Journeymen Knights I: Revolution/Chapter 1

Chapter One
4 BBY; Corellian Engineering Corporation YT-1300 stock light freighter Trader’s Dream, in orbit above Corellia

The small YT-1300 freighter had just left orbit of the planet Corellia, the center of trade in the Corellian Sector. Its owners, Jorum and Nalaandur Alchi, were at the controls with their eighteen year old son, Sch’jo, sitting right behind them. The young man was waiting for, what had become to him anyways, the normal everyday routine of jumping from one system to another. For as long as he could remember, hyperspace travel had always been a part of his life. Going from their home on Corellia to where ever their cargo needed to go was what his life had consisted of for the past ten years.

As a small child his parents used to leave him on Corellia with his grandparents, or with a friend, while they went off to where ever it was they needed to go. But as he grew older, and his piloting skills and knowledge of space travel grew greater, his parents started to take him with them on their runs. But, they have never taken him with them to meet their buyers. So whenever they reached their port of call, he would stay back on the Trader’s Dream and check, or work on, the hyperdrive, or some other operating system.

He always felt that if he could just squeeze another parsec out of the engines that his parents would be able to spend a little bit more time with him. That way, they could have, what other families called, a normal life. But, all it had gotten them was more jobs.

So he decided, instead, to fine tune his piloting and mechanic skills. With those, he could, one day, get his own ship and jump off planet, to where ever the solar winds blew him. Right now, though, he was stuck in the passenger seat of his parents pride and joy. Somehow this trip felt like it was going to be completely different.

As he sat there he allowed his mind to wonder to what he was really wishing to have become, a Jedi. On long journeys, Sch’jo sat back, quietly, and listened to his parents discuss the hazards of being traders under the rules of the Galactic Empire. They also reminisced about the days when the Jedi had been the guardians of peace and justice in the Republic.

Since the beginning of intergalactic trade there had been pirates and government regulations. Now that the Emperor had taken control, the voice of the people had been all but quieted in the Senate and the Imperial Navy had become no better than the pirates that they are supposed to be protecting the traders from.

All he had ever known was a galaxy under the control of Palpatine. He was born eighteen years ago, only days before the beginning of the Clone Wars. Now all of the Jedi had been hunted down as enemies of the Empire. All this, combined with his internal belief that people should have a say in their government, had driven him to a new desire. Since Sch’jo could not become a Jedi, he wanted to join one of the underground resistance groups of rebels instead.

“Sch’jo,” his father said, bringing him out of his day dream of fighting the evil Empire with the rebel factions spread out amongst the stars.

"Yes, father?” he answered unenthusiastically.

''He probably wants me to check the computer to see if there is possibly a faster way to get where ever we are going. Or, he might what me to tend to the family R6 droid. Wait Piper was back on planet, so it’s probably some other mundane job. It would be so much easier to do these jobs if I were a Jedi. ''

"Why don't you come up here and take the controls", his father asked with a smile.

''What is this?!? My father wants me to pilot the Dream? No I must have misunderstood him. ''

"What?” Sch’jo replied. He shook his head quickly, in disbelief, to knock the cobwebs loose in his mind.

"I want you to take the controls for this run. It is about time that you learn the tricks of the trade. You know that your mother and I can't do this the rest of our lives, and we would like to see the family business live on beyond us. You have helped us out greatly by fixing and refitting the engines several times, and manning the gun turrets to fend off pirates. You have patiently sat behind us and with the ship all these years. Now your mother and I feel it is time that you take the reins. Do you think you can do it?"

Excited, Sch’jo answered, "Yes! I can do it.", wide eyed in amazement. He looked over at his father, whose expression had turned from a smile to that of discontentment. "Oh, I mean,” Sch’jo corrected himself sheepishly, “yes sir, I think I can handle it.”

"That's better.” His father said as the smile returned to his face. He had instilled, in Sch’jo, a sense of respect for authority and he expected him to show it, always.

His mother got up from her seat and his father moved over to occupy her vacated seat. Sch’jo immediately moved into the seat that his father had just left and looked over the controls with admiration. He had sat in the pilot’s seat several times before, but never when the ship was running, let alone when it was in orbit. Now he was about to make his first jump out of system.

"You know what to do first right?” his father asked, "If you need help all you have to do is ask."

Of course he knew what to do; he had watched his father go through jumps since he was thirteen. "Yes sir and yes sir," he answered succinctly. First he needed permission to leave the system from the nearest platform, he would then check the navi-computer to make sure the coordinates were set, and then all he had to do was pull the hyperspace lever and they would be on their way. "Platform 463C, this is the YT-1300 freighter Trader’s Dream, requesting permission to leave the system."

"Trader’s Dream what is your cargo and destination?” the platform operator responded.

Sch’jo looked at his father. The young pilot had no clue what they were carrying or where they were going. "We have engine parts en route to Tatooine,” his father answered the operator. Sch’jo could feel the embarrassment creeping into his face, how could he have forgotten to find out the simplest, but most important, bits of information.

“Don’t worry about it son, you did excellent,” Nalaandur said reassuringly.

"Trader’s Dream, you are cleared to leave the system. Good luck and fast travels."

"Thank you 463C. Good day." Sch’jo checked the coordinates and reached for the hyperspace controls. He pulled back on the control levers and in a blink of an eye they were on their way.

''This trip certainly will be different. ''