Author Topic: Not For Glory Bound: Waiting & Wishing - BattleofYavin - Complete - Concrit_ok! - Nommed Best Series
RebelGrrl  2129 posts
Registered: Jan '06
14691_Dani
Date Posted: 6/7/06 6:10pm Subject: Not For Glory Bound: Waiting & Wishing - BattleofYavin - Complete - Concrit_ok! - Nommed Best Series - Date Edited: 3/4/07 1:53pm (5 edits total) Edited By: RebelGrrl
Title: Not For Glory Bound: Waiting & Wishing
Author: RebelGrrl
Timeframe: End of ANH: Battle of Yavin
Characters: See Dramatis Personae
Genre: Drama
Summary: Not everyone can join the battle. Some are left to wait for the end.
Notes: All intercom and pilot chatter is taken from the script for Star Wars IV: A New Hope. I own none of it.

Constructive Criticism Welcome!


Not For Glory Bound Chronology
19 BBY - Silence & Solitude
14 BBY - Lost & Found
10 BBY - Visions & Dreams
0 ABY - Waiting & Wishing

Waiting & Wishing - Dramatis Personae
Silence Faidhe (Rebel Medic, Jedi Knight, human female)
Raanan Zoar (Rebel Lieutenant, Zeltron male)
Red Squadron
Gold Squadron



***** The Battle of Yavin - Yavin IV - Massassi Temple Base *****

The Massassi temple was a frenetic hub of activity as pilots and ground crew raced to prepare the rebel base's thirty snub fighters for the looming battle. Other personnel weren't so fortunate as to have anything to distract them from the fact that if this ragtag group of Y-wings and X-wings failed in their mission, they and the majority of the Alliance would be nothing but so much space-dust on the cosmic winds. Non-essentials stayed out of the way, massed in groups both large and small, and pinning all their faith and hope on the thirty brave souls flinging themselves out into an almost certain death.

One young medic slipped off alone, silently finding her way along the shadowy passages towards the stone chamber housing the base's critical care unit. The chilly room was dimly lit with the faint red glow cast by rows of bacta tanks. Floating within were the most severely injured, a mixture of species and genders cocooned in the warm, healing liquid. Rarely was a tank empty: the waiting list was long and the treatment rationed to those most in need.

Picking her way along the macabre columns and skirting masses of conduit, the silent woman sought out one tank in particular. The salmon-pink fleshed man within drifted serenely in the reddish waters, marked by wicked burns over a good portion of his anatomy. His youthful face had been mostly spared save for his left cheek thanks to the protection of the pilot's helmet, but he would be many more days in bacta to mend the rest of his savage wounds.

The tawny-haired woman, truly little more than a girl, stepped close to embrace the warm plexiplast cylindar, pressing her forehead to it's surface as she sent a Force-borne tendril of thought towards the comatose patient. ~~I wish you were awake, Ra.~~

The base intercom cracked to life as she rested there. "Stand-by alert. Death Star approaching. Estimated time to firing range, fifteen minutes."

Silence closed her deep brown eyes against the announcement, breathing deep and rhythmically in an attempt to quell her rising fear and distance herself from the aggitation that flooded the jungle base. She'd come down here among the peaceful unconscious patients as part of that, to unashamedly draw on their calm as her own. She had also come to be with the Zeltron who'd been both brother and best friend for what was quite possibly the last few minutes of their brief lives.

~~It's starting,~~ she sent to her oblivious companion across the bond they shared. Forged by eighteen years of love and adoration, the link was stronger than duranium and as much a part of each other as their own hearts. Silence could have called Raanan up to awareness through that deep connection, but she resisted temptation. The pain would be too great. Which pain, that of his wounds or that of their looming death, she refused to dwell on.

Growing uncomfortably warm in the heat radiating from the bacta tanks, Silence shed the white outer tunic that marked her as a member of the Rebel Alliance's medical corps. Aside from the color of the tank top under the tunic, she wore the same fatigues every other Rebel wore: tan trousers and boots with a dark brown belt and holster. This was war and even the medics were armed. Her hip-length hair had turned from gold to a tawny bronze as she matured and was coiled up in a fastidious arrangement of braids. The only lack she felt was the familiar hilt of her lightsaber. That, though, was carefully hidden away in her personal locker.

Her eyes and her hair were the only two beauties she considered herself to possess. The rest... the rest was all long limbs and toned muscle from the hours devoted to maintaining the disciples taught by her father. She was too tall when all she wanted was to go unnoticed in the background and quietly care for the sick and injured. She wasn't a warrior, not in her heart and soul, though she could fight and defend herself with the precise skill her father had drilled into her. Silence had deliberately chosen not to take up the path of aggression, no matter how she was pestered by those who noted her fighting trim. The casualties needed her more, and she worked hard secretly use her talents so that at least some who would have died, lived on instead.

The intercom burst to life again as the young woman once more leaned her tall frame against the transparent tank of her friend's tank.

"All wings report in."

"Red Ten standing by."

"Red Seven standing by."

"Red Three standing by."

"Red Six standing by."

She blinked in surprise, then nodded her head in tacit approval. ~~They are broadcasting the battle to the whole base, Ra. So we know. So we don't wonder.~~ There was, of course, no reaction from the red-headed Zeltron, but one wasn't necessary. That his presence filled that place in her that was his was enough.

"Red Nine standing by."

"Red Two standing by."

"Red Eleven standing by."

"Red Five standing by."

~~That would have been you... I'm glad it's not you...~~ Silence pressed more tightly to the clear tank, as if by that she could make the unconscious pilot feel her embrace. She listened to the rest of Red Squadron check in and all of Gold, silently wishing the Force to be with them.

"Lock S-foils in attack position."

"We're passing through their magnetic field. Hold tight!"

"Switch your deflectors on. Double front!"

"Look at the size of that thing!"

Silence sucked in her lower lip and closed her eyes against what she could only hear. That last voice she recognized as Wedge Antilles, the one Raanan had been pushing into the medcenter every time he so much as cut himself shaving. Her lips curled into a little smile. She knew what her best friend was up to, but she just wasn't interested in the Corellian. Now he was out there facing off against the colossal monstrosity constructed by the Empire. Her smile faded as she swallowed against another knot of fear and forced it away.

"Cut the chatter, Red Two."

"Accelerate to attack speed. This is it, boys!"

"Red Leader, this is Gold Leader."

"I copy, Gold Leader."

"We're starting for the target shaft now."

"We're in position. I'm going to cut across the axis and try and draw their fire."

"Heavy fire, boss! Twenty-degrees."

"I see it. Stay low."

"This is Red Five; I'm going in!"

"Luke, pull up!"

Silence quirked a brow faintly at the unfamiliar name, and relayed soundlessly to Raanan as he drifted peacefully, ~~The guy flying your spot is named 'Luke'. Never heard that one around here before. ~~

"Are you all right?"

"I got a little cooked, but I'm okay."

"Luke, let me know when you're going in."

"I'm on my way in now..."

"Watch yourself! There's a lot of fire coming from the right side of that deflection tower."

"I'm on it."

"Squad leaders, we've picked up a new group of signals. Enemy fighters coming your way."

A soft hiss escaped the young woman's lips at the increase of the oily dark sensation in the Force that those words brought. She'd been sensing it since the Death Star had entered the system and as it separated from the thousands of lives in the orbiting artificial moon, it claimed her full attention and sent her reeling with one stunned thought, ~~It's him!~~

"Death Star will be in range in five minutes," pronounced a solumn voice over the intercom.

Silence clung to that voice, pulling out of her mental tailspin. She'd missed several seconds of the raging battle while reaching deep within to center herself against the dark presence in the skies above. Her struggles had disturbed Raanan's own tranquility and she concentrated for the moment on sending soothing feelings of warmth and comfort until his somulent thrashings ceased.

"Switching to targeting computer."

"Computer's locked. Getting a signal."

"The guns...they've stopped!"

"Stabilize your rear deflectors. Watch for enemy fighters."

"They've coming in! Three marks at two ten. I can't maneuver!"

"Stay on target."

"We're too close."

"Stay on target!"

"Loosen up!"

A voiceless whimper caught in Silence's throat as she felt yet another pilot's brilliant flame die.

"Gold Five to Red Leader... Lost Tiree, lost Dutch."

"I copy, Gold Five."

"They came from behind...."

Another valiant life winked out of existance as the girl clung to her brother's protective shell. Tears came to her dark eyes and misted her vision as she listened on.

"Red Group, this is Red Leader. Rendezvous at mark six point one."

"This is Red Two. Flying toward you."

"Red Three, standing by."

"Red Leader, this is Base One. Keep half your group out of range for the next run."

"Copy, Base One. Luke, take Red Two and Three. Hold up here and wait for my signal...to start your run. This is it!"

A frown crossed Silence's even features. That 'Luke' person again, assigned command of a wing already? Over both Wedge and Biggs? She wiped at her damp cheeks and carefully reached out again, mindful of the distant darkness, ~~You'll have to watch for that one's big head.~~ she attempted to joke. It felt flat even to her.

"Target's coming up! Just hold them off for a few seconds."

"You'd better let her loose."

"Almost there!"

"I can't hold them!"

"It's away!"

"It's a hit!"

A palpable surge of relief and elation welled up both within and without the young woman with those three little words, only to be crushed by the next voice crossing the comm.

"Negative! It didn't go in. It just impacted on the surface."

"Red Leader, we're right above you. Turn to point ... oh-five; we'll cover for you."

"Stay there ... I just lost my starboard engine. Get set to make your attack run."

Silence's eyes shuttered closed once more against yet another death in the space overhead. ~~So many, Ra ... so many gone.~~

"Biggs, Wedge, let's close it up. We're going in. We're going in full throttle."

"Right with you, boss."

"Luke, at that speed will you be able to pull out in time?"

"It'll be just like Beggar's Canyon back home."

The young woman leaned in closer to Raanan's tank, her tears smearing along it's outer surface. ~~He's insane, Ra. Wedge and Biggs are all that's left and they're being lead by a madman who thinks saving our lives, saving the galaxy is like some backwater obstacle course!~~

"We'll stay back far enough to cover you."

"My scope shows the tower, but I can't see the exhaust port! Are you sure the computer can hit it?"

"Watch yourself! Increase speed full throttle!"

"What about the tower?"

"You worry about those fighters! I'll worry about the tower!"

"I'm hit! I can't stay with you."

"Get clear, Wedge. You can't do any more good back there!"

"Sorry!"

A guilty sense of relief came over Silence. At least one would survive the battle. If there was anywhere left to land afterwards.

"Hurry, Luke, they're coming in much faster this time. I can't hold them!"

Guilt magnified as Biggs Darklighter's light was snuffed out of the galaxy. He was new, Silence had barely known his name, and now he was gone with so many others.

"His computer's off. Luke, you switched off your targeting computer. What's wrong?"

"Nothing. I'm all right."

"The Death Star has cleared the planet. The Death Star has cleared the planet."

Silence cringed against the plexiplas cylindar and closed her eyes, ~~I'm sorry, Ra... I love you. If that last mission... you'd do this, you'd've saved us. I wish that I could.~~

She clung to the bacta tank with her body and to their bond with her mind, waiting. Waiting for the burning vaporization that those of Alderaan had suffered, that so many more would suffer now. It was not fear of death that made her tremble so and the tears fall from her eyes, but rather the manner of dying and the failure that marked it.

So, then, it was as much a surprise to Silence as it was the dark forboding presence looming high above when she sensed him go spinning away. A cocky voice belonging to no Rebel pilot she knew of filled the intercom speaker.

"You're all clear, kid. Now let's blow this thing and go home!"

The next few seconds would always be a blur in the secret Jedi's memories. Elation warred with anguish as ripples of destruction tore through the hideous machine of death without regard for those aboard, stained by blood or not. An instant later the Death Star blew apart, thousands of Imperial lives cut short in the sky above instantaneously. At such proximity, and so many thousand, it was too much for the young woman. She slid down the smooth surface of her best friend's bacta tank in a dead faint.

She was discovered later on the chamber floor, still unconscious and with a gentle smile curving her lips. An awakened Raanan pounded the sides of his treatment chamber, setting off a myriad of alarms as medics both human and droid rushed in.

 

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obsessedwithSW  1771 posts
Registered: May '05
6007_Obi-Wan Kenobi
Date Posted: 6/7/06 7:35pm Subject: RE: Not For Glory Bound: Waiting & Wishing - One Shot, Battle of Yavin, OCs
Wonderful!
I loved the battle for Silence's POV.
What is her age now 20 yrs old?
The comment about Silence following her father's teaching makes it sould like he is not around anymore. Please tell me Vader didnt catch Rev. praying

 

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RebelGrrl  2129 posts
Registered: Jan '06
14691_Dani
Date Posted: 6/7/06 7:49pm Subject: RE: Not For Glory Bound: Waiting & Wishing - One Shot, Battle of Yavin, OCs
She's around the same age as Luke and Leia, give or take a few months older. So 18-ish.
The plot bunny bit and I jumped ahead nine years from Visions & Dreams. What happened in the intervening years will be revealed in time. *grin*

I kinda always wondered what had happened to the old Red Five so that the slot was open for Luke. devil So I figured... hey, I have a pilot OC! And gee, what were those on the ground going through during the battle?

I figured that the Rebel Fleet couldn't respond in time to evac, or why was the control center with Dodonna and Leia on Yavin IV and not on a flagship? (OK, well, it was GL's shoestring budget, but that's not very in character. wink )

 

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ZaraValinor  4736 posts
Registered: May '02
47805_Ben Skywalker
Date Posted: 6/7/06 8:52pm Subject: RE: Not For Glory Bound: Waiting & Wishing - One Shot, Battle of Yavin, OCs
That was erxcellent. I have no words. I'm speechless.

Silence's dread and the way she keeps referring to Luke was priceless.

I might be able to say more once I've recovered entirely.

 

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RebelGrrl  2129 posts
Registered: Jan '06
14691_Dani
Date Posted: 6/7/06 9:02pm Subject: RE: Not For Glory Bound: Waiting & Wishing - One Shot, Battle of Yavin, OCs
ZaraValinor posted:
That was erxcellent. I have no words. I'm speechless.

Silence's dread and the way she keeps referring to Luke was priceless.

I might be able to say more once I've recovered entirely.


Aaaahh! blush

She hasn't got a clue about who or what Luke really is. laugh
He's not much more than a brighter spark than everyone else in the Force at the moment, and she's never actually met him.
She was far too young in Silence & Solitude to remember Obi-Wan, even. wink

 

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Well-behaved women seldom make history.
You can't fix stupid and you can't reason with crazy.
Happiness is a warm Hoojib!
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ZaraValinor  4736 posts
Registered: May '02
47805_Ben Skywalker
Date Posted: 6/7/06 9:31pm Subject: RE: Not For Glory Bound: Waiting & Wishing - One Shot, Battle of Yavin, OCs
RebelGrrl posted:
ZaraValinor posted:
That was erxcellent. I have no words. I'm speechless.

Silence's dread and the way she keeps referring to Luke was priceless.

I might be able to say more once I've recovered entirely.


Aaaahh! blush

She hasn't got a clue about who or what Luke really is. laugh
He's not much more than a brighter spark than everyone else in the Force at the moment, and she's never actually met him.
She was far too young in Silence & Solitude to remember Obi-Wan, even. wink



That's true.

Little Silence all grown up and Ranaan also seems to have matured.

 

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Peagis  911 posts
Registered: Apr '05
20919_Clone Commando
Date Posted: 6/8/06 5:50am Subject: RE: Not For Glory Bound: Waiting & Wishing - One Shot, Battle of Yavin, OCs
So is this going to be a continuing story ? I hope so I like where you have taken Silence and Ra I hope we get more to this story soon!

 

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RebelGrrl  2129 posts
Registered: Jan '06
14691_Dani
Date Posted: 6/8/06 8:23am Subject: RE: Not For Glory Bound: Waiting & Wishing - One Shot, Battle of Yavin, OCs
Peagis posted:
So is this going to be a continuing story ? I hope so I like where you have taken Silence and Ra I hope we get more to this story soon!


This particular story isn't going to have any more to it, but there will be other stories in the series that will tell how they got to be in the Rebel Alliance and what happens to them after the Battle of Yavin. grin

This was a plot bunny that I knocked out in an afternoon when I should have been finishing Visions & Dreams. whistling

 

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RebelGrrl  2129 posts
Registered: Jan '06
14691_Dani
Date Posted: 6/8/06 2:51pm Subject: RE: Not For Glory Bound: Waiting & Wishing - One Shot, Battle of Yavin, OCs
ZaraValinor posted:
Little Silence all grown up and Ranaan also seems to have matured.


Raanan would be 26 in this one, but matured? Where would be the fun in that? wink

In fact, I think 'mature' would get you bumped automatically from Red Squadron. laugh

 

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Ocelotl_Nesto  1323 posts
Registered: Oct '04
6976_Count Dooku<br>LEGO
Date Posted: 6/8/06 4:19pm Subject: RE: Not For Glory Bound: Waiting & Wishing - One Shot, Battle of Yavin, OCs
It may have been a one shot, but it would be nice to see what is said when Lukes last name is announced.

 

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RebelGrrl  2129 posts
Registered: Jan '06
14691_Dani
Date Posted: 6/8/06 4:28pm Subject: RE: Not For Glory Bound: Waiting & Wishing - One Shot, Battle of Yavin, OCs - Date Edited: 6/8/06 4:35pm (1 edits total) Edited By: RebelGrrl
Ocelotl_Nesto posted:
It may have been a one shot, but it would be nice to see what is said when Lukes last name is announced.


We will get to that in another story. happy That's the wonderful thing about a series!

Since Silence and Raanan are members of the Alliance, it's going to be very hard NOT to hear his last name. I just haven't decided if it will have meaning for Silence... though Raanan is quite old enough to have heard of 'The Hero Without Fear'.

 

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Well-behaved women seldom make history.
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Happiness is a warm Hoojib!
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ZaraValinor  4736 posts
Registered: May '02
47805_Ben Skywalker
Date Posted: 6/9/06 9:34am Subject: RE: Not For Glory Bound: Waiting & Wishing - One Shot, Battle of Yavin, OCs
RebelGrrl posted:
ZaraValinor posted:
Little Silence all grown up and Ranaan also seems to have matured.


Raanan would be 26 in this one, but matured? Where would be the fun in that? wink

In fact, I think 'mature' would get you bumped automatically from Red Squadron. laugh




Well relativiely speaking. He's still our scoundrel.

 

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RebelGrrl  2129 posts
Registered: Jan '06
14691_Dani
Date Posted: 6/9/06 3:39pm Subject: RE: Not For Glory Bound: Waiting & Wishing - One Shot, Battle of Yavin, OCs
ZaraValinor posted:
Well relativiely speaking. He's still our scoundrel.


Yes, indeed! I'm working on an image of him right now in that nifty Rebel commando armor Dark Horse introduced in their new 'Rebellion' series.

Meanwhile, I got Nala and 18-year-old Silence completed.



I love the HeroMachine. I can put together characters that surpass my own meager drawing skill, and play with them in GIMP.

 

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Well-behaved women seldom make history.
You can't fix stupid and you can't reason with crazy.
Happiness is a warm Hoojib!
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ZaraValinor  4736 posts
Registered: May '02
47805_Ben Skywalker
Date Posted: 6/9/06 4:28pm Subject: RE: Not For Glory Bound: Waiting & Wishing - One Shot, Battle of Yavin, OCs
Wow, those are really cool. What kind of program is it?

 

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RebelGrrl  2129 posts
Registered: Jan '06
14691_Dani
Date Posted: 6/9/06 4:47pm Subject: RE: Not For Glory Bound: Waiting & Wishing - One Shot, Battle of Yavin, OCs
http://www.heromachine.com

It's a flash application that you run in your browser. It's like paper dolls, sort of, in that you can choose various bits and parts and color them. It's really inexpensive.

After I do that, I clean up things in GIMP (http://www.gimp.org) and add backgrounds, borders, words, and maybe paste in things like Silence's extra braids to get the look I want.

 

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Well-behaved women seldom make history.
You can't fix stupid and you can't reason with crazy.
Happiness is a warm Hoojib!
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leiamoody  1209 posts
Registered: Nov '05
48863_Luke and Leia (71109)
Date Posted: 6/9/06 5:03pm Subject: RE: Not For Glory Bound: Waiting & Wishing - One Shot, Battle of Yavin, OCs - Date Edited: 6/9/06 5:05pm (1 edits total) Edited By: leiamoody
WOW! Nice images of your OC's there! grin

It certainly does help to give the reader a better impression of the characters.

As for this installment...jumping forward through time, eh? I hate when plot bunnies make you do that. But you have to go with the flow...or the Force. wink

My first thought was, Silence is grown up! The second thought...oh, no, Ra, what did you get into now? cry

And yet again, you continue to leave your audience hanging. For shame. But that's good. You're doing what the storyteller is supposed to do. Very nice. grin

 

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