Jedi Prince_ The Glove Of Darth Vader Part 1

Star Wars.

Jedi Prince.

The Glove Of Darth Vader.

by Paul Davids and Hollace Davids.

The Adventure Continues...

It was an era of darkness, a time when the evil Empire ruled the galaxy. Fear and terror spread across every planet and moon.

Emperor Palpatine, the Imperial dictator, reigned, aided by his second-in-command, Darth Vader. Together they tried to crush all who resisted them-but still the Rebel Alliance survived.

The Rebel Alliance was formed by heroic men, women, and aliens, united against the Empire in their valiant fight to restore freedom and justice to the galaxy.

Luke Skywalker joined the Rebels after his uncle purchased a pair of droids known as See-Threepio (C-3P0) and Artoo-Detoo (R2-D2). The droids were on a mission to save the beautiful Princess Leia. Leia was a Rebel Alliance leader who was being held captive by the Empire, and was caught in the clutches of the evil Darth Vader.

In his quest to save Princess Leia, Luke was a.s.sisted by Han Solo, the das.h.i.+ng pilot of the s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p Millennium Falcon, and Han's copilot, Chewbacca, a hairy alien known as a Wookiee.

Han and Luke eventually succeeded in rescuing the Rebel princess, but their struggle against the Empire did not end there. Luke and his ragtag group of Rebel freedom fighters battled armor-clad stormtroopers, and mile-long star destroyers, and faced the Empire's mightiest weapon of all-the Imperial Death Star. The Death Star was a battle station as big as a moon, with the power to destroy an entire planet. It was exploded by the Rebels in a deadly mission. The Empire soon built a second Death Star though, this one even larger and more powerful than the first.

In the course of his adventures Luke sought out the wise old hermit, Obi-Wan Ken.o.bi, who became Luke's first teacher in the ways of the Jedi Knights.

The Jedi Knights, an ancient society of brave and n.o.ble warriors, were the protectors of the Old Republic in days before the Empire was formed. The Jedi believed that victory comes not just from physical strength but from a mysterious power called the Force.

The Force lies hidden deep within all things. It has two sides: one side that can be used for good, the other side a power of absolute evil.

In training to become a Jedi Knight, Obi-Wan Ken.o.bi sent Luke to study under a great Jedi Master, Yoda. From Yoda, Luke discovered some startling truths about himself-Princess Leia was actually his twin sister and his father was none other than Darth Vader. Luke learned that Darth Vader had once been a Jedi Knight, but Vader was lured to the ways of the Dark Side by Emperor Palpatine and then became obsessed with power and consumed with hatred.

The Jedi Masters realized that it was Luke's destiny to battle his own father, or else the Dark Side would triumph. There were two confrontations between father and son, both of them duels fought with blazing lightsabers.

Before Darth Vader's death, Luke helped his father come to the understanding that Emperor Palpatine had turned him against everyone and everything he had ever loved. Darth Vader then destroyed the Emperor, hurling him down into the power core of the Death Star. Then the Death Star itself was destroyed, exploded in a Rebel attack.

With the Empire's evil leaders gone and their battle station destroyed, a new era has begun. Imperial warlords have been fighting for power among themselves, but no one knows who will seize control. However, the Prophets of the Dark Side have foretold that a new Emperor will soon arise, and on his hand he shall wear an indestructible symbol of evil-the glove of Darth Vader!

CHAPTER 1.

Droids on a Mission.

See-Threepio's frantic voice echoed through the Droid Repair Shop on Yavin Four, the fourth moon of the planet Yavin.

"But, Master Luke," Threepio was saying, "Kessel has always been last on my list of places in the galaxy I'd like to see. Particularly on a dangerous spy mission without my own head."

"You're only getting a different head cover, not a whole new head," Luke Skywalker said to his golden, human-shaped droid. He bent to examine a used droid head on a shelf. "We're not going to touch a single one of your microcircuits. We just don't want you to be noticed in a crowd of Kessel droids."

The Kessel droid head Luke was holding had a punched-in, evil-looking face. It was a face that didn't match Threepio's gentle personality at all. "What do you think of this one?"

asked Luke.

"That one? There's something lacking in your taste, Master Luke. It's unsightly-and . . .

and it's green!" Threepio stammered.

"Didn't I tell you about your new color-plating?"

"You're not going to make me green, are you?" Threepio exclaimed, waving his arms.

"Don't panic," said Luke. "Your gold color will be restored, along with your usual head cover, when the mission is over. Come on, let's get started."

BZZZZZZZT!.

Luke pressed his inter-office communications device, signaling the Droid Modification Team that Threepio was ready. The team was a group of Too-Onebee technical droids that specialized in repairing other droids and replacing their worn-out parts. The Too-Onebees brought with them Artoo-Detoo, a barrel-shaped droid that they had just finished modifying. Artoo now resembled a dark green Kessel mining droid, complete with a Kessel insignia on his dome.

"Dweeeet bchooo tzniiiiiiiit!" beeped Artoo-Detoo, turning his new dome left and right so that Luke and Threepio would notice.

"No, I don't think you look wonderful," replied Threepio, who was an expert at translating six million galactic languages and understood all of Artoo's beeps, buzzes, and whistles.

Walking away from his little friend, Threepio reluctantly left with the Droid Modification Team. He returned an hour later.

"I hope you're satisfied," Threepio said with dismay.

"You look perfect," Luke replied with a smile. "Come on, we have to get to the new Senate.

You don't want to miss the beginning of Mon Mothma's briefing, do you?"

Luke walked toward the door quickly, thinking to himself how fortunate the Alliance was to have a distinguished and brilliant woman like Mon Mothma as its leader. "When Mon Mothma explained our strategy for the battle against the Death Star, you were on time to hear her then-and this is no time to be late, either, Threepio. Especially since all of the key members of SPIN will be there."

SPIN was short for the Senate's Planetary Intelligence Network, a secret organization within the Alliance's new galactic government.

WHOOOOs.h.!.+.

Luke's airspeeder zoomed over the treetops of the rain forest on Yavin Four, dodging the peaks of the old pyramids. Soon he could see many of the elaborate structures that had been built by a long-vanished race. He saw the Great Temple. And to his left the Temple of the Blueleaf Cl.u.s.ter. And up ahead the Palace of the Woolamander, where the new Senate met.

It was nearly twilight when Luke landed the airspeeder. He hurried Threepio and Artoo up the ramp to the main Senate entrance and they proceeded down a stone hallway until they reached the briefing room.

Seated at the conference table were two human women, two human men, and two aliens. The women were Mon Mothma and Princess Leia; the men were Han Solo and Lando Calrissian, the governor of Cloud City on the planet Bespin; and the aliens were Chewbacca, the Wookiee, and Admiral Ackbar, the sad-eyed fishman and war hero from the watery world of Calamari.

Luke took his place at the center of the table, with Threepio and Artoo standing nearby.

"Well, kid," Han said to Luke, "you sure did a great job on these droids. If I didn't know what was going on, I'd swear I was on Kessel."

"Thanks, Han. Coming from you, that really means a lot," Luke said to his friend.

"Kessel is a planet that all experienced cargo pilots try to avoid," said Han. "Especially me. But a few times, when there was a fortune to be made from transporting spice, I flew the trip from Kessel anyway, against my better judgment. In fact, I've made the Kessel Run in the Millennium Falcon in less than twelve standard timeparts."

"You told me that the day I first met you, back in the cantina at the Mos Eisley s.p.a.ceport on Tatooine," said Luke. "Remember? When I showed up with Obi-Wan Ken.o.bi and-"

"Yeah, I remember, kid, now that you mention it," interrupted Han. He knitted his brows and frowned. "Well, take my word for it-things have gotten even meaner on Kessel since then. And it's tough times there for spice traders and old Corellian s.p.a.ce pirates like me. These days, if they even suspect you might be loyal to the Alliance, they send you straight to the spice mines-to be a slave for life!"

"Which brings us to the urgency of the Kessel mission," Mon Mothma said strongly.

"Thousands of grand moffs, evil warlords, stormtroopers, Imperial droids, and enemy officers from the Empire are arriving at Kessendra Stadium on Kessel for a big gathering in their capital city."

She turned to Artoo-Detoo and continued. "Artoo, your data banks now contain information on every important Imperial who might be at that meeting, including all those who may have ambitions to become the new leader of the Empire. You also have data on the Prophets of the Dark Side. There seems to be much controversy about the latest prophecy of the Supreme Prophet of the Dark Side, Kadann."

Mon Mothma touched a b.u.t.ton on the conference table console and a holo-projector flashed Kadann's words in midair: After Palpatine's fiery death Another leader soon comes to command the Empire And on his right hand he does wear The glove of Darth Vader!

A menacing silence fell over the briefing room.

"Ptooog bziiiini?" beeped Artoo, as his new dome rotated back and forth.

"He wants to know how the right-hand glove of Darth Vader can still exist," said Threepio.

"Unlike the left-hand glove, the right glove was made to be indestructible," Mon Mothma replied. "A symbol of evil that would survive forever. After Luke cut off Darth Vader's right hand in their lightsaber duel, the glove was believed to have been hurled out into s.p.a.ce when the Death Star exploded.

"According to our intelligence reports," she continued, "the glove has not yet been found.

We have teams out searching for it, but it's possible that someone at the Kessel meeting might have found the glove already and claim to be the new Emperor."

Suddenly Mon Mothma's holo-projector created an image of a meteor. "Threepio and Artoo, this may look like a meteor, but it's actually your landing pod," she explained. "Admiral Ackbar and his fellow Calamarians built this especially for your mission."

"We guarantee that it will do the job," Admiral Ackbar said confidently.

Lando smiled and nudged his friend Han Solo, who was sitting beside him. "Han has been kind enough to offer me a ride back to Bespin," said Lando, "so that I can get back to Cloud City for some urgent business. On our way, as we pa.s.s near Kessel, we'll eject the pod from the Millennium Falcon, right, Han?"

"Sure thing," Han put in.

"The pod should get through enemy defenses undetected," said Mon Mothma, turning to the droids. "It's also been designed for your escape from Kessel. When your mission is over and you reboard, the pod will shed its meteor coating so that it will look like a spherical Imperial probe droid. Then it will automatically soar to the upper atmosphere, where you'll be picked up by an Imperial command speeder we captured-Command Speeder 714-D."

Threepio rubbed the back of his new metal head cover. He thought he could hear a fuse popping somewhere inside his electronic brain. This was all so shocking! "And what if we get lost on Kessel?" he asked timidly.

"You droids managed to find Jabba the Hutt's palace on Tatooine all by yourselves," Luke reminded Threepio.

"And you even helped rescue Han when he was frozen in suspended animation inside a block of solid carbonite," said Leia.

"Grrrowff!" Chewbacca agreed.

"On the outside chance that you droids do get lost," Mon Mothma added, "remember that we've programmed Artoo-Detoo's data banks with maps of Kessel that we recovered from an escaped slave. Those maps show every street in the capital city of Kessendra and the layout of Kessendra Stadium-even the slaves' secret escape tunnel you'll be using to get into the stadium."

At last Mon Mothma concluded the briefing and sent everyone to get a good night's rest before the mission began.

"Master Luke, sir," said Threepio in a sinking voice. "Are you sure there's no one else in the Alliance better suited for this mission than Artoo-Detoo and me?"

"You computed the odds yourself, Threepio," replied Luke. "I asked you what the chances are of any human or alien who's loyal to the Alliance getting back from Kessel alive."

Threepio nodded. "Only one chance in twelve thousand six hundred," he said, sighing. "Very well, then. It's all for the best. We droids are replaceable, after all."

Under the starlit sky of Yavin Four, Han Solo walked Princess Leia to her quarters.

"Your highness," said Han. "After Chewie and I drop off the droids in the meteor pod on Kessel and take Lando back to Cloud City . . . well, I don't know exactly how to put this . . . I'm not planning on coming back for a while."

"But, Han," Princess Leia protested, "you know how important you are to SPIN."

"Maybe so, but Lando's offered me a lease on a piece of sky near Cloud City. I've always dreamed of having a place of my own, and I figure it's about time Chewie and I built my dream sky house."

"Can't you put it off until we know what's going on with the new Emperor?" asked Leia.

"Princess, there's always something important that seems to come up before I can take care of my own dreams. Time is running out. And a man's got to do what he's got to do."

"If that's the way you want it, Han," Leia said, not quite understanding him. She turned away.

"I'm going to miss you, Princess," said Han, taking her hand. "May the Force be with you."

CHAPTER 2.

Lightning Power of the Dark Side As the Millennium Falcon came out of hyperdrive and slowed below lightspeed, Han and Chewie deliberately navigated into the heart of a huge electrical storm in Kessel's outer atmosphere. The black lightning clouds were an unsuspecting place from which to eject the meteor pod.

ZHWEEEEEK! The cargo door screeched as it opened.

Soon the pod was dropping toward Kessel, buffeted by strong winds, its outer rock-coating struck by lightning, its interior heated by friction. But it kept adjusting its path of descent, taking the droids to where they needed to go.

The worst part for Threepio and Artoo was the landing. The meteor pod bounced into a rocky mountainside, rolled into a few bushy Kesselian trees, and finally came to a stop within an easy walk to the hidden entrance of the slaves' escape tunnel.

The pod's hatch door opened and the two disguised droids emerged to face the looming mountains set against an eerie pink sky. The electrical storm had ended.

"I'm certainly glad droids don't get dizzy, or I wouldn't be able to stand up for days,"

said Threepio. He glanced at their pod. "Look, Artoo, our meteor pod looks like just another boulder against the craggy terrain. It should be safe here until we return. That is, if we return."

They found the underground pa.s.sageway, and Threepio pushed away the rocks that concealed the entrance. Soon they were heading into the tunnel, which had a faint luminous glow from the many spice-covered rocks.