said.
Luke scrambled through the gap and found himself on the edge of what once had been an enormous hall, lit by the light of late afternoon.
Much of the roof had tumbled down, columns were shorn off or toppled,and the floor was covered with drifts of leaves that had blown in through shattered windows. The center of the floor was a
crater, surrounded by rubble. Something screeched in the shadows, the noise of its scrambling retreat echoing around Luke. He whirled in a circle, brandishing his father’s lightsaber in front
of him, then forced himself to take a deep breath.
It’s not a demon or dark-sideghosts—just jungle creatures,
he thought.
You’ve invaded their home, that’s al
l.
He raised his saber high and saw two statues at the far end of the hall, their faces bubbled and blackened, their arms ending in cauterized stumps. The temple had been bombed and then vandalized
with heavy energy weapons—someone had worked hard to erase any sign of beauty that had escaped the initial spasm ofviolence.
The Empire,
Luke thought.
The purpose of the attack was to ruin this place and eradicate what it stood for. What it meant to people
.
He felt his anger rise—anger for the people of Alderaan, for his aunt and uncle on Tatooine, for his father, and for so many millions of others.
He nearly tripped over the stone hand on the floor. It had come to lie on its side, atop a pileof rubble. The wrist was blackened where it had been sheared away, but the hand itself was intact,
as if stretched out toward him in welcome. The stonework was beautiful, he thought, running his hand over the fingers, appreciating the detail some lost artisan had created over untold hours. His
eyes jumped to the statues looming above, and he saw where the hand had been attached.
Luke deactivatedhis lightsaber and hung it on his belt. He pushed the stone hand aside and sifted through the rubble beneath it. Here was the upper part of a face, with an eye captured in
swift, confident strokes, the eyebrow arched in good humor. There was a chin, bearded, and above it a smile.
His anger drained from him, to be replaced by a quiet joy. The Empire had tried to erase everything that hadbeen beautiful there, but it had failed. He could still see that beauty, just as he
could feel the power of the Force surrounding him.
At the end of the grand hall, the remains of massive double doors hung from their hinges. The entrance was filled with rubble higher than Luke’s head, and the wind had mounded up leaves in
the corners. He started toward the doors, then decided against it—theEmpire might have other safeguards against intrusion, in addition to the perimeter sensors. He turned the other way
instead, passing corridors choked with wreckage, and found a series of arches leading to an open space overgrown with trees.
Luke squeezed between two tumbled slabs and found himself in a circular courtyard created from the space between the two ruined towers and the rubbleof smaller buildings that had been part of
the temple complex. Once manicured, the courtyard was now wild. Impact craters had opened yawning pits in the ground, through which Luke could barely make out tumbled stone in the gloom far below.
The bowl of a ruined fountain occupied the center of the space, with water bubbling up from inside and spilling out over flagstones covered with grass, forminga shallow pool. Faceless, limbless
statues, much smaller than the ones in the great hall, formed a perimeter around the fountain.
Luke looked around in mingled disbelief and joy. It was the place he’d seen in his vision—the fountain, the statues, the grass and trees. Somehow its disheveled state made it even
lovelier than he imagined it had been when carefully groomed and tended.
Something made a low sound nearby, and Luke saw pikhrons standing quietly among the trees on the far side of the courtyard, watching him warily. An old matriarch tossed her head, and the group
pushed its way through
Luke scrambled through the gap and found himself on the edge of what once had been an enormous hall, lit by the light of late afternoon.
Much of the roof had tumbled down, columns were shorn off or toppled,and the floor was covered with drifts of leaves that had blown in through shattered windows. The center of the floor was a
crater, surrounded by rubble. Something screeched in the shadows, the noise of its scrambling retreat echoing around Luke. He whirled in a circle, brandishing his father’s lightsaber in front
of him, then forced himself to take a deep breath.
It’s not a demon or dark-sideghosts—just jungle creatures,
he thought.
You’ve invaded their home, that’s al
l.
He raised his saber high and saw two statues at the far end of the hall, their faces bubbled and blackened, their arms ending in cauterized stumps. The temple had been bombed and then vandalized
with heavy energy weapons—someone had worked hard to erase any sign of beauty that had escaped the initial spasm ofviolence.
The Empire,
Luke thought.
The purpose of the attack was to ruin this place and eradicate what it stood for. What it meant to people
.
He felt his anger rise—anger for the people of Alderaan, for his aunt and uncle on Tatooine, for his father, and for so many millions of others.
He nearly tripped over the stone hand on the floor. It had come to lie on its side, atop a pileof rubble. The wrist was blackened where it had been sheared away, but the hand itself was intact,
as if stretched out toward him in welcome. The stonework was beautiful, he thought, running his hand over the fingers, appreciating the detail some lost artisan had created over untold hours. His
eyes jumped to the statues looming above, and he saw where the hand had been attached.
Luke deactivatedhis lightsaber and hung it on his belt. He pushed the stone hand aside and sifted through the rubble beneath it. Here was the upper part of a face, with an eye captured in
swift, confident strokes, the eyebrow arched in good humor. There was a chin, bearded, and above it a smile.
His anger drained from him, to be replaced by a quiet joy. The Empire had tried to erase everything that hadbeen beautiful there, but it had failed. He could still see that beauty, just as he
could feel the power of the Force surrounding him.
At the end of the grand hall, the remains of massive double doors hung from their hinges. The entrance was filled with rubble higher than Luke’s head, and the wind had mounded up leaves in
the corners. He started toward the doors, then decided against it—theEmpire might have other safeguards against intrusion, in addition to the perimeter sensors. He turned the other way
instead, passing corridors choked with wreckage, and found a series of arches leading to an open space overgrown with trees.
Luke squeezed between two tumbled slabs and found himself in a circular courtyard created from the space between the two ruined towers and the rubbleof smaller buildings that had been part of
the temple complex. Once manicured, the courtyard was now wild. Impact craters had opened yawning pits in the ground, through which Luke could barely make out tumbled stone in the gloom far below.
The bowl of a ruined fountain occupied the center of the space, with water bubbling up from inside and spilling out over flagstones covered with grass, forminga shallow pool. Faceless, limbless
statues, much smaller than the ones in the great hall, formed a perimeter around the fountain.
Luke looked around in mingled disbelief and joy. It was the place he’d seen in his vision—the fountain, the statues, the grass and trees. Somehow its disheveled state made it even
lovelier than he imagined it had been when carefully groomed and tended.
Something made a low sound nearby, and Luke saw pikhrons standing quietly among the trees on the far side of the courtyard, watching him warily. An old matriarch tossed her head, and the group
pushed its way through
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