Current mood:	accomplished
Current music:	Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith soundtrack

A long, time ago in a galaxy far ar away

Not to long ago, in a living room not so far far away...

Several friends got together and played a wonderful and exciting Star Wars D20 game. After the game's epic conclusion I began considering something, 'why not turn this story into something everyone could share'. So the Impetus was founded and now (almost 4 years later) the first Chapter of Star Wars: Rebirth is finished. It is my hope to have a new chapter every week unti lthe entire 'trilogy' is finished. This is the beggingin chapter of the first book 'A Light Rekindled'. Those who played in the game may not recognize many of the events as they actually happened, but I took a little creative license to make the story more readable. Think of it as a 'Special Edition' (I honestly did intened to have Imperial Walkers in the First Game, I just didn't have the budget, but Drogo still shoots first :P)…

 

Chapter I

               An Imperator-class Star Destroyer entered low orbit over the glistening blue-green jewel of the planet Chandrila. As it approached a landing craft dropped from the main hanger bay and descended quickly through the atmosphere. Former Vice Senator Nicca Maile stood on the landing platform flanked by Imperial soldiers brandishing blaster rifles. His silvery protocol droid stood at his side. The Imperial officer in charge of the arrest had allowed the droid to come along after he had argued, at great length, that his master would need legal council. A high wind tussled Nicca’s almond colored hair, and then he noticed the distant sound of starship engines. His hazel eyes followed the decent of the Sentinel-class landing craft, and he nervously shifted his hands in the binders that had been placed around his wrists.

               “Don’t worry Master Nicca,” the protocol droid said, obviously noticing his master’s discomfort and nervousness, “All will be alright. We will straighten all this out after we see this so-called evidence linking you to the Rebellion.”

               Nicca smiled at the droid and looked at the soldiers to his sides, “Somehow, Threedee, I don’t think we are going to get the chance to tell our side.”

               The landing craft folded its wings and landed and Stormtroopers began filing out of the ships large loading door. One of the soldiers beside Nicca motioned for Nicca to move forward to board the ship, Threedee-eight tottled along after. Suddenly and out of nowhere a blaster rifle report was heard right before the bolt struck the commanding officer square in the chest sending him flying backwards and slumping lifelessly against the hull of the landing craft. A barrage of blaster fire soon followed, Nicca and Threedee quickly sought out cover behind one of the landing gear of the ship.

               “Threedee,” Nicca said, “Execute Mode 7.” With those words Threedee-eight stiffened as his photoreceptors went from the glowing yellowish-white to bright crimson, and from his forearms sprang hidden blasters.

               “Mode 7 activated.” He announced, his voice no longer the calm soothing patrician tone, but now a rough heavily digitized robotic sound.

               “Good, now get me out of theses damn things.” Nicca commanded as he rose up his binded hands. Threedee obeyed and made a single shot with one of his blasters knocking the binders off with a burst of sparks. Nicca wasted no time and grabbed the side arm of the dead Imperial officer and he and the droid began an attempt to catch the Imperials in crossfire. He finally caught sight of where the blaster fire had originated. A small repulsor skiff had pulled along side the platform. The skiff transported, what Nicca could only assume were Rebel agents. One in particular grabbed his attention. He was tall, taller than a normal human and was now rearing back his arm and quickly flung it forward. It suddenly occurred to Nicca what the figure was doing.

               “Threedee, get down!” No sooner had Nicca yelled out his alert than the explosion of a fragmentation grenade rocked the platform and sent Stormtroopers and Imperial soldiers flying into the air and spiraling downward to their death far below on the city streets.

               The blast had ignited several fuel tanks stored on the platform. From out of the fire a towering figure came soaring through and landed with a thud on the surface of the platform. As quickly as he landed he began firing his blaster rifle at the remaining troopers. Nicca finally got a good look at his savior. The being was a Feeorin, a hulking form with gray-blue mottled skin, red eyes and several tendrils extending from either side of his head. The Feeorin had caught sight of the Senator and bade a charge knocking over his opponents and throwing the few that stood in his way aside and off the edge of the platform. He ducked down and shared the cover of the landing crafts landing leg.

               “Senator Maile, I presume.” The massive being’s tone was harsh and rugged. Nicca nodded an affirmative as he took a pot shot at one of the few Imperial troopers remaining. The Feeorin took out a comlink from his utility belt.

               “Rona, get over here and tell the team to ditch the skiff and head back to the staging point and wait until things have cooled down.” The massive alien announced to the person on the other end.

               “What are we doing?” a youngish female voice inquired panicked over the com.

Drogo took in the Landing ship. “Were borrowing a ride and getting the Senator back to base.”

“Right boss.” the female voice replied still somewhat unsure.

               Threedee-eight took out the last of the trooper and Drogo smiled at the droid and the senator, “Hey, your metal man aint to bad a shot.”

               “Thanks,” Nicca said, “Threedee, deactivate Mode 7.” The droid promptly returned to his normal state seemingly surprised at the carnage surrounding him.

               “Oh, what happened?” the Droid asked seemingly very confused.

               Nicca couldn’t help but giggle, “I’ll tell you later.” With that the trio made there way into the ship. Drogo disposed of the two bodies at the top of the gangplank. Obviously the pilot and copilot had tried to get involved in the firefight, and had been hit with a lucky shot.

Drogo took the controls of the landing craft and began warming up the repulsors as Nicca and Threedee strapped themselves in. As the repulsors reached there peak, a young blue-green skinned Twi’lek girl hurried aboard. She was wearing a technician’s jumpsuit bristling with tools and a small blaster strapped to her side. Most uncommon for a Twi’lek female whom Nicca had only ever seen in scant revealing clothing. The girl bypassed Nicca and Threedee and settled into the Copilots seat next to Drogo.

“Planning on leaving without me?” the girl quipped as she flipped controls closing the gangplank as the ship slowly rose off the plat form.

Drogo laughed, “You, Rona, never.” The two smiled at each other. A signal beacon began to flash on the console.

“Uh-oh,” Rona said, “Looks like they managed to get a message through my comm jammers.” She flipped a few switches and analyzed a screen. “They’ve sent out a squad of fighters to try and cut us off.”

Drogo grimaced, “Well lets hope the Empire put more effort into the defenses of this thing than they did those blasted TIE fighters.” He punched the throttle controls and the ship sped away.

As the spatial horizon appeared in the cockpit window Drogo noticed the Star Destroyer was trying to move to cut off their escape vector as TIEs quickly approached them.

“Rona, angle the deflector shields,” he commanded as he began preparing for evasive maneuvers, “There going to try to keep us busy with TIEs while that Star Destroyer blocks our way.”

“What are you planning to do?” Nicca asked

Drogo smiled, “What I do best, plow through ‘em.” Nicca sat back with a somewhat distraught expression on his face, “Rona, give me laser control.” Drogo commanded.

The landing craft made a dead run for the six TIE fighters sent to confront it with it’s eight laser cannons blasting out a volley of glowing green bolts. As the ship sped through their occupied space two fighters went down in flames while the others made a break-away maneuver while trying to land a decent shot on the hull. The TIEs quickly regrouped their formation behind the ship and began their pursuit easily matching the ships speed.

“Damn!” Drogo swore, “This things not fast enough.”

As if Drogo had issued a command, Rona sprang from her seat and ran toward the aft of the ship. She quickly removed a panel and disappeared into an access hatch.

“What’s she doing?” Nicca asked taking her position at the copilot’s station and manning the sensors.

“What she does best.” Drogo said echoing his statement earlier.

“You should have a little more speed now!” Rona’s voice chimed in on the intraship comm. Drogo immediately punched the acceleration and the ship surpassed its top velocity. The TIEs were obviously taken by surprise as they were left behind. Rona rejoined them in the cockpit.

“We should be clear to start the navcomp calculations.” She said already doing so. She almost fell on top of Nicca, though, as a laser blast made a direct hit on the aft of the ship, followed by several others.

Drogo grimaced, “We have to do something to get these guys off our tail or we aren’t going to have the chance to even make a blind jump.” Another laser bolt rocked the ship as a bright red warning beacon began to flash on the consol, “Damn, were loosing our deflector shields!” Drogo announced.

Rona quickly checked the navigation computer readout, “Thirty seconds to jump.” She looked back at her sensor readout, “That Star Destroyer is almost in our exit vector.”

“Personally,” Nicca chimed in, “I’m a little more concerned about it getting its turbolasers in range.”

Drogo seemed to ignore the senator’s comment while he executed more evasive maneuvers. The sluggish landing ship dodged about the best it could avoiding the laser blasts from the remaining four TIE fighters.

“Rona, we can’t hold this up for much longer!” Drogo said in alarm.

“Blast it, Drogo,” the frustrated tech said, “I’m a Twi’lek not a Duro! I can’t do these things in my head!” she furiously keyed at the computer trying to see if she could get it to work any faster. Finally the hyperspace ready beacon sounded. “Let’s get out of here!”

One last laser blast hit the ship and sent sparks flying from on of the consoles before Drogo was able to activate the hyperdrive. The ship moved in a burst of psudomotion and then disappeared from realspace.

 

* * *

 

Above the gray, rocky planet known as Hadject the Star Destroyer Hunter hung in a high orbit. Its looming visage seemed to almost watch with overlordish might as the two smaller Victory-class ships launched landing ships toward the surface of the planet. A dark, cloaked young man watched out the transpara steel viewscreen of the main bridge. An Imperial officer clothed in the dark gray officers tunic worn by his majesties navy, briskly approached the dark figure.

“My lord, Inquisitor,” he reported, “The pursuit line and Strike Cruisers Conquest and Domination have set up the perimeter, while Venator-cuisers Victorious and Guile stand by for close support.”

The man didn’t turn to regard the officer but nodded as he continued to watch the last of the landing vessels disappear into the planets atmosphere, “Excellent, Admiral.” His tone was even, calm, and even a bit pleasant, “How goes the site setup?”

“Well, my lord, ahead of schedule in fact.” Admiral Hashi said proudly, “We should be able to begin with the operation in about two hours.”

The tall dark figure turned to face the admiral and smiled. He was very handsome, with dark hair and piercing blue eyes. His skin was fair as that of someone who spent most of their time in false light. His manner was gracious and brought a sense of calm to those around him. Hashi, however, always remained rigid, for he knew it was a façade. Beneath his calm friendly demeanor lay a calculating, dark and sinister mind. It was the way of the Imperial Inquisitors, and Lord Tovin was no different.

The order of Inquisitors had been organized by Lord Darth Vader to assist him in his hunt for Jedi during the days of the purge after the transformation of the Old Republic into the Empire, know they served as an elite investigation and intelligence force answerable only to Darth Vader and the Emperor. They were rumored to have knowledge in the ways of the Force, and be well versed in torture and other means of unpleasant information extraction, though most preferred to try and coax information out of their prisoners peaceably first, giving to the old Corellian adage, You catch more stingflys with bright-blossom nectar than with bitter-root juice.

                “Well done, Admiral. Have my shuttle standing by, I will leave for the site as soon as the investigation begins.” Tovin said warmly.

                Hashi bowed, “Yes, my lord.”

                Before Hashi could leave, a subordinate with a data pad approached him. He carefully looked it over, and then reported on its contents, “My lord, High Inquisitor Tremayne wants an update on our status.”

               Tovin nodded, “I will contact him from my quarters, make sure the ship is clear of any interference.”

                Within moments Tovin was in his specially prepared suite, and he stepped up to the Holoprojector ring. With a hum the device activated and the bluish figure of a well-dressed man with a cybernetic eye shimmered into view. Tovin gave a brief bow.

                “Inquisitor Tovin, how progresses the operation?” the figure inquired.

                “Well, other than a very brief altercation with a smuggler, no interference of any kind and the site preparation is ahead of schedule.” Tovin reported.

                “Good, Lord Vader will be pleased.” Tremayne said with a sinister grin, “It appears we intercepted the Rebel spies before they could tell anyone about the operation on Hadject.”

                Tovin nodded, “Were we able to gain any insight as to the stolen Death Star plans?”

                Tremayne’s smile faded, “Yes and the rebel conspirator carrying them has been captured by Lord Vader, but apparently the hunt for the plans is still on.”

                “My forces will stay alert in case the Rebel’s try to hide on this desolate planet.” Tovin announced.

                “Yes, Lord Tovin, but remember you first priority is to the excavation of that crashed base. The Emperor has sensed something very important from there.” Tremayne paused thoughtfully, “The Death Star is inconsequential if indeed there are still Jedi about as the Emperor fears.”

                Tovin bowed in compliance, “Yes, lord.”

                “Keep me apprised, and if any Jedi are discovered contact me immediately.” Tovin bowed once more as Tremayne shimmered out of view.  

 

* * *

 

                A shadowy figure floated in a repulsors-chair with the heavy sounds of mechanical aided breathing devices filling the air as he closely examined information on his view screen. His flesh was pink and heavily scarred and his head was capped with thin wisps of bleach white hair. Several tubes and wires stemmed from a cybernetic device on the back of his neck and hooked directly into the chair. A door chime filled broke the silence.  

                “Come in.” the figure said his voice raspy and harsh.  

                A tall thin wiry man dressed in flagrant finery passed the door as it parted with a barely audible mechanical hiss. The figure reached out with a skeletal cybernetic arm and deactivated his monitor and turned his attention toward the man.  

                “Sir, we have reports from our sources on Chandrila that the Empire failed to retrieve Senator Maile.” The man said.  

                The figure rested his covered flesh arm and cybernetic one on his desk and raised his hands thoughtfully in a bridge over his mouth, “As I figured they would.” He said after a moment of obvious contemplation, “Do we know who rescued him?”  

                The man answered without missing a beat, “No sir, but I think we can safely assume they were agents of the Rebellion.”  

                The crippled man nodded in agreement, “Then we must move to our secondary plan.” He said sitting back in his chair, “Contact the bounty hunter, tell her that we will double the agreed payment if she will retrieve the good Senator for us from the Rebels.”  

                The man was taken aback, “Double sir?” he asked with confusion, “Surely retrieving him from the Rebels would be less dangerous than retrieving him from the Empire.”  

                The other shook his head, “Don’t be to sure, Ghara,” he explained, “The Rebels may be ill-equipped, but even the Empire is having a hard time finding them.”  

                “I see, sir.” Ghara said, “Double it will be then.” With that he made a gracious bow and left the other to his privacy.  

                The crippled man gazed out contemplatively across the skyline from his large office window.