Star Wars: The Dark Calling
By R. C. Carpenter
Chapter One
Twenty-five years after the Battle of Endor
JEDI Master Luke Skywalker and his companions, Han Solo and Chewbacca, flew across the star speckled galaxy in the newly restored *Millennium Falcon* to reach Cimmeria and discuss treaties as ambassadors of the New Republic. The captain of the ship switched on the intercom and casually spoke into it, the receiver back in the passengers area.
"We should be coming up on Cimmeria soon, Luke." He turned the intercom off and glanced at Chewbacca, "Get ready to come out of hyperspace, Chewie." Han pushed a few apparatus' and then signaled to his copilot to come back to regular space with the flick of a wrist. The copilot decompressed the engines meticulously and lovingly, always feeling at home in the blackness of space.
The blurs of stars languidly suspended back to their forms as ivory dots on a vast midnight canvas. The dark blue-black outline of Cimmeria lay distant from their ship, but advanced at a steady pace. Luke took up his Jedi Knight uniform and saber, he walked over to his brother-in-law and stared at the planet that was their destination.
"Long time since anyone's been here, huh?" Luke's face wrinkled into a smile that brought light even to the mood of Han, for Han didn't have very fond memories of the last journey to the dark bluish planet.
But for the time being, Han drove these anamnesis's behind him.
As they prepared for landing, the intercom switched on and a face flew across the screen to match the bellow. The man was a Cimmerian, tall and dark skinned with dark blackened eyes and mahogany locks of hair, he spoke to Captain Solo in a most intimidated voice, "C-Captain S-Solo. . . sir!" he added quickly and then resumed his greeting, "We've been eager for your arrival. You may dock at Hanger I3-N4. Staff will be waiting there to take you and Jedi Skywalker. . . and the Wookiee, to your bunks. Out."
His image was cleared and Chewie whirled his eyes in his massive Wookiee head and pulled the throttle back to bring the *Falcon* in for landing.
******
As the *Millennium Falcon's* engines laggardly shut down and pressure valves released the built up tension, three Cimmerian guards rushed to greet the visitors through the steam exerting from the ship's underbelly. The ships dock unfolded from side the now quiet star ship, and out marched the stately Captain Solo, the shaggy Chewbacca and the phenomenal Luke Skywalker. The men stood at a comfortable attention to acknowledge the company.
"Great place to visit, Luke, but I wouldn't want to live here. Too many *happy* faces." Han whispered through his teeth, leaning down slightly to Luke as they exited the star cruiser.
"You're right. There's something a little too cheery here, but they seem a little more scared than happy to see us. Let's not jump to conclusions right now, all right?" Luke turned to the guards and dipped his head and bowed down to them, thanking them for their hospitality. Han stood still, gawking around like a half-wit, until Chewbacca nudged him, and then they repeated Luke's actions.
"Please, sirs, follow us to your rooms." One guard gestured to the hanger's door and the caravan of guards and guests followed.
As they strolled along the dim-lit roads of Shancod, the primary city of the League of Cimmeria, they passed a small orphanage playground of sorts. It appeared to Luke that the children there were playing they were in the Galactic Civil War, perhaps a Rebel vs. Empire childhood fantasy. The League, a few scattered, wealthy areas under the influence of any form of true governing bodies, owned this orphanage and it was doubtless whether or not the children knew the correct histories for the administration spent very little, if anything, on the upkeep and educational programs of 'infidels'.
Luke remembered those days all too well. He glanced down at his right hand and slowly brought it to a fist and then released it. Was it really thirty years? He didn't care though, be it thirty or three, it was over and the New Republic was doing quite nicely.
One of the boys, a Rebel, jumped up and put a stick out at an other's abdomen, "I have you now, Vader!"
* Vader?* Luke saw another boy, dressed in all black, with a black fabric mask over his face, leap from behind the child that was threatened with the stick. He came up to the boy holding the branch and stretched out a moment. The other children were getting a kick out of his performance, laughing so hard that some had tears in their eyes. Luke felt that he and his adventures were looked upon rather lightly on this planet. That made him considerably irritable, considering the great risks he and his friends had taken to save them from the darkness that would have enveloped them.
*Oh, God. Why must they do that? Do they even know what happened?* He thought viciously but soon realize the folly of his actions, *No, they couldn't. They're only children. They don't understand those things,* he paused and then added, sadly, to himself, *and maybe they never will.* Luke continued along with the others, unaltered by the youngster's actions.
The 'Sith Lord' lifted up a few rocks and draped them over the other child's tawny head. But the tiny Imp hadn't touched the stones.
Luke casually glanced over quickly and then turned away.
"Wait a second!" He looked again and stopped dead in his tracks, the others in his party still striding on forward.
The 'Vader' now was picking up the stunned, but still laughing, 'Luke' with his unspoiled mind. The real Luke couldn't believe his eyes! Could this really be happening? Could a small child have such great power?
He had to find out.
"Hey!" he called out to them and the 'Dark Lord' dropped his objects, boy and all. The scared child bent down quickly to apologize to his friend for dropping him. Luke hurried over to them, leaving his little procession. He touched the 'Vader's shoulder, "Excuse me. . ."
The child spun around to face him, his arm wrapped around the fallen boy's shoulder. His head and the fabric covering it shook tremendously, tottered up and down, looking at the boy, at the man, then back to the orphanage.
"I'm sorry. I-I-I didn't mean it! Honest! I know I'n't supposed to do that, *please* don't report me. . ." 'Vader' removed the ply of a thick weave and to Luke's astonishment, it released the tear streaked face of a lovely young girl. The man stood frozen for the longest of moments, gawking in skepticism at the brown haired, violet-eyed virtuoso.
After a swift barter of glances betwixt the children before the Jedi, the girl's friend spoke up with swift and earnest questions, "Sir, are you okay? Can you still see? Are you dead?"
Luke blinked wildly, checked around for Han and Chewbacca, who were still walking on with the Cimmerian escorts, and then revolved to the two remaining children, "Yes-yes. . . I'm fine."
He looked at the girl and grasped his head in his hands, bewildered by what he just witnessed. The kids couldn't comprehend whether or not this foreign gentleman, who ran up to them screaming merit to the girl's drill of her power, didn't report her right away, and then didn't utter a word that made reason; was confused, amazed, or crazy. Whatever one it was, they didn't care to find out, they just wanted to get away from him.
The girl, seeing a woman of authority in her life exit the building that would have to do for an orphanage, decided to leave this old man in his peace.
"Mister, we have to leave," the girl tenderly pushed his hold off of her shoulder. As she did, she rushed dozens of thoughts and images to and from the mind of Luke Skywalker. When the transfer had been achieved, Luke shook his tousled hair and abided for the tiny seraph to speak, "You already know what you need."
And that was it, and then she was gone.
*******
Chief of State Leia Organa Solo sat peacefully heeding her brother's problems galaxies away. She also listened for Han's dilemmas. Her spouse had never really opened up, knowingly, to her in the prior weeks and it troubled her. It appeared that he had a sensible explanation for her, he had known of his going to Cimmeria for quite some time. He never liked political missions or the thought of that watery planet that once was a bad memory in Solo's past. It never brought a lot of cheer to his family.
The Solo children were all grown-up now, Jacen and Jaina were twenty years old and Anakin was eighteen, all of them extremely noted Jedi Knights. But right now, Leia's sons were off on significant business for the New Republic, and Jaina was assisting the reconstruction of a demolished metropolis on Rodain 7, while her husband, his bodyguard, and her brother were on business on Cimmeria. She was all alone on Coruscant dealing with the galaxy's problems.
She wished she could have her adventurous little children and the daring smuggler-gone-rebel pilot back at her side right now. Inevitably, she was experiencing the 'empty-nest'. She noticed she always seemed to feel like this...especially when something big in the story of the Skywalker clan was about to happen. She hoped this wasn't the case again.
To free herself from the syndrome, she would often reencounter her experiences, like aboard the first Death Star with old Obi-Wan, or rescuing the children from Vader's old prodigy, Hethrir, or the destruction of Prince Xixor and his colossal citadel. How she longed for that kind of adventure once more! Oh, just to be fighting for something, anything was better right now than being a ruler to thousands. She wondered if all the Jedi training she had would be of any good. She also questioned why so many of Luke's students now turned to the dark side, even though there was no leader for them to follow. The population of Dark Jedi rapidly increased in the past ten years or so, but they just disappeared off into the Qwexz System, and they usually never resurfaced. It was almost as if they were being called to this place, this place as black and terrible as a midnight that was never cleared away, and called to join the dark side.
She lamented and took up her lightsaber that Luke had made for her so many years ago. She depressed a diminutive button on the metallic gray hilt of the ancient and beautiful weapon and a beacon of ivory emerald light shot from its end. She strolled over to a small pad on the wall next to the hatchway and spoke into it. She was bored a lot and decided to practice her limited training. "Access training program ZZ-98."
A computer generated voice of a female came back at the princess, protesting against her choice, "Mistress, Is this a wise idea? Zeezee-Ninetyeight is one of your hardest levels of skill!"
"I know."
Her face stood, not flinching. She needed to see if she was still as powerful as when she first started training with her twin brother.
"As you see fit." the computer created a holographic image of Leia, a much *younger* Leia, onto the middle of the room. As it slowly generated into a living clone, the real Leia walked over and touched the others hand. She waited until she could no longer penetrate the ghost and it became active matter.
"Hello, Leia. Would you like it if I used a real saber?" The figure's tone was beautiful, just as when Luke or Han had first met her. She almost felt jealous of herself; it wasn't fair that youth was wasted on the young. The holographic Leia had noticed its opponent's weapon and wondered why it was not a replica.
"No, you may use a replica." Leia waited for the image to produce an imitation and then they fought.
By R. C. Carpenter
Chapter One
Twenty-five years after the Battle of Endor
JEDI Master Luke Skywalker and his companions, Han Solo and Chewbacca, flew across the star speckled galaxy in the newly restored *Millennium Falcon* to reach Cimmeria and discuss treaties as ambassadors of the New Republic. The captain of the ship switched on the intercom and casually spoke into it, the receiver back in the passengers area.
"We should be coming up on Cimmeria soon, Luke." He turned the intercom off and glanced at Chewbacca, "Get ready to come out of hyperspace, Chewie." Han pushed a few apparatus' and then signaled to his copilot to come back to regular space with the flick of a wrist. The copilot decompressed the engines meticulously and lovingly, always feeling at home in the blackness of space.
The blurs of stars languidly suspended back to their forms as ivory dots on a vast midnight canvas. The dark blue-black outline of Cimmeria lay distant from their ship, but advanced at a steady pace. Luke took up his Jedi Knight uniform and saber, he walked over to his brother-in-law and stared at the planet that was their destination.
"Long time since anyone's been here, huh?" Luke's face wrinkled into a smile that brought light even to the mood of Han, for Han didn't have very fond memories of the last journey to the dark bluish planet.
But for the time being, Han drove these anamnesis's behind him.
As they prepared for landing, the intercom switched on and a face flew across the screen to match the bellow. The man was a Cimmerian, tall and dark skinned with dark blackened eyes and mahogany locks of hair, he spoke to Captain Solo in a most intimidated voice, "C-Captain S-Solo. . . sir!" he added quickly and then resumed his greeting, "We've been eager for your arrival. You may dock at Hanger I3-N4. Staff will be waiting there to take you and Jedi Skywalker. . . and the Wookiee, to your bunks. Out."
His image was cleared and Chewie whirled his eyes in his massive Wookiee head and pulled the throttle back to bring the *Falcon* in for landing.
******
As the *Millennium Falcon's* engines laggardly shut down and pressure valves released the built up tension, three Cimmerian guards rushed to greet the visitors through the steam exerting from the ship's underbelly. The ships dock unfolded from side the now quiet star ship, and out marched the stately Captain Solo, the shaggy Chewbacca and the phenomenal Luke Skywalker. The men stood at a comfortable attention to acknowledge the company.
"Great place to visit, Luke, but I wouldn't want to live here. Too many *happy* faces." Han whispered through his teeth, leaning down slightly to Luke as they exited the star cruiser.
"You're right. There's something a little too cheery here, but they seem a little more scared than happy to see us. Let's not jump to conclusions right now, all right?" Luke turned to the guards and dipped his head and bowed down to them, thanking them for their hospitality. Han stood still, gawking around like a half-wit, until Chewbacca nudged him, and then they repeated Luke's actions.
"Please, sirs, follow us to your rooms." One guard gestured to the hanger's door and the caravan of guards and guests followed.
As they strolled along the dim-lit roads of Shancod, the primary city of the League of Cimmeria, they passed a small orphanage playground of sorts. It appeared to Luke that the children there were playing they were in the Galactic Civil War, perhaps a Rebel vs. Empire childhood fantasy. The League, a few scattered, wealthy areas under the influence of any form of true governing bodies, owned this orphanage and it was doubtless whether or not the children knew the correct histories for the administration spent very little, if anything, on the upkeep and educational programs of 'infidels'.
Luke remembered those days all too well. He glanced down at his right hand and slowly brought it to a fist and then released it. Was it really thirty years? He didn't care though, be it thirty or three, it was over and the New Republic was doing quite nicely.
One of the boys, a Rebel, jumped up and put a stick out at an other's abdomen, "I have you now, Vader!"
* Vader?* Luke saw another boy, dressed in all black, with a black fabric mask over his face, leap from behind the child that was threatened with the stick. He came up to the boy holding the branch and stretched out a moment. The other children were getting a kick out of his performance, laughing so hard that some had tears in their eyes. Luke felt that he and his adventures were looked upon rather lightly on this planet. That made him considerably irritable, considering the great risks he and his friends had taken to save them from the darkness that would have enveloped them.
*Oh, God. Why must they do that? Do they even know what happened?* He thought viciously but soon realize the folly of his actions, *No, they couldn't. They're only children. They don't understand those things,* he paused and then added, sadly, to himself, *and maybe they never will.* Luke continued along with the others, unaltered by the youngster's actions.
The 'Sith Lord' lifted up a few rocks and draped them over the other child's tawny head. But the tiny Imp hadn't touched the stones.
Luke casually glanced over quickly and then turned away.
"Wait a second!" He looked again and stopped dead in his tracks, the others in his party still striding on forward.
The 'Vader' now was picking up the stunned, but still laughing, 'Luke' with his unspoiled mind. The real Luke couldn't believe his eyes! Could this really be happening? Could a small child have such great power?
He had to find out.
"Hey!" he called out to them and the 'Dark Lord' dropped his objects, boy and all. The scared child bent down quickly to apologize to his friend for dropping him. Luke hurried over to them, leaving his little procession. He touched the 'Vader's shoulder, "Excuse me. . ."
The child spun around to face him, his arm wrapped around the fallen boy's shoulder. His head and the fabric covering it shook tremendously, tottered up and down, looking at the boy, at the man, then back to the orphanage.
"I'm sorry. I-I-I didn't mean it! Honest! I know I'n't supposed to do that, *please* don't report me. . ." 'Vader' removed the ply of a thick weave and to Luke's astonishment, it released the tear streaked face of a lovely young girl. The man stood frozen for the longest of moments, gawking in skepticism at the brown haired, violet-eyed virtuoso.
After a swift barter of glances betwixt the children before the Jedi, the girl's friend spoke up with swift and earnest questions, "Sir, are you okay? Can you still see? Are you dead?"
Luke blinked wildly, checked around for Han and Chewbacca, who were still walking on with the Cimmerian escorts, and then revolved to the two remaining children, "Yes-yes. . . I'm fine."
He looked at the girl and grasped his head in his hands, bewildered by what he just witnessed. The kids couldn't comprehend whether or not this foreign gentleman, who ran up to them screaming merit to the girl's drill of her power, didn't report her right away, and then didn't utter a word that made reason; was confused, amazed, or crazy. Whatever one it was, they didn't care to find out, they just wanted to get away from him.
The girl, seeing a woman of authority in her life exit the building that would have to do for an orphanage, decided to leave this old man in his peace.
"Mister, we have to leave," the girl tenderly pushed his hold off of her shoulder. As she did, she rushed dozens of thoughts and images to and from the mind of Luke Skywalker. When the transfer had been achieved, Luke shook his tousled hair and abided for the tiny seraph to speak, "You already know what you need."
And that was it, and then she was gone.
*******
Chief of State Leia Organa Solo sat peacefully heeding her brother's problems galaxies away. She also listened for Han's dilemmas. Her spouse had never really opened up, knowingly, to her in the prior weeks and it troubled her. It appeared that he had a sensible explanation for her, he had known of his going to Cimmeria for quite some time. He never liked political missions or the thought of that watery planet that once was a bad memory in Solo's past. It never brought a lot of cheer to his family.
The Solo children were all grown-up now, Jacen and Jaina were twenty years old and Anakin was eighteen, all of them extremely noted Jedi Knights. But right now, Leia's sons were off on significant business for the New Republic, and Jaina was assisting the reconstruction of a demolished metropolis on Rodain 7, while her husband, his bodyguard, and her brother were on business on Cimmeria. She was all alone on Coruscant dealing with the galaxy's problems.
She wished she could have her adventurous little children and the daring smuggler-gone-rebel pilot back at her side right now. Inevitably, she was experiencing the 'empty-nest'. She noticed she always seemed to feel like this...especially when something big in the story of the Skywalker clan was about to happen. She hoped this wasn't the case again.
To free herself from the syndrome, she would often reencounter her experiences, like aboard the first Death Star with old Obi-Wan, or rescuing the children from Vader's old prodigy, Hethrir, or the destruction of Prince Xixor and his colossal citadel. How she longed for that kind of adventure once more! Oh, just to be fighting for something, anything was better right now than being a ruler to thousands. She wondered if all the Jedi training she had would be of any good. She also questioned why so many of Luke's students now turned to the dark side, even though there was no leader for them to follow. The population of Dark Jedi rapidly increased in the past ten years or so, but they just disappeared off into the Qwexz System, and they usually never resurfaced. It was almost as if they were being called to this place, this place as black and terrible as a midnight that was never cleared away, and called to join the dark side.
She lamented and took up her lightsaber that Luke had made for her so many years ago. She depressed a diminutive button on the metallic gray hilt of the ancient and beautiful weapon and a beacon of ivory emerald light shot from its end. She strolled over to a small pad on the wall next to the hatchway and spoke into it. She was bored a lot and decided to practice her limited training. "Access training program ZZ-98."
A computer generated voice of a female came back at the princess, protesting against her choice, "Mistress, Is this a wise idea? Zeezee-Ninetyeight is one of your hardest levels of skill!"
"I know."
Her face stood, not flinching. She needed to see if she was still as powerful as when she first started training with her twin brother.
"As you see fit." the computer created a holographic image of Leia, a much *younger* Leia, onto the middle of the room. As it slowly generated into a living clone, the real Leia walked over and touched the others hand. She waited until she could no longer penetrate the ghost and it became active matter.
"Hello, Leia. Would you like it if I used a real saber?" The figure's tone was beautiful, just as when Luke or Han had first met her. She almost felt jealous of herself; it wasn't fair that youth was wasted on the young. The holographic Leia had noticed its opponent's weapon and wondered why it was not a replica.
"No, you may use a replica." Leia waited for the image to produce an imitation and then they fought.