Chapter 7

Luke had set his course. Now, to find out if it was the right one…

His craft slowed as it entered the system. Before him were three main planets. The first one had only one moon and it seemed to be a very dark reddish color. The second one had at least five moons and it appeared that there would always be at least one of them in the sky by the way they were spaced out. Yet, he felt somewhat drawn to the third one. This one had a purplish tint to its surface and had maybe ten or more moons revolving around it. 'Am I in the right system? Or is there another reason why I ended up choosing this particular system?' he wondered. He decided to get closer to the purple tinted planet, but then headed towards one of its moons instead. 'Why did I come here in the first place?' he asked himself, frowning. He needed some time to think things through a little better, to get some answers, if any were to be found. He knew that he had been told to hurry, but he still did not know who he was looking for or where the person would be found.

You will know him when you find him, said a very familiar voice.

"Why can't you just tell me something more about him? How do you expect me to find someone without having anything to go on?" Luke demanded, getting more impatient by the second at his lack of knowledge about this mysterious person he was expected to locate.

All in due time, young Luke Skywalker…

-
"Maria! Where are you?"

The lone voice that was crying out did not go completely unnoticed by those who could still hear it. These were the Troopers that had been sent to destroy what seemed to be a random village and what few villagers remained. About half of the village had been wiped out by the Troopers themselves, before they had set it on fire. Now only a small handful were still alive, though they were all slowly burning alive and suffocating on the thick smoke. One in particular who still lived was beginning to lose hope that she would survive the attack. She had been looking for something that she thought was extremely important and might have been part of the reason behind the attack. It had occurred to her that it was the only thing, besides the child she had come to care for, that had survived the destruction of another village, years ago, and that the Troopers had been troubling her people ever since its discovery. Now she was hearing the same child, though he had grown quite a bit since then, calling out. She tried desperately to answer him, but her throat was too sore from all the smoke she had inhaled and her desperate calls for help. Her mind was growing fuzzy and she was afraid that if she lost consciousness that she would never wake again. She tried again to answer the voice she had heard, if only faintly above the roar of the fire. The roof sounded as if it was about to collapse. If it did, she would be trapped under it, yet she did not feel that she had the strength to move from where she was anyway. Perhaps it would be better for her to just give up and let herself die here. She doubted that anyone else had survived anyway and was a bit unsure whether she really had heard a voice calling for her or if it was just her imagination, at this point. She silently hoped that Lonny had gotten far enough away to not realize what had happened to them, so soon after his departure. There it was again! Was it possible that he was really there? That it had not been just her imagination? She tried again, more determined, to answer him. This time, she managed to call out, though only in a whisper. "Lonny, is that you? I'm in here! I can't get out! Help me!" Desperation and determination to survive this, if only for his sake, caused her to succeed in her goal of calling out to him, even if there was no way that he would have been able to hear her. Inspired by her slight success, she tried again, attempting to be heard over the sound of the flames around her, determined to let him know that she had not perished just yet.

"Maria!" 'I know that you are here somewhere!' "Anyone! Please! Answer me!" 'I cannot find you if I do not know to even look.'

- AN: To Solarstorm: Glad you like... PLEASE don't Force-choke me-pleads desperately- No! Don't-Aack- Can't...Breathe... Can't...Finish...If...choked...-faints from lack of oxygen- Hope you enjoyed this one!