There had been many stories about a mysterious city built but ancient Jedi, known only as the Lost City of the Jedi. Built thousands of years before the Empire came, it retained knowledge and secrets from centuries ago, to the present time. The Empire had been weakened severly by the destruction of the second Death Star and the loss of the Emperor and Darth Vader, but the knowledge cantained within the databanks of the Jedi computer, hidden within the Lost City, could restore the Empire to power and destroy the Rebellion which was slowly taking precedent in the galaxy. Within the dephths of the city, a girl was raised by the droids who cared for the city in absence of the Jedi. Unknown to her, she, herself, had the secret that could bring back the empire. The Empire knew this and banded together to find the Lost City. The Rebellion, learning of this, is also trying to find the Lost City, to keep it from falling into the Empire's hands.....
Grand Moff Ardrin stood on the bridge of his Super Star Destroyer, Black Death, preparing to address the bounty hunters who had also gathered at these coodinates to receive their instructions. Looking out among them, he recognised a few: Boba Fett's Slave I, Dengar's ship, and now it was time to address them. "Open a wide-band frequency to the ships." the Grand Moff said to the helmsman
"Yes, sir. Frequency open."
"Bounty Hunters, your assignment is as follows: find the Lost City of the Jedi and bring the main computer and the girl to me. The girl is aproximately 14 years old and wears a crystal birthstone around her neck. All other information will be transmitted to you immediatly. There is a million credit bounty on her, as well as the computer. That is all." the transmission ended.
Luke Skywalker was meditating inside his quarters. He let the Force flow through him, focusing it, directing it in his serech for the Lost City. The fate of the universe depended on who won the deadly struggle to find it. A voice broke through his inward calm.
"Luke, Luke! You need to rest now! You've been gone all day." he heard Leia saying
He broke his concentration and came out of his trance. The first thing he noticed was immence hunger, but he used the Force to help him ignore that, and he concentraited.
"Leia, any luck with the records?" He asked, getting up
Leia helped him up. "No, not really, but we've narrowed the serch to only forested worlds."
"Well now, that only leaves about a few hundered planets and moons. Do we even know what type of forest?"
"No." Leia siad shortly
"Well, let's go find out." he said
Leia herd his stomach rumble. "After we get something to eat." she said, smiling
As they left his quarters and walked down the hall, they saw Han running toward them.
"Han, what's wrong?" Luke asked
"Not wrong, but right for once. I think I've found an old explorer who knows what the planet is!"
"When can we go see him?" Leia asked
"Right now." he replied
Krys was practically sleeping through droid repair class. The old droid was so boring, that she learned more from the records in the Jedi Computer than she did from it. Fortunatly, for her, the old droid was malfuntioning a bit, and didn't seem to notice. He just kept right on lecturing her. Finally, a bell rang and the droid dismissed her to go home.
Instead of going straight to her home on Sunrider lane, she took a sharp detour to the lift. She looked at it in awe. It was the only way to get to the surface of Dantooine. She put the key card she had secretly been consturcting into the slot, and prayed that it would work. The lift opened and she went in, waiting for it to take her topside. When it began to rise through the levels of rock and dirt, she felt like her stomach was plunged down to her feet by gravity. When the door opened, she walked out into the sunlight, wincing at first, and gradually began to get used to it. Now that she was here, she wondered what she was going to do first?
"So," the old explorer weezed "You wish to know of the Lost City." he narrowed his eyes and looked at Han, Leia, and Luke in turn. "Why should I tell you anything?"
"We'll pay well." Han said
"How much?"
"5,000 credits"
"10,000 or no deal."
"5,000 or we leave right now." Luke put in, calling the explorer's bluff
The explorer's shrewed eye turned to face him. His eye narrowed once again and he frowned.
"All right, young Jedi, 5,000. Now sit down and deposite the money into this account." he said, handing them an account number
"When I was young, about your age, Jedi." he gestured to Luke slightly "I heard wonderous tales of a City of Jedi. This was before the Empire came, so it was not lost, just well hidden. Only a fully trained Jedi Knight, or possibly the children of a Jedi, would know the location of the City. But things have changed. The Empire wiped out the Jedi, save for you few survivors, but the location of the City died with them. The City was now officially the Lost City of the Jedi. As a young man, I followed all the leads I could get, and that lead me to Dantooine. Somewhere on the largest continent. That is all the information I can give you." he finished
"Thank you." Leia said, as they started to leave
"But beware, the Empire's remnants might also know this. I have friends who helped me in my quest, and they are not as loyal as I. They would do anything for the right price. Beware, former Rebels, beware." he warned
"We will." Leia assured him, and they left
Han circled the planet of Dantooine with some annoyance. "Trees, trees, nothing but trees..." he muttered. "We shouldn't have trusted that crazy loon! 5,000 good credits wasted for absolutely nothing at all! There's no sign of even a primitive civilization here... and certainly not a city of highly advanced Jedi!"
Luke was silent throughout Han's tirade, his eyes closed and concentrating. Suddenly, his eyes flew open in surprise. "You're wrong, Han. Although I couldn't detect any city, there is one humanoid life form down there--a young girl--and if the explorer was telling the truth, there might be a survivor. Land the Falcon. If we can find the girl before the Empire catches wind of this, we have a good chance of finding the city before they do."
"Whatever you say kid," Han shrugged and prepared the Falcon for landing.
Alida Swift sat in the pilot seat of her small space craft, glaring at the holocom, where Boba Fett was speaking to her. "I don't think so, Fett," she said cooly. "You've hired me to do the leg work before on your little bounty missions, but this time I'm my own boss, and when I find the girl and the city, you're not going to cut in on my credits."
With that note, she flipped off the holocom, ending any further conversation. Alida had never enjoyed the life of the bounty hunter, but when the smuggling business was going slowly, she turned to hunting down people for the highest bidder--Alliance or Empire, she didn't care, as long as the credits were good and she didn't have to deal with slime like Boba Fett.
For now, though, she knew that she would have to play her game carefully and avoid any confrontations with any group that might be searching for the city--Alliance or bounty hunters, because she had a contact that knew more than anyone else did.
The city was on Dantooine, but nowhere where the Alliance or any other bounty hunters would find it. The city had been built underground, and Alida was the only living being who knew the code that allowed anyone to go inside. Her contact had suffered a fateful "accident" involving a landspeeder that had lost its brakes, and Alida was sure that anyone else who got in her way would suffer the same fate.
Krys walked among the trees, trying to absorb everything. She was really here! This was really happening! She wasn't just studing things, or looking at pictures, or writing reports, she was experiancing life! It felt wonderful. She ran on into the woods, but paused before she got too far. What would happen if she got lost? She walked back to where the lift was and memorized her surroundings, so that she would recadnise it when she came back. Then as she left again, she left small trail markers, like broken twigs, or a special stone formation, so that she wouldn't get lost.
She must have walked a standard kilometer or so before she ran out of energy and sat down by a stream. She cupped her hands together and splashed some of the water onto her face, and then drank some. Sweet and pure, not anything like the flat old recycled water back at the City. Krys then laied down flat on her back, and looked up at the sky.
She'd been staring at the clouds in the dimming daylight for some time before she saw a ship go by. She sat up, staring at where the ship had been a moment ago. Could it have possibly been the Millenium Falcon that she saw? It cirtanly looked like it at a glance, but that was exactly what it had been, a glance. She told herself that she was daydreaming, and walked back towards the City. What would happen if it was one of the remaing Empire ships? Were they looking for the City?
She came to a dead stop, her blood running cold. What if it WAS the Empire? What if they WERE looking for the City? If they found her, the City would be lost. She broke into a run as she dashed back to the sheltering walls of the City in fear. She had to tell the head droid what she had seen.
The ramp lowered slowly. As soon as it touched the ground, Luke Skywalker stepped down from the Millenium Falcon to the forested floor. His hand wavered about his lightsaber as a feeling of foreboding spread through his body. Although he could see nothing but a still forest, his apprehension refused to leave him
Han Solo came down the ramp behind him, blaster unholstered and ready. "Hey, kid, what's the matter?"
"Just a feeling I have...but it's probably nothing. Come on. The girl's headed in a direction to the west of here."
Aboard the Ultima
Alida skimmed the treetops, preparing to land her ship. Suddenly, she saw something that made her start and look twice. A ship had already landed--and not just any ship--a ship that was among the most-wanted list for the Empire...the Millenium Falcon! Alida looked closer. Two men and a woman were exiting the craft. They had not seen her yet. Knowing that they were searching for the same thing she was, Alida set her jaw. They were not going to cut in on her profits!
It was only a second's decision that made her decide what to do. Alida dove straight for the small group, firing lasers indiscriminantly as she went.
"Take cover! We're under attack!" Leia ran for the cover of some bushes, followed closely by Han, who fired at the ship with his blaster, but with little effect on the Ultima.
The ground was peppered by the red laser shots which seemed to follow Luke as he dove into the trees. Suddenly, a stray shot hit a rusted metal object left by some lone explorer years ago. It was an explosive, and the area behind Luke was immediately turned into a raging inferno. Luke looked wildly behind him--he was cut off from Han and Leia!
Leia screamed. "LUKE!!!" She tried to run to the inferno, but Han caught her by her arm.
"What do you think you're doing?! You're not going to run into there and get yourself killed!"
"But-but...that explosion was from the exact spot that Luke disappeared to!"
Krys heard a ship landing nearby, but kept running. The City wasn't too far ahead. If she kept up this pace, she would get there in less than ten standard minutes. She kept running, using what little she knew of USING the Force to keep her going. Then the inevitable happened, she tripped and gave a faint cry as she twisted her ankle on a stray root. She tried to get back up, but her ankle wouldn't support her. She grimly set her jaw and decided it was sprained. Just her luck to sprain her ankle at a time like this! She was trying to get up again, when she heard someone cry "LUKE!!" and saw trees flaming a few meters behind her. Luke? Who was Luke? Then she stiffened as she heard branches snapping and leaves russling. It wasn't the fire, someone was coming this way! She franticly tried to stand up and limp away, but it was no use. She wasn't going anywhere. All she could do was try to dissapear as the footsteps got closer and closer and closer.
Luke Skywalker backed away from the fire. There was no way that he was going to penetrate that. He was on his own. Or was he? He reached out with the Force briefly, and found that she was nearby! He had to get to her before whoever attacked them did. If they did, it was all over. He started running in that direction, fearful that he wouldn't get there in time.
Alida decided that the fire would be enough to keep them from getting any further. Those two wouldn't be going anywhere, but the third was outside the ring of fire. She wasn't going to let him cut in on her profit's either! She brought her ship around to cut him off, but then a flash of movenmet cought her eye. There was yet ANOTHER on this planet? She couldn't belive it! It was like the whole galxay knew the location of the City! She landed her ship just beyond where she had seen the second movement and headed in it's direction.
Krys knew that she would be caught. She could hear her persuer's footfalls getting closer and closer... in a split second she made up her mind. She was not going down without a fight. Krys turned around and curled her hand around the first thing that caught her eye--a heavy rock. She knew enough of the Force to be able to hurl the object at high velocities, but she had never thrown it at a living being.
Luke rushed forward and then stopped. A girl was glaring at him, ready to throw a heavy rock at him. He knew he could deflect it, but he was worried about something else. He had a feeling that something was going to--Luke decided to act a second too late. The cold metal of a blaster dug in between his shoulder blades, and an even colder voice said, "Don't move, Jedi, or both you and the girl die."
That's what you think Krys thought as she hurled the rock towards the pair. Just as she expected, the Jedi ducked and the...bounty hunter(?) was distracted, trying to shot at the rock and roll out of the way at the same time. She started firing at Krys before she had even come back up to her feet, but Krys concentrated and tried to make a shield around herself. She was only partially sucessful. The blaster bolts were diffused, and so their effectiveness was less than it might have been, but it was still enough to hurt.
But before Alida got the chance to fire a second shot at Krys, Luke was on his feet and deflecting the bolts with his lightsaber. Krys used the diversion to try to crawl behind the tree. She managed to do that, but her ankle was killing her with even that small effort. Not even the Force was helping much now.
Why can't the damn Jedi just die!? Alida thought, for Luke was begining to get the upperhand. She didn't like that, not one bit, but if she could get him to the Ultima, then he would have a nice surprise waiting for him. Quite a nice surprise...
Meanwhile, at the landing site...
"What are we going to do? That thing is after Luke!"
"Relax, your Highness, I've got every thing under control." Han pulled a remote device from his belt and aimed it at the Mellinium Falcon while pushing a series of buttons on it. Immediately the Falcon lit up and rose off the ground. Han taped in a few more buttons and the huge ship hovered over the fire and landed near Han and Leia. "I almost forgot to tell you. Chewie and I made a few improvements on her."
"No time for bragging",Leia said, grabbing Han by the shirt and pulling him aboard the hull. The ship sped over the surface of Dantoine in the direction that Luke had fled. "I can't detect anything on the scanners, Leia," Han informed her, "The tree cover is just too dense."
"We'll have to go on foot." Leia replied, "I'll bring the portable scanner, he can't have gone far.
Meanwhile, somewhere in the forest...
Alida fired her blaster as fast as she could at the Jedi until the barrel was glowing red hot, but Luke returned each volley with his light saber. Finally, Alida's blaster malfunctioned from the heat and the bolts ceased. She drew a thermal detonator from a pouch on her belt and pretended to arm it. She threw it at Luke who jumped to the ground expecting an explosion. While he was distracted, Alida sprang to the tree behind which Krys had been hiding, picked her up, and fled into the thick woods. Luke came to his senses and gave chase, but by the time he caght up with them, he saw Alida jump on an awaiting speeder bike with the girl over her lap and dissapear throgh the trunks of the trees.
Just as Krys was thinking of running for it again, while the two were distracted with dealing with each other, she was suddenly plucked up and being carried somewhere. Krys panicked and flailed out with her arms and legs, making her ankle hurt. But her assailant held firmly no matter how hard Krys kicked, punched, scratched, or yelled. This really wasn't turning out to be what she had hoped of the forests of Dantooine.
Alida ran through the woods, ignoring the girl the best she could. She had
stashed a speeder that should be just up ahead. She shifted the girl's weight on
her shoulders and dropped her to the ground with what she hoped would be enough
force to knock her out, but not enough to damage her. Alida would have done a
more surgical job if she had more time and if the girl hadn't been so annoying
so far. The girl's head thumped against a rock covered with thick moss, while
most of the rest of her body landed on a rotting tree carcass. The girl's eyes
closed and her body went limp. Alida picked her up once again and
carried
her to the speeder. The smuggler/bounty hunter half-jumped on the machine and
gunned the engines from a cold start.
"What was that?" asked Leia as she brought her blaster up in the general
direction of the distinctly mechanical noise she had
heard.
"What was what?" asked Han, looking up from studying the scanner that seemed to be malfunctioning. Leia cocked her head. "That. Listen, it's coming closer." Indeed, the whining of a speeder bike was getting louder. Han put away the scanner and drew out his blaster in one swift movement, looking watchfully in the direction of the anticipated assault. The whining grew to a roar in the relatively quiet woods as a speeder bike burst through the foliage. Both Han and Leia stepped back and fired off a few quick shots at it as the rider directed the bike to try to hit them, but couldn't be sure if they hit anything or not.
"Who was that?" asked Leia, staring after the spot where the bike had disappeared.
"I don't know, but we can count the fact that it wasn't Luke slumped in her lap as a good sign."
For a moment Luke thought of giving chase on foot, but he discerned it as a
hopeless attempt as he could no longer hear the
speeder. Well, the ground
battle was lost, but Luke would bet a lot that the Millennium Falcon
was faster than whatever it is the assailant had. He closed his eyes and
thought of Leia. Almost instantly, he felt the Force around him and the presence
of his sister, along with the less noticeable Force-presence of Han. He called
out to her, Leia, I'm here.
Luke?
Yes. That bounty hunter has the girl, and she's probably headed for her ship with her. You two stop her, I'll search for the Lost City down here.
There was a pause. All right. Set your comm to frequency 4587.983 H, we'll be back as soon as we can. With that the link was cut off. Luke took a breath to bring the world into focus again before closing his eyes and reaching into the Force once again. If this city had been occupied with Jedi for any length of time it should bear a distinct marking in the Force, no matter how long ago it was. There. He found it. The only problem was that the city seemed to be underground. How was he supposed to get to it? Well, the girl got out, didn't she? That suggests that there was a way in, and nearby. The girl didn't look as if she had been out in the wilderness long. Luke sunk deeper in the Force, tracing the girl's presence backwards, trying to figure out where she had walked. But the girl's presence was everywhere, sunk into the ground as much as the roots of the trees and plants. Luke brought himself out of the trance and sighed. It was going to be a long search. He lifted his eyes to the sky just as the Millennium Falcon took off. The other ship must have lifted off while he was in the trance.
Suddenly, there was the roar of engines close to him, but they weren't the familiar sound of the Falcon. The Force warned him just in time, and Luke threw himself to the forest floor a few feet to his left as red bolts burned through where he had been a split second before.