A Journey of Justice
By: Christopher Smith
Chapter 2: Acceptance or Denial?
Hyperspace is a wonder of itself. You are traveling faster than the speed of light not knowing what will happen. I am Chris Smith, and I am currently in hyperspace along with Dobacca (My wookie friend) and Shorty (My fellow R7 astromech droid). We are all going to Coruscant (The capital of the just New Republic) in my modified N-1 Star fighter. There I hope to join with the New Republic to avenge what the Imperials did to my parents.
Dobacca starts making some soft chuckles and his translation is [Are we at Coruscant yet?]
"Dobacca we are just about to drop out of hyperspace." I said with a smile on my face. I couldn't help but to laugh about what my wookie sidekick had said. It's funny hearing a wookie say 'Are we there yet'.
I looked at my screen and saw that it was time to pull the hyperspace levers so I did. Then my ship started to come out of hyperspace. Star lines started to appear then the morphed into stars. I was safely in the Coruscant system. I stared out the view port and just whistled in awe at all the traffic that was orbiting Coruscant. There must have been hundreds if not thousands of ships. This is going to be a long wait I thought. So I pulled out some manuals on fighter pilot training and started reading them while I was waiting for my turn to get a clearance.
After 2 or 3 hours I got a call on my ship's com channel. I pushed the button and heard a male voice say "Coruscant traffic control to unknown vessel. What is your business in our sector? We have no appointment for you."
Now I knew I had to tell them why I was here. I couldn't wait to say so because I want to join the New Republic so badly. "I am Chris Smith from Naboo. The Empire has somehow risen again and kidnapped my parents. Then I barely escaped and ran into a bunch of star destroyers. There was an Admiral of some sort that threatened to destroy Naboo. I want to join the New Republic, so can I get a clearance and directions to land near a recruiting office?" I said with eagerness to my voice.
"Well I don't know if what you are saying is real or not. There is no way I can believe that the Empire has risen again. We will have to review your flight recorders to see if there is proof of this so called fleet and Admiral. Also Chris you are in luck. I work for the recruiting office so just follow your escorts to here and we will see if we can trust you enough to let you join. O.K." said the traffic control officer with a worried look on his face.
"Roger on that. I will follow the escorts and thanks for being easy. I don't want to wait in this long line anymore." I said with a grin on my face.
"I know how you feel Chris. Those lines are hectic at times. You seem like a trustworthy guy. I think you might have a good chance at being able to join us. Coruscant traffic control out." said the officer with a chuckle.
"These New Republic people seem nice don't the Dobacca?" I said to my wookie.
He replied with a series of grunts that translate to [Yeah I agree. It will be good to find some friends.]
So now I followed my escort of 3 New Republic X-wings to the recruiting office. We went through Coruscant and I couldn't believe the activity. Hover cars and ships were everywhere. There were huge buildings that seemed to be all connected. I couldn't see the actual surface of the planet. It seemed like the whole planet was one huge metropolis. I have never seen anything like it and Dobacca also looked surprised. We were too used to the beauty and peacefulness of Naboo. I just hope that I will see Naboo again with my parents.
I landed my N-1 star fighter near the New Republic recruiting office. Dobacca, Shorty, and me all followed our guards. Then we got to the front office where the com officer that talked to us was waiting for me. He looked like a tall and smart man. He had black hair and a fair tan. He wore a nice New Republic uniform and was smiling.
"Hey you must be Chris. I am Mark. Welcome to Coruscant. I heard that you are interested in joining because of something the Empire did to you. That happens to a lot of people. Don't worry we will see what we can do to help you and Naboo." said Mark with a friendly gaze.
"Yup I am Chris. I am not happy with the Empire and do plan on joining the New Republic. You can look over my flight recorder for proof of what I told you. Make sure Leila Organza Solo hears of this. It is vital information. There is some sort of new emperor and a huge fleet. You got to help us." I said to Mark.
"I'm sure she will see the recorder Chris. Don't worry you just have to pass a test and then you can join the New Republic. It's not that hard to do the test since I see you can fly a ship well." said Mark.
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Meanwhile on the bridge of an Eclipse class star destroyer (These are huge ships about 18 kilometers long. They have enough power to decimate a planet. This is the third one built. They also have like 100 TIE squads and tons of ground troops.) The third reborn emperor was sitting down enjoying his view of the planet Vortex that was just outside of the Coruscant system. Here he had gathered all the imperial remnants in the galaxy. Palpatine is his name.
Palpatine always inflicts fear. Even on his own officers. Palpatine has a strange power in the force. He is a dark Jedi and hates good and loves evil. On his ship the Terror he awaited reports on what happened at Naboo. This was a planet he remembers from his past. For he is a clone of Emperor Palpatine who was once a senator of Naboo. Now Palpatine hates the New Republic and doesn't want Naboo or any planet to be part of it. So he sets up a blockade around Naboo.
Just then his top admiral, Admiral Seen comes and goes up to the emperor with a report on what happened at Naboo. "My Lord I have good news to report to you," said Admiral Seen. He amazingly wasn't shaking in the emperor's presence like most would.
"I am anxious to hear of it. Go on and tell me what happened. Remember I hate failure and will not tolerate it," said Palpatine in a crackling voice.
"Well my Lord we took most of the government and some inhabitants as hostages. We destroyed all their military equipment and have jammed communications. So far I am expecting everything to go according to plan. There are no ships that I know of that escaped so the petty New Republic shouldn't be able to interfere." said Admiral Seen with no sign of cockiness.
"Good. I like good news Seen. See to it that I hear more good news or you and your officers will pay. I know we will be able to restore the Imperial way of life. For that is the best and only way to live. Good work. Now if the New Republic at all interferes you will be in huge trouble. I am trusting your word because you are my most trusted officer and I sense no deception in you," said Palpatine with a menacing look on his face.
"Thank you my Lord. I will see to it that all goes well," said Admiral Seen.
"Oh yeah I forgot one thing to ask you Seen." said Palaptine.
"What is it my Lord?" replied Admiral Seen.
"Did you make sure that one of our officers got on Coruscant and sabotaged all the training X-wings. I want this to happen because then it can make anyone that tries to join the New Republic seem like enemies. For I sense a reason to do this. I want to make sure no one else joins the petty so called New Republic. I sense someone of great force power near Coruscant." said Palpatine with a very menacing tone to his voice.
"Yes my Lord. All the agents are in place and it is time to start our plans for the rise of the new Empire." said Seen with a slight grin.
"Good. Very good Seen. I am impressed with your work. Keep it up and you could get promoted. You are dismissed." said Palpatine as he watched Seen go out of his throne room.
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Back on Coruscant Chris Smith is preparing for his flight test. I know that this will be the most important thing that happens to me. I thought with a grin on my face. I know I must not mess up because I must join the New Republic for justice to be done. So I put on my flight suit and jumped in the hover car followed by shorty and Dobacca as we headed for the training grounds.
Right when I got to the training grounds I could see a bunch of X-wings and people flying them. I think it will be tons of fun to fly a X-wing around and it will be good to use a modern fighter instead of an ancient N-1 Star fighter. Mark came and greeted me nicely.
"Hey Chris. I'm glad you showed up. Today's the big day for you and if you pass this test you will join us. Also we are sending the information to Leia Organa Solo. I was shocked to see that the Imperial Admiral let you go. Normally they are not so generous." said Mark.
"Well Mark I was surprised too, but I am glad I am here. I just know that I am making the right choice and I am ready to fly the X-wing. It seems like so much fun but I know it will be a challenge." I said to Mark.
"Yeah Chris I know it will be. Your flight recorder shows us much proof of some pretty sweet skills. I know you will be a good asset." said Mark.
So now it was my moment. I climbed into the cokcpit of the beautiful X-wing and loaded Shorty into the astromech droid slot. X-wings were my favorite ships and I loved them I had studied them a lot so I was confident I would pass the test easily. I just hope that everything will be fine.
Little did I know what would happen next. For I sensed some strange presence when I saw an X-wing leave but I wasn't sure if it was something bothering me from what happened so I just ignored it, as the X-wing entered space and went away from Coruscant. Little did I know that some Imperial just escaped and was about to tell the emperor of what happend.
I starpped myself into the X-wing and started the engines. Just then they started to fail. It seemed like someone had just sabotaged my X-wing. For now it didn't work and fire started to erupt. Flames were bursting everywhere. I could hear more screams and I was once again filled with terror. I yelled for help but no one heard me. Then all of a sudden I was thrusted out of the X-wing and Shorty flew out. Then everything went black and I couldn't move at all. For now all I saw was darkness. This was just not my week at all.
To Be Continued...