SWTFW 15 - "The Ways Of The El-Aurians"

A Chapter by dw817

Rebecca exploded, "God, Darren ! I told you to keep this a secret, didn't I !?" Darren was unrepentant, however. "Luke, if you're going to stay with us, you might as well know a bit more about us."

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THE FORCE WITHIN
© July 2017 Written by David Wicker
Please do not reprint without permission

CHAPTER 15 - "THE WAYS OF THE EL-AURIANS"
[ CHOOSE A DIFFERENT CHAPTER ]

* * *

This entry is Rated: EVERYONE

Jan back on the moon had done a very successful exodus.

And everyone from the planet was all filed into shuttles and leaving the surface. Once in space, everyone crowded to the windows to look at their once beautiful moon. Because before it was attacked by sulfur, it really was quite pretty.

A shining blue jewel in space, promising safety and care for any who opposed the Empire. Looking at it now was quite sad and tearful. The sulfur had blotted out the lovely blue and instead the moon was a dingy dirty copper color.

Soft explosions from space could be seen going off as the sulfur interacted directly with sensitive machines and planetary devices that were too unwieldy to bring along.

It would be many years before it could be colonized again.

Once in space they had no direction of where to go. This wouldn't be a problem as all the shuttles were equipped to travel or hover in space for years with more than enough supplies even for an entire vacated planet, or moon as the case was here.

Jan and her superiors were in their starchamber discussing where to go. Where to put the last of the Resistance away from prying eyes of the Empire ?

. . .

While Luke might've been promised to a night of seduction with Rebecca as she was undoing the buttons on the back of her blouse before him, an annoying chime was heard.

She huffed angrily and hit a switch on the wall, "God ! What is it, Darren. I'm busy !"

The voice was clearly Darren's and held a tint of amusement. "Before you bed down with our guest, I just wanted to tell you that dinner was ready."

"Bed down ?" Luke gulped fearfully.

Rebecca laughed nervously, "No no no. No ! No. I was just - I was just getting more comfortable and - "

Luke's eye got wide and swallowed hard making a sound like a squeak toy.

Rebecca leered slightly at the sound and then pulled back with a grin. "Wow Luke ? What was that ?" She rubbed his back for a moment then looked to the door. "Come on, let's have some dinner, I did promise you that and we'll all feel better afterwards."

Luke nodded and touching a few fingers to his forehead dabbed the dots of sweat forming there.

Rebecca hit a button near the wall and the door opened. "Come on, let's see if my brother did a good job making the meal I asked him to."

She refastened the button from the back of her blouse and left the room with Luke following.

Downstairs were sumptuous smells. Like really delicious hot dogs, hamburgers, french fries, and and all sorts of other popular galactic junk food.

Luke's tummy rumbled eagerly as he approached.

"Sit next to me." Rebecca directed him.

"Sure." Luke said, oblivious to that and instead was preparing a plate with the goodies.

Finally they sat down at this beautifully decorated table. It was then that Luke realized there wasn't a tablecloth on it, it was made this way, and really quite lovely.

"Brother, would you please give grace ?"

Darren nodded. He picked up an interesting looking piece of art. It was a trapezoid, shorter at the top then the bottom, appearing to be some semiprecious metal, and hanging in the center was a small piece of crystal that matched the edges. Etched in the middle was a beautiful and artistic 8-pointed image, much like Tia's Star Box from Escape To Witch Mountain.

He tapped the center of it with a little drum and a pure chime was heard - for a good 10 seconds. Finally Rebecca and him sat down to eat.

Luke was curious. "What was that ?"

* * *

Rebecca nodded and spoke, "As you know from Earth's past, many wars were based and founded on religion. Which god is correct, which isn't, persecution, flagellation - the list goes on."

She pointed to the small chime. "We El-Aurians skip all that with a single lasting chime. The chime reminds us of our place in the universe, that we are insignificant next to whatever gods there may be, and we pray we may be blessed by them in times of our distress or need."

"When we die, we achieve a higher form a life closer to those we worship and can meet those who passed on before us, but we don't get any more elaborate than that."

She took a bite of the burger. "Curiously our religion is actually quite popular throughout the galaxy for its simple and easy-to-understand message. Many people have grown tired of the old religions that have today literally millions of pages of historical stories, rules, commandments, and punishments in them."

"We believe in the simple chime."

She looked to Luke, "If you don't mind my asking, what religion are you ?"

Luke looked shocked for a minute, not really knowing how to reply.

Rebecca laughed slightly. "Hey, it's okay if you don't have one. Sometimes that's a lot easier too. Let the gods sort it out, right ? It's none of our beeswax anyways."

Luke leaned back in his chair and contemplated what she said. Finally he spoke, "Can I join your religion, Rebecca ? Do I need to do any special rites to do this ? Or do I have to be an El-Aurian ?"

Rebecca shook her head in amusement. "Join ? We don't do it that way. If you like our belief, have it." She whistled 3-notes comically then laughed, "You are now of our religion. It's that easy."

Luke nibbled on some french fries. He wanted to know more. "Do you go anywhere on Sunday, or, well, do you have any religious holidays or ceremonies ?"

Rebecca shook her head. "None whatsoever."

Luke pressed, "What about Christmas, Easter, or Halloween ?"

Rebecca shrugged, "We party, if that's what you mean. There is no set date and we do adopt some of the 'fun' stuff from other religions if and when we want to."

She could see this was not enough so she continued, "To answer your question, yes, we do celebrate standard holidays, but not in a strictly religious sense."

"Like Earth children, we celebrate. For instance:"

"Christmas for the myth of Santa Claus, the presents, and importance of family, the greatest gift of all."

"Easter for the searching for egg-shaped candies and the important study of birth of all life in all its many forms."

"Halloween for dressing up silly and going out, as well as remembering and dealing with the monsters that lurk within us all."

"Thanksgiving for the ceremonial cutting of the turkey, and spending time with our relatives both still here and gone to the grave."

She could see Luke was still not satisfied. She continued, "Think of it this way. Any holidays you may have heard of, from any religion, if they're fun and something kids might like, chances are, we do it, and we add a universal concept to it that is not specifically religious but often useful."

Darren now spoke, "You're leaving out something of our culture, dear sister."

Rebecca looked quickly at the food and then back at him. "Do you have to spoil everything ?" she said angrily.

Darren smiled wide and gestured with a finger, "How are you liking your hamburger and fries, Luke ?"

Luke had no complaints, "Really good and tasty. Perfectly seasoned, actually."

"Good. Because we El-Aurians do not eat meat, grain, fruit, or vegetables at all." He said it with such a quiet and mischievous voice, because he knew it would create an adverse reaction in Luke.

But before Luke could say anything, Rebecca exploded, "God, good job Darren ! I told you to keep this a secret, didn't I !?"

Darren was unrepentant, however. "Luke, if you're going to stay with us, you might well know a bit more about us."

Rebecca was really pissed now, "Goddammit ! In =MY= own time, Darren ! I would've told him ! Not on the first day ! You want to scare him away or something !?"

Luke was now confused. "No meat or vegetables ?"

Rebecca's voice was apologetic and tearful, "God Luke. I would've told you. I promise I would've ! Just not on our first meeting."

Luke now had the most important question of all, "Then what the hell am I eating !?"

. . .

Back in the bar Vader and Smite had made plans to backtrack where they knew Luke had been. He had heard from one of their informants that he was a passenger aboard the Millennium Falcon.

"Obi-Wan." Vader said remembering the battle he had with him back on the Death Star.

Smite volunteered some information. "I'm familiar with that ship and his pilot, Vader. He's a human called Han Solo. He has quite a price on his head at the moment for simple smuggling. Jabba is after him to collect. It may be possible that if you capture him, this Luke person you are after will follow."

Vader leaned back in his chair. He held out a gloved hand in front of him, as if plucking the air around. He finally leaned forward and laughed, "Very good, Smite. Yes. I sense this Luke is kin with the pilot Solo. But there is something else ..."

Vader suddenly stood up, knocking over his chair. Everyone in the bar grew deathly silent. Only Vader's deep voice was heard. "Leia ! She's still alive ! She did not die on the Death Star as I had wondered earlier. Luke - he rescued her ! But why ?"

The rest of the bar, seeing that Vader was just talking to himself, loudly that it may be, finally got back on to drinking, and talking with their friends and the music continued on its friendly beat.

. . .

Back with Jan and the other commanders, they quietly discussed all the options of where they could habitate.

After careful deliberation it was finally decided that they would go and colonize Hoth.

While Hoth on the surface was quite cold and inhospitable, the Rebels were quite good at building underground domiciles and they would be perfectly protected from galactic and planetary heat scanners and sensors there under an infinite cloud of ice and snow.

(to be continued)

END OF CHAPTER 15