Title: Civil War Author: Cyher
Author's Notes: Thanks to a few new reviews, I got to thinking about this story again, and decided it'd be awfully nice to be able to finish it. I may not do daily updates, but it sure won't be a year between updates anymore.
Chapter 4
The silence was eerie. Normally in the case of an out of control ship, alarms would be wailing and lights blinking. A ship without power, however, is a different story. Once again, Luke tried to make the ship do something *anything*, but nothing happened. Then he felt it. A presence in the back of his mind that was soothing. Calming. The tension left his body as he relied once again on the Force. He closed his eyes and released his grip on the controls, concentrating solely on a way out of the ship. In a matter of seconds, the hatch tore off it's hinges, and Luke's seat shot into the air. The abrupt change in pressure from the inside of his cockpit to the warm Tattoine sky combined with the thin atmosphere of the high sky was too much for a Jedi operating at 100%, and forcefully ejecting both himself and hopefully Artoo from the ship was a serious drain. Luke was definitely NOT at 100%. He pulled the ripcord that released his parachute, and the last thing he saw before passing out was the coarse sand of his home planet rushing up to greet him.
******
Leia leaned back in her chair and sighed. She almost always hated the Public Comment segment of council meetings. It wasn't that she didn't value the opinions of the New Republic citizens, but they just didn't understand the complexities of her job. They wanted something to be a certain way, but refused to see why it was just impossible. The issue of today's meeting was the New Republic's decision to not turn a building that SHOULD be condemned and torn down, into a homeless shelter.
"I just don't see why it can't be done!" the main proponent of the shelter exclaimed. "We'd have people there and awake every night who could watch out for emergencies."
"Miss Driscoll," Leia said wearily, "we've been over this. There's nothing that can be done at this point in time. Believe me, I wish there were, but- "
"If you don't trust our people you could put some of your Jedi over there to watch out-"
"The Jedi are keepers of the peace, *not* babysitters!" Leia snapped at the woman.
"Now, I'm going to say it one more time, but when my fire marshal tells me that the building isn't even remotely up to code and my building advisor tells me that a stiff wind could blow it to the ground, there's no way we're going to even consider putting people in there to live! I'd love to build a brand new shelter that could house everybody who needed it, but there just isn't money in the budget this year."
"I find that hard to believe-"
"Honestly miss, if you think you can do better than all of the New Republic accountants, I'd love to see it. When should I have our people drop off the 15 00 pages of paperwork?"
The woman, Miss Driscoll, paused for a moment, stunned. She gave Leia one last glare before returning to her seat next to a withered old man. Leia was about to continue with the meeting when the old frail man slowly rose to his feet, leaning heavily on a cane. Driscoll rose to help him as he said in a raspy voice "You're always talking about the budget, and how there's no money, but *why*? Where did all your money go?" He paused and was over-come with a fit of coughs. Gasping for breath, he continued. "You gave all your money away to people who flew and fought during the war-"
"Sir," Leia said gently, "I want to help you, and I promise, the New Republic will be doing everything in it's power, but these things take time."
"TIME!" The old man shouted, startling everyone in the room. "That's what you people say every time. Let me tell you something, *members of the board*, things were far from perfect when the Emperor and Lord Vader were running things-" the man paused as the room was filled with the gasps of the meeting's attendants, "-but we always had food in our bellies and roofs over our heads!!"
Three guards immediately rushed into the room. "Sir, Ma'am, you need to come with us now," one of them said.
"Wh-what is this?" the old man sputtered, as he was led from the room. "Are you arresting me??"
"You can't do this!!" Driscoll shouted as she was led from the room. "We're New Republic citizens!!"
"Yeah well, you're also suspects for treason," the second guard growled.
"Palpatine kept his promises!!" The old man shouted at the room. "He said we'd survive and be happy and we were! What have you done for us!! You've done nothing!!!!" The guards rushed to remove the man from the room. Just as they were closing the sound-proof doors, the old man gave one final scream. "DAMN THE NEW REPUBLIC!!!"
Author's Notes: Thanks to a few new reviews, I got to thinking about this story again, and decided it'd be awfully nice to be able to finish it. I may not do daily updates, but it sure won't be a year between updates anymore.
Chapter 4
The silence was eerie. Normally in the case of an out of control ship, alarms would be wailing and lights blinking. A ship without power, however, is a different story. Once again, Luke tried to make the ship do something *anything*, but nothing happened. Then he felt it. A presence in the back of his mind that was soothing. Calming. The tension left his body as he relied once again on the Force. He closed his eyes and released his grip on the controls, concentrating solely on a way out of the ship. In a matter of seconds, the hatch tore off it's hinges, and Luke's seat shot into the air. The abrupt change in pressure from the inside of his cockpit to the warm Tattoine sky combined with the thin atmosphere of the high sky was too much for a Jedi operating at 100%, and forcefully ejecting both himself and hopefully Artoo from the ship was a serious drain. Luke was definitely NOT at 100%. He pulled the ripcord that released his parachute, and the last thing he saw before passing out was the coarse sand of his home planet rushing up to greet him.
******
Leia leaned back in her chair and sighed. She almost always hated the Public Comment segment of council meetings. It wasn't that she didn't value the opinions of the New Republic citizens, but they just didn't understand the complexities of her job. They wanted something to be a certain way, but refused to see why it was just impossible. The issue of today's meeting was the New Republic's decision to not turn a building that SHOULD be condemned and torn down, into a homeless shelter.
"I just don't see why it can't be done!" the main proponent of the shelter exclaimed. "We'd have people there and awake every night who could watch out for emergencies."
"Miss Driscoll," Leia said wearily, "we've been over this. There's nothing that can be done at this point in time. Believe me, I wish there were, but- "
"If you don't trust our people you could put some of your Jedi over there to watch out-"
"The Jedi are keepers of the peace, *not* babysitters!" Leia snapped at the woman.
"Now, I'm going to say it one more time, but when my fire marshal tells me that the building isn't even remotely up to code and my building advisor tells me that a stiff wind could blow it to the ground, there's no way we're going to even consider putting people in there to live! I'd love to build a brand new shelter that could house everybody who needed it, but there just isn't money in the budget this year."
"I find that hard to believe-"
"Honestly miss, if you think you can do better than all of the New Republic accountants, I'd love to see it. When should I have our people drop off the 15 00 pages of paperwork?"
The woman, Miss Driscoll, paused for a moment, stunned. She gave Leia one last glare before returning to her seat next to a withered old man. Leia was about to continue with the meeting when the old frail man slowly rose to his feet, leaning heavily on a cane. Driscoll rose to help him as he said in a raspy voice "You're always talking about the budget, and how there's no money, but *why*? Where did all your money go?" He paused and was over-come with a fit of coughs. Gasping for breath, he continued. "You gave all your money away to people who flew and fought during the war-"
"Sir," Leia said gently, "I want to help you, and I promise, the New Republic will be doing everything in it's power, but these things take time."
"TIME!" The old man shouted, startling everyone in the room. "That's what you people say every time. Let me tell you something, *members of the board*, things were far from perfect when the Emperor and Lord Vader were running things-" the man paused as the room was filled with the gasps of the meeting's attendants, "-but we always had food in our bellies and roofs over our heads!!"
Three guards immediately rushed into the room. "Sir, Ma'am, you need to come with us now," one of them said.
"Wh-what is this?" the old man sputtered, as he was led from the room. "Are you arresting me??"
"You can't do this!!" Driscoll shouted as she was led from the room. "We're New Republic citizens!!"
"Yeah well, you're also suspects for treason," the second guard growled.
"Palpatine kept his promises!!" The old man shouted at the room. "He said we'd survive and be happy and we were! What have you done for us!! You've done nothing!!!!" The guards rushed to remove the man from the room. Just as they were closing the sound-proof doors, the old man gave one final scream. "DAMN THE NEW REPUBLIC!!!"