
that's of any value is back at his bar in
another town. One of the thugs decides that
they're going to keep the blaster. The lead
thug tells Ian that if he doesn't have
anything that they're just going to kill him.
Another one points Ian's blaster in his face.
The one holding Exit, threatens to destroy
her by shooting her with a blaster. Now Ian
is pissed, he doesn't care about himself but
no-one messes with his Exit. As he looks at
the thug holding Exit he changes his facial
expression to one of anger. The lead thug
sees this and starts to laugh. He points this
out to the other thugs and they laugh as
well. One of the thugs punches Ian with the
handle of his own blaster, Ian goes down. An
old man walks up and grabs the arm of a thug
about to hit Ian again.

"Why do you want to hit this man again,
you've hurt him enough, he's no threat
to you?" The old man asks.

The thug pushes the old man back. He can't
believe that an old man wouldn't mind his
own business, the old man just takes it.
Ian sees the thug push the old man, he
tries to get up to defend the old man as
well, the thug that hit him, knocks him
down again. Exit yells for him. The thug
holding her pulls her back and pushes
the blaster against her head. Ian, down
for the count but still conscious wants
to save her but is too hurt to get up. The
old man uses his power over the Force to
launch an object on one of the nearby
tables at the lead thug hitting him square
between the eye's, the old man knocks
him clean out. Exit, being a droid and
seeing the opportunity disarms the man
holding her and throws him backwards.
The other two thugs point blasters at the
old man. He, dodges one shot and deflects
the other, he cuts down the two thugs.
He holsters his Light Saber, the bar tender
utters something about cleaning up the
mess but the old man ignores him and
helps Ian off the floor, Exit helps as well.
Ian is looking at Exit in surprise. He can't
believe she had made a conscious decision
to resort to physical violence to assist the
old man, she seems to have forgotten the
whole thing. The old man tells Ian as they
walks out of the bar that with his power
over the Force he can also control droids.
Ian is shocked to realize that the old man
has power over the Force. As they're
walking he postulates that the old man
was or is a Jedy.

"My name is Dodge Kilvaari, I was once
a Jedy but I'm too old now. Retired Jedy
hide among the commoners on different
planets." Says Dodge.

"Then I… well I appreciate the help." Says
Ian.

"I hear you're looking for me." Says Dodge.

Ian realizes that Dodge is the man Teel told
him about. "Yes… yes… Teel told me about
you."

"Teel, don't remember anyone by that name."
Says Dodge.

"Stalrif… Teel Stalrif. He says you helped
him off the planet about twenty years ago."
Says Ian.

"I've helped many, I'm sorry, I don't
remember him." Says Dodge.

Ian stops and looks serious at Dodge. "Can
you help us?"

Dodge looks at Ian and Exit. "I think so.
What do you have for capital?"

Ian produces a chit. The old man puts his
hand over it. "Not much on there."

"How… never mind. I'm sorry it's all I have.
We can try to get you more somewhere
else." Ian begs.

The old man laughs, "No, no, you
misunderstand me. I'm just wondering what
you have to survive with. I'll give you the
ride." He changes the subject. "Where are
you going?"

"Corellia." Says Ian

"Corellia, the ship planet?" Dodge asks.

"Yes, you see, I'm Ian Bartholomew and…"
The old man cuts him off.

"…Dr. Ian Bartholomew?" Dodge asks.

"Um… well." He looks at Exit. "Yes."

"Man have I been hearing about you. I fly
one of the ships you designed." Says Dodge.

"You do?" Asks Ian.

Dodge takes them to where his ship is
sitting. Ian is surprised to see that the
ship looks a fright. The old man assures
them that the ship is sound it just looks
bad. He has a little pal, a space pet
species. He tells them that it's good
for business and ushers them aboard.
Exit asks Ian about it, she can't believe
that Ian would design such a thing. Ian
explains that it surely looked better at
one time but that the ship was definitely
something that he designed. Dodge sits
down in the pilot's seat, Shinti, a small
dog like creature, jumps in the co-pilots
seat next to him and they take off. As
their lifting off Shinti is all excited.

"Yes Shinti, we're going for a ride again."
Says Dodge as he pilots the ship into space.

Exit is looking around, "There are no
windows, how do you see where you're
going?"

"Instruments, don't need windows." Says
Dodge.

Ian understands how the ship works. The
ship aptly named the "Black Sun," a
Trident Interceptor. Ian understands this
ship because it was one he designed while
at the Academy. Alderaan security acquired
six of them. All Trident Interceptor's were
Instrument piloted. It was designed to keep
pilots from freaking out when approached by
enemy ships. They were deadly and well
weaponised. But the Alderaan Security was
not well trained in Instrument flying and all
six were eventually destroyed. The Academy
built more when they thought the ship would
be successful. Dodge obviously thought they
were worth something. Or… when he bought
it he got a good deal. Ian is wondering the
whole time, how it was that they would get
to the planet surface undetected. Ian
accesses a computer panel to see if he
could find any information about someone
rebelling on Corellia. But when he looked, all
there was, was propaganda by the Empire
telling of how great they were at governing.
They had covered all the basis, even the
ones Ian knew about that were secret. He
finally polls the old man on the subject of
detection. When Ian gets up and straps
himself back in his seat, Dodge accesses
his own computer to see what Ian was
looking for. The old man had explained that
the ship had a cloaking system. Ian had
forgotten that, when you've designed and
built as many ships as Ian had, you're
bound to forget something.

They would coast in with the engines off.
He would then jettison them in an escape
pod. The pod would be detected and Dodge
would have to get out of Dodge quickly. The
escape pod would land fairly quickly, Ian and
Exit would have just enough time to escape
and hide in the woods and the piles of junk.
Ian goes back to sleep.

He is awakened by the old man telling him
that they were near the planet.

"Why go back there? There are plenty of
planets with good ships that you can use."
Asks Dodge.

"Corellia is my home and… there is a ship
there that I like in particular."

"Yes, you told me that. Seems like too great
a sacrifice, risking life and limb just to get a
ship you like." Says Dodge

Ian tips his head down, then reveals a truth
to Dodge, "I am also hoping, that somehow,
some way, I, with my status as a high
ranking official in the Corellian government,
would be able to rid Corellia of the Empire and
bring the planet back to its original status in
the galaxy. Neutral, maintaining its own
form of government and with good
intentions, clean the place up, you know,
drain the swamp so to speak."

"A worthy cause I guess." Say Dodge.

Dodge had already cut the engines and
engaged the cloaking system. Ian and
Exit gathered a few things and entered
the escape pod, Dodge jettisons them
out. When Ian accesses a small monitor
to see behind them, Dodge is already gone.

Parachutes slow their decent, they land,
pop the hatch to the pod and dash off
into the woods. When they get far enough
away Ian and Exit hide behind some old
junk. An Imperial search party shows up
shortly. Ian can hear one of the officers
with some sort of device indicating that a
human and a droid were in it but were
gone and there was no trace of them.
Ian and Exit move on cautiously. At one
point, Exit with her droid hearing says that
she's heard something in the vegetation
around them. Before long, Ian can hear it
also, it's coming closer. Ian and Exit try to
hide but they can only hide behind more
vegetation. Fortunately the sound they
heard was the little natives that helped
them escape from Corellia the first time.
Ian remembers how they were able to
move so fast that they could only be seen
when they wanted to.

Ian and Exit, being welcomed to their
village, were met as usual, by the native
children, same smelly, dirty kids that Renn
had told them about earlier, they stayed
there awhile. Exit didn't need to eat. Ian
ate some food they. Ian ate it hesitantly
and being the honorable man that he was,
acted as though he was enjoying it even
though he really didn't. The natives laughed
at him knowing that he really didn't like the
food but they weren't offended.

They were, over a time, able to establish a
way to communicate. One thing Ian learned
was how much the natives hated the Empire.
That at one time, they were able to live in
peace with the other residents of Corellia but
when the Empire showed up, they were
considered an infestation, the Empire formed
hunting parties, hunted them down and killed
them. Ian, unable to sleep one night postulated
that there might be enough of the little natives
to form a rebellion. When he proposed the idea
to the chief the next day, the Chief pooh-poohed
the idea. The Empire was huge, there weren't
enough warriors in his village to initiate such
a coup. Ian was able to establish through
their minimal communication, that the chief
was referring to the fact that there might
be other natives that could join forces. He
went back to the chief and asked if there
were for sure? The chief answered in the
affirmative. Ian then wondered how they
communicated so he asked. The chief,
unable to explain, put certain vegetation
together, squeezed some different juices
into what appeared to be a melon half. He
then stirred the concoction vigorously,
dunked the other half of the melon in the
liquid then put it up to his ear. He handed
it to Ian. Ian reluctantly held it up to his
ear. He could hear voices. The chief then
explained that what Ian was hearing was
people from another tribe. Ian wasn't sure
he understood right but if he did, what
these people had invented was unheard of
around the galaxy. Ian wanted to know how
they let the other tribes know they were
trying to communicate. The chief went
and picked another strange weed from
the vegetation around them. He lit it on
fire and wafted the smoke in Ian's
direction. The smell of the smoke was
overwhelming. It was so powerful that he
had to plug his nose and it still seemed to
permeate the air, there was no escaping it.
The chief then proposed that they wait a
couple of days and listen for the others to
communicate back. What was on the other
side, that the other natives could hear Ian
wondered? The chief pulled a fresh melon
from one of the nearby trees. The melon
itself acted as a transmitter. The liquid
was the receiver. Ian proposed that the
chief get the other tribes involved with
the coup. The chief had to think about
this but eventually agreed. The next day
they would begin the process of
communicating with the other tribes to
form a coup against the Empire.

Ian was thrilled, during the coup he and
Exit would be able to slip in and steal one
of the shuttles and travel back to Magus
for more inventions and ideas. When he
told Exit about his idea, she wasn't as
happy about it. She told him that some
of the natives would most likely die. Ian
hadn't thought of that. He then
mentioned this to the chief. The chief
then said that if death was what it took
to be rid of the Empire, the warriors
would commit to it. The tribe began to
prepare for the up and coming battle.
Exit still wasn't convinced, the Empire
was strong and the natives weapons
were no match for the modern
weaponry of the Empire.

Frax is coming to his home world in the
Solari. He's just outside of the planet and
he can see it on the monitor with its
impenetrable red haze. He puts the ship
in static mode and waits for the Large
Magusian ship to come around. Before
long it does, Frax mumbles something
to the ship in his language and the ship,
somehow, broadcasts the message that
he is about to land and needs a cube. The
ship confirms that the message is sent.
He pilots the ship into the vent area where
Ian went in. A cube shows up but Frax is
confused, he doesn't know how the ship
he's in will fit into the cube. The main
door to the cube opens and unbeknownst
to Frax, his ship starts for the opening. He
orders the ship to stop. It stops, he then
asks the ship how it is planning on entering
the tube. The ship answers back…

"Prone."

Prone he wonders, what does that mean?
The ship starts to move forward again. Frax
wasn't ready for the ship to move and has
to stabilize himself. He looks around… the
ship begins to slant to the right. Frax isn't
sure about this but straps himself in. When
the Solari is lying completely on its right side,
it proceeds into the cube. Not a scratch, the
main door to the cube closes, Frax waits a
second still sitting where he was but sideways
now, there's no gravity is space so this is not a
problem for Frax. In the next second he sees a
bright light. When the light dissipates, the main
door to the cube opens, the Solari moves out
carefully, rights itself and lands. Frax is on the
surface of Magus. Several people are around
including the group that gave he and Renn
permission to leave the planet. The door of the
Solari opens and Frax steps out. His fellow
Magusian's meet him all glad to see him. But
they wonder where Renn is. Frax has to explain
that Renn was killed during a battle on Corellia.
The other Magusian's mourned his death.

They move to a meeting hall in the city near
where Frax lives, he explains more of what
happened. One of the Magusian officials
brings up Frax' ship. Frax tells them that
even Dr. Bartholomew had never even seen
one. That the planet where they got it said
it was alive, so to speak. They all murmured
at that. As Frax tells of his tails, Magusian's
never lie, the officials are shocked. Frax tells
them knowing that they are browbeating him,
they warned him that something like that
might happen. Frax goes on to assure them
that all his military training came into play
and he was able to escape. They looked
satisfied but Frax wasn't sure they really
were. A couple of days later, the great
ship sent a communicator that some
strange ships had entered their sector
of space. Frax asked him what the
ships looked like. He said they were
large, grey and triangular. Frax knew
what that meant, he'd been followed
by the Empire. They'd sent Star
Destroyers to the area. That same day,
later in the afternoon loud explosions
began to ring out in the red haze above.
The Magusian officials sent a messenger
up to the great ship to see what was going
on. When the messenger returned he told
them that the Imperial ships were firing on
the red haze in an attempt to open it up
make the planet surface accessible. Frax
was certain that they would then send Tie
Fighters to do the dirty work. Magus had
weapons but they had never needed to put
them together with the ships they built. With
exception to fighting with small arms they
were defenseless. The pounding explosions
were loud and relentless. The great ship had
halted out of view from the Imperial ships
though even with the Empires most
powerful weapons, they were minuscule
compared to the Magusian ship.
Unfortunately, the large Magusian ship
had no weapons. Eventually the Empire
made a hole in the red haze. The Magusian's
prepared for a war that was sure to end in
their slaughter. Frax, being the military man
that he was, joined the ranks to help if he
could. He was next to the Solari when it
started up. Frax looked over at it. There was
no one around it, how was it that it was
activated? The Solari then took off headed
for the opening in the haze. Frax and some
others watched it leave. Officials came to
Frax thinking that he was going to try to
use the little ship to defend them. But when
they got to his position, he was still there.
They asked Frax who was flying the ship.
Frax told them, no-one.

Ian and Exit were very surprised when
warriors from the other tribes showed up.
The smell from the masses of stink-weed
that they burned to alert the other tribes
was still in the air. If that didn't discourage
the Empire in and of itself, he would not
be surprised. The other warriors had skirted
the Empire as not to alert them. A plan
would be devised. Ian was in on it and
was very effective in designing weapons
from the natural vegetation. The chief's
were impressed and they had a few tricks
of their own. But the main focus would be
drawing the Imperial's out so that the speedy
warriors could zoom in and cut them down
before they knew what was happening.
There must have been over five-hundred
warriors that joined the present tribe. The
chief of their tribe wanted to know what
Ian and Exit would be doing during all of
this? Ian had to explain that he and Exit
would be trying to steal a ship. The chief
was not impressed, he thought that the
two should be joining the ranks in the battle.
Ian then explained that if he were able to
obtain a good enough ship, that he would
be able to obtain great weapons to clean
the Empire off other planets who'd suffered
the same fate. The chief thought about it,
then agreed. Ranks were formed as best
they could be with the disorder of the
natives. They would march to a location
where the first Empire manned facility was.
Then, when they were close, several people
were set to go out and act in a way that
would bring Imperial ground troops outside.
They would then attack the ground troops.
Ian interjected during the planning that the
Empires communications would have to be
taken out if they were to be able to attack
the next facility unimpeded by an attack
from the air. But the Empires communications
were the least of their problems. The masses
of tribal forces were detected by Imperial ships
in space. The Empire would be ready for them.
At first, some of the Imperial ground forces
were sent out. The native warriors were
able to attack and kill most of them. Ian
knew something was wrong. The amount
of Imperial ground troops wasn't near the
amount that he had hoped for. He looked
up, in his mind he knew that the ships in
space must have alerted the forces in the
facility to their advances. Ian tried to tell
the chief that they were in danger of being
attacked from the air. The chief ignored
Ian's advice and ordered the attack to
continue. He ordered more gofers to try
to coax more ground troops out. But
when the gofers went out again, no one
else came. Before long Tie Fighters came
in from the air and began strafing the area
where the native forces were. All hell broke
loose. The native warriors scattered, some
were killed during the first strafing run.
Some of the warriors came out from the
piles of junk and attempted to attack the
facility. Gunners from positions in the facility
fired down on them killing them off easily.
The few that lived, scattered back into the
piles of Corellian ship yard waste. The Tie
Fighters are coming around again, there
are only four of them. They strafe the area
again killing more of the natives. Many of
the natives use their sensational speed to
evade the Imperial onslaught. Just about
the time the Tie fighters come around for
a third strafing run one of them explodes.
The other three scatter taking evasive
maneuvers. Alliance fighters come racing
in, some Jedy, some rebel soldiers. More
Tie Fighters enter the planet's atmosphere.
The Alliance ships disband and go after the
Tie Fighters. Many of the Native warriors
come back, newly invigorated, they begin
attacking ground troops. More Imperial ships
enter the space around Corellia. Alliance ships,
large and small join the battle.

18. Followed

There are four Star Destroyers in the space
around Magus. They are trying to widen a
space in the red haze by continuing to pound
it with laser cannons. A small group of Tie
Fighters and Sith Fighter ships leave the one
of the Star Destroyers but they don't see the
Solari come up through the hole, it fires on the
small fighter ships. Before long the Solari
destroys the Tie Fighters, the Sith are another
story. The empty Solari is more agile than the
Sith ships. They fly around firing on the Solari
but either it evades the shots or its advanced
shields keep the laser bolts from hitting the
fuselage. It whips around, and fires on the Sith.
They evade it for awhile but they tire.

The Solari has them, it fires on one destroying
it. It seems to know just where to hit them,
disabling their shields and then destroying
them. One Sith ship down. It swings around
and fires again. Two Sith ships down. It
disappears behind a Star Destroyer. The
gunners on the Star Destroyer have lost
it as well. Radar specialists track it behind
a Star Destroyer but can't fire on their own
ships. The last two Sith try to trap it when
it comes around the underside of the Star
Destroyer. They track the Solari to the
underside of the Star Destroyers. The Sith
wait for it. In the mean time, it disappears
from the radar. They wonder what happened
to it. Actually it blew open the bay doors of
the Imperial Ship and entered her. The
radar experts watch their screens. The
Solari re-appears after a few moments.
They inform the Sith ships and direct their
attacks. What no one knows is that while
inside one of the Star Destroyers, it took
out some of the main reactors and ditched.
The Star Destroyer explodes taking out the
two Sith in its fiery wake. Before anyone can
find it again, it blows open the bay doors on
another Star Destroyer. Inside, Imperial solders
and Imperial Droids fire on it. Its shields are
impervious to small arms fire. It turns and
fires on the solders and Imperial Droids
killing them instantly. Its gunfire like the
guns on the ship that Boba Fett flew in one
of the last movies. More gun fire from behind
it. It turns and fires taking out another
position. It immediately takes off blowing
through bulkheads until it reaches important
parts of the ship. It fires causing havoc in the
reactor section. It blows its way out of the
bottom of the Star Destroyer. It gets far
enough away that when the second Star
Destroyer explodes, no harm comes to it.
The third and fourth Star Destroyers have
taken up positions where they can fire on
the small ship. The Solari can't decide which
one to fight first. The Star Destroyers begin
firing on it. It targets weapons on each
Imperial ship, switching back and forth but
quickly, taking out some of the weapons
one at a time. Then it turns and fires on
the other taking out gunner positions. The
other Star Destroyer gets organized and
fires on it again.

On the surface of the planet, the
Magusian's have gotten together and
activated one of their huge weapons.
They fire one burst through the opening
in the haze. The huge laser bolt hits the
underside of one of the two Star Destroyers.
The Star Destroyer splits, then explodes.
The Solari turns and fires on the last Star
Destroyer. It takes out several of its weapons
but the Star Destroyer endures and
eventually prevails. It destroys the Solari.
But just as the Imperialists think they're
safe, the huge Magusian ship comes in.
The officials on the Star Destroyer see it
coming, it's as if a planet were descending
on them. It rams the Star Destroyer wrecking
it like a side-swiped car. The Imperial ship
crumples and explodes leaving only a small
black spot on the giant ship. The militia on
the surface don their other ships most of
which are prototypes. They're not armed
but they will be by the time they get to
Corellia. Frax rallies all of them to him and
they head off.

On Corellia Ian and Exit are able to enter
one of the facilities. It's pandemonium so
no one really notices the two rebels making
their way through the inside labyrinth of
buildings and corridors. Ian knows exactly
where the Shuttles are but they are quite
a distance from their current position. Ian
tells Exit that he's trying to think of a way
for them to get to the Shuttle manufacturing
facility faster. There are turbo lifts but they
will be monitored so Ian won't be able to
use them and accessing one would surely
give them away. Outside most of the
Imperial ground troops have been killed
or have moved inside protected by the
facility gunners. The small natives have
to retreat back into the masses of junk
in order to hide and regroup. Several of
the Sith ships have landed, taken to foot
pursuit and mean to go after the natives.
This gets noticed by the Rebels and several
Rebel forces and Jedy land to counter the
Sith intrusion. Before long, Imperial soldiers
and Imperial Droids from the ships in space
are on the ground also.

It's all out war between the Rebels and the
Empire. Some of the facilities on Corellia
get damaged, some even destroyed. Imperial
ground attack vehicles are sent in and
dropped off to join the battle. Ian and Exit
find an abandoned inter-facility transport
but it's broken down for some reason. Ian
tries to fix it but that's when Imperial officials
catch them. One of the officials notices Ian
from the day they met him in his apartment
where he escaped. There are about twenty
of them with weapons pointed at Ian and
Exit. Ian and Exit have to desist and raise
their hands.

The official walks up to Ian. "I remember you.
We met at your apartment one day. You
escaped into the ventilation system as I
remember."

Ian, still holding his hands in the air, squints
trying to remember the man.

"You don't remember me do you?" The officer
asks Ian.

Ian is still looking at him but is having trouble
remembering not to mention the fact that
being at gun point doesn't help his nerves any.

"I'm Commander Leo Mantisa, remember,
I'm the one who originated the plans for the
space station."

"Oh, yes, I remember you now." Ian says
nervously.

"I saw some of the blueprints that you made up
for the space station, they were… quite interesting."
Says the commander.

"Oh, thank you… I think." Says Ian.

"Dr. why did you run, we had not threatened
you in any way?" He orders one of the other
officers with him to call Darth Sidiously and
let him know the Dr. has been captured while
he waits for Ian to answer. The man gets on
a comm.. and calls.

"I… I had other plans." Says Ian not knowing
what else to say.

The commander looks at Exit. "Was she one
of them?"

Ian sees that the commander is looking at Exit.
"I… well… she…"

The commander, with a blaster pointed at her,
shoots her. She drops to the floor having been
damaged. Ian breaks down and tries to go to
her.

"Dr. Bartholomew," She says in a broken voice
as he holds her head in his arms crying, "You
can make another one of me. Don't worry, I
don't feel anything."

Ian looks up at the man, he looks down at Exit
then up at the man again. His face grimaces and
he aggresses the commander. Another one of the
officers with the commander knocks Ian out with
the butt of his blaster. Ian is out cold.

"I hope you didn't kill him." Says the commander
in a calm voice.

"He'll be ok." Says the other officer.

"Take them, throw her in one of the incinerators,
lock him up somewhere. I don't care where. When
Darth Sidiously gets here, we'll cut him loose to
the head man."

The other officers pick up Ian and Exit. The ones
with Ian go one way, the others pick her up,
one on each limb. They are going to take Exit
to a nearby incinerator but she's heavy and
they struggle to move her.

Darth Sidiously has received the message
but there are other Sith where he is. He's
busy observing and coordinating the battle
and sends the other two Sith to get Ian.

Yodi is near the situation in his own ship. He
is with Senator Organa, they're together
with other Rebel officers planning what
they are going to do once they reach
Corellia. They are in the lead ship of a
Rebel Armada, speeding on their way to
join the battle on Corellia.

Darth Athala, Darth Obdris are the two
Sith that Darth Sidiously has sent to get
Ian. On their way they're met by the Jedy
master, Kiber Storm.

From a covert position we spy the four
Imperial officers carrying Exit. The officers
take her into one of the manufacturing
facilities which is in full use constructing
something for a ship but because of the
mayhem around them, are beginning to
cease operations. All the machines are
working and all the Corellian workers are
manning them but are, one at a time
beginning to shut them down and the
workers, concerned for their own lives,
begin to look around wondering what to
do. The room is still active and loud. The
men carrying Exit stop, one of the
Imperial officers sets his part of her
down and asks over all the noise, where
the nearest incinerator is. The Corellian
worker says something but the noise
drowns him out but he points. The officer
|acknowledges him, picks up his part of
Exit and they continue to drag her toward
the incinerator. The spy is watching the
whole thing although no one around him
seems to be paying any attention to him.
Probably because he's using his Jedy powers
to distract their attention. The Imperial
officers enlist the help of some of the
workers to assist them in hauling Exit
up some metal stairs to an incinerator.
They finally reach it, one of the workers
opens the door. Furious fire heats the area
around the opening causing all of them to
wince from the hot air. One of the Imperial
officers instructs the rest of them, over the
noise, to throw her in. One of the workers
protests, he can see that she's still active.
They argue a little, finally the leading officer
picks her up, the other Imperial officers jump
in to assist. They are about to toss her in
when the Jedy spy jumps out, Light Saber
ignited. It's Dodge. Over the noise which
dies down now that he's in the room and
not controlling people's minds. The rest
workers shut down their machines to see
what's going on.

"I know her." He says.

One of the officers drops her and tries to go
for his blaster. Dodge may be old but he's
just as fast as ever, he cuts the four officers
down with a few swipes of his weapon. He
cradles Exits head in his arms. "Young w
oman, where is Dr. Bartholomew?"

In a broken voice, "They've… taken him…
I… I don't… know… where."

Dodge scoops her up and heads out of the
plant. Some of the workers cheer and all
make way for him.

Kiber and the two Sith are in battle with
Light Sabers. Kiber is holding his own but
the two Sith are seasoned warriors. Kiber
is a no nonsense kind of guy, he takes
everything seriously. His skill with the
Light Saber is unprecedented. The two
Sith are good even as individuals but
they have their hands full with Kiber. If
one of them gets cut down, Kiber will
end the other. Some of the Imperial
soldiers and officers in the area see
what's going on and begin to move
in the direction of the Sith/Jedy
battle hoping to turn things in favor
of the Sith. Several of them begin to
point their blasters hoping to get a shot
off. They close in on the battle, one fires
but misses. Kiber is aware of the other
imperial presents but doesn't dare take
his focus off of the two Sith. He battles
on, another one of the imperial soldiers
fires. Kiber is able to refocus his attention
for a split second to deflect the blaster shot
away. More fire, Kiber has to hide behind
something in order to avoid the shots
and the Sith. The two Sith move quickly
after him. The Imperial soldiers move
closer, more firing as they close in. Dodge
comes out of nowhere. He begins to cuts
down the Imperial troops allowing Kiber to
get back into the fight.

Outside, some of the Rebels are warring
with imperial ground troops. As if
something invisible has come in to
help, the Imperial soldiers begin to fall.
Imperial Droids stop firing and look
around wondering what's happening.
Before long, more begin to fall, blood
comes from the wounds of the fallen.
Rebel soldiers take advantage of the
confusion and come out from behind
protective cover to take clean shots
at the other Imperial's.

Kiber sees what's happening and tries
to one up the two Sith. They haven't
let what's happening behind them
distract their attention. Kiber has all
he can do to fend off the two Dark
Side rejects. Dodge is now being fired
upon by some of the Imperial's around
but gets his bearings enough to begin
deflecting some of the blaster shots
back at the ones who fired them
cutting them down.

Outside, Imperial ground vehicles begin
to assist the ground troops in fighting
off some of the enemy. The natives
are good and quick but can't do
anything against the armored
vehicles which are well armed.

In the air the battle goes on as well,
some Tie fighters chasing and firing
on Rebel ships and some Rebel ships
chasing and firing on Tie Fighters. A
Rebel ship flies by with two Tie Fighters
in tow. He's trying to out-fly them but
they keep on him. He mistakenly clips
one of the elevator towers extending
into a space building facility. The tower
is destroyed where the ship hit it.
Clipping the tower spins the Rebel Ship
around, sending him crashing into
another elevator tower under construction.
The tower under construction collapses
and the Rebel ship bursts into a fire ball
and plummets to the ground. The two Tie
Fighters look for another battle to join.
The Tie fighters outnumber the rebel
ships three to one. The Rebel ships are
slowly losing ground.

In space, Rebel Alliance ships, large and
small begin to drop out of light speed
firing as they come. More of the Rebel
fighters come out of bays on the larger
ships, some join the fight in space, others
head toward the planet surface.

Dodge has cut down most of the Imperial's
allowing Kiber to focus all his attention on
the two Sith. Dodge jumps in and pulls
one of the Sith out of the battle with
Kiber. Now the Sith fighting Kiber
realizes he's in trouble. Dodge battles
his Sith, the two Light Sabers
humming and crackling as they whisk
through the air and connect. Dodge
drives his opponent back. He's older
and tired and doesn't have the
patients to drag the fight out. He
and the Sith clash Sabers but when
Dodge sees an opportunity, he runs
his opponent through. The Sith stands
looking at him with pain and defeat in
his eyes just before he falls dead. More
Imperial's come in and Dodge must deflect
more blaster shots. Kiber, driving his Sith
back, finally cuts off one arm, then the
other, then his head. What's left of the
Sith body drops to the floor lifeless and
dead, the head rolling away. Dodge and
Kiber can now focus on the Imperial's but
they run off knowing that they can't
possibly win against the two Jedy. Kiber
scoops Exit off the floor and asks Dodge
where he's headed. Dodge leads the way.

Now, in the air above the planet, increased
Rebel fighters keep the Tie Fighters busy
while others begin firing on the heavy armor
protected ground vehicles. Some of the ground
vehicles begin firing on the Rebel ships but can't
hit anything in the air with accuracy. In space
large Rebel ships combat Imperial Star
Destroyers. Again, the Star Destroyer shields
holding up much better than the rebel ones.
Smaller rebel ships and Tie fighters face off
against one another, the Tie fighters seem
to be fairing the worst though agile in space
none-the-less and difficult to hit.

Dodge, at the instruction of a damaged
Exit, finally brings the three to where
they were holding Ian. A short scuffle
with Corellian and Imperial guards ensues.
But Dodge and Kiber prevail without so
much as a stray shot in their direction.
Ian is ok and thrilled to see that Dodge
has returned for them. Ian is behind a
ray shield. He instructs Dodge on how
to deactivate the ray shield holding Ian
in. Kiber introduces Dodge to Ian.

"We've met." Ian says as they start to run
off.

Ian picks up the blaster from one of the
dead guards and they're off and running
again. They start for an access to the
outside but Ian stops them. He came
for an Imperial shuttle and with his
new help, he would get one. Along the
way, the four are met with some
resistance but most of the battle was
going on outside or in space. Ian was
right in there shooting with the other
two becoming quite the soldier. There
were some of the Corellian workers
running around, most looking for cover
hoping to avoid the situation outside.
Kiber and Dodge have to stop a couple
of times and rescue some of the workers
from Imperial soldiers holding them at
gunpoint as to continue their work once
the Empire had won the battle. The four
come upon a manufacturing staging area
and all in- doors. Ships as far as the eye could
see sitting and waiting for the Empire or Rebels
to purchase them. They jump in a small
transport and begin looking for the infamous
Shuttles. Kiber drives, Exit lays across one of
the seats. Ian is looking at her with some
concern on his face. Dodge notices but tells
Ian she'll be ok until they can get into a ship
and away from the fighting. Ian explains that
she will need parts. Along the way they find
a droid parts station and stop. They hear the
fighting going on outside. Suddenly a huge
explosion blows open one of the walls near
the parts station. The battle comes inside and
it's bad. Several Imperial ground vehicles come
in with warring ground troops from both sides
as well. The battle is fierce. One of the ground
vehicles comes toward the parts station.
Weapons are armed and pointed. Ian, Kiber
and Dodge stop what they're doing, drop their
weapons, Light Sabers and all, and put up their
hands. A hatch opens on the vehicle and a set
of steps comes out with a machine noise. Count
Dooku comes out followed by several Imperial
Droids. Dodge thinks they're safe for the moment
but it isn't long before Count Dooku makes it
clear that he is no longer with the good guys.

"Dodge, it has been a long time." Says Count
Dooku.

"Count, good to see another Jedy here." Says
Dodge suspiciously.

"I'm sorry old friend but my allegiance is now
with the Empire." Says Dooku.

"I wondered when you didn't tell your minions
to lower their weapons." Says Dodge.

"Dooku, we wondered what happened to you."
Says Kiber.

"Kiber Storm, Yodi holds you in high regard. You
are most likely set to be summoned to the Jedy
council. Unfortunately, I'm afraid you will be
dead before that happens." Says Dooku.

"That why you became a trader Dooku?" Kiber
asks.

"Trader… no my friend, not a trader, I was always
with the Empire." Says Dooku.

"So, are you an Ex-Jedy or a Sith?" Dodge asks.

"Let me put it to you this way, my real name
is Lord Tyrannous." Says Dooku.

"That explains a lot." Says Dodge.

"It does?" Asks Kiber as he looks at Dodge
funny.

"I would like to keep this conversation going
but we really do need to get moving. The
battle is still going on around us and we
need to move out of its way. Darth
Sidiously will be glad to know that I
have you and will want to know soon."
Says Dooku.

He makes an ushering gesture with his
hand. "Please… all of you, get on board.
Leave the droid girl, we won't be needing
her."

Ian gets mad. Count Dooku senses their
relationship and knows that he'll piss Ian
off if they leave her behind and that's all
he wants to do, is mess with Ian, diverting
their attention.

The battle does rage on around them.
The Imperial Droids begin to usher the
three at rifle point onto the vehicle. A
group of Corellian soldiers and a Corellian
leader begin to fire on the Imperial Droids
ushering our hero's in. They cut down the
Imperial Droids, Dooku dashes back into
the armored vehicle when he sees Kiber
and Dodge grab their Light Sabers. Dooku
gets away. The vehicle begins firing and
moves out of the building. Ian picks up his
rifle.

The new group, Carth Dettun and fellow
Corellian soldiers showed up just in time. Ian
recognizes him and doesn't trust him but
plays along just in case.

"Carth." Says Ian.

"Dr. Bartholomew, we thought we'd lost
you." Says Carth. "Are you ok?"

Ian looks over Carth's shoulder. "Well I'll-be."

Dodge turns around to see what Ian is
looking at. Behind them, lines of just built
Shuttles.

"One of those?" Dodge asks.

"That's what I'm looking for." Says Ian.

"Perfect," Says Carth, "you designed
those Dr. It's only right that you should
have one."

Ian looks at him like, "I'd have taken one anyway."

All the doors are open, and the ramps extended
in front. Ian picks up Exit, shoulders his bag of
parts and they all run on board including
Carth and his Corellian henchmen.

Outside the battle is raging. The Shuttle is
piloted out of the hole made by the explosion
and begins to head off to space. They
immediately send a signal to the Rebels
that there are friendly's on board. The Empire,
of course, doesn't get the signal. "We're all
on big happy family." Ian thinks as he locks
on several of the Imperial ground vehicles
and fires. The Imperial ground vehicles all get
several huge laser pulses blowing them into
little pieces. By the time some of the Tie
Fighters catch on, Ian has locked on to
several of them, he fires, destroying them
and giving the Rebel forces a much needed
break in the action. The Shuttle heads to
outer space. Once in space Ian sees that
the Alliance also needs help. Dodge and
Kiber both run to the helm urging Ian to
engage the Imperial Tie Fighters. Ian gets
a lock on several of them and fires turning
them into fire balls that disintegrate as
they move.

Unfortunately, the larger Star Destroyers
also get a whiff of what's happening and
fire on the shuttle. The shuttle has superior
shields but can't hold up too long against
major pounding of the weapons on the Star
Destroyers. Ian tries to steer the Shuttle
clear of the Star destroyers but there are
too many of them. No matter where he
goes, the Shuttle gets pounded. Kiber tells
Ian that their shields are losing strength.
Ian is able to fire a few shots at the Star
Destroyers, he completely obliterates any
Tie Fighters that he fires at but the Star
Destroyers are still having an effect. Ian
asks Kiber to take over. Ian goes and sits
next to Carth and his soldiers as if taking
a break from the action.

"Man am I glad you came along." Says Ian
as he begins to work on repairing Exit.

Explosions rattle the Shuttle. "Dr.
Bartholomew, we can't lose you. You're
too important to Corellia. To be honest, I
was afraid that we'd lose too much capital
without you there. No offence." Says Carth.

Ian looks up smiling while he continues to
work on Exit. "None taken. I'm glad I'm so
valuable."

Carth nods at one of his soldiers. The soldier
unbuckles himself, picks up his rifle and fires
at the counsel in front of Kiber, then fires at
Kiber knocking him down. Dodge pulls his
Light Saber and deflects shots at him. He
dives in front of Ian and deflects more shots
at Ian. Ian sees Carth going for his blaster,
grabs the end of Carth's rifle and points it
away from everyone. The Shuttle is down
and adrift in space. Carth tries to wrestle
the rifle away from Ian but Ian is too
strong. Ian stands up, still holding the end
of the rifle, he hauls Carth off the ground.
Carth lets go of the rifle but before he can
do anything else, Ian throws a smashing
right hook into Carth's face knocking him
almost clean out. Dodge mops up the other
soldiers and for the time being they are safe
again. But now they have no shields or
weapons and are adrift in space. Ian runs to
the helm window. Dodge checks Kiber to see
if he's ok. Kiber is barely alive. Ian sees that
a Star Destroyer is right in front of them and
closing.

"Oh shit." Says Ian.

Dodge looks up. He sees the Star Destroyer
bearing down on them. "We're dead."

"We…" Ian is about to say something when
he sees something else out the front window
of the Shuttle. The gigantic Magusian ship that
was in orbit around Magus is coming at the Star
Destroyer. It side swipes the Star Destroyer
causing it to explode. More of the Magusian
prototype ships come in firing. Huge weapons
fire from the Copious (The gigantic Magusian
ship). The weapons are so powerful that they
destroy the Star Destroyers with one blast. The
Copious has dared to leave the security of the
Magus home world to help Ian and exact revenge
for his father's death.

The Empire is losing its but with the Rebels
bearing down on one side and the Magusian's
on the other. They have to turn tail and run.

Inside the Shuttle, Exit is coming around. She
still needs repairs but Ian has fixed her enough
to where she can at least move some and
talk again. Kiber is badly injured. They dock
with one of the large Rebel ships. Kiber is
rushed to a medical frigate but the doctors
assure everyone that he'll be ok. Yodi comes
down with senator Organa and several Jedy
in tow. Dodge looks up and sees Yodi.

The battle for Corellia is won by the good
guys. All the ships on the good side of the
battle land on platforms around Coruscant.
Cut back to the medical frigate.

."Yodi!" Dodge yells.

The two embrace.

"A long time, it has been master Dodge." Says
Yodi.

"Master Dodge, now that's a name I've not
heard in a long time." Says Dodge.

Yodi introduces the Senator to Dodge. Dodge
introduces Ian to Yodi. Yodi looks at Ian.

"Looking for you, we have been." Says Yodi.

"And… who are you?" Asks Ian

Dodge jumps in… "I'm sorry Ian, this is Master
Yodi, he's the head of the Jedy council. He
trained all of us."

"Trained you, but… you are…" Ian cuts off his
own words for Dodge to finish. Yodi looks
down in humility.

"…Eighty-six." Says Dodge, "Yodi is over
Eight-hundred years old."

"Eight-hun…" Ian cuts off.

"That's not that old." Frax cuts in.

"Frax!" Ian runs over and hugs him.
Frax hugs Ian back.

Frax walks up and joins the conversation.

"Who is this?" Yodi asks.

"Yes, who is this?" Dodge asks also.

"This is Frax, he's the one who led the
charge of the prototype ships. The
ones that came in…" Ian gets cut off.

"…And the day, saved you." Yodi finishes.

They all laugh.

19. History of a living ship

That night, in a large decorated room on
Coruscant, a huge bash is put on in
celebration of the just won war. Much
fanfare happens and they reward all
those involved in the victory against
the Empire.

The question that vexes them now is,
where did the Solari come from? Ian
asks several of the Corellian leaders
about it. None of them seems to know.

Dodge comes up to Ian. "I hear you're
asking about Solari?"

Ian is surprised that Dodge has any
knowledge of it at all. Dodge continues…

"It's origin is on the planet of Malachor V."

Ian has heard of it. Dodge explains, "Malachor
V is actually an unapproachable planet. If
anyone gets too close, the electronic field
around it, reaches out and destroys them.
It doesn't seem to have any known failings.
No matter what comes near it, it destroys."

"So what does that have to do with Solari?" Ian
asks.

"About every hundred years or so, it seems to…
give birth, allowing these ships to leave the
atmosphere. It only allows about twelve of
them to leave at any time. This is all
scientifically theorized of course."

"Of course." Say Ian.

Now others have gathered around listening
in, including Exit. They want to know what
Ian is so interested in. When Ian Listens,
people talk.

"The ships are seemingly… alive. They have
an uncanny ability to fight and determine who
it needs to help in a time of great need. I believe
that the Force is responsible for it. No one can get
close enough to the planet to make a better
assessment of the situation. I believe this planet
may be where the Force originated. If you look
at the history records from around the galaxy,
many of the great wars where won based on
the existence of these ships. The ships are only
eluded to, not given names or a description of
its appearance so there is no proof that it was
like Solari or from that planet. A figure from
history supposedly saw the planet giving birth
to these ships. But no one really knows the
truth and no one in this generation has seen
this happen. I have noticed one thing about
the ships, they live for a long time, they're not
indestructible, and I've seen Solari in action. I
was a child when I saw it. I had been in training
with Yodi at the time. I was beginning to receive
training in the ways of the Force. I touched the
ship. Although most seem to think that I was
too young to notice, I believe I felt the Force
emanating from it."

"Wow." Says Ian. "How do I get one of these,
is there more?"

"I don't know, I have not seen another in my
life time. But I think, if you need one, it will know
and it will find you." Says Dodge.

"Does anyone know about its make-up, how it
works, what powers it?" Asks Ian.

"Not that I'm aware of. And all this is based on
things I've read or heard."

Frax adds in. "It was destroyed while defending
our planet."

"It probably knew your planet needed help. The
fact that it was destroyed seems to indicate
that it was at the end of its life. They don't
last forever. Like any living being, it too
must die." Says Dodge. "They are not
infallible but they can usually endure
quite a bit. I find it surprising that it
was so easily destroyed. How did the
battle end?"

"We were able to bring one of our
larger weapons systems online. We
fired it through a hole in the haze that
protects our planet. We managed to hit
one of the Imperial ships destroying it.
The Solari took out most of them. We
have a gigantic ship…"

Dodge cuts Frax off, "…I saw it, where is it
from?"

"That… my friend is something I cannot
talk about."

"Then don't. Some things are better kept a
secret." Says Dodge.

"That is true." Says Ian

Several days later back on Corellia, Ian is
installed in place of the recently deceased
Carth as the supreme leader. Over the next
couple of months, Ian puts Corellia back in
shape. Manufacturing goes on but Corellia
is for the moment, in better shape than it
ever has been. A lot of the junk that was
rusting around the facilities is being removed
and recycled. Headquarters is getting a face lift,
new elevator towers are being built to the
facilities in space and where the junk was, is
now a new part of the facilities that it surrounded.

The natives have things a lot better and a team
has been formed to indoctrinate them into the
Corellian way of life. Nethers are getting better
treatment and better housing and the Nether
program is being revamped.

A huge meeting of the Corellian officials is
taking place. The meeting hall is adorned
with decorations of Celebration. All of the
Corellian officials, Dodge, Kiber, Yodi, Senator
Organis, Frax, Several other Magusian officials
and officials from the Rebellion are in
attendance. But where is Ian and Exit?

We cut to a little bar called SWEETS on the
planet of Tatoinne. The locals imbibe, Exit
serves tables and Ian tends bar. And in the
back of the bar, behind a heavy metal door,
a large cavernous room sits, barely lit,
housing the Shuttle and several other
experimental ships, most of which are
in the process of being built.

The camera backs up and begins to move
upward showing only the front of Sweets.

Just before that, the Star Wars Theme begins
in the background.

In space the Resistance is met by more Imperial
Star Destroyers and has to make a run for it. Yodi
is not pleased.

"A way there must be, defeat the Empire we must."
Says Yodi to Bail and other officials around him.

The End