Location: Naberrie Lake house on the planet Naboo.
Time has the insidious habit of slowly eroding a person from the inside out. Childhood dreams and adulthood hopes are unrecognizably reshaped by a lifetime of struggle. Even a person's face is worn down by the passing years, creating a landscape of crevasses and canyons. But the eyes. The eyes seem to remain unscathed by time's abuse.
Luke Skywalker's famous blues eyes were a perfect example of that truth. They hadn't aged a day since that fateful Death Star rescue decade's earlier.
It was those same ageless eyes that flashed opened as he broke through into consciousness. like a star-fighter's targeting system, his mind was instantly aware of threats unseen by those blue eyes. Dena had been leaning over him, reacting to his restless stirring.
In a move that was purely instinctual, Luke thrust out his hand, palm up toward her. Instantly, Dena was drawn up in the invisible hand of the force and pinned to the rooms ceiling. A small scream escaped her mouth due to his sudden rough treatment of her. For the briefest of moments, the thought crossed her mind that he might be about to hurt her in retaliation for her earlier stun attack. But she dismissed the idea as soon as it popped up in his mind
That wasn't Luke Skywalker, the man with an unlimited supply of patience and hope. No, there was a reason behind his action; an altruistic one, undoubtedly. The fact was, she trusted him completely. So when she found herself staring down into his blue eyes, she made sure her green ones spoke of nothing but trust and friendship. In reality, it was only a heartbeat, but for Dena it felt like a small eternity.
As it turned out, there was no time for any verbal explanation. Half a second after being pinned to the ceiling, the large ornate window facing Luke's bed, blew apart, as a high powered blaster bolt made contact with it. The bolt, unimpeded, continued straight through the spot Dena had occupied not 1 second earlier.
As Luke's left hand held Dena pinned to the ceiling, he lifted his right hand toward the incoming bolt. By all rights, the incoming streak of energy should have vaporized his hand, arm, and upper torso. Instead, the sniper round unceremoniously died in his palm, in a flash of smoke and sparks.
The Sniper, overcome with the frustration of Luke's apparent invincibility, let loose of barrage of blaster bolts. The room erupted in a storm of burning splinters, masonry dust, and goose down.
Through the flying debris, Luke looked up to find Dena looking back at him. Amidst the room's destruction, the two of them were in a world of their own. Held in his invisible embrace, she never had felt more protected. For once, she wasn't even concerned about Luke's safety. At that moment, she had every confidence in his situational awareness and ability. She couldn't use the force to assure him of that confidence, but she didn't need to. He could easily read it in her face.
Soon, the thunderings of incoming blasts stopped, and was replaced by the twin whine of two speeder bikes; repulsers and thrusters being pushed to the max. Tahiri and Raynar had sensed the threat and the evil intent behind it in the force. They could also sense that Luke was in no real danger at the moment. So, instead of rushing to his room, they headed for the hanger. Luke knew that within minutes, the perpetrators would either be in custody or dead, depending on their level of resistance.
With the sounds of Tahiri's and Raynar's speeders fading off into the distance, Luke was quite confident the threat to Dena was over.
Like some kind of angelic vision, she floated downward with a slight gesture of his hand. She landed gently on his lap, without saying a word. A second went by... Then 5... then 10... They both kept staring into the other's eyes, with the slightest glance at the other's lips.
After about 15 seconds, Luke's earlier vision came flooding back to him, and he reached out in the force to try and determine the fate of his family; him being fully prepared to transport himself to their location via the force. But he no longer could sense impending doom.
Bringing himself back to the here and now, he noticed Dena's expression had changed from relieved to concerned.
His response was succinct.
"Don't!" He said with a small grin.
"Don't, what?" She asked with guilty surprise painted on her face.
"You don't have to shoot me again!"
"Oh..." she let out a forced giggle. "... Uh... You Remember that?
He nodded.
She placed a hand on his shoulder in an effort to reassure him. "Luke... I knew you were just... Just going to... You know... Poof!" She gestured with her hands to signify his new force teleportation trick. "We all knew it was a trap, and I couldn't let..."
He cut her off by placing a finger to her lips.
"I know..." He said in a tone she never heard him use before.
"Uh... did I miss something?"Her face holding the slightest trace of suspicion.
He calmly answered:
"I had... a vision, and in it... uh... everyone I... I ever loved died, and I was powerless to stop it."
Her heart began to pound in her ears, and she felt as if the air between her and Luke had been charged with bolts of unstable plasma.
"Ben?" She asked.
He nodded in response
"Solos?"
He nodded again
That's when she felt as if her lungs forgot how to perform their primary duty
With a voice that betrayed the fragility of her emotions she asked:
"Me?"
He looked down, inwardly reassuring himself that he was right; that the vision had been thwarted. After a moment, he looked up into her eyes and nodded.
She moved her head closer to his, and he didn't resist. Her mouth was in serious danger of connecting with his, until she caught herself. She then pulled herself back and turned her head to look behind her... At the gaping hole that was once a properly curtained window.
She climb down off of him and then the bed all together. Standing up, she reached out a hand to pull him to his feet. He accepted, and still holding his hand, she led him out of his room, and into the room that was on the opposite side of the hallway.
Her quarters. For the first time since their reacquaintance, he did not resist her and he did not fear the love that she so desperately yearned to share with him. His family was safe. She was safe.
He dared to believe, that his love would not be fatal to her as it had been to so many amazing woman. And with that... All his walls, collapsed.
Location: Aboard the Millennial Falcon, somewhere in deep space between the planets Socorro and Naboo.
The Falcon was a ship of heart. She rode rough, and often, straight into danger. The old girl made it through anything Han needed her to go through. Often, it meant a few more blaster craters in the hull and a blown set of alluvial dampers, but somehow, the almost regular brushes with death left the crew invigorated and ready for more. Is was the ship's gift; her charm.
No amount of charm could break through the shroud of sadness that hung throughout the ship. Yes! They had rescued Ben and Vestara. Yes! They had even rescued Lando from a monster of his own creation.
But at what cost? Lando lay stretched out on the lounge's booth; a broken and lost man.
And R2...
His whistles and beeps would never again be heard by the ship's crew. It was a chilling thought to contemplate. Without R2D2, the rebellion would have been crushed. Without R2D2 and his myriad array of tools and hacking abilities, The Falcon's many near misses would have been catastrophic failures.
Usefulness aside, Artoo's sunny disposition and can-do attitude was irreplaceable. Continuing on without him was going to make life much more difficult. But, they were determined not to give up. He didn't sacrifice himself, only to have his family give up on themselves. The galaxy's future, as usual, would be decided by their success or failure. Just like Artoo, they would do their duty right to the end.
"Did She get through to anyone?" Han asked over his shoulder, as Leia entered the cockpit.
"Jaina is letting Master Sebatyne know now." Leia replied
Han threw another one at her:
"Have you ever heard of this Sith named Verdun?"
"Never! But trust me, if there is anything to find in the Jedi records, Tionne will find it. We just have to give the Masters a bit of time to absorb what's happened and to come up with plan." She said with a confidence that her eyes lacked."
"Well... plan or not, we gotta get back to Luke before this whole thing blows!"
"Wait... Wait..." she said with a perplexed voice
"I thought this whole thing just blew."
"That? Back there? No way! That was just the warm up."
Han started listing off points with his fingers: "This sudden Galaxy-wide crime wave... The attack on Tenel Ka... Sith Droids... Ben's kidnapping... I don't have all the pieces yet, but I know this is bigger than Lando, and I know in my gut that this isn't over yet."
Normally, a Jedi of Leia's calibre would have ignored Han's gut. But she had known this remarkable man for nearly 50 years, and she had come to trust Han's gut every bit as much as the force.
"Luke?" She asked.
"Luke!" He confirmed.
She just stood there silent for several heartbeats and then started to head back toward the lounge.
"Leia?" Han asked, expecting an explanation
"I need to talk to Saba now, before Jaina ends the transmission." She said, without turning around or breaking stride...
"Leia! Thiz iz not the time for jokez! Thiz iz a seriouz matter!" Said Master Sebatyne, in holo form.
"I am being serious Master!" Leia replied.
"We need every Jedi Knight and Master on Naboo within the next 24 hours."
"It iz impossible! There are barely any Jedi left in the temple as it iz! In case you haven't noticed, the Galaxy haz gone mad."
Leia let out her growing frustration in one long breath before continuing: "The galaxy is going mad because there is an organized effort to eliminate Luke!"
"Thiz one thinkz you are correct! But don't forget, my old Padawan, that math works both wayz. If the fringe iz starting firez all over the galaxy, it means..."
Leia could follow her old Master's logic, and finished her sentence. "It means they are spread thin too, and they probably can't muster up a sizeable force to throw against Luke."
"Correct." Saba hissed. "You are strong in the force Leia, and you have The Sword of the Jedi with you. Get to Naboo as quickly as you can. We will send what Jedi we can spare: A Master, and perhapz a couple of knightz. Thiz one and the rest of the Jedi will keep these other Shenbit's too busy to cause you any more trouble on Naboo. Your Job will be to make sure the Balance is protected." Master Sebatyne moved her intimidating visage closer to the holo camera and said: Hold the Line Leia! Protect the Balance at all costz!"
Leia bowed her head and said: "Yes Master! May the Force be with you."
Saba's reply was cold and resolute: "May the force be with uz all!"
Location: Tendrando Arms Secret Base below the surface of the planet Socorro.
"Zero Hour" had come and gone. Tendrando's latest creation was now complete... Almost.
The room was silent except for the small whirs and clicks coming from the examination table's robotic arm. The arm had just finished inserting a glowing glass pyramid into the purposely designed hole found in the centre of the chest of the being who occupied the examination table.
The evil looking pyramid's soft red glow, sharply increased in intensity and brightness before dying back down.
complete stillness fell upon the scene. 1 second...
2 seconds...3 seconds
The creature's chest suddenly began to rise and fall as if it had been doing so for a lifetime.
Then...
HIS EYES OPENED!