The Jon Solo Chronicles Book 3: Return of the Jedi

Chapter 24: Funeral for a Jedi

Jon turned on his flashlight when he'd gotten a good enough distance from the village. He was glad he'd thought to bring it with him, because it helped him to see in the dark. But the deeper Jon advanced into the forest, the more he began having second thoughts.

"It's too dark," Jon muttered. "And cold. Oh, why didn't I bring a sweater? Maybe I should go back to the village and get Mom, Dad, Chewie, Lando, R2 and 3-PO, so we can all look for Luke together." But then Jon got a strong feeling that he had to be the one to find Luke all by himself, so he kept moving. His flashlight fell upon the bodies of dead Ewoks. He'd known that a lot of them had died during the battle. After all, the remaining Ewoks in the village had just held a memorial service of sorts for their fallen comrades. But seeing these bodies really hit home for Jon.

Other corpses he came across were those of the Imperials. He saw dead officers, drivers, Stormtroopers and Scout Troopers alike. Some of the Stormtroopers and Scout Troopers were missing their helmets. But whether these had fallen off when the people wearing them had died, or if they had been taken at a later time, Jon couldn't tell. As Jon caught glimpses of their faces, he saw men and women of all different shapes and sizes. Some were young. Some were old. But all of them were dead. He thought back to all the Stormtroopers he'd ever seen die, including those he, himself, had killed. Despite what he'd always told Han, Leia, Luke, and, if he was being honest, himself, that he never thought Stormtroopers were real people, deep down, he did know they were. That didn't change what he had done. It wouldn't bring these people back. All Jon could do was tell himself that he'd done it in self-defense. And everyone had always told him there was nothing wrong with that.

Jon looked up as an Imperial Lambda-Class shuttle flew over his head. It looked just like Shuttle Tyderium. Jon followed the shuttle as it landed. But he hid in the bushes in case the person, or people, on board were less then friendly. And he didn't want to run away, for fear that he'd be followed. The shuttle's ramp lowered. Jon was relieved when he saw who walked out.

"Luke!" Jon exclaimed. He jumped out of the bushes, ran up to Luke and hugged him. "Boy, am I glad to see you! But what's with the Imperial shuttle?"

"It's good to see you again, too, Jon," said Luke. "As for the shuttle, it's how I escaped from the Death Star. But what about you? Why are you out here? And where are the others?"

"Everyone's back at the Ewok village," said Jon. "In fact, other than you, nobody else even knows I'm gone."

"You ran away?" asked Luke "Jonathan Jacen Solo, that doesn't sound like you."

"Of course I didn't run away," said Jon. "I went out to find you. And now that I have, let's go back."

"I'd like to, Jon, but there's something I have to do here first," said Luke.

"What is it?" asked Jon.

"Come aboard the shuttle with me, Jon," said Luke. "We have a lot to talk about."

"Ok," said Jon. He followed Luke onto the shuttle. They sat in the passenger area. As he stepped on the hatch covering the cargo hold, Jon could tell that there was something inside it, but he didn't know what it was.