Star Wars - Wrath of the Rebellion
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Dr Midnight
Explorer
EXT. GALAXY - PLANET HOTH
CAMERA PANS DOWN FROM STARS TO REVEAL A BLUE-WHITE PLANET. THE CHANDRILA SURVEYOR, DENT DARKSTAR'S CORELLIAN YT-2400 CARGO STARSHIP, FLIES BEFORE CAMERA, SLOWLY GUIDING ITSELF THROUGH HOTH'S THIN STRATOSPHERE.
INT. CHANDRILA SURVEYOR- COCKPIT
"Beautiful planet," Lexo Yust said from his seat in the cockpit.
At the controls, Dent Darkstar shook his head. "Isn't so beautiful when you get up close," he said. "I helped Skywalker scout this thing. It's just a fused mass of ice. Hostile… Real hostile."
"That's okay," Lexo said. "Ice doesn't bother me."
The ship coasted in over a layer of clouds. As they breached the atmosphere, they looked down over a vast land that resembled a world of opaque white crystal. The ship's comlink crackled. "Identify yourselves, this is Echo Base."
Dent leaned forward. "Echo Base, this is the Chandrila Surveyor. We're due for a meeting with Princess Leia."
A moment of radio silence, and the comlink answered him. "Roger Chandrila Surveyor, you're cleared to land at pad ME-12. It's about three kilometers north of the base. I'm sending you the coordinates now. A transport will be waiting for you."
"Thank you, Echo Base." Dent leaned back in his seat and guided his ship forward with a practiced hand. A patch of ice beneath the ship split and opened, revealing a large, rudimentary landing bay. A small skiff transport waited inside.
Beside Dent, a large wookiee grumbled and groaned. Lexo spoke for her. "She wants to know why we're landing so far from the base."
"Not a bad question," Dent replied through tight lips. The ship touched down lightly inside the bay… another perfect landing. The Surveyor's back hatch ramp lowered and the heroes walked outside. Lexo Yust, hunter of the ice bears of his native planet, stepped easily into the freezing air. Though he was well-accustomed to chill temperatures, he only wore an ice bear's pelt around his upper torso. He carried a force pike, and wore a breathing mask over his face. His muscles rippled as he walked. Behind him walked Uschi Neff, who was ice cold in her own right. She wore two heavy blasters on her hips, and her eyes coolly looked over the hangar bay. After her came Drugas Krinbar, a beast of a man wearing the same stormtrooper armor he'd worn on the day he left the Empire in a flurry of blasterfire. His posture said that no man- or whatever immense creature may live on this planet- would threaten him and live. Then came Woonwooken "the wooly", the immense wookiee scoundrel known far and wide for both her fierce cunning and her devotion to Lexo Yust. The two were inseparable allies. The ribbon tied in her hair shimmered in the dull Hoth sunlight. After Woonwooken walked a brown robed figure with a hood that shadowed his face. He reached up and pulled it back, revealing a bright set of blue eyes set in a contemplative face, crowned with blond hair. This was T'ek Nova- the last Jedi known to exist, at least to the Rebellion. Dent Darkstar walked last down the ramp to the ground. He was an ace pilot well known for his prowess behind the controls of… well, just about anything. A whistling tweet came from up the ramp. Darkstar turned and said "I don't know when I'll be back. Just run some diagnostics on the sub-light drive for a few hours… I didn't like the way they shuddered when we entered the atmosphere." The yellow and green Astromech droid at the top of the ramp chirped and buzzed in protest. Dent moved to the end of the ramp and pressed the button to close it. "I'll see about coming to get you soon, R5. Stay here."
A man from the transport stepped forward. He wore a padded Rebellion issue coat and a weathered look on his face. "Captain Darkstar?" he asked. "I'm General Rieekan. Glad to meet you."
"General," Dent said, shaking his hand. "May I ask why we've landed so far from Echo Base?"
"Well, that'll be better answered in the meeting you're here to attend," Rieekan replied. "Suffice to say that we're keeping your visit on low profile. Now, if you'll just come with me, you have an appointment to keep." They got into the transport and flew out over Hoth. A large landlocked glacier before them had barely noticeable hoses, conduits, and tubes running about its perimeter. The only thing that really seemed to be part of a Rebel base was the giant power generator- a device that resembled a large creature's metal skeleton, half-submerged in the snow. A flat, wide door in the iceberg opened, and they glided inside.
Inside, it was really like every other Rebel base the group had ever seen. A vast hangar with ships of almost every conceivable make being pounded at by impatient pilots and repairmen. Droids puttered around stacks of ship engines and hyperdrives. Men in orange suits walked about, directing vessels into their spots. There was a feeling of hope, of small people banding together and doing something big.
The transport landed, and the heroes stepped out. Rieekan pointed towards a door at the far side of the hangar. "Your meeting is just through that door. Remember- keep a low profile while you're here." The group walked to the door and opened it. This room was lit by the sickly greenish light of a bacta tank. The tank sat against one wall. Inside it, a half naked man with a mop of blond hair was floating in the liquid. Various tubes and wires ran from the tank's perimeter to him. His eyelids fluttered.
"Ahem." The polite noise distracted the group from the morbid sight. Two women in white thermal jackets were seated at the other end of the room. One they didn't recognize, but the other had dark eyes and the graceful manner of a diplomat. They all knew her- she'd rewarded them with medals of valor following their actions in the now-historic battle of Yavin.
"Princess Leia," Dent said. "It's good to see you again."
MORE TO COME...
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Breakstone
First Post
Woah...
Heh, I like the cast of characters...
EDIT: By the way, two things, Doc:
1) I know you played the Lord of the Rings soundtrack while writing Knights of the Silver Quill. Are you playing the same soundtack when writing this story hour?
2) Have you seen any articles for Star Wars Galaxies? It's a MMORPG (massive multiplayer online roleplaying game) that's totally different from all others. Oh, man, does it look awesome. http://www.starwarsgalaxies.station.sony.com
Heh, I like the cast of characters...
EDIT: By the way, two things, Doc:
1) I know you played the Lord of the Rings soundtrack while writing Knights of the Silver Quill. Are you playing the same soundtack when writing this story hour?
2) Have you seen any articles for Star Wars Galaxies? It's a MMORPG (massive multiplayer online roleplaying game) that's totally different from all others. Oh, man, does it look awesome. http://www.starwarsgalaxies.station.sony.com
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Desdichado
Hero
What in the world? Five pages before we have a single installment of the story hour? 
Dr Midnight
Explorer
Yeah... I'd like to say it's a Lucas maneuver, building hype among the masses, but really it was just that yesterday was the first day we were able to play.
Breakstone
First Post
Horacio said:Horacio doesn't understand why some people has to speak in the cinema, and turns to Tsunami
Shhhhhhhh! I'm trying to watch the film!
Tsunami coughs loudly and slurps his soda.
WHAT? ARE YOU TALKING TO ME? I CAN'T HEAR YOU OVER THE MOVIE. YOU REALLY SHOULDN'T TALK WHILE THE MOVIE IS PLAYING.
Ah, nuts, I spilled my Sour Patch Kids...
Dr Midnight
Explorer
"It's good to see you as well, Captain Darkstar." She stood to greet them. "I apologize for our choice of a meeting room, but Echo Base is very small. This is the only room where a group can find some privacy. The man in the bacta tank is named Luke Skywalker. I'm afraid he spent the night outside. If not for the actions of one of our best men, we'd have lost him."
Drugas walked to the tank and looked in. "This is Skywalker- the guy who destroyed the Death Star?" His tone suggested disbelief.
Dent spoke up. "Yes, that's him. He doesn't look like much, but he's got some real skills. I've seen him fly myself. We scouted this area together to establish a location for Echo Base. Skywalker's a good man."
T'ek Nova stepped closer to the tank. Skywalker… this was the man Ben Kenobi had told Nova to watch over. It was hard to believe that this frail-looking farm boy was capable of the great things Kenobi had suggested. Nova concentrated, and felt the Force flowing from Skywalker in palpable waves. Indeed, his strength in the Force was great. Nova wondered if he'd live long enough to achieve his potential. There was also something else... something elusive.
Leia cleared her throat again to snap his attention back to that side of the room. "As our time is brief, I think we should get right down to it. Shall we? May I present Mon Mothma." The nondescript woman stood up and the heroes stared at her. Right here, the leader of the Rebellion. A Senior Senator from the Old Republic who'd helped forge the Rebel Alliance to defy Emperor Palpatine's despotic rule. She was legendary… and she was right here in the room.
Dent Darkstar was first to regain his composure. "Mon Mothma," he said. "I bring tidings of goodwill from our mutual home, Chandrila."
"Thank you, Captain Darkstar," she replied regally. "May we begin? You've been assembled here today to undergo a very dangerous and top secret mission for the Rebel Alliance. You are to tell no one of what we are about to discuss… is this understood?" She waited for everyone's agreement before continuing.
"The Empire has been weakened by our destruction of the Death Star, but as you can see, the war is far from over. We cannot seem to figure out where they're getting their resources, their men, their ships. We'd assumed that the Death Star was their base of operations, and that with no Death Star, there would soon be no Empire. We now know that there are other Imperial bases in the universe. Your job will be to find one in particular.
"Over the course of several interrogations of Imperial prisoners, we've learned that a major Imperial encampment is located on a planet named Farlan-Eul. Farlan-Eul is unlisted on every system chart we've referenced. In its earlier days, the Empire took pains to have entire planets wiped from Star Charts of the far rim worlds. By the time the Rebellion started in earnest, many planets' locations were erased from recorded knowledge to everyone except high-ranking Empire officials. The prisoners we've interrogated seem unnaturally strong in their will to not betray the base, so they can't be made to tell us of its location.
"Your mission will be to discover the location of Farlan-Eul, and then infiltrate its base. Finding its location will not be easy- you'll either need to interrogate a high-ranking Imperial officer or see what you can find in a sleazy cantina somewhere. If you have a suggestion, I'd like to hear it.
"Once you've found Farlan-Eul, find a way inside and download the station's structural plans to R5-F6, then bring the plans back to us. Are there any questions?
"What do we believe the base is a training center for, exactly?" Lexo asked.
"We believe that Farlan-Eul is used to train stormtroopers, TIE pilots, starship pilots… almost any large-scale personnel force the Empire needs has a training division on the planet… if our information is correct."
"Wait a minute," Lexo said. "If they train Stormtroopers there, can't we just ask Drugas where he was trained? Drugas, you were probably trained there, weren't you?"
Drugas shifted uncomfortably. "Yeah, I vaguely remember some time on a planet named Farlan-Eul."
Mon Mothma sighed and said "You're welcome to ask him, but I'll bet you won't have any more luck than we did with our prisoners."
"So, where is it?" Uschi asked Krinbar.
The ex-stormtrooper spoke quickly. "I don't want to remember the location of Farlan-Eul," he said. He then recoiled in surprise- he hadn't WANTED to say that! What had just happened? "What the…"
Mon Mothma paced before the group. "This is exactly the answer we pulled from countless stormtrooper and TIE fighter prisoners. None seem able to say any more. Mind probes, truth serum… nothing works. This is while you'll need to find your own way to the base."
Lexo turned to the others. "I know of some ins at the recently Imperially established planet of Tatooine. With some careful work, we may be able to tap into their holonet and discern the location of Farlan-Eul that way."
Drugas said "Sounds good. When do we leave?"
"We need to refuel, but we can be off right away."
Mon Mothma spoke up. "I'm afraid that's something I've been meaning to tell you. Your ship is the only one to enter or leave Echo Base today. General Rieekan has halted all in and outbound flights. We have too many reports of probe droids in the area. Skywalker here actually thought he saw a 'meteorite' land yesterday while on patrol. It's too risky. We'll be laying low until tomorrow afternoon, when we expect to have the shields up around the base. Until then, try to keep warm. Good day."
Dent got up and hopped back on the transport to the Surveyor. He knew R5-F6 couldn't stand to be left alone for an entire night.
T'ek Nova stood before Luke's bacta tank, thinking. Lexo walked up beside him and spoke quietly. "Do you feel that?"
"Yes... I feel the presence of several of us who are sensitive to the Force."
Lexo bit his lip and decided against arguing over this "Force" nonsense anymore. Lexo knew only that the ice bear spirits of his native world spoke to him, guiding him in unnatural manners. It was enough that he couldn't explain how someone who'd never slain an ice bear could know their secrets, but that T'ek insisted on refering to Lexo as "Force-sensitive" really irritated him. He let it go. He said "I felt four people in the room. Luke Skywalker, you, me, and Princess Leia... though her bond with the bear spirits is not strong yet. There was one more, nearby."
"Just outside the room, in the hangar, I believe."
"Shall we investigate?"
"Oh, absolutely."
The two walked outside and immediately were drawn to a large relic- an antique Republic-style cruiser. It had red markings and swooping, flowing lines. Beautiful. "Whoever it is, he's in the ship," T'ek said.
The crew on the ship were weary from fussing over circuitwork for the last several hours. The damn cooling tanks were acting up again. Was it like this for all the old Republic ships? A knock at the front ramp brought the captain to his feet. With a sigh, he opened the door. There stood a man wearing an oxygen mask, and- oddly- a white fur covering his upper torso.
"Hello!" Lexo said. "I've noticed you guys toiling away for hours, here, and I was heading off to the cafeteria to pick up some Jawa Juice. Would you boys care to come along?"
For some reason, the idea of a tall, refreshing cup of Jawa Juice sounded like just the thing. Odd... he wasn't thirsty. "Yes, I believe that would be terrific. Break time, crew." The relieved crew of five followed the captain and Lexo back to the cafeteria.
When they were gone, T'ek crept around the corner. He didn't detect the Force from any of those men... the presence was still aboard the ship. He walked silently up the ramp, stretching out with his feelings. The corridor aboard the ship turned ninety degrees left... and he felt the Force pulsing to his right. He saw the outlines of an access hatch behind some stacked provisions crates. He lifted his hands, palms out, and spread them through the air. The crates followed his hands, and moved away from the hatch. The access hatch hadn't been opened in years, by the look of it. He unhinged the hatch with a single flick of a lever and opened it. Inside, wires hung before the opening. The hatch ran deep. He pushed the wires aside and stepped into the darkness. Here, dull red sensor lights lit the blackness with a muddy crimson cast. As his eyes adapted to the light, he looked about. A large dark oblong shape stood against one wall. T'ek stepped closer to it, straining to make out its shape. It was perfectly rectangular, about two meters tall and one wide. The only other notable feature was the pair of hands jutting from its mass. They seemed to be made of the same blackish metal as the block itself.
T'ek stood looking at it in wonder for a moment, then calmed himself. He stepped to its side and found a small panel with small buttons. He studied the buttons for a moment, then pressed one. The entire block glowed hot red for a second, then white. Its light filled the small sensor access room. T'ek covered his eyes. He heard a rustled thump and looked to the ground. Lying there was a man. He wore robes not unlike T'ek's... but his were refined. His clothes were properly fitted to his stature, and he wore them elegantly.
Clink!
Beside the man fell a long cylindrical tube. It had a red button in its center. T'ek gasped silently. It was a lightsaber.
MORE TO COME...
Drugas walked to the tank and looked in. "This is Skywalker- the guy who destroyed the Death Star?" His tone suggested disbelief.
Dent spoke up. "Yes, that's him. He doesn't look like much, but he's got some real skills. I've seen him fly myself. We scouted this area together to establish a location for Echo Base. Skywalker's a good man."
T'ek Nova stepped closer to the tank. Skywalker… this was the man Ben Kenobi had told Nova to watch over. It was hard to believe that this frail-looking farm boy was capable of the great things Kenobi had suggested. Nova concentrated, and felt the Force flowing from Skywalker in palpable waves. Indeed, his strength in the Force was great. Nova wondered if he'd live long enough to achieve his potential. There was also something else... something elusive.
Leia cleared her throat again to snap his attention back to that side of the room. "As our time is brief, I think we should get right down to it. Shall we? May I present Mon Mothma." The nondescript woman stood up and the heroes stared at her. Right here, the leader of the Rebellion. A Senior Senator from the Old Republic who'd helped forge the Rebel Alliance to defy Emperor Palpatine's despotic rule. She was legendary… and she was right here in the room.
Dent Darkstar was first to regain his composure. "Mon Mothma," he said. "I bring tidings of goodwill from our mutual home, Chandrila."
"Thank you, Captain Darkstar," she replied regally. "May we begin? You've been assembled here today to undergo a very dangerous and top secret mission for the Rebel Alliance. You are to tell no one of what we are about to discuss… is this understood?" She waited for everyone's agreement before continuing.
"The Empire has been weakened by our destruction of the Death Star, but as you can see, the war is far from over. We cannot seem to figure out where they're getting their resources, their men, their ships. We'd assumed that the Death Star was their base of operations, and that with no Death Star, there would soon be no Empire. We now know that there are other Imperial bases in the universe. Your job will be to find one in particular.
"Over the course of several interrogations of Imperial prisoners, we've learned that a major Imperial encampment is located on a planet named Farlan-Eul. Farlan-Eul is unlisted on every system chart we've referenced. In its earlier days, the Empire took pains to have entire planets wiped from Star Charts of the far rim worlds. By the time the Rebellion started in earnest, many planets' locations were erased from recorded knowledge to everyone except high-ranking Empire officials. The prisoners we've interrogated seem unnaturally strong in their will to not betray the base, so they can't be made to tell us of its location.
"Your mission will be to discover the location of Farlan-Eul, and then infiltrate its base. Finding its location will not be easy- you'll either need to interrogate a high-ranking Imperial officer or see what you can find in a sleazy cantina somewhere. If you have a suggestion, I'd like to hear it.
"Once you've found Farlan-Eul, find a way inside and download the station's structural plans to R5-F6, then bring the plans back to us. Are there any questions?
"What do we believe the base is a training center for, exactly?" Lexo asked.
"We believe that Farlan-Eul is used to train stormtroopers, TIE pilots, starship pilots… almost any large-scale personnel force the Empire needs has a training division on the planet… if our information is correct."
"Wait a minute," Lexo said. "If they train Stormtroopers there, can't we just ask Drugas where he was trained? Drugas, you were probably trained there, weren't you?"
Drugas shifted uncomfortably. "Yeah, I vaguely remember some time on a planet named Farlan-Eul."
Mon Mothma sighed and said "You're welcome to ask him, but I'll bet you won't have any more luck than we did with our prisoners."
"So, where is it?" Uschi asked Krinbar.
The ex-stormtrooper spoke quickly. "I don't want to remember the location of Farlan-Eul," he said. He then recoiled in surprise- he hadn't WANTED to say that! What had just happened? "What the…"
Mon Mothma paced before the group. "This is exactly the answer we pulled from countless stormtrooper and TIE fighter prisoners. None seem able to say any more. Mind probes, truth serum… nothing works. This is while you'll need to find your own way to the base."
Lexo turned to the others. "I know of some ins at the recently Imperially established planet of Tatooine. With some careful work, we may be able to tap into their holonet and discern the location of Farlan-Eul that way."
Drugas said "Sounds good. When do we leave?"
"We need to refuel, but we can be off right away."
Mon Mothma spoke up. "I'm afraid that's something I've been meaning to tell you. Your ship is the only one to enter or leave Echo Base today. General Rieekan has halted all in and outbound flights. We have too many reports of probe droids in the area. Skywalker here actually thought he saw a 'meteorite' land yesterday while on patrol. It's too risky. We'll be laying low until tomorrow afternoon, when we expect to have the shields up around the base. Until then, try to keep warm. Good day."
Dent got up and hopped back on the transport to the Surveyor. He knew R5-F6 couldn't stand to be left alone for an entire night.
T'ek Nova stood before Luke's bacta tank, thinking. Lexo walked up beside him and spoke quietly. "Do you feel that?"
"Yes... I feel the presence of several of us who are sensitive to the Force."
Lexo bit his lip and decided against arguing over this "Force" nonsense anymore. Lexo knew only that the ice bear spirits of his native world spoke to him, guiding him in unnatural manners. It was enough that he couldn't explain how someone who'd never slain an ice bear could know their secrets, but that T'ek insisted on refering to Lexo as "Force-sensitive" really irritated him. He let it go. He said "I felt four people in the room. Luke Skywalker, you, me, and Princess Leia... though her bond with the bear spirits is not strong yet. There was one more, nearby."
"Just outside the room, in the hangar, I believe."
"Shall we investigate?"
"Oh, absolutely."
The two walked outside and immediately were drawn to a large relic- an antique Republic-style cruiser. It had red markings and swooping, flowing lines. Beautiful. "Whoever it is, he's in the ship," T'ek said.
The crew on the ship were weary from fussing over circuitwork for the last several hours. The damn cooling tanks were acting up again. Was it like this for all the old Republic ships? A knock at the front ramp brought the captain to his feet. With a sigh, he opened the door. There stood a man wearing an oxygen mask, and- oddly- a white fur covering his upper torso.
"Hello!" Lexo said. "I've noticed you guys toiling away for hours, here, and I was heading off to the cafeteria to pick up some Jawa Juice. Would you boys care to come along?"
For some reason, the idea of a tall, refreshing cup of Jawa Juice sounded like just the thing. Odd... he wasn't thirsty. "Yes, I believe that would be terrific. Break time, crew." The relieved crew of five followed the captain and Lexo back to the cafeteria.
When they were gone, T'ek crept around the corner. He didn't detect the Force from any of those men... the presence was still aboard the ship. He walked silently up the ramp, stretching out with his feelings. The corridor aboard the ship turned ninety degrees left... and he felt the Force pulsing to his right. He saw the outlines of an access hatch behind some stacked provisions crates. He lifted his hands, palms out, and spread them through the air. The crates followed his hands, and moved away from the hatch. The access hatch hadn't been opened in years, by the look of it. He unhinged the hatch with a single flick of a lever and opened it. Inside, wires hung before the opening. The hatch ran deep. He pushed the wires aside and stepped into the darkness. Here, dull red sensor lights lit the blackness with a muddy crimson cast. As his eyes adapted to the light, he looked about. A large dark oblong shape stood against one wall. T'ek stepped closer to it, straining to make out its shape. It was perfectly rectangular, about two meters tall and one wide. The only other notable feature was the pair of hands jutting from its mass. They seemed to be made of the same blackish metal as the block itself.
T'ek stood looking at it in wonder for a moment, then calmed himself. He stepped to its side and found a small panel with small buttons. He studied the buttons for a moment, then pressed one. The entire block glowed hot red for a second, then white. Its light filled the small sensor access room. T'ek covered his eyes. He heard a rustled thump and looked to the ground. Lying there was a man. He wore robes not unlike T'ek's... but his were refined. His clothes were properly fitted to his stature, and he wore them elegantly.
Clink!
Beside the man fell a long cylindrical tube. It had a red button in its center. T'ek gasped silently. It was a lightsaber.
MORE TO COME...
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