Tales of the Gold Wookie, Part 14

Luke knew he and Yoda had been walking for hours. His teacher, at least, seemed to have some idea of where he was going. “Come, come,” the little greenish professor chortled. “Find what we are looking for, we will. Get their hands on it, Vader and his chancellor must not.”

“What are we looking for?” Luke slashed walls of thick cobwebs with the Sword of Light...and the occasional thicker spider. “And the next time I follow Leia on one of these trips, I'm bringing industrial-strength bug spray and a dust cloth. This is worse than trying to get through the jungle.”

“Alderaanian secret Death Star weapon, we must find.” Yoda easily ducked under most of the cobwebs. “Here, it is. At the top, it is.”

“At the top of what?” Luke slashed through a curtain of vines. “This temple?” He shuddered. “I'm almost beginning to wish we'd stayed with the others. I have a bad feeling about this.”

Yoda wasn't listening. He was reading the carvings that had been hidden under the curtain of vines. “To unleash the weapon,” Yoda said, “a test of the Force, you must take part in. Only those who believe in the Force will see the way to the Star.”

“What do you mean?” Luke frowned as he looked at the empty nothing beyond the curtain. “It's just a pit!”

“Pit, you say?” Yoda gave him a toothless smile. “Pit, you say. Bridge, I say.”

“Master, it's a pit!” The young reporter looked down...and instantly wished he hadn't. The chasm continued into infinite blackness. He couldn't even begin to see the bottom. “All right.” Luke sighed. “I'll give it a try.”

“Concentrate, you must. Do, or do not! There is no try” Yoda put out his hand and closed his eyes. “A trick, it is. Only those with faith in the Force can raise the bridge.”

“Well, all right.” For a moment, the only thing Luke felt was the breath of air coming through the cracks in the temple walls. Then, a tingle, a glow that zipped up through his hands and arms. “I...I can see it!” The light knew. There was energy in him, strength. The energy sizzled in his veins. It bubbled over, seeping into every pore and crack in that wall.

When Luke opened his eyes, the very lichen in the walls glowed with the same blue light he got from his sword. A bright blue bridge, almost translucent, extended over the gorge and into the next room. “We did it!” He stepped cautiously onto the bridge. The light held. It didn't even waver. “It worked!” He happened to look down...and notice bubbling golden liquid below them. It smelled like boiling melted aluminum foil.

“Work, it did. Work, it always will, when you believe in the Force.” Luke swiveled around to see that Yoda had already gotten across. “Come.” He wiped his forehead. “The liquid below us is melted metal. Not fall, we must. Quick way to be metal statues, it is.”

The sun was just beginning it's inevitable slide into the horizon when they emerged into a wide, dusty chamber. It's rays showed behind a row of arched windows, each guarded by a glittering gold and gem-studded statue. A wide gold and metal pedestal dominated the center of the room, directly under a round hole in the roof. The walls were etched with what looked like round moons, and each warrior had a glowing moon, green or gold or blue, on their metal shields.

“This is it,” Yoda stated as Luke gaped at the shimmering golden warriors. “The Death Star weapon, we have found.”

“But where?” Luke walked around, trying to find an opening. “I don't see a gun or anything.”

Yoda stepped up to to the pedestal. “This is it,” he repeated. “Sword goes here. When all swords are here, activated, the Death Star will be.”

“This is incredible!” Luke whipped out his camera. “No one in LA will ever believe this!”

Yoda frowned, rubbing his head. “Leave, we must.” He reached for his own staff. “Darkness, come, it does. Find this place, it must not.”

Luke was too busy taking photos to pay attention to the sick feeling in his stomach or the sound of footsteps that were too heavy to be Yoda's. “What do you mean?”

Yoda stepped closer to the pedestal, his hand out. “He is here.”

“He who?” Luke looked up...just in time to be slammed with a bolt of purple lightning. It flung him into the wall as easily as Luke could fling a rag doll.

“Palpatine.” Yoda managed to pull himself up first as the wave of lightning subsided. “How did you manage to get here ahead of us?”

“Followed you after you took off at the gorge.” The old man in the long black coat and heavy gray suit that was a size too big was even more of a shriveled prune than he'd appeared back at Coruscant. The shark grin he gave Luke sent shivers down his spine. “I see you have one of my new apprentices with you. How kind of you. I'll be taking him to Coruscant City after we use the Death Star Weapon to subdue a few countries that are...holding out.”

“Fight you, I will.” Yoda put out his hand. “Take the Skylarks, you will not.”

“How can you fight me, you old goat?” Palpatine cackled, sounding for all the world like a witch from a fairy tale. “You can barely stand.”

“Have a mind, I do.” Yoda lashed out with a surge of green light that lifted Palpatine squirming in the air. “Have my ways, I do.” He tossed the dictator into the statue with the green gems. More green light surrounded the statue, until its arms somehow managed to squeeze the squirming elderly dictator.

“You think I'm impressed with your child's play?” Palpatine's cackling echoed in the dusty chambers. A cracking noise followed it, as a dark eggplant purple light wrapped around the arms, pushing them slowly apart. Palpatine dropped to the ground, cushioning himself from the fall with a pillow of light. “A mere bagatelle. Any Jedi could do such a thing.” Purple lightning from his fingertips curled around the statues. “I don't suppose you could do this. After all, it has been a long time.”

“Twenty years, it has been.” Yoda stepped back, pushing Luke behind him. “Twenty years since we fought in the courtyard here, after young Skylark killed those workers.” Yoda glared at him. “Children, some of them were. Innocent, they were. Never harmed you, they did not. No reason for their deaths.”

“They would have told everyone about this place. We couldn't leave survivors.” Palpatine smirked. “We've known this was here for years. It was just a matter of pinpointing the actual room itself. Bail Organa was nice enough to do it for us.”

“No!” Luke pulled out his sword. “Papa Bail wanted all this to be for the good of mankind, not some crazy old man who's read way too many comic books about maniacs who want to take over the world!”

“Oh, it'll be for the good of mankind.” Palpatine raised his hand. “My kind. The power this weapon wields will allow Coruscant to become the dominating superpower in the entire world! Every country will bow to our superior will and strength!”

“Right, the boy is. In your right mind, you are not.” Yoda raised his hand, sending a softer blue light over Palpatine. He screamed, falling to his knees and throwing his bony fingers over his eyes. “Corrupted, you are. Purify you, I can. Yes, make your mind better, I can.”

“I don't want your pity, old man.” When Palpatine removed his hands, his eyes were a mustard-y yellow and glowed with an unholy light. “I want your power!”

His purple light shot out at Yoda, surrounding the tiny man. The light circled him and bound him, sucking his green light out in heavy waves. The more light went through Yoda, the more he sagged.

“NO!” Luke charged Palpatine. “I lost Ben to this, and I'm not going to lose another teacher!” He slammed into the rope with his sword, his blue light “cutting” through Palpatine's beam like a saw through wood.

Palpatine jumped back. Yoda fell to the ground, breathing heavily. Luke caught him as the elderly chancellor screeched. “You're too late, boy!” His smiled chilled Luke to the bone. “That old goat doesn't have enough power left to fill a thimble!”

“Yoda!” Luke rushed to the elderly man's side and pulled him into his lap. “I'm so sorry. I couldn't stop him. I tried, I really did, but...”

“Do, or do not, remember?” Yoda's voice was down to a rasp. “When gone am I...the last of the Jedi, will you three be. Pass on...what you...have...learned.” Tiny fingers tugged on Luke's black jacket. “The Force...is strong...in your family. You have it...your father has it...your sister has it...any...child...that...”

“Yoda?” Even as the young man spoke, his diminutive mentor was fading away in his arms. “Professor, please! No!” With one last soft curl of green light, the little man vanished, leaving behind only his old khaki traveling suit and pith helmet. “Oh god, no. Not again.”

All Luke saw was red. He lunged for Palpatine, his sword raised. “Good! Good!” The chancellor was more nimble than he appeared and was easily able to dodge the angry reporter. Luke slammed into him, holding the sword to his neck when he ended up on the ground. Palpatine only laughed. “You're very good, my boy. But not good enough.”

Luke didn't have enough time to dodge him before the purple light writhed around him. “Let me go!” The young reporter flailed wildly as Palpatine's violet beam raised him into the air. “I won't let you drink my magic, like you did Yoda's! I'm not a root beer float!”

“Hardly.” The evil smile spread from ear to ear. It chilled Luke to his bones. “I have more...specific...plans in mind for you, my young apprentice. You and your friend Solomon are going to help me release the weapon.”

Luke gave him his best angry glare. “You're mistaken. Soon, you'll be dead, and me with you.”

“Oh, you'll find it's you who are mistaken, young one. About a great many things.” Palpatine lifted the Sword of Light with the purple beam from his other hand and stabbed it into the pedestal. “I'm afraid the Death Star weapon will be quite operational when the rest of your friends arrive.”

Luke swung to and fro, only able to watch helplessly as the Sword of Light gave off a sickly dark-blue glow from the crystal in the center of the room.

~*~*~*~*~*~

“I really don't like this.” Artie frowned. “They should have gotten out of there by now.”

“Well, they are exploring a lost temple.” Clarence shrugged. “That involves a considerable amount of danger. Who knows what might have happened in there?”

The stubby chauffeur pulled out his flashlight. “That's why I'm goin' in.”

“Are you crazy?” Clarence grabbed his arm. “We don't have a map or Professor Organa's notebook!”

“We have you.” His best friend smirked. “You can read the lingo, and the lingo for every crazy lost civilization this side of the Rio Grande. That's why Bail hired you in the first place. You're a translator.”

“Yes, but...that's all I am! A translator! I do not work in the field!” His arms waving wildly with every word. “I'm no good with danger! I'll faint the first time I see a hairy spider!”

Artie grabbed his collar before he could run. “We'll take that chance.” Charel grabbed his other arm. “Thanks there, buddy. Yeah, your friend is in there, too. We swore to their parents that we'd keep an eye on the Skylark kids. Yoda's an old buddy of mine, too. How about you, Char?”

Clarence nodded as Charel went on in his rough Russian basso. “He says he owes Captain Solomon his life. They helped each other escape a mud pit where they were trapped during the Great War, and the Captain has been his friend and confidante ever since.” His thin yellow face managed a smile. “Yes, Mr. Bacca, Captain Solomon is a very rash man. It is more than likely that if it wasn't for you, he wouldn't be alive now.” He raised an eyebrow. “You know Professor Chiang? From the War? He was in Russia?” Charel nodded, continuing in his deep barks. “There's certainly many things I didn't know about the Professor. I didn't think Russian history was his area of expertise.”

“It ain't.” Artie went on as he peered into the blackness beyond the rocks. “He was there right before the Revolution broke out. Managed to get out just a month before all hell broke loose in Moscow.”

Charel winced at the reference and nodded. “You helped each other get out? He was there to help some of your family?” Clarence's mouth dropped open. “I'm sorry about your family, but I had no idea the Professor was involved in the Russian Revolution!”

“Yeah, you think you know some people.” Artie looked over his shoulder. “Let's get going. I have a bad feeling about this. The kids might need us.”

“Wait!” Clarence shook his head. “We need to wait for Mr. Laurence. He's supposed to be around with the rest of the team.”

Charel poked Clarence on the shoulder...and pointed to four Coruscant officers with guns coming around the corner, followed by a whole platoon of local Guatemalan workers. “I don't think we have a choice, Goldie!” Artie shoved his best friend in the door, followed by Charel. The monkeys remained behind to grab at the men's ankles and weapons and jump on their heads while Artie and Charel managed to shove the rock door closed.