Falling… Back?

Chapter 1

Luke sat at the edge of the lake and stared down at his reflection. He hadn't seen this much water in… well, in all his life. It still amazed him to see so much water in one place. Closing his eyes to meditate, the young Jedi was almost completely relaxed when his comm. chip buzzed noisily. Wasn't this supposed to be his rest leave? – he'd specifically asked for the peaceful, hardly–inhabited planet of Gyraes because it would help him to clear his mind.

And after the events of the past month, he needed a rest leave. Badly.

Instead, Luke had spent nearly every waking moment talking over the comm. to Leia, who insisted upon calling him every time she heard from Lando and Chewie. Groaning, he turned on the link. "Yes?" Next time I'll turn it off…

"Luke! How are you enjoying your leave?"

Resisting the urge to sigh, he muttered, "I'm enjoying it very much, thank you."

"I'm calling to warn you, Luke, that Mothma just got some intel that indicates the Gyraenians are engaging a small detachment of the Empire right now."

"Really?" The young Jedi was instantly alert.

"Yes. There wasn't much else on it, so we think it's probably just a small group of TIEs. Nothing to worry about. Talk to you soon – Organa out."

Luke turned the link off and stashed it away in the bottom of his packsack. He looked to the sky – no sign of a space battle. They were probably fighting on the other side of the planet, near the capital. On this side, there was little in the way of population… a few sparse groups of farmers, maybe some travelers.

The planet's sun was beginning to set, and Luke moved back to the cave he was staying in during his leave. He was just about to get some food from his sack when a bright green flash caught his eye. That came from the lake! Drawing his blaster, he left the safety of the cave to investigate.

Darkness was descending upon Gyraes, casting shadows every which way. A flock of small birds scattered suddenly, startling Luke. He walked carefully through the brush – if there was something out there, he wanted to know it was there before it knew he was.

He climbed an outcrop of rocks to get a better view of the lake and gasped. A TIE! It had crashed in the lake, and judging from the smoke billowing from it, had been shot down. What was he supposed to do? Sure, the Imperials weren't his friends, but he couldn't just leave the pilot to die. What would a Jedi do?

Reaching out with his Force senses as Master Yoda had taught him, Luke sensed a dull presence in the ship and caught a powerful wave of something else – but it was jerked from him before he could make sense of it.

But someone was still alive in there, and, as a Jedi–in–training, he felt he was bound to help. Stumbling down the rocks, he rushed into the lake and waded until he was forced to try and swim. The water was cold, icy cold, and Luke prayed that he could make it to the ship.

After what seemed like an eternity, Luke caught a hold of a bar and heaved himself into the TIE. The cockpit was a mess, and it took him quite a while to uncover the victim from beneath the pile of wires, console parts, and metal casings. It was only then that he discovered the identity of the Imperial he'd rescued.

It was his father.

Well, how did you like Chapter 1? I know it was kind of short, but the next chapters should be longer.

Since the ending of this chapter was probably pretty obvious to everyone, I'll get Chpt. #2 up relatively soon. After that, the updates will be weekly/biweekly, depending on the business of my week.

Anyway, have a great day and don't forget to do some reading!

~LMarsh

(PS. Reviews make writers happy! Constructive criticism is always appreciated.)