By Ron Wilcoxen (With Grateful Thanks for Approval from Allen Falkowski for Lord Vader) Once a long time ago there was another galaxy far, far away from this particular galaxy where Pan-Fu struggles against the forces of darkness. In that galaxy on what seemed to be a minor blue marble of a world, it was once written "Now the LORD had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish for three days and three nights." JONAH 1:17. Pan-Fu would quiet his mind and steady himself for the task at hand, as the landing bay swallowed his ship whole like a small herring. The tractor beam brought his ship to a gentle land in front of a garrison of storm troopers who accompanied the scanner technicians. There were four technicians, dresses in the usual grey uniform of their division and the black Imperial Military cap. They were making last minute adjustments as were the ship and Pan-Fu. The troopers surrounded the small vessel disguised as an asteroid fragment as they trained their blasters on her. As the technicians opened their crates and began their scan of her exterior, the ship expressed a sense of extreme uncomfortability to her occupant. Commander Devonshire was a cautious man; for good reason he had survived service in the Imperial Fleet for several years and had been advanced to serve aboard Lord Vaders Death Star "Alpha." It was Lord Vader that occupied his mind most of the time. As efficient an officer as he was he had seen his share of officers who and gasped their last breath at the gesture of Lord Vader. It always seemed to be over something that was beyond the control of any officer. Devonshire's pity for his fellow officers fell short of protecting his own career. That was the order of the day, every day for a matter of fact. This small asteroid fragment would be no different. For all he knew this could be, a bomb sent to destroy the Alpha by the Alliance. Meanwhile, elsewhere aboard the Alpha, Lord Darth Vader sat in his private chambers meditating. Fate had not been kind to Vader; his son Luke had brought him back to the light. However, once he had started down the path of darkness he was unable to escape its long arms. Deep inside, in a hidden most place he was twisted more severely than before Luke's rescue attempt. His hatred of the light had grown since his attempt to escape had failed. It was that hatred which seemed to twitch within him when he sensed for only a brief moment a trace of the light aboard his Death Star. He began to search further with "The Force," whatever it was had vanished. His thoughts turned to his old master Obi-Wan Kenobi, as he remembered when he felt his presence on the first Death Star. He would not be deceived this time, there must to be another that had been trained in the ways of "The Force" aboard the Alpha. Such an uninvited individual he would not tolerate as he rose to leave his chamber. Back in the hanger bay, the technicians had finished their scan of the apparent asteroid fragment. Unbeknownst to the technicians the ship had rendered herself to a state resembling that of a mixed metallic ore. Pan-Fu had used "The Force" to cause his life signs remain undetected. Pan-Fu had no idea it was that same use of "The Force" that had lead to Lord Vader being alerted to his presence. He calmly awaited the crews to finish their inspection. He could sense they were reporting to their superior, he thought it would be amusing to sit back and overhear the conversation as well as possibly informing. The technicians reported to Commander Devonshire that the asteroid fragment was just that, composed of simple metallic ores common to many regions. Their report put the commander at ease for the moment, but not altogether. "Have the fragment placed in a containment chamber. Post guards at the entrance and make sure the area is in a heavy shielded part of the Alpha." He didn't trust so simple an explanation; it was too easy he thought. "Sir, You want us to guard a rock?" The Sergeant in charge of the storm troopers ventured in an astonished tone. "Sergeant, if this "rock" is not so simple a rock as it appears and possibly a bomb sent by the Alliance, do you want to be the one to explain the mishap to Lord Vader?" He smugly placed his hands behind his back as he regarded the trooper with the red pauldron on the shoulder of his armor. "My men will guard it with their lives Sir!" The tone that spew forth from the sergeant was one that indicated he too was al to familiar with Lord Vaders tactics when he was displeased. After Commander Devonshire had departed from the deck, the troopers attached anti-gravity units to Pan-Fu's ship. Immediately the ship rendered a feeling to Pan-Fu about how rude they were to place their "meat hooks" upon her. "Now, now. Control your temper old girl. We need time to figure out just what is going on." His tone tried to soothe her feelings. "Let's see how you like it if someone put suction cups on your buttocks and picked you up like a carrying case!" The ship's tone indicated an approaching sense of humiliation. "Remember old girl, this is for the good of all." Pan-Fu smiled at the humor in the situation that had risen from the ship's point of view. "That's what you say all the time." The ship was growing annoyed at what she felt was Pan-Fu's indifference to her situation. "That's because it's true all of the time." There were times that he wondered if the spirit of his dead wife Mayli was inside the ship. The squad of troopers had arrived at the containment field with the apparent asteroid fragment. They placed the ship containing Pan-Fu into a large dark storage chamber and sealed the blast door behind. Inside the dark chamber, a force field was activated for additional protection. Finally, Pan-Fu felt he and his ship were alone, given that fact and the absence of monitoring devices he told the ship to revert from her ship form. As her form slowly flowed from around Pan-Fu, he began to rise up and stand to his feet. The ship took on a new form, that of a walking stick for the blind Jedi. Neither could sense the dark presence that made its way toward them. End Cast into the Depths of a Demons Belly Continued in Part Six
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