A Girl with a Lightsaber
"Run that by me again," Buck said.
Dyna sighed at hearing the skepticism in his voice but forced herself to repeat her statement. "I had a vision about a planet with three moons. On this planet was a Jedi who I think can teach me. He could be my next master."
"And what were the events leading up to this vision?"
Dyna sighed again. "I hit the back of my head."
"You know, my friend Canoe and I once went out for a drink." Buck began. "And in our drunken geniusness we made a bet..."
"What does this have to do with my vision?" Dyna asked, her voice dripping with annoyance.
"It's coming. Anyways, we made a bet of who could knock the other out with a punch." Buck continued. "Well, guess who lost the bet."
"You?"
"Yes, me. And when he punched me I had a vision: I was surrounded by the most beautiful females of different species; females so beautiful that they would put Jabba the Hutt's dancers to shame. But I didn't pursue this vision because as wonderful as it seems, I knew it was not real. It was just a product of my brain bouncing around in my skull by the jarring movement."
"But that was not what I had." Dyna said. "The vision I had was... was connected to the Force."
"Again with this Force nonsense." Buck complained. "I thought after what happened the last time that you would not want anything to do with The Force."
"It's who I am, Buck." Dyna said. "I am connected to the Force. There's no escaping it, so I have to understand it, either as a Jedi or... whatever the Inquisitors are."
Buck threw his hands up in frustration. "Fine," he said before producing a small computer. A shaft of holographic, blue hued light came from the computer as he pressed the small device.
"What are you doing?" Dyna said.
"Showing you how impossible your vision is." Buck said. "This is an encyclopaedia of sorts. I've entered the description you gave me for the planet you saw. All we know is that it has a market place and three moons. These are the number of planets that have three moons."
Dyna looked at the high number on the holographic screen.
"When you think of anymore information on the planet, enter it here to help narrow it down." Buck handed the device over to Dyna. "But personally, I think it's a fool's mission."
Buck left Dyna alone, who proceeded to go through the list of planets and the available photo's in the encyclopaedia to see if she could identify the planet she saw in her vision.
/
The figure in black walked through the hallway. Even the highest ranking officials fell to silence and moved out of the way as the figure came through. His visors reflected their fearful and respectful looks and the sound of his heavy breathes preceded him and his lightly fluttering cape was the last thing people saw.
He stopped in front of a room and did not wait long before the doors slid open.
Inside the room was an old man with skin as white as chalk and sunken eyes that would sometimes shine with an unnatural and eerie yellow light.
The old man smiled, an action that seemed to be controlled by strings connected to each corner of his mouth, as he got up to greet the man who had just entered.
"Lord Vader," Palpatine said.
Vader took a knee and bowed his head respectfully. "Master. You summoned me?"
"Yes, rise my friend and come here."
Vader got up and approached Palpatine who was standing before a cube-like machine that was used to play hologram videos.
"I want you to see this and tell me what you think." Palpatine said before pressing a button on the red machine.
A hologram came to life above the machine. Darth Vader instantly recognised the familiar weapon in the young female Twi'lek's hands.
"A Jedi?" Vader said as the hologram played out.
The hologram showed the Twi'lek rounding a corner and as the droid recording the video took the corner, the Twi'lek was gone until she reappeared a short while later to attack the droid.
Vader analysed the rudimentary lightsaber blade work from the Twi'lek dissapointedly.
"No, not a Jedi. A girl with a lightsaber." Vader said.
"Yes, she shows little skill in its use." Palpatine said.
"She not even worth sending out an Inquisitor." Vader said.
"Yes, but I am still sending you." Palpatine said.
Darth Vader looked to his master. Even with his features hidden beneath his black helmet, Palpatine could sense his annoyance and confusion.
"This video was taken by one of Ton-Iki's droids." Palpatine said. "This was during the attack on one of our bases in the Mid Rim. Seems like the rebels are growing more brazen and since this is the second lightsaber wielding rebel that has been reported recently, since the whole Ru'Bik incident, I'm inclined to think that someone is giving them this confidence."
"You think the rebels are bolstering their ranks with Jedi?" Vader said.
"Well, the dying Jedi did have a hand in the creation of the rebel alliance." Palpatine said. "Who is to say that they have not found a way to survive and have been hiding amongst the rebels?"
"It is possible but the Jedi work in the light." Darth Vader said. "They cannot stay hidden for long."
"Yes but that is also because we seek them out just as you will now." Palpatine said. "I want you to investigate this event. If it is nothing then you can return but if there are Jedi amongst the rebels, then you will exterminate them."
Vader bowed at this. "As you wish, master." He said before leaving the room.
/
Just like Darth Vader, Kisto walked through the hallways of the ship that acted as the temporary rebel base. People of different ranks greeted him respectfully as he passed but the playful Twi'lek would sometimes make jokes with his fellow rebels. He wore simple khaki clothes, including pants, jacket and vest with a cape fluttering behind him.
Kisto entered the chamber where three high ranking officials of the rebel alliance awaited him.
"Commanders," Kisto greeted the three assembled people, two of whom were men while the other was a woman.
"At ease, Kisto." One of them said.
"If you want my report, I've already filed it..."
"Yes, we already heard about the successful mission." The woman said. "It seems your information was correct and the rebels were able to take the base and secure numerable supplies."
"Yes, I even disclosed who my source was in the report," Kisto added.
"Okay." The woman said.
"Uhm... my source is Buck Johnson." Kisto said.
The commanders all looked at each other with an annoyed look.
"You're not going to start that again, are you?" One of the mae commanders said.
"Uh... I actually am." Kisto said. "Buck Johnson and his charge have proven themselves. I think they should brought into the fold. And anyways, we need as much help as we can get."
"Yeah just not that kind of help." The other man said. "Buck Johnson is too much of a risk. He could be a mole."
"If Buck is a mole then either the Empire is very foolish or he is the greatest mole in the galaxy!" Kisto said. "I mean why would the Empire send a mole that could easily be confirmed as having some prior connection to the Empire. It was not exactly hidden that Buck used to be a stormtrooper."
"Its just too risky and it was not exactly easy to trace Buck's connection to the Empire, what with him being declared dead and all." The woman said. "And the fact that he asked for payment shows that he's not really dedicated to the rebel cause."
"Might I also mention that his records also mention that he defected before he was declared dead." Kisto said, trying to further prove his point that Buck could be trusted.
"Fine, we'll allow him into the rebels... if he tells us who his source is." The woman said.
Kisto was about to protest when the woman raised her hand to silence him.
"Anyways, we did not call you here to discuss that." She said. "We have a mission for you."
"Oh?" Kisto said, taken aback.
"It is an escort mission..." the woman said.
"Wait, I don't usually do escort missions." Kisto said. "Wouldn't it be better if you sent out someone more experienced?"
"We are spread out thin currently." One of the male commanders said. "We need a high ranking official to lead the mission. Currently, your the only one available and trusted enough to do it."
Kisot nodded. "Who am I escorting?"
The woman gestured Kisto to approach a circular hologram projector in the middle of the room. She passed a hand over it and an image of a brown Ithorian male in a blue and black jumpsuit appeared.
"This is a mechanical engineer named Cobolt Siri." The woman said. "He is ranked as one of the best in the universe since the days of the Republic."
"The Old Republic, huh?" Kisto said as he approached the hologram to study the being closely. "I guess when the Empire took over he did not defect."
"That is correct," a male commander said. "But he did retire, although it now seems that the Empire is trying to recruit him for something."
"Any idea what?" Kisto asked.
The woman shook her head. "Whatever it is, it's big. There are rumours and ripples across the galaxy but no one knows exactly what the Empire is building."
"Whatever it is, it has this man spooked and he wants nothing to do with it." A male commander said. "That is why he contacted us. Apparently, the Empire is trying to strong arm him into doing there bidding. They are even threatening his family."
"So I'm suppose to smuggle them out," Kisot said.
"Yes,"
"So where is he currently located?" Kisto said. Please don't say the Inner Rim. Please don't say the Inner Rim. Kisto ferverently hoped.
"A planet in the inner rim," the other male commander said.
Kisto sighed. "Well that just makes this more difficult. When do I leave?"
/
Buck walked to Dyna's room where he found her sitting on the bed and looking at the encyclopaedia he had given her three days ago.
"Hey Dyan," he said, "I've made food."
"Please bring it here," Dyna said as she pressed a button and changed the information shown on the holographic screen in front of her to show a different planet. "I'll eat in my room."
"Are you planning to leave your room?" Buck asked with concern in his voice. All Dyna had done for the past few days was look at the information sheets and photos of the planets with three moons that the encyclopaedia had. She hardly slept and almost never left her room unless to get a snack.
"I just have to find this planet." Dyna said, not taking her eyes off the holographic screen in front of her.
Buck sighed and left only to return a moment later to deliver her food, which she gobbled down while reading information on holographic screens.
Buck disapproved of her looking for a Jedi master. He would rather wash himself of everything that had to do with the Force and lightsabers. This is why Dyna had not asked for his assistance in looking through the three moon planets. However, her obsession with finding the planet was worrying him.
He sighed as he decided on his next course of action. The way he saw it was to help her find this planet, which he doubted even existed. Once they had confirmed that the planet did not exist, then maybe she would also put to rest all Force related activity.
Canoe was leisurely lying on the roof of his apartment building. He wore his full Stormtrooper armour other than his helmet which was resting at his side. He looked up as speeders zipped across the busy skies.
His communicator suddenly began flashing and he answered it. A poor quality hologram of Buck appeared above the communicator.
"Dad, nice to hear from you." Canoe said.
"Hello son," Buck said.
"I hear congratulations are in order," Canoe said to his friend. "I am still getting my two presents, right?"
"Yes, you really helped me out." Buck said. "But I need a favour from you."
"So soon after the last one?" Canoe scolded. "If I do too much for you, I'll get fired from work!"
"Sorry, son but this is a snall favour." Buck said. "I'd do it but, you have more... resources at your disposal then I do."
"Fine, just tell lil' sis to call me and tell me what it is and then I'll tell you if I can do it or not." Canoe said.
"Thank you my son," Buck said before ending the transmission.
Canoe waited for Buck's message. They had developed a way of sending messages securely which they called 'lil sis' and when they spoke to each other on a direct line communicator, Canoe called Buck 'Dad' while Buck would refer to Canoe as 'Son'. This was so that of anyone was listening iin, they would think that Canoe was speaking to his father. These precautions were taken to ensure that both men stayed safe. The Empire was to continue that Buck was killed by Canoe and that Canoe was not a mole for Buck.
Canoe received the coded text message. He easily decoded it. "Hmm... so he wants me to find a planet with 3 moons. It has a market that may or may not be in a desaert area and is most likely in the Outer Rim. That shouldn't be too hard."
Canoe put his helmet on and proceeded to do what was asked of him.
Buck closed his communicator after sending all the information and guessed information that he could to Canoe.
/
"Are you my crew?" Kisto said with an unimpressed look on his face.
"Sir!" A young Twi'lek stepped in front of him and gave him a salute. The other two stood up and respectfully.
"How long have you all been in the rebel alliance?" Kisto asked. "I've never seen anyone of you before."
"A standard year, sir!" The Twi'lek in front of him said and Kisto had to force his hand down from his salute.
"Three standard years," a fair skinned human said.
"Same," a man in brown clothes with goggles on his forehead said.
The two wore matching green jacket with white shirts. The Twi'lek wore back pants while the human wore blue pants.
The other human was in a brown shawl over a white shirt and had on khaki pants. He also wore goggles on his forehead and had a rifle at his back.
"Alright, listen up!" Kisto said, sounding very firm. "I'm the leader fo this mission and as such you do what I say, when I say. If you follow me we may make it out of this alive. Does anyone know the name of this ship?"
Kisto looked at the ship in front of him. He could not take his ship, The Good Boy Express, because it was too small for the mission.
"Carrier 3b-H10, sir!" The young Twi'lek said enthusiastically.
"3b-H2... whatever, its not a good name for a ship." Kisto said. "Let's see. Its a motley ship carrying a motley crew, so I'll call it Motley."
Kisto and his new crew got into Motley as soon as they were ready and set off into space where they would carry out their mission.
/
A standard day later, Buck had received all the information that he had requested from Canoe.
He went to Dyna's room where he found the orange skinned Twi'lek laying on her bed, the encyclopaedia computer turned off at her side.
"Heh, finally given up?" Buck said.
"No," Dyna said. "I'm just taking a break. Could you make me something to eat? I'm soooo hungry." She said rubbing her belly.
"Uh... you just had dinner." Buck said coming into her room and sitting next to her on her bed. "I asked my friend to help with your search. He came up with these 4 planets."
Buck offered her a holo-disk which Dyna accepted. He hoped as soon as she saw that the planet she was looking for was no there, that she would give up.
She pressed the holo-disk and a blue hued hologram came to view.
"No," she said when she saw the first planet.
She pressed a button and the next planet was shown.
"No," She said again before switching to the next.
She looked at this a little longer.
"No," she said before moving on to the last.
Her eyes widened as she looked at the last planet. She viewed the photos and studied them with growing excitement.
"This... this is the one!" Dyna said.
"Wait... what?" Buck said, horrified.
Dyna recognised the photos of the three moons that looked like the ones in her vision. And the market place also looked like her visions.
"This is it!" Dyna jumped excitedly before hugging Buck. "Thank you, Buck!" She said before running to the control room to input the coordinates.
Buck was just left in her room, speechless at the turn of events. "What have I gotten myself into?"