Beyond - Legends Atonement- a Jacen Solo Fanfic

Lady Belligerent yes Gaven is the more sympathetic of the two. I´m glad you like Thorne a bit too.

Twenty-five

When Jacen awoke the next morning he was surprised, for the first time since he had left his cell he didn´t dream.
Or if he had a dream he couldn´t remember it any more. Gaven wasn´t there and that relieved him, if there had been a dark vision again Gaven would have felt it. When he looked out of the window he saw that it was still dark outside. He decided to stay where he was and thought back to the last evening. He remembered how he told Gaven about the vision of Allana and the dark man that led him to become Caedus.
Gaven had told him what he did was admirable, wrong but admirable. Jacen smiled a bit about Gaven´s idealism but he knew that there was nothing admirable in it. He just hoped that Allana would never learn that she was the reason her father became a mass murderer, she would blame herself he knew.
But telling Gaven about it had lightened the burden a bit. Like telling Jaina did, he asked himself how his sister felt about this.

Once again he missed her, he wished he could just talk to her like when they were children. If they just hadn´t left each other on Mykr, maybe everything would have been different. But he knew it was useless to think about this, Jaina had embraced the dark side and he had been left to finish the mission, the Vong had captured him and now he was here. He shouldn´t be he knew, for a glimpse he recalled the vision he had shortly before their duel.

A happy Allana on the throne of balance and his dead body in Jaina´s arms. He had accepted his fate in that moment, he had been ready to die if this would ensure his daughters survival. And in the end he had died. He had used the force to warn Allana and her mother from the attack and then Jaina had killed him. For a short moment he shivered when he remembered the pain of her lightsaber inside of his chest.

He opened his shirt and looked at the scar. He knew that Jaina had stopped her lightsaber in the last moment, she had just burned his skin and he had lost his consciousness because of the pain, but still. The scar looked as if she had impaled him with her lightsaber. He shook his head, this didn´t made sense, he was alive Jaina hadn´t killed him. His sister had spared his life. It had been her destiny since her birth to be the one who would take his life but she hadn´t, she had always been stubborn.
Jacen smiled when he remembered that trait of her, he missed his sister.

He stood up and walked to the balcony. When he stepped outside it was still dark around him but he saw how the sky in the east started to become red. From the balcony he looked up to the highest point of the valley, where he saw a waterfall in the distance.

There next to a small pond he saw two stone plates on the ground.
As he tried to recognize more when someone left the building and walked towards them. Jacen recognized Thornes grey hair, the old man walked slowly to the plates and Jacen realized that this was the place where he had buried his apprentice and the Jedi that had come with him. The Jedi whose lightsaber he used now. Thorne kneeled down next to the graves and Jacen heard him speaking a few words but he couldn´t understand them. Maybe it was a prayer. He watched how the old Jedi paid his respect and thought about the story Thorne had told them the last evening. The force had told Jacen that he old man was honest with it and Jacen had come to understand Thorne a bit more.

He knew the old Jedi liked him because he was broken, in the over thirty years of his life Jacen had been through more than most Jedi did in their entire life and Thorne understood this. He knew that Jacen had done horrible things but he believed that he could become a good man again like Gaven did, only their motives were different. "Jacen?" Briala stood behind him. "Briala, what are you doing here?"
She shrugged: "I felt you were awake and I wanted to talk to you." This surprised him, Briala seemed far more interested in speaking to Gaven than to him. "He visits them every day." She told him. Jacen looked at her. "Thorne he goes to them every day, sometimes he sits there for hours." Jacen looked back and saw the old man still kneeling in front of the graves. "He misses them."

Jacen said and Briala nodded: "He does, he feels the guilt for not being able to save his apprentice every day and that he lead the other Jedi to his death." "It wasn´t his fault." Jacen tried to argue. "No maybe not but he blames himself for it. When he was young he believed that he could save everyone no matter how deep they had fallen, but after his student died he became colder and then four years ago something happened that broke him. He fell into despair."

"But yesterday evening he said..." Jacen was confused. "It´s because of you. You became a Sith but you managed to find your way back to the light, you have suffered more than most jedi ever had but in the end you remembered who you are. You have given him hope." "You mean, he has changed since we arrived here?" Briala nodded: "He has, he shows emotions again and he has told you the stories of the hawk-bat. He has even smiled a few times, he likes you Jacen Solo."

Jacen felt, again that she was hiding something from him. He thought about asking her what happened four years ago but he decided against it. Instead he asked:
"And what do you think?" For a moment he saw that Briala was unsure how to answer this question but then she told him:

"I agree with him. You are a good man Jacen Solo, a Jedi. I don´t have to be an empath like you or master Thorne but I can feel it." Jacen felt once again uncomfortable with the nice treatment. "I´m not Jacen Solo anymore." A part of him wondered how often he had said this in the last weeks. And another part of him wondered if it was the truth. Briala became very serious:
"When I was a slave they took my old name away and forced me to live without one, but that didn´t changed who I am. You are still yourself Jacen Solo. You just have forgotten that."

 

Twenty-Six

Their blades crossed again and this time it was Gaven who took a step back to regain his focus.
Jacen grinned and used a few more strikes against his friend, but Gaven managed to block them all. He started a series of attacks against Jacen who struggled to hold his defense up. Gaven drove him to the edge of the terrace, Jacen heard how Nev cheered at them but he tried to ignore it. He next attack surprised him and Gaven stopped his blade shortly before his left knee. "Got you." He smiled, Jacen returned it a bit more insecure: "I almost managed to get you first." "Almost." Gaven deactivated his weapon and Jacen tried his best to hide his disappointment. They had stayed the last four weeks here and he and Gaven had fought every day.

Jacen tried to think that he became better but he knew that very little had changed, he had lost his reflexes, his natural abilities. In his best time he didn´t think about his attacks, they simply came. But now... Gaven had also fought against Briala more than once and they seemed quite equal, but Briala was sixteen and still a student. There had been a time where he had been one of the best swordfighters in the order, he might even was better than Jaina, sometimes. But all this was gone and he was barely able to hold himself against Gaven. Sometimes Jacen asked himself if there was anything he hadn´t lost when we became a Sith. "I guess I´ve we had a year I would be able to hit you once in a while." He said a bit bitterly.

Gaven shook his head: "You are becoming better. Maybe you won´t reach the skill you had before but it will be enough." "What for?" Jacen answered. Nobody of them said a word to this, they both knew that he would return to his cell when his mission was finished. And there was little to do before they would return to the galaxy.

Two weeks ago rumors of Daala´s fall and the end of the crisis had reached the sector and now Thorne had left them to find out more in one of the bigger settlements of Learan. And when he returned, Jacen was unsure what would happen then.

Gaven had decided he would ask Thorne to accompany them to the galactic alliance and introduce him to the new Jedi order. But they had no idea how the old man would react. Since they met him Jacen was unsure about the Jedi, he assumed that Thorne was hiding something from them and Briala did too. There was a reason for Thorne´s friendliness apart from his sympathy for Jacen. Why was he that sympathetic to him? Jacen had asked himself the same about Gaven and Nev but he felt that they were different. Gaven had faced darkness himself, but more importantly Gaven was very idealistic and believed in the good in every living being. He even apologized if the hit Jacen during one of their training fights and what he heard from Nev had only underlined that. Sometimes he asked himself how Gaven would have reacted to the visions Lumya had shown him. And Nev? She was Gaven best friend, well actually his girlfriend now, but that wasn´t the only reason she was nice to him. She know how good men turned into monsters in the war but she had kept her faith in them.
Once again Jacen asked himself why all this had happened to him, he had deserved to die on the Anakin Solo and he had been ready to for it,
Ready to even spent eternity in hell for his sins, as long as Allana was safe.

He had deserved to stay imprisoned for the rest of his life but instead he was here now. The fate had given him a chance to atone for his sins at least a bit.
And Jacen had decided not to waste it.

"Are you training again?" Jacen turned around and saw Thorne walking up the way to the villa. The old man looked tired and he still wore the simple cloak the old Jedi had used on travels. "We´ve just finished." Gaven told him. Thorne smiled a bit. "I´ve heard more about what is happening in the galaxy, we should talk about it." They followed him into the house.

In the main room Briala sat at the table and read something on a data pad when they entered. They sat down around the table and Thorne started to talk: "Well it is true. The crisis is over, it´s said that the lost tribe of Sith and Abeloth have been defeated. Daala has lost her position and was replaced by Wynn Dorvan." "Dorvan, that´s Daala´s yes man if I remember correctly." Jacen said, a bit confused. "He is quite reasonable."

Gaven answered: "He wouldn´t be my choice but he is better than the most." For a moment nobody said a word, than Thorne turned to Gaven: "That means you will return I guess?"
Gaven nodded slowly: "We have to, now that the war is over it´s our duty to report to the order." Thorne smiled at them, for and as he spoke he looked old, very old and tired.

"I see. Well then it´s time. I´ve been here for almost eighty years, I´ve seen children being born, grew up and die of age in this time. During this time the whole galaxy changed and empires were born and died while I lived here. I´ve stayed here to atone for my mistakes and to help the people of Learan and this place has become a home for me. I´ve become old here even if I don´t look the part, I feel it every day, some days more than others. And from the life I lived before nothing is left but the memories. I think it´s time for me to go, to go on my last adventure before my creator calls me to his side. I´m coming with you. If you offer it to me."

For a moment they all sat there in silence. Then Gaven answered:
"It would be an honor for the new jedi order to welcome one of the old Jedi. But before we return to our order there is something left for us to do. You said the distress signal that brought us here hailed from Asterian?" Thorne nodded: "Yes. I assume the lost sons send it to lure a Jedi to this sector." Gaven answered: "Maybe but that leaves the question how they managed to get that codes. I want to go to Asterian to check that out before we return home."
"What do you hope to find there?"

Nev asked him. Gaven shrugged: "I don´t know, but if some mercenaries are in possession of Jedi codes we have a problem, they might use them to hear every communications of the order and sell it to the highest bidder." "But Daala is not in power anymore why should they continue to hunt the Jedi?"
Jacen asked his friend. "I don´t know but if what we have heard is true they are still searching for the enclave." Thorne nodded: "Yes I´ve heard the same. Maybe they have another employer." Gaven said nothing for a moment, then he answered: "That´s what worries me, if there is still someone out there who hunts Jedi we should know about it." Jacen agreed, he was happy that they would spent a bit more time here before he would return to his cell. Thorne also gave his approval and they stood up. The guest returned to their rooms but before they went to sleep they met in Jacens chamber. "So." Gaven asked them:

"What do you think of Thorne now?" "I guess you still distrust him?" Nev asked and Gaven nodded:
"Yes, I do. I have a bad feeling about him and his apprentice. I don´t know if it's a good idea to bring them with us. That´s why I insisted on going to Asterian. I want to see how Thorne will react to whatever happens there before I introduce him to the order."

 

Awesome story line and great character development and description!!!

 

Lady Belligerent I´m glad the character focus doesn´t bores you too much.

Halle Dray Thanks, I´m glad you enjoy it.


Twenty-Seven

Jacen had a bad feeling about this. Since the moment they had left Learan he had known that something was wrong. The force warned him of the things that awaited them on Asterian. After Thorne had decided to accompany them, they had stayed for three more days on the planet, the villagers had begged Thorne to stay with them but the old man hadn´t changed his decision.
Jacen wasn´t sure what Thorne thought about all this but he recognized a change in the behavior of their host. He seemed more focused than before, concentrated. Now Jacen sat once again in the seat of the copilot next to Nev, in the Orbit of Asterian, the world where Gaven had fought his last battle against the pirates and were he had killed the girl that still haunted him.

"Can you feel it?" Gaven stood behind Jacen and Nev and starred down on the planet. Jacen didn´t recognized anything on his face, the older jedi seemed to be completely free of emotions.
Jacen nodded: "Yeah, there is something terrible happening down there." He felt it in the force, they shouldn´t land on the planet. "Thorne has figured out where it comes from, it´s a village somewhere in the forests." Gaven gave Nev the coordinates. "How did Thorne know?" Nev asked. "He says the force has shown it to him. But I´m not sure what he means with that." Gaven responded.

"Are you sure we should go down there?" Jacen asked his friends. Gaven thought about it for a moment: "We have to, but he will be careful. I don´t want to lose anyone down there."

When the group left the shuttle they were concentrated. The whole time during way down to the surface the bad feeling had become stronger.

Jacen and Gaven wore both once again the clothing of bounty hunter they had used as their disguises.
Nev wore some armor plates above her clothes, she had told Jacen that this was the same armor she wore when she fought alongside Gaven against the pirates. The metal was scratched and burned but Jacen assumed it would protect Nev better than his. Throne and Briala wore both simple clothes instead of the robes they had used on Learan.
All five of them were armed, the Jedi with their lightsabers and Nev with a heavy looking blaster.
They had landed their shuttle a few klicks away of the village and walked through the forests towards it.

It was cold on Asterian. All around them was mist, the sight was incredibly bad, but aside from that Jacen didn´t recognized any problems. At least before they reached the village. When the buildings came into sight Jacen knew immediately that something wasn´t alright there. Next to him Briala activated her lightsaber and the other followed her example.
"We should leave." Nev muttered, but Gaven shook his head:

"There might be survivors left." For a moment Jacen was confused but them he recognized the blood on the buildings.
"Nev, Jacen stay behind us." Gaven commanded as they entered the village. He is still a commander. Jacen thought as they went deeper inside. They walked slowly forward and kept their eyes at every corner or entrance. Nothing living was around them, and their feet on the ground were the only sounds they heard. Jacen shivered, he felt the presence around them. Then he heard Briala coughing and when he look ahead he froze for a moment.

The villagers laid before them, in a pond of blood. Men, women, children. "Force have mercy." Gaven muttered. Jacen took a step closer and he saw the face of them. He saw the fear they had experienced in their last moments the desperation, before the lost sons had sliced the throats of their helpless victims. Jacen fell to his knees as everything around him became black for a moment. This was his fault, he hadn´t killed these villagers but he could have.

The lost sons were his soldiers, he had trained them, they had followed him into the war, and now they had ended up here committing massacres. It was his fault he had lead them on this path. He felt Nev beside him, she kneeled next to him and tried to get him up. "This is all my fault." Jacen muttered. "I have killed them." He saw how tears ran across Nev´s face as he struggled to stand up. "You haven´t killed these men, you never committed senseless murder." Gaven told him, Jacen saw that his friends face had become more serious than he had ever seen. Nev was desperate: "How could this? Why should someone do such a thing?"

"They hope this will lure the Jedi out of they´re hiding. Thorne answered her. "They hope if they massacre innocents the Jedi will show up." "They use them as a bait." Gaven added and Jacen saw how his friend tried to keep his concentration. He felt Gaven´s anger. Throne kneeled down next to the corpse of a young boy. "They are not dead for long, maybe two hours. If we just had come earlier." Gaven raised his lightsaber: "You´re right they might be even close to us now."

"We are!" A voice cut through the silence. They couldn´t see anything through the mist but Jacen felt several presences around him. They must have been here the entire time but the feelings of fear and death had hid their presence. "Lay your weapons to the ground and raise your hands." The voice commanded. Jacen tried to recognize something in the mist but he couldn´t see anything after a few meters. The Jedi raised their weapons. "You will pay for what you´ve done here!" Gaven shouted in the direction the voice came from and Jacen felt how the anger consumed his friend more and more. "Surrender now!" The voice shouted.

"Tell that to my blade." Briala responded.
A moment later a blaster bolt hit her face and before they could realize what happened the girl fell to the ground.

"This is your last chance surrender or you die." The voice told them once again.
Jacen felt how anger floated through his mind. He didn´t knew Briala well but in the short time she had proven to be a very nice girl and a true Jedi. A moment later a force storm started like Jacen had never seen before. The houses started to shiver and the mist was driven away. Jacen saw the men responsible for Briala`s death and the fear in their eyes. The storm reached them threw them in the air and crushed them into the ground. The storm howled around them and Jacen felt the force powers inside it. In the middle of all this stood Thorne, he didn´t said a word but his face was filled with sadness. The old Jedi controlled the storm and Jacen felt how much it exhausted him.

Then he saw Gaven, his friend had used Thornes attacks to overcome the distance to his enemies. Gaven stood there and with every hit of his lightsaber he killed a man. Jacen felt the anger inside the older Jedi and he knew that Gaven had embraced it. Jacen´s recognized Nev beside him. She had tried to take cover at the ground and he realized how much the storm affected her. She wasn´t a Jedi, so she couldn´t protect herself with the force.

Jacen tried to calm himself down while the anger still floated through his mind. He had to get Nev out of here. He kneeled down to her and helped her up.

"We should leave." She nodded weakly and took his hand. Jacen felt how the storm became weaker around them, and he felt the presence of the soldiers everywhere. They had to leave now. "We must go!" He shouted and he saw how Gaven nodded. Then he ran. He took the street they had entered the village and hold Nevs hand in his. They came across a handful lost sons how still laid on the ground but Jacen wasn´t sure if they had been killed or not.

He felt how more soldiers came to their feet and in the next moment a blaster bolt almost hit his shoulder.
He and Nev ran even faster as more bolts were fired at them.
He had no idea what happened to Thorne or if Gaven was behind them.

 

I only just recently found this, and just finished page one... and I'm really quite impressed! Not many people write Jacen any more, and he's always been my favorite. I think someone already pointed out that more paragraph breaks would make it easier to read, and I would add that if you were to put a 'Jacen Solo' subtitle after your title you might catch more people's attention...there are more Jacen fans than you might think.

Anyway, this is a fun read and I am looking forward to where it goes!

 

SiouxFan Thanks for that idea, I´ve chanhged the title as you suggested. I´m glad you like Jacen and this story. I will also add paragraphs to it soon.

Lady Belligerent This is a huge compilment thanks. I hope I can keep this quality.

Twenty-Eight

Night had gathered around them, Jacen and Nev stood beside each other below the trees. Both of them gasped and Jacen felt how exhausted Nev was.
He didn´t feel much better himself, his head was filled with thoughts and questions he couldn´t answer. After they had left the village a group of Lost Sons had followed them, but they eventually escaped. Then they had realized that Gaven wasn´t behind them. Jacen was worried, he had felt the older Jedi's presence in the force for a time but now he lost it. He is alive. He told himself again, but he wasn´t sure about that, from what he had seen most of the mercenaries had followed Gaven.
Jacen saw the fear on Nev´s face, she tried her best to hide it but in the last few hours her sorrows grew. Jacen asked himself what happened to Thorne but he knew the answer, the old man had lost most of his strength with his force storm, and he wouldn´t have been able to escape. Thorne and Briala, both dead because of him, along with all those villagers.

Once again he felt his guilt overcome him, why was he still alive while so many good men and women have died because of what he did?
He stopped this thoughts, they had to find Gaven and leave this world as soon as possible. He turned to Nev and saw tears running over her face. He put his hand on her shoulder like she and Gaven had done for him so many times in the last weeks. Nev looked up to him: "He promised he would never leave me again. And now he has done what he always does, he sacrificed himself for us."
Jacen felt her sadness next to his own, he had known Gaven only for about a month, but during this time they had become friends.
Gaven had helped Jacen feel like he was becoming a Jedi again, and now...

"He isn´t dead." He tried to assure Nev but he she could hear his insecurity. She nodded weakly and they sat down next to a tree. For a while neither of them said a word, both were in their own thoughts. After a while Nev calmed herself down and said: "In all the years Gaven and I fought together he was reported dead more than once, but I always he knew he was still alive.
I had a feeling that he was still out there and I was right with that. He always returned." "What do you feel now?" Jacen asked her. Nev shrugged desperately: "I don´t know, in these days I always thought that he was invulnerable. But things have changed, this is so much more than fighting pirates." Jacen knew what she meant, when he was young he had always believed his parents and friends would never die. They were reported missing sometimes but they had always returned.
Until Serpindal until the moon crushed Chewbacca, until Mykr, until Anakin's death. For a moment Jacen thought back to his brother. What would he have said when he saw what had become of his older sibling? He would have been sad. Once again Jacen thought what would have happened if he had died on Mykr not Anakin. He assumed it would have been better for the galaxy. But there was no sense in thinking about it.
He had survived the mission Anakin had died and now they were here.

"We will search for him." Jacen said and Nev nodded. "Thanks Jacen." She hugged him and he returned it. Jacen felt her sadness but also her hope. "I will meditate and try to sense Gaven in the force." Jacen told her and she nodded: "I will stay on guard." Nev took her blaster and stood up. Jacen closed his eyes and reached out in the force. He felt the energies in the forests around them, the life that surrounded them.
But he reached further out. He could feel the darkness that surrounded the village and the soldiers who were still there. When he was a boy his empathic abilities had been unique in the order, but his fall and the four years in his cell had weakened him. He went further and opened himself to the world surrounding him. he hadn´t used his sense like that for a long time and the sheer presence around him nearly overcame him. He felt the creatures around them, he felt the trees and he felt the force. He could almost hear it whispering in his ear. For a moment he had the feeling to be Jacen Solo again, one with the force around him.
Then he found him, he felt Gaven presence in the force and he had the feeling that Gaven wasn´t alone, he..

"Jacen!" Nev shouted and Jacen´s connection to the force ended. He opened his eyes and saw the reason for her reaction.
A group of lost Sons had found them. Jacen stood up and reached for his lightsaber as the first blaster bolts flew through the night. Nev returned the fire and Jacen saw one of the mercenaries falling to the ground. Jacen stood beside Nev and blocked all the hits fired at them, at least for the moment. The soldiers came closer and Jacen knew they could manage to hit them, they were well trained men, his men. Jacen used the force to throw the first of them to the ground and jumped forward his lightsaber in his hand. He heard Nev shoot two more of them as he landed. The soldier next to him was already coming back on his feet and Jacen attacked him with his lightsaber.
He cut the man almost in two pieces, but the next one already attacked him. Jacen swung his sword against him and the man died seconds later. Jacen turned to the next as a voice called through the night.

"Surrender Jedi or your friend is dead." Jacen turned around. Two mercenaries had grabbed Nev and one of them pressed his blaster against her head.
"Don´t listen to them." Nev shouted and the other soldier hit her in the face. For a moment Jacen stared at them. In another life he would have tried to use the force to draw the blaster out of their hands, later he would have accepted Nev´s death and continued fighting. But this path had lead him into the darkness. Nev was his friend and he wouldn´t let them hurt her. He deactivated his lightsaber and raised his hands. He wouldn´t let Nev die for him.

Jacen laid on the ground, with his face in the dirt.
His body hurt from the beating they had given him after he they handcuffed them.
Since his experience at the hands of the Vong he could take more physical pain than most other beings in the galaxy but the four years in his cell had changed that to, at least to a degree. He felt the blood inside his mouth and thanked the force he still had all of his teeth. The pain in his chest told him that they had broken some of his ribs and someone had stepped on his human hand and nearly crushed it.
They had also discovered his other arm was prosthetic and disabled it so it was now useless for him. He heard Nev moaning beside him, the soldiers had cuffed them back to back after they had finished beating them up. They hadn´t violated her as much as him but he could feel her pain through the force. She had taken it like a soldier and managed not to scream, and that impressed him, but he also feared what they might do to her later.

"Nev?" He whispered careful to avoid alerting their captors. "Yeah." She responded as quiet as Jacen. "Before they attacked us, I felt Gaven´s presence in the force, for a short moment." He felt her relief before she answered: "Gaven lives?" Before Jacen could answer a boot hit him in the stomach. "Be quiet." A man yelled. Jacen grunted but keep quiet. He wished he could use the force but his pain and the broken hand prevented him from doing it, he felt helpless.
To distract himself from the pain he listened to the conversations around him. It made him shiver, one man, with a scar across his right cheek was talking to another one. "I know the man. I´ve seen him somewhere before." Jacen turned his face away and prayed to the force they wouldn´t recognize him. He didn´t wanted to think about what would happen than. But what he saw instead was even worse.

Three man stood directly next to them and discussed who would be the first. Jacen didn´t needed to feel Nev´s fear to realize what they were talking about. Anger overcame him as one of them kneeled down next to Nev.
"Leave her alone!" He shouted using the rest of strength he had. Once again a boot hit him in the stomach but Jacen shouted again:
"Leave her alone!" A fist slammed into his face and blood filled his mouth again.
He tried to free himself by forcing his broken hand through his handcuffs, the pain was incredible but he ignored it. "Leave her alone!" He shouted a third time and spit out the blood. "I know him." The voice of the scarred mercenary ended his struggle. He and two other man approached them and one of them grabbed Jacen forcing Nev into the dirt. The three man looked into his face. "That´s impossible." one of them muttered.
The man with the scar shook his head:
"No it´s not. This is Jacen Solo."

 

Lady Belligerent Thanks. Do you remember the chapter in one of the first LoF books where Jacen kills that poor guy with the explosive vest? He decided to sacrifce him to save the other hostages. I added this moment to show that he has changed.

Twenty-Nine

Gaven stumbled through the forest.
He didn´t know how much time had passed since he had left the village but he assumed it had been hours. Night had gathered around him and he couldn´t see visibility was even less as in the fog at day. He still tried to calm himself down and he felt how his guilt overcame him. He had lost control of his emotions, he had used the dark side. And he had lead them here, he had lead Briala here.

Once again he saw her corpse before him, he had killed her because he wanted to check something out. Gaven stopped for a moment and looked around, he could hear nothing and when he gave into the force he couldn´t feel any of them around him. Once again he cursed himself for not being more careful at the village. But he was so confident that five Jedi could detect any hidden attacker. He had felt the massacre in the force the fear and the desperation and that had blinded them against their attackers. And now Briala was dead. And the others? Gaven didn´t know. When Jacen had shouted at them that they should go, he hadn´t followed them. Instead he had continued fighting against the mercenaries hoping it would give Jacen more time. He had left the village and most of them had followed his trail. In the woods were their advantages were lost and Gaven could use the force to sense them he had managed to kill many of them.

Gaven continued walking through the forest and asked himself what happened to Thorne.
Had he escaped too? Gaven wasn´t sure, he had seen how much willpower and strength the old man had lost. Gaven tried to sense the others in the force but he assumed that they were too far away to find him. The Jedi went in the direction he believed they had landed their shuttle, but he wasn´t sure about this anymore. Maybe he should wait until the morning and try to find his way with the help of the sun.

But he couldn´t stop now, his friends needed his help and as long as he walked the thought that scarred him the most wasn´t as strong as when he did nothing.
What if I´m the last one? What if they are all dead? For a moment he saw Nev and Jacen side by side on the ground, their throats slit like those of the villagers. No he shouldn´t think about this. He walked further through the darkness and tried to ignore the pain in his left leg. A blaster bold had hit it while he fought against three man. He also had a wound in the shoulder but the pain in his leg was so strong he didn´t felt much of it.

Suddenly he saw a light before him, just for a short moment. A few seconds later it appeared again. Gaven closed his eyes and reached out in the force, somebody was there. A human he assumed, he felt a weak presence in the force, but it wasn´t Jacen. As he came closer he recognized that the light came from inside a small cabin. When he reached it he could feel that the person inside was crying. This wasn´t a mercenary, maybe a survivor? He decided to find it out and stepped in the open door.
A girl, around fifteen he guessed, sat inside and was speaking into a com when she realized Gaven.
She froze: "I`m sorry I didn´t know someone lives here." Gaven shook his head: "I don´t live here." "Has my uncle sent you?" The question confused him:
"Your uncle?" She nodded and tears ran over her face, he felt her fear. "No he hasn´t send me, I just saw the light and wanted to take a look. I don´t want to hurt you." The pain filled his leg again. "You are wounded."
The girl stood up and offered Gaven the single chair in the hut. He almost collapsed into it. "Thanks." He muttered as he started to realized how bad everything felt. "Are you a hunter?" She asked him. Gaven wasn´t sure what to answer so he said: "I guess you can call me that." She nodded slowly and sat down again. "What are you doing here?" He asked her after a while, to distract himself from the pain.

She looked up to him, she had dark blonde hair and was quiet attractive for a girl in her age. Tears filled her eyes again and she started to sob. Gaven left the chair and sat down beside her, ignoring his pain. He put his hand on her shoulder like Nev always did when he was sad. "Hey, it´s okay. I won´t hurt you. Tell me what happened." She cried even louder and Gaven wished Nev was here, she would have known what to do.
After a while she calmed herself down a bit and started to speak: "I´ve run away from my uncle two days ago. I´ve lived with him since my parents died. But he..." She couldn´t talk further and Gaven tried his best to comfort her. "What did he do to you?" He asked friendly. "He was nice to me at first and I thought things would finally get better. But two days ago he came in my room as I slept and he wanted to..."
"You don´t have to tell me that." Gaven answered, he knew already what she was talking about. In the time after the death of their parents several man had offered to adopt Nev and only her. The girl came closer to him and cried in his chest. Gaven kept his hand on her shoulder, while his thoughts ran through his mind. This girl came from the village, where the mercenaries had attacked them and that meant that her uncle was dead. But Gaven assumed that she had friends there, friends she would never see again. "Everything will be okay." He assured her although he had no idea how he could help her.

After a while she managed to calm herself down a bit more. "What is your name?" He asked her. "Leah." She answered. "I´m Gaven." "Are you a Jedi?" The question surprised him, but he decided to be honest: "Yes I am." She managed a weak smile: "I´ve seen your lightsaber. The soldiers they search for Jedi, they were here since a few weeks. Are they searching for you?"
She has no idea what happened. Gaven shivered while he tried to figure out what to say. Leah was already desperate and frightened when he told her what happened in her village he would break. She read it in his face while he tried to cover it. "Has something happened in the village?" She asked him but he felt she already realized it.
"I´m sorry." He managed to say, "I´m so sorry." Leah started to cry again, worse than before. "This isn´t real." She muttered again and again. "This isn´t real. Nothing of this. It can´t be." Gaven didn´t know what he should do, he remembered how he had felt after his family had died. He just wanted to be dead as well. If Nev hadn´t been there he would have killed himself. But so he focused on keeping her safe. And now Nev was gone too. She isn´t dead. He assured himself. She is with Jacen. Both of them were strong they could take care of each other.

Suddenly he heard something, there was something outside. Gaven stood up and activated his lightsaber.
Eight years ago he had killed an innocent girl on this dammed planet. But this time he would do the right thing, enough innocents had died.

 

Lady Belligerent I´m glad you like him. I think it was a good idea to gave him chapters from his PoV.

Thirty

Jacen stood inside of his cell while his uncle sat in front of it and looked at him.
Luke Skywalker hadn't said a word and Jacen kept quiet too. Since he told Jaina about his second vision nobody had visited him. Jacen wasn´t sure how much time had passed since then but he assumed it had been weeks, maybe even more. Since the Jedi had imprisoned him, his uncle has visited him two times. The first time was shortly after the begining of his captivity.
He hadn´t said a word and just looked at Jacen with all the anger a widower had against the man who killed his wife and nearly his son. Jacen had broken down before him and told him how sorry he was again and again. Luke hadn´t said anything and left after a few minutes. Jacen had cried for hours after it. The second time was almost three years later, after he had told Jaina about almost everything. Luke had questioned him for hours and Jacen had answered him, when his uncle had left sadness had filled his face for a moment.

But today? Luke just stood there for a long time.
Then he finally spoke: "What you have done Jacen is unforgivable. I will never forgive you, but I need you." Luke made a pause. "You need me?" Jacen asked him confused.
Would Luke question him again? His uncle sat down on the bench before Jacen cell: "Yes I do. We do. Since the war has ended Daala acts as the chief of state of the galactic alliance."
Jacen managed a weird smile. Was his uncle joking? This mass murdering imperial fanatic had become chief of state? For a short moment Jacen asked himself why the Jedi had even bothered to overthrow him. "
She has used you as an example of how dangerous the Jedi can be and used her political power to declare us traitors."

A thought came to Jacen´s mind. Was his uncle here to deliver him to Daala in exchange for ending her war against the Jedi?
But his uncle continued: But that not all, it seems that there is a tribe of Sith who have lived in hiding for millennia's and now they are attacking us." Once again Jacen asked himself if this was some kind of a joke, a lost tribe of Sith had appeared out of nowhere to attack the galaxy?
“Daala has declared the Jedi traitors against the alliance and remnants of the ancient Sith are attacking us. But there is even a bigger threat.”His uncle continued. Then he told his nephew about Abeloth, the more Jacen heard of all this the more confused he became. What was his uncle trying to tell him?

"Why you are telling me all this?" Jacen asked Luke after he had finished his speech. His uncle kept quiet for a moment before he continued: “There is another thing. Two days ago we got a message that was sent over an old communication canal. A canal that hasn´t been used since the massacre of the old Jedi order. It´s a distress call. And I want you to find out who had sent it. Maybe there is a connection to Abeloth.” At first Jacen believed he had misunderstood his uncle. They would let him out of his cell? To go on a mission? "You are sending me?" Jacen asked in disbelief. His uncle nodded: "Your sister has asked me to give you this chance, she still believes in you."
Shame filled Jacen's heart when he thought of Jaina, she had still faith in him, even now. His uncle stood up: "But you won´t go alone, a Jedi will go with you. If you try to escape or show any signs of darkness he will kill you." Another Jedi would accompany him? "Who will you send with me?" Jacen asked. Luke walked to one of the panels on the wall and typed a code.
A hidden door in the transparisteel opened itself and Jacen step outside of his cell for the first time since four years. His uncle turned to him.
"Jedi Knight Gaven Seral."

"Jacen?" His whole body hurt as Jacen regained his consciousness. Clotted blood filled his mouth and covered many parts of his body where the fists and boots had done their work. His head hurt and for a time Jacen was unable to find a clear thought. Since his time on the Vong ship he hadn´t been through so much pain. He felt that one of his knees was crushed and the other only felt a little better.
Why couldn´t they just kill me?

"Jacen?" Nev voice reached him again. They were still tied back to back and even through the mist inside his head he could feel her pain. He just begged they hadn´t... "Jacen?" She whispered a third time. Jacen managed to raise his head a bit but even that brought him pain. "What?" He muttered back. He felt her relief as she answered: "You are still alive." "I wish I weren´t he answered weakly.
"This is all my fault." "It´s not. You didn´t know what would happen here. Don´t give up." Jacen´s whole body hurt and he answered: "I´m dying Nev." "Don´t say such a thing you are Jacen Solo."
She responded more confident than he expected, but it didn´t convinced him: "Jacen Solo is dead. I will follow him soon, I don´t want to suffer anymore."
There was nothing left for him. Even if he managed to free himself and Nev and escape from the planet. The Jedi would only put him back into his cell where he could wait some decades until he died. But why should he do that, if he could die here from the hands of his soldiers.

"So you are giving up? You have said you would try your best to atone for your sins, and now you just want to die?" Even with all the pain inside his mind Jacen realized the truth in her words. He couldn´t die here, not if there was still a chance to do something good. Jacen kept to this thought and his mind became clearer. He remembered what had happened after the mercenaries had discovered who he was. They had beaten him even worse than before until he had lost the rests of his consciousness. "How long was I passed out?" He asked Nev. "For hours I guess, but I´m feeling right now if they had tortured us for years."
"Have they..." Jacen asked fearing what Nev might answer. "No, after you stopped reacting to their hits they gave me a few more hits but nothing more." Jacen thanked the force for this. "They have discussed what to do with us. They believe I´m one of your followers. Some of them wanted to kill us but in the end they decided to bring us to their client."

"Do you know who that is?" Nev thought for a moment: "I have no idea." Jacen tried to concentrate on his surroundings but the men who guarded them seemed more professional than those who captured them. They didn´t speak but pointed their blasters at them the whole time. Jacen knew this wasn´t necessary. with his crushed knee he would never be able to run, if he even managed to stand up.
"I´m sorry for dragging you into this." He told Nev a few minutes later. "You don´t have to say that. It was my decision to come with you. You are my friend and it was an honor to fight by your side." Jacen smiled for a short moment: "If someone should be honored it´s me. You have given me more than I deserve." "That´s what friends are for." Nev answered and Jacen felt how she smiled herself. A fist hit him in the face. "Be quiet Jacen, or I will slit her throat."
Jacen nodded weakly and the short moment of hope was forgotten.

 

Lady Belligerent I´m so glad you like the two, I´ve really became attached to them while writing the Story.

Halle Dray Thanks for likeing the Story.

Thirty-one

Gaven blocked the next blaster bolt and threw the soldier with a force push to the ground.
The last remaining man continued the fire but Gaven managed to reflect the blaster blots. One of them hit the mercenary in his chest and killed him instantly. During this short moment the man on the ground managed to grab his blaster again and fire at Gaven. The Jedi defended himself against the hits and then jumped three meters in the air. The man stared at him until Gaven landed next to him and drove his lightsaber into the man´s back.

A moment later pain floated through his wounded leg and he stumbled. G
aven broke to his knees for a second as the man died right next to him. He breathed heavily and he knew that he had reached the end of his strength. Seven dead lost Sons laid before him, the group that had discovered them. Gaven wasn´t sure if they were able to inform the others of their position before he had killed them but he prayed to the force they hadn´t. For a short moment he studied the corpses. One of them was a commander he guessed, the man wore a slightly different uniform and an additional handblaster. And one woman had a bag with her the others hadn´t. Gaven guessed her to be a medic, he took the bag hoping it would contain some bacta.

He turned around to the small cabin. Ignoring his leg as much as possible he stood up and forced himself back into the building. Leah looked up as he entered, she had stopped crying while he fought Gaven assumed because she stood up and came to him. "What happened?" She asked him while Gaven managed to sit down on the ground. "We are safe now." Gaven assured her and hoped that this was true. Leah sat down next to him: "These men, they were the ones that.." She didn´t continue but Gaven knew what she meant. He nodded: "Yes." "I´m glad they are dead." The girl responded but Gaven felt the confusion inside her. And once again he felt the force, this girl was sensitive to it.
For a short moment he reached out to her mind. She looked up, a bit confused. She has the force, but she didn´t know about it.

Gaven remembered the time when he had no idea of his affinity to the force, he had always felt that he was different from the others, different from his men even from Nev. There had been moments when he had reacted quicker than other where he had been more aware of his surroundings and sometimes he was even able to predict what his enemies would do. He had believed this was because of his greater experience until he meet the Jedi and they told him what he really was. For a short moment he asked himself how his life would have been if he never learned about it.
The pain in his leg and shoulder brought him back into the present. He opened the bag and couldn´t resist a insecure smile for a moment. It was filled with medical supplies and he discovered more than enough bacta for his wounds.

After he tended his injuries he turned to Leah who had watched him the entire time: "I´m sorry for what happened today. I can´t imagine who you must feel right now." "It wasn´t your fault." She told him. "They have searched for Jedi if they hadn´t." Gaven felt how his guilt overcame him once again stronger than before. It was all his fault, he had insisted to go the Asterian. He had denied Nev request not to enter the village. It was his fault that Briala and Thorne had died and maybe Jacen and Nev too. He felt how despair threatened to overcome him. "You haven´t killed them." The girl told him and Gaven was impressed how calm she was although he felt her own despair. He felt that she had no idea how she should survive the next day and what would become of her life from now on. Gaven felt pity for her and something else, he wished to help her. He laid his hand on her shoulder and ignored his own worries for a moment:

"I don´t know what will happen tomorrow, but you have my word that I won´t leave you alone with this. I will help you." She looked up to him unsure about his offer. A part of her wanted to trust him but the other part disbelieved. "How do you want to help me? Everyone I know is dead. there is nothing left." Leah started to cry again and Gaven had no idea how to comfort her. Once again he wished Nev was here, she had helped him so many times when he felt desperate. Or Jacen, they both would know what to do. "I will bring you away from here. To somewhere safe, we will find a way." For a moment a thought came to his mind but Gaven pushed it away, this wasn´t the right time nor the right place for this.
Leah kept silent for a moment than she answered: "I don´t know anything anymore. I can´t believe all this. It just doesnt feel real." She raised her hand and looked at it. Then she turned to Gaven. "You are the first friendly person I've met since my parents died. Can you truly help me?" For a moment Gaven thought about how to answer, he decided to tell her the truth: "I don´t know. These men have killed at least two Jedi and two of my friends are still out there, maybe they are dead too. I must find them, but I will try my best to protect you." She nodded slowly and Gaven had the feeling she used the force instinctually to find out if he was telling the truth.
She managed a short smile:

"I will trust you, Gaven. Guess I have no other choice." For a while they sat together in silence, while Gaven thought about what he should do now. He decided he should search for Jacen and Nev in the force. Gaven turned to Leah: "I need to meditate to find out where my friends are. Please if someone comes wake me up." For a moment she was confused but then she nodded. Gaven sat down on the floor of the hut and closed his eyes. He reached out in the force, he felt the world surrounding him and a nightly forest and the soldiers searching for them. None of them close and most of them headed in other directions, which calmed Gaven a bit down as he reached out further. Then he felt pain, physical pain of two persons. They were surrounded by a group of soldiers and Gaven recognized them.
Jacen and Nev where alive but in the hands of the Lost Sons.

 

Lady Belligerent I enjoy writing them too.

Thirty-Two

"We should kill him." One of the soldiers told his comrades. The man next to him shook his head: "No our orders are clear. We should capture any Jedi alive." "But he isn´t a Jedi." A woman said, "Everyone thinks he is dead. I say we should prove them right." A smaller mercenary stood up slowly: "Yeah everyone thinks he is dead, but just imagine what will happen to when we sell him out?" "We will get our pardon." The second man said. "And more credits than you can think of." "I can think of a lot." The woman said and all laughed. "And the girl?" A man pointed at Nev: "Do we even know who she is?"
"His apprentice I think." The small soldier answered, "I assume they search her too."

For a time none of them said a word and Jacen asked himself how long it would take for them to find out that Nev wasn´t what they thought of her. He hoped it would take them as long as possible, because they were afraid of Darth Caedus apprentice and left her alone. If they realized that Nev hadn´t even the force.
Jacen didn´t wanted to think about it.

"Nev?" He muttered as quiet as possible. "Yes." She answered. "I´m sorry I dragged you into all this." he said again. "I know, but it´s not your fault." "Be quiet!" One of the mercenaries shouted and Jacen felt how his boot hit Nev´s stomach.
"Leave her alone." He said and a fist hit him in the face, opening some of his clotted wounds opened again. He grunted but said nothing. For a while they just laid on the ground and Jacen felt his pain becoming stronger around him. Blood flowed from his wounds to the ground and filled his already damaged clothes. His stomach rebelled against him, it had been more than a standard day now that he had something to eat or to drink. Nev didn´t feel much better than he did, they hadn´t beaten her as much as him but that didn´t mean much. I

n the hours before the sun rose the man and woman who he drove into this exile had paid the favor back to him. Jacen didn´t know how he survived the hours constantly in a state of pain and unconsciousness. Every time he broke down they had violated Nev in his place. She had impressed Jacen as she never asked for mercy or even cried, she stayed calm like he did. He asked herself how she would have be if she was a Jedi. "Water." Nev muttered at his side. Her voice was weak but still confidant. No one of the soldiers reacted to her. "Water." She replied. Once again nothing happened. "She needs water, please." Jacen said in a louder voice than Nev.

All mercenaries turned to him. A soldier kneeled down right next to him and pressed his blaster against Jacen´s skull: "What did you say?" "She needs water please." Jacen responded and tried to stay calm. The man activated his blaster: "I should kill you. Both of you." "Then do it." Nev answered: "Do it right here so we don´t have to hear your voice anymore." Jacen was again impressed but he also felt that this had been a mistake. The man took his blaster from Jacen head an pressed it on Nevs. "Your friend will earn us enough, we don´t need you." He would shoot. Jacen felt it in the force.
"Leave her alone. I am the one you need, but if you hurt her I will tear you apart." He tried his best to be confidant and imitated Caedus tone. The man around them started to laugh. "That really scares me." The man above them told him. "I´ve killed an emperors hand, the crown prince of Hapes and the grand admiral of the empire. What do you think I will do to you if you hurt her?" Jacen used his last strength to make this words as confident as possible, while he felt the entire opposite. For a moment the man doubted, Jacen saw fear in his face. He slammed his blaster against Nev´s head and stood up.

"She isn´t worth the trouble and we may need her later to keep him calm." The other soldiers nodded and Jacen tried his best to hide his relief. A few minutes later one of their captors recognized something on his com. "We´ve lost contact with some of the teams. The other Jedi are still out there. The other Jedi? Could that mean that Thorne was alive too? Jacen listened more carefully.
"Maybe it´s because of the trees? The com might not work properly." A woman said. "Could be." The man answered. "We should search for them. Where we had contact for the last time?" Another soldier asked. They discussed the coordinates for a time and decided to search for the lost teams. Before most of them left their leader instructed ten of them to guard the captives.

"If he tries anything, kill his little friend but leave him alive if possible, he could be our ticket out of here." Then they left. Jacen was glad that their guards belonged to the more professional members of the lost sons, they guarded them in silence without violating them again. Only ten men and most of them where tired. In another life Jacen would have been able to kill them all on his own. But now his leg hurt so much he wasn´t sure if he could even stand. Suddenly they heard something.

One of the teams seemed to return. They had been in a fight Jacen realized immediately only two of them where alive and stumbled through the forest. No only one of them was a lost Son the other was... "Gaven?" Jacen muttered and his hopes broke. The mercenary a young woman lead Gaven before her pointing her blaster at his back. Gaven looked terrible and as he recognized them Jacen saw desperation his face. They reached the group and the girl forced Gaven on his knees. "I got him, they told me I should bring him to you." The leader of the guards walked to her: "How did you manage that." The girl answered:

"Oh I acted as if I was a survivor of the village to earn his trust. The rest was easy." The man laughed, while Jacen saw anger in Gavens face. "He even told me about his sons." The girl said and grinned for a moment. His sons? Gaven had no children. Than Jacen realized it. "It´s a trick." Nev whispered and Jacen nodded.
The summoned the last bit of strength he had and concentrated. "Good work. You´ve earned your pay." The leader said and the man relaxed a bit.

Gaven used this moment. He jumped on his feet and in one second he activated his lightsaber and slammed the soldiers to the ground with the force. Before they could even react, the older Jedi killed three of them. He blocked the blaster bolts of the remaining seven and killed two more by sending them back. In less than ten seconds he had killed half of their guards. But these men didn´t give up, they returned the fire and tried to get through Gavens defense. Jacen ignored the pain in his real hand and used the force through it to open their handcuffs. Then he mobilized the little remaining of his strength and threw himself on the man right next to him.

When his enemy landed on the ground Jacen recognized him, it was the man who had tried to shoot Nev. During the fall he had lost his blaster so he attacked Jacen with his hands. He got the upper hand and began to strangle Jacen with his bare hands. Jacen tried to get him off but the man was too strong. A second later the grip around his throat opened and the man broke down next to him. Nev had shot him with his own blaster. When Jacen looked up she choose the next targets and killed two more soldiers while Gaven cut the last of them down.

Jacen collapsed on the ground and the pain he had ignored for the last few seconds returned to his body. "Gaven." Nev said and Jacen saw how they hugged each other. "What have they done to you?" Gaven asked her worried. "I will survive it. Jacen has taken most of the beating." The girl who had brought Gaven here stood still there where Gaven had kneeled and Jacen saw the shock on her face. Gaven turned to him: "Good to see you alive." He smiled, Jacen managed to return it:
"Indeed my friend."

 

Great character development and awesome storyline!

 

Halle Dray Thanks I´m glad you enjoy it.

Thirty-Three

"Can you walk?" Gaven asked him and Jacen shook his head: "Not without pain, they´ve crushed my right knee." He realized the worry on Gaven's face. Both knew they had to leave, the lost sons would realize soon that someone had killed the guards. And they wouldn´t survive another fight. Jacen felt how tired Gaven was, Nev had gotten almost the same beating than he did and the girl that had brought Gaven here looked so horrified Jacen assumed she had never been in a fight before. "I´ve some bacta with me but I guess you will need more than that."
"There is an old auto doc on the ship." Nev said and Gaven nodded slowly: "Most of the old freighters have one. But I´m not sure if the ship will still be there." Nobody said a word to this while Jacen tried again to get up, but it was impossible for him to even stand. "We have to go." Gaven said again and pointed at the girl: "This is Leah, she is a survivor of the village. Leah this is Jacen, he is also a Jedi and this is Nev, well actually..." "Just call me Nev, everyone does." The girl, Leah barely reacted, she was still shocked by everything that had happened around her.

"Nev could you help Leah while I help Jacen, I think I can remember where the ship stood." Jacen realized a change in Gaven behavior, his friend was acting more focused and direct than usually. He was again the battle hardened leader of soldiers he had been years before. Jedi didn´t know how Gaven managed to bring them back to the shuttle. He held him up the entire way, while Nev spoke to the terrified girl and tried to calm her down. The woods around them seemed to be endless. The pain in his leg and in his crushed hand grew with every step, and from time to time he lost his consciousness. When he awoke again Mara walked by his side. She didn´t look at him as he stumbled further on his left leg. She turned to him and Jacen saw the horrible wound that had killed her.

"Just do us all a favor and die." She told Jacen while staring at him with dead eyes. And Jacen wanted to submit. He passed out again and returned to the Anakin Solo, but this time he didn´t fight against Jaina. He just laid there in her arms while she cried for him, he was dead he realized. Jaina's lightsaber had impaled him. His sister had killed him like it was prophesied. His pain was gone and he knew Allana was safe it was okay his suffering had ended. He returned to the real world. Or was it a dream? This time his parents walked by his side and Jacen saw the disappointment in their faces. "We have only one son and he is dead." His mother told him. "Why Jacen? Why?" His father asked him but Jacen was unable to answer. Once again he left the reality and found himself in the past. He was back on Corusant with Vegere, where he had embraced the dark side for the first time, where Ganner had died for him. Why? He should have died on Mykr instead of Anakin. It would have been better for everyone.

"Jacen!" Gaven's voice brought him back into the reality. Night had gathered around them and Jacen felt that Gaven was barely able to stand anymore. Nev stood next to them one hand at Leah shoulder. The girl looked as horrible as Jacen felt. "Are you okay?"
Gaven asked him and Jacen didn´t know how to answer. "You have fever." Gaven pointed out. "Please stay with us, we're here." Jacen looked up and the freighter stood before them. He needed almost all his mental powers to make it up the entrance and into the small medical station. Gaven laid him down on the bed and almost collapsed against the wall after it. Jacen felt horrible and his world became darker all few seconds. He saw Nev activating the auto doc an old droid who started immediately to check on Jacen status. The droid cut away most of Jacens dirty clothes and started to tend his wounds with bacta and gave him something against the pain. Jacen didn´t realize when the others left as he was in a state between consciousness and unconsciousness.

He awoke several times but had no idea how much time had passed, he believed the fighter had started but he wasn´t sure about it. Most of the time he felt nothing, he got a glimpse on the droid operatingon his knee but he didn´t feel anything. Darkness surrounded him, but Jacen wasn´t afraid. He would have peace there, he only had to go another step and his pain and his guilt would leave. It would be easier just to surrender to the darkness. "Don´t give up." He looked up and saw his brother sitting aside of his bed. Anakin smiled at him.

"Anakin?" Jacen´s voice was nothing but a whisper. "Brother" The younger Solo answered, "I´ve missed you Jacen." "I´m sorry." Jacen answered. "I´m so sorry." "It´s okay Jacen. I forgive you." Tears filled Jacen´s eyes. For a while he just cried while his brother looked at him warmer than he ever had in life. "You, you are dead." Jacen managed to say. His brother nodded: "Yes, I should have stopped and taken time to heal. I should have given command to you, but I was too prideful." "I should have died in your place. You are a hero and I am a monster." Anakin took Jacen´s hand: "You are my brother, you are a Solo." "I lost that when I became Caedus." Jacen answered. "But you came back to save Allana. You have a chance to become a hero again. They need you." "Who needs me?" His brother stood up without answering the question. "Please, don´t go." Jacen said and Anakin turned around for a moment:
"We will see each other again, brother. May the force be with you, always."

 

Lady Belligerent That was the Intention. I think while Mara was a halucination it was truly Anakins ghost.



Thirty-Four


"You should go to bed." Nev told him as he used the remaining bacta to tend her wounds. She had taken off her clothes and laid on one of the small beds of the freighter. Gaven tried his best to keep his eyes on his work. They had patched each other up several times during their fight against the pirates but things had changed since then. They both had admitted their feelings for each other. "Not before I tended your wounds, I don´t want you to suffer. And I must take a look at Jacen afterwards, his internal injuries could be dangerous."

"So you are a medic now?" She grinned. "Every Jedi is, well most of us are." For a short moment he thought of the Barabels. "But what do you think you can do for Jacen? I don´t have to be a Jedi to feel how tired you are. You basically dragged Jacen all the way here. "I still have some strength left. and I can use the force to prevent Jacen from dying of shock. It´s used to stabilize patients during an operation." She sighted while Gaven spread some more bacta on her skin. For a moment Gaven felt her pain as he came across a wound.

"There a boot hit me." She commented, "After I tried to speak to Jacen." Once again Gaven felt the hatred inside him. A part of him wanted to go down to the planet and kill every single one of them for what they did to Nev. But he had a duty, he had to get them out of this alive. For a moment his exhaustion overcame him and he shivered. "You should take a rest." Nev told him again and Gaven could hear the worry in her voice. "I´m almost finished with you, but I have to see after Jacen." He relied and spread the last of the bacta on her body. He stood up and for a moment he wasn´t sure if he would be able to walk but he had still some strength inside him. "Please take a rest. If not for yourself than for me." Gaven turned to her and smiled:

"I must look after Jacen, when he is out of danger I will go to sleep." He left the room and scolded himself for that decision, but Jacen needed his help and Gaven would help him. He entered the small room where the droid was still tending Jacen. Gaven sat down next to his friend and closed his eyes he reached out in the force and was worried about how weak Jacen had become since Gaven had left. Gaven concentrated on Jacen's strength and tried his best to strengthen him.

He asked himself what Luke Skywalker would say if he could see them at the moment. The grandmaster was a good man no doubt at that but he seemed to hate his nephew with a flaming rage. Haven remembered how Luke had instructed him to kill Jacen if he would only try to escape. Had he keep to his command Jacen would be dead now and I probably too. For a short moment he had the thought that Luke might have intended even that. But no he wouldn´t do that. But than Gaven remembered the rumors in the order about the love between his son and a Sith girl and what Thorne had told him about Mara Jades earlier occupation. This Sith he tolerates but his own nephew didn´t gets any mercy. Well the grandmaster was only a human, like him and Gaven knew that it was at least partly his friendship with Jacen that had brought him here. If I had disliked him I maybe had drove my lightsaber into his chest after he attacked Nev at the academy on Learan.

Suddenly he felt a great pain inside Jacens body, he must have napped in and lost the concentration for a moment. Jacen was dying before him he realized. "No, please don´t." He muttered while he returned his strength to Jacen. But he was to weak he felt how Jacen's heart started to flicker. No don´t let him die now. He begged the force. And the force answered at least it felt like it. For a moment Gaven felt another presence more powerful than his own at Jacen's side. He tried to find out more but the presence left after a few seconds. When Gaven concentrated on Jacen again he felt that his friend was stable now, even his wounds seemed to heal better. "Thanks." Gaven said to whomever had helped Jacen. For a while he sat at Jacen´s side and he felt how Jacen become stronger again. He would survive. A hand touched his shoulder and he turned around. Nev stood behind him in a light flight suit. "Go to bed Gaven I will take care of Jacen." He nodded slowly. "You, You´re right, Jacen is stable now so I can get some rest." He stood up and kissed her on the cheek: "I love you." She smiled at him. "I know."

When Gaven returned to their quarters Leah was sitting on her bed and looked up as he entered. Gaven sat down on his own sleepcouch and asked her: "Are you alright?" She nodded weakly. "Then she stood up and sat down next to him: "What will happen to me, Gaven?"
For a moment he thought about how he should answer. He wanted to tell her that he still had to decide that but he know how much it would torment her to know nothing about her fate. "We will return to the galactic alliance soon, you are not the first orphan the Jedi came across. If you want we can find someone who might adopt you or if you prefer to start your own life we could give you financial support and maybe a place where you can life, help you find a job." He stopped for a moment to give her time to think about his words, than he continued: "You can start a new life at the core if you wish, there are several beautiful planets, or if you want to return to Asterian we can help you with that."

She looked at him and Gaven wasn´t sure if she liked those possibilities. "Are there no other options?" She asked him insecurely. Well there was another option, but Gaven wasn´t sure if he should tell her about it. It seemed him wrong to drag her into the order, the old Jedi did that. But on the other hand he asked himself if he found her only through pure coincidence maybe the force had lead him to her. He decided to speak it out: "Well there is. And please understand that I don´t want to force you into it. I´ve recognized a potential in you, you have the force."
She stared at him: "I always knew I was different from others. I felt more than them and sometimes I just know things. I always thought I was alone with that until I saw you in the cabin. Does that mean I can become a Jedi?" Gaven answered her slowly: "If you want you can, yes. But it´s a hard life, the Jedi travel through the galaxy to help the people. There is much suffering around us and we can´t always help. It has to be your own decision to join." For a moment she said nothing and Gaven knew she would decline the offer.

"I want to. There is nothing left for me, but as a Jedi I can help others not to suffer the same fate as I have." Gaven was surprised about that: "Do you really want this? Perhaps you should take some time to think about it." "yes." She said. Gaven sighed: "Okay, I will show you a few basics about being a Jedi until we reach Corusant. If you then still want to become a Jedi I will help you find a Jedi to train you." She nodded, then she asked: "Would you train me?" Gaven first impulse was to say no. There were several better Jedi as him.

But one the other hand, he had no apprentice he took care of. And he knew he could help her becoming a Jedi. He liked her and she had risked her life to help him. And she was native to the same sector than he was, he knew she would need someone who helped her with the life in the core. For a short moment he thought back to the man who had introduced him to all this and sadness filled his heart. Kenth may you rest in peace. Then returned to the present and managed to smile: "Of course I can, if you want me to. You can live with me and Nev until you find a place to stay." She hugged him. "Thank you. Thank you for everything."

 

@Lady Belligerent They will.
Thirty-Five

"Jacen?" He opened his eyes and saw Nev sitting above him. Once again her hand laid on his shoulder. "Welcome back among the living." She said and smiled at him. "How long was I passed out?" Jacen asked her. "A few hours, you have suffered several internal injuries and for a time we feared they would kill you. But you are strong." Jacen managed a smile: "I´m not easy to kill, that´s true. Where is Gaven?" "I sent him to bed, he patched me up while the droid treaded you. He was completely exhausted but he only went to sleep after it was clear you would survive." Nev laughed. "Where are we?" Jacen continued to ask. "In a low Orbit around Asterian. Gaven wanted to wait until you are awake before we decide what we should do now."

"And the girl? Leah." "I´ve talked to her while Gaven sat aside your bed, she has suffered so much but she is strong. She sleeps now." For a moment Jacen said nothing, than he asked: "And how are you?" Nev shrugged: "It still hurts a lot and I have bruises all over my body, a few ribs were damaged but none is broken, nothing bacta can´t heal. I´m okay you got most of the violations. How are you feeling?" Jacen had no idea what to answer, he felt no pain at the moment but he assumed he had still painkillers inside him. "I saw my brother." He muttered more too himself than to Nev. "Your brother? Gaven told me your brother died years ago." Jacen nodded: "That´s true. Maybe it was a hallucinations from the painkillers." "Maybe or it was caused from the pain itself." Nev answered.

"Or it was your brother, he was a Jedi." Gaven said while he entered the room and sat down next to Nev. He looked much better as the last time Jacen saw him and he wore a new suit. "I felt a presence around you for a moment while we had almost lost you. Maybe it was him." Jacen thought about this, could it really have been Anakin's ghost. His uncle had told him about the conversations he had with his dead masters and Jacen himself had felt the presence of the dead, but his brother had never spoken to him before, except once directly after his death. "Maybe it was him." Jacen agreed, "We will probably never know." Gaven nodded and Nev turned to him: "I hope you get at least some rest." "I have, I´m okay for now, I can sleep when we are safe. Have you recognized any ships around us?"

Nev shook her head: "Not in the last hours, if the lost Sons have a ship we haven´t seen it. And they communication becomes lesser every hour it sounds like they are still losing teams, do you think the inhabitants of Asterian fight against them." Gaven thought about it for a moment: "It could be or it could be someone else." "You think Thorne is fighting them?" Jacen asked him. His friend shrugged: "I don´t know. I´ve tried to reach him over the communicator but he hasn´t reacted. Maybe he has lost his com or fears the mercenaries could find it." "Or he is dead." Jacen said: "We can´t say that for sure but he was old and his force attack seemed to cost him a lot." Gaven nodded: "We can´t say anything of this for sure but I have the feeling we should leave this planet before the lost sons find us here." "

So we won´t search for Throne?" Jacen asked him. He felt that Gaven disliked his own decision: "No if he is dead there will be no sense in that and if he is alive it will be impossible to find him. We have discussed the matter on the last evening on Learan. He said should we be separated on the planet he would find his own way." Jacen nodded slowly: "So we go?" "Yeah, I will sent a recorded message for Thorne with the same codes he used all this years, that we are leaving and how he can contact us if he manages to escape the planet." Jacen was glad they could at least do this for the old man. He asked himself how Thorne must feel in this moment and he remembered Briala's death. The girl had died before she even realized what happened around her. She was only seventeen. But the old man had loved her as a daughter. For a short moment he thought how he would have reacted if Allana was killed. So it didn´t surprised him that Thorne ignored the com. Might he force be with the men he held responsible for her death. He thought sarcastic. He felt no pity for them, not after what they had done in the village.

"So where are we going now?" Nev asked them. "Back to Darvin I would say, if you want to accompany me to Corusant you should pack you things. I will contact the order when we are there and ask them where we should meet with them. " Gaven answered. Nev stood up: "Then I will make the preparations for the jump in the hyperspace." She left and Gaven turned to Jacen: "When we return, the Jedi will imprison you again. I don´t know what will happen then. I will talk to your sister, she has ensured your release for this mission and that it was me who came with you."

Jacen smiled a bit: "I´m already missing my cell. I owe you and Jaina so much for sending me on this mission. Even if they imprison me for the rest of my life it´s okay. You helped me remembering who I truly am, I`m able to live with myself again and that´s most important." Gaven smiled back at him. "I´m glad I could help you, but you helped me as much as I did. I was finally able to tell Nev what I feel for her and my guilt doesn´t held me down that much anymore." "You and Nev you belong together." Jacen said. "I just pointed that out for you." Gaven laughed:
"I needed that. I would have never been able to tell her about it on my own." For a while nobody of them said a word, until Nev returned to them. "We´ve left Asterian. It will be a couple hours until Darvin. You should finally go to sleep." Gaven nodded: "Yeah I should and you too." He turned to Jacen: "Are you okay?" Jacen nodded: "Yeah I will mediate a bit. Collecting my thoughts." He looked up to them: "Just Thanks for all you have done for me, I´m honored to call you my friends." Both of them smiled and Nev hugged him again.

Then they left and Jacen sank back onto the bed. He looked at the ceiling and asked himself what the fate would offer him in the future. They need you, had Anakin told him. Who needed him? Gaven and Nev? His own family? Or would there be a time when the whole galaxy would need Jacen Solo again.

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Here ends the first part of the story, Atonement but of course Jacen´s journey isn´t over yet. The next part will start soon and I hope many of you will continue reading it. I want to Thank everyone of you for reading and hopefully enjoying my story. I´ve started to write it after I read Millennium Falcon and of course Invincible as I couldn´t accept this as the fate of my favorite character: a boogeyman for his daughter. I always thought he should have truly redeemed himself and I wanted to give him a chance to do it. Although I never wanted him to be forgiven instantly but instead write as plausible as possible. Basically I only changed that Jaina stopped her blade in the last second and went on from that. I had several different plot ideas over the time and used only some of them. For example Gaven should have died very early in the original and Jacen would have decided to continue the mission instead of using the chance to escape. But I liked Gaven and decided that Jacen would need him to redeem himself. At first Nev was also planned as a side character and wouldn't have accompanied them. Her relationship with Gaven was also changed to give Gaven a bit more dept. Another idea was that Jacen was unsure if he even was the real Jacen but instead a clone with his memories while the real Jacen truly died.(In the end it would have been revealed that he was real) I disliked that idea and scrapped it. Other ideas where using a canon character for Gaven role but I thought it would be better for Jacen to travel with someone who didn´t hold a grudge against him. I´ve also changed a few things to make it fit a bit better with FoJ.
So we close the first part of this story, if you liked it please do me a favor and write a little review about what you liked, what you disliked and what could have been better. Thanks

I especially thank the wonderful Lady Belligerent for the beta and a good friend for allowing me to use two of her characters in the Fanfic. Thanks to both of you.

Here is the link for the second part: http://boards.theforce.net/threads/forgiveness-a-jacen-solo-fanfic.50041915/

 

Lady Belligerent Thank's I'm so glad you enjoed the story.