Jedi Council Forums - Beginning's End (Major AU: J/Tk, J/J, A/T, H/L, Luke/Tionne, Kyp/Inyri, Chewie) Chapter 8 3/1

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Author	Topic: Beginning's End (Major AU: J/Tk, J/J, A/T, H/L, Luke/Tionne, Kyp/Inyri, Chewie) Chapter 8 3/1
rebel_cheese Registered: Jul '06	Date Posted: 9/22/06 5:14pm Subject: Beginning's End (Major AU: J/Tk, J/J, A/T, H/L, Luke/Tionne, Kyp/Inyri, Chewie) Chapter 8 3/1 - Date Edited: 3/1/07 2:23pm (25 edits total) Edited By: rebel_cheese
	I am likely making a big mistake by posting this, but I can't resist. The plot bunny attacked me a couple of days ago like the Monty Python killer rabbit. Stupid pointy teeth . . . so sharp shudders Anyway, here's the summary and DP. I've got no idea how often I'll update. Beginning's End Setting: Virtually everywhere in the galaxy Timeframe: 26 ABY, Major AU Genres: Action, Adventure, Angst, Drama, Mush, Mystery Characters: J/Tk, J/J, K/I, H/L, A/T, Luke/Tionne, Corran/Mirax, Raynar/Eyrl, Zekk/OC, Chewbacca, Mara, Lando, Talon, Shada, Danni, Eelysa, Saba, Krasov, Tesar, Bela, Alema, Nelani, okay, pretty much everybody ( ), plus OCs. Summary: The Yuuzhan Vong made their move in 15 ABY. Now everyone's lives have been turned upside down eleven years later. Jacen Solo is a street urchin who's in love with a princess on a Coruscant razed by perpetual war. Jaina Solo, who believes her entire family is dead, fights alongside Luke, striving for revenge. Han leads guerrilla raids with Lando, Mara, Talon, and Chewbacca, and struggles to keep his marriage intact. Leia tries to live the life of a simple moisture farmer on Tatooine and raises Anakin by herself. And, meanwhile, the Yuuzhan Vong, under the command of their mysterious Supreme Overlady, search for a way to finish the final resisting infidels off . . . Disclaimer: I own nothing, GL does, the usual thing. Someday, I will, though! I will! (Yeah, right .) Dramatis Personae: Ackbar: Galactic Alliance Supreme Commander (male Mon Calamari) Alema Rar: urchin (female Twi'lek) Anakin Solo: moisture farmer's apprentice, Podracer (male human) Arturo Cunner: Jedi Knight (male human) Bartus Meredin: urchin (male human) Bela Hara: Jedi Knight (female Barabel) Ben Skywalker: newborn (male human) Booster Terrik: resistance fighter (male human) C-3PO: protocol droid Cherith Fel: Spike Squadron leader (female human) Chewbacca(male Wookiee) Cilghal: Jedi Master (female Mon Calamari) Corran Horn: Jedi Master (male human) Czulkang Lah: warlord (male Yuuzhan Vong) Danni Quee-Skywalker: Jedi Knight/scientist, Luke's adopted daughter (female human) Deign Lian: warrior (male Yuuzhan Vong) Derek (Hobbie) Klivian: Raven Squadron leader (male human) Dorsk 82: Jedi Knight (genderless Khommite) Eelysa: Jedi Master (female human) Elegos A'Kla: Chief of State (male human) Eryl Besa: urchin (female human) Finita: Supreme Overlady (female Yuuzhan Vong) Ganner Rhysode: Jedi Knight (male human) Garm Bel Iblis: New Republic admiral (male human) Gavin Darklighter: Rogue Squadron pilot (male human) Gilad Pellaeon: admiral, Imperial Remnant (male human) Han Solo: captain, Millennium Falcon, resistance fighter (male human) Harrar: priest (male Yuuzhan Vong) Iella Wessari-Antilles: Intelligence Broker (female human) Ikrit: Jedi Master watching over Anakin (male unknown) Inyri Forge: Rogue Squadron leader (female human) Isolder Chume-Djo: King Consort, Hapes Exilium (male human) Jacen Solo: urchin (male human) Jaden Korr: Jedi Knight (male human) Jaina Solo: Jedi Knight (female human) Jagged Fel: Spike Squadron pilot (male human) Jeremie Yesseri: urchin (male human) Jysella Horn: toddler (female human) Kam Solusar: Jedi Master watching over Anakin (male human) Kari Skywalker: child (female human) Kenth Hamner: Jedi Master (male human) Keyan Farlander: Jedi Master, rear-admiral (male human) Krasov Hara: Jedi Knight (female Barabel) Krisin Aederov: urchin (male human) Kyle Katarn: Jedi Master (male human) Kyp Durron: Jedi Master, Kyp's Dozen leader (male human) Lando Calrissian: resistance fighter (male human) Leia Organa Solo: moisture farmer, resistance helper (female human) Lowbacca: Jedi Knight (male Wookiee) Luke Skywalker: Jedi Grand Master (male human) Lusa: Jedi Knight/scientist (female Centaur) Malik Carr: commander (male Yuuzhan-Vong) Malinza Thanas-Skywalker: resistance fighter, Luke's adopted daughter (female human) Mara Jade: Jedi Knight (female human) Mezhan Kwaad: shaper (male Yuuzhan Vong) Mirax Horn: urchin overseer (female human) Nas Choka: warlord (male Yuuzhan Vong) Nelani Dinn: urchin (female human) Nem Yim: shaper (female Yuuzhan Vong) Nom Anor: executor (male Yuuzhan Vong) Numa Rar: urchin (female Twi'lek) Octa Ramis: Jedi Knight (female human) Peckhum: scavenger (male human) R2-D2: astromech droid Raynar Thul: urchin (male human) River Ulric: urchin (female human) Saba Sebatyne: Jedi Knight (female Barabel) Shada D'ukol: resistance fighter (female human) Shedao Shai: commander (male Yuuzhan Vong) Tahiri Veila: helper on Leia's plantation, Anakin's crew chief (female human) Tam Azur-Jamin: Jedi Knight (male Duros) Tannus: scientist (male Centaur) Tekli: Jedi healer (female Chadra-Fan) Tendra Calrissian: resistance fighter (female human) Tenel Ka Chume-Djo: princess of Hapes Exilium (female human) Teneniel Chume-Djo: Queen of Hapes Exilium (female human) Tesar Sebatyne: Jedi Knight (male Barabel) Tionne Skywalker: Jedi Master and teacher (female human) Tra'est Kre'fey: admiral (male Bothan) Tresk Im'nal: Jedi Master (male Bothan) Tsaak Vootuh: commander (male Yuuzhan Vong) Tsavong Lah: warmaster (male Yuuzhan Vong) Tycho Celchu: rear-admiral (male human) Ulaha Kore: Jedi Knight/scientist (female Bith) Valin Horn: urchin (male human) Vergere: Tsavong Lah's familiar (female Fosh) Wedge Antilles: admiral (male human) Yomin Carr: warrior (male Yuuzhan Vong) Zekk: urchin (male human) ~~PM List~~ G_Anakin padawanlost ShadowcatX-Men Kidan Flowerlady NYCitygurl voxynking RK_Striker_JK_5 jaina_clan_solo ChildofWinds Jedi-Ant Edit: I do have a beta for this story now. A big thank-you to NYCitygurl for her assistance. She has/will beta everything from Chapter 2 onwards. Chapter 1 was self-betaed. -----signature----- Padawan of princess_of_naboo E-married to the amazing padawanlost Member of Charon_Force The Incubus Cries: http://boards.theforce.net/beyond_the_saga/b10477/30141520/p1/?18
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rebel_cheese Registered: Jul '06	Date Posted: 9/22/06 5:19pm Subject: RE: Beginning's End (Major AU: J/Tk, J/J, A/T, H/L, Luke/Tionne, Kyp/Inyri) Start 9/22 - Date Edited: 11/1/06 7:32pm (4 edits total) Edited By: rebel_cheese
	1 The planet of Naboo had become yet another battleground in the seemingly endless war. Living ships entangled themselves with the metallic contraptions used by their enemies. Lights blasted back and forth throughout the gigantic vessels, as starfighters, and their invader counterpart, coralskippers, flew all around this fleet battle. Defense platforms burned, as they were little more than still targets for the invaders. Luke Skywalker hurled himself into this madness. The XJ2 X-wing, a brand-new starfighter that had just rolled off the assembly lines at Sullust, responded to his commands perfectly. "Artoo, you have a reading of the Dozen and Rogues?" he asked his faithful counterpart as he lead his twelve-man squadron into the heart of the battle. A nearby ship, belonging to the Yuuzhan Vong, split in half and vanished into an immense fireball that expanded only outward, before the fires quickly died. The closest flares halt close, but not dangerously so, to Luke's squadron. The squadron flew by, leaving the ship to die in piece. The Dozen is busy making everything a mess. Artoo's message scrawled across Luke's black message screen in green letters. "I know that. I'm asking on a reading where they are," Luke clarified. In front of him, a pair of E-wing were being chased by coralskippers, heading directly up in front of him. Using the Force as a guidance, he fired the moment he sensed the voids flying in front of him. Red bolts fired from the X-wing's four cannons. Two coralskippers were immediately clothslined by the fire and both blew into fiery chunks. Luke and his squadron followed through the wreckage a moment later, the chunks of yorik coral imploding on the XJs' shielding. "They're everywhere!" a Jedi named Miko Reglia moaned over the com. as Luke saw they had stumbled into the middle of a vast starfighter battle inbetween seven ships, three allied, four belonging to the Yuuzhan Vong. Luke immersed into the Force, and searched for a way through this mess of fighters shooting and destroying all around him. Within seconds, he saw one. "Twin Suns, follow me. I see a way out!" he orders, and he forced the yoke hard left, spinning the X-wing left-and-down, and he accelerated through the battle, as golden-scarlet explosions, white allied starfighters, and dark-green coralskippers all flashed by him. He searched throughout the battle meld, and finds his wife, standing confident inside the Starchaser. Luke smiled at her comforting presence. Don't worry, I'm fine. Ulaha, Danni, Lusa and I are taking care of everything, she answered to Luke's thoughts of worry. When will the jammer begin working? When it does. Danni swears she got it right this time, she responded. I hope so. Suddenly, Luke pulled the yoke back and spiraled through a series of explosions on all sides. Yuuzhan Vong magma streaks and Republic green and red lasers criss-crossed inbetween the starfighter battle, blowing so many into coral and metal shreds yet still continuing on with only a minor loss in charge. "Aw, man, I don't like this," Ganner Rhysode said over the com. "Cut the chatter. Luke knows what he's doing," Octa Ramis growled. Luke sighed. The Jedi had somehow managed to increase their small numbers somewhat during the eleven years of war, but few, if any of these people could be considered true Jedi Knights by the Old Jedi Order standards. Rushed training, understanding only a moderate respect of the Force-it was a wonder why as many Jedi lived as they did. Especially when so many died on a daily basis . . . They had come ten years ago. These creatures called the Yuuzhan Vong. They had attacked in the midst the Yevetha crisis. Suddenly, Republic, Imperial, and Yevetha all found themselves desperately fighting an invader with much greater power. The Vong had made several raids at the exterior of the Outer Rim, near Dubrillion, Dantooine, and Bimmel for two years before they suddenly struck with all of their fury, catching the Imperials and the Republic off guard. The Praetorate Vong, they were called back then. It wasn't until recently their real name had been discovered. And then they never stopped coming. For every Vong that was killed another took its place. There seemed to be no end to them, and Luke couldn't help but wonder how. How could this race ferry trillions of people cross-galaxy like they had? And why. Why did they choose to attack instead of asking for shelter and refuge? Questions whose answers he doubted he would ever know. Coruscant was locked in a stalemate right now, had been for six years. Many Core worlds had fallen by now, and more seemed to become occupied by the day. And now the Vong looked to expand beyond the Inner Rim, which they had universally conquered. They were coming to rush one of the few power centers in the New Republic, Naboo. Luke would not let them get any farther than this. To let them past Naboo meant that the Vong would be at the border of the Mid Rim and the Outer Rim-and would be ever closer to Endor. Where the new Jedi Council headquarters were. He wasn't going to let anyone else threaten his students . . . or anyone else, for that matter. He felt a furious, burning presence within the meld-Jaina Solo. He felt her swirling emotions, seething anger, and frothing hate spoiling the pure eddy the Jedi meld was supposed to be. She was such an angry young woman, Luke knew, and a person he would need to watch. She was dangerously close to tipping over to the dark side-and to suffering. Fading memories of the twin she had barely known remained in her head, and she fought to hold on to whatever faded, rubbed images remained. Her once brandy-brown eyes had transformed into a dark color, almost like whiskey. Almost like pupils-and-white without an iris in her eyes. Jaina's voice always sounded wounded, and now it was a half-sob, half-hiss as her voice entered the channel. "Uncle, are we just gonna fly around all day or are you going to let us shoot something?" "We need to link back up with the Starchaser, Jaina. Our mission today is protection. We need to make sure the yammosk jammer will work," Luke reminded calmly, remembering he had once been an angry young man himself. Still, he had never stradled the dark side like Jaina did. "I can't see a way outta here!" Miko wailed. "Patience, Miko. Just follow our line and we'll make through it," Luke reassured. Reaching through the currents of the Force, he suddenly saw when. "Now! Twin Suns pull up! And open fire!" he ordered. As he turned the X-wing up, right as they finished passing under a Republic Star Destroyer, six coralskippers were starting a strafing run. Luke had perfectly set his squadron up for interception. Blasting away, the squadrons annhiliated the two Yuuzhan Vong trios, and as they became little more than molten coral as the squadron flew by, and then Luke saw the Starchaser. The magnificent vessel, the only one of its kind, had been assembled on Naboo itself. It had adopted the sleek shape of classic Naboo cruisers, only it was smaller, and far more heavily armed. It gleamed a pure silver all the way around, and was designed specifically for speed. Green bolts flew out of the Starchaser's port and aft guns, firing at a coralskipper. The coralskipper dodged the bolts, but was vaporized a moment later when Luke stepped in, firing all out. The coralskipper was little more than a whiff of flame when Luke heard his wife's voice over the meld: Thanks. I was wondering when you'd show up. Anytime, Tionne. Luke suddenly was distracted a moment later, as a Vong destroyer came into view. Then he heard Tionne urge Danni Now! Luke expected something to happen immediately, but the status quo remained, as the destroyer loomed larger in front of the Starchaser. Should something have happened? he asked. We won't know for a few more seconds . . . then Luke felt Tionne turn her attention elsewhere for a moment. Tionne had once been a songstress, extraordinarily gifted at composing songs and had a uplifting, strong, clear voice for singing. She still hadn't lost that voice that had endeared her to Luke during the Second Yuuzhan Vong Campaign, back before they were a serious threat. It was a waiting game, now. Now the Republic remnants would only have to hold steady for a few more minutes. Minutes, Luke sensed, that he wasn't sure the Republic had. But that was all he could do right now. Wait . . . and hope. * * * It all started with a bang loud enough to shake him from sleep. The six-year-old is thrown out of bed by a massive shockwave that knocked him to the floor. A strange, booming noise rang in his ears. He stumbles to his feet, only to be knocked down again by the unending earthquake. He hears footsteps running towards him, and looks up, as a door is slammed open. It is his mother, wearing a white dress. She holds her hand over her chest for a moment, relieved that he still lives. "Jacen, wake up! Hurry!" she urges, grabbing clothes that had fallen out of his closet and shoving them into his hands. "We don't have time to stay here! Quick, get dressed while I get Anakin up!" Jacen sways a few times, and reaches for one of the endposts on his bed and places his left hand on there to steady himself. His right hand rubs his eyes, and he fights to keep his eyes open, as he hears his mother's fast footsteps, too quick to be 'walking', yet too slow to be 'running', echo in the hallway outside. That was when he hears it. The explosions outside. Loud rumbles off in the distance, slight tremors even right now. Loud, whooshing noises resonate in the sky above. He has never heard anything so loud in his life. It terrifies him. He throws on the clothes his mother had given him, and just as he finished, the power goes out. All is shrouded in darkness. He hates the darkness. He sees thin white lines of light around the borders of the shuttered window. Without thinking, he walks over to it, and opens the blinds, unfolding them and raising them. And then he doesn't stop. He raises the blinds to the absolute top, far more than they were needed. He stresses the blinds, and his eyes widen at the sight. His hands become clammy, they sweat, and shake. This is when Jacen Solo learns what fear is. As he sees the fires below him, and incinerated top floors of so many other skyscrapers. In the distance, an image of a smoking tower, fire embedded in its top floors, freezes him in place. There had been a twin assembled to its left. It is not there. Nothing has taken its place. And the grey smoke and ash rushes towards him like a nightmare wave, threatening to smother him. He backs away, and regains enough control of his senses that he slams the blinds down, backs away from the window, up until he slams into a hard, bony substance behind him. Startled, he whirls around, to find his father standing there. He has activated two flashlights. His older, jagged face is all planes and angles in the light. Suddenly, one of them is extinguished, but then Jacen finds himself holding one of the flashlights, and it's still on, shining through the open doorway and into the hall. "Jacen, it's all right. That's not going to happen to you," his father says, and then bends down to Jacen's level, his face calm. His big hands grip Jacen's shoulders. "Come on, Jacen. It's time for us to get out of here. Chewie's already got Jaina ready. They're by the stairwell to our left, go join them. I'm going to help your mother with Anakin." His little brother. He looks around, but doesn't see him, nor the gigantic Wookiee or his twin sister. Outside, he continues to hear the chaos of aerial battle, and explosions devestating all towers. He hears things crumble, shatter, collapse, crash. Now that something resembling rationality has entered Jacen, he knows what is happening. They are under attack. At Coruscant itself. Now the capital world, the ultimate fortress, is no longer safe. Struggling to come to terms with the impending death and occupation of this wondrous, peaceful, almost fairy-tale world, Jacen walks outside, and sees his father running the other direction, towards his mother and Anakin. Jacen glances once at his father's retreating form, and then hears a calling roar behind him. It is his friend, the Wookiee. Chewbacca. Turning around, he sees his twin sister, and the Wookiee, all the way down the hall. Jaina shouts "Hurry up, wampa-bait!" as Chewbacca forces her down the stairwell, and motions for Jacen to run over, adding a forceful clamor to his powerful voice. Jacen finally, unquestionably, runs over to Chewbacca, but as he does, he suddenly hears a low rumble out of them. Suddenly, a whoosh, then glass breaking, then a massive thunderclap that makes Jacen slip and fall down the stairs, crashing into his sister. Jaina shouts and cries in pain, and he does too. Looking up, he sees the Wookiee let out a small, stunned whimper. Chewie takes one step forward, and suddenly, smoke. Black, charcoal smoke billows into the Wookiee, and Chewbacca, coughing as he stumbles down the stairs, his fur tinged with the color of the smoke now. That is when Jacen hears the cracking of flames. And sees the direction where they came. In the direction of his mother. Father. Anakin. His voice, weak, stunned, cracking, he askes for all three of them before Chewie's powerful hands grab both Jacen and Jaina and carry them both down the stairwell. His voice grows stronger. Suddenly, he begins screaming, wailing for them, as the Wookiee charges down the stairwell, heading down, down, down, and down some more, until they finally escape the building. And then all Jacen can see an inferno all around him, a living hell, as people scream, bleed, die in the streets. And they reverberate in him, the images sear his eyes, and he knows he will never forget. Never . . . * * * "Jacen?" a small voice suddenly asked, startling Jacen Solo from sleep. Jacen suddenly jolted upright, his chest tightened, his heart beating so hard he could hear each thump-thump like there was a timponi drum inside his chest. Grabbing his chest, he felt drops of liquid pour off of him. Sweat. He felt like he had been in a saltwater shower. Looking to his right, he saw a small girl, with dark, straight, raven-colored hair, standing next to him by the bed. Her grey eyes looked blank, cloudy, vacant, but Jacen knows this girl is anything but. "All you all right? You were screaming," Nelani Dinn asked simply. Her voice, while the average voice of an eight-year-old like herself, was darker, more weighted. And her eyes . . . they were decades older than the rest of her. There was little, if any, innocence left in this child anymore. "Just a nightmare," Jacen managed, grabbing his aching, pounding forehead. He could still feel the pounding of his heart, in his ears, in his head, in his chest. Trying to take deep breaths, but instead making short, interrupted gasps, he attempts to relax, but fails and falls backwards onto the makeshift bed. "You were screaming . . . for your Mom and Dad. It was . . . that nightmare again, wasn't it?" Nelani asked. "Perceptive. Give the girl a prize, she guessed correctly! Now leave me alone. Who sent you anyway?" Jacen snapped, looking at Nelani's eyes. Small tears came to Nelani's grey, cloudy eyes. "No one did . . . I came here by myself. Because I actually care about you! Even if you don't care about yourself!" and then she took off out of the room, tripping over a long-broken mirror stand laying strewn in front of the door. Falling forward, she landed on the ground, scrambled to her feet, and ran down the hallway, sobbing. Jacen laid back, and stared at the dusty grey, cracked ceiling above him. It is the dead of night currently, and all he could hear was silence, other than Nelani's fading sobs. Sighing, he got back onto his feet. There was little choice, here. Nelani was the moodiest child he had ever met, albeit perhaps the most useful. No other person in existence could detect the Yuuzhan Vong. She could feel them . . . because for a time, she almost was one of them. And then Jacen realized what he was thinking. He was thinking of Nelani as a machine, an item to use. Nelani was anything but a machine, and Jacen realized what he had done. Rising out of bed, he looks out the shattered window, at the desolate cityscape. Where skyscrapers had once stood there was only rubble. Bars, stores, all vacant. Airspeeders lay crashed, abandoned, cannabalized, useless in the street. A grey overcast sky covered the above, and malevolent Yuuzhan Vong plantlife began to strangle the technology Jacen had once known so well. Death. That was all he could see here. His death, his compatriots' deaths, his love's death . . . no, he scolded himself. He would not think of her as a dead woman. As yet another corpse strewn across one of the Republic compounds. Jacen had seen far too many people dead inside those compounds, rotting, decomposing in the days after the Yuuzhan Vong and the once-pures came. The Vong were ferocious, definitely. They killed without mercy. They took, few, if any prisoners, and most of the people they took were teenagers and children. The adults were mercilessly slaughtered as a whole, or when they were taken prisoner they were sacrificed in some strange ritual. And then the children . . . that would return years later, as the once-pures, who were even more fanatical and truculent than the Vong ever were. Jacen had seen it all. The full and complete inhumanity of it . . . of everything, really. And, in a fashion, Nelani was a once-pure herself, she wasn't entirely human because of what the Vong had done to her . . . Jacen thanked whatever deity must exist for allowing him to save this girl. And, seemingly in return, Nelani had saved his little gang on occasion as well, because of her ability to sense the Vong, something no one in any street gang or compound had. Jacen left the window and continued down the decrypt hallway. Marshwood boards, forming the foundations of the walls, stuck out at jagged, random angles. A warm, seemingly unnatural breeze wifted throughout this hallway, blowing, howling through the worn gaps in the walls. In the large remnant of a living room next to him, the majority of Jacen's little group slept on their provisional, temporary beds. Eryl Besa was the eldest in the group, at nineteen. Her green eyes were closed peacefully, her messy, unconforming red hair sprawled all over her pillow. Raynar Thul, whose once-pudgy face has hardened over the two years since Jacen had rescued him from a compound that had just fallen to the Vong. The boy who would only go by the name 'Zekk', who had been Jacen's wingman since Jacen had come here. Bartus Meredin, a bulky kid who served as Jacen's brawn. And then there was River Ulric, the gang's longtime sniper who was currently serving as the watch. This wasn't their home. It would never be. The closest thing any of these vagabonds had for a home was about a day's walk from here. They had marched for two days to their destination, and were now at the halfway point on their way back. Four days was an uncomfortably long time, though, especially since Home had no real way of detecting the Vong without Nelani there. The walk to that Bothan gang had been worth the risk, though. Inside Jacen's pockets medicine for one of the girls back at Home rattled. It was well worth trading some basic food provisions, and agreeing to an alliance, in exchange for the medicine, considering who the recipient would be. Father Corran would be happy. And as Jacen approached the corner of the wide room, there was Nelani, her raven-haired head buried inside River's chest, sobbing. River's ice-colored eyes stared at Jacen, and they made him want to shiver uncontrollably. River was eighteen, blonde-haired, and motherly in every sense of the word, right down to how ferocious she could be when defending children. Well-fit for being Nelani's bodyguard. "What did you say to her, Jacen?" River asked, her eyes glittering fiercely in the half-light of this forlorn place. Nelani continued to gently sob in River's arms, and Jacen's heart fell. He hadn't meant to hurt Nelani this badly. He hadn't meant to hurt her at all. This had been . . . an accident. "I was . . . a little rough on her for waking me up. I was having one of the nightmares again," Jacen said, looking away, not wanting to stare into River's harsh eyes anymore. "Yeah. I heard you screaming all the way down here. I'm surprised you didn't wake everyone up," River responded morosely, cuddling Nelani softly in her hands. Her sniper rifle was slung over her left shoulder. "Here, Nelani. I think Jacen has something to say to you," River said to Nelani, and turned her around to face Jacen. Jacen stared into Nelani's clouded eyes, where her clear tears continued to pour out off, and sighed. "Nelani, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to snap at you like that. Thank you . . . for getting me up and stopping the whole thing." he said. Nelani sniffed and replied, her voice broken, succulent, "Okay. I . . . won't bother you again, okay?" "No" Jacen said, a little loudly and forcefully. Nelani froze in place, her eyes wide in shock. "When I'm screaming like that, I want you to wake me up. And it doesn't matter what I say to you after you get me up. I'm grateful, all right? The less time I have with the nightmares the better." Nelani nodded slowly, and her right hand rubbed a few of her tears away from her eyes. Jacen bent down to her level, and robbed her forehead, a smile appearing on his face. As he felt Nelani's trio of scars, though, the grin faded, especially as he spoke. "And I know what I have is nowhere near as bad as yours. You're a strong girl, Nelani. Stronger than all of us are in some ways. You're tough, tougher than Bartus, even." Jacen hugged Nelani briefly, letting her head burrow in his own chest for a moment, and wrapped Nelani tightly for a moment, before letting go and placing his hands on her shoulders. "Now let's have a good night's sleep, all right? If you need anything just ask River or me, all right?" "Okay." The response wasn't as vigorious as Jacen wanted, but at least she was accepting his apology, and his words. Jacen looked up, and saw River smiling for once, and River nodded encouragingly. "All right, let's go to bed. Go stay by River, all right?" Jacen asked. "Sure." Nelani left Jacen and ran over to River, and crawled in a small, yet cavernous space in the wall, right next to River. There a small blanket and pillow had been placed, and Nelani crawled into it. As Jacen turned around and left, he heard Nelani ask "Do you care about yourself?" Jacen stopped. Do I? Considering that he was the leader of this group, and that he was looked up to, and that for once he had found someone he could love, his life actually had meaning now. And if he cared for others, he would have to care for himself, because who would care for these people if he died or wasted away? "Yes." he said aloud. "Yes I do. But everyone else comes before me," Jacen responded. "Good." And then Jacen heard the shuffling of covers and a soft sigh as Nelani forced herself to relax and actually sleep. Just as Jacen began to walk away, he heard "She likes you, you know." Jacen turned around and saw River walking over to him, her sniper rifle slung behind her. River was smiling now, and looked a lot more cheerful, despite her tired eyes. "You're like a brother to her. She needs you as much as all of us need her." "Yeah. I know that," Jacen replied, scratching an itch on his neck as he spoke. River folded her arms and said "Then act like it, okay? All Nelani wants is to be loved .. . . she remembers what the Vong did to her, and her family's long gone. We have to show her what it's like to be happy. To have a family. And if we do that . . . when this war finally ends Nelani can have the life she deserves." "If the war ends. Seems pretty endless to me," Jacen responded, looking over River's shoulder and towards the now-dozing Nelani. The girl had been so exhausted she had fallen asleep almost instantly upon contact with the blanket and pillow. "It'll end someday. I know it will," River said resolutely. Unlike everyone else here, River still had faith, however misplaced in Jacen's opinion, that the war would end before she died. Jacen was still finding out for himself whether he considered such thoughts either absurd optimism or sanguine hope. He wasn't sure what he would decide for himself before he met his inevitable end on the streets. "Maybe." Jacen looked outside, past one of the holes in the walls that allowed him to glimpse the outside, with only a marshwood board obscuring the wrecked skyline. "I hope it does." That sentiment was true, at least. Everyone would universally agree with that. "Let's go to bed. Got a long day ahead," Jacen said simply, and he turned away from the hole, from River, and walked towards his bed. Perhaps thoughts of the princess would occupy his dreams tonight, and he would not have to relive another image from the past . . . Jaina . . . wherever you are, I hope you're doing better than me. I truly do, Jacen thought. Perhaps there was some use for hope after all. -----signature----- Padawan of princess_of_naboo E-married to the amazing padawanlost Member of Charon_Force The Incubus Cries: http://boards.theforce.net/beyond_the_saga/b10477/30141520/p1/?18
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G__Anakin Registered: Apr '06	Date Posted: 9/22/06 5:23pm Subject: RE: Beginning's End (Major AU: J/Tk, J/J, A/T, H/L, Luke/Tionne, Kyp/Inyri) Chapter 1 Up 9/22 - Date Edited: 9/22/06 7:02pm (1 edits total) Edited By: G__Anakin
	PM's please Is Tahiri still an orphan? -----signature----- Master to tahiriveilax - - - My fanfic - - - Fate of the Jedi - Abyss : http://boards.theforce.net/beyond_the_saga/b10477/30246540/p1/ Yeah, I used the real title for the next book. Beware Omen Spoilers.
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padawanlost Registered: Apr '06	Date Posted: 9/22/06 11:45pm Subject: RE: Beginning's End (Major AU: J/Tk, J/J, A/T, H/L, Luke/Tionne, Kyp/Inyri, Chewie) Chapter 1 Up 9
	Wow, as if you didn't already have some major fic's going, this may trump them all. Great start. I love the divergent path's that you've set everyone on. I can't wait to see how they pull together. I love the opposite reactions of the twins to their loss- very true to character, back then anyway. And Anakin and Chewie are still alive- even better. I wanna see Chewie rip a Vong's arm out of its socket (please!). I'd love to get PM's when you decide to share more of this with us. Bravo! -----signature----- Proud member of Charon Force. Check out our NJO AU: http://boards.theforce.net/beyond_the_saga/b10477/27537567/p1/?23
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ShadowcatX-men Registered: Jun '06	Date Posted: 9/23/06 10:32am Subject: RE: Beginning's End (Major AU: J/Tk, J/J, A/T, H/L, Luke/Tionne, Kyp/Inyri, Chewie) Chapter 1 Up 9
	can i also get a pm? This is really good. Cat -----signature----- "You see Jaina once you let it in, the darkside is like a disease for which there is no cure." Zekk to Jaina member of The Barefoot Squadron padwan of NYCitygurl
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Kidan Title: TFN EU Staff Registered: Jul '03	Date Posted: 9/23/06 10:35am Subject: RE: Beginning's End (Major AU: J/Tk, J/J, A/T, H/L, Luke/Tionne, Kyp/Inyri, Chewie) Chapter 1 Up 9
	Wow! That was great rebel_Cheese. And I can't wait for more...I really do hope we get to see Anakin and Tahiri here... Like I said, really, really great job and a fun read as well. Please add me to the PM List!! -----signature----- You sadistic Yank!! - McEwok http://www.TheExpandedUniverse.com Don't blame me, I voted for Ron Paul
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rebel_cheese Registered: Jul '06	Date Posted: 9/23/06 10:41am Subject: RE: Beginning's End (Major AU: J/Tk, J/J, A/T, H/L, Luke/Tionne, Kyp/Inyri, Chewie) Chapter 1 Up 9 - Date Edited: 9/23/06 10:52am (7 edits total) Edited By: rebel_cheese
	What do you know? I'm answering early for a change! G_Anakin: PM's please Okay, you're on it. I'll create the list shortly. Is Tahiri still an orphan? No, actually. Her parents are hired hands working at Leia's moisture farm. Wait until you find out how this happened. It'll probably be in chapter three. Thanks for reading. I know the DP is intimidating but I actually do have a plan. padawanlost: Wow, as if you didn't already have some major fic's going, this may trump them all. That's the plan. This story is meant to trump everything else I've written. Great start. I love the divergent path's that you've set everyone on. I can't wait to see how they pull together. It'll take some time but I promise you everything will be threaded together nice and tight by fic's end. I love the opposite reactions of the twins to their loss- very true to character, back then anyway. And Anakin and Chewie are still alive- even better. I wanna see Chewie rip a Vong's arm out of its socket (please!). Yup. Glad I nailed the twins down. Maybe a certain clawcraft pilot will give Jaina some healing, too. As for Chewie . . . yeah, I hope he tears some arms outta Vong sockets soon too. I will guarentee bowcaster action, too. I'd love to get PM's when you decide to share more of this with us. Sure! I hope to have something up by the beginning of October. Bravo! Thank you very much. I hope I can keep the pace going. ShadowcatX-Men: can i also get a pm? This is really good. Cat Okay. Glad you enjoyed the opener. Thanks for reading. Kidan: Wow! That was great rebel_Cheese. Thank you. For something of a rush job that turned out really well . . . And I can't wait for more...I really do hope we get to see Anakin and Tahiri here... There'll be A/T, that I can promise. Plenty of it, actually. Like I said, really, really great job and a fun read as well. Please add me to the PM List!! Sure, Kidan. Thank you very much for reading. I'll update it as often as I can. Maybe chapter 2 will be up earlier than when I'm saying. We'll just have to wait and see. -----signature----- Padawan of princess_of_naboo E-married to the amazing padawanlost Member of Charon_Force The Incubus Cries: http://boards.theforce.net/beyond_the_saga/b10477/30141520/p1/?18
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rebel_cheese Registered: Jul '06	Date Posted: 9/27/06 6:18pm Subject: RE: Beginning's End (Major AU: J/Tk, J/J, A/T, H/L, Luke/Tionne, Kyp/Inyri, Chewie) Chapter 1 Up 9 - Date Edited: 9/27/06 6:19pm (1 edits total) Edited By: rebel_cheese
	Getting to work on 2. It'll likely be a lot shorter than 1, though. Same with the rest of this fic until I get one of my other WIPs finished. -----signature----- Padawan of princess_of_naboo E-married to the amazing padawanlost Member of Charon_Force The Incubus Cries: http://boards.theforce.net/beyond_the_saga/b10477/30141520/p1/?18
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Ars_longa Registered: Mar '04	Date Posted: 9/28/06 5:24am Subject: RE: Beginning's End (Major AU: J/Tk, J/J, A/T, H/L, Luke/Tionne, Kyp/Inyri, Chewie) Chapter 1 Up 9
	This seems to be an exceptionally promising beginning. Very well written and clearly equally well thought through. I hope you'll continue and I hope, since Kyp is amongst first characters mentioned, we'll see a lot of him? A. -----signature----- For me Star Wars without Kyp Durron do not exist. Hey, Lucas & Co! I'm serious! http://www.livejournal.com/community/kyp_durron_fic/ - the community for my fiction and all Kyp-related things at LJ. Come and join. We're a friendly bunch of fiends.
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Flowerlady Registered: Dec '05	Date Posted: 9/28/06 7:40pm Subject: RE: Beginning's End (Major AU: J/Tk, J/J, A/T, H/L, Luke/Tionne, Kyp/Inyri, Chewie) Chapter 1 Up 9
	Wow, this is exceptional I love the whole different approach you've taken to the Vong War... And Luke with Tionne... ...I like it... I never liked Calista and although I love Mara, I like to see Luke get some variety as well... But I really like what you've done with the Solo twins...Poor Jacen... and I really like Naleni. Great start... And may I please have a PM... FL -----signature----- Master to DanaeMariSkywalker, JediMasterArmada and PHGS_Weyr All WIP's on hiatus.... website: http://www.authorswe.webs.com/ Thank you to all that believe in me...Love ya!
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NYCitygurl Title: Manager of SFFBC, C&G, NSWFF, and Icons Registered: Jul '02	Date Posted: 10/11/06 10:24am Subject: RE: Beginning's End (Major AU: J/Tk, J/J, A/T, H/L, Luke/Tionne, Kyp/Inyri, Chewie) Chapter 1 Up 9
	Wow, you weren't kidding when you said that absolutely everyone is in this!! It's an awesome idea, though I can't wait to see more!! And I'd like to be added to the PM list as well -----signature----- I agree with RJ Officially Idri's Muse
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voxynking Registered: Apr '05	Date Posted: 10/13/06 8:47pm Subject: RE: Beginning's End (Major AU: J/Tk, J/J, A/T, H/L, Luke/Tionne, Kyp/Inyri, Chewie) Chapter 1 Up 9
	Love where this is going. Please add me to your PM list. It'll be great to see how everything ties together.
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rebel_cheese Registered: Jul '06	Date Posted: 10/17/06 7:26pm Subject: RE: Beginning's End (Major AU: J/Tk, J/J, A/T, H/L, Luke/Tionne, Kyp/Inyri, Chewie) Chapter 1 Up 9 - Date Edited: 10/18/06 5:41pm (3 edits total) Edited By: rebel_cheese
	Sorry about taking so long with these but I didn't want to reply until I had a chapter in my hands, so thank you for your patience. I'd also like to thank NYCitygurl for agreeing to beta the rest of the story. Thank you very much. Ars_longa: This seems to be an exceptionally promising beginning. Very well written and clearly equally well thought through. I hope you'll continue and I hope, since Kyp is amongst first characters mentioned, we'll see a lot of him? Yes, in fact Kyp kicks off the next chapter. He's going to be major in the story. Flowerlady: Wow, this is exceptional I love the whole different approach you've taken to the Vong War... You've got no idea how different it is . . . And Luke with Tionne... ...I like it... I never liked Calista and although I love Mara, I like to see Luke get some variety as well... Yeah, I agree. I'm a Luke/Mara shipper too, but I plainly can't stand Callista. So I'd accept Tionne as the substitute. But I really like what you've done with the Solo twins...Poor Jacen... and I really like Naleni. Poor Jacen indeed. Stuck on a planet in an endless war . . . and having no idea his family's still alive. Nelani's sort of become Jacen's little sister, and Nelani looks up to Jacen a lot. Jacen, after all, is what made her human again. Great start... Thank you. I hope I keep this up. And may I please have a PM... You got it! NYCitygurl: Wow, you weren't kidding when you said that absolutely everyone is in this!! It's an awesome idea, though I can't wait to see more!! And I'd like to be added to the PM list as well Well, you just kind of got a sneak preview with your beta duties. And yes, essentially everyone will be involved at some point in the story. I've figured out how to tie it all together. voxynking: Love where this is going. Please add me to your PM list. It'll be great to see how everything ties together. You got it. I hope you continue to enjoy it. An actual post tomorrow! -----signature----- Padawan of princess_of_naboo E-married to the amazing padawanlost Member of Charon_Force The Incubus Cries: http://boards.theforce.net/beyond_the_saga/b10477/30141520/p1/?18
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rebel_cheese Registered: Jul '06	Date Posted: 10/18/06 5:00pm Subject: RE: Beginning's End (Major AU: J/Tk, J/J, A/T, H/L, Luke/Tionne, Kyp/Inyri, Chewie) Chapter 1 Up 9 - Date Edited: 10/19/06 10:31am (2 edits total) Edited By: rebel_cheese
	Sorry about the long wait. Hope you guys haven't forgotten about this story. Anyways . . . 2 Dear Jaina, Its grey and cloudy outside. I think it will rain soon. Not like the Coruscant you remember, is it? Natural rain on Coruscant! At one time I thought it was impossible, too. But when the Vong came, they changed everything. But you know that already, wherever you are. I wonder what other changes are happening wherever you are right now. Nelani's finally sleeping without having nightmares. She's still readjusting emotionally, she's still getting used to being human again, after all that time with the shapers. She smiles every now and then, too. And I can't help but smile when she does. It feels like a miracle; I never thought Nelani would ever act like a human girl, ever. River gets proven right again, I guess. She always seems to be right on stuff like this. Everyone else is doing okay, I guess. Bartus nearly blew negotiations for the medicine two days ago, but otherwise the trade went fine. Jysella's going to get her medicine, finally. I hope she'll still be alive when we get back. I really hope Father Corran and Mother Mirax and the others have kept good care of her. Jysella's something of the baby of the group, and everyone loves and pampers her as much as we can. She's special, I know it. I really wish I could get these stupid, short letters to you. Since our connection faded away, I can't feel you anymore. I feel like half of me is missing. I don't feel whole. Tenel Ka helps a little bit, but she only fills some of what I miss every day. I love you, Jaina, and I hope to actually see you someday—before one of us is dead. Love, Jacen -To the reader of this—I am dead if this is read by you. Please, do whatever you can to make sure this and all my other letters make it to Jaina Solo, daughter of Leia Organa Solo and Han Solo, sister of Jacen and Anakin Solo. * * * Lasers flashed around Kyp Durron's canopy the further he penetrated the lines. As the Dozen flew by a defense platform being swarmed by the Vong invaders, he saw three of the coralskippers fly in front of his field of vision. Without thinking, he triggered his lasers, and was gratified to see one become enflamed after several hits. "They don't stop coming," a Dozener commed. If they finally get that jammer of theirs working, maybe they will, Kyp thought. But that was wishful thinking on his part. The jammer had been researched extensively for the last fifteen years, but nothing had come of it . . . it had become a symbol of the false hopes that had betrayed the galaxy over and over again to the Yuuzhan Vong. "Listen up, Dozen," Kyp said, "All that matters is that we hold, at least until we know whether the jammer works or doesn't." It was a perfectly reasonable thing to say. Unfortunately, reason didn't much matter in battle. "Twenty fifty-credit chits says it doesn't work," a Dozen pilot instantly said. "Nah, I bet thirty." "Forty!" "Twenty-five on it actually workin'." "Dozen, shut up! That's an order!" Kyp bellowed, and he got the silence he wanted. "Good," he said, his voice calmer, more pleasant as they traveled by a bunch of allied cruisers on their right that weren't completely engaged yet. "Now stay in formation. I see two squadrons of skips heading towards Platform C-009. I want 'em gone," he ordered. The Dozen peeled off from the cruisers and traveled to the left, following Kyp down into another battle, where coralskippers and Allied starfighters circled around each other in a dizzying battle around engaging battleships. The ships were firing point-blank, and each ship that was hit was being torn into two pieces. Lifeboats poured out of the Republic ships, nothing came out of the Vong except coral and un-vaporized bodies yanked out into space's abyss. The defense platform in question was besieged near them, and the two squadrons of coralskippers were zooming out of a Vong ship's version of a hangar bay, literally just a few seconds from contact with the platform. Clusters of fire and destruction rained below, and Kyp saw the uncomfortable sight of a shield trio of X-wings get torn to shreds by the new, fresh coralskippers. Let's see how fresh they are after we're through with them, Kyp thought. Putting his breath mask to his mouth and hooking it on, Kyp shouted "Dozen, follow me! Split into pairs. We'll get 'em from above!" As the Dozen entered position above the battle, Kyp noticed that the planet was directly below them—and it seemed awfully close. "And don't wind up in the atmosphere!" he added. "Our fighters don't have the right shields for entry! We go down in there, we'll burn!" "Copy that," Dozen Three said, speaking for everyone else, for no one else had time to respond when Kyp suddenly gave the order to dive bomb. The planet and the defense platform filled Kyp's eyes, along with the red-yellow flowering explosions all around, and occasionally on the platform itself. The twenty-four coralskippers were preparing to barrel roll into their attack pattern, but if this little ambush succeeded, they would never make it towards their targets. "Lock on, Arsix," Kyp said robotically as he activated his targeting computer. He was promptly bathed in a sea of pink and lavender, and yellow shapes illuminated the enemy. Aiming his lasers towards the closest yellow shapes, he began to pull the trigger rapidly, firing red bolts at as many targets as he dared. Coralskippers, caught by surprise, could not counterattack properly, and Kyp was elated to see several coralskippers spiral away in flames, out of control. Some even exploded into little fireballs, yorik coral scattering in every direction. Then Kyp realized his own error. "Dozen, pull up!" he ordered, and gritted his gnashing teeth as he forced his X-wing to get out of the collision course with the surviving coralskippers. Right before he would have crashed into the coralskippers, his X-wing managed to pull up just enough so he could fly above the coralskippers. Looking back, he saw his ever-so-reliable Dozen pulling up as well, but a few had reacted too slowly, and were going to risk collision. One of the Dozen shouted, "There's too many of them!" before suddenly unleashing a piercing scream that was thankfully cut off a second later. Kyp saw the X-wing flash on his display, along with one of the enemy's, and then they both vanished a second later. Forcing himself to weather the blow of the death of yet another pilot, Kyp began to focus on the battle again, when he noticed the remaining ten coralskippers peel away from their attack and accelerated behind the Dozen. "Dammit!" Kyp snarled as he saw the coralskippers swing in behind his squadron. "Dozen, scatter! Reorganize by the Mon Mothma!" he ordered, his voice a desperate, hurried cry. Then he peeled hard to the right, as he saw lava streaks fly past his canopy, and there was at least two screams of blasted pilots. One of them managed to go EV, but his survival was precarious at best, if the resistance lost this battle the pilot was doomed to a forlorn death in space. Two coralskippers detached themselves from their shrunken unit and gave chase to Kyp and his last wingman, Dozen Four, a young human from Denon, what remained of that place. Four shouted, "They're all over us!" "You don't think I see that?" Kyp answered. "Follow me. I think I see a way out of here," he added a moment later, eyeing a corridor with several allied vessels in it. They were the reserves in Ackbar's forces, but they were already being engaged by coralskippers. However, no major ship, outside of a couple of corvette-sized vessels, had managed to get this far. The coralskippers would be perilous enough, but Kyp was hoping that in the confusion he and his wingman could slip away and then easily make it back to the rendezvous he has described. At the rate this battle was going, there was little he could do besides hope. That was one thing Kyp despised about the war. It took away all of his choices, his freedoms. And as the Vong pressed closer and closer toward the edges of the galaxy, more and more of his freedom to explore and discover was vanishing. He was tired of this war, of being a glorified soldier. He had had ten years of being an angel of death, He was ready to be something else now. A resistance vessel splintered into two flaming infernos suddenly, and Kyp suddenly realized that this supposedly secure path to the point had become officially hazardous. "Dozen Four, you still with me?" Kyp asked, as the halves fell away, and oxygen and bodies leaked into space as the two starfighters passed the sight by. To his right, Kyp saw two Yuuzhan Vong cruisers maneuvering in, attempting to slice open a gap in this particular Allied line. With the way the Vong finding breaches in the Allied lines, this battle would be quickly over with—unless Luke's adopted children and his wife managed to make their latest attempt at a secret weapon work. Suddenly, coralskippers began to come down upon him and his wingman from above, shattering Kyp's rather scornful asperity about the leader of the Jedi Order. First, he had to live before he would think about his ill thoughts of this latest plan by the Jedi Master's wife and their supposedly-genius adopted children. He would believe the talk of Danni and Malinza being precocious prodigies if their relentless experiments finally succeeded, for once. This time, the adopted children were trying to jam the yammosks, a tool the Yuuzhan Vong used to keep themselves coordinated and organized in a battle. It would be a particularly crippling blow if one were to succeed, but so far Kyp had not seen any indication of it working yet, if it had been activated by now. And even if it was succeeding, it was far too late for Dozen Four. He was instantly hit, and had scarcely the time to cry out as he cascaded away, his X-wing transforming into a burning pyre. A hatch exploded, and Kyp saw a flash of light as the pilot escaped right before the inevitable explosion. He sighed. Unless his side won this battle, the pilot had just sentenced himself to a cold, attenuated death. Kyp immediately spiraled to the right, his head banging against the headrest of his cockpit. Biting his lip and muttering a curse, he saw that three of them had peeled away and were now in pursuit. Their lava streams were channeling on all four sides, and only with desperate, perhaps fortuitous maneuverings did Kyp managed to avoid immediately getting blasted. Wreckage from the eradicated Republic cruiser flashed by him as he flew past where the cruiser had once been. Two starfighters, E-wings, flashed by, and Kyp had to dive low to avoid colliding with the coralskippers pursuing the poor souls. One of the pursuing coralskippers didn't dive down in time, however, and met and end against the fourth coralskipper, causing both of them to explode into miniscule little specks of light. That was one, but he still had two on his tail. Kyp looked behind him and saw the two other coralskippers expertly mimicking his every move, trick, and procedure. It was going to be exceeding difficult escaping these two. And there the only way out was to fly closer to those two suddenly imposing and frightening Vong cruisers. Great. Just kriffing great. He accelerated toward the battle around the rightmost cruiser, which was being wearied by clusters of starfighters darting around in little blue lights around its body. Fire streams and plasma bolts were flung from the Vong vessel, some firing above Kyp's head, heading to quarry behind him. As the fire grew in intensity, Kyp suddenly flung himself to the right, and instantly felt his face tighten and the left side of his face grow increasingly heavy. Squinting by natural reflex, his eyes could scarcely remain open. Suddenly, he saw a trio of X-wings approach him, and he saw red bolts being fired directly at him . . . no, around him. Suddenly, on his display, he saw the red dots blink repeatedly and then vanish into blackness. He breathed a sigh of relief. "Thanks, whoever did that," he said on the open channel. "No problem," an all-too familiar voice replied. Kyp sighed. You just had to come and rescue me, didn't you? he asked her. She wasn't Force-sensitive, not by a long-shot, but through their increasing fondness and attachment for each other, she was beginning to feel his thoughts much like he could feel hers. Through bonds like this, a non-Force-sensitive could communicate with someone he or she genuinely loved or was close to. What can I say? You needed to be bailed out, Inyri Forge answered him. It was soft, distant, and required some concentration to understand, but she was getting there. Kyp sighed. She was originally just a close friend, but for the last year . . . for the last year they had been becoming more than just close. The kiss just yesterday, in her room, where he had felt her, felt far more than he had scarcely imagined, proved it. For some reason, he had fallen for her. And, he hoped, she was in love with him. Kyp Durron doesn't need to be bailed out by nobody, he replied jokingly. Kyp Durron better keep his eyes on the battle before he becomes a cooked piece of meat, she retorted. Ah yes, he thought, keeping this thought well away from Inyri's still-short reach, she loves me, all right. Then Kyp, looking at the display, saw her Rogue Squadron trio loop around behind him, and the four began to dive down, below a Bothan Assault Cruiser. Two coralskippers suddenly came right into their path, almost head-on. Without thinking, he pulled the trigger, incinerating one of the coralskippers. Inyri's X-wing and one of her wingmates destroyed the other, sending twisting in an uncontrollable gyre for several dozen feet before it exploded. "Hey, Rogue Leader," Kyp said, remembering formality at the last second, "have any idea whether our resident strategists' latest brilliant plan has begun yet?" "I believe it's been activated, yes, Dozen Lead," Inryi answered, her voice sounding more comfortable in a military monotone than Kyp's voice did, or likely ever would. "Why do you say that? I haven't had any confirmation," Kyp asked. "Because I see the Yuuzhan Vong ships firing upon each other!" Inyri replied, raw emotion suddenly seeping into her tone in each word, until it was a wild, joyous shout at the very end. "Huh?" Kyp looked up, and suddenly did see the impossible-Vong ships firing upon each other, their lava streams crossing and traversing paths and the beams burning through their hulls. Flames spewed from every impact, and Kyp saw more than one ship get shot completely through, leaving gaping, leaking holes on both sides. "Yes!" Kyp whooped, raising his fist in the air, only to bang it on the top of the canopy. "Ow," he mumbled, shaking his numbed right fist a second later and blowing on it. Shaking his head, he saw the brilliant sight of the Yuuzhan Vong turning their weapons upon themselves, firing upon each other, believing their comrades were in fact the enemy—just as Tionne, Danni, Ulaha and the other Jedi scientists had claimed the jammer would. For once, a plan had worked out according to plan. "Yes! You see that! I knew they'd do it! I never doubted them for a second!" Kyp yelled cheerfully. "Suuure you didn't," Inyri interjected sardonically. But Kyp didn't care about those illusions. All that mattered right now, yes, all that did matter in this endless war, was that they had finally found a way to succeed. The war could be won after all. The Republic had found a way to beat the Vong. And that brought to Kyp's face a smile. It was the first time in a long while, other than with Inyri, had he smiled, and he took care to burn the images into his mind. He wasn't sure when he'd laugh and celebrate like this again. But maybe, just maybe, this was going to be the first of many victories. But first, he needed to help finish this battle. Seeing a coralskipper flying wildly in a course that would cross his, Kyp triggered his lasers, and basked in the sight of the coralskipper exploding. * * * "So, it finally worked." Ackbar said, staring outside the gigantic viewports as insanity suddenly, almost inexplicably, gripped each and every Vong vessel. Coralskippers were suddenly, unmercifully, blasted by the cruisers they were protecting. Cruisers fired at every ship on every side as they blew each other apart. Coralskippers made assault runs on their own side. All in all, the battle had suddenly become chaotic. Ackbar heard a presence walk by his chair and stand at his side. "Yes, it has," the feminine, human voice of Winter Celchu spoke. "The Jedi have pulled through for us at last." Ackbar nodded slowly, delicately. Over the course of the last several years, he had become frail, old. He could barely subsist outside of water right now. But there was nothing wrong with his mind, and today, he was finally proving it. The Yuuzhan Vong could be defeated. They weren't unstoppable, invincible. They were mortal creatures, just like every other being in existence. Beatable. Even without the Force, Ackbar sensed that morale was steadily rising among his forces. After years of empty promises and total defeats, something, something, had gone right at last. Naboo would be the first world to be successfully defended from the talons of the Yuuzhan Vong. The Republic's first real victory in over a half decade was going to come here. And it would come from the enemy's self-destruction, from the enemy firing upon itself. Ackbar breathed a sigh of relief as the Yuuzhan Vong fleet continued to shrink further and further down in size. Eventually, there would essentially be so little left the Republic fleets could finish them off at their leisure. For now, Ackbar ordered his forces to pull back, to let the enemy cannibalize himself as much as possible before the Republic would move in for the kill. Ackbar, as his forces obeyed the order, and regrouped in lines around Naboo, pulled up another map, one of a nearby planet. Umgul. Around there, Bothan Admiral Tra'est Kre'fey was struggling to withstand an enemy assault around that world. It had been Kre'fey's idea to lure the enemy towards these two systems, but Ackbar, who was shrewd politically, knew full well why the battle had been drawn out here. Bothawui was extremely close to the front lines. A few parsecs of travel from Bothan Space, and the traveler would find himself in Yuuzhan Vong lines. Kre'fey was trying to move the war elsewhere, somewhere far away from his homeworld. And Ackbar was willing to oblige to that, as long as there was a victory in the end. And he had received one at long last. The battle was over. It was really still being fought, but it was a mere formality. It had become a tragic comedy, really, what with the Vong slashing and tearing at themselves, slaughtering each other as the Republic watched passively. But it was a victory nevertheless. And Ackbar allowed himself a smile, awe-filled smile. "When the enemy fleet is down to a quarter of their original strength, or when they reorganize we will counter-attack," Ackbar ordered. "Until then, everyone regroup. When the time comes ,we will strike, and then we will move on to Umgul and defeat the enemy there." It sounded so simple in words. It was for more complicated to execute. But there wasn't any doubt there would be failure this time, in Ackbar's mind. Now, there would only be victory among this fight for survival. But only this one fight. Eventually, the Yuuzhan Vong would defeat this tactic, just like the Republic had just defeated theirs. Tactics always changed. But for now hope would be allowed to fester once more. And those happy thoughts accompanied Ackbar as he let his tired eyes close, and he began to rest. But before he closed his eyes, he saw Naboo's sun began to glare around the dark silhouette of Naboo. It felt symbolic, an omen, a promise to the broken galaxy. The sun is finally coming up for us. For this hour, regardless. Now we have to make sure that the day continues. Then Ackbar closed his eyes and took a well-deserved rest. I'll try not to take so long next time. -----signature----- Padawan of princess_of_naboo E-married to the amazing padawanlost Member of Charon_Force The Incubus Cries: http://boards.theforce.net/beyond_the_saga/b10477/30141520/p1/?18
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G__Anakin Registered: Apr '06	Date Posted: 10/18/06 5:04pm Subject: RE: Beginning's End (Major AU: J/Tk, J/J, A/T, H/L, Luke/Tionne, Kyp/Inyri, Chewie) Chapter 2 Up 10
	Great Chapter Beat the PM! -----signature----- Master to tahiriveilax - - - My fanfic - - - Fate of the Jedi - Abyss : http://boards.theforce.net/beyond_the_saga/b10477/30246540/p1/ Yeah, I used the real title for the next book. Beware Omen Spoilers.
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Kidan Title: TFN EU Staff Registered: Jul '03	Date Posted: 10/18/06 5:28pm Subject: RE: Beginning's End (Major AU: J/Tk, J/J, A/T, H/L, Luke/Tionne, Kyp/Inyri, Chewie) Chapter 2 Up 10
	wonderful job! beautiful battle, and Jace's letter was beautifully written. -----signature----- You sadistic Yank!! - McEwok http://www.TheExpandedUniverse.com Don't blame me, I voted for Ron Paul
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