10) Chapter 9 – A New Quest Begins.
The fleet over Coruscant drew ever closer to Luke as the shuttle made its flight towards the Galactic Voyager, hovering ever vigilant over the capital of the Galaxy. Surrounded by frigates and corvettes, with miniscule fighters making their patrols and transports leaving and entering the planet, along with the commerce ships involved in trade routes that passed through, the planet was probably the busiest in the Galaxy.
Last time he was here, Luke had married the long-time Emperor's Hand, Mara Jade, under the backdrop of a treaty that ended a devastating civil war that raged for decades. Many people took this as a sign that peace was finally at hand, after nearly fifty years of it being a distant relic, and Luke couldn't have agreed more. Before then, the idea of marrying an assassin directly loyal to the old Emperor was unthinkable to Luke, but it was only after their mission on Nirauan, when they linked their minds together to battle the oncoming guard droids that guarded the clone of Grand Admiral Thrawn, that he finally came to terms with his love for her and was reciprocated in it by her. Merely three months later, they had joined together under the skyscrapers of Coruscant and fulfilled their desire of matrimony. Even now, Luke remembered the tremendous celebrations, the serene dance under the moonlight, and his unrivaled happiness that day.
It wasn't long before the RM-09 shuttle Swiftsure glided towards the open hangar doors on the side of the Galactic Voyager and descended to the ground. Outside, Luke could see the many starships docked and dormant, and the many engineers and officers working around them. He recognized many of them: the classic X-Wing, the diminutive yet formidable A-Wing, the giant B-Wing, among others. Looking ahead, Luke could see very clearly the giant yet flatlined form of the YT-1300 cruiser, the Millennium Falcon, Han's ship and a famous ship among the Alliance. The Falcon had been at almost every significant battle of the Galactic Civil War and beyond, not counting Operation Skyhook. Its debut into the war of liberation was during the Battle of Yavin, showing up at the very last second to help Luke out from a tremendously tight spot involving a high-speed trench run and pursuing TIE fighters. It later joined to strike the death blow at Endor, being the ship that fired the final shots into the reactor core of the Death Star II. Ever since, it had been at the forefront of Alliance efforts to dismantle the remainder of the Empire, being present at the liberation of Coruscant, the hunt for Zsinj, and the new wars against Thrawn and the reborn Emperor. When Luke had first encountered the strange machine, he derided it as a "piece of junk", yet Han correctly countered that there was more to her than it seemed, and it seemed he was right: had it not been for the Falcon, Luke simply wouldn't be here.
A loud grinding noise and the sound of steam being released signaled the complete stop of the shuttle, and the pilot called back "We've arrived, Grand Master Skywalker".
Luke nodded "Thank you."
He rose from his seat and advanced towards the door, which then opened with a hissing noise and shifted aside, allowing him access to the hangar beyond. He walked towards the door.
The very first thing he saw when he exited the shuttle and descended the steps was his sister looking up at him with her arms crossed. The very second thing was his wife.
"Looks like someone's out of their den" Leia said smoothly.
"It's only been three months" Luke countered.
"Since you've been here" Mara Jade added. "About a few days since you last saw me".
"I know" Luke acknowledged. He looked around the hangar bay. "You've all been busy" he observed, noting the ships being refueled and the astromech droids working in conjunction with the engineers.
"Yeah, direct orders from Ackbar" Leia confirmed "although he's kept it pretty hush-hush for some reason. Won't even explain to us".
Luke looked around the room again, this time with one of his eyebrows raised. "It seems like some sort of drill".
"Against what? We're in the capital now, it's not like a fleet could jump in on us from nowhere. We would have seen them coming".
Luke said nothing, although the familiar pit in his stomach was being felt once again. It dissolved when he heard something else that was familiar.
"Master Luke, sir! It is so wonderful to see you again!"
Luke turned to see the golden protocol droid waddle towards him with his blue astromech companion in tow, who bleeped out a greeting as well.
"Threepio! Artoo! I was wondering whether I'd see you on here!"
As far back as he could remember, C-3PO and R2-D2 were two of his closest companions ever since he embarked on his journey across the stars. In fact, it was the little astromech's antics that got him on the run from the Empire and joining the growing Rebellion. He was with him during the trench run on the Death Star, during his Jedi training on Dagobah, and with the strike force during the Battle of Endor, just to name a few. His expertise with electronics was unrivaled, and he proved to be of immense help in many situations, despite his usual snarkiness. Threepio, on the other hand, was a lot more straight-mannered and usually the more worrisome of the two, although they were both as loyal as they could get, and practically almost inseperable.
"Indeed, sir, I was wondering if we were going to see you at all!"
Artoo beeped.
"Of course we were going to see him, you silly robot, why wouldn't he?"
Another bleep.
"Oh, don't be ridiculous" Threepio responded, starting to sound agitated. "Why would he do that?"
Another series of bleeps.
Threepio flinched "What in the Universe gave you that idea?"
"Alright, you two" Luke interrupted with a hearty chuckle just as Artoo blared something back and Threepio was about to retort. "I'll need to talk to Leia and Mara about something, so I'll come back and check with you guys in a bit, okay?"
Threepio turned to look at him, and his still eyes gave worry away, although he said "Not to worry then, Master Luke. Do take your time." Upon turning to walk away, he sputtered to his small friend "Now look what you've made him do. If it wasn't for that stupid talking mechanism of yours he wouldn't have acted like that. It's all your fault, as usual" he added irritantly.
Artoo shot back, and Threepio spun to look at him while walking.
"MY fault? How is it MY fault?" he exclaimed indignantly.
By then they had gotten out of earshot, but Luke was glad about that. He had important things to talk about. "Let's go somewhere quieter" he said, and they both agreed. He didn't need to tell Mara Jade that she had to hear this too.
They had wandered the hallways of the capital ship, passing many familiar and unfamiliar faces until they arrived to Leia's room. She inputted an access code and they were granted permission to enter. When they did, she closed the door behind them, and it was just Luke, Mara Jade, and Leia.
Luke turned to his sister, who was looking back at him. Their eyes met, and in them Luke saw a flicker of comprehension. As if she knew what he wanted to talk about.
Did she?
"So," Mara Jade said out loud, breaking the silence. "What's the story you have for us?"
"Obi-Wan visited you in your dream, right?" Leia asked. Luke nodded.
Mara Jade looked between both of them "Wait, what?"
Luke turned to his wife, and explained everything. The visions, the Jedi Temple, his old mentor , what he had told him, and what he was supposed to do. When he was done, Mara Jade looked at him as if Luke had just told her he could swim by wiggling his ears.
"Wait, so you're telling me Obi-Wan Kenobi came to you in your dreams to urge you to help out a civilization of talking equines from some unforeseeable danger?"
Luke shrugged "Pretty much so, yes."
Mara Jade turned to Leia "And how did you know?"
"Because the same thing happened to me" she said quietly.
Now two pairs of eyes were on her. She looked back at them.
"He told me the same thing. Everything. And believe me, you took him seriously faster than I did".
"Wait, didn't he just vanish into the Force for good?" Mara questioned.
"Yeah, but apparently he came back" Luke answered. "If the Force is letting him return to warn us about something, it must mean it's something big.
"You think maybe this is his idea of a sick joke?" Mara asked.
Luke and Leia both turned to look at her, unimpressed. "I was only checking" Mara quickly said.
Luke turned back to Leia "Well, I don't know about you, but I think this is something we should check out."
"I know" Leia answered wearily "but…"
"But what?" Luke pressed on.
Leia sighed and continued "Obi-Wan told us to help these people but he never said how. He didn't tell us where or how to find them. I talked to Han about it, and he told me to just forget it as another dream."
Luke seethed on the inside. As much as he wanted to carry out his mission, he had no choice but to admit that Obi-Wan had very basically left him in the middle of nowhere regarding how to do it or where to go. Sure, he was told to rely on the Force and his instincts, but that could only get him so far. He needed some actual direction as well.
"But I can't just forget it" Luke said. "I promised him I would save these people, regardless of who they are. And I know that there's actual danger out there, but I just can't place it fully. It may be just a feeling, but I know for a fact it's real. The dream proves it. And besides, Mara was right. His previous words were supposed to be the last, but the Force made him come back to warn me about it. Why would he do this if it wasn't so important?"
Before anyone could open their mouths to respond, the intercom came on.
"Attention. Attention. This is General Airen Cracken. Attention. I request the presence of Leia Organa, Luke Skywalker, and Mara Jade Skywalker in the primary war room please. I repeat. I request the presence Leia Organa, Luke Skywalker, and Mara Jade Skywalker in the primary war room please. Thank you".
The intercom went off. Mara Jade looked at the twin Skywalkers.
"Well, isn't that interesting? You only just arrived at the fleet and they already want to debrief us on something".
The Skywalkers exchanged glances, both thinking the same thoughts. What would Alliance command want from us now?
Leia broke eye contact first "Well, let's see what they want, shall we?"
"Yeah, let's" Luke agreed.
The three Jedi walked through the corridors again towards the war room. They passed various conference rooms and canteen areas, where the smell of food wafted around them as they continued on, countless 'freshers, and finally an elevator which took them to the primary war room located next to the bridge.
When they walked in, Luke recognized the faces immediately. There was Ponc Gavrisom, Chief of State of the New Republic and one of the architects of the Pellaon-Gavrisom treaty which brought about galactic peace; there was Supreme Commander Gial Ackbar, one of the oldest and greatest supporters of the Alliance and one of its most instrumental members, his tactical genius rivaled by almost none; there was Airen Cracken, the head of the New Republic Intelligence and one of the bigger heroes of the Alliance; the wizened Jan Dodonna, Executive Advisor of the New Republic High Command and one of the first of the Alliance generals; general Judder Page, head of the elite Page's Commandos; general Brenn Tantor, an ex-Imperial general who defected during the Galactic Civil War; Luke was surprised to see even Borsk Fey'lya among them, although from his facial expression it seemed he wanted to be anywhere but here. They were all seated around the central table with a hologram of a planet on it, but they all stood up when they saw the newcomers.
"Commander Skywalker" Ackbar's deep voice echoed throughout the room upon their arrival "It is an honor".
"The honor is mine, Supreme Commander Ackbar" Luke responded. He turned to the others "Gentlemen".
The others returned salutes and nods, Borsk albeit in a disgruntled manner. Luke paid him no heed, however. He understood that Borsk didn't entirely trust the New Jedi Order, and the fault wasn't with him: the Jedi hadn't prevented the rise of the Empire. But now the Empire was defeated, and the New Jedi Order was to be different. It didn't stop his suspicions, however.
"Been quite some time, Luke" Tantor said, with the hint of a smile, which Luke returned.
"Almost too long, General. I see the years haven't softened your experience".
"Refined it, in fact" he replied "Coruscant wasn't the last battle I was in, you know".
"We know" Cracken's voice pierced the air "and I'd love to exchange pleasantries with our elite Jedi and his companions, but that can wait for a more appropriate time".
Before Luke could answer, Leia burst out "A pleasure to meet you too, Cracken" she said, almost icily "but I'd also love to understand why I wasn't summoned to this meeting before. Instead, you had to invite me over the intercom. And it seems as if this is a war meeting, and we just ended war recently, so is there something we need to know?"
"Indeed there is" Gavrisom's voice cut through before a potential argument could sprout up "and we have called you in here because we fear the very opposite of peace is upon us".
Leia stared at the Chief of State, while Mara Jade glanced at the other officers to see their reaction. Luke, however, saw it coming.
Ackbar pressed a button on the control panel, and statistics began to pop up as he spoke.
"Approximately one week ago, a detachment from the Second Fleet consisting of the Nebulon-B frigate Redeemer, the Corellian CR90 corvettes Lightning and Corellia's Spirit, the DP20 frigate Righteous, and six X-Wing squadrons under the callsigns of Greys One to Six, were sent to a region in the Outer Rim, near the edge of the Unknown Regions at the edge of the Galaxy on a routine mission as part of our patrols of these areas for certain threats and the general uncovering of these areas. Unfortunately, within two days, we lost contact from them and we haven't heard from them since. A second detachment was sent in after three days of the first group's mission into the same area, with the intent to uncover what happened to them. They found this."
He pressed another button, and the planet was shown clearly. From what Luke could see, it seemed to be almost a desert planet like Tatooine, but there was something off about it. As if the desert environment wasn't natural.
"This uncharted planet" Cracken continued "seems to have been completely devoid of life. Which is saying something because it used to be inhabited". He pressed a button and new images popped up.
Luke felt Mara Jade flinch beside him, and feelings of shock emanating from where Leia was standing, although her facial expression remained neutral. And he couldn't blame them.
One of the pictures showed an entire city burned to rubble, with what appeared to be burned-up skeletons littered everywhere. Another showed a port that seemed to be sacked and destroyed, with the vessels broken and destroyed and the people murdered on the spot. Yet a third was what Luke surmised to be the remains of a forest. One after another, what appeared to be mass atrocities were displayed on screen, to the utter dismay of the new onlookers.
"Wait, the entire planet?" Mara Jade asked, punctuating her disbelief.
"Everything" Dodonna said gravely "and this wasn't the only one".
He thumbed several buttons, and the sphere was replaced by many more identical ones, varying from size to texture. More pictures came, but they all displayed the same destruction and devastation as the first one. Luke felt Leia shift beside her, and felt her body recoiling at the disturbing images.
"Could it be the Empire?" Leia asked, her voice wavering not only with apprehension but also with confusion.
"Can't be" Cracken countered "It wouldn't be surprising if it WERE them, but it wouldn't make sense. See, this planet" he drew their focus to what appeared to be an orange-colored planet "supposedly suffered the attack a year ago. This one" he pointed to a white, ice-planet "was attacked only days before the patrol group investigated. All these attacks are similar in appearance: whoever is doing them is looting the planet of as much resources as possible, then destroying the rest, along with eradicating all forms of life, and then escaping without a trace to track them by".
This greatly puzzled Luke. If such death and slaughter were occurring on such a large scale, how could he not have sensed it through the Force? This didn't make sense.
"What makes this more confusing" Page added "is that the scorch marks on most of the planets point to weapons similar to what the Imperials were using, as well as some unidentified blast marks that we haven't traced back to any weapon we know. However, all Imperial units are under the direct command of Grand Admiral Pellaon, and I doubt he'd send armies around sacking these planets behind our backs."
"What makes you so sure?" Mara Jade asked.
"They gain nothing from this" Borsk said "There is no need for the Imperial Army to run around destroying planets after fighting is declared over. Pellaon is no fool."
"Fine then" Leia said sharply, a little too sharply for Luke's comfort "Why are we here?"
The officers glanced at each other before turning to the trio, and Luke had a feeling he knew what they were about to say.
"This clearly constitutes a dire threat to the New Republic, whatever it may be" Gavrisom said. "Current proof points to the Imperial Remnant as being the culprits, however what my associates say is correct. Therefore, we cannot act without more proof and understanding of the situation. And here is where you come in".
"How so?" Mara Jade asked, before Luke could open his mouth.
"Wait, let me guess" Leia said, in an almost bored voice "You want us to head in there ourselves, find out whatever is doing this, report back to you guys, and hopefully deal with whatever was doing these attacks to begin with as well."
"Couldn't have put it better ourselves" Tantor said.
"Why us?" Leia pressed "Couldn't you have sent one of your elite soldiers instead? Page's Commandoes ought to be bored".
"Sending another patrol group or even a commando group is too conspicuous" Ackbar said. "Especially to whoever devastated these planets so".
"Besides" Tantor put in "You have plenty of experience with dealing in such situations. You should be able to handle it with no problems whatsoever".
"And we have the Force to guide us" Luke said, before Leia could respond. She was unconvinced, however.
"Look, I don't know about this…" Leia began.
"Don't worry too much about this, Leia" Luke told her. "We've been through this a hundred times before. We can do it again. Besides, they have faith in us, and the fate of many other planets rests in our hands. You wouldn't want to let them down, would you?"
Leia looked at him, and at once he knew she understood another reason, this one hidden from the rest. The dream.
"Indeed not, I say" Dodonna said. "We have complete confidence in you".
"You can do it" Tantor added.
Gavrisom looked at them for a second before he added "Agreed. The fate of our future rests with you, if the danger is as dark as it seems. And we cannot know for sure unless you discover the truth".
Leia took a deep breath and let it out in a long sigh "Fine, we'll do it".
Luke looked at Mara Jade, who nodded. He turned to the leaders and asked "Where exactly are we headed?"
Cracken thumbed at the interface in front of him and the images zoomed out to show the Galaxy in full. Various highlights popped up showing numerous places of importance, such as the locations of the major Republic fleets and planets like Coruscant and Yavin IV. The box that showed up to denote the co-ordinates, however, was as far from them as you could get.
"We will be directing you first to the location where our first patrol vanished. It is a good starting position, plus we have positioned units there with orders to report directly back to us in the event of an emergency. From there, you may be able to discern your next course of action within the area."
"Remember" Page said "As soon as you find whatever is causing this, report back to us immediately. Don't linger too long, I don't think the ones who did this want any witnesses getting back alive".
"We'll be careful" Luke answered. "When do we move?"
"As soon as you are able" Gavrisom replied. "Best of luck, Grand Master Skywalker, and may the Force be with you."
The other superiors echoed their confidence, Borsk albeit grumbled. Luke nodded, and took his leave, as did his two companions. As soon as the door closed, however, Luke sensed his sister's dissatisfaction about to leave her mouth, and before it happened he spoke.
"I know you don't feel overly comfortable with this, and neither do I, but this isn't something to be disregarded. You've seen what's happened."
"Yeah, and it would be totally wonderful if it were to happen to us as well" she replied, her voice laced with irony.
"Exactly, which is why we need to stop this before it gets worse" he pressed.
"Hey, sorry to butt in" Mara Jade interrupted, before Leia could fire back "But could this situation possibly be connected to the weird dream thing you had? Both of you?"
"I know it is" Luke said. More than once he trusted his gut feeling, and more than once he was right in doing so. The more he investigated this, the more he would understand how the two were correlated. And Leia couldn't deny it. It was evident, even if she was half-hearted about the whole deal.
"Look, this is a bit of a weight on us now. How about we get some rest before we figure out what to do. We'll talk to Han together afterwards" Mara Jade suggested.
"Good idea" Luke agreed. He looked at Leia, who nodded after a few seconds.
"Well, one thing's for sure" Luke said. "Han's not going to like this".
"I don't like this" said Han irritantly.
"I don't like it either, but it doesn't mean we shouldn't do it" Luke said.
"Why do I always get caught in these kinds of situations?" Han shot back.
Luke was right about one thing. Han didn't like it at all.
He was with Mara Jade and Leia in Han's room, trying to convince their friend to join them in what they knew was going to be a treacherous journey. Needless to say, he still wasn't convinced.
"What kind of crap is High Command giving you guys, telling you they can't spare other soldiers to do this. Page's Commandoes are highly qualified to do the job, how come you have to go instead?"
"You heard what they said" Leia tried to tell him "Sending another group of Alliance soldiers on an official patrol in the area is too conspicuous."
"Oh, and the Republic's greatest heroes aren't" Han said sarcastically "In fact, they're so unknown that if they DID get knocked off THEN they can send in the other troops. Do you see what I'm talking about?"
"I see your point, Han, but it doesn't mean we have to shy away from-"
"Doesn't matter for me" Han said angrily "I didn't see the end of fighting just for me to go back to it. I'm tired of getting shot at".
"So am I, but you don't see me balking away from this" Luke said, maintaining his calm.
"Yeah, well I am, and I'm suggesting you do too" Han said, with an air of the topic finishing.
"Look, Han" Leia suddenly burst out, just as Mara Jade was about to open her mouth to back up Luke "I've seen what's been going on. It's worse than you think it is. We never had this kind of stuff happen to us before except when the Empire blew up my home and tore up entire systems with their World Devastators. I don't want this happening to us again, not for a million years. I'd willingly go through more goons shooting at us to get rid of this before it gets worse rather than sitting around waiting for it to happen before I do something about it. So whether you like it or not, we're going. If you don't want to come, that's fine with us".
Luke glanced at his sister with a raised eyebrow. Mara Jade looked impressed. Han, on the other hand, looked like he was just slapped in the face. He took a breath, and then swallowed.
"Fine, I'm in" he said, reluctantly. "But what about Jacen and Jaina? And Anakin?"
Luke knew this was going to happen. Fortunately, he hoped to secure this loose end with the help of the Jedi Praxeum. They would take care of the children while they were gone, due to them being children of his closest family member. They could even help them a bit with understanding the power of the Force while the family was away doing their business.
"Don't worry about them" Leia said, mirroring Luke's words "We have it all sorted out. They'll be fine".
"You sure?" Han said, with concern in his voice.
"Sure as ever" she managed a smile "Nothing will happen to them while they're here".
Han glanced at Luke, who nodded. He took another breath and said "Alright, where are we headed?"
"A long way from here, I suggest we fire up the Falcon" Luke said. "Where's Chewie?"
"Oh, he's already inside, working on some loose wiring" Han said offhandedly.
"Well, that cuts down our search" Leia commented "Mara, see if you can find the droids. We may need them".
"Sure" Mara Jade said. "Dunno how they're gonna react to this, but I'll look for them".
With that, she turned and left the room, closing the door behind her. Han looked at the two Skywalkers and said "Well, seeing as she's gone to find the droids, lemme go tell Chewie about this new plan. Might as well let him know what's going on before we start up". Without waiting for their answer, Han turned, but Leia grabbed him by the arm and swirled him around.
"What?" Han asked indignantly, trying to understand what this was about "What did I do?"
"Han" Leia said firmly, but softly, putting a hand on his chest "We'll be okay".
Han looked at Luke over his wife's shoulder for a second, who simply shrugged.
"I know, I know" Han said, a bit distractedly.
Luke felt Leia grin even though he couldn't see her face, and she let go of him. Han promptly left, the door sliding in after him.
She turned and looked at Luke, who merely gave him his warm smile.
Everything was going to be okay.