A Journey of Justice
By: Christopher Smith
Chapter 3: The Beginning Of The End
On the planet Vortex the new Emperor Palpatine of the Imperials is preparing his reign of terror over the New Republic. He has gathered hundreds of Imperial warships and thousands of loyal officers. Admiral Seen approaches him on Palpatine's flagship the Terror (An Eclipse Class Star Destroyer).
"My Lord, I have good news for you," said Admiral Seen.
"Let me hear this news and you could be in for a promotion. Lately I have been pleased with you." replied Palpatine with no sign of a smile.
"Well so far the communications are jammed throughout the Naboo system. Also our sabotage on Coruscant was successful. We were able to destroy a squadron of X-wings," said Admiral Seen.
"Excellent. I like this a lot. Keep up your good work Grand Admiral Seen." said Palpatine.
Grand Admiral Seen was very surprised to see that now he is a grand admiral. "Thank you my Lord. So do you need anything done at all?" said Seen.
"Well yes, I was about to get to that part. Now that we have stirred up things on Coruscant I think it's time to bring in part of the fleet. Yes we will bring them to Coruscant and let those petty rebels know that the Empire is still alive and well. We will probably loose some ships but I expect us to do a ton of damage to the capital world," said Palpatine.
"Yes my Lord. The six Star Destroyers are in position and will arrive at Coruscant in approximately 2 weeks at the most. We know that the New Republic has no knowledge of this fleet so we expect to catch them off guard." said Seen.
"Very well Seen. I foresee that we will have victory. Good work. You are dismissed," said Palpatine in a crackling voice.
* * *
On Coruscant about 3 days after the accident Chris Smith had on his training run in his X-wing he was in a bacta tank. Now I just woke up from a sleep. I could taste the strange and horrible aftertaste of the bacta. Two times in a bacta tank in one week is just too much for anyone to take.
"Chris, I'm glad to see you are alright," said Mark.
"So am I. I am wondering what happened to my X-wing when I was training? Why did it blow up and are Shorty and Dobacca alright?" I replied.
"Well Chris Shorty ejected and landed safely. Dobacca was in the hover car observing so they are all right. Apparently there was an Imperial detonator in 12 X-wings. All of them were destroyed. All the pilots were killed except you. It seems that you have some unknown talent. For if the average person was in your X-wing they would have died. We found out yours had the worst explosion." said Mark with a worried tone.
"Wow! Maybe I could be a Jedi. But I am amazed at that. Anyways I am wondering will I be able to join with you guys? Also did you tell the Chief of State about my flight recorder?" I said to Mark.
"Yes Lieutenant Chris Smith. You are in with us because the Chief of State Leia Organa Solo saw your flight recorder. She also said something about she senses some sort of force potential in you. Leia said she will talk to you once you are well. All you need to do is just call her and she will be here," said Mark.
I just couldn't believe how my luck had changed all of a sudden. I was overjoyed and looking forward to actually being able to get my parents back.
"Ok Mark I will talk to Leia in a few minutes." I said to Mark.
* * *
Meanwhile on the flagship terror a transport designated Alpha 1 was arriving. The cargo it was carrying had just came from Naboo. It was a bunch of residents including Jim and Lisa Smith. All prisoners were taken to a detention block where they would stay. No one knew why the prisoners were not being interrogated so many were puzzled.
* * *
Back on Coruscant I had arrived at the Palace and was waiting for Leia to come and tell me what she wanted to. I couldn't help but to stare in awe at how huge the palace was. I had heard about it on Naboo but never seen it in person. It was just huge with pointed towers that looked like they could touch space if they wanted to.
"Chris I have an important matter to discuss with you." said Leia.
I turned around and was surprised that she knew whom I was. "Ok Leia let's start. What is it you need to discuss with me?"
"Well as you probably already know the information you brought to us from Naboo is very critical. We thought we had peace with the Imperials but instead they double-crossed us. I know I should have never trusted them when they were talking peace. I do remember Admiral Pelleaon being very sincere. I just hope he hasn't turned on me." said Leia.
"Well sometimes you can never trust the Imperials even when there is peace. The reason I joined up with the New Republic is due to what happened at Naboo. The Empire kidnapped my parents and tortured them right in front of me. I am furious with them and know I have to find a way to save my parents if it isn't too late." I said.
"I'm sorry to hear about your parents Chris. Well it is very good that you decided to join us. I noticed something special about you when you arrived at Coruscant. Something many people do not have." Leia said with a slight smile.
"Well could you tell me what it is?" I asked eagerly.
"Yes I can. I feel a very strong presence of the force in you. You would have great potential as a Jedi. I feel that if my brother Luke knows about this then he will be able to train you. That is if you want to become a Jedi," said Leia.
I just stared at her in shock and amazement. Then I just feinted.
"Chris are you alright?" said Leia coming over and shaking me.
I woke up feeling very embarrassed. "I'm sorry about that. I am just so surprised that I actually can become a Jedi and that Luke Skywalker is willing to train me. Man my day has just gotten better. Now I have a ton of hope that I can save my parents." I said with a huge smile.
"That's great to hear Chris. I have a feeling you will be a great asset. Now I want you to go to docking bay 128 where Luke is and I will tell him this news." said Leia.
"You got it and thanks again Leia. I never knew my first meeting with a legend would be like this." I said.
"Well sometimes the unexpected happens. Come on let's get in the speeder and go see Luke. If you want to bring Shorty or Dobacca please do so. Chewbacca would like to meet another wookie," said Leia.
"Wow how did you know about those two?" I asked in amazement.
"Well it's a trick I will have to teach you," said Leia with a wink.
"I can't wait to learn it. They are right here waiting for me near my speeder. We will take it." I said. So Leia, Dobacca, Shorty, and me all jumped in the speeder heading towards docking bay 128 where Luke would be. I was so excited.
* * *
Meanwhile over Vortex the Emperor was overseeing Grand Admiral Seen's departure. "Seen I have a matter to discuss with you before you leave for Coruscant."
"Yes my Lord. What is it you want to discuss?" asked Seen.
"I have lately been sensing some strong force powers from you. Like a big disruptance. Have you ever had any experience trying to become a Jedi? Or made a light saber?"
Admiral Seen just smiled and pulled out a light saber. "I got too fed up with how slow Luke was teaching me. He goes way to slow so I just left the academy frustrated," said Seen.
"I see. Well Seen I think I can finish your training. I have a change of plans. Those six star destroyers send them to Naboo to join our blockade. But keep the Terror here. I have had a dream where we had a defeat at Couruscant due to some information leak. Like someone escaped from Naboo and alerted the New Republic," said Palpatine.
"Well I did feel a strong force presence for about one second then it vanished. I just dismissed it as some phenomena." said Seen.
"Soon we will find out if that really was a phenomena. Anyways what do you remember doing as a Jedi?" asked Palpatine.
"I remember all the things Luke taught me. He always warned of going to the dark side. Well I geusse you will complete that for me." Seen said with a smirk.
"You are correct. The dark side is strong and powerful. Let me see your light saber." said Palpatine.
"Yes my Lord," said Seen, giving Palpatine his saber.
Palpatine turned on the saber and saw two blades emerge from it. "Very impressive. This type of saber hasn't been seen for a long time. Great work." said Palpatine.
"So my Lord what are our orders for now." asked Seen.
"Well for now we wait and see if the New Republic was really informed. If they were we should see a scout come by Naboo to check it out." said Palpatine.
* * *
Back at the Docking Bay.
"Is that who I really think it is?" I said with a face in complete shock about to faint again but Dobacca caught me and shook me awake.
"Yes it is. That is Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Chewbacca, R2-D2, and C-3PO," said Leia.
"Hey who's this you brought with you Leia. I hope it's not a boyfriend because you know you are married," said Han in a jokingly way.
"This is a friend of mine that I just met. His name is Chris Smith. He just came from Naboo where he was chased away by a huge fleet of Imperials. They took his parents from him and destroyed most of Naboo." said Leia.
"Yeah we just heard about this and are very sorry to hear of your loss Chris. So why did you come here?" asked Luke curiously.
"Well Luke I came here with your sister because she said something like she senses strong force powers in me and says I can be trained as a great Jedi knight. I want to do this to bring justice to the Naboo and rescue my parents." I told Luke.
"Hmmmm That's not a bad reason to become a Jedi. Except one thing. Do not let your wanting justice become a want for revenge. If you do this you will be leaning toward the dark side of the force," instructed Luke.
"I know Luke. I will try my hardest to not do that. So when does my training start?" I inquired.
"Well Chris it will start tomorrow. In the meantime I'd like for you to just hang around here and maybe we can start a good friendship. I just sense a great force power from you. Also I know you probably have nowhere else to go so we can take care of you," said Luke.
"Wow thanks a lot master. This is just a great day for me." I said.
"Please just call me Luke ok. I don't really want to be called master," instructed Luke.
"Alright. I will call you Luke. Anyways have you ever seen a N-1 star fighter? I outran the Imperial fleet in one that I modified to fit Dobacca and me." I told Luke.
"No I haven't seen one in real life. I would like to see it. Also how can you fit a wookie in a star fighter?" asked Luke. Han gave me a questioning look too.
"Well I took out some cargo space and was able to." I told Luke and Han.
"It's always good to know of someone with a wookie. They are great protectors to us," said Han to me. Then Chewbacca came over and started talking to Dobacca. I could tell they were becoming friends because they were gripping each other's hands and arm wrestling. I just started laughing a lot for I have never seen two wookies arm wrestle.
"Wow it looks like Dobacca and Chewbacca really like each other as good friends." I said then I heard Dobacca tell me something.
[Chris, Chewbacca and me grew up in the same village on Kassyyyahk and were best friends. I'm glad we found him again. He's gotten much stronger with Han.] Said Dobacca in a bunch of wookie noises.
"Wow that's cool to know Dobacca. Anyways Luke where are we off to go now?" I asked.
"Well since we have proof of this Imperial fleet that is huge and an admiral I think we bring this up before the senate and see if they will help stop another invasion of Naboo. As you probably know they weren't very helpful in the first one." informed Luke.
"Yes I know of that Luke. It's great to know I have just made friends of people in very high places. I still miss my parents a lot but now I have a ton of hope that I will get them back. Thanks and let's go somewhere where we can rest." I said to Luke.
"Sounds like a great idea to us. We will go as soon as Han and Chewie are done working on the Falcon," said Luke.
"Hey Chris! Do you know a lot on YT-1300 freighters?" asked Han.
"Yes, me and Dobacca used to work on them all the time. That's how we got a lot of money." I told Han.
"That's great. I could use a hand with the hyper drive so come along and help me out," said Han.
"Ok I will. Help you out. Wait a second I just had a bad feeling. Luke did you sense that." I asked.
"Yes I did Chris. Someone is sneaking around here. Someone evil. Han I suggest you double-check the Falcon. There could have been some tampering around. We know someone is up to something because of what happened to Chris a couple of days ago. Come on Chris let's go and hunt this guy down," said Luke.
"I have a bad feeling about this.," said Han.