Luke Skywalker, the Last Jedi, faces his toughest challenge yet. To rebuild the Jedi Order, he must give up his personal hopes and dreams. Every move is critiqued by not only the New Republic Senate but also the Force-ghost Jedi Council of the past...
❶ "The High Council and Qui-Gon's Funeral"—The Phantom Menace OST
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A bird hooted overhead, jerking Luke from his meditation. Han and Leia had long since departed to the Falcon, and the rest of the wedding party had disappeared as well.
Trying to calculate the hour, Luke gazed above the trees to the dark sky. How long have I been standing here? The forest is pitch black ten meters back now. Not even a hint of twilight.
Plodding across the wooden planks toward the village square, he massaged his aching neck. Party's dying down. Must be later than I thought.
Across the square, Wedge caught his eye and nodded to Luke. His old friend nursed a mug of the Ewok brew as he waved his arms about and regaled an old war story. The Jedi settled down next to his friend and took the tankard a grizzled commando handed him.
Wedge continued his tale with his resonant voice. "So, there we were—positioned over the ring shield of Scarif, and—"
"How would you know? You weren't even there, Wedge Antilles." A green Twi'lek in an orange jumpsuit peeled her flight goggles from her forehead and worked them loose from her long lekku.
Luke grinned at his open-mouthed friend as he stammered and sputtered.
"General Syndulla, I didn't—"
"That's right, you didn't think, Antilles, as always. Now hand me a mug of that brew while I tell you miscreants how Scarif really went down." Hera chugged the beer and wiped the white foam from her mouth with the back of her hand. "If it wasn't for Scarif, the Rebellion wouldn't have survived. If it wasn't for Scarif—" Her voice cracked.
The same soldier with white hair and a beard that had handed Luke his drink now knelt beside Hera and pulled her chest into his. "Hera, we've all lost friends, good friends. But they would do the same again if they had to. We'd all do the same again and again and again. And we may have to. The Empire suffered a big defeat today, but they will rise again. Mark my words."
"How can you be sure?" Wedge asked.
Luke barely heard that question. He shut his eyes as visions bombarded him. Star destroyers covered the skies of a desert planet, their massive triangular forms casting shadows on the sand. TIE fighters and Rebel snubs zoomed around a field of Imperials walkers. The blasted heat brought him to a sweat. He looked in the sky for the twin suns of Tatooine but found only one sun. He flinched as cannon fire from an AT-AT hit—
"I was one once," the soldier said. Thumbing his chest, he continued as the visions passed from Luke's head. "But I wasn't some willy-nilly politician. I had no choice in the matter."
"Stormtrooper?"
The man shook his head. "No, a clonetrooper." He pointed to the scar above his right temple. "When we saw what was happening to our brothers, some of us took our control chips out"
