Luke Skywalker, the Last Jedi, faces his toughest challenge yet. After taking his Jedi vows, he assumes the misbelief that love has no place in his life. As a result, he denies the love he craves in order to establish the New Jedi Order and maintain...
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❶ As his Y-wing's sub-light engines strained to break the higher-than-normal gravity of Zaxyn, Artoo spouted off a stream of curses at Luke.
"I know. I know. Just hope this crate gets us to Castell and back. Shutting down all systems except oxygen and the engines. Once we get into hyperspace, we should be okay," Luke transmitted to his astromech droid secured in the socket behind him.
At least there's only me on this leg of the trip. We'd never break free if I had that missing pilot on board. Well, Castell has slightly lighter grav than Zaxyn. Shouldn't have problems there. He turned off every unnecessary system, including shields and biological containments.
Tandolleau's voice came over his headset. "Everything all right over there, Master?"
"Sub-lights need all the help they can get to break the grav field," Luke said as he hissed at another module. "Cutting out all unnecessary power drains, including communication. Skywalker out."
Jannah, who communicated much better with mindspeech than Tandolleau, sent, We'll wait for you at the jump point. Contact us before you go to hyperspace.
Will do.
Wait. Tandolleau thinks you should abort.
No time. No other craft. I'll get Freedom's deck crew to check her out when we arrive.
Luke gritted his teeth as the cabin pressure increased and the temperature dropped. The cold only lasted for a few minutes, though, to be replaced by intense heat as he burst through the atmosphere of Zaxyn.
With stiff fingers, he flicked on the climate control system. The ice crystals that had already begun to form on his canopy melted into drops of water.
Artoo beeped at him with a tone of admonishment.
"Yes, Artoo," Luke said with a touch of relief in his voice. "I'm all right. Just a few more minutes until we reach the jump point, then we can sit back for sixteen hours and enjoy the view."
As the clunky fighter chugged toward the jump point, the Jedi Master could see the speck of the other Y-wing waiting for them. Tandolleau's voice crackled in his helmet. "Glad you could join us. What's the status on your systems, Rogue Leader?"
Luke smiled at the call sign. It seemed like a lifetime since he last answered to that moniker. "Communications, check. Life support, check. Climate control, check. Navigation, check. Sub-lights, hanging in there. Shields ... Artoo, try them again."
The entire cabin dimmed as the shields tried to power up. Artoo flicked them again. Everything went dead. Luke growled and hit his fist on the control panel. The unit sprang to life again.
With a sigh, the Jedi Master said, "Shields at maximum. Ion cannons, check. Blaster cannons, check. Hyperdrive ... we're about to find out."
Tandolleau said, "You sure you don't want to go back?"
"Positive. These were the only two Y-wings left on base. Let's hope there's another one on the Freedom I can swap out for."
Artoo let out a string of expletives.
Tandolleau and Jannah both laughed. Jannah said, "I think Artoo has the right idea. Where did they dig up that old fossil? It looks like a Clone War-era prototype."
Artoo chirped again.
Luke ignored both Jannah and the droid. "Making do with what we've got. When you get into hyperspace, start meditating."
Tandolleau said with a twinkle in his eyes and smirk on his mouth, "Oh, yes, Aged Gray Beard."
"Hey, I'm neither aged, nor do I have a beard, gray or otherwise," Luke said, a bit hurt because he had seen some strands of gray in his light-brown hair over the last few weeks.
"Relax, Master. Jannah and I flew plenty of missions in the fleet before we joined the Order. Cramped legs and catheters are par for the course."
"All right, then. On my mark—three, two, one. May the Force be with you." The tiny stars turned at first into long, blue strips of light and then became polygonal planes of bright blue as the two craft hurtled into hyperspace.
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Did you know ...
● This chapter shows the issues the New Republic has dealt with in providing for a military that's not at war. They make do with what they have, sometimes at the risk of people's lives. By not maintaining their military to Rebellion-era levels, they have put themselves at risk of being run over by the First Order
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Tell me what you think ...
● What do you think will happen next to this group of Jedi?
