STAR WARS

EPISODE VII:

IN THE SHADOW OF HEROES

The Dark Side of The Force has emerged again. A mysterious fleet of starships has attacked multiple planets on the border of NEW REPUBLIC space looking for the Last Jedi Master, Luke Skywalker.

Despite a reluctance to begin a conflict, Republic forces have been sent to the Outer Rim to investigate at the request of retired former President, Leia Organa.

Icons from the past will soon be pressed back into service along with a new generation to help maintain peace and justice in the galaxy.

Caine stood stoically on the bridge of the Spearhead as it dropped out of hyperspace. He stood tall with his heavily muscled arms folded in front of his large chest and stared out the windows of his flagship at the barren looking planet below wondering if this was going to be the last time they would have to perform this duty. He imagined that to the rest of his crew he seemed as calm and unflappable as he always was in their presence. Inside, however, he was seething at having to do this all over again. It was getting beyond tiresome, this chase he was on. He tried to be patient, knowing that this quest would take time, but patience had never been one of his strengths. He wondered if Wolfe and Khallis, his two most trusted lieutenants who were at this moment flanking him, could sense that he was irritated. If they could, they made no outward indication of it, and he also couldn't sense any change in their demeanor. They were both strong, though, and he was sure they were getting to the point that they could mask their thoughts and feelings.

"Is the landing craft prepared?" Caine asked with a hint of impatience

"As you ordered", Wolfe replied

"Good", said Caine, "You, Khallis and I are heading down to the surface and hopefully this time we will get the information we are looking for"

"Yes Sir", they both replied in perfect unison just before all three set out for the hangar.

As they approached Caine's personal landing craft, the two sentries at the boarding ramp snapped to attention. His crew certainly would never show that THEY had any doubts or concerns, but he could sense that even they were getting weary of possibly another fruitless search. The landing craft looked impressive sitting here in the hangar and for a moment, Caine wondered what it looked like to the beings planet side when they swooped down and arrived to search for their prey. He rather liked the idea that the design he chose, similar to the shuttles used by the old Galactic Empire but far more sleek and sinister looking, caused immediate trepidation and fear for the beings that saw it coming. Fear was good. Not only did he personally feed off the fear of others, but instilling fear made his missions much easier. When people were scared, they cooperated.

Upon entering the craft, Caine headed straight for the cockpit where his two pilots were already seated.

"You received the landing coordinates I sent you?", Caine asked the pilots

"Yes, sir", said the pilot at the main controls, "Largest settlement in grid ninety-three, northern continent"

"Correct", he replied as he surveyed the room and then looked out the viewscreen to the hangar activity buzzing about in front of the craft. "We're ready for immediate departure, sir", the other pilot added.

"Excellent", said Caine, "Let's not delay any longer"

The craft lifted from the hangar deck and accelerated slowly towards the just opened exterior doors. As the craft was approaching the exit, the rest of Caine's fleet began to come into view. Two large ships whose shapes roughly resembled old Dreadnaught cruisers from before the Clone Wars sat about four thousand meters in front of the Spearhead, somewhat flanking the flagship. When they cleared the hangar doors, though, the main difference between his cruisers and the Old Republic Dreadnaughts from the past became visible. Each ship was about twice as large and had an enormous cannon on their underside. Caine could see they were already charging. He knew that it would not be long before the beings on the surface of this world would be "treated" to a display of their power. This time, however, he was hoping that when the cannons were used he would be in possession of what he was searching for. He left the cockpit and re-entered his small command room where Wolfe and Khallis had remained after boarding. Both of them were at attention and seemed to be awaiting orders. Wolfe, however, spoke up.

"Do you have any confidence that we will find what we are looking for this time?", he asked with what Caine sensed as slight sarcasm.

"Are you upset with our apparent lack of progress, Lieutenant Wolfe!", Caine sneered. It was not a question and Wolfe seemed to recognize this immediately.

"No Sir", Wolfe replied. However, Caine was not convinced that Wolfe was being sincere.

"Then you will NOT question any part of this ongoing operation….EVER", he barked at his subordinate. "Do I make myself clear-!"

Wolfe nodded and took a step backward in submission. Caine noted this but was slightly concerned. He now realized that he needed to keep an eye on Wolfe and possibly Khallis also. They were his closest confidantes and the strongest members of his inner circle but he would not tolerate someone challenging him openly. If there was any possibility of either of them entertaining the thought of taking his place as leader, then he needed to squash those ambitions immediately.

"When we land I want you to secure the area around the craft", Caine said to Khallis. " I don't want any delays. We will acquire the target quickly and extract any relevant information"

"Are we to use all necessary force to accomplish the mission, Sir?", Khallis asked.

"YES…This mission is no different from any of the previous ones", he replied sternly

"As you wish", Khallis answered.

The dull yellow-orange of the planet shifted into more detail the closer the landing craft got to the atmosphere. As the ship entered the upper layers, Caine made his way back to the

cockpit and as he watched their approach through the forward window he could make out the small green seas and lakes that dotted the continents in the northern hemisphere. The settlement they were heading for was on the coast of one of the large lakes on the northernmost continent. The craft was getting closer and Caine was beginning to see the actual area where the target was. He could sense the family...even from this distance the remnants of the Light Side of the Force were unmistakable.

"Land right in the center of the town", he demanded.

"Are you sure that is..." the pilot started to say.

Caine glared at the pilot and without saying a word, he compelled him to rethink his position.

"Sorry, Sir. We will set down exactly where you command", the pilot said, pointing to the proposed site.

Caine nodded and headed out of the cockpit, towards the landing ramp. As he passed Wolfe and Khallis he motioned for them to follow him. He wanted this to be efficient and quick, no wasted motion or emotion. His followers fell into formation behind him as they all proceeded to the exit and he could sense that they both felt the same way as he did. Brutal efficiency was the way to accomplish their goals. He truly believed this and they believed it too. This would not take long.

Siv Tanner looked up from his datapad with a sense of relief and accomplishment. For the first time in years, the quarterly numbers for his business assisting local miners with transport of their product were on the plus side. The small home office off to the side of their dwelling's main living room that all too often felt cramped and restrictive suddenly didn't seem so bad. As he prepared to tell his wife Krista the good news, he glanced to a holophoto on his desk containing images of their son Jeene. It had been almost eight years that he had been gone. They had known ever since Jeene was about seven years old that he had special gifts, both physical and mental. When they were approached about the opportunity for him to study and train to develop the gifts it became clear to them that he would be able to lead a better and more meaningful life away from this remote world. Letting Jeene go was the most difficult decision he and Krista had ever faced. He still didn't feel completely sure they made the right decision, but Jeene had been so enthused. Krista's persuasion after seeing the light in Jeene's eyes also made it easier for him to relent in the decision even though he knew it meant they might see their son for a very long time, if ever.

The holophotos cycled through about two dozen pictures before repeating. There were various shots of them as a family and a few of Krista holding Jeene as a very small child. There was also a photo from the day they realized there was something very special about Jeene. Siv could remember it like it was yesterday. They were out for a hike around the tall yellow rocky formations that were spread out all over an area about three kilometers north of town. Jeene was in awe of them—their shape, their color, their height and he begged them to allow him to climb one. Krista told him that he could try to scale one of the smaller ones, but he wanted to climb up what looked like one of the most dangerous ones. Its face was sheer, steep and had almost no outcroppings on it to latch onto. To be honest, it looked impossible to climb without any equipment. Jeene badgered them and badgered them to try this particular rock and even though they insisted he could not, he eventually disregarded their objections and ran over to it anyway. What they witnessed next made both of their jaws drop. He finished a sprint to the base of the rock with an almost superhuman jump onto the rock face. He jumped up at least four meters and stuck onto the rock face even though there didn't seem to be anything visible that he could have possibly grabbed onto. From there he scrambled up the remaining fifteen meters of the rock face to come to rest on a flat part of the top. It had taken him at most forty-five seconds to scale the entire thing. It was the most amazing thing either of them had ever seen in their entire lives—a child scaling a giant twenty meter rock that looked absolutely unclimbable. Looking at these images again made Siv realize that there was never a day that went by where he didn't miss Jeene tremendously. He wondered where he was and what he was experiencing.

As Siv's thoughts turned back to the present, he rose from his chair and headed out of the small office into the living room. Krista was cooking a modest dinner for them in the kitchen that would most definitely taste better than normal tonight because of the good news he was about to share.

"Krista….", he called out to her.

No response ever came, because almost immediately after he finished saying her name the front door of their home burst open violently. Siv was so startled that he jumped off the floor slightly and when he gathered himself he instinctively wheeled about towards the loud forceful entrance. Coming through the mangled doorway were three terrifying figures clothed all in black. The first two were about the same height and build, one male and the other female. They were both roughly as tall as Siv but much slimmer and even though one might mistake their builds for slight, they both looked extremely formidable. They were wearing hooded cloaks and had what looked like a piece of dark black polished metal covering their bottom part of their faces. Their eyes were visible, though, and Siv almost wished that they weren't. The eyes of these two monsters were terrible black pits that gave off nothing but a sense of cold hatred.

Siv tried to look past them to get a glimpse of the third figure that was behind them and still outside the doorway, but before he could see the being clearly the slim female intruder locked gazes with him. The gaze made Siv feel a fear deeper than any he had felt before in his life. The evil in those eyes made him realize that he was in mortal danger and the dread from that thought almost made him pass out. He had to keep it together, though, to warn Krista. Maybe they didn't realize she was here. She had been back in the kitchen and with that room having a door to the outside, if he could just alert her she might be able to make it outside and get away from this terror.

As he began to form the words that would give his wife a warning not to enter the room but to escape out the back of the home, he realized that he would never get the chance to utter them. The female shot towards him with a speed that he could barely comprehend and raised her hand towards his throat. He suddenly couldn't make a single sound and realized in a panic that he couldn't breathe either. How is she doing this, Siv thought to himself. He could see her hand a meter in front of his face but it was not physically touching him. He had a brief thought that he knew why they were here but soon that changed to a realization that he was going to pass out anyway—not from fear and not willfully, but from a lack of air.

As Siv began to regain consciousness, he wondered if he had just experienced a terrible dream but the first image that he was able to bring into focus confirmed to him that this nightmare was all too real. Krista was seated across the room from him staring downward at the floor and trembling. He saw that she had been crying and that she was absolutely terrified. She must have realized that he was slowly waking, because she lifted her head and brought her gaze to meet his. She didn't have to say a word for Siv to recognize the fear in her and he saw for the first time why she was paralyzed with terror.

Standing next to her was a hulking figure in black attire. This had to be the third member of the party that had invaded their house, the one Siv could not get a clear look at earlier. He was slightly above average height for a human, but he had a massive build. Siv couldn't determine if it was his actual body or his clothes that made him look so large, but he guessed the former. He had long flowing jet-black hair and a thick but neatly trimmed beard. His eyes were just as black and cold as his companions but something behind them seemed even more sinister.

"One of you will provide me with information that I seek", the figure growled.

"Who are you?", Siv pleaded. "Why have you done this?"

"Where is your son?", the figure asked after a long pause-ignoring Siv's question.

The fleeting thought that Siv had before losing consciousness earlier was proven correct. They WERE here for Jeene, but why? And more importantly, how could they possibly have known about him. The feeling of dread he had was growing. Siv made up his mind at that moment that even though neither he nor Krista actually knew where Jeene was, he wasn't going to reveal any information that could possibly bring harm to his son. He hoped and prayed that Krista was thinking the same thing.

"What are you talking about? We don't have a son", Siv answered "Please leave us alone" "I know that Skywalker was here and you let your son join him…..now TELL ME WHERE THEY ARE-!", Caine demanded.

"I have never met or even heard of anyone named Skywalker", Siv replied. "And I told you, we don't have a son"

The figure seemed to smile a bit at this, but to Siv it was not at all a concerting smile. In fact, the icy cold pit in the center of Siv's stomach felt worse as soon as he saw it.

"I've known that YOU weren't going to cooperate since we arrived", he sneered at Siv. "I can guarantee you, though, that I can get the information I need from HER whether she wants to share it or not and it will be most displeasing for you to watch me obtain it"

Siv watched as the black shape turned to focus his attention on Krista. He knelt down in front of her with his back to Siv and became motionless, his massive shrouded back and shoulders completely eclipsing Siv's view of his wife. For a moment that felt like forever, nothing happened. The silence was soon broken, however, by a sharp piercing scream let out by Krista. Siv lurched forward to get to her but he was immediately yanked back. The two intruders that had entered earlier were now behind him and were not going to let him interfere. Siv realized that the dark figure in front of her was somehow probing her mind. As the figure cocked his head slightly, Krista's screams became louder and more desperate. Siv was almost out of his mind with terror and anger but suddenly the ordeal came to an abrupt end. The dark figure shot up as Krista fell to the floor and laid their motionless.

"This is another dead end", the massive being said to his minions as he brushed his thick hair away from his eyes that seemed to Siv to now be burning red, "She doesn't know where the child was taken. We are not wasting any more time here. Move out."

All three of the intruders swiftly moved towards the destroyed doorway and within seconds they were gone. Siv rushed over to where Krista's prone body laid and lifted her into his arms. He brushed the hair from her face and assured her that she was safe, but he was not sure he really believed that. Krista opened her eyes. She looked exhausted and dazed but Siv was happy just to see that she was conscious. He held her tightly and promised her that he was not going to let any more harm come to her and that everything was going to be all right.

Caine, Wolfe and Khallis exited the home as they had done so many times recently on so many different worlds, without the information they wanted. They didn't get more than five meters from the front door, however, before they were confronted by a group of what looked like rudimentary local law enforcement.

"Stop right there", one of the group declared as they all drew and pointed their blasters at Caine's group. "What happened in there?"

The screams from inside the dwelling along with their unauthorized landing in the streets of the small town most assuredly drew this attention. For Caine and his followers, this was not the first time they had been confronted on an alien world while carrying out a mission. Without any prompting, Wolfe and Khallis each ignited a bright orange lightsaber and began to cut down each member of the group that dared to challenge them.

Caine stood motionless and watched as one by one the group of locals was dispatched with little effort. The carnage was over in seconds and even though he had witnessed this many times before, Caine was becoming more and more impressed with the ability and efficiency of his lieutenants. The feeling of twisted pleasure was short lived, though, as the irritation of their recent failure crept back into Caine's thoughts. He was not at all happy that the whereabouts of the Jedi Master still remained unknown. When he finally did come across his location-and make no mistake, he would not stop until he did-he would thoroughly relish bringing Skywalker to justice. Regardless of what the future held, however, Caine decided that they did not need to be here any longer. This world would pay for making them waste their time once again.

Caine and his group quickly covered the distance back to the center of town where they had landed earlier. A group of locals had gathered around the ship but they were all keeping their distance as if they somehow knew that it would be unwise to get too close. When the three of them burst forth from a side street into the opening of the town center, the gathered spectators scattered away from the ship like scared animals. The three figures in black didn't break stride as they headed to the boarding ramp and ascended it. The ramp closed quickly behind them and about a minute later a mighty roar shook the entire area as the ship lifted off and rocketed skyward.

Siv Tanner had heard commotion outside his home shortly after the three intruders had departed but after experiencing the darkness and terror of their power firsthand, he was not inclined to investigate. As he continued to tend to his shaken wife, Siv heard a rumble in the distance and recognized it as the sound of a ship taking off. Was the nightmare finally over? He wondered, Were they truly gone?

He decided to venture outside to survey the scene and what he saw made the horror that he and Krista experienced pale by comparison. There were five bodies spread about the area in front of their home. Each of them had brutal wounds all over their bodies that looked to be caused by some kind of slicing motion. What happened here?, Siv thought. None of the three beings that had visited them seemed to have weapons with them that could have caused this. Before he could think about it any further, however, the sky cracked with a sound louder than anything he had ever heard before. Siv looked upward and saw what looked like the fires of hell descending through the atmosphere. He realized that the nightmare was not yet over...but in a short time it certainly would be.