This story was written for a TFN writing challenge. I was to write the opening scroll for EP7 the way I would want it to read and then write the opening scene. I can't write in film script form, so I wrote the story the way I normally would. Just consider it the novelization of the movie. I have to admit, I can't write an action movie, so this is more of a character driven story. EP7 hopefully will have a lot more action. lol! It was only supposed to be a one-shot story, but I was persuaded to continue the story.

Since the powers-that-be don't want to follow the EU because they would have to explain the origin of Mara Jade and her death and everything...I decided to make Luke the celibate monk they probably will have him portrayed in the film. But I have to put a little twist to his story.

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A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away…

It has been thirty-four years since the Battle of Yavin. After the destruction of the second Death Star the Rebel cause gained momentum. Without the threat of a planet busting space station hanging over their head thousands of worlds balked at Imperial control and rose up to break their chains of oppression. Millions of Imperial troops defected and returned to their planets, the remnants of the Empire quickly capitulated and joined the new democratic government christened The New Republic.

Luke Skywalker established his Jedi Academy on Coruscant and rebuilt the Jedi Temple. In the last three decades he has trained thousands of new Jedi Knights. His sister, the former Princess Leia of Alderaan, married Rebel Alliance General Han Solo and had twin children, Jacen and Jaina Solo. As the Grand Master of the New Jedi Order, Luke Skywalker embraced the no attachment tenets of the Jedi Knights of old, deciding to concentrate on nurturing young Jedi Knights instead of a family.

The people of the galaxy have flourished under the peaceful rule of the New Republic, but in recent months Luke Skywalker has felt a tremor in the Force. He can feel a menacing darkness approaching. Fearing the return of the Sith, Grand Master Skywalker dispatched hundreds of Jedi to search and locate the source of this darkside disturbance. Jedi archivists scoured ancient tomes and digital records looking for planets that might be home to a population of Sith. Through the Force, Master Skywalker was drawn to one particular ancient Sith stronghold—the planet Drakos.

Opening Scene

With a glowrod in one hand and his deactivated lightsaber in the other, Jedi Knight Jacen Solo slowly moved through the debris of the abandoned Imperial laboratory. The beam of his light swung over the intact ceiling and walls and then to the shattered glassware and medical equipment littering the floor. He turned to his uncle following close behind. "It doesn't look like explosives were used. This destruction was done by hand."

Grand Master Luke Skywalker gave his nephew a nod of agreement. "Somebody wanted to make this lab nonfunctional."

"But why?" Jacen squeezed the hilt of his saber nervously. The overbearing presence of the darkside was suffocating. "This place feels the same as Korriban and Ziost."

A haunted look filled Luke's light blue eyes, but he gave Jacen a reassuring smile. "Yes, but there was no living danger on those two planets, just the lingering manifestation of the darkside. Horrific evil can cause a wound in the Force."

Jacen turned back to the task at hand moving cautiously through the wreckage. "Mom always told me time heals all wounds."

Luke shook his head. "Not if it's a festering wound. This place was home to great evil."

A loud crash sounded behind them causing both Jedi to spin around activating their lightsabers. In the green and purple glow of their weapons they could see the young platoon leader of the New Republic troops assisting in the search pick himself off the floor and brush dust and glass shards off his uniform and chest armor. "Sorry, I tripped," the officer muttered as his cheeks darkened with embarrassment. "Do you want a squad to accompany you?"

Luke shook his head as he and Jacen deactivated their weapons. "No Lieutenant. I think we have this under control. Just stand by."

Luke turned away from the newly commissioned officer and grinned at his nephew. Jacen rolled his eyes and resumed searching the building. His mother, Leia Organa Solo, had insisted that a platoon of soldiers accompany the Grand Master on these search missions. Leia didn't say so out loud, but Jacen knew she thought her brother was too important and possibly too old to put himself into highly dangerous situations. According to her, 'hunting Sith is a young Jedi's game.'

Jacen glanced over to his uncle and suppressed a chuckle. His mother had nothing to worry about. At the age of fifty-three, Luke Skywalker was at his prime. He maintained a strenuous physical regimen and his Force abilities had increased with age. Only the graying of his temples and laugh lines around the Grand Master's eyes and mouth gave evidence of the advancing years. There was not a Jedi alive who could best the Grand Master.

As Jacen neared a large heavy security door at the end of the room his eyes were drawn to a red light over the keypad. He motioned his glowrod towards the lock. "This has power."

There was the sound of glass ground underfoot as Luke moved to inspect the locking system. "The lock looks about forty or fifty years old. It'll probably be faster to use a slicer than trying to cut through the metal." He turned and pointed his hand torch toward the officer at the end of the room. "Lieutenant Akans, send in your slicer."

"Yes sir." The soldier pulled out a comlink and spoke a few words before putting it away. A few minutes later a middle-aged sergeant entered the room, the light of his glowrod swung across the chamber until it lit upon Luke and Jacen. He quickly made his way over to the Jedi and started pulling electronic equipment out of his side satchel.

As the slicer went to work, Jacen ran the beam of his light over the door and surrounding walls looking for warning signs. He didn't want to walk into a biohazard or radiation secure room. The one thing the Imperials were good at was plastering hazard signs over doors and halls…covering up thermal exhaust ports or installing guardrails was where they had difficulties.

After a few minutes the light above the lock turned green and the hiss of the door seal separating was heard. The sergeant gathered his equipment and stood back allowing the two Jedi to lead the way.

Jacen pulled the heavy door open and walked into the unlit room. A soft hum of equipment could be heard indicating this area was hooked up to a separate power supply than the rest of the darkened building.

He located and pressed a light switch on the side wall. There was a momentary flicker of the overhead glow panels, before the room plunged back into darkness. "The power is on, but the panels are burnt out."

Jacen walked further into the shadowy room a tight beam illuminating the way. Along a far wall was a line of transparisteel cylinders covered with a thick layer of dust. He went up to one, rubbed the grime off and peered inside. He startled slightly when he saw dead eyes staring back at him. He turned to Luke,"It's a cadaver."

Jacen moved aside allowing his uncle to gaze at the decaying body floating in a murky liquid. "It looks like a cloning cylinder." Luke rubbed more dust off the tube so he could see the complete body. The features were indiscernible, but it was obviously a human male.

"Who do you think it is?" Jacen asked as he analyzed the corpse from the tuff of red hair on his head to his decaying toes.

"I don't know." Luke went to the next cylinder and brushed off years of dust. Inside was a twin of the first unfortunate fellow. "They're clones, but I don't recognize the person. He is too deteriorated." Luke gazed at the dead man intensely, reaching out with the Force, before his brow rose in surprise. "Palpatine."

Jacen gazed at the two corpses. "Did Palpatine have red hair?"

Luke nodded. "I read that he did in his youth. By the time I was born his hair was gray." He ran a hand through his short-cropped blond hair as he gazed at his old nemesis. "It isn't the hair or the face that tells me his identity. It's the feeling in the Force. The last time I felt this type of darkside presence was when I faced Palpatine on the Death Star." He moved to the next cylinder inspecting the controls. "We have to make sure they're all dead." The two Jedi went to each remaining cylinder confirming the clones were deceased. Luke stepped back and rubbed a finger over the stubble of his chin as he scrutinized the cloning apparatuses. "There is power to this room, but all of these cylinders were turned off, leaving the clones to die."

"Then what's that humming coming from?" Jacen flashed his light in the direction of the sound. Over in a far corner stood another cylinder. It wasn't made of transparisteel like the others, but of a metallic substance with one small window about shoulder high. Jacen went over and wiped his palm over the small port to peer inside. He quickly stepped back and turned to his uncle. "It's a woman. And this isn't a cloning tube. It appears to be a stasis cylinder…a functioning stasis cylinder."

Luke pushed his nephew out of the way and gazed at the women. She looked perfectly preserved with long flowing hair framing a porcelain smooth face with full red lips. He couldn't make out much of her body through the small viewport, but he could see the delicate curve of her neck until it disappeared into a green tunic. He stepped back and studied the controls of the stasis unit. "Call for the medic. We should have somebody here when we open it. If she's been in stasis for years there may be side effects."

Jacen nodded and pulled out his comlink ordering the platoon medic to come to their location. After a few minutes a young Corporal ran into the room with a medical bag in hand. "What do we have sir?"

"A human female. She's in a stasis field and may be alive." Luke regarded the younger man. "Have you dealt with people coming out of stasis?"

The medic nodded. "Yes sir, but only short term stasis durations. The after affects are not as bad as carbonite, but if she was ill or dying when she was put into stasis, there may not be much I can do."

"Well, there's only one way to find out." Luke pushed the button to deactivate the stasis field and unlock the door. There was a muffled clunk as the door swung open. Luke lunged forward and grabbed the woman as she collapsed from the cylinder. He gently held her in his arms admiring her beauty before laying her on the ground allowing the medic to examine his patient.

The man ran a scanner over her body before he injected her with some type of chemical. He looked up to Luke to explain. "I gave her a stimulant. We want to get everything moving again as fast as possible." He ran a medical scanner over her once more. "I detect a faint heartbeat."

Jacen knelt across from the medic and stared intently at the young woman's chest waiting for it to rise. "She's not breathing." Before the medic could move Jacen leaned down and started rescue breathing. After a couple puffs the woman started gasping for breath. Her eyes opened and gazed at Jacen, his face only centimeters from hers. Her brow furrowed before she forcefully shoved him away.

Luke had to suppress his laughter. Although he had chosen a path of Jedi non-attachment, he gave his students the option. Jacen was one Knight that enjoyed attaching himself to any young female that came his way. Luke was sure his nephew's heroic gesture to save this attractive female's life was merely an excuse to put his lips on hers.

The young woman slowly rose to a sitting position and brought a hand up to block the glare of the glowrods blinding her. "Who are you!" she demanded, her voice dry and strained.

"I'm Jedi Knight Jacen Solo," he stated proudly while giving her his best beguiling smile. "We took you out of stasis."

She squinted at him and then to the others in the room. "Jedi Knight? What year is it?"

Luke came forward and put his glowrod on the floor so it wouldn't blind her. "It is thirty-four years after the battle of Yavin."

A perplexed expression crossed her face. "Battle of Yavin…you mean the destruction of the first Death Star?"

Luke nodded. "Yes. What year did you go into stasis?"

"Shortly after the destruction of the second Death Star."

Luke glanced at Jacen. "That would be four…almost five years after the Battle of Yavin." He turned back to the woman. "You've been in stasis for thirty years."

"Is the Emperor still dead?" She glanced around the room with a look of dread.

"Still dead?" Luke said confused. "He died on the second Death Star."

The woman let out an impatient sigh. "Yes, but is he 'still' dead? Did he show up in some clone body years later." She gestured to the dead bodies floating in the cloning cylinders.

Luke gave a slight shrug of his shoulders. "If he did, he hasn't shown his face in three decades."

"Good, good." She let out a relieved breath before dropping her head despondently. "But thirty years might not be long enough."

Luke cocked his head to the side and gave her a perplexed smile. "Long enough for what?"

She shook her head sadly before bringing her eyes up to meet his. "To be forgotten."

"I'm not sure what you mean, but we should get you to our ship and checked out thoroughly in the infirmary." He grasped her hand helping her to her feet. "I'm Luke Skywalker…and you are?"

The woman's eyes went wide in recognition, but she quickly recovered. She gazed at Luke's hand gently clutching hers. "I'm please to meet you Luke." She shook his hand with a slight smile. "I'm Mara… Mara Jade."