All was quiet in system CQS-4269, an uninhabited system made up of a small star and seven gas planets. All of a sudden, all was not quiet. The outermost planet, of its own accord, vanished. The other six planets followed suit, from outermost in. Nobody would have know about what had happened, except for a small, automatic station that had been placed there to witness this. It sent a broadcast that consisted of a visual record and of a short message: "Weapon Black works. Weapon Black works"
Admiral Carrock snapped toward the messages console upon hearing the Bleep bleep bleep, meaning there was a new message. He had almost forgotten this noise. The star destroyer, Superior One, had been in the middle of a deserted system for almost three standard years know. Messages were rare. He pressed buttons, bringing up the correct screen:
Probe st-100: Weapon Black works Weapon Black works
Time: *<*^^*>>
System: CQS-4269
Hmm, system CQS, thought Carrock.
"Aha! A sucess! I will be promoted to Moff for sure!" The bridge officers of the Superior One almost fell off the seats. Most of them were half asleep. A result of no one having anything in particular to do. Weapon Black was the sole purpose of Superior One: Grand Moff Tarkin had assigned the whole crew to work on a device in the battle against the rebellion. But this weapon had been given up on as hopeless years ago. When the probe droid didn't report the crew gave up. From then on the Superior One had been useless in the battle against the rebellion. But now...
Admiral Carrock, prepared a message to Grand Moff Tarkin aboard the new Death Star. When he sent it a message come up on that screen. No Longer accessible. Hmm, thats strange, thought Carrock. He then muttered under his breath, "The Death Star was supposed to be invincible and its suffering from com failures."
He was wondering how long it would take until the Death Star had its com's up and running again when one of his bridge crew, a middle-aged man with light brown hair and a mustache came up to him.
"Sir"
"Yes what is it Captain"
"I was just talking to my family, Sir, and........."
"And what Captain"
"Well Sir, there seems to have been an incident at Yavin 4"
"The Rebel base?"
"Yes Sir, but its seems that the Empire has underestimated the Rebels."
"Really, how so?"
"They destroyed the Death Star, Sir"
"What! But thats impossible it was invincible!"
"I know Sir. But its seems there was a weakness that the rebels found out about and exploited it."
"Hmm."
"What do we do now Sir?"
"I don't know, I guess we wait until, we get word from somebody. Grand Moff Tarkin must have left word about our purpose out here to someone."
Admiral Carrock, onboard an Imperial Class Star Destroyer, looked out of the viewing port from his Admiral's seat. He could hear in the background the soft whispers of crew members talking about the destruction of the Death Star, and the new superweapon. Admiral Carrock had told all of the crew that they would remain in their slow drift in the quiet system they were in, until told otherwise when they contacted someone.
The current active captain approached the Admiral who was still sitting in his seat staring out into space.
"Sir. Communications just got a hold of the flagship Lancer. We have informed the flagship of our current position, and the flagship is coming out here. We have also told them the new of the superweapon. They are sending a small team out to the superweapon to make inspections. The team is going to relay messages back and forth so we will know why and how it worked. Is the information we told Lancer okay, Sir?"
"You did fine. I suggest you get some rest for when the Lancer gets here. We will all meet the Admiral on board and talk to him about what we are going to do now that the Death Star is destroyed, and now that this new superweapon works,"the admiral said turning to look over all of the crew members on the bridge. Everyone was talking amongst themselves.
"Okay, sir. I'll get rest,"the captain said turning and walking through the bridge to his sleeping quarters. Admiral Carrock knew that when the flagship got to their position, they would be going into a heated discussion on how and when to use the new superweapon. Admiral Carrock figured that the superweapon would be put into action as soon as possible, considering that the Alliance took out the Death Star.
Admiral Carrock hoped that he would get to see some action against the Alliance. It had been three years since the last action he had seen...
Luke Skywalker peeked out from below his X-Wing. "Try it now, Artoo" A beep answered, then turned to a shriek as sparks began to fly everywhere.
"Shut it off! Shut it off!" Scrambling away from his fighter, he watched as R2-D2 activated his Fire Extinguisher and put out the electric fire, blackening his X-Wing in the process.
"Oh, man" Luke grumbled. "Now I have to start all over again!" Reaching into his belt, he pulled out his Hydrospanner and began to work on the lower S-Foil.
Suddenly, his Hydrospanner slipped from his greasy hand, and tumbled out of sight under his X-Wing's fuselage.
Muttering a silent curse, Luke bent down to retrieve his tool.
"Patience, Luke." said a ghostly, familiar voice.
"Ben?" Luke said in surprise, standing up quickly. Unfortunately, his head hadn't quite cleared the S-Foils, and it hit solidly, sending waves of pain through his head.
"Patience." Obi-Wan repeated, and then his blank unconsciousness turned to nightmare.
It started peacefully. He floated in space, slowly passing through a quiet star system, devoid of starships, or any type of life for that matter. But as he watched, he could feel the darkness growing in the system, starting at the planet farthest from the sun and moving inward toward the star at the center of the system. It felt like a thousand needles slowly moving through the system. Tiny pulses of energy moved through the system. Suddenly, the farthest planet disappeared altogether, not as if it was being cloaked, as if the ghost of the Death Star had quickly and silently dealt out its power with ruthless determination. And then the second, then third, and then the fourth planets vanished as well. Horror filled Luke, as he realized he was right in the path of the destruction. He tried to escape, but time seemed to slow to the speed of mud, as the deadly pulses intensified and began to pound the planet nearest to him. He watched helplessly as chuncks of the planet vapourized under the onslaught of the powerful energy. Soon dust was all that remained between him and the pulsing needles of energy. And then, they were attacking him, drilling holes through his body, blinding him with pain and fear. And then, all was black.
"Luke!" came a loud voice. "Can you hear me?"
"Oh dear, Master Luke, are you alright. Oh dear, oh dear!" came the unmistakeable voice of an over-anxious protocal droid. Even through all the pain, Luke had to smile.
Slowly he opened his eyes, then instantly regreted it, as harsh white light tore into his brain. "Ahhhhh!" he yelled.
"Luke!" came the fist voice he'd heard. Opening his eyes slowly, he brought the figure leaning over him into focus. It was Leia. Slowly, other figures came into focus. It was his friends.
They were all here. Han Solo, Chewbacca, Wedge Antilles, even R2-D2 and C-3P0 were there.
"Then what was that before..." he wondered. It must have been a dream. But then he remembered. It was a voice. The voice of Obi-Wan Kenobi. The it must have been a vision...
"Leia!! We have big trouble."