The Machine (archived)

The Machine - archived from https://www.unddit.com/r/StarWarsEU/comments/2x9pjg/a_short_story_i_wrote_explaining_the_death_of_the/

A short story I wrote explaining the death of the EU..(self.StarWarsEU)

submitted 7 years ago by KarbonMarx to /r/StarWarsEU

I'm not sure if this is the proper place to post this, but I thought it worthy enough to share with you guys.
I wrote this as a comment in response to a post on /r/starwars last night. It seemed to fit the discussion and it's an idea that has been rolling around in my head ever since the announcement of Legends. I hope you enjoy it and of course criticism is always appreciated :)

"The Machine"

The air stank of ozone and the doors were welded shut. How long had they been in this room? Days? Weeks? Time seemed irrelevant; all that mattered was the task at hand- to assemble the Machine. It looked to be nothing more than a column of wires and gears that grew from ceiling to floor in a haphazard, natural way. The room had once housed great scientists, prophets, even leaders- now it had become the last refuge of two warriors: a master and an apprentice.

The youngest worked tirelessly rearranging a handful of wires, while his master sat in meditation. The room shook with groans of warping metal. Outside the last echoes of war- no, annihilation- permeated through the hull. The noise was a constant they had long grown use to; it was the fear that it would come to an end that drove them in their task.
“You need to focus on that grouping- the installation is reversed and requires more attention,” the master’s first words in days.

“Attention!?” the apprentice threw his tool to the floor and turned to the aged man, “How much more attention can I give it? It’s all I have to do! It’s all I’ve been doing!”

The man rose to his feet with an unnatural ease,

“You let your anger drive your actions- control you and twist your hands into a knot. You need to empty your mind and let the Force guide you,” the master took a deep breath and for a moment silence filled the chamber, “Only when your mind is empty will you hear the world and know peace.”

“Yes, Master,” there’s no fighting an old Jedi and the apprentice knew it, “I only wish to know what the Machine will do; everyone else is out there fighting- dying- for the Systems. And I’m in here. Making sense out of this mess.”

The tool rose from the floor and floated into the Master’s open hand,

“My Padawan, it is my great regret that I will never be able to finish your training; you would have been so... unparalleled, if you would have made it to your trials.”

“What do you mean,” realization fell across the apprentice’s face, “I thought you said that this Machine would save us, you know, stop the fighting.”

The master turned to the Machine and began to assemble the wires the apprentice had removed,

“There will always be fighting- my time as Keeper has proven that to me without a doubt in my mind. Great battles and wars have scarred and molded our history. The death of the Republic… The invasions of the Vong… The rise and fall of the Sith, time and time again. We are creatures of confrontation and our only reprieve is the peace that the Force gives us.”

“So.. what does the machine do?”

Fear flickered across the master’s eyes,

“This machination was not designed for what it may do, but for what it might undo.”

“Undo what?” the apprentice understood, but feared it to be true, “what are you saying?”

The old warrior paid little attention to the machine, but his hands danced through the wires as if they no longer were commanded by the tired Jedi that wore them,

“The Galaxy has known pain of a highest order and it bleeds still further. Even now as we speak the last drops of life trickle into the void,” sadness filled his voice, “Our order realized this fate long ago.. certain actions in our past, some of wonder and some of horror have led us to this path of deconstruction. If we are to have a future, we must forsake the former and let the Force guide us.”

The Padawan traced the hilt on his belt, a reminder of how far he had come,

“So the Machine ‘undoes’ the past and, what, resets time? Master, what’s to say things won’t happen the same way?”
The master stopped and stepped away from the tangled column,

“Some events may very well end up the same and others may be extinguished only to be replaced. The machine is a conduit for the Force and through our sacrifice existence is given a second chance.”

Outside, the sound of death came to an end. The room grew silent.

The apprentice cupped one ear as if to hold the noise in for one more moment, “Will there still be evil- will there still be war?”

“My boy, there will always be evil in the night sky and there will always be heroes to combat it,” the master extended his hand gesturing towards the machine “this time they may wear different faces, have different names, but virtue is fundamental.”

The apprentice closed his eyes and placed his hands into the snarl. With a single switch the column filled with broken light that shined through the dark vines. The light grew in intensity and consumed the room. It expanded through all of creation as the two warriors stood alone at the end of time in a galaxy far, far away.

4 comments reddit reveddit