Dramatis PersonaeI can't wait any longer to train you. You must learn how to build your lightsabers-and how to use them-in the right way. The galaxy has changed, and you must meet the challenge. A true Jedi is forced to adapt or be destroyed.
Prologue
- Luke Skywalker to Jacen, Jaina, Tenel Ka & Lowbacca (Lightsabers)
Huff Darklighter stares out the windscreen at the unending expanses of the Dune Sea. Rolling waves of sand flash by beneath the repulsors of his landspeeder, a plume of sand billows up and out in his wake. He glances at his passenger, a bundle of gangly knees and bright blond hair being whipped around by the wind. A flash of blue eyes, and a bright smile – lets him know that she's aware of his attention, and then she turns back to the piece of chocolate in her lap.
Noelani Darklighter at four years old is bright and precocious. She has a knack for getting into more mischief than her adoptive father Huff could ever imagine. Not even his eldest boy, Biggs, would create as much mischief as that young girl.
Yet, despite the fact that she is apt to reprogram the food preparation station or re-wire the nanny droid's vocoder so that it only speaks in Rodian, Huff cannot seem to bring himself to punish her.
And as he directs the landspeeder away from Mos Eisley, heading towards the large, sprawling homestead that he shares with his wife and children, he knows that he favors this, his adopted daughter more than the sons and daughters that were born to him.
He doesn't know if it is because she is an orphan, delivered to him by his eldest boy's best friend, Luke Skywalker. Or if it is because she reminds him of just how much fun it is to be young. But as the featureless sands flash by outside the landspeeder, he cannot help but consider that it is because of her ability to generate mischief.
He thinks back to the visit with the local water distributor, Jeh Brightflyer. He had had reports that the man was skimming some of the water for the black market, selling the product without giving Huff his own cut of the profits. So, like any good businessman, he went to visit, and like a good father decided to bring his youngest child with him. While he and Brightflyer were discussing the missing portions of the shipments, Noelani had managed to get access to the personal logs which Brightflyer kept on his console and then the little scamp had sent them as a message to everyone in his list of contacts.
He chuckles at the memory of getting the incriminating message on his comlink while the man sat before him announcing his innocence.
Huff grins at the small blonde girl. She seems to notice his attention, and looks up at him and smiles brightly. He faces forward once more, and comes into sight of his homestead.
A thin black wisp of smoke is coming from the location, and Huff frowns, stamping down hard on the accelerator. The landspeeder jumps forward, the landscape outside flashing by increasingly faster.
He yanks hard on the steering column, twisting the speeder sideways, sending up another plume of gritty sand from the compression forces of the repulsers. He shuts the engines down, and then is up and out of the speeder, hoping out through the open air cabin despite the arthritis in his knees and the fact that his lower back has been giving him problems the past two years.
He pulls out his blaster pistol from the back seat and looks down at Noelani. "Stay here. I'll be right back."
He takes a cautious step into the entry to the homestead, carefully walking down the steps. He comes into the main room and there finds his greatest fear.
His family. His wife. His children.
All slaughtered.
And for the second time in his life, Huff's very existence shatters.
The blaster drops to the floor with a clatter, and Huff rushes to Lanal's side. He cries out in pain as he kneels beside her unmoving form.
"Mama?"
Huff looks up to see Noelani standing in the doorway, looking lost and broken as she looks out at the remains of their family.
"Noelani…I told you to wait for me."
The girl rubs at her eyes, and then rushes from the room towards the kitchen.
"Noelani! Wait!"
Huff jumps up, and runs over to his discarded blaster, scooping it up as he chases after Noelani. He finds her standing in the doorway to the kitchen. A hand covering her mouth as she looks at the Tusken Raider spread in a bundle of rags on the floor. A jug of sweetwater is knocked over, the precious fluid spreading out around the drunken sandperson.
In his surprise at the sight, Huff once more drops his blaster.
The Tusken shifts and Huff realizes that they need to leave. He puts his hand onto Noelani shoulder but she shrugs him away. Looking down, he sees that she's picked up his dropped blaster and has taken a step towards the sandperson.
"Noelani, come back here, now!" He hisses, fear clutching at his heart.
She casts a glance over her shoulder at him and pins him with her gaze. Tears stream down her face, emotions battle for supremacy in her eyes. For a second, Huff is afraid of the girl. Of the powerful gaze that she turns upon him. It contains a depth, an intensity which he has never seen before – it is almost like staring into the noon-time suns.
She turns away from him and lifts the blaster.
The sound of the discharge echoes loudly in the kitchen. The stench of scorched flesh a sweet, sickly smell that clogs his nostrils.
The blaster drops to the tile floor with a clatter, and Noelani looks back at Huff. The power behind her eyes gone, hidden once more. All that remains is a scared four year old little girl.
She rushes towards him, and he scoops her up, holding her tightly as he backs out of the kitchen. The girl nestles her head into the crook between his neck and shoulder, and he can feel the tears as they flow from her eyes, the shake of her body as she sobs.
Between the tears and the sobs, Huff makes out a broken string of words, "I sorry, Papa. I… I sorry."
Saturday, January 13, 2007
Jedi Adept: A Father's Blade: Prologue
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