((Authors note- this chapter takes place between Star Wars: A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back))((DISCLAIMER - All Star Wars characters, references, ideas, and settings are property of Lucasfilms, Inc.))((This chapter contains some violent scenes. Reader discretion is advised.))
Chapter XVII
As the landspeeder speeds across the desert, Jon looks off into the distance, pondering
some things. He looks up, sensing some sort of disturbance in the air. A squarish shaped craft with three wings is descending. Next to it is two sphere's with some sort of foil extending from it. Owen looks over, and sees the craft as well.
"Damn. Vader must've felt your coming. We must hurry!" He says as he steps on the
accelerator.
~~What are those things?~~ Jon asks.
"The single craft is an Imperial shuttle, and the craft flanking it are Tie-fighters. That
means Vader either felt your presence in the general area, is just sending out shuttles, or knows you are here. If you are able to escape from the Emperor, you must learn the ways of the Jedi. I must train you quickly." Owen explains as the vehicle flies over a dune.
As they progress, a small building comes into view. It seems to be constructed from simple slabs of rock, with a small window and door cut from one of the sides.
~~Is that yer `ome?~~
"Yes. It was also the home of another Jedi, but he is gone now. But that isn't important. What skills do you have?"
~~I am rather adept at swordplay, as well as marksmanship.~~
"Good. You will need those skills. Now, have you had practice with these abilities of
yours?"
They climb out of the landspeeder, walking towards the building.
~~Well, I can communicate telepathically, levitate, cloud a person's mind, use my aura to attack people, why, should I be able to do more?~~
"No, you have the basic skills. You'll learn more as you progress. Do you possess a
lightsaber?"
~~Lightsaber? No, I don't. I `ave a few different armaments, but not a lightsaber.~~
"Then I shall need to show you how to build one. Come. Hopefully I have the right
devices."
They walk inside the building, Jon ready to learn the ways of this Jedi. Across the planet, at a popular spaceport, a troop of stormtroopers is questioning the locals.
"Have you seen any newcomers here?" One stormtrooper asks the bartender of the cantina.
"No sir. Just the regulars. If there's anyone new in Mos Eisley, I'd know. Why? Does the Empire have a bounty out?"
"No. Lord Vader is looking for someone. That is all we know, and all you need to know." The stormtrooper answers.
"Do you have a holo of this person?" The bartender asks.
"No. Just be on watch for anyone showing off strange abilities." The stormtrooper replies.
"Like those jokers you guys were after a bit back?" The bartender inquires.
"Yes, like them. Just be on the lookout." The stormtrooper answers, as he leaves.
Other stormtroopers are asking around.
"Oh, someone strange? There's an old man out over the Dune sea. He's pretty strange." A man answers when asked by a stormtrooper.
"The Dune Sea, huh. Thank you, sir." The stormtrooper questioning him replies.
"Anything fer the Empire." The man says as he walks away.
The stormtrooper turns on his com.
"This is trooper 6. I've got a possible fix. Report back to the shuttle." He says into his
com-mike while proceeding back to the shuttle.
Back at Owen's...
"Now, wait for the matrix to cool before removing it from the furnace, or it will crack."
Owen is telling Jon.
They are watching a small box, a furnace. It seems cold, but inside is temperatures nearing several thousand degrees Kelvin. A small matrix is inside, the contents boiling. Jon turns a knob on the furnace, and the heat inside subsides. The liquid inside the matrix settles and cools. As it cools, Jon walks over to a worktable, where electronic parts are strewn and a strange device is beginning to take shape.
~~And when the crystal matrix is inserted `ere.~~ Jon points to a space in the device.
~~The lightsaber will work?~~
"It will work on a basic level. It still needs a laser beam length modifier. It is a simple
device that will turn the crystal matrix, shortening the laser's length. It also needs an beam intensity modifier. All that does is change the amount of energy entering the crystal matrix." Owen turns back to the furnace. "Hand me that set of grips." He says, opening the furnace.
Jon hands him the grips, and Owen removes the crystal matrix from the furnace.
Carefully, he sets it into the lightsaber's hilt.
"There. Now you have a blade. Now to find those modifiers I need." He says as he
searches a drawer.
Jon, on the other hand, pulls the remaining parts from his pack. He spreads them out on the workbench.
~~Owen, do any of these parts fit?~~
Owen turns, looking at the TV parts. He grabs a small dial and its accompanying pieces.
"This will work for the length control. Now connect this part there." Owen explains as he points things out.
Jon hooks up the length control, then grabs another part.
~~Will this work for the intensity control?~~ He asks.
"Yes. Hook it here." Owen points out another spot on the lightsaber.
Jon connects that piece, then picks up the lightsaber. Deactivated, it looks like a flashlight. But when Jon activates it, a long beam of laser energy extends, cutting into the ceiling.
"Decrease the beam's length, Jon." Owen calls from across the room.
Jon turns the dial, and the beam's length decreases to about four feet. Jon feints some
slashes and jabs, testing out the lightsaber.
~~I like it!~~ Jon says, spinning around.
The lightsabers blade hums, as does something else. A rumbling can be heard as well.
~~Wot's that?~~ Jon asks, deactivating the lightsaber.
As Owen runs outside, Jon grabs a hook from the bench annd attaches it to the hilt of the lightsaber, then he hooks the lightsaber to his belt. Owen runs back in, slightly terrified.
"It's Imperials! They've found my home!" Owen exclaims as he runs out the back. Jon
grabs his pack, his psionic barrier enveloping him as he runs outside. He puts his hand up to shield his eyes from the sun, and sees a shuttle flying towards the ubilding, as well as a tank, one that looks like a Tie-Fighter with tank treads. A cannon slides from the top of the tank, and fires. A hundred yards to Jon's left, the ground explodes.
~~Sh*t!~~ Jon sasy as he draws his berettas.
He hurries back inside, but not before firing off a few rounds at the oncoming Imperial
forces. The shuttle lands a few hundred yards away, and the stormtroopers file off it.
"Remember, we want the young man alive. Kill the old guy if necessary." The trooper
leader says before being blow up.
Owen is standing up on the roof of the building, a laser cannon next to him. He is firing the cannon at the imperials. Several more shots are fired, and the ground around the shuttle explodes upward. The Imperial stormtroopers run towards the building, firing. Laser shots hit the building, and flakes of mud drop down from it. Owen fires the cannon again, and the several closest stormtroopers fly into the air. The tank fires, and the ground near the building explodes. Owen falls to his knee, and the stormtroopers fire at him. Owen cringes, thinking he is a dead man. But at the last minute, a psychedlic aura surrounds Owen, and the laser blasts are deflected. A section of the roof blasts upward, and Jon floats up out of it, surrounded in his psychedelic psionic aura. The stormtroopers stop shooting for a moment, then fire at Jon. The laser blast are richocheted off the aura. Jon holds his hand up at the troopers, and closes his fist. Two stormtroopers drop to the ground, their armor compacting around them. Owen stands back up, and resumes firing the laser cannon at the tank.
"JON! GET THAT TANK!" Owen yells out.
Jon smiles sadistically as he turns towards the tank. He raises his hands up, and the tank flies up into the air. He motions his hands to the left, and the tank flies to the left, smashing into the shuttle. The shuttle tips over, exploding, and Jon slams his hands down. The tank follows that motion, smashing into the desert ground. Several rattled troops leap from the tank, just as it rises back up into the air. Jon makes a throwing motion, and the tank flies off into the distance, aanding in a canyon and exploding.
~~That good, Owen?~~ Jon says, laser shots richochetting off the aura.
"Uh, yeah. Now get those troops!" Owen says.
Jon turns back to the troops, and pushes his hand out away from him. Several more troops fly backwards, towards the burning shuttle. One stormtrooper is impaled on a metal shard, and he screams out.
"ARGH!"
Jon twists the shard around, slicing that stormtrooper into shreds. As the lifeblood pours from that trooper, anothers armor bursts into flames, melting around him. He screams, running blindly. Jon makes another throwing motion and that trooper flies against the rock cliff nearby, splattering. The few remaining troops run away from the building, some firing backwards back at Jon. He flicks his fingers, and the troops fly foward, digging into the sand. Satisfied with his work, Jon starts to float back down the roof of the building. As he touches down, a stormtrooper leaps up from behind a boulder on cliff, firing at Owen. Jon thrusts both hands foward, and that trooper flies upward, into orbit. But Jon isn't able to deflect the laser shots, and they strike Owen in the back. He drops to the ground, several cauterized holes in his chest.
~~Owen!~~ Jon yells out, dropping down to the roof.
"Jon....th...there's nothing..you can do. You...you must l.l.leave Tatooine. The
Emperor...will know you are here...and send more troops...."
~~I will leave, Owen. But I'm gonna take this Vader out!~~
"You..can't. It...it isn't your...destiny. Just...leave. Go back....to..Mos Eisley...find
transport....off...Tatooine.........leave.......go.....far........away........" And Owen's life passes out from his with a sigh.
Jon stands, fists clenched.
~~Vader, you are dead!!~~ Jon calls out.
He envelopes himself in his aura, flying towards Mos Eisley.
Back on the Executor, Vader is standing over a communications officer.
"I want a channel with the landing party." He rasps.
"Sorry, Lord Vader, but it is like they aren't even there. I've lost all contact." The officer answers. Vader raises a fist, clenching it. The officer starts to grab at his throat, gagging. He lets out a single sigh, then slumps down in his seat. Another officer runs up to the panel. After typing in a few commands, he turns back to Vader.
"He was right, Lord Vader. The party is not there." The second officer states.
"The new Jedi. He must be powerful. I felt another disturbance, it must have been a
battle. Send down another party. Heavy weaponry. This Jedi must be captured!" Vader rasps before he stalks off. (
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