Goodbye -- ROTJ AU

Poor LUkie Oh and Leia When is there giong to be more???

 

Real life has not given me very much time to write lately, and I'm afraid it's only going to get worse right on up until school starts in a few weeks. The next post is kind of long--5 pages of microsoft word--and I'll try to put it up tomorrow. After that, it will be anybody's guess when I can post again. Or, let's put it this way; it could be a couple of weeks.

Thanks for reading! More to come

--Tarado

 

My apologies in advance if it's full of errors.


He was left alone in his rooms for several days, the occasional servant making an appearance to bring him food and water. Luke did not talk to them, and they did not talk to him.



The suite, despite its glamour and comfort, was completely devoid of things to occupy one?s attention. But Luke was far from bored.


In the long hours with nothing to do, his mind kept coming back to the enticing idea that there might be a way to escape from this place. At first, he dismissed it as unwise and next to impossible, but the notion kept coming back, tagging at the heels of his deep craving for freedom. He spent the hours warily recalling Yoda?s sketchy lessons on Force-shielding, cautiously going through his mind how it could be done. He did not want to practice doing any of it, lest he call unwanted attention to himself, so he hoped reviewing would be enough.


In the end, his plan was vague. He did not have a precise idea how he was going to escape the palace, only a mental map of several of the palace floors etched in his memory. But, he had his wits, anticipated acquiring a blaster before he made it very far, and was filled with a consuming desire to escape. Blindly, he hoped it would be enough, and almost didn?t care if it wasn?t.


The night for his escape presented itself nearly four days after his lightsaber ordeal. It had taken him that long to mostly recover from the injuries he?d received.


It was fairly late in the evening, and a servant had just left. If they followed their standard routine, no one would come to his rooms until morning. He?d be long gone by then.


The wide corridor outside was another issue, though, as Luke stretched out with the Force. Imperial guards lined both sides of the hallway at regular intervals, and they were all armed to the teeth with various weapons. At this moment, two of them were outside his door, speaking in low voices.


Straining his ears for the unalarmed conversing of the guards, he knelt beside the door and carefully began to take off the coverplate, using a small writing tool he?d painstakingly filed and sharpened during the long hours spent alone.


Luke smiled grimly. Han?s long, and often frustrating lessons on how to hotwire locks would not be a complete waste of time after all.


As noiselessly as possible, he got to work.

**

?My Lord, the eradication of the Rebels may take some time,? Admiral Otley said quietly, spreading his hands across the dark polished table of the large conference room. Huge windows against one wall showed Vader that it was quite dark outside, and he was beginning to feel tired and irritable after a seemingly endless day. He wished this meeting would end. ?They did strike a rather crushing blow to our fleet, and the loss of the Death Star?-"


?How soon can we mass our fleet to launch an attack,? Vader interrupted impatiently.


The man stood his ground against the Dark Lord and did not show the fear that was radiating from him, much to the astonishment of the others seated around the table, Vader was sure. How Otley had ever made it this far up in Imperial ranks was beyond the capabilities of even the Dark Lord to comprehend.


?Well,? the Admiral began, hastily checking his notes. Vader did not hear any more of the report as suddenly, in the back of his mind, the steady, constant, light-suffused presence of his son winked out, leaving a gaping whole in the Dark Lord?s mind.


Oblivious to the others in the room, their cautious questioning and confused glances that they traded, Vader lurched to his feet, his large repulsor chair bobbing away from him.


?Lord Vader?? Otley queried in bewilderment. The Dark Lord ignored him. He spun in a billow of black cloak out of the conference room, and made a beeline toward Luke?s prison suite.

**

The change of guards was right on schedule, and Luke was ready. He waited for the Imperials to get a little further down th

 

Wow! A new post! Keep up the good work!

 

Uppity!

 

that was great. I hope you can get more up before school starts.

 

Thanks Rebelmom and Sithlady for reading! (Everyone else seems to have disappeared )

Life is hectic right now with music camps and orchestra rehearsals and competitions, but I will try to keep writing

 

Oh how hearbreaking for Luke. Please tell me that he is not going to become dark. I get so sad when that happens. I need some hope.

 

How could I only just NOW find this? Great writing and post soon!

EOJ

 

Let me define soon: Post NOW!

EOJ

 

Hello, I am posting today instead of waiting clear till Saturday like I planned. Hope you're all so happy.

This post receives the official title of "Plot Connector", which as you know, is not very fun to write, but necessary. So if this part is really bad... "It's not my fault!"


But just humor me anyway and reply--that way the good parts will come sooner. How's that for a little blackmail?

Enjoy.



HOME ONE?s main conference room was nearly filled to capacity with the Alliance leaders that had been called to an emergency meeting by Mon Mothma. The stark, sterile assembly room was filled with the low buzz of polite conversation as Rebels took their various seats around long, white tables.


Outside the main viewports at the front of the room hung a sapphire blue world, brilliant against its ebony backdrop of stars. The planet was called Tangrenenarr?a wildly untamed, un-colonized Eden of feral beauty. It was a beauty that was just as dangerous as it was breathtaking, and it was now to be the temporary home of the Rebel Alliance until they could establish a proper place to head up a new government. There had always been a string of different planets that the Rebels had had prepared to flee to, once the Empire had found their existing hiding places. Running had just been a fact of life, but hopefully that was soon going to change forever.


In the few short hours that they?d been in this system, a lot had been accomplished down on the surface, but Leia had yet to be groundside and see any of it. She shuffled several of the documents in front of her, as she sat down, scanning over the reports and tapping several keys on her datapad. She?d been incredibly busy recently, and knew the others must be just as much or more so. She couldn?t help but wonder with a little bit of trepidation what was so important that the Alliance brass would make them drop everything to be here.


?I apologize for the brief notice you were all given in order to attend this meeting,? Mon Mothma spoke gravely, rising to stand. Her audience quieted, giving her their attention. Leia reluctantly tore her eyes away from the report in her hands and brought her mind back to the present, watching the Alliance leader uncharacteristically standing with her hands clenched at her side, her knuckles white. ?And I know how extraordinarily busy you all are, but I thank you for your attendance. I promise to be very brief.?


Leia glanced over at Han, seated a couple tables away, next to Lando Calrissian who managed to be bearing a concerned and attentive look on his face. Solo caught her eye and flashed her a wide grin. She smiled quickly back and, suddenly self-conscious, turned to face the speaker again.


Mon Mothma looked haggard and worn, her shoulders sloped, her brown eyes tired and bloodshot. Leia wondered how she had not noticed this before. Trying to establish a new government seemed to have been especially hard on her of late. The gaze of the poised Rebel leader flickered across the room to the many people seated at the tables. ?The subject is a matter of supreme importance,? she told them quietly. A still silence had settled on the room. ?And I?m afraid I will have to be the bearer of some rather troubling news.?


Leia?s eyes flickered to General Rieekan, seated near Mon Mothma. His gaze was fixed on the center of the table, brow furrowed. ?In the chaos of recovering from the Endor battle, and relocating to a new base, several rumors regarding the state and whereabouts of the remains of the Empire have been reported and have circulated over the past several weeks.?


Mon Mothma?s forehead crinkled with worry lines as her eyes went to her datapad on the table. ?In regard to one such rumor, we have finally been able to verify the legitimacy of these reports.? Troubled eyes met those of her silent audience.


?It has been confirmed,? she said slowly, ?that contrary to popular opinion, Emperor Palpatine and Darth Vader were not killed aboard the second Death Star.

 

Great post Tarado!

 

How did I miss two such wonderful posts? Poor Lu kie!!!!! ( I want more!

 

That was a very good necessary plot connector. So glad you didn't wait till Saturday. I want poor Luke free.

 

Good post! Post more soon!

EOJ

 

Up!

 

DRL has once again been beaten back. I've got a big fat post that I promise to put up tomorrow.

 

Yea!!!! Walks around with a free Luke sign.

 

You guys want Luke free, huh?

muhahahahahahah!!!!

I'll just have to keep you all in suspense--cause this post isn't about Luke yet...



Han Solo wiped the perspiration from his forehead with a dirt-streaked hand and raised his comlink to his lips. ?Antilles!? he shouted into it, throwing an icy glare at the innocent piece of metal and plastic in his fist. His voice reverberated oddly across the small valley of dank foliage and large, mossy trees. It was too green here for Solo?s taste. Too green and too humid, he thought in annoyance as he swiped his sleeve across his forehead for the umpteenth time.


The Rogue?s tinny reply was almost drowned out by the cackling and hooting cries of the local animal life, and Han, tired and frustrated, didn?t bother to try to decipher it. ?You told me this baby was fixed!? he hollered over the wildlife, redirecting his glare to the one mark of civilization on this ball of weeds.


The shield generator had to be close to thirty years old?-and the decrepit hunk of spare parts certainly looked it?-but the Alliance had had to once again resurrect it from the junkyard after the one on Hoth had been destroyed. Unlike Hoth?s generator, this one consisted of four stations that jointly generated the shield over the base, which was somewhere in the middle. The problem with this design was that when one station malfunctioned?-which these did with depressing regularity?-the shield itself could be out of commission for days, not an exciting prospect to those of them that had to repeatedly repair it.


?What do you mean?-isn?t it working?? There was a reasonable amount of panic in Wedge?s voice, tinny in the comlink speaker.


?No, Blast it,? Solo growled, leaning his hand on the base of the metal tower. Some twenty meters up, where certain lights were supposed to be blinking, the bass humming of machinery making the ground pulsate underneath his feet, there was nothing. ?I already ripped the coverplate open, and flipped every restart and override switch I could find. Lenee?s back there right now fiddling with it, but I?m seriously considering either hotwiring the thing myself or just taking a hammer to the innards of this glorified trash can.?


He could barely make out Wedge?s strained laughter on the other end. ?Is that supposed to be a threat or something, Solo?? he asked. ?Well, my boys and I will meet you up there in a few minutes. I?ll bring the hammer.?


Han stalked around to the other side of the station, where Lenee Dow?s voice could be heard muttering and cursing impressively in several different languages. Solo squinted in the dimming sunlight. Days on Tangrenenarr were unusually short?-another issue that received a lot of complaining from the troops?-but he felt the title of working all day hadn?t been any less grueling to earn, despite the fact that results had been disappointing so far.


A bright blue flash illuminated the corrugated metal side of the tower and several sparks, along with an encouraging plume of smoke erupted from the repair panel. Lenee had jumped back with a cry of surprise and pain, mixed with several more choice expletives. Han hurried forward. ?Are you okay, Lenee??


The younger man scrunched his face up in an expression of defeat and frustration?-one that Solo could readily identify with-?and brought his injured hand out for inspection. There was a particularly nasty-looking burn across his palm, and he made another face. ?I suppose I?ll survive,? he muttered sourly.


?Yeah,? Han murmured, leaning forward to inspect the fried insides of the generator station. ?This hunk of junk might be another issue, though. Tell Wedge to forget that hammer.?

?Huh??

Solo just shook his head, still studying the melted components. ?Nothing. Why don?t we head back to base to find a generator repair guy, and some medical attention for that burn of yours.?


Lenee held up his hands in surrender. ?You?ve got no argument here, Solo. Enough of this is enough.?


?My sentiments exactly.?

**

 

Oohhh I love it! Han and Leia are getting married... The proposal suited them perfectly

 

YEA! Han and Leia! That was perfect!

 

Ooh. A proposal. I like it.

Now more please.

 

Padowan Lunnetta, LovelyLea, and RebelMom, I'm glad you liked the marriage proposal.

I've been free lately, and the next part is finished but I'll wait till Monday to post it. Hehehe.


I will give you one tortuous hint, though, and I'm sure it will send you all flying into fits of anticipation. Ready?

It's a long-awaited Luke and Mara scene!!!!!


YEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!






Ummmm. Okay. I'd better go before I make a complete fool out of myself.

*Slinks off*





Until Monday, guys!!

 

YOU CAN'T DO THAT!!!!! You can't torture us reader's like that! Now I'll NEVER be able to concentrate in classes on Monday.......

Humph. I'll wait. But the post BETTER be here Mon....or else.....

EOJ

 

Authors-Reader Torture
Tortured Readers - Authors

It's a sickness.

We will be waiting on Monday!!!!