Beyond - Legends Closer than Blood (Cast of FOTJ, OCs)

I know I posted this a while ago, but I have to correct myself. What I meant was Anakin Solo. I don't know how I could have written Skywalker. That Anakin isn't even on my radar. (Seriously. One of my students asked me if I would rather marry Anakin or Luke. Obviously I said Luke. And then the kid had the gall to say, "But Anakin is cool." No. He's not.) Just wanted to clear that up.

 

Caught up! Wonderful work, I'm riveted! Please find any spare moment to continue writing this that you can. And I'd like to be put back on the tag list

 

Nyota's Heart, jcgoble3, Darkwriter, earlybird-obi-wan, Gemma, Force Smuggler, JediMaster_Jen, Anakin Solo Revanchist, sorry I haven't updated lately. College, ya know?

Chapter 6

After a long, wearing workout, the four Jedi met in the Shadow's common area. Ben filled four tall glasses with water and passed them around the table. They all drank thirstily–Allana especially. Ben exhaled deeply and leaned against the counter. He checked his chrono.

"Two hours to Bakura," he said. "I'm going to hit the showers; I probably smell like a dead bantha."

Allana giggled. Ben exited the common area and entered his quarters–the captain's hold that belonged to Luke was left empty, because Ben didn't feel right living in it. Still, the other cabins aboard the Shadow were equally comfortable, so he didn't complain. Inside his cabin's 'fresher, he stripped off his clothes and ducked under the hot water. He scrubbed himself clean and then shut down the water. He dressed in a fresh outfit–a tan Jedi uniform, because they were on an official mission.

He ran his fingers through his hair quickly, making it unruly but not wild. Then he exited the 'fresher and grabbed his lightsaber from his nightstand, clipping it to his belt. He came to the common area and found Tekli there alone. He frowned and sat down beside her.

"Where are the others?" he asked.

"Seha and Allana went to their respective quarters to shower and change, as well," Tekli replied.

"What about you?"

"I already did." She shrugged. "I guess I clean myself faster than humans."

Ben grinned. "Yeah, guess so."

Seha emerged from her quarters a few minutes later, dressed in traditional Jedi robes, as well. She was drying her hair off with a towel. Ben smiled at her as she approached. She returned the smile and plopped down across from him.

"You're doing well as a teacher," she said.

"Thanks," Ben replied. "It's unfortunate that Allana has to know things like this at her age..."

"But it's too dangerous for her not to," Seha finished with a nod. "I know."

Allana finally came into the room, dressed in a gray Jedi apprentice outfit. She sat beside Seha, across from Tekli.

"How long until we arrive?" she asked.

"Shouldn't be more than an hour and a half now," Ben replied. "There are a few things I need to tell you all about Bakura before we arrive, though."

"What's that?"

"First of all, it's got kind of a history with my family–it was the location of the first mission my dad, Aunt Leia, and Uncle Han went on after the Emperor died. Not only that, but my dad was...attracted to...a Senator on the planet, by the name of Gaeriel. Gaeriel was...she died during the First Corellian Insurrection. She left behind a daughter. Which is the second thing you should know: my mom and dad chose to sponsor the child after her mother died."

"So...you have a sort of sister?" Seha asked.

"Sort of, yeah. Which leads me to the third thing you should know–Malinza and Dad haven't spoken since Mom died. I don't know how welcoming she'll be; I'm sure she'll understand why he was distant, but I don't know if that will make up for it. Now, she's a grown woman, but even so, if she's bitter, she may not be that helpful."

"Why would we need her help at all?" asked Tekli.

"Well, that's the fourth thing you need to know. Malinza is head of Salis D'aar's police force. Without her help, we're going to have a very hard time finding Jedi Bann."

Seha sighed. "Well, then, I guess we'll have to hope you have a special brother/half-sister bond, then."

"Yeah...guess no."

 

Can't wait for the first meeting!

 

Great setup. Can't wait to see Malinza!

 

I'm hoping Malinza will be accommodating, but I get the feeling she might not truly understand why Luke kept his distance. She might feel abandoned. Good work.

 

Yes, I agree that first meeting could be really interesting and may make their job a little more difficult.

 

With Malinza as head of police that should make things sure interesting

 

Enjoyed the talk and Seha's encouragement of Ben.

 

Nyota's Heart, jcgoble3, Darkwriter, earlybird-obi-wan, Gemma, Force Smuggler, JediMaster_Jen, Anakin Solo Revanchist

Chapter 7

Salis D'aar was a gleaming silver city that was reminiscent of Coruscant or Denon–but unlike them, it did not sweep across the entirety of Bakura. Its spires and towers were restricted to a specific portion of the map, and were surrounded by mountains and grasslands on all sides. Ben thought the planet was beautiful, in a simple way–like Dantooine. Hills and grass couldn't compare to forests or snowcapped tundra, but they had their own charm.

And so at odds with the city, he thought wryly.

He brought the ship over Salis D'aar and headed for the spaceport. Seha, Allana, and Tekli settled in their seats and buckled down as he began his descent. They were directed by spaceport control to Docking Bay 14C. Ben lowered the Shadow into the dock and powered down. At the entrance to the bay was a welcoming party–four armed security troopers, a white-garbed woman with another woman in a security officer's uniform at her side, and a green protocol droid.

"Well, let's go," Ben said.

He unbuckled his restraints and led the three other Jedi to the exit ramp. He paused to make sure his robes were neatly creased and his lightsaber was straight at his side, and then he lowered the ramp. He led the way, with Allana behind his right elbow. Seha and Tekli, side-by-side, followed once they'd reached the bottom of the ramp. The white-clad woman approached first.

"Greetings, Master Jedi," she said. "I am Senator Lana Captison of Bakura."

Ben bowed at the waist, and Allana followed suit.

"A pleasure, Senator," Ben replied. "I am Jedi Knight Ben Skywalker, and this is my apprentice, Allana Solo. My companions are Jedi Seha Dorvald and Jedi Tekli."

"I am glad you are here," Captison said. "I am worried for the planet. When Jedi Bann was here, he was assisting us in a somewhat urgent matter. Now that he has gone missing, I fear the worst."

Ben nodded. "That's why we're here. Have the Jedi Horn–Valin and Jysella–arrived yet?"

"Yes," Captison replied. "They are at my estate currently, looking over the last reports left by Jedi Bann. I informed them that we would be meeting them there, once we had greeted you."

"Then let's not waste any time," Ben said. "Lead the way."

"Of course. I, unfortunately, have matters to deal with in the Bakuran Senate. But Captain Thanas here will attend to you and take you to my estate. You are in good hands." Captison gave the woman a warm smile, and then turned to two of the four security troopers. "Come."

Captison, the protocol droid, and the two troopers left the bay. The four Jedi were left alone with the three remaining troopers. The woman nodded to her two subordinates, who walked over to the door and stood at attention. Finally, she returned her attention to the Jedi and smiled.

"Ben," Malinza said, a bit of sadness in her voice.

She stepped forward and enfolded Ben in a hug. Ben returned the embrace. He and Malinza had been good friends when he'd been younger–though she'd been a teenager and he only a child, they had always shared a close bond whenever the Skywalkers visited her. They stepped out of their embrace and sized each other up. Malinza's black hair was pulled back in a severe bun, and her mismatched eyes–left green and right gray, like her mother's had been, according to Luke–were kind, proud, but also sad.

"You've gotten so big," she said. She playfully grabbed his chin. "Look at that face. When did you get old enough to grow a beard?"

Ben laughed. "It's good to see you, Malinza."

"It's good to see you too," she replied.

"I'm so sorry Dad and I haven't been around lately." He shook his head. "There's no excuse. But since Mom..."

Malinza nodded. "When I heard about Aunt Mara...I'm so sorry, Ben. I tried to come for the funeral but I couldn't get away from work. There was a war on, you know. I admit I was a bit bitter that you and Uncle Luke didn't come and visit more often, but I'm a grown woman–I understand what a toll a loss like that can take." She sighed. "Well, now. This little girl can't be the Allana Solo I've heard so much about, can she?"

Allana smiled. "I am. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Captain Thanas."

"Please, call me Malinza. You look like your Aunt Jaina."

"Thank you."

Malinza glanced behind her. "Well. We'd better get going; the Jedi Horn will be expecting you."

"Yes," Ben replied. "Let's go."

 

Whew. That went better than I was expecting.

 

That went very well.

 

Indeed, I don't think that could have gone better.

Now we hopefully find out what's wrong with Bann, and what this urgent matter he was assisting with is.

 

Great to see it going well with Malinza

 

Well, that was smooth sailing. Why does it make me nervous anyway?

 

That definitely went better than expected.

Something's really wrong with me, though. When Ben mentioned Dantooine, I thought, He can think about Dantooine without being afraid now? Then I remembered that it wasn't Ben, it was Anakin Solo. XD

 

Very interesting --- things seem to be okay on the surface. But for me that usually means trouble elsewhere. I thought the interplay of Malinza touching Ben's chin and asking about the beard was a nice touch.

 

Great story. Love the way you handle the characters. Please tag me for further updates!

 

Nyota's Heart, jcgoble3, Darkwriter, earlybird-obi-wan, Gemma, Force Smuggler, JediMaster_Jen, Anakin Solo Revanchist, it lives!

Chapter 8

The small entourage exited the spaceport into the bustling streets of Salis D'aar. Ground speeders shot by on the busy streets and Ben instinctively put a hand on Allana's shoulder. He knew that she was old enough to know better than to run out into the street, but something protective made him do it anyways. She looked back to him and he gave her an apologetic grin and a shrug.

"Not taking any chances," he said.

"This is the speeder we'll be taking to the estate," Malinza said.

It was a limo speeder, guarded in the front and back by a pair of police speeders. Malinza opened the door to the limo and gestured for the others to enter while her officers mounted their speeders. Ben stood aside to let Allana and Seha into the speeder. Tekli was just climbing in when Ben's danger sense flared. Quickly, he grabbed Malinza around the waist and shoved her to the ground. A trio of blaster bolts hammered into the ground, passing directly through the spot previously occupied by Malinza's head.

"Thanks," she breathed.

Her troopers dismounted their speeders and whipped out blasters. Ben ignited his lightsaber.

"Go!" he said to the limo driver.

"No, Ben, wait!" Seha called.

Too late. The passenger door whooshed shut and the limo speeder took off. Ben reached out with the Force, trying to locate the shooter. He caught sight of him across the street, just hitting the ground after having climbed down a fire escape. Ben started to run after him, but the shooter leapt onto a hoverbike and took off. Growling, Ben looked at one of the officers.

"I need to borrow your bike," he said.

"Uh, I–" the officer started.

"Let him," Malinza said.

"Yes, ma'am."

Ben hopped on the officer's speeder bike and tore off in pursuit of the shooter. He deactivated his lightsaber and clipped it to his belt; it'd be too dangerous to have it out and ignited while he was driving through traffic. He weaved around speeders, trying to catch up to the shooter. The man turned back and opened fire on Ben with a blaster pistol. Ben hissed and dodged the bolts, cringing as they slammed into the front fender of the speeder behind him.

The shooter made an abrupt left turn on the next street. Ben turned in pursuit. The shooter hopped his bike over a speeder. Ben winced. Someone was going to get hurt if he didn't do something soon. He accelerated to the speeder's maximum rate and tried to get up alongside the shooter. He couldn't quite make it; the hoverbike was faster than Ben's speeder. But he did manage to get his left fender up against the shooter's right rear bumper.

Quickly, he grabbed his lightsaber from his belt, ignited it, swept it through the hoverbike's engine, and deactivated it, all in one smooth stroke. The hoverbike spun through the air madly and the shooter howled in surprise as he was thrown free. Ben stopped his speeder and parked on the corner of the street. The shooter landed with a crunch on the sidewalk. Ben knelt next to him, his lightsaber in hand but deactivated. The shooter groaned and tried to reach for his blaster. Ben used the Force to pull it into his free hand.

"Why were you targeting Malinza Thanas?" he asked.

"I-it was a job..." the shooter wheezed.

Ben probed him with the Force and knew instantly that he was dying. His hoverbike had been moving ridiculously fast when he'd destroyed its engine; the driver had smashed into the ground at breakneck velocity. Ben didn't have much time.

"I'm sorry," he said, "but I don't think I can save you."

The shooter coughed up blood. "I...urgh...don't care..."

"Who hired you?"

He spit blood on Ben's tunic. "Go kark yourself, Jedi."

He fell back with a groan, and Ben didn't need the Force to know he was dead. He stood and clipped his lightsaber to his belt. A moment later, a hovercar arrived, and Malinza and her troopers hopped out.

"Area secure," Ben said. "He's dead."

"Nice job, Jedi Skywalker," Malinza said. "And thank you for saving my life."

"Who would want to have you killed?" Ben asked.

"Who wouldn't?" Malinza replied wryly. "I'll fill you in when we meet up with your companions. Come on; they're probably halfway to the estate by now. Get in. We've got a lot to talk about."

 

Awesome chapter! You are back!

 

Woohoo! Didn't take long for the villains to show themselves huh. Something tells me this is more than just the normal high official being a target of malcontents thingy. It's directly tied to what brought Ben and the rest there.

 

Love Ben's protective instincts at the start.

But Malinza's line, "Who wouldn't?", has me wondering just what in the hell is going on here.

 

Great action packed chapter. But a lot of trouble ahead

 

Back in action! This was worth the wait, my friend. Post again whenever you have time.

 

Great action scene. Loved how Ben pursued the attacker but was also concerned for the people around them during the chase. Well written!!