Войны Звезды
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Jacen Solo was flying his StealthX through he interstellar void that was the Unknown Regions. He had made sweep after sweep of the surrounding asteroid field that had long been abandoned. Life signs turned up negative. He hadn't actually expected anything, and if it were up to him, he wouldn't have even bothered. He knew that there was no life here: he had made sure of it-for a reason.
Two years ago, he, his uncle Luke Skywalker, and his aunt Mara Jade Skywalker had defeated the vast armies of the Killicks, an insect race led by the dark Jedi Lomi Plo, which had been threatening the Galactic Alliance. Now, after months of returning the people that had once been Killik joiners by intense Force penetration of their minds, virtually all of the Jedi Masters were either exhausted, or in Force hibernation to help cope with the strain that comes from using the Force on a great number of people for a prolonged period of time. Only the Masters Skywalker had been able to manage the intense strain. After destroying the Killiks, the galaxy had once again fallen into it's previous normality. The Jedi were stuck settling disputes and minor battles that came with new rulers who had taken advantage of the Killik War to take control of planets. Unfortunately, there was only one job that was left available that no one wanted to do, sweep the area for any sign of Killik life in the Unknown Regions, and Jacen had gotten stuck with it.
"Okay," he said, "I guess its time to start heading back, but before I do, I have one final stop to make." He started typing in the coordinates for the small planet Hapes, in the Hapes Cluster, when all of a sudden, all of his systems shut down.
Luke awoke to a room that was devoid of light except for one small pinpoint emanating from a minute hole above his bed. The light, he knew, was his astromech droid R2-D2's biological scanning device, located next to his primary photoreceptor. However, he did not know why the light was on. The light only went on when the droid picked up a biological profile he did not recognize. Why is he on? Thought the Jedi Master. I don't feel anything out of the ordinary in the Force. Luke pondered over this a bit longer, then decided that his time was better spent resting for the day to come. Then, just as the warm fringes of sleep started to lap against his restless mind once more, a blaster bolt sped past his head to where his arm had just moments ago rested. Luke leapt from the synfoam mattress, propelling himself with the Force toward the balcony attached to his guest suite. Before the assailant had even blinked, the Jedi Master ignited an emerald blade and separated the attackers head from its body. Luke extinguished his lightsaber, and knelt down to where the would-be killer had fallen. The killer turned out to be a Falleen woman, with shimmering green reptilian skin. "Where in the galaxy did she get this?" Luke said in awe. He was considering the armor the female was wearing. It was dark in color, with some dark green, and dark red, with a matte finish, so as not to reflect light when the killer went to "take care of" its victims. There were also several small compartments on either side of each dark gauntlet, to release things like cable lines, saw blades, and a comlink. He slipped the helmet off of the attacker's head, and looked in to the familiar T-shaped visor. The suit was Mandolorian, and not only that; it belonged to none other than Boba Fett.
"What I'm saying, Senator Niuv, is that the Outer Rim worlds such as Belkadan, and Dubrillion, which I'm sure I don't have to remind you, were decimated by the not only the Yuuzhan Vong, but by the Killiks as well. They need the Galactic Alliance's support and sponsorship if they are going to attempt to leave this galaxy in order to search for new worlds to populate." Leia said. She had been in the Grand Council Chamber where the Senators from across the galaxy met to discuss things such as this, for over four hours now, trying, and failing, to get the Alliance's help in the complicated matter. The Sullustan reared around to face her, the flaps on his face moving like linens in a Naboo wind in his anger.
"Need I remind you highness, of a project by the Old Republic codenamed Outbound Flight?"
"Outbound Flight?" Leia said. "Yes, I believe I have heard of the project. It was a reconnaissance mission of sorts, during the final days of the Old Republic, in the Middle of the Clone Wars. Its mission was to scout out other galaxies to search for habitable that they might populate and create small colonies. They encountered some trouble in the form of the barrier between our galaxy and others that prevented hyperspace travel through. My father was but a padawan to Obi-wan Kenobi at the age of fourteen at the time. The ship eventually encountered the Chiss of the Chiss Expansionary Fleet. Grand Admiral Thrawn eventually destroyed the ship, and another project of the like has not been attempted since, until now."
The Sullustan's anger knew no bounds now, "What do you mean until now?" This project will never come to pass! I will make sure of it!"
"May I ask why, Senator?" Leia said in a cold tone that suggested that she was not going to back down, at least, not without a fight, and a big one too.
"Because," Niuv said. "First of all, the costs would be outrageous. It would cost the Alliance billions of credits just to make a ship large enough to hold that many refugees, and what we need that money for here and now is to help with the recovery of the two wars we just had. Representatives from planets are coming at us left and right, begging us to aid them in the recovery of their planets. And besides, who knows what dangers you might encounter out there."
"Yes, I brought up that subject with the refugees, and they are preparing for such an occurrence, and as for the money, we have received numerous donations from private donors, who have rallied to our cause."
The Sullustan was about to launch a fresh rebuke her way, but just as he opened his mouth to speak, in strode marched Grand Admiral Pellaeon, of the Imperial Remnant. The way in which he walked past some of the galaxies most influential political figures in sent a chill up her spine. It was as if they were all just aliens in a cantina on some backwater planet. He took a seat two seats to the left of Leia, and inserted a data card into the holoprojector of the intricately carved synthwood table. Stars were cast across the room like little comets racing across the night sky on Yavin 4 as a map of the Unknown Regions was displayed in front of the Senators. The Admiral took out his data pad and relayed the information on his to everyone in the room. A light started to blink on the top of Leia's datapad, but she did not retrieve it from the table in front of her.
"If I may be so bold, Admiral, what in the Hutt's name are you doing here!" The voice came from the Twi'lek senator by the name of Hal A'min. The Twi'lek's lekku twitched, giving away her annoyance at him barging in. "We were in the middle of an important debate deciding the fate of billions of lives!"
"Well, when you put it that way, it does sound rather important, but from what I could hear, it sounded like mindless bickering. Now, down to business." The Admiral smoothed one end of his infamous white moustache. "A few weeks ago, a Jedi was sent to this spot in the Unknown Regions on a reconnaissance mission." Pellaeon said as he casually strode over to a section of the holomap, pointing to a small asteroid field. "He was sent out three standard weeks ago to scout out life forms of any remaining Killik survivors. He had completed his mission, and was about to make the jump to hyperspace to return home, when all communication with him was lost. The Jedi tried to reestablish contact with him, but failed. The Jedi's name was Jacen Solo."
Leia went from minor annoyance at the Admiral to ramrod straight in her chair in panic. "What? Why was I not informed sooner?"
"I'm sorry, Highness, but I just learned of this myself, and with Luke being away and all, it took a little while to receive the message from the reluctant hands of the academy."
"Are the Jedi organizing a rescue operation?" By this time, Leia was frantic. She had already lost one child, she wasn't going to lose another. "Have you established contact with my brother and told him what happened yet?"
"No, unfortunately we cannot reach him either, he seems to have turned his comlink off." The Admiral replied. "We can try again though, if you like."
"No, you'd just be wasting time we don't have. If you could be so kind Admiral to supply me with the name of the planet to which Luke traveled."
"Why, yes, I believe it was Felucia, or so the Jedi have told me." The Admiral stood up from his chair, "Why, you're not planning on going there are you? At least not without someone to escort you."
"That's what I have Threepio for." Leia replied. "Now, hopefully these discussions can continue at a later date, but for now, I have to go.