Part 1 (1/2)

Rebel Force #3.

Renegade.

by Alex Wheeler.

CHAPTER ONE.

The blue beam lit up the night, slas.h.i.+ng through the darkness with an eerie glow. It painted swooping circles of light through the still air, the brilliant blue dancing to the music of chittering chucklucks and warbling bellybirds. Then, suddenly, the beam went out.

The darkness was complete.

Luke Skywalker stood motionless in the shadows of the towering Ma.s.sa.s.si trees, his hand gripped tightly around the lightsaber's hilt, waiting.

For what, he didn't know.

There were times when the lightsaber seemed to illuminate the world. Wielding the Jedi weapon made him feel safe and in control, as if the warm, blue glow kindled something inside of him. The lightsaber had been his father's, and it was his only true connection to the man who had been dead for as long as Luke could remember.

Times like these, he felt like a true Jedi. Like he was joined with the Force that Obi-f0 Wan had told him about, surrounding him, penetrating him. He was filled with a cool certainty that the Force would guide his way. That the lightsaber was more than a connection to his father. It was a connection to his destiny.

Then there were the other times. Times when the darkness overpowered the light.

Luke had spent the last several hours in the heart of the jungle, training with his lightsaber and trying to ignore his growing sense of dread. There could be nothing to fear on a night like this. The tropical humidity of Yavin 4 had given way to an unusually balmy evening. Ma.s.sa.s.si leaves rustled in the cool breeze, and in the distance, Luke could hear the m.u.f.fled shouts of a casual game of zoneball. Inspired by the weather, the Rebels had come alive, engaging in landspeeder races, pick-up Grav-ball games, and parties. As if no one sensed the dark clouds on the horizon, the air heavy with doom.

Clearly none of them did, except for Luke, who suspected he was imagining things. Searching for problems where none existed. And so, unable to sweat out his tension in lightsaber training, he abandoned the calisthenics. On a night like this, there was only one sure way to cast off the unwanted tension-to escape all his problems, real and imaginary, giving in to the sheer joy of speed.

The speeder bikes were parked near the living quarters. Princess Leia Organa waved at him through the window as he pa.s.sed, then turned back to her conversation with Han Solo. Although Luke couldn't hear them through the transparisteel, he could easily guess what they were doing: arguing.

It was pretty much all they ever did.

For a moment, he thought about going inside to break up the fight. But instead, he continued toward his bike. It was too nice a night to spend cooped up inside. He knew that trapped between four walls, his anxiety would likely boil over. He needed to be out in the wild, riding fast and free.

Tobin Elad, one of the newest recruits to the Rebel cause, was leaning against the crusty, purple bark of a crooked Ma.s.sa.s.si tree, watching the planet Yavin dip beneath the horizon. The night blazed orange as the ma.s.sive gas giant plunged through the clouds. ”Nice weather for a ride,” Elad said, nodding as Luke pa.s.sed.

The darkness was back. Stronger than ever. Luke forced a weak smile, fighting off the nausea. ”Want to join me?”

Elad shook his head. ”Another time,” he said. ”But have a good one.”

Luke climbed aboard the bike, eager to get started. The speeders could go more than 500 kilometers an hour-surely fast enough to outrun the darkness.

He turned the ignition. The engine roared to life.

And everything froze.

For Luke, time slowed nearly to a stop, and everything became frighteningly clear. The burnt umber of the sky, the humid kiss of the wind. The vibrations of the speeder bike beneath him. The certainty that something was terribly, terribly wrong. This wasn't darkness he could outrun or ignore. This wasn't his imagination.

This was a warning.

As time sped into motion again, Luke flung himself from the speeder. He didn't think, he just acted, launching himself into the air-as the bike exploded in a ball of blue-gold fire.

X-f0 7 didn't feel, not in the normal human sense.

But as Luke's body slammed into the ground, limbs bent at odd, awkward angles, as the raging fire crept toward his still, broken form, X-f0 7 allowed himself a small smile. There was nothing like the satisfaction of a job well done.

Then he saw Luke's chest rise and fall.

His smile disappeared.

X-f0 7, the man Luke knew as Tobin Elad, rushed to kneel beside the body. If anyone was watching, it would look like the loyal Elad was desperate to save his fallen friend. No one would see the a.s.sa.s.sin's hand covering Luke's mouth, his fingers pinching Luke's nose shut, the feeble flailing of a wounded body struggling to breathe. Just a few more seconds, and his mission would be complete. Luke Skywalker, destroyer of the Death Star, hope of the Rebellion, target of the Empire's most ruthless a.s.sa.s.sin, would finally be- ” Luuuuuuke! Luuuuuuke! ” ”

X-f0 7 winced as Leia's screech pierced the night. He had only a split second to decide-kill Luke now, once and for all, and risk discovery? Or let the situation play itself out.

He let his hand drop away from Luke's nose and mouth. Within moments, a panicked crowd had formed around the fallen Rebel. ”The bike just exploded,”

X-f0 7 said, as Leia cradled Luke's head in her lap, urging him to hold on until the medical droids arrived. Han Solo appeared just behind her, hands clenched in frustration at not being able to act. ”It's lucky he wasn't killed instantly.”

Lucky indeed. The speeder had been wired with enough explosives to blow Luke's body to bits-but that was a.s.suming Luke had stayed on the bike.

Instead, he'd thrown himself out of the way, just in time.

How did he know? X-f0 7 thought, frustrated. know? X-f0 7 thought, frustrated.

Not that it mattered. The shock wave had caught him, flung him like a rag doll. And if Luke's current injuries didn't kill him, X-f0 7 would help them along.

Nothing was easier than taking down weakened prey.

Three 2-1B medical droids loaded Luke onto a stretcher and carried him away, their p.r.o.ngs and manipulator arms already at work a.s.sessing the damage.

As the fire burned itself out, the crowd lingered, reluctant to leave the scene.

”Could it have been an accident?” Leia asked, looking anxiously in the direction the droids had taken Luke.

Han and X-f0 7 shook their heads at the same time. ”Someone sabotaged that bike,” X-f0 7 said grimly. ”No doubt.”

”But who'd want to hurt the kid?” Han said.

X-f0 7 held in another small smile. Han was about to get his answer.

They all were.

CHAPTER TWO.

This is wrong, Leia thought, waiting impatiently for the Rebel security patrol to bring her some kind of answers. Yavin 4 was supposed to be a stronghold, a safe base for the Rebel Alliance. Alliance Alliance was the key word. They were supposed to all be on the same side. Fighting the Empire, not each other. was the key word. They were supposed to all be on the same side. Fighting the Empire, not each other.

But somehow, an enemy had found his or her way into the heart of the Rebellion. And now Luke was immersed in a bath of healing bacta, fighting for his life; the enemy was still out there somewhere. And Leia was just waiting.