The Jedi From Earth: A Star Wars Story, Part 2 #Wattys2024

Ch. 41

Shawn and Maarek walked into the hanger right as the ship exited hyperspace, the doors opening slowly. The pilot of the shuttle came to attention as they approached, "Captain, please take us to the city of Toronto, I'll point you out where to go" Shawn said to him as he had assumed that they could simply land on his street. "Of course, will you require anything else?" The pilot asked. "Provisions if possible" Maarek said and looked at Shawn, "your folks probably took everything in the pantry and fridge". Shawn nodded in agreement but had not thought of that initially. "Of course" the pilot said as they walked up into the ship. Shawn sat in the cockpit as the pilot entered and starting the ship up. One thing about the fighter component was a little odd to Shawn was the amount of TIE Intercepters and Bombers, he knew that if the Empire had been beaten badly by a single bomb they would surely respond in time. The ship then lifted off and flew into space towards Earth.

———————
"Down over there" Shawn said pointing at the area near his neighborhood, the pilot turned the shuttle in the direction he pointed. Glancing over the cityscape Shawn could see that the airport had been turned into an Imperial base, presumably it was the main base not only in Canada but all of North America. With hundreds of other ships flying in all directions carrying troops and equipment. Looking ahead he spotted his neighborhood and pointed, "there" he said and the pilot flew lower and slower. Now that they were lower he could see something surprising, the electricity was still on which left the street lights on in the early morning light. It was due to the Empire reactivating the nuclear power plant in the suburb of Pickering, so as to entice people to return to their homes albeit none had done so. "Right here" Shawn said as he spotted his house. The pilot then stopped mid air and landed the shuttle in the street in front of his home. Unstrapping himself Shawn exited the cockpit to the passenger compartment where Maarek stood by the ramp carrying two bags of provisions.

The ramp lowered and Shawn immediately walked down and onto the street, the cold autumn air hitting his face along with the familiar smell of dry leaves that blew around. Maarek walked down next to him and crossed his arms, "kinda weird seeing it again like this". "Again?" Shawn asked curiously. "I came with Mara to get that picture she gave you, don't worry I locked your door before we left" Maarek explained as they walked up to the front door. Shawn looked over and waved off the pilot who lifted off and flew away. It was now deathly quiet, the quietest Shawn had ever recalled his neighborhood ever being. "How did you even get in?" Shawn asked as he reached to the top of the door frame for the spare key. Maarek chuckled a little bit, "the Force since I didn't know about that" he said as Shawn unlocked the door and they walked in.

Shawn flicked on a light and looked around, the walls were devoid of all the family pictures which had decorated the walls for as long as he could remember. Though a small painting that had belonged to his grandfather had been surprisingly left behind. Shawn walked in to the living room and looked around, copious amounts of dust had accumulated on many surfaces throughout the house. Maarek set the bags down by the door and walked next to Shawn who was silent in his thoughts. "You ok?" Maarek asked, "I can sense your minds racing". Shawn snapped out of his state and rubbed his eyes, as the hyperlag was beginning to creep into his mind. "Yeah I'm just tired is all" Shawn said and went over to the thermostat and set it to a warmer temperature before he started up the stairs. "You can just crash in the guest room if you want " he said as he continued to walk up the stairs with Maarek in tow, "may be dusty though". Maarek shrugged, "it's ok, I can help you with that tomorrow if you want" he replied. Shawn found the polite gesture reassuring. He made it to his room as Maarek walked past him to the guest room.

Shawn walked into his room and shut the door behind him. He looked around and walked over to his bed and unholstered his blaster, placing it on his nightstand along with his vibroblade and lightsaber. As he did so he saw his phone was sitting there as well, still connected to the charger. Removing his gloves Shawn picked up his phone and dusted off the screen and tapped it. The screen lit up and he put his thumb to the Touch ID, unlocking it. He saw that he had at least sixty texts and thirty missed calls from months before. He opened one of them which was from his friend Brian which read,