SWTFW 16 - "Three Separate Ways"

A Chapter by dw817

Vader's voice went to loud and dangerous, "Whaddya mean you won't take Empire credits ? We rule the galaxy ! In less time than a year that's all the credit that will be flowing anywhere !"

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

CHAPTER 16 - "THREE SEPARATE WAYS"
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* * *

This entry is Rated: EVERYONE

Luke stared at his meal; his appetite dropping off quickly.

If it wasn't meat, fruit, vegetable, or grain, just what the heck was he eating ?

Rebecca could see Luke was really upset over what Darren said and got up from her seat to console him.

"Does it taste good ?" she asked him.

"Yeah."

"Then what's the problem ?"

"I'd - like to know what I'm eating first before I put it in my mouth."

She looked wistfully at him. It was clear there was indeed a secret here. "Do you know what's in hotdogs ?" she asked.

Luke shrugged, "Not really, no."

"Did that ever stop you from eating them ?"

"No."

That was enough for her. She rubbed her hand on his back for a bit, comfortingly, to see if that was the end of it.

But Luke would not keep quiet, "What am I eating then ?"

Rebecca sighed. She finally spoke, "It's a type of food fungus. It doesn't match plant, fruit, seed, or vegetable species so it's not of any of the foods you normally eat. The thing about it is, it is remarkably high in protein, low in fat and carbs, and can be prepared many MANY different ways so you can create any food you want with it."

Darren snidely intervened, "Yeah, but this particular fungus glows blue in the dark and walks around on three legs at night."

Rebecca shot him a warning look.

Darren held his hands up defensively, "What ? I'm just telling the truth."

Not wanting to escalate the fuming between the pair, Luke thought for a moment, "So it's sort of like tofu ?"

Rebecca nodded, happy Luke wasn't put off by Darren's attempt to derail the meal. "Very much like that, Luke, yes."

Luke was satisfied now. He picked up his fork, pierced a french fry and ate it carefully, taking in all the flavors.

For all he could tell, it was just a french fry - wonderfully crisp on the outside, soft and hot on the inside french fry that seemed to be seasoned with a little bit of savory BBQ powder.

Rebecca looked at Luke with a smile, "See ? That's not so bad is it ?"

Luke nodded. It tasted fine to him. Perhaps it would've been better if he didn't know where it came from - or the fact it was mobile in its native state.

Rebecca returned to her seat. Darren beside her fumed. He was hoping to create a difficult situation and wasn't successful.

They all finished their meal in silence. Luke had finished his meal and inadvertently yawned, trying to catch himself from stopping but wasn't successful. This prompted Rebecca to get up and take away the dishes.

Now Luke was alone with Darren, who was still rather angry he couldn't create a dispute between him and Rebecca. He narrowed his eyes at Luke, "Don't get too comfortable here."

But this didn't bother Luke at all. It was clear Rebecca wanted him to stay and he wanted to - having no other place to go except back to Yavin's moon and face consequences for hijacking an X-Wing in the middle of the night.

* * *

Vader and Smite, still at the Mos Eisley bar stood up suddenly, their drinks were finished, and they were headed out the exit. The blaring sun beat down on them from twin alien suns in the sky.

"We'll need some transportation." Vader said, looking around the parking lot to see if any vehicles were for sale.

He saw one, a rust-colored and rather beat-up looking Landspeeder. That would cover what he needed.

He approached to look at the sticker showing its features and condition and two Jawas come to meet him.

"How much for the speeder ?" he asked the two.

The one with brighter yellow glowing eyes spoke, "Braka-jappa !"

"That much ? How about rappa tha parapper ?"

"Dongeus !" the Jawa smiled eagerly.

Vader reached into his belt and pulled out some Empire credit.

The other Jawa held up a hand and shook it in rejection, "Nooseeus ! Nooseeus !"

Vader's voice went from quiet and friendly to loud and dangerous, "Whaddya mean you won't take Empire credits ? We rule the galaxy ! In less time than a year that's all the credit that will be flowing anywhere. I suggest you take it."

"Noo-see-us." the Jawa was insistent.

Vader held up his black-gloved hand and tightened his fingers. A small vacuum appeared in the back of the throat of the first Jawa.

"Kaah - peerak - tees !" he choked.

The other Jawa whirled his head around to look at his friend who was being choked to death by Vader's use of the dark side of the force.

"Dark Jedi !" the other Jawa squealed in fear and ran off. Vader released his grip on the first and he, too, ran away with his friend.

"Guess it's free for the taking." Vader said and smiled inside his mask.

Vader and Smite entered the Landspeeder. They started it up and headed out to the settlement of vapor farmers, where the Force was drawn him to, to see if they could find Luke.

. . .

Jan, her crew, and the many assorted Rebel ships loaded down with the colony had entered warp to travel to Hoth. They had all arrived. They set down their ships only to see them buried in immediate snowfall.

There never was any inclement weather on Yavin's moon, where the Rebels had come from, so they were ill-equipped to handle the sub-zero temperatures.

Then someone came up with the bright idea of using the spare space-suits. They did so and at once set about using plasma grenades and lasers to cut into the diamond-hard surface of the frozen planet to make their base of operations.

Jan had been monitoring space traffic during the exercise when suddenly a tie-fighter entered their air space !

She sent out a quick signal to stop drilling. The lone tie-fighter's pilot was diligent. He turned aside his computer readings and actually came quite low, looking directly at the ice-capped ground with his own two eyes.

Jan held her breath. All he could see was snow, ice, and more snow. The Rebels' ships being buried in snow as quickly as they were was now actually a godsend. The pilot grimaced to himself, seeing no sign of landings, buildings, habitats, or power generators, and entered lightspeed to return back to base.

Jan and her crew breathed a sigh of relief and bid the diggers to continue. It would be a few weeks until they had made some progress, but she was certain the Empire would never find their new base here on this solid ball of ice.

(to be continued)

END OF CHAPTER 16