• Choose a category
• All
• Classic-Fiction

Before theibur Droid could continue, Chewbacca strode in, accompanied by

@wie and Sirra's father, Mahraccor. Mahraccor waved at his children; his dark streak of fur stood out much like Lowie's. Chewbacca bellowed a greeting and held out a large misshapen object, a blackened device that had once been a polished, precisely angled crystal.

"That's the Shadow Chaser's computer core," Jaina said.

Chewbacca nodded vigorously and spoke low growling words.

"Chewbacca and Mahraccor here say they have been searching for you children," said the Tour Droid.

"Excuse me," Em Teedee chimed in, 'but I serve as the translator droid here. Master Chewbacca, after returning from a pleasant visit with his family, has removed the Shadow Chaser's damaged navicomputer central processor core. As you can see, he has spoken with Master Mahraccor, and they have successfully located the suitable replacement components to get the ship up and running again. Hooray!"

Chewie pointed to the burned pathways on the Shadow Chaser's removed navicomputer core. Lowie's father also spoke up, and Eit Teedee said,

"Master Mahraccor asserts that this is an exciting new design, an Imperial configuration he has never seen before. Fortunately, however, he is confident that the facilities here on Kashyyyk can repair it quite nicely.

The Tour Droid bent over on its long, stretched-out body. "You are quite good at translating Wookiee speech, my colleague," it said, "but you lack the finesse for being a true Tour Droid. You seem not to have the ability to make interesting comparisons that customers can understand. For instance, you might have said, 'With our facilities here we can place this damaged core in one of our crystal baths, flush out the impurities and the carbon scoring, and use our own master computers to retrace the circuits and map the electronic pathways. In short, we will provide a bacta tank to heal the computer core."' Em Teedee wasn't impressed. "They certainly didn't need to hear all of that. Of course, I wouldn't presume to tell you your job," he said. "We have more important things to do."

The Tour Droid did not respond to the insult, since he had no doubt been given thorough programming in tactfulness.

"rmank you for the tour," Jaina said. "It was very interesting."

The Tour Droid stood up straighter, and the optical sensors mounted on all sides of its boxy head brightened with pleasure. 'That is the finest compliment you could have given me, Mistress Jaina Solo."

- ----------------

SURROUNDED BY DIMNESS in his private office, lit only by recorded starlight from distant parts of the galaxy, Brakiss contemplated the plans of the Second Imperium.

Time slipped away from him as he allowed himself to be swallowed up in thoughts.

Possibilities for conquest engrossed him, and he ran them over and over in his head, contemplating the complete destruction of the Rebels and his former mentor, Luke Skywalker. Such imaginings soothed him. Resting his elbows on the polished black desk, Brakiss touched his fingertips together and smiled.

Suddenly, a startling signal destroyed his concentration like a thunderbolt. The potent alarm pulsed again, and he used his muchneeded Jedi skills to calm himself. 'This is Brakiss," he responded.

"Qorl here," a voice replied. An image appeared on the flatscreen communicator built into his desk. The old TIE pilot seemed rattled-and that surprised Brakiss even more than the alarm had. Qorl was one of the steadiest officers in the Second Imperium.

"We have a coded message coming into the Shadow Academy, sir. It carries the highest level of encryption. Every marking indicates that the transmission is of the utmost importance. You must receive the message yourself and respond personally."

Brakiss blinked. "Any indication of the sender's identity?" His thoughts whirled.

Tamith Kai and Zekk had already departed on their mission to Kashyyyk, but even they were incapable of sending such a high-level message.

"No indication, sir," Qorl said, "but I would recommend that you respond without delay."

"I'm on my