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Author	Topic: A Time To Be Born (A J/TK not so short story, post TUF, AU)
CarrKicksDoor Registered: Jan '05	Date Posted: 8/2/05 3:42pm Subject: A Time To Be Born (A J/TK not so short story, post TUF, AU)
	Author: CarrKicksDoor Title: A Time to Be Born Fandom: Star Wars Timeframe: Three years post TUF Keywords: J/TK, AU Summary: The beginning tale of a new series: Jacen Solo is thrust into the race to become prince consort of Hapes—and it's the last thing he wants. But behind the politics is a deadly game, and he and the Queen Mother are only pawns. What started as a race for one woman's heart is now a race for their lives—and the survival of the Hapes Cluster. Status: Complete. Notes: Part of the June 2005 Crystal Reef Palace Auditorium Challenge. Slightly late, due to computer malfunction. This is extraordinarily, horrendously LONG. As in, clocked in at slightly over 12,000 words. You've been warned. * Jacen clicked the holoimage into oblivion one last time, but the afterimage stayed burned into his sight for a moment—his own smiling face looking up at the woman who had sneaked up to hug him from behind, her blond hair framing her lovely face. Mara Jade Skywalker had snapped that holo only moments before her young son had come flying into the room and launched himself into Jacen's lap to demand the attention of both Jacen and Danni Quee, the woman behind him. Jacen fingered the disc containing the image, smiling to himself. That had only been a few weeks ago when Han Solo had suddenly declared that everyone—everyone including Jagged Fel, Danni Quee, Tahiri, Kyp Durron and anyone else he could find that he determined was in need of a rest—was going on vacation. So the Solos, the Skywalkers, the Antilles, and the rest of their motley crew, as Danni had called them, were forced to pack up and head out for a well-earned vacation on New Alderaan. Everyone had quit grumbling after a day or so, and for once, they'd all managed to make it through a family outing without getting shot at once. He had admitted to Danni as she'd walked him to his transport that he felt much more relaxed after the fact. He didn't say it, but he'd been feeling the need for a rest for a while, deep inside. He couldn't go on like this much more, not without some serious time to think and process what he was doing. Trying to filter everything that happened to him, during the war, and now afterwards, during any spare moment he had wasn't working, and he needed time to just stop. The vacation had given him five days to just stop, relax. He'd had time to sit and think, uninterrupted, and let the Force speak to him. It had been good for him, he'd told her. She'd remarked that it had been good for everyone, especially Jaina, who had been going nonstop since the end of the war and needed someone else to tell her when to slow down. He couldn't argue—never could with her. And then she'd caught him off guard with her kiss—a beautifully sweet, mind-boggling kiss out of nowhere. “That's some goodbye,” he'd said in amazement. She'd winked at him as she'd backed away. “Wait until the welcome home.” As the transport touched down, Jacen wished he was on his way back to Mon Calamari instead so he could find out how that particular promise was going to be kept. Captain Anders, a Corellian who had ably brought them from Mon Calamari to Hapes turned around. “We be here.” “We be indeed,” Jacen said, rising. The diplomatic transport afforded Jedi on missions of this kind was entirely more comfortable than the XJ X-wing he'd flowing during the war and he appreciated their efforts. “Dock wherever they ask you and inform me. Stay with the ship, whatever you do and keep a sharp lookout. There's still a fair amount of anti-Jedi sentiment on Hapes.” “Will do, sir,” Anders said, and Jacen once again shook off the strange feeling of having someone at least twenty years his senior call him 'sir.' The ramp extended down and Jacen squinted against the light of the sunshine outside. It had, he reflected, never been anything but clear and bright on Hapes when he'd visited. He suspected that the Hapans wouldn't have stood for it otherwise. He felt Tenel Ka's sense reach out to brush against his consciousness in welcome. She had to be busy or she would have come to meet him, he decided, and he sent back a warm wave of friendship before she retreated back to whatever task at hand she was concentrating on. Ta'a Chume was waiting for him, her red veil covering her face, surrounded by guards and attendants no doubt meant to impress the visiting Jedi Master. It took more than this. “Master Jedi Solo,” she said, extending her hand. He bent over it respectfully. “You honor us with your presence.” “I am honored to be here,” he said, treading carefully. She snapped her fingers imperiously and a young man nearly Jacen's age took his bag and proceeded into the palace with haste ahead of them. The old woman's shrewd eyes fixed upon him. “Yes, indeed, you should be honored. The opportunity to be present at the ceremonies in which the Hapan prince consort is chosen is a rare and privileged one.” He caught a sense of the old woman's nature, plot within plot and had an uncomfortable flash that made him wonder if she had some larger part for him to play in this than simple diplomatic observer and friend of the queen. The matriarch's mental control was formidable, though, and even had he been inclined to enter her mind and explore that possibility, he wasn't sure he would have liked what he found. “I'm uncertain why I was requested,” he said. “Chief of State Omas said you asked for a Jedi. Forgive the observation, but that is hardly in keeping with typical Hapan policy.” “Two reasons, Master Jedi,” Ta'a Chume said. “One, the Ni'Korish have made noise towards wishing to disrupt the ceremonies, and I believe a Jedi presence may dissuade them. And, two, you have been a friend to my granddaughter. I believe your validation of whatever choice she makes will mean a great deal to her.” “In other words, you requested my presence, not Her Majesty,” he said, stopping directly before the entrance to palace. Ta'a Chume raised an eyebrow. “Of course, Master Jedi. What reason would Tenel Ka have for you to be here?” Following her into the palace, Jacen reflected that he hated politics. * Jacen found himself to be a spot of drab color in a sea of blindingly bright fabrics as dignitaries swarmed in the Great Hall. No, he decided—he hated mingling more than politics. Probably because in this case, they're the same thing, he though, smiling at a passing Rodian who nodded sagely at him. “Excuse me,” a voice broke into his thoughts, “but you're Jacen Solo, aren't you?” He turned around to see a human male approximately his own age standing there. “Yes, I am.” He held out his hand. “I don't believe I know your name.” “Prince Azir Mitan, from Minoat. I don't expect you've heard of me, no one has.” The grin on the man's face was infectious. “We're pretty small and only have an asteroid belt of resources to offer. That's the only reason my name is even on the list, I think.” He sobered. “During the war, we had a few Jedi land and help set up out defenses against the Yuuzhan Vong. It probably saved the planet and all our lives. I swore I'd thank every Jedi I met afterwards.” Jacen swallowed. In a time where gratitude towards the Jedi was rarely found, Azir Mitan was very welcome. “Thank you. I'll be sure to pass along your comments to the Council. I know they'll be appreciative.” Azir looked at his feet. “I've always respected Jedi. I suppose that's part of the reason I like the queen mother so much. Minoat wants to trade with Hapes rather than the Galactic Alliance because it's smaller—the Galactic Alliance would strip us of our resources in just a few years whether they meant to or not. Her Majesty came to Minoat to visit and see our facilities.” He smiled. “She has an unusual sense of humor.” Jacen snorted. “You're telling the person whose life-long ambition has been to get her to laugh at a joke.” Azir snickered. “I suppose that is impossible, then.” He bounced up and down on the soles of his feet, causing the sash to come ajar from his shoulder. “Sorry I've talked your ear off. I'm way more nervous than I should be. Tonight isn't even the hard part.” Jacen put a hand on the other man's shoulder and straightened the red material for him. “What do you mean?” Azir looked confused. “I thought you were here to—the rumors all say that you are the Queen Mother's preference--” Jacen threw up his hands. “No. I am here as a diplomatic observer and Tenel Ka's friend only. I am most certainly not in the running for prince consort.” “Oh,” Azir said, seeming to process that information. “I wonder why everyone thinks you are. I know most of the Hapans have been sending death glares your way and not because you're a Jedi. You should—” Azir's undoubtedly sage advice was cut off by the fanfare announcing the entrance of the Queen Mother. The room grew almost quiet, excited whispers crossing the Great Hall. “Her Majesty, Queen Mother of Hapes, Tenel Ka Chume Ta' Djo.” Perhaps the Hapans were not awestruck by the Queen Mother's finery, but for Jacen Solo, who still had the image of a teenage girl with braided hair and armor, it was like seeing an entirely different person. Her white gown, firmly fit to her torso, flared downward at her hips and her shoulders, bare of material, glistened with strings of beads that matched the ones in the feathered headdress that crowned her head. Azir said it for him. “Wow.” One of the ladies-in-waiting—one of Tenel Ka's Dathomiri clan sisters, Jacen thought—handed the queen a mallet and Tenel Ka strode to the gong hanging in the corner of the room and struck it. “Welcome to the Fountain Palace. For generations, the Hapan Prince Consort has braved many dangers to win the hand of the Queen Mother. He has faced many challenges.” Her gaze swept across the crowd. “I am proud of my Hapan heritage, but I cannot ignore the rest of my past. There shall be a difference this time.” Murmurs swept through the crowd. “There will be no death trials,” Tenel Ka announced. “The challenge will be not to simply show your prowess, but your heart behind the competitions.” She struck the gong again. “Bring forth the candidates.” “Death trials?” Jacen asked aside. “What did she mean, 'death trials?'” Azir looked entirely relieved. “Challenges to the death. You didn't know?” Jacen shook his head wordlessly as young men were called to stand before the queen mother. “Besides,” Azir said, straightening his sash again, “refusing the honor of being named to even candidate for prince consort is –“ “-punishable by death,” Ta’a Chume said smoothly, breaking in. “An honor death, of course, exacted by whomever is around you to show loyalty to their queen.” “You wouldn’t—“ Jacen started, his tone hinting at a threat. “His Grace, Master Jedi Jedi Jacen Solo,” the herald announced and Jacen’s head spun around. Ta’a Chume gave him an unsubtle push out onto the cleared floor. Steeling his features and determined not to make a diplomatic incident, he quickly walked out to the line of young men and bowed deeply, stifling his anger at having been out maneuvered. He kept his gaze from Tenel Ka’s face and held his Force sense from her questions. Azir's name was called out after his, but Jacen hardly noticed. Ta’a Chume swiftly crossed the room, raising her voice to address the gathered audience as much as Tenel Ka. “Do they meet with your approval, Your Majesty?” Tenel Ka carefully walked down the line, examining each one, and if she spent half a second longer studying Jacen’s face than anyone else’s, no one noticed. “They are satisfactory. Let all know that these are the candidates for prince consort. The challenges begin tomorrow.” Applause broke out throughout the hall and the line scattered. “Shavit,” Jacen swore, rubbing at his forehead. He didn’t bother sparing a glare for Ta’a Chume, who glided away into the crowd. Azir raised an eyebrow. “You’re acting like this is a bad thing.” “Jacen, my friend?” Tenel Ka stood behind him, a vision of loveliness despite her somber expression. “I would have a word with you,” she continued, her voice low. Jacen looked around at the assembled guests. “Now?” She shook her head. “Wait until I leave. Twenty minutes later, come to my suite. We must speak.” “I agree,” he said. He gestured to Azir behind him. “You remember His Highness, Prince Azir Mitan of Minoat.” Tenel Ka nodded gracefully to Azir, who seemed tongue-tied in her presence. “We remember, of course. His Highness was quite charming and hospitable when we visited Minoat.” She reached out to straighten Azir’s sash. “We wish you luck in the challenges.” She turned away to greet others and Jacen struggled not to laugh at Azir’s somewhat starry-eyed gaze. “Come on. There’s got to be food around for us candidates somewhere.” * The guards—all female Dathomiri warriors—allowed Jacen entry to Tenel Ka's suite without comment or facial expression, barely giving him notice as he passed by. He may have been a Jedi Master, but he was still male, and therefore was still beneath them. Tenel Ka had divested herself of her shoes, headdress and the beads covering her shoulders, but with her unbraided hair hanging almost all the way to the floor, she remained entirely impressive. Her hand on her hip, she stood in the middle of the stylishly sparse living quarters and stared at him. “I will not presume,” she said quietly, “that you wished to enter the challenges in earnest, so I am left with the conclusion that my grandmother is involved.” Her words stung and he knew she meant for them to. “Since when did you stoop to her level and start using words to hurt people?” Her tightly reined emotions slipped slightly, giving him a clue to her emotional state as she turned her back to him. “A comparison to my grandmother is not one it is wise to make.” Her weary frustration was nearly tangible. “Are you all right?” She stood straighter, pulling her shoulders back. “I am fine.” “You can't lie to me,” he reminded her. “You never could.” “We should focus on the problem at hand,” she said, turning around to face him and ignoring his comment. “You never should have become involved, but unfortunately, it is too late for that.” He sat down on one of the hoversofas. “I don't understand why your grandmother is trying this.” Tenel Ka's sense turned analytical, away from the tangled emotions he sensed under the surface. “It may be that she is maneuvering for a strike with the Ni'Korish,” she said, deep in thought. “It would give them an excuse to reform.” “It could just be she's maneuvering for a political alliance with my family,” Jacen said. “It wouldn't be the first time. Or the second.” “In attempting to arrange the marriage between your mother and my father, I would agree,” Tenel Ka said. “In Jaina, my grandmother was looking for someone to control. She would not find that in you.” He rubbed his hands over his face. “She miscalculated as far as Jaina goes. She may think she has found someone she can control. She's maneuvered me this far, hasn't she?” His tone was harsher than he intended. “I'm sorry. I'm a little keyed up by this.” Her Force sense wound even more tightly in on itself. “I understand,” she said softly, turning away. Her hair and dress swayed in time as she padded across the room to pour herself a glass of water. He could feel her refusal to let any type of emotion escape her, the only sense her determination. Realization hit him as soundly as one of Chewbacca's shockball pitches. “Tenel Ka—you have to understand—I still consider you one of my best friends—” She held up a hand to silence him. “There is no need for explanation, my friend.” She turned around, and the weary look had reappeared on her face. “You cannot escape the challenges now, unfortunately. Until my grandmother's true intentions are revealed, you should stay close to the other competitors.” Her gaze fell from his face. “When the time comes, you will not be prince consort.” He opened his mouth to speak, but his brain supplied nothing that would not inadvertently hurt the woman standing before him. “Good night, Tenel Ka.” “Good night, Jacen,” she said. The guards opened the doors, and as they ushered him out, he barely caught the whispered, “my friend.” * He'd conveniently ignored all of the calls from Mon Calamari and spent the night in meditation to try and clear his mind and gain some insight. It hadn't worked of course. His mind was too cluttered with extraneous thoughts and Hapes was too cluttered with deception for him to clear his mind completely. So, as morning broke, he rose rested, if without clarity of thought. He skipped morning meal to wander out to the courtyard instead, taking in the fresh air and was surprised to find he was not the only person taking advantage of it. “Good morning,” Azir Mitan said with a smile, strolling down the path. “How are you this fine day, Master Jedi?” Jacen smiled. “Well, although perhaps not as cheerful as yourself, Your Highness. I didn't expect to see anyone else up or about yet.” Azir shrugged. “Couldn't sleep anymore, so I got up and had a light breakfast. You?” Jacen shook his head. “No breakfast to speak of.” Azir looked at him. “Not a good idea. You need to eat something before the challenge today.” “Jedi,” Jacen reminded him. “Stupid,” Azir grumbled, reaching into his pocket. “Here. Biscuits I pinched from breakfast. Eat them. I mean it.” Jacen gave a half-hearted laugh and took them. “Thanks.” “How did your meeting with the Queen Mother go?” Azir asked politely. Jacen took a overly vicious bite out of the unoffensive biscuit. “It was less than pleasant.” “Anything I can do to help?” Azir asked. “Either of you?” Jacen studied the other man for a moment. There was no deception there, just an honest desire to help someone he hoped to consider a friend and— “You really care about Tenel Ka, don't you?” Jacen asked suddenly. Azir smiled, looking down at the ground. “Perhaps it sounds silly, considering modern conventions, but a political marriage is a marriage nonetheless. She is intelligent and beautiful.” He looked up, his gaze sweeping across the courtyard. “Your life-long ambition has been to get her to laugh. I have seen her smile once—a true smile, not a court smile. My ambition would be to see her smile each day.” A memory surfaced from deep in Jacen's mind, a long time ago. The flash of Tenel Ka's smile—something few people ever saw. That had been long ago, here on Hapes, in fact. When they had still been relatively children, and the worst thing they ever needed to worry about was the occasional pseudo-Imperial group popping up and patches of killer seaweed. And for the first time, Jacen Solo wondered what he might have lost. He turned, putting a hand on Azir's shoulder. “If you have seen her smile already, then you have well and truly delighted her, and that is a very rare gift.” His mouth quirked in a decidedly Solo fashion. “And don't worry. You have absolutely no competition from me—but we don't need to let anyone else know that.” He could see the glowstick go off over Azir's head. “Ah. So let's keep a healthy fear of being out done in some of the Hapan gentlemen?” Jacen nodded. “And with the only two men who have seen the queen mother smile working against them, there's no way they can win.” *** The challenges were intended to be demanding and somewhat demeaning at the same time, and as Jacen and the rest of the young noblemen stripped off their tunics, he was uncomfortably aware of the fact that he was not only on display to the entire Hapes Cluster, but most of the galaxy. His sister and his father and his aunt were probably all sitting back with synthales and laughing their heads off while his uncle just shook his head and his mother tried to explain this to the media without looking too amused. He didn't really care too much about that—it was the gaze from the top box that he kept sensing sweep over him that was causing this peculiar sensation up and down his spine. One of the Hapan nobles sniffed condescendingly at him. “What happened to you?” Jacen looked down at the scars marring his chest—he could have had them removed, but he'd neither had the time nor the inclination yet—and merely glowered at the Hapan and his unmarked form. “He was in a war,” Azir said shortly, stepping between them, and Jacen noticed a long scar running across Azir's shoulder. “But you wouldn't know anything about one of those, would you, Garod?” “Enough,” Jacen said, stopping the argument before it could become one, and Garod turned away. Azir shook his head in disgust. “Garod is the highest-ranking Hapan here,” he said aside. “He thinks he can lord that over everyone else, and he thinks he's entitled to be prince consort.” Jacen allowed his gaze to stray upwards towards the royal box. “I'd say there are those here who think differently.” Tenel Ka rose from her seat, and the crowds lining the streets quieted. “Candidates will take their marks.” The challenge was simple—a race through the capital. Any path was acceptable. At the end of the race, judged not only on speed, but on the path taken, the queen chose her favored victor—even if they had come in dead last. Of course, in the old days, some routes had been laid with traps and the challengers would have to fight or dead last became an all too appropriate idiom. “Jedi tricks,” he heard Garod murmur. Jacen suppressed a grin. “I promise not to use my Force powers, Garod,” he called down the line to the Hapan. “I'll beat you all by myself.” The blaster shot starting the race rang out before Garod could reply and the Hapan shot out ahead of him. Despite his 'promise' not to use his Force abilities, Jacen allowed a trickle of the Force to flow through him and guide him where to go. Most of the other candidates were splitting off from the pack—Jacen, in typical Solo fashion, was charging straight down the main thoroughfare. The others had weeks to prepare for this. He'd had only hours. He dashed down a side street, ducking under laundry lines and just enjoyed running for a moment. It was like being back on Yavin, only this was a different sort of jungle and instead of sounds of the wildlife overhead, the sounds of Tenel Ka's escort as her ship moved to the end point of the race accompanied his pace. Swinging around the corner, he barely avoided a collision with Azir. “Fancy meeting you here,” the prince said, beginning to be out of breath with exertion. “Guess who I just passed.” “No need,” Jacen said, sensing the irritated presence rapidly making time. “He's coming up behind us.” Azir spared a glance over his shoulder, but didn't speed up to make it a contest between the two of them now. Garod held his speed for a moment, then broke out into a sprint to get ahead of them. The tingle of danger was all the warning Jacen had. “Get down,” he yelled, shoving Azir to the side. He lurched forward to pull Garod to the ground, out of harm's way, but too late as the blaster shot hit the Hapan in the back. Horrified gasps and screams echoed as bystanders scattered in confusion and horror. “Help!” Azir shouted, dragging Garod's limp body out of the street. “Hey—wait!” Jacen's eyes stopped tracking the blaster shot long enough to dimly realize that the other candidates weren't stopping to help. They were using the confusion to gain an advantage, plunging headfirst into the crowd and continuing on to get ahead. He knelt beside Garod. “How bad?” “Bad enough,” Azir said grimly, pressing both hands to the wound to stop the bleeding. Jacen put a hand to Garod's shoulder and send a Force command to the other man's mind. Heal. The crowds and confusion weren't helping the medical teams fighting to get through and the Hapan security forces were doing all they could do simply to contain the crowd, must less try to find the shooter. Jacen caught the glare in the overhead sun—that blessed, ever-present Hapan sun—and didn't think. He took ten running steps across the street, vaulted over the barricade and took a Force-assisted leap to the second-floor balcony. He hauled himself over the ledge and raced down the pedway. He swung up the ladder onto the roof and stood. The door into the building slammed shut and Jacen heard a click as locks slid into place. Gritting his teeth, he jabbed his lightsaber into the door, carving around the edges and gave a Force push until he could make his way through. He raced down the stairs, following a sense that was frantic to get away—now his only clue. He hadn't even enough of a visual reference to determine if the perpetrator was male or female, though he was guessing at least human. He stopped before a door in the apartment when he felt it. An emotional mix of nervousness, adrenaline rush and anticipation. Whoever was here was getting ready to make their final stand, and Jacen knew—knew—that this person was ready to die. It gave him no advantage as he opened the door. He could hear nothing over the beating over his own heart as he entered the dark room, not even the hum of his lightsaber. The eerie green glow his blade provided shed its light into the room, and he swallowed hard. The figure in the room barely moved as Jacen approached. “Why?” he asked, his voice low. The lightsaber's light finally illuminated the figure—a woman with bitterness written across every feature on her face. “Because there will be no offspring from the Jedi on the throne.” She met Jacen's gaze. “And we will not allow you to be prince consort. Of all things that will be intolerable.” “You are under arrest under the authority of the Jedi order,” Jacen said flatly, “for attempted murder, insurrection, and treason.” The woman shook her head. “No. I am dead.” Jacen jerked forward to catch her knife, but she'd already drawn it across her own throat. Blood splattered, splashing against him as her body fell to the floor. He turned away and tried not to be sick. He'd seen fanaticism before—but the Vong were different. For all their destruction, they fervently believed the gods were willing them to a destiny that was grand and glorious. This—this, though—this was hatred for hatred's sake. The Vong had hated the Jedi, for sure, but in their hatred had been a definite respect for fellow warriors. These people—Ni'Korish—the word came unbidden to his mind—had no respect for their enemy. Just hatred. Swallowing hard, Jacen left the body there and made his way back down to the street. * Azir was standing there watching the medical droids load Garod into the speeder, trying to wipe the blood from his hands. Jacen imagined he didn't look much better, a fact confirmed when Azir handed him the cloth. A security officer walked over. “Master Jedi, did you catch him?” “Her,” Jacen said shortly. “She's dead. Suicide.” He pointed at the building. “Top floor, third apartment on the left side.” “Now what do we do?” Azir asked, rubbing a hand against his forehead and smearing blood in the sweat dripping from his hair. He wasn't quite shell-shocked, but Jacen understood his wish for someone else to tell him what to do. The officer looked at the two of them in a mixture of astonishment and disgust. “You finish the challenge. The other candidates are already at the queen mother's box. You were prepared before this competition that it would be death challenges. Simply because it's turned into one doesn't mean you should hide.” Her snide manner grated on already frayed nerves. “Safety awaits you at the queen mother's box.” Jacen gave up the attempt to clean the blood from himself and threw the towel on her perfectly shined shoes. “That's assuming you've bothered to set security up properly there,” he said bitterly. Azir laid a hand on his arm. “Jacen. This is neither the time nor the place. Let's get this over with.” Jacen let his dark thoughts go for a moment, stepping around the officer. His head was beginning to ache as adrenaline drained off. Azir looked over at him, the same picture of misery. “I don't know about you,” the prince added, “but I'm in no particular hurry to get there.” Jacen smiled tightly. “Yeah, me either.” * They jogged into the palace courtyard forty-five minutes later. Every other candidate was waiting, having reclaimed their tunics and most looking like they hadn't broken a sweat. Jacen and Azir were covered in blood and dripping in sweat as Tenel Ka, disregarding her royal station, came rushing down to meet them. “Are you all right?” she demanded of them both. “We're fine, Your Majesty,” Azir said, inclining his head as attendants brought their tunics to them. “Thank you for your concern.” Her attention focused on Jacen's face. “I must declare a victor. I favor you, Azir Mitan, but I have need to speak to the Master Jedi.” Azir immediately bowed, any traces of disappointment only showing in his Force sense and not in the expression on his face. “Of course, Your Majesty.” “Declare us both victors,” Jacen said suddenly, and he felt Tenel Ka's sudden surprise. “You've already changed things once. Do it again.” “Very well,” she said. Raising her voice, she turned. “Let all know that these men are the Queen Mother's favored victors. You are dismissed.” Looking back over her shoulder at them. “Meet me in my suite in two hours.” Her Force sense touched Jacen's in an unmistakable fashion. She wanted to see him before those two hours were up. Alone. * Jacen let the warm water of the shower beat against the muscles in his back. He put his head down, letting it rinse the salt out of his hair, and the water at his feet swirled with dirt and blood. He sighed, leaning one arm against the wall of the shower to hold himself upright and turned the temperature of the water up with his other hand, shivering against the cold air flowing through the refresher and over the shower. Or it might have been against the memories of the day so far. He closed his eyes, trying to block it away, letting the rhythm of the water drum the images out of his head. It didn't work, and his eyes snapped open. His hand was shaking and he turned the temperature of the water up again, sinking against the wall of the shower. It wasn't that he was unused to death. Jacen had seen more death in the eight years since the beginning of the war with the Yuuzhan Vong than most small planets would see in lifetimes. But this one was different. This one was bothering him in a way he couldn't define. It was almost the feeling that now that the war was over, he shouldn't be seeing this anymore. Or the feeling that he should have been able to stop this one. Or the ones during the war. That he was more responsible than others. He shook his head, sending water droplets spraying across the shower and sighed. Tenel Ka would have the preliminary reports by the time he met with her. And there was another—interesting set of circumstances. Tenel Ka, in all her beauty— He turned the temperature of the water back down. * Now would be an excellent time to get a snack and perhaps a cool, refreshing beverage before coming back and reading part 2. -----signature----- Carrolé, Handmaiden of the Crest Not even your deepest secrets escape the NRI: So Much For Our Happy Endings: http://boards.theforce.net/Message.aspx?topic=23843466&brd=10477
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CarrKicksDoor Registered: Jan '05	Date Posted: 8/2/05 3:43pm Subject: RE: A Time To Be Born (A J/TK not so short story, post TUF, AU) - Date Edited: 8/2/05 3:46pm (1 edits total) Edited By: CarrKicksDoor
	*** He couldn't have imagined the kinds of gossip floating around the palace, but he was picking up blatant curiosity and disapproval as he made his way to Tenel Ka's suite. The Dathomiri warriors looked at him with something approaching respect, rather than disinterest, when he entered Tenel Ka's suite this time, exchanging glances with one another behind his back as he passed through the heavy wooden doors. They shut them behind him, and he stood there for a moment. Gossip did indeed travel fast in the palace. Tenel Ka was standing before the giant picture window that offered a view of the courtyard. Gone was the finery of last night or this morning. She was dressed in simple pants and a tunic—an outfit reminiscent of something Mara Jade Skywalker might wear. Something Tenel Ka was wearing in preparation for a battle. Her attention remained focused on the window. It wasn't real. Unlike Jacen's room, which had a balcony that led directly out over the courtyard, the vista Tenel Ka looked out upon was a skillful manipulation of real-time holographic images. Her eyes were fixed not upon the young men who had remained outside in the courtyard, but on the darkening sky over the ocean. “A storm is approaching,” she said quietly. “I feel it.” He didn't think she was speaking about the storms rolling in from the sea as he joined her, looking out the window. “Any word on Garod?” “Not yet,” she said. “Nor have they yet discovered any evidence to link the assassin to my grandmother. They will not. She will see to that.” He tucked his hands inside the sleeves of his cloak. “You're sure about that?” “Yes,” she said. “As certain as I am that she is behind this all. But without evidence, I can do nothing but hope I can thwart her attacks.” “You have to have allies,” he said, trying to keep his frustration under control. “Someone here has to be willing to help you.” “There are few on Hapes who respect me, Jacen,” she said, now watching the mock battle taking place on the courtyard among the noblemen. “Even fewer truly like me. I have perhaps ten Battle Dragons loyal to me and me alone.” “What about your father?” he asked. “Surely he can help you.” “My father has a few forces,” she answered. “But I cannot ascertain their loyalty to me, nor can I assure that I would be able to access my father in the event of a coup. My grandmother has already murdered one of her sons. She is capable of doing it again.” Her gaze remained fixed on the young men in the courtyard. “An alliance with Garod would have considerably strengthened my position as queen.” “Is that what they're calling marriages these days?” Jacen asked without thinking. “Alliances?” Her eyes narrowed as she finally turned to look at him. “I will take whatever steps I deem necessary to protect Hapes.” Jacen moved closer. “Tenel Ka, you can't be willing to give up everything for Hapes. The moment you do, you lose everything. Hapes will suck you dry and then you're not going to have anything left to help them with.” He lifted a hand to brush a braid behind her shoulder. “Don't give this up for Hapes.” Her hand shot out, grasping his wrist tightly enough to leave a bruise. “Give up what?” she asked, her eyes flashing. “I've nothing to give up for Hapes. Everything I ever wanted is already gone.” He yanked his captive hand down, hard, twisting it around as he pulled Tenel Ka towards him. Her wrist now firmly in his hand instead, he pulled her to him. “I'm still here,” he rasped. He meant for the kiss to be anything but what it was—meant for it to be gentle, chaste. His mouth slanted across hers, hard, and she fought back, pushing at him. No one bested Tenel Ka, Queen Mother of Hapes, but Jacen Solo was ready for that challenge. One hand traveled around to the small of her back, dangerously low, pressing her against him until there was no space between them. She stopped her struggle, and he let go of her other hand, pushing his fingers through her hair. She refused to allow him the advantage, her hand divesting him of his cloak. It fell to the floor with little notice as she backed him towards the hoversofa. He hardly argued. Was this how it was going to be? Once, long ago, it wouldn't have been this way. They would not have fought one another even as they stripped layers of emotion from their protective mental walls. She had always been strong. But he had not. That was before the war. Before Yuuzhan'tar. Before he had died. Now, they were both the same type of person, two iron wills thrust up against one another in a battle to see who was stronger, who could outlast one another, and he wasn't sure this could work. The knock at the door startled them both, and Tenel Ka pushed Jacen away from her with unnecessary force, her eyes flashing. He called his discarded cloak to his hand before the door opened, draping it over his arm, attempting to control his flushed face. Tenel Ka hastily rearranged her disheveled hair. Azir stepped into the room, and Jacen hoped that the prince didn't jump to conclusions. “I'm sorry,” Azir said uncertainly, “I didn't mean to interrupt—“ “It's no interruption,” Jacen said, looking back at Tenel Ka. “I was just leaving.” “Please, sit,” Tenel Ka said, extending her hand in a gesture of welcome. Her attention was suddenly focused completely on Azir and studiously avoiding Jacen. Jacen bowed, although Tenel Ka didn't see him, her eyes carefully staying away from his face. Stopping before the wooden doors, he looked back as Tenel Ka sat down next to Azir, and shook his head, touching his fingers to his bruised lips. I can't give you what you need, he thought silently, but maybe he can. *** He struggled against dark dreams. He'd forced his thoughts away during the daylight hours, but now at night, in his unconscious mind, they returned with a vengeance, rushing upon him in one wave after another, breaking upon him relentlessly. Jacen. His eyes snapped open with an intake of breath. It took him a moment to realize where he was—back in the room he'd been given in the palace. The light of Hapes' moon was dimly shining through the clouds, providing a glow through the window, and Jacen realized he was no longer back in the apartment with the assassin, watching helplessly as she killed herself over and over again. He sat up, pulling on his clothing discarded from the night before, trying to shake off the feeling. Running his hands through his hair, regardless of how it stood on end, he sat back down on the edge of the bed and stared at the floor for a moment. Dear Force, he thought, how did I get to be a Jedi Knight? He looked up towards the window as clouds obscured the moon and the sky grew darker than before, and the blinking light above the window signaling the activated security system flashed off and did not flash back on. Jacen! The voice in his head that had awoken him was back, and he recognized it as one that was not touching his mind out of any simple desire to do so. There was an urgency to it that gave him pause. Tenel Ka. He was nearly bowled over by the images flooding over him—her guards, her clan sisters, lying in the floor, dead. She was being taken down the corridor to someplace she knew—the catacombs underneath the palace—someplace that caused was causing her heart to race. His lightsaber flew to his hand as he shoved his feet into his boots. Wrapping his cloak around him to give him cover in the darkness, Jacen knew better than to go out the door to his quarters. Opening the door, he stepped out onto the balcony. The courtyard below was almost deserted, only a few guards patrolling. Too few, in fact. It wasn't right. He couldn't go down—that meant he had to go up. The Force sent him the warning—one that told him he had to move faster or he was going to end up dragged down to the catacombs just as Tenel Ka did. Summoning the Force to him, he leaped from the balcony, dropping onto the next one a floor down. There was a light on, two rooms down, and Jacen sensed a familiar presence inside. Carefully, he climbed up onto the rail. This was the last balcony before it went to simply large windows, and it would take some work to get there. Extending one foot out, he grasped the window sill, stepping out onto the ledge. He took a small step across the ledge, hoping a strong gust of wind didn't blow him off, then another step. Managing to make it to the edge, he could almost reach around to the other window where the light was shining. Cursing softly to himself, he tried again, but there was no way to reach it without losing his already precarious footing. Jacen had no time to waste. If they didn't already know that he'd left his room, they would soon. Taking a breath, he jumped, an awkward, heart-racing jump. Landing on the ledge, his foot slipped. Fingers scrambling for purchase, he grabbed for whatever he could to keep from falling. Taking a deep breath, he looked down at the ground that looked entirely too far away by now, then turned back to the window and rapped his hand against it. He could barely make out Azir's shape through the curtain as the prince's head snapped around towards the window. Azir set down the datapad he was holding, probably preparations for the next day's challenges and moved towards the window slowly. He yanked it open, a wicked looking knife in hand, ready to strike out at whoever was outside, but dropped his hand the moment he recognized Jacen's face. “What are you doing here?” Jacen let out a breath, climbing in. “I hope that's not the only weapon you have. Someone's attempting a coup.” Shoving his knife into his boot, the prince was yanking out a case from under the bed. “Where's the queen mother?” he asked, opening it and pulling out two blasters on a belt that had seen too much wear. “Being taken towards the catacombs underneath the palace,” Jacen said. A quick glance over Azir's window told him all he needed to know about the state of the security system in the palace. “They've shut down security for this entire wing. They aren't just after her. They're after me too. We've got to get her out of here.” Pulling the blasters from the belt he'd hastily buckled around his waist, Azir nodded. The youthful prince that had suddenly turned from the smiling, politic young man from the reception to the military commander he must have been during the war. “Then let's go.” Jacen carefully opened the door. “Two guards at the end of the hallway. Can't shoot them. Too much noise.” Azir peered around the edge of the door. “Are they all?” “All right here,” Jacen said, scanning the area. “But there are some close enough to hear. We'll have to do this the old-fashioned way. Stay here.” He slipped out the doorway, down the hall. The guards were quietly talking to themselves, wondering what had caused the alert. Jacen raised the hand with his lightsaber in it and swung down, hard. The lightsaber was a deadly weapon when activated. When not, it was still a heavy piece of metal, and his hand flew out to connect it solidly with the back of the other guard's head. Azir helped him drag the limp bodies out of sight. “Now where do we go?” “Down,” Jacen said. “They're taking her to the lower levels of the palace.” “We can't take the turbolifts,” Azir said. “They can shut them down too easily.” He gestured with his blaster. “There—the stairwell.” Moving down the hall at a reckless speed, they proceeded down the stairs. Jacen's eyes were half-closed, and he connected into the Force. His boots clunked against the stone steps. “Jacen, slow down,” Azir said, nearly out of breath. He did—stopped, in fact, and the prince nearly ran into him. “Here,” Jacen said, opening the door. “Where are we?” Azir stepped out into the hallway first, since no one was actively searching for him. “Looks like we've come out by the kitchens.” Jacen closed his eyes all the way. Tenel Ka, lead me. The images flashed through his mind again, further down the hallway, through a set of the wooden doors that were all around the palace. “This way,” he said, heading down the hallway, his lightsaber well in hand. Hold on, we're coming— The sudden pain exploded in his head, and he gasped, yanking his Force presence away from her as fast as he could. “What is it?” Azir demanded. “Hurry,” Jacen said, speeding up down the hallway. “She's in trouble.” The guards that should have been keeping sentry posts had disappeared, reassigned elsewhere for the night, and Jacen gritted his teeth as he barreled down the hallway towards where Tenel Ka had shown him. He hadn't closed his mind off completely, and a trickle was still getting through, leading him to her. Azir kept pace behind him. Skidding to a stop, Jacen stopped before looking around the corner. “Now what?” Azir asked quietly, the two guards before the door still standing there, ramrod straight. “Now,” Jacen said, gesturing to Azir's blasters, “It's time to make some noise.” They came out around the corner in unison, Jacen activating his lightsaber at the same moment Azir fired his stun blasts into the two guards. “Stay back!” Jacen yelled, and with that, he ran through the doors. The doors buckled underneath the Force blast he sent, crashing to the floor. The distraction was what he needed, flying into the dust-filled room. Blaster bolts filled the air, and his lightsaber swung through them as if they were nothing The distraction had been enough for Tenel Ka to act. Yanking the punishment stick from her tormentor, she turned it on him, backhanding him across the face with it and jabbing it into his solar plexus. He gasped for air, stumbling back, and she turned on another attacker, whipping the punishment stick around her head and knocking his blaster away before pushing it into his arm, hard. He yelped in pain, convulsing as he dropped to the floor. Jacen was moving through the attackers as fast as he could, his lightsaber flashing as the dust settled. “Jacen, behind you!” Tenel Ka shouted, kicking one of the Hapans over. He rotated on one foot, only to see the Hapan fall, taken out by a stun blast. Two more short blasts took out the other two Hapans ready to attack from the corner as Tenel Ka ducked out of the way. “I thought I told you to stay put!” Jacen said, extinguishing his lightsaber. Azir holstered his blasters, calmly walking into the room. “Well, as he had a clear shot on you, I suppose it's a good thing I didn't.” He held out a hand to Tenel Ka. “Your Majesty, are you all right?” Tenel Ka took his hand, levering herself to her feet. “I am uninjured,” she said. Bruises were starting to appear on her upper arms and face in contrast to that remark, but for the moment, Jacen let it past. “We must escape the palace.” “You don't want to go after the people who did this?” Jacen asked, already following her out of the room. “We could stop them now—” “The palace is lost,” Tenel Ka said grimly. “My grandmother has cemented her position here. For now, we must concentrate on not losing the entire cluster, and for that, we must escape the planet. Where is your ship located?” “Berthed across the harbour,” Jacen said, swinging his cloak from his shoulders. Tenel Ka's ivory suit would serve to make her stand out in the dark, and he settled it around her. It also made her look like she was in possession of two arms, which would give them a slight advantage. “Probably to keep us away from it.” “We will have to make our way there.” Her gaze fell on Azir. “It is not to late for you to escape this. You can leave now.” Azir shook his head. “Where you go, I follow.” He gave a hesitant glance towards Jacen. “The Hapes Cluster needs you as its leader, and Hapes is more important to the Galactic Alliance than Minoat. I'll see you to Mon Calamari, Your Majesty.” “Then we must move quickly,” Tenel Ka said, picking up one of the discarded weapons. “This way, through the kitchens. Supply trucks regularly enter through a gated entrance. We should be able to escape through here.” The corridor was again, deserted, no doubt part of Ta'a Chume's plan to keep everything under control while Tenel Ka was quietly dealt with. Tenel Ka led the way, and the three of them quietly made their way through the kitchens. “There are four guards at the gate,” Tenel Ka said. “Pressure sensors line the grounds to the fence.” “Looks like we're going through the gate, then,” Jacen said. “We need a distraction.” “Got it,” Azir said, rapidly disassembling his blaster. Disconnecting the power cell, he switched the anodes. “Instant grenade. Can you get it far enough?” “Jedi, remember?” Jacen said, flipping the anode into place. “Fire in the hole.” The grenade sailed over the heads of the guards, out into the green areas surrounding the gates. It exploded in the darkness. Cries broke the night as three of the four guards left their posts to see what was happening. “Move,” Jacen said, sprinting out from their position. One blast from Tenel Ka's stolen blaster dropped the remaining guard, the sound of the stun unheard in the commotion, and the two Jedi worked in unison, using the Force to lift Azir over the gate before scaling it themselves. “Hurry,” Tenel Ka said, leading them away from the street. “We should make our way along the harbour line. There will be fewer security forces monitoring there.” They walked quickly, rather than running, not wanting to draw attention to themselves. There were few people out on the Hapan streets at this time of night, at least around the palace. Tenel Ka kept the cloak's hood wrapped protectively around her face and her distinctive red hair from view. “The warehouses,” she said. “We can hide near them.” Thunder rumbled as the clouds began to cover the moon from view. Cool air from the ocean swept in, and the quiet night as they reached the warehouses that supplied the harbour became too eerie for Jacen's liking. His eyes tracked along the rooftops, waiting. The air was almost still, and the feeling on the nape of his neck was no sign of lightning about to strike. The Force was moving subtly around, giving him warning— “Get down,” he hissed, catching the glint on the rooftop. The urgency in his voice forestalled any arguments or questions, and Tenel Ka and Azir both ducked behind crates haphazardly stacked outside the doors to one of the warehouses. “What is it?” Tenel Ka asked. “I saw something,” he said. “Something on that rooftop. There's someone up there.” Azir looked over the edge of the crate. “I don't see anything.” “I just caught a glint off a rifle of some kind,” Jacen said. The darkness of the warehouse district coupled with the cloud cover was making it difficult to see. “Damn it. I can't see now.” Azir knelt down. “Great. Could things get any worse?” Jacen snorted. “Yeah. It could be raining.” As if on cue, the heavens opened up. Tenel Ka and Azir both looked at him in astonishment. “I was being sarcastic,” he ground out towards the sky. “I'm not a weather Jedi.” “There!” Azir said, his voice almost too loud as the rain began to pour, and Jacen saw it as the rain suddenly turned out to be something much better. The sniper from the rooftop moved, adjusting his rifle just slightly as the rain began to beat down upon him—slightly being enough that as Jacen turned his head, the light glinted off the scope of the rifle. “Give me your blaster, Tenel Ka,” Jacen said. The longer barrel on the Hapan blaster would be more suited to this task, and he grimly switched the setting from stun to kill. A stun setting would never reach as far as he needed it to before dissipating. The focused beam of a blaster bolt would. “Jacen,” Tenel Ka said, her voice carrying a note of warning. He ignored her. That sniper undoubtedly had backup, and at this moment, it was him or the three of them. Three lives against one. Choose and act. It wasn't much of a choice. He squeezed the trigger into a clean, perfect shot, and the sniper's gun fell. Jacen extended his Force senses out, and picked up no sign of life coming from there. Taking a deep breath to school his features into something resembling calm instead of the shaken, deep-seated horror he felt, he turned back around. “Tenel Ka, this is your city. They know where we're going, otherwise they wouldn't have marked this spot. Where do we go from here?” “Backtracking towards the palace will only cause us to run into civilian patrols,” Tenel Ka said. “Moving through some of these warehouses, we may be able to escape detection if we avoid triggering their security systems.” “Unfortunately, my idea of security slicing is bashing it with a lightsaber until it opens,” Jacen said. “That's what I have Jaina around for.” Tenel Ka wiped rain from her face. “I have acquired many skills I hope I would not need.” Azir shook water from his hair, splattering them with a few more droplets. “If we go around that way, we can avoid the security cameras from the warehouse.” “Good idea,” Jacen said, his eyes still drifting towards the rooftops. The feeling of danger had only abated. It had not, by any means, gone away. “Stay down.” Tenel Ka moved to take a point position, but Azir smoothly slid into position ahead of her. She looked like she might protest as they crept around the door to the warehouse, but Azir said something in a low voice to her that Jacen couldn't quite hear, and she continued without comment. He was going to have to learn that trick. They stood there with their backs to her as Tenel Ka examined the lock and pried the cover loose to reveal the circuitry underneath. Jacen watched the roof for movement, and Azir took a step to the side to look our around the corner. If it had been a blaster shot, he would have seen the physical evidence connected to the Force warning. As it was, the rain kept him from hearing the pop associated with the weapon. Without the interconnected senses to tell him what was happening, it was already too late. Azir dropped to his knees, a look of shock on his face as a bloodstain blossomed against his tunic. Jacen yanked Tenel Ka down, kneeling over Azir. “Oh, stars. Hang on, Azir—“ he said, ripping Azir's tunic down the front. The projectile weapon would have left and entry and an exit wound. Azir coughed, barely, his eyes not locking on Jacen's face. The Force was powerful—it had to be good for this, keeping Azir from the brink of death—keeping Tenel Ka, her face—dear stars, her face—from losing someone else to Hapes. “Promise,” he whispered, “you'll smile.” Tenel Ka clasped his hand in hers, her voice barely trembling. “I promise.” “No!” Jacen cried as Azir's head slumped backwards. The senselessness of it all—the pointless murder of someone he'd come to consider as a friend. It was all gone—all of it. Everything Jacen felt, had ever felt, suddenly disappeared in one blinding burst of nothing. Anger, joy, love, sadness—emotion was swept away and he was left with nothing but the bleak sensation of nihilism. One more death he should have been able to prevent weighed on his conscience with an entire galaxy's worth of sins he couldn't clear. He was one thing now. Justice. Time slowed—the raindrops falling from the sky hovered in midair, vibrating under their own weight. Tenel Ka's voice was unintelligible and he could count to ten between each of his own heartbeats. Then time resumed it's normal pace and his lightsaber flew from his hand, ignited, end over end until it cleaved a spectre in the dark that could not move away in fear of the avenging angel below. His lightsaber flew back to his hand and he felt sick—the way he always did looking at death, and he turned back around. Tenel Ka was watching him, her features carefully arranged into a look of studied non-expression that revealed no anger, no sadness, and no censure. “I don't want to leave him here,” Jacen finally said. Her voice was almost as quiet as the falling rain. “We cannot take him with us.” She could have explained, but she didn't have to. He knew her logic was irrefutable, and he had to bow to it. Eventually, someone would come looking here and would find him. “All right.” She rose, handing Jacen his cloak to allow him to spread it over Azir and with a backwards glance that had more sorrow in it than he'd ever seen from her, she turned back towards the security system, ripping and reconnecting wires as fast as possible. The door finally creaked open and they slipped inside. Jacen keyed the door shut behind them. Crates and cartons were stacked, forming walls around him, and Tenel Ka led the way through the warehouse, Jacen close on her heels. The feeling of danger hadn't gone away, but the prickling at the back of his neck was not quite so urgent as it had been before. The door opened without incident from the inside, the mentality that anyone on the inside was allowed to be there, and they raced back out into the night. Jacen didn't speak, leaping over the rail to the lower level of the dock, and Tenel Ka followed him. Their boots crunched against the pebbles on this side of the harbour's shore, despite their stealth training. There was only so much in one's environment one could overcome. Jacen was less concerned with that as they made their way down the beach and climbed up onto the pier. They didn't have much further to go—Anders had supposedly landed the ship on the other side. Jacen was just hoping it was still there; this was going to be a lot harder otherwise. He barely felt it in time. “Down!” She'd felt before he had, pulling him aside as the blaster shot pined off one of the pylons holding the pier railing in place. He barely heard the sound over the surf, churned up by the storm rolling. “Now what?” he shouted, pulling his lightsaber to draw the fire. “We swim!” Tenel Ka shouted back. Another shot pinged near them—too close. He didn't have time to argue for a better solution, and she dove in anyway. “Just let go,” he whispered. It was all the Force, he decided, plunging into the salt water, that kept him from jumping directly onto any of the rocks this close into the shore. The darkness of the water closed over his head and his lungs burned for air, but he knew better than to come up too soon. His mind reached out for Tenel Ka, connecting him to her, and they swam for one of the supports holding the pier up. Her hair was plastered against her face when she came up for air, holding on to the pier. The surf crashed against them. “Look out for the rip currents,” she yelled. “They will pull you out to sea.” His arms and lets burned against the water. It pulled at him, drew him towards the open ocean. Don't panic, he reminded himself. The rain continued to fall, drumming against the surface of the water when he came up for air, the only light the little from the city and the effervescent glow of the moon behind the storm clouds. He finally touched sand, Tenel Ka perhaps twenty meters away from him, her ivory tunic and pants now muddied and clinging to her body. “Where are we?” he asked, out of breath. “Alsarna Beach,” Tenel Ka answered with a quick look around, her own breathing laboured. “A private tourist destination. Come.” He followed her up the white sand, which seemed to glow in the dark, holding their heads down and creating confusion in the guards who stood at the entrance to the beach—they would later assume yet another young couple had been taking advantage of the late hour and the deserted beach. “The spaceport is not far,” Tenel Ka said, stripping clothing from a railing where it had been laid out to dry by beachgoers. “Here. Put this on.” He turned his back to her and didn't argue. When he turned back around, she'd managed to find a jacket three sizes too large for her that covered her arms and a scarf that wrapped up her hair on top of the dry clothing. It wasn't hard to lose themselves in this part of town. Even if any of the sentient beings had been sober enough to recognize their queen mother, Jacen was reaching out to the Force to redirect their attention in a kind of large-scale attempt he'd not tried in a long time. Even this late, the spaceport was incredibly busy. “Excuse me, gentlebeings—oh, my!” the droid said, and Jacen could practically see the gears whirring in it's head. “Your Ma—“ Tenel Ka covered it's speaker with her hand. “Silence is appreciated. Where is the Galactic Alliance diplomatic vessel?” “Accessing,” the droid said, it's spindly arms flailing for a moment. Berth 264-A. Special arrangements.” Jacen grabbed one of the flailing arms and yanked the droid aside. “Special arrangements? What kind of special arrangements?” The droid looked from Tenel Ka to Jacen then back to Tenel Ka. “By order of Ta'a Chume, Berth 264-A is sealed off and no one is admitted entrance without clearance.” “Do you have access to change such orders?” Tenel Ka demanded. The droid almost bristled. “Of course. I am a fully interfaceable—“ “Unseal Berth 264-A immediately and withdraw any security forces posted there. Have a flight plan cleared,” Tenel Ka ordered. “Authorization is required,” the droid said apologetically. Tenel Ka moved very close to the droid's optical sensors. “I am still queen mother. No other authorization is needed. Now do as I say or I will have you disassembled.” “Of course. Working,” the droid said, his optical sensors flashing, first in alarm and then in concentration, his arms flailing as he did so. “Operations complete.” With that, Jacen ripped out the cords connecting the droid's power supply and shoved him further into the corner. “Suppose it worked?” Tenel Ka pushed past him, supplementing his Force distraction with her own. “It is worth a try. My grandmother would have difficulty asserting her control over everything at once.” “Only one way to find out,” Jacen said. “Come on.” The unexpected unsealing of the landing berth hadn't cleared it out of Hapan guards, but it had caused them to relax, which for now was enough. “Should have asked that droid for another way into the bay before I disconnected him.” Tenel Ka shook her head disdainfully, a braid coming loose to strike him in the face. “We are Jedi, are we not?” “I'll take care of this,” Jacen said, pulling out his lightsaber. “You stay here.” Tenel Ka raised an eyebrow. “No.” He felt the irrational surge of anger swell up and threaten to take over. “Excuse me? Now, look here. You are too important—“ “—to sit here unprotected,” she said, forestalling his argument. “I was a Jedi before I was queen and I was a warrior before I was a Jedi. I am going. And we are not going to fight.” “Just don't get yourself killed,” he said sharply. It took every bit of control he had to direct attention away from them and Tenel Ka strode forward, the Force commanding her voice. “Open the door and stand aside.” Whether the guard knew it was his queen or not, Jacen didn't know, but the sputtering indicated that he wasn't quite as weak-minded as mothers they'd run across in the past. Despite his concentration, he could sense Tenel Ka press harder. “Open the door and stand aside.” Nervously, the guard did as he'd been told, opening the door and Jacen didn't miss the concerned look Tenel Ka shot in his direction. The guards in the interior were not nearly as complacent looking. Tenel Ka determinedly strode towards them, her scarf nearly coming undone with the force of each step. “Move.” “You are under arrest,” the guard said, his voice faltering slightly. “For—for—“ Jacen pressed on the man's mind, putting every bit of fear he could, every bit of desire to make that fear go away into his brain. The other men in the bay moved closer and Tenel Ka raised a hand. They stopped, suddenly blocked by an invisible wall, but her attention remained focused on the one in front of her. “Run, if you care anything about your life,” she said. The guard backed away, his grip on his blaster wavering, and Jacen took a menacing step forward. With a whirr, the ramp to the transport began to descend, distracting Jacen for one second. The guard regained his grip, bringing it back. Jacen whipped out with his lightsaber, catching the blaster before it could fire. It exploded in a bright corona, blowing him backwards as the other two Hapans began to shout and open fire. “Get to the ship!” Tenel Ka, without the benefit of a defensive weapon, bolted for the ramp, Jacen not far behind her, deflecting stray shots as one of Anders' men laid down covering fire. “Take off!” he yelled, leaping aboard the ramp as the door to the landing bay opened and more Hapans began to pour in. “Move it!” The transport lurched under his feet and Jacen held on as Tenel Ka slapped the ramp controls. Pushing past her as the ramp slammed shut, he headed straight for the cockpit. “Pursuit?” Anders shook his head. “A few pirate vessels. We'll be well out of their range. It's the planetary defense system I'm worried about.” “My grandmother cannot fire on an Alliance vessel with weaponry under her direct command,” Tenel Ka said over Jacen's shoulder. “Pirate vessels, yes, but Hapan ships are still forced to come to our aid, per our treaty with the Galactic Alliance. We are safe for now.” “Course laid in for Mon Calamari,” Anders said, his fingers twitching nervously as the ship sailed out of the traffic pattern and past the defense satellites. “Making the jump to hyperspace.” And with that, Hapes disappeared. Tenel Ka quietly unwrapped the scarf from her head, revealing her red hair and tired face. “I'm sorry,” Jacen said quietly, although those two words could hardly contain all the things he was sorry for. She looked up at him as she turned to leave. “So am I.” * Standing here, overlooking the sunset on the Mon Calamari ocean, it was almost easy to let his thoughts drift away. The sunlight glinted off the moving water as shadowed shapes glided effortlessly underneath. Jacen leaned over the railing, letting the mist from the waves crashing against the floating city waft against his face. He felt her presence as she ascended the steps to his perch. “How did your meeting with the Advisory Council go?” he asked over his shoulder. “Cautiously,” Tenel Ka said, leaning on the rail beside him, her own gaze drawn out to the ocean. “I have their support for now.” “For now?” he asked sharply. “Hapes' monetary support is the backbone of the Galactic Alliance economy, despite efforts to make the government more self-reliant,” Tenel Ka said. “I will have their support until their pockets run dry.” “And the Jedi Council?” Jacen asked. “They have pledged their support as long as it does not conflict with the greater good of protecting the Alliance,” she said. Jacen let out a derisive snort. “They would life for me, at the moment, to return to active duty as a Jedi. I refused. My place is here, ensuring Hapes' survival through diplomatic channels.” “How'd they take that?” Jacen asked, looking aside at her. The wind caught a strand of hair from her single thick braid and he tucked it behind her ear. “Some understood. Some did not. As with all things, each according to his point of view,” she said. “In any case, my report to them is concluded.” Jacen picked at the paint on the guardrail, flicking the pieces into the water. He had yet to report to the Council. He'd tried to collect his thoughts a hundred times, tried to figure out what to say to them. “There was too much death.” “We are quite lucky Minoat holds Jedi in such high regard,” Tenel Ka said, her face very still. “They have offered me personally any assistance I might need.” “Because Azir would have been prince consort?” he asked, wishing she hadn't turned this back to politics. “That would have been most likely,” Tenel Ka said quietly. Jacen turned around, leaning back against the guardrail. “I should have been able to save him. There must have been something I could have done.” “Even a Jedi cannot stop death,” Tenel Ka said. She laid her fingertips on his arm, gently. “Even you.” “Then what business is it of mine to mete it out?” he said angrily, brushing her away. His voice softened. “I've killed too much, Tenel Ka. And sometimes I'm afraid that we're never going to get to a place in the galaxy where we're going to be able to stop. I killed more than one man when we were trying to escape.” “Is it not your philosophy to see beyond that?” she asked. Her tone was neutral—carefully non-judgmental. “That larger stakes must be taken into account. And that our intentions are what make an act good or evil?” “I didn't have any intentions at that moment, Tenel Ka,” he said, the words dragging from his lips. “At that moment, there was just nothing. And that's what scares me. That I can disconnect emotion from power that way.” “Jacen—“ she began, but he held up a hand to stop her. “Please go,” he whispered. “Just go.” She nodded. “I had come to bring you this.” She held out her hand. A silver disc, the kind that contained holoimages was in it, and he took it from her. “What is it?” he asked. “It fell from your cloak when we were making our escape from the palace,” she said quietly. “I retrieved it for you. It may have been damaged by our foray into the harbour.” Frowning, Jacen activated the disc, and the holoimage sprang to life, and his heart sunk. He'd completely forgotten he'd had this in the last few days as the picture of he and Danni appeared. Tenel Ka, her eyes on Jacen's face and not the image, had obviously seen it already. “Thanks,” he said, his voice more hoarse than he intended. The image shut off, the circuits inside undoubtedly damaged by the salt water. She nodded, turning away. He watched her go, her white vestments gently sweeping against the stairs as she descended, out of sight. Jacen looked out to the ocean, and with all his might, hurled the disc out to sea. * To be continued next month in: A Time to Die. -----signature----- Carrolé, Handmaiden of the Crest Not even your deepest secrets escape the NRI: So Much For Our Happy Endings: http://boards.theforce.net/Message.aspx?topic=23843466&brd=10477
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ZekksGoddess Registered: Oct '04	Date Posted: 8/2/05 4:22pm Subject: RE: A Time To Be Born (A J/TK not so short story, post TUF, AU)
	Wow...this was great. Very riveting and such. Great writing by the way...LOVE this fic so far. J/TK all the way! To be continued next month in: A Time to Die. Uh..well, that doesn't sound good... -----signature----- all Zekk, all the time (redesign!) - http://vent-crawler.sitesled.com Lifeday Candles - http://boards.theforce.net/Message.aspx?topic=28264205&brd=10477&replies=0 To Ease the Pain - http://boards.theforce.net/beyond_the_saga/b10477/28240759/p1/?2
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SilSolo Registered: Mar '04	Date Posted: 8/2/05 8:21pm Subject: RE: A Time To Be Born (A J/TK not so short story, post TUF, AU)
	How many MSWord pages is this? What happened to the Rock Dragon? If it weren't for that AU sign on the title, I'd have mistaken this for a prequel to Joiner King. -----signature----- http://boards.theforce.net/beyond_the_saga/b10477/27517284/p1/?11 Like this quick sketch: http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/32848083/ ? Then commission me. Prices are negotiable.
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Valie Registered: Apr '05	Date Posted: 8/3/05 12:05am Subject: RE: A Time To Be Born (A J/TK not so short story, post TUF, AU)
	Carr, that was frigging brilliant! Just what I needed with all this Jacen is a user stuff going around these days. -----signature----- Senator of the Jacen Solo Club "It's true from a certain point of view. He does practice with it." Jacen Solo J/TK Art Blog - http://thiskiss.digitaldollz.com/
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CarrKicksDoor Registered: Jan '05	Date Posted: 8/3/05 4:36am Subject: RE: A Time To Be Born (A J/TK not so short story, post TUF, AU)
	ZekksGoddess, Thank you so much! I'm glad you liked it. Thank you for the compliment. To be continued next month in: A Time to Die. Uh..well, that doesn't sound good... laughs It's a metaphor, I swear. I promise not to kill anyone else off...at least, not anyone important. And I promise not to introduce an OC and make you like him and then kill him off either. Seriously, I had a horrible time killing off Azir. Even though a lot about him didn't actually get put into the story (can you imagine the length of it then, good grief!), he was a real person, and I really did feel horrible about it. pats Azir SilSolo, I'm not sure how many pages this ended up being in Word. I wrote it OpenOffice (rewrote it, I should say), since after my computer died I couldn't find my Works Suite disks, and it doesn't transfer exactly. In OpenOffice, it ended up being 29 or 30 pages, I think. Couldn't tell you right off the top of my head, so I think that translates to about 27 pages in Word. As for the Rock Dragon, it honestly never entered my mind as a possibility, but assuming Tenel Ka did still have it for her personal use, it would likely have been berthed at the palace. Also, as it was a Hapan vessel, Ta'a Chume would have been able to fire upon it, so it wouldn't have done them much good. About the AU--well, I started this story about two months before TJK came out, but once I read TJK, it really made the ending a lot clearer, and has really given me the direction I think I need to go for the rest of the series. I liked Denning's characterization of Jacen, and it's going to work, I think. Valie, massive huggles Thank you so much! I love your sig, by the way. That has to be the single best quote out of the New Jedi Order. ~Carr -----signature----- Carrolé, Handmaiden of the Crest Not even your deepest secrets escape the NRI: So Much For Our Happy Endings: http://boards.theforce.net/Message.aspx?topic=23843466&brd=10477
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DathomiranAuthor Registered: Jan '05	Date Posted: 8/3/05 6:39am Subject: RE: A Time To Be Born (A J/TK not so short story, post TUF, AU)
	Wow! This is an awesome story. I couldn't stop reading it. The swift action is really cool. I liked that Jacen had a friend throughout the challenges and everything. Azir looked at him. “Not a good idea. You need to eat something before the challenge today.” “Jedi,” Jacen reminded him. “Stupid,” Azir grumbled, reaching into his pocket. Not eating breakfast, Jacen? Tsk tsk tsk. And I loved how Jacen and Azir stopped to help Garod in the middle of the challenge. Your smooth writing style is amazing, too; it feels like reading a book.
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CarrKicksDoor Registered: Jan '05	Date Posted: 8/3/05 7:29pm Subject: RE: A Time To Be Born (A J/TK not so short story, post TUF, AU)
	Datho, I'm glad you liked the action! It was really hard for me to write, and I really had to push myself to get it done. And you're right about the breakfast thing! Doesn't Jacen know it's the most important meal of the day? Your smooth writing style is amazing, too; it feels like reading a book. Thanks so much! ~Carr -----signature----- Carrolé, Handmaiden of the Crest Not even your deepest secrets escape the NRI: So Much For Our Happy Endings: http://boards.theforce.net/Message.aspx?topic=23843466&brd=10477
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