Chapter 7:
Luke was hurtling through space on board a shuttle when he received an incoming holocube from an unidentified source. Opening it hurriedly in case it was from the Council, he saw the face of a man wearing Imperial uniform. The man seemed evil, even through the darkness background of the hologram and Luke was worried. Why would an Imperial contact him unless...
As if Luke had guessed his thoughts, the message began in a hard tone that reeked of evil. "Greetings, Jedi. You may well wonder why a man like myself would contact a Jedi operative in the middle of space. It concerns a certain young lady of yours that seems to have gone astray and ended up in my imperial palace. I would ask you to retrieve her but that would be too easy. Instead, I offer you a challenge. If you can reach her in time, she will live. If you do not, she will die in front of you. She even claimed to sacrifice herself for the good of the Jedi Order. Pah, you Jedi are worthless and I will so enjoy killing the man and woman who killed my father. Reach her in time and then we shall see..."
The cube ended with the picture of Miennya standing in her cell and the laugh of a Sith Lord. Luke clenched his fist as he growled with anger and then calmed himself. They had taken her again but he would not let her die this time. This time, he would bring her back with him. So, he set his coordinates to Coruscant and watched as it veered off its current path towards the nearby Core worlds and Coruscant itself.
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Inside the palace, the man in the holocube talked with his apprentice.
"I have decided to postpone your mission to the Jedi Academy so that we may await the man they call Luke Skywalker. He will be here to rescue his former apprentice, the girl in the cell. Miennya, she is called. Kill her when he gets to this room and then you and I will kill the grief-stricken man. However, you will keep her out of his reach until he gets here. Use any resources to stop or delay his arrival in this room within 24 hours and then you will carry out my instructions."
"Yes, my master" uttered the Apprentice as they got up and walked out...