Star Wars : The Rise of Ren

Chapter One Luke Skywalker

The Force is what gives a Jedi his power. It's an energy field, created by all living things. It surrounds us and penetrates us. It binds the galaxy together.

Not many people knew the ways of the Force. Not many knew of it, anymore. Not since long ago, when the Sith crushed the Jedi, leaving only two in hiding. Luke had been trained by both of the two remaining at that time, Ben Kenobi and Yoda, and both had died before the Empire had been destroyed.

    Still, Luke had completed his training, and was now the only living Jedi in the galaxy.

    He had seen terrible things. He had seen his master murdered by a creature in a mask who he later found was his father, his home burned to the ground with his family inside. He had seen his father sacrifice himself to destroy the Emperor.

    But in the end, the Empire had been defeated, and balance to the Force had been achieved.

    Life had moved on since then. Han Solo, his friend and the pilot of the Millenium Falcon, had married Luke's sister Leia, and they were expecting a child any day now. Luke had continued to practice his skills, even though he was already a Jedi Knight.

    He did so now, standing at the cliff side. The wind was cold at his neck, but he did not sway. Instead he maintained his balance, carefully holding the stone, the droid R2-D2, and the heavy sack up over the drop. Not by his physical strength, mind you; anyone could do that. No, he held these things without hands, but with the Force.

    R2 had beeped at him in protest the first time he did it, but now he was silent, trusting him to keep him safe. He used R2 as motivation not to let go. Not to decide it was too hard and give up as he had when he was younger. He could do that if he was just holding a stone or a sack, but not R2. R2 was a friend.

    Finally feeling at peace, and feeling the Force all around, Luke opened his eyes and gazed out at the view. Below him, the ground fell away to an open expanse of greenery, a tranquil valley of trees, flowering plants, and beautifully carved stone. Beside him, a waterfall crashed over the cliff side into the clear lake below. Above him, a blue, cloudless sky. A vision of beauty, of the peace and harmony of nature.

    Gently he lowered the stone, sack, and R2 to the ground. R2 chirped up at him the instant he landed.

    "Yeah, I know," Luke agreed. He understood R2 perfectly well. "It was really high up."

    R2 responded with a series of clicks and whistles which to the ordinary man would have made no sense whatsoever. Luke nodded. "Yes, I am going to keep doing that every day. I need to keep practicing."

    R2 beeped.

    "I know I'm a Jedi Knight, R2, but that doesn't mean I should stop practicing."

    R2 chirped rather disagreeably.

    "If you don't want to do it anymore, then maybe you should wait back home with Leia and Han. They'll look after you. They look after Threepio."

    R2 beeped once.

    "Busy? You? With what?" Luke asked the droid curiously as they began to descend the mountain.

    R2 chirped. "Classified, really? I thought I was your master." R2 was silent. "C'mon, R2."

    R2 reluctantly clicked an answer.

    "Leia told you not to tell me...what? Slower this time."

   R2 repeated himself.

"She told you not to tell me something; I gathered that. But what?"

R2 beeped irritatedly.

"Oh, telling me would defeat the purpose, hmmm?"

R2 gave a whirring noise in agreement.

"Well that's just fine. When we get back home I'll just ask her about it, in person."

R2 chirped in protest. Luke gave a small laugh. "No, I'm not angry. I'm just curious why she'd want to hide something from me."

    R2 was silent. Luke continued down the mountain with the little droid at his side.

After the Battle of Endor, and the celebration that followed, Leia had wanted to stay and make a life there. After a good deal of discussion, Luke and Han had agreed. And surprisingly, the forest moon had become a popular place for settlement in the subsequent years. In the four years the threesome had been living there, they had seen a town develop on the moon, and many days at first they would hear whispers from people, wondering about the famous Luke Skywalker, who had saved them from the evil Emperor Palpatine. People would stare in town, but Luke didn't mind (Han loved it. Every minute of it), though he didn't think he was the real hero. No; the real hero was a Jedi named Anakin Skywalker, better known as Darth Vader, his father. Vader had been the real one to destroy Palpatine.

The fresh smell of the trees and the flowers in the cool crisp air...though it certainly wasn't anything like the place he had lived all his life and didn't have the two Suns he had gazed upon in his youth, the beauty of Endor was incomparable. He and R2 travelled in silence, without any further conversation to be had. The only sounds were of Luke's footsteps on the soil, R2's whirring noises, and the birds chirping above.

Finally their home came into view. It was similar to one of the Ewok tree houses from the outside, though on the ground. Inside, however, it resembled the interior of buildings in Cloud City, with a very modern look. He opened the door and stepped aside to allow R2 to roll in before he entered and shut the door. "I'm back!" he called, and dropped the sack and rock.

    He was greeted with silence. Luke furrowed his brow. "Leia?" No answer. After a moment Luke tried again. "Han? Are you here?"

    Suddenly, a muffled sound. "Oh, thank the Maker!"

    "Threepio?"

    "Oh, Master Luke, I am so glad to see you!" came a familiar voice, and C-3P0 came rushing into the room.

Luke turned to the droid. "Threepio, where are Han and Leia?"

"Sir, you should have been here! If only you had, then perhaps you could have been some help to the Princess and Mr. Solo!"

"Help? Why did they need help? What happened?"

"Master Luke, please do not worry too much, but..." The droid paused, but seeing Luke's troubled expression, he continued. "But, it seems your sister has gone into labor."