Forget all you know....
After two hundred years of war throughout the Galaxy, there is a glimmer of hope on the horizon.
The fierce battles that have consumed the worlds of the Outer Rim have begun to abate at last. Republic soldiers have finally gained the upper hand against the powerful Chrome warlords and their legions of clone warriors. The ravaged worlds of the Rim are slowly beginning to rebuild their shattered lives.
But the Great Republic, spanning half the Galaxy, has suffered much from two centuries of bloodshed and chaos. Unending war has stretched the once mighty principles of justice and democracy to the breaking point. Corruption has taken root, and most dangerous of those who now move to seize power is a young politician from the ice world of Desmodar: Senator Nunca Palpatine.
Politics matter little to the shadowy, noble Jedi Knights. Spread throughout the Galaxy on mysterious errands of adventure and mercy, the Jedi remain ever behind history's curtain. Few know anything of the Jedi Knights besides supernatural, awesome tales. Few suspect the awesome power they serve, yet also wield... the all-powerful Living Force.
And more hidden still are the eternal enemies of the Jedi, waging a war of flesh and bone, spirit and mind since time immortal. They are the Dark Lords, the hands of evil, the wicked masters of the Sith.
Obi Wan Kenobi, a young Jedi Knight-in-Waiting, has found station as a bodyguard to the deposed ruler of the planet Fannefax, King Metratis. On route to a safe haven for the King on the planet Alderaan, Obi Wan does not suspect the trial to come at the hands of the loathsome Sith.
The fierce battles that have consumed the worlds of the Outer Rim have begun to abate at last. Republic soldiers have finally gained the upper hand against the powerful Chrome warlords and their legions of clone warriors. The ravaged worlds of the Rim are slowly beginning to rebuild their shattered lives.
But the Great Republic, spanning half the Galaxy, has suffered much from two centuries of bloodshed and chaos. Unending war has stretched the once mighty principles of justice and democracy to the breaking point. Corruption has taken root, and most dangerous of those who now move to seize power is a young politician from the ice world of Desmodar: Senator Nunca Palpatine.
Politics matter little to the shadowy, noble Jedi Knights. Spread throughout the Galaxy on mysterious errands of adventure and mercy, the Jedi remain ever behind history's curtain. Few know anything of the Jedi Knights besides supernatural, awesome tales. Few suspect the awesome power they serve, yet also wield... the all-powerful Living Force.
And more hidden still are the eternal enemies of the Jedi, waging a war of flesh and bone, spirit and mind since time immortal. They are the Dark Lords, the hands of evil, the wicked masters of the Sith.
Obi Wan Kenobi, a young Jedi Knight-in-Waiting, has found station as a bodyguard to the deposed ruler of the planet Fannefax, King Metratis. On route to a safe haven for the King on the planet Alderaan, Obi Wan does not suspect the trial to come at the hands of the loathsome Sith.
Obi Wan folded his arms tightly against the chill of the cabin's over-processed atmosphere. Matratis was accustomed to the chilly rains of Fannefax, and so completely comfortable in the cold; Obi Wan was originally from sunny Bandomeer and even the thick black weave of his overcloak couldn't shut out the chill completely.
The shuttle bucked and groaned under the strain as it bullied its way out of the planetary gravitational field. Obi Wan would not miss this little layover planet ( Klissik was the name...possibly...Obi Wan couldn't remember) and the young Jedi was anxious for their next stop: Alderaan, and safety.
King Matratis snored loudly in the salon couch across the cabin. The lights were dim, blinking red, blue, and yellow like holiday livery. Even in the dark, Matratis' rotund form was unmistakable. Obi Wan grinned at his fitfully sleeping client. Matratis was a good man, a good leader, and Obi Wan had liked him immediately. What the King lacked in brilliance he made up in heart, in compassion. The people around him, servants, lobbyists, even many of the politicians had become fiercely loyal to King Matratis over time. It took a hell of a lot, Obi Wan thought ruefully, for this king to be forced from his station and into exile.
Matratis buzzed fitfully in his sleep, his bushy mustache fluttering. The cheerful, earnest face Obi Wan had first met was still there, but now it was buried under weariness and the sad weight of betrayal.
Betrayal.
Obi Wan shifted his body and breathed out the hint of unhappy memory.
Obi Wan Kenobi was very young, barely 18 by the chronometry of his homeworld of Bandomeer. His apprenticeship under the odd Jedi Master Yoda had officially ended only a galactic year earlier, yet it seemed a lifetime away. He reluctantly admitted to himself that he did actually miss the little green toad now and then. He certainly did not miss the endless drills, the sunrise running through lethal jungles, the sharp, unhappy poke of a strict gimer stick. But often in the quiet of the evening when his duties as Matratis' bodyguard relaxed a bit, Obi Wan would stare into the cold Fannefax sky and wonder around which pinpoint of light circled mossy green Dagobah. How long had that clever little imp sat in that boggy mud? How many centuries? He would likely outlive Obi Wan by a long shot, that was certain.
There was something of Yoda in Matratis, Obi Wan thought. There was some common sense of simplicity they shared. Strolling the halls of Matratis' hereditary fortress, perched high above the rolling sea, Obi Wan and the King had talked long hours into the Fannefax night. King Matratis did not often discuss politics with Obi Wan- a fact for which Obi Wan was very grateful. As the political forces around the King surged and began to threaten his position on his beloved world, Obi Wan found Matratis' contributions to their conversations leaning toward the simpler, philosophical facts of life. It was hard, Obi Wan often thought, not to see Matratis as a kind of father. Obi Wan had known many father figures in his life.
Again, a whiff of dark thought arose in the young Jedi's mind. Again, he let it go.
"You're edgy, Obi."
The clever old King was cocking one shining eye at Obi Wan from across the dark of the cabin. There was a threat of grin under the bushy white moustache.
"Edgy, Your Majesty?" Obi Wan brushed the black silkweave of his heavy cloak. " I'm still wondering how you won that last sabaac game. I had my heart set on a new pair of boots."
Matratis' eyes widened in mock-indignation. "Are you implying I don't pay you enough, Kenobi?"
"You've paid me? I thought that little bit of change was just the tip!"
Matratis chuckled into his hand, cheeks redder than usual under the electronic glow of the surrounding instrument panels. The voices of the two-man crew through the hatchway murmured quietly, the engines hummed low around them. Obi Wan was surprised to find himself reluctant to meet the old King in the eye.
"I'm a lucky man, Obi." Matratis folded his hands across his round belly and looked at the bulkhead behind Obi Wan's head. The glinting light in his eyes might have been more than the flashing lights of the cabin, his face seemed lined and care worn. "Very lucky. Though distantly related, I've never been more than publicly civil to Galt Antilles. For such a one to so graciously open his home to us. Such a fine man, Antilles. This I knew through reputation, of course. But now..."
Obi Wan merely nodded.
"Kenobi, sir?" The co-pilot called through the hatchway, "Our engines are primed. We've begun calculations for the jump into hyperspace. We will be lightspeed in moments."
"Very good, Maldin. Shave as much time off our route as possible." Obi Wan thought a moment, " but steer well clear of the northplus border of Hutt space."
"Yes, sir."
Matratis was watching Obi Wan. "So paranoid, Kenobi. Surely the Hutts would have little interest in paupers such as ourselves." There was a wink in the King's eye.
"Paranoia is my specialty, Your Majesty."
Obi Wan smiled serenely at the King, who, nodding and chuckling to himself, settled back into the couch, shutting his eyes.
Settling back himself, Obi Wan reached up to the back of his head, unwinding one of the coiled braids of dark brown hair. Working his fingers into the leather thong wrapped around the braid, unwinding it slowly, meditatively, Obi Wan thought of old Master Yoda sitting like a lump on a rotten log somewhere in the infinite stars. Even in his daydream, Yoda smirked at Obi Wan in exactly his old familiar way that suggested one last secret to tell, one last little lesson from Master to Pupil.
Obi Wan's fingers were rewinding the braid in the same slow, meditative way when the Force pulled at his mind like a swift and irresistable tide.
Obi Wan...
Through the Force, a spectral voice called. Obi Wan's every nerve and cell sprang to full awareness, awaiting the message from this specter of the Force; the voice as familiar to him as his own...
Your way is troubled, Obi Wan Kenobi. Seek out a brother on the world ahead....
Obi Wan's mouth moved to ask for more, but at that moment a bright flash roared throught he cabin. A rain of sparks and billowing smoke bellowed from the cockpit.
Through the Force, Obi Wan knew. The pilots were dead.
The young Jedi had to act now, and act fast.
NEXT: STRANDED ON THE SHORES OF OCHERON...
Art by Tae Young Choi
The shuttle bucked and groaned under the strain as it bullied its way out of the planetary gravitational field. Obi Wan would not miss this little layover planet ( Klissik was the name...possibly...Obi Wan couldn't remember) and the young Jedi was anxious for their next stop: Alderaan, and safety.
King Matratis snored loudly in the salon couch across the cabin. The lights were dim, blinking red, blue, and yellow like holiday livery. Even in the dark, Matratis' rotund form was unmistakable. Obi Wan grinned at his fitfully sleeping client. Matratis was a good man, a good leader, and Obi Wan had liked him immediately. What the King lacked in brilliance he made up in heart, in compassion. The people around him, servants, lobbyists, even many of the politicians had become fiercely loyal to King Matratis over time. It took a hell of a lot, Obi Wan thought ruefully, for this king to be forced from his station and into exile.
Matratis buzzed fitfully in his sleep, his bushy mustache fluttering. The cheerful, earnest face Obi Wan had first met was still there, but now it was buried under weariness and the sad weight of betrayal.
Betrayal.
Obi Wan shifted his body and breathed out the hint of unhappy memory.
Obi Wan Kenobi was very young, barely 18 by the chronometry of his homeworld of Bandomeer. His apprenticeship under the odd Jedi Master Yoda had officially ended only a galactic year earlier, yet it seemed a lifetime away. He reluctantly admitted to himself that he did actually miss the little green toad now and then. He certainly did not miss the endless drills, the sunrise running through lethal jungles, the sharp, unhappy poke of a strict gimer stick. But often in the quiet of the evening when his duties as Matratis' bodyguard relaxed a bit, Obi Wan would stare into the cold Fannefax sky and wonder around which pinpoint of light circled mossy green Dagobah. How long had that clever little imp sat in that boggy mud? How many centuries? He would likely outlive Obi Wan by a long shot, that was certain.
There was something of Yoda in Matratis, Obi Wan thought. There was some common sense of simplicity they shared. Strolling the halls of Matratis' hereditary fortress, perched high above the rolling sea, Obi Wan and the King had talked long hours into the Fannefax night. King Matratis did not often discuss politics with Obi Wan- a fact for which Obi Wan was very grateful. As the political forces around the King surged and began to threaten his position on his beloved world, Obi Wan found Matratis' contributions to their conversations leaning toward the simpler, philosophical facts of life. It was hard, Obi Wan often thought, not to see Matratis as a kind of father. Obi Wan had known many father figures in his life.
Again, a whiff of dark thought arose in the young Jedi's mind. Again, he let it go.
"You're edgy, Obi."
The clever old King was cocking one shining eye at Obi Wan from across the dark of the cabin. There was a threat of grin under the bushy white moustache.
"Edgy, Your Majesty?" Obi Wan brushed the black silkweave of his heavy cloak. " I'm still wondering how you won that last sabaac game. I had my heart set on a new pair of boots."
Matratis' eyes widened in mock-indignation. "Are you implying I don't pay you enough, Kenobi?"
"You've paid me? I thought that little bit of change was just the tip!"
Matratis chuckled into his hand, cheeks redder than usual under the electronic glow of the surrounding instrument panels. The voices of the two-man crew through the hatchway murmured quietly, the engines hummed low around them. Obi Wan was surprised to find himself reluctant to meet the old King in the eye.
"I'm a lucky man, Obi." Matratis folded his hands across his round belly and looked at the bulkhead behind Obi Wan's head. The glinting light in his eyes might have been more than the flashing lights of the cabin, his face seemed lined and care worn. "Very lucky. Though distantly related, I've never been more than publicly civil to Galt Antilles. For such a one to so graciously open his home to us. Such a fine man, Antilles. This I knew through reputation, of course. But now..."
Obi Wan merely nodded.
"Kenobi, sir?" The co-pilot called through the hatchway, "Our engines are primed. We've begun calculations for the jump into hyperspace. We will be lightspeed in moments."
"Very good, Maldin. Shave as much time off our route as possible." Obi Wan thought a moment, " but steer well clear of the northplus border of Hutt space."
"Yes, sir."
Matratis was watching Obi Wan. "So paranoid, Kenobi. Surely the Hutts would have little interest in paupers such as ourselves." There was a wink in the King's eye.
"Paranoia is my specialty, Your Majesty."
Obi Wan smiled serenely at the King, who, nodding and chuckling to himself, settled back into the couch, shutting his eyes.
Settling back himself, Obi Wan reached up to the back of his head, unwinding one of the coiled braids of dark brown hair. Working his fingers into the leather thong wrapped around the braid, unwinding it slowly, meditatively, Obi Wan thought of old Master Yoda sitting like a lump on a rotten log somewhere in the infinite stars. Even in his daydream, Yoda smirked at Obi Wan in exactly his old familiar way that suggested one last secret to tell, one last little lesson from Master to Pupil.
Obi Wan's fingers were rewinding the braid in the same slow, meditative way when the Force pulled at his mind like a swift and irresistable tide.
Obi Wan...
Through the Force, a spectral voice called. Obi Wan's every nerve and cell sprang to full awareness, awaiting the message from this specter of the Force; the voice as familiar to him as his own...
Your way is troubled, Obi Wan Kenobi. Seek out a brother on the world ahead....
Obi Wan's mouth moved to ask for more, but at that moment a bright flash roared throught he cabin. A rain of sparks and billowing smoke bellowed from the cockpit.
Through the Force, Obi Wan knew. The pilots were dead.
The young Jedi had to act now, and act fast.
NEXT: STRANDED ON THE SHORES OF OCHERON...
Art by Tae Young Choi
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