The Force Within
Authors note: I love Star Wars and I thought it was time to make a story in the galaxy far, far away. Now the storyline I am using is also the storyline to a comic book I am writing and I hope you all love it.
I own nothing.
Chapter 1: The force is strong with them.
Aboard one of the carriers of The Rebel Alliance was Able, a Mandalorian pilot who was preparing his Y-Wing for the upcoming battle. They were going to go to the forest moon of Endor. As Able takes a breath while preparing, a droid rolls over to him and beeps to get his attention. Able looks over to the droid,
"Don't Worry, R-6. We'll be all right. We've been through a lot. I don't think one more battle is going to change it."
"That's the spirit little brother. As long as I'm here, the empire has a lot to worry about." Able felt himself in a playful headlock and looked to see his older brother, Ronin
"Ronin, come on. We're not kids anymore. Besides if you don't let go I'm telling mom," Able said. Ronin let go of Able's head and said,
"Alright you win you big cry baby. This is going to be it, little brother. This is where the empire falls."
"We can only hope big brother. I only hope that the force is with us."
"The force? I don't know about that. We got skill on our side," Ronin said with confidence. Another droid rolls up, looking very similar to the famed R2-D2 with an inverted color scheme, and expresses its thoughts through the similar beeps.
"Yes R-7. We have good droids too. Now what do you say? Let's show the empire what we are made of."
"You got it, big brother." The loud speaker turned on and captured everyone's attention,
"Attention all fighters! We are preparing for the jump to hyperspace. Please enter your ships and prepare for battle!" Ronin and Able look at each other and swing each other's arm and clasp each other's hand like they were arm wrestling. Ronin says,
"Remember little brother, no matter what happens I'll always have your back."
"And I got yours." With that the two boarded their respective ships, Able in his Y Wing and Ronin in his X Wing.
The Rebel Alliance had just reached the orbit of the forest moon of Endor. Ronin and Able flew amongst their allies ready for anything. Able talked to his brother through the intercom,
"Ronin… Does something not feel right to you?"
"Yeah, I feel it too. Be on your guard." General Lando's voice sounded both their ships,
"Break off the attack! The shield is still up! Pull up! All crafts pull up!" Hearing this both Ronin and Able turn their ships away from the Death Star. Ronin says in anger,
"Of course the empire wouldn't make something like this so easy."
"Ronin, we got fighters coming in!" Able yelled.
"Then let's show them what we are made of!"
"You got it!" Both brothers maneuvered between the TIE fighters and fired their blasters at them. When Ronin hit one he would cheer, the adrenaline pumping strongly through him. Able wouldn't make too much noise, just quickly focusing to destroy his next target. A massive explosion caught their eye and they saw that the Death Star was operational.
"Able, what should we do?"
"Why are you asking me?!"
"Cause you're always the smart one!" Able thought for a moment and then had an idea,
"We go after those Star Destroyers."
"That's crazy! I love it!" Ronin called out,
"They will never see it coming!" Both Ronin and Able turn their ships onto a nearby Star Destroyer and other fighters joined them in their effort. The Star Destroyer quickly turned its blasters to fire on them. Ronin and Able avoided the lasers coming towards them while their fellow fighters weren't so lucky. As Able saw his fellow pilots fall he couldn't help but say,
"They saw it coming!"
"Well they won't see this!" Ronin exclaimed. He looked at the four remaining pilots.
"You two with me we'll draw their fire! The other two stay with Able, you're going to make sure those bombers turn that destroyer into dust."
Able silently agreed with his brother and said to the pilots,
"Alright men you heard him, move out! Bombers follow my bombing formation, hit where I hit and it just might work!"
"What makes you think it'll work?" one of the pilots said fearfully.
"I trust my feelings; that's all I need." Able said to calm the pilot.
Able began bombing the center of the destroyer and other bombers started to follow him. Meanwhile Ronin and the other were drawing the fire of the destroyer, but that wasn't the only thing they had to worry about, TIE fighters were coming in to attack them. He takes out two turrets before a swarm of TIE fighters crested over the top of the star destroyer.
"Damn," Ronin said, "the rest of you keep attacking the guns; I'll draw the fighters away from us."
"Ronin, there are too many and they are too fast," one of the other fighters said over his com link.
"But I'm faster."
Ronin breaks off from the squadron and leads the TIE fighters away, dodging blasts as he went. The one closest to him starts to gain before it gets blasted by a crossing TIE fighter. He continues to outmaneuver them and lead them into dangerous parts of the battle, leaving only one fighter behind him.
The last remaining TIE fighter comes up behind him and hits his X-wing with a blast, rocking the ship. Ronin's ship is almost locked in the fighter's targeting system when Ronin drops his ship down sharply, leading the pursuing TIE fighter right into the side of the star destroyer.
Ronin meets up with Able.
"Ronin," Abel said. "We managed to damage most of the star destroyer. We need you to place one of your proton torpedoes into the opening into the hull. One blast there and the ship will turn to dust."
"My targeting computer is fried," Ronin said. "I'm going to have to do this the hard way."
Ronin turned back toward the star destroyer and began making his accent towards the opening in hull. He checked the diagnostics on his ship, seeing he only had one proton torpedo left. He dodged the blast from the last of the turrets. He puts a finger on the button to fire and the whole ship shut down. Ronin looked around, pressed some buttons, and slammed his fist on the controls.
"You've got to be kidding me," Ronin said. "R7, what can you do to fix this piece of junk?"
R7 beeped.
"Well, we'd better find a way then."
Ronin took a deep breath, put his hand on the controls, and listened to the silence of his cockpit.
Suddenly, the x-wing came back to life, lighting up and firing the final proton torpedo. Ronin turned the ship around and zoomed away from the explosion behind him.
"Great shot, Ronin," Abel said. "That was one in a million."
"It was all R7," Ronin said. "I don't know what happened back there, but I'm glad to be alive."
All of the sudden the pilots hear on their radios,
"The shields are down! Commence attack on the death star's main reactor!" Ronin says,
"What do you say little brother? Want to go for it?"
"You know it!" Able responds in good spirits. Ronin cheers,
"Today is a good day!" Ronin and Able take off towards the Millennium Falcon, which was leading the charge. They followed the Falcon and the fighters into the heart of the death star maneuvering through the vast labyrinth. Imperial fighters followed after them and Ronin and Able soon knew something was wrong,
"We are in the kill box! They'll pick us off one by one!"
"So we split up! Put our piloting skills to work!" Able responded.
"I'll take the high road, you take the low road, and we'll meet in the middle."
"That sounds like a plan!" Able said before they both slit up veering in opposite directions. Able moved in and out of the metal structures while dodging the interceptors' blasters with ease. He's confident that nothing can stop him, until one of the interceptors managed to land a hit on one of his engines. Able started to panic,
"No, no, no, no. R-6 get this thing working again!" R-6 beeped in response and quickly got to work; but there wasn't enough time. Able could see himself losing speed; he wouldn't survive at this rate. He forced himself to calm down and took a deep breath,
"The force is with me," he put his hand of the controls,
"The force is with me." Able concentrated on the destroyed engine. The engine slowly came back online, hiccupping at first, but then coming in on full blast. R-6 beeped in response. Able responded,
"That's all the time we will need. Now let's move!" Able makes his ship turn to the side and just makes it through a narrow passage way. The interceptors following him try the same thing but fail. Their wings scrape along the edge of the narrow passage way and they blow up from the impact of jamming. On the other side of the passageway Able's fighter makes it through. Able pulls out and finds himself floating outside of the Death Star.
"R-6 call Ronin. … Ronin, I didn't make it."
"Neither did I little brother," came Ronin's reply on the radio.
"Where are you?" Able asked.
"Look behind you." Able looks behind him and see's Ronin's X wing flying towards him. Able asked,
"What should we do? We got to get back in there!"
"Not with your damaged engine. I'll go back in and you cover me." Ronin said but noticed explosions coming from within the Death Star. A giant tower of fire spurted from the shaft and just a head of it was the Millennium Falcon. Both brothers cheered.
"They did it!" Able yelled out.
"You're damn right they did! Now let's go and celebrate!" Ronin called out in joy.
That night on the moon of Endor, everybody celebrated in the Ewoks' tree top village. Drinks were passed around and everyone was making merry. Ronin and Able stood next to each other, a little drunk, and happily retelling their battle to the ladies that stood around them.
"So there we were, I had to deliver the final shot into the star destroyer. When all the sudden my X wing dies on me! I thought I was dead in the water! But then it just comes back to life I fired my proton torpedoes and BAM! That destroyer turned to dust!" Ronin boasted. Able continued the story,
"That's an awesome story but you have to hear mine! We're flying through the Death Star and then we split up so that those interceptors don't hit us. During the run, one of the interceptors hits my engine. I'm losing speed and fast, I'm begging R-6 to fix it but it wasn't enough. All of the sudden I said 'The force is with me' over and over. The next thing I know, my engine kicks back into gear and I fly right out of there." The girls cheered happily and chatted among each other recounting the story that was just told. Able leaned into Ronin and whispered,
"So Ronin, which one do you want, the blonde or brunette?"
"Well, if you weren't here I would have both."
"Ronin don't be selfish."
"Alright I'll take the blonde."
"Thank you." Both Ronin and Able were about to go ask their respective choices out when they were stopped. They looked over to see none other than Luke Skywalker standing there. Luke spoke,
"Do you mind if I could speak to the two of you privately. It would only take a moment." Ronin and Able looked surprised and glanced at each other. Able huddles towards Ronin and excitedly whispers first,
"Luke Skywalker wants to talk to us. One of the greatest heroes the rebellion has ever known."
"I know he probably wants to know about our piloting skills. He'll probably ask us to join an elite Republic commando unit and weed out the rest of the empire. I say we take it." Ronin whispered just as excited.
"We shouldn't take his offer until we know what it is," Able warned.
"Your right. I just got excited. Sorry," Ronin responded but still excited. Both brothers turned around and said with an air of dignity,
"We would be honored to Master Skywalker." Luke motions with his hand,
"Follow me." Luke leads them a little ways from the party, just enough to still see some of the lights but far enough to not be heard by others. Luke spoke first,
"I couldn't help but overhear your stories. So tell me about yourselves." Ronin speaks first,
"There is not much to tell really. We're Mandalorians raised from birth to be warriors. We joined the rebellion not too long after the battle of Yavin 4. We felt that joining the rebellion was the honorable thing to do compare to the empire. They slaughter the innocent and they bring dishonor to true warriors like us." Able continued,
"Our father taught us that if you encounter someone who fights dishonorably you must fight back with honor." Luke looked a little impressed and knew what had to be done.
"What will the two of you do after the empire is gone and the war over?" Luke asked.
"We never really thought about it until now, we always thought that we die fighting the empire. What will we do then Ronin?" Abel said coming to the realization of the inevitable.
"I guess we'll just find another war to fight. Another cause and maybe we'll die like warriors." Ronin said coming to the same realization that Able had as well.
Seeing the way these two men looked trying to find purpose in something new, Luke asked them this question,
"What do the two of you know about the force?"
"The force is an energy field created by all living things." Ronin said as if he is just remembering something he heard.
"It surrounds us and penetrates us. It binds the universe together." Able said as if he was speaking from the heart.
"Anyone else would have fought for the empire because it would have been the easy choice. But you two choose to fight for the rebellion because you wanted to part of something bigger than yourselves. Being this close to the two of you I sense that the force is strong in both of you. I going to start the new Jedi order and would like for the two of you to join me."
"Of course, I'd love to be a Jedi." Able said with excitement.
"Me, a Jedi? I think you might have the wrong guy." Ronin said.
"Ronin, all our lives we knew we were meant for more than what was expected. We have a chance to do just that. You have more potential than anyone I know and you will be a great Jedi. If you are going to back down, then that doesn't sound like my big brother to me." Able said to show his support and hope to Ronin.
Ronin was moved by his brother's words and realized that he was right. If he were to put his mind to it he would make a great Jedi.
"Alright where do we start?" Ronin said to Luke.
"We look for others like us and find a place to call home." Luke said.
Ronin and Able now realized that they have taken their first steps into a much larger world.
To Be Continued.
