Prologue
Forget everything you ever read in the Expanded Universe books. Now, It has been approximately three years since Luke Skywalker, last of the old Jedi Knights and first of the new. The hated and oppressive Emperor Palpatine is dead and gone (no clones!). Now lets review the basics. Darth Vader, Sith Lord and Luke Skywalker's father, was redeemed back to the light side of the Force by his son, who refused Palpatine's offer to turn to the Dark Side of the Force (giving in to anger and hate, for those of you who don't already know that). He's dead now, so that doesn't matter, just reminding you that it's probably still a touchy subject for our unfortunate hero (hey, wouldn't you be scarred for life if you found out your long lost father was a Congressman? Sorry, didn't mean to scare you, just trying to get some relating in here). Anyway. There are many who would LOVE the job of Emperor, but the highest-ups, Ranash and Vespash, aren't going for simply anyone. They are searching for someone in particular, but there aren't even any believable rumors as to who. So while all the warlords, evil organizatioins, etc. lick their wounds from the fall of the Emperor, all the governments slowly collapse into chaos (like they weren't chaotic already).

NOTE: Keep in mind that this was written mainly before Ep I came out, and I had the idea before I knew much about Star Wars or had read ANY expanded universe. Any name, situation, etc., that is the same as in published SW stuff is entirly coincidental. Ex: Shadow Chaser is the name of a ship in the Exp Universe, but I didn't realize this until later, and the name fits too well to change it.


It was a blistering hot day on the slave farm of Sermithia. Each slave had a job to do. Jessi Hamilton, Namuhu Artanik, and Lethia To'othu were gathering the tolani plants for weaving. Jessi squinted in the bright sunlight as she walked towards the fields with her fiends. She was a female human of about 11 years of age, sturdily built, and had fair skin. She wore her long blond hair in a ponytail tied up by a rag, and wore the same clothes all the rest of the slaves wore: a one-piece white garment tied at the waist. Namuhu was the eldest of the three, a human around 18, with long dark hair and light brown skin. Lethia was around the same age as Jessi. She was a humanoid or unknown origin with long, braided, orange-brown hair and light blue skin.
The girls did not talk as their bare feet moved them silently away through the open area where the slaves ate breakfast, kicking up clouds of dust rising and lodging in throats and cloathing on this dry day. They walked side-by-side, large, crude, woven tolani baskets in hand, the tall tan stalks of the tolani plants growing ever closer. Upon entering the field, Namuhu parted the ridged cylindrical vegetation aside and led them into a stiff sea of tan that swallowed them from view. They knew this quite well and used it to their full advantage, glad that brighter dye was not used in thier clothing. Each paused, eyes and ears straining for signs of other slaves or overseers. Namuhu nodded, and they sat in the dust among the plants.
Jessi grabbed a few stalks and began the process of stripping the coarse outer layer off the flexible core, her sharp gray-blue eyes on the lookout for intruders. Namuhu and Lethia did the same.
"It will be hot today," Namuhu observed in her soft voice.
"It's always hot here," retorted Jessi with a grim laugh.
Lethia sighed. "Tell us a story Namuhu."
Namuhu glanced around, and then began. "Once Capulu told me this story." Capulu was the rebel soldier Namuhu had the honor of working with for a short time. "One time the Empire decided to build an invincible space station. They called it-"
"The Death Star!" said Jessi, her eyes sparkling.
"Uh, yes. Anyway, nothing could so much as dent this giant. It was the ultimate battle station. The rebel fleet did not seem to stand a chance. But they found a weak spot- a seemingly impossible to hit tunnel that led to the main reactor. They sent a fleet, of which most here destroyed before the run was finished. But one young pilot, Luke Skywalker" -cheers from Jessi and Lethia- "flew straight and true. He shot the torpedoes straight into the tunnel, blowing up the seemingly invincible battle station in one brilliant explosion. This is what Capulu told me. Believe it, for it is true."
Jessi's gray-blue and Lethia's violet eyes shone with delight.
"Wow," breathed Jessi. She stood up and held a stalk high in the air. "Someday…"
Lethia rolled her eyes. "There she goes again…"
"Someday I'm gonna fly away from this dump and I'm gonna be a famous pilot. And them I'm going to find this Luke Skywalker and travel with-"
She was cut short by the crack of a whip.
"That's five lashes, slave brat!" shouted the overseer. Jessi lowered her eyes and started to humbly get back to work. As soon as he left, however, she got up and rolled her eyes.
"Oh big deal, five lashes."
"Jessi," Namuhu pleaded, "we go through this nearly every day. The master looks down on us for this." Jessi sighed and bent back over her work.
As sundown, all the slaves came back to the main section for dinner. The overseer had no trouble finding Jessi, who always showed up on time for lashings. Each slave was whipped in turn by being tied face down to a log and given the number of lashings he/she were to get. Sometimes more, if they did not grovel.
Jessi bravely lay still on the log, and shot a grin at the crowd of on looking slaves. Some grinned back nervously, other scowled.
They bound her hands and feet with coarse rope and tied them to the log. She waited, staring straight ahead. Then came the sting of the whip- one, two, three, four, five, six times. Her back burned intensely, and tears formed in the corners of her eyes. They released her and shoved her roughly aside. She quickly brushed away the tears as if she was swatting a fly. As she started to walk away something hit her shoulder. It was Let'cha, one of the meanest boys in the slave farm. He had short dark hair and his dark eyes stuck out on his pale green face. He had black lips and pointed teeth, giving him a menacing look. He enjoyed picking on Jessi and her friends.
"How many did you get today, brat?" he snarled.
"Less then you, bantha fodder," Jessi shot back.
"Do you wanna fight, Hutt-brained nerfherder?"
She looked at him, and at his cronies beside him, and clenched her fists. "Let's go. We'll see who the loser is."
Just then the Master came out and blew the horn. "All right, all of you, it's time to finish the new hut. Everyone to section 4!"
Jessi looked one last time at Let'cha, then left him scowling at her to seek out her friends. The trio then headed to section 4, where pulleys and ropes awaited. The slaves all grabbed hold of a rope and pulled. The tree sided of a slave hut slowly rose off the ground to the old Sermithian chant of Ton! Lon! Om'ba shon! After much pulling, the walls finally met at a point at the top and the older slaves put sealing mixtures along the sides. The door had been previously cut, and there were no windows in a slave hut.
By this time, the suns had set and it was growing dark. The exhausted slaves lined up to receive their end of the day rations and go to their huts.


Shooting through the starry vaccuum unknowingly toward Sermithia was a small starship. It contained only two passengers, both looking intently at the controls.
"What happened?" inquired a shadowed young man in a black tunic, his piercing blue eyes calmly scanning the flashing warning lights.
"You don't know? Well, I don't either," came the voice of a young woman through a tan-colored cloak wrapped around her. Her worried green eyes were the only part of her face showing. "Whatever it was must have been loose before, since we pulled out of hyperspace so fast." She tugged nervously on her short golden hair.
"Good thing we did. Look, there's a small planet in our path. Did you know it was there when you switched to hyperspace?"
Suddenly all kinds of warning lights flashed across the control panel.
"Irlida aka," groaned the woman.
"Head towards that planet. It looks suitable for a crash landing."
"Crash landing? Oh no."
The male raised an eyeborw at the hesitant copilot. "Nakita-"
"Yes, sir. Right away," she sighed. She locked in the coordinates of the planet for future reference, and maneuvered the ship manually. The figure in the black tunic took the copilot's seat and braced himself while Nakita struggled with the controls.
"Ung… I don't like this," she exclaimed as the ship started to bump around. The noise of warnings blared. "It's getting harder to control. I've lost one- no, two engines. There is something loose on the right wing. We're now entering the planet's atmosphere and losing altitude rapidly. If we're lucky we'll land in that clearing." She tugged at the controls and the ship reluctantly turned towards said clearing. Then came a sputtering noise, and something smelled of smoke.
"I've lost all engines, and something is burning!" She looked towards the figure in the copilot's seat. "A little help would be nice, sir!" she pleaded.
"I was waiting for you to ask," he answered, and grabbed the controls. The ship, however, refused to cooperate. It sped towards the clearing on crazy angle; smoke filling the cockpit and the throats of the pilots, choking them. Lower and lower it dropped, both people fighting madly with the stubborn controls, sweat dripping down their foreheads. The smoke filled the cockpit so that even in those close quarters neither of them could see the other. Just as the ship was about to crash into the planet's surface it jerked to a very sudden stop, flinging both figures forward. Then it dropped suddenly, to hit the ground a few feet below. There was a loud bang and both people threw themselves out of the burning wreck and lay gasping and choking on the grass.
After some time, the woman spoke.
"Thank you sir."
"N-no problem," he replied shakily.
"Oh, you're hurt!" There was a deep gash running down his cheek.
"Really, I-I'm fine."
"I'll get you some sterilizer bandages."
"They were burned in the ship."
"Oh. Now what?"
"We find life."
"On this desert? It's covered with jagged rocks! We were lucky to find this clearing."
"Do you have a better idea?" he gave her an annoyed look.
"No sir."
They walked and walked, finding nothing. Then, finally, a small dot appeared on the horizon.
"Look Nakita, over there."
"I see it. Is there life?"
"Yyyyyes…" the man answered, unsure.
"Oh! Let's go."
They hurried towards the tiny dot in the distance. It grew steadily closer, until they arrived at a fairly large hut. The door was open, so they walked in.
A big man in a fine robe greeted them.
"Greetings, travelers! How may I help you?"
"Where are we?"
"This is the Sermithian slave farm. We sell the finest, healthiest, most educated slaves around."
"Sermithia," muttered the young man thoughtfully, making a mental note to label the planet when they got back to the ship. Then he caught himself and remembered that there was not ship.
"Would you like to buy a slave?"
"We crashed on this planet. We were wondering if you could help us."
The man looked a bit angry.
"How about this- you buy a slave, and I'll give you food and shelter while you're here."
"And a ride out of here."
"Deal. What are your names, travelers?"
"We wish to remain anonymous."
Oh, some sort of outlaws, huh?" the big man asked, his humor restored.
"Er-"
"Never mind, friend, the slaves are out back. Go take a look around. Do whatever you wish and ask them anything. I'll send for you when it is time for the evening meal."
They walked around the 'farm' for a while, watching the slaves hard at work. They were saving the questions for later.
A girl with blond hair tugged the man's tunic.
"The Master wants you," said bluntly without looking at him. "It's suppertime." She didn't seem too happy about it. She raised her eyes to theirs. "Just who are you, anyway?" He sensed a lot of suspicion in her tone.
"That is for us to know, not you."
"Huh, cause we're just slaves, right?" she said, turning away with her arms crossed in disgust. He was just about to protest when she looked back up. "What happened to your cheek?"
"We crash landed in this planet."
"Too bad. This is a lousy planet to crash on. Do you want some first-aid for that?"
"No, it'll be fine. We're going to be late for the meal."
"Whatever, then. This way." She led them to the Master's building, chatting along the way. "The Master wants to get rid of me, that's why I'm serving tonight." There was no hint of sorrow, guilt, or glee in her voice, only a little bit of curiosity. "I would like to leave, too," she added with a glance at the strangers.
The reached the house. The girl led them to a table and they sat on the floor around it. Another girl with light blue skin and dark hair served them drinks. Then the Master entered.
"Ah, there you are. This fine girl here is Jessi Hamilton. I'm sure you would love to have her around." He gave a wide, false smile. "And this girl here is Lethia To'othu. Wonderful girls." Lethia bowed and Jessi did the same, trying very hard to keep a straight face. As she straitened up she winked at the strangers.
"Now Jessi, bring out the appetizers," ordered the master.
Jessi smiled pleasantly, which was very different from normal. "Of course, sir." The Master eyed her suspiciously, but she brought out the food without incident.
"How do you keep the slaves on the grounds?" asked the man.
"Slave devices. They try to run, they blow up. It was recently rediscovered. They were commonly used on slaves many years ago. Ah, but that was a more civilized time before the empire, huh? Maybe we will get more civilized now that that old Emperor's dead. That was quite strange, how the Emperor and his right-hand man were killed in the same day, huh? The black- clothed stranger cringed inwardly. "Did you hear they are looking for a new Emperor? Someone specific, but nobody knows exactly who. Got stormtroopers all over the place. Then again, the stormtroopers are looking for a lot of people, outlaw type people, eh?" He apparently thought this was quite funny. The travelers had not heard this information before and took note. As Jessi went to refill the hysterical man's cup, she rolled her eyes. Then the cup slipped from her hands and rolled on the floor, spilling its contents. The Master sighed.
"Jessi, go get the entertainment."
Jessi gritted her teeth in mild anger and walked out the door, but not before turning around and declaring, "Her name is Namuhu."
They ate the appetizers while the Master chatted on and on and Lethia refilled the glasses.
Finally Jessi returned with Namuhu and went back into the cooking area to get the main course. When she came out, Namuhu was telling one of her exciting stories with much feeling and detail. After they served the food, Jessi and Lethia sat along the wall and listened, enthralled as Namuhu told one of the many stories linked to a terrible battle years before called the Clone Wars.
During the story, Jessi glanced at the strangers. There was something different about the man then before. She thought hard, then nearly jumped. The cut on his cheek had healed! He turned his head and looked at her She quickly turned her attention back to Namuhu.
The rest of the evening passed without event. The slaves were dismissed and the strangers were led to where they would sleep.