The Skywalker Prophecy: Hope and Darkness Chapter 18: Missing Scenes 1 to 3, a star wars fanfic

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Hope and Darkness Missing Scene # 1: Son of Vader (Chapter 6)

Author's Commentary: The false alarm at the Senate was a short scene designed to continue to bring Bryon's dark side to the fore as the story progressed. I kept the interrogation itself "offscreen" because I wanted to reveal Bryon's actions only in Kessa's confession to Sarré in chapter 11. That way the revelation would be as shocking to the readers as it is to Sarré. The interrogation does make a good Missing Scene, though.

After he snapped his blaster rifle into the gun rack on the corridor wall, Bryon paused outside the closed door of Detention Cell 23 in the depths of the Galactic Senate building. He was tired. He was frustrated. And now he was angry. Really angry.

The Kuatis had caused needless panic at the Senate, wasted the time of the Special Forces and the Senate's guards, and prevented him from monitoring shift changes as he'd planned. He'd already been having a bad day before this. Now the day was downright terrible. The Kuati in the room had better hope he had a very, very, very good explanation for his subordinates' actions.

"Sir?"

Bryon looked down at Kessa. "Yes?"

"Do you need anything, sir?"

Bryon took a deep breath. "No. Thank you."

"Okay, sir," Kessa nodded reluctantly. "Let's see… His name is…"

"I don't care what his name is," Bryon cut her off sharply. With that he tapped in the access code, waited for the door to swish upward, and strode into the cell. Kessa followed him inside and the door swished down again with a decisive metallic clang.

Seated on a chair at a small table was a pale, middle-aged man, shorter in stature and thinner than Luke. The man's hands were fidgeting on the tabletop and the sweat on his brow glistened in the light from the single glowdisc on the ceiling. He wore the elegant – if not ostentatious – attire favored on his wealthy, aristocratic world. Just looking at the pompous, self-important bootlicker made Bryon ever angrier. Especially those eyes.

The man was hiding something. He was definitely hiding something.

Bryon stood across the small table and towered over the prisoner. "You are the chief of security for the Kuati delegation, correct?"

"Yes," the man said. "My name is…"

"I didn't ask for your name," Bryon barked.

"But I am…"

"I have no interest in your name!" Bryon slammed his palms to the table, his shimmering obsidian-black battle armor rattling noticeably. "You will answer the questions I ask and only the questions I ask. Are we clear?"

"Yes, sir," the man gulped.

"The three men with concealed blasters. They report to you?"

"Yes."

"Did you know about the weapons?"

"Yes."

Bryon leaned forward a little, bracing himself upright on his arms from where his palms still were planted on the table. "Did the Senator?"

"No."

"She will be questioned, and we have ways of ensuring she will tell the truth. Are you certain of your answer?"

"I am," the man said. "The Senator was unaware of my decision."

"So you proceeded without notifying her?"

"That's right."

Bryon leaned forward more. "And you knew the blasters were not permitted in the Senate facility without proper authorization from the security forces?"

"I did."

"Yet you did not seek any authorization?"

The man swallowed hard. "No."

"Why not?"

"I'd rather not say."

Bryon chuckled derisively. "You'd rather not say?"

"No."

"Requests for additional security are approved all the time," Bryon said grimly. "It's routine, even when Senators seek permission for several armed bodyguards. What possible reason could you have for not following procedure like your peers in other delegations?"

"I'm not at liberty to say," the man persisted.

In a flash Bryon surged around the table, seized the man by the shoulders, yanked him out of the chair, and flung him against the wall. Before the man could react Bryon's armored left forearm slammed into his chest and pinned him to the wall. "You're not at liberty right now," Bryon bellowed. "Answer the question."

"I'm sorry, sir, but I can't."

Bryon frowned. "Answer. The question."

"I'm sorry. I can't."

"I've had enough of your games," Bryon roared. His right hand gripped the man by the throat and lifted him off his feet. With his black-gloved fingers clenching tightly Bryon brought his face within centimeters of the man's frightened visage. "Why didn't you request authorization for the blasters?"

"We had… information… of a threat… to the Senator."

"Do you take me for a fool?"

"Of course not… sir…" The man was gasping for air now, but he did not dare reach up to try to remove Bryon's hand from his neck.

"I know why you had the blasters," Bryon spat. "I want to know why you kept them secret."

"We couldn't… risk it…" The man gulped for breath. "Might… tip off… the assassins…"

Bryon released his hand and let the man drop to the floor again. "You were concerned there might be a leak in the Senate security forces, is that it?"

The man was doubled over, breathing heavily. "Yes… wanted them… to think we'd be… unarmed here."

"So if you were attacked you would have an advantage."

"Yes."

It made sense. Bryon might have done the same thing – if the concern about the leak was legitimate. That was the lynchpin of the entire explanation. "The likelihood of a leak is very small. Who poses such a threat to the Senator that you cannot trust Senate security?"

The man frowned. "I'd rather not say."

That was it. Clearly the man had learned nothing. "Tell me now!"

"I'm sorry. I think it's best if I…"

The man didn't get out any more words. Bryon's left hand snatched the man's right wrist and drew it up into the man's face. Then Bryon's right hand closed around the man's fingers.

And crushed them until he heard the bones snapping.

The man screamed in agony.

Bryon released his hold. "Who poses the threat?"

"Black Sun," the man said, cradling the devastated hand in the other.

"The crime syndicate?"

"Yes."

Bryon scowled. A security leak to Black Sun was unlikely – but not impossible. As much trouble as it had caused, he couldn't really fault the Senator's chief of security for his decision. "The Senator knows about this threat?"

"She does."

He paused for a moment. "Is the threat because of her personal dealings with Black Sun?"

The man clearly was about to refuse to answer before he glanced down at his crushed fingers – and thought better of it. "Yes."

"Then I suggest you prepare to find other employment," Bryon said. "The Senator will be safe enough inside these walls. Outside them, though, she's as good as dead. You and your people are horribly outmatched."

The man only nodded, his jaw clenched shut to bite back the pain.

"I will need your cooperation in preparing the incident report. When it is completed you will be released. Under the circumstances I will order that the report remain classified." Without waiting for a response Bryon turned his back on the prisoner and headed for the door. "Signal for a medic," he told Kessa. "We're finished here."

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Hope and Darkness Missing Scene # 2: Green-Eyed Jealousy (Chapter 10)

Author's Commentary: The brief cameo by Callista was included only to instigate negative reactions from the readers. A longer conversation, or a full-blown "catfight" with Mara, or even killing her off in the battle, would have given Callista a greater role than was warranted in the overall story. But increasing her "screen time" just a little was a fun Missing Scene to write.

"May the Force be with you, Corran," Luke said as his friend departed. With the mission briefing concluded the Jedi apprentices were heading off to rejoin their Masters and prepare for the evacuation operation on Gimna 3. Luke was about to look for Master Obi-Wan when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Hey, Luke," the soft voice said.

Luke turned around and smiled. "Hey, Callista. It's nice to see you."

There was a concerned look in her gray eyes. "It's nice to see you too. Are you okay?"

Luke frowned. "I've been better."

"What's wrong?" Callista released his shoulder and took his hand instead. "I thought I'd heard that your mission at Corellia went well."

"It did," he said. "Things went badly after that."

Callista squeezed his hand. "What happened?"

Luke took a slow, deep breath. "You'll hear about it soon enough."

She flinched. "Oh."

"I'm sorry," he said, squeezing her hand back. "It's just that until the Council's made a decision I don't think we're supposed to talk about it with anyone."

Her eyes widened. "That bad?"

"Yeah. Unfortunately."

The corners of her mouth curled in contemplation. "Wait… Someone died, didn't they?"

Luke swallowed hard. It was one thing to conceal the truth; it was another thing to lie. And he knew her well enough to know she'd understand not to ask anything more. "Yes."

"Oh, Luke, I'm so sorry," Callista whispered. She reached out, pulling him into a tight embrace and resting her head on his shoulder. "I'm so sorry."

"I know," he whispered back.

"Are you okay for the mission?"

Luke shrugged in her arms. "I'll have to be."

"Take care of yourself, Luke," she said. "Be careful. Be safe."

"I will," he promised.

"You know I'll always be here for you," she told him as she pulled him more tightly against her body. "When this is over, if you need anything you can come to me. Anything at all."

The meaning of her words was not lost on him. "Thanks," he nodded. "I appreciate the offer."

Callista released him and took a step back. "I have to go."

"Me too."

"May the Force be with you."

"And also with you." Luke watched her walk away through the crowd. Then he turned around to go find Master Obi-Wan and get ready for the mission.

And came face-to-face with Mara.

Her green eyes were blazing with a quiet fury that made him shiver.

"What?" He tried to shake the uncomfortable feeling building in his gut.

"What did she want?" Mara's voice was as cold as a polar wind.

"Nothing, really." Luke shrugged. "She just wanted to be sure I was okay."

"Why?"

The hair on the back of Luke's neck stood up. "She was looking out for a friend."

Mara's eyes narrowed. "She's not just any friend to you, though, is she?"

"I suppose not," he conceded.

"Right," she muttered, moving to turn away.

Luke put his hand on her arm and spun her back to face him. "What's this about, Mara?"

"Tell me the truth," she said.

"The truth is that Callista is my friend."

"That's all?"

He nodded. "That's all."

"Good," she spat.

Luke had the distinct impression Mara was jealous of Callista. Very jealous, in fact. He and Mara still hadn't had the time to talk about what had happened between them on Tatooine – to talk about the feelings they had sensed clearly enough in the Force but had been too scared to speak aloud. And then Luke realized his hand was still holding Mara's arm. He squeezed it reassuringly. "Are we okay – you and me?"

"Yeah," Mara said. "We are."

"You're sure?"

"Yeah. I'm sure."

Luke released his grasp and scanned the room. "We should find our Masters. I'm sure they're looking for us by now."

"Probably," Mara said, her eyes gazing around the auditorium as well. "There they are," she indicated with a tip of her head.

"I see them," Luke nodded. "Let's go."

"Luke, one more thing."

"What's that?"

"If you ever lie to me, I'll kill you."

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Hope and Darkness Missing Scene # 3: Awareness (Chapter 14)

Author's Commentary: This was a scene that I initially had planned to include in the main body of the story, but once I wrote chapters 14 and 15 I realized it distracted from the other, more important issues in those scenes. This scene is nice – but it isn't necessary to move the story forward. So it ends up as a Missing Scene – and became a scene in first-person point-of-view, unlike the rest of the story.