####Yeah! I finally got the next chapter written! I want to say thanks to
everybody who wrote reviews. Rainbow, you are really sweet. Any readers---
PLEASE offer suggestions! There is a lot you can do with this story and I'm
sort of making it up as I go along. So, suggestions, please!!!!! ########
The door to Mon Mothma's spacious office swished open. Luke stepped in, and
was greeted by the stressed faces of the New Republic's most powerful
individuals. Come to think of it, Luke had never seen them when they weren't
stressed. He privately wondered if this was just another "let's ask the Jedi's
advice for old time's sake" meeting, until he saw Leia.
She looked awful. Pale, exhausted and she didn't meet Luke's gaze.
All that took less than a second and Luke took his seat at the large wood
desk. Mon Mothma started talking almost before the Jedi was seated.
"Have you been watching the holovision lately?" she demanded.
Luke wondered at her brusqueness.
"Usually," he said, "but not this morning."
Madine frowned behind his trimmed beard; "You're missing the story of the
century."
Luke felt Leia cringe.
"If I may, Mothma?" Madine gestured to a holovid against the wall. Dread almost
deadened Luke's headache. Madine flicked on the screen, then stood towards
the side, back straight, shoulders tense, hands clasped behind back. Luke
watched the holovid, and most people in the room watched for his reaction.
Jeter Pennings, the distinguished CNN (Coruscant News Network)
reporter, appeared.
".....covering the shocking events unfolding since last night."
The image cut to a photo from an ID card---one of those unflattering, small
pictures that make you look ten times nastier than you do in real life. The photo
was of a young man, with a long, blonde braid behind one ear. His deep blue
eyes looked hauntingly familiar.
**Where have I seen those eyes befo----***
Luke interrupted his half-formed thought. Three years ago-------Second Death
Star---.
It took a split-second for all that to happen. Jeter Pennings spoke out words that
cut Luke to the soul.
"Anakin Skywalker, the man who will become Darth Vader, has incomprehensibly
time traveled...."
Every swear word Han had ever used came to mind.
His father. His father! Here. The year whatever---Luke really couldn't think.
Classic can of worms. His father. Leia's father. Where? Being held in some cell?
Did they tell Anakin Skywalker he was going to become a.. but yet, under his
steadily rising panic, Luke felt his curiosity twinge. So that was what his father
had looked like. That boyish, tanned face couldn't have been hidden under a
mask for twenty----HECK IT HAD NEVER BEEN!!!!!!!! HE WAS NOW OLDER
THAN HIS FATHER!!!!!!!!!
Luke realized he had stood. Seeking that Jedi calm which had abandoned him,
he turned towards Mon Mothma.
"Last night, a family on vacation came across his broken ship. They found an ID
identifying him as Anakin Skywalker," she explained coldly.
Luke sat down, calming himself, "where is he now?"
Mothma clenched her hands on top of her desk. "Being held in a secure suite."
Ray Drist, an Ali-chyme from Laris, spoke from across Luke, "Jedi Skywalker, the
council has decided that you and Senator Organa must not, under any
circumstances, meet with him."
Luke frowned, but Mon Motham talked on.
"My sources tell me Anakin Skywalker only regained consciousness a few
moments ago," she continued, "and he will be told that he's time traveled.
However, his contacts will be limited to a few pre approved individuals."
Madine hadn't shifted from his military posture by the holovid, "the Council has
also decided that you and Senator Organa will avoid discussing this issue with
the media, due to your personal connections. Until we have decided what to do
with Anakin Skywalker."
Luke disliked Madine tone, "and what will you do, execute him?"
Luke gazed around the table, searching the councilors' faces.
"You can't just kill someone who hasn't done anything wrong."
He stopped at Leia, felt her troubled presence.
A heavy-set human growled, "But, we know what his going to become. Now, we
have the opportunity to stop the most ruthless killer from ever taking power."
Luke shook his head in frustration. Anakin Skywalker had been a good man-
wait he is a good man--- and certainly could not be held accountable for crimes
he hadn't (yet) committed. You can't just murder an innocent man, even if it could
stop the deaths of countless others. The ends do not justify the means. Luke
studied the feelings flying around the office, and doubted he could convince
them. Well, there was another point.
"So, if you kill him, you could created a paradox of some sort. Our reality
suddenly wouldn't exist."
Mothma held up a hand, "We have taken that into account. But, from what you
had told us, Anakin Skywalker turns and becomes Darth Vader."
"And, we don't know when or how he's going to turn," Ray Drist added, blinking
his white eyes, "the man is a ticking time-bomb. The last thing we need is Darth
Vader revisited."
"Perhaps," Luke tried again, "we could prevent his turning."
"How," Madine growled, "would you do that?"
Mon Mothma perceived the escalating conflict. She broke in with the air of a ref.
separating two unruly wrestlers.
"That will too be taken into consideration. However, Anakin Skywalker must learn
as little as possible about how things are in the 'future.' We can only imagine
what disasters knowledge like that creates."
Anakin sat back with a sigh of satisfaction. It had taken longer than he's wanted,
but the lock was opened.
//These guys are really idiots,// he couldn't help thinking, //well, they should've
been smart enough to post a guard or two....//
Anakin felt the nervous mind of a guard in the hall. It was a little insulting, only
one guard. Then, he sensed the presence of a second man, a little farther away
from the first.
Two guards. Anakin stood up, pulled on his brown robe. Now or never.
Swish....went the door.
Anakin popped out of the room, charging towards the first guard. The man, for a
slow second, stared at the Jedi as though a giant spider had just come through
the door. Then he started firing.
Still coming at the man, Anakin dodged the blaster bolts. The red rays embedded
themselves in the previously immaculate white walls. With the Force, he yanked
the blaster from the guard's grip.
The man, suddenly weapon-less, turned and fled down the hall. To his chagrin,
Anakin noticed him pull out a comlink. With a leap, Anakin tackled the man, and
the comlink sailed through the air.
The guard struggled, swearing incoherently. Anakin knocked him unconscious
with the butt of the blaster.
"Kendiss, do you copy? Kendiss, do you copy?" The comlink screamed. Anakin
slid over to it.
Feeling like someone with nothing to lose, Anakin picked it up. He told it, "hi. This
is Kendiss. Situation normal."
"What happened?" The voice from the other end demanded.
'I, uh," Anankin looked around the hallway, seeking inspiration. He saw and felt
the second guard, coming at him, blaster blazing.
Anakin dropping the squawking comlink, and flipped into the air..
#######################################################
In her empty office, Mon Mothma was secretly munching on chocolates when the
call came.
"President Mothma," a hologram had risen from her desk. Mothma guiltily hid the
chocolate box.
"What is it?" she demanded.
"It appears that Anakin Skywalker has escaped from his suite. He has injured two
guards, six troopers and killed a man."
Mothma groaned. Not in the future one day and he had already managed to kill
someone. And Luke Skywalker dared to suggest that his father might stay
uncorrupted?
"Send another squad after him. Form a perimeter."
Luke's headache had all but vanished, mercifully.
It let him sense something else, unfortunately.
"Blast...."
Anakin decided that they were getting serious.
Right now, he was pinned behind a pillar in some great corridor. Blaster bolts
flew around him, breaking the huge windows, burning plants, shattering priceless
antiques.
The squad was closing in. At a pillar down from Anakin's, a man started taking
shots from that new angle. Anakin ducked, flattened himself against the pillar,
and fired a few blasts at the man. One found its mark, and the squad member fell
flat.
The Jedi's luck wouldn't hold out, however. Already, Anakin could sense his
doom approaching.
He quickly fired at another sharpshooter who had come too close for comfort.
There was no way out...unless.
Anakin studied the large window a few meters down from him. It had a capacious
hole in it, a hole a man could easily jump through.
"Sorry, guys," Anakin shouted as he sprinted towards the window and leapt
through it.
"President Mothma," gasped the anxious hologram, "he has broken through our
perimeter. He is now on level 34. We're awaiting instructions."
Mothma groaned and felt like banging her head against the wall. There was one
last option, one that she loathed to even consider. But, it was better than sending
more troops to their death.
After all, the only way to stop an escaping Jedi was by using another Jedi.
A/N--------O.K! Forgive me, I'm not a very good action writer, and it's very late. But PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE!! What should happen? Will Luke help his father escape? Or help keep him in the Palace? I promise Han and Leia action (sooner or later).
The door to Mon Mothma's spacious office swished open. Luke stepped in, and
was greeted by the stressed faces of the New Republic's most powerful
individuals. Come to think of it, Luke had never seen them when they weren't
stressed. He privately wondered if this was just another "let's ask the Jedi's
advice for old time's sake" meeting, until he saw Leia.
She looked awful. Pale, exhausted and she didn't meet Luke's gaze.
All that took less than a second and Luke took his seat at the large wood
desk. Mon Mothma started talking almost before the Jedi was seated.
"Have you been watching the holovision lately?" she demanded.
Luke wondered at her brusqueness.
"Usually," he said, "but not this morning."
Madine frowned behind his trimmed beard; "You're missing the story of the
century."
Luke felt Leia cringe.
"If I may, Mothma?" Madine gestured to a holovid against the wall. Dread almost
deadened Luke's headache. Madine flicked on the screen, then stood towards
the side, back straight, shoulders tense, hands clasped behind back. Luke
watched the holovid, and most people in the room watched for his reaction.
Jeter Pennings, the distinguished CNN (Coruscant News Network)
reporter, appeared.
".....covering the shocking events unfolding since last night."
The image cut to a photo from an ID card---one of those unflattering, small
pictures that make you look ten times nastier than you do in real life. The photo
was of a young man, with a long, blonde braid behind one ear. His deep blue
eyes looked hauntingly familiar.
**Where have I seen those eyes befo----***
Luke interrupted his half-formed thought. Three years ago-------Second Death
Star---.
It took a split-second for all that to happen. Jeter Pennings spoke out words that
cut Luke to the soul.
"Anakin Skywalker, the man who will become Darth Vader, has incomprehensibly
time traveled...."
Every swear word Han had ever used came to mind.
His father. His father! Here. The year whatever---Luke really couldn't think.
Classic can of worms. His father. Leia's father. Where? Being held in some cell?
Did they tell Anakin Skywalker he was going to become a.. but yet, under his
steadily rising panic, Luke felt his curiosity twinge. So that was what his father
had looked like. That boyish, tanned face couldn't have been hidden under a
mask for twenty----HECK IT HAD NEVER BEEN!!!!!!!! HE WAS NOW OLDER
THAN HIS FATHER!!!!!!!!!
Luke realized he had stood. Seeking that Jedi calm which had abandoned him,
he turned towards Mon Mothma.
"Last night, a family on vacation came across his broken ship. They found an ID
identifying him as Anakin Skywalker," she explained coldly.
Luke sat down, calming himself, "where is he now?"
Mothma clenched her hands on top of her desk. "Being held in a secure suite."
Ray Drist, an Ali-chyme from Laris, spoke from across Luke, "Jedi Skywalker, the
council has decided that you and Senator Organa must not, under any
circumstances, meet with him."
Luke frowned, but Mon Motham talked on.
"My sources tell me Anakin Skywalker only regained consciousness a few
moments ago," she continued, "and he will be told that he's time traveled.
However, his contacts will be limited to a few pre approved individuals."
Madine hadn't shifted from his military posture by the holovid, "the Council has
also decided that you and Senator Organa will avoid discussing this issue with
the media, due to your personal connections. Until we have decided what to do
with Anakin Skywalker."
Luke disliked Madine tone, "and what will you do, execute him?"
Luke gazed around the table, searching the councilors' faces.
"You can't just kill someone who hasn't done anything wrong."
He stopped at Leia, felt her troubled presence.
A heavy-set human growled, "But, we know what his going to become. Now, we
have the opportunity to stop the most ruthless killer from ever taking power."
Luke shook his head in frustration. Anakin Skywalker had been a good man-
wait he is a good man--- and certainly could not be held accountable for crimes
he hadn't (yet) committed. You can't just murder an innocent man, even if it could
stop the deaths of countless others. The ends do not justify the means. Luke
studied the feelings flying around the office, and doubted he could convince
them. Well, there was another point.
"So, if you kill him, you could created a paradox of some sort. Our reality
suddenly wouldn't exist."
Mothma held up a hand, "We have taken that into account. But, from what you
had told us, Anakin Skywalker turns and becomes Darth Vader."
"And, we don't know when or how he's going to turn," Ray Drist added, blinking
his white eyes, "the man is a ticking time-bomb. The last thing we need is Darth
Vader revisited."
"Perhaps," Luke tried again, "we could prevent his turning."
"How," Madine growled, "would you do that?"
Mon Mothma perceived the escalating conflict. She broke in with the air of a ref.
separating two unruly wrestlers.
"That will too be taken into consideration. However, Anakin Skywalker must learn
as little as possible about how things are in the 'future.' We can only imagine
what disasters knowledge like that creates."
Anakin sat back with a sigh of satisfaction. It had taken longer than he's wanted,
but the lock was opened.
//These guys are really idiots,// he couldn't help thinking, //well, they should've
been smart enough to post a guard or two....//
Anakin felt the nervous mind of a guard in the hall. It was a little insulting, only
one guard. Then, he sensed the presence of a second man, a little farther away
from the first.
Two guards. Anakin stood up, pulled on his brown robe. Now or never.
Swish....went the door.
Anakin popped out of the room, charging towards the first guard. The man, for a
slow second, stared at the Jedi as though a giant spider had just come through
the door. Then he started firing.
Still coming at the man, Anakin dodged the blaster bolts. The red rays embedded
themselves in the previously immaculate white walls. With the Force, he yanked
the blaster from the guard's grip.
The man, suddenly weapon-less, turned and fled down the hall. To his chagrin,
Anakin noticed him pull out a comlink. With a leap, Anakin tackled the man, and
the comlink sailed through the air.
The guard struggled, swearing incoherently. Anakin knocked him unconscious
with the butt of the blaster.
"Kendiss, do you copy? Kendiss, do you copy?" The comlink screamed. Anakin
slid over to it.
Feeling like someone with nothing to lose, Anakin picked it up. He told it, "hi. This
is Kendiss. Situation normal."
"What happened?" The voice from the other end demanded.
'I, uh," Anankin looked around the hallway, seeking inspiration. He saw and felt
the second guard, coming at him, blaster blazing.
Anakin dropping the squawking comlink, and flipped into the air..
#######################################################
In her empty office, Mon Mothma was secretly munching on chocolates when the
call came.
"President Mothma," a hologram had risen from her desk. Mothma guiltily hid the
chocolate box.
"What is it?" she demanded.
"It appears that Anakin Skywalker has escaped from his suite. He has injured two
guards, six troopers and killed a man."
Mothma groaned. Not in the future one day and he had already managed to kill
someone. And Luke Skywalker dared to suggest that his father might stay
uncorrupted?
"Send another squad after him. Form a perimeter."
Luke's headache had all but vanished, mercifully.
It let him sense something else, unfortunately.
"Blast...."
Anakin decided that they were getting serious.
Right now, he was pinned behind a pillar in some great corridor. Blaster bolts
flew around him, breaking the huge windows, burning plants, shattering priceless
antiques.
The squad was closing in. At a pillar down from Anakin's, a man started taking
shots from that new angle. Anakin ducked, flattened himself against the pillar,
and fired a few blasts at the man. One found its mark, and the squad member fell
flat.
The Jedi's luck wouldn't hold out, however. Already, Anakin could sense his
doom approaching.
He quickly fired at another sharpshooter who had come too close for comfort.
There was no way out...unless.
Anakin studied the large window a few meters down from him. It had a capacious
hole in it, a hole a man could easily jump through.
"Sorry, guys," Anakin shouted as he sprinted towards the window and leapt
through it.
"President Mothma," gasped the anxious hologram, "he has broken through our
perimeter. He is now on level 34. We're awaiting instructions."
Mothma groaned and felt like banging her head against the wall. There was one
last option, one that she loathed to even consider. But, it was better than sending
more troops to their death.
After all, the only way to stop an escaping Jedi was by using another Jedi.
A/N--------O.K! Forgive me, I'm not a very good action writer, and it's very late. But PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE!! What should happen? Will Luke help his father escape? Or help keep him in the Palace? I promise Han and Leia action (sooner or later).