STAR WARS EPISODE VIII THE JEDI STORM

                           STAR WARS
                          EPISODE VIII
                         THE JEDI STORM

FROM STORIES & CHARACTERS CREATED BY GEORGE LUCAS
COPYRIGHT UFO PRESS - (C) 1991


(PLEASE COPY FREELY AND GIVE TO FRIENDS)

"CHAPTER ONE"
STAR WARS - THE JEDI STORM.

PART ONE - 'R & R'



  Luke Skywalker sits calmly on a rock projectile atop a black beach
  of volcanic sand and pumice.  He's eating a stick of hardtack, a
  space ration filled with all the nutrients he needs and actually has
  a little flavor.  He's on a planet very, very far from anywhere, and
  certainly not on a star chart or a map of any kind.  He had heard
  rumors of Valdevar.  It was supposed to be haunted by some kind of
  'evil spirit'.  Many travelers had gone there never to return.  Luke
  knew somehow that it would be the perfect R & R for his very special
  needs.  He is tired, tired of the fighting, the running, the
  hiding, the killing.  Now, after the lightning bolts of evil energy
  in the encounter with the emperor, the loss of his father, the
  destruction of the Death Star near the Centuri moon, Luke wants to
  finish his Jedi training.  Yoda told him that it would be finished
  after he faced his father, Alarcan Skywalker, turned into Darth
  Vader by the 'Dark side of the force'.  He had done all that and yet
  there was something missing.  He could feel it very deep down inside
  somewhere in a new part of his consciousness constructed for him by
  the teachings of Yoda and Ben Kenobi.

  So much had happened to him in these last few years of conflict and
  rebellion.  He had lost his Aunt and Uncle, and then, he was shocked
  to learn the truth about his father, only to have him die in his
  arms. He felt very close to his father right now.  He often felt his
  presence at important times in his life and he was beginning to get
  the feeling that this was one of them.  It was funny, he thought,
  about life.  He had fallen in love with Princess Leia and she turns
  out to be his sister.  And then, when his Darth Vader threatened to
  turn Leia to the 'Dark Side', this was the lowest moment of his
  life.  There was something he didn't quite understand about this
  'Force' that Yoda had taught him so much about.  There was something
  that Yoda had left out.  He wondered why.  Was it because Yoda's
  understanding was limited?  How could that be when he was able to
  live to nearly one thousand years and he saw him lift his space ship
  out of the muck that time.  He was certain that there was something
  missing from his training and he knew that he would have to discover
  what it was, and soon!

  The emerald green tide was coming in.  The waves crept closer and
  closer and then gently lapped at his bare feet.  He noticed how warm
  and gentle the water was on this forgotten planet.  He was beginning
  to feel as if there was a living creature in the water whose only
  desire was to massage the feet of anyone who lingered on these
  shores.  He couldn't have known, of course, but this was an accurate
  reading of the situation.  The planet was home to a 'Zozabranch'.
  It's entire being was composed of countless billions of tiny
  one-celled animals that communicated in such a fashion as to imitate
  Human consciousness.  The creature actually derives a great deal of
  pleasure from brushing up against more sentient beings and then
  mimicking their brain waves.  It was easy for this creature to do
  this since it was immersed in a liquid very similar in chemical
  structure to the fluid in our brains.

  Through millions of years of evolution and with no competition from
  any other form of life on this planet, the 'Zozabranch' was able to
  reproduce itself in such large numbers that communication amongst
  all its cousins was inevitable.  But then, over the centuries,
  loneliness set in.  The 'Zoza' as it likes to call itself, realized
  that there was not much to talk about on a planet where there were
  no other forms of life, so it learned how to gather and absorb new
  experiences by touching any other living creature that might come
  into contact with the 'sea'.   When it touched Luke's feet and
  ankles it was in for a real treat.  He had seen so much and done so
  much.  His entire life was an open book to the 'Zoza'.  It could
  feel the 'Force' in Luke.  It could relate to everything Yoda had
  taught him and even to the evil of the 'Dark Side' that had almost
  killed him.  The 'Zoza' was intrigued to such a degree that the tide
  seemed to be turning on the beach.  So many parts of the creature
  were involved with communicating and learning that the level of the
  ocean actually rose several inches as it leaned across the planet to
  feel more and understand more from Luke's mind.

  Luke tries to ignore it at first, but from the first time the waves
  touch his feet, he hears a whispering in the inner reaches of his
  mind.  Something is trying to communicate with him.  At first he
  thinks it might be his old friend and mentor, Ben Kenobi.  Then, he
  feels it's his father.  Then, he realizes that it was neither of
  them.  It wasn't a Human voice, but a very pleasant kind of soothing
  music like he had never heard before.  It drifts in and out like a
  distant radio station.  As the tide creeps closer and closer and
  washes higher and higher on his rock, he begins to hear this chorus
  louder and louder, until he looks out and sees a giant tidal wave
  approaching from the horizon.  It's like nothing he's ever seen or
  heard before.  It is moving very slowly, undulating closer and
  closer like a great bowl of jello lifted on its side.  And the music
  it makes, the chorus, the symphonic harmony of sounds, whatever you
  cared to call it, is getting louder and louder.

  He looks around but there is nothing except for the black sand
  dunes and a few tufts of 'Handle-bar' plants.  The music rises in
  his mind and the words begin to speak directly to his heart.  Though
  he can't understand the words, he knows they say something sentient,
  intelligent.  There is a life form here somewhere.  Then he realizes
  that it must be connected to the warm massage working up his feet
  and legs.  It's like a thousand tiny little tendrils working their
  way along his skin.  It's not just a liquid he's been standing in,
  but a life form.  He's immersed in it.  He feels it trying to talk
  to him.  Meanwhile the mountain of bright green liquid is getting
  closer and closer.  If he doesn't head for higher ground, he'll be
  engulfed in or by the creature.

  He looks all around for a place to run, but there is nothing higher
  than the small buttocks of a hill that he has been sitting on.  The
  beach is flat with nothing of distinction except for a few handlebar
  plants swaying in the wind.  His ship isn't very far away, but he's
  not sure if he can reach it in time.  He knows somehow that if he
  runs, it could be fatal.  There is a real connection, almost like a
  wall socket and an electrical plug, between himself and the sea
  growing larger all around him and if he were to 'unplug' himself
  too suddenly, it could kill him.  So, he decides to stay and play
  this little game with the creature until the end.  The tidal wave is
  now only a few meters away and approaching ever steadily on.  He
  watches it rise several dozen meters above his head.  Then, he
  closes his eyes and calls up the 'Force'.

  Now, if you asked Luke how he calls the 'Force', he probably would
  not be able to explain it to you.  Yoda taught him how to bring the
  'Force' closer to him by clearing his mind of everything but the
  'Force'.  Luke never really learned what this 'Force' was all about,
  but Yoda did teach him what it was not.  By concentrating on ridding
  himself of everything that was not the 'Force', the 'Force' came to
  him.  If he ever actually tried to think about, or control, or
  manipulate this mysterious 'Force' thing, it would never happen.  It
  was the unburdening, the unlearning, the disconnecting with all
  things that he had learned, burdened himself with, been connected
  with, that made the 'Force' unveil itself to him.  It was always
  there, deep within all of us.  We had only to release its energy, to
  unchain its power and it would work for us.  And Luke was not
  special in this regard, as he knew.  It was only the ability he had
  to expose his inner feelings, to render so many things impotent that
  most people burdened themselves with, that made him so 'strong with
  the Force' as Yoda used to say.

  Luke had learned that by making yourself totally vulnerable, totally
  open to all experience, then and only then can the 'Force' enter
  every cell, every pore of one's being.  There is, of course, a
  danger in doing so.  One had to be perfectly willing to entertain
  the 'Dark Side', the evil, the less appealing facets of life.  One
  had to be prepared for the possibility that something would go
  wrong, but by eliminating fear, Luke rendered all the evil parts of
  his training totally ineffective because evil thrives on fear and
  hate and on evil itself.  By eliminating all negative energy in his
  mind and in his soul, Luke created a perfect battery for the
  positive forces in Nature to collect and grow.  His power for good
  had not matched the power for evil of the Emperor's yet.  But he was
  working on that.

  The tidal wave of 'Zozabranch' was all around him now and it would
  have drowned him if it were not for his power with the 'Force'.  He
  had formed a pocket of air around him, a perfect shield of energy
  all around his body and the 'Zozabranch' was unable to do more than
  caress the very bottom of his feet.  There was still a connection
  and Luke could still feel the animal all around him.  It was
  humming, discussing amongst itself what to do next.  It wanted to
  attach itself to every nerve ending in Luke's brain so that it might
  escape the planet in which it was trapped, but Luke was holding it
  back with a force it did not understand.  Nothing had been able to
  repel it before like this.  Nothing had survived a full-on encounter
  with the mind of the 'Zoza', nothing until now.

  Luke watched fascinated while the creature regrouped.  It let the
  tide of interest wane and slowly the liquid drifted back to its
  more normal levels.  It relaxed and seemed to be totally defeated
  and becalmed yet it continued to sing and hum and caress Luke's
  feet.  He knew that it wasn't an evil creature, merely lonely.  He
  closed his eyes once again and placed himself in the creature's
  mind.  He still felt that it was not evil.  He could feel it calling
  to him, crying to him, pleading with him to share his thoughts and
  so he did.  He lay down in the warm sand and thought about his
  youth on his Uncle's farm.  He thought about the days he used to run
  and play with bare feet out in the sawgrass.  He remembered Uncle
  Owen giving him his first bicycle and then his disdain when he
  bought a super turbine engine and adapted the bike into a miniature
  X-wing fighter.  He could feel the wind in his hair, the hot breath
  of summer clutching at his clothes, sucking the very sweat from his
  body.  He could smell the wonderful odors of his youth, the leather
  seat of his little ship, the rubber soles of his shoes.

  He lay back and remembered too the feeling he had when he first met
  Leia.  She was so very beautiful, he remembered feeling she truly
  was royalty.  She walked so gracefully, with her head up high and
  her eyes so firmly fixed on his.  They met when she was a prisoner
  of the Emperor's and yet she seemed to be in total control of her
  situation.  He marveled at that.  There was so little time for
  niceties.  He and Han had to rescue her.  She had been tortured and
  yet she was unruffled by it.  In fact, in all the time he had known
  her, he had never heard her complain and they had been in some very
  difficult situations.  There was never enough food.  They were
  always running away from the Emperor's elite guards.  They were
  never alone.  Yet, they always had a kind of understanding.  They
  would not know what it was for a long time, but then the revelation
  that they were brother and sister and suddenly everything made so
  much sense.

  Then, there was Han.  He was so careful to cover his true feelings.
  He was so tough on the outside, so unfinished, hard like good
  furniture, and yet so soft on the inside.  He and Threepio and R2D2
  had made such a great team.  The Empire was no match for their
  combined talents.  Together, they were able to defeat any lock,
  capture any planet, free any number of people.  They roamed the
  galaxy for years together and time and time again, they proved so
  loyal and so devoted to each other that it now amazed Luke beyond
  any emotion he'd ever known.  There was something of the 'Force' in
  all these creatures, made of flesh or otherwise.  They had been so
  glued together, so committed to the same goals that Luke even now
  felt a certain wonder, almost a suspicion that there was something,
  somewhere trying to tell him something and that he might not be
  intelligent enough to understand the message.

  This is what nagged him so much.  It was an itch he couldn't
  scratch.  It was a deep awareness of something that was so much more
  powerful than he could even imagine, something alive and yet not
  alive, something infinitely large and yet infinitely small, that he
  couldn't quite grasp even with his training.  He knew that he would
  have to grasp it before long if he was to save the galaxy from the
  evil of the Empire.  It was not yet dead.  Oh yes, they had dealt it
  many severe and heavy blows.  The Empire was reeling.  It was almost
  punch drunk.  It was striking out now in a desperate struggle to
  maintain its stranglehold on the world, but it was nearly finished.
  The bell was about to sound.  They were in the last rounds of the
  fight.  The rebels would deliver the knock out punch soon.  But they
  would need every ounce of reserve strength and energy they could
  muster because it wasn't over until it was over.  The Emperor was
  dead, yes, but there was another Emperor now, the grandson of the
  Emperor who had nearly electrocuted Luke and he seemed to be ten
  times worse than his grandfather ever dreamed in his worst
  nightmares!

  Luke remembered all these things while the 'Zoza' lapped lazily at
  his feet in total acquiescence.  The 'Zoza' was like a pet dog now.
  It felt the power of Luke's mind and it was forced to retreat.  This
  had never happened before and now it knew that there was another
  consciousness greater than its own.  The 'Zoza' knew instinctively
  that it could never harm Luke in any way and it felt a very deep
  remorse at having tried to do so in the first place.  But it was
  only playing with him.  It never intended any real harm.  It was
  happy now to be the companion to the far superior creature.  It
  wanted to follow Luke everywhere, but alas, it couldn't.  It would
  never follow anybody.  It would never leave this place.  It would be
  trapped here forever, talking and singing to itself.  There would
  never be the kind of adventure and romance for the 'Zoza' like Luke
  had experienced.  The thought patterns of Luke's great adventure
  were a wonderful vacation for every single cell in the animal's
  being.  It was totally entertained by them, totally enthralled.  But
  when Luke started to leave, it was all the same.  There would be
  countless centuries of untold boredom until the next sentient
  creature might come along.

  Luke felt this terrible sadness in the 'Zoza' and he wondered what
  he might be able to do.  He thought he might leave an up-link antenna
  here on the planet so that the 'Zosa' might be able to communicate
  with other beings in the vicinity of this planet, but then he
  realized that this would only make matters worse.  The satellite
  beacon would just attract the curious and there would be more and
  more encounters like this one and the loneliness of the 'Zosa' would
  grow and grow until it might someday overwhelm it.  It was alone and
  it was meant to be alone.  It actually enjoyed being alone and this
  is why it was able to evolve so far in this manner.  It wasn't alone
  in so many ways, and in fact, was much less lonely than any creature
  wearing a skin like Luke's.  It only transmitted the feeling of
  loneliness when in the presence of another creature of
  consciousness.  It was so used to being connected to itself, it had
  an instinctive desire to be involved totally with anything it
  encountered which might also be conscious.  It was a kind of leech
  in this regard.  It could never get enough conscious charge.  It was
  constantly looking for a recharge.

  Luke, bade the creature 'good-bye' by mentally hugging it.  This had
  never happened to the 'Zoza' before and it didn't know what to do or
  say and instead just pulled back to sea.  Luke knew it would be all
  right in a day or two.  He walked away up the sand dunes and back
  toward his ship.  He couldn't see it because it was completely
  cloaked.  The 'Banta Ray' was always cloaked.  It represented the
  very latest in technology because not only was it invisible to enemy
  radar and any other sensing devices they might have, but it was also
  invisible to the naked eye.  Luke was amused at the way it had
  disappeared.

        "Now, where did I leave that thing?"  He mutters to himself.

  After a short while, he knew he would have to resort to the special
  finder beam triggered by his belt buckle.  He pressed the switch and
  the ladder appeared about twenty feet to his right and above by
  about ten feet and it slid out of the sky as if by some kind of
  voodoo mechanics.  It was still a thrill to watch even after
  several dozen trips in the thing.  The ship did with light beams
  what the old Stealth fighters did with radar beams.  It deflected
  them away in so many directions except the direction of anyone
  looking at it.  Luke still didn't understand all the physics behind
  the new technology.  He just knew that this new fighter could easily
  mean the final destruction of the Empire.  The Emperor had nothing
  like it and was therefore defenseless against it.  Luke's mission,
  besides a little R & R, was a shakedown cruise.  He was the first in
  the Rebel Alliance to fly the ship.  It had come to them at great
  cost.  They were very lucky to have found this last prototype before
  the Empire did.  And now it would be a race against time to put it
  into action before they realized what was coming at them.

  He climbed up the ladder and disappeared into a hole in the bright
  azure sky.  Once inside the ship, everything appeared as the
  interior of a normal space vehicle, normal that is, for a military
  vehicle that had no instruments, no weaponry of any kind that the
  casual observer might notice.  The interior of the ship was very
  plush with room enough for a crew of five or six to live
  comfortably.  It would only fly however, with a single sentient
  being inside, however, because it was the first space ship to be
  controlled completely by brain waves.  If more than one person was
  in the ship, it would be too confused to fly properly and would
  therefore obey no one.

  R2D2 could fly with Luke in the Banta Ray fighter because, being a
  silicon based intelligence, R2D2 did not give off brain waves and
  appeared to the ship's brain like an adjunct of Luke's mind.

        "R2, are you ready to take-off?"  Luke says.

        R2 chirps back in a reply that only Luke can understand.

        "Yes, R2, I had a wonderful rest.  This planet is a
        very beautiful place.  How about you?"  Luke asks.

  R2 acknowledges in a long series of beeps, whistles and chirps to
  tell Luke he's rested and very ready to do whatever Luke wants to
  do, and also that a message has just come in from somewhere in the
  Alpha Frontier.

        "I'll take it in the cockpit, R2,"  Luke says as he settles
        himself into the special pilots seat which surrounds him in
        a gravity field which is softer than any seat Luke has ever
        been in.

  Luke has become very attached to R2 and he feels a great warmth
  and even the kind of love a person gets from a pet like a dog or
  cat or a glommanter.  This is always a source of amusement to Luke
  since he was never programmed with any of these emotions.  R2's
  friendship with Threepio is also a source of great interest to Luke
  and others.  They are the only droids in the known universe who
  behave in a particularly human manner and offers continually come in
  from universities and laboratories of one kind or another that want
  to study the pair of 'droids' to try to locate the source of these
  human-like emotions.  Luke has never permitted it since it would
  mean the dissection of two creatures he's come to regard as part of
  his family now.

  Luke opens the panel which covers his front view screen.  With it
  closed, the ship is totally invisible, but when it's opened, it lets
  light in and from the outside of the ship, one can see Luke's head
  and shoulders in the cockpit of the ship, but that's all.  His body
  appears to be floating some twenty feet up in mid-air.

        "R2, you'd better strap yourself in.  We're going to take off
        now,"  Luke advises.

  After waiting for R2 to be strapped in, Luke closes his eyes and
  allows the messages to flow from his brain to that of the ship.  The
  anti-grav seat, besides making super-light travel very comfortable
  for the pilot, is also designed to feel everything Luke feels and
  report this information back to the central 'brain' of the ship,
  buried deep in the innards of the 'Banta Ray' fighter.  The ship
  literally 'feels' the pilots desire to take off, and silently and
  immediately an artificial intelligence within the ship's brain
  and skin co-operate in a symphony of mechanical and psychological
  processes that can only be described as miraculous.  The ship can be
  piloted only by a creature with Luke's abilities.  As Luke bends his
  will to guiding the ship and learning about it's highly advanced
  technology, there is a gnawing in the back of his brain hinting at
  the mentality of the civilization that could have built such a
  vehicle.  It's apparent to Luke, as he becomes familiar with the
  'Banta Ray' that it's more than a vehicle.  It's also a living,
  sentient entity capable of thinking for itself, complete with a will
  of its own.  It seems to respond only to a will it considers
  superior to its own.

  The mental bridge between pilot and ship is a kind of symbiotic one.
  The ship has a need to experience the physical sensations of the
  pilot and the pilot needs the engineering of the ships propulsion
  system to achieve higher and higher experiences.  As Luke becomes
  more experienced with his ship, he begins to feel for the ship the
  way a man feels for a faithful old dog.

  Luke lays out a course in his mind, and simultaneously reaches out
  with his mind for the recorded message in the data banks of the
  ship's communicator.  The brain of the 'Banta Ray' ship is eager to
  obey both commands at once, and as the magnetic drive begins to
  repel the force of gravity of the planet and the speed begins to
  build in the upper atmosphere, it projects the holographic message
  just received from the Frontier Sector.

        "Hello, Luke.  How are you?  I'm fine and I've just about
        finished my mission out here on the frontier,"  the image
        speaks to Luke as if he were right in the ship.

  It's the image of Lando Calrissian.  Luke does not reply immediately
  because the image is recorded and sent in a packet.  Because of the
  distances involved his reply would take several days to reach Lando
  on the other side of the Galaxy.  Besides, Luke is not real anxious
  to give away his position. Only this message from Lando would be
  able to find its way to this ship. Luke was expecting this message
  and was therefore very happy to see the snowy, and bluish image
  standing a few feet in front of him.

        "Luke, I've enlisted about ten thousand new rebel fighters.
        They've all got ships with some degree of fire power. They're
        not perfect.  Some of them are kind of ragged looking, but
        they're all good fighters and they all have a grudge against
        the Emperor for one reason or another.  I've had them all
        checked out quite thoroughly. As you guessed, all the Empire's
        greatest enemies seem to wind up out here, eventually,"  Lando
        continues.

        "Also, thanks for the basic Jedi training.  It has come in
        handy more than once.  I'd like to learn more some day soon,"
        he says.

  Luke turned his gaze out his view screen to the myriad star field
  ahead.  He was traveling now just below light speed and with the
  approach of the next star, the ship would use its gravity field to
  bring the ship into super light speed.  Luke listened to Lando's
  report and guided the ship toward the nearby star.  Within a few
  minutes, he was able to give the command with his mind, and the ship
  responded by jumping into hyper-space with the grace and ease of a
  swan jumping off the surface of a gentle pond and into the air.

  The field of stars rapidly turn into a steady stream of light as
  they race past them at a speed greater than the light beams
  emanating from them.  Luke is forced to close his front shield
  because at this speed, the smallest particle of dust could prove
  very dangerous.

        "I'm leaving for home in about two days.  I have some minor
        personal business to finish up and I'll be on my way.  You
        have to come visit Tri-bilious some day.  It's my kind of
        place.  I figure I'll get back within hours of your return.
        Have a safe journey Luke, and I hope your mission was also a
        success.  Oh Luke, there's probably nothing to worry about and
        that's why I didn't mention it right away, but I usually hear
        from Han and Leia about once a month.  It's been three months
        now and all I get are confirmations of my reports.  I don't
        know, I just thought I should tell you.  I don't feel right
        about it, somehow.  I hope and pray nothing's wrong."  Lando
        waves slowly at Luke as his image fades from view.

  Luke can tell that Lando is indeed very worried.  Now, suddenly, so
  is he.

  Hardly even thinking about it, he pushes the engines deep within his
  ship to their maximum levels.  With no moving parts, the ship will
  not even vibrate in the least bit.  Piloting the ship, it seems to
  Luke, is much like living in a dream.  You merely have to imagine
  where and how fast you want to go somewhere and the ship responds,
  noiselessly and effortlessly.  Luke begins to sense the deep
  fondness and respect for life buried within the circuitry of this
  amazing machine.  More than just a ship, it seems to amplify his own
  awareness of anything he cares to think about.  If he needs to
  calculate a course, the machine does the math for him.  If he
  worries about a friend, the ship calms his fears.  If he needs
  tactical solution in a battle, he knows the ship will be forthcoming
  with this information as well.  It's as if they were destined to fly
  together and battle the forces of the Empire, and if necessary to
  die together.  It's an eerie feeling to be so close to a ship, but
  as his travels take him closer and closer to his destiny, he knows
  that his feelings are correct.  There is a being here much greater
  than himself for there is a knowledge of forces far greater than the
  ones he has been trained to know.

  As the many days of his journey pile on top of one another in a
  seemingly endless procession, he learns to talk to the ship as he
  would with his best friend, or with his father, or even with a
  lover.  The ship seems willing to play any role he finds necessary
  to commune with.  With this level of communication open to him, Luke
  tries to make it clear to the ship what lies ahead, the challenge
  that is in front of them.  The Empire will not give up its grasp of
  the galaxy easily and it will require a total committment to the
  ultimate degree from both of them to finally defeat it and in such a
  way that there is something left to rebuild when the war is over.

  The ship understands and constantly appears to Luke to be working on
  the problem.  One morning, when he slips into his pilots seat, he is
  greeted with information about the Empire that he never even knew
  existed.  The ship has been busy predicting where the greatest
  concentrations of the fleet will be at any given time based on
  Luke's knowledge of past battles and the history of the Empire's
  conquests around the galaxy.

        "This is wonderful,"  Luke says to himself.

        "I hope that it's of service, Luke,"  a voice replies from
        nowhere and everywhere at once.

        "You are the ship?"  Luke asks, somehow knowing that it was
        bound to come to a more direct form of communication sooner or
        later.

        "That's right.  I am the ship.  I'm here to serve you.  I hope
        that I can help you bring down the Empire once and for all,"
        it says.

        "Why?  I mean, why do you care what happens?"  Luke asks.

        "You don't really expect an answer to that, do you?"  It
        responds.

        "No, I guess not,"  Luke says.  "You know, I think this is
        going to be the beginning of a wonderful relationship."




casino
THE NEW FRONTIER

  Lando is holding a good hand of cards.  He's smoking a long thin
  cigar from an unknown tobacconist from a planet he's long since
  forgotten.  It has a deep delicious fragrance, not like anything
  he's ever smoked before.  It's not an illegal drug on most planets,
  but he knows of several where smoking one of these would be grounds
  for instant execution.  He was wondering why so many people were
  afraid of this kind of mental stimulation and he was also wondering
  what his opponents on the other side of the table might be holding.
  He stared long and hard at each of their hands and then he took
  another long gaze at the pot in the middle of the table.  On any
  planet, it was a king's fortune.

  The casino was very plush and yet very rustic and rough.  The
  furniture seemed to be carved from limestone.  The frills, if you
  could call it frills along the walls and dangling from the ceiling
  seemed like a decoration from a long extinct culture.  The casino
  floor itself was littered with gamblers and revelers from all over
  the universe.  They were tall, short, flat faced and long nosed.
  Each of them seemed possessed with the desire to leave more of the
  credits than they had come in with and in this pursuit they were
  gingerly pulling levers, holding cards, seated at tables, standing
  at strange round rolling devices that settled on a certain number
  that created winners and losers at breakneck speed.  Lando had seen
  many gambling spots in his illustrious career as a space rogue and
  scoundrel, but he had never seen anything like this.

  He was staring off in the distance when the creature seated to his
  right yelled at him.

        "I said, I see your fifty thousand and raise you fifty,"  he
        says.

  The creature was actually considered one of the best looking of its
  species.  It had three huge eyes in the center of its face.  It had
  a tongue that dangled down from the mouth in the middle of his
  'forehead'.  And the whole mass of his head was covered with a green
  kind of vegetation which was actually a completely different species
  living in total symbiosis with the 'Geckel' male.  In return for
  food scraps, it supplied the 'Geckel' with 90 percent of its oxygen.

  Lando, looked quickly at the creature's hand and smiled broadly.

        "It's like taking candy from a baby,"  He says.  "I'll see
        your fifty thousand and I'll raise you another hundred!"

  Lando leans back and smiles affably at the two other creatures of
  similar appearance seated at his table.

        "I call you,"  the Geckel replies roughly and throwing another
        pile of chips into the pot.

        "I've got three three's,"  Lando says, dropping his hand on
        the table face up.

        "How can that be?  I've got three deuces!"  the creature is
        apparently quite upset at being beaten again.

  Lando rakes in the huge pot and starts to get up from the table.

        "Just a minute,"  the Geckel yells.  "You've got to be
        cheatin'.  No one wins twenty hands in a row around here.
        You've been staring at my hand all night.  These cards
        marked?"

  The Geckel creature inspects the pile of cards on the table and then
  looks at the other two fellow Geckels seated across from him.  The
  three Geckels reach for their hips and jump up from the table
  drawing their weapons.

  Lando remains seated calmly and merely raises his hands and pulls
  all their laser guns into his fists.

        "You boys should be better losers!"  He says.  "I'm not
        cheating.  I'm just good at this game.  I told you that when I
        sat down."

        "No one's that good, and how did you take our guns like that.
        You must be wired with some kind of device that lets you read
        the cards.  Get him!" he yells.

  The entire card room seems to be alive with gunfire and phaser fire
  of all kinds and colors.  Lando drops his hands quickly and a cloud
  of smoke explodes all around him.  The laser fire can't find a
  target in the dark suffocating cloud.  Meanwhile, Lando has exploded
  up out of his chair and finds himself dangling from a scaffold of
  some ancient sort on the ceiling.

        "Chewy, I need you now!"  Lando yells into his communicator.

  A loud crash tears through the roof of the casino and Chewbacca's
  furry countenance greets Lando through the tear in the roof.  He
  reaches down and pulls Lando up and through the ceiling while laser
  beams strike haphazardly all around them.  Lando is hit in the foot
  just before he pulls it out through the gaping hole Chewie has just
  provided.

  They both run up the ramp of the Millennium Falcon, just as an angry
  crowd is pouring through a doorway on the rooftop and firing their
  weapons at the ship.  Chewy jumps into the co-pilot's seat and fires
  a blast of laser fire out through the rear canon.  The crowd is
  forced to drop to the ground as the Millennium Falcon's engines glow
  brightly and then sprays them with brilliant white light as it takes
  off and quickly disappears into the night sky.

        "Thanks, Chewie.  I thought I might need you up there.  These
        people might be a bunch of children, but they're like killer
        bees when they're roused,"  Lando pats Chewie on the back from
        his seat next to him in the cockpit.

  Chewie yells at him in language only Chewbaccans would understand.

        "Yes, I know, but we're rich, Chewie.  Look at this loot,"
        Lando says while pulling dozens of gold coins from his pants
        and jacket.

  Chewie mumbles something about it not worth getting killed over.

        "Come on, Chewie.  Where's your sense of adventure?  I was
        just letting off a little steam.  We've been working hard to
        get another rebel army together for Luke and frankly I think
        we've done a pretty remarkable job.  I mean, ten thousand
        angry and tough fighting folks with their own super-light
        ships.  I'd say we got the word out pretty far and wide,
        wouldn't you?"  He brags.

  Chewie agrees reluctantly, but also wants to know when he might get
  to blow off some steam too.

        "I didn't think you Chewbaccans needed to blow off steam,
        Chewie.  I'll remember to include you next time.  Right now,
        though we've got to get to the rendezvous.  Our new inductees
        should be just about all gathered and ready to leave now.  I
        gave them enough time to find the place and then to refuel and
        gather up their stores.  We should be reaching them in about
        ten hours after reaching light speed.  Say, that's just about
        the time I need to recharge my batteries.  I'm going in back
        for a nap, Chewie.  I'll relieve you in four hours, OK?"
        Lando says.

  He climbs back into the living portion of the ship as Chewie barks
  out his agreement and takes the ship into hyper space travel. Lando
  is at the controls and Chewie is resting when they come out of
  hyper-space.  The starlight begins to take on its normal hue while
  Lando is thinking about how he's going to spend his new-found
  fortune when he sees in front of him a terrible sight that is the
  worst possible outcome.  All his dreams are washed away suddenly and
  he's back to a stunning reality.

  The entire sector of space is ablaze with laser fire and canon fire.
  The fleet of newly inducted rebels, it seems, will be have to go
  through a trial by fire.  Somehow the Imperial fleet has gotten wind
  of this rendezvous and they've attacked with nearly their entire
  force.  All of Lando's ten thousand ship fleet is surrounded by
  heavy cruisers and tie fighters swirling around them like a pack of
  wild animals bringing down their prey.  There must be one hundred
  thousand Imperial ships buzzing around the perimeter of the rebel
  force and is methodically picking them off one group after another.
  When any of them tries to escape, a group of cruisers intervenes and
  takes them out before they can make light speed.  It's a horrible
  sight.

  Lando, at first, doesn't know what to do.  The effects of his recent
  R & R having just worn off, he's ready for anything that ends with
  him getting out of here alive.  So far, nothing he can think of will
  assure him of this, however, so he drifts just out of range of the
  instruments of the Imperial ships.

  Chewie, sensing their decreased speed, comes out of hibernation and
  is also a witness to the terrible destruction going on all around
  them.  He howls with displeasure and Lando is ready to do the same.

        "I don't know, but we've got to do something, Chewie.  What do
        you think we should do?"  he asks his friend and companion.

  Chewie merely howls again.

        "All right.  There's a group of cruisers at ten o'clock.
        Let's take them on.  Maybe we can survive and distract them
        long enough for some of our boys to get away,"  he says.

  Chewie howls even louder.

        "Yes, I know.  We don't stand a chance, but neither do they.
        Charge up our shields to maximum.  If we can draw their fire
        and get them to chase us, at least we'll be doing something,"
        he tells Chewie.

  Chewie reluctantly obeys by charging up their magnetic shields to
  full power.  This means that they will not have any energy for laser
  weapons, however, so he braces himself for a very rocky ride.

  Lando takes the ship closer and closer to the group of about a dozen
  heavy Imperial cruisers nearest him.  They don't seem to be taking
  the bait and he wonders out loud when they might fire at him.  He's
  getting so close he begins to see shapes of men through their port
  windows.  Finally, just as he thinks they will ignore him until he
  crashes into them, there is a terrible crunching noise all around
  them so loud it nearly obliterates their ear drums.  The Falcon is
  shaken to its bulkheads.  They find themselves being hurled through
  space in the opposite direction from their current flight path.
  It's as if a great hand grabbed them and tossed them down like a rag
  doll.

        "What the hell was that?"  Lando yells.  Chewie can only howl
        back his disapproval and wonder.

        "They've got some kind of sonic weapon.  That's all it can be.
        Our shields have held, so it's something that has a limitation
        of some sort,"  he tries to sort it all out.

  Lando can see the small group of Imperial cruisers closing in on
  them now.

        "I don't think we can take another blast like that,"  he says.
        "Get us out of here, Chewie!"

  Chewie is working the controls frantically trying to do just that as
  the cruisers grow more and more menacing in their viewer screens.
  Soon, they'll be in range to unleash this terrible new weapon on
  them.

        "Shields are down, Chewie!  Chewie, get us out of here!"

  Lando yells again.  But the ship is not responding.  Lando can tell
  that Chewie is having a great deal of difficulty with the controls.
  Lando is starting to think that he will never get to enjoy his
  riches and that he will die here in this God-forsaken part of
  Space/Time.

        "I'm not going down that easily!"  he yells.

  Lando, always quick at figuring the odds, re-routes all energy away
  from the shields which are now practically dead anyway, and sends it
  sputtering to the weapons batteries.  They are able to charge must
  faster and within a millisecond he has enough to give every last
  ounce of energy to the closing Imperial fleet.  The ensuing blast is
  not enough to do much damage, but it delays their sonic wave just
  long enough for Lando to regain control of the Falcon.  They blast
  away from the fleet in a giant game of 'chicken'.  The Imperial
  cruisers being much heavier and slower cannot react in time and soon
  Lando finds his viewer screens devoid of cruisers but filled with the
  terrible sight of the rest of his fleet being routinely and easily
  trashed.

  Then, he has what can only be described as an inspiration.  He tries
  to figure out what Luke would do with his very formidable knowledge
  of the 'Force'.  Then, suddenly, he remembers the 'First Law of the
  Force' which Luke instilled in him repeatedly for months.

        "Never lose control of your senses. When in a desperate
        situation, use all your senses to act like a giant reservoir
        for gathering in a gentle, unseen rain, coming from all
        directions."

  These were Luke's exact words.  He never fully understood them, at
  least not until this moment.  Luke could demonstrate this principle
  many times in tight situations, and yet Lando still had trouble
  duplicating the feat. His instincts were to blast his way out of a
  scrape.  This time would be different.

  Lando takes a deep breath and puts the palm of his hand toward the
  screen and makes a slow wiping motion with it.  He concentrates not
  on the danger, but the safety of open space just beyond.  He can
  feel the energy growing all around his ship and around the ships of
  his new fleet.

  Then, as the cruisers behind him are again making a clean sweep, he
  closes his eyes and brings up the vision of the fleet being blown
  off course like the old sailing ships of a thousand forgotten
  centuries before.  In his mind, he can see the wind building, the
  storm brewing that blew the Spanish Armada away from the English
  coast in a similar critical moment in history.  Chewie is trying to
  avoid the ships closing in behind them and so their bodies are being
  shaken every which way as the laser blasts of the cruisers get
  closer and closer to hitting their mark, but Lando just concentrates
  by not concentrating on anything other than the winds.

  Then, for some unknown reason, the Imperial cruisers break off the
  attack.  All around them, the battlefield, littered with debris of
  fallen comrades is soon completely calm and peaceful.  The Imperial
  ships are struggling with their own control systems.  Something has
  seized them all and rendered all their might as useless.  Lando can
  see that something wonderful has happened and he also knows that it
  can't last for long.

  He gets on his com-link and yells for all surviving ships to regroup
  at a second rendezvous point, some million light years away.  If the
  Imperial fleet has knowledge of this place, they will know about the
  second gathering place at Yanderosa, so as soon as his remaining
  rag-tag group of battered ships has regrouped and many thousands of
  light years away, he radios a new coded destination to the rest of
  them and even gives them each a different route to get there.

  The Imperial fleet is taken completely by surprise and by the time
  they regain control of their ships, the rebel fleet has vanished
  except for the few hundred unfortunates littering space all around
  them.  They had the rebels in a very difficult situation and if they
  had a little more time, they would have destroyed this new rebel
  threat.  Now, the commanders are gathered together wondering what
  they will tell the Emperor.  They don't know how to tell him that
  some mysterious force locked up all their control and weapons'
  systems.  They finally decide to draw straws to choose the poor
  unfortunate soul who will have to tell him the bad news.

  As the largest Imperial force ever gathered together gets ready to
  leave, aboard their flag ship, the scene is of almost total
  confusion and then relief, as they stand in a tight circle and the
  captain of the Tiberius looks in his hand to see the short straw.



Luke's Return

  During long flights in Space Luke practices Ti-Chi just to keep his
  muscles in shape and in tone for anything that might confront him.
  With the Jedi control he has learned, Ti-Chi has been given a new
  meaning.  If he wanted to, he could change the orbits of planets
  within thousands of miles.  He could change the course of rivers or
  streams.  He could even cause the weather to change on any planet in
  a similar range.  The most difficult thing for Luke now is to turn
  off these powers at times of great stress or boredom.  Without
  thinking, he could cause the deaths of thousands of creatures and he
  is constantly aware of this.  Being a Jedi is a very grave
  responsibility and now his thoughts are filled with the fact that
  he would have to hand over this responsibility to thousands of his
  friends if they are to be victorious over the Empire.

  There is too much power, too many weapons, too many resources for
  the Empire to call on in this galaxy.  The Emperor has literally
  billions of planets and stars to call upon for labor, material,
  fighting men.  The rebels have only a few planets who had the nerve
  or the determination to stand up to such power.  The current Emperor
  and his grandfather have made so many examples of the rebellious
  planets and destroyed so many beautiful places in the galaxies, that
  it was getting harder and harder to convince the leadership of a
  planet to attempt to break away from the Empire.  The Empire's
  military power is so vast and so resourceful that most planetary
  systems are still frightened to death of the outcome of declaring
  independence.

  As a shining example, there will always be the beautiful and very
  peace-loving planet of Gondora, for example.  The people there were
  among the most loving and friendly in the universe, in fact, they
  were so friendly that tourists flocked here on pilgrimages from all
  parts of the galaxy to renew their Human or non-Human spirits.  On
  Gondora, it was said, a man or a woman could live in total harmony
  with Nature for as long as he wished.  So evolved were the
  Gondorans, they had no need for laws or policemen or fences or
  jails.  The Gondorans were not politically oriented, either.  When
  the Emperor's henchmen showed up on the planet, they welcomed them
  as they would any other strangers.  At first, they were so much at
  home here, the Emperor's men did not know what to do with them.

  Then they began to systematically rape and kidnap the Gondoran
  women, considered the most beautiful in the galaxy by many.  The
  Gondorans began to protest and the protesters were executed.  When
  there were no Gondorans over the age of twenty years, the youth
  began a non-violent protest and refused to co-operate with the
  Empire in any way.  They even managed to kill a few of the Empire's
  soldiers.  That's when the Emperor decided that he had no more use
  for the beautiful planet and it was destroyed by the fourth Death
  Star just before the Rebel Alliance could find and destroy it.  Luke
  lost many of his best friends at this battle.

  Sometimes it seemed as though the war would never end, that they
  would be struggling for freedom, running away, evading the evil
  forces of the Emperor forever.  Luke could feel himself become
  discouraged at times when his thoughts turned this way.  He would
  catch himself and put the negative hopelessness out of his mind
  because he knew where this would lead.  He had to be constantly in
  the state of mind that was open and free even if millions of others
  could not be.  Only in this state of mind, could he battle the evil
  force of the 'Dark Side' which the Emperor radiated in all
  directions at all times.  As long as he kept his mind clear and
  free of the negative energies, he was safe from the constant drain
  from the Emperor's mind.

  As his invisible ship sped along on its fourty-five day journey back
  to base, Luke begins to feel something else.  He knew that Leia and
  Han were having difficulty of some sort, but he couldn't tell what
  it was from here.  They were safe.  It wasn't anything serious, but
  there was a persistent nagging in the back of Luke's mind whenever
  he thought about Han and Leia.  Their marriage had seemed perfect at
  the time, ten years ago.  But now, with their two children running
  around constantly demanding their father's attention, things were
  not always perfect.  Han was not exactly an ideal father, but he
  tried very hard.  Leia was a good mother, but the demands on her
  from the rebel alliance, in which she still played a key role, often
  times made her feel as if she were neglecting her children.

  Luke could sense that the difficulty that Lando was feeling was
  coming from these domestic problems.  But the domestic problems could
  be originating from something, or somewhere else.  It was entirely
  possible that the Emperor was exerting some kind of influence on
  the two people he hated and feared the most.  If Leia and Han could
  survive all the torment and terror that he and his grandfather has
  sent against them, then it was quite possible that they could never
  be defeated by any forces in the Emperor's power.  This is what the
  Emperor feared the most.  Luke could see it all in his own mind.
  The Emperor's grasp of the 'Dark Side' was so overwhelming that
  anything outside of his grasp represented a threat that ate away at
  the very foundations of his whole being.  Han and Leia were the
  special target of this fear and paranoia.  The Emperor would hold
  Luke in a very special place in his mind and would want to divide
  and conquer.  This meant that all Luke's friends were in terrible
  danger.

  Luke pondered all these things and he realized just hours before
  reaching the rebel base that something truly stunning would have to
  take place to defeat the evil now spread all over the galaxy.  He
  felt the wonderful victory that Lando had won at the rendezvous near
  the frontier.  Luke never had the time to give Lando anything more
  than the briefest of lessons regarding the 'Force', and yet he
  seemed to have surpassed Luke's wildest dreams already.  Imagine
  what could be done when Lando had full working knowledge of the
  power of the 'Force', he thought to himself.

  Then it hit him!  And it was the thinking power of the ship that
  finally made him see the answer.  Suddenly, he could imagine a
  thousand Lando's, no, ten thousand, and someday millions of Jedi
  warriors all over the galaxy, ready and totally prepared to take on
  all the little evils and then perhaps even the greatest evil of all
  time, the Empire itself.  He could see now that he cannot possibly
  do it alone.  He had known for a long time that there would have to
  be others trained to fight as he himself now understood fighting.
  The thought had not occurred to him that this knowledge could be
  passed on in such a mass undertaking.  Not until this moment, did he
  even conceive of such a task.

  But now, when the Emperor was gathering all the powers of evil to do
  more evil in the galaxy, Luke knew that he would have to share his
  knowledge with others, lots of others. He would have to find a way
  to single out the best of the best.  He would have to devise tests
  of all kinds, like in the ancient fairy tales, to weed out the
  unworthy.  He would have to find a way to teach something that
  previously could only be handed down genetically.  He would have to
  find the Human engram, the genetic building block of the power he
  had so that it could be replicated over and over again.

  But where to begin?  It always amazed Luke at how clearly he could
  think when he was in Space on some kind of long term mission.
  Surrounded by the radiation from the stars, he really felt himself.
  It was a lonely sensation, and yet it fascinated him at how
  satisfying it was to be so completely alone and yet not feel any
  suffering.  Whenever he drifted through Space/Time, he felt closer
  to the Almighty Spirit, as he had learned to call it.  It was as if
  the stars were final proof of the hand of a Creator.  There was
  always so much distance and so little time and whenever he arrived
  at his destination, it was always so anti-climactic.

  The planets were all so beautiful when approaching from space.  Tiny
  oases in a vast ocean of complete and total silence, they pulled at
  him, called out to him, guided his ship, always closer, closer,
  never repelling him, like a mother duck with her ducklings.  From
  the ridiculously small to the sublimely infinite.  It was all the
  same from the perspective of the 'Force'.  Glue it all together.
  Bring forth all kinds of creatures.  Give them all a beginning, a
  middle, and an end.  The force of gravity owed its existence to this
  eternal glue, as did Nuclear power, magnetic travel, even the warmth
  of sunlight on your face.  It was all part of the same glue.  It was
  all a procession of mother duck and her little ducklings, evolving
  in space.

  The 'Force' seemed to be screaming at him constantly, but he was not
  equipped with the sensors to hear it and yet he knew it was there.
  It kept his heart beating.  It made the rain fall and the sky to
  contain it again as it evaporated having quenched a million thirsts.
  It made him cling to warm things.  It gave him his thoughts.  His
  consciousness was part of something much larger.  The Jedi tests he
  would administer must be good enough to attract the good while
  rejecting the evil in men.  He would have to play God, in a way.  He
  would have to try and be as clever, and even on such a small scale,
  he knew it would not be easy.

  He knew also that it would come to him in good time.  Everything
  that had happened to him so far in life was totally unexpected.  He
  never actually planned anything.  There was no way he could have
  ever predicted the events in his life, as wonderful as they were.
  Therefore, he would let the future take its course.  All he had to
  do, was allow the 'Force' to deal him the hand that was meant for
  him in his current game.  There would be many other games and they
  were all a learning experience, an elimination round before some
  great championship match.  All he had to do was to act like a
  champion and the cards of a champion would be dealt him.  It was all
  a matter of attracting the right while repelling the wrong.  This
  was the whole secret of Luke's success.


arriving

  Han & Leia are seated in a general briefing room.  General Yamamoto
  is expected to give a briefing on the recent battle at Zendor, as it
  is now called, in which Lando was able to rescue thousands of new
  rebel recruits to their cause.  The meeting room is filled with
  people in Rebel Command and the air is electrified with the buzzing
  and clicking and whispering and muttering in several dozen different
  languages, all of them speculating on what happened and how it
  happened.  They are all very pleased at the general tone of the
  information and are anxiously waiting the official word from their
  Commander of Intelligence Operations.

  Han and Leia are encircled by curious faces, since everyone knows
  that Lando is their closest friend.

        "The rumors are that the Imperial fleet had them all
        surrounded and that they were being systematically destroyed
        until Lando showed up.  Does he have this new secret weapon
        we've been hearing about?"  They were all muttering the same
        question in various forms.

        "I don't know any more than you do, let me assure you.  What I
        can tell you is that Lando is not flying any secret weapon.
        At least not unless you call the Millennium Falcon a secret
        weapon.  Flown by a good pilot, you might consider it as
        such,"  Han was obviously proud of the deeds of his friend
        Lando, as well as proud of his old ship.

  General Yamamoto calls the briefing to begin.  He motions for the
  lights to dim and soon a 3-D projection of the star system in which
  the recent battle took place is projected over the heads of the
  spectators.  He stands up on a small platform in the center of the
  room and gestures to the image of stars and ships flying around in
  miniature seemingly right in the room with them. Their own ships
  appear as tiny red and blue dots of light against the white star
  patterns.  The Imperial cruisers are much brighter and apparently
  slower.  It is very difficult to work out the meaning of all these
  'thousand points of light', but to the trained eyes of the men and
  women in the room, the battle is an awesome one in which it appears
  the Empire has achieved total surprise and superiority of weapons.
  It should have been a huge disaster and everyone in the room knows
  it.

        "Here, you see what we were up against.  There was obviously a
        leak regarding the rendezvous point and they were waiting for
        us to gather.  Computer has analyzed the action throughout the
        battle and it appears the Empire has a new kind of sonic beam,
        It literally tears apart any kind of magnetic shield and then
        renders our ships vulnerable to even a level two blaster,"
        the General begins.

  The air above their heads is filled with tiny dots in space flitting
  about the room like so many fire flies.  Everywhere the image is
  ablaze with pinpoint explosions representing another rebel ship
  destroyed.

        "Now, as you can see, the situation is desperate, but if you
        look closely at this section, you'll see General Calrissian's
        ship arriving in this sector.  He delays for a few moments and
        then attacks this group of Star Cruisers," The briefing
        continues with General Yamamoto gesturing to a cluster of tiny
        lights in the lower portion of the battle towards the front of
        the room.

        He continues. "As you will see, General Calrissian must have
        believed that his situation was desperate even though he could
        have turned and run away before they spotted him.  Instead, he
        flies directly into the bows of this cruiser group.  Instead
        of being destroyed instantly, he somehow confuses them and
        gets past their weapons.  Then, in a moment, you will see
        what's left of the rebel fleet following along behind General
        Calrissian in an organized retreat.  As you can see, none of
        the Imperial ships are able to maneuver.  We have had it
        confirmed that the Empire suddenly lost all communications and
        control. And the source of their problems seems to have
        originated on General Calrissian's ship."

  All heads in the room turn in the direction of Han and Leia who
  merely look back at them blankly and shrug their shoulders.  They
  have nothing to say.

        "General Calrissian must have found something out in the
        frontier besides fresh recruits.  Our analysis suggests that
        he found some kind of jamming device which was tuned to the
        frequencies used by the Empire to control their fleet.  If
        this is true, then they will learn how to make adjustments.
        We feel that this was a once-in-a-lifetime event,"  General
        Yamamoto says, looking at Han and Leia.

  Finally, Han speaks up.

        "Yes, well, I know this looks like a typical Lando maneuver,
        but there's something else going on here.  We've been in touch
        with Lando several times throughout his mission and he's never
        mentioned finding anything like this.  I think he would have
        told us.  Besides, he was very busy recruiting all these
        new grunts.  I don't think he would have been able to keep
        it a secret from us,"  says Han.

        "Han, there was that last message about some personal business
        just before he left, maybe that's what he was trying to tell
        us,"  Leia interjects.

        "No, I doubt it.  Personal business to Lando could only mean a
        woman or a card game,"  Han replies.

        "How right you are, 'ol buddy!

  Lando casually saunters into the room.

        "Lando, you old son of a sea cow!  We've just been discussing
        your recent victory out there.  Intelligence has it that you
        found some kind of secret weapon.  Well, now, we can get it
        from the horse's mouth, so to speak,"  Han says, shaking
        Lando's hand and maneuvering his old friend to the center
        stage.

        "Well, yes, I did find a secret weapon.  But it's not the kind
        of secret weapon that you've been speculating about.  It's the
        kind of secret weapon that Luke Skywalker can give you, any of
        you,"  Lando, takes a long pause to add emphasis to his words.

  Han and Leia look at each other with a simultaneous recognition of
  what Lando is talking about.

        "I simply used the 'Force'.  Luke and I have been working on a
        plan to give it to all our pilots and soldiers.  This mission
        of mine was a kind of test run.  Judging by the looks on your
        faces, it was a very successful test run at that!"  he says
        and then sits down next to his friend Han who merely stares at
        him gleefully.

        "And I've been on a test run of my own,"  Luke enters the room
        and all seated in the room jump to their feet and give Luke and
        Lando a Hero's welcome.

*


'the appearance'


        The celebration is cut short when suddenly a vague blue image
        begins to appear in the middle of the room where the
        visi-screen battle had been projected.  It grew in size and in
        clarity until a great gasping noise could be heard from all
        participants.  It was a very much unexpected and unwanted
        visit from their most hated and hateful enemy.  There in front
        of them, standing with arms on his hips, in a black robe, was
        the Emperor, the grandson of the old Emperor whom all gathered
        thought would be the last Emperor.

        "Well, I see all my friends have gathered together to plan
        your best shot at the Empire.  Well, I didn't want to spoil
        your fun.  I merely wanted to tell you how lucky you all are
        to be the guinea pigs for a new experiment of mine!"

  The Emperor, a much better looking man than his grandfather, almost
  seems like a country squire.  He's polished, clean, genteel, with
  the sculptured features of a great philosopher.  His demeanor is
  also very different from his grandfather.  He does not lose his
  composure.  He never gives off the sense that he is inherently evil.
  His eyes are those of a great and kind man.  His words are measured
  and his tone is assuring.  He puts out an almost hypnotic colloquy.
  Everyone in the room is put at ease but his words, everyone, that
  is, except Luke who watches the reaction of his friends to this
  invasion with great alarm.

        "Ah, my old friend Luke Skywalker.  How are things with you.
        Even though you killed my grandfather, I want you to know that
        I hold no personal animosity towards you.  You were only doing
        what you thought was right, at the time.  The offer, I'm going
        to make applies to you as well as the others,"  the emperor
        continues.

        "Don't listen to him!  It's a trick,"  Luke warns them.

        "It's no trick I assure you.  I merely wish to offer you all
        complete amnesty if you abandon your present rebellion and
        join my forces who are nearby and waiting for you answer.  I
        promise you all that you will be treated fairly and with time,
        you will even be given a command of your own,"  the Emperor
        seems rather pleased with himself.

        "And if we refuse?"  asks Luke.

        "If you refuse, you will be destroyed, and very quickly.  You
        see, I followed your thoughts to this place, Luke.  You gave
        your friends away.  Your best and most trusted warrior is no
        match for my command of the 'Force'.  Oh, you thought you had
        a great victory at Zendor.  But I was there too, and so I
        followed your great Hero, Lando, to your rendezvous point and
        then from there I picked up Luke's thoughts and traced you the
        rest of the way out here.  Oh, this is a beautiful planet, is
        it not.  It would be such a shame to turn it into a cinder!
        says the Emperor with complete confidence.

  Luke can feel the hatred rising up inside him.  He fights it with
  every ounce of the 'Force' at his command.  He knows that this
  moment will probably be his greatest battle, fighting his own
  emotions, and those of his opponents standing in front of him and
  not a battle with sword and laser or ships.

        "You don't know anything about the 'Force'!  Your very use of
        the word is an insult, a disgrace to the intelligence in the
        'Force'.  If you're not careful about how you talk, how you
        behave, you will be punished for it, in due course,"  Luke
        taunts.

        "Oh, you think not?  Then, let me demonstrate my powers,"  the
        Emperor replies, almost politely.

  Luke can feel his throat tightening.  Then, finding it difficult to
  breathe, he looks around and sees that everyone in the room is
  having the same problem.  He never realized that the power of the
  Dark Side could be so strong, could travel over such distances.
  There was no way he could be within a million light years of this
  place and yet he was exerting a force on their windpipes as if he
  were in the same room with several dozen pairs of very strong hands.

  Luke began to feel faint.  A few of the others had already collapsed
  either out of fear or total suffocation.  He pulled at his brain
  with some inner sense of survival he could always feel when he was
  in deepest trouble.  He saw himself falling into a very deep well
  and he reached upward for a hand that came out of nowhere.  He had
  to stop himself from falling and reach out for the others who were
  falling with him.  He wrapped his mind around each of them and then
  grabbed for the hand at the same time.  Then he exerted all his
  mental strength on holding onto the hand and letting it pull him
  out of the well.

  Soon, all were breathing easier and coming back to life.  Luke
  stands up and faces the Emperor.

        "You see your powers are not so strong after all," he says.

        "Oh, but they are Luke Skywalker.  It was my hand you reached
        for.  I let you all live because I have a use for you.  I
        could just as easily kill you all where you stand, but it was
        I who reached down to you and pulled you up.  I only wanted to
        demonstrate my powers.  What good is a demonstration if you
        are all dead?"  the Emperor seems very pleased with himself,
        almost kindly toward them.

  A few of the lesser wills in the room, were almost totally convinced
  by the Emperor's statement.  They were ready to join him because he
  seemed such a kindly gentlemen.  Why were they going around the
  galaxy trying to overthrow this great man?

        "And I tell you that we will never obey you.  We will never
        surrender to you.  We have no intention to stop taking your
        Empire apart,"  Luke replies.  "You might kill us all someday,
        but there will always be others to follow and millions more to
        follow them."

        "Why do you want to destroy everything that has taken so many
        centuries to build?  Are you all mad with the thought of
        destruction?"  The Emperor's kindly act continues.

        "You and your Empire is evil.  That's the only reason we
        oppose it.  Your little demonstration here proves it, that is
        if we needed more proof.  If your Empire was based on Freedom
        and democratic ideals, letting people rule themselves, then we
        would be in the vanguard of your army.  But it isn't, and it
        never will be, and so we who love freedom must oppose you and
        we will oppose you with all the power of the 'Force'.  And I
        warn you, you still know nothing of the 'Force'.  What you
        control is destructive powers.  These are no match for the
        glue that holds the universe together.  Deep down, you know
        I'm right and this makes you afraid,"  Luke scolds him.

  For the first time, Luke can feel the Emperor losing control.

        "You are such insignificant little nothings!"  The Emperor is
        like a controlled nuclear explosion.  Then, he catches himself
        and reverts to form.

        "I give you just one hour to decide whether you wish to
        continue your lives within the good graces of my Empire, or if
        you would like to die, in the arms of this 'Force' of yours.
        If you like it so much, you can be united with it, forever!
        You have one hour to decide, then I will send my fleet.  You
        will either join them or be destroyed by them,"  the Emperor
        warns them and raising his arm in the air, disappears with a
        loud 'snap'.

  Luke looks to Han and Leia first.  Han looks concerned but resolute
  and disdainful as ever.  Leia, however, appears truly distraught.
  She returns his gaze with a very frightened look on her face.  She
  has children to think about now.  Luke can feel her maternal
  instincts acting to protect her offspring.  Neither of them has to
  say anything to each other.  Luke smiles in recognition of her fear
  and she somehow finds a smile within to return to him.

        "All right.  I know that this was unexpected.  We must begin
        an evacuation, and then ..."  he's cut off in the middle
        of his sentence by someone in the back of the room.

        "Why don't we take his offer?"  the voice asks what they're
        all thinking.

        "You know the answer to that.  It's not a real offer.  He'll
        just use us to learn everything he wants to know and then
        he'll have no further use for us.  You know this.  Look, I
        realize his powers of persuasion are very great, but that's
        all they are.  He's evil.  He intends to get what whatever he
        can out of us for his own purposes.  The only reason he came
        here was to stall for time.  His fleet hasn't arrived yet, and
        he figures if he can get us to delay just long enough he'll
        have us.  Snap out of it, all of you.  You know the tactics
        they use.  The Emperor has never been able to tell the truth,
        and that is the truth!"  Luke was beginning to lose control
        again.  So, he pauses to get it back again.

        "That is the truth.  You know Luke is right,"  Lando was
        talking straight to them.

        "We're all wasting time.  Of course, Luke's right.  He's cast
        some kind of spell on us and we're standing around debating
        and it's taking time away from the only real choice we have
        now."  This time it is Han's turn to speak.

        "Begin the Evacuation procedure,"  General Yamamoto finds
        himself coming to see more clearly suddenly.

  The crowd disperses groggily at first and then gradually the area
  is filled with the blur of soldiers making plans for a quick
  getaway they had practiced many times in the past.



evacuation

  As they leave the beautiful blue planet below them, the darkness of
  space is suddenly ablaze with Imperial cruisers and Tie-fighters.
  They have just gotten their people off the ground when the Emperor's
  fleet arrives and they seem to be totally prepared to take the Rebel
  ships apart, one by one.

  Lando has volunteered to fly the point because of the greater
  maneuverability and fire power of the Millennium Falcon.  Chewie is
  very busy at the controls while Lando tries to beat off an attack
  of Tie-fighters with the Laser Cannon.

        "Chewie, give me a flight path into that group of Cruisers,"
        Lando yells.

  Obeying frantically, Chewie brings the ship into a tight spin to
  avoid the Tie-fighters on his tail and give Lando the trajectory he
  wants to fire on a group of about ten Star Cruisers leading the
  Emperor's attack.

  Lando fires all his ship's complement of lasers at once.  He figures
  it will be the last thing he ever does and he wants to take out as
  many of these enemy ships as he can before they blast him and Chewie
  into oblivion.

  His lasers tear a black jagged hole in the bow of the first ship.
  The Cruiser cannot fire back and turns to leave the scene.  The next
  ship in the path of the Falcon gets several dozen laser blasts off
  before Lando's second pattern hits it perfectly in the bow and the
  entire front section of the Cruiser goes up in a magnificent
  fireworks display.  The Cruiser immediately to the starboard of this
  one, shoots another pattern of lasers at the Falcon.  The first
  group is deflected away harmlessly by the Falcon's shields. Then
  there is a sonic blast from a ship to Lando's starboard and below.
  He and Chewie are thrown all over the cockpit.  They look at their
  instruments and they both realize simultaneously that their shields
  are gone.  The next laser blast will take them into another
  dimension... forever.

        "Lando, give me a vector 80 by 15,"  Luke's voice comes over
        their intercom.  Lando takes control of the ship before Chewie
        can react and they fly off in a vector that will put them out
        of danger.

  They look up and back at their flight path and they check their
  instruments.  There is nothing to indicate where Luke is.  But, one
  by one, the Imperial Cruisers, closing in for the kill, are being
  invaded by some unseen force.  One by one, they simply and quietly
  give up the chase and veer off like ghost ships in the night.  They
  can only guess at the kind of things that are happening on board the
  Imperial ships.

        "Luke, if you can hear me, thanks,"  Lando says through his
        com-link when all the destroyers are seen wandering aimlessly
        in Space.

        "I'm right here, Lando,"  Luke replies.  He releases his
        canopy screen and Lando and Chewie can see Luke's face
        hovering just a few yards to in front and above.  The rest of
        his ship is still cloaked and therefore invisible.

        "Lando, get Han and organize a team to go and recover the
        Imperial ships in this sector.  I have some more work to do
        and I'll see you at the rendezvous,"  Luke says, waves and
        then disappears.

  Lando does as instructed.  He and Han have the very enjoyable chore
  of taking a boarding party to each of the Imperial cruisers that
  Luke has rendered harmless.  Their crews are sitting in a fetal
  position, deathly afraid of some unseen threat.  No one is at the
  controls.  Nothing is happening, except that their ships are easily
  boarded, every single one.  There are hundreds of them drifting
  aimlessly in Space, victim to Luke's new secret weapon.

        "Han, this is incredible.  They're helpless, but there's
        nothing physically wrong with them,"  Lando reports to Han on
        another ship nearby,.

        "I agree.  It seems Luke has really become a Jedi.  They used
        to talk about things like this back in school.  I always
        thought it was a fairy tale.  Something like that's happened
        here.  Can you figure it out?"  asks Han.

        "Yes, I think I can, Han,"  Lando calls back to Han's Cruiser.
        "Luke has truly become a Jedi.  He has a power that we can
        only guess at, but we can use it too.  He gave it to me at the
        battle of Zendor.  We were desperate, and he knew about it
        somehow and lent me his powers.  I know that now.  It's a kind
        of accounting system.  Luke has it all in balance.  I don't
        know how I know that, but I do."

        "Boy, that's a pretty strange assessment, but judging by what
        I see here, I would believe anything,"  says Han.

  Everywhere Han and Threepio go in the cruisers, they see the same
  thing, Imperial soldiers curled up in little balls.  They cringe if
  anyone comes near them.  They seem to be talking baby talk.  They've
  completely reverted to an earlier stage in their development, a
  stage that appears to be the stage that all Humans go through in the
  womb.  Many of them are sucking their thumbs.  Most appear as though
  they are in a state of total brain drain.  Han tries to rouse
  several of them, but they simply cannot respond.

        "Say, Lando, how long do you think this condition will persist
        for these poor bastards?"  Han asks.

        "I don't know," replies Lando.  "Seems like it's permanent to
        me."

        "God, I hope we don't have to take care of them that long,"
        says Han.

        "I don't think that will be necessary,"  replies Lando.

  Lando has noticed that they are regressing even beyond the fetal
  state.  Their bodies are actually getting smaller and smaller.
  Soon, Han and Chewie and even Threepio remarks that the Imperial
  soldiers seem to be shrinking.

        "They're not long for this world, Han.  Do you see it?"  says
        Lando.

        "Oh yes, we see it."  This time Threepio chimes in.  "They
        appear to be in a reverse kind of existence.  Master Luke sent
        them back to where they came from."

        "Lando, did you hear that?"  asks Han.

        "Yes, I think Threepio is right.  He's reversed their life
        span somehow,"  Replies Lando

  Gradually, each Imperial soldier on board every Cruiser is rendered
  back to the original cell of his inception.  Then, this last cell
  breaks down into its constituent acids and proteins and is no more.
  Luke has performed some strange act of alchemy on these poor souls.
  Within a few moments, they are all gone and the ships are left
  perfectly intact to be used by their new masters, the Rebel
  Alliance.

        "Luke, how did you do this?"  says Han, back on his ship.

  But there's no response.  Luke is nowhere in the vicinity.  The
  Imperial fleet has been turned into a nursery.  There are still
  a few enemy soldiers crawling around the decks as infants would.
  Sometimes, they look at the Rebels with a curious quizzical look on
  their faces.  Apparently, without pain, they are just fade away.
  The Rebels take the Cruisers into their fleet and within a few days,
  they have a fleet of hundreds of Cruisers and thousands of
  Tie-Fighters.


  There is a great sense of relief and imminent victory all over the
  new Rebel base.  The planet is called 'Vitale 7'.  It's actually a
  group of planets revolving around a twin star system.  Like an
  archipelago on Earth, the planetary system is composed of hundreds
  of planets of similar size and composition.  Since there are two
  suns in their solar system, each revolving around the other, the
  planets undergo a fantastic set of seasonal changes.  The
  gravitational forces are so strong and so varied that the oceans of
  the planets rise and fall thousands of feet every solar 'semi-day'.
  A 'semi-day' is so-called because for a great portion of every year,
  each planet is deluged with sunlight from two suns.  This means that
  there is no dark side to the planet, therefore, no night, for half
  of their 'semi-year', or the period time it takes for each planet to
  revolve around one sun.

  To make it plainer, an orbit on a planet such as Earth's describes a
  nearly perfect circle, or an ellipse around the single gravitational
  source, the sun.  On binary star systems, however, such as the
  Vitale system, each planetary orbit describes a figure '8' because
  there are two opposing gravitational sources, and therefore one
  solar year is actually fused into two.

  This phenomenon is actually more common in the universe than the
  singular orbits experienced by planets like the Earth.  Twins suns
  account for more than half the star systems in the universe and so
  the seasonal changes experienced on Earth are nothing as compared to
  the dual seasons found on most other planets.  On 'Vitale 7', '8',
  '9' on through 'Vitale 79', this dual season effect has given rise
  to a kind of ecological balance that is very complex.  Half the
  animal population is in a kind of hibernation while the other half
  is in full activity.  The dual winters are extremely cold and the
  dual summers, extremely hot.

  The Rebels have chosen this spot for two reasons.  The Vitale
  system is very near the center of the galaxy where the Empire has
  its Imperial Headquarters and, because of its two suns, is very
  difficult to approach without detection.  But there is also another
  reason for their choosing this star system for what they hope will
  be their final exodus.  The Rebels believe that with half the
  Imperial fleet in their possession and with the secret weapon that
  Luke has now proven, they have the advantage and that the Emperor
  will soon be dealt a final blow.  They will use this location to
  demonstrate to other planetary systems that open rebellion will now
  go unpunished.

  Han, Leia, Lando, Threepio have gathered at a 'beach' on Vitale 7,
  now in the first of its two summers.  The beach on a planet with the
  highest tides in the galaxy is really more like a fjord.  The tides
  have carved out canyons much larger than any canyon seen on Earth
  and each day, the tide flows in and out of these canyons making for
  a highly exciting adventure sport.  The natives, when they go to the
  beach, bring their boats and life rafts and merely float along for
  hundreds of miles as the tide pushes them past some of the most
  glorious rock formations found anywhere.  Most of the cities are
  formed along these cliffs because the tourist trade flourishes here
  and the living is easy.

  But, for the Rebels, now calling this home, it is not all fun and
  games.  There is serious planning to do.  But with Luke having
  vanished completely, they don't know how long they should wait
  before launching their next campaign.  Leia is for waiting until
  Luke returns.  She knows that he's safe and that there is a very
  good reason for his disappearance, and so she assures the others.
  But Han and Lando want to launch their newly formed battle fleet at
  the heart of the Empire before they have a chance to regroup
  completely, thus take them by surprise.

        "Han, there wouldn't be any surprise.  Don't you think the
        Emperor knows that we have his ships and that the most logical
        thing to do is to use them right away?"  says Leia.

        "Yes, that could be true, but just because he knows we're
        coming doesn't necessarily mean that he would have any
        advantage.  Leia, we outnumber him now.  Don't you realize
        that?"  replies Han.

        "Yes, I do, but he is still extremely dangerous and sheer
        numbers mean nothing, especially if he's defending his home
        turf.  He has evil things planned for us that we can't even
        imagine,"  Leia retorts.

        "I think you're both right, but you're forgetting about Luke.
        Leia says he's still alive and intact.  That means he still
        has the Banta Ray and knowing Luke, he's trying to get us more
        of them,"  Lando chimes in.

        "Or preventing the Emperor from getting any!"  says Han, with
        a very serious look on his face they all understand.

        "Yes, if the Emperor found our source for that weapon, it
        would be all over for us in a heartbeat,"  Lando agrees.

        "That's why only Master Luke knows about this place!  Now, I
        understand,"  says Threepio.

        "Quiet, Threepio.  We don't even think about this and neither
        should you, got that?"  warns Han.

        "Oh, yes Master Han.  I do understand.  If the Emperor ever
        found out that these ships can only be made on Triton's moon,
        there would be hell to pay, indeed, sir,"  Threepio pipes.

  All three of the Rebellion's inner circle look at each other in
  total astonishment and concern.

        "Threepio, how do you know that Triton is the source of the
        Banta Ray's?"  asks Leia quietly.

        "Oh, Master Luke told me.  Wasn't I supposed to know?"  answers
        Threepio.

        "I don't know, Threepio.  Is he supposed to know?"  Leia asks
        the others.

        "He's never told any of us.  Why would he tell this old bucket
        of bolts?"  replies Han, gesturing to Threepio.

        "I beg your pardon, sir?"  Threepio is indignant.

        "Quiet, Threepio,"  says Leia.  "Threepio, you must never
        repeat this piece of knowledge to anyone.  You must never even
        think about it again, and if you can erase it from your
        memory, you would be very wise to do so, right now."

        "Yes, Mistress Leia,"  says Threepio.  Suddenly, there's a
        very subtle difference in Threepio's posture.  His eyes dim
        just a bit. He turns to watch the rock ledges rolling past
        their small boat and then turns back to the group.

        "What were we discussing?"  Threepio asks them.

  They look at each other and without discussing it any further, each
  tries to assess the ramifications of what has just happened.

        "Do you think the Emperor knows?"  Lando finally breaks their
        silence with the question they are all considering.

        "I don't know, but I do know that we have to act is if he does
        know,"  says Han.

        "I agree,"  says Leia.

  They are all agreed, but none of them knows what this means, just
  yet.


EXILE

  Luke wakes up from his sleep with very heavy eyes.  R2 is standing
  next to his bed and, following orders, is waking his master with a
  cooing sound which perfectly imitates the black doves of Altara.  It
  is the most beautiful sound Luke has ever heard in his many travels
  in the galaxy and he's trained R2 to use this sound to wake him
  gently each morning as they travel through empty space.

  When arising in Space, Luke always clears his head by placing a tape
  of his favorite music in his deck.  It's a luxury he made certain
  his ship would have installed before he began this mission since he
  knew that he might be alone for very extended periods of time.  He
  stumbles over to the small closet of a bathroom and takes a very
  quick sonic shower.  When he is finished, he takes a clean uniform
  from the laundry cylinder and puts it on.  Then, he opens one of the
  starboard ports and stares out at the stars drifting slowly and
  ponderously past.

        "Well, R2, it looks like another great day in space,"  he
        says, not expecting a reply.

        R2 is programmed to always reply even if it's only friendly
        nonsense.  He chirps out something about space being warped
        and several other theories of the Cosmos with which he's
        familiar, much to the dismay of Luke.

        "R2, I wasn't really expecting a lecture on the nature of the
        universe.  You're a great companion, R2, don't get me wrong.
        I just think that it's about time you learned when to reply
        and when not to.  Do you think you can do that?"  Luke asks
        his electronic friend.

        R2 says nothing, but turns his dome-shaped head toward the
        port to get a fix on where they are.  Then, he asks Luke if
        there is anything wrong.

        "No, there's nothing wrong, R2.  I'm out here because the
        Emperor can read my thoughts now.  If I rendezvous with the
        others, he'll know even before we get there, where they are,
        and it would be extremely dangerous for them.  So, I've
        decided to stay out here until I'm needed again.  I know Han
        and Lando and Leia can run things just fine without me, at
        least for the present.

        R2 chirps out a query about how he will know when he's
        needed.

        "I'll know, R2.  Don't worry, I'll know,"  He replies.

        R2 asks again, how he will know.

        "I'll just know.  You couldn't understand how I will know, R2.
        I'm sorry, but that's just the way it is.  That's the
        difference between us, old friend,"  Luke tells him.

        R2 chirps out his version of 'why don't you try me?'

  Luke turns away from the viewport to look at R2 directly.  There's
  something different about him.  He's been through so much, Luke
  thinks to himself, he now believes he's Human.

        "I would, R2, but what I have is impossible to translate to a
        machine like you, R2.  I'm sorry about that.  I really wish I
        could tell you about the 'Force'.  I know that I could trust
        you, somehow,"  says Luke.

        "You can trust him, Luke,"  a voice says.

        "Ben?  Ben, is that you?"  Luke can feel Obi-wan's presence in
        his ship.

        "Yes, Luke."  Ben Kenobi greets Luke as his image appears in
        the middle of the small ship.

        "Ben, I'm so glad to see you,"  Luke's greeting is warm and
        enthusiastic as well as affectionate.

        "I know, Luke, it's terribly lonely out here for you, isn't
        it?"  asks Ben.

        "Yes, it is.  I miss Leia and Han and Lando and all the
        others,"  He replies.

        "Well, your exile was very well advised, Luke.  The Emperor
        can indeed track your thoughts and read them no matter where
        you are.  But it's just about over now,"  says Ben.

  Luke beams with pleasure.

        "You're sure?  But how? Why?" asks Luke.

        "Because you've just stumbled on the solution, R2 can deliver
        the Jedi training to your friends and the Emperor can never
        read his thoughts because he won't have any,"  says Ben.

        "Yes, Ben, I see.  It's possible,"  says Luke, looking down at
        R2, standing patiently beside him and rocking back and forth
        as he usually does when he's 'excited'.

        "But in order to hold the knowledge, he will have to 'know'
        about it, won't he Ben?"  Luke asks.

        "Yes, but he is capable of shielding them by working on a
        series of navigational problems we will give him.  We'll loop
        it all so that, to the Emperor, R2 will seem like just another
        mechanical brain guiding a freighter somewhere.  There are
        literally billions of these in the Cosmos.  There's no way he
        will be able to tell the difference, that is, as long as R2
        can be programmed to continue this charade until instructed
        otherwise,"  says Ben.

        "Yes, I can do that,"  Luke replies.  "We've done similar
        things many times before, haven't we, old buddy?"

        R2 beeps a positive response.

        "This is great news, Ben!  When do we get started?" Luke asks.

        "There's no time like the present.  I'll even stay and help
        you, if you'd like."  says Ben.

        "If I'd like?  If I'd like?  Of course I'd like!"  Luke
        replies, bursting over with pleasure, ecstatic at the prospect
        of sharing his knowledge of the 'Force' with his old friend
        and mentor.

  Luke shuts the observation port and they both turn to R2 to begin
  his first lesson.

        R2 whistles his acceptance of the situation with a long,
        almost mournful whistle.




|END OF PART ONE


  we begin part II with a visit to the Emperor's palace, dark
  foreboding on a cliff on a planet way off the beaten path.

  thge emperor figures out where luke is and sends black holes of
  anti-grav at him, but luke shields the ship from it.  they have an
  interesting discussion about the energies confronting them.

  then there's a battle with a fleet of warriors of insect men that
  the emperor uses as his elite guard.

  luke defeats them and then converts them to his cause.



  Unfortunately, being that we live in a free enterprise system, we
  cannot afford to give you this entire book for the piddling price
  that you paid for this introduction.  There is a $10.00 fee to read
  the rest of this Star Wars saga.
  Sorry to leave you hanging here, but believe me the second half of
  this book is well worth it, and you will be contributing to the
  cause of someday bringing more books, if not all of them, to the
  computer screen.

  MAY THE FORCE BE WITH YOU!

  The publishers.

  Catalog entry:

  STAR WARS - The Jedi Storm.  Part II   by Michael Mathiesen

  This is the rest of the exciting story you are reading now.
  Unfortunately our books are distributed without any of the sales
  coming to the authors.  By buying the complete version from us, we
  can reward the authors and they can afford to write more wonderful
  adventures for you.

  The most exciting part of this story is yet to come.  Luke is going
  to be faced with some very serious challenges to his knowledge of
  the 'Force'.  He is going to have to make some very difficult
  choices, but in doing so, he will bring the knowledge of the 'Force'
  to everyone, including you.  This book is written by a man who is so
  involved with the New Quantum Physics, that everything portrayed in
  this book can happen in the very near future.  You will find out
  that the 'Force' is real.  It is the glue that holds everything
  together in the universe.  Modern physicists are now finding that
  this is actually the truth!

  They say that truth is stranger than fiction, and in this book, you
  will learn that there is very little difference today.  After
  reading this book, we promise that you will not only feel very
  entertained, you will also feel very highly educated in the ways of
  the universe.  Some of you will use this for very special purposes,
  and others may use it for the 'Dark Side' of life.  Which way will
  you go?  Order this complete book and find out.

  Now, a battle looms ahead that will either destroy the Empire once
  and for all, or it will set the Rebel Forces back for many
  centuries.  This battle will require all the strength and skill of
  the Rebels and it will take the next great leap in faith by Luke to
  bring his powers to bear on the Empire without flirting with the
  'Dark side' of 'The Force'.  Does Life imitate Art?  You will be the
  judge!  Are you a Rebel or are you part of the oppressive Empire?

END PART ONE