Playlist:

❶ "The Battle of Yavin"—A New Hope OST

❷ "Chrome Dome"—The Last Jedi OST

❸ "Snoke Revisited"—The Last Jedi OST

⊘ Silence

❶ Luke's borrowed and battered A-wing materialized from hyperspace over Skynara, directly into a dogfight between the warring factions. One of the pilots chased a pair of battered ships straight at him, lasers blasting on repeat. The laser blasts found the straggling ship first and blew it to pieces. It closed in on the other. At the last minute, the two dived down in front of him, and Luke pulled up. The ships missed each other by a few microns, and he immediately found himself missing Artoo and his X-wing—but he couldn't risk either on this mission.

He analyzed the battle and came in on a barrel roll to join the Vestuns against the Zakhasuns, both flying antiquated Z-95 Headhunters.

Where did they dig up these old fossils? Pull them out of a museum or something?

The Z-95 snub fighter was the granddaddy of the T-65 X-wing Luke normally flew. The craft appeared similar, both with a long nose and foils mounted in the rear. However, the Z-95 was half the size, lacking in engine speed, maneuverability, and fire power.

He fired, taking out the first fighter, an ancient Z-95 Headhunter. Then both the Zakhasuns and the Vestuns strafed his craft.

Transmitting over a secure channel to the Vestuns, he said, "This is Jedi Master Luke Skywalker on a mission from the Republican Senate. I'm here to assist you, Vestuns."

The Vestuns adjusted their patterns, still firing at Luke's ship. The firing systems must have been out of calibration, as each bolt missed his ship by centimeters. The Zakhasuns surrounded Luke, until there was only one spot through which he could flee.

As he maneuvered his A-wing to escape through the opening, a Resurgent-class star destroyer came out of hyperspace directly above him, activating its tractor beam on his ship.

Realizing he had flown into a trap, Luke shut down his engines and activated his emergency distress signal. The signal would travel at sublight speed until it reached the first Republic system, but at least he was able to send it. At least someone would know where he was.

After the docking claw had towed the A-wing into the landing bay, a score of stormtroopers surrounded Luke's craft with weapons pointed at the Jedi.

Luke weighed his options, realizing he could remove their weapons with ease. However, he wanted to learn who possessed the power to set-up this elaborate trap to catch him.

When Luke opened the canopy, a stormtrooper clad peered down into the cockpit from an elevated platform, a lieutenant judging by the orange shoulder pad and drawn blaster. The metallic-filtered voice said, "Your weapons, Master Skywalker."

Luke handed over his blaster.

"And your lightsaber. And don't try anything stupid."

"Lieutenant Phasma," another solider said from the deck.

Luke handed over his lightsaber to the lieutenant, who sounded female.

The lieutenant turned to him as she hefted the saber hilt. "Yes?"

"The Supreme Leader has requested your presence in his audience chamber as soon as you have secured the prisoner."

"Very well."

"Out. Now!" she commanded, voice void of all emotion.  Lieutenant Phasma climbed down the ladder, holding her weapon on Luke the entire time.

Luke couldn't read beyond her strong desire to live at all costs, something he'd rarely seen so fully embraced. It frightened him, and he began to worry if he'd made the wrong decision in surrendering. He hopped down the three meters from the top of the ship. As soon as he was on the deck, he put his hands on the back of his head.

"Move. The Supreme Leader is waiting for you."

❷ Phasma shoved Luke into the communication room on board the Finalizer. The black bulkheads rose at least six meters. A round hologram pad, large enough to hold an entire squad of troops, sat in the middle of the room.

The armored soldier jerked Luke and then pushed him toward the spot with the muzzle of her blaster. The rest of the squad waited in the corridor.

Over the next two minutes, while the communications array connected with other networked assets, Luke tested the cuffs to make sure he could break free when the right moment arose. The lieutenant stood still as a mynock leeching off an exposed power cable, and her resolve to shield her thoughts from the Jedi was even stronger than his first measure. Who is this trooper?

Luke waited, the gray binders cutting into his skin. This must have been a secondary hangar. Wonder why they didn't take me to the bridge. At least these aren't those stuncuffs they used back during the Clone Wars.

As the minutes passed with only the heaving breathing of the lieutenant behind him, Luke worked the binders loose and then secured them again. He wanted to make sure he could break free when the right moment came.

He could not sense any presence besides the stormtrooper, but he could perceive the lieutenant's unease. She's expecting something—something she doesn't trust.

To the lieutenant's credit, she did not flinch when the hologram buzzed to life. A tall man on a throne of basalt manifested in large scale, filling the vaulted space.

Luke recognized the figure from the Force-sight dream he had experienced during his hand surgery. So, we meet at last. Why do I feel I know you?

❸ With a rumble, Snoke said, "Welcome, Master Skywalker. So glad to finally meet you, but you aren't as impressive as I was led to believe. I guess the Jedi are still weak fools, as they have always been."

"You are mistaken. I warn you not to underestimate my power."

"Like you did, coming here and not even suspecting a trap? Don't you wonder who I am?"

"Snoke. The self-appointed Supreme Leader of the First Order with obvious delusions of grandeur. I have dealt with the likes of you before."

"You refer to Sidious. A weakling. His confidence in his apprentice was his failing. But, I, I have no need of an apprentice," Snoke said. "That was also the problem with the Sith. There had to be two to harness the power of the dark side. I do not require that."

"What is your purpose?" Luke asked with peace, ignoring that taunt.

"Destruction of the Jedi once and for all," Snoke said as spittle dripped from his misshapen lips. Six Knights of Ren entered the room and surrounded Luke.

⊘ Aboard the Freedom, Lieutenant Rahmsee looked up from her terminal. "Captain, we have intercepted a priority encoded signal on the emergency channel."

"Very well. Patch it here." Wedge lifted his secure headset, pressed a few buttons on the control panel to decode the message. "Mayday, Mayday! First Order presence in Skynara. First Order pres—"

Wedge took off his headset and commanded, "Helm, plot a course for the Skynara System. Communications, notify Zaxyn of a First Order presence at Skynara. Give me a secure link to the Senate."

The Knights of Ren escorted Luke to a cell in the bowels of the ship. Deep inside the brig, the blastdoor opened to a cramped compartment with only an unyielding bunk, a tiny sink, and a filthy refresher unit.

They threw him against the hard bunk and attempted to buffet him, bruising his back and right side. From his supine position on the bunk, Luke paralyzed them.

When he released them, a few ignited their sabers and advanced on him.

Luke grabbed their sabers with the Force and threw them outside the cell to the outer brig. "Are we done yet? Prisons cannot hold me. I am here by my own choice, and when I am ready, I will leave."

The warriors advanced on him again, hurling objects from the outer brig at him.

Luke raised his hand and flung the knights and the items crashing back to the bulkhead. "Let me clarify this for you," Luke said as he moved his hand to close the cell door. Within minutes he had changed the security code.

While the warriors attempted to break in, Luke collapsed on his bunk. After removing the manacles, he reached out with the Force to Naluma. A wall of darkness blocked him. Within his cell, he had control. But beyond, even by just a few meters, the wall constricted him.

I never heard of this. Wait. Luke reached out again.

Then Luke searched within himself.

It was gone. His link to Naluma was gone.

The Jedi Master exerted all of his discipline not to break out of the cell, realizing Naluma could not feel him either—she may even believe he was dead.

Did you know . . .

● Skynara is a system in the Outer Rim. Not much else is known about it. I came up with the two tribes.

● Z-95 Headhunters were first mentioned in the old EU books Han Solo at Stars' End. It has been incorporated into many other canon and EU sources since.

Tell me what you think . . .

● Why did Luke not break out of his cell?