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Author	Topic: Despair (ANH AU, Luke, Leia, Vader, Ahsoka) UPDATE: 10202009
Vivid_Scripts Registered: Jan '04	Date Posted: 5/1 12:59am Subject: Despair (ANH AU, Luke, Leia, Vader, Ahsoka) UPDATE: 10202009 - Date Edited: 10/19 10:56pm (16 edits total) Edited By: Vivid_Scripts
	"Despair" by Vivid Scripts Updates: hopefully every 7 days. Special Thanks: To PonyTricks, my AWESOME beta! =) Timeframe: ANH A/N: I usually like to start posting my long fics on holidays or other relevant days. This one is not different. Happy May Day! I've spent the past month working on this, and while I've finished a handful of chapters, its still very much a WIP. Well, I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I have enjoyed writing it. Tell me what you think- any feedback would be appreciated. A list of characters: Darth Vader - Dark Lord of the Sith Luke Lars (Skywalker) - Moisture Farmer from Tatooine Leia Organa - Minister of State, Rebel Alliance; Princess of Alderaan Ahsoka Tano - Jedi Master Zevulon Veers - Jedi Disciple Han Solo - Captain, Millennium Falcon Chewbacca - co-pilot, Millennium Falcon Maximilian Veers - General, Death Squadron, Imperial Army Shira Brie ("Brisha Syo", also known as Lumiya) - Imperial Spy; Sith Acolyte Pooja Naberrie - Jedi Disciple more minor characters than you can shake a fist at! Prelude MOTTI: "Formidable as he is, the Dark Lord of the Sith is hardly an insurmountable problem." TARKIN: "You think not?" MOTTI: "The personnel of this battle station owe their allegiance to you. Lord Vader, for all his superstitious trickery, can be dealt with. Do not forget that you wield the ultimate power." Chapter I "Bits away!" "Was that a hit?" "Negative, negative, it didn't go in; just impacted on the surface." The War Room on the Great Massassi Temple echoed from the Rebel pilots' radio chatter. Leia sighed and stepped back from the table that displayed the Death Star's distance from firing range. She took a sidelong glance at General Dodonna and the mysterious Togruta woman standing next him. Leia considered herself an important leader within the Alliance; she prided herself in knowing all of the major officers in the military. Indeed, she knew everyone in this war room, except that woman. Her secretive nature seemed to suggest a background in intelligence, yet the Princess' instincts pushed her to think otherwise. "Artoo, try--agh." The sound of Luke's voice rising above the chatter pulled her attention back to the table. "Luke!" That was BASE 1. "Luke, are you alright?" "I'm hit, I'm hit, bad. I'm losing speed. Artoo--I need more power!" Another voice--one the Princess instantly recognized, streaked across the channel. "Yahoo!" The Generals and Commanders in the room all looked up at each other, save for the Togruta, whose focus never strayed from the table. "You're all clear, kid, now let's blow this thing and go home!" Leia's brown eyes, once again shining with hope as she waited through the moment of radio silence, suddenly drooped. She couldn't explain how or why, but somehow she knew the torpedo did not hit. "Was that a hit?" BASE 1 asked. "It-I--" Luke's voice was shaky, almost shocked. "No." Han said, "Come on, Luke, I got you covered." "Han, just get out of here before they catch you with that tractor beam again." "I'm not leaving here without you, kid." "Look, my hyperdrive's offline, I've lost my starboard engines, I can barely keep this thing moving forward as it is. There's no helping me. Just get out of here, Han." General Dodonna put his hand on Leia's shoulder. She looked up at him sullenly. "You have to go, Your Highness," he said. "We have transports?" She frowned. Why hadn't they started evacuating personnel earlier? "No," he said. He gestured to the Togruta woman. "General Tano only has room for you in her transport." Leia froze up for a moment. She looked around, realizing that all eyes were focused on her. She knew why: she was the only surviving member of the House of Organa; she was the only leader her orphaned people had left; she was one of the major political leaders in the Rebel Alliance itself. Still, she shook her head, at once feeling ashamed of the special privilege afforded her. The Princess said, "I--" "Majesty," the Togruta interupted, her voice soft and courteous, "we must go." Leia stared at the woman. Who was she? "I'm a friend of your fathers'," she said. Leia blinked, then tactical desk announced, "The Death Star will be in firing range in five minutes." The Princess gave a resigned nod. Her heart ached as she paced over to the Togruta, C-3PO following in her wake. * * * * Darth Vader was spiraling through space, out of control. Through the transparisteel of his TIE/x1 cockpit, he could see the craft responsible for shooting down his wingmates. It was the battered old Corellian light freighter that Organa and Kenobi's companions had escaped on. Vader's fists pumped with rage as he tapped several stabilizer controls and leveled out his craft. He tugged on his control stick and the craft banked slowly. The collision with his wingmate had done some damage but the x1 was still space worthy. As he came around, he saw that old Corellian light freighter slip away, jumping into hyperspace. And that last X-wing, the one piloted by that extremely powerful presence in the Force, came into view. He was limping toward a Yavin 5, the gas giant's other jungle moon. Vader toggled his controls and accelerated after the crippled X-wing. Who are you? He recalled that when he decapitated Kenobi, there had been a voice that screamed "no" from the other side of the landing bay. He he had seen the screamer, a boy with sandy blonde hair and blue eyes, in his peripheral vision. It wasn't until after that rushed moment of triumph, that he realized the boy was attuned to the Force. Was this he? Yes, it would be reasonable to place them as the same person. But exactly who was this Force-Sensitive boy? Indubitably, he was Obi-Wan's apprentice, but what was his name? Vader would find out. He pushed on after Obi-Wan's apprentice for a while but quickly began to tire with the exercise. It would be more sensible--and perhaps, more enjoyable--to apprehend the boy with the Death Star's tractor beam and deal with him face-to-face, rather than attempt to shoot him down while piloting a damaged ship. The Sith Lord depressed his comm. It didn't work. He tried the comm again, this time, designating his ship, the ISD Devastator, as the recipient. Still, nothing but static. Then a warning came to him from the Force. The Death Star was launching TIE fighters. Hundreds. No, thousands. Perhaps the battle station's entire complement. But why-- For a moment, that energy field and its infinite mystery crystallized with revelation. The Death Star was jamming his transmissions. Those fighters were being sent out to destroy his craft. He had been betrayed. Vader gritted his teeth. Tarkin! A moment of rational thought pushed his initial anger down. No. Tarkin would not have done this. That gaunt old man was devious, cunning and cold, but he was not stupid. He was not foolish enough to cross the Emperor. Not like this. But if he followed that line of reasoning to it's only logical end, then it meant...it meant that the only way he could be in this situation, with the entire complement of the Death Star turned against him, would be if the order had come from on high. From the Emperor. The Sith Lord routed all power to the engines accelerated away from the Death Star, veering toward that same jungle moon the crippled X-wing was fleeing to. He tapped one of the side panels and ordered the navicomputer to start making the calculations for the jump into hyperspace. It was too late. The first squadron of TIEs was already upon him. The x1 rocked under the pressure of blasterfire. Vader pulled every evasive maneuver he could, trying his best to stall while the navicomputer crunched away. But it was no use, the damaged x1 was too slow and there were more than a dozen fighters raining fire down on him. The x1 started falling apart. The left wing seared off. The engines burned out. Yavin 5's gravity well caught the ship's momentum and dragged it closer. What remained of the x1 streaked into the jungle moon's atmosphere, disintegrating as the console short circuited and exploded with sparks. The cockpit filled with flame and became a blistering coffin, reminiscent of his fiery rebirth on Mustafar. Vader bristled with rage and steeped in outright hatred. Hatred for Motti. Hatred for Tarkin. Most of all, hatred for Sidious. In a final act of defiance, he reached out to that psychic link he shared with his master, the bond that had been a source of nourishment and power for the past nineteen years, and violently severed it. Then he reached out with the Force and tried to stabilize his descent. -----signature----- "trickbind"
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Aiel Registered: Oct '04	Date Posted: 5/1 4:17am Subject: Despair (ANH AU, Luke, Leia, Vader, Ahsoka)
	Wow! What a different AU idea, I'd very much like to see more of this and would love to be on the PM list if you're having one. Fantastic job! -----signature----- Master to ElvisTheCat. Bar-Wench of The Meanders Inn, now featuring Fooshie! Revolution of Fate: http://boards.theforce.net/the_saga/b10476/29771499 http://dailysnarlandmore.blogspot.com/
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KELIA Title: The Pretty in Pink Fan Fic Manager Registered: Jul '05	Date Posted: 5/1 5:19am Subject: Despair (ANH AU, Luke, Leia, Vader, Ahsoka)
	Ooohhh what a beginning! I never thought I'd say this, but I hope Vader survives this perilous situation he is in. It will be most enjoyable to see what kind of revenge he seeks against the Empire that betrayed him. Glad to see Ashoka alive and well. If you have a PM list for this, please add me. Looking forward to more -----signature----- "Do or do not, there is no try." Master Yoda A Light In The Darkness: http://boards.theforce.net/the_saga/b10476/28150602/p1/?8 NaNaWriMo Progress: 32,105
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PonyTricks Registered: Jul '03	Date Posted: 5/1 6:33am Subject: Despair (ANH AU, Luke, Leia, Vader, Ahsoka)
	Oh my goodness! You've started posting. And here I thought you were going to finish it up before you posted. Ah, well. You're far enough ahead. Thanks for calling me an 'awesome' beta, but I think that's WAY too kind of a description. This is a fun story, readers. Jump on board and get ready for a wild ride. -----signature----- Brain: Now, Pinky, if by any chance you are captured during this mission, remember you are Gunther Heindriksen from Appenzell. You moved to Grindelwald to drive the cog train to Murren. Can you repeat that? Pinky: Mmmm, no, Brain, don't think I can.
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Luminous-Being Registered: Apr '09	Date Posted: 5/1 6:57am Subject: Despair (ANH AU, Luke, Leia, Vader, Ahsoka)
	Definetly would be interesting to see what would happen with Luke having to face Vader this early on. Keep it coming!
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DarthVaderette Registered: May '04	Date Posted: 5/1 8:18am Subject: Despair (ANH AU, Luke, Leia, Vader, Ahsoka)
	Interesting story so far. Can you PM me updates? Thanks -----signature----- SW Fan since '77 This is where the fun begins God Bless America
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starwarslover202 Registered: Apr '09	Date Posted: 5/1 9:01am Subject: Despair (ANH AU, Luke, Leia, Vader, Ahsoka)
	Wow! I love it. It's cool how Vader leaves the Emperor. but doesn't really seem to stray completely from the dark side
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Sara_Kenobi Registered: Sep '00	Date Posted: 5/1 10:25am Subject: Despair (ANH AU, Luke, Leia, Vader, Ahsoka)
	Oh, this one looks really interesting. I like that Vader is thinking on his own. If you keep a PM list please include me. -----signature----- Flight of Raven's http://boards.theforce.net/non_star_wars_fan_fiction/b10808/30284518/p1/?0
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Valairy_Scot Registered: Sep '05	Date Posted: 5/1 12:35pm Subject: Despair (ANH AU, Luke, Leia, Vader, Ahsoka)
	What an intriguing and thrilling start! Love it. -----signature----- http://boards.theforce.net/fan_fiction_resource/b10304/25405090/p3/?52 Prolific Author thread: list & links there. Muse fueled by coffee. Often AWOL despite frequent sipping. Writes on inspiration, not a schedule. 2007-2008 the quality years
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Lady_Skywalker87 Registered: Aug '08	Date Posted: 5/1 5:55pm Subject: Despair (ANH AU, Luke, Leia, Vader, Ahsoka)
	Very interesting & intriguing! Vader on his own & betrayed(never read anything like that before) ...Ashoka with Leia ...I like it a lot! Can't wait to see how your story un folds! PM please ...if you make a list. -----signature----- 5/19/09:10 Years of the Beginngi!4 Years of the End! Attachment:a feeling that binds one to a person, thing, cause, ideal, or the like; devotion; regard.Attachment itself is not the problem.The prob is attaching yourself like Ani did!
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LittleMissNightsaber Title: Yahtzee Winner Registered: May '09	Date Posted: 5/2 9:22am Subject: Despair (ANH AU, Luke, Leia, Vader, Ahsoka)
	update soon! Vader being betrayed. What a twist. PM me if you have the list. -----signature----- Padawan to Myriad Daydreams ~Can you hear me? Can you feel me in your arms?~ My Last Breath, Evanescence
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QueenArdnassak Registered: Mar '09	Date Posted: 5/3 5:23pm Subject: Despair (ANH AU, Luke, Leia, Vader, Ahsoka)
	Wow, Master! For the ninth or tenth time, this is so awesome! Okay, I must admit that I may have gotten a wee bit jealous when I heard that someone else also got to preview your story. Then I realized that I was lucky to have been able to preview it. This is an awesome story. I'm looking forward to updates! Your previously green padawan (I'm back to my usual color now), Ardnassak -----signature----- GuNgAnFaN3090 is my fabulous e-boyfriend. Crazy Queen of the CCC! JC Musketeer! One for all and all that jazz! Chewgumma for president: 2012! Sith warrior in the Acolytes of Darkness
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Vivid_Scripts Registered: Jan '04	Date Posted: 5/8 9:52am Subject: Despair (ANH AU, Luke, Leia, Vader, Ahsoka)
	Aiel - Thanks so much for reading =) You're on the PM list Kelia - I never thought I'd say this, but I hope Vader survives this perilous situation he is in. It will be most enjoyable to see what kind of revenge he seeks against the Empire that betrayed him. heheh, the plot might thicken! thanks for reading! PT - Yeah, I started posting sooner than I thought I would. Sorry I haven't sent you a chapter recently--I tend to write in concentrated bursts and run out of steam as quickly as I gather it. I'm hoping to have a new chapter for you to beta within the next few days, though. Thanks for calling me an 'awesome' beta, but I think that's WAY too kind of a description. Aw, naw. It's fitting XD Luminous-Being - Definetly would be interesting to see what would happen with Luke having to face Vader this early on. DarthVaderette - Thanks! I'm glad you're enjoying the story. You're definitely on the list starwarslover202 - It's cool how Vader leaves the Emperor. but doesn't really seem to stray completely from the dark side Yeah, after being so immersed in the Dark for so long I think Vader would have a hard time turning away. He always had ambitions of taking the Galaxy himself and the whole thing with Starkiller in TFU sort of proved to him that the Emperor was already trying to get rid of him. So, he had to have known this was going to happen one day (thinks of the duel in RotJ) Sara_Kenobi - I like that Vader is thinking on his own. Heh, I do too, though I had a few reservations about writing him that way. A lot of fics I've read (even good ones I love and enjoy) characterize him as kind of a dull pawn. And while I think he has a tendency for that, I think an event like this would "wake him up" so to speak. I also wanted to characterize him as being more cunning than in the cannon. A lot more on this will be revealed in a coming chapter. Thanks for reading =) You're on the PM list Val - Good to see you I'm glad you're enjoying it so far Lady_Skywalker87 - Vader on his own & betrayed(never read anything like that before) There was a precedent set for it in The Force Unleashed where the Emperor clearly demonstrated that he wanted a new apprentice. I'm guessing that's why Vader made that proposal to Luke at the end of ESB (well, in addition to the fact that Luke was his son...) Glad you're enjoying! You're on the list. LittleMissLightsaber - Update's coming. So is your PM =) QueenArdnassak XD Padawan For the ninth or tenth time, I'm so happy you're enjoying it. And I'm very relieved that the color change wasn't permanent. update in a few! -----signature----- "trickbind"
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AzureAngel2 Registered: Jun '05	Date Posted: 5/8 10:10am Subject: Despair (ANH AU, Luke, Leia, Vader, Ahsoka)
	I must say you made me currious, even though I did not really like CW and Ahsoka very much first. But now I am more than intrigued here! Please let me be on your PM list. -----signature----- "There is good in him. I felt it." "Y a-t-il un coeur sous ton armure? Le mien est pur comme l'azure." Wife of DU & e-mom of DG Member of the GFFG up-date sock: TheBride
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Vivid_Scripts Registered: Jan '04	Date Posted: 5/8 10:11am Subject: Despair (ANH AU, Luke, Leia, Vader, Ahsoka)
	* * * * Seated in a lotus position, Zevulon Veers was meditating. He usually didn't reminisce much--there wasn't too much in his life worth remembering. It was only when he was deep in the Force, as he was now, that he could truly feel the passage of time. Old friends from the academy and from the Imperial Youth, long since dead, their lives squandered by the Empire in battles on foreign soil, came to mind. He could see their faces, hear their voices. Other memories of the past, the ones that were even less palatable and more bothersome, began to float up as well. They were reminders from the Force of what he still had to confront, of what he had been running from. He opened his eyes after he saw his father's face, deciding that he'd had enough of reflecting. Instead, he decided to exercise his senses. He reached out to his maximum range, blanketing miles of prairie land surrounding this quiet Ansionian farmhouse with his aura and slowly retreated inwards in concentric circles. He felt elk and the deer running in the meadows, birds flying overhead, mice and field rats scurrying about the security fence, each of them in their rightful place. When he came to the farmhouse itself, he sensed Mon Mothma, the President of the Rebel Alliance, her handful of honor guards, himself and his two companions. Across the room, Maris Brood was also deep in the Force. She was a quiet pulse, a whisper that belied incredible power that dwarfed his own. Her practice of floating meditation was a clear enough indicator of this. Zev could not, no matter how much he concentrated or focused, use the Force to roll a stylus off a desk. Maris could, without the slightest exertion, levitate herself, her guard shotos and her pack while meditating. That casual display of power made him feel weary. More than weary--it made him feel weak and self-conscious about his own vulnerabilities. No matter how hard he trained or focused he would never be able to wield power like that. It was simply beyond his potential, beyond the limited sensitivity he had been gifted with. His midi-chlorian count was just over three thousand, and while that was higher than the average human count of two thousand five hundred, it was much lower than the midi-chlorian counts of most Jedi. It was enough to allow him to feel the Force, but not enough to allow him to use it. His inability to use Telekinesis or Force Speed or Lightsabers would forever put him at a disadvantage against more powerful Force Users. No matter how hard he trained at Teräs Käsi or blade-to-blade combat, nothing could offset that handicap. He looked up, once again seeing Maris casually float three feet off the ground while lying flat on her back. According to a blood test Master Ferus had done after finding her unconscious on Felucia, her Midi-chlorian count was over nine thousand. Why couldn't he have been born with that gift? It seemed so arbitrary. So unfair. Zev took in a deep breath and exhaled slowly, pushing down all of the errant emotions. It was not his to be bitter about such things. Master Ahsoka had told him, time and time again, that he had made the best of his potential, that he had surpassed all of her expectations. That was enough to be proud of. Besides, he was born on a highly populated Core World, a place where the Empire used scanners to ferret out anyone with a count higher than five thousand. If he had a greater attunement to the Force, then he would have been abducted and murdered during his childhood, just like the thousands of other Force-Sensitives Vader and Sidious had discovered over the years. He took another deep breath and exhaled slowly, once again feeling his insecurities grow more distant. As Master Ahsoka had said, everything happens for a reason. He was grateful enough to have met her and have learned the ways of the Force under her tutelage. Despite his limitations, he knew he was a great asset to the Jedi Order in hiding and a great asset to the Rebellion. The powers he had were enough to enable him to do his duty. He did not need more. Zev was not the only lesser Force-Sensitive that had been trained by the Jedi. Pooja Naberrie was the first to be trained. Maris was now training Winter, whose Force-Sensitivity had been discovered via blood test a year and a half ago. Together, the three of them were the Disciples of the Jedi. They were the sworn protectors of the Jedi Order's secrets and the custodians of its teachings. They were to be the intermediaries, the torchbearers that would carry the flame from this dying generation of Jedi to the next. The future Zev was to protect was certainly in dire straits now. When he first submitted to Ahsoka's tutelage five years ago, there were six hidden Jedi in communication with one another. It was a far cry from the great order that had existed before the madness of the Empire, but it was enough of an organization to aid the budding Rebel Alliance. He had so much hope that with their aid, the Empire would come crumbling down. Obi-Wan Kenobi was the unofficial Grandmaster of the small Order. He spent his days training and advising Pooja from his place of exile on Tatooine. Ahsoka Tano had taken to the stars, at one time working as a smuggler for the Corellian Resistance before later becoming an espionage agent for the Rebel Alliance. Shaak Ti and her then-Padawan Maris Brood were quietly raising an Army from the Force-Sensitive natives of Felucia. Ferus Olin hid himself amongst the royalty of Alderaan to protect Bail Organa, one of the Rebel Alliance's most pivotal leaders. Lastly, Rahm Kota and his militia became the nucleus of the Alliance military, leading many strikes against the Empire in the Outer-Rim. Since then, much of that hope has been snuffed out. Shaak Ti was killed by Galen Marek. Rahm Kota was killed by Darth Vader while defending Mon Mothma. A few days ago, Ferus Olin and Bail Organa were killed when the Death Star destroyed Alderaan. And the tremors in the Force told him that Obi-Wan was killed on the Death Star, too. With the passing of each Master, the twilight that engulfed the Force had gotten a little darker. Hope had become even harder to grasp on to. Yet Zev's resolve could only strengthen. He had spent his entire childhood under the thrall of the Empire and now that he was free he would never go back. The Alliance and the Jedi Order was his life now. He would rather fight and die a million times than bow to the tyranny of the Empire. And no weapon--blaster, Star Destroyer, Death Star or otherwise--could change that. Zev looked away from Maris and to Winter, who was sitting next to him. She was struggling to catch the current of the Force. Poor girl, she'd been training for almost a year and had made little progress. He knew from his own experience that catching that first whisper of the Force was the most difficult part of the training. It had taken him sixteen months to use Force Sense; another four to learn to apply it in combat. He could sense her frustration mounting, which made the task even more difficult. "Targeter," he said, placing a hand on her shoulder. The white haired woman was also a Rebel intelligence agent and in their years working together, they had gotten so used to using their aliases that they rarely called each other by their first names. "You're trying too hard. You're straining. Sense of the Force comes with ease. Whatever it is you're holding on to--whatever it is you're holding back--you have to let go of it." She looked up and nodded, taking a deep breath as she did. Her frustration dissipated as she closed here eyes and refocused her efforts. She was such a strong, beautiful woman. Steadfast in her beliefs and persevering in her duties. Tycho was lucky to have her and Zev always made it a point to remind his old friend that every time he saw him. Content when he sensed that Winter was making greater progress, Zev stood and paced out of the small living room to a kitchen were a blue cast iron pot sat peaceably over a stove burner. The pot was Mon Mothma's, but the actual tea was Nabooian. It had been a gift from his lover. As he poured himself a cup and watched the steam rise, he sensed Maris enter after him, her teacup in hand. "You're a good teacher," Maris said. "I know what I know." Which couldn't be that much, at least compared to what she knew. He looked up at her after filling her cup. Her yellow eyes were focused elsewhere, staring out through the windows facing the rolling plains to the south. Her expression was set in stone, unreadable, but Zev could feel beyond her facade. The grief of losing Master Olin was fresh in her heart and mind. After Master Ti's death, he was the one that had found her, turned her back to the light and completed her training. She tried to mask her emotions, tried to push them down and disregard them, but he knew that she was in immense pain. Even the skills she had honed as a fully trained Jedi Knight could not hide that from him. Such was his mastery of Force Sense. And at the root of it, he sensed the source of her trepidation. The reason why she was about to ask him to train Winter in her stead. Her errant heart was struggling with the feelings of loss and anger that had once before led her astray down the dark path. And as she reeled from the feelings of loss and anger, she was concerned that her vulnerability to the dark might corrupt her student. "You should train Winter," Maris said at last, turning away from the window. "I don't know that I'm qualified," Zev said. "You are the Jedi. I'm only a Disciple." "If something happens to me and Ahsoka," Maris said, "you're supposed to find the next generation of Force-Sensitives and train them to be Jedi. So why can't you train another Disciple?" "Why can't you?" She blinked and broke eye contact, unable to vocalize her answer. He sensed her concern morph into fear as she turned away. There was something extremely disquieting about the fact that someone as powerful as her could still have these lapses of weakness and vulnerability. Despite that, Zev felt comfort in knowing that he wasn't the only one plagued with insecurities. "Perhaps we should let Master Ahsoka decide," Zev said. "Maybe she could take it upon herself to train Winter." "Is she coming here?" Maris asked. Her deep red horns shone brightly in the fading light that bathed the kitchen. Zev nodded. "She should be leaving--" The Jedi Disciple sucked in a jagged breath, his hand knocked over his cup of tea as it slid across the counter, searching for the an edge to grip so he could support his weight as he almost keeled over. His senses, expanded and finely tuned from hours of meditation, were bombarded with the anguish of billion life forms being incinerated. He heard the voices of hundreds of his Rebel friends screaming into oblivion. His hands shook, more from the pain he was feeling through the Force than from the scalding water that had spilled over them, as Maris caught him and helped him back to his feet. There was only one other time when he had felt this sort of jarring pain. That was when the Death Star fired upon Alderaan. Zev said nothing for a long time, he just stood still for a long time. After a while, he grabbed a two towels and they cleaned in silence, each wishing that they had not felt that great disturbance in the Force or not known what it meant. Yavin 4 had just been destroyed. * * * * Luke Lars pushed up on the glass canopy of his cockpit, forcing the broken mechanism to open. He climbed out and stumbled onto the grass-covered plain he'd crashed on, panting heavily. The air on this planet was thick with moisture. The skies overhead, covered with deep gray clouds. Thunder boomed in the distance. Lightning flashes illuminated the severely damaged form of his T-65 X-Wing and the hundred meter-long wound in the plain the fighter had skidded on when he crash landed. Smoke was still rising from the two starboard engines. Moments later, R2-D2 climbed out of his hatch in the stern and joined him. The winds picked up, eventually producing a gap in the cloud cover that exposed blue sky. The bright flash of Yavin 4 exploding into a million tiny pieces was no longer visible, but Luke could still see it in his mind's eye. The galaxy at large would now be a victim to the Empire's new mega-weapon. In time, hundreds--if not thousands--of new systems would fall to the Emperor's cruel domineering grip. His hatred for the Empire waxed full once more, only to give way to more empty sorrow. That horrible thought surfaced: he had failed the galaxy and the Rebel Alliance. And Biggs. Biggs! Another uneasy breath; the humidity on this planet made breathing so damn difficult. Biggs should have been the one in the lead; he should have been the one to take the shot. He might have been able to make it. And Luke knew that he could have fared better at stalling that ace in the advanced TIE. But he had taken the lead, ignoring the fact that Biggs had far more flight experience; ignoring the fact that thad had been his first true dogfight; ignoring the fact that blasting womp rats in beggar's canyon and blasting a tiny exhaust port on the surface of the Death Star were two radically different things. Biggs, ever noble and dedicated to the cause, sacrificed himself for a greater good. But Luke's failure had ensured that sacrifice would be in vain. Luke ripped his helmet off and tossed it into the grass, screaming in frustration as he did. Because of his blind overconfidence his best friend was dead! And that computer! That useless kriffing targeting computer! Luke's despair deepened as he thoughts drifted to the Princess. She must have perished on that jungle moon, with the rest of the Rebel Alliance. The thought of her bursting into flames, seeing her beautiful visage seared apart by the Death Star's superlaser... He fell into tears. As he wept, he reached into that that mystical energy field Ben had taught him about. In the Force, there was nothing but darkness and anguish. It was as if some cruel weapon, like the Death Star, had exterminated all reason for perseverance. He felt overwhelmed by the total eclipse of hope. At his side, R2 whistled wistfully. Luke wiped away the streams of salt under his eyes and looked up at the blue astromech. "Yeah, Artoo," he said, "we're alone." The blue astromech let off a long stream of whistles and beeps. "You're right, we should start setting up camp," Luke said, looking up at the sky, which had completely filled with thick, foreboding clouds. "It could start raining any moment." Luke climbed back into the cockpit of his T-65 X-Wing, retrieving all of supplies stowed behind his seat. A thin plastic wrap contained all the metal rods and waterproof nylon sheets necessary to make a tent. Beyond that, he had about five days' worth of rations, some blankets, a tiny pillow and some tools. Also, he had a small, portable generator that would hopefully be strong enough to power a long-range transmitter, once he assembled a new one from the broken one in his X-Wing. Luke strung the pieces of the tent together and secured it to the stakes he nailed into the ground. End of Chapter 1 -----signature----- "trickbind"
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LittleMissNightsaber Title: Yahtzee Winner Registered: May '09	Date Posted: 5/8 10:29am Subject: Despair (ANH AU, Luke, Leia, Vader, Ahsoka)
	Winter's training to be a Jedi? Wow and as I said before "What a twist" BTW you spelt my name wrong. It's LittleMissNightsaber, but LittleMissLightsaber is cool too, ironically it was one of my potential usernames. but I've been called worse, like "Debbie" or "Cathy" when my name is Jackie. Keep it up! -----signature----- Padawan to Myriad Daydreams ~Can you hear me? Can you feel me in your arms?~ My Last Breath, Evanescence
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