Beyond - Legends Children of the Red Sun--Final Four Chapters Posted. Complete 10/3/2009!!!!

Wow! Sorry I missed so many chapters. RL has been a real bugger lately, and it really doesn't look like it'll be letting up anytime soon. I'm going to stick with this story, but my replies might be farther apart.
I really liked how the whole eclipse situation was handled. I also enjoyed Anakin's proposal! Hopefully they both survive this!
I don't like the sound of Doomsday. The Vong may have bitten off more than they can chew with this one! I'm also worried about the Supreme Overlord's remembrance of Onimi. Is Onimi's spirit coming back to haunt us?
Anyways, thanks for the great chapters!

 

Bravo!!!

I'm so glad the Vong got their butts kicked, I was always mad that the good guys could never seem to unite and realize that they should show no mercy in canon...

I love this part...

"I can assure you that there is no such thing as a Vong civilian. They are simply weapons that have not matured yet.?

I can't wait to see what happens next!

 

Nice battle scene. I like how the good guys in here realize that surviving something like the Vong invasion requires actions that would not have been acceptable a few years earlier.

Looks like the Vong are going to need "another" warmaster.

 

Jedimasterjsa--Doomsday will be unfun. In the true Superman comic cannon, of course, Doomsday is the creature that killed Superman. His origins are similar in this story, but I'm not going to hint about the final outcome.

Jedi_Aurelan_Carter--While making everything to easy really complicates the drama, making this fall apart through overwhelming and incomprehensible stupidity gets pretty annoying as well.

munchmore--Thank you, I'm glad you're still enjoying.



Chapter Forty-Two: The Tides of War

Commander Vorrik screamed in rage as another of his destroyers died under the infidels? beams. ?How did the weapon get this far so fast?? he demanded of his Intendant. ?The insult at Kuat was only days ago!?

The Intendant bowed. ?It appears to be a second ship.?

That stilled Vorrik?s cries of rage as for the first time in the commander?s life a small knot of cold fear formed in his chest.

His fleet had over a hundred ships and should have easily been a match for what was left of the Imperial Remnant. However, when his fleet reverted to destroy the holonet relays at Esfandia, he found himself facing a seventeen-kilometer nightmare couched in a screen of ninety Imperial Star Destroyers and interdictors.

?What is left?? he demanded.

?We have less than a quarter our fleet left,? the Intendant said after consulting his villip.

?If we are to die this day,? Vorrik declared, ?it shall be with the blood of our enemies on our lips. Order all ships to ram that blasphemous weapon!?

As happened at Kuat, the star destroyers formed a funnel that forced the Vong cruisers into a too-tight formation that made for easy pickings for the Eclipse super dreadnaught. On the command deck, General Wedge Antilles compared notes with Moff Saretti.

?This is exactly what Kre?fey said they did to him,? Wedge noted.

Saretti nodded. His normally cheerful face was cast in a somber expression. Nearby, Karia and Anakin listened since neither had a real role other than to serve as ship security. Instead, they watched and learned.

?And like Kuat, we cannot afford to take prisoners.?

?Not like they?re going to let us,? Wedge said.

?Why won?t they surrender?? Karia found the courage to ask.

?Because, Miss Naberrie,? Moff Saretti said with a kind smile that still seemed at odds with his Moff?s uniform, ?their belief structure does not allow them to. I understand mentioning Admiral Thrawn is not very popular in present company, but he was still a remarkable study of sentient beings. In observing the Vong, Admiral Thrawn determined that they were a stratified, dying society. They did not choose to come here; they had to. They were a people cast out among the stars, and only their belief in their own superiority and that of their gods saw them through the journey. The possibility of peaceful co-existence with us never even occurred to them. For them to allow us to live would be an affront to their gods, who promised them this galaxy. And for them to surrender to us is an admission they failed their gods. In their minds, it is better to die with their gods than be shunned and alive in surrender.?

?In other words, they?re crazy,? Wedge said.

?Quite so,? Saretti agreed.

The two teens looked from the unusually friendly Imperial Moff to the eager, normally friendly general, and realized that the two men were quickly becoming friends.

Karia and Anakin shared a smile. They would take credit for that friendship, whether it was theirs to claim or not.

?The command ship has been destroyed,? Wedge noted as his tactical team updated the tactical displays. ?The battle is over.?

?Losses?? Saretti asked.

?Twenty star destroyers lost, another ten suffering significant damage,? Wedge noted. ?For a hundred enemy ships destroyed.?

?Our best showing of the war,? Saretti agreed. ?Two key victories in a matter of days. The tides are turning.?

?You just wait until the Hapans join us,? Anakin declared. ?Tenel Ka is the Queen Mother now.?

?Indeed,? Saretti said. ?I look forward to meeting her.?

* * *

Boba Fett was having a bad day.

In fact,

 

That was a beautiful and well needed scene between mother and daughter...

 

Excellent post. The vong are getting desperate...and I like it. What happened to Nom Anor, I wonder? Cause he can't be up to any good.

Once again, I enjoyed it. Thanks.

Raptor517

 

First and foremost, I'd like to say one big final thank you to Jedi-2B. Her beta work as always has been superb and made a huge difference in this story.

While I've had few reviews since I stopped doing a PM list, the fact that I received such recognition during the last Fanfic awards makes me believe that at least some people are reading this story. So as a thank you to everyone who has reviews or voted for me in the awards, I am proud and happy to post the last four chapters of this fic at once. It has been a long road, and I am at once saddened and thrilled to see this story finished.

Thank you again.

Chapter Forty-Three: The Overlord?s Folly; The Correllian?s Gambit

Lando Calrissian was by all accounts a lucky man. Whether gambling for cities in the clouds to putting all his assets into a Dubrillion mining operation, Lando always managed to find a way out.

Though he had suffered his share of losses, he looked across at his wife and considered that he was so far ahead of the game little things like lost business ventures just didn?t matter.

Tendra Risant Calrissian was the lady to his luck. With a business acumen as great if not greater than his own and fixed family assets sufficient to ensure that acumen was well used, she was everything Lando never realized he needed in a woman, until he met her.

?What?? she demanded.

?You?re beautiful,? he said smoothly.

?Yes, I know,? she said absently. ?There?s another one we can use.?

Lando followed the coordinates she entered and nodded. ?Looks good. I?m tagging it.?

The Lady Luck shot out a quick marker round that slammed into the target.

Behind them, a refitted Lucrehulk-class battleship erupted with a swarm of droids to begin the job of reprogramming and reactivating the Munificent-class cruiser. Around them, the Albion-V shipyard hung silent with the skeletons of thousands of old warships, including the entire moth-balled Confederation of Independent Systems droid fleet.

?So did Han say what he wanted with these?? Tendra asked. ?More decoys for Alderaan??

?Not this time,? Lando said. ?He wants the ships fully functional. Including droid fighters. It?s going to be a surprise.?

?Some surprise,? Tendra said.

?With Han, it usually is,? Lando said. ?The man has a habit of surprising friends and foes alike.?

* * *

As Jaina Solo walked the halls of the Liberator, she considered the approaching battle. She knew Fondor was going to be different. After all, Kuat was a defensive action. Esfandia was a defensive action. Mandalore was a relatively small engagement.

Bilbringi was the very first truly offensive action the super dreadnaught had engaged in, and they learned a lesson that took almost a month to repair with all the personnel the Kuat Drive Yards could afford. Though General Farlander and Admiral Kre?fey were able to free the planet, the Liberator had taken severe damage and they almost lost it in some of the fiercest fighting of the war. And Jaina lost her wingman from Rogue Squadron.

Though ships could be replaced, trained manpower was reaching such critical points that teenagers like Jaina were being promoted to officers, and some worlds were instituting military drafts.

A bright spot leading up to the planned invasion of Fondor was the presence of a fleet of twenty Hapan Battledragons. The warships were sufficiently powerful to make a legitimate difference in the coming battle, and were proof at last that Tenel Ka had formally aligned the Consortium with the Alliance.

As Jaina suited up in her new Saber Squadron uniform for the first time, she couldn?t help but feel a tinge of excitement. As hard as things were, the war was progressing quickly. It felt like there was light at the end of the tunnel.

She stepped into the briefing room for the squadron and saw Master Horn already there. He had shaved his beard and looked ten years younger in his uniform. Jaden Korr sat near the master, looking radiant in her navy-blue uniform. She decorated her lekku with golden rings, and her sapphire skin set off everything she wore perf

 

Chapter Forty-Four: No Quarter

The Liberator reverted near the hyper lane transfer point with its fleet of five hundred Alliance ships fresh off the fleet battle over Coruscant just twenty hours previously.

The battle still raged across the surface of the former capital, but the battle in space was done. With all troops disgorged, it was time to do some clean-up.

Frigates began laying down the minefield as soon as they reverted. They knew they had only a matter of hours, possibly less.

The timing was still close. Just twenty minutes after the last mine was laid, Warmaster Kraakis and his Fondor fleet reverted to real-space, only to be hit by a mine-field he thought he had already cleared. The first line of cruiser analogues rocked under the unexpected destructive forces of Class-V Seismic mines. Multi-megaton explosions ruptured unprepared hulls before the harried dovin basils could raised their null-point shields. Ships died quick, painful deaths. Still, Kraakis has enough ships in the fleet to absorb the losses.

Until, that is, his villip showed him what was waiting for him. ?What is this?? he demanded, even as the Liberator fired its first shot at an emerging worldship. The battle of Transfer, as history would call it, began.

* * *

General Antilles had transferred his command to the planet surface as soon as a beachhead was established. As much as he preferred to be in the cockpit of his trusty old X-wing, he was now the commander of all ground-forces for the Invasion and knew he had to be on the ground.

The assault was as difficult as Han and the rest of the Joint Chiefs thought it would be. The Vong were superior ground warriors. Though the Chazrach were not as effective, they made up for it with sheer numbers and mindless determination. Imperial and Alliance walkers paired off against rakamatis and fire walkers. Coral skippers and smaller Vong air ships faced off against armored air speeders and fighters.

It was the largest battle Antilles had ever coordinated. It didn?t help that he was actually forced to give orders to his President.

Fortunately, Kale Naberrie made no effort to make command decisions to override Antilles. ?You?re a better general than I could ever be,? Kale told the hapless Corellian. ?Just tell me where you need us.?

And so as the battle progressed, Antilles made the best use he could of the four super-powered Kryptonians. After a day?s fighting, they had secured enough territory to establish a medical facility, which was already overwhelmed. Transport ships that had carried down the twenty million soldiers were now busy ferrying those same soldiers back to Alderaan for medical treatment.

Just then he saw a blur of red-gold and saw the youngest of the Kryptonians fly in carrying five soldiers. Two actually appeared to be floating behind her.

?More injured,? he heard her tell the HQ captain. Her voice was slurred with exhaustion. Still, she stumbled across the floor. He noted she had green blood smeared across her chest, hands and face as she made her way to tactical for a new assignment.

?Karia,? Wedge called.

Beside him, Moff Saretti and the rest of Antilles? staff looked up.

The young Kryptonian walked over and looked at them with bleary eyes. ?Yes, General??

?Four hours of sleep before you take any more assignments,? he said.

?But Dad and Mom?.?

?Are my bosses. You?re not. You?re also fifteen??

?Sixteen now.?

?Sixteen,? Wedge continued. ?Go get some sleep. We need you alert.?

She actually swayed on her feet. ?Fine,? she gave in without any more of a struggle. She walked away toward a padded bench against a far wall, collapsed on it and was actually asleep the moment her eyes closed. Despite the chaos of the HQ all around her.

?Wow,? Saretti said. ?She must have been tired.?

Antilles shrugged. ?They all are. She?s just the only one I can cajole if I need to. Now, what?s happening at Menarai??

* * *

Admiral Kre?fey was growling. ?The Cascatala has been destroyed,? General Farlander reported in a grim voice.

?How long to recharge??

?Twenty

 

Chapter Forty-Five: Doomsday

?General Antilles,? the captain said, ?we have reports coming in from all across the planet. Vong defenses are crumbling. Sector commanders are awaiting orders.?

?Pursue without mercy,? came Wedge?s reply. ?Any idea where the President is??

?Right here, Wedge.?

The entire floor turned to see Kale Naberrie striding toward the tactical station. The president noted his daughter still sleeping in a corner. ?Thank you for that.?

?She was beat.?

?We all are,? Kale said. ?I just spoke with Han. The Vong attempted to deploy a planet-sized weapon. We?ve lost the Liberator, but fortunately the Eclipse was enough to deal with it. Any word from the Fondor expedition??

?Master Horn reports that the fleet lost cohesiveness about the same time forces here did. They report complete victory, but with almost fifty-percent losses.?

Kale?s face darkened a little. ?That was the main Vong fleet in the galaxy.?

?It was, sir. There?s little left but what they can grow and Sernpidal, and that?s our next target.?

Suddenly Karia sat up and screamed. The whole floor stared at her in shock. However, she quickly shook it off and rushed faster than human eyes could see to her father?s side. ?Jor?s hurt!? she said urgently. ?Brainiac made a weapon. A monster. It hurt Jor.?

Wedge watched as the President?s face went blank. A moment later his eyes widened at whatever it was he felt. ?General,? he said, ?you are to pursue the eradication of all Vong from this planet. No quarter is to be offered.?

?I understand, Mr. President.?

With that, Karia and Kale disappeared.

?Wonder what that was about?? the tactical captain said.

?We?ll find out,? Wedge said.

* * *

It?s strong, Kale, came Mara?s weary reply. Stronger than us.

Kale flew as fast as he could with Karia following steadily behind him. He arrived in the sector with his wife and son just moments later and saw a monster unlike anything he could ever have imagined.

Jor was putting up an amazing fight, kicking and swinging fists with seismic force to keep the monster off his fallen mother. Mara was picking herself up, but slowly. Blood ran down from a cut on her head that had yet to heal, and she was clutching her side in obvious pain.

?Karia, see to your mother,? Kale said.

?But dad??

?Look what it?s done to her,? Kale said.

Karia looked and paled. ?Okay.?

Jor, Kale said through the Force. On three, duck.

One.

Two.

Three.

Jor ducked as Kale flew by so fast the air exploded behind him. The beast Brainiac called Doomsday got a brief look at two fists before Kale hit it full-on.

The creature flew back in a parabolic arc almost a kilometer. Kale, momentum lost, settled to the cracked permacrete. ?Wow,? he muttered. He shook both hands before turning to his family. ?Mara, are you all right??

?That thing packs a punch,? Mara said. ?Where?s Brainiac??

?I don?t know,? Kale said. ?But??

?Dad!? Karia screamed.

Kale had just a moment to look up before Doomsday slammed into him, pushing him almost a meter into the permacrete. The monster looked up at the other three with black eyes. ?You?re next,? it growled at them.

* * *

The figure flew unnoticed through the atmospheric shields and set foot on the deck. ?Primitive,? it said. ?But sufficient for my needs.? He began walking toward the far entrance, ignored in the din and chaos of a hangar deck constantly moving soldiers to and from the surface.

* * *

You?ve never felt your bones break, have you, Kal-El?

Kale did not know why the memory of his last fight with General Zod came to mind. Of course, the memory came as he was flying backward through a vine-chocked tower. He was aware through one swollen eye that the monster Doomsday was following him. The creature did not appear to be able to fly, but it could jump astonishing distances.

It had jumped after him, its white hair fluttering like a small cape.

Where is your vaunted Force now?

Kale landed with the force of a missile impact. And just meters away, with equal power, landed Doomsday. ?Come, grandfather,? it growled at h

 

Chapter Forty-Six: A Brief Peace

The Third Battle of Coruscant lasted fourteen days. Fourteen days to wipe out the last Vong hold-outs.

The war itself ground on for another six months, but was nothing like the first two years. Though the Vong continued to fight to the death, when the Alliance destroyed the shipwomb and Sernpidal, they lost much of their ship production capabilities. With the deaths on Coruscant of all the leaders in every caste, individual pockets of Vong fought without cohesion. They were unable to muster the huge fleets that had terrified the Galaxy.

With the Eclipse, those smaller fleets were quickly eliminated. It was the ground war that took the longest, and it was those warriors who still fought most bravely.

The last battle took place on Gyndine. A mixed force of Mandalorians, Hapans and Alliance marines and Jedi destroyed the last Vong warriors, while the now pitiful fleet was obliterated. After that, three more worldships were discovered and destroyed just outside the galactic rim. As far as anyone knew, the last Vong had perished.

When the ash settled, the true import of the war struck almost the whole galaxy. Fourteen worlds had been rendered completely dead, another forty-three suffered ecological damage that put them almost beyond repair. Although it was impossible to get exact numbers, the dead were believed to be in the trillions. Whole species, such as the Rodians and Hutts, had been hunted to extinction by the Vong.

The Jedi Order?s charter was adopted by the Alliance Senate and confirmed by President Naberrie ensuring that the Order had autonomy from the government. However, the provision allowing for the civilian trial of Jedi where clear violations of galactic law occurred remained.

No one wanted a repeat of Kyp Durron?s smuggler hunting vigilantism.

Four months after the last shot was fired, Anakin Solo and Karia Naberrie were wed in a simple ceremony on Naboo. Each of them were now seventeen, and as head-over-heels in love with each other as ever.

Kale and Mara both proudly walked their daughter down the aisle, while Anakin stood waiting with Kyle Katarn in his full Jedi regalia. It was Kyle, proudly wearing his new prosthetic arm, who would be performing the ceremony. ?Jor pushed me hard,? Kyle said when the Naberries found him two days after their fight with Doomsday. ?Now Jan and I can have a fair arm wrestling contest!?

Next to Anakin stood his father, his best man?Jor-El Naberrie, looking somber and a little sad?and Jedi Master Corran Horn.

Across from the men stood Jaina Solo, resplendent in a blue dress, Danni Quee, equally beautiful, and Winter Celchu. However, Karia didn?t see any of them. Her eyes were on Anakin, and his eyes were on her.

The bride wore white shimmersilk laced with Ithorian sapphires that matched perfectly the brilliant blue of her eyes. The dress bared her shoulders, while the veil did little but to throw her face in an indistinct shadow.

The vows were spoken with such sincerity that the few family members invited were in tears.

During the reception that followed, Kale danced with his radiant daughter before passing her off to Han, and then finally to her new husband.

?He?ll take good care of her,? Leia said as she and Kale twirled around the floor.

?I know,? Kale said. ?But there is something I need to ask.?

Leia must have sensed his hesitation. ?What??

?How do you feel about a Kryptonian for a son??

?What??

?We?re a race of four,? Kale said. ?If there is to ever be a new Krypton, we must increase our numbers. In the end, that?s why my parents changed Mara.?

?I don?t know about that,? Leia said.

?A marriage should be among equals,? Kale said softly. ?Mara and I understand that now. Though we loved each other so much, neither of us was truly happy. Not until now. Because now she is truly my equal. In a few years, Leia, Anakin is going to look up and realize that he is old, and Karia is not. Is that what you want for them??

The two paused in their dancing a moment to observe the young couple. They were dancing so

 

Absolutely fantastic ending. Really like Anakin kicking Brainiac butt in the Eclipse computer Core, that was awesome.
As with all your work, this whole story has been a pure joy to read and I can't wait for you to start posting The Last Jedi again. I may not review every post (cause I run out of ways to say "amazing") but you really do produce, well... amazing stuff every time.
Can't wait for more,
Fanficfan

 

Wow. Can't believe it's over. Once again, a great read, fully deserving of all its award.

I was wondering if Zonoma Sekot would come into play again. Kinda sad that Kre'frey is gone, but that's how it goes.

Great chapters, great story, great plot, great writing. Full kudos to thee, in exchange for a PM for your next story.

Thanks very much.

Raptor517

 

AWWWWW! I'm sad it's over... but I love the ending!!! I agree there are only so many ways I can say that this story is amazing!!! But it is simply Da Bomb! lol there's one I haven't used in a while

 

Hey, you snuck in and posted all the final chapters at once! Luckily for Kale, unlike his canon counterpart, when battling Doomsday he had his super-wife and super-kids to help him. Not to mention his super-talented future son-in-law.

It was a great wrap-up to a great story, and I was happy to beta it for you. You stayed true to the sense of the Vong war's devastation, yet mixed in the Kryptonians in a truly believable style. Bravo!

 

Very nice wrapup to the story. I was expecting Doomsday to take out at least one of the Eclipses, but having a worldship do it worked just as well.

Interesting that Kale wants to rebuild the Kryptonian race, complete with their own planet. Since a lot of people, even the good guys, were afraid of Kale, I wonder how they would deal with the thought of a whole bunch of Kryptonians in the galaxy. Probably there would be a sizeable percentage of the population that would not like it (not that anyone would be able to prevent it).

I actually read The Last Jedi back when you were posting it and enjoyed it a lot. I finally came out of lurker mode during this story and started posting replies.

I particularily liked that you had a Sith Lord that was deeply in love with someone. Since the Jedi reject emotion, and the Sith are essentially the antithesis of the Jedi, it stands to reason that at least some Sith would love, since it's such a powerfull emotion.

Will you be continuing on where you left off, or will it be a complete rewrite? Either way I'm looking forward to it.

 

Fanficfan--Thank you for your support throughout this story. I'm not sure why it never really garnered much readership, even while I maintained the PM list, but for those who did read I was truly greatful.

Raptor517--Zonoma Sekot was, to me, a cheap Deus Ex Machina ploy to end what had been a very poorly written conflict. And that is one plot device that frankly I despise. So naturally I blew it up in my fic.

Jedi_Aurelan_Carter--This is actually the second longest fic I've written, behind Heaven Falls. I'm glad it's over, though. It was tough going for a while, especially right after my hand injury.

Jedi-2B--What can I say, I was frankly ready for the story to be done. I didn't have a large readership, but at the end it felt as if I were stringing folks along, so I thought I'd get it all out there. I cannot thank you enough for Beta reading this. You did a great job as always and made this a much better story than it would otherwise have been. Thank you!!!

munchmore--Yeah, with Mara's conversion it made Kale realize that he didn't have to be the only one. It'll take many centuries, but he saw hope. I doubt the rest of the galaxy will be happy about it, but what can you do? Re: Last Jedi--I only posted the first fourteen chapters or so. I had actually written far ahead, over 60,000 words, and realized at one point that there was a serious plot hole that I could not fix without a complete rewrite. I did something similar with Blue Sun Down and its original version. I'm sorry for the trouble. The new version will be very very similar, but what changes I make are essential for the story's success down the road. I'm happy with the rewrite and eagerly await my beta's comments on the first five chapters.

Well, thank you all for your reviews and reading. I greatly appreciate it!

 

Awww, it's over! What am I gonna read on mondays now?

Wonderful last chapters for a wonderfully well-rounded story. I can't start to tell you how much I enjoyed, even if I knew next to nothing about Superman and the kryptonians when I started reading.

Take a bow, Marrs!

 

YEAH!!!!! The Good Guys win again! I'm so glad they all made it through alive, if not unscathed! The battle with Doomsday was masterfully done and the wedding was perfectly beautiful! You are such a talented author, Darth_Marrs. You were able to take a crossover that no longer had Luke in it (and who honestly had thought that Star Wars could be Star Wars without Luke?), and you were still able to make it such a good story, preserving the spirits of both the Star Wars universe and the Superman universe! Congratulations and a story well done! And thank you for providing such wonderful entertainment for me and all your readers!