The Dark Ring

by Dave

The Empire uses brains and brawn to threaten the New Republic’s stability.

1. Part 1

The Dark Ring

by David Pontier

dpontier@hotmail.com

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Pellaeon stared at him. "Are you suggesting we clone him?"

"Why not?" Thrawn asked. "Not at Mount Tantiss itself, certainly, given the conditions there. Most likely not at the speed which that facility allows, either - that's all well and good for techs and TIE fighter pilots, but not a project of this delicacy. No, I envision bringing such a clone to childhood and then allowing it to grow to maturity at a normal pace for its last ten or fifteen years. Under suitable upbringing conditions, of course."

"I see," Pellaeon said. "Where would you set up this other cloning facility?"

"Somewhere absolutely secure," Thrawn said. "Possibly on one of the worlds in the Unknown Regions where I once served the Emperor. You'll instruct Intelligence to begin searching for a suitable location after we've crushed the Rebels at Bilbringi."

--Timothy Zahn, "The Last Command"

Chapter 1 "Dawn"

Captain Tallon walked down the spotless, white-walled corridor. His military-style boots made a loud, echoing clomp as he moved his muscular frame toward the end of the long hallway. The hallway was empty. There were very few people who knew about this hallway - two to be exact.

In fact there were not too many people who knew of this planet. Located deep in the core systems, Hastrin was a medium size planet covered with blue oceans and rolling plains. Several rich forests dotted the landscape, and mountains rose majestically from the surface. Tallon was in one of the mountains now.

As Tallon reached the end of the hallway he smiled broadly. He had been waiting for this moment for a long time. He stood straight and tall as he faced the door at the end of the hall. His voice was full of pride as he spoke his name and rank into the speaker. As the computer confirmed his voice pattern he didn't even notice the two blast cannons mounted on the wall, waiting to vaporize anyone who the computer didn't recognize. After a confirmation beep from the lock system, he bent down and allowed his retina to be scanned. Patiently he waited for the second confirmation beep. When it came, a small panel opened underneath the retina scanner, revealing a crosshatched screen. Tallon placed his hand on the screen and watched as a scanning laser went back and forth, up and down, and finally beeped in confirmation.

The door slid open and revealed a second transparent door. Tallon waited as the two red-dressed royal Imperial guards confirmed his identity. Tallon could hear the laser cannons power down as one of the guards pressed an unseen button, opening the last door. The sterile air inside the room was comforting in comparison to the stuffy air of the hallway. Tallon inhaled deeply as he stepped into the room. The guards parted and resumed their posts, one at either side of the door. The two doors slide closed behind Tallon, and he walked into the middle of the room.

The room, like the entire underground secret section, was totally immaculate. The walls were of such a clean white and the room so softly lit that the angles between the walls and the three-meter ceilings were hard to discern. The computer consoles that covered two of the walls in the five-sided room were so spotless that they made someone hesitant to use them. The man using the computers now, however, was not in the least way hesitant. His fingers were alive with action as he moved from screen to screen, checking and double-checking readouts and figures. The only imperfections in the room were tiny scratches in the floor from the computer operator's chair as he rolled from console to console. Tallon frowned at these scratches. Who ever was responsible for choosing this chair would pay for their lack of concern to small details. The ones who ignored the small details were usually responsible for the little problems. And everyone knew that it's the little problems that cause the big problems. When Tallon was a young officer he saw that his superiors would always try to solve the big problems by attacking the people associated with the problem instead of tracking it down to the source. The person responsible for a faulty engine was rarely the engineer who built it. It was more likely that the janitor who was in charge of cleaning the engine room played a bigger part in the faulty engine than anyone else. Now that Tallon was the superior officer, he always made sure that the big problems were solved before they happened.

Tallon walked over to the room's other occupant, who had stopped his frantic motions and had settled behind one of the main screens. A smaller, weaker man might be intimidated by the cleanliness and quietness of the room and therefore make his steps as quiet as possible as to not disturb the perfection of the room. Tallon was not such a man. Although he was obsessed with cleanliness and perfection, he didn't let it impose on his style. He was proud of his almost two-meter tall frame; he was proud of his rank; and he wasn't going to let that pride ever be over shadowed by anything else. The other man heard Tallon's boots clomping in the room and turned to face him, as if to recognize his presence for the first time. "How are events progressing, doctor?"

The doctor didn't hesitate in his response. "Things are going smoothly. We should be ready to start the revival process in a few moments." Tallon nodded in confirmation and approval. The doctor exhaled the breath that he wasn't even aware he had been holding and returned his gaze to the screen he was working at. Things were not going smoothly, and he had to work like crazy to be ready in a few minutes. But if the doctor had learned one thing, it was that Tallon enjoyed good news and was enraged by bad news. Although Tallon rarely killed anyone for failure, punishment was still not preferred. Tallon held the idea that if a man made a mistake, killing him wouldn't solve the mistake and would teach the man nothing. Often the only person that understood what went wrong was the person who was responsible for the problem. Since he was the only person who knew what went wrong, he would be the best person to be put in charge to make sure it never happened again. Killing him would only encourage the same mistake from others. The doctor didn't intend on making any mistakes.

Tallon watched as the doctor read the confusing computer read-outs. Tallon was getting impatient. He chided himself inwardly for his poor behavior. It was tough to remain calm, however. He had been waiting for this moment for several years now, and he felt a little perturbed that he still had to wait some more; as if the event would never come, and he would only get closer and closer.

Tallon thought back to when he had been assigned this post. He had been young and only a lieutenant. Admiral Pellaeon had approached him and had given him orders.

* * *

"Lieutenant Tallon," Pellaeon said.

"Yes sir," Tallon responded.

"I've looked over your file and your service to the Empire has been admirable."

"Thank-you, sir."

"These next few years will be hard for the Empire. The Rebellion has grown in strength, and the remnants of the Empire are scattered, yet strong. We need to become unified and keep that strength to make sure the Empire has a future. You will play a big part in that future."

Tallon was taken aback slightly but tried not to let it show. He knew he was due for a promotion, and he didn't want to show the unprofessional excitement that he saw in other young officers. Pellaeon was carrying a small briefcase. He handed it to Tallon. "In here are instructions for your next assignment." Tallon took the briefcase. "You are hereby promoted to Captain. Congratulations."

* * *

Tallon smiled to himself as he looked at the doctor. It had been hard for him to control his excitement then. He had been promoted well past the lieutenant commander he thought he was going to get. The post was out in the distant core worlds. Tallon was the highest-ranking officer for many light-years in every direction. The briefcase had contained coordinates to his new post, information about this secret Empire outpost, and there was a flask that contained a thick, darkish-purple fluid. The instructions had been very clear: maintain the Imperial base until you receive further instructions. He had maintained the base to the best of his ability, which was to say that the base and all of its facilities were more efficient than they had ever been before.

"We are ready," the doctor stood from his chair and walked over to a wall that was covered with wires and pipes. He pressed a few buttons, pulled a few levers, and a small hole opened in the floor. A tall glass cylinder rose up through the hole. Gasses hissed and motors hummed as the cylinder came to a stop. Tallon tried to pear through the glass to catch a glimpse of what he knew to be in there. The glass was fogged up by the gas and the only thing Tallon could see was a small row of electric lights that flashed on and off as they monitored the contents of the cylinder. After the doctor operated a few more controls, the door to the cylinder opened with a hiss of released oxygen. A small cloud enveloped the cylinder, but Tallon could sense movement from inside the tube.

A man emerged from the fog. He was medium height with a solid build. His skin was a slight bluish color that gave him an eerie, alien-like appearance. He was naked.

Tallon took a step forward and saluted. "Greetings, Grand Admiral Thrawn. I am Captain Tallon, and this is Dr. Kendel. I will try to bring you up to speed."

Thrawn returned the salute. His posture was perfect, showing no sign that he was uncomfortable with his present clotheless condition. Tallon, despite his immense physical stature, didn't think he would be able to be so professional in such a situation. "I will get you a uniform immediately."

"That won't be necessary yet. Simple clothes will be fine. I don't plan to steal command from you just yet. You have been in command for almost twenty-two years, and you can remain in command for a while till I become familiar with this outpost."

"Yes, sir."

"The good doctor has informed me as to our current situation while I was in the cloning cylinder, so only a short briefing on current events will be necessary. We achieve little standing here. Can we move to a room where I can become more aquatinted with the station?"

"Certainly. If you will follow me . . ." Tallon led the way back into the hallway, and the two walked side by side up the long corridor, Thrawn a head shorter. Tallon was still a little ill at ease with the Grand Admiral's condition, but tried not to show it. Whether or not Thrawn noticed it, he made no mention toward the topic.

Conversation was non-existent. Tallon was a man of action and words served him little purpose. He assumed Thrawn was the same way, and he didn't want to pursue anything except at the will of Thrawn. The hallway seemed shorter on the way back. When they reached the door at the opposite end of the hallway, Thrawn glanced back toward the lab. "Will the good doctor be attending our meeting?"

"He usually stays cooped up down there, sir. But if you wish, I shall call him up to the meeting room."

Thrawn shook his head, "Let him finish what he needs to. There are just a few things I wish to discuss with him."

After Tallon found clothes for Thrawn, the two of them proceeded to Tallon's private council room. "I understand that the New Republic has the upper hand now," Thrawn started the conversation. "Maybe it's time that Hastrin joined the New Republic."

Tallon was confused. "I don't think I understand you sir."

Thrawn explained.

* * *

Light of early dawn crept along the tree line, threatening to bathe the jungle floor in warm solar radiation. The sun moved higher in the sky as the small moon rotated on its axis. The fourth moon of the great gas giant Yavin eventually rotated far enough to allow the sun of the small system a better angle as to penetrate through the thick trees. Even with the sun shining directly into the top of the trees, it was able to find only a few cracks in the thick foliage where it could penetrate through to the forest floor.

As the line of light moved along the tops of the trees, it came across a large clearing where it could bathe an entire area in its life giving light. Little known to the sun, the life forms in that clearing were already filled with an incredible amount of life force. A force that an inanimate object like a star couldn't possibly understand. Yet at the same time, a life force that an immense ball of burning fuel couldn't help but give off.

"Let the Force flow through you. Allow the light to penetrate your bodies and fill you with strength. Don't see it as light, but view it as life."

The light had momentarily blinded Jaina. She had been ready for it because she knew how strong the sun could be on the jungle moon, especially in the morning, but she still couldn't help but squint as the radiation filled her brown eyes, shrinking her pupils to the size of pin holes. She listened to Master Skywalker and instead of closing her eyes, she opened them to the sun and tried to look past the light. As she did, her eyes seemed to absorb the light, sucking it in like a sponge. The glare disappeared and was replaced by a soft warm glow that slowly spread throughout her whole body. It wasn't the same kind of external warmth that she felt when she would occasionally sun bathe, but it was an internal warmth that made her feel full of life.

As the light of the sun gradually got softer and her eyes were able to view her surroundings clearly again, she saw her two brothers standing ten meters apart in the middle of the clearing with the rest of the students at the Jedi Academy surrounding them. Her twin brother Jacen turned his gaze from the sun and looked at the group of students around him. His eyes paused their sweeping gaze has he made eye contact with his sister. Jaina smiled at him; he smiled back. She could feel the same warmth in him that she was experiencing. The twins shared their inner warmth for a brief moment across the unique connection they possessed. They made each other stronger and more alive. The two of them had grown very strong over the past year as they had explored their unique skill of union. Their uncle and Jedi Master, Luke Skywalker, had told them that all Jedi have a degree of mental communication, some stronger than others. He had told them of the connection he shared with their mother. Luke was able to communicate with their mother, Leia, for a limited duration, depending on the distance separating them. But Luke had never before seen the kind of bond that the twins shared.

As the twins broke their gaze they noticed that other students were awakening from the sun meditation that Master Skywalker had put them through. Jaina saw her younger brother, Anakin, return his gaze to the rest of the group, and she smiled at him. She was unable to get a return smile from her emotionless brother. She frowned at him slightly, still getting no result. She had noticed the change in her brother over the last few months. He had been so curious and full of life before. Jaina loved to work with computers and machines, and Anakin had loved to watch, always giving annoying advice and constantly teasing her when she made mistakes. She usually had to force him to leave her quarters in order for her to get any work done. Usually though, when she finally got him out of her room, she would go ahead and follow her brother's advice with a one hundred percent success ratio.

Although she was very good with machines, she had had to work hard to become so. Anakin however, seemed to pick up complicated mechanical theory as naturally as a baby acquires the ability to walk or talk. But in the past few months he had stopped his curious and out-going attitude and had become much more reclusive and somber. She had tried to probe his mind for the reason of his emotional change, but Anakin was much stronger in the Force than she was, and he was able to block her attempts. Luke had simply told her to give him a while to get over what ever he was struggling with.

Whatever the case emotionally, Anakin didn't have any problems with the Force. He was doing extremely well and as a young student of the Academy, he was already one of the strongest members. His only rival for the top spot in the Academy was standing ten meters away from him. Jacen, unlike Jaina, spent very little time with machines, but preferred nature. He had collected many different kinds of extraordinary pets over his time at the Academy. He spent his time outside of class strolling the jungle and focusing on the life around him. It was in these walks that Jacen had found the power of the Force. He was in very good shape and was incredibly attuned to his body. One time Luke had ventured deep into the jungle, on his own accord, and found Jacen fighting with a tree thasteringe, a 1.75 meter tall bear-like creature that lived in only the densest of jungles. Luke started to rush in to help, but paused when he saw that Jacen was winning the fight. Luke instead took up a position to watch the fight. After a few moments Jacen was able to pin the thasteringe to the ground in an awkward position. The thasteringe struggled uselessly against Jacen and soon gave up. Jacen got up from the animal and helped it up. The two hugged and parted company. Luke was amazed. Jacen walked over to where his pack and belt were laying and paused, looking right at Luke's hiding spot. Luke, knowing he was discovered, stepped out from behind a tree, "You fought well, but I don't understand?"

Jacen, understanding his Master's confusion, clarified his actions. "Her name is Munthy. We fight about twice a week. I don't always win. It keeps me in shape, and she enjoys the company."

When Jaina had heard the story from her uncle, she could only laugh at her brother's playful attitude with the dangerous animal. She looked at her brothers now and swelled with pride for them. Master Skywalker was talking to the group of students but Jaina wasn't listening. She knew what he was saying anyway. He was introducing her brothers to the rest of the students. There were a few new students, but more than that, Jacen and Anakin were about to duel for the top spot in the class.

The lightsaber tournament had begun at the beginning of this week, and now only her two brothers remained undefeated. Jacen was expected to win and had had no problem advancing to the finals, beating Jaina in the semi-finals. No one knew how good Anakin really was because he always played to the level of his competition. He had barely beaten the first student he had played even though it was a student that had just started training with a lightsaber two weeks previous. Yet he was able to beat Lowbacca, the twin's wookiee friend and nephew to Chewbacca, who was heavily favored over Anakin because of his speed and strength.

Master Skywalker stopped talking to the students and turned his attention to the two combatants. He explained the rules to the brothers, and he told them to commence at their leisure.

They nodded toward their uncle and began to circle each other. Anakin unhooked his lightsaber from his belt but didn't ignite it. Jacen's remained on his belt. Both of the lightsabers were in reality Jacen's because Anakin had not yet built one even though he was old enough. Both of the lightsaber had filters screwed onto the top of them. The filters were an invention of Jaina. They filtered out the heat and hard light of the laser swords, reducing the lightsabers to simple focused flashlights. They would harmlessly pass through anything, but they were electrically charged so they would repel each other. Anakin ignited his lightsaber but didn't charge. Jacen finally unhooked his lightsaber from his belt and ignited it.

Anakin began to swing his weapon in graceful arcs though the air causing it to appear as a blue blur. Anakin increased the speed of the arcs and began to more intricately twirl his weapon around his body. Many of the students were entranced by the performance, but Jacen simply smiled at his brother's trick. It was meant to entrance him - to lull him into a state of unreadiness. It wouldn't work on someone of Jacen's skill, although many of the beginner students were already lulled into a comatose state. At the same time though Jacen was confused at this ploy by his brother. Not only should Anakin have realized that this trick would have no affect on Jacen, but he had never tried anything like this in any of his previous battles. This simple trick could have easily defeated at least three of his earlier opponents.

Anakin began walking toward his brother, and Jacen met him halfway. The twin blue blades clashed and slashed against each other. They stood stock-still while their arms were involved in blinding flashes of movement that seemed to exceed the speed of light. Suddenly they broke off and Jacen did a backflip away from his brother. They walked toward each other again. Jacen held his lightsaber in his left hand away from his body. His other arm was also held wide opening his body up to attack. A weaker student might have fallen into this trick, rushing into attack the apparently unprotected fighter, but Anakin didn't change his style, continuing his steady approach. Jacen took a sudden step forward with his left foot and brought his sword in with a sweeping attack from the outside. Anakin swung his weapon down across his body to block the quick attack. Just before the two blades collided. Jacen flipped his wrist, rotating his blade parallel to his body and away from Anakin. Anakin had expected to block the blow and his momentum put him slightly off-balanced to his right. Jacen tossed the lightsaber across his body to his empty right hand. His caught it as it swept in from the right. Anakin's left side was totally exposed to the attack, and he knew he had no chance of parrying the swing. In a desperate effort to dodge the weapon he leaped into the air off his right foot. Jacen adjusted his swing slightly, and his lightsaber passed through Anakin's right ankle. Anakin continued his jump and flipped back three meters, landing facing his brother.

"A leg hit. Two points for Jacen Solo. The score is two to zero, Jacen Solo is winning," said Em-Tedee, Lowbacca's translator droid and official scorekeeper.

Jacen looked at his brother and saw a pained expression cross his face. Jacen thought Anakin was upset at his failure to avoid the clever attack, but then he sensed something to his right. Without looking in that direction, Jacen broke the branch in half with the Force, one half passing in front of his head and the other behind.

"Illegal play. One warning issued to Anakin Solo. The next one will result in a point for Jacen Solo."

Jacen glanced at Master Skywalker for his reaction. As soon as he looked, he realized that it was a trick meant for him to glance at the Master. He quickly returned his gaze to his opponent. Anakin was only a half a meter away from him, and Jacen was barely able to parry his vicious attacks. The frenzied swinging of Anakin was very unorthodox, yet because of the speed of the attack and because Jacen was caught off guard, Jacen couldn't attack back. Forced to take up a defensive position, Jacen was able to parry each blow, but realized he needed to regroup in order to be able to attack back. He flipped back as he parried one particularly hard blow and landed a few meters away. As he landed he saw that his brother had leaped after him. Jacen somersaulted forward underneath his airborne brother. Anakin landed with his back to Jacen. Jacen swung his lightsaber in a lazy swing. Anakin, obviously expecting the attack, dropped to his back and swung over his head. Jacen's swing passed harmlessly over his descending brother, but Anakin's blade cut cleanly through both of Jacen's legs. Jacen leaped back in vain and cursed himself silently for his mistake. Anakin got up and smiled at him.

"Two leg hits. Four points for Anakin Solo. The score is four to two. Anakin Solo is winning."

The two walked together. Jacen was cautious, knowing that he was only one point away from defeat. He needed a three point body shot, but Anakin wasn't giving him any openings. They fought now in classical style. Both taking the offensive and defensive. Each of them was waiting for the other to make a strategic attack. Anakin was the first to try a move. He swung in from the left at shoulder height. Jacen made the textbook parry with his lightsaber vertically positioned at his shoulder. As the lightsabers collided, Anakin, instead of letting his blocked attack float along Jacen's lightsaber vertically, as the momentum of his attack would have carried it, rotated his wrist and let the impact of the blow deflect his blade downward. He let go with his left hand and spun his lightsaber in a complete vertical circle at the side of his body, attacking from above.

Jacen sensed something different when he saw the blade angle down after the parry. He positioned himself for a low parry, thinking that Anakin would use the low deflection for a leg shot. However, when Anakin's lightsaber rotated around to the top, Jacen saw how out of position he was. Jacen's dexterity saved him though, and at the last second he was able to parry the strike inward.

Anakin was now out of position. Jacen swung in a sideways swipe from the left. Anakin, with still only one hand on the weapon, tried a desperate backhand block. As the blades approached each other Jacen deactivated his lightsaber, and Anakin's blade flew through the empty space. The unexpected move caught Anakin totally by surprise, and the momentum of his backhand plus the weak grip on his weapon resulted in the lightsaber flying from his hand. Jacen continued his attack with his deactivated weapon, stopping his swing when the handle pointed directly at Anakin's chest. Anakin had both arms spread wide, and he looked down at the handle pointed toward his heart.

Anakin dropped his arms and looked up at his brother. "Yield?" Jacen asked. Anakin didn't say anything, but dropped his head in apparent defeat. Jacen turned from his brother and took a few steps away. Sensing motion behind him, Jacen whirled back to his brother. He saw a blue flash come streaking toward him from where Anakin's weapon had fallen. Still holding his deactivated weapon in his right hand, he caught the other one in his left. He ignited his right hand weapon, and both custom made blades shrank to two thirds of a meter in length. Before Em-Tedee could call another illegal play against Anakin, Jacen advanced toward his brother with both blades twirling about him like a Twi'lek dancer with a pair of ribbons. The blades cut and slashed through Anakin in a varied array of brilliant blue flashes. Anakin stood tall under the blinding show of swordsmanship without flinching. After five long seconds, Jacen flipped both blades into the air. Both deactivated and fell nicely onto Jacen's belt. The brothers stood there facing each other with expressionless faces.

Em-Tedee broke the silience, "Seventeen arm hits, twelve leg hits, and twenty-two body hits. One hundred twenty-four points for Jacen Solo. The score is one hundred twenty-six to four. Jacen Solo wins."

Both brothers burst out laughing. They hugged each other, and the group of students who had been dumbfounded and silent, burst into applause.

Chapter 2 "Rewarding Surprises"

Lando Calrissian shut off the communication intercom. He had just received clearance to land on Yavin IV. He put the controls of the Lady Luck on autopilot and let the craft guide itself in. He'd landed on Yavin IV before, and the procedure had been no walk in the park. First you had to approach the moon from the correct side. The immense gravity well caused by the gas giant Yavin, played havoc with a ship's navigational equipment if you tried to enter the atmosphere planet-side. Since you were restricted on what side of the planet you could enter, you would frequently enter on the wrong side of the moon and had to circle around to the side containing the Academy. That wasn't the biggest problem because after a little research into the moons orbiting pattern, it was easy to time your arrival so you could avoid a planet-side landing. The biggest hassle was trying to land a large ship in a heavily forested area with active airborne wildlife to throw all of your proximity sensors off. Also there wasn't very many landing spots on the forest moon. It wasn't a tourist attraction, and nobody stayed long.

Lando put all of that behind him as he kicked up his feet on the edge of his control panel. This landing would be a lot easier. Lobot, Lando's long-time friend, turned and tried to reason out Lando's actions. He was aware of the treacherous landing procedures involved with visits to Yavin IV, and Lando's actions confused him. "You seem a little relaxed before a tricky landing."

"This landing is going to be the smoothest thing you've ever experienced, buddy. So you can just sit back and relax."

Lobot was unconvinced. All of the data he had gathered about this moon said that it wasn't safe to try to land on autopilot. "I'm confused."

Lando swung his feet down from their elevated position and turned to face his companion. "I just got off the horn with the flight controller down at the Academy. They have a new system for receiving incoming ships. All of the incoming traffic is requested to put their ships on autopilot, and a few of the students who are stationed at the landing zone guide the ship in."

"Guide?"

"Yea, guide. You know, with the Force."

Lobot frowned slightly. "Isn't that a little risky, Lando? I mean they are just students. Wouldn't it be safer just to land the ship on your own and let the students think that they landed it for you?"

Lando chuckled a little at his friend's skepticism. He and Lobot had been partners through a lot of adventures and misadventures. Lobot had been able to handle the numbers of all of Lando's many ventures. If it hadn't been for Lobot, the Cloud City mining operation would have gone bankrupt long before the Imperials showed up. Though this was Lobot's obvious strength, it was also his subtle weakness. If you couldn't prove it on paper then it was only natural to believe that it wasn't feasible. But then Lobot hadn't been there when Lando had watched Luke defeat all of Jaba's guards and rescue him, Han, and Leia with the Force. Before that, Lando had been a semi-skeptic like Lobot, but now he believed. "Don't worry, friend, I trust them."

The Lady Luck's autopilot kept them aloft while a pair of students guided the craft into an open clearing. As they descended past the tree line, Lando saw that they didn't have more than two meters of clearance on any side. "It's a close fit. They must be cramped for space if they're sticking us in this small landing spot."

"Perhaps they are expecting more visitors," Lobot offered.

"Yea, maybe, but we are here first. What ever happened to first come first serve? Besides who are we, Coruscant sewer rats! I mean I was a general in the New Republic for a while."

Lobot didn't respond. He closed his eyes and several lights on his Hamarian interface band started blinking, showing that he was trying to obtain a link with another computer. A brief while later he opened his eyes. "Tomorrow the Academy is expecting the arrival of Princess Leia, General Solo, and the Queen Mother of the Hapes cluster along with her royal guards."

"Ah, well," for the first time Lobot could remember Lando was speechless. "This landing spot is okay, I guess," Lando finally conceded.

After the ship had landed, Lando and Lobot proceeded toward the exit ramp. The hatch to the outside opened with a hiss, and the ramp lowered slowly to the ground. Lando stepped out onto the ramp and took a deep breath of the clean air. This was probably Lando's favorite atmosphere. He hadn't been on Yavin IV that many times before, but each time he came he wished that he could stay longer than he had allotted time for. The overwhelming peace of the forest moon had a unique tranquilizing effect on Lando as it probably had on all visitors. It was that peacefulness, Lando was sure, that made this the perfect place for Luke to build an Academy. Lando stepped off the ramp and onto the spongy grass of the moon. What, he thought, not even a concrete base to land on. Luke would get an earful from him.

One of the students approached Lando. She was a young woman with long black hair. Her features struck Lando as being incredibly neutral - neither attractive nor otherwise. "Welcome, my name is Froincy. Master Skywalker has been notified of your arrival and is waiting for you in his quarters. Do you know the way?"

Lando nodded an affirmative, but the student led him toward the temple anyway. As they walked through the thin foliage between the landing site and the Academy, Lando tried to formulate the upcoming conversation with Luke. Recently every conversation he had had with the Jedi Master had started out as friendly chitchat that had nothing to do with the Force. But the conversations had always ended with Luke becoming very serious and grave. Lando wanted to make sure to try to keep this conversation away from that kind of a downward spin. Yet he realized that the request he was going to make would do more to invite Luke's stern manner than anything he could do to prevent it.

The young woman stopped at the entrance to the living quarters and allowed Lando and Lobot to enter alone, trusting that Lando did indeed know the way. The corridors of the stone building seemed very cold and ancient. Lando breathed a sigh of relief that he wasn't in the least way Force sensitive because he didn't know if he would be able to live in these kind of quarters. They approached Luke's room, and before Lando could knock, Luke's voice greeted them from within the room. "Come on in, it's not locked."

Lando shrugged and realized that it was definitely getting harder to sneak up on Luke. He pushed the door open and walked into Luke's room. The room itself was very different from the man who lived in it. Tapestries were hung over the wall. Lando didn't know if this was to hide the hideous stone wall, or because the vibrant colors of the varied tapestries helped Luke in meditation. The furniture was scarce yet comfortable. Luke obviously never planned on entertaining many guests in his room because there were only two chairs to sit on and his bed. Lando turned finally to Luke who was sitting on the floor cross-legged with his eyes closed. "Go ahead and take a seat," Luke said without opening his eyes. Lobot and Lando eased into the two chairs and watched as Luke levitated off the floor. He rose to a height of about one meter and then gracefully floated over to his bed. He slowly lowered himself to the surface of his bed and finally opened his eyes. He uncrossed his legs and stared at his guests.

Lando paused thinking that Luke was going to say something, but then realized that he should make a sarcastic comment about the landing spot to try to get the conversation started on the right foot.

"I hope the landing accommodations weren't too much trouble. We we're expecting some very important guests tomorrow, and we are a little pressed for space."

Lando almost swallowed his tounge trying to hold back the comment he was about to make which, after what Luke had just said, would be very insulting. Lobot rescued him. "It wasn't any trouble at all. Your students did a very fine job."

Compliment him, Lando thought, that's a good start. "Yes, it was a very smooth landing. It's about time you thought of a way to make visiting here less of a chore." Lando froze after hearing what he had just said. It sounded a little more accusatory and derogatory when he said it out loud than it had in his head.

"It was one of the students who thought of it actually," Luke said. "Now what can I do for you. I know how much of a chore it is for you to visit me, so maybe I can help you, and you can be on your way."

Bad start. Very bad start. Lando tried to ignore everything that had just happened and launched himself into his opening just like he had rehearsed it. "Could you remind me what exactly this Academy is for?" This time even Lobot seemed startled. Moving from "Visiting this place is a chore" to "Why is it even here" seemed like a very bad way to get someone to do a favor for you.

Luke didn't seem too offended by it, and Lando was relieved. "The Academy is here to help people who are sensitive to the Force come to a greater realization of the power they posses, teach them how to use that power, and also to teach them of the great responsibility they have not to abuse that power." Luke paused. "Does this cause validate the Academy's existence?"

Lando wished he could just get up, leave the room, and start this whole conversation over again. But there was no rewind button on his life that he knew of, so he just kept on going. "And after the students are trained in the Force, then what?"

"They are free to do what ever they please. Many will enter the New Republic and offer their assistance where needed, while others will go on with the rest of their lives by returning to their home planet. But they will all have the new responsibility of preserving the peace, protecting the people around them from the evils of the Dark Side and those who wield it."

Boy this next question was going to sound dumb. "Yes, but how are they going to eat?"

"Excuse me?" Luke interrupted before Lando could clarify his statement.

"I mean how are they going to make a living? You know. How are they going to make money? You know what I'm talking about. You grew up on Tatooine. The only way you got food on the table and clothes on your back was if you worked hard and made money."

Lando paused, seeing how Luke accepted his reasoning. Getting no response he continued. "The few who join the New Republic will live comfortable lives on Coruscant, no doubt. But the ones who travel abroad are going to find that life isn't a bed of Florian sunbuds."

Lando again paused, waiting for Luke's rebuttal. Again Luke remained impassive, so Lando launched into his next counter to a comment that Luke didn't make. "Sure they might run into a few people who know about the Jedi and respect what your students are about. They might get a few free meals from a restaurant after they thwart an attempted robbery. But that generosity will eventually run out, and then do you know where that will leave them?"

Lando pretended that Luke said, "No where?" and continued, "It will leave them out in the cold - that's where." Lando paused to gather his breath and thoughts. He was growing rather annoyed at Luke. Luke was making Lando fight a battle against someone who wasn't even striking back, and the sad part was that Lando was losing.

"Your students will need to find jobs. Jobs where they can earn respect, friends, and money." Lando knew that even a blind Calamarian cave bat could see where he was going with this conversation.

Luke decided to enter the conversation at this point. "So what's your new scheme?"

"It's not a scheme. It's an investment. An old Imperial crystal mine. It's been deserted for a long time now. Ever since we defeated Thrawn and the Imperials pulled back into the core systems it's been vacant. Think about it Luke. The New Republic could use a good source of industrial strength crystals. Their value in weapons is immeasurable and their use in construction is incredible. Those are the two main goals of the New Republic, aren't they? Weapons to push back the remnants of the Empire and to protect their aligned worlds. And at the same time expansion and construction, rebuilding what the Empire destroyed."

"It sounds good. But what do you need from me?"

This was the heart of the meeting and Lando wanted to make sure that he delivered it right. "The mines have been deserted for more than a decade now, but most of the Imperial defense systems are still operational. My initial evaluation of the mines showed that there are several power systems operating down there that are unaccounted for on the plans we acquired. I think they might be traps that the Empire set up before evacuating the mines. None of my people are qualified to go down into the mines and disable these unknown traps without major risk of setting them off and bringing my whole operation literally crashing down.

"I'm sure that the Imperials designed the place to collapse against any intruders, but left a way in so they could return in the future and still use the mines. What I need is a few people who can sense these traps, devices, or whatever they might be and be able to disarm them without bringing harm to the valuable mines below. What I need are Jedi. Of course they will get paid just like all of my other workers." Lando decided to wait this time until Luke answered.

"You want to take advantage of their Force skill so you can make some money?"

Lando was ready for this comment, as he had been for many others that Luke hadn't made. "No more than you would take advantage of an architect's skills when you ask him to build you a house, or a chef's skills when you ask him to make you a meal. Are you taking advantage of them so you can have a home or food? No. You are hiring them to do a job that they are qualified for."

"And if they fail you will use them for cannon fodder."

"The student is only as good as the teacher."

Luke paused for a long time. Too long, Lando thought. He felt that Luke wasn't going to comply. "You said yourself that after they graduate they are free to do what ever they please," Lando said desperately.

"I will think about it," Luke finally said.

To Lando this was a very loud "No." Lando got up from the chair and started to leave. "I will be here for another day. Please tell me when you make up your mind." Luke didn't reply, and Lando and Lobot found their own way to the door and left.

"I don't think that it went well," Lobot said after they had walked a bit. "He beat you quite soundly." Lando didn't need Lobot to rub anymore salt into his wounds, but he had learned from experience that whenever Lobot had something to say, it was always good to let him say it because his unique approach often led to unobvious answers. "You went into the conversation confident that you were right. You were able to make your presentation just as you had rehearsed it, and you even got him to make a few comments that you were ready for. Yet you leave now quite certain of defeat. Quite a dramatic turn around wouldn't you say? It might prove interesting to evaluate the chain of events that brought about such a change."

Lando thought about this for a while. Lobot was right. He had been able to present his speech exactly as he had planned. Luke didn't interject as often as he had hoped for but the few things he did say were exactly what Lando knew he would say. Why did he lose? It was like going into a test knowing all of the answers before hand, yet afterwards feeling like you failed. Had Luke planned it that way? No. Had he used some kind of Jedi mind trick? Lando was sure that Luke would never do anything like that to one of his friends. If Lando still was one of his friends. Lobot was right. Lando would definitely go over the conversation in his mind several times when he got the chance. Being an independent businessman he had no one to fall back on when he made a mistake, so he tried to make as few as possible, and he made an extra effort to learn from the ones he did make.

When Lando and Lobot exited the building, Froincy was standing there. Lando was a little surprised that she was still waiting for them. "Come with me," she said, "and I'll let you meet them."

"Who? Meet who?" Lando asked puzzled.

It was Froincy's turn to be confused. "To meet the two students that Master Skywalker has chosen to go with you."

Lando was both shocked and confused. "He's already chosen two people? But he just told us that he would think about it, and it sounded pretty much like a 'no' to me."

Froincy smiled, realizing what had taken place. "Master Skywalker knew of your potential request two days ago. He made the announcement to a group of graduating students and asked for volunteers. From those who volunteered he picked two. Did he not make this clear to you?"

Realization struck Lando like a slap in the face. "No. No he did not," he said stressing each word. "But he'll wish he did." With that Lando turned on his heels and raced back into the building.

Lobot turned to Froincy. "You'll have to excuse my associate. I believe a joke has been made at his expense. Now you'll have to excuse me, for I fear he will do something rash."

Lando burst into Luke's room to find the Jedi Master laughing uncontrollably. Lando stood there staring at him, knowing full well that Luke knew he was there. "I'm sorry Lando," Luke squeaked between laughs.

"You'll have to do better than sorry," Lando said trying to sound mad, though the humor of the situation was finally getting to him. "The whole thing was a setup wasn't it?" Luke nodded his head still not able to talk. "Even the landing site?"

Luke finally managed to control himself. "You can move your ship if you like. We have plenty of better sights."

"How did you know?" Lando asked finally giving up on his mad act.

"When I heard you were going to visit I wondered why. A little research showed me that you had visited the Imperial mines and already hired a few people and bought some equipment." Another laugh escaped, and Luke coughed trying to compose himself. "I'm sorry. I just couldn't pass up the opportunity. I knew I wouldn't say no, but I wondered what your reaction would be if I did. You should have seen the look on your face when I shot down your comment about the landing site. You looked like a Gamorean who had just been told he couldn't have seconds at meal time." Luke started laughing all over again, and this time Lando joined him.

Lobot walked in on the pair and found to his relief that they were both in good spirits. After a few laughs they calmed Lobot's previous fears and got down to business.

"So you've already picked out two people for me?"

Luke nodded. "They're two good students in this year's graduating class."

"The best of the class?" Lando asked.

"I'm afraid not. I don't think Han would look too fondly on having his kids working in a mine after his experience at Kessel."

"I see. How are the twins?"

"They're doing fine; but back to the ones who will be going with you. Their names are Yova and Trince. Yova is from Strotto. I'm not sure if you're familiar with that planet or their people. The Strottons are a short humanoid race with a love of rock. The Strottons have lived most of their lives under ground, and have only recently come to the surface due to over crowding in the caves. Yova is very intelligent, which is not a common trait among her people. They were simply ignored by most of the galaxy until they surfaced a few decades ago. I was really interested in her people when she came to the Academy. A race of individuals who live so closely intertwined with their planet must have incredible Force potential, however like I said earlier, they do not focus themselves on the mental part of life, and most of them don't have the mental endurance to properly wield the Force. Yova, though, was definitely one of quickest learners that I've had at the Academy so far, and her experience underground makes her an obvious choice for your project.

"Trince is a human from the Corellian system. And like Han, everyone's favorite Corellian, he is very independent and self-reliant. He relies on the Force a great deal and had almost come to the point of over use. He isn't very big as far as size and muscle, so he used to avoid work as much as he could and let the Force do everything. For example he would use the Force to tie his boots, or to pick up an object rather than getting up to get it. But he is over that now. In fact he's found that by using a combination of the Force and his body he is able to achieve more than just the sum of his parts."

Lando listened closely to Luke's description of the two students and was pleased. "Well, thank-you Luke. I really appreciate this."

"Hey, it's not me. Like you said, once they graduate they are free to do what ever they want. Besides, I agree with you that they should get jobs rather than trying to live off the title of Jedi Knight Sworn Protector of the Galaxy."

Lando got up, and he and Luke shook hands. Lando had a lot of planing to do. He needed supplies, extra food for two more people, and most of all he had to plan how he would get back at Luke.

* * *

Tallon looked around the table at the assembly of all his finest officers. There was General Oskiman, commander of the Imperial fleet in this sector and second in command to Tallon himself. The title of general was higher than that of captain, but both Tallon and Oskiman knew that Oskiman's duty was restricted to that of the military. Oskiman had been promoted to general just to give the commander of the fleet a respectable title. He was a short squat man with a bushy mustache, but what he lacked in physical stature, he made up for in his commanding voice. Tallon had seen him chew out men who were twice his size. Men who, if they had the courage, could have whipped him in a fight. He had seen Oskiman reduce these men to a mere shriveling piece of flesh with no more than his tongue.

Then there was Commander Snotzenexer, a tactical genius. He was a shy man and usually hid behind Oskiman, but he was the only person that Oskiman never yelled at. Snotzenexer had a mind for battle like none Tallon had ever seen. Serving with Oskiman, he allowed the short General to take most of the credit for his strategic maneuvers, but his prowess had not escaped the all-seeing eyes of Tallon.

Next to Snotzenexer sat Salin Frowinger and Dr. Kendel, the Empire's best scientist and the Empire's best doctor. The two of them had been working on the cloning project, trying to not only improve the process, but to expand it to cover a wider range of possibilities. And for the most part they had been very successful.

Lastly there was Thorock and Borock, two Salynoids. They were the only non-humans in the room, but they were perhaps the two people that Tallon trusted and respected the most. They were telepaths, and their large bulb-shaped heads contained minds that were far past anything Tallon had experienced before. He had tried to get Dr. Kendel to clone them, but to date, the attempt was Kendel's only failure. The two Salynoids were in charge of weapons technology and they were doing so fine a job that Tallon mourned that the Empire had not discovered these fascinating people earlier. If Thorock and Borock had been in charge of building the Death Star, there is no way that a single fighter would have been able to take it out.

At the head of the table sat Tallon. They were waiting for one more person to arrive, but as Tallon searched the room he saw that there were no more chairs. Thrawn entered the room with his calm easy strides, and Tallon got up to offer the Admiral his seat. "Sit in your chair Captain. I prefer to stand," Thrawn's voice was smooth and calm, yet had an edge to it that made everything sound like a command. Tallon immediately noticed that Thrawn was wearing an Admiral's uniform instead of a Grand Admiral's. Tallon looked around the room again and placed his bet on Snotzenexer for the first person who would question Thrawn's change in rank. The others would surely notice it, but only Snotzenexer would be able to recognize the implications of such a demotion if that is what it was. Also he would be the only one, in his reclusive nature, bold enough to question Thrawn.

Thrawn strode to the head of the table and stood next to Tallon, scanning the members of the meeting. Tallon knew enough about Thrawn to realize that in this quick evaluation of his men he was learning as much about them as Tallon himself already knew, maybe more. Thrawn paused as he examined the two Salynoids. Tallon guessed that it was probably the first time Thrawn had ever seen the green skinned aliens. Thrawn's gaze continued to pass over the men seated there. He paused again when he saw the look on Snotzenexer face. "You wish to ask me something, Commander?"

Snotzenexer didn't hesitate, "Your rank is incorrect, sir. I am simply curious."

Thrawn smiled at his direct boldness, "I have demoted myself, Commander. There is no one ranked higher than me, so I was forced to do the action myself. There is no room for failure even among the leaders of the Empire."

"I simply thought that your death would have been punishment enough."

Tallon was taken aback at Snotzenexer's casual reference to the event that he was sure Thrawn was a little bit touchy about. But Thrawn's smile increased tenfold. "It might have been enough of a punishment for me, but it was not public enough for the Empire. We need our people to know that their leaders, though superior to them in every way, are not infallible and are still subject to punishment. You will find that your men will be more willing to take orders from you if they know that their commanders will take responsibility for the outcome instead of blaming it on them for simply following orders. Also your men will be more willing to take risks that could lead to mistakes if they know that even their commanding officers make mistakes. And you of course know that if we don't take risks we will never make any progress." Snotzenexer seemed content with the answer. Tallon knew that Thrawn's demotion changed nothing. Thrawn was still the highest commanding Imperial officer in this sector, and probably this galaxy.

Thrawn finished his evaluation of the men at the table and then nodded to Tallon to begin the meeting. Tallon nodded and turned to his notes in front of him. "General," he said turning to Oskiman, "status of the fleet?"

"The fleet grows stronger as we speak. The shipyards are producing the ships with incredible efficiency and we are finding that the quality of these ships is outstanding. Presently we have two fully staffed Super Star Destroyers, the Dark Fist and the Doomsday Hammer. Both have full compliments of TIE fighters and bombers and the Dark Fist is fully loaded with ground assault equipment. We also have a fleet of forty Imperial class Star Destroyers all fully staffed and containing full compliments of TIE's. We have two hundred Victory class Star Destroyers also all staffed and equipped. Finally we have twenty Interdiction Cruisers. All of the crews are highly trained and ready for deployment anywhere to crush the Rebellion, sir."

"Very good General, but we-" Tallon started and the General began to frown. Oskiman was sick of sitting on his hands and waiting; he wanted to do something.

Thrawn put a hand on Tallon's shoulder, stopping him in mid sentence. "Prepare the Dark Fist and several Imperial class Star Destroyers for a ground attack," Thrawn said to Oskiman.

"Yes sir," he replied over enthusiastically. "May I inquire of the target?"

"In good time General."

Tallon waited to see if Thrawn was finished and moved on to Snotzenexer. "Commander do you have anything to report?"

"The Admiral had me look into a few things, but I don't have anything of importance," he responded.

"What do you have?" Thrawn asked.

"Well, you asked me to locate some New Republic art, but I was unable to find anything."

"That's not what you mean. You found something, but you didn't think it was art, did you?"

"Well, sir, all I found was that the New Republic decorates all of their buildings with live plants, but they don't have many sculptures or paintings."

Thrawn smiled again. "What is your definition of art, Commander?"

Snotzenexer paused. "The expression of emotion through the manipulation of a tangible physical object."

"And you don't think that plants are an expression of emotion?"

"Well . . ., I . . ." but he was at a loss for words.

"I came to the same roadblock as you when I first looked into this until I realized that the New Republic loves life itself. This is evident in their involvement in the Light Side of the Force. It was this oversight that caused my defeat in my earlier campaign. The New Republic's strength is their association with the Force and those who wield it. This time we will attack them properly."

Snotzenexer nodded in understanding and Tallon took this to be the end of the conversation so he moved on to the next person. "Mr. Frowinger how are you coming with the cloaking devices?"

"I just about have the cloaking device designed for the Dark Ring, and I am sure that with our incredible man-power, once designed it will be only a mater of days before it is installed."

"What of the HRD I asked you to design?" Thrawn asked. Tallon looked up at Thrawn. Had the Admiral met with all of his men already?

"I was able to retrieve the designs from Prince Xizor's file and believe that with Dr. Kendel's help I will be able have it operational with the likeness you requested within the week."

With a quick glance at Thrawn to see if that was all, Tallon moved onto the Doctor. "Do you have anything to add, Doctor?"

"All of the cloning cylinders on the Dark Ring are working properly, and," he glanced at Thrawn wanting to address his question before he asked it, "I have finished my work on the special cylinders that you requested, however; as of now they are untested." He paused. "I do have one question though. With the incredible energy source made available to us with the Dark Ring and the immense amount of cloning cylinders, I am finding that we almost have too many personnel. If we continue to clone at our current rate we will have an over flow of personnel. Only so many people can work on a given ship or project, and we don't have enough resources to keep them all occupied."

Thrawn nodded in understanding. He had thought that this might be a problem, and he already had a solution. "Have some of your excess men come to this planet," he said. "Have them start to build a small city where your men can come to relax. Build several gaming facilities, eating establishments, and the like. We will be here for the long haul, so don't be afraid to splurge.

"Clone an architect and an engineer and put them in charge of the project. As soon as you have an excess of personal, allow time off. For every six months worked, they may have two weeks off. That should solve your overcrowding problem on the work force and at the same time it will increase morale and production. You will find that your men will work harder if they know they will get a reward when they are done."

Finally Tallon turned to the Salynoids and merely motioned them to speak. "We are happy to report that the structural work on the Dark Ring is completed, and only the inside and living quarters need to still be worked on. This completion is exactly 1.73 years ahead of schedule," Thorock said. Tallon had never heard Borock speak, apparently their unique relationship required only one voice.

Thrawn had not met with them earlier, and he did not have any particular assignments for them. "When can I see the Dark Ring I have heard so much about?" he asked.

"We can take you there anytime at your leisure," Thorock responded.

Tallon, seeing that the meeting was drawing to a close, stood up. "Well, gentlemen. We all have work to do, so let's get busy."

* * *

Captain Tallon, Admiral Thrawn, the two Salynoids, and a pilot were on an Imperial shuttle shooting through hyperspace. The pilot spoke, "Approaching destination. Preparing to drop out of hyperspace now." As he spoke he pushed the hyperspace throttle forward, and the star lines dropped into single dots. Before them loomed an incredible darkness - a darkness that blotted out all of the stars from their forward vision. Thrawn squinted out of the window, trying to get a better look at what was ahead of them. As they drew closer, he could make out what looked like an enormous wall of metal that disappeared from view in all directions, appearing to stretch out infinitely. Thrawn was soon able to detect a slight curvature in the wall and guessed that it was somewhat spherical. Features on the wall band began to become visible the closer they came. Scaffolding seemed to cover the entire structure, and Thrawn could see thousands of people crawling around on the outside. Thrawn could also see that it was slowly spinning around an axis. As soon as the magnificent structure came into view Thorock began to spew out facts about it.

"The Dark Ring is shaped like a sphere that is open at the two poles. The radius of the Dark Ring is slightly over seventy-five million kilometers. At the center of the Dark Ring is a class four star named Danzig 359. The inside of the Dark Ring is covered with solar panels, and it can produce more power in a second than a Super Star Destroyer can in one hundred years. The ring itself is more like a very wide band that encompasses the star. The surface height of the Dark Ring is one hundred million kilometers. The depth of the Dark Ring is a little over fifty kilometers. It contains about two hundred million human cloning cylinders and one thousand ysalameri cloning cylinders. Presently the Dark Ring can contain fifty million personnel, but when completed it will be able to house close to two hundred fifty million officers and another one billion personnel. There are one thousand Death Star lasers placed uniformly around the band, so that no ship can approach the band without being in range of at least three of these lasers. It also contains over one billion heavy turbo lasers. The section of the Dark Ring that is used for a ship yard has a depth of two hundred kilometers and can house five Super Star Destroyers at once. Presently one Super Star Destroyer, five Imperial class Star Destroyers, and twenty Victory class Star Destroyers are under construction. The construction of this facility is now entering its seventy-seventh year."

Admiral Thrawn turned to Captain Tallon. "I was not aware that this existed. I knew that there was a cloning facility at this outpost. But this I did not expect."

"Not many people were aware of it. I am told that this project was kept secret from even Lord Vader. When the Emperor started this eighty years ago, about fifteen years before the clone wars he didn't let anyone know about it. When I arrived almost twenty-three years ago it was about half completed, but under my supervision and an increased cloning rate due to your discovery of the special qualities of the ysalamiri, I was able to more than double the rate of construction."

Thrawn nodded and kept looking at the immense display of power. After Thorock heard that they were finished talking, he jumped back into his string of statistics. He explained how many hundreds of planets they stripped bare of resources; how many oceans they sucked dry and desalted; how many animals are required to feed all of the men; and how much air is produced to fill the station. The small speck on the surface of the Dark Ring that they were approaching was slowly growing larger. At a distance Thrawn judged that it was simply a small shuttle landing bay, but as they neared he saw that this opening was big enough to hold a Victory class Star Destroyer. Thrawn realized that the Empire was in a better position than he had thought. And he was sure that they were in a much better position then the New Republic could ever imagine.

Chapter 3 "Reunions"

Jacen was busy feeding his animals when his sister popped her head in the door. "Mom and Dad are coming, let's go!"

Jacen looked at her a little annoyed. "I know. I can use the Force too, you know." He turned back to his pets. "Just let me finish feeding these guys. They can land without us."

Jaina frowned. "No they can't. Don't you remember? We were going to 'Bring Them In,'" she said putting emphasis on the last three words.

A light went on in Jacen's mind. "Oh yea." He dropped the small piece of food he was holding and ran out the door after his sister to the landing spot.

* * *

Han flipped on the autopilot and sat back. "What are you doing?" Leia asked.

"The air controller notified me that all incoming traffic are simply to put their ships on autopilot, and a pair of students will bring us in." Han still noticed a worried look on his wife's face and Chewie barked a negative comment. "Hey," he said, "I'm the pilot and it's my ship, and I say we let them take us in. Luke's trained these kids. I'm sure they know what they're doing. Besides it might the twins taking us in." He nudged Chewie in the ribs. "Just relax."

* * *

Down on the ground Jacen and Jaina looked at each other and winked.

* * *

Han's feet fell from their propped up position as the Millennium Falcon dropped like a stone for about five meters and then stopped itself. "What the-" Han yelled. Artoo and Threepio raced into the cockpit.

"Master Solo what happened. I nearly-"

"I don't know Threepio, so shut up and let me find out." Han quickly did a systems check on the autopilot to make sure it was functioning properly. Suddenly they dropped again. "It's the students," Han said. "Maybe you were right Chewie." Chewie growled something about always being right and another drop came. "That's it. I'm flying it in the rest of the way." Han reached for the manual controls but they wouldn't respond. "Who ever it is, is pretty good because they locked me out."

Leia closed her eyes and concentrated. "It's the twins," she confirmed. "You should be proud of their advanced skill."

Han smirked. "I'm ecstatic." This time the drop included a full twist.

"I'm sure we're not in any danger. It's just their way of saying welcome back."

* * *

Luke looked at the twins. He couldn't really scold them too much after what he had done to Lando, but as the teacher he had to draw the line. "Okay guys," he said to the twins, "that's enough. Bring them in gently the rest of the way."

The twins shrugged in defeat. "Okay."

* * *

The Millennium Falcon set down gently on the firm landing spot. The ramp opened and Han strode purposefully down the ramp. Waiting for him was Luke, Lando, Lowbacca, Anakin, Jacen, and Jaina. When Han saw his three children all of his anger disappeared. He ran over and hugged his children.

"It's good to see you too Dad," Jaina said.

"Yea," he said, "we had a little trouble landing. I must be getting rusty."

"Must be," Jacen said.

Leia and Chewie were right behind Han. Leia greeted her children while Chewie walked over to Lowbacca and gave him a big wookiee hug. After the family reunion, Han saw Lando. "Hey, what are you doing here? I haven't seen you in a while. What are you up to these days?"

"Hold on," Lando chuckled, "one question at a time. I came here to ask a favor of Luke that's all."

Han looked at him suspiciously. "Since when does Luke owe you a favor. He's probably saved your skin more times than you can count."

Luke jumped in to Lando's rescue. "He waited to blow up the second Death Star until he knew I was out," Luke said trying to keep a straight face.

"Yea," Lando said to Han, and then quieter to Luke, "How close was it?"

"Too close," Luke responded.

Leia went over to her brother and gave him a hug. "When you have the time, I have something I have to tell you and Han."

"I'm not busy right now," Luke answered.

Leia looked over at Han who was talking with the twins. "Okay," she said, "let us get settled here and we'll met you in your quarters in about a half hour."

* * *

Luke heard the gentle knock on his door about twenty-five minutes later. He briefly remembered the levitating display he had done yesterday to unnerve Lando and smiled. "Come in." Leia and Han entered the room and took their seats in the two chairs while Luke remained seated on his bed. "So what's this all about?"

"You're not going to like it," Han said before Leia could speak.

She looked at him. "Just because you don't like it doesn't mean Luke won't." Han shrugged in a gesture of indifference. Leia turned back to her brother. "Two days ago we received a distress call from a planet in the core systems. They wanted to join the New Republic. They are aware of Imperial activity in a nearby system, and they fear for their safety."

"As far as I know the entire system is full of Imperial bases. It would have been more unusual if they would have said they weren't aware of Imperial activity," Luke said.

"That's what I said," Han agreed.

Leia shook her head. "Han's retired and you're out here so neither of you are aware of our own military activity in the core systems. We have been pushing the remnants of the Empire further and further into the core systems. Along the way we have found several planets that wanted to join the New Republic, planets that either were previously controlled by the Empire or somehow remained neutral. Each planet we add to our Republic increases our power in the core systems and decreases the Empire's. This new planet is near the edge of the border we've created. We don't have any information about it other than its name, coordinates, and what they've told us about it."

"What is its name?" Luke asked.

"Hastrin."

Luke froze momentarily. That name meant something to him. It was like a weird feeling of de-ja-vu. Had he had a vision? A dream? He couldn't remember, but he was sure that Leia was right and that there was Imperial activity around Hastrin.

Leia seemed not to notice Luke's reaction but continued her presentation. "They are a medium sized planet with a population of about seven hundred million. They said that they were able to remain neutral during the Empire's rein by giving tribute in the form of natural resources. Now the Empire seems to be regaining power and Hastrin fears that they won't be able hold off the Imperials this time. The council has decided to accept Hastrin into membership only after we have sent a delegation there to appraise the situation."

"So naturally we're their first choice," Han said, spoiling the suspense Leia was trying to build. Luke had already guessed that he and Han would be the ones going. It was the most logical choice.

"I'm sure that you'll agree that you two are the most logical choice," Leia said, stating Luke's thoughts. Luke nodded. "A planet that fears its enemy needs reassurance that the people they are looking to for protection, will indeed be strong enough to protect them. So naturally the New Republic's top General-"

"Former General," Han interrupted.

". . . and a Jedi Master would ensure the people of Hastrin of our strength, and hopefully, that we can defeat the Empire."

Han shook his head. "I just don't like the fact that we have to be the galaxy's body guards. I mean where was Hastrin twenty years ago, huh."

"Han, twenty years ago they were surrounded by the Empire," Luke said, "and they were scared to so much as breathe, not to say anything about sending a distress call to the Empire's enemies." Luke turned to Leia. "So you're here to ask me to go with Han?"

Leia cringed a little. "Not really," she admitted. "I'm more like telling what the council decided."

"Oh," Luke understood. "Well I guess I don't have a choice then."

"You can still say no, Luke. It's just that then you'll be going against the wishes of the council, and I think you should know that you're not a friend of too many people on the council. There are a lot of new members, and they weren't around when we gained our independence. They've read about the time when the Jedi were protectors of the Republic and played an active role in the government. They see you as a hermit whose kept himself on a forest moon away from the action." Leia raised her hand to stop Luke's forthcoming comment. "I know that you're here trying to restore that role of the Jedi, and if it wasn't for you, there would be no New Republic for the Jedi to protect, but I'm only one of a few people on the council who believes that. If you were to take this mission, you would change a lot of people's minds."

"I'll go, but you should have told me this earlier. I could have addressed the council and told them what I was doing."

"It's not that important Luke," Leia reassured him. "They still respect you for who you are. It's just that I get a little defensive about my brother."

"When do we leave?"

"Tomorrow a ship will arrive. With the ship you'll get more information, and then you're encouraged to leave as soon as possible."

"Well," Luke said, "I can leave the Academy for a few days." He turned to Han. "So what do ya say, Han? Feel like going on a little diplomatic mission for the New Republic?"

"You don't understand," Han said. "My decision has already been made by someone else." Luke nodded and made a mental note not to get married any time soon.

Leia ignored Han's comment and continued her speech. "The nearby system that Hastrin identified as containing Imperial activity, is the Danzig system. I'm not sure if you're familiar with that system. It contains about four hundred small stars. One of the stars in particular has gained the attention of our astronomers back on Coruscant. Danzig 359 has, over the past seventy-five years, gotten dimmer and dimmer. At first we thought that a nebula or some kind of cloud might be covering the star. But now that we have confirmation of Imperial activity in that system we are more concerned."

"Another Sun Crusher," Luke said, referring to an Imperial weapon that could cause a star to collapse on itself to the point of a supernova.

Leia nodded. "It's possible that seventy-five years ago they tested the device on Danzig 359. It apparently worked but it took way too long. We've seen the Sun Crusher work before. It causes a nova in a matter of hours. If they've reopened their base in the Danzig system then they could be building more super nova weapons. So along with your going to Hastrin, we are sending a small fleet to inspect the Danzig system. We can only hope that the Imperials haven't started to build weapons of massive destruction again."

"Yes," Luke agreed, "we can only hope."

* * *

Tenel Ka sat cross-legged on her bed. Her eyes were closed. She was meditating, something that she didn't due very often. She didn't like to use the Force. She felt that it was a crutch. She preferred to use her own physical strength. In the past year, however, Master Skywalker had been able to make an impression on her. She no longer thought of the Force as a vice for the weak, but she now saw it as a tool for the strong. She still only used the Force when she needed it, and she was the only student who had came of age, that made it clear that she didn't want to carry a lightsaber.

Feeling more relaxed, Tenel Ka opened her eyes. She knew that her mother, the Queen Mother of the Hapes cluster, was coming to Yavin IV today and she wanted to be ready. She had just told her friends that she would be leaving to live in Hapes where she would be taught how to be a Princess. She wasn't proud of the fact that she was a member of the Hapan royal family. In the female dominant society of the Hapes cluster a domineering cruel type of leadership that was often a reflection of a ruthless dictator had always characterized the Queen Mother's reign. But her mother had been different. Her mother, Teneniel Djo, was not from the Hapes cluster but was formerly one of the witches of Dathomir. She married her father, Prince Isolder, who was the only descendant of Tenel Ka's grandmother, the former Queen. Her father was originally supposed to marry Princess Leia but Leia had had her heart set on Han. Her father had found more than a suitable wife in her mother.

Tenel Ka got up from her bed and moved out of her room to the outdoors. Her parents were coming now. She could feel her mother through the Force. She moved out to the landing field to find that Han and Leia, the twins, Lowbacca and Chewie, and Master Skywalker were already there waiting. Seeing Leia reminded her that the President of the New Republic was going to Hapes with her to visit. Tenel Ka walked over to stand next to Master Skywalker.

Luke looked down at her. "Are you ready to bring your parents in."

Tenel Ka nodded and closed her eyes. She reached out with her mind and felt the shuttle as it came down through the upper atmosphere. At first she felt it weigh a ton, but after she managed to look past the weight and merely view the ship the same as a simple rock, the weight disappeared and, with Luke's help, she was able to bring the shuttle down for a very smooth landing.

The hatch opened and two red suited guards marched down the ramp. They took a quick look around before placing themselves on opposite sides of the bottom of the ramp. King Isolder and Queen Djo descended in all of their royal splendor. They weren't wearing their most royal robes, but they didn't lack any beauty because of it. Leia inhaled sharply when she saw Isolder. In twenty-three years, he had lost none of his handsome charm. Then she blushed realizing that she was standing next to Han. "Having second thoughts Princess," Han whispered. He was about to lay on some more guilt when his eyes caught those of Teneniel. He had first looked at Isolder to see his reaction to Leia and wasn't disappointed. But now he saw that Teneniel had managed to keep her rugged beauty while being adorned with the jewels and clothes of Hapes. A sharp elbow from Leia brought him out of his trance, yet in greeting, Han walked up to Teneniel and kissed her extended hand, showing more class than Leia had ever seen. She felt left out until Isolder, not to be out done by his former rival, bestowed the same grace toward Leia.

The four of them stared into each other's eyes until Luke broke it up. "Hey," he said, "let's remember who married whom." This brought a laugh from the group and they continued their greeting without further incident. Tenel Ka greeted her parents formally, and Jacen, Jaina, Chewie, and Lowbacca tried their best not to look out of place.

The Hapans had not planned on staying long and what had been long 'hello's turned into quick 'good-bye's. Chewie and the droids left with Leia, leaving Han, Luke, the twins, and Lowbacca to say good-bye to the departing ships. Han looked mournfully at the red glare of the Falcon's thrusters, wishing that he and Luke could have taken his ship on their mission, but Leia had been quite insistent that they take an official New Republic shuttle. She said that the Hastrins wouldn't think very much of the New Republic's fleet strength if Han and Luke arrived in the Flacon, a ship that looked like it couldn't survive a head on collision with a gas nebula. Those had been her exact words: "Couldn't survive a head on collision with a gas nebula." Sometimes . . ., Han thought but left it at that.

After the ships had left the atmosphere and there was nothing left to see, the small party looked at each other as if suspecting something more to happen. The twins and Lowbacca had lost a friend, and they didn't know when they'd see her again. Actually the twins and Lowbacca had graduated and like Tenel Ka, could go anywhere they wanted, but they seemed hesitant to leave the comfort of the forest moon. Jacen finally initiated conversation by turning to Luke. "You and Dad are going to leave tomorrow, right?" Luke nodded in confirmation. "Then what are we going to do?"

"That is up to you to decide," Luke said, his voice changing from the voice of their uncle and father's friend to that of a Jedi Master. "Your training is done. You don't know everything about the Force, but then I don't either. A Jedi is constantly learning. You need to pick something to do that will allow you to continue your learning process."

Jaina smiled. "We could try to make our brother build a lightsaber. That could be a learning experience."

"Actually, I've sent Lando off on that task. He should be talking to Anakin right now."

Han looked incredulous. "Lando is going to teach my son how to build a lightsaber?"

Luke laughed. "Now that would be a learning experience. No Lando is just going to get him started."

* * *

Anakin was busy reading some Jedi lore that was assigned to him when he heard a knock on his door. "It's not locked," he said without looking up from his data pad. When he finished the paragraph he was on he looked up to see Lando standing in the doorway. "Oh I'm sorry Lando," he said. He had learned along time ago that he could call any of his father's friends by their first name. "Come in."

Lando stepped into the room and looked around, expecting this room to look like an average teenager's room. It was nothing close to average, and well, neither was the person who lived in it. The room was spotless, much cleaner than Luke's had been. There was a lot of exotic furniture stuffed into the room and Lando had no problem finding a place to sit. Anakin was reading in a hammock that was strung up over his bed, a bed that Lando could tell never got used. Anakin dropped the data pad onto the bed beneath him, and he swung his legs down so they were hanging off the hammock and he was sitting upright, leaning slightly against the wall. "What do you want?" Anakin liked Lando.

"You know your mom just left for the Hapes cluster," Lando said, avoiding Anakin's question.

"Yea, I know. I saw her when she landed."

Lando looked around the room, noting all of the little trinkets and small statues. "I like what you've done with the place. Are all of these things yours?"

"Yea. Hey, I gotta show you something." Anakin hopped down from his hammock and ran over to one of his many shelves. He grabbed a globe that had a black rectangular base. It looked like it was filled with water, and had an inch of undissolved colored powder at the base of the globe. Anakin raced back to Lando and held the globe up in front of Lando's face. "Watch." As he spoke, Lando saw the powder at the base of the globe begin to swirl. The many different colors of the powder began to make a dazzling rainbow display. Lando looked at Anakin and could tell that he was concentrating, but unlike other Jedi, he didn't have his eyes closed. Lando looked back to the globe and saw that the powder that was swirling in the center of the globe was starting to take shape. Almost magically the picture of a space ship appeared.

Lando gasped. "It's the Lady Luck." The 3D image that floated in the globe was undeniably Lando's pride and joy.

"Wait, let me add some special effects." The remaining powder in the bottom of the globe began to swirl again and it formed treetops at the base of the globe and a bright sun shining away at the top. It now looked like the Lady Luck was skimming over the treetops of Yavin IV. Lando was speechless. The image was so clear that if he hadn't seen Anakin create it he would have sworn that it was a model floating in the globe. Lando didn't say anything, but Anakin could sense his question.

"It's not really water. It's a thick supersaturated jelly that the powder won't dissolve into. The globe has small electrodes in it, so when I want to shape something all I have to do is touch this switch at the base of the globe, and the jelly heats up, making it easier for the powder to move. I made the globe myself. Another cool thing about it is that I can save a picture. Each particle of powder is static charged and each color has its own signature so that the globe can remember where each piece of powder is. I'll show you."

Anakin pressed a few different buttons on the base of the globe and then watched the particles swirl. "I did this one for history class." Pretty soon Lando could discern the image of the Millennium Falcon and the second Death Star. The image on these pictures were much sharper than the Lady Luck had been and Lando realized that Anakin had concentrated harder when he had made these. "That's not all," Anakin said. He pressed another button and the Falcon started to move toward the Death Star. It wound its way through the TIE fighters and plunged into the battle station.

Lando was reliving the moment as the Falcon wove its way through the scaffolding on the inside of the Death Star, until it came to the power source. With a few quick shots at the main reactor, the Falcon retreated, just escaping the giant fireball. "I wasn't there of course," Anakin said when the movie was finished, "but that's what I gathered from my data pad and a little imagination.

Lando knew that they had written history when they had defeated the Empire at Endor, but he didn't think that people would already be studying it. "It's very nice," Lando said not being able to find the right words.

"Do you want it?"

Lando was shocked. "I couldn't," he started.

Anakin shook his head. "I have three of them and I could build another one in a couple days. In fact," he pointed toward the corner of his room where a glass bowl almost a meter across was laying, "I'm working on a really big one."

"Thank-you," was all Lando could muster, then he realized why he was here. "I have a gift for you too, actually. I understand you haven't built a lightsaber yet."

Anakin frowned slightly. "Did my uncle send you? I told him I wasn't ready yet. I just don't feel it inside."

Lando put the globe on the chair he had been sitting on and reached into his pocket. He pulled out a medium sized crystal and held it up in front of Anakin so the light from the window could shine through it. Anakin's jaw dropped to the floor. "It's," he started, "it's," he tried again, "it's so beautiful." Its beauty wasn't the only thing entrancing Anakin. He could see the massive power inside the crystal. The light inside grew in intensity as it reflected off the inner walls of the crystal thousands of times before exiting. "It's so much more expensive than my globe."

It was Lando's turn to shake his head. "I'm not trying to pay for the globe. This is a gift. Consider it eighteen years worth of birthday presents wrapped into one. Besides, I have an asteroid full of these things. Most of them much bigger."

Anakin took the crystal from Lando, and he could feel the warmth inside. "I think I'm starting to feel something. Yep, I'm definitely ready to build one. I always thought that the Force was making me wait. Now I know why. Thank-you very much."

Lando left the room and let the Jedi student be alone. Besides, he wanted to go back to his quarters and play with his globe.

Chapter 4 "An old Hope"

Captain Tallon piloted the shuttle into the atmosphere of Hastrin. He and Admiral Thrawn had just finished their tour of the uncompleted Dark Ring. They had only toured one fourth of it, but it was designed in quadrants so that all four of them were identical. Tallon had toured it before but it had been Thrawn's first time. Thrawn had expected there to be more room inside of the Dark Ring than there had been. One quadrant of the battle station was the equivalent of about a thousand worlds the size of Hastrin, but there didn't seem to be near that much room. It is obviously hard to compare sizes when they become that astronomical but Thrawn prided himself in his ability to accurately judge things. All had been made clear when the Salynoids had shown him the weapons systems. It was a definite flaw in the Empire that fifty percent of everything that it made had to be capable of blowing something up. Even if they had made the station one-one hundredth of its present size, there wouldn't be a fleet in the galaxy that could have destroyed it. Now any fleet that attacked would be exposed to anywhere from three Death Star lasers, depending on the size of the fleet, up to ten. Each laser was able to fire once every twenty seconds. In one minute the Dark Ring would be able to decimate a fleet by destroying up to thirty capitol ships. A smaller battle station could have been just as effective.

The shuttle was approaching the mountain range where the Imperial base was located. The headquarters was nestled between two large mountains. A message blinked onto the shuttle's message screen. Tallon glanced at the message briefly and turned to Thrawn. "The Republic has answered our distress call. There is a full report waiting for us at the base." Tallon set the shuttle down on a large flat cliff that was cut out of one of the mountains. Four stormtroopers stood waiting. After they had disembarked from the ship, Tallon waived off the stormtrooper escort, and he and Thrawn made their way to the side of the mountain where a turbo lift shaft had been dug down into the rock. The lift whisked them down several hundred feet to the bowels of the mountain.

They made there way to Tallon's office so they could receive the message. Tallon entered his code, and the message was brought up on his screen. He offered the screen to the Admiral so he could read it first. "Go ahead Captain Tallon," Thrawn said. "I believe I already know what it will say."

Tallon read the message quickly and turned to Thrawn. "It seems as though you were right. They are indeed sending Han Solo and Luke Skywalker. But they are also sending a small fleet to the Danzig system."

Thrawn frowned. "I had considered this possibility, but I did not think that they would do it. It appears that the enemy has gotten soft over the years. It is foolish of them to send a fleet into a potential battle without any information at all. Surely because of what they can see of Danzig 359, they believe us to have another super nova weapon. They should realize that if this were the case, then we would protect such a research project with all we had. A small fleet, as they put it, then seems far too inadequate. I thought that they would have waited for Solo and Skywalker to return before they attempted anything. But since I had considered this possibility, I do have a counter. Tell Oskiman that we are postponing his land invasion, and he is to instead prepare a fleet to meet the foolish fleet of the New Republic. Tell him that he may use as many ships as he wishes but we need ten Interdictor Cruisers, and ten Imperial Star Destroyers to welcome our New Republic diplomats."

"Why do we need so many ships to capture one shuttle?"

"I simply want to be sure of the capture. I've underestimated Skywalker's piloting skills before, and I've heard that Solo is better than he is." Thrawn paused. "Tell Frowinger to get one ton of pure lampium." Thrawn saw Tallon's confused reaction to this last odd request and decided to clarify. "Lampium is one of the densest metals known and has a relatively low fusion point."

"I'm sorry Admiral, but chemistry was my one weakness in the Academy."

Thrawn was impressed with this show of honesty from a high-ranking officer with regard to a weakness, and Tallon moved several notches higher in Thrawn's respect column. "All materials have a fusion point - the point at which the atoms are vibrating so fast and contain so much energy that they can no longer hold their molecular bonds together. Normally the fusion point is never reached because before the material can achieve the required temperature, it evaporates, allowing all of the molecules to dissipate, and thus reducing the pressure and, therefore, eliminating the possibility of attaining the necessary temperature. However, the Empire has conducted a series of tests in the past showing that a strong enough tractor beam can keep all of the molecules together, thus preventing depressurization due to evaporation."

Tallon nodded at this point to show that he was following. He did not feel stupid. He enjoyed learning new things and who better to learn from than the master of strategy, Admiral Thrawn. "When the fusion point is reached," Thrawn continued, "the material vaporizes into all of its molecules. This reaction, or vaporization, is displayed as a terrific explosion. When metals undergo a fusion reaction, the explosion is an incredibly bright flash, due to metals' conductive ability. Lampium is interesting because it is so dense and the molecular bonds are strong enough that during a fusion reaction of Lampium, it is not uncommon for the molecules to rip their respective atoms apart. When this occurs, it increases the size of the explosion one hundred fold."

Tallon took all of this in. "Wouldn't conventional weapons be more effective?"

"Perhaps," Thrawn admitted, "But this will put on a much better display for the people back on Coruscant." Thrawn paused to change subjects. "When are Solo and Skywalker supposed to arrive?"

"Eight days, sir."

"That gives us plenty of time. I'm sure you will inform Oskiman of all the details. I'll explain the particular use of the lampium when the time comes. Also make sure that the Dark Ring's cloaking device is fully operational." With that Thrawn strode from the room and let Tallon go about his work.

* * *

It was early morning and the sun was just appearing over the treetops of Yavin IV. Lando and Lobot were loading the Lady Luck with all of his personal belongings, plus trying to find room for Yova and Trince's stuff. All packed and done with their good-byes, the four crystal diggers boarded the Lady Luck and after a quick preflight check took off into the sky. Once the ship had cleared the atmosphere, the hyperspace jump had been calculated, entered, and executed, Lando spun his chair around to evaluate the two Jedi he had "acquired" from the Academy.

He looked them both over and then spoke. "Your Yova," he said pointing to the short stout girl, "and your Trince," he pointed to the sandy haired boy. Lando couldn't help thinking that Trince looked like a cross between Han and Luke. He was thin, sandy haired, and Force strong, yet he was at the same time independent, rugged, and Corellian. Yova on the other hand was like no one he had ever seen before. Her face was pretty, and her hair was brown, long, and braided. She was about five feet tall and just a little on the round side. "So other than your names, can you tell me anything about yourself." Silence. "Okay, I'll start. My name is Lando Calarisian. I'm from nowhere and everywhere. I was formerly a general in the New Republic, but now I just move from job to job trying to make a living." Still silence. Great, thought Lando, Luke gave me a pair of mute students.

"We can talk," Yova corrected his thought, "we were just thinking to ourselves what we should tell you."

"Why not tell me everything?"

"We'd be here for a few days," Trince said bluntly.

"You gave us the sweetened condensed version of your life in three sentences and your fifty-nine years old. I don't quite think that you told us everything," Yova reasoned. Lando agreed with Luke that she was clever.

"You will probably just want to know our special abilities and talents that can help you get your job done," Trince added. "I am more into the physical aspects of the Force and Yova is more into the non-physical, for lack of a better word, aspect of the Force."

Yova jumped in. "I seem to have a better sense of precognition. I can tell if danger is imminent, or if a certain action is likely to be proven successful. I also do very well with mind tricks and the like but I doubt that that would come in handy in a mine."

Trince continued with his bio. "I enjoy the use of the Force in work. Though anyone strong in the Force can lift a rock, I've found that through practice, I can lift countless objects and command them to do a variety of tasks at the same time. I am also highly skilled in levitation, endurance, and fighting. We are both good with a lightsaber, I was fourth in the Academy with a lightsaber behind the three Solos." Lando thought he heard a little animosity in Trince's voice when he mentioned Jacen, Jaina, and Anakin.

"There is no animosity between us," Yova said, proving the afore mentioned mind skills. "It's an inside joke." Lando would have to be careful what he thought around this one. "Yes you will," Yova said with a laugh.

* * *

Tenel Ka walked out of her quarters and looked out the window and saw the lines of hyperspace whiz by. The shuttle they had left Yavin IV in had docked inside a Hapan cruiser that had been orbiting the moon, and now they were enrout to Hapes. Leia had said that she was sick of flying in the Falcon and let Chewie fly it with the droids. She realized that upon arrival at Hapes, she would probably find that Chewie had dismantled Threepio half way through the trip, but she was willing to take that chance for a little luxury.

Tenel Ka walked into the lounge area of the cruiser and found Leia sitting across the table from Isolder. The two of them were engrossed in a game of Flamtok, an ancient Hapan strategy game. The game took years to master and Tenel Ka knew that Isolder had spent some time with it and was pretty good. So she was surprised that Leia, who couldn't have seen the game before, was winning. Tenel Ka also realized that though the game was difficult for newcomers to do well at, it helped if you could read your opponent's mind.

Tenel Ka reached out to Isolder's mind just to make sure. Every move that Isolder thought of, Leia managed to counter, often before he even played it. Isolder must have caught on to what Leia was doing because Tenel Ka found that he started to think of ridiculous moves. Leia, who knew no better, would counter them, and then Isolder would make a totally different move. Leia managed to hold her own for a little while because in order to fool Leia, Isolder couldn't think about his actual move for very long. In the end Isloder won, and Leia congratulated him on a good game. Tenel Ka thought that she was congratulating him more for defeating her mind trick then defeating a novice in a difficult game.

Leia stood and stretched. It was time for a nap. Leia noticed Tenel Ka standing there and thought that she wanted to ask Leia a question. "Why do you carry a lightsaber?" Tenel Ka asked looking at the pearl handled weapon hanging on Lea's hip.

"I was thinking of asking you the same question in reverse," Leia commented and motioned toward Tenel Ka's empty belt.

"The New Republic is supposed to promote peace," Tenel Ka continued ignoring Lea's comment, "but doesn't carrying a weapon create war?"

Leia detached her lightsaber from her belt and held it up to contemplate its role. She thought of it more as jewelry than anything else. The white handle with the inlaid pearls was very beautiful, but Leas also understood where Tenel Ka was coming from. If it was used the wrong way, it could prove to be deadly.

"You'll have to agree with me that a lightsaber is different from any other type of weapon because only one kind of people use them. This weapon symbolizes a Jedi and all that he or she stands for. Right now when most people think of Jedi, they think of the clone wars and of my brother fighting against the Empire. But there was a time before all of this when people thought of Jedi as peacekeepers. A Jedi was someone who would keep them safe from the evils that surrounded them.

"My grandfather used to tell me stories of how when he was a little boy and he couldn't get to sleep at night because of nightmares, my great-grandmother would tell him that nothing would harm him as long as the Jedi were around. My grandfather used to say that that was all he needed to hear in order to have a goodnight's sleep. Right now Luke is trying to rebuild that image, but in order for him to do that we have to first drive away the evil, so we can have a galaxy to protect. Until the Empire is truly defeated, we can only hope that someday the Jedi will once again be able to put little boys and girls to sleep by calming their fears. And it's with that same hope that I wear this lightsaber." Leia re-attached the weapon to her belt. She left Tenel Ka to think about her words, while she went to take her nap.

* * *

Han watched as the two ships descended. Luke controlled one but told Han that the other had not put on its autopilot. The ship that Luke controlled was a large diplomatic shuttle named the New Hope. The other ship was a small Planet Hopper about half the size of the Falcon. The diplomatic shuttle was just nestling smoothly onto the ground, when the Planet Hopper lurched violently. Luke almost let go of the shuttle to help the Hopper, but caught the diplomatic ship before it crashed down. The top rear thrusters and rear repulser lifts of the Hopper ignited, causing the front of the ship to pitch sharply downward. The Hopper flipped totally over and just before it crashed into the ground, the front repulsers fired on, straightening the front of the ship, and allowing the ship to set down almost as gently as Luke had set down the shuttle.

"They should give him a medal for skill, and then take him off somewhere and shoot him so he won't kill anyone," Han said after both ships had deactivated.

"From the way I'm sensing the pilot's emotions he's disappointed. Probably meaning that he didn't feel that he did the flip very well," Luke said in reply.

"Which means he lands like that all the time. I'll shoot him right now."

The hatch to the Hopper opened first and a very tall youth leaped out. He was a little over two meters tall, had brown unkempt hair, and was wearing a flight jacket with the picture of a bat emblazoned across the front. "Jon, Jon Poncho's my name and flying's my game."

"I'm Solo, which is how you'll fly if any potential passengers ever see you land, and this is Skywalker, which is what kind of pilot you are if that landing was no fluke," Han said, appraising his flying style.

Jon shook Han's hand vigorously, "Pleased to meet you General. I've read a lot about you." He turned to Luke. "A real Jedi Master, awesome. Can you levitate me off the ground?"

"I'm sorry," Luke said, "you didn't put any money in the box."

Jon looked down at the ground for a box, and noticed that he was floating off the ground. "Hey, I'm flying!" Luke made him do a complete flip and landed him on his feet. Off balanced, Jon tumbled to the ground and fell hard on his seat.

"I like the first landing better," Han said. "Don't you?"

"Oh, yes," Luke agreed. "You'd think it would be easier to land that maneuver on your feet than on a ship's tri-pilons."

"Life's full of surprise," Han concluded.

The bothers-in-law walked toward the New Hope, leaving Jon to scramble to his feet and wipe the dust off his butt. The pilot of the shuttle was now making his way down the ramp. Luke recognized his old friend. "Wedge, what are you up to these days?"

"Ah, they still got me stuck in a go-nowhere job in the military," Wedge said. "Look at me. They got me running errands for the diplomats."

"Shut up Wedge," Han said. He turned to Luke. "He's recently been promoted to Admiral."

"Admiral Antilles," Luke said, testing the name.

"It's only because you and Ackbar retired. They would have promoted you," Wedge said to Han.

"I can't help it if I know when to quit."

"Shouldn't you be with the fleet that's going to the Danzig system?"

"No, they don't use us precious Admirals on scouting missions."

"Man, I can't believe they left us out of that mission," Jon walked up behind Han and Luke, throwing in his credit's worth into the conversation.

"Who's your crazy pilot companion?" Han asked.

"This piece of work is Jon Poncho, member of the 185th squadron, and the best pilot in the New Republic."

"I shouldn't have retired," Han said.

"You would have lost the top spot," Jon cut in, "to me."

Han looked up at the tall pilot. He contemplated asking Luke if he could use his E-wing that was kept on Yavin IV to teach this cocky pilot a lesson or two. Then he remembered the landing, and he wondered who would do the teaching. But he couldn't let Jon's claim go unanswered. "I could fly you into the ground, and then I'd let Luke finish you off," Han claimed, not forgetting Luke's skill as a pilot.

Luke examined Jon's height. "What do you fly. You wouldn't fit in any X-wing or E-wing that I know of."

"The 185th is composed of three custom made W-wings. And we're the smallest and the best squadron in the fleet."

"At only three ships, your kills wouldn't be able to compare with other squadrons," Luke observed.

"Actually," Wedge corrected, "they're number one."

Han spoke up. "I've just left the fleet, but I've never heard of a W-wing before. How new is it?"

"There are only the three of them in the fleet," Wedge explained. "The other two members of the squadron, Bep Fritz and Vince Trimpo, are the ones who designed and built them. Bep is a computer genius and Vince is a superb engineer. All three of them are extremely tall; Jon is the shortest. Because of their height, each W-wing was custom made, so we don't have a universal blue print yet. Also we haven't mass-produced them yet because it takes an extremely good pilot to fly one. The ship itself, looks a lot like a 'W.' It's kind of like an X-wing with it's foils down. The cockpit is in the middle with the wings sweeping back and then forward on either side. The thing that makes it the best ship in the fleet is the fact that it has twin engines in the back, one on each point of the 'W,' that are independent, giving it a zero turning radius with an incredible amount of maneuverability."

"The weapons system that Bep programmed is incredible to," Jon pointed out. "And since the guns are positioned directly opposite the engines, you can steal power from the engines without having to go through the main power cell."

"How long can you stay?" Luke asked, changing subject abruptly and wanting to catch up on old times.

"I'm supposed to drop off this ship and then head directly back. I have to be there when Captain Biggs sends his report back on his findings in the Danzig system."

"Biggs is a captain already?" Luke asked. "His dad would have been proud."

"Well Ackbar will have my hide if I don't get back, so I got to go."

"How is that old fish doing?" Luke asked. Boy, he sure was out of the loop out here. He made a mental note to visit Coruscant when he and Han got back.

"His health's not the same it used to be. He's just a military adviser now, but he's just as feisty. Like a fish out of water."

They said a final good-bye, Wedge and Jon got on the Hopper, and within a few minutes, Han and Luke were alone standing in front of the New Hope. "It's been busy around here lately," Luke said. He hadn't realized how few ships ever visited his Academy until five ships visited in two days.

"How's the Academy going to hold up with you gone?" Han asked.

"I can leave Streen and Tionne in charge."

Han let out a deep sigh. "Well this mission isn't going to go away all by itself, so I guess we better get it over with. I still have all my stuff in a pile in my room, so I'm ready to go."

"How long is this trip in hyperspace?" Luke asked, wondering how much he should pack.

"About a week."

"That's not too long."

"Maybe not for you. You can just put yourself in a meditation for the whole trip, and it won't seem any longer than a short nap, but I've actually got to be conscious the whole time."

"I could put you in a trance," Luke offered.

"No, that's okay, I've got a lot of reading I have to do. Leia wants me to address a bunch of school kids a week after we get back."

"Are you going on a lecture tour or something?" Luke chided him.

"No, I'm not. The schools on Coruscant are going through a program where they explain to all of the little kiddies all of the many choices for careers in our galaxy. The program is called COFOC, Career Opportunities for Our Children. They present all of the careers in either a positive or a negative light, depending on how the New Republic views each career. I'm supposed to portray the life of a smuggler in a negative light. I've down-loaded the Falcon's log onto a data pad, so now I have to read it and try to remember what I actually did. It was almost thirty years ago, my memory isn't what it used to be."

"Look on the bright side, Han," Luke said. "You'll be talking to a whole generation of kids who've never heard how fast you can do the Kessel run."

"Very funny."

"The tittle of your speech can be called: 'Never Cross a Hut.'"

"Har, har. I think you're the worst thing I ever smuggled."

"Part two of your speech can be: "How to Put the Moves on High Ranking Women of Important Governments."

"Yea, well, I hear that the three weeks after my speech, they're studying how to be a fighter pilot, a Jedi Master, and a moister farmer. Gee, it looks like your month is booked." They both laughed and Luke gave up.

Luke went off to pack and to tell Streen and Tionne, the two other teachers at the Academy, that he would be leaving for about three weeks. Han went off to say good-bye to his children. He spent a little extra time with Anakin to make sure Lando hadn't had an adverse affect on him. After seeing the crystal, Han decided that he would visit Lando's mine as soon as he got the chance. Thirty minutes later, with Han and Luke aboard, the New Hope took off from Yavin IV and blasted into hyperspace toward Hastrin.

Chapter 5 "Endor"

Anakin really wanted to build his lightsaber, but he realized that he had to finish his reading first. In history class they always covered each battle or event in two ways. First they would lay down the series of events exactly as they had happened. Then they would study what part the Force had played in those events. They were now on the Force related aspects of the Battle of Endor.

Anakin was engrossed in reading about how his uncle managed to turn Darth Vader and defeat the Emperor. Anakin had never visited Endor and he really wanted to see his grandfather's grave. What peaked Anakin's curiosity the most though, was the Dark Side. He had no intentions of studying it like some other wayward students had, but Anakin was curious as to why the Dark Side of the Force was stronger than the Light Side. All of his teachers always told him that they were equal, but Anakin couldn't believe it. If they were equal then why did the Light Side always loose.

He had already studied about Yoda, and how when they went to Dathomir the Dark witches defeated him and other Jedi. He had studied about how all of the Jedi had been hunted down and killed by the Emperor and Darth Vader. He had just read about how helpless Luke had been against the Emperor. Although they had not studied past the Battle of Endor, Anakin had heard all of the stories. The story of how when Luke faced off against the leader of the Dark witches on Dathomir, she had defeated him easily. He knew that it had taken three Force strong people and his father to defeat C'boath. He also knew that when the Academy was just started the mere spirit of Exar Cuun had nearly killed Luke, and it had taken all of the students at the Academy at once to defeat Exar Cuun.

If the Light Side and the Dark Side were equal then why did the Dark Side always seem stronger? Though the Dark Side never won the final battle, the edge was always with the Dark Side. Anakin believed that the reason the Dark Side never won the final battles is because the Force wouldn't let them. In the end good had to win, it was just the way it had to be. Anakin was just concerned because even the victorious army, suffers a few casualties.

It was late and Anakin decided to let this train of thought wait until morning.

* * *

"Anakin." Anakin sat upright in bed. "Anakin Solo." Anakin could not see the source of the voice. He searched his room with the Force to see if his siblings were playing a trick on him. He found no one. "Anakin." Through his doorway walked a figure. He was encased in a soft glowing light and his body was semi-transparent. The stranger's appearance isn't what startled Anakin most though, it was the fact that this man, or whatever he was, had just walked through his doorway, but the door was still closed. Uncle Luke had told him about the times Ben Kenobi had visited him after he had died, and Anakin knew that a dead Jedi was visiting him.

Anakin searched with the Force, trying to identify his visitor. "Grandfather, is that you."

"Yes, it is me."

"Should I get my-" Anakin started.

"No, let them sleep. I am here to see you. You will become a great Jedi."

Anakin's hopes sank a little. He had thought that his long dead grandfather was visiting him for a special purpose, but he had heard this speech many times before from his uncle. "Yes, I've been told that someday-"

"That someday is very soon, my grandson," the older Anakin interrupted. "You are asking all of the right questions, but are frustrated that you are not getting the right answers."

"What is the right answer? Which is stronger, the Light or the Dark?"

"You will find that what my son has been teaching you is correct, they are both equal."

"But why-"

"You are at the same position I was many years ago. I was confronted with the same question. I came to the conclusion that the Dark Side was stronger. I had no intention of practicing the Dark Side, like you, but since I believed that the Dark Side was stronger, when Palpatine came to me I fell away quickly and easily. It is important that you discover the truth."

"Can you tell me?"

"You must find it on you own. You must go to Endor. Your teachers will say no, and so will your brother and sister, so I would not tell them. You are the strongest person in the Force in many centuries. You will have some very big responsibilities in the future. So it is very important that you find this truth. You must be careful however. The Force echoes of the fight that took place there twenty-seven years ago between your uncle, the Emperor, and myself are still strong, and you must be sure not to let the Emperor's spirit over come you."

"Will you help me?"

"I cannot help you. I have saved up my energy for many years so I could project myself to you, knowing that this time would come, and now I feel my strength fading." The elder's image to was starting to fade and flicker a little. "May the Force be with you young Anakin," he said, and his image evaporated.

For some odd reason Anakin couldn't get any sleep that night.

* * *

The next day Anakin was all fidgety in his classes. He knew that he had to wait until nighttime. There was only one ship at the Academy - Luke's E-wing. Anakin had never flown it before, but he knew that he could. He had had a magical touch ever since he was a kid and he had operated a planetary repulser that had baffled the best New Republic computer scientists. Jacen had noticed Anakin's odd behavior and his uncharacteristic energy. He was suspicious about his younger brother and went to talk to him.

The door was locked and Anakin wouldn't answer Jacen's knocks. It would take a lot more than a locked door to keep Jacen out, however. A quick prodding of the locking mechanism with the Force proved successful, and the door swung open. "The door was locked for a reason Jacen," Anakin said without looking up from his work.

Jacen walked in anyway to see what his brother was working on. Anakin was finishing his large picture globe. Jacen had seen the globes before; in fact Anakin had made Jaina and him one for their birthday. "You've seemed awful anxious today," Jacen commented. "Want to talk about it?"

"Not really," Anakin still had not looked up from his work. Anakin didn't want Jacen to see the strain on his face from keeping up the mind block. Anakin knew that he was stronger, but just like in the lightsaber battle, Jacen had more training. "Now could you please leave. I'm busy."

Jacen realized that Anakin was hiding something from him, and he couldn't break through his mind block. If it was really important, Jacen was sure that he would eventually find out. Besides, he could try tomorrow with Jaina. No matter how strong Anakin was, there was no way that he could keep out both of them.

When Jacen had left, Anakin mentally relocked the door and hoped for no more interruptions. He was going to leave tonight and it was getting late. He was almost finished with the picture globe. He would have to leave a note telling everyone where he went. They wouldn't be able to follow him. He would be taking the only ship off of the moon, and if they called Coruscant, the soonest they could get another ship would be a few days.

When night fell, Anakin gathered up a few things to put in his pack. He packed some food, a few extra sets of clothes, and all of the equipment he'd gathered for building his lightsaber. He walked over to the window and climbed out. He didn't want to leave through his door, because he would have had to walk past his sister and brother's room, and he was afraid they would notice him. He jumped out of the window and floated gently to the ground. He crept off toward the hanger where his Uncle kept the E-wing, glad that it was in the opposite direction of the rest of the dormitories.

It would have been tough to sneak past Jaina and Jacen's rooms, but to have to sneak past Streen's or Tionne's, would have been impossible. Anakin knew that there was a guard on duty. He had looked at the schedule and saw that it was a first year student. Anakin knew from experience that the student guards were always tired. When Anakin came to the guard post, he reached out carefully to touch the student's mind. He found that he was already asleep, Anakin smiled to himself and wondered if his grandfather was helping him. Anakin concentrated a little harder, sending the student into a deep sleep that he wouldn't wake from until someone roused him.

The hanger was a hundred yards from the guardhouse, and Anakin covered the distance quickly. Once inside, Anakin removed the large cloth covering the ship. Instantly the astromech droid came to life. "Shhhhh!" Anakin half yelled. Anakin had met the droid before when he had been sneaking around the hangar a couple of months ago. His Uncle had caught him then and introduced Anakin to the droid. R7-T1 was kept in stand by until Luke needed to use his ship. R7-T1 immediately recognized that Anakin was not Luke and refused to obey him.

Although Anakin was good with computers, he didn't know any Jedi mind tricks he could use to get one to calm down. He did, however, know the purpose of an astromech droid in a space ship such as this one, and he was sure that he could get by without R7-T1's help. He climbed into the cockpit and did a quick pre-flight check. This pre-flight check was different than any he had done before. Instead of checking to make sure everything was working properly, Anakin had to find out what everything did. His hands flowed over the control panel and over all of the switches. As he passed over each control, he instinctively knew what they did. After he was confident he understood what he was doing, he mentally checked that R7-T1, who was still beeping away, was secure.

Anakin began to sweat. He knew that as soon as he started the engine he would have precious little time to get away. The noise, if not the massive ripple in the Force, would wake Streen and Tionne and probably others. Anakin also knew that together, they might be able to keep him from leaving. Anakin swallowed his fears, remembering that his grandfather had told him to do this, and for that reason alone, he was sure he would succeed.

He started the engine and quickly activated the repulser lifts. Something wasn't working. The ship wasn't rising. His hands flew over all the switches, mentally rechecking each of their functions. Confident he wasn't making a mechanical error he looked out of the cockpit at the floor and saw that the ship was tied down with steel cables. He closed his eyes and concentrated all of his mental strength together and pitted it against the strength of the cables. The cables were no match, and soon the E-wing was floating two meters off the ground. He pulled the throttle back and eased the nose of the ship up as he shot out of the hanger, breaking the tranquillity of the night. Anakin was overwhelmed by the terrific speed available to him, and he spared none of it. As he shot through the atmosphere. He prepared the ship for the hyperspace jump.

Anakin knew ahead of time that there wouldn't be time to wait the thirty seconds to a minute that it would take to calculate the jump. Anakin also, however, had studied the star charts of the systems between Yavin IV and Endor. He had a photographic memory, and using the Force in a way that it had never been used before, except by Anakin, he mentally calculated the jump, entered it into the flight computer, and disappeared into hyperspace.

* * *

Streen got up from bed and moved to his window. He watched as the red light of the E-wing's engines disappeared into space. He reached out to the pilot to confirm his guess on his identity, but the ship was gone into hyperspace. He had noticed Anakin acting a little strange, and now this pre-calculated jump proved to him that it was Master Skywalker's nephew. There were no computers at the Academy capable of calculating a hyperspace jump. There had never been the need. Streen knew of only one person capable of the mental calculation. He grabbed a robe and moved out into the hallway.

Tionne was just leaving her room. "Anakin."

"I know," Streen replied. "Go back to bed. I will check it out. He walked down the long hallway and up to the third floor where the Solos' rooms were. He passed Jaina and Jacen's rooms and mentally told them to go back to sleep.

The door to Anakin's room was locked, and for the second time that day it was picked with the Force. Sitting in the middle of Anakin's bed was his finished picture globe. In it was a picture of Endor.

* * *

The Lady Luck dropped out of hyperspace a few hundred kilometers away from the asteroid. Trince looked out of the window at the hunk of rock where he and Yova would be working for a few days. It was big enough to call a moon, except that it didn't orbit around a planet. This system was void of planets. The lone star was a small one, and it had a belt of similar asteroids and meteorites closer in orbit than this lone asteroid. Lando theorized that long ago a comet had streaked into this system and collided with one of the asteroids in the belt, knocking it out into a more distant orbit.

Yova, more knowledgeable of the behavior of rocks, said that it was more likely that the comet had been crushed in between two asteroids. The momentum of the comet had then carried the satellite into a greater orbital pattern. However it had happened, Lando was only concerned with the remains of the crystallized comet.

They approached the air shield, and Trince could make out some structures on the surface of the asteroid. He could see two large oxygen generators, some large digging equipment, a communications tower, the mouth of a cave, and some other shacks that could be for housing. After passing through the air shield, they landed and disembarked.

The visible population of the mine seemed minuscule. Other than themselves, Lobot, and Lando, and the two Jedi could only see three people coming out to meet them, and they could sense another two people inside. Lando walked ahead to greet the three miners and then came back to introduce them to Yova and Trince.

"Yova and Trince meet Dexter, Jim, and Mansenchin," Lando introduced them. "Dexter is our geologist, Jim is our mechanic, and Mansenchin is just here for the manual labor aspect of the job, though he is a pretty good cook.

The two Jedi shook hands with the three men and mentally sized them up. Mansenchin was the most physically imposing of the three, standing half a head under two meters and weighing close to 100 kilograms. Jim was a bit on the thin side and wore glasses, not a common practice. There were many medical procedures that could eliminate the need for such a bothersome piece of attire. Dexter was a handsome dark-skinned man who looked a lot like Lando. Trince thought about asking if they were related but decided to pass on the question.

"Are you the only female here?" Trince asked Yova mentally.

"No," she replied in the same telepathic manner. "I sense another woman inside one of those buildings."

Lando turned back to the students. "I'll take you inside and you can meet Jalence and Herta."

Lando moved toward the communication tower. The Jedi followed him and they entered a small building at the base of the tower. Inside two people were hunkered over a panel of about fifty different switches. "Herta and Jalence are married and they are our communications and computer specialists. Herta turned away from her job and smiled at the Jedi.

With introductions out of the way, Lando thought that he should show Trince and Yova the mining sight. The Jedi agreed, and they started toward the mouth of a cave Trince had seen when they landed. There was a small wooden shed at the entrance to the cave, and Lando disappeared inside briefly. He emerged carrying three flashlights.

"What do we need those for?" Trince asked.

"So you can see what the problems are down there," Lando replied as if it were obvious.

"If the problems were visible to the eye, then you wouldn't need us, would you?" Yova reasoned, but she took a flashlight for Lando's sake.

Trince still refused, but he unhooked his lightsaber from his belt and ignited it. The three of them of them moved ahead into the cave, Trince and Yova walking side by side at point, with Lando pulling up the rear.

They walked at a steady pace for about ten minutes when Yova pulled up suddenly. Lando had been pointing his flashlight in the other direction and almost ran into the short Strotton. "What is it?" Lando asked excitedly.

A pause. "We don't know," said Trince. "The flashlights won't tell us."

Another pause. "We will come back here later." Yova brushed some of her hair away from her face. She was straining as if to hear a quiet sound. "I do sense something, though. A signal."

"A signal?" Lando asked. "From what to whom?"

"From here," Trince said, finding the signal too. "To anywhere."

Yova blinked her self out of her trance. "It is some sort of radio beacon. Your people should try to find it on their instruments. They should probably record it and try to discern some kind of repetitive pattern."

Trince who was still sensing it spoke up. "It definitely repeats itself."

Lando was confused. "What is it for?"

Trince broke himself away from his trance and turned to face Lando. "Who ever set up these traps, has them sending a signal. When the signal stops, the Empire knows that someone has either broken in, or brought the mine down. Either way it will tell the Empire that we are here, and if there is important enough information down there for them to set up these kind of traps, then they'll come running."

Lando understood now. "But if we record the signal, jam this signal, and loop the recording, then the Empire will never know that we're here."

"Yea," Yova agreed, "something like that."

"I'll have my people start on it as soon as we get back."

With that, the troop turned around and headed back to the surface.

Chapter 6 "A Need for Concern"

The Hapan shuttle descended smoothly from the sky and came to rest gently on the concrete landing pad. A large group of citizens were crowded around the landing area, and were held back by velvet ropes. Several of the Hapan dignitaries were present. When the King and Queen of the Hapes government descended from the ship, everyone became silent and went to their knees. Next out came Leia, and she was also greeted with great respect. None, though, got the respect that Tenel Ka received as she exited the ship. Streamers flew into the air and shouts of "The princess has come back home to stay" rang out from everyone present. One of the dignitaries carried a beautiful robe and put it on Tenel Ka. Afterwards he took a knee in front of her, keeping his eyes averted from her face. Tenel Ka granted him pardon, and he rose and walked behind Tenel Ka as she moved through the procession.

The entire display was one of wealth, with gifts being distributed freely to all of the arrivals. Anyone who was watching couldn't help feel a sense of awe at the whole display, almost anyone that is. On the hillside next to the landing site someone watched the entire display impassively. If someone had seen her there they would have noticed something unusual about her eyes. As they focused on the party two hundred meters away, they made a slight whirring noise. And if anyone could have looked through those eyes they would have noticed immediately that they were no ordinary eyes. The micro-binocular effect of the eyes allowed the impassive observer to count the number of eyelashes on each of the people below. Also if anyone had seen her they would not help but notice that the observer looked remarkably like one of those people below. In fact that person would undoubtably confuse the two people.

Unfortunately for the observer someone had seen her. From further up the hill a man called out. "Hey, you! You can't be here." The guard hopped down the slope of the steep hill to the still unmoving trespasser. With the arrival of Princess Tenel Ka, security was tight, and they couldn't afford any terrorism. As the guard stood directly over the unknown person, she turned to face him. "Uh, I'm sorry Princess Leia, " he stuttered. "I thought you were down there with," his eyes looked down toward the procession. That was all she was waiting for. With one quick motion the human replica droid's hand shot up and broke the unsuspecting guard's neck before he even knew he was in danger. The HRD hid the body in the grass.

Laya was pleased that the guard had been so completely fooled by her appearance. She was told that Dr. Kendel was good; now she knew how good. The transmitter on the guard's belt chirped. "Number #2, report. Have you confronted the trespasser yet?"

Laya reached for the transmitter. "Negative sir," Laya replied in a perfect mimic of the guard's voice. "I was mistaken. There is no trespasser here."

"Then what did you see?"

Laya glanced around and saw a fox scamper through the tall grass. "It was a fox, sir."

The voice on the other end seemed to contemplate this for a while. "It must have been a big fox."

"It was sir."

"Okay, but be more careful."

"Sorry sir. It won't happen again." Laya looked at the dead guard's nametag. "Drumand out."

Laya quickly went off after the fox. The fox looked up from the sent it was tracking. It saw Laya coming in fast, but it was too late. One chop to the neck from Laya's powerful arm rendered the fox lifeless. She took the fox back to where the fallen guard lay. Laya ripped apart the fox's jaw and placed the lower and upper halves on opposite sides of Drumand's neck. She pressed them together hard and twisted. She pulled the mangled maw away from Drumand's neck. Huge fang marks were visible and the ripping twist she had made could easily account for the guard's broken neck.

"A very big fox," Laya said to herself. She used some of the fox's blood to messy up the scene a little. Then she went off to hide the fox. After she had buried the remains of the dead animal, she visited a nearby stream to wash off the blood. She paused over the smooth flowing water to examine her reflection. Her face was an identical copy of Lea's. Laya had awoken just a week previous in Dr. Kendel's lab. Admiral Thrawn had been there, and he had given her implicit instructions. Her ship had only arrived yesterday and she had not yet begun her work, but now that her inferior counter part had arrived, the fun could begin.

* * *

The sun rose to illuminate the Academy, finding that some of its occupants were already awake.

"Where did he go?" Jacen asked anxiously.

Streen had not let anyone else into the room because he didn't want to disturb all of the emotional echoes that remained there. "He went to Endor."

"Endor?!" Jaina screamed. "Uncle Lu-, uh Master Skywalker said never to go there, at least not until we were ready."

"Anakin isn't ready," Jacen pronounced. "He hasn't even built a lightsaber yet."

"I wouldn't be so quick to judge your brother," Streen admonished him.

"Why did he go to Endor?" Jaina asked, her original concern still present.

"I do not know, though I do believe that there is more involved here than the simple whim of a teenage boy. Tionne and I will meditate on it."

"Jaina and I can do it," Jacen claimed.

Streen looked at him, feeling a lesson needed to be taught. "Jacen you have to learn humility. Your are the Academy's best swordsman. You have advanced the furthest in your studies, and are probably the overall most qualified Jedi Knight, but you have to learn that you are not the infallible person you think you are. You are not invincible. I would not care to pit my lightsaber skills against yours, but I fear that someday you will walk into something that you are not ready for.

"Tionne and I will meditate in Anakin's room and will try to discern his reason for fleeing. If we cannot find it then you will not try. Is that understood?"

Jacen nodded though his over eagerness was not fully quelled.

* * *

Tionne and Streen walked into Anakin's room, and Streen sealed the room with the Force.

"Do you think that you were a little hard on him?" Tionne asked.

"No. I think it had to be done, but I'm afraid it won't do any good until he fails. And I am afraid that that failure will come soon." They sat on Anakin's bed with the globe of Endor between them. "When you feel a revelation, say it out loud so the other person can feed off of the observation."

They both closed their eyes and thought of Anakin. Almost immediately Tionne spoke. "He had a vision. Two nights ago."

"Not a vision, but a visitor," Streen corrected. "Concentrate on that visitor."

They sat unmoving for half an hour. "I can only gather that a visitor came through Anakin's emotion, I can feel nothing from the visitor," Tionne said half giving up.

"I agree that the visitor's image comes from Anakin. He has not thought of the visitor's name on purpose so that we could not identify him. Search how Anakin feels about this visitor."

An hour passed. "Love!" screamed Tionne, jolting both of them out of their trance. "He loved his visitor."

"The strongest of all emotions," Streen observed. "If this visitor influenced Anakin's trip, then I do not fear for Anakin's safety."

They got up from the bed and for the first time realized how long they had been meditating. "Why could we not feel the presence of his visitor?" Tionne asked. "Does that mean that his visitor had no Force strength?"

Streen shrugged. "Either no Force strength, or he possessed Force strength great enough to mask his presence. I cannot be sure. I have never encountered that phenomenon before."

The two teachers left the room to be immediately pounced on by the twins.

"He is safe," Streen said, and he walked past them. Tionne said nothing.

* * *

Jacen and Jaina were walking through the woods. Neither of them spoke but they both knew where their walk would eventually take them. After an hour of plodding they came to a small clearing where a spaceship almost as big as the Millennium Falcon stood. It was shaped a lot like a disk. The back of the disk was flat and covered with thrusters. The front curved around to form a circular disk, but in the exact middle of the front, the cockpit protruded, ruining the smooth curve. There were laser cannons mounted on both sides of the ship and gunnery spots on both the top and bottom of the center of the disk. There were torpedo tubes located underneath and in back of the cockpit.

Upon closer inspection, one could tell that the outside part of the disk looked suspiciously like a collection of TIE fighter and TIE bomber pods cut in half and welded together. Also the top and bottom of the disk resembled an assortment of S-foils and solar panels. The cockpit looked like two A-wing cockpits welded together. The torpedo tubes definitely looked like they belonged on a Y-wing. And the laser cannons seemed like they'd be more comfortable at the tips of the wings of an X-wing. Jacen and Jaina liked where all the pieces were though, and they could only apologize to the long dead pilots of the previous ships for cannibalizing the parts.

After the twins had stumbled on a crashed TIE fighter many years ago and Jaina had gotten it to fly, the twins had always wondered if there might be more wreckage on the moon from the battle against the first Death Star. They were hesitant at first, fearing that they might find more Imperial pilots as well as ships. When they had found that first TIE fighter it had come fully loaded with a pilot. But soon their fear of finding another enemy pilot was overcome by the possibility of finding a friendly one.

Jacen, Jaina, and Lowbacca searched the moon for many kilometers in each direction. They found no more pilots, living at least, but they did find a treasure-trobe of ships. Lowbacca's love for working with computers and machines was rivaled only by Jaina's love for the same. Together the two of them began to construct a makeshift spacecraft. Jacen, who knew little of computers, was designated the part finder. Jaina, and Lowbacca occasionally looked for parts, but it was mainly Jacen's job. Cries of "I need another solar panel" or "I'm out of power couplings," sent Jacen into action.

His ability to communicate with animals proved very useful. If it was a large piece, Jacen would ask a large bird to keep its eyes open for it. If however, the bird came back to say that it found it, it would be Jacen's job to go get it. Jacen didn't want to take advantage of the animals and use them for physical labor, especially when he had the Force and could move large objects with ease. Over the course of the last seven years they had gathered parts, but only in the last few had the ship they were building began to take shape. It had been Jacen's job to give the craft a name, and he had appropriately named it the Scavenger.

As the twins approached the ship they wondered what their dad would think of it. Their father always took grief about his ship, the Falcon. People said that it looked like a piece of junk, but next to this ship it would probably look like a work of art. A loud banging noise came from within the ship. Jaina raced toward it to identify the intruder, but Jacen held back. "It's Lowbacca," he said to calm his sister.

Jaina stopped. She hadn't even considered using the Force to identify Lowbacca. That, she knew, was the big difference between them. Jacen followed his sister to the ship, knowing that she worked off aggression and anxiety by fussing with the Scavenger. Jacen figured that with the current situation involving Anakin, Jaina would be down here for a couple weeks.

The ship had flown already and was pretty fast. They had even tested the hyperdrive successfully. Jacen hadn't doubted that the ship would fly. Everything that Jaina and Lowbacca built always worked. Jacen chalked this up as another victory for the Force. They worked with the Force, and it was never wrong.

Some how they had managed to keep this ship a secret from the rest of the Academy except Tenel Ka. They had even, to their belief, kept Master Skywalker in the dark.

Jacen and Jaina had initially thought to go after their brother, but they realized that they would simply be breaking a trust with Streen if they left. Also they knew that it was a test for them to accept Streen's words that Anakin would be safe. For now they would just half to wait.

Chapter 7 "First Strike"

"How's the speech coming." Luke walked out of his room into the main lounge area of the large shuttle.

Han glanced at his watch and saw that it was ten minutes until they dropped out of hyperspace and arrived at Hastrin. "I've decided to give my speech to Threepio and have him read it. No one will ever want to be a smuggler again."

Luke laughed. "I wouldn't be too sure of that. Have you ever heard some of Threepio's sound effects? Kids really go in for that kind of stuff. He might create a new breed of Solo wanna-be smugglers."

The two of them went into the cockpit to watch the hyperspace count down. As the ticker got under a minute Han spoke up. "So what kind of escort do you think we'll get?" Luke didn't answer but stared straight ahead. "Hey, kid," Han said using a term he knew Luke hated. "I asked what kind of escort do you think we'll get?"

"They're waiting for us," Luke said gravely.

"Of course they are. We told them when we'd be coming." But Han had caught Luke's tone of voice. "What do you mean?"

"I've got a bad feeling about this," Luke added, remaining vague and stealing Han's line.

"What do you want me to do?" The hyperspace count down had reached ten seconds. "We either pull out now or plow through Hastrin in hyperspace, and I know I have a bad feeling about that." Receiving no advice from Luke, Han eased the hyperspace throttle forward. The starlines disappeared, but instead of Hastrin filling their forward view, they were staring down the turbo lasers of ten Imperial star destroyers. "Well," Han gulped, "I think this confirms your feeling."

"Escape?"

"I'm sorry," Han said as he looked down at the ship's sensor display. "I count about ten interdictor cruisers moving into position behind us."

"Well Han, it's been fun."

"Hey, don't go giving up on me already. They haven't shot us down yet, maybe they just want to chat."

Luke gave Han a ridiculous look. Han ignored the look and flipped on the shuttle's communicator. "Excuse me, big scary looking Imperial Star Destroyers, but we have an appointment on Hastrin, and you are detaining us."

"Perhaps you would allow us to take you down personally," a voice responded.

"Who am I talking to?" Han asked the faceless voice.

"This is Commander Snotzenexer, and I believe you are General Solo."

"Now that we have those tedious introductions out of the way, will you let us pass."

"They've locked a tractor beam on us," Luke said, interrupting Han's conversation.

"And Snotzenexer had seemed like such a nice guy for a while," Han said with sarcastic remorse. "Do you know any tricks to get us free from the tractor beam?"

"Several," Luke said. "I can get us free from this tractor beam in a flash, but then you have to out-fly the ten Star Destroyers and all of their TIE squadrons in a diplomatic shuttle that has, may I remind you, no weapons."

"So we let them real us in?"

"They could have blown us right out of the sky as soon as we left hyperspace. They obviously want us taken alive."

"Good," Han said, "I always did prefer a public execution over getting atomized in space."

The tractor beam didn't pull them toward the ship but sent them toward the planet. Once they got within Hastrin's atmosphere, Luke felt the tractor beam let go. "We're free. They let go." The ship shuddered. "Never mind. Now the planet has us."

The New Hope was pulled toward a mountain range. As they neared, Han and Luke could make out their destination. A landing spot was cut out of the side of the mountain and was covered with storm troopers. "I had a streak going of about seven years without seeing that awful white armor," Han said. "I hate breaking that record."

The ship settled down on the ramp. "Can you put them all to sleep or something?" Han asked hopefully.

"Yes, but after the first five people started nodding off, I'm sure the other fifty-five would come in firing. I don't have a way to knock them all out at once."

"Couldn't you get real mad and shoot lightning at them?"

Luke frowned. "Don't even joke about it Han. I say we just go with the flow. If we try to escape we'll get shot down and probably killed, but if we go with them, it appears that they want to keep us alive."

Han shrugged and activated the exit ramp. As they approached the outside, Han reached for his blaster. Luke put a hand on his arm. "Let's not come out shooting. A gun in the holster is twice as dangerous as a gun in the hand. When you have it in your hand, all your cards are on the table."

They walked slowly down the ramp. When their feet became visible to the storm troopers, all of the trooper's rifles came up ready. Han and Luke were soon standing in front of about sixty armed rifles. "Can you tell what setting they're on?" Han asked under his breath.

"Maximum stun," Luke replied mentally.

A turbo lift binged, and the doors opened. Captain Tallon appeared with five other stormtroopers. He walked to the edge of the ring of stormtroopers. He smiled as he looked at the hopelessly outnumbered Rebels. "Disarm and cuff them," Tallon ordered.

Four storm troopers got up and moved toward the pair. "Don't move," Luke said again mentally. "I'll handle this." The first two men came up with large wrist shackles. They locked them over Han and Luke's wrists. As they stepped away. Both pair of cuffs unlocked and fell off.

Knowing what Luke did, Han smiled. "You have some pretty incompetent storm troopers here, Captain. They teach cuffing in the first year of the academy."

Not to be made fools of, the two storm troopers hastily retrieved the fallen cuffs and reattached them. They were soon on the ground again. "We remain uncuffed," Luke said mater-of-factly.

The next two storm troopers tried to remove Han's blaster, and Luke's lightsaber. Each stormtrooper grabbed onto his respective weapon and pulled, but neither weapon would budge. "Pull really hard," Han mocked, "I think it's stuck."

Suddenly both weapons came free and the storm troopers went flying backwards. As soon as the storm troopers hit the ground, the weapons came free from their hands and back to their appropriate owner. "We also remain armed."

Tallon's look had turned to one of disgust. "Stun them!"

Five storm troopers fired. A flash of light came from Luke as he drew his lightsaber, deflected the bolts back at the storm troopers, and replaced his lightsaber on his belt, deactivated. The five storm troopers who had fired lay motionless on the ground. "We remain conscious."

Tallon had to at least smirk at Luke's defiance. "Okay, but you must come with me, because I do not think that you will be able to deflect sixty bolts at once."

Han and Luke moved toward the Captain, Luke remaining alert and Han relaxing, trusting his friend. They entered the turbo lift with the Captain and five other storm troopers. It was a big turbo lift. "Where are we going?" Han asked as the lift whisked them down.

"You will see," Tallon said secretively.

"You wouldn't by any chance be taking us to see the Hastrin representatives?" Han asked hopefully. "We're here on a purely diplomatic mission."

Tallon smirked, but didn't respond.

Suddenly Luke stiffened. A sense of darkness was creeping over him. "No!" he yelled. His lightsaber leapt into his hand, and with a snap-hiss, his blade cut a hole in the top of the lift. He bent at the knees and used what little Force he could still feel to propel him upward as he jumped.

The move from Luke was fast and unexpected, but Tallon had lightening quick reflexes and managed to grab Luke's ankle as it past through the hole in the lift. Luke's momentum carried Tallon up into the remaining ceiling of the lift, but Tallon held on. Luke's upward momentum was destroyed and he felt a popping sound in his hip. He came crashing back down into the lift. As soon as he hit the floor, two troopers pined him down. Tallon used his height to retrieve the lightsaber from the top of the lift where Luke had dropped it. Luke tried to call the lightsaber to his hand but the darkness was complete. Luke looked over toward Han and saw that he was pinned up against the side of the lift by the remaining three storm troopers.

Tallon deactivated Luke's weapon and leaned down into Luke's face. "Ysalamiri are wonderful creatures, don't you think?" Luke realized what had happened, but had little time to contemplate it. He felt a sharp prick in the side of his neck, and was soon greeted with an entirely different type of darkness. A few moments later Han too joined Luke in darkness.

* * *

Captain Biggs paced the deck of his Calamarian Cruiser methodically. He was unsure of what he'd find in the Danzig system. He didn't like jumping into situations he was uninformed about. He checked his fleet status again to try to give himself some measure of confidence. His small fleet consisted of two other Calamarian Cruisers, four Assault Frigates, and three Carriers containing six squadrons, four X-wing and two E-wing. It wasn't a huge fleet but it should be able to stand up to anything that the Empire had. That is if their information was accurate.

Biggs checked the hyperspace chronometer again. Still another thirty minutes. They were scheduled to drop out of hyperspace on the far side of the system on the idea that any base would probably be far away from the unstable Danzig 359. Biggs didn't want his men to see him this anxious, but he couldn't help it. In all of his other missions he had served under a General or an Admiral. This was sort of his initiation mission. The one in which is prowess would be tested, and the one that future promotions would depend on.

Biggs was starting to go back to his cabin to wait out the rest of the flight when the entire ship shuddered violently. Biggs was almost thrown to the floor. "What was that?" he shouted at the nearest officer. Biggs could here the noise of the hyperdrive engines whining under stress. Suddenly the hyperdrive engines copped out completely.

"Sir, I believe that we just ran into an interdiction field," a young officer said from his post.

"What about our Bakuran Interdiction Breakers?"

"The BIB's appear to have failed, sir. I believe that this interdiction field is too strong. All of the other ships have now left hyperspace too."

"Where are . . ." Biggs' voice trailed off as he looked out the window to answer his own question. They were approaching the Dark Ring.

* * *

Commander Skeener looked out of window at the pitifully small fleet in front of him. He loved being in command of the invincible Dark Ring. He could never fail. To fail meant to die. Lack of failure not only helped ones life expectancy, but it usually meant promotion when the people above you failed. "Commence strategy Nova," he ordered his officer's. This was going to be fun to watch.

* * *

"General," a lieutenant approached Oskiman. "The New Republic fleet has arrived, and Commander Skeener has started Nova."

Oskiman nodded, and the lieutenant scurried off to his duties. The general's fleet was on the other side of the Dark Ring, waiting. Waiting to crush the New Republic.

* * *

In the bowels of Coruscant Wedge received the information from a junior officer. "Admiral, we just lost contact with Biggs' fleet."

"Where?"

"They were on schedule to pass by Danzig 359, when their signal disappeared."

Wedge ran over to a communicator. He punched in a number and waited for a response. "What is the status of Danzig 359?"

On the other end of the line Ransig, a senior science officer complied by punching up the star on his computer. Out in space on a New Republic satellite, a powerful telescope whirred and groaned as it turned toward its assigned target and began to focus. Ransig heard of the status of the fleet from the Admiral, and a few seconds later a dim blur appeared on his screen. He tried to pretend that he could see each tiny ship. Then he realized that their closest satellite was a little over two days away at light speed. This satellite picture told him nothing of the stars present condition.

"What could cause us to lose contact with the fleet?" Wedge asked.

Ransig thought for a while. "If the star has progressed in its decay further than we had thought, then it's possible that the supper dense star could be producing a natural interdiction field and be jamming their signal. If that's the case, then all they'll have to do is turn around and change course. We should be regaining contact with them in within the hour."

* * *

Biggs stared at the monstrosity in front of him. "Someone tell me what we're looking at."

"Unknown sir," someone finally managed to muster. "It seems to be a huge wall in space."

"Is it jamming us?"

"Affirmative sir."

"They're firing!"

* * *

Commander Skeener watched as the beam of intense heat lanced away from the Dark Ring and connected with the lump of lampium. The metal turned to liquid almost immediately. The tractor beam was holding it in place nicely. "Increase power to tractor beam and be ready to raise the cloaking device on my command." The temperature readings on the lampium were approaching astronomical levels, which was exactly where they had to be. All of the solar panels on the inside of the Dark Ring had flipped and had become reflecting mirrors. They were all adjusted to reflect the sun's energy to one point on the inside of the Dark Ring. The massive energy was then focused through a huge crystal and aimed toward the lampium.

Skeener poised the command on his lips as he watched the temperature reading. The increase was becoming larger and larger as the pressure grew exponentially. "Engage cloaking device," he said, "and cover your eyes." The Dark Ring became transparent and a fraction of a second later the lampium exploded.

* * *

In front of him the Dark Ring disappeared, which was the signal that Oskiman had been waiting. From his position on the Doomsday Hammer, General Oskiman gave the command for his fleet of twenty Imperial class Star Destroyers and one hundred Victory class Star Destroyers to race around the star to crush the New Republic.

* * *

The incredible flash of vaporized lampium temporarily blinded all of the New Republic officers. "Sir we have lost all shields. What ever that flash was, it did an awful lot of damage."

Biggs wished he could pull back. Just turn away and run. That's when he saw the ships coming.

* * *

"Report," Skeener barked.

"All of the New Republic ships' shields are down, sir. Our power is almost fully drained. Unless we flip the mirrors back to solar panels we won't be able to fire."

"Decloak, and flip the mirrors. Don't worry about firing. That's what the General's fleet is for."

* * *

Oskiman's Super Star Destroyer was the first one around the star, and it wasted no time getting in range of the first Assault Frigate. The Assault Frigate had no shields and exploded in a matter of seconds. Oskiman realized that the size of his fleet was over kill, but better over kill than underkill.

An Imperial Star Destroyer took out a Carrier before it unloaded its fighters. The other two Carriers quickly unloaded and were then promptly blown to pieces. Thousands of TIE's were launched at once and the remaining four squadrons of New Republic fighters were snuffed out before all of them could even make radio contact with one another.

* * *

Biggs watched it all unfold before him. There was nothing he could do. There was no battle maneuver, he was aware of, that a Calamarian Cruiser, with her shields down, could perform against a Super Star Destroyer. He looked around at his crew and wished he could have gotten to know them better. He knew that they trusted him, and he knew that none of them blamed him for this. He also knew that the story that every officer dreams of dying in battle, was a lie. He had never dreamed of this, and this was certainly no battle. To his knowledge, not one of the New Republic ships had fired a shot. He would have kept on thinking these thoughts, but about then the Doomsday Hammer decided to recognize the cruiser's existence by ending it.

Chapter 8 "Second Strike"

Lando, Trince, and Yova stood in the same place they had the day previous. This time only Lando had a flashlight, and he was fast realizing its uselessness. Trince again had his lightsaber out, and Lando saw that the dim glow of the Jedi weapon was doing more to aid the search than all five hundred watts of his flashlight. Lando would have turned it off if it wasn't for the fact that he didn't care to stub his toe on the occasional rock. They were still hesitating at the same point when Lando spoke. "Can you sense anything different than before?"

Yova answered by cautiously walking forward. Trince knew that this was Yova's strength and he fell in line behind her. Lando realized that he was far too impatient for this slow plodding along, and he took up the rear.

The group rounded a corner, and the gradual slope downward evened off. As they completed the turn, Yova held up. "What is it?" Lando asked eagerly. He looked ahead to see why she had stopped. They were standing in front of a low archway about the size of a double door. Beyond the doorway was a large cavern. The open room was a square of about fifteen meters on each side. The ceiling was three meters high. It looked artificial, but Lando couldn't see any traps. "I still don't see-" he started.

Yova bent over and grabbed a hand full of the powdery dirt at their feet. She tossed it into the room and used the Force to stir it up. About one hundred different red trip beams zigzagged across the entire expanse of the room. "It will take us weeks to find a safe route through that mess," Lando complained.

The dust was starting to settle and Trince mixed it up again so they could see every inch of every beam. While Trince was studying the array of red, Yova was studying the archway. She reached up the side of the doorway. Her hand moved as if it were following some hidden track. Trince saw what she was doing and backed up to give her room. Her hand stopped at about eye-level. She struck the rock sharply with the heel of her palm, and a section of the rock slid away revealing a keypad.

Yova paused with her hand over the numbers. "Have your people found the signal coming from down here yet?"

Lando nodded. "Found, recorded, jammed, and being resent."

Yova closed her eyes, her hand hovering over the keypad. She suddenly opened her eyes and pressed a flurry of numbers, paused, and then pressed some more. When she was finished she stepped back. Lando watched as red beams flickered off one by one.

"I'd love to see what was projecting those beams out of solid rock." Lando pushed past the two Jedi and rushed into the room.

"Lando, no!" Yova yelled, but it was too late. Lando stepped on the cavern floor and found to his utter surprise that the floor wasn't there. He screamed as he plummeted down. As he flipped in the air, he could see that the bottom of the pit was covered with stalagmites. He rushed toward them with terrific speed, and then suddenly stopped, only centimeters from the tallest spike.

"I've got you!" Trince screamed. "Are you okay?"

Lando's voice finally came back to him and he squeaked a "yes."

"Don't make any sudden movements and you should be all right." Lando started to slowly rise. The deadly spikes got further and further away, and Lando realized just how far he had fallen and how little of a chance he would have had to survive the fall if Trince hadn't caught him. He glanced up and saw he was right underneath the false ceiling of the deadly pit. He passed right through the ceiling and found himself back in the room he had intended on entering.

Trince floated him over to the hard ground, and Lando saw Yova pressing more buttons. The holo floor of the cavern disappeared as she pressed the last button. There was still a narrow ledge that worked its way around the room, but Lando gestured for one of the Jedi to go first. Trince walked out on to the narrow ledge and moved to the first spot that a beam had come from. He reached his hand into the wall, and it passed through just like Lando had through the floor. He felt cold metal and his hand probed further. It seemed to be a small globe about the size of his head. He found a pressure point, and he was able to remove the globe from the wall. As it passed through the fake wall, it began beeping furiously.

Trince prodded it on all sides with the Force and felt a slot open at the bottom. He flipped the globe over in his hands, saw a digital display change from nine to eight, and knew he was in trouble. "Move!" he shouted and flung the globe back down the tunnel they had come. Lando and Yova dove to the side as the globe shot by through the spot that they had just occupied. Trince grabbed hold of the globe with the Force and increased its speed. He could sense the timer: six, five, . . . He filled himself as full as he knew how with the Force and funneled that power into the small sphere. The silver projectile rocketed up the corridor, sparking of the walls as Trince guided it around curves. Three, two, . . . It shot out of the cave like a ball from a cannon, and in the last two seconds, it flew four kilometers up before turning into an enormous yellow flower of fire.

Trince relaxed and all of his muscles went limp from the release of strain. He sat down on the ledge and let his feet hang over the edge of the pit. This task would not be as easy as he had thought.

* * *

Leia let the water run through her hair. The warm shower was just what the doctor had ordered. Leia could feel the cramps from the days in hyperspace ease out of her limbs as the steam caressed her body. She turned off the water, and as she reached out of the stall for a towel, she yawned deeply. She was more tired from the trip than she had thought. As she scrubbed her wet hair with the towel she almost fell forward, catching herself at the last second and yawning again. She needed a strong cup of tea. She had been invited to a dinner tonight to honor Tenel Ka's return, and she planned on attending.

After tying her hair up in the towel and putting a robe on, she moved to the kitchen of the luxury suite she had been given. Chewie and the droids had been given another room right next to hers. When she reached the kitchen, she found that she had walked half of the trip with her eyes closed. She opened them and shook her head trying to rattle the sleep out. She used the Force to make herself alert, and that helped a little. She got a mug and held it under the hot water dispenser. As the water overflowed from the mug and burned her hand she was startled awake. She pulled the cup out of the dispenser, automatically turning off the water. She brought the mug up to her mouth and burned herself again.

What was she doing, she scolded herself. This water's to hot, plus there's no tea in it. She was definitely in no shape for the dinner tonight. She used the Force to keep her semi awake while she sent an apology to Tenel Ka for her absence. She managed to make it to her room conscious, but she collapsed onto her bed and fell fast asleep before she could change.

* * *

Tenel Ka frowned slightly when she read the message. She didn't know Leia very well, but she knew that she was an exceptional diplomat and very familiar with other races cultures. Tenel Ka tried to trust Lea's judgment. She guessed that it was better for Leia to be absent than for her to fall asleep in a plate full of steamed framguad.

* * *

Laya smiled slightly when she read the message. She was glad the knock out potion had worked so well. She was afraid that putting it in the shower pipes would dilute it too much, but it had worked fine. It wouldn't have been good if Leia had simply fainted in the shower. Then suspicions of foul play would arise. This was perfect.

Laya moved away from her computer. Her line tapping skills had also been perfect. The Hapan security department didn't have a clue that she had broken in and had access to all of the rooms in the hotel.

Laya got dressed in something she had seen Leia wear yesterday and had then stolen. She picked up the lightsaber from the table and put it on. The weapon was designed to match Lea's exactly. She moved out of her space ship that was hidden well in a small forest.

Laya soon walked into town. She was wearing a hooded cloak and a veil, a common practice among Hapan women. Even if she walked around unveiled, she wouldn't get any strange looks. Men tended not to look women in the face, and other women didn't talk to strangers. Plus Leia was well known and the few women who noticed her would not think that her presence would be that odd. She walked to the far side of city, where there wasn't much traffic.

There were many unmarked, classified buildings in this section of the city. Laya knew which building she wanted and she made her toward it. Not having the Force skills that her twin had, she had to be extra cautious not to be noticed now. She moved to one of the outside doors. It was locked, but the lock was not designed to stand up against the strength of an HRD. She entered through the broken door and closed it quietly behind her.

Laya made her way up the stairs to the third floor. She noticed the panning security cameras and made sure to keep out of their view. She glanced around the corner and saw her destination. A steel door. A lone armed guard stood in front of it. If Laya was a living organism, she would have taken a deep breath before she marched around the corner; she wasn't, so she didn't.

"Hey you there st-" was all the surprised guard was able to say as Laya strode quickly up to him. His voice gurgled over with blood when Laya reached him. She withdrew her hand from inside his chest after she was quite sure he was dead. She examined her steel fingernails, and praised her makers for such a magnificent weapon.

The steel door ahead of her was quite past the level of her strength. She detached the lightsaber from her belt and ignited it. She had the programming of many great sword fighters, but she didn't need any of that knowledge now. She hacked at the door, cutting away a large hole. She deactivated the weapon and returned it to her belt.

Laya knew that somewhere alarms were going off and she had to be quick. She threw a small canister in through the door and waited for the vault to fill with smoke. Satisfied, she ran in through the hole. She was surrounded by beautiful jewelry in glass cases. Picking a few of the more valuable items, she broke the glass and ripped them away from their respective cases.

Time was running short. She only had a few minutes left before this place was swarming with guards. Confident that she had left enough clues for the slow-witted Hapans, yet at the same time confident that she had not been too obvious, she ran out of the vault through the hole in the door. She raced back through the building with faster than human speed. She left through the same door she had entered and quietly slipped off into the night.

* * *

Chief Sangrine looked at the dead body and then at the door. Who had done this? The door had been made of high-grade steel, yet it looked like it had been cut through like soft bread. The dead guard at his feet had been killed before he could even draw his weapon. The wound in his chest looked like it could have come from a large knife.

"Sir, you better look at this," another officer called him away from the grizzly scene to look at a computer screen. "This is the recording that our cameras were able to capture of the robbery." An image of an undamaged vault appeared on the screen. "The intruder threw some kind of smoke bomb in to attempt to thwart our cameras." The smoke that still lingered around the scene told Sangrine that much. Soon the screen showed a figure moving within the vault. The smoke allowed for only a hazy outline of the felon. The gender was not even discernible. Something caught Sangrine's eye as the intruder turned suddenly inside the vault.

"Replay those last few seconds," he ordered. The image on the screen fuzzed as it rewound, then cleared as it began to play again. "Pause it right there." As the intruder turned, their cloak flew outward and something else became horizontal due to the centrifugal force. "What is that?" he asked pointing at the cylindrical object that hung from the criminal's belt. It was about thirty centimeters long and not very wide.

The other officer shrugged and called another officer over to have a look. "What do you make of that?" he said, pointing toward it.

"Yea," he said as though a memory popped into his head, "I saw something that looked like that yesterday when the Princess came home. One of the women she was with was wearing one."

"What is it?" asked Sangrine angrily. He didn't like to repeat himself.

"I think someone called it a lightsaber."

* * *

Leia woke up and stretched. That nap had been very refreshing. She glanced at her chronometer and saw that it was morning. She had been tired. She got up and noticed that she was still in a bathrobe. She tried to remember the previous night but it was all a blur. She moved to her closet to find some clothes to wear.

There was a loud knock on the door. Leia was not dressed for visitors, but she expected that it was Chewie coming to find out where she had been last night. Chewie was the only one that Leia knew of who would knock that hard. She walked to the door. Before she could reach it, the door crashed down and armed men stormed in.

Leia was taken totally by surprise. She tried to race over to communicator to call security, but she realized that these men were from security. "What's going on?" she managed as they swarmed around her.

"Your under arrest Leia Organa Solo."

"Arrest?" Leia wondered if she was still asleep and dreaming.

"You will remain silent." Rough hands grabbed her and cuffed her. She tried to speak but somebody had slapped some kind of collar on her and she couldn't get her voice box to function properly.

Mentally she called out to Chewie. Moments later her hairy protector burst into the room. Chewie took one look at Leia, cuffed and in her bathrobe, and went berserk. Security men were thrown left and right. "Stun him! Stun him!" Finally someone managed to shock Chewie into unconsciousness.

Bound and captured, Leia was escorted out of her room and down the hallway. Threepio stuck his head out of the door to see what all the commotion was. "Oh, dear. What has the Princess done?" he asked.

"Leia Organa Solo is under arrest for suspected murder and robbery."

"Oh my. This is bad."

* * *

Ransig, Wedge and several other officers stood in front of the computer screen. It had been two days since they had lost contact with Biggs' fleet, and they had not regained contact. They now stood there transfixed, determined to get an answer. They were just about to leave when it happened. Danzig 359 grew to its original brightness and then burst into a flare so bright that the computer screen turned off momentarily to protect itself from burnout. When it flipped back on, Ransig and the others were still seeing spots but they could make out the last few embers of the sun, and then it disappeared completely.

"Admiral," Ransig said gravely, "Two days ago Danzig 359 went nova. Anything that was within five hundred million kilometers is now gone. If the fleet got ripped out of hyperspace it would have killed their hyperspace engines. They wouldn't have been able to reenter hyperspace for at least an hour afterwards. It is also possible that they were flying by when the sun blew, either way, the outcome is still the same."

Wedge didn't need Ransig to spell it out for him. He knew that Biggs and a lot of good soldiers were never coming home.