My obsession with this move started when I was just 4 years old. My parents took me and my brother to see it on the ORIGINAL re-release in 1979. Then, HBO got their hands on it and they started playing all.the.time, as HBO is wont to do. It just got worse when in 1991, they release the franchised approved trilogy of books, called The Thrawn Trilogy.
What was the original name of Star Wars that Lucas pitched the script with, and was on the script until well after shooting started?
This is a tough one, and I'll give a lot of partial credit to you for a solid guess. One winner, and chosen at random. You can enter here through the comments, or on the Facebook or Google+ post that brought you here. (I have very little faith in the comments here; they really screwed me over on another contest.)
So now, without further ado, the last excerpt of "Empire of SixSuns"-- I hope that you'll come back often to check out my happening and keep an eye out for new stuff from me in the near future.
Chapter Twenty‑Five
Han carefully steered the Falcon in
to the atmosphere of Buria. Jaina was asleep in the seat next to him, most of
the prickle bush rash gone now. He had scalded her for going down to the garden
room by herself, but not too harshly. That little attack by Beloque had
clinched his decision to go and get Luke away from SixSuns before anything else
could happen.
It was only he and Jaina who were
going to Buria, the rest of the fleet was staying behind. They certainly
couldn't afford to lose any more time or people on going to pick up Luke.
Han announce their arrival, and the
porttender insisted on getting them an escort, and informing the Clearwaters
that they were coming to visit. Han
didn't want anything at all like that. He just wanted to land, find Luke and
his son and go the hell back to Coruscant.
But, he could see that there was
indeed someone waiting for them when the Falcon was getting ready to touch
down. It was an older lady (older? she couldn't have been older than he was!)
with no escort at all.
The air escort veered off as soon
as he was near the groun, and Jaina's eyes fluttered open from her nap. She watched them go, and then turned her
attention to the lady on the ground.
After a minute of looking at her, Jaina turned to her father.
"She doesn't want to be here,
daddy," she said. "She doesn't like us, she doesn't like Unca'Luke,
and she wants all of us to go away."
Han looked down at the woman.
"All I want to do is get Jacen and Luke and go home. I don't want to be
here. And I will be more than happy to go home once Luke and your brother on
the ship."
Jaina continued to look down at the
lady until she was blocked from view by the other parts of the Falcon.
Han unbuckled her, took her hand, and they walked down the ramp. He looked at
the woman at the bottom of ramp with
suspicious eyes, and could feel Jaina fidgiting. She was an old version of
Rose, but with out the grace that a court up bringing had distilled into her
daughter.
"General Solo," she said,
with absolutely no sign of welcome to her voice. "I am Lauren Clearwaters,
the aunt of her highness The Empress Katarina.
I was sent here to escort you to our home."
"Thank you, Lady
Clearwaters," Han said. He was
amazed that he actually remembered
Leia's lessons on the proper titles for royal relations. "This is my
daughter, Jaina."
"I have made her brother's
aqaitance," Lauren said. "If you will follow me, I will take you to
our lodgings. You'll have to forgive us
if they are not as magnificant as your palace home on Coruscant. We are humble
people without much creature comforts."
"Humble my behind," Jaina
said.
Han looked down at his daughter,
shocked that she had said that, and wondering where she had ever picked up that
idea, or the concept behind it. "Jaina, appoligize, now, young lady."
Lauren looked at her, with the same
shocked look. Jaina bowed her head, and said, "I'm sorry, Lady
Clearwaters. That wasn't very nice of
me."
"I'll say," Lauren said.
"Is this what you teach your children, General?"
Jaina's eyes filled with tears. Han
looked at the woman. "I will not have you scolding my kids. My wife and I
and their uncle Luke are the only ones allowed to yell at them, and I don't
think that you have any right criticise the way we teach our children. It's
clear to me that you do no better. She was well behaved enough to say she was
sorry, so you don't have to go and rub it in, do you?"
Lauren simply looked at him. "Follow me," she snapped.
Han didn't move. "Listen,
lady, I don't want to be here any more than you want me here. I came to get my brother and my son, and I
will be out of your hair, and you out of mine."
Lauren turned around. "I am
not yet in your hair, sir."
"Good, stay out of it, and
nothing bad will come of it." Han led Jaina ahead of her, hoping that the
vehicle that was stitting there was the one that they were going to be
using. Jaina climbed in and Han got in
after her. He could see that Lauren was not all that happy, but she was
probably just as stubborn as every other one of the Clearwaters he had heard
stories of.
Lauren got in the car and closed
the door. She stared the vehicle and pulled away from the space port. She spoke to them with out turning
around. "There is a dinner party this
evening. Luke and Rose will be out until six this evening. I hope that you have
brought something more suitable to wear."
"I am not planning to attend
your party," Han said. "I am planning to get my brother and my son
and get out of here."
*
Luke walked into Grammy's
livingroom where she was sitting and 'reading' a book. She was actually reading with her fingers, it
was an old style of book. She raised her
head when she felt Luke enter the room.
"You are worried about
Rose-darling, aren't you?" she asked.
"Yes," Luke said.
"Do you know where she is?"
"She's up at the castle,"
Grammy said. "She always goes there when bad things happen to her. She likes to be alone for a while and think
about things, and I think that sometimes it's better if she does that. Even if it annoys her mother."
Grammy stood and walked into the
kitchen, her voice floating back to Luke.
"Cup of tea?"
"Sure," Luke said.
"Relax, Luke," Grammy
called from inside. "She spent six weeks up there alone when her husband
died."
Luke jerked up at that. "Her
husband?"
Grammy walked back in carrying two
cups of tea and handed one to him. "She never told you about him? Well, that wasn't very nice of her. If you to are to have a working relationship,
you ought to know everything about one another." She sat down next to him.
"His name was General Richard Mohran. He and Rose had been sweet on each
other for years. His family used to live
down the road, and even after they moved, he kept in contact with Rose. H told
me ages ago that he wanted to marry her, but he didn't want to propose to her until
he had a secure future no matter who or what she was.
"He was promoted to general
about two years ago and he was here the next day to propose to her. She
accepted and they were married about eight months later. It was a grand ceremony at the palace, because here finally was the
hope of another heir to the throne of SixSuns.
Everyone watched on the vid as they said their vows. SixSuns was a blissful place during their engagment
and their short marriage.
"Richard was sent out to the
Rim, where not even the people who inhabit the planet know what lies
beyond. It was training, Katarina said.
So that we could be prepared for anything.
But we weren't, or Richard would be here now. Something fired on the
ship and slagged it and everyone on it.
They said their deaths were quick and painless, but I could hardly
believe that. Not after what Eve desribed to me. Eve was the only one of us
brave enough to go and look at what the ship had looked like out there. It's still there, supposedly, as a memorial to
those who died. That was about six months ago.
Rose went to Lake Cauldron as soon as she heard, and it was only her
father going up there and talking her down that got her away." Grammy
sighed into her tea. "That's why
she was happy to hear that Katya was pregnant.
She feels now like she has no responsiblity to the throne."
"But she does?"
"Yes," Grammy said.
"Just as Eve does and Mark does.
They are in line for the throne whether they like it or not. And this empire is older than your Republic
was. It would be an aweful crime to have it turned into fecal matter in one
generation. Katarina is too evil to be allowed to rule. No matter what the out come of this, Rose
will have to take the throne. Either
Katya will die, or she will be shamed into hiding forever. Her child will never sit on that throne. I
have forseen that."
Luke put the cup down. "How long do you think that she will be
up there?"
"I will give her one week to
think alone up there, and then I am going up there to bring her down by hell or
high water. " Grammy took a gentle sip.
"Please realize that she has discovered a betrayal than runs much
deeper than loyalties."
"A betrayal which runs as deep
as the blood that flows in her veins," Luke said, looking at his right
hand. "A betrayal that she will never ever be able to escape from, and an
evil that she will never ever be able to put completely right. She will spend her entire life trying to make
up for the short comings of her cousin and friend."
Grammy bowed her head. "I hadn't realized..... This is no worse than what you and I went
through."
Luke looked over at her sharply.
"You went through?"
"You forget, young Skywalker,
that I too was betrayed by your father.
He took your hand, and he took my sight." Grammy put her cup down. "I wonder what Katya will take from
Rose-Darling."
Luke stood. "I won't let her
take anything. I have to go."
He walked out the door before
Grammy could say anything to him. Grammy sighed and sat back in her chair.
"She has already taken her innocence and torn her heart in two. I hope that she realizes that you are here to
help her."
Chapter Twenty-Six
Katarina
looked at the baby in her arms. Tender
and small and so young. Less than two days old.
The heir to the perfect empire that she was creating for her. Calesh was looking at her from across the
room, with a look of digust.
"Women. You have a child and you turn all
mushy," he said.
"You ought to shut up,"
Katarina snapped. "This child will
rule this empire one day, no thanks to you."
"That child wouldn't be here
if it weren't for me," Chalesh said, stepping forward.
"Oh, now who's mushy. You are a bigger fool than your student,
Chalesh." She handed the child to the nurse carelessly. "Do you
realize that that fool you are teaching is more dangerous than you and I
combined. Not because he's powerful, but
because he's a total moron. He almost
ruined everything with his little attack on the Solo girl. He ought to learn
that she, and her two little brothers are of no consquence in this and they
ought to be left to die with their parents."
"Beloque accomplished the task
of getting Solo and his daughter out of the sh'Ris camp," he said.
"More than you have done."
"Oh, he got them out,"
she snapped, "and drove them right to my cousin's house. Pure genius. So
now, not only to we have to deal with Skywalker and the old woman, but Solo and
his twins. And a marvelous job your task force did trying to illiminate
Skywalker and my cousin."
"I was not aware your cousin
and Skywalker were so resourceful," he snapped.
"You should have been!!"
Katarina yelled. The baby started crying. "Get her out of here! I don't
want to hear that child crying!" The nurse was startled and ran out of the
room with the baby. "You should
have been aware of what Skywalker was capable of. He destroyed your spy on Coruscant, he broke through the old woman's wall. He was
certainly more than able to out think and out maneuver those half trained idiots
you sent after him!"
"They are not half trained
idiots, dear Katya. They are religious
fanatics who are more dangerous than any soldier you or I could train",
Calesh said.
"You foolish little man,"
she said quietly walking down the stairs. "You are blind to anything but
what you want to see. Do you have any idea how close you came to losing me my
throne at least three times?! Tell me what you see on that throne!!"
He looked at Katarina. "I see
my daughter, not very old, sitting on that throne, with the Crown and Scepter
of SixSuns on her." He continued to stare at her. There was a loaded
pause.
Katarina raised her eyebrow,
delicately. "That's all? That's all you see? I see my daughter, as you saw
her. I see my daughter, old and cripple sitting there. I see my cousin sitting there, young and
pretty, with Skywalker next to her. I
see my cousin, old, sitting there. I see Eve sitting there, with a young child
in her arms. I see that chair destroyed." She turned and walked away from
him. "You are a fool to blind yourself to the other possiblities of what
will be You are almost as moronic as
your little student. I plan to see my daughter on that throne when I am dead.
You may see what you like."
"If you are so worried about
the future, you ought to get yourself pregnant again as soon as possible,"
he walked toward her. "That's the way to assure your future."
"You keep away from me,
Calesh," Katarina said, not moving. "I dare you to lay a hand on me.
You will find out how truly angry I can get. I will have another child at my
discretion, not at your's. And anyway, you have another child." Calesh
looked shocked, and Katarina smiled at him. "Oh, I know all about your
other child. A little boy, correct?
About three years old? And absolutely reeking with the Force. Except his mother has outsmarted you, hasn't
she? She's gone and hid where you can't
find her or the boy. She found out who you really were, and she took away the
only thing that you really wanted from her. She's some ruler's daughter too,
from what I know. On Atteraan, the president's daughter, or some such thing.
You ought to guard your secrets more carefully, dear Calesh. You really ought."
She walked back up to the throne
and sat down. "Now, go. Get out of my sight. I want a full report of
everything that is going on the sh'Ris systems, and I want you to eliminate
Skywalker and the old woman. Do not come back until you have succeeded. And if
you don't ever come back I will assume that you have failed and died
trying." She looked straight at him. "Rest assured, Calesh, to die
trying would be the far better fate in this case."
Calesh realized that he didn't want
to argue this with her. Katarina stayed exactly where she was, not looking at
him, not even knowing he was there any more.
Calesh gave her a sarcastic formal bow, and walked out of the throne room.
Katarina stayed as she was for a
good minute before daring to move. And
when she did move, she only took a deep breath, and held it. She let the rage build inside her, and released
it with blast of the Force so powerful that it chipped the throne of
SixSuns. She spun around and looked up
at the Victory Carving.
She pointed to the Victor in
the middle, and yelled at him. "I
don't know who you are, and I don't think anyone does. But I curse your very bones for having been a
Jedi, for having started the Jedi Order, and for ever even touching the
Force. Where ever you are now, and who
ever you were, I hope that you are roasting in your own personal
hell." She turned and stormed out
of the throne room.
*
Luke tossed the rock into the
pond. It broke the surface and caused
ripples to the very edge near the rock he sat on. He threw another one in to destroy those
ripples. He was angry. Did everything he
did have to have another meaning? He
couldn't even skip rocks on a pond without think of a metaphor for his own
life.
He looked up at one of the moons
that was nearing full. He closed his
eyes in concentration, and he could feel Rose's worn presence near the ruins of
Lake Caulderon Castle. He suspected that
she hadn't slept in the four days she had been up there. He want to go up there
and comfort her, but she wasn't even acknowledging that he was looking for her.
She wasn't doing much of anything.
This whole thing was a bad idea, he
told himself. Once Callista was gone, he
should have given up. There was no one
out there. No one. Callista might come back, she might not. But he had been alone this long, why not just
keep going like this. The first of the
new order of Jedi Knights makes a noble sacrifice for the good of the
order. Rose had already fallen love once
and had her heart broken, he ought to go away and leave her alone. He did owe a
lot of his life to the Force, and he couldn't see it completely unreasonable to
dedicate his whole life to it....
"Damn it!" he yelled, and
threw a handful of pebbles into the lake.
He pulled the muscles in his shoulder as he did so. The pain felt good, and helped him to calm
down a bit. Emotions in sentients were
not as convenient as they were for droids; sentients couldn't switch them off
as they pleased. Though there were days
he really wished he could.
Through the mist of the years, he
could still hear Yoda's voice telling him, For the Jedi, there is no
emotion, only peace.
"Troubled?" came Grammy's
voice.
Luke hung his head. "Grammy,
it's two in the morning."
"So sue me, I'm an
insomniac," she said, sitting down next to him.
Luke threw another pebble into the
lake. Grammy threw one in as well. Luke
sighed. "I guess that I'm angry.
About what, I don't know. I'm a
wreck, and through all of it, I can hear Yoda telling me that there are no
emotions, only peace."
He could feel Grammy smile.
"You've got it bad, Luke."
"Got what?" Luke asked,
very concerned.
"You are in love," Grammy
said. "You've got it bad for Rose."
He began to boil at the suggestion,
and forced himself to calm down. "I guess that's where I am now. I don't
know if I can, or even should be in love with Rose. Maybe I am destined to be
alone."
"Well, she's in love with you,
Luke, whether you like it or not. She's
just very confused right now. Her secure little world crashed down around her
five days ago, and you know yourself, when your world crashes, it takes some
getting used to. Don't ever doubt that
she loves you. And you most certainly can be in love. What about your sister? What about me? I was,
and still very much am in love with my husband."
Luke took another pebble and tossed
it into the lake. "For the Jedi, there is no emotion; only peace. There is
no ignorance; there is knowledge. There is no passion; there is serenity. There
is no death; there is the Force."
He repeated the mantra that Yoda had taught him perfectly.
Grammy shook her head with an
ironic laugh. "Oh, Luke. You are so
old and so young at the same time. Yoda gave the Jedi Code to a young man who
was a headstrong and reckless youth. You
are no longer that young man. You are a Jedi Master, and yet there is so much
that you were never taught. Perhaps you will take a lesson from an old and
feeble blind woman?" Grammy cocked her head to one side and didn't wait
for an answer.
"There is no death; there is
the Force," she began at the end of the Jedi Code. "But when you are
in the Force, you have still known a death. Physical though it may have been,
it was still a death. You have not yet crossed to what is beyond, and you are
have no bearing on the world that you existed in. A death, no matter what.
"There is no passion; there is
serenity. If there were no passions you
could have no serenity. Think. Without your passion for life, you would be
dead. Without your passion for knowledge, you would not be here now.
"There is no ignorance; there
is knowledge. Quite true, but with out
having once been ignorant, you could not glean the knowledge that you now have.
And don't forget the other half of that coin, that knowledge can lead to
ignorance. Once person hellbent on what
they know can be ignorant to other options and aspects, and that can be their
undoing."
Luke looked at Grammy, and was
surprised at what he was seeing. On the
rock in the moonlight, she didn't look one bit like the eighty-five year old
woman that he had talked to earlier at dinner. She was replaced by a younger
version of Marchenta Windrunner, who had learned the lesson she was giving him
the hard way; the loss of her husband, the loss of her homeworld, the loss of
her sight, and the betrayal of her dearest friends. This was a true Jedi Master sitting next to
him. Some one who could teach far better
than he could.
"Pick up a rock, Luke,"
she instructed. He complied. "I
want you to throw it as far as you can without using the Force at all. Remember where it lands."
Luke tossed the rock as best he
could, and it landed about fifteen meters out.
"Good," Grammy said.
"Now take another rock the same size, and do the same, except this time,
use the Force."
This time, the rock landed over a
hundred and twenty meters away.
Marchenta nodded.
"You see Luke, you owe very
much to the Force. As much as the distance between where those two rocks
hit. That's how much the Force has given
you, and how much you have given in return.
"But there's that distance
between the shore and the first rock.
The Force had nothing to do with that distance. That distance, that
space is your's, it was your doing. There is where you and only you
control. That is where your emotions hide; hate, anger, jealousy, pain,
resentment, happiness, joy, friendship, love...
"That is where the Force does
not tread, and will never. You can
decide your emotions. Fill that space up with whatever you like; joy or anger,
fear or happiness, jealousy or friendship, distrust or loyalty, hate.... or love.
"Those are the most true
feelings you have. Believe and trust in those emotions and there.... there is
where you shall find peace."
Marchenta stood and laid a hand on
Luke's shoulder. "Remember always, Luke. The Human mind is a wonderful
thing. With it, we can understand the Human heart."
She tousled his hair fondly as he
hadn't had done since he was 12. She walked away quietly to leave him to think
on what she had said.
A Jedi, he could hear
himself say to Threepio, can't become so entangled with the galaxy that they
forget about individuals. And wasn't that exactly what he was
doing? Forgetting that he was an
individual too, and forgetting that he needed to be remembered once and
while? He was so busy trying to give the
galaxy it's new Jedi, that he forgot that he was a person as well as a Jedi.
You are so selfish! Leia had
screamed at Han. And Han, calm as ever had looked at her and said, simply, You
should try it once and while. It might do you some good.
And as wrong as it sounded to Jedi
Skywalker to be selfish, Luke knew that it was a part of him. He needed to think about himself once and
while. To be selfish, especially now,
would be a good thing. To be selfish
about Rose would be very, very good.
In that spot that Marchenta had
shown him, the part that would always have been there whether or not he had
been Jedi, there was a rage of emotions.
Love and hate, and resentment, but most of all were his feelings for Rose. He realized that he didn't come here to play
ambassador, or try and sort out anything with Marchenta or Lauren, but to get
to know Rose better. He had fallen in
love with her when he first glimpsed her swinging braid as she walked off the ship, the look at
her slender figure, the first sign of her cheery disposition, and the first
time he glanced into her saber green eyes.
Using the Force, he lifted some
pebbles off the ground, and juggled them through the air, and formed the words
'Luke loves Rose.' He encircled with the
very ancient symbol of the heart.
"Uncl'Luke?" Jacen
giggled. "You're in love?"
The pebbles plunked noisily into
the water as Luke turned to find his nephew standing there in his pajamas. He had Han's lopsided grin plastered on his
face. Luke couldn't help smiling at him.
"I guess I am, Jace," he said, motioning for the boy to come
and sit next to him.
Jacen plopped down next to
him. "Good," he said.
"Can I start calling Mark my cousin yet?"
Luke laughed. "Not yet, Jacen. Give me a few days to talk to Rose."
"Rose is mad, isn't she."
"No, she's upset. She found out something that she didn't
like."
"Then just kiss her, "
Jacen said. "That's how mom and dad always make each other
un-upset." Luke laughed, and
tousled Jacen's hair.
*
Han was standing on the back porch
as Luke walked up. He did not look very happy standing there. He was watching as Jacen, Jaina, and Mark
were playing tag in the front yard. Luke walked up the stairs, and onto the porch,
looking confused.
"Han?" he said.
"What are you doing here?"
Han looked up at him. "Luke,
good you're back. Jacen, get your
stuff."
"Han, what's going on? What are you doing here?" Luke asked.
"Taking you and the kids
home," he said. He looked over at Lauren, who was standing the kitchen and
watching them. "I need to talk to you alone, away from here."
"Ok, but I don't understand
what's going on," Luke said, following him off the porch. "What are you doing here?"
"Like I said," Han said,
"I'm here to get you out of here. You're in a lot of danger."
"Han, I am always in
danger."
"I know," he said, as
they walked into the wood, "But you haven't been in danger like this since
Palpatine's clones were bothering us.
Katarina is evil, Luke. She won't stop at anything. She nearly killed Anakin, me and Chewie.
Anakin is still unconscious, and they don't know if he'll ever wake up. She is
controlling the sh'Ris against their will, her call for help is bogus. She is just as bad as Palpatine, maybe
worse."
"Anakin?" Luke said. "What happened?"
"One of Katarina's little
friends sent out a request for some thorindian crystal, and the data chip was
tamper resistance. It stunned me and
Chewie, and knocked Anakin across the room.
They think that it may have done permanent brain damage to him."
Luke hung his head. "Oh, no." He looked back at Han.
"How was Leia taking all of this?"
Han looked very angry. "How do
you think she would take the near death of her youngest son?" He took a
deep breath and calmed down. "Luke, I want to get you out of here."
"I can't go," Luke said.
"Not yet."
"What?" Han hissed. "Are you blind? Didn't you hear me? Katarina is evil. She will stop at nothing to
kill you and Jacen and Jaina and Leia."
"And Rose, " Luke
added. "Han, I've known all along
that Katarina was no good. That's not
why I came here. Kirana Ti, Kyp and I
have known for a long time that something was going on out here in this
quadrant of the galaxy. When Rose showed
up looking for peace, we got really confused, but since I have been here,
everything fell into place."
"You've known?" Han
asked.
"I have," Luke said.
"I didn't come here to be an ambassador, I came here to find out about
Rose and her family. Mostly Rose. Han I
love her, and I am not going to give her up to her cousin. I don't want to lose
her. If you want to, take Jacen and Jaina and get out of here. You are more than right about Katarina. She's crazy and she will do anything to kill
me and any Jedi. She thinks just like Palpatine did. That destroying the Jedi is the only way to
completely rule the galaxy. Jacen, Jaina,
Mark, Caylee, Carson, Eve and Sondra would all be better far away from
here. But for now, just get your kids
away."
Han sighed. "Sometimes Luke, I
don't know what to think about you."
"Me neither," came
Grammy's voice.
"Grammy, what are you doing?
Following me everywhere?" Luke asked.
"Maybe," Grammy said.
"Except you were talking right outside my window back there, and well, I
could help over hearing a few words and become very interested in what was
going on. You should not disregard this
man's advice to leave now, before Katya becomes obsessed with you and killing you."
"Your concern is noted,"
Luke said. "Han, this is Rose's grandmother, Marchenta Windrunner. Grammy, this is my brother in law, Han Solo,
Jacen's father."
"Nice to meet you,"
Grammy said, taking his hand before he could stick it out. "Don't lag,
Solo. Just because I can't see doesn't
mean that I can't be polite. Sheesh, don't you teach your friends manners, Luke?"
Han laughed in spite of himself.
"My mistake, ma'am."
"Please, call me Grammy.
Everyone else does. Luke, I think that it's time to get Rose off that hill. You
will bring me up there?"
"Of course," Luke
said. "Han---"
"I can get back to the house,
kid," Han said.
Luke smiled. "Thanks."
Chapter Twenty-Six
Wedge looked at the screens in
front him. Perfect Clone War
antiques. Even more surprising than that
was that they worked. The sh'Ris had
kept them repaired and working for more than fifty years, and the New Republic
couldn't keep brand new units working for more than six months at a time.
"Makes you feel like you don't
know what you're doing, doesn't it," Huxley said.
Wedge looked at him.
"Yeah. These things are older than
I am, and I don't work half as good as they do any more. I guess you learn to work with what you have.
I wish that we would learn to do that." Wedged looked around the control
center. "Well, I think that we can
handle working from here. There certainly is the right equipment, and working
equipment."
Huxley walked over and punched up
some of the screens of the surrounding area of space. "Everything appears to be normal. Which means that we get to sit around and
wait for word from either Han or Coruscant.
Wonderful."
Wedge looked at him. "You are new to this stuff, Hux. Sitting around happens so very little that
you take all the time you can when it does come around. Trust me, the further
you get along into the New Republic, or into the Jedi Order you are going to
find your self sitting around less and less."
"I did enough sitting when I
was on that throne, trust me." Huxley punched up another set of screens.
"It's really strange to think
that some one like you was once on a throne.
It doesn’t seem your style," Wedge said. "You and Tricia blend
right in with the common folk of the galaxy.
You aren't at all like any of those royals that visit Leia and Han all
the time, and you aren't like the senators either."
"Think about it," Huxley
said. "If you hadn't known all along that Leia was a princess, would you
ever guess now with the way she acts out of the private eye? Leia and I were just made of a different
royal mold than the others. We like high
society, but not all the time. There are so many regulations and rules and courtesies
that you have to follow that it gets very boring and very artificial. It is far easier to get along in life without
having to remember that when you have a High Lady from Gerolitan, you must seat
her on the host's right, put all the proper utensils on the right, the water
glass on the left, the wine in the middle, cover the plate with a napkin, never
ever serve nerf nuggets, meats must be on the left, and don't ever bring up the
economy or trade of any kind or you'll offend her ears."
"Oh," Wedge said. "I
can see that."
Huxley laughed. "Well, my
brother won the election fare and square, and I conceded the power of the crown
to the senate of the Gercanima. Not to
mention that Han had recently bumped into me, and introduced me to Luke. Tricia had always hinted that she knew about
my grandfather, and when Luke and Han visited that night, she out right told
them who he was. We didn't have anything
else to do then, and Vincent was just two, so he wouldn't know the difference
if we moved. So we did. Tricia moved right into the Massassi temple and whipped
the administration right into shape. She has gift for organization. While she
organized I trained. And we both took care of Vincent."
"How did you find out that
Tricia was Force talented? She hadn't shown it up that point, why all of a
sudden did it come out in her?"
Huxley punched up yet another
screen. "We were outside doing the usual grounds maintenance. It has to be
done one a week or everything gets over grown again. So it was our rotation to help. Everyone pitches in whether or not you are
being trained. Tricia, Vin and me were
out there with about twelve other people. Tricia kept looking up, and walking
around the other side of the building.
After about an hour of this, I was getting annoyed by it. The next time she looked up and began to walk
away, I followed her. There was nothing
on the other side of the building except more overgrown forest. I asked what she found so fascinating on the
other side. She looked back at me and smiled,
and shrugged. I didn't think about it, and we went back to the maintenance.
About five minutes later, she looked up and saw me watching her. She smiled
again and went back to cutting some leaves. About ten seconds later, she
gasped, grabbed her hand dropped the sheers and went running around to the
other side of the building. Two of the
others doing maintenance ran after her. I wanted to know what she was doing, so
I followed her too.
"As we were running around to
the other side of the building, I remembered that there were still some
unfinished repairs on that side. No one
had bothered to do them because no one
was living on that side of the building at that time, and there was no rush on
them. But when I rounded the corner I
realized that they should have been done right away.
"Half of the temple looked as
though it should be toppling over at that very moment. But there were two trainees about half way up
the side, and they were stuck there. And they were cowering in awe and in fear. Tricia's voice cut through the awkward
silence. 'Are you going to do something Hux?
We can't hold this thing forever.'
I didn't think about what she said at that moment. I just started scaling the wall, using
everything I knew of the force to get to those two kids up there. They were two
young Lupans, and they were scared to death to move. When I got to them, them clung on to me like
was the only thing left in the universe.
I don't think I have ever seen two kids so frightened. I practically jumped to the bottom, and ran
out of the fall zone. The wall came
crashing down practically on my heals, and the two kids were crying like
mad. Tricia came over and took one of
them from me and tried to calm it down.
"By then I had gathered my
wits enough to look who had held up the wall. It was Tricia and two new
students. And by new, I mean less than a week. Kirana Ti had shown up now and
she took the other Lupan from me and quieted it down as Luke and Kyp helped me
to my feet. I was so dumb struck that I
all I could do was stare at Tricia.
"'Good job,' Luke said to
me. I was still staring at Tricia. 'How did you know?' I whispered to her. She
smiled and shrugged. Luke said something like he could feel the whole thing
through the Force. I shook him off and walked over to Tricia. How did you know,
how did you do that? I think that was what I said. I was still stunned. She
looked over at Luke, then back at me and said, 'I could feel it. How I did it was I imagined that it was
Vincent up there.' Luke's eyes went wide
as well at that point. He looked at her
and said,' You did that?' Tricia nodded.
I asked her, ' But how could you?'
"She smiled at me, and said,
'After all these years, you never asked me who MY grandfather was.' She rocked the Lupan and walked away from me
into the infirmary." Huxley
laughed. "I never did ask her who her grandfather was. Turns out, he was
MY grandfather's teacher."
Wedge laughed. "Seems like all
you Jedi are connected some how. It's almost funny."
Hux nodded. "Almost. You know
that Luke is still surprised you aren't Force talented. He said that with some
of the stuff you pull, there's almost no way that you couldn't be."
Wedge shook his head. "Not an
ounce of the Force in me at all. My
uncle was. He had to go into hiding
eventually even though he was never trained. But not me. Luck and training, and
keeping both eyes open at all times.
That's all it is for me."
"Blip!" one of the
station monitor's yelled.
Hux and Wedge ran over to see what
was going on, when someone else yelled, "Blip!" And seconds after
that, four other stations joined the chorus, and more after them as well. Hux
ran over to the intercom, and yelled, "Red Alert! All hands
scramble!!"
Wedge stared at the screen in front
of him. "Look's like the Empress."
Huxley looked over at him before he
ran out the door, and said, "I know it is." He left the room.
Wedge still wished he was going up
there, but he could command the battle from the sh'Ris room better than from
his fighter. There were days when he
wished he hadn't be convinced to take the General's rank. He waited until he saw Hux's ready light
blink on to give the squadron the go ahead.
"How many are you picking
up?" Wedge asked one of the lieutenants that had come down from the ship
with him.
"Twenty large destroyer style
ships," she said. "I can't identify the type, or anything about
them. We have no records of any ships in
this configuration." She paused. "I have a weapons estimate, if you
really want it."
Wedge braced himself. "Go
ahead."
"Two thousand turbo lasers,
fifteen ion canons, and about 30 torpedo launch tubes."
Wedge let his breath out.
"That's all?"
"That's per ship,
General," she said.
"PER SHIP?" Wedge
exclaimed, running over to her station.
The estimate was there on the board.
"Holy.... per ship. "
He hung his head. "This
looks a little one-sided."
"General, we have a
transmission coming through, for Commander Alexander," came another voice.
"Put it through to him, and
over our speakers here," he said.
Why would anyone demand to speak to a commander when there was a general
listening in.
The speaker crackled and came to
life. "Huxley Alexander, I have a proposal for you." It was a voice
that Wedge didn't recognize from the intercepted communiques from SixSuns to
the forces nearby. "Are you willing
to listen?"
"Shut up and fight,"
Huxley growled. There was a note of
strain that he had never heard in Hux's voice before.
"You will die," the same
voice said. "You are massively outgunned. General Antilles, would you like
to confirm how badly you are outgunned?"
Wedge toggled the switch to the private
frequency in Hux's fighter. "Outgunned is putting it lightly, Hux. They
wouldn't even blink and wipe out what we've got here. I've never seen anything
so heavily armed in my life, with the exception of the Death Stars."
He heard Huxley sigh. "What's
your deal, Tyrone?"
Wedge could almost see the smile in
the words. "My master would like to challenge you to a duel, dear cousin.
You and he, alone. Both fleets will
withdraw no matter what the outcome of the duel, that way, total causalities
will equal one. The combined sh'Ris/Rebellion forces will retreat deep into
sh'Ris territory, and the SixSuns Fleet will go back to Buria. You and my master will meet on a deserted
planet, and you will duel to the death." The voice paused. "You're
choice, dear cousin. One causality or thousands."
"Hux, you don't have to do
this," Wedge said. "We're totally prepared to fight."
"General, any good leader
would take the deal. Even if I lose,
I've won. My life in exchange for
thousands. And this can buy some time until the rest of the Fleet shows up
here. I have to accept on principle.
Don't worry about me. Luke taught
me well." He heard Hux toggle back
to the open frequency. "You have a deal, Tyrone. Your master and I alone.
You will order the withdrawl now, and so we will we. There is a planet on the
outskirts of the sh'Ris territory that has decent gravity and atmosphere. I am heading there now, I will be
waiting."
"He and I shall be
there," the voice said. "A true pleasure, cousin."
The voice broke off, and Wedge spoke. "Hux, you don't have
to. At least let us send an escort with you. You shouldn't have done
that."
"No escorts, Wedge,"Hux
said. "He'll blow them away. I know him."
"Who is this guy?" Wedge
asked.
"My cousin. He was fourth in
line for the throne of Gercanima, after me and Vincent and my brother. He
thinks that we were fools for giving up that throne, and that we were wrong in
not asking him if he wanted it before we dissolved it. I'll be fine, don't worry." He paused.
"Just tell Tricia I love her."
"You're planning on coming
back, right," Wedge stated.
"I am, but you can never be
too careful." Hux was silent a
minute more. "I'll dump the coordinates to the planet, and if you don't
hear from me in two days, come and get the body. Ready for Hyperspace."
Wedge bowed his head. "Huxley,
thank you. You didn't have to."
"I did, and you're welcome.
Permission to engage?"
"Huxley?"
"General?"
"May the Force be with you.
Permission granted."
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