Set in the Spectre of the Past, Vision of the Future era, by Timothy Zhan, touching also on the post-Battle of Endor period
Star wars-
Tail of the fox
By Bruce Cox
***
Bright, golden energy spread from behind the celestial body of Coruscant, a planet of some 650 billion sentient beings.
Although primarily inhabited by humans, the rise of the New Republic had allowed an increasing number of alien species accesses to the former Imperial Center’s spaceports. Once the jewel of the Old Republic, Coruscant was named for the radiant majesty of its city lights- covering almost the entire planetary surface. Its Polar Regions, a minimal oceanic expanse and parklands (last vestiges of a once planet-wide wilderness) created microscopic breaks in Coruscant’s transparasteel landscape.
Alone in the largest of these green havens sat a non-descript human, looking down at his retirement data cards and absently rolling a large denomination credit chit over his fingers.
He ran a hand through early-graying short-cropped hair and sighed. Over thirteen years of dedicated service to the New Republic military, and few had given as much or served longer, since the Rebellion against the Empire had been announced an official success. Yet the galaxy’s governing body had ruled for a reduction in military personnel.
With peace returning to the galaxy… he thought, I guess my line of work has less importance than once it had.
Rustling foliage from a nearby bush interrupted his melancholy thoughts. A small boy, unaware of the man’s presence, glanced around furtively from behind his cover, and smiled to himself when the coast seemed clear. He halted in his tracks when he suddenly noticed that he was not alone. His young blue eyes widening in surprise. The two studied one another silently for a few moments before the elder bridged the generation gap with a secretive smile. "Hasn’t got you yet?" he asked
"No," the boy replied, "I’m too good!" With a smug smile of his own, he put a secretive finger to his lips before diving back into the bush.
…I was young once. And played such games with my friends in this very park, he thought in distant memory, All such a long, long time ago…
He looked up again as a droid wandered into the glade, its bipedal shuffle and agitated cranial movements conveying an almost comedic sense of worry and frustration.
"Excuse me sir," its synthesized voice modulated as it approached, "Have you by any chance seen a small human child come past here?"
"Uh… no, sorry" he answered, tugging his brindle goatee, unsure as to why he lied.
"Oh dear!" Optical sensors scanned left and right in panic, "I shall be dismantled for certain this time!"
In the periphery of his vision the man noticed the young fugitive’s eyes rolling skywards in annoyance, apparently familiar with the droid’s overly dramatic dialogue. Snatching up a small stone, the boy threw it into the air to strike with a metallic ping against the droid’s head plate. Spinning about in an attempt to catch it’s young charge, the droid dashed off further down the path, in the direction of a second stone falling to the plasticrete path.
"Cunning like a fox," the man mused aloud, as the sounds of frantic servomotors faded away. Turning back he found the frustrated droid’s quarry sitting next to him.
The boy gave an almost cursory glance at his elder’s uniform. "Intelligence?"
The man arched an eyebrow in surprise. "Not many would recognize this insignia," he said as he fingered the lapel, "except the attentive son of a fairly important member of the officialdom perhaps?"
"What’s a fox?" asked the boy, ignoring or disregarding the observation.
"It’s a carnivorous animal from some planet in the outer rim, Raboo? Banoo? Or something like that. Extinct now, I believe." He extended his arm, hand open in greeting, "My name is Tieraan. Pleased to meet you"
"What’s it look like?" the younger replied, avoiding the unasked question and remaining anonymous.
Tieraan let his hand fall unshook, shrugging internally.
"Don’t know, never seen one myself. Big, hairy, and full of teeth I expect. They’re supposed to be rather cunning, hard to find or kill. Something like that. An old friend used to talk about them a lot back in my Stormtrooper days."
The boy backed away, face revealing the panic welling from within. "You’re from the Empire?" he exclaimed, almost falling off of the bench.
"Calm down, Little Fox, the Empire’s just about dead and buried. No," he continued, shaking his head, "I was a Stormtrooper, a long time ago, but like many of the Imperium since its displacement, I changed sides. The New Republic has been my home for some time now."
The boy appeared to give this some thought, visibly relaxing, "Mom says that my nanny’s boyfriend was a Tie pilot once. Now he’s teaching our X-wing pilots how to fly good. Maybe you know him?"
"I doubt it. Aces and Grunts never mixed much. I think the leadership preferred it that way, I guess to keep our attention away from their corruption."
"Is that why you left?" asked the boy.
"In part, yes, though the Emperors’ passing didn’t help much either. I once made a promise to myself that I never thought I’d have to keep." He smiled to himself, as if at a private joke. "Never underestimate the chances of your own survival. Especially when you’ve decided that you don’t want to."
"How do you mean?"
Tieraan regarded the boy and wondered why he felt so at ease with answering his questions. Years of information he had kept to himself no longer seemed so important to remain hidden. He smiled at himself and decided retirement might grant a boon never given before.
"After the Battle of Endor, I’d gone back to the Hoth system, to bury a fallen friend," he began, "The one who knew all about foxes as it happens. I got into some trouble with the ‘locals’ and wound up as close to death as anyone would care to be." He frowned slightly; "You think a strange amount of things at a time like that. But that’s a long story."
The boy perked up at this, eyes brimming with excitement, but then turned away and yawned disinterestedly, seemingly unwilling to put himself in a stranger’s debt by asking for an adventure story.
Tieraan smiled at his young ally’s subterfuge. "I guess I’ve nothing much important to do. How about you?"
The boy shook his head. "I’m not due home for a while yet. I love stories!"
Tieraan sat back, thinking for a moment, before starting. "All right, how about I start on the Endor moon, after I escaped Han Solo and his Rebel friends. While all the Rebellion were celebrating- they’d just destroyed the Death Star- I stole a shuttle. Luke Skywalker himself had flown down in it with the body of his father - the Dark Lord Vader."
The boy looked up at him from under his brow, one raised in disbelief.
"You don’t believe me. Very well, you obviously don’t you wish to hear the rest. Yes? No? Ah, I thought so. Anyway, I flew back to the Hoth system… "
***
Awakening with a start, Tieraan Karr sat upright in the pilot chair and wiped the sleep from his eyes. The intermittent beeping of the Navcom timer punctuated the silence of the shuttle’s darkened cockpit. Reaching out to turn it off, he glanced at the readout: 20 seconds to real-space entry.
It had been a long and tiring trip. Not his longest by any means, but then he’d never had to pilot before, let alone by himself. Stormtroopers were the elite of the Imperial forces, the arm of the Emperor, yet his cadetship on Carida had not included starship operation. Luckily, Tieraan had always been a fast learner. Survival in any extreme was necessary not only for the enforcement of Imperial doctrines, but also amongst its own ranks — elevations to the ranks of the Royal Guard were rare and keenly sought. He had always fancied himself such a coveted advancement.
Escaping the Endor moon had been simple enough — the rebels were too busy celebrating to chase remnants of the Imperial fleet from the system — yet tackling hyperspace navigation onboard the Tydirium had been a stressful process with its less than co-operative Navcom. As if to taunt him on that point, the warning tone sounded again: ten seconds to go.
Tieraan pulled back the hyper-accelerator toggles as the timer chimed zero, changing the white-streaked vista to a blanket of pinpricked black. The icy blue sphere of Hoth loomed heavily in the forward view screen.
…And now for my first landing, he thought as he adjusted the control levers for a suitable approach vector. Slowly the gentle swirls covering the planet’s surface took on depth, and as the cloud layers dissipated into a warming morning atmosphere, snow covered ranges brushed up to the rising sun. The shuttle was buffeted about as it broke through the atmosphere, and leveled out low above the long glacier leading to his destination.
A chill ran down Tieraans spine as he shot across the white plain, smooth and almost unblemished but for a scattering of snowdrifts. Only a sensor scan of the area revealed them to be unusual, of a high metallic content. The entire plain was littered with magnetic variations, highly abnormal in density and disparity
The battle of Hoth had been considered by many in the Imperial hierarchy to be a decisive victory- the Rebellion against the Empire harried into flight once more- however the losses on both sides had been high. Tieraans only friend from cadet training, Quadroon Franz, was one of many bodies to be abandoned, frozen and wasted, in Hoths caverns and ice-plains. To make matters worse, many key Rebel leaders had slipped from the Empires’ grasp, only to become central to the disintegration of the second Death Star. Even the ‘Heroes’ among the usurpers, thought eliminated by Lord Vaders’ efforts on Bespin, had re-appeared on Endor as if by magic.
…How the hell is it possible for a handful of space gypsies with an army of furry pets to bring down the most destructive force in the galaxy?…
Quelling his rising anger, Tieraan turned his attention back to the task at hand. Emotions were an unwelcome and unnecessary distraction.
Clear thought, no hesitation.
Ahead, the basin rose into a short plateau, marking the first-line trenches of the Rebel ground defense. Broken shapes jutted from the snow here and there — anti-vehicle and infantry cannons destroyed by incoming Walkers- themselves now fallen. Tieraan brought the shuttle back to a slower speed approaching the north entrance of the base; its doors blasted open to invasion by the fury of Hoth’s tempestuous elements. He passed the molten husk of the rebel power generator and Ion cannon, banked to the southwest and prepped the Tydirium for landing beside the southern entrance.
The Imperial forces had swept in from the main entrance and blasted their way into the center of the base, not far from its command control room. Almost all of the remaining enemy forces had evacuated by that time, yet the Lord Vader had nevertheless been impatient for immediate access. Franz and Karr, as part of General Veers front line ‘Blizzard Force’, were ordered to escort him — a dangerous honor considering Vader’s command history. Better to die by energy fire than disappoint the dark master. Amazingly, they stumbled upon the retreating Solo, along with Organa and some other hairy beast, and chased them into the rebel’s main flight hanger. As Vader’s assault group entered the bay under fire from the Falcon, Quadroon took a shrapnel hit to the chest from an exploded E-web. Solo escaped, and Tieraan was ordered back to the Executor for the chase to Cloud City, leaving his friend to die a cold death.
"I obey, or die, in the Emperors name," came the almost involuntary, bitter mumble of his programmed training
Gently Tieraan lowered the vessel along side the hanger doors, stabilizer wings pivoting slowly up to their landing positions. Suddenly the Com spluttered to life, proximity detectors and energy scanners blaring as well.
"Attention unidentified aggressor," a slurred voice half screamed, "I am Chreeto the Defiant, greatest hunter of all the realms."
The pale green head of a Rodian flickered into focus as Tieraan turned to the vidcom screen. Franticly he tried to power up the laser cannons and bring the engines back up to maneuver into a firing position.
"You infringe upon a bounty rightfully mine! And now, you will die!"
A barrage of laser fire bounced off the shuttle shields, tipping it towards the hanger opening as it rose from the ground.
"Aieeee!" the bounty hunter yelled in frustration, " oota belin toa poodoo! Eecha!"
Lacking the time for a scanner search, Tieraan used only visual to find his attacker. He swung his ungainly ship about slowly, wings folding back down, and fired randomly at an old Corellian freighter. Only one bolt hit, adding only minor cosmetic damage to an already battle scorched surface, but it seemed enough to get the bounty hunter to back off.
No shields up, he thought, does he want me to kill him? or just…"Sith spawn!" he yelled.
He banked the shuttle hard to port and away from an incoming concussion missile, evading it by just centimeters and slamming into the side of the open bunker doors. The bay doors ceiling collapsed onto the Tydiriums port wing and pulled it back to the ground. Tieraan was thrown from the chair into the ceiling and knocked cold.
He awoke on the cold hard floor inside the hanger, having somehow dragged himself from the burning wreck outside, its smoking debris strewn across the snow and cockpit snapped from the hull. Another missile hit the twisted ruin, removing most of what was left, before the Rodians ship headed off planet, apparently confident of having made it’s kill.
Tieraan rose gingerly and limped towards the back of the flight hanger, his suit dented and singed, but otherwise complete. Luckily, he had thought to don the Snowtrooper suit before his transit snooze. He flicked on the power thermostat and warmth filtered through the suits body glove as he looked around. All of the service bays inside the hanger were empty, not much was left behind, but if he could find enough bits and pieces to build a simple radio, he could call for help. A slim hope at best, considering the planets isolation.
Or I’ll just die here like Quadroon did
He walked to the passage opening that lead to the command center, to find only the remains of an E-web and random pieces of damaged trooper armor lying on the cold floor. Scorch marks pitted the wall behind. Drag marks and foot prints, not booted, crossed back and forth leading in and out of both the passage here and off to the right towards the crew quarters. His hand plucked absently at an empty holster.
Someone or something was here recently, he thought, survivors?
Tieraan followed the right hand passage; the ice walls reflecting the light as he lit a glow rod pulled from his utility belt. A quick survey of an equipment storage room found nothing of any use, not even a basic melee weapon, so he continued on to the first of the personnel quarters. A guttural scream came from somewhere behind him as he entered, sending him to the floor and behind a bench in pure reflex.
Ok, not a survivor, he mused, unless the rebellion hired a Rancor…
An answering call came from the direction of the hanger area, a hungry and mournful sound.
…Or Rancors…Sithspit!
Quickly he scanned the room for some means by which to protect himself. It was simply furnished with just the cleared workbench and bed, but the locker in the back corner looked his best hope. That, and the air vent above it. Making as little noise as possible, he opened the locker and found a bag inside, then using the shelves inside as a ladder, he climbed up and pushed open the vent. The vent cover and the locker toppled to the floor as he pulled himself in, drawing whatever-the-hell-they-were towards the room. Eager calls came from several other parts of the complex.
Tieraan did not stop moving along the horizontal shaft until half way between the next vent and the last; glow rod still clutched in one hand, bag in the other. Slowly his breathing returned to some semblance of normal, a heavy mist that grew with each exhalation. He turned his attention to the bag's contents.
Beneath clothing that seemed better suited to a much warmer environment, were a few data cards, an ID card and some low denomination credit chits. Nothing of any use at all. Disheartened, Tieraan rolled on his back and stared blankly up at the vents ceiling, glow rod on his chest. Without a weapon or a miracle, he had no choice but to make an attempt at sneaking past the beasts below. If he could make it to the trenches or, better yet an abandoned Walker, he might find a discarded blaster or two. That decided, he brought his eyes back to focus.
And found his miracle.
Just under the translucent surface of the energy bored ice above him, nestled the square shape of a utility box. Chipping around its edge with the glow rod, Tieraan released the metal vessel from its cavity and fumbled it open. Inside, nestled snuggly in their foam shock padding- a heavy blaster, power packs, glow rod, credit chits, comlink…and two thermal detonators! An old trick often used by smugglers and the like, buried treasure. When pushed into a corner it was wise to have a backup. The so-called Rebel Alliance was made up of mostly dissident military, but it was common knowledge that many criminals had joined their ranks. That damn Corellian among them. His sneer paled slightly in further thought, pulling back on the discarded duffel bag, he removed the ID card.
Luke Skywalker.
He was stuck in a ventilation shaft between the Hoth quarters of Han Solo and Luke Skywalker, his two most hated foes. Irony was not something Tieraan Karr cared for much in his life, but considering his career so far; this was not to be ignored.
After graduating from Carida, he and Quadroon Franz were among the many troops transferred from their first posting – the ImpStar Interdictor Clandestine, to fill the personnel quota aboard the first Death Star. Both of them were reprimanded severely after being jumped by Solo and Skywalker whilst on guard duty over the Millenium Falcon. They were transferred to the Avenger in a taskforce en-route to a rumored Rebel base on Dantooine- only to return to debris-laced space above Yavin 4, and a chagrined Dark Lord. Tieraan had hoped things would get better when their legion was placed aboard the Executor in preparation for the Hoth assault, but then he had been mistaken. Further, whilst he’d taken great pleasure at Bespin in the ‘interview’ of the Corellian smuggler, it was short lived, knocked from the carbonite freezing platform by Solo’s Wookie before the show. His hip still hurt in the cold.
Lord Vader was gracious enough to let him live to redeem himself with his capture of Skywalker- the son, destined to kill his dark father above the Endor Moon. Tieraan had personaly handed Skywalkers Jedi weapon to the Sithlord, and now the Emperor and Vader were dead, probably with the aid of that very device.
Yet somehow I’ve lived through it all
"Kill the monsters," he thought aloud, "Lure the Rodian back with a distress call, steal its ship and get off this ice cube" grim reassignment covered his stony face, his personal shames almost fading at the impossibilities.
"Yeah, and while I’m at it, maybe I’ll join the Rebels and thank them for sparing me!" he added with unconfident mirth. He placed a thumb on the trigger switch of a thermal detonator and closed his eyes.
***
"Don’t you think its getting a bit late for you to be out this long?" asked Karr.
"Hmm, wha…?"
The boy snapped out of his reverie and blinked his eyes. The sun had started to set on the cityscape in the distance, air traffic noise had lowered and even the constructor droids had powered down for maintenance.
"It’s late, I imagine your parents must be wondering where you are."
"But the story, you haven’t finished yet!" whined the boy, "How’d you survive? Do you still hate Luke and Han Solo?"
"I can’t hate those who had unknowingly helped me, now can I?"
"Then how did you get to live here in the end? Tell me the rest!"
"Patience lad," replied Tieraan, "Perhaps, if you are by here again, you can hear the rest some other time. I think I’d like that, you’re a good listener. Deal?"
The boy smiled broadly, eyes once again alight, "Deal." And shook the mans hand, before running off in the direction his droid had.
Tieraan Karr smiled, pondering his future and watched the sun go down.
Even now, life goes on.
***
Luke Skywalker strolled down the corridor of the Imperial Palace and gave a nod to the Noghri leaning against the wall outside the Solo’s door. To say that the squat alien seemed at ease would not be true, Noghri warriors always seemed on the very edge of pounce, relaxed or not. The threat of Grand Admiral Thrawn had long since past into the history of the New Republic, along with Issard, Dalla and many others- from within and without, yet the Noghri race as a whole still took the safety of their ‘Lady Vader’ as honor itself. An eternal debt in gratitude for their worlds’ release from Imperial servitude.
"Master Skywalker" he mewed, bowing low in reverence to the Jedi Master, activating the apartments outer doors.
Luke smiled as he entered quietly into the main living area from the entrance hall, seemingly unnoticed by all.
Han was lounging with his youngest son Anakin in front of the holovid unit; both engrossed in a pod racing holocast from Malastare. Leia and Winter, backs to Luke, sat at the dinning table talking heatedly to C3PO. None appeared to register his presence.
Of course, Leia would have sensed him before he’d landed, as Anakin may have not long after and Han had lived too long as a smuggler to over look someone’s entry. Winter, longtime aid to Leia, was probably the only non-Force-sensitive person in the galaxy able to stalk Luke almost unawares. And she remembered everything she had ever seen or heard.
3PO on the other hand, missed almost every detail he’d ever had to notice without complaining about it. It had taken him two whole days before he’d realized the Solo twins, Jacen and Jaina, were now training at the Jedi Praxeum on Yavin 4. He had almost blown a transistor.
Leia was in lecture mode. "How could you just leave him by himself?" she said sternly to the golden droid, "you know he’ll get himself into mischief if you don’t take more notice of him!"
"But mistress Leia," 3PO cried, "I had only turned my back for not more than a millisecond, even Artoo would not be able to track master Anakin when he does not wish to be found! I don’t know why you must always blame me for everything that goes wrong"
Leia rolled her eyes and sat back it her chair. Even the former Head of State was sometimes incapable of diplomatic reasoning with C3PO. Getting a word in edgeways always the hardest part.
" I am a top of the line protocol droid, programmed to converse in over six million forms of communication. Why I must be a nanny to that boy is beyond me. I ca…."
Winter let her arm fall back from the droids shut-off switch, "My ears hurt," she said deadpan as it’s golden form slumped forward, " Hello Luke," she added without turning.
She misses nothing
"Graaargh nff ffftn nff!" growled Chewbacca in greeting as he came in from the next room.
Luke disentangled himself from the Wookies’ furry embrace, "Good to see you too, Chewie. Every one."
Anakin stood with a frown on his face, "Why did you kill Grandfather, Uncle Luke?"
The silence was deafening. Every one was too shocked to respond to something this out-of-the-blue. Vader and the Emperor had died such a long time ago that the subject had not ever been brought up around the Solo-Organa children before, let alone this.
Using a Jedi calming technique, Luke was the first to respond, "Darth Vader," he began smoothly, "Or your namesake; Anakin Skywalker, died from the wounds he had suffered at the hands of his Emperor. He turned back from the Darkness to the Light and defeated his master, just before the Endor Death Star was destroyed. Your Grandfather saved my life and that of millions others besides, in his sacrifice."
"That’s not how I heard it," replied the boy quietly, without malice. A child confused.
Leia shook herself from her shock, looked for support to Han, who just shrugged in confusion. Leia frowned, "Honey, your Uncle is telling the truth. Where did you hear about this?" - a mothers love undying.
"The man in the Central Park"
Leia thew a scolding glare at 3PO, "And what did he say to you that made you think to talk to your Uncle in such a fashion?" she said to Anakin, eyes still on the silent droid as if to imbed her annoyance in it’s dormant circuits.
Anakin ran to Luke and hugged him hard, "I’m sorry Uncle Luke, nobody ever told me what happened. He said that he was a Stormtrooper and that he hated you and Da for the Emperors death and I think he got trapped in your room on Hoth. He’s retired now." He sighed before turning back to his mother, "But he hasn’t finished his story, can I go to see him tomorrow? I’ll be good, I want to know how he escaped!"
"Whoa, whoa!" exclaimed Han, "He’s an Imperial? If you think your going anywhere near him you’ve lost your silly little mind! Chewie, get your bowcaster, we’re going hunting!" Drawing his blaster from the holster slung on the back of a chair, he stalked towards the door.
"Um… That may not be necessary," said Winter.
"What? Why?" Solo turned from the already open door. The now fully alert Noghri outside raised a puzzled eyebrow as it slid back closed before him.
Winter turned to the child, "Anni, do you remember what his whole name was?"
"Tarin something. Car? Um, Card maybe?"
"If this is some joke Talon Karrde is trying to pull," said Solo, "I’ll rip him a black hole!"
"Easy dear," said Leia soothingly. She turned to Anakin, "Try the trick Uncle Luke showed you"
The boy closed his eyes and let his shoulders slump, at one with the force.
"Tieraan Karr" he and Winter said, simultaneously.
All eyes landed on Winter, "An EX Imperial," she explained, "He joined the Alliance about eighteen months after the fall of the Endor Death Star. Found half alive by newly recruited personnel Mothan and Ando Adebo, on a scouting/retrieval mission to Hoth"
"Adebo," interrupted Han, "That sounds familiar for some reason."
"If I remember correctly you may have met them on Smugglers Run. Before you met Kenobi and Luke on Tatooine."
Chewbacca crooned in agreement, adding further information.
"The Corsca Bell was in worse shape than the Falcon!" Han laughed, "The younger one was almost as wide-eyed as Luke was when we first met. Those boys were good in a fight though, we sent that ImpStar packing!"
Anakin looked to his father excitedly, another story pending.
"Later Annie, let Winter finish first" Leia said reprovingly
"They were also hired some years earlier for our failed decoy cover for Tantive Four’s escape with a certain Rebel Princess. Along with several minor ‘paid mercenary’ missions prior to Hoth. They did a stint in Jedi training with you too, no?" Winter asked Luke.
Luke nodded thoughtfully; he had first met the Adebo brothers on Circarpous, where he and Leia had crash-landed en-route to meet a local resistance group. They had run into Vader and only just avoided death before Luke destroyed the Kaiburr crystal for fear it would fall into the wrong hands. Still empowered by its Force focusing properties, he had sensed the fledgling abilities within both Ando and Mothan when they offered him and an unconscious Leia an escape route from Imperial forces. Many years later they had turned up at his Jedi Praxeum on Yavin Four wishing further instruction, having received some very basic teachings from mixed sources. Never had they revealed those sources, or their roles in the rise of the New Republic.
Winter continued with holographic recall, "When the Adebo brothers retrieved Karr, he was half buried in ice at Echo Base, in Commander Luke Skywalkers quarters - at least the remains of it. His vessel, the Tydirium no less, had been destroyed buy a Bounty Hunter on the Adebo’s trail and somehow survived the crash, making it into the personnel area. He was found, mumbling deliriously about Foxes, clutching a bag belonging to the Commander and a strong box believed to be the property of the then smuggler, Captain Han Solo. Its contents were later traced to items reported stolen from the Hoth armory, by the quartermaster of that time. The then smuggler, Captain Han Solo."
Han looked slightly abashed as Leia gave him a withering glance.
"What is a Fox?" asked Luke.
"A scavenging mammal, found on a lot of Agri-worlds," replied Leia; "We had a small colony on Alderaan."
Winter smiled and continued, "The bodies of twelve Wumpa ice creatures were also found amongst the rubble, expiry from an explosion, possibly caused by thermal detonators- two of them."
Luke raised his eyebrows, "And he survived?"
"He was latter healed here, on Coruscant, of the ‘minor’ injuries sustained from that blast, the destruction of the shuttle, and those received earlier in his escape from Ewok captors on the Endor moon. We had him processed for debriefing, but he disappeared again, having somehow avoided security’s notice. About two years later Tieraan returned of his own volition- wanting to join. He never really stated why, but then we were accepting a large amount of former Imperials at that time who had started believing in our cause"
"We were so badly in need of competent personnel," Leia added, "Even when we thought it was over with the Emperors death. What did this fellow do back then?"
"Just a Stormtrooper, but some of the information he brought with him raised a few eyebrows with Intel. I think maybe he was busy during those two years passing as more than just a Trooper…he was snapped up by General Cracken and trained for ‘Imperial insertion’ and ended up supplying a large amount of useful information. He was code-named Hunter, although most of us used another name. We teased him about his cold past on Hoth. He disliked ice." Winter smiled fondly with the last.
"You knew him?" asked Luke.
Her smile broadened, "In my post-active Intelligence days. I was his lecturer on disguises and such; he ended up being almost the best we’ve had." She tapped a slender finger on pursed lips thoughtfully, "Everyone needs an equal, even me. Um, don’t tell Tycho, but I had a bit of a thing for Tieraan during his training, not returned really though. He was a very focused man then."
Leia raised a brow.
"Anyway..." she continued, clearing her throat, "He was an able student, some of his best work he did latter on missions teamed with the Adebo boys, all covert. He could use stealth like you wouldn’t believe, very cunning, very resourceful, just like a Fox. I had not realized he had retired though."
Luke shuddered. Winters Intel designation was Targeter, for good reason. Widely recognized by those cleared for such knowledge, as the best insertion agent known- she was apparently often a thorn in the side of the former Emperors’ Hand, Mara Jade. If this Tieraan Karr was better at that than Winter, it was cause for alarm.
The Adebo brothers had showed much flair in their path in the Force, if a little unconventional. With this Karr fellow in tow, they would have made a formidable team.
The Force seems to have bound so many individuals to the needs of the galaxy; he thought contemplatively, Not just our small group. How many other stories are left untold?
"Sounds like he has become one of the many New Republic people covered by Borsk Fey’lyas honorable discharge proposal." said Han, "Not your biggest victory Hon."
"Yes, that’s nice dear. Maybe I’ll just resign my Ambassadorship too" Leia sighed sarcastically, "At least then I guess its safe for Anakin to see him"
The story loving Anakin would have jumped for joy at this, but then he had fallen asleep on the couch.
***
Tieraan Karr strolled along the path, dressed in casual clothing typical of the latest fashions, only less garish. The sun shone warmly on his back as he approached his now favorite bench, once again separated from the bustle of an awakening city.
"Hello Targeter," he said to the air, sitting back comfortably. "Nice to see you again."
"And I, you" she replied as she emerged from the greenery, "The Arctic Fox survives still I see, didn’t think you had seen me actually. I hear you may be called back to the ‘Frost.’"
Tieraan smiled warmly, running a hand though his newly coloured hair, "I didn’t need to see. You still wear that perfume I liked back in training. And the ‘Frost’ is very much on, what with rumors out of Bastion lately, which has moved again of course. I am leaving in the morning."
The last main stronghold of Imperial political control, the secret Planet-city of Bastion had avoided New Republic interests by moving its location at the slightest hint of being exposed and had eluded rediscovery until recent events. Unprecedented pirate and Imperial activities had Coruscant’s Council members nervous. Luckily rumors of Trawns supposed return from the grave were, so far, under wraps- lest the more pro-active Members jump at shadows and hobble peace attempts with their remaining foes.
"Thank our employer on the task for me. Oh, and hello to you too Anakin Organa-Solo."
"That’s not fair! I was using the Force to keep calm too!" exclaimed the voice of the hidden boy, "How does he do that?"
" Your breathing gets wheezy when you concentrate. You need to exercise more" Tieraan replied.
"You sound like my Da!"
"Now, children." Winter cut in. "We are off to the Palace museum to see the new ‘Palpatine’ display. Interested in pointless propaganda before you go?"
"Thanks, but its too nice out to be inside. I’ll catch you latter maybe."
Anakin erupted from his hole and ran down the path, "Bet you don’t!" he yelled.
Winter smiled a good-bye to Karr and followed the boy, with their dejected droid in tow.
"Sorry about zapping you at Bespin ‘3PO." Tieraan said of-handedly, as he reclined upon his bench.
C3PO paused mid step; arms suddenly raised in fear, as if his golden limbs remembered the absence of a torso to carry them. He slowly turned to face the man at the deficiency of his destruction.
But Tieraan Karr was gone, with just a merry whistling receding into the sunlit park as soul proof of his existence.
"Impossible man!"
***
End
All contained within this attempt at literacy is obviously fictional, unless you can prove otherwise. If you do, let me know, I’d like to meet the people, see if they’re like I imagined. It also belongs to my twisted imagination, but may be used for non-profit purposes. Any inconsistency in timeline within the Star Wars realm (approximate estimate near to the Hand of Thrawn scriptures by the Reverend Zhan) is completely unintentional, but lets pretend it was not, so as to fodder to all those who would bag it. But don’t bother calling. Besides, I was writing this up until the sun rose after nine straight hours, then the printer would not work, I REALY needed a hard copy. Everyone I called also had printer woe. I spent a frantic few hours begging one friend without the problem. He had only just got to bed himself, after a big night out. I still owe you for that Mr. Dunn. Oh, and the spelling is the fault of the spellchecker tool within an American program that will remain name unspoken. At lest while William of Gates can sue. While I’m at it, please, King George, don’t sue me. Instead let’s talk about the possibility of a TV series for this story, or at least one based on the rouge squadron in your tale and that of Lord Stackpole. It would be cool! Thanks. Ps hi mom! Oops! I mean mum! Pause for effect… and breathe.
***
This is the authors first attempt at a star wars story, but it will continually change has events of other of his stories evolve (currently at version 3.1, watch for future patches), even though he once vowed never to go though the pain of this process again, silly boy.
In fact, the Adebo brothers mentioned in this tale keep pestering him for more than just a cameo role. Their pay will remain the same; fame shall be their reward.
Stay tuned for the Corsca Bell
Star wars fan? Come see us at parsec
