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Copyright © Daniel Eastham 2000. Goofy, Max and all related characters are trademarks of Disney ©. Luke Skywalker, Wedge Antilles and all related characters are trademarks of Lucasfilm Ltd. The Author reserves all rights of this publication. This may only be published on a site or other form with the author’s authorisation.

In English –

You can only put this on your site if I say so and you give me credit and don’t step on Disney’s or Lucasfilm toes

Daniel Eastham
1 – 1 -2000
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…
 

Space, for millions of miles all around. If the test worked, the distance could be bridged in mere seconds, it could be the most important discovery of the entire galaxy. Glancing down at the huge length of the New Republics only captured super star destroyer the Luksana he was busy thinking, as he was distracted.
“Sir, the test is ready to be conducted”
 General Wedge Antilles stepped down from the viewing platform on the Luksana and turned towards his Commander.
 “Are you sure, the last time we tried it we nearly destroyed the ship. Have you double checked it all?”
 “Affirmative, all parts and equipment working at one hundred percent.”
 “Right, let’s go” Wedge gestured for the Commander to follow him as he headed for the door.

The lift opened up to the main hanger bay of the Luksana, Most of the TIE fighters that the empire had left abandoning ship were removed for scrap, to be turned into new X and E wings. In the place of the TIE racks were a roughly hexagonal set of panels. Each of the panels glowed with a dull green light. In the middle of the panels was a raised dais with a huge turbine of some sort hovering on repulsor pads a few metres above it. Surrounding this set of instruments was a huge array of complex machines.
 As Wedge took it all in a computer voice he recognised as C3PO boomed (or whined) over the intercom “ahem…would the hanger please be evacuated for testing. Testing will commence in five minutes” A series of flashing green lights turned on and Wedge headed for the central control room.
 “Ok, lets get ready, charge the pulse accelerators and start injecting fuel at three atoms a second. Ah, general, good to see you.”
 Outside, the lights turned yellow
 “Are we ok? I hope there isn’t any problems.”
 “None at all, we should be ok to carry on. As long as we stick to the proper rates and procedures. What’s our planet target?”
 “Choose a random planet. Even a bit of dirt will be a achievement.”
 “Planet chosen at 30,352,656 Light years. Begin second phase, energise turbine.”
 Outside, the lights turned red and the turbine flared into life with a flash and rumble. The outer rotors began to spin slowly.
 “Ready General?”
 “Ok, FIRE”

It was over two years since the PowerLine vacation that had almost cost him his girlfriend (and his life) but Max Goof was no worse for wear.
 “Dad, c’mon. I did my room, it’s as clean as a whistle see!”
Goofy cast a critical eye over the small room and then focused on the cupboard “Aha!” with a quick stride he stepped over to it.
 “No, that’s clean. Trust me!”
With a tremendous crack the cupboard door gave way, releasing an eruption of clothes, CD’s and other bits and pieces. Both of them were promptly swallowed in the chaos.
 “Max! Awe… I just tidied this up! Now I’m gonna have to do it again!”
 Max tried to edge away from the mess, as if to separate himself from the chaos he had caused.
 “Not so fast young man, you can get back here and clean it up. I am not gonna do it for you when you cant be bothered to do it yourself! Now clean it up or Ill just throw it all away. Now I’m late for work.”
 With a grumble Max began to pick up the debris. As his father got close to the door, a strange feeling passed through him, setting his hair on end. “Dad, you feel that?”
 “Yeah, sort of.”
The room was filled with a huge flash and what looked like a glowing green black hole swallowed up the contents of the room. Both Goofy and Max couldn’t find anything to hold onto. With terrified screams they both entered the abyss.

“General, we’ve got something, appears to be fragments of some kinds but I’m picking up life forms as well!”
 “Get security down there now! Where’s Luke?”
 “Here”
Wedge turned towards the Jedi and stated “don’t scare me like that”
 “Wouldn’t have it any other way. I’m gonna head down there and see what our guests are like when they arrive”
 “Be careful Luke, we still don’t know what this device can do properly.”
 Luke smiled and unhooked his light sabre, with a sizzle he ignited the blade and walked down to the hanger.
 “Prepare for arrival, signs are good. Five seconds… Four… Three…”
 A bead of sweat rolled down Wedges face
“Two…One… Cut off!”
 The turbine appeared to flash brightly for a second and threatened to blow up. The flash dazzled the troops but Luke Skywalker had the force to protect his eyes. He glanced at the Dais to see two curious looking creatures. He sensed no aggression from them but he knew they were very scared. They were both surrounded by what appeared to be junk just like the mess on his sister’s children’s floor back at the Jedi Academy.
 “Um…Hello, welcome to the Luksana on behalf of the new republic I welcome you.”
 Luke had never been very good when it came to diplomacy.
 The two creatures just looked at him in a confused and fearful way. Luke quickly switched off his sabre. He outstretched his hand to the taller of the two, a curious looking fellow indeed.
 He grabbed it and pulled Luke down. Immediately a guard fired at the tall creature, Luke ignited his sabre in an instant and deflected the bolt harmlessly into a wall. The smaller creature yelled and cowered behind a panel.
 “No more firing!” Luke yelled. He made a point of looking each guard in the eyes directly.
 “Wh…Whe…Where are we?” the taller creature asked, the smaller one looked up and gave Luke a look in a way that said the same question.
 “I’m sure you have many questions but for now you need rest, come, lets get you some quarters.”

Goofy sat down on a comfortable but severe looking chair and looked around uneasily. “Dad, where are we, I’m scared.” Max paced the floor, looking extremely stressed and worried. “Calm down boy. We were probably just knocked out by the ‘accident’ that you caused. But then if this is my dream… then why…aww, I dunno Max.” He put his head in his head in his hands and sobbed slowly. “hey, cmon, its not that bad…” Max’s eyes began to water as he sat next to his dad. He knew that they would get home. Somehow. He knew.

“No, Its too much of a risk, I forward the notion that we terminate the project immediately” Councillor Rend, a Rodian, stood up to punctuate his point.
 Leia had been sitting in this room with the same people for almost five hours, yet by some miracle she had managed to keep her temper but now she felt herself getting angry. She knew anger led to the dark side but surely it can be excused in a place like this.
She finally decided to say something. “Councillor, with all due respect I must disagree. Exterminating life forms at random is no better then what the Empire did to Alderran. I reject your notion, as would most of the people in this hall.”
 Leia looked around to see nods from most of the senators, nobody had the right to kill other creatures just for being new and different.
“The Chief of State is right, I sensed no aggression from them whatsoever. In fact, they are more scared of the unknown then we are.” Luke’s voice boomed from hidden speakers while he was displayed on a large view screen. Trust Luke to stand up for her, he was a lot better at influencing people then he gave himself credit for. Maybe they could make a diplomat out of him yet.
“You cannot be certain that they are not hostile. They are from a planet so far away who knows what they are capable of. I think at least keep them under strict security. Until a decision can be made I suggest we keep them hidden away. If the Empire gets wind of this, who knows what could happen.” Said a councillor from another platform.
“Right, I can accept that. That seems like a logical solution. All in favour?” Most of the senators raised there hands.
“Good, Luke?” Leia turned to the view screen.
“Yes”
“Tell Wedge to set the Luksana for random jumps in hyper space. That should cause a few tracking problems. As for the rest of us, I declare this meeting adjourned.”
As the senators and councillors walked off to where ever, Leia managed to catch up with her husband Han.
“Well, what’s your opinion General” She liked to tease him over his rank, he had always hated being classed as a military officer. Didn’t give him all that much freedom.
“My opinion? I don’t think the rest of the senate really cares. Looks as if they already made up their minds. Luke sent me some pictures and videos of the creatures. They speak Basic and they seem to be father and son. I think Luke’s right, they seem scared. I was thinking of getting the twins to talk to the younger one. I’m sure it would appreciate a equal age difference.”
“Not it Han, he. They’re Male, ones about sixteen years and the others about thirty-nine. As for the twins? Well, if you can talk them into it, Jacen will probably be in his ship, which he loves, and Jaina won’t like to be separated from her medical lab. But, I don’t see the problem. Come on, let’s give them a call.”

This was the life, flying out here with nothing but infinite possibilities. Jacen flew a A-Wing, it was the only ship that he liked for speed and stealth. Of course he had the knack for upgrades he had picked up from his farther and the little ship could cause nasty damage to most small to medium star ships. He loved it. As he got near to the last beacon on his scouting run he got a call from Jaina, his sister.
“Jacen, hello?”
“Wh… oh hi! What’s wrong?”
“I’m sure you’ve heard about the creatures the ‘experiment’ managed to bring us, well, now our parents have told us to talk to them. I’m heading for the ship as we speak.”
Jaina had an entire corvette to herself; it was a big ship. She even had a crew, but her medical research was a lot more important then being a commander of a squadron.
“Sure, where is it?”
“I’m sending you the co-ordinates on scramble code alpha omega five. See you soon, bye!”
Jacen switched off the viewer. His younger brother Anakin was still undercover in what was left of the empire. He always did like the cloak and dagger stuff. With a quick use of the force he managed to set the location without touching a thing. With a small cry of delight he entered hyperspace.

Max sat silently in the large cabin. He thought it was a dream, it had to be a dream. Nothing this freaky could happen? Could it? He watched his dad who was snoring loudly on the bed. Nothing he said could cheer him or himself up. As he sat and pondered this, the stars outside changed from pinpricks to lines to an intense tunnel of light. “What the…Dad! Dad! Wake up!” Goofy slowly sat up, with a vacant look in his eyes. “What is it boy?” He then let out a rather loud yawn and stretched. “Were moving!”
 “What?”
 “Look!”
Goofy stood up and headed for the window. His draw almost dropped to the floor “Its beautiful!” Max didn’t look impressed.
 “You still don’t get it do you! This isn’t a dream, this is real! Can’t you see!”
 “Now Max, theirs no need to shout at me. Lets just take a step outside” Goofy walked to the door and a tinny voice responded to him.
 “Access denied”
 “What?”
 “Access denied”
 “Now come on!”
 “Access Denied!”
Goofy hit the small device that was talking to him and the door flew open.
 “Great Dad!”
 “I didn’t know I had it in me.”
As they both edged through the door a voice stopped them.
 “I’m sorry sir, I’m afraid I can’t let you leave. I have been programmed to stop you, have a nice day.”
 Goofy stepped forward.
 “Were only going for a little walk.”
 “No you’re not, sorry”
 “What are you gonna do about it?” Said Goofy in his best ‘tough guy’ accent
 With a few clicks, the droid’s arms swivelled round to reveal a nasty set of quad laser cannons. “I am a TC-150 model Assassin droid, I know 325 different ways to kill. Please go back inside.”
 “Command override – two one beta” Said a voice behind them, the droid clicked its arms back into place and stood back to its guard post. The two of them turned towards the voice to see a man with dark brown hair and tired green eyes. “I’m General Wedge Antilles. Sorry about the droid, but we had to be sure that you weren’t hostile. Come, I think its time you had a quick tour. And got some clean clothes.” Goofy liked the man, didn’t seem to be bothered about species difference. As they walked through the ship he found out why. Everywhere he looked he saw different types of people. From Humans to Mon Calamari. It was lucky for him he had read a book that told him what they were in the cabin before they had left. He listened as this Wedge guy spoke about the ship. “This is the biggest ship in the new republic fleet, at a huge eight kilometre length with over one thousand different weapon systems. It carries about one hundred and forty four fighters with numerous support craft. In here” He gestured for them to follow him inside a small door.
 “Wow, amazing!” Said Max
They were looking down over the length of the ship. All around them was a pulsating tunnel of light. “Now for the best part” mused wedge. As they watched, the tunnel broke up into pure white lines, which gradually got shorter until they were nothing but pinpricks. They saw ships flying back and forth heading for more ships. Some were almost as big as the Luksana while others were a lot smaller. They saw ships with strange bubble like things which all looked different. As they watched a hammer headed ship escorted by a smaller ship pass under the ship and disappear. Wedge gestured for them to follow and they both headed for the lift.
 The largest hanger bay on the ship was different from the test hanger. Most of the huge floor was open to space, with only a thin force field of sorts keeping the air in and the vacuum of space out. As Max watched, the hammer headed ship entered the hanger and the roar of its engines deafened him. The smaller ship also entered and landed just a few metres away. The larger ship was grabbed by what looked like a large claw and several tubes were inserted into it. Max watched as the smaller A – shaped ships cockpit opened and a young man got out. He couldn’t have been much older then max and yet he had his own ship. It makes the desire for a car seem pretty pointless.
 “Wow, this is amazing. I have never seen anything quite like it.” Said Max.
 “Yeah…” said his father looking around in a daze. The effect had simply overwhelmed him. As they looked around they could see nothing but activity, from droids loading ships to pilots getting ready. Max thought that he would like this. “Hi,” said the pilot.
 “Hi, umm, nice ship.” Replied Max rather nervously.
 “Isn’t she just. She’s an A-Wing star fighter. Speed, about say five hundred kph. Powered by twin ‘event horizon’ J-77 engines. She may not be as robust as even an Y-wing but she can outrun anything. Even the Millennium Falcon can’t race her. Enough about me, How are you getting on in this strange New World?”
As Max watched, the pilot levitated a glass through the air and poured himself some water.
 “How the hell did you do that?”
 “Its called ‘the force’ you see, I, like my uncle am a Jedi Knight. You want to see something really cool?”
 Max nodded, if its cooler then making glasses move on there own it had to be good. Max watched as the pilot took a small, forearm long cylinder from his belt. With a quick press of the button set on the tube a bright orange blade spouted from the dish at the far end.
 “It’s called a Light Sabre, watch.”
The pilot walked up to a empty packing cylinder. The cylinder looked extremely tough. With a diagonal cutting action the pilot sliced through the crate without stopping once. The cut was so clean it was like a razor blade.
 “Wow, that’s great! I’m sorry but I didn’t catch your name?”
 “I’m Jacen Solo, my sister Jaina Solo is captain of that ship up there.” He said while he was pointing to the hammer headed ship. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to meet up with my squadron”
 “No chance for that” said a rather flushed Luke Skywalker. “Our scanners are showing a large number of ships heading this way. They seem to be imperial.”
 While Luke said this, Wedge set of the general alarm and the hanger was filled with activity. A computerised voice started to inform people “Warning, the Luksana is under attack, battle stations. This is not a drill.” It said this about five times.
 “Ok, Max take your dad and head for my sisters ship. The empire will think you’re on this ship. Jaina’s ship has a cloaking device anyway so you should be safe.”
 “Wait, where are you going?”
 “To kick some imperial ass.”
 “On your own? Your crazy!”
 “Not when ive got a entire squadron. Five X-Wings two B-Wings and three E-Wings.”
 “Good luck Jacen, I don’t know what else to say”
 “Try ‘May the force be with you’”
With that Jacen hopped back into his ship and signalled to the other fighters taking off around him. Max stepped back and took his dad by the arm. “Come on Dad, you heard him.”
 “Now hold on son. How do we know its not a trap?”
Wedge heard him and handed him a pistol. “If you think it’s a trap do you think id give you that.”
 “Its probably not even loaded.”
Goofy pointed the gun at a container and pulled the trigger. With a large bang a ruby red bolt blew a hole in the side. “Whoa, sorry Mr General sir!”
 “Don’t worry about it, now get to that ship!”
Max and Goofy ran to the airlock and jumped aboard. Just as the hatch closed, the ship lurched into life. Max and Goofy waited until a young lady, the same age as Max he guessed came and introduced herself.
 “Hello, I’m Jaina Solo. You’ve probably met my brother by now. If you’d like to follow me ill take you to your room. Were gonna have to move fast, all hells going to break loose in a second.”
 There quarters were no way near as large as the Luksana’s but they were still comfortable. Goofy looked out of the window and saw the attacking force. “Max, take a look at this.”
 The main force broke through back to real space just after a smaller set of ships came in from the opposite sides. A large ship resembling a smaller version of the Luksana was the first ship to open fire. It was soon destroyed by the larger ships cannons.  But more ships fired, of course the Luksana could handle the entire fleet on its own but some of the republic fleet was destroyed. As they both watched the explosions of a cruiser blowing up Max thought he could feel the terror of the victims. He saw the diamond patterns of Jacen’s squadron destroy fighter after fighter but the odds were stacked against them. Max watched as one of Jacen’s E-Wings exploded while Jacen destroyed two more TIE fighters. He felt a sudden joy to see a huge number of republic fighter’s swarm out from the Luksana like angry hornets. The TIE fighter’s began to retreat but to no avail. Within a few more minutes most of the fighters were destroyed. Jacen’s squadron flew around and the B-Wings destroyed the bridge of the Interdictor class cruiser, which had prevented the republic ships from escaping. Within seconds the entire republic fleet entered hyperspace. It had been a quick escape but it had cost the republic a lot of good people. Max headed for the door. He needed some time to himself. The last few hours had been exiting but he was sure it was going to get worse.

Jacen piloted with great skill, weaving in out while destroying ship after ship of the Empire. The force made flying effortless while the swivelling laser cannons on his ship gave him complete freedom of fire arcs. His squadron was called Viper Group, he had chose the name himself after a long extinct reptile that was extremely dangerous.
“Good shooting, viper two and three. With that cruiser gone we can get out of here.”
“Rogue one to Viper one. How’s it going?”
“Wedge, I thought you were shipboard?”
“Its been too long since I was in combat. Besides, I need the exercise”
Jacen smiled to himself. “Who’s commanding the Luksana?”
“Luke of course. At least he can put up with threepio more than me.”
Jacen suppressed a laugh. That droid had all the good intent but somehow got up everyone’s nose. Maybe it was just the constant winging. Who knows? He caught a glimpse of Jaina’s ship entering hyperspace just before the Luksana likewise entered hyperspace. “Ok Vipers, lets move it out. Wedge, want us to stay?”
“That’s negative, were getting out of here too.”
“Roger, see you at the rendezvous point”
Jacen set his ship on autopilot and told the rest of the group to do the same. It was time to leave.

“Sir, the rebel ships are retreating. It appears we have won this battle” said a imperial lieutenant.
 “Excellent, but I can not help but wonder why the super star destroyer was in such a hurry. It could have destroyed our entire fleet. Something is not quite right.” This answer came from Moff Grin. It was a big responsibility being the last surviving Moff. Unlike so many bickering warlords who had no brains he had united many scattered imperial factions. Now at last the imperial fleet was beginning to restore its old honour. Of course the rebel fleet didn’t know this. He was poising his fleet for a devastating attack on Coruscant, the capitol of the Rebel Alliance while their fleet policed the poorly run systems of the Rebel Alliance. But that star destroyer was puzzling him. It was a important ship, no doubt about it, but why?
 As the Moff thought to himself, Anakin Solo was crouched behind one of the engines. He had to warn the republic of the coming attack and this is the only shielded place in the entire ship
 If he were caught he would have to fight his way out. That was not a option as the Moff would undoubtedly put his plans forward. As he sent the message he could only hope that the republic received it in time.

The door chime sounded at Max’s quarters, he had a separate one from his dad even though it was just next door. He had to complain of snoring to get it. Max headed for the door and opened it. “Uh, hi.” Standing at the door was a woman with long brown hair and lovely brown eyes. She moved with grace and smoothness. “Well, can I come in?” She said.
 “Sure, please do”
 “You must be Max. I’m Leia Organa Solo, chief of state for the republic, I wanted a chance to meet you. I haven’t had a chance to speak to your father yet. Look, ill cut to the point. You will be going back home soon but I’m afraid the machine is damaged slightly. You’re going to be stuck here for a good month. Im sorry but its unfortunate.”
 Max felt his heart sink, his hopes of getting Roxanne back slowly diminishing to nothing.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

CHAPTER 2

…

“Sir, there have been reports of the rebel ship entering the Kothlis system.”
 “Excellent news, plot a intercept course. Prepare the Demeter gun for testing.”
 Grin mused to himself. The Demeter was a next generation weapon, which was basically a large disrupter cannon. It was capable of shattering objects by vibrating the atoms causing them to break apart. The effect was almost like a nuclear blast, as all of the energy contained was released in a second. If this weapon worked, it could be more feared then the Death Star. But the rebels had a rather annoying habit of destroying any super weapons the empire made. This time, the weapon could easily protect itself against attack.
 As he watched the lines of hyperspace form he realised the full extent of his work. “Soon, I will have revenge”

As the Luksana met up with Jaina’s ship, the Hope, Jacen wandered alone to the hanger. He had been puzzled by the lead star destroyers reluctance to join in the last battle. He passed his hand over the door controls and strode in. “Jaina! Over here!” His sister let off a big grin and ran towards him. They embraced and Jaina sensed Jacen’s uneasiness. “What’s wrong?”
 “That star destroyer, why didn’t it….”
Jacen was cut off as the general alarm went off. “Not again, we only just got back!”
 Jaina sighed and headed back to the Hope while Jacen headed for his ship. How did the Empire know they were here, there had to be an informant.

“Sir, the Luksana is in range.”
 “Excellent, target the support ship with the Demeter, lets see what it can do.”
 As Grin observed through the bridge screen, a low rumble passed through the decks followed by a shudder as a ball of crackling blue energy was thrown out of the Demeter nozzle. As Grin watched, one of the Mon Calamari cruisers took the blast at its engines. A split second passed before the ship exploded in a tremendous pulse of light. The star destroyer was rocked by the shock wave as the Demeter took full effect. Grins smile faded as the wave grew in intensity. He watched in horror as his ship began to blossom in small explosions as components took the strain. Luckily the wave passed and the ship continued to advance.
 “Damage report!” he shouted
 “Light damage sir, port turbolaser number seven destroyed and a hull breach in sector five.”
 “Advance on the Luksana and prepare the Demeter for another shot.”

Wedge called out the abandon ship order just after he saw the Justice explode. He raced towards his ship carrying the only records of the time distortion tests in a small computer. As he raced for the hanger he felt a hand grab him on the shoulder. He turned to see Anakin get out of an alcove. “Anakin! How did you get on board!” Anakin told him how he had managed to sneak aboard the last shuttle from the Imperial ship to Kothlis and Kothlis to the Luksana.
 They both ran through the door and Wedge hoisted himself aboard his shuttle and Anakin grabbed on to the closing hatch and pulled himself into the Cargo Bay. “Come on Wedge!”
 Anakin watched as the shuttle took off and passed out of the ship, as he watched another pulse of light ripped through the Luksana and tore it apart. As the shock wave headed towards them Wedge pushed the ship into hyperspace and headed for Republic space.

Goofy watched the ship explode and felt his jaw drop. He saw many of the escape pods hit by the shock wave and blown away. He ran to the bathroom and vomited, the shock of what he just saw repulsing him. Max ran into the lounge, “Dad, Dad!” Goofy came into the room and sat down, still feeling ill. Max sat beside him and looked worried. “you okay?” he asked
 “They were people Max, living people and look what happened. It…it” he felt another surge of nausea and ran to the bathroom again. Max felt pity for his dad and understood how he felt. This war he had just been thrown into had just got worse. As he waited for his dad to recover he decided to take a short sightseeing tour around the ship. He taught it would be a good idea to see Leia, at least she would know what’s going on. As he rounded the corner to the corridor where her quarters were he bumped into tallish man with a untidy mop of hair on his head. “Sorry” he said out without stopping.
 “If you’re looking for Leia, she’s on the bridge. Can I help at all? I’m Han Solo, Leia’s husband.”
 “Well, I just wanted to know what’s going on. I mean its obvious that your at war with someone but its all a bit, I dunno, muddled.”
 “Well, I don’t know if I can tell you much. But come in and Ill tell you about this ‘war’”
 The quarters weren’t any bigger then Max’s and the furniture wasn’t any different either. It didn’t seem right for such high-ranking people to live here.
 Han must have seen his reaction and frowned. “What were you expecting kid, red carpet?”
 “No, sorry, umm” Han gestured for Max to take a seat. Han took the seat opposite and gave a lecture on the galactic wide civil war going on, and how the empire was all but defeated. “but I don’t get it, if the last battle happened around twenty two years ago then how comes they still fight?” asked Max.
 “Well, the empire doesn’t like defeat. They just don’t know when to quit. It’s a shame really, a lot of people would still be alive if they just gave up, you just saw how crazy and carefree they are. Now that weapon that they are using could cause a lot of problems. Until we figure out how to turn it off this is gonna be one long trip.”
 “Han, are me and my dad gonna get home?”
Han looked uneasy about this question and looked Max in the eye.
 “I don’t know kid, the only device we had was on the Luksana so that’s been well and truly blasted. We have the plans for it but, I dunno. We could build another but until that weapon is destroyed we don’t have time. I’m sorry but let’s face it. What good is it when you’re dead.”
 Max felt his heart sink, he felt a tear roll down his cheek. Now he would never see anyone again not even Roxanne or PJ. It was over for him. Max ran out of the room before Han could continue and headed towards his quarters. He burst in the room and collapsed on the couch and sobbed. “What’s wrong son!” exclaimed Goofy. “We…we…we cant get home dad!” Max threw himself into his father’s arms and cried. Goofy felt himself begin to cry as well.

“Well, what do we know about this weapon?” asked Admiral Ackabar from the Home Two. “Not a lot I’m afraid, apart from the fact it’s a big and dirty disrupter cannon. They have only mounted it on one star destroyer so it shouldn’t be too hard to destroy. The only problem is getting to it.” Replied Luke
 “What about our ‘visitors’, they could do it”
 “I don’t think that would be wise, they don’t know what’s going on.”
 “Good, they have no records whatsoever and they have ignorance on there side.”
 “Admiral, with all due respect I must disagree fully! It’s too dangerous. It goes completely against the Jedi code”
 “I’m sorry Luke, but when it’s a case of trading two lives against two million. It just outweighs it, I’m sorry but the senate is in agreement.
 Luke cut of the message in disgust. But as much as he hated to admit it, Ackabar was right. They would make brilliant operatives. With a loud sigh Luke called out to Leia using the force, explaining the situation in full. He sensed Leia’s disapproval straight away but told her to stay calm. “Artoo, come here.” He called out in the darkness of his room. A whistle with a series of beeps was followed by a little squat droid. his flashing ‘eye’ looked at Luke and another whistle followed.
 “Take this message to Goofy and Max, you know where they are?” Artoo let off a little affirmative beep and headed out of the door. Artoo whistled happily to himself as he headed for Goofy’s room and pressed the call button.

Goofy jumped up, startled by the noise. He opened the door and was took back as the little droid barged him out of the way and stood in the centre of the room. “Hello?” Asked Goofy timidly, the little droid let off a complex series of beeps and projected a image on the far wall from his dome shaped ‘head’.
 “Greetings, I am General Solo.” Said the voice over. “Now bear with me, you may be the only hope for the republic. I wish someone else could do it but they cant.” A image of a green and verdant planet appeared. “This is Arkrud. The empire is using this base as a supply port. We believe that the shipyard orbiting is where the Star Destroyer docks to recharge its weapons. This includes the so-called ‘Demeter’ project. We need you to get to this point.” The camera zoomed in on a bustling city. “From there we need you to act as suspicious as possible to provide cover for our teams. The Empire has no idea who you are so you will be fairly safe. We also need you to observe troop and ship movement from the shipyards. It’s quite easy but extremely important. You can of course turn us down but I’m sure you know what the cost would be.” The camera zoomed out again to the planet view. A ship appeared on the far-left edge of the image and fired a pulse of blue energy. Within a instant the city was engulfed in a huge ball of energy. The shock wave pushed out by the explosion radiated through the sea, causing tidal waves. Within another few minutes the entire planet cracked and burst.
 “I’m sure you’ll make the right choice.”
With that the image cut off. With a little sympathetic moan the droid rolled itself off.
 “Well, what we gonna do dad?”
 “Do we really have a choice?”

 “I’m happy that you decided to help us, you will save millions.” Stated Han.
 “Just one question, how do we act suspiciously?”
 “Well that’s easy Mr Goof, ask the wrong questions. Bribe the wrong people etc. I’m sure it will come easily. It works for me.” Han let off another one of his roguish grins that seemed to disarm anyone.
 Goofy and Max stepped onto the covert shuttle and closed the hatch. The shuttle, on autopilot, headed out if the hanger and entered hyperspace.

“Well son, what do’ya think?” Said Goofy as he pointed at the hotel they were in. The republic had given them a great deal of credits to use so he was determined to use them in style.
 “Umm…great” Max hated it. it was so…dorky. The walls were of a plain cream with red vertical stripes. The lights were something straight out of Buck Rogers and as for the beds, well.
 They put their bags down, but both of them were too exited to sleep so they headed out. They figured that it was time to get to know the city.
 The first place they went was a small restaurant but when they had finished there rather nice meal of some unknown mystery meat they were distracted by a large neon sign. ‘Now showing for one night only! Hekra Kapina. The ultimate singer!’ Goofy headed in followed by Max. Max was still concerned about what was in the bags they carried. Han had said not to open them unless it was an emergency. Max let curiosity get the better of him and headed for the toilet while Goofy sat down.
 As soon as he was seated the lights dimmed followed by a burst of music, the curtains opened and a group of people were dancing on the stage. Then, a beautiful creature with two tentacles coming out of the back of her head flipped forward. The crowed hushed as lively music threw itself out of the speakers.
 She began to sing, a joyous and happy voice.

“Some people don’t wanna care
I’m not going anywhere
I need you now, don’t ask why
So baby just give me one try

As much as it hurts me so
I can’t stop saying no
Without your love I will die
So baby just give me one try

Your love is what I need,
Without it I cant breath
Your love is what I need,
It’s a want, take heed.”

The music took over. Everyone jumped up and started to dance, even Goofy couldn’t help himself. He jumped up and with a Ayhuk he danced like nothing else mattered.
 Max was still trying to open the bag, with a strong tug on the cord the bag gave way. Max was thrown to the floor. Inside the bag was a pair of rather nasty guns of some sort. Max read the note attached to the guns. “This is a heavy Blaster pistol. Range is about 600 metres. It’s loud, so only use it in emergencies.” Max tucked one of the guns under his belt and covered with his top. He hoped that it didn’t go off accidentally.
Max exited the room to be confronted by two rather ugly beings that had almost certainly had too much to drink. Max tried to push past but one of them grabbed him and threw him to the floor. Max felt his nose begin to bleed. Max got up and tried to duck past the other one. With a flick of its tail it caught max in the gut winding him. Max had only one solution left, he pulled out the Blaster and pointed it at the lead alien. He tried to look as threatening as possible. The creature just laughed and carried on coming. Max flicked the safety off and pulled the trigger. With a tremendous explosive bang, a bolt of ruby red energy hit the creature in the face. The recoil knocked Max to the floor again. When the smoke cleared Max felt himself gag as he saw half of the creatures head missing, blood was still pumping out of the rest him though and Max had to get away. The patrons outside didn’t seem to hear the shot due to the music.
Max ran out of the toilet and ran to his dad, people screamed and some ran before Max realised that he still had the smoking Blaster in his hand. With a sheepish smile, Max put it away. His dad turned to him and smiled “Ayhuk, this music’s great boy!” Max grabbed him by the arm and pulled him out. As he got outside the club Max yanked the gun out and dropped it, the barrel was still hot and singing his skin. Goofy looked shocked but accepted the second of the guns from Max. “Look, dad, I just…killed someone.” Goofy had visions of his son in the electric chair, just as his principle had said years ago. “Max, don’t worry. We can work it out.” Max was grabbed by his dad and given a big hug. “Dad, come on. Its ok, well, it’s not in a moral sense. But on this world you can kill in self defence.” Max showed Goofy his still bleeding nose. Goofy wiped it with a tissue from his back pocket and gave it to Max. “I think we’ve had enough ‘fun’ for one night son. Lets go back.”
 The next morning, they took it a bit quieter for fear of being caught by the empire. Goofy headed out to get some food while Max tried to find the star port. As he wandered round looking at each signpost he was stopped by what he thought was a robot. As he looked at the white suit it suddenly spoke. “Can I help you?” it said in a remarkably human tone. “Are you are robot” He asked
 “What? I’m a imperial trooper.” she replied with a hint of anger in her voice. “Oh, sorry ma’am. Could you direct me to the star port please?” Max asked in a normal tone, though he was terrified.
 “You can either take the northbound shuttle to the star port or follow this road down to the fifth right and turn right. Just follow that road all the way down.”
 “Thanks”
Max walked off, trying to act casual, that trooper was pretty fearsome. He followed the directions to the letter and soon came to the main entrance. As he watched, ships took off and landed. It was amazing, Max wished he could fly one of those. He decided it would be best if he hid for a while. He ducked into a alcove and tried the best he could to see what was going on movement wise.

It must have been a good few hours before Max exited his little alcove. He felt that he had a good idea about what was going on in this small star port. As far as he could tell, the guards changed once a hour. The guard posts were usually vacant for about two minutes while they did this.
 The ship movement wasn’t as regular, but as far as he could tell, the same ship came every two hours unloading boxes of unknown equipment.
 Max continued to watch from his vantage point. He watched as the ships came and went. The beauty of them, stunning and graceful, obsessed him but somehow they all looked dangerous. He wanted to be in one of them, heading off to wherever in the galaxy.
  He strolled off to find the shuttle back to the hotel. He dodged imperial patrols along the way.
 As he exited the shuttle he spotted someone following him. He tried not to get to worried, after all it was a busy city. He dodged through all the back streets and after ten minutes he flicked off the safety and hooked the butt over his trousers for easy reach. He then ran, to where he didn’t know. The figure following him ran as well. Max was getting truly scared. He ran and ran until he finally ran out of energy. The figure carried on running towards him. Max pulled out his Blaster, he looked at the ammo counter. “Shit!” The counter read zero. The figure laughed and pulled out a knife. “Get on the floor you Bitch, I’m gonna rape ya!” Max tried to edge away from the attacker. The attacker pinned him down and got on top of him. “No! Get off, Get off me!” Max struggled but got cut on the arm; Max tried to lay still. He felt his trousers being pulled down. Max was terrified, but he heard footsteps coming up the ally. A gunshot ripped through the air, the man coughed and rolled off Max. He started to convulse and blood pumped out of his back. Max pulled up his trousers. The woman turned and walked off. She had long red hair and walked with dignity. Max stood up and turned and ran after taking the dropped knife. By the time he had got out of the ally the strange woman was gone. He walked along by himself, cursing for not having any spare ammo.

Goofy tried for the fifth time to get some attention. He wasn’t going to go over there. It wouldn’t be polite. Hang on, they were the ones being rude! He squared his shoulders and headed to the counter. “Excuse me, iv been waiting for nearly a hour. Am I gonna get served.” “We don’t serve aliens in here.”
 Goofy remembered about the briefing, when Han had said that the Empire was quite prejudice towards other species. Goofy left the shop, disgusted about the whole thing.
 As he strode back he saw something shiny on the ground. It looked like a coin of some form. As he bent down to pick it up, a kid kicked him over. Goofy yelped with pain. He turned towards the kid who shook his head and pointed at a burly man in the corner. The man came out and smashed Goofy right in the stomach winding him. Goofy tried to defend himself but a punch landed him straight in the jaw. Goofy turned to get away but the man grabbed him and struck over and over. Goofy felt something bleed from his face. The man stole his wallet and ran off. The kid spat on his face.
 Goofy pulled himself and winced as he found a nice big bruise. Nothing broken luckily. Goofy gathered the stuff that had been dropped in the fight. He reached down to his stomach and found the Blaster still in his trousers. Goofy saw the kid standing at the end of the road. Goofy felt himself give into his anger. He drew the weapon and somehow his hand was steady, the pain was replaced by a feeling of hatred and intense power. Goofy squeezed the trigger and the child was shot. Goofy started to shake, he just realised what he had done.
 He looked around and ran off. Terrified with the fact that he had killed another person.

The new republic commando group had no trouble getting around. Those two alien fellows had done quite a good job about it. Not only had they directed attention to themselves. Max had given them valuable information about troop movement, this made there life a lot easier. Now the difficult part came

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