Chapter 49

"I did some investigation to find the source of the waterfall, but the passages are too narrow. Perhaps this stream is an overflow of one of the four lakes from the valley outside. In times of rainfall the surplus of water is drained through this underground stream. I have noticed that the water level in this underground lake differs sometimes," Liane said.

"Where is this underground stream going?"

"I don't know, ma'am. It's impossible to follow if the outlet is connected to sea around Na'ctaMagh'Ba. If you follow that passageway," Liane pointed to a rocky path running along the flow, "the current disappears through a gap in the rock. This stream is much smaller than the one the submersible is using. I love to come here and watch the bubbling water and listen to the sound of the waterfall." She continued.

"You did a lot of good work here, Liane. When I leave tonight I want to take a copy of the network back to Irithim, so I can consult my technicians how in the future this part can be included in the rest of the residence, after I've got permission to extent it with this cave, for that depends on the government of Dalmaran. I'm sure the builders will be astounded about the work you have done. You've extrapolated the existing maps with a lot of relevant information. " Mon Mothma said pleased.

"When do you want to leave, madam," Liane said.

"I would like to have dinner with you again, Liane. If you don't mind I want to go back now, do some reading and take a rest, I also need to get something for you from the submersible."

Chatting about Liane's underground life and her friendship with Luke, they walked back to the main caverns of the residence. Mon Mothma retreated to her guest room and Liane went to the library taking with her the little grey book about the Jedi Path. She had already read several chapters about the training of young Jedi and the development of their Force potential.

She wondered if she would have been admitted to the Jedi Temple, if she would have been born in a time before the Empire and the destruction of the Temple. It would have been so much better, if she would have learned to use the Force as a young girl. Now it seemed so impossible for her to start all over again.

How old had Nomi Sunrider been when she had started her training under master Thon? She had already been married and had a child. She must have been in her early twenties at least. So maybe it wasn't too late for her either to begin with her training as a Jedi. But Nomi hadn't had a training on the Dark Side of the Force, and she had. That was a great disadvantage.

Liane looked up from the book she was reading and looked at her belt which was laying on a sideboard near the transparisteel door. She saw her lightsaber. Unwittingly she suddenly stretched out her hand and immediately the lightsaber flew in her hand and ignited. She grinned, switched off and put the lightsaber next to her on the table. Well, her training of yesterday hadn't been in vain. She certainly could do this little trick everywhere. She rose and hooked the lightsaber back on her belt. For a moment she looked at the clasp with which the lightsaber was secured. 'Strange', she thought, 'my action must has unhooked it as well. I'm quite sure I didn't separated it when I put my belt at the sideboard. She walked back to the table, but halfway she swiveled around and reached out to her lightsaber. Immediately the weapon landed in her hand and ignited on its flight. Once more she hooked the lightsaber at her belt and made sure that it was tightly secured. Again she walked back to her seat, swiveled around and reached out to her lightsaber. Without any noticeable resistance the lightsaber unhooked and flew ignited into her outstretched hand. Amazed she looked at the weapon in her hand.

'I have seen Ian, Master Antilles and Yarmod doing this on Endor when they came to my rescue. Funny, I can do it too,' She thought. Her thoughts dwelled further. 'How did they learn to use a lightsaber, how did Luke learn to use it. Is there a way to practise?'

She picked up the book again and skipped some pages, until she saw the image of a small remote sphere. 'Remote training droid' the caption read. She sat down and started to read the page. When she had finished the page she looked up.

'This is what I need. It's relaying laser beams at random, so you never know when you are hit by a paralyzing beam, and it's an automaton: it learns and increases the difficulty. But where do I find such a device? Maybe Luke knows. I'll ask him about it. I have to contact him anyway. He has to know what the Supreme Chancellor has said about the problems on Quoith and the shutdown of the connection the Supreme Chancellor has been using to contact me.'

Her infocom buzzed.

"Yes Threepio, I'm coming. Did you warn the Supreme Chancellor as well. Thank you. Tell her, I'm joining her on the terrace" She switched off, put on her belt, took the grey book and went to her quarters, where she changed clothes for dinner.

After dinner Liane accompanied her guest to the jetty. She helped the Supreme Chancellor to step on board.

"Before we say goodbye for now, Liane, I want you have this." Mon Mothma handed her a laser blaster.

Hesitantly Liane took the weapon in her hand.

"I want you to be able to defend yourself in case some of your enemies might enter my residence."

"Do you really think that's necessary, ma'am?" Liane asked.

"I don't think so, but I would be more reassured, if I know that you're not helpless. Take it, and always carry it with you. Don't hesitate to use it. Your enemies won't show you any mercy."

Liane looked down at the weapon.

"I'd wish this wouldn't be necessary, but thank you, ma'am. I will do as you told me." She said softly.

"Don't worry too much about a possible attack, Liane. If it turns out that by chance your enemies find out where you are I'll send some men to protect you." She embraced Liane.

"I'm going now. I can't tell you when I'm able to visit you again. I might turn up unexpectedly."

"Thank you, ma'am, for your concern. Have a good trip back. I'll will instruct Threepio and Artoo to warn me if you arrive here again." Liane said.

Mon Mothma entered the submersible, the hatch closed, the magnetic mooring unlocked and the engines started. Slowly the vessel dived and disappeared under the surface. Liane stayed on the jetty long after the water level was showing a smooth surface again, then with a jolt she turned and ran back to the living.

"Threepio!"

"Yes, mistress Liane, how can I serve you?" The golden droid shuffled near.

"Threepio, give me your infocom."

"Here you are, mistress Liane. What do you want it for?"

"I'm going to modify yours and mine. I'm going to construction room now. I'll be back soon."

She took the infocoms and hurried through the underground passageways to the cave where the construction droids took care of the technical structure of the accommodation. Quickly she instructed one of the working droids what kind of help she expected and within two hours she walked back reassured to the living.

"Threepio! Artoo! Listen carefully."

She told the two droids what the Supreme Chancellor had told her.

"She handed me a blaster for safety. I'm glad I have it, and if necessary I will certainly use it."

"You can handle a blaster, mistress Liane?"

"You should ask Luke, Threepio. I nearly killed him, when I first met him on Morantan."

"Mistress Liane, you're kidding."

"No, it's true, Threepio, In fact those memories always makes me feel ashamed. But listen, I said I would make a slight modification to our infocoms. See, there's an extra button added underneath. Press it, Threepio."

The droid pressed the button. On Liane's infocom a red flashing light lit up and a penetrating beeping sound was heard. Artoo let out a series of binary language.

"Yes, I know Artoo I activate an alarm, but what's its for?" Threepio said while pressing the button again. The flashing light and beeping sound stopped.

" What do you say, Artoo, to warn mistress Liane, in case there would be some intruder, a false visitor. Oh, yes, what a great idea, mistress Liane. But what will you do, when I activate the alarm. You can't stay away forever. You need food and drinks, you're no droid. What if that false visitor isn't leaving immediately?"

Liane started to laugh.

"From now one I'll take food with me. There's enough water in the cave from the nearby stream. I hope these precautions aren't necessary, but I want to be prepared."

"I understand, but what should Artoo and I do, if we see an intruder, who says he's come to visit you."

"Don't trust his words. It would be even better if he never sees you. Seek a hide-out somewhere in these cavern, maybe among the trees in the forest cave and warn me."

"But what will happen to you, if he doesn't go away. How will you be able to come back. You will be trapped in some underground cave?" The droid spluttered. Liane gave the droid's remark her thoughts.

"Maybe I should take extra rations of food with me, so I don't have to come back for a long time. I can stay in the Jedi archive until it's safe for me to come back here. I will warn Luke and ask him to come and help you and me, Threepio." She said.

"Oh, my, oh, my. This is no good, mistress Liane. You should warn master Luke now."

"Don't worry, Threepio, I will. These are only precaution measures. Maybe they aren't necessary at all."

"Luke, are you still with us," Leia asked over the infocom of the Falcon. "We'll leave hyperspace within two minutes."

"Right behind you. I await your countdown." Luke said.

"Chewie, standby for sublight engines," He ordered.

The big Wookie grunted a confirmation.

"How do you feel, Toallin?" Luke asked his third passenger.

"Call it a bit nervous, Luke," The former leader of Ribana said.

"Countdown started," Han's voice sounded through the cockpit of the Astræga. "Nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one. Sublight engines started. We've come out of hyperspace at the right spot."

Both space ships drifted at some twenty planet diameters from Palomintar Four.

"Let's do a fly-by over Ribana-city and its surrounding area, put the cloaking on," Luke said, "Leia, merge with me using the Force. I want to use our combined strength. Chewie, you fly the Astræga, take over. Han, can you fly as Chewie's wing-man."

"Sure kid. I'll follow you at low orbit. Cloaking on."

The Millennium Falcon vanished from view. A moment later also the Astræga had gone, as if no space ship had entered the planet's orbit. Chewbacca steered the Astræga to low orbit and saw on the monitor how the Falcon stayed close at his left side.

Luke tuned in on the Force and sensed how the power of the Force increased, when his sister joined him. Their combined power reaches out to the surface of the planet and touches any of the living creatures on it. Millions of tiny and larger vibrations reached them through the Force.

'I sense only lower life forms, what about you, Leia?' Luke asked through the Force.

'Me too, I sense all kinds of insects, birds, little rodents and those nagawa's Han saw on our first visit, but no human life forms.'

'Let's go for another round over Myr. I want to make sure, that no one is spying on us.'

Both ships turned and flew back.

'Nothing, Luke,' Leia said after a while.

'Alright, we're going to find a place to land. We'll stay cloaked. I'll ask Toallin if there's a safe place here. Tell Han, not to use the infocom. Check the coordinates of the Astræga on the Falcon's monitor. I'll guide you.' Luke said to Leia.

He released himself from the Force and turned to Toallin.

"There are no human life forms. I hope there aren't any other spying eyes, droids or drones. Do you know a place where we can land safely."

"Maybe you should land west of Ribana at the beginning of the wild plains. There's the old riverbed. Its former gully is overgrown with grass and bushes. It's now broad deep gorge in the landscape and wide enough for that Corellian freighter."

"Can you guide Chewie, Toallin. Use visual scanning, Chewie, and follow Toallin's orders."

"Turn left and keep that mountain ridge to the left," Toallin instructed.

The Astræga turned her nose some sixty degrees and Chewbacca slowly decreased the ship's speed.

'Leia, follow the Astræga.'

'We see you on the monitor.'

Luke stayed tuned in on the Force.

'Stay with us, Leia,' He asked.

'Close behind. Han wants to know if it's secure for the Falcon to land.'

'Toallin told me, that he's sure Han can land his ship there.'

Toallin pointed to two rows of hills in front of them.

"Between those hills is our landing spot, Luke," He said. "Once a river flowed there, coming from the mountains. Turn more left, and slow down a bit. There it is."

Luke watched the upcoming dry riverbed with interest. It was a deep, wide valley that ran south from the mountain. He turned to the other window and looked at the mountain range to the north which snow covered caps were disappearing in a blue haze.

'Leia, we're going to land the Astræga. I'll release our cloaking for a short while, so Han will know exactly where we land.'

He switched a lever backwards, waited two seconds, and switched it forward again.

'We have seen you, Luke. Han will put the Falcon on that grassy plain in the middle.'

Several moments later the crew of both ships met at the bottom where once a broad stream had flown. Luke watched the surrounding intently. The bushes and scrub were towering high above him and had reached both hillsides. Toallin saw his gaze.

"This was once the original course of the river, Luke. Near the mountain ridge it once formed a lake that overflowed in a southerly direction. In the archives of Ribana mention a huge earthquake after a volcanic eruption further away in the northern mountain range. The upheaval of the mountain ridge blocked the river's original course. It formed a new bedding on the other side of the mountains and is flowing further north now. This riverbed dried out and left this cleft in the land. The cave system under the mountain was the river original bedding."

"So originally the river flowed underground and emerge behind Ribana. Are there still earthquakes?" Luke asked.

"It's been years ago since I noticed a slight tremors in the underground. But in the past this part of Palomintar Four seems to have been formed by volcanic activity. These hills and plains are covered with old volcanic ashes; it's extremely fertile ground. The grandfather of my great-great-great-great-grandfather, that's about seven generations ago, founded the vineyard estate we inherited. We were forced to leave it, when those imperial troopers invaded the town"

"Imperial troopers?" Leia asked, raising her eyebrows.

"Yes, ma'am. They wore the insignia of the empire."

Leia looked at her brother and her husband.

"What do imperial troopers want here? Palomintar isn't a prosperous system and far out of reach of Coruscant or Jakku."

"What do you think, darling. It's simple. They wanted to set up a secret outpost. Probably commissioned by that former admiral of the Imperial Fleet, Trevor Matrik. The Outer Rim is an excellent place to stay under cover when building a new network. You should have asked Jabba how he came into possession of his palace on Tatooine."

"So, you think, our man has been establishing a secret base to the rebuild the empire?" Leia mused. "Never thought of that."

"I did, after Liane has told us about Trevor's strange behavior after the defeat of the Empire." Han said.

Leia nodded.

"I see your point of view, darling. Luke, what are your further plans?"

"I think, we'll have a look at Ribana," Luke said. "Mugin, how long will it take to get us there, when we go on foot."

"It lays behind those eastern hills, but that's risky for we have to cross the open plains which served as our agricultural area."

"Is there a place where we safely can set up a camp without exposing ourselves."

The two brothers looked at each other.

"We could have a look at the remains of our estate, Luke," Mugin said, "We don't know what they did to the building, but maybe some parts of it are in tact. We haven't been there since we were captured. We have to go further south and seek cover among the afforest high hills. From the top of those hills we can have a look at Ribana and our vineyard."

"You lead the way, Mugin. We follow. How far is it?"

"It's quite a walk, but the undergrowth in this river will hide our presence. We have to follow the riverbed until the higher afforest hills you see south of us, are in range."

Cautiously they started their walk. Unceasingly Luke reached out to the Force to spot any adversary, but they reached the densely wooded ridge without encountering any difficulties. Toallin and Mugin looked concerned when they saw at the place that once had been their home. Luke gestured they would stay under cover of the trees and watch the vineyard from afar, before leaving their coverage. Nothing stirred and after a while Luke, Toallin and Mugin carefully descended the hillside and vanished in a valley which was overgrown with vines, high weed, shrubs and trees. They seek their approach of the building and reached its backside. To their amazement the huge building was in perfect condition. Luke informed his sister, that she, Han, Ian and Chewbacca could join them and moments later they all entered the main building through a back door.

Toallin and Mugin took Luke and the others through the former kitchens, looking at several rooms.

"All the furniture is gone," Mugin said.

"Probably the intruder has looted it, after we left Ribana and went west," Toallin remarked, "I guess, he is using it to furnish his mountain lair."

"Let's inspect the wine cellar." Mugin suggested.

They walked through a long corridor and went down the stairs to the cellar. Mugin walked over to a door at the rear of the space and pushed the door open.

"Our stock of wine is gone too," He said helplessly.

"Of course, brother. What did you expect? But look around. All our equipment to distil our wine is still there, and undisturbed. Once we are able to clear the mess in the vineyard, we can easily start producing our wine again."

Mugin nodded, but look depressed. Toallin took several smaller empty cask from the hold.

"Let's sit down and take some rest. We're safe here. This cellar has been built deep under the building itself. We can stay here and discuss any further plans."

He looked at Luke and his friends. Luke and Han nodded.

"How far is it to Ribana?" Luke asked, "Can we still reach the town today?"

"May I suggest to postpone our visit to Ribana till tomorrow, Luke. We could stay here for the night and go back to the forest again tomorrow. The trees will give us a perfect cover, so we first can watch Ribana from afar."

"You're right, Toallin. We'd better make ourselves comfortable. I feel your tension about what has happened here, so let's stay here. It also gives us time to talk about further plans. Let's share of the nourishment we've taken with us."

Chewbacca grunted an affirmative, and Han looked at his first-mate with contempt.

"We all know your appetite, Chewie. Unfortunately, there's only your normal dried meat available."

Han handed Chewbacca a package from his backpack. The Wookie grunted, opened the package and started munching its content. The others also unpacked their rations.

After they had eaten their fill, they discussed the situation and prepared some places to rest for the night.

Liane was carefully searching the boxes in the hidden Jedi cave.

"I hope that somewhere in these boxes I'll find those training devices," she murmured opening another box and carefully taking out this content.

"Maybe Luke uses those devices only on Dagobah. What would be the use of them here? No one comes here except for Luke himself and maybe Leia."

She chuckled.

"And me, of course."

She stooped again over the box and sighed disappointed.

"Interesting these books, but that's not what I'm looking for."

Neatly she put the boxes with datacrons back in the box and closed the lid. Before she walked over to the next box she let her gaze focus on all the boxes, crates and the showcase closet with the holocrons.

'Looking for something, Liane?' a familiar voice asked.

"Oh, hello, Ben. Yes, indeed I am." Liane answered while opened another box. Ben's appearance had become quite familiar.

'Perhaps I might help you.'

Liane laughed and looked up.

"Can you provide me with a Jedi training remote? I want to learn how to use my lightsaber. Master Thon has told that if I want to improve the Jedi skills I already posses I need to know how to wield the lightsaber I made."

'You want to follow his advice, Liane? Do you really want to learn how you have to use your lightsaber?'

"I do, Ben. Master Thon said that when a Jedi can wield his lightsaber it's an expression of his full commitment to the power of the Force. The Good Side, I mean."

'Have you searched that desk over there,' Ben said and pointed to a heavy wooden desk with numerous drawers.

"That's Luke's working spot, Ben. He told he uses that place when he comes here to study. I certainly can not rummage in his personal belongings. Those drawers are probably locked." Liane said shaking her head.

'Are you sure about that?' Ben argued.

"No, but it's likely." Liane protested.

'Why shouldn't you have a serious look. If they are locked then you're right, but you can't tell from this place if you can't open up those drawers. Remember that Luke has given you access to everything in this cavern. Doesn't include those drawers?'

Reluctantly Liane walked over to the large desk and sat down on the chair in front of it. She pulled at the upper drawer to the left. Effortlessly it opened. Liane looked at its content and saw a number of pens, pencils and other stationary. She closed the drawer. Still in doubt she opened the other drawers one by one. All kinds of interesting objects piqued her curiosity, but she didn't found what she was looking for. When she opened the last drawer she saw the device with which Luke had checked her midi-chlorian count.

'Funny,' she thought, 'that Luke's first padawans have such an extremely high midi-chlorian count.'

Suddenly she started laughing.

'I'm not one of his first padawans. Only Ian's midi-chlorian count was running of the chart, but that was obvious taken into account his real descent. She turned her head and looked at the apparition of Ben.

"Nothing. A lot of interesting things, but not what I need, Ben. Any further ideas?" She said in a good mood. With a laugh she rose and placed both hands on the rim of the desk. She heard a soft click and the middle part of the desk's top layer slid backward. Underneath in a shallow square space lay seven spheric balls about the size of her hand. Astounded she took one of the spheres in her hand and turned it round and round. Then she looked again at Ben who stood next to her.

"You knew they were in the desk, didn't you?" she asked.

Ben laughed.

'Of course I did. Shouldn't I recognize my own desk, Liane, but I wasn't sure if those training remotes would still be there.' He said.

"Your desk? You put those remotes in this drawer? These are training remotes?"

'Yes. I suggested Luke several years ago that he should take some spare furniture from my home in the Dune Sea to make his stay here more comfortable.'

"Does Luke know about this secret drawer?" Liane asked inquisitively.

Ben laughed again.

'He probably does. Ask him. A Jedi master uses these devices to train a padawan. I once trained new Jedi before the Clone Wars broke out. After Palpatine had risen to power and wiped out every Jedi he could find, I took these devices with me to Tatooine. I foresaw that one day I would need them again to start Luke's training. He was our new hope. Actually, Liane, I never used them again, now they are yours if you want to practice with your lightsaber.'

"How do I use them, Ben."

'There's switch on top of it. Slide it backwards.'

Liane activated the switch and several small antenna extended from the blinking surface."

'Now throw it in the air and it will start firing laserbeams at random while it's hovering around you. You can only deactivated it, if you can repel the laserbeams using your lightsaber.'

Liane threw the sphere in the air and looked at it while started to float around her. Suddenly a small blue light flashed from one of the antenna and hit her arm.

"Ouch" She yelled and rubbed the spot where the beam had hit her. Again she saw a flash. She jumped and somersaulted. The beam bounced against the wall. Then remote shot away and positioned itself several meters behind her. Another laserbeam flashed and hit her left ankle. She sprained her foot and almost fell against one of the crates.

"Ouch that hurts" She screamed and grabbed the ankle.

The crippling effect was already ebbing.

'Defend yourself against those beams with your lightsaber.'The apparition of Luke's former master said calmly.

Liane took her lightsaber in both hands and ignited it. Again the remote fired, but Liane quickly jumped aside. Then she positioned herself in a such way as she had seen on the images in the small grey book. She watched the remote and tried to follow its movement with her eyes, but it shot away too fast. Several beams hit her and although the pain they caused lessened quickly, the experience to be overruled by a remote device made her angry. She swayed her lightsaber aggressively to and fro through the air.

"You didn't tell me, it moved so fast, Ben. It's impossible to be fast enough to repel the beams" She said with an angry face.

'Your anger and aggression won't help you. Don't try to follow the remote with your eyes. That's impossible. See the remote in your mind; stretch out with your feelings. Feel the Force flowing through you.' The calm voice of Ben instructed.

Liane desperately tried to follow Ben's instructions, but more and more her anger was aroused, because she wasn't fast enough to avoid the paralyzing blasts.

"Can't you stop it,"She yelled at Ben. The former Jedi master shook his head.

'Your movements are still led through the aggression you feel. Let go, Liane, concentrate on the Force and act instinctively. You know how to surrender to her power. Close your eyes and let the Force show you where the next beam will hit.'

"How am I supposed feel the Force, if this thing is constantly attacking me?" Liane sputtered angrily.

'Do as I tell you, Liane, otherwise you won't be able to repel the blasts and deactivate the remote.'

"Are you saying it will continue firing at me until I'm able to repel the blasts with my lightsaber." She panted.

'Precisely and you won't be fast enough to repel the beams, if you make your will prevail, in other words, if you act from your aggressive feelings and anger. Only if you let go yourself, act on instinct and let the Force guide your action you will be able to stop the remote. Luke has taught you how you should concentrate on the Force. He taught you to lift the door in the tunnel, using the Force. Come on, Liane, don't disappoint me, for I know you can do it.' Ben said.

For a moment Liane stopped attacking the beams. She closed her eyes, banned the itching pain of the beams out of her mind and all at once she felt where the next beam would hit her. She swiveled around, raised her lightsaber and parried the beam at the right moment. The remote stopped and drifted to the floor.

'See, you can do it.' Ben said.

Liane pick up the remote and walked over to the lounge. She sat down panting.

"Whew, that was difficult! Thanks for helping me, Ben. I didn't expect it would be that fast. But I will do it again. I now know what it does. I won't be surprised a next time."

'Remember what I told you: don't try to use your eyesight or your strong will. They deceive you. Let the Force flow through you. Stretch out with your feelings and let the image of the remote fill your mind. And most important, Liane, stay passive, act to defend yourself, don't act from aggression and anger as Anakin taught you. '

Liane sat with closed eyes on the lounge and let Ben's words penetrated and fill her mind. He was absolutely right, once again she had tried to disable an attacker, as she had learned on Morantan, using her aggressive feelings, trying to impose her will. When she had stopped that violent behavior and relied on what the Force had been telling her, she had seen the fast flashes of the remote early enough to repel them. Finally she opened her eyes and looked around. She was alone, the apparition of the old Jedi master has disappeared.

The streets of the once flourishing town of Ribana were deserted. The white and in pastels painted domed houses, stared liked withered faces at each other. Grasses and weeds had overgrown the sidewalks, the front gardens and the main street. Most windows were broken and curtains hang in rags swaying in the breeze that blew from the mountains. Ribana had become a ghost town.

Luke Skywalker lowered his binoculars and handed it to Toallin.

"Nothing. It's completely deserted, like you told us." He said.

Toallin had lowered the binoculars and pointed to one of the larger buildings at the town center.

"That's was the administration hall, Luke. It was the last building we closed off, before those troopers arrested Mugin and me and brought us under that mountain ridge as slave laborers." He pointed to a mountain ridge which loomed in the distance in a bluish haze.

"Why did that moron take this town, if he doesn't make use of it? That mountain ridge is at a great distance," Han Solo remarked and took his own binoculars from his belt. He carefully studied the mountain ridge, then looked at the read-out of his device.

"The distance between the town and the mountain is a stretch of approximately eight to ten hours away." He commented, "That's quite a distance."

"It's a day's walk, Han," Mugin said, "We seldom went to the mountain. There's nothing of interest there. I know that some of the harvest men have had a look at the caves. I have heard that they want to find a way to lead the river back through the caves. They have been working on it for years."

"That should mean that the underground bedding is still intact," Luke said.

"Maybe, as I said, they are working on for years," Mugin answered.

Luke looked pensively.

"We should asked them about their work, once we're on the other continent," Han said, "Might be an interesting option."

The seven members of the group stood half way the afforest hill between the dense trees, looking down on the town. They had left the vineyard building an hour ago. It was near midday when they had reached the spot halfway the hill top to have a closer look at the town.

"Shall we have a closer look?" Han suggested.

"There still might be imperial troopers." Mugin said. "We don't know what happened here after we fled."

"We spread. Leia, you and Ian are going down first." Luke said, "Han, you go with Toallin and Mugin to the right; Chewie and I will turn left. Don't stray out too far, stay in hearing range. Stay as long as possible under cover in these woods and set your weapons. "

They started their descent carefully stay as much as they could under the protection of the trees. Luke and Chewie were near the seam of the forest when they heard the soft but unmistakable whistle of a lymtorna, a common bird on Palomintar Four.

"That's Toallin, Chewie" Luke whispered, "I call to Ian and Leia."

"Ian, Toallin called us."

"Confirmed, master. We're going to join you. See you shortly." Ian answered through the Force.

In less the a minute Chewbacca and Luke teamed up with Leia and her padawan. Together they hurried to the right to look for the others. Toallin, Mugin and Han were standing on the rim of an shallow pit half filled with rotten leaves.

Leia held her hand to her nose.

"What a incredible smell! What happened here? Look there is some whitish armor!" She murmured.

"Imperial storm troopers!" Luke noticed.

"Better, dead imperial storm troopers." Han commented cynically.

"These kind of men invaded Ribana seven years ago." Mugin said. "They raided Ribana several times and looted our houses and our storages."

"How much time did you have to evacuate Ribana's inhabitants?" Leia asked.

"Mugin and I got a warning some months before these troops landed and occupied Ribana. Darth Golluth paid an unexpected visit to our offices in the administration building. He introduced himself as the new leader of the imperial fleet and demanded a work force to prepare a shelter for him. He had chosen Palomintar Four as his new command center. We didn't know what he was talking about and refused to grant his request. He intimidated Mugin and me, as we flatly rejected his terms. At first we laughed at his threatening words, but then he flashed several strong electric bolds at us. Those bolds made us numb for several minutes. Darth Golluth angrily added that stronger bolds would kill us, if we did not give in and accept his demands. We had to surrender and send him twenty Quelans who volunteered to work under the mountain. After he had left, we feared he would come back and demand more. There wasn't a real plan to evacuate the town, so after that frightening first visit we worked almost around the clock to prepare the evacuation of the town in case he would come back. We improvised several camps on the western wild plains. The rest of this story I have already told you." Toallin said.

Luke had listened intensively and cast a quick look at his sister. He remembered how the emperor had tried to kill him using lighting bolts emanating from his finger tips.

"You said he flashed electric bolds at you?" He said concerned.

"He did. He pointed a kind of long pike which he used at his walking stick, at us. It was no ordinary blaster. I have never seen such a weapon before, but as those bolds hit us, they paralyzed us," Toallin said.

"You're sure those flashes didn't emanated from the tips of his fingers, like this."

Luke pointed his hands to a small heap of leaves. He stretched his fingers and from his fingertips blue lighting bolds flashed into the heap of leaves which caught fire. Immediately he extinguished the flames.

"No he certainly didn't do it that way, Luke. As I said it was a kind of unknown weapon: a pike, a long stick."

Reassured Luke nodded.

Trevor hadn't mastered the way to use the Force Lighting to disable an enemy sending a crippling or paralyzing electric flow through someone's body. That confirmed his former conclusion; Trevor's knowledge about the Dark Side was far from complete. He turned to the others.

"So our adversary needed the use of a weapon to impressed any opponent," Luke said, looking a the remains of the storm troopers in the pit. "Well, these storm troopers have been shot deliberately, as if someone didn't want any witnesses. I don't think we will meet any resistance when we enter the town, but stay alert. Let's have look further down."

They descended the hill and entered the outskirts of Ribana. There was absolutely no movement at all. The only sound was the wind which had free reign through the broken windows. The whole surrounding had an eerie look. Some dried leaves whirled through the deserted streets and were blown up in the air in little wind whirls. Stealthily they walked along the deserted houses. The depressing atmosphere affected their mood. Han walked over to one of the houses and glanced through one of the broken windows. He returned to the group and shrugged his shoulders.

"Empty, everything is looted. Like the vineyard building all furniture is gone." He said.

They walked on to the town center, crossing more deserted streets. When they rounded a corner, Ian suddenly stopped.

'I have seen this. In that vision, master, before we went to Endor to find what had happened to master Luke and Liane," He said to Leia through the Force 'Liane was running down these streets.'

'Stay focussed on the Living Force, Ian, don't center on your anxieties." Leia said.

Suddenly Luke made a slight gesture.

'Leia, Ian, get every one in that larger building over there. Quick, I sense the moving of some mechanical objects. Could be droids or drones.'

Leia grab Han's arm and beckoned him with her eyes. She, Han and Chewbacca rushed over the left. Luke and Ian immediately followed with Toallin and Mugin.

"To the top floor, " Leia hissed and ran up the stairs.

"Mind your steps, darling. These stairs could be unstable." Han whispered, but Leia had already reached the next floor. Han and Chewbacca followed making less noise as possible for a Wookiee.

'Ian, shut the door.' Luke said to the young padawan.

'Yes, master. ' He answered and let Toallin and Mugin pass. Luke pointed upward and the two brothers hurried after Leia and Han. Meanwhile Ian raised this hand and the door closed noiselessly.

'Good work, Ian. Let's follow the others.'

They both jumped and landed with a soft thud on the next floor. Quickly they followed the rest of the group to the top floor of the building. Han pointed to the front side of the house were a open window gave an excellent view on the street below. They kept out of sight, laying behind the low windowsill. Every now and then Luke raised his head and scanned the street.

'There they come! The guy in the middle seems to be out for leisure stroll accompanied with a squadron of his droids. Leia, Ian have you seen...' Luke stopped.'He is lowering the cowl of his cloak.'

Carefully all raised their heads peering at the person who was walking at leisure on the street, while six droids were following him.

'Master Luke, It's Darth Golluth. ' Ian said.

Luke nodded, but put his fingers to his mouth.

Tense they watched how the man slowly walked to the end of the street, there he remained a few minutes and then he walked back along the same road, followed by the armed droids. Finally he vanished out of sight. They remained in their hiding place for another hour, but neither the man nor the droids did return.

"I think he has gone back to his shelter under the mountain ridge, and we'd better go back to the vineyard. Can we leave Ribana unseen via the back streets?" Luke finally said and looked at the two brothers. They nodded.

They left the deserted house via the open backdoor, crossed the garden and found themselves in a maze of back streets which lead to the outskirts of the town again. With the help of Toallin and Mugin they found their way back again to the afforest hill.