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The Droid Empress - Legacy Era . Complete. 3 nominations for Winter 2006 Fanfic Awards.
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AlisonC
Registered:
Aug '05
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Date Posted:
10/5/05 9:00pm
Subject:
The Droid Empress - Legacy Era . Complete. 3 nominations for Winter 2006 Fanfic Awards.
- Date Edited:
1/26/06 6:28pm (34 edits total)
Edited By:
AlisonC
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Title: The Droid Empress (retitled from Crystal Clarity)
Author: AlisonC the Eleventh Guard
Timeframe: Legacy Era (50 ABY)
Genre: A little bit of everything - mostly action/adventure/drama with a dash of romance.
Word Count: Approximately 62,000.
Summary: The Jedi try to figure out how to stop the tyrranical Guerrica Empire and return their conquered worlds to their original self-governance. Headed by Sith Lord Darth Vexon and his daughter and apprentice, Darth Wraithys, the Guerrica Empire will stop at nothing to expand their territories, and Wraithys also plots to destroy her father and rule alone, but she needs the help of the Princess of Hapes. Will the Jedi be able to stop the Dark Lord who calls himself the Emperor? And will they be able to prevent his daughter's schemes?
Notes: Follows 25 years after Sithstrike, but you don't need to have read that story to understand this one. Darth Vexon and Prille Baclaw were created, originally, in Sithstrike and re-appear here.
Disclaimer: I don't own Star Wars, and no copyright infringement is intended. George Lucas owns it all. I make no money from this story and it is for entertainment only.
DRAMATIS PERSONAE - This story has many characters in minor roles - both canon and original - not listed here. These include Leia, Jaina, Kyp, Corran, and others. Listed characters have supporting or major roles.
Barchad Digo - Son of Emperor Vexon, Falleen male, 17
Ben Skywalker - Jedi Knight, human male, 23
Darth Vexon - Guerrican Emperor, Sith Master, Falleen male, 55
Darth Wraithys (Tathila) - Imperial Princess, Sith Apprentice, Falleen female, 29
Desa Baclaw - Jedi Knight, human female, 24
Jacen Solo - Jedi Master, human male, 41
Kalare Djo - Jedi apprentice and Princess of Hapes, human female, 14
Lord Merat - Sith Master, human male, died c. 2500 BBY at the approximate age of 200.
Luke Skywalker - Grand Jedi Master, human male, 68
Prille Baclaw-Marin - Jedi Master (former Sith Master), human female, 61
Starfinder (DHA-61R-05) - First-Generation Warlord, droid, 4
Tenel Ka Chume Ta'Djo - Jedi Knight and Queen Mother of Hapes, human female, 41
Valin Horn - Jedi Knight, human male, 37
PROLOGUE - One Year Earlier
Luke Skywalker shook his head and rubbed his chin, almost idly, as he looked at his son Ben. The rhythmic rise and fall of his chest underneath a clean white sheet made it look like he was only sleeping, but in truth he was nearly comatose, recovering from serious wounds to his abdomen and arms, incurred in the brief Battle of Gradian. Gradian was now the eighty-ninth world of the Guerrica Empire... the eighty-eighth to fall to it.
Ben would survive. As would the other five Jedi Knights who returned from their disastrous defeat at Gradian the week before, which made them the lucky half of the original dozen. "I don't understand this," he said. "I've gone over all the reports, but it doesn't make any sense. How many Force adepts can the enemy possibly have?"
"Define Force adepts." Jedi Master Kyp Durron started to walk back down the eerily quiet hallway, away from the convalescent rooms. Luke followed him, then sped up until they were walking side by side. "If you mean sentients, that's one thing. But if you're including droids..."
"Master Durron, the Force surrounds the living. We've been through this more than once already. Dark Force droids? That has to be a deception - one we must get to the bottom of before we lose any more worlds and more students." It certainly appeared that the droids that landed at Gradian City were not droids at all, but some sort of life form that they had not seen before, hidden inside a droid body. Either that, or someone was creating a massive illusion meant to trick the Jedi into thinking that the droids were their equals - in arms, in armor, and in the Force. "We'll need to capture one - or more - of these creations and study them more closely."
"Or destroy the facility. We've traced the droid manufacturing station to Mistan Four."
"Not until we know what we're up against. We can't just go in and destroy half of a planet; and how do we know that there aren't four more droid manufacturers? They have enough planets to expand production." Luke and Kyp rounded a corner and went into the Jedi Council room, where five other Jedi Masters were waiting for them. The war, raging for the past year, had left their forces spread thin. Classes for the young students had been cancelled so that the seven remaining Masters could have a brief meeting.
They gave short greetings and then Luke and Kyp took their places in the circle, which was not much of a circle with only the seven of them. Only fifteen had remained at the Temple, the others being scattered throughout the galaxy on various missions - more and more of which had to do with setting up defenses against the Guerrica Union or attempting to gather information on them from nearby worlds. They discussed the recent developments, particularly the Jedi failure at Gradian, and reassignments of Apprentices and Knights to the Masters that would train them. Then Luke dismissed everyone except for Master Marin.
"There's something I want to ask you," said Luke.
"Of course." There was no hint of apprehension on Prille Baclaw-Marin's face, but she must have felt it; refurbishing the old Imperial base on Mistan Four for various Sith enterpises had been her idea. She was one of them, once, but near the beginning of the Yuuzhan Vong invasion, 24 years earlier, she left the dark path behind. Later, after the great Swarm War, she had come to join the Jedi Order with her two young children.
"It's not about Guerrica... not directly, anyway. It seems that everything, in some way, traces its way back, but this is straightforward. I'd like to reassign your daughter Desa to Hapes."
Prille turned her head and looked away for just a moment before meeting Luke's gaze again. "I see no problem with that, but it strikes me as odd. She's been learning very well from Master Ferris."
"The trouble is that Kalare Djo is a full Jedi Apprentice now... and I promised her mother that when she reached that stage, she would go home and continue her studies on Hapes. I have full faith in Queen Mother Tenel Ka's abilities as a Jedi, and that she could teach Kalare well... if she had the time. Desa needs less direct guidance, and can fill in the gaps in Kalare's training."
"I can't help but wonder if the recent attempt to assassinate Tenel Ka isn't factoring into this as well," said Prille. "If someone is after her, they will probably be after Kalare as well. And Desa is one more obstacle in an assassin's way."
"I won't lie to you. That crossed my mind, particularly since she's more skilled than most in lightsaber combat. We can't possibly spare a Master, and the Queen Mother wouldn't accept one. But your daughter can go with hers, to the benefit of all."
"The decision isn't really mine to make, Master Skywalker. Desa must accept or decline this on her own." But Prille knew that Desa would accept; although there were ten years between them, they had developed a friendship and Desa Baclaw was Kalare Djo's informal tutor at the Academy anyway.
One week later, Desa waved goodbye to her mother and disappeared into the hangar, with a suitcase in each hand, and in a few more minutes, Desa and Kalare were gone. Prille indulged the ache in her heart for a few moments, then reminded herself that her daughter was only a flight away and that she couldn't expect to keep Desa and Riordim with her forever. They were both adults now, and had to walk their own paths.
Time goes so fast, she thought.
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VaderLVR64
Title: Fan Fic Manager in Combat Boots
Registered:
Feb '04
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Date Posted:
10/7/05 7:16am
Subject:
RE: Crystal Clarity (Post-NJO) - Prologue Up, 10/5
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Interesting AU you've got going here! I'll be looking forward to updates on this one! 
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If you have to choose between tears and laughter, remember that laughter burns more calories.
Proud New Army Mom - off to bootcamp!
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Courtney_Solo
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Date Posted:
10/7/05 12:16pm
Subject:
RE: Crystal Clarity (Post-NJO) - Prologue Up, 10/5
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Ooh! Count me in on this one, it looks WAY interesting!
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"Look for me by moonlight, I'll come to thee by moonlight, Though hell should bar the way." - Alfred Noyes  I'm not around anymore. Sorry, fellas.
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AlisonC
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Date Posted:
10/7/05 11:21pm
Subject:
RE: Crystal Clarity (Post-NJO) - Prologue Up, 10/5
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VaderLVR64 - thank you! First update is tonight, and barring computer troubles, coming in 5-10 minutes.
Courtney_Solo - I do my best and try to be a little different  I think this is going to be somewhat like its predecessor in terms of basic structure - instead of jumping all over the place with a novel-length work with several subplots, I'm going to focus on one main plotline, with others around to enrich it, and make the whole thing closer to a novella.
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AlisonC
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Date Posted:
10/7/05 11:29pm
Subject:
The Droid Empress - Chapter 1: The Merat Crystal
- Date Edited:
11/11/05 5:33pm (6 edits total)
Edited By:
AlisonC
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Author's Note: And, we're off! You didn't think this was going to be a sweet, straightforward fic where the Jedi gang up on the Sith and beat them with no twists and no drama, did you? *evil laugh* Oh, I'm not that kind to my chars. This chapter brings in the bad guys. Always two, there are... (edit: fixing tags. I always mess up my tags.  )
Chapter One: The Merat Crystal
The green sphere of Swanseir, banded with white and blue, filled the Charybdis' viewport. Darth Vexon stood in front of it, watching the light show that, for a moment, he could believe was a special production made just for his enjoyment. The StealthX and C-wing starfighters were invisible to the eye, as were his swarms of Dectron starfighters, but laser beams and missiles shot through seemingly empty space and rewarded his watch with dazzling fireworks.
"It is only a matter of time now," he said. "Swanseir's planetary shields have fallen and our Dectrons outnumber the Jedi fighters four to one. They cannot hold us. Admiral, take us down to the surface and deploy Legions One and Two."
Admiral Eliot Rinapt bowed his narrow and balding head. "As you command, my Lord."
No sooner had the elderly Admiral left than another crew member appeared on the bridge of Darth Vexon's Star Destroyer. It was a Falleen woman, older than those in his slave harem, dressed in a skin-tight black bodysuit, matching leggings, and a flowing black robe edged in white and crimson rickrack. Her straight hair, almost blending into the hooded robe, had been left loose. "Victory is at hand, Father," she said.
Vexon didn't turn away from the viewport. "Don't waste my time with what I already know, Wraithys."
His daughter and Sith Apprentice threw her head back and sneered. "I am here to celebrate with you, not to inform you of what you have seen. The Guerrica Empire and the galaxy will one day mean the same thing."
Now Vexon was bored with her words - bored, and slightly suspicious of her intentions. He watched a volley of green bolts spurt from an unseen turret to an unseen target, which suddenly appeared as a ball of flame and debris. "Why are you still here?"
"I have not been given instruction to go elsewhere."
"Then I will give you a task." He finally deigned to look over his shoulder at her. "As soon as Swanseir is secured, you will go to Hapes."
Wraithys blinked only once before responding. "Surely you are not thinking of expanding the edges of your Empire past the Hapes Consortium already."
"Why say it, if you already know it, and I know it? I do not wish to engage their fleet yet - not because they can stand against us, but because it is not the best strategic location. What I want you to do is simpler. The Queen Mother's palace has been a bit... crowded, lately, and that is a pity. Three Jedi under one roof? Make it two."
"Ah, now I see." Wraithys smiled, showing off her bright teeth. "We will put a weak Queen Mother on the throne of Hapes - one who cannot hold the planets in their state of tense peace. They will do the work for us and leave shells to trample."
Darth Vexon spun around and shouted, "No, you foolish child! Princess Kalare is your target. We need no weakening of star systems' internal bonds to conquer them."
"I will do as you ask, but I fail to see why a fourteen-year-old princess frightens you so."
"You will do as I command," Vexon said, clipping his words, and then made a single sweeping glance at his crew before lifting the hood of his dark cloak over his head. "Follow me."
I grow tired of your arrogance, old fool, Wraithys thought, but she walked behind him in silence as they meandered around consoles and down noisy hallways. She ignored the bows and words of deference from their officers, green lieutenants up to men and a few women who were already seasoned and hardened by military experience when Vexon was a boy and Wraithys not yet even a sparkle in his eye.
Finally they came to his cabin, a square room fifteen meters on a side and empty except for a large bed in one corner and a desk and chair near the center. He pointed at an imaginary spot in front of the desk, and she stood in the near-darkness, as the room was lit only by faint globes stuck in each corner of the ceiling. Vexon sat down and reached into a hidden pocket inside his robe, then pulled something out.
Wraithys frowned, trying to see what her father was holding in his hand. Slowly it began to glow with a flickering blue light, and she saw that it was a large crystal, diamond-cut and about the size of her palm.
"This," he said, "is the Merat Crystal."
Wraithys sucked in her breath sharply and a tingle spiraled up her spine. She had thought that the Merat Crystal was only a legend, something borne out of half-truths and exaggerations from the days of the Sith Empire. There were originally four of them, so the story went, created by the ancient Sith Lord, Darth Merat, thousands of years before. Three were used, leaving one.
The crystal, once activated, bonded itself to the one who performed the rite of awakening on it, and for the remainder of his life, served as an oracle, answering any and all questions of its bonded Lord and that Lord's Apprentice with only truth. However, she had no way of knowing whether or not this was the last crystal, hidden away on Korriban and thought to be lost, or if it was an elaborate charade.
"If you have the fourth Merat Crystal, then you would be almost invincible, Father," she said. "I still do not understand why you wish the life of the Queen Mother's heiress."
Vexon passed his free hand over the top of the crystal and it glowed brighter; his cheeks, slightly sagging with age, took a cyan cast. "Lord Merat, my daughter is impatient, and she lacks understanding. Will you enlighten her?"
I will. The voice was a loud whisper, and sounded like it was carried by wind to her ears from all directions. Wraithys almost jumped, but kept her reactions in check and stood still.
"Lord Merat, how many star systems will call me Emperor?"
A star gives no words that a sentient being can understand, nor would the system as a whole. Ask what you will, but ask sensibly.
Wraithys allowed the corners of her lips to turn upwards at that, drawing an angry glare from Vexon before he continued. "Lord Merat, Will the Guerrica Empire include every habitable planet in the galaxy, with me as the Emperor when the last system has been conquered?"
Perhaps.
"This is nonsense, Father," said Wraithys. "It speaks in riddles and generalities, and you will never get a clear answer."
"Quiet! Lord Merat, if my life should end before the final battle, what will end it?"
The white-hot blade of a lightsaber, in the hand of a Jedi foe.
Wraithys raised her eyebrows and looked intently at the crystal. Now we're getting somewhere, she thought, although her mission still didn't make much sense.
"Lord Merat, who is this Jedi who may slay me?"
The daughter of Jacen Solo, Jedi Master. She will destroy you, or you will rise up to rule over all the worlds.
"Thank you, Lord Merat." Vexon passed his hand back over the top of the crystal and it dimmed. "Now you see, Wraithys, why you must go to Hapes and kill Princess Kalare."
Wraithys nodded, hoping that her eagerness did not show. Whether Vexon noticed or not was unclear, because he stood up quickly and smoothed out his robe. "I must prepare for landing. Be ready to leave; it will not be much longer before I send you on the mission that will secure our victory."
"I will do as you command, my Lord." She lowered her head and waited for him to dismiss her, but he only swept past, leaving her alone with the crystal. Wraithys did her best to still her mind, and she reached out tendrils of the Force towards him, almost close enough to touch, until she was sure he was gone and not immediately returning.
Wraithys lifted the cut blue stone and did as he had done, making a plane with her right hand and drawing it just above the surface of the top facet. The bright light returned, and she stared directly into it. The smooth bottom facets were warm and sending small jolts of electric energy up her arm, making her shiver with power, as strong as any intoxicating liquor. "Lord Merat," she breathed, "is it true, then, that none but Kalare can kill Lord Vexon?"
I answered his questions in front of you and you heard the same answers that he did.
"Lord Merat, please tell me this, then: is it not the Sith tradition for an apprentice to arrange for the death of her Master when she is ready to be the Master?"
It is.
Wraithys smiled and deactivated the crystal.
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Date Posted:
10/9/05 6:22pm
Subject:
The Droid Empress - Chapter 2: Imperial Intrigue
- Date Edited:
11/11/05 5:34pm (4 edits total)
Edited By:
AlisonC
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Author's Note: You'll get to see Jacen, Tenel Ka, and their daughter, and a couple of new characters, in Chapter Three. Edit 10/13: Only one new character and five redshirts. 
Chapter Two Summary: Darth Wraithys brings a dozen battle droids to Hapes and meets with Lady Alyssia, and Wraithys moves forward with her plan to wrest control of her father's growing Empire.
Edit: It figures that I would typo in the summary.
Chapter Two: Imperial Intrigue
Darth Wraithys was in a snit by the time the Darkfire, her antiquated Lambda shuttle, reached Hapes. Getting around and through the Transitory Mists had taken longer than she expected and there were several tense minutes spent in the incoming space lane; she feared that her father had discovered her plan and given her the wrong starship codes, sentencing her and the ship to destruction at the wrong end of Battle Dragon fire. In the end, she was able to enter the atmosphere and circumvent the spaceport traffic, but she barely had time to brush her hair before her meeting with Lady Alyssia. She felt energized by the rich amount of life on the planet, though, and had returned to near control by the time she stuck the last of three silver pins into her small black bun.
The shuttle itself was cold and bare, with nothing more inside it than was needful for its small crew and passengers. She had brought with her a single squadron of DFC-class Guerrica Battle Droids, but she was convinced that no more than that would be needed and in fact twelve was probably too many. Still, her father had a point; Kalare was a Jedi, and the Force was strong on both sides of her family. It might take more than one Battle Droid to subdue her, and according to intelligence reports, there was more reason to be cautious. The Queen Mother, Tenel Ka, was a Jedi Knight herself - Kalare merely an Apprentice - and a Knight much younger and newer than Tenel Ka had joined them a year earlier, presumably for training purposes.
And Kalare's father was Jacen Solo. That name made Wraithys cringe if she thought about it for long. Twenty-five years ago, when she was a very small child, Jacen had been briefly imprisoned by her father and Darth Inferna. Inferna and Vexon were apprenticed to the same Master, breaking the Rule of Two and ultimately causing his own demise at the hands of his ambitious trainees. At the time in question, though, they were the two survivors of the original four apprentices, and sought to turn Solo to the ways of the Sith to join them. They failed. And worse, shortly thereafter, Inferna disappeared, only to surface later on Coruscant with her birth name, purged of her Sith identity and the true power of the Force.
The bottom line was that Vexon's daughter needed Jacen's daughter for her own higher purposes. Those who do not know history are condemned to repeat it - but I do know our history, she thought, and strained to push out the doubt that crept into her mind. At least I know the strategies that don't work.
"The Queen's cousin approaches," said DFC-82P-01, in his mechanical tones.
"Lower the ramp," said Wraithys, and she let out the breath she forgot she'd been holding. Now there was something new to think about, and she watched the picture of the security holo as the Hapan woman approached.
She noted that Lady Alyssia was very pretty, for a human, even when she looked up at the shuttle with a sneer and walked ever-so-daintily towards the ramp, as though she didn't want to be tainted by touching more than she needed to. There were eight armed guards with her, their faces veiled. Wraithys shook her head at that... eight guards? What use are they against a squadron of Guerrica Imperial droids, even these of the least strength?
"Oh-One, follow," said Wraithys, and she went down to meet the Hapan woman. They exchanged short and polite greetings, and then moved on to the point.
"Lady Alyssia," she said, "I have a proposal for you. One that will be of great benefit to you and also to me. A way to vastly increase your power as well as my own. Will you hear it?"
Alyssia frowned slightly, but otherwise her face was unreadable. Green eyes were still, and she ignored the way the light wind pushed the folds of her jeweled blue satin gown against her legs. "It concerns me that the request did not reach the Queen Mother first, but she is busy. I will hear it, Lady Tathila," she said.
"Excellent. As I understand it, you are first cousin to the Queen Mother's father. Should there be a calamity of sorts - something on the order of the untimely death of Queen Mother Tenel Ka and Princess Kalare - then who would take the throne next?"
Alyssia narrowed her eyes and was still silent for a few moments. "I don't know that, Lady Tathila. Perhaps my sister, though she is under close watch for the treasonous actions of her daughter. Or it might be no one on this planet, as erasure of the family line would mean that the throne may fall to another."
"Oh? That is a pity, then, Lady Alyssia." Wraithys lowered her head slightly. "I had thought that the next heir might have been you, and that I could help you obtain your proper seat on the Hapan throne in return for a little bit of help. If not, then there is not much more for us to discuss." She started to turn away.
"Wait," Alyssia said. Wraithys hid her smile and settled back into her original stance. "That, too, is a possibility."
"Then consider it done."
"But how can you do that? There have been many attempts - from various nobles - over the past twenty-two years to kill the Queen Mother, and at least as many against her daughter. None were successful."
"If they had been successful we wouldn't be having this conversation." Wraithys bit her lip and thought; it was rather like Vexon to snap at extraneous information, and she didn't like the possibility that she was turning out like him, into a fool like him. One who wanted power for power's sake and had no reverence for it or any idea what to do with it, except get more power. "I beg your pardon; that was not courteous of me. I apologize. However, allow me to introduce you to the one who can ensure that the throne is vacated." She nodded towards Oh-One, who was painted matte black except for linked green and white circles on its breastplate. Its head was ovoid, and did not have usual humanoid features, but instead only a smooth surface. "This is a Guerrica Battle Droid, standard issue. Ground force grade. Allow us to demonstrate."
Alyssia looked at the droid warily when it lifted one of its four arms, but it pointed the arm towards the air. Wraithys reached into the inner pocket of her robe and pulled out a handful of ceramic coins, then tossed all six of them up and away from the ship. Oh-One fired a quick volley of exactly six shots, connecting with the coins and shattering them in small explosions. Wraithys nodded to it and put up her hand, a signal to stop and lower its weapon.
"I don't know why you would show me this, if your intentions are to help me," said Alyssia. "We have not established that much trust."
"It is not a matter of trust. I have at my command enough of these droids, right now, to take you and all your guards to your deaths, if I even needed help, which I do not. You will keep silent on this matter and help me get to the Queen Mother and the Princess. I will also publicly take the blame for this; she is a Jedi, and I need show no other reason for my actions. My father's partner left our service twenty-five years ago, and is now a Jedi Master, so a vendetta would be believed. I will also leave the Hapes Consortium - under Queen Mother Alyssia - independent of the Guerrica Empire."
Alyssia regarded Wraithys with a blank gaze. "You have the power to promise that, when you are not the Empress?"
"I will be the Empress once I have Princess Kalare under my control."
Alyssia shivered then, even though the breeze was warm. She wondered if it had been wise to accept the invitation to this meeting, or if she had made some sort of critical mistake. At first she had thought that Lady Tathila was offering to kill both Tenel Ka and Kalare, and take the fall for it... but she knew that whatever the Emperor's daughter was really wanting, the death of Kalare was not it. And then Alyssia's position would be a vulnerable one. The Consortium's independence was far from guaranteed, as would be her own tenure as Queen Mother.
"What happens if I refuse?"
"Then you die, and I will get my assistance from someone more pliable. When you made your intention of becoming the Queen Mother clear, you outed yourself, and put yourself in my service. There is no way out but through."
With a resigned nod, Alyssia stepped to the side, and held out her hand in the direction of the jungle beyond. "Then allow me the honor of taking you near our lovely monarch, Lady Tathila, and giving you directions for when you approach her palace."
Ten of the twelve DFC-class battle droids activated their cloakers, which drained their power but only to 85%, and followed their dark-robed leader. We will have Hapes, thought Wraithys, but not yet. I am willing to save the Consortium's fall for last if that is what I must do to rule over all the worlds alone.
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Date Posted:
10/13/05 9:31pm
Subject:
The Droid Empress - Chapter Three: Daughter of the Jedi
- Date Edited:
11/11/05 5:35pm (1 edits total)
Edited By:
AlisonC
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Chapter 3: Daughter of the Jedi
Note: Now that I've figured out the ending and all but the smallest details of everything else I've changed the title to something a little better. Also: should I put a Dramatis Personae list in the beginning? The character list is now set, so I could write it up; a few characters haven't appeared yet but will enter at a later time.
Deep within a garden maze, in an open oval space thirty meters long and fifteen meters wide, they stood face-to-face, each gripping a lightsaber and paying no mind to the six people standing watch around them. Kalare Djo brought up the pure white blade of her weapon, holding it at a diagonal across her chest a half-meter away. She tried to clear her mind while she waited. In front of her, her opponent - older, larger, more experienced - was in motion although nearly still; every part of her body swayed and shuffled, ready to attack in a fraction of a second.
It was like a snake snapping forward to sink its teeth into unlucky prey. Desa Baclaw tossed her amber-beamed lightsaber from her right hand to her left, and put her weight on her right leg as she pivoted quickly and brought the glowing sword around towards Kalare's hip. Kalare slammed her saber down and blocked the cut, but she was now stuck with her left side open. Desa spun counterclockwise with her arm stretched out, and when Kalare reached back to parry, she had to bend her arm backwards at an awkward angle and barely connected the tip with the incoming strike. Desa overpowered her in less than the time it took to blink and Kalare felt a burning sensation in a line running from her shoulderblade to her neck. Then it stopped, but the mild burn still hurt. She pushed it out of her mind and deactivated her lightsaber.
Desa shook her head slowly. "Do you understand what you did wrong?"
Kalare bit her lip and thought about that for a few moments. "Well, I left my side undefended. You made me swing across my body and down-"
"I made you? I don't make you do anything."
"I mean, I got a little bit off balance, and didn't move fast enough."
"Partly right. But more than that - much more important than that - you're thinking about it too much. Your mind goes so fast -" Desa reached out and tapped Kalare on the forehead, underneath the narrow auburn fringe of hair that was combed forward - "but you don't open yourself up enough to the Force. You won't let go; if you did, you would have seen my attack coming and moved to block it before I got there."
"I will try harder," Kalare promised.
"No, no... you already try too hard. Think about that."
Before Kalare could respond, a third voice entered the conversation. "Think about this, Desa. You do not try hard enough. You know that you have another ten years of training beyond Kalare, and expect that to carry you through." Tenel Ka caught Desa's gaze and held it. "One day, it will not. And against anyone else, it would not. You cannot let your own studies fall to the wayside. You are only a Jedi Knight, not a Master, and even Masters never stop learning."
The truth was that none of them were Masters, but Desa and Tenel Ka were on opposite ends of knighthood; Desa with only four years under her belt, and Tenel Ka over half her life. She'd fought in the Yuuzhan Vong war many years earlier, when Desa was still a baby, and, for the first year of the invasion, not yet born.
She knew better than to bring up the rank technicality, even when their official titles were put away for a short time and they stood only as Jedi. It would have been disrespectful as well as a breach of even informal protocol. "Yes, my Queen. I will put more effort forth." Desa started to ask then if perhaps Tenel Ka could spare a few minutes to work with her, but before she could finish the question she felt something out of place. It wasn't a presence in the Force, but instead a conspicuous lack of one; a moving void, and as she opened her mind up to it, she noticed its meandering journey close by. "Something's coming this way, through the maze," she said.
Tenel Ka had already broken away from the young women and five handmaidens, staring not at but through a wall of hedges. She'd felt the same thing, and the handmaidens stepped closer to Kalare. They made a formation like the five vertices of a pentagon and all faced outward. Desa took a deep breath and lifted the hilt of her lightsaber.
"There is no need for that," Tenel Ka said to her, and then Kalare ran away from her servant bodyguards towards the west passageway out of the garden clearing.
"Father!"
He had been hardened by three major wars (and countless smaller situations) in the past two and a half decades, and journeys through dozens of forgotten galactic holes to try to understand that which could never be fully understood, but that one word was one of the few that had the power to bring a smile to his face and lighten the burden on his shoulders. Jacen Solo leaned down - not so far down, now - and held out his arms, then swept Kalare up in them. "It's good to see you again," he said. "I'm sorry I've taken this long to come by."
"It's all right." Settled back down on the ground, Kalare went back into the clearing, and Jacen followed her. "I know you've been helping hold Swanseir."
Even she noticed the way his dark eyes darted away, for that one split second, and that it did not speak well of what happened at the small shipyard planet. Swanseir had not only fallen, but fallen hard; despite weeks of preparation, they still had found no effective strategy against the Guerrica Imperial ships except a massive imbalance of firepower. That time, they didn't have nearly enough.
The war was a thousand worlds away now, though, and Luke had given Jacen permission to go to Hapes for two days. He knew that part of the reason for this was so that he could talk to Tenel Ka about the possibility of engaging some of the Hapan fleet, but the other reason, related to it, was that the Empire was getting more powerful every month and a fast strike, on the home base, would be necessary, while the Galactic Alliance still had the capability. Soon - as soon as the latest battle data was processed -- they would call in all the naval power they had and could borrow and attack the Empire on Mistan Four. He would be going with them, and it was not expected that everyone would survive.
Many disagreed with this decision. There was still very little known about the forces of the Guerrica Empire, particularly in reference to their starfighters. The droid troops had a deadly accuracy and sophisticated synchronized programming of a sort, although analysis of one captured droid showed only a small brain-analogue and limited circuitry. Nonetheless, they were still battle droids, still vulnerable to a well-placed shot fired with a little extra luck. As for the starfighters - it was anybody's guess.
They had no pilots.
Or gunners, but that was less relevant. Jacen's twin sister Jaina Solo-Fel reported that while she could feel life forms on each of the starfighters - resonating with a strangely grating quality, unlike anything she had ever felt before, but unmistakably emitting the Force - actual scans of the ships showed nothing, and they were so small that there should have been no room inside for a pilot anywhere close to the size of an adult human. They were almost always completely cloaked, invisible to the eye and difficult to detect through mechanical means. Only the advanced gravitation scanners of the C-wing starfighters could pick them up, but one enemy starfighter was damaged and its cloaking device, wherever it was, had been destroyed, so the Galactic Alliance fleet captured several pictures of it before it exploded.
A thousand worlds away.
It might as well have been a million, then, when Tenel Ka rushed to his side and held him in her strong embrace. She was as beautiful as ever, red hair unchanged except a little bit longer than when he'd seen her last, eyes still a muted gray that reminded him then not of cold metal and starship pipes but the clouds before a soft rain.
Jacen pressed against her for a few moments after she let go. "I've missed you so much," he whispered.
"I missed you as well," she whispered back.
He was supposed to be there to discuss the fleet, but he didn't want to talk about the war, not then. What he really wanted to do was make up for the lost time, in the small ways that he could, and enjoy the short while before he had to leave again for Coruscant. "If I may," Jacen said, "I'd like to speak with you... alone."
"About the Alliance military forces?" Tenel Ka asked, lifting her eyebrows.
"The Alliance can wait."
Tenel Ka smiled and gave him a short, soft kiss before she turned around and addressed the Jedi girls. "Kalare, Desa - when you have finished with the remainder of your practice hour and another of meditations, you may end training for the day."
They agreed, and Tenel Ka and Jacen went back out in the direction of the Queen Mother's palace, hand in hand.
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Briman
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Date Posted:
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RE: The Droid Empress (Was: Crystal Clarity) Legacy Era. J/TK, Luke, Ben, others, OCs. Chapter 3 -10
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 Great job on this thus far, Ali, I finally got around to starting it and I am impressed!
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The Force is with you young Skywalker, but you are not a Jedi yet --Vader
But all warriors must fall one day-ROSE I
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Courtney_Solo
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Date Posted:
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RE: The Droid Empress (Was: Crystal Clarity) Legacy Era. J/TK, Luke, Ben, others, OCs. Chapter 3 -10
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The daughter of Jacen Solo, Jedi Master. She will destroy you, or you will rise up to rule over all the worlds.
Ooh! I liked this line for some reason. 
Note of helpfulness: (since Bree ain't sayin' nothin')
I used to double post like you've done just now, it's OK in the start, but if you keep doing it, the Mods will notice. Instead, PM your readers and ask them if they would like to recieve them! You'll find they'll most likely say Yes.
Keep me on the PM list, this fic is awesome, and I will spread the word around about how cool it is, OK? 
~CS
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"Look for me by moonlight, I'll come to thee by moonlight, Though hell should bar the way." - Alfred Noyes I'm not around anymore. Sorry, fellas.
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AlisonC
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Date Posted:
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RE: The Droid Empress - Chapter 4: Juggernaut
- Date Edited:
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AlisonC
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Thanks Briman and Courtney_Solo! Here's Chapter Four. It's a little longer than the others... went to page 6 in Word. (Edit: WIP-class gaffe... squadron numbers are now fixed.)
Chapter 4: Juggernaut
After an informal dinner and forty-five minutes of talking about more pleasant topics, it was time to get back around to the question at hand - the primary reason, though by far not the only reason, that Jacen had taken his trip to Hapes. "All evidence shows that the most effective way to defeat the Guerrica Imperial fleet is with superior firepower," he said, "not tricks. We have the technology needed to find their ships, but against an equal enemy, they will win." He sighed. "It's almost as though their crews are full of Dark Jedi - ones who can form powerful battle melds and thwart anything we throw at them. Eight squadrons against only four of theirs, and we couldn't hold them off - and then the rest of their forces arrived."
Tenel Ka knew what was coming: a request for aid. That was something she possibly could provide in the effort to hold off the Empire, even if she could not leave her duties to fight with them. There was too much risk in that, and while she would give her life to the cause, she couldn't leave her people without a trustworthy leader. Kalare simply wasn't ready to become Queen Mother and if her successor wasn't Kalare, it would be the cousin - or perhaps the unrelated noble - who was the most ruthless. "Did they fight to the end?" she asked quietly.
"No; after thirty casualties we retreated. Riordim was one of the survivors, but Desa must already know that. I'll talk to her tomorrow morning - which is another thing. All available Jedi are being called back to Coruscant for the invasion of Mistan Four, all the Knights and Masters. Kalare will stay here, and you have special circumstances, but Desa is being recalled. Temporarily."
Tenel Ka put down the alarm that built with that statement, because that meant that the threat from the Empire was much more serious than the HoloNet reports indicated, and it also left Kalare with one fewer guard. There had already been five attempts on her life in the year since her return, and twice Desa's efforts were the determining factor in the assassins' failure. Still, they had the handmaidens and guards; Tenel Ka could work more closely with Kalare, to more easily defend herself, and keep her under a tighter watch.
"We hope it will be temporary." There was no need to say that if there was a defeat, such reassignment would be permanent in another way. "But you haven't come to talk about her recall. You have come to ask for help."
"We need more ships, Queen Mother." Jacen hoped that she would agree; even a small portion of the Hapan fleet would help. He disliked the necessity of engaging in this war, and liked even less that the Jedi were as desperately needed as they were, fighting against some kind of Force-using enemy. If the battle droid manufacturing plant and the Mistan Four shipyard could be destroyed, the captured worlds could be liberated with less bloodshed. And if the bulk of the Imperial troops were indeed droids who focused a non-sentient life force against those they attacked, perhaps the only sentient casualties would be on the side of the Galactic Federation of Free Alliances.
Of course, that called into question the nature of sentience.
This was not the time for a philosophical debate, because one thing was clear; if they didn't disable the Imperial forces now, they might not have the opportunity. There was no indication that they had picked a new target, so there was no clear world for the GFFA to defend. A strike against the headquarters' military zones, and capturing the Emperor and his successor to bring to justice were all that could preserve galactic peace. Many beings would die, and others be pressed into service to Emperor Vexon, who made no effort to hide his allegiance to the Sith. It would have been pointless; he had been revealed long ago.
Jacen turned his attention back to the matter directly at hand, the need for the Hapan Battle Dragons and Novas. Tenel Ka considered his statement about this need, and nodded. "Fact," she said, "but there has been no aggression by the Empire on any of the Hapan worlds."
"So you're telling me that you won't provide reinforcements?"
"It is not that simple, Jacen. I know what must be done, and I want to help, but our military forces are not my only own property. If they were, I would give them to you. But I would be ordering thousands of my own people into a war against an enemy who has never showed itself to be an enemy of us."
Everything had to be so complicated! "Let me send a message to Luke, then," Jacen said. "Maybe he can delay the invasion of Mistan Four, long enough for you to speak to your admirals and gather support for the mission."
"That would take weeks. If you have weeks to spare, and our strength combined with that of the Alliances would be greater than what our enemies would create, then it is an option. However, from what you have told me, they move too quickly."
Always walking the fine line, she was, balancing her obligations to the Jedi with those to the people of the sixty-three worlds of the Hapes Consortium. Jacen saw Tenel Ka's face, now slightly lined around her eyes and on her forehead. She was no less beautiful for them - even more so, perhaps, with a kind of noble dignity - but they were the result of years of peril. Then he caught his own reflection in a half-drained crystal wineglass, distorted but not distorted enough to hide the small scars and greying sides of his trimmed beard.
"I will ask him, then, to speak to the Chief of State and find out what the best course would be. If we can't wait, do you have any ships you can send with us?"
"Surely a few." Tenel Ka stood up and two servants quickly began clearing the table. "I will find a way, and help in any way that I can."
"I know you will. And time is of the essence, so I should go and send the message-" but Jacen saw the brief look of despair that Tenel Ka gave, just a fleeting moment before she pushed it away. "Later, then, later."
"I wish it could wait until tomorrow." Tenel Ka leaned against Jacen and slipped her one whole arm around his waist. "We have not seen each other in almost a year - when you were called out to the Meridian Sector, and it's been one assignment after another ever since!" She squeezed him and pulled him closer, and now they were hip to hip, next to a large curtained window. "I know it is needed, and you are needed, but..."
Her voice trailed off as he turned toward her and pressed his lips to hers. He broke contact after a few moments, but only to say "Shh" before kissing her again.
The servants reverently left the dining hall, and she ran her hand through his hair and closed her eyes. "Upstairs," she whispered.
Jacen nodded and gave Tenel Ka a mischievous smile, then reached for the golden button that held her white dress closed at her throat. His fingers started to push it through the buttonhole before his whole hand tensed and, without meaning to, he tore the button from the delicate fabric. She looked startled, and he realized belatedly that her look of shock had appeared just before his own.
"Kalare," he said. "She's in danger!"
Tenel Ka sounded the alarm immediately and shouted orders into the comlink, for the palace guards to go immediately to the garden. Then she followed Jacen, who had already grabbed his lightsaber and started out at a sprint.
Kalare sat cross-legged on the ground, meditating. The fatigue in her arms floated away, and a sense of calm came in to replace it, through her whole body and her mind. Recently she had found herself able to reach a state of oneness with the Force, although it was probably not the same as that of the Masters. But she started to understand a little about the nature of this energy, a power that could heal or harm, save life or destroy it. It wasn't exactly like nature - nature being neither good nor evil, in itself. A plant did not grow seeds out of love nor spray toxins on its predators out of hate. But the Force - and anything else - in the employ of a reasoning being could be used positively or negatively, and the negative, the Dark Side, sucked at one's soul like a hole in the hull of a starship sucked out everything inside, until the ship was only a shell. Too many of the Jedi had been tempted by the Dark Side, some falling, some of the fallen returning. Even those who were fortunate enough to return to the Light, though, had the memories of their actions to follow them the rest of their lives, especially when they could see the ripples of their actions continuing to flow and knock down innocents in its path.
Desa was keenly aware of that, and she, perhaps, was not in as deep a meditation as she could have been. She was immersed in the Dark Side from the day she was born - no, from the day she was conceived. Darth Inferna, one week after leaving Mistan, had landed on Iridonia to begin a new life - but that life did not yet mean renouncing the dark path. She only set forward a more winding way for herself, one that allowed her to harm who she wanted to, and refrain from harming those she did not want to. It was a step in the right direction, but no more than a step, and perhaps more hazardous in that she was able to fool herself for ten years that the power to choose good was the same as actually making that choice. And she almost dragged Desa and Riordim with her, training them up in the shadowed path that she followed, until the deaths of her husband and youngest daughter. Some abandoned the light following despair, heading toward darkness. Inferna, or Prille as she went by later, finally realized that the Dark Side couldn't shield her and that it had taken too much already.
She shouldn't have made those choices for me, Desa thought. She tried to let go of her anger, but it was still there, reminding her of all her lost time at the Academy on Coruscant, while she went through endless hours with the Jedi Masters and the healers, trying to unlearn the wrong things that she had learned. Anger led straight back to the Dark Side - but what about anger at the Dark Side itself? She would have to think about that one. Slowly, Desa started to open up her mind as Kalare had done, and settle into the rhythm of life, feeling its calm neutrality, the rightness of it all -
No, there's something wrong.
Her eyes flew open and she jumped to her feet, always hyper-aware. Kalare didn't move, but Desa, who always had more trouble forcing herself into the various Force trances, could sense subtle oddities faster. That was one reason she had been chosen to go to Hapes in the first place; she might not have been a good pilot, or a gifted healer, or particularly philosophical, but she knew in her gut when something didn't belong.
Desa reached out through the Force and found the presences she expected - Kalare, glowing brightly, and the dimmer flames of the five quiet handmaidens. Beyond them, far beyond, there were servants, a few guards, the shining lights that were the Queen Mother and her consort... a few ripples in the Force where she didn't expect them to be... and another space, a hole where someone was hiding his or her presence completely.
"Master Jacen, this isn't funny!" she called out, and put her hand on her lightsaber. It suddenly occurred to her that the space couldn't have been Jacen if he was visible to her somewhere else. She swallowed hard. "Liset, we're going to the palace. Now. Get in formation."
Liset and the other four Hapan handmaidens circled around Kalare, who was slowly pulling herself back to awareness. Desa stood at her side, and then they started towards the exit of the clearing that would take them back into the maze.
Kalare put her hands to her head. Desa didn't need to ask what was wrong; she felt the buzzing vibrations of the air too. The handmaidens were quietly stoic as always, and Desa sensed that they were oblivious to what the two Jedi were feeling.
Pew-pew-pew-pew!
Green glowing lines exploded around them. Blaster fire! The handmaidens spun around, facing outward and now holding their own small blasters, but no one was there. Desa couldn't feel anyone, either - nothing but the hole and the sets of ripples, and now they were much closer.
Pew-pew-pew-pew!
Now the bolts appeared again, but seemingly out of nowhere. Their source was still hidden, and when Desa approached it, another barrage of fire came from the other side of the clearing. The handmaidens started shooting back, and one of them managed to connect with something. A droid appeared from invisibility and pitched forward while two of the other handmaidens turned on it, tearing it to pieces with their tiny but powerful weapons.
Kalare instinctively threw herself on the ground, and Desa stood in front of her with her lightsaber out. She wanted to go on a hunt for the invisible droids, but now the blaster bolts came in from several directions and she was too busy deflecting shots to think of anything else. Liset, the first of the five handmaidens, called into a comlink, and kept right on shooting at origination points of the fire coming in.
Desa had no idea how many droids and blasters there were, but her guess was that there were at least two dozen. The guards would be arriving any time, and really she only had to hold off the attackers until then, but doubt was starting to creep back into her mind. She did her best to ignore the cry of one of the handmaidens as she was struck, not once but twice, and then fell to the ground.
What if the guards didn't come?
If there were invisible droids that snuck up on them, who knew what else was possible?
"Stay low and deflect the fire," Desa said to Kalare. "You can do that. I'm going after the attackers."
Another handmaiden tumbled as Desa ran over to where she was sure one of the droids stood. She swung at it and connected with a leg, which came into view and dropped away. Quickly, she cut it to pieces, and ran onto the next one. Now she could feel them, as though they, too, were present in the Force, though mechanical. Two had fallen; eight remained.
Kalare was holding her own, but as Desa struck a third droid, she noticed that they were not firing at Kalare, but only at the handmaidens. Either they were trying to take Kalare alive, or Desa herself was the target. Or maybe both, she thought worriedly. Liset was the only one of the five servants who was still standing, now firing desperately with a weapon in each hand.
She brought her saber up to cut into her opponent, but then felt something cold and hard, like metal, closing around her neck. Desa reached up with her free hand and found nothing there, and she lashed out at the hold through the Force. It started to break, and she drew in a ragged breath, but then she heard a woman's voice:
"Oh-Two, formation Juggernaut-Two."
A nearby droid appeared from its cloak and sagged to the ground, facing Desa's invisible attacker. The grip on her neck strengthened, its power doubled, and now she couldn't loosen it. Black nibbled at the edges of her vision and she started to see white dots on an increasingly dark background. Liset sank to the grass, and Kalare, kicking, was lifted into the air and seemed to float there, forcibly levitated.
Kalare looked around at the destruction and bit her lip. She wasn't going to cry there - or anywhere; she was too old for such displays of uncontrolled emotion and they were not appropriate for a Hapan Princess. But she knew there was another attempt on her life, and it had missed success by seconds.
"Are you all right?" Tenel Ka asked, looking down at the daughter who was held firmly in her grip.
"I'm not hurt," she said quietly. "But... they are." The motionless bodies of her handmaidens were more than hurt, and while they all knew the dangers of their job when they took it and would give their lives to save hers or her mother's with no regrets, it didn't make it any easier to watch them die.
Desa struggled to a sitting position. She still saw lights dancing in front of her eyes, and she shook her head vigorously to clear them, which only made her head pound. "I'm sorry, my Queen," she croaked. "I tried to-"
"You held them off until help arrived. You did your duty."
They all turned to Jacen, who was staring at a non-existent point in the air. Several seconds passed before he spoke. "There's no one else here; I'm sure of it. The droids are down and whoever was directing them fled." He deactivated his emerald-green lightsaber. "And they weren't here to kill; they were here to kidnap. They had enough firepower to take down all seven of you in the blink of an eye." Jacen waved his hand over the ten battle droids, broken and out of service, that littered the area. Each of them had four built-in blasters, for a total of forty.
"Those are the battle droids you were telling me about earlier, are they not?" Tenel Ka said. "Guerrica Imperial droids."
"Unless they were stolen by or sold to someone else, then yes. Someone in the Empire is after our daughter." He joined Tenel Ka in a protective hold around Kalare. "I don't know why, but I can make a guess on who. Desa, did you hear a woman?"
"I did," Desa affirmed.
"Then I would put my money on Princess Tathila - the Emperor's heiress."
"That makes no sense," Tenel Ka said. "She must know that the Consortium has no reason to engage her father's Empire in war, but an attack on the royal family is sufficient for us to back the Alliances with full support."
Jacen had only seen Tathila once, and it was long, long ago - when Tathila was only a small child, wandering freely around the Mistan Four station during the final day of his captivity there. But she was the daughter of Emperor Vexon, one of the two Sith Lords who had tortured him in their attempt to turn him to the Dark Side.
Desa was the daughter of the other one.
He probed Desa's mind. She could put up a powerful mental shield - and usually did - but he could slip inside of it easily, and he only read her emotions and surface thoughts before exiting from the intrusion. She was sincere, at least, still surprised about the attack, curious and worried, genuinely glad that Kalare was all right and upset that the handmaidens had died in her defense.
"I don't know what Tathila would want with Kalare," snapped Desa. "And the droids almost killed me." She rubbed at her sore neck.
"I'm sorry, Desa. I wouldn't have done that if I didn't need to." Jacen smiled apologetically at her, and didn't bring up the reason, the one they all knew. "Queen Mother, there might be a special reason the Emperor's daughter, and maybe the Emperor himself, are looking specifically for my child - which I don't understand, but it seems too coincidental given that I was his prisoner once to be unrelated to it. Otherwise, this attempted kidnapping was meant to weaken your family, in turn meaning that the Guerrica Empire plans to move into your territories also."
"In either case, all of the Hapan fleet, except what is minimally needed to patrol our own space, will go to Coruscant to prepare for the invasion."
At least something good came of this, thought Kalare, who felt almost safe there between her parents - but not quite. Not anymore. There were enough droids to have defeated the Queen before the guards now standing all through the maze arrived, and without her father, she would have been a prisoner of the droids and their Mistress. Who might have been the Imperial Princess.
Kalare shuddered and leaned her head on her mother's shoulder.
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Briman
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Date Posted:
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RE: The Droid Empress (Was: Crystal Clarity) Legacy Era. J/TK, Luke, Ben, others, OCs. Chapter 4 -10
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Whoa, those invisible droids are scary  Things are moving along good, you've set a good pace. Kalare is fast becoming one of my favorite characters, I do hope she stayed out of danger though. Good job, Ali, keep it coming.
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Date Posted:
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Subject:
The Droid Empress - Chapter Five: A Change In Plans
- Date Edited:
11/11/05 5:38pm (4 edits total)
Edited By:
AlisonC
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Here's Chapter Five. The original Chapter Five was longer, but I cut out the third part to rewrite it and that part will be Chapter Six. I promise that Ben will be showing up more in a few chapters, once the storyline gets back to Coruscant.
Chapter 5: A Change In Plans
Emperor Vexon's face, in grainy 2D resolution, filled the datapad-sized screen so completely that the only evidence of his location was the top two corners, which showed the lacquered walls of his private cabin on the Charybdis.
"Was your mission to Hapes successful?" he asked.
Wraithys forced herself to stop trembling. "Well... no, my Lord. We misjudged... ah, the power of the Jedi was underestimated. There were not three in the Palace, but four, and the Trooper droids were not strong enough."
"Four?" Vexon's face puckered and creased, and one eye squinted.
"The Jedi Master himself destroyed most of our warriors, greatly aided by the Queen Mother. Without him, victory would have been certain; the Hapan bodyguards of Princess Kalare could only bring down one of the droids, and another overpowered the Princess herself. Her Jedi guard was more of a worrisome fighter, but it still required only two Troopers to bring her to her knees. Four would have been the minimum to capture the Princess - were it not for Master Solo. Six droids are too much for the Queen Mother, but not for him."
Vexon regarded his daughter coolly. "This does make matters more difficult. You could not have known that he would arrive - although I wonder why you did not simply send a droid in with a thermal detonator to kill the Princess and her guards."
"I was baiting the Queen, my Lord. This error was mine and mine alone, and I apologize for this." Wraithys was sweating now. What if he discovered that she wanted Kalare to help her kill him? At least he was light-years away... "There is more that you should be aware of, my Lord. Kalare's Jedi guard - I saw her, and I felt a familiar presence in the Force when she was fighting. I believe she is the daughter of Darth Inferna. She looks much like the former Sith Lord, and her aura was almost the same."
Surprise finally showed in Vexon's yellow eyes. "Are you certain it wasn't her?"
"Very certain. She was far too young, and her hands were whole. Furthermore, I doubt that Inferna would have fought so badly. Did she not kill eight Yuuzhan Vong warriors by herself, during the invasion? And another Sith Lord?"
"Only three Yuuzhan Vong and one Sith Lord," said Vexon. "But this Jedi is not the problem, nor is the traitor Inferna, nor is the Queen Mother of Hapes. I will give you one more chance to kill the Princess. This is your last chance. I am sending the Halberd to you, one jump away from the border of Hapan space. Besides the living and droid crew, you will have two dozen DFB-class droids - Conquerors. Even if Master Solo is the incarnation of the Force itself, twenty-four Conquerors will leave him as a splash against the wall should he resist. Kill Kalare. I do not care what happens to the others." He frowned and broke eye contact with his daughter, then said, "Then again, it might matter."
Wraithys waited for him to explain himself, but first he pulled out the Merat Crystal again and lit it up. "Lord Merat, was Jedi Master Jacen Solo in the Queen's palace last night?"
Yes, if you mean by Hapan time at the palace. It would have been early afternoon here.
"Lord Merat, how many children does Tenel Ka have?"
I am uncertain what definition you are using. Ask me something else.
"Lord Merat, is Tenel Ka pregnant?"
Yes, she is, but by less than a day. I would not send a gift yet if I were you, lest you give away that you have access to some aspects of the past and future.
Vexon deactivated the crystal and turned his head back to the screen. "Wraithys, your mission has just changed. Kill Princess Kalare first. Then kill Queen Mother Tenel Ka. Last, kill Jedi Master Jacen Solo. All are dangerous but we have priorities. Notify me at once if the two Conqueror squadrons are not enough - with a very good explanation of why."
"It will be done as my Lord commands," said Wraithys, knowing even as she spoke that she had no intention of obeying orders. She accepted the coordinates of the Halberd's destination, then directed her two remaining droids to fly her shuttle to that location. She couldn't shake the thought that things were going from bad to worse and that she might have bitten off more than she could chew. Still, it was unlikely that Jacen would stay on Hapes for long, and no single-pilot ship could possibly hold off the Victory-class Star Destroyer, the Halberd. They'd leave him as a superheated gas cloud and return to the surface for the Queen and the Princess. If for some reason he had the Princess on board, however, she would have to capture the ship whole, but that was not a problem. All she really had needed was a better ship and more droids, and now she had them. Droid Troopers had midichlorian counts of merely 7,000, the low end for Jedi. Droid Conquerors possessed a heartier 11,000 in the cell-analogues underneath their armor; they took longer to produce and program, but almost nothing could stand against them if they were in groups. And unlike the DFA-class Droid Warlords at 15,000, many of whom had to be scrapped before release, the Conquerors still could be mass-produced and were remarkably stable, following orders without a single glitch.
And somewhere else, the specter of Lord Merat chuckled in his ethereal form, silently, knowing that even after death he could draw others toward chaos with nothing more than their thirst for power and words of truth.
The small blastboat called the Pulsar's Orbit lifted off from the docking bay and rose through the air, towards the nearly cloudless sky above the Hapan spaceport. Kalare stared out of the viewport, looking down at the reddish speck surrounded by black specks that was Tenel Ka, and her guards. Jacen wanted to stay longer and leave for Coruscant with the Battle Dragons, but there wasn't enough time; Luke insisted that he and Desa be present for the initial war briefing that would be the next morning and they had to leave immediately barring an emergency. Waiting for the fleet would mean that they'd be in hyperspace at the time of the meeting. Kalare would remain at the Academy for the next few weeks until a proper investigation could be conducted, determining if there was an Imperial plot to kidnap her or if someone was using Imperial personnel for their own purposes. The latter seemed very unlikely.
"I hope Master Luke has more information than we do," said Desa. "Because I worry that we're outnumbered."
"Droids don't do any better against bombs and starship lasers than the living do," Jacen said, without looking at her. Maneuvering the blastboat could be tricky, and he didn't want to turn away from the controls.
"These droids are Dark Jedi."
"That's only an illusion. It's not possible for something mechanical to manipulate the Force. I'm sure that when we get back to Coruscant there will be an explanation and a way to deal with them."
Desa gave Jacen a very brief nasty look. "There wasn't an explanation a week ago, Master Jacen. And those droids were choking me."
"I think Princess Tathila was there, somewhere, and it could have been her."
Kalare finally left the window and sat down in the co-pilot's chair. "Couldn't you feel her? I thought she was the Emperor's apprentice, and if she is, she would have to be very strong in the Force."
"I was distracted, Kalare." He smiled at her, but it was a weak smile, and then he sighed deeply and concentrated on the control panel. Desa strapped herself into her crash webbing and took a few deep breaths, clearing her mind. "Expecting trouble?"
"Not from your flying, Master Jacen, but I don't trust the Imperial Princess."
"Do you know something more that you haven't told us yet?"
"If I did, you could have gotten it out of me with your mind probes. Can't you let it go? I'm tired of people - people meaning a particular Master - not trusting me just because of what my mother was. Master Luke trusts me, and the Queen Mother trusts me, but you always think I'm hiding."
Jacen shook his head and didn't say anything for the first few seconds while the ship went through the cloud layer. "You do hide. I can't see your whole mind."
"That's because it's not there. You should know that when someone calls upon dark powers they lose a little bit of themselves. I was born that way. The Force that I touched first was dark."
"Then you should be more careful about falling back to the Dark Side. I can hear your anger."
They were all calmer when they managed to get into hyperspace without being challenged, and Desa and Kalare played a game of dejarik while Jacen started preparing a more complete report of the palace attack. Kalare played thoughtfully and calmly, and occasionally took small losses that appeared foolish, but goaded Desa into a position of having to defend too many areas and weakening on all of them. It was a close game, and uncertain who would win.
Then the ship shuddered, and the swirling starlines of hyperspace shot past and left behind only dots. "Why are we stopping?" asked Kalare. "There isn't a space station or planet with a spaceport here."
"We got pulled out of hyperspace." A single ship appeared on Jacen's screen, a starship of some kind. It was just under a kilometer long and had an older design.
Kalare saw it and gasped. "Father, that's a Star Destroyer!"
"I know. It looks like a Victory-class. Desa, Kalare... go to the gun turrets. Just to be safe." Gun turrets, safe. There's an oxymoron.
Kalare jumped out of her seat and crossed to the port side gunner seat while Desa went to the starboard station. Kalare had never actually fired an on-ship weapon before, although she had done so in simulators back at the Academy. She sat awkwardly in the swiveling chair that was a little bit too big for her, and strapped herself in as well as she was able. Her heart pounded and her harness shook, almost in time with it. The targeting computer picked up nothing of note, though, and the small screen above the firing sticks was clear of any red blips.
A female voice came over the comm system. "Unidentified ship, what are you doing here?"
"I was about to ask you the same thing," Jacen called back.
"I asked first and I have the larger ship."
"I am a gentleman, though, and the proper protocol is ladies go first."
"That is kind of you, but unfortunately we've already picked up your signals as a Skipray blastboat. This is the Halberd."
There was a long pause, and Kalare looked up to see Jacen sitting without a motion or a sound. She caught bursts of fear coming from him for a few seconds until he pushed them away, but now Kalare felt it, and she took longer to settle her breath into a slower rhythm.
Jacen gave his head a quick shake and spoke again. "I apologize, my lady, for not recognizing the name. I am Captain Anderos Tanick of the-"
"Then why are you flying the Pulsar's Orbit, registered to - let us pull this up from the data files - the Jedi Order? There is no Jedi named Anderos Tanick. Please lower your shields and turn off your sublight drives and prepare for boarding."
Jacen turned the comm system off and pulled hard on the ship's rudders, rolling it over. "Hold on tight, and if you see any starfighters, shoot them!" The blastboat twisted and turned, heading in a crooked line for the edge of the Star Destroyer's artificial gravity well. But no starfighters did eject from the ship, and instead, it slowly turned around, keeping the Pulsar's Orbit within reach, drawing it ever closer. There was nothing more they could do except wait. Kalare watched in horror as the Halberd loomed larger and larger through the windows.
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Sock of Eleventh_Guard
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Courtney_Solo
Registered:
May '05
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Date Posted:
10/18/05 12:24pm
Subject:
RE: The Droid Empress - Legacy Era. J/TK, Luke, Ben, others, OCs. Chapter 5 -10/17.
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Great update AlisonC!
*rolls eyes* Bree, you need to work HARD with this one, she's gonna be better than you...
pew-pew-pew
 For some reason, that cracked me up!
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"Look for me by moonlight, I'll come to thee by moonlight, Though hell should bar the way." - Alfred Noyes I'm not around anymore. Sorry, fellas.
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SilSolo
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Date Posted:
10/18/05 1:40pm
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RE: The Droid Empress - Legacy Era. J/TK, Luke, Ben, others, OCs. Chapter 5 -10/17.
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Nice fic. Mind PM'ing me when you update?
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