Home > Work > Aftermath (Star Wars: Aftermath, #1)
61 " The second Death Star is destroyed. The Emperor and his powerful enforcer, Darth Vader, are rumored to be dead. The Galactic Empire is in chaos. Across the galaxy, some systems celebrate, while in others Imperial factions tighten their grip. Optimism and fear reign side by side. And while the Rebel Alliance engages the fractured forces of the Empire, a lone rebel scout uncovers a secret Imperial meeting…. "
― Chuck Wendig , Aftermath (Star Wars: Aftermath, #1)
62 " May the Force be with you, mister.”“You too, kid. You too. "
63 " The future is suddenly unpinned—evolving, spinning, leaping about like a panicked tree-loormor. "
64 " battle droid? The most incompetent droid soldier in the history of both the Republic and the Empire. "
65 " War is not a state of being. It is meant to be a temporary chaos between periods of peace. Some want it to be the course of things: a default fact of existence. "
66 " No Tie Fighters. No blasts across the bow of his X-Wing. No X-Wing, in fact, and though he loves flying one, it's nice to be out. No Death Star--and here, Wedge shudders, because he helped take down two of those things. Some days that fills him with pride. Other days it's something else, something worse. Like he's drawn back to it. The fight still going on around him. But that isn't today. Today it's quiet. Wedge like's the quiet. "
67 " No, I just mean … I’m not into … this.”“This?” Her scowl deepens and her teeth bare. “Aliens?””Women.”“Oh. Oh.”“Yes, oh.”“Oh. "
68 " Democracy is not in need of defense. People are. "
69 " This is Wedge Antilles of the New Republic. I am trapped on the Star Destroyer Vigilance in the space above Akiva, and I am in— "
70 " The man tut-tut-tuts. “Hardly. I am Tashu. Merely a historian. An eager student of the old ways. And, until recently, an adviser to Palpatine.” “My friend Luke told me some things about him.” Tashu’s grin broadens. Showing off his too-white teeth. “Yes, I imagine he did. Seen through the lens of a confused, naïve boy, most assuredly.” His fingers pluck at the air like a spider testing its webs. “I know I won’t break you physically.” “So why come here at all? "
71 " Now, listen. What’s come before will come back around again. Republic was the way of the world before, and it’ll be the way again. And for a time everyone will cheer them on, and everything will be cozy-dosie, but there will come a time when things go sour and someone decides they got a better way of doing things. And the New Republic or the New-New Republic or the Republic We Got This Week will clamp down hard and then those people with the so-called better way will become the brave rebel alliance and the Republic will become the enemy and the wheel will turn once more.” He rubs his eyes. “I’m old enough to remember when the Republic shot itself right in the knee. It wasn’t taken over by the Empire. It became the Empire slowly, surely, not overnight but over years and decades. Fruit always tastes nice when it’s ripe. But it can’t stay like that. Every nice piece of fruit will rot on the branch if it hangs there long enough. You remember that. "
72 " The pilot, Wedge Antilles, once Red Leader and now—well, now something else, a role without a formal title, as yet, "
73 " No Sith remain,” Tashu says. “And the lone Jedi that exists—the son of Anakin Skywalker—possesses an untouchable soul. "
74 " Palpatine felt that the universe beyond the edges of our maps was where his power came from. Over the many years he, with our aid, sent men and women beyond known space. They built labs and communication stations on distant moons, asteroids, out there in the wilds. We must follow them. Retreat from the galaxy. Go out beyond the veil of stars. We must seek the source of the dark side like a man looking for a wellspring of water. "
75 " He has never won a game of Galactic Expansion against the repurposed interrogator droid. But he’s close now. It’s never been this close. "
76 " The Empire pretends it’s about law and order, but at the end of the day, it’s about dressing up oppression in the costume of justice. "
77 " This city is a keg of cordylleum about to go BOOM. Part of her is proud: This is her operating at a much higher level. This is Jas wielding an entire city population as a weapon against her target. She's used to manipulating people, but this? This is magnified. This is something sublime. "
78 " Jas once heard the story that the Jedi constructed their own lightsabers and she figured, well, why can't she do the same with her rifle? So she did. Because she can do whatever she wants. "
79 " You wanted to show us…a battle droid? The most incompetent droid soldier in the history of both the Republic and the Empire. A mechanical comedy of errors. "
80 " suddenly he’s forced to wonder if each Jawa is just a fraternity of wet rats gathering together under brown robes and a black face veil. "