34 years After the Battle of Yavin (ABY)
Jakku, The Western Reaches, Inner Rim
A shadow moved into the reflected light of Jakku's closest moon, a rectangular shape that gradually blotted out its glow with its seeming never ending shape. As it grew larger, pulling itself from the dark of space to take position between the moon and the dark desert world, the diming glow revealed the trademarks of a cruiser, artificial lights and hulking metallic shapes becoming visible. Its triangular appearance, sheer size and the perceivable threat emanating from this technological monstrosity characterized the warship known to the wider galaxy as the Star Destroyer.
As the battlecruiser continued its approach into Jakku's orbit, four shapes emerged from the monolith's hangar, small moving lights marking their approach against the darkness of both space and their mother ship. The tight formation veered to its port side, moving towards the surface of the planet below.
Within the long, grey carriers that roughed through the atmosphere of the desert world, lights flickered as if out of control, providing glimpses of identical beings in white, with dark eyes, faces the same, as the pilots attempted to control their descent. The rough shaking gave way to light swerves as the pilots moved from the upper atmosphere into the dark sky of Jakku's night, the lights stabilizing along with the crafts to reveal the rows of armoured stormtroopers standing to attention. They awaited the landing of their carrier and the beginning of their mission, their blasters primed and their feet steady as their training prepared them for the oft unsteady moves of the craft. They had all been briefed for this mission and awaited it with the impatience of the soldier who knew no other way of life. Doubt and uncertainty were just as dangerous as an enemy combatant, they had been taught, to be eliminated lest it cause their demise. Now, their moment had come and they would carry out their task with the brutal efficiency that had been hardwired into them by an unforgiving regimen.
- 0 -
The carriers moved almost silently against the night, heading for the ravine and its adjoining plateau where their target lay, practically invisible to all. But for the photoreceptor of a small droid on the outskirts of the excavation that also doubled as a small village. BB-8 had been performing a systems diagnosis when his radar had registered the approaching craft. Rolling to where he could get a clear picture of them, he focused his receptor on the carriers, his circuits rapidly conjuring the details of a report that had been uploaded into his system after a military briefing on Hosnian Prime. The report had identified the carriers as Atmosphere Assault Landers, known more commonly by the designation AAL, and which had been confirmed by New Republic intelligence agents to be used by the First Order for troop deployment from orbit. In a few seconds, BB-8 had identified the craft, the trajectory it was taking and the fact that the presence of the AALs meant that a Star Destroyer was bound to be in orbit.
With the threat clearly identified and alarms ringing in the little round droid's processors, he turned back towards the excavation and rolled as fast as his spherical body allowed him to find Poe and warn him of the coming threat.
- 0 -
Inside one of the small huts that served as houses for the workers and worshippers who had assembled on this remote plateau of Kelvin Ravine, Flight Commander Poe Dameron watched in wonder, and mild confusion, as the man he had been sent to find showed him what he had found here, on this remote world. According to Poe's superiors, this was the element they needed to find the location of the still-missing Luke Skywalker, the last Jedi left in the galaxy. And his host also seemed sure of himself as he unveiled his find.
'This will begin to make things right', he said before pulling the hood back over the inert figure's face. 'All you need to know about Skywalker's location is contained within.'
Lor San Tekka was apparently as certain of this as he was in his beliefs, despite Poe's doubts. Just as Luke Skywalker had transcended from history into myth as the "Last Jedi", Tekka had also become a legend for those who still knew Force-held beliefs. Known as the "Explorer", he was perhaps the most well-versed being in the galaxy on the forgotten lore of the Jedi, an organization that had itself held more of religion than actual reality over the past half-century. Poe had seen first-hand several of the things that the Jedi could do while he was growing up and his belief in the Force was as strong as his certainty that his X-Wing would take flight. But the Empire's shadow had worked hard to destroy the legacy of the Force-wielding knights. The destruction of the Imperial archives after the Battle of Endor, to hamper the rise of the New Republic, had eliminated a lot of the information it had accumulated and inherited from the Old Republic about the Jedi.
But Lor San Tekka, and others, had worked hard to maintain the memory of the Order and its beliefs during the dark times. And the emergence of Luke Skywalker with the Rebellion had been the moment they had waited for. The reports Poe had read on him suggested that he had assisted Skywalker in the years following the fall of the Empire to find knowledge and ancient artefacts that would help him to rebuild the Order.
And that was where Poe's superiors believed that the key to Skywalker's location lay: in the ancient lore of the Jedi. Lore in which Lor San Tekka was so knowledgeable. And it had been at his invitation that Poe had been sent to Jakku.
When Poe had arrived, he had been surprised by what he had found: a large excavation site along the side of Kelvin Ravine with dozens of workers following Tekka's example and leadership. When he had been given the mission, he had expected to find the Explorer alone and had assumed that the choice of a world as remote as Jakku had been to avoid unwanted attention. He had not expected that the clue Tekka had claimed to possess had actually been on such a remote world to start with. As far as he knew, Jakku was not a world known to have any connection whatsoever to the Jedi.
But Tekka had explained that the excavation had been about recovering one of the oldest artefacts of the Jedi Order, and that he had been searching for it for years. And that was how he had found what he believed to be the clue to Skywalker's current whereabouts.
But Poe still had doubts. 'Are you certain that we will find what we need,' he asked. 'It doesn't look like much'.
Tekka smiled. He was an elder man whose white hair and wrinkled faced attested to the years he had seen, and the wisdom in his eyes proved that he had seen his share of defining events in that long life. Something about him inspired trust and he exuded kindness. Despite his doubts, Poe couldn't help but like the Explorer.
'Those who know Skywalker will know what they are looking for,' he answered. 'I know it may not seem like much, but it there is more knowledge in this artefact that in most of the texts, temples and stories that I have uncovered in nearly fifty years of research. I assure you, it is worth it.'
Poe's doubts persisted, but he was also on a mission and he was expected to bring back what Tekka had promised. And Tekka's certainty was encouraging. Poe couldn't claim, as the Explorer could, that he was a font of knowledge on this subject. Maybe the clue was truly hidden within the artefact.
'My superiors will surely be satisfied,' he said, turning back to Tekka. 'They have been searching for any clue for some time now'.
The old man smiled again, and sat in a small chair, inviting the Flight Commander to take a small stool in front of him.
'I am heartened to see that there is still hope in a time when I thought that only despair maintained the galaxy. But I remain convinced that there can be no balance in the Force unless the Jedi return. If your people can find Skywalker and bring him back, our salvation is perhaps not as far gone as I sometimes think it is.'
His smile had grown sad and Poe felt sorry for the old explorer who had seen empires rise and fall, and still could not see the galaxy become the better place that he hoped it could be. The pilot could understand how he felt, he had seen it in other around him, those who had seen the times of the Rebellion and the rebuilding that had followed the fall of the Empire. Many had thought that the New Republic had been the answer to the galaxy's problems. But now things were growing dark once again, and hopelessness had an easier time worming its way into people's hearts than hope did. But Poe hadn't let it defeat him yet, and he wouldn't.
'We may still have a chance, Explorer. Not all of us have forgotten what they fought for all those years ago.'
Tekka looked at him with the kind of gaze a dotting grandfather would have for a favourite grandson. 'People like you, young Dameron, go a long way to restoring an old man's faith in the universe'.
Poe smiled back at him… just as BB-8 shot through the parted straps that covered the entrance. Both men turned to the little astromech and listened as he beeped out a warning to his master. Poe's expression turned serious as he looked back at Tekka.
'We've got company.'
- 0 -
Poe exited the small shack and drew his binoculars, magnifying their view until he caught sight of the carriers BB-8 had mentioned. Four AALs were coming towards the excavation site, each most likely carrying ten stormtroopers. This was a fight that none of them could win.
Behind the young pilot, Tekka had also come to see what was coming.
'You have to hid,' Poe told him as he lowered his binoculars.
'No,' he answered, his eyes fixed on the coming enemy. 'You have to leave, and the artefact must go with you. Let's get it to you ship as quickly as we can.'