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Princess Leia Organa of Alderaan, Junior Senator, Rebellion commander and current Imperial prisoner stared at her homeworld glowing softly as it hung in the black, a tiny, precious, delicate defenceless jewel. A jewel now in danger of being shattered by the casual brutality of the Imperial regime. No, no, no! Standing beside her, Admiral Tarkin rambled on about how she could save her world. Behind her, Darth Vader stood with his hand on her shoulder, effectively holding her in place.
“You can stop it.” It was a voice from her past, a ghost, a dead man…
The words echoed through her mind, dragging her back to her childhood and a rare day trip with her mother to Yavin 4. Officially, a school trip to see the temples since Leia has been forced to miss the actual school trip. Unofficially, a chance for the Queen’s head of security and incidentally, rebel general, Kilraine to scout the location for a rebel base. She had been bored and wanted to run and explore the ruins, not listen to a lecture on ancient artistic symbolism. The experts they had brought with them had tried to interest her in the history of the planet, in the flora and fauna, but she hadn’t been interested. And then…
The Queen and the commander had been discussing logistics. Her ‘tutors’ had been distracted by a carving… and she… she saw a shadow move in one of the temple corridors. Naturally, she had investigated. One corridor led to another, and another and another until… a soft blue glow from the other side of a mostly caved in doorway. A wriggle and a squirm. A grunt and a huff. A breath held… and expelled and she was through. On a table… alter before her sat a glowing cube. She approached it, her eyes wide, and hand shaking as she took it down. And turned it over in her hands. She could almost hear the song…
“I can show you how to open it.” The voice startled her.
How had this man followed her? Or was he the one she was following? Her grip tightened as he stepped further into the light. Tall and slim, he was dressed in a strange, armoured breastplate over robes and carried two lightsabers. When he pushed his hood back to show shoulder length dark hair and kind brown eyes, she saw he glowed a deeper blue then the cube.
“Who are you?”
“My name is Revan, little princess. Shall I show you how to open it.”
She nodded and he told her how to feel the catch, how to flick it open with a thought.
“How?”
“It uses the Force. You must be very, very careful never to let anyone see you use it.”
The cube had split open, and another figure appeared, dressed in something that looked like Jedi robes and glowing blue like the cube, not blue like Revan.
“Revan” the figure, now a small, old man with dark skin, groused, “Still causing trouble, I see?”
‘Revan’ put a hand on his armoured chest, “Trouble? Me? Never. I bring you a new student and you insult me!”
“A new student, huh?” the old man said, looking her over.
“Yes, the ‘Destroy Droid’ skill has been lost to time. I think the little princess could do with learning it.
“And only that one?”
“Use your own judgment on the rest Jolee but know that if she’d identified as a Force user, she’ll be dead in hours.”
In the time it took Leia to blink, Revan had disappeared, leaving her with only ‘Jolee’ and the glowing blue cube.
The man sighed, “Take my advice, kid, and never, ever mention you met him. Revan was trouble enough alive and more trouble dead. If he’s taken an interest in you… you’ll move worlds, princess, and shake nations.” Then he clapped his hands together, “So, Destroy Droid. It doesn’t just work on droids. Any electrical item is fair game. The Jedi didn’t really like it too much because it strayed a bit too close to Force Lightening for their tastes.” He cocks his head at her, “Which was one of Revan’s specialities, I must point out. Force Lightening in case you weren’t listening. Never got the hang of it myself, but I remember him shattered walls with the stuff…” he trailed off with a laugh and a shake of his head, “I’m an old man. Mind wanders, where were we?”
She comes back to herself as Tarkin raises his hand. “No, you can’t! We’re peaceful! We have no weapons” she tried to rush him, but Vader’s hand is as immoveable as a… as a droid.
Tarkin asks for a military target instead and she hesitates, staring at her planet. Vader’s grip tightens on her shoulder. Her fist tightens and Vader’s lets go in surprise. Around her station after station explodes sending officers stumbling away. She spins in place, glares at Vader as his suit spits sparks and lights turn red. Leia’s power flood out of her. Her magcuffs hiss and splutter before falling open and she runs, not looking around for Tarkin, not checking where Vader fell.
She runs and around her the Death Star’s systems fail, a cascade of errors sweeping out.
She runs and put everything she has into making sure this station will be months in repair.
She stumbles into the hanger as more klaxons sound, darting behind some crates. The Death Star’s weapon systems are offline for now at least. And she’s free. The door across from her wooshes open and the surviving crew from her ship rush into the hanger, shooting at the storm troopers. Commander Kilraine spots her, and she bolts over to them. He looks at her with wide eyes as security bots continue to blow up and slam to a halt every time they get close to them.
“How are you doing this, Princess?” he whispers in awe.
“Well, Revan…”