Star Wars - A Dark Path 1 (Alic

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A Dark Path
by
Alice Hadden <hadden@mhd1.moorhead.msus.edu>
A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away...
Chapter One
It should have been the birth of a new era for the Rebel
Alliance, an altogether new Republic; but good intentions always seem
to fall short.
Leia Organa Solo studied several data cards laid out before
her and sipped distractedly at a cup of lukewarm coffee. She did not
notice the dark, enigmatic figure that slipped into the nearly empty
cafe. Within the Imperial City of the bustling planet of Coruscant,
it was very quiet--far too early for anyone of sane mind to be up and
working. After a full night's work, Leia felt anything but sane.
She
was exhausted and the bad coffee made her stomach upset. She had
suffered from insomnia ever since her twins, Jaina and Jacen, had
been
sent to a hidden location several months ago as infants. Leia
covered
her eyes and tried to confine the migraine that threatened to cause
her head to explode. Within a few weeks, the twins would reach their
first birthday and, if things weren't as hectic as they had been, she
would have a chance to visit them. She knew her loyal assistant
Winter took good care of them; feeding them, watering them, loving
them. But the high ranking diplomat couldn't shake the feeling of
being replaced. Jaina and Jacen probably did not remember her as
their true mother, but adopted Winter as their surrogate. Luke had
insisted the Force-sensitive children be sent away to protect against
the corrupting influences of the Dark Side; at least, he had said,
until their personalities were solidly developed, perhaps two of
three
years. Leia was given the choice to join them or stay with the Inner
Council. At the time, she felt her political responsibilities were
more pressing and she would go to them as soon as things got
straightened out. However, as the fledgling government became more
tangled in its own ambition, increasing demands heaped upon her head
like lumps of hot coal. She felt guilty, and bitter, and missed her
family.
"Good morning."
Startled, Leia removed her hands from her face to see her
brother seated directly before her. His handsome, but unremarkable
features were hidden carefully beneath the shadows of a dark hood.
Youth had long since passed them both and only the faintest glimmer
of
Luke Skywalker's old restlessness remained in his cool, blue eyes.
He, too, carried burdens that made Leia decide her own were
insignificant. The burden of unexplainable power. Sometimes he
seemed less than human and sometimes more--but there was a streak of
melancholy that consumed his lifespirit every day. He looked aged
beyond his thirty years, more withdrawn to meditation. Still, it was
his insistence that separated her from her children and Leia was not
one to hold pity.
In a not altogether friendly tone, she quipped, "Good morning
yourself."
"Hard day ahead of you?" Luke asked and lowered the hood of
his robe. His face was rough with stubble. A server droid lumbered
over and he ordered coffee and a pastry.
"You might say that," she replied once the droid had turned
away. Pessimistically, she returned her attention to the data cards
on the table. The days were becoming harder.
"We've received orders from Mon Mothma to attack the Bodyn
shipyards this morning," Luke stated.
"I know that. I'm a member of the Inner Council."
"Madam President didn't give a specific reason..."
Leia stopped shifting through the data cards and rubbed her
pounding temples. The Jedi was fishing. She waited until the server
droid returned with Luke's breakfast before responding. "Commander
Skywalker, I am not at liberty to divulge the specifics of highly
classified information."
"Leia, you're talking to your twin brother..."
"Suffice it to say that Madam President feels it is in the
interest of New Republic security."
Luke took a bite of the pastry and mumbled, "So tell me, do
all noble causes become governmental bureaucracies?"
The politician anticipated this and had prepared a diplomatic
response. "It's only natural you might feel this way after we've
fought so long and hard against Emperor Palpatine. But the cause we
persue now is just as noble. As we give rise to a new nation, we
must govern ourselves diligently and make certain our boundaries are
secure."
She had more to her speech but broke off as Luke sipped his
coffee and gazed at her, unmoved.
"They don't have a prayer, you know, without the Emperor or
our father to guide them. They haven't moved against us in nearly a
year. Why not let them be?"
Leia arranged the data cards in neat stacks and avoided her
brother's gaze for a moment. She finally conceded, "It's a matter of
politics. There are those on the Inner Council who want to see the
Empire ground into spacedust. I've been up all night long trying to
see if we can somehow shift the balance of power back to our favor."
Luke touched a finger to his lips and studied her expression.
"I see. Maybe different warlords have the same ambitions."
"Be careful what you say, Luke." Leia's eyes shifted
nervously to catch nonexistent eavesdroppers.
Luke chewed on the pastry and brushed crumbs from the two
days' growth on his chin. "You're right, councilor, my apologies.
It
is, after all, a political matter."
"Don't be sarcastic," Leia told him and leaned forward to
whisper. "The Inner Council is extremely displeased with you as it
is. Look at you! You really need to start taking better care of
yourself, Luke."
"Appearances are not of great importance to a Jedi," he
stated
flatly.
"At least shave that scruff. It looks just terrible."
"A matured Jedi Knight should have a beard."
"And you just said appearances weren't important!" Leia
scoffed and gestured to his monkish apparel. "Well, if the object of
this is to break the military mold, you've certainly succeeded. They
think you're some kind of religious fanatic."
Luke and Mon Mothma had had words over this a few days before
and the debate was still unresolved. The New Republic was a secular
society through and through, and Madam President could not see her
way
clear to follow the traditons of old, to allow the Jedi Knight to
serve as counsel for the infant government. He would then be
prepared
to see for himself...but that was what she feared. Her spread of
angst gossip was irritating, but so typical of one desperate to cling
to power.
He folded his arms in defense and asked, "And what do you
think?"
"Luke, I know the Force is real. I've seen you use it. I've
seen Darth Vader..." She bit her tongue at the mention of their
father's name, then continued. "But I also know you're not the same
farmboy that came to rescue me some ten years ago."
"Of course I'm not." Luke reached over to grasp his sister's
hand. "Leia, the Force has changed me in ways I can't even begin to
explain."
"For the better?"
Luke had to take pause and think about this. The Force was
more than a tool. The indelible mark it left on the soul of its user
was certainly not all sweetness and light. Slowly, he nodded. "I
believe so. And I believe it's time you learned of it as I have."
This time it was Leia who drew back and folded her arms.
"I'm
not sure I want to."
"Why?"
"Because I don't like breaking the laws of physics."
"But, Leia, restoring the Jedi Knighthood is so very
important," he insisted. "Someday the children will need to be
taught..."
"I really resent the fact that you've taken it upon yourself
to get so involved. Jacen and Jaina are my children, not yours.
It's
bad enough you had them sent away."
"It's for their own protection against the Dark Side..."
"I know! You've told me a thousand times and I hate it!"
Luke took a deep breath. "Let it go."
"Sure." Leia bit down on a series of stinging remarks but
let
a few of the most pointed slip through anyway. "I think you should
get married and have children of your own. Then you could raise a
whole garrison of little Jedis."
Luke frowned and Leia flushed, realizing she'd placed a
rather
large foot in her mouth. Upon the revelation that they were twins,
their relationship had evolved from one of timid infatuation to
brotherly love. It could not have been easy for Luke to accept the
truth and the love she had for Han Solo. It was a subject they
mutually decided never to discuss. Her comments hit a little too
close to the mark but she added, "It might be nice if you met
someone..."
The Jedi quietly interrupted. "I think you and the twins
need
to learn some defensive techniques at the very least."
She retorted, "To tell you the truth, I'm much too busy at
the
moment to take up witchcraft. I think you'd better get ready to
leave, Commander."
The Jedi let this all pass with infinite patience. "Are you
all right? You seem irritable."
"I'm irritable, exhausted, sick to my stomach...I've been up
all night long and I'm in no mood..."
"Leia?" Luke's brow furrowed as he leaned closer.
Leia threw down a data card which toppled one of the neat
stacks in a clatter. "What! Why are you looking at me like that!"
Her twin brother took her agitated hands into his own and
used
the Force to touch the tiny presence growing within her. The unborn
was so small, yet resilient. "Sister, you're going to have another
child."
Leia closed her eyes and accepted what she had wanted to deny
over the past month. To be a mother, a wife, and a leading player in
New Republic politics was becoming next to impossible. She couldn't
stand this separation any longer and knew, finally, the choice would
have to lie with raising the children. She could not envision her
husband shirking his machismo to change diapers and play peek-a-boo.
She felt cheated.
"Leia?" Her brother sounded concerned.
Leia sighed. "Han and I haven't been getting along very well
lately, as if we ever really had gotten along...He mentioned
something
about going to the Bespin system for a while. Seems that Lando hit
it
big at the Sabacc tables and wants to get the Tibanna gas mines up
and running again. I suppose I'll tell him if he gets back within
the
next eight months. Otherwise, he'll just have to be surprised."
Luke remained silent but kept her hands in his. Support for
his twin was undying, despite their differences in opinion. Yet
inwardly, Leia felt very alone.
The shuttle destined for Admiral Rufus Haake's fleet was
filling with still grounded pilots in search of transport. Beside
it,
the aged Millennium Falcon belched hot steam and Han Solo cried out
from beneath the dented hull.
"OW! Chewie, shut it off! Now!"
The steam subsided as Luke Skywalker poked his head through a
porthole to look at his old pirate friend. Even though his smuggling
days were far behind him, and Solo had gained some notoriety as a
respectable, if not responsible, leader during the Battle of Endor,
he was still much the swashbuckling rogue he always had been. It was
an attraction of opposites for Han and Leia, hence the makings for a
tumultuous marriage.
"You okay down there?"
"Fabulous," Solo grumbled. "Just fabulous. Chewie, toss
Luke
the fusion cutters and a hydrospanner! I think I left 'em near the
port maintenance outlet!"
Luke caught the tools and handed them down to Han. "Why
don't
you stick around until Leia has a chance to talk to you?"
"Because I'll be near death by the time she can squeeze me
into her busy schedule."
Luke rolled his eyes. "Come on..."
"Why should I? If you can think of one...solitary...good
reason to give that woman the time of day after the way she's ignored
me lately then...maybe I'll give it a...shot." Solo grunted as he
cranked on an overhead compartment. Down poured a flood of sticky
lubricant which he narrowly escaped. "Blast it! A bucket, kid! I
need a bucket!"
Skywalker jogged down the landing ramp with pail in hand and
Han Solo mopped grease from his face.
"For cryin' out loud, would you look at this mess? Chewie!"
"I've got a reason," Luke said as he held the bucket beneath
the dwindling flow of goo.
"Oh yeah?" Han collected his tool kit and began searching
for
an appropriate implement. "What's that?"
"You love her." Luke watched his old friend's expression
twist into something pained.
"That's not good enough," he snapped and roughly brushed the
Jedi aside to tighten some fittings on the landing gear. "Nothing is
ever good enough for that woman. Leave it to me to be fool enough to
marry a perfectionist."
The Millennium Falcon groaned as if giving up some kind of
ghost. Skywalker looked at the ship warily. "Will this thing even
make it to Bespin?"
The air reeked of burning oil.
Han shrugged. "She's just settling. You just wait and see
what kind of improvements I'm going to put in this baby." He patted
the Falcon's hull lovingly and turned to face Luke Skywalker in all
seriousness. "I've just got to get away from that sister of yours
for
a little while. The politics are driving me absolutely crazy. And
I'm not just talkin' public politics."
"It can't be that bad."
"Kid, I know how it sounds but it's for the best, at least
for
right now. Trust me. Now, you'd better quit playing therapist and
hop on that transport for Bodyn IV. Looks like they're about ready
to
take off."
"Just talk to her before you leave, okay?"
Solo frowned at the younger, more inexperienced man. With
all
his Jedi training, Luke had come to know a lot of things, but dealing
correctly with one Councilor Leia Organa Solo was not one of them. A
brief respite would be for the best and she would miss him like
crazy. "We're outta here as soon as I get this thing up and running."
"I hope you don't regret this," Luke stated quietly.
Han gave him a good-natured punch. "Get outta here, farmboy.
And lose the beard! It just don't look right!"
Defeated, Skywalker waved him off and dashed for the
transport
as it began to taxi, but paused when the pilot noticed his approach.
Han Solo came out from under the Falcon to watch the shuttle depart,
straightening his cramped back muscles. A vacation would be nice.
* * *
Life for the Empire had slowed to a crawl in the two years
since the Battle of Endor. The so-called New Republic that sprouted
from the Rebel Alliance had divided them, taken their territories,
and
run them off to the farthest reaches of the galaxy. A dozen or so
factions of the Emperor's old regime rose up now and again to keep
things lively; the most resent fiasco being the play for power by
Grand Admiral Thrawn and others. A reckless strategy at best given
the dire situation, for now the New Republic sought out Imperial
remnants with renewed vengeance. The once prolific shipyards of
Bodyn
IV fell silent, as there were plenty of materials but very little
fuel. The desolate planet in the Outer Rim was made habitable only
by
transparent domed biospheres that appeared like massive bubbles
across the volcanic surface. The population within held its breath
for fear that the slightest movement might draw unwanted scrutiny.
According to an Imperial operative placed in the upper echelons of
New
Republic government, the Inner Council's eyebrow was raised in their
direction.
A frail, old man let the disability chair he was confined to
take him through the shipyard in a labyrinth of clear, tubule,
environmentally sterile corridors. Airlocks separated him from
gigantic vessels on either side--Star Destroyers, Super Star
Destroyers; and the newest technological marvel, the Imperial Kismet.
He stopped to appraise the just completed superweapon. It was a
massive hulk of armor and turbolaser cannons that had the propensity
of wiping out entire cities from orbit. Granted, it did not have the
destructive power of the fated Death Star, but perhaps that was a
blessing in disguise. Such a weapon demanded an enormous reactor
core
which ultimately doomed the bulk of the Empire. The Kismet was half
the size of its Star Destroyer counterparts, more maneuverable, and
perhaps was a model for the future of Imperial warmachines. Yet this
was only a model and was far from perfect. Engineers were perplexed
by a number of navigational glitches and power fluctuations that
tormented the new ship. However, it was spaceworthy and would help
them escape the approaching New Republic fleet. It would allow them
摘要：

ADarkPathbyAliceHaddenAlongtimeagoinagalaxyfar,faraway...ChapterOneItshouldhavebeenthebirthofanewerafortheRebelAlliance,analtogethernewRepublic;butgoodintentionsalwaysseemtofallshort.LeiaOrganaSolostudiedseveraldatacardslaidoutbeforeherandsippeddistractedlyatacupoflukewarmcoffee.Shedidnotnoticetheda...

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