Chapter 2 – Finding A Long Lost Friend

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Han Solo stood up from his chair and walked out of the room.  He was tired of just sitting around while Leia was off with explaining to the Council what was going on back home.  He walked down to a lift tube and stepped inside.  "Brown Sector," Han said and the lift tube descended rapidly.  He stepped out and walked down the dark corridor, brushing past aliens of every species.  All of a sudden a large brown alien stepped out of a bar on his left and crashed into him.

"Hey, watch where you're going, fur-ball!" Han yelled at the large alien.

"Wrrrarrgh!" the large creature responded.  Then it looked down at Han and extended its long paw to him.

Han looked up and he gasped as he recognized it.

"Chewie?!?!" Han exclaimed.

"Wruuu!" Chewbacca growled back to his old friend.

Han quickly stood up and wiped a tear from his eye as he gave the large Wookiee a hug.  Chewie quickly pulled Han into his arms and they stood there for a second before Han pulled away.

"We...thought you were...dead...I mean, we saw you get crushed by that moon, how did you end up here?"

Chewie responded in a few low growls.

Han nodded his head and said, "You don't know either? Hmmm, that makes two of us.  I mean, what are the chances that we'd end up here together?"

Chewie made what appeared to be a smile and Han jabbed him in the arm.

"Why didn't you come see us, you had to have heard about our arrival."

Chewbacca made a small growl in the back of his throat.

"Yeah, me too, they won't let us go hardly anywhere; they just don't understand us very well.  Come on, let's have a drink, for old times sake."

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Leia looked up and sighed as she sat down.

"So, the Yuuzhan Vong invaded your galaxy 4 years ago.  Is that right?" Delenn said as she looked over at Leia and Luke.

"That's correct.  We have lost almost everything to them.  Our capital planet, Coruscant, is now their new home world, Yuuzhan'tar.  My nephew, Leia's son, Anakin Solo is now dead, he sacrificed his life to destroy the Voxyn queen.  His older brother, Jacen, was found, barely alive on Coruscant.  My own son, Ben, was kidnapped by servants of the Vong, and we barely managed to recover him.  And just when the tide was turning, we are thrown here.  We had discovered a weakness that the Vong have against quantum weaponry, and we were on our way to recapture Coruscant," said Master Luke Skywalker as he stood up, "It was so close, and we could almost reach out and grab the victory, and rid the galaxy of the Yuuzhan Vong once and for all."

"Okay, well, now that we know your story, we are beginning to understand some your customs and belief system, which are very similar to our own," Captain Sheridan said as Luke sat back down, "Now, can you explain this force thing you mentioned earlier?"

"Of course," Luke said as he stood once again, "The Force is everywhere, it surrounds us, binds us together, it is created by living things, but it penetrates non-living things as well, for instance, your pen."

 Luke raised his hand and gestured with it, everyone looked over at Sheridan's desk.  Floating a foot or so above the surface was a small pen.  It spun in a small circle and then gently floated back to the desk.

"Psi-Corps is going to have a ball with you," John said as he looked back at the jedi, "and you say that you have many people among you with similar abilities, some as strong as yourself."

"That is correct, my wife, and sister are both very strong in the force, I sense that it even flows strongly in your own blood.  We will work on that later though.  Many of my students are aboard the main ship Rebel Dream." Luke said to Sheridan.

"I think that for some reason, you were brought here, I don't know by what, but I have a feeling that it was not an accident, you see, we have just discovered a weakness that the shadows have, they are very weak against telepaths, and I feel that you surpass anything we've seen before.  Stronger than the Vorlon perhaps," said John.

Sheridan sat back down in his chair and said, "If the council agrees, I vote that we induct these people into our circle, and allow them to help in the fight against the shadows."

"Aye!" rose from every race present at the meeting which included the Narn, represented by G'Kar, the Minbari, represented by Delenn, and countless other races, each represented by their respective ambassadors.

"Then it is settled, we welcome the Jedi as the newest member-race of the Army of Light," said Delenn, finally speaking.

"Well, then I call this meeting adjourned!" said the captain as he rose from his chair.

Luke, Leia, Mara, and Wedge arose from their seats and walked out of the room.

"I wonder what Han is up too?" said Leia as they walked down the corridor.

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Han rose from the barstool, and stumbled around for a second, before regaining his balance.  He looked up at his long lost buddy and said, "Let's head up to the room, Leia is going to be so surprised to see you again."

Chewie grabbed Han to keep him from falling and roared lightly.  He then began to lead Han out of the bar.  They walked to the lift tube and climbed inside.  Han managed to get out, "Residential Sector Area 4A."

As they climbed out of the lift tube, they saw Luke across the corridor.  Luke looked up shook his head and then looked over at Han and Chewie.  His jaw dropped, as he saw the large Wookiee.

"Chewie!  Han, is it really him?" Luke yelled out to the Corellian.

"Yep, it's him, alive and kicking!" Han stammered out.

Luke ran up to the Wookiee and was greeted with a bear-hug.  Luke yelled out, "Mara, Leia, come out here, you'll never guess who just showed up!"

Leia and Mara ran out into the corridor and gasped at the site of Chewie.  Chewie let go of Luke and accepted the two women into his huge arms as they ran at him.

Chewie let out a few barks and growls and C-3PO and R2-D2 came slowly out of the room.

"By the maker! Chewbacca!  R2 was right, it is you, it is you!" said the golden protocol droid. 

R2 beeped a few random tweets and rolled around in a circle.  Leia stepped back from the Wookiee as she wiped the tears from her eyes.  She looked over at Han, who was smiling for the first time in a long time.  Mara saw this and smiled at Luke.

"Jacen and Jaina are going to flip when they find out," said Luke.

"Find out what?" a voice behind Luke said, soon followed by another saying, "Yeah, Uncle Luke, find out what?"

Luke stepped aside and allowed the 20 year Solo twins to see Chewbacca. 

Chewie roared in excitement as he swept the two into his huge paws and hugged them for a few seconds.  He roared again and everyone's faces dropped.

"He…he's dead, he died last year, so that we could survive," said Jacen as he looked up at Chewbacca.

Chewbacca roared at the top of his lungs and pounded his huge fists against the walls.  A few seconds later Garibaldi walked around the corner and drew his PPG. 

"Get down, this is security!" he yelled as he tapped his wrist comm, "C&C, get up to Res. sector 4A, we've got trouble!"

"Michael, it's alright, he's a friend," said Master Luke as he stepped into the line of fire.

"You sure, he looks more like a walking carpet with teeth, but if you say so," said Michael as he tapped his comm again, "C&C, cancel the cavalry; I've got the situation under control."

"Michael Garibaldi, I'd like you to meet Chewbacca, a friend from our galaxy"

"Funny, I don't remember seeing him come through customs with you," said a puzzled Garibaldi.

"That is because he didn't, he got here a few years ago," said Han, puzzling Michael even more.

"Whatever," Michael said.