Conflict And Balance [Star Wars AU]

Chapter 12

"We're here!"

Luke jerked up from the table, having fallen asleep there. He gently hit his head; sleeping like that was bad. He looked out from the transparisteel to see a beautiful greyish-blue planet, covered with clouds and parts of green that were perhaps forests.

Alderaan, a planet in the inner rim; an important location, rumored to have been a battlefield during the Cold War about 3,000 years ago and there were other rumors of course, that it was the location of a Rebel Base.

'No doubt we'd be experiencing a battle down there,' The lad thought, 'The Imperials against the Rebels.' Or maybe it would just be like any other planet.

Alderaan was different from Dantooine, as he noted while descending towards the surface. ‘Wow’ was one word to describe it. For one, it was more populated and civilised, Dantooine was merely farmers and settlers searching for income. It was not as industrial as the world before him, nor as wealthy. He saw snowcapped mountains in the distance, the glaciers melting into perennial rivers, while on Dantooine, it was mostly plains with rain-fed rivers. The latter was boring if you'd asked him.

They landed in a port near the capital city. Greyish-white metallic skyscrapers decorated the city along with fast, hovering speeders rushing in traffic, starships of different sizes descended from the sky or vice verse. In short, the port was busy.

At their landing pad, an elderly man waited for him, attired in professional clothes, with a few escorts. The ramp lowered, the bright light of the planet's sun giving the ship a new look. As the party stepped foot on the Alderaan, Luke shivered. Was it the cold? But Alderaan wasn't cold upto the point of freezing.

"Esteemed guests, I welcome you to Alderaan," the man heartily said.

Luke was slightly intimidated by his appearance. Sure, he met Padmé (very important personality from Naboo) on Dantooine but this was different. He was very formal and looked the part too. She, on the other hand, was like a part of his family. Speaking of Padme, where was she then?

"Thank you, Senator Organa," Obi Wan spoke, chuckling since he reunited with a friend, while Ahsoka stood besides Luke. "For sending Ahsoka to rescue us from Dantooine."

"I imagine Dantooine to be quite dull, then," the Senator replied, laughing along. "So this must be Luke Skywalker."

The boy was confused. Everyone suddenly seemed to know him, including this stranger. Nevertheless, he shook the man's hand. Obi Wan gently pat his back, to tell him to relax. He tried but there was something on the planet that was bothering him, like something bad was going to happen.

The cold wasn't helping much either. Alderaan's star was young and blue, unlike Dantooine's warm, yellow sun, but the planet's distance from its star was more than his home planet's. He shivered as the wind blew on his face. Damn, why didn't he get an extra jacket?

"Something the matter?" Organa kindly asked him.

"It's alright, it's just the cold."

In a few seconds, he got a sweater vest. He gratefully put it on, after thanking the man. Then, he stood there awkwardly, listening to the two men's conversations as they started to walk towards their speeder.

"The times are difficult," Bail Organa spoke, "the Empire is capturing almost every Rebel outpost out there and with the Death Star complete, citizens will become more reluctant to join us than they already are."

Obi Wan nodded attentively, having asked for the information, while Luke was alarmed. He had heard of rumors about the Death Star and its threat, but surely it must have a weakness, right? Thinking of the crisis among the Rebels, he could have helped them a long time ago; he was powerful enough, or so he thought.