Chapter 10 Lando held his breath as he brought them out of hyperspace. BX had engaged the cloaking device before they had completely slowed to relative speed. For a moment they were flying blind until the small extensions poked past the cloaking field. Rae stood behind Lando’s chair, holding onto the back of it. Nein monitored the ships systems from the co-pilot’s seat. Lowbacca watched the forward screen from the engineer’s seat. Nothing could be seen for a moment then the screen flickered and then they could see outside the ship. “Cloaking devices suck,” Lando said. “Sure they keep things from being able to see inside the field, but they also prevent you from being able to see out.” Lowbacca growled and MTD translated. “You are using passive probes? How big are they?” Lando nodded. “They are a millimeter in width. There are six that stick past the field.” “Can’t…
Author: Shawn Bennett
Star Wars: Darkness Rising: The Threat Within Chapters 8 & 9
Chapter 8 Ben strode through the halls of the Jedi Temple. He turned the corner and went into the council chambers. Luke was looking at the holographic map of the galaxy that hung in the center of the room. “You’re agitated, Ben,” he said turning away from the map to face Ben. Luke had a full beard that was going grey and white, very little of the color from his younger years as left in it or the hair atop his head. His eyes were bright though, seeming to pierce through Ben. “What has you upset?” Ben stopped and sighed. He pushed his hair back from his face. “I cannot get R2 to tell me what Lando and my padawans were looking into.” “I thought you were going to let them be and see what they came back with,” Luke said. Ben looked past Luke to the map…
Star Wars: Darkness Rising: The Threat Within Chapter 7
Chapter 7 Lando climbed down the steps that lead to the Lady Luck’s cargo hold. Rae and Lowbacca have spent most of their time there. He came down and watched them a few times. Sometimes they were just levitating some of the crates and each other, other times, they were practicing with the stun sticks that he saw Rae and Master Solo using on Yavin. This time, they were sitting a few meters apart. A torch hung in the air between them. Two more lay on the ground, twisted and broken. Occasionally, the torch would snap on then immediately shut off. Rae’s eyes were closed and she was sweating. Her body was tense as she sat there cross legged, hands going between being relaxed and balling into fists. Lowbacca sat with his legs crossed as well. His eyes were opened but it looked as if he were looking through Rae…
Star Wars: Darkness Rising: The Threat Within Chapter 6
Chapter 6 Finn fixed his helmet in place, returning to his duty as a faceless Stormtrooper. Captain Phasma had already donned her helmet and was striding down the ramp from the Stardust to the hangar of the Star Destroyer. Finn followed her in time look though the opening in the floor of the hangar and see the stars become streaks as the Star Destroyer Vigilance jumped to hyperspace. There was much activity in the hangar. Troops moving equipment and guiding heavy lift droids. Finn saw a group of officers were moving toward Captain Phasma. When they got close, Captain Phasma came to attention as did Finn. He let her salute. “Captain,” one of the men said who had a Colonel’s rank and saluted back. “Colonel,” she answered in response. “What is going on?” The colonel sighed and turned to walk toward the open space that shown with the shifting colors…
Star Wars: Darkness Rising: The Threat Within Chapter 5
Chapter 5 “Nien, I know. Not really thrilled with it but it will take days if not weeks for the Jedi to make up their mind,” Lando said. The two of them sat on the bridge of the Lady Luck with the door shut. The flicking light from hyperspace filling the bridge. Nien waved his arms and gestured back to the door. Lando sighed. “Look, Nien, they tried to kill us. You don’t try to kill someone in a business deal unless you are doing something you don’t want to get out. And don’t tell me you changed your mind about the fact that we both agreed that this wasn’t something we could ignore.” Nien made a face and gestured again back toward the hatchway. “We take what we can get, bud. We are going to head back to Yavin once we see if Takodana has anything for us.” Nien…
Star Wars: Darkness Rising: The Threat Within Chapter 4
Scene 4 Saint swept the sidewalk in front of his store. He leaned against the broom for a moment and watched as the Lady Luck rose into the air, its landing gear retracting into the hull. It turned and headed almost straight up, growing smaller as it ascended to the heavens. He walked back into the store, leaning the broom against the door frame. His dark hands pushed the dreads back from his face and he twisted a copper strip around them to restrain them. “J12, mind the store,” he said then walked into the back. An old protocol droid pushed away from the wall. “As you wish sir,” it said and walked behind the counter. Saint moved down the hall and stepped into a locker room. He looked in the mirror staring at the older dark skinned human. He ran a hand through his beard and debated on shaving…
Star War: Darkness Rising: The Threat Within Chapter 3
Scene 3 The Lady Luck descended into the atmosphere of Yavin 4. Lando flew past a Mon Calamari Cruiser and four Nebulon B frigates that were stationed in orbit. None of the ships contacted them but they were scanned multiple times. “Yavin control to Lady Luck, please state the nature of your visit,” came an almost childlike voice from the comm. “Yavin control, this is Lady Luck. We are here to speak with,” Lando paused for a second giving Nien a glance who shrugged. “Grand Master Skywalker.” “Affirmative, Lady Luck. Sending coordinates for landing now. Please be aware, we do not have automated guidance and the skies are busy.” “Copy that, control. Coordinates received.” Lando banked the Lady Luck and descended toward the jungle below. In the distance he could see the crescent of the gas giant rising and below a jagged hung of superstructure from the original Death Star. …
Star Wars: Darkness Rising: The Threat Within – Chapter 2
Chapter 2 Han leaned against the door frame and watched as the Lady Luck glided toward the landing deck. He straightened up as he noticed several jagged pieces of metal sticking out from under the ship. “What have you gotten yourself into Lando?” Han muttered. Lando saw Han watching the ship come down. “I didn’t expect him to meet me at the landing pad,” Lando said. The ship dipped a little then leveled out. “Number two repulsor is shot,” he said. Nien nodded and sighed. When the ship touched down, he motioned Lando toward the back saying something to him. Lando smiled. “Yeah, you get the easy job, I have to explain this to Han and Leia.” Han winced as the landing ramp descended with an audible screech of protesting metal. He watched Lando come down the ramp. ‘He’s looking old,’ Han thought then laughed. Lando was only a few…
Star Wars: Darkness Rising: The Threat Within.
Author’s Note: I have been watching and reading Star Wars since I was 7. When Disney brought the Star Wars IP from George Lucas for more money that I could conceive of, I thought that we were in for some epic storytelling and stunning visuals. I was worried when Disney decided to say that the vast number of books and comics were not canon. Rogue One served to give me hope that they were still going to make good content. It was a good story that was set in a short time line that told the story of how the Rebel Alliance obtained the Death Star plans. The Force Awakens was vastly underwhelming from a storytelling point of view. The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker only served to confirm my dislike of the way that Disney was treating the IP. I have also followed a number of blogs…
