[fic] Star Wars: The Last Hero (I)

[christos200]

STAR WARS

 

The Last Hero

 

One hundred years after the defeat of Darth Revan, the galaxy is once again in turmoil. An unsuspecting Galactic Republic has been invaded by a massive Sith armada led by the Dark Lord of the Sith, Darth Venius. The Republic has been unable to stop his advance and the Sith look poised to dominate the galaxy.

 

Hundreds of Jedi Knights have perished, countless worlds have been devastated, hundreds of thousands of peoples have been killed and all hope seems lost. But on the neutral world of Carleria a star is about to rise, which may bring once again light to the galaxy......

 

Han's Cantina

 

Laughter. Jazz music. Smoking. Good looking women. All those things could be found in Han's Cantina, one of the most famous in the small city of Aldera in the neutral world of Carleria. As Carleria was neutral, it's people were not bothered by the ongoing war between the Sith Empire and the Galactic Republic. Occasionally, Sith and Jedi would duel on this planet, but those duels were usually between two or a few more hotheaded Jedi and Sith and so did not bother much the people of this planet.

 

Most people coming here were enjoying themselves. Sons of nobles who had nothing better to do than drink lots of drinks with their father's money. Hardworking people who wanted to relax after a hard day of work. Husbands who wanted to talk with their friends and escape from their wives. Young lovers who wanted to meet. Only one man was not enjoying the Cantina: the waiter, John. Understandably, as he had to run all over the place in order to get the drinks to the costumers and clean the place every two hours. Not to say that as the only waiter of the Cantina, he had to do a job that in other Cantinas it would be done by three or four waiters. His boss, Han, a fat and ugly man in his fifties, was quite stingy with his money and very strict with him.

 

A man entered the Cantina. That was not something unusual. But his beauty was so uncommon that everyone, even men, turned to look at him and could not but admire him. Some men even felt a bit jealous about his good looks. For few people were as handsome as him. He looked as if he was in his early twenties. He had a long black hair that was shining and was somewhat feminine looking. His stature was tall and he was wearing a red silk robe decorated with tens of valuable gems. His smile was broad and his white teeth shone. Even the saddest people felt a joy upon looking at his smile. He was surely a sight to behold.

 

John, a man of common looks, could not help but sigh. If only he had such good looks! He himself was nineteen years old, tall and had short black hair. He was neither good looking nor ugly. But somewhere in the middle, as most people. For only a few people are really beautiful or really ugly. In the same way, only a few people are really good or really evil. Most people stand in the middle.

 

John was thinking of how many girls would fall for him had he had that man's looks, when Han gave him a slap and shouted: "Wake up and go get an order!". John came back to this world and stopped daydreaming. He sighed and went to get an order from that handsome man.

 

"What do you wish, sir?", John asked.

 

"Bring me some wine", the man replied, still smiling.

 

John was ready to go get the wine, but at that time two Jedi Knights entered the Cantina. He recognized them due to their brown Jedi robes. It was not the first time Jedi Knights had come to this Cantina. From time to time, Jedi and Sith would come to this neutral world, mostly to duel in a world controlled by neither the Republic nor the Sith, so no side would have an advantage. For if a Sith challenged a Jedi in Coruscant or a Jedi challenged a Sith in Korriban, they would be doomed even if they would win the duel.

 

Both of the Jedi were in their forties and seemed like experienced men. They had scars all over their face. Especially the one in the right, whose face was disfigured. Those scars showed that those Jedi had seen lots of action and had survived countless of battles. One of them stepped forward, the one with the disfigured face, and shouted with a loud voice: "Who challenged me?!". That Jedi used the power of the force to make his words echo all over the Cantina, so as to make sure that everyone had heard of what he said.

 

The handsome man, calmly and still smiling, replied with a single word: "Me".

 

The two Jedi switched on their lightsabers, one yellow and one blue. Upon seeing this, almost everyone in the Cantina panicked and run out. Only the two Jedi, the handsome man, John and Han remained. Han was trembling, not so much due to fear about the duel but about the money and costumers he had lost. John was excited to see a lightsaber duel. He had always wanted to be a Jedi, and this was the closest experience he could get about how it is to be a Jedi.

 

In the split of a second, the handsome man shot off from his seat, switched on his red lightsaber and attack the two Jedi. His movements were quite simple, like those of Padawans. He attacked left and right, he did not make any complicated movements nor did he use an exquisite dueling style. But his movements caught the Jedi in surprise due to two factors: they were extremely fast, with almost supernatural speed, and extremely ferocious. So, although simple, his movements were lethal. In only a few seconds he had managed to kill both Jedi.

 

John was expecting a long and exquisite fight. Actually, duels between experts would usually last for only a few seconds. Only Padawans and incompetent Jedi/Sith would duel for a long time. True experts in lightsaber combat would finish off their opponents in only a few seconds.

 

The handsome man tossed a coin to John and left. John was still in awe of the amazing lightsaber fight that had taken place when he heard Han shouting all kinds of insults, especially those starting with the letter 'f'. Han's face was red and it looked as if it was going to explode.

 

John was going to withdraw in order to escape the fury of his boss, but it was too late. "You bastard!", Han shouted. "Why didn't you stopped them?"

 

John was going to ask how he was supposed to stop two Jedi and a Sith on his own, but Han would not allow him to talk. "Do you know how many costumers I have lost?! I have lost 1,000 credits today. And those costumers may never come to this Cantina again. If they had come, then in one year I would have gained 600,000 credits and in ten years 6,576,000 credits! I will add this money to your current debt!"

 

"But this is absurd!", John protested.

 

"Shut up! Go and clean the shop! And you will work for free for me for two decades until you repay this debt."

 

John sighed. He was already working for free. Actually John had been a son of a rich aristocrat. But his father was accused of helping the Republic with funds three years ago. As the government of Carleria wanted to maintain it's neutrality, John's parents were executed and their property and wealth were confiscated by the state.

 

John did not have the money to even give his parents a proper burial. As honoring one's ancestors and giving them a good burial were the most important elements in the traditions of the peoples of Carleria, John had to give his parents a proper burial in order to appease their spirits and prove himself to be a filial son. So, he asked Han for a loan.

 

Han agreed to give John the money he needed for the burial, but with a 450% interest. As no one was willing to lend money to him, John had to swallow his pride, stop his protests and accept the offer. So, for three years John was working for free for Han. Trying to repay a debt that he could never hope to repay. John had become a free worker. A slave, essentially. Not only that, but Han was using several excuses, like this one, to increase John's debt and enslave him for ever.

 

John sighed. 'I'm never going to leave this world', he thought and proceeded to clean the Cantina. At the same time, the handsome man, who was heading towards his starship, sensed a disturbance in the force. 'Weird', he thought. 'Why do I feel a tremor in the force? Is it possible that there is a man with such a connection to the force here, on this remote planet? Or do my senses fool me?'. After thinking for a few seconds, he proceeded to leave.

[MsFicwriter]

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