main
side
curve
  1. In Memory of LAJ_FETT: Please share your remembrances and condolences HERE

Conduit (a JA/AU fic) - NOW COMPLETE! -- 3 updates: 12/31 and 1/1

Discussion in 'Fan Fiction Stories--Classic JC Board (Reply-Only)' started by Obi-Fan, Nov 6, 2000.

Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.
  1. Jedi_Knight150

    Jedi_Knight150 Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jul 26, 2002
  2. ObiLegolas

    ObiLegolas Jedi Youngling star 3

    Registered:
    May 15, 2002
  3. Jedi_Knight150

    Jedi_Knight150 Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jul 26, 2002
  4. Jedi_Knight150

    Jedi_Knight150 Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jul 26, 2002
  5. Jedi_Knight150

    Jedi_Knight150 Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jul 26, 2002
  6. ObiLegolas

    ObiLegolas Jedi Youngling star 3

    Registered:
    May 15, 2002
    whoo-hoo! only just over a week until she starts working on the next post! whoo-hoo! up!
     
  7. Jedi_Knight150

    Jedi_Knight150 Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jul 26, 2002
  8. Jedi_Knight150

    Jedi_Knight150 Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jul 26, 2002
  9. ObiLegolas

    ObiLegolas Jedi Youngling star 3

    Registered:
    May 15, 2002
    up. Only 3 more days until she's working on the post! :D WHOO-HOO!!!!!
     
  10. Jedi_Knight150

    Jedi_Knight150 Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jul 26, 2002
  11. Jedi_Knight150

    Jedi_Knight150 Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jul 26, 2002
  12. Jedi_Knight150

    Jedi_Knight150 Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jul 26, 2002
  13. ObiLegolas

    ObiLegolas Jedi Youngling star 3

    Registered:
    May 15, 2002
  14. Jedi_Knight150

    Jedi_Knight150 Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jul 26, 2002
  15. PadawanKitara

    PadawanKitara Jedi Grand Master star 5

    Registered:
    Dec 31, 2001
    She's back!
     
  16. Jedi_Knight150

    Jedi_Knight150 Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jul 26, 2002
  17. ObiLegolas

    ObiLegolas Jedi Youngling star 3

    Registered:
    May 15, 2002
    up. hope she can post real soon. the anticipation is killing me! 8-}
     
  18. ObiLegolas

    ObiLegolas Jedi Youngling star 3

    Registered:
    May 15, 2002
  19. Calantha

    Calantha Jedi Master star 2

    Registered:
    Oct 25, 2002
  20. Obi-Fan

    Obi-Fan Jedi Youngling star 1

    Registered:
    May 21, 2000
    Um... okay, did I say *finished* by the end of the year? I meant, um, pretty NEARLY finished by the end of the year. :>

    Okay, in grand procrastinator fashion, I put off working on this post till today... and it's turning out to take longer than I thought to finish it. I'm posting what I have now, and I'll keep writing after I do (isn't it great that I have no life, so I can sit home on New Year's Eve and write fanfiction?), but I can't guarantee the final post will be up by 11:59 EST (or even PST).

    Anyway, with any luck, all my readers are off partying tonight and won't even THINK about checking this topic till tomorrow some time.

    Happy New Year, all!
    -OF

    =====

    Qui-Gon's hands tightened reflexively on his lightsaber hilt as the Emperor's laughter echoed in the immense chamber.

    "A swift and easy victory," the Emperor said gleefully, "nothing less than one might expect of a renowned master of the late Jedi Order. Still... it must be said, saber fighting was *never* one of my strong points. Perhaps the outcome might have differed if we made this a contest between strengths." Ryzil's gaze met Qui-Gon's again, his ice-blue eyes suddenly sharp with a hidden menace. "Well, Jedi Master Jinn," he continued, "what do you say? Shall we make this a battle of strengths? My science against your sword?"

    With a flash of his hand, the Emperor pulled a small dermospray from a pocket in his long coatsleeve and injected its contents in the side of his neck. Qui-Gon took a step back in shock as his sense of the other man within the Force suddenly doubled, then, an instant later, doubled--or perhaps even tripled--again.

    "We were taught," the Emperor said, "that strength in the Force was a matter of discipline, of finding our center and allowing the Force to move freely within us." He flashed a sardonic smile up at Qui-Gon. "Worthless mysticism. We now know it's a function of tiny life forms in our cells, and the one with the greatest number of those life forms can channel the greatest amount of Force. A simple injection of midichlorians into the bloodstream... and one is instantly stronger in the Force. So much for Jedi training."

    "Whatever you've done to yourself, it isn't permanent," Qui-Gon replied, "or you wouldn't have waited till now to take the injection."

    The Emperor smiled grimly. "Very perceptive of you, Jedi. Yes, the midichlorians I've created here in my lab still stubbornly refuse to reproduce. They'll die in just under an hour, leaving me the same minimally sensitive researcher I was when I left your Order. A sad plight, to be sure, but an hour is all I'll need to accomplish my aim here."

    Ryzil raised his right hand from his side and stared intently down at his palm. "We also heard stories of creatures so in tune with the Dark Force, they could summon it in streaks of pure Force lightning and direct it at their victims." The Emperor snorted. "More lies, of course. It's simply a matter of understanding the molecular structure of the atmosphere--and having enough Force at your disposal to manipulate that molecular structure. Just watch."

    Qui-Gon scowled impatiently at the Emperor's monologue. This was pointless, he thought, and--worse--it was eating away at the time he had left to find Obi-Wan and escape before his teammates detonated their explosives. But the Emperor's taunting <He's dead now, of course> echoed through the Jedi's mind and he felt a surge of helpless pain and anger sweep through him. If that were true, Qui-Gon thought, he'd put an end to the Emperor here and now, even if he had to stand here and hold the Emperor at bay as the building fell down on top of them.

    The air around them grew crisper, strangely disturbed; it ticked Qui-Gon's skin as he once again strengthened his grip on his saber hilt.

    A ball of vivid blue energy appeared on the Emperor's upheld palm, and the man's smile broadened with triumph. "There," he announced. "Now, all it takes is a simple change of direction..."

    The Emperor turned his hand over, his fingers curling in a claw... and the blue energy c
     
  21. PadawanKitara

    PadawanKitara Jedi Grand Master star 5

    Registered:
    Dec 31, 2001
  22. Jedi_Knight150

    Jedi_Knight150 Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jul 26, 2002
    *Jumps up and down screaming like a boyband fan*

    A POST! A POST!


    EDIT: What happens next?! What happens next?!
     
  23. Obi-Fan

    Obi-Fan Jedi Youngling star 1

    Registered:
    May 21, 2000
    Wow... it's amazing how something that seems like a short post when it's all in your head can just run on and on and on when you're writing.

    Okay, here's the rest of the Grand Finale. Epilogue to come maybe as soon as tonight!

    Enjoy!
    -OF

    =====

    The blackness was soothing, peaceful, offering the Jedi master a welcome break from the pain that coursed through his body like a live wire. Yet there was something pulling him back from that respite, a sense of urgency--a booming warning from the Force that there was something far more important than his own comfort at stake. Qui-Gon pushed his mind away from the darkness... and caught the sound of a young voice screaming in pain.

    //Obi-Wan.//

    The Jedi master forced heavy eyelids open--and, for an instant, was fixed in horror at the sight he saw. Blue energy enveloped the boy from head to toe, fueled with a lethal precision by twin streaks of lightning from Ryzil Kenobi's hands. Helpless cries sprang from the boy's mouth, his face twisted in agony as he twitched on his feet like a puppet on a madman's string.

    Qui-Gon rolled himself onto his stomach, groaning as the movement sent new flares of pain through his ravaged limbs. //There,// he thought, catching sight of his lightsaber lying against the eerily dark chamber of a cloning pod. He slid his arm along the surface of the floor and reached out to summon his weapon, but the fog of his pain and his wildly swirling emotions made his center unreachable, and the Force stubbornly refused to assist him.

    Obi-Wan screamed again, and--with a strength borne of desperation and the mindless need to come to the boy's aid--Qui-Gon forced himself up to his hands and knees and began a painful crawl toward his extinguished saber. Lunging the last few inches to his goal, he fell against the side of the cloning pod and grasped the hilt of his lightsaber.

    A second, eerily inhuman wail joined the sound of Obi-Wan's screams. Qui-Gon looked up... and saw the Emperor waver slightly, then stumble to his knees. The lightning in Ryzil Kenobi's hands flickered, grew dim, then solidified again as the man's scream grew louder.

    His midichlorians, Qui-Gon realized. Obi-Wan was draining the Emperor's midichlorians, and it was working--though Qui-Gon's heart clenched at the thought of the toll Ryzil's own attack was taking on the boy's body. The Jedi master reached up to the small monitoring console alongside the cloning pod and began pulling himself up from the floor.

    The Emperor gave a thick, harsh grunt of effort; abandoning one stream of lightning, he dropped his left hand to the floor and began itching on his knees toward the boy, a murderous look in his eye. Obi-Wan cried out a third time and the Emperor reeled as if struck by a blow. The lightning in his right hand flickered, then went out... and the man fell to the ground, motionless.

    The blue energy around Obi-Wan crackled once, then exploded upwards and outwards; fire erupted from thick network of computer consoles on the floors above them and small explosions touched off larger explosions. Qui-Gon crawled slowly toward the boy, wincing as small pieces of burning metal and wire fell from the floors above them and seared his hair and hands.

    As Qui-Gon inched closer to Obi-Wan, the thick swirl of Force surrounding the boy grew suddenly still. The boy's eyes--red-shot and glassy with pain--rolled back in his head, and he pitched forward, lifelessly, to the floor.

    =====

    "Red Team Twelve, set."

    "Acknowledged, Twelve. Stand by." The leader of Valorum's north side assault team palmed off his comm unit and looked over at his companion. "That's the last one, Master Windu," he said. "Still no sign of Master Jinn or the boy. We can't keep our team in place much longer, and with the shielding on the cloning chamber walls, we can't set the explosives off by remote."

    "Understood, Captain Antilles." The Jedi Councilor studied the inner wall of the battle-scarred hangar, its thick door hanging open, the corridor beyond it dark. He stood there a moment, his brow furrow
     
  24. Jedi_Knight150

    Jedi_Knight150 Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jul 26, 2002
    Yeah!

    Great post! Well worth the wait.
     
  25. Obi-Fan

    Obi-Fan Jedi Youngling star 1

    Registered:
    May 21, 2000
    Wow... I really can't believe it. After three years of laziness, random fits of creativity, and staggering bouts of writers block... here it is, the final post.

    Thanks to all of you who've stuck by me through all of this. I would probably have abandoned this thing long ago, if it hadn't been for the wonderful feedback (and the cheery kicks in the rear) from my fantastic readers. I only hope this final post lives up to all your expectations.

    Happy New Year, all... and enjoy!
    -OF

    =====

    EPILOGUE

    Obi-Wan opened his eyes and blinked hazily at his unfamiliar surroundings. He was lying on a sleepcouch in a small, darkened chamber. A large comp panel to his right cast a greenish glow on his skin, and a tiny dermal reader attached to his wrist emitted a quiet pattern of blip-blips. He was in a medical ward somewhere, he thought, and felt a faint rush of panic--but the Force around him seemed strangely comforting and he felt a vague sense that someone familiar to him was approaching.

    "It's about time you decided to join us, young one," a woman's voice greeted from the doorway.

    "Master Zzeu?" Obi-Wan asked, sitting up on the sleepcouch and gaping at the Twi'lek in surprise. "Where am I? What are you doing here?"

    "You're in the Jedi Temple," the healer replied, "or at least, what's left of it. The Emperor seems to have left this place untouched, but twelve years of scavengers have stripped this place bare of all but its foundations."

    The Master Healer flipped a small switch on the wall, and Obi-Wan's eyes teared briefly as bright light flooded the room. "You've been in trance for the past ten days," she observed, stepping over to the console for a look at the readout, "and I've been here almost as long. It was a shock for us all to learn we couldn't channel healing energy into you, Obi-Wan. I wish you'd mentioned this to me in your physical; I might have had time to find another way of speeding your healing process."

    Obi-Wan bowed his head sheepishly at the gentle admonishment. "My mother learned pretty early on that she couldn't heal my injuries with the Force," he said with a shrug. "I spent most of my training with her on self-healing trances." He shrugged again, helplessly. "I guess it just never occurred to me to tell you about it."

    Zzeu held a small disc of light over Obi-Wan's eyes and stared clinically down into their depths. "Well, in any case, young man, you seem to have done a fine job on your own. I've commed Master Jinn to join us, and I'll release you from my care as soon as he arrives."

    Obi-Wan stomach quailed at the thought of seeing the gray-haired Jedi master again. In the time between his last argument with Qui-Gon and his appearance at the entrance to the Imperial Center, it had never once occurred to Obi-Wan that he might live to face the Jedi master's reaction to his deeds. Now, it seemed, that time had arrived, and he felt a sensation in his newly healed limbs that was *anything* but courageous.

    "Is Qui-Gon..." he asked hesitantly, "is he mad at me? You know, for..."

    "Sneaking out of our compound?" the healer asked pointedly. "Stowing away on a private transport? Walking recklessly into the most fortified structure in the galaxy, and dragging Masters Jinn and Windu, plus a whole squadron of other sentients, into a headlong rush to save you?" Zzeu snorted at the boy's abashed look, then relented with a smile. "He's been out of his mind with concern for you."

    The Twi'lek seated herself on the bed beside Obi-Wan and lay a warm hand on his shoulder. "Qui-Gon wanted to be here when you woke up, but the Council has been keeping him very busy. It's a strange new universe out there, Obi-Wan... a better one, perhaps, but dangerous nonetheless. But here!" she cried abruptly, as if struck by a sudden thought. "What was I thinking? You must be itching to know what's happened since you went into your trance."

    Obi-Wan listened eagerly as the Master Healer detailed the events following his father's death and the collapse of the Imperial Center. Stripped of their leader and the
     
Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.