The Cave
Camden
Lars was speaking enthusiastically.
"I followed one of the ships of the Yakoska pirates to Camden, but by the time I came out of hyperspace, the ship had disappeared. The forests of this planet have absorbed heavy metals from the soil, so sensor arrays don't work well. I landed and found this cave and did some scouting. I finally found the place where I found you, but that was just a minor outpost. I'm guessing that they didn't want to risk the main base by taking you there. But before I rescued you, I managed to download some information from one of the 'puters and I know where the main base is. It is mostly underground with some rather dilapidated buildings providing covert entrances to the main base. I want to blow the whole thing up."
Max blinked, and thought.
"You and your team, you mean?" he hazarded.
"Well, if you are the other part of my team, yeah," his companion said with lurking amusement in his tone.
The young Piett gasped, "You seriously think that the two of us can take down an entire base of pirates? That's crazy! Don't you have someone you can call for backup? Or can't we just contact the Imperial Fleet and bombard the base from orbit?"
"Three problems with that, Max. First, I've been tracking these pirates for months and I want to take them down personally. Second, there may well be slaves and/or hostages at the base, and I want a chance to free them. Third, if an Imperial ship comes out of hyperspace, the leaders of the Yakoska pirates would probably scuttle off the base before the bombardment and disappear into the forest again, free to start their nefarious ways up as soon as the Imperial heat diminished. Besides, I have my orders. This is the way it has to happen."
Max leaned back and groaned aloud, "I'm not military, you know ..."
"I am, and I promise I'll do my best to look after you. Or you can stay here if you insist, but I'm a bit worried about that too. For one, someone hostile might find you. Two, if no one does find you, well, it's a primitive place ... it might take some time for you to be found, and the wildlife around here can be large and aggressive. Bigger than bats, anyway. It truly is your decision, I'm just pointing out the challenges of staying here. I don't think I'll be able to come back after the mission is completed."
Max groaned aloud, and contemplated for 12 seconds, "I'm with you. So what's the plan?"
/-
Outside the cave
5 hours later
"I really don't see how this is going to work!" Max hissed to Lars.
It was early evening now and they were standing on the bank less than a meter from the river. It was a pleasant view, with the setting sun glowing purple in the distance, and the evening gwerps croaking enthusiastically. But in the distance, they could hear the approach of some kind of vehicle, presumably hostiles. Lars said that hovercraft had been making repeated sweeps the last hours, likely looking for any trace of them.
"Just relax, Max," Lars said, his face calm.
At least Max could now see his rescuer's face. His vision had returned to normal two hours ago, and if he had a headache from carefully perusing the data about the Yakoska Pirate lair, he didn't grudge it. The base was indeed mostly underground, which made the placement of explosive charges more interesting; if there was anything that Max excelled at and enjoyed, it was elegantly blowing something up.
A hovercraft skimmed around a corner, with ... 1, 2, 3, 4 individuals in it! Max cringed in worry, even as there was a shout from one of the men.
"Hey!"
Max turned to look at Lars, who faced the oncoming craft, his visage completely calm.
"Lars, there are four of them ..."
"You, what are you doing ...?" one of the men said, then Max could see a slow and unpleasant smile cross his face, even as he and two of the other sentients lifted blasters to point at them. The hovercraft was now only a few meters from the shore.
"If it isn't our missing hostage," the third man said with satisfaction. He was a tall human, with a black beard, long rather messy hair and, incredibly enough, an eye patch, "The Boss will be happy ..."
"Perhaps we can talk?" Lars suggested politely.
"But we won't," the apparent leader said, firing his blaster. A stun bolt traveled forward and Max flinched in anticipation.
Lars, moving with blinding speed, grabbed the strange handle which had been hanging at his waist and pushed a button; it lengthened into a green glowing blade, which emanated the peculiar buzzing noise Max had heard during his rescue. As if that wasn't bizarre enough, the stun bolt hit the blade and bounced off. Lars promptly hurled the weapon (?) at the boat, even as more shots were squeezed off, from those in the hovercraft, these set for kill.
Terrified, Max hit the ground, then groped his arms and legs and abdomen looking for injuries. But no, he was fine.
He staggered to his feet, rather dustily, to find the three hostiles destroyed, two of them in dead heaps in the bottom of the hovercraft, the third floating in the water, a surprised expression on his face.
The last individual was, now that Max had a closer look, a Twi'lek woman, probably of forty standard years. She was thin, her purple lekku drooped, her clothing was ragged, and she looked terrified. Then, even as Max watched, her expression changed to one of awe and relief.
"Skeewoker?" she asked in a hopeful tone
Lars spoke to her in an unfamiliar tongue and she, after a surprised gasp, began responding in the same language.
They went back and forth for a couple of minutes, and then Lars nodded. Max's eyes bugged open even more as the man then gestured with one hand, and the two dead men – Max noted, with some small, semi-hysterical part of his brain, that both had been bisected in half – in the boat lifted up and hurled themselves into the river!
"Ok, get in!"
"What ... how ...?" Max stuttered.
"I'll explain in a minute, Max," Lars said firmly. "Just get in. This woman is a slave, originally from Ryloth. The pirates have been using her to run the craft while they were looking for us. She knows the way back to the base; we just go down the river 20 km, then get off and walk about 2 more km. Piece of crispa bread."
Max briefly thought about staying behind. Lars was ... Lars was something weird, obviously. What was that ... weapon? Tool? But on the other hand ... he didn't want to be stuck out here alone until some wild animal found him or he starved to death.
Somewhat reluctantly, he jumped into the hovercraft. "Crispa what?"
"It's a baked convection," Lars said absently, which only confused Max more.
Lars spoke again to the female Twi'lek, and she, with a shy smile, started up the engine and they began racing down the river in the gathering darkness.
"I'm a Force sensitive!" Lars said abruptly above the sound of the motor.
"A what?"
"A Force sensitive. Some people have access to an energy field called the Force. It's kind of like, uh, the Boolas of Siskeen. They are an alien species who can feel and manipulate magnetic fields in unusual ways. Some people like me can feel the Force and lift things with it, that kind of stuff. I've had some specialized training. Obviously it comes in handy."
Max blinked at Lars for a long moment, his head whirling. The Force? He'd been to the Axxila Engineering Academy and he'd certainly never heard of an energy field called The Force! What kind of stupid name was that anyway? There were lots of forces – gravitational, magnetic, electrical ...
"Just don't worry about it, Ok?" Lars suggested in a soothing, strangely compelling tone. "I'm going to use my training to take down those pirates, free any slaves and hostages, and then we'll both be on our way. Does that sound good?"
"Yes, that sounds good," Max found himself saying. Lars was a good guy. It wasn't his fault he could manipulate pretend energy fields and make dead bodies throw themselves into rivers, was it?
"So what's with the weird, uh, green thingy?" he asked after a moment.
Lars tapped the hilt that was now hanging at his waist without any spooky glowing green aura.
"It's, ah, kind of like a sword, but it uses a laser instead of metal."
Max lifted his head to stare downstream. It was growing steadily darker, but the relatively large moon of Camden was shining down, making the stream reflect brightly compared to the banks. The Twi'lek could presumably steer the craft safely without trouble.
"So it's a weapon? Why in all the galaxies would you use that!?"
There was a pause, and then Lars spoke in surprise, "Why not?"
"It just seems so impractical! It's got, what, like a meter reach? How is that going to protect you against a bunch of blasters? What good is it?"
He turned to see Lars staring at him, though his expression was impossible read in the darkness. He felt a twinge of both compunction and fear. For all he knew, he'd just badly insulted the man who not only had saved his life, but had weird abilities at his fingertips.
"I'm sorry," he began nervously, "I didn't mean to, ah ..."
"No, that's all right," Lars interrupted, sounding thoughtful, "Uh, it's hard to explain."
"Is it, like, a special Dark Ops thing?" Max speculated, "something you get when you've proven worthy? I've read of stuff like that in one of my history books about ancient Rodian culture."
Another pause.
"Yes, it is like that in a way, I suppose," his companion said in a guarded way, then continued more normally. "And it does have some functions that a blaster doesn't. For example, it cuts down brush really well, which may prove handy during our 2 km. hike. And here's a funny story – well, kind of funny – a few years back I was on a mission and was attacked, then got caught out in a bad snowstorm. A friend of mine showed up and eviscerated a big lizard-like thing and stuck me in its entrails to keep me warm. He used my, uh, laser to cut open the lizard, which was tough and hairy. A blaster would have been useless in that situation."
Max shut his mouth now and carefully wiped drool off his chin.
"Entrails?" he asked faintly.
"Yes," the other responded in an amused tone, "Thankfully I was unconscious from hypothermia so I missed the horrendous smell. My friend still complains about the stink."
Max gazed in disbelief at the man standing calmly beside him, his face shadowed in the moonlight.
"You've lived an interesting life, Lars."
"Yes, I have."
/-
The Bridge
The Executor
Darth Vader stood at the bridge of his great ship as the whorls of hyperspace disappeared, to give way to space and Camden.
Like a bolt of lightning, the presence of his son filled his dark and hopeful soul. Luke was indeed still here.
"Admiral, order ships to deploy and begin scanning for ships departing the system. Also, begin sensor sweeps for any camouflaged bases."
Luke had quite mastered the enraging habit of disappearing at the last possible moment, but Camden's gravity well was quite deep, and thus Vader should have time to intercept the boy before he could make a jump to lightspeed.
Again, he pulled the vision back into his near term memory, of his son safely in custody. Perhaps today would be the day long dreamed of, the day when father and son were reunited forever.
/-
The River
Camden
30 minutes later
"So, Lars?" Max asked hesitantly and softly.
"Yes?"
"Uh, your father, what does he do?"
Lars turned his head toward him and when he spoke his voice was cooler than usual, "Why do you ask?"
Max winced slightly, "Um, I just wondered. It isn't important. I mean, I wondered if he is, er, involved in Dark Op ... I mean, your group."
His companion's face was impossible to read in the darkness, but when he spoke his voice was colder still, "No, he's not."
Max decided to shut up. He obviously had pushed an unhealthy emotional button, and it wasn't remotely any of his business anyway.
To his surprise, Lars spoke again a minute later, and his voice was noticeably calmer, "He works for the Empire, actually."
"Really? What's his rank?"
"He's not an officer. I'm not sure what all his tasks are, but among other things he does quite a bit of administration."
"Oh."
His father must be a grunt of some kind, with a tedious, boring, safe position with the Empire. Max contemplated this for 30 seconds, then, perhaps foolishly, spoke up.
"Do you think maybe he's jealous? I mean, you've been very successful at a young age. Maybe he just wishes his career was as successful ..."
Based on the vague harrumph from his companion, Lars didn't think so.
"Or maybe," Max said hopefully, "he's worried about you! You obviously do risky and dangerous things. He might be afraid you'll get hurt ..."
Lars surprised him by chuckling aloud.
"Max, you have a good heart. People like you give me hope for the future."
The younger Piett wrinkled a puzzled brow, "Thanks, I think."
The Twi'lek spoke now, and Lars listened, then glanced at Max, "The landing stage is up ahead. This hovercraft was the last search party of the day, so there may not be anyone on shore. If there is, I'll take care of them."
"Won't the men you killed be missed?"
"Nalla says no, she says they don't keep in regular communication because they don't want transmissions to be tracked by any other groups on the planet."
"Ok," Max said, firmly suppressing the growing unease in his body. He was an engineer, not a saboteur. He would love to strike a blow against the vile rancors who had kidnapped and threatened him and terrified his mother, but he was afraid of messing up.
"You'll do fine," Lars said out loud, causing Max to flinch.
The man couldn't possibly read minds, could he?
No, of course not, that was ridiculous.
There was a sudden bend in the river, and a dimly lit landing platform came in view. Max's stomach lurched uncomfortably as he spied not one, but two hovercrafts with dim forms just exiting.
The Twi'lek woman muttered worriedly, but continued drawing close to the platform. The dim sentients on the stage looked over at them.
"No luck, Reksha?" one of them called.
Lars, Max, and Nalla remained silent. They drew closer yet to the dim shapes on shore, and Max heard murmuring among the men. Then a bright light abruptly shone on them, causing Max to squint his eyes.
"Reksha?"
Nalla stopped the hovercraft 4 meters from the dock, and Lars took a step forward, "Listen, maybe we can work something ..."
Bolts began flying even before Lars could finish his sentence. Max found himself on the bottom of the hovercraft with the Twi'lek next to him, even as Lars leaped out of the boat.
The young Piett flinched, waiting for the splash, then heard the now familiar buzzing sound. He lifted his head, curiosity winning over caution, and watched with incredulity as Lars, wielding the weird green laser sword, danced in and out of the individuals on shore, slicing them in pieces, blocking blaster bolts, and generally wreaking havoc.
Within a minute, all was silent save the buzzing sound. After a moment, Lars turned his weapon off and turned back to the hovercraft.
"Asharkansi tasko, Nalla," he said.
The woman nodded and brought the hovercraft to the shore. Dazed and astonished, Max stepped off onto the shore.
"I guess this group believes in shoot first, talk later," Lars said with a shake of his head.
Max shook his head in awe, "You are incredible! I can't believe what I just saw! I had no idea that Dark Ops training would let you do that!"
Based on the follow-up murmurings from the Twi'lek woman, she was in agreement though naturally Max couldn't understand her.
"Yeah, I know," Lars said in what was clearly a joking tone. "Sometimes I amaze even myself."
"Really ..." Max began, but was interrupted.
"We don't have a lot of time to fulfill the mission directives, so let's get moving. Max, are you ready to blow something up?"
/-
The Executor
In Orbit around Camden
90 standard minutes later
Darth Vader made his 89th turn on the bridge in the last hour, feeling the tension that crackled between his men. So far, there had been no information about his son's possible whereabouts.
"Lord Vader!"
He spun around quickly, "Report!"
"My Lord, our sensors have just observed an explosion in Sector 46, Quadrant 3, on Camden!"
Author Note: To be clear, the Twi'lek lady Nalla does speak Basic, but is pretending not to at Luke's request. She recognized him but Max of course doesn't have a clue, and she respects Luke's desire to keep his identity a secret. They are speaking some interesting mix of Huttese and Twi'lek; I figure Luke might have picked up some of both during his travels. As for Max, what can I say? He doesn't look at wanted posters, and he has a bad memory for faces.