Disclaimer: Most of these ideas belong to George Lucas and anyone else involved in the creation of Star Wars. I do not mean any copyright infringement, as this is a non-profit fan made story intended to be shared as fan enthusiasm. Enjoy, potential readers.


A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away…

A hyperdrive malfunction landed former Jedi Initiate Ashara Dorne on the planet Earth, where she discovered a collection of discs known as Star Wars, that explain the future of the entire galaxy.

Summer Montanari, a Force Sensitive individual, has unknowingly alerted the Galactic Empire of the planet's existence. Ashara races against time to finish a prototype ship that can get her back to the galaxy. Jedi Hunters and the Empire's top engineers work together to reach a seemingly impossible destination.

Now a dark presence lurks above the planet, dangerously close to discovering Earth's force sensitives, and the information that could potentially keep the Republic from returning forever. . . .

Sith Inquisitor Razim Mashow smirked to himself as his custom tie-fighter emerged from the wormhole. The Scientist had been a genius: reversing the polarity of a star caused a rupture in matter that allowed him to gain access to a network of tunnels that led to systems across the universe. Eventually the Empire could begin using this technology to conquer other galaxies, but for now…the dark side was leading him to the disturbance.

He observed the system he'd emerged in. The sun was a class Esk, not the largest, but it was impressive considering that the gravity field had roped in at least nine planets. And the third planet from the sun...he could feel the Force surrounding that planet as if it was an old friend. He could only imagine the amount of Force Sensitives there, all with potential waiting to be used. His Master would definitely find it an abundant source of energy, perhaps enough to allow him to challenge the Emperor himself.

Razim glanced at his holocommunicator, and frowned. As long as he was here, he was definitely out of range. He couldn't send any coordinates, or report on his discovery. He would have to work individually. It was no matter, as that planet was seriously technologically inept. They would never stand a chance.

"Scout the system for potential bases near the target!" he barked into the communicator, his teeth nashing against each other with excitement.

Yes...it was a great day for the Empire.


"I know that it's important, but it's not important to me!" Summer groaned.

Alice sighed. "Summer, you're my best friend! This is a chance to dress up, to talk to people!"

"I'm an introvert!" Summer argued. "I'm fine with talking to you, but…you know I gave up on dances since that incident in middle school. I'm not going to start now!"

Alice was silent for a moment. "Ms. Gallwood is going to be there…" she bribed. "You could always strike up a conversation with her.

Ms. Gallwood was Summer's favorite teacher, and one that Summer could relate to. She was smart enough to have skipped several grades, finishing school when she was only 15. Yet she decided to become a teacher instead of something that got higher pay. Summer hoped she could become like her one day. She was sixteen already, but she was in senior year. She could accomplish more than some of her classmates ever would think possible of.

"I don't know…" she started, though the idea of being able to commune with Ms. Gallwood, who was always willing to talk to her, was appealing to her.

"You could wear your Padme Amidala replica," Alice was smirking. "It's fancy enough to wear to a formal event. You won't be able to wear your headpiece, but…"

Summer sighed, opening her mouth to respond.

And that was how her best friend-her best friend-had talked her into going to prom. With Star Wars. One day, she was going to get over her long term obsession so that things like this didn't happen. But...not now. She liked it too much.

She examined herself in the mirror. She had worn her yellow Padme Amidala replica, as she said she would. Alice had managed to wrangle her unnaturally unruly hair until it had become smooth enough to put in a bun. How she had done that, Summer had no idea. Her mother had even stepped in, and bought her a pair of high heels to wear. Summer plotted to bring a bag with flats so that she wouldn't have sore feet by the end of the night. She'd even had to ditch her glasses for contacts, which she felt like clawing her eyes out.

The girl in the mirror wasn't her.

Alice came fumbling out of the bathroom with a bang.

"Mrs. Montanari was right!" she ranted excitedly. "Putting these colors together is a brilliant idea!" At least she hadn't been dolled up as much as Alice, who wore her lavender dress and aquamarine jewelry like she was born to do it. Her friend was definitely prettier than her.

"You look great, Alice." she said, giving a smile.

Alice beamed at her. "I knew there was a reason I kept you around." she teased. Alice suddenly gave her a hug. "You look beautiful, my friend."

When they pulled back, Summer stared at her.

"You seem...conflicted. Like you're sad and happy at the same time."

Alice's eyes wettened. "It's just...this is the last high school dance we get to go to! And you're coming with me! It's…"

"Unimaginable?"

"Yes!"

Summer smiled slightly. "I'm glad you're happy, Alice." She fumbled around and found a tissue. "Wipe those tears before you ruin your makeup. The dance is going to start soon, and I don't think you have time to redo it."

Alice scowled at her. "Right. Tease me about my makeup habits."

Summer laughed. "You haven't ever cared before."

Alice hit her on the arm, but the corners of her mouth had tipped upwards.

After a short car trip, and some sappy conversation from her parents, she was staring at the entrance of the dance.

"Good luck, sweetheart." said her mother.

Her father did his traditional "Have fun, il mio piccolo." (He had an italian background, hence the name Montanari.)*

Alice was already ahead of her (she loved to dance). She hastily called out for her to wait, but she didn't think Alice heard her. She sighed. Time to go catch a friend.

She was glad she found Alice when she did, because it appeared that in her haste to get inside, she had run into Ian Hartthorn.

"Hello, Alice." he smirked. "As lovely as ever, I see." his eyes ran over her figure, than over Summer's.

"Ah, the brainy firefighter." he repeated the dreaded nickname (while it didn't seem that bad, its origins weren't her brightest moment.) "Who knew you could be so…" he inhaled. "Tantalizing. Did miss Alice over here lend you perfume?"

He grasped Alice by the arm, swinging her around until she couldn't escape.

"Let me go!" she snarled.

"I don't think so." he said, holding her more tightly. "It's been so long since I kissed you, babe." Summer signed something to her, and Alice suddenly grinned. Ian frowned.

"What did you just do?" Ian was suspicious, but was too thick to recognize that she'd just used American Sign Language.

"This!" Alice said on que, trodding on his foot.

"Agh!" Ian yelped. Alice dashed forward.

"Leave us alone." Summer told him firmly.

"Who knew you could be so feisty." muttered Ian, a grin coming on his face. Something told her that he was up to something. She groaned. If events kept progressing like this, another incident like the last dance would happen. This was why she didn't want to come in the first place.

She couldn't find Ms. Gallwood immediately when she entered the carefully decorated gym, and distractedly handed her ticket to one of the Student Council reps in front of her. She turned to Alice once they'd been admitted.

"You okay?" she asked.

Alice was a remarkably strong person, which was one of the reasons Summer thought kept them friends. "Yeah...just give me a second. Jerk ex-boyfriends, and all that."

Ian was now harassing the McKinley twins, who didn't seem to know any better than to flirt back at him. She felt bad for them. No one else here seemed to realize that if the Women-Belong-In-The-Kitchen charade was a physical group, Ian would be one of the leaders. It was how Alice had become such a good friend. At first they'd been enemies: it was to be expected. Alice was one of the most popular girls in the school, Summer was the school freak show. She also believed that Ian was a good guy that would respect her in a relationship. She believed he loved her, and that she loved him. Ian broke her heart, and Summer had been the one to pick up the pieces.

"Ian doesn't understand what love is." Summer told her. "You'll find someone who does one day."

Alice hugged her. "Thank you, my friend." Her face was remarkably composed. "Now. Let's find a dancing partner for you, shall we? You need romance just as much as I do!"

Summer turned beat red, cursing her red hair inwardly for the thousandth time. "But I-"

Alice giggled, waving over the head of the robotics club, who'd been eying them nervously. Summer groaned, but didn't want to embarrass poor Charlie.

Halfway through the first dance, she finally spotted her. "Hey, Ms. Gallwood is over there!" she told the boy. "Do you want to go talk to her?"

He was startled at being addressed, but was able to reply. "Sure, why not? After the dance, I mean. There's only a minute left in the song."

She nodded. "Alright." This was going to be a long minute, but Charlie was nice to her and deserved at least some attention. She had promised him a dance, and she was determined to always keep her promises.

As the last notes of Carrie Underwood's voice blared out through the speakers, she and Charlie flocked over to their science teacher.

"Hello, Mister Cabell. Miss Montanari." Ms. Gallwood greeted them with kind eyes and a smile. "What brings you here?"

"The dance." I groan. "That dance with Charlie here was the most interesting thing thats happened. I hate social parties."

Charlie laughed. "Ah. I was beginning to think that I was alone in this." He glanced at where Alice was dancing with the basketball captain. "Do you think...do you think Alice would spare me a dance?"

He was embarrassed, Summer noted. "Well, I'm sure that I can talk to her about it."

That's nice of him. She thought. It would be good for Alice to make at least another true friend.

"Your boredom is noted." said Ms. Gallwood, her expression turning amused. "Though, you can accomplish many things just by being present."

Summer grinned. There was always a lesson with Ms. Gallwood. "What will we accomplish?"

"Oh…" Ms. Gallwood gave her a smile. "You could change someone's life. Give them a reason to stop pretending to be someone they're not." she nodded to some girls who were squabbling over their makeup and clothes and laughing at the athletic boys doing poses for them. "So many people, so many masks…"

She stared longingly at them.

The words were out of Summer's mouth before she realized what she was about to say. "You want to make a difference in other people's lives. You want to prove to other people that there is more to life than we know. You want…"

Summer never knew that Ms. Gallwood's eyes could be so haunted when she turned back to her. "You're sad." she said finally. "And you're frustrated that no one knows why."

"How did you know that?" Ms. Gallwood finally said after electronic Micheal Jackson had sung a few verses.

Summer didn't know what to say. "I...just thought it was the right thing to say…" She turned away, her thoughts racing. Things like that always happened, but she didn't know why. It was so...infuriating. She abhorred not being able to understand why she felt things at certain times, why she could tell how people were feeling. Her parents had told her that she had a gift, and that she could use it for good. But it also seemed to bring up topics that were hard for people to talk about.

"E-excuse me." she muttered to Charlie and the teacher. "I'm going to get some water."

Ms. Gallwood looked like she wanted to say something, but thought against it.

She immediately regretted her decision when someone grabbed her arm. Perhaps it was one of Alice's friends, or maybe Alice herself, but when she turned, she blanched.

It was Ian.

"Let go of me!" she yelled, looking around. They were in an empty hallway. No witnesses. That probably had been Ian's plan all along.

"Now, now, sweetheart!" he smirked at her. "That's not any way to treat your love, is it?"

"Leave. Me. Alone." she huffed out. Ian didn't listen. Before she knew what she was doing, there was a sound of skin against skin. Ian stumbled backwards, clutching his cheek as if it had been stung. He stared at her, launching himself forward. She rose her hands, and then…Ian was thrown backwards into the wall by some unseen force.

"W-what?" Summer muttered. She scurried forward. "Ian? Are you alright?"

He'd been knocked out. A trickle of blood oozed from under his hair. She launched herself backwards, horrified. Ian was a jerk, but she didn't want to see him hurt like that! And somehow...she'd been the one to do it...but how?

Trembling, she stood up. "Help! Someone! Over here!"

A horde of teachers rushed out of the gym.

"Good grief, what happened?"

"Mr. Hartthorn, I need you to open your eyes."

"Did you do this, Miss Montanari?"

"I-" Summer didn't know what to say. Ms. Gallwood was out there as well, a strange look on her usually cheerful face. "I don't…"

She couldn't take it anymore. She turned, and ran.