Chapter 2: Chapter 2: Arrival at the Forgotten Planet
Unknown Regions: Hyperspace
Princess Leia was taking inventory of the supplies Luke had stored on his new ship. It was standard procedure when heading to a newly discovered world, given the lack of information on the planet in question. Technically, she could have just read the digital list from the ship's computer but she felt like familiarizing herself with Luke's new vessel.
A Defender-class light corvette, it was a surprisingly powerful ship for its size, in terms of speed, heavy shielding, and armament. Needing only one crew member to fly it, the 94-meter long ship was sturdy, strong, and maneuverable enough to take on much larger starships in the hands of a skilled pilot, which Luke certainly was. With all its amenities, it could even serve as a mobile command center for high-ranking operatives of the New Republic's Military. And while it was much cleaner than the Falcon, to say nothing of the fact it was almost 3 times as long...Leia couldn't help but miss the piece of junk and the man who had piloted it.
Sighing, Leia thought back on Chewbacca. The lovable Wookie had been crushed at Han's death during the Battle of Endor but, while he kept fighting for the Alliance for a while after, eventually, he decided to return to Kashyyyk to help reclaim it from the Imperial Remnant and as Han's long-time First Officer, none of them objected when Chewie inherited the ship that had to lead them to victory and safety more times than they could count. And after they helped him liberate his homeworld, Chewbacca reunited with a few surviving members of his family, much to their relief.
But the Wookie had told them before long that even with his life debt to Han settled, he felt the need to do more, especially after the Rebellion showed him that good causes can triumph even in the darkest times as well. So, he decided to start a smuggling operation to help liberate Wookie slaves and give them safe passage to Kashyyyk. And while she missed his company, Leia couldn't be more proud of him for that.
Which is why, when he approached Luke a few days earlier and asked for the help of R2 and Threepio so that he could increase his odds of successfully freeing a larger number of slaves in the Outer Rim, they didn't hesitate to lend him their aid.
Of course, that now meant that Luke and Leia were alone for this mission, which made it all the more important for Leia to take stock of every resource and tool at their disposal in case things went wrong. And it was during her inspection that she found something that surprised her: books made with paper. Raising an eyebrow, she checked them out on Luke's shelf but when she found the common theme they shared, she started to get a bit apprehensive.
Suddenly, she heard the comm channel from her side of the ship activate.
"We will get out of hyperspace in a few minutes," Luke called out. "Why don't you come to join me as we see this hidden world for the first time?"
Nodding to herself, Leia started walking towards the bridge and found it soon enough.
She found her brother on the pilot seat and he turned back to smile at her as she approached.
"Made yourself comfortable yet?" He asked.
Leia shrugged. "It's no Falcon but it's still a good ship."
Luke sighed at that, clearly reminiscing a bit. "Yeah, I know what you mean. I needed my own ship after Chewie returned to Kashyyyk and Mon Mothma was happy to oblige after all my service. But I am certainly going to miss that junkpile."
"Me too," Leia muttered. "But tell me, is there anything important about this mission you hadn't told me yet?"
Luke raised an eyebrow at her. "Nothing that comes to mind. Why do you ask?"
"Well," The princess said with some hesitation, "I found a collection of books made with actual paper about how to guide you through survival skills and the construction of tools from scratch while stranded on an uninhabited planet. Seemed a bit...ominous."
"Ah," Luke said with a look a dawning realization. "No, that was just a gift I got from a lonely but self-sufficient farmer I saved on Ossus from some raiders while looking for Jedi relics. He told me that when he was younger, he had become stranded on a deserted island on a planet in the Outer Rim called Dathomir, and had to survive by himself for a few years before someone found him. So, he had to pick up a lot of skills that would help him endure in that primitive environment where he had to make everything from scratch. And by the time had made his farm in Ossus, he had developed a taste for collecting detailed information about that sort of thing. That's why he gave me his copies as thanks for saving him, saying he hopes that it would save my life one day if I get in a similar situation."
"I see," Leia said, nodding in understanding. "I suppose that explains why the instructions are on paper then and not on a datapad."
"True," Her brother said in agreement. "Keeping it on an electronic device with a limited power source would defeat the purpose."
Then his ship's instruments started to beep. "We are about to exit hyperspace," Luke announced, his tone telling her that the Jedi was in a good mood. "In three...two...one!"
The Force-sensitive twins stared at the planet before them, feeling privileged as it finally sunk in that they were rediscovering an entire world.
"So this is Syrax," Luke murmured as he compared the current position of the planet from orbit to the map he had found on his datapad. "The rotation shows it on a different position but yes, this is clearly the place.
Then he frowned. "My sensors are not detecting any electric power sources coming from the surface."
"Well, you did say they could be in hiding," Leia reminded him. "Maybe they developed some cloaking mechanisms to prevent someone from the Empire from doing exactly that?"
"I suppose it's possible but that's not the only strange part," Her Jedi brother said in a bewildered tone. "I can't scan for any life forms either but I can sense through the Force that this planet is clearly teeming with life."
"Huh," The princess murmured. "That IS strange. Any other interesting readings?"
Luke pressed some buttons in the ship's computer and was doing another sort of scan. A couple of minutes later, he scratched his chin. "Well, the atmosphere is breathable, the gravity is ideal for human biology, and the temperature survivable on most of the surface, so it is definitely a habitable planet for our standards. I am not sure what to make of the data I am getting from the ozone layer, though."
Leia leaned over his shoulder to take a look and blinked. "You are right, I have never seen something like that for a habitable planet. It's like the layer not only protects the world from the nearby solar radiation but also absorbs the energy and keeps it stored in the upper atmosphere like a natural planetary shield or something. Are you sure the ship will be able to cross it?"
"I don't see why not," Luke said after a moment's pause. "Based on the readings, it's not actually a solid energy barrier. We might get some turbulence but my ship's deflector shield should be more than able to keep us safe."
"Alright but if the scanners can't detect any advanced settlement, how exactly are we to know where to land?" The Force-sensitive princess pressed. "In case you hadn't notice, this world has four really large continents and countless islands, some of them enormous as well."
"Well, the holocron said to follow the trail of the Force to their Great Temple near the equator so, I guess I am going to have to concentrate," He replied.
And with that, Luke closed his eyes before taking a deep breath. Leia watched him focus on the Force and it gave her mixed feelings. On the one hand, a part of her wanted to learn how to connect to the mystical energy field with her dear brother's help but on the other, she hated the fact that the only reason she was born with Force-sensitivity was that Darth Vader was her father.
Her thoughts were interrupted when Luke opened his eyes and pointed at an island on his map.
"There," Luke said confidently. "That's where the strongest Force nexus is located in the equator area. It has to be there."
Leia took a deep breath. "Very well then, let's see what we can find."
Luke grinned and piloted his ship forward, heading towards the spot on the planet until they could see it from orbit. And once they had calculated the trajectory and raised the deflector shields, her twin accelerated the vessel.
The moment they entered the atmosphere, however, the entire starship started shaking, the lights around them flickering out.
"What's going on?" Leia asked in an alarmed tone.
"I...I don't know!" Luke shouted, disconcerted. "We are crossing the atmosphere just fine but we are also losing power all over the ship. Hang on!"
Leia did just that as the ship lurched violently. Eventually, they started seeing the surface from the alien sky but by the time they were 7 kilometers above the island, the rest of the ship went dead. Luke's eyes widened as he gripped the controls so tightly his knuckles turned white.
"It must have been the strange ozone layer! It scrambles all electronics like a planetary EMP. That must be why we couldn't scan any electricity coming from down there."
Leia stomach was filled with dread but before she could fully contemplate such problematic implications, the ship lurched again and she almost hit her head with the wall behind her.
"Sit down on the chair and strap in," Luke urged her. "I think I can still land the ship on the Temple island and use the Force to slow down the crash when we approach the surface. Brace yourself!
Leia hurried to follow his recommendations and tightened her seat belt. By the time she focused on the transparisteel window again, they were so close to the archipelago...and the vast ocean around it. Luke grunted as he fought with the controls with all his might. Eventually, Leia sighed in relief when she realized they were going to make it to land instead of crash-landing their dead ship on the water...but that was the last thing that crossed her mind before the ship hit the ground and she lost consciousness on impact.
---
Leia groaned as she started to stir, feeling hands caressing her face. She opened her eyes slowly and saw the concerned face of her dear twin in front of her.
"Leia! Are you okay?"
The princess of Alderaan took a moment to focus on the aches and pains around her body before sighing. "I think so...I am a little sore but nothing feels broken. What about you?"
"I am alright but..." He hesitated. "I just checked. The starship is completely shut down. Its electric systems are fried, including the hyperdrive, along with almost every tool and object lying around that requires a power source."
The Senator of the off-world refugees of New Alderaan swallowed hard, grim possibilities battling for dominance inside her mind. "Then...how are we going to get back home?" She asked, deep concern in her tone.
Luke's shoulders slumped and looked at her with more than a little guilt. "I-I don't know yet. I have never encountered a planet with such a disruptive atmosphere for starships. And even if it was a one-time thing, all the tools we have that could have helped repair this vessel in due time are useless. Besides, even if R2 had come, he would have been destroyed by the EMP effect too, which means we couldn't rely on him even if we had brought him."
"And the long-range comms?" Leia pressed on. "Can you fix them?"
Luke turned his head to look at the console for a long moment before shaking his head. "Not with the resources we have available right now. And even if I could, perhaps it wouldn't even work. The ozone layer prevented our scanners from penetrating the atmosphere enough to detect life forms, despite the fact I can clearly sense an abundance of life in this world through the Force. It probably would disrupt long-ranged transmission too."
Leia bit her bottom lip, feeling helpless. "So, we are stuck here?"
"I am afraid so," Her brother said with a grimace. "I don't suppose you disregarded my wishes about not telling Mon Mothma where exactly we were going?"
She hit her forehead at that. "I really wish I had now. I know there are many senators that are wary about the idea of you rebuilding the Jedi Order in case some of your students go dark but I am sure Mon Mothma would have approved of our trip."
The Jedi looked very uncomfortable. "I...didn't want to risk the senators overruling her while I wasn't there to defend my position. Besides, all seemed to point that there would be a treasure trove of Jedi lore and maybe more on this planet. I wanted to return with a lot of valuable things to show for it, to see if that helped sway them."
Leia took several deep breaths in close succession, seeing his point but remaining beyond frustrated with Luke all the same because of the mess he had accidentally gotten them into. "Well...I guess we shouldn't expect a rescue anytime soon. Once they start missing us, they will start to calculate where we could have gone based on the last known trajectory of your ship but we are in the Unknown Regions, which are notorious for being dangerously complicated to travel through if you don't know exactly where you are going. So, it will probably take them quite a while to track us down here."
Luke nodded slowly. "Not to mention, even if they manage to arrive eventually, their scans will be unable to detect life forms and unless one of their ships is lucky enough to have Kyle Katarn aboard, they won't have Jedi that can tell the difference. They might miss us entirely because of that even if they reach this system...and if they still try to look for us on the surface anyway, the EMP-like atmospheric pressure will make them crash land too. In which case, the odds are not high that they would land close to our island of all places, to be honest."
Leia buried her face in her hands, feeling the weight of their hopeless situation crashing down on her shoulders. Luke was silent for a long moment, then she heard him move closer and embrace her softly.
"I am so sorry for all of this," He said, his tone remorseful. "It was never my intention to get us trapped here. But, my dear sister, I swear to you on my word as a Jedi that I will do all I can to keep you safe until we find our way back, no matter how long it takes."
Leia sniffed, then opened her eyes and locked her gaze with his, sensing the honestly written all over his face. Despite everything, she smiled warmly. "I know you will. Thank you."
They remained quiet for a few minutes, trying to compose their reeling thoughts. Before long, however, the princess stared out the viewport and saw the sand and trees of the island they landed on. "Well, I was taking inventory and I believe we have enough canned food in the ship to last us both for a month or so but we should probably explore the island and see if we can find some freshwater. With our electronics down, we can't use the emergency systems to recycle potable water indefinitely. And it would be good to see if we can find more food as well. Something tells me we are going to have to find a way to survive here for a long time."
Luke nodded in agreement. "Good thing that I already checked that my lightsaber was not fried by the ozone layer," He said while pointing at the blade in his belt. "It will help us defend ourselves from predators, not to mention be useful for starting fires."
"That's good," the New Republic Senator said with a frown. "But why was your lightsaber not damaged?"
"I am guessing it has something to do with the connection to the Force that surrounds the kyber crystal inside it, though I am not sure why that makes such a vital difference," Her twin said with a shrug. "It's the biggest thing that makes it distinct from the power source of, say, your blaster, however," He added.
At that, the adopted princess grabbed her own weapon at that and inspected its circuits, before groaning as she confirmed what Luke suspected. "Well, that's a shame. This was the best blaster I had had in years," She said with a sigh. "Oh well, let's get outside and see what we have to work with."
And with that, she stood up and heading to the ramp, her brother following her every step of the way.